Four Soviet light tanks

I've had these four tanks for years, probably since 2021 or 2022, so I thought it was about time I did something with them.

These are a pair of T-26 light tanks, originally introduced in 1931 and staying in service in various variants until the end of WW2. These are (I think) the T-26 Model 1933 with a 45mm main gun and a co-axial 7.62mm machine gun. This was the most common variant produced and one of the mainstays of Soviet armoured units in 1939-41, by which time it was obsolete and outclassed by Germany's Pz.Kpfw III and IV tanks and was being replaced by the far better T-34 tank with a 76mm main gun. Some did stay in use for most of the war on some fronts and even featured against Japan in 1945.

Below are two T-60 scout tanks, which began production in 1941. Originally armed with a 20mm cannon, it was later upgunned with the 45mm gun used by the T-26 above.
 

The T-60 was too thinly armoured to be used in a front line role but was used by reconnaissance units until it was replaced by the improved T-70 light tank.

These are all Zvezda kits,  which are now quite hard to find because of sanctions against Russia. I bought mine at my club's tabletop sale from private sellers, so none of my cash went back to Russia.

Anyway, I'll be able to use these for CoC games set during Barbarossa and later.

Lots more recruits for my 15mm SYW forces

Apart from when it has been too hot to paint, I have been continuing my Honours of War project. First, two battalions of line musketeers and a brigadier;

Next a battalion of the Grand Duke's Garde zu Fuß and the army commander;

Note that these guys have blue uniforms. It is annoying that the general and his ADC are a bit blurred but I can't be bothered to retake the photo.

Thirdly, here are the rest of my brigadiers, probably more than I'll ever need in most games;

Note that I've done a couple in green coats. This is because I want to have the possibility of grouping all the Freikorps light infantry into a single brigade and also because I have decided that senior officers in the army of the Grand Duchy of Überwald should have considerable freedom in what they can wear on the battlefield.

My last picture shows four bases of artillerymen;

These are awaiting their guns, which I intend to be freestanding so that I can attach them to limbers until they are deployed. I have decided that the Überwald should also wear a similar blue uniform to that of the Ducal Guards because the Großherzog is a great believer in the importance of artillery.

I am currently working on the remaining five foot battalions and then I will start on the guns and limbers for the artillery. That will leave me with the cavalry units and then, perhaps, the army will be complete. Maybe not, though, because I would like to create a separate Freikorps containing line troops, skirmishers, artillery and some cavalry, so that I could field them in certain scenarios. It wouldn't be a massive force, maybe two or three battalions of line, one of skirmishers, one artillery battery and a single unit of dragoons.

Feeling cold? Time to get HoTT at the Barn.

A fixture in the the club's annual calendar is the January Hordes Of The Things tournament.

Lincombe Barn Wargames Society will be holding this year's tournament on Sunday Jan 19th. As usual there isn't a theme for armies, i.e. anything goes. Be imaginative. It makes for a fun series of games. Armies are 15mm ones, based as per the rules with a 40mm frontage. The entry fee, payable on the day will include the traditional HOTT lunch. Let Nick Pope know if you have any specific dietary choices regarding meat or meat-free.

We'll also have an informal Bring & Buy sale for anyone who wants to either sell off old junk desirable collectables or fancies starting a new army or period. Details on our website (www.bristolwargaming.co.uk). 

If you wish to take part, you can leave a message here, or email me or Nick via the email addresses on the club website.

Our address is;

Lincombe Barn, 

Overndale Road, 

Downend, 

Bristol,

BS16 2RW

A solo CoC AAR

OK, it wasn't supposed to be a solo game of Chain of Command, but my opponent didn't turn up at the club last Sunday. Still, these things happen, so I decided to press ahead and play solo, and although the game lacked an element of surprise, it was still a relatively interesting exercise with some useful maxims reinforced (see my comments at the end of the report).

The scenario chosen was No. 3 Attack and Defend, with the British attacking. They rolled a 8 for support options, thus giving the German defenders 4pts of support.

