PaK 36(r) Guns for 15mm WW2

15mm PaK 36(r) section from Battlefront

 A little more WW2 stuff from the summer painting table, this time in 15mm.  These are PaK 36(r) anti-tank guns from Battlefront.  There were two guns with crews in the blister pack.  There is also a 3-man SMG command team, but I haven't painted them yet...

Some pigment on the muzzle brake to give the barrel a "used" look

Confronted by tides of Russian tanks and the demands of the huge and extended eastern front, as well as continued fighting in North Africa, the Germans pressed a number of captured Russian guns into their own service.  The 76.2mm guns were captured from the Russians in very large numbers from the huge pockets of Red Army troops enveloped during Operation Barbarossa, and the Germans put them into the line.

I tried a camo pattern on the gun commander...not much of a result, but good to practice I guess

The gun was adjusted to take 75mm ammunition for the PaK 40 anti-tank guns, and provided German units with a decent anti-tank gun.  The same gun was mounted on the Marder anti-tank gun carriers.  I think these saw action in the North African desert and against the Red Army on the eastern front.

The crew castings have a nice animation to them

I don't know if many of these guns were still around by later 1944 and 1945, but I liked to think a few of them would have still been in the line, particularly with Volksgrenadier-type formations.  As the Allies closed in, I'm sure the Germans used whatever guns were available, particularly in the east. 

Nice crew figures, and extras like ammo boxes

I believe the Germans also used these guns in their more traditional artillery role - I think the German designation for that was FK36(r), but I start to get confused when I look into the different versions of the gun, and then the different German versions of the different Russian versions...

T-34s targeted...

These models were decent, nice ones to work with from Battlefront. You get neat little extras, like shell containers, spent shell casings and the like. These two guns will work well in games of Flames of War, Battlegroup, and even Chain of Command.

Some more 15mm WW2 stuff up next...

More Gothic Ruined Buildings from SG2 Creations!

"Building" (see what I did there) towards the big Horus Heresy mini-campaign/mega-game later this summer, it's up to me to organize the terrain. You've read here before about Conscript Byron's awesome laser-cut MDF stylings, including the fantastic Gothic ruined buildings I built and painted some weeks ago.

Well there's more - Byron's come out with a new Gothic ruined building, plus a "corner kit" of four ruined corners. I just had to pick up a set of each!

The ruined building is great. It's a bit longer than the other design and not as tall, but it's designed in a matching style so it'll look great with the others on the table. As usual in my build, I added ground texture and broken bricks for a more ruined look.

Some basic spray paint, acrylics, washes and weathering powders completed the build.

Here's the four corner pieces that come in Byron's set. Nice for completing a tabletop tableau.

Finished to match the other buildings we'll use for our games. Nice stuff as always Byron!

Battle Report - Flames of War, 15mm WW2

Tanks on fire during a Flames of War game played last week

It's been quiet for a while on the Fawcett Avenue gaming front, with several of the fellows making a visit to Europe for the Waterloo anniversary, and others taking up opportunities to enjoy our brief (and below standard) summer - any respite from the hell of winter on the Canadian Prairies must be enjoyed to the maximum extent possible.

Forward for the Rodina!

But we are still getting some gaming in - last week conscripts Byron and Dallas stopped by for a game of "Flames of War", the popular 15mm WW2 gaming rules. The game was set on the Eastern Front in the summer of 1944, and the scenario was "hold fast", one of the basic scenarios from the rule book.  The Germans would be hoping to hold back a Soviet tide - not very original, but basic and fun. We played it straight from the book with one modification - I left out the "ambush" for the defenders.  We don't play much Flames of War, and I was trying to keep it simple.

The Soviet tidal wave - part 1

Soviet tidal wave - Part 2 - a Maxim team in the foreground is trying to give some covering fire

The Soviet battlegroup was an infantry battalion - two big companies of infantry backed with mortars, light anti-tank guns and a whole company of T-34/76 tanks.  They had the services of a battery of 122mm guns (kept off table, because that sort of stuff should just not be on the table).  The Soviets would (of course) be the attackers - Dallas took command.

