Downed Pilot

 For our next 02 Hundred Hours game, we are going to play the 'Evade' scenario, in which a crashed pilot must avoid capture by the enemy.  For the focus of this game, I finally finished up this downed RAF pilot from Warlord Games.  

More French armour for 1940

 

My collection of French tanks for 1940 has expanded to include a SOMUA S35 and a Hotchkiss H35, from AGNM, originally mastered by Tony Ashcroft of NZWM.

The early war French tanks are my favourites, not based on their actual performance but for their art-deco aesthetics.  It helps that they have more interesting camouflage than the plain grey of the Wehrmacht or the two-tone green/brown tones of the BEF.  Of the French tanks, the S35 is the most interesting of the lot.  Its main drawback is the one-man turret, which overloads the tank commander with too many responsibilities.  The TC needs to load, aim and fire the tank's 47mm gun, as well as maintain situational awareness, locate and identify enemies and direct the driver.  However, in comparison with its rivals from other nations, the S35 had a powerful anti-tank gun (for 1940, at least), good armour thickness, and was reasonably fast at 40km/h.

The Hotchkiss H35 was very similar to the Renault R35.  Both had the same turret and 37mm gun, and the H35 was only marginally different in armour and speed - as in, way too slow, at 28 km/h it was barely faster than the 20 km/h of the R35.  Like the R35, the H35 comes across as an updated Renault FT-17.  

Here are a couple of comparison shots of the H35 and R35 - size difference is minimal, but I am pleased to have both represented in my collection.

I have one more R35 in my collection, a Waffenkammer model painted by Doug to represent the Italian R35s that counterattacked the American Operation Husky landings on Sicily in 1943.

All four French tanks together.

I also finished up a couple of Warlord Games snipers in ghillie suits.  Nominally British snipers, I'm sure they could stand in for snipers from other nationalities as needed.

Italian Armour

 Now that I've started an Italian force, I need to consider providing them some support.  Fortunately, I already had a few Italian vehicles!  

The AB41 Armoured Car and Semovente M41 da 75/18 were previously in the collection as German beutepanzer.  I have repainted/reflagged them to their original owners.

In addition, Doug gave me a Renault R-35 that he carefully researched based on the Italian counter-attack against the American landing at Gela during Operation Husky.  It's a beautiful model, and Doug went full on into it, with a commander who can be removed, with a door on a hinge that can be closed.

And as a final bonus, Doug also gave me a turret of a M14/41 medium thank that has been dug into the ground as a 'Tobruk' gun emplacement.

German reinforcements

 It's been a couple of months since my last post, apologies for the lack of content.  Things have been busy.  Painting and gaming have been on the back burner, but still slowly progressing.

First up, a German command pack from Warlord Games!  Naturally, there is the stern commander, complete with monocle, who will is a fantastic looking figure but will likely only take part in a pulp-style adventure game!  Of more practical use are the medic and the forward observer/radio operator.  And of course, one more tough, veteran NCO with MP40.  He certainly looks the part, but I really have more of these SMG-wielding NCOs than I have need for!

In the Chain of Command Blitzkrieg 1940 book, some German platoon are allocated 4 squads, and on most lists even for the 3-squad platoons, a fourth platoon is a support option.  Accordingly, I decided I needed another squad, "just in case".  These troops are from Artizan Designs.  Although the other troops in the platoon are from Crusader, I wanted to add these Artizans for the fourth squad, partly for variety and also because Mike Owen, Artizan's owner and sculptor, actively collaborated with Mark Sims of Crusader to ensure the figures would be compatible.  Strictly speaking, the Artizan figures are designed for 1942, so there are some minor uniform differences with the 1939/40 uniforms of the Crusaders.  I'm not sufficiently educated in these details to spot the differences, though!

Another option from the Blitzkrieg book is to field Germans with antiquated, World War I era equipment.  To allow for this option, I picked up some Great War Miniatures Germans armed with MG08/15 machine guns.  In this case, I CAN spot some of the differences with the WWII uniforms!  I did minor modifications (scraping away the puttees and painting them to look like boots), but at arm's length, they will serve just fine, and will show which squads have the obsolete machine gun instead of the MG34.

I also procured another Panzer IV for my German forces on Sicily.  I did this as I volunteered to host a game of What A Tanker at the Trumpeter Society's annual Trumpeter Salute convention next weekend, and I wanted 4 German medium tanks to counter the 4 Sherman tanks that I've lined up to face them!  This tank is a Warlord Games model, painted to match the other German armour I've already got.  

German Halftracks

 I had great fun using Universal Carriers to support my Canadians in a couple of my Op Husky games, so I'm certain that the Germans could benefit from getting their own iconic halftracks.

Wargamers seem to love complicated names for these vehicles.  There seems to be a requirement to know complicated terms like Sd.Kfz 251/1 or 250 or whatever, and to keep up with whether something is a 251/1 or a 251/10.  For me, I'll focus on them being halftracks (or possibly Schützenpanzerwagen if I absolutely a German name).

These two halftracks are from Die Waffenkamer (aka JTFM) in German Grey for 1940, and from Warlord Games in dunkelgelb for Sicily in 1943.

For both vehicles, the passengers may be removed, in case I need to show that the squad has dismounted.  I couldn't get a good photo, but each vehicle also has a driver hidden inside.

So here they are, ready to dash around the tabletop battelfield!

Waltzing Matilda

 My collection of armour for 1940 continues to expand, and now the BEF is getting some support in the form of an A.12 Matilda II infantry tank.  The Matilda II turned out to be one of the most effective tanks in the Battle of France.  While it was not enough to turn the tide of that campaign, it really found its opportunity to shine in the North Africa campaign, as well as in the Australian army in the Pacific.

This is a plastic model is from Warlord Games.  I was a bit frustrated that the part numbers were not stamped on the sprues, as one usually finds.  I also replaced the tank commander figure with a metal TC figure from Perry Miniatures.  

Decals are the ones that come with the kit, including the white rectangle BEF recognition marks.  These were apparently known sarcastically as 'aiming points' for enemy AT guns!

Char B1 bis from Italeri

For my 1940 campaign, I may have the option of supporting my British platoon with some French armour, so I decided to add this Italeri/Warlord Char B1 bis to my collection.

The kit includes quite a selection of decals.  I chose to use the decals for 'Indochine' of the 2^e Division Cuirassée, aka the 2e DCR or 2nd Armoured Division.

The commander is removable.  He looks fine when he's in the turret, but a bit like a double amputee when he's out of it!