Russian Jӓgers & Officer 1812

I'm a bit behind with my posts here, these figures were finished a couple of weeks ago. 

Russian Jägers were light infantry who were known for being superior marksmen and agile fighters. They could form line units (indeed I intend on adding a Jäger Line unit to my force at a later date) but their primary use was skirmishing in open order. In many ways, their uniform was very similar to that of regular line/musketeer units. The main visible differences were black leather belts rather than the white of musketeers and grenadiers, and dark green breeches rather than white. These models all wear the soft forage cap which was used, as far as I can tell, by most branches of infantry. Indeed North Star (who make these figures) describe them as Musketeers/Jägers so they could be used for either type, just with different colour belts showing the difference. 

AHPC Update 3 - The Sands of the Sud-Oranais

I was planning on doing these Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge updates weekly, but that idea was abandoned pretty quickly. We are a little over halfway through the event and I have managed to hit my target. I still have a lot left to do so I have increased my target by another couple of hundred points just to keep the pressure on me to get as much painted as I can for my French Foreign Legion project.

Unboxing: Desert Fort from Blotz

Today's video is an unboxing of a 15mm scale Laser Cut MDF modular desert fort from Blotz. The fully assembled model is shown off and my plans for painting it during the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge are discussed. I'm really impressed with this model, especially when the whole fort retails at just over £30. I do love a bargain!

I was so impressed with this that I bought some more pieces while I was at the Broadside Show last weekend. I picked up a couple of short wall sections, another long wall section, a broken wall section to represent a breach, and another 'sticky outie corner'. In addition, I picked up a Middle Eastern building which is actually a walled complex of four connected buildings. Not sure how I will use this...but I couldn't resist buying it! 

Keep an eye on the blog during the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge to see how all these items turn out once painted.

War and Peace 2019

Saturday I went to the War and Peace Revival show at Paddock Wood in Kent. This time I accompanied the Veterans and saw another side of the show that I haven't encountered before. I'm normally straight into the Living History areas of the show or hastening to the arena to see some armour in action. This time my day started with a service of remembrance surrounded by some highly decorated veterans.

Don and Albert look through a book of D-Day photo's. 

Inside the Veterans Marquee

Parade of heroes. Some very decorated men and women in this lineup

The drumhead remembrance service was very moving

John and Don have a 'little' snifter! 

As the service came to an end, so did the rain so we headed out for a very quick look around the showground. Luckily I've been here many times and I knew to wear some waterproof shoes! Let's just say the roads around the side had gone from plain old mud to mud-coloured soup with the passage of thousands of visitors and hundreds of military vehicles.

This replica StuG is often seen at living history events. 

This excellently restores Sherman is still covered with battle damage, shrapnel slash marks and impact scars. 

Dust wasn't an issue...the mud looked like it could swallow up a person. 

A mock-up of a WWII field hospital. 

Did I mention the mud? Lucky my walking shoes are water proof. 

This Marder II (Ausf M) is a rare example. The open-topped fighting compartment is mounted on the chassis of the Czech Panzer 38(t). About 80% original parts the remainder has been sensitively restored by the owner, but he's always on the lookout for original parts. 

The same owner also has this original StuG III Ausf D. It was one of only three sent to North Africa and was captured by the allies, this one being returned to Britain. 

Myself and my Brother in Law Ray. 

A fine example of a restored Volkswagen Schwimmwagen

This M3 Grant tank still bears the scars of years as a range target. A testament to the simplicity and durability of this vehicle the new owner put a new engine in it and runs it in its current 'swiss cheese' condition. 

I've always wanted a Bren Carrier... it's on my shopping list should I ever win the lottery! 

Another excellent restoration, a rare Valentine DD tank. The inflatable screen is very similar to those fitted to Shermans for the D-Day landings. 

A classic Sherman. There were a few of these roaring around the site. 

Two Hetzers owned by Kevin Wheatcroft. One has been restored and the other (from a Swiss range) is about to begin restoration. 

