Joy of Six 2019

Across to Sheffield for the annual celebration of all things tiny. The show has settled down into a nice routine now, based in the Hallam University buildings - though we were on a different floor again this year. Quite handy, in fact, as one end of the room was the cafeteria, though as usual I went for a meal and a pint at a nearby pub, the Head of Steam.

All the usual suspects were at the show, along with a large number of games, about 50/50 participation and demonstration. I didn't get involved with any of the participation ones - with a fairly limited amount of time at a show, and lots of purchasing decisions to make, I begrudge spending an hour or more sitting at a game table. They all seemed to be getting a fair amount of custom, it must be said. All the expected vendors were there - Wargames Emporium with GHQ, Heroics and Ros and Baccus, and Scotia Grandel who also carried the new 2D6 range. Sadly the new releases aren't quite ready yet, so I confined my model purchases to a fair few GHQ packs for early war - the Panzer 1A which is a new release, the command tank version of the Pz 1, some Panzerjaeger 1B and Sdkfz 221, 231 and 232 armoured cars. To face them I got British A9 and A10 Cruiser tanks, and some Mk VIB light tanks.

I continued to circle, trying to decide what more to buy, if anything. Leven were there as always, but I don't really have any burning need for buildings right now. In the end I got some hedgerows and fencing from GS Miniature Workshop - they are based in Manchester and always attend JoS, and I always buy some stuff - you can never have too many hedgerows. I left about three and had a fair trip home - another good day out.

Bersaglieri at last

For the first time on more than two years I don't have any Italian 6mm troops waiting in my painting queue. The outstanding ones were a pack of Bersaglieri, which to be honest at this scale are not really distinguishable from normal infantry. I also had a pack of artillery crew - I used a few of these on the guns I painted last week, the rest are painted for stock. The Bersaglieri are nicely done, well posed and they painted up nicely. The pack included four of the odd little 47mm mortars which look more like machine guns from the way they sit on their stands. I put these on small coins rather than 1" square ones - I already have some mounted that way, so this gives me flexibility for use with different rule sets.

Command

47mm Mortar plus observer

Single squad

The full pack painted and based

Magnetic Tows

Most GHQ guns - artillery and anti-tank guns - come packed in a standard way. There are two guns modeled in firing position, two in towing mode and two towing vehicles. This makes sense, but it has always left me with a problem of how to base everything. I want to have the vehicle towing the guns for transit mode, but also have them available alongside or near the guns when firing.
My recent discovery of small cheap powerful magnets has given me an idea which I have put into action with some Italian guns - 75mm Cannone (artillery) and 45mm anti-tank guns. I painted up the guns and tows, but before doing so I glued a magnet under each of the vehicles. One type was wide enough that the magnets are entirely out of sight, with a little drilling to make a recess underneath. On the other vehicle the magnet is visible, but it's not a problem for me - they are not very prominent, and could easily be taken for a spare wheel under the chassis.
Once painted I based the guns - on steel bases, as are all my 6mm models. The firing models were on landscaped bases with crews as normal, though I tried to make sure there was a bit of flat space available. The guns in towed format I put on longer thinner bases, landscaped as rough tracks, and the guns were glued on their wheels, so that the towhooks are at the height of the towbars on the vehicles. I left plenty of space ahead of the guns for the vehicles to sit in place.
The magnets hold the tows very securely on the bases - I can easily pick up the whole thing by lifting the vehicle, though it comes off simply enough when you need to separate them. So now I put the towing vehicle on the transit base while the guns are moving around in my battle. When they un-limber I substitute the firing base, and I can pop to vehicle on there as well if I wish, to show it is available to move the gun again if needed. In practie I probably wouldn't do that with the ATGs, as it looks odd to have a truck so close to a gun which is presumably about to come into action against enemy armour, or is supposed to be hidden in ambush.
The pictures should give the idea - four images for each gun. First in traveling mode, and then a shot with the tow removed to show how the gun is glued to the base. Then the gun in action, and finally the same but with the tow on the base as if about to hitch up.

H&R British 1980s Infantry

As with the Centurions, I bought a few of the Heroics and Ross British infantry from the 1980s because I had heard they were new and nice castings. I bought small samples of different figures, plus some support weapons. I painted them all up, but only based a few - I have ordered more, including generic infantry, so I will want to mix them up into squads. Overall I like these figures - unlike the tanks, I think these are the equals of GHQ if not better sometimes in animation, and here the ability to order them in small numbers really beats the GHQ model.

