Project Kursk 28: Soviet Bits and Bobs

Well, it is the start of another busy school year. Most of my hobby tie since the start of the year has been devoted to getting figures painted for Curt's painting challenge, so blogging has suffered somewhat.

Just to bring us up to date, here are a few Soviet bits and bobs I painted up for Battle Group Kursk.

We have:

A brace of Katyushas from Zvezda...



...a command truck and Gaz jeeps from QRF. This are not exactly a joy to put together, but nobody else makes them as far as I know.



In contrast, here's a very nice little model of a SU-76 from Skytrex. I already had two of these, so now I have enough for a battery in BGK.



Next, a Skytrex Lend-Lease White Scout Car, and the unit of infantry it carries.



And finally, this is a resin knocked-out T34/85 from Peter Pig. Despite the inevitable compromises with detail this is a nice little model, which will act as an objective marker for Battle Group: Fall of the Reich.



So what's next for BGK? Really, apart from doing up more infantry, I now have a lot of gear for German and Soviet battlegroups. I think my focus will soon start drifting towards doing some Brits for Fall of the Reich, especially as I just picked up a bunch of Skytrex figures that Mick at Micks Metal Models was getting rid of. But I have a decision to make: Should my British battlegroup use Shermans, Cromwells or Churchills? Opinions welcome!

Project Kursk 27: First Company-Level Game

As I may have mentioned before, I think Battle Group Kursk is one of the most enjoyable and fulfilling games I've ever played, and certainly my standout WWII game. Well, that feeling was reinforced still further today when I got together with Conan the Librarian and Laurentius the Year 12 Club Warlord for a holiday game. We were able to devote a good 5 or so hours to the game, on a 6X6 table. We played 1000 points, which was a large Company-Level Game. Conan and I took a Soviet Rifle Division force, Laurentius a Panzer Division battlegroup, and we played the defence line scenario.



I tried something different for this game, the largest I've yet played with the rules. My battlegroup was made up of the following:

NKVD Officer
2 Infantry platoons (one in foxholes)
1 Maxim MG in reinforced cover
1 AT Rifle in Reinforced cover
1 Dug-in KV1
1 Platoon of KV1Es
2 Platoons of T34s
2 Zis 3 batteries (one with loaders)
1 Off-table battery of 152mm howitzers
1 Battery of 82mm mortars
1 Sniper
5 Pre-registered aiming points


This gave a force with a Battle Rating of 53 + D6 for the NKVD officer, with three officers. So essentially, I thought I'd try playing with the traditional Soviet strength in artillery, and see what happened. In response, Laurentius went for a vehicle-heavy Panzer force with a Battle Rating of 60, including two platoons in half-tracks, a Platoon each of Pz IIIs, IVs, Tigers and StuGs and no artillery support.

In our initial deployment, Conan and I deliberately sited our strongest defenses (the dug-in infantry and KV1) to encourage funnelling the attackers into some obvious lines of attack, then sited our pre-registered target points where we expected the Germans would mass for their attacks. It was important we got this right, as our force included no artillery observers, so we weren't going to be able to change our fire plan.

Generally we got our tactics pretty right. We started hammering the Germans with artillery from turn 1, which didn't destroy much apart from a couple of spectacular hits on halftracks full of infantry and a PzIII, but it did cause a steady attrition on the German battle rating, as Laurentius had to keep taking battle counters to unpin units.



Pinning a steady stream of German units, combined with Laurentius' propensity for excessive caution, meant that the German attack took a while to get started, and when it did it developed in two main thrusts down the flanks on very narrow fronts, as the Germans tried to avoid all the incoming hate. The biggest threat was on our left flank, but by the time the Germans were pushing through the woods there our tanks which were in reserve started arriving, and we were able to smash the attack at the cost of three T34s. The highlight was causing a Tiger crew to pail out of its tank after first pinning it with area fire, then hitting it with a couple of shells that couldn't possibly penetrate its armour. Indeed, the game confirmed a suspicion that has been steadily growing in me, which is this: Tigers are rubbish. Laurentius' big cats contributed little to his effort, despite being big and scary, and habitually failed their morale tests.



