Scenarios, Research and Getting Something Done

In a burst of enthusiasm, I managed to finish my AWI supplement yesterday. I also looked over my Kharkov campaign again. It is ready but just needs graphics. To do graphics, I need terrain to take pictures of the troops in. So that had me drag out the train station. As I did so, I pulled out the new styrene strips I bought to continue where I left off. OOps. Wrong thickness. I need to go back to the store. Plus, my wife used up all of the PVA glue in the house for Halloween costumes. Got to get some of that too.

Putting away my train station, I pulled out one of my new favorite books, "The Bloody Triangle" that covers the armored battles in the opening days of Operation Barbarossa in the Ukraine. This was a source I used for the Ustilug Campaign. Great book that is chock full of good stuff to base scenarios on.

As I was reading, I came across a section discussing the 15th Panzer Regiment/11th Panzer Division's advance through the Ukraine. To Quote the author, Victor Kamenir, the town of Radekhov was the site of "the first significant tank battle in Ukraine" (pg 139). This got me excited. It seemed like a great candidate for an IABSM scenario and I know Mark has the miniatures in 6mm to get this done. I kept reading. It seems that the small town of Radekhov was occupied by two tank battalions and one Motor Rifle Battalion from the IV Mechanized Corps. OK. This could be a BIG scenario.

But where on earth is Radekhov? Unfortunately, it is not on www.wwii-photos-maps.com. It is in map M35-62-A which he does not carry. The book describes the town and its neighboring village of Stoyanov as "equally small and insignificant town"(pg 139). But, I found a 1929 Polish map of the area that has both towns referenced by the book present. Much harder to find as they used the Polish names for the towns instead of the Russian/Ukrainian names. You can pull the map up here: http://www.mapywig.org/m/WIG_maps/series/100K/P47_S39_RADZIECHOW_1928_600dpi_bcuj302541-291698.jpg. Below is the part that I am interested in.

Caution, original image is 28MB. I added it here as a small image. I hope it does not bog things down.

The Soviet force was commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Georgiy Lysenko. North of Radekhov and between Stoyanov was two battalions of the 10th Tank Division of the XV Mechanized Corps. Around 0330 hours on the 23rd of June, the lead battalion of the 15th Panzer Regiment engaged the battalions of the 10th Tank Division. They brushed them aside and approached Radekhov from the north around 0530 hours.

Here is where I am left slightly disappointed. The description of the battle tells me nothing about the forces that engaged one another. I have no clue what was in the 10th Tank Division at this time. So it was time to dig. Well, I found this little gem: TECHNICAL REPORT FROM THE 10th TANK DIVISION, AUGUST 1941. This was a report filed by the acting commander of the 10th Tank Division in August of 1941. He provides a breakdown of the losses suffered by tank type in the division. Now we are starting to get somewhere. Tanks listed in the losses section are: KV, T-34, T-28, BT-7 and T-26. Unfortunately, there are multiple models of the T-26 and KV tanks so this does not completely clear the muddy waters. But I did remember that I had a book by Charles Sharp somewhere. "The Deadly Beginning: Soviet Tank, Mechanized, Motorized Divisions and Tank Brigades of 1940-1942." Surely this will be enlightening. And it is.

Tank Regiments of the 10th Tank Division

Parent Unit	1st Battalion	Second Battalion	Third Battalion	Fourth Battalion
19th Tank Rgt	31 KV Tanks	52 Mixed T-34, T-28, BT-7	31 KV Tanks	52 Mixed T-34, T-28, BT-7	31 KV Tanks	52 Mixed T-34, T-28, BT-7	Light Tanks
20th Tank Rgt	31 KV Tanks	52 Mixed T-34, T-28, BT-7	31 KV Tanks	52 Mixed T-34, T-28, BT-7	31 KV Tanks	52 Mixed T-34, T-28, BT-7	Light Tanks

Well, it helps some. We can assume that the Light tanks are probably T-26's based on the August Report as that is the only tank type missing from it in Charles Sharp's account of the division. In the initial action, the T-34 tanks were not yet encountered. We know this from the next revelation from "The Bloody Triangle."

German aerial reconnaissance spotted a significant body of Soviet Armor approaching Radekhov from the east. This was the bulk of the 10th Tank Division. The whole of the 15th Panzer Regiment deployed in line and waited for the arrival of the 10th. They were supported by artillery and anti-aircraft artillery. This allowed the forward deployed elements of the 10th Tank Division to escape and fall back to join Lysenko's main force.

The Germans pressed on towards Radekhov and were met by Soviet artillery fire and a dozen tanks (no mention of types). The first battalion of the 15th Panzer Regiment dealt with the 12 Soviet tanks. They knocked out three and lost only one of their own vehicles in return. They then took Radekhov. The defenders fled to the south and southeast.

Now this is where the account gets interesting. The 15th halted south of Radekhov just before a hill to the southeast of the town. Lieutenant von Renesse volunteered to lead a reconnaissance of the hill and its surrounding area. His entire platoon (2nd platoon) from the 5th Company volunteered to go forward for the mission. Now we get some details. There were five tanks in the platoon. Three of the tans were armed with the short 5cm cannons and two were armed with the 3.7cm KwK cannons. One of these later types had a non-operational gun but still was eager to go forward.

In researching what tanks were part of the 15th Panzer Regiment, I found a source that said the 5th Company was a light tank company. But this does not work based on the armament of the tanks. The Panzer I and Panzer II light tanks did not have such heavy armament. But, the Panzer III tanks had exactly this armament. So we have one side determined.

The panzers aligned themselves in a wedge formation and moved up to 100 meters before a highway that was on the hill. The panzers encountered a few enemy infantry but reported back that it was smooth going. Then they spotted a formation of four Soviet tanks advancing in a single file line spaced fifty meters apart. The book states that they were of a type that the tankers had never seen before. The panzers got off the road and into position to ambush the advancing Soviet tanks. The Soviet tanks advanced at full speed down the road. At nearly point blank range, the panzers opened fire. Firing as rapidly as possible, the platoon scored hit after hit on the Soviet tanks. The Soviet tanks reaction was to turn around and drive off. The Soviets did not fire a shot, were hit repeatedly and did not lose a single tank.

This was one of the first encounters that the German Army had with the Soviet T-34 tank. This description, coupled with the Polish map should provide enough information for a nice game of Chain of Command. At the bottom of the map above, the hill can clearly be seen as well as the highway that was hidden to the Germans from the base of the hill. The hill itself did not have much in the way of trees but the elevations should provide some interesting cover to move in and out of.

