Battlefront's Engineer Support Platoon

My Americans need 2.5 ton trucks for the occasional Pioneer platoon that I include in my lists. Being able to throw out a minefield or three barbed wire markers is pretty nice. Now, getting those markers out does take a little luck: I have to be defending in a mission that uses Prepared Positions. I don't try to rely on it, but when they kick in, it's very useful.

So, where to turn to for trucks for Engineers? The Engineer Support Platoon from Battlefront looks pretty good! You get four trucks and a bulldozer, and I got mine from Mart. The box looks to be the only way to get an armored bulldozer, and the price point is about the same buying two blisters of 2.5-ton tracks. Each blister of US430 trucks is $21 while US431 is only $12.51, and you get two trucks in each. The Support Platoon is $45. Still quite a price to pay for what are trucks. I was pretty hesitant to buy any of these options, it seems awfully steep.

With that in mind, I was rather pleased with the quality of the models. There's a goodly amount of detail and you get some extra bits like passengers and machine guns. The models themselves are resin and have a goodly amount of heft to them. As discussed in my KV-1 article, I mentioned my personal preference for weighty models because they feel like quality.

I bought some of Gale Force 9's Spring Undergrowth and Straw Static Grass, and I am loving them. These plus the Woodland Scenics flowers that recently arrived are going to change my basing game, just you see!

For the decals, I took a cotton swab damp with rubbing alcohol and lightly rolled it back and forth across the surface of the decals a few times. This softens the decal and preps it for the next step, which is covering with matte varnish. I have a dropper bottle of Vallejo's Matte Varnish. Three coats is the minimum I'll give decals. 

To wrap up the review part of this, The GF9 stuff? Brilliant. The price point for four trucks and a bulldozer? $45 for all that is a bit much given I'm a student with on and off work, especially since I don't see why you can't buy the $12.50 for two and save yourself $20. The price is fair, just off-putting for me. The quality is like all my Battlefront stuff, solid, although some of the passengers' hands were hard to pick out with paint. A minor quibble. 

So there you go, there's my major hobby progress! I have had these guys half-painted for weeks now, and had a surge of hobby energy that knocked 'em out.