Painting Challenge Submission 2 - 15mm WW2 Russian Engineers and Scouts

Some Russian WW2 infantry in 15mm.

Happy new year to all visitors to the Fawcett Avenue Conscripts blog - many of you who are actual humans and not bots! For my second submission to Curt's Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge, my brushes continued with a painting theme seen often here in the waning weeks of 2019 - WW2.  These are 15mm Russian infantry - a platoon of assault engineers, and a squad of scouts.  The engineers are metal figures from Battlefront, while the scouts are from Peter Pig.  All of these figures had been sitting in my "primed-but-not-yet-painted" pile (i.e. "pile of shame") for at least two years - the scouts had originally been intended as a theme submission in a much earlier painting challenge, so it feels good to finally get around to them and get them finished!

LMG teams on oval bases...you can also see one of the flamethrowers on an oval base. He's by himself...nobody wants to stand too close to the flamethrower guy on a battlefield...

It is common to base 15mm figures in groups (as often seen in "Flames of War"), but these particular figures are all based individually for games like "Battlegroup", "Bolt Action" and "Chain of Command".  I enjoy WW2 gaming a lot - probably too much, as I paint the period in a number of different scales. I have found that playing games like "Bolt Action" with 15mm figures gives a great look on the table in terms of engagement ranges on a 6' x 4' table.  So while I have a lot of 15mm figures on group bases, I have been adding 15mm units that are based individually as well.  An additional advantage is that one Company-sized box of 15mm infantry from a company like Battlefront provides more than enough models for any scenario at a great value.

The eight-man squads are configured for "Battlegroup", but of course can be re-organized for any particular WW2 skirmish rules.

The downside to individual 15mm figures is that it can be difficult to work out which weapons are being carried by who (an MP40 and MP44 sure look similar at that size, for example). It also hard to see who is the officer, details which are easier to pick out on a 28mm figure, but not so much on the 15mm foot sloggers.  To work around this I use a similar basing system to one Curt has developed - senior officers (like the platoon CO) are on a hex-shaped base, NCOs are on square bases, and special weapons (in this case, the flamethrowers and the DP LMG teams) are on oval bases.   It is an easy and quick way to ID the notable infantry figures even with smaller scale models.

Platoon commander on a hex base, along with a couple of flunkies to "bite the bullet" for him when the time comes...

The metal assault engineers from Battlefront are fantastic sculpts.  They are wearing SN-type body armour, carrying SMGs and are loaded down with explosives, ropes and other combat engineer goodies used to blow sh!t up on the battlefield.  The platoon pack also provides quite a few flamethrowers. It's a great value, and the sculpts have a lot of character and dynamism, impressive considering they are only 15mm in size.  I'm glad I picked up a couple of these packs a few years ago, as these metal figures (and so many others) are now gone from Battlefront's product line up, sacrificed as the company debases itself further and further before the false god of plastic figures.

For the Motherland! Crush the Fascist invaders!

The small group of scouts are from Peter Pig's top-shelf lineup of 15mm WW2 figures.  I'm not sure why I only have five of them...probably something to do with a Chain of Command game I had in mind back in 2017.  At any rate, I tried to "pop" the green out a little more than one normally would, just to help them stand out a bit on the tabletop.

Five of these figures were painted prior to the commencement of AHPC X.  So while I have gathered 36 of them together for these propaganda photos, only 31 of counted for points, which provided another 62 "points" of painting toward my goal of 1000 points.

Stay tuned for further submissions as the Challenge continues, and be sure to visit the AHPC pages to see great work from so many participants, including Byron and MikeF. 

Random 15mm WW2 Germans

Assortment of late WW2 German infantry figures and a SdKfz 250/9 from Battlefront.

A couple of weeks ago I embarked on a clean up/purge of various piles of hobby and hobby-related stuff in my basement. It's strange...I threw a ton of stuff away, but I still seem to have too much hobby stuff.  Whatever the amount of net de-cluttering I did (or did not) achieve, the process was great in that when I do this I stumble across a number of things that I was "just about to paint", and therefore had left on or near my painting pile.  This feeling of telling myself I am "just about to paint" something can persist for some time...my assorted WW2 interests had fallen into that abyss.

