1st Goumier Rifle Platoon
I`ve decided to build my Goumier Tabor (Battalion) along the standard lines of Charles Grant`s classic "Battle" rules.
So a company will be made up of three 10-figure platoons. Eventually the various platoons will be a mixture of figures from all the available types, but in this painting phase of the project I`m just doing batches of 10 or so at a time.
Helicopters over Spain
The Army Airmobile Force (Spanish: Fuerzas Aeromóviles del Ejército de Tierra, FAMET), the army aviation branch of the Spanish Army. have been buzzing about all day today.
More Goumier support
81mm mortar team & mule packed tube all by Shellhole Scenics.
The deployed mortar is a really nice one-piece casting
The crew is a huge mix, two are plastic from the Strelets Goumier set, the third man is a Force20 machine gunner; the gun commander is a modified Blitz French officer (from their Goumier command pack) with a Raventhorpe Kepi head
Whilst reading Bimberg`s book, he regularly mentions eye witness accounts of Goumier accompanied by goats whilst on the march. Then when combing through my photos I came across this sketch.
Mule Packed 75mm pack Howitzer
Due to work commitments back in Wales, this is my first painting and modeling since June.
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So I decided to create a gun section.
I started by looking at 75s and decided the easiest starting point was the plastic set by Waterloo 1815 (set APO38), which gives you 4 nice hard plastic gun kits, perfect if you only need parts 😀
Next I needed mules, Ian @ Shellhole Scenics does some excellent supply mules with his range of Goumier, he was nice enough to supply me with a couple of unloaded animals for this project.
Now a brief bit of internet research showed that in reality you needed seven (7) mules to carry a 75mm, but now frankly this isn`t practical in wargames terms so I decided to go with four mules for my gun section.
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Solo Wargaming – A Practitioner`s Guide
By David
Heading
Pen and
Sword Books
Hardback,
186 pages
ISBN 9781399055536
In this
book the author tries to explain and to encourage the reader to look at; and
explore wargaming as a solo hobby; whether as an extension to their current hobby
or as something new to try. Now first off, I`ve been experimenting with rules and
playing solo games since I was a teenager (over 40 years), so I`m not really
the audience this book is aimed at. What I`ll try and do here is give my
general impressions of the book without comparing it to my own experiences.
The book
is divided into six chapters:
First gives
a general overview of the author`s views on solo wargaming, what he gets out of
it and what he believes are the pros and cons – all well thought out in a clear
easy style, the author gives plenty of references for further reading.
In the
second chapter, the author gives his views on types of wargame and battles
which can be fought solo and how these can be set-up. This includes ideas on random
deployment and terrain generation, plus remote generalship and command. Again,
simply laid out in a clear concise style with references for books mentioned in
the text.
The third
chapter concentrates on campaigns a part of wargaming the author has already
mentioned several times in passing in the earlier chapters and seem to be a
major focus of his hobby. He goes on to spend nearly 40 pages explaining the
various types of campaign from role-playing type skirmishes to large map-based nation
building type games. This chapter has loads of ideas which I for one had not
considered with my hobby, once again further reading references are provided.
The fourth
chapter covers character creation (as used in role-playing games) and creating
unit histories for imaginations. There are also sections on logistics,
recruiting and finance, diplomacy and randomised weather. The section on chance
cards is quite nice.
In chapter
five the author discusses sieges, naval and air wargames. The author tries with sieges to
come up with ideas which some may find interesting, how to recreate one onto a solo
tabletop, there are so many variables in sieges and forces involved can be quite large,
he ends up discussing map based campaign games. Both naval and air wargames are
treated mostly in isolation from land-based warfare, again the author goes off
at a tangent and starts talking campaigns, be they small scale – single plane
or ship to large armada`s and air-groups! The author doesn`t seem like modern
(C20th upwards) periods and he doesn`t seem to consider battlefield close air-support,
except in terms of larger campaign style games.
In the
final chapter the author discusses sources of ideas for games – films, books,
etc. Realism in wargames, including civilians, diseases and desertion and their
effects on wargames. The author finishes with ideas about fantasy and science
fiction gaming, plus using computers and the internet.
The book is
loaded with tables for random generation of various facets of wargaming, at the
end you`ll find a couple of pages listing all the books already mentioned in
the text.
