Home Front: Civilians and Volunteers

Apologies for the dodgy photos but the light has been very poor this week in the UK.  Here are a few more additions to my Home Front collection. First up...and old man, This one is made by Foundry and is a Perry Sculpt. Just a nice useful civilian figure...also useful for VBCW.

Next, Mr Churchill...or perhaps an actor impersonating the Prime Minister? Not a great sculpt, I forgot where and when I got it, but I think it might be from Westwind. Useful as an objective in some scenarios. 

And finally two of the cast of Dad's Army in their civvies. Sargent Wilson and Lance Corporal Jones from Warlord. Lovely Sculpts, full of character, by Mr Hicks. 

Home Front: Dad's Army Cast.

 For my Dad's Army/Sealion collection I have painted these two...One is verger Maurice Yeatsman (made by Foundry and sculpted by the Perrys) and the other is Private Godfery, in his civvies (from Warlord Games, and sculpted by Paul Hicks). Both look amazingly like the cast member they are based on. 
Nice additions to my growing collection. 

Home Front: German Agents Disguised as Nuns?

Recently I have been continuing my interest in Operation Sealion as an alternative World War Two setting. Sumner 20017 saw a flurry of releases from Warlord Games to support their Bolt Action Operation Sealion supplement and these complement the original Wargames Foundry Home Guard figures quite nicely. 

Some of the figures are certainly more tongue in cheek, but I love that. I am a massive fan of Dad's Army and don't mind if my Sealion collection veers into the slightly silly or even has a shade or two of Pulp. 

The idea of German agents disguised as nuns seems to have originated in the the "Fifth Column" scares in the British media at the beginning of the period in 1941-42 when the threat of invasion looked real. As far as I am aware it was just hysteria/media hype, and no German agents ever dressed as nuns...never the less the idea fits in well with the slightly silly Dad's Army vibe. 

These figures are by Warlord and Foundry. 

Stalingrad: First Russian Platoon

I have finished basing the rest of my Russian platoon for Stalingrad. I have more figures on order from Crusader Miniatures and, with the addition of some armour or some more support options, this will make two platoons. 

Stalingrad: Platoon Support Options

Here are a few more of my Stalingrad defenders. These are the support options for my Platoon. Were would the Defenders of Stalingrad be without their snipers? And the trusted Maxim machine gun can be very motivating for reluctant raw troops, if positioned behind them to mow down anyone trying to retreat! Also I have included a flame thrower as these are something of a must in Bolt Action, especially when clearing Nazis out of ruined buildings. To finish it of I have a  medical officer and Commissar to support the platoon leader. 

Deadly Snipers Wait to Strike

Burn out those Nazis comrade!

Maxim MMG- Venerable but Reliable

Medical Officer and Commissar Political Officer

Stalingrad: New ptoject

While I wait for more tiny 15mm figures to arrive I have been finishing off another project. This one is for WW2 Stalingrad. This project sprang out of a conversation with Big Al at Earlswood Wargamming club who made the stunningly beautiful Battle of the Bulge scenery and the boards we used for Sharp Practice. Big Al said he had always fancied doing a Stalingrad board complete with cellars and so on. While we were chatting I remembered that I had about a platoon of WW" Russians from Black Tree Designs in my Lead Mountain waiting for a now aborted Winter War project (aborted when I saw the poor standard of the Finnish figures being produced by Bolt Action and Baker Company). I started to paint a few and found they were so easy to paint it was so very relaxing. I was churning out 4-5 competed figures in an evening. I have based them up with suitable ruined urban bases. I have even more on order and I plan to built it up to two complete platoons. I am not sure when Big Al plans to make his Stalingrad terrain but I know I will be ready to defend it from the Nazis when he does!

