Jesús Dapena is a long time collaborator of mine due to a shared interest in the Rif Wars. I previously posted his photos of Renault FT-17 Tanks in the Rif War (from his “Uncle Cipri”) and subsequently his 1/16th model of Uncle Cipri’s FT-17 with a Turtle mascot. Here is the second tank in the series: “INFANTERIA No. 4”, the one with the Elephant mascot. All words are by Jesús. You can see more images in his video: The Renault FT Tank in Spanish Army Service (Northern Morocco, ca. 1924) [YouTube].
Industrial Warfare
Nation states backed by industry. The era featured mass-conscripted armies, rapid transportation (first on railroads, then by sea and air), telegraph and wireless communications, and the concept of total war. In terms of technology, this era saw the rise of rifled breech-loading infantry weapons capable of massive amounts of fire, high-velocity breech-loading artillery, chemical weapons, armoured warfare, metal warships, submarines, and aircraft. I have chosen to start the period with the Siege of Sevastopol (1854–1855) and end with end of World War II (1945). Sub-categories: Spanish Moroccan War, Scramble for Africa, Spanish American War, Rif Wars, World War I, Spanish Civil War, World War II.
Augusto Perez Miranda – A Spaniard fighting for the Allies in WW2
John Vistuer sent through some photos of his grandfather, Augusto Perez Miranda, a Spaniard who fought for the allies during World War II. He started his military career in the Spanish Guardia Civil in North Africa. Then he fought for the Republicans in the Spanish Civil War. Being on the losing side, he found himself in the French Foreign Legion at the start of the World War II, but ended up in the No. 1 (Spanish) Company of the Pioneer Corps of the British Army. All words are John’s.
Almost Fosse Bridge – A Crossfire Scenario
Back when I published Almost Fosse Bridge – A Crossfire Battle Report, I promised to publish the scenario. Well, this is it. Jamie was coming over to play Crossfire and I quickly knocked up this scenario. It is extremely loosely based on the Coldstream Guards defence of the Fosse Bridge on 13 September 1943. One of the many small actions following the Salerno landings in the Italian Campaign. Emphasis on the “extremely loosely”. I knew the battalions/regiments present and I also knew the location of the bridge, which gave me a google map of the modern site. Not much to go on, but it gave a good game. Good enough to share the scenario. One day I’ll write a better Fosse Bridge scenario, but for you moment you get “Almost Fosse Bridge”.
WW2 Japanese Flags – Free Rising Sun Wargaming Flags for 15mm Scale
I’m in the process of basing my WW2 Japanese battalion for Crossfire. While I’m doing that I thought I’d sought out the flags. So I needed some Rising Sun flags in 15mm scale. A quick google revealed nothing so I made my own. I’m sharing them here so other folk can benefit.
Operational Terrain 9 – Stands of smaller scale trees
I’ve been looking at trees. What trees to use for Operational level wargaming in my draft Deep Battle rule set. Since my Experiment on a 4 Inch Hex Grid I’ve gone for increasingly smaller terrain including Tiny Hills and Monopoly Buildings. And now I find my normal size 15mm trees are too big for the look I’m striving for, so I’ve gone for copses of small trees – trees that would normally be used for 5mm (1/300th) or 6mm (1/285th) scale wargames.
Operational Terrain 8 – Monopoly Buildings to Fit 4 Inch Hexes
I’ve been doing some more musing on Operational level wargaming for my draft Deep Battle rule set. My Experiment on a 4 Inch Hex Grid forced me to get Tiny Hills to Fit the 4 Inch Hexes. Now I’m doing the same thing with buildings. In fact I’m using Monopoly buildings which are more like … Read more
2023 Confessions of a Megalomaniac Wargamer and Amateur Historian
So 2022 went okay. And now it is time to lay out my megalomaniac plans for 2023. I will try to tone them back a bit as, despite a lot of activity, I achieved depressingly few of my goals last year.
As usual I present this as a brain dump of my active projects, i.e. those all projects that are more or less “in progress”. The list is then split into three parts: likely in 2023, unlikely, and background activity.
2022 Reflections of a Megalomaniac Wargamer and Amateur Historian
My goals for 2022 were typically overly ambitious – some would say megalomaniac. As usual I didn’t achieve them all, less than I was hoping, but it wasn’t a bad run.
Moscow 1941 – Map on a 60km Square Grid for Deep Battle
I’ve drawn a new table top map for the Battle of Moscow. This time I’ve gone for a square grid with one square per 60 km. This is all part of the agonisingly slow development of my Deep Battle rule set. These rules will be Operational in nature hence the grand scale of the map.
Almost Fosse Bridge – A Crossfire Battle Report
Jamie was coming over and I quickly knocked up this Crossfire scenario to continue my experiments with the revised Anti-tank rules. This time I wanted tanks on both sides and we ended up with three Panzers attacking and two Shermans in defence.
The scenario is extremely loosely based on the Coldstream Guards and Scots Greys defence of the Fosse Bridge on 13 September 1943. One of the many small actions following the Salerno landings in the Italian Campaign. Emphasis on the “extremely loosely”. At the time I only knew the battalions/regiments present and the location of the bridge which gave me a modern google map of the modern site. Not much to go on historically, but it gave a good game. I’ll write up the scenario later although a real Fosse Bridge Scenario will be quite different.
Bogging and Anti-tank Mines – Revising Crossfire Anti-tank Rules 7
Both the Crossfire minefield rule and the Hit The Dirt bogging rule are special mechanisms using 1d6 and special outcomes. I think it is possible to align these with the normal infantry to hit dice, and without unduly affecting play. Since I’m revising the anti-tank rules to use the normal infantry to hit dice, this is a good time to tweak the bogging and anti-tank mine rules.
Collective Farm 643 – An O-Group Battle Report
Adam remains keen on ‘O’ Group, and has put together an Eastern Front scenario called “Collective Farm 643”. Chris took the attacking Soviets and I had the defending Germans. Adam was umpire and provide all the kit.
Summary: Over quick. The Soviets took the direct route to the objectives and got hammered.
Battle of Lemon Bridge (18-19 July 1943)
I was reading David Cole’s account of his time in the 2nd Battalion, Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers in Sicily and Italy and got kind of fascinated by the Battle at Lemon Bridge (18-19 July 1943). Part of the reason for my fascination is that, for a long time, I couldn’t find the bridge, at least it isn’t on modern maps.
Infantry Anti-tank Weapons – Revising Crossfire Anti-tank Rules 6
While I mull over the feedback I got about my previous post to revise Crossfire’s tank rules (Anti-tank Rating – Revising Crossfire Anti-tank Rules 5), I thought I’d share my thinking on infantry anti-tank weapons. Bazookas, Panzerfausts, Panzerschrecks, PIATs, and their poor relation, the anti-tank rifle.
Operation East Gate – Pacific Mini-Campaign using Mac’s Crossfire Missions
Brett Simpson sent through a report for his recent Crossfire mini-campaign set in the Pacific. The campaign is a series of three games, each using Mac’s Missions. The report features his 20mm Australian Imperial Force (AIF), Imperial Japanese Army (IJA) and Special Naval Landing Forces (SNLF) (i.e. Naval Marines). All words and photos are Brett’s.