More 20mm, means more Second World War

I found January a very productive period for a number of different projects, not least of which was more 20mm for the Second World War. I painted quite a few figures and, to give myself a change of scene, I made up a few plastic kits that had been sitting in the stash. Among those was a Marder III Ausf M from UM and a Jagpanther from Revell. The latter a bargain I couldn't resist at a Bring & Buy.

I have a few kits from UM and they can be fiddly at times, but no matter how frustrating, I'm always happy with the end result. The Marder III is no different and a crew from AB Figures sets it off nicely.

The Plastic Soldier Company Pz38t set allows you to also build two earlier versions of the Marder, but not the later Ausf M. It's noticeably different, because it involved a major redesign that saw the engine relocated to the middle of the vehicle, thereby allowing a proper sunken cab to house the crew and give them better protection. Here's the UM Marder next to the PSC version of the Marder III Ausf H (also with a crew from AB).

Here you can see clearly how the earlier Ausf H retains the original chassis of the Pz38t and simply replaces the turret with the new gun mounting and shield. Not the most secure of positions for the crew to work from if under fire.

Revell have always made good 1/72 kits and while the Jagdpanther is hardly a new kit, it produces a very fine finished model. Once again, I've added a crew figure from AB.

The kit came moulded in black plastic, a strange choice for a number of reasons but not least because it's an awful colour to work with. As with the UM kits, this becomes irrelevant once it's all come together and has paint on it.

I was able to fill out the US Marine force with figures and weapons teams that aren't covered in the Eureka range (which make up the bulk of my Marine squads).

To fill those gaps I've acquired figures from a couple of other ranges sold through Grubby Tanks - Britannia Miniatures and Kellys Heroes. This can occasionally be fraught with danger, as not all ranges work to similar sizes or sculpting styles, but I'm reasonably happy with how this has worked out. 

One of the issues with the Grubby Tanks website is that many of the ranges have no pictures of the figures. This was unfortunate because I placed an order for 50cal MG teams from the Britannia range and what I actually received were M1917 water cooled MGs. While they certainly look the part for a sustained fire MG role, they are not the heavy calibre of the 50cal, but they will have to suffice for now. Using the dedicated loader figures and a couple of others, I can make up a five man team.

If I have an issue with the Britannia Miniautres figures, it's to wonder why they've been sculpted with backpacks? I would imagine the operators would most likely have removed these in order to operate the weapons more efficiently. It's not a big issue, but it does seem a bit odd.

Originally, when I was ordering the initial batch of figures from Eureka, I didn't look too closely and made the quick, but incorrect, assumption that their mortar teams must be 60mm mortars. They are in fact 81mm M1 mortars. 

The lack of M2 60mm mortars has been addressed by using sets from Britannia Miniatures. The difference in size of the 60mm mortars from the Eureka 81mm mortars is a stark reminder that I should pay more attention when ordering figures.

I added a couple more bazooka teams, one from Britannia Miniatures (on the left), the other from Kellys Heroes (on the right). Once again, the Britannia figures are fully encumbered with backpacks, while the Kellys figures look more casually dressed and more fitting to a combat role.

A couple of figures with satchel charges will always come in useful. One from Kellys Heroes and another from Britannia Miniatures (I don't think I need to tell you which is which!).

Frankly, it's hard to imagine that someone wanting to move as quickly as possible to undertake a quite hazardous task would want to be weighed down with all that kit on their back. The Kellys Heroes figure (on the right), seems more appropriately dressed for the occasion.

To complement the men with satchel charges, I have added a few other figures carrying out engineering tasks. These are all from Kellys Heroes and include teams clearing minefields and barbed wire.  

One other specialist is a sniper figure. While 'sharpshooter' was a qualification attained for marksmanship, the actual role we might consider of a more traditional sniper was different and was sometimes referred to as a 'scout-sniper' or simply 'sniper'. It goes without saying that most snipers also held the sharpshooter qualification. To help differentiate the figure, I've painted this one in full camouflage, not just the helmet cover.

