Even More IDF Halftracks

Old-school rides for IDF mech troops in '73 - Peter Pig on the left, other two are from Battlefront

It's been quiet on the painting table for the past couple of weeks, as summer-ish weather has suddenly appeared (weeks and weeks late) on the Canadian prairies, following a winter of Retreat-From-Moscow-pocalypse proportions.  And even though I love this hobby, I love a cool glass of wine outside on the patio even more...however, Prairiecon 2014 is almost here, and I needed to complete my preparations!  Here are some more IDF halftracks.

Two of these models are mixed resin/plastic/metal from Battlefront, and one is a metal model from Peter Pig, with the addition of a ball turret conversion piece from Battlefront.  The Peter Pig one had been painted last year, and so it has my older style of painting "Sinai Grey".  They don't quite match up, but Sinai Grey always looks different every I see it in pictures anyways, so I'm not too fussed about it.

All of the stowage pieces are from a Battlefront conversion pack - they are very nice

The Battlefront models were OK to work with, but Peter Pig makes a much better M3 halftrack. You really notice it on the cupola MG in particular - the plastic .50 cal from Battlefront is heavy on the seam lines and light on detail. With hindsight, I could simply have combined Battlefront's excellent halftrack conversion kits with Peter Pig models. Oh well. But they are just 15mm, so it doesn't stand out too much.

I left the extra stowage off of the Peter Pig track...just a way to mark it as a command APC

Where I do give Battlefront more credit is the decals - the air recognition stripes look MUCH better with the decals than with my weak free-hand painting on the Peter Pig model (how hard is it to paint a white stripe? jeez Greg). The decals look a LOT better.

Ready to roll for Prairiecon!

I now have five of these IDF halftracks completed - enough to mount a full platoon of IDF mechanized infantry.  These will take to the table on Saturday morning in Brandon Manitoba as Dallas and I will be staging a scenario set at the Battle of the Chinese Farm during the Yom Kippur War in 1973. I am looking forward to another Prairiecon!

15mm IDF Halftracks - Yom Kippur War

IDF halftracks from Battlefront

Some more Yom Kippur painting as we prepare for Prairiecon 2014! In this post are a pair of Israeli M3 halftracks.  The models are from Battlefront - the halftracks themselves are from their WW2 range, but they are tricked out with upgrade bits from their really, really awesome "Fate of A Nation" expansion for the Six Day War.

Mix of resin, plastic and metal - all in one little 15mm APC!

The US M2/M3 halftrack was the main APC of the IDF armoured infantry battalions during the Six Day War.  The IDF was in the process of replacing the M3 with the M113 by the time of the Yom Kippur War in 1973, but as is so often the case when bringing new kit to your armed forces, the IDF still relied on the tried and tested M3 as their reserves mobilized to meet the surprise attack by the Arabs.

Covered in soldiers' kit...I like the look - makes them look "lived in"

As with the venerable M51 Sherman, the M3 saw service with mobilizing reserve formations and saw action in both the Golan Heights and against the Egyptians in the Sinai peninsula.

Battlefront offers these models for their Fate of a Nation supplement.  The model is (of course) the US WW2 M3 halftrack with a conversion kit.  The pieces in the kit let you have the halftrack festooned with spare kit and bags, as these vehicles often seem to be when seen in photos from the Arab-Israeli wars, and also add the little ball-turret .30cal MG in place of the right-side front vision port. The air-recognition decals are also from Battlefront. 

Details were done on the hull by pin washing with GW's Nuln Oil and Agrax Earthshade

The Battlefront APC itself is a mix of old and new trends in gaming model design - the hull is resin, with plastic accessories. While overall the kit is very good, I'm not totally wild about the quality of the Battlefront plastic...it has an odd, rigid quality to it and not as much detail as the metal parts. Gamers often clamor for more and more plastic, and I worry we will regret this...

The .50cal MGs are plastic...and not inspiring plastic...but overall these are still real beauties to work with

And yet, even with my grouchy-old-man-style bleating, these are fun kits.  I am very much enjoying Battlefront's entry into 15mm Arab-Israeli wars as it is overall providing us gamers with some great stuff! The only problem here is that I should have finished four of these halftracks - not two - in order to mount the entire platoon.  I sort of ran out of bases...I hope to get the other two done in time for Prairiecon! But if the bases don't get sorted in time, we'll just add some M113s :)

We will be test driving the Prairiecon scenario at Dallas' place this week.  Looking forward to getting these on the table!