My Junior Officers

The Black Death- Soviet Sailors fighting in Stalingrad

Red Army

Home Front 1941: Fallschirmjager Complete

Just to prove, to myself more than anyone else, that I can actually finish a project, here are my Fallschirmjager. This is a full platoon for Chain of Command (I haven't checked yet but it would probable be right for Bolt Action too, as the forces are about the same for both games). In addition to the three squads of FJs I have a medic, a mortar, and extra panzerschreck team and an infantry support gun. This should be enough to get me gaming when the Earlswood Wargamers get together after our summer hiatus. 

  While I say that this project is 'finished' I am sure that any wargamers out there will know that no project is ever actually complete. I do intend to add a few more pieces to this platoon to give me a few more options. A StuG assault gun and a static MG43 on tripod being the obvious choices.

  At Earlswood we are going to be basing our games around the Battle of the Ardennes, AKA the Battle of the Bulge. This was Hitler's last big gamble, when he threw this best reserves into a desperate push through the US held territory in the Ardennes forest, in Belgium. The US were caught flat-footed and fell back in disorder, and for a short time it looked like the tide of the war could be turned back in the Germans favour. Eventually, as history recalls, the US/British forces stalled the Germans attack and eventually drove them back, but at a terrible cost. 

The Fallschirmjager are the German paratroopers. They were part of the Luftwaffe (airforce) not the Heer (army). They fought as airborne infantry in the early war, most notable when they seized the Belgian fortress at Eban-Emael in a surprise raid, and in the Battle of Crete.   Later they were used as an elite light infantry, and played a key role in the defence of Normandy, at the battle of Caratan, where they fought US Airborne troops (see Band of Brothers if you haven't already) and at the Fortress of Brest they delayed the US forces for ninety nine days!

  By the time the Fallschirmjagers got to the Ardennes they were a different force. Many of their veterans had died in Normandy and they had lost many officers too. Their ranks were replenished with ground troops and officers from the Luftwaffe, many of whom had only basic infantry training. Never the less they fought hard and earned a reputation for tenacity (and even fanaticism). One tactic the Fallschirmjager employed was to go to ground , hiding in cellars or the forest, while the US armoured vanguards rumbled past them, only to return to catch the US tanker off guard, wiping out the tank crews before they could get back to their vehicals, and they driving back the disordered US infantrymen. The next morning the Americans would be forced to take the same town they had already captured the day before. 

  My Fallschirmjager will also be used to fight my 'Dad's Army' Home Guard, using the Crete 1941 list in the Bolt Action rules. All I will have to do is reduce the number of machine guns and take out the Panzershrecks. The German plans for the aborted 'Operation Sea-lion' would have certainly featured the Fallschirmjager parashooting in to sieze key naval defences and air defences ahead of the main invasion. 

Homefront 1941: Fallschirmjager Platoon Support Weapons

It is my intentions to complete my Fallschirmjager platoon for Bolt Action/Chain of Command before the end of the month so I can move on to a new project or two (Frostgrave and Freebooters Fate look most likely at this time). to this end I have just completed a Panzershreck Team and a Mortar Team. These figures are from Artizan. 

I just need to paint another MG team, and a medic and I will be able to use them in battle. At some point I plan to add some vehicals, a static MG43, and make some 'jump off point' markers, but apart from that they will be complete

Home Front 1941: Fallschirmjaeger Command

More fallschirmjaeger for Bolt Action/Chain or Command. This time these are from Artisan Designs and include an officer and his NCOs, radio operator etc. I painted the officer in field Grey, but then I found out his trousers are field grey but his jacket is Luftwaffe Blue (as paratroopers the FJ were part of the air-force not the army). Luftwaffe Blue is very similar to the RAF blue, but I didn't have any. In desperation I mixed some blues and greys together, then watered it down into a wash and painted it over the grey jacket. I couldn't begin to tell you what colours I had used, but by sheer chance when it dried it was exactly the right colour!

