Dragons !

Dragons!

They have enthralled mankind for centuries, and are known in one shape, form or another to most cultures on the earth.

To my mind, arguably one of the best known by name is probably Smaug, from J.R.R.Tolkien's The Hobbit. A wonderful introduction and scene setter for the later trilogy, The Lord of the Rings.

I first read The Hobbit as a young teen-ager, and haven't really ever looked back since. I for one am eagerly awaiting the cinematic release of the movie! I really hope they do the story justice and the visual effects of Smaug are second to none.

Well, here's my verison of Smaug, thanks to GW's Dragon model from their Lord of the Rings range.

A handsome beast he is too, and quite a hefty all metal kit requiring the usually drilling, pinning, gluing and puttying, before we can get onto painting him.

Here he is in all his magnificence.








And of course to complete, the title roll of the story; Bilbo Baggins. Here perhaps we see him reminiscing about his journey with the dwarves so many years ago.



"Look out for the dragon Bilbo!"

"Dragon!? Nonsense, there hasn't been a dragon in these parts for a thousand years...."



Dear old Bilbo, and his most troublesome ring!

German StuG G Platoon - Flames of War

To add some armour support to my Flames of War FestungsKompanie (Fortress Company), I have added a StuG G platoon, to represent elements of Kampfgruppe Meyer, which was the mobile reserve of 352 InfanterieDivision, defending the Normandy Beaches.

To form this formation I will be using them as two platoons; one of 2 StuGs, the other of 3.

The StuGs have the regular StuK 40 gun, and are equipped with Schurzen armour plates to their sides, which help protect the side of the vehicle from light anti-tanks weapons.

I have only added the black crosses to the platoon and have left off other insignia, as this allows them a greater flexibility in future uses. I have mounted the crosses on the hull of the tank, as I was given a tip from a poster to the FoW forum who believed they were never added to the schurzen. I did several google image searches of StuGs and have not found one of a real tank which disputes this theory!

The StuG or Sturmgeschütz to give it, its full name, was classed as an assault gun and also a tank destroyer, helping infantry to advance and knocking out enemy armour it encountered. Its low silhouette, also made it perfect for concealing in terrain and lying in wait in ambush.

It was probably Germany's most produced armoured fighting vehicle (AFV) of the war with around 7500 produced, and saw action in most theatres.

Here's my StuG's: