Capt. John C. "Jack" Lee, Jr.

... a character profile.

In May 1945, Capt. John C. "Jack" Lee, Jr., a charismatic, stocky man of twenty seven, must have thought that his war was over.  Hitler was dead and any German resistance was crumbling before the Allies.  Capt. Lee had led Company B of the 23rd tank Battalion into the Austrian Tyrol and in the waning hours of the war could have had no idea of the part he was going to play in one of the strangest battles of World War II.

As it stands our rules allow for characters to be attached to units in the game.  A player, on the day, will be allowed to add Capt. John C. "Jack" Lee to their G.I. squad, which will have the effect of increasing their dice pool by one.  Currently his stats are similar in shooting and cover to those of the G.I.s, but the additional bravery score and number of wounds could help to keep that unit of troops in the game for longer; an important factor given the overwhelming odds against them.

Quick Reference for Unit Groups

Defenders (Allies)

2 x 5 man Squads American G.I.s (6 crewman & 4 GIs)

2 x 5 man Squads German Wehrmacht

1 x 5 man Squad French P.O.W.

1 x ‘Besotten Jenny’ Medium Sherman Tank (M4A3E8 or Easy Eight) Special Item

1 x M2 . 50 cal. HMG (Heavy Machine Gun) Team Special Item

	Shooting	Cover Dice	Bravery	Range	Wounds
American G.I.	D8	D8	D8	Standard	3
Capt. "Jack" Lee	D8	D8	D10	Standard	5
German Wehrmacht	D8	D8	D8	Standard	3
French P.O.W.	D6	D8	D10	Standard	5
Besotten Jenny	D8	D10	n/a	Unlimited	8
M2 .50-Cal. HMG	5 x D6	D8	n/a	Unlimited	3

Standard range = 50cm?

Given the importance of the character I was keen to find a suitable miniature to represent the good Captain and several possibilities presented themselves, but in the end the choice came down to just one.  I stumbled across US Officer - Donny Drumpf, a Stoessi's Heroes miniature available in the United Kingdom through 'Great Escape Games'.  Donny is described on the company's website as being, "a colorful and polarizing gentleman who is well known throughout the world."  A wonderful character piece, that accusatory, jabbing finger and distinctive hairstyle being so reminiscent of...

...I digress, but as chance would have it, here was a miniature that matched Capt. Lee's description as written by Stephen Harding in his book, The Last Battle, 

"Waiting there was a squat, powerfully built man wearing a wrinkled khaki uniform and a .45-caliber automatic pistol in a shoulder holster, his teeth clenching a well chewed but unlit cigar."

A description that was mirrored in the photograph below, apparently taken two months before the battle at Schloss Itter.  Jack Lee, on the far right of this photograph, is with (from left) 2nd Lt. John Powell, one of his platoon leaders, and 1st Lt. Harry Basse, Co. B’s Motor Officer and Lee’s closest friend in the unit.

As thrilled as I was to have discovered Jack, a miniature to make my collection great again, I struggled with the right arm.  It was a hilarious addition, but didn't look quite right to me.  Fortunately a suitable replacement was unearthed, rather appropriately from the 'Warlord Games', American G.I. sprue.  The angle of the arm just seemed to fit perfectly and the addition of the cigar and stroke of good fortune.

Painting was all rather predicable, lashings of Olive Green, Field Drab and Khaki, although I couldn't resist keeping that shock of blond hair!  At the rear of the miniature I have added some red, white and blue stripes to hint at this being a character piece, but this may yet be changed for no other reason than it screams French character rather than American.

Clearly a few liberties have been taken with this representation of Capt. Lee, but I just felt that the miniature worked, especially when seen in conjunction with the 'Artizan Designs' Tankers.  The scale is a good match for the other miniatures and yet he still manages to convey an assured confidence, the sort of confidence that can carry the day against overwhelming odds! 

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