Fall-In Preparations

In the dark shadows of the nether regions of the Castle Keith, I am laboring intently, deep in the dank dungeon that is my War Room.

I am currently working on some additional troops for my 28mm World War II (Disposable Heroes, a Coffin for Seven Brothers - DHC7B) German SS and American Paratroopers, because I intend on running a "pick up game" at Fall-In. The scenario is called "Blood in the Snow". It is a meeting engagement between elite forces at a remote farm manor house during the Bastogne encirclement.

I'm also working on British WWII tanks (Honeys and Crusaders) and infantry for my 15mm Flames of War army. I'm applying paint to my Italian tanks, infantry, and artillery, trying to top off that army too!

Just to confuse matters, since I obviously don't have enough to paint, I'm working on my Late War Gross Deutschland Panzer Kompanie. Basically I'm herding cats, but thankfully the Pioneers are helping! ;-)

If that isn't enough, I'm also touching up various bits and bobs to sell at the Saturday morning Flea Market. I'll also be bringing, by special request, a small package of very special fleas! Can't get enough of those!

If any of our loyal readers are headed to Fall-In, look for us at a gaming table covered with snow, or sand, or grass, or...

First DAK

As Bwana Bill, Consul Scipio, KarlMek, BlackKnight, and I all prepare to head into the desert again in various scales, I was inspired to finish off a Deutsches Afrikakorps (DAK)Heavy Machine Gun and crew.

The figures are by Battle Honours - does anyone know if they are still in business? I see figures still for sale at www.oldglory15s.com, however, I can't seem to find a Battle Honours homepage.

Anyway, here are the first of my DAK: Enjoy!

Mare Nostrum

I don't know if any of you have noticed, but there seems to be a lot more interest these days in the Italian Army's role in World War II. I think that our friends at Battlefront.com might be largely responsible for this when they produced a very nice product line of Italian pieces and background information for the Flames of War rules.

I recently acquired a new book called "Iron Hulls, Iron Hearts," by Ian W. Walker, which proved to be a very interesting attempt to rehabilitate the image of the Italian Army in the North African campaign. The book focuses on the armored divisions and makes a very convincing argument that they achieved impressive results given the resources at their disposal.

Now our friends at Iron Ivan have published a companion book on the Italian army to their Disposable Heroes/Coffin for Seven Brothers rules. They have given it the title "Mare Nostrum," which is a reference to the Roman Empire and its attitude that the Mediterranean Sea was "Our Ocean." I have not purchased a copy yet, but I certainly intend to. My pals and I want to try some North African scenarios in the hopefully not-too-distant future, and we are bound and determined to not leave units like the Ariete and the Littorio out of it.

WWII 28mm Scenarios for Disposable Heroes and Coffin for Seven Brothers

I found an interesting tidbit of information on The Miniatures Page recently. Iron Ivan Games, the gentlemen that publish Disposable Heroes & Coffin for Seven Brothers (DH/C7B) have announced they will soon be publishing scenario books for gaming WWII in 28mm. That is simply great news as far as I am concerned! Let me tell you why. In recent years, I am always “the GM” for our gaming group when it comes to doing anything in WWII, and coming up with a good scenario is always hard. The scenario books that I have found never seem to match up perfectly with our favorite game system, that being DH/C7B. Something is always off. Usually it has to do with the units that the scenario calls for. The organization of individual squads is usually different and right away you have to start making changes and substitutions. Sometimes the scenarios call for a ridiculously large number of units. In cases like that it is easy to see that the scenario was originally designed and played for 15mm, or maybe even something smaller. Another thing I hate is scenarios that call for a ridiculously large playing area that is beyond the capabilities of almost all of us. Another thing that is difficult is converting tactical skill ratings and morale ratings to the game system that you want to use. Usually scenario publishers will try to help you out a bit on this, but not many.

From what I understand the first book will cover the Brit paras at Arnhem. Let me give you a hint too. If you examine the events list for the upcoming Cold Wars convention in Lancaster, PA, it appears that one of the games being offered is from this new scenario book, even though it has not been published yet.

So, I have high expectations for these scenario books. I have always been impressed with the thought processes of Messrs. Stine and Conley at Iron Ivan Games. I think they are very clever game designers and so my guess is their scenarios will be a great boost for the game system. When I read through the events list for the upcoming Cold Wars convention I could not help but notice that most of the GMs running WWII games in 28mm are using DH/C7B. It appears to me that DH/C7B is becoming more popular all the time; and rightfully so!

Disposable Heroes & Coffin For Seven Brothers.

You may have been wondering what we have been up to lately. Well I can tell you that we have been busy gaming with a new set of World War II rules that I decided to try last Fall. It's called "Disposable Heroes & Coffin For Seven Brothers." That is quite a mouth full so let's just refer to it as "DH/C7B" for now. The long name comes from the fact that the first editions of the rules used to be two different books. Disposable Heroes was infantry rules, and Coffin For Seven Brothers was for tank rules. Now everything is together in under one cover.

