Gumbinnen 1914 (yet again!) with Op14

 

Last Friday, and clearly still on a Great War roll, Lloyd and Jerry joined me for a game.  As it was arranged at fairly short notice I dug out a battle I'd fought previously.  Several times. So where are we?

Fly low enough and you can read the road signs.  The game used 6mm toys on Hexon terrain, with 2mm BUAs.  And yes, I know that the aircraft are from later in the war.

The horrors of war!  Russian and German commanders study their briefings.

German air recce.  It only appeared twice in two days. Which was a sortie rate 100% higher than the Russians managed...

The Russian attack north of Gumbinnen running out of puff.

German cavalry division marauding about on their left flank.

German aviators chasing away Russian cavalry while the uhlans prepare to skewer some Russian infantry.

Close up of the uhlans and their cyclist jäger battalion.

As day two drew to a close, so too did the Russian offensive, one corps having left the field and a second soon to follow. The Germans had some nasty moments though, spending most of day one with only a single corps against three!  An very enjoyable game which interestingly produced a result very similar to the Funny Little Wars game played in 2023 - link.

I have several more Op14 scenarios worked out for Belgium and the east so expect to see more of this sort of thing in the coming months.

Action on the River Gette - August 1914

 This was an Op14 game played in late April, using my 6mm toys and Hexon terrain.  The action involved three German corps advancing and trying to get between the bulk of the Belgian army and Brussels.  The German players  - John A, Russell and Diego had a corps each.  The opposition was Pete (aka King Albert I) and Jerry, who commanded three infantry and one cavalry divisions.

The game provided a broadly historical outcome, with the Belgians being driven off after two days of fighting and the Germans turning their left flank.  My thanks to all the players for making the day so enjoyable - and to Russell, Pete and Diego for sharing their photos.  The images are not in time order but should give a fair impression of the look of the thing.

The field of battle - representing around 600 square km of Belgium!

The Belgian cavalry div - much smaller then infantry divs, this has four cavalry regiments and a cyclist battalion.

The German left, showing IX Korps relentlessly advancing.

Belgian 3rd Div dug in and awaiting the Germans!

Late in the game - with Jerry looking more pleased then a general in full retreat should, me apparently in silent prayer, Diego in despair and John and Russell looking teutonically stolid.

Belgian frantically redeploying to the left as the Germans pile on the pressure.

King Albert's HQ near the village of St. Georges.

German air recce - the rotters!

Two corps looking very dangerous on their right wing.

Dug in Belgians repelling an ill-advised German attack.

Pressure mounts on the Belgian left.

Hawker Demon

Sorry it's been a while since my last post - busy with work and other stuff, meaning lots of screen time and a resulting disinclination to write blog posts!

Anyway, let's have some pics of toys, 'cos that's why you're here, right?  Readers of a nervous disposition look away now.

This battered specimen was part of the loot from COW last year.   I've always liked the Demon/Hart/Fury family of pointy biplanes.  While planning a Spanish Civil War game a few months ago I felt a need for a republican light bomber/recce biplane.  The 'correct' thing would have been a Breguet XIX.  There were also a few (three?) Hawker Fury fighters in Spain so it didn't take my fevered mind long to join the dots.  So Demon = wrong.  But then Demon = free.  Still with me?

Repair work commenced to my usual high* standards - liberal doses of blutac and glue being employed in the process.

Elegant eh?

Soon everything was perfectly* aligned.  

I managed to preserve the previous owner's impressing rigging thread.

Paint was added and markings were also painted on.  The result is clearly Republican and has the correct quantity of wings, and for a walk on part in a daft game that's good enough for me!

Munitionschlepper Wespe

I am fortunate enough to already own two 1/48 scale Wespe SP guns, so when I found I have a (part built) kit of a third I decided to build it as an ammunition carrier.

Build proceeded very much like the real one - miss out the gun and plate over the aperture.

Plenty of spare ammo!

Here is the finished model with a better armed friend.

Torpedo Boat 196

In need of a small Great-War era destroyer for a forthcoming game, I decided to build one in 'cartoon' scale from bits and pieces. 

The hull and most of the superstructure were carved from balsa.  The funnel and torpedo tubes are plastic tube, turret and TT mounts pdf bases.  I'm particularly pleased with the bridge - part of a mounting from a roller blind which 'looked useful' and ended up in the spares box some years ago.

The turrets are resin castings I bought a few years ago - again, they 'looked useful...'  The crew figures are from a Strelets 1/72 set of Crimean War Russian naval gunners.  Finished in overall black, here is it wearing the first of no doubt many flags of convenience!  It's combat debut will be later this month in a game set in 1939.