3 Number 11’s?

Scott Boland scores 20 batting at Number 5!

Nathan Lyon Not Out 16

Captain Pat Cummins 44 Not Out

And Here’s to you Mr Robinson!

At the outset I need to be up front and declare that I do know Greg Blake, in the eighties quite well, recently only vicariously through joint colleagues at the Defence Force Academy, and not personally. Greg and I used to wargame together at Mike Keogh’s hobby shop in High Street Northcote. It was a dark and dirty place but we enjoyed our games despite this. It was only livened up when Mike defended his shop!

“Gregory Blake was born in Melbourne in 1955. Since a very early age, he has had a keen interest in military history and has written numerous articles on the subject, for publications in Australian, the UK and the US. Greg is a secondary school teacher and tutor at the Australian Defence Force Academy. Greg served with the Australian Army Reserve during the 1970s and 1980s. He is an accomplished artist and in addition to illustrations in this book, has contributed his talents to magazines and instructional texts both in Australia and overseas.” From the Publisher.

The Australian Independent Companies and the Commandos into which they evolved were unique sub-units of the Australian Army during the Second World War. The very concept of such units was a radical one for the deeply conservative Australian Army and came about because of the personal intervention from the Chief of the General Staff, who alone advocated their establishment. The Independent Companies were unlike any other unit in the Australian Army.

They were raised to fight in an autonomous, unconventional manner and while supporting them, were independent of higher formations. During 1942 and 1943 the Independent Companies conducted a multitude of tasks that tested their attributes and skills to the full, be it trekking across and surveying virgin tropical wilderness, long range patrols, raiding and harassing, stalking the enemy and amazingly skilled stealthy close range reconnaissance. As the war progressed, the Army, which had never approved of allowing too much independence to its sub-units, reassessed its requirement for such troops and in a sweeping change transformed the Independent Companies into Commando Squadrons.

These were to be much more tightly controlled than the Independent Companies had been, essentially designed to operate as light infantry rather than a radically unconventional model. Throughout 1944 and 1945 Australian Commandos participated in every campaign fought by the Australian Army. The Second World War Australian Commando experience was very much one of an army unready for the challenge that was initially imposed on it, but an Army that rose to the trial and eventually, despite missteps, ultimately successful mastered the manner in which it chose to employ its commandos.

Showing their Khaki Berets

For those interested in the Australian army it is a must have, however its 300+ pages of very fine print and highly scholarly work make it difficult to read. I have tried to read it several times and each time have put it down as a “later” read.

As reference material it is a superb piece of scholarly work, well researched, footnoted with sources clearly identified. I will use it as that and not try to read it again.

I have given it two ratings because of this:

Readability from Cover to Cover

Reference source

Despite this it still is an excellent buy and one that should be on your shelf if you are interested in the Australian Independent Companies/Commandos.

I just picked up this DVD after years of trying. SWMBO and I remember going to the movies to see this. We were in fits of laughter about all of the subtle hints that were happening, like the lead walking down a sleazy alleyway and the camera scanning to a sign that said “Macabre Massages”. You just knew he was about to get a beating! You could imagine what happened when a car was rented fro “Rent-A-Bomb”!

“I was fifty-four and a half, with a liver twice that age and most of the bad news yet to come…I had a mouth like an Ayotollah’s armpit and a pressing need for a drink…” Ex-policeman Micheal Stacey, (Ray Barrett, Australia) is determined to write the ultimate exposure of corruption in high places. Unhappy, his cynicism and dry wit translate rather chaotically through the lens of ‘the bottle’, so a private investigation has to be undertaken. As he searches for the missing daughter of a leading politician he finds himself in a labyrinthine world of intrigue, death and deception – a world destined for a highly explosive ending. The sleazy strip known as Surfer’s Paradise is the backdrop for this ‘lost’ 1983 Oz-noir gem from director, Carl Schultz (Careful, He Might Hear You). Quintessentially Australian with a stylish, literate script by Bob Ellis (Man of Flowers) and Denny Lawrence (Warm Nights on a Slow Moving Train) Goodbye Paradise moves between sinister set-pieces mired in political corruption, strip clubs, death-cults and murder under the Queensland sun. Publishers Blurb

It is not Oscar material but it is a great escape, especially if you are into modern pulp, military coups and average acting! May not be your cup of tea but I really enjoyed it.

You may remember talking about the problem with the Eureka Miniatures Australian figures with Owen Guns. The are exactly to scale which makes them to small and brittle and they continually break off. I now have some extra Warlord miniatures that I will use to supplement the Eureka ones as I have excess “slots” in the Jungle Division carry bag.

There is also an extra figure required for one of my Forward observers so have completed that as well.

The last of this “grab bag” is two British Commandos to accompany the Royal Navy Beach Master Captain.

Although the 25pdr is famous for being towed by the Morris “Quad”, probably as a result of the very early Airfix kit, the Australians did use horse drawn limbers in the Mediterranean.

In the war against the Vichy French in Lebanon and Palestine, they were used almost extensively because of the terrain.

In Bolt Action they are both a cheap tow option and a cheap extra movement dice even if you do not intend to move your gun, and so are a popular option.

This one was made from excess Napoleonic bits and pieces, as the hardware has changed very little over the last 200 years.

This one will be used for my Militia AIF platoon down the track.

The Australian 2-pounder Anti-tank Gun Carrier, also known as 2-pdr Attack Carrier was built on an extended LP2 chassis. The driver had an open-topped compartment that was armoured on the front and sides.

