Paris of Troy

Hi there!

For my entry for 'Lust', the 2nd Circle of the Abyss, I have here Paris of Troy on his chariot. 

As the myth goes, Zeus (aka 'The Big Horny Coward') had Paris choose the most beautiful amongst Athena, Hera and Helen of Sparta (the proxy for Aphrodite). He chose Helen.  Not being able to master himself, Paris stole Helen from her husband Menelaus. As if this situation wasn't bad enough, Menelaus was also the king of Sparta, which made matters exponentially worse for Paris and the Trojan people.

The abduction of Helen instigated the Trojan War which lasted 10 years, cost thousands of lives, and the destruction of Troy itself. In Dante's 'Divine Comedy' Paris' lust for Helen sees him committed to the Second Circle of Hell. 

Oh well, on the bright side at least he has Helen there to keep him company.

I chose to depict Paris mounted in a chariot armed with his trusty (some ancient chroniclers would say cowardly) bow.

This is a stl purchase from Wargames Atlantic. A really nice kit. I scaled it down to 20mm for printing so it would fit in with the rest of my Trojan War collection (some of those previous lads are seen here legging it alongside Paris). 

In the last pic we see Paris speeding away as he and his bow have an upcoming date with Achilles...

Thanks for dropping in!

- Curt

'Beware of Greeks Bearing Gifts' - Trojan Horse and Mycenaeans

This past autumn I read a review of Emily Wilson's recent translation of 'The Illiad' and decided to pick it up. While it was a bit of a slog in spots, I still really enjoyed it. Wilson chose to translate Homer's prose using unrhymed iambic pentameter, rather than the traditional dactylic hexameter which is an academics way of saying that she translated Homer's epic not only for ease of reading, but for listening to as well. And it's true, I found her translation very easy to digest, and was struck by her descriptions of the battles and motivations of the characters. I think any reader will find that much of what the story describes still resonates today, which is pretty impressive for a tale that is almost 3,000 years old!

This prompted me to bring out my copy of Rosemary Sutcliff's 'Black Ships Before Troy' (wonderfully illustrated by Alan Lee), and re-watch both the 2004 film and the 2018 mini series. Of course all this Hellenic enthusiasm spilled over into my hobby as well, with me collecting miniatures and mulling over possible  gaming scenarios.

Ever since I was a kid I've been fascinated by the story of the Trojan Horse and Odysseus' ruse which saw the fall of Troy and the end of the 10-year siege. With this in mind, I started to sketch out a semi-cooperative game where the Horse has been brought into the city and the players, who control the Greeks hiding inside, emerge from the Horse to try to secure victory and gain fame under the gods' eyes. I envision that there will be various missions for them to complete and compete for. Things like 'Light the Signal Fire'; 'Open the Main Gate'; 'Secure Helen', 'Raid the Treasury'; etc. I see lots of characterful 'Screw Cards' with Gods intervening amongst the general mayhem. :)

Several of the sources say that 40 Greeks were hiding in the Horse, so I decided that each of the four players would control a hero along with nine companions.  The leading heroes would be Odysseus, Diomedes, Menelaus and Neoptolemus. In the rules I imagine that their companions will serve to assist in side task as well as serve as their bodyguards in critical fights. 

Now, first to find a suitable Horse. I did a good bit of investigating trying to source a suitable model for the Horse but it wasn't easy. In a bout of pique I even entertained making one out of foam core, but I knew that way lay strife and madness. Finally I came across a 3d design based on the 2004 movie set model. Perfect!

I quite like the Horse's rustic design as it actually looks like something that may have been built on a beach from repurposed ships planking, rope and smelted bronze.

The original 3d design was made for 54mm figures which was way too HUGE, especially as I wanted something that could store away in a single banker's box. After a bit of head scratching and calculating, I settled on 20mm as an overarching scale and resized the Horse accordingly for the final print.

The printed model was fairly easy to assemble and paint. I kept the Horse's side panels unglued just in case things go pear-shaped for the Greeks right from the get-go. :)

I quite like that the horse is at a scale that works with the figures. It actually looks like fourty crazy Greeks could be crammed within it. To finish the piece, I made a 'drop hatch' from plasticard and a rope from wire.

The Greek heroes are 3d designs from Wargames Atlantic. I quite like the models, but I have to say that the multipart assembly strained my patience after a while. What you see here is only half of the full Greek contingent of forty. I have most of the other models assembled, but I just couldn't get them across the finish line in time.  Nonetheless, this provides a taste of what the whole group will look like. 

