Scots in Great War London: A Community at Home and on the Front Line 1914-1919

This new examination of World War One pulls together often untold stories and includes famous names such as Sir Douglas Haig, John Buchan and Lord Kinnaird, known as football’s first superstar. These three were all linked with Scottish organisations in London which had to rise to the challenge of World War One. Churches and clubs which looked after Scots who had moved south to work in the capital played an important role on the Home Front. The book, drawing on unpublished articles at the time, describes how St Columba’s Church of Scotland in Knightsbridge fed and entertained nearly 50,000 Scottish troops heading home on leave or returning to the trenches. Moving letters from grateful families are quoted. John Buchan was an elder of the church, so too Sir Douglas Haig after the war. The other Scottish Kirk in London, Crown Court numbered Lord Kinnaird among its elders – he lost both his sons during the conflict.

Rugby players from London Scottish were quick to join up. More than two thirds of the sixty who turned out for the club in the last season before the war never returned. There was a heavy toll amongst Scots in London who were members of the Caledonian Club. The Club’s substantial art collection immortalises its connection to the Great War, some of which is reproduced in the book. Many members and associates of Scottish churches and clubs were quick to join the London Scottish Regiment on the outbreak of war. They became the first territorials to see action after being rushed to the frontline close to Ypres in October 1914. The Scots Guards, too, had longstanding links with the capital. Scottish exiles in Canada joining their local regiments were pleased to remember their roots and traditions as they moved through wartime London.

Charities founded by Scottish benefactors in London, which have since evolved into Scots Care and the Royal Caledonian Educational Trust, supported the troops and families and their role is covered.

One hundred years on from the final year of conflict this book examines the close links between these organisations and their shared hopes, fears and tragic losses. Scotland’s casualties in World War One were disproportionately higher than other parts of the UK. The book reflects how that toll was reflected south of the border in London, through which so many Scottish soldiers would have passed on their way to and from the horrors of war.

Dambusters: The Forging of a Legend: 617 Squadron in World War II

617 Squadron of 5 Group RAF Bomber Command was without doubt the most famous RAF Squadron in World War II.

It was formed to carry out the precision low-level attack on the Mohne, Eder and Sorpe Dams, using Barnes Wallaces newly developed rotating mine, now commonly referred to as The Bouncing Bomb. The raid was a tremendous success, although at great cost to the squadron, and proved to be a great moral booster for the war-weary British public.

Guy Gibson VC was tasked with organising the formation and training of the new squadron and the Dambusters have been national heroes ever since. Although several books have previously been written on this epic adventure, this is a new look at their first raid and then the long and envious history of 617 until the end of the war.

This new version of the Dams raid within the book, pays particular attention to timings, as it is easy to overlook the fact, that this was a complex three-phase operation, spanning 8 hours and 47 minutes, with action occurring simultaneously at widely dispersed locations. It also attempts to settle finally the circumstances of the losses, by examining the testimony of eyewitnesses on both sides, and presenting arguments to help readers decide for themselves what actually happened where previous accounts are contradictory or at variance.

In the later war years 617 suffered greatly during an attack on the Dortmund-Ems Canal but recovered and their list of priority special targets then included the German missile research plant at Peenemunde, Hamburg, the U boat pens at La Pallice and the sinking of the battleship Tirpitz. The legendary Leonard Cheshire VC led the Squadron for much of that period.

This newly researched account of 617s wartime record contains many first-hand accounts from squadron members and also German and Dutch witnesses who were present at some of the most spectacular raids and have explained many of the mysterious losses of the Squadrons aircraft. Lengthy appendices contain a Roll of Honour, Commanders, Airfields and aircraft, Operational statistics and Aircraft Histories.

ZGZ-108 Zugzwang from Baphominiatures

The ZGZ-108 Zugzwang is a slow moving, mobile siege breaking platform.  It's sole purpose is to dismantle hardened defenses and to expedite the  occupation or annexation of cities. With only five superheavy sabot shells, twin cruise missiles, and limited anti-infantry and armor reloads, the Zugzwang is always found near supply vehicles.  Support crews are trained specifically for efficient reload sessions,  often clocking in at under a quarter of an hour delay between  bombardments.