Left to Right; Carl Gustav, Nightsight, M72 LAW, Observer, Bren

 

Rapier Anti Aircraft Missile mount

Command Group

Milan team

81mm Mortar

L7 GMPG

 

Infantry with night sight

72 LAW

Carl Gustav

Base metal

A couple of weeks ago I received a model I had ordered on eBay, a GHQ Nashorn, nicely painted. It came in an old metal cigarette case, along with a couple of free 3mm tanks. All three had magnets mounted underneath, which held them to the case. It occurred to me that this was an idea I could use, given that I already mount all my 6mm troops and vehicles on 1" square steel bases. If I put a magnet under a tank, then I can put it onto a base for games where I want that, but I can also remove it for games in which unbased vehicles are preferred. 

I tried this out on some GHQ Pz IVH which I had painted but not based, and some magnets I had lying around - I think from Flames of War days. I used Das air-drying putty to fill in the cavity under the tank, and then embedded a magnet in it, at ground level as it were. As it turned out the Das isn't all that sticky once dried - most if the carcasses dropped out of the tanks, and most of the magnets popped out of their holes when I offered them to a steel base. However that was not a big problem - I glued the magnets back in with superglue, and the carcasses into the hulls with Uhu or similar. The first picture here show how it works.

I then modelled some bases in my normal way - green Basetex to give some shape and texture, a bit of Flat Earth paint and then a variety of flocks and other bits. The difference was that instead of gluing a model I simply left a fairly flat area in the centre. The tanks then sit nicely on the bases - the magnets hold them securely, but come off easily enough when needed. The next few pictures show the effect - I later did the same with some Chieftains which can be seen in the last two pics, with and without bases.

This opens up several other possibilities. I can use the same bases for different tanks, so I do not need to have a base for every vehicle, just enough for the biggest battle I am likely to fight. And I can use different bases for the same model - so a Tiger could have a desert sand base to fight in Tunisia, and then switch to a temperate base for Italy, or even a snow scene in Russia. All in all, I think a successful experiment.

The magnets, by the way, turn out to be very cheap, only about 12p each for the size I used, and there is a huge range and choice.

 

Chieftain vs Chieftain

 Getting into Moderns for the first time, and I decided to try some H&R, specifically the 1980's UK stuff, as I had heard it was new and some of their best work. I ordered a variety of infantry in small amounts - you can order a single strip of 3, 4 or 5 figures for about 60p, so you can get exactly what you need, without having to buy a pack of 60 or more and put up with the mixture you get. I also bought four Chieftain Stillbrews - again you order these individually, so you can get just the number you need.
I painted the Chieftains up, and fitted them with magnets for flexible basing (more of that in another post). They seem nice enough models, certainly with better definition than previous H&R I have bought - though that does go back to about 2000. I thought I should do a proper comparison, so I sent off for a pack of five GHQ Chieftains - these are the Mark 5. I painted these up as well, and the photos below show both types together. It is easy enough to spot the H&R models, they have distinctly fatter gun barrels.
Overall, I still prefer the GHQ. Apart from the finer barrels, they generally have sharper detailing. They are also slightly larger - about 2mm longer and maybe 0.5mm wider - though the GHQ ones actually seem slightly lower in profile. There is more definition in the various racks, grilles and other attachments to the hull and turret. Not a huge difference - the H&R one is not a bad model, but GHQ wins for me.
Of course there is one major downside - the GHQ tanks cost £9-25 for the pack of five, or £1-85 each. The H&R ones cost 65p each, only a whisker over a third the price - and as I mentioned you can buy exactly what you need, which may effectively lower the price quite a bit - if you wanted six, say.
So if price or purchasing flexibility are important, H&R are well ahead here. But if you want the best quality models, it's still GHQ. I would also say that H&R still has no photos on the site, which makes purchasing a bit of a shot in the dark. I got my GHQ from Wargames Emporium - Magister Militum are the other UK stockist - and on both their sites you can see a picture of every model before you buy. That matters to me, especially with infantry where  you would like to see the poses and animation.