Want to buy some track for your Tiger I? At £550 a link it could prove expensive!

Or a Panther wheel at £350... you need deep pockets if you're a collector. 

A wonderful and typically wet day but a good one despite some exhibitors going home early the day before. I guess the bad weather had them worried about their armour getting rusty!

Planning for the Challenge

I've been feeling a little bit 'unfocused' for a while. Not quite between projects so much as struggling to bring several to a conclusion. I have a number quite usable armies for different periods that I want to expand and I have some vague ideas for future projects that I don't want to rush into. In short this particular wargames butterfly has become stuck in a web of his own making! Don't get me wrong, I'm not in a 'slump', I'm not struggling with time (any more than usual), I've just allowed myself to become distracted by multiple projects to the point where I have ground to a halt unable to make any clear decisions. So this week I have been giving some serious thought on how break the deadlock and I'm using the upcoming Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge to drag myself out of this stalemate. 

In previous years I have gone into the painting challenge with a very clear 'project' as my goal. One time it was painting 6mm armies for the 2nd Punic War; The year before last I focused on a  Pyrrhic army and last year I painted thousands of Zulu's for an Anglo Zulu War campaign. I'm glad I did these projects but it has to be said some were difficult to keep up with. In every case I completed my painting list but said to myself, I want to come back to this and expand at a later date. That date has finally come. Unlike previous years I'm not heading into the Winter Painting Challenge with a huge target list, rather I have a series of small additions to each of the previous projects that I wan't to work on. In short I'm finally getting around to the fun stuff after the hard slog of building the core of several armies. 

2nd Punic War

The biggest additions are a long overdue expansion of my 6mm Polybian Romans. I've ordered enough figures to double my existing Hastati, Principes and Triarii as well as some more Generals and Hero figures. I'm also considering expanding some of the Allied units that go with this army but for now I have left them off my order. The biggest challenge I think I am going to have with these will be getting them to look like the units I already have painted. Thankfully I keep detailed notes when painting new figures so I should be able to keep the painting consistent with those I did three years ago. I'll also need to pay special attention the the basing so they match what I already have. 

For my Carthaginian army I have ordered some more African war elephants. The plan is to re-base my existing pachyderms on bases of three per base rather than the two per base I have now. I'm not doing this for any game purposes, this is purely an aesthetic issue for me. I just think the completed elephant units will look more intimidating than they do now, especially when they are moving towards your troops!

I have also bought more Celts to add to Hannibal's army. These are large deep units with a lot of figures per base and particularly scary when deployed. They will make a very useful (and very colourful) addition to the Carthaginian forces that I already have. 

Pyrrhic Army

I'm not planning on a massive change to this army at the moment. I have some more Generals and Hero models to complete, and I think I have some additional heavy Cavalry to add to the army. To be honest, I love my Pike units, but I almost reached a point (pun intended!) where I wanted to chuck the whole lot in the bin. I wish I had bought the cast pikes rather than open handed figures I went with because the pins I used were not only incredibly difficult to attach but are also very painful when trying to move a unit on the table. The units may look spectacular, but they are a nightmare to store safely and are very difficult to game with. These puppies have drawn more blood than any models I have ever owned or painted before!

Anlgo Zulu War

My Zulu War project last year was by far the biggest I have undertaken so far. I painted a LOT of Zulu's and redcoats last year but they represented only small portion of the troops I wanted to complete. In particular I didn't paint any Natal Native Contingent so I have now bought some and will be working on these soon. I'm hoping to add four or five companies to my existing British forces. A lot will depend on how enthusiastic I get for this but I have also bought some Natal Native Horse and some Boar units to compliment my existing troop options. 

