Model Mystery Monday - Matchbox SdKfz11

Over on Paul Foster's Plastic Warriors blog he has a regular Model Mystery Monday competition.  Occasionally something catches my eye and I have a flash back to happy modelling times (could be yesterday, could be last century).  Anyway, this one kindled some very happy memories:
http://plasticwarriors.blogspot.com.au/2015/01/model-mystery-monday_19.html

In my response I mentioned I had the featured model.  Paul's comment was that he was waiting to see it.  Well, wait no longer.

The Matchbox Sd.Kfz11 set came with this nifty BMW and sidecar combination.  Great pose.

The real treat was the model base (as with all the Matchbox sets).

I even added interior detail, padding out the walls with plaster and adding in some flooring.

I made up a crew for the gun (Airfix German mountain troops I think).  The seated crew that came with the model I didn't use - I was in my crewless vehicles phase.

I'm not sure, but I probably made this in the late 1970s.  Interesting to note (especially given my recent tail detaining of my Wings of Glory FW190), I didn't use the Nazi emblem on the building, the part that was supplied with the kit and was the item that Paul put up as the clue.  I expect I thought I knew better and that there were no Nazi's in the desert.

Mustering forces for Waterloo - Part 1

I am attempting to stage the battle of Waterloo using Napoleon's Battles as part of the NWS events for the bicentenary.  It is a challenge.

After the printed map to use as terrain, my next breakthrough came when Martin S advised me he had some troops based for Napoleon's Battles.  He brought them in to show me and I figured the easiest thing to do was photograph them.

What will be 16BrHHC, 16BrHC and two by 16BrLC with 12BrHC spare.

Two by 24PtLN that might have to do for Dutch Belgians, eleven stands of highlanders (I think I can probably make Waterloo an all Highland event), fourteen BrLN, nine BrLT.

Two by 20BrLN and 16BrLT good to go.  About a dozen stands waiting to be flocked and three units in varying stages of construction.

Wellington, three corps and seven divisional commanders, eight batteries and some odds and sods.

Next is to check on what David B can provide.

FW190s vs B17s and escorts

This had been a vision for a while and last night at the club saw it come into existence.  We had four players and everyone had some models in the game.  Three of the four B17s came from Stephen N's collection and he took on the role of bomber formation pilot.  Mark B contributed the fourth B17 and the two Mustangs and took the role of bomber escort.

Stephen provided two FW190s and Greg added one of his own and I brought in mine and together we each had a pair of bandits attempting to wreak revenge on the departing bombers.

We jut used the standard rules (so no altitude, acceleration etc, as well as no collisions - you have to go to advanced flying school before you can collide with friend or foe).

The Focke Wulfs come head on.

Aerial photography was having trouble getting in the full glory of the B17s, but the burning bomb site was a clear indication of their deadly work.

The escorts were avoided and Greg's pair of fighters go in guns blazing while my pair swing round to get in position.

The first of Greg's FWs goes down with a bang.

The Mustangs are coming in to get me before I can even get a bead on the bombers.

There goes Greg's second fighter.  A combination of sustained fire from the flight of B17s aided by some heavy bursts from a Mustang were just too much for it to absorb.  However it had done some damage and one of the B17s was burining.

Down went one of the Queens of the Skies.

The first of my fighters fell to the Mustangs.

And then down went my last fighter.  Some skillful flying by one of the Mustang pilots, despite being wounded, had kept my FW under fire for too long and all the damage added up

This is my plane.  Note the extra tail detail.  I suppose I should put up a warning message "Not Suitable for Viewing in the EU" or something.

We will have to progress to the advanced rules and perhaps lose the escorts for a while.

Camel Jam

Tonight we had an encounter between three Fokkers flown by Steves and three Camels flown by Marks.

I had command of the green spot and clear spot planes.

Two of the enemy in sight.  A third enemy plane took a wrong turn...

The first pass

The missing enemy plane

Second pass.  Guns jamming but damage adding up all the same.

My lead Camel gets a kill, just as the red Fokker shows up

The next kill goes to Mark B's Camel.  Both Stephen N's planes are now down.  It looks bad for the red Fokker, but most of the Camels have jammed guns - Camel jam!

A short time later the red Fokker does for Mark B's plane.

Then my lead plane finishes off the red Fokker.  Both my planes had little damage.

My very unofficial leaderboard

Waterloo 1815: Wavre, Plancenoit & the Race to Paris

The third and final book, eh booklet, of my recent purchase.  A triumph for me is that I have actually now read all three.  This is a rarity as normally book purchases go on to the great book pile, just next to lead mountain over near the tower of DVDs.  (Digressing, there is actually a word for this: Tsundoku.  See this post from the Inky Fool to learn more.)

This book followed the same format and indeed included some of the same text as its companion Waterloo 1815: Quatre Bras & Ligny.  Again the editing could have been better, but the number of errors seemed less, although I might just be getting used to them.  Having just refought the battle twice, the Plancenoit section was the part of most immediate interest.  The march is well covered and supported by useful photos.  Again the book is also meant as a tour guide which is both frustrating and inspiring.

Eighteen months ago I had read Hyde Kelly's 1905 book on Warve and Grouchy's subsequent retreat, a copy of which is available as a downloadable PDF here.  So I knew a bit about the retreat.  What was new for me in the Hofschroer book was the account of the sieges of the border fortresses.

The Prussian attack on Plancenoit is impressive given the troop quality and the distance and conditions of the march.  Weight of numbers certainly helps and Plancenoit makes an interesting contrast with the Prussian defence of Warve where they were out numbered two to one, but held a strong defensive position.  At Plancenoit, another good defensive position, the French are outnumbered three to one.  A cannon or musket ball takes no account of whether the target is guard or landwher.

 http://www.bookdepository.com/Waterloo-1815-Peter-Hofschroer/9781844151769

Catch the Yellow Bird

My first game for 2015 at the NWS was a Wings of Glory encounter between a Fokker D.VII and an Albatross D.II played by Stephan N and a two Bristol F.2b Fighters played by Mark B and myself.  All models and fixtures and fitting were from Stephan N's collection.

The shooting starts, but I'm not there yet.

 (I'm playing the Bristol Fighter in the solid green paint scheme)

The Hands of God.  

Often our games turn into more of a photo frenzy with hands, cameras and flashes going everywhere.

The Yellow Bird.

The superior German fighter that was our primary target.

The Albatross starts smoking.

Boom!

My colleague explodes.  He had been flying well and getting in good shots, but you can never escape a catastrophic hit.  Score one for the Fokker.

I get lucky and the Fokker catches fire, never a good thing when you are 4,000 feet up.

A few more passes and I get my first kill, ending the Yellow Bird's career.

With engine damage I head home.  The Albatross had been very lucky (but that is a 4 damage card that it is obscuring).  There were lots of gun jams as well.

Fun game and great for a club night.

Leader Board

This is unofficial and I'm really just trying to see what one might look like.  

The deaths are unconfirmed - probably should be MIA.

Plancenoit - Take Two - Additional Photos

Mark B who played the Prussians took a stack of photos using his superior camera.

I've been trying to embedded the PDFs containing additional photos but not have much success. While not as elegant, the PDFs can be found by following these links: 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3O3fJlp-yozOHEyVnU5Tm9kSUU/view?usp=sharing

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3O3fJlp-yozQ2tQUC1jUTQ1WkU/view?usp=sharing

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3O3fJlp-yozcVZQajBuR0xDRkk/view?usp=sharing

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3O3fJlp-yozeE0wdEZQY0ltSjA/view?usp=sharing