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Showing posts with label French Resistance. Show all posts
Showing posts with label French Resistance. Show all posts
Sunday, 25 June 2023
Resistance Memorial
I'm at a family wedding in Brittany this weekend, which just happens to be within spitting distance of this memorial to the French Resistance. In June 1944 there was a major battle here between the local maquis supported by the SAS and the German occupation forces, as described on the monument information board. It's also detailed in a book I read a few years ago by one of the members of the resistance, Andre Hue, which I thoroughly recommend. This afternoon, if I can sneak off from the wedding, there's also a museum five minutes walk from the venue which I will try to visit. Fascinating stuff
Monday, 21 December 2015
The Jedburghs
I'm reading this at the moment. A really fascinating subject which I've read a lot about before, as quite a lot happened very close to the relatives local area in southern and central Brittany. I've always thought the SAS and Jedburgh operations in Brittany would make a great tactical level skirmish wargame, not in the obvious 28mm but in 15mm using Peter Pig figures based in elements, with a 1:1 figure scale. It'll probably never happen but it's something I've had on the 'get round to it one day' list for a long time.
Wednesday, 1 January 2014
Happy New Year!
As we have a Xmas in France every year, the kids open their 'English' presents on New Years Day, rather then cart them across to the in-laws and back again for Xmas Day. This means that they get two sets of presents, which can be a bit much, but it also means that I get to open my presents today as well! This was the Ministry of the Interior's idea and it actually works really well, allbeit with some suspension of disbelief about the existence of a French and an English Santa.
This year, Father Xmas got me a Bolt Action Japanese Starter Army with some extra bits and the Armies of Imperial Japan supplement, so you can guess what I'll be up to in 2014, at least in part. The Japanese will be one of my 28mm projects this year, primarily for Chain of Command but with Bolt Action as a fall back. I'm hoping to add some terrain construction to this project too.
I was also allowed to get the classic Foundry Miniatures British Commandos that I had my eye on over the holidays, with enough figures for a couple of squads, a command group and a support team or two. These will be for raiding purposes only, so firmly at a skirmish level rather than a full on platoon set up, with rules as yet undecided.
I also bought myself a copy of Henry Hyde's Wargames Compendium, as it was less than a fiver on the Kindle e-book store and looked like an interesting read for a rainy day. I like his style of writing and, in particular, the series of 'imagi-nation' articles he has written on wargame campaigning, so I thought I'd find some inspiration in this pretty comprehensive book.
This year, I have a number of intended projects but I'm keeping my options open, with the focus being firmly on 28mm WW2. I enjoyed painting up my 28mm US platoon last year, so will be building at least one more force for Chain of Command and Bolt Action in 2014. I also want to get at least one other 28mm army completed, with the Tribal Villagers for In the Heart of Africa at the top of the list, possibly followed by the Ronin skirmish project which I didn't get started in 2013.
In 15mm, I'll be completing the AK47 army for the club campaign, but that's probably going to be it for 2014. I have some plans up my sleeve for a 15mm French Resistance game based on the AK47 rules system plus a long term goal to paint up an ancient or medieval army for Impetus, but these will probably not be happening this year.
In 1/285th, I have big plans for a Soviet mid-war air force for Bag the Hun 2, using the models that I picked up on the bring and buy at Colours. This will be a pretty comprehensive collection of fighters, ground attack, light and heavy bombers, either in winter camouflage or in a summer scheme. I will also be adding some mid-war Luftwaffe planes to complement the late war fighters that I completed in 2013.
To round things off, I will definately get around to painting up the 1/600th scale ships for the WW2 coastal warfare project, with both British and German coastal forces plus some merchant ships. I have meant to do this for many years but it's time to crack on and actually finish what I've started. As a second but much smaller naval wargaming project, I really want to tackle at least a couple of the Peter Pig pirate ships, if I can squeeze them into the schedule.
Finally, the club participation game will need to have some new 1/72nd scale aircraft, which I've promised to kit up. At the moment, this is looking like a 1915-1916 early war multiplayer game, so I'll be digging out the old kits in the loft in search of Morane Saulnier N's, Fokker EIII's and Bristol Scouts, all of which I have stashed up there somewhere along with a few other suitable model kits.
...anyway, I hope you have a Happy New Year and lots of fun in 2014!
Sunday, 1 January 2012
French Resistance Ideas
I've had this on the bookshelf for a couple of years and originally bought it for the Ministry of the Interior to read, as her family live less than ten minutes away from the area in which the events took place. However, after my recent trip to Brittany, I've decided to read up on the FFI, SoE and the SAS in the region partly out of historical interest but also with a view to wargaming potential.
The book is actually very good and a bit of a page turner. It's packed with interesting detail and some dramatic real life incidents that are described in depth from the personal perspective of the men on the ground. It's given me a lot of food for thought and I reckon there's some mileage in a 15mm approach using Peter Pig figures and vehicles.
There's obviously the French Resistance range to use, together with some of the SCW figures in berets for the FFI. The SAS are covered by the British Paras range, with some judicious headswapping and perhaps a bit of green stuff, with a 'Normandy Jeep' also available for transport. The Milice can be found in the SCW range again, perhaps with a few Adrian helmet headswaps, while the Germans are easy to select from the relevant packs in the PBI range.
The civilian vehicles are available from Peter Pig and QRF, while the Germans can use some of the Zvezda Opel Blitz trucks to keep the cost down. There are also plenty of suitable military vehicles to hand, especially ex-French early war armoured cars and trucks that would be the sort of thing that rear echelon troops might use to track down the Maquis. And Old Glory even do a Lysander in 1/100th scale.
The rules would have to be the key element of the set up. A conventional set like FoW just wouldn't work for what I'm thinking of, so I have something like PITS or MOCB in mind, with one side trying to locate and/or destroy the other, either by searching for arms caches, hideouts, dropzones etc or by setting up ambushes, sabotaging railway lines, blowing up bridges or whatever. I might try to work out something based around AK47 mechanics as a first step.
Interesting stuff.
Tuesday, 27 December 2011
Le Maquis
We went to the gendarmerie yesterday so that the other half could register for a postal vote. While I was waiting for her to complete the various bereaucratic convolutions required by the French state, I wandered across to the war memorial which is located just outside the police station. As usual for Brittany, there was a memorial to the local FFL resistance fighters and their supporters, many of whom were either killed in action or sent to concentration camps.
As I read down the list of names, however, I spotted one that stood out. This was a Major Ogden Smith, who obviously was not a local and was therefore an SOE agent of some sort. A bit of googling when we got back home and the story began to unfold in some detail:
A tragedy but very interesting nonetheless. I'm going to try to visit the grave in Querrien if I can next time we're here, to pay my respects and follow up the story. In the meantime, I'll be doing some more reading around the subject. I think there's a lot of potential in Operation Jedburgh for a start, especially as Peter Pig do some very nice 15mm French resistance figures.
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