The main bases are 20mm rounds, while the panzerschreck team is on a 30mm round.

I have a large collection of 15mm WW2 figures. It's not terribly focused, but for the most part it consists of mid-to-late war Eastern Front stuff, along with a nice little pile of North African stuff.  This collection started circa 2007 with a dive into Battlefront's "Flames of War".  Other WW2 gaming systems such as "Bolt Action", "Crossfire", "Blitzkrieg Commander", "Battlegroup" and "Chain of Command" have joined the Flames of War books on the shelves.

The 250/9 is a pretty small ride - must have come in handy when trying to keep a low profile while scouting ahead.

Many of these games require the infantry to be based individually - or, even if they don't explicitly require it, they still work much better with the infantry based individually. But at the same time, I do love 15mm gaming for WW2. I enjoy the "look" of the engagement ranges with the 15mm models - even ones with primarily tanks can avoid the dreaded "tank park" effect.  So in 2013-14, as we started to play some "Chain of Command", I took to doing up a number of individually-based 15mm WW2 infantry units - again mostly for the Eastern Front, 1943-45. The figures you see in these photos were meant to be part of this effort, primed and ready to go, probably some time in 2015, when I put them down to pick up...oh who knows what, but based on the blog history, it was probably something 30k...

Bases intended to not look completely out of place on a winter table, while still being OK for a summer table...

 I decided to do some "mopping up" of these 15mm WW2 forces that have been waiting so long for some painting attention. Over the past few years I have painted very little in terms of WW2 - I sure wish I had taken the time to write down some of the paints I used back then...anyway, I was able to bodge it together again.  And I'll write it down this time!

These are all from Battlefront.  The infantry are from their excellent late-war Winter German collection - now sadly no more as they sacrifice themselves to the altar of plastic figures.  These Germans were just great sculpts - very lean, and they manage, ever for 15mm figures, to look...hopeless, like even if this battle works out, they know the war is lost...I just love these figures, and I'm glad I picked them up while they were still available.

Great assortment of attire on the late-war German castings. Sadly they are no more, as Battlefront focuses now on plastics.

The half-track is a SdKfz 250/9 (I think?So, so many type of half tracks...).  It is a Battlefront model - an older mixed media, resin and metal, model (I think these can be had in plastic now from Battlefront and the Plastic Soldier Company).  I didn't try any cammo because...I couldn't remember what paints I used to use.  I settled for trying to get that German panzer yellow colour settled...the result is...OK.

It's great fun to re-connect with old projects! Stay tuned for more (or, who knows, something else entirely different, anything is possible).  Thanks for visiting the Blog, and have a great day.   

Soviet AGS-17s for "Team Yankee"

Soviet AGS-17s for "Team Yankee" - 15mm figures from Battlefront.

One more bit of painting for "Team Yankee" - this is another small project that has been sitting, primed and ready to go, for over a year. While I have been working on the recent bits to reinforce my Canadians, I decided to tackle these at the same time, even though they will be fighting for the other side. These are AGS-17 teams, a heavy weapon team option available to support Soviet motor rifle forces in the "Team Yankee" game.  The models are from Battlefront (although the bases are from the fine people at Warbases).

Some poor casting leads to awkward-looking poses on the gunners...and some awful gaps at the wrists.

The AGS-17 is a type of automatic grenade launcher. It seems like a pretty scary weapon. As if the Soviet Motor Rifles didn't have enough firepower to back them up already! Woe to the NATO troops who linger too long while Warsaw Pact infantry forces set up these things to root them out...

I have no idea why I crowed these figures at the front of the large bases...oh well, at least now they are painted after sitting, primed and ready to go, for over a year!

These castings are metal figures from Battlefront.  The sculpting is good, but as is so often the case, the casting quality was very poor, unfortunately.  A close examination will reveal a gap between the hands of the AGS-17 gunners (which are part of the weapon castings) and the wrists of the gunner - the gunner and the weapons did not match up in many cases.  Fortunately you don't really notice that from an average tabletop distance. 

Some gaps at the wrists on a number of the gunners...

