Matilda II - Test Model

I was going to wait until I had the whole troop/squadron done... but then decided that was stupid. I painted one of the Matildas yesterday and... I am relatively pleased with it... 

"Auk" - this tank belongs to the commander of A Company, 69th Battalion, Royal Tank Regiment, 37th Army Tank Brigade. 

I decided that these tanks should all be part of entirely fictional units. The Matilda IIs will be elements of A Company (specifically A Company Commander "Auk", 2 tanks from #2 Section "Adder" and "Anaconda", and two tanks from #3 Section "Antelope" and "Aardvark"), 69th Battalion, Royal Tank Regiment, 37th Army Tank Brigade. 

Bolt Action allows platoons of five... I have five of these... I figured I'd field them all together. All five add up to 785 points, so.... I CAN do that in either a 1000 or 1250 point force! (Sure... there's not going to be much else in the 1000 point force but a VERY understrength Rifle Platoon...). Tank Troops, however, (or sections in earlier war Tank Regiments) were only made up of three tanks... so I decided that the "Platoon Commander" will actually be the Company Commander leading elements of two understrength Tank Sections. 

I tried painting it in the Caunter pattern. I've seen it interpreted in a few different ways with different shades of colours... these colours probably aren't exactly historical... I've seen the Caunter camouflage scheme in tan, light green, and dark green.... desert yellow, light blue and slate... yellow, blue, and dark green.... I do know that pink and green were used for tanks at some point. I know that both LRDG and SAS trucks made use of pinks, greens, yellows/tans, and blues... so... 

As they are fictional, no one can tell me the tanks of that brigade were not painted in this particular pattern of camouflage.... 

Also, I figure if there can be a movie and two entire seasons of a TV show about the adventures of a pink submarine in the South Pacific, I can have some fabulous tanks with pink, yellow, blue and green on them!

I'll probably finish up the rest of them over the next week... then I'll probably work on the Cruiser Mk.I (A9) tanks. Those are going to be part of 4th Battalion, Northamptonshire Yeomanry. The 4th Battalion, Northamptonshire Yeomanry DID actually exist... but it was a deception unit made up of wood and canvas... We'll pretend this one had real tanks and served in North Africa as part of the 38th Armoured Brigade in the 5th Armoured Division. 

Desert Rats

 The 3D printed ebay tanks arrived! 

(Okay, technically, the Matildas are very definitely NOT Desert Rats, as I'm pretty sure they were all in Independent Tank Brigades and not part of the 7th Armoured Division... but "Desert Rats" is a bit more evocative than "8th Army - although some of these would have seen plenty of action before the 8th Army was even formed... "Western Desert Force Tanks"...?) 

ALL THE TANKS! 

Cruiser Mk. I (A9)

Matilda II

The thing I love about these is NO ASSEMBLY REQUIRED the tracks and hulls are all one piece, and, unlike other one-piece-cast resign tanks... there isn't abig blob of resin under the hull and behind the tracks... in fact, the hull isn't even a solid chunk - they're HOLLOW?!

I felt like this was taking a big risk ordering ALL of these... but, wow, I am feeling like that gamble paid off. These are really good quality!! 

Do I finish the half-assebled, partly painted German and Italian tanks... or do I give these a scrub and knock them out... 

There is a part of me that feels like maybe I should only paint three of them in desert colours and do the rest for France 1940...? But I'll probably just do them all as Desert Tanks! 

Bolt Action - Saving Squadron Commander Lord Flasheart!

For the second game Orion and I played on Tuesday, we returned to North Africa and our campaign in Tunisia! 

Friday, 25 December 1942

An urgent message went out to all allied forces in Tunisia! The Squadron Commander Lord Flasheart's Spitfire has been shot down over Tunisia. Flasheart must be rescued lest hundreds of women (and possibly a few men) start throwing themselves from rooftops across England! 

Italian forces in the area have likewise been alerted - capturing the British lord would be a great propaganda victory! 

