I So Love Technology

Well I found out today there is a glitch with many blog feeds. This glitch is caused by an image if it is in the top position, so you are missing the great writing I am providing. :-)

As I fix the issue here is what you missed, now just dig back a little.

M51 - A New Old Tank

I have a thing for Israeli equipment. It is more a retro thing I guess. How so, well look at the vehicles used in Lebanon in the 1980s or on the Golan in 1973. The Merkava, right out of Flash Gordon, was used next to the Centurion 105. There were the traditional M113 (with and without bed spring armour) and towards the end even heavy APCs.

By far one of my favorite retro tanks has to be the M51. Known in the west as the Super Sherman or Isherman, this is a Sherman that is married to French 105. While there were changes, including a massive counter weight and muzzle brake, this is a modern AFV able to fight above its weight from the 1960s to the 80s.

Now this vehicle is limited to a number of Israeli conflicts but was never exported in its original form so while the M50 can be used by PLO (captured), South Lebanon Army (exported) and militias (stolen?) the M51 is used on the West Bank in 1967 and a number of actions on the Golan in 1973.

Anyone interested in the M51 will have a hard time digging up information. Information on building models is more common than their combat use or even what units they were assigned to. Recently I found a book on the Israeli Northern Command for 1973 that has helped fill-in the gaps, more on orders of battle latter. Knowing Hebrew does come in handy for research as most online translators return interesting results.

From top to bottom Gaming Models, FOW, SHQ

My renewed interest is that I have now found a new source for the M51 at Gaming Models. This is a company that is little known in the hobby, a niche in a niche hobby, that offers many unique vehicles. The costs are also low enough that if I want to try a new period or theater it is easy. I mean how many R35s does a guy need in German colors. Do not answer that.

So here are my thoughts on the M51 in 15mm from four different suppliers. I was at first surprised that the number was that high for a tank that only 180 were built. Three of the models I own personally, and a gaming chum offered the fourth. I am keeping this simple, basing it on cost and appearance.

Cost

• Flames of War $27 for 2
• Gaming Models $5
• Quality Casting $10
• QRF $6.87 (with today’s currency conversion)

Appearance

FOW to the left, Gaming Models to the right

Flames of War – A good casting and fine detail with heft to the model. It will not be easily knocked around. Paints up well and overall a good model.

Gaming Models – Good casting and detail. It is a resign so it is not overly heavy. Can be purchased primed and is easy to paint up.

Gaming Models left, QRF to the right

Quality Casting – I am reviewing this after see a friend’s miniature and also looking for references online. This was a disappointing model that is not true to scale in height of the body or the turret. Made of white metal and has heft.

QRF - A fair and older design that needs attention. The turret and body seems like it was pushed down, not true to scale. Also made of white metal.

Overall

The Flames of War and Gaming Models are the best of the lot. The M51 is not a vehicle that is not big demand for gamers today or for arms merchants in the past, although it could show up in the arms bazars of some imagination. If you want to fight on the Golan, they are both great looking models and either are worth having on the table based on appearance. But if you are looking to fight on the Golan once or twice a year go with the Gaming Models, they look good and are great for the price.

Golan 1973

Yesterday Mark and I played a game simulating the Syrian attack on Booster Ridge. We ran in twice, the first battle was at night. In this engagement the Syrians had better night fighting equipment. 

The IDF was unable to fire until the range was below 800 meters with the Syrians able to fire out to 1,000 meters. Unfortunately for the Syrians were unable to utilize this advantage. The fight occurred between 500 to 600 meters.

The numbers counted quickly as the IDF lost the right company with the Syrians turning the flank. The conclusion was the Syrians taking the hill but unable to advance past it as they lost over 60% of their T-55. The follow on mechanized division would have to carry on the fight with their tank battalion and a reconstituted battalion from the brigade.

The honors in this engagement go to the recon company from the Syrian brigade. They did yeoman service in identifying the Israeli positions. The goat in this has to be the IDF artillery. In ten turns (an hour and a half) they were only to put one illumination round on the Syrians.

