A few new toys

Among the things I got at Cold Wars were some of the Old Glory WWI figures and a special pack from Great War Minis.

I had heard that the two lines are not terribly compatible, and I have to say that's so. The Old Glory line, while quite nice based on these Germans and some Americans I acquired, are a good bit smaller, possibly true 25s compared with GWM and Renegade, which are more "heroic" 28s. Nonetheless, I think that of one doesn't mix the two in the same units, they can get by in the same force.

In the image above are two Old Glory pieces, in the top left and bottom right. Top left are a pair of kneeling/seated figures, one operating a radio or field telephone, the other taking notes on a pad. The latter could as well be paired with an officer observing through a filed periscope or some such. His base is not nearly as thick as that of the handset man, so I've added a small base under him, which leaves him slightly elevated over the other figure, but more or less on a level.I'll have to do some creative ground-sculpting.

On the bottom right is a chap holding a pigeon, with a nice wicker basket that presumably held the feathery messenger. The set also included a runner with a satchel, who is not in this shot.

The three other pieces are Great War miniatures, and beautiful work they are, too. In the lower left corner is a Granatenwerfer 16, an Austrian spigot mortar adopted by the German Army. The Soldier's Burden has a nice page on it here. The GWM piece comes with a granatenwerfer in two pieces, an operator, and an additional crewman.

I suppose the latter might as well be a support for the central figure, a gunner with a Mauser Tankgewehr M1918, or 13mm anti-tank rifle. He provided a nice excuse to pick up some of the lozenge-shaped bases that Gale Force Nine includes among its inexpensive MDF bases (for sale, alas, only at conventions). In emulation of my hero, Uncle Sid, I've decided to go with these for my WWI forces.

Speaking of these pill-shaped bases, the third GWM set uses one of these to carry a team using the Kleinflammenwerfer, or small flamethrower. The Soldier's Burden has a page describing the German employment of these devices. While initially effective, they became less so once British and French troops overcame their initial shock at the use of fire, and (as mentioned in this piece on firstworldwar.com), the life of an operator was dangerous and, if captured by the enemy, very short indeed.

I also acquired some Brigade Games German sentries (not pictured), some of which are smoking, the slackers! These will be useful for M&B for sure--I might even get them some special bases for their special role.

In addition, with my pre-Cold Wars purchases (thanks to the chaps who bought my old 15mm Franco-Prussian figures!), I now have enough figures for a half-Zug of early war Germans, another half-Zug of late war Germans, and a platoon of Americans. Now to start painting...