Showing posts with label Trains. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Trains. Show all posts

08 February 2021

El Alamein railway station skirmish game - Bolt Action

Covid restrictions have been limiting the amount of games we've been playing lately, and this game had been planned before Christmas but the local authorities here ramped up the restrictions on people from different households from meeting up and so we had to cancel. 

Now restrictions have been eased up slightly here on a regional level, and so four of us were able to get together again for this game. This was a skirmish scenario put together by my gaming buddy Carlos, German forces attacking with British and Commonwealth forces defending

We used Bolt Action rules. The game was played on a 1.60 x 1.20m sand table 

The British and Commonwealth forces were made up of a HQ, 2 x infantry squads, a Vickers MMG, 1 x 25 pounder, 1 x Matilda and a Boys AT rifle team. 

Attacking German forces consisted of a HQ + medic + FO in an Sd.Kfz. 250 hafl-track, 4 x motorised infantry squads transported in 2 x Opel Blitz & 2 x Sd.Kfz 251s + 1 off table mortar and a pre-attack bombardment. 

The Commonwealth troops started the game dug-in hidden, their positions noted down by the allied players. Allies also had hidden minefields covering the ground in front of the railtrack. 


German objective, cross the railway line and neutralise allied defensive positions


 

Germans group before beginning their advance towards the objective

 





Artillery shells fall
  

 

 

 A Matilda crosses the tracks, takes aim and shoots at the leading half-track.

  

 The first casualties are taken and the remaining troops dismount and hunker down.

 

 Indian troops with a Boys AT rifle shoot but miss miserably, and reveal their position in cover behind concrete filled oil drums.

 

 Another hit from the 25lb gun. this time on a lorry trying to ferry troops to the front along the left flank

 


 

 Aussies manning a Vickers open fire on the dismounted infantry.


 

 More British and Commonwealth troops start revealing their positions as they open fire on the advancing German infantry


 

 The Germans continue their advance and a half-track crosses the railway line, revealing a hidden group of British troops who are quickly mown down with fire from the vehicle MGs.

 

The half-track now supported by a Panzer III also having crossed the railway track, dismount and charge into the railway station and in bloody hand-to-hand combat overcome the allied troops inside

.  

 More Germans arrive and the the Commonwealth players decide that enough is enough and concede victory to the Germans.

   

 The game played out well, it was well balanced and the Commonwealth players were hindered by adverse weather conditions, a haze in this case, the result of an unfortunate die throw, which reduced visibility considerably and allowed the Germans to advance without suffering too many casualties.

01 January 2003

MiniatureZone Gallery Archives (2000 - 2006) - Piero de Sabbata - "WW2 German Train Station"

This article is one of many articles and gallery contributions from fellow amateur smallscale enthusiasts all over the world that appeared on the old MiniatureZone website during the first six years its existence when there were only a handful of websites dedicated to smallscale models and wargaming. 

If you've been around on the internet since back then, we hope you like the nostalgia, and if you´re a newcomer, hope you enjoy looking too.



MiniatureZone Gallery Archives (2000 - 2006) - Piero de Sabbata - "WW2 German Train Station"

Many similarities exist between model railway enthusiasts and military miniatures enthusiasts, as we both work in smallscale, we pay a lot of attention to fine detailing and we love to surround our finished models in environments with detailed scenery and buildings.

Courtesy of Piero de Sabatta from Italy we've a largescale military railway diorama set in the ruins of late war Germany.

Copyright 2003, Piero de Sabbata












25 February 2002

Choo-Choo Trains

Browsing in a Toys-r-Us store I found a great bargain, an old-fashioned looking steam train. Not just that, two metres of track, two carriages, a fuel/water tank and even a tractor.



And I'm thrilled with the farm figures and cute horses and cows that come with it.



A railway line, plus train & carriages are just the thing needed to spice up a table.

This train just HAD to be a Russian train too. Once painted black, and with the addition of a couple of red stars and a resoundingly uplifting slogan "death to the fascist invaders" - many thanks to Sveta Thomas, my friend Mark Thomas' wife.





Similarly,the carriages were given a thorough "dirtying"





Below,the tracks after painting and flocking, and the water / fuel tank. I also painted that bright red tractor green and added a couple of stars.



And you know the train actually works on batteries. You can see those wheels spinning like mad, and it also has a little light to see in the dark.



16 July 2001

MiniatureZone Gallery Archives (2000 - 2006) - Javier Gómez - "WW2 German Station"

This article is one of many articles and gallery contributions from fellow amateur smallscale enthusiasts all over the world that appeared on the old MiniatureZone website during the first six years its existence when there were only a handful of websites dedicated to smallscale models and wargaming. 

If you've been around on the internet since back then, we hope you like the nostalgia, and if you´re a newcomer, hope you enjoy looking too.



MiniatureZone Gallery Archives (2000 - 2006) - Javier Gómez - "WW2 German Station"


The scene is about a small station anywhere in central Europe, where the troops are resting and trying to stock up to head forward.

It is a diorama in which I invested a great deal of time, it is the largest work I have ever built (removing a kind of medieval fortress, it is a pharaonic work).















The vehicles are:
TIGER I of Hasegawa
Esci IV IV
FLAKPANZER IV from Esci
OPEL BLITZ by Airfix
B.M.W. from Hasegawa
Hasegawa's KUBELWAGEN
The accessories are of several brands as well as the trees

The three freight cars are at HO scale, as well as roads and buildings, although I think they are quite in line with the scene.

Copyright 2001 Javier Gómez