Month: September 2011

The recent game of Prokhorovka saw some worthy additions to the collection here at the Waragames Holiday Centre. In the first instance we needed a lot more Kommissars.

Divisional Kommissars from the TQD Castings range.

After researching the numerous figures available I decided to get some on from a number of manufacturers, the TQD Castings models looked great on their site and indeed they proved to be very neat figures to paint. They come with “slotts tabs” for their insertion into plastic bases, so these had to be removed in order to get them on suitable bases for our games.

Another angle on this divisional Kommissar command base.

The figures are all anatomically correct, what this means is that the features and weapons are all in the right proportions. I like the dynamic poses they offer, the variety of weaponry, captured German weapons etc. They all came without any flash, so cleaning up the figures was a doddle.

Here are some of the figures from the TQD Castings range painted up as Kommissars for the Line regiments.

The TQD Casting figures lend themselves to the use of Army painter dip, so a base block coat and then dipping means a quick turn around.

To paint the TQD Castings figures I used a Humbrol Dark Brown Acrylic spray, then block painted Russian Uniform, the Gun and leather work, the caps and trousers, the flesh and then painted on the dip, clearing excessive pooling of the Dark Tone before they dried. Sixteen figures in an hour, with a little dry brush after!

The Battle of Prokhorovka was refought over the last weekend, Liebstandarte and the Totenkopf divisions of the SS, ( over twenty heavy panzers and sixty lighter panzers) pushed hard into the rail head on the southern sector of the battle for Kursk.

One of the Panzer IV’s from Liebstandarte

Facing them was the Russian Guards 5th Army, including two Guard tank Corps, two line tank corps and a mechanised corps, altogether over 250 tanks and armoured vehicles.

The heavy companies of the Totenkopf division, Ferdinand’s in this case, move forward with the Pz IV’s

Terrain was made up of rolling steppe, so any movement onto hills was deemed very difficult going and required a skill check to negotiate them. The other main terrain feature was the steppe itself, represented by large fields of wheat, this reduced visibility and required skill checks from the Tiger’s to manoeuvre through.

The Russian T34’s of the 18th Russian Guards tank regiment take defensive positions.

The Germans opened the battle with an advance along the whole line, the Russians had deployed the 33rd Mech in front of Prokhorovka in depth, the infantry and anti-tank all dug in. Observers for the Russian artillery were deployed forward of the line to ensure the bombardment would start as early as possible!

One of the Russian observation teams for their artillery, in this case the Katyusha’s, Stalin’s Organ!

The initial rounds of combat saw limited air superiority for the Germans, the Russians maintaining a superiority. The first attacks on the Germans saw a Ferdinand destroyed, good start!

German Reconnaissance scout along the viaduct in the southern sector of the battlefield

The Russian tank Corps deployed hull down where possible, waiting for the German Armour to come into range. In the distance several armour battalions were seen negotiating the undulating steppe with what seemed to be incredible ease.

One of the German armoured infantry regiments moves up in support of Totenkopf drive on Prokhorovka

Then the Germans came into range, the Panzer IV’s and III’s opened up on the Russian armour, the tanks of the Liebstandarte punished the Russian 18th Line Corps by reducing a battalion of their T34’s to fifty percent in one turn of firing, the return fire only destroying one PIV!

The defenders around the Salient in the Russian lines.

Over the next few turns the exchange of fire increased with the Germans getting the better of the exchange!

The southern half of the battlefield had a lot of woodland and steppe, that with the hills mean’t that there was more of a cat and mouse game to be played. The T34’s here began to exchange like for like in destroyed tanks, Panzer III’s and T34’s littered the slopes of the Steppe!

One of the Russian Line Tank Regiments, hull down await the Panzers.

The salient in the viaduct here became a focus for the fighting, several P IV’s tried to break through here only to be stopped by the combined might of the Guards armour and the infantry support.

On the Northern sector of the battlefield there seemed to be a lot more German troops, the push on to Prokhorovka beagn in earnest when the Germans got their artillery and air support co-ordinated on the mechanised infantry dug in along this front. The front battalion was soon reduced to under fifty percent, the NKVD and Regimental Kommissars began their righteous work in keeping the troops in their foxholes. The line held.

German motorised infantry advance to support the Liebstandarte armours push in the southern sector.

Further north flights of Sturmoviks got through and attacked the heavy companies, although the casualties climbed as the anti-air of the SS brought down plane after plane. This must have affected the aim of those remaining, as the Pilots kept missing.

German anti-air flak units provide cover for the Liebstandarte armour in it’s attempt to reach the Russian salient.

Once the German heavy tanks got into range they began to take a heavy toll on the T34’s, reserves were rushed form the railhead to support the line, however the central attack was pressing the mech corps hard, most of their Churchills and KV I & II’s were burning and the infantry were breaking, so getting to the front line was a job in itself. One battalion losing fifty percent of it’s effective’s in one round of fire from a company of Tiger I’s!

The Luftwaffe gets through and commences a diving attack on the Russian lines.

The pressure was beginning to tell for the Russians, the Russian 2nd Tank Corps was all but wiped out, while the 18th Guards Tank Company had taken enormous casualties in getting to the front line.

In the northern sector a squadron of Sturmovik’s stalk the German armour.

