Early War Polish Reinforcements from Crusader Miniatures

The Polish Army in 1939 needs all the help it can get to repel the German Blitzkrieg. Here we've added another Polish Infantry Section from Crusader Miniatures for our Bolt Action battles.

The twelve man rifle squad has extra punch with the addition of a BAR Automatic (LMG) squad in it. Backup also provided by an Ursus armored car

Packs are loaded out with everything an infantryman would need.

Crusader Miniatures came up with nice poses for the riflemen.Including the BAR squad

And the advancing sculpts are also very interesting. The detail for metal miniatures is pretty substantial.

If you need to get squads on the table fast, metal figures don't need assembly so are usually faster to complete.

Have A Great Battle!
The Old Crow

Warlord Games Gurkas

Gurkas, like these models from Warlord Games, served in the Second World War recruited from the sovereign state of Nepal. These tough allies to the British royal crown can really pack a punch.

They fought in Syria, North Africa, Italy, Greece, as well as in Burma against the Japanese.

Each Gurka carries a traditional Nepalese knife known as a Khukuri or Kukri. 

This heavy, curved blade is a fearsome close-combat weapon, as well as being useful for more mundane tasks such as clearing a path through dense jungle terrain.

Metal box set contains a 10 man rifle section, 3 man command group and 8 man charging section.

These guys are the completed charging section with NCO.

Have a Great Battle!
The Old Crow

Black Bull Armor Addition from Warlord Games

Well finally we have some additional armor for the Black Bull, British 11th Armoured Division. Here we have the completed A34 Comet Heavy Tank, a Cromwell MK IV and a Daimler MK 1 armored car.

The Comet, advancing toward the main road through the low stone wall....

and Cromwell making use of its bocage cutter, are patterned after the 29th Armoured Brigade's 2nd Fife and Forfar Yeomanry Regiment.

The Daimler is part of the supporting Recce Regiment, the 2nd Northhamptonshire Yeomanry.

The Daimler was a 4 wheel drive vehicle with a 2 pounder canon.

In Bolt Action it has the Recce rule to get out of sticky situations.

The Cromwell is a great all around medium tank in Bolt Action and still my favorite from World of Tanks!

Here you can see added stowage and the crew left their bucket hooked on the rear of the vehicle.

Now for some punch, the A34 Heavy Comet tank!!

This guy can pack a punch and has serious armor comparable to a Panther.

The A34 Comet was the last British tank type to enter the war. The 11th Armoured Division received the Comet in January of 1945.

Have a Great Battle!!!
The Old Crow

Sarissa World War Europe and Warlord Games Reinforcements for Bolt Action

We picked up these Sarissa World War Europe LCVP and LCM to try out for an eventual landing assault on the Atlantic wall.

There will be a need to fill those landing craft so we also started to build reinforcements from Warlord Games. A British Cromwell medium tank and a Daimler Mk1 armored car are in the process.

Additional infantry in the form of two Ghurka squads and an officer are being prepared too. The Warlord box set has a static firing squad and a squad charging into the fray! They are great miniatures and powerful troops on the tabletop.

The LCVP (Landing Craft Vehicle Personnel) or Higgins boat went together very quickly as did the Landing Craft Mechanized (LCM). That is a consistent plus to the Sarissa kits, ease of assembly.

The vehicles need some stowage and will be ready to prime.

Here are the landing craft primed grey. We have US Machine Gun Crews on order from Warlord Games...

and finally the first Ghurka squad and officer have been primed and received a base coat.

Have a Great Battle!!
The Old Crow

Bolt Action Four Army Battle Report! Polish Inaugural Fight!

Our latest Bolt Action Battle involved 4 armies and the Polish Army's inaugural battle. On this grand Soviet hamlet table our fictitious battle involved the German and Japanese armies confronting the Polish and Soviet forces. The game was to control the four objectives seen as the yellow stars. Each army received 750 points.

This was an early war action which involved plenty of infantry. The armor on the table consisted of a Panzer III for the Germans, a CHi-Ha with the light howitzer and tankette for Japan. The Russians brought a T34 and the Poles fielded an Ursus Armored car and a twin turreted 7TP. The Germans also had an AT Gun and the Polish Army brought a medium howitzer.

All armies had to designate who would be in on the first wave. The only reserves were the Poles who kept a truck and unit of 10 infantry off the table.

As things began, the Polish sniper and 7TP moved in on the left side along with the Soviet mortar team and a couple units of infantry.

On the right side the T34 moved in to oppose the CHi-Ha and tankette. He fired and missed. The Polish transport truck raced in across the center of the board stopping next to the far right objective. He was promptly hit by a slurry of machine gun fire and was knocked out disgorging the 12 infantry inside. 2 men died but the Poles were on the first objective. Two Soviet infantry squads and the Ursus armored car moved in to support them.

On the opposing side of the table the Japanese piled all of their units along with a couple German units against the Polish on the objective. The Germans deployed a unit of infantry to the center and a 6 man squad on their far right.

On turn two the Germans brought the Panzer III on to support the infantry squad on their right flank. It promptly fired at the T34 and missed. The T34 returned the favor by also missing. Snipers all missed and a few pin markers were exchanged on both sides.

On turn 3 the Panzer III was able to fire first, missing again. The T34 did not miss this time scoring a hit, penetrating the armor and destroying the German tank!

With the Panzer gone, the only trouble the T34 could possibly have were the Japanese suicide anti-tank team with lunge mines! The Poles on the objective continued to hold out taking tons of fire. The supporting Soviet infantry was also being whittled down. The Polish army brought in their reserve transport and infantry for additional support on the right, hoping to hold the objective. With the last die pulled being Japanese, the suicide team moved within striking distance of the T34!