SCENARIO

We essentially used the rules for a Battle Scenario with the Top Secret victory conditions, Quarters deployment zones, and Meeting Engagement deployment type... with the following changes: to take possession of Squadron Commander Lord Flasheart, he must be engaged in a "close assault" and subdued (because he will assume any military forces approaching are "wogs" and therefore THE ENEMY (basically there is a chance that Flasheart will shoot and eliminate one member of any squad attempting to take him). Also any time the squad escorting Flasheart takes casualties a d6 should be rolled and on a 1 he is killed and the shooter automatically loses (for the propaganda losses due to the shooting or poor Flashy!) 

FORCES

Italian Forces 

(Elements of 69th Infantry Division “Provolone” - 667th Infantry Regiment and LXIX Tank Battalion)

Rifle Platoon

Platoon Commander - 1st Lieutenant - 30pts (Regular)+ 2 Runner/Batman @10 = 50 points 

Infantry Section 1 NCO and 4 men with Rifles 50pts (Regular), +5 additional men @10, +submachine gun @4, + light machine gun @15 = 119 points 

Infantry Section 1 NCO and 4 men with Rifles 50pts (Regular), +5 additional men @10, +submachine gun @4, + light machine gun @15 = 119 points 

Infantry Section 1 NCO and 4 men with Rifles 50pts (Regular), +5 additional men @10, +submachine gun @4, + light machine gun @15 = 119 points 

Colonial Troops Infantry Section 1 NCO and 4 men with Rifles (Inexperienced) 40pts, + 3 additional men @8 = 64

Armoured Platoon 

M13/40  - Platoon Command Vehicle - 125pts (Regular)

L3/33 -  65pts (Regular)

L3/33 - 65pts (Regular)

AB41 - 100pts (Regular)

Semovente M40 75/18 - 170pts (Regular) 

Total: 996 pts

American Forces 

(Elements of the 92nd Infantry Division) 

Rifle Platoon

Platoon Commander - 1st Lieutenant - 30pts (Regular)

Infantry Squad 1 NCO and 5 men with Rifles 50pts (Regular), +6 additional men @10, +submachine gun @4, + 2x BAR @6 = 136 points 

Infantry Squad 1 NCO and 5 men with Rifles 50pts (Regular), +6 additional men @10, +submachine gun @4, + 2x BAR @6 = 136 points 

Forward Observer - (air force or artillery) 75pts (Regular), + Radio Operator @11 = 86

Medic - 23pts (Regular)

Sniper Team - 52 pts (Regular)

Heavy Weapons Platoon

Platoon Commander (2nd Lieutenant) - 21pts (Inexperienced) 

Machine Gun Team  - 50pts (Regular) 

Light Mortar Team -  35pts (Regular) 

Armoured Platoon 

Sherman M4 Medium Tank - 247 pts (Veteran), + Command Vehicle @10 = 257 

Stuart M3 - 130 pts (Regular) 

Jeep - 18 points (Regular), + pintle mounted HMG @30 = 48 

Total: 1004 pts

THE GAME

Squadron Commander Lord Flasheart out in the desert, had already drawn the attention of a group of local ladies and lingerie and carpet merchants... 

Italian Colonial troops make for the Squadron Commander! 

One of the flanking CV-33 tanks takes fire from an American Stuart tank! A glancing blow gives the Italian tankers some pause! 

An Italian Semovente M40 75/18 rolled onto the scene and blew up the Stuart! 

End of Round One - forces converging on the blissfully unaware Squadron Commander Lord Flasheart! This particular piece of desert is beginning to look very crowded!! 

A squad of Americans are the first to make it to Squadron Commander Lord Flasheart, who promptly shoots one of them, mistaking them for Italians! 

RAT-A-TAT-TAT! The other CV-33 lights up the American Jeep that had been shooting up the Italian Colonial infantry! 

rrrrooooOOOOOOWWWWWWRRRrrrrr... RAT-A-TAT-TAT!

An airplane from Flashy's Squadron (which should have been a spitfire, but due to budget constraint and availability during the making of this producion, is played by a Typhoon!) strafes the area making all the Italians duck! 

BOOM!! the American Sherman tank blows up an Italian armoured car! 

KA-BOOM!! The Italian Semovente gets it's second kill, blowing up the Sherman! Yikes! There goes all the American anti-armour capability... 

(I haven't finished assembling the other Italian armour kits... I WAS planning to build them as M14/41... but now I'm rethinking that...!) 

