Avernos, The Australian 9th Division

So if you paid attention in the past you would know that this was going to be an 8th Army project, but a couple of months after I got my army Warlord released a Commonwealth sprue, identical except for the heads. At that point I decided I’d really like to do Aussies instead for a bit of a difference.

With the new box containing LRDG/SAS heads I figured there would be plenty of slouch caps around.

I was wrong.

But 3 fantastic community members eventually dug out enough to do my 60 men, one even threw me in an extra sprue from Wargames Illustrated.

I had talked about this a long time ago in the forums and Oriskany suggested 6th Div because of the Valentines that I already had from the Army box.

About a month ago, when the Spring Clean Challenge started, I started with my U-Boat and the idea that got discussed in the House of Water was to finish it, then the DAK project and then start into my Aussies.

It was then that @Beccas suggested the 9th Division instead. I’ve known him for a few years now through his youtube channel and the Tabletop Commanders and he’s a top bloke so I thought that would be a nice idea instead.

He then through in the nugget that his Grandfather had served in the 2/28th Battalion of the 9th and showed us a photograph he had of him.

I hadn’t planned on visiting this project so soon, and in fact I’ve skipped the DAK and some detail work on the U-Boat because a week after that discussion Beccas dropped the news that he was to go into hospital to have surgery for cancer.

He asked the rest of the community to keep cranking out the videos so he’ll have something to watch as he recovers and he’s successfully through the surgery and is even starting to post some of his hobby videos again which is fantastic to see.

So in honour of his Grandad and to give him something to watch and point out when I get things wrong, the 8th Army is being retired in favour of the 9th Division, specifically the 2/28th.

When I talked about my plans to start this on the XLBS that goes out tomorrow I hadn’t even realised that I would be starting it on ANZAC Day, it must be fate.

So maybe it has a special poignancy because of that, or maybe I’m just reading more into it than I should.

“Lest we forget”