The Japanese Infantry Division in 20mm for Rapid Fire! rules

Most of these models were inside the cabinets with figures hidden in card boxes and glued to thin card for many years by now. Recently the Pacific bug bit me and this one had to come out, particularly after reading books and seeing films and videos about Guadalcanal. So I painted the last few boxes of Japanese infantry on the stash and mixed them with the old ones already made. For artillery I found Assymetric Wargames in Italy, which makes in 3d printed resin everything you may need for Japanese guns (including prime movers), together with the possibility of getting quickly the great Simon´s Soldiers figures. Regarding tanks and SPs I simply cleaned some dust out of them as they were made for a long time.

Guadalcanal 1942 in 20mm for Rapid Fire! rules - (Part 2) The Japanese tanks

 

This group was initially planned for the whatever tank encounter of the Pacific from Khalkin Gol to  Saipan or even the last few Battles with the Soviets in 1945. In fact the tank duels in the Pacific, or even a large armored assault by the Japanese, was not a very common sight, specially compared with the Western theaters. In the meantime, Guadalcanal entered as a solid project, and upon reading on the issue, the two main Japanese tank assaults of this campaign (Tenaru and in one of the several actions on the Matanikau) only had between 6 to 10 tanks (Ha-Go and Chi-Ha models) each as the Japanese on the Island(s) were an infantry force with just a few tanks. 

So, besides Guadalcanal, this force allows for pretty much everything you need in terms of Japanese tank actions. 

This Type 89 Chi-Ro is a 3d PLA print from MiniGeneral. This is the type of early tanks used in relatively large numbers which makes a few more necessary.

This one is my most recent Japanese tank with all others made already years ago. As this Chi-Ro is an early version I changed it into a later version with a turret that can be opened and a metal crewman (CP models , I think). 

 

This Type 93 Kokusan by Skytrex was also an early reconnaissance vehicle and, up to now its the only one I have. Maybe Wargaming China can send me few of his Japanese unique and fabulous armored cars? After all that would strenghten the commercial relation between the two neighbors, Portugal and Australia. 

The early mediums Type 97 Chi-Ha with the smaller turret with short 37mm gun. The two to the left are Fujimi and the ones to the right are Airfix. The command version is the Type 97 Shi-Ki with a coaxial long 37mm from Frontline Wargaming.

The Type 97 Chi-Ha with the new turret housing a 47mm gun. The ones closer are Fujimi and the two on the left are Skytrex. On the back are two Altaya die-cast models. 

Again from Fujimi you have here two Type 1 Ho-Ni with 75mm gun and a Type 4 Ho-Ro with  15cm gun from Frontline Wargaming with Fujimi crew. 

The Type 95 Ha-Go is an essential both for Guadalcanal and Tarawa, the two Pacific settings I´m nowadays around. The Ha-go with crewman is Skytrex and the others are Frontline Wargaming. 

The tankette Type 97 Te-Ke and the Type 98 Ke-Ni (sucessor of the Ha-Go) are both Frontline Wargaming. 

The only Japanese artillery I have up to the moment are these two Emhar 75mm model 38 improved (in late war green and not  Artillery Brown as they were originally painted after seeing "Flags of Our Fathers" a late war story) towed by two Frontline Wargaming Isuzu. The crews are conversions from Fujimi and Airfix. 

Next: Whether a video on the Confederates at Gettysburg or the Japanese infantry of WW2. 

Crete 1941 in 20mm for Rapid Fire! Part 3: the DFS 230 gliders and the Fallschirmjäger companies

 

You need four DFS 230 for the first scenario of the RF! booklet Crete- the airborne assault, related to the most western German attack, around Maleme airfield and Tavronitis bridge. As each of this gliders carried 9 men (excluding the pilot) you have four companies of 8 men in average per glider. The DFS 230 on the back is a very old resin Frontline Wargaming model that served as a template for the other three, made from BlueBoard, card and plywood. None of them equals the other :) 

One of the three got a MG15 behind the cabin. The figure is the laying down FJ from Revell manning a MG34. The MG got a second ammunition drum in order to look like a MG15, a common Luftwaffe weapon. The ugly black blob of burned plastic is the ammunition bag for the spent cartridges. 

Some pieces of Evergreen rod was used as wing supports and rear landing gear. They are thicker than it should as these models will not have a base. They are intended to be used on the dry Tavronitis river bed and the roofs of Eben-Emael, two very different landing places, so not placing any base looks better. Under the plywood wings a layer of card was added and glued with hot glue for extra thickness. 

The gliders became much smaller than the true ones, as Tim Wade of Frontline Wargaming did with his DFS 230. Even so the Frontline models captures its the generic shape and an DFS 230 glider can be easily rocognizable there. The smaller size, keeping the cockpit normal size, has the same impact as most of RF structures and houses, allowing for them to fit in most of the places on the table like the Tavronites river bed. 

The original wing span is much bigger than in all these models. The scratchbuilt models became on the fatty side as they are (atempted) copies of the Frontline model. As you can see in this diagram the true glider was much more elegant and slim. 

