Finished: 15mm Battlefront Sherman DDs

Hi folks,

As is now my tradition, I've taken part in the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge (AHPC) again this year. Unfortunately, after finishing off my Spitfires I've hit a patch of lack of mojo - not helped by the Rogue Trader CRPG coming out. This has resulted in not much actually being painted since December. 

In order to try and jump start my enthusiasm, I went back to basics. Prior to 2021 I had been putting together a Sherman DD squadron for our D-Day games. I had an order in for the remaining vehicles I needed with Battlefront, and had 2 tanks on backorder. Unfortunately, the dreaded Covid caused production issues, and my back order was eventually cancelled. Despite me asking several times about these kits (and others) being available again from Battlefront, they have not made a re-appearance - as of time of writing, at least.

After a long time checking Ebay, I finally picked up the last few tanks needed. I took some effort to match these in with my previously painted models. 

Previously painted tank is in the middle

These four tanks (the two I was waiting on, and another two that were in the painting pile) finish off my planned Fort Garry Horse Sherman DD compliment:

I'll try to get a group shot of these at some point, currently they are stored in different boxes that need digging out. 

I'm still planning to paint three Sherman Fireflies for this unit, as another option, so for not the whole force isn't quite done. But I was really happy to pick up all the models I wanted and finally start to put this one to bed. 

 

Finished?!: 15mm M5 Halftracks - again

Hi folks,

Another outcome from my recent reshuffle of transport vehicles for the 17-pdrs was a re-working of the previous halftracks into a new unit. 

I have two planned units which would use M5 halftracks as transport vehicles. After a bit of a think I decided to re-do the 5 halftracks as part of The Lake Superior Regiment (of 4th Canadian Armoured Division). 

These 5 vehicles include four plastic PSC models and one resin and metal BF kit. In the images, you can tell which is which by the crew members - the Battlefront kit has pairs of soldiers. 

Previously, they looked like this:

The Battlefront model, in it's initial scheme of a Pioneer vehicle

The PSC models, in their initial A/T regiment markings

So these have now been re-based and given some weathering to decals and hull. I've added some tactical markings in green, and the appropriate divisional and AoS markings. A full company of these would have 12 halftracks and some command vehicles (possible M3 scout cars). 

It shouldn't take much to finish off the unit... but a project for another day. 

Finished: 15mm CMP Oerlikon SPAA

Hi folks,

I've continued to work on the bits and bobs of my lead mountain that have sat untended and grey for many years - completing some of the units that seemed like a good idea but that I've never gotten round to. 

Back at the end of 3rd Ed Flames of War Battlefront had a sale, and I picked up a set of four 15mm scale Battlefront resin and metal "20mm Oerlikon Self-propelled Anti-Aircraft Gun (BR181)". Mainly because I liked the models and also as I was planning a foray into more D-day related stuff. 

These vehicles seem to have been far more common in the initial months in Normandy than you would expect. Prior allied invasions in Sicily and the likes had shown that the Luftwaffe would respond strongly to any invasion, and a massive aerial response was expected for the landings in France. When planning for Operation Overlord was being done (late 1943 - early 1944) the Luftwaffe remained a strong and dangerous opponent. The fall in strength from late 1943 until the landings was unexpected and a result of concentrated effort by various allied bomber offensives. 

As such, the AA component of the landings was planned to be far higher than you might think. British and Commonwealth anti-air units were pretty massive, and adding to this size was the late spring 1944 addition of extra batteries of SPAA 20mm guns. If you look at the air defences for the British Mulberry harbour as an example, hundreds of 40mm Bofors guns and whole regiments of 3.7" guns were deployed. 

Different units seem to have incorporated these 20mm additions in different ways, and they were gone from around August 1944. The 20mm AA was unpopular due to it's limited impact on enemy aircraft and crucially it's limited deployability in the packed Normandy beachhead. The 20mm rounds would not self destruct, and as what goes up must come down, they posed a threat to other surrounding units and ships. This meant that they could only really be used in positions where there was no risk of friendly fire due to AA fire returning to the ground - with such places being lacking in the beachhead. 

