Painting Challenge Submission 16 - Pico Panzer Regiment Bäke

The Tiger Is of Schwere Panzer Regiment Bäke - 1/600 models from Pico Armor.

Hello everyone - my blogging pace dropped off suddenly towards the end of February.  I have been busy with work, and then a specific hobby project has been taking a fair bit of time as well.  But the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge continues, and I'm still making submissions - this one is a small (haha) project that I have been working on for the past couple of months and I thought this would be a good time to share and end my recent blogging drought.

These are 1/600 WW2 German figures in winter kit - and while figures at this scale they could represent almost anything, in this case they are meant to represent Schwere Panzer Regiment Bäke in games of "Spearhead", the classic division-level WW2 rules by Arty Contliffe.

The whole group.

Panzer Regiment Bäke

Heads up...here come the big cats...

As catastrophe overtook the German army on the Eastern Front in 1943, the overstretched German forces would make use of "fire brigade" type formations in order to stem the various crisis arising from the Red Army's overwhelming material and manpower superiority and countless breakthroughs along a huge front line.  Schwere Panzer Regiment Bäke was one of these "fire brigades", and a potent one at that, combining a battalion of Panthers, a battalion of Tigers, a battalion of combat engineers and a few other assets (artillery etc) which represented a terrifying concentration of fighting power.

Tiger Is in 1/600 scale and winter paint.

Under the command of Franz Bäke, a panzer commander of some renown, this formation was formed in late 1943, and fought through the winter into 1944, racing from crisis to crisis. Equipped to such a level, the formation is reported to have racked up fantastical kill totals in a number of armoured engagements. I am skeptical of these sorts of kill-total reports, but this formation certainly made a major impact wherever it was deployed on the front.  And yet the Eastern Front was enormous, and in the end formations such as this could not turn the tide or reverse the broader strategic circumstances that would see the Red Army triumphant in the east.

With each base representing a platoon, we have a Panther battalion in 1/600 scale.

As a wargamer I love tank battles, and I very much enjoy painting armour, and I'm drawn to the Eastern Front as a setting (and the middle east, and Team Yankee, etc. etc.).  It's a lot of fun to represent these "fire brigade" type formations in WW2 games.  The trouble is that many tactical-level games provide players on the German side with all of the benefits (veteran crews, amazing kit) while struggling to represent the downsides (ammo and fuel shortages, being massively outnumbered, dire strategic situation etc).  You can try to make allowances for these things of course, and many well-intentioned game designers look to assorted points systems to create some balance or handicapping in a game where Panthers and Tigers are present.  But this is hard to do...don't get me wrong, skirmish gaming with "big cats" is great fun, but I like to find games that give players on the German side the problems as well as the benefits when it comes to these sorts of units.

Play these rules! They are fantastic!

So that is where a magnificent game like "Spearhead" comes into play.  Yes, your Panther battalion is terrifying, and will blow up a lot of sh*t. But the Soviet player(s) will have infantry to slow it down, artillery to blast it, air strikes to hammer it, AND waves of T-34s to send towards it.  You might blow away clouds of T-34s and still end up trapped in a pocket, with half your Panthers out of action, and in no position to seal up the breach in the front lines. No rule system comes close to "Spearhead" for giving players on the German side these sort of up-ended "I-feel-like-I-won-but-I-still-lost" gaming moments.

The combat engineers...a "Stuka Zu Fuss" battery is at the front...

In "Spearhead" each base represents one platoon.  The round bases represent command elements - small ones for battalion commanders, larger ones for regiments etc.  The "Spearhead" scenario book "Where The Iron Crosses Grow" has a scenario featuring Regiment Bäke that we tried back in...2009! Wow, that was quite a long time ago!

Another view of the engineers - the armoured engineer platoons are at the front - they have their own Hanomags to ride around in.

For the scenario in question the Germans have a battalion of Panthers, a battalion of Tigers, and a battalion of combat engineers.  As units go in "Spearhead", these are all pretty scary...but in the scenario they will face a vast amount of Soviet armour, and they will have a difficult mission: escort the remnants of some shattered friendly units out of a pocket and back into the German lines.  The German players will have fun blowing up tanks with their elite panzers, but the command challenge in the scenario is a tough one...it will be played on a big table, and those panzers can't be everywhere...