One thing that has been a huge distraction (but but a thoroughly enjoyable one) in recent months, has been a renewed attempt to write my own set of rules for the period. Its been a difficult process but I think I have a working framework in place, although I am still trying to flesh this out in detail. I'm in no hurry to complete this though and when the Challenge kicks off again I probably won't have time for more work on it. I think that putting the project aside for a few months will actually be a good thing because it will give me time to ponder several ideas that haven't been included yet. This is definitely a long term project and one that I will be revisiting again in the new year.

What a Tanker!... in Two Theatres

Earlier this year I started building up a collection of vehicles to play What a Tanker! My main focus has been the war in the Western Desert between the British and Italians during Operation Compass. I have therefore ordered a few  more vehicles and some terrain to continue and expand this project.

I have also been revisiting the idea of playing some Normandy Campaign games using this rule-set. I already have a selection of Tanks from the period and quite a lot of terrain but both need expansion. Some of this featured in my first play-test of the rules but I need to add some terrain if I hope to run a large game for the Rejects. The first additions in terms of armour have been ordered along with some pre-painted terrain to expand my current collection. I'm even considering some ideas for more scratch built terrain (more Boccage!?). A lot will depend on how much progress I make during the Challenge and how motivated I am! Watch this space.

So have I come to any conclusions?
Today I have spent a couple of hours working on my plan for the Challenge and I feel much more focused as a result. At the very least I now have a clear to-do list down on paper rather than vaguely tucked away in a corner of my brain (a scary place with lots of cobwebs). I have a lot of prep to do before the Challenge starts but I feel confident I'll be able to hit the ground running when the starting pistol fires. 

Skirmish at El'Zakir

After the test game I did with the rejects (Skirmish at Siniyat) I have been giving some thought how to run a bigger game for more players later in the year. One idea that I have been considering is giving players several vehicles each from the start; maybe three tanks in a squadron/platoon per player. This would give players a chance to have a more tactical game and, hopefully, encourage more cooperative action rather than a simple 'shoot out'. At the very least it may stop tanks from picking hull down positions and then staying there for the rest of the game. Earlier this week I had a chance to try this out with someone completely new to the rules.

I've had a couple of days off work this week to spend with my daughter. It's her school's half term break - inexplicably out of sync with every other school on the borough (including my wife's) - so I took a few days off work to look after her. This meant I had her at my mercy and she was given a choice of a day out at a Museum of my choosing or a game with me at home. Outmanoeuvred and outgunned she selected my preferred option, the game at home. I took the opportunity to get her playing What a Tanker! with my collection of British and Italian tanks from Operation Compass. She wasn't all that keen to start with but as soon as she brewed up one of my tanks her enthusiasm increased... I should have known better than face my daughter in combat once her blood is up!

The Setup

I set up the table and gave her the choice at what end she started. There was a lot of terrain and intersecting wadi's so this was always going to be a difficult zone to move around. What I hoped was that the difficult terrain would make cooperative tactics between the vehicles in a platoon much more effective. The aim of each side was simply to destroy the opposition and control the battlefield. 

Order of Battle

Given that she had never played the rules before I decided to give the Padawan the advantage of outnumbering my tanks four to my three. She started the game with Two M13/40's medium tanks and two fast L6/40's verses my three Valentine II tanks. My armour was better but the M13's had better guns so this was an interesting challenge. 

The Action

The Young Padawan hasn't played a game with me for a  long time so I was looking forward to introducing her to What a Tanker! ...I should have known better!

The landscape is hilly and bisected by wadi's and large patches of very rough ground and boulders. Not ideal tank country but affording lots of cover. 

The first few turns of the game involved a few traded shots and manoeuvre for an advantageous position. Most of the shots were against frontal armour and predictably little damage was done by either side. My Valentines with their Armour rating of 5 shrugged off every shot. 

Then the Padawan made a mistake with one of her small L6's. She presented its side to one of my tanks. I hit my target then rolled four strike dice for damage, getting one Temporary and two Critical hits. She failed to roll any saves and the tank exploded sending turret high in the air before crashing to the ground. First blood to the British!