While the bazooka didn't make an appearance in the Pacific campaign until 1944, the 37mm anti-tank gun, which had become obsolete in other theatres, gave service throughout the war. It remained capable of knocking out most Japanese tanks and fired a very deadly canister round against infantry. The gun below is from an s-models set of jeeps. The crew are mainly Kellys Heroes, with one Eureka figure thrown in to make up the numbers. One nice feature of some of those Kellys Heroes figures is that they are wearing t-shirts which adds a nice mix to the appearance of the crew.

The only figures remaining to paint from this recent addition are crews for the LVTs. These are from the Britannia range and come with the figures standing on a pile of ammunition crates. While this brings them to the height they need to be to operate the MGs, they are a little too high for these particular LVT models. That involves trimming off some of those crates - in short taking a hacksaw and cutting through a chunk of metal. For that I need a vice, something I don't have, so that will need addressing in due course. Just when you think you're finished, you're not.

Twilight of the Reich - Chain of Command at Cancon 2026

A slightly belated post on my games at Cancon this year. Cancon is Australia's biggest gaming convention and takes place every year in Canberra over the holiday weekend that falls around Australia Day on January 26. This year, as I have done for the last four years, I ran participation games in the Lard Zone. 

Whereas most of Cancon is tournament focused, the Lard Zone aims to offer players an opportunity to pick and mix from a variety of Too Fat Lardies games, with the focus on participation, rather than competition. Cancon is a big event with multiple games and tournaments running over three days. The Lard Zone occupies one corner of this hall, one of four halls housing game events.

Last year, I ran four games of a scenario set on Saipan in 1944. As is usual for me, it was played in 20mm using the Chain of Command rules (more about that game in this post). Pleased to say, that scenario has since been published in issue #138 of Wargames, Soldiers & Strategy magazine.

This year, I stayed with Chain of Command and 20mm, but the scenario moved to the eastern front and the fight for Konigsberg in East Prussia in early 1945. Here is the table set up ready for the game on the first morning. The terrain sits on a 6'x4' homemade mat. I like to have this on a larger table, as that allows players to keep the other game related paraphernalia off the actual terrain itself.

The hall filled quickly. Between all the players in the various events and those just at Cancon to buy from traders and stroll around the tables, the volume rose significantly. By the end of the second day my voice had paid the price. The only solution would seem to be copious amounts of cold beer in the evening.

Entitled 'Twilight of the Reich' the scenario was an opportunity to use my ruined city terrain and incorporate many of the new rules in CoCv2. The terrain itself wasn't created specifically for this project. I've been building it up over time. Initially, some was created for games using Crossfire, when I returned to miniature gaming in 2015.

It was also a chance to use the Russian SMG platoon as it is listed in the CoCv2 rule book. The aim was to form a force with supports that aligned with the Soviet Assault Brigades that were in use with 11th Guards Army at the time of the attack into Konigsberg. It was a great opportunity to use my AB Figures' Russian collection.

The sorts of choices for support units included a Scout section, flamethrower team, SU-76, T34/76 and ISU-152.

The German defenders in this part of Konigsberg were Volksgrenadiers. At this late stage of the war their force morale is brittle, but they were well armed with StG44 assault rifles and plenty of panzerfausts. Once again, the miniatures are from AB Figures.

Their support choices included things like a Volkssturm section, StuGIII and a panzerschreck team. The Volkssturm miniatures below are from Wartime Miniatures.

This was designed as an Attack & Defend scenario, as per the v2 rulebook. For that I needed two suitable objective markers. To set the theme I chose a couple of models that would fit the period and place - a broken down Opel Blitz omnibus, a lovely kit from Roden, and, a burnt out PzIV, a conversion using a Dragon kit.