Magach 3s - 15mm Yom Kippur War

Magach 3s from Battlefront

Over the past couple months Dallas has been doing some really nice work on some 15mm Egyptians to participate in some Yom Kippur War gaming - see here for his really sharp tanks and here for some really nice infantry.  It's always fun when someone else in the group tilts over and joins in with a "New Insane Project", and in particular Dallas is great because he not only joins, but once he does, he provokes counter-escalation (Mike is great for this too).  And so here is a platoon of IDF Magach 3 tanks, ready to respond to this Egyptian provocation.

I used Vallejo's "Green Grey" on these tanks

The "Magach", as tread heads will immediately recognize, is a US M48 Patton tank.  The IDF acquired these from West Germany initially (I think) and then more from the US.  They equipped armour battalions serving in the Southern Command, the front facing Egypt in/on the Sinai. The Magach served in the Six Day War in 1967, and saw critical service again during the Yom Kippur War in 1973.

Decals from Battlefront

My initial Arab-Israeli war collecting was focused on the Golan Heights front, but with Dallas doing Egyptians I wanted to expand into the IDF tanks that saw service in the Sinai.  The Centurions and M51s saw action there as well, but the Magach tanks were pretty much exclusive to the Sinai and their rounded, egg-shaped silhouette is quite evocative of the desperate fighting along the Suez Canal in 1973.

Air recognition stripes

As with most of their tanks, the IDF set about improving them almost immediately.  They ditched the little mini-turret cupolas in favour of a more standard hatch, and up-gunned them from 90mm to 105mm. Tracking the many small modifications to the different version of Magach tanks is confusing and gives me a headache, but I think the main differences for gaming purposes are the main gun and the cupola. While there were only a relatively small number of the 105mm-armed tanks in 1967, by 1973 they were the norm in the IDF Southern Command, so I put the 105mm gun on these models.

You can kind of see the hacked-up cupola on the tanks

The models are from Battlefront.  The Magach kits are lovely, but unfortunately the cupolas are still the old-school "M1" cupolas from the original Patton tanks.  I believe the IDF used them in 1967, so this makes sense - Battlefront released these models for the Six Day War, after all.  But I wanted these tanks to "look 1973", so I attempted a crude conversion by simply cutting the MG off the turret and mounting a .50 cal MG on the top.  It's not pretty, and absolutely not a proper "Urdan" IDF tank cupola, but it will do for now!

I absolutely love the decals from Battlefront...

I painted the tanks with Vallejo "Green Grey" and pin washed them with GW "Agrax Earthsade" and "Nuln Oil" washes.  The decals are also from Battlefront, and they are REALLY excellent - no more free-hand attempts at Hebrew letters for me!!  I weathered them with pigment powders and they are ready for action.

Bring on the Egyptians! Hey - what's a "Sagger" anyway?

Dallas has kindly agreed to run a 15mm Yom Kippur War game with me a PrairieCon 2014 in Brandon this year.  We are hoping to play a test-game this week against his excellent Egyptians - stay tuned for details!

15mm IDF Infantry from Khurasan

15mm IDF infantry from Khurasan - jeeps from Old Glory

Some more stuff painted for the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge - this time a platoon (or thereabouts) of 15mm IDF infantry for the 1973 Yom Kippur War.  These figures are sold by Khurasan, although I believe they were sculpted by Mike Broadbent.  I based them individually for use in games like Bolt Action, Chain of Command etc.

More IDF troops

Over 2013 Khurasan has released a few product codes affiliated with the Yom Kippur War.  I game the period, and Khurasan generally has excellent products, so this is welcome in many ways. Over 2013, however, I have found that the ratio of actual figures released compared to computer renderings, previews and promises made on TMP by this provider to be getting worse and worse. It's a trend I like to call "Khuraspam" (see a recent example here - I would love to see previous promised stuff released before a fungus army arrives...anyway, I digress).  People who dare question this on TMP tend to attract a rain of indignation, but it is annoying. Yes, I know things get held up at casters, etc etc etc but maybe think about that before "previewing" things...anyway, back to the figures.

The detail on the straps is inconsistent on these castings

There are no figures that I know of specific to the IDF in 1973.  Some try to make do with QRF.  I went with Peter Pig infantry and head swaps, and it came out OK.  With such a vacuum in this specific market it's great to see specific 15mm IDF troops for the Yom Kippur War, right? Sadly, once they finally arrived, they were a bit disappointing.

