Normandy British - Armour and Support

Well, as promised here is an update on my 20mm Normandy British. I've been building this up for the last year, using the Guild forum's project build to track my progress. I must say I'm very surprised to say that i have a fully gameable British force, which has been seeing a fair bit of action at the local gaming club. We've been playing with some homebrew fastplay rules, but I'm looking forward to picking up a copy of Rich Clark's latest, I Ain't Been Shot Mum, version 3 while over in the UK.

My force will be based around an infantry platoon - perhaps eventually expanding to a company - from the 6th King's Own Scots Border Regiment, part of the 15th Scottish Division which held off the 9th and 10th SS Panzer divisions in its combat debut during Operation Epsom and then went on to fight in Bluecoat and through to the end of the war in Europe.

A Few more Bits of Brits

Well the commission work has been going along at a great rate of knots, and the long-promised piccies of Late Roman infantry and Germanic tribesmen are not far off now. A shoutout is required to my very long suffering client, who has been most understanding during my uni and prac madness these last few months.

Anyway, while you're all waiting for the late antiquity figures, i though i should post up some pics of my British platoon as i've had a couple of requests.

As i've said before, the infantry are mostly plastic soldier company, with a smattering of the excellent Kelly's Heroes figures to add some character. After reading Ian Daglish's superb 'Over The Battlefield' book on Operation Epsom, i've decided to paint this force up as a platoon from the 6th Battalion, Kings Own Scottish Borderers, from the 15th Scottish Division which had it's baptism of fire around the towns of Cheux and St Manvieu during Operation Epsom. The shoulder insignia is from various photos and also from Osprey's 'British Battle Insignia (2) 1939-1945. These guys were the first fully finished gaming unit I'd ever actually completed.

They had their own baptism of fire this past Wednesday night, where true to form for newly finished armies, they suffered a major defeat at the hand of Mick's Germans. the scenario was a beach assault, where myself, and two other allied players assaulted across the dunes and into a small town defended by three German players. We are using a home brewed set of rules which is simple, fast and fun, and takes a fair bit of inspiration from Rapid Fire. As all members are first time gamers, it's a great way to get our heads around the way things work, gradually adding more and more as we go. I'd eventually like to persuade the blokes at club to give Troops Weapons and Tactics a try, as I love the way Lardies rules emphasise the role of 'Big Men' overcoming the chaos and 'friction' of the battlefield. That, and the historian in me believes that they really do represent the way platoon battles actually took place. For those of you interested in such things, I'd direct you to Lardies head honcho Rich Clark's fantastic blog post on 'Friction or Fiction' which he presented at Historicon. Here's the link http://toofatlardies.co.uk/blog/?p=508.

Anyway, enough of my proselytizing, on to some pictures, and there are quite a few this update.

First off, the platoon HQ. This consists of the platoon leader, a lieutenant, the platoon sergeant, a two man 2" mortar team, two man PIAT team, and just for the hell of it, a sniper. These figs are all Kelly's Heroes. Closeups of the mortar team and the two platoon leaders are in my last posting.



Next up, the final two infantry sections. Like the first section shown in my last post, each section has a corporal with sten gun as section leader, a three man bren gun team and a six man rifle team. I've painted a small strip of colour on the back of the bases to differentiate each section.




Now, some support. Our first game scenario was a beach assault, and called for some armoured support. I've had a trio of the Britannia minis DD Shermans lying around and decided to do this one up as from the 13/18th Hussars, which supported the landings on Sword Beach. The crewman is from AB figures, the sculpting of these is absolutely amazing.


Being that my platoon with one lousy Tommy Cooker and a mortar supporting was assaulting a German platoon with armour, AT gun and mortar support, i thought that i might need a little extra help from the Royal Artillery. I'd painted up this AB figures spotting team, only to discover that off board support was not yet in the rules. Still, they looked pretty and will provide sterling service in future battles.


Now, these guys haven't yet seen action, but they are part of my 'toolkit' of platoon support. First off is a Milicast Churchill IXLT, an uparmoured Churchill III. This is painted up from A Squadron, 9 RTR which supported the 15th Scots during Operation Epsom. The commander is another of the lovely AB figures.


Next up is a troop from the 15th Reconnaissance Regiment, RAC. The 15th Recce was the eyes and ears of the 15th Scots division. The vehicles are all Raventhorpe RTR from Pete at Battlescape, the car commander sitting out of the hatch is from AB.


