For those of you who are modelers and or gamers, you know the feelings about your hobby work – to do a good job recreating a scene, a vehicle, terrain, or just a figure such that others enjoy it. I put this blog in the same category. I understand that for better or for worse, I am putting myself out there and my creativity to be judged up or down.
This blog post will be a bit different in that its admittedly somewhat self-indulgent. I am unsure as to how it will be received – but I hope that you enjoy it and that you can appreciate what this was for me and why I was doing this last weekend.
Last Saturday, the Historical Gaming Club of Uxbridge, MA, sponsored a road trip to the American Heritage Museum in Hudson, MA. I have posted about this museum last year (you can read about it here). It’s really great. I unfortunately also signed up for a golf tournament an hour away and was disappointed in my planning. I was however able to leave the tournament (my team lost by one stroke) after I was done and drive to meet the others (about 10 of us) at the museum. And I brought two “friends”…
Followers of this blog know that I have been somewhat tank-heavy in hobby activities and gaming since last fall. I thought that it would be cool to have the real Panther at the museum meet my 15mm/1:100 scale Panther. And as my late grandfather Marcus C. Delaney drove an M24 Chaffee light tank in WWII, I wanted to hook up one of my M24’s with a real one too.
I just thought it would be a cool thing to do – and to give my models a connection to the real deal. Of course, you can be the judge.
First stop was the Panther.
A real Panther and my model – can you see it?There it is!Impishly placing my Panther on the right fender.Both Panthers are now aiming at a T-34…but I don’t think mine has the needed gun velocity!
Then I moved over to the M24 Chaffee.
Where is my model?There it is!On the M24 frontal armor.Trust me, we are all smiling. Even my grandfather from above.
It felt good to do this, and I’m glad I did. Now when these are in a game, I can say that they have been with the real thing, and in actual contact.
Would you do this? Let me know in the comments section, and thanks for looking!
The 10th running of the HUZZAH! wargaming convention was held last month from May 17th-19th in Portland, Maine. It was ably run by the Maine Historical Wargamers Association. There were a lot of games, including some run by friends from both the Maryland -based H.A.W.K.’s (Harford Area Weekly Kriegspielers) and the Historical Gaming Club of Uxbridge (Massachusetts). Several members of the Mass Pikemen were also in attendance. I missed the sign up to run a game, but I was nevertheless happy to make the trek to Maine, attend and play.
As I am catching up on my blogging, and as I did not get a chance to take many pictures of games that I was not involved in, this post will focus on the five games that I did participate in at the convention. It will hopefully give a flavor of the games, and my experience – however slim compared with all the events that were run there.
Game 1 – “The Enchanted Valley; Rules – Blood & Swash/Thunder & Plunder
The first game was run by Eric Schlegel from the H.A.W.K.’s. The scenario was “The Enchanted Valley” – a fantasy game in which you had a small squad, and you had to battle GM-run bad guys for treasure and points. In my case, I had a squad of halflings (hobbits), and the figures were old Grenadier ones from the 1980’s. I spent the game battling giant armed frogs and goblins, while other players were similarly battling other creatures. The rules were Blood & Swash/Thunder & Plunder written by two friends of mine, Buck Surdu and Chris Palmer, and were the basis for their later set of rules – G.A.S.L.I.G.H.T. You can read about these and other rules here (just scroll down).
Eric and Vickie await the start of the gameMy squad – these are Grenadier halflings from the boxed set Halflings – which was issued in 1980 by Grenadier. You can read about them here.My squad stats.Nice view of the board and some of the players, including Bruce Carson on the left and another H.A.W.K. Duncan Adams on the right.The frogs I battled.My hobbit leader dispatched a goblin leader and a few giant ticks.
I fared OK, but did not come out on top. I think that there were close to 8 or 9 players. I think that Eric and Vickie ran the game well and it was quite fun.