There are no tacticals used by any military that can withstand the kinetic force of even a glancing hit by its primary cannon, making the presence of a Zugzwang on the battlefield a looming threat for any rival force.

Although unable to be drone controlled and requiring a two person crew for full functionality, the Zugzwang does possess large, kinesthetically trained and programmed hands capable of lifting massive chunks of rubble and debris to assist in urban engineering efforts post combat.

ZGZ-108 Zugzwang

Baphominiatures

New Releases for June 2018! from Osprey Publishing Ltd

New Releases for June 2018!, we have another fantastic set of new releases

The Forgotten Dead

27 April 1944. Exercise Tiger. German E-boats intercept rehearsals for the D-Day landings... On a dark night in 1944, a beautiful stretch of the Devon coast became the scene of desperate horror. Tales began to leak out of night-time explosions and seaborne activity. This was practice for Exercise Tiger, the main rehearsal for the Utah Beach landings...

This fiasco, in which nearly 1,000 soldiers died, was buried by officials until it was almost forgotten. That is, until Ken Small discovered the story, and decided to dedicate the rest of his life to honouring the brave young men who perished in the disastrous exercise. Pulling a Sherman tank from the seabed, Ken created a memorial to those who died and started to share their story, and his, with the world.

This updated edition of a bestselling classic is a gripping tale of wartime disaster and rescue in the words of the soldiers who were there, and of one man's curiosity that turned into a fight to ensure that they would never be forgotten.

US Airborne Soldier vs German Soldier

The US Airborne force fielded some of the toughest, best-trained and most resourceful troops of World War II - all necessary qualities in a force that was lightly armed and which would in most operational circumstances be surrounded from the moment it landed on the battlefield. The German Wehrmacht grew to rely on a series of defensive measures to combat the airborne threat, including fortifications, localized reserves, and special training to help intercept and disrupt airborne troops both in the air and on the ground. Despite such methods it was cool-headed command and control that would prove to be the real key to blunting the Airborne's edge.
Using specially commissioned artwork, this book examines the development of the American airborne forces that spearheaded the Allied effort in Sicily, Normandy and Operation Market Garden, and the German countermeasures that evolved in response to the threat of Allied airborne landings.

US Flush-Deck Destroyers 1916–45

Four pipes and flush decks - these ships were a distinctively American destroyer design. Devised immediately prior to and during the United States' involvement in World War I they dominated the US Navy's destroyer forces all the way through to World War II.

They were deployed on North Atlantic and Norwegian Sea convoys, and virtually everywhere in the Pacific, from Alaska to Australia. Fifty were given to Great Britain in its hour of need in 1940, and many would serve in other navies, fighting under the Soviet, Canadian, Norwegian, and even the Imperial Japanese flags. They also served in a variety of roles becoming seaplane tenders, high-speed transports, minesweepers and minelayers. One was even used as a self-propelled mine during Operation Chariot, destroying the dry dock at St. Nazaire.

Fully illustrated throughout with commissioned artwork and contemporary photographs, this volume reveals the operational history of these US Navy ships that fought with distinction in both World Wars.

The "Trapdoor" Springfield

Intended to replace the proliferation of different small arms fielded by US forces during the American Civil War, the "Trapdoor Springfield” was designed in 1865-66 by Erskine S. Allin. Using metallic cartridges, it could be loaded in a single action, increasing the number of shots per minute as much as fivefold. The new weapon quickly proved its worth in two separate incidents in August 1867: small groups of US soldiers and civilians armed with the trapdoor repulsed numerically superior Native American contingents. A simple and cost-effective weapon, it was used, along with its variants in every US conflict in the three decades after the Civil War, especially on the American frontier.

Drawing upon first-hand accounts from US soldiers, their Native American opponents, and users such as buffalo hunters, this is the story of the "Trapdoor Springfield”, one of the defining weapons of the Indian Wars.

