Zvezda BT-5

 I've got quite a few BTs in 6mm, but none in 15mm, and I thought it was time to boost my early war Soviet armour holdings as there were roughly equal numbers of T26 and BT available in 1941 (around 9000 of each) . Zvezda do some lovely cheap BT-5s, so I picked up a few of those.

Here they are roaring across the tabletop. Never mind the paper thin armour, what super little tanks, and with a very scary gun for 1937.

The front hull gives a real impression of speed. It was set up like that to allow for trackless, steering, but is has the dual benefit of being sensible from a ballistic point of view too.

These were very easy to put together with few parts, one piece track assemblies and almost no flash. The track plates even bear a resemblance to the real ones, which is unusual in Zvezda kits.

Lots of nice detail on the hull and engine. Quite finely moulded but easily sufficient to pick up a drybrush.

They look very racy from the side, but somehow seem to be lacking a wheel. I'm too used to T34s. You can see the good track detail including the widely spaced guide teeth. 

Here they all are from the front. I did them in a base of Vallejo Russian Green 894, then went over them with a heavy drybrush of VJ894 mixed with about a third of VJ Middlestone to produce that sort of horrible green colour that Soviet tanks fade to in the sun. As these were quite long in the tooth by 1941, I thought faded paint was more appropriate and they've ended up surprisingly close to the colour in Zalogas 'Eastern Front Armour and Camouflage'. 

Otherwise it was the usual mud and ink over the running gear, and a light tan drybrush overall to pick out the highlights.

Ive got a couple scenarios in mind which will feature these, so coming to a tabletop near you at some point in the future. 

Breaking the Crust, Market Garden, 1944

 After the Battle for Best, there seemed to be some general enthusiam for doing some sort of linked Market Garden campaign, so I rolled right back to the XXX Corps breakout from the Neerpelt bridgehead. I'd actually run this scenario before (see https://tgamesweplay.blogspot.com/2019/08/breaking-crust.html) but had always been slightly puzzled by the CD scenario setup. I finally realised it started after the XXX Corps preliminary bombardment, which was why the 6th Luftwaffe Penal Battalion and one of the of the 6th FJR battalions were missing.

I revised the OBs back to the correct historical ones (based on 'It Never Snows in September' by Kershaw) and added the poor speed bump battalions to Kampfgruppe Walther.

Jerry. John. Tom and Tim C took the Irish Guards Battlegroup, and Tim G, Simon and Pete KG Walther. Tom had expressed a particular interest in leading an armoured breakout, so commanded 2nd Irish Guards at the front of the column. John had 3rd Irish Guards, Tim had 2nd Devonshires and Jerry was in overall command as JOE Vandeleur, aka Micheal Caine. Not a lot of people know that.

For the Germans, Simon had HG Hoffman (1st FJR) along the road, Pete had 6th FJR holding the woods to the west and Tim had SS KG Heinke drawn from 9th and 10th SS Panzer Divisions holding the east. Tim was standing in for Walther as overall CO.

Battlefield from the south. Borkel to the east, Petter to the west and Valkenswaard just off the north edge of the map over the stream. The Neerpelt bridghead is just off the southern edge and the leading elements of Irish Guards Group are at Kolonie.

2 Irish Guards, 3 Irish Guards and 2 Devonshires packed into the assembly area, flanked by Guards Armoured Divisional Artillery. Directly facing them are III/6FJR and 6 Luftwaffe Penal Battalion strung out in a long 'speed bump'.

The rest of 6FJR around Petter. These troops had high morale but relatively poor training as they were padded out with new conscripts. This was the combat debut of my new PP Fallschirmjagers, a whole regiment of them!

SS Heinke around and south of Borkel. The main element was a pair of panzergrenadier companies  from 9th and 10th SS grouped under 19th SS PGR and what remained of 10th SS Panzerjager Abteiling with fifteen Jagdpanzer IVs. KG Hoffman (1st FJR) is holding the main road in depth backed up a company of 10th SS engineers at the bridge to Valkenswaard.