 

Joy of Six 2016

Across the Pennines to Sheffield for this show, possibly my favourite. It's not huge, though today was the biggest so far, I think - 22 games at least, and 8-10 traders. The big factor is that all those traders are selling 6mm figures or scenery, so every one is of interest to me. I think I bought stuff from nearly every stall. The venue is the Heartspace in Hallam University - a fancy name for the atrium in a large building, about five stories high. With glass walls and roof it is a nice bright airy space, and it is in the centre of the city so plenty of places to eat and drink. In fact the worst aspect of the day was the drive over - the A57 was being resurfaced and I spent an extra hour in the queues. I went home via the M1/M62 and that was fine.
As I said, lots of games going on. The ones that really caught my eye were, first, the First Day of the Somme, on a large table right below the entrance stairway. This was next to the Time Cast stand and it seemed to have a lot of their scenery, notably their new trench lines. Another one right in my sweetspot was the Bridge at Remagen, using simplified Spearhead rules - linked to the film, with points for improving on the performances there. A Cold War Commander fight occupied another large table in the centre of the room, and a really large battle of Dresden was in an alcove to one side. With the expansion of the number of games they were also using two side rooms, for the first time I think.
After lunch - ribs and a pint in the Head of Steam - I started on the serious business of purchasing. I got five packs of GHQ Italians - gun crews and a variety of tanks - for the Western Desert. I then went to Baccus and picked up packs of most of their new British Paras. From H&R I got various command strips and vehicles, German, British and Italian, to provide command stands. On the scenery side I picked up about ten buildings from Leven - mostly industrial or railway. I got some bridges from Time Cast, and I picked up a good number of hedges and walls from a firm called GS Miniature Workshop. Their main product (at this show anyway) were "modular forests" - these have a base with tree trunks, and then there is a separate canopy of green foam which sits on top - the idea being that you can put your troops inside and then replace the canopy. They look very nice, but my figures on 1" square bases wouldn't fit between the trunks.
That was it - and after one more circuit, with my little remaining cash desperately trying to jump out of my pocket, I left. A very good day, and now to get on with the painting. I need to get the Italians done first, but there are the Paras, those command stands and the buildings all winking at me.

Tel el Eisa AAR

Tel el Eisa AAR February 2015

After a couple of Panzer Korps (PK) battles in North West Europe, I moved a thousand miles south (and two years back in time) for a Western  Desert encounter. Although I have started collecting figures and models for this theatre, I have not built up a big force, and many of the figures in this battle were substitutes wearing khaki or grey instead of desert sand.  This battle was fought solo, using the PK rules, and 6mm figures, almost all GHQ, on 1” square steel bases. I used the ground scale recommended for the smaller models – 1” in the rules translated to 1cm for all purposes. The table was three feet by five. In practice it was only about two feet wide where all the fighting took place, with the Mediterranean Sea intruding from the north, and a rim of salt marsh. 

The battle of Tel el Eisa was part of First El Alamein; it took place after the first German attacks had run their course, and a fresh Australian Division (9^th), supported by 1^st South African Division, was tasked with taking two hills (Tel el Eisa and Tel el Makh Khad) which were occupied by Italian troops. Historically the Commonwealth troops chased off or captured many Italians, and then held the objectives against a German counterattack.

Scenario Map

The main defensive unit was the Italian 60^th (Sabratha) Division, with two regiments (4 rifle battalions), all with Reservist morale, plus a single Bersaglieri battalion. They were supported by a motorised regiment from the 102^nd Trento division – these were Regulars. There were also two 75mm artillery regiments. To the south west, off the map, was a German Kampfgruppe, with five motorised infantry battalions, an armoured car unit and another artillery regiment. These would arrive some time after 10am under the normal PK reinforcement rules, which allow an increasing arrival chance in each successive Day Segment.

Italian front line initial positions - looking north towards the Med

Initial Italian deployment - looking west.

Initial Italian deployment - from the south-west

The 9^th Australian Division had three Veteran infantry battalions, 32^nd Royal Tank Regimant with Valentines, 25pdr Howitzer support and 9^th Cavalry Regt, with two Bren Carrier companies and a Crusader II company. In PZ a battalion takes its statistics from the majority of its core companies, so this one was effectively a carrier battalion. The Australians would be attacking on the right of the UK line, the north, near the coast. The 1^st SA Division would be arriving to their left, but they were also counted as reinforcements, and would have to dice for arrival. The South Africans would bring three more infantry battalions, a Recon regiment with Humber A/Cs, and more 25pdrs.

For the first time in my PK battles, both sides had significant air forces. The Commonwealth could deploy two squadrons each of Hurricanes, Kittyhawks and Bostons, while the Axis had Bf-109G and MC 202 fighter squadrons, plus two Stuka squadrons. The air battle is quite detailed. At the start of each day segment, each side commits fighters to CAP, and also allocates ground attack planes to one of the turns in the upcoming segment. If both sides commit fighters then these battle it out, and the victor will be able to attempt to intercept enemy planes if they execute ground attacks in the coming turns. It’s quite hard to remember who is ready, who is rearming and who is arriving on which turn, so I made myself a player aid with boxes to keep track of it all.

