Brit Para Infantry

I currently have 3 Para/Airlanding Infantry Platoons completed along with the Company Commander, 2IC and 3 PIATs. These are all based to represent the land around landing zones as I also wanted these guys to represent the 1st Airborne Recce when dismounted.  Troops of this unit were ALL OVER the landing zones to the North East edge of the cauldron.  I have a few more platoons unpainted that I will base on urban/rubble bases and they can represent forces at the bridge or in the urban areas of the pocket. One feature that has stuck in my mind about the terrain was patches of purple heather/clover.  I tried to represent that on the bases as well.  Another thing I remember seeing from pictures and "A Bridge Too Far" were orange flowers...got these as well.

Company Command Section.  I did a headswap and some arm repositioning for the Commander and the 2IC team has a Brit Commando on the base.  Also did some headswaps on the PIAT teams to put some berets in there to mix it up a little.

Infantry Teams.  All of the teams were painted along these lines.  Again some headswaps to add some berets and mix up the models a little more.

Hope to have the Para Assault Platoon done in a week or so.  Should finish the Platoon Leader, PIAT, mortar and flamethrower teams this weekend and the main squads over next weekend.  Then I have the rubble bases.  2 weeks more maybe?

Brit Para MG Platoon

As promised!  I actually finished them on time (amazing).  I modified each MG by adding the water hose from the water can to the water jacket around the machine gun.  I used the same thin gauge wire I use for the radio antennae...added a couple of bends to the wire and viola!  Not going to mention the pain of attaching the ammo belt.  Best advice when doing these types of figures where you have a separate ammo belt is to "dry fit" the Gunner, ammo bearer and the belt.  Next, measure the distance between the figures to make sure the belt fits with its curves.  Then, very carefully, glue the MG gunner down into the same spot where he was on the dry fit and then do the ammo bearer.  Next add the belt.  You might have to move the bends around to lengthen or shorten the ammo belt.

MG Platoon Commander:

1st MG Section:

2nd MG Section:

3rd MG Section:

4th MG section:

 I also took some representative pictures of my 3 Para Infantry Platoons and will post those this week.
On the painting table now....Para Assault Platoon!!!!  Might take a few weeks cause I have some business travel this next week and wont be able to paint.  WITHDRAWAL!!!!!

Brit Paras

Just finished my 1st of 2 Anti Tank Gun (6 Lber) Platoons and my 3 in Mortar Platoon for my 1st Para force. These will support the 3 Para/Airlanding Platoons I already have painted (but will have to post later)

Anti Tank Gun Platoon:

Mortar Platoon

Thinking of adding some "scrub" trees to the bases of a few of these to add a little more flavor.  Have to save up some of my allowance.  :-)

Currently painting the Para/Airlanding Machine Gun Platoon where I did a nifty little mod that worked out bee-you-ti-fully if I do say.  Should finish them up this weekend and post pictures after that!

2nd Flames of War Game

Played Mike again a few days ago. Mission was "Hold the Line" with my Brit Para Frosts Perimeter Force vs Mike 4th Armored Div Armored Rifles at 1500 points.

I took the full artillery battery of 8 guns, the Airlanding AT platoon (6lbers), Para Assault w/Flamethrower, Recce ppt (2 squads)and 2 full platoons of Paras and good old Johnny Frost.

Mike had roughly the same force as before but with a platon of Hellcats this time.

We played faster this time and made it through 3 full turns before o had to go this time. Just a lot of shooting with each of us doing a little damage to each other. We had to quit just before Mike was going to launch an assault. He dismounted though to close to my frontline and I had his infantry all lined up for an extra round of shooting and was able to whittle him down a little. We Thoight that he should have dismounted farther back and then move up with his Priest hitting my infantry. And his mortars smoking the open area he would have to cross.

Another good time and hope to play again this Friday!

First Flames of War Game

FINALLY!!!!  I got my first FoW game in on Friday...well, part of a game at least.  Ran my Brit Para Company against the American Armored Rifles of Mike...one of the guys from the demo (and who is working hard on expanding the FoW community where we live).

We played 1250 points

Brit Para

HQ & 2IC
2ea Para Plts with 2 squads each
1 Para Assault Plt (3 squads with 1 as a Flamethrower)
Recce Plt (2 squads)
Glider Pilots (2 squads)
Mortar Platoon (2 sections)
MG Plt (1 section...1 MG combat attached to each of the Para Plts)
6lber AT Section (1 gun attached to the Recce Plt and one to a Para Plt)
Typhoons as Sporadic Air Support

American Armored Rifles
2 Plts Armored Rifles
1 Plt Shermans (maybe 2 Plts?)
Mortar
Priest Self Propelled Artillery
Grasshopper Aerial  Observation Plane
think that was it

Mission was Breakthrough....Terrain had hills and wheat fields and trees.  One objective was in trees and the other was in the open on one of the trees.  Objectives become active on turn 3 when his reinforcements come in at the corner where the hill objective was ...I win if he does not have any troops within 16 inches of any objective on or after turn 6 and he wins if he controls any objective (within 4 inches) on or after turn 6.

Thought I would run the Recce Platoon to the hill objective, figuring their jeeps would get there pretty quick and then have them dig in and be supported by the 6lb AT gun.  I would then move the Glider Pilots into the second objective in the trees.  The rest of the force would hold off his main force and then fall in on the objectives as turn 6 approached.

