Second game for 2009 – scary, I know!

Two fridays back Peter and I had our second game for the year. Last year so many events worked against us playing – we only had three games for the year…and so far it’s been a game a month (effectively). Yay!

Since we had an armoured slugfest last time, we decided to revisit the infantry-vs-infantry style of game that we had enjoyed last year.  In fact, it even ended up being infantry and artillery only – no armour or SPGs at all (although if fellow club members could’ve loaned me six Wespes, I woulda gone for some mobile artillery too). I had a few vehicles – some Opel Blitzes and two 251/1Cs, but none were meant to be used in the attack. It was just going to be my Infantry company with some Offboard Artillery against whatever Peter had points for.

Let me detail the agreements made pre-game. This was to be a Quality German Attack – so whatever Point Value (PV) total I had, Peter would have half that for his forces. We agreed on No Vehicles (meaning no tanks or SPGs that were also tank destroyers). We agreed on each having Offboard Artillery. I ended up with approximately 2200 PV, so Peter had to take half that. In Panzerfaust: Iron Fist, German forces are expensive because most troops have good experience and Morale by default. Peter may have had only 1100 points to build his army with, but I knew he would end up with at least an Infantry Company plus some Offboard Artillery because Soviet troops are so cheap. Whatever else he was able to afford would prove interesting and challenging.

Here’s the map/board for the night:

The idea was for the terrain to represent a village or hamlet in a valley. Thusly I placed as many hills and elevated ground around the edges of the board as I could. The village was just four buildings, with a pond in between two of them…it represented a clean source of drinking water (maybe a large well or natural spring). Some good-sized fields of crops and an obligatory apple orchard on the edge of town…apples were a popular crop back in Russia and the Eastern Front in general…and it’s easier to buy the pre-made trees or components to make apple trees than to try and do something more exotic like cherry trees (and not Japanese cherry trees, or poor old Anton Chekhov would really be rolling in his grave). Some copses of trees on the town outskirts and some trees on the hills too.

Preparation: a Light, Westerly wind was rolled. My troops were coming in from the Western side of the board. The Objective that I had to reach in 10 turns was the road in between the four buildings.

Turn One – my forces came on board safely, in the Northwest, travelling Southeast. My 150mm Offboard Artillery was aimed at the nearest edge of the nearest house to my forces. Before I began rolling, Peter said he had deployed badly – but when he heard I had 150mm artillery, he said it would be a quick game! (He even suggested post-game that if I had selected only 105mm artillery, then I would’ve had much more trouble breaking his troops’ Morale).

I had two pairs of 15omm guns. I rolled two hits and two misses – killing a Soviet platoon HQ base and squad straight off. A good opening for me!

Turn Two:  Now I could see some of the defenders,  right in the outer edges of the fields, closest to me. Peter had opted for an aggressive defence and deployed accordingly.  He had mortars – they rained down fire on my Company HQ as it was moving down to its intended position. The Russians opened up on my infantry with MMGs, LMGs and rifles  for a fierce 46 Fire Factors at 25cm range. He rolled a 6 to get +1, but then suffered -2 for being Conscript troops. So, in conclusion he was -1 at 40cm…I lost 7 bases, which I spread out amongst the squads. I had to test Morale for 4 squads…the overall platoon was fine but some squads were Shaken, so they hit the deck and were just going to fire back.

My 3rd Platoon also came under heavy fire, losing the Platoon HQ. I rolled a 6…-5 left me with a final result of 1…that platoon was Shaken. They also were going to stay still and just shoot back, too.

My Artillery now came down. Even though I rolled shockingly, I still wiped out all the troops concealed inside the building, forcing Peter to test Morale.

The Germans returned rifle & LMG fire, killing a Russian MMG and some grunts. The killing of the MMG was due to Peter determining that my German LMGs could target the MMG, with leftover factors carrying over onto the surrounding bases as “splash damage”. This is an unofficial decision that worked well and will need codifying somewhere…stay tuned.

The nearest platoon of Russians have had enough and began to Retreat – the first time I’ve ever got Peter to retreat! Still, the Russian Company as a whole rolls 3 Morale, so they are OK…just.

The Russian mortars come down again on my Company HQ and softskins – killing my Company HQ. For once, I roll well in testing the Company Morale in a crisis – and get 8, leading to a final result of 1. We are Shaken for a turn but still in the game.

Turn Three – No more advancing for me – I’m Shaken so can only stay still and fire back. I disembark the four 120mm Battalian Support mortars out of the surving Opel Blitzes – they can fire on Turn Five. The 251/1C in front of the Opel Blitzes that I was using to make a FAO mobile  kills off some Russians with its LMG, so the other Russian bases near it surrender to me.