Latin American Wars 1900–1941

From the Mexican Revolution to the Zarumilla War, in the first 40 years of the 20th century the nations of Central and South America were frequently disturbed by border clashes, civil wars and revolution. Many of these conflicts became known as 'Banana Wars'. Some involved only lightly armed guerrillas, but others saw armies operating artillery and armoured vehicles, supported by aircraft and river navies. The conflicts in Honduras and Nicaragua saw the intervention of US Marines, and later wars involved armour and aircraft from the militaries of Europe.
Using detailed colour plates and a wealth of contemporary photographs, this book shows the uniforms, equipment and strategies of the armies involved in these conflicts little known in the West. Covering wars crossing the length and breadth of the continent, this is the fascinating account of the wars that helped shape modern Latin America.

With Their Bare Hands

With Their Bare Hands traces the fate of the US 79th Division - men drafted off the streets of Baltimore, Washington, and Philadelphia - from boot camp in Maryland through the final years of World War I, focusing on their most famous engagement: the attack on Montfaucon, the most heavily fortified part of the German Line, during the Meuse-Argonne Offensive in 1918.

Using the 79th as a window into the American Army as a whole, Gene Fax examines its mistakes and triumphs, the tactics of its commander General John J. Pershing, and how the lessons it learned during the Great War helped it to fight World War II. Fax makes some startling judgments, on the role of future Army Chief-of-Staff, Colonel George C. Marshall; whether the Montfaucon battle - had it followed the plan - could have shortened the war; and if Pershing was justified in ordering his troops to attack right up to the moment of the Armistice.
Drawing upon original documents, including orders, field messages, and the letters and memoirs of the soldiers themselves, Fax tells the engrossing story of the 79th Division's bloody involvement in the final months of World War I.

Instrument of War

Drawing on more than a half-century of research and teaching, Dennis Showalter presents a fresh perspective on the German Army during World War I. Showalter surveys an army at the heart of a national identity, driven by - yet also defeated by - warfare in the modern age, which struggled to capitalize on its victories and ultimately forgot the lessons of its defeat.

Exploring the internal dynamics of the German Army and detailing how the soldiers coped with the many new forms of warfare, Showalter shows how the army's institutions responded to, and how Germany itself was changed by war. Detailing the major campaigns on the Western and Eastern fronts and the forgotten war fought in the Middle East and Africa, this comprehensive volume, now publishing in paperback, examines the army's operational strategy, the complexities of campaigns of movement versus static trench warfare, and the effects of changes in warfare.

Frostgrave: The Maze of Malcor

Part magical university, part museum, part tourist attraction, the great Collegium of Artistry had flourished in Felstad's final days. Under the leadership of the seemingly immortal Malcor the Mad, the vast complex expanded, with new wings being built wherever they would fit, including up and down the rock face, and even buried within the mountain itself. Visitors called it one of the architectural wonders of the world; the students, who often got lost in its endless tunnels, simply called it ‘The Maze'.

With a titanic crash, an immense ice shelf tears free from the mountains that that loom above Frostgrave, revealing the lost Collegium, and the race for its secrets begins. The Maze is known to have contained many rare and unique treasures, and who knows what may have survived...

This new, expanded supplement for Frostgrave contains a host of new adventures, treasures, and creatures to challenge players. It also includes its own, unique campaign and experience system, as well as information about several of the mythical lost schools of magic.

Last Days: Zombie Apocalypse

Last Days: Zombie Apocalypse is a skirmish-scale miniatures game of survival horror. It pits players against each other in a nightmarish near-future where the dead have returned to life and are feasting on the living.

Players build their own factions, representing desperate civilians, military personnel, or hardened survivors, and must explore, scavenge, and fight in order to survive another day. Rival gangs are only one of the dangers they face - mindless zombies wander the streets, driven by insatiable hunger and drawn by the sound of combat!

A gang's ability to scavenge is as vital as their combat ability, and players must ensure that they have the resources to survive in this hostile world. Scenarios and campaigns allow you to develop your gang, gain experience and recruit new henchmen to build up your strength or replace the inevitable casualties of the zombie apocalypse.

Frostgrave: Oathgold

Kazran is a pursuer, a member of an ancient bounty-hunting order. Wielding the magics of the mythical Court of Crows, he has lived a life dedicated to bringing justice to the wronged, without fear or favour.