The Amerian Rifle Platoon commander gets riddled with bullets from one of the Italian CV-33s... 

(I mean... he was just standing there... IN THE OPEN... like I wasn't going to take him out!)

(also, the American Sniper Team had taken out the Italian Platoon Commander! So...) 

Enraged by the loss of their Platoon Commander, one of the American squads charged the CV-33 (because we really wanted to try out infantry close assaulting a light tank!) but they just couldn't get any shots in the vision slits or grenades in the constantly moving tracks and they were obliged to give up their attempt! 

The Americans slip away with the Lord Flasheart, much to the relief of hundreds of women (and not a few men!) all across England (and anywhere else Flashy has served! (WOOF! WOOF!)

POST GAME

This was a fun little game I'd been wanting to play for a while. If I were to do it again, I'd make an extra rule that the unit escorting Flasheart cannot RUN (he's got a bum leg from the landing, see, nothing to worry the ladies or anything, but there's just no rushing the Lord Flasheart)! As it was, once one squad had gotten to him, it was just impossible to catch up... 

It was fun to try out all the Italian armour! 

Not going to lie... it was fun to blow up those American tanks that have caused so much trouble for my more infantry-based forces! 

Looking forward to the arrival of my British tanks and having some tank battles against the Italians! 

But also... I like the idea of limited infantry engagements - like the one we played earlier in the day in the Pacific, or the one I played with Brent in Burma last week.  

I was reading on reddit that one group regularly runs tournaments at 800 points but only allows an infantry platoon plus a maximum ONE element from element from each other type of platoon... so Rifle Platoon plus up to one armoured vehicle and/or one heavy weapon (MG/Mortar) and/or one artillery piece (howitzer or AT gun), etc... 

I was also thinking infantry engagements at 500 points with limited attachments - I don't LOVE the idea of every infantry platoon always having a sniper team AND a forward observer attached... both get a little overpowering in smaller engagements! 

Where will we go to next!? 

WW2 - British (Commonwealth) 2-Pounder Anti-Tank Gun

Another little addition to the British Commonwealth 8th Army in North Africa forces!

Ordnance Quick-Firing 2-pounder Anti-Tank Gun with a commonwealth crew in North Africa... could be Brits... could be Australians... could be South Africans... 

Considering half of the infantry I have are in Australian hats, I'm feeling like the Infantry element of the force is becoming nominally Australian! As these would be in an Infantry Battalions Anti-Tank Platoon of the Support Company, they're probably going to be Australians! 

The entire 8th Army force, so far... 

I have some TANKS on the way for these guys. I took a chance on ordering some 3D printed ones off of eBay... we shall see. 

I also have a 6-Pounder AT gun - for when these guys have to fight something more dangerous that the early war Italian tanks I have to oppose them!!

The complete force and the breakdown of options for Bolt Action can be found in the 8th Army in North Africa Gallery:

WW2 - 8th Army in North Africa

Panzers Arrive!

I went on a bit of a spree a few weeks back, ordering stuff from a few different places. The three Italeri Panzer IIIs I ordered arrived today...

Panzer III from Italeri

The plan was to use them for North Africa, but it would be for the latter part of the North African campaign as these can be built as the Ausf. J/L/M/N variants - which weren't available until later in 1942...? 

While I'm doing pretty okay with the foot figures this year - 179 acquired (purchased on traded for) versus 194 painted - I am getting a bit behind on the vehicles... When all the stuff I've ordered arrives, I'll have purchased 19(!) tanks, and I have thus far only painted 7! 

As tempted as I am to crack these open and get to work, I should probably finish up the Italian tanks!

Bolt Action - US and Italian Forces Meet in Tunisia

24 December 1942

After mopping up in Morocco, the 92nd Infantry division spent some time mopping up and patrolling before being moved through Algeria to the front in Tunisia. The Division was tasked with moving to secure a pass on the enemies flank. Little did they know, Italian forces of the 69th Infantry Division ("Provolone") were also trying to flank the Americans and had already taken the pass and elements of the 667th Infantry Regiment (supported by light tanks of the LXIX Tank Battalion) were advancing out of the pass with orders to secure a bridge in the valley beyond that the Americans already held... Bumping into lead elements of the enemies advance, both sides tried to push past each other to get to their objective beyond, hoping the following forces would deal with any enemy they could not stop or eliminate on their way through! 

