Flames of War Version 4 Late War German Unit cards

 Right. So my Germans.

Same arguement i put forth for my British, CanadianForces

The Germans have some more flavor.

So I can choose to field a Panzergrenadier company, or a Grenadier company 

What's the difference 

SdKfz 251, which is the transport 

Germans get MMGs the MG 42, mortars, 7.5cm infantry guns, 7.5 Pak40 Anti-tank 

German SdKfz 251/C

 Some more Hanamogs for my Panzergrenadier 

One of the biggest issues I have had is transports for my Germans. I now have a further transport section.

I'm looking forward to getting these together.

I've got all 3 built, 1 as an HQ, 2 as troop transport and I pimped the hell out of one just to see how it would look.

They just need some paint. So my Germans should be more stronger by Christmas 2023

German Stug III Ausf G Assault Gun

 I had one on its own, now I will have 1 squad for my Panzer force

At present, I now have 4 Stug III ready. I just need to finish painting 2 of them and adding the side skirts to one of them. So by Christmas 2023, I'll have a Stug III company ready for the table.

So I have a HQ without side skirts, and 3 with.

I plan to organize a Stug III company with an Infantry section 

Winter 1944-45 Allied offensive: 11th Armoured Division and 1st Airborne vs 2nd SS

 

the church tower has been a favorite spot for MG 42 and Panzercrecht teams

 the Comets and Firefly all go up and shortly after the Stuart also brews up

 the Airborne 75mm gun battery is  doing its best to give fire support 

the Cromwells are punching above their weight by taking out several Jagpanthers

a Panther Squadron takes cover to snipe at the British tanks

 the Brummbar is providing critical fire support 

while the King Tigers are smashing the British armor

a line of German mg 42 teams are holding back the Airborne 

and the Airborne are engaged in a firefight with the Mg 42 teams

Eventually after about 2 months, the British were able to push forward to take the church and the Ridge. As such, the Germans withdrew to their next line of defense. An allied victory 

Skirmish game, Dad's army action in England

Ok, so this game shall be a mix of A Very British Civil War flavor with WW2, from Wargames illustrated issue 386 Dec 2019

The figures will be a mix of First World War and Second World War, depending on weapons.

And also, there is a mix of treachery. The figures are a mix of civilian types which I have, and WW2 and WW1 British.

Home Guard: 32 figures
Capt. Mainwaring with pistol, 7 men with rifles.
Sgt. Wilson with rifle, a Lewis LMG 6 Rifles
Cpl. Jones with rifle, one smg, 5 rifles
Pte Sponge with smg, 7 men rifles

Germans: 23 figures
Brandenburgers (special forces) Sgt and 7 men 1 Bren, 7 rifles
Para Lt pistol, 3 rifles, 1 LMG
Para Sgt smg, 3 rifles 1 LMG
Para Cpl smg, 4 rifles

objective is for the Home Guard to hold the post office
the Germans need to take the post office and destroy the telephone exchange.
Games shots to follow

Anhilation Afrika Korps vs 8th Army, North Africa 1942

Ian and i continue on our Bolt Action journey. He's taken to reading the rule book which means 1. he doesnt accuse me of being sneaky, 2. hes finding stuff to hit me hard with 3. Actually understanding how to resolve casualties.

The first action we are working on is a desert campaign. Just a flat table, with a small hill.
Masonry enough in the startled the access player that was in Lost His nerve and fell back in a complete Retreat that was after the 8th Army with Australian an Indian support Advance taking the high grounds which was the only High Ground on the entire Battlefield and which completely demoralized the axis player

The King Tiger and Brumbar armor keeps getting built

So far, the Germans have increased by a short barrelled Panzer IV and a King Tiger getting put together. As well as a Brummbar 
The intent is to get a spring 1945 a going.
with my job affected by the Covid 19 Crisis, I will be able to get on some updates with this blog.
Both German tanks have been  built. My idea is to run a campaign of the British and Canadians taking on the Germans in the Rhineland.

my Mindy wants to take on the King tiger 

Wargames illustrated January 2020 freebie, Early war Panzergrenadier

Free sprue helped alleviate the fact that a rat ate the wiring on my refrigerator
I've built most of the 6, paint will come later
And I have gotten them mostly painted and mounted, pictures to follow
As of February 2020 they have been painted just not pictures yet

Canadians at Carpiquet Aerodrome 1944

A mix of British and Canadian armour let's see how well this force will do against the SS. I don't think I need to get anymore British or Canadian armor!

This was a mega smash up! The Canadians decided to try and take a hill to dominate the airport but the SS had figured out how to keep the Canadians from reaching their objectives. 

Ian was focused on taking out a lot of my carriers. He left .y Artillery alone but I was still unable to take and hold the hill 

Wermacht 15th Division

This Division is pictured as having winter kit and there is also troops in regular kit.
They will be used in the Italian campaign

Wermacht Panzers: Panzer III tank

I have put some pictures of the Panzer III up before but haven't really talked out them much.
From my last count, I believe I have four of these. Two of them are Airfix or Matchbox kits from the 1970s my Dad built, while the other two were Italeri kits I bought for my son

he did a really good job for only being 8.

Ian's first job at building a small tank

He was happy to get some more tanks for his Germans.