The airborne companies are a mix of Revell and Airfix. The number of companies is 14 which is the maximum number in all scenarios, namely the Prison Valley action. Do not use the laying down Airfix figure (or Esci if you have them) with the FG42 as it entered in service only in 1942. The ones in the photo with the FG42 were replaced by Revell figures firing the MG34. 

Next: the painting of all these last 3 posts starts

The Soviet Tank Corps, Kursk 1943, for Rapid Fire rules and 20mm size

These large two units, two Russian 1943 Tank Corps, have been on the making for ... hmmm, decades by now. It includes plastic kits made almost 40 years ago and 3d resin prints with a few weeks. The vehicles are Frontline Wargaming, Britannia, Esci, Matchbox, Fujimi, Dragon, MiniGeneral 3d prints, resin 3d prints, Kooperativa, Armoufast, Atlantic (these last two includes some crazy conversions) and Altaya die-cast. The artillery is mostly Irregular Miniatures, Altaya and conversions. The infantry is a mix of all available plastic brands with a few Irregular Miniatures and Skytrex.

The British in the Desert 1940-43, for Rapid Fire! rules and in 20mm size

This time there is no particular division but different pools of models that enables you to play most of the actions described on both RF Western Desert supplements and in the many PDFs available in the RF site. The models are mostly plastics (Airfix, PSC, Fujimi, Hasegawa, S-Models, Matchbox, Revell and Esci), die-cast (Altaya), 3d prints (Minigeneral) and resin (Frontline Wargaming). The model of Monty's Caravan ( a british truck with an Italian body) is Matchbox and not Airfix and I said on the video.

Rapid Fire! NW Europe 1944-45 in 20mm - US Airborne and ground reinforcements.

The command group of Combat Command X of an US Armored Division meets in the middle of the Norman bocage. Fearful of a German incursion, the commander request all possible protection from the vicinity and so some Airborne 57mm AT guns and M8 HMCs shows up and make an impregnable ring of steel around him... What a bull###t story! Sorry, but nothing else came to my mind as an introduction.  

This time some additions to the US Armored Division and the Airborne Division. With the Dodge WC53 Carryall and the M8s HMC the Armored division is now complete and the Screaming Eagles finally got some AT protection and tows for the 105mm guns. 

The Carryall is a Matchbox die-cast model I found last month in a second hand toy fair. It looks to be in a smaller scale than the usual 1/64 of many die-cast cars and probably suits our 20mm size pretty well. New plastic wheels from Atlantic, antenna and covered engine (white paste) was added and it looks OK. 

And here it is together with some old metal US command figures, presumably SHQ, given by my friend Jorge Faria.  

The M8s are RTR and will be sent to the three mechanized infantry battalions and their assault gun platoons. The figures are Irregular Miniatures cut by the waist. I chose helmeted figures as for open topped vehicles.

The tiny M8 HMC become very colorful with plenty of markings. 

Half of the  US 57mm AT guns are PSC conversions (muzzle break erased, right side of front protection cut and shortened legs). The artillery men are converted Revell and SHQ figures ( these last ones with EverGreen first aid pads and pockets in the trousers). 

To the left you can see two SHQ 57mm guns and the two PSC to the left. 

Finally the Jeep tandem tows for the 105mm M1 guns were painted, as I had them built for years. The Jeeps are Frontline Wargaming attached to each other with the typical  'A' structure made of plastic card. The drivers are the usual plastic torsos with Milliput arms. To driver to the left is an old Airfix figure driving with his left hand and holding the Thompson with the right hand in a typical Cowboy style. 

Next: French 1940 or Brandywine 1777. 

21st Panzer Division in 20mm for Rapid Fire! rules, Normandy 1944

This is a big unit made along many years. It was built around many brands and around the opinions of different authors and fellow collectors and wargamers. I hope it can be useful to someone making the 21st PD or any of its sub units or Kampfgruppe.

If you want you can go to this Blog´s tag '21st Panzer Division' a see more posts on the issue with plenty of pictures and explanations.

Rapid Fire! Operation Lüttich (Mortain Counterattack) 1944 in 20mm, Part 4- 1st LSSAH.



 

The 1st LSSAH still had some very powerful teeth at the beginning  of August 44. Its main problem were the youth of its soldiers and lack of good NCO's after dreadful casualties in the Eastern front and the lack of trucks, a typical problem of the German late army war. This division was also famous for its war crimes in Russia, Italy, France and Belgium and for its notable genocidals like Joachim Peiper.  

 

 

The 1st SS Pz Reg. 1 was still very powerful with its usual Panthers and Pz IV. The models are  Hasegawa, Altaya and Esci for the Panthers and Armour and Altaya for the Pz IV. The

 

 

This camouflage of this Hasegawa Panther is one of the best known of the Leibstandarte division.

 

 

Another Hasegawa Panther is the battalion's leader with the famous 1.4 meters universal antenna.

