[Gekkan Senshadou battle report]Waffle vs. Yogurt [Yogurt]

Line up

Waffle: 4 x AMC 35 (converted), 4 x Vickers T-15, 2 x M4 (105mm)

Yogurt: 2 x CV-33, 1 x Pz38t Ausf.G, 2 x Hotchkiss H-39, 1 x StuG III F/G, 1 x Panzer IV G/H, 1 x Jagdpanzer IV/L70, 1 x Hetzer, 1 x Panther D/G

Overview

Up until now Yogurt Academy is a minor school primarily using light tanks and tankettes. They rely on defense, and when the time is right would mount counter attacks with their light tanks. But this year Yogurt's roster got a complete makeover, adding heavier vehicles such as Panther, Panzer IV, and Jagdpanzer IV. These tanks with unknown origin sent a shockwave through both other schools and the press. Their opponent Waffle Academy had disbanded their senshadou team for a while due to lack of participation, but thanks to a recent increase in student enrollment had restarted their senshadou. But their vehicle pool was mostly light tanks such as AMC 35s and T-15s supplemented by 105mm howitzer armed M4 Shermans.

Now that they significantly outgun their opponent, Yogurt began with a frontal assault led by their new tanks, going straight for Waffle's starting area. Waffle on the other hand took advantage of their higher ground and took up defensive position.

Once the two sides met they immediately began a fierce firefight. Waffle's AMC 35s and Shermans would hit Yogurt tanks with everything they got, while their T-15s would dash out from time to time to harass Yogurt's formation. Yogurt, despite having a massive firepower advantage, couldn't hit the broadside of a barn because their crew were rushed into bigger tanks without proper training. Waffle had their own problems too: their 105mm howitzer had a long reload speed, and couldn't hurt anything bigger than a Panzer IV. Both sides had to cope with their problems by constantly stopping to aim or fire; eventually Yogurt's bigger tanks carried the day, and slowly took out all of Waffle's tanks.

Yogurt supposedly went into intense gunnery training after this match to prepare for the second round.

Comment

Deleted an entire paragraph that outlined problems Yogurt might face against Kuromine in Round 2 (when they would be facing St. Gloriana). Seriously Suzuki?

Painting a 15mm Saunders team

I've been collecting 15mm tanks for a long time, but only after reading the lovely posts on Goblinhall did I decide to give a try on painting up some 15mm Girls und Panzer tanks.
My first project was a Pravda team, but the first project that I'm satisfied with was my Saunders team.

A fistful of Shermans, with some Company B figures standing on the top

I went with Plastic Soldier Company's M4A2 Shermans. The Shermans in original show were M4s with wielded hulls but since the only difference was really the engine deck, I think these look just fine.

I spray painted the US colored Shermans Vallejo Surface Primer US Olive Drab, followed by a coat of Vallejo Brown Violet (incidentally the latter was darker than primer so I had to cover the whole tank). I then drybrushed the edges with a mix of 50/50 brown violet and gray green, followed by another detailed drybrush with pure gray green. The Firefly was sprayed with Russian uniform, followed by a quick drybrush of gray green. Tracks were painted plain black: one neat thing about painting GuP tanks is you only have to do minimal amount of weathering.

After all details have been painted, I painted some gloss varnish over areas for decal ,and added decals from Company B miniatures. These are very nice and detailed decals, and goes onto the models very smoothly with a bit of decal setter. I do wish these come in a more efficient package though: Saunders doesn't use the smallest size at all (it's all medium and large ones) so the entire bottom row is more or less useless (unless I cough up some jeeps, support vehicles or Stuarts). Had those two rows of smalls be replaced by another five or six medium sized emblems it would be a much better package.

                                                          Decal's on

After spraying gloss varnish to the entire entire batch, I panel lined all details with Tamaiya's dark brown accent paint. After that dried I wiped off the excess accent and sprayed the tanks with matte varnish. Viola!

                                            Saunders finished

Close-up of Kay. A very good figure indeed and attracted quite a bit of attention

My second Company B order came just in time for me to get my Kay figure ready for Chugoku Area AFV Club Convention (happened on April 16th). It was pretty funny to see 1/100 scale figures next to an 1/12 scale Panzer IV and action figures.

Overall I'm quite pleased with how well these tanks came out, now it's time to move onto my Kuromine project!

