Skytrex 15mm Artillery Arrives

I took the opportunity presented by Skytrex's 10% Off offer, which ran until the 31st March to order a variety of 15mm guns from their Command Decision range.

The order was made online late on Monday evening and the parcel arrived today, Thursday. Such a fast turn around can only be regarded as excellent service.

These are very crisp models, well moulded with almost no seamlines or flash. There's not eve any flash where i'd expect it on the spokes of the gun carriage wheels. I'm impressed. Very impressed.

I bought CD581 Italian 75mm FieldGuns, CD548 French 105mm Guns and CD549 French 155mm Howitzers. Needless to say the Italian 75mm guns will join my Italian forces straight away, whilst the heavier French pieces are destined to become generic heavy guns.

For the Italian 75mm I'm sure I could have gotten away with the famous French Schneider 75/28 of which already own several Peter Pig models (Range 16, pack.94 (for WW1, RCW, 1940). However, it's such a hackneyed field piece in wargames terms (along with the German Krupp 77/96) that I wanted something different, but not as scarily different as the Flames of War Italian 75mm field gun.

I'll take a look at the artillery used by the Italian C.T.V. and models available in 15mm, in a later post. For now, if you want to know more about the artillery used during the Spanish Civil War you'll find the following websites incredibly useful.

Artillery Used in the Spanish Civil War - Spanish Site

Grand Atlas of Artillery in Spain in the C20th - Spanish Site

Landships - A great WW1 site in English

Finland used almost as many different types of guns as both sides in the Spanish Civil War, and even sold some to Spain! These are excellent websites in English that have good photo, service histories and lots of technical details.

WinterWar.com

Jager Platoon - a really good resource for historians, wargamers and modellers

Another good website for identifying SCW artillery, but this time dedicated to the Romanian Armed Services in WW2 is this one:

WorldWar2.Ro

And most importantly, don't forget to Wiki. Most artillery pieces will appear in Wikipedia with photos, service history and links to additional external sites by just running the gun's name through your browser's search engine. For instance, I've just typed 'Schneider 105mm' into Google and the very first result was this Wiki for the Canon de 105 mle 1913 Schneider.

15mm SCW Comparisons

Just some quick photos for manufacturer's size comparison.

Basque (Guardi) command (pack SCW002) from The Late Queen

Republicans in Spanish Helmet (Range 13, pack.5) from Peter Pig

I'll take better pics when my camera has recharged.

Project Camicia Nere, Avanti!

Project Camicia Nere (Blackshirt) begins today. Every post you see with this header image will relate to my ongoing project to recreate key elements of the Italian offensive at Guadalajara during the Spanish Civil War in 15mm.

My main source for the battle is LA PARTECIPAZIONE ITALIANA ALLA GUERRA CIVILE SPAGNOLA (1936-1939). There are newer texts and research has moved forward but as it is based upon the C.T.V.s own war diaries and is frequently referred to by later books, I think I can safely compromise given the other research that has come my way. Not forgetting that at the end of the day, I am wargaming, which in itself requires a whole bag of other compromises.

If you are interested in learning more about the battle yourself, there are several resources online. There is a good Wiki, and I can't recommend the La Batalla de Guadalajara and superb Brihuega 1937 websites highly enough.

There are also some videos pertaining to the battle on YouTube. See the separate links below. A word of caution though before you view them. The programme makers have not only used some video footage out of context or from other parts of the war, there are also scenes which have incorporated WW2 filmstock (Panzer II and German MG34's).

Guadalajara Video 1
Guadalajara Video 2
Guadalajara Video 3
Guadalajara Video 4

Not bad though for getting the creative juices flowing and allowing you to build a mental picture of the battle, troops and terrain.

Further videos and documentray shorts on the SCW can be found on YouTube by conducting a search with the term 'Guerra Civil Espanola' or the name of a SCW battle. I've found that it's best to add the year that the battle took place to cut out extraneous results, eg 'Guadalajara 1937'. The difference in the results for a search of 'Brunete' rather than 'Brunete 1937' on YouTube will not be work safe.

Even if you have little or no understanding of Spanish, the images are universal.

