Rapid Fire! in 20mm. Filling gaps in WW2 (part 7)

 

This batch of models plugs some holes in the OBs of several WW2 periods and armies. Retroaranda is a nice Spanish 3d on-line shop that I found while searching for the Vercors Gotha Go 242. They are still using PLA for their prints but dividing these kits into many parts which helps reducing lines and excess plastic. Besides, the kits arrive with all parts clean which makes them easy to build. There are also three kits from First to Fight, namely the funny little cutter KM12, a large 150mm sFH18 and the artillery crew. 

My Ariete division was very short of command vehicles and this lovely SPA Dovunque 35 radio vehicle comes in that sense. 

The kit has no exterior radio system and this one has to be scratch built. This  photo saved me from making too many mistakes on the roof of this radio vehicle. 

On the background of this photo you can see the two biggest inventions of the last decades,  cyanoacrylate and liquid plastic glue, far ahead from Covid19 vaccine and AI. What would be of us all without them? 

Some tracks, stairs and EverGreen plastics were used to improve the model. 

The Ford V3000 radio vehicle was built from 1941-on and will be helpful particularly for the Eastern Front. Only some stowage was added on the roof. The model also brings another antenna for the travelling position. 

This is another Japanese Type 89 Go. The other one I have is from MiniGeneral, made from a different file and slighly bigger. 

This artillery group - one 155mm sFH18  and a 105mm leFH16 -  is the one necessary for the bombardment of Saint-Nizier-du-Moucherotte, 13-15 June 1944 as part of the artillery of the 157th reserve infantry division. I already had several of these artillery pieces but in different colors and environments so a late war summer style group was necessary for the Vercors.

The artillery group who bombarded the Maquis position at St-Nizier made it from a distance of over 5 km and up to an height of over 1000 meters in relation to Grenoble. These stills are taken from the 2nd part of Le Maquis du Vercors- Juin 1944, La Bataille de St-Nizier. 

For the full video see 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTRyf8seItk

and don´t forget part 1 and 3. 

In this still from the 2nd part of series you can see the St-Nizier heights in relation to the Grenoble valley.

And this is  the today sports park from were the German artillery bombed the Maquis. 

In this other screenshot of the 2nd part of the YouTube Le Maquis du Vercors- Juin 1944, La Bataille de St-Nizier you can see the placement of this artillery group who bombarded the Maquis position at St-Nizier from a distance of over 5 km and up to an height of over 1000 meters in relation to Grenoble and this is the one I´m portraying in RF! terms.  

I don´t have any information on the usage of these Gebirgshaubitze 40 105mm howitzers by the 157 RID as the division had several battalions of Gebirgsjäger. Even so I built these two that can be used elsewhere. 

The crew is FtF with heads from Airfix Afrika korps. There is also one Simon Soldier figure (the one with Zeltbahn) and a Revell conversion that previously was arming a grenade and now is pulling the gun string. 

Other crew for the guns came from FtF and all of them can be used from the artillery box. The seated figures need to bend the legs with heat in order to fit the narrow places on the Feldkanone 16. 

There are some figures with 20/37mm shells for AA guns that were converted to carry the big 150mm shells. That is easy as the FtF plastic is quite easy to carve. 

First to Fight offers the MK12 in 3d printed resin. I don´t know if this one will ever be used in a wargame but the magazine that comes along with the model has some nice stories (recently they are already in english side by side with polish) that can be used as the basis of several wargames. The figures are Revell and Hat WW1 Germans as the Polish sailors had the WW1 Stahlhelm for land combat and even the armored body of the German Stormtroopers, not used here. 

Finally for something wrong. What I asked was one more LVT-A4 in order to have a pair of them to support the Marine landings in the late war period. The designer by seeing the "4" on the vehicle´s name thought that the turret of the M8 75mm HMC fitted the late LVT-4 when in fact the very different LVT-2 was its basis. The "4" just means the 4th way to place guns on the LVT-2 Amtrac. So I got something wrong that needed to be used somewhere. The idea for this conversion came from the following photo: 

One of the few different models from the LVT-4 basic was an ambulance model deprived from its guns and painted with (lots) of red crosses. The canvas cover in the model was made from hardened tissue paper with cyanoacrylate in order to cover the big hole of the turret. This photo sometimes looks a bit fake as the smaller red crosses look strange but I read that "Sphinx" shows in two forms around the Walcheren period, one armed and another - this one - already without its guns. Probably the same vehicle used in two different ways. 

