Impetus rules, Mohacs 1526 in 20mm (Part 1), The Hungarian army

One of the pleasures I have is to visit battlefields and then to model the figures, terrain and material for it aiming at wargaming the campaign. This Mohacs battle is another of these cases. I´m making these two armies (next is the Ottoman) for some years by now, using mostly conversions from Zvezda, Miniart, RedBox and Caesar copies. I also used some of Takács Krisztián excellent figures and hopefully will continue to do so in the future as this kind of army is never finished.

Impetus Rules - Mohacs 1526, part 8 - Hungarian Clipeati and Armati in 20mm

Extra Impetus Nº3 mentions 4 heavy infantry stands each of Clipeati and Armati for a sizeable Hungarian army of the Mohacs period. The problem here is that generally the Clipeati formed the shield wall from were the Armati, probably armed with pole weapons, would fight in a somewhat tight phalanx. The extra Impetus separates both types of heavy infantry but I prefer to use them together in the same stand. In the future, if I see my life in danger in a game or so, I can always divide the stands differently between Clipeati and Armati. 

The Clipeati and Armati figures really look nice together and you can deepen the Impetus spirit of nice big  stands that look like dioramas. 

The figures used are some very nice Caesar copies ordered from China through Aliexpress. For just some 3 euros you get 200 1/72 figures in a poly bag which is obviously a great value for what you pay. The plastic is harder than poly figures and holds the paint very well. The figures were copied from some of the figures of the two boxes of  Caesar XIII and XV century Medieval European Knights. I only used here the ones from the XV century as they are closer to the Hungarian heavy infantry of 1526, even if not a match as there were also some different helmets and pieces of equipment on those day´s Hungarian army. As pole weapons are necessary for the Armati many of the figures were converted as pikemen. In the above picture you can see the original figure (armed with sword or an halberd) sided with the converted one armed with a pike plastic made of a broom stick. Many of the halberdiers were left with its weapon as its a very probable weapon of the Armati. 

I left all Clipeati armed with swords just because they look as if they are somehow dealing with the shield. The shields were made of slightly curved plastic from 1Kg yogurt buckets. This is an highly simplified form of the shield as generally the heavy infantry Hungarian shield had a vertical boss all along. They were colored with photocopies (the ones red chequered or with the Hungarian coat of arms) or hand painted like the tri colored ones. 

The back of the shields were painted brown and were kept standing just with one piece of plastic. Not sure if one or two legs hold these pavesi type of shields but like this it became simpler. 

Another 4 stands of archers were also made in order to finish the 8 that are mentioned in the lists. The flag of this one came from the Russian XIX century Opolchenie. Not the happiest union as there aren't many orthodox people in Hungary.  

Next: Maybe a return to the nowadays Russo-Ukrainian war. 

3e DLM for the 1940 campaign in 20mm for Rapid Fire! wargames rules

5e DLC for the 1940 campaign in 20mm for Rapid Fire! wargames rules

This is the smallest of the French division types for the 1940 campaing. The 5e Division Légère de Cavalerie (5e DLC) tried to stop the Germans in the Ardennes and fougth them at Sedan and Abbeville. Its very interesting due to its old material and number of horses. The figures and vehicles are a mix of Simon Soldiers (pioneers and artillerymen); Hat, Esci,Caesar, EWM, Lancer and LesArméesOubliés (horsemen, Motorcyclists and Dragons Portés); Resin prints from Mário Laranja (AMR33, Unic P107BU and Simca Cinq); MiniGeneral PLA prints (75mm field guns and Lafflys), SHQ (SideCars and motorcyclists), Wespe (Renault ADH), Altaya (Panhard 178), Skytrex (H39) and plenty, plenty of my own conversions.

Rapid Fire! Normandy 1944 in 20mm - The unarmoured Unic P107 of the 21st Panzer Division

Both 2nd battalions of 125th and 192nd PzGrenadier regiments meet at Carrefour-Courbé, not far from Caen under the protection of a self-propelled AA gun...

This group is intended to replace the mounts of the two Motorized battalions until now wrongly equipped with Frontline Wargaming Somuas. These ones on its turn will pull heavy weapons on the PzJager battalion or in the artillery battalions or be used as ammunition suppliers for several units of the 21st PD. 

