Magach 3s - 15mm Yom Kippur War

Magach 3s from Battlefront

Over the past couple months Dallas has been doing some really nice work on some 15mm Egyptians to participate in some Yom Kippur War gaming - see here for his really sharp tanks and here for some really nice infantry.  It's always fun when someone else in the group tilts over and joins in with a "New Insane Project", and in particular Dallas is great because he not only joins, but once he does, he provokes counter-escalation (Mike is great for this too).  And so here is a platoon of IDF Magach 3 tanks, ready to respond to this Egyptian provocation.

I used Vallejo's "Green Grey" on these tanks

The "Magach", as tread heads will immediately recognize, is a US M48 Patton tank.  The IDF acquired these from West Germany initially (I think) and then more from the US.  They equipped armour battalions serving in the Southern Command, the front facing Egypt in/on the Sinai. The Magach served in the Six Day War in 1967, and saw critical service again during the Yom Kippur War in 1973.

Decals from Battlefront

My initial Arab-Israeli war collecting was focused on the Golan Heights front, but with Dallas doing Egyptians I wanted to expand into the IDF tanks that saw service in the Sinai.  The Centurions and M51s saw action there as well, but the Magach tanks were pretty much exclusive to the Sinai and their rounded, egg-shaped silhouette is quite evocative of the desperate fighting along the Suez Canal in 1973.

Air recognition stripes

As with most of their tanks, the IDF set about improving them almost immediately.  They ditched the little mini-turret cupolas in favour of a more standard hatch, and up-gunned them from 90mm to 105mm. Tracking the many small modifications to the different version of Magach tanks is confusing and gives me a headache, but I think the main differences for gaming purposes are the main gun and the cupola. While there were only a relatively small number of the 105mm-armed tanks in 1967, by 1973 they were the norm in the IDF Southern Command, so I put the 105mm gun on these models.

You can kind of see the hacked-up cupola on the tanks

The models are from Battlefront.  The Magach kits are lovely, but unfortunately the cupolas are still the old-school "M1" cupolas from the original Patton tanks.  I believe the IDF used them in 1967, so this makes sense - Battlefront released these models for the Six Day War, after all.  But I wanted these tanks to "look 1973", so I attempted a crude conversion by simply cutting the MG off the turret and mounting a .50 cal MG on the top.  It's not pretty, and absolutely not a proper "Urdan" IDF tank cupola, but it will do for now!

I absolutely love the decals from Battlefront...

I painted the tanks with Vallejo "Green Grey" and pin washed them with GW "Agrax Earthsade" and "Nuln Oil" washes.  The decals are also from Battlefront, and they are REALLY excellent - no more free-hand attempts at Hebrew letters for me!!  I weathered them with pigment powders and they are ready for action.

Bring on the Egyptians! Hey - what's a "Sagger" anyway?

Dallas has kindly agreed to run a 15mm Yom Kippur War game with me a PrairieCon 2014 in Brandon this year.  We are hoping to play a test-game this week against his excellent Egyptians - stay tuned for details!

More Pico Armour Painting

1/600 scale IDF troops ready for action

Some more Pico Armour painting - this time from the Arab-Israeli wars.  Up first is a group of IDF infantry in M3 half-tracks.  Depending on what level of abstraction is going on in the game, these could represent either a couple of platoons of infantry, or if going Spearhead-style (where each base represents a platoon), an entire mechanized infantry battalion.  The two smaller square bases have support half tracks - one an AA track with .50 cal MGs, and the other mounting a 90mm AT gun.

M3 half tracks a-plenty

Magachs ready to roll

Up next is a group of M48 Pattons - known as "Magachs" in IDF service.  As they did so often, the IDF modified these tanks, giving them a bigger gun (105mm, up from 90mm) and changing the commander's cupola, removing the strange little MG turret. These models do not capture those changes - on a 3mm scale tank, I don't worry too much about it, but I have to say the muzzle brakes and camera (or whatever that box thing is) over the main gun give it away - a credit to the amazing sculpting on these little figures.

You can see a couple of the M113 TOWs mixed in with the Magachs here - sorry about the blurry pic

There are a few M113s with TOW launchers mixed in with this group.  The Yom Kippur War was a real coming out party of sorts for ATGM weapons like the Soviet Sagger and the US TOW missiles.  The IDF used these weapons as part of their crushing of the Egyptian offensive toward the passes in the Sinai.

BMP-mounted infantry and support

Company or battalion, depending on the game scale

On the Arab side I have a unit of BMP-1 infantry, with an attached BRDM scout car and a ZSU-23-4 AAA tank.  Again, depending on the game, these could represent either a company or a battalion.  The BMP-1 made its big combat debut in the Yom Kippur War in 1973, but the results were not great.  They equipped a few infantry battalions attached to independent tank brigades in the Egyptian and Syrian armies.

T-62s ready for action in the Sinai

An attached ZSU-23-4 and PT-76, used as a recon tank, provide support

And last but not least a group of Egyptian T-62 tanks, again with a couple of odds and ends for support.  The T-62 also made it's big time combat debut in the middle east during the 1973 war, but they were roughly handled by the IDF.  Still, their heavy main guns and unique ammunition (I believe this tank was a pioneer of sorts for using fin-stabilized rounds in the main guns) were noted.

I've got a lot more Pico Armour painted up, but I ran out of bases, so I am waiting for my next Litko shipment to arrive.  In the meantime, stay tuned for more random projects and painting work.