Sonnenwende refought again

Tried operation Sonnenwende (Solstice) using Rapid Fire down at the club today, details of the scenario, etc can be found on GWP at
http://xsorbit30.com/users5/wargamesroom/index.php?topic=3701.0

We fought for 5 hours (12 moves) but didn't reach a final decision, but it was hardly likely that the German s would reach their objectives as their losses were being to mount and all the Russian reinforcements had arrived.

The real problem was the slow movement rates.roads and cross country rates and cross country half of that. As a result the Germans had only reached the top of the ridge. The high point of the game for me (as a Russian) was taking out one of the Tiger IIs with a mine and then managing to finish it off with a lucky shot from a Sherman 76mm.

Will

WW2 Russian 120mm Mortars

A sudden change of plan! I found when preparing for a game that I didn't have some elements of the Russian forces so it was off to my boxes so see what I could create/use.

I was short of MMGs but I just added in some WW1 MMGs so they should not be too noticeable. There was one extra 82mm mortar needed so I use a left over figure from the Italeri's Russian winter infantry. The big gap was 120mm mortars and for this I used the ones from the Pegasus Mortar set (I had bought an extra set just in case). The crews are a mix of Airfix and head swapped WW1 Russian Heavy Weapons figures. I also used these for some extra brigade commanders that I was missing. The radio operators had their caps cut down to side caps as well.


Till then, I'll be playing Operation Sonnewende using Rapid Fire rules.

Will

Original picture, taken when the light was fading

Ottoman Turks for BoB (2)

Some more close ups of the Turks for those interested, showing the artillery and the commanders



Will

WW2 Senegalese (2)

There have been some requests for some close ups so here they are
With some support

Will

WW2 Senegalese (1)

Virtually anywhere the Vichy forces fought the allies there were Senegalese present, so I had to have one to add to my Rapid Fire French forces

The figures are from the Waterloo 1815 Anglo-Egyptian army set as it's the only one providing fez's. The mortar and MG crews are head swaps onto some WW1 Ottomans. Given a shortage of French MGs I've equipped them with a WW1 German Maxim.

I see see several early war amphibious actions on the way, including Safi from the original Rapid Fire rules.

Will

Ottoman Turks for BoB (1)

Well, the first of my new purchases are finished, these are WW1 Ottoman Turks, which I intend to use for Russian Civil War/Back of Beyond games.

I've created four infantry companies, the same number of MGs and a couple of Artillery guns

I kept one of the German advisors just for fun, seen above explaining to the Turkish commander how to read a map

The guns are above, the colour looked OK to start, but they came out slightly greener than I would have liked. They are now a bit to similar to my Russian guns

A nice quick "army" to produce and a good start to reducing the pile of purchases

Will

On the workbench - July (2)

At last the big consignment from Harfields arrived with all the goodies I hadn't manged to find at recent shows.

1 x Anglo-Egyptian Army
1 x Maya Warriors
1 x Turkish Infantry (World War I)
3 x Ukrainian Foot Cossacks & Artillery
2 x Reitars Of Charles XII (Great Northern War)
1 x Russian Artillery Of Peter I
1 x Swedish Artillery Of Charles XII
2 x Lieb-Drabants Of Charles XII
6 x Parthian Light Cavalry
3 x Parthian Heavy Cavalry
1 x Turkish Janissaries
3 x Russian Infantry Of Peter The Great

What are they all for?

The Parthians were on offer and they will be used to build a WRG 6th Parthian army

The various Great Northern war stuff will start my move into the League of Augsburg/War of Spanish Secession period.

The Janissaries, plus another pack will be used for the LOA/WSS and also for the French in Eygpt 1798 (3)

The Maya will add some variety to my current Meso-American armies

The Waterloo 1815 Anglo Egyptians will be used for French Senegalese infantry (2)

The foot cossacks and artillery are to go with/against my renaissance Poles and the artillery can also be used against the French in Egypt

The Ottoman infantry are to go with the Ottoman artillery and be used for RCW/Back of beyond games. (1)

(1-3) will be the first areas I will focus on.

