El Alamein railway station skirmish game - Bolt Action

Covid restrictions have been limiting the amount of games we've been playing lately, and this game had been planned before Christmas but the local authorities here ramped up the restrictions on people from different households from meeting up and so we had to cancel. 

Now restrictions have been eased up slightly here on a regional level, and so four of us were able to get together again for this game. This was a skirmish scenario put together by my gaming buddy Carlos, German forces attacking with British and Commonwealth forces defending

We used Bolt Action rules. The game was played on a 1.60 x 1.20m sand table 

The British and Commonwealth forces were made up of a HQ, 2 x infantry squads, a Vickers MMG, 1 x 25 pounder, 1 x Matilda and a Boys AT rifle team. 

Attacking German forces consisted of a HQ + medic + FO in an Sd.Kfz. 250 hafl-track, 4 x motorised infantry squads transported in 2 x Opel Blitz & 2 x Sd.Kfz 251s + 1 off table mortar and a pre-attack bombardment. 

The Commonwealth troops started the game dug-in hidden, their positions noted down by the allied players. Allies also had hidden minefields covering the ground in front of the railtrack. 

German objective, cross the railway line and neutralise allied defensive positions

 

Germans group before beginning their advance towards the objective

 

Artillery shells fall

  

 

 

 A Matilda crosses the tracks, takes aim and shoots at the leading half-track.

  

 The first casualties are taken and the remaining troops dismount and hunker down.

 

 Indian troops with a Boys AT rifle shoot but miss miserably, and reveal their position in cover behind concrete filled oil drums.

 

 Another hit from the 25lb gun. this time on a lorry trying to ferry troops to the front along the left flank

 

 

 Aussies manning a Vickers open fire on the dismounted infantry.

 

 More British and Commonwealth troops start revealing their positions as they open fire on the advancing German infantry

 

 The Germans continue their advance and a half-track crosses the railway line, revealing a hidden group of British troops who are quickly mown down with fire from the vehicle MGs.

 

The half-track now supported by a Panzer III also having crossed the railway track, dismount and charge into the railway station and in bloody hand-to-hand combat overcome the allied troops inside

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 More Germans arrive and the the Commonwealth players decide that enough is enough and concede victory to the Germans.

   

 The game played out well, it was well balanced and the Commonwealth players were hindered by adverse weather conditions, a haze in this case, the result of an unfortunate die throw, which reduced visibility considerably and allowed the Germans to advance without suffering too many casualties.

Work in Progress

Friday evening painting session, working on a few DAK figures, and posting these pictures from my mobile. Veteran figure enthusiasts will easily  recognise the "Rommel" figure from an old Matchbox Wespe kit. Also a couple of Pegasus Germans posted for duty in North Africa thanks to a head swap and desert uniform paintjob.

I can drive (drive !) my very own tank

It's been a while since there were any posts on the blog so with good intentions maybe we can remedy the situation in 2021.

I've been playing around with some music and videos and uploaded a medley of photos to youtube with what could be some appropriate music. Turn it up very loud if you like a bit of rough late 70s music.

 #thestranglers #tank #oneseventytwoscale

Ersatz M10 - Work in Progress

A quick update on some work in progress.

I'd wanted this Dragon kit for some time, and I think Dragon first put this kit out about 10 years back, maybe even longer. 

I was put off by the high price of the kit and was glad when I saw one online at a reasonable price. The box was a little dog-eared but the contents were complete.

And to be honest I'm glad I found this cheap because when I took it out of the box, I noticed the flexible tracks were in a little plastic bag which was full of a kind of sticky oil. 

Very strange I thought.

Then a kind of  "Quatermass and the Pit" event happened as I took them out of the bag - after their years of being preserved in there, they crumbled and cracked into little pieces ! 

So now I've got myself a lovely Ersatz M10 with no tracks.

I've gone the quick route to solving this and susbstituted the whole track and bogie assembly with a one-piece set taken off an old CC-Lee Panther kit I had in the stash that I never got around to building.

Now undercoated on the painting table waiting for a little free time over the weekend to try and finish it off.

So, a lesson learned with regard to this Dragon kit and its old flexible tracks - over the years they leach oil and fall to bits.

In spite of the track problem, I've got a vehicle I've wanted for quite some time.