Flames of War: Paratroopers at Arnhem

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Project Blog by elessar2590

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About the Project

Since my minis arrived early I thought I'd get a head start on the Flames of War Slow Grow League. For years I've had a fascination with WWII Paratroopers, ever since a friend lent me Band of Brothers back in High School I've always had a soft spot for the Paras. My main Bolt Action force is a a few thousand points of Paras so why not do the same for Flames of War? I'm using the Air landing Company list from the "Market Garden" Book so it's old rules and points but I can wait until February for the British book to come out.

This Project is On Hold

View Oldest Entries First

Finished in 5 Days

Nov 10 2019

I missed the Hobby Slow Grow League but I did manage to get 100 Points built and Painted in 5 days so that counts right?

The "Firefly" needs camo and stowage to cover all the wrong bits

Bit of Reinforcement

Nov 7 2019

After a Break i managed to snap these at an amazing price ($50 AUD or 25ish Pounds) from one of my Local Stores (It’s over 2000 Miles away but that’s local here) who had a massive sale.

So after two nights I’ve got 15 Sherman I’s and 5 Sextons ready to go.

Add to that 3 Sherman V’s (I know I have at least one more but can’t find it) and with the spare Turrets I think I can make up some passable Firefly’s.

The Rest of the Crew will be Added after painting.

My First 1000 Points Almost Finished

Jul 27 2019

So working on the assumption that 2000 Points in the Old Money is 100 Points in the New I’ve got my first “50” done for the First Month or at least they’re quite close. just need a Wash and the Camo.

This is the Dismounted Recce Platoon. they come with jeeps but I'm going to take them on foot until I can actually pick up some Jeeps. 8 Bases One of Which can be Swapped for the Light Mortar Seen Here.

The Vickers MMG Platoon

One of Two 6pdr Platoons

Platoon Finished

Jul 20 2019

The First platoon is all but finished

Time for a Wash

Jul 7 2019

A Quick Update

Jul 3 2019

I'll be Doing the Rest of the Project One Platoon at a Time

Here I've done the Webbing on the Officers and One Platoon

Yeah that's One Fine Looking 6pdr. Why Doesn't Mine Look Like That?!?!

Jul 2 2019

While waiting for some paint to dry I got curious about the 6 Pounder gun so did a quick Google Search and found a Flames of War Article that made me realise I made a mistake.

https://www.flamesofwar.com/hobby.aspx?art_id=341

My Airborne 6 Pounders

A Proper Airborne 6 Pounder

Yeah that's One Fine Looking 6pdr. Why Doesn't Mine Look Like That?!?!

It turns out the British Paras used a cut down Version of the 6 Pounder Carriage without the front gun shield. There’s not much I can do about the Carriage but that front shield came right off. Bit of basing material and you’ll never know it was there.

My Quick Fix

A Very Cool Facebook Page

Jul 1 2019

I found this amazing Facebook Page that colourises Old Photographs and picked a few good ones that I found interesting

The Facebook Page can be found here Colour by RJM

Luftwaffe Ground Troops in Italy with Captured German Weapons wearing Italian Camo

USMC Assaulting Iwo Jima

The German Officer at the Table is Hans von Luck in 1940, the Two RAF Members were shot down several days earlier. This is the picture that made me look through the page

This seems like a pretty standard plane until you realise it's from 1917. The Swastika pre-Nazi was actually a pretty widespread symbol as we can see with the next picture.

This is the Badge of the US 45th Infantry Division. It was changed for obvious reasons. It was originally chosen as it was a Native American Symbol

Looks like a standard execution but this is either Unteroffizier Manfred Pernass, Oberfähnrich Günther Billing, and Gefreiter Wilhelm Schmidt a German Brandenburger who was captured in US Uniform

Horse Power was the main mode of Transportation for most of the German Army for most of the war.

Relaxed British Infantry driving past a wrecked Nebelwefer

A Member of the Hitler Youth

This one is very cool. The woman is the only female Combat Photographer in Europe,Lee Miller, the man in the picture frame is Adolf Hitler and the apartment that they are in taking a bath with their muddy boots on the floor is Adolf Hitler's personal apartment in Munich. The picture is very powerful because Lee Miller had just returned from Dachau and the mud she is washing off is the mud from Dachau. Almost all the famous Dachau pictures were taken by Lee Miller on April 30th when she visited the Camp, the day Adolf Hitler Committed suicide.