Game 2 – “Mortwald Under Siege: Zero Hour”; Rules – Warhammer 40K
Many of you who follow this blog are avid 40K players and GW miniature painters. The minis that you assemble, convert, and paint are truly a sight to see. Additionally, the terrain is very eye-catching. Of course, I missed that whole era/genre of wargaming when it launched and as it grew. I wanted to give this 40K game a shot, and I will likely give the game another shot at some time in the future. But before I go on, I want to say that the following is not an attack on anyone who loves 40K – it’s just my experience with it at the HUZZAH! convention.
It was the absolute worst gaming experience that I have ever had. Sorry, but it was.
The terrain was gorgeous, and the figures were well-painted. The game scenario, unfortunately, had no story or reason as to why anything was there in terms of terrain or figures. There were two tables next to each other, and mine had several newbies and some experienced players. A couple of the GM’s were subbing (and admirably trying I will say) for another GM who could not attend. But hurting their efforts was the fact that there were hardly any cheat sheets or charts available, and those that were were microscopic in font size. Much of the game was spent figuring out the stats of the different space marine factions by either looking at the rule books or some players using a GW app on their iPads or iPhones.
The players on my side with whom I played also had a similarly negative experience. What I remember about the game was that a large number of Plague Marines moved in, and over us (whoever we were – the figs were blue and some kind of space marine) with seemingly no way of effectively stopping them. I don’t remember many strategic of tactical gaming choices we made except to move and take up defensive positions and try to shoot. Was it balanced or play tested? Who knows. My memory of the game includes spending a lot of time looking at other people consulting rule books and devices, interspersed with being overrun by gloppy plague marines. Oh yeah, there was the conversations on my side with teammates asking WTF multiple times. I was told by someone I trust that this game was not typical – and that perhaps Kill Team is better. Again, I’ll keep an open mind, but for beginners this game was definitely was not! I also want the GM’s to know that we did not hold the experience against them at all – at least I did not. It’s not easy to be a GM.
One of the two tables – not the one I played on.
Table 1Table 1Table 2 – we were defending this side.We came, we were confused about the rules, the scenario…then plague marines wiped us out.
Just to be clear again, I follow several blogs whose authors do a great job on GW stuff. I mainly tried to play because I have been inspired by their projects. If you want to see some of their excellent painting and conversions of GW stuff, check out any of the following sites:
These guys give me hope to try 40K again…sometime. This game finished off Friday at HUZZAH! for me.
Game 3 – “Clash at Palmer’s Island, Chesapeake Bay 1637”; Rules – Feudal Patrol™ (as of yet unpublished)
Duncan Adams of the H.A.W.K.’s ran this scenario on Saturday morning. It featured Marylanders (my side) contesting the “illegal” occupation of Palmer’s Island by Virginians and some Indian allies. The rules used were Buck Surdu’s soon to be published Feudal Patrol™, a card-based system similar to Combat Patrol™, but for eras/genres with more swords and arrows and matchlocks than modern warfare. As a huge fan of Combat Patrol™, I was really looking forward to trying the system. Here, it was a skirmish action.
The game went very well, with the players grasping the game’s concepts very quickly. Also, I liked the changes on the cards for melee and missile weapons. Our team’s matchlocks (and troop maneuver) held the day with a major victory.
Game set up.Maryland militia move in for the assault.Duncan Adams ably ran this fun game.Virginia had Indian allies – shown here attempting to flank our attack through the woods. A relief column of Virginians (upper right) kills one Marylander (forefront). The Virginians are then taken quickly under matchlock fire as they exit the woods.Marylanders take out the Virginian leader as he less than bravely hid in the brush.This became a bit of a scrum afterwards, with casualties mounting and the Marylanders prevailing.Close up of some of the figures and terrain.The Indians made a flanking charge from the woods, but were beaten back.
Game 4 – “Battle of Hannut” with 28 mm tanks; Rules – What a Tanker
Interestingly, Christopher had a few changes he made for the game. First, for activation, he used a card-based system. Second, he had everyone roll all of their Command Dice at the same time at the beginning of the turn. Lastly, he allowed you to turn in all your dice for one you wanted if your roll was bad. The card system was interesting, but really not too different than rolling dice, except that “banking” a six from the previous turn got you an additional card for activation that could be better than what you would have gotten. I’m not sure I like all players rolling all the Command Dice at the beginning – it allows you to see what your adversary can do before you take your turn. You also get to choose which Command Dice you lose if you take damage. The house rule on converting all your dice into one desired action was interesting, but I would not add that as it helps damaged tanks too much. It was different, but consistent for all players.
