Fall of Nanking (Flowers of War) - Brief Look

 A different view of WW2 from the Chinese perspective!

Osprey Publishing - Bolt Action: Armies of Great Britain

Osprey Publishing - Bolt Action: Armies of Great Britain



Finally, I have my hands on what the British, Canadians, Australian, New Zealand, South African and Indian troops as well as other Commonwealth forces used in WW2.



I shall now be able to accurately field units for this conflict.

Osprey Publishing - The Japanese Army 1931–45 (2)

Osprey Publishing - The Japanese Army 1931–45 (2)



I have a particular interest in the Imperial Japanese army, as I live in Japan at the moment, and I want my children to have a more balanced view of what the IJA did in Asia. What with the current government trying to downplay what the army did in Asia, I think my family needs to see a different perspective.



The sad fact is the inclusion of women being trained to use bamboo spears and school boys armed only with Molotov Cocktails to take on Allied forces in the potential invasion of Japan which could have occurred from 1945-46.

Osprey Publishing - The British Army 1939–45 (3)

Osprey Publishing - The British Army 1939–45 (3)



My newest addition to my research on the British forces in the Far East during their campaigns in Hong Kong, Singapore, and Burma. This is the only area of the Pacific campaign which I want to game. I'm not interested in Americans vs Japanese, they get too much attention.

Saving Private Ryan The True Story

Take that! My beef with this film was the negative comments about the British and Canadians taking too long to get their objectives!

Hold the line: Malaya 1942

Ian takes on my Japanese in the jungles of Malaya in January, 1942

Osprey Publishing - Scottish Divisions in the World Wars

Osprey Publishing - Scottish Divisions in the World Wars



This is another book I got recently from www.amazon.uk for research on my Bolt Action gamming.

The text covers the Scottish divisions raised for the First World War and then the Second World War.



The premise of this text is explaining that the focus of the Scottish soldier in both conflicts was not necessarily on their regiment, but their division.



However, I would disagree. Scottish Regiments, and battalions are very much big on their esprit de corps, guarding their traditions fiercely with pride. Their tartans, mess traditions, cap badges all go to forging the tough soldiers Scotland has made.

I also bought the book in memory of the Scottish Independence Referendum of 2014.

Maximum attrition: Queens Own Rifles vs Luftwaffen Field battalion

Queens Own Rifles in their Universal carrier hide next to the buildings to jump out and pounce on the Luftwaffen. 

A lone Churchill with two bren gunners covers the Canadian flank.

One gunner takes flight into the woods for added cover.

The Luftwaffen take out the Universal carrier with grenades, then the Hertzer takes out the Churchill after two rounds bounce off.
All in all, the Luftwaffen fared better than expected. It was also our first game using this tank, and it did well, up until getting hit by a well placed 75mm round.

Osprey Publishing - Churchill Infantry Tank 1941–51

Osprey Publishing - Churchill Infantry Tank 1941–51



I recently purchased some World War Two resource material. Since I bought a set of toy cars as military kits, one of which was a Churchill tank, I wanted to know which units these tanks were attached to.

I have two of them painted as The King's Own Calgary Regiment back in storage in Canada. My Dad has one painted as a British one, and I have one painted and marked as a member of the 7th Armoured Division, but I need to find which regiment used them.

My Imperial Japanese Army

My infantry come from Airfix, Matchbox, Esci
The Revell box
Since these figures are taller than most, they portray troops from Sendai, Miyagi prefecture.

Fujimi set
my artillery for these troops.
I shall be adding more information to this posting as my new resource materials arrive.

Marianas Trench - Stutter

 I really like this video, just too bad it had to be Americans they were portraying rather than Canadians! The group is from Vancouver.

Malaya 1942

The Japanese are holding a defensive position in their camp, awaiting to start their next attack down the Malay peninsula.

Second Indian Army, with a strong contingent of Gurkhas with mortars, and Vickers machine-guns gives much needed fire support to the force.

The Japanese open up with their rifles.

2 Argyle and Sutherland Highlanders form a line to take on a Japanese counter strike. But the highlanders begin to take heavy casualties.

Mortar and rifle grenades begin to clear out the Japanese trenches. The Japanese in turn are reduced to throwing grenades and rifle fire back at the advancing Gurkhas.

The Vickers gun teams occupy the Japanese trenches. With their gun taken out, the Japanese artillery crew rush forward with grenades in a Banzaii charge.

The lone Japanese machine-gunner keeps up a brisk fire on the Highlanders. With a weight of numbers, the Japanese are over run.
Singapore is safe for now.

Additional research for Bolt Action from Osprey Publishing

I've really dived back into the World War Two wargamming. I've always been interested in the Canadian experience, having a family connection to the campaigns, as well as having visited The Military Museums in Calgary, Alberta this year.
Via Amazon.uk and Osprey publishing, I''ve invested in additional works on this era.
The first which has been sent is Churchill Tank. According to Bolt Action, the Churchill is considered a heavy tank! This may alter Ian's attempts to use his German armor against mine!

I've also invested in the Universal Carrier, which I have always found interesting since I saw one up close at the Nova Scotia International Tattoo in 1989 as part of the cast.

British Anti-tank artillery is another book I've ordered. I was able to get up close to a 6pdr and a 17pdr in Calgary.

Also, I've purchased Scottish Divisions in the World Wars, which while focusing on the Scottish Divisions of the British Army, they were emulated by their Commonwealth peers.

Updated armor

These two viechles I got from Toys R Us and repainted them

 This M5 Half-Track has been painted and decaled as 1/7th Duke of Wellington's Regiment, which was part of the Canadian command

A 27th Armored Regiment (Sherbrooke Fusiliers) M4 Sherman. 

 Another shot of the Half-track.

A Churchill tank of the 7th Armored Division. I'm still working on which regiment this tank will represent.

Flames Of War 2013 Recap and 2014 Sneak Peek

 Interesting look at a gaming company.

JR MInis' 15mm WWII resin buildings: a video review

 Good reviews of wargamming kit for my blog. Thanks to ModelDads

Bolt Action - Americans vs. Germans

 I'm not sure why everyone wants to play Americans vs Germans. I mean, ok, so the Americans have lots of firepower, but to me, that's just showing off. The Germans have more kinky stuff, like assault rifles, and throw away one shot anti-tank stuff.

Command Combat Battle Report - Late War - Brit armor v German Infantry

 This seems a bit tonge and cheek. But hey, if we can't poke fun at ourselves when we have fun, then what's the point in life. I mean, my wife is starting to complain I have too much, but don't all wives do that?