A Tale of Two Tracks - The Heller AMX-30/105 Kit

Several years ago I purchased three 1/72 scale Heller AMX-30/105 kits. At the time I was unaware of any issues with the kit and they joined the mountain of kits that have yet to be built.

A couple of years ago I did start making the kits and soon discovered the main issue with the kit is the vinyl tracks. I found them difficult to work with and lacking in detail.

The best fit I achieved on three tanks.

A typical section of broken track complete with evidence of repair efforts.

The tracks were difficult to fit and soon split - often in multiple places - and soon defeated all my usual repair techniques.

This was the more typical fit achieved - complete with post fit rip.

A brief survey of online reviews showed that I was not alone with having these track issues. The AMX-30/105 Construction review by Stephen 'Tank Whisperer' Brezinski is quite balanced with its comments, whereas the review by Scott Van Aken describes the tracks as being 'a joke'. He concludes with the remark 'Shame on Heller for foisting those things on us.'

AMX-30 served on a bed of split and broken tracks.

However I was not going to let issues with tracks prevent the construction of these tanks. My first thought was to use the strapping tape track replacement system I have used previously  

However, I wanted to see if I could print a replacement track system. First I needed to get files for a suitable track, so I purchased from Wargames 3D the files for printing an AMX-30 by VJM787.

A set of FDM printed tracks. the tabs on the side will be eliminated.

The advantage of purchasing the files is that it will allow me to print more AMX-30s without going back to the Heller kit. There is a different in the placement of the road wheels between the two models, however the issue can easliy be ignored as it 

Clipping off the old road wheels.

The suspension is left for the new tracks and road wheels.

Removing the road wheels was my least favourite of the process as the Heller road wheels are rather nice and had assembled with very few issues.

The new tracks complete with road wheels.

Another view of the refitting..

A better view of the road wheels.

All three AMX-30s fitted out with new tracks and road wheels ready for the paint shop.

I am happy with the way this turned out and all that is left is for these tanks to receive a paint job. 

Monsters For Silver Bayonet

Building forces for Duke, Elector, King still continues, but I have started work on another project..... 

I recently purchased some D&D prepainted figures for use in games of The Silver Bayonet (TSB). The majority of these monsters I hope to use in other games such as Broken Legions or In Her Majesty's Name.

Left to Right (LtR): Giant Scorpion, Roper, Pterafolk, Troll 

While only one of the above monsters has official TSB game statistics (the Troll), part of the attraction to the system is the ability to create new monsters as required. It also means that the monsters can be shaped by a gaming group's interpretation of source material relating to the monster. 

LtR: Gremlin, Halfling Rogue, Kobold Mountaineer, Hat Spanish Priest, Vegepygmy

Pterafolk faces off against a Hat Priest and a Warrior 25mm Spanish Officer

Roper about to devour  a Hat Priest and a Warrior Officer

Troll versus Hat Priest and Strelets US 1812 Militiaman

The adaptability of TSB is very attractive, especially as it can allow for the setting to be pushed back into the 18th Century merely by tweaking the game background. Another major attraction is that it will let me use a number of odds and ends figures that don't quite work with my Volley and Bayonet  armies.

Minfigs 25mm French Dragoons prepare to battle a Giant Scorpion

One of the forces that I am thinking of building is a group of French Dragoons with minimal specialists as part of the team, and treating each Dragoon as a standard infantryman. While the force will be at a disadvantage in some ways, quantity can substitute for quality in some cases.

A Roper is engaged by French Dragoons

It certainly will make for an interesting, if albeit short, campaign. It also will allow me to use some nice 25mm Minifigs Dragoons that don't really work with my 1/72 plastic French.

French Dragoons start bridge clearance operations

Airfix French Heavy Cavalry (12ème Régiment de Cuirassiers)

 I have recently completed painting another V&B stand for the 100 Days Campaign. I have not added the unit label to the stand yet, but it is the 2nd Brigade of the 13th Cavalry Division which was part of the French IV Cavalry Corps.

Finally finished after a decade!! 

The brigade is represented using figures from the Airfix French Heavy Cavalry (Cuirassiers) set (PSR review here) painted as the 12th Cuirassiers(click here for the uniform plate from the "Les Uniformes pedant la campagne des Cent Jours Belgiue 1815" website).

Spot the additional figure

The Airfix set only contains 9 mounted figures so an additional figure was added to the stand from the stockpile of figures I have been hoarding have acquired for this project. 

Ten mounted figures on a brigade stand is currently my record for cavalry stands

While the paint job on these figures was recently completed, the paint job was begun in 2011 (click here for a view of them from 2011), while the figures were purchased in in mid to late 1990s when Airfix re-released the set. 

Note the lack of a ID label

So now I only have four more Cuirassier stands left to paint.

Heller Bobkit Commando Set

A while back now I purchased on a local auction site  the Heller Bobkit Commando set. The Bobkit range has always interested me due to the quick assembly snap fit vehicles and the figures that only seem to have been released in these sets.

