weird war turkey

Back in 2018 I wondered what sort of army Turkey would have in the weird-science, alternate history world of Konflikt 47. And, here is my answer.

Staying neutral as long as possible, Turkey enters the war late, signing as part of the Axis with Germany. With the real and fictional history only diverging in 1943, I felt this was a great opportunity to field a wide range of armour and other units, representing an under-prepared Turkey scrambling to respond to the seeming unavoidable Soviet invasion from the east and north-east.

I have chosen to restrict the number of units with weird technology. This reflects the junior partner nature, and likely German skepticism of just how committed their new ally is to the cause. In particular, I have no horror causing units which are such a distinct feature of German lists.

I swapped the heads of the Italian heavy infantry. I ended up with this set accidentally when I grabbed the Italian instead of the German box. Always take your reading glasses to the hobby shop. There is little chance for confusion, as this is a distinct looking unit in the force. Tougher than ordinary infantry they are still susceptible to anything that have armour piercing capability. If you can get them into cover near an objective they will be hard to dislodge.

The core of most armies are ordinary, regular infantry squads. With a few fezzes added, they are armed as late-war Germans. One squad has an LMG, but under my home brew they don’t get the Hitler’s Buzz Saw special rule, so no extra shot, leaving them with the same number of shots as other armies.

The second compulsory infantry choice has assault rifles and a panzerfaust.

Not all units are first-line. I will use these WWI Ottoman Turks from Woodbine Design as inexperienced troops.

Germany have deployed observers. Their role is to train and advise their new allies in battle spaces impacted by weird technology. Veteran observers have the special rule, Weird Tech is Expensive, which allows Turkey to field (selected) units with weird technology. These miniatures are Gebirgsjäger from Black Tree Design.

By keeping the colour palette restricted I have helped to give a more cohesive look to what is otherwise an intentionally disparate model selection.

A Panzer IV in Turkish livery. The decals are 1:48 modern Turkish air force and have come out great.

The Panzer IV-X is funky science version of the Panzer IV. The turret is a simple swap with the ordinary Panzer IV. So, while I can’t field both, I have the choice to field either in a game.

The Allied nations had hoped Turkey would join the war on their side. Part of this process was access to the Lend Lease program, where Turkey took delivery of a wide range of different tanks, all in small numbers. This included Valentines. This model is from Rubicon.

Every army needs officers. These figures are all from the Woodbine Design first world war range. They are lovely minis, full of character.

A German Liaison officer and his interpreter. As long as the interpreter is alive, the officer gets to use his German national rule to add an extra unit to the number he can Snap To. Liaison officers also have the Weird Tech is Expensive rue, so are an alternative to an Observer squad. Next project might need to include some practice with faces.

Support squads include a Pak 38.

Which has a Kettenkrad as a tow. This is another Rubicon kit.

A sniper and his spotter.

A medium Mortar.

A medium machine gun, another set from the Woodbine Design Ottoman range.

An anti-tank gun. By the late war these were mostly useless against most of the common armour. However, these heavy caliber rifles have found a role on the Konflikt 47 battlefield as a specialised sniper targetting heavy infantry and lightly armoured walkers.

Perhaps my favourite model is this Spinne Light Panzermech. Silly and wonderful in equal measure. In game they are reliable reconnaissance vehicles, suitable for rough terrain.

A feature of the Independence War in the early 1920s were irregular fighters that fought both for and against the emerging Republic (and sometimes both). I have included a unit of irregular cavalry, reflecting local resistance to the invasion of their homeland in 1947.

In addition to the painting and modelling, I have written a home brew army list. A draft version is posted here.

There are heaps more pictures in other posts. You can find them by using tags, especially the tag Turkish Army. My next goal will be to get them onto the table.

Thanks for coming on this journey with me so far.

Easter Front Round Up

The first two day Bolt Action tournament in Melbourne for a long while ran as part of Conquest over Easter. It was ace and a genuine pleasure to roll dice with gaming friends once again. Some I hadn’t seen since last Easter (or before)! Winners and pictures of the fabulous tables and armies can be found on FaceBook. Search for Cast Dice page for heaps of photos. Bravo to Leigh and Brad for a terrific weekend.