Like I
said at the start, I`m not the audience this book is aimed at – I have a
time-served system, designed and created over a number of years for the style
and level of game I enjoy. Weather, forces and deployment are all written into
the scenarios I design. I am also a committed twentieth century, historical gamer,
so sections on C17th imaginations leaves me stone cold, but I`m sure there is
something here for any gamer thinking of trying solo gaming or expanding on
what they already do.
I was a little
surprised that Stuart Asquith`s “Solo Wargaming” doesn`t get a mention and I do
note also the info on the SOTCW (Society of Twentieth Century Wargamers)
website – www.sotcw.co.uk is well out of
date and this site is sadly long gone.
The Koufra Raid
1st March 1941
In early 1941, the motley collection of French colonial forces in Chad declared for de Gaulle and the Free French. Lt Col d’Ornano (commander of French Forces in Chad) and Col. LeClerc received orders off de Gaulle in London, were tasked with attacking Italian positions in Libya with the forces at their disposal.
Koufra was the obvious first target. Taken by Graziani in 1931, Koufra (also spelt Cufra, Kufra & Khofra) is an oasis in Southeast Libya. The Buma airfield at Koufra has now fallen into disrepair and is little-used since World War II, but in 1941 was an important link to Italian East Africa and a base for reconnaissance aircraft supporting local Italian units (Sahariana and Meharista). The town surrounding the Oasis is dominated by the old fort of El Tag, built by the Italians in the mid-1930s – a square structure 150 meters each side with 4 meter high walls; built on a rocky outcrop at Djebel el Bub. Standing alone, it was surrounded by an extensive external defence system (trenches and barbed wire). The fort was also used as a radio post to guide in Italian aircraft as well as to maintain communication with Italian East Africa.
Koufra was important because:
- it is an oasis
- it controls a road to the Fezzan area
- there is a radio-gonio post to guide the Italian aircrafts to the Buma
airfield
The task of striking at the heavily defended oasis at Koufra was made all the more difficult by inadequate transport to cross sand dunes and the rocky ground, considered to be impassable to vehicles.
Fortunately for the French, assistance was received from Major Pat Clayton of the Long Range Desert Group (LRDG), who was keen to join with the Free French to test the Italians. Clayton had under his command G (Guards) and T (New Zealand) patrols, a total of seventy-six men in twenty-six vehicles.
In order to assist in the attack against Kufra, a raid was mounted against the airfield at the oasis of Mourzouck, capital of the Fezzan region of Libya. Ten Free French (three officers, two sergeants and five native soldiers) under D’Ornano met with Clayton’s LRDG patrols on 6 January 1941 at Kayouge. The combined force reached Mourzouck on 11 January. In a daring daylight raid, they surprised the sentries and swept through the oasis, devastating the base. The majority of the force attacked the main fort, while a troop from T patrol under Lieutenant Ballantyne engaged the airfield defences, destroying 3 Caproni aircraft and capturing a number of prisoners.
The success of the raid was tempered by the loss of a T patrol member and the intrepid d’Ornano. Another wounded French officer cauterized his leg wound with his own cigarette, much to the admiration of the LRDG. A diversionary raid by mounted Meharistes Colonial Cavalry failed after it was betrayed by local guides, prompting LeClerc to relegate these troops to recon duties only.
After the success of the Mourzouck raid Leclerc, who had assumed overall command, marshalled his forces to take on Koufra itself. Intelligence indicated that the Oasis was defended by two defensive lines based around the El Tag fort which included barbed wire, trenches. In the El Tag fort defending the oasis the Italian Colonel Leo had 580 Askaris and various Italian detachments (engineers, signals etc.) but he had also the Compania Saharina di Cufra under the command of Captains Mattioli and Moreschini: a specialist mobile force and the forerunner of the famous “Sahariana” companies of the mid war period. The company was comprised of desert veterans crewing various Fiat and Lancia trucks equipped with HMGs and 20 mm AA weapons, together with some armoured cars. The company also had the support of its own air arm to assist in long range reconnaissance and ground attack. The fort itself is defended by Schwarzlose and Fiat 1914/35 MGs as well as 20 mm Breda guns.
LeClerc could not pinpoint the Saharianas, so he tasked the LRDG with the job of hunting them down and robbing the defenders of their mobile reserve. Unfortunately for the LRDG, a radio intercept unit at Koufra picked up their radio traffic and they were spotted from the air. The defenders had been on their guard since Mourzouck. Conscious of the weakness of his forces, LeClerc also scheduled three air raids on Koufra (I assume these would be by Blenheim bombers from Chad), whose mission was to destroy the aerodrome; however only one aircraft on the ground was hit.