Confidence (and cockiness) made me rash and I decided to cross the small bridge to get cleanly across the Wadi. This separated my platoon and gave the Italians a chance to gang up on one vehicle before it could be adequately supported. 

My Valentine try's to outflank one of the Italian M13's. The AP shot screams past the Italian turret, missing by inches. The Italian tanker responds with an amazing turn of speed putting it behind my Valentine. It fires and misses my rear armour. Just as the commander is counting his lucky stars one of the L6's also whizzes around his rear and gets off a shot. This hits, rattling the crew and more importantly damaging the Valentines Optics. 

Another of my Valentines crosses the bridge and has a nice clear shot at the rear of the Italian tanks that just his his mate. Another miss as the AP fails to hit the tempting rear armour of the Italian tanks. 

I move my third tank across the bridge and position myself behind the Italians. They have continued to hit my first Valentine (top left in this picture) and now in addition to the damaged optics its running gear has also been compromised. I manage to turn my frontal armour towards them and fire...scoring a glancing blow against the M13. 

Calm as a cucumber the Padawan moves her tanks and begins to inflict permanent damage on one of my first Valentine. Now it is almost immobile and is trapped with a wadi to its rear and no cover to benefit from. 

Disaster. I fusillade of shots from the Italians hit the frontal armour of my already damaged tank. One hit must have found a weak spot as the tank erupts in flames. I'm in trouble now...

The speed of the small L6 tanks proves its worth. Zipping round behind my 2nd Valentine the Padawan gets a single shot into my rear armour. She rolls three Critical hits and out of five armour dice I fail to save against any. My tank bursts into flames! This fight has gone south for me very very fast!!

I try to extricate my remaining tank back across the wadi. If I can get a good hull down position I may deal some damage back...but then I roll terrible for movement and find myself in the open with my rear armour facing two enemy tanks. Amazingly I survive the first fusillade of shots, although by now I have lost my tracks and am immobilized.  

The second salvo of Italian AP rips into the rear deck of my Valentine and sends the turret spinning into the air. 

Analysis

Note to self: "Stop playing games with the Padawan, she keeps beating me!" 

To be fair the young one did very well, handling her tanks as a cohesive unit and concentrating fire on my most exposed tanks. She got to grips with the rules very quickly and I soon learned to regret giving her superiority of numbers as she was clearly never at a disadvantage. On the plus side she seemed to be enjoying herself (despite turning into a grumpy teenager over the last year) and it was good to spend a few hours rolling dice against each other once again. 

Barbed Wire in the desert

I've been slowly building up my collection of 15mm scale desert terrain for some more What a Tanker! games. I'm not above buying some pre-painted stuff and I have a small but growing collection of the Flames of War desert buildings which have saved me a lot of time and effort. While rummaging through some boxes in what passes for my store cupboard I found another box of Flames of War terrain back from when I was collecting stuff for my Normandy project. A set of barbed wire fences, that hadn't seen the light of day since I bought them! Now I decided to re purpose them for my desert games and that meant a bit of a repaint. 

I removed the wire and repainted the bases using the same colour scheme that I have used on much of my other terrain. I also repainted the cross posts as I didn't like the dark brown colour they came in originally. All the bases were then decorated with a few 'late fall' grass tufts so they match my other desert terrain. Once the wire was returned and fixed in place I gave the four sections a liberal coating of matt varnish and I'm really happy with the outcome. The only additional change I may make is to apply some paint on 'rust' as all the barbed wire I have seen in photo's of the desert doesn't look as shiny as this lot. Each of these sections is 8" long so I only have a total of 32"of wire fence which may not be enough for my needs...I may buy another set and repaint them to match these but I'll wait and see if I need them first.

