10th Armoured Regiment, The Fort Garry Horse, A squadron.

The two Sherman tanks and the Firefly have the markings of the 10th Armoured Regiment, The Fort Garry Horse. This regiment was one of three that formed 2nd Armoured Brigade attached to the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division. This division landed on Juno beach on D-Day.

These tanks have been made to support my platoon of the Royal Winnipeg Rifles. They carry the yellow triangle, marking them as A squadron.

The models are Warlord Games box set British Sherman tank troop. The models go together well and I was happy with the results. So much so I have got another box set to produce B squadron. 

No tank model is worth it's salt without a clutter of stowage.

Having trawled the web for images of Canadian Sherman tanks in Normandy I found that Firefly tanks often had cloth draped on them presumably to reduce glare from the painted surfaces. I have modelled this with muslin socked in PVA. Quite happy with the results.

The Royal Winnipeg Rifles. 28mm WW2 miniatures.

These figures represent a platoon of the Royal Winnipeg Rifles, part of the 3rd Canadian Infantry division. They formed the right wing of the Canadian forces that landed on Juno beach, on D Day.

The figures are mainly Renegade Miniatures with a few  Crusader Miniatures.

Each ten man section is made up of an NCO with a Sten gun, a Bren gun team and seven rifle men.

Each platoon was supported by a 2" mortar and a Piat anti-tank team.

The troops display the black and white shoulder patch of the Royal Winnipeg Rifles and the grey rectangular patch of the 3rd Division. 

Yorkshire Renegades Open Fire Bolt Action tournament

This weekend, 20th November 2016, I had the pleasure of taking part in the Open Fire Bolt Action tournament run by Yorkshire Renegades. I took my Soviet army representing a siege assault group of the 150th Division, 3rd Shock Army during  storming of Berlin.

The day involved three games played on gaming tables with excellent terrain. As the title suggests there were armies from all eras and theatres of the Second World War though the organisers made sure Axis played Allied forces. The lads taking part were all friendly and sporting opponents.
I did not get any photos of the first game which was the 'Demolition' scenario. I drew this game as the unit poised to take the objective failed their order.
The second scenario was 'Key positions' with three objectives. This game went better with all three objectives captured by the Soviets.

The infantry advance on mass.

The T34 advances boldly into town.

The final stages of the battle see the Germans bottled up.

The final game was the 'Meeting engagement', that also went the well for the Soviets with the German forces completely cleared off the battlefield.

A rather lonely German officer faces off against a T34. Gulp!

The final shots.

A great day out and thanks to all involved.

Agincourt diorama at Royal Armouries, Leeds

I visited yesterday the Royal Armouries in Leeds to see the excellent diorama of the battle of Agincourt, 25th October 1415. The diorama depicts the final stage of the battle as the French infantry advance onto the English position.

This overview of the display shows the scale of the diorama and the information panels along the edges. The main characters are illustrated using Perry Miniatures 28mm high command figures from their Agincourt range.

The figures used are Perry Miniatures 28mm. Some figures were specially cast in blocks of 30 'ish'. There are 4400 miniatures in all.

  A view from behind the English archers. Wonderful to see so many miniatures in one place.

Here we see the two bodies of dismounted knights advancing through the arrow storm. In the back ground we see the lowly French archers which could have been used to better effect. You can just make out the blocks of foot knights.

The faltering French cavalry.

An initiative aspect of this display is the use of periscopes in the edge of the table to give a participants view of the battle. Here is the view from behind the English centre.

 English archers on the flank. Photos through the periscopes are not that good.

Local peasant out looking for bodies to strip.