M24 Chaffee

This M24 Chaffee was on display at The Tank Museum.

The Light Tank M24 was an American light tank used during World War II and in postwar conflicts including the Korean War and with the French in the First Indochina War and war in Algeria.

In British service it was given the service name Chaffee, after the United States Army General Adna R. Chaffee, Jr., who helped develop the use of tanks in the United States armed forces.

 

The Battle of Osgiliath

This amazing diorama was on display at Warhammer World.

The Battle of Osgiliath in the War of the Ring occurred at the ruined city of Osgiliath, shortly before the Siege of Gondor.

The Orcs in East Osgiliath had been secretly constructing massive numbers of boats and rafts, and swelled with reinforcements from Harad they swarmed across the River Anduin to Gondor’s positions on the other bank.

After heavy fighting, the garrison under Faramir and his troops were forced to flee, first to the Rammas Echor, which held out for a day and then to Minas Tirith itself.

LVT-4 Buffalo Amtrac

This LVT-4 Buffalo Amtrac was at the Tank Museum at Bovington.

The Landing Vehicle Tracked (LVT) is an amphibious warfare vehicle and amphibious landing craft, introduced by the United States Navy. The Marine Corps and Army used several LVT models during World War II. Five hundred were provided to the British Army.

Originally intended solely as cargo carriers for ship to shore operations, they evolved into assault troop and fire support vehicles.

I have a Bolt Action LVT-4 Buffalo Amtrac on the workbench.

Trolls are back

I only mentioned recently how I was tempted by the re-release of the Ork Dreadnought, then I saw that for Warhammer: The Old World that the Trolls were going to be re-released.

trolls

I mentioned in my post about the Green Tide that I am also tempted to get some Trolls, models I never got when I originally built my army.

trolls

These are nice models.

My shopping list is getting longer…

Space Wolves Whirlwind

This Space Wolves Whirlwind was on display at Warhammer World.

The Whirlwind is an adaptation of the Rhino design, a lightly armoured tank chassis armed with a multiple rocket launcher system capable of raining precision fire down upon enemy positions. Thanks to its target acquisition system, the Whirlwind is able to bombard hidden or entrenched targets with incredible accuracy, often from behind the safety of cover.

Interestingly this model is about twenty years old.

Tempting

old Ork Dreadnought

Ork Meks love building Dreadnoughts, crude but effective war machines made from scraps of armour, and loaded up with all manner of shooty bits, burnas, missiles, snipping blades, and buzzsaws. While they look ramshackle, their armour is thick and the sheer amount of firepower they put out is intimidating to face. When they get close enough to bring them to bear, the manic energy of their pilots makes up for the clumsy mechanisms bringing their melee weapons to bear, creating a shockingly effective whirlwind of claws and blades.

You can order this old Ork Dreadnought as a special made-to-order item.

This multipart metal kit builds a classic Ork Dreadnought, a vintage design for a crudely articulated can of heavy armour and brutal weapons. This stompy combat walker comes armed with two Dread klaws – one a snippy pincer, the other a razor-toothed buzzsaw – and can choose between a big shoota, rokkit launcher, and skorcha for its two secondary weapons.

Now I actually thought I had one of these in my collection (or languishing on the workbench) however I don’t. I do have older metal  Ork Killa Kans in my Ork army, however I never purchased this kit for my Orcs.

So I am now quite tempted to buy one, especially as it is a metal kit. I have until the 6th May 2024 to make up my mind…

M29C Weasel

The M29 Weasel is a World War II tracked vehicle designed for operation in snow. Built by Studebaker, Weasels were also used in sandy, muddy, and desert terrains, including towing loads over terrain wheeled vehicles could not negotiate as in the U.S. Marine invasions of Iwo Jima and Okinawa.

Amphibious M29 Weasels of 4th Special Service Brigade were used by British commando troops in the Walcheren operation, supplementing LVT Buffalos. The 79th Armoured Division used also non-amphibious variant of the Weasel, modified for clearing anti-personnel devices. The Lovat Scouts used the amphibious Weasel during their time in Jasper, Alberta, where they were being trained in advanced winter and mountain warfare tactics, having already carried out the basic winter and mountain combat training in the Scottish Highlands and North Wales.

Necropolis Knights

Necropolis Knights

Necropolis Knights are elite warriors who ride to battle atop snake-shaped constructs called Necroserpents – ominous statues created to guard the entranceways of the Mortuary Cult’s temples. These knights goad their mounts across the battlefield, their bladed tails and poison-tipped fangs lashing out in all directions, before striking out with a heavy spear that carves through mortal flesh. Few can stand against the charge of a Necropolis Knight, much less destroy their unliving steed, and they leave a trail of death and woe in their wake.

Death Korps Diorama at Warhammer World

In this Death Korps Diorama at Warhammer World were various heavy tanks and infantry.

Across the diorama was infantry and a fair bit of snow.

This Malcador Infernus was part of that diorama.

The Malcador Infernus is a variant of the venerable Malcador Assault Tank design. It is not widely used by Imperial armed forces at the present time and is in fact little known even within the Imperial military.

Centaur Dozer

The Royal Engineers and their Canadian counterparts had used armoured bulldozers, ordinary commercial machines covered in armour plate, since D-Day. These did a satisfactory job but were too slow and vulnerable to work with tanks. Thus it was agreed to convert some redundant Centaur Cruiser tanks into armoured bulldozers since they would be able to keep up with tanks during an advance.

The Centaur was an alternative to the Cromwell with similar characteristics but a different engine – a Nuffield Liberty V12 instead of a Rolls-Royce Meteor. The conversion was carried out by the MG Car Company of Abingdon. It involved removing the turret, installing a winch in the fighting compartment, and plating over the turret aperture. An armoured lookout was created for the tank commander, alongside the driver and the bulldozer blade was fitted to a frame attached to the sides of the tank. The blade was raised and lowered by the winch via a small tripod jib.

Centaur Dozers entered service in the last months of the war. They were operated by 87th Assault Dozer Squadron in 6th Assault Regiment, Royal Engineers as part of 79th Armoured Division. They were employed to clear paths for tanks through the rubble of bombed German cities. They were later used by British forces during the Korean War and the Suez Crisis of 1956.

This Dozer at the Tank Museum was converted from a Mark IV, one of 80 Centaurs fitted with the 95mm Close Support Howitzer. It served with the Army until 7th August 1963.