Rapid Fire! Dieppe 1942 in 20mm (part 6) - The Dieppe casino

 

With 14 people in the house in the last week I managed to sneak out in true Commando style for some period of time and build this model. The Dieppe casino was one of the many beach obstacles the Germans had at the main beach of Dieppe in order to hamper any allied landing. During the landings of August 1942 it was used as shelter for some Canadians and was thus destroyed after the failed Jubilee operation for the Germans to have a clear line of fire for an eventual second landing. 

This was another venture I was wanting to make since my teenage days but only when I got my hands on the excellent After the battle- Dieppe through the lens and Channel ports- Operation Jubilee books I really had enough reliable information for all this, from my Calgary tank regiment (already made) up to this one. 

This model became 60cm X 30cm. 

The casino was built in Moorish style, opening its doors in 1886,  and it became an imposing feature of the beach and an attraction for tourists during the French Belle Époque. 

Between 1926 and 1942 it gained this Art Déco style, with added galleries,  favoured by the 1936 first paid holidays in history which attracted even more bathers to its beach.

Then the Germans did this and it was in this conditions that the Canadians faced it. It got plenty of its structures changed and simplified and some AT bunkers in its extremities were added. All three last pictures are taken from the castle grounds, a typical photo shoot place at Dieppe. 

My interpretation of the building is a simplified one. The building was five floors tall and I only made three; the U-shaped galleries at the rear next to the gardens were heavily reduced as well as the overall size of the compound in what I hope to be true RF! style. 

The material used was my trusted BlueBoard 4cm sheets. Card was used for all openings, wood for the pipes on the left side roof and broom sticks for the railings. 

The tips of the casino were strenghtened with a 37mm gun (left) and a 47mm gun (right), both in bunkers. In fact the 37mm guns was placed more to the front and leaning on the sea wall. 

The rear part of the casino got shelled before the landing and had its western gallerie destroyed. I used pieces of BlueBoard and some pebbles to represent it. 

Some wooden beams were used to represent some tubing on the western roof (ventilation? water?). 

Just to break the structure some resin bundles of boxes and barrels were placed on the third floor. Its a bit the Call of Duty style but gives some detail to the model. 

The camouflage painting colors of the casino is not easy to understand and, in desperation and against my true beliefs, I asked Chat GPT what would it be and  green over sand showed up. The Osprey book shows it brown over sand and frankly the contrast looks more green over sand in the period pictures as AI said. 

The building´s front part is the most famous with its two oblique towers. The Germans look to have taken out most of the glass from the windows in order to avoid injuries on the defenders while being attacked. 

Some defensive weapons were made for the casino: the 20mm AA is 3d printed and both the 37mm and 47mm guns were scratchbuilt in EverGreen plastic card with some 3d printed wheels in both of them. The 37mm gun was made from memory and its shield became a bit too large. For not to try play the smart guy again I used a ShellHole scencics 47mm gun as a template and this one became nicer. The crews are Simon´s Soldiers and FtF. 

 An MG34 from FtF and a repainted Altaya Opel Blitz were added. The bases of the guns in particular had to have smaller sizes from the ones I already had due to the bunker openings. Besides the AT guns, there was a 20mm AA gun somewhere in the compound that I imagine to be on the roof and most probably some HMGs also. 

                                       

The guns when in the bunkers can be barely seen but the tips of their barrels add some drama to the action. 

These are the  three buildings for the Dieppe project made up to now. Their size has to do with its relative size with the gates being the smaller of the three and the casino, by far, the larger. 

In this picture you can see all three building and their relative position: the gates in the middle; the castle at the top and the casino galleries at the middle right. 

  

As I was probably a failed croupier in a previous life I like casinos. To the left you can see my approach to the Riva Bella/ Ouistreham casino of Sword fame made years ago.

Next: some YouTube shooting.  

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! France 1940 in 20mm - The Pioneers of the DLM

 Exiting the village of Didier Deschamps, reconnaissance and pioneers of a DLM advance under the protection of a battery of 155mm guns. 

The DLM was the only French big unit type that had three Pioneer companies, with all other types of units having only one or two. Each company was very big with around 200 men each with small differences in number depending on the type of unit. These figures are Simon Soldiers and portray the pioneers carrying mines, shovels and wire. A few figures have the FM 24/29 LMG instead of the more common and older Chauchat distributed among the pioneers. I tried to convert some Revell Chauchat firers but was out of metal heads and these had to do (Revell heads are too small in the WW1 French set comparing with these metal ones). 

The figures are beautifully detailed and the pioneer equipment is all there with anti-personnel and light AT mines, wire laying devices, shovels, etc. 

And here some close-ups to see the great level of detail of these figures. The second figure from the right carries the AT mine modéle 36. 

