Sprue Army

It has been a very long day today work wise but this cheered me up and I thought it worth sharing...

You may recall my efforts to reuse sprue with Sprue Village and Sprue Town, well I've been well and truly gazumped with this wonderful Necron Sprue Army! I'm not sure who created it having come across it on Facebook, but such creativity deserves a wider audience.

Fatherland and Beyond...

Many moons ago I wrote an article entitled Deutschland Uber Alles which appeared in Ragnarok 9. It looked at the possibilities of wargaming in the alt-history world of Robert Harris' Fatherland novel (a highly recommended read if you haven't read it). Reading Guy Saville's The Afrika Reich on the train today my brain started pondering the possibilities again.

Fatherland is set in the 1960's following a Nazi victory in the west and an ongoing guerilla war east of the Urals. The idea of playing some games in the latter struck me as promising some alt-history fun and I did start collecting some models as part of a small project.

For the Germans I though Cold War East Germans would be perfect. the helmet they wore was a late war German design and the AK47 is really only a simplified Mp44. For armour I picked up a couple of old Airfix Leopard tanks, my thoughts being that the C2 version with its rounded armour would look great in WW2 three colour camo! The only stumbling block I came across was infantry AFV's, something I still occasionally ponder about.

By the sixties defeated Britain is nominally independent but allied to Germany and I considered the idea  of a British Volunteer Force out in the east with Centurion tanks (Airfix again...)

For the Soviets, a a mix of WW2 and Cold War types in camo suits would be needed. I did buy a JS3 to use as a battered old tank for the guerillas. I still fancy making it up and adding field fitted armoured skirts... The Americans are supplying the Soviets guerillas as is their wont so some M113's with US advisors on hand can be easily sourced from Vietnam ranges.

Of course Afrika Reich (as you will know if you have read it) is set in a different timeline and on a different continent, but some of the possibilities suggested in the book would certainly lend themselves to some great alt-history games.

(WWII Month) Free Stuff...

Whilst it is not a major problem, the fact that Mongoose's Battlefield Evolution: World at War rules is no longer supported, expanding the army lists to include troop types and nationalities not included in the main rule book will mean a bit of work on my part. I do have the A.D.Publishing vehicle supplements produced when Bf: Evo was open licence but there are still gaps that will need filling.

Therefore I was pleased to come across the Signs & Portents archive which contains some useful material for the game including Partizan and Volksstrum units (very useful for the late war games I want to play) and a number of scenarios.

Signs & Portents was Mongoose's free PDF magazine that supported their wargames and role-playing games lines. For a short period they produced separate wargames and RPG versions before combining them from issue 54 on.

There is some interesting stuff contained in the magazines including naval and SF wargames articles and through judicious use of a PDF editor I shall be downloading the PDF's and removing the unwanted pages.

(WWII Month) Calling All Czechs! Calling All Czechs!

Recently I was doing a bit of Google-fu on the last battles in Central Europe and came across a selection of excellent photos of a 2010 re-enactment of the 1945 Prague Uprising. This occurred in the last few days of the war and continued beyond the official VE Day of 8th May. The fighting was very intense and saw the POA Russian Liberation Army fighting the Germans alongside the Czechs, despite the Soviets advancing on the city. With US forces in the outskirts of Prague as well it certainly is an interesting historical event.

(WWII) S is for Scharfschützen!

Along with the Zugtruppe yesterday I managed to finish two sniper teams. I'm not quite sure if I will ever need two on the table at any one time but as the sniper figures were different I decided to paint up two teams.

The miniatures are (IIRC) Esci and Revell, just don't ask which is which! Painting is a little on the rough side. I am using a heavy drybrush technique over a black undercoat then some detailing. This is giving me a pleasing scruffy end of the war look to the figures, as well as being quite quick.

The three Grenadier sections are coming along nicely and (touch wood) should be finished by the end of the week. I've also started gluing my Kübelwagen together which was going to be the transport for the Panzerschreck team but now they have joined the Zugtruppe will have to find an alternative use.

(WWII) Z is for Zugtrupp!

Over the weekend I've been working in fits and starts on my German Grenadier Platoon and today finished the Platoon HQ Section (or Zugtrupp as the Germans call it).

