Conscripts and Covid 19

           Sorry for the absence from cyberspace. Real life gets in the way of hobbies (as it should). The world seems to have turned upside down in the midst of a week. However I am trying to keep as normal a life as possible through this trial. I think I will find more hobby time than normal as this pandemic continues. I hope my forays in to solo gaming will inspire readers to expand their games as they may not be able to meet with their usual groups due to this global crisis we now face.

           I have been able to complete my early war American G.I.'s and am happy to introduce you to them now. You may have seen pictures of them before sporting the M1917 helmet and wonder why they're back in M1 helmets. I love the look of the M1917 but realizing the limited use of them I have chosen what I think is the best of both worlds. Using a very weak glue, I attached the later helmets, knowing I can easily pull them off and replace them with the earlier pattern helmet when (hopefully) my game calls for it.

The squad leader, equipped with map case, M1917 revolver, and M1928 Thompson SMG.

 Second in command, reaching for an extra magazine for his carbine. The trench knife on his belt is a mean looking weapon.

The BAR gunner. A take-down pickax is on top of his gasmask bag. I chose to add these as a unique way of carrying gear. 

A soldier armed with an M97 trench gun. I look forward to using its devastating close range power in Fistful of Lead soon. In a trial game it didn't work that well but more on that later.

 

Another soldier at the ready with an M1903 Springfield. The WW1 vintage bayonet is very intimidating. 

Last but certainly not least is the M1903 Springfield grenade launcher. Private Phillips in my Five Men campaigns has shown me how effective rifle grenades can be. I hope this G.I. can be just as devastating to the enemy.

       These troops were blooded recently in a one-off game to recover a commando behind enemy lines. The dastardly German Fallschrimjagers managed to seize him under their noses and destroy them to a man, but they looked good on my rubble strewn terrain boards. The shotgun trooper mentioned before jumped on top of a trench in an attempt to stop a German from searching the bunker the commando was hiding in. However I rolled a 1, meaning his weapon was empty, and he was soon cut down by enemy fire.