Staff Sergeant Lafayette Pool

The Flames of War US Tank warrior from Cobra or Turning Tide, Staff Sergeant Lafayette Pool. Unlike all too many FOW "Warriors", Pool actually existed and had a distinguished career.

Lafayette Pool in a 1949 picture

Pool served in 'I' Company, 32nd Armored Regiment, US 3rd Armored Division, serving from 1941 to 1944. As part of the 'Spearhead' he saw combat in France, Belgium and German, leading 21 full-scale attacks during some 81 days of combat service. He and his crew were credited with destroying some 258 enemy vehicles, including 12 tanks, as well as accounting for over 1,000 enemy personnel and capturing more than 250 prisoners. During his career he was twice-recommended for the US Congressional Medal of Honor, though never awarded. He was however awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, the Legion of Merit, the Silver Star and the Purple Heart, as well as the Belgian and French Légion d'honneur.

Pool served in three different Sherman tanks, the first being a 75mm-armed M4A1 Sherman, the second and third being up-gunned M4A1 (76)W, as depicted here. All his tanks were named 'In The Mood', the first and third vehicles were KO'd by enemy action, the second by USAAF P-38s mistaking US tanks for German. Serving in the third M4A1 76mm near Stolberg, Germany, on September 19, 1944, 'In The Mood' (No. 3) was hit by German fire and Pool was severely wounded, later losing a leg. A good summary of Pool's tanks can be fond HERE.

In 1948, now with a prosthesis, Pool rejoined the US Army to train the next-generation of US tankers, serving in the Korean War and until 1960 when he retired at the rank of Chief Warrant Officer 2. Pool died on June 1, 1991 at the age of 71 and is buried at the military cemetery of Fort Sam Houstan in Texas

(Taken mostly from the 3rd Armored Division Site, Pool index HERE, and a few other sources. Sources may differ as to numbers, though I've gone with those from the 3rd AD site.)


Battlefront's Lafayette Pool Model

Battlefront sells Pool in an M4A1 76mm version, and in game terms this usually makes the most sense. I've done this model to match with the previous 76mm Shermans I've done, but added the name 'In The Mood' to the sides of the hull. It's much larger than the real name was and done free-hand (with many touch-ups!) as I didn't have any suitable decals, but it looks alright I think. Front star decal and serial numbers are from BF, turret stars with broken circular surround by Dom's Decals

The real thing...

...and my attempts.

The rest of the tank I kept fairly uncluttered as I much prefer clean lines, so no extra track-links, etc., and limited stowage.

To me, Lafayette Pool exemplifies the spirit of the US Armored Division during WWII. Reading the exploits of individuals such as Pool and others who go largely unnamed, one can only be inspired by what they achieved. Battling against hardened opposition they succeeded in spite of the German's superior armoured vehicles: their stories should be required reading for all "panzer fanboi's". The accomplishments  of likes of Barkmann and Whittmann sitting behind 4+ inches of armour and superbly armed might be impressive, but they simply don't compare in my mind with the likes of S/Sgt Lafayette Pool, Tpr Joe Ekins, Lt. G. K Henry, Sgt W. Harris, and so many others who fought without such luxuries

CdlT

US Combat Engineers

US Combat Engineers, figures again by Battlefront.

Command team, 6 x Pioneer Rifle teams, 2 x M1917 HMG teams and 3 x Bazooka teams

I'd be interested in getting some Forged in Battle casts to see how they compare with the old BF range which is still IMO the best US WWII infantry range (don't get me started on the "new" range). Despite my liking for these figures, I still feel US infantry are a little under-represented in 15mm, which is a pity as they are an interesting subject.

CdlT

US Recon Infantry

Battlefront figures, enough for an Armoured Rifle Recon Platoon or the Cavalry Recon dismounts. I'm not too happy with the pics, they are quite washed-out and the highlights on the jackets hardly show.

I detest that officer figure.

