October War: AMX-13 Platoon

For me there is no tank quite like the AMX-13 that oozes Frenchnesss... It is such a sexy looking vehicle, more a race car than a tank! Having acquired four I decided to paint them up even if they did not see service after the Six Day War in 1967.

The models are GHQ 1/285th and I must say are some of their best, they are absolutely beautiful sculpts and a joy to paint.

The markings are hand painted and I decided to add the white recognition stripe to these for a bit of variety.

Painting Target: 389/1000

October War: Egyptian 9P122 (BRDM-2 w. AT-3) Company

As promised a little while back here is the 9P122 (the BDRM-2 with 9M14 Malyutka aka AT-3 Sagger) Company.

The models are 1/285th GHQ and I decided to paint them in the Egyptian three colour camo as the Syrians have the 9P148's in the two colour sand/green.

Painting Target: 386/1000

October War: Israeli Soltam Ro'em Battery

Back to the Middle East today and I have started working on some of the Israeli artillery that was in the big box of reinforcements I bought last month. There is quite a selection of models for the Israelis including some M50 155mm SPG's, M107 175mm SPG (the barrels are cut down on these, not sure why), Soltam Makmat M-66 160mm Mortar  and these Soltam Ro'em M-68 (L33) SPG's.

The artillery models appear mostly to be  Heroics & Ros and do not have the same level of detail as the GHQ models, but GHQ don't make any Ro'em or Makmat models so there is little choice but to go with the less well detailed miniatures.

Given the lack of detail I spent a little more time on the models, painting ink around hatches and door frames, painting frames around the windows etc. As far as I can see the IDF did not paint any tactical markings on their Ro-ems during the October War, so they are rather plain, but imposing models.

Painting Target: 383/1000

WW3: WarPac PMM Ribbon Bridge

Whilst work has been progressing well on the 6mm October War project I have been casting my mind to the 6mm WW3 project using some of the models in 'Lead Mountain' and Mike Edwards Flames of War Moderns conversion.

One of the issues I wanted to resolve was basing effects. For the October War I have been using my standard desert sand painted Vallejo Middlestone drybrushed with Buff that I use on everything from 6mm to 28mm. For more temperate climes I use Vallejo Beasty Brown, drybrushed Buff with some static grass applied but didn't think the static grass would be right for 6mm.

Consequently I have been experimenting with a selection of Woodland Scenics and Jarvis flocks and fine turfs and have eventually settled on this 50/50 mix of Jarvis JFT 1 Premier Light Green Fine Turf and JFT 2 Premier Mid Green Fine Turf.

The models I painted up to stick on these experimental new bases are a set of 1/285th URAL 375's transporting a PMM Ribbon Bridge from the now defunct In Service Miniatures range, painted up in the generic Soviet/Warsaw Pact overall green.

Painting Target: 380/1000

October War: Egyptian T-62 Tank Company III

Today saw me grab some time to finish the third and final T-62 company for my Egyptian Tank Battalion with these nine GHQ models.

I now need to paint the two AFV's for the Battalion command and the whole unit will be done. Here is the third company with the previously painted command tank.

Painting Target: 377/1000

October War: Israeli Mechanised Infantry Platoon

Today was new glasses day and after a few years of perching the specs on top of my head when reading or painting I decided to take the plunge with vari-faocals. Not too bad when reading but I almost threw up when painting as moving made head made the tabletop move like a wave! The opticians did say they will take a couple of weeks to get used to...

Anyhow, motion sickness issues aside I did persevere with the painting and finished the first batch of Israeli infantry for all those M3 half-tracks I painted earlier in the month. The miniatures are Heroics & Ros Israelis with the odd Soviet and West German thrown in to complete the  platoon.

IDF Command SMG Team

IDF Rifle MG Team

IDF LMG Team

IDF 60mm Mortar Team 

IDF RPG Team

Painting Target: 368/1000

Dig For Victory!

We discovered a water leak under the house the other week and after a bit of investigation the conclusion was a burst pipe under the games room - with its concrete floor... :-(

Fortunately the plumbers who came today didn't fancy digging up all that concrete to lay a new pipe so went under the floorboards of the original house and though SWMBO's beloved dining room's concrete floor.