AnywaY, I hope this was interesting for you. I will try out this scenario at some point with my 15mm Toys. Now to see if I have the right types of Panzer IIIs.

Scenario Sale Ends Today

If you want to get half off on the Terrible Sharp Sword supplement "The Coming Thunder" and the Bag the Hun/Check Your Six supplement "The Falcon and the Gladiator", you need to act before midnight tonight (Atlanta, GA). 

Also " In the Name of Roma" is $3 off until then as well.  Chock full of IABSM and Chain of Command scenarios for the Italians on the Russian Front.

Thanks Everyone.

Saturday is alright for fighting...

This past Saturday I managed to get not just one game in but two. Mark was gracious enough to not only pick me up to get there but take me back home late in the evening. Thank you sir. One thing that struck me when setting up for Terry's Memorial Game day was the utter lack of pictures of my gaming opponents. I could not find a single picture of Terry anywhere but tons of pictures of terrain and his miniatures. I have resolved not to do that again. Apologies as war gamers are not the most photogenic lot to begin with and I was taking pictures with a cell phone and an unsteady hand.

Airfield Attack - IABSM in 6mm

The first was an excellent game of IABSM that Mark put on in 6mm. The game was the defense of a German airfield against a Soviet attack. The Germans were to hold off the attack and allow their aircraft to maneuver to take off from where they are parked at the start of the game.

Update: The scenario was based on Soviet Operationd during the Little Saturn Offensive in December 1942 and January 1943. This is similar to the attack at Tatsinskaya Air Field.

We were pleased to be joined by some folks who drove up to Gigabytes from Savannah. In Mark's game, Doug, John and I played the Germans.

Doug is to the left and enjoying one of Gigabytes excellent breakfasts. John is to the right.

The Soviet players included a contingent from the Savannah area.

Sorry for the terrible picture. Mark was so blurry in the original, I cropped him out. Here Barclay, Dean and Adam study the board while Dave looks at a different game. Dave is one of the locals while the others were of the Savannah contingent. The missing member of the Savannah group is Nathan who was hiding from the camera for this picture.

John was in command of some of the German infantry while Doug had the remainder. John's forces were on the opposite side of the table (side with the ruined town). Doug's troops were spread out on the bottom half defending the buildings and wooded area. I ran the base defense flak guns with two big men. My force had 4 2cm Flak guns and 3 88mm Flak guns. There was a theoretical air support and the potential of 2 Marders that never arrived.

You can see the table layout above. The hands at the top of the table were Doug and John trying to figure out their deployment options. I have annotated our deployments. X is the location of some big men who were apart from their men. The two in houses were that flak commanders. The letter A, denotes the 20mm Flak batteries and the B denotes the 88mm Flak batteries. The letter 'I' is infantry deployments. In the fortified position in the bottom right of the picture had two platoons. One platoon was held in reserve in a dugout below ground.

Here is a shot of the ruined town in the top left corner of the map. Mark's excellent 6mm terrain is very well carried out. The large infantry positions were from Leva. It is from here that one of the attacking forces (Barclay's) would arrive.

Here is a shot of the main aerodrome itself. The four aircraft were supposed to taxi and take off during the course of the game. That was part of the German Victory conditions.

Here you can see the layout of the German blinds. We use the cards for the given forces as their blinds. When spotted, these go straight to the discard stack to try to reduce "loosing" cards from the deck. It really does work well. Fake blinds are present but some you can just tell when something is there as you have a stack of cards on a spot.

Next is the spot where most of the action of the day would occur. The Snowy woods look picturesque now but wait till the T-34s come rumbling through. You can see the tacks that Mark used to hold the terrain sheet to the Styrofoam elevations beneath. He went to the added step to color them so they would not stand out like sore thumbs. The terrain was just a joy to play on.

The Soviets had a huge attacking force. There was two big groups of 6 T34s and another group of 6 T-70s. Some of the T-34s and all of the T-70s were carrying infantry. The only thing that helped was the weather. Visibility was limited due to intense fog. As the game went on, the fog lifted and visibility increased.

The Soviets were largely handled by the Savannah contingent. Dean sat back and learned the rules by watching. Barclay operated a group of T-34s entering from the top left of the table. Adam comanded both the remaining armored units. Dave(not from Savannah) commanded the tank riders. The remaining member of the Savannah contingent, Nathan, watched as well. One of the limiters for the Soviets was that each of their commands had to dice for when they would arrive (1d4) which served to delay their entry. Only one of Adam's tank groups (the T-34s of course) entered from the bottom right. However, they also had to die to see how close they arrived to their desired jump off point. All of this was to simulate the units being confused and lost in the fog.

The first Soviet element to arrive we six T-34s. They arrived near the wooded area at the bottom left. The only German assets to engage were a single 20mm Flak gun, an MMG team and a German platoon. The platoon could do little to hurt the tanks. The 20mm gun was a fierce wasp attempting to sting one of the beasts. We managed to keep these beasts at the bottom of the hill for most of the game. When the 20mm opened up on the closest tank, it forced the tank riders to dismount. For several turns, this was just a fire fight between dug in infantry and the tanks. The tank riders were forced to dismount and one platoon was badly mauled over the course of things. What was amazing was how long that fight lasted.

I had a 88mm gun that was still on blinds but had no angle on the T-34s. The 20mm gun had concentrated all of its fire on one vehicle. The net result was a couple of points of shock that were removed almost as quickly as they were applied. The 4 strike dice were just no match for the 6 armor dice of the T-34.

Here we see the action as it is unfolding. The shocked platoon has taken kills and was forced backwards. They would prove to be very resilient and stay on the table and continue to fight.

The next Soviet group to arrive was on the opposite end of the board. Barclay's Soviet tanks arrived and began to bear down on that end of the table.

This attack proved interesting. They bumped into a blind that was flung rather far forward. It seems that there was a mistake in the deployment as suddenly the blind revealed two big men. Being the only target available, the tanks opened fire on the house and one of the big men was killed and the other fled. In the immediate area, there were two MMGs. One of the MMGs happened to be pretty good. It was able to immobilize two of the six T-34s. The T-34s ignored the machineguns and pressed forward toward the rest of the defensive lines.

To the bottom right, more trouble arrived in the form of six T-70s. The T-70s made a run down the runway. In addition, the original T-34s finally broke away from their firefight. They had destroyed the platoon in the trenches. That platoon was replaced with a fresh platoon. The T-34s made a charge down the long side of the table. One tank overran the lone 20mm gun that it had been exchanging fire with. The other 20mm gun on that side of the table opened fire and immobilized one of the T-34s.