Will

Napoleonic Prussian Reservists

One of my background tasks is rebasing my Napoleonic armies and as I do so tidying them up. Here are two battalions of the Prussian 9th Reserve Regiment dominantly made up of Springfield British Light Infantry figures as the Regiment was supplied with uniforms by the British. Officially they do not carry flags, but unofficially many Reserve and Landwehr units carried them and as part of the upgrade I'm adding them because then units look better and they have fought in enough tabletop battles to deserve them.
Will

TYW Wagons

Earlier I had discussed the wagons I use for my TYW army. Here are three more, another two from the Airfix Waterloo play-set and an ammunition wagon converted from an artillery gun.

Will

TYW Lobsters

More completed, this time more Lobsters for my TYW Imperialist army. The army as a whole is made up of Revell TYW plastics, but I have never had enough lobsters. I found some 20mm ones available from Tumbling dice, so I bought a pack of the mounted figures to add to the plastic horses. Typically the pack was of 11 when I wanted 12 and also I discovered that the figures were significantly larger than the Revell ones so I couldn't mix them in one unit.

My solution was to use a overlarge figure from the artillery crew and convert him to a cavalry figure

Will

Chevy rescued from the bin

In amongst a pile of plastic figures and other rummage I received from my mate Roy was the remnants of a matchbox LRDG Chevrolet. I managed to find enough parts to fix it with a couple of bits from my bits box. It also needed some strengthening with chunks of polystyrene underneath where the axles were broken (this is one of the weakest parts of this kit). As I already have enough LRDG Chevys this one was converted into an ordinary truck by adding a tilt made from florists wire and tissue. The result is shown below with another one I built years ago.



Will

Beeps

The last of my purchases from Phalanx, Dodge 3/4T trucks.
The back two were already completed and based. Although I dislike bases these are nicely done and I decided to leave them as is. Two of other three were already assembled with a single coat of paint and the other was bought as a kit. The kit was a problem as someone had already started and had misassembled the front components of it, it took some time to carefully pare the parts apart. These three were then painted and decaled identically.

This means my US units now have sufficient transport. (As if this is ever true!)

Will

Sdkfz 250's

More from Phalanx, a 250/1 (Brittania?) and a 250/9 (SHQ?).
I had to strip the existing paintwork off of both these down and then repaint them, the 250/9 is definitely 1/76, but the 250/1 is around 1/72. I've got one 250/1 already, but I still need a few more to make up a Rapid Fire Recce Battalion.

For those who know about these things, the tracks on the 250/1 are the wrong way round, one of the penalties for buying off the B&B without checking carefully.

Will

Ambulance Jeep / Supply Dump

Finished some of my aquisitions from Phalanx, an ambulance jeep from Frontline and a supply dump set from Ironclad miniatures

The jeep is a seven part molding, the body, four wheels and the front and rear stretchers. The only addition is the driver from the Airfix/Heller GMC kit.

The supply dumps were just painted up.

Will

AWI rules blog added

I've created a new blog to support my AWI rules which have been used for over 25 years.

http://willawi.blogspot.com/

This site includes the rules (also found on Freewargames rules) FAQs and various other bits and pieces created over the years. Also a link to Tony De Lyall's updated version of my computer version of the rules.

Will

On the Workbench (July)

A funny feeling starting a month with virtually nothing on the bench. First off is completing and painting the Beeps I picked up at Phalanx. Two were assembled painted and based, two assembled and one still a kit.

Then there are the two 250s that need the paint stripped and repainted.

In the pile of rummage from Roy was a LRDG Chevy that needs repaired and painted, I've enough LRDG so it'll be used as a normal truck unless I think of anything else.

Finally on the vehicle front is the Frontline ambulance jeep.

For figures, I'll work on the TYW lobsters and also some more wagons for the period.

Will

Gauntlet/Rollcall over

It's been a busy couple of days but the combined Gauntlet/Rollcall event went well, far better than expected. The Free Trade stand was a success. I wasn't confident about it so I didn't advertise it, but it started at a moderate level on Saturday and doubled in size on Sunday. I managed to clear some of my old stuff and certainly far more than I expected. I didn't spend much either so for the first time ever I returned from a show with more cash than I started.

Will