We played a game of Chain of Command at the Earlswood Club last week and I was very impressed. The Germans are VERY dangerous compared with the Americans. The GI's get one Browning Automatic Rifle (BAR) per rifle section, while the Germans get two MG42 in the period we were gaming. Now the MG42 is a much better gun than the BAR,and the amount of fire-power the German sections could lay down war frightening. Added to that the fact that the Germans managed to secure the best ground, and nearly everything when right for the Germans, than the Americans were doomed from the start. It's a great game that certainly has the feel of the period.  Officers and NCO's have a real effect on the game, and their actions make all the difference. Added to that the fact that there is 'Fog of War' elements, reserves and hidden deployment all built into the core of the game mechanics means taht it is a game that is more 'realistic' than Bolt Action, but just as much fun to play!

Home Front 1941: The Fallschirmjager (German Paratroopers)

Here are my first three finished Fallschirmjager. They will be part of a platoon of paratroopers dropping in to invade England during Operation Sealion (the will also be used in the Ardennes games we are working on at Earlswood- double useful!

I took me a while to get to grips with the Splinter Pattern camouflage the Fallschirmjager used, but I a pretty happy with it now. I used a Youtube video which broke it down into quite simple steps. 

Home Guard 1941: Odds and Ends

 Here are a few more of the odds and ends I have been finishing off for my Home Guard platoon for Bolt Action.
 First up, a couple of stretcher bearers for my medic. These don't really work in the rules as they havn't got rifles and their are two bearers together on the base, but they are such cool figures I just had to do them. I am just going to count them as a single rifleman accompanying my medic.

 They are from Black Tree Designs. I want to get some more and convert them to Chindits for my Burma army.




Next up, a Royal Artillery Forward Observing Officer. He is issued with a Sten Gun, which has just been introduced to the British army ahead of the German invasion and is still something of a novelty. It is much lighter (and more unreliable) than a Thompson SMG, which is why this FOO had picked it.

The Royal Artillery will be back behind the lines, and the FOO will be hopefully guiding accurate artillery fire onto the German positions while the Home Guard attempt to fend off the Huns.

British defensive doctrine in 1941 was to use the Home Guard to stall the German blitzkrieg at stop lines and anti-tank islands long enough for the Regular army to assemble and counter attack. There is no doubt that the volunteers in the Home Guard would be facing a terrible onslaught for the first few hours of any invasion, and I am sure they would be glad of the Royal Artillery 25 pounders while they wait for reinforcements.


Home Front 1941: Royal Enginieers



  The relentless slog to get some nearly finished projects finally laid to bed has seen me finishing off some of the Home Guard units I have had hanging about for a while.
  These guys are a small section from the Royal Engineers who happen to be in town building some beach defences when the Germans invade in 1941. This means they are Regular Army, as opposed to Home Guard, but as they are lead by an NCO they have been attached to my Home Guard Platoon.

First up, a flamethrower section. Useful for rooting Fallschirmjager out of hedgerows, but perhaps more useful (although very risky) as an anti-tank weapon, if they can get close enough.




Next up is a sapper team- for building and blowing. One with wire cutters, one setting a demo charge and one with a mine sweeper- there aren't any rules in Bolt Action for this kind of unit (even though these are form the Bolt Action range) so I will be building them up to a unit of 5 with some of the plastic Bolt Action figures, sticking them in a Bren Carrier and using them as a Regular Bren team.

Home Front 1941: Home Guard Big Guns

Well, it's not that big a gun really, but it's better that a Boys anti-tank rifle. This is  is a 2pdr AT gun. It packs enough force to scare a German tank crew, but it's unlikely to do to much damage to the front of a Panzer, and is best deployed in ambush. With the Home Guard crew is a Forward Observer Officer from the Royal Artillery and his radio operator. British armies in Bolt Action get a FOO officer free, to represent the British tenancy to prefer heavy artillery over infantry and armour. This FOO can call down off field artillery to punish the enemy and drive them out of cover onto the waiting guns of the Home Guard!

This ATG is now sold by Warlord Games, although I have had this one in my cupboard for years and back then I think it was sold by a company called BEF.  The FOO and his aide are also from Warlord. 

