What WW2 Equipment Can be Used in Back of Beyond?

[The Hooded Claw]

Hello all,

I am planning on doing Back of Beyond games in 15mm, a scale that I already have soem stuff for. In addition, with Old Glory 15mm Command Decission being constantly on sale, I thought I might pick up some more stuff to use on the cheap.

My question is, what sorts of equipment, used by the various armies of WW2, is suitable to use in Back of Beyond games?

I know that much of the Early WW2 equipment had been in use for decades before the outbreak of war, so I imagine the list might be quite extensive.

Thanks,

-Eli

[Doc Twilight]

Hello all,

I am planning on doing Back of Beyond games in 15mm, a scale that I already have soem stuff for. In addition, with Old Glory 15mm Command Decission being constantly on sale, I thought I might pick up some more stuff to use on the cheap.

My question is, what sorts of equipment, used by the various armies of WW2, is suitable to use in Back of Beyond games?

I know that much of the Early WW2 equipment had been in use for decades before the outbreak of war, so I imagine the list might be quite extensive.

Thanks,

-Eli

Not much, actually, if you're dealing with a strict interwar period Back of Beyond setting. The most common armored vehicles and guns in that part of the world would be WW1 vintage, and even before. Very little in terms of new equipment would have arrived in such a backwater place - the Russian "KS" version of the FT-17 tank being one of the more "modern" vehicles occasionally seen in service.

You'd also see several artifacts of the Russian Civil war and the Intervention. Mk IV and V tanks, FT-17s; supposedly a Schneider or two made it East. Oh yes, and probably an Ehrhardt armored car or two, not to mention several other armored cars of the era. But this is all strictly WW1 and directly post WW1 era equipment.

Aside from perhaps a handful of trucks, there wouldn't be much going on that wasn't dated to the 1920s at the very latest; there was some importation of post-WW1 era aircraft (both civilian and military) but the machinery that served in WW2 simply wouldn't be in evidence during the bulk of the period that "Back of Beyond" theoretically covers.

China was comparatively poor in "modern" equipment, even during the bulk of WW2. The Chinese were importing CV33s and Panzer Is in the mid to late thirties, but that's about it. None of the modern French or British stuff, really, though you might occasionally see something like an exported Vickers tank taken from the Indian Army (or in use by the Indian Army, as the case may be). The Italians didn't export anything to China bigger than the 33... the Czechs kept their designs in Europe, for the most part. Hmm... the Japanese were still developing their own equipment.

There were, of course, a cornucopia of small arms in service, but you asked for heavy equipment like that covered by Old Glory specifically.

-Doc

[The Hooded Claw]

Hmmmm, well that's a bummer. I may not be able to be as cheap as I had hoped.

I had hoped that there might have been a few guns (artiller) or trucks that were kept in service for that long as these are the pieces of equipment most likely to be fielded in BoB games. I have a truck and some guns from the SCW and hoped they might work. I'm just not familiar enough with the period to know where to borrow from.

I'm cheap, sue me

-Eli

[fastolfrus]

Do OG 15s nor include any WWI (or SCW) stuff ?

Minifigs have quite a few 15mm WWI packs that might help, but perhaps not as cheap.

[sukhe_bator]

I'd agree the majority of equipment used was WW1 vintage or earlier - a lot of the WWI artillery types were introduced around 1906-1909. Its older WWI survivals that saw service in WWII rather than any fancy newer types that you'll see, such as the 3.7" QF mtn howitzer that saw service in Burma. This Hwz with spoked wheels is at the Royal Artillery Museum in Woolwich.

There was something of a hiatus in weapon design after the 'War to end all wars' and extensive re-armament didn't really take off until the early 1930's.
I've tried to reflect the Chinese Warlord propensity for acquiring any sort of weaponry by giving mine a wide variety of artillery types. My Chinese Hwz uses a Minifigs Screw gun team, a mix of Irregular and PP crew and a PP gun (Most pack Hwz crews ditched the gun shield for ease of transportation) with some old limber wheels from somewhere or other.

My Chinese forces may look modern, but its an illusion. I wanted to make a contrast between Baron Ungern-Sternberg's more horsedrawn forces and the Chinese. Most of the lorries had a very high rate of mechanical failure in any event. There's twice as many mules and camels as vehicles. I have succumbed and got in a Reno and a Peerless though. That's about as high tech as you can get.

 

[Alcide Nikopol]

Really well done!

[sukhe_bator]

Is it my imagination or does there seem to be a growing trend for gaming Back of Beyond in 15mm. I'm so glad I'm not the only one out there!

[The Hooded Claw]

Thanks for all the feedback. I think with the hodgepdge nature of the equipment used, it should be too hard to pick up a bit here and there and not break the bank.

On the 15mm note, the scale seems to be going through a bit of a bump in popularity recently. This has been really obvious in 15mm sci-fi where there has been a bumper crop of new releases, even new companies on the block.

-Eli

[former user]

my approach would be to go to the WIKI war portal and check on the introduction dates of WWII artillery

[Mark Plant]

Memory says that quite a few guns made it across, but in amended forms. Longer barrels and pneumatic wheels being common differences.

What does appear in both wars seems to be rather obscure in WWII, like this:
http://www.worldwar2.ro/arr/?article=304

[Poliorketes]

In 15mm you should have only a few problems with rifles or carbines. The Mauser got shorter by WW2 but as there have been Mauser-carbines in use before that shouldn't be a problem. The russian Moisin-Nagant, british SMLE and amreican Springfield where used in both wars. You'll have problems with automatic weapons. Apart from the MP 18/28 (which was rare in WW2 and is even rarer on minis for WW2) and the Lewis gun most submachine guns and LMGs fom WW2 are anachronistic in BoB. HMGs will work if you stick to the older variants - Vickers, the russian wheled Maxim, Colt Potato Diggers. Avoid AT-weapons.

For personal Equipment - in 15mm noone would notice the differences between british/german WW1 and WW2 as long as they have tin hats. You can use germans for chinese elites. WW2 russians won't work for BoB.

As a solution I suggest shifting the whole setting 10 years in the future, that is into the 30ies, centred around Manchuria.

[The Hooded Claw]

I did find that, at least cosmetically speaking, WW2 French and Italian artillery prove some guns that can pass. It's like a Hollywood production for me. The guns might not be accurate but they will look the part on film. I have also been told that Irregular miniatures does spoke wheels that are available separately, though I cannot find the product code anywhere.

-Eli