As you might have expected, running an army for the very first time in an actual tournament was a steep learning curve. Partisans don’t get quite as many toys as many other armies, so you need to consider how co-ordinate your units to achieve mission objectives.

A large squad of Nationalist Chinese militia. They died in droves but held on to secure an objective.

I played five of the six games, lost two and had draws in the other three. All but one was a close affair, but in the end I couldn’t do enough to pull out a victory. Very historic, I guess. Without support from regular troops, Partisans rarely fared well in a stand-up fight.

A Soviet T-26 Tank in Chinese service.

Brad used this beautiful Nationalist Chinese as a gumby army. We played a mission called Nuts!, where there are 5 objectives: one in the centre and one in each table-quarter. Up to half your army can start on the board.

Partisan Guerrilla fighters ambush veteran Chinese fighters, catching them in the open.

I gave Brad trouble early on, but they just kept coming and in the end contested or held all the objectives.I placed my bombs poorly and spread my army too thin to support each other. Lesson: make a plan and focus on the mission.

Ben’s Soviets are are terrific and balanced army. Top-notch painting too.

Ben and I fought to a draw in turn 6. A 50% chance of a seventh turn didn’t occur, which would almost certainly have been a victory to the Soviets.

The Soviet barrage falls on target

Half of my army spent most of the game heavily pinned and down, ceding the initiative to Ben on one flank. But while I couldn’t shoot, dug-in troops are also hard to shift.

Lesson: don’t be afraid to go down or take a rally order to keep unit in the game.

Elizabeth borrowed this fine looking Sherman from Tristan for the tournament

Elizabeth and I fought each other to a draw in one of two missions unveiled on the weekend. In Punch Through there are 4 objectives deployed in a cross 12″ from the table centre. Each player can move one objective up to 6″ (possible the same one). Every one starts off the table, with at least half your army arriving in the first wave.

The British kept on coming but neither of us could keep enough units together to secure an objective by the end of the game.

Lesson: use the bombs to control a fire lane or protect a flank; don’t just spread them out.

The only Axis power I faced on the weekend was Johnathon’s late war German list. The mission was No Man’s Land, straight from the rule book. His veterans were rock hard and steadily took a tally on my grab bag of inexperienced units, leading to my second loss in the tournament.

Lesson: use your army special rules or you just leave points off the table.

Supply Drop was the other new mission on the weekend, and one I think will become a favourite. It is a variation of the classic Kittyhawk Down (itself inspired by Thunderhawk Down from Australian 40K circles). No objectives start on the board. On turn four, three objectives drop from the sky. They land in a straight line through the middle of the board, with the angle of the line and the distance apart randomly determined.

I played long-time buddy Consto, who had a marvelous looking veteran US force (a mix of rangers and paratroopers, plus a Sherman).

Captured inexperienced tanks are pin magnets. The R35 made me laugh the whole weekend.

The objectives landed near perfect for me, taking pressure off my units as the paratroopers made a dash for their own baseline, leaving me in control of my own. A cannier player might have sequenced their final turn orders differently to grab a win. In the end it was another tight draw. Highlight was an IED taking out a veteran paratroop squad trying to dig me out of the centre of the board.

Lesson: Air Support can be random, including having it make a bomb run on your own units. But so sweet when it works.

There you have it: Easter Front 2022.

Maybe I’ll see you across a table one day soon.

Garibaldi Brigade

As winter set in on the chaos of Northern Italy in the later part of 1944 Partisan morale collapsed. Many partisans returned home or took advantage of fascist amnesties to lay down arms.

However, a dedicated core held on and continued to fight to throw out the nazi occupiers and smash the fascist rump-state.

My list is inspired by one such group, the 28^th Garibaldi brigade, who in December 1944 joined with the singular Popski’s Private Army to liberate Ravenna.

Most accounts focus on Popski’s British Special Forces troop, but the brave members of the Garibaldi brigade were essential as both a blocking force and as part of the assault.

The army has 13 order dice (units):

Like nearly all wargames, Bolt Action requires a force leader. While Partisans don’t have a structured officer corps (despite the many self-appointed titles and ranks!), I have selected the equivalent of a second lieutenant with regular morale to lead my Partisans. He is accompanied by additional one man, and both are armed with SMG.

