Again with One Hour Wargames and WW2

It's a good rule of thumb that if you're familiar with a period, and especially if you have played other rules in a period, that the One Hour Wargames rules for said period will feel lacking. 

That said, Saturday afternoon, I set up one of my favorite One Hour Wargames scenarios (Fighting Retreat) in hopes of luring my son away from meme videos and Roblox for short bit at least. My plan was to use the rules as written, figuring they would be easy to teach and grasp. Simulation, tactical options, and overpowered mortars, were the least of my concerns. 

I called him out to the living room. Repeatedly until I finally got a response. He looked at the table and then went back to his video games. 

Oh well. 

That was an epic fail as the kids say (assuming the kids do indeed still say such things).

 However, not one to waste a perfectly good scenario, I decided to play it out using the rules as written just for giggles. 

Germans at the west east crossing.
(Please ignore the grid - it's the cloth I grabbed, but has no bearing on the game.)

Soviets in hot pursuit!

German infantry took the woods on both sides of the hill. They would prove intractable.
(I also like how in this picture the hill looks so tall, but it's just 1" of foam)

The Soviets push across, with some units bypassing the Germans in the woods. At their own peril.

End game. The Soviets were soundly beaten.

The game went 12 turns and really felt up in the air until the end of turn 11, where I felt like the Soviets had only the slimmest of chances left. Turn 12 was the final nail in the coffin.

My usual complaint about stopping observation distance apart to blaze away at each other was mitigated by the need to capture the hill and not forgetting (as I usually do) the rule that units can only move or shoot, not both. It was not enough for the Soviets to shoot the Germans off the hill (assuming they could do so), they would need to move to actually capture the hill before time ran out which meant exposing themselves to withering fire. This in turn made the woods highly valued secondary objectives for the cover advantage they provided.

In the event, the Germans who had taken root in the woods could not be budged.

True, there was at least one occasion where close combat might have made sense - and certainly it would have made for a more cinematic game had the Soviet armor been able to charge the German armor on the hill to dislodge them, but I'm not sure that is a better narrative necessarily or just one that I tend to prefer because most of my WW2 gaming inspiration is war movies, not history books.

It also could be argued that I *could* have advanced the Soviets into base to base contact on their phase of one turn, allowing the Germans to fire on their phase, and then the Soviets would fire on their next phase assuming they survived. If the Germans were eliminated the Soviets would already be on the hill. This is kind of what happens in close combat rules generally, albeit in a single game turn. 

What's missing then isn't a way to handle close combat in the WW2 rules, but an explicit mechanism to encourage players to move into close contact - in early period rules in One Hour Wargames, there are bonuses for flank attacks with close combat, for example.

In any case, the lesson I came away with was that, even as written, One Hour Wargames's WW2 rules can yield an enjoyable game for someone even if they have expectations from their WW2 rules,  provided the chosen scenario does the lifting and eliminates the sticking points. 

I suppose it helped too that neither side had artillery(mortar) with its devastating 48" range or the game might have gone differently and I would be espousing my usual complaints. But as it was, it gave me pause to consider whether the WW2 rules are as flawed as I often say they are, and reason to consider how the scenarios act to compliment the rules and shore up apparent oversights.

All of this might seem an unnecessary thing, given that there are other rule systems that are simple, such as Martin Rapier's modified OHW WW2 v2 rules, or Joseph Morschauser's rules (they may raise more questions than they answer, but the book as a whole is my favorite wargaming book bar none),  or only moderately more complex, such as The Portable Wargame and Developing the Portable Wargame books, that provide more tactical options from the get go and don't favor mortars/artillery quite so readily. 

However, I think there's a benefit to revisiting One Hour Wargames from time to time (never mind that I did so by accident this time):

One, there are lessons to learn from Neil Thomas's approach to teasing out the essence of a period, even if we think he may have gone too far for personal taste with our pet period(s). I believe it's good to revisit this from time to time if you're a rules writer/tinkerer especially as we get caught up adding rules for this or that aspect of the period.

Two, that the scenarios work as well as they do with other rules, often with minimal or no tweaking, is a testament to how well-designed they are. Indeed they are not over designed and that is a saving grace. If they were intended to complete the rules included in the book, then their universality is perhaps the unintended success story.

