4Ground European Windmill for Bolt Action

Have a look at this fabulous 4Ground kit, the European Windmill! Windmills played a part in the Second World War, particularly in the Netherlands, as shelter for refugees as well as look-out posts for the Wermacht. Here a group of British Commandos aided by a Daimler MK1 armoured car use the windmill as a base of operations to launch their attack.

Some Resistance groups used the sails to send signals to warn the locals of impending Nazi raids and some were used by the Allied forces as radio outposts.

This is another great kit from 4Ground and probably the trickiest to build so far. Fortunately the full color step by step instructions help a lot. Refer to them often during the building process.

This multi-level kit can be used for snipers or spotters during your Bolt Action battles.

The roof cap can be spun around the building...

and does lift off.

The sails are mounted and spin on a magnet too.

It's a grand unique piece for any table top battleground!!

Have a Great Battle!!
The Old Crow

Warlord Games Gurkas

Gurkas, like these models from Warlord Games, served in the Second World War recruited from the sovereign state of Nepal. These tough allies to the British royal crown can really pack a punch.

They fought in Syria, North Africa, Italy, Greece, as well as in Burma against the Japanese.

Each Gurka carries a traditional Nepalese knife known as a Khukuri or Kukri. 

This heavy, curved blade is a fearsome close-combat weapon, as well as being useful for more mundane tasks such as clearing a path through dense jungle terrain.

Metal box set contains a 10 man rifle section, 3 man command group and 8 man charging section.

These guys are the completed charging section with NCO.

Have a Great Battle!
The Old Crow

Black Bull Armor Addition from Warlord Games

Well finally we have some additional armor for the Black Bull, British 11th Armoured Division. Here we have the completed A34 Comet Heavy Tank, a Cromwell MK IV and a Daimler MK 1 armored car.

The Comet, advancing toward the main road through the low stone wall....

and Cromwell making use of its bocage cutter, are patterned after the 29th Armoured Brigade's 2nd Fife and Forfar Yeomanry Regiment.

The Daimler is part of the supporting Recce Regiment, the 2nd Northhamptonshire Yeomanry.

The Daimler was a 4 wheel drive vehicle with a 2 pounder canon.

In Bolt Action it has the Recce rule to get out of sticky situations.

The Cromwell is a great all around medium tank in Bolt Action and still my favorite from World of Tanks!

Here you can see added stowage and the crew left their bucket hooked on the rear of the vehicle.

Now for some punch, the A34 Heavy Comet tank!!

This guy can pack a punch and has serious armor comparable to a Panther.

The A34 Comet was the last British tank type to enter the war. The 11th Armoured Division received the Comet in January of 1945.

Have a Great Battle!!!
The Old Crow

Sarissa World War Europe and Warlord Games Reinforcements for Bolt Action

We picked up these Sarissa World War Europe LCVP and LCM to try out for an eventual landing assault on the Atlantic wall.

There will be a need to fill those landing craft so we also started to build reinforcements from Warlord Games. A British Cromwell medium tank and a Daimler Mk1 armored car are in the process.

Additional infantry in the form of two Ghurka squads and an officer are being prepared too. The Warlord box set has a static firing squad and a squad charging into the fray! They are great miniatures and powerful troops on the tabletop.

The LCVP (Landing Craft Vehicle Personnel) or Higgins boat went together very quickly as did the Landing Craft Mechanized (LCM). That is a consistent plus to the Sarissa kits, ease of assembly.

The vehicles need some stowage and will be ready to prime.

Here are the landing craft primed grey. We have US Machine Gun Crews on order from Warlord Games...

and finally the first Ghurka squad and officer have been primed and received a base coat.

Have a Great Battle!!
The Old Crow

3D Printing for Bolt Action and 28mm War Games

When the need arose for Polish transports, we tried an experiment with a decent little 3D printer. We found a model of a truck similar to those used by the Polish Army and scaled it to fit a 28mm world.

We were happy with the results and will post finished images when that happens.

In good turn, we tried a Matilda to support the growing British forces.

A quick coat of primer and basic paint job left us with a table worthy piece of armor.

The possibilities are astounding!!! Tank War here we come
!!

Have a Great Battle
The Old Crow

Warlord and Artizan 28mm Models for Bolt Action in Progress

Well there are always more models to build and paint! We are like everyone and have several additional projects all going at the same time. For our early war Polish Army we have the wz.29 Ursus heavy armored car from Warlord Games!

Designed in 1929, the Samochd Pancerny wzr 29, was more commonly known as Ursus. It was based on the chassis of a 2-ton truck, mounted a 37mm anti-tank gun and multiple machine guns. Although adequately armored for the inter-war period, the Ursus fared poorly when facing more modern opposition in 1939.

Another Bolt Action project is our US Army in Greatcoats for winter campaigns. You can see an earlier post HERE. These are recently primed reinforcements to bolster the Battle of  the Bulge.

Add a light howitzer, this one from Artizan Designs, and these boys will be ready for the onslaught.

This bazooka team was painted to add firepower. Remember to keep the get away jeep close by.

And of course you can always use an extra squad of British Infantry.

Have a Great Battle!
The Old Crow

11th Armoured Black Bulls for Bolt Action

It's been far to long since our last post so here's a quick one! We were in need of some recon for the Black Bulls so a new Humber scout car and a couple jeeps were the order.

And then some heavy support  from the Engineering Division.

A ton has been happening but life can be relentless! Play table top war games or blog about them? hmmmm....

WW2 D-Day Reenactment at Conneaut Ohio!

The largest  D-Day (1944) living history reenactment in the country takes place in Conneaut Ohio. Featuring over 1,500 reenactors from across the US and Canada perform a living tribute to the veterans of WWII through dress, mock battles, and living history displays. We had the opportunity to be there this year!

There were many demonstrations over the weekend and the mock battles were superb, especially the beach landing!

Encampments for Allied and Axis forces were filled with relics the reenactors brought to display.

And loved showing how these weapons were used in the day.

You could meet the real men and women that lived through those times too. Last year the Conneaut D-Day hosted over 150 WWII veterans.

Reenacting the capture of the bridge at La Fiére, the Americans gained control of the key crossing of the Merderet River.

Here German light armor advances on the bridge.

And is incapacitated as it nears.

After the battle, a column of German soldiers head back to camp.

There were several "Big Guns" including the feared German 88

and several armored vehicles including a Panzer III, Stug (seen here), M4 and an M4A1.

Also three variants of the M5 Stuart.

Georgie's Gal, a B-25 Mitchell, twin-engined medium bomber manufactured by North American Aviation took part this year. It made several passes over the beach on bombing runs. 

The B-25 was used by many Allied air forces, in every theater of World War II, although the majority of B-25s in American service were used in the Pacific. The B-25 was named in honor of General Billy Mitchell, a pioneer of U.S. military aviation.

The Polish contingent brought an artillery piece..

jeep to deploy it...

and a nice sampling of arms.

The US camp held many jeeps, trucks, motorcycles and this M3 Half-track.

There were a couple more participating in the actual landing. One hauling a howitzer.

The German encampment contained its share of armored cars,

transport vehicles of every size...

and many motocycles.

Watch the D-Day Cooneaut site for next years event!!

You can see additional images from this year on Cleveland.com 

Have A Great Battle!!

The Old Crow