The New Project

Second Clue....

Placed an order with Peter Pig and while I did order more figures than I needed (isn't that always the case) I could build this force using only five packs of figures. That is a legal organization based on the rules or official unit order of battle. May even include support units. Not a larger force but it is extremely powerful.

Any guesses?

Home Guard Platoon

After way to long, I have finished off this platoon, being a project almost three years in the making based on other blog posts and receipts I have found in my books dealing with Operation Sea Lion.

For some background, when I started I was looking at Mick Yarrow's 15mm line. They looked good against some of the Flames of War figures I was contemplating and I purchased a platoon. Does anyone know why Flames of War never got around to designing a Home Guard line of miniatures? As I worked on these healthy looking figures,  I found that I really wanted to stay with Peter Pig so that I why I have a company with two platoons, one of big healthy farmers and a second of towns folks of slightly svelter proportions. These will be used with either IABSM or Chain of Command.

So without any further delay here is my latest platoon.

HQ Team

First Section

Second Section

Third Section

Two additional patrols or a single section with two many Officers and NCOs

Peter Pig - Russian Scouts

Image from Peter Pig website

Once again Martin over at Perter Pig has done it again. They have now released six packs of WWII Soviet Scouts. Helping to fill a gap in many collections. This will be useful for both creating a platoon of Scouts for Chain of Command to grab a bridge or similar important objective or they can be added in to a units reconnaissance section. I can see these being part of a tank desant platoon. Something I have wanted to do for Chain of Command. Either way a great addition. We even have female snipers, always welcome. Well done to the team at Peter Pig.

Peter Pig - 1914 Germans

This weekend, miniature gamers have seen on TMP that Peter Pig has released new figures and remastered others for their World War I collection. And all I can say is Yeah!!!!!

The Kaiser has new troops at the ready, including new command, jaegers and standard infantry in their pickelhaube helmets. Ready to take on the British Empire, Russia and France. These troops for 1914 make me think (and hope) we will be seeing new additions for the other armies as we advance through the Centenary.

What do we need in 15mm from Peter Pig? in my opinion we need Arabs and Empire Troops to take on the Ottomans, as well as the Ottomans and the Americans.  I can see Martin releasing the Ottomans through 2015 and 2016 with the Americans coming in 2017. Are there other troops needed. Why of course we all have our personal wants. I hope to see troops for the Russian and German Civil Wars to be released in 2017 through 2019. I can hope can't I?

What do you want to see released? For me I will start out with the jaegers and dismounted cavalry.

While I know that there are companies out their with 15mm World War I figures. But today 15mm are in the 17-18mm scales and I prefer the true 15mm from Perter Pig.

Images are from Peter Pig.

Type 89 Ready for Paint.

Well the Type 89 tanks are coming together easily. The only problem I had was with one of the commanders in the turret. He was too tall in the turret. I had to remove is neither regions.

Tomorrow I will be priming them and base coating the tanks along with two Isuzu 1.5-ton Trucks. These trucks, along with the Soviet GAZ, will be useful for conflicts in Africa and the Middle east in the post war era. This will speed organizing and painting the Peter Pig figures I have had on my list to paint for a while.

My only internal question is do I look to run 1939 battles or 1945. 

I promise the next post will involve the Arab Israeli Conflicts. 

Here are a few links to resources dealing with Japanese Armor and Tactics.

• TAKI'S HOME PAGE
• Japanese Tanks 1939-45
• World War II Japanese Tank Tactics

Lebanese Communist Party

The Lebanese Communist Party was one of the older political creations in the Middle East. Founded in 1924 this party was never very strong and depended on outside support for most of its operations. For the period of the Israeli invasion in 1982 this party and militia would be limited and ineffective.

Their militia, the Popular Guard (PG) was trained by the Palestinian Fatah and were provided with Soviet-made small-arms, as well as armed jeeps and gun-trucks equipped with heavy machine guns, anti-aircraft auto cannons and recoilless rifles supplied by the PLO, Syria, and the USSR. These can include the BTR40, GAZ 469 jeep and civilian trucks. Most common weapons are available from both Peter Pig and QRF. Small arms are limited to the AK47. Support weapons other than RPGs will be very limited.

In 1979 PG command was passed on to Elias Atallah, a Maronite. Although it was active mostly in West Beirut, the LCP/PG also kept underground cells at the Sidon, Tripoli, Tyre and Nabatiyeh districts of the Jabal Amel region of southern Lebanon.

At no point will any unit have more than one big man and a single support weapon. Is it worth fielding this force? Why of course. They may not win a lot of fights but they have cool images on their web site.

Chain of Command

We are just a couple of days until the shipment of Chain of Command from the TOOFATLardies. With the speed of the Internet I will receive the iPad version on Wednesday and the snail mail version early the next week.

It has me hurrying to get the figures ready. I ended up with Germans to complement Mark’s British 30th Corps for Highway to Hell, trying to complete two game projects with one set of figures. And a couple of tanks that I just had to have.

