T-34

 

Gallipoli

 

A Bridge Too Far novel

 Cornelius

Ryan's book is picked up from the Atlantic Canada Aviation museum gift shop for .40 cents! I'll get a shot of it shortly. 

8th Hussars: New Brunswick cavalry

 

Victory over Japan 1945-2025

 80 years since that destructive war finished.

After living in Japan, I still find it frustrating that they view themselves as victims due to the Atomic bombing. 

Official expressions of remorse but not sorry have been expressed.

At least there has been Peace between former combatants.

More Canadian Infantry

 Heller produced a set of British Infantry for WW2 which is a bit different.  It's like they took poses from the old Esci/Italeri kit and mixed them in with Ceaser Minatures. 

Now recently, a local museum has asked me to produce a vignette for a railway display for 1940s. This particular set has suitable figures that I can paint up and set up as troops of the West Nova Scotia Regiment and have them ready to board a train for Pier 21 in Halifax to go over to England.

I have to paint and base these figures which I shall do according to the Battlefront Minatures cards. I have several units which have token representations but should be established as more full out squads/platoons

Pictures to follow 

R22Re Universal Carrier

 

More Sherman

 I meant to get a shot from the front but my phone lost power. This tank is a memorial to a Canadian Forces member who died on the Vietnam mission in the 1960s.

Battle of Templehof Airport Berlin, April 1945

 

Germans holding the road to the airport 

Germans hold on to the road and rail crossing 

Soviets advanced on the control tower

So far some interesting situations in this game have come up.

While the Soviets came in with plenty of armour and artillery they are light on infantry.

The Germans are light in tanks, have plenty of Anti-tank guns and infantry. 

However, as the Germans loose more infantry it keeps them from holding objectives, and from counter attacking.

So far the Soviets are holding the church but have lost most of their IS-2 Regiment. The T-34/85 battalion is still operable but they are starting to loose their artillery to German mortar fire.

Some Soviets I did for my Russian friend

 

Class of Steel Starter set for Eastern Front

 The Easter Bunny found me, or I found my way to Lantzelot Games in Blockhouse, Nova Scotia where I got the set. So i now have More Germans and Soviets.

Best part, I now have infantry

So far I have built

Jagtiger

Jagpanzer

T-34/85

BA scout car

Ive based most of the Germans and most of the Russians. However I'm not sure if I dropped some of the bases in my car. Since I'm off this weekend I'll work on them.

Eventually I built the entire set and have fought 2 battles with them. The next battles for the Geans will be against the British and Canadians on the Western front 

The Raiders Desert Strike Force

 

So, another force I'd like to build from Battlefront Minatures once they sort out early and mid war ranges.

Soviets vs Germans Spring 1945

 

So after watching a few videos of All Minatures Great and Small, I decided to run a game on my painting table with a Soviet force against a German force.

The Soviets came on woth an IS-2 battalion a T-34/85 battalion, an SU-100 company, and Scout car company, 76mm gun platoon, an SU-122mm gun battery, a rocket battery

Against 

Tiger 1 platoon

Panzer IV platoon

A Panther

A Scout car platoon 

A mortar platoon

A Panzergrenadier platoon with 251

An MG42 platoon

The Soviets advanced on the German town which was in ruins. The Soviets advanced without infantry. This would prove to be a fatal error.

The first probe by the Russians sent theor Scout cars in to see who would fire on them. Followed by the T-34/85 battalion. The Germans replied with their Panzer IVs and used their infantry to swarm the tanks. While this led to severe casualties on the Germans, it ground down the Russians. Despite a last charge by the IS-2 to try and flank the last Tigers, the German Scout platoon rushed ahead and eliminated the Soviet artillery. The final Soviet IS-2 platoon were swarmed by Germans. Amazing that the Germans beat back the Russians.

They need infantry

Grampies war: the human cost.

Every community big or small in Canada has monuments to their war dead.

Noel has a particular poinent one.

The Harvie family sent 8 of their sons off to war.

6 came home. 2 didn't. One buried in the Netherlands the other in the UK.

This monument pays tribute to this family.

It dwarfs the more famous Sullivan family or the story of the film Saving Private Ryan.

This family lost more members than any other in ALL of North America.

And they all came from the very small community of Noel. 

8!

The mother relieved the Silver Cross.

Small comfort for such a sacrifice. 

Lest we Forget.

 

 

Soviet Cards

 

My Soviets now have cards for their units. So i now have the stats for my Rocket, Scout car, Valentine tanks 

Battle for Berlin 1945

 So I got myself an early birthday present. The Italeri Reichstag battle set.

Sure it was 165.00, but it's something that I can afford and do up.

Fallcimjager

 Well I've gotten most of the German Paras mounted. I just need to get them printed.

6th Airborne weapons companies

 

So far a Vickers MMG group and  a 6pdr gun.

Panzer IV with side skirts

 A few more tanks i got in trade which shall get some much needed paint.

Panther

 One of the tanks i was able to acquire in trade in the box of kits was a lone Panther.

I've gotten a basic colour on it but I'll be doing my usual North-west Europe camoflauged scheme on it.

Now the Panther was the German answer to the T-34/85. The tank had sloped armour and a 75mm gun. 

This Panther is in the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa

In time, I shall have a full platoon of these.

I have in 1/72 and now and HQ and a company of  8 in 1/100.

17/21 Lancers with the Valentine tank

 As part of my Christmas presents to myself I was able to get a troop of Valentine tanks.

I got some paint on them to get them pictured. Just need to do on a day off.

Valentines

Early Valentines

They did what they could but these tanks were really unable to go up against the Afrika Korps.  But I'll see what happens on a table

Afrika Korps

 

The Ballantines series came out over 50 years ago. This particular copy was published in 1968.

My Dad collected about 2 dozen volumes of the series and over the years I have looked at but never really read most of them.

Their style is very reminiscent of the contemporary Osprey publishing MAA series which began about the same time. 

So over the next little while, I shall be looking at these and seeing how I can adapt the information to my Wargames 

Operation Bagration

 Happy 2025! Over the holidays I had a HUGE increase in my 15mm collection thanks to a fellow collector who via trade and cash, I got around 100 vehicles, plus their spare bits which may mean I can scratch build more.

My Soviet force now contains:

14 IS-2 tanks! So 2 tanks per company i have 5 giving 1 company 3 so that I have 1 HQ.

11 T-34/85 a HQ company and 3 companies of 3.

A T-34/76 HQ

5 SU-100 as 1 company

2 ISU-52 SP guns as 1 company

2 IS-122mm SP battery

2 76mm gun battery a half battery 

2 57mm Anti-tank battery a half battery 

4 122mm battery a full battery 

A Guards Rocket mortar truck. 

A BA-64 company of 5cars 

A company of Valentine tanks ( drafted in from 8th Army 5x 6pdr armed

12c trucks 

A KV-1 tank

 infantry are getting based and painted