Battlefront has been putting out some great product recently to support recent publications such as “Devils Charge” and “Nuts”. This Sturm Platoon is a great example. First, the minis included in this blister are a complete platoon with optional Panzerschreck team included. This blister also comes with the new bases that have preset holes for figure placement.
Everything is included which is battlefronts custom.
I find the precast bases a mixed blessing; on one hand, they hide the base of the individual figure really well, however for those of you who enjoy really “setting the scene”, you may feel a bit handcuffed by this. It all comes down to personal preference. I thought, despite feeling a bit forced into the positions, it worked well.
A bit on the progress. I basecoat in black. Its a bit of a cheat, but I really like the fact that I don’t have to be perfect on covering the mini in each color. The black undercoat can serve as “shading”.
Then I painted base colors, greys mostly… including german grey, german fieldgrey, and the beginnings of camouflage for some helmets.
I painted the bases a “natural grey”……cheap Micheals acrylics, they work well especially when you have a lot of ground to cover. Hit the gun stocks then schrecks and fausts in yellow ochre (Vallejo) then painted a brown wash over them (citadel washes, devlin mud)
Once the details such as webbing, weapons, and packs were finished, I block painted the coats and winter gear grey and white respectively. Then finished up with the flesh. I always paint flesh last on 15mm figs, a habit I got into a while ago, I find it just makes it easier for me personally, then I don’t worry about hitting the flesh with spots of other colors that are nearby. This left me with the basing to complete the platoon.
Firstly, I had glued sand to the base along with the miniatures. With the grey undercoat, I took a couple random bases, and washed spots of brown over the grey. (not the one pictured though) Then Drybrushed the base white. Then glued Bushes (Woodland Scenics “forest blend”) to empty spaces on the bases.
On some I put on Tufts also. Once those had dryed, I watered down elmers glue and brushed the bushes and tufts with the glue, then sprinkled them with “Snow” from Woodland Scenics to give a wintery look to the shrubs.
The results: (click for larger images)
Overall, I’m happy with how they came out. Battlefront’s sculpts in this platoon are really nice, and with the bases pre-sculpted, you can make the individual bases disappear into the scene. I have always been impressed with the miniatures that battlefront puts out for their infantry lines, and these are among the better sculpts they have released IMHO.
This is a nice platoon in overall gameplay, and thanks to Battlefront, will look good too.