When we called the game at 4pm, Laurentius' Battle Rating was down to 16, but the Soviets still had 33, so a clear victory. All of us had a great day, and were really impressed by the way that scaling up the game means that different ways of playing it become possible, as one would expect in a real engagement. With 1000 points, it becomes possible to decide to emphasise artillery, or tanks, but still highlights the need to maintain a well-balanced force. In short, BGK continues to impress with its ability to produce a really fun and engaging game that rewards realistic force composition and tactics.

Project Kursk 26: The Volvos of the Wehrmacht

I really like Stugs. They're boxy, but good, like Volvos.



So this week I finished a box of 15mm PSC Stug IIIs. As always, they were a joy to build. Four of them are Stug IIIGs, with the fifth done up as a Sturmhaubitze IIIF.



And guess what I've noticed now that I've photographed them? Yep, I forgot to put the decals on.

Project Kursk 25: Ahoy to Paul and some Tiger Tanks

It was great this week to catch up with Paul of the Man Cave, following his return from months of derring-do in charge of about a billion dollars worth of hardware and over 200 crew on the high seas. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, visit his excellent blog.



German beer, sausages, wargaming and a good friend. Happy days.

Over sausages and beer we talked for hours, and planned some games for the next few weeks. As Neil Shuck from Meeples and Miniatures would say, 'watch this space'. Paul was generous enough to bring me back a spiffy framed dagger from Jordan, which will have pride of place on the wall of my man cave. I'll post a pic when I put it up. Thanks Paul!



The cumulative effect of German beer: Unit attrition.

Meanwhile, the production lines for Battle Group Kursk continue to produce materiel. Strange as it may seem, I think I have been making models and wargaming for about 35 years, but I have never made a Tiger Tank. Well, I rectified that shameful state of affairs this week with a brace of 15mm early Tigers from Plastic Soldier Company. As always from PSC, these were lovely kits to put together, and should scare the boys at school quite a lot. Heh.



And finally, here's a little squad of Soviert tank riders, also from PSC.



Happy gaming!

Project Kursk 24: Soviet Reinforcements and a 250 Point Game

This week I have been mostly...adding a few reinforcements to my Soviets.



Sorry for the bad photo, but you should be able to see in there some A/T rifle and MG teams, mortars, snipers and an NKVD officer with his GAZ jeep.

I was also lucky enough to get in a couple of 250 point games with the lads at school, when I should have been doing marking. Today we played a meeting engagement. I had two platoons of T-34s, a sniper, a squad of tank riders and an NKVD senior officer. My opponent brought two snipers, a squad of Panzergrenadiers in a halftrack, three Stug Gs and a Sturm Haubitze 42H. This was the first 250 point game I've played, and like Chris who commented on my last post, I was wondering how well the game would work with such small forces.





I was very pleasantly surprised! To start with, we finished a complete game (!!), taking just over an hour and a half to reach a decisive result. Despite being small, both our forces had high enough Battle Ratings to avoid a sudden defeat. The Soviets had a BR of 25, thanks to the NKVD officer's ability to boost the Soviet 'morale', the Germans a BR of 18.



The game was lots of fun. I used the mobility of my T-34s and the ability of the Soviets to activate multiple tanks with one order to charge the German Stugs, gaining a decisive advantage by staying out of the firing arc of their guns. This was a game where the tactical advantage of tanks over assault guns was well on display, and I was able to knock out all the German armour for the cost of two T-34s, plus a third that maddeningly ran over a mine. The Germans executed a daring raid with their halftrack that killed my NKVD officer, but that was their swansong. After half an infantry squad was wiped out by HE fire from a couple of T-34s, the Germans exceeded their battle rating and threw in the towel.

T-34s showing the advantage of having a turret



All in all a very satisfying game against one of the school club stalwarts. It was particularly great to see his nicely painted army on the table for the first time.

