More Army Reforms - Infantry

I have more-or-less decided that my WW2 wargames will be played on a hex mat using modified Memoir '44 (M 44) rules. To that end I have been slowly reorganising my model figures and rebasing them. My groupings of figures are designed to be used at various levels, so a group can be a platoon, a company or a battalion. Most often they will be used at battalion level.

I have boxes of painted loose figures that were used in the 1980s in a series of large WW2 wargame mini-campaigns, one of which included a D-Day assault on the German held Isle of Man!

I digress.  My infantry 'groups' are a cluster of 'units' and essentially consist of four rifle units, one or two machine gun units, a mortar unit, an anti-tank unit and a command unit (I use the term unit in that these 'units' are stand alone elements when it comes to using the M 44 rules),  I have drafted some additional rules that allow these 'units' to perform as such on the table - for example a machine gun unit is classed as infantry, has a strength of two figures, rolls three dice out to a range of 4 hex.

I will set out a summary of these rule additions in a future post. To illustrate here is an Airfix US infantry 'battalion' that I have just rebased, set out as above:

I have also rebased my Russians, and here are two Battalion groups, representing a Regiment/Brigade:

I am working on a German group, made up from old Matchbox figures. I have still to work out how to incorporate transport for my troops - for example does a machine gun armed half track become a unit? Lots of mulling over to be done!

Army Reforms - British Armour

Having been advised of a source of 1/87 scale tanks, I contacted Butler's Printed Models (BPM) and placed an order. Unfortunately the early German vehicles that I was after are not yet available, but I was able to obtain some additional British tanks. These were six Crusaders and three Grants, which have now been painted and weathered:

I thought at just over a fiver each they were good value and the service from BPM was excellent too.

Operation Goodwood - Abandoned

I have always wanted to play a game that represents one of the big WW2 battles and have had an enduring interest in OP GOODWOOD fought after D Day in 1944.  Looking on line, I found the Memoir '44 game that attempts to simulate this action. So I set about converting the M '44 map to my wargame table. I looked at 20mm figures to start with, but this just did not look right, and so I set it up using 1/300 models. This is the battlefield as laid out, the allies are on the right, Germans on the left. The central village representing the town of Cagney, Caen would be off the table at the top:

The view from the other (Caen) end:

Having set it all up I began to play, but after the initial moves I felt that I just wasn't getting the feel of such a big operation. The scenario had no allied artillery in play - yet the allies deployed a huge amount, and two Corps worth of armour and infantry were represented by just  6 units of tanks and a similar number of infantry on the British side.  This means that three models represent roughly a brigade and one model a regiment/battalion.

Despite the initial attraction, I just could not get into this battle. It sat on the table for several days, after which I packed it all away - maybe I was just not in the mood!

Army Reforms - The Panzers Arrive

I have repainted and beefed up my Afrika Korps panzer force. My original Roco Minitanks have been reinforced by another six from the Spanish firm EKO. Here they are off the production line:

One of the new Pz IIIs:

They are very similar to the Roco version, but are different moulds.

Here is a Stug III, which I believe only served in N Africa in limited numbers:

I am trying to source some 1/87 scale Panzer 1 and 2 models, but so far I can find none that arereasonably priced in the UK.

Peninsular Warriors - more highlanders

These figures were very kindly given to me by a fellow collector and have been on my to do list for quite a while.  These are older Warrior 25mm figures, made of a much softer bendy metal, but they paint up just as well. This unit depicts the 79th Cameron Highlanders:

Battle of Brandywine Creek 11 September 1777

Back from my hols, I had much fun completing this scenario, which I set up before I departed. The game is based upon the Command and Colors scenario and can be found in the Napoleonic section.

Essentially, the Americans established a very strong defence of the creek to prevent the British crossing the three fords; however, they failed to spot a British flanking attack that had crossed further along the Brandywine Creek. This is where the battle starts, with the British appearing on the edge of the American right. The map below shows the American dispositions along the creek:

Only at the last minute did the Americans deploy forces onto the high ground on their right to counter this threat.

The British flanking force consisting of Grenadiers, artillery and line troops comes into view and heads towards the Americans deployed on the high ground:

This is where the action is concentrated, with a stiff fight for the slopes, but the Americans are quickly overwhelmed and pull back:

In order to prevent the Americans from reinforcing their right with troops from the main position, the British on the far bank of the creek advance to pin the Americans to the bank:

And they engage the Americans across the river:

The battle along the creek swings to and fro. Some British units are forced back by the heavy fire from the home bank:

But, two American Regiments are also forces into retreat:

With the Americans fighting on two fronts only a dribble of reinforcements make it to the right flank, where they account for one of the Grenadier regiments, but they cannot withstand the British attack. A brave stand is made in a gap between two woods:

However, the American right flank begins to crumble as the British continue to push through into the woods:

The Americans finally give way and the British win the day. On this occasion the dice favoured the red coats, but it could have gone the other way quite easily.

Away for a few days

I am off on holidays. I may not be able to respond to comments and most likely will not be posting again until I return home in about 10 days.