Airfix Battles Scenario Three - Bring on the Tiger (Part III)

Even as, with dramatic effect, smoke started billowing out from the freshly killed Sherman, the Americans launched another spirited counter-attack (see below, the smoke was courtesy of the jubilant German player's modest special effect talent):

With amazing alacrity a dare-devil Sherman bounded the complete length of the table and swung point blank onto the Tiger's more vulnerable flank side. So disturbing was this to the German player he burned an Interrupt card. Using this special event card (and removing the card's use from further play on this vital turn) the Tiger itself swung round to face the "cheeky" threat head-on to lessen its vulnerability (see below, the Sherman had originated from behind the top middle tree-line):

The exchange of fire left the Sherman in an extremely damaged state, morale faltering as it retreated away from the Tiger but still alive  (effectively on one hit point) and in the game - importantly not handing the Germans any "double armour victory points". Having blunted the German armour reaction potential the American Infantry counter-attacked. Firstly retaking the Objective then pouring withering fire of the ful-strength German Squad to devastating effect (see below):

In fact the only man left standing was the atached German Infantry Commader who escaped by teh skin of his teeth. The Americans now held the key terain feature and looked to edge the tactical situation. The German only had a hald squad on infantry he was capable of moving (see below):

In desparation the German Infantry tried to attack teh wounded Sherman. The sight of another burning Sherman might just be enough to shake the Americans (over 50% casualties). The anti-tank squad took care aim and fired ... (see below):

And missed. Too bad the signal to retreat was made and the Americans had pulled this one out of the bag. The German tanks were required elsewhere and the German Infantry was too thin on the ground to hold the Americans up. It was time to live and fight another day.

An excellent game played in great spirit with some good old fashioned 20mm or 1/72 (or even 1/76) scale toys of yesteryear. I need to paint some half-tracks and anti-tank guns for Game IV. Something I intend to do over the Xmas break.

Airfix Battles Scenario Three - Bring on the Tiger (Part II)

The German Panzer Commander was not going to be drawn into a headlong rush and methodically subjected the already battered American squad to a hail of machine gun, long barrelled 75mm and shells of  the dreaded Tiger's 88mm. This was all too much and American's were eliminated with ruthless efficiency (see below):

To the German Panzer Commander all seemed to be completely under control. The American Infantry were hiding out of line-of-sight and the American Tankers were reluctant to show themselves for fear of meeting their nemesis, "The Tiger" (see below):

This complacency was soon to be shattered as the Americans "bounced back" in a brave and spirited counter-attack. A Sherman blasted through the 'boccage' and stood ready to strike down the exposed German infantry. The long range shots of the Tiger were woe fully off the mark (see below):

The Sherman commander trained his 75mm cannon on the hapless Grenadiers. Time seemed to stand still, certain death was but moments away (see below):

Years of bitter combat experience on the Eastern Front clicked in and the Panzer IV Commander executed a daring flank attack (by virtue of an interrupt). The "hunter" had suddenly become the "hunted" (see below):

With a slug already in the barrel the Panzer IV succeeded at short range where its heavier cousin (The Tiger) had failed at long range. The Sherman was decapitated to the relief of the petrified German Landsers (see below):

Once again the situation seemed to be in back under control and the Germans started thinking about sealing the matter once and for all, There would be more more turn and one last throw of the dice in the game. The German had all of his armour in play and one and a half squads of infantry. The Americans were down to two Shermans and only one squad of infantry. The German Commander knew they were the threat as they were the only unit capable of retaking the village Objective. A lot depended on the next initiative roll, the loser being the "nail" to the other players "hammer".

Airfix Battles Scenario Three - Bring on the Tiger (Part I)

The third Airfix Battle was situated in the badlands behind Omaha beach as the Americans attempted to break out. The vital objective was a farm house top-left. In addition extra points were awarded for armour knocked out, in particular the Americans would like to "bag a Tiger". Playing German I placed my infantry on the flanks and the armour in the middle (see below):

Possessing the initiative I orchestrated a quick infantry strike on the Americans, in light cover, to the (German) left of the Objective (see below):

The dirty American gangster commander interrupted me and retreated into the Objective (and hard cover to boot!), exactly where I wanted to go. The "Dirty Dogs"! (see below)

Not to be outdone I assaulted this position with my second squad of infantry and in the subsequent firefight I mauled the Americans and finally took the Objective. The Americans sought protective cover to the top right of the picture (see below):

However by feeling of euphoria was short lived as I realised I had placed my troops in full sight of an "angry phalanx" of US Army Sherman tanks. Admittedly they only had 75mm guns, but that didn't stop them opening fire in unison on the German defenders to devastating effect (see below):

Still albeit technically in control of the town (and holding the Objective marker) the German troops (now much less in number) suffered a bad case of morale failure. Hope seemingly deserting them and they retreated, aka ran, back a terrain square (see below):

The German infantry had shot its bolt but was there anything the German armour could do?

