WW2 - MOAR Gurkhas and Fallshirmjäger

Not a lot going on here, hobbywise, the last week or so. I've been... distracted by other things. 

I did start rebasing all the old Noise Marines... well... eighteen of them that I can use. Not sure what I'll do with the new ones. I'll probably assemble and paint them at some point for funsies. Maybe just one squad of them and sell off the others?  I don't know. 

A few weeks back Orion was heading to Calgary to play in a Warhammer Underworlds Tournament (a qualifier event for the World Championships with multiple Golden Tickets available!) so I had a perusal of the Sentry Boxes online catalogue to see if there was anything she could pick up for me while she was there! 

In the end I found a BUNCH of older stock that I could not pass up... so I ended up just placing an order to have it mailed to me (it was three squads of older Bolt Action METAL Italian infantry - that came with separate head with helmets, sun helmets, bersaglieri helmets, and others - a pair of Breda Machine-guns and a squad of Gurkhas) all considerably less than the current suggested retail... 

Unfortunately with the Mail Order Minions went looking for these things they could only find the Gurkhas and figured the other items were ghosts in the machine - old data that had not bee purged... I didn't want to pay for shipping for just that... so I asked Orion if she would pick that up for me... 

And she did... 

More Gurkhas.

This is the third squad I have of Gurkhas making a full platoon... 

Unfortunately... I had THOUGHT these would also be older stock and thus the same metal ones that I already have... but they are NOT!? Somehow I'd missed that, despite being the same models, they are now made out of resin.... Ugggghhhhh... 

Now, I have other resin models and I don't love them, but I've made peace with them... but I generally only use them in plastic armies... I even have a few Bolt Action resin, but they are mostly solitary weapons teams... there is something about having a full squad of infantry made out of resin when the others are all metal that bugs me, though... 

I had thought I might just knock these out right away and have that force COMPLETELY DONE!! But now I am so dismayed by the fact that they are resin, they've moved waaaaaaaaaay down the interest/priority list... 

I might get to them at some point... 

I did base them the other night. Only one was really warped and it was only the bayonet, so I just carved if off that one. 

Also in the last week or so, some Fallshirmjäger support elements showed up..

I knew when I ordered them these ones were going to be resin... but they were cheap and this shipping was free... so...  

Bolt Action in Burma

 Brent came over on Friday to try out Bolt Action so I set up a smaller game - only 500 points on a side - involving a patrol of Japanese and a patrol of Chindits and Gurkhas bumping into each other in the Jungles of Burma while out trying to establish the location of the enemy they knew to be in the area, but didn't know exactly where! 

Scenario

We played the game on a 30"x44" - a little less than half the suggested size - but otherwise played a pretty standard Battle Scenario with Seek and Destroy objective, Quarters Deployment Zones and Meeting Engagement Deployment Type

The Forces

CHINDITS AND GURKHAS - 500 points

Chindit Rifle Platoon

Chindit Platoon Command - 39 points (Veteran) + 2 Men @13 = 65

Chindits Section NCO + 4 men 70 points (Veteran), +4 Men @14, + LMG @15 = 141

Chindits Section NCO + 4 men 70 points (Veteran), +4 Men @14, + LMG @15, + SMG @4 = 145

Gurkha Section NCO + 4 men 75 points (Veteran), +3 Men @15, + LMG @15 = 135

Total: 486 points

JAPAN - 500 points

Rifle Platoon

Platoon Commander - 1st Lieutenant - 39pts (Regular) + 2 extra men @13pts = 65 pts

Infantry Section 1 NCO and 4 men with Rifles 50pts (Regular) + 5 additional men @10pts, + light machine gun @15 = 115 pts

Infantry Section 1 NCO and 4 men with Rifles 50pts (Regular) + 5 additional men @10pts, + light machine gun @15 = 115 pts

Infantry Section 1 NCO and 4 men with Rifles 65pts (Veteran) + 5 additional men @13pts, + light machine gun @15, + submachine gun @4pts = 149 pts

Light Mortar Team 30pts (Regular)

Medic 23pts (Regular)

Total:  497pts

THE GAME!