One of Peter’s platoons continued its retreat but sadly for them they ran into my 150mm Artillery Barrage and were all killed.

Turn Four – I can move again! I had set up my company 81mm support mortars last turn and they could now fire. They missed. His mortars killed off a LMG base attached to my Company HQ teams.

Turn Five – I decided to change my Offboard Artillery fire from Pre-determined as I wanted to silence his mortars and so I had to roll to Call Down my Artillery onto a new target. I succeeded and silenced one of the Russian mortars, but his Mortars hit my 120mm Mortars whom are forced to flee off the table (they were right next to it).

I roll my Company Morale again – a 3 – leading to a Retreat. Game Over. I was so close this time to forcing him into a Retreat and winning…arghhhhh.

Here’s a photo of the FAO in the 251/1C directly fighting Russian infantry:

This time I had remembered everything.  Smokescreens, the lot.  It was him hitting my Company HQ so early on that prevented me winning…I must place them somewhere safer, not on a wing, and certainly not let them start high on a hill where they can be seen and mortared!

Achtung! Marder!

The platoon is now finished. It took a long time, even allowing for excessively hot days and busy periods at work and home – but I wanted them to be as good as I could possibly make them. After all, hopefully I won’t have to do any more for a good while, so these ones have to be good enough to be played with and photographed for a good few years. Hopefully admired, too!

Here are some photos of the completed UM (UniModels) kit number 343, the Marder III Sd 138 WWII German self-propelled gun in 1/72 scale:

You can go and see the rest over at my Flickr account.

Unit 12 was the best one to emerge out of the other three. The wavy camouflage pattern turned out very well, and I’ll use it again (albeit with a little less curve in it). The other camouflage patterns are very true to life…especially when you have a look at these two YouTube videos, where my wavy pattern is not so unlikely:

Real restored Marder III H in action Sheffield 2007

Real Restored German Marder III H in action!

One of the biggest delays was in the very fiddly work doing the spare track links. All those washes and drybrushing sessions to get them right…mercifully, I didn’t try to be too perfect with the kill markers. They are leaning a little, but only at close-range inspection.

The decals are acceptable, but with drybrushing a dust coat over the vehicles, the decal outline is somewhat visible. I’ll put up with that, as my hand is nowhere near steady enough to even attempt to do handpainted numerals Heer-style at that scale. Mike G can do it, but I can’t.

This friday, they’ll get their first workout, in an Attack/Defence game. There may be more photos of them “getting blooded”.

Achy breaky art (Breaking up is hard to do, part two)

Thinking more about camouflage for vehicles (and to a lesser extent, soldiers) I did a little internet browsing my favourite way – using internet directories.

I quickly got to Lone Sentry, a website that offers “Photographs, Documents, and Research on World War II” – especially the full text of some articles from the Intelligence Bulletin. “Printed by the Military Intelligence Service throughout WWII, the Intelligence Bulletin was designed to inform officers and enlisted men of the latest enemy tactics and weapons. For the historian and collector, the bulletins offer a rare view into the Allied knowledge of the Axis forces”.

It also offers the full text to publications from the time, especially this one:

WAR DEPARTMENT FIELD MANUAL FM 5-20B

CORPS OF ENGINEERS

CAMOUFLAGE OF VEHICLES

APRIL 1944

In the section titled Vehicle Painting, it states:

“The enemy will usually see vehicles at an angle. At least two adjoining surfaces will be visible to him at once. For example, from close-range ground observation he might see a side and the front; from the air, or on an aerial photograph, he might see the top, a side, and the front. For this reason, vehicle patterns are designed to disrupt the cube shape of vehicles from all angles, to disrupt shadows cast by tarpaulin bows, to tie in with the shadow at the rear of a vehicle when it is faced into the sun, to tie in with the large dark shadow areas of windows, mudguards, wheels, and undercarriage, and to be bold enough to be effective at a distance.

Patterns are composed of a light color and a dark color. Black or olive drab have proved satisfactory dark colors in several theaters of operations. The light color is selected to match a light color typical of and predominant in the terrain in which the vehicle operates. White or light gray paint is applied to the undersurfaces of vehicles to cause them to reflect light, thus lightening the dark shadows of the undercarriage. This is called countershading.

Camouflage painting is not a cure-all. Alone, it cannot be relied on to do more than render a vehicle obscure, making it hard for an enemy gunner to locate the vehicle and confusing him as to the location of vulnerable areas. Nor can it conceal a moving vehicle, because other sight factors, such as dust, reflections, and motion itself, will betray its presence. However, camouflage painting is a valuable supplement to other camouflage measures. Added to good siting, dispersion, camouflage discipline, and the use of nets and drapes, it increases the benefits to be derived from these measures. Together, and intelligently used, they will provide a high degree of concealment for any vehicle”.

