3mm WWII Brits and Germans for Operation Jupiter

All,

The boy and I have been playing and having a great time with Operation Jupiter, specifically, Ben Lacy's amazing scenario book of the same name.  We've already played eight fights (one in 15mm, seven in 10mm), and were having a lot of fun.  But we're crunched for time due to all the other gaming we're doing (a great problem to have), and I like 3mm, so I picked some stuff up from Pico Armor (those guys are fantastic!) so we could play on a small board with very little set-up/cleanup time.  I ordered, had them in my hands two days later; then I cleaned them and put them on sticks, painted, based, and flocked, all in about 3 1/2 hours.  Here's a look at them.

The entire force, based on pennies, with British on the right and Germans on the left.  I used a dark green for the Brit vehicles and olive drab for the men, dunkelgelb for the German vehicles and gray for the men.  I don't ten to do camo on 3mm, I'm just not very good at it.  I've seen guys on the 'net that have done it very well, but I always end up screwing it up, so I stick with basic colors and throw a wash on them.  The Brits are up first.

Some tanks: four Sherman Vs and a Firefly (top center).

More tanks: four Churchills (yeah Shaun, I finally got some Churchills!).

Some tank destroyers: four Achilles (M-10 with 17-pounder).

The command stand (top left), and two anti-tank guns: 6-pdr at left, 17-pdr at right.

Transport: five Universal (AKA, "Bren") carriers.  Yeah, Bren carriers in 3mm; tiny, but immediately recognizable.

Infantry support: two two are 3" mortars, center is a Vickers MG, and the bottom two are PIATs (actually, bazookas, but close enough).

Infantry: Six rifle quads.

Now for ze Chermans.

Assault guns and anti-tank guns: at right are two Stug IIIs (top right you can see I was jacking around with a piece of flash and snapped the muzzle brake off the damn barrel).  Top left is a PaK-40 75mm ATG, bottom left is a PaK-43 88mm ATG.

Tanks: A single Panther.  Look at that sculpting, absolutely incredible!

Tanks: Three Panzer IVHs.

Tanks: the big boys, four Tigers (the one at top left is missing its muzzle brake, and I didn't do that one).

Transport: Three Sdkfz 251 halftracks.  They have troops in them, so the gray dots are little German helmets.

HQ and Support: at top is a Sdkfz 251/22, the anti-tank version with a long 75mm gun, while at bottom is the German command stand.

Infantry Support: top left is a Panzerschreck, MG-42 at right, and 80mm mortar at bottom left.

Infantry: four rifle squads.

That does it for now, but wanted to show off the stuff, which we plan on putting to use in the near future.  Hope you like them, and if you've got any questions, just let me know.

V/R,
Jack

Operation Jupiter Campaign Plan and Roster

All,

I've had Ben Lacy's fantastic scenario book, "Operation Jupiter," which covers British fighting near Caen in July 1944, for several years now.  I've always wanted to play through the whole book, and have played a couple of the scenarios but got off track with other projects and then was putting it off to use with my KG Klink.  But then my Aussie buddy, Mr. Shaun Travers has been playing and posting them, and I've got a hankering for some fighting in Normandy that just won't wait, certainly not as long as it's going to take for KG Klink to get there!

So my plan is to follow a fictional British Battalion and German Battalion (the book is well researched and actually uses various British and German units/formations, but I want to follow specific units to make it more personal) through approximately thirty fights included in the scenario book.  As is often my custom, I will be be playing these in 10mm (Pendraken) using Ivan's excellent "5Core Company Command" rules.  But there is a dramatic departure from the norm: I will not be playing these solo!  I will be playing against my 6-year old son, Nik, already a veteran of half a dozen 5Core fights.  I will serve as the British battalion commander, and he the German.

The 5th Westchesterfords North Riding Rangers of the Highland Coldshire Guards (5th WNRRHCG)
Officer Commanding: Colonel "Strapping Jack" McDaniel

A Company - Major Dillon, WIA, decorated for valor, and evacuated (F6)
2iC - Lt Cooman
(F1) Victory, 20 WIA/KIA, one Sherman immobilized but recovered.
(F6) Defeat, 45 WIA/KIA, two Shermans knocked out, three Universal Carriers knocked out.

B Company - Major Travers
2iC - Lt Rownan
(F2) Defeat, 25 WIA/KIA, 10 POW, and one Sherman knocked out.
(F7) Victory, 20 WIA/KIA, one M4 Sherman knocked out, one M10 Wolverine knocked out, and one Bren Carrier knocked out.

C Company - Major Lemmuel
2iC - Lt Boggler
(F3) Victory, 10 KIA/WIA.
(F8) Defeat, 20 WIA/KIA, one M4 Sherman knocked out.

D Company - Major Phillips
2iC - Lt Canham, decorated for valor (F4)
(F4) Victory, 6 KIA/WIA.
(F5) Victory, 30 KIA/WIA, one M4 Sherman destroyed, one M4 Sherman damaged (main gun).
The tank commanders of the Firefly and T3 were decorated for valor, the crews were mentioned in dispatches.

The 457th PanzerGrenadier Abteilung
Commanding Officer: Oberst Kanicke

1st Company - Captain Sorensen, WIA, decorated for valor, and evacuated (F6)
2iC - Lt Weidthaus
(F1) Defeat, 30 WIA/KIA, two PaK-40s lost.
(F6) Victory, 20 KIA/WIA, one Sdkfz 251/22 destroyed.

2nd Company - Captain Keipers, decorated for valor (F2).
2iC - Lt Teigner, decorated for valor (F2).
(F2) Victory, 15 WIA/KIA.
(F7) Defeat, 15 WIA/KIA, 5 POW, one Panther knocked out, one Pz Mk IV knocked out.

3rd Company - Captain Rolfbertsen
2iC - Lt Eichtoriel
(F3) Defeat, 20 KIA/WIA, 5 POW.
(F4) Defeat, 3 KIA/WIA.
(F8) Victory, 30 WIA/KIA, two Stug IIIs knocked out, two Sdkfz 251s knocked out.

4th Company - Captain Eireserb
2iC - Lt Tokapiksee
(F5) Defeat, 35 KIA/WIA, 5 POW, two PaK-40 ATGs destroyed.