Category: world war one

1914 British Infantry

I have four metal models from this range that I bought some time ago, not sure if that was the only ones I bought or if I have merely mislaid and lost the others…. I thought I had ten, but there are only four.

I gave the models a white undercoat. Here is one of the models, an infantryman advancing.

1914 British Infantry

I will give the models a base coat of khaki next.

1914 British Infantry

I have been thinking about how I might use the models once I have finished painting them. I did think they would work well in a Victorian Science Fiction Scenario alongside my Steam Tank.

Another idea was to use them in a Doctor Who scenario fighting the Robot Mummies or the Cybermen. They are almost the right era for the Robot Mummies and would make for an interesting pre-UNIT or even Torchwood scenario.

Flames of War Great War

Flames of War Great War

So what does the screen capture from the recent Battlefront video tell us? Well as they say in the video, next year is 2014, which is the 100th anniversary of the commencement of the Great War. Though blurred out, this is a German A7V tank; it is much easier to see in the video, towards the end.

Update: Video has been removed.

Those of you who follow the blog will know that I already have a 15mm World War One tank that I am using for a Home Guard force.

It will be interesting to see the models from Battlefront as well as the infantry and the rules.

Wargames Foundry British Infantry in Dress Cap (1914)

I have four metal models from this range that I bought some time ago, not sure if that was the only ones I bought or if I have merely mislaid and lost the others…. I thought I had ten, but there are only four.

The first stage will be to clean the casting and base them. I will then be following this painting guide from Foundry.

World War One Tanks

The Retronaut website has a great series of images of tanks from World War One in one of their recent blog posts.

World War One Tank

If you are thinking about making some scenery for games in this period, these photographs really do give you some interesting ideas.

There are a fair few images of damaged or immobilised tanks and so again useful guidance when making abandoned tanks as scenic pieces.

World War One Tank

Check out more images here.

If you want to see a fantastic looking demonstration game from World War One, then here are some photographs from Aly Morrison’s excellent game at GamesDay 2007.

15mm Home Guard MkIV Male Tank

15mm Home Guard MkIV Male Tank

15mm Home Guard MkIV Male Tank

I have had this tank for sometime. Having found the 6pdrs I glued them in. Don’t remember the manufacturer, though it may be Minifigs! When I was planning some Operation Sealion games back in the 1990s I intended that the Home Guard would make use of a museum Mark IV Male tank. I mentioned this also in an article I wrote on a French themed Operation Sealion, Otaire de Vigneur.

To add a bit of diversity to my games, I also have one of Minifigs’ World War One British tanks, for use by a Home Guard unit (stolen from a local museum no doubt).

Now  when I wrote that article and bought the miniature it was only an assumption and what I thought would be a nice idea, and probably had no basis in truth….

How wrong I was….

Russian Land Tank

Sometimes what happens in the real world is more weird than what you make up for science fiction.

Take this Russian tank design from 1917 for example, this is a 1/35th scale model of the tank.

The drive assembly consisted of two 240 hp Maybach engines, one for each big wheel. The wheels themselves (designed by Zhukovskiy) had a T-shaped metal mid-section. A wooden overlay was then fastened to the shelf of the T-beam. The drive itself was very simple. Each engine drove an automobile wheels, who was in it’s turn pressed down (by means of a railway carriage spring) until it touched the wooden overlay of the big wheel, and by counterrotating, the automobile wheel transferred the energy from the engine to the big running wheel. (In case of over-heating, the driving wheels disengaged and protected the engine from seizing.) It was thought that the Nepotir should be able to reach a top speed of some 17 km/h – which was pretty impressive compared to other WW1 AFV:s.

The hull of the vehicle would have one top-mounted centrally placed turret, equipped with MG:s and/or light cannons, giving the Lebedenko a total height of some 12 meters. In addition to this, at the outer flanks of the hull, small MG sponsons was to be placed. There was also a small weapons turret placed underneath the belly of the beast.

The construction progressed pretty quick and at the end of July 1915, the Nepotir was ready for it’s first trials. Because of it’s weight and size, it was designed to be transported in sub-assemblies, to be assembled again before action at the front (like it was later envisioned for the huge German K-Wagen). This procedure was followed, and the sub-assemblies were transported to the testing ground, some 60 km from Moscow. At the re-assembly it was found out that the weight of the machine exceeded calculations with some 50%, due to the use of thicker metal. In August the test began in front of a high commission. It started well. The vehicle moved well over some firm ground, crashed a tree, but then went into a soft patch, where the small double wheel got stuck in a ditch. Soon it was obvious that the engines were to small, as they were unable to free the rear double wheel.

