One More Sho't - Fate Of A Nation AAR

Oy vey...not again...

Following last week's unlikely Egyptian triumph, we decided a part two was in order to see if the IDF forces could get their revenge.  So we played "Fate Of A Nation" again this week.  I used the "Hold The Line" mission from the Flames of War rule book, with the idea being that a second IDF column was arriving to deal with the breakthrough the Egyptians achieved last week in our imagined encounter near the entrance to the Mitla Pass in the Sinai Peninsula.

IDF Company - Sho't as company commander, a platoon of 3 Sho'ts, a platoon of 4 M51 Shermans, a mech. infantry platoon and priority air support from Dassault Ouragans

UAR Tank Battalion - T-55 as battalion commander, one company of 9 T-55s, one company of 8 T-55s, one company of 6 IS-3Ms, one mechanized infantry company (with two platoons plus RPDs and B-10s) and a pair of ZSU-57-2s

Jim played the UN force (pictured above)

Two 1685-point forces were set up (very odd, but the point totals matched out exactly that way *shrug*).  Some slight adjustments to the forces this time compared to last week - even more T-55s for the Egyptians, but no SU-100s (Dallas was out of town) while, inspired from a request by Fawcett Avenue Conscript alumnus Sean M (Hi Sean!!) I added some Centurion Sho'ts into the IDF force.

Initial deployment - line of UAR T-55s supporting UAR mechanized infantry to the left, IDF advancing from the right

The Egyptians wait for the IDF attack to begin

The Sho't was a fabulous MBT, particularly in 1967, and they are expensive points-wise in "Fate Of A Nation", so that is why the Egyptians had/needed even more T-55s than last week - just to keep things balanced.

M51 Shermans - I love these models, I think I want to paint 10 more, just because

Now THAT is how it's supposed to go! IDF gunnery starts to burn out the first T-55 company

Byron and Mike F. played the Egyptians, while Graeme (I am so sorry, sure I am not spelling that correctly) and I took the IDF side.  Graeme had a tough outing last week with his M51 Sherman platoon getting shot to pieces - he anticipated much more fun with a platoon of Sho't tanks at his disposal.  Jim also came out, but mimicking the UN role in the 1967 conflict, he simply observed for a couple of turns before he had to leave.

Sho'ts moving out into battle

The table was 6' x 4', with both forces using opposing deployment areas tied to the short table edges. Two objectives were placed in the Egyptian zone (the defenders).  The Egyptians were required to put half of their units into delayed reserve.  Byron and Mike opted to put the mechanized infantry company on to the table, as they could start the game dug-in.  They back the grunts with a company of T-55s and the battery of ZSU-57-2s.

Uh oh...T-55s knock out a Sho't

The IDF had six turns to get one of the objectives, or just break the Egyptian battalion.  I had high hopes with the Centurions in the game, and indeed we blew away a large number of Egyptian tanks, but the IDF would be defeated again!

That !#$!#$ing T-55 company took three turns to die...here are some lucky ones crowded around the hill

On the IDF side we made a cautious advance, knocking out a healthy number of T-55s while moving toward the Egyptian infantry.  Unfortunately we had terrible luck with our air support.  Even with "priority" air support, we often failed the roll to have the aircraft arrive, and when they did, they were usually driven off or reduced by the Egyptian AAA tanks.

M51s back off in the face of losses from T-55s...the M51 front armour cannot stop the T-55's 100mm shells

Mike and Byron watched their T-55s burn with some alarm, but they made the motivation checks when they needed to, and so we couldn't get a turn of exclusively concentrating all of our fire on the infantry - as we finally finished off the first T-55 company, the second one arrived, and once we torched them the IS-2s arrived...and so on and so on. The game would eventually turn on this.

Finally! The first T-55 company is wiped out! Things should roll from here, right? But look at all of that infantry...

Mike and Byron also scored a few hits, taking out two Shermans (yikes!) and a Sho't (oh no!) as we approached.

IDF mechanized infantry roll out

With the arrival of the 6th turn, Graeme and I had to go all-in, so we sent in the infantry and charged with the remaining tanks we had.

B-10 recoilless rifle team blasts away at the approaching IDF tanks

The close assault was punishing on the Egyptians - they got mauled.  But they also passed the motivation checks they needed in order to stay in the fight, meaning they held the objectives, meaning they won! We had torched two companies of T-55s and really chewed up the infantry, but still didn't get the job done.  Congrats to Mike and Byron. That's two in a row for the Egyptians!

Sho'ts deliver a blistering round of fire

These #@$@ing things kept the IAF at bay for most of the game

The stars of the game for the Egyptians were their infantry and their ZSU-57-2s!  Byron and Mike made good use of the enormous infantry horde (there were 20 teams in the company), leaving them static and dug in, very difficult for the outnumbered IDF troops to pry loose.  Some air strikes would have helped us, but even when the IDF air support did show up, the ZSU-57s blazed away and usually drove the Ouragans off.  I have to say I find the Flames Of War rules seemed to deliver a neat experience on this score, with the hapless conscripts able to hold out if they were dug in and not moving.

