Return to 15mm WWII - Blitzkrieg Commander 4 - Ebay Purchases and Re-basing

Recently my friend John has got me interested in 15mm WWII by introducing me to Blitzkrieg Commander 4th edition by Pendraken Miniatures. In the past I've played a lot of Flames of War, but eventually got out of it as it was more played as a competitive rule set than for general multi-person historical battles. Having sold off a lot of my armies, I was in the position to have to get some late-war German Infantry to go with the late-war German tanks and Kradschutzen platoons that I still had.  

The group of infantry shown to the left I acquired on Ebay, and they match my existing collection's basing quite closely. I didn't think I needed to do anything to them to put them straight onto the table.

That solved my infantry problem, but I was still short support weapons, heavy machine guns (tripod mounted MG-34/42), mortars and especially some Pak-40 anti-tank guns. I picked up an additional three smaller auctions but those figures needed some re-basing to be used with the rest of my collection.

Here are the two Pak-40 anti-tank guns. The guns themselves were nicely painted, but the figures needed some touch-ups here and there. Also the basing was very crude. It was simply sand painted brown and dry-brushed. There were craters where there were empty holes in the pre-made bases. I filled the holes, and re-based with static grass, tufts and foliage clumps.

This 37mm Anti-Aircraft gun was based in just sand, but in an emplacement. The sand looked appropriate in the dugout, but I added bushes and static grass to the outside.

Here are the tripod-mounted MG-34/42 stands. A couple of these were missing the actual weapon, it having previously broken off. I replaced them from my spared box and repainted. The figures also needed some touch-ups. The bases had the same dark brown sand basing. Re-based with static grass, foliage clumps and grass tufts as well. The front three stands look like they may have originally been painted by the GAJO miniatures service.

Mortars. Although these all look like 81mm mortar models, the two different figure manufacturers make the rear two stands tubes look a lot smaller. I could possibly use this to call the front stands 100mm mortars I guess. Similarly to the MGs the front three stands look like they might be GAJO-painted minis. Same re-basing was required here. 

The rest of these figures are of my existing collection of vehicles and dismounted crews for the motorcycle and kubelwagon teams. Many of these have been featured earlier on this blog.

 

28mm WWII German Fallschirmjagers

I picked these German Fallschirmjagers up from Ebay for a very nice price. They were well painted in general but I did do some touch ups. The flesh was a touch too bright so I gave the faces and hands a flesh wash. The gunmetal was non-metallic grey so I gave those areas a quick touch-up with some gunmetal. Finally I did some washes on some areas that seemed a bit monochromatic. 

Short post, just to make sure everyone know I'm still alive.

Tobacco Factory game at Adler Hobby

My friend Gordon at Adler Hobby asked me to run my Iron Cross Salerno Tobacco Factory game at his store to kick off an Italy WWII campaign he was starting there. I can't resist the chance to break out the scenario with all of the custom buildings I made for it, so it was an easy 'yes' from me to run the game. An additional benefit would be letting Gordon finally get to play the scenario himself.

The scenario starts at 10am the second day as the Scott's guards attempt to re-capture the complex after the Americans were driven out on the first day. Both sides start with some listening posts in the complex from the overnight probes, but both have to rush to the scene to attack the buildings, the Germans having withdrawn overnight (as they did during the actual battle). 

Two players were British.

 

 

 

 

Three were German, including Gordon.

 

 

The British started on with their mortar team and infantry streaming to the buildings. Their armor and anti-tank guns held in reserve waiting to see where the Germans put their heavy assets.

The Germans pulled no punches and dropped down their Pak-40 along the northern edge of the table with the Hetzer charging forward.

The Germans occupied some buildings on their side, but also blew a hole in the buildings in the middle of the complex and established a stronghold there. This gave them the edge in amount of the complex occupied; the primary scenario objective.

The British brought in their 17 pounder anti-tank opposite the Hetzer but failed to destroy it, instead driving it back. It would later return over the rubble, safe from the 17 pounder. The British brought in their Sherman 1 (75mm) to try to counter it, but the Germans got the best of the exchange taking out the thin-skinned Sherman with the Hetzer's main gun.

The British tried to come into the complex on the back side, similar to the Germans by using some TNT to blow a hole in the rear wall. The Germans met them there and again got the best of the exchange. Things looked bleak for the British at this point. It was time for more desperate measures by the British.

On the far side of the complex the British took advantage of a streak of activations in a row and dashed across the open ground in the middle of the complex. They first attempted two separate PIAT shots at the German's SdKfz 222 armored car, eventually deciding to bypass it and dash directly into the German buildings. Some fierce close assault fighting ensued with the British coming out on top. From here they spread like locusts across the complex.

In the middle of the complex the Hetzer was still causing all sorts of havoc. A second hard push from the British failed to take it out and again they dashed to the safety of the buildings. The Germans tried several times to rally their troops with their company commander, but he was ineffective at the task. The pendulum had swung. At the end of the day the British had a firm grasp on the majority of the buildings. At dusk the Germans would again have to withdraw. Result a solid British victory snatched from the jaws of defeat.

 

This was an amazingly fun scenario to run. In my local group players tend to play in a very calculated and conservative manner. This works well when we play in the local group. At Adler hobby, all of the players played much more aggressively. It showed me how mobile a force can be in Iron Cross and how using mobility can be an effective tool. I appreciate all of the players having fun and playing with the utmost sportsmanship. I won't hesitate to host another game at Adler, or game with any of these players again.