After this fiasco, two of the designers, Mikulin and Stechkin, worked on equipping the vehicle with more powerful engines, but this plan was never fulfilled. The military had decided against the project. It was simply too expensive, it had thus far cost some 250.000 roubles. Also the vehicle (and then primarily it’s wheels) was deemed to be too vulnerable to artillery fire, which probably was quite true. (And by this time both France and Britain were near to completing new types of all-terrain armoured fighting vehicles, running on caterpillar tracks.)

The Lebedenko stood there, bogged down, for the rest of the war, but was finally scrapped in 1923.

This is certainly something that would sit very well in a Victorian Science Fiction scenario. Also if you play alternative world war one scenarios then this would of course work well too, well it was designed for that war.

15mm Home Guard MkIV Male Tank

I have had this tank for sometime. Don’t remember the manufacturer, though it may be Minifigs! When I was planning some Operation Sealion games back in the 1990s I intended that the Home Guard would make use of a museum Mark IV Male tank. I mentioned this also in an article I wrote on a French themed Operation Sealion, Otaire de Vigneur.

To add a bit of diversity to my games, I also have one of Minifigs’ World War One British tanks, for use by a Home Guard unit (stolen from a local museum no doubt).

Now  when I wrote that article and bought the miniature it was only an assumption and what I thought would be a nice idea, and probably had no basis in truth….

Well just shows a little historical research never hurt anyone, as the Bovington Tank Museum has on display a Mark IV Male tank that was used just in this way. It was used in World War One and then presented to the Navy. When war broke out in September 1939, the  Tank Mark IV (Male) number 2324 was refurbished for Home Guard duties; according to the Bovington Tank Museum website.

Our exhibit, a male tank, was presented to the Royal Navy’s Gunnery School, HMS Excellent after the war to commemorate their help training Tank Corps gunners and it was temporarily refurbished for Home Guard duties in 1940. (Believed to have been achieved by removed parts from another tank possibly on Southsea Common.)

This photograph is from HMS Excellent in 1940.

Another view of the Mark IV at speed.

So though I thought my idea was probably if Operation Sealion had happened, I didn’t think and didn’t realise that it had in fatc happened despite the fact that the Germans hadn’t invaded.

So if you are playing Flames of War Operation Sealion games using the Blitzkreig sourcebook than you can use a Mark IV Male tank as part of your Home Guard forces.Not sure how long though it would last against German Panzers though…

Now who has the stats for a Mark IV tank for Flames of War?

The Musical Box

Here is another photograph of Simon’s BaneBlade, it is very BIG! He’s done a really nice job on it and it looks very impressive on the battlefield.

mperial Guard BaneBlade The Musical Box
Super Heavy Imperial Guard Baneblade from Simon’s collection.

One aspect which some have noticed is the name of the tank, “The Musical Box”.

Those of you who know about tanks from The Great War, may know that The Musical Box is the name of a tank from that war.

From Tanks for the Memory.

Whippets were first used in action near Herbetune in northern France on 26 March 1918 to help stem the German offensive when twelve “Whippets” near Colincamps surprised and put to flight two German infantry battalions.

But the Mk As really came to the fore in August 1918 when some 96 Whippets of the 3rd Tank Brigade were used during the Battle for Amiens. Although cavalry horses were still faster and better able to cope with rough, muddy terrain, Whippets proved more of a match for serious opposition.

One such Whippet, “Musical Box”, belonging to B Coy, 6th Battalion, commanded by Lieutenant C.B. Arnold, took part in the big attack on August 8, 1918, overtook the slow Mk V:s, routed a German Artillery Battery and on it’s own penetrated to the rear of the German lines. Essentially the lonely Whippet, with its bold crew of only three men, carried on a war of its own. It shot down retiring infantry, attacked horse and motor transport – even ramming a German lorry into a stream -and regularly terrorised the bewildered “Boche”. This went on for eleven hours, and then the tank was first immobilised, surrounded and then destroyed by fire from field artillery. Arnold and one of his crew survived, and were taken prisoners.

More photographs of Imperial Guard Baneblade super heavy tanks.