University City Madrid 1936 - AAR

Guardia Civil cautiously advance towards the University

Back in April we played a large Spanish Civil War game recreating the attack on University City during the initial Nationalist drive on Madrid, I meticulously spent time preparing and publishing a Scenario Post for the game detailing Army Lists, rules, table plans etc etc, today 4 months later I realised that I had forgotten to put a AAR report up !

Early in the game Anarchists defending the Palace de la Moncloa 

Thankfully I still have the photos of the game however my "detailed" notes of the action have been recycled so my apologies to the players who took part for any errors. I recommend you read the original post for the game which you can find HERE.

A stray Nationalist round falls uncomfortably close to a Pz1

The game is designed for 6 players, there are three Commanders on each side, but they each have separate objectives, some of which conflict with the others on their "team", this led to an interesting and fun game. A number of times you could see people looking at fellow gamers with that "What the bloody he'll are you doing" look, "Objectives dear boy, Objectives", the game works best if your opponents and Allies have no idea what you're up to.

Republican Militia rush to support the front line 

Whilst Carlist Troops form a Conga

The battle broke down into three distinct sectors with the vast majority of fighting happening, player to player across the table. Having played the full game I think it could work just as well as three separate scenarios.

As shown in the photos above the Carlist Forces took on the Anarchist troops on the bottom of the table in the open ground around the Palace in front of the School of Philosophy, led by an Armoured Car and a T26 the Red hatted soldiers suffered from traffic jam syndrome getting over the bridge. The Republicans had set up a HMG in the School and no one was keen to wander about in the open.

Legion Commanders in conference

Legion Advance !

In the centre the Legion advanced to the river line to engage a Company of Asaltos who had set up in the School of Architecture, the firefight was fierce but the Asaltos were isolated and soon outnumbered enabling the Nationalist troops to push the Republicans out enabling a early general advance in the centre. There was a couple of Republican Militia companies in the Students Residences but the Legion where at long range, ammunition was low and their accuracy was frankly useless.

T26 and Brigadista take on the Moroccan Regulares 

At the far side of the table the International Brigade had decided to defend deeper effectively abandoning La Bombilla and setting up a strong defence in the Park, it turned into an almighty firefight with the Moroccan Troops who made the best advantage of the cover, however the Brigadista where supported by a T26 which you WW2 players may scoff at, in the Spanish Civil War it's the equivalent of a Tiger Tank.

A general view of the game about half way through, Camera Crew just visible on the roof of the School of Medicine.

As the game progressed the extra finances of the Nationalists started to pay off and they where able to get more reinforcements quicker. I like this part of the game as the choices you make alter the course of the game, do I buy a shiny new tank, or an AT Gun, maybe a MG to cause havoc, or do I need some Artillery to take out the opponents Heavy Weapons, oh but what about some more Foot troops or some Dynamitaroes, choices choices.

Legion move forward under Mortar fire.

A hastily erected Barracade provides extra cover

The Carlist attack stalled as the Anarchists attacked them from the flank through the large woods towards their Bridge forcing the Nationalists to form an defensive line to fend off the attack.

Anarchists move in on the Carlist flank

Whilst in the centre the Legion machine like The Terminator moved from building to building taking out all opposition, the Asaltos Companies were isolated from each other and the lack of finance prevented timely purchase of reinforcements.

The unstoppable Legion

The Moroccan Troops stay safe out of the woods

So the game drew to a close with a victory for the Nationalists although the Moroccan attack had stalled the Brigadista where badly shot up and severely lacking in ammunition.

Anarchists defending.

The Carlists managed to see off the Anarchist attack at some cost in men but they had troops to spare and that left only a couple of companies of Anarchists in front of them to defend the remaining buildings again with little ammunition.

A Carlist MG suppressing Anarchists

In the centre the Legion reached the last line of buildings and the game was over.

Legion Command and the Film Crew look on as Legionnaires capture the School of Medicine 

The saddest / most amusing depending on your viewpoint, thing, occurred with these chaps shown above. One of the Anarchist command teams set off from by the Chapel and had managed to travel over 8ft of game table in an attempt to plant their Anarchist Flag in a Communist held building. They reached the steps to the front door when they where taken out by a random Artillery round, we all agreed they would get their victory points anyway for their efforts. 

The Legion won the objective battle and had got a couple of their escapades filmed, I failed on most of my objectives with my beloved Carlists, I was concentrating on running the game and forgot to go for mission points. Sadly my notes have disappeared but I do remember it was a really good fun game and that for me is what counts !

Operation Market Garden (in a day)

A Bridge Too Far ?

Last year I was lucky enough to spend my summer holidays in the Normandy region of France and my post on that vacation and my search for sites from the Panzers in Normandy book provided remarkably popular, in fact it was the third most viewed of 2015 (Still available here).

This year's little adventure has taken us deep into the Belgian Ardennes region and from there we are in striking distance of a number of historical sites (Waterloo, Bulge, Verdun etc).