The Germans would be defending this fuel dump behind these ruined buildings and along the road towards the German right flank. With the 4pts of support, I chose a tripod mounted MG42, an excellent defensive weapon which rolls 10D6 when firing.

The British would be attacking from the relatively open ground on the left, across the cornfields. Withe 8pts of support, I chose a carrier recce section, one with a 2" mortar and the other with a Bren team, plus an additional carrier with a Bren, both choices with junior leaders.

Looking from the British side towards the German position. The carriers would deploy from the road entering from the table edge.

With higher Force Morale (9 to 8), the Germans rolled first, but I chose not to deploy, waiting to see where the British would be coming from. The first British section deployed in the trees on the British right, opposite the bombed buildings. The British had the next phase, after rolling 2 sixes, and proceeded to then get two more phases in succession. I got things moving quickly, getting more troops on the table and advancing.

A second section deployed in the trees in the centre, going onto overwatch, with the recce carriers moving up along the road.

Finally, the Germans got to deploy, getting a section inside the factory ruins. A decent start, I think.

 These were joined by the tripod MG42 behind the hedges at the road junction.

The British began to lay down smoke so that their infantry could get up close to the hedge. The rest of the Germans advanced to form up a firing line behind the hedges, note the line of craters, which I decided were caused by RAF Tempests in an earlier phase of the battle firing on some now-departed Germans.

With the German Senior Leader on the table, he was able to keep on activating the tripod MG42 which managed to wound the right-hand section's junior leader, taking British morale down to 7.

In the centre, the Germans began to pour fire across the road into the British behind the hedges. Using the Maschinengewehr characteristic, the junior leader of the right-hand section directed the section MG42, causing casualties and shock, even though the smokescreen was blocking line of sight for the rifle section.

On the German left, the British Platoon Sergeant was using two of his three command initiatives to direct the Bren gunner to fire at the tripod MG42's position. The Bren scored two kills and a point of shock, but the British were wary of advancing into the face of more MG42 fire.

The Germans played one CoC dice to end the Turn, removing the smokescreen. The British were then able to see their wounded corporal to return to the fray. The German Panzerschreck team got off a shot towards the carriers but missed. The platoon lieutenant then ordered the 2" mortar team to start laying down more smoke.

The British were getting bogged down. Accurate MG42 fire was suppressing them pretty well and a series of poor command dice rolls was stopping the carriers from getting into the action. Perhaps the British would have been better off with a tank as support?

The British rifle section on the left was really taking a pasting and began to move across behind the smoke to avoid more losses from the MG42 across the road.

On the British right, things were going from bad to worse. Shock was mounting, casualties rising, include another wound to the section corporal (reducing his command initiative to one) and the section was soon Pinned.

With casualties mounting and little chance of a breakthrough, it seemed a good point to stop. British force morale was down to 6 and the Germans were content to sit back and use their MG42s to suppress the British. Time to call it a day.

Here is the final position. Both the right- and left-hand British sections are Pinned and much reduced in numbers and the central section is stuck behind a cornfield with its corporal reduced to one command initiative. The largely ineffective carriers are stuck doing nothing of use, having been scared by one single shot from the Panzerschreck.

So, what did I learn from this game?

Firstly, MG42s are key to success for the Germans. Site them well and use the section Obergefreiter to direct their fire whenever possible. This cannot be stated often enough; the MG42 is an excellent defensive weapon with excellent suppressive fire abilities.

Secondly, when attacking a German defensive position, don't try and win with your infantry alone. You'll need a lot of lucky dice to make it happen. The way to win is to use firepower, either with a tank or, even better with off-table mortars. If the British had had a FOO and off-table 3" mortars, the Germans would have had a lot of exploding stuff raining down on them, allowing the British to outflank them on the German right.

Thirdly, when defending Do Not Deploy Too Early. Wait and see what the enemy are doing first.