I believe the Soviet player in "Team Yankee" has the option of attaching one of these bases to each motor rifle company in a battalion.  They can also be used to support the airborne/heliborne infantry units. Between all of the BMPs, all of the dismounts and the PKM MG teams,  Soviet assaults in "Team Yankee" won't be lacking firepower...I look forward to trying these fellows out the next time we give "Team Yankee" a spin.

Leopard C1s for Canadians in "Team Yankee"

Leopard C1s in 1/100 scale - models are plastic kits from Battlefront.

Rounding out the recent mini-run of Canadian reinforcements for "Team Yankee" are two Leopard C1s.  Because you can never have enough tanks! The models are plastic kits from Battlefront, and the decals are the usual blend of Armies Army and the 1/87 sheet from European sources.

The Leopard 1 - what beautiful lines on a scary vehicle...

The plastic Leopard C1 kits from Battlefronts are very well done - I fear the plastic cupola MG is not long for the gaming world, but overall you get a number of options that allow you to build Leopard 1s for your Canadians, Dutch, Belgians or Australians - quite a variety of allied flavours to choose from.

Slightly better lighting in this photo...the commander in the hatch, along with the flowered shrub, are used to denote command tanks/bases.

By the time of the fictional conflict that occurs in "Team Yankee" the Leopard C1 is something of an obsolescent vehicle - these tanks will not dominate a gaming table the way other frontline NATO tanks like the M1 Abrams, Chieftains and Leopard IIs will.  But they are still the armoured hitting power for the 4th Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group, so Canadian players will count on these vehicles to have any hope of halting the Warsaw Pact advance.  Careful deployment of the Leopard C1s can still bring a world of hurt to Soviet tanks and APCs - although the 125mm return fire from T-72 and T-64s will go straight through the armour...yikes...

Ready for forward deployment to the model cabinet in my living room...

While it's time as a premier battlefield tank might have been fading, it still looks cool as hell!  I just love the silhouette of this beast, and the models are a lot of fun to paint.  I have to give credit to Battlefront for an excellent kit.  As I said, I think plastic cupola MGs are a terrible idea in general, but the kit is well done, simple to build, and covers a number of options. You get five of the tanks in a box. With these two finished there are now 14 Leopard C1s available to my 4CMBG battlegroup in games of "Team Yankee".  The other three will be done as a different variant for another NATO nation...something that might start during the next edition of the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge.

Thanks for visiting, hope everyone is having a great autumn! 

Canadian Lynx Patrol for "Team Yankee"

A patrol of Canadian "Lynx" armoured vehicles.

Some additional Canadian Content for my "Team Yankee" forces.  These are two "Lynx", a variant of the M113 CRV - basically mini-M113s.  The Canadian Forces used them for reconnaissance duties - a squadron of these vehicles were attached to each Canadian armoured regiment, and they also supported the work of the mechanized infantry battalions. These models are from Battlefront. The decals are a mix of Armies Army and a 1/87 Canadian Forces decal sheet I found online.

Rear view on the models - great sculpting work by Battlefront.

In "Team Yankee" the Lynx are deployed in pairs as a "patrol". I had already painted two of these vehicles, so I now have a second "patrol" to use with my Canadian battlegroup. I have to give credit to Battlefront, they did a fine job on these models - they are the more traditional mix of resin and metal components (a declining portion, it seems, of the Battlefront product mix these days).

Practice maneuvers in my kitchen.

In real military operations, vehicles such as the Lynx (and their hardy crew, of course) provide a vital function.  The Lynx would be out ahead and on the flank, watching for enemy movements and providing vital intelligence to the formation commanders.  Any modern military force would be asking for trouble without this kind of support.

But I find that critical nature is very hard to capture in tabletop wargaming.  On our gaming tables, the recon vehicles mostly just serve as early targets for your opponent.  The M113 CRV is a light armoured vehicle.  While the MGs can fight (a bit) against similar enemy vehicles,   In "Team Yankee" they will...mostly blow up very fast.

Commander in the hatch, always a useful way to show a command vehicle for a troop.

I find that many wargame rules struggle with the best way to reflect the value of reconnaissance assets - and I don't really know what the answer is.  "Spearhead" comes the closest - and this makes sense, given the division-level nature of that ruleset. For these more tactical games, you could structure a game where the reconnaissance units have the goal of scouting/spotting something and then escaping/falling back...but as gamers we (or, at least, I) want to have the big tanks blasting away at each other too...it's hard to combine both aspects on one 6'x4' table.

