Week One: Joe Krone With the initial purchases out of the way I cracked open the Forces book to investigate which army I want to build. The tank commander located on the new Sherman plastic sprue is British and he is too cool to not use in some capacity so I decided on a British army.

Yes, sometimes it’s just that simple when picking an army. I generally look for miniatures I will enjoy painting and the mustache on the tank commander will be a fun addition to a 15mm model.

Reviewing the army choices in the Forces book I have three options: a tank company, a mechanized company, and an infantry company. The support options for these lists are very similar so it literally comes down to my interest in painting tanks or infantry. I talked to my partner in crime Rob Villnave (who is also building an allied list) and he informed me that he was building an infantry company so I decided that a tank company was in order. That worked out great for me because I feel that tanks will be easier and faster to paint then a bunch of infantry.

So, a British Armoured Squadron (page 58 of the Forces Book) is my army and project for the next few months. I wanted to budget my funds wisely and build a nice balanced army so here is what I came up with:

Headquarters (page 58) 2 Sherman V - 135 points using 2 Shermans out of BBX08 Sherman Armoured Platoon x1: $58.00. Combat Platoon (page 59) Armoured Platoon 3 Sherman V & 1 Firefly VC - 280 points. acquired 3 Shermans in Achtung. BR121 Sherman Firefly VC x1: $12.50. Combat Platoon (page 59) Armoured Platoon 3 Sherman V & 1 Firefly VC - 280 points acquired 3 Shermans in Achtung trade BR121 Sherman Firefly VC x1: $12.50 Combat Platoon (page 59) Armoured Platoon 3 Sherman V & 1 Firefly VC 280 points using 2 Shermans and 1 Sherman Firefly VC out of the BBX08 listed above under HQ BR120 Sherman V x1: $12.50

Brigade Support Platoon (page 61): Scout Platoon 3 Universal Carriers - 70 points. BR210 Universal Carrier x1: $14.00. Brigade Support Platoon (page 61): Motor Platoon 3 Motor Squads - 110 points. BR201 M5 half-track x4: $12.50 x 4 = $50.00. BR723 Motor Platoon x1: $12.50. Divisional Support (page 71) Field Battery (SP) Royal Artillery 8 Sexton - 340 points. Add Jeep and 15 cwt trucks for +5 points. BR172 Sexton x8: $12.50 x 8 = $100.00. BR120 Sherman V x2: $12.50 x 2 = $25.00. BR710 Artillery HQ – Late War x1: $23.00. BR432 CMP 15cwt truck x2: $12.50 x 2 = $25.00. Total Points: 1500 points. Total Army Cost: $345.00. Materials, Books, & Achtung Cost: $140.96. Total Cost of Project: $485.96.

As you can see I am a little over budget but there are some factors to consider. The rulebooks and Forces book can be used for future projects as well as all of the tools and glue. Taking that into consideration I feel really good about the money I am spending for the amount of enjoyment I will receive from this project and all future games. I could spend this money on movies, dinners, and going to the club but in the end I have physical proof that I am doing something constructive with my time. The side benefit is my wife encourages me to hobby because we can both enjoy our time at home together as we chat about day and each work on different projects.

You will see that two of my combat platoons and my HQ are bold faced and that is too represent the items in my army that I must own in order to build a legal army. I have chosen to work on these platoons first not only because they are so essential to my legal force but they were also the first miniatures I acquired. I also bought the BBX08 box set and 2 more blisters of Fireflies so I could work on all my combat platoons at once. I always like to finish something each week which keeps me motivated and excited about the project. Using an assembly line process can often save time but I often get bored or discouraged with a project when I can’t see the finish line. I will tend to use the first few finished miniatures as a template to complete the army because I enjoy trying new techniques and improving my skills as a hobbyist. Some of these effects are not successful so it’s better to fix one or two miniatures then find out in the end that your whole army looks hideous. I am happy with my Fireflies so now that I have the technique I will move forward with the rest of my vehicles. Stay tuned next week as I hope to have my HQ and 3 Combat Platoons built and sprayed with the British green color. I would also like to completely paint my M5 half-tracks minus the passengers as I will paint them separately. ~ Joe.