In the next fight we made the engagement in the daylight. The IDF went from two companies to one and the Syrians added an additional two battalions to the brigade (not sure were they came from). In this fight the IDF had the ability to fire our to 2.4KM while the Syrians were only able to fire out to 1.5KM. The Syrians lost a great deal of their armor in approaching the hill. Eventually they caused the loss of the right platoon (again) and an organized assault cause the hill to be captured. Once again the losses were over 60% for the Syrians.

In both engagements the IDF had less than their historical order of battle. In the day engagement the Israelis had a third of their historic tanks.  The only reason the battles were close was the training level. The IDF were rated as good, possibly they should have been excellent. The Syrian were rated marginal, the best they could expect. In these engagements we could see how the battle happened historically. Kahalani’s 77th Armored Battalion was devastated of the initial days of the war. But due to the terrain, training and replacement they were able to hold. This was an enjoyable game and I look forward to running more of these types of battles in the near future. We were even thinking of doing the Sinai soon. Unfortunately I need to paint up some new forces. M60s for the IDF and desert tan for the Egyptians.

Thank you Steve and Dragonhead Distributors for allowing us to play there. Rules used were FFT3. Miniatures are 3mm from PicoArmor. Terrain and painting done by yours truly. 

The Syrians getting organized to take the ridge. OK not very historical.

Mediterranean Goodies

It is a very good time for gamers interested in the Middle East. 

To start off Wargames Illustrated in Issue #312 offered a 1967 Six Day War supplement. This will go along with their release over the next month or so of the vehicles of the Six Day War. Many of these will be repackaged Vietnam ear weapons with some notable additions. This includes the M50 Super Sherman and the M51 Isherman (the i-Sherman). Both of these are useful for my preferred period the 1973 October War. And they do have a certain coolness factor.

I am also glad they will be repurposing some of their Vietnam vehicles. I have wanted to purchase the ZSU 57 but I didn’t need four of them, so I am pleased they will be selling them in groups of two. I need to check and see if Mark needs one.

While right now they only have four product codes showing, more are on the way.

Nice complements to these are the releases and announcements from Khurasan Miniatures. They are releasing for next month a new line of Yom Kippur War figures starting with Syria with Egypt and the IDF coming soon.

The Syrian Infantry looks really good and I bought one of the new T62s as a test. The prices for the infantry is acceptable but the cost of the tanks are approaching FoW. I just need to wait to see the quality. I have been impressed with his figures in the past and on that I made my purchase.

Lastly Mark and I will be running a Golan engagement on Oct 26th at Dragonhead Distributors. Rules are FFT3. Game will start around 12 so stop buy if you can.

Now back to painting the 3mm aircraft insignias, again.

A Growing Village

It has been to long since my last post with most of my time being spent on getting ready for Cold Wars and getting my Lebanese village in order.

As you can see from my 2011 Projects list I have been busy with doing up buildings and figures. Currently on my bench is a “Straight Flush” Radar system to be used in Lebanon and the War of Attrition. After that I have five buildings to finish up and than I can get back to writing and gaming.

I hope to see you at Cold Wars in Lancaster Pennsylvania. Mark and I are running two games on Saturday.

Below are the recent images of the village. The five buildings primed black are waiting to be finished.

The market area has been the most fun to work on. To the left will be the Lemon/Olive Orchard. 

Report from the Front

It has been a couple of interesting weeks on the miniatures and gaming front.

I have not only finished a successful Union victory in the Shenandoah in 1862, I have been called upon to defend Richmond as the Confederate player in the GCACW game of “On to Richmond”.

For miniatures I have been lucky in gathering and paining most of the forces I will need for TOOFATLardies Summer Special Hell’s Highway as I defend a very long road against 30th Corps. The Germans are very hard pressed in this game, than again they were historically.

Mark and I had a chance to spread the message of Lard to the Leigh Valley and a small gaming event. Well it is small compared to Historicon or GenCon but I was presently surprised at the turn out. Steve of Dragonhead Distributors set it up and the mixed crowd was well over 200. This included Magic players, modelers (plastic not runway), Flames of War Tournament and general gaming.

IDF getting ready.

We ran a game from the Summer Special set in the southern Golan. Even though we wrote the article, it was fun testing out different ideas. After a lot of brewed up Syrian tanks the IDF came away with a minor victory. We also found that the 120mm mortars are good Katyushas are bad.

Syrians at the ready.