Having looked at some of the Canadian AA units war diaries, it seems like the 40mm Bofors guns far outperformed these smaller autocannons, however the 'heavy' AA units (with 3.7" guns) appear to have been most effective at shooting down enemy aircraft. 

As the campaign progressed and the feared Luftwaffe presence did not appear, the AA units were reduced in size - from 54 to 36 guns. 'Gunners in Normandy' states that this reorganisation freed up 234 officers and 6,660 other ranks for retraining as infantry or replacements for other artillery units. 

Anyway - onto the models. These kits were nice and simple to build, and look pretty cool in my opinion. Two crew per vehicle, and I avoided stowage as places to place it seemed limited. 

As usual, decals are a mix of Doms Decals, Skytrex and Battlefront. These vehicles are marked up as being part of 4th Canadian Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment (from 3rd Canadian Infantry Division). 

Stay tuned for more (likely pointless) allied AA units!

Finished: 15mm Sherman DD's

Hi folks,

Another bit of a delay from my last blog post, but work has been continuing on a series of beach landing based projects. This has kept me busy, but working on multiple things at once has meant that I've not actually finished anything yet. 

First to the finish line, after my AVRE's were delayed due to some last minute stowage additions, are the five Sherman DD tanks. 

I've six of these painted already, so these chaps take me to eleven total for the squadron. I've used some birthday money to buy another four, but two are on back order currently. When they all arrive, I should have a full squadron of these. 

They are 15mm Battlefront models, and are M4A1 based Duplex Drive Shermans. Unfortunately, this is the wrong version of Sherman DD's for the Brits/Canadians, who used the M4A4 hull for theirs. However, I'm not keen on the Peter Pig or Skytrex representations of these tanks, so I stuck with the incorrect but nicer sculpted Battlefront model. 

Sticking with the same these as the previous batch, I've gone with a sandy 'beach' base rather than my usual basing technique. I have been tempted to add some grass tufts, but tried this previously and was unhappy with the look. As these are, they match in with Dave's DD tanks. 

Highlighting was done to my current method, which made me go back and update the previously painted tanks to have the same garish style. These look odd close up, but much better at tabletop distances. Decal wise, I've only gone with a star on the turret top. The floatation skirts hide where the markings would normally be on the hulls, and while I have read mention of the Canadian units having unit markings on the gun mantlet, I've not found any pictures supporting this. Plus, leaving those markings off lets the unit represent tanks from different units. 

I do have a couple of tank commanders to paint to fully finish two of the tanks, but the models can be used without for now. 

With the models on order, the current painting plan for this project is looking like this:

And on completion, this will be my fourth painted allied tank squadron... (the others being 24th Polish Lancers, 144RAC and 10th Mounted Rifles). 

 

Finished: 15mm Canadian Ram OP tank

Hi folks,

Busy times of late, leaving little time for painting. I did, however, manage to finish off a couple of units which had been work in progress after Christmas. 

First up is a Ram OP tank for my planned future Sexton battery from 23rd Field Regiment (Self Propelled), Royal Canadian Artillery. Intrigued by a period photograph of one of these vehicles waiting on the start of Operation Totalize, a few years ago (2017!) I set in motion a plan to have a suitable turret made by Butlers Printed Models. You can find the earlier blog article about this here. 

Suffice to say, this project has gone untouched for a while, as I focussed on other units. 

With the AHPC challenge coming up in December, and knowing that I might be a bit stuck for time over the first few months of the year, I decided to bump this model up the painting queue and had it prepped to work on along with the Polish Cromwells. 

Just to show the reference picture I was using:

I do have a further image, taken at around the same time and showing the same vehicle from a different angle (it's the 3rd vehicle in the column). While I can't spot any unit marking on the Shermans, there is a geometric diamond shape on the side hull of the lead tank, which would make it part of an HQ squadron. The Stowage and attempts at added armour indicate that this is not a picture taken in the UK:

This model consists of the hull of a Battlefront Ram Kangeroo, which was modified via green stuff to change it from the early mk.1 hull with the mini turret, to the later solid mk.II hull. Onto this, the BPM turret was mounted. I also added stowage and some bits of plastic offcuts to build some shape under the camo netting on the rear deck. The camo netting is a 1/72 scale product that I think works well at 15mm. The print quality of the turret is not great, so I added some additional stowage to the hull, and the camo netting thankfully covered up some of the rougher bits (print lines). 

