20mm WW2 Early War

The Discovery

While waiting for my Norwegians I have started to do some research into the Operation Weserübung Nord, the invasion of Norway. I came across a site called Weapons and Warfare, that has an excellent 4 part article about the Fallschirmjäger in Norway. Unfortunately the site doesn’t have any references, but it seems accurate. I’ve read about the events from other sources, although not with the same level of detail.

It is the events at Fornebu airport that have caught my interest. Seems the bulk of the Fallschirmjäger had to turn back, while in flight due to the weather. However, a few Ju52s, in the second wave, and their ME 110 Escorts didn’t turn back. Upon arrival the Ju 52s landed at Fornebu. The first plane coming under fire and taking casualties among the passenger, took off again. The second Ju 52 to land were the company staff squad/plt, which assaulted out of the airplane. A short while later, the ME 110s landed, because they didn’t have enough fuel to return. So they didn’t really have much of a choice. The pilots of the ME 110 turned their aircraft so the tail gunners could fire on the Norweigen. As far as I can remember they didn’t have to because the fighting was over in a short while.

Reading about the ME110s my memory was triggered again. There was an old ME 110 in my old 1/72 collection. I dug it out. Of course I have to use it in a scenario based on the events of the capture of Fornebu airport.

It badly needs a repaint and some new transfers. If you look closely at the picture you can see the dust it’s collected in the years being tucked away. I’ll see if I can remove the canopy and do something about the interior too. Really happy I get to reuse my old models in this project. I didn’t find any Ju52 hiding in the box, so I might have to get one of those…

The British

Work has continued on the British for Operation Mercury, the invasion of Crete. I’m happy with how they have turned out. Having picked out the details with a base color, I then gave them a light wash of Army Painter Strong Tone. The detail on the ESCI figures is really amazing, knowing they were released in 1982, and I think they have turned out really good.

I now have to think about the bases. So far they have a base colour, a drybrush and a wash. I think it works, but maybe a few bushes, some stones and a patch of dirt might give them a bit more life. In all I have 7 playable miniatures and 1 support base, to use with Five Men at Kursk rules. Together with the Fallschirmjäger, it’s starting to be time to plan a test run of the rules.