Partizan 2024 28mm Sudan game

Hi folks,

Back in May, I trekked down to Newark with DaveD and MartinC. We had an overnight stay, with a few beers and some food. 

The day of the show we used Dave's 28mm Sudan collection and a set of quick play rules he'd written up to play a large 'get the toys on the table' game. 

I helped out by commanding the Imperial forces towards the afternoon of a hectic and hot day. We had a lot of interest in the table and collection - resulting in much chatting with other hobbyists. I also tried to 'police' the table, removing measuring tapes and dice, etc. This led to us having a very 'clean' looking game for most of the day. 

Loot wise, I got some great deals on 15mm Team Yankee West Germans. An estate sale had bags of stuff at very reasonable prices. I think I ended up with around four times the RRP value of what I spent. 

AAR: 15mm Flames of War - Utah Beach

Hi folks,

Playing catch-up with blog posts, as per usual. This game was the second in our series of D-Day Beach games we are playing this summer, and is a re-vamp of a similar scenario we played back in 2019. This was our May 2024 game. It took place in the Pendraken gaming room. 

This game had a representative German beach defence, with causeways #2 and #3 inland from the beach. It also had the inland Para drops and fighting. Again, a condensed map, with less historically accurate beach defences in order to fit both causeways on one table. 

As usual, DaveD provided the scenery. I set up the table and myself and DaveD umpired for the players. 

This game is both similar and different to the Gold Beach one. In both areas, flooding behind the beach confined the exits. However, the area inland of Utah did see para drops specifically to capture the ends of the causeways, which gives more action inland. Also, the lack of engineering equipment makes a big difference as to how the US forces deal with beach defences. 

US forces begin the beach landings. For the purpose of the game, we did the Para drop at the start of turn 1. 

Lack of engineering vehicles makes this initial phase costly for the US infantry. With no choice but to attempt to breach the minefields and wire on their own, while under fire from the largely unpinned Germans. The preparatory bombardment had led to all German defences starting pinned, but a good number of them unpinned quickly. 

The Para landings were a mixed bag. One stick scattered badly into the flooded areas, and other than command and bazooka teams most of this platoon was drowned. Another stick scattered over the town, landing some squads in the middle of the church square. They did not last long. The third drop was pretty tight and landed safely on the drop zone. Combat for the town and some of the gun batteries started very quickly. 

Down on the beach, some engineers and engineering tanks had arrived, allowing breach of the sea wall. Meanwhile, the DD tanks and infantry were engaged in clearing the defences. 

Elements of Easy Coy, 506th PIR taking on the battery at Brecourt Manor. 

The beach defences are more or less overcome...

Fighting intensifies in St Marie Du Mont, with Paras infiltrating the town and street fighting erupting. 

With breaches made and expanded, armour also starts moving off the beach. 

Airborne reinforcements arrive via glider - just in time to help deal with some German counter-attacks. 

US troops and armour reach the causeways. 

Reinforcements keep landing as the fighting continues. 

Recently landing AT guns deal with the repurposed French tanks being used by the Germans. 

German counter attacking StuGs come under bazooka fire from the town. 

Great game, fun to set out and use the table again, with some of Dave's models getting to see the table for the first time. 

Next game - Juno Beach - on 6th June. 

Finished: 15mm Royal Artillery tracked 40mm Bofors

Hi folks,

I'm still catching up in painting multiple things simultaneously, hence a lack of recently completed models. Chances are in a week or so there'll be a whole load done at once. 

This small unit is one I initially threw together for the Gold Beach game, using existing painted models. I combined a 40mm Bofors platform from my truck-mounted guns with a painted 20mm AA Crusader tank hull (and some blue-tack) to represent the 40mm AA tanks deployed during the landings. Post game I picked up some plastic Battlefront Crusader sprues and plastic 40mm Bofors sprues to build these models properly. 

I added some of the spare metal Bofors crew I had from the various limbered AA guns I'd previously built. I also added some stowage. 

I've decalled these models up as part of 114 Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery. This regiment was part of 80th Anti-Aircraft Brigade, Royal Artillery. This Brigade was assigned to provide AA protection to the Juno beaches - with the first guns/vehicles arriving very quickly after the initial landings. 

Images of this unit are pretty hard to come by, and as a result I had to take a guess with the markings. I'm not capable of neatly painting the AoS number of '252' on the red and blue Royal Artillery marking, so instead went for a vague squiggle heavily weathered. I attempted to add the 'army' diagonal white stripe. Again, I couldn't find any clear reference to what formation sign would have been used, settling with the 2nd Army marking (although the brigade was under command of 1st Corps and 21st Army Group). The 80th AA Brigade also may have had its own marking. 

The Crusader mounted 40mm Bofors used by this unit are different from the Crusader III, 40mm AA Mk I/Mk III commonly seen sold as model kits. 

The Royal Artillery had identified a need for a tracked AA vehicle, capable of crossing an unimproved beach in the early stages of the landings. So they converted a bunch of Crusader tanks themselves. These vehicles landed very quickly after the assault waves, towing limbered 40mm guns.

The two new additions shown next to one of my much earlier finished models, a resin and metal 20mm AA Crusader, also from Battlefront. 

In game terms, I would use these as proxy SP 40mm Bofors. 

Still more AA tanks to finish, but I'm making progress. I've also added a Cromwell OP tank to the queue.