SS Jagdpanzer IVs in Borkel, motorised engineers at the bridge and Tims HQ.

The action opened at 1355 with the sky black with aircraft! Well, I had the models so.... 

Dakotas, Mitchells, Spitfires, Typhoons. Sadly my metal Mosquito was a bit to unsteady on its flight stand and I didn't want to risk carnage on the tabletop. 'If only I'd once had such resources at my disposal' as Kurt Student observed as the air armada flew overhead.

The Dakotas droned away, and at 1400 hours a 300 gun bombardment opened up, coupled with massed airstrikes from fighter bombers and medium bombers. I'd already warned the Germans what was going to happen so they weren't too depressed. The bombardment obliterated the German front line and suppressed everybody else.

The original CD scenario starts after the bombardment has been fired, but I thought it would be more fun to represent it as you don't get many chances to field a penal battalion, even if only for one turn!

The Irish Guards then motored on behind a rolling barrage fired by the entire divisional artillery. This was pre-programmed and lifted one hex row per turn. We've all seen that scene in the film. 'Driver advance!'

A slightly alarming view for the SS Panzergrenadiers.

2nd Irish Guards rolled up the road behind the barrage, the infantry dismounting from the back of the tanks when they entered the woods. 'This is the wide part' (JOE Vandeleur/Micheal Caine).  The Germans opened fire with their AT guns but they were suppressed by the barrage and the fire was ineffective.

3rd Irish Guards formed up and set off cross country in the direction of Borkel. The SS opened fire with mortars and inflicted some losses on the lorried infantry.

Rather than hang around trading shots with the Germans, 3IG just rolled right over their positions. The Germans fell back disorganised to the next ridge, but not before inflicting heavy losses on the British tankers from their entrenched positions with infantry AT weapons. Ouch. The SS were rated as veterans so very dangerous, but with fairly average morale.

Concerned by the prospect of the disorganised panzergrenadiers being overrun, the Jagdpanzers moved up in support.

The Devonshires moved on either side of Kolonie, while Jerry set up his HQ in the village.

Over in  the east, the Jagdpanzers got in the first shot and the remaining 3 IG Shermans went up in flames. The survivors fell back to reverse slope positions out of sight of the Germans. One group of Devonshires accompanied by a squadron of 15/19 Hussars moved up in support. 

Back on the main road, 2IG managed to knock out the AT guns with direct fire but were then appallingly unlucky and failed their morale test to assault the handful of surviving FJ. Meanwhile the barrage rolled on northwards over the rest of KG Hoffman.  

Heinke moved up and rallied the disorganised panzergrenadiers, covered by the Jagdpanzers who took up hull down positions. 

Over in the west, all was quiet on the 6th FJR front although the other group of Devonshires located minefields south of Petter. (the whole front between the woods was lightly mined)

Back on the main road, 2IG sorted themselves out, as as the barrage rolled away, the RAF put in an appearance as the first flight of Typhoons swooped down.

KG Hoffman suffered some losses from the air attack but remained in good order.

It was fairly obvious where the main allied effort was now, so 6th FJR began to redeploy. II/6FJR moved east from Petter, and I/6FJR side stepped to replace them.

2 Irish Guards now called down both 25 pdr Regiments and another airstrike on KG Hoffman, followed by an armour/infantry assault down the road. This spread death and destruction among the dug in German paras, but they  calmly stalked the Shermans with their Panzerfausts and knocked several tanks out. A bloody melee now raged over the road junction.

Further west, the Devonshires and II/6FJR bumped into each other in the woods and exchanged small arms fire to little effect.

2 IG finally mopped up the last of the FJ, but not before losing yet more tanks in close combat. Only one German unit between them and the road north though. 

The Devonshires had the worst of the firefight with the FJ and fell back in disorder. Jerry moved up to help rally them. Fortunately another two companies had moved up to plug the gap. I/6FJR fortified Petter, while II/6FJR assessed its chance to cut the main road.

With British tanks suddenly behind them, the Jagdpanzers turned about and rumbled off towards Borkel.

The Irish Guards turned right off the main road and met the Jagdpanzers in the fields outside Borkel in close range combat. The British tanks outpaced their infantry and a bloody close range tank battle ensued

To general hilarity, this resulted in the complete destruction of both sides. Ouch! Tim was now holding Borkel with just his HQ, while two angry companies of Irish Guards infantry eyed them up from the edge of the woods.

Back on the main road however, Jerry chivvied the Devonshires into shape. Two companies moved to block 6FJR, while the rest formed up to resume the advance, led off by 15/19 Hussars in their Cromwells.

Further north there was a loud bang as the SS engineers tried to demolish the bridge to Valkenswaard, just as another flight of Typhoons lined up on them.

The Devonshires column piled up the road, supported by the entire divisional artillery and the Typhoons. This was too much for the SS who fled, but not before knocking out some of the leading Cromwells with panzerfausts. The road to Eindhoven was iopen!

The Irish Guards infantry advanced cautiously towards Borkel, covered by more air strikes, but Heinke (Tim) held them off with a steely eye and his Luger.

As dusk fell, the Devonshires protecting the flank won the firefight with 6FJR and the disheartened paras fell back in disorder. There was just enough time for 15/19 Hussars to roll over the stream into Valkenswaard and settle down for the night.

Over in Borkel, with the main allied column well on its way and their armour lost, it was time for the SS to pack up into their lorries and head off the block the road again a bit further north.

While over the west, 6th FJR still held Petter in strength. Pete mounted his HQ up and moved forward, and there were various amusing exchanges about the ability of Kettenkrads to do wheelies.

So as night fell we'd achieved a spookily historical result. XXX Corps had just made it to Valkenswaard, but 19th SS PGR and 6th FJR were in good enough shape to block the road further north at Aalst and make the British do it all again tomorrow. At one point I thought it was all over for the British when 3 IG was crippled assaulting 19th SSPGR, but in the end massed artillery and airpower was just enough to tip the balance and they made it up the main road.

Bodged Bloch

Along with the D. 520, I thought the French could also do with some heavier air support. French bombers of the 1930s were certainly original, but towards the end of the 30s some more sensible designs (which didn't look like airborne bits of furniture) began to turn up.

As 1/144th scale 1940 French bombers are a bit rare, I was looking for something to bodge up, and the  Bloch MB131 bore a passing resemblance to a Blenheim, which is handy as Zvezda make a Blenheim in 1/200th scale.

And Lo and Behold, an MB131 takes to the air. These didn't actually serve as bombers but as fast recce, but if it looks like a bomber, sounds like a bomber... This one took a fair bit more bodgery than the D. 520 as for some unaccountable reason, the wierd asymmetrical nose of the Blenheim didn't seem to feature in other aircraft. It also had a ventral gun pod. The nose just took a moderate amount of filler and sanding to make into the more rounded Bloch nose. 

The tail on the Bloch was also more angular than the Blenheim, so a certain amount of cutting and sanding took place, particularly on the elevator. The one thing I couldn't fix was that the wings should be on the bottom of the fuselage instead of halfway up, but it was good enough. Like the D. 520 I did this in the grey/green/brown scheme and hand painted the roundels.

The ventral gun turret can be seen in the profile view here. I made it up out of sprue with a lot of sanding to get it into the teardrop shape, and added an MG from 0.5mm brass. This plane has its number on the fuselage and its squadron flash on the tail, another decal from the good old Emhar Mark IV box. I did the spinners red for a bit of contrast.

Here it is in flight being escorted by the D. 520. It looks a bit small as it is far away. not 1/200th scale at all.