My SOMUA moved up quickly and was the target for no less than four German Panzers. My armor absorbed the hits, but eventually my tank was knocked out – with the crew surviving. I respawned as a new SOMUA, and rammed a Panzerjager 1. The game ended there. We achieved a minor victory for the French. Thanks to Christopher for running a superb and fun game.
The Battle of Hannut set up.My SOMUA attracts a lot of German attention (upper right).Eventually, my SOMUA was knocked out.Late in the game, I got to ram a Panzerjager I with my second SOMUA, doing minor damage to the German. Christopher Boynton used the flame markers as “ACQUIRED” markers.
Game 5 – “Test of Honour Returns to Hanghai”; Rules – Test of Honour
The last game for Saturday was “Test of Honor Returns to Hanghai” using Mike Paine’s wonderful and extensive Hanghai tabletop. Ted Salonich and Ryan MacRae split GM responsibilities as Chris Rett was unable to attend. They did a marvelous job running the Test of Honour rules by Grey for Now Games.
I also finally got to game with Mike Paine, a true legend in the New England gaming community. We were teams of three, and Mike faced off with us. We had a back and forth, but in the last couple of turns we were beaten back soundly.
Thanks again to Ted and Ryan for running a fun game.
Ryan (standing on the left) getting set up, while Mike Paine and his team wait for the game to start on Mike’s table.Mike Paine’s board is so much fun.Final scrum on the island – we were soon pushed back.
Game 6 – “Returning to Hanghai”; Rules – Mike Paine’s home brew rules
On Sunday morning, I had the chance to finally try Mike Paine’s Hanghai game. It is a 1920’s pulp game, and it is a big hit at a convention with both young and old. It was pretty much the same table as what we played Saturday night, but there were ships and planes and many other cool things all scattered everywhere. The amount of work that went into the table is staggering. You have to see it to appreciate it.
I took a naval crew in a gunboat – and I had a submarine. My leader was Captain Nemo. The goal of the game was to grab treasures and key items. I was playing next to Eric Schlegel, and I decided to try to eliminate the competition, which led to counter-fire, with Eric getting the better of the exchange. I ended up with only a submarine and one sailor, so with a long drive back home, I surrendered my sub to Eric with Mike Paine’s blessing.
Truly an epic game to try! Thanks to Mike Paine!
My crew and gunboat.Eric Schlegel’s forces return fire on me.Mike Paine – master of Hanghai game.The game attracted a lot of players, young and old. The amount of terrain is unbelievable.View of the harbor.My gunboat and Captain Nemo – before Eric shot them all.
This was my first HUZZAH! but hopefully not my last. By my count there were 117 games over the three day weekend, so this is a very small sample. Thanks to the folks of the Maine Historical Wargamers Association for running a classy convention!
If you have any thoughts or feedback, please let me know below. Thanks for looking!
My challenge was that I really did not have enough historically-appropriate tanks and tank destroyers for such a scenario. I did have 9 plastic British Shermans and 2 Fireflies that I bought on eBay that were well-painted. I also had 2 resin Shermans and 2 resin Stuarts that I got from a guy who makes his own models and sells them already painted. The British stuff came with a bunch of infantry that I sold, so the nice plastic British armor ended up costing me net only $1.40 each! The US tanks were OK for the tabletop, and for the price (about $5-6 as I remember), a relative bargain – but I wanted better. I also had no Germans for that theater, so that is part 2 of the project. For this part, I am focused on five US vehicles. Together, I will have enough to make a joint US/UK force.
Three of the five vehicles came from Battlefront and were metal and resin and some plastic: one M3A1 Stuart (#US003); one M4A2 Sherman (#US045); and one M10 Wolverine tank destroyer (#US102). The other two were M24 Chaffee tanks that did not make it to D-Day, but replaced Stuarts starting in the latter part of 1944. These two were 3D printed models from somebody on eBay – and not great detail-wise. But, the M24 was the tank my grandfather, Marcus C. Delaney, drove in Europe during WWII, so I thought I’d work on those at the same time. I used many of the same research books that I have cited before – and I did not take pictures as these are more recognizable to most gamers and modelers.
