Rapid Fire 20mm Nijmegan Bridge and Groesbeek Heights

We decided to do a large game at the club last Sunday with six of us playing. It was decided to base it on the new Rapid Fire Market Garden guide and use RFR as a rules set.

As anyone with any knowledge of Market Garden or the movie A Brdge Too Far will know, there is one iconic action that we wargamers want to replay when thinking of Nijmegan - the storm boat assault over the river Waal.  As I was the only one with a set of the old Brittania (now Grubby) boats and US Para crews, I was tasked with being the 82nd Airborne in Nijmegan while John was the Guards Armoured Battlegroup assaulting Nijmegan and supporting my US Paras and Grant was the 82nd Airborne holding the Groesbeek Heights from the Germans advancing out of Germany.  The Germans were played by Warwick, Terry and Bob.

By the time we had set up the table and forces, the game got underway about 10am.  With a good hour for lunch and a few beers at the local pub, we were finished by 3.30pm.  A few photos below - which do focus on my sector as I took them :)    

The river crossing in the forground.
Nijmegan, rail and road bridges through
to the villages at the foot of Groesbeek Heights

A few of my Dutch resin railway buildings 

2/505 advancing to cover the crossing site

75mm pack howitzers providing supporting fire

The arrival of the boats (pontoon trucks standing in) is on 
a randon roll - we rolled well. 

3/504 advancing to meet the boats - no waiting
in this movie

First wave is launched

and targeted by the German artillery and MG fire

One of 4 boats reach the far shore - but they disembark and
take out a dug in German MMG and pass morale

The rail bridge is rushed by elements of the 2nd Household
Cavalry and Stuarts of the Grenadier Guards

... which are targeted by an 88mm

A US Engineer Coy follow over the bridge while the second
wave (2/505) are launched

Gane is up for the Germans as the boats start disembarking
an untouched battalion and the Engineers cross the bridge with 
few casualties

A few quick Panzer IVs

I have a game on Thursday evening of RapidFire with a few of the guys.  Pulled out a good scenario and realised I was short three Panzer IVs.  So down into the basement to search in the stash and voila - 2 days later I have the required three.  

They need a little pigment or dust paint on them I think.

Been quite a while since I painted any 20mm WW2.  I was intending to continue my focus on the 1813 project with the Adler Napoleonics (more of that later) - but doing these has created an itch.

Rapid Fire at the Club

First game of RapidFire we have had at the club for a number of years. Chris and I decided to get the forces out for a scenario from the Normandy Battlegames book with the 6th Airborne Division against elements of 21 Panzer Division.

We used the RapidFire Reloaded rules and were both very new to them. The Germans got hammered by all of the indirect fire and didn’t really threaten the British

Heavy metal (at least for 6th Airborne)

The forces of evil.  The gun didn’t last long.

Table from the German end as we were setting up

Pretty good turnout and a wide variety of games

Normandy Navy

I have continued to experiment with the 3d printer over the past few months.  

Test prints of the various Landing Craft needed

I recently started planning to put on a set of large games around the Normandy Landings for June 2024.  I have a large number of the wonderful Leva (and more recently LegionsIVHire) bunkers and defensive positions.  But as I am doing this in 1/300 scale I have the opportunity to have a large number of landing craft of various types so that the seascape truly looks like "wall to wall ships" as various German reports stated on the morning.

So I have acquired various STL files for these craft and have been resizing and doing test prints.  This will allow me to realise a long held dream - many of these variants are not commercialy available in resin or lead.  As well the cost of those that are available range from 5-15 pounds.  So to put a lot of them on the table would have involved a significiant investment.  

At the moment they are simply undercoated.  I have some more work to do to tune the file and printer to get rid of some of the step marks - but otherwise I am delighted.   

LCT Mk3 and Gun and Flak versions

Plain LCT Mk4 and Gun, Flak and Rocket versions

LCT Mk5

LCI(L) - Landing Craft Infantry (Large)

LCI(S) - Landing Craft Infantry (Small)

A (small) 3d test printed of a gun for the Flak versions

Mausman memorial build

Finished this in the nick of time.  A memorial build of a tank and crew for John Dowman who as I said in the previous post provided years of inspiration and support to those of us on the Wargamers Forum and prior to that on the Guild and prior to that on .... etc.