Right on the edge of our visitation range is Arnhem and the Market Garden Operation area (September 1944), 255 km or 160 miles from our holiday home, at those distances it would be a bit of a challenge to go back day after day so a compromise had to be made. The best guide book for me is the one above, the mix of directions, explanations and personal accounts brings the events to life in a way that could only be bettered by a really good guide and the book is a fraction of the cost of such a person, but the five tours included in the book were beyond the scope of our limited time frame.

As is was with XXX Corps time was of the essence, we where already 3 hours from Arnhem without looking at anything so I formulated a simple plan which was to drive as closely as we could XXX Corps route, reaching Arnhem in time to visit the Airborne Museum at Oosterbeck.

Preparation was completed the evening before the "Big Push" by watching the brilliant "A Bridge Too Far" film. One of my favourite war films with a cracking cast and many of the actual Commanders acting as advisers on the movie.

So with the theme tune going round my head we set off to our start point Leopoldsburg in Belgium.

Still a few miles from XXX Corps jump off point this small town was the scene of the briefing by General Horrocks to his officers the day before the operation. Made famous in the film by the portrayal of the CO by Edward Fox with the classic opening line of "This is a tale that you will tell your grandchildren, and mighty bored they'll be". Anyone who has sat through a detailed briefing will know how mind numbingly dull they can be. Horrocks excelled that day and many present spoke if the briefing for years afterwards.

There is a Sherman tank outside the Train Station commemorating the event, the barrel of the gun points to the site of the former "Cinema Splendid" where the briefing took place.

It's a short drive from there to the start line for the advance, located just outside Lommel on the N715 where the bridge crosses the Bocholt-Hetentals Canal. Known now as JOE'S Bridge, after J.O.E Vandeleur Commander of the first troops over the bridge and played by Michael Caine in the film.

Although the road has changed since the battle, being wider and with many new bordering houses you can get a feel for it, sections are raised above the natural ground level and with open fields to one side or the other it was easy to see how vulnerable vehicles would be to hidden German AT Guns.

We were getting into the XXX Corps urgency pushing forward through the town of Valkenswaard on to Eindhoven. Here rather than German Forces slowing us down we had Dutch roadworks, one Diversion led to another set of roadworks and another Diversion, things were made harder as we needed to exit the City on the right road to get to our next bridge.

The modern Son Bridge

The village of Son was next up, in the battle the Germans had blown this bridge and British Engineers had to build a temporary "Bailey" Bridge in its place, a mighty task as the equipment required had to get to the front of the column through the hordes of celebrating Dutch citizens back in Eindhoven. Completed overnight on the 18/19th September, Guards Tanks were rolling across the bridge at 06.15. Thankfully we didn't have those problems and after a quick moment to take a photo we were off again.

We made our way along the N265 through Veghel and Uden and onto the N324 to the Grave bridge which was captured intact on the day of the battle. It was at this point we had to deviate from our plan. It was getting on and we knew that the museum in Oosterbeck closed at 5pm. XXX Corps route deviated here during the battle the more direct route which ran parallel to the railway line from Vught had been the original plan however the bridge in that direction was unusable so the main column diverted East through Nederasselt and Heumen and into Nijmegen on that, longer and slower route.

Neither choice offered a realistic chance of reaching the Museum via Arnhem and THE bridge in time, so sadly we had to leave XXX Corps behind and jump on the Motorway and into Oosterbeck from the West.

With 2 hours to spare we landed at the Hartenstein Hotel, HQ for the British Airborne troops during the Arnhem operation and now a Museum to the battle.

The Museum is well worth a visit, the lower level is dedicated to the Airborne Experience with films and walk through dioramas. Upstairs there is a film describing the battle along with the expected relics / uniforms etc. I particularly enjoyed a short film featuring a Polish Veteran who now lives in Yarkshire and his story of escape from Poland, training in Scotland, active service in the war before deciding to live in Bradford.

A short journey towards Arnhem is the Commonwealth Cemetery, a must visit to pay our respects to the brave men who took part in the operation and didn't come home. Signs litter the car park warning visitors to not leave valuables visible in vehicles as thefts are common ! Sound advice but what sort of low level scum nicks stuff from people who have come to remember soldiers who have given up there lives to free the country from Nazism. I am fairly left of centre on my politics but this sort of stuff makes my blood boil.

So a short while later we arrived at the bridge now known as John Frost Bridge. The area is vastly different from how it was in 1944. There is a small information centre next to the bridge but it was closed when we arrived.

Access to the Bridge is by a set of steps, the railing painted Airborne Red.

There is a memorial on the Bridge to the brave stand made by Frost and his men, it was sad to see quite a bit of graffiti on the bridge, the whole area was pretty run down.

We did find this weird "sculpture" next to the bridge, there was no information board with it, anyone have any knowledge?