Odysseus' 'Red Group'

Diomedes 'Green Group'

Sometimes I like a scale variation for my 'Big Men' in skirmish games, so I scaled the named Heroes in 28mm so they are noticeably larger than their 20mm companions. I also based them on octagon bases to help them stand out a little more.

I also did a test stand of Trojan opponents, all geared-up in their formidable Dendra plate armour. 

I imagine there will be a whole contingent of these 'Trojan Terminators' at the Palace, protecting Helen and the rest of the Royal family.  They should be a tough nut to crack for the assaulting Greeks.

There is still a lot to do, but this group hopefully breaks the duck and helps me keep up the momentum to complete the project.

- Curt

Canadian 6 pounder with Sniper Team

Gosh, I've had these minis primed, waiting on pill containers, for years! Time to get them done up.

Being easily entertained, I often collect and paint stuff inspired from books, movies or graphic novels. So this group of miniatures follows suit. 

I sought out these models after reading Mark Zuehlke's 'Ortona', which provides a great history of the 'Little Stalingrad' Canadians fought in order to take the Italian coastal town of Ortona in December, 1943.

The house-to-house fighting experienced in Ortona was so fierce that the Canadians brought forward their 6-pounder anti-tank guns to help reduce Fallshirmjager strong-points. The guns were positioned in a flanking position on the town's pier and coastal mole, allowing them to have a clear line-of-sight to enemy positions in Ortona. 

A 6-Pounder in action in Ortona, December 1943

The downside to this was that, with very little cover, the gun's crews were terribly exposed to German artillery fire. The Canadian gunners found that they had to scamper from their 6-pounders as enemy shells whistled in, and then dash back to quickly re-lay their guns and fire off a few shots before, once again, running back for cover.

Into this story comes Private Howard Mabley.  A country boy from Peace River, Alberta. Mabley was one of those recruits who, no matter how hard his drill instructors tried, could not learn the fundamentals of being an infantryman. It wasn't that he was disrespectful, he just couldn't retain the skills. Finally his officers gave up in frustration and sent Mabley to the regiment's kitchens to help there. 

So it came somewhat as a surprise that an officer found Mabley, under fire, happily loading one of the anti-tank guns. The officer upbraided the sergeant commanding the gun for having a cook there, but was told that Mabley could not be deterred, desperately wanting to help his mates in the fighting. The gunner went on to say that he never saw loading done so quickly and without mishap. 'Eight hundred rounds when through that gun and every shell was loaded by Mabley.' He served as loader for the rest of the battle, permanently loosing his hearing from the firing of the gun. 

These are 20mm figures from AB Miniatures. All of them, exquisite castings. The 6-pounder is from Empress Miniatures and fits perfectly with the gunners. 

As an interesting side-note, the Canadian version of the 6-pounder had it's gun manufactured in Longueuil, Quebec, whereas the carriages were made right here in Regina, Saskatchewan.

Finally, to finish off, I'm including a prone Canadian sniper team, searching for targets in the rubble. 

Another set from AB. Not as crisply realized as their usual fair, but still more than serviceable.

- Curt

Pak 40 Anti Tank Gun

I was casting about my hobby room trying to figure out what to work on next, when Nick came to the rescue by tweeting me, asking what was going on with my 20mm WWII Italian Theatre project. The quick response was 'well, nothing actually', but it did make me think and prompted me to uncover a few half-completed projects I had been working on; one of them being this German Pak 40 that has been sitting on my desk for the past year or so.

This is fitting as I had done up a trio of Canadian Shermans from the Three Rivers Tank Regiment a while ago and thought that they needed some opponents to give them a bit of pause. 

This is a plastic kit from PSC. They do a very nice job on the gun, with lots of nice extra bits, but I found the figures to be a bit soft in detail. No matter, as we all know, everything looks better with a lick of paint, right? 

I had some extra MDF wall bits left over from Byron's excellent Italian buildings he designed for me and so decided to have the gun nestled in a wrecked structure, waiting in ambush. This will provide a nice anti-tank option for German players in our ongoing Italian theatre games.

Next Up: An Action Hero!

Syrian White Helmet Rescue Workers

This was my closing post for the ninth annual Painting Challenge. I wanted to return to our overarching theme of 'Fellowship' and decided to do a small vignette honouring a group of people whose selfless efforts I've admired for several years now: the Syrian White Helmets.