It then goes on with colour illustrations of various US patterns on various vehicles (self-propelled gun, truck etc.)

It neatly summarises what I’m trying to do – and what soldiers still try to do today.

Breaking up is hard to do

The 3-colour camouflage schemes on the remaining 3 Marder’s are done. Each is different, so all 4 have a slightly different scheme. The schemes all do the intended purpose, of breaking up the silhouette of the unit, or at least making it hard to clearly identified.

I used angled lines with some accompanying blobs, but the most successful was one using vertical wavy lines. This will be used in a different way with later units, especially any Panther tanks (I hope to have a whole abteilung of Panthers). Once these Marders are complete, you’ll see photos here. Making each scheme similar but still seperate was quite hard, when the purpose of that scheme is remembered. I would quite often hold up a Marder and look at it from different distances, asking myself “Will this make it harder to identify? Will it blend in with trees? Will it blend in when in rough terrain?” The vertical wavy-lined one certainly will. I also kept in my mind many of the colour plates from the books and materials I’ve gathered about the armies on the Eastern Front. I didn’t want to directly copy – I wanted originality, but a likely originality…

This week has been darned hot all day and much of the night all week long, which has slowed down all hobby work. Last night was the most successful of the whole week, where I turned my attention to all the smaller detail on the Marders (while taste-testing a Pale Ale) and also painting the boots of 3rd Platoon. A lot of Chaos Black at work last night. There are also some hills being made – they have had their two coats of paint, and now are ready for their first application of flock. Some will be given to Nunawading Wargames Association, the rest are for my own use, and are intended for use with Panzerfaust: Iron fist, so in time you may see them here.

Them Marder III’s

Some additional comments regarding those Marder III’s, discovered during painting:

1) Painting under the wheels is really difficult. I probably should have done that after glueing on the wheels but before glueing on the track. I think that’s what I did before…but I’m not sure. Oh well. These ones will have to have some extra mud spattered around to cover up lesser paintwork.

2) Painting the rear grille requires good lungs – to breathe hard and make sure the paint doesn’t block up the holes, removing the grille effect.

3) Using a black undercoat gives the impression that vehicles were originally in their Field Grey and were since resprayed when the “3 colour system” came in in 1943. This is fine if that’s the effect you want. It’s the effect I get because I’m using Chaos Black in a spraycan, lazy sod that I am. I guess that when it comes to doing Tigers, Panthers or Hetzers, I’ll have to find some other undercoat-in-a-can.

Cheers from the factory floor

At last, the first Marder III (h) and Opel Blitz 4X2 are done.

Here’s the Marder:

and here’s the Opel Blitz:

They both came out fairly well.

The camouflage scheme on the Marder was a lot of fun to do, and I hope fairly historically accurate. The darkness of each colour shows the technicals and crew had plenty of the new paint and spare petrol to play with in making and applying it.

The Marder turned out to be fairly straightforward to assemble, until it came to assembling the gun and turret. The gun was far more work than it should be, with elevation wheels that had to be individually glued on and pins that weren’t big enough to truly support the barrel on it’s frame. The turret is made of individual plates of armour (historically accurate) but they don’t necessarily sit well or fit well, and the instruction sheet is done from a difficult angle to really see how to accurately fit everything. With this model, the turret came out well. With the remainder (which have just finished gluing and polyfilling) the turrets are leaning on angles or look awkward. Also, the grille on the back has a tendency to lean, too. My suggestion to UM would be to make both the turret and the rear grille simpler to construct – less pieces. The grille is in 5 parts – it could be in 1. The turret is in 8 pieces – it could be in 6 or 4. The UM moulds are very good – I don’t think much detail would be lost.

The Opel Blitz was nerve-wracking during the first half of assembly and then fiddly but fun for the rest. My one gripe about it is that the tray didn’t sit flat on the back of the chassis – so it is leaning to the left and looks odd. Coupled with the front axle going the other way (so one wheel is well off the ground), it doesn’t look so great. But it paints up well, and includes GrossDeutschland symbol decals (which you can see on the door) which are two plusses. I’m now going to build an old ESCI kit of the exact same vehicle. It has only two sprues and lots of the individual parts from the Roden kit are premoulded together in the ESCI kit, so building it looks deceptively quick and easy. For example, the engine block is one piece for ESCI – about a dozen for Roden.

Some more notes: the Marder had decals for kill markers, which I tried applying near the muzzle brake and failed miserably. I painted them instead – it looks fine. The Opel Blitz had decals for the number plates – again, the attempted application went awry because the numberplate has the registration moulded on – so the decal can’t glue to the ridges and bumps! I just painted the registration on with a 20/0 brush. All failed decals went in the bin.

