Jump to content


Photo

Pete's Minis


  • Please log in to reply
124 replies to this topic

#41 Peter M. Skaar

Peter M. Skaar

    Captain

  • Members
  • 336 posts

Posted 28 December 2020 - 10:04 AM

Hi Healey

If the casting is actually out of alignment, that is known as a shift.  You might consider contacting the manufacturer in that case to see if they will replace it for you.

Pete



#42 Peter M. Skaar

Peter M. Skaar

    Captain

  • Members
  • 336 posts

Posted 13 January 2021 - 10:33 PM

I just added 10 more Shermans for my WWII American forces for NW Europe.  Included in this mix are 10 M4A1 76mm, 3 M4A3 75mm, and 1 M4A3 75mm early type.

50833731416_f31f81c008_b.jpg

50833731346_19f54f6768_b.jpg

 

50833731401_4591f743be_b.jpg

50833731381_1b487a5c9f_b.jpg

50833816857_8d7d699280_b.jpg



#43 healey36

healey36

    Lt Colonel

  • Members
  • 737 posts
  • LocationMaryland USA

Posted 21 January 2021 - 07:24 AM

Brilliant stuff, mate. CCA must be about up to strength.

 

Healey



#44 Peter M. Skaar

Peter M. Skaar

    Captain

  • Members
  • 336 posts

Posted 21 January 2021 - 10:04 PM

Thanks very much, Healey!  Right now, I have 33 Shermans completed.  Of these, 11 are M4A1 late types and the other 22 are M4A3 types.  I will be adding some more M4A1s to the mix as I just received my order from GHQ with some of their new M4A1 75mm.  Eventually, I should have at least a company of each and maybe more someday.

Pete



#45 Peter M. Skaar

Peter M. Skaar

    Captain

  • Members
  • 336 posts

Posted 13 February 2021 - 10:37 PM

Here are a couple of pictures of all the U.S. Shermans I had at the time it was taken.  I have add 3 more since plus I am working on 12 more M4A1s.

 

50833816777_a51d78669b_h.jpg

 

50832996008_38a52fa2af_b.jpg


  • Kenny Noe likes this

#46 healey36

healey36

    Lt Colonel

  • Members
  • 737 posts
  • LocationMaryland USA

Posted 18 February 2021 - 08:05 PM

A nice mix of versions, Pete. What, fifty-plus medium tanks in a US armor battalion? You're almost there.



#47 Peter M. Skaar

Peter M. Skaar

    Captain

  • Members
  • 336 posts

Posted 20 February 2021 - 06:31 AM

Thanks, Healey!  I already have a full company of M4A3s of various types.  I am working on 12 more M4A1 75s right now and that will give me slightly more than a company of those.  My ultimate goal will be 2 have 2 companies of each when I get back into gaming plus a company of M5 Stuarts for the Light Company.  I know it is not a full battalion but I could have a full battalion if I wanted to proxy another company of M4A1s as M4A3s or vice versa.  I have a lot of other projects in mind as well.

Pete



#48 healey36

healey36

    Lt Colonel

  • Members
  • 737 posts
  • LocationMaryland USA

Posted 22 February 2021 - 07:07 AM

Battalions were nearly always understrength due to combat losses and/or mechanical failures. This was especially true for the German outfits. When the tank cabinet is short just a few vehicles, I've often written scenario scripts with a battalion having suffered a bit of attrition. 



#49 Peter M. Skaar

Peter M. Skaar

    Captain

  • Members
  • 336 posts

Posted 23 February 2021 - 09:14 AM

Healey, you are very right about that.  I have a "battalion" of Panzers for my Afrika Korps.  I have 3 "Light" companies of Panzer IIIs and 1 "Medium" company of Panzer IVs.  None of the companies are at full strength per TO&E.  I will add some more tanks to the group as I really need more Panzer IIs having only about 5 for the whole battalion.

