Kit bash: British Airborne Mortar Team

Continuing on with my British Airborne project I have completed a medium mortar team including spotter with all the crew replaced with kit-bashed plastic kit. As mentioned in my Panzerschreck post I don't like warlords metals and the fact that they are slightly off scale to their plastics has always bugged me.

Real British Airborne with 3" mortar (from http://www.justordinarymen.org.uk)

 

Inspired by other wargamers who have done similar things (mainly the excellent work from Ste) I set about making my crew from a series of British Airborne and SS plastic bits. The mortar is the metal mortar which comes with the British airborne army box. The results of the crew are below:

My Bolt action British Airborne with 3" mortar.

 

Each crew member was built as follows:

The yelling loader guy was made from British airborne parts and is holding a PIAT shell in his left hand (I know not historically accurate but it gets the job done). His right arm is an SS hand which was holding a Kar98 which I've just clipped out. I imagine he is about to yell out "Fire in the hole!"

The map reader is another simple enough arm swap. The left hand holding the map is from the SS box and was an easy fit onto the airborne body. I tried to make him look focused on the map and he is preparing to write some note on there.

Next up is the ammo box loader guy. This was a simple conversion with a polish airborne head and British Airborne arms. The left hand was clipped from the hand holding the sten magazine and put onto an extended arm. The ammo box is from the US airborne sprue and the 'mortar' shells are spare PIAT shells from the airborne sprues. I like to imagine he's fiddling with the traversing knob or perhaps even the elevating crank!

Finally we have the spotter who had a simple handswap to be holding the binoculars and a pointing hand from the SS sprue. He also has the map case and pistol from the SS sprue. I suppose this guy could also double as an air/artillery observer.

All in all I think they capture the look and feel of a mortar team in action and these few simple conversions have given me a dynamic and unique team in plastic which I really prefer. This was a fun little project and my next one will be to make a plastic gun team for the 6pdr Anti-tank team!

Signing out,

Chewie

Battle report: The battle of Oosterdam

We recently had an awesome game of bolt action where I debuted my British Airborne Army which is currently a WIP. We played the scenario 'Supply Drop' which I got from TabletopCP on youtube. The rules are as follows: At the beginning of turn 4 a total of 3 supply drop objectives will land on the board in a random location determined by a scatter dice. The first supply drops in the centre of the board, and the other two are 6" +3D6" away from it in opposite directions. Holding an objective at the end of the game awards 3 victory points and 1 victory point is gained for each enemy unit totally destroyed. 

The town of Oosterdam

September 1944 - A rag tag paratroop from the British 1st Airborne Division have found themselves massively off course and landed in the small Dutch town of Oosterdam. Luckily the Luftwaffe units defending the village were easily startled and retreated giving the British troops time to regroup and organise. Hopelessly outnumbered and in disarray 2nd Lieutenant Phil Cromwell has requested a supply drop directly onto the town to give his men the much needed food, water and ammunition to hold back the Germans until friendly troops can arrive. Just as luck would have it, the ruthless SS-Untersturmführer Von Schnitz had been on leave in the area and upon hearing of the British airborne assault tasked himself with destroying the Brits before they can receive their support from the incoming armored divisions.

The paras advance under the cover of the Jeeps MG.

Sergeant Harris placed the MP40 down on the banks and filled his canteen from the river coursing through the town. He wished he hadn't lost his rifle on the jump but the German machine pistol would have to do until those supplies came. Suddenly the peaceful drink break was interrupted by the rumble of tracks and engine from the Western side of town. Harris saw a German Hanomag filled with SS men advancing across the fields and towards the bridge in the centre of town. "BRING UP THE PIAT!" he yelled to his men who were taking cover in the nearby buildings. "The Germans are attacking!" 

Pvt Evans gets the PIAT into position.

SS-Untersturmführer Von Schnitz watched the British airborne scramble to action and to take up their positions through his binoculars. He ordered the Sdkfz 251 to advance while his sniper, MG42 team and Luftwaffe supporting units ran across the fields towards the cover of the towns buildings. Machine gun fire from the airborne jeep peppered the German infantry pinning them in the open. The paratroopers advanced under the cover of the jeeps fire and made their way for the very same buildings the Germans had in their sights.