The off-board airfield play aids

Day Segment 06:00 – 08:00. Initiative British. Visibility 18”. 3 turns. This first Day Segment represented the half-light of dawn – visibility was reduced to 18” and there was no air activity. The 9^th Division moved forward with the Valentines of the RTR on the right (north) flank, the three infantry battalions next, and the carrier regiment (9^th Cavalry) to the south. The British artillery had good intelligence about the Italian positions, and was able to bombard them, though with a -1 to their die roll. 

The British had decided to try to break through initially to the north, where the Bersaglieri  were positioned between Tel el Eisa and the marshes. Although they were regulars, the Bersaglieri were not as well entrenched (medium cover, while the other Italian infantry were in hard cover). In the first two turns the British off board artillery hit the Italians, but the damage was minor, 1-2 DMs which were quickly removed. In these turns the advancing Australians were outside visibility range, but in the third turn the Valentines were in sight of the Bersaglieri – they fired, with no effect on the target, but the tanks found themselves low on ammo. This means that they will fire at reduced effect until a supply column can reach them.

08:00 - the Australians advance

08:00 - Australians advance - view from the south

Day Segment 08:00 – 10:00. Initiative Axis. Visibility unlimited. 1 turn. With the weaker Italian general winning the initiative, and rolling low, there was only going to be one turn in this Day Segment. The South Africans could have arrived, needing a 40% chance, but rolled higher than that. Several squadrons turned up on each side. The MC 202s took on the Kittyhawks, and after a number of rounds the Italians prevailed, with the British fighters retiring with 11 Air Damage Markers. However the Bostons then drove off the Italian fighters, also with considerable damage.

In the bombardment phase the Italian 75mm howitzers caused 2DM to the Australian 3/26 battalion, and a Stuka squadron added 1DM, with the subsequent morale check adding one more. The British 25pdrs hit the Bersaglieri for 3DM, and three fighter/bomber squadrons caused 5DM. The result was panic and the Italian troops fled their trenches. Apart from this there was little action – the Italian infantry were mostly not yet spotted in their dug-in positions, and the advancing Australians were still out of range for the infantry.

10:00 - the South Africans arrive

 Day Segment 10:00 – 12:00. Initiative British. 2 turns. The South Africans were now on a 45% chance to arrive, and this time they succeeded. The German Kampfgruppe had its first opportunity to arrive, a 40% chance, and they got lucky straight away – so both sides had their reinforcements available. In the air both sides committed CAP squadrons – the British were Kittyhawks, the Germans were Bf -109Gs. Rather surprisingly the Kittyhawks got the initiative and drove off the German fighters. In the first turn the British artillery hit the Bersaglieri, now out in the open, and caused further panic. Fire was exchanged between the entrenched Italian infantry and the approaching Australians, to relatively little effect. The biggest impact, in fact, was when the Italian 1/86^th rolled poorly on their fire dice, indicating potential ammo problems, and then rolled a six, leaving them out of ammo entirely. This was a big problem because in this scenario the Axis forces have no supply column.

The German reinforcements arrive

German reinforcements - KG Keihl covers the flanks of Tel el Makh Khad

In the second turn a Stuka squadron arrived, and in another surprise result, they drove off the Kittyhawks flying CAP. They then bombed the 7^th/8^th Artillery, causing 2DM. In the bombardment phase the 1/86^th were hit twice, and both times rolled a 1 on their cover die (a D10 because of the heavy entrenchments.). This left them with 6DM, and a morale roll forced them to fall back. In the firing phase the Bren Carriers of 9^th Cavalry hit them again, causing a further 3DM and they now panicked. The rest of the Italian infantry were keeping up fire on the advancing Australian infantry, who were now starting to accumulate a few DMs, but for now their morale held firm. The German Kampfgruppe had arrived from the south west, but they rolled 1 on their Decision Die on both turns, so progress was slow.

11:00 - Stukas attack the 25pdrs of the 7th/8th Artillery

Situation at noon, looking west

Day Segment 12:00 – 14:00. Initiative Axis. 2 turns. The CAP fight saw the MC 202 squadron, still with 7 ADM from the earlier engagement, take on a fresh Hurricane squadron, and the Italians were quickly sent packing. The Hurricanes then drove off a Stuka squadron in the first turn, while Allied Bostons put 2 DMs on the unlucky 1/86^th. Artillery then added another DM, and with three DMs in one phase the infantry had to take a morale check, leading to a further panic. As Reservists they are only allowed to recover from panic twice, so this was their last chance – the next one would be permanent. The British supply column reached 32^nd RTR close to Tel el Eisa and they were back to full ammo. However the 1/85^th, occupying the hill, fired at the tanks, who rolled a 1, losing them 5DM in total (including the morale test) and killing a Decorated Leader. Just to the south the Italian 2/85^th also had success, hitting 3/26^th Battalion for 3DM and causing panic.