In Blister
M3A1 After painting, before adding decals and weathering
Sherman in blister
M4A2 after painting and prepped for decals
M10 in blister
After painting but before weathering and decals
After decals added
The 3D printed M24’s after I added magnets
M24 painted – I tried to obscure the 3D printer lines
Above, you can see the group – below is a group shot after assembly.
Ready for paint – 2 M24 Chaffee’s, an M3A1 Stuart, an M4A2 Sherman, and an M10 Wolverine – with its crew on toothpicks.Turrets mounted for painting.
I mostly used my airbrush for painting – and on the M24’s I tried to minimize the 3D printer lines with paints, washes, and weathering. I decided to try a few Vallejo weathering products that caught my eye – I made a test of them first. Of course, these are applied with a brush!
I thought the brown mud was too heavy, and the industrial splash mus was too thin – so I went with the other three.I really liked these three – very nice weathering products. The white labels on the top are what I do to help identify them in my supplies.Completed turrets.
It’s now time to share some eye candy of the completed tanks and the tank destroyer. Of course, I am also using these 5 as the first entry for a monthly painting challenge from Australia’s own Azazel – this being “Mechanismo May ’19 Community Painting Challenge“.
M3A1 Stuart in the bocage.Side shot of the Stuart in a field.Rear shot of the Stuart – it’s not as shiny as this!My M4A2 Sherman – “Deuces Wild”.Nice shot coming through the bocage – I really liked the mud and grass effects.Rear shot – beware lurking panzerfausts!Side shot of the M10 Wolverine cutting across a field into a gap in the bocage.Another side shot – this was a very fun model to build.My two M24 Chaffee’s. They won’t be at Normandy, but they will be later in the war. I do like that I was able to give them some better texture with the weathering products.Rear shot of the M24’s. M24’s in convoy. They were mostly used as scouts, and were used (and some are still used) by many different armies worldwide. My grandfather told me many stories about his service driving one.My 5 US tanks for this project.For comparison, here you see three Shermans – from left to right – my M4A2, a plastic British Sherman I bought already painted, and the resin one I bought pre-painted on eBay. Here are the two Stuarts for comparison. Mine is on the left – and the eBay resin one is on the right. I will treat the resin ones as M5’s, which are better in What a Tanker. My complete ETO Allied vehicles – there’s a couple of Fireflies in there too. I will use all of these except the M24’s for Normandy.
Now I have 18 US/UK vehicles for Normandy – which should be plenty. I also know that some folks are bringing some DD Shermans and a couple of Churchill’s. I have 6 German tanks and tank destroyers for Normandy and 11 for the Eastern Front (all about 60% completed), with 3 more to assemble (plus 5 scout cars). That should be enough for a couple of fun games. Stay tuned as I’m hoping to complete the Germans soon.
Thanks for checking this out – below are the paints etc. Let me know your thoughts if you would!
PAINTS, INKS, GLAZES, SHADES, WASHES, PIGMENTS AND FLOCKING USED ON THESE VEHICLES:
Battle Group Boston’s HAVOC 2019 (or HAVOC XXXV) is in the books. This previous weekend in Shrewsbury, MA was a Friday-Sunday gaming marathon that saw me run two games (“What a Tanker”in North Africa and “Attack of the Warbots” using Combat Patrol™). I also played in three other games: a First Boer War scenario using Combat Patrol™; “Look Sarge we are Invading Russia” using Look Sarge, No Charts™; and another “What a Tanker” game on Sunday. I have not been blogging much recently as my prep for the event took a lot of time. So, this post will share some shots of the events, with more focus on the games that either I ran as a GM or participated in as a player.
Of note, it was very nice to have my West Point classmate and good friend Dave Wood from the Maryland HAWKS make it up to play in my games and run two of his own. It was also great to see attendance and gaming from the Mass Pikemen, especially Mike Morgan, Leif Magnuson, Chris Comeau, and others.