As luck would have it, Richard Clarke, from Too Fat Lardies, was going to be in Sydney visiting his daughter in mid January. He didn't plan on a trip to Cancon, but did have time for a game one evening in Sydney. That was perfect timing to have him playtest the scenario with Dave, my regular Chain of Command opponent. The table was not the final version, as I only needed to have the key buildings in place, but it gave me an important feel for how the scenario could be fine tuned. 

When it came to the table at Cancon I gave it the full treatment, dressing it with rubble and other scatter terrain. More about making that ruined city landscape in this post.

I ran four games using the same scenario, with two games each day on the Saturday and Sunday. To speed up the start of each game I set the force morale in advance and players were given a choice of three support options for their chosen side. I printed these out on to cards to make the whole process quick and easy to understand. Players were asked to select one of the options, keep it secret and hand me the card. That way their opponent would know what the options might be, but not which one was selected until the units appeared on the table.

It was interesting to see how each game unfolded and how that was influenced by the support options that were chosen. The combination of a T34/76 and a Scout section proved the most popular with the Soviet players, mainly because it allowed the use of the Scout special rule where they can use a team as a jump-off-point. They could also use the T34 for the Russian characteristic of Tankodesantniki, which similarly allows an AFV with no shock to act as a jump-off-point. Although, in the end, no one actually used that tactic in any of the games played.

The German players tended to favour taking the option for a StuGIII. This allowed use of Pakfront! one of the new German characteristics in the v2 rule book.

This often resulted in opposing tanks contesting the various objective markers and trying to stalk each other amidst the narrow confines of the ruined streets. Nail-biting for the players and very entertaining to watch as the game organiser.

The Volkssturm made an appearance in only one game. There they took up a secure position to guard one of the objectives and not much was asked of them. Probably just as well.

Objective points often changed hands several times in the course of a game amidst bitter hand-to-hand fighting. All of the elements you'd expect to witness in a city fight.

One Russian option included two SU-76 and an infantry flamethrower team. While the SU-76s provide useful HE support, their armour is paper thin. On the other hand, the flamethrower team could operate to deadly effect - if it can come close enough. 

In one game, a plucky SU-76 stood its ground to duel with a StuGIII. 

Hardly a fair fight, but it survived for longer than either player was expecting. Until it didn't. Exploding in flames and inflicting casualties on a nearby friendly SMG section.

It was good to see all of the scenarios hotly contested, but played in the right spirit. The game attracted a fair bit of attention from passersby, with plenty of compliments on the terrain.

20mm games rarely make an appearance at the convention, so it was great to fly the flag for that scale and for Chain of Command.

Too Fat Lardies very kindly gave all the tournament organisers two bespoke Lardy dice towers, featuring their Pie and Pint logo, made courtesy of Battlefield Accessories. Both saw a lot of use.

While my regular CoC opponent Dave helped with playtesting, he had his own games to run at Cancon. Here he is (in the centre) running participation games of Infamy, Infamy. He was intrigued that several different people asked if he was 'the Dave' from the Tactical Painter blog. So, here he is, the face behind the name.

Happy to say that was another very successful Cancon. I was pleased with the way the scenario played out. Several players travel quite some distance to attend and I feel game organisers carry a fair degree of responsibility to ensure they provide participants with a good experience. With three hours to play each scenario I'm always concerned the games may run over time, but all came to satisfactory conclusions within the allotted time. Naturally, it was really gratifying to receive so much positive feedback on all aspects, but particularly the terrain.

As always, it was good to see familiar faces at the event and big thanks to all those who participated in my games - Mark Chandler, MJ Carrick, Ben Fiene, Rowan Coker, Jeremy Cullis, Steve Preston (at very short notice, so thank you), Barnaby (you know who you are) and Damien Browne. Lastly, and most certainly not least, a huge thanks to Peter Rossetti, the organiser of the Lard Zone. As I said to him at CanCon, I don't think he quite receives the recognition he deserves for the excellent job he does. It must be like herding cats at times, a task at which it seems he has come to excel.