Well, no matter what service they render on the table, my lead/plastic/resin Canadians will welcome the support.  When you are facing the Warsaw Pact hordes, you'll take all the help you can get!

Long Weekend Painting Frenzy Part 1 - Team Yankee Canadian Mechanized Infantry

Reinforcements for the 4th Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group in "Team Yankee"

We just finished another unique Thanksgiving weekend here in Winnipeg. I use the word"unique" because our province was hammered by a severe snow storm through Thursday and Friday.  While terrible winter conditions are something most Manitoba residents are used to, Thanksgiving is just a touch early for that sort of thing - when snow does arrive at that time of year, it tends to be the wet, heavy sort which brings down trees and power lines.  As I type this, thousands of residents remain without power, and it could be a week or more before the power is restored.

Mechanized company command stand (and an M113 for the group to ride around in).

For my part, I was very fortunate - while my lights flickered, the power stayed on, we did not lose too many trees on our property, and I was able to spend Thanksgiving with family because our pickup truck can drive through almost any weather conditions. But since there wasn't much else to do, I was also able to paint like a madman through the whole long weekend!  Building on the ADATS from last week, one of the items I finished was a mechanized infantry platoon for my "Team Yankee" Canadians.

I first started painting Canadians for "Team Yankee" back in January of 2018, before any of Battlefront's models or rules had been released. So my initial Leopard C1s were a mix of models from the Plastic Soldier Company and an outfit called "Armies Army" - a niche outfit which had also released an insanely complete collection of infantry, M113s and Lynx vehicles.

The bulk of the infantry platoon, with their M113s in the background. The blue flowers denote the platoon command stand.

The casting quality of Battlefront's metal infantry models continue to be, at best, average, but at least the range is complete and still available.

This was all months before Battlefront had released their Canadians, and I was a keen early adopter. My Canadians have already participated in some fun games of "Team Yankee", but my force is a small one, and I am looking to bulk it up for some bigger games.  Sadly "Armies Army" no longer exists, and its fine products are nowhere to be found...while I do have left-overs from my initial order, they won't be enough to bulk up my tabletop forces very much.  But it's 2019 now, and Battlefront's (very complete) range is now established and available!

Supporting weapons for the platoon...a .30cal MG team (almost straight from WW2) and a 2-man 60mm mortar team. It's old school, but it all helps hold back the Warsaw Pact forces...

The photos in this post show a complete Canadian mechanized infantry platoon and their 4 M113 APCs for transport.  There is also a Canadian infantry command stand, and a separate M113 for the company commander.  The models and figures are all from Battlefront - but the decals are from my "Armies Army" haul and a specialist 1/87 decal provider (I like the over-sized Canadian flags on the vehicles...).

M113s...missing that iconic road wheel on the front (something the Canadian vehicles always seem to have in photos) but hopefully the little over-sized Canadian decals give enough "Canadian content" for the models.

Another view of the M113s...not my favourite Cold War vehicle by a long shot, but you will not find many NATO forces without them...

I always find the M113 to be a bit of a tough slog to paint - they are not inspiring vehicles - but I credit Battlefront for an overall amazing kit in terms of options to build your M113s into a wide assortment of of the variants used by NATO forces.  The Battlefront infantry sculpts are also good, but I do prefer the "Armies Army" ones in terms of quality - the sculpting and casting was just better with "Armies Army".  But full credit to Battlefront, their range is very complete - and you can still order from it, so it's great to see them supporting their range and their game.

With these reinforcements, I can now field multiple elements in my "Team Yankee" Canadian forces - a mechanized infantry company and a Leopard C1 squadron. While my gamer-lizard-brain will always immediately speculate about further expansion (a third mechanized infantry platoon, maybe to represent the combat engineers, would be nice, as would more TOW launchers, and the Leopard C1 squadron could use a couple more tanks) for now we have some additional variety in terms of options for our "Team Yankee" gaming.

