My Unofficial Battlegroup: Cold War - UPDATE - New French AFV Data

One thousand apologies for not posting this sooner - but here is the most up-to-date copy of the French AFV Stats.  Looking at it and the most recent NATO Gun Data table, I don't believe I have added the different French weapons into the table.  That's a job for another day - but at least you can see the AFV data now.

French AFV Data

Once you've had a look through let me know if you find any obvious errors etc or missing vehicles etc.

Thanks

Richard

Finally... a new update

Hi everyone

Unbelievably it's been months since I last had the opportunity to post an update on this blog.  Like many I'm currently in self-isolation/quarantine at home after returning to Australia from the UK.  I imagine I'll be in this situation for quite a few months and again like many I'm going to use the opportunity to get a few things back on track - including this blog.

I have had some positive things happen over the last few months - with one of the most prominent being a published scenario in Wargames, Soldiers & Strategy magazine (Issue 106).  I'll have more information on that soon, including fixing the odd error that made it into the magazine and adding some stuff that was missed out a whole lot of random events that can spice up the scenario.  I'll see if I have any other pics that I took for the article that didn't make it into print and will share those as well.

But today I thought I'd share some photos of what's on my workbench.  Many of these of models I'm making/painting for a friend and a couple are for me.  I thought this would be a good way to bring the blog back up to speed.  I've also some pics of figures and some vehicles to post up as well - they'd be in the near future.

So - once again - on with the show:

Here's a couple M109Gs by S&S Models.  Not sure how well you can see but the spades at the rear are down for firing.

Here's another S&S Models vehicle.  This time a MAN Utility LKW  gl (4x4 Truck)

Next up are a couple of M113G's, this time from Hobbyden.  Very nice, straight forward models which just needed a bit of green-stuff to fix things like air bubble holes in the smoke dischargers.  Once painted I'll add the Commander's hatch , the pintle mount and the MG3 that come with the model.

This is another Hobbyden M113 variant.  This time a Panzermorser which comes with a metal 120mm mortar.

Yet another Hobbyden model.  This time a M577G.

Final M113 variant.  A  unique West German vehicle the M113 Beobachtungspanzer.  There was some significant damage done to this model, so it needed a fair amount of green stuff to fix it.

The final three models are actually for my collection - not my mates...

Back to S&SD Models - a lovely little Iltis with the soft top up.  I'll be using this for my Fallschirmjager Command of OP vehicles - amongst other uses.

Finally a couple of old school Unimogs, again from S&S Models.  These will be for my Danish Motorised Infantry.

So that's it for now.  Next post will be more W-I-P photos after cam netting has been added to some of the vehicles.

So stay well everyone, wash your hands and keep away from everyone!

Richard

My Unofficial Battlegroup: Cold War - UPDATE - New and Edited French Lists

Time for another update.  It's been a while I know but I've recently completed my revision of THREE French lists and I now feel they are in much better shape than they were when I first published the French Armoured Division Battlegroup list.

So here are the revised and new lists for the French:

French Armoured Division Battlegroup

French Infantry Division Battlegroup

French Rapid Reaction Force Battlegroup

I believe with these lists you should be able to replicate almost any French force from the mid to late 1980's - even possibly the first Gulf War.

The French have some awesome kit - certainly the best Armoured Cars (like the AMX-10RC) of any of the other lists, and also some pretty old and funky stuff (like the AMX-13).  I just need access to a complete range of French infantry options and then this is on my "to complete" list as I've already been putting away the odd bit of French kit for years.

Anyway - I think I have the Czechs still to do and then I'm largely calling the Army Lists complete.  Also as Battlegroup NORTHAG is coming closer - and will not be compatible with any of my stuff I won't be doing any more on this project.

As NORTHAG has gone in a slightly different direction I've decided to take the work I have done and work it into something different again, with my take on a Cold War game.

More of that in the future.