Three, the interplay between the One Hour Wargames rules with the scenario design is an interesting design factor in itself worth examining, regardless of whether or not this is what was intended by Neil Thomas. I am sure other rules do this -probably a board wargame or two - and explicitly too, but alas none come to mind immediately. 

I can't say I'll pull out the WW2 rules as written again anytime soon, but my feelings for them have moved in a positive direction and it has given me inspiration to gently modify the Machine Age rules to make them more suitable for 1916-18 in Italy.

Painting progress!

I have a dozen or so figures on the paint table, a rebasing project underway, and scenery making supplies piling up. With just a little over a month and half of the year remaining, I find myself contemplating how much I might get done before the new year. It doesn't matter of course, but I like those little personal challenges from time to time.

First up, the most recent figure in progress, a proof of concept paint job for a lizard warrior from the SCS Direct "Fantasy Creatures: Series 2" set.

The base and the weapon need painting still but otherwise they are done. I could not be happier with how it has turned out. The color scheme is based on a composite of many marine iguana pictures. Nature always has the best ideas about coloration. I have five more to  paint on hand - need to find seven more for the unit. They are just one of the tribes in the coalition of Venusian lizard folk.

One of their likely opponents will be the French Foreign Legion. My French have more than doubled their numbers, although one is already a casualty of a serious fall  (and thus not pictured) which chipped the paint/Mod Podge/varnish coverings!

That officer waves their hand around rather freely. Perhaps as a subtle jab to the famed Captain Danjou?

I have to touch up that one as mentioned, and then complete six more - three for this unit and three to man the Gatling.

B hooked me up with a HaT 1/32 Carthaginian elephant. I've made a few modifications with some air dry Sculpey clay.

This was taken early on in the sanding process.Once i was done, I filled in some gaps/dips with super glue and smoothed transitions with Mod Podge.

Primed and ready for next steps.

The elephant will be cloaked and bearing at least one Mythos symbol on its trunk. Elephant cultists. Literally. 

Venusian elephants have felt no compulsion to hide their intelligence from humans, who can barely comprehend the depths of emotional and intellectual ability they possess. They also have dabbled with the occult a little too freely and it has not left them unchanged.

Fistful of Lead Bigger Battles counts beasts as two units (and each side has 5-6 units plus a commander), so I probably won't ordinarily field more than one, unless I hamstring it and make it the commander.

Next up, another concept test and another attempt at the red-figure pottery inspired paint scheme. The color, if you look at examples of Greek red-figure pottery, isn't really red, but more orange. So:

3 seconds of research gave me a shield design i could reproduce. The symbol is that of Tanit - a goddess worshiped by, among others, the Carthaginians. I've dubbed my Venusian Carthaginians Tanitians in her honor.

OK. I may have gone too far to the orange but I love orange (My first car was an orange 1972 Chevy Chevelle with a white vinyl top and interior, a 350 V8 under the hood, and a "Did you hug your mom today?" bumper sticker. That was a lot of car for 16 year old me. My bedroom color when I was 6 or so until 15 was burnt orange.) 

This shade is called 'Pumpkin' and is from FolkArt. It has better coverage than 'Lava Orange" from Reaper that I had posted previously. I like the color a lot - although it's still not exactly what I had in mind. Also not sure how they will look when placed alongside their Mythos corrupted elephant allies. 

The black lining was done by a drunk monkey holding the brush in its mouth.

It took almost an hour to complete - despite only being two colors, because the orange paint coverage, though better, is not great and fixing black line errors is painful. I *may* acquire some Micron pens with .5 mm and 1mm tips - I have .25mm and while they worked for quickly lining the figure, they were not impactful the way I like black lines to be.

In the end, I may relegate this idea to "interesting for a one off figure" and just paint the flesh Lava or Pumpkin and the clothes and weapons more normally, but I let go of ideas like a bulldog willingly lets go of a soup bone.

The rebasing project pertains to my medieval collection - primary Deetails figures. I decided I wanted the units to have smaller foot prints - currently they are based on 4" squares for One Hour Wargames. I also figured that if I based them individually, they could fight my Carthaginians/Tanitians and Romans (who still need a name), or even lizard folk. 

Shades of Hyboria anyone?

If you look closely, you'll see one fellow has a rather excessive terra cotta plume. I made it from air dry clay to replace the one that was missing. It still needs paint. Clearly.

For One Hour Wargames, I can just put the foot on sabots and the horse side by side.