Pvt Evans wasted no time in getting the PIAT into position to destroy the Hanomag before the SS troops could dismount. He stuck to the edge of the bombed out buildings to avoid the machine gun fire and advanced slowly and cautiously. A German sniper shot rang out and clanged off the bonnet of the jeep causing the driver to go down and startling the crew. Small arms fire between the Luftwaffe squads and the Paras resulted in casualties on both sides and a well placed Panzershreck shell blasted the building Sergeant Harris was now sheltering in, showering the old sergeant in plaster and dust.

SS troops taking cover in the rubble.

Suddenly the Sdkfz 251 streamed forward firing its machine gun into the paratrooper squads amongst the ruins. Stg44 fire crackled as a torrent of bullets tore through the brickwork and caused many casualties to the paratroopers despite them hitting the deck. The Bren gun in a neighboring squad returned the favor and peppered the SS fanatics, killing their SS-Unterscharführer as they took cover amongst the ruble. Following this, a well place sniper shot made sure the SS soldiers kept their heads down.  Meanwhile on the opposite banks of the river, the Luftwaffe squads entered the buildings by the road and began to fire at Cromwell and his paratroopers as they crossed the field.

The paras capture the building from the Germans

As the battle raged on, none of the soldiers heard the supply plane flying overhead until the cargo canisters landed right before them with a hard thud. One supply drop landed amongst the British men, another next to the German sniper team taking cover in a bombed out apartment and the final one landed square in the centre of the bridge over the river. Lieutenant Cromwell knew this was the moment for action and the battle would be lost if his men did not secure those supplies. With a mighty cry of "Wooahh Mohammad!" he charged into the nearest building Sten gun blazing. His men cried out with him and charged into the neighboring building and a bloody melee ensued. Cromwell and his adjutant took down two Germans before the young Lieutenant was fatally struck with a sharpened entrenchment tool. The paratroopers in the building next door, however, were successful in capturing the building and killed every last Luftwaffe soldier within right before the eyes of Von Schnitz!

Evans firing his PIAT.

Inspired by the war cry of his comrades, Pvt Evans rushed forwards towards the Hanomag and readied his PIAT. With a clink the large spring sprung and launched a shell directly through the frontal armor of the halftrack. The shell rattled the crew within and showered them with a spray of dust and shrapnel. The SS Fanatics advanced into the crater Evans and his loader were hiding in and executed the men with Stg44 fire. In swift vengeance a nearby paratrooper squad charged into the same crater and killed the SS fanatics in a brutal combat that left the British with many casualties.

The supplies are secured!

 

 The sudden surge and terrifying cries of the British Airborne began to take its toll on the Luftwaffe soldiers, they wanted this war to end and weren't ready to die for an SS Untersturmführer. The soldiers pulled back and fired wildly into the buildings hiding the British paratroopers. Despite being heavily pinned and unable to move the stubborn paratroopers held on and did not flee their position. At this critical moment Sergent Evans rallied his men and charged forward onto the bridge to capture the vital supply drop. SS-Untersturmführer Von Schnitz surveyed the field and realized he had no choice but to pull his men back  - with a final Seig Heil he retreated from Oosterdam to wait for reinforcements. He only hoped that his reinforcements would arrive before the British armor!

A convincing British victory with 9 points to 5 and it was an absolute treat to get the new army on the table. The scenario was a great one and a change in the position of the supply drops could have easily swung the result of the game either way as the British right flank (where the supplies ended up dropping) was well reinforced compared to the left. As always it was awesome to play some bolt action and I'm already looking forward to our next game!

Signing out,

Chewie
 

Kit Bash: Plastic Panzerschreck Team

Looking to take a break from my current British airborne project I decided to return to my German army and bought a box of plastic Waffen SS to get some more bad guys for my British to shoot!

