world war two Archives - Page 33 of 36

Arriving March…

Well look what we have here arriving in March from Flames of War…

Yay, armoured trains! Probably the Polish armoured train from the sneak peek.

No more information, just the photograph, so no details about what is available or cost. Hopefully they will be doing track as well as the trains, seems obvious from the photograph, but you never know…

As well as Blitzkreig there is also Stalin’s Europe, so we might see Russian and German armoured trains in the future.

What we won’t see of course is the British armoured trains that were used following the success of Operation Sealion…

DUKW

I really do like the new Flames of War DUKW models.

I’ve always liked the DUKW and this model does capture that bizarre look that the DUKW has. Pity they are US versions, the British used 2000 of them during World War Two. Well certainly might buy a section and add some Brits to it as a conversion.

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?

Undercoating the Stug G Assault Guns

Having stuck the Flames of War German StuG G Assault Guns together the next stage was a white undercoat.

These German Stug G miniatures come in the Open Fire Flames of War starter set.

See the full workbench feature on these StuG G Assault Guns.

Dad’s Army

Blog post describing a really nice looking collection of figures for playing games around Walmington-on-Sea. Including the Home Guard platoon as well as some German opposition.

15mm Kublewagen

Don’t remember the manufacturer. I have painted this model. I gave the model a black undercoat, I then started to paint it with dark grey.

I really don’t like this model, it doesn’t look right and seems well out of proportion. The detail is quite out of scale too. My intention is to use it for scenery.

Flames of War – German StuG G Assault Guns

These miniatures come in the Open Fire Flames of War starter set.

The StuGs come all in resin with separate metal main weapons. If you buy the StuGs individually they come with metal tracks.

Side view.

The gun barrels were fixed by superglue.

See the full workbench feature on these StuG G Assault Guns.

Flames of War – British Shermans

These Sherman tank miniatures come in the Open Fire Flames of War starter set.

The Shermans come all in resin with separate turrets and metal main weapons. If you buy the Shermans individually they come with metal (or plastic) tracks.

These are very nice models. The gun barrels were fixed by superglue. However I kept the turrets separate so they can move freely during the games.

I did like the fact that these are three different castings, and not three copies of a single casting. You can see that from the rear, front and turret stowage.

See the full workbench feature on these Sherman tanks.

Panzerkrieg Normandy – Warhammer World War Two

There has been some interesting commentary in Wargames Illustrated recently on a new release forthcoming from Warhammer Historical of a set of World War Two rules, Panzerkrieg Normandy.

At Old Glory 2010, the report says…

The table with the most buzz this year was Operation Goodwood 1944 – a demo game being run by the local Derby Wargames Society. The table was impressive in itself, but the fact that it was being used to playtest the forthcoming Warhammer Historical 20mm WWII ruless (Panzerkrieg Normandy – working title) made it really interesting. Author Warwick Kinrade was on hand with a first draft of the rules, and of course, the main question leveled at him from show-goers was – “when will it be available?” a vague “not before Christmas” was given in reply.

Another quote attributed to Wargames Illustrated, but I couldn’t find it myself says:

The Historical Wargamers Group, in association with Wargames Illustrated, held another successful event at Warhammer World on 24 – 25 October, WAB players from around Europe did battle across several campaign settings and attendees were treated to a bonus surprise appearance when Warwick Kinrade of Forgeworld demonstrated the forthcoming Games Workshop World War II game.
Warwick ran through a game in which a British Battlegroup stormed a German held position in Normandy circa 1944 – the British sector in Normandy being the focus for the rulebook. The game is designed for 20mm figures although it will work equally well with 15mm (adjustments will be necessary for 28mm). Interestingly the game seemed to owe little to the well-known Warhammer game system.

The game is still work in progress with a release date of “next year – hopefullyearly on” planned. The core rulebook will be supported by further supplements, which will include more army lists and (further down the line) more threatres of the war).

To be honest this doesn’t surprise me as in recent years we have seen a huge growth in 28mm World War Two figure ranges. However the fact that they are aiming the rules at 20mm (well probably 15mm) to me shows how successful Flames of War have been and that they want to get into that particular market! Well possibly.

Flames of War – Open Fire

Open Fire! has been carefully designed for someone who has never heard of Flames Of War before, or has seen the 256 page rulebook and not known where to start. Open Fire is not a simplified set of the Flames Of War rules, but rather a complete introductory box for a new player!

Really nice idea and perfect for me.

16 page full-colour introduction booklet.
3 detailed American Sherman tank miniatures.
2 detailed German StuG G assault gun miniatures.
3 American dice.
2 German dice.

I think what surprised me was unlike the blisters I had seen the tanks were all resin rather than resin hulls and metal tracks.

Time to start painting…