6mm British Infantry platoon - WW2

This week I took the time to finish painting up another platoon of British infantry. They had been based and primed, base then painted a sand colour.

I painted the following, in the following order:

Session 1:

Attach figures to coins/metal disks.

Spray with white primer

Paint the base a sandy yellowish colour

Session 2:

Flesh - messy

Uniform - messy. I used Vallejo Khaki

Guns of all figures/boots of prone figures - black

Wash - Agrax Earthshade

Helmets - US Green

 Session 3:

A selection of backpacks and pouches - Russian Green

Flock the entire base.

Paint rim of base black/dark grey

Session 4:

Paint a blue edge on rear of base

Put white stripes on blue section to help identify which section each stand belongs to

This lighter colour scheme has worked well for me and makes them pop a little more. Worth noting, before putting green on them I felt like this could be a colour scheme for 8th Army of DAK. 

Two of these stands will form the Platoon command section. The other will be a floating stand to help track casualties.

These are ready for when I need single figures. They will come in handy if I try my hand at Chain of Command in 6mm.

This is designed to be a replen-point for CoC, or a generic objective marker. They are Perfect Six Miniatures bits and bobs that I picked up last year some time.

These are NCOs, on larger bases designed to be useful for if I try CoC in 6mm. I might never go that route as I am suddenly into 15mm.

This Soviet armour has been sitting around for a long time. I finished it up while watching the England game the other day. Just a wash and flock. The challenge was painting the tank riders and commander. I used my new colour scheme for Soviet troops and feel they blend a little too well into the tanks. When they were brownish they stood out better.

You can never have enough T-70s. I only have three though.

The Iron Riders' Road East: Part 5 - Protect the road!

Snow began falling. It came fast and it came heavy. One of the supply routes was being threatened, so 1st Platoon was sent over to help create a defensive line to try and stop the Krauts cutting the road. They had been probing up and down the road and scouts had reported a company to platoon sized force with some armoured support on the way to cut the road in this area. 

Matty O'Doul with 1st squad and the M4 would sit atop the hill on the left flank. Their job was to provide covering fire across the road onto the other hilltop. Lt. Rourke would occupy the farm and hold Hennings and 2nd squad in reserve, while Malloy's 3rd squad and the 30 cal team would quickly cross the road and try to set up a defensive line in the roods on top of the hill. They would try and do this before any Germans arrived. 

Here we see O'Doul and 1st squad along with the M4 overlooking the valley.

Here are Malloy and 3rd squad getting ready to rush across the road. 

There were two possible concentrations of Germans! Malloy's squad was almost on the crest of the hill.

Malloy separated his BAR team from his rifle team. They each positioned themselves up on the edges of the two copses to set up a crossfire. There was a rumble and a squealing of metal on metal. Over the crest appeared a Panzerjager IV along with a smattering of infantry loping along, hugging cover. An MG34 tore the atmosphere with a spray of bullets, forcing Malloy and his rifle team to duck for cover. 

With timing that could only be described as disastrous a supply column appeared over the horizon and slowly rumbled along the road. 

A sharp crack split the air. Kraut high velocity rounds! There was a Pak 40 in the woods!

One of the Deuce and a Halfs erupted in flame! The road was incredibly exposed and at risk of getting cut!

Malloy and the rifle team exchanged fire with the German squad, killing one of them. The Panzerjager IV crept closer to the road. 

The convoy trundled forwards. 

More sharp cracks as rounds were shot off by the Pak 40 and SPG!

Explosions threw up dirt from the road. Shrapnel tore through the canvas coverings, but the trucks kept moving.

Lt. Rourke ordered Hennings and his squad forward across the road. The 30 cal team also pushed forwards.

 

O'Doul and the M4 also advanced down the hill in an attempt to flank the top of the hill on the other side of the road. 

Malloy and his team continued to exchange fire with the Krauts on the hill. More fire came down the hill and another truck was blown apart. 

German reinforcements arrived! The rest of the platoon hurried into position on the hill top and began engaging in the battle.

O'Doul and his rifles had to duck for cover as they were engaged by one of the newly arrived German squads. 