We were playing a standard battle scenario with the Breakthrough victory conditions, Quarters Deployment zones, and Meeting Engagement deployment types. For each friendly unit that leaves the table via the enemy's Deployment Zone Edge 3 victory points are awarded. For each unit FULLY in the enemy's Deployment Zone at the end of the game, 1 Victory point was awarded. 

The first the contact with Italian forces was when elements of the US 761st Tank Battalion, supporting the 92nd Infantry Division's advance, started receiving fire from an Italian anti-tank rifle as they moved up the valley. 

And shortly thereafter an entire force of Italians were encountered! 

Italian Anti-Tank Rifle was the first casualty of the engagement! 

(not sure it was ACTUALLY any threat at all to the Americans... The Sherman, being a medium tank, is entirely invulnerable to the ATR... MAYBE it could cause superficial damage against it's top or rear...? It could cause superficial damage to the Stuart on it's front - an a roll of 6 - and - also on a 6) potentially cause full damage from the sides... I guess it COULD fuck up the Jeep! if it actually HIT!?) 

Italians taking position while their brave little tanks continued forward towards the objective! 

Americans discovering there are some Italians in their way. 

Airplanes are called in... and a rookie pilot arrives attacking the wrong unit... at least the main target was still an Italian unit... 

But they started their strafing run a little too low and a little too early and sent a lot of Americans diving for cover and rang a few rounds off the Stuart - causing the crew considerable stress and anxiety!

BLAM! Sherman fires on one of the Italian CV33 tanks... and misses!! (Whew!) 

The Stuart considered firing on the other CV33... but was still feeling a little rattled from the air attack and retreated when they heard another airplane coming around! 

A second air attack was called in and this pilot knew what they were doing. No one was killed... but it sure kept the Italians head down for a turn or two... 

An Italian artillery barrage FINALLY arrived... it was considerably less effective than the French ones... or maybe the GIs were just getting more accustomed to being shelled! 

One of the Italian Infantry squads charged the Americans... Somehow, the ferocity of the attack by a smaller force unnerved the Americans, who fled abaondoning their wounded and dead! 

Sherman took another shot at one of the CV-33s, hitting this time. Blew one of the idlers clean off, instantly immobilizing the tank! 

Meanwhile, the other CV-33 pushed past the American forces and continued on it's way towards the objective! 

(Three points for me! YAY!) 

The Italians that survived the close assault pushed ever onwards and up to the edge of the rocky outcropping where the remains of the Sniper team and Forward Air Controllers were hiding. 

The Jeep rolled up with it's pintle mounted machine-gun and let loose at the immobilized CV-33 (who had continued to fire it's own MGs at the American Infantry and support elements immediately in front of it. 

The second American squad moved up to cover behind a ruined building. 

Italian gun and Infantry remained down another turn to clear all their pin markers... 

Eventually, fire from the tank and jeep took out the CV-33... 

Fire from... somewhere...? lit up the Jeep! 

Maybe the Italian Machine-gun crew...? 

American tanks rolling forward. 

American Infantry Squad assaults the Italian light mortar team on the hill... 

Italian squads start moving again toward their objectives! 

The Italian 100/17 Modello 14 medium howitzer takes a shot at one of the tanks... and misses... 

Italian infantry bypassing the Stuart at a run! 

American tanks roll through the Italian lines and towards their objective in the pass... (+6 victory points for the US!) 

Sole surviving member of the Italian infantry squad that assaulted the Americans moves off towards their distant objective!? (+3 points for me... I guess...?) 

Then the second American Squad moved off towards their objectives following the Tanks (+3 VP for the Americans, bringing their total to 9 VP!) 

Italian platoon command moved off the table on Turn Six, (+3VP tying up the game!) 

At the end of the sixth round we rolled to see if there was another round... and there was, so the remaining Italians ran for the American deployment zone... I forgot that the area within 12" of the center was not part of the deployment zone, so I only scored one more point... which wasn't enough to secure a clear victory... 

Another fun game. 

One of these days I'll have these rules figured out and maybe remember most of them! I feel like at least half the time I forget stuff...