Home Front 1941: A Rolls Royce Armoured Car

"Now listen here Walker! You can't park that monstrosity there. "

"'Ere, that is Private Walker to you. This 'monstrosity' is Walmington-on-Sea's new Rolls Royce armoured car; And it's staying right where it is."

"But it is blocking the way to the church fete!"

"Now Maurice, I would love to help you, but I can't move the Roller, even if I wanted to. Not for you, and not even for the vicar."

"Why an earth not?"

"It's run out of petrol." 

This Rolls Royce armoured car and the men accompanying it are the latest additions to my Home Front army. The Rolls Royce was a work horse of the army from WW1 to Early WW2, and was found all over the Empire. Shortages of armoured vehicals (well any vehicals really) After the Dunkirk evacuation meant that many of these aged beasts were given to the Home Guard. Captain Mainwaring never got a Roller in the TV series, but that wasn't about to stop me issuing my Home Guard unit one. 
This armoured car is by Copplestone Castings. The figures are by Wargames Foundry. 

Home Front 1941- A Home Guard Section

I painted these for Lead Painters League- they are from Wargames Foundry- and they are the extras from "Dad's Army". The picture's not great- the light was quite poor...I hope you like them. 

Home Front 1941: Oh Matron...More Home Guard!

Just a few more of my Home Guard, along with a QAIMNS(R) nursing officer. In the game she will act as a medic. I already have Godfery, so I don't really need another medic, but she is such a lovely mini I couldn't resist. I picked her up on ebay (I think it was a freebie mini at a gaming show)- I beleive it is menat to be HRH Princess Elizabeth in her ATS uniform, but the QAIMNS (Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service) used the same uniform as the ATS. 

Captain Beth Windsor, QAIMNS(R)

Private Frank Pike 

Private Charles Godfrey

Home Front 1941: Home Guard Officers

I have always been a fan of Dad's Army, and also a fan of these lovely Perry Twins miniatures from Wargames Foundry. When I saw that the Bolt Action British and the Commonwealth army list included Home Guard I knew their was nothing that could stop me getting some. I got these as a present off my wife last year, and have just got round to painting them for the Lead  Painters league. There will be more on their way soon. My plan is to use them for Bolt Action to stage an Operation Sealion campaigns (Which I am going to call Home Front 1941). I am also hoping they might see some action against Brummie's new Germans (see Brummie's Blog)

Captain George Mainwaring

Sargent Arthur Wilson

Lance Corporal Jack Jones

Burma 1943: Bolt Action Battle Report

My son Charlie and I managed to get a game of Bolt Action in during the holidays. We kept things simple, about 500 pts each. I took the Japanese Imperial Army- with a couple of regular infantry section and a section of veteran jungle fighters backed up with a sniper and a MMG. Charlie took the British Chindits, with two infantry sections, a MMG and a mortar (all veterans).

The plot was a Chindit patrol had located a Japanese supply dump in a small village in the depths of the Burmese jungle, well behind the Japanese lines. The supply dump seemed lightly guarded, and so the lieutenant in charge of the patrol ordered a surprise attack. Unfortunately for the Chindits, at the time of the attack there was a squad of jungle fighters and an experienced sniper team making their way through the jungle back to the village to resupply. 

The attack got off well for the chindits, as their Vickers MMG opened up on the Japanese MMG in a sandbag redoubt, catching them napping and killing one of the crew. The Japanese scrambled for cover, and the jungle fighters took up positions along the tree-line to cover the approaches to the village. 

Meanwhile the Chindits advanced towards the village, using their fire and manoeuvre training to effectively suppress the Japanese as they advanced. The Chindit 3" mortar zeroed in on the squad taking cover in the village house- it seems that bamboo and woven palm leaves don't provide much cover against mortar shells.

The Japanese Jungle Fighters tried to slow the Chindits down, but they were outnumbered, and soon they began to fall to the relentless and accurate fire of the Chindits. 