I tried to paint the camo netting to show the strips of brown/khaki and green cloth interwoven through it. Aerials were added using fishing line. Decals were also added, marking this tank out as an OP vehicle from the above mentioned unit. I have 4 Canadian Sextons to go with this at some point, but not any time soon. The turret and hull were also magnetised. 

This tank, along with some Stuart Vs and Sherman DDs painted a while back, are currently my only Canadian armour for Normandy, but I have plans/models for more... here is the painting plan for the list including the Ram tank. 

AAR: 15mm Flames of War, D-Day+1 (Canadians vs 12th SS)

Hi folks,

With the new year, new effort has gone in to getting dates booked for regular gaming sessions at our local venue. Also known as attempting to herd cats when it comes to getting at least four gamers together on one day.

As such, to start things off we got ourselves sorted out for the first game of the year in Billingham at the new location of the dance studio we use. A much bigger room with adjoining space... which of course set us to wondering how many more tables we could get!

While I remember, Martin's report on this game can be found here.

We had a little discussion about games after our last meeting in Scruton in December, but in the end I decided to 'host' this one, as my FoW stuff hasn't been out the boxes much. Dave had offered to do something with his Americans. My recent reading has been about the Canadians in Normandy so I figured I would set up a game to reflect some of my reading.

I really had three major aims for this game:

1. Try to represent the situation in the days following D-day, when things were still in a state of flux and the German troops were being deployed into the fight with little coordination. The German units in Normandy, while having some experienced officers and NCO's, were just as prone to tactical mistakes.

2. Try to show the guys how the Commonwealth/British troops have to work in defence, as they have mainly only ever been attacking during our scenario games.

3. Try to show that tanks can't hold urban areas, and the importance of combined arms.

The tables were set up reasonably quickly. I provided the rough outline and the guys set to arranging bits.

The table was more than 12' by 6', but we used the ends for holding paperwork, models and drinks. The setup wasn't of any particular place, but representative of the Eastern side of the allied landings (north of Caen). Lots of large crop fields and a few orchards and farmsteads.

The guys all played the Canadians for this game, and had an understrength infantry company with a section of 2 x 6-Pdr A/T guns, a platoon of 4 x Vickers HMG's and 2 of the support companies 3" Mortars. They were tasked with holding the crossroads in the centre, and decided to hold the crossroads and each of the farms in order to prevent flanking. One platoon went to each location and one was held behind the hamlet in reserve. They also had a battery of 14th Field Regiment Priests (theoretically) and the guns of HMS Belfast (again, theoretically). Representing history, these would be unavailable until later in the game, though they did not know this when they set up.

The Germans were attacking the crossroads, were unaware of the exact allied positions and in a hurry to counter attack the beaches. I was running a very simple system for the Germans. Each turn I would roll for reserves (odds/evens = yes/no), composition of reserves, location of entry along my table edge and reaction of the on table Germans to the situation (again, will they do x, yes/no).

I wanted the attackers to be particularly armour heavy, to represent some of the early armoured counter attacks which were unsupported by infantry or had limited infantry, and how useless these were against troops in built up areas and Norman farm complexes. I also wanted to get my newly painted Panthers and Panzer IV's on the table!

Three Panthers opposite Ian

Two Panthers up the middle, along with a mounted Panzergren platoon. 

I do like Dave's trees. 

The Canadian central defences - not much to see. 

Dave's farm - the same, not much to see!

Panthers and some Panzergrens mounted in halftracks led the way. For this game we were using a simple 'what makes sense' system with regards to spotting. Units that had fired were visible (generally), or else on a successful skill check hidden units could be spotted (where we assume units are looking for the enemy). On the right, Dave's farm came under attack by a large platoon of mounted Panzergrens. These weathered a storm of Vickers .303 fire to unload close to the walls, while the troops inside assaulted into the building. A tense back and forth raged, before the attacking platoon was repulsed. The survivors took further casualties falling back over the field, before being picked up and whisked off to reorganise - and report the enemy's position.

In the centre, not much happened. The Panthers advanced to the crossroads but would not risk ambush from the buildings. The 251's took mortar fire which was ineffective, and smoke was fired at the lead Panther.

