Dipping my Toe - 15mm WW2 Miniatures - Part 2

Along with the 25-pounder field guns, I recently finished up four unpainted Morris Quad Trucks.

The Morris Commercial C8 FAT (Field Artillery Tractor)—commonly known as the Quad—was the iconic workhorse used by British and Commonwealth forces throughout the Second World War. I painted these up and based them specifically for a dry, desert environment to match the rest of the force.

To round out the batch, I also completed three sandbagged observation / MG pillboxes to give the battlefield a bit more depth and defensive cover.

The 25 Pounder and Quad combo always brings to mind the classic Airfix Kit. Follow the link for more information on the model kit.

Dipping my Toe into the water - 15mm WW2 Miniatures

I already have plenty of 25/28mm WWII figures and models, along with hundreds of pieces of WWII micro-armour from GHQ, Heroics & Ros, and Scotia. Because of this, I swore I wasn’t going to get into 15mm.

Then, two weeks ago, an offer appeared on our local Discord group chat that I simply couldn't pass up.

To appease the storage gods, and my roommate —and uphold my "one in, one out" apartment policy—I put up some unused 25/28mm Bolt Action models and ancient figures to give away. It was a win-win for everyone. I finally revealed my newly acquired 15mm stash to my roommate today, pointing out the ultimate justification: they take up significantly less space than what left the building.

As I mentioned in a recent post, I’ve been wanting to explore WWII skirmish gaming, and these new 15mm figures fit my operational requirements perfectly. More importantly, no painting required. I ended up swapping in some custom MDF bases and magnetized the entire force right out of the gate—makes transport and tabletop setup completely effortless.

A huge thank you to Helge for the incredibly generous giveaway! I received a British Desert Rats force—originally picked up from an old eBay purchase with a super basic paint job. While there’s even more in the lot, the items listed below are the ones that immediately sparked my interest.

o    6 Sherman III

Tanks are metal, not plastic!

o    2 Rifle platoons with attachments and miscellaneous HQ

First Platoon

2nd Platoon

o    MG platoon with carriers

Eight Bren Carriers

25pdr battery with staff
and (unpainted) transports not shown

Rocky Terrain Completed

I finally wrapped up work on these rocky terrain pieces! To give a better sense of scale, I threw in a Sherman tank—perfect for Flames of War or general 15mm WWII wargaming. 

It was part of a recent deal.  I traded off some 25/28mm Bolt Action figures that were just sitting around gathering dust. In return, I scored a nice batch of 15mm figures that I hope to do some skirmish games with.

Terrain WIPs

For last Sunday afternoon's paint-and-chat session, I decided to tackle some rocky terrain pieces. A couple of months ago, Graham handed me a ziplock bag filled with wood bark, and I had some leftover 115mm x 90mm oval artillery bases perfect for the foundation.

Wood bark - rough terrain

After letting the glue dry, I slathered on my favorite Vallejo Earth Texture paste. I plan to leave the natural look of the bark as-is, but I'll add tufts and flocking to complete the scene. They’re going to make great line-of-sight obstacles for 15mm games. A bit small for 25mm IMO

Of course, as with any completed project comes the classic challenge: storage. While hunting for a suitable container, I stumbled across a box that fit the new rocky outcrops perfectly. Inside were some "magic" mushroom miniatures I painted over 30 years ago while sitting at my kitchen table in Halifax. I’m pretty sure today is the very first time they’ve ever faced a camera lens!

Mushroom Forest - Resin Pieces

The other forgotten treasure I unearthed was a GF9 Crystal Forest set. This set will fit right in as terrain for either Space 1889 or my18mm HOTT Barsoomian army. To bring the stand to life, I used a package and a half of Gamer’s Grass Alien Fire tufts to spruce it up.

GF9 - Crystal Forest with Alien Fire Weeds - Mars or Barsoom

All in all, a very successful afternoon at the hobby workbench.

HOTT - Dwarves 15mm

This was an army that I inherited almost 10 years ago. The figures are from Black Raven Miniatures.  Recently I was able to have it painted and I now have a fairly large dwarven force assembled to go up against my Undead. Other than the command stands I attached the figures to metal bases and I actually like the bare metal look. 

First Dwarven Corps - Still waiting for the glue to dry.

Complete Amy in it's storage box. Enough figures for three HOTT armies.

Battlegroup Kursk - 15 mm

This afternoon I was introduced to Battlegroup Kursk, a ruleset by The Plastic Soldier Company. We were six players playing on a 6 x 8 foot tabletop at the Abyss. I elected to play Soviet and was given command of six T-34s. After my force had been reduced to one tank, I took command of three T-70s. 

Having been recently introduced to Battlegroup NORTHAG, I was interested to see how similiar the game flowed. One new action I appreciated was the ability to double tap.  The option of two shots was unavailable with the modern period rule set. There are a few changes I would like to see. For example,  you had multiple chances to acquire a target. IMO if you fail the first attempt then you should not be able to try again in the same turn.

