US Tanks and Tank Destroyers for Normandy Breakout Scenario

Welcome back dear reader for the latest installment on my US armored forces!  I needed to add more US vehicles for my Normandy Breakout scenario which uses the What a Tanker© rules by the UK-based company Too Fat Lardies.  I do modify these rules for the scenario.  For those who missed them (like some of the HAWKS did because I used the wrong hashtag!), the posts about the other vehicles and playtests for this scenario can be found at these links:

Vehicle Posts:

• British Armor and Some Blogs Worth a Look
• Dingoes and Greyhounds for Normandy
• A Preponderance of Panzers
• A Preponderance of Panzers – Chapter 2 – Scout Cars and Behemoths
• US Armor for 75th D-Day Anniversary

Playtest and related gaming posts:

• I Just Wanted to Do This!
• Normandy Breakout Game of What a Tanker!

I am planning on running this scenario at three upcoming events:

• August 24th at the Mass Pikemen Gaming Club in East Brookfield, MA
• September 28th at BARRAGE in Havre de Grace Maryland
• October 19th at the Fort Devens Game Day at the former Fort Devens, MA

This project, with the possible exception of an additional stray German vehicle or two, completes the list of vehicles I need for the scenario.  In looking for vehicles, I wanted to add some Shermans, another M10 Wolverine, and an M18 Hellcat.  I found a deal on a box of 5 plastic British Shermans M4A1’s with cast hulls that would work.  I would have preferred getting models like my M4A2 – but that one is OOP and even the American Shermans that Battlefront is selling now are basically M4A1’s.  So these British ones, properly assembled, at 15mm scale, is just fine.

For an M10, I converted an Old Glory M10 Achilles by using a leftover gun to make it look like an original version.  Technically, is that a conversion of a conversion?  After seeing how John at Just Needs Varnish! added a plastic card underneath his models to make them easier to paint, I was inspired to add a small steel base under my M10 chassis.

The M18 Hellcat I found was really nice – and I wish I had another as well.  This one had a slightly broken front fender, but its hardly noticeable.  In any case, I used enough mud and dirt to obscure that problem.

I also decided to use the Battlefront naming decals on all of these to help differentiate them on the tabletop – as well as by adding spare road wheels, spare tracks, and other accouterments to all of the vehicles.  Thanks to my good friend Jeff Smith, the Shermans got some real steel in them by means of ball bearings in the chassis.

I decided to weather these slightly differently by adding pigments – inspired by Pete’s blog and a Merkava he built.

After a few in-progress shots, I will describe the vehicles alphabetically by name and type.

Battlefront British M4A1’s to be American again!

Old Glory British M10 Achilles converted back to aUS M10 Wolverine

Battlefront resin and metal M18 Hellcat

I added steel ball bearings and BB’s to my Shermans

US Armor assembled and ready for painting

My usual way of mounting vehicles fot painting

I tried contrast paint on the tarp/tent

M4A1 “Betty”

M4A1 “Blood ‘N Guts”

M4A1 “Destruction”

M4A1 “Let ‘Er Buck”

M4A1 “Polly”

M10 Wolverine “Demon”

M18 Hellcat “Lucky Tiger”

M18 early in painting

M18 turret early on

Group Shots

The US vehicle menu for the scenario looks like this now.

I hope that you enjoyed this post – and thanks in advance for your feedback in the comments section!

PAINTS, INKS, GLAZES, SHADES, WASHES, PIGMENTS, FLOCKING, GLUES AND MORE USED ON THESE VEHICLES:

1. Gorilla Glue
2. E6000 epoxy
3. Vallejo “Flow Improver”
4. Vallejo “Airbrush Thinner”
5. Vallejo “Surface Primer – Black”
6. Vallejo Model Air “US Olive Drab”
7. Extra .50 cal machine guns from Battlefront kits for the M10 and the M18
8. Extra 3″ gun from Battlefront kit for the M10
9. ½” steel base from Wargame accessories for the M10
10. Steel ball bearings from Jeff Smith’s fairway mower
11. Daisy Air Rifle BB’s
12. Reaper MSP “Black Primer”
13. Vallejo Model Air “Dark Brown”
14. Battlefront “Dark Gunmetal”
15. Army Painter “Military Shader” (wash)
16. Battlefront “European Skin”
17. Battlefront “Skin Shade” (wash)
18. Testors “Universal Acrylic Thinner”
19. Citadel “Contrast Paint – Militarum Green”
20. Battlefront “Oxide Red”
21. Secret Weapons Washes “Armor Wash”
22. Microscale Micro-Set
23. Microscale Micro-Sol
24. Microscale Micro-Satin
25. Microscale Liquid Decal Film
26. Vallejo Game Air “Satin” (varnish)
27. Vallejo “Gloss Varnish”
28. Appropriate decals from Armorcast
29. Appropriate decals from Battlefront
30. Vallejo “White”
31. Vallejo “European Mud” (Thick Mud)
32. Vallejo “European Slash Mud” (Splash Mud)
33. Vallejo Weathering Effects “Crushed Grass”
34. Vallejo “Light Slate Grey” (pigment)
35. Vallejo “Light Yellow Ochre” (pigment)
36. Vallejo Mecha Varnish “Matt Varnish

Author: Mark A. Morin

This site is where I will discuss stuff that I find interesting and that includes family, friends, golf, gaming, and Boston sports! View all posts by Mark A. Morin