The game was all but over. The T-70s ran past the 88mm Flak gun. The 88 killed two of the T-70s but the rest proved too quick. The infantry on the backs of the T-70s began to dismount and overran the crew of the 88, killing them to a man including the Big Man in charge of the Heavy Flak guns. The T-70s began to fire upon the aircraft that had only begun to move. Two of the aircraft were destroyed.

The opposite corner, things were not going any better. The 20mm Flak gun on the top side fired on the on rushing T-34s. Nothing penetrated and the T-34s overran the position. Two separate 88mm guns fired on the T-34s but the fight must have been gone from the German gunners who were looking for a way out of this mess. At this point, the game was called as there was no way that the Germans could get any of their aircraft away. The Machine gunners on the top left corner board were to be put up for the Iron Cross for engaging the tanks. The commander of the light flak managed to escape with one of his gun crews and a platoon of infantry. They had a long walk ahead of them.

I ended up loosing one of the 88mm guns and two of the 4 20mm guns. Lastly, I also lost the Big Man in charge of the heavy flak. A painful loss but a fun game with good company. Doug lost two of the three infantry platoons and one of his MMG teams. John's forces lost a big man early on but the rest of his troops were still mostly in tact.

The game was very tough for the Germans. The Germans ended up stuck in trenches and fixed positions and had great difficulty in attempting to move support elements around. The game was a large one. With so many cards in the deck, the game started to slow and most of the action took place on the tea break since the defensive lines were so close to the edge of the table. Lots of firefights that slowly built up shock on the Germans till they broke.

I will start another post for game 2. This one is getting too long as it is. In short, it was a great game and very fun.

An Unexpected Encounter - A IABSM AAR from In the Name of Roma

October 12th, 1941
Tenente Strombolli
Commanding Officer B Company II/80° Roma

This morning Collonello Chiarimonti dispatched my company with some reinforcements to investigate a position north of our line of march. Intelligence reported that there was an enemy formation in the vicinity. I am happy to report that by force of Italian arms, we have repulsed the enemy armor and shattered their infantry.

Our scouting forces consisted of a Company of Infantry supplemented by two machinegun teams and a battery of anti-tank guns.

Below is an aerial reconnaissance photo of the battlefield looking down from the Soviet side of the field.

With a patch of woods in the center the Italian half of the table was dominated by a ridge that ran from left to right. On the Italian right was a stream that ran across the table. There were two muddy dirt tracks that crossed the stream - one on either side of the area. On the Italian left was a stand of woods that would be occupied by the Soviets for the entire game.

The Italians took the field sending out small scouting teams on either flank (dummy blinds). The infantry was dispersed across the line with the Anti-tank guns on the center right. The anti-tank guns were to establish a position on top of the ridge line with an excellent view of much of the battlefield. While in most cases Caporale Andretti was a magnificent driver, he had some difficulties with the snowy terrain. Upon cresting the ridge he encountered difficulties stopping and ended up at the base of the ridge on the far side. (I forgot to declare that he would stop at the ridge before I rolled and achieved one of the best movement rolls I have ever had. Lesson Learned.)

Upon reaching the bottom of the hill, the anti-tank guns were immediately spotted by Soviet units.

The Soviets began to move and we noticed that they concentrated their efforts on the Italian Left which was substantially weaker than broader line that the Italians had chosen to deploy on. Our forces spotted some tanks almost immediately.

Immediately behind the tanks were more units but we could not clearly make them out due to the snow and debris kicked up by the Soviet tanks. Fortunately these were only the T-37 tanks and not the T-34 monstrosities that we were warned about in Romania.

What concerned us more was the deployment of troops in the woods nearest the run away anti tank guns. The Vehicles immediately came under fire. Fortunately the fire was none too accurate.

The primary concern was to not loose the anti-tank guns with Soviet armor close at hand. Our third platoon was spotted by the Soviets and began to received some unwanted attention.

We positioned the Forward Observer on top of the hill.

In record time he had provided some relief to our troops and called the most accurate mortar barrage on top of the soviet armor with pinpoint accuracy. (In all of the games that I have played IABSM I have never gotten such a lucky run of cards that allowed me to call in artillery where it was needed and when it was needed and hit the target on the first try. A miracle I tell you.)

The barrage had little effect on the Soviet armor but whatever it was that was behind the Soviet armor disappeared in the explosions. (I would find out later that the Soviet Forward observer was in the blind that was in the target zone and perished in the barrage.)

The T-37 proved to be far more menacing than we initially believed. The fast tanks made the most of their mobility and were largely able to emerge from the barrage unscathed. The first platoon of Italian Infantry was spotted by the Soviets as they sent the T-37s to turn the Italian flank. The exposed third platoon was able to run for cover of a gully near the woods and managed to avoid any casualties.

With the First platoon taking the focus of the T-37s now that the 3rd platoon found cover, the first Italian casualties are taken. The Sottotenente leading first platoon took a mortal wound leading his brave men out from the hail of Soviet machinegun fire. (I needed anything above a 1 on a d10 and I roll a 1. It figures.) The only thing slowing the Soviets was mechanical failures. (They failed several vehicle breakdown checks throughout the game.) If the tank platoon had managed to stay together, the Italian position would have been much worse.

To ensure that 1st Platoon made its way safe, the attached machine gun team stayed behind and engaged the tanks in a furious duel. Meanwhile more soviet troops deployed on the Italian left.

The platoon leader of 3rd platoon saw a glorious opportunity. He inched his way forward along the ravine and with a cry of Avanti Savoia, charged into the recently deployed Soviet troops. Killing a large number of the enemy, including the Commissar that was attached to the unit, the 3rd platoon completely broke the Soviet platoon, sending the few remnants scattered to the winds. The toll on the Italians was heavy as well and left the Italian platoon isolated from relief. Third platoon found itself isolated and cut off. With a shout of "Uhraaaah" the Soviets ran from the woods and assaulted the tired 3rd platoon. In a fight that left many of the enemy dead, the young sottotenente surrendered the remnants of his command to preserve his young soldiers lives.

As can be seen in this reconnaissance photograph, our men being taken into captivity. This did relieve the pressure on the Anti-Tank gun teams as these were the troops that had been firing on them as they slowly turned around to head back up the ridge. Meanwhile, the isolated machine gun team kept up its duel with several of the enemy tanks. The forward observer attempted to contact the mortar battery to adjust the fire but to no avail. The machine gun team actually stalled the tanks for quite a while until one of the tankers in a last ditch effort charged the machine gun and ran the team to ground.