The Japanese sniper took out a Chindit NCO as his squad advanced into the clearing around the village, but his squad pressed on relentlessly, spraying fire from their tommy guns and rifles to suppress the Japanese soldiers in the village. 
The Chindit lieutenant spotted the sniper and made his way around the flank, using what cover he could, until he was close enough to charge the sniper. 

The Japanese, seeing their position desperate, fixed bayonets and with a cry of "Banzai" they bravely charged the Chindits. The Chindits opened fire, scything down three of them as they ran across the open ground, then met the Japanese bayonets with their own Kurkri and machetes. Two of the Chindits died, but in the end they wiped the Japanese out. 

The Japanese officer was cut down in a hail of bullets as he prepared to follow his fellow soldiers into the charge, earning himself a honourable warriors death.

The Japanese sniper team and the remnants of the Japanese MMG team melted back into the jungle, abandoning the supply dump. They Chindits took what they needed and could carry, and burned the rest, before carrying out a force march through the dense jungle to be well clear of any counter attacks the Japanese Imperial Army might mount. It had been a text book raid for the British: using surprise, overwhelming fire power and manoeuvrability to overcome a numerically superior enemy. The Chindits had just seven men killed or wounded, and the Japanese had lost a whole platoon.

If this battle report  lacks drama or seemed like a white wash for the Brits then you can blames Charlie's fantastic dice rolling, which saw him gunning down my soldiers with ease, while my own inept rolling was barely more than a minor irritation to his Chindits. Chindits, being all veterans, are a solid and reliable force, and their ability for fire and manoeuvre is very effective. 

All in all, a great battle...thanks Charlie. 

VBCW The Stonehouse Farm Road Block- A Battle Report

Regular gaming Buddy Pulp Citizen and I managed to get together for a game of Very British Civil War. For a change we played Bolt Action, which is a new rules set for the both of us. Because we were using new rules we decided to keep the game small, and so we had just 450 points aside.

The Forces

I was The Manchester Legion of the  British Union of Fascists (BUF) , commanded by First Lieutenant Thompson.Thompson is an inexperienced officer keen to impress his captain, Captain Webster, with his competence. He had two experienced (Regular) infantry sections, a Vickers MMG and, to instil a little 'shock and awe' in the locals, a Vickers Light Tank MKIII.

Pulp Citizen was the Wirral Socialist Worker's Council (WSWC). They were commanded by Commissioner Lunn (a rank equal to First Lieutenant) Lunn was an experienced officer, having fought in the Siege of Liverpool.  He commanded and experienced MMG team, a 3" mortar team, a soviet trained sniper team, and three sections of green militia, dragged in to make up the numbers. One of these teams had been designated as 'tank hunters' and equipped with satchel charges, crowbars and molotovs.

The Missions 

The BUF have information that smugglers from the village of Frodsham are shipping in arms from the continent to supply to the WSWC forces in Helsby. On Captain Websters orders they have established a road block on the road in-between Helsby and Frodhsam, near Stonehouse Farm, and are stopping and searching any vehicals passing down the road. There are also rumours that they are charging a 'toll' to any passing travellers and, being Mancunians, filching goods off the local farmers. 

WSWC forces in Helsby are understandable incensed by the road block, which local hot-headed agitators have started to refer to as 'The Siege of Helsby'.

Lieutenant Lunn has gathered a force of the local militia, together with a few of his more experienced men, and is determined to drive off the BUF and 'lift the siege'.

Stonehouse Farm

The starting positions

Lieutenant Thompson's men manning the roadblock, with the terrifying visage of the Vickers Light Tank standing by. 

The WSWC MMG on the Crag- good sight-lines but too far away to hit anything without redeploying. 

Lunn and his tank hunters take up position in the woods. 