Finally, more scenery/terrain work is happening. I took home quite a haul of unnaturally colored lichen and plastic plants from the craft and dollar store this weekend. However, it's the paper-made ones that make me happiest:

You've seen the tree before. The bushy plant is new.

I'll post a tutorial of sorts for these shortly as I have about a dozen or so of each plant type to make!

Fictional Citadel : July 8, 1943, Part 3

On July 8th, the ground shook under the advancing Soviet 1st Tank Corps as they moved south towards Cherkasskoye in pursuit of the falling back PanGermania Division. Commanded by Divsion Commander Ouspensky, who had, since the invasion began been relatively untested, the Soviets had the benefit of three tank brigades, to the German's sole Panzer regiment.

The paper tells me the unit ID as all of my tanks look alike. All but one non-commander unit (total, counting both sides) started the battle already in a deficit of Strength Points - hence the little dice next to the units indicating such.

Unlike his Soviet opponent, General Fichte had been involved in the fighting for days. That he was forced to concede Berezovka to the 1st Soviet Guard Rifle Division, who had been supported by Ouspensky's tank brigades, made the oncoming collision a personal matter. He would command the division's PanzerJaeger battalion personally. However it was 1st Panzer Regiment that made first contact - a long range barrage that damaged several AFVs in the Soviet 3rd Tank Brigade and forcing them into a cautious defensive stance.

The German artillery advanced far to the East and set up within range of both the cross roads and the small village overlooking the bridge over the river - the Germans hoped to capture the village and the crossroad.


Ficthe had opted to keep the 1sts Fusilier Regiment in the rear to recover from their mauling the day prior. 1st Panzer Grenadier Regiment was committed to capturing the village and 1st Pioneer Battalion was sent forward to harass the Soviet right in the event Ouspensky sent his Motor Rifle Regiment forward at that spot.


The Soviet 1st Tank Brigade crossed the bridge and moved west o engage 1st Panzer Regiment and prevent the crossroads from falling into German hands.

In the event, 10th Motor Rifle Regiment advanced quickly on the Soviet right behind the 2nd Tank Brigade. Intense fighting for the village began with the German artillery reigning shells on the Soviets, followed by a German attack led by the Panzer Grenadiers, and eventually supported by the Division HQ - which Ficthe reluctantly committed to the battle due to the overall shortage of manpower and viable units remaining in his command.


Through deft maneuvering by lGerman local commanders, the 1st Panzer Regiment eliminated the 3rd Tank Brigade. Meanwhile a breakdown in command stalled the Soviets and hamstrung efforts to contain PanGermania.


Although Ficthe led from the field, himself coming under direct fire from 1st Tank Brigade when hells landed among the PAK 40 crews, Ouspensky had to be cooerced by his subordinates to make an appearance at the front.

When he arrived it was to join 1st Tank Brigade behind the hill, supported by the 1st Tank Corps recon unit. Historians continue to second guess the general's decision to take command of the 1st Tank Brigade. Ignoring that it had been forced back by accurate AT fire from both the PanzerJaegers and Panzer Regiment, without infantry support, their ability to take and then hold the crossroads was limited at best .


Meanwhile 2nd Tank Brigade and the 10th Motor Rifle Regiment engaged in a struggle for the village which the Soviets had a much higher probability of holding - and might have done so had they had the Commander's morale boosting presence.

As it was, brutal no-quarter-asked-no-quarter-given man-to-man fighting swept through the village and nearby forest, and forced the 10th Motor Rifle Regiment to abandon the village, leaving their transports behind. 1st Panzer and 1st Panzer Grenadier continued to harass the battered Soviet regiment and a last ditch effort to retake the village faltered under the lack of manpower and competent command.


Trapped in the open, they were easy targets for the German artillery. When the smoke cleared little remained of the 10th Motor Rifle.

The Soviet 2nd Tank Brigade managed to drive the PanzerGrenadiers out of the village but they were quickly replaced by the 1st Panzer regiment and the two tank units engaged in a long range exchange of fire.

With no infantry, down one unit of tanks, and with the 1st Tank Brigade on the brink of defeat, the Soviet advance could not continue and Ouspensky ordered a general retreat. (1)

Fichte having received reports from the two German divisions to the east opted not to pursue the retreating Soviets but instead held his position. It would give his men rest and allow the other divisions to advance in line.