The team's heroic efforts provided the time needed to get the anti-tank guns in position to drive off the Soviet armor. Revenge was had on the tank that crushed the machine gun team when after three shots, the team finally managed to place a direct hit on the attacking tank.

This picture was taken by one of our combat photographers attached to the anti-tank gun crew. The company headquarters was able to link up with the first platoon and reestablish order since the loss of their platoon leader. Under my direction, the remaining machinegun team, the headquarters team and the first platoon moved through the woods to launch an assault on the remnants of the Soviet infantry.

The Soviets in the open were down to two reduced squads. With great difficulty, the Italians moved through the woods to launch their attack. Movement proved nearly impossible for most of the troops and only the machine gun team was able to get into position to fire upon the Soviet infantry. The machine gunners managed to fire a few shots and caused one casualty before the Soviets began to flee in terror from our forces. (OK, it was really an orderly withdrawal but hey, this is my account. Doug can write his own. :) )

The Italians did not have everything their own way however. The Soviet tanks had moved rapidly to a covering position and began to fire into the woods and drove back the machine gun team to allow the Soviets to escape. (The fast tanks were just that - fast. Doug did a great job keeping these tanks moving and in action. They were a real thorn in my side.)

Our Forward Observer spotted a concentration of enemy infantry in a tree line across the map. He began to adjust his targeting to bring the mortar battery to bear on these troop.

End Notes:
At this point the game ended. The Soviet player (Doug) had to leave. The game did not play out as it did in my play testing at all. However, it was great fun. The Soviets were hard to control as they were poor troops and poorly lead. A full platoon remained in the woods the whole game and never fired a shot as did a machine gun platoon. The Italians were in better shape leadership wise. At this point, I think the Italians had taken the field. The mortars would have started coming down near the woods where the infantry was and they would have been forced to pull out. The Italians lost an entire infantry platoon and one machine gun team. Plus they lost the officer to first platoon. The Soviets had two badly mauled infantry platoons. The Italians won but it was a costly victory and close to a draw.

The game was great fun as always and Mark did an incredible job with the terrain. Thanks Mark. The scenario was "An Unexpected Encounter" from Campaign 4 scenario 1 of In the Name of Roma. For more information on the supplement, please check out my blog: http://cstoesen.blogspot.com/.

In the Name of Roma! is Released!

“IN THE NAME OF ROMA”

Company and Platoon level scenarios for the Eastern Front, 1941

In July of 1941, the 80° Roma Regiment of the Pasubio Division boarded a train bound for Romania. Along with the rest of the Italian Expeditionary Corps in Russia (Corpo di Spedizione Italiano), they would advance through the Ukraine alongside their German allies. In the coming months, the 80° would be engaged in brutal fighting across 1400 miles of the Eastern Front – covering most of that on foot.

IN THE NAME OF ROMA is a wargame supplement that contains 30 company and platoon level scenarios covering the actions of the 80a Roma Regiment from August to December of 1941. You’ll follow the 80th from the open steppe to the Donetz industrial basin, including the amphibious attacks across the Dnieper, and the fateful decision of Column Chiarimonti to attempt to seize Nikitovka.

IN THE NAME OF ROMA includes:

• 30 scenarios divided in six distinct campaigns
• Historical background information and period area maps
• Italian and Soviet briefing for each scenario
• Formation information and stats for Early War Italians and Soviets
• Forward by Richard Clarke

Though primarily written for the Too Fat Lardies rules systems (I Ain’t Been Shot Mum; Troops, Weapons, and Tactics; and the newly released Chain of Command), the scenarios in IN THE NAME OF ROMA work equally well with Arc of Fire, Bolt Action, Flames of War or your favorite rules system.

IN THE NAME OF ROMA is available from my Payhip store.

Follow this link to get a free sample scenario from the book. Note that In the Name of Roma is now available from Amazon as well.

It is also available on Wargame Vault.

Writing Progress

The CSIR supplement is coming along at a better speed. I am well into the scenarios now. At this point in time, the supplement will feature 22 scenarios for IABSM and an additional 12 scenarios for either Troops, Weapons & Tactics or Chain of Command.

The first 16 of the scenarios are complete and in the hands of volunteer reviewers of which I am grateful. I plan on posting a sample scenario when all is said and done. Once the draft of each scenario is complete, I need to redo the scenario maps as these are crayoned out in MSPaint at the moment. I have Campaign Cartographer but some of the elements that I have are not compatible with Windows8. That has held up progress for quite a while. But fortunately that obstacle was just overcome. If you are not familiar with ProFantasy Software, it is an excellent map making software. It is far more involved than I am able to utilize. I like it in that I can produce a map that does not look like my 4 year old drew it.

Sorting through the Lead Pile - WWII USA

While searching for the right base for my Dux cavalry I started going through my drawers looking for something suitable. What I came across was an assortment of miniatures that I have not done anything with in a long time.

At one time I had started going through my collection an photographing what I had ready to game with. (See this page) But I had not gotten my act together and continued with that post series.

The first drawer I came to was my East Front Italians as I was planning on putting them in the painting queue next now that my Dux Britanarium forces are done. But immediately under those were my WWII US Troops. It had been so long that these figures have seen the light that I had forgotten what I had. I remembered having a decent size force to play a game of TW and T. What I found was much more.

This is one of the few armies that I have where I have not painted any of the infantry. I purchased these a couple years ago to get in some Normandy games.

I did manage to paint the armor and the half-tracks. The three half-tracks are Old Glory/Command Decision miniatures. I really like these for some reason. I really do need to either get some decals or learn how to paint a star. The Shermans (of which I have no clue what model) are also Old Glory miniatures. The stars look pretty bad on these too but overall I am happy with the result.

In front of the half tracks are a .50 cal MG team and a .30 cal Browning MG team along with a bazooka team. Then There is the three squads of my platoon. I left these mostly on the bases that they came on. I rebased some Big Man types on US pennies and the platoon leader is based on a old one Franc coin (not sure why now).

Following this is the work I have left to do. First is more armor. I have a M24 Chaffee that I have no idea where it came from. As you can see, it has not even made its way out of the packaging yet. Also in the packaging, is another pack of Old Glory half-tracks. That should give me enough to field a full strength mechanized platoon. The last item of this is a sherman dozer tank that I bought to do the Normandy bocage busting. It is a FOW miniature.

