Suez ´56

[Westfalia Chris]

Not yet fully committed, but I may embark on another mini-project (oh dear) in the shape of some skirmish stuff for the Suez Crisis, namely Israelis and Arabs. Personally, I think that any of the Arab-Israeli Wars apart from the first Sinai Campaign (ie the Israeli involvement in 1956) is an area too touchy to be "gamed", but Suez I regard as a "Late Colonial" thing.

Since we had a public holiday yesterday and I scored an "A" in the last Statistics test, I decided to have some fun and assemble one of the two Hobby Boss M4A1 76w´s I bought at Model Zone in London on my February trip. I already have a GI Army, and since those don´t get played with that often any more, I settled for the Israeli variant (although I took some liberty with the sand colour, which, according to the dubious instructions should be a very greenish khaki, almost bronze green; the photos of the tank in question looked far lighter, so I settled for a base coat of WW2 Russian Uniform, highlighted with German Ochre, Khaki and Buff (all Vallejo paints).

Stowage is scratchbuilt (boxes), kit (toolbox on the engine deck, canister and some of the packs) and cast (bedrolls etc.)



Photos are taken by daylight, so on my Laptop, they are reasonably close to what the actual model looks like.

Cheers!

[Aaron]

Those look the business to me! I really like the weathering you did on them. Putting any crew in thos open hatches?

[DFlynSqrl]

Very nice Westfalia Chris.  I've just started working on gaming AIWs myself... although I'm going for a much smaller scale.  Not sure if you've seen it yet, but there is a Yahoo group for AIW.

[twrchtrwyth]

Excellent work.

[Westfalia Chris]

Those look the business to me! I really like the weathering you did on them. Putting any crew in thos open hatches?

Er, yes of course. I just forgot to put it into the post above - I´m thinking about painting a platoon of Israelis (Artizan NW Europe Commandos and Paras) and a platoon of Egyptians (Artizan LRDG) to play some games. There might be a "T&T Post-War" supplement in this, but don´t bet on it.

[PeteMurray]

Those look the business to me! I really like the weathering you did on them. Putting any crew in thos open hatches?

Er, yes of course. I just forgot to put it into the post above - I´m thinking about painting a platoon of Israelis (Artizan NW Europe Commandos and Paras) and a platoon of Egyptians (Artizan LRDG) to play some games. There might be a "T&T Post-War" supplement in this, but don´t bet on it.

That would be pretty cool, actually. Every once in a while I get a hankering to do Korea, and would be more likely to do so with a decent set of rules.

Awesome job on the Isherman, Chris. I like the wear on the hull.

[Arlequín]

Fantastic looking model Chris! I think you are pretty much spot on with the Colour too.

I'm not sure using LRDG figures will be quite right for Egyptian troops though. WW2 British types might be better, with the ubiquitous British WW2 steel helmet or the 1944 pattern. I'm pretty sure the Keffiyeh (Head Scarf) wasn't common amongst Egyptian troops. They did have some Palestinian units who would have worn it though.

I could be wrong though 

[Vanvlak]

Very nice, WestFC - and congrats on the statistics result 

[Driscoles]

Congratulations for the A
The tank is nice too 

Cheers mate
Björn

[Westfalia Chris]

There might be a "T&T Post-War" supplement in this, but don´t bet on it.

That would be pretty cool, actually. Every once in a while I get a hankering to do Korea, and would be more likely to do so with a decent set of rules.

We´re still pretty baffled at how to integrate the horrible level of squad firepower that emerged during WW2. Generally, I think that the rules would work, but you would have to limit some aspects rather strictly. And I positively do not know how to represent a squad MG or GPMG without it being a killer.

Awesome job on the Isherman, Chris. I like the wear on the hull.

*Tank Geek Mode on*

Actually, it is not an Isherman, which is the name used for the M51, which was a conversion usually of M4A3E8 chassis and hulls with a French 105mm cannon in a heavily-modified turret. The above is a standard M4A1 which was supplied by the French just prior to the Suez Crisis for the first time and several times thereafter until the start of the embargo in 1967.