Thanks

Richard

SA-10B Grumble (S-300) Transport-Erector-Launchers (TELs)

Jeepers!!  I've just realised it was way back in December 2015 that I first started this particular little project.  So it's only taken almost 4 years to finish the primary assets I need to run the scenario I've been planning.

So back here and here I showed you the 5N63S Flap Lid B Engagement Radar and the 5P85S TEL.  The 5P85S is kind of the master or smart TEL with the controls and datalink hardware for the entire TEL group.

Today I want to show you my two completed 5P85D slave or dumb TELs - both of which are controlled by the 5P85S TEL.

Here is dumb TEL number 1 - travelling:

In firing position:

And the second dumb TEL - travelling:

and in firing position:

You can easily see there was a fault with this model.  I'm planning on covering it up with a cam net.

Just to prove I haven't just sneakily moved some parts around - here is my Battery:

From left to right they are the 5N63S Flap Lid B Engagement Radar, the 5P85S TEL (smart TEL) and then the two 5P85D dumb TELs.

I've seen lots of pictures of the TELs in all different shades and cam patterns, with matching missile tubes, or grey or white tubes etc.  So painting one with white tubes (for a Norwegian setting) seemed like a good idea and helps make one TEL look quite different from the others.  Likewise the first two vehicles were painted with a generic "Russian Green" while I airbrushed the latest two in MiG 083 (XB518 Zashchitniy Zefeno) which according to MiG paints was the standard basic colour used in the Soviet Union from 1956 to the 1980's - but is still common today.  I quite like the colour.

So that's it for now.  I'm working on an auxiliary vehicle for the battery, and once it's done I'll start playing through the mission solo and see how it goes.

Thanks

Richard

Book Review: Northern Fury - H-Hour by Bart Gauvin and Joel Radunzel

Last week I had to do a bit of air travel for work.  When I know I'll be spending several hours in a fairly small plane (in this case a Saab 340) I tend to download a new book to make the whole thing a little more bearable.  Fortunately for me I knew Northern Fury had just been released on the Amazon Kindle Store - so I hoped I was in for a treat.

I feel like there are a lot of parallels between Northern Fury and it's famous (in these circles anyway) predessor, Red Storm Rising.  Both books have a fairly grand scope.  Whilst focusing on specific people (quite a few, like RSR) doing specific things, these things are happening in several locations across the globe, mostly in this book Russia (or a resurgent USSR), Norway and the United States in the case of this book.

When Tom Clancy and Larry Bond wrote RSR, they gamed out many of the scenarios - specifically the naval actions - using Mr Bond's Harpoon ruleset to test out various hypothesis.  My understanding was they went with the results of the actions as they played out in the games.

In the case of Northern Fury Bart Gauvin and Joel Radunzel primarily used a computer game "Command: Modern Air/Naval Operations" to game out various actions.  I'd guess primarily air actions, but some smaller naval actions in this particular book.  I think this lends the book an excellent air of authenticity.

Speaking of authenticity, both authors are current officers in the Canadian and US military's (Army).  I guess that doesn't always make a difference (Tom Clancy anyone) but it certainly helps in books like The Third World War & Untold Story (General Sir John Hackett), Team Yankee (Harold Coyle), Red Army (Ralph Peters), the Red, Black & Blue Effect (Harvey Black).  The authors mention many of these books in their foreward.

I'm not going to go into what happens in the book.  I don't want to give anything away as I think you need to be a little bit "unaware" so you can be caught by the surprises that happen in the book.  The authors have their own website and blog here and they provide a brief overview here.  The website also has a quite a bit of useful information on it re WARPAC and NATO forces focussing now on Norway which is nice.  Their blog has more interesting bits and pieces like some of the bits that got cut from the novel.

So what did I think of the book?  Basically I loved it!  Gauvin and Radunzel have come up with a unique and quite believable setting, a few years after the Cold War novel standard date range and it really works.  They link in several other well known events, like the winter Olympics in a very cool way - so I was super impressed.

