WWII Canadians on parade

 My Canadian forces for Operation Husky are sufficiently built up for now, so I can move on to work on other forces.  (for example, I need to add some German opposing forces to fight these Canucks!).  My original intent was to have just a single platoon of infantry, but as you can see, miniature megalomania set in and the force has grown.

The force is based around an infantry platoon.  I was inspired by Farley Mowat's memoir, And No Birds Sang as well as his WWII regimental history of the Hastings and Prince Edward Regiment, The Regiment.  While this platoon is inspired by the Hasty Pees, the only insignia that I added is the 1st Canadian Division's red patch, so these soldiers could represent any of the 9 battalions in the 1st Division.  I've added a 4th section to allow me to choose more soldiers as a support option.

I have four different PIAT teams, even though I'm unlikely to ever take more than one.

I have a recce section of the Princess Louise Dragoon Guards, consisting of 2 Otter LRC armoured cars and 2 universal carriers (with their dismounted Bren gun teams).  Also, another carrier with a .50 caliber MG!

 Some artillery pieces.  The 25-pounder is unlikely to appear in a CoC game, but could show up if I play a fantasy game like Bolt Action.  The 6-pdr anti-tank gun has seen action on the table, though!

I don't see any game purpose for my Pipes and Drums, but as a piper, I'm just pleased to have them in my collection.

My medical section, with half a dozen nurses and an ambulance jeep.  

From the 1st Canadian Army Tank Brigade, which became the 1st Canadian Armoured Brigade in August 1943, I have tanks from C Squadron of the Three Rivers Regiment, as well as a Dingo from the HQ Squadron.  The motorbikes are available to carry messages around the force as needed.

The army has a much bigger logistics section than most wargames armies.  In most wargames, the action starts after the forces have reached the table, so the details of how they got there are often unimportant.  Nonetheless, I can add a logistics element to my army, including both the lorries used on the roads as well as the mule-carried equipment that was able to carry supplies off road throughout Sicily and the Italian mainland.

And finally, my sappers!  For starters, I have three teams that can be Engineer Teams for CoC.  The teams are a wire cutting team with wire cutters, a demolition team with Bangalore torpedoes and a mine clearing team, with a Polish mine detector and two sappers probing for mines with bayonets, plus an engineer officer to serve as the Engineer Section's leader.

And the pride of my collection, my bridging platoon, with sappers building a Bailey bridge.

Next up, I'll have some photos of my BSC terrain with figures from a few different historical eras.

RCASC Bedford QLD Section

From Die Waffenkamer, here is a section of three Bedford QLD 3-ton lorries.  I've assigned these to the 1st Canadian Infantry Brigade Company, Royal Canadian Army Service Corps.  The RCASC had the responsibility of providing transport to the army and for moving supplies from the beachead in Pachino to the troops as they fought their way across Sicily.

The drivers that come with these vehicles come with full beards.  I know some soldiers in the WWII Canadian Army wore beards, but they were not very common, so I took a utility knife to two the of drivers and roughly shaved them.  These two now sport magnificent, 1970s style porn star 'staches!

Vehicle markings include the diagonal green/red of the RCASC, which is the mirror image of the British Army's RASC, according to canadiansoldiers.com.  I hand painted the 1st Canadian Infantry Division markings:  the yellowish blob is intended to be a maple leaf:

But I found decals for the RAF-style air recognition rondels.  Looking at the lorries now, I realise that I forgot to add the bridge classification signs.  These vehicles should each have a yellow disk with a black '7' on the front right. 

I also added a second 2" mortar team for my infantry platoon.  I've enjoyed annoying my Chain of Command opponents with loads of smoke, so I hope it will be handy to add a second team to smoke my foes.  I also painted up a couple of Perry tank crewmen.

BSC2021: Next steps

 I haven't posted on my terrain project in a while, but since the voting has happened, I can now show my next steps.

First up is painting.  The painting recipe is pretty simple:  base coat of yellow ochre craft paint, slathered on quite thickly.

Next step is a dry brush with Folk Arts 963 Camel, and the base dust colour is set.

Had to do some patching to fill gaps

Which of course led to more paint to cover the patches.

Once I got the base paint coat down, I got started on the roads.  To simulate the paved surfaces I used pieces of black felt from the craft store, with plastic bases so that I can blue tac them in place if I find they move around too much.  So far I haven't needed the blue tac, but it's still an option.

Duct tape is also good for backing.

For vegetation, I gradually layered up a combination of moss (for the bushes under the bridge), a collection of tufts scattered around, and a variety of static grass shades (green, light green and harvest gold).  

 Vegetation was a process, completed over many, many steps.

You can see the telephone poles that I made for this project, as well as the paved road and Bailey bridge.

The very ugly joint where the boards come together needed to be addressed.  The straight lines do not look at all natural.

Step one was to build a piece of difficult terrain by cutting a sheet of MDF to a suitable size and shape, and cover with plaster, small rocks and sand.

Then add paint and vegetation as with the main boards.

This blends in nicely and covers the junction of all four boards, but still leaves the remainder of the joints.  And yes, I have built additional difficult terrain to add to my BSC difficult terrain project!

So I experimented with some other solutions, for example trees or small terrain bases, but I fixed on felt strips as the path forward.

I took the strips, cut the edges to give them irregular edges and then painted them and added some static grass.

You can also see the extra work I did on the roads - I dusted up the road edges with some paint, and shaved the joints down a bit.

Finally I tried a few different setups to show different time periods, including

Al-andalus, ca 1050 AD

NWF, ca 1889

Afghanistan border patrol ca 2010

As you can see, some of these combos work better than others!

I also had to do something about storage.  I found a large storage bin at Canadian Tire, a 210 L storage bin.  It's big enough to hold the four boards when they are tipped on their sides.

SOE Agents and a Dangerous Dame

 Here are three Special Operations Executive (aka SOE) agents from Bad Squiddo, and one of Pulp Figures' Dangerous Dames (added just so I can link the Bad Squiddo agents to the Dangerous Dames!).  And it was a great pleasure to paint something other than khaki for a change 8^)

The SOE was a spy organization in the Second World War that undertook espionage and support for resistance against the Axis powers.  Its nickname was the "Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare".  I purchased these figures with the idea that they could blend in with my Sicilian civilians - as good spies are able to disappear in plain sight.

The first agent is based on Nancy Wake, a New Zealander of Pakeha and Maori ancestry.  Nicknamed the "White Mouse", she liaised with the Maquis and other French resistance.  Blowing a kiss, she might flirt with the Germans, but watch for what she has behind her back!

The second agent is Noor Inayat Khan, an actual princess, a descendant of Tipu Sultan.  Noor was a radio operator, which she has hidden in her suitcase.

Noor is one of the three main figures in a recent film that I watched on Netflix called, "A Call to Spy".

The final SOE agent is a fictitious agent based on Annie Norman, the founder, owner and chief bottle washer of Bad Squiddo!  I hope I got the hair right ;) 

The final member of the group is a member of the Museum of Natural History Ladies Exploration Society.  With map case in hand and goggles on her, she is ready to travel.  Has she just stepped out of the open cockpit of a Tiger Moth, or was riding in Crash Callahan's side car?