My base platoon is German late war infantry that is waiting on their medics, radio and MG42s. They do have support weapons including a mortar, 76.2 Crash Booms and Stug IIIG.

I can claim the Hetzer as an anti tank asset that could also be used if the Israelis would have purchased them over the used Shermans in 1949. The Stugs and Crash Booms by the Arabs.

The Brummbär and Elefant I had to have because they are cool. I now have to figure out how to use the Brummbär.

Other teams I am looking forward to building;

•    Volkssturm – Not a lot of use for support weapons here
•    Alexandroni Brigade 1948 – Looking to use them for the battles around Latrun

So Mark, all we need is the rules and the time to read them and we are set.

We found our Driver

I am very happy, Cold Wars is past and I had two really good games. One of which I will be running again at Historicon in July.

But the main reason why I am very pleased with myself is that I have caught up on my painting. Everything I ordered or bought at Cold Wars is finished and table ready.  I even was able to catch up on some of the excess figures I had such as drivers (as reported in the header).

Not to worry, I still have plenty of miniatures to paint. I have the last of my Raviv Egyptians and sixteen Peter Pig Harden Militia Female Fighters. I plan on basing them on Gaddafi’s female guard, doing them in a dark blue. Great for Junta.

Egyptian Vehicles 1968 to 2011

The War of Attrition ended over forty years ago. The Crossing of the Canal occurred four years latter. It is surprising that much of the equipment still exists in the Egyptian inventory. While most is in reserve or storage I would think they have more value as scrap.

Some of the logistic goes back to the very early days of the Cold War. I am sure there are even a few UAZ-469s lying around there somewhere.

Here is a partial list of what I found.

T-62

T-54/55

BMP-1

OT-62 TOPAS

BRDM-2

TPP Tracked Pontoon Bridge

PMP Heavy Folding Pontoon Bridging Systems

TMM-3 Motorized Bridge Layer

KMM Motorized Bridge Layer

ZIL-157 6X6

ZIL-131 6X6

GAZ-66

Any additions or comments are welcome.

"Now if we could only find the driver."
One of my UAZ-469 from Peter Pig. Figures from QRF.

It keeps growing...

Right now I have two big terrain projects going. One is known, a "Lebanese Village", that will allow Mark and myself to run games at either house. His set up is more urban while mine is more like the Bekaa Valley (oh the spellings - have to do a blog post on that one). In theory it allows our friends to chose their battlefield. That is the theory at least.

The other project is Green Island (Operation Bulmus 6 - That is another needed blog post on the numbering of the IDF operations. Could be interesting.) This island in the Gulf of Suez was the scene of a drag out fight during the War of Attrition that was only halted by the indiscriminate use of Egyptian artillery on their own position. (I guess the Egyptian never thought their troops could hold out.)

Today I received a couple of the machine guns I will need for the position. It should be fun and I hope to get it ready for Historicon, just don't ask me which year.

 The only aerial photograph I could find of the island.

Latest Additions to the Eqyptian and IDF Forces

This past week has been very productive on the painting font. Unfortunately less so on the blogging side of life.

I was able to finish up my Israelis for Operation Raviv. These troops are a mixture of Peter Pig Range 17 armed with AK47s and QRF’s Israeli Command armed with Uzis.

They are done by the flowing steps.

• Prime Black
• Base dry brush of Yellow Olive (892) or Olive Grey (888)
• Dry Brush Medium Grey (987)
• I than did the kit and weapons in various shades.

Egyptian Infantry also made an appearance. These troops will be used for the War of Attrition. I will show the base troops in caps and the mechanized infantry in Soviet style helmets.

They are done by the flowing steps.

• Prime Black
• Base Dry Brush of Pale Sand (837)
• Wash of Citadel Devlan Mud
• Skin Medium Flesh tone (860)
• Kit is done in Formula P3 Gun Corps Brown.

 

I look forward to getting them on the table and into battle.

Egyptian Troops and ISU-152s

I have been asked when will my Egyptians be ready. They are on the bench right behind the Raviv IDF troops. Hope to get these IDF troops done by early next week.

The Egyptian will be a mix of Quality Castings and Peter Pig (Harden Militia).

To show that the Egyptian forces are moving forward (not a great term to use today) I have included images of my ISU-152 ready for the War of Attrition and the October War.

ZPU-4s

Well we are now into February and that means to me Cold Wars is around the corner. This week Mark and I will put the finishing touches on our two games. By the end of the weekend I hope to be able to add to my Syrians with two new platoons, one of T55s and a second with T62s.

My Arab forces have also added to their air defenses with two ZPU-4s. Why do I need two? I don’t know, I think I forgot and than ordered the second.  There is a big difference between the QRF and Peter Pig anti-aircraft guns. While I consider the Peter Pig weapon a miniature, the gun from QRF was a real model with more pieces that I knew what to do with. I even end up with a spare piece that I think was the towing bar. I am not sure with is the correct scale as the Peter Pig Figure is smaller if I do need a third I will problem go with the Peter Pig miniature, it was easy to put together.

