Zvezda 15mm Sturmtiger

So after a bunch of faffing around building and painting 1/72 aircraft, I felt like having a bit of a "palate cleanser"... so I got out a Zvezda model I'd bought at the new hobby shop in town, back when they opened a year or two ago.

The Sturmtiger is one of my favourite German AFVs of the late-war period. After some success with the Sturmpanzer IV ("Brummbar") armed with a 15cm howitzer, Alkett designed and had approved the "38cm RW61 auf Sturmmorser Tiger" - an assault rocket mortar on the Tiger heavy tank chassis.   

As with most 1/100 Zvezda kits the tank was quick to build with only a few parts. The one challenge I find with the "snap" kits like this is that some of the snap parts can be fragile. I ended up having to glue the track parts to the chassis.

After assembly the model was primed black and basecoated with my own Dunkel Gelb formula - in this case GW XV-88 mixed with Zamesi Desert. 

Camo was applied by lightly stippling GW Doombull Brown and Catachan Green. The tracks were painted with Vallejo Track Primer.

The main armament was a 380mm mortar firing rocket-assisted ammunition. The distinctive vents in the gun tube wall exhausted the propellant gases forward. Range of the weapon was 4,600m (!)

After the camo was laid down the vehicle was washed with Agrax Earthshade and decals were applied. The model was then weathered with sponge chipping and some dirt (GW Rhinox Hide and Mournfang Brown) brushed up from bottom upwards.

The model was quite inexpensive - I think $8.99. Well worth it.

A nice addition to the WW2 German force in 15mm. Pictured next to the Sturmtiger is a PSC Sdkfz. 251 and crew.

Until next time - stay safe everyone!

Vacation Painting - 15mm Late WW2 German Infantry

15mm castings from Battlefront - late WW2 Germans

Every summer I look forward to visiting northern Ontario and the beautiful city of Sault Ste. Marie.  Located on the St. Marys River, between Lake Superior and Lake Huron, the Soo offers some of the most beautiful landscapes you will find in Canada (and some pretty awesome Italian food).  The north shore of Lake Superior is paradise for me, and we are fortunate to have a property on Goulais Bay. In late July we spent two weeks there.  I always bring some painting along on the trips to the Soo, and here is the finished product from the most recent visit - some late WW2 German infantry.

Fun to paint when this is your view! The sun setting over Lake Superior, at our cabin near Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. The big lake is at its calmest in the midsummer, barely a ripple when we took this photo.

I have resolved this summer to make a bit of a dent in the pending WW2 lead/plastic pile (it's pretty huge).  Lately I finished a couple of anti-tank guns, and this pile of infantry was up next so they came to the Soo and were (mostly) finished while on vacation.  They are 15mm castings from Battlefront - a "Sturm" platoon (dudes armed with Stg 44 assault rifles with a couple of MG42s mixed in), a Pioneer platoon (mix of small arms but lots of scary engineer stuff like mines, pole charges and two guys with flame throwers), two tripod mounted MG42 teams and two bases of Panzerschrek AT teams.  There is also an extra command stand (I think this was to go with the anti-tank guns), and a two-man artillery spotter team.

In all, a decent pile - 20 stands of infantry! Not too bad. 

Command team leads "sturm" platoon

The "Sturm" platoon (is that even a thing? Not sure I'm using the correct term) sort of confuses me - I only included two MG42 teams, but I don't know if the platoons carrying Stg44 assault rifles had MG42s or not.  I don't know what I was thinking when I put them together...but whatever, they will do fine. My head hurts when I try and sort out the platoon organizations that involved the assault rifles, and it gets more confusing when you figure what the Germans wished and what they actually went with in the field seldom mixed, especially late in the war.  Overall it sure seems to have a frightening amount of firepower.

German troops equipped with Stg44 assault rifles - though there are a couple of MG42 teams in there too - lots of firepower

The Pioneer platoon is meant to represent scary combat engineers.  There are fellows carrying anti-tank mines, pole charges, heavy grenade and other scary bits.  There are also two stands where a flamethrower is present.

Pioneers ready for the battlefield

Lots of panzerfausts, grenades, mines and pole charges - and one fellow (on the left corner of the front right stand) has a flame thrower

Of course everyone is carrying a panzerfaust, and the uniforms are a mix of long coats and reverse camouflage jackets, pants and helmet covers.  The pattern is/was supposed to be "splinter" pattern, but mostly it just looks kind of jumbled - not too bad. Painting the German camo makes me crazy, but I've given up trying to be too precise about it - from about a foot away, they look camouflaged - good enough for me!

I'm particularly pleased to have the pioneers/engineers done - I'm often preparing a game and thinking to myself "hey, messing around with minefields and barbed wire would be a good time", and the engineers add a fun dimension to that sort of game.  Plus - flame throwers! Watch out!

MG42 teams

Panzerschrek teams - mounted two teams per base in "Flames of War" for some reason, I think a reflection of the German tactical approach? Not sure...

The MG42 teams are left-overs from a "platoon" pack, and the Panzerschrek teams came with a Volksgrenadier box set from Battlefront.  Actually, quite a few of these figures came from that box now that I think about it (the balance I have based individually). 

Spotter teams come in handy, but are actually not easy miniatures to track down...they usually come with the mortar platoons and gun battery boxes, stuff that you don't even really need on the table - I wish the spotter teams were easier to get seperately

The grass was done with mostly light and dark brown and yellow colours, with just a few green tufts among them.  I am hoping this overall would look good for fall or spring, not bad in a green summer table, and not terrible on a winter/mostly snow table either.  This is something I have been trying to do more of, especially with infantry bases - a sort of "somewhat universal" groundwork, that compromises enough to not look terrible in most seasonal table presentations.  

These figures will be used in games of "Flames of War", but I also hope to put them to use playing Spearhead in 15mm, as well as Battlegroup and even Crossfire (an oldie that was once pretty popular with the Fawcett gang - maybe we can try it again sometime in the not-too-distant future, I hope!)

I still have a huge pile of WW2 stuff sitting and waiting for the brush - and I want to get to some more of it before the summer ends, but there will be another abrupt switch in the paint shop, as I understand the Warmaster Horus is getting impatient to begin a major assault against the Blood Drinkers, and he needs more stuff finished for that to happen...so back to 30k painting we go!

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 :)

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...