20mm BTR-80 Repair Job

"I tried not to scream" but this thing (BTR-80) fell from a very great height. I was getting from my the loft space a BTR-80 for a RPG session that 'my eldest son and friends were playing'. This in itself caused a lot of excitement for me, as it had started out as a Dungeons and Dragons session but then I was told it was really a "modern day RPG" session that needed tanks and stuff. I had already given them orcs, snotlings and wizards but as soon as they said they needed tanks I thought "that's my boy" and was up in the loft rummaging in my "20mm moderns". Sadly the hand-off between GM and myself, me in the loft and him on on the ladder, went awry and the BTR-80 fell (tumbling) down two flights of stairs - shattering and coming apart in a myriad of pieces on teh hard flooring. Externally I did not swear - internally is another matter. Thankfully "keen young eyes" managed pretty much to spy all the little pieces and I let them play on with a T-80 instead - much to the groans of the players and GM's delight (see below, these Del Prado die cast kits are cool as "instant" models but do suffer from sensitive wheel parts/suspension breaking. Two of the wheels had to get "milliput support"):

I thought .. "In for a penny, in for a pound" (see below, this should 99% be hidden in normal play so rather than having another wheel drop off, it seemed sensible that all eight got the 'milliput treatment'):

The final restoration job complete. As an extra touch I might "black/brown wash" the underside when the milliput sets (see below, lookout kids that T-80 tank now has some Mechanised Infantry in an APC as support):

It might be time to paint up some WARSAW PACT 20mm plastic troops as they happily "made-do" with my Platoon 20, WWII British Infantry and WWII German Revell Panzer Grenadiers! Perhaps the Terminator "resistance rebels" from the Warlord Games 28mm Terminator Game might be better for them!

Stalingrad Campaign Reflections (1)

Captain Dorki spat in the direction of the Maxim MMG team as they headed back towards Company Head Quarters. "To hell with them, they sat on their arses and shot at shadows." Yes, they kept one half of the sector quiet as a mouse, even claimed to have killed a German officer in a house, but Dorki knew that bullets could not go through thick walls or turn corners. No German dared show his face to the MMG but as a consequence the other half of the sector had burned like hell and took too many of his men. Fifty per cent of his under strength platoon had fallen. The Germans had bled too but it was his troops he only cared for. "The Patrol" bad been bounced back towards the Volga and the Germans were sure to come again fast on their heels, following up their success sensing an easy victory. Damn them!

Dorki took a slug of Vodka and looked up at Lt Pasha. The man was the sole survivor from his squad. He looked broken, ashamed and confused. Dorki had literally run into him, in fact he had knocked Pasha down as he fled in terror from the "Hell House" - elite Panzer Grenadiers had fought his Rifle Section hand-to-hand, dying together in a not so elite fashion. The German's had just been quicker to follow up. For that Dorki blamed himself not Pasha. The man was a hero. In the trench Pasha's uniform was still smouldering from the fury of the German hand grenade attack. Dorki pushed his revolver across the table. Pasha looked terrified - what did his Commander expect him to do? Then it was it true, he was a coward as he feared. Dorki spoke with menace, "Pasha you have been to hell and seen the Devil himself, next time, you take my revolver and you put this bullet in his skull." With that Dorki held up a polished bullet, spat on it, cleaned it his faithful oily rag and handed it to Pasha. The transformed Pasha had eyes of steel, "Yes Comrade Dorki!" With that he turned and headed out down towards the Volga to round up badly needed troops.

Dorki mused. The Devil. He meant it specifically. That tall Aryan Devil. Dorki had caught a glimpse of his counterpart through the haze of battle and burned his features into his brain. He would meet him again. Next time he wouldn't let his men be pulled so easily into a close quarter fight in a house. After Pasha had fought the first combat, a bloodbath to both sides, he had lost Mendalev's squad exposed in a trench. He had left them too close to the house when the Germans followed up. He would have be be more careful, much more careful lest these "elite" Panzer Grenadiers slowly chew his men up piece-meal. He was in a dark mood. After fateful minutes Dorki's eyes met Romanov, a noble name to the most ignoble cold blooded killer Dorki had ever met. Romanov sat in the shadows, adjusted the sights on his sniper's rifle ever so slightly. Dorki had respect but no sympathy for The Devil, especially since Romanov had lost a good friend, a drinking friend, a true blood friend in Pasha's squad. "The Devil's mine" said Romanov and departed into the night. Dorki crossed himself an old habit still practised out of sight of the Commissars . 