Company of T-34s roars forward

Nervous German grenadiers dug in and waiting for the Soviets to falter...is that possible?

The German battlegroup was a worn down motorised infantry company - two grenadier platoons, a section of 8cm mortars, a pair of MG42s, two PaK 40 anti-tank guns, a battery of StuGs and a platoon of Panzer IVHs.  The Germans also got some off-table fire-support in the form of a battery of 10.5cm guns, but I limited the ammo to just four fire missions. Byron took command of the German side.

Iron Crosses to be handed out...

Nobody left to award them to...the Germans knocked out one T-34 with a Panzerfaust, but the infantry are overrun!

Both battlegroups worked out to about 1400 points a side. The table was 6' x 4', with the short edges as the base for each side.  Two objectives were placed in the German half of the table, and if the Soviets could capture one of them, the jig was up and the Germans were done. Straight up, all this German stuff would mow down the Russians in short order - but the problem for the Germans was they didn't get all of this stuff at first - half of it was in delayed reserve. Byron had to decide which units he thought could hold out the best under the tide of Russian steel, and hope for the best.

StuGs arrive to even the odds for Byron

Byron put his two infantry platoons, his mortars and his PaK40s on the table. They got to start the game "dug-in", concealed and gone-to-ground.  The attack was on!  The Soviets got to pile their entire force on the table, 18" away from the centre line, and they started with the first turn.  Dallas unleashed the Russian horde!

The T-34s feel the effects of shooting from the German StuGs

It was pretty cool - scads of Russian troops roared toward the Germans, firing as they went, but having little effect as the Germans were dug in and hard to hit. Their artillery barrages did a lot of damage, however, causing a lot of pins.

Byron's commanding officer directs the battle

Byron and the Germans replied with withering fire, but the big Soviet infantry companies are difficult to slow down (one of them had 16 stands in a single mass - yikes!).  And his PaK40s could not draw a bead on the T-34s as they roared up the flank. Soviet losses mounted, but not enough to seriously stem the advance.

Remnants of a mauled grenadier platoon try and add their fire from the flank

By the fourth turn the Soviets were in position to launch assaults, and it got really bloody for the Germans, as one of the Grenadier platoons was crushed by Soviet tank treads, while the second one was mauled with point-blank fire.  One of the Pak40s was overrun.  The Soviets captured an objective, and things looked grim.  

Panzer IVs add their fire against the T-34s...suddenly the tide is turning!

But then reserves arrived for the Germans! Byron's StuG battery appeared and blasted the Soviet tank company to pieces over turns five and six.  The flaming wrecks were not able to hold the objective. Dallas' infantry horde tried to follow into the breach, but once the T-34s were gone, the Soviets could not grapple with the armour - the 45mm anti-tank guns were trailing along in the assault, but were not in position to assist, and the artillery could not get ranged in. Once the Panzer IVs showed up, that was that - a close and costly win for the Germans...the Panzers showing up to assist this company likely meant doom for some other poor force elsewhere on the line, but hey - that's the Eastern Front for you...

The Germans recapture the objective!

I'm something of a gaming snob, and many aspects of the Flames of War game cause a wrinkle in my proverbial nose - the overuse of the word "army", the hub-to-hub tanks, the easy access to rare assets like heavy tanks, air support and anti-aircraft, the presence of heavy artillery on the table, the specials rules...blah blah - many more articulate gamers than I have outlined these issues elsewhere. And yet...and yet.  You know what? It's still a fun game.  Really, really fun. More and more lately the "hey, let's just have a fun game" side of my gaming brain has been kicking the sh!t out of my "oh, this just won't do" side of my gaming brain.  For throwing down a Thursday night game, Flames of War is a good time.

Infantry race in to fill the gap, but they falter in the fact of fire from the German armour...