(1) Historians suggest that it was only his personal friendships with officers close to Stalin that prevented his disposal at the hands of NKVD. In 1948, Ouspensky escaped the Soviet Union and defected to the United States. He died of entirely natural causes that should not be questioned in 1956 on his farm in rural Central Pennsylvania.

**************************

A completely surprising ending.

I thought this would be the last nail in the German coffin, but PanGermania has kept the invasion alive - or at least on life support.

I did forget that once one side reaches exhaustion you fight until the other side does as well, but in the excitement of the Germans pushing the Soviets to exhaustion (6 strength points lost in this case) while they had only lost 2 strength points, I started to tear down the table and think about the write up!

However, I think it makes more sense narratively this way.

Since the Soviets couldn't advance. the Germans could just bomb the snot out of 2nd Tank Brigade with artillery and with Panzer fire from the protection of the village. There is no need for PanzerJaeger or the Pioneers to advance any further and risk being cut up by the Soviet recon or 1st Tank Brigade, as they already had control of the crossroad.

So, if anything not attacking 2nd Tank Brigade further benefitted the Soviets.

One odd thing this game.

For the first time, I decided that a mounted unit that had dismounted and was then forced back wouldn't have time to bring their vehicles. This was wrong I think in retrospect though it mattered little in this game. The turns by my calculation are 30-60 minutes of time. And trucks wouldn't sit around in the combat zone to be shot up, they'd be at the rear already. If anything, they'd reach the fall back space first. The 10th Motor Rifle Regiment then should have 1)fallen back one space when losing the close combat 2)ended up in that space with their vehicles and 3)remained dismounted.

The biggest factors in working against the Soviets in this battle were:

1. The Soviets only had 6 units including the commander, so they could only activate 2,3, or 4 units.
2. They rolled terribly on my special events table (roll a d12 each turn after artillery fire and before drawing that side's card):
• 1 -Enemy artillery fires again
• 2 - Units in melee range of enemy must retreat 1 space
• 3 - No movement this turn
• 4 - No shooting this turn
• 5-8 Nothing
• 9 - One unit may fire twice
• 10 - Artillery may fire again
• 11 - One unit may move twice (including moving shooting and moving)
• 12 - one unit regains 1 lost SP

They rolled "No Movement" three times, "No Fire" once, and "Enemy artillery fires again" . Ten turns and five of them were negative events. It definitely made it interesting!

In any case, PanGermania is doing OK but the other German units are in pretty bad shape. The Soviets, by the rules I wrote for reinforcements will slowly be able to resupply in ways the Germans cannot - particularly Soviet units on a rail space. It's just a matter of time.

That said, it's still holding my interest so I'll play another campaign turn and see what happens!

Lizard Warriors Big and Small

One of the problems with relying on the internet for purchase decisions is that you are beholden to reviewers providing info that you need and your own ability to find said info. You would think that as a "librarian by training" (I have an MLS) I would be good at the latter, but not that is not necessarily so.

Case in point - I recently ordered and received a box of Wargames Atlantic 28mm "Lizard Men". The reviews I found talked about how well they fit with this or that figure. What I failed to grasp  or determine was that without specifying an exact size dimension and not possessing those comparison figures, I was left guessing if they would mix well with Reaper lizard warriors:

If by "mix well" I meant "could be their children" then I suppose they do indeed. However, as that is not what I meant, I'm at a bit of a loss. B, the person who I will be playing Venusian based games with in-person, suggested they might be skinks (Games Workshop makes skinks for their lizard forces that are notably smaller than then regular lizards). This is an option.

We're now looking at using the big battle version of Fistful of Lead (it has edged out G.A.S.L.I.G.H.T. for now), I could make a larger than normal unit and give them some penalties for their small size. 

In any case, they are definitely not going to be the majority of my lizard troops as I was planning. Instead, I picked up a few more Reaper lizard men to top off my existing figures at a full unit, plus command and some archers for the howdah on the triceratops. I still have plenty of other unit ideas for this force.

 By far the best inexpensive-ish 54mm lizard warrior choice is the SCS Direct figure (available on eBay and Amazon):

I get the feeling the number of lizard warriors you get per box of creatures varies. There were six in my box and that means another box is needed eventually unless I can find them in job lots on eBay. 