Initially I planned to just have a three man unit and drop the second "team" but on further reading of the army lists in Battlefield Evolution: World at War I found the part of the unit I planned on dropping was a Panzerschreck team. Consequently I have moved my Panzerschreck team from being a Support Asset to a Command Asset.

As the rest of the Platoon will be scooting around the tabletop in their natty half-tracks, the Zugtrupp will have to follow suit (the Zugführer insisted). This means I will need to model a fourth half-track as an SdKfz 251/10 with its 37 mm Pak 36 anti-tank gun mount. Not sure it will do much more than scratch the paint on the Red Hordes T34's though...

Battlefield - The Magazine of the Battlefields Trust

The March 2013 edition of Battlefield arrived in the post today. Battlefield is the magazine of the Battlefields Trust and whilst only 20 pages, it is full colour and surprisingly chock full of interesting material. This particular issue has articles on the battlefields of Sedgemoor, Flodden and Adam Park in Singapore all of which contain information of interest. Whilst these are quite well know, the magazine often contains articles on battles and revolts that are largely forgotten.

When I joined the Trust it was purely as a donation to their vital activities both here in the UK and abroad. That roads and rail lines are regularly planned to dissect sites of historical importance demonstrates the need for a body like the Battlefields Trust, that I get a small, but invariably excellent magazine four times a year is a bonus. If you have any interest in Britain's military heritage I urge you to join the Trust here. Money well spent...

As an additional bonus this issue came bagged with a free copy of January's Military History Monthly containing articles on Edward III, the Battle of Loos, the Khmer Rouge, Admiral Canaris, arms-smuggling in Afghanistan, theatre entertainment in WWI, the Christmas Truce, Lincoln's Highlanders and the SM-62 "Snark" missile. I'd not come across this magazine before and it is a bit of a pot purri but is well produced and contains lots of interesting stuff. I may have to take up the offer of the next three issues for a quid...

Frank Bellamy's World War One

To those of us of a certain age(!) the name Frank Bellamy will be well known as an extremely talented  artist whose work featured in the Eagle and TV Century 21, the latter where he drew the Thunderbirds strip. He also drew the long running Garth strip that ran in the Daily Mirror in the early seventies.

A company called The Book Palace is collating much of his work into book format and recently I managed to get hold of a collection entitled Frank Bellamy's World War 1. To be 100% accurate it should be Michael Butterworth's and Frank Bellamy's World War 1 as Frank was only the artist and Michael Butterworth wrote the text, chronicling a basic history of the Great War for readers of Look and Learn in the early seventies.

I must confess that I don't recall the series from the time, though I was only a sporadic Look and Learn reader and really only interested in the Trigan Empire! However, this is an amazing piece of work and Frank Bellamy's full colour artwork is absolutely stunning.

Unfortunately the book is a little on the pricey side at £25, though I did get mine off Amazon for a lot less, it is certainly worth keeping an eye out for...

(WWII Month) S is for SdKfz 251/1!

After posting yesterday about the Grenadier Zug and having a ponder about whether I should equip the infantry platoons with lorries or half-tracks I decided it would be a good idea to have a quick recce in the loft to see if there were any of either in "plastic kit hill" (a rarely visited adjacent mound next to "lead mountain").

Armourfast SdKfz 251/1 Ausf C

Lo and behold there was a box of HaT Armourfast SdKfz 251/1 containing two 1/72nd model kits. Now of course the logical thing to do is to buy another box. Ok, this would mean I had four half tracks but I'm sure I could find a use for the odd one. Off to eBay...

I now own five half tracks!

It is all Caliver's fault, they offered a box of three PSC SdKfz 251/1 for £12 post free, the cheapest HaT ones where a tenner. And the PSC ones have crew figures. And the gun to convert one into a SdKfz 251/10... I am sure there was a logic there somewhere.

PSC SdKfz 251/1 Ausf D

The only problem is the Armourfast are Ausf C models, the PSC ones Ausf D and the rears are distinctly different. I'm not sure whether mixed units where the norm, but I'll paint the three D's up for the Grenadiers and ponder what to do with the C's at a later date (probably put them back in the attic).