But when circumstance forces him to accept commission from a notorious crime lord, Kazran becomes entangled in a web of deception and betrayal. As he scours Frostgrave's ruins in search of a young woman and her stolen magical treasure, he finds more questions than answers. Who is she? What exactly did she steal? Why did she run? And just where does Kazran's mysterious benefactor stand on the matter?

In the end, the greatest question remains - does justice have any place in the Frozen City?

Bachem Ba 349 Natter

The Bachem Ba 349 Natter was a secretive, vertical take-off, single-seat rocket interceptor intended to offer high-speed defence of key targets. This radical aircraft offered Luftwaffe an inexpensive means with which to intercept and attack Allied heavy bombers using a vertically-launched, semi-expendable machine built of wood and armed with a nose-mounted ‘honeycomb' battery of spin-stabilised air-to-air rockets as well as cannon armament. Launched vertically at 36,000ft per minute, the pilot was expected to fly within range of the enemy bombers, fire his rockets at them, ram another bomber, eject and parachute to the ground.

Illustrated with contemporary photographs and stunning commissioned artwork, this study examines this inventive yet ultimately unsuccessful attempt by the Luftwaffe to defend against the tide of Allied aircraft that was bombing German cities into the ground.

The German Soldier's Pocket Manual

This is the first Pocket Manual to be dedicated to the German Army in the First World War, with chapters comprising of complete documents or extracts drawn from two major sources: the German Army of 1914 - 1918 itself, or the intelligence sections of other armies.

It describes the new tactics and units developed by the German army during the war, including the myths surrounding Stormtrooper units. These new methods used were a result of interaction between the opposing forces and incremental in their appearance. Nevertheless the new ideas were hugely influential and important not only to the German army but to others as well, including British and American forces.

Utilising a wide range of sources, including various pamphlets and manuals that were produced throughout World War I, this fascinating pocket manual gives a German perspective to World War I.

Frostgrave: The Grimoire

A set of cards featuring all the spells from the Frostgrave books published to date (the rulebook, Thaw of the Lich Lord, Into the Breeding Pits, Forgotten Pacts, The Frostgrave Folio, and Maze of Malcor), providing the ultimate in-game reference guide for aspiring Wizards.

Fate of a Nation

The fate of a nation hangs in the balance. Israel cannot afford to lose a single battle. One defeat would mean the destruction of the tiny Jewish state. Not waiting to be attacked by the Arab forces massing on its borders, Israel strikes first. Hundreds of tanks sweep across the border and punch through the enemy defences, with infantry following up to clear the way for the advance to continue.

After six days of brutal fighting, the war was over. A thousand tanks lay strewn across the desert. Tens of thousands of soldiers lay dead and wounded. Israel had survived, but the Arabs vowed that any peace would be short lived.

Fate of a Nation brings the Arab-Israeli Wars to the tabletop, allowing players to recreate the sweeping operations that helped to shape the Middle East. Take command of your forces and see how you fare in one of the Cold War's most volatile regions.

Osprey Publishing Ltd

Sunken Motorway Tiles from Uncertain Scenery

Coming soon for our 10mm users we have Sunken Motorway tiles with vertical walls to get that city cut through feel. They just need to be prototyped and instructionalised. Sorry no pictures as yet.

Sunken Motorway Tiles

Uncertain Scenery

Miniature Wargames 423, July 2018

There’s a duo of Napoleonic features with Light Division with Napoleonic rules for those with only a limited space and It’s on the Cards: as the name implies this is a card driven activation adaptation for the Portable Wargame.

• Scouting Parties gives readers a pre-release peek at Vanguard the new Mantic Fantasy Skirmish system.

• Command Decision: Spotsylvania County?  Yes it’s Virginia, May 1st 1863 and that means another wargames conundrum by Jon Sutherland

• Hooray for Hollywood gives helpful guidance for using script writing techniques to improve your scenario design.

• A Moveable Feast: The editor takes a trip to Hammerhead 2018.