The biggest surprise is a FOW box of a US infantry company. It has a small tent command post. There are over 100 figures in the box and I had no idea that I had this. 72 riflemen, 7 radiomen, 7 pistol armed officer types, 2 wounded/dismounted tankers, 11 men with Thompson guns, 4 officers with M1 carbines, four NCOs signaling with a rifle, 6 fellows with bazookas and 6 with BAR guns. Lastly it came with two fellows who are either loading an AT gun or holding mortar rounds. All in all, it is a pleasant surprise to find. I completely don't remember getting this. Now it needs paint. It is a good problem to have.

Down on the Farm - An IABSM3 AAR

I was able to get in a half a game of IABSM on Saturday night (1/21/2012) and completed the game on Sunday night. Needing a scenario, I grabbed scenario 1 from the rule book and used it. Never one to leave well enough alone, I modified it to change the British to Germans, the Germans to Soviets and set it in the Ukraine in August of 1941. The table layout was the same but much of the fields were cut off as I had a short 5' by 4' table to work with. This would cause a number of early casualties. If I had to do it over again, I would drop some of the collective farm and leave the fields. Also, I need to make some fields. Anyway....

Our Story
August 1, 1941: The 11th German Army continues to push toward the Bug River. In an effort to surround the Russians in a Kessel of their own, the 11th Army sends out men to find the enemy and attempt to herd them towards the river to pin them in place.

One such expedition was undertaken by Hauptmann Hermann Schmidt of the 285th Regiment. Hauptmann Schmidt has three fully manned platoons at his disposal. His Company headquarters is reduced as it only has one full strength squad. Each platoon has a light mortar. Ordered to advance upon a collective farm, the company has advanced through harvested wheat fields towards the collective.

The Collective farm was defended by elements of the 469th Rifle Regiment of the 8th Soviet Army. The soviet commander is joined by a commissar, two maxim machine-guns (this forms his headquarters) and two platoons of three 10 man squads.

The Germans entered through the fields and quickly found and began to engage the Russians deployed in the first set of trees. The distance from the table edge to these first hedge/tree line was way too close. Most of the troops counted as auto spotted. The Germans attempted to close assault immediately with two squads from the first platoon. Both were repulsed but suffered no shock. The second two squads decided to soften the Soviet positions up rather than follow the fate of their peers.

The next platoon to arrive attempted to turn the flank of the Russians in the initial tree line. It took several turns for them to do so as they advanced much more cautiously than the first platoon. Eventually they were successful.

Once the Germans were in the trees with the remnants of the Russian platoon, they were able to roll up the Soviets and destroyed two platoons to a man.

The German third platoon and had a much longer distance to travel. The Russian's moved their headquarters to attempt to intercept and halt the German advance. Unfortunately for the Russians, this did not occur until they had already lost their first platoon.

Once deployed, the two Soviet MMGs with the headquarters were able to cause significant trouble for the third platoon. For several turns they managed to pin or suppress two squads until they were broken. The remaining two squads laid fire down on the Russian second platoon while the headquarters squad flanked their position as well.

It was at this point of the game where my three year old decided he wanted to play the game too.

By this point the Russian troops were pretty much destroyed. The casualties were very high on both sides. Starting the game too close together leads to a very bloody game. For a first game of IABSM 3, it was a fun learning experience. I am looking forward to the Early War supplements to be released and see if my assumptions of force structures match. I used the cards and the markers for the first time. I was dubious of the markers when I first saw them. Now, I really like them.

Next game.... armor.

The Coming Thunder Reaches 50...

... sales that is. Fortunately, it was pointed out to me that Blogger did something odd with the page for "The Coming Thunder." The text was wiped out and replaced with... nothing. That should be fixed now.

I have just received a copy of Charge!(Issue 34). Scott Mingus did a nice recap of the scenario supplement. Thanks Scott. Hopefully, this will generate a little more traffic.

Following on with this, I have been making some real progress now on the East Front Supplement for IABSM. This morning, waiting on my desk at work was not only Charge!, but also IABSM version 3, the IABSM Card Deck and the IABSM tokens. All very, very nice. I am a very happy gamer. Hopefully, I can get some time and put a game together this weekend. Possibly.

On the Bag the Hun front, progress continues on the second desert supplement. Hopefully, I will have more on this later.

A Weekends Work

Surprise, Surprise. I actually was able to get some painting in this weekend. I managed to paint up 25 East Front Italians, a single 65mm gun and a staff car.

This was quite productive for one night's work, especially considering how slowly I paint. I still have to use the Army Painter dip, dull coat and base them up. But that is the easier part for me.

In other parts, I finally received my Christmas present. Håkan Gustavsson's awesome book "Desert Prelude: Operation Compass." This book should help me finish off my second Western Desert Campaign book. I was having difficulty with the scenarios during Operation Compass. Now I should be able to knock that out without difficulty. If you are interested in the air war in 1940 over the Western Desert, his two books on this period are probably the best there is on the subject. For the wargamer, you will not find a more detailed reference on individual battles to create scenarios from. He also has a fantastic website devoted to biplane combat in the second world war. Please check it out if you have any interest. He is also a very nice guy. He has responded quickly to any inquiry that I have sent him and been very helpful with the supplement. I was glad I could finally get his book.

WWII: Early War Russian Army 15mm

The paper strength of a Russian Rifle Battalion was rather impressive. It was a well armed and balanced force that had rarely achieved full strength in the units deployed at the start of the war. Let alone in the regiments raised once the war started. Still, there are plenty of options available to present a historical yet strong force.

According to the old archived Bayonet Strength site, by July of 1941, the order of battle changed and greatly trimmed down the number of troops in the battalion. For some units that had been mobilized at the start of the war, it would be possible that they would be able to retain some of the support elements that they had at the start of the war in June. Newly called up battalions would reflect the much reduced order of battle.

As I get around to it, this page will be updated as I complete and get pictures together.

Russian Army 1941

Rifle Company

Rifle Company HQ

Well the basing is not done but the Company HQ has a Commissar, a Company Commander and two MMG teams. The MMG Teams really need some additional crew members but they will do for now. I also have a standard bearer, just for fun. Rifle Platoon 1
The platoon headquarters consisted of an officer and two runners. At the start of the war, it also had a 50mm mortar attached to it. This mortar team was eliminated by July of 1941.

The platoon was made up of four rifle squads, each of eleven men. In theory this was to be an NCO squad leader armed with a rifle, two SMG armed men for close support, a six man rifle team and a two man LMG team. In theory, this was a well armed unit. The reality is that shortages of SMGs and light machine guns limited this deployment. By July of 1941, the SMGs were eliminated and only two of the four squads were issued light machine guns.

Rifle Platoon 2
This platoon was based initially for FOW but works just fine for IABSM. Two of the squad members from each squad are individually based for casualty removal.

