Adventures on the Wargames Table

Good chum Mike and I got together for a long overdue game of Chain of Command in the North African desert.  It's December 1941 and Rommel's men are cunningly withdrawing before the onslaught of Operation Crusader .  With Allied supply lines being stretched thin, the Germans decide to make a stand at the abandoned village of Marj-Areen ... Mike kindly set up a table before my arrival, and then produced a delicious pizza, artisan bread and plenty of tea before we set to.  Here's the table after the patrol phase. I have JOPs behind the two ruined buildings and the hill on the far left, whilst Mike has JOPs behind the two hills nearest his baseline.  I was impressed by the rugged sandy hills on Mike's table, covered in rocks both large and small.  When many people think of the desert they think of endless sand but much of the North African desert is rather different.  Mike has been there (following in the footsteps of his Dad) and it's very rugged terrain...

Brmm, brmm! Dakka, dakka!  Rommel's finest now have some hot new wheels to race around the desert. Prepared and ready to paint, the riders with tabs were glued to some old slotta bases to make them easier to paint. The motorbike and sidecar combos are Perry, whilst the other is a Warlord kit.  Have to honest here and say the Perry castings were less than stellar and were quite fiddly to build and position. In the pic above the handle bars have yet to be eased into a better, more natural position. Painting and basing was exactly the same as all my other DAK infantry and vehicles - have a look at the "Painting" tab above to find some links if you're interested in the paints, technique, etc.

I found this little half-track in one of my "bits" boxes.  It's a Blitzkreig model and the casting is okay but, to be honest, not quite a crisp as recent kits from Warlord. I tested a slightly different technique compared to my earlier Panzer II, etc.  Primed with AP Skeleton Bone spray and given a base coat of Foundry Boneyard shade.  Then gave it a pin wash of AP Strong Tone was (from a bottle not a tin).  The base colour was used to tidy up the edges and panels.  Paint the tracks and tyres black and highlight with grey.  Then highlight everything with a dry-brush of Foundry Boneyard mid and light.  That's it! The crew figure is from a Warlord 251 kit, painted the same as all my other DAK. Base from Charlie Foxtrot Models; textured and painted as described for my other DAK vehicles.

More firepower for Rommel's finest!  This time it's a lovely Pak 38 from Warlord Games. The kit was pretty cleanly cast but it was a little fiddly to put together. Not a view any Allied tanker would enjoy. All painted and based using the recipes I've described in earlier posts.  Check out the "Painting" tab above if you'd like more info.

It's always so exciting when the first boxes and blisters of your new army arrive! Yes, Santa has been very kind here at the table!  There should be just enough figures for a 1942 British Armoured Brigade force consisting of Three M3 Stuarts Three Infantry sections Medic Artillery Observer Medium Mortar 6lb AT Gun Sherman (not pictured) ... although I might swap this for a Grant? I should also be able to build a Boys anti-tank rifle* team and a light mortar team, plus maybe a sniper* team too so as to give me a little more variety in the troops available.  Transports to follow.  Depending upon how some eBay trading goes in the next little while I may add a Humber MkII armoured car. * not actually an option in the armoured list, but fun to build & paint! But it's not all British armour.  Jerry is getting in on the fun too. Two more Panzer III's roll in to give me the option of fielding a 1941/42 Panzer Division force.  This means I'll hav...

Yes, I've finally slopped some paint on a couple of vehicles for my DAK! ("About time" - says George!).  Anyway, here they are... Decals still to go (awaiting Microsol) but I think they look okay.  The painting "recipe" was as follows:- Undercoat with AP Desert Yellow spray Base coat in Foundry Boneyard Shade Tyres and tracks in black then a quick highlight with a dark grey Wash with GW Agrax Earthshade Highlight with Foundry Boneyard Shade/Mid/Light Pick out details such as the machine guns with black, brown, etc. I think the highlighting with the Foundry Boneyard light went a bit crazy with the 251, but hey after  few months in the scorching desert it's bound to look a bit weathered? I love this little tank!  Packing a light auto-cannon and a co-axial MMG it epitomises early desert warfare. Inspired by chum Orange Dave, I've based them on some Charlie Foxtrot MDF bases.  Still plenty to add ... so lots more to follow.  Thanks f...

You're probably bored of seeing even more of Rommel's finest here on the blog!  Fear not, these are probably the last of the infantry... maybe!? Another 8 infantry with a mix of MP40s and rifles. This allows me to field 6 full squads of schutzen plus a squad of 10 pioneers. Here's an LMG team and a light mortar. What to do next though?  Maybe the Panzer II and the SdKfz 251, or I might switch back to making a few more bits of scenery?  Thanks for looking.

At last, the first game with my new DAK army! I joined chums Mike and Orange Dave to re-fight part of the battle for Mersa Brega - scenario 6 from the excellent new Western Desert campaign book. Mike and I both had 1250 points to face Dave's very well entrenched British force of 1250 points. So, a 2:1 advantage for the Axis forces... but with the town so heavily fortified would it be enough? Dave's British prepare for the onslaught That's one 25lber ... The town, with the ruins of the mosque in the centre, was surrounded by barbed wire, barricades and minefields. ... and here's another! A whopping 39 order dice! The Axis forces began the game entirely off table.  I decided to send my two Opel Blitz trucks on a wide flanking move, having crammed them full of well armed veteran schutzen. My DAK begin their advance The initial attack was to be made by my regular platoon supported by the Panzer II and a SdKfz 251. Mike's DAK make good use of...