We returned from our visit via Nijmegen Bridge, but no photos as I was driving, that and if you remember from the film those naughty Germans have unexploded munitions under the structure so I wasn't hanging around ;-)

Home was reached 13 hours and over 300 miles later. A cracking day out in which I finally got to visit one of the iconic British sites from WW2, sadly I didn't have time to pay more attention to the American Airborne sites but our XXX Corps mission was paramount.

Project Jutland - A Spot of Light Cruising

The Project keeps on truckin' and unlike the Bandit who had "a long way to go and a short time to get there" I am firmly on the downward slope. So here for the record are 27 more ships towards the 250 1/2400 ships required.

First up are the final 5 German Light Cruisers, all the models are GHQ.

Followed by 5 German Destroyers / Torpedo Boats who were left off the last batch because they wouldn't fit on the paint tray.

So here is an update on the Germans.

Dreadnoughts - Required 16, Complete

Pre Dreadnoughts - Required 6, Complete

Battlecruisers - Required 5, Complete

Light Cruisers - Required 11, Complete

Destroyers / TBD - Required 61, done 48. Rest on order from WTJ.

So of the 99 ships 86 are done or just over 87% with just Torpedo Boats left.

So the additional British ships are as follows, with the 6 Destroyer Leaders adding to the fleet, the 3 "Marksman" Class shown above. These are the one and only addition from C in C miniatures  (thanks to Yarkshires own Wargames Emporium in Sheffield) very impressed, good sharp details and casting, shame they aren't more readily available in the UK.

Decks on all Destroyers have been painted in "wood" effect which will no doubt cause discussion. Anyway here's a picture of a model from the Imperial War Museum  (who know nothing obviously) of a WW1 Destroyer (Shark).

Are they "wooden" decks, outrageous ! 😎

Next up are three of the Early Caroline "C" Class Light Cruisers

Followed by 4 more "C" Class, HMS Champion from the 2 ship Calliope sub Class and 3 Cambrian Class.

Along with a couple of Arethusa Class and a lonely Yarmouth type Town Light Cruiser.

The last ship of the batch is this beauty HMS Engadine a home brew ship would you believe, printed by Witchcraft  ! There is a full write up on her construction and launch HERE.

For the British the progress is,

Dreadnoughts - 28 Required, Complete

Battlecruisers - 9 Required, Complete

Armoured Cruisers - 8 Required, 8 in the house ready for painting.

Light Cruisers - 26 Required, 18 complete, 8 on order.

Destroyers / TBD - 79 Required, 58 done, 21 on order.

Seaplane Carrier - 1 Required, Complete 

So of 151 ships, 114 are done or 75 %.

I have the Armoured Cruisers ready to build which I will tackle are a couple of weeks off, I am then reliant on WTJ producing and shipping the last vessels. We are getting there.

HMS Engadine - 3d Printing Tis t'Future

How to solve a problem called Engadine (A Project Jutland mini Update)

From the beginning of Project Jutland there was always going to be a few problem ships that people either don't make or only a US company make them (Viking Forge Nymphe) who then make it so difficult and expensive to buy from them (just the $40 for 1 ship to the UK).

Thankfully I found a UK supplier of CinC models so I could get the British Destroyer Leaders which only they do and the wonderful WTJ covered some of the gaps in their range (who says email harassment doesn't work ;-) whilst the Project was ongoing.

That left the German Light Cruiser Frauenlob which I used a very similar GHQ model for (yes, I know I forgot to take the front funnel off, thank you TMP pedants) and Engadine.

All you need is a friend who is also a Naval Wargamer, a Draughtsman and wizzo CAD operator who owns a 3D printer, that's everyone then ! Step forward Andrew Dickinson, who fits in all the above categories as well as financing the British Dreadnoughts for Jutland, top man.

I would love to describe in detail what's going on in the picture above, it's some form of computer based magic. You clearly get a scale drawing of the ship and then ....... well you know. Hopefully Andrew will join in any discussion later and can provide technical details.

This sort of thing would have had your burnt at the stake a few hundred years ago.

You then send your plan by wireless witchcraft to the magic printy thingy which over the next few minutes  (I think it was about 45) produces a basic ship model.

So there it is the freshly printed 1/2400 scale HMS Engadine, it's then a case of removing the thin flash base the printer makes and trimming the funnels and the basic models is complete.

So there we have the final model in all its glory, nothing different done painting wise just my standard method. Tutorial HERE. I have added a bit of detail on the roof and the rear of the hangar with ink just to bring out the finer points. Strictly the deck around the funnels should be wood but there was a bit of flash there which was impossible to move with damaging the model so I stuck to grey.

I am very happy with our little representation of Engadine and she won't look out of place amongst the other Project Jutland ships. Hats off to Mr Dickinson for the design and build, Engadine Miniatures anyone ?

This is my first foray into the world of printed miniatures and without Andrews technical abilities and access to kit etc it would not have been possible to make this myself, but 3d printers are dropping in price and the availability of model templates for stuff is becoming readily available. How it will impact on traditional figure companies will be interesting to see, hopefully they will modernise and adapt.

I have seen the future and it's called Engadine.