The models arrived today which was impressive in that I only ordered them yesterday. Less impressive was working in London and SWMBO intercepting the delivery! Curses... As well as the little Hasegawa Kübelwagen I also bought on eBay yesetrday (damn this excellent customer service!!!)

(WWII Month) Z is for Zug!

I did a bit of stock taking today to see what I have, what I need to paint and what gaps exist. The plan is to raise a German army Grenadier platoon with support elements for Battlefield Evolution: World at War as follows.

Pioneer section with SdKfz 251/7

Command Assets:

Grenadier Command Squad - one team: officer with Mp40, NCO with Mp40 and soldier with Kar98.

Squad Assets:

Grenadier Squad 1 - two NCO's with MP40's,  six soldiers with Kar98's, one soldier with Kar 98 & panzerfaust and one soldier with MG42.

Grenadier Squad 2 - two NCO's with MP40's,  six soldiers with Kar98's, one soldier with Kar 98 & panzerfaust and one soldier with MG42.

Grenadier Squad 3 - two NCO's with MP40's,  six soldiers with Kar98's, one soldier with Kar 98 & panzerfaust and one soldier with MG42.

(I need to decide on a transport option, either Opel Blitz trucks or SdKfz 251/1 halftracks)

Support Assets:

(I don't plan to use all at once, it's just nice to have the options for different games.)

Panzerschreck Team - one soldier with panzerschreck and one soldier with Kar98.

(again I need to decide whether a transport option such as a Kublewagen is needed).

Sniper Team - one soldier with scoped Kar 98, one soldier with Kar98.

PaK 40 AT Gun - one PaK40 with four crew.

Pioneer Squad - two NCO's with StG44, six soldiers with StG44, one soldier with MG42, one soldier with Flammenwerfer 41. Transport - SdKfz 251/7.

That is forty-seven infantry and four gun crew excluding vehicles. I already have painted the Pioneer squad and bought a pre-paint Dragon halftrack for them and have all the required miniatures from the likes of Airfix, Esci and Revell as well as the PaK 40 and crew. The only gap in the collection is the platoon transport and I need to decide whether to go truck or halftrack...

April is... WWII Month!

I think I'm going to need to buy a lot of green and brown paint as this month I'm going to try and clear some of the WW2 backlog...

First off there is the late war 20mm project which stalled after painting the first Soviet platoon a couple of years back. I have a second platoon based and a half-painted German platoon that need finishing off.

Painting some Soviet armour would be good too now I have several T34's and T70's.

However, the first target is to paint the Germans and see if I have time to get some more Soviet infantry done (or maybe some Partisans).

New EU Regulations Hit Wargames Industry

Midnight saw the EU Regulations on non-gender specific toys and games come into force. The toy industry has been gearing up for this for the last couple of years but for some reason the wargames industry had (incorrectly) assumed that these new rule from the bureaucrats in Brussels did not apply to the hobby (claiming a toy is not suitable for someone under 14 does not preclude it from the regulations).

The gist of the regulations is quite simple. Toys must not reinforce gender stereotypes and must be suitable for both genders. Whilst the regulations are simple, demonstrating your product complies with them is not so simple. Apparently it is not sufficient to state that any child can play with a particular toy, the manufacturer must clearly demonstrate this to be the case.

Airfix appear to be on the ball here, repackaging not only their iconic Spitfire model (made by every boy and presumably now girl) with a all pink paint scheme, but have announced that they will be releasing a new range of pink tanks starting with the classic T34.

Hasbro have demonstrated this is not just a one way street with a militarised line of My Little Pony models hitting the shops soon, starting with the My Little Pony: Vietnam line.

But what about the wargames industry? Unfortunately I think there will be a major wake up call as Trading Standards officers start investigating complaints against companies producing "boys only" toys. That said it appears at least that the publishers of our wargames magazines are aware of the implications of the new regulations and Atlantic Publishing have announced that from issue 361 Miniature Wargames will be relaunched combined with Popular Crochet magazine at Salute under the stewardship of new editor Henry Hyde.

(Plane Month) La Guerra de la Sed

Suffering that debilitating male disease known as a runny nose (aka the sniffles) I have bravely been sat in front of the television and laptop today rather than finishing off my half painted Blackburn Kangaroo. However all is not lost as I have been investigating the possibility of undertaking a small AirWar: 1918 project - the Chaco War 1932-35.