These Schneider 155mm C guns are MiniGeneral 3d prints with Simon Soldiers and Irregular Miniatures crews. This battery was still missing  as I built some time ago the same guns (Ace models) but with spoked wheels and thus proper for the DI. 

These three motards are SHQ with the discarded side-car. They will be used for liaison and command. 

Finally two offers small but beautiful Simca Cinq from Mário Laranja resin printer. 

Next: more Brandywine 1777. 

Rapid Fire! Desert War 1940-43 in 20mm - More antennas to the DAK

Near the Oasis of Ras-al-Bendtrees a group of German OP's and transmissions personnel gathers in order to organize the available information on the enemy. The radioman even picked a confusing piece of information from the British saying that Nomadland won the 2021 Oscar and not Leni Riefenstahl's Tiefland. Verdammt Amerikaner...

The figures are Simon's Soldiers from his pack of German Panzer HQ but adaptable to the DAK. 

The Phanomen Granit 25h radiowagen is the Attack model. The model is very complete but I only used the plastic and resin parts leaving aside most of the fiddly photo-etched and replaced it with plastic parts. 

Its a pity Attack didn't make the extended antenna version. 

I couldn't find much on this vehicle's usage by the DAK so I left it almost without symbols and waiting for better and more informative days. 

The Saurer RR7 were used by the 15th PD on its artillery battalions. The models are MiniGeneral PLA 3d prints. Once again two coats of varnish were sprayed on them before painting and most of the printing lines were gone. 

A few plastic torsos, antennas and stowage were added and you get something completely different for the Afrika Korps. 

Next: France 1940.

Rapid Fire! Normandy 44 in 20mm - One more Regimental command for the 21st Panzer Division

Close to the Bois de Anthony Martial the command group of the 192nd PzGrenadier Regiment is counting the models still missing to complete the 21st Panzer Division Normandy 1944. The report says:

 "No more models are necessary for the division as all units are Kampfwert I. The only thing it can still be done is the Nachschubtruppennhenhenhe 200 and such useless units for RapidFire." Then the report became more personnal: "Besides,  your wife (mine in this case) is not finding any fun in your relation with the mailman. Are you two having a case?".

This is how the report ended and it fell like a bomb!

Well, the prospect of having  made all possible models for my beloved Normandy 21st PD leaves me sad and distressed. It was a long journey of maybe more than 20 years interrupted of course by many other projects. But this one was special as there is no other division as the 21st PD in Normandy. 

These models are: figures- Simon´s Soldiers; Lorraine 38L - Minigeneral PLA print, Citröen CV11 - Resin print. The Lorraine 38L  follows the suggestion of Don McHugh and Alan Mcoubrey of these being used as radio vehicles. 

The figures of the command group are from two different sets of the excellent Simon´s Soldiers.

The Lorraine and trailer got supports for the canvas roofs and Simon´Soldiers figures. Pedro Pato designed this one without canvas covers which allows to put some nice figures inside. 

No the antenna is not a 20mm AA gun but is made of small pieces of broom stick attached with super glue and a tiny blob of GreenStuff. 

The CV11 is another great resin model from Mário Laranja. This group of vehicles got the same camouflage in dark yellow and green in contrast with the first group showed a few weeks ago painted in a more psychedelic style.

 

Here you can see Oberstleutnant Josef Rauch trying to convince a poor corporal to embark in the following mission:

"Look Gefreiter, the Mulberry harbours are here as you can see in this map, you just need to swim up to there and cut all cables connecting them. Quite easy!!"

Next: most probably more Russians for "Barbarossa and beyond". 

Rapid Fire! Normandy 44 in 20mm - Regimental command for the 21st Panzer Division

The Command Post of the PzGrenadier Reg.125 receives the visit of an officer from the Pz Regiment 22. The officer's driver is chatting with the radioman peeking from the Lorraine38L trailer only to discover that both were born in the same place, the village of Lothar Matthäus (not far from the City of Franz Beckenbauer, which is also the capital of Bavaria as you all know).

Four brands are here. The standing figures are Simon´s Soldiers, the peeking radioman is Airfix, the Lorraine and trailer are Lancer and the Citroën CV11 is a 3d resin print. 

The group is a shameless copy of Don McHugh's nice Schlepper 38L showed in the Rapid Fire! FB groups a few weeks ago. With this one I´m ready to make my first solo wargame in 10 years maybe, the fine scenario by the same Don McHugh, Von Oppeln Counter-Attack 6th June 1944, and free to download on the RF! official page. Now I just neded to find some courage to do it due to lack of habit. 

The Airfix figure comes from the Luftwaffe's set and its based on the figure carrying what looks to me as an axle bar. 

