Misc WW2 vehicles

Just finished a number of oddments. The Dorchester Armoured Command Vehicle (ACV) is from Brittani and it will meet my needs for a Rapid Fire command team and provide some protection

In front is a repainted Oxford Diecast providing a commanders run-about, it is slightly on the small side so i haven't found any suitable crew yet.

The other is a BP Casts Dodge 6x4 1.5ton truck, that I bought from another club member. With the screen down and no tilt it's a bit boring it's also not the crispest casting

Warrior Bazaar

Just back from a trip to Bolton to the new show "Warrior Bazaar", there were plenty of traders but only a limited number of demo/participation games. The venue seemed spacious, but that might have been due to a low number of wargamers attending, but it would be difficult for me to judge. I didn't buy much as it's only a short time since Salute/Triples and I'm still waiting for the HaT plastics to arrive, their two latest releases have still not arrived in shops yet.

What I did acquire was another Matchbox Panzer III and a much sought after Edai Mobelwagen. Unfortunately the Modelwagen is missing three of the side panels so I'll have to scratch build some replacements.

I also picked up a couple of cheap Airfix Panzer IV's and an Osprey on the SYW Austrian Grenzers.

Back to face the Zulus

After quite a period I've added some new units to my Imperial forces, this comes after a quite successful defence of a British column just over a week ago down at the club by Andrew and Pete.

Firstly a unit I've intended to create for a number of years, the Natal Native Horse (NNH) . I don't want to be specific about which troop but by preference I would go for the Edendale Horse. The figures are the HaT NNH


I also bought the HaT British mounted infantry but I already had these made from Esci Zulu Wars British combined with the old standby the Airfix ACW Union Cavalry. So here are the Natal Mounted Police in their washed out black uniforms (dark brown)

In both cases as well as duplicating the mounted figures on foot I have added a couple of horse holders as well.

If you are interested in my rules they can be found on Pete's Free Wargames Rules site

G'day mate

Phew, 96 Australian figures finished, these are the major par of my contribution to this years SOGG big game.

Firstly the 8th Australian battalion (all SHQ except the MMG) very nice figures that demanded a good paint job. Strictly they should all be helmeted, but you wouldn't know they are Australians so I used a 50/50 mix of slouch and helmeted figures)

The 11th Australian battalion (all Revell Australians plus a few odd head swap figures from other WW2 sets)

For those who were interested in the compatibility of the two ranges here are the spare figures. depending on the figures you pick they can look close enough (e.g. the standing firing figure or the kneeling bren gunner) but others are more bulky (such as the officer and running tommy gunner)

The only item still missing from each battalion is a medic figure.

The next task for the SOGG big game is the Greek infantry and gendarmes.

Thunder on the Danube

Given I'm painting nearly a 100 Australians and it will be a few days before they are finished I thought I'd comment on my recent reading.

"Thunder on the Danube 1809" by John H Gill is an excellent account of the various actions leading up to and including the battle of Aspern-Essling

I found the book newly purchased on my local library shelves and despite having a reading backlog I borrowed it. I'm glad I did, as I have read a lot on the 1809 campaign, starting many years back with an expensive (for a student) purchase of Petre's book on the campaign, but this book is the best so far , and I'm only half way through!

What makes it so good is the authors attention to detail and the copious use of maps that make all the difference in understanding what the armies are doing. Already the battles of Ebelsberg and Linz are calling out for gaming, together with a lot of ideas for smaller actions.

The trouble is, off course, that I've started with volume 2 , so I'll have to get the other two volumes via the library and I think I'll have to re-read my copy of Petre before perhaps selling it!?

Auster AOP VI

The last of my current spate of aircraft is the Auster mark6 Air Observation Post. This is a post war variant included in the Airfix Auster Antactica kit, however it's close enough to the wartime version so it is now available for use in the Achse & Avalanche game.

RF North Africa - old & new

Having purchased the new RF book (link) and at Steve the wargamers request I've tried to identify the differences between the two versions of these Rapid Fire Books.



The two big differences are that the new book is in colour and with lots of nice pictures, and that the size of the units are much reduced. Typically they are 2-3 times smaller than in the previous book.

I believe these changes are as a result of last years big game as it would be apparent to anyone looking through the game photo's (link) that any ordinary wargamer or club could not easily muster the forces involved. The book scales the divisions down to strong brigades or Kampfgruppe, while maintaining them as reasonably balanced formations. What I mean by this is that not all the components of a formation are scaled equally, but the result gives a playable force.

The other improvement in the book is that it is clearer about the forces needed for the various operations/battles covered, but does not give exact scenario/set up details so it is more suited to a mini campaign game.