Hex dude is the CO for the platoon, with his radio nearby; to his left is a guy with a heavy-barreled FN-FAL, mounting an AT grenade

Don't get me wrong - these are still way better than QRF.  And they have specific, unique things you will want if you game this period - things like troops with Uzi SMGs, or the updated bazooka, or the cool little knee-mortar and heavy-barreled FN-FAL with AT grenade.  Even Peter Pig infantry with head swaps still do not get you these things. But Khurasan has done way better than this quality-wise with other products, so I was disappointed.

Prone gunner with FN-MAG LMG...I know this is a common actual combat pose, but I hate prone figures...

What was the issue? Well, little things. The only FN-MAG gunner in the line, for example, is a prone figure.  This is a small thing, but many of us like to have variety, and I would have hope for more than one FN-MAG pose in the line.  And the figures are quite slight, very small, some of them really, really lean, nearly flat. And the detail is inconsistent...amazing and crisp, and then suddenly faded - all on the same figure.

A second FN-MAG - I did two of them, but I think a platoon technically only had one

I notice it most with the harnesses...the straps are there, and then suddenly not.  Maybe it's too picky to be thinking this with 15mm infantry, but Peter Pig generally nails this stuff - even Battlefront does, and so does most other Khurasan product I have seen. This wasn't a deal breaker at all, just annoying, kind of disappointing.

You can see a couple of the Uzi guys

But hey, they are still going to be good on the table.  I've based them individually, to represent the bulk of a mechanize infantry platoon.  The regular dudes are on 20mm round bases, NCOs are on square bases, the commander and radio flunky are on a hexagon base, and the heavy-barreled FN-FALs and knee mortars are on octagon bases.  Most of the troops have FN-FAL rifles, but I have sprinkled a few Uzis around.

Large calibre recoilless rifles on jeeps - handy, mobile and heavy duty AT firepower

And some perspective - you can see a couple of jeeps mounting heavy recoilless rifles in this pictures. These are from Old Glory. While I'm not crazy about the Khurasan castings, they are Mona Lisas compared to the Old Glory drivers...yikes. I think I've been spoiled by working with too much great stuff from Peter Pig. Bottom line - if you want to game this period (and you should!), you will want to but these figures.

The guys with square bases are NCOs

Also, let's give Khurasan credit - between these, the Syrian infantry, the T-55s and T-62s, they have released a good pile of product for the 1973 Yom Kippur War, much of which can be used in other periods, of course.  I just wish that more of the promised sections were fulfilled, and more than anything else, that Khurasan would start to under-promise and over-deliver a little bit more. 

15mm IDF Armour - M51 Shermans and Tiran-67

M51 Sherman tanks from Battlefront

 Here is another selection of models painted during the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge. It is a healthy pile of IDF armour, a company worth of M51 Shermans (known casually as "Ishermans") and a lone Tiran-67.  The M51s are mostly from Battlefront (8 of them), with a few from Old Glory (a pack of 3). The Old Glory tanks have Peter Pig accessories (crew, MGs).

Tiran 67 (left) and three M51 Sherman tanks from Old Glory

I painted the Old Glory tanks first, back in December, using my mix of GW "Death World Forest" and Devlan Mud wash (see here for more on that).  I find Old Glory to be very hit-and-miss. The Old Glory M51 models are nice, however, and competitively priced.  They are weakest on what I like to refer to as "accessories" - their crew figures are awful, their MGs are awful.  The Peter Pig accessories really "make" the tanks in my view.

Old Glory M51 Sherman tank - crew and MG from Peter Pig

The M51 saw a healthy amount of action in the 1967 "Six Days War" as well as the 1973 Yom Kippur War.  The Centurions get most of the tank glory from those wars (and rightly so), but the humble M51 was a key player.  In 1973 it was IDF reservists in M51s that kicked off the vital counterattack against the Syrian penetrations on the Golan Heights.  M51s saw action in the counter-invasion into Syria (ambushing an Iraqi armoured division which had been sent to help the Syrians), as well as in the fighting on the Sinai. 

Front view - oversize 105mm is so big it can't quite fit in the photo

The M51 is one of the coolest-looking tanks out there, with a massive high-velocity 105mm gun and a requisite end-of-days size muzzle brake. I cannot understand how the Sherman tank was able to become such a cool vehicle when in WW2 it was panzer cannon fodder. Even so, rolling out in one of these in 1973 took guts...after all it would be facing 100mm guns (T-55s, SU-100s), 115mm guns (T-62s), 125mm AT guns, 108mm recoilless rifles and even AT-3 "Sagger" guided missiles.  

