Greenstuff

 As I can't find anyone with figures in smocks, I have been trying my hand at greenstuff.

Terrrain Tile Project - Phase 1

An overview of the new tiles. I have now decided not to model roads directly on the tile as that caused a number of issues in having to create geomorphic boards.  

Laid out to support the "Clash of Reconnaissance" scenario from the BGK rule book

New Terrain Project

As part of painting up the BG Kursk forces, I have had a re-think on my terrain. So I am trying out the idea of using 2mm thick vinyl floor tiles.

Viewed in daylight

 4x4 layout

 4x4 layout

 Scatter terrain needs a bit more work

 Existing terrain matches reasonably closely

 Reasonably easy to add some additional material onto already made tiles

7 Days at Kursk - Day One - Game 1

LSSAH Sector Game 1
This is snapshot of the terrain in the immediate vicinity of the starting actions on the first day. Hill 228.6 is on the left hand side and 220.5 is slightly North East.

This pitches the elements of 8.Komp/II.Rgt-2 against elements of the lead battalion of 151 Rifle Regiment.

German Platoon (1 Officer)  Points=182   13 BR       
Grenadier Platoon                 100 Pts     11-r BR
- Platoon HQ (6 men)
- Squad 1 5 men + 3 man MG42 team  +4 Pts
- Squad 2 5 men + 3 man MG42 team  +4 Pts

- Squad 3 5 men + 3 man MG42 team  +4 Pts

- Combat Medic                      8 Pts     0-r BR
- MG42 Team (3 men)                18 Pts     1-r BR
- Medium Mortar Team               24 Pts     1-r BR

- Foxholes for 20 men              20 Pts       0 BR

Soviet Company (4 Officers) Points=188  16 BR
Rifle Company                     188 Pts     16-i BR

Company HQ (4 Men)

- Platoon HQ (3 men)
- Squad 1 8 men
- Squad 2 8 men
- Squad 3 8 men
- Squad 4 8 men

- Platoon HQ (3 men)
- Squad 1 8 men
- Squad 2 8 men
- Squad 3 8 men
- Squad 4 8 men
                
- Platoon HQ (3 men)
- Squad 1 8 men
- Squad 2 8 men
- Squad 3 8 men
- Squad 4 8 men

WW2 - BG Kursk - 7 Days at Kursk - Day One

I am not one to chase the perfect list and have always tended to try and follow "reasonable" historical structures.  So I have thought about doing the same for BG Kursk.  These are my interpretations for specific games on the Southern Pincer for a series of games covering 5 - 12 July 1943 which I have called the 7 days at Kursk.  The ideas of the games is that it lets me field specific forces which in turn drives the painting progress :)

Day One - 5 July.

In the morning you have:

• 8.Komp/II, Rgt -2/LSSAH capturing Hill 228.6 and then being subject to a counter attack by units of 151 Rifle Regiment. 
• Once the counter attack had been dealt with, LSSAH then prepared to launch its attack on Hill 220.5. This was an attack with dismounted Grenadiers supported by Tigers and Sturmgeschutz;  then, onto the second belt with the Panzergruppe being brought forward with an intermediate action involving the Tiger company against 230th Tank Regiment counter-attack
• DR attacking Beresoff/Beresov and then the second belt with dismounted Grenadiers and no armour support which includes facing a counter attack by Soviet armour in front of Beresoff/Beresov.
• T attacking Gremuchi with dismounted Grenadiers supported by Tigers and Sturmgeschutz with the Panzergruppe being brought up very quickly to continue the attack

As a taster this is a small snapshot of the terrain in the region taken from Google Earth with the Kursk historical maps overlay

My initial idea was to break each of the engagements down into constituent parts but as BG Kursk is a game and not a simulation, pieces of it don't quite fit the game system.  So I have decided to bathtub up each Divisions actions into one game per day (3 Divisions, 7 Days = 21 games) and play some more generic type games.

So the new sequence will see LSSAH and T having a mix of forces while DR will be mainly an infantry and artillery fight up. In all cases the Soviet defenders will see a strong infantry contingent supported by armour and artillery.

WW2 - Zvezda Sprues

The newer releases are a lot easier than the earlier Art of Tactic kits.  These are the sprues for the T-34/76 1943, Ferdinand and ISU-152

WW2 - Zvezda releases

Impulse buy for BG Kursk.  While out shopping today I popped into Antics Model Shop and found a restock of the Zvezda kits.  These are in a most substantial plastic than the earlier Art of Tactics kits and at £2.99 a model I couldn't pass them up.  So NINE kits later (2 each of the Ferdinand, SU-152, T34/76 1943, and a T60, M3 Lee and M3 Stuart) it was off to the physio

BG Kursk - Sdkfz 251/9 Ausf C

Again probably not historically accurate.  I have mated the PSC 251D conversion kit with the 251C plastic set to provide a pair of fire support Sdkfz 251/9C for BG Kursk.  I am at most going to field a company in a large table and would only need the pair.

They haven't been based yet and I need to find a replacement rear MG for the second one.  Decals my Dom

BG Kursk - Peter Pig Tiger 1

The Peter Pig Tiger 1 has a certain presence about it.  I have had this one in my collection since the model came out.  It has had a touch up with the paint and some decals for a vehicle belonging to 13. Kompanie of 1 SS Panzer Regiment.

From a historical perpective I don't know if the 1312 should be a Red Number outlined in white.  The small 12 should be a white outline but I couldn't find one in my spares box so used a Me-109 fuselage number instead.  I also an not sure about the number on the side as I think it probably should be Black outline .

The camo isn't historical for Kursk either but is left over from a very early airbrush session.  I am so tempted to add another one of these and take a bit of time over it.

BG Kursk - Sdkfz 251 Halftracks

The PSC and Zvezda plastic pile has had some attention over Christmas.

First Up is a 4 Vehicle Panzer Grenadier Platoon with a 251/10 and three 251/1

A lot of artistic licence on the decals for these.