Airfix Battles Play Test: Scenario Two - "Save Colonel Parker" (Part 1 of 2)

Gaining the initiative the German player opened up with his Veterans spraying the large American Squad causing two casualties (see photograph below):

The German MG42 team was now set-up and in position to fire (see below):

However the American player was able to rally his squad first by using an interrupt which recovered their morale. In retribution the reinvigorated  US Squad then opened up on the Germans taking out all three remaining Veterans (claiming VPs as well), leaving the German Commander horribly exposed for the next turn. all depended on who got the next initiative. The Germans got it. The German Commander quickly played an Artillery Card and MG42's followed up breaking the US Squad (see below):

The German Grenadiers now played their card and on the last move of turn two jumped into the objective capturing the "dazed" Colonel Parker. With the large US Squad no longer in an imposing fire base it was left to a crack team of Snipers and four Veterans with their commander to try and wrinkle them out by the end of the last turn or the Germans would lose the game. The Grenadiers were isolated (as in away from the MG42 LOS and supporting fire) and suffered from some good shooting from the Snipers who cunningly kept out of range. However it was up to the US Captain to "lead the way" and close combat the farm with his Veterans forming a brave rescue attempt (see below):

Despite knocking down two Germans the Americans were caught in a terrible "machine pistol storm" and were forced back. Withe the objective firmly in their hands (and the game won) the Germans passed their remaining move so to avoid any embarrassing American interrupts [that could have saved the day]. So it was "For you Colonel Parker the war is over!" (see below):

End Game: Colonel Parker is now on the way to a POW camp! Unless there is a daring escape ;)

The game seemed all the more epic for inclusion of classic Airfix illustrations on eh cards. For my part it left me wanting to unearth the old Airfix classic figures I know I have in the loft, as well as the new British Infantry figures. I sense a micro Airfix renaissance project wise in the near future. You don't need that many figures if truth be told :)

Airfix Battles Play Test: Scenario Two - "Save Colonel Parker" (Part 1 of 2)

Airfix Battles has been languishing at the bottom of my "to play in the near future" draw for some time now, so I naturally leapt at the chance to finally "get a game under the belt". It may be branded as an introductory wargame but it looks simple and 'neat'. I have seen so many  'advanced' (aka unnecessary complex) set of rules leap into the "bin of rule despair" I will give anything a go for inspiration and novelty.

Note: The playing pieces and counters are of high quality (which bodes well) and have already cross-fertilised other game systems

Scenario 2: Rescue (or try and capture in my case) Colonel Parker who has got himself trapped and injured in a French farmhouse (see middle square of the board below) in the early hours of the D-Day operation. He carries vital operational information, so both sides "want him" for completely different reasons (see below, terrain used instead of paper game board, US coming in from top and the Germans from the bottom):

A subtle twist to game play is that both sides position two pieces of blocking (LOS) terrain, so cover appear (see below) to help both sides get a safe route "near" the farmhouse. The US are apparently trying to recover from a loss in Scenario 1, while I as the Germans are tasked to "nab" Parker and spoil the party for the Americans (see below, "spot the difference"hedges have miraculously appeared):

Side set-up alternatively "squad" at a time, the player winning the initiative choosing to go first or second. The US have a powerful Full Squad (see bottom), a gaggle of Veterans and their commander (see center) and a small half-squad or large team of Snipers (see top below). The American troops being a friend's metals, from the Britannia Miniatures WWII US range (see below, the long green line):

The Germans put a Grenadier unit (powerful but short range), the commander with his Veterans and a  pair of deadly (at least I am hoping so) MG42 machine guns to the right. Nobody is in Line of Sight (LOS) so the winner of the initiative can focus on effective movement. The objective is to hold the central farmhouse square for "two turns" and be deemed to effectively have captured or rescued Colonel Parker (see below):

The Germans are my old (favourite) Revell Panzer Grenadier figures (bought in the twentieth century but painted in the twenty first century). The Captain barks orders after to move up to the right of farmhouse, The large US Squad plays an interrupt card and takes out one of their number (see below, quite a nice game mechanic):

The German MG42's set-up to the far right of the German line in a rather exposed position while the German Grenadiers tuck in behind the objective ("Farmhouse Bleu") where Colonel Parker is hiding. This is part to act as a threat against any quick US snatch attempt and partly to keep the Grenadiers safe and out of long range fire (the Grenadiers only have a range of three whereas the normal is four). The German's hunker down and tensely wait for the next turn (see below):

Next: Crunch time "Colonel Parker tries to hail a cab."