Thanks for visiting - and stay tuned for more Long Weekend Painting Frenzy Output

Canadian ADATS for Team Yankee

Canadian ADATS for "Team Yankee" - models from Battlefront

My butterfly-like painting path has wandered back for a time to the 1/100 scale vehicles of Battlefront's "Team Yankee".  I have added some more "Canadian Content" to my collection, additional support for my 4th Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group in the form of a pair of "Air Defence Anti Tank Systems" - the ADATS launchers.

Patrolling the skies AND the ground!

What are these funny-looking things? Why, they take out planes, helicopters AND tanks! Mounted atop a modified M113, these systems are supposedly able to provide protection against both enemy aircraft AND enemy armour. That seems...a bit unusual to me? Seems like something the Tau would use in 40k. I did not realize a missile system from the 1980s could take on a dual-role like this.

Leaving aside the technical aspects...would it really have been possible to do both of these things at once in a modern Cold War battlefield? It seems to me that watching the skies and being ready to protect air space is a whole different kettle of fish from watching the ground to the front and preparing to engage enemy armour...

I believe there was a platform attached to the sides of the modified M113 which could be raised so crews could service the launchers.

The important thing is, we didn't need to find out! Yay! Whatever its "realistic" viability, in terms of playing the "Team Yankee" game, the Canadian forces will rely a lot on these odd-looking constructs. The Leopard C1 has a very difficult time of it going toe-to-toe with Warsaw Pact armour, so the big-time AT hitting power of these weapons is a welcome addition to the lineup.  The Canadians' in-house ability to defend against enemy air assets is also extremely limited, so the ability of the ADATS to provide anti-air cover is a huge asset.  If you are playing the Canadian Forces in "Team Yankee", the ADATS is your friend for sure!

Track those targets!

When the "Free Nations" supplement came out for "Team Yankee", I thought the addition of the ADATS was pure fiction, but Conscript member Hugh pointed out that he had seen them in his time serving with the Canadian Forces - so these things really did exist at one point and served in the Canadian Forces. I also chuckled when I saw that the procurement of the ADATS was yet another example of how modern Canada has been utterly unable to execute almost any serious military procurement without either political incompetence, corruption, or other general stupidity (and disgraceful treatment of our service members). Thank goodness Canada's power projection these days is mostly centered around virtue-signalling.

It is Thanksgiving in Canada this weekend - so I hope all of you out there have a great weekend (and if you are in Winnipeg, that you survive the horrible weather).  Happy Thanksgiving, and thanks for visiting!

Prairiecon 2018 - Battle of Blickheim, a "Team Yankee" Game

Ouch! Tough outing for the Royal Canadian Dragoons at Prairiecon...victory came at a price

So another "Prairiecon" has come and gone! This is Western Manitoba's main gaming event, held every summer in Brandon, Manitoba.  Conscript Dallas has been involved with Prairiecon for...longer than I can recall, so I will leave origin content to him, but as a group a few of us have been going to Prairiecon every year for...wow, something like 19 or 20 years, with Dallas even more? It's a real tradition, one I look forward to every year.

This year I am pleased to share reports of a heavy Conscript presence at the event, with three different demonstration games.  Dallas ran a fleet-scale "Battlestar Galatica" game.  Byron ran an exciting "Through The Mud And The Blood" WW1 game.  Our great friend Curt came out from Regina to host a special game of "Spectre".  And if that wasn't enough, we also ran a game of "Team Yankee".  That's a LOT of gaming!

The table at the outset of the game...the peace of the village of Blickheim will soon be shattered...

For today I'll touch on the "Team Yankee" game that was played on the Sunday morning at Prairiecon. The game was an opportunity to put the new Canadian units I had been working through the winter into play on the table.  The timing was fortuitous given that Battlefront has recently "released" its new Team Yankee book, "Free Nations".

Soviet elements prepare to move out on the assault

The scenario is we played was derived from the battle reported in the (fictional) book "First Clash" by Kenneth Macksey, which features the 4th Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group in action against a Soviet ground assault set in a fiction Cold-War-Gone-Hot in the 1980s.  In Macksey's story, a moment in the battle arrives when the Canadian line starts to buckle, and the Canadian commander unleashes his reserve armoured Squadron, catching the Soviets by surprise, and blocking their breakthrough.

Soviet advance elements approach the McPizza king...they would soon learn the blue "objective marker" was, in fact, a NATO pre-registered artillery target!