Yes, the remaining photos are all ones I have posted already!

I also have a liaison officer. While some liaison officers wore civilian clothes, most wore uniforms, especially out of the towns. My OSS officer wears a US uniform. Once per game he can attempt to call in air support.

The core of the army are four squads of rifle armed Partisans (of either 9 or 10 fighters). Two of the squads have squad LMG to provide a little extra reach and fire power. One is also armed with Molotov cocktails, which will give some defense against tanks.

Partisans can take a squad of veteran Guerrilla Fighters. I’m taking a squad of 6, armed with SMG.

There are 3 teams with support weapons: an MMG, sniper, and PIAT. Of these the sniper is probably the most useful, but don’t underestimate the other two teams.

Actually, the PIAT team is inexperienced. They will supply an order die for the bag and otherwise likely spend most games hiding.

The last two units, a light howitzer and a captured tank, are both somewhat of a stretch historically. In games terms both will be useful. Both will play the important role of being able to throw out pins on enemy units. Both will also most likely die horribly. This is sad for the crews involved but will at least mean my core units are not being shot at.

To represent the lack of support and training, both the tank and artillery are rated as inexperienced. In addition, the Renault R35 has the captured rule, which means it is also unreliable.

Easter Front is a 1005 point Bolt Action tournament being run over two days as part of Conquest 2022 in Melbourne.

the big guns

Big compared to the rest of the guns in my Conquest Partisan list. I will take some support options in the form of a sniper team and a medium machine gun.

The sniper team is from Black Tree Designs. I’m not sure where he obtained his scope but he is putting it to good use.

The MMG team have appeared before, but this will be the first time they will be deployed. The model is from the Australian Home Guard range by Eureka Miniatures. I guess the guy in the Aussie uniform is an escaped POW, now fighting with this partisan band.

take me to your leader

My Italian themed Partisans for Conquest will need some officers. I have chosen these two grizzled looking fellows.

A feature of partisan warfare, particularly in Italy and France, were missions by the allies to help understand and co-ordinate efforts on the ground. Both the SOE and OSS would infiltrate operatives with radios and money who would then seek to exert their influence. In Italy in late 1944 this could even extend to air support missions. While rare, in game terms the inclusion of a liaison officer will allow me to call in air support, providing some much needed fire support. I am going to use this US officer as my liaison officer.

Air strikes will occasionally fail to turn up or will make an attack run on your own side. Perhaps one of the more realistic parts of Bolt Action, even as some players dislike the randomness.

Easter Front

Live Bolt Action is returning to Melbourne with a two day event as part of Conquest Games Convention. OK, live BA probably never left lounge rooms and garages, but it is returning to the streets. I think the last time I played was Conquest last year, so I’m looking forward to rolling a few dice again.

Triangulating a desire to take something new with least amount of effort, I have decided to take Partisans. A chance to field a somewhat unusual and fun list that only requires me to paint 6 models.

My list is motivated by the turbulent and confusing warfare in the north of Italy in late 1944. Following the surrender of the fascists in September 1943 the situation became more and more chaotic until the final armistice in May 1945. In fact, it continued to be chaotic but that is another story. Many dozens of partisan groups, made up of thousands of individuals took up arms against the occupying Germans and puppet fascist regime. Being Italians, there were multiple political camps, from Soviet-aligned communists to right-leaning groups hoping to restore a monarchy.

Most of the force will be rifles, which is not that different to most Bolt Action armies. The largest potential weakness of Partisans is not the lack of armour, as the lack of anti-armour with real grunt. Part of the solution will be some crazy-brave souls armed with Molotov cocktails.

A Partisan force can include veteran, SMG-armed guerrilla units. My desperadoes will be represented by this mix of girl-power and an on-the-run tank crew.

The models are a mix of Black Tree Design, Warlord Games, and Eureka Miniatures.

Painting them was both fun and a bit of a challenge. The main challenge was creating a coherent looking force without making their clothes look too uniform. By restricting the pallet I used and basing all the models in a similar way I think I have managed to create a force that will look OK on the table. By varying armband and scarf colours I can differentiate squads on the table.