On Friday, I ran “What a Tanker – North Africa” and had a full table. I was able to roll out my new Bonus Attack cards that I created for the convention. They were very popular in the game and I will be expanding my use of them in the future based on the scenarios I run and the historical aspects of the specific theaters and scenarios/battles. I will adjust their use, and how I allow tank replacements going forward. Still, the game went very well, and I earned an award for the “Best in Time Slot”! The Axis battled back from early losses and defeated the British 104-58.
My game announcement posterMy “Bonus Attack” cards for the game. They worked well, especially the Combat Engineers.I mapped out the game board in my cellar beforehand. I got a new 8′ x 4′ badlands/desert mat that worked very well for the scenario from Frontline Gaming.Detail of the town I put in the middle of the battlefieldFriday night’s full crowd at What a Tanker – North Africa using 15mm tanks.The first use of one of my Bonus Attack cards – in this case an airstrike card on a hapless M11/39.What a Tanker – or in this case “What a Rammer” as a Panzer IIIE runs into an A13. The Panzer IIIE got the worst of it from the Brit, but the A13 was subsequently knocked out by an Italian M13/40.The game had a lot of action, but in the end the Axis prevailed.I was happy to earn this award, but the players’ enthusiasm carried the day.
Saturday, I played in two games, and ran a third. The first one Saturday morning was “First Battle of the First Boer War” using the Combat Patrol™ rules system as modified for this era. It was a fun game, with the Boers holding off the British as they attempted to seize a wagon. In the end, the Boers prevailed.
Dave Wood briefs the players on the Boer War scenario.Boers are outnumbered, but hold the wall – each glass bead represents a morale check. They held for a long time.
There were many other games – over 56 I believe, and I did not get a chance to take a picture of all of them, but here are some shots below.
A beautiful American Civil War board.Palestine in WWI. Definitely a game I would have loved to try.Wings of Glory.Bolt Action.A new sci-fi game, Trilaterum, had some beautiful scenery.Test of Honor – and note a 1970’s classic return in the back – OGRE – a near future tank game. I played that game with cardboard chits in the early 1980’s.
The next game went up in operational level and down in miniature scale. Dave Wood ran “Look Sarge, We are invading Russia”, using the Look Sarge No Charts set of rules and 6 mm microarmor. The Germans held off the Russian counterattack, and won the game. Both of Dave’s games were very well-received.
The Germans move down the road.
Skipping to Sunday, Leif Magnuson ran a nice What a Tanker game using 28mm tanks in an Eastern Front battle. It was a lot of fun, and the Soviets eked out a win. Leif also won an award for “Best in Time Slot” – well-deserved. This meant that our club (The Mass Pikemen) won two awards – and both were “What a Tanker” games!
“Ivan is a Tanker” run by Leif Magnuson.
Flashing back to Saturday night – I ran an updated “Attack of the Warbots” game. The game was a success, as the players had a great time.
My game posterThe game set up plan.The tabletop is set – and the attack begins.The Warbots got slowed by the Aphids defense, but managed to advance a Mark 1 Sphere tank to the wall.On the other side of the board, Leif Magnuson’s Martians and Robot Peacekeepers press their attack against Chris Comeau’s Space Roos.Chris jet-packed his Space Roos into the heart of the Martian attack. The Star Ducks disabled a second Mark 1 Sphere tank with a satchel charge, immobilizing it and taking it out of the fight – a critical loss.Biological forces desperately converge on the Mark 1 Sphere tank as it breaks through and approaches the captured tank and its Space Dwarf repair crew.Meanwhile, the Robot Peacekeepers pulled a “Banzai” charge morale check and swarm the defending Space Roos on the other side of the table.
At this point in the battle, Duck Wader made a power leap with his Sith powers, and drove his light saber into the Warbot tank, resulting in its disabling just two inches from victory.
Nearby, Roberker, a giant robot (with flame-throwing arms) was the Warbots’ last chance. The Frinx shot Roberker a bit, and its resulting morale check caused a miracle result – apparently the robot lost face, ran away in shame, and blew himself up!