They are a soft plastic - more rubbery than not, in my opinion. I coated this one with Modge Podge before hitting it with the black acrylic. It scales well with the Armies in Plastic French Legionnaire. The lack of pose variety (just one) might seem damning but they are hackable if that's your thing. If I get extras I may try to do some customization, but for now they'll stay as is. 

Finally, I have from time to time seen on various blogs, people posting a beverage they enjoyed while gaming or painting. So here is mine:

 

I am a sucker for new flavors of soda. Being this is Mtn Dew, I didn't go in with high hopes. And therefore I was not disappointed. It was in fact, not bad. It was so not bad, that I'd drink it again. It's not so good that I'd hoard bottles before it's discontinued.

It most definitely, and disturbingly, tastes like gingersnap cookies.

Ultracheap Trees

I don't know how I learned how to do this, but many years ago, I found I could easily make palm trees inexpensively out of ordinary printer paper. Then it was 1/72, now it's 1/32.

This isn't a step-by-step although if someone wants me to, I can do one. It's pretty straightforward.

I cut a strip off paper - wide enough that I can roll it a few times onto itself. I slather glue along one edge, flip it over and start rolling, then clue the last bit down again. To make the 'roots' i just make a few snips at the end i decide will be the base and fold them outwards (these won't be the roots you see in the end. Well they can be, and I used to, but I have a better way now). Leaf shapes are cut individually and their "stems" are twisted together and inserted into the end of the tube. Sometimes i snip along the edges to look more palm like, sometimes I don't.

The finished product. The tree is glued onto a base. Painters tape is wrapped around the trunk and base (in this case) - folds and bumps at the base are good - they form the roots. Then paint. The leaves are not permanently installed into the trunk, which allows me to replace them if the get damaged.

The blue color for the leaves (along with some purple) implies this tree is located in a Venusian environment.

They're quick and easy to make and I enjoy doing it, but then I like working with paper (I love cutting out paper miniatures for example). If you hate working with paper or the look of the end result, then clearly it's not for you.

I just have another dozen or two to make!

 

 

 

 

(and for the curious, those are The Golden Girls tiki shot glasses. I rarely have need of a shot glass, but I am a long time fan of The Golden Girls and am thrilled by their increasing popularity over the last 10 or so years and the availability of merchandise. The "Little People" toys are high on my Christmas list this year.)

300th Post! My Portable Wargame House Rules (and bonus painting preview)

According to Blogger, this is my 300th published post. I must emphasize published. There are as of late 25 unpublished! (it used to be more)

To celebrate, I thought I'd share some of my house rules/house clarifications for Bob Cordery's The Portable Wargame (the Early and Mid-Twentieth Century in particular) that I have been using in my Fictional Citadel campaign. 

Nothing here is ground breaking but perhaps you'll get some use from them or find some clarification in your own thoughts about The Portable Wargame from these ideas.

My Turn Sequence

I wanted to preserve the two player IGO-UGO turn sequence with the simultaneous artillery fire, but make use of the suggested solo method in some way.

To do this, I keep each side's cards separate, so I can still use a die for initiative, and the cards determine the number of units that the side can activate on their half of the turn.

My sequence also means you have to choose whether or not to fire before you know how many total actions you'll be allowed in the turn. It makes for some interesting choices at times.

Preparation

1. Each side counts the number of units they have.
2. Using a deck of cards, one side is assigned Red and the other  Black. 
3. Each side takes out the cards (of both suits of their color) equal to 50% of their unit count (rounded up), one less than that number, and one more than that number.
4. Each side shuffles their cards separately - so the result is one Red deck and one Black deck.

 The turn:

1. Artillery fire if simultaneous
2. The sides dice for initiative, high roll wins.
3. The winner draws a card from * their * initiative deck.
4. The number shown is how many units they may activate. Subtract 1 if they fired artillery this turn.
5. The remainder of the turn sequence is the same as the rules as written with the following exception:
1. A unit may not fire and then move. The sequence is always move first, fire second. It just makes it easier for me to remember to apply the did-not-move bonus when shooting. It also prevents any move-fire-move shenanigans. (As I play solo, I know my opponent wouldn't try that, but for the rest of you there you go)
6. The side which lost the initiative then draws from their own deck and repeats steps 4 and 5. 
7. Check for exhaustion.
8. If both sides are not exhausted, new turn.
   

Machine Guns -

To me,  rolling multiple dice and counting each hit makes them too powerful - scout cars in particular can mow down a lot of infantry. 