M51 Sherman tanks from Battlefront, using Vallejo colour for Sinai Grey

The markings on all of these tanks are hand painted.  Some of them turned out great.  A chevron, generally, is pretty easy to freehand paint.  On the other hand, the Hebrew letters were hit-and-miss.  I wanted to use decals for those, but I had ordered them from Battlefront in November and they were taking forever to show up (still had not arrived as of this posting).

Rear view of Battlefront M51 Sherman tank

The Battlefront M51s are of course pricier, but they are nicer models.  They are a little bigger - the turret is larger, and the tank itself is a little taller, and the barrel on the main gun is thicker/heavier-looking. For these tanks I attempted to follow Battlefront's approach to getting the elusive "Sinai Grey" colours on the tanks.  I followed the process from this article - it's a great read, check it out - using Vallejo's "Green Grey".  I did not bother with the puffery of an oil wash, but I just used GW's Devlan Mud to pin wash the model instead.

You can see the freehand painting of the Hebrew letters didn't go so well....

While the overall Battlefront M51 is a better model, I was pretty disappointed with the casting quality of the accessories.  The crew figures and MGs sucked.  Unfortunately my stock of Peter Pig stuff had run out, so I just made do with the least-bad castings. I'm putting another order in to Peter Pig (which will no doubt arrive four years before any Battlefront stuff...anyway).

Was pleased with how the markings on this tank turned out!

The searchlight is optional for the models.  I threw a few on, but not on all of them.  Fortunately they were well-cast, compared to the crew and the MGs.  

Example of a tank with a search light mounted

I am very happy with this approach to Sinai Grey.  There are a couple of comparison shots here so you can see how they differ.  You also get an idea of how the Old Glory M51 compares to the Battlefront one.

Old Glory on the left, Battlefront on the right

Old Glory in front, Battlefront behind

Battlefront on the left, Old Glory on the right

The lonely tank is a Tiran-67, a T-55 captured in 1967 and put into service with one of the IDF's reserve armoured brigades.  I haven't found much detailed information on the service of these tanks, but I believe they saw combat in the Sinai in 1973, as well as with various "allied" militias during Israel's Lebanon incursion in the 1980s.

Tiran 67, a captured T-55 in IDF service

The Tiran is an Old Glory casting, and not a great casting. The MG is from Peter Pig. The poor Tiran is a little lonely...I may add a few more even though they aren't great quality, just to have a T-55 vs. Tiran game set in the Sinai sometime.

Coming soon...Khurasan T-55 company...

Eleven M51s is quite a lot of IDF tanks for skirmish style gaming...and while I am hoping to run more skirmish style games with these for our group, I am actually also trying to load up for a straight-up Fate of A Nation, Flames of War game.  Yes - you read that here...I will be trying to run some Flames of War games...I am already trying to build up my Egyptian forces as well as IDF. I'm hoping Dallas might jump in on the Egyptian side, and I'm hoping Curt will do some Jordanians. I have a big shipment of Battlefront stuff dues this week, so stay tuned for more painting!

Purple Line Blues - 15mm Yom Kippur War Battle Report

IDF Centurions rolling towards the front

We ran another 15mm Yom Kippur War game last night. The scenario pitted opposing armoured columns against each other in a meeting-engagement-type battle. We used Dallas' "Red Storm" rules for the game, with the addition of a sort of "Hen & Chicks" rule for the Syrian tankers. I also continued with my house rule that AFVs could not pass any closer than 4" to another active friendly AFV on the table (I hate when the tanks horde up Flames-Of-War style).

The table at Turn 1 - IDF table edge at the bottom, Syrian at the top

The IDF had five Centurion Sho't Kals and a squad of mechanized infantry in an M113.  The Syrians had nine T-62s and a squad of infantry in a BTR-60.The setting was the Golan Heights, early on the second day of the war. The IDF column was a group of reservists sent forward desperately to reinforce the "Purple Line", which the Syrians had in fact broken through during the night.  On the way to the front the IDF encounters a Syrian column that has made it through, and the battle ensued!

Syrian T-62s

IDF Centurion rolls up the lead T-62 platoon

Conscripts Hugh and Byron played the Syrians, while Jim played the IDF with a little help from me.  Each side had to block the other from escaping, while trying to set some of its own stuff off of the table - a tricky balancing act.  The table was 6' x 4', with the sides approaching from opposing short table edges.

Turret flew off following a particularly well-placed shot...

Burning tanks filled the table right from the first turn.  Jim and I felt pretty good about things in the first couple of turns - we lit up the leading Syrian tank platoon with only one Centurion damaged in return.  As the follow-up Syrians came on, we were thinking a couple of turns of efficient gunnery would sort them out.