The models are MiniGeneral 3d prints for the transport version of the P107 and Raventhorpe RTR for the AA version. 

The MiniGeneral P107 are detailed little pieces without any serious printing lines to be seen. I left side the front canvas cover supplied and finished them in the same way Don McHugh showed recently in a Fb post. 

The figures for the PzGrenadiers are from Caesar and the drivers and officers are mostly S&S. 

The P107 with a more Edvard Munch camouflage will go for the II/125th regiment. 

This will be the transport of the Grenadiers of the II/192nd regiment based on scheme I have in Batailles&Blindés magazine No39 related to everybody's favourite Panzer Division, the 21st. 

Now for my favourites, the ones that helped me solving the old question of medium mortars (8cm) for the German PzGrenadier companies. Since the 90s I have Alan Verwicht book on the 21st PD which mentions an annex of the Meldung for foreign weapons. He states that 64 X Gr.W. 8,14 of French making apparently can be found on that paper and they would be naturally distributed among the infantry (besides the Recce and Pioneer units) but this without absolute certainty. I remember reading this, making four stands of medium mortars - 1 per infantry battalion, later another for the Pioneers- and then forgetting the issue. The RF Normandy Battlegroups doesn't even mention them and Zetterling lists do the same and we may be tempted to exclude them but it would be very strange for the German infantry to exist without such weapon, the type responsible for the largest number of soldier's casualties in WW2. A few weeks ago when reading Martin Block information in the Axis Forum this author also places these mortars among the "subunits of the division". So it was time to have something to transport them and these unarmoured and covered Unic P107 are my way to do it. The model is the MiniGeneral model with a piece of RoofMate shaped and sanded in place as a cover for the cargo part.  By reading the same kind of threads its also possible that the German  8cm or the French 81,4mm (they could fire the same ammunition) was placed inside the SPW P107 of the two armoured battalions in the same style of the Sdkfz 251/2. 

Another Unic SPW 20mm AA was built alongside its infantry siblings. On the contrary of its metal version, this Raventhorpe RTR comes without trailer which was quickly built out of different types of styrene. 

The figures, with the exception of the driver which comes with the model, are plastics from different brands. You may recognize the pioneer from Revell without its spade, a DAK torso from Airfix aiming the gun and the famous DAK Airfix officer (Airfix Chinese copy) slightly bent with fire in order to look upwards. 

The crude trailer was disguised with plenty of stowage. The body was built from hard styrene foam so don't forget to cover it in PVA glue before priming. 

Now very few things are left to portray the 21st PD. Still missing are:

- 2x SPW Unic to carry the medium mortars in the Sdkfz 251/2 style. 

- 2x more SPW Unic with 20mm AA gun, like the one above. 

Unfortunatly, nothing else and unfortunately as this division  is for me the most interesting big unit of the entire NW campaign of 1944. 

Another nice aspect about modelling the 21st PD are its various vehicle camouflages making this unit something unique. 

The next captions were taken from the Magazine mentioned above and are a good guide for the 21st PD camouflages. 

The UE with rockets is an old idea. Don`t know really if its true and I would discount that one. 

 

Next: probably the D1 tanks for the 1940 French.

Rapid Fire! NW Europe 1944/45 - Mortain and Market Garden additions

On the 7th of August 1944 a large number of Panzer Grenadiers arrive at the Mortain-Le-Neufbourg train station coming from the north and aiming at Mortain. They will be shot to pieces by elements of the 30th US infantry division, a National Guard unit, which will be crucial defending the area and preventing the Germans from reaching Avranches. 

This is the what happened after the events of the previous picture. German Schimmwagens, 251 HT's and US jeeps, not counting the dead, littered the battlefield in some of the most known images of the battle of Mortain. At the very end of the picture, to the right, you can see the Mortain-le-Neufbourg train station.

                              

If you look closely at the BW picture this train station has a different roof from the original. This is an old plastic HO model from my late father's train collection that I decided to use as the Mortain train station. It is about the same size and has the same number and location of the main openings. I have never been to Mortain but nowadays thanks to WW2TV ( thanks Don McHugh for introducing it to me) you can watch an awesome show but also on episode 1 of the Mortain battle some very nice filming of today's train station where you can see the real colours of the building and even real bullet holes!