As I have a lot of basic infantry I thought I would make a support team next and decided on making a Panzerschreck (or Raketenpanzerbüchse 54) team entirely kit bashed from plastic. I really dislike the Warlord bolt action metals as they are hard to work with and seem to be a slightly smaller scale than the plastics which is very annoying!

A German soldier aims his Panzerschreck

I mainly used parts from the British airborne PIAT arms and Waffen SS kit with the barrel and panels of the Panzerschreck made from a spare barrel and pieces from the Rubicon STUG III model. I used a few photos as reference for this strange but interesting weapon and am very happy with how it bashed together.

 

I then added a 'loader' using the PIAT team ammo arm (not historically accurate but it looks the part). For the paint job I decided to go with the SS Plane Tree Camo and followed this guide posted by Warlord.

Overall I'm happy with how the team turned out and it was a great little project!

Signing off,

Chewie

Battle Report: Counter attack on Carentan.

We have finally got around to playing the final battle in our (almost) year long bolt action Normandy campaign. The final German counter attack on Carentan to throw the US out of the city and send the invasion crumbling into the sea! The table was set up like so:

The outskirts of Carentan with bocage to be defended by the US Airborne!

Thunderous booms filled the afternoon air as preliminary bombardment from the nearby 88 battery crashed down into the bocage which was being held by the infantry of the 101st US airborne. Heavily pinned and losing a few men in the bombardment, the American forces braced for a fierce German counterattack. 

The bombarded US line holds ready for the German advance.

"Schnell! Schnell!" cried Leutnant Von de Hydte Jnr over the rumbling roar of the StuG's engines as it tore up the road towards the defended hedgerows. The German infantry quickly snapped to action and began running for cover as they approached the vital town. Fire from both sides was ineffective as the hedges concealed the US forces and the crew of the 57mm anti tank gun were unable to find mark on the advancing German armor.

Lt Summers stared across the field as the German infantry charged towards his position backed by their heavy armor. He ordered his men to hold the line and continue firing, there was no reason to leave their heavily defended position and he knew the enemy would have to come to them if they wanted to seize victory this day. The fire on the German infantry intensified as they advanced, however, sticking to cover and backed by a StuG in their centre and Puma armored car on their flank the men were able to reduce the number of causalities they sustained on the advance. The 57mm anti tank gun fired rapidly at the incoming StuG but each shell missed its mark and crashed into the field and hedges of the area. Mortar fire on the American position intensified and the entire crew of the anti tank gun were killed instantly by a direct hit!

Backed by heavy armor the German forces charge the line

Emboldened by the destruction of the enemy anti tank gun, the German forces pushed up to the hedgerow and began to assault the Americans in their positions. A fierce melee erupted with spade and bayonet and many US and Germans were killed in the frenzy, including Lt Summers. Despite heavy losses the German infantry were able to overpower their US enemies  consolidating across the hedge line and into the key positions. The StuG rumbled up to the hedge and cannon and machine gun fire began wreaking havoc on the dug in paratroopers further up the line. All looked grim as the centre of the American line began to crumble under the weight of the German attack.

A deadly face off between US and German armor!

Suddenly, the grinding of tank treads could be heard coming down the Western road. The US cheered and hollered as a Sherman from the 2nd armored division rumbled onto the battlefield supported by infantry from the 29th Army division. The Sherman's main gun fired at the StuG and while the shot found purchase, the shell glanced from its heavy side armor. The fresh infantry reserves rapidly counterattacked the German grenadiers who were positioned on the hedge line and killed them to the man, reclaiming the key position! The StuG quickly pivoted and fired back the Sherman but the surprised crew could not fire accurately and missed their mark. 

Lt Von de Hydte Jnr grit his teeth as he watched the American army troops reinforce the battered paratroopers. A counter attack at this pivotal moment could turn the tide of battle and throw his forces back from Carentan. He ordered the men on his Western flank to ignore the Sherman and to seize the objectives being held by the few remaining paratroopers. The troops obeyed and rushed onto the point

The US army counter attacked proved deadly for the grenadiers.

around the back of the American tank, cutting down an American mortar spotter in the process. The Sherman tank commander was not distracted by the infantry swarming nearby and ordered his gunner to fire another anti tank round at the StuG down the road. The shell screamed across the battlefield and slammed into the front of the assault gun knocking it out and killing the crew. A second explosion rang out as a bazooka shell slammed into the Puma and stunned the crew of the armored car.