Syrian infantry deploy - to their doom...

IDF troopers hop off of their M113

We were kind of wrong...Byron in particular started to hot-roll for the Syrian gunners, and our tanks started to see some serious damage, especially the loss of main guns! By the fifth turn, we were down to one fully-functional Sho't - although we had managed to eliminate the Syrian infantry. 

Centurion with damaged main gun tried to make for the far table edge - it would end badly for the tank...

In the sixth turn Byron managed to blow the main gun off our final tank, and that was that! With no meaningful AT firepower left, the IDF had to pull back, leaving a one destroyed and another immobilized Sho't on the battlefield, and three more without their main armament. The Syrians had lost three T-62s, a BTR-60 and a squad of infantry.  That's what it was like in those first couple of days on the Purple Line in October 1973...

This blurry photo captures the fate of the IDF tankers in the game

Syrian T-62 firing line victorious at the end of the game

It was a lot of fun to play Yom Kippur again, and Dallas' rules work very well for the battle.  I should probably tweak the tanks' stats a touch for next time, but "Red Storm" is great for this setting. Thanks to Hugh, Jim and Bryon for coming out.

IDF Infantry and APCs in 15mm

IDF Mechanized Infantry ready to defend the Golan Heights

Some more progress on the Golan Heights Project - some IDF infantry and APCs.  The models are from Peter Pig.

Peter Pig's IDF infantry is meant for Lebanon.  In 1973 the IDF troops mostly used SLR-type assault rifles, as opposed to Galils and M-16s that became common in Lebanon.  QRF does offer Israeli infantry, but having seen the quality of their other infantry offerings, I wanted to stick with Peter Pig. So that meant some head swaps were in order!

For this I was following the advice of Mark Kinsey, who has been very helpful and has been pursuing his own projects related to the Golan Heights and Lebanon for some time (see his blog at this link).  Assuming you can navigate Peter Pig's bonkers website, they offer a whole sweep of alternate heads for their figures! It's brilliant.  This way I could use the "professionals" from Peter Pig's AK47 range (models armed with SLRs) and swap out their cloth caps for heads with US-style helmets.

Who replaces heads on 15mm figures? I do!

The head swapping is really pretty easy - you need good nail clippers, a pin vice and you are in business.

The replacement heads sat pretty well for the most part

These models are "Professionals" from Peter Pig's AK47 Republic range - with swapped out heads

Here are some of the LMGs

Another view of the LMG gunners

For this initial round of IDF infantry I tried to approximate a couple of squads of guys - some LMGs, some NCOs, a few officers.
 

These NCOs are from the Lebanon range, but the head-swap worked pretty well, and the M16 is not too visible

For officers I used NCOs from the IDF Lebanon range (again, swapping out the heads).

These officers are actually WW2 US figures...they fit in pretty well

The M1 is pretty visible on the fellow in the middle, but I can live with it

To represent platoon-level officers I also poached some WW2 US models.  They fit it in OK - only one or two M1 carbines are clearly visible to give things away :)

A pair of bazooka teams for the IDF

I also used the WW2 US models for bazooka teams, as there are several reported instances of IDF bazooka troops making incredible stands against Syrian T-55s and T-62s.

Peter Pig M113s waiting for primer. I love all of the MGs on the model.

The M113s are from Peter Pig's Lebanon period.  There are probably one or two things that would make them technically not correct for 1973, but I thought they were close enough.  The IDF still made significant use of the M3 half-tracks in 1973, but one of the armoured infantry battalions on the Golan in 1973 for the Syrian surprise attack was equipped with the M113s, so I thought it would be good to start with a couple.

A finished M113 with infantry

I painted these using the same paint combo as my second go at the Centurions

I struggled assembling the M113 models.  You would think they are pretty straight forward, but I still found a way to make it complicated...I love painting, but I'm not a very skilled or patient modeller!  Still I think they turned out OK, although one of the M113s looks like it had some kind low-rider modification for a Saturday night cruise here in Winnipeg.

This view gives a good shot of the weathering powders at work...also how much I struggled to get the tracks on correctly! It looks even worse in person...

So now it is back to more Syrian tanks - T-62s to be specific.  Further progress beyond that will be limited - Canada Post returned my recent Peter Pig shipment AFTER telling me they would hold it.  So the local Canada Post outlet can ROT.  Peter Pig is watching for the returned package (sent two weeks ago) but there is no sign yet, so the pathetic incompetence of Canada Post will slow this down...