Chain of Command: Normandy (Part III)

The British responded with their most effective countermeasure, smoke. The little two inch mortar churned out smoke like nobody's business aiming to blind the Tiger. Instead they blocked line-of-sight (LOS) to one of the uber effective German MG42 teams, which was of least some cold comfort (see below):

The Tiger spoke as it now had clear LOS to the last "fresh" British infantry (see below, twenty five years and it has finally spoken in anger on a wargames table, but its wargaming destiny is not fulfilled until it takes out an Allied tank, preferably a Sherman):

Trouble enough for the infantry as although o kills the "shock" starts to mount on the resilient British Infantry as this French of farmland looks destined to become a graveyard (see below):

More smoke, but to no avail the Tiger's terrible 88mm is readying another in its barrel (see below):

With the battlefield shrouded in smoke the British only hope was to get their slow but armoured bulk of a Churchill into the fray. However the German MG42 teams in the graveyard (off picture to the right, see below) opened up again spelling disaster for the remain British Infantry (see below):

Enough was enough, the British broke and with that the British Force Morale crashed to zero. The Britisg retreated and left the field to the Germans as the Churchill found its reverse gear (see below):

This was a good run out for the rules. Lots of things remembered, lots of things forgotten but remembered later in those "Oh yes" moments and lots of sections to read again, but very enjoyable fun. Far too hard for the British, the German Panzer Grenadiers were hard enough but to give them a Tiger was just plain nasty. To put this into context, to be a fair booklet game the British should have had a 2d6 +5 support points, with the German half the British total of support points. Er, I had it almost the other way round, the German Tiger counts as 10 support points, the Churchill was 7 support points so I should have really put a Sherman and Sherman Firefly in the Support pool too.

Er, next time (I'll read the book a little more closely)!

 

Chain of Command: Normandy (Part II)

The German Panzer Grenadiers, despite hindered by 2" British mortar smoke, pour a merciless level of fire into "Polygon Wood" (see below):

Too hot for First platoon. Sergeant Hardy down, even the cool Lieutenant Cream could not hold the boys back and they piked out of the wood in unmistakeable 'rout' formation (see below):

Meanwhile from the hard cover of the graveyard another German Panzer Grenadier section blasts away at two fresh English "Tommy" sections (see below):

Again the fire is devastating and "shock" mount on the Third British Infantry section on the far right of the British line (see below):

Things take an even turn for the worse as the heavy calibre barrel of a Tiger Tank rounds the corner of a French farmhouse (see below):

Through the narrow periscope slit the gunner begins acquiring a bead on the remaining fresh British Infantry section.

To be continued ..

Chain of Command: Normandy (Part I)

A training scenario: A platoon of British infantry advance supported by armour (aka Winnie the Churchill Tank) meeting a platoon of German Panzer Grenadiers with armour backup (aha Timmy the Terrible Tiger).

After a disappointing Patrol Phase the Brits get a Squad on table, claiming the "high ground" in the middle of the table.Like a magnet this raws a German Panzer Grenadier Team opposite then (see below):

Both sides bring on their armour early, the Germans gaining a significant psychological edge with their Tiger (see below, after twenty years it finally makes it onto a 'live' wargaming table, its wargaming destiny is being fulfilled):

The Brits meanwhile hammer one section of the German Squad, shock and KIAs cause the German Senior Officer to come on as fast as he can to restore 'a sense of teutonic order' about things (see below, note this means leaving the two man team of Panzerschrekers playing cards in a bunker - they may be just a tad reluctant to come on later, who knows?):

Meanwhile the Tiger crawls forwards, cobered by another Panzer Grenadier Squad deployed in the French Farmhouses (see below):

The Brits have not been idle either as two full squads deploy in rough ground on their right and try to reduce the Gothic graveyard held by the final Panzer Grenadier Squad (see below):

Meanwhile the murderous firefight goes on in the middle leaving both sides 'shocked and KIA'ed' but just holding on.

To Be Continued ...

