Rapid Fire! 20mm D-Day 1944 - Omaha Beach (part 12), American Landing Craft.

 

Up to the moment this is the US landing Craft I have. In time things got a little out of hand with too many LCM's (cheap Airfix with a Sherman as bonus) and too few LCVP's. But as I'm also building the assault fleets for the British beaches I ended up by having too many LCA's which can be used instead of LCVP's (in fact the French Militaria Magazine No 107 places the full 1st battalion of the 116th Infantry Regiment being carried on LCA's at Omaha). The bigger LCI(L)'s and LCT's are just enough for the American scenarios both Omaha or Utah.

 

I also have three big LCT 4 and two LCI(S) but those are only for British scenarios.

 

 

The big LCI (L) are from Combat Models a vaccum formed kit company in the US.

 

 

These Combat Models are very big (80cm) and they come quite bare with only the main stuctures. All details have to be bought (resin and metal) from a parent company making these models very expensive.

 

 

So I scratch built most of the detail, casted the rubber life boats  from the Airfix Marines box and used Britannia models as crew and AA guns.

 

 

The  LCT 6 on the bottom left is a Britannia model and the one on top is a copy I made in plywood.

The models on the right are the LCT 5 and are also made in plywood. All of them have Britannia figures with a few converted figures here and there taken from Airfix or Hasegawa.

 

 

Unfortunately the LCT 6 was not in Normandy but probably this fact escaped the people from Britannia as they were doing mostly Normandy models.

 

When I bought it I still didn't know it but then it was too late...

 

 

These plywood models are not difficult as they have mostly straight lines and plywood is an obedient material when you need to bend it up to a certain extent like the bow of these Landing Craft.

 

 

The view from the stern of the LCT 5.

 

 

 Now for the smaller LC's. To the right there is a row of nine LCVP's: the first group of four are the chunky Britannia; the second group of four are from Frontline Wargaming with converted figures and MG's and the last one is an Airfix model slightly taller as its not a water line version.

 

Same story for the LCA's. The first three and the last one are Britannia and the four in the middle are Frontline Wargaming.

 

 

All these LCM's are Airfix. Some are painted US style, others British style. Some DUKW's are also scattered along the LCM's and LCT's.

 

Next: German beach obstacles, because an obstacle also has the right to live, or WN 62.

 

 

Rapid Fire! 20mm D-Day 1944 - Omaha Beach (part 11), WN 64 and WN 65

 

These two WN's controlled E1 entry and, maybe due to incomplete works and sheer distance to WN63, WN 64 became one of the 'soft spots' of German defences something the americans used to their advantage.

 

 

The 'uncovered' defences of  WN 65: a bunker with a Britannia 50mm gun; a 50mm mortar in Tobruk (Esci conversion) and a MG 42 from Britannia in another Bunker controlling the Access to E1.

 

 

Now the 'soft spot', WN 64. All its defences are on the open with the bunker to house the Russian 76,2mm gun still far from finished. I scratch built a Russian 76,2mm (SHQ crew) field gun instead of an Infantry Gun by mistake. I'll try to find the one from Zvezda in order to correct this mistake.

 

 

E1 entry. Here you can see the two types of barbed wire I used for this scenario. To the left you can place that one over rough terrain as it has no base. On the right, the barbed wire with sandy bases is better on the beach itself. On the center the Dragon's teeth are Britannia.

 

 

Next: as I don't want to have my pants on fire its time for the American Landing Craft.

 

Rapid Fire! 20mm D-Day 1944 - Omaha Beach (part 10): British Hunt Class Destroyer

 

 

 

 

After building the 1/125th scale USN Destroyer from Lindberg I still was feeling that something was missing, that an intrusion happened and that I had to purge myself. It was not 20mm, the true wargaming size, the one with whom we were fed, taught and in one word (or two...), brought upon! Sorry to place tears in your eyes but I just had to say it!

 

Looking again to the juicy picture on p.32 of RF! D-day campaign guide I could only admire the great work that Richard Marsh made on the conversion of  the Revell Flower Corvette into a Destroyer. With my usual arrogance I thought 'I can do that' and so I bought another model of the Flower Corvette this time for conversion.

 

There were 13 Destroyers supporting the landings at Omaha beach, 3 of them British. This, and the idea of using a Hunt Class Destroyer in other scenarios, namely British D-Day landings, made me start the work.

 

 

Of course a Corvette could never become a Destroyer (a corvette is 60 meter long and the Hunt destroyer is 90 meter) but using the usual compression idea and Richard's example I had a go at it. Again large quantities of Evergreen Plasticard was used.

 

 

The main focus was the guns obviously for the fire support they could give. The QF 4 inch MkXVI guns were scratch built and the original figures adapted as gunners.

 

 

The control room, tower, funnel, Oerlikon AA's and many other had some parts from the original Corvette or were entirely used, something I did all along the conversion as a time saving measure. The big structures had to be made from the beginning as they are completely different.

  

 

The QF 2 pdr were also scratch built and figures from other sets like the Airfix LCM were adapted to the new task.

 

 

Another view of the big guns and a new castle for them.

 

 

These kind of conversions are for me the most gratifying aspect of our hobby as we keep in the end something that, in spite of its many mistakes, is unique.

 

 

From the following pictures you can see the transformation the Flower had.