Rifle Platoon 3
MG Platoon
This had an officer and two maxim MMGs with five crew each. This platoon was eliminated in the July 1941 restructure.

Battalion Supports
Anti-Tank Platoon
This element contained an officer and two 45mm anti-tank guns. This platoon was eliminated in July of 1941. This removed the best tank defense that the common infantry man had.

Machine Gun Company
Company HQ (1 Officer, 1 Commissar, 6 men) Three Platoons, each comprised of; 1 Officer, 28 men

Mortar Company
Company HQ (1 Officer, 1 Commissar, 5 men) Three Platoons, each comprised of; 1 Officer, 14 men

Early War Russian Armor

Just as with the Germans, I am too lazy to figure out the proper order of battle for armor. Especially since my games tend to be infantry centric. The basic platoon size was three vehicles. A company would have one or two vehicles in the headquarters.

T34
Lets start with the big guy on the block. This was probably the best tank at the start of the war in the east (or any other theater). The early model had limited turret space and suffered from lack of a radio net. But it definitely put a fear in the enemy. German troops took great delight in scaring incoming Italian troops throughout August of 1941 with tales of the T34.

T26
This is one of those tanks that to me defines the Russian armor in 1941. The T26 had a number of variants. Some just plain odd - like the double turreted version.

WWII: Early War German Army

Introduction

I honestly have no idea how to organize this. What I will attempt to do is show the miniatures that I have for my German Army in 15mm. It is broken down by the order of battle based on the year of the war according to the Bayonet Strength Website (http://www.bayonetstrength.150m.com/), Dr. Leo Niehorster's web site (http://orbat.com/site/ww2/drleo) and the IABSM Supplements.

As more gets painted, this site will be updated. I will put a version number and update notes here at the top. This is version 1.02 (12/21/2011). fixed armored section changed PZ38ts to Pz35t. Thanks Mark. Version 1.01 (12/21/2011). Added Armored Elements and bicycle troops. Version 1.0 (12/20/2011). Its all new.

German Army Circa 1940

Motorized Infantry Company

Motorized Infantry Company Headquarters

The Rifle Company Headquarters is nearly complete. They are to have four MMG Teams, two rifle squads, four trucks and a pair of kubelwagons. I lack some of the motor transport for Company HQ. I will probably replace these with Gamdols trucks as they are the cheapest available for something that won't play much of a part on the table top. I am also lacking a complete squad. I have the NCO and one rifleman painted. The rest are on painting sticks and not yet base coated. The MMG teams need the most base work.

The infantry are all Old Glory/Skytrex figures. The MMG Teams might be Battlefront but I am not sure at this point. The two trucks are Old Glory as well. I have no idea about the kubelwagon as I received that in a lot I purchased off of Bartertown many, many moons ago.

Motorized Infantry Platoon 1

Now, the first platoon was also from that long ago Bartertown purchase. Luckily between 1940 and 1941, the Germans did not mess with the order of battle too terribly for their infantry platoons. As motorized troops they are supposed to have two LMGs per squad and I only have one. I have additional LMGs on painting sticks to add in but just have not been bothered to do so. The platoon is lead by and officer or NCO and have a Anti-Tank Rifle and light mortar team for support. The core of the platoon are the four rifle squads of eight men each. The platoon travels in the comfort of five trucks.

The platoon is complete but needs a little something more for the bases. Some flock should fix it right up. For some reason, the paint does not adhere well to copper/nickle pennies. When looking at them closely, you can see where my gravel/pumice/sand/glue mixture did not completely cover the penny. The flock should hide that.

The figures are all Old Glory I believe. They may be painted for a slightly later period of the war but I am not bothered by it as they are done. The trucks, well I have no idea of where the trucks are from. They too came in that Bartertown lot I spoke of. Purchased in the dim haze of memory before I had a child, when I had some money (I am married) and free time. Inspite of the poverty and the no time to play, I am a richer man by far now.

Motorized Infantry Platoon 2

This is my favorite platoon. I painted all of the figures in this one. The platoon leader is one of my favorite as it is some poor chump trying to figure out just where he is on the map. The walking rather than deployed figures of the ATR team and light mortar team are also nice. The platoons should be identical to the one above but I just need to get more motor transport. I have two of the five trucks they should have. I am loathe to purchase something that will either leave the table quickly or get blown up early on in the game. But in 2012, I will extend every effort to buy some more.

Now I did have one falsehood above. The open top truck, I did not paint. That was part of that Bartertown deal I made. The rest I did paint. They are all Old Glory with the exception of the light mortar team and ATR team. The ATR team might be Battlefront. The light mortar team might be Quick Reaction Force. I should have posted something up on this years ago when I painted them.

Motorized Infantry Platoon 3

This platoon is the fun one as it is mounted in the SDKFZ 251 half-tracks. The half-tracks are all Old Glory. The figures are dominantly Old Glory and the ATR might be Battlefront and the light mortar team might be QRF or Battlefront. Just can't remember.

Again, these are complete but for some basing work that needs to be done. All in all I am pleased with the miniatures. Once the basing and company HQ is sorted out, I should be good to go. I will update the pictures as things change.

Motorized Battalion Support
Well we can't just send our poor troops up by themselves now can we? Now the Battalion contains stuff that I am just not interested in modeling. So we will restrict this just to the stuff that should go out on a tabletop. An assault against the typing pool just is not my idea of an exciting game. The Battalion had a heavy company and a MG Company that provided the normal support that the infantry man in the line would be likely to see.

Battalion Heavy Company
The Motorized units had a much more unique organization. Here the heavy company had some unique elements compared to its line counterpart.

First the Heavy Company had a Anti-Tank Platoon. This unit consisted of three 3.7-cm Pak 35/36 guns. These underpowered weapons had a longevity far past their usefulness on the battlefield. Each weapon was towed by a truck. (Agghhhh!!!! More motor transport to buy.)

The careful observer will note that the anti-tank platoon is still on painting sticks and only has one crew for the three weapons. This is because (in my mind at least) a single company in the front will probably not have the entire platoon at their disposal. Thus I will only be bothered with painting one crew for these. These ended up lower on the priority list. The crew are likely to be QRF miniatures.

Next the heavy company had an infantry gun platoon. This battery had two 7.5-cm infantry guns. These too were towed by trucks but could be manhandled by the crew to where they needed to go. They also had a truck for ammunition that pulled a trailer. The platoon HQ had two cars that moved the platoon leader and a small signals section. Is anyone keeping track here? I have a boat load of trucks to buy, don't I? Please, feel pity on me and send a donation toward the buy Chris a truck fund. Just 25 cents would be most welcome. (just kidding. But seriously, there is a link to the right somewhere.)