Paratrooper Pants

Jul 1 2019

The Colour Used war Army Painter Leather Brown

Remembering the Cost of Occupation

Jul 1 2019

Taken from the Book "The Battle of Arnhem: The Deadliest Airborne Operation of World War II" by Antony Beevor

It’s important to take a look at why this war was being fought and since the book had some specific details for Arnhem and the Netherlands I thought I’d share it.

I understand it’s a bit heavy for Tabletop Wargaming but it’s History.

In 1940 there were over 140,000 Jews living in the Netherlands

When the Germans invaded the Netherlands in 1940 the Government did not destroy their records and so the names, addresses and business details of all 140,000 Dutch Jews fell into the hands of the German Administrators.

Of these 140,000 People;

Six Thousand Managed to Survive in Hiding until the end of the war, almost all of these were very young Children taken in by Dutch Families.

Thirty Four Thousand Managed to be smuggled out of the Country or we killed other than by termination, eg. They joined the Dutch Resistance and were killed, their village was targeted for reprisals or something like that.

One Hundred and Ten Thousand Dutch Jews were taken to Concentration Camps and executed.

Canadian Troops Liberating a Dutch Town

In Arnhem alone there were 1700 Jews pre-War and by the time of the British Paratroopers entering the Town less than 200 were still alive.

The Allies aren’t just fighting to take a few Bridges they’re fighting to Liberate a Nation. Half a Million Dutch men had been taken to work in Slave labor Camps where the book claims they suffered worse than anyone else since they went from a very high fat diet of Dairy to an almost fat free diet of a Camp Slave which was extremely hard to adjust to.

The Regular German forces managed to retreat without overly damaging the local population, there’s even stories of German Soldiers selling their loot as they fled.

On the other hand the SS were incredibly brutal. Scorched Earth was the norm and everything with wheels was stolen at gunpoint (including a wood fire powered truck) although since there was no rubber they were either driving on steel or wood. When the residents of a small Dutch town heard the German’s would be retreating through their town they took chairs out onto the street and watched the Regular Army fall back but when the SS came into the town they fired indiscriminately into the crowd.

So back to tiny fighting men but I just thought I’d add these details here to remind everyone just how vital the Liberation of Europe was and even though speed might not be the best Military Strategy, for the people living under German Occupation it seemed like the best thing that could happen

Building Arnhem

Jun 29 2019

Spare MDF was cut into rough Bases for the Buildings and Coated in Anti Warping Spray paint

The bases have a Very Rough Chamfer Put on them

Tempaltes were Cut from Presentation board that I got from the local News Agent for $5 and it works perfect for 15mm Buildings

To Make Hedges I used Hot Glue, Clump Foliage and Tongue Depressors

These will Work as short Hedges for 15mm Minis

'It seemed like a good idea at the time. It was a gamble - some you win, some you lose. We lost that one' - Staff Sergeant Joe Kitchener, ex Glider Pilot Regiment

The Minis

Jun 29 2019

A Single Box of Paras

The Minis are Very Nice

The Most Fiddly Minis but a Fiddly 15mm Minis is Basically the Equivalent of Gluing a Head on a 28mm Mini

The PIAT. Each Platoon would have a Single PIAT. It Stands for Projector Infantry Anti Tank and is the British Answer to the Bazooka. It's derived from the "Blacker Bombard" Spigot Technology which was also used by the Churchill AVRE and the Hedgehog Anti Submarine Weapon

The 2iC Which for the British is a Captain and Radio Operator

The Company Commander which for the British is a Major and Sergeant Major

I Had a Spare Base so I made up a Vickers

Part of the First Batch

Half of the Anti Tank

Vallejo Model Colour Khaki was Used for the Denison Smocks

The List

Jun 29 2019

Before I can do anything with a Paintbrush I first have to decide;

A) What Nation I want to do

B) What Type of Force I want to do

C) What Minis I will use

This was the Book I ended up using

A) British. For D-Day and beyond the Soviet and USA tend to have a lot of stuff already out there and the German’s at this point in the war aren’t really my thing.

I’m a fan of Light Vehicles and Infantry and the German list SS Kampfgruppe Graebner in “Bridge by Bridge” was very tempting with it’s infantry in trucks and very limited light armour but eventually the British won out.

B) I prefer Infantry and light Vehicles as a rule. I really enjoy tanks but when I put units on the table I’m an infantry guy. So when I looked at British Infantry units Post D-Day the Paras were a perfect fit.

C) Unfortunately Battlefront do not sell British Paras anymore so I looked elsewhere and found these at Plastic Soldier Company.

I Picked up two boxes of Infantry and a Box of Heavy Weapons and to finish the force I’ll need Two Mortars and Four 6 Pounders so I’ll have to pick up another box in the next few months.