CdlT

Painting WW2 Hungarian Infantry

As part of a new-ish project for me, I thought I’d detail how I intend painting my WW2 Hungarian Infantry Company. I started out with the intention of building a Motorised Infantry Company for Mid-War, though the local trend at the moment is to mostly play Late War, thus it needed to be “morphable” to both periods, something Hungarian infantry is particularly good at. All that really needs changing from MW Eastern Front to LW Stalin’s Europe or the Hungarian Infantry PDF is the support weapons, the basic infantry structure and equipment changes only slightly.

The guide below therefore shows collar tabs for the Motorised Infantry: I wish I had gone standard green for the regular infantry divisions now, but I already had a platoon completed with the blue so they stayed. Apart from the small details such as markings, I’m led to believe there is very little difference in appearance between Motorised and Regular infantry. The figure below is from Battlefront's Hungarian infantry range.

Starting over a black undercoat, I painted VGC Tan over the flesh areas, followed by a VGC Dwarf Flesh block-paint, leaving the Tan in the recesses (eyes, mouth, nose areas, between fingers, etc.). The figure’s bread-bag was painted VPA Canvas, while the rest of the figure was painted VMC USA Olive Drab

After this had dried (I usually paint a group of figures to the above level, then leave to dry overnight and work on something else) I block-painted the belt, ammo pouches, strap on the rifle and boots with VPA Leather Belt, the uniform with VMC English Uniform, the bread bag with P3 Hammerfall Khaki (any khaki will do). 

Wood on the rifle was painted with VMC Flat Earth, metal areas P3 Thamar Black. The helmet was painted with a 1:1 mix of VMC USA Olive Drab and VMC Brown Violet, leaving a line where the rim splays outward and another fine line under the helmet, between the face and helmet. The flesh areas were then highlighted with VGC Elf Flesh, after which the helmet strap (annoying thing) was carefully painted VPA Leather Belt.

Now highlighting begins in earnest. The leather areas are highlighted with a 1:1 mix of VPA Leather Belt and VMC Light Brown, including the helmet strap which has a fine line painted toward the front of the strap. The helmet was highlighted with VMC Brown Violet, the uniform with VMC Green Brown and the bread bag was highlighted by mixing some white into the khaki previously used. The metal areas were painted VMC German Grey, followed by edge highlights of GW Codex Grey. Wood was highlighted with VPA New Wood.

Painting the M1935 Rifle

Battlefront’s Hungarian infantry range appears to be armed largely with the Mannlicher 35M rifle (to me, as opposed to the later re-chambered 7.92mm version, the 43M), so I painted it as such. The basic detail on the rifle is somewhat obscure: during clean-up I used a blade to cut away certain sections to better define the rifle. Don’t get too carried away with this or you’ll make the rifle too weak.

When painting weapons in 15mm I don't try to re-create them exactly, just paint a representation of the weapon emphasising the main elements while ignoring the more minor ones. This simplified approach captures the "feel" of the weapon without the need to go crazy

Now I got a little carried away.

For extra definition on certain areas, I applied edge highlights. Thus on the helmet rim I painted a fine line with a 1:1 mix of VMC Brown Violet and VMC Green Grey (886, not the other one) and a round area on the top of the helmet. The uniform was similarly given some extra highlight for definition, particularly on the edges on prominent folds, etc.., with a 2:1 mix of VMC Green Brown and VMC Buff. The bread bag also received a few extra lines for definitions, painted by adding yet more white in to the lightened-khaki used before. Lastly, the collar tabs were painted with a dark blue, followed by a medium blue as a highlight and to be more visible.

(Click for larger version)

The figures look pretty good close-up, but definitely also "pop" when on the table-top. Adding the extra highlights does take a little longer (of course) but I like the effect. I completed a single platoon some months back but haven't had time to do anymore for ages. Over the next few months I hope to expand the number of painted units until I can field an entire company and support weapons.

All for now.

CdlT