A Soviet Steamroller? The Soviet 9th Guards Mechanised

The release of documents to historians after the fall of the Soviet Union has given a new insight into The Eastern Front in WWII. It turns out that German General's memoirs written after the war for their new NATO allies were about as reliable as official publications of the Russian Communist Party.

The image given by said general is of supremely capable German Divisions of Übermensch slaying all around them but being swamped by a sea of Untermenschen, like hosts of mice bringing down elephants. But how real was this?

Well, the Soviet 9th Guards Mechanised Corps was ordered to concentrate on the 4th January, 1945, to break through the German Hungarian defences in a night attack in the fighting around Budapest and then to exploit deeper in axis territory to capture key points.

The heart of a Red Army Mechanised Corps were its three mechanised brigades, and its single tank brigade – note that a Soviet Corps is closer in strength to a western division.  The paper strength of a mechanised Corps in 44/45 was:
246 Armoured Fighting Vehicles (183 T-34, 21 SU-76, 21 ISU-122, 21 ISU-152)
16,438 personnel: about 6,500 infantry in nine motorised rifle battalions and a single tank rider battalion
3 Tank Regiments and 3 Tank Battalions
9 Motorised Rifle Battalions and 1 Motorised Submachine Gun Battalion
3 Motorised Artillery Battalions

Given that Budapest was a key theatre of war, and the 9th was to spearhead this attack, one might expect the Corps to be close to paper strength, and possibly even reinforced above paper strength – yes?

Well this was its actual tank/infantry composition for the battle:
18th Guards Mechanised Brigade: 3 Shermans, 6 Valentines, 3 SU76 SPGs and 620 infantry
30th Guards Mechanised Brigade: 2 Shermans, 2 Valentines and 45 infantry
31st Guards Mechanised Brigade with: 14 Shermans, 4 Valentines, 2 SU76 SPGS and 420 infantry
46th Guards Tank Brigade: with 29 Shermans and 91 infantry
14th Guards Motorcycle Battalion: 3 Shermans, 1 SU76 SPG, and 118 infantry
31st Guards Engineers Battalion: 260 infantry
15th Guards Signals: 2 Shermans
Grand Total: 63 tanks, 6 SPGs, and 1554 infantry
And this was a reinforced break-through unit.

Review: Artizan Designs - Grey Wolves U-Boat Crew

 Grey Wolves

Northstar Miniatures sell 28mm Artizan Designs metal models on their website. There is a 'Thrilling Tales' section of Pulp Fiction and generally Interesting Characters. They come either as single figures or in packs.

Two of those packs, available for £8.50 each are U-Boat crewmen, entitled 'Grey Wolves'. They include: a captain with binoculars, a petty officer with Schmeisser SMG, two crewmen with SMGs, and a Spandau team.

These are great figures, full of character. In size, they match Warlord Bolt Action minis pretty much exactly.

I envisage using them: as a defenders of Berlin '45 Naval section, a Sea Lion Patrol Scenario section, Very British Civil War, 7TV, and in pulp fiction skirmish games generally that are set in the interwar and WWII eras.

Highly recommended.

You can buy them here.

Mad Jack Churchill

Just finished my model of Mad Jack Churchill by Warlord Games. He was a commander of 2nd Commando in WWII, famous for taking bagpipes, a claymore and long bow into battle.After all, a chap's got to be properly attired.

Mad Jack is at bottom right: note claymore.

Review - Sarissa Seelöwe Barge

I bought a couple of the new models by Sarissa of the Seelöwe invasion barges.

The first thing that struck me was that this was a much bigger kit than I had anticipated. I have put a 28mm Warlord figure on the back to give an idea of scale.

The kit has quite a lot of precut card to get the rounded contours and cover up the joints. I constructed it pretty much out of the box just adding a lick of paint and a Nazi flag to identify the barge as friendly to the Luftwaffe.

I really can't believe, that the German army intended to brave the channel and the Royal Navy on something like this. Given that they intended to cross at night I wonder how many of these would be scattered all over the Bay of Biscay by daylight.

The kit went together easily. You have to be a little careful assembling the bow mechanism as it all has to unfold so the Nazis can disembark.

You can use the barge as either an infantry or vehicle carrier.

A photo of some of the original barges.

Highly recommended.

Hell in the Pacific

The brave lad's of the US Marine Corps under the bold leadership of Simon E advance across the Pacific Island of Upper Gummtree under cover of a light tank.

A  Japanese light tank emerges from cover but is dispatched by a single shot that turns it into a blazing hulk.

More defenders are spotted lurking in the undergrowth.

Japanese defenders mass for a Banzai counterattack led by a tankette and some nutters with mines on the end of poles, which is what passes for anti-tank tactics in the Imperial Army.

Undaunted, the marines press onwards.

A seaplane from an offshore American cruiser skims the treetops and discovers the Japanese platoon.

It releases a hail of bombs and napalm. This poxy little float plane is carrying the bomb load of a B29 and the pilot is a dead shot.

Flamethrowers mounted on the tank and carried by the marines complete the  destruction of the Japanese counterattack.

The last remnants of the flank guard retreat back onto a hill for the last stand.

Which unfortunately doesn't take long in coming as the tank burns out the last survivors.

All except that chap on the hill. He ran off into the jungle until he was discovered in 1969 waiting for orders.

Simon E celebrates his victory with a handful of trophy dice from my army.

I celebrate my trophies: the positioning of my fingers is entirely accidental.

Bolt Action Senegalese Tirailleurs

Picked up a box of these Tirailleurs Sénégalais from Warlord Games some time ago for my French Army.