G patrol had been kept in reserve and Major Clayton was leading T patrol, 30 men in 11 trucks, including a French detachment from GN (Groupe Nomad) Tibesti under Lt. Dubut.
The patrol was at Bishara on the morning of 31 January when an Italian aircraft appeared overhead. The trucks scattered and made for some hills, and the plane flew away without attacking them. The patrol took cover among some rocks in a small wadi at Gebel Sherif and camouflaged the trucks, before preparing to have lunch. The plane returned and circled over the wadi, where it directed a patrol of the Auto-Saharan Company to intercept the LRDG.
During fierce fighting, the LRDG patrol came off second
best to superior Italian firepower and constant air attack. After severe
losses, the surviving seven trucks of the patrol were forced to withdraw,
leaving behind their commanding officer, who was captured along with several
others. Other survivors embarked on epic journeys to seek safety. After this
reverse, the LRDG force was forced to withdraw and refit, leaving Leclerc the
services of only one LRDG vehicle from T patrol crucially equipped for desert
navigation.
LeClerc pressed on with his attack, in spite of losing a copy of his plan to the enemy with the capture of Major Clayton. After conducting further reconnaissance, Leclerc reorganized his forces on 16 February. He abandoned his two armoured cars (two AMC Laffly S15 TOE) and took with him the remaining serviceable artillery piece, a crucial decision.
Initially the LeClerc column is made up of 101 “white” French troops and 295 Senegalese and Chadian colonial soldiers: 396 men (armed with Lebel 1886/93 rifles, a Brandt 81mm mortar, four x 8 mm Hotchkiss Mle1914 MMGs and 26 x FM 24/29 LMGs), but several vehicles and their men were not available for the attack because of mechanical breakdowns.
They had to travel 1650 km before reaching the objective.
HQ: 1 Matford, 2 Chevrolet 1t, 2 Bedford 1.5t and one ER26bis radio (Captain Geoffroy)
1 reduced infantry company (Captain Rennepont) with 23
Bedford 1.5t
2 platoons of the GN (Groupe Nomad) Ennedi - 120 men
(Captain Barboten) with 1 dodge and 16 Matford V8 3t
1 platoon of the 7th Company of the RTST (60 men)
(Captains Florentin & Fabre) with 1 dodge and 2 Matford V8 3t
1 artillery platoon (Lieutenant Ceccaldi) with a 75 mm
Mle1928 Schneider mountain gun, 1 dodge, 1 Laffly S15 tow, 1 Laffly S15 for the
ammunition and 2 Matford V8 3t
The lone 75 mm gun was placed 3000 m from the fort, beyond range of the defenses and opens fire (40 shells the first day and then about 20 shells per day after that). This single gun is constantly moved to give the impression that there are several guns. The 81mm mortar was positioned 1,500m to the Northwest. Using mobile patrols and general harassing tactics LeClerc managed to give the impression he had a much larger force. The Italian airforce initially tried to intervene, but eventually just gave up!
After ten days of fighting, despite having superior numbers, Italian resolve faltered. Negotiations to surrender began on 28 February and finally on 1 March 1941 the Free French captured El Tag and with it, the oasis at Koufra. The French took more than three hundred prisoners: eleven Italian officers and eighteen Italian soldiers and two hundred and seventy three Libyan soldiers. Italian losses amounted to three dead and four wounded. For the Free French Forces, the operation accounted for four dead and twenty one wounded. Seized from the enemy were four 20 mm canons, fifty three machine guns, fourteen vehicles, not to mention a large stock of munitions and supplies.
Leclerc addresses his troops following the Italian surrender, with a declaration which went down in history as the oath of Koufra:
"We are on the march. We will not stop until the French flag flies over the Cathedral of Strasbourg."
German Infra-red Nightfighting Equipment in WW2
This is an updated version of an article I wrote for the SOTCW Journal
Now the last desparate months of the Reich in WW2 isn’t an interest of mine per se but I do enjoy gaming the battles for the German border and winter 1944/45.
Recently I found myself reading Tomb of the Panzerwaffe by Aleksei Isaev and Maksim Kolomiets for review. The book covers the last major offensive by the Germans in Hungary and, whilst covering the make-up of the German forces, the authors discuss the use of infrared equipment by the Germans. This got me thinking and I did a bit of digging.