 

 

This is my sole Esci model the survivor of a group destroyed by the anti-tank batteries of a dog I had called Breque.

 

 

Two Pz IV from Altaya in different camouflage styles as they are from two separate collections. Only the basing and bushes are my intervention.

 

 

Another pair of Die-casts this time from Armour.

 



 

These Flakpanzer IV Wirbelwind are Armour and Altaya Die-casts  with plastic crews.

 

 

More Flak protection in the form of these Britannia Sdkfz 10/4.

 

 

In the Mortain Counterattack the LSSAH had a company of engineers represented here by an Sdkfz 251/ 7.

 

 

The SP Art.Reg. with the usual Esci Wespe and Hummel. The second Wespe is Matchbox as I'm finished of 1/72nd scale Wespes. The OP Kubelwagen is Hasegawa with the regular Atlantic crew.

 

 

The LSSAH Flak Abt. had the Sdkfz 7/1 and 2, models from Altaya, and also the 88mm, gun and tow from Hasegawa.

 

 

This Altaya model has a quadruple 20mm gun from Esci with PSC crew.

 

 

The SS Aufklärungabteilung 1 with Schwimmwagens from Hasegawa with crews from all available hard plastics, Sdkfz 234/2's (later called Puma) from Altaya, Sdfkz 222 from Britannia, Sdkfz 250/9 from Esci and Sdkfz 231's from Frontline Wargaming.

 

 

An SS Mechanized Infantry Battalion with transport from the usual Hasegawa, Altaya, Matchbox and Frontline Wargaming. The Bison is Britannia.

 

 

A few conversions made in the infantry that you probably will recognize.  

 

 

The other Battalion is Valiant. They may be big but I love these guys!!

 

 

The SS Sturmgeschütz  Abt. with its leftovers, two Stug III, one Altaya one Esci.

 

 

Generalmajor of the SS Theodor Wisch and its sucesssor, SS Brigadeführer Wilhelm Mohnke in a Frontline Wargaming staff car. The figures are Atlantic and Hasegawa.

 

 

Next: 17th Pz.Gren. Div. Götz Von Berlichingen.

 

 

Rapid Fire! Operation Lüttich (Mortain Counterattack) 1944 in 20mm, Part 3 - 116th Panzer division

 

The 116th Pz Div. was still in a good shape around the time of the Mortain operations. It still boasted  around half of its Panzers and SPG's and, in spite of a big shortage in trucks, was considered 'Kampfwert I'.

 

 

The Panther battalion was on loan from 24th Pz. Div. as the division's Panthers were still training in Mailly-le-Camp. The models are all 1/76th scale and a mixture of Nitto/Fujimi, Frontline Wargaming and Matchbox. The far away Bergepanther is another Altaya model. Due to the shortage of trucks in the Pz. Gren. Regiments I placed the 2nd battalion of Pz. Gren. on foot. Another reason for this is my own shortage of model trucks...

 

 

The Panthers from 116th Pz. Div. had camouflage on most of its areas. Another distinctive characteristic were the spare wheels placed at the rear of the turret. The division's symbol is of course the one from 24th Pz Div. This model is Matchbox with EverGreen side protection and extra tracks also for protection.

 

 

The Pz IV battalion is also 1/76th scale with models from Airfix and Skytrex. Leading the Panzer wedge is an Esci PzIII which the 116th still had a few.

 

 

 

The Mechanized Infantry battalion has Esci, Altaya and Frontline Wargaming Sdkfz 251's with a Sdkfz 251/9 from Hasegawa. The Grille SPG is again an Attack model.

 

 

The 116th Pz Div. was one of the few to have the Möbelwagen. The base for this conversion is the Ostwind from Hasegawa. I used the hull and the 37mm gun and build the box superstructure and the gun shield in EverGreen plastic card.

 

 

Another AA asset for this division is this Hasegawa Sdkfz 7/1. Flak-Abt. 281 had no guns in Normandy so its better to give this unit some AA protection.

 

 

The Pz. Aufkl. Abt. 16 had the PzII L Luchs in its ranks. As I don't have any I used two Attack Pz 38t recce tank. The Sdkfz 232's are Frontline Wargaming.

 

 

The Art. Reg. 146 has an Esci Hummel and two Matchbox Wespe. The OP Kubelwagen from Hasegawa has a crew from Revell and Atlantic.

 

 

From the original 21 Jagdpanzer IV the Pz Jäger Abt. still had 15 on the 30th July so 3 models according to RF! The models are Esci again with darker colours than other divisions with the camouflage green being the main colour.

 

 

A Fujimi General von Schwerin is seen here in a Frontline Wargaming Staff car surrounded by Atlantic and Hasegawa escort and staff.

 

 

A few more plastic card Panzerfaust conversions using (L/R) Esci, PSC, Hasegawa, Revell and hard plastic Matchbox and soft plastic Matchbox figures. On the rear the already showned Hasegawa Sdkfz 251D has Britannia and Matchbox crew.

 

 

Next: 1st SS Panzer Division  'Adolf Hitler'.