Betrieb rostiger Zenturio - part 2

 We rejoin the action as the DDR columns stream westwards.  Did I mention we had a LOT of toys?

The umpire endeavours to explain something to the equally confused players.

Russell's chaps making  frontal assault.

DDR recce probes along the main road...and finds the enemy!

But their rejoicing was short lived as the Brit infantry platoon scored a lucky hit.

British recce scouting

Some ominously large aircraft heading west...

Surely this West German police detachment was just that?

Martin didn't think so and fire was soon exchanged.

The transport aircraft had landed paras, complete with tiny ASU-57 SP guns.  They were no match for the Centurions!

The only correct quantity of T-55s is 'a lot'.

Hull down Centurions sniping at the DDR armour.

So what happened?  DDR forces penetrated the Brit first line but then became rather bogged down with river crossing.  That said, there were enough of them to put the Brits under real pressure.  The scattered para drop caused consternation and delayed the Brit reserve battalion but was eventually contained.  When the Sovs got wind of what was going on it was passed off as a rogue faction in the DDR military.  Lucky that sort of thing doesn't happen now, eh?

Great to get so many toy s out - especially as they weren't all mine. Well done to all the players for making it such a great day's gaming.

Betrieb Rostiger Zenturio - part 1

Operation Rusty Centurion was a Little Cold Wars game played a couple of months ago.  In brief it's 1961 and the wicked East Germans are using the distraction of Berlin Wall construction to launch an incursion into the British sector of West Germany.  With seven players and in total almost a division worth of kit, I believe this was the largest indoor LCW game to date.

The air forces gather.  All 1/72 models provided by Pete and I.

The players.  If you'd bought toy soldiers like the you'd send them back.  Anti-clockwise from front left: Lloyd, Matt, Martin, Tom, Russell, John and Pete.

I provided most of the toys but Russell brought his own DDR regiment(-).

Planning was done in advance using scans of BAOR maps.  

The British brigade.

DDR forces amounted to two and a bit tank regiments, plus various assets.  Nearest the camera is the Stasi detachment.

The British defensive plan.  We'll see how it worked out next time.

Some more Starlux

Among my loot from Paris was this quartet of Starlux figures. Representing 1960s the French army, these will find their way into various Little Cold Wars units. The three helmeted chaps are - from left - an officer, an NCO type and a flamethrower. In the green beret is a lady soldier - a pleasing rarity. 
 

Gamil Aerodrome, 1956

As part of the British & French 'intervention' in Egypt in 1956, 3 Para was dropped on Gamil, just to the west of Port Said.  I had long wanted to game aspects of this campaign and prepared this scenario for Little Cold Wars.  Back in May 2022 Russell & Pete turned up as my playtesters.  The Brits were up against the clock and also trying to minimise losses.

Being quite a short game, we managed to fit it in on the same day as the TF Smith game.  The British paras were mostly the Airfix WW2 figures with some conversions, the Egyptians were represented by my long-suffering Warpact Militia.  

The post-game discussion favoured my idea about expanding this scenario to include the French para landings and I'll report on this larger game in due course.

The airfield - with a familiar looking control tower.

The action opened with British air strikes - these continued almost without pause throughout the game. First up was this Sea Hawk.

After some sharp firefights the Brits soon controlled much of the airfield.

Part of the air effort was provided by Wyverns.

Not all of the air support was friendly.  Historically there was a 'blue on blue' incident involving a French Corsair.

The control tower under new management.

At one point an Egyptian MiG-15 appeared but was soon seen off by RN fighters.

Task Force Smith again - part 3

I've somehow managed to get the photos in a jumble but here are a few more from this game.  The result was a win - albeit a costly one - for the NKPA.  A very jolly game which we cracked through in only about 2 hours.

Air support featured  - all of it WW2 surplus.  Here an ancient P-51 attempts to shoot up the NK column.

Here's an even older YAK-9 keeping the TF's heads down.

Some of the tanks managed to force their way through the pass, while some tried to outflank....

...giving the US gunners a worrying time!

The youngest element of the air support - this Sturmovik dates from only 2017!

The US figures were a mix of CTS, Deetail and TSSD

Another Mustang - but too late to stem the NK flow.

Task Force Smith again - part 2

 

The mighty NKPA armoured column advances!

An intimidating sight from the TF's point of view.

A lucky artillery round soon found it's mark!

An overview of the whole sorry mess.  Note the NKPA infantry battalion at the end of the column.

Much unpleasantness as the first tanks cross the bridge

The photos are a bit out of synch - this shows the tank column.

Predictably, Russell's new JS-2 was the first tank model to die.

TF Smith's few bazookas and the RCL platoon were kept very busy.  Would the NKs prevail?