Angus Konstam's Edinburgh Wargames
The Irish Guards
Michael Caine and his boys!
Army for Disposable Heroes
Until recently I've always regarded 28mm as too big a scale for Second World War games. However, after playing a big Normandy game run by Barry Hilton I changed my mind. My first unit was a platoon of British Paratroopers, but the availability of reasonably cheap 1/50 scale models meant that it was inevitable that I would want some armour. After flirting with the idea of Americans, I opted for a British Motor Infantry platoon, supported by a troop of tanks. I only had an option of three divisions, and while I have a soft spot for the Fife & Forfar Yeomanry I was finally swayed by watching a Bridge too Far for the umpteenth time. I settled for the Irish Guards. How do you know you're a wargaming nut? When you pause the film to check out the unit ID numbers on the vehicles!
Of course the real Irish Guards consisted of a tank regiment (commanded by Lt. Col. J.O.E. Vandeleur), and a trucked infantry battalion. However, in Operation Market Garden when they led the XXX Corps breakout on 16th September 1944 the infantry swapped their trucks for half tracks, borrowed from the Grenadier Guards. If you check out the unit insignias on the M5's and are geeky enough to be able to follow British unit ID's (a red 54), then you'll see they're Grenadier Guards vehicles!
Here's my force:
Platoon HQ Section: Officer, Sergeant, 2 runners (riflemen), a two-man radio team, a two-man PIAT team, and a two-man 2" mortar team (excellent for dropping smoke by the way). They travel around in a Dingo Scout Car, and an M5 half track
Three Rifle Sections, each with a Corporal, a two-man Bren team, and 5 riflemen. Each section also has its own M5 half track.
A three-man Vickers MG team, a three-man 3" Mortar team, and a 6-pdr. AT Gun team - each with their own Universal Carrier.
Just for the hell of it I attached a Humber armoured car to the unit, ostensibly from the 2nd Household Cavalry.
A troop of Sherman tanks - one Sherman Firefly and three Sherman V's.
Most of the infantry came from Artizan Miniatures (who produce really nice figures), with a few extras from Black Cat Miniatures. The Sherman V's were Corgi die cast models, while the Sherman Firefly was a 1/48 scale Tamiya kit - which fits in perfectly with the rest of the troop. The half tracks were from Corgi - all came as M3 half tracks, so I actually hacked off the back corners of the cab and rounded them with "Green Stuff" to give them that International Harvester rounded look - making them M5's. Complete geeky purists will say I'll also have to modify the front fenders and the internal seat arrangement, but I've done all the hack-sawing I plan to do on 'em, so to heck with it! The Dingo, the Universal Carriers and the Humber all came from Bolt Action Miniatures, courtesy of Bob at the Wargames Command Post.
I sprayed all the vehicles with a base coat of Tamiya AS-14 Olive Green (USAF), which is the closest I could find to British tank green. Once the kits are weathered up they look pretty good, and you can't tell the difference between the die cast, the plastic and the resin models. To finish them off I gave them the correct Guards Armoured Division transfers bought from Dom's Decals.
Finally here's a picture of them all in action, the Shermans desperately trying to hold off a Tiger while the infantry storm a German-held farmhouse just out of the shot to the right. I've got to say I'm really pleased with the way they turned out, and I hope to get a lot more mileage out of these little chaps in the future!
____________________________________________________________________