[Gekkan Senshadou battle report] Vicking Fishery vs. Koala Forest [Viking Fishery]

Opposing teams

Viking Fishery: 2 x Souma S-35, 2 x Hotchkiss H-35, 1 x Panzer I B, 2 x Panzer II B, 3 x Panzer III N, 1 x NbFz

Koala Forest: 2 x Matilda II, 2 x Sentinel, 2 x M3 Grant, 4 x M3 Stuart

Overview

The deck of nature-loving Viking Fishery High School’s school ship is covered in forests, and their senshadou team specializes in this type of terrain. Moreover, members of VFHS’ senshadou team are highly coordinated, as launching their daring raids requires extremely well-synchronized actions. Koala Forest excels in making bold frontal attacks, bashing aside their opponents with their Matilda IIs. This battle happens in a heavily wooded area crisscrossed by rivers, Koala is stronger overall, but Viking Fishery is more familiar with this terrain.

The two schools deployed on the opposite sides of a river. Without scouting out where Viking Fishery’s team is, Koala Forest wandered around in the woods, until they ran into Viking Fishery’s Panzer I and IIs that had crossed the river. Koala Forest, shocked by their opponent’s daring move, started pounding these light tanks with all their tanks, completely ignoring the fact that Viking Fishery’s main force had forded the river, and was now on their flank. Just as Koala Forest finished off the last of Viking Fishery’s vanguard, Viking Fishery’s Panzer IIIs dashed out of the forest and took out a M3 Grant and 2 M3 Stuarts, sending the rest of Koala Forest’s tanks in disarray: their flag tank Sentinel panicked and tried to reverse, running straight into Viking Fishery’s S-35 and H-35.

Had Koala Forest kept their wits and paid attention, they could have realized that the blocking force behind them couldn’t even hurt the Matildas, and would have great difficulties damaging the Sentinel. But at this point Koala Forest’s captain had completely lost control of her team, and fleet-footed Viking Fishery didn’t give her time to reorganize a defense. S-35s physically blocked Sentinel’s path, as the rest of Viking Fishery tanks moved in to take it out with concentrated fire.

Koala Forest had overwhelming advantage in tanks, but Viking Fishery has read through their opponent’s mind, used all of their tanks to their full extent, and defeated Koala Forest through superior planning and command.

Comment

Viking Fishery's highly synchronized actions is a nod to oarsmen on Viking long ships.

Home advantage is the biggest winner in senshadou.

[Gekkan Senshadou battle report] Jatkosota vs. Blue Division [Jatkosota]

Opposing teams

Jatkosota: 1 x StuG G, 1 x PzIV G, 1 x BT-42, 1 x T-34/76, 1 x T-34/85, 1 x T-26, 2 x BT-5, 2 x BT-7

Blue Division: 2 x T-26, 2 x BT-5, 1 x Verdeja, 1 x Pz III E, 2 x Pz III J, 1 x Pz III G, 1 x Pz IV H

Overview

The match between Jatkosota High School and Blue Division High School happened in snowy terrain with lots of lakes, just the kind of terrain that Jatkosota is familiar with. Jatkosota’s plan was to find Blue Division’s advance, ambush it from the front while their more mobile tanks move up from behind. Blue Division had similar ideas, they wanted to find Jatkosota’s main force, and overrun it using their superior speed.

As Blue Division slowly drove down the snowy causeway between lakes, trying their best to not get bogged down on soft dirt or slip on snow, Jatkosota’s BT-5 and BT-7s flanked to their rear and launched their surprise attack. When Blue Division turned around to meet the unexpected foe, Jatkosota moved up their StuG and Pz IV to pound Blue Division’s vanguard, while their T-34s navigated through banks of the lakes to flank Blue Division. Jatkosota students show off their superior driving skills as their wide-tracked T-34s zipped around difficult terrain with ease. Blue Division team, trapped on a road and beset on all sides, tried to regroup their tanks, but fast-paced Jatkosota attacks quickly ended their dream.

Overshadowed by the Big Four, Jatkosota had proven that they were a force to be reckoned with. How will they fare in the next round against Kuromine? A lot of fans would be excited to know.

Comment

This is what happened when I deleted 60% winter war references from the original.