On the left, the panthers advanced cross country, encountering no enemy forces but being subject to a very heavy bombardment from HMS Belfast as the Naval OP had eventually fixed his radio (1 in 6 chance every turn).

Note: we play a bit fast and loose with the command rules and splitting of units. For the Canadian 6 Pdrs and Vickers, they effectively became part of the platoon to which they were attached, and had to be supported by infantry. I feel this better reflects how these support weapons were used.

Green marker is the ranged in marker for HMS Belfast. The Canadian infantry out in the open here soon scarpered into the safety of the farm buildings. 

Survivors of the failed assault on Dave's farm fall back - the red lego token means the unit is pinned. 

Smoke on the lead Panther, which only served to warn the Germans there was something ahead to worry about. 

There were a few minor moves from the Canadians, mainly shifting a 6-Pdr out of sight of the Panthers, and moving some Piat teams around to try and get flank shots on Panthers. Dave meanwhile re-jigged his defences to cover gaps caused by casualties.

Canadian side of the crossroads - lots of hiding units - the buildings were full as well. 

More German re-enforcements arrive - a platoon of Panzer IV's and two more platoons of Panzergrens. 

Orchards need basing...

Dave had no A/T guns on his end, and I think his Piat had been taken out early. Dave's platoon was by far the worst hit in the fighting. Probably an MC or DSO in the works for the platoon leader. 

Panthers move around to open up fields of fire, while the Panzergrens dismount and move into the orchard. 

Some Canadian re-enforcements arrive to try and stem the tide. Two more of the support companies 6-Pdrs. The first time these limbered models have seen the table I think?

Another view of towed 6-Pdrs

A couple of 17 Pdr armed M10's also arrive on the other flank, heading out to take on three Panthers. This shot shows the reserve platoon and Mortar postions at the rear of the crossroads.  

The Panthers close in on Ian's farm. A gutsy Piat team gives the Panther on the road a nasty shock and earache, but the 5+ firepower roll really makes it hard to kill stuff with it. 

The Panzergrens at the crossroads dismount and enter the orchard, where they get hit by 3" Mortar fire and small arms fire. This causes heavy casualties, pins the platoon and sends it back. 

As more Panzer IV's arrive in the centre, a platoon of StuGs turn up on the left, adding more pressure to Ian's flank. To help, a troop of two towed 17-Pdrs arrive, and were rushed over to Ian's flank to support the M10's.

The Panther on the right is bailed by a Piat shot, while the platoon 2" mortar puts down smoke to shield the Piat team. 

One of Martin's 6-Pdrs (hidden behind the far hedge between the buildings) takes a shot at the side armour of the Panther, but misses. The gun was then taken out by return fire. 

The 6-Pdr is a little more visible in this shot. You can also see the black marker representing the 3" Mortars ranged in spot. 

The full strength Panzergren platoon is hit hard, the orchard soon filling with bodies. 

It was around this time that 14th Field Regiment, RCA, finally got off the beaches and could lay down some fire. Immediately the SS infantry began to take a hammering - mainly those around Dave's farm who had been closing in on his dangerously depleted platoon. His troops had already fallen back further into the compound to avoid the fire from 5 Panzer IV's and the mortar bombardment of the previously occupied buildings (the Germans being unaware the troops had pegged it out the back door...).

Meanwhile, Ian's M10's work their way forward to get a shot. Unfortunately at this time the dice roll came up for the Panthers to move, and an M10 was lost. The other, returning fire, bailed a Panther. Thankfully the Canadians also received some tank support in the form of some Sherman DD's. These were shifted over to help Dave.

Having been bailed once by the M10, a Panther is hit by long ranged 17-Pdr fire from the hill to the rear. Another bailed result and a failed last stand check saw the crew head for the rear. 

The StuG's had arrived and poured fire into the farm buildings. A 3+ save and then a firepower roll to have to kill teams behind those stout walls really made then Canadian Infantry tough to shoot out of the buildings. Try as I might, the dice rolls were not coming up with any more German infantry. 