 The battle began in earnest when the BUF patrol in the field came under sniper fire- the WSWC sniper shot and killed the sections Lewis Gunner. The section dived into the broken ground for cover but to no avail- the sniper also took out the sections NCO too. 
The sniper was well dug in in the stones of the old ruins, and try as they might the BUF couldn't draw a bead on him. 

The BUF patrol dive for cover. 

WSWC Sniper- well dug in

 Lieutenant Thompson came under fire from the WSWC in the woods, and leapt over the hedge to hunker down, while ordering his men into Stonehouse Farm. The farmhouse proved to be an excellent defensive position with effective sight-lines across a wide area.  The Vickers MMG team moved up and set up their gun behind the road block- from their they could rain lead down on the militia in the woods, or coming up either road. Eliminating the infantry section in the Farmhouse became a priority for the WSWC militia.

Thompson directing his troops whilst 'Down' behind a hedge.

The BUF Vickers MMG Team at the roadblock  added serious fire-power to the BUF Force throughout the battle.

 Seeing the BUF parole pinned down by the sniper in the broken ground, Lunn ordered one of his militia units to advance, and finish them off. Unfortunately for them the BUF Vickers Light Tank spotted them and entered the field to support the infantry. The tanks machine-guns proved decisive,and the militia unit found itself pinned down in open, and eventually destroyed, by the withering fire from the tank. The tank was screened from the bulk of the WSWC by the worker's cottages, and the WSWC had nothing that could penetrate the tanks armour on  this flank, giving the tank commander free reign. 

The Tank is King!

The WSWC continues to exchange shots across the street with the BUF section in the Farmhouse

 The militia lost the momentum of their attack, as the BUF section in the farmhouse, and the MMG team at the roadblock continued to poor fire into the woods, effectively pinning the militia, while the tank chewed up the flank. Suddenly the WSWC 3" mortor zeros in on the Farmhouse, and begin firing 'for effect'- the section in the farmhouse start taking a pounding. The BUF section fight on, but as the shells start getting more accurate they can do little but keep their heads down and exchange a few shots. The WSWC MMG team move up to support the advance,and suddenly things don't look so rosie for the BUF in the farm. 

The BUF patrol hunkered down in the broken ground decide enough is enough, fix bayonets and charge across the field towards the sniper. Miraculously the sniper, shocked by their sudden momentum, fails to hit them as they advance. 

Bayonets fixed!

The WSWC loose their momentum

The BUF extract bloody revenge on the snipers

 The mortar team continue to drop shells inside the farmhouse- turning the once safe haven into a bloody death-trap. The entire BUF section is destroyed. With that section gone, there is nothing stopping the WSWC militia from occupying the Farmhouse- and using its excellent sight lines to pour fire onto the MMG and Thompson command section. Thompson was killed outright when he tried to drive the WSWC section out of the farmhouse, and the MMG was destroyed by the militia unit in the farmhouse. 

Thompson tries to drive the Militia back out of the farmhouse

The BUF on the flank, having finished with the sniper, take up position in the workers cottages, and open fire on the militia in the woods from very close range, while the Vickers tank cuts down the mortar team and kills the WSWC Platoon Sargent. The 'tank hunter' unit is all but destroyed- only three remain,and they are pinned down, but despite this, Lunn manages to inspire them to attack, and they assault the tank, hurling molotovs into the engines- and destroying the tank!

The remaining BUF section in the worker's cottages, upon seeing their tank destroyed, decide discretion is the better part of valour, and withdraw, conceding the field. 

Commisioner Lunn might have driven the BUF off and lifted 'the siege', but at a terrible cost- most of his platoon were killed or seriously injured, including the majority of his more experience men- fighting had been fierce and bloody!

The Vickers tank flanks the WSWC attack and destroys the mortar team- one of the units that could threaten it. 

My VBCW inspired dice mug

Bolt action turned out to be a great rules set for VBCW, and it was very easy to adapt the game to suit the setting. Both Pulp Citizen and I  really enjoyed the game, and are looking forward to trying it with bigger forces very soon.