Next: More Napoleonics 

Borodino 1812 (part 9): The Imperial Guard 3e Grenadiers a pied (Dutch) and the Vistula Legion infantry for AOE in 20mm

Time for more French side units for the Russian campaign of 1812. These two were glued to some ugly strips of card waiting for years for a definitive set of rules and bases. Even so the Dutch Grenadiers needed four new figures and the Vistula infantry some ten. 

The Dutch imperial guardsmen are all Airfix and one pioneer from Esci. Exceptuating the pioneer figure, the Airfix box had everything you need for the foot Imperial Guard, flag bearer, officer, drummer and NCOs. 

The Polish Vistula Legion infantry is mostly made from Esci French due to the short jacket in Bardin style. A few Esci Russian bodies were also used with French shakoes. Apparently the Vistula infantry didn´t use the Czapka making these Esci figures a reasonable choice. The lapels were disguised with several coats of paint.  Here the problems start as the different sources (or interpretations, if you want) show many different details regarding cords, cuffs and even chin strap colors. The only thing they all agree is the white epaulettes for the grenadiers. I hope that the amount of yellow on these figures makes them stand apart from the masses of French infantry near by

Again the figures are glued to each other in order to have a sturdier base with no paint coming out. 

The problem with these old boxes from Esci is the lack of equipment in many figures. So all of them had a backpack from a deceased figure namely the kneeling figure at the front row and the shooting figure in the second row. In the third row there are some Airfix French artillerymen with a Pom Pom made of a piece of heated plastic. Finally there are also some Hat figures for variety. 

The flags were taken from this image on the Web.This is my usual way to produce flags: I simply doubled them into a word page and resized it into a convenient size. 

Next: Retroranda 3d prints and FtF models for WW2 or more Napoleonics

Able Archer/ RFR rules (?) - Russian invasion of Ukraine 2022 in 20mm (part 16) - Ukrainian Su-25s

 

The Su-25 was and still is the main ground attack aircraft of the PS ZSU. The Ukrainian air force went to war with 43 flyable Su-25s, got an extra 18 airframes from Macedonia and Bulgaria and lost at least 20 of the jets in action, leaving at most 41 in service.  The models came from Aliexpress and they build very easily with all parts already painted (thus two Number 9...). This is great as the digital camouflage is very hard to paint and that reason is kepting me from making a Su-27 and a pair of Mig-29 from the stash.

 They are meant to be toys and a few details are missing like the front sensors. The aircraft stands were painted to look like the Altaya stands in the collection. 

I have all aircraft for this conflict with pilots inside and these last ones were the only addition. 

They came with some simple wheels and if you don´t use them some holes will be left to be seen. Nothing you can´t live with as this angle is not seen in wargaming (I hope...).

Next: More Retroaranda models for WW2 or more Napoleonics.

The Italians and Neapolitans under Napoleon for AOE/V&F in 20mm

The Italians and Neapolitans came to my mind when, decades ago I got Osprey Men-at arms No88 about Italians and Neapolitans. Maybe around that time Military Modelling November 87 came with a nice article on the battle of Maloyaroslavets 1812 and this post started by then with a non existant internet. 

The two groups were made initially with line and light infantry and cavalry made from Esci figures and the guard infantry and artillery made from Airfix. The majority of the figures are then the Esci "wrong" infantry, a mix of Bardin tail coats and pre-1812 fronts, only good enough for Jeune Guard. Even so Mike Chappell's plates on Italians and Neapolitans mostly show short coat tails and that encouraged me to move forward with the Esci figures. 

The two groups are organized for AgeOf Eagles rules but with a growing eye on the much simpler Valour&Fortitude. 

What I only had already painted for the Italian Guard was the front kneeling Airfix figures, an officer and the standard bearer. So in the last few days the two rear lines were added made from a mix of Airfix and Esci figures. 