I used to be an armor officer and in the real world it was very difficult to get all the tanks and other vehicles running all at the same time.  In Korea, where we had some really old M-60A1s, I remember only rolling out the gate with 3 out of my 5 tanks on an exercise.  By the time the exercise was completed about 5 days later, all my tanks had broken down for various reasons. 


 



#50 healey36

healey36

    Lt Colonel

  • Members
  • 737 posts
  • LocationMaryland USA

Posted 23 February 2021 - 01:00 PM

Everything I've ever heard or read of armored operations is one of spending more time laying under the tank than sitting in it. One of my college roommates, who was two years older than me, did a stint as a crewman on an M163 air-defense vehicle (Vulcan 20mm on an M113 APC hull). He did two tours in Southeast Asia while in the army, and said his lasting memory of those 2-1/2 years was one of endlessly changing or repairing the tracks.



#51 Peter M. Skaar

Peter M. Skaar

    Captain

  • Members
  • 336 posts

Posted 22 April 2021 - 09:51 PM

I finished up 12 more GHQ M4A1 75mm Shermans just a few days ago.  This gives me a total of 23 M4A1 Shermans including 6 M4A1 76mm.  I also created a "parade ground" from a piece of styrofoam which I painted and flocked so I can better display company sized units or even larger.  I will be doing some gaming with these soon.

 

51132859010_3fe9100b71_b.jpg

 

51131959883_8ee646a1c9_b.jpg

 

51131073162_018e4294d5_b.jpg

 

51131073152_87b948536c_b.jpg



#52 healey36

healey36

    Lt Colonel

  • Members
  • 737 posts
  • LocationMaryland USA

Posted 23 April 2021 - 10:49 AM

They are lovely, Peter.

 

I'll be interested to hear what the scenario will be and how it plays. Not too many folks around here play micro-armor, at least that I can find. My former college room-mate has a Panther battalion he keeps taunting me with, but I'll need a couple Soviet tank brigades to have a shot against that. That's a big investment, lol.

 

  



#53 Peter M. Skaar

Peter M. Skaar

    Captain

  • Members
  • 336 posts

Posted 26 April 2021 - 06:22 PM

Thanks very much, Healey!  I did have a group here that played Micro Armor.  I actually helped to create it but some people have left the group and others have busied themselves with other games for now at least.  I usually find that I need to be ready to bring both sides to a game and run it in order to play.

It seems that most people that play WWII and Modern historical games like larger scales in the 15mm - 28mm range rather than Micro Armor.  Flames of War, Bolt Action, and Chain of Command come to mind although Flames of War and other rules sets can definitely be played at 6mm and some prefer to do that but not in my area as far as I am aware.

 

I have lots of 1/285th GHQ and a fair amount of 1/2400 scale ships so I plan to stick to those rather than get involved in a different scale for a large army.


  • healey36 likes this

#54 healey36

healey36

    Lt Colonel

  • Members
  • 737 posts
  • LocationMaryland USA

Posted 27 April 2021 - 08:38 AM

It would be interesting to see the demographics of miniature gamers these days. When I visit Historicon and other miniature game-cons, the gaming population looks to be a good cross-section by age. However, most of the local folks playing, and it seems to be a dwindling crowd, are well into their fifties and sixties. I think that plays into the popularity of the larger scales...as you get older, you can't see! Even at Historicon, a venue that will have a couple hundred games going over three or four days, you see very few at the 1/285-1/300 scale. Maybe folks like playing at the "skirmish" level, rather than the full-on battalion/regiment/brigade level. I don't know...it's perplexing.



#55 Peter M. Skaar

Peter M. Skaar

    Captain

  • Members
  • 336 posts

Posted 29 April 2021 - 06:11 PM

Hi Healey

 

It would be interesting to see what the demographics of miniature gamers are these days.  There are  many historical periods, other genres including Sci Fantasy, and role playing.  In addition there are many different scales and rules out there as well.