The Chaco War was the bloodiest military conflict in South America during the 20th century fought between two of South America's poorest countries Bolivia and Paraguay. The war was for control of the northern part of the Gran Chaco region (known as Chaco Boreal), which was thought to be rich in oil (which it didn't). It is also referred to as La Guerra de la Sed ("The War of the Thirst") for being fought in the semi-arid Chaco.

Whilst air combat was not as commonplace as in WWI, the Chaco War did see dogfights and there is an interesting mix of interwar designs in action. The only issue is how practical an idea is it and what models are available? I have been looking at 1/144th as my preferred scale given that is what I am using for WWI and WWII.

Cuerpo de Aviación Boliviano (Bolivian Air Force):

Breguet 19: despite 2700 of these being made during the Inter-war period, no one produces a model in 1/144th. That said it did not do a lot in the Gran Chaco War.

Curtiss Falcon: also appears to be unavailable in 1/144th,

Curtiss Hawk: is available via Artic Skunk (Shapeways).

Curtiss Osprey: is also available via Artic Skunk (Shapeways).

Vickers Type 143 Scout: sadly not available though I suspect there might be something out there that could be converted to act as a Scout (maybe a Bulldog?)

Vickers Type 149 Vespa III: also not available.

Fuerza Aereas del Ejercito Nacional Paraguayo (Paraguayan Air Force):

Fiat C.R.20 bis: available from Artic Skunk (Shapeways).

Potez 25: also available from Artic Skunk (Shapeways) in 1/144th.

Wibault 73: unsurprisingly not available.

Initial air battles featured the Scouts, Vespas and Wilbauts before being replaced by the Curtiss models and Fiats. The Potezs' served throughout the war. There were other aircraft in both air forces but do not appear to have taken part in air operations.

Looking at the models available it would appear that the later air operations are the more gameable with two of the Curtiss and the Fiat and Potez available in miniature. However one should not give up hope given the proliferation of 3D print designers making all sorts of weird and wonderful aircraft and Gran Chaco is certainly interesting enough that hopefully one day someone will take a punt at producing the missing aircraft.

(Plane Month) Airship Squadron (EhVK) Sikorsky Ilya Muromets

I finished the Der Kampfflieger (Shapeways) Sikorsky Ilya Muromets Type V this morning, a very impressive beast in 1/144th. The wingspan is 205mm!

The Ilya Muromets served throughout the war  and into the Russian Civil War, launching bombing raids on German line positions in February 1915.

Only one plane was lost to enemy aircraft when in September 1916 when it was attacked by four German Albatros. It did however manage to shot down three of the German planes in the engagement!

Painting the model is fairly straight forward, though all the struts made my eyes go a bit funny! I used Vallejo Bone as the overall linen colour, the decals are from 1/144 Direct.

(Plane Month) 3 Naval Squadron Sopwith Pup's

As promised, here are the two 1/144th Der Kampflieger (Shapeways) Sopwith Scouts (or Pups as they were commonly known) painted up as machines from B Flight of 3 Naval Squadron RNAS serving at Marieux, France during "Bloody April" in 1917.

Nice little models I was tempted to paint them up as Imperial Russian, but despite finding a photo of a model of a Workers and Peasants Red Air Fleet Pup, I could not find confirmation anywhere that the Imperial Russian Air Service flew the Pup. So I played safe and painted them up as two RNAS planes, the Navy being a tad more colourful than the Army.

This particular plane is that of Canadian Flt Cdr Lloyd Breadner and should have the name "Happy" painted under the cockpit (but my hand is not that steady). Breadner scored five victories during "Bloody April" in this machine.

The second Pup is that of Flt Cdr Joe Fall and is named "Betty" (named after his wife or girlfriend). Fall shot down three enemy aircraft between 23rd April and 1st May in this plane. I wasn't 100% certain"Betty" should have the white stripe atop the wing as "Happy" has and I could not find a definitive source either way. I decided to add it for a splash of colour and to tie it in with Breadner's plane.

As well as considering painting them up as Russian planes, I had a flight of fancy for a while to paint one up as a captured Pup. The Germans did like the plane which was easy to fly. Perhaps I'll add a third Pup to my next Shapeways order...