Mausmann Memorial Build

Over the the Wargamer Forum there is a group build underway in memory of one of the forum’s driving forces who suddenly passed away earlier this year. 

While i never met John in person, his encouragement to me and many, many others was constant. His work - both quality and quantity was a great source of inspiration.  

The theme is a tank and figure. What better tank than one of the true big ones.  This has sat under coated for more than five years. Sprayed the pattern on it yesterday and done some filters and decals-as well as tracks and tools tonight.  Tomorrow will be more pin wash and more weathering. 

Something for Berlin

My latest build from the "pile of plastic" is another ACE kit - the Geschützwagen 638/18 SF Ardelt Waffenträger.

There was an almost absolute need to replace the barrel as the one in the kit had quite a bend in it.  I have another 88mm ACE kit downstairs (PAK 43) and it also has the same bend in the barrel.  I replaced it with one from the armorscale range (and luckily I have another one in the stash for the other ACE kit).

The tracks on this one are link and length with each side made up of 25 separate pieces ... aaargh.  But it is done now and I think will paint up to be a great kit.

More German builds

I have continued with the current spurt of building effort - all of which I am enjoying immensely. Even though many of the models built are from ACE, the building is a great break from what is an extremely busy period at (home) work.

So a few special pieces that I have been working on.  First up is an ACE Citroen car which I have needed to do some surgery on to open the door so that I can recreate one of the iconic photos of my favourite battle (and also featured in a favourite supplement guide).

Does anyone know where I can get hold of a dead German officer for draping?

Then this wonderful model of a Vomag 88mm Flak from Roden.

Still need to select a crew as well as put various bits of stowage on the back of the vehicle.

Lastly, I have started one of a few pieces that I have been collecting for a few years after reading of the action at Rethem in the wonderful book “No Triumphant Procession” by John Russell.

ACE’d it

I have continued on a building spree - a great way of relaxing with work so busy.

First up is the completed ACE RSO ambulance.  I have left it in pieces until undercoated.

I have also done an IBG Mack truck for my US forces.

I’ve also pulled another ACE kit out and managed to get it done.  It’s a French truck commandeered as a German ambulance.

And lastly for the moment is a beast of an anti-tank gun.  Again an ACE kit.   I had been warned the guns are particularly hard work and that was pretty true.  Will look great with some paint and based.

There a few other pretty special things close to finished. Perhaps in the next day or two and then I’ll paint them.

ACE 20mm WWII Kits

A year since the last post ......

Anyway ... onwards without any promises :)

I was in the basement a few weeks ago and opened a large plastic storage crate and was transported back 7 or 8 years ago to a period I was accumulating a lot of 20mm WWII gear.  As I rumaged through the box I came across a number of kits from ACE.  I have always been in fear of these after hearing terrible stories of how hard they are to build ... after I had bought them.

These ACE kits were among many I found in a storage box in the basement 

So I thought what better way to start again than to dive head first into them.  I started with a late war ambulance based on the RSO chasis.

Didn't take long to need a drink

Among the wonders in the kist are photoetched tracks.  These are fiddly.

But when installed look pretty good.

Work has been incredibly busy and all consuming over the last few weeks.  So I didn't get much time to work on this - but have managed to finish the build this weekend.  It is still in three components until it gets undercoated and possible basecoated.

I have also spent some time on a few other models that I rescued from the basement.  More of those in the next couple of posts.

A Mulberry Harbour

I'm sure many of you know how it works ... you go onto a website looking for something particular and then get sidetracked and follow a few more links / threads and end up not where you intended but close to a "Checkout" button.

Well that what led to the purchase I'm showing below.  I went onto Shapeways to look for a 6mm Freya Radar for my Normandy Germans.  Then saw a reference to a Mulberry harbour component which ended up with these landing on my doorstep.

Beach ramp and bridges

Bridges and Beetles

Pierhead

LST Pierhead

In need of a beach and water board

Realising that it would not be too often that I would use the Harbour setup, I saw something else that I thought may have been more useful - Rhino ferries.  So click and a few of them were on their way.

Rhino tugs and barge

Small Rhino ferries

No comments on the prices if you follow this link :)

All of these come from https://www.shapeways.com/shops/miniandbeyond?section=1%2F300+WW2&s=0