Italians and Ascari for East Africa WW2 - 15mm

 East Africa - Italian and Colonial forces

House move more or less complete (don't look in the garage ...) I've been able to spend some time on the Italian forces and their allies for CoC East Africa 1940-41. The setting even had a first run out last Thursday and boy, did I see how powerful the Italian "squadra" can be on the defensive.

It's fun to fiddle with the rules a bit and I'm thinking through a "Filthy Fascist Fraud" - an equivalent to a Shabby Nazi Trick. There were quite a few occasions in East Africa where a white flag was raised to trick Empire troops out of cover ... I'm sure it was all a misunderstanding. Anyway, there's some mileage in including this as a support option for the Italians and their allies in some scenarios. To balance it, the British Empire troops basically delivered a blitzkrieg of their own in this campaign so I figure that the Red Dice can be made available to them alongside the marvellous Drinks Cabinet option.

The minis are mainly Eureka this time, mixed with a Skytrex leaders pack and a few Peter Pig supports like trucks etc. To my eye, some of the Skytrex chaps are a bit chunkier and have a penchant for baggy pantaloons but they all look fine together once based up.

Senior Leaders

Skytrex flanking Peter Pig

Italian Bersaglieri Rifles

Italian "Squadras" have 10 rifles and 2x LMG teams - but only two of these per platoon

These are all Eureka

An LMG team (Eureka)

African Ascari/Colonial Battalion troops

Leaders (Eureka)

LMG team - for some reason missing a crew member (Eureka)

Banda/Patriots/Tribes

Leader (Eureka)

These can be used by either side as Scouts (12 Rifles, move 2D6 and go tactical)

Supports

Lancia Flamethrower L3/Lf can double as Fiat with a bigger gun ...

Fiat Ansaldo L3/35 tankette is in the background (Peter Pig I think)

M11/39 in early war camo (Skytrex)

M11/40 for later scenarios, possibly North Africa (Skytrex)

Cannone da 47/32 - pretty good piece of kit (Eureka and Peter Pig)

Lancia Truck (Peter Pig)

Autoblinda AB41 armoured car (Skytrex)

M35 MMG

What's next? A few early war and WWI vintage armoured cars for both sides are on the painting desk. I'm tempted to expand the Ascari options and Eureka do desert Bersaglieri on motorcycles/side-cars which might be fun. Hang on, though - Dux Brit you say? No I don't have any Arthurian cataphracts ... yet.

A few more British Empire supports

Managed to find time to finish these off over the weekend, along with the remaining infantry/supports for the Sikhs. Just the basing left to do on them. Maybe this week?

Some of these supports are better suited to the Western Desert / Libya / North Africa through to early 1942. The CoC rules and supplement cover this area too. The provides more armoured options for both the Italians and Empire, making for a more interesting "pick up" game or scenario.

Crusader c1941 - it's a touch more sand coloured in real life

Matilda II - a handful of these operated in East Africa

And one that went wrong

Unless the Brits created a Lemon Cheesecake camo?

I'll cover this with Caunter ...

Late-War Germans

Here's the German contingent. Again, all Warlord plastics and not bad at all. Some of the camo colours came out darker than planned but frankly I like them as they are for now! These chaps have performed well in Bolt Action and a few short trials of the CoC ruleset.

The Germans are led by Hauptmann Schweitensauer who tends to charge around with a machine pistol at his hip all day long (he's a distant relative of the Austrian Napoleonic officer from the Sharp Practice posts, but of course he seems to be more efficient). There are two sections and a few extras. I quite fancy supplementing these with some gebirgsjaeger because why not? And a tripod MG42, and a panzerschrek and an infantry gun and a Puma.

Ah, who am I kidding? I'll probably buy all that and change my mind and end up painting a batch of "Wellington/Wellesley in India" models for Sharp Practice (I'm looking at you, Redoubt Miniatures, why do you tempt me so?)

The Germans looking professional by fanning out but actually they haven't got a clue what the mission is or where they should be going.