Surrounded and outnumbered - the Germans surrender

Lt Von de Hydte knew that this battle was lost, the American forces were rallying and his own troop numbers had dwindled to the point that no reasonable attack could be launched. He ordered his men to throw down their arms and surrender. The invasion would be a success and the allies would secure a foothold in the West!

A convincing US victory in another cracker game of bolt action!  Starting the paratroopers in hard cover while the Germans advanced across the field might have proven a bit unbalanced but who cares it was somewhat historically accurate and very fun! Once again the game was littered with funny moments and crazy dice rolls which is what it's all about. 

That concludes our campaign with a final score of 4 US victories, 2 German victories and 1 draw - Overall a major US victory (history repeating itself it seems!). While this finishes off our Normandy campaign this is by no means the end of our bolt action games. I have some loose plans to do an Operation Market Garden campaign in the future and there are a few cool scenarios I want to try out that I've seen on Youtube and Reddit.  I also plan to post a few more painting and model pics for my new British Airborne army.

The hobby has been awesome and I'm really enjoying it with no signs of slowing down, so until next time.

Signing off,

Chewie

British Airborne Project - 3rd army

Like with all addictions it's impossible to know when to stop and bolt action is no different. Inspired by a deadly combination of Antony Beevor's Arnhem: The battle for the bridges, 1944 and the 1977 war-epic A bridge too far I have decide to start a third bolt action army - British Airborne.

So far this venture has begun with only a single purchase of the Warlord games British Airborne box and the Market Garden Campaign book. I am planning to make a small veteran force to represent the 1st Airborne Division from Operation Market Garden (and maybe can double up as the 6th Airborne from D-days Pegasus bridge). 

 

The beginnings of the army

For colour scheme I have decided to follow Sonic Sledgehammer Studio's How I Paint Things - British Denison Smocks guide (Link). 

To start the army off here is the 2nd Lt and man armed with Sten guns.

 They were a treat to paint and very keen for putting together this new army.

 Signing off,

Chewie

 

Army Showcase: German Heer

As our campaign has been delayed for a little while I thought it would be nice to follow up from the US Army showcase with a look at the German forces which have stared in the Normandy battle reports!

The army is loosely based on Western Europe 1944 and could be used for Normandy, Market Garden or perhaps even later in the final days of the war in 1945. I have tried to keep the army diverse in unit types and they could be fielded as a inexperienced (Polish conscripts), Regular or Veteran force.

2nd Panzer Grenadier Division:

 

Let's have a look at the units:

Lieutenant and man:

I used a sprue from the SS infantry box to make my HQ. I've given the Lieutenant the broom handle mauser for the rule of cool and his man has a Stg44 so we just play it as 2 assault rifles. The peaked cap is iconic of WII German officers so I decided to not go for the helmet even though I usually try and give my guys helmeted heads.

Heer Grenadier Squad 1:

I have 3 identical squads for this army which are NCO with SMG, 4 riflemen (1 with panzerfaust) and LMG team. The NCOs pointing hand is from the US airborne infantry sprue and for this squad I decided to have the loader bending down and feeding the belt ammo to a standing machine gunner. I didn't like that the only option for the Grenadier sprue is having the gun slung over the shoulder.

Heer Grenadier Squad 2:

Next grenadier squad. I modeled this squad to be on the move with the MG team moving and the panzer faust holder on the run. The men are made from a mix of SS and grenadier parts. 

Heer Grenadier Squad 3:

Final grenadier squad. For this one I had the NCO throwing a grenade and the machine gunner crouching while the loader runs over to him. Once again the men are made from a mix of SS and grenadier parts. 

