From West Africa to Western Europe: Wargaming The Second World War in 28mm

[retrovertigo]

Hi everyone. I'm a long time lurker/forum stalker, and just recently resolved to sort my life out and actually make a profile to contribute something of my own.

Over the last few years I've played an unholy amount of Battlegroup in 28mm (yeah I'm one of those people...) but more recently I've made the effort to learn the rules for Chain of Command (after years of owning the book) - I'm somewhat invested hobby and personal interest-wise, in the Second World War as you can imagine.

Hopefully I can post up regular updates on my hobby stuff, at the moment I post the odd thing on Twitter but the limitations of it have got me to missing the benefits of a good old fashioned web forum instead. Anyway without further ado, here's some stuff I've done or that I am working on!

First up my current 'new' project is a '41 British/Commonwealth Western Desert Force, with the intention of playing a campaign based in Tobruk using the Battlegroup rules. My force is modeled on the standard infantry division order of battle, with the intention of offering the options later to use it as an armoured division too.

Kicking things off, I'd been fascinated with some of bizarre/eclectic hardware used in the desert in the planning stages of the project. One thing that had caught my interest was the unarmoured transports that British officers routinely barreled around the desert in. Ordinary station wagons or similar being repurposed into staff cars on the front lines, seems simultaneously barking mad and yet such an obviously British thing to do that I absolutely had to have one for my forward headquarters unit to use.




As luck would have it, Perry do this exact thing in resin -  it's a Ford C11ADF, 4x2 staff car.






Beautiful resin model and cast from the Perrys, with crisp metal extras. I added in some addition stowage behind the rear seats (that no one will ever see!) but other than that it was a nice quick and easy paintjob. In retrospect I wish I'd tried my hand at doing some rolled up canvas window blinds, but that a trival issue I think.

It carries three command staff around but most of the time it will be deployed as you see in the photo with Major Marmaduke Darling puffing on his pipe in relaxed contemplation of the battle in front of him! I have a 3d printed drinks cabinet on folding legs to add to this little vignette when I get time.

[tin shed gamer]

Well that's  a cracking way to start forum life.

[retrovertigo]

A couple of things for me absolutely scream WW2 NORTH AFRICA in the British arsenal - the little QF 2pdr anti-tank gun, and the beefy 25pdr on the turntable mount. So of course I had to paint one of each.




Not exactly something that will strike terror into the heart of my wargaming chum and DAK commander from across the table, but should at least scare a few Panzer III commanders into hiding under their seats as it's little shells smack off their armour... even if it's unlikely to actually blow any of them up!

Something with a little more umpf is the 25pdr field gun on that trademark turntable, firing platform.



The gun itself is not attached to the base - firstly so I can enjoy swiveling it around mid-game whilst uttering a range of curse words in my best 1940's Tommie lingo, but also so it can be placed behind a forthcoming Quad and limber for games where it is part of a mobile force rather than a static defensive position.

[BeneathALeadMountain]

That’s great Retro, charmingly disheveled and dinged up. One of the things I love about Battlegroup is the use of other vehicles like support, command and supply. They add real character to the tabletop. There’s a later desert (Torch I think) Battlegroup campaign pdf that is quite fun and could easily be ported to the slightly earlier period. Those guns are excellent and will be welcome support for the poor foot sloggers.

Looking forwards to seeing more,
BALM

[retrovertigo]

That’s great Retro, charmingly disheveled and dinged up. One of the things I love about Battlegroup is the use of other vehicles like support, command and supply. They add real character to the tabletop. There’s a later desert (Torch I think) Battlegroup campaign pdf that is quite fun and could easily be ported to the slightly earlier period. Those guns are excellent and will be welcome support for the poor foot sloggers.

Looking forwards to seeing more,
BALM

Thanks! And funny you should say that...

Definitely the weirdest vehicle I have modeled is this, Bergepanzer III recovery vehicle. In Battlegroup you have a VERY slim chance of this thing actually fulfilling it's job in a game but nevertheless it's an absolute auto-take in larger games, purely for the flavour it adds and of course the hilarity of trying to get it to a stricken tank without getting blown up itself!




It's a Warlord Games plastic Panzer III hull, with a resin a metal addon kit. Sadly the resin superstructure was so badly warped and miscast it went straight in the bin. I ended up scratchbuilding my own, using matchsticks for the planking, bits of blister pack plastic, and some cardboard from a cereal packet. Crewman is a modified passenger from the plastic strips of soldiers Warlord Games sell for their German trucks. Came out pretty well I think considering I have zero ability with scratchbuilding etc! Poor Wolfgang there is the butt of a running joke when we play as he is yet to successfully salvage a single tank in game - probably why he looks so depressed...