Now were are Marks A-4s :)

ZPU-4 from Peter Pig near the mosque.

ZPU-4 from QRF.

The Village Grows...and Grows Some More

So when does a village become a town. My village grew a little bit more today with the addition of three buildings and two terrain pieces. These came from Peter Pig in England along with the rest of the Israelis with AK47s for Raviv.

These new acquisition gives the village a new residence, a work shop and a small dwelling that could be either.

An overview of the village. Militia and the Charioteer show the scale of the village.

A new block in the village. I need to ensure that the road does not repeat itself. :)

My newest painted building with a news crew doing some filming new to two civilians.

The Egyptian Army 1969

Today the Egyptian Army got a boost in the form of an order received from Peter Pig. These Range 17 Harden Militia figures will form the back bone of the Egyptian Army for Operation Raviv. The down side is I still have to paint them. Oh bother.
 

Machine Guns for Green Island. Image from Peter Pig website.

Images of the New Arrivials

Below are images from my workbench of the recently arrived IDF and Egyptians.

These are the IDF troops for Raviv. Troops with AK47s are Peter Pig, those with Uzis are from QRF. There will be a total of 60 soldiers in the IDF force.

The static and radar troops will be using QRF Egyptians in the ball cap. Also very useful as Cubans. Line troops will ne from QRF and Peter Pig.

Will not very useful for Operation Raviv, the ISU-152 can be used on the Suez line for both the War of Attrition and the Yom Kippur War. The T-10M was often reported in Egyptian service but never left Mother Russia. I like the tank to much not to find a use for it.

Dear Santa

Yes I am getting a little old for a letter to Santa, but than again I have been a good boy and my friends at QRF (through Scale Creep), Old Glory 15s, Peter Pig and The TOOFATLardies would like to help out Santa’s Elves. So here goes.

• A lot of 15mm T55s. Looking to finish building a company for my Egyptians (and maybe my Syrians). It is a useful tank as it was used by everybody in the Middle East.
  Two 15mm T62 to finish out a second platoon.
• A ISU-152 to use on the canal. Boy it is big.
• Buildings and terrain for the desert.
• And a T-10M.

I know, one of these things is not like the others and you have every reason to ask why. The T-10M (Obyekt 730) was the last of the JS/IS heavy tanks. While the IS-3M was used by Egypt it was no T-10M. For starters the look was different. The T-10 was longer and had an extra road wheel.

So why my interest? Well it is a cool looking tank. A definite favorite and until the model of the Obyekt 279 is released in 15mm, it is one of the best tanks out there for “what ifs” and science fiction gaming. Plus think of the reaction when the Israelis run into one during the War of Attrition.

  Image from my newest favorite blog spot.
http://ww2throughthelens.blogspot.com

My Work Bench 11/28/2010

OK, I was informed that the image could of been better. As I am getting ready to wash the nine tanks here I thought I would take another picture of my soon to be intrepid warriors. Any idea were they are heading?

Richard, I hope you like the tank riders.

The SUV (and the riders) will not be going on this trip.

My Work Bench 11/24/2010

Now that I have most of my 28mm figures off of my worktable (does not mean they are all painted) I can get back to more of my 15mm Arab Israeli War miniatures. As you can see from this picture I have twelve armored vehicles primed and ready to be painted. Any guesses on what they are for?

Centurions are from Peter Pig. The rest are from Old Glory 15.

Media for Wargaming

While doing my under-grad work in history, I spent a get deal of time in the stacks going through old newspapers, magazines and the ever-present microfiche. These were great secondary sources for the events occurring since the mid-19^th century. I was wondering what were historians and gamers going to use to research modern day conflicts. While the Vietnam War and Falklands both have a lot of books out there remembering their platoon, squadron or ship, how will we find out about the more secretive parts of the world. There is not much that comes out of the Middle East dealing with military matters unless it pertains to the United States. So while I can find some materials about Lebanon 1982 in English, it is mostly from the Israeli point of view. I have found one book with a chapter on Syria and their air force. It added a total of three pages and no notes on sources (OK the sources are only a problem for the academic in me).

So what can a gamer do? Since I limited myself from the start of the invasion to the attempts to close the Beirut to Damascus Highway we are only looking at less than three weeks (6 June 1982 to 24 June 1982). This leaves the monthly and even the weekly publications out. As for the daily newspapers other than the New York Times and The Jerusalem Post I am not certain what to use. Any suggestions?

A view of the film crew reporting on a Syrian advance on a Lebanese position.

A view of the crew and Syrians advancing taken from the mosque. Figures from Peter Pig and buildings from Fieldworks. Jon Yuengling did the painting.