• There’s also more scratch building and converting: The Wargames Widow shows us what to do with garden plants but we have canals and Dwarven conversions as well!

• Plus all the latest news and reviews!

Miniature Wargames

A-50 Kit In 1/144 from Zvezda

Our new A-50 kit in 1/144 scale is ready and will be on sale from beginning of July.

The Beriev A-50 is a Soviet airborne early warning and control (AEW) aircraft based on the Ilyushin Il-76 transport.

Beriev A-50

Zvezda

June 2018 Book Vote

June 2018 Book Vote, This month's Air Campaign book vote has been an incredibly close race and as we reach the final days of voting, it's anyone's game!

Schweinfurt-Regensburg Raids 1943: Eighth Air Force’s bruising “double-punch”

Under the Pointblank directive, intended to gain air superiority before D-Day by bombing Luftwaffe facilities, the ball-bearing factory at Schweinfurt and the Messerschmitt plant at Regensburg were high on the USAAF target list. But without an adequate long-range escort fighter, the B-17s would rely on the “double-strike” plan – hitting two major targets in the same operation, with the first raid drawing off the defending fighter force, to leave the second largely unmolested. But with 60 bombers lost and many more badly damaged, the experimental tactic proved costly. When Schweinfurt was attacked again later that year, even more bombers were shot down – proving that precision daylight raids desperately needed the USAAF’s upcoming P-51 Mustang escort fighter.

Iraq, Afghanistan, and Somaliland 1919–39: RAF counter-insurgency by biplane

Cash-strapped, but still with huge global responsibilities after World War I, imperial Britain turned to its newly independent RAF to police its restless colonies. With Somaliland in the grip of the Dervish Uprising, tribal rebellions in Iraq, and wars in Afghanistan, Waziristan, and the North West Frontier brewing, the RAF pioneered the expansion and refinement of air power between the World Wars – particularly the techniques of aerial counter-insurgency, but also air mobility and airlifts. In doing so the RAF learned many lessons about colonial warfare, with fascinating parallels to today. But it also mistakenly assumed many of these lessons would apply to the European theatre – part of the reason why the RAF entered World War II with misplaced confidence in its equipment and doctrine.

Ho Chi Minh Trail 1964-73: Cutting North Vietnam’s tentacles in Laos

Any possible victory in the Vietnam War depended on cutting the North’s supply lines to Viet Cong and regular NVA in South Vietnam – the “Ho Chi Minh Trail”. The air campaign against the Trail in northern Laos was Operation Barrel Roll. Much of Barrel Roll was improvised, highly secret, and sometimes completely unofficial. Antiquated but effective prop-driven A-1 Skyraiders and T-28s were used for close air support, including for CIA-backed tribesmen. Steel Tiger was the campaign further south. It was much better resourced – but still, the US had to devise methods for fighting an air interdiction war against near-invisible guerrillas, truckers and porters. This was the campaign that saw the first B-52 Arc Light strikes, and the introduction of the AC-47, the first in a long and fearsome line of American fixed-wing gunships.

Russian Strategic Bombing in World War I: The pioneers of the heavy bomber on the Eastern Front

At the outbreak of World War I, Imperial Russia’s air force was second only to France’s – and its fleet included the astonishing Sikorsky Ilya Muromets, the world’s first four-engined heavy bomber. Derived from an advanced 1913 luxury airliner, it was adapted into a bomber when war broke out. This being 1914, the heavy bomber had to be invented from scratch, but the Imperial Russian Air Service created a design both advanced and capable, with an internal bomb bay, fearsomely effective machine-gun defences, and accurate bombsights. It could also be used for photographic reconnaissance. It was a formidable weapon of war, able to bomb bridges, supply depots, troop concentrations and railway facilities with surprising – and shocking – accuracy. This book would be the story of the world’s first strategic air campaign, fought by these 80 huge aircraft on the Eastern Front for three years.

