Being Special With Brian Part One
(Painting, Planning, and Reviewing US Special Operational Forces for Flames of War)
The Game Plan
After some messing around on Easy Army, I came up with a solid 1750pt list from Dogs and Devils. It will be a 6 platoon list with an extra platoon of 81mm Mortars commanded by the 2iC. The supporting armor and artillery are all CV. In order to have three full FSSF platoons I needed to pick up US748 The Devil's Brigade Platoon blister.
FSSF Company
HQ, 2iC, 2 bazookas
3 Full FSSF Platoons with bazooka and 81mm Mortars
1 Stewart Light Tank Platoon
1. Sherman Platoon
1 Battery of 105's with AOP
I am still working out a specific list for my OSS raiders. I do know that I will be picking up a blister of FR860 FFI Rifle Platoon to mix in with some extra Americans for a guerilla platoon. Furthermore I will be raiding both my own and my friends bit boxes for extra weapons for the operational platoons.
Getting Started
When starting a new paint job I always like to get an idea of what colors I am going to need. For my Americans I used the following two paint guides with the following modifications.
Guides:
1. American Infantry http://www.flamesofwar.com/Default.aspx?tabid=110&art_id=737&kb_cat_id=27
2. Airborne Infantry http://www.flamesofwar.com/Default.aspx?tabid=110&art_id=737&kb_cat_id=27
Modifications
1. I used Vallejo Sepia Shade (732) as a wash after I have finished painting all my base colors (i.e. uniform, flesh, rifle, and equipment. This will do two things. First it will help bring all the colors together, second it will darken the base color. With the base color darkened you can then go back and used the original base color as a highlight. For example for an US Infantry jacket you might use 70988 Khaki. then once dry you would hit it with a wash of sepia shade. Let that dry overnight then you can go back and highlight with Khaki.
2. Recently a member of our SoCal game group painted up some US Airborne with what had to have been the best uniform color I had ever seen. His ratio uses three vallejo paints at a 10:4:2 ratios. 10 being 70881 Yellow Green, 4 being Brown Violet 70877 and the 2 being Buff 70976. If you want to darken this mixture you can add more brown violet and to brighten increase the amount of buff.
Bases
I am using Plastic Bases: Urban Rubble (XX106) for both of these projects. I have now purchased and utilized 5 packs of these bases and I am never going back, ya hear me, NEVER. These bases are easy to use, paint up great and really add another dynamic for making your army look awesome. My only tips would be to find a cheap liquid based super glue since you will be using a ton of it. Other than that the FOW website and Cassino book have a easy to follow tutorial for assembly and painting of the bases.
Transport
I have been mildly annoyed with foam trays for some time now. However I had not come up with a better alternative until recently. Many of the gamers here in So Cal have been using these white cardboard boxes that you can buy from Staples for $10-12 for a pack of five. To this they either line the bottom with a piece of sheet metal or magnetized paper. Then with the addition of a metal or magnetized base you have a great carry/storage case that, unlike foam can be used to carry infantry one day and tanks the next.
