world war two Archives - Page 29 of 36

Flames of War Russian Armoured Train

Really enjoyed reading the article on a Russian Armoured Train on the Flames of War website.

The article has the historical background on how one of the Polish Armoured Trains was captured by the Soviet Union, re-painted and pressed into service. The article also shows how to paint the model.

I do like the look of the model and the green train with red stars is very effective, and as a model I much prefer it over the three colour camouflage of the Polish version.

Interestingly the train in question was later captured by the Germans and they used it.

Flames of War German Panzergrenadier Headquarters

I purchased a Flames of War box of the German Panzergrenadier Headquarters.

In the box you get a bunch of resin, plastic and metal.

I like the fact that you get three different half tracks.

It’s a challenge though to see what goes where and on which bases which models go. I do think that there needs to be either better instructions in the box, or at least a good and explanatory guide on the Flames of War website. This is not the first or last model from Flames of War that has left me confused about what is what and where it goes on the model. It’s not even entirely clear about which infantry go together or clear instructions on how to base them.

See the workbench feature on this boxed set.

Flames of War British Light Tanks

These nice looking British Light Tanks are from Simon’s collection.

I’ve always liked the British Light Tank and this is a really nice model.

Vickers Light Mark VI B/C – Developed in the late ’30s as a nimble reconnaissance tank, the Mark VI saw service in France and the opening stages of the Desert War.

Flames of War Challenger A30

The Tank, Cruiser, Challenger (A30) was a British tank of World War 2. It mounted the 17 Pounder gun on the Cromwell chassis to add heavier anti-tank firepower to the cruiser tank units.

This is the Flames of War blister of the British Challenger A30 Tank.

Within the blister, as with a lot of FoW models, you get a resin hull and turret and metal tracks and accessories.

See the full workbench feature on my Challenger A30.

Flames of War Cromwell IV

The Cromwell Tank was one of the most successful series of cruiser tanks fielded by Britain in World War II.

The Cromwell tank, named after the English Civil War leader Oliver Cromwell, was the first tank in the British arsenal to combine a dual-purpose gun, high speed from the powerful and reliable Meteor engine, and reasonable armour, all in one balanced package. Its design formed the basis of the Comet tank. The Cromwell first saw action in June 1944, with the reconnaissance regiments of the Royal Armoured Corps.

This is the Flames of War blister of the British Cromwell Tank.

In the blister you get a resin hull and turret and the rest of the model is in whitemetal.

You also get the option to make it a CS Centaur version.

See the full workbench feature on my Cromwell IVs. In the end I picked up a couple more to make a full platoon.

Flames of War German Panther A Platoon

I bought this box set as it was available at Hobbycraft for a much cheaper price than the list price.

The Panther is the common name of a medium tank fielded by Nazi Germany in World War II that served from mid-1943 to the end of the European war in 1945. It was intended as a counter to the T-34, and to replace the Panzer III and Panzer IV; while never replacing the latter, it served alongside it as well as the heavier Tiger tanks until the end of the war. The Panther’s excellent combination of firepower, mobility, and protection served as a benchmark for other nations’ late war and immediate post-war tank designs, and it is frequently regarded as one of the best tank designs of World War II.

Kampfgruppe Normandy

As mentioned previously on this blog, Warhammer Historical’s set of World War Two rules is to be published shortly and is available for pre-order.

Written by Warwick Kinrade, Kampfgruppe Normandy is a huge 348 page, full colour hardback book containing rules for playing miniature wargames set in Normandy during the summer of 1944.

Kampfgruppe Normandy is a completely new games system that includes detailed rules for such aspects of warfare as: command and control, suppressing fire with small arms and high-explosives, direct and indirect fire, aircraft attacks and anti-aircraft fire. It also includes a unique battle group morale system to determine the victor in each battle. The rules can be played using any 1/72 scale (20mm) WWII plastic, metal and resin infantry, vehicles and terrain kits.

Kampfgruppe Normandy includes over 100 photographs taken during the war by those who were there, many rarely seen before. The book contains eight army lists from which players can build combined-arms battle groups: four Allied lists, for both British and American Armoured and Infantry divisions and four German lists, covering both SS and Wehrmacht Panzer divisions, and Werhmacht Infantry and Fallschirmjäger divisions.

It also contains two mini-campaigns set in the British and American sectors of Normandy which provide extensive background information, scenarios and equipment data as well as full-colour uniform guides for German, American and British forces.

Kampfgruppe Normandy is available to pre-order now for despatch in the week commencing 26th April.

They certainly sound interesting and though designed for 20mm miniatures I am sure the rules would work with 15mm or 28mm miniatures too.

I like the idea that it is a hardbacked book, so expecting it be similar to the Forge World series of books (most of which were also written by Warwick). I am also interested to see the model photographs in the book too, which I expect will be quite inspiring.

So with this release, will we see future releases covering other parts of World War Two? I suspect so.

Flames of War Tiger I E

The Tiger was feared so much by the Allies, that most German tanks were referred to as Tiger tanks.

Tiger I is the common name of a German heavy tank used in World War II, developed in 1942. The final official German designation was Panzerkampfwagen Tiger Ausf. E, often shortened to Tiger. It was an answer to the unexpectedly formidable Soviet armour encountered in the initial months of Operation Barbarossa, particularly the T-34 and the KV-1. The Tiger I design gave the Wehrmacht its first tank mounting the 88 mm gun, which had previously demonstrated its effectiveness against both air and ground targets. During the course of the war, the Tiger I saw combat on all German battlefronts. It was usually deployed in independent tank battalions, which proved to be quite formidable..

This is the Flames of War blister of the German Tiger I E.