IDF mechanized infantry continue to move up...the burning M51 is a bit of a grim thing to pass by...

Now that is how the air force is SUPPOSED to work...one good run with the cannons and there are many burning T-55s...sadly this is the only successful pass the Ouragan would manage

The IDF air support did have a single good run, torching three T-55s in a single pass with cannons, but overall we didn't get nearly as much help as we needed from the fly-boys.  And just like last week, the IDF doesn't have a margin for error - losing even a couple of tanks can really set you back.

IDF infantry dismounting and preparing to assault the Egyptian line

So - two straight Flames Of War games in a row...I'm actually starting to get a bit more familiar with the rules.  "Fate Of A Nation" and Flames Of War are not deep simulations of combat or anything, but it was pretty fun.  Lots of tanks, lots of dice, lots of stuff on fire, and a result in six turns.

The close assault under way - defensive fire from the Egyptians fails to stop the Israelis

Sucks to be these guys...the M51s did their part to try and break the Egyptian mechanized infantry company

Again, probably the worst part of a Flames Of War game is the proximity of the tank models to each other on the table.  The T-55s companies looked like black powder musket lines in some respect.  But on the other hand, when you have 25 tanks and tank-sized vehicles in your force, even a 6' x 4' table will be crowded before you know it. 

There were so MANY Egyptians...the UAR mechanized troops hold the line in the face of heavy losses, winning the game for their side!

Thanks to Byron, Mike F and Graeme for coming out play.  The IDF revenge will have to wait for another day...
 

Egyptian T-55 Company in 15mm

Egyptian T-55 company in 15mm - models from Battlefront

Before I got too much further back into Horus Heresy stuff, I wanted to finish off a project I had started back in the spring - completing Egyptian and Israeli forces for Battlefront's "Fate of a Nation" supplement.  I had painted quite a bit of stuff through the spring and summer for both sides, but true to my short-circuiting attention span, I eventually got distracted by other projects even with the finish line in sight!  This T-55 company was the last component I needed for the Egyptian force. I finished three T-55s in July, started on the rest of the company, but suddenly trailed off on to other things.

The T-55 - an inconic piece of Cold War era kit. A decent and modern MBT for the era of the Six Day War, they didn't get a chance to do too well in 1967 for the Egyptians, and the IDF destroyed a great number of them, and captured so many they refit them for IDF service!

I have the attention span of a gnat.  Anyway, while I did this other stuff, six T-55s were sitting on the painting table with a base coat of paint. After weeks of passing over them I finally snapped and finished them off this week.  So here is a completed T-55 company, nine tanks strong.

The tank with the open hatch will be used to represent the company commander

These painted relatively fast, but as I said in my previous post on these vehicles, the quality of the cast metal accessories is very, very disappointing. The cupola MGs, fenders, hatches, fuel tanks and crew were all very poor quality castings.  A great disappointment considering how much you pay for them.

Tactical numbers are from Battlefront; I don't know that the Egyptian army of 1967 was too rigorous when it came to turret numbers, but I think it adds a nice flourish to the vehicles

The main colour is GW's "Zandri Dust", pin-washed with GW's "Agrax Earthshade" wash and weathered liberally with some dark brown chipping and a bit of soot and dust coloured weather powder. The numerals are all decals from Battlefront.  And while their accessories seem to be taking a dive quality-wise, the decals are top-notch!

In Flames of War, the Egyptian companies essentially move as platoons...so this will be a horde of tanks...

This completes my initial Egyptian force for "Fate Of A Nation". In addition to these bad boys, I have a company of IS-3s, a company of mechanized infantry, and a pair of ZSU-57-2s.  It works out to something like just over 1000 points of stuff for the table.

We'll see how long they last on the table tonight!

Egyptian T-55 Tanks for "Fate Of A Nation"

Egyptian T-55 platoon in 15mm - models from Battlefront

The "Fate Of A Nation" roll-out on the painting table continues.  Here is a group of T-55s from Battlefront.  The models are 1/100 scale/15mm size.

The Battlefront T-55 model is nice, or at least a think it could be (stay tuned for more on this).  It is a little larger than the T-55 available from Khurasan, and a little smaller than the one available from Peter Pig. I prefer the size of the Battlefront model to that of Khurasan or Peter Pig, but I have to say that Khurasan's model wins out on good size, value AND really nicely cast accessories (like hatches, MGs, options on the fuel tanks etc - see Dallas' post here for some pics - they are beauties).