Tirailleurs means skirmishers or rifles and were French Imperial colonial troops from sub-Saharan Africa. They fought bravely for France in both WWI and WWII, where they were usually murdered when captured by the German Army as examples of an 'inferior' people.

These are great models, made from white metal, that add a bit o' colour to a French army. They cost a princely fifteen of our English Pounds.

From Warlord Games. 

Tachanka

 Russian Civil War reenactors with a Tachanka

A Tachanka was a carriage with a rear firing maximum gun used primarily in the Ukraine and related areas. It was a support weapon for cavalry formations in the first and second World Wars, the Russian Civil War and the Russo-Polish War.

Warlord Games Model

I put one of these together and painted it. I have to say the model is great. The crew are in in WWII uniforms but heads could be swapped to make earlier examples.

A Museum Exhibit

Artwork

The Tachanka is always associated with Nestor Makhno, the anarchist leader in the RCW, who used them extensively.

Monument

There are all sorts of theories about how the word Tachanka was derived from various Ukranian or Russian language sources but the truth is no one knows. It is, however, as iconic to cavalry warfare on the Ukrainian plains as the Spitfire is to the Battle of Britain.

Berlin '45, Imperial War Museum Duxford

Dad's Army, Thetford

Went the day well?

I'd heard that they don't like it up 'em.

The office.

Thetford Dad's Army Museum.

Germany Strikes Models by Andy Singleton

Professional painter Andy Singleton will be at Rochester models tomorrow evening, Wednesday 22nd July, to show off some of his work.

You can contact Andy here.
See you there.

More of Andy's work.

First Review - German Strikes

The first review of my new book is up.

It's a video review by Tabletopbattle.

They describe it as 'Excellent': coughs in an unconvincing attempt to show modesty.

Rochester Models, Germany Strikes, Book Signing Wednesday

My new Bolt Action Wargaming Campaign book, Germany Strikes, is now available. It covers the Blitzkrieg era: Poland, Denmark, Norway, Low Countries, and France.

I will be doing a book signing at the Rochester Models Bolt Action club Wednesday 22nd in the evening from about 6pm onwards. There will a display of models and the club will be playing a few games.

Andy Singleton, the professional model painter, whose art has graced the Warlord Games website will also be present to talk about his work.

Rochester Games Models & Railways
21 Corporation Street
Rochester
ME1 1NN

Tel: +44 1634 815699
Email: rochester-games-models@gmx.co.uk

See you there: John Lambshead

Bolt Action Poles

I gave my friend Shaun a Bolt Action Polish set for Xmas. I had intended to paint them all but only got the vehicles done. He has added support weapons and cavalry and painted them up to make a nifty force. Expect to see them tackling my Soviets some time soon.

Bolt Action - Pacific Massacre

Banzai!

It's dawn, 1944, a small island in the Pacific.

Elite American marines have landed and are making their way inland having broken through the coastal defences. The Japanese General order an immediate banzai charge with his remaining troops. The assault in this sector bumps straight into an American infantry team equipped with flamethrowers - about the only thing that will stop charging Japanese infantry.

I'm playing the Imperial Army and Simon the marines. The Japanese are regulars except for a small group, which I'll come to.

The Japanese reinforced platoon consists of two squads of assault troops armed with rifles and two fire support troops with a light mortar and an LMG.

In support they have a light artillery piece, a medium mortar, an MMG, an old tankette with LMG and a Ha Go light tank (aka Vickers 6 ton).

The photo shows the assault squad led by a sword-armed lieutenant storming towards the Americans.

The thin green line.

The view from the American left flank, which is bearing the brunt of the Japanese assault. The marine unit on the hill has taken serious casualties from the Japanese fire support teams.

 Eye in the sky.

An American float plane off one of the cruisers out in the bay makes a low level run in an effort to identify targets in the melee. The Japanese have no AA weapons and are helpless, although a veteran suicide anti-tank man attempts to bring the floatplane down with its shaped-charge-on-a-pole.

On its second run the plane misidentifies the Marine section on the right flank as Japanese and wipes them out with napalm before returning back to its ship with the satisfaction of a job well done.

Contact!

The Japanese assault teams reach the American line.

Sea of flame.

Marine flamethrowers turn the woods in front of them into a sea of flame, slaughtering most of the attacking IJA. Nevertheless, a few survivors stagger out to slaughter the American squad in front of them before succumbing to a second burst from the tank's flamethrower.

Kaboom!

A lucky shot from the Ha Go's light anti-tank gun sets off the Stuart's flame tank and it explodes catastrophically.

The disheartened marines fall back leaving the field to the Japanese infantry, such of them that are still alive.

It was a massacre.

Lessons

1. Charging with large cheap units is possibly the best Japanese tactic but next time I'll give them anti-tank grenades.

2. Flamethrowers are the only thing guaranteed to stop the Japanese because you have to kill them.

3. Air support is dodgy (Simon threw a 1, which was the turning point of the game).

4. Marines versus Japanese is great fun: firepower versus numbers and fanaticism.

Bolt Action - Deep in the Jungle

I was horribly disorganised for a Pacific game of Bolt Action this week with Andy Singleton's American Marines in the Marquis pub. We had arranged 1000pts but I could only find half my army so I plonked down about 750 and Andy kindly let me be the defender.

Above my loyal troops are getting ready to die for the Emperor.

The battle raged and I killed Andy's howitzer with a single lucky mortar shell but things started to go wrong and my Ha Go took a 75mm armour piercing through the tinfoil masquerading as its frontal armour.I moved up to reclaim the initiative with a full Banzai charge.

And was met by a hail of fire which gunned down my entire left wing and all the suicide bombers on the right wing - who never got near the Sherman. I lost six units in a single turn.

Ah well, not to worry, eh?