News from the Bosnian Front Pt. IIV

The Republican spoiler attack into the Noddist rear was a success, despite costing a full company of T-55s. The attack destroyed a battery of Nod 122mm SPGs, and drew a company of Nod T-72s back from the frontlines.

A Republican T-34/85 company mounts a flank attack on Nod APCs in the woods.

The Civilian Militia hold off an attack by a company of Nod infantry.

Nod T-55s await orders before advancing further

Republican T-34/85s engage Nod APCs - destroying a platoon. A platoon of T-34/85s is lost to fire from a Nod auto cannon battery.

Nod ZU-23-2 battery, supported by two platoons of Nod APCs.

The Islamic volunteers die hard for the Republic....

...but are forced back deeper into the BUA, fortunately a company of of Republican regulars arrive to reinforce the defense.

Nod APC lossses mount as the Republican T-34/85s press home their attack.

However, the company is destroyed by a determined Nod counterattack.

Republican reinforcements secure the BUA.

Elsewhere the Civilian Militia repel the Nod assault...

...and purse the surviving Nod infantry into the woods....

....where Republican forces capture a company of Nod trucks.

Meanwhile Nod launches an armoured thrust up the left flank.

Republican regulars expel Nod from the BUA.

Republican resistance on the heights is spirited, but is overwhelmed by Noddist armour.

A company of Nod T-72s pours into the lowlands.

A company of Nod T-55s gets mauled by Republican anti tank fire.

Other Nod units join the advance.

Republican artillery units start shelling the heights.

Elsewhere, the HQ elements of Nod infantry units live up to their reputation for toughness.

A platoon of Nod T-55s is destroyed by fire from Republican T-55s.

Which in turn are destroyed by...

Noddist infantry armed with AT-4s.

Nod armour still attempts to advance through the burning wrecks on the heights.

Civilian Militia continue their rampage through the woods.

A Republican Motorcycle RPG team destroys a platoon of Nod APCs. Nods advance is halted in the centre.

Nod HQ elements remain defiant.

The Nod FAC element has been hit hard. No MiGs today.

Nod armour burning on the heights...

...burning in the lowlands...

...and burning in the woods.

 The forces of the Republic managed to halt the Noddist advance, and destroy a great deal of Noddist war material.

News from the Bosnian Front Pt. II

Flushed with success from knocking out a Nod BRDM platoon, Republican forces await the advancing Nod forces.

A company of Republican T-55s advance, intent on making a spoiling attack in the Nod staging area.

A company of Republican volunteers advance in support of the T-55s.

Nod infantry and armour  prepare to assault Republican forces.

Nod attacks the Islamic volunteers.....

While the Citizen Militia companies await the coming Nod onslaught.

Republican armour moves up to support the hard pressed Islamic volunteers.

Republican troops await the reinforcements.

The Islamic Volunteers engage Nod at the edge of the BUA.

And suffer for their bravery.

The T-55 company swings left to engage Nod forces.

...such as a battery of Nod 122mm SPGs

...which is eliminated, causing alarm in the Noddist rear.

A company of Nod T-72s is pulled back from the front to solve this problem.

The Republican T-55 company is destroyed by the Noddist T-72s, however the spoiling attack is a success, despite the high cost in Republican lives.

The battle is far from over - fortunately my next blog post has more information!

News from the Bosnian Front. Pt. I

One of the wargaming campaign backgrounds that I use for modern games, is that of  an "alternate history" version of the breakup of Yugoslavia. Without going into too much detail, the main points of difference between my alternate version and the actual event are as follows:

·         Both the UN and NATO have a greatly reduced involvement.

·         The role of Islamic volunteers in defending the Bosnian state is greatly increased.

·         The involvement of the Brotherhood of Nod.

This means that AARs from my Bosnia campaign are going to be somewhat different from the actual history…. 

The game was played at Frank's about a month ago. I have been quite slack about posting it, and been quite busy with work and other concerns, so the blog has been a very low priority. I have opted to posting this without TOEs, but as a series of captioned pictures. Some bias may be revealed in the captions...

The initial setup. Forces of the Bosnian Republic prepare to defend against the might of the Brotherhood.

Elements of of a Nod Motor Rifle Regiment prepare to advance.

A Nod BRDM-2 recon platoon. Equipped with AT-5 Spandrel ATGMs, this is a major danger to the armoured forces of the Republic.

Three companies of Citizen Militia prepare to defend their hamlet.

A company of Islamic volunteers takes up defensive positions on the edge of the village.

A Company of T-34/85s waits in reserve. Headquarter elements of the Army of the Republic occupy many of the old Turkish colonial buildings in the town.

Noddist Headquarter elements occupy this hamlet, while Nod SPG and AA elements deploy nearby.

A Republican motorised light attack column. Many of the volunteers who have flocked to the defence of Bosnia have experience in the use and creation of  'technicals'.

Not all the assistance received by the Republic is military. This column of ambulances is manned by volunteers from across Europe.

The Noddist hordes advance on a wide front towards the Republican positions.

The Republican line must hold, or Nod will achieve yet another break through.

Platoons of Noddist T-55s and T-72s on the advance.

Nod infantry dismount and ready themselves for an assault on Republican positions.

Republican Sagger teams prepare to open fire.

First blood to the Republic! The BRDM-2 platoon is destroyed by Republican Saggers.

 More pictures in the next post...

Cannon

Some time ago I had a conversion with Glenn about some of his wargaming projects. For one of these projects he was going to remount some artillery pieces onto new carriages from the Billing Boats range.  This seemed like such a good idea I decided to steal it for one of my own projects.

Red Cannon - Evolution, Pale Cannon - Orion.

 The cannon needing new carriages are from the Orion English Pirates set, and the Evolution Pirates set. Links are to the reviews by PSR. The cannon suppilied in both of these sets are too big for their respective gun carriages, so I had been considering building up replacements with matchsticks, or massively cutting the guns down to fit the tiny carriages.

A Billings Boats sprue containing parts for two gun carriages.

 I was able to obtain these off the shelf from my local model store for around NZ$7. The packet contained two sprues, each with enough bits to build two gun carriages. No instructions are contained in the packet, but figuring it out is not too hard if you use an existing gun carriage as reference, and try a dry run first.

Some cutting down was required to get the gun to sit in a pleasing manner.

Comparison to the Hat Royal Navy cannon.

Orion cannon, pre and post treatment.

Both Orion guns finished.

I still have a few more bits and pieces to do on this project, but it is progressing nicely. Thanks again to Glenn for his idea!

Fun in the Snow

I just finished putting the flock on these guys. I also though that today's snow would provide a nice backdrop to a photo shoot.

AT-ATs trudge through the snow.

I placed the AT-ATs on a plastic lid to stop the MDF bases from absorbing moisture and swelling.

Snow was still falling when I took this photo.

A quick bit of fun on a winter's day home from work!