This put something of a crimp in my painting and I found myself confined to the kitchen for most of the day with my laptop making regular cups of tea for the plumbers!

Unable to paint I decided to put my writing hat on and in a fit of enthusiasm wrote up the final three scenarios for the long overdue Belgian Land Ironlcads supplement. In fact I was so enthused I decided to expand the supplement to include Aeronef and Aquanef! I just to write up a few stats and we will be nearly good to go....

October War: Egyptian URAL 375 Trucks

Like many wargamers I have a soft spot for including some elements of the logistical tail in my wargames armies, even if they do not form any part of the army lists and just look pretty on the table (or in C20th games act as air strike bait!).

A rummage through 'Lead Mountain' led to the re-discovery of several modern URAL 375 trucks which I bought many moons ago. I thought they were C-in-C models but after a bit of investigation it appears they are OOP models from the now defunct In Service Miniatures (ISM).

ISM produced some really interesting models, including some that rather looked like GHQ ones with added kit (!). I can't recall when or where I picked up those I did and the quality varies from the good (like these URAL trucks) to the poor (the IMR Engineering vehicle I have), but they are useful and looking now at the range listed on Micro Armor Mayhem here, there are some great sets I wish I had bought (eg. the NBC Defence Unit)

Each pack contained five URAL 375 models so I decided to split them between the October War project and the future WW3 one, so painted up two of each pack in the Soviet two colour desert camouflage used by the Egyptians, Syrians etc.

The second ISM model was sold as a URAL 375 fueler, however I have not found any photos of a real vehicle with three fuel tanks like the model. The model C-in-C sells (and all the photos of real vehicles I have found) have one front to back fuel tank. Perhaps these are water containers?

Painting Target: 358/1000

October War: Syrian 9P148 (BRDM-2 w. AT-5) Company

The big pile of GHQ models I bought earlier in the month contained rather a lot of BRDM-2 models, more specifically a lot of BRDM-2 variants as only four of the twenty odd models were the basic BDRM-2. Several were the 9P148, the BDRM-2 equipped with a rack of 9K113 Konkurs anti-tank missiles (the AT-5 Spandrel in NATO speak). GHQ incorrectly market this as the BDRM-3.

I painted three up in the two colour green-yellow Soviet desert camouflage used by the Syrians and many Soviet client states, as well as the Russians themselves in Afghanistan. I don't know for definite if the Syrians used these in 1973, I think the Spandrel did see action in the October War, I'm just not sure if the BDRM mounted version did.

Both the Egyptians and Syrians appear to have used the 9P122, the BDRM-2 with 9M14 Malultka (AT-3 Sagger) and I have a few of these that I will paint up as Egyptian in due course.

Rather confusingly the models I bought also included seventeen BRDM-2 UM's, the command variant with a small box on the roof. I've painted up three of these in the two colour scheme but am not sure what I will use them with or what to do with the other fourteen!

Painting Target: 354/1000

October War: Egyptian JS-III Tank Company

As you may recall the big box of Arab-Israeli models I bought earlier in the month contained ten GHQ JS-III's which I have now painted up as an Egyptian tank company.

In 1967 the Egyptians had one hundred of these beasts and their low profile and 122mm gun made them feared opponents, but by 1973 they had been relegated to training use and as static bunkers the African side of the Suez.

I decided that to get the most use out of them to paint them up in the overall 1967 sand scheme even though in 1973 they had been repainted in the three colour scheme (at least the training ones had, not sure about the bunker ones).

For the 1973 bunker JSIII's I am looking to building some clip on earthworks that I can slip over the base of the model into.

Finally I'd like to say thanks for all the kind comments regarding my efforts over the last month in 6mm. They are very encouraging, especially when you have a lot of unpainted white metal staring you in the face! 

Painting Target: 348/1000

October War: Israeli M51 Sherman Tank Company

One of the most iconic of images of the Arab-Israeli Wars has to be that of the upgraded Israeli M50 and M51 Shermans.

