Flames of War - Tutorial - Oil drums from sprues

As you can see there are a lot of things you can do with your belowed sprues.

Step 1:
Lets take the sprues again... you see the small round ends at the corners and in the middle ? Yes ! We will use these now.

Step 2:
After cutting them out (which I doubt everyone will get as well done as that they will be straight). Take two of these and glue them on top of each other.

Step 3:
Do this with the others as well.. one sprue makes approx 4.5 Oil tons.

Nice objective marker.... in case you are sensitive to extreme realism.. put a wound bandage soaked in PVA above them to hide the worst...

Prime and paint... and enjoy...

Flames of War - Tutorial - Using "Sprues" for walls and sandbag emplacements

Hi all,

after reading through warheads.ie I got the question on a short tutorial on how to use sprues to their best advantage...

so here we go:

Step 1:
Take the sprue of your liking. This one I am using is from a US halftrack.

Step 2:
Cut down approx 1mm thin parts of the sprue

Step 3:
Take your base and glue with plastic glue the bottom row on it

Step 4:
Use really much of your plastic glue on the upper part and start laying on top the next row

Step5:
Repeat step 4 as often as desired. Wait till dryed , prime and paint it.

Flames of War - Tutorial - Building things from the Battlefront Homepage - Minefields -

Browsing the Battefront Homepage you will find the Modeling section and some things on "How to do..."... Christmas brought some Balsa Wood to me and so I started redoing the tutorials from their webpage.

The Minefield:

As I am also building a 78. Sturm Division Unit I am in need of some trenches and stuff like that. The minefield from the BF webpage looked easy and I also would rate it as being easy.

Materials used:
Balsa Wood
Toothpicks/Partysticks
Superglue
Miliput
Filler
Wire


Step 1:
Scale for this one is 20cm by 5cm. This is also the exact sizing BF gives on their webpage. As Balsa Wood is a light and easy to work with wood you can take the Toothpicks/Partysticks as they are and simply press them into the four corners of the balsa piece. I also put one extra in the middle for the signpost. Afterwards I took a Miniature and cut the "posts" down to approx neck high of the miniature.

Step 2:
Mix the miliput or any other epoxy you are using and define the parts of the mines and a possible crater of an exploded one. The mines you will do with a bigger and a smaller piece which you roll into ball shape and first press the bigger, than the smaller one on top of the bigger one. The crater is a larger piece there you simply make a ring and then push down the size. If you have, like me, this cutter knife you can scratch in some lines into the miliput so you get a bit more texture to your crater.

Step 3:
After this is done you can either start painting and flocking or like me use some filler for more texture on the board.

Step 4:
After drying... apply some colour and flock to it.


Step 5:
Connect your wire around the outlining poles. And ready you are. As I am using a 120x120cm gaming table it suits for me to do six of these to get a whole table covered. Easy to do and doesnt take much of a time

Flames of War - Zveda - SDKFZ 222 (Reviewed)

After all... christmas is finally over and I had plenty of time for miniatures again.... So after my personal more positive experience with one of the ZVEDA Kits (Katyushia Rocket launcher), I also got 3 Boxes of the German Sd Kfz 222.

Compared to Battlefront:

Price: Battlefront charges quite much for one SD Kfz 222 (approx 9 Euros for one). The Zveda one comes across with 2,50 Euro. Thats quite a plus. The two sprues in the box contains everything to get a closed one, but leaves no option for an open one as the BF one probably does.

Assembly: The assembly is easy. A small paper folder explains easy what to do and what not. The best thing here is you can build the KfZ without the need of ANY glue. It simply sticks together as it should. Fantastic and easy to go. The BF needs superglue to stick together properly. I always find that quite unhandy as I always glue my own fingers to the model :)

The looks:

Not Flames of War - Happy Christmas to all of you

Just in case someone might miss it, but it is december and we are heading straight for christmas. This year I thought of using my terrain building skills different and in a matter there it suits to the time..

SO I personally would like to thank anyone reading and studying here about things related to Flames of War. My personal wishes to you are:

health, fun on gaming, keep your spirits light and to all of you a happy christmas !

(btw.. this cake is a real one I did ....)

And I hope to see you soon here again on my blog

Flames of War - Scenario - "Unternehmen Trappenjagd" Part 2 - Historical Forces

Forces available:

German OOB:
 
Heeresgruppe Süd (South):

Armeeoberkommando (AOK) 11:

German OOB: Kriegsgliederung vom 11.5.1942:

*Units listed from north to south:

VII (7) Romanian Corps:

19. (Romanian) Infantry Division

8. (Romanian) Cavalry Division
Misc.Units: 10. (Romanian) Infantry Division added during the battle.



XXXXII (42) Armeekorps (AK):

46. Infanterie-Division

50. Infanterie-Division

Misc.Units: nil.

XXX (30) Armeekorps (AK):

132. Infanterie-Division

28. Leichte Infanterie-Division

170. Infanterie-Division

Misc.Units: Group "Ritter" - Küstenschutz (coastal protection).



AOK Reserves:

22. Panzer-Division (stationed behind XXX AK.)

"Groddeck" (Oberst Karl Albrecht von Groddeck) Infanterie-Brigade (mot.):

Order of Battle:

1.  Group "Korne" (Rumanian Colonel Radu Korne)

---- 3. (Romanian) Cavalry Regt. (mot.)

---- 22. Aufklärungs-Abteilung (mot.) (Motorized Recon. Bn.)

---- 560. Panzerjäger-Abteilung (Anti-Tank Bn.)

---- 6th Coy./ II Bn.. / 800. Brandenburg Regiment (mot.)