Turn one,,,,

Mike and his Americans advanced.  Shermans close in first on the Para Plt with a MG and 6lber dug in in the woods.  Mortars and the Priests 105mm shells pound into the position.  I lose the guns jeep carrier (had it there to help move the gun out later in the game) and the entire platoon is pinned.  He fires his Shermans and the Sherman Observer tank.  No damage.  Have to love bulletproof cover and being concealed and gone to ground.  Now he assaults the tanks into the line.  The AT Gun defensive fires and bails 2 of the Shermans (he actually bailed 3, but we forget the gun was pinned so unbailed one tank).  The 6lber gets run over and destroyed in the actual assault.  I pass the motivation test to counterattack and hit the 3 Shermans with the PIAT and 2 Para Teams...nothing.  He then fails his motivation test to counterattack and withdraws his 2 unbailed Shermans leaving the 2 bailed Shermans to me which were then destroyed.  Paras consolidate back into their foxholes.

His Armored Rifles made progress towards he center of the board, but got caught in some trees and couldn't hit the 2nd para pltin the the wheat fields there...lucky for me as I had totally screwed up the deployment there and had that flank wide open...the flank where he has to enter from...go figure.

My turn...I fail to unpin the paras in the trees, but do get Air support...2 Typhoons will be coming in to support that flank.  Movement sees the Recce run to the hill...still a long way to go to get there.  Its then that realize that a jeep towing a gun only moves at 6ins while the other jeeps move at 12 in cross country.  Now way that gun is making it to the hill let alone get dug in by turn 3.  No troops on the table shoot.  Then we see something up in the sky...growing larger as it heads for the 2 remaining Shermans and the Observer Sherman....2 Typhoons open up with their cannons and actually destroy one of the Shermans!!!!!  The we see the remaining Sherman in that platoon have to run away after failing his Sole Survivor Test...pity the Observer Sherman was unhit.

That was really all we had time to do as Mike had to head to work...we fiddled with somethings...like Tanks hitting infantry int he open who doubled time last turn...30 To Hit dice  (ouch...knocked them down to the Plt leader and 2 teams.)

Lessons learned:

Don't consolidate on the objectives TOO early...I didn't pay enough attention to his main attack force.  I should have dealt better with the main threat and then fall back onto the objectives.

Recce.  The Recce did a good job, but they reached the hill Objective and dismounted by turn 2...and would not have been able to dig in before his reinforcements could have come in (and we did a test roll...they would have arrived that turn)...ouch.  Jeeps towing guns are slow!  I could only get him to cover on side of the hill by turn 3.

Line of Sight through woods.  Big revelation to both Mike and me.  If troops are inside woods they can only see 6 inches.  So if they are 1 inch in they can see 5 inches out...2 inches in 4 inches out...etc.  We had though before that troops outside woods could be any distance away and still see 6 inches into the woods....BIG difference.

Lots of fun and look forward to doing it again.

Now the Paras are back on the paint table and the Poles are in standby.  I had a long enough break from painting Denison Como Smocks.

,-)

Hand Made Buildings

Was kinda slow over the Labor Day Weekend and I was looking at the terrain I had for the demo and noticed that we needed buildings.  Now I didn't want to spend a bunch on buildings at this moment and we only had a week before the demo so there was no time to order and paint buildings.  As I was looking at my scrap box, I noticed I had some styrofoam blocks from some mail order that I had been saving....Hmmmm

Then they started to look like little buildings....hmmmm

So, after a little carving, painting and gluing on small grey rocks (Woodland Scenics Ballast) to them, I started to see some Farmhouses from the Norman countryside....apply a little Woodland Scenics long grass to the roofs for thatching and from 3 feet they look pretty good.  We have a main farmhouse manor, 2 smaller farmhouses (x2 each) and little shed (x2)

Up close you can see the many flaws....crooked lines and all ...using a spongy type of styrofoam packing only made it worse.

They are a little small...2 infantry stands can fit in the small houses and 4 in the large white one. On the table they look good, so I am going to try a bigger building with the blocks I have leftover.

Demo Progess

Just a short note on how things are moving along with the demo.

- Practice...been going over the rules nonstop to make sure I know the movement and shooting steps cold as well as branching out into the assault step just in case someone asks.

- Additional help.  My game store posted a message on the local wargaming clubs forums and it spurred some interest right off the bat.  We have a couple other folks who will be running  a second table with 2 1500 point armies and some modest terrain.  Idea is to show what a full set up looks like and then have the customer try a few turns.

- Game store advertising,  My local game store is pushing the demo pretty hard.  Flyers all over the store and they talk it up with customers as well.

- Counters.  Found during my practice games that the Open Fire kits don't come with counters.  You really need them for Bogged Down and Bailed Out vehicles.  You could proxy with coins or other unit markers, but that goes against the atmosphere we are trying to prevent.  A quick talk to the game store owner and we have US Generic and German Panzer counter sets on the way.to be part of the store set along with the tanks after the demo.

- 2 in diameter Smoke Markers.  Finished making 8 of these monsters.  Have several different looks.  Will post pictures over the weekend

*** UPDATE *****

Promised pictures:

and in comparsion to the smoke marker on a penny: