Summer of Fun Concludes – on the Workbench

Having enjoyed myself determinedly over summer, this is what the fruit of a Summer of Fun looks like when autumn finally comes:

Just visible on the CMP Quads are some buttons standing in as spare wheels, as they went onto the extra 25pdrs that were made up from the spares on the sprues. The buttons will be covered by cam nets – every bodger’s friend! It turned out that the Sherman front casings did work on my Stuart bodges, with a bit of judicious trimming, and metal exhaust cylinders can be seen on some of the Stuart hulls.

There are more unmade kits in the pile, but I’m concentrating on gaps in my orbats before I go making stuff up speculatively. The  vehicles haven’t loaded up with their crews yet, as they are being painted separately.

 

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Concrete Sniffing in Vienna

Vienna was not intended to be concrete-sniffing holiday, but the  Die of Fate rolled and came up with a six. The lovely Mrs K (Suzanne) had booked us an apartment in a residential area between the Danube and the “Donau Kanal“, which meant that we were on a rather large island outside the old city walls, but near to the Augarten park and railway station. Our morning walk took us through the park and cafés into the city centre. We could have taken the tram, but then we would have missed this:

The Leittürme were smaller than the G-Türme!

Even Suzanne was impressed. We have both seen Flaktürme before in the Ruhr, and to find one looming unexpectedly over the trees in a park was a surprise. Then we walked around the corner and saw this:

It reminded me a little of the Emperor Dalek from the ’60s as it sat there with a squat malevolence that time had done nothing to diminish. Naturally, the locals had dialled it out of their mental landscape and only tourist such as ourselves gawked and photographed it.

 

This larger Gefechts–Turm had come off second-best with time*, so part of the lower balcony had been removed post millenium, and steel cables girdled the structure, having pulled  the upper platform a good  metre or so out of alignment. The towers operated as a pair, with the L-Turm controlling fire for the G-Turm. Three such pairs protected Vienna in a triangle.

The Viennese, being pragmatic folk, have turned one Turm into a climbing wall, and another that sits rather inconveniently in the centre, into a Sealife Centre.

The rest of the holiday was filled with excellent Age of Enlightenment sights, food, and a concert in the Anna Kirche that need not concern us here, other than to say that Vienna is well worth a visit even without the concrete.

*And the attention of mischievous children,  who set fire to 2,000 flak rounds that still remained in the tower in 1946, the little scamps!

Pointless Conversion – M3 Honey Epilogue

Both fans of my previous M5 to M3 Honey conversion* may be wondering how well it stands up. It is even more of a pointless conversion now that the kit it represents is available straight out of the box. At the  time I built it, I thought it was too bulky in the front glacis plate. I turns out that I was right, as the comparison shots show.

My mid-production round-turreted M3s that are tricked out in olive paint can head off to the Soviet army now that their slots in the orbat are filled with PSC kits. The M5s are still waiting for me to sort out American troops for Tunisia.

Originally, about 170 M3s were sent to 7th Armoured Division, 4th Armoured Brigade in March – mid November 1941.  My 5 out of the box represent 150 scaled at 30:1 ….sorted. The PSC box gives enough spare parts to make another full kit from each sprue with a bit of bodging missing bits. It is worth noting that on the instruction sheet, the green and red coloured hulls have been marked the wrong way round. Do a trial fit first to see what I mean.

I think that the spare M4 Sherman forward hull casings might stand in with a bit of trimming. I shall have to check that.

*YesthatPhil, and me!

The Soviet Winter Offensive Takes the KALUGA to MOSCOW Line – Winter 1942/3

292 Infantry Division watches the first Soviet wave attack

KALUGA sat on the northern bank of the OKA River, and straddled the main rail line to BRYANSK. As the Soviet advance ground remorselessly west, only 17 Infantry Division and the reduced 12 Infantry Division stood in their path. Along the south bank of the OKA, from SERPUKHOV to KALUGA, 292 Infantry Division kept an uneasy watch, expecting the massed infantry forces to  swing south at any moment. They did not.

The River OKA today, looking east, from Google Map

As the first wave of Soviet divisions hit the advanced positions, the commanding German General took the bold decision to conduct an active defence, forgoeing the dubious protection of his hasty defences. The Soviet Steamroller crashed into the line, shuddered and recoiled with losses. 38 and 54 Rifle Divisions were in the front wave, locked into a desperate struggle with no thought of retreat.

38 Rifle Division Pushes 12 Infantry Division Back onto its Line of Communication

The Soviets continued to reinforce their attacks, pushing 57 Rifle Division into the front line, in some cases, over the corpses of their fallen comrades. As the pressure mounted, the Germans grudgingly gave ground, hoping all the while that their rear echelons were clear of the line of communication, and were heading towards safer rear areas to reorganise.

