MOLLWITZ - The War Game ... The Inspiration

[Pre-Cabinette Archives c.2022]

Probably the biggest inspiration in my wargaming was Charles Grant and as a schoolboy I had his book 'The War Game' on semi-permanent loan from the library.  Of course it helped that my mum was a librarian.  

One of the highlights in this book was a refight of the Battle of Mollwitz (1741) using the rules within the book and Charles Grant's collection of Spencer Smith Miniatures (SSM) figures.  

Now my SSM collection, put together to use with Brigadier Peter Young's 'Charge' rules, was big enough I decided it was time to try and play out this action myself.

Grant's table was 9'x7', so as mine was only 5'x8' I reduced the units down from his 48 infantry and 24 cavalry to 40 infantry and 20 cavalry.  I also, to avoid confusion, kept the names of my units rather than use his (the colours refer to uniform / facing colours for ease of unit identification).

Next the battlefield was distorted (squashed) to fit an 8'x5' table as shown below.  The bars next to battle-map show the move distances and firing ranges that I use with my Charge rules (also reduced for use on smaller tables).

My table (the dinner table with a sheet of green vinyl flooring laid on top) was then set out to try and match the map as closely as possible.

Then it was time to populate the table; all looking rather cramped on my table even though I was fielding slightly smaller units than in the original game.

After which a few close ups of the armies: first the (stand-in) 'Austrians' ...

... then the (stand-in) 'Prussians' ...

And finally, the opposing commanders: Khevenhuller acting for the Austrian General Neipperg ...

... and Seckendorff taking the place of the Prussian King Frederick (the not yet Great).

At this point the wheels came off as my opponent phoned to let me know he had come down with a serious eye complaint and was unable to come over for the game.

What now?  

All will be revealed in the next instalment.

Becker's Specials - Build Complete-ish

Finally, after lots of failed attempts I've managed to get my scratch-built S307(f) finished and ready for painting together with the other vehicles intended for 21st Panzer in the Too Fat Lardies 'Kampfgruppe von Luck' campaign.

The reference in the title to them being not quite complete, is because the Pak40 on the S307 and the machinegun mounts on the P107 carriers are not yet attached to make the painting easier - see below.

The P107s are straight Early War Miniatures (EWM) 'kits' (resin body and white metal axle/wheels and tracks/running gear).  Once painted I will glue the driver and commander in the front seats and attach the machinegun mounting.  The 'passengers' have been attached to plasticard false floors so they can be removed as required.  Unlike the Sdkfz 135/1 SPG crew these are not just superglued on, but have holes drilled up into their legs and plastic rod inserted.  This rod is then passed through holes in the plasticard floor and rivetted under the 'floor' with a hot blade.

The Sdkfz 135/1 gun crew are now more secure on their false floor with empty shell cases glued around their feet - see below. 

This vehicle is also a straight EWM build with a separate metal gun and recoil spade at the rear.  The only extras were a gun-rest, fashioned from a piece of scrap plastic from my bits box, and some steel wires as latches holding the spade in the raised position (not shown).

The Pak40 S307(f) now only requires the gun mounting to be attached, it's just resting in place in the photos below.

I'm pleased with the build, the gun mounting should be a bit lower, as should the top of the bonnet, but holding it up against a 1/76 scale drawing it's close enough.

I was rather pleased with some of the detailing like the engine hatches and tools all fabricated out plastic bits and pieces (the close-up below shows just how messy I am when using glue).

Other details (see below) include the shot rack below the gun breech, made from plastic rod (ends rivetted with a hot blade to create the cartridge rims[1]) and plasticard.  Also, in the photo below can be seen the magnets for holding the crew in place, and the rack of jerrycans on the back.

The jerrycans were 3D prints I bought especially off eBay from Diesel Dog Models as my bits box turned out to only have Allied jerrycans.  Nice prints as can be seen below, albeit I've spilt quite a bit of glue on them.

Next comes the painting, although I suspect a few more flaws might show up once I get the first coat on.

Notes:

[1.]  There should be 8 rounds in the rack, but six was all I could fit in ...   :o(

Becker's Specials - The Genesis

Having been enjoying a lot of Chain of Command (CoC) games, I recently invested in figures for a British Paratroop platoon to give me a slightly different force to pitch against my Germans.  Then looking for a campaign to use them in I bought Too Fat Lardies' (TFL's) 'Kampfgruppe von Luck'.

In this the opposition is mainly the 21st Panzer Division with an eclectic collection of armoured vehicles modified from old French captured equipment, of which I have only a single UNIC P107 and that doesn't match the photos of the originals.  

As there was no rush (my British Paras are a long way down the painting queue) I did nothing, but as my interest in these makeshift AFVs had been piqued, I was tempted into buying Hans Hoeller's memoirs 'D-Day Tank Hunter'.

The main reason for buying these being that he commanded a troop of three Pak40 Somua MCG S307(f) tank destroyers in Normandy.  

I found this memoir to be one of the best I have read and it inspired me to get the necessary vehicles for the 'von Luck' campaign as these vehicles feature in the German arsenal in the TFL campaign guide.  The guide acknowledge that players may have to use similar vehicles as stand-ins as they are not produced by many manufacturers.

They were right, not helped by the fact that I game CoC in 20mm which seems a less-favoured scale.  Early War Miniatures (EWM) produce most of what is called for in the campaign but don't do a S307(f) ... but they said they would sell me bits from other kits from which it should be possible to scratch-build one.  So, I dived in and in addition to the bits for an S307(f), I bought two UNIC P107 U 304(F) troop carriers and an Sdkfz 135/1 150 SPG LS(f) self-propelled gun (SPG).  

The first step was to cut down the P107 body to leave just those bits needed for the S307(f) - as shown in the photos below alongside a standard P107 body.

As can be seen there's not much left and what there is will be largely covered up by the armour plates (plasticard) to form the S307(f); the radiator grill is just about the only part of the exterior that will remain visible.

Realising this was going to be a long drawn-out build, I thought I should assemble the other kits in parallel.  The first bit tackled was how to create a removable gun crew for the Sdkfz 135/1 SPG.  Magnets didn't seem an option with the crew figures provided so I decided I would try and attach them to a false floor that would sit on top of the fighting compartment's floor.

This seems to work well, but the figures are a little precarious, only having their feet (foot in the case of one figure) super-glued onto a piece of plasticard.  I intend to bodge up some used shell cases to scatter around their feet.  These will be secured with Araldite (epoxy-resin) and butting up against their feet should make them more secure.

More updates due very shortly, as the photos for this post were taken just over two weeks ago.  The post was delayed as I was distracted by getting my car rear-ended and written-off which, with the need to find and buy another car, has sucked up so much time I forgot to post this.