Finally, a couple of armoured cars from the 2nd Household Cavalry, the armoured car regiment which supported the 11th Armoured division - and arguably the 15th Scots - during Operation Bluecoat. Reading Daglish's book on Bluecoat, i've always loved the story of how two armoured cars under command of Lt. Dickie Powle managed to slip through enemy lines and seize the bridge over the Souleuvre (which has come to be known as 'Dickie's Bridge') enabling the 11th Armoured to break through German lines. So, this is a Daimler AC (Hasegawa with Britannia commander) and Daimler Dingo (Britannia) under command of Lt Dickie Powle. The Staghound is included because i like the look of these beasts, it's from Raventhorpe RTR, and marked up for the 2nd Household's regimental HQ. The turret camo netting is a method taken from C_Collins over on the guild, and not only looks great but covers up some dodgy casting on the gun mantlet.


For the Beach assault scenario, i also had some of the Defence in Depth 'Tobruk' bunkers i'd purchased from Grubby along with the Kelly's heroes stuff. The two gunners with the shields came with the resin tobruks, the bloke with the MG34 is from AB. I based them on wire, and drilled holes in the cupolas so they can be moved around and removed to show if the bunker is occupied or not. The bunkers painted up nicely, and provided a perhaps unneeded speed hump for us allied players.


Finally, a couple of group shots, one of the platoon with the Churchill and 6 pounder in support, and another of all the vehicles.


That's the Brits for now. I've got a troop of Shermans and a Firefly to paint up as from 11th Armoured, as well as some bits and pieces including a Crocodile and a Morris LRC armoured car i want to use as a forward observer for the RAF. I'd ideally like to expand this force to a full company in time for the release of IABSM3, but that depends on my uni and commission workload next semester.

Now, back to finishing off those Late Romans.

Biting off more than i can chew

Well, here I am again, and as promised I’ve got some pics of a Spitfire 1a and a teaser for my WWII Hungarians. I’m almost finished the second of four planned 10 man rifle sections, and am about halfway through a StuG platoon so will post more pictures in a future update. For now you’ll have to content yourselves with the picture on the right, which is my first ‘Big Man’, Százados (or Captain) György Takács, conferring with a motorised rifleman in front of a Toldi IIa light tank. Tank and big man are from Shellhole Scenics, grunt is from Liberation minis and tank commander is an AB Italian.

Tomorrow I’m going to be getting on with some commission work, hoping to get most of a 12 man unit of Late Roman Legion, the Legio Fortenses, completed.

Considering that 2010 marks the 70^th anniversary of the Battle of Britain and all, I decided to go off on a painting tangent and paint up an Airfix Spitfire. Building the kit took me back, as I haven’t built a plastic airplane kit since I was about 14! I am pleased to say that I managed to complete the build with considerably less gluey fingerprints on the canopy than I remember.

I spent a fair amount of time painting up the pilot, who was then all but hidden in the cockpit. Oh well, I’ve posted a WIP picture of him so you can see him in all his glory. I stole the idea for the flight stand from a modelling forum, and am happy at the way it turned out. I’m going to eventually get a brass engraved plate with the squadron, airfield and date of the plane. Which by the way is No.234 Squadron based at Middle Wallop in August 1940.

In amongst all of these tangents, I’ve been busily planning my D-Day Ouistreham/Riva Bella setup. I’ve picked up some 2’x2’ 6mm MDF board to use as a base for the foam, and have drawn up a rough overview of what I plan to build. I have a feeling that I may be biting off rather a lot to chew, but as my great-uncle Tom used to say ‘aim high, if you don’t quite make it you’re still pretty well off. If you aim low and fail, then you’re in a spot of bother.’

So, if any of you can decipher my scribble, you’ll see by the plan that I’m going to be building up a series of 2’ sq boards, 3 deep and four across. These will represent the area from the German defensive position, or Wiederstandnest 10(b) at Riva Bella through to the mouth of the Caen canal. Even at this size, I’ve had to take a lot of liberties with the layout, and Ouistreham find itself a lot smaller than in reality. I’m going to start with the Casino board, then move onto the WN10b board with the anti-tank wall. Big project, but I don't go back to uni till the end of February so i have to do something to occupy myself, right. :)

I really want to include a selection of the different bunker types, as well as the Casino the 17m high artillery observation post, the flak tower and the light gauge ‘chemin de fer du calvados’ railway with Riva Bella station. Most of the bunkers and some of the buildings will be constructed from blue foam and then coated in filler, stippled and scored before painting. I’m also planning to have them with removable rooves and basic interiors to give Jerry somewhere to hide. I’ve already started on the Casino itself, which contrary to Mr Zanuck and The Longest Day, only consisted of fortified foundations, the superstructure having been removed by the Germans.