So, I Nerfed them - I still roll multiple dice to hit, but they can only ever inflict a loss of one Strength Point (SP) per attack.

Transports 

In the Rules as Written, I think I finally grasp the intent (the transports can be destroyed while the infantry unit carried by them could continue on foot) but I opted from the start not to count their Strength Points at all. 

The impetus for this is me not being sure if the transport is its own unit or not. It doesn't seem like it would be, but then it's stated that the transport and the unit to be loaded have to be in the same space. To me that implies, they can move independently and that implies, tenuously perhaps, the transport gets its own activation. I wanted to do away with all that.

In retrospect, it seems like I should have added their SPs to the unit total - so the units would have longer staying power. Presumably some of the hits damage vehicles then but not the troops or guns transported.

None the less, as played, in my games, the transport and the transported are the same unit - activation applies to the unit as a whole.  They do not add any SP to the totals. You do not need to keep the transport together with the transported unit, but then it's one or the other for the sake of activation.

This will be a drain on your activation as the vehicles do not count for the purpose of the unit total and thus the median Strength Points which determine the values of the cards in the deck.

Troops in Half-tracks - 

While troops may not have made a habit of fighting from the back of the half track, they tended to have machine guns. . Rather than worry about machine guns or rifle fire and such, instead, embarked troops may shoot or engage in close combat at all times. 

That is, they do not need to disembark to shoot or engage in close combat. This is the advantage of the half track.

Troops in Trucks -

• Units in trucks may not shoot.
• Troops embarking or disembarking counts as the entire movement allowance
  
• They may not embark and disembark in the same turn.
• They may not embark and move the transport in the same turn.
•  Only disembarked troops may initiate close combat.
•  Units on trucks may be attacked in close combat. They can defend but suffer -1 on their roll to score a hit against the enemy. This is the risk of driving trucks of troops into the combat zone.
  

Close combat:

When a unit enters a space that puts it adjacent to more than one enemy simultaneously: the unit may choose which enemy to face, and then the other enemy units will gain a flank bonus in close combat. The moving resolves the combats in the order their controlling player chooses.

Artillery:

There are no spotting rules and while I'm OK with this, it just seems a bit much to allow artillery to fire at targets no other unit can see, let alone fire at. 

Since the maximum range for direct fire weapons are 4 spaces, that's the spotting distance. Artillery can only fire at targets they themselves can spot or that a friendly unit can spot.

The rules state that attacking the same target gains a bonus. If what is meant by "target" is a unit, that doesn't make a lot of sense to me. Not that it's not accurate but that it's not how I conceive of artillery.

I believe it makes more sense to look at the grid space itself as being the target. That might be obvious and maybe that's what was intended by "target" but that wasn't clear to me.

******

These modifications have served me well over the course of my Fictional Citadel campaign and I feel pretty confident they don't break the game. I make no guarantees of course.

And since a blog post without a picture is like peanut butter without jelly (delicious but missing a little something), here's a completely unrelated blurry picture of a concept for one of my Venusian forces:

I'm not done with this one - the whole front of the figure, the beard ,hair, etc. needs black lining - but it is just a proof of concept. The hope is that I'm invoking Greek red-figure pottery (I know, I know, it'd be better if he was a Greek, but they are in the Hoplite tradition according to one article I dug up online). I think en masse it will be a nice effect even with my wonky little painted elephants on the shields. 

Now how to explain it in the fiction? I don't know. It's Venus, things are just weird there.

Painting Table Update

While gaming and game related activity took precedence this weekend, I also finished a few figures.

First up, I've finished the firing poses for the Bersaglieri and am now moving onto the advancing troops. These three together will form a bombing squad in Trench Hammer.

 Next up, the last of Reaper Bones lizard warriors for the games to be set on Venus. I could have sworn I had three archers as well, but that seems to not be the case.  I have only six total which is not enough for a unit - but they can function as dino handlers, howdah crew, etc. in the meantime.

And here's the current state of the paint table.

The elephant is not in the queue yet - I just have to find someplace to put it while it waits. The HaT Carthaginians will serve as some kind of Venusian - these two are for testing some painting ideas I have. Also pictured, Armies in Plastic French Foreign Legion and Austrians. 

Hoping to get a chance to work on the French soon as they finish up quickly once the white is painted in.