15mm WWII German Flak Vehicles

It would seem the Germans managed to stick flak weapons on every vehicle bigger than a motorcycle.  Here is a sampling.  The vehicles are from Battlefront except the 2cm SdKfz 10 which is Quality Castings/Battle Honors/Old Glory 15/19th Century Miniatures (whew!).

15mm Fallschirmjager

Here is a side by side shot of Peter Pig and my recent Resistant Rooster German Paras.  The Roosters are noticeably larger even with the thinner base they are on.  The Paras look ok against a 15mm vehicle, but I don't think I would field the Roosters with my other 15mm collection (largely Battle Honors, Peter Pig, and Old Glory).  I'll sell these painted paras at a flea market some time along with the unpainted bags.

15mm German Fallschirmjager in the Works

Picked up some Resistant Rooster 15mm Fallschirmjager from Scale Creep Miniatures a few weeks ago.  The picture shows them with the base coat on and a brown wash.  Next I add light shading and camo pattern (Luftwaffe Splinter), then highlight, then matte varnish.

I'll base these for Command Decision and should have some final pictures in a couple weeks.  And I've got a few more bags to go!

I generally have avoided the Resistant Rooster miniatures due to their slightly larger size compared to my Battle Honors and Peter Pig 15mm figures.  But the miniatures are good castings, nothing wrong with their quality and price, and I'll keep them if the fit in ok with my other minis.  Otherwise, they will be sold.  Guess I better make up my mind before I base them.

Historicon 2010 at Valley Forge Conference Center

I had a nice long sleep Monday morning to recover from all the late, late nights at Historicon.  I found Historicon 2010 at the Valley Forge Conference Center (VFCC) to be a very good convention.  No disasters at least on the logistics and admin side.  Whether or not it was a financial success will require a report from the ConOps/HMGS-BoD.  I certainly hope it was a success financially because I would like to see future Cons at the Valley Forge Conference Center.

The con was laid out between the club gaming areas under the Radisson, the seminar rooms in the Scantilon, and the big gaming areas and dealer hall in the main conference center.  Travelling between these locations was a time-wasting chore until I was informed of the "service corridor" (aka "secret tunnel") that was a direct route between the Radisson and conference center areas.  Layout was not an issue after that.

The VFCC needs to do a few things to get used to wargamers as conventioneers.  First, keep the water stations filled until late at night.  Second, make sure their elevators are in good condition to handle the "extra-capacity" that wargamers present to mass-movement.  And third, keep restaurants open Sunday morning.  The VFCC has a largely captive audience and we can fill any and all eating venues that are open.

I didn't have a car at the VFCC and didn't miss it.   Next conference, I'll take more deli meats and cut back on restaurant expenses.  Though I must say the restaurant prices were "hotel-sized" but not anything I hadn't seen before.  The food stands set-up in the gaming areas were also reasonably priced for a hotel convention.

My fellow AoCM'ers and I played lots of Volley and Bayonet and Command Decision, mostly courtesy of Jake Strangeway, a gamemaster extraordinaire. Kevin's "Charm City Convention" game went off well; the Society of Destruction succeeded in the game by opening their convention , "A Gathering of Friends" to compete with the (fictional?) HMGS-GAMA sponsored "Historigins" Convention.  The Charm City Con game was a spoof of the angst and consternation and bumbling surrounding the intended move of Historicon from the pits of the Lancaster Host to the apocalyptic setting of the Baltimore Convention Center, as only a Baltimore denizen could conceive.

Registration saw an increase in the amount of goodies in the "swag bag."  That's good.  Game CD's, plastic miniatures (ECW and WWII), and sample magazines were included. 

German Armor 1/56th Scale

Built and painted two each Pz IVH and Sdkfz 234/1 from JTFM [1/56th scale compatible with 28mm figures].  Excellent models to assemble, lots of detail on them models and plenty of camo rolls, jerry cans, and spare tracks provided for further detailing.  Decals and crewman are also from JTFM.  Camouflage was with airbrush, I still need to get a better nozzle to get a finer line.  Maybe a better compressor.  I need to dull down the shine on the decals, I see.

Battle for Minsk 28 June-3 July Pt IV

Terrain and Kupkri Station Scenario

Terrain

Google Earth is the first place I go for terrain study. Unfortunately, Belarus lacks the high detail imagery available for other areas. But looking at what is available, you can see that broad rolling hills fill in between the river systems and otherwise the terrain is flat. From maps in the reference books, the Berezina River had wide swampy areas on both sides with roads and towns located along the drier patches. Numerous streams. North of Borisov, the terrain is generally swampy and wooded. Not ideal terrain for off-road manuvering but this is where the CAV-MECH OMG crossed the Berezina, which indicates German resistance was fairly light.

Kupkri Battle, Evening 28 June

3rd Guards Tank Corps has a sharp engagement with the 505th Tiger Battalion. The fighting continued into the night and at 0700 29 June, the Soviets capture Kupkri Station. Leading Soviet elements skirted Kupkri but ran into the 89th Panzer Pioneer Battalion guarding the bridges over the Berzina at Borisov.