---- I Bn./ 391. Infanterie-Regiment

---- 154. Artillerie-Abteilung (mot.)

---- 6th Btty./ 818. schwere (heavy) Artillerie-Abteilung (mot.)

---- 1 Btty. from Sturmgeschütz-Abteilung (Assault-Gun Bn.) 197.

---- 1 Btty. from Nebelwefer-Regiment (Rocket launcher Regt.) 70 (mot.)

---- 1 lei.Btty. (light battery) from 64. Heeres-Fla (Flak)-Bataillon (mot.)

---- 1 schwere.Btty. (heavy battery) from 64. Heeres-Fla (Flak)-Bataillon (mot.)

---- 1 Coy. from  Pionier (Engineer)-Bataillon 173.

2. Group "Müller" (attached):

---- 401. Infanterie-Regiment (mot.)
---- I Bn./ 105. Infanterie-Regiment
---- 223. Panzer-Bataillon
---- Stab Artillerie-Regiment 54. (mot.)
---- II Btty./ Artillerie-Bataillon 54. (mot.)
---- II Btty./ Artillerie-Bataillon 57. (mot.)
---- III.Coy./ Pionier (Engineer)-Bataillon 132.

---- 14.Trp./ 105. Panzerjäger-Abteilung (Anti-Tank Bn.)

---- 1 Btty. from Sturmgeschütz-Abteilung (Assault-Gun Bn.) 190.



Source: National Archives microfilm: series T312/ roll #1692/ frame 77

The German OOB info was researched by John Mulholland.

The Soviet Union:

 Soviet OOB:
  44th Army: 
    Rifle Divisions: 157, 404
    Mtn. Rifle Division:  63, 236
    Mtn. Rifle Regiment:  251, 105
    Artillery:  547 Gun AR, 31, 339, 513 AAABn
    Tank:  79, 126 Tank Bn., 24 Tank Regt.
    Air: 25, 27, 135 FAD, 40 CAS, 152 RAS
    Engineers:  61 Ebn, 19 Sbn

  47th Army:
    Mtn. Rifle Division:  77 (-105 MtnRR), 138
    Artillery:  136 HowARhp, 335 AAAbn
    Tank:  56 Atr
    Engineer:  256 Ebn

  51st Army:
    Rifle Divisions:  224, 390, 396
    Mtn. Rifle Division:  302
    Rifle Brigades:  12, 83 NRB
    Artillery:  25, 53, 456 AR, 457 Gun AR, 1/7 GMR, 180, 220 AAbn
    Tank:  124 Tank Bn.
    Air:  71 MAD, 72 FAD, 2 AAR, 23 CAS, 151, 507 RAS
    Engineers:  75, 132 EBn, 6, 54 PBBn, 205, 275, 82 SBn, 138 EBn

Flames of War - Scenario - "Unternehmen Trappenjagd" Part 1 - Historical Background

Battle of the Kerch Peninsula (German: Unternehmen Trappenjagd) (Russian Керченско-Феодосийская десантная операция (Kerchensko-Feodosiyskaya desantnaya operatsiya, 'Kerch-Feodosiya landing operation')) was a World War II offensive by German and Romanian armies against the Soviet Crimean Front forces defending the Kerch Peninsula, in the eastern part of the Crimea. It was launched on 8 May 1942 and concluded around 18 May 1942 with the near complete destruction of the Soviet defending forces. The Red Army lost over 170,000 men killed or taken prisoner, and three armies (44th, 47th, and 51st) with twenty-one divisions.The operation was one of the battles immediately preceding the German summer offensive (Fall Blau), and its successful conclusion made it possible for the Axis to launch a successful assault on Sevastopol in the following months.
Some groups of Soviet survivors refused to surrender and fought on for many months, hiding in the catacombs of the quarries. Many of these soldiers were occupying the caves along with many civilians, who had fled the city of Kerch.

(Source: Wikipedia)

Historical Background:

The Battle:

Trappenjagd began at 04:15 on 8 May. Fliegerkorps VIII operating under Luftflotte 4, began operations against lines of communication and against Soviet airfields. Within hours, Ju 87s of StG 77 had knocked out most of the Soviet 44th Army's communications. The airfields were also virtually destroyed and 57 of the 401 Soviet aircraft in the area were shot down in just 2,100 sorties. Having knocked out the army's Headquarters, the Soviets could not organise a counter offensive and the 44th Army collapsed into a retreat when von Manstein launched the ground attack.
Von Manstein had five infantry divisions, one Panzer Division (22nd Panzer Division), and two and a half Romanian Divisions against 19 Soviet divisions and four armoured brigades at Kerch. He committed his units in the south against the 44th Army. The 902nd Assault Boat Command of the 436th Regiment, 132nd German Infantry Division, landed behind the Soviet lines and helped unbuckle the Soviet second lines. The artillery bombardment lasted only 10 minutes, and within three and a half hours of the assault being launched, the 44th Army collapsed. On the first day, XXX Corps, attacking with the 28th, 50th and 132nd Divisions had broken through in the south. At a cost of 104 killed and 284 wounded, they captured 4,514 Soviet soldiers. Kozlov did not appreciate the significance of the German breakthrough and failed to release reserves for a counter-attack. On 9 May, von Manstein committed the 22nd Panzer Division, which swung north and trapped the 51st Army against the Sea of Azov. Soviet morale and organisation collapsed, and a stampede to the rear areas began. Once this happened, the eight divisions of the 51st Army surrendered releasing XXX Corps to pursue the fragments of retreating Soviet forces to Marfovka, barely eight miles from Kerch.