We have been using 25/28mm scale, which is something we have not been able to do for a very long time until we discovered these rules. We are thrilled to finally be back into it. These rules can be used with 15mm and 20mm as well.

I won't go into a lot of detail right now, but I can tell you that we like these rules better than anything else we have tried. They are fairly simple, very playable, and yet have a realistic feel to them. The thing I like best is that your typical "unit" in these rules is a section/fire team instead of a full squad. That means that in a typical infantry squad you light machine gun (LMG) team is a separate unit from your riflemen. This gives you realistic flexibility because you can use you LMG team to provide covering fire while you rifle team maneuvers. The best innovation of these rules is that every time a unit takes fire it has to take a "guts check," even if it did not take any losses from the firing. This gives you a chance to pin down enemy units so you can move forward.

There are a lot of other things we like about the rules. Indirect fire things like mortars and off-board artillery are extremely easy. I have used both so far which is a big change from other World War II rulesets that just make those thing too complicated. Oh, and you don't have to fiddle with templates. Blast effects are very nicely handled without EVER needing a template!

I'll try to add more later on these rules. If you want to know how to get a copy look at the "Iron Ivan Games" link further down the page under "Gamers Resources."

Have any questions? PLEASE feel free to leave a "Comment" below! We would be happy to be of service.

Crippled Tiger (continued)

In these photos you can see where the Russian infantry has actually made it all the way to the Tiger.

Crippled Tiger (continued)

Picking up were I left off last month. (Or was it the month before that.) you can see more on how the battel developed in these pictures. In the top photo the Germans await the Russian attack with the repair crew and Tiger crew huddled behind the disabled Tiger for cover.

Then the Russians appear at the edges of the woods and firing commences back and forth. In the bottom photo you can see the entire battle area.

Crippled Tiger

In this game we used the Disposable Heroes rules again. This scenrario comes from the "Grossdeutschland at Kursk" scenario book. The idea is that German and Soviet infantry are fighting over a disabled Tiger tank in the middle of the table after a big tank battle. In the top photo you can see the Russian infantry moving up toward the Tiger. In the center photo is a German repair team working on the Tiger. In the bottom photo are two squads of panzergrenadiers moving up to support the repair team. In the next couple of installments, I'll relate how it all went.

Yet More Waltzing with Matilda's

By the end of the game I still had a couple of troopers hanging onto the airfield and my German partner on the left flank had managed to get one of his units on the objective in the town. It was a clear-cut victory for the Axis side.

More "Waltzing with Matildas"

In the top photo you can see my Italian infantry out on the airstrip objective. Problem is; they are somewhat exposed and taking heavy fire and casualties.

In the bottom photo you can see the Germans on the left flank moving into the town. They are having an easier tme of it because of the protection afforded by the buildings.

"Waltzing with Matildas"

Here are some action photos from the last "Fall In" convention. This was a North Africa WWII scenario run by Antonio Portilla. He used the "Disposable Heroes" rules. In the top photo you can see the whole set up. The Brits are across the bottom, the Germans are on the top right and the Italians are on the top left. I got to control the Italians. In the bottom photo you can how the Italians are arranged prior to the start of the game. There are two British Matilda tanks in the center of the table. During the game they were allowed to function normally except that they could not move because they were out of petrol. The Axis side is trying to prevent their recovery. I'll have more on the game later.

Disposable Heroes and Coffin for Seven Brothers

It's been years since any of us in our area played a good game of 25mm WWII. We've all gotten into Flames of War - which is a great game - but somehow that doesn't fill the need to push 25mm figures and larger tanks around the table.

Flames of War battles are based on playing an entire company, with it's various support elements.

Many of us love a good skirmish game - and until now there has not been a good World War II skirmish game available - and in particular, a points-based game!

Enter Iron Ivan Games with their rule set "Disposable Heroes and Coffin for Seven Brothers".

This appears to be a really playable rule set based on platoon rather than company sized elements. Still, at 25mm you need to paint around 30 figures and a couple of vehicles to play. But that's not a bad thing, for those of us who are as much or more painters than we are gamers!

Bwana Bill has played several games already, and our other friend Bill has played a few of the demo games of DHCF7B at Fall-In.

I look forward to playing a few games myself as soon as I get some more Waffen SS and American Paratroopers painted up!

Currahee! (If your a fan of the 101st Airborne! or if you're a fan of the 82nd Airborne, the All-Americans; Devils in Baggy Pants!

Keep your eyes on this space for more about Disposable Heroes and Coffin for Seven Brothers!

Oh! What is the deal with "Coffin for Seven Brothers"?

The Soviet tankers drove lend-lease Lee/Grant tanks. Due to the high profile and low armor, they nicknamed it a Coffin for Seven Brothers.