Artillery plays a crucial role in a military operation. It can be the critical difference between getting overrun and being able to fend off an attack multiple times. Or, similarly, artillery can rain hell on a defensive position and soften it up for the ground troops to attack and over run it. In the toy soldier world, it is not just a matter of having the howitzers, but you also need the crews to operate them and the observers to direct the fire. Unfortunately, this is one of the areas that is often neglected a bit in our hobby. It seems like there aren't enough guns to go around and often, when there are guns, they come without crews to operate them. However when you really look around there are actually some guns and crews to support your ground troops, although some of those crews have only become available in recent years. Admittedly the support is a bit uneven. Some countries have greater representation than others. For instance, the Japanese are really under-represented, even though they did make a good use of artillery to defend their islands against the Marine landings. Anyhow, this is a compilation of the artillery pieces and ground crews that we have available just in case you are looking for some support for your infantry units. Let's take a look at the guns available by country.
Cool post!
ReplyDeleteThanks! glad you liked it!
DeleteVery informative but did you wish some of the Marx and CTS pieces ?
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately I don't have any of those. They have not really been on my radar, but now that you mention them, maybe I should keep an eye out for them...
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ReplyDeleteNice! Airfix did a lovely 17-pounder kit in 1:32 which I would like to snatch up. Though here's hoping Airfix won't neglect the scale in the 2014 releases... they've just released Rommel's Halftrack and Monty's Staff Car again, so there's a chance!
ReplyDeleteWill have to keep an eye out for those! Thanks for the heads up!
ReplyDeleteAnother superior post, with wonderful photography. Absolutely love that Dragon Loki mortar! I'm surprised that you don't have the Marx/CTS pieces, as I've always found them fairly cheap and available, compared to some of the pieces you have. Man, the Atlantic figures in this section are sad little things!
ReplyDeleteThanks John, good eye. I have neglected to buy the Marx/CTS guns. I think that's because I already have more realistic versions of them, although I have given in to buying some plastic pieces from other manufacturers. I think in that case the level of realism has been good (Italeri) or the item seems more unique as a collectible (Atlantic). But maybe for completeness I should get them...
DeleteGreat post and very helpful as I am building up a huge Normandy battle ground in 1.32/54mm and was wondering if I could add Dinky 88s to my FOV battery and yes I can! Also have 25pounders and lots of Britains. Regards. Al
DeleteNice! glad you found it helpful. Good luck with the Normandy scene! Maybe if you upload pics somewhere you could post a link?
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ReplyDeleteThe New Ray "howitzer" is modeled on the WWII German 3.7cm Flak 37 AA gun. The trailer and configuration is pretty dead on for this weapon. The barrel is a bit large, but the New Ray piece was clearly modeled on the Flak 37.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure, but the Nebelwerfer may be New Ray? They did some intersting stuff about 15/20 years ago and the plastic colour looks a bit like their other stuff?
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