Battle of Liilehammar, Norway, 4/19/1940

 The Norwegians will be attacking with a full-strength platoon of four squads, supported by two ski squads, a British ATR, and a 70mm Howitzer. The Germans have three understrength squads (lost heavily in previous fight), and a Pz I. The battlefield as seen from the east, German positions marked by the Swastikas.

View from the north...

On the Norwegian right flank, one squad moved across the partially frozen stream, advancing towards the stone bridge. A German squad was defending using overwatch. This enabled them to interrupt the Norwegians, and they poured a devastating fire into them, wiping out the entire squad!...

A second Norwegian squad came out of the trees to the north and crossed the frozen ford, only to be blasted by a second German squad hidden in the farmhouse. Five more casualties and a shaken (marked by the yellow cap; (cannot move or shoot following turn)...

Failing to activate on the next turn, they were wiped out as well! Two squads gone and the attack has barely begun...

Two Norwegian ski squads advance out of the woods, while a third squad approaches the bridge (upper-right), and begins to inflict casualties on the Germans defending. Then suddenly a Henschel 123 attack plane, dives down, dropping bombs and strafing the Norwegians!

Finally, some success for the unlucky Norwegians, as they wipe out the small German squad defending the bridge (upper right)...

The luck doesn't hold-up however, as first, a Pz I shows itself hidden in the barn, while yet a second Pz I races down the main highway and tuns off on the secondary road. The Norwegians will be hard-pressed with only molotov cocktails and one British ATR (which has yet to activate!)...

To make matters downright unpleasant, a SDKFZ 222 armored car comes down the highway, and with the Pz I moving out from the barn, begins to tear up the Norwegians on their right flank...

As the weakened ski squad takes up defensive position on the reverse slope, awaiting with their molotov the oncoming Pz I, a second HS 123 makes its pass. This time it is relatively ineffective, missing with its bombs, and scoring only two pins. (red cap, can't move next turn)...

The remaining ski squad, do get to assault the Pz I, but they miss with the molotov, and are cut down...

Honestly, at this point, the Norwegians would have called off the attack, having lost all but one squad (which finally activated after six turns!), but we decided to attempt a 'suicide' charge with molotov and

the British ATR. The Norwegian FO did succeed in dropping a barrage squarely on an advancing Pz II (upper-right) , and knocking it out! But the Pz I, and a German squad (top-left) destroyed the attack without the Norwegians/British even succeeding in getting off a shot...

All that remained for the Norwegians, was to withdrawal its Platoon HQ and FO...

All in all an absolute disaster for the Norwegians. They only inflicted six casualties, while their force was virtually annihilated. Illustrated quite well, the difficulties the Norwegians experienced while attempting to defend their nation. Next up, the Battle of Tretten, and the destruction of the British 146th Brigade...

Eben Emael 1940

Started this up back in May, and now its finished in 15mm.

A view of the interior from the south. Bloc I (entrance lower left), and Bloc VI (lower right). The post hospital and barracks can be seen at the lower level. Perimeter Bloc II (left center); Bloc V (center right); Bloc IV (upper right)...

View from the north, with the mid-levels of Cupola 120 (left of center); Bunker Sud (right edge);

Vise I (lower edge):

The fort's fighting surface from the south. Again, Blocs I and VI at lower edge;

Vise 2 above Bloc VI, Maastricht 1 (l) and 2 (r) above it. Bunkers Sud and Nord at left above Maastricht 1, while Cupola 120 is above Maastricht 2 and Copula Nord (75mm) is upper right:

                      The view from along the Albert Canal in the north. Canal Nord is bottom right:

Final view shows the nine DFS 230 gliders that brought the Fallshirmjaeger assault engineers onto the upper surface of the fort, and naturally, totally unexpected by the Belgians. W/n fifteen minutes of setting down, all the Belgian positions had been silenced with the exception of Vise 2 and Cupola Sud:

 

The Fight at La Trinidad Hacienda

The view from the West prior to the struggle commencing, with the North to the left and East at top...

The First round on the West. saw one Juarista unit fail to activate, while two further units fired at long range...ineffectively. Three did succeed in charging towards the FFL positions. The two FFL units manning the demolished gates fired very effectively, dropping 8 Juaristas! That unit succeeded in passing both Pin tests!

Meanwhile, on the Northern side, one Juarista unit failed to activate while the second drew first blood on the French, dropping a FFL in the Hacienda. The small group of FFL inside, got revenge by nailing one Juarista inside and outside...

Finally on the East, again, one Juarista unit failed to activate, while the remaining two charged the gap in the wall. The FFL fired and got three more Juaristas...

Round Two saw two Juarista units in the West, fail to activate. The remaining three continued their charge, with one reaching cover of the wall. The FFL dropped five more Juaristas...

In the north, the Juarista unit recovered from its Pin, only to lose another casualty and become Pinned again! The Juaristas in the Hacienda, got one more FFL who missed any hits on the unit inside...

Ending the Round, on the East the Juarista unit recovered from its Pin, while one failed to activate. The final unit charged close to the wall. The FFL nailed three more...