The M4 and BAR team engaged those Krauts and sent them scurrying for cover and inflicting a casualty.

Hennings' squad, the 30 cal and Malloy's squad engaged the Krauts on the hill again, doing more damage. The fighting on the hill was getting quite intense!

One of Malloy's men went down under fire from the MG34 and some HE from the Pak 40. While rallying his team a shard of shrapnel zinged across the air, hitting Malloy, sending him sprawling, bleeding. 

The Germans on the hill poured rifle fire down the hill. The 50mm mortar team also let off a few rounds.

Now stuck in the valley O'Doul and his team became pinned down by the rifle and mortar fire! Their plan had turned them into more of a liability than a help!

O'Doul, gaining in confidence and tactical awareness rallied his squad and returned fire. Supported by the Sherman, they set the top of the hill ablaze...

...causing the German rifle team, who had been giving O'Doul all of the problems took casualties. The remainder broke and ran. 

More furious exchanges of fire atop the hill! A bazooka round ricocheted off the side of the Panzerjager. Bullets peppered the ground around the MG34 team. The German rifle team who had been engaging Malloy came under heavy pressure. 

The Panzerjager took another shot at the convoy, missing. Hennings was slowly advancing up the hill. His BAR team was covering from the road. Lt. Rourke got on the horn with a warning and request for any available support. He was told it was on the way, just sit tight and keep the road open.

The Pak 40 and MG34 team redirected fire onto the 30 cal team. 

In the woods two German rifle teams charged, with difficulty, at Malloy's BAR team. The Americans poured defensive fire onto the attackers, forcing one rifle team to stop in their tracks. 

The other group of Krauts made it through the fire. It was deadly, vicious and close. Casualties on both sides. The Americans just had the edge, keeping their resolve. The German squad, what was left of it fell back. 

The Sherman fired on the mortar team, pinning it. A German rifle team crept towards the woods edge to engage the convoy.

Hennings and his team arrived in the woods. The Germans, having regrouped, returned fire onto the mauled BAR team, causing them to keep their heads down. 

Caught in the open, the 30 cal team took heavy fire. The rounds came thick and fast. Neither crewman survived. 

The SPG fired over at Hennings' BAR team on the road, suppressing them. Things were falling apart for the Americans. The road was going to be cut!

Another rumble. More squealing of metal on metal. This time from the road. This time the rumble was US armour. Enough armour and supporting infantry to prevent a gap in the line appearing. 

With the road secured, and the division suffering heavily, it was decided they would be sent back to a quiet sector of the line. They would be switched out with a unit protecting the Elsenborn Ridge. They would have access to hot meals and billets with, if not beds, a roof, walls and some warmth. 

Malloy was dead, along with half of his squad. These men would likely not be replaced for a while. Keeping the supply route open felt very much like a Pyrrhic victory.  

The Iron Riders' Road East: Part 3 - Screening the Engineers

The platoon had just enough time to grab some replacements from the depot before being sent back out into the fight. A detachment of engineers were going to be clearing mines from a key supply route as the division was preparing to jump into a full scale incursion into the Hurtgen Forest. 1st Platoon, Baker was tasked with the job - at worst there might be a small German patrol to fend off. It must be obvious by now to the Germans that a large attack is on the way, and they were probably digging in and preparing defenses. 

With Red Kingsley wounded, and his squad shaken and full of replacements now, Lt. Rourke thought he should just take 2nd and 3rd squads out. Hennings and 2nd squad were hard, seasoned. Cpl. Frank Malloy and 3rd squad could perhaps be blooded and get some experience against some Jerries. 

2nd Lt. Jacob "Jake" Rourke - interested in working his way through the ranks to best provide for his family back home. Bold but inexperienced. 

Staff Sgt. Michael "Micky" Delaney - Fond of a tipple, he has seen a lot. Aged 29 he is the old man of the platoon, the backbone, and trusted by all.

Squad leader - 2nd Squad: Cpl. Walter "Walt" Hennings - An aggressive patriot, will stop at nothing to fight for the cause of freedom. Admired and feared. 

