15mm WWII US Airborne - Temperate

[bigjackmac]

 All,

Greetings, yes, it's been awhile.  Man, I feel ill, I haven't played a wargame in... well, I can't even remember when!  But don't think I haven't been working, I've been spending all my wargaming time painting up new 15mm forces.  As previously, I've bought quite a bit off of Ebay, Gajo Minis, my buddy AJ, and TMP Marketplace, in addition to painting troops up myself, and although I've made great use of already-painted troops, I generally still have to spend a considerable amount of time touching things up and basing them.  In any case, I'm starting off with these guys since I painted them all myself.  I actually bought them painted from four different sources, but since they didn't match, I decided to just completely re-do them.  So, what are we talking about?

Well, we're talking about my 15mm U.S. Airborne force based for temperate climes, i.e., Normandy, Market Garden, maybe even Varsity.


Here it is, the entire force.  If you're looking at it as one stand = one squad or weapons team*, then I have:
-Commanding Officer
-Executive Officer
-Five Rifle Platoons (three squads + Platoon Commander -PC- and Bazooka team)
-An MG Platoon (three M1919s and a PC)
-An Anti-Tank Gun Platoon (two M1 57mm guns and a PC)
-An Artillery Platoon (two 75mm pack howitzers and a PC)
-A Mortar Platoon (three 60mm tubes and a PC)
-A Heavy Mortar Platoon (two 81mm tubes and a PC)

*I say it in those terms because lately I've got a hankering to play some higher echelon games, where one stand = a platoon, or even a company!  We'll see how I get on, more to follow.


Some hardcore para command stands, Battlefront plastics.


Some riflemen advancing.


A pack howitzer in action.

To see a boatload more pics of these guys, please check the blog at:
https://blackhawkhet.blogspot.com/2022/02/15mm-wwii-us-airborne-temperate.html

I couldn't be more happy with how these guys turned out, a good looking force ready to drop on the unsuspecting Krauts and wreak havoc.  Or Japanese; I suppose I could use these guys for Burma, New Guinea, and the Philippines, too.

In any case, this is the first of MANY posts I"m going to make in rapid succession in order to show you what I've been up to.

V/R,
Jack

[Duke Speedy of Leighton]

Very nice mate

[Ithoriel]

Great to see you back! Nice figures too .... if a little too tall

[pierre the shy]

Welcome back Jack.....haven't seen you here for a while.

Nice looking airborne force. No doubt we'll be seeing them in action soon.

click - click

[Ithoriel]

click - click

Flash!

[paulr]

Thunder

     

...Or Japanese; I suppose I could use these guys for Burma, New Guinea, and the Philippines, too...

That flock looks a bit long for the golf course on Corregidor 

Good to see you back

[fred.]

Good to see you back around Jack

Airborne are looking good    I like the latter green uniforms you have gone for. 

If you are wanting to play at a higher representational level, a historically organised force tends to work pretty well as you go up and down the different levels, probably thanks to most armies having a triangular organisation. You might need a few more HQs or support weapons, but all depends on the rules or scenario. 

[bigjackmac]

Oh my goodness, well that's a fantastic 'welcome back,' thanks everyone! Like I was never gone

Lord Speedy- Thanks! And forgive me, it's been awhile, but is that Will/Mad Lemmey?

Ithoriel- I appreciate it, and indeed they are. The big issue is that somehow I kept accumulating 15mm terrain, and using it with 10mm guys finally started to bother me.  And "FLASH!"

Pierre - Hello there, it certainly has been a long time, glad to see ya! I have no idea when they'll see the table, gotta figure out a plan. And I seemed to have misplaced my clacker 

 Paul - Indeed, a bit different to 'The Rock.'

Fred - Thank you, good to be back, and yes, late war uniforms. I did my best to model them off of 'Band of Brothers.' 

And you're absolutely correct, that unit of a command stand and three rifle stands can serve as a platoon or the primary components of a company, a battalion, or even a regiment/brigade, maybe even the whole thing, depending on how you abstract stuff out.  For example, I picked up Field of Battle WWII, where every stand is a company or battery, and company and battalion heavy- and anti-tank weapons are simply amalgamated into the line companies' stats, representing how they are tasked out in direct support.  I really like the concept, but it feels a bit weird not having machine guns, mortars, and ATGs modeled on the table.

V/R,
Jack

[Lord Kermit of Birkenhead]

Welcome back. Good stuff with the airbourne

[bigjackmac]

Thanks a bunch, Lord Kermit.

Is this Lemmey?  FSN?  You guys are killing me with your name changes...

V/R,
Jack