Stalingrad Airlift 1943: Goering’s broken promise to Sixth Army

The decision to keep Sixth Army defending Stalingrad, as the Red Army closed in, was based on the belief – and the promise – that the Luftwaffe could keep the army adequately supplied by air. This book would explain how the fateful decision was made, how the Luftwaffe tried, and why the campaign was lost. For despite a bitterly-fought battle by Luftwaffe transport units and their fighter escorts to fly as much into the besieged city as they could, the airlift failed. The freezing winter conditions, poor organization, and bad decision-making starved Sixth Army, and laid the foundation of the German defeat at Stalingrad and – ultimately – the beginnning of the end of the war.

Which option would you like to see published? Read more about this month's options and find out the results of May's vote by clicking here.

Osprey Publishing Ltd

The Swedish Army of the Great Northern War, 1700-1721

The book describes the development of the Swedish Army during the Great Northern War, 1700-1721, when Sweden fought against a coalition of Russia, Denmark-Norway and Poland-Saxony. For parts of the War Prussia and Hanover also joined the enemy coalition. The book describes how the Army was reorganised in the year before the outbreak of the war, with its unique allotment system of recruitment. The book also includes a list of all Army units during the 21 years of war.

The strategic situation in the Baltic Sea region in the last 1690s is given, and is then followed up by an analysis of the strategic situation in the early 1720s.

A description of the Army as it was at the time of the outbreak of the war in 1700, as well as the system of fortresses around the Baltic Sea is provided. The equipment and tactics of the Army are presented, not the least how they developed during the long period of the war.

The development of the 21 years of war are described and discussed to give the reader a good overview of the military (and partly the political) developments. The battlefield performance of the Swedish Army is studied through descriptions and analysis of six battles and one campaign.

The book includes a list of suggestions for further reading, and is supported by a large number of illustrations including specially-commissioned colour uniform and flag plates.

Half Hexes Now Available from Kallistra

Half hexes now available to order in packs of 20 halves in Brown, Black, Blue and Flocked green - cut point to point or Mid-side to mid-side. Packs come complete with clips

Half Hexes

Kallistra Ltd

Project Update #4: 10mm Caesarian Roman Army

And now the heroes of the day Caesar himself delivering a stirring speech, and Mark Antony pointing and shouting, get stuck in and kill them all

Caesar

Mark Antony

Kickstarter
Lancer Miniatures

Wargames, Soldiers & Strategy, 97, Aug-Sep 2018

The new edition of WS&S is currently at the printer and will be ready soon. Issue 97 has a theme that focuses on Weird War II - a mix of actual history, mad-science, and a dash of magic. If that's not your thing, there are plenty of solidly historical articles as well, including complete rules for Hellenistic elephant combat and a matchup between the Dutch and Swedish set in 17th century Delaware, just to name a few.

Special Feature: World War II goes weird

Rob Broom, 'Playing "What if?" World War II - Games without frontiers'.
Kurt Bowker, 'A "What if?" assassination mission - Kill Stalin!'.
Ben Moorhouse, 'Weird War II airborne operations - Operation Redrow'.
Steve Beckett, 'Weird War II pulp adventures - Lieutenant Liberty and the Doom Platoon'.
Steve Beckett, 'Operation Aconite, Hunting beasts in the forest - The wolf's bane'.
Guy Bowers, 'Collecting for Weird World War II - Something wicked this way comes'.

Features

Michael Hoddinott, 'The Empress Matilda's flight - Bitesize battle: escape from Oxford'.
Jeff Jonas, 'The perils of Ptolemaic Pachyderms - Elephant Archos'.
Michael Leck and Jan Kärrman, 'The Swedes vs. the Dutch in North America - The Battle at Fort Mosquito, 1655'.
John Bond, 'Making a water tower for gaming - Dawn raid on the recycling bin'.
Stephen Tunmore, 'Upgrading laser cut buildings - A magnificent MDF mansion'.

