More supports for the Australian Tank Platoon infantry. This time a Vickers Medium Machine Gun. I like the model, but no really points effective from a gaming viewpoint, unless on the defence.
he Vickers Machine Gun was one of the longest serving weapons in British military history, with the Mk 1 being employed in virtually unaltered form from its adoption in 1912 until 1968.
The gun is a development of the Maxim system (see FIR 8095) wherein the Maxim toggle action is turned upside down, allowing for the body of the gun to be significantly smaller and, therefore, lighter.
The Vickers medium machine guns weighed 11-kg to 13-kg, but the overall weight often increased to over 20-kg after the addition of tripods.
A typical Vickers medium machine gun crew consisted of six to eight men, a somewhat large number necessitated by the heavy weight of the guns, tripods, and ammunition.
In addition to being used by the infantry, some British tanks, particularly early WW2 models, mounted them as secondary weapons.
Some of these weapons were also used as anti-aircraft machine guns
I have a large (pun intended) collection of 54mm plastic Punic Wars figures of which about half are painted. Chris K’s exploits posted on “Pigs in Spaaace” encouraged me to get them out for a game of DBA.
The might of Carthage takes on the juggernaut that was Rome. Note the Roman walls on the right. It was hard to control the lighting so I apologise, as although they call me Guru, I am no Joshua, the land was mine it was not “promised” to me, ans I was not fighting against fives armies to relieve the siege waged against the Gibeonites. Anyway I didn’t want the sun to stand still.
The Roman Army. Note the cat ball acting as the Roman camp. The Romans consisted of 2 HCAV (one the general), 6 Blade, 2 Spear, and 2 Psiloi.
Suitably sized dice and upscaled “lucky seven” movement aid.
The Carthaginian force consisting of HCAV general, 2 warband, 3 citizen spearmen, 1 Auxilary spaniards, 1 Psiloi Spaniard, 1 Psiloi slinger, 1 Nubian LCAV, 2 elephants and of course a kitty toy as baggage.
The Carthaginian centre advance
The elephants and slingers advance on their left.
The Romans ready to fight.
The Carthaginians move first.
The local wild life about to cause mayhem by attacking the Carthaginian baggage.
The advance.
The Romans move straight ahead in line as a group.
The Carthaginians at the end of the first turn. The baggage no longer in danger!
The Infantry centre moves forward with Hannibal.
The elephants move to try and outflank the Romans.
Sensing the Danger Scipio moves his Psiloi and Hastati to face the threat.
Battle about to be joined following the end of turn 2.
Romans fighting on interior lines, but a large hinge point exists.
The Psiloi advance but the slow elephants only get to wheel at double speed.
The Roman lights are not having a good day while the slingers show they are up for the fight.
The native wild life attempt to charge the Romans from the rear but does not like their Pila!
In revenge she runs off with the Roman baggage.
The 5 to 1 swing causes the Velites to rout. One nil to the good guys.
A poor PIP dice makes it difficult for the Romans to respond.
Surrounded the slingers roll a 2.
The wild life take on the Numidian light horse who hold their ground causing their opponent to lose interest and run off.
The elephants move in and attack the Roman Velites.
Another poor showing by the Velites causes them to rout.
Two nil to the good guys.
The Roman command and control is again not good allowing only the Hastati to attack.
A massive six one swing by the Romans cause the Psiloi to flee. These Hastati know how to fight.
The elephants return the favour and the Hastati are routed.
Three nil to the good guys.
With PIPS to burn and the Roman flank in elephant charge reach it is not looking good for Scipio’s men.
The Princeps turn to face but are over lapped and outmatched 5 to 3 before the dice roll.
These elephants are having a good day and smash through the Roman front rank.
A vultures eye view of the Roman catastrophe.
The elephants causing more chaos.
The orderly Cathaginian main battle line who haven’t really earned their pay today.
Four nil to the good guys.
Two more battles were fought with the Romans finally winning the third, much to the chagrin of Geraldine (one of the four local wild life).
Just needed a break from painting some infantry. This model will be used with the British Commandos which I need to get around to finishing soon. It may also double up for the “forgotten” British in Burma which will be further down the track.
The Daimler Armoured Car was one of the most widely used and successful British Armoured Cars used in WWII and was primarily used for armed reconnaissance and liaison purposes. It was commonly used in the Sabre Squadrons of the Reconnaissance Regiments of the British Armoured Divisions, with the Humber Armoured Car being commonly used in the Infantry Divisions Reconnaissance Regiments, although they weren’t exclusive to either.
The Daimler was armed with a 2pdr main gun and a co-axial Besa machine gun, both located in the turret, and often another Bren gun on a pintle mount for AA fire. The vehicle was essentially an enlarged Daimler ‘Dingo’ Scout car that was developed in parallel to Daimler Armoured Car, both were produced by Birmingham Small Arms, and saw the first cars arrive in 1941. It was a four-wheel drive vehicle, with an engine producing 95 hp, giving it good off-road abilities, a top speed of 80 km/h on roads, and a range of around 320 kilometres
In Burma, the close jungle environment meant troops could be ambushed at any time, and crews much preferred fighting from inside an armoured vehicle rather than the Dingo scout version in the areas they could utilize the wheeled vehicles.
A British Indian Army armoured car regiment, the 16th Light Cavalry, which formed part of Fourteenth Army troops was partly equipped with Daimlers and served in the reconquest of Burma.
To improve the gun performance, some Daimlers in the European Theatre had their 2-pounders fitted with the Littlejohn adaptor, which worked on the squeeze bore principle. This increased the gun’s theoretical armour penetration and would allow it to penetrate the side or rear armour of some German tanks. I have been unable to confirm this use in Burma.
