Wednesday 12 August 2015

Chain of Command British Redeployed


Hang on a minute! Wasn't this supposed to be a Malaya project? Yes, it was but, having done my background research on the shambles preceding the fall of Singapore, I've decided to switch focus to later in the war in Burma. The figures will still be useable for North Africa, so it's not a total wipe out and it will allow me to field some decent armoured support.

I've been re-reading Bryan Perrett's excellent book on the use of tanks in Burma, Tank Tracks to Rangoon, which I originally read about twenty five years ago and which inspired a long running interest in the subject, especially the use of M3 Lee tanks as bunker busters. The first chapter, for example, deals with the actions of 7th Armoured Brigade which covered the retreat through Burma in 1942.


This is fascinating stuff and, in wargaming terms, opens up the potential for some decent armour versus armour scenarios featuring Stuarts and Lee/Grants against both tanks and tankettes, as well as against Japanese infantry units.  A lovely 1/56th resin Stuart is available from Blitzkrieg Miniatures, along with an M3 Lee for bunker busting in the Arakan and on the road to Mandalay:

http://www.boltaction.net/2014/08/review-blitzkrieg-miniatures-m3-stuart.html

I think this is a better option than my original Malaya focus and so the posts for this project will now be for Burma, rather than the previous title. It also makes it possible to use my new Warlord Gurkhas as the core of a platoon, although it will be less straightforward as the only heavy weapon I have is a Vickers team and Warlord have yet to release any other dedicated XIVth army figures, apart from the Chindits.

2 comments:

  1. I have that same book (an ex-libris copy) and I agree, it's excellent. The fate of the Honeys when the army staged its final retreat across the river put a lump in my throat.

    ReplyDelete
  2. That's very interesting. I like the idea of Japanese tanks versus the M3's. I'll have to see if I can get a copy of the book.

    ReplyDelete

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