Germany began to develop such devices in the 1930s. AEG actually created a prototype in 1939 which was fitted to a 37mm Pak 35/36 anti-tank gun but the results were disappointing to the military who needed sights with capabilities equivalent to firing at daytime. In the autumn of 1942 tests of a night optical sight (ZG1221) for the 75mm Pak40 gun were started concluding in the middle of 1943. Whilst the results were okay (firing was possible on targets to a range of about 400 metres) the Wehrmacht didn’t give approval. AEG, on its own initiative, produced 1,000 optical sights for the Pak40 in early 1944. The effects of Allied airpower over Normandy in June 1944 finally served as a stimulus with the need for Wehrmacht units to move at night and to avoid the attentions of Allied planes.
In November 1944, the Panzer Lehr Division was relocated to the Fallingbostel military training
area in Bergen in order to test the still top secret infrared
image converter night vision devices and Uhu-Spw, which were currently being developed, in troop trials.
At the end of November the equipment was complete and a dress rehearsal took place in front of the Inspector General, Colonel General Guderian . After this Guderian exercise, which did not go well in the snow because the snowflakes were reflected by the infrared light from the image converter devices,
The sight consisted of an infrared searchlight and an image converter. The searchlight came in various diameters (up to 60cm) but all received the designation Uhu (Owl). In accordance with their intended use there were different versions of night vision devices – Zielgerät (aiming device), Fahrgerät (night driving) and Beobachtungsgerät (observation device).
In practice one 60cm Uhu would be assigned to a group of five IR equipped Panther - the range of the IR viewer on the Panther was increased to 700 meters through the capability of the larger searchlight.
Two different arrangements/configurations
were created and used on Panther tanks:
Version A – Sperber (Sparrow Hawk) was made up of
one 30cm infrared searchlight (with a range of 600m) and an image converter operated
by the commander – FG 1250. From late 1944 to March of 1945 some
Panzerkampfwagen V Panther Ausf G (and other variants), mounted with FG 1250,
were successfully tested. From March to April of 1945 approximately 50 Panthers
Ausf G (and other variants), mounted with FG 1250, saw combat service on both the
Eastern and Western Fronts. Panthers with IR operated with SdKfz 251/20
Uhu (Owl) half-tracks with a 60cm infra-red searchlight and SdKfz 251/21 Falke
(Falcon). This version could be easily mounted on any type of armoured fighting
vehicle.
Version B – the second, more complicated arrangement was "Biwa" (Bildwandler) which, in addition to the provision under the Sperber configuration, also provided the driver and gunner with one 30cm infrared searchlight (with range of 600m) and image converter (installed respectively on the front hull and on the mantle in front of the gun sight). Various variants of Panthers were converted and mounted with "Biwa". It was reported that tests were successful but there are very few combat reports from the Eastern or Western Fronts. Due to the lack of evidence the existence of Version B is still questioned and even considered a hoax.
Various units are reported by various internet sourses as having received IR Panthers including 116th Panzer Division - 3rd company of 24th Panzer Regiment, Western Front, Autumn of 1944 (see below), Sixth SS Panzer Army (Hungary, Spring 1945) and both Panzer Divisions Müncheberg and Clausewitz towards the very end.
Here things become a little mirky!!
One combat report is by a veteran of 1st SS Panzer Regiment of 1st SS Panzer Division "LSSAH", who states that a few Panthers equipped with infrared night-vision devices (possibly from 116th Panzer Division) were used in 1944/45 during the Ardennes Offensive.
Various internet forums have had flame-ups over the use of IR equipment being used at all in the West and basically dismiss such claims as being rubbish and unproven.
In April of 1945, Panthers equipped with Biwa IR equipment joined Panzer Division Clausewitz and, in mid April near Ülzen, destroyed an entire platoon of British Comet cruiser tanks. Also on 21st April 1945, The same Panthers overran an American anti-tank position on the Weser-Elbe Canal. Most of those reports can’t be confirmed and are questionable.
Again both these reports are generally discredited and dismissed by the a majority of online forums, etc
In addition, it is reported but not supported that a single unit equipped with Jagdpanthers received and used infrared night-vision devices.
Another uncredited report I found on the internet states:
“Uhu and Puma (the author claims Panthers with IR gear were called Pumas, but I have not read this elsewhere??) in combination
were said to have been used by two units on the Eastern Front with immense
success; it was claimed that 67 Russian tanks had been knocked out in one
night. These two units and the unit captured were said to be the only three German
units equipped with I.R. gear. Gear for other units was, however, said to be in
existence hidden in various places, which are known to Major von Werthern.