Schweitensauer dips into a reconnaissance role. New hedges on each side - pleased with their effect.

It's 'faust time. Part One and Two. 

A couple of junior officers run over the bridge, leading some late reinforcements.

The heavy support Stug rolls up to a hedgerow before unleashing a devastating shot into the Sherman Firefly's rear-end. Just how I managed to park my Sherman in that particular fashion is a story for another day.

Late WWII British

Just to even things up, you understand. Actually these are minis I've wanted to have a crack at since I woz a Nipper. The green shows up lighter in these piccies but I did find it hard to get that shade of British green for the 25 pounder. Dunno why. Life's too short to be really all that bothered! Again, all figures are metal by Warlord Games.

Vickers "medium" machine gun

 The classic 25-Pounder ready to dent some German armour

Paratroopers because why-ever not?

These rank high up there as being very rewarding to paint. 

The grenade-throwing poses are a bit awkward but the rest of them fit the bill rather nicely. As with the gebirgsjager these boys will "count as" regular infantry for game purposes 

(for now - might just build an airborne list now I see these chaps in the flesh)

Late WWII German reinforcements

Back after a long hiatus! I took a break from painting and SP2 for a while. Recharged the old batteries etc (code for "work was nuts!!"). Whilst on a long ramble in beautiful East Lothian, a sudden urge to tidy up the WW2 collections descended. So we could enjoy a full game of Chain of Command and try a few options. It's a game that's grown on me after a few brilliantly close-run games. I hope to work out a way of writing these up without using the entire internet's storage capacity.

All the minis are metal Warlord Games. Some great sculpts, some urrrmmm sculpts. All actually quite easy to paint up and look decent once finished.

First up - what list is complete without an MG42 team?

Support - LeIG18 light artillery for a bit of HE oooomph

A sniper, flamethrower, panzerschrek and NCO

 Tried the Army Painter dip method on the NCO. Totally underwhelmed, I am afraid. Firstly, I can paint and wash with GW washes just as quick and to a better standard. Secondly, he looked a right old mess. But I did drop him on tarmac and not a chip in sight! Ho-hum. 

I'll give it one more try with a thinner solution.

Gebirgsjager - because why not?

These chaps caught my eye and were great to paint - simple but effective. I just didn't want any more Heer. These guys can "count as" normal grenadiers if needed. You need three basic squads for CoC with a light machine gun in each. They took to the field in the latest game and sadly didn't quite make it much beyond advancing into a crossfire in round 1. Pesky Brits ...

British WWII

A few months back, we picked up a couple of starter boxes of WWII stuff for my young son after he spent ages staring at them at a convention in Edinburgh. Here's an overview of the British late-war force (c1944). In time, I'd like to expand this to a range of extras and supports for Too Fat Lardies' Chain of Command (CoC) - a Vickers, Daimler and maybe a 6-pounder anti-tank gun as well as a further section to round off the basic "list". All for my son, of course!

CoC has a similar feel to Sharp Practice, the Napoleonic large skirmish game that has been so popular around these parts. There's a great introductory game or two of CoC here. These miniatures are all from the Warlord Games Bolt Action 28mm range. Not too shabby for plastics but a few of the rifles with bayonets tend to snap off if you look at them for long enough ...

 

First up is Lieutenant Moodie-Pye (on the left, above) accompanied by Corporal Ted Charlton (above, right) who leads the 1st section of a bren and 9 riflemen (below).

The second section (below) is led by Sergeant Randy Rummage (left) who is sporting a magnificent soup-strainer of a moustache. He is aided and abetted by his trusty Corporal Stan Hollis (right).

A bit of heavy support. A Sherman Firefly rumbles down a road looking for a Tiger ...

And the sneaky sniper, "Pip" Goodenough, hides in plain view amid the ruins of a French farmhouse. Below, the platoon support - 2 inch mortar team and piat team. Ready to take on the pesky tanks that are hiding behind every hedge ... and they will undoubtedly fail to make a dent!