20mm WW2 Germans

 Reinforcements for my 20mm German forces. I bought a platoon of the PSC German Afrika Korps infantry which I'll use for LW infantry in Italy and also for mountina troops. The ultracast sculpts are nice and have little flash.

The finished product, a platoon of LW infantry based on the DAK sculpts.

I also made up a couple of sets of PSc transports this week- the Steyr heavy car and the opel blitz. both are goo etial kits with plenty of options. I have made one of the Opels as a mautlier. 

PSC `1/72 Steyr cars. 

PSC 1/72nd Opel Blitz trucks. 

PSC Waffen SS

I also bout some stugs from Trademe, NZ's version of Ebay, which I repainted.  

I've aso made up some PSC M5 half tracks which again are lovely sculpts and were a joy to put together and paint. 

And an armourcast M10 Archilles. A pretty basic model, it has about 10 parts but I added some stowage from the various PSC kit. I used some of the British infantry from the M5 half track kit to add crew to the model

And a comparision- 28mm vs 20mm. They are so tiny!

Finally, last weekend my friend Ian came down and we spent an enjoyable day playing Rapid Fire Reloade. We fought a scenario I'd come up with for the 2nd Argyll and Stherlan Highlanders in Malaya in early 1942. We played the game twice, each time taking turns at being the Japanese and in both game sit was a narrow victory to the British. 

I'm very happy with how my Far East terrain has turned out. 

Craig

PSC 1/72nd Cromwells

 The first of my PSC kits turned up today, three Cromwell tanks. They are pretty straight forward to put together (after checking out the youtube video guide from PSC) and are nicely detailed. I've added some camo nets made out of gauze to add a wee bit more interest to the models.

I also put together a Warlor games 2pdr for my British in Malaya forces. Like many of the metals kits they gun was a pain in the butt to put together but eventually I got it sorted. 

An finally, I added a secondChi ha tank to my Japanese forces.This one was a Warlord plastic kit which i enjoyed putting toether, my other tow models are both oler Warlord Resons- a Chi Ha an a Shinhoto which is the later war version with an upgraded gun an turret. I also took the opportunity to repint them with a new colour scheme. 

Craig

Log Bunkers

 This weekend I made some log bunkers for my games in the Far East. 

MDF base and kebab skewers form the basis of the bunker. 

I used some foamcore off cuts to build up the basic shape of the bunker. 

This was then covered with plaster and sand added for texture. 

A couple of coats of brown paint then flock, woodlands scenic clump foliage and random pieces of aquarium pants added to finish off the bunkers. 

Not bad. 

A fun little project. 

Thanks to the terrain tutor for giving me the idea. 

Craig

Dug in markers/ trenches for games in the Far East

 After my last game I deciced I "needed" some dug in markers and/or trenches for games oin the Far East and Burma so ahve made a few over the past day using MDF, permafilla and a few sticks. I am pretty happy with how they have turned out.

Last night I also put together a couple of 3D printed Japanese 75mm mountain guns to add a bit more artilery support to my Japanese forces. Simple to put together and they paint up nicely. 

Craig

Rapid fire Reloaded- a river crossing in Burma

 For ANZAC day my friend Ian came down from Christchurch (3-4 hr drive) for a days gaming. We started WW2 game in the late 70s as kids using a homebrewed set we created from elements of Featherstone’s and Lionel Tarr’s rules with a dash of Charle’s Grant’s Battle thrown in for good measure (eg mortar fall of fire templates IIRC) and later adding elements of Operation Warboard as well.  

This was my first game of RFR vs a real opponent and was another game set in Burma. It as similar to my last game but this time three companies of British (each of HQ, 2” mortar and 3 platoons of 8 figs), 2x 3” mortars, 2x MMG, 2x recce carriers and a Grant tank vs 2x Japanese companies (HQ, 2x knee mortars, 3x 8 fig platoons & 2x MMGs) + a 70mm infantry gun and 47mm AT gun defending two river crossings.

The Japanese were slightly outnumbered. They gave a good account for themselves but in the end broke- though I (the Japanese player) got close to breaking a second British company and winning the game so I felt the game was fairly well balanced.

In future we will add an improvised AT weapon team to the Japanese companies to help them deal with the uber tank that is the Grant, and some snipers but overall we were both happy with the flow of the game and the way it played out although we both forgot all about the ambush rule! 

The Japanese positions on turn 1

A view from the Japanese lines

British infantry support the Grant tank

Japanese open fire and cause a few casulaties on advacing British near the carrier

British reach the river- infantry can cross at 1/2 speed. 

More infantry cross at the ford.

The Japanese cause some casualties but the forward platoon is destroyed. 

A close assault goes in vs the survivors of the patoon nearest the AT gun. 

A Japanese platoon launches a banzai charge but are repulsed with heavy losses. 

With the right flank overrun the Japanese battaion commander orders a platoon to launch an immediate counter attack- but perhaps too little, too late. 

The British consolidate their gains on the Japanese right flank, sending the Grant forward. 

The Japanese are over run and the last surivors retreat.

Thoughts 

That was a great game. The Japanese were always outnumbered and going to struggle vs the tank; the 47mm AT gun really needing a close range hit from a side shot to have a chance to damage it, but even so the game played realy well. We both enjoyed the spotting rules, when to (or not to) open fire were critical decisions and even though the Japanese force was a bit outgunned and outnumbered I still felt that I had a chance through out. We will continue to tweak the RFR rules to suit our tastes and have added LMGs at this (Company/Battalion) scale and intend to add improvised AT teams to the Japanese OOB to allow them a etter chance vs tanks. 

Finally, we finished with a game of my favourite boardgame, Twilight Struggle, and I got trounced! 

Until next time

Craig