Some old pictures

 I was going through an old memory stick when I found some old pictures of Airfix 1/76 figures set in the Western Desert.  I must have painted these around 2009 when I was working overseas and had lots of spare evenings. They are a mix of Aifix 8th Army, Afrika Korps and the Bren Gun Carrier with 6pdr:

I think these old figures can be made to look quite attractive with a lick of paint.

Early Cold War British

 I have been thinking about painting some late 1950s/early 60s figures for some time and the Easter break gave me the opportunity.  The figures are recasts of the Britains Lilliput range from the 50s/60s, plus a few Revell WW2 support teams.  They were recast by 'A call to Arms' a few years back and I acquired a couple of boxes:

The Bedford RL trucks and the two Austin Champs are also by Britains, the two scout cars are converted Matchbox items.  

The Saladin and Saracen armoured vehicles are from Airfix:

My longer term plan is to acquire some communist insurgents which will allow me to play some small scale actions such as were seen in Malaya and SE Asia at that time.

Update for the week

I have been quite busy finishing off some small projects. 

First off, I have completed my colonial highland regiment, by adding another figure and an officer, bringing the total up to 12.  They are by Barry Minot. The new figures were kindly given to me by a very generous wargamer:

Also donated to the cause are these lovely rifle armed Zulus, also by Minot:

I have also completed a group of Hadendowah warriors. These came from Tradition and I believe they are from the original Stadden range:

And finally, just for fun, I felt the urge to paint some Airfix Union soldiers in the form of a kneeling firing line:

Creating a German Battle group

I continue to reorganise my Airfix and other WW2 soldiers. This time I have re-based my Airfix German infantry and painted up some more of my Roco Minitanks to create a combined arms force. I have not given the elements a particular designation as in different scenarios they could be used for different size units. For example, a tank unit of 4 tanks could be a platoon, a company or even a larger formation.

Here is an overview of the whole force:

The battle group consists of infantry, three units, a unit of assault guns, two units of medium tanks and a unit of heavy tanks. In support is a recce unit, an artillery unit (I need more of these) an anti aircraft unit and finally some transport.

Here are the infantry units, mostly re-based figures:

There is supporting machine gun, mortar and anti-tank units:

Supporting the infantry is a unit of Stug III assault guns; the picture also shows one of the medium tank units equipped with Panthers:

The other medium tank unit is made up of Panzer MK IVs:

And the heavy tank unit is equipped with Tiger 1s:

Out in front of the battle group is my reconnaissance unit:

At the moment I only have one artillery unit; I probably need some more. This is a 150mm gun unit:

Also in support is a self propelled anti-aircraft unit with 20mm and 37mm tracked guns:

Transport is provided by a number of half tracks.

I plan to organise my soviet army along similar lines and I thought it might be a good idea to fight a series of actions as part of a campaign with the two forces spread over a map - more thinking required!

Opening more boxes - Japanese Troops

As it was wet last weekend, I thought I would have a further rummage in the garage and open up a few more boxes. In a crate marked Misc, Jap/Fr/Russ, I found a couple of boxes full of painted and part painted Japanese, as well as a few commonwealth figures. There were also a couple of vehicles:

The figures were a mix of painted and part painted, ESCI, Matchbox and Airfix Japanese infantry. I separated out the painted figures and re-based them:

This all worked out as a battalion of Matchbox Japanese infantry, one and a half battalions of ESCI infantry, an infantry gun, one tank and one self propelled gun. Enough for an interesting wargame methinks.

There was also a couple of companies of Commonwealth troops, with a heavy machine gun - ESCI and Revell:

I note that in the crate I saw some Matchbox Anzacs and a further unmade Japanese tank by Airfix. In another box there is a heap of Airfix Ghurkas and Australian infantry.

Battle of Lausdell Crossroads December 1944

With it being a wet weekend I decided to play a quick action using Memoir '44 rules - slightly adjusted.  The game is based upon the 'Twin Villages' scenario, which sees a US infantry battalion, with some artillery and armour delaying the advance of elements of 6th Panzer Armee, that was working its way through the Ardennes forest.  In this scenario German tanks edge through the forest along tracks which lead out to a choke point at the Lausdell Crossroads; where elements of the 9th US Infantry Regiment was dug in.