Coming soon ... Airfix Shermans v Hasagawa Tiger (and PSC Panzer IV)

Airfix Battles Scenario Three: Shermans v Tiger (and a Panzer IV). The long standing heros of my modelling youth, I give you the venerable Airfix Sherman (see below, the one on the left is from my "fair hand" the other two [with more professional/better highlighting] are from a very skilled model maker called Denis):

The sinister forms of a PSC Panzer MkIVH (first saw action in 1939 and still going strong through all those production upgrades, from the Plastic Soldier Company) and a "Terrible Tiger" (the coveted Hasagawa special of my teenage modelling days). Will these be too much for the Allied tankers? (see below):

I do intend to paint up the original Airfix kits to honour these rules, The Tiger poses a problem as it required considerable "pimping" (aka the rear turret stowage bin was the hardest part) and I still need to add some mud-flaps. Something (as in a project) to keep me interested in the forthcoming long winter nights (as well as Game of Thrones).

Hint to Airfix: If you can add a little extra sprue of special bits to your other kits to make interesting variants such as the:

• Sherman Crab
• Sherman Calliope
• Churchill Crocodile
• Churchill AVRE Bridgelayer
• Matilda Hedgehog

Then the iconic Tiger I surely deserves a rear stowage bin and mud-flaps - so the damn thing does not look so bloody naked!

The Horror, The Horror ... Stop Press "Law of Gravity stiill holds true

I never thought I was very good at the practical side of physics. It turns out that my coordination coming down a ladder is also getting a bit dodgy as I am getting older. I was coming down from the loft with a "box of toys", then gravity took control (see below).

What you see below is not a 'fix-it bargain' on the 'bring and buy' stall but the after effects of said 'Law of Gravity' on my US WWII 1/72 armour collection (of about twenty years of slow, slow accumulation).

Yes it's the "Spot the model and rate its damage competition!" I nearly cried my tiny little eyes out! 

Lots and lots of stuff broken ... but 'mostly cosmetic' (broken barrels) and it was easily sorted. Not so for two M24 Chaffee's and an M36 Jackson. They ended up literally as 'bits all over the place'.

The Dr's Surgery opened went into the small hours of a Friday night

:(

There was a happy(ish) ending (see below):

Several 'Jack Daniels and coke' sustained me through this troubling time ;)

Graveyard of the Hanomag 251's

The first thing to clearly state is that this is not my "spare box" (see below):

So it's not really a continuation of Tim Gow's, Pauls and Al's "this is my spares box" conversation. Rather it is the wreckage wrought from 'nimble little fingers'. Yes, my youngest son has grown another two inches since the "Wirblewind Affair" and has now discovered my German half track and armoured car drawer (see below for the extra damage). I think he'll be an Allied player as he seems to restrict his destructive tenancies to the German forces.

Note how the crew have been carefully "plucked" from their berths with sniper like precision, something I wish I could emulate (as I seem to be aging and losing the 'finer' control just as my children are gaining better and better control, my eldest son's (7) karate is really cool to watch). Of interest, apart from the basic 251/1 and 251/10 (At 37mm Commander's HT) are the Engineering (top) and the 75mm HE (far left) and AT (far right) variants.  

The damage limitation parties have been out and accessed the situation with the conclusion that it could have been far, far worse. I am merely a light AAMG down. The crews have been removed and I am using the opportunity to slip into the kits some SHQ 'seated' Panzer Grenadiers. The bits have been pushed, coerced and nudged back together. I have joined Al in the "don't like weak axle" brigade and Milliput'ed the wheels on solid underneath.

North African Campaign: 8th Army RTR Crusader Squadron

Digging around in the old "model box" I came across a vintage (made some eleven or twelve years ago) squadron of Hasagawa 6pdr armed Crusader III's in North African colours.