Departments

Miniature reviews
Rick Priestley, 'This gaming life - Quick, hide the maths!'.
Henry Hyde, 'Tabletop tactics - Early artillery'.
Sam Downorder, 'The irregular - Rivet counters anonymous'.
Rossco Watkins, 'The funky street fighting game - Let's play Street Wars NYC'.
Ian Beal, Paul Burkin, Eoghan Kelly, and Chris King, 'Game reviews - Battlegroup Torch, Furioso, 1914, Wargame: Castle Assault, and Scream Aim Fire'.
Book reviews
Parting shots

Wargames, Soldiers & Strategy

Ancient Warfare XII. 2, Jul-Aug 2018

Ancient Warfare XII.2 with The Thracians and their kin Fierce fighters, masterful mercenaries, backwards barbarians: these were only a few of the ways the ancient Greeks described their tribalistic neighbors to the north.

Theme: The Thracians and their kin

Paul McDonnell-Staff, 'Untouched grave of a Thracian - A prince and his panoply'.
Nicholas Wright, 'Putting the Paeonians in context - Down from the hills'.
David Karunanithy, 'Paeonian and Agrianian shields - Examining the evidence'.
Michael van Ginkel, 'Alexander's Thracian campaign - Into the mountains'.

Features:

Alice König, 'Micro and macro battle narratives - Frontinus' Strategemata'.
Duncan Head, 'Infantry archers at the Hydaspes - Coined Indians'.
Christopher B. Zeichmann, 'Jesus and the demon named legion - For we are many'.
Duncan B. Campbell, 'Tent-party or barrack room? - The contubernium'.
Robert Vermaat, 'The Lepontius relief - A late Roman infantryman'.
Tacticus, 'Technè Taktikè, part VII - A new style of ramming'.

Ancient Warfare

10mm Mexican Line Cavalry from Good Ground LLC

Line Cavalry comprised far too high a percentage of the Mexican Army from 1846-48. They melted in the face of Yanqui Guns and Musketry. However, they looked good. These are headed to the casting process and will be ready by the end of July.

So Far From God Miniatures

Mexican Line Cavalry

Good Ground LLC

Project Update #3: 10mm Caesarian Roman Army

More pictures of Masters, all on schedule and looking good.

Kickstarter
Lancer Miniatures

C-5B Galaxy from Roden

In the mid-1960s transport aircraft began to play a more significant role in the new types of military conflict that erupted one after another and faded away in various parts of the world. The invisible confrontation between the two major superpowers, the USA and the USSR, involved occasional but very frequent intervention by one or the other (and in most cases - both) country, a circumstance which would quickly draw in a significant number of soldiers and different kinds of military equipment including heavy machinery. Under these conditions, the demand for new types of military transport aircraft grew as fast as the appetites of the military, who wanted to expand their presence in almost every 'hot spot' on the planet.

At that time, the US Air Force transport fleet was quite varied - from well-proven and still capable veterans like the C-130 Hercules and the C-133 Cargomaster, to the relatively new C-141 Starlifter. However, they could not fully satisfy all the requirements of the military for the rapid transfer of a large number of troops and armored vehicles in a short period of time.

The appearance of the Soviet An-22 'Antei' ('Cock' in NATO classification) was a real shock for the West - suddenly it turned out that the Soviet Union had an aircraft capable of carrying 60 tons of cargo, more than any US Air Force aircraft. In 1964, the US Air Force Command issued requests to manufacturers for a new super-heavy jet aircraft, which could lift a payload of 100 tons. The Lockheed company, which had a vast experience in building large transport planes, was one of the first to respond, offering the concept of an aircraft with a hinged nose, which would greatly facilitate the loading of heavy equipment into the cargo compartment. In the middle of 1965 Lockheed was recognized as the winner and given an order for the manufacture of 58 aircraft with an option for 57 more.

On March 2, 1968 the first aircraft, officially named the C-5A Galaxy, was presented to the public and honored guests, among whom was President Johnson. Testing the giant new machine lasted until the middle of 1969 under an accelerated program, and Lockheed was already fully prepared for series production, but suddenly the justification for the C-5A was questioned in the country's Congress. The cost of one aircraft exceeded 60 million dollars, as against 40 previously announced - and both sums in those days were more than startling. But ultimately a compromise was found - instead of 115 C-5As, which might have been built from the total project funds allocated, the contract was reduced to 81 aircraft. Construction of this series lasted until mid-1973 and the various contractors fully complied with the order. Another factor that weighed the scales in favor of the expediency of the C-5, was the military conflict in Vietnam. The US forwarded an incredible amount of weaponry, and some of the equipment, such as heavy helicopters or heavy howitzers could only be carried by the C-5A at that time.