October Project: Day 30 "Paint Review"

Project review and wrap-up. First of all these are the paints I used in Project (see below, as much for my memory as for posterity):

Anita's Acrylics:

• Metallic Black (11211)
• Earth Brown (11014)
• Coffee (11044)
• Lemon Yellow (11055)
• White (11001)

Vallejo Acrylics:

• German Field Grey (Model Color: 70830)
• Green Grey (Flames of War: 886)
• Gun Metal  Grey (Model Color: 70863)
• Flat Flesh (Model Color: 70955)
• German Camo Pale Brown (Model Color: 70825)
• German Cam Beige WWII (Model Color: 70821)
• Charred Brown (Game Color: 72045)
• Beasty Brown (Game Color: 72043)
• Dark Fleshtone (Game Color: 72044)
• Stonewall Grey (Game Color: 72049)

Airfix Acrylics:

• Primer Grey (1)
• Black (33)

Tamiya Acrylics:

• Flat Yellow (XF-3)
• Dark Green (XF-61)

Games Workshop Citadel Foundation Acrylics:

• Tallarn Flesh
• Calthan Brown

Games Workshop Citadel Washes: 

• Ogryn Flesh

As I pronounce the figures are now suitable for tabletop wargaming (aka battle ready) I also hope to put them to immediate good use and effect in a mini-campaign set in Normandy '44 for "Chain of Command" so that they can fulfill their 'wargaming destiny' (not bad as they were originally purchased over twenty years ago). Smiles all round!

However, there are several things NOT done (as of yet):

• German Insignia Markings
• Protective Varnish (a practical must)
• Static Grass(maybe?)
• Further German "Odds and Sods" for the Chain of Command Support List, painted in the same fashion

Also thinking ahead, I have these possible follow-on "Thirty Day Projects" from my unpainted legions in the loft?

Normandy 1944

• US Infantry Platoon (1944)
• German "Green Devils" Paratroop Platoon (1944)
• British "Red Devils" Paratroop Platoon (1944)
• US Paratroop Platoon "Screaming Eagles" (1944)

 BlitzKrieg 1940: 

• French (1940) Infantry Platoon
• BEF (1940) Infantry Platoon
• Belgian (1940) Infantry Platoon
• Dutch (1940) Infantry Platoon
• Polish (1939) Infantry Platoon

Decisions, decisions, decisions! Whatever I do methinks I may concentrate on doing it in only twenty steps rather than the thirty I took for these figures, as looking back the 'cleverness and detail' of one layer of paint was often submerged in the next.

October Project: Day 29 "Panzer Grenadier Parade Ground with 251 Transport"

The final force composition for a Chain of Command German Panzer Grenadier Platoon (Normandy):

Four Hanomag 251 Half-Tracks:

• Hanomag 251/10 (37mm AT) x 1: Platoon Commander Half Track
• Platoon Commander and PzShreck Team (2 Men) 
• Hanomag 251/1 x 3: Squad 
• Team 1: Squad Leader + MG Team (2 Men) + Two Rifles
• Team 2: MG Team (2 Men) + Three Rifles

Parade Ground Formation (see below):

The one comment I would make is that the Order of Battle is for Normandy 1944 (which means for 1943 and earlier scenarios you'll end up dropping the PzSchrek team and maybe replace it with something as interesting as an AT rifle tean or the like). Also the Hanomag paint scheme is 1939-42 (early war), so I will (eventually) paint another platoon in 1944-45 three-tone "ambush" camouflage colours. Also yes, only one out of four vehicles has been decalled, but there's nothing new there for me ;)

I now pronounce this formation "battle ready" for a Chain of Command outing ... watch this space :)

Next: The Paints Used Recap and Review

October Project: Day 28 "The Joy of Flocking"

Once again the watered down PVA comes out. This time the figures are dropped into the "flock box" which still after five years of sporadic activity is half full of the original 2009 railway scenic "spring-time grass" covering, I think "buy in bulk" is the morale of the story here. Aiming for between 60-70% flat area coverage a lot of my previous good highlight work gets covered over, never mind (see below):

The group photograph (see below):

For the moment I am not bothering to "static grass" ... as I type I find myself caught in too minds as I technically still have a spare night! As all the figures are now to the same "wargame combat tabletop ready" state so ends my reference to the 2009 Painting Guide.

Next: Panzer Grenadier Parade Ground

October Project: Day 27 "Basing (III) Shade to Highlighting the Earth"

Painting the base proper!

Note to self: Now you do have to let this bit dry thoroughly out or you court disaster if you press too hard on the brush and to be fair it is hard mot to.