Wire in the Western Desert 1940

The use of barbed wire in the desert was of limited value as it could easily be circumvented by armoured vehicles. The original frontier wire between Italian controlled Libya and Egypt looked formidable (it was 20-30 foot wide in places  and stretched 271km) but it was primarily built to limit the movement of the Senussi Arabs. When fascist Italy declared war on Britain in 1940 advance patrols from Wavell's command began to dominate the area and regularly crossed the wire, using hooks dragged by tanks to break through the fence.

By the end of the desert war it was the minefield that proved the more effective barrier and even today there are an estimated 17 million active landmines in Northwest Egypt. In a bizarre and worrying twist terrorist groups like IS are taking to the desert to plunder this vast resource of unexploded munitions. A bomb is still a bomb it seems, even if its made from 70 year old explosive! (Source: Newsweek). 

Queen of the Desert - Matilda II

My latest painting project is a pair of Matilda II's, which (when first introduced) were probably one of the best tanks in the British arsenal. Initially designated the A12 the Matilda II was naturally a development of the Matilda I which first saw service in 1938. As seems to be the usual way with tank development the building of a first generation tank inevitably throws up a load of design problems that lead to the second generation on the drawing board almost before the first had even entered service. This was true for the Matilda and by September 1939 the first Mk II's were entering service (only two machines, but with more entering service each month). By the end of its production run over 3000 Matilda II's had been built.

Source: the-blueprints.com

Both Matilda were developed in line with British military thinking at that time which saw the need for three types of tanks; Heavy Tanks; Cruiser Tanks; and Infantry Tanks. The Matilda's were of the latter type which meant they were designed to be heavily armoured but slow moving so they could support the infantry. By the Matilda II a key design specification was that it had to be able to be impervious to the main AT gun at that time, the 37mm. Consequently the armour on the A12 was incredibly thick (up to 78mm on the front) and could wade into battle impervious to almost anything the enemy could throw at it. Indeed early in WWII the 7th RTR attacked the 7th Panzer group near Arras in France and did so much damage - with so little loss to themselves - that panicked shock-waves rippled throughout the German high command. It has been argued that this action contributed towards the German decision to halt the advance towards Dunkirk and bought time for the evacuation. I have also heard it said that Hitlers personal obsessive intervention in tank design (for ever larger tanks with even bigger guns) stemmed, at least in part, from this moment.

The tank may have been slow (top speed was about 15mph) but the Italians found it virtually impossible to disable let alone destroy. Initial Matilda II's were powered by twin diesel AEC 87hp engines although later models retained the double engine configuration but used the more powerful Leyland diesel engines with 95hp each. This double engine sounds complicated but the Matilda II was easy to maintain and run and was generally considered by tank crews to be very reliable.

Matilda II's of 7 RTR during
Operation Compass - Dec 1940

By 1940 more Matilda II's were entering service and in North Africa the 7th Armoured Division put them to good use against the Italians in Operation Compass. They were able to smash their way into the fortified camps the Italian Army had built after invading Egypt and pretty soon proved themselves superior to anything the Italians could throw at them. The reputation of the Matilda II took a bit of a battering in later years as it was slowly superseded by newer, larger and better armed German vehicles but in 1939/40 it could arguable be described as cutting edge tank design.

My Matilda II's are hard plastic Zvezda models and clip together very easily. I added a dab of glue to strengthen the models and then cleaned them before base coating. I have opted to paint them in the Caunter camouflage scheme although its worth saying that there is some debate about the colour I have used. The IWM and Bovington Matilda's are painted in a Grey/Blue colour scheme but it seems they got the colour wrong and the blue should actually be a light grey. The problem is I like the colour scheme, so I have decided to stick with the colour scheme we are familiar seeing.

The Caunter camouflage can just about be seen in this picture of a Matilda II captured by the Italians in January 1941 (Source: Public Domain)

My two Matilda II tanks with the Caunter camouflage pattern.

July and August is always a lean period for gaming and painting because of family holidays and a wealth of other commitments like weddings and birthday parties. But for the most part things are settling back to normal and its high time I made an effort to get my painting, gaming and blogging back on track.