 

Trying to find someone to play a game that is interested in your particular historical period AND either has or is familiar with your preferred rules set and scale is usually very difficult.  There are a fair number of miniature gamers in the greater Phoenix area.  Like most places, most of the gamers are into Fantasy, Sci Fi, D&D with a much smaller number of gamers that are primarily historical gamers.  Even within the range of historical gamers, you have a great range of interests, scale preference, and rules sets.  In some ways, there is too much out there but I really shouldn't complain.

I belong to a loose confederation of primarily historical gamers in the Phoenix area known as the North Phoenix Irregulars.  They used to meet regularly on Friday nights and Imperial Outpost Games in Glendale.
I used to attend occasionally depending on what was played.  With Covid, the group has not really been meeting at all.  A sub group of the North Phoenix Irregulars is Arizona Game Friends which is a Facebook group I belong to.  These guys play a variety of games including some Sci Fi, Fantasy, and some historical rules sets.  A year or two ago, they ran a large 28mm Civil War game on the Battle of Salem Church and another one using Bolt Action on Wittmann's attack at Villers Bocage.

My primary miniature gaming interests are WWII and Cold War era Modern including the Arab-Israeli Wars and some of the other Wars of that era.  My chosen scale is 1/285th scale aka 6mm for this.  I also have an interest in 10mm American Civil War, and WWI and WWII naval gaming in 1/2400 scale.  I can play other periods and scales providing someone else brings the minis and is ready to teach me the rules.

I have had a couple of Mein Panzer gaming groups in the last 20 years or so.  When I introduce new players to the game, I try to make the games very manageable and designed to reach some sort of conclusion in 3 to 4 hours.  I actually use the Advanced Rules for this because I don't think they are that much more difficult than the basic rules.  I just play the tank game with no infantry or artillery although we play with the basic Command Rules so that players will have to pay attention to their command distance etc.

Sadly, both of my groups have dispersed.  Some players have moved and some have other interests that they are currently engaged in.  Sometime later this year I will consider another Demo game to see if I can get some interest in Mein Panzer again.



#56 healey36

healey36

    Lt Colonel

  • Members
  • 737 posts
  • LocationMaryland USA

Posted 30 April 2021 - 03:01 PM

Joplin, Missouri looks about halfway, Peter...what are you doing this weekend?



#57 Peter M. Skaar

Peter M. Skaar

    Captain

  • Members
  • 336 posts

Posted 30 April 2021 - 07:24 PM

Yeah, that's the ticket.  LOL!  My oldest daughter does live in central Arkansas so not too far away ... right?



#58 Peter M. Skaar

Peter M. Skaar

    Captain

  • Members
  • 336 posts

Posted 24 May 2021 - 09:46 PM

I'm doing some paved roads for my desert games, for both WWII and Modern.  I am using GHQ Terrain Maker as the base.  Here are a couple of my in-progress pictures.  I still need to blend the color just a bit more to look like the 2 dirt road hexes that are pictured.

 

51198507898_710c9459aa_b.jpg

 

51199045454_e69a412ed7_b.jpg



#59 healey36

healey36

    Lt Colonel

  • Members
  • 737 posts
  • LocationMaryland USA

Posted 25 May 2021 - 02:39 PM

Nice looking stuff, Peter. Terrain Maker has always intrigued me...seems like a nice, neat way to make geomorphic terrain offering a bzillion configurations, not to mention it looks like a blast to make. The one question I have is, how do you store that stuff? Our 35 year-old terrain here uses 12"x12"x1/4"masonite panels as a base, and those are a bear to store. At one time we used a rolling rack from a defunct bakery, sliding the terrain in on the rails where the bakers trays were supposed to go. It worked well, but it wasn't large enough and we quickly outgrew the rack.



#60 Peter M. Skaar

Peter M. Skaar

    Captain

  • Members
  • 336 posts

Posted 26 May 2021 - 08:48 AM

Thanks very much, Healey!  I store my terrain sets in Rubbermaid and Sterilite tubs in the garage.  The styrofoam hexes are pretty light weight.  I always put woods hexes on the top so the trees don't get bent out of shape.






0 user(s) are reading this topic

0 members, 0 guests, 0 anonymous users