A tale of two Autocars

 Round about 2008 I decided to scratch-build an Armoured Autocar for my WWI Canadian army.  The Armoured Autocar was built by the Autocar truck company of Pittsburgh. Interestingly, Autocar still exists!  The armoured Autocars provided to the Canadian army were made by adding boilerplate armour to a standard Autocar truck chassis.

Most of my research was from The Armoured Autocar in Canadian Service by Cameron Pulsifer, published by Service Publications.  The book is a great reference and includes scale drawings at the centre of the book that I used to calculate the dimensions for the armour plate.

The Autocar was sent overseas in 1914, originally equipped with two Colt machine guns.  The Colt MGs were eventually replaced by Vickers MMGs, plus a Lewis gun mounted at the front of the vehicle. The vehicle had a crew of 8:  driver, commander plus three crew for each MG.  As there is no way I can fit that many in either of these models, my Autocars only have a driver, and two gunners.  

My scratch-build was based on a Model T Ford from Company B.  Using the Ford rather than an Autocar as a base meant that right from the start my model was a compromise with accuracy.  But it was a useful chassis for the main product, and the chassis is mostly hidden under the armour plate.  I think if it a bit like a movie production making an ersatz German Tiger tank out of a T-34 base!  My version of the model was built at 1:56, to match other vehicles in my collection.  The crew are Wargames Foundry.  

Many years later (2018, maybe?), First Corps ended up releasing their own version of the Armoured Autocar.  Their model is in 1:48, so obviously there is an obvious scale difference with my own build.  Note that the FC model only has two crew :)

Since the models are so visibly different, I decided that the FC model will represent the early version of the model to go with my early war army.  This version has the headlamps, and a much simpler paint scheme.  The scratch build is painted with the later insignia for the Automobile Machine Gun Brigade, based on the painting on the last surviving model on display at the Canadian War Museum.

On the left, all that text should be in a single line, but that is beyond my painting skills!

Here are a couple of shots with a Great War Miniatures sergeant to show relative scale.

The Armoured Autocar is a tragically underknown vehicle.  It served throughout the war, from 1914 to 1918.  It was very fortunate in that for most of the war, the vehicles were kept out of the front lines, as trench warfare was not conducive to wheeled vehicles.  The unit in which these vehicles served was also groundbreaking, as it was one of the first fully motorised units in war, as in addition to the armoured cars, there were also support vehicles to carry fuel and ammunition, and even an Autocar ambulance.  The Canadian Automobile Machine Gun Brigade showed itself to be extremely versatile, able to move very heavy machine guns around the Western Front.  Their moment of greatest glory came in the Spring 1918 Michael offensive by the German Army, when the CAMGB's mobility was instrumental in intercepting the attacking enemy forces. The cars were vulnerable but in the right place and the right time, they helped to stop the breakthrough.

Great War Armies on Parade

My friend Rob just returned my WWI armies to me, that he had been storing for a while.  So naturally it is time for an Armies on Parade post.

A quick count came up with the following numbers (note that this for Western Front only, doesn't include all the British Empire types for Gallipoli/East Africa/Mespot/Palestine etc, as those are in my Jamjhar collection):

Germans 1914-15

208 line infantry (mix of headwear types), 

16 jaegers, 

24 matrosen (sailors)

6 Maxim medium machine guns

15 cavalry (10 Uhlans, 4 hussars, one dragoon)

17(+) officer types

3 77 mm Field guns

French 1914-15 (these figures are worse for wear, and are overdue for a paint touch up!)

50 line infantry, 21 Zouaves, 6 officers, 2 Hotchkiss MG, 2 75mm field guns

British/Canadians 1914-15

61 line infantry, 

28 Highlanders, 16 Lowlanders

2 Vickers MG (plus one team transporting their gun)

16 officers 

And 3 pipers!

6 18-pdr field guns, plus a trench catapult

Canadians 1916-18

29 Highlanders, 

45 line infantry

3 Lewis gun teams, 2 rifle grenadiers

8 officers

1 Whippet tank, 1 Mk4 male tank, 1 Rolls Royce Armoured Car, 1 Armoured Autocar, 5 dismounted tank crew

My scratch-built Canadian Armoured Autocar!

and assorted signallers, casualties, stretcher bearers, and others.

Sturmgeschutz and Sorcery

There has been unusual activity in the past few days, and a wehrmacht patrol was wiped out in a vicious ambush. The partisan base has been identified, and the hauptmann has gathered a patrol to eliminate this threat once and for all!

Back in the 1980s when I was a big fan of D&D, I read an article in TSR's magazine, The Dragon, entitled Sturmgeschutz and Sorcery, or How Effective is a Panzerfaust against a Troll, Heinz?  Naturally, I've been wanting to play a similar game for decades.  Well, as a fan of Dan Mersey's Lion Rampant series, I of course picked a copy of Xenos Rampant when it was released.  The XR toolbox is really well suited to mixing genres, so I decided that the time had finally come for my own version of S&S!