The suicide of Roberker. I replace these “ancient” miniatures on the battlefield when they become casualties with homemade cards.The card that did in Roberker. Note the morale result at the bottom – I have the Warbots use the South Pacific deck from Combat Patrol deck which have different (WWII Japanese) morale results.
The death of Roberker was followed by raucous laughter from the table – even from the player who had it happen to his Roberker.
I was tired after the weekend, but it was a great time. I want to thank all the players, as well as the GM’s, and especially Battle Group Boston for another fun convention!
I have been very busy – too busy to effectively write blog entries lately. I have been working on terrain and game support for the two games I will be running at HAVOC on April 5th and 6th. Each will support 10 players – and its my goal that all have a blast! So, in the interim, please enjoy these two announcements – hopefully I get some other stuff painted and blog-worthy for you dear readers! The link for the convention is here.
I am looking forward to seeing a number of friends – including my old USMA classmate (and HAWKS member) Dave Wood who is also running a couple of games – so that’s exciting too.
I’ll be running these two games!
I updated this game with my Space Roos and have new terrain!
Some of the items on the activity list below could be fairly called double-counting, but hey, no blood no foul! I tend to count projects in terms of their distinctive nature, ie the building/assembling/creating processes to me are different than painting, as is converting figures. I did not cast anything this year or make any molds as I still have plenty of figures to paint, and my hope is to knock out more of them in 2019, as I will not need to make as many game pieces/game aids.
This list, which is a separate page on my blog, helped me to stay focused. The adding of the hyperlinks that you see on the items below helps me to review past projects as prologue for future ones.
Thanks for checking this out – and good luck to all in 2019! Hope I keep you amused and entertained!
2018 Total Projects: 2,036
244 figures painted
0 figures cast
47 figures assembled
33 terrain pieces made or assembled
28 terrain pieces painted
10 figure conversions
867 creations or components sculpted or scratch-built
0 molds made
807 game pieces/game aids made and/or painted
January: 91 projects
Creations/components sculpted or scratch-built (91):
2 A9 Cruiser Mark I tanks (15mm/1:100 scale), from Battlefront Miniatures (#BR020)
1 A10 Cruiser Mark IIA (Desert) tank (15mm/1:100 scale), from Battlefront Miniatures (#BR023)
1 A13 Cruiser Mark IVA (Desert) tank (15mm/1:100 scale), from Battlefront Miniatures (#BR026)
1 Valentine III tank (15mm/1:100 scale), from Battlefront Miniatures (#BR061)
1 Crusader II tank (15mm/1:100 scale), from Battlefront Miniatures (#BR032)
1 Crusader III tank (15mm/1:100 scale), from Battlefront Miniatures (#BR034)
1 M3 Grant tank (15mm/1:100 scale), from Battlefront Miniatures (#BR100)
1 Churchill II tank (15mm/1:100 scale), from Battlefront Miniatures (#BR070)
5 M3 Stuart “Honey” tanks (15mm/1:100 scale), from Battlefront Miniatures (#BR006) – Brits will get two, I am saving one for future Soviet Lend-Lease, one for future captured German use in North Africa, and one as an American M3 for future captured Japanese use in Burma or the Philippines.
As 2018 comes near to a close, and with Christmas nearly upon us, I wanted to wish all of my readers and followers a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! You have all been so supportive of this blog, which is a big part of my hobby work.
So, please know that I appreciate all of you from all over the world who take the time to read my blog and to share your feedback. And you know who you are, to include Azazel, Buck, IRO, Roger, Subedai, Alex, JNV, Faust, Dave, Pete, Tichy, maenoferren22, Alexis, Le Bim, Wudugast, The One, theuniversalgardener, theimperfectmodeler, savageddt, Luke, redcaer1690, Matt, reductivetendency, patmcf, backtothehammer, and many, many others (and I hope I got most of you – if not apologies).
I am so grateful for your blogs as well. I aim to not only share my work but to amuse and inspire you, as you inspire me. If I get you to chuckle or say “wow”, I have hit my target.