One of the older Panzer IIIs

Panther Tank

The Panther! Now this is my favorite German tank. The Tiger gets all the glory, but the Panther was my favorite tank.
I mean, for any Canadian or British or Russian tank has to hit it hard.
I have 2 in my collection which my father had bought and built. I'd eventually like to get two more to build up my SS Panzer Division

 Panther in the Canadian War Museum collection

1st Canadian Division hit the Gothic Line Bolt Action Scenario 17 (again)

The Canadian First Division boldly attempts to assault the Gothic Line. Trusting their initial artillery bombardment to drive out the Germans, the Canadians plan to rush forward to capture the defences

the German position. A series of trenches, bunkers and minefields.

The preliminary bombardment damages some of the German units but they survive enough to hold on. The Canadians rush the first line but are consistently thwarted from their objective by accurate German fire. Having lost all their armour support, the Canadians fall away. The Germans hold on for another day.

Two Osprey Books for the price of one!

Recently I visited the bookstore, Chapters in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. I was able to find two steals in their discount history section.
Both books by Chris McNab are Hitler's Elite: The SS and The German Army 1935-45. Both books if bought from Osprey would have cost me close to 100.00 Cdn with shipping. But they were 15.00 each!
So I now have some more reference books on the German forces for Bolt Action games.

good reads

Airborne and Commando raid on a German 88 battery

Having suffered a defeat by loosing a battery of artillery, the British high command have devised a counter attack by a Commando force comprised of a fast motorised force made up of jeeps, armoured cars, potentially half-tracks.
This is a way to take stock of the amount of jeeps, armoured cars and half tracks.

The German defenders are made up of an ad hoc unit of the Luftwaffen Field Division remenents of the 16th Feld Division. The area is an 88mm battery which is being used in the anti-aircraft role with some supporting anti-tank guns as additional defense.

The Commonwealth force is comprised of an Airborne Brigade, a Commando Brigade, with jeeps, trucks and half tracks from various units.

the early morning light shows the anti-aircraft guns which are the objectives of the British raiding force

the Royal Marines begin their attack but a confusion of orders kept the from rushing forward

as the morning mist lifted, the 88mm guns were taken out by the airborne, but the commandos lost their momentum when halted by a quad 20mm gun firing in the ground support.

the Airborne were able to take out two guns and their ammunition. But with the Luftwaffen regrouping and knocking out the transports and fire support Jeeps, the raid fails as half of the Anti-aircraft guns were saved by the trucks of the Luftwaffen. And one good Whebelwind.

Soviet hoarded attack SS, Prussia, 1945

This scenario based on Maximum Attrition, pits a Soviet Guard Division hitting a Waffen SS LSSAH to hold off an assault on a crossroads. On a point by point basis, the game was a draw. The SS systematic took out all but one of the Soviet armor.

The Red onslaught

Waffen SS try to stem the Soviet hordes

Gorilla glue stands by in case of figure mishaps

The Soviet objective, get the crossroad

While the Soviets did take the cross roads, the SS used their firepower to knock out all of the Soviet mortars, and were able to whipe out the Soviet Cossacks.

The Soviets did have an advantage in Infantry which they used to swarm the Nazi Armor.

51st Highland Division, 38th Irish Brigade and Paras vs Afrika Korps Point Defense

I was surprised that I hardly took any shots of this game. The only interesting bits to note was that the Paras heavy weapons never made it past the start line. The South Staffordshire Regiment (para) did make it to the wire but we're beaten back.
Also, the Germans took out my artillery and transports to slow down my advance.
The Germans, Vichy French and Italians were holding a fortified camp, a cross roads and an Italian fort.
The Germans made good use of their tanks. The Commonwealth units made a last ditch attempt to capture the cross roads with the aid of an airstrike but to no avail.

ANZAC Division and Indian Division assault Tunisia, 1943 Bolt Action Scenario

Playing Scenario 10, the ANZAC Division and Indian Division assault Tunisia. This was the first game with some of the new kits I got for Christmas.
The Australian and New Zealand Armor consists of a Sherman each, a Stuart each, the New Zealand's M5 Half track and a Universal Carrier. As well a few Australian recce Stuart's were being used as carriers for Vickers MG groups.

the first wave. The Sikhs advanced to the forward German positions and pinned down some Germans but they were checked by the wire and were cut down.

the second wave consisted of the ANZAC force, supporting an Australian Battalion. The Germans

were holding a position with Paratroopers, supported by elements of the Afrika Korps. The initial allied artillery bombardment knocked out a Tiger tank and a Panzer III. Only one squad of paratroopers were taken out. 

the ANZAC charged forward and cleared out the German right flank. However this stirred up a hornets nest of retaliation. The Germans blasted the first wave of Gurkhas and the remaining Sikhs. The ANZAC force hit their flank.

counter attacking, the Germans counter charged after having taken out the armor and headed straight for the third line of allied troops. The Maori Battalion rushed forward and cleared the area capturing a German half-track. The intention was for the ANZACs to hit the German left as my son had shifted all his armor support to the German right. His move straight at the final ANZAC force halted the attack. With all their transport gone, the remaining units surrendered. 

On a points basis, this was a tie. Ian had succeeded in taking out my force, however I had taken out most of his armor and a quarter of his infantry. 

The next scenarios will include part of the 8th army. More tanks, more guns!

Duel in the Sun: Bolt Action in North Africa and Italy

I saw a copy for sale and since I'm building up my ANZAC force, why not?
I'll post more once it arrives.
First Action: Scenario 6 Siege of Tobruk

German's overrun the Australian positions

Australian troops hold a defensive line in Tobruk. The forward area is a minefield. The ANZAC trenches are also mined.

Australian's await the German attack

Germans move forward. The pictures loaded backwards.