They are obviously looking for some DAK or Italians which is a pity because I have not painted many to date, concentrating my early/mid war Germans on France and Russia.

Nevertheless they are an exciting bunch as they are also useful for Tunisia with its eclectic collection of old British and new American kit. Those with fine eyesight may even see decals on the mud-flaps. Wonders will never cease!

As you can see from below I went for "the desert has been rather rough on me look."

This three tank squadron is part of a two squadron formation (I always had the aim of making it to a full three squadron regiment at some point). The currently "part-painted" other squadron being earlier Airfix Crusader I's armed with a 2pdr pop-gun and wacky lewis gun turret at the front. The third squadron was then intended/planned to be comprised of Airfix Crusader II's (just mounting the 2pdrs losing the silly lewis turret) but alas Airfix seem to have discontinued their Crusader kits for the time being.

Methinks unless Airfix releases the Crusader again this regiment will never be finished as intended. Never mind Monty! My get out clause is that around El Alemain all sorts of tanks were thrown together into tank regiments. They seemed to be one light squadron of Crusaders (mixed types) and two "heavies" of Grant/Sherman mixed groups, So I just need to paint up more of the latter.

The "Iron Fist" (see my bookshelf) has a good chapter on the Supercharge operation in the El Alemain battle.
  .

"Brown" and "Green" Tigers

Following hot on the heels of 1/72 Hasagawa "Green Tiger" painting saga comes the 1/76 Fujimi "Brown Tiger" in what I can only say was a comparatively speedy paint job but also giving it a very Eastern Front effect. In the staged scene below we can see "Brown Tiger" to the back halted, covering "Green Tigers" advance:

Note in the background the huge vastness of the Russian Steppes leading off over the horizon. Then note, somewhat spoiling this illusion, top left and the shadow of my window sill. Obviously expecting danger "Green Tiger" halts and now covers "Brown Tiger" as it advances. You will have to excuse my vivid imagination here as I have been painting (or just looking at) these beasts for far too long.

You may also notice that "Green Tiger" looks a little lighter in parts of its base Dark Yellow from previous photographs, I retrofitted lessons from "Brown Tiger's" painting. I am happy with "Green Tiger" now :)

Am I done with German heavy tanks? I must admit I am tiring, but I do have a pair of Airfix Tigers still to do. Yes, this would make-up a heavy (reinforced) German heavy tank company, however the Airfix kits do have a serious flaw. They require a bit of modeling as infamously as the kit designers studied a version that had been reconstructed from an abandoned Tiger (from Tunisia) at a tank museum. The Allies in their haste to fathom the secrets of the Tiger took it apart but broke it (so urban myth has it) and things like stowage bins to the rear of the turret were forgotten about as they tried in vain to get the engine started. Along came the Airfix designers, studied what they though was the real deal and didn't see the difference with war time photographs until the molds had been pressed. I intend to do a job like Tim Marshal (first photo on page, bottom right) did on his, but the plasti-card can wait for a while ;)

Panzer Commanders

In response to my pedantic "is this the right type of yellow" paint brush fiddling (which to be honest felt very much like hard work) I was at least allowed to tart-up the "Green Tiger" crewman and commander figures. I felt obliged to go back and add a few extra details to the King Tiger commander, after all this was a piece of kit with an even bigger clout. Hence I give you Panzer 'Kurtz' Senior in the King Tiger with his Junior Panzer friends in the "Green Tiger":

I am still not completely sure about the "Green Tiger's" overall look ("You wouldn't let it lie" - Vic Reeves). In this photograph I noticed that the difference between the two yellows is quite stark. I used much more white in the late war "ambush" scheme. However the mid-war tones of Dark Yellow from all the illustrative plates that I have seen (and I try to bear in mind these are only artistic impressions not real period colour photographs) do not show the yellow quite so bleached. I may come back and tinker with another whiter highlight (of a highlight) to the "Green Tiger" later (Er, much later). If I did anything more now I fear I would just spoil it.

At least I've managed to get an "in focus" Tiger crew if you click into the above photograph, tank commander and lance corporal so to speak. I have not cracked this miniature photography lark at all as I was really trying to focus on 'Kurtz' in the King Tiger!