57 Rifle Division Forces the divisional Boundary Between 12 and 17 Infantry Divisions

Determined counterattacks ensured that the Soviets were unable to press their advantage following local successes, but eventually the weight of numbers told, as 40  and 47 Rifle Divisions rolled forward in a third wave to push 17 Infantry Division out of KALUGA

47 Soviet Rifle Division Closes on KALUGA

Game Notes:

YesthatPhil took the Germans, and gifted me the rather nice diecst Austin  ambulance.

Will took the Soviets and played a very historical “keep advancing, and give me another division, the first three are broken!”

There are a mix of players’ troops. As usual, the nice ones belong to Phil.

In this game, I am using ammo markers to represent pins, because I wanted to see what they would look like en-masse.

 

The Soviet Winter Offensive Takes the SERPUKHOV to MOSCOW Line – Winter 1942/3

As the front around MOSCOW collapsed, the landscape filled with large and small  groups of Germans retreating to the west. Lacking heavy equipment, knots and pockets of resistance caused just enough delay to the advancing Soviets to keep a semblance of order and a front line, albeit one with rents kilometers wide.

 

Some resistance was more resolute than others, 12th Infantry Division, in particular, fighting hard to buy enough time for the front to reform.  Advancing against them were 38 and 57 Rifle Divisions.

For some of the hard-pressed Landser, it was easier to fight and die in position than to continue trudging through the snow. Iron-hard ground and lack of time to prepare reduced the effectiveness  of the German advanced defensive line.

Behind the forward troops, preparations proceeded as fast as the appalling conditions would allow.

Anxious troops, with little time to rest, wearily awaited the Enemy. To their front, the forward defensive line is breached.

Waves of advancing Soviets press forward to the main defensive line.

The Divisional Railhead is a scene of frantic activity as the Enemy draws nearer.

Even a captured Soviet armoured train is pressed into service.

But just as 12th Infantry Division, was at the limit of its endurance, the pressure began to ease. The Soviet advance had outpaced its own supply lines and come to a halt. at the end of this two-hour battle with YesthatPhil taking the Axis, and the Author playing the Soviets as a player-umpire (Plumpire). The Change in the map looked like this:

12 Infantry Division holds the SERPUKHOV to MOSCOW line

The Soviet Winter Offensive Takes the SEPUKHOV to MOSCOW Line Winter 1942/3

A Civil Day Out

Newark is a splendid place to spend an afternoon, with a plethora of small eating and drinking establishments, and the “National Civil War Museum”. In the same descriptive vein, NQM is the Nation’s “Most Comprehensive WW2 Wargame”.*

Lest this review sound as if the place is not worth a visit, I should hastily add that it is, but that what you find is an excellent local museum that covers the sieges of Newark, and sets it in the context of the English Civil War.** When we visited, a Lawrence of Arabia exhibition was on, which was fun. Who doesn’t love the film? 28mm Figure fans will enjoy the diorama of a train ambush.

The museum exhibits give a good Royalist, town-centric view of the conflict, which is fine, because where else would you go to find out stuff about the sieges of Newark? There is also a rather nice exhibition regarding battlefield medicine and surgery, including an interactive exhibit that allows you to use a musket ball extractor on a suitably gory arm. The ball probably hit the brachial artery from its location! The claim that advances in medicine would not be equalled until WWI are overstated though, (anaesthesia in 1829, inoculation in 1796 and nursing in the Crimean War all spring to mind. Proper Anoraks can visit the two-room Museum of Anaesthesia at the Royal College of Anaesthetists opposite the BBC to have their senses thoroughly deadened.

As has been commentated on previously, by others; museums nowadays are interactive experiences to keep the kiddies happy, so we were in our element! Kiddies learn that armour is heavy, and the Governor’s mansion can be destroyed with one ranging shot and one shot for effect by a heavy gun that has digital sights. Adults are left wanting a more balanced view, and more stuff to look at. A diorama of one of the sieges shown on the website was not in evidence. Cromwell was the ghost in the building (Visit Huntingdon for the opposite treatment).

One of the interactive displays gave a good flavour of the shifting balance of power through the war(s) without detail such as town names. Chandler did it better with a few maps, without having to swat kids away that squeeze between you, aimlessly press a couple of buttons, then who wander off to the next exhibit that makes cannon-shot noises. This leaves you back at the default menu, trying to recover the events of 1643 on the interactive timeline.