In a straight up fight against a trained army they would be hideously outgunned and out maneuvered. But in the heroic Bolt Action world I think they will stand up OK.

Or at least not loose too quickly.

fallschirmjäger follies

I picked up the latest Bolt Action campaign supplement: Italy- Soft Underbelly. It covers from the liberation of Sicily to the allied landings at Salerno and the winter line. I think the forgotten war moniker doesn’t really apply to gamers for the Italian theater and it is ace to see this part of the war getting attention. That the focus is relatively narrow suggests at least two more supplements: Monte Cassino and a late war, Gothic War one. I hope so. There is lots to explore and showcase yet.

The book is a bit of mixed bag. It has a good range of scenarios, which helps me think about new ways to play as well as throw little spotlights on the history. Some of the unit entries feels a repetitive to me, but do help to round out the history. A highlight for me is an opportunity to field a complete Fallschirmjäger force.

Adding the option of taking stubborn to support units, as well as squads, captures the tenacity that seems to be a frequent feature of paratrooper stories.

I have quite a lot of a small force already, so it is tempting to add some more squads and maybe a StuG III (or even StuH IV) and a Pak 40 and make a complete Fallschirmjäger force.

But not before I finish my Konflikt ’47 Turks.

boots on ground

I’ve done some more work on my Turkish themed force for Konflikt 47. Adding to the existing units are Spinne Llight Panzermech and a unit of border guards. The panzermech is a weird science walking tank, which is a part of the K-47 world. It fits in much the same role as an armoured car, although the legs allow for better off-road performance over a wheeled vehicle. Did I mention the weird science part?

In our world, anti-tank rifles quickly fell out of favour. In K-47, the emergence of light armoured walkers and heavy armoured infantry saw their re-introduction in a specialist sniper role.

I have also completed a border guard squad. Keeping up the eclectic theme of the force, this squad uses older style uniforms rather than being equipped similar to late war Germans. The models are WWI Ottomans from Woodbine Designs. They are really very nice minis.

Border Guard units are armed with rifles but may also take panzerfaust

A German Liaison officer and attendent keep an eye on the patrol. Under my home brew rules, the presence of a German office allows for the Turks to deploy rift-tech units like the panzermech.

Gebirgsjäger from Black Tree Design

Next up, some more vehicles and onto support units like medium machine guns and mortars. In rugged landscape of east and south Turkey, both these units will be useful assets for commanders.
D.

first two squads

The photos are terrible but I’m feeling pleased to have completed the first two squads of my Turkish Army for Konflikt 47.

Squad the first, a regular squad armed with assault rifles, ready to defend their home land. These are Warlord Games German grenadiers with fezzes from the SS set with the eagles cut off. I resisted the urge to paint the hats red. The army, where they wore them at all, wore misshapen khaki ones, so that is what I went with. This might be an alternative diesel-punk future but verisimilitude still matters.

Squad the second are Gebirgsjäger, who will give some veteran grunt and provide access to rift-tech for the force. These are metal, and I’m pretty sure they are some of the fun and characterful models from Black Tree Design.

Back to the paint desk. Those Soviets won’t stop themselves and I need to be ready.

Budapest Defense

Together at last. Basing done and ready to hit the table. A couple of months ago I started on a new project, a Budapest Pocket Defender list for Bolt Action. One of the nice things about this army is that I did not buy anything new for it. All of the models have come from the cupboard. It is an eclectic little group, with models from Black Tree Design, Artizan and Warlord Games, and contains both Hungarian and German units making for something that looks a little different on a WW2 table.

Pioneers (Black Tree Design) in their Hanomag (Warlord Games)

Grenadiers, mix of Black Tree Design and Artizan

Warlord Games MMG

Medium Mortar (Artizan)

The whole force is led by these German officers (Black Tree Design)

Hungarian sniper team made from Warlord plastic Germans

Hungarians with an anti-tank rifle; useful against soft-skins (Warlord Games)

Hungarians from Warlord Games

This force may grow yet, but with the addition of a tank, maybe a Wirblewind (painted but never really had a part in my mid-war Italian theatre themed army), I think we are good to go. And that is a nice feeling.

D.