US Army Cavalry Platoon, part 2!

and here is part 2 (complete project) of my 15mm US Army Cavalry Platoon. M8 Greyhounds from Forged in Battle, Jeeps from Battlefront.

Here is a close up of a single patrol group.

But I cannot just stop at a single platoon so I have some attachments...

As you can see in the background...

Cavalry units also had a troop of light tank, M5A1 in 1944-45. I have a full box of PSC ones just here...

For your pleasure!

Close up of two of them. I really like them. They are very nice models, and, differently from their recent cousins the M3 very easy to put together... with the exception of the turret hatches that were a pain to cut. Tthey are split, but PSC has them in a single piece that, if you want to represent them open, have to cut by yourself in two. It was a pain and I ended up botching one attempt, and having only one TC around...

But this is not the end... I do not play only 1 to 1 vehicles rules, but also a bit larger ones... so my platoon for Battlegroup or IASBM can become a full troop for Battlefront WW2:

 With the simple addition of an HQ vehicle (a battlefront M8), and, in this specific case a reinforced troop with a platoon (two sections, one model equal two or three real vehicles) of M5 light tanks.

Finally... by the end of 1944 the shortcomings of the Stuart were pretty much evident to everyone, friend or foe, so something new was trickling to the units...

The M-24 light tank. Faster, better armored, and with a 75mm gun derived from the one used on the B-25G...

Two  old Battlefront models (when the M-24 were sold in blister and not in the platoon box), resin of course. So you had plastic and resin in the same post!

France et Saint Denis!

or... sous a l'anglaise...

Mainly a 'little' Lion Rampant French retinue for the 1415-1429 period (yes I am picky I have also a Crecy retinue slowly progressing too), in 28mm from the talented sculpting hands of the Perry Twins and my (hopefully talented) painting hands. Actually it is not that little or small, in Lion's terms is a whopping 30 points. I have also another half unit of crossbowmen (waiting the other half), and I will surely add some more knights, I can do another 6 dismounted, but I am looking at some mounted color for my force.

The figures themselves are a mix of Perry plastic with some older WF metal (pavisiers, still sculpted by the twins. There is some cheating because in three bases I have put 5 instead of 6 men (thus one unit will be 11 instead of 12, and another 10 instead of 12...).

First unit of dismounted knights in detail.

And the second unit...

Before you scream I played with based units and, with appropriate casualty marker it was not a proble, actually it saved me time in moving units, plus, considering Lion is not ultra-exact on figure ration (yes it say 1 to 1, but the rules are more abstract than required for a 1 to 1 ration) it makes perfect sense that casualties represent not just outright kills but also exhaustion and loss of cohesion. So no need for figure removal.

The crossbowmen.

The voulgiers, infantrymen with two handed weapons (offensive sergeants for Lion Rampant) flanked by the two blocks of pavisiers.

Talking of Pavisiers (sergeants for Lion) here is the second unit (I painted then after the other unit so they are the 'seconds'), WF figures with hand-painted shields representing the city of Meaux (left) and Angiers (right).  I just realized I don't have a close up of the first unit of pavesiers from Caen, but...

... you can see them here, on the back of the crossbowmen.

Jacob Devers' tank, the M26 Pershing

In 15mm, of course...

In 1943 General Jacob Devers, then head of the Armored Command, took a strong interest in developing a new heavy tank to dela with the German Tiger tanks, recently encountered in Tunisia. In response ot his request the Army Ordnance Department start design work on several new projects including the T-23 with electricla transmission (a pet peeve of Ordnance) and the T-26 with a 90mm gun. These programs faced severla issues, from the simple fact the T23 and its transmission was not working to resistance from several officers led my the all powerful chief of Army Ground forces, General Leslie McNair, to the idea of a 90mm tank. Finally a new heavy tank the T26 (later standardized as M26) Pershing. If you want  a more detailed account go there:

http://www.avalanchepress.com/Pershing1.php

http://www.avalanchepress.com/Pershing2.php

or even better grab a copy of Steve Zaloga's 'Armoured Thunderbolt' if you just want to look at the 15mm version...

scroll down!

 (reduced) Platoon shot. All three, BF plastic Pershings. They can be or a reduced strength platoon, or the heavy section of a full platoon.

 Platoon commander tank.

They are nice models, crisp as I got used with BF plastic. I have to say that while some people whines about the plastic move, I find the plastic model a massive improvements. The MG are much much better, and the parts fit better than the the older resin-metal combination. I have recently built two M51 Ishermans and they were a real pain. I will say plastic yes, but the resin/metal vehicles are a no go right now, especially if I can get them in plastic or from other manufacturers. For the quality provided the price is overblown. While the plastic are still more expensive than PSC, at least they are overall cheaper than the metals and the quality is usually much better.