I chose to make my own scenario rather than copy the one from the original article.  I used my 1940 Germans (so no Sturmgeschutz or Panzerfaust) and a collection of old Ral Partha orcs and giants, Wargames Atlantic giant spiders and Saruman from GW's Lord of the Rings SBG.

I took the game to the Trumpeters' August meeting at Bonsor.  Craig was interested in the game, so I assigned him the Sorcerer's forces. Tony S also joined the fantasy forces.  Kevin took the Germans, but he was only told that his mission was to hunt down some partisans.  He took the twist with good humour!

Here is the basic setup.  Germans arrive in vehicles on the road, and were informed that the partisans were using the ruined castle as a base.  The "partisans" were allowed hidden deployment, with the orcs and spiders in the woods and swamp, the giants in the further woods (on the hill) and the sorcerer in the castle.

The German column arrives.  I goofed - the Germans were supposed to have an armoured car, but I accidentally left it at home!

German infantry 'debusses'.

Orc archers and giant spiders emerge from the forest, and swarm the German machine gun team!

Craig managed to roll a Yahtzee - all ones!

After crunching the MG, the spiders chased after the Opel Blitz (after a dicey exchange, the truck escapes).

Orc infantry learn the hard way that swords and spears are not enough to take on an armoured vehicle!

Germans learn to use their firepower to clear away the orcs and spiders.

But also enjoyed the visceral experience of crushing the bugs with the halftrack!

Meanwhile the balance of the Germans made an end run around the swamp.  They chased off the remaining orcs, but have yet to face the giants (in the background).

The sorcerer finally makes an appearance!

Another Yahtzee!

The giants are subject to 'wild charge'.  This causes them to charge the nearest target, in this case the unoccupied staff car.  With their strength, the giants made short work of the vehicles.

Having destroyed the staff car, the giants move on to the Opel Blitz!

On the other side of the table, the orc archers realised that they were better off charging into combat, rather than engaging in an unequal firefight.  This was the end of that German squad.

The giants turned their attention to the halftrack, as the squad scamper for the cover of the castle.

Meanwhile, the German Hauptman decided to do a very cinematic one-man charge through the castle to find and defeat the sorcerer!

However, the sorcerer fled the hauptman, and left him to be crushed by the giants.

The game was well-received, and even attracted the attention from gamers at other tables. 

EDIT:  I had a request to share the lists used.  Here they are!

Xenos Rampant – German Army List 24 points

Commander – Light Infantry, medic

Points 2

Attack 6+                     Attack Value 6

Move Free (5+)           Defence Value 5+

Shoot 6+                     Shoot Value 6 / 18”

Courage 4+                 Maximum Movement 8”

Armour 2                     Strength Points 5

Special:

Medic – can restore one strength point to a unit within 6” on a roll of 4+ (or 5+ after medic is below half

strength)

STAFF CAR (for Commander) - Soft-skin vehicle

Points 2

Attack 6+                     Attack Value 6

Move Free (6+)           Defence Value 6

Shoot 7+                     Shoot Value 6 / 6”

Courage 4+                 Maximum Movement 12”

Armour 3                     Strength Points 5

Special:

Vehicle – subject to all Vehicle rules

Transport (5)

ARMOURED CAR Sd Kfz 221

Points 3

Attack 6+                     Attack Value 6

Move Free (6+)           Defence Value 5+

Shoot 6+                     Shoot Value 4+ / 18”

Courage 3+                 Maximum Movement 12”

Armour 5                     Strength Points 5

Special:

Light Armoured Vehicle – subject to all Vehicle rules

All Terrain – does not halve movement in difficult terrain

High-powered blades – count target’s armour as one point lower when Attacking or Defending

Light Infantry Squad 1

Points 3

Attack 6+                     Attack Value 5+

Move Free (5+)             Defence Value 4+

Shoot 6+                     Shoot Value 5+ / 18”

Courage 4+                 Maximum Movement 8”

Armour 2                     Strength Points 10

Special:

Increased Squad Size (10)

Firefight – may attempt Firefight reaction against first enemy unit to fire on it each turn

Go to Ground – may Go To Ground as a Move action instead of moving

Half-track Sd Kfz 251 for first squad

Points 5

Attack 6+                     Attack Value 6

Move Free (6+)             Defence Value 6

Shoot 6+                     Shoot Value 5+ / 12”

Courage 4+                 Maximum Movement 10”

Armour 5                     Strength Points 5

Special:

Vehicle – subject to all Vehicle rules

All Terrain – does not halve movement in difficult terrain

High-powered blades – count target’s armour as one point lower when Attacking or Defending

Transport (10) – can carry an infantry unit of up to 10 strength points

Light Infantry Squad 2

Points 3

Attack 6+                      Attack Value 5+

Move Free (5+)             Defence Value 4+

Shoot 6+                     Shoot Value 5+ / 18”

Courage 4+                 Maximum Movement 8”

Armour 2                     Strength Points 10

Special:

Increased Squad Size (10)

Firefight – may attempt Firefight reaction against first enemy unit to fire on it each turn

Go to Ground – may Go To Ground as a Move action instead of moving

Opel Blitz for second squad

Points 2

Attack 6+                     Attack Value 6

Move Free (6+)             Defence Value 6

Shoot 6+                     Shoot Value 6 / 6”

