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Wednesday, November 20, 2024

Winter Wargames Escape Plan

Winter Wargames Escape Plan 

It’s a dull time of year, my insightful wife has suggested we gather for all day wargaming! 

Escape winter with our all day wargaming escape plan 

225€ per day, Bed, Breakfast, Wargaming 

Add meals- transfers - touring, if you want to brave the elements 

This winter book a two to five night holiday at the warm and cozy L’Hotel de Hercé in the Loire. 

Come by yourself, with a mate or your partner (we will spoil her) in one of our 4 star guest rooms. 

Winter Wargame with convivial company 

Play with one of our thirty two 28mm and 20mm armies from Caesar to Cold War, plus our wide selection of board games. 

For full details contact us and book here 



Cheers 

Matt

Winter Wargames Holiday!


Winter 24-25 Wargames

November 2024 to March 2025

It’s a dull time of year, so my insightful wife has suggested we gather for

"All Day Wargaming" Holidays

This winter book a stay with us at warm L’Hotel de Hercé. Min 2 Nights, come by yourself, with a mate or bring your wife and we will spoil her. Enjoy your discounted room rate, 

Escape Winter with our Wargame Holiday from €225 per day; Bed, Breakfast, Wargaming,
add meals - transfers & Tours if you want to brave the elements winter wargame with convivial company. 

Sounds like a great idea Book Here



Tuesday, November 19, 2024

Able Archer -Arab Israeli Wars - Morrocan Armed Forces

 Morrocan Army 1956 -1990

Moroccan Army organisation 

The Moroccan army was very different to its fellow Arab nations coming with western style professionally trained and officered by men who had attended the French Military schools and colleges, many of the senior Officers and Ncos had fought in the French army in the Congo, French Indochina, Algeria, and Western Sahara campaigns and then after independence constant border wars with Algeria and the conquest of Spanish Morocco. 

The Moroccan army follows the French “Javelot” divisional doctrine developed in the 50s. The infantry Brigade consisted of four or five regiments of Infantry with attached artillery and if motorised light armour, as required by the task. The infantry Regiment consisted of four to six companies with support elements with enough regimental HQ officers to form small or large subordinate combat sized/battalion teams as required. Each regiment consisted on paper of 812 officers and men and was commanded by a chef de battalion, the regimental support element had two sections of mortars, two sections of heavy machine guns and two sections of light recoilless rifles. Each combat team/battalion as assigned was commanded by a captain. Each platoon was commanded by a 1st lieutenant and sous lieutenant, it had two light 60mm mortars, two MMG teams, two manhandled anti tank weapon teams, and three rifle grenade teams, then typically broken into two fire and movement teams lead by Sergeants. Motorised and airborne regiments had an attached armoured car or light tank regiment, a motorised anti tank and motorised recoilless rifle platoon plus vehicles to carry the motorised infantry this bought the strength up to 1271 officers and men. Administration and Supply elements were only attached at the brigade level. 

The French Javelot structure was developed originally for nuclear war in Europe but proved its value in the 56 suez crisis, shocking the English with it combat teams approach. It was further developed by the French fighting experience in Indochina, Congo and Algeria and served its purpose for the frontier type fighting of the Moroccan army, during the 60s and 70s. 


Uniforms and equipment 

The infantry deployed for the Arab Israeli war were equipped with French uniforms, rank structure and unit structure. The uniform was either medium green or lizard camouflage, the French M51 (American m1) helmet, and French 1950s TAP infantry webbing equipment. 

Personal weapons were very mixed and included the MAS-36  (MAS-36 LG48 and MAS-36/51) and the rifle-grenade capable variants, the MAS-49/56 (airborne & infantry) , FN FAL rifles, AK-47 and the MAT-49 sub machine gun (Officers and Ncos). Squad automatic weapons included the French  AA-52 NF1, MAC 24/29 and the FN Mag-58 were also in service. Heavy machine guns include the American browning 30 cal and the M50 50 caliber HMG. Mortars were Brandt 60mm and the Brandt 27/31 81mm mortar. 

Troops arriving in Syria 


Moroccan Armour and vehicles


Moroccan operated T54s Yom Kippur War

The armour available to the Moroccan army for Yom Kippur War.

AMX13 FL 
One hundred and twenty French AMX 13 FL light tanks (4 AMX CD recovery) arrived in 1966 out of service by 1990. 

T-54 Main Battle Tank 
40 Russian T-54B D10 TG 100mm 
80 Czechoslovakian T-54B built models with the latest 100mm D10T2S stabilised gun
ten T-54AR 
Ten T54 AK command tanks. 