Another view of the Panthers.

I had, at one time, a large 6mm collection of WW2 figures based for Spearhead. That is no longer with me...since I was starting from the ground up once again, I thought I would give these 1/600 models a try. I've been experimenting with them here and there for a long time (see example here), and have used them for the "Modern Spearhead" variant - they really are fun.

Regimental command - with a SdKfz flak unit on the left, and a 234 recon unit on the right.

These figures are all from Oddzial Ozmy, available in North American from the fine people at Pico Armor. I never thought I would enjoy 1/600 stuff...but the sculpting is incredible.  The infantry is still hard to do, and the bases will need labels so the players know what is what, but these paint up fast and are a lot of fun.  I also really need to up my game when it comes to ground work etc (check out Curt's 1/600 stuff to see what I mean).  But since I had all of the winter colours out during this edition of the Challenge, and Panzer Regiment Bäke was in action during the winter, it was no big deal to crank these out in winter colours "on the side" as I went along painting 28mm stuff.

Another view of the 234 - recon elements are critical in "Spearhead".

Some people who play 1/600 scale will take the opportunity to make their platoons 1-to-1 creations, putting a whole group of three or four tanks on each base.  I experimented with this, but decided against it in the end.  Crowded command bases look neat, but the tanks in the general combat platoons all look too crammed - you just end up with the same "hub-to-hub" look that ruins so many "Flames of War" games, but just at a different scope.  I kept it straight up, using the prescribed base size from the "Spearhead" rules, and used either one tank to represent a tank platoon, or one group of infantry to represent an infantry platoon.  The armoured engineer bases include a group of infantry and some 251 carriers on the same base - in "Spearhead" mechanized infantry is based together with their fighting vehicles.  

There are only a few weeks left in the tenth edition of Curt's Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge. I hope to have a few more submissions to share before it concludes for the year.

Thanks for looking, have a great weekend!

15mm Normandy WWII Battle Report

Owing to Conscript Greg's recent 15mm mania, we thought we'd roll out a WWII game this week using some of the new toys. Greg came up with a scenario based in late June, 1944, featuring a German armouyred counterattack by the 1st SS Panzer Division, near Caen. Conscript Brian and I took control of the German forces while Conscript Mike F. played the British defenders.

We set up the terrain to represent a village near the Odon bridgehead defended by the British 11th Armoured Division. I got to deploy a very impressive cathedral model that I'd bought a couple years ago as a "Christmas Village" piece - it had a lot less snowy patches to repaint (you can see a couple on the roof) and none of the usual twee elements (Christmas wreaths, poinsettia bouquets, garlands, etc.) that really destroy most Christmas village pieces for gaming use.
  

For rules, we decided to use the tried-and-true "Spearhead" set that Greg as gamemaster is very familiar with. We'll try Flames of War v.3 soon i think but for a last minute idea Spearhead was great. Since all wargames are just representational to some degree we considered each vehicle model to represent a single real-life counterpart and each infantry stand to be a half-section. So we essentially had an understrength German company (two platoons) plus two Panther platoons and a StuG platoon, attacking a British infantry company and attached Sherman tank squadron (three troops of three tanks each), plus two 17-lber AT guns and a Typhoon as close air support. German objective: to eject the British from the village, in 10 turns.

The Germans came streaming across the table towards the village.

German panzergrenadiers on the left flank of the assault.

 British AT gun lights up a sdkfz 251, eliciting the "WTF?" marker for the mounted squad...

The Panthers rolled directly towards the village. Note the straight line that could be drawn through all the Panthers at top right. This become relevant when the Typhoon arrives...

View of the assault from the steeple of the cathedral.
 

British infantry in Universal carriers arrives from reserve.

Shermans in a gun line. They were quite successful against the StuGs, less so against Panthers.

Germans dismount preparatory to the close assault.

"Targets in sight..."

"Target destroyed."

Sherman troop next to the cathedral destroyed one Panther platoon with some nice shooting.

The result...

The German assault was repulsed, bloodily. By turn 8 it was apparent that the assault would fail - the Panther platoons were destroyed or had fled, and there wasn't a great deal of infantry left, either. While the Germans had some local success on the left flank, they were doomed once reinforcements arrived. And the Typhoon (when it showed up) was devastating - a cool historical result.