Honestly, curators, having to press a touch screen to bring up pop-up boxes is not a good way to scan information, I do it for a living, so I have an opinion! We went on an uncrowded Sunday, a crowded one would have been worse. Information was there, if you took the time to read a lot of  typeface on boards in a relatively dimly lit main room (but I can do that in a book). It seemed to me that there was a disconnect between the hard information and the interactive stuff

My idea for an interactive display, is a set of stocks that lock for a pound a minute. Anyone can add coins when your child is in there. Proceeds to widows and orphans! In the Tudor Hall, Prince Rupert was holding forth in full cosplay; we gave him a miss. So, in summary, the museum is worth a visit if you are passing, but should be titled the “Civil War Sieges of Newark Museum“.

Newark Castle is also worth a visit – the river facade is impressive,  I expected it to feature more in the museum though. The river walk is pleasant, with pubs clustered around the town lock (what could possibly go wrong?) There is a nice micro brewery tucked away behind the riverfront, and an excellent teashop by the old post office behind the market square. We scoffed, quaffed, then came home.

*It isn’t.

** You are firmly corrected and told that they were the British Civil Wars, covering Scotland, Wales and Ireland. The NHS conducts this sort of rebranding exercise for fashionable diseases all the time.

A Grand Day Out

The Medieval folk that run around hitting each other with sticks were out again at Delapré Abbey this weekend. We wandered down, because Delapré is one of our regular winter walks, and because Trebian was presenting his battle of Northampton game; a Cracking Game Grommet, in which Lancastrians discover that cheese tastes best when toasted …

Suzanne played for the first time. Within seven moves, she had sacked and burned Northampton (move 1),

rampaged through the Lancastrian camp, capturing the King (move 6),

and executed a pile of Lancastrian Nobs, reminding me why I generally avoid arguing with Yorkshire Folk!

That’ll be no quarter then!

At lunchtime, a pair of re-enactors of ample girth were tucking into a medieval meal that seemed to comprise of a lot of wine and pork pies.

Elsewhere, a blacksmith of much leaner thew was hammering an iron bar into a sickle, and some enthusiastic medieval gunners were creating loud bangs and rolling banks of acrid smoke. By way of light relief, I bought Suzanne a solid oak medieval folding camp chair, then had to carry it a mile or so back to the car, through the woods, fortified by a rather good pie at the new Delapré café. Personally though, we miss the old volunteers cafe, with its quirky service, homemade cakes and 1950s price structure.

Marking Time

It has been a while since the WHELKS* have all been seen together in public, so it was rather fitting that most of them were at Will Whyler’s 70th birthday party. Rather than show a series of photos of 50-70-year old beardies and baldies, here is the the tank that I presented Will with, so that he has no excuse for not being able to get around the battlefield. I must master manual focus – the table is crystal clear!

Also present was Graham Fordham (no relation to Cap’n Birdseye), who recently celebrated his 60th. My focus was better on this one. He is a Copplestone Beastly Belgian masquerading as a French Naval Officer …. aww, who cares; the figure looks like Graham!

… even if the hair on the model is too short at the back!

*Wellingborough Historical andEverso Loosely Kultural Society. Present were:

Chris Ager, The Dormouse, Graham Fordham, Graham Hockley, Sarge, Trebian, Will Whyler, Chris Willey, YesthatPhil, and Tony Hawkins in his professional capacity as a magician (The Amazing Anthony).

Let the Summer of Fun Begin!

Exams are over now and a huge pile of fun is staring at me from my work bench. I should finally get around to pruning the Sprue Tree that has been flourishing on the corner of the desk (note the superdetailing brushes hiding in the jar – I do own some!).

I have been making judicious purchases to round out the orbats of existing divisions, and may even get around to painting some of the models that have lived in not much more than an undercoat for the last five years. But before that, some relaxing is due:

Having finally got my hands on some of Peter Pig’s new Soviet scouts, I have been impressed by how well-proportioned they are, fitting in nicely with Skytrex and the early PSC stuff. They are much nicer in the round than on the website in a spray undercoat.  Photos to follow … when they have more than a spray undercoat on them!

51st Highland Division on Parade

Sometimes, the only way to check that everyone is in Barracks is to put them on Parade. 51st Highland Division looks as if it is ready for a fight … “see Youse Jimmy“*. 40th Light Anti-aircraft Regiment is further back down the line of communications in the photo above.

In Real Life^®, my portfolio is in and marked – a pass! My Viva Voce and Ethical paper have both been taken and the final paper is tomorrow. Too soon to celebrate, but I need some playtime!

*A bored colleague of mine, who worked at the Ministry of Defence, used to pick up the phone on  a Friday and announce “War Office … want a fight?“