All set up and ready to go!

I was playing the Japanese and Brent played the Chindits and Gurkhas. 

I had the first unit arrive and brought on my veteran jungle fighters 

Brent brought on a Chindit Section and they immediately started firing on the Japanese! 

I brought on a second squad, but i kept out of sight and unable to fire or be fired on... 

So my veteran troops took a beating as all three Squad entered the table and started bringing fire on them! 

Gurkhas arrive... 

Second Chindit Section arrive and starts firing

Medic arrived a little to lade and apparently forgot all his bandaged and stuff back at their bivouac! 

Four down! almost at half strength!?

Japanese squad on the Chindits flank creeps forward and starts firing upon them. 

The fire from three enemy squads is telling on the Japanese Jungle Fighters! 

The first Chindit squad was taking it pretty hard as well, as they were in pretty much the same position... being fired on by three Japanese squads that had no other viable targets!

Second Chindit Squad Firing on the Japanese Jungle Fighters. 

Now down to just three and oh, so PINNED! 

The overall situation Japanese at the bottom of the picture, blazing away at the Chindits in the jungle opposite them! 

Gurkhas still moving up. 

And... I somehow managed to NOT take ANY pictures of the ONE Japanese Close Assault!? This is just the aftermath. Four surviving Japanese soldiers retreat into the jungle near of of their other squads?! 

With the retreating squad in the way, the other squad would now have to maneuver around them! 

Jungle Fighters stayed DOWN for two rounds to clear all the pin markers! 

The nearby light mortar team kept firing away the whole game... only hitting once and causing ONE pin marker?!

SEcond Chindit Squad advacing onto the position of the first squad, presumably to check and see if any survivors could be found... also to push through the position and assault the remaining Japanese! 

the Japanese fell back, firing... 

Gurkhas close assault the Japanese Jungle Fighters and wipe them out - losing only one of their own! 

The following turn (Turn SEven!) the Gurkhas assault the Light Mortar Team! 

And that was pretty much the game. 

I guess at this point both sides were running low on ammo and had taken significant casualties and decided it was time to gather those. up and fall back to their respecetive bases and report their action! 

Brent scored two victory points in the last turn putting himself in the lead 2-1. Generally in these missions the Victory Conditions suggest that winning by two Victory points is enough to establish a solid victory... I'm not sure that would be possible with so few units on the table. 

Both side lost a full squad wiped out. The Japanese lost a light mortar team. 

Of the other squads, one of the Japanese squads had only three or four left at the end of the game (the one that had assaulted and wiped out a Chindit Squad). The other was in not bad shape, with nine or ten remaining. 

The Chindits were in pretty much the same boat. One squad was wiped out, the other was in rough shape - from the fire of multiple squads being concentrated upon it. The Gurkhas were doing pretty okay - having only lost one or two in their close assaults. 

It was a pretty tight game and kind of came down to me leaving a light Mortar team exposed on the flank... 

I like the game. It was relatively short and quick and allowed me to concentrate/focus on remembering the basics of infantry small army combat - and basic close assault rules... Would not mind playing a few more small games like this - without tanks and off-table support... 

Kind of makes me want to switch focus and finish up the Marine Raiders!! 

WW2 Gurkhas

While taking stock of the Chindits and Gurkhas the other day, I realized the only thing I had to finish that collection (and have another army at 1000 points) was to finish up the two sections of Gurkhas... So... I did that... 

Two Sections of Gurkhas complete!

First Section

Second Section

All the Chindits and Gurkhas! 

I've created a Gallery Page for the force where you can see more - individual pics of the squads and teams and a breakdown of the force for Bolt Action (Third Edition):

WW2 Chindits and Gurkhas

I really, REALLY need to take a break from the WW2 stuff and finish Torgilius the Chamberlain for our Warhammer Quest campagin!!

(after that I'll probably be straight back to the WW2 stuff as I seem to be fired up about this at the moment and being super productive and motivated to paint and I want to ride that wave for all it's worth!! I don't have THAT much to paint to finish up a number of forces... I don't have THAT much that I need to buy to finish up many either! it would be cool to have a complete collection that I could say; "Well... those are all done, don't NEED to spend a moment stressing about unfinished business in that corner of the Game Room!") 