Veteran Squad with Assault rifles:

 

This veteran squad is fully decked out with assault rifles and SMG NCO. Not sure a full squad of assault rifles is historically accurate and I often break them up and scatter them throughout the grenadier squads when making lists. I like to imagine these guys are veterans from the Eastern front (hence the captured PPSh on the NCO) and have been sent to the West for leave or to train some new recruits who are taking it easy in France. The NCO was originally my 2nd Lieutenant from the original Band of Brothers starter set but I demoted him to NCO when I got the SS sprue. 

Sturmpioniere:

This squad was made from my left over bits from the SS and grenadier squads. I wanted to have a squad of Sturmpioniere after reading about their role in the Battle of Stalingrad. I feel like the crouched and pointing position of the NCO and the bandaged head on the guy front left really sells that these guys are veterans. The backpacks are spares from the US airborne sprue and also help distinguish these guys from regular Heer grenadiers. The flamethrower team at the back are a mix of panzerfaust parts, a miliput sculpted flamer tank, paperclips and the 'loader' is carrying an MG42 barrel case but represents some kind of engineer explosives. I'm really happy with how they turned out. 

Sniper team:

 

The sniper team is simply made from grenadier bits and the foliaged helmet from the SS box. The scope on the sniper rifle is a rifle grenade trimmed down and painted. I wanted to capture the scene that the spotter has called out the location of a target and the sniper is about to fire. 

Medium Machine Gun Team:

 

This MMG team was a fun little project to put together and is made from a mix of parts. The 'spotter' is just heer grenadier with the ammo belt and binoculars. The gun team are firing from a position of miliput sandbags and the prone loader is actually the prone US airborne body and arms with an SS head and Grenadier webbing and breadbag. On the table they look the part and this MG team has shot down many paratroopers in the campaign so far!

Mortar Team:

 

I prefer plastic models to the metal sculpts and so when I saw the plastic mortar sprue on the Warlord website (I believe it is for a Hanomag) I thought it would make a great alternative to the metal mortar team. The loader and man covering his ears are directly from the sprue and just stuck on bases. The crouching man with the map and the spotter are from the Grenadier sprue. The spotters radio is made from a US browning ammo box and e-tool handle. The spotter also doubles as an artillery observer. All in all I'm very happy with it and glad I could avoid those metals!

Pak40:

The Pak40 is from Rubicon and was an absolute treat to put together compared to the metal US airborne 57mm anti tank gun. As always the Rubicon kits are a mile above Warlords! I painted the gun with a 'splinter camo' inspired theme and think it came out nicely. My only gripe is that the scale of the crew is slightly smaller than the Warlord figures and so the head swaps I did look a bit giant on the smaller bodies. Maybe one day I'll redo the crew when I have some spare Warlord German infantry bodies lying around.

Sd.Kfz.251 (Hanomag):

 

The Hanomag is from the Band of Brother starter and was actually pretty nice to put together. I decided to go with a dusty German grey rather than a dunkelgelb and I also didn't put the Pak38 gun in instead deciding to go with the machine gun. The machine gunner is actually the loader that comes with the Pak38 gun with trimmed down US airborne binocular arms.

Sd.Kfz. 234 (Puma):

The Puma is a warlord kit and was terrible to put together. I just skipped all of the tedious suspension on the bottom of the vehicle as you can't see it anyway and it was very fiddly to put together. I painted the Puma with Tamiya XF-60 to get that dunkelgelb and then gave a 'splinter camo' type scheme to match the Pak40. The messy camo scheme is a result of my shody brushwork as I don't have an airbrush but I kind of like it as historically the camo was painted on the front by the crew using whatever mops they had handy (at least that's how I justify it!). The stowage on the back is an ammo box from the Rubicon Pak40 kit with a tissue soaked in PVA as a tarpaulin.

Panzer IV:

 

Finally the Panzer IV.  I actually got this as part of the 'offset shipping' promo that Warlord was running to international buyers. It was a decent kit to put together and I decided to skip on the side schurtzen as I don't like way it makes the tank look so boxy. Painting this tank was an absolute disaster. I bought the Tamiya 'Mustard Yellow' spray thinking it was much darker and closer to XF-60 in colour but it came out way too bright yellow. I then tried to strip the paint job using 'detol' antiseptic following a guide I saw on youtube but it didn't strip properly and just turned the yellow an even stranger yellow colour with a very grainy texture. I decided to press on and continue with the model and paint some splinter camo and weather the tank but it really looks way too bright especially next to the Puma and Pak40. I might sacrifice this tank as a terrain piece for a future project and buy another kit to paint properly but for now it will remain part of my list!