So, where am I getting all this from? Firstly, I'm using photos I took on my travels around the area and reprints of the original BIGOT 1:25000 scale maps for Ouistreham and Sword Beach. For bunker layouts, the guys over at the Atlantic Wall forums have heaps of info, including diagrams, of pretty much any bunker you need. I’ve thus far done up plans for bastardised versions of the H644 bunker (with an armoured MG turret), the H626 (with a field gun) and personnel shelters. For anyone interested, the forum, mostly French language, can be found at http://atlantikwall.superforum.fr/forum.htm

In addition to online sources and the Osprey and Battleground Sword Beach books, the fantastic Gold, Juno Sword by Georges Bernage published by Heimdal has been my bible. This book has amazing detail, and is really a must for anyone even slightly interested in the British and Canadian beaches. It gives a great overview of the German defences and the forces involved – including commanders and 2ICs for the individual companies. The description of the action is very detailed, and the book is packed with loads of rare images. Can you tell I’m a fan?

Anyway, a reminder to check out my eBay listings, and I’ll be back soon with some more Hungarian pictures, and hopefully another legion.

For now, here are some pictures of my plans for the first two Riva Bella / Ouistreham boards, as well as the H644, H626 and shelter bunkers. The figures and guns are Britannia 20mm.

Schools out for summer!

Well, I've officially finished my first year of uni! The assessment period was pretty intense, but I've managed to get through it. Now just to wait for my marks!
Needless to say, with all this crazy uni business, I've not had a lot of time for painting, but as I'm not going back to study until the end of February, I've got a little time to catch up. :)

These guys are the first of two bases of Franks i need for my Basic Impetus Patrician Roman army. The figures are from gripping beast, and while i would have liked to include a few helmeted figures, I'm actually really happy with them. I've gone for colourful-yet-dirty look for the tunics, as the sources are universal in disparaging the barbarians for their ostentatious dress, which was generally seen by the restrained Romans as effeminate. The shields patterns are from LBMS.

So, I've only got two more bases to complete this army! Very scary indeed. At the moment I'm about 80% of the way through a commission of Late Romans, so might post some pictures of them when I'm done. It's a 12 man unit from the Primani legion. After that, i'll be finishing off the last two bases, another lot of GB Franks and some of the fantastic Goth cavalry by Bill over at Musketeer miniatures.

What with all this spare time, while I'll mostly be busy with commission work, I've also decided to set myself a new project to stop myself going mad. Back in 2008, i spent a few months travelling around Europe with my girlfriend Laura. We spent a bit over two weeks camping in Normandy. Besides enjoying he fantastic food and great cider, we visited quite a few historical sites. By the end of the two weeks, my very patient girl was, shall we say, a little over bunkers. Still, i made it up to her by a few days in Saumur in the Loire valley.

Anyway, perhaps the most captivating and emotive place I visited was Sword Beach, particularly Hillman battery, located just inland above Colleville-Montgomery. I've always wanted to do some kind of project based around the landings on Sword, originally in 28mm.

Well, inspired by TSM's great Sword-related terrain over on the Guild and the SD forums, i've sold off all of my 28mm WWII figures, and am diving into 1/72, or 20mm WWII. I've dug out my copy of the Too Fat Lardies 'I Ain't Been Shot Mum' company level rules, and have decided that i'll base my project around these, as i really like the 'big man' philosophy of Rich's rules. I bought IABSM a year or so ago for a WWII Hungarian project that's still at least partly in the lead mountain.

So, my initial plan for Sword is to do up some terrain based around capitaine de corvette Phillipe Kieffer's Free-French commando attack on Ouistreham, specifically the Ouistreham casino and the huge Observation Bunker. I visited the Observation bunker, which is now a great little museum about the Atlantic wall. The bunker itself is a very imposing structure, and provides a great view Sword beach from the top. I've included a few pics i took of the bunker below. In the one of the view from the top, the modern casino is the blue roof in the centre of frame. Over on the french language Blitzkrieg forums, I've found a very inspiring 20mm Ouistreham casino by Captain Yaputo. As was the case on D-Day, despite 'the Longest Day' and a fair few premade scenery items, Yaputo has modelled the bunker with the casino building demolished and with the AT ditch and fence. I'm going to use this for inspiration.

As far as forces go, I'm initially looking at painting up a Commando Troop of around 60 figures, and a couple of opposing German platoons. Being 20mm and WWII, they'll take a lot less time than intricately detailed 28mm Late Romans!

While AB make the figures I need and look fantastic, my crappy student income means that the majority of my troops will be coming from Britannia, possibly with Battlefield commandos. I do really like Britannia figures though, and some of the guys over on the Guild forums have shown just what can be done with these figures.

Anyway, enjoy the pics of the Franks, and i'll endeavor to have some pics of the Primani up early next week.