Squad leader - 3rd Squad: Cpl. Frank Malloy  - promoted after the death of Sgt. Bandowicz. Inept and in it for himself, this man is unpopular. 

The platoon would split in two. Part would advance into the fields and sit tight. They would engage any patrols who they found. The other half would advance quickly up the hill and occupy the wooded area at the top. This would provide cover and great fields of fire at any German patrols. 

Advancing up the hill would be Hennings and 2nd squad. They had an attached .30 cal team to help pack a punch. 

Malloy and 3rd squad would take the less dangerous task of sitting in the field and detering any advancing patrols. Lt. Rourke would head up the hill, but keep an eye out on Malloy in the field. 

As Rourke and Hennings charged up the hill, they noticed movement. There was a patrol up in the hills! And they were closer than the Americans would have liked. 

Malloy had his BAR team sit tight in the field further forward, and his rifles in another. They would sit at the edge and respond to orders as needed. 

The true extent of the German patrol became clear! A rag-tag group. A cobbled together platoon with a couple of rifle squads and a ton of machine guns! Where they had found two MG42s was a mystery, but they were holding onto them. They had even managed to comandeer an Sdkfz 222! 

One rifle team and an MG42 targetted Henning's rifle team with a devastating hail of fire! 

One man went down in a bloody mist, the rest hit the ground! Cpl. Hennings, hunched but mobile, grabbed them by the scruffs of their necks, kicked, shouted, pointed, and got them back into the fight!

The entire of 2nd squad laid down enough fire onto the German rifle team that they hit the dirt and kept their heads down, heavily suppressed!

Rourke and his squad charged another MG42 team, forcing them out of position! No casualties!

Henning's squad took more fire from an MG42 team, taking another casualty! Again Hennings dragged them off their bellies and back into the firefight! This man is a true american hero!

The German platoon leader and his rifle team charged down the .30 cal team, forcing them to head back out of the woods!

Rourke's team took fire from the rest of the Germans in the woods, but nothing stuck. Too many trees in the way. This was absolutely desperate fighting at short ranges. 

The Sdkfz 222 trundled around the hilltop, looking to flank the platoon.

 It spotted Malloy's squad and opened fire, killing a man and pinning the BAR team. 

Rourke kept the desperate close range firefight going in the woods, killing a German but no-one was ready to retreat yet. His radio-operator got on the radio to find out about the progress of the Engineers. They were almost done! He just had to hold on for a little while!

Hennings had his rifle team follow him around the back of the woods in an attempt to secure them from another angle. His BAR team exchanged fire with the Germans and unfortunately took a casualty!

The radio crackled - the minefield was cleared. It was time to begin a fighting retreat! 1st platoon had taken a bit of a mauling but had succeeded.

Frank Malloy and 3rd squad held the field and laid down covering fire as Rourke and Hennings led their men down the hill and back to US lines. The brass would be pleased that the mine-clearing was a success. 1st platoon might even get a couple of days' rest before the division jumped off! 

In game mechanic terms, Hennings was insane! 2nd squad took a lot of hits from the MG42 and rifle team. They failed seven morale tests across two turns. Hennings led from the front seven times and every time they rallied and passed the morale test. Any time I rolled a 1 he would be dead - but he didn't die!

This wasn't the best fight for the platoon. Luckily Staff Sgt. MIckey Delaney managed to whisper to the correct people and the whole platoon managed to get pulled back from the front line for 4 days. This enabled them to settle in a full complement of replacements, and attempt to get them in any way combat ready. No squads would be shaken or have any negative effects from the previous battles. In fact, Lt. Rourke, on the back of a few successful missions is feeling confident. His morale is increasing! I will allow him to reroll a morale test, or have a bonus on any breaking point tests next battle.  

In other news an NPC will be tagging along next mission. 

Platoon Morale: 1
Replacement Points: 7

Reputation: 1

Platoon HQ squad: 2XP (at 3xp they become hardened and can have a free reroll of a morale test)

2nd Squad: 2XP

3rd Squad: 1XP - Nice to see Malloy not screw the pooch.