the return of heavy/siege artillery

[former user]

having apparently become somehow artillery obsessed recently, I wonder if there would be any interest to discuss the opportunities of having heavy artillery models and/or using them in wargames.

I believe this might be a good place to do so, as it would be my understanding that the Great War witnessed the tactical rebirth of the heaviest calibres as opposed to the previously valid mobility doctrines.

I might be wrong about that (russo-japanese war?), but this could be also ineresting to discuss.

We could also collect links to what is available on the market.

anyone?

[former user]

I am currently fascinated by these examples, probably because they are modelled after WW1 artillery, and I am trying to find a way to use them with my WW1 collection

[former user]

interesting - found the book here
http://books.google.de/books?id=4jrSAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA210&lpg=PA210&dq=Kriegstaatz+Batteries&source=bl&ots=cR1k-iWcCF&sig=TrZDDSJTkCN0yCvwwnQ6peBW6CU&hl=de&sa=X&ei=Vf5tVIrCMMX0PNbFgdgL&ved=0CCMQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=Kriegstaatz%20Batteries&f=false

covert naval landing plus taking out the big gun sounds good

large calibre not so much a problem, since the improvised character of e.g. the BL 8-inch howitzer Mk I–V meant a rather short range. But in general, yes, having them an objective in a scenario sounds more reasonable, at least for the larger scales

[Von Stroheim]

In 28mm HLBS is your best bet they have three British and one German in Heavy artillery of course other nations used them

http://www.hlbs.co.uk/type.php?id=89

[former user]

THX very much, I knew them well, beautiful models indeed.
Not sure if they are not too large and fiddly for me.
I don't mind "generic" historical artillery

are they all metal?

[Von Stroheim]

Big Bertha is all metal as I think the British MKV is but the others are mixed metal/resin.  The new British 60pdr is a mixed resin metal and I plan to give it a Bolshevik crew as I've seen a picture of one captured by the Poles in 1919

[Von Stroheim]

You might also try Irregular Miniatures I have a couple in their 28mm range they are basic but cheap and easy to assemble - they also have the same  guns in 42mm

http://www.irregularminiatures.co.uk/

[former user]

 
yep, I used to have a russian metal toy that could fire plastic shells, action figure size
I think Yours might represent an 8 inch howitzer, 18 would be over 45 cm...

anyway, how would You use Your large calibre artillery in a game?  I was thinking around "what happens after infiltration".

also, I used to think of artillery as "efficiency tokens", but now I am leaning towards playable scenery because of all the extra equipment that goes together with it, which of course doesn't make it easier to finish the project

THX for pointing me towards Irregular - I found only the 28mm WW1 artillery section, and alas, few pictures only - being thrilled feels different. what am I missing?

[former user]

I do not doubt that, but the only 18 inch howitzer I could find is a railway gun, the Boche Buster


I am kind of a railway nut, but this time I would like to keep it smaller 

typo by Britains'  carton department?

[Von Stroheim]

I can only get a link to Irregular's Home page but if you go to the 25mm & 42mm sections and click on the 'Really Usefull Guns' in each section there are a number illustrated including some heavy types

[former user]

the 8 inch howitzer looks surprisingly similar to the resin Kromlech gun up page


found the irregular useful guns
really useful miniatures, THX a lot! have to check in detail

[Tym]

I must confess to a similar problem when it comes to Big guns I have the HLBS Bertha, 8 inch and the new 60pdr all great models.  They do a British gun crew which is ok but no German.  Saving up to buy the other big gun they do to mount it on a train.  Just love big guns :-)

[former user]

I am not sure how many companies do german gun crews but the woodbine brits are pretty generic without hats

with so many big ones You can make a train transport

[aircav]

The British crew from HLBS is easily converted to German crew

[Hauptgefreiter]

If you're willing to spend the money and don't care too much for historical accuracy, have a go with FW Death Korps guns. They even provide crews...
Concerning rules, the IA campaign series "Siege of Vraks" provides rules for games with big guns, IIRC 

Another option for guns and crews is Victoria Miniatures. They're obviously meant for 40k, but maybe you can finde something useful...