I quite enjoyed using Spearhead for a smaller game. While the engagement ranges were quite short (mainly 6"-9") for some reason it didn't bother me, as the game rattled along quite quickly. A lot of fun - thanks to Greg for running the game and bringing his awesome new toys!

Battle Report - Tip Of The Spear(head) - 6mm WW2

The Germans roll out toward the Soviet lines.

We recently visited founding conscript Curt C in Regina for a weekend jam-packed with gaming. The weekend's main feature was a massive 28mm Napoleonic game (see here for the report and pictures), but we also sat down to play Spearhead, the wonderful WW2 division-level rules.  The scenario was set in the opening days of the Kursk offensive in the summer of 1943 on the Eastern Front, and pitted the elite troops of the Grossdeutschland Panzer Grenadier Division against the vast defensive reserves of the Red Army.

German forces pre-game.

"Quality of Quantity" for the Russians.

View of the table pre-game.  The German entry is at the top right of the photo, and the Russian table edge is at the lower left.

The table was a 6' x 6' set up, bisected by a road and a rail line, and also a small stream. Some areas of rough going dotted the table, along with a couple of hills and a few forested areas/copses.  Built-up areas were limited to a number of collective farms and one-sector town.  The Germans had 20 turns to exit the majority of their battalions (they had four) from the opposite edge.  Any other outcome was a Russian victory.  Curt took command of the Panzers while I took control of the Russians.

Stug IIIs give the German foot sloggers some armoured support.

Russian 76.2mm guns take defensive position behind the rail line.

The Russians got to start two infantry battalions with some attached AT guns dug in on the table.  They had voluminous reserves in the form of two Guards tank brigades, an independent heavy tank regiment, and an independent heavy assault gun regiment. They also had slim hopes that the Red Air Force could intervene.

The Russian infantry await the German assault.

The German forces were comprised of two panzer battalions, a gepanzert panzer grenadier battalion and a battalion of regular grunts.  They had support from off-table 10.5cn howitzers and the Luftwaffe.

This was a variation on a scenario I last played in 2007 with the gang here in Winnipeg.  I switched it up to better reflect the elite status of the GD Panzer Grenadier division, giving them more Mark IVs in place of the late model Mark III panzers that filled the Panzer battalions of most other line units in this period.  Besides I had just painted a bunch of Mark IVs and wanted to get them on to the table...

One of the aspects of Spearhead I enjoy so much is how well it reflects the relative flexibility (or lack thereof) of the different nations' command and control.  Curt put the German flexibility to good use, creating four different Kampfgruppen by cross-attaching companies among his battalions, so all the tanks had infantry support, and the infantry had some big guns to help. The Russians can't really do this kind of thing (or they can't in 1943).  On the other hand, you have lots and lots of them.

Germans prepare to run over the Russian infantry.

The German engineers punch a hole in the Russian lines.

Curt's troops demolished the on-table Russian infantry with clinical precision.  The Russian infantry gave the German mechanized troops a little trouble at first, but once the German engineer platoons got involved (hello, flamethrowers) it didn't last long.  The destruction of the initial Russian forces brought the reserves on to the table.

Here come the Russian reinforcements....

A Russian tank brigade races to engage the Germans.

Light tanks (aka "ablative armour") lead the Russian advance.

KV-1s rumble into battle.

It starts to go pear-shaped - T-34s fan out, but can't find the range...perhaps all of the burning wreckage obscures the view...

The tide of Russian armour looked dramatic, but it simply did not have the range needed to match the gun power of all those 75mm (and a few 88mm) guns on the German side.  The high-velocity 75s engaged at a range band the Russians could not match, and the Russians were not able to get very close in order to counter-punch.  The steady stream of visits from the Luftwaffe did not help. And while the KV-1 might have been scary in 1941-42, it was pretty lame in 1943. Even the ISU-152s had only a pop-gun range with their weapons.

Luftwaffe makes a visit - the KV-1s are no match for the twin 37mm cannons on the wings.

ISU-152s deal a small check to the Germans.

This Russian brigade is on fire - but not in the good way...

