Monday 24 January 2022

Ready to fight, and Turkish Tropicality

Having had a think about the setup,  here's the proposed layout for the climactic battle at Zouache in my 'Soldier King' campaign.  Many thanks to commenters who made very sensible suggestions regarding the layout: I have taken them on board!

Western approaches ( Prussian Cavalry route )  

It will be a battle for two river crossings , the Northern one being the destination of the Prussian Infantry force, and the Western one approached by their cavalry. I decided the attackers would start off-table, and I made a tentative Austrian deployment to defend the position. 

Looking North ( awaiting Prussian foot and guns )

This may all be subject to ( further! )  amendment, but in essence the Austrians have their  Botta d'Adorno brigade ( their best foot ) in the North awaiting the Prussian infantry, and their weaker Grenzer foot facing West and the expected cavalry column. Most Austrian cavalry is held in reserve, but the Schwarzer Hussars are cunningly concealed on a a wooded hill by the Northern road, ready to swoop on the flank of the approaching enemy columns.  Prussian order of arrival is yet to be decided, and the Dice Gods will play some sort of role in that.  The walled enclosures  stand in for 'entrenchments' and command both bridges - no attacker can cross the bridge before  the adjacent defences have been cleared. It may be a tough nut to crack..

 

Tropical 'Spit' kit : reassuringly few parts

Meanwhile, a shopping trip to Bury St. Edmunds this weekend allowed a visit to 'Model Junction' and a look at their fairly random selection of 1/72 scale model kits for WW2 vehicles and aircraft. I found an interesting ( and inexpensive) kit which may be useful for my 'D-Day Dodgers' Italian Campaign forces.  It's a  'Tropical' Spitfire VB/ VC , which will go very well with the P-40 Kittyhawk I already have.  The kit is  made by 'PM Model'  - a new name on me - and is from Turkey, though distributed via Bachmann.  It's a very simple kit, which suits me fine, and it has a choice of three suggested colour schemes and decal sets, these being for the RAF in Tunisia 1943,  the USAAF in North Africa 1943, and the Turkish Air Force 1942. That last one would be an unusual option for a kit-basher!  It turns out the Turks were very worried about being surrounded by German and Italian occupied territory plus Axis-aligned neighbours such as Bulgaria, and acquired as many combat aircraft as possible, mostly British, French and American types.  They  finally entered the war, on the Allied side, in February 1945.  I wonder if  anyone has thought of  a 'what-if ' campaign whereby Hitler decides to outflank the Soviets via Asia Minor in say, 1942? Leaving aside such wild surmise,  I think it might be fun to paint this as  the USAAF version - I seem to remember a photo of such an American-operated 'Spit' crash-landed on a beach in Sicily or Italy. 

Next time, back to  1757 'somewhere in Central Europe' as the Prussians make their  attempt on the river crossings at Zouache.  Meanwhile keep well, and safe, everyone. 

 


16 comments:

  1. Looking forward to see how the actual battle develops.

    Both sides cultivated Turkey during WW2; if memory serves the Germans sold them some armour. IIRC Churchill was very keen on an Aegean strategy in the hope of bringing Turkey in on the allied side. Richard Marsh had a "what if" Rapid Fire campaign - Operation Nostalgia (?) In a copy of Wargames Illustrated:

    https://grymauch.blogspot.com/2018/06/ww2-in-aegean-operation-nostalgia.html

    The real thing was more raids and some disastrous invasions of islands.
    For Turkey in WW2 see:

    http://balkandave.blogspot.com/p/turkey-and-ww2.html

    Surely one of the few people with a WW2 Turkish army.

    BTW you get a mention here:

    https://afistfullofplastic.blogspot.com/

    Neil

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    1. Thanks Neil, all interesting stuff! I will certainly have a copy of the 'Operation Nostalgia' articles. albeit stored in the loft..
      I saw 'the fistful of plastic' blog, and have thanked him for the mention.

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  2. David, this looks like it is going to be a tight battlefield. Interested in seeing how the Prussians fare on the attack.

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    1. thanks Jon, indeed it is a bit of a squeeze, and may need some further adjustment. I think it may be tough for the attackers, who were perhaps optmistic about 'finishing the job' before winter. We shall see!

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    1. Thanks Alan, yes I am hoping it will be a good one. It may be quite bloody!

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  4. Great looking game set-up David.
    It doesn't matter how many pieces are in a plastic kit, at least one piece will end up glued to my fingers.

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    1. Thanks MJT, I agree about the kit - and usually the clear canopy gets fogged by poly cement too!

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  5. OI! I missed a post! How did that happen? Well never mind, I've read it now. That looks like a reasonable solution though I would have been tempted to shift the whole battlefield 1 hex southward so the Prussians aren't assaulting directly from off table.
    Once/If they are across and assaulting the town it should be a slug fest without manoeuvre anyway. That's why most general's tried to avoid it.

    Should be an interesting game.

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    1. Thanks Ross, you have hit the nail on the head, I am strongly considering moving it 1 hex, as you say!
      Indeed this may not involve much subtlety in tactics..

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  6. Nice looking game and a most unusual spitfire. Are you putting it up on a flight stand?

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    1. Thanks JBM, the Spitfire will be modelled wheels-up, and the provisional plan is to use clear plastic wine-glasses as 'flight stands'. Trebian does that on 'Wargaming for Grown-Ups' blog, and they seem to work OK!

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  7. The table and set-up looks good. I look forward to your reports of this next game in your campaign. The previous one was a beauty with plenty of twists and turns, especially the giant-killing Grenz hussars!
    Regards, James

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    1. Many thanks James, glad you enjoyed the previous game! I'm afraid I've been a bit slow getting this one going, but it should be 'interesting', I hope..

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  8. Cool looking set up, should make for a tight game!

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    1. Thanks Ray! AAR coming soon, I hope. I suspect 'There will be blood'..

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