An overview of the terrain, Germans at the top, US middle and bottom:

US infantry at the crossroads:

Left rear of the crossraods is the village of Rocherath, with more US infantry and artillery:

And a second village, Krinkekt, on the US right is also held by infantry and armour:

The Germans have an armour heavy organisation, with Panther tanks and Mk IVs, supported by infantry:

The action began as German infantry, made a move straight down the main road, only to come under artillery fire, causing some casualties:

On the US right flank German tanks began to work their way through the trees:

However; as they emerge from the trees they are sitting ducks and a Panther is swiftly knocked out and a MK IV is forced to retreat:

Over on the US left flank German infantry break out of the trees and come close to overwhelming the US position, taking heavy casualties in the process

The US position is almost taken by the Germans, but a counter-attack, out of Rocherath village, halts and then destroys the German attack:

Over on the US right flank a second German assault begins:

After bitter fighting the Germans capture one of the positions, but took many casualties:

However, the German infantry unit was destroyed and a German MK IV burns, having been hit by tank and anti-tank gun fire as it emerges from the forest:

Suddenly it is all over. The Germans reach their exhaustion point losing 6 - 1 to the US forces. It is a massacre.

Having blunted the German attack and delaying the advance of 6 Panzer Armee, the 9th Regiment receives orders to pull back and join fresh troops that have dug in on a ridge further back.




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Airfix MK II Commandos

I have known about these figures for ages, but have never managed to get my hands on a set. However, a couple of weeks back I saw a set of the second edition Airfix 1/76 scale commandos and I acquired them at roughly the same price as a current box of soldiers.

Strangely the box has an image of the original figures on the front:

On the back there are also some original poses, but the officer figure is an image of the the new type, a miniature copy of Airfix 1/32 scale figures:

Inside the box is a set of lovely flash free figures. Some are direct copies of the 1/32 range, but there are some additional new poses.  Here are the figures having had a splash of paint:

Like the original set there are two canoes:

There are also some crawling figures with sten guns and knives, as well as two poses depicted as climbing ladders, but with bren guns - I have not used these either.

Commando Raiding Party - Airfix & Matchbox 1/76

Continuing my occasional refurbishment of old figures, a box full of WW2 commandos popped up as I was going through my collection.  They needed to be based and touched up.  They will make a fine foe for my recently painted German elite troops.

There are six stands of mixed Airfix and Matchbox commando figures:

There are also some sneaky beaky canoe teams:

An idea is forming for a wargame!

Battle of Mons - Setting it up

I plan to play out the Mons battle using my newly painted WW1 figures. I have decided to depict the action that involved the British 3rd Division on 23rd August 1914, when they defended the Nimy salient.  This wide arch in the Mons - Conde Canal had the small town of Nimy at its centre. Just to the south lies the town of Mons. The canal is too wide and deep for fording and can only be crossed at the five remaining crossing points, that are either bridges or locks. The famous Nimy railway bridge lies in the centre of the action (where the first VCs of WW1 were won).

Defending the salient are the three brigades of the 3rd British Division; 7th. 8th. and 9th Brigades. Facing them coming down from the north are elements of Von Kluck's German First Army, in the shape of three Divisions from 3rd Corps; the 6th, 18th and 17th Divisions.

The wargames table below shows the starting dispositions:

I am going to use Command and Colors rules, slightly modified for the action.  The British will gain from their high rate of fire (15 rounds a minute) and the fact that at this early point in the war the Germans used massed infantry blocks in the attack.  Also the British benefit from being in prepared defensive positions, although not deep trenches.

This should be quite a punch up.

WW1 German Army - Airfix and others

Having painted three Airfix German Regiments I have given up due to the amount of flash on the figures. The most difficult areas being around the spiked helmet. I needed four more regiments and so I have resorted to Hat figugures and a few Emhar.  For artillery I have used Hat guns and a mix of Airfix abd Hat crews.  I now have a completed army ready for my Mons battle:

The whole army:

Artillery:

High Command:

More casualty markers:

Hat infantry:

Hat Jaegers:

Heavy Artillery:

Advance!