WW2 - Taking Stock of the Chindits and Gurkhas

I have a small force of Commonwealth forces (British and Gurkhas) for fighting against the Japanese in the Far East. I guess they could just be called "14th Army" troops..? 

All the forces. I just need to paint the two squads of Gurkhas to finish these!!

In Bolt Action, this could look like:

Chindit Rifle Platoon

Chindit Platoon Command - 39 points (Veteran) + 1 Man @13 = 52

Chindits Section NCO + 4 men 70 points (Veteran), +5 Men @14, + LMG @15 = 155

Chindits Section NCO + 4 men 70 points (Veteran), +5 Men @14, + LMG @15, + SMG @4 = 159

Medic 30 points (Veteran) + 1 man(mule?) @11  = 42

Light Mortar Team 39 points (Veteran) 

Forward Observer 90 (Veteran), +1 Man @ 11pts = 101

Gurkha Rifle Platoon

Gurkha Platoon Command - 39 points (Veteran) + 1 Man @13 = 52

Gurkha Section NCO + 4 men 75 points (Veteran), +5 Men @15, + LMG @15 = 165

Gurkha Section NCO + 4 men 75 points (Veteran), +4 Men @15, + LMG @15 = 150

Chindit Heavy Weapons Platoon 

Heavy Weapon Platoon Command 39 points (Veteran) + 1 Man(mule?) @13 = 52

Machine-Gun Team 65 points (Veteran) 

Machine-Gun Team 65 points (Veteran) 

TOTAL: 1097

Just over 1000 points! Yay! 

I could lose the Forward Observer and be just under 1000! 

Conveniently, one of the options for the Japanese forces (single platoon, no tanks) is also just under 1000 points - so I have two matched forces of primarily infantry - with no armour! 

The mules I've treated as "extra men" with the Medic and Heavy Weapons Platoon Commander - I figure the mules would be carrying extra supplies for the medic or Heavy Weapons Platoon... could take a bullet for the medic or platoon commander and, in a desperate situation, could be ornery enough to deal a blow in close assault!? 

The only plan I have for these right now is to finish painting the Gurkhas.. 

Not sure what I could even add to them? I guess a third squad of Gurkhas and/or Chindits? A Medium Mortar Team? Maybe an anti-tank rifle or PIAT? Sniper? (not sure where it'd GET some of these!?). Some combination of those could bring them to 1250... 

Not going to worry about it for the moment!

Great War Officers and Casualties

No, not the 1st (Western Ontario) Battalion as promised – I have been working on them. I just happened to also be working on these concurrently and sort of finished them off first.

All the figures in this post are from Gripping Beast/Woodbine Designs.

(Remember: click on the pictures for a bigger version):

Two Canadian officers. The one with the red brassard is from the 2^nd Division HQ, the other is from the 5^th Brigade HQ.

A couple of 2^nd Division casualties.

A couple of Australian casualties…

This figure is supposed to be another Australian casualty, but I painted it in such a was as to pass it off as a Great War Gurkha.

Coming soon on Tim’s Miniature Wargaming Blog:

1st (Western Ontario) Battalion, Canadian Expeditionary Force.

No, really… 

British Army of Indian for The Men Who Would Be Kings

This is a small force from the Army of British India I have cobbled together for The Men Who Would Be Kings. Most of the figures – the Gurkhas and Indians and their officers – I painted nearly 30 years ago. They were on 20mmx2mm card bases until a few years ago when I rebased them onto MDF multi-figure bases to make them into a DBA/HOTT force, and now I’ve rebased them to fit with all my other individually-based 19th century stuff. Conveniently there are just enough of them to make a Field Force for The Men Who Would Be Kings!

Unfortunately I don’t really have any OPPONENTS for them… But they’re ready for action for whenever I do happen to put something together.

Most of the figures were from Ral Partha, the exceptions being the Highlanders (who were mostly made by my friend John and lead by and officer and Piper from Minifigs) and the Gurkha officer, which is from Rafm.