Situation after noon from the east

After noon - from the south west, as the Germans advance

After noon - Tel el Eisa and the front line

In the second turn Hurricanes struck the 1/86^th, and they panicked – so their battle was over and they headed for the rear. However the German artillery was now in action, and their first shots struck three Australian battalions crowded close together, forcing morale checks on two of them. To the south the German armoured cars had reach the east end of Tel el Makh Khad and fired on the Humbers of 3^rd Recon, suppressing them. Things were looking relatively good for the Axis, but then 32^nd RTR attacked 1/85^th on Tel el Eisa; the Italians rolled a 1 on their cover die and then panicked, leaving their trenches, so suddenly one of the main objectives was open to be captured.

KG Keihl faces the advancing South Africans

Day Segment 14:00 – 16:00. Initiative British. 3 turns. In the air the battered Bf-109s were driven off by another Kittyhawk squadron. Bostons and one British artillery regiment attacked the 1/85^th, who had fallen back from Tel el Eisa, but did not force a morale check. Two more regiments bombarded the 2/86^th, who were still in their trenches on Tel el Makh Khad. They took 3DMs, plus two more from the morale check, but they held firm in cover. However to the north the RTR fired again at 1/85^th, now in the open, and panicked them, while 9^th Cavalry attacked 2/85^th and panicked them as well. Contagion now took over, as the effect of being close to panicking units made things ever worse. 1/85^th broke entirely, 2/85^th and the Bersaglieri both panicked again. In the next turn artillery fire broke the 2/85^th, and now the German reinforcements were battling forward through a stream of retreating allies.

The Valentines capture Tel el Eisa

The Australian infantry was still struggling forward; in the open under artillery bombardment, they had to keep stopping to recover disorder. A unit recovers an extra DM if it does not move in a turn, and it is important to avoid a steady build-up of disorder. The South Africans were also making slow progress against the southern hill, as the armoured cars of KG Kiehl were covering the lower slopes. However with the Italians to the north now broken, the carriers of 9^th Cavalry were moving against the flanks of the infantry on the hill (2/86^th). Then, in the last turn of the segment, two of the SA battalions hit KG Kiehl for 5DM and surprisingly the Elite unit panicked.

16:00 - South Africans close in on Tel el Makh Khad

The Australians consolidate on Tel el Eisa

Day Segment 16:00 – 18:00. Initiative British. 1 turn. A Hurricane squadron drove off the Italian MC 202 CAP, and then more Hurricanes attacked the Bersaglieri. They broke this unit, which in turn meant that the Italians force group was broken. Their intrinsic command level is only 35%, making them very fragile, so now all the Italian troops started to withdraw. The Valentines established themselves on Tel el Eisa, and as British artillery swept the German infantry struggling across the open ground in the valley, it was clear that the Germans had little hope of assaulting the hill.

The Italians in full flight

Day Segment 18:00 – 20:00. Visibility 18”. Initiative German. 2 turns. With twilight falling there was no air action. The British artillery concentrated on the most advanced German infantry battalion, 1/361, and caused it to panic, making it absolutely certain that Tel el Eisa would not be assaulted. On Tel el Makh Khad 2/86^th was retreating slowly, under pressure from the carriers and South African infantry moving forward after the departure of the armoured cars of KG Kiehl. In the final turn the carriers hit 2/86^th for 3DM and they panicked away, leaving the hill in British hands.

With the capture of both objective hills, and the breaking of the Italian force, this was a complete victory for the British. It was a little closer than it seems, though – both the Australian and South African infantry had real problems advancing in the open. The key units were the armour, especially the Valentines of the RTR. The Italians were also quite unlucky – several units in heavy entrenchments rolled a “1” on their D10 cover die, and once they had retreated out of cover they were very vulnerable. The many Reserve morale units also gave problems, being much more fragile, as well as less effective in firing.

Final positions - Tel el Eisa

Final positions - Tel el Makh Khad

This was another fun battle, and very different from the previous one in the North Western Europe theatre, with its close cover and limited lines of sight. Out in the open spaces of the desert, infantry are vulnerable, and the armoured units can make a crucial difference.