[Gekkan Senshadou battle report] Chihatan vs. Kuromorimine [Kuromorimine]

Line up

Chihatan: 4 x Type 97 Chi-Ha, 5 x Type 97 Chi-Ha Shinhoto, 1 x Type 95 Ha-Go

Kuromorimine: 1 x Tiger I, 2 x Tiger II, 4 x Panther, 2 x Jagdpanzer IV/L70, 1 x Panzer III J

Overview

Whichever school that drew Kuromorimine for their first round would probably blame something for their bad luck, but not Chihatan: they responded that news with three enthusiastic cheers of “banzai”. Going up against a team with a nine-year winning streak in National Tournament is tough, but to a school specializes in Japanese tanks like Chihatan, there is nothing their daring and aggressive tactics couldn’t break (or so they say). Chihatan used to be able to get to top 4 with their all-out assaults, but nowadays they were usually knocked out on the first round. Nevertheless many people are still interested in seeing how far this once proud and powerful team could go in this year’s tournament.

Kuromorimine’s line up was mainly Panthers backed up with Tigers and Jagdpanzer IVs. Because Chihatan wouldn’t bring anything too heavy, Kuromorimine had decided that they would skip heavier vehicles such as Jagdtigers because the amount of maintenance needed would not justify their presence on the field. When the match began, Kuromorimine with their speed advantage quickly seized the caldera at the center of the stage and set up their defense. When Chihatan found out that their opponent had cornered themselves in one spot, there was only one course of action: charge it.

With heavier firepower, better tactics and the high ground, Kuromorimine’s tanks opened fire at 1500m mark from their positions behind rocks and boulders of the caldera. Chihatan’s tanks, massively outgunned and could not move fast enough, were being picked off one by one, and yet they still pressed on with their attack: in order to have a fighting chance against Kuromorimine’s tanks, Chihatan’s Japanese tanks had to get into close range and hit them on the side. While Chihatan was struggling, Kuromorimine was having a field day: not only were their opponent trudging up a hill, they were also doing that in straight lines, which saved Kuromorimine’s gunners a lot of time on reacquiring targets. Even though in the end a few of Chihatan’s tanks made it to Kuromorimine’s line, they were picked off in no time.

The first match of Chihatan ended up becoming Kuromorimine’s one-sided slaughter. Most of Chihatan’s crew looked disheartened and confused by this result, trying to figure out why their tradition didn’t work this time. All except one. Standing in a solemn posture atop her tank glaring at Kuromorimine’s line, Chihatan’s next captain Kinuyo Nishi showed no shock or disappointment, but rather looked like she was thinking about something. What is she pondering? How would she lead next year’s Chihatan team? Only time can tell.

Comment

The stage looked like Mount Suribachi on Iwo Jima, just significantly greener.

[Gekkan Senshadou battle report] Pravda vs. Bonple [Pravda]

Line up

Pravada: 5 x T-34/85, 4 x T-34/76, 1 x KV-2   

Bonple: 2 x TKS, 3 x 7TP twin turret, 4 x 7TP single turret, 1 x 9TP   

Match overview 

This year’s Pravda team is a combination of excellent Soviet equipment such as T-34s, and good leadership between Pravda’s captain Katyusha and her lieutenant Nonna. Unlike the former Pravda team which would single-mindedly run straight into an ambush, or getting flushed out during the first round, this year’s Pravda would leave little for Bonple team to take advantage of.   

   

The stage is set on a wide sunflower field over gentle rolling hills. Pravda started by quickly rolling their armored column down a dirt trail, and casually drove towards the center of the stage. Normally when a column of tanks are rolling down such a road, every tank would be assigned to cover a specific zone and position their guns accordingly, but Pravda was approaching with such callousness, Bonple’s team, spreading around Pravda’s tanks, slowly picked up their speed and moved closer towards Pravda’s tanks.    

   

Bonple’s classic tactics involves one group of tanks attack abreast showering enemy with fire, while the assault group charge in a dense formation from a different direction. In this case, Bonple’s commander decided that since Pravda haven’t realized that a noose was being tightened around their necks, chose to quickly get into the thick of it in order to negate Pravda’s advantage over firepower and armor.    

  

Just as Bonple’s tanks moved within 300m of Pravda’s column, Pravda’s flag tank suddenly pulled to a stop and started firing, followed by the rest of Pravda team. So began Bonple’s fall: Katyusha had already discovered Bonple’s movement, but decided to bait them closer in order to maximize her tanks’ damage. After just one salvo from Pravda, white flags were popping up everywhere over the golden rings of sunflowers. Bonple’s light tanