Tim Mee and BMC in the Snow

They sent the medical unit ahead to get back to base first.

Sadly, the poor road conditions caused the first truck transporting causalities got stuck in the snow.

The medical staff quickly started moving the wounded out of the first truck and into the second.

Others grabbed weapons and got ready to repel the enemy.

Rifles, grenades, anything they could find.

The old charge nurse just grabbed her lantern and watched it all, she had seen it before, many times.  Not her first campaign.

Nor was it the first war for the enemy.
 

Billy Hill Table Expansion Project

One of my on like toy solider hobby friends, Billy Hill, has a wire table just like mine.  So I refer to this as my "Billy Hill" table.  It is a wire table that I got at Walmart sometime in the last century.

I wanted it to be a little larger, so I have added to 4x4 pieces of crappy chipboard.  You can see here where I used to large screws to attach a 2x4 to the bottom.

Close up of the 2x4.  This is all scrap lumber that has been laying around the house since it was constructed 7 years ago, including the screws.

Board just sits end on, on top of the gravel.  

So far it has withstood winds of up to 40 mph, so despite the wonky appearance it seems to be doing okay.

Table Upgrade

 

GI Joe Collection

 The basis of my GI Joe collection is a World War Two US Army infantry platoon.  I have had GI Joe since Christmas on 1964, my brother and I both got one, but over time, his became mine.  I later got a third one, and finally a couple Adventure Team guys, one with fuzzy hair and another with fuzzy hair and beard.

Over time I picked up one here and one there, and with various other 12" figures I now have over 100.  I got my last one about a year ago.

The infantry platoon consists of a platoon leader, an excellent Lieutenant Hanley figure from the TV show combat.  My platoon sergeant is a GI Joe SGT Rock figure.  The guide and two messengers are also SGT Rock figures, namely Little Sure Shot, Bulldozer, and Wildman.  They were special edition GI Joe figures based on the comic book.  My first squad, 12 men, is mostly GI Joe, and I am trying to give them each a full uniform, shirt, pants, brown boots, cap, helmet, pistol belt, two ammo pouches, canteen, canteen cover, first aid pouch, backpack, entrenching tool, entrenching tool cover, two grenades, mess kit, knife, fork, and spoon.  There are 11 M1 rifles, and one BAR.  I have also given each squad a bazooka, Thompson SMG, .30 caliber machine gun, Springfield with sniper rifle, and tactical shotgun.  One M1 rifle has a grenade launcher.

My second squad has the same equipment, and weapons but I have added Field Jackets, and they have a scruffy look to them.  They have some mis-matched color shirt and pants.  The third squad is based on the Combat! TV show, with a SGT Sanders figure, from the same Japanese company that make the LT.  I got a large-ish figure based on the movie Small Soldiers, Chip Hazard figure.  I use him as Little John.  Several of the other figures are given head wear, beret for Caje, or other unique identifiers for other characters.

My plan for support is to have most of the weapons that could be under the command of the infantry platoon commander, such as 60mm mortar, and .50 caliber machine guns, and light tanks.  I have a few extra figures for crews, a pair of light tanks, and a small Company Commander and other command staff figures, including a few general officers, Patton and Eisenhower.

I have extra M1917 style helmets, and Springfield rifles to equip at least one squad, maybe a few others, for 1941/ 1942 or even the Interwar period.

More photos later in the year on my GI Joe collection when more of it is out of storage.