Forces are 10th Guards M/C Battalion, 18th Gds Tank Brigade (Turn 2), 1823rd SU Regiment (Turn 2) and for the Germans the 505th Tiger Battalion, 1./89th Panzer Pioneer Company, 2x Police Companies.

The battlefield will run NE (Soviet friendly edge) to SW (German friendly edge). Germans will occupy wooded and open positions up to 2/3rd of the tabletop back to their friendly edge. Their objective is primarily to hold the main NE-SW road/rail to Minsk and secondarily to destroy Soviet units and prevent their exiting off the SW edge. The Soviets will start close to their friendly edge and need to advance and exit off the SW edge. Their should also be a secondary NE-SW road with roads connecting the two routes. Numerous wooded patches, light and heavy, and a few hills should cover the tabletop. Kupkri Station should be represented as a small town on the railroad about the middle of the tabletop. A road should connect Kupkri Station to the South edge and to the secondary NE-SW road. The primary road/railroad will offer cover to units defending behind the road due to the railroad embankments but will not block line of sight.

The Soviets will have a tough time trying to stand up to the German Tigers with their Shermans. The SU-85's can hurt the Tigers but they will be primary targets for the Germans. But the Soviet objective is not to kill Tigers but exit the battlefield. Stretching the Germans out and making them cover multiple advance routes will help the Soviet player.

The Battle for Minsk, 28 June-3 July. Part III

And here is the Soviet Order of Battle for the forces opposing 5th Panzer Division. Quite an impressive list even with all the artillery left off. I neglected the artillery as most of it was back at Orsha and along the line of march. A minor amount of 76mm and 122mm artillery would be available to the rifle corps in a prepared attack. The SU's, mortars, and rocket artillery will the primary support available to all units. Note also the large amount of stuff attached to 11th Guards Army. This was typically Front level assets but attached to a single army. The Front, 3rd Byelorussian, still had its own full allotment of artillery, tanks, and SU's. In a straight up fight, this of course is more than the Germans could handle but the objective with the scenarios with the 5th Panzer Division is to capture the more fluid fights as the exploitation forces (tank and mech corps, m/c regiments) advanced. If the 5th Panzer holds in place too long, they get hit with a mountain of infantry, tanks, and artillery. If they strike hard and shift positions to strike again, they can halt and wear out the advancing armor.

Soviet Order of Battle

11th Guards Army
--8th Gds Rifle Corps
----5th, 26th, 83rd Gds Rifle Div
--16th Gds Rifle Corps
----1st, 11th, 31st Gds Rifle Div
--36th Gds rifle Corps
----16th, 18th, 84th Gds Rifle Div
--2nd Gds Tank Corps
----4th, 25, 26th Gds Tank Bde [T34/85]
----4th Gds Motor Bde
----401st Gds SU Rgt [SU85]
----1500th SU Rgt [SU76]
----273rd Mortar Rgt [120mm]
----1695th AA Rgt
----28th Gds Mortar Bttn [BM13]
----79th M/C Bttn [w/tank co.]
----51st Sapper Bttn
--120th Sep. Tank Brigade[
--35th Gds Hvy Tank Rgt [IS-II]
--63rd Gds Hvy Tank Rgt [IS-II]
--148th Tank Rgt [T34/76 & T70]
--517th Tank Rgt [Flame and Mine T34]
--345th Gds Hvy SU Rgt [ISU-122]
--348th Gds Hvy SU Rgt [ISU-152]
--1435tg Hvy SU Rgt [SU-85]

5th Guards Tank Army
--3rd Gds Tank Corps
----3rd, 18th, 19th Gds Tank Bde [T34/85]
----2nd Gds Motor Bde
----376th Gds SU Rgt [ISU-122]
----1436th SU Rgt [SU85]
----1496th SU Rgt [SU76]
----266th Mortar Rgt [120mm]
----324th Gds Mortar Bttn [BM13]
----10th Gds M/C Bttn
--29th Tank Corps
----25th, 31st, 32nd Tank Bde [T34/85]
----53rd Motor Rifle Bde
----1223rd SU Rgt [SU76]
----1446th SU Rgt [SU85]
----108th AT Rgt [76mm]
----271st Mortar Rgt [120mm]
----747th AT Rgt [85mm]
----75th M/C Bttn
----409th Gds Mortar Bttn [BM13]
----14th Gds Hvy Tank Rgt [attached IS-II]
--1st Gds M/C Rgt
CAV-MECH Operational Manuever Group [Front Subordination]
3rd Guards Cavalry Corps
--5th, 6th Gds Cavalry Div
--32nd Cav Div
--1814th SU Rgt [SU76]
--144th Gds AT Rgt [76mm]
--3rd Gds AT Bttn [85mm?]
--64th Gds Mortar Bttn [BM13]
--3rd Gds Mortar Rgt [120mm]
3rd Guards Mech Corps
--7th, 8th, 9th Gds Mech Bde [M4A2 Shermans]
--35th Gds Tank Rgt [IS-II]
--1510th SU Rgt [SU76]
--1823rd SU Rgt [SU85]
--743rd AT Rgt [85mm]
--129th Mortar Rgt [120mm]
--334th Gds Mortar Bttn [BM13]
2nd Gds M/C Rgt
271st Motor Bttn [amphibious vehicles]