Turn 4 started with two dice each for the Germans and the Poles. The Polish units tried but could not kill the Japanese suicide team. The next die fell to the Japanese who lunged at the T34 and destroyed it!! The Ursus advanced in support of the right flank but the Poles on the objective were finally wiped out due to having to many pins! The supporting two Russian infantry units fell too, leaving just two men from one of the squads hunkered down behind the destroyed T34. Only the newly arrived Polish infantry squad remained, close enough to contend the objective.

On turn 5 the Chi-Ha was able to crush the remaining Polish infantry. In doing so, its flank was open to the Polish artillery who scored a hit destroying the Japanese armor. Sadly it was to late to help the deceased infantry on the right flank. The Ursus was able to add pins and kill a few opposing infantry but the center and right were now in the hands of the Axis forces while the left two were unoccupied. At the close of turn 5 the German infantry squad, alone on our far left, made a run for the objective nearest them.

Turn six started with a furious exchange of mortar and MMG fire from both sides. The soviets had a 12 man rifle squad hiding in the farmhouse since turn 1. They dislodged themselves, moved into the swampy area, fired on the Germans heading for the left most objective and killed all but one. The twin turreted 7TP with 10 dice was able to kill the last German on the left flank. This allowed the Polish sniper team to run down the hill and capture the left objective.

With four dice left (1 German, 1 Polish and 2 Russian) the Allies had 1 objective and the Axis 2. The Polish die was pulled and their HQ squad ran across the road to contest the center right objective. The Germans fired on the Russian HQ unit but missed. With the last 2 order dice, the Soviet HQ unit ran to occupy the center left objective and ran the last 2 man infantry squad to contest the far right objective.

There the game ended in a victory for the Allied Team holding two objectives and contesting the other two. It wound up being a very close game where most of the action centered on the right objective till the last turn.

The Polish trucks got the infantry into action right away. Having a 12 man squad kept them in the game, taking fire and attracting a lot of attention, till the end of turn 4. There was a great moment of elation on the Allied side when the T34 stood victorious with very little to threaten it. Then a great moment of elation on the Axis side when a stick mine destroyed the T34!

At the end of a close game, on a great table, the Polish sniper team watches over the left objective as the Soviets emerge from the swamp!

Hope You Have A Great Battle!!

Reader Built Trebuchet, Siege Tower and Battering Ram!

At Battleground Hobbies we enjoy sharing our love of designing, building and collecting scale models for table top war games. Sometimes we even get great feedback. Among our top posts are "How to Build a Siege Tower" and "Battering Ram" We recently received a comment on one of these. 

A reader from Moscow left this: "Thank you. It's great! My son used your ideas for historical school project. Something was difficult and I helped him. He did this nice siege tower and trebuchet".

We thanked her and asked for some finished photos to share with everyone. We received this reply along with some photos: "I've sent you some photos of our siege engines. We also did a battering ram. There are plastic knights from my childhood on the photos. They were made in the mid 1970s."  

Here they are!!

Her son shows perseverance and determination!!

And he built a very nice trebuchet!!

Here's our post they refer too: "How To Build A Trebuchet"

and his Ram!! Keep modelling mate!!

If you have completed a project inspired by one of our posts, please share it with us!!

Have A Great Battle!!

The Old Crow

Sarissa Precision Town Villa for Gangs of Rome

A few months back we did a post on a simple Sarissa Precision kit and today we'll be looking at one a bit more complex, the Town Villa. When the three main sections are completed it will measure approximately 11.5 x 14.25 inches.

As mentioned in the previous Sarissa post, the instructions are plain straight forward illustrations which are easy to follow.

The kit consists of 11 MDF boards and 3 of heavy card stock for the roofs, doorways and windows.

The front section is a simple affair with the four outer walls and two inner dividers. The colonnade out front is the most complex part of the kit. Each column consists of 10 pieces. The two main vertical pieces interlock, the small ring slides on the bottom fist, then the larger ring and finally the square base. The four smaller vertical pieces then tuck into the four inner corners and base. Lastly the cross like cornice goes on the top.

Once all the columns are assembled they line up under the support structure on the front of the villa like you see here.

The roof for the colonnade has an MDF base and five low triangles which have tabs that go into slots on the card-stock roof.

Once dry, the colonnade roof tucks onto the front of the building like so.

The rear of the first section has nine small window frames along the roof line, a rear doorway and small porch roof that will interlock with the middle section.

The sections main roof has a long vertical ridge beam and five trusses. We found it helpful to glue one side first, let it dry and then do the other side. We also glued some extra MDF pieces along side some of the trusses for additional support.

And when both sides of the roof are thoroughly dry it will sit very snugly on top.

Now the mid section! The first side starts very much like the front with four outer walls but with only one dividing interior wall. There is a courtyard piece on the base plate in the middle of this section. The inner courtyard porch roof sticks out into this area.

Then you get to do it all again for the opposing side.

Once you finish this section you'll have two buildings with a courtyard in between.

The rear of the front section  will face the courtyard......

... and tuck into it like so.

The final middle section step, besides the roofs, is to attach the porch support for the rear sections porch roof.

The third and final section has a simple first floor, very much like the front of the villa, and then you'll need to build the second floor which is just as simple.

Attach the rear porch roof like so.

Here is the courtyard side of the rear section with the second floor on top.

The upper and lower back of the section has several window frames to install.

The flat top roof was a slight pain to get glued all together at the same time but it is doable.

and there is the rear section.

Now put the Town Villa sections together and there you have it!! As we mentioned it measures approximately 11.5 x 14.25 inches and is quite a center piece for whatever tabletop game you have planned!

Here is the top view,.....

and with all the roofs removed you can see plenty of space for action inside!

With a few additional kits and some ingenuity you'll have an entire city block before you know it!

Have A Gret Battle!!
The Old Crow