20 Minute Challenge - Day 112

Day 112 (17 Apr)

Painted the Cupolas and the Antennas. Just the tracks to do

20 Minute Challenge - Day 111

Day 111 (16 Apr)

Not a great deal going on as getting back late from work.  Couple of shots of my IDF forces that I can't recall ever posting before

20 Minute Challenge - Day 110

Day 110 (15 April)

Added the Urdan Cupolas the M48 Magach's.

Ambush in the Bekaa Valley - Arab Israeli 1982 - Vehicles Part 2

The Shot has had some love given to it.

This is the Peter Pig version which has a satisfying hefty feel about it.  Undercoated with Vallejo Black surface primer applied with an airbrush and then given a coat of Vallejo Green Grey which I thinned down 3:1 Thinner to Paint.

Tracks were painted with Vallejo Black Grey as were the rubber sections on the road wheels and rollers.  The recesses on the tracks were then painted with Vallejo Dark Rust before the whole lower was given a dry brush of Vallejo Iraqi Sand.

I used .30 cals rather than the FN MAG just to be a bit different.  I have started to put decals on it from the BF Fate of a Nation set but haven't looked at adding the radio antennas just yet.

Pin wash using Army Painter Dark Tone using a tutorial I found on YouTube.

The model is now based, which is what I have begun to do for all my 15mm armour as I find it odd that accompanying infantry are on bases which makes them out of scale height when viewed next to an unbased vehicle.

The base size for my modern vehicles uses a standard 40mm wide base with a varying depth depending on the model, 60mm for APCs and 80mm for tanks.

Ambush in the Bekaa Valley - Arab Israeli 1982 - Play testing ideas

Spent half an our or so over lunch time musing about aspects of the initial scenario which is based on an ambush of the leading platoon of a battalion on the coastal road.

The game scenario needs to follow the standard AA/FOF asymmetric sequences as that gives me a simpler situation and troops already in contact.

I can start either with the PLO having already initiated the contact and the effects already applied to one or more vehicles or play this out from the moment contact begins.  If I go with the second option there are a lot of options for either player which may or may not completely change how the game plays...Imagine all the RPG shots hitting and catastrophic effects result...a very short game; the other way around means that the PLO miss with everything and the Israeli's dismount and clear the ambush site in very short order.  For me this is too much chaos to handle so I am going to go with the assumption that an initial round of fire has occurred from the PLO, an Israeli Vehicle has been disabled and a situation which includes casualty treatment, evactuation and clearing the Ambush site has to be handled.  This also means that the PLO force doesn't have to be very lucky with its dice rolls in the the first place.

With the idea that the IDF force is fixed in place this means that I might be able to play this on a 2' x 2' board.  Terrain pieces probably need to be stone walls, ditches, possibly a culvert section of road citrus trees, bushes and vines.  If I put the ambush site towards one site then the PLO can be given the job of holding up the IDF and then retreating while the IDF have to clear the site.  I can make a scenario situation up that off the short side of the board is a ravine which is impassable.  This would also allow me to keep the IDF vehicles from freely manouvering.

Something like this.

PLO can be in Ambush for the first turn and then act as elusive afterward which will offset the IDF numbers and quality a little bit.

Ambush in the Bekaa Valley - 1982 Arab Israeli - Israeli Infantry Organisation

Israeli Platoon Structure would follow the line of

Platoon HQ
1 x Platoon Commander w/Galil
1 x Platoon Sergeant w/Galil
1 x Radio Operator w/Galil
3 x Rifleman w/Galil
1 x DMR
1 x 52mm Mortar
1 x Dragon ATGW

3 x Sections each comprising:

Section Command:
1 x APC Driver
1 x APC Gunner (MAG Gunner while section is mounted, moves to become Track commander when section dismounts)

1 x Section Commander w/Galil

 Fireteam 1:
2 x Rifleman w/Galil
1 x Grenadier w/Galil & 40mm GL

Fireteam 2:
2 x Riflemen w/Galil
1 x FN MAG gunner

Fireteam 3:
2 x Rifleman w/Galil
1 x Rifleman w/RPG & Galil

In addition as a lot of images show the M113 carrying two FN MAGs I might allow a second FN MAG to be dismounted but needing at TQ test to bring it off the vehicle