At the end of the Game - A Bloodly Affair

We kicked off play at about 2PM and were finished just after 5 o'clock. My command was the 5 burning T34s on the right side of the playing field. A sixth is below the hill's crest but within 5 inches of the red objective marker, allowing the Soviets to claim the point. After the majority of my tanks were brewed up, I was handed three T-70s to have fun with. They had started near the white farm building (another objective) at the far end of the table and rushed across the open ground, closing with the enemy. I reached shelter in the central woods, which is covered with smoke, but under the gaze of two of the Tigers. In the final move of the game, two of the light tanks outflanked the big cat and opened fire on its exposed side. Unfortunately it was to no avail. 

A fun afternoon, rolling dice, with a friendly group of like minded gamers. At the end of the day, everything but the Tigers seemed to be burning. I was content to be the target while my comrades destroyed the enemies of the Soviet peoples. I was only able to claim one destroyed PZ III, despite my losses. 

15mm Early Cold War

 Something I swore never to do was to fall down the 15mm Cold War rabbit hole. However early last month a sale on FB marketplace caught my eye and here I am. Late this afternoon twenty Soviet vehicles arrived in the mail. UPS will be delivering the NORTHAG Rulebook and the CENTAG Supplement tomorrow. 

T-54s

ISU - 122

ISU - 130

IS-3s

The WILLS box in the background is a box the cat likes to curl up in. Wills Brewery and Bar are a local success story with their craft beers.

Dec 31st 2025 Year End Game

William and I played two games of DBA 2.2 yesterday afternoon. A great way to end the year. It has been a while since I had the troops out on the table. First match was a Western Cho Other Chinese Army (I/32C) vs Mongol Conquest (IV/35). 

First Clash

 

The Cho Victorious

The 2nd match was two Chinese armies (2x I/32C) vs Mongols (IV/35) and Seljuq Turks (III/74). William had the first victory of the day and I the final. Our second game involved a river crossing, his choice of the terrain.. The Mongols found out the hard way you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make them cross the river.

Played on the Steppes, the terrain was very minimalistic. We had the river, a hill and a rocky patch. The Steppes was a GF9 Flames of War gaming mat, and the river was by Armourcast. The figures were mostly 15mm Essex Miniatures. 

My Tabletop Limits

 I have set up my tabletop in the anticipation of having a game over the holidays. My table is slightly only 31 inches wide, and almost 5 feet long (59 inches). It looks like I will be able to get some 15mm troops into action, but 25mm large scale affairs might be a thing of the past. Not that I have had too many in this city.   

15mm Mike's Models carrying out exercises

15mm Polish Winged Hussars

 As part of my Paint and Chat, today my established goal was to complete some projects. I managed to complete one as the chatting seemed much more productive than the painting. Very little paint was used this afternoon, but glue was applied. I had to get 24 wings attached to the Hussars as well as get weapons in hands, and the men seated upon their mounts. Mission accomplished. Six three man calvary elements are ready for action.

15mm Polish Winged Hussars

WIP 15mm Polish Winged Hussars

 As part of my ongoing triage, I came across three zip locked baggies containing some 15mm Polish Winged Hussars. I am unsure of the brand but they have the look of Essex Miniatures. They were from the collection of Joseph Lappin, and have been sitting in a storage box for far too long. 

A jumbled mix of figures from a baggie has enough for 2 elements of Wing Hussars. I have 18 figures in total that I am working on.

I wonder if the figures were originally Joseph's to begin with. 

I have memories of sitting at one of the chess tables in the Halifax Public Gardens in the summer of 1976 or 1977 painting figures along side Charles Gallagher. Charles was a larger than life character, unofficial leader of our gaming circle in the mid 1970s and a mentor to many of us as we discovered the joys of miniature wargaming in the early 70s. I clearly recall him painting some Winged Hussars that day. Charles unfortunately passed away in an auto accident before the decade was over. It was to Joseph, that fell the task of dealing with Charles' estate. 

Baueda - Ancient Chinese square pavilion

 Tonight is an easy post. According to Baueda Wargames these 15mm ancient Chinese square pavilions are based on several surviving examples, depictions and models. They are designed to be used as a baggage element for any Chinese army and to fit on a standard 40x40mm DBM baggage base.

I purchased two and they currently seemed to have some Japanese troops sheltering under them. This oversight will be corrected when I find the unpainted Essex Chinese DBA Army I know I have in storage.

15mm Ancient Chinese square pavilion

Hilltop Hovel - 15mm

 In truth, this is more than a hovel. I picked up this resin kit on sale years ago, and finally painted it about 2017. I am in a state of having to downside and I am making my way through my various storage boxes. This is an item I will keep, but I don't think I ever posted it to my blog. The AHPC is keeping me busy painting on new projects, but I may be resorting to unpublished items to provide my own Blog with a little more content. 

The troops used to provide scale are  Dark Age 15mm Essex Welsh that I purchased at Cangames in the early years of this century. 

The Welsh Dark Age Army (DBA III/19) was a really decent purchase. I don't think I paid more than $30 CDN at the Cangames Marketplace. It was a steal. That weekend I participated in the Cangames DBA tournament with it and won 2nd place. As you can see it came with lots of options.

There Be Dragons III

Another dragon mounted for 15mm HOTT. Simple presentation. I love the use of glitter to represent its hoard.