I know, I know... the British officers probably should have uniforms that match the forces they are leading… I wasn’t so concerned with such details 30 years ago, and I can’t bothered to repaint them at this point.

I thought I would use the British 1879 list from The Men Who Would Be Kings

The entire field force.

I thought I would use the British 1879 list from The Men Who Would Be Kings:

3x Regular Infantry (@6 points each = 18 points)

1x Well Drilled Crewed Weapon (@6 points)

I’d like to make the Gurkhas (and maybe the Highlanders) “Fierce” to do this I could either downgrade the Indian and Gurkha units to “Poorly Armed” or downgrade the Gun to “Poorly Drilled”. There’s also a “Gurkha” special rule that allows them to move through difficult terrain without being slowed down, but that’s also a +1 point upgrade… I suppose I could downgrade the gun to “Poorly Drilled” and the Gurkhas to “Poorly Armed” to add that in as well…? I guess I don’t have to worry about this until I actually have someone for them to fight… Things to consider, though.

British Highlanders

Fierce Regular Infantry? (7 points)

Indians

Regular Infantry (6 points)

Gurkhas

Fierce, Poorly Armed, Gurkha Regular Infantry?  (7 points)

Indian Artillery

Poorly Drilled Field Gun?  (4points)

Coming soon on Tim’s Miniature Wargaming Blog:

Some machine-guns and mortars, then the 1st (Western Ontario) Battalion, Canadian Expeditionary Force. 

Great War GURKHAS!?

Okay... A little distraction… at least it’s the same conflict!

In the last week or so three big orders from Wargames Foundry, Gripping Beast/Woodbine Design, and 1st Corps (along with smaller ones from North Star/Great War Miniatures, Brigade Games - thanks Jon! – and Warlord Games) arrived. If only I had known how the Brexit vote was going to go and that the pound was going to tank… I could have saved a couple hundred dollars… ah well… I may just order that one last brigade I need sooner rather than later!

(Remember: click on the pictures for a bigger version):

Gurkhas from Gripping Beast/Woodbine Design.

Gripping Beast/Woodbine Design was the first of those orders to arrive so I got to work on them first. I did order a few things that weren’t directly related to the Vimy Project – like these Gurkhas with Kukri knives and some Turk and Australian casualties and some shepards and a warlord to go with my other Medieval Muslims.

The Canadians are taking a bit longer as they actually required assembly. The Gripping Beast/Woodbine Design British come with separate heads and can be ordered with one of 17 different head options!? I mostly went with plain old Brodie helments, but I got a few packs with SD caps, bareheads, bandaged heads and gas hoods to throw into the mix. The first battalion of the brigade is assembled and being painted – they will the 22^nd Battalion, CEF (the vingt deuxiéme).

This past Saturday the copy of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. I requested throught he local public library finally showed up, so we’ve had a lot of TV watching to do this week. (we get DVDs for a week, being a new one, it won’t be renewable!) I think we’re about half way thorugh – luckily Friday is CANADA DAY and Amanda will have the day off, so hopefully we’ll get the series finished up then. I’ve been getting a lot of work done while watching the program – prepping, priming, basing and such. Hopefully by the end of the week I’ll have three brigades worth of miniatures all prepped, primed based and gooped and ready for painting (and maybe even have the 22^iéme done as well!)

In addition to all the miniatures I've ordered, in the last month I've also tracked down a few rule sets The Great War(hammer), Through the Mud and the Blood, and I even broke down and picked up a copy of the 3rd Edition of Contemptible Little Armies. I like some of the ideas in Through the Mud and the Blood, but I just don't think it will work on the scale I'm dealing with. The rules I previously used were a modified version of the 2nd edition CLA rules.  I'll probably stick to the same for the Vimy Project, but I thought it might be worth checking out some others as well - even if just to steal ideas for further tweaks to the rules I'm using. I think I might also pick up If the Lord Spares Us. 

Coming soon on Tim’s Miniature Wargaming Blog:

22^iéme Battalion, CEF – hopefully!