As many of you know the White Helmets are a group of Syrian volunteers whose mandate is to provide medical assistance, urban search and rescue, civilian evacuation, and essential service delivery to areas caught within their nation's civil war. It is reported that since they were formed more than 5 years ago the White Helmets have saved over 100,000 lives, while losing over 200 of their own people in the process. In 2016 the group was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize and have subsequently been awarded numerous international accolades for their humanitarian work.

Sadly, in this politically charged region of the world, there is an active smear campaign levelled at the White Helmets, trying to besmirch and belittle what they have done for their people. Personally I think this is reprehensible, but these are the times we live in and we all have to do our bit to rise above it and fight these injustices when and where we can. 

I'm proud to say that this past summer the Canadian government was instrumental in organising the evacuation of over 400 White Helmets and their families from Syria before forces loyal to the present regime could arrest them for supposed crimes against the state. Many of those evacuated have been resettled here in Canada, along with other participating countries. For many of them it has been a heart-wrenching experience, having to flee their homeland and loved ones to live in a far away, alien place. I am happy to have them here in a safe haven, but I hope there comes a day when these brave people can freely and safely choose to either return to Syria, or remain with us as new Canadians.

As you can imagine, there are no White Helmet figures on the market, so I took a shot of bodging my own. 

As they wear a distinctive cropped helmet, which looks vaguely similar to a German fallshirmjaeger helmet, I used that as a basis to work from. 

With this in mind, I found a trio of 20mm German paratrooper command figures tucked away in my collection, repositioned their arms and heads and carefully cut and filed away their equipment to look more like the rescue garb the White Helmets wore. 

I then carved a disc of high density blue insulation, affixed it to a base, added rubble and wreckage, and then arranged the figures to depict them having just found some survivors buried in the rubble. Admittedly, it's not perfect, but the overall silhouette seems to work to my eyes. I hope it does to yours as well.

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Thanks for dropping in for a visit. I hope you all have a great upcoming week!

Curt

Worst Case Scenario #15: A Pint-Sized Campaign for the Battle of Ortona

A few years ago I painted up a force of WWII Canadian infantry and a troop of Sherman tanks with the idea of staging a game set around the 1943 Battle of Ortona - 'Canada's Little Stalingrad'.  

I've enjoyed reading JohnM's posts recounting his group's playing of several Normandy-based campaigns using the Too Fat Lardies ladder system. So, suitably inspired, I thought I'd give it a try by creating a series of interlinked scenarios based on the historical actions leading up to and including the battle for the Italian coastal town. 

'Reinforcements Moving up in the Ortona Salient' by Lawren Philips Harris

In the Lardies' campaign system, 'At the Sharp End', players typically take on the role of opposing platoon commanders, whose abilities and 'character' are reflected by their success (or lack thereof) on the tabletop. Due to the fact that several battalions were involved on both sides during the struggle for Ortona, there would be no distinct individuals to give a continuous personal narrative to the campaign, so I decided to have the results of each engagement affect the tactical makeup/character of the subsequent scenarios, thereby (hopefully) creating an overarching story narrative. Here are the four stages, or chapters, which make up our pint-sized campaign:

1. Castle Sterlin / Casa Berardi on the Moro River Line
2. Outskirts of Ortona
3. 48th Highlanders Attempt the Flank on Cemetery Ridge
4. The Final Push to the Castello

Map showing all four themed mission areas.

Map detail of the Ortona missions.

Scenario #1: Castle Sterlin and Casa Berardi

Background

The first engagement of the campaign, and the subject of this AAR, is based on the assault on the defences of the Moro River line, a few miles south of Ortona. These were held by men of the 90th Panzergrenadier Division, a polyglot formation made up of sweepings from the North African and Sicilian campaigns. So while they were all hardened veterans, it was a force that was largely worn-out, exhausted and on the brink of dissolution. Nonetheless, the German corps commander in this sector hoped to bleed the Canadians with the 90th while trying to avoid the early commitment of his crack Fallshirmjaegers to the battle. He wanted the parachutists held for the struggle for Ortona.

Arrayed against the Germans on the south bank of the Moro River were three brigades of the 1st Canadian Division. This was a relatively fresh, but largely untested force. While some battalions saw action in Sicily, others were quite limited in their combat experience. This was an army made up of the sons of those who gained fame at Vimy Ridge, Passchendaele and the Hundred Days, in fact many of the older officers saw action in many of those battles, and so the Canadians of the 1st Division wished to prove that they were made of the same mettle as their forefathers.

This scenario is a composite of two closely related actions which occurred during the Moro operation, both involving the taking and subsequent defence of two strategically situated farmhouses: 'Sterlin Castle' and 'Casa Berardi'.

