Shore Party

Haven't done much lately but did find some time yesterday to finish this stand, which represents between 25-30 men of a RN shore party

CD3 scenarios sometimes include the odd small unit like this. Their effect on any battlefield is minimal to be sure, though it is good to include little details like this to add to the variety. These are Airfix figures from the landing craft set.

My Bits-Boxes

My addition to Paul's idea about our spares...

This is my armoured bits box, wish I had more especially PzI & II bits, early war being my favourite period

This is the rest of it, my general spares bits box, wheels, ladders, tank and gun crew figures, etc. I also have a figures spares box with around 400 from different periods and nations. Sure look forward to seeing other Bloggers spares collections and drooling:)

Project Progress

A bit of an update on my late war Panzergrenadiers but still a long way to go, with engineers and 120mm mortars still to add

Rifle platoons, x2 per company

Weapons platoons, which historically would have had four medium machineguns and a pair of 81mm mortars, x1 per company

Antitank platoons, x1 per company

Command Infantry platoons, x1 per company.

Bunkers

Dave has been making some larger bunkers

These are bigger than the pillbox variety, and in CD terms will accommodate two stands 

Designed with our WW1 set in mind but they will work for other eras as well

Formidable obstacles these, even once reduced they still count as hard cover

Here are some of Dave's Emhar British getting in some practice on a Hyde Park demonstration model.

Tarawa, the game part 2

Japanese RHQ at the southern end of their line, this unit was destroyed (as it was historically) by naval gunfire at around 2pm; about turn 7. Figures are Airfix.

This is the rear or the airfield defences, showing the northern Japanese RHQ and the reserve company of infantry attached to them

Marines supported by their light armour 

Venerable Airfix Marines in action along the seafront. The yellow markers indicate about 1/3 casualties. The rubble to the left of pictures is a destroyed pillbox

Close quarters fighting around one of the few remaining fortified areas at the southern end of the island

Just inland from Red Beach, the Marines encountered strong resistance from this area around the village and had to wait a turn or two for support to arrive

The support. US aircraft smashed the Japanese positions just about every time it turned up

Losses of armour did not hold up the drive inland. 

More armour landing on the now quiet Red Beach. Tanks are Hasegawa and Armourfast, Landing ship by Matchbox

Pack howitzer by Waterloo 1815 firing in support of the assault on the village

Marines move past wrecked Japanese armour

The end result of one of the Japanese human wave assaults at the southern end of the island. Several Japanese companies tried this tactic with fairly limited success

Marines on the airfield, not far from the last pockets of Japanese resistance. One of the best games we've ever played. Will post a few more random pictures for you all in a couple of days.

Cheers

Tarawa, the game, part 1

The first few hours of the invasion

Japanese fortifications 

One of the Japanese battalions is reduced to 50% strength as a result of the naval bombardment

First moves

Several US transport vehicles took hits on the run into shore

Japanese bunkers hold up early attempts to establish a foothold on the beach area around the pier. Figures are Italieri, Buffaloes are Airfix

Second wave. Higgins Boats finally able to cross the reef move to reinforce the Marines already ashore

A couple of turns later, heavy landing vessels are also able to contribute

The arrival of some light armour allowed Paul to move his Marines onto their first objective, which was a small village about a 1000 yards inland

Despite being bypassed a few Japanese pillboxes continued to hold up the Marines trying to move ashore, and air support was called in to solve this problem

Japanese armour attempting a counter attack, though without reasonable infantry support it was doomed to failure. Airfix Chi-Ha

Suicide anti-tank stands had more luck, despite being wiped out to a man destroyed a Sherman and a Buffalo 

Early moves against the out airfield defences. Japanese figures are Esci.

Part 2 when I get some more time:)

Somewhere near the Marne

First up from Games Week 2012, a small Franco-German encounter set in the first few weeks of the Great War. The kit is all from my WW1 collection

Dave's German cavalry sets out and quickly locates the advancing French infantry

Extreme right of the French line

And, extreme left

Part of the German advance. The Germans had six battalions of infantry plus artillery and cavalry to the French five battalions of infantry and artillery

These are actually French Marines but we needed the extra troops so here they are taking up positions in a small wood

Centre positions here, both sides tried to capture and hold the best covered areas which produced some very heavy fighting

German field artillery firing in support of a large attack on a farm that the French had taken earlier

The Farm. The French tried to reach the German artillery a couple of times from here but lacked the numbers in the end, and just contented themselves with small arms exchanges with the Germans in the fields opposite

Centre-rear of the French positions, with their artillery on the hill

One of the many hard fought encounters over the wooded areas that offered the most cover

We only played seven turns but it was good to do something a bit different. Next up, Tarawa.

Tarawa Layout

Just waiting for some last minute additions from Paul but here is the basic island layout at an inch to fifty yards



AAR in a couple of days

The Shed

Been doing a bit of interior design work (with my chainsaw) on the games shed and here is the result; we can now get around the whole table instead of just three sides



I also recovered the actual tabletop and although still far from perfect it is a vast improvement on the old one. Size is 3.8 x 2.2 meters