Author: Felix

Thinking about it…

Initially when I found out that the Flames of War Polish Armoured Train was going to be £52 I was quite surprised and a little disappointed that it was going to cost that much.

However upon reflection and discussing it with Simon, I have come to the realisation that £52 is what I should have expected and prepared myself for.

The German Panther A boxed set with five Panthers has a list price of £41. Whilst the German Tigers Marsch which as well as some dice and tokens, contains five TIger 1E tanks has a list price of £48.

So to get four large resin models complete with extra turrets, £52 isn’t actually as bad as I made out it to be. I suppose I forget how much Flames of War stuff actually is these days.

15mm French Renault R35

The Renault R35, an abbreviation of Char léger Modèle 1935 R or R 35, was a French light infantry tank of the Second World War. Designed from 1933 and produced from 1936, the type was intended as a light infantry support tank, equipping autonomous tank battalions, that would be allocated to individual infantry divisions to assist them in executing offensive operations. To this end it was relatively well-armoured but slow and lacking a good antitank-capacity, fitted with a short 37 mm gun. At the outbreak of the war, the antitank-rôle was more emphasized leading to the development and eventual production from April 1940 of a subtype with a more powerful longer gun, the Renault R40. It was planned to shift new production capacity to the manufacture of other, faster, types, but due to the defeat of France the R35/40 remained the most numerous French tank of the war, about 1685 vehicles having been produced in June 1940.

15mm French Renault R35

Like some of my other models I am unsure of the manufacturer of this one. After a bit of internet research I believe it is an old SDD miniature. Not convinced totally, but other miniatures in the box it was in carry SDD codes.

I am going to use this one as the test vehicle for my Flames of War French tanks to try out different paint schemes.

Tempted though to paint as a captured German version.

15mm French Renault R35

Photo source.

£52 for the Polish Armoured Train


Well we now have a price for the Flames of War Polish Armoured Train.

£52

It’s a little more, well a lot more, than I thought it was going to be. To be honest I didn’t know or guess what it was going to be. I suppose I was looking more at £30-35 rather than the £52 price point.

My original idea was to buy it and convert it for use by the Germans or make a British version for Operation Sealion. I don’t have or intend to get a Polish army at this stage. I think at this time I might just leave it alone.

15mm Home Guard Bedford OXA

The Bedford OXA was a gun truck or improvised British heavy armoured car built during World War II by mounting an armoured body onto a Bedford OXD 1.5 ton truck chassis. 948 units were built in 1940-1941. The vehicle was used by British Home Guard units until 1942.

The vehicle was used by British Home Guard units until 1942.

As with many of my 15mm metal vehicles I don’t recall who the manufacturer was. After a bit of internet research I believe it is an old SDD miniature. Not convinced totally, but other miniatures in the box it was in carry SDD codes.

This is a solid whitemetal casting.

The next stage was to give the model a white undercoat.

Landing on the beaches

Sherman tanks disembark from landing craft on a defended beach.

Beach assault
Beach assault

This was taken at a demonstration games and is 20mm scale.

At the time this was taken in the 1990s 20mm and 6mm were the dominant scales for this period of wargaming. Since then 15mm has become almost the defacto standard with Flames of War dominating the era and displacing both 20mm and I would also say 6mm gaming in this period.  One area that has seen growth has been in 28mm WWII with many plastic and metal miniatures available.

So what scale do you play and why?

15mm Home Guard Bedford OYD Armadillo

The Bedford OYD Armadillo was a Bedford OY fitted for airfield defence with Lewis guns and an ex-aircraft COW 37 mm gun.

This vehicle was used by the RAF for airfield defence and later the Home Guard.

After finding the side plates, the next stage will be a white undercoat.

As with many of my 15mm metal vehicles I don’t recall who the manufacturer was.