28mm WWII US 101st Airborne from Warlord

All,

Hello everyone, come on in and take a look at my US Airborne from Warlord.  These guys are painted up (decal'ed up) as being members of the 101st Airborne Division, as opposed to my guys from Artizan, which are painted up as members of the 82nd Airborne Division.  This is one of the first forces I built and painted; I wasn't sure how to do it but I saw a guy on Youtube with a very simple solution.  Spray prime the guys a dark gray, then cover them in "Aggros Dunes," one of the Contrast paint colors.  They're not beautiful paintjobs, but I'll tell you that I was able to knock these guys out in record time.  I just slathered Aggros Dunes everywhere, then went back and did the weapons (Gore Grunta Fur for wooden furniture and Basilicum Gray for metal), slapped Creed Camo on the helmets, then did up the flesh (hit is with matt white and then Gulliman Flesh), and they were done.  But I was kinda embarrassed about how plain they looked, so I went and actually decaled every single one of these guys with US Ensign and division patch (some with rank, as well).  So, I'd say they're a decent tabletop standard, and again, it was lightning quick.

My only real issue after I had them finished was the troops themselves, which is actually what drove me to go get another Airborne force from Artizan.  The more I looked at these guys the more I was unhappy; they're just kind of plain.  The poses are kinda dumpy and vague, very vanilla, not particularly dynamic.  I don't mean to run them down, it just seems like they were Warlord's initial proof of concept on plastic figures, and everything since has just gotten better and better.  I guess Warlord agrees with me on these guys because they just released another plastic set of US paratroopers, and it's taking every ounce of discipline I have to not go out and buy some more ;)

The whole mess: I've got four HQ types, four with BARs, eight with M-1 Carbines, a whopping twenty-two with submachine guns, twenty-one with M-1 Garands (yes, more Tommy Guns then Garands), a 57mm anti-tank gun, a 60mm mortar team, an 81mm mortar team, two M-1919A6 machine gun teams in action, one machine gun team on the move, two bazooka teams, and a flamethrower team.

Two metal leader types; not bad figures at all, but noticeably smaller than the plastic figures.

Reverse.

A medic with litter and a radioman.

Reverse.

The guys with M-1 Carbines.  Right off the bat I think you can see how the poses are pretty 'samey.'

A closer look.

Again.

The four men with Browning Automatic Rifles.  These are not good; I've noticed that Warlord tends to make all the BARs too long, but then these have the guys holding them like it has a pistol grip (it does not).

A closer look.

And because the weapons are too long they had to make the non-firing hand/arms WAY too long...

There aren't enough M-1 Garands in the box so you end up having to give half the guys Tommy Guns...

Some guys with Thompson elevated, either pointing or reaching for a new magazine.

Some more guys pointing, Thompson in different attitudes.  The set really just needed more arm/weapon options (though, bizarrely, there's some sort of Mad Max-looking giant meat cleaver included), there just weren't enough so it all kinda looks the same.

Some dudes firing their Tommy Guns.  The firing option is pretty good, I think.

We've got the obligatory Mohawks.  The guy on right has a Grease Gun from Warlord's regular 'leg' infantry set.

Another couple guys with Mohawks.

The riflemen with M-1 Garands.

Some guys standing and firing.  I stole some arm/weapons combos from the regular 'leg' infantry box and they seem to look okay, but these from the Airborne box just look kinda off to me.

Some guys moving forward at the double time, but not really looking particularly dynamic.

And again, because of the lack of arm/weapon combos, we've got a lot of pointing going on.  On the plus side, the guy in front does have the patented Dick Winters look; the problem is, there should only be one of those ;)

More pointing and grabbing clips.

Two guys kneeling and firing; the guy on left has the Airborne arm combo, the guy on the right has the regular infantry arm combo.  The one on the right looks a lot better to me...

And especially when you turn it around (Airborne on left, Regular on right).  Again, the Airborne non-firing arm looks too long, and isn't holding the weapon in a natural spot/manner.

The metal bazooka team, these guys are tiny, almost thought they were 20mm dudes.

Made another team out of the plastics.

The flamethrower team; the flamethrower guy is metal, his assistant is plastic.  Look at the difference in the size of the heads and helmets.

Reverse.

Again, I tend to make some goofy poses because I'm also a skirmish gamer.  I needed an MG team on the move, so I had to make it with what was available.  The gun comes molded on the arm, so this was the only way...

Reverse.

I made four-man gun teams since I had so many guys.  Pretty good looking.

Reverse.

The 60mm mortar team. Tiny.

Reverse.

The 81mm mortar team.  The dude dropping the round isn't too bad, but the other two guys are absolutely tiny.

Reverse.

The anti-tank gun.  Tiny little metal crewmen.

And reverse.

So, I hope I didn't come off as too whiny and/or bitter; they're not terrible, and I'm sure as hell going to use them, happily.  As usual, the stuff I'm moaning about won't even be noticeable on the tabletop when you're playing a game, it's just the stuff you notice when you're examining them up close and taking pictures that are blowing them to three times their real size. So they're going to work like a champ for Normandy and Market Garden, and I'm happy to have them, just a little aggravated that they could have been even better but, as previously discussed, Warlord is already on it.

And just to see if anyone actually reads these damn things, it’s June 6th, 81st anniversary of D-Day.  I’ve been promising to get some toys on the table and roll some dice.  I’m still not exactly sure what I’m going to do, but I do have the table set.

6 June 1944, left is north.  So we’re a bit inland; not sure if I want to go with Airborne dropping behind enemy lines looking to take out a strongpoint guarding a bridge or battery, or with leg infantry that are pushing inland off the beaches, working to reduce a nearby enemy strongpoint.  Not sure if I want to do squad, platoon, or company level, or what rules I want to use.  

I know I want to get my two sons playing, and I know I don’t know how to set up a 28mm WWII table!  That probably sounds horribly stupid, but this was the first time I’ve actually set up a 28mm table, and it felt really weird.  Everything is so big!  And, as you see, I got a new mat; I love my ‘usual’ teddy bear mat, but it’s just so dark, and the fur is so long, so I hit up War Sigil and got this one, which is much brighter and shorter haired.  BUT… it’s also much smaller, a true 72” x 48”, whereas my other teddy bear fur mat is much bigger, drapes well over a 6’ x 4’ table.  What that means is I won’t be able to put elevation under the mat anymore, I’ve got to use hills that pop on top.  That was a bit of a shock, I’m going to have to get this figured out quickly.  For now, this table is flat as a chessboard…

Looking south at the German strongpoint.

Looking north at the French village.

So not sure what, but we’re going to be getting up to something here soon.

V/R,
Jack