With the end of the Vietnam War the fate of the C-5 was questioned again - the US press were highly critical of the Pentagon's bloated budget, and the C-5 in particular as an example of "inefficient waste of taxpayers' money"; but a single event completely changed the debate again in favor of the C-5. In October 1973 the Judgment Day/Yom Kippur War began and the fate of Israel hung in the balance - the main US ally in the Middle East was one step away from complete disaster. In those difficult days, with the help of the C-5A, a huge amount of military equipment, including aircraft, helicopters, heavy self propelled artillery systems and much more military equipment was transferred to Israel. Over 33 days and 145 flights, the C-5 transported a total weight of nearly 9,000 tonnes of material, which was a crucial factor in the victory of Israel over numerous Arab adversaries, who were supplied in the same way by the USSR with its cargo transport aviation. Later, in a grateful speech to the US the prime minister of Israel Golda Meir paid particular tribute to the "miracle, which the people of Israel will retell to future generations, miracle rescue from inevitable defeat, and this miracle is named 'C-5 Galaxy' ". This episode seemed to be a culmination in the history of the largest aircraft of its time, but the C-5 was just getting started.

In 1980, the United States was led by Ronald Reagan, a politician who decided to radically change the role of his country in the world order. One of his priorities was to significantly increase defense spending to support the US presence in all parts of the world where the political situation demanded it. Of course, the question of building additional numbers of new cargo aircraft for these requirements was more than relevant. Lockheed had mysteriously managed to keep in being all the construction equipment for the giants, and thus reviving their production did not require significant expenditure of money or time. In the summer of 1985 the first newly-built aircraft, designated the C-5B, solemnly rolled out from the same plant in Marietta, where 17 years earlier its story had begun. It should be mentioned that the change in designation was not the only change in the new production batch. In contrast to its predecessor the C-5B received an upgrade in wing construction, new avionics, and an improved loading system in the fuselage. Although, adjusted for inflation, its unit price was not 60, but a hefty 120 million dollars, questions about the appropriateness of its construction were not even raised in the US Congress. All the 50 Lockheed C-5Bs ordered were completed by spring 1989, but the Pentagon decided an additional batch of C-5Bs would be misplaced. New, more modern types of cargo aircraft appeared, and although they did not have the huge capacity of the C-5, in a changing world geopolitical situation the total number of super heavy machines already built was more than enough.

Apart from the Vietnam War and Yom Kippur the C-5's military career features many more major historical events of the late 20th and early 21st centuries; they took part in the first Iraq War (Operation Desert Storm), and in the second (Operation Iraqi Freedom). After the terrorist attacks of 2001, in the course of Operation Enduring Freedom against the Afghan Taliban, the C-5 conducted more than 4,000 missions to the country, transporting more than 210,000 tons of cargo.
In addition, the C-5 repeatedly carried out missions of a humanitarian nature to areas suffering from large scale natural disasters, or dual purpose missions, as say, in 1994 in the post-Soviet countries, where according to political agreements they transported to safety the entire stock of unenriched armed uranium, averting the risk of this dangerous substance passing into the hands of global terrorism.

In the late 1990s, almost all the C-5Bs were temporarily pulled out of service to upgrade their outdated avionics. It was also decided to replace its engines with more modern ones, and the new version was designated the C-5M. By then, the Galaxy had no longer been the largest aircraft in the world for a long time, since the appearance of the Soviet AN-124 and AN-225; but to this day the C-5 remains the greatest of all American military transport aircraft as it has been for nearly 50 years.

C-5B Galaxy

Roden

Timber Revetment Sections (pack of 2) from Battlescale

Pack of two Timber revetments with banked earth frontage.

Timber Revetment Sections (pack of 2)

Dimensions:

Length: 85mm

Width: 25mm

Height: 11mm

Cast in high quality polyester resin and supplied unpainted.

Battlescale Wargame Buildings