 

 

 Lots of carving, cutting and breaking was necessary.

 

 

The stern had its outer wall completely taken out making the Destroyer thinner than the Corvette as you can see in the top Picture.

 

 

 

This picture gives the illusion that the Corvette is much bigger than the Destroyer. That is only so slightly because of the non-existant walls in the Destroyer's stern and also I cut the Hunt lower from bow to stern giving that illusion. Also the original Corvette  has plenty more details looking bigger that way: due to compression if you place all details the Destroyer had you would end up with a Destroyer looking like another Corvette!

 

 

Next: WN 64 and WN 65, now for sure.

 

Rapid Fire! 20mm D-Day 1944 - Omaha Beach (part 9), Ranger battalions

 

 

A total of seven companies from the 2nd and 5th Ranger battalions participated in the assault on Omaha Beach. Using RF! scale each company is represented by just seven figures some equipped with bazooka other with Browning MMG as company support weapons.

 

Also different from most of the infantry from the RCT's the Rangers used British LCA as transport.

 

 

 

The Rangers are  hard plastic figures from Hasegawa with Milliput backpacks with a few Esci. I placed some static grass on the bases for a future use of these figures in other scenarios.

 

 

 

Besides the back packs I painted a small Ranger badge on each shoulder in order to distinguish them on the crowded beach.

 

Regarding the normal infantry landed at Omaha beach I will use my six infantry battalions I showed you on from the Armoured division as the two RCT's with an additional 6 figures per company. The problem is of course the many greenish bases which will stay pretty ugly on the beach environment.

 

 

The LCA's are Britannia and crewed by British sailors.

 

 

To the right you can see the extra details on the Ranger figures (backpack and badge) and on the left the round base of the OP team with Hasegawa/Esci crew. The radio operator had its Garand rifle cut out and a small piece of it used to make a small phone. On its back I used the nice radios provided by the box of Hasegawa hard plastic US infantry.

 

Next: WN 65 and maybe the WN 64.

 

Rapid Fire! 20mm D-Day 1944 - Omaha Beach (part 8), WN 66 and 68

 

WN 66 was a big Wiederstandnest emplaced right in the middle of Omaha Beach. Together with WN 68 it controlled D3 exit and the way to Saint Lorent.

 

 

WN 66 not only had defences on the bluffs but also on the beach itself. The 50mm gun is a scratchbuilt and shameless copy of the Britannia model.

 

 

I made it in plasticard and the crew is a seated Raventhorpe figure, the loader is a Fujimi conversion and the eternal officer of the DAK from Airfix.

 

 

On top of the bluffs the PZIII/50mm turret and bunker is from Frontline Wargaming and its base was stuck and then covered in sand and grass in the middle of the blueboard.

 

 

Major Bingham's house is another shameless copy of the Sentry Models made in card. I made it smaller than Sentry's as this thing ocupies a lot of space in the table. In fact, historically, it was placed far from the first line of defences of WN 68 very close to the sea shore but here it has to stay closer due to space compression as Colin Ruford did in his campaign guide.

 

 

Effects of naval bombing? No. I made it with a lifting rooftop like the one from Sentry Models. 

 

 

View from the German rearguard.  To the left you have the bunker (can't remember the brand) that controlled D3 closely.

 

 

Working closely with WN 68 you have WN 66. I just added the French tank turret with the short Puteaux 37mm gun as extra from the campaign guide. This WN had several of them and gives some extra fire power to this small resistance nest.

 

 

I made the trench net more complex than usual otherwise this WN would be too bare. The bunker is resin from the same company of the similar one in WN 68.

 

 

On the its inside the usual MG42 Britannia duo.

 

 

 

The view from the complex guarding D3 exit.

 

 

Next: US LCT, LCA, LCVP, LCI and LCSDRFATGCEVBFM. Or may be the US Rangers or a 1/72

Destroyer... 

 

 

Rapid Fire! 20mm D-Day 1944 - Omaha Beach (part 7), WN 70 and first beach obstacles

 

Now for the finished WN 70. Colin Rumford on D-Day campaign guide mentions only the 75mm gun emplacement and not the one inside a bunker that existed in the eastern part of the WN probably due to questions of game balance.

 

 

 

 

The French 75mm gun and crew are again Irregular Miniatures.

 

 

 

The MMG and 20mm Flak gun and crews are Britannia.

 

 

I found the barbed wire in a train shop and built nough for most of the WN's.

 

 

Next: US landing crafts or WN68 and WN 69.

 

 

 

Rapid Fire! 20mm D-Day 1944 - Omaha Beach (part 6), WIP of WN 70

After being requested by many families to show how  blue board can be worked here comes a quick WIP of RN 70.

I used the two old field works I made many years ago for the 75mm FG and a 20mm AA gun of the same WN.  All other new structures and terrain are glued around them.  

The blue board can be easily carved and if necessary you can use a filler (Das Pronto kind mixed with wood glue) for detail. 

The trenches are always the trickiest part. With a X-Acto 2cm of the 4cm of the plate's thickness had to be taken out. I use again only a sharp blade for this and filler to disguise the cruelty of the work. 

Even details like stairs are easily carved on the blue board. The sand bags are made of two component filler of the kind you can mix with fingers. 

Small stones can be placed at the intersection  of the cliffs or bluffs with the beach itself. 

Next: probably, beach obstacles.