It is not recorded how many Panther tanks with I.R. gear were in each unit, however the training unit that was captured by the Allies was made up of 4 Sd.Kfz.251/20 Uhus, 16 Sd.Kfz.251/20 Falkes, and 3 staff cars. Even if the unit in question had 16 Panthers, which seems unlikely, that is still more than 4 kills claimed on average per tank!
Also In the spring of 1945, a Sparrowhawk group was sent from the Panzertruppenschule in Bad Fallingbostel to StuhlweiBenburg in Hungary as part of the 6th SS Panzer Army. They were responsible for a large number of tank kills during the surprise offensive from February 17th to 24th, 1945 that destroyed the Russian bridgehead.
The remaining Panther tanks in the association also moved east. However, they were wiped out in Hungary because their infrared devices were allegedly ineffective due to heavy snowfall. There was a thaw back then! In reality, the remaining 63 Panthers actually arrived in Hungary on time, but without their infrared equipment which remained in Bad Fallingbostel for no apparent reason.
Infra-red equipped tank units were accompanied by panzergrenadiers, some of whom were armed with their own night fighting equipment – the vampire. The ZG 1229 Vampir weighed in at 2.25 kilograms (about 5lbs) and was fitted by means of lugs onto the StG44 assault rifle at C.G. Hänel at Suhl, the weapons production facility.
The grenadier carrying this was known as a Nachtjäger (night-hunter). As well as the sight and infrared spotlight, there was a 13.5 kilogram (about 30lbs.) wooden cased battery for the light and a second battery fitted inside a gas mask container to power the image converter. This was all strapped to a Tragegestell 39 (pack frame 1939). The searchlight consisted of a conventional tungsten light source shining through a filter permitting only infrared light. It operated in the upper infrared (light) spectrum rather than in the lower infrared (heat) spectrum and was, therefore, not sensitive to body heat.
Vampire gear was first used in combat in February 1945. However small arms infrared device introduction took place in early 1944 and I have read one report of Americans finding odd STG44s with large strange optic sights during the Ardennes battles (field tests maybe?)
310 units were delivered to the Wehrmacht at the final stages of the war. Russian reports consist of snipers shooting at night with the aid of 'peculiar non-shining torches coupled with enormous optical sights' mounted on their rifles. Similar infrared gear was reportedly fitted both to MG34 and MG42 machine guns.
Other branches of the German military also developed IR equipment:
Kriegsmarine
The "Seehund" an infrared device developed for the Kriegsmarine and used from 1941 for signaling and infrared detection mounted on a 35cm searchlight. It seems to have had a maximum range of 4.5km under perfect conditions.
There was also a passive shore based aiming device "Warmepeilgerate" designed by Zeiss resp. Elac, which appears to have had good results up to 40km (large targets) under perfect conditions.
Luftwaffe
The first on-board aid in German night fighters was the IR-based optical search device Spanner built by AEG .
"Spanner I" worked actively, with headlights, lenses and image converters
"Spanner II - IV" worked passively, with a lens and image converter (without headlights). However, they were only produced in small
The Do 17 Z-10 Kauz II was an improved version of the Do 17 Z-7 Kauz I, with a larger, more effective armament and early infrared technology (although I doubt this feature would be implemented). It was a night fighter variant of the infamous flying pencil, and unlike the earlier Kauz I, it did not possess any suspended armament. The Do 17 Z-10's offensive armament consisted of four 7.92 mm MG 17s grouped above the IR searchlight in the center of the nose and two 20 mm MG FFs in the lower nose, compared to the three MG 17s and one MG 151 of the Z-7. While each MG FF had a drum of only 90 rounds, the drums could be reloaded mid-flight by a dedicated crew member.
Now how we incorporate this technology onto a wargames table is an interesting question, obviously IR equipped tanks, etc can move and see better at night. But unless you are running a specific scenario I don`t see IR having much of an effect on a tabletop. During my time as editor of the SOTCW Journal, I published a scenario by Stuart Pearson about a Nachtjager raid on Russian lines. I can easily see a skirmish type scenario with these IR equipped weapons being used making an interesting change of pace. Bolt Action actually covered Nachtjager in their late war supplement and Warlord Games actually produced a few figures so equipped.
S&S Models do an add on kit for your plastic or resin Panthers in 20mm