Attachments from the Asset cards would provide the additional support to either the platoon directly or supporting forces such as:
Shot
Magach (M48 and M60 variants)
Merkava
M163
M125
M150
M113 Carrying HMG Section of 2 .50 Cal HMG
M109A2 in a direct fire role or needing to be escorted
Engineers
UAV support

More to follow as I think this through

Ambush in the Bekaa Valley - 1982 Arab Israeli - Initial thoughts

Getting the Israeli armour painted has continued well so I couldn't resist getting the toys out on the table.  Question is what rule set...I have AA/FOF, TW&T and a host of others. In the end I wanted something quick which didn't take a lot of setting up, or thought so went back to Ambush Alley/Force on Force.  Not everyone's' cup of tea but I like them, well at least I like Ambush Alley.....

So how to play out my 1982 games using these rules as a base?  I like to tinker with things and actually do enjoy putting some thought to my games.

The size of the game needs to cover my desire to have mechanised forces on the table as well as capture the closeness of the fighting in a mix of both rural and urban environments.  I had gone a way to setting up a basic platoon force (allowing for either an Armoured Platoon or Mech Infantry) with various attachments. AA/FOF has this ability as well as also creating random events and effects which could be tailored specifically.  So keeping the platoon as the basic force element would work and creating some asset and fog of war cards would then follow and would reflect what I actually have in my collection.  Table size would be variable and go from the small 2' x 2' close range engagements up to larger games on a 4' x 3' and everything in between.

So the rough force structures would be as follows:

Sayeret
TQ D10
Morale D10
High Confidence

Paratroops/Golani
TQ D8
Morale D10
High Confidence

Regular Troops
TQ D8
Morale D8
High Confidence

Reservists
TQ D8
Morale D8
Confident

PLO/Syrian
TQ D6 - D8
Morale D6 - D8
Low Confidence - Confident

Lebanon - Clash of the Giants Part 1

With all the talk of cold war games going around, I ended up digging out my box of half painted metal. Well when I say my box, I mean one of my boxes.  This one has some 6mm micro armour in it and hasn't been touched for a very long time.  Idly picking through it I found the remnants of an Israeli - Syrian game that I was going to run using the "The Clash of the Giants" scenario from "Battlezones" which was published by TTG and Bruce Rea-Taylor back in 1984.  It cost me £1.95 from the local model shop.

These days you are spoilt with choice for wargames rules and game systems.  I thought I would try these out using the "Sabre Squadron" rules which are designed for company actions

With this in mind I thought about using the on table forces for both sides which is essentially Infantry support by armour rather than a massed armoured engagement to start with.

So the force involved:

The Israeli forces are drawn from 7th Armoured Brigade and comprise:

• A company of Infantry in M113 APCs
• Two Recce Platoons of infantry, again in M113s
• Two Platoons of M60 Magach-6 tanks

• Supported by 2 Batteries of 155mm guns

The Syrians, from 3rd Armoured Division, comprise:

• A company of Infantry in BTR-60PB APCs
• A Battery of 3 BRDM-2S ATGW

• They are supported by two batteries of 122mm guns

Possibly a bit large to start with so what I am going to do is use the two Recon Platoons and the tanks platoons up against a Syrian Combat Security Outpost (CSOP).

The models in the spares box only need a quick refresh with some VJ Green Grey paint and they will be ready.  What I can't find are the Infantry so I have popped a quick order in to Heroics and Ros.
The Syrians will use my Soviet infantry and my Soviet MRB forces.

Lebanon 1982 - Vehicle Progress

Been a while.....

As part of my painting week I dug out some bare metal from the unpainted pile and cracked on.

BF M48 with scratch built Blazer panels and green stuff stowage and air marker panels.

.30 cals on order from Peter Pig and Shaun at S&S models has said he might be ready of start casting up the Urdan cupolas that Neil Burt sculpted to go in.  I have kept the orange colour on the air panels that I had used on the earlier Zeldas

Elsewhere the QC Merkavas have been cleaned up and the .50 cals replaced with the Peter Pig version. 

Still need to to add the detail, and get the shading and highlighted done

Lebanon 1982 - IDF (Pt1)

I bought some of Peter Pigs Israeli and PLO figures a while ago and they have spent a long time in the unpainted box.  During a visit by a war gaming buddy we ended up talking about small scale combat. I already have a large US v Insurgent type set up, but fancied something a little different. As a result these have moved up the queue somewhat, and some new purchases added.