Tiger, Tiger Burning Bright

Their are plenty of big beasts of the WW2 jungle that still want painting in my collection. This 1/72 scale Hasagawa Tiger proved more troublesome than I had expected. I decided to do a much simpler camouflage pattern than King Tiger and JagdPanzer IV painting frenzy I recently engaged myself in, but paradoxically I found a simpler scheme so much harder to do. Going back to a mostly base Dark Yellow canvas proved somewhat tricky to me, I was always wanting to fill the open yellow spaces in with a green or a brown.

Originally [and it eventually turned out] as per my "Panzer Colours 3" painting guide book, it was going to be base Dark Yellow with a simple Green (random thin line) disruptive pattern. However once started I seemed to stare "too long at the sun with it" as I began started painting over what I had essentially already done for little or no effect. The brush was put to one side and I decided to go sleep on it. If all else failed I could always introduce a brown line pattern to it the next day, but hang it all I was hoping to keep it simple in 1943 fashion.

Well I returned more hopeful the next day and decided to keep to the 1943 style "light disruptive" camouflage pattern (shall we say Kursk'ish). See above for the result, which I now call my "Green Tiger". I still fretted and battled with the green bits, darkening and lightening them in a rather random fashion until I had "fettled" (local term) a result I was half happy(ish) with.

Finally I took my irritation out on the two Panzerwaffe crew and tarted them up as best I could according to a uniforms book I had to hand (Uniforms of World War II by Peter Darman, Blitz Editions 1998). That took my mind off those blessed green stripes.

Do I like the result? The ultimate decision is still pending as the green lines are too distinct (is the yellow quite right? ... I am being pedantic now), but it certainly counts as wargame ready, despite the lack of decals. Sitting on the painting bench next to "Green Tiger " is the Fujimi 1/76 kit destined to become "Brown Tiger", a slight variation on the 1943 German camouflage scheme. Allied Shermans, T-34's and Cromwell's now better watch out!

Painting Tray Update

Behold (at last) the behemoth King Tigers have rolled away to strike terror into the hearts and minds of the Western or Eastern Allies alike. Or alternatively presenting a plum target of opportunity for a young Jabbo fighter-pilot (Mustang or Sturmovik) to make his name. In convoy below (a faked wargame moment):

Or deployed, ready to dominate a wargames table near you ;)

Meanwhile a further batch of German heavy armour presents its profile under the painting lights. These pair of Tigers (1/72 Hasagawa and 1/76 Fujimi [early version]) pose a slight problem for me as I will have to move away from the three tone camouflage scheme I was enjoying. Something either Dark Yellow with Green or Brown irregular lines to break up the profile. The 1943 summer look as it were.Currently they sit in the Oiled and Metallic stage ready to take their camouflage markings on:

Meanwhile up in the skies the Airfix Battle of Britain single engined fighter project continues in a stop start fashion. The Hawker Hurricane MkI stands in its shade colours as:

While the Boulton Paul Defiant (viewed broadside) is shown here. It packed a surprise rear-punch to a Hurricane profile (seen from behind), but once bitten twice shy in combat as a 12 o'clock attack was its undoing.

Last but not least a second metal Goblin, The Great Goblin King himself gets painted and the Moria Goblins HoTT Army project takes an oh so small step forward:

In the background I have almost uncontrollable urge to paint 20mm WWII plastic infantry in large industrial batches, after all in the northern hemisphere the nights are beginning to draw in.

:)

US Armoured Infantry

Here's one I've done previously, to use the infamous 'Blue Peter' presenter catch-all phrase. A mixed manufacturer picture of an Esci White Scott Car (OK so there are no decals, what's new there then), part of a Hasagawa M3 Half Track and some (squad of) my Revell WW2 American Ardennes infantry. These were done as a trial batch a couple of years ago.

The plan was/is to set a factory production system and "go through the lot" (and there is an awful lot of bare green plastic) in a week. They were my first attempt at the PVA pre-coat system, but suffer methinks from too much PVA covering too much detail.

The paint scheme is taken from the back of the Revell box and is now in question. These are slightly later figures than the Valiant Miniatures 1942-44 GI but I do so like Valiant's painting guide. Also, although not a fan (or rather I am ignorant of the Flames of War system) their 'all the colours you need' US painting pack looks quite an attractive option too.

The above however will remain painted as is for posterity and more importantly are wargame ready :)