Decals from Battlefront

BUT, I have to say this about the Battlefront model - I generally like Battlefront a lot, but the quality of their accessories is really starting to slide.  On these tanks the hull and turret are resin.  The quality of the Battlefront resin is something I am starting to wonder about - on the BTR-152s, the hulls were breaking in the blister pack.  On these tanks, I had cracks on the decking over the treads - still visible on one of the painted models if you look.  These were cracked straight out of the packaging. This pisses me off - for what you pay Battlefront, you shouldn't have to piss around fixing that, or worrying about it.

If you look over the road wheels on the left side of the picture (the right side of the tank) you will see a chunk of deck missing - this is damaged while in the packaging, and trend I have noticed with much "Fate Of A Nation" front stuff from Battlefront - a serious piss-off considering how much you pay

On the Battlefront T-55 the cupola MG, the hatches, the fuel tanks and tracks are all cast in metal.  And the casting quality on these components is completely in the shitter. It's just crap.  At least the road wheels look OK on the treads, but overall tons of flash. The treads have appalling mold lines.  The cupola MG and fuel tanks are really, really weak. The fuel tanks have terrible seams and mold lines, and are cast in once piece  And don't tell me it is "isolated", as I picked up quite a few of these tanks and they are all showing the same problems.

Usual combo of Zandri Dust, pin washing, sponge chipping and weathering powder

These still paint up OK and one might wonder if, because of that, these little nitpicks on quality really matter? Well, they certainly matter to me. For what you pay Battlefront, there is frankly no excuse for crap quality and it is very, very disappointing.  Khurasan's tank accessories, by comparison, are almost flawless - and if a one-man band like Khurasan can have decent metal bits cast, then an org the size of Battlefront can frigging figure it out too.  It is very disappointing to see Battlefront get so many things right (the sizing, the magnets, the decals etc.) and then screw up on the quality of the parts.

An easy target from an IDF gunner

Battlefront does retain one important advantage over Khurasan - it is generally open for business, whereas Khurasan is increasingly either out of stock, or closed to catch up on orders, or both.  This is why I ended up ordering Battlefront T-55s in the first place.  It was a dumb move. Don't make the same mistake I made - avoid Battlefront, and dodge the Khurasan supply situation. Order from Peter Pig, which I should have done, and will do in the future...the Peter Pig tanks are a little heftier, but worth it for the combination of high quality and actual availability.  It makes up for the headache you get trying to figure out their web site.

You can also try Old Glory - I haven't seen them myself, but their 15mm T-55s are supposed to be excellent.  If you can figure out whether it is Old Glory 15s, Old Glory 25s, or Skytrex, or Quality Castings, or whatever the !#$#!@ it is, then good luck to you...

Detail on the cupola hatches and cupola MG is really, really poor - bottom of the barrel in my opinion. The casting of the fuel drums as a single piece is also another weak point, and you will go blind filing off the mold lines to make them presentable...

In "Fate Of A Nation", the Egyptian tank unit selections are essentially companies, and can be rolled out in company-like strength of nine or ten tanks.  We have tested "Fate Of A Nation" and based on that I can sense three T-55s would barely last one turn, and probably not even get a chance to return fire before the IDF gunners wiped them off the table.  So these three will need company.  In all, I am aiming for a total of nine tanks in the unit. 

I like to paint lenses...adds character to the model.  In actual combat operations, I think they are often covered, but that's no fun!

But will I get there soon? When it comes to focusing on a gaming project, I generally have the attention span of a two-year-old.  I have actually managed to be fairly focused on this "Fate Of A Nation" stuff for like a couple of months, which to me feels like ten years.  In this recent run I have managed to finish infantry, APCs and air support for the IDF, and infantry & APCs, more infantry & APCs, some AAA tanks and some heavy tanks for the Egyptians.  I am so close to finishing a basic force for the Egyptians - I just need to finish another six T-55s (and maybe a few other bits) and I'm there...it seems so close, but I am kind of exhausted on the Egyptian tank front for now...stay tuned for another diversion as we prepare for another visit from our good friend Curt from out west!

15mm Egyptian IS-3 Company for "Fate Of A Nation"

IS-3 Company for "Fate Of A Nation"

I note with a casual glance at the calendar that this time of year is often referred to by many as "summer".  I too can remember these alleged "summers" growing up here in Winnipeg. They were brief, even joyous respites from the hellish siege-like conditions of a prairie winter, typically lasting around three months.  During these "summers", my paint production would plummet because, well, you want to be outside riding a bike, walking, visiting, gardening, BBQ ing, etc. But Mother Nature, following up on the worst winter in over 100 years, is continuing her "see you next Tuesday" mission statement for 2014, obliterating the long weekend in a blast of wind and endless rain.  (We are relatively lucky here in Winnipeg, sheltering behind flood defences that are marvels of engineering - my thoughts to any out there affected, particularly my friends in Westman and Saskatchewan, who may not be so lucky when it comes to flooding).