More 15mm sci fi stuff

I am slowly working through the 15mm science fiction lead pile. It is something that isn't top of the To Do list but every now and then I feel the need to do something about figures and models that have been lying around for maybe a year or, in some cases even longer.

First up are two combat mechs for my Alien Squad Far Eastern Leader Corporate Mercenary army, which I have found to be severely under-gunned whenever I've played with it. These are from GZG, where they are sold as Police/Security Mecha. I decided that they had a sufficiently Far Eastern look to be perfect as Daemon Class Oni Mecha as listed in the relevant ASQL army list, but I wasn't happy with the batons the standard models have in their left hands. In any case, I wanted the guns in the left hands and something a bit more impressive as the required Laser Katanas. Luckily I had some odds and ends from a box of GW Space Marines (don't ask) that would do the job.

So, here are the two latest additions to an army that I really need to use more often.

In the second picture, I have added a standard trooper as a size comparison.

Next, I have six rather evil looking big droids with powered claws and big serious-looking shooters. These are from Alternative Armies Ion Age range where they are sold as Shia Khanate Psycoborgs. I've had these for a fair while too. I have had several plans for these, but now I think that I will use them as Robotic Servants (heavy droids) in an Alien Grey army.

Here they are as a group.

And now in two groups of three;

Finally, here they are with a standard 15mm trooper for scale purposes. As you can see, these are smaller than the big battle mechs, but still look pretty impressive.

Of course, I might be able to use these in other armies too, once I've given it some thought.

Back from holiday and another Big SP playtest battle

OK, so the holidays are over now and it is back to reality. 

This game was planned before I went on holiday at the beginning of July. It is another playtest of my modifications for Sharp Practice so I can play big battles using my Lurkio 15mm late 17th century armies. This time, I was playing against another club member, Dick, who has an interest in finding some good Pike & Shot rules. We played out a simple encounter battle with Dick commanding the French and me in charge of the Anglo-Dutch and Danish army.

The battle was, as often seem the case a relatively inconclusive one, but the French definitely came out with the upper hand, with Anglo-Dutch morale plummeting due to losing a pretty monumental cavalry encounter near the centre of the table. I  am not going to give a blow by blow account, but there were some interesting points that emerged.

Anyway, the French arrived first, but the Anglo-Dutch managed to get most of their army on the table before any more French arrived.

The Anglo-Dutch centre-right seemed perfect for Horse.

Elsewhere the two Danish regiments of Foot slowly advanced. These troops do not have pikes, so need to rely on their plug bayonets to defend in melee.

The Anglo-Dutch cavalry began to advance strongly.

An English Dragoon regiment used their moveable deployment point to ambush a French Horse regiment. Rules for moveable deployment points are one of the things I want to change in the next iteration of these rule mods. I am thinking that only the unit that has the characteristic should be able to use them.

This Dutch Horse regiment braced itself for a volley that never came.

Elsewhere, the inevitable bottlenecks caused by moving past buildings hit the Anglo-Dutch.

The scene was set for the big cavalry battle that would decide the outcome of the game. Fisticuffs is the main area where I have issues with my modifications, particularly involving cavalry (including the use of pistols when charging or receiving a charge and the inability of Horse to counter charge).

The cavalry action initially favoured the Anglo-Dutch.

However, before long, the elite Régiment du Roi imposed itself upon proceedings.

The Anglo-Dutch left became a stalemate.

This was the crunch! The elite French Horse charged at the gallop, giving them a big advantage and defeated Woods' Horse (green facings) in a flank charge, causing them to withdraw with heavy losses and then took on Lumley's Horse (yellow facings) who were forced to withdraw, which put them within close range of concentrated French musketry. 

So, what did Dick think? Overall, he had positive words but also raised some valid questions about cavalry close combat. I have much thinking to do in this area, mainly to reflect on how mounted units can respond to being the subject of of a charge which doesn't totally disadvantage them but which still gives the attacker the bonus one would expect from the impetus of the charge.