Courage 4+                 Maximum Movement 10”

Armour 3                     Strength Points 5

Special:

Vehicle – subject to all Vehicle rules

Transport (10) – can carry an infantry unit of up to 10 strength points

Tripod Mounted MMG Support Infantry

Points 5

Attack -                         Attack Value -

Move 6+                         Defence Value 5+

Shoot (Free) 7+            Shoot Value 4+ / 24”

Courage 4+                   Maximum Movement 6”

Armour 2                       Strength Points 5

Special:

Firefight – may attempt Firefight reaction against first enemy unit to fire on it each turn

Spotters – if a unit of Support Infantry targets an enemy that is within 12” of a friendly unit that has not been activated this turn, that unit may forgo its action this turn to act as spotters.  Spotters improve the Support Infantry’s Shoot Value to 3+ for this action only. Support Infantry must be able to draw line of sight to the enemy as normal.

Never Attacks.

Xenos Rampant – Sorcerer’s Army List 24 points

Sorcerer (Commander/Beta Class Psychic)

Points 5

Attack 6+                         Attack Value 6

Move 5+                             Defence Value 5+

Shoot Free (6+)                Shoot Value 6 / 18”

Courage 4+                      Maximum Movement 6”

Armour 3                          Strength Points 5

Special:

SMU

Firefight – may attempt Firefight reaction against first enemy unit to fire on it each turn

Go to Ground – may Go To Ground as a Move action instead of moving

Beta Class Psychic

Psychic Powers Table

Name            Difficulty         Target                                 Duration             Effect

Visions of                        Enemy Unit within 18”           Until Unit            Suppresses target unit.

Terror                  7+           that is not suppressed         rallies               May not be used on a

                                                                                                                suppressed unit

                                                       

Tranportation 7+                 Self or any unit within 18” Instantaneous       Roll two dice, the

                                                                                                                target unit is moved up

                                                                                                                to that many inches in

                                                                                                                the direction chosen by

                                                                                                                the manifesting unit’s

                                                                                                                player

Paralysis (create     7+    Enemy unit within 18”        Instantaneous       Movement or combat

                                                                                                                counts as rough terrain

                                                                                                                – only effects target

                                                                                                                unit muddy ground)

Orcs (Primitive Infantry) 1

Points 2

Attack 5+                  Attack Value 4+

Move Free (6+)         Defence Value 5+

Shoot -                      Shoot Value -

Courage 4+               Maximum Movement 8”

Armour 1 (2)             Strength Points 10

Special:

Go to Ground – may Go To Ground as a Move action instead of moving

Open Order – does not halve movement in difficult terrain

Armoured – counts as Armour 2 in attack/defence, but armour 1 against shooting.

Increased Squad Size (10)

Savages – subject to Wild Charge special rule

Orcs (Primitive Infantry) 2

Points 2

Attack 5+                 Attack Value 4+

Move Free (6+)         Defence Value 5+

Shoot -                     Shoot Value -

Courage 4+             Maximum Movement 8”

Armour 1 (2)             Strength Points 10

Special:

Go to Ground – may Go To Ground as a Move action instead of moving

Open Order – does not halve movement in difficult terrain

Armoured – counts as Armour 2 in attack/defence, but armour 1 against shooting.

Increased Squad Size (10)

Savages – subject to Wild Charge special rule

Orc Bows (Primitive Infantry)

Points 4

Attack 5+                 Attack Value 3+

Move Free (6+)         Defence Value 5+

Shoot 6+                 Shoot Value 6 / 12”

Courage 4+             Maximum Movement 8”

Armour 1                 Strength Points 10

Special:

Go to Ground – may Go To Ground as a Move action instead of moving

Open Order – does not halve movement in difficult terrain

Armoured – counts as Armour 2 in attack/defence, but armour 1 against shooting.

Increased size (10)

Bows – target unit’s armour value is increased by 1

Giants (greater xenomorph)

Points 6

Attack 5+                 Attack Value 3+

Move Free (6+)         Defence Value 6

Shoot -                     Shoot Value -

Courage 3+             Maximum Movement 10”

Armour 4                 Strength Points 5

Special:

Open Order – does not halve movement in difficult terrain

Ranger – uses normal Attack/Defence profile in rough terrain

Wild Charge – subject to Wild Charge special rule

Fearsome – Courage tests caused by the Giants suffer an additional -1 to the total

High-powered blades – count target’s armour as one point lower when Attacking or Defending

Giant Spiders (lesser xenomorph)

Points 6

Attack 5+                 Attack Value 3+

Move Free (6+)         Defence Value 5+

Shoot 6+                  Shoot Value 5+ / 12”

Courage 4+             Maximum Movement 12”

Armour 3                 Strength Points 10

Special:

Open Order – does not halve movement in difficult terrain

Ranger – uses normal Attack/Defence profile in rough terrain

Swarm – 10 strength points

Stun weapons (webs) – hits from shooting do not cause strength point loss, but have double impact for

courage tests