Saturday 25 June 2011

Beginner with a Panzer Co...


Hi Folks,

DiceHex here with some excuses for not finishing my Normandy Table! I got pretty distracted by my first FoW army project!

I have a background in 40k and other GW games, and I became pretty exited at the prospect of trying a painting project which was very different to what I was used to. I bit the bullet, after months of talk, and purchased a fairly balanced panzer company.

Tuesday 21 June 2011

Soviet Guards Tank Battalion - Finished!



Hi, Blackwolf back again, with a look at my completed Soviet Guards Tank Battalion.

I showed some sneak peaks of this force a while ago back in this post. Well, after quite a while of procrastination, I've finally finished it. It had been staring at me from across my hobby desk for quite some time. Basically, at 1750 points, its the HQ T-34/85, 2 companies of 9 T-34/85's, a Decoy Tank Platoon of 2 Panthers, and a full Rota Razvedki Platoon with Universal Carriers including a flame thrower team.

Saturday 18 June 2011

LAAR: 9.SS-Panzer vs 15th Scottish (Operation Epsom)


Hi! Blackwolf here again with another AAR. Once gain its Griddon vs myself, Britain vs Germany, in an epic struggle to claim Normandy and all its fat cattle. The game took place at our local club, the Western Suburbs Wargames Association. My 9.SS-Panzerdivision ‘Hohenstauffen’ boys were pitted against their familiar enemy, the lads of the 15th Scottish Division.

The Lists
For a bit of fun, I decided to write my list from the ‘Panzerregiment Bake’ PDF from the Battlefront website (You can find it here).

9.SS-Panzerdivision – Confident Veteran

HQ – 1 Panther
Panzer Platoon – 3 Panthers
Schwere Panzer Platoon – 3 Tigers
Rocket Launcher Battery – 3 Nebelwerfer NW41’s + 1 PaK40
Gebirgsjager Platoon – 3 squads + Panzerfaust upgrade

Griddons list was the same as from our last AAR (found here), from Fortress Europe.

15th Scottish Div - Confident Trained

HQ
Rifle Platoon – 3 Squads
Rifle Platoon – 3 Squads
Rifle Platoon – 3 Squads
Anti-Tank Platoon – 2 6 pdr’s
Machine-Gun Platoon – 2 sections + carriers
Tank Platoon – 3 Churchill VI’s + aplique armour
Tank Platoon – 3 Churchill VI’s + aplique armour (only on 2)
Anti-Tank Platoon (SP) – 4 M10C’s
Field Battery, Royal Artillery – 4 gun sections

Wednesday 15 June 2011

The Germans are go!


Griddon here. I finally did it. I decided on a list and I'm sticking with it. Thought I'd share my final list with you guys and a quick sneak peak of how the painting is going.

So the list I have decided upon is from Fortress Europe. It's designed as an  Eastern front list to suit my terrain table.

HQ - 2 Panzer IV H
Combat - 4 Panzer IV H
Combat - 4 Panzer IV H
Support - 4 Brummbar
Support - Panzergrenadiers, 1 x Panzerfaust, 6 x MG + Transports
Support - 3 Pumas
Support - 3 Nebelwerfer 41s with Pak38

Friday 10 June 2011

Beginners Guide to the German 3 Digit Numbering System



Hi!, Blackwolf back again with a quick and easy guide to the German 3 digit numbering system found on armoured vehicles for people getting stuck into the hobby for the first time, or building up their first German force (good choice!).

Firstly, a brief word on the late war Panzer Division organisation to help us understand how these numbers work. German Panzer Divisions were generally made up of 1 tank regiment, 2 infantry regiments, and a number of supporting battalions (artillery, recce, pioniers, ant-tank etc). Now, lets focus on that tank regiment.

German tank regiments consisted of 2 tank battalions (Numbered I and II in roman numerals), and each tank battalion usually consisted of 4 companies. All the companies in the tank regiment were numbered consecutively from 1 to 8, with companies 1-4 in I.battalion and 5-8 in II.battalion. Occasionally, some lucky tank regiments received a 3rd battalion (III), usually equipped with something exotic, such as Tigers (so so lucky). If so, the company numbers continued on sequentially, 9-12.


Friday 3 June 2011

Beginners: Late war lists ready to go!


Right. Continuing the Flames of War for beginners theme I wanted to write a couple of 'starter' lists for the Late War period. In this post you'll find some introduction to the lists, the lists themselves and some discussion about the selections. I've also made your shopping experience pretty easy if you want to actually go ahead and buy that exact list. Cut, paste, email your LGS and ask for a quote!

Ok, for starters, it's tough to pick a book for the lists. Each Flames of War source book is specific to a time period in the war. Blitzkrieg deals with Early war. Eastern Front and North Africa deal with Mid War and pretty much everything else is focused on Late War. I've proposed the use of Fortress Europe as it's a good starter source book before but for specific reasons I'll explain further on, I think Turning Tide and Earth and Steel are wise investments for the new Late War players.