And from that perspective, Flames of War is a lot of fun.  I'm sure I screwed up some of the rules, but overall we had a 1400 point game in just over two hours - tons of carnage and wreckage on the table, and it was all good.  Of course this is not the complex, immersing and thoughtful experience you can get with a game like Chain of Command (which is also excellent), but I have to say the more I play Flames of War, the more fun it is (as long as I can keep it simple). 

Thanks to Byron and Dallas for coming out to play, and to Byron for helping me test out the scenario (and practice a bit with the rules) during a short game earlier in the week.  Also a big thank you to Dallas for letting me use his terrain bits again :)

More Random 20mm WW2 Stuff

Assortment of 20mm WW2 stuff from PSC and Wargames Foundry

After a run of painting some Horus Heresy stuff, I wanted to get back to some of the WW2 stuff sitting in my rather aimless painting queue.  I started with some 20mm WW2 material - an odd collection of items from the Plastic Soldier Company and from Wargames Foundry.

Perry 20mm WW2 Panzer Grenadiers

The Foundry sculpts are part of a strangely stunted 20mm WW2 range they still offer.  I wonder if at one point in the past this collection was more established and complete.  I don't know the history of it, but when Foundry switched to its relatively newer and somewhat nicer (sounding) management, it seemed to come forward again.  You can get some 20mm WW2 stuff from Foundry again, and these figures are part of that range.

Fellow on the front right has rifle grenade - interesting sculpt

The figures were sculpted by the Perry twins, and they look really sharp, even if the range is really limited.  I thought I would try and get a few packs to put together a unit of Panzer Grenadiers in 20mm. My thought did not work out very well in practice.  The Perry sculpts are top quality, but the range is profoundly limited.  The MG34 teams are either prone (lame) or marching (terrible) - they are properly done sculpts, but one of the worst things in 20mm and 28mm WW2 gaming are prone MG teams and marching MG teams.  Panzer Grenadier squads have two MGs teams each, so I'm trying to find some more teams from other ranges.

The MG34 team are fine sculpts, but I loathe marching poses for MG teams - they look so out of place among a squad of troops otherwise ready for action

These figures are wearing camouflage smocks and pants...although I think pants can also be just straight up field grey.  I did a mix of pants: some in camo, and some in the field grey to give some variety.  I tried (again) to paint German splinter camouflage on the smocks, pants and helmet covers, but I didn't make much of a go...despite the number of helpful tutorials online, I can't really seem to get the German infantry camouflage to look right.  It's not terrible...just seems off. I hope I can get better with practice, but German camouflage makes me nuts...

251D Hanomag from PSC, 1/72 scale

You get tons of detail in these great kits

The 251D Hanomag is a 1/72 plastic model from Plastic Soldier Company.  Like their other 1/72 stuff, this is a fantastic model.  Very easy to assemble, lots of details, and paints up very quick. You get a number of extra bits as well - stowage, troops to sit inside, a gunner for the MG if you want one - it's great quality and great value.

8cm mortar team and radio man - 1/72 figures from PSC

Some other bits are also from the Plastic Soldier Company - up first is an 8cm mortar team to provide some fire support for the German infantry sections.  There is also a trooper with a radio.  The mortar team is from PSC's heavy weapon box, while the radio man is from their late-war infantry pack.

Panzerschrek team, 1/72 from PSC

Lots of nice detail on these 1/72 PSC figs

Up next is a Panzerschrek team, to try and hold off the T-34s and other scary Russian things.  Like the mortar, these figures come from the PSC German heavy weapon box.

Medic from PSC, 1/72 scale

Last but not least is a medic, another one of the extras you get from the PSC late-war infantry pack. Some rules like Battlegroup and Chain of Command have small rules that let you makes use of figures like this medic, so it was fun to paint up and we'll see if we can figure out how to work him into a game.

That's it for this bunch...up next, maybe some 15mm WW2...