Partially completed vehicles.

My Middle East terrain also received a refresh. Not just for this project but for a 1880s Northwest Frontier game

DT Variant - Bekaa Blues - Syrian Aircraft (Pt1)

The Syrian airforce at this time appears from my simple research to be mainly MiG-21 and MiG-23s.  I have the Osprey for the MiG-21 in Arab Service which has some good shots but have had to rely on help to put together something for the MiG-23.

I had four MiG-23 which had been undercoated for my Iran-Iraq project.  I had completed a range of MiG-21 and Su-2x series aircraft but hadn't progressed the MiG-23.  So downside is that need another set of MiG-23 to Join the Iraqi Airforce.

In the meantime the four have been pressed into service as Syrian fighters for some late 1970s - Early 1980s themed games.

Simple scheme

• White Undercoat
• Iraqui Sand topcoat
• FS 30219 (Vallejo 874)
• FS 34102 (Vallejo Panzer Aces 348)
• Wash with Agrax Earthshade
• Second coat on the Vallejo 874 and PA348)
• Canopies in GW Shadow Grey (which I still have plenty of)
• Nose cone
• Light Blue undersurfaces
• German Cam black brown for the Exhaust exterior
• Orange and Yellow on the afterburners/jet effect
• Varnish
• Doms Decals (36" Syrian Roundels)
• Homemade Syrian flash
• Varnish
• Dullcote

RHS View

 Jet Effect

 LHS View

Close Up

DT Variant - Bekaa Blues - Concept (Pt 5)

Apologies for these short notes.  It is an attempt to keep track of my thoughts over the next couple of weeks.

I mentioned earlier that Mole Cricket 3 appeared in some narratives.  I found this little snippet in the 69 Squadron History accessed via wikipedia today:

"Tensions over Lebanon flared once more in 1981, and on May 29, 1981, the squadron carried out Operation Mole 9, striking Libyan SA-9 batteries protecting PLO bases near Beirut."

I also came across this little nugget of information:
"69 Squadron participated with 13 Tadmit and four follow-up free-fall bombers sent against the Syrians. The former operated individually, targeting Syrian fire control centers and radars, in all engaging seven SAM batteries." 

The Tadmit is an EOGB and takes me back to individual aircraft operations which isn't helping the model count on a small table.  The article does seem to indicate that the free-fall bombers didn't operate individually but that needs to be tested.

DT Variant - Bekaa Blues - Concept (Pt 4)

So...

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

Lead to the idea that I need a lot of models.  More research ie idle browsing lead me to an article in the IDF News which mentions 60 flights of aircraft being involved.  As Mole Cricket 19 also includes the attacks on the GCI later in the day I am not sure which element this refers to.  If I take the 60 to include EW and CAP flights as well then I think this needs to be broken down into playing each game as a wave to keep the model count down.

More to ponder. 

DT Variant - Bekaa Blues - Concept (Pt 3)

Painting and modelling on hold while I sort out some paint and more research.  I did a quick check and found the following on the whiteboard (which is where all my aircraft are stored when not actually being used during a game).

9 F-4E Painted with decals
4 Skyhawk Painted with decals
2 F-15A Painted with decals
4 Kfir C2 Painted but need decals

So taking the numbers from Part 2 and some narrative of four ship flights I am somewhat at a loss.  I have around 50+ aircraft attacking somewhere between 9 and 19 Targets. This means that the effort descended into two ship packages (say one package of each type per site).  So I either have 13 Targets to be hit (out of 19 possibles) which means I would need a shed load more aircraft! just for the first wave.  The second wave of another 40 aircraft worked over the targets to make sure everything was destroyed which equates to another 2 aircraft per site or another 20 models.  Maximum numbers then for this are:

13/9 F-4E
13/4 Kfir
10/4 A-4
10/0 Kfir

So I need
4 F4-E
19 Kfir
6 A-4

Or I break the aircraft up into a number of 2 and 4 ship flights.  The 4 ships basically are loaded for bear and can deal with a number of sites with a smaller number of 2 ships to go after each site and finish it off.  Seems reasonable.  The only saving this gives me is that I don't need anymore F-4E but still need plenty of Kfir and A-4s so doesn't save me a great deal.  Next option is to go half and half.