These fearsome fellows look ready to wreck someone's day. Still lack motor transport. I only painted one of these as I really am not sure how they would be deployed forward. I suppose that one really could just have a forward observer team to call in their fire as opposed to letting the guns be on the table, but that does not seem as much fun.

Lastly, there was a pioneer platoon. This was a large unit equipped with trucks and motorcycles. It had three large 13 man (including the NCO) squads that were equipped with a single lmg each. The bayonet strength site did not list if they had flamethrowers or not. I just can't tell from Dr Leo's site either. The Blitzkreig supplement from TFL gives them 2 flamethrowers and a AT rifle team. I would assume that they did not, but where is the fun in that. Pioneers need flamethrowers. So......

As you can see, the pioneer platoon is nearly incomplete. I only have two flamethrower guys. Since folks tended to stay away from the targets...er...flamethrower men, this might not be unrealistic in how they were deployed forward. :) Both of these guys were probably from QRF and came with the Bartertown buy I had made. Their fellow platoon mates do exist, just on painting sticks without even primer. I will get to them one day.

Motorized Machine Gun Company I know that there was a type A and a type B battalion organization in 1940. I will not be bothered by such distinctions. The Machine gun Company had two Machine gun Platoons and a single Mortar Platoon.

The Machine Gun Platoons were equipped with four tripod mounted MG34s each. Each team/machine gun was equipped with a truck. (More Trucks! When will it end.) The headquarters had a car and a motorcycle with side car. I actually have the MMGs to populate a platoon of these guns but as it is, that could mean up to eight MMGs on the table at once. That seems more than would likely be the case for a company sized engagement. As such, my 1940 Wehrmacht will probably not have more than 4 MMGs on the table at any given time unless someone else's scenario calls for it.

The mortar platoon had three sections of two 81mm mortars each. Each section had three trucks to cart them around from place to place and their ammo. Mortars are an off table asset. And as such, a forward observer team mounted in a car and a motorcycle with side car will probably all that will see the table. At least that will cut out an additional 9 trucks to buy. Good grief that would get expensive quick. (Hmmmm... I am really starting to sound like a cheapskate here.)

Motorized Regimental Support
Here is sadly where the Bayonet Strength site is not as strong. Dr Leo's site picks up where this left off. My issue is I have trouble with the German organizational markings and spend all my time flipping between the units and the key.

Motorcycle Reconnaissance Platoon
This unit has three squads with a single lmg in each squad (if I am reading the diagram right). The platoon HQ probably had a car and a motorcycle attached but I just do not know. The squads would have both motorcycles and motorcycles with sidecars.

I have two squads worth of motorcyclists ready to go besides the obvious lack of basing. I only have two squads though. I think these are Peter Pig figures but I am not sure. I want to flesh out the platoon but that is lower on the priority list.

Infantry Gun Company
It appears that the Regiment had an infantry gun company attached. It appeared to have eight of the 75mm Infantry guns and some LMGs in support. I am not modeling the Regimental level since I have some from the Battalion.

Motorized Anti-Tank Company
Apparently there were more anti-tank guns at the Regimental level as well. Possibly twelve of these weapons in the company. Again, these are modeled at the battalion level.

Line Infantry Company

Line Infantry Company Headquarters

The line company lacks any motor transport. It closely maps to the Motorized company in that it has the two squads and four MMG teams. Since they are the same infantry figures, they are in the same shape. What is added is the Company supply wagon. This is obviously barely glued together at this point without even primer on it. While it is not something you would see at the front lines, I think it could be useful in some games. Especially with a company that is ambushed or an enemy penetration back to a more rear area. Line Infantry Platoons 1-3
Rather than subject you to the same pictures above, you can see that the platoons are complete but lack some base work. The infantry for a line/foot company are actually more complete as they have their single lmg ready.

Battalion Support
The Line infantry Battalion had a Heavy Weapons or Machine Gun Company for its support.

Machine Gun Company This formation had two elements: a Mortar Platoon and two or three MMG Platoons. The mortar platoon was made up of six 81mm mortars. These will not be deployed on the table. Instead we can add a forward Observer model to the table to call in the shots or have the Company Commander and his radio operator take care of this task.

But since I have a picture of my Forward Observers, by golly I am going to include them. :) The figures are Old Glory, I think.

The MMG Platoons had four MMG teams, giving the company between 8 to 12 of these weapons. This would provide significant punch to the infantry especially if the company level assets were truly present. I wonder if the company level assets are in some cases incorrectly allocated Battalion level assets.

Battalion Supports
The .... Regimental Support Elements
Bicycle Recon Troops
I am not sure these are actually Regimental supports. Dr Leo's site shows a motorcycle platoon at the Divisional level. Given the less than powered nature of most of the division, doubtless the Germans would have deployed bicycle troops at some point. I have no idea of who makes these or I would have bought some more. I got these in that bulk Bartertown deal. I just think they are very clever little models. The basing is incomplete. The paint job is just as I had bought them.

The basing needs to be finished. But these are fun troops that I am determined to get on the table in 2011. I just wish I had a whole platoon of them.

******************************

German Army Circa 1941

Motorized Infantry Company

Motorized Infantry Company Headquarters

The 1941 version of the Company Headquarters drops the machine-gun teams from the headquarters and is reduced to just one squad. It still needs a second LMG team to round it out but it is closer to ready than its earlier incarnation as it does not need the extra trucks! It also has a sniper as part of the headquarters and a radio operator. All of the figures are Old Glory. The radio operator might be a QRF figure. Motorized Infantry Platoons 1-3
Again, these are identical to the ones above. The force only changes in that it drops the light mortar team from its organization. Motorized Support Platoon

Ah, there the MMG teams are. The MMG teams are Battlefront and possibly an Old Glory one in there. The Support Platoon also has a Mortar Squad with two 81mm Mortars for a stronger punch than the platoon based 50mm mortars that the 1940 version had. What is missing is the Motor Transport for these guys. Ugh! Anyone have some Early War German trucks in 15mm they don't have a use for? It seems that I need them.

Battalion Support
Battalion MG Company
This formation had two elements: a Mortar Platoon and two MMG Platoons. The mortar platoon was made up of six 81mm mortars. These will not be deployed on the table. Instead we can add a forward Observer model to the table to call in the shots or have the Company Commander and his radio operator take care of this task.

