Disposable Heroes - Latest Game in 1/72 Scale

On Saturday afternoon my mate Alejandro invited us to his house and we got together with another of our gaming buddies, Juan, and managed to get in a good skirmish game using the the Disposable Heroes ruleset by Iron Ivan games.

We've only recently got back to using these rules, maybe the last time we gamed regularly with them was about 4 - 5 years ago, so there were a few things we'd forgotten, but we remembered the basic mechanics and with the rulebook at hand we got in a good 1:1 skirmish game (the rules are about 15 years old, and there's a version II recently released which we'll maybe give a try soon).


The scenario was taken from the "Go Forward Together" British / Commonwealth armies list


It's set in Normandy 1944, British attacking with numerical superiority against a smaller force of SS Panzergrenadiers.


"Montgomery is determined to tidy his lines as part of the drive on Caen. He sends heavy attacks driving around the town to capture vital positions before launching the major operation designed to take Caen itself"


The British have to take the majority of the scenario objectives to win.




General view of the table




Sherman close-up (Airfix kit with "extras" to hide the undersized turret)




British advance





Pz IV Straddles the road





And takes out a Sherman on the 1st turn




The PAK 40 took various pot-shots but missed miserably




German troops regroup behind a barn




More Germans emerge from a field




And successfully immobilise a Sherman too eager to advance without infantry support




A Churchill "races" along the right flank to take one of the objectives




Meanwhile a brave PIAT team (actually a bazooka wielding ancient Matchbox 1-76 Brit) move ahead and spy the Pz IV straddling the road.




Boom ! - A lucky shot from the PIAT and the Pz IV goes up in flames.


Despite the numerical superiority of the British, it was not easy for the attacker, they (ie : me and Alejandro that is) made the mistake of not going full-out to reach the objectives.


We found it was a good balanced scenario and the Germans SS and have a higher morale rating but less units and so less activations, and it was hard to get them pinned.

The British had some luck with a 3" mortar and the PIAT, but they only reached one objective, which was really their own fault for dawdling around given the limit on the number of turns.

Mr. Churchill in 1-72 Scale

This photo of "Mr. Churchill" was originally posted on the Miniaturezone blog before it was unfortunately hacked and the whole website was wiped clean last year.

The figure is original vintage from the 1960s, from the old Airfix Civilians set first issued in 1961 and I think he bears more than a passing resemblance to Churchill.

There was a fair bit of flash that needed cleaning off before painting him, but I could have left it I suppose, painted it as a glow of some kind and claimed it was Mr. Churchill's "aura of self-confidence" :-)

Airfix / Hasegawa Churchill Conversions in 20mm Scale - Teide Hobby

If you ever get to visit the island of Tenerife, don't miss out on a trip to the old town of La Laguna in the north. Apart from old style colonial buildings and a quiet and quite different type of day out far from the more typical tourist centres, it's an excuse for us modelling enthusiasts to get to visit a model shop, Teide Hobby.

It's actually probably one of the few remaining traditional old-style privately owned model shops that still exist today, most others in developed countries are now steadily dwindling away, many having gone over to to supermarket / franchise style outlets which often employ staff with little or even no knowledge of the products they're selling.

The owner of Teide Hobby, Pablo, is an avid modeller and knows the hobby well. He's also got a workroom in his shop where you'll always find him on the go on various projects. You can talk to him about any aspect of modelling and you'll get a reply from someone like yourself who knows the hobby well.

Last time I was there, he showed me some conversions he's working on, some kitbashes using parts from the Haswegawa and Airfix Churchills, pictures of which I'm pleased to post here.

Airfix / Heller Churchill Tank

The fiddling little wheels on this kit are difficult to align and would try the patience of a Saint and you also have to contend with tracks that are made from a stiff vinyl that refuses to stay in place and make the tank spring up in the air leaving a very unrealistic gap between the ground and the tracks. The tracks don’t take superglue either, but I fixed the track problem with some epoxy and left a heavy weight on the tank overnight.

I didn’t spend enough time on the wheels and so they are all misaligned, as is clear enough from the pictures :-(

Anyhow, despite all my complaining about this kit, it does make a nice acceptable wargame model once finished and I’m quite happy with they way they turned out (as long as you don’t look too carefully at the wheels that is…..)

The tankers in helmets are figures from the Airfix British Paratroopers set, and the tanks have had some “netting” and spare tracks added onto the vehicle