Getting Back to the 1948 Israeli War of Independence

All,

It's been waaaaaay too long, but I am finally making my triumphant return to the Israeli War of Independence!  I'd gone back to 1948 and was following a platoon of Israeli militia defending their village then joining the Haganah as part of the Harel Brigade, made it through nine 15mm skirmish games already, which you can find here:
https://swordofgideonwargaming.blogspot.com/

I had kinda run out of 15mm skirmish ideas, had some ideas about going back to 10mm but didn't mess with it, then did some reading and got re-motivated, put in some orders to Pendraken and Minigs UK, and now, two years later, I'm ready to get back on the horse.

Here's everything; we've got the Arab Legion at left and Israelis at right, with vehicles taking us all the way up to the 1973 Yom Kippur War (my plan is to fight 1948, 1956, 1967, 1973, 1982, then see how I feel about 2006 and on), though with some gaps.  At top is an Old Glory 10mm desert fort, which I'd purchased for some Northwest Frontier colonial gaming, but figured could help me get through the Latrun battles.

The Israeli platoon: their infantry is Minifigs' WWII British infantry and British Airborne, their casualties, dismounted tank crew, surrendering dudes, and artillery piece (an Italian 65mm gun the Israelis called "Napoleonchiks"), and the two jeeps are all Pendraken.

The Arabs are similar: Minifigs WWII British and Modern Urban Insurgents, then casualties, dismounted tank crew, surrendering dudes, and artillery piece (an Italian 65mm gun that doesn't really fit here, but may substitute in as a generic pack howitzer or even a 2-pounder ATG) are all Pendraken.

On to the Israelis: the British Airborne pack only had two berets.  Well, that's fine, no real instances of Israelis wearing berets in combat that I'm aware of, but I still can't help myself.  I figure Avi Peled, the Platoon Commander, and his number two, Danny Tzur, will wear them.  "Hey Avi, what the hell am I supposed to do with this?" queries Danny.  "It makes you look handsome, quit complaining.  Leaders should be visible, this will aid us in that, and I like that it's the color of our new flag."  Avi will tote the pistol, while Danny will work the Sten.

Some closeups of the Israeli infantry, mostly British Airborne.  You see the motley assortment of uniforms, but the men are just happy to have some sort of uniform, with helmets and weapons for all.  I really like the poses, and number of unique poses in the pack.  My only real complaint is the pretty much complete lack of equipment the paras are carrying.  The only guys you'll see with packs or gear are 'regular' British infantry that I mixed in.

More closeups of the Israeli infantry.

Israeli heavy weapons: a PIAT, Vickers .30-cal water-cooled MG, and a 3-inch mortar.  You can see some of the casualty figures here.

More riflemen and casualty figures.

The 65mm artillery piece.

The dismounted tankers at left (Pendraken WWII German crews, used to mark crews bailing out), and surrendering troops (Pendraken WWII early war British).

The two jeeps, Pendraken US WWII models with .50-cal HMGs.

A couple trucks, Pendraken German models, will use for both sides.

An Israeli M-48, Pendraken model from their Vietnam range.  Painted it up with Israeli markings and kill rings.  Wasn't until after I did that that I realized now I could no longer use it in the Six-Day War as a Jordanian M-48, so I just put in another order to Pendraken ;)

Opposing side.

An Israeli Super Sherman from Pendraken, again with Israeli markings, or my best shot at free-handing them on the vehicle.

Opposite.

An Israeli 75mm-gunned M4 Sherman from Pendraken, again with Israeli markings.

Reverse.

Two M3 Halftracks from Pendraken, painted up as Israeli.  I'm going to use them from 1948 on, even though I know they wouldn't have had these sorts of markings in the War for Independence.  Also, they probably look a little (a lot?) screwy; Israeli halftracks didn't have cupolas for the .50-cal, they were on a pintle mount.  This was more than I could figure out, so I actually took the cupolas and moved them back, trying to get the HMGs closer to where they should be, but also...

So I could have a spot to put a gunner in (he's removable).

On to the Arabs, which I've painted up as the Arab Legion.  Here we have some Arab heavy weapons (Minifigs WWII UK infantry) and some riflemen (Minifigs insurgents I modified by cutting on the weapons to make the AK/RPKs look like bolt action rifles).

More heavy weapons and riflemen.

Closeups of the Arab riflemen, and their leader.

Nice clean, crisp castings.

Riflemen and casualty figures (from Pendraken).

Again.

The Arab field gun (Pendraken WWII Italian).

Arab dismounted tank crews and surrendering dudes, both from Pendraken.

A Pendraken T-34/85 painted up as Egyptian for the 1956 Suez War.

Opposite.

A Pendraken T-55 for the 1967 and 1973 Wars.

Reverse.

A Pendraken BTR-50.

Reverse.

A Pendraken R35 painted up for use by the Arabs for the 1948 war.

Reverse.

A Pendraken BTR-152 with 14.5mm HMG from Minifigs.

Reverse.

With a modified Pendraken Argentinian as gunner.

And let's take a quick look around the Old Glory fort.  Let's call this north to south, then we'll go clockwise.  At bottom center is the front door, guard tower at center left.

West to east.

South to north.

And east to west.

How 'bout some scale for this thing?  Here's Avi sneaking around, scoping things out at the front door.

Up on the northeast corner.

In the guard tower.

Near the south wall.

On the west wall.

Southwest corner.

Southeast corner.

Below the west wall, near the barracks.

And back in the northwest.  Not perfect for Latrun, but close enough, and a damned cool little fort, glad I finally got it finished.  My five-year old is absolutely crazy about this thing.  Like I said, it is pretty cool ;)

More to come.

V/R,
Jack