My gaming world also crossed over to vampires. That is my only guess as either a Pro-British vampire, or my dog Maya bit my latest box of German figures from Peter Pig. I am certain it had to be the vampires though.

M-125 Mortar Carrier

With the completion of the M-125 mortar carrier, I have now completed more figures in the different categories than I have bought this year. Mean the lead pile is getting a little smaller.

Waiting on the blank cards to finish out the deck for my SLA game. Right now the led M113 bumped into the Lebanese militia holding up in one of the buildings along the road. So much for the battle plan.

Cold Wars AAR

For me this was one of my better Cold Wars HMGS Conventions.  I ran two games; played in a third and watch a few interesting games as well.  Attendance seemed to be down but that did not deter anyone from having fun. 

Mark Kinsey and myself ran two games dealing with Lebanon 1982 and Dr Mercury had two 28mm games covering the conflict as well. All in all the Vista Room in Lancaster was a little bit of Lebanon (in the Middle East that is).

On the Purchase front I picked up a pack of Modern Havoc 15mm Insurgents to add to my PLO.  These twenty additional figures are armed with AK47s and RPGs and will add a lot of additional figure poses for the table. Unfortunately I had to increase my figure count by the same twenty. Oh bother. Also picked up trees for the village. This was not a big purchase show for me.

Now on to the battles and After Action Report

The first fight was “Lebanon 1982 - Fight at Ishiya” This is a village in the Bekaa were the IDF is looking to move north as fast as possible while destroying as my of the PLO infrastructure as possible.

The Battlefield - Image from Doctor Merkury

Unfortunately it didn’t work out that way. The IDF had a platoon of infantry with Magach support.  While they had two perfectly good roads to use, they set up on the table edge and started to move through the rough terrain. Now as a game master I should have place the figures on the road and said you start here. My fault.

The IDF started by approaching a cluster of houses and found a PLO arms cache, but also civilians, militia and a news crew. Now after failing to spot the news crew (even though I had figures on the table) they proceeded to use the machine guns and Magach tanks on the people and buildings getting a clean kill on the entire news crew.

Things could not get worse for the IDF, well they could and did. For over three turns they continued to pummel the buildings. It took an order from over the radio to get them moving, ever so slowly. In desperation (on the game master’s part) I said something like, “I paid a lot for that latex road and you guys need to use it.

Once they got on the road they moved towards a market building and encountered a second PLO team with a machine gun. This slowed up the column again and the reinforcements. The IDF received a jeep platoon.

At this time the Syrians appeared on blinds (we were using a Lardies rules). It was funny that the IDF was not concerned about the new column approaching the village center. The Syrians had two platoons of T55s and a platoon of BTR60s.

It was only when the command tank was hit by an RPG and received engine damage that the IDF realize they were in trouble. The command tank earlier lost their commander. The Syrian Infantry and lead platoon of T55s fired on the tank and the crew bailed to a building. More on that latter.

The rest of the IDF column made a run for the edge and it looked like they were going to make it, until the PLO moved their one heavy asset, a Charioteer, to stop them. There is something humorous in having a 1950s tank (or tank destroyer) frightening off the IDF. Only by luck was the PLO tank unable to get the last M113 in the column. (In the future I need to write up some PLO specific tank rules. Should make for interesting and comical battles.)

Back to the tank crew. They were holding up in a building being shot at by a platoon on Syrian and a defiant group of PLO. There situation did not look good, so the jeep platoon went in to recover them. Luck was still with the Syrians as they were able to get into a firing position and disabled the jeeps and captured their crews and the crew of the tank.

This game was a PLO and Syrian victory. I think the IDF commander was lucky to have been an early causality, if not Ariel Sharon would not have been happy with the results.

The second battle was “Clearing the Orange Grove”, an infantry fight based on a scene in Waltz with Bashir. This was to have the IDF moving through an agricultural area on the coast road.

This operation was smaller with only a platoon of infantry. Each player had control of a M-113 with three fire teams. 

This operation followed doctrine with the infantry working with the APC. This time the PLO came off for the worse. Their teams put up a good fight, but the combined firepower of the IDF contained any PLO threat.

This is a game I will want to bring back to a convention.

I want to thank all of the players and Mark for taking part in the two games. I hope to use Mark’s Orange Grove (that he forgot) in the future game.