The packaging is very 1980s

The contents of this set did not disappoint, as it contained five individual figures, a McDonnell Douglas MD 500 Defender helicopter, a VAB APC, a Renault J series truck, and Hotchkiss M201 light utility vehicle.  The set also came an instruction sheet that I have reproduced below:

Side A: Advertisement for other Heller products

Side B: Easy to follow instructions

Everything was complete and undamaged - except for the helicopter rotors that required careful repair. I haven't assembled the helicopter yet as I want to paint it before assembly, but I very quickly build up the other three models.

VAB APC and French Commandos (Esci Warsaw Pact figure for scale comparison)

The figures are quite animated and will make a nice addition to the  French figures from the ESCI NATO set. Detail on the VAB is basic, but it assembled quickly and was fun to put together. I expect that once painted it will work nicely with my other VABs

 Renault J truck and Hotchkiss M201 light utility vehicle 

The reason why the Hotchkiss M201 light utility vehicle looks like a Jeep, is because it is a Jeep! The French built them under license after WW2. Further details can be found here.

Overall, the set is a very nice collection of quick build models that are useful additions to a 1980s French force. I enjoyed building them, and hope to paint them and some other French vehicles over the upcoming Christmas break.

Here Be Dragoons

As I continue to build up my Napoleonic forces for the upcoming summer campaign, I have found myself acquiring a number of metal Minifigs figures.

Various artillery crew. 3 French Foot Artillery, 1 French Horse Artillery, and 1 British Foot Artillery. The mounted officer I believe to be a French line Horse Artillery Officer, and the fellow with the telescope a French Horse Artillery Officer of the Imperial Guard. All corrections gratefully received.

At first it was just the odd command figure, but entire units of second hand painted figures have started being purchased - especially if I think they might be old 'S' range Minifigs.

French guns. The one on the right seems to have its wheels put on the wrong sides.

The main reason for this is that I find the figures have a great deal of character - much like I find the Airfix plastics have a certain charm to them, even though there are much better figures available now, the nostalgia value of Airfix figures will always remain high for me. So given that I believe the 'S' Range figures were originally designed to complement the Airfix range, and fill the large gaps in the Airfix Napoleonic line, it seems only natural that I should like  them as well.

These I believe are Minifigs S Range British Light Dragoons painted as the 16th Light Dragoons.

My most recent purchase has been some rather nice figures I believe painted as the  British 16th Light Dragoons (As always please feel free to leave corrections to my identifications in the comments!)

These will rebased  and turned into a V&B stand that will represent the British 4th Cavalry Brigade during the Waterloo campaign

The other group purchased is this rather interesting set of of what I presume are French Dragoons, with their metal helmets painted yellow rather than a more goldy/brassy/bronzy colour.

French Dragoons! These will require a little bit more effort in their refurbishment.

The figures are smaller and thinner than the Minifigs Dragoons I acquired earlier (click here for details), and the horses seem to be a much rawer sculpt, but never the less the effect is one I find pleasing.

Another view of the figures. One can never have too many Dragoons.

I'm still processing through the last purchase of Airfix figures, but I hope to have figured out exactly how I plan to base them up in the next few weeks. The British infantry have largely all been painted with white trousers which may reduce their utility for the Waterloo campaign. One possibility is to paint their trousers grey. I'm reluctant to do this for two reasons: Firstly, the original paintwork is very nice, and secondly, it does start to defeat the purpose of buying prepainted figures.

More Napoleonic Purchases

Recently I have been purchasing more second hand Napoleonic figures to refurbish and use for Volley and Bayonet. These figures have been a mix of 20mm plastic with some 25mm metals as well.

A vast horde of very nicely painted Airfix and Esci figures.

 The plastic refurbishment I hope to cover in another post, but the metal figures have been quite fun. While most are true chunky size 25mm Minifigs, some are possibly either part of the older S rnage of Minifigs that were a smaller 25mm figure, or even possibly from other manufacturer like Hinchcliff (or is it Hinchliffe?)

Back to Front: Minifig French Dragoons, Some Chasseurs?, and  French Cuirassiers.

 The Dragoons required little in the way of refurbishment, just touching up some paint, basing and and then given a brown wash. The Chasseurs (please feel free to provide a better identification) required a little more work, but not much more. The Cuirassiers will need some reinforcements before I can base them up.

Bare metal: Minifig French Lancers, Red circled figures discussed in the text below, and three Minifig French Dragoons.

I've circled a number of the figures above as I hope to use them as command stands for V&B. The rest should find an eventual home in the legions of the Archduke Piccolo. The encircled figures are I believe (from left to right), A French General, a Minifigs Murat, a Grenadier Officer, and a Dragoon Officer. Please let me know if I have misidentified anything.

Minifigs Murat. I had fun with painting the tiger skin.

Chasseurs? or not Chasseurs?

Nice big chunky Dragoons!

I'm quite looking forward to using these figures on the tabletop, as they have a nice heft to them. I suspect the Dragoons will eventually become a display piece as they dwarf my 1/72 plastic Dragoons, but they do have a great deal of charm about them.

Volley And Bayonet: Quatre Bras

Earlier last month (or perhaps even the month before that) I arranged a game to see how the second edition of Volley and Bayonet worked. The 1815 Quatre Bras scenario was selected (with the Anglo-Dutch having a rather motley and Prussian feel to their forces).