I was very pleased with how that turned out. I've no idea when it might appear in a game, but I'll have to design a scenario which might feature it.

Pz8 Cambrai

 Simon put on a game using the Pz8 WW1 Division/Corps rules. I'd looked at these previously but thought they looked a bit overly abstract for my usual outings to WW1, but given the option to actually play with them, I was keen to give them a go.

They are pitched at a similar level to my own Drumfire with battalion sized stands and roughly a Corps on the table. The artillery is abstracted out as a set of support points which add to attacks.

This was a scenario based on Cambrai, Tim and I had the British with the equivalent of three infantry divisions, plus some tanks and a cavalry division arriving later. John and Mark were the wicked Germans.

View from the south. British on the left. An interesting feature of the game is that a square can only contain four 'things' which include field defences, so if you fill a square with trenches, it reduces how many troops you can put in. This is actually a very clever mechanism as it doesn't impede the defender too much, but it is an utter pain for an attacker as it dilutes combat strength as you advance into the defences.

A key feature of the German defences are Bourlon village and Bourlon wood, which the Germans packed with barbed wire and machineguns in the top centre. The woods protected it from tanks, and the wire and MGs made it into  fortress.

The Germans also put a wired bunker complex in their front line, which we spent some of our artillery points on to bombard and were lucky enough to destroy it. We didn't go nuts on the bombardment as we didn't want to cut the ground up any more as it was hard enough to deploy the tanks anyway.

Our chaps rolled forwards into Nomansland. The wood counters are the remaining artillery points. In the basic game artillery is only put into assault combats, and we kept it that way in the interests of simplicity. Tanks are at risk of getting stuck if they move, which keeps them in the square for the rest of the game, although they can still fight.

The British horde from the front. As we'd put some defensive trench lines down, we were generally limited to three units per square and the tanks had to avoid the woods and villages. We mainly had infantry, plus a few MG companies. The MGs were less useful on the attack but good defensively.

We made it to the German front line and all hell broke loose. Combat is resolved as one square vs one square, and simply compares the strength of the opposing units and fortifications. The randomness comes from the amount of artillery support allocated and defensive MGs whose final effect on combat strength is randomised. The German defences made life for the attacker very hard - each battalion was worth 1, wire another 1 and a trench 2, so a single battalion in a well fortified square has the same strength as an entire brigade assaulting it. 

We attacked along the entire line, and dumped artillery along the entire front (which used up about a third of our artillery ammo in a single turn).

As might be expected, the results were mixed. We managed to overrun a lot of the Germans front line, but Bourlon held out and the attackers were massacred here.

Aerial view of Allied progress after a couple of turns fighting. The whole German front line, apart from Bourlon, is in British hands. The Germans second line is largely intact, but there is a gap in front of the village (with a reserve battalion behind). Two of the British tanks are now stuck, but the cavalry and another tank have arrived from the west.

Now it was a matter of grinding. We had to pick our fights as artillery ammo was running low, we'd also sustained losses and the limited movement of our infantry (oh how nice it would be to move diagonally) made it hard to concentrate for each assault. So we nibbled away to clear the German second line.

The real problem was Bourlon, which was still packed with German wire and MGs, and we needed to clear the whole German front line for even just a marginal victory. Another brigade level assault went down in a hail of MG08 fire.

With some judicious shuffling we managed to get some more infantry up to join one of the disabled tanks, and made one final effort on Bourlon with all that remained of our artillery. The German threw in what shells they had left too, but the dice gods were with us and our guns rolled high while theirs rolled low and we just squeaked into Bourlon by the skin of our teeth. Hurrah!

With both sides exhausted we called it a day there with a tactical British victory.

Despite my misgivings on the reading the rules, that was actually a very good game. Very thought provoking, with lots of interesting and meaningful decisions to make, and it just shows you need to play things through to do them justice. They were good enough to warrant a replay, and I'll ponder a suitable scenario in due course.