KOKODA WARGAME CAMPAIGN - BATTLE OF ISURAVA OPENING MOVES

We played the opening moves of the battle of Isurava in the ongoing Kokoda Campaign yesterday. The fight began at (in game terms) 0530 with a full strength Japanese attack against entrenched Australian positions (B Coy 2/14 Bn) to the west of Isurava Village. You can see the main thrust of the Japanese attack marked by the bold red arrow on the map below. This attack consisted of two companies of Japanese infantry with artillery and mortar support. A further company of Japanese were moving up behind the main assault and behind that another Japanese Battalion. This was a major effort to break the Australian line at this selected point which sat astride the main track. The Australian defense was set up in a linear fashion with no depth and a break in their line would mean the whole line would have to withdraw or face envelopment and annihilation. This is exactly what happened with B Coy 2/14 being severely mauled and forced to abandon its positions, resulting in A company to its left having to withdraw, thus forcing the whole left of the Australian line into retreat. The game ended with the Japanese pushing forward to exploit their success. This was the opening game in a series of games in what will be a long fight for Isurava. Australian reinforcements are arriving (2/16 Bn) and the 39th Bn was not engaged. So there is still a lot of Australian force out there. If the Australians can reestablish a defensive line they have a chance to halt the Japanese assault - if not the campaign may come to a sudden end with a Japanese victory and history will have been rewritten. Below are some photos of the game in progress. Above is a propaganda photo depicting the moment when the Japanese overran the first line of Australian trenches.

Norman Commanders and Casualties

Here are the bookends of my Norman army.  The Command and Casualties stands!  They are mainly by Crusader miniatures who make a fantastic range of Norman characters.  Intermingled with these are some Black Tree characters and the Conquest miniatures casualty figure.  I don’t really go in for casualty miniatures normally, but these have been real fun to paint and base up.

Also pictured at the bottom are some Black Tree errant Viking berserkers, which I was conned into buying through one of Black Tree’s perpetual online sales!

Foot Command Stand- William at the front!

There's nothing like a spot of falconing before the battle!

Crusader Minis casualty

Another one bites the dust!

And another one does!

The loss of a friend!

What have I done!

Talk about out of control!!!

The ACW 8" Columbiad Again!

Here are the latest images of the now complete 28mm scale ACW 8" Columbiad gun emplacement. I say complete, but I do still have to paint up a Union crew for the gun.

Smugglers...!!

Foundry and Old Glory,  a Dixon and  a Front Rank dog,

French Revolutionary Infantry

Two Eureka Miniatures Revolutionary Wars French officers with Victrix plastic French infantry. I only just finished painting the officers. Part of my ongoing project.

USMC Korean War Corsair

I have been after a 1/72 scale USMC Korean War F4U Corsair for some time now. I am partial to die cast models and found that Corgi makes, or at least made one. I recently read a book called Darkest Summer which deals with the US Marines experience in Korea in the first few months - up to the recapture of Seoul in 1950. Darkest Summer is a great story and absolutely packed with highly detailed descriptions of very tough challenging fights. It is perfect material for wargaming scenarios, especially the infantry battles that really interest me. As luck would have it I found a Corgi Corsair on eBay and got it for a very reasonable price. Even more lucky it is from the Marines VMF 323 which was one of the two Marines Corsair squadrons that flew in support of the Marine Brigade when it was fighting on the Pusan perimeter in the the first two months of the war. These Corsairs were really skillful at close air ground support and working together with the Marines on the ground who were equally skillful at calling in close air support created a really potent combination of force, (This was in sad contrast to the US Army that had literally forgotten everything it knew about air-ground support since 1945 and had to painfully relearn those lessons). Interestingly the Cobra emblem for 323 which you can see on the cowl of the Corsair gradually disappeared as planes were replaced or shot down. Apparently North Korean AAA recognized the symbol and therefore what the plane emblazoned with it represented and would give special attention to any Corsair so marked. Here are a couple of pictures of the model, which have come alive with the help of the magic of Photoshop. The first shows the Corsair winging in over the sea after leaving or returning to its Carrier. The second shows the Corsair having some fun with a North Korean train - you best blow this one up (a most apt pun in this case) to see it better.

28mm SCALE ACW 8" COLUMBIAD HEAVY ARTILLERY - PART 2

Here is the latest of my ACW 8" Columbiad project in 28mm. I was in a model railway shop the other day and saw a tunnel entrance that I immediately thought when laying down flat would be perfect for a fortress gun emplacement for the 8" Columbiad. With a sheet of model paving stuck down as its base and a crew painted I think it looks just the part. The crew are a mixture of TA Miniatures (the makers of the gun) and Sash and Saber. The two esteemed civilian visitors are Redoubt Enterprises. I still need to add more equipment around the emplacement, but what you see here is basically the finished piece.