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'Sterlin Castle' took its name from the leader of its defenders, Lt. Mitch Sterlin of the Royal Canadian Regiment (RCR). 

On December 10th, 'Sterlin Castle' was a front-position outpost to the main RCR positions. With riflemen at the doors and windows, Lt. Sterlin positioned the platoon's Bren guns in weapons pits outside the structure. The firefight that ensued was ferocious. The enemy attack finally exhausted their ammunition and the light machine gunners escaped in the direction of the river, leaving eleven men of No. 16 Platoon remaining inside the house. 

'Sterlin Castle' as it exists today.

Six remaining German machine guns targeted the structure, and in mid-afternoon, the Germans assaulted the building once again. Enemy dead were stacked up against the walls, with one officer killed in the act of trying to force a grenade into a window and another just four feet away trying to give cover fire. Artillery concentrations called down around the house killed thirty Germans. An hour later, Sterlin was able to pull out with the survivors to rejoin the Hastings regiment. Lieutenant Mitch Sterlin was subsequently killed in the fighting for Ortona, and given a posthumous Mention in Dispatches.

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The second action, fought on the 14th of December, saw  Cpt. Paul Triquet of the Royal 22e of Quebec City, known as the 'Van Doos' (an anglicized pronunciation of the French for '22') take and hold a stone house called Casa Berardi.

By late in a day of brutal fighting, Triquet was the sole surviving officer of his battalion's assault force. He reorganized the remnants of his units into two platoons under the two remaining sergeants, and spurred them forward. "There are enemy in front of us, behind us and on our flanks," he warned. "There is only one safe place, that is on the objective." 

Casa Berardi then and now.

The attacks continued. Ammunition was short; there was none following, and no one who could be sent for it. The wounded were treated hurriedly, and left where they had fallen. A Mark IV approaching along the road was first blinded by smoke laid down by a supporting Sherman, and then destroyed by tank fire through the smoke. In the late afternoon Casa Berardi was finally taken by the Van Doos, and the indomitable few fought on almost to the crossroads. Finally the enemy's mortar fire stopped them, and the survivors, less than fifteen, drew back to the big house. A count revealed five Bren guns and five Thompson submachine guns on hand, and a woefully small supply of ammunition. "C" Squadron had four tanks left. With these slender resources Triquet organized his defences against counter-attack, and issued the order, "Ils ne passeront pas!" (They shall not pass!) The small force held out until reinforced during the early hours of the 15th.

Captain Triquet was awarded the Victoria Cross for his actions that day. 

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The Terrain

So with these two actions in mind I decided to combine them thematically into one scenario.

Positioned near the center of the tabletop is a large Italian farmhouse (The Casa) set alongside a crossroads. The Casa is ringed by several smaller structures, all of which have been shattered by recent artillery strikes. Large shellholes offer some options for defensive emplacements, or as launch points for assaults. The roads are lined with low stone walls, often broken in places. A small vineyard, gone to winter fallow, is behind the farmhouse. All of the ground except for the roads and buildings/ruins is to be considered extremely boggy from the seemingly continuous winter rain. Any vehicle will have a very high chance of becoming bogged down if it tries to maneuver in this morass (any doubles rolled on 3 dice).

Here is a map of the scenario. My apologies for the awkward hand-drawn attempt, but after a long day parked in front of a computer monitor I take inordinate pleasure in the simple fun of sketching and colouring maps for our games.

The map of Scenario #1: Casa Berardi / Sterlin Castle

The Combatants  

The Germans start with a small screening force (one section, or two teams) in or near the farmhouse. 

The remainder of their force sits waiting off-table, poised for a counterattack. It is composed of a panzergrenadier kampfgruppe made up of two reduced infantry platoons (each commanded by a Senior Leader) along with some armour support in the form of a Mk IV, a StuG and a Hetzer. This counterattacking force will be made available once the German players(s) expend a 'filled' a Chain of Command die (ie. accrued 6 Chain of Command points). The Germans are veterans, but always add a +1 to their 'Bad Things Happen' checks to reflect their combat exhaustion.

The Canadians will launch their assault from the south edge (bottom of the map following) with their entire force. 

It is composed of a full strength infantry platoon, an artillery observer from a 3" battery, and a reduced squadron of three Shermans from The Ontario Regiment (they have their own Level III armour leader). The Canadians are considered Average, but are Aggressive in close combat.