Homage To Catalonia

If I had to name one book that sums up the Spanish Civil War for me, then it would probably be HOMAGE TO CATALONIA by George Orwell. I found it inspirational and anyone who has read it will probably identify that Ken Loach's excellent LAND AND FREEDOM was largely based upon Orwell's account of his time serving with the P.O.U.M. militia in Spain.

Of course, as you read through Homage to Catalonia, the origins of Orwell's classic 1984 become very clear. I've never since been able to take seriously any media commentary about whether a '1984' state is just round the corner. It's not a prediction of the future at all, but the 'now' that Orwell experienced in Spain in 1937.

I have to admit that reading both Orwell and Esmond Romilly's BOADILLA again makes me want to buy some of those excellent Anglian Miniatures 28mm SCW figures. If only Nigel did 15mm too!

Following up on Orwell I found the following links that include some excellent essays on the workers and anarchist movements in Spain and the workers militias generally.

Homage to Catalonia - the complete book online. Chapter 6 is the most

Barcelona: Tragic Days in May - An essay on the Republican faction fighting in Barcelona that Orwell found himself a participant in.

1936-39 Spanish Civil War and Revolution - a superb introduction to the situation in Spain leading up to the Officers revolt and ensuing Civil War.

International Volunteers in the POUM Militia - a very good study of the Brits and other interntionals fighting in the P.O.U.M.. Includes a good photo of Orwell with the Independant Labour Party Contingent. You may be interested, the I.L.P. sell a booklet called Land and Freedom (60p + 30p P&P) which places the SCW in Catalonia in context.

Workers Power in The Spanish Civil War - from a largely Anarchist (CNT) perspective.

Durrutti - excellent biographical essay on the famous Anarchist leader.

Self-Management in Workers organisations and Militias - Another great study.

Militia at the Front - Interesting study of the militias at war.

15mm Big Men

Had a small disaster last week. I found that my backup DVD with all my photos of miniatures and games going back the last 10 years was almost completely corrupted. Still, I managed to save a couple of SCW pics and here they are.


'Big Men' from my games using Up Your Cara Al Sol, the Spanish Civil War supplement to I Ain't Been Shot Mum by the Too Fat Lardies. This supplement is available in their 2004 Summer Special. The figures are my Abraham-Lincolns from Peter Pig. An OOP Militiaman to the left (range 13, pack.7), and an International Brigader on right (range13, pack.8) whom I really like. Love the Stalin cap, but getting 2-3 SMGs in a pack of 8 figures is a bit much. If he'd had long trousers rather than breeches, he would have been useful as an Asalto or Carabinero or even a generic Republican Brigada.


Abraham-Lincolns, again from Peter Pig. A Nationalist infantryman on the left (range 13, pack.1), with tassle and forward point of his gorro sidecap filed down to be of a more Republican shape. You'll notice that I've painted him and the Big Man with SMG in the picture above in a ligter shade of khaki represent the 'summer' uniform found in many photos of the XVth International Brigade. I think the figure on the right is from the International Brigade pack (range 13, pack.8). I painted him wearing a leather jacket for additional variety.


A Nationalist 37mm, Pak36 anti-tank gun in action. I tend to keep gun crews separate so that; 1) I can use the guns in WW1, RCW or WW2 as required, 2) mix and match which side uses the guns in the SCW, 3) Reuse the gunners on dfferent types of guns. Peter Pig doesn't do any appropriate crew figures for anti-tank/infantry guns/mortars etc in their Spanish Civil War range, so I cobbled together crews taken from the Nationalist HMG pack (kneeling, range 13, pack.17) and Nationalist LMG pack (lying, range 13, Pack.9). Looks effective though. The Pak36 is also from Peter Pig (range 8, pack.35) and I should note, has been remodelled since I purchased the one in the photo.

In 'squint mode' you can use the German Pak36 as either the Soviet 37mm M1930 37mm anti-tank gun or the later 45mm M1937 anti-tank gun both of which saw service in Spain and were based upon the Rheinmetall Pak36. The M1930 should really have spoked wheels, whilst the M1937 had a slightly longer barrel, but not enough to worry about in this scale if the SCW isn't your prime wargaming interest.

