XXX Corp - Command and Recce

More additions to my XXX Corp force...

Some characterful command elements and much needed reconnaissance.

First up JOE Vandeleur. You can't field XXX Corp without having JOE along too! An amazing character and wonderfully portrayed by Michael Caine in the movie A Bridge Too Far. I found lots of interesting information on 'JOE' on the web, and could have cut and pasted here, but instead I'll let you google his exploits yourself!

Here he is portrayed atop his Humber Scout Car.

JOE gives a force he commands various special abilities reflecting his skill at driving his force along. This gives him rules that are similar to the German 'Stormtrooper' move'. He also improves the short range fire of his tank platoons.

Along for the ride, JOE also has an attached RAF forward air observer, in a White scout car, as seen below.

This allows for greater effectiveness of called in Typhoon air support, including being able to direct air strikes closer in to friendly formations, and a greater chance of 'ranging in' against concealed enemy troops.

The air observer pictured in his blue/grey RAF uniform. I hope I got the colour right? Close enough is good enough I hope. I also tried to get an Allied star decal on the bonnet of the scout car but those raised bumps made it impossible to get the decal to lie flat, even after thorough application of decal softener. He just better make sure he gets the right directions through to those typhoons so they don't hit his own transport!

Next up my much needed reconnaissance...

Two Daimler I's. One command vehicle and second vehicle with Littlejohn adaptor fitted.

Accompanying the Daimler I's are some Daimler Dingos, as below. I know its completely the wrong word to apply to military vehicles, but these things are just 'cute' compared to everything else on the board, and I look forward to seeing them zip about the board, hopefully avoiding everything fired at them...

I fitted the Dingos, with their AA Bren gun, so this gives them a little MG fire should they need to use it.

The main use for these troops though will be ambush avoidance and 'Eyes and Ears'; lifting 'gone to ground' from hiding enemy troops.

Finally, just to continue the Recce theme, these are Humber LRC III's from a pack I got half price from a store closing down sale... sadly they don't directly fit in with my XXX Corp force list, but if I add 3 Humber scout cars then they can then work as a recce platoon for some British Infantry...

These have an oddly quaint look and seem more at home in an "early war" or even pre-WWII era...

So this just about completes my XXX Corp tank company, just got to get that Typhoon painted... no doubt I'll make small additions to it over time too...

XXX Corps - Guards Armoured - British Shermans - FoW

I have been working on these tanks for some time now, off and on between churning out the juggernaut that has become my Wehrmacht forces, of which it has been commented, Speer would have been proud of.. ;-)

The ten tanks are from 2 boxes of 5 Plastic Soldier Company, (15mm) Allied Shermans M4A2, which the Brits called the Sherman V.

These ten tanks give me an HQ of two Shermans, plus two platoons of 4 tanks each comprising 2 Sherman V's and 2 Sherman Fireflys, fitted with the British long barreled 17 pdr anti tank gun.

I have matched as best as I can the paint and decal scheme from the Hells Highway Supplement. I ran in to a couple of problems though. These plastic tanks are fractionally smaller than the BF ones, and the decals I have used are left overs from my original BF Sherman boxed set, and a new set of BF British decals I bought ages ago... The rear deck of the firefly hull is some what occluded from view due to the turret extension, and looking in the HH supplement they sported the Allied star on the turret top. The problem here was there was a lot of knobbly little details on the tops of these plastic tanks, which I was not confident the decals would lie smoothly over, even with decal softener.

The other decal problem was that even on the BF Shermans the Regimental markings and Guards markings were a tight fit on the hull front curved housing, and on these plastic tanks that area is even smaller, there was no way the BF decal was going to fit... so I left them off, having to be satisfied with the rear mounted ones only.. But other than the decal hassles I am very pleased with how these have come together and painted up.

I did use some of DOMs decals for the Tank numbers on the rear hull sides.

The Guards, differed from other tank companies, in having their platoon insignia on the hull sides and not on the turrets. So the picture on the cover of the Hells Highway books shows them correctly positioned, but the painted model examples in the books have them wrongly on the turret sides. But its a minor issue really. I'm mentioning it here just in case I get comments stating I haven't put the markings on the turret!

So these Shermans give me the core armoured force, I am busy adding finishing touches to JOE Vandeleur, and his forward air observer, and a Recce platoon consisting of Daimler I's and Dingos. Hopefully they'll feature in blog post soon.

So once XXX Corps is battlefield ready, I may break open that FireStorm Market Garden boxed set for a look see...