The only saving grace for the Russians was the heroics of the Mech and the Guards armour in the south, they managed to destroy the only Tiger I of the game using an ISU 152, which was an excellent shot, even if I do say so myself.

Liebstandarte take the Salient, the Russian counter attack was bloody and left two Pz IV’s burning in the tunnel.

The last throw of the dice was the Liebstandarte charging into the suburbs of Prokhorovka! The rail head was lost, what consequences this may have had to the Russian war effort can only be guessed…..

Great game and many thanks to all the participants!

The battles for the Peninsular took a far more historical slant after these battles, with the junction at Talavera being fought over twice along with Salamanca.

The French holding on during the battle of Toledo.

Here is another chance to see some of the fine Front Rank figures,

A close up of the Spanish in squares. All from Front rank Miniatures

Spanish in squares, supported by a battery in their later uniform, the artillery are from Elite miniatures.

The Spanish armies look fantastic, although their fighting prowess during this period ebbed and flowed.

During the Battle of Talavera the Spanish performed admirably, holding the suburbs of Talavera with over seven divisions of infantry and supporting artillery and cavalry.

Spanish infantry in line.

I will be showing more of these fine figures over the next few days.

The fighting over the rest of the campaign was bloody, the Talavera battles being won by the Anglo Spanish and the French equally, while the Battles of Salamanca shared the same result. Overall the French managed to hold their territories and subdue three of the Spanish, the British regrouped in Portugal and looked to drive back into Spain while the Spanish themselves continued the Guerilla war, showing stalwart resistance in the South.

A Polish division deploying at the Battle of Toledo.

Still more photo’s of the Peninsular Campaign week to come, however tomorrow I’ll show you a snippett of the huge battle we played out last weekend at the Battle of Prokhorovka.

The fighting in and around Gerona was desperate, the ranks of the Catalonian army were swollen by angry townsfolk!

Spanish Guerillas from the collection of Philip Marshall.

These are some of the figures from the Front Rank stable, the variety of pose along with the sheer ease of painting these figures makes them a real must for all Napoleonic gamers. Most of our Spanish army is from the Front Rank Miniatures range, not to mention the cavalry I presented last week. But could they fight? well you know the score when it comes to nice looking figures….

Spanish foreign regiments, digging in to defend every last ditch and wall.

A closer view of these troops.

Following the battle of Gerona, the British army in the south joined forces with the Granadian Junta’s army outside the town of Toledo. Here they met the French Corps of Moncey and Joseph, along with the Spanish Guard.

A Dragoon regiment from the French allies, this one is a Neapolitan Dragoon regiment.

This regiment is from Elite Miniatures French range, however it has been painted as a Neapolitan regiment. This gives a decent variety to the range of figures within the collection and allows the people to utilise some of the fantastic looking uniforms from the period.

The French looked to hold the line on the advancing Anglo Spanish force, while awaiting the arrival of Joseph’s corps from Madrid. once they arrived Joseph’s Guard were thrown straight into the fray!

Chasseurs of Joseph’s Spanish Guard, along with Saxon Garde du Corps (this Saxon regiment didn’t fight in Spain, however they are so nice we couldn’t resist using them.

The Anglo Spanish formations lined out and volleyed into the French defenders, driving Moncey’s Corps back upon the advancing Joseph. This wasn’t without cost though! The British Guards lost an entire battalion on dead and wounded! While the French right suffered horribly under the volleys of the British veterans, however the French line was stabilised with the arrival of Joseph’s personal Guard, which then held the line. The British and Spanish retiring from the field in order to find another route to Madrid.

British Lines exchange volleys with their French counterparts..

More tomorrow!

The closing stages of the battle of Cuidad Rodrigo saw the British attempting to give ground against the French, outnumbered three to two the object of delivering a blow to the French numbers and the morale of the army was done! Now to extricate themselves from the fray!! They managed to exercise a rearguard manoeuvre which saved the day and retreated upon Almeida, collecting the two divisions outside Cuidad Rodrigo en route.

The right of the British line at Cuidad Rodrigo, this was holding well until the French Light Cavalry began outflanking them.

The Peninsular Week proved to be a tough one for the Spanish, with two of the three Northern territories beginning to flag under the pressure of Ney and Soult’s Corps. The only Junta willing to put up a fight was the man leading the Catalonians. After the Battle of Gerona, Victor paused to rest his troops. The Catalonians rallied and came back south to take them on again! Another epic fight was in the making.

More of the Spanish heavies by Bill Gaskin, these are very nice looking troops and they performed reasonably well to boot!

Victors forces issued forth from Gerona and looked to meet the Spanish in the dense rocky terrain of north east Spain.

French Line troops moving through the ravines and rocks of the roads north of Gerona.

The fight was short and sharp, the French out manoeuvred the defensive Spanish, looking to get around behind the deployed lines. At one point a squadron of Chasseurs a Cheval got on to the road outside Gerona itself, only to be decimated by the fire of some Spanish artillery at long range!

Saxon horse artillery, these harried the Spanish mercilessly.

The hand to hand fighting was vicious with the Spanish again breaking and falling back North.

Some of the Spanish from the Wargames Holiday Centre collection, the skirmishers are from the Front rank collection and show some nice Guerilla figures.

The Spanish were now effectively out of the fight in Northern Spain, it was up to Wellesley and the Junta armies of southern Spain.

On to Madrid!!