I'm not sure using LRDG figures will be quite right for Egyptian troops though. WW2 British types might be better, with the ubiquitous British WW2 steel helmet or the 1944 pattern. I'm pretty sure the Keffiyeh (Head Scarf) wasn't common amongst Egyptian troops. They did have some Palestinian units who would have worn it though.

I could be wrong though

You are not. I had the picture of Arab Legion on my mind. For regular Egyptians in 1956, a more regulated dress should be adopted, and I had this in mind but jumbled the figs in the above post. The keffiyeh guys would either go for Arab Legion or the Palestinians, I agree.

[PeteMurray]

*Tank Geek Mode on*

Actually, it is not an Isherman, which is the name used for the M51, which was a conversion usually of M4A3E8 chassis and hulls with a French 105mm cannon in a heavily-modified turret. The above is a standard M4A1 which was supplied by the French just prior to the Suez Crisis for the first time and several times thereafter until the start of the embargo in 1967.

Kamerade! Kamerade! 

(I have no idea how you'd fix the firepower thing in T&T. Maybe have squad MGs only send units into some kind of suppression? It's an interesting idea, though.)

[Arlequín]

We´re still pretty baffled at how to integrate the horrible level of squad firepower that emerged during WW2. Generally, I think that the rules would work, but you would have to limit some aspects rather strictly. And I positively do not know how to represent a squad MG or GPMG without it being a killer.

Well good luck with that. Unfortunately the maxim of modern warfare is that 'if you can be seen, you're dead'. Modern troops hug the ground or any available cover a lot. On the plus side the MG has become a weapon used to pin troops in their cover so you can move men into a position where they can see and kill them. What Pete said in essence.

Obviously a MG in ambush will be a killer, no way round that really, so the onus is on the player to ensure his men don't blunder into its field of fire.

Maybe you should accept that the weaponry used is deadly and use the initiative of firer/fired upon to assess how well they respond to being fired upon. High initiative troops would hit the dirt quickly and thus minimize their casualties, while low initiative troops might not. Likewise the firers would rely on their initiative to wait for the right time to fire or opening up too early etc.

[Westfalia Chris]

We´re still pretty baffled at how to integrate the horrible level of squad firepower that emerged during WW2. Generally, I think that the rules would work, but you would have to limit some aspects rather strictly. And I positively do not know how to represent a squad MG or GPMG without it being a killer.

Well good luck with that. Unfortunately the maxim of modern warfare is that 'if you can be seen, you're dead'. Modern troops hug the ground or any available cover a lot. On the plus side the MG has become a weapon used to pin troops in their cover so you can move men into a position where they can see and kill them. What Pete said in essence.

Obviously a MG in ambush will be a killer, no way round that really, so the onus is on the player to ensure his men don't blunder into its field of fire.

Maybe you should accept that the weaponry used is deadly and use the initiative of firer/fired upon to assess how well they respond to being fired upon. High initiative troops would hit the dirt quickly and thus minimize their casualties, while low initiative troops might not. Likewise the firers would rely on their initiative to wait for the right time to fire or opening up too early etc.

Certainly. Of course, you will have noted that T&T is rather stiff in the penalties for firing and moving, so decisions will be even more crucial. I think the solution is hidden somewhere in the Initative rules.

[Poliorketes]

Operation Overlord / Operation WW2 has an interesting approach with spotting ranges depending on the action the target has done. You move? better to see. You shot? Even more so. You stay heads down? Can't be seen unless the attacker is very close.

I think allowing smoke bombs should help, too.

[Hammers]

Isn't there a Dennis Potter musical about the Suez crisis? I remember something like that from the telly? The Prime Minister (Eden?) goes mad right in the middle of it all?

EDIT: Lipstick on Your Collar, that's the one! With Ewan McGregor. Bless Wikipedia.