The gun was mounted on an open platform at the rear of the vehicle that allowed the gun to be traversed 360-degrees. The vehicle had a crew of 4: commander, gunner, loader and driver. Testing of the first prototypes began in August and September of 1941.

At the conclusion of successful trials in February/March 1942, an order for 200 of them was placed with the first one being delivered in May 1942. They were built by the Metropolitan Gas Company of Melbourne.

By the time the 2-pounder Anti-tank Gun Carrier came into service, it was already obsolete as the Austratlian Tank Attack unit were being equipped with the British 6pdr gun.

As a result, all of the carriers were kept in Australia and used as training vehicles and equipment for Australian reserve and volunteer units.

To my knowledge none were used in combat by Australian forces in the Pacific, but I wanted to have one in my collection despite this.

This is the last of the Australian Tank Attack Platoon so PROJECT OFFICIALLY ALL DONE!

Well it was time to test the Australian Tank Attack Platoon in the heat of battle. As predicted it was difficult taking objectives,but I had a lot of fun trying.

The first game was against the Russian tank army of Matt. The first shot of the game tokk out a T34 and from then on the Aussies lost their aim. The gunners claimed a morale victory as by the end of the game all the Russian armour was in flames. Ut was just apity that the infantry let them down by not claiming enough objectives! My best game of the tournament as Matt was great to play against.

The second game was against dave 2718 and his Hungarian army, that he has posted on, . Dave is a long time gaming friend and it was another enjoyable game.

Unfortunately this was the only game I snapped a few pics from.

The third and last game was against Steve’s Germans. The guns fought well moving aggressively and assisted with taking quarters. Despite causing a lot of chaos the Aussies didn’t destroy any enemy units but their aggression allowed them to take a winning draw. Another great fun game.

A great tournament run by Brad from “what is a battle”. Back again at “House of War” today to man a “bring and buy” stand and hopefully get rid of some wargaming “stuff”!

This is one of the vehicle options for the Tank Attack Platoon instead of the Morris CS9 Self Propelled Anti-Aircraft Gun. Despite the fact that it is a “poorer” option I still wanted to paint one up as I want to have one of each of the Universal Carriers that Australia produced at the Newport Railway workshop where my Great grandfather worked! he was himself a digger in the first world war and worked in the Newport works during the second. See this for both he and his son’s story.

The Carrier, 3-inch Mortar (Aust) was a design based on the 2 Pounder Carrier with a 3-inch mortar mounted in place of the 2 pounder. Designed to enable the mortar to have 360 degree traverse and to be fired either from the vehicle, or dismounted.

400 were produced at the Victorian and South Australian railway workshops, and were ultimately sent as military aid to the Nationalist Chinese Army. None of these are now known to still exist.

This model is a 3D print and I am pleased with its quality. The Rubicon crew, on the other hand, have very little detail especially their face and hands, and are poorly posed. I may replace them later when I have some of better quality.

Tomorrow the last of my Australian Carriers.

The rules have been around since 2017, but are new to me. Published by First Command Wargames, and authored by the veteran writer Mike Demana, who is well known for his rules the “Song of Drums and Tomahawk” and “For King or Empress.” .

I picked up this set of rules some time ago as I am interested in the type of asymmetric warfare that is prevalent today. This is a 1:1 scale game, with each figure counting, suitable for 15 to 28mm miniatures. Now that I have thoroughly read them my first thoughts are very positive, although I have to say this is without playing them which can always be dangerous!

The setting of the rules is skirmish conflicts in decolonized countries from 1950 to the present, representing generic factions. Although on the cover and many of the photos reference is made to Africa, the rules can be used to play any small-scale conflict of the last 70 years. They could even be stretched back as far as the RIF Wars with suitable amendments.

Weaponry is also generic rather than specific but this serves to speed up gameplay. The rules use numbered markers, one per unit for each side, which is placed number down. The commander with initiative moves and attacks with his unit marked with a 1, then the opposing player moves his 1 and so on, alternating until all units have acted. Personally having counters/cards/dice etc spread all over the table is a pet hate of mine and I would swap this for another mechanism of which there are plenty around.

Combat is via Attack and Defence dice, which are modified by class, weapon type and number of figures. The simplicity of calculating results is a main feature, with rolls of a 4+ being successful. Surprisingly there are no melee rules as this is included in “combat”. Without play testing I am not sure if this works or not, and could be a real plus, streamlining play if it does.

A real bonus for me is the Inclusion of a very neat campaign system, which charts the progress of a range of factions, and a points system to balance games out. There are also three scenarios that can be used, plus rules for adapting historical actions into the game. Those who are familiar with Peter Pig’s AK47 will see distinct similarities with the campaign factions and rules.

 The campaign rules are designed for factions to rise from being an Obscure Movement, to Rising Faction, Regional Power, Major Power Broker, to finally where the Faction Assumes Control. Increasing power allows factions to better their restraints and gain special rules that make them more powerful. The 6 factions have different restrictions and special rules, and cover People’s Popular Front, Colonial Power / Settlers, Armed Force of a Nation, Religious Movement, Superpower Backed Client Forces and Tribal Militia.

These rules are OK but not great. For the Pdf price of US$8.00 on Wargames Vault they are well worth buying, for the campaign system, but as the campaign system is almost an exact copy of Peter Pig’s AK47 I would rather purchase them.

The rest of the tank attack platoons 2pdr guns

Tomorrow I intend to finish the platoons optional 3″ mortar Universal Carrier.