Often called Super Shermans or Ishermans (Israeli Shermans), although not by the IDF, they had by 1973 largely replaced in the IDF Armoured Brigades by the Magach's and Sho't's with only the 19th Reserve Armour Brigade being equipped with them on the Golan Front.

However they did continue in service with the IDF's Mechanised Brigades and as I now have rather a lot of them I have painted up a company of fourteen M51's for October War action.

The models are old GHQ 1/285th's, the markings (such as they are) hand painted.

Painting Target: 338/1000

October War: Egyptian T-62 Tank Company II

Back to the October War and the Egyptian Tank Battalion, I managed to paint another nine T-62's to finish the second company.

Once again they are old GHQ 1/285th models, painted in the three colour scheme used by the Egyptians in 1973.

Here is the complete ten tank company with the command vehicle painted earlier added.

Just another nine T-62's to go and the Battalion HQ unit and the key elements of the unit will be done.

Painting Target: 324/1000

WW3: Red Storm Reading

Work stopped play today as I had to go to Birmingham (gutted to find Wayland's Forge has relocated from its city centre home so I couldn't pick up the brushes I wanted), so sat on the train I started to make a list of WW3 books to read (or in most cases re-read). Obviously there are not a lot of history books for WW3, but some of the fiction is very inspiring and at least one is written as a history book!

Kicking things off is General Sir John Hackett's The Third World War written in 1978 (with a follow up The Third World War: The Untold Story 1982). Written as a history book I loved this book as a teenager but haven't read it in decades. Telling the history of a war in August 1985 I need to dig it out asap.

The mother of all WW3 books of course is Tom Clancy's Red Storm Rising, one of the first techno-thrillers and an epic book covering land, sea and air with the Soviet Union invading West Germany as part of a plan to cover up an energy crisis. The naval battles were apparently played out as a wargame using Harpoon by the author and Larry Bond. I re-read it a couple of years ago and enjoyed it immensely.

Another not read in a number of years in Harold Coyle's Team Yankee, recounting the battles of a company sized US armour unit in Hackett's war. Another I enjoyed immensely at the time that needs digging out and re-reading. Coyle subseqently wrote a number of other hypothetical war books with the US and Soviets fighting in the deserts of Egypt, the US fighting Mexico and a great, if slightly far fetched US v German troops in The Ten Thousand (essentially a reworking of Xenephon's Persian Expedition). The latter of course allows you to pitch Leopard II's against M1A1's so could provide some fun.

The war from the British perspective is told in Bob Forrest-Web's The Chieftains. This book used to be as rare as hen's teeth but is not fortunately available on Kindle. It has a very British feel to it and the ending is somewhat different to Clancy. Coyle etc.

Kenneth Macksey wrote a superb Operation Sealion book, Invasion, that I used to get out of the library a lot as a teenager. He also wrote First Clash detailing the Canadians efforts against the Soviets in West Germany and I have a copy somewhere that I can't recall reading.

The view from the other side of the hill is told by Ralph Peters in his book Red Army. I haven't read this one for a long time either but I recall it being well written concentrating on the Soviet soldiers more than the hardware.

There are of course others like James Rouch's Zone series set on an NBC wasted battlefield a few years in to the war and authors like Larry Bond who write some great techno-thriller alt-histories but set in Korea, South Africa etc but these are too divorced from the eighties NATO-WarPac slugfest I am currently interested in.

October War: Israeli Recon Jeep Platoon

Back to the October War and I managed to grab some time today and paint up an Israeli recon jeep platoon and start a second Egyptian T62 company...

The four 1/285th jeeps are minute so I based them on the smaller command bases rather than the standard ones I'm basing all the other vehicles on as they looked lost on the larger bases.

Great little models, these are the old one piece GHQ ones with 106mm recoilless rifles. The newer GHQ jeep models have the rifles as separate pieces which might be a bit fiddly. I won't need any more for the Israelis but may use some for the Jordanians.

On the subject of the Jordanians, Daniel McCoy has updated his Flames of War intelligence briefing for them, including a number of new units based on his research (including a mechanised engineer platoon with Saracens!). Great work by Daniel, a copy can be downloaded here.

Painting Target: 315/1000