M-48a3 main battle tank 
Twenty six M48a3 MBTs formed the first tank regiment vehicles by March 1974


SU 100 SP Anti tank - SP artillery 
Twenty six  Czech built SU-100 SP guns

M56 scorpion SP anti tank 
50 x American M56 scorpion 90mm Self propelled Anti tank guns, (I have not found any record of them being deployed in Syria)

SK105 kurassier 
Purchased 109 units in 1979 nine served in the Arab Israeli wars 

Armoured cars

Panhard EBR 75
Thirty six panhard EBR 75 

Panhard AML 90
one hundred and ninety  Panhard AML 90

AML 60-7
thirty AML60-7

M8 Armoured car
Forty M8 Armoured cars. 

Armoured personnel carriers 

OT- 64
ninety five Czech OT 64 

M5 and M3 halftracks 
forty American M5 and M3 halftracks (ex French stock) 

Panhard M3 VTT 
fifty Panard M3 VTT APCs. 

Soft Skins 

hotchkiss M201
(French made - American ww2 Jeep)

American mutt jeeps

Series II and series III Land Rover Santana (Spanish built) 

J40 Toyota landcruisers

mini Mokes armed with recoiless M20 75mm! 

Moroccan paratrooper mini moke with recoilless rifle and 30 cal. 


Trucks
Romanian Bucegi SR11 3t, Berliet GBD (6x6)
 American general M813a1 (6x6)
French ACMAT TPK 425 (4x4) 
TPK 640 (6x6) trucks 
I have seen some Simca Marmon also in a parade but nothing in export documents. 
Mack F900 heavy transport trucks for tank transport.

Anti armour 

M20 super bazooka 
RPG-7
 M20 75mm recoilless rifle
M40a1 106mm recoilless rifle 
D44 85mm AT gun
MGM 32A Entac missiles. (500)

Artillery 

Towed systems included -
twenty American M2A1 (now a M101A1) 
Thirty eight HM-2 105mm howitzers ( model 1924)
eighteen soviet M-46 122mm
twenty M114 155mm howitzers
Self propelled systems included :-
ninety eight Amx53 155mm sp howitzer
thirty self propelled AMX mk61 105mm howitzer
twenty self propelled M44 155mm howitzer
Thirty six BM-21 122mm rocket launchers 

Anti aircraft equipment 

Information for this part is taken from export lists, but also includes captured equipment. I have more research to do here, but I have types as follows.  
Towed systems :- 
ninety ZPU-2 14.5mm
nineteen  ZPU-4 14.5mm
ninety Zu 23-2 W23mm
thirty 50 cal M45 Qaud
sixty AZP S60 57mm
missile systems SA-7 Grail
French Hawksystem (cannot locate source for this but have a image of one deployed for the Algerian war in 73) 
I am not sure if the MIM-72 Chaparral launchers were available in time for the Yom Kippur war. 

The equipment available to the Moroccan army in 1956 was post ww2 American equipment, French and soviet equipment. New equipment was on order and started to arrive in early October 1973.
The major wars and engagements fought by Morroco include Angolan war of Independence (61-74), the Tuareg War (62-64),  Sand War (63-64), and October War (Yom Kippur), Green March (75), Western Saharan war (75-91), Shaba I (77)Shaba II (78) and the 1st Gulf War in 90-91. 


Captured equipment 

BTR 152

T-55

BMP 1

BTR 60


I will add more information as I find it 


Cheers

Matt


Monday, October 21, 2024

Kampfgruppe Kutzen, Laval 5/6th August 1944 Pays de Loire

 Laval 1944





During Pattons 3rd armies breakout from Normandy first through Brittany then into Pay’s de Loire in early August 1944 the first real defensive line it met was along the Mayenne River, only three bridges remained along its 200klm length, one at Ville Mayenne (captured by task force Weaver) and another south of Laval at Houssay and the third near Chateau Gontier (captured by the 2e Demi brigade).

  Laval is the regional capital of the department of Mayenne in Pays de Loire. The city sits astride the river Mayenne a tributary of the Maine then Loire river. The city is a major transport rail and road link for western France.  The Laval rail infrastructure was the main east west corridor between east and western France. Consequently the city was frequently bombed by the allies, the rail viaduct bridge was damaged twice and finally destroyed allied bombing in late July of 1944 cutting the route west to Rennes and Bretagne. Laval also had important rail centre it had two large rail yards (one east and one west of the river) it was also the junction for 6 light railway lines in the region for moving iron, stone, food, linen canvas, livestock and troops east and west and north and south.






Laval also is the crossroads of two main highways, the N157 east west Paris, Le Mans to Rennes and coast, and a huge number of Main departmental roads south to Nantes and Angers,  Tours - Orleans east, and N12 Alençon - Caen- Paris to the North.

