28mm Marine

28mm Marine Landing Force

So some people are asking me just how big is the scale of troops and equipment that I will be using for our WW2 Pacific Game (see link to the right on the site). So with that in mind (and just for a laugh) I tried to layout my 28mm USMC landing Force on a coffee table.  See  Tarawa blog link on the right.

I quickly found out my table was about half the size I needed so I did it in two sections hardware / support vehicles and then troops.

I also tried to keep troops in rows of ten to make counting them easier and to line up similar hardware / support vehicles!

I also made two quick videos to to get a feel for the scope of the USMC and linked them together.

Video link...     https://youtu.be/j_l5PiYoTkk      showing a short video of the table.

  

So this was what the hardware support vehicles look like on the table.

1st bottom row : 4 off Damaged Shermans, 5 off Shermans, 3 Stuarts, 2 off Sherman (M32 recovery tank)

2nd row: Damaged Shermans, Dinghy's, 4 off  LVT 2, 1 half track, Exploding LVT1

3rd row: 2 LVT1s in the water, 8 off LVT1 damage markers 

4th row: 8 LVT in the water, 3 LVT1's in shallow water, 2 LVT dame markers

5th Row 8 off LVT1's on land,  LVT damage marker , 2 off DUKW's

6th Row 3 off Higgins LCVP, 1 off Higgins LCVP casualty maker  

. 

                                         The volume now looks a little insane! LOL...somebody stop me!

                                                                          LVT 2's

The troops are mainly all on inserted bases to allow them the dismount. 

For realism we have sea versions, beach landing versions and land versions of most vehicles  - with damage markers as well.

Left: LVT1 on the land and (middle) the approaching equivalent in the sea. White numbers were very roughly marked on the original vehicles  at Tarawa -so I tried to keep it similar.

Swimming Sherman (the USMC did not use DD's nor Snorkel kits at Tarawa). I also did some wading Marines pulling dingys with kit inside them.

You can see the 5 Sherman tanks all have their own names as per the originals on Tarawa with the dancing elephant (Celina, Cherry,  Count etc.).

So onto the troops...approx. 500+ pieces

Top left: Marines, casualty markers

Middle: Heavy Weapons: mortars, HMG, Flamethrowers 

Bottom left: Beach wading Marines, sea casualty markers   

so there are about 120 "playable" troops plus heavy weapons

Is that John Wayne (AKA "Sgt. Stryker" from the "Sands of Iwo Jima" ) in the front of these guys? 

As you can tell the guys are fully loaded...

Below: view of this section from above

About 120 "on land" casualty markers for the game

120 "in the sea" casualty markers for the game

Below middle: Heavy weapons - mortars, HMG flamethrowers etc.

and then about another 120 playable sea wading marines (to get to the shore)

Here they come! 

As you can imagine we are going to need at least 2 or 3 players on each side of the gaming table 

and a quick play rule set!

So all I need to do now is to pack it all away... where's that foam tray!

As usual with our hobby once you start... well its hard to stop and you end up with a storage problem!

 

28mm Marine Heavy Weapons

 So after re-enforcing the 28mm Japanese with mortars and Heavy Machine Gun's (previous post) - I thought I would just do the same for the landing Marines.

                                You can see our first full Pacific game video by clicking here...

So I did the same method... Warlord plastic spues with the metal mortars. The good thing was I managed to find some nice clear discs (50mm Diameter x 2mm and 1mm thick) on eBay for their bases. This will allow the USMC to move from the beach to grass/jungle areas with more blended base. I also wanted something that would take the metal mortars and any accessories.

So here how it turned out. 

Five new Mortar Teams and two flamethrowers.(and I already have one Mortar team). By making them two man teams I was able to use 2 USMC warlord spues and maximise the quantity.

I placed some boxes and weapons around them and added some rounds into their hands.

Some Tarawa maps as well...

Not too sure about this guys smile - looks a bit crazy...

and just because I then had some spare parts...I did some more wading Marines for the beach.

So these are all green stuff and spare parts. You could place them in trenches but I need lots of waders to assault the beach.

Below: He has that stare! need to maybe re-paint those eyes LOL

Here they come!

So... that's the USMC good to go! 

I might try to get a picture of everything so  I can see the entire USMC landing force.

I really like the idea of fleshing out the troop support with some odd spues and single weapons - you can then get more bang for you buck that way!

28mm Japanese Bunkers 3

HEAVY WEAPON TEAMS 

So Santa's been and left me some nice presents...to assemble and paint. I hope you all got presents from him. 

I got a few new Warlord Japanese (SNLF) and US Marines plastic spues, 8 medium mortars (for my Marines and Japanese), 4 Japanese HMG's and a field office set. 

The Assault Group produce really good individual weapons - they provided the mortars and HMGs.  Its a great great way to supplement/support your armies. I also got several figure packs from them via Santa! 

The build to date is looking like this..

28mm Japanese HMG and mortar position with all the usual foliage added I went a little larger than normal just to give it some table space.

It has a nice low profile but I did hide a couple of magnets in there ground cover (middle and far left) just in case I would like a few palm trees (with magnets) added later.

The mortar from the rear.

The HMG has a nice low profile well protected look.

So next up I then mounted some (3 off) smaller support teams (made from a mix of plastic and metal figures) onto mdf circles to offer a variety of options.

                             Pictures below of the back two teams...

                             

                            

This ammo needs a dark wash - but you get the idea. 

I also acquired the 70mm mountain gun for support. 

I placed the range finder at the left hand side of the gun.

and I then had enough parts for two more HMGs teams...

                             

The team bellow are re-deploying/carrying the HMG ( I have still to assemble it) - but just to let you see them!

I also got 4 flamethrowers for my SNLF from Santa.

So a great Christmas haul - the SNLF will be in the region on 90 Figures now and with these additions quiet a strong force.

I cannot wait to see them on a table - and speaking of tables.

NEWS 

We have been given the go ahead for a  " 28mm Tarawa" table at 

 Carronade 2023. Falkirk District Wargames Show .

On Saturday, May 13, 2023 at Graeme High School Callander Road. Falkirk FK1 1S.

Which should be a great show - so come along and say hello!

So its been a great wee holiday - next stop finish these off and then onto the US Marines and those Mortars!