The Panzer IV's in the centre move up to support the Panthers. Martin attempts some 6-Pdr fire, which fails to hit. He then lays a smoke screen with his 3" Mortars (we did this in the wrong order, smoke bombardments are supposed to happen first). 

Artillery and small arms fire (those Vickers teams were helping) took out one Panzergren platoon as it advanced through the orchard. The other platoon (seen here on the far right) was also hit and moved behind the hill to lose LoS. Every time they moved forward, they were hit by artillery (including HMS Belfast's guns, hence the big craters)). Meanwhile the Panzer IV's worked their way into the orchard and continued to shoot up empty buildings. DD Shermans can be seen top of the image. 

With a lack of infantry, the German armour began to push forward themselves. This is where the guys carefully marshaled (other than Martins...) A/T assets began to prove their worth. As the German tanks moved into more open ground, they were hit by fire from deployed guns.

Dave's Sherman DD's move up to support his remaining infantry and try to flank the Panzer IV's. 

The 6-Pdrs wait... Martins gun on the right was soon to be knocked out as the Germans, replicating Eastern Front tactics, charged through the smoke screen. Shooting through two hedges is tricky by the rules, but I went with a 'skill check to see a target' and the target got concealment. 

Nice shot of the smoke and waiting 6-Pdr. You can also see here a German Recce platoon that had arrived but could not get through the hedgerow in their halftracks. 

Ian's two 17-Pdrs deployed on the crest of a hill.They would take out the second Panther (just to the right of the building) who was unclear where the shots came from. The third Panther kept passing it's last stand test, but backed up as it assumed there was enemy armour behind the farm. 

Bit of a gap in images there. Martin received two more M10's, which he carefully moved to be able to ambush advancing Panzer IV's. Two Panzer IV's were brewed by these, and another by Piat fire from the buildings. Ignore the armoured roof on the 3" M10's - they are modelled for a Op Totalize unit, and my 17-Pdr versions are still in the paint pile.  

No photo's, but in the centre another troop of three DD Shermans took out two Panzer IV's who had killed one of Martins infantry sections left in the woods. They pushed through the woods only to come face to face with the Shermans. An exchange of fire left both German tanks burning.

In the orchard, the two 6-Pdrs engage Panzer IV's - say what you like about their effectiveness vs big cats - versus these Panzer IV's. Dave's Shermans had moved up to get in on the act and killed the final one. 

Those are going to be some smokey apples. Dave's infantry were also re-occupying the buildings they had previously left, as the final German infantry platoon was being hammered by repeated bombardments. 

With no more German infantry in the offing and tank casualties mounting, the SS troops broke off and the battle ended. The Canadians held their objective (although there was a Panther parked on it for a while). A really good example of this being a period where the advantage lays with the defender, and how allied artillery is hugely effective against troops in the open advancing. For Dave especially just getting the pin on an advancing platoon was huge, and kept the pressure off his beleaguered platoon.

The final lay of the table at the end. The Germans were on the objective but could not hold it. Infantry moving into the building near them would have been too dangerous. Without their own infantry, the way to the beaches remains closed!

Ian's troops held out all game with few casualties versus 6 German tanks, one of which had a 10.5cm gun. You can also see here the other troop of Shermans and the Panzer IV's in the centre. 

While Dave fought off three Panzergren platoons and a troop of tanks, but took heavy casualties doing it. 

And that was it, another little dabble into the peculiarities of the Normandy campaign. I'm really looking forward to the British and SS books coming out for late war v4 in the next few months. I know I'll be left wanting more, but it will make these games a bit easier paperwork wise. Still really like the mechanics of the game, loved the look on the table (although as ever, it was set up in a hurry and is a portable set - more time to set the table would always be better and give a better finish). First time we did not run out of hedges, but more field material required to fill in some of the open spaces. The Hotz stuff is great for that, but I need some (bigger) area's of standing crops.

Orchard also needs based (I re-based these just before the game) and possibly needs extending as on a 12' by 6' I felt like I should have had a few.

As ever, mat provided by Dave, as were a lot of hedges. Models were mine aside from the German Halftracks, which were kindly loaned by Ian. Mine are still in the painting pile...

Next game set for the beginning of Feb, but no arrangements as to what. Possibly 10mm Fantasy - better get cracking on my painting.