Victory Conditions

The Canadians will need to quickly neutralize the German screening force and take up positions in and around the Casa before the German counterattack falls upon them. They need to hold the position until reinforced later in the day (ie. when four turns have passed), or by breaking the German counterattack. Either of these two events will mark the end of the battle.

The Germans need to hammer the Canadians as hard as they can as they are playing for time and blood. If they can break the Canadians they will buy valuable time for their Fallshirmjaeger comrades in their defensive preparations in Ortona. Also, any allied armour kills will carry forward to affect future availability of Sherman reinforcements for the Canadians.

      

Our Replay

In the patrol phase the Germans (Stacy) occupied the Casa with one section of panzergrenadiers in the upper floors. 

The Canadian infantry (Peter) advanced on a broad front with one section straight up the central road while the two others took to coming up the right flank. The Shermans (Jeremy) began with one tank on the road while the other two took the calculated risk of maneuvering in the boggy ground near the center. (They later became bogged and were immobilized for the rest of the game but served as gun bunkers for support.) 

The three allied tanks opened fire on the upper floor of the Casa, ultimately bringing down its roof. The Germans squad, minus a few casualties, were forced to scramble down to the second level to relocate their defensive position there. The Canadian infantry, under the protection of the tanks' fire, advanced towards the farmhouse, taking some desultory return fire from the pinned down Germans. 

As the Canadians closed in for the kill, the German player (Stacy) decided that caution was the better part of valour and it would be best to pull out his chewed-up German squad to defend the jump-off point positioned just behind the house. At this point it was looking pretty bad for the Germans as Stacy had very few Chain of Command points saved up for the counterattack and Peter and Jeremy were pushing hard.

But lady luck pitched the scales to the Panzergrenadiers' favour in a big way, when, just as the Canadians were about to storm the Casa, Stacy rolled four 6's allowing him to immediately bring in his counterattacking forces and maintain the initiative.

A fresh Panzergrenadier squad leapt from the jump-off point and stormed into the Casa, while a Mark IV panzer and a Hetzer rolled down the road towards the Casa to challenge the single Sherman that had not bogged down. The tables had been turned and the Canadians were caught on their back foot. It was a brand new game now, and the tension was ratcheting up!

Mark IV and Hetzer coming up the road to face off with the Shermans...

With his dander up, Peter decided to grasp the nettle and storm the Casa to clear it of enemy forces. The ensuing close combat turned to be bit of a rude shock as the Germans benefitted heavily from being in a good defensive position. The Canadians suffered heavy casualties and were bundled out of the Casa to regroup down the road, tending to their wounded. The Germans, while bloodied, maintained their firm hold on the building.

The remnants of the Canadian section regroup behind a Sherman bogged amongst the ruins of a house.

Nearby, on the flank, the Canadians were being hard pressed by a heavy German counterattack, supported by a tripod deployed MG42 and the not too distant panzers. Peter decided to take another risk by having his Forward Observer request a barrage just in front of the Canadian lines. Without the benefit of spotting rounds to allow correction this could have gone very, very badly - definitely a 'Danger Close' moment.  

Canadian Forward Observer team: MVP award for the game.

But the winds of fate turned again with the barrage landing right on target, pinning most of the panzergrenadier force and causing several casualties amongst the entire kampfgruppe. Artillery barrages are particularly nasty in Chain of Command as they can last numerous play rounds, causing havoc and pinning down troops, which this one did for the entire remainder of the game, pounding the German lines, whittling away at their squads bit-by-bit.

Next, Jeremy's only unimobilized Sherman edged forward down the road and sent a armour piercing round ricocheting off the Mark IV's armour, shocking it's crew. The two tanks would exchange three volleys before the Sherman gunner 'got in his eye' and knocked out the panzer. 

The Sherman nudges forward to take a shot at the Mark IV.

The Mark IV is knocked out and the remainder of the German counterattack begins to falter.

Scenario #1 Conclusion

At this point nightfall had arrived and the fighting ebbed. I declared the scenario to be a draw, but not entirely inconclusive - both sides had met some of their goals, while failing to achieve others. 

So, how would the scenario's results affect the next game in the campaign?  Well, due to the time bought by Stacy's skillful defence of the Casa, the Fallshirmjaegers will benefit from some additional defensive benefits in 'The Outskirts of Ortona' mission.  But in turn, the 90th Panzergrenadiers would no longer play any supporting role in the campaign as the Battle for the Moro had crippled it as a fighting force.

We'll move onto the second chapter in a few weeks and I'll try to keep a log of our progress.


Next: A sally mission in Renaissance Italy.