As you can see from my hobby tally, I had a very productive year, and I hope to add to my total before year’s end. Of course, I need to get in some golf posts once in a while, but that will have to wait until April at least as I do live in New England!
I hope that I make you smile a bit over the years with this blog – and while I cannot send a beer or a glass of wine (or a pint for you Brits, Aussies, Kiwis!), I do send my best wishes and a card below. Please keep on reading – I aim to keep it going in 2019!
On Veteran’s Day 2018, I decided that I must see the American Heritage Museum in Hudson, MA. It has been known for aircraft, but recently acquired the Jacques M. Littlefield collection from California. They had a “soft opening” on their new tank and AFV collection, and it looked good on FaceBook. They also offered vets a free admission, so I thought it would be a good experience.
I had no idea I was about to see the most unbelievable collection of functioning military vehicles in the US.
Museum Entrance
A small cannon at the entrance
There was a short but very good video on Massachusetts and its role in the Revolutionary War. Then, a door opens and you find yourself in a WWI trench and a multi-visual presentation ensues.
WWI Nurse attending wounded
Trench warfare presentation
The trench
An FT 17 appears
After, you get to see the FT-17 (American made version) close up
Crank for the FT-17 and its data plate
Next, a door opens, and it is early WWII. A British Vickers Mark V is on display, along with a Mercedes staff car. There will soon be a Panzer I as well.
Vickers Mark V
Data sheet
Vickers Mark V (the chairs detract a bit!)
Another door opened to a walkway around a giant hall – and my jaw dropped multiple times.
One side of the massive exhibit hall is all WWIIThe other side goes from Korea to the present
So I was not expecting that many rare tanks, to include a functional Panzer V Panther. It had been recovered from a lake on the Eastern Front and fully restored. I will share some more pictures below, but these do not do this collection justice. It was amazing to see these so close up. There were very few placards on the vehicles, but luckily I know a lot of them because of my historical and war gaming interests as well as my background in the Army. If I misidentify any here, it’s on me.
Nebelwerfer and Halftrack
Sturmgeschutz III
A centerpiece of the collection is the Panther versus a Soviet T-34/85. There is a screen that has a multi-visual presentation of the two opposing tank commanders, with sounds, effects, and more. It concludes with the story of the recovered Panther.
The T-34/85 facing the Panther
Beautiful restoration of this Panther
Nice view of the T-34/85
Stunning to see this legend
The presentation screen with the opposing tank commanders
Here you see the Panther’s unrestored state as found
All major European and North African campaigns were represented. First, North Africa:
View from the walkway
Top of an M5 Stuart
An M3 Lee or a Grant
A Matilda II in British Desert markings
Close up of the M3
German Scout car
Then Italy:
M4 Sherman
M5 Stuart
German Kugelwagon
Not sure what this is, but the staff said there are only two remaining in the world
There was yet another T-34 – an older one:
T-34
There was a nice collection of UK tanks that I had never seen before:
Cromwell tank
Churchill tank
Interior view of the Churchill
Bren Gun carrier
A Locust! This is an American-made glider-transported tank that only saw service in the Rhine River crossings with the British Army. Very rare!
Daimler armored car
There were of course many WWII American tanks and tank destroyers:
An impressive display of Flak 88 AA gun and accompanying equipment was nicely. This could have been the gun that wounded my late Uncle Joseph Delaney in his B-17 in 1943.
88 Flak Display
There were a couple of Russian vehicles – an ISU-122 and an SU-100 displayed.
SU-100
ISU-122
My grandfather, Marcus C. Delaney, drove an M-24 Chaffee light tank in WWII. The museum put their Chaffee in the Korean War section, as it did serve there as well. I was feeling somber seeing my grandfather’s tank on Veteran’s Day, and I miss him. He was a hero to me, and a big reason I went into West Point and the US Army.
The Korean War displayM24 Chaffee, my grandfather drove this model in WWIITrying to take a selfie while feeling somber is a tough thing. I do miss my Papa (Marcus Delaney).
The next section was dedicated to the Vietnam War.
M41 Walker Bulldog light tank
M47 or M48 Patton
Vietnamese PT-76 amphibious tank
For the Cold War, there was an East German T-72.