The figure is the second from the right and had its axle bar carved out and suffered an obliquous cut in the back to be as if looking from the opening of the trailer. 

The trailer had an antenna mount on the left side according to the pictures posted by Alan McCoubrey on the above FB page. 

The Citroën Traction Avant is one more faultless 3d resin print made in one single piece by my friend Mário Laranja. 

The command group is made of Simon´s Soldiers Panzer command set with very imaginative and detailed figures. 

Now for a bit of discussion. This picture and others from the same set of photographs are the ones used by Don McHugh and Alan McCoubrey to introduce to the RF! fans one more 21st PD  lovely vehicle. I also found the same picture in Normandie 1944 Hors-Série Number 6 "Les Panzers face au debarquement". Here is stated that the vehicle is an ammunition carrier and not a radio vehicle. The symbol that can be seen only means a tracked vehicle as far as I know. On a second picture posted by Alan McCoubrey on the RF! FB groups he shows a different angle in which in fact the small thin structures coming from the Lorraine really look like antennas and thus we have probably a radio vehicle. 

A big thank you to Don McHugh, Alan McCoubrey and Sally Gardner for the inspiration provided. With this article of mine they all found the path to fame for sure :)

Next: More Eastern Front around winter 42/43

Rapid Fire! Normandy 1944 in 20mm - Panzer Lehr grenadiers from Simon´s Soldiers

The personnel of the two battalions of the 901st Panzergrenadier regiment, plus two companies of the Aufklärungs battalion of the Panzer Lehr, gathers at the Forêt de Jean-Pierre Papin (don`t remember if I said this one or not...) to be briefed by Generalleutnant Fritz- Bayerlein himself. 

In my Mortain series I placed FJ soldiers together with the Panzer Lehr vehicles. This was true as Panzer Lehr was under II FJ corps control by August 1944 but the true reason for no grenadiers with Pz Lehr was simply because I was out of Grenadier battalions  having spent all my 12 1944 German infantry battalions, both Heer and SS, with other divisons (even so not the 16 necessary to play Op. Luttich from the German side). 

Panzer Lehr Division is a very visually distinctive unit in Normandy: all four Panzergrenadier battalions rode in Sdkfz 251 half-tracks and the number of tanks was also very high and even included three Tiger I and five Tiger II in the Funklenk unit (even if the Kingtigers were of the first design and left behind at Chateudun, close to Orleans due to malfunction). Another point of interest of Panzer Lehr was the uniform of the Panzergrenadiers which sported the same jacket as the Assault Gun battalion crews and this is the main reason for this post.

The figures are all Simon Soldiers and really beautiful they are. The detail is first class and you have a lot of different poses to man all sort of weapons in a Lehr Panzergrenadier unit. At first I looked to the Valiant Normandy Germans but only 2/3 poses can really be Lehr Grenadiers so I turned to Simon´s Soldiers from Australia. 

The detail encouraged me to paint even the smaller details of the uniform. But that is an easy task as the detail is crisp and easy on the brush. 

The same two poses from above. Both figures act together with the firer carrying the MG42 and the ammo box and the other carrying the accessory box.

Two figures from the Aufklärungs Abt. with an elegant officer and a figure with a PSC Panzerfaust on its back. 

More figures for the Aufklärungs Abt. with the same solution for extra Panzerfaust.

Due to some bad maths I ordered too many figures with rifles (hence the Aufklärungs figures) and too little with LMG´s and Panzerfausts so some also got a MG42 from the PSC stowage set. This one was placed on the back of  two of them in Rambo style.

The individual stowage of each figure is nicely and realistic built. 

Another pose provided for the MG42. 

Some poses also sport the camouflaged helmet cover. 

One of the two types of Panzerfaust figures. 

This time I even placed the chevrons of the Unteroffizier is the figures with the MP40. 

The MMG group. Four of them are necessary for the two RF! battalions... 

...and two of these 81mm mortar stands. 

Panzerschreck team. 

Battalion HQ stand. Plenty of action and details in a small 4cm diameter base. Here the plastic antennas were drilled into the metal of the radios.

While looking for information on the Panzer Lehr I read that each of the Sdkfz 251 carried a Panzerschreck. With the order to Australia already on and Simon Ford speadily sending the parcel it was too late to order two extra Pzschreck and so I converted these four figures from PSC by cutting the M42 jacket in the waist area and adding some lapels with GreenStuff in two of the figures. Like this there are two of these stands in each battalion instead of one as Masters Colin and Richard say in the Normandy Battlegroups. Not sure if my option is correct but if the story of one Pzschreck per Half-track is true, even two will not be enough. In fact many places indicate an unusual  high number of AT portable weapons provided to the Lehr grenadiers. 

Next: more Germans for OMG or the Tigers for Panzer Lehr.