The three road bridges that crossed the river in the city were destroyed by the retreating German units on the 6th, the morning the Americans arrived, how ever both river weir walls were traversable on foot after the FFI had opened the sluice gates draining the river.





South of Laval also was a major airfield that was built by the Armee de l’Air in 1914 and used in the defence of France in 1940. Captured by the Germans it was used as a luftwaffe base hosting bombers of ZG76, KG2 and two fighter sqaudrons of FW190 from JG2, and Me109 JG27. Consequently the southern part of the city was heavily bombed by the allied air forces 7 times in 1944 leading up to June.  This lead to the dispersal of the Luftwaffe group to various fields in the region. 




The Borel (Société Générale des Constructions Industrielles et Mécaniquesaircraft factory was in the central city right beside the railway bridge. The factory built radiators and seaplane hulls for Dornier 24 seaplanes were assembled for the Luftwaffe, then floated down the river for further assembly in Angers. It was damaged twice in the June 1944 bombing of the centre of the city. 




Defending Laval

 Kampfgruppe Kutzen was commanded by Oberst Hans Kutzen, tasked to create a blocking line to allow the retreating supply units  in front of the American breakout to gain safe refuge behind the Mayenne defence line. Reinforcements arriving included 9th Panzer, 1st Sicherung and 708th infantry division were rushing to the Pay’s de Loire area to join the river defensive line also but would not be in position fully until the 6-8th of August.  

The kampfgruppe consisted of elements of 

91st Infantry Division, retreating elements 
17th SS anti tank Abteilung (who were not in position fully when the Americans arrived and fought in the rear guard action along the Le Mans highway, jadgpanzer IV )
266 Infantry division, retreating elements 
319th infantry division, retreating elements 
708 Fusilier Abteilung, cycles, buses, French trucks two pak 40s
Heavy Flak Abteilung 842 & 124 (842 at Laval airfield) 
Luftwaffe feld defence unit depot laval ( laval airfield )
Retreating Luftwaffe support elements, formed an alarm company at the airfield. 
V &VI companies of Sicherungs Regiment 194 on cycles (no heavy weapons)
Sicherungs Regiment 195, 3rd battalion plus elements from Rennes, 3 rifle coys no heavy weapons. 
5th Fallschirmjager replacement battalion and various 5th FJR rear elements. 3 coys. 

Cheers
Matt


Saturday, October 5, 2024

Yom Kippur Syrian Order of Battle

Syrian Order of battle Yom Kippur

Organised along Soviet lines the highly motivated and well disciplined Syrians again prepared for war against Israel to take back the territory lost in the six day war. The Syrian front was the most crucial to the success of the operation against Israel. The Syrian operation was to recapture the Golan heights, reach the Jordan and the Sea of Galilee. The first four days of the operation lead to the largest armour clash since ww2. The non flexible highly centralised command structure really affected the performance of the Syrian army with division commanders directly reporting to the president leading to a total breakdown by day three. Once momentum was lost and the Israelis stabilised then counterattacked, punching to within striking distance of Damascus before the ceasefire. 




9th with T-54/ 55 tanks. 
5th and 7th Divisions each had two infantry brigades, one mechanized brigade and one armored brigade, as well as an Artillery Group and Division units. 
9th Division did not have a mechanized brigade. 
  •  Two armored divisions— the 1st and the 3rd, with T-62 tanks, each with two tank brigades, a mechanized brigade, an Artillery Group and Division units
  • Two independent armored brigades— the 51st and the 47th, and an independent mechanized brigade— the 62nd • 1500 tanks • 1000 artillery gun barrels •
  •  Seven commando and paratrooper battalions 
  • Rifaat al-Assad Force— assigned to secure the regime that included two tank battalions and elite infantry forces 
  • “FROG” SS rocket. launchers 
  • Thirty-six SAM batteries, half of them SA-6 
  • 30 SA4 anti aircraft batteries 

Air Force

178 MiG-21 fighter jets
SU 7
114 other fighter jets
forty-five helicopters Mi-8

Tuesday, September 10, 2024

Panzers in Normandy - SS Panzer Abteilung 17 Götz von Berlichingen

 SS Panzer Abteilung 17 Götz von Berlichingen

The next unit I want to complete is my 17th SS Götz von Berlichingen, as I collect information a recently released book for the 80th anniversary of DDay arrived on pre order and this week I finally sat down for a read on a very wet Mayenne day. 



The book was published by Maranes Editions Bayeux, authored by Stephan Cazenave & Stephane Neuhaus. I met the authors at the Normandy military Book Festival at Chateau d’Audrieu in June this year. 

Chateau d’Audrieu


The book has a lot of great photos relating to panzers of the unit, ideal for modelers and Normandy military historians. I suspect a number of the vehicles will enter my collection over the next 6 months.