For the Third Round, in the West, two of the Juaristas failed to activate! One fired again ineffectively while the three remaining units charged, but killed only one FFL in melee. The FFL devastated their enemy this round, dropping 11 Juaristas including two officers...

Over on the Northern front, one Juarista unit recovered from its Pin, while the second in the Hacienda took down one FFL while losing one of their own...

On the East, one Juarista unit failed to activate (even though they were safe from French fire close to the wall!). Another charged towards the wall while the third (only two men left) retreated to the trees. The FFL successfully eliminated three more Juaristas...

Round Four in the West saw a Juarista disaster as one unit simply broke from the battlefield!(second photo)  One further unit was completely destroyed and two others failed to remove their Pin! The only good news was the last unit charging successfully only to be driven off, (on left) but with no casualties. The FFL suffered no loss...

A little better result on the North, as The Juaristas outside the Hacienda, charged into melee. While they lost two and were driven off, they brought down another FFL (This FFL unit has lost four men!)...

And in the East, two Juarista units charged into melee, one following the other (just as the commander wanted), however they inflicted on one FFL casualty while they lost 4, and were forced to retreat...

Round Five began on the West side with two Juarista units failing to activate while another recovered from its Pin.  The FFL managed to inflict two more casualties...

In the Hacienda in the North, one Juarista recovered its Pin outside, however, the FFL inflicted four casualties on the unit inside...

The Eastern sector was basically inactive, while one Juarista unit failed to activate and the second recovered from its Pin. The FFL volley failed to connect at all!

Round Six in the West saw the Juarista commander frustrated with all of the Pins. Two failed to recover and the third failed to activate! Only the single Juarista fell back to regroup...

In the North, the two Juarista units merged as they regrouped for another assault...

The Juaristas finally found some success in their assault, this in the East. While one unit failed to activate, the other close to the wall used its cover to rush the smashed gate. Although they inflicted only one FFL casualty, they suffered none in return and so pushed the FFL away from the barricade and they stormed inside! The French volleyed on their activation and dropped three, but the Juaristas didnt flinch...no Pin, and whats more, they did not fall back out of the compound! The next round could be critical...

Round Seven in the Northern sector saw one Juarista unit fail to recover its Pin while a second, charged the northern gateway and dropped one FFL but lost four (inc one officer) in return and was forced to retreat.

The FFL fired on the two small Juarista units and wiped out all three of the remaining men (bottom center).

In the North, the Juarista unit charged into melee in the hacienda, eliminated two FFL vs losing one. This forced the FFL into retreat with a Pin! The FFL unit on its turn did recover its Pin...

Finally in the East, it looked like the Juarista good luck from the previous turn was about to turn when the FFL received the first activation. It only needed a roll of five...and the French threw a four! No activation! But then the Juarista charged, losing four while the FFL lost two. The Juaristas were forced to retire and received a Pin. Oh well...

 Beginning Round Eight, there wasn't really a lot left for the Juarista commander to do. The unit protected by the wall did recover its Pin (upper left)  and the second fell back towards the trees (lower right) . The FFL simply moved one man from the reserve to each of the units guarding the gateways...

The fighting within the hacienda saw the Juarista unit forced to retire with a Pin, although it did recover on its turn...

Finally, in the East, the lone officer recovered from his Pin while the second failed and continue to retire. (upper left)..

At this point, the Juarista commander decided to call off any further attacks until his men could be regrouped and reinforced, and so the fight came to an end. As did occur historically, the Juaristas lost heavily (over 60 figures) while the FFL lost only 11. It was a fun engagement.

The French Foreign Legion at Camerone

65 Legionnaires and officers were present of La Trinidad Hacienda. 

On the left is Captain Jean Danjou (with the false left hand painted white) commanding the FFL force. He had volunteered with the regular officer down with illness. Next is Lt Jean Villain and finally Lt Clement Maudet. In fact all three officers had volunteered replacing missing men.

At center is Sgt Major Henri Tonei, flanked by two legionnaires.

Some more legionnaires. As before, there is a mix of Old Glory, Foundry and Gringo40s.

Next up, the Battle!

1863,Battle of Camerone

Having been at home for the better part of three months, I've been investing in numerous areas that have always interested me. The previous postings regarding Battle of de Bexar, leading up to the Alamo is one. Next up is the famous engagement between the forces of President Juarez, and the 3rd Co, 1st Battalion, French Foreign Legion.

The battle was fought at the La Trinidad Hacienda, on the road to Puebla from Vera Cruz. This view is from the north across the road the French convoy was using. (the reason for the FFL being here in the first place)...

Now from the East...

There was one gap in the wall on this side, with two gates (w/o doors) on the west. The French had also occupied the NW corner of the Hacienda. Unfortunately for them, the Juaristas had already taken possession of the rest of the building.

Now we have soldiers of Juarez. The miniatures come from Gringo40, Old Glory, and Foundry...

The Legion will follow...

Texican Reinforcements

Following are photos of some Old Glory Texicans to garrison my Alamo, hopefully this June...

inc the 'Big Three'...