Ambassador, you are spoiling us....

or you must need the box for something!

A slight bit of R&R today with just enough time to catch up with my Zvezda backlog. Well, not all of it but at least the vehicular element.

Spot the new guys.......

Nice new Matilda I and II by Zvezda to join my A&A Miniatures Matilda II. Quite a good match. Arras era heavy tank platoon.

Another A13 for the  cruiser tank platoon. Again, for Arras. A Crusader hiding at the back and pretending to be a cruiser.

A good job I got some Ferrero Rocher for my other half at Xmas. Especially since I have also acquired 2 KV1, 1 KV2 and a new Tiger I. All of these for my Plan B rules.

Tank park nicely installed. 
  

Hey, there's room for more. Quick, pass the credit card!

Personal self-satisfaction announcement 

Well, I don't make many of these so I must be due one about now! This weekend, after a year of on-off staggering around the countryside trying to get fit I have passed a personal milestone. I have successfully run two 5ks, one yesterday and one today. Due to a major bit of uncertainty about plans I did not manage to do the Sport Relief 3 mile run today, although I had assumed I would not be ready for it just yet.

The satisfaction lies in the fact that I am nearing 58, have had a serious back operation and developed diabetes type 2. I'll now celebrate with four pints of Stella and a nice curry. The best thing is that I enjoyed both runs, I had got my pace right, breathing spot on and my brain in the right sort of neutral (which doesn't happen often). I'm therefore very chuffed. Will I give up wargaming and take up sport? Not bloody likely. However, I think the exercise should be just the ticket to keep an old bastard on the road to Moscow for a good few years yet. Hurrah! 

Plan B: Wargame Rules for Russia 1941

Now operational....Phew!

It has been a really busy few weeks at work but the real reason for the lack of posts has been that I have spent all my available time working on Plan B. The first draft is now ready....hurrah!

I am very pleased that I have persevered with this project. It has not been straightforward and I am happy that I have got to a completed first draft. 

As you may have gathered, this is my attempt to use Neil Thomas' One Hour Wargames (1HW) for a 1941 Russian Front campaign. I have included design notes in the rules to show how and why I have deviated from the published rules.  My key criterion is that I want to shoot and kill things (sorry, that's a bit technical). Not a feeling that I get from 1HW. I have put a lot of thought into the rules and, while I have done the sums and pushed some counters around, I have yet to experience how these rules play as a game and a campaign.

At this point I'm open to any comments or criticisms. If anyone else wants to have a play and feedback, that's great. My next step with this project is to order some 15mm metal soldiers (I have both birthday and Xmas coming up!) and get ready to play at some point over the festive holidays.

I have to say that Neil Thomas has my greatest respect for the way that he is able to present his rules with such precision. I hope I have done them justice.

I now feel the need to boil my head and think about Napoleonics for a change!

Plan B report from the front!

Nearly there..

I have been quietly getting on with the Plan B project. First on the list has been to paint my available tank forces. These now look like...

• German: 1 Pz II, 2 Pz III, 1 Pz IV, 1 Pz 38t, 1 Sdkfz 231, 2 Sdkfz 222, 1 sIG 33, 1 88, 1 Sdkfz 251, 1 beute Panhard 178, 2 Stuka, 1 Hs 126 and 1 Bf109. 

• Soviet: 3 T34, 1 BT5, 2 T26, 1 BA10, 1 T35, 2 Sturmovik.

Here is my medium tank platoon. Zvezdas apart from the A&A in the middle. All done in black undercoat, Fortress Grey, Codex Grey and finished with bolt metal and Nuln Oil (uuugh).

The recon platoon, all A&As.

The beginnings of my artillery platoon (sIG), Panzergrenadier platoon and light tank platoon. All Zvezda except the sIG.

My Soviet light tank platoon with extra BA10. All Zvezda and done in Bronze Green with dry brushed Green-Brown and Mid-Stone then covered in Earthshade.

On the stocks right now are my two Stukas and the HS 126. Being done together as they will all be in ground attack colours.

Time for a shopping list for the rest. I'm still keen on the Skytrex Command Decision models, although Peter Pigs also look good, if a little more pricey. 

The rules are coming on and I aim to get a draft on the Blog this week. A target to meet does me good. I had quite forgotten how difficult it is to design simple rules where there are armoured and non-armoured troops so this is a bit of a challenge. I have enjoyed re-reading Norm's Tigers at Minsk rules and I hope to emulate them.

Russia is quite popular......

at least with wargamers!

Well, I hadn't quite realised the amount of current Russian Front activity when I outlined my Plan B campaign approach. I understand that Flames of War's next release is Barbarossa and that PSC released Battlegroup Barbarossa earlier on this year. I'm not sure if this means I'm on trend or slightly behind the times. Never mind. 

Today's Russian front news is that Norm Smith is releasing a campaign system for his Tigers at Minsk rules and, not only that, he has prepared a brilliant trailer for it.....

I must admit this made me smile, lots!

My current progress with Plan B is that I now have some painted German troops, not yet completely finished but well on the way. It will shortly be time to order the infantry.

My campaign will be a solo ladder, so far consisting of four areas to be contested:

Frontier battles	Soviet Mechanised counter attack	Closing the pockets	Exploitation
3. River crossing 5. Bridgehead 15. Fortified defence	6. Flank attack 10. Late arrivals 18. Counter attack	14. Static defence 19. Blow from the rear 30. Last stand	4. Take the high ground 27. Disordered defence 26. Triple line

The references are to the One Hour Wargames Scenarios. In each one the red army is, surprisingly, the Red Army! The idea is that one scenario is selected (at random) in the frontier battles box. If the Germans win they move onto the Soviet Mechanised Counterattack box. If they lose, they have another go at another scenario. This way, the Germans get three goes at moving out of the first box, if they fail all three they lose.

As with all ladder campaigns the idea is for the Germans to get to the fourth box and defeat the Red Army. Similarly, the Red Army works to push the Germans back to the frontier. 

One idea I'm playing with is the use of specific rules for each part of the ladder. For example, the frontier battles box could have an option for one or more Red Army units to be NKVD. Later, there could be an option for Red Army militia units or German exhaustion.

Given the random selection of scenarios in each box plus random army selections in the scenarios and, potentially, some further special rules this will give a real challenge and a unique sense of the campaign. To get in the mood I'm re-reading Robert Kershaw's War Without Garlands: Operation Barbarossa 1941-42.