Refurbished Airfix Hussars. French heads on British bodies.

The game was run over two days, as it would allow for a late start on Saturday, and a leisurely conclusion on the Sunday. On the first day I acted as umpire, and on the second I took over the Anglo-Dutch forces.

The Prussians Dutch defend Gemioncourt against the first of many French onslaughts

The scenario in the second edition rule book presents a rather different order of battle for the two opposing sides compared to that in the Napoleon Returns campaign book. The main differences between the two are a reduction in the number of artillery stands, and an increase in skirmisher stands. The next time I play this battle, I intend to use the order of battle from the campaign book.

A French division on the advance. The black squares representing two of the many skirmisher stands I have yet to complete.

This is in part due to the unhappiness faced by the French player in having less guns and instead having to deal with the less flexible dedicated guns that many French infantry stands gained. Keeping track of them was bad enough, but the rules regarding crossing streams seemed overly harsh. (Essentially you have to leave the dedicated gun behind, but small separate batteries can cross exactly the same stream that their dedicated brethren cannot)

The green dice represent a visual reminder of each stands dedicated gun. This, to my mind, is not the most optimal method - but I have a plan...

The battle was hard fought, with the successive waves of reinforcements for each side being committed to battle as soon as they arrived.

Confused by who is who? Well, the French are the ones advancing....

For the Anglo-Dutch, this rather seemed like feeding fresh meat into a meat grinder. The French artillery and heavy cavalry seemed unstoppable.

Guns and heavy cavalry - rather useful stuff.

And as Anglo-Dutch units were either eliminated or exhausted, the defensive perimeter around Quatre Bras shrank dramatically.

From holding on....

....To opps! the French are through the gap in the middle....

The game, which was to end after eight turns (2pm through to 9pm), only resulted in a draw because the French ran out of time to deal to the last allied reinforcements holding on around Quatre Bras. One more turn and the road the Brussels would have been secured by Ney!

If this game had been linked into a wider campaign, then the very heavy losses that I suffered would have resulted in a number of absences from the fields of Waterloo! In terms of casualties in this game versus the real battle, let's just say that the French losses were less, but the allies much higher....

I rather liked how these figures turned out. Click here to see their original state.

The game was, as like the other two recent V&B games quite fun, and has certainly spurred me into painting more - even if I am making less blog posts!

Brienne 1814 - A (P)Russian Defeat!

Recently I played another game of Volley and Bayonet, in which I used my Prussians to represent Russian troops. The scenario was one of the ones that can be found here at Keith McNelly's rather excellent site.

The view from behind Prussian line of the initial set up.

We had elected to play the Brienne Scenario (found here), using the shorter table options. It was at this point I made two decisions that would have a dramatic impact on the game; The first being not to worry about having the required skirmisher stands, while the second was to not worry about having the required number of model villages, and to use paper templates instead. This in in a game that required me to hold a village temple (which can only be done with skirmish stands), and a supply line that passed through a village two templates big.

Supply line represented by quickly made wagons, limbers, and other sundry items on 3" long stands.

Rather than making the skirmish stands, or the villages, I concentrated on bodging the wagon train together - which from memory was some 10-12 stands worth - thinking I could make some skirmish stands later, after all they wouldn't be that important?

Note the undefended red roofed BUA at bottom? Holding that was one of my victory conditions....

My real undoing was my poor initial deployment, in which I contrived to leave a battalion of heavy guns on an exposed flank. Why? Because I'm an idiot?.....

Stout Prussian defenders of Brienne le Chateau, force a French brigade back.

But more are coming like an endless blue tide....

 Still despite my mistakes, the Prussians were able to hold on to the town , and give a good account of themselves.

Starting to feel a little outnumbered...

 By eventually the French pushed out the Prussians and seized the town. Any dreams of a counter attack at this stage had been replaced by a desperate need to fall back and hold the supply line.

Finally the French occupy the town....

The French started to push their troops through the light woods, hoping to break my line of communications, and seize victory by looting my baggage train.

A French division on woods edge.

The French advance.

 At this stage I still felt that I could prevent this. I had burnt through my cavalry on my right flank, and had hurt the French cavalry in the process. I still had two un-exhausted infantry divisions, and I was hurting the French. I might just manage to prevent defeat and get a draw.

And meet solid resistance from good Prussian steel!

And for a while, that was possible.....until the mounting casualties resulted in first one, then both divisions becoming exhausted - which meant a clear French victory!

We kept track of casualties. It was a close run thing....

Overall it was a very fun game, which we played over a couple of days at a very relaxed pace. The French fought well, and I think the result would of still been a French victory even if I had the skirmishers holding the villages. It certainly ranks up there as being one of the more fun games I've played.

But a well earned victory for the French!

As a result of seeing some of the notations in the scenario, I decided on getting the second edition of Volley and Bayonet, and the 100 Days expansion "Napoleon Returns". They both arrived last week, and I am starting to gear up all three armies required to play - although based on the games I have been playing lately perhaps painting some 1814 Russians might be in order first?


Still, it is an achievable goal, and working towards it will mean that I will at least finally make some villages!