Anita's Acrylics yet again come to my rescue, starting with a plain lick of Earth Brown (11014) covering the base using a wet-brush rather than a dry brush technique. You can judge for yourself if you think the extra 'watery base coat of brown-black" was worth it from the previous stage (see below):

Next mix Earth Brown with Anita Acrylics Coffee (11044) in a 1:2 ratio. Again a rough and ready wet-brush application but less searching out the nooks and crannies than the first brown layer (see below):

Then despite it sounding slightly crazy, add Anita's Acrylic (11055) Lemon Yellow on a 1:1 ratio with the left over mix from the previous stage. This time I adopted a very lazy "let and let live" approach to painting, dabbing here and there as a lot of this will be covered in a layer of flock. Why bother at all then? Well, over time the flock will drop off or go bald, so if/when this happens the base still does not look too bad (see below):

Finally to the remaining residue add Anita Acrylic White (11001) to add that final 'rim' highlight on prominent raised places on the base. Less is definitely more here and subtlety is the watch word, so I pretty much reverted to more of a drier-brush than the previous stages (see below):

Here's one I may slightly of over done (see below):

With that it is the end of the painting! Moving onto the final phase of where I got to the in the original 2009 Painting Guide.

Next: For the "FLOCK" of it

October Project: Day 26 "Basing (II) Brown and Black Earth"

Once the sand has dried, or in the case of impatient and impetus people like myself, is "almost dry" (say 80% there) slosh together a very wet [think along the lines of a heavily coloured "wash" constituency] dark earth mix (Anita's Acrylic Earth Brown 11014) and apply it to the miniatures base, letting the sand soak all the paint up (see below, the platoon formation):

An individual MG Gunner (see below);

Just to be different, I then mix a dab of black (in this case the remaining Airfix Acrylic Matte Black from a starter set) into the watery mixture, leaving the figures for a few hours (again almost but not quite dry) and re-coat it over (see below):

This gives the base a bit more shadow that I can work up from when I layer the paint on. Again still going to plan aka the original 2009 Painting Guide.

Next: Painting the Base, from Shade to Highlight

October Project: Day 25 "Basing (I) - PVA and Sand"

Time to temporarily put down the paintbrush and pickup a bottle of PVA and "tub of wargaming sand". Watering down the PVA to a semi-fluid rather than treacle consistency, I dabbed it around each figure's base then dunked the feet into the "sand-box" and gave it a gentle "shake and swirl" (see below, the platoon result en masse):

An individual (see below, Rifleman "Shultz"):

Note: The sand has "chunky" bits in it, possibly on the large side as I had previously been working in 25/28mm.

Again still going to plan aka the original 2009 Painting Guide.

Next: Paint the Base

October Project: Day 24 "Boot Grey Day - Final Highlight"

The project has progressed to its final slot of painting the figures before 'basing' is addressed. This really is a final touch up job. If I were completely honest I was of half of a mind to miss it out, but by comparing the 'master 2009' figures with what I had done so far there was still just a subtle difference - so what the heck, "in for a penny in for a pound". Vallejo Game Color Stonewall Grey was added in small highlight dabs to prominent boot points (see below):

The Whole Range of Figures: 

MG Gunners: 

Riflemen:

Again still going to plan aka the original 2009 Painting Guide.

Next: Start of the Basing Process

October Project: Day 23 "Woodstock"

Next up is the little finishing touch highlights I want to apply to the wooden surfaces, which in the case of the Panzer Grenadiers is 95% rifle and MG weapon stocks and the odd hand grenade (potato masher style) in hand, belt or boot (the latter must have been unconfortable). This is done by a Vallejo Game Color Beasty Brown, with a subtle extra dab to highlight the highlights mixed with Tamiya XF-3 Matte Yellow (because that was all I had to hand at the time). Almost there now (see below, mostly grey with a bit of colour here and there):

Again still going to plan aka the original 2009 Painting Guide.

Next: Final dabs of grey on Das Boots!

October Project: Day 22 "Gas Mask and Helmet Highlight" Part (II)

Once I had painted the "new" Panzer Grenadier figures I took a look back at the 2009 completed set and saw that I had to apply a small highlight to bring both sets into alignment (see below):

Again still going to plan aka the original 2009 Painting Guide.

Next: Woodstock (aka rifle butts and the like)

October Project: Day 21 "Gas Mask and Helmet Highlight" Part (I)

The raised surfaces of the "helmet and gas mask containers" need special attention, courtesy of Tamiya (XF-61) Dark Green mixed with Tamiya Yellow (XF-3). In fact I got so obsessed with it I did a dab of yellower highlight on the first highlight (see below):

Riflemen:  

The MG Gunners and a Rifleman: 

All this obsessing meant that this little highlight layer spanned over two days. Again I think I can say it is still going to plan aka the original 2009 Painting Guide.

:)

Next: Some more Gas Masks and Helmets