The Italian Line infantry (4th and 5th line) were the opposite as I only added the front rank of kneeling figures from Esci and Italeri. As I do with most packed stands I use a bit of super glue to attach figures to each other using mostly the bayonet or the rifle to lean on backpacks, shakoes and such of the figure standing in front. Like this the figures don´t bend when hold and paint holds much better. Also there are a number of Esci figures that had Hat industries backpacks glued as, typical of Esci, many figures had incomplete gear. 

Don´t know really why but this 2nd Neapolitan Chasseurs was the unit chosen to be painted as cavalry. Maybe I found some information about them in those day's magazines. The figures and horses are Esci Polish cavalry with the Czapka replaced by and Infantry shako with added plume made from a pin with Araldite resin for shape. In those days patience was really at it most!

The Neapolitan Line infantry is also Esci and made for years with a few more recent Hat Industry tossed in to complete the three ranks. The regiment to the back is also Esci with a rear line of Airfix artillerymen. The original don´t have pompons and the elite companies had them made from pins with Araldite and the fusilier companies from a piece of plastic burned into a round shape, 

The 2nd Neapolitan light infantry was turned into skirmishers as like this they can be used in regimental sized rules. The reason for that is that all had the same kneeling position which didn´t allow them to be used in three lines. 

The Italian artillery has two foot artillery stands (left) and one horse artillery. All figures and guns are Airfix but with new heads. The foot artillery has new Esci shakoes as these allow for the peak to be removed and the horse artillery has Esci Polish Czapkas. 

Next: Ukrainian Su-25 Frofoot

Rapid Fire! Blitzkrieg in 20mm - German inflatable boats for the Meuse

This was an old idea of mine since I started my French and German armies for 1940 campaigns. The Meuse crossing by the Germans always caught my imaginaton as it involved the 5e DCL and two French infantry divisions and even some counter attacks by French tank units. The Meuse crossings are also on my visit list for the future. The boats are resin Anyscale Models and the figures are converted soft plastics. There are also ten Revell rowers from five  boxes of Engineers. They just needed some cuts in the anorak as the original is the late war for them to look like the the feldbluse. 

These twelve boats are enough for three battalions, one per fusilier company and one for the support and command companies (quite crammed these last two). There should be more people inside the boats tahn the 6 I used as the period pictures shows sometimes 12 men inside. The Anyscale models German inflatable boats in 20mm size maybe should be a bit bigger but they capture the essential of the piece. 

I used old soft plastics for the figures, mostly Airfix, Esci, Revell Hat and Matchbox. This one is the charging Airfix German and was one of the most used figures for the right hand side of the rowers. The trick was always the same: the figures got cut by the waist; the portable gun was taken out and replaced by a piece of heated plastic broom stick; a rifle or SMG was glued to the back; the legs were made in Milliput; the bottom part of the jacket was also modelled in Milliput and the boots were glued to the trousers while the Milliput was still drying. 

This one is the Esci mortar figure with new legs and left arm. 

Now the same for the relatively useless Airfix DAK figure with a shovel. 

This one was also from the Airfix DAK figure. Its the one in shorts bayonetting the opponent , something that Rommel forbade (not bayonetting but using shorts :) 

The most used torso was the Esci grenade thrower with new arms and used in both sides of the boats. 

The Airfix MG34 gunner just got new legs and its old boots. 

In this one there is an Esci DAK torso hold a LMG, a Hat cyclist (rower) and a Matchbox figure. The two figures on the lower right corner are again Matchbox and Airfix. 

 Some of the boats have a LMG or a flamethrower lying on the floor. Virtuelly all figures neede new gas mask containers, shovel and bayonet, bread bag and canteens and these ones were taken from Preiser or cut from the original figures before the torso was glued to the legs. Nowadays you can also do all this using much more recent figures like Caesar and Pegasus but this is a way to use these old figures in a different, fun and useful fashion. 

Next: Italians for the Russian campaign of 1812. 

Rapid Fire! Pacific USMC in 20mm

This a USMC landing force based on a Marine infantry regiment and its LVT´s. The Destroyer is Lindberg in 1/125th scale with 15mm figures everything for the sake of space. The LCT 6s are Britannia and scratchbuilt. The LVT´s and DUKWs are Frontline Wargaming, Altaya and Airfix. The infanty is mostly Revell but with plenty of add-ons from Matchbox, Airfix, SHQ, Hasegawa and Esci for the non-existant support weapons of the Revell box.