3 Four Ship F-4E
7 Two Ship F-4E
3 Four Ship Kfir
7 Four Ship Kfir
2 Four Ship A-4
1 Two ship A-4
2 Four Ship Kfir
1 Two ship Kfir

This cuts down the number of A-4 and Kfirs in the second wave but still has in excess of 26 aircraft over the table.  The benefit of any of this is that they don't need a raid flight path as they are all SEAD tasked aircraft so can fly however and wherever they need.

Still doesn't save me a great deal in number of models :( but the upside is that two packs of Kfirs (8 aircraft) is under £5.  The Air Superiority Eagles and Falcons reading the narrative were committed in flights of four which also helps to keep the model numbers down.

Just musing at the moment but as I have a good chunk painted already it isn't that onerous and if I keep the scheme simple on the Kfir (ie two tone) it wont take too long to get underway.  Just need February to get out of the way so I can spend the money (on more paint) ;)

DT Variant - Bekaa Blues - Concept (Pt2)

Following on from Part 1.  I found some useful information on Operation Drugstore which was the defence suppression mission flow in June 1982.  Not sure how MOLE CRICKET became DRUGSTORE or if one is the overarching name with sub elements. 

For now, however, it means that I have the start of some numbers to work with:

• 26 F-4EII Phantoms
• 26 Kfir C2
• 40+ A-4 Skyhawk & Kfir C2s
• Top cover from the F-15 and F-16 Squadrons

There is a need for new stats for the F-15 and F-16.  I think that the existing stats for the F-4EII, Skyhawk and Mirage can be adapted for the older airframes.

In terms of Syrian Targets we have a mix of SA-2, SA-3 and SA-6 batteries.  I find it strange to find there is no integration with AAA either fixed of SP mounts, but that means I can add those in as variants or random events add to the difficulty.

If I take the standpoint this is a "SAM Day" in game turns the MiGs didn't come up to play until the F-4E phantoms returned to work over the remains from the first two waves.  So I can play this out without having to worry about the A2A element just yet.

Model wise I need to check on the Kfir paint scheme.  Mine are in the later 2 tone grey scheme but I do have A-4 and F-4E already to go.  The F-16A will have to wait as I definitely don't have the lighter green sorted out yet.

More to follow as usual:)

DT Variant - Bekaa Blues - Concept (Pt 1)

With so many projects on the go my gaming is a bit haphazard.  After spending last night at my best mate's house where we played Spearpoint 1943 and MNB GW I ended up coming back to the idea of the Bekaa Valley variant for Downtown (sparked off by a discussion over my recent Vallejo paint additions from Minibits.

I had been involved in some discussion on 1983 era games with Dan Cyr a while ago however I think I had overdone the airplanes things and needed a break.  As a result it hasn't gone anywhere.

So...back to 1981 when the IAF first began planning a SEAD missions against Syrian positions in the Bekaa valley.  The mission was orginally called MOLE 3 which was the number of SAM batteries it was designed to counter. As the number of SAM Batteries increased so the name continued to change according to popular press.  It eventually became MOLE CRICKET 19.  A little ahead of ourselves here as in 1981 the orginal planning was called off due to bad weather.

For a gamer it means that I could base a couple of scenarios in 1981 to gauge the ideas needed etc before committing to the Large operation. 

Table size in all things is the limiter for most gamers.  I am no different and as a result of needing to keep the footprint down I have decided to drop to a 1 1/2" hex size.  This reduces the foot print no end.  To start with I want to try and keep the action in a 3' x 4' area (90cm x 120cm) which is my dining table.  This gives an airspace box of 96km x 128km (or 24 x 32 hexes).  If I turn it through 90 degrees it means that Damascus can be included and the southern edge becomes the Israel - Lebanon border..

So far so good.  Down to forces.  My Israeli airforce will need some additions for this as they are most 1973 or earlier.  My spares box yielded four F-15 Fighters, 3 Kfirs and 6 F-16 Falcons.  I have enought MiG-21 and MiG-23 from the IrAF that can be pressed into service while I am playing around.  Ground Targets can include PLO and Syrian Regular units which means that I can add the odd SA-7/14 as well as ZSU-23-4 from the Elusive Victory ruleset.  The SA-6 and SA-8 Batteries will need some new stats to be developed.  Also need to do some research on CSAR capability.