T-72 side shot
T-72 turret
Next, the “hot” war that occurred during my service, the Gulf War. I did not go to the theater, and performed my duties stateside. I often say that they had a war and did not invite me.
SCUD launcher
M60A3 tank
M551 Sheridan – the last conflict for this airborne tank
Finally, the War on Terror, which had a USMC M1A2 Abrams tank (though I am not exactly sure which variant it was). It was hit by an IED in Fallujah in 2006. There is a touching video presentation of the event and its impact on the crew and the tank commander’s widow. RIP.
A girder from the Twin TowersThe USMC Abrams M1A2
The museum truly honors veterans, and I was humbled to walk through the many, many displays. To have one in Massachusetts like this is a really special thing. The museum will close from November 25th to April 15th, so there are a couple of weekends left to try to go before spring.
I will be coming back here for sure. Thanks to the American Heritage Museum for such a great homage to our history and our veterans.
On October 20th, there was a Devens game day at the former Ft. Devens in Massachusetts. I was interested in attending for a couple of reasons. First, I am trying to get to more gaming events in the area. Second, I was stationed at Fort Devens while I was a member of the 39th Engineer Battalion (Combat) from 1989-1992, so I was intrigued to see the post again in its new configuration. Fort Devens was closed as an active duty US Army post in the 1990’s, and Massachusetts has redeveloped the post by bringing in a lot of industry. Still, some of the post is used by the reserves. In fact my old battalion area seems to have been saved and redeveloped for the reserves. That area is all fenced off now and I did not want to photograph the area and draw unwanted attention to doing so! Other buildings and barracks areas are untouched since closure, with actual trees growing out of the edifices yielding an apocalyptic/Walking Dead look. This blog post is a bit late, but I did get wrapped up in the baseball ALCS and the World Series, which were both won by the great Boston Red Sox!
The actual game sessions were held at the Fort Devens Museum. There were three games there – a WWI game, a naval game, and a pulp game. I did not get any pictures of the naval game but you can read about in an excellent post here. I focused on playing a WWI game (given that it is close to the centenary of the end of that conflict). The board is entirely scratch built, and I believe the rules were “Trench Warfare”, but I am not sure. The game master, Bill, did an excellent job, and I wanted to share his board as it was excellent. The event clearly tried to recruit younger gamers, which was admirable for growing our hobby.
Starting side for the Allies. From far to near, the attackers were US Marines, British, and French. It was a bit ahistorical but a fun game. While I commanded the French, I had two British tanks – a Mark IV and a Whippet.Another view of the Allies starting positions.A truly beautiful scratch built table. Bill (the game master) is pictured here standing. He did a nice job creating a trench works system with 2′ x 2′ modular sections.Some of the German forces – they were to engage the USMC is a series of bloody hand-to-hand battles.Advancing my poilus and tanksAn engaged group. Bill kept the game moving (unlike the actual WWI)!The Germans move up, and get hit by very lucky hits by my French 75mm artillery.The hand-to-hand battleTaking out the forward observation posts and then getting torched by a German flamethrowerGerman artillery disables my Mark IV
The game ended in a draw, but I enjoyed it a lot.
There was also a pulp game that I did not play in, but that looked interesting.
Pulp Alley GameDruids and Nazis? And Stonehenge?
Lastly, I looked around the museum and looked for anything related to my old unit. The only thing I saw was a donation from a former lieutenant from the 1977 time frame. I do think I could find a few things myself. Interestingly, I am a local, and the 39th had members who for the most part live in other parts of the country. I do commend the museum for trying to resurrect the posts history from WWI until closure.
The only mention of the 39th
My thanks to the folks who set up this event and to the folks at the museum!
Many of you who follow my blog have read about Buck Surdu, my good friend and author of multiple wargaming rules systems. Of course, he is a fellow West Pointer so that’s in his favor! He is a major shaker and mover in the H.A.W.K.’s (Harford County Weekly Kriegspielers) in Maryland, and has been involved with BARRAGE for years.
Little Wars TV interviewed Buck, and I thought some of you would find this interesting.
Mark A. Morin 