That's it for the German army, I believe the whole thing comes out to about 1200+ points depending on if you take regular or veterans. I still have a few things to add before it is complete such as a Stug III, a Tiger I Ausf E, another medium MG team, a Panzershrek team and a quad 20mm Flakvierling 38. Maybe even another Grenadier squad! 

It's been a treat putting this army together and I've really loved jumping into the hobby both from a playing and painting/building perspective. Having both US and German armies also has helped break up the painting and made it easy to play some games with friends as I have everything at home ready to go. I'm looking forward to expanding this force out and, who knows, maybe even adding a 3rd army in the future(!!!!!).

Signing out,

Chewie

Scenario 7: Counter attack at Carentan

Finally we are ready for the final battle of our Normandy campaign - The German counter attack at Carentan. This scenario will be the same as Scenario 6 but with the Germans as attackers and the US forces defending - once again the objective will be for the attackers to capture 3 key positions on the battlefield.

Background:  In the afternoon of the 12th of June the 501st and 506th PIR were tasked with holding the freshly captured town of Carentan from the inevitable German counter attack. Having heard that Carentan has been lost, the Furher has ordered that the town be taken back. The 17th SS Panzer Grenadiers, led by their commander Werner Ostendorf, arrive in the area and prepare to attack the town with the support of the 6th Fallschirmjager and 37th SS panzer grenadiers.

 

In response the 2nd Armored division (US) are promptly sent to help reinforce the paras defending Carentan. 7am June the 13th the battle begins. Lead by armored STUG tank destroyers the German counter attack begins and the Americans must hold until their Armor arrives.

The bocage of Normandy greatly favored defenders providing natural barricades.

 

Scenario: Attackers vs Defends. 

 

Forces:

American infantry holding the hedgerows in Normandy.

 

HQ:

Regular 2nd Lieutenant and Man

 

Infantry:

 

Regular Paratrooper Squad

1 NCO with Submachine gun

1 B.A.R

7 Riflemen

 

Regular Paratrooper Squad

1 NCO with Submachine gun

1 B.A.R

7 Riflemen

 

Regular Paratrooper Squad

1 NCO with Submachine gun

1 B.A.R

7 Riflemen

 

Veteran Pathfinder Squad

1 NCO with Submachine gun

1 B.A.R

2 Submachine guns

1 Rifle

 

Regular MMG team

 

Regular Bazooka Team

 

Regular 57mm Antitank gun

 

Regular Sherman M4A1

Pintle mounted HMG

 

 

German Fallschirmjager

 

German:  Counter Attack Force

HQ:

Regular 2nd Lieutenant and Man

 

Infantry:

Regular Heer Grenadier Squad

1 NCO with Submachine gun

4 Riflemen (1 Panzerfaust)

1 Machine gun with 1 loader

 

Regular Heer Grenadier Squad

1 NCO with Submachine gun

4 Riflemen(1 Panzerfaust)

1 Machine gun with 1 loader.

 

Regular Heer Grenadier Squad

1 NCO with Submachine gun

4 Riflemen(1 Panzerfaust)

1 Machine gun with 1 loader.

 

Regular Heer Grenadier Squad

1 NCO with Submachine gun

2 Assault Rifles

4 Riflemen (1 Panzerfaust)

 

Regular MMG team

 

Regular Mortar Team

Spotter

 

Regular SdKfz 234/2 Puma

 

Regular STUG III Ausf H

 

 

Special Rules:

 

As a boon to winning the last game we will play with the following rule:

 

The Cavalry:  US armored units must be left in reserve on this scenario and can only attempt to come onto the battlefield in turn 3.

 

Looking forward to a ripper final game to wrap up our campaign!

Signing out,

Chewie