Saturday, October 20, 2012

Classic Toy Soldier's WWII German Assault Squad

This set just came out in the past two months, and I must say it is beautiful. CTS has brought the detail on their figures up greatly. CTS figures are almost comparable to brands like TSSD and Conte. Anyways this set came with 22 figures in 11 different poses. Most of the figures are depicted wearing camouflage smocks over their standard grey uniform, although there is still a mixture of different uniforms in the set which is realistic. I tried painting the camouflage smocks in the spring pea dot pattern. I'm not sure how well the camo shows up in the pictures because of the low lighting that I took them in.
 Here is a picture of all the figures together. Take note of the three different uniforms found in this set.
 The set comes with a casualty and prisoner. These two figures also come in the CTS German Medical team set. I did a review on these two figures in an earlier post if you want to learn more about them.
 I really love these figures because I have never seen a panzerfaust or panzershrek held the way they are here. Great figures.
 I guess these two figures are my favorite in the set (which is hard to say because they're all great figures). I don't know if you can tell by this picture, but the man on the left has the standard German gray uniform on as where the man on the right has a camoflage smock and helmet cover. I tried to make it look like the man on the left has airbrushed his helmet because I read somewhere that many German soldiers painted camo on their helmets. I love the way the guy on the right is depicted with the bolt of his rifle pulled back.
 These figures are not really as original as some of the others, but they're are still great. I painted them with an olive and grey mix for the coat and standard German grey for the pants.
 This is a wonderful figure! It is the only figure I've seen that has a flammenwerfer 41, which was the most common flamethrower used by the German armed forces.
The machinegun team in this set is interesting. It depicts an MG34 gunner calling for more ammunition to be brought up to him. Their is a rifleman carrying a ammo box running to him.
 
I can't wait to use these figures in a wargame. I'm about half way done painting both CTS US GI sets so keep an eye out for that post.

Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Why do we Wargame?

Wargaming is a bigger hobby than one may think. The only problem is that their are so many different rule sets, eras, and scales available to gamers that the players are almost separated by the games they choose to play. Whether it is fantasy, historical, or any other kind of wargame we all share a similar interest. Wargaming, unlike computer gaming, leaves you feeling accomplished whether you just painted a new unit, finished your gameboard, or just finished playing a game at your local hobby shop. Computer gaming may be fun at times, but it is not much more to it then mindlessly mowing down waves of enemies for hours on end. In wargaming you're actually thinking about the strategy and you're trying to keep your units alive. Your units don't get to respawn like you units in computer gaming do. That makes you think of real life decisions leaders must make and the men they loose as a consequence. That is the reason why Historical wargaming is sometimes looked down upon for dealing with real life events and lives that were actually lost, but as a podcast called "View from the Veranda" put it, "Plastic and metal soldiers don't have lives." Which is true, wargaming is more of a combat simulator whether than an actual portrayal of war. On a brighter note, gaming provides many skills for a player to learn. Also a historical wargamer may read more on the era he plays in for a more realistic game. Overall wargaming is a wonderful hobby, their is a large variety of subjects, eras, scales, and rules to choose from. It is also not as expensive as some say it is. It is only as expensive as what you're willing to spend. So, why do you wargame?