  

The model was repainted to the true colours of the Mortain train station and the base changed to a simpler and smaller one.

Second model of this week's list is this Raventhorpe RTR model of a Sdkfz 250 with a Breda 20mm type 35 autocannon. This vehicle was never close to Mortain as it belonged to the 12th PzSS Hitlerjugend but was made with all others and deserved a few pictures due to its originallity. 

The model very simple as usual with RTR with a very nice touch of having two crewmen inside the driving compartment, The Breda is a leftover from Altaya. 

I followed for this model the information of the Militaria Hors-de.Serie No87, in one of two volumes dedicated to the SS in Normandy. 

The vehicle belonged to the the 3rd company of the SS PzAufkl.Abt 12. 

In the same parcel from Raventhorpe arrived a few RTR Citroën Type 23. 

Even if they can be also used in the Normandy campaign I want them for the several German KG fighting the Market Garden operation. 

The SS figures are the excellent Caesar figures also used in the last few Umbau cars I´ve made. 

This lot was initially a group of Chinese cheap Die-cast construction trucks filled with cranes and other stuff that I found in a local magazine shop. My 3 YO kid is crazy about these things but it would be a pity to end in his hands as his main words after looking at them are "tira isto!" (take this thing out!).

 As usual with this kind of models they look slightly American and that convinced me to use them as the Dutch trucks. Dutch trucks of the 30s and 40s were heavily influenced by US designs from Ford and Chevrolet, and Colin mentions them transporting men of the 59th ID in the Market Garden campaign guide. Yes, the NEW ONE! As I was the first to receive it for being such a dedicated servant of  masters Colin and Richard!!!

...just kidding, I think the new book is still in the printers. Better not to play with serious things before someone gets a heart attack...

This time the Caesar seated soldier were painted as Heer Grenadiers.

The chassis of these cheap Die-casts were mated with other surplus cargo areas, all different for the sake of variety. 

The tyres were also changed and came from my Atlantic stash. 

Finally this funny and rare amphibious Trippel SG6 was built with the lot (800 to 1000 built, compared to 14.000 type 166 Schwimmwagens). 

The model is an old AMBN resin kit with the usual Caesar crew and converted driver. The camouflage is the pre-1943 and based on a surviving vehicle used in reenactements. Like this the model can survive in the 1941-43 Eastern Front were most were used. 

Next: the second battalion for the Screaming Eagles and some air support. 

Rapid Fire! Market Garden in 20mm - Oddities and such (part 4)

First of all, just because I placed a post yesterday, don´t think that I woke up during the night, and without eating or peeing the whole day made these six models, took pictures that I'm now posting. Its true the day was spent at home, just a small coffee nearby with family around 11.00, but the two white trams are done for years and the Umbaus were made in the last few days along other material like the British trucks. The modelling day's work was in fact the painting of the figures on the Umbaus, its basing  and the painting of the green tram. Of course the secret is avoiding the kitchen and other similar busy parts of the house and always eat in the dining room, varanda or outside. In the end you can help with the dishes and this is the moment you deserve a kiss.  

On the afternoon of 17th September another group of SS Germans using "requisitioned" Umbaus pass abandoned trams and enter Utrechtweg looking for British paratroopers. What they don't know is that nothing less than the commander of 1st Airborne, General Urquhart is hiding in the number 14 (the second house left of the St Elisabeth Hospital in the picture). 

This group of Umbau vehicles is my second after a few Matchbox conversions. Once again the "hard foliage" made of two component paste helps hiding the holes in the original fantasy models after taking out the strange stuff on them. 

The crew is this time from Caesar and very good they are. The set H099 has 12 different poses of perfect SS soldiers armed for late war and that includes Pzfausts and STG44s.

These are the original die-cast models bought in the supermaket from the Metal Machines range.  Wheels were replaced, windshield enlarged, engine, cargo holders and exhaust pipes carved out...

This is the looks of the Umbaus before priming. 

For the figures to seat correctly a few planks of Evergreen were added to the cargo area.

The trams are Ho scale from Atlas or Altaya. I bought and primed them years ago and lost track of its origin. I remember them being that first cheap sale of the collection so I bought three. 