Anyway, now the other 3 Marders are about to get their paintjobs. I didn’t do any painting of the hull after painting the tracks like last time, so all the Desert Yellow will go on at once.

More photos of the first two vehicles can be seen over at my Flickr account.

Not enough links!

I must say – it’d be nice if UM had’ve included some extra individual track links on each of sprue A for kit #340 (the Marder III h), and had a couple more of piece A11, too! PST give plenty of extra links – UM cut it too finely, in my opinion.

Side-tracked

Little has been happening over at Tankoberg. Both the Marder and Opel Blitz’s are at stages where I cannot continue because I’m waiting for decals from a vendor. I want a platoon of Marders – but there are only 2 numbers provided. So, I’m going to buy decals of complete platoon and company numbers, apply them – then I can apply the dust layer and they are done.

I’ve also been lucky to go away for a long weekend, which helped feed my lazy nature.

Tracks have been glued onto the main drive wheels – all those single links around the drive wheels, necessitating a lot of glue. So I’ve been doing it in short bursts, as the glue fumes can be dangerous when inhaled – it’s certainly given me headaches a couple of times I didn’t open a window and turn a fan on to push the fumes outside.

I’m repainting the tracks on two Airfix StuG III’s with saukopf mantlets I bought pre-assembled from NWA. All my stuf must be at the same standard! Then I’ll go back and do all my Russians.

Undercoated the final platoon and the HQ teams for my German Infantry company today, too.

Production report from Tankoberg

The first UM Marder III is currently undergoing some final detail painting before I drybrush on a heavy dust coat and then fresh mud, before applying matt varnish and calling it ready for action.

Because I’m doing “bit piece” painting on that first one, I’ve begun the process of assembly for the other three that I bought, to make a platoon of four. Following the instruction sheet, steps 1 and 2 call for the glueing of the towing hooks to the frame. With the first kit, I found the holes to insert the tow hooks were far too small for the pins.

Using a fine drillbit, I’ve widened them and now the pins on the tow hooks have fitted in very well.

This was a big headache. The next big headache will be getting the wheels to fit on and align properly…

After action review: reviewing assembly of UM 1:72 no. 343 & Roden 1:72 no. 710

As you can see, yesterday saw the completion of assembly of the Opel Blitz and the essential completion of the Marder III (all I have to do to the Marder III is paint the interior of the gun shield and the gun, then I can stick the roof on, paint the roof and touch up). This brings me to the painting stage, which should be straightforward.

I felt that assembly of that PST 1:72 BZ35 Refueller was a bit complicated and demanding – well, assembling the Roden Opel Blitz was much worse than that. Here’s a quick list of intricate frustrations:

• Individual footpedals and the front numberplate had to be stuck on.
• The frame attached to the chassis on which the carry tray rests was 4 individual strands, all requiring seperate glueing and resultingly meant that the tray didn’t rest on it equally.
• A section under the cab, when placed on the chassis as per the instruction sheet, wouldn’t allow the cab to be glued onto the chassis!
• Glueing the shovel and pick onto the mudguards.
• Holes for attaching rearview mirrors, headlights and horn were absent or too shallow
  to allow these to be effectively stuck.

That’s enough for now. You can go to my Flickr page and see more of the finished product. Both the carry tray and wheels were nervewracking to glue on – and sure enough, they are all crooked So I’ll paint it now and see how that is – I’ve done the cab interior. I liked the way they did glass – it was thin plastic sheet that you cut out yourself. This allowed you to glue around and not in the frame, so you didn’t get glue dribbles on window panes. Nice! Building the ESCI version of the same vehicle will be illuminating. ESCI / Italeri are a good name, so it’ll be eye-opening.

As for the UM Marder III, I think I white-anted myself on that one. It wasn’t as hard as it seemed, but I will say that I think the instruction sheet could be clearer. Assembling the gun itself was scaring me, and it probably was the hardest part – but it was a little bit like swimming; you had to get wet first, then things got a bit easier. However, I feel that some parts don’t line up nicely with others – especially when building the armoured gun cab. That took a few reworkings and reglueings, and a few hard gulps of Cascade Pale Ale until I felt it was matching specifications (I was checking a book on Marders as I went, so had actual photos and drawings to compare with). I liked the individual track links and feel the detail was high. But where was part 58D? These are supports on the mudguards – I was missing a set. I’ll check the other kits and see if they are absent on all.

***

You’ll also see over on Flickr the other two FAOs, with their horses. I included detail of the dappled grey. It looks better from a distance – the white spots blend into the grey more. I like these FAOs more – they seem more authentic…but in reality most FAOs worked from dugouts and foxholes, so I dunno. Wargaming is an abstract at the best of times, so reality when modelling for it always must be tempered by that truth.