Since the theme for Prairiecon 2018 was "It's a trap!", I set up the scenario with some mild deception.  The Soviet players, controlling a T-72 battalion with some attached infantry and AAA support, were told they needed to clear the village of Blickheim (home, naturally, to a critical 'McPizza King' location) of a lingering Canadian rear-guard, that the NATO forces were in retreat.  They would have eight turns to accomplish this.

The Canadians appear! Leopards and M150s move into firing positions

The Canadians, on the other hand, learned they had the opportunity to arrive from a totally unexpected table edge at a turn of their choosing - they have been working themselves into position through the late hours of the evening and into the morning, with the Soviet forces unaware their flank was vulnerable. This was a great advantage - which the Canadians would need, as the Leopard C1 tanks do not dominate the tabletop the way other modern NATO MBTs would in games of "Team Yankee".

Soviet armour burning after the ambush...

The game was well-attended, with several guests and observers participating.  Dallas led the Canadian side, with help from Byron and Curt, while Dave V led the Soviet side, with support from a few convention-goers.

Leopards try to move out...the obstacles ended up being tough to overcome, due to some bad luck with the dice...and you can see the Soviet's put an artillery aiming point on one of the bogged-down tanks, causing Canadian frustration and knocking out a couple of Leopards

The Soviet column rolled up aggressively, and uncertain of the location of targets, started to hit the town with heavy fire.  On the third turn, however, the Canadians emerged on their flank, and opened fire. A pair of US Cobra helos came along in turn four to add to the carnage.  Under Curt's careful guidance, they picked off several T-72s with TOW missiles before the ZSUs finally got to them.

Many Soviet tanks and BMPs were lost, but critical morale roles kept the large Soviet tank company in play to the bitter end.  The remaining T-72s dished out heavy return fire, knocking out many Leopard C1s.  The Soviet infantry also struck hard, neutralizing a bold flank maneuver by a Leopard C1 troop with their RPGs.  As the number of losses on the Canadian side mounted, it was in doubt for NATO...

Soviet infantry prepare their AT weapons...

But in turn eight, the Soviet side finally broke...a real nail-biter, and a pyrrhic victory as the Canadians were reduced to a mechanized infantry platoon (which was a little low on the 'mechanized' part due to losses in the fighting), a pair of Lynx recon vehicles, and a pair of surviving Leopard C1s, all that remained of the 12 tanks which started the ambush...

A Canadian Leopard C1 troop shows the impact of losses from infantry AT weapons...

A big "thank you" to everyone who came out to play, particularly to our great friend Curt, who made the trip from Regina.  Work has been very, very busy over the past month and a half (and as you can see, the blog posting and painting progress has been very sparse) and it was SO great to dive into a bunch of gaming and see so many friends once again.

Painting Challenge Submission 12 - RCHA Support for Team Yankee

Big guns for Canada! 155m shells and Maple Syrup to defend the NATO lines!

Another bit of 15mm Cold-War-gone-hot content to share - a unit of M109 self-propelled 155mm howitzers, some big-time support for my Cold War Canadian forces.


I know that on-table models to represent artillery like this is very, very silly (at best).  For a lot of folks it is one of the worst features of Battlefront's rule sets. The range of the weapon is something like 15 to 18 kilometres, and that is before any enhancements like rocket-assisted projectiles or other horrors are added.  Having units like this on a 6' x 4' table - or even a much, much larger table - in 15mm is kinda dumb in a lot of ways, and can exacerbate issues with those who feel strongly the period is better suited to 6mm or even 3mm. Even in "Spearhead" (division-level) games, where the large table, even in the abstract that "Spearhead" uses, can represent a very great distance, artillery like this can be well off-table.

Kinda silly on the table...but FUN! 155mm shells to support the 4th Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group

On the other hand, you know what? As I get older, I find myself getting a lot less hung-up about stuff like that.  It's a lot of fun to paint the big guns, put them out on the table and have them blaze away!