But since I have a picture of my Forward Observers, by golly I am going to include them. :)

The MMG Platoons had four MMG teams, giving the company 8 of these weapons. This *********************************

At this point, the pictures taper off until we get to the Battalion/Regimental/Divisional Support Elements and the armor.

Line Infantry Company

Company Headquarters
The line companies maintained two squads in their order of battle. They also added a pair or ATR teams to the mix. Here is a question for the reader, how many wagons would the Germans have for an infantry company? Just one or would there be one per platoon? Just curious. Also gone are the MMG teams. The Company has no MMG support. These are now allocated at the Battalion level. This is a significantly leaner formation that advanced across the wide steppes of the Ukraine than had trod across France.

Infantry Platoon 1-3
The foot Infantry are nearly the same. Each platoon carries with it the 50mm mortar that its motorized fellows have discarded. The ATR teams have disappeared from the platoon and the four squads of 8 men each are maintained. Line Battalion Support
The battalion supports for the Line infantry were critical assets as the company lacked the fighting punch of the earlier incarnation.

Battalion MG Company
This formation had two elements: a Mortar Platoon and three MMG Platoons. The mortar platoon was made up of six 81mm mortars. These will not be deployed on the table. Instead we can add a forward Observer model to the table to call in the shots or have the Company Commander and his radio operator take care of this task. I won't include the same picture again.

The MMG Platoons had four MMG teams, giving the company 12 of these weapons. This would provide significant punch to the infantry. Obviously any one company in the field would only see a fraction of these troops. But even if divided evenly, that still provided a full platoon per company if allocated that way.

German Early War Armor: 1940-1941(2)

Rather than place the armor into an order of battle the way I have with the infantry, this is a much more adhoc approach just detailing what figures that I have available.

Panzer I bef
The early war command vehicle. I have several of these for some odd reason. I am not sure where they all came from. I think I have a three pack from Old Glory plus another odd one or so.

These are fun vehicles. By that I mean they can easily be brewed up by most things available on the table. From Anti-Tank Rifles to the light British 2-pounders. I don't think that you would really have more than one of these guys in an entire company. Yet, I have three....

Panzer I mk ???
My tank recognition skills have left me. I am not sure which mark of the Panzer I that I have. Help anyone? I am also not sure of the manufacturer. They are resin and might be Gamdols miniatures.

These are great fun. They pose a threat to infantry but it is an example of not learning the lesson of the previous war. They suffered against Russian T-26s in the Spanish Civil War but they were still fielded in numbers even in Russia.

Panzer II mk F
The Panzer IIs that I have are from a couple of sources. I got one in the bulk lot I bought on Bartertown. That is the one that is based. Three are Old Glory tanks and another is a Battlefront mini. At least I am pretty sure that is what they are.

I think these are the Mark F tanks that saw service in Russia and possibly France. My tank recognition skills are lacking today.

Panzer III mk E
Finally some decent early war armor. If I am right (and I may not be) this is the earlier E variant. Again there should be three Old Glory vehicles and one that came from a Bartertown purchase of unknown manufacturer. I don't like basing vehicles. Especially with such a thick base. But I just have not had the heart to attempt to remove it as I would doubtlessly wreck the thing.

There is something about the Panzer III that I really like. I am not sure what it is. But to me, it just seems to be the tank I think of when I think of German tanks. It lacks the cool factor of the late war heavy's but I don't think the average infantryman in the field saw many of those. Now a PzIII would probably have been a much more common sight to the poor guy with a rifle.

Panzer III Mk F or G?
My second set of panzer IIIs for the early war period. These would probably last into the mid war period (1942 & 1943) as well. Not sure which mark these are. I think both vehicles are Battlefront minis as the commanders look like their work.

I received these as part of a lot from a Lardy in California. I finished off the commanders. They came with the antennas on them. I like the look of the antennas. Normally, I would only have one vehicle with a commander with his head popped out but the vehicles came painted this way and I was not about to modify it. At some point, I would like to get a few more of these. The addition of the box thing in the back of the turret (I know ya'll love it when I talk all technical like this) added something to the look of the tank. I like it. I am sure its military purpose was much more significant than looking cool.

Panzer IV mk B
For some reason, I really hate the look of the early Panzer IVs. That short stubby barrel just looks like someone ran around and broke the thing off. It is the tank I feel sorry for when it is on the table.

Three of these I picked up in an online purchase (maybe that Bartertown one, I am not sure). The other two are Battlefront (actually I think they all are). I painted the front two. I did not add the balkenkreuz to them like I did with some of the other tanks I painted. Actually, I don't think I ever even finished painting the treads. This is just a tank I don't like and it suffers because of it. I need to get over that and finish these out.

Panzer 35(t)
These little tanks made up for the lack of tanks that the expanding German army had at the beginning of the war. Taking in some 200+ of these from Czechoslovakia in 1939, they served from 1939 through 1941 and beyond.

These are a neat looking little tanks. All of these were picked up from Bartertown. Not sure if it was in that bulk buy or not. No clue as to the manufacturer. Might be Quality Castings. These were bought painted. I like them.

SiG 33B
Nothing says good morning like self propelled artillery. These are both Quality Castings miniatures. The vehicle is great for urban scenarios when you just really need to knock down a building.

Again they only have a basic coat of paint. No markings or even tread details. I will get around to fixing that at some point. I just don't like to paint vehicles. Hopefully airing my dirty laundry like this will force me to go back and touch these up so I can replace the picture if nothing else.

PanzerJager I
Well, at least I think these guys are all Pzjager Is. There are definitely two different manufacturers. I have no idea which is what. The lighter colored one was purchased painted. The other two are mine. Again only the most basic paint on these and the treads need to be done.

' Surprisingly I have nothing against these. I think they were the best thing that could have been done to the old Panzer Is in their inventory.

Stug III
I think these are both Battlefront models. The unbased one is the one I painted up and the based one was bought that way. This is another one of those vehicles I think of when I think of German armor. Here the short stubby barrel does not bother me for some reason. It just looks the business to me.

Sdkfz 221 and 222
The Germans could make some nice looking armored cars. These probably should be up above in some Motorized units support elements but I am too lazy to figure out where at the moment. I will move it around at some point.

These are from an Old Glory Pack. They are some of my favorite vehicles and yet, I don't think they have seen a table top more than once or twice. I painted these up a while back.

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Well that is my early war Germans. Please tell me what you think. I would appreciate any tips. If you suggest any colors to use, please mention the actual paint color as I don't do colors to well being partially color blind. (That is also my excuse for crummy painting) If you have any suggestions, comments or observations, I welcome them.