Rapid Fire! in 20mm, Vercors 1944 (part 4) - The Gotha Go 242s at Vassieux

 

On the 23-24 July 1944, three Gotha Go 242 landed on the Vercors plateau at Vassieux in support of the DFS 230 that had already landed. They could carry 20 fully armed men and support weapons, about the double capacity of the DFS 230. One of them brought a 20mm AA gun which reinforced Schäffer´s men. 

What has been puzzling me is the rest of the number "2" that you can see at the tail, while the "019" at the front is clearly seen at the only known photo of one of the Vassieux Gothas, present in the Osprey book on Vercors 1944. This photo also shows up in French videos on the subject and most probably in other publications.

I tried everything, all forms of AI , books and the rest of internet and nothing. There is a very dark and blurry shadow over the number (and probaly the Balkreuz) so its very difficult to decipher the rest of the numbers and letters. Like that the number "2" was left alone until one day someone can solve the mistery. Sometimes I think that I need to go to the Vercors Resistance museum for some clarifications. Maybe when I get retired... but will I remember I need that by then? :) 

The camouflage was made of Vallejo Russian Infantry Green and darkened medium blue giving very aproximate colors to the originals. These Gothas also got different types of camouflage, this one being one of the most usual. The B/W photo of the Vassieux Gotha shows some strange blotches at the front but they may be due to the poor quality of the photo.  

The model is a Retroaranda 3d printed PLA model from Spain. The models are quite nice as Retroaranda solves the problematic PLA plastic by dividing and cleaning around 30 parts, making this model very easy to put together and with no extra plastic around. The only problem is that, probably due to the cleaning process, you need a bit over 20 days for the parcel to arrive from a neighboring country. In the end you get a nice model 2/3 times cheaper that the one from Italeri or IBG. 

Next: a video on the USMC in WW2

Hernán Cortez army in 20mm for Impetus rules

 

Hernán Cortés did not organize his professional troops into a formal Spanish tercio formation. Instead, he utilized combined arms tactics tailored to the local environment and enemy, focusing on maintaining unit cohesion, leveraging superior Spanish weaponry (cavalry and firearms), and effectively integrating tens of thousands of indigenous allies. All figures are Revell and are the content of a full box of Conquistadores.
If you want you can see the Aztecs here: 

http://jpwargamingplace.blogspot.com/2025/11/hernan-cortez-army-in-20mm-for-impetus.html

Hernán Cortez figure in the Revell box is standing on foot but I have a second box of Revell Conquistadores in the stash from where the Cortez and flagbearer figures will be converted into  horsemen. This flag was given to Cortez by Charles V when he returned to Spain. The one used in mexico had a red ground with the Virgin Mary and that one will be made from the second box flagbearer. 

 

Arquebusiers and Crossbowmen  ranged units provided deadly, unnervingfire support that could break up massed Aztec attacks, particularly effective in open fields and on the narrow causeways. The mention of pikes in sources suggests their presence, likely to repel potential charges and maintain formation integrity, but they were not used in the massive "push of pike" associated with later tercios.

Rodeleros (Sword-and-Buckler Men) constituted the bulk of the Spanish infantry, using steel swords and armor, which were vastly superior to Aztec obsidian-edged weapons. They held the lines and engaged in hand-to-hand combat, relying on their steel protection and disciplined formations to withstand the Aztec onslaught. 

Artesanía Latina canons are too big as Cortez used 14 smaller guns. The crew are Esci conversions from NATO aircraft ground crew boxes. 

At Otumba, on the  July 7th 1520, the small contingent of about 13-20 remaining horsemen (from 100 that Cortez managed at a certain point) were the key "shock troops". They were held in reserve or positioned to make rapid, repeated charges into the dense Aztec ranks, which were unaccustomed to cavalry, always looking after the colorful leaders. The open plain of Otumba was ideal terrain for cavalry action. Eventually some Spanish Mastiffs and Wolfhounds were still there and provided a massive psychological and tactical advantage over the indigenous populations who had never encountered such large, aggressive dogs.

Next: Vercors 1944