15th International Brigade Photos Online

If you are a SCW buff like me, you are probably equally tired of seeing the same hackneyed photos of International Brigaders appear again and again in SCW books.

Well all of that changes as of today. The 15th International Brigade Photographic Unit Photograph Collection spans the period from August 1937 to September 1938 and contains 1,832 black and white images taken by members of the Photographic Unit of the 15th International Brigade. It's a treasure trove of largely untapped high quality photographs, hundreds of which can be found online here:

15th International Brigade Photographic Unit Photograph Collection

Some assumptions that have been held as truths for decades are going to have to be re-written. For instance, throughout the pics we see not the hackneyed Degtyarev DP1928 LMG, beloved of every range of SCW figures in production, but instead the Maksim-Tokarev MT1926. Note on picture 11_0735s how the round pannier is not mounted below the weapon and this may well be how they used it in combat to prevent jamming. The same photo also illustrates the very diverse nature of the International Brigades' uniforms and personal equipment within the same squad, as described so vividly in Alvah Bessie's 'Men in Battle'.

The Maksim-Tokarev MT1926 appear again in numbers in photo 11_0990, which is captioned as the Brigade Machine-gun Company. Possibly the Abraham-Lincolns MG Company? Note there are only 3 Maxim M1910 MMG's and the other 7 weapons are all Maksim-Tokarev MT1926s.

Other photos show battlefields, camp scenes, entrenchements and defences. It is a fascinating and in places very intimate study of the XVth International Brigade at war.

This is superb source material for every SCW gamer!

Skytrex 10% Sale

I've just stumbled across the fact that Skytrex are having a 10% Off Everything Easter Sale running until the 31st March. Only 24 hours left, so get in there quick to purchase some hardware from their Command Decision range for your SCW armies.

I'm going for guns. At around £4.95 (normally £5.50) for a pack of 2 medium/heavy guns or 3 37mm/45mm anti-tank guns, I think this is a good deal.

I have to admit, whilst I do try very hard, I find identifying the differences between most Schneider, Krupp and Skoda field pieces over 75mm in calibre very difficult. The fact that many were produced under licence in countries other than those they originated in, only confuses the matter. However, I'm saved by the simple fact that the majority of guns manufactured in Europe ended up being used in the Spanish Civil War and often served on both sides.

Therefore I have taken the bold step of deciding to choose guns purely on the basis that they have the correct '1930's mid-European arms race' feel to them. Such as the Skytrex 155mm Howitzer below.

CD549 French 155mm Howitzer

Of course, if you game WW1, WW2, Russian Civil War or similar in 15mm as well, you may already be able to use models that are in your collection. Conversely, careful choice of guns now, may allow you to create new armies in these periods later without having to shell out (geddit!), for additional artillery models.

What else can you get from Skytrex just now to maximise this offer?

FRENCH

75mm Field Guns (x3) CD546
105mm Guns (x2) CD548
155mm Howitzers (x2) CD549

ITALIAN

L3/33 Light Tank - inc Optional Flame-thrower & Trailer (x2) CD550
47mm Antitank guns (x3) CD580
75mm Field guns (x2) CD581
75mm Field Howitzers (x2) CD582
Skoda 100mm Field Guns (x2) CD583
Schneider 105mm Field guns (x2) CD584

GERMAN

Flak 36 88mm AA/AT gun CD310
Opel Blitz 3 ton Truck CD316
Opel Blitz (Radio / Office) CD316A
Pz I A CD319
Pz I B CD319A
PzI Command A CD319D
Pz Command B CD319E
20mm Flak 38 (Towed) (x2) CD337
PAK 36 A/T guns (x2 Firing, x1 Limbered) CD347
Kfz 16 Light Field Car CD348
Opel Blitz 1.5 ton CD349
37mm Flak 36 (Towed) CD355

SOVIET

45mm A/T Guns (x2 Firing, x1 Limbered) CD409
GAZ 4 x 4 Truck CD410
BA6 A/C CD418

I also strongly recommend the Skytrex Soviet BA6 armoured car (CD418), which saw a lot of action in the SCW. It's a cracking model!