End result was a ton of burning Russian tanks, and a win for the German side.  The Russian did achieve a Thorpian Moral Win with a last-turn air strike by the Sturmoviks that mowed down most of a heavy tank company, but the fact is the Russian defences were going to need a lot more "depth" to stop the GD Panzer Grenadiers that day....

While the game went a little pants for my side, it was a real thrill to play another big Spearhead game.  The rules are outstanding.  Sadly the scenario books available for the game are chock full of unplayable encounters (a problem not limited to Spearhead, unfortunately), but the rules themselves are simple, elegant and fun.

Thorpian Moral Victory as the IL-23s light up some Tiger Tanks....

Big thanks to Curt C and his wife for their incredible hospitality in Regina.  Can't wait to game with the group out west again!

Battle report - rise of "smoke spam"

More plans wrecked by smoke rounds...

Last night Dallas hosted a game of Spearhead. The scenario set during the early days of the Battle of the Bulge, Hitler's last major counter-offensive in the war, and the fighting around St. Vith. I played the US side - a combat command that included a rifle battalion, some Shermans, some M-10 tank destroyers and a company of 57mm ATGs.

Dallas, later joined by Cam, took control of the German side, which featured three battalions - one panzer battalion loaded down with Panthers, and two foot-slogging Grenadier battalions.

The scenario was fairly straight forward. The German goal was to get through the US force. They could win two ways - by routing the US force prior to turn six, or exiting more than half of the Panzer battalion off the opposite table edge by turn 12. For fun I used a house rule to simulate the "on-fumes" state of the Panzers' fuel tanks - each turn Dallas would roll 2d6, and on an 11 or 12, one platoon would run out of gas and grind to a halt.

Well, the US gave a good fight. In particular, we really pasted Cam's grenadier battalion. That did little to halt the tide of Panthers, which rolled majestically over our infantry while the fire of the Shermans and 57mm ATGs pinged harmlessly off their armour. Dallas used the German off-table fire missions to deploy smoke screens at important times, which was really, really irritating.

My US lads held past turn six, compelling the Panzers to dash for the breakthrough. Sadly, I had few platoons left that could take advantage of the exposed flank and rear aspects of the Panthers. Spearhead's target priority rules also ensured that my infantry were tangled with the opposing German infantry, and the Panthers rolled right past them, leaving the Germans with a narrow but nonetheless definitive win, particularly as I failed a morale roll for the combat command.

Here are some pictures of the game. Note the carelessly exposed deployment of my tank destroyers. I'm sure the crews would condemn me for that, had any of them survived...

A cheesey smoke barrage obscures the German advance

Sherman tanks await the rare opportunity to take a flank shot at the enemy tanks

Q - do riverbanks provide good cover? A - NO

German armour rolls across the shallow creek

My very small collection of German armour in winter camo smashes its way through the infantry line

Cam's grenadier battalion got chewed up by artillery and a particularly stubborn platoon of M-20 armoured cars (seen on the far side of the creek)- none of which really helped me win, but at least we lit up somebody...

A picture of the desperate US defenders

The game was a lot of fun. The scenario was very simple, and there was not a ton of different types of units involved, which helped cut down on the headaches. Dallas and Cam did a good job breaking the US defence, balancing the need for speed while trying to ensure the troops could shoot back. In particular, Cam reorganized his attack away from a "one-at-time" approach (which worked great for my defenders) to an "all-at-once" (which sucked for my hapless guys).

I love Spearhead, because the game represents a confrontation between plans as much as dice-rolling and different stat sheets. Much depends on your plan, and your initial deployment, as it is not quick to move stuff around the table if you are caught out. Compared to the goofed-out, endless-special-rules impaired world of the byzantine power-creeping codices that dominate 40k, Spearhead is pure wargaming joy.

Dallas really played the Germans well, rushing straight ahead, conscious of the ticking clock. His plan spread out the attack enough to keep me busy, while still ensuring the panzers punched hard, and had infantry support when it counted. Only one tank platoon ran out of gas (dammit!) but the roll each turn added a nice little sense of "uh-oh". On the American side, you got a good feel for the hopeless defence - infantry just waiting in the trenches while the German treads ground towards them....yikes!

Thanks to Dallas for hosting, and to Cam and Brian for coming out.