Bolt Action Desert War Bootcamp

[laughingboy 20725xp 3]

@oriskany it is Martin with the Black Watch ( still the best regiment of the weekend 😀 ) thank you for all your efforts you made a noobie feel very welcome. I am looking forward to continuing my adventure into historical and bolt action.

Well done Sir!

Martin

(laughingboy)

[oriskany 60771xp 0]

No worries at all, @laughingboy!  I hope those dice continue to treat you right!  If there’s anything you need re: historicals or background, etc., you know where to find me. 😀

[limburger 21685xp 1]

I know I have to do something with my ‘Don’t Panic’ reward once I get it in the e-mail.
So many pretty things on that website. I think I’ll look at what @avernos has to say about expanding the DAK in his project log.
OTOH … that ’88 does look tempting, despite only being practical in an defensive position.

I heard that they also needed adresses from us for a few missing bits and pieces, is that correct ?
I had to leave early on sunday so I may have missed that bit of the bootcamp.

@oriskany : did the DAK have access to the Opel Maultier at all ?
The German army book lists them as an option for the ‘Rommel’s defeat (1942-1943 North Africa)’ force selection.
However I’m thinking of theming my DAK force as new arrivals, so the one I built at bootcamp would probably not be historical correct.  Then again … I can pretend it got lost on its way to the Ostfront 😀

[avernosKeymaster 33947xp 0]

@limburger the Opal Maultier was introduced around 42 so very early won’t have it.

As far as missing things go it’s a mini rule book and the Western campaign book. The BoW guys are going to send our emails to Charlie so expect an email from him for your home address.

If you have  a £10 voucher for warlord I’ll have a little look and see where it should go. But my initial feeling is to put if towards a StuG III see the facepage group for more info or I’ll update my project in a couple of weeks as to what direction you can take the list

[leifer1971Member 628xp 2]

@oriskany

Thanks again for running that campaign and providing all this excellent background.
Pleasure meeting all of the BOW crew and helpers.

My only wish is that you all were a little closer to the homestead.
Traveling back and forth is a solid B%#!. =)

[limburger 21685xp 1]

@avernos : thanks 🙂

Knowing myself I’ll probably overspend anyway …

A StuG you say ? Makes sense.

I was thinking of some sort of self-propelled anti tank/artillery thing, because the army is lacking in offensive heavy stuff.

Of course the evil guy in me is telling me to pick a Tiger and give it the number 616 *grin*

Me and facebook are no friends, so that’s not an option.

Besides … I’m in no hurry, ’cause I’ve got plenty to do and not enough time already. Arrr! Arrr!

//

Was the riddle of the mystery gong ever solved ? Something to do with Biffin’s bridge IIRC ?

[oriskany 60771xp 3]

I concur with @avernos – @limburger  … the main German halftrack used by the DAK is SdKfz 7.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sd.Kfz._7

This was the one used not for infantry assault but to tow guns larger than 7.5cm … like the 8.8 FlaK 36, the 10.5cm FdHbz howitzers and the 150.0 cms.

This is the one @johnlyons had correctly in his Bootcamp Desert Force (I’m assuming to tow his 88).

There were no SdKfz 250 or 251 “Hanomags” that I know of … at least not until Tunisia.

When talking StuG-III, if you’re talking DAK, just please remember to stick with StG III-D short barreled L24 variant, and there was literally one battery of these ever deployed (3 vehicles) – with Sonderverband 288, attached to 90th Light Division, only for the Gazala Offensive of early 1942 and Alamein battles later.

Again, all bets are off once you get to Tunisia.  A whole new German army shows up, completely new divisions, and DAK is “instantly” rebuilt almost from the ground up.  Between Alamein and Tunisia, there’s almost a “reset” button hit and more familiar StuG-III Fs and Gs (long barreled tank hunters) may have been more common then.  I’d have to check.

[bobcockayne 20723xp 1]

You know the use of 250’s and 251’s is probably a myth promoted by Holly and Elwierd in on old Desert war movies where the Germans are seen using half tracks, usually converted M3/M5s certainly in one instance (Ice cold from Alex I think) of cutting down the armoured sides and putting in seats to look like Skdz 7’s.

[limburger 21685xp 0]

I guess trucks made them look like a beggars’ army so they switched to something a bit more manly 😉

@oriskany : thanks for the info. I thought it was an odd looking monster of a truck.

 

[laughingboy 20725xp 4]

In pride of place in the hobby lodge.

[oriskany 60771xp 4]

Good afternoon, everyone …

After helping film the XLBS and Weekender … as the office was closing down, finally got to relax a little with the Spitfire beer @intelligentmistertoad gave me!  😀

[oriskany 60771xp 1]

@limburger – these numbers are super-rough, but I’d say 80% of German divisions are primary leg-powered (marching and horse carts).   Only 15% get large numbers of trucks.  5% gets any halftracks at all – and even most of these are going to be “Famo” and SdKfz 7s.  The German panzergrenadier assaulting out of his SdKfz-251 halftrack is largely a myth, or at least DEFINITELY the exception to the rule.

[leifer1971Member 628xp 2]

I remember reading somewhere that the SdKfz-251/250’s were fairly expensive to produce due to typical German over design and complexity. Later marks were simplified for production….but they were still pretty rare to see on the battlefield.

For the same amount of man hours and reichsmarks…you could produce a Sturmgeschutz (Fully armored and armed AFV).

The panzergrens would typically be debussed 400 meters away and move into contact on foot.

[limburger 21685xp 1]

I think I read somewhere that they were using horses and all sorts of ‘out dated’ forms of transport when they invaded the Netherlands as well.

Maybe an article series dispelling the myths of world war 2 is needed ?

Then again … historical editors probably have a lot of work already.

[damon 7525xp 1]

Tried to do a quick rough count up of German truck versus half track production;

Total heavy cars, medium and heavy trucks approx 250,000+

20,500 Maultiers

33,300 soft skin half tracks

17,800 armoured half tracks

So approx 17:1 soft skin versus armoured transports

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