Alan Hamilton

Thank you so much. This confirms some information I have and adds more details. Very helpful.

Excellent, thanks.  I said it was my colleague’s great-grandfather in fact it was his grandfather who had worked in Siemens as a pattern maker and had also served in WW1 in the artillery.   In the battalion he was a section leader armed with an Italian rifle, 15 rounds of ammunition and two hand grenades.  At the start of the fighting he had bee…[Read more]

Interesting information about the flamethrowers.  May I ask your source? I am researching 3/115 battalion for a former colleague whose great grandfather served in it.

The Volksgrenadier Divisions were organized around small cadres of veteran soldiers, non-commissioned officers and officers mainly from shattered or other Infantry Divisions. Their ranks were then filled out with whoever the Replacement Army could find. Naval and Air Force personnel made redundant through losses and fuel shortages, recovered…[Read more]

The best I can do is:  Pioneer Battalion (organization as of 1 April 1944).  I don’t have the company, platoon, section breakdown.  Of course, the figures are what the unit was supposed to have.  Reality was almost certainly different.

UNIT
Offs
NCOs
Pvts
Rs or Cbns
Pistols
Sub-MGs
LMGs
Hv MGs
81-mm Morts
Flame Throwers
Mtr Veh…[Read more]

On paper the organisation was a battalion of 642 men based on the standard Heer (Army) triangular system – 3 sections to a platoon, 3 platoons to a company and 3 companies to a battalion with associated support platoons for engineer, medical, transport (bicycles were authorised), communication (civilian telephones), administration etc.  The en…[Read more]

There were many WW1 artillery limber. Virtually every gun and howitzer type had its own specific limber.  That said most were externally similar and most served in both world wars either unmodified or with new ammunition racks, new wheels and suspension for new guns etc. I suppose it depends on how accurate you need your model to be.

Have look…[Read more]

If it is a late war light mortar then why not buy the SdKfz 251 mortar upgrade sprue and convert the 8cm mortar to the short version? It should not be too difficult.

There is a 2″ mortar in the weapons sprue in the Commandos box https://store.warlordgames.com/collections/british-commandos/products/commandos?variant=31468967821392#images-1

Not that I know of. I have used 20mm bases right from the start. My opponents use 25mm bases and there is no great problem.

I have even used 20mm (1/72) figures and vehicles for a very aesthetically pleasing game.

The MP40s are in the post this afternoon.

Nigel, If all you need are 2 MP40s then I have them in my bits box.  PM me your address so I can post you one MP40 butt extended and one on a sling butt folded.

Alan

Always nice to see conversions. I mix and match between various sets and also make or repurpose figures that I need for scenarios.

I needed a panzerschreck so made one.

Flamethrower

Simple headgear adjustments produced a Highland command group of Major, CSM, Piper and Padre

The Hf2 field wagon had a carrying capacity of 1.72 tonnes and so can easily carry a mortar and/or a machine gun team and ammo.   Historically the MG team had 2 IF2 carts drawn by one light draught horse and a mortar team would have 4 carts drawn by 2 light draught horses (2 carts in tandem to each h…[Read more]

This nicely detailed article on Finnish StuGs has several notes on armament modifications but none mention a “hull mounted” MG.  The only references deal with the substitution of the roof mounted MG34 with other weapons. You maybe found it already?

http://www.andreaslarka.net/sturmi.html

My earlier post seems to have disappeared.  This web page has a lot of detailed information on the Sturmi StuG covering types, armour, armament, vehicle numbers etc.

http://www.andreaslarka.net/sturmi.html

I built this Panzerschreck  from plastic figures, wire, card and scrap plastic.  Mine are not brilliant but they look OK to me.

And a flamethrower

I converted both a Panzerscreck and a Flamethrower for my son’s Germans.  Both weapons were made from scrap plastic, paper, card and wire.  Not as hard as you might think.

My post with pictures seems to have disappeared.  I made a Panzerschreck and a flamethrower from scrap plastic, paper, card and wire.  Not as difficult as I thought.

see http://www.morvalearth.co.uk/Bolt%20Action/Bolt%20Action%20Infantry.htm

Yes, I should maybe have been clearer.  As IO just said the Hf2 wagon was a supply and ammunition carrier and not really for use in the front line.  The wagon issued to carry mortar or MG sections/detachments was the If8.  It is possible that in a retreat where a section’s If1 carts were destroyed or abandoned that the crew might man pack the we…[Read more]