1/100 M109 models from Battlefront's Vietnam range

Big guns are fun! At a core level in all of this is a kid in me who is not growing up and thinks more things on the table that would make a "boom" sound are awesome. And while I find maybe some WW2 games seem to have too much tactical involvement of artillery, for a setting like "Team Yankee", I think it is quite appropriate to have shells raining down on both sides for most of the game. If nothing else, I want the other Canadian figures I have painted to "know" they would have the support because it is sitting with them on the shelf, ready to move out :)

So, there you go...I'm a contradictory nerd...back to the models...

The artillery punch of the 4th Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group came from the Royal Canadian Horse Artillery, equipped with these armoured, self-propelled howitzers. The mechanized brigades had 60mm and 81mm mortars with their infantry.  And of course the Leopard C1s could dish out direct-fire abuse from their 105mm guns.  But to really rain on the Warsaw Pact parade, you need some serious stuff to fall from the sky on to the bad guys - and 155mm shells fired by the stout members of the RCHA will do nicely for that!


These are 1/100 scale models from Battlefront - actually from their Vietnam range. I think those would be the appropriate if approximate vintage for the weapons equipping the Canadian formations in the 1980s. Any deployment to halt a Warsaw Pact attack would have relied heavily on timely support from these bad-boys.

A few decals on the back to ID the nationality

While the armour on these vehicles would not stand up to anything like the main gun on a tank, it would have been pretty important - being a gunner in this fictional (phew!) circumstance looks like it would have been terribly dangerous work. Any extended fire missions would rapidly be identified by Warsaw Pact spotters, and counter-battery fire from the enormous artillery complements within the Soviet formations would have been a near-certainty. The ability to keep hammering out shells while under fire would be essential to preserving the 4th Canadian Brigade, so I expect they would dig these guns in, open fire and pray for the armour to keep them safe!


Reading Kenneth Macksey's awesome "First Clash" offers excellent insight to how critical the artillery support is for the Canadian formation (or really any formation), and just how much planning went in to ensuring the shells would be there at the right time and the right place. Once battle was joined, the bombardment and counter-bombardment would be almost continuous.  Timely support from the RCHA would be critical for the smaller (relative to attacking Warsaw Pact formations) infantry-centred Canadian Battlegroups to hold off major assaults from large Soviet Motor Rifle battalions.

The Battlefront M109 model is a mixed resin-and-metal model kit...good detail on all the casting, well done by Battlefront

I found a number of different photos of these units on manoeuvres in the various NATO exercises through the 1980s, and they seemed at the time to be sporting a simple black camouflage pattern, so that is what I have tried to replicate here.  And of course some Canadian flag decals have been very helpful as well.

Three more vehicles in 15mm, another 18 points...hey, it all counts! The grind toward the 1000 point target continues...

Team Yankee, Now With Added Canadians!

The Soviet column is deployed on the right side of the photo - while the the thin line of Canadians is arrayed in the left area

Policy-types in Canada often find themselves worrying - how do we ensure more "Canadian Content" in cultural areas such as music, film and art? Well, we can't help with ANY of those things.  But we can put some "Canadian Content" in one new and (to us) important cultural area - tabletop gaming with Battlefront's "Team Yankee"!

Soviet assault in action! T-72 company to the front, with motor rifle troops following up

Using an assortment of figures and models painted very recently, as well as the initial efforts that Conscript Mike F made in 2013, we assembled a Canadian Force in 15mm for a game of "Team Yankee" last week.  The scenario was fairly basic, as these things go - a Soviet spearhead had broken through the NATO lines, and the 4th Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group was deployed to stop them!

And naturally they selected a McPizza King location along an important highway as THE best spot in which to halt the marauding Warsaw Pact forces...

Mike F took command of the Canadian forces - three troops of Leopard C1s from the Royal Canadian Dragoons, a mechanized platoon from the Royal Canadian Regiment, off-table support from the 155mm howitzers of the RCHA, and a pair of US Cobra Helicopters with TOW missiles.  Mike had to put half of his units in reserve, and had the option to put one of them in ambush.  He put two troops of C1s and the infantry on the table, the rest in reserve, with his third troop of Leopard C1s in ambush.

Opposing him was "Comrade Ewen" - Dallas was in command of a Soviet tank battalion, featuring a company of T-72s, a smaller company of T-64s, and a motor rifle company mounted in BMP-2s, backed with some ZSU-23-4s for support.