They are vaguely similar to the longer trams of Arnhem. While the 71 and the 76 (this one is famous as it served Oosterbeek) were white there were others in more lively colours. I used green as in a cover of a Dragon 1/35th scale kit but I´ve seen also blue in a very nice diorama. As all original trams were destroyed by the bombardments I´m really not sure. 

This is a nice reconstitution of tram 76 in the Arnhem Open Air museum. 

 

Well,  it looks that Urquhart wasn't found and here goes the SS ready to nag someone else. Speaking of SS, I saw last night Operation Finale, a good movie about the capture of Adolf Eichmann in Argentina. Try to see it and remember that even if the SS have nice camouflaged uniforms and the best weapons of the Reich they were a criminal organization responsible for some of the worst things that happened to mankind. 

If you want to see my Arnhem houses, most of them scratchbuilt, you can go here:

http://jpwargamingplace.blogspot.com/2012/07/rapid-fire-battle-of-arnhem-buildings.html

Next: Maybe three Sdkfz 263 from PSC.

Rapid Fire! Normandy 1944 in 20mm - The Italian Trucks of 12th Pz SS 'Hitlerjugend'

At the crossroads of La Petite Italie, right in the middle of the Caen sector, a group of Italian trucks from the SS Pz Gren.Reg.25 try to negotiate the hedgerows in order to hide from the roaming Jabos. All models are MiniGeneral even if originally produced by Fiat. 

The Fiat Dovunque 35 is a beautiful model with very few printing lines and with a total of 12 pieces - not bad for a 3d print model. 

I added a Ben Hur captured trailer from Airfix to one of them just to look cool. 

All these trucks and trailers received gauze camouflage nets and foliage made from two component paste. In fact you can use whatever paste, Milliput, GreenStuff, etc. You just need a drop of superglue, place a blob of paste and attack it with a toothpick, an X-Acto or any other weapon you have around. The paste when in contact with the superglue will create some nice "foliage" effects, get very hard and be part of the model. 

The whole model before painting  The two component paste on these ones are from Pattex which produces a paste with some kind of diluted metal which makes the mixture very hard. 

I'm still not sure of the existence of this particular model, the AS.37, in the ranks of the 12th SS HJ.  Its older brother, the TL.37, for sure was with the HJ as it towed at least some of its 75mm AT guns. My guessing is based on the production numbers with 800 AS.37 produced (against only 200 TL.37) and my hope that some got to the HJ ranks. Against my wish is the fact that the AS.37 was produced for the North African theater and maybe most of them stayed there...

Regarding the AS.37 with the 20mm AA gun this is a true machine as you can see by this very old B/W picture taken in eeer ... June 1944 by the mother of that beautiful lady with melon boobies that I told you in the last post. According to eye witnesses, while taking the picture, she was using an even shorter mini skirt than the daughter as it was June, obviously (if the story of the lady with the melon boobies is successful in terms of audience, I can continue, if not I'll just get back to models which may be better).  Only one was produced and according to my records in the Baukommando Johann Peixotund. This was a very large and secret atelier affiliated to the more famous Baukommando Becker but this time situated in Salazar's country, Portugal. As usual the Portuguese dictator played on both sides of the war: he let the Allies use the Azorian Lajes base in the middle of the Atlantic ocean and gave Volframium and lots of food to the Germans (while the people starved) ... as well as letting the thing of the Baukommando Peixotund.

Well, the previous story was bullshit and this is an imaginary vehicle. Even so it wouldn't be difficult for the Germans to mount its 20mm Flak 38 gun in the rear of the AS.37 as the Italians used to do with the 20mm Breda gun.Jabo view of the imaginary Sd.kfz.569WaffenträgerFlugabwehrkanoneMit20mmKrankenwagenAuf AS.37 (I), also known as the 'Pipi'.

 

The figures are a mixture of Esci, Atlantic and Caesar. The trailer is from the venerable Airfix RAF. I imagine that the British left behind some in 1940 and this one is here serving as an ammunition trailer. 

Some parts where the printing lines are still visible were painted with a mix of PVA and Acrylic Paint as you can see in some bluish areas. 

Another view of the finished lot. 

Some nice profiles from Militaria that served as inspiration. 

Next: BEF reinforcements from Anyscale models.