I enjoyed the characters, the research is obvious - I do wonder if either of the authors have traveled/worked in Norway as that all felt pretty real.  The vehicle, aircraft, helicopter, weaponry descriptions all felt accurate without feeling laboured.  There is no sentences like "... he carefully sighted his 7.62mm Kongsberg Våpenfabrikk AG3 battle rifle at the Soviet VDV paratrooper who had just slide of the side of the still moving BMD-1 (Boyevaya Mashina Desanta) airborne mechanised assault vehicle, whilst carrying his 5.45mm RPK-74 squad light machine-gun."  Thank goodness!

The worst thing about the book is that it finished...  Beware that unlike RSR this is not a complete story in one book.  It really is about the lead up to war and then the first few hours of the war.  There is much yet to come and I want to read about it!  I hope the authors do well enough from this publication to continue to be motivated to write the rest of their story.  I for one will snap up each book as it comes out.  I can honestly say that in my opinion, this book ranks up there with the best of the books of the genre and I can't wait for the next one.

Thanks

Richard

The Berlin Project - Land Rovers

It's been a while since I've shown anything for my Berlin Project - not because I've forgotten about it, it's just Project 57 of the 345 projects I seem to currently be doing...

Anyway, I've time for a quick update, showing off a couple of Oxford Diecast Land Rovers I've picked up recently, both in the British Berlin Brigade urban camo pattern.  First up is a Lander Rover 101 FC.

I've now got two of these and I'll be using them to transport a Milan team and a Medium Mortar team.

Next up a 1/2 ton Land Rover

I'm thinking I'll use this to transport my Mortar Fire Controller.

I've actually no idea if the Berlin Brigade painted these vehicles in this fashion as I've only seen pics of more "standard" Land Rovers in the Berlin urban cam scheme.  I'm not even sure if the Brigade used the 1/2 ton Land Rover at all.  But hey, they look pretty good to me and I'm just happy I have another couple of vehicle I don't have to paint in that scheme!

Catch ya soon

Richard

The Zealand Campaign - Game 2 - Follow-On Attack - After Action Report

So with the table set it was time to get on with the game.  First up the Danish player was able to palce both his Centurions, the M41, a Forward Observer, 1 Mech Squad in their M113A1, the M150, a single medium Mortar, the HJV Platoon Command all in his deployment zone.

The Centurion Platoon Leader's Tank, an M113A1 and the Forward Observer deployed in and around the barn across the road from Lystrup &Jomfruens Egede Godser main house.

On the opposite side of the table the medium mortar is deployed and in the distance you can see the HJV Platoon Command Squad.

The M150 (on Overwatch) and another Centurion cover the centre of the table.

Here's another view of the centre and left flank.  The M41 is hidden in the Lystrup &Jomfruens Egede Godser courtyard.

And here's another shot of the HJV Platoon Command (also shown in yesterday's post).  The final 2 units on the table - an HJV Squad and the HJV MAW Team were not actually placed on the table, but were "hidden" in and around the house in the picture below - the Soviet Player had no idea of this.

The Soviets led with their recon BRDM-2, the sacrificial lamb that was sent up the main road, mainly to see how many overwatch shots and missiles it could attract.  Only 1 105mm main gun round it turned out, was necessary to ruin the BRDM's day.

3 T-55AMV's also raced up the road as far as they could, laden with 2 Soviet Naval Infantry Squad and an Anti-Armour Squad, all of whom had lost their BTR-60PBs in the previous game.  In the distance you can see a blown up UAZ-469, which must have taken a round through the bonnet (hood for Americans) totally destroying it, but leaving the Mortar Fire Controller completely unharmed (but pinned for good measure.  The other UAZ also emerged unscathed.

Here are the T-55AMV's and their passengers again.

Other units also started to slowly move up the table, struggling in the wet ground.  The SA-9 in the background remained there for almost the entire game as the Soviet's really had a difficult time activating all the little units that were not part of a platoon.  Based on what happened in this game I have had some ideas to tinker with my Soviet Orders rules.