I used the bristles from a hair brush to represent antennas

Since there is no summer in 2014, I can keep painting during the rain.  So here is an Egyptian IS-3 heavy tank company for "Fate Of A Nation" - six tanks strong, all models from Battlefront. I had painted a test model of this tank back in early June, and finished the balance off over the weekend.

These are hefty models - really big, scary tanks (or scary looking, at least)

As I said before, I love the look of this tank.  It seems like it should be scary as hell on the battlefield, although by 1967 it sounds like there were fading in terms of their impact. I thought six tanks would be a good size for a company - on paper I think a Soviet-style tank company is like nine to 11 tanks, but given the mechanical issues of these old beasts, getting six into action is pretty good!

Top view, showing some of the weathering on the deck and top of the turret

These six tanks will form a single selection for the Egyptians in "Fate Of A Nation" - following the Soviet model where the player is selecting companies instead of platoons.  I have never used them in a Flames of War game, so I have no idea how well they will hold up. My expectation is that they will serve as target practice for the well-trained IDF tankers and air force pilots...but they will look good before they blow up!

Another top view of the vehicles

My Egyptians now have this tank company, a mechanized infantry company (also here and here) and a section of ZSU-57-2 AAA tanks.  But this is still not enough to round out the basic force selection on the "Fate Of A Nation" org chart - a second tank company it required. So stay tuned for more tanks (and more, and more...)

Ready to face the IDF!

And I sincerely hope that wherever you might be reading this, you at least get a summer, or failing that, are not facing damage (or worse) from the scary weather than can accompany the season.  Meantime, the North American prairie climate can basically just go f*ck itself with a rusty chainsaw...

Egyptian Mechanized Infantry HQ - 15mm Fate Of A Nation

Egyptian Mech Infantry company command

Some more 15mm Egyptian kit off the painting line - this is the command element for the Egyptian Mechanized Infantry Company.  There is a command stand and some support weapon teams that are optional upgrades for the unit.

Recoilless rifle team for the Egyptians

Egyptian mechanized infantry company commander - likely one of the worst jobs available in 1967...

There are two LMG teams - I believe they are meant to be RPDs.  I find the assortment of Cold War-era LMGs very confusing - I thought the RPD had a circular magazine, but perhaps it could be belt-fed too? Hopefully someone more knowledgeable fill me in…

LMG team for the Egyptians

Another view of the weapon teams

There is also a single BTR-152 APC for these fellows to cruise around in - you can see this model was damaged, a common problem I have found with these models from Battlefront.  I have painted about five of these so far, and four or them were broken in the package in this way, with a cracked section on the side walls of the vehicle.

Note the chip in the side of the vehicle - I tried to dress it up as battle damage, but it is the result of poor packaging by Battlefront

There are also two recoilless rifle teams, 82mm calibre ("B-40", I believe). All together these four teams can join the mechanized infantry platoon, an enormous collection of bases and vehicles that occupy just a single selection on the Egyptian force organization chart for "Fate Of A Nation"!

This almost wraps it for the Egyptian infantry for now…on to the tanks…

More Egyptian 15mm Mech Infantry for "Fate Of A Nation"

Another Egyptian mechanized infantry platoon for "Fate Of A Nation"

Here is a second platoon of mechanized infantry for Battlefront's "Fate Of A Nation" supplement to their Flames of War rules.  The figures are all 15mm size and from Battlefront. This platoon joins one painted earlier in late May.

AK-47 teams for the Egyptians - and in the background you can see the wonky bumper on one of the BTR-152s...I figured they got handled a little roughly, so I thought it would be neat to have one that looked a touch like a jalopy...

The platoon contains six AK-47 assault rifle teams and a bazooka team. The BTR-152s are an optional upgrade for them.  Once again, the models from Battlefront are very nice overall, but I wish better care had been taken with the packaging, as the sides of the BTRs lost chunks of resin and had to be either glued back in or just dressed up as battle damage/neglect.

The BTR-152s are nice models, but the resin sides are brittle as sh*t and often break in the package - watch for that if you are ever considering a purchase yourself!

Consistent with their approach to Soviet-trained/organized forces on the tabletop, Battlefront sets the individual Egyptian force elements out in company strength. So these two platoons are now awaiting their command and support elements to round out the force.

Another view of the bazooka team and BTRs

The two platoons - so far comprising 14 infantry stands and four vehicles - still take only a single solitary spot on the Egyptian force org chart for "Fate Of A Nation", and it's not even a core one at that! To scrape together 1200 or so points worth of stuff I'll need to add many tanks to the force - I assume this is what many Russian collectors go through when trying to get together a force for Flame of War?

Pile of Egyptians finished...more to come...

Still more Egyptian stuff to come...at least I hope so, it probably won't be long until my painting focus wanders on to something else...