[CapnJim]

Nice job on the vehicles and those guns.  I particularly like the Ford...

[fred]

Welcome, and some very nice work to introduce yourself!

That is a nicely eclectic mix of kit you have! Battlegroup does a great job of bath tubbing WWII elements down so you get some of the higher level kit on the table, while it still feels very much like WWII.

We’ve not tried CoC for the desert - partly due to time taken to get figures painted, and partly due to pondering how best to play an infantry focused battled - Tobruk though should work well with the defences giving more cover and structure to the game rather than an open desert engagement.

[Ragnar]

Over the last few years I've played an unholy amount of Battlegroup in 28mm (yeah I'm one of those people...) but more recently I've made the effort to learn the rules for Chain of Command (after years of owning the book)

A man after my own heart!

I am really enjoying your vehicle painting and will enjoy watching your thread develop.

[retrovertigo]

Welcome, and some very nice work to introduce yourself!

That is a nicely eclectic mix of kit you have! Battlegroup does a great job of bath tubbing WWII elements down so you get some of the higher level kit on the table, while it still feels very much like WWII.

We’ve not tried CoC for the desert - partly due to time taken to get figures painted, and partly due to pondering how best to play an infantry focused battled - Tobruk though should work well with the defences giving more cover and structure to the game rather than an open desert engagement.

I'm initially sticking to BG for the desert, purely as the quantity of tanks dictates it! However my near-future plan is for an Italian platoon specifically to allow me to play CoC with my Brits at a skirmish level. I think moving it East will open up some terrain opportunities that might suit CoC a bit more than open desert?

[retrovertigo]

Couple of collections of WIPs I'm prepping:

First up is a British/Commonwealth carrier patrol for Battlegroup - Bren, mortar, and command carrier. Mortar carrier isn't quite right for the theatre but I'll cope! Added some extra stowage, hung some haversacks on the sides and generally tried to convey the impression of a patrol used to being out in the open desert.



Next up is an eclectic collection of bric-a-brac.



Desert well was a resin piece I picked up from Vapnartak last week. It's going to be an objective for the Tobruk campaign, doubling as a bit of scatter. Drink cabinet again can be used as an objective marker (you can't command a battalion of infantry in the desert without a sherry or two) or JOP for CoC. I haven't decided if the surrendering German will be for Africa or Europe, but along with the RAF pilot will be an objective marker for BG. Pill bases with ammo crates are going to be a bit of decoration to be honest, I plan to arrange them around any of my desert gun teams - you always see mounds of crates and spent shells around gun teams in photos so really wanted to add some of my own purely for the look of it.

[BeneathALeadMountain]

I love Wolfgang and his Bergepanzer III, although he does look sullen and a bit sad from the first picture: like he’s on the naughty step!

Fred I totally agree, with a little common sense and thought you can put a reasonably representative force onto the table and still play a fun game. I’m very interested to see what the new platoon level game Piers is working on currently will be like.

Thank you for posting, I look forward to more progress and hopefully some game pictures in the future.

Andrew
BALM

[Captain Blood]

Very nice work and a great collection taking shape 

[retrovertigo]

When I was mulling over my Africa campaign force, the tank I knew I absolutely had to own was the good ol' Matilda "Queen of the Desert" infantry tank. I opted to paint it in a less common variation of Caunter, and in retrospect wish I'd gone for something a bit less BROWN, but I'm pleased how it came out regardless. Wasn't sure of the merits of adding rust or streaks to this one so left them off - internet photo paranoia to blame for that one, nothing worse than fretting about being told off for your mistakes!





Considering adding a second Matilda, but this time the 3" howitzer CS variant. We'll see once the Valentine platoon is completed!

This week progress has stopped on models as I focus on getting terrain and defences done for next week (not that we need a huge amount of terrain  ).



A real mix of stuff so far - an old Citadel plastic molded hill I have textured with sand and repainted from cowpat golden yellow; resin craters and  entrenchments from the ever excellent Ironclad Miniatures; plus some pre-painted bases of palm trees I got off eBay that I've de-flocked and repainted to suit. Frustrating that the exact same paint recipe has yielded slight differences in colour, but I think spray on Zandri Dust and out the pot are clearly not the same tone, plus the difference in texture depth/sand has meant some pieces have picked up sandy mid-highlight off the drybrush more intensely than others.

Still to do: 30"+ of barbed wire bases, a pair of big entrenchments from Ironclad again, and I need to make a 30" anti-tank ditch (this will be a foam shape laid under the most excellent fleece mat from Geek Villain.

[Grumpy Gnome]

Your stuff is looking brilliant mate! Such attention to detail. Great work!

[MaleGriffin]

Brilliant! Absolutely brilliant!