The BTR-60PB carrying the 120mm SNI mortar team took a couple of turns to get into the right position on the edge of the woods before deploying the heavy mortar.

The Ambush is sprung.  A MAW round hits the T-55AMV closest to the house but fails to penetrate due to the reactive armour.  The explosive does drive the Squad riding the tank off and they are pinned behind a hedge.  The HJV Squad fires their one M72 LAW at the tank adjacent to the first hit tank, which misses and the rest of the squad open fire at the tank riders, massively depleting that squad (down to two men) who are also pinned against another hedge.

A different shot of the action.  The two front T-55AMV's were also shot at by a Centurion and the M150, both of which missed.

Scattering artillery did however manage to pin one of the PT-76's crawling through the mud.

Whilst the T-55AMV's tried to deal with a multitude of targets, and unpin all their units, the M150 targeted one of them from cover....

... and managed to take out the first T-55AMV.  The reactive armour roll was poor, perhaps the missile hit the same spot as the Carl Gustav team, because it easily penetrated and destroyed the target.

Meanwhile the remainder of the SNI on table force continued to prepare.  The ZSU-23-4 was put on Ambush Fire when after finally inflicting 3 BR chits (the loss of the MAW Team, the HJV Squad and an objective) the Danish player drew 2 planes and an Out of Ammo chit, which was played on the mortar, which did not fire another shot for the rest of the game.

Danish reserves started to show up.  With the Mech Platoon Commander happy to sit in his M113A1 up the back of the table and call in fire from the off-table mortar battery, the other Squad set off across country to reinforce the Dane's right flank.  Unfortunately two "1's" were rolled and the M113A1 was bogged in the mud for the rest of the game.

The first real bit of luck for the Soviets when they managed to get in contact with a battery of 122mm guns whose barrage landed exactly where it was needed, killing the Centurion Platoon Commander (and his tank) and pinning the M41

The Mortar's BTR-60PB continues to advance.

Now the flanking force started to arrive.  This was a total surprise for the Danish player, whose been so busy lately he didn't get a chance to properly read the scenario.  The Soviet player did read the scenario!

On they came across the stream.  I actually wanted them to arrive on the road, but I couldn't get it to go exactly where I wanted it so they came on where they came on.

It didn't really make much difference for the Soviets though as they took out both the M41 and the M113A1 they could immediately see.

As this was happening in the centre of the table there was an exchange of losses.  The remaining Centurion took out the second T-55AMV.

Then the remaining T-55AMV, stationary behind the two burning wrecks of his platoon mates calmly slotted the M150, the Danes most damaging weapon.

The final shot of the game was of the burning Danish wrecks.  This was the end of Turn 7.  The Soviets had been taking chits every turn since Turn 5 as they hadn't won the game fast enough.  The Danes were down to 3 Mech Infantry Squads, 1 functional M113A1 and a Centurion, plus the FO team, the HJV Command Squad and the medium mortar.

The Soviets had only lost 2 T-55AMVs and a BRDM-2, plus some Naval Infantry.

Interestingly the Soviets had suffered much more BR damage, while the Danes were sitting pretty as they had draw 2 planes, and out of ammo chit, and one other Name chit which I can't remember.

Had we had the time for one more turn a whole BTR-60PB mounted platoon could have come onto the table and immediately assaulted the barn where the FO and 1 Mech Squad were based.  They could have been supported by the 3 T-55Ms that were also on that flank and by the T-55AMV which would have started moving up the table.  Turn 8 would not have been a happy turn for the Danes.

So the bottom line was that the Soviets were able to push the Danes out of this position much more effectively than Game 1 where the Danes left the table when they felt like it.  The surprise flanking move really smashed the Danes, and the Danish player not being prepared for it made it much more devastating.

So once again, fun was had by all and sometime in the next 12 months we might get a couple more games in the Campaign completed!

Thanks for reading

Richard