AAR: A Missionary Man

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Originally posted 15th October 2013

The next battle report slurped from Topi's blog contains a bit more information about the background to his East Africa 1940 campaign. That's in addition to an amusing tale of a ragtag bunch of militia taking on the might of the Italian army. Proves you don't need tons of troops and Tigers on the table to have fun with IABSM!

 

AAR: East Africa Waltzing Matilda

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Originally posted 12th October 2013

I've found a new source of After Action Reports! A gentleman named Topi, from Finland, has an excellent blog with five IABSM AARs. It will take me a few days to catch up, but catch up I will!

Here's the first: his first game of IABSM. It's East Africa, British versus Italians, and Topi's English is a lot better than my Finnish!

Lend-lease Scout Cars

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Originally posted 6th October 2013

Now that I've re-catalogued all my late war Soviets, I can clearly see where the gaps in my collection are. One such gap was transport for the Scouts. Looking at the lists, I saw that lend-lease White scout cars were an option, and as I happened to have three of them lying around in the lead mountain...

In The Name of Roma Published

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Originally posted 19th September 2013

Chris Stoesen has released another scenario book for IABSM, In The Name of Roma!, containing a selection of platoon and company level scenarios for the Italians on the Eastern Front.

I've already got the book, and it looks excellent. Here's the blurb from Chris' website:

In July of 1941, the 80° Roma Regiment of the Pasubio Division boarded a train bound for Romania. Along with the rest of the Italian Expeditionary Corps in Russia (Corpo di Spedizione Italiano), they would advance through the Ukraine alongside their German allies. In the coming months, the 80° would be engaged in brutal fighting across 1400 miles of the Eastern Front – covering most of that on foot.

IN THE NAME OF ROMA is a wargame supplement that contains 30 company and platoon level scenarios covering the actions of the 80a Roma Regiment from August to December of 1941. You’ll follow the 80th from the open steppe to the Donetz industrial basin, including the amphibious attacks across the Dnieper, and the fateful decision of Column Chiarimonti to attempt to seize Nikitovka.

IN THE NAME OF ROMA includes:

  • 30 scenarios divided in six distinct campaigns
  • Historical background information and period area maps
  • Italian and Soviet briefing for each scenario
  • Formation information and stats for Early War Italians and Soviets
  • Forward by Richard Clarke

Though primarily written for the Too Fat Lardies rules systems (I Ain’t Been Shot Mum; Troops, Weapons, and Tactics; and the newly released Chain of Command), the scenarios in IN THE NAME OF ROMA work equally well with Arc of Fire, Bolt Action, Flames of War or your favorite rules system.

IN THE NAME OF ROMA is available for $11 US. Send the money via PayPal to cstoesen@corecard.com and I will e-mail the PDF to you as soon as possible.

Cromwells from Plastic Soldier Company

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Originally posted 8th September 2013

I have finally finished my squadron of Cromwell tanks for the later British force. These models, all fifteen of them, are all from Plastic Soldier Company, bought for a grand total of £51!

The models are very nice, and with plenty of options. You can have the normal gun or the 95mm howitzer support weapon; you can add the allegedly-fictious, boccage-clearing prongs; and you can add the cover that sits over the exhaust grill and stops the enemy spotting a tank starting its engine from the gout of black exhaust fired straight up in the air!

Mine are organised into a Squadron HQ of three tanks (CinC with exhaust hood, 2inC with prongs, support tank), then four troops of three tanks each (two with exhaust hoods, two without).

Here are some shots of one individual tank and the whole squadron:

AAR: Hedgerow Hell et al.

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Originally posted 26th August 2013

Sorry there hasn't been much from me lately: all my time has been spent painting up my 15mm squadron of Cromwell tanks, courtesy of Plastic Soldier Company. I'm just finishing the basing now, so pictures etc soon.

Meanwhile, here are three battle reports. Hedgerow Hell is one from last weekend, the other two are from last year.

Hedgerow Hell

First Run at IABSM

Second Run at IABSM

AAR: Warning Order

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Originally posted 9th August 2013

The Wasatch Front Historical Gaming Society (WFHGS) produce a lovely little pdf wargaming magazine three to four times a year called Warning Order.

Warning Order is packed full of reviews, AARs and, best of all, recent issues have contained a series of nostalgia pieces looking back at the recent history of wargaming. I experienced several flashbacks to my school days when reading them! Highly recommended.

Warning Order issue #33 contains a very positive review of IABSM v3 and an AAR; Warning Orderissue #35 another IABSM v3 AAR. Both are reprinted here with kind permission of the WFHGS.

On The Road To Moscow

German Armoured Assault

Soviet BA-10s from Zvezda

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Originally posted 1st August 2013

I finally got around to ordering and painting the newish BA-10 Soviet armoured cars from Zvezda, but ordered through Plastic Soldier Company.

They are the usual plastic, snap-together affair, with each one taking only a few minutes to put together. Although the picture, below, is not very good, they are nice looking models that, on the tabletop, look no different from resin or metal models. At less than £2 a pop, as well, they are very good value.

Just a few hints for those of you who have yet to put any together:

1) Before you do anything else, drill out the headlight holes on the main hull piece A4. You will find it nigh on impossible to mount the headlights otherwise. Just use a pin drill (or even just a pin!) to widen the hole so that when you come to step [3] in your build, the horizontal headlight strut will slide right into the hole, giving you the fulcrum you need to place the vertical strut successfully.

2) When going through step [1], don't push the main hull pieces A4 right onto the knob on which they go. If they are jammed in hard, they are actually too close together to properly fit the base and the roof. Push them on firmly, but not ultimately, and then adjust as you put the base step and roof on during steps [1] and [2].

3) Before starting step [2], I glued pieces A1 and A2 together. 

4) The headlights are a right pain in the bum to seat during step [3]. If you've remembered to drill the hole I suggest in (1) above, then life is a lot easier. Pop a tiny blob of glue in the hole in the hull and on the tiny notch on the mudguard that seats the vertical headlight strut. Put the horizontal headlight strut in the hole and position so the vertical headlight strut is vertical and sitting on the mudguard. Now gently push the vertical headlight strut sideways until it catches on the notch in the mudguard.

5) The back wheels are challenging in step [4], but just take things slow and you shouldn't have any problems...but be careful when pushing the wheels onto their knobs. I brace the disc on the end of the knob against the nails of my thumb and forefinger, and then push the wheel slowly but firmly on with the other hand. Oh, and the gap between the two back axles is exactly that: a gap. They come with a bit of sprue between them that needs removing!

6) Seating the front axle, however, is even worse than the headlights! I tried it with the wheels on the axle, and then with the axle on its own: I think 'wheels-on' is the way to go, but it is still tricky to seat the axle in the holes on the hull. The only way I could do it (and even then I almost broke the damn thing each time) is to very lightly place the axle where it is supposed to go on the hull. Then I held it lightly in place (too much pressure and it moves) whilst I used a pin drill (I know, I know!) to push really, really hard against the square bit on top of the axle that holds the two knobs that go into the hull. It then should (should!) grindingly pop into the holes in the hull.

Hope that helps!

More Half-tracks for the Germans

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Originally posted 16th June 2013

I've added the transport for my Late War German Panzer Grenadier company: half tracks all round! 

The standard SdKfz 251s are from Zvezda, the SdKfz 251/10s (the one's with the ATG) are from Plastic Soldier Company. The PSC half-tracks are their standard model plus the /10 conversion kit. Easy to put together and paint up well. And yes, I did paint them at a different time with a different yellow!