Project Kursk 23: 400 Point AAR

The battlefield from behind the Soviet defensive line



We played a 400 point game of Battle Group Kursk at the club at school last Thursday, which was also the first time we have used our spiffy new terrain boards that we spent all last term making. The Soviets had a very defensive Rifle Division force, with lots of dug in infantry, anti tank guns and a dug in KV1. In reserve, they could draw on a platoon of T-34s and another infantry platoon from the start of Turn 4. The Germans had an armoured car, a platoon of Panzergrenadiers in half tracks, four Pz IVs and some off-table mortars.

I was the Soviet Generalissimo, delegating command decisions to any other boys who were interested in joining in. The Germans tried to get stuck in early, charging up their halftracks with unsurprisingly bloody results. Despite losing three of their four halftracks they did manage to deploy all their infantry, concentrating all their firepower on the infantry and a 45mm A/T gun holding the Soviet left flank. Fortunately for the Soviets their reserves became available before the Germans broke through on the flank, so we called the game as a Soviet victory after the T-34s rolled up to massacre the German Panzergrenadiers that were exposed without armoured support.



The dug in KV-1 makes short work of a German halftrack



Another great of BGK that confirmed everything I like about the rules. Although there is a fair bit of flipping around the rulebook involved, I'm finding this easier and easier, and the rules for different types of firing (area, aimed fire with AP, aimed fire with HE etc) are becoming more natural. The opposed dice rolls and ability to give units reserve fire and reserve move orders mean that all players are engaged all the time, and it really is a very exciting game to play. The rules also reward historical tactics. When the Germans used firepower to try to pin the Soviet positions they had some success, but when they treated their vehicles like they were playing Warhammer, they got massacred.



Panzergrenadiers attempt to rush the Soviet left flank

Next week we are going to try to play a couple of 250 point games, which is probably more realistic in the hour and a half we have after school!

Project Kursk 22: Dug in Soviet KV1

I'm planning on a few games with lots of Soviet defensive positions, so came up with a little piece of scenery to turn a KV1 into a dug in KV1.



The emplacement is just made from plasticard and Milliput. I'm pretty pleased with the result! We'll be using this in a game at school on Thursday, so stay tuned for the AAR.

Project Kursk 21: Some More German Armour

This week I have been mostly...painting a few extra bits for my German Battle Group Kursk force. First up, BGK is a game where reconnaissance is very iportant, so I boosted my force with a lovely little Sdkfz 222 from Zvezda. As always, this was such a nice little kit to put together. Simple, and I spruced it up with some extra stowage, but lovely detail.



Next up, some Panzer III Ms. Plastic Soldier Company hasn't got around to releasing these yet, so I bought a few from Forged in Battle. These are nice little kits - resin hulls, with the base moulded on, with metal turrets and other bits. I like these a lot, with only the minor quibble that they have moulded the tank commander wearing the pre-war beret for some reason, which would have been a pretty rare sight by 1943!



The Forged in Battle tanks come in packs of four, so I turned the fourth one into a Panzer III N with the 75mm gun for close support. Helpfully, the kits come with extra barrels for either the Ausf. M, N or for the Flammpanzer III.



And speaking of which, here is a Flammpanzer III, this time the Zvezda kit. This will be great for a game I plan to run involving German engineers trying to hack their way through Soviet defences.

Project Kursk 20: Terrain Boards Take Shape

Over the past weeks a small group of dedicated Terraformers and I have been working on some terrain boards for Kursk on Wednesday afternoons after school. We have been particularly fortunate to have great support from the Applied Arts department, who have let us make all sorts of mess and use their glue.

The boards are all based on 600mm x 600mm mdf boards, with terrain built up from extruded polystyrene. Basically, we just glued a layer of the polystyrene to the boards, except where we cut in what will be a dry creek bed, then attacked the polystyrene with files and knives to give the ground some hills and troughs, adding some extra layers of polystyrene for taller hills.

The boards are designed to be modular, and can be arranged in all sorts of configurations, like this:

With the basic landscaping done, the next step has been to add sections of towel dyed and painted green for grass, sections of cut up doormat for wheat fields, a couple of ploughed fields made from DAS and grit in the creek bed and tracks. Then we'll do a fair bit of overspraying to blend the colours and make it look a bit more summery. Sadly exams have intervened, but once they are out of the way we'll get this finished in time for a big holiday game.

God I love my job!