The goal was to capture one of the objectives in the NATO half of the table within 8 turns...who would prevail?
 

Soviet T-64 MBTs make their debut on the table - what could go wrong?

In our previous "Team Yankee" games, a common dynamic on the table has seen the NATO tanks mowing down the larger numbers of Soviet MBTs.  But with the Leopard 1, it is not so easy...the armour of the Leopard 1 is much more modest, while the hitting power of the Leopard 1 seems to be limited - or, it is when using the West German stats for the Leopard 1, which we did...

Canadian Leopard C1s await the enemy...

A troop from the Royal Canadian Dragoons, ready for action

Dallas rolled forward confidently, but had to deal with some minefields that the NATO forces had deployed.  This had the effect of forcing Dallas to split his column a little bit, with the T-64s heading to the built-up-area, and the rest heading to the other side of the highway.

Canadian infantry defend the critical McPizza King - essential for control of this part of West Germany...

Another view of the mechanized infantry in defence of McPizza King

Mike made the most of the fact that his troops got to start dug-in and "gone-to-ground", so when the Canadians opened up, it was difficult for Dallas to respond with accurate fire.  Mike also called down copious amounts of 155mm artillery from RCHA batteries that were off-table.  It was a storm of fire for Dallas' Warsaw Pact command to wade through...

Another view of the Soviet advance - lots of green steel! The capitalist fools will tremble...

And yet...where in other "Team Yankee" games, the hits scored by NATO tanks are almost always fatal to the T-72s, with these 105mm shells on the Leopard 1 it was not so scary, and the Soviet tanks endured numerous hits without effect.  The 155mm artillery also had a very limited impact, and Dallas drove ahead aggressively.

The Canadian tankers score many hits, but few kills...

"Wow, that's a lot of tanks, eh?"

Worse for Mike, when Dallas' tanks managed to score a hit, it was almost always a fatal one, as the 125mm shells of the Warsaw Pact main guns ripped through the 1970s-era armour on the Canadian Leopard C1s...after a few turns, it was getting really tough for the Royal Canadian Dragoons...

Yikes! Tough losses as a troop of the RCD is wiped out by Soviet fire...

More burning Leopard C1s....getting rough for the Canadians...

Mike resorted to a very aggressive infantry counter attack to prevent Dallas from capturing an objective - even as he kept missing his roll for the Cobra helicopters to arrive!

Lots of tanks brewing up - but that big T-72 company is STILL in good spirits...

A decisive moment came when Mike sprang his ambush - a troop of Leopard C1s appeared behind Dallas' main spearhead, and they blasted the T-64s to pieces with a series of shots to the rear armour. OUCH. 

The Leopard C1 troop in "ambush" hit the Warsaw Pact troops pretty hard...

Dallas was able to direct some fire at the ambushing Leopards, and his BMPs directed some murderous fire on the attacking infantry and M113s from the RCR.  But it wasn't quite enough, and more T-72s started to brew up...

Widespread carnage on the table...always the sign of a good game, in our opinion!

So many knocked-out MBTs...

The final straw was the very late arrival of the US Cobra gunships.  Thanks to the "hunter killer" rule, the Soviet ZSUs were not able to score any hits on them, and the TOW missiles finished the T-72 company, breaking the Soviet assault.

US Cobra gunships add to the carnage with a bit of kill-stealing in the final turns

So, in the end it was a hard-fought victory for the Canadians - but they paid a heavy price, losing nearly an entire squadron of Leopard C1s and most of a mechanized infantry platoon.  A hard-fought game all around!  And you know the Soviets would have had another regiment rolling up the highway right behind these guys...

I can't wait to get the Canadians on the table again sometime, but I think we might try to fiddle with the stats a bit, especially for the Leopard C1s.  I think the 105mm gun should be at least as scary as the one on the M1 Abrams, as in this imaginary (thankfully) war, I expect the Canadian Leopards would be dishing out more abuse than the basic stats of the West German Leopard 1s would have them doing.

It was also interesting to get the T-64s on to the table...the edge they have of the T-72s is small, but still noticeable - the improved armour, and the option of the missile rounds make for an even more effective tank.  If and when they start to appear in larger numbers on our gaming tables, it should be interesting!