Please look at Daddy’s Little Men and Doctor Merkury’s Lab for more (and better pictures) running a game does not allow time for taking pictures.

It keeps growing...

Right now I have two big terrain projects going. One is known, a "Lebanese Village", that will allow Mark and myself to run games at either house. His set up is more urban while mine is more like the Bekaa Valley (oh the spellings - have to do a blog post on that one). In theory it allows our friends to chose their battlefield. That is the theory at least.

The other project is Green Island (Operation Bulmus 6 - That is another needed blog post on the numbering of the IDF operations. Could be interesting.) This island in the Gulf of Suez was the scene of a drag out fight during the War of Attrition that was only halted by the indiscriminate use of Egyptian artillery on their own position. (I guess the Egyptian never thought their troops could hold out.)

Today I received a couple of the machine guns I will need for the position. It should be fun and I hope to get it ready for Historicon, just don't ask me which year.

 The only aerial photograph I could find of the island.

The Growing Village

It has been to long since my last post with most of my time being spent on getting ready for Cold Wars and getting my Lebanese village in order.

As you can see from my 2011 Projects list I have been busy with doing up buildings and figures. Currently on my bench is a “Straight Flush” Radar system to be used in Lebanon and the War of Attrition. After that I have five buildings to finish up and than I can get back to writing and gaming.

I hope to see you at Cold Wars in Lancaster Pennsylvania. Mark and I are running two games on Saturday.

Below are the recent images of the village. The five buildings primed black are waiting to be finished.

The Village Market Place. This was the most fun to work on. To the left will be the Lemon/Olive Orchard.

Latest Additions to the Eqyptian and IDF Forces

This past week has been very productive on the painting font. Unfortunately less so on the blogging side of life.

I was able to finish up my Israelis for Operation Raviv. These troops are a mixture of Peter Pig Range 17 armed with AK47s and QRF’s Israeli Command armed with Uzis.

They are done by the flowing steps.

• Prime Black
• Base dry brush of Yellow Olive (892) or Olive Grey (888)
• Dry Brush Medium Grey (987)
• I than did the kit and weapons in various shades.

Egyptian Infantry also made an appearance. These troops will be used for the War of Attrition. I will show the base troops in caps and the mechanized infantry in Soviet style helmets.

They are done by the flowing steps.

• Prime Black
• Base Dry Brush of Pale Sand (837)
• Wash of Citadel Devlan Mud
• Skin Medium Flesh tone (860)
• Kit is done in Formula P3 Gun Corps Brown.

 

I look forward to getting them on the table and into battle.

South of Sidon by Macaulay Connor

7 June 1982

South of Sidon

by Macaulay Connor

Today this reporter came upon the results of a recent and bloody Israeli sweep south on Sidon. At least three IDF soldiers were killed in an ambush.

On this the second day of the Israeli Operation Peace for Galilee Israeli infantry were sweeping north through an orange grove near this unnamed market town. While there were reports of Fatah militia in the area, numbers were unknown.

Two roads bordered the grove and heads north towards the market. The IDF appears to have been following these parallel roads when an ambush occurred causing the loss of three soldiers who were on an M113.

While we cannot approach the village at this time I can say we can hear heavy weapons coming from the village itself.

While the IDF is limiting their comments on this engagement, this reported was able to find out from resident that Fatah did take some losses.

After Action Report

It has been to long since Mark and I play IABSM and it showed. We missed adding in a few of the IDF cards and took a couple of actions before we got back our sea legs.

Unfortunately this effected Mark’s IDF more than me. He ended up get a M113 to far in front of the column and was hit by RPG7s. Between this and AK47 fire the M113 came out the worse for ware.

Once Mark was able to get his two infantry sections on the table he was able to clean out the militias with limited loses. His superior Big Men allowed the IDF to move faster than my running Fatah troops.

The game came to an end when the IDF was able to get to the village and than faced a HMG. Over all I (as the PLO player) feel that the PLO won as we destroyed (ok immobilized) an M113 and killed 4 IDF soldiers, three of which were in the M113. The PLO lost only 12 men (out of 18 active men).

This was fun and I look forward to have a go with my new village. Mark and I both have the ability to have villages set up at our respective houses, which will make gaming easier.