Whilst essential personnel in modern and indeed ancient armies I have found the medic a waste of points in my armies. If they are within range of a unit taking casualties, for each one received they need to roll a 6 on a D6 and they have recovered.
Even when rolling for multiple casualties I don’t even roll one six. Now I am not complaining as I cannot help it if my medics are complete and utter quacks who received their certificate out of a “Wheaties cereal packet”! No I would never complain. Not Guru.
This little Vignette, which I really like, is from Wartime Miniatures who have a great Australian and Japanese range. Unfortunately their website says they are taking a break and hope to be back one day, which doesn’t sound too hopeful.
Tomorrow I will have a break from the Tank Platoon and finish something else.
Snipers were used by both sides during the war and the Australians were no exception. Often professional shooters or outback stock hands they obtained a reputation for skill and bravery.
They were effective in the terror they caused freezing the enemy in place. The two Australian Victoria Cross winners during the fight for Kokoda were both killed by Japanese snipers. Bruce Kingsbury during the action for which he was cited for and Tom Derrick afterwards while checking on his men during the last months of the war.
Although I have painted one of these teams for the Jungle Division they are great figures from Eureka Miniatures, and have that laconic lay-back Aussie style sitting on a log relaxing while firing at the enemy in between puffs!
Although the PIAT was the official infantry anti-tank ordnance, it was rarely used. Not because tanks were not often faced, although this was true, but because the US Bazooka was more powerful, easy to obtain and had no spring mechanism to dislocate your shoulder.
Gaming companies tend not do adequate research so the Australian Tank Company is stuck with the PIAT!
Before I post on the Tank Platoon something I discovered from the competition last weekend.
Command sections are the most versatile unit when it comes to weapons selections. Generally they can be equipped with the weapons depicted on the model. My thinking use to be taking the Owen gun as these come free rather than the normal 3pts upgrade. The issue is they are short range and your command group may get a little too close to the enemy for comfort. Being equipped with rifles allows them to take the occasional shot at twice the distance with less risk involved. The figures below have been painted up to add to the Australian Jungle Division to provide me with both options.
Now for another standard Jungle Division section to add to the Tank Platoon. As usual they are equipped with 4 Owen guns a Bren gun, and 5 rifles. The Tank Platoon can be equipped with 4 infantry squads and a scout team. At this stage my thinking is to build two Jungle Division sections, a Papuan Infantry Brigade section, as they can scout alongside the platoons scouts, and a section of Commandos. The later I am still thinking about as it more suitably fits with the Kanga Commando raiding force. We will just see what develops.
Awoken from their billet a Jungle Division prepares to defend their base.
The Bren gun opens fire
Calling for reinforcements.
The O’Hara twins prepare to face their attackers.
“Grenades at the ready”!
Owen gunner looking for a target.
Emerging from the shadows.
Some more support weapons teams over the next few days.
I was wrangled into playing in a Bolt Action “Combat Patrol” (500pts) run by the Axes and Ales wargaming club that I attend on Tuesday nights.
It was held at the House of War, a premier destination for tabletop gaming and hobby enthusiasts. They not only have a two story gaming venue, but a vast array of gaming products to meet the needs of most gamers. The House of War were also a major sponsor of the day,
The Japanese truck with their MMG’s and disembarking infantry were causing a problem with their mobility and fire power.
The twin linked MMG armoured car was also a headache firing ten dice.
A small town was in the centre of the table with both sides taking buildings.
The Australian Engineers disembark from the Universal carrier with their flame thrower to engage the Japanese held up in the building.
Two Japanese squads (explosions) join their ancestors.
Meanwhile the armoured car is doing a lot of damage on the Aussies held up in the house.
The Engineers continue their advance supported by the Carrier’s LMG.
The game ended in a minor loss to the Australians which considering it was my first competitive game I was quite pleased.
Game 2 was against Jack’s Americans.
This was a straight win loss game determined by who held the majority of the three objectives. Unfortunately I was too busy gaming that I forgot to take many pictures.
My scouts were able to deploy on one of the objectives.
The Americans deployed in some log fortifications
Americans are halted by accurate fire from one of the Australian sections.
American CO and medic “defending” the centre.
The Australians advance on the fortifications destroying the American leader and “capturing” the medic. A decisive Australian victory with three objective and a massive differential in destroyed units.
Game 3 was against old wargaming colleague Ben.
We worked out that the last time we would have played was 40k at the 2009 Arcanacon event! I was looking forward to the game as Ben is always great to play. This time my Australians were taking on the might of Germany.
Aussies deployed near the same town as in game 1.
The Germans were deployed in the ruin near the sea (open terrain).
This was a quarters grab game and the scout deployed outside of their deployment quarter to take an early lead.
The Germans advance,
The first stoush begins with the Germans taking first blood by pinning the Australians in the field.
The 2pdr was getting the worst of a counter-battery fight and chooses to redeploy to face the German Schwimmwagen.
Germans advance into a building to contest a quarter.
The scouts fire causes the Germans in the field to be pinned.
The Australians are holding on in a building against all odds. Their grit and determination saw them still their at the end of the game.
The Germans roll a double six for a test which is a FUBAR. The result was that I could control their shooting against any unit!
Consequently the Schwimmwagen ends up in flames.
The game was very tight and the German officer and team charge the Aussie scouts and were wiped out.
The game ended with an Australian victory. The game was very hard fought but in the best of spirit and we both had a really great time. It was good to be able to catch up and have a natter during the game.
I ended up fifth with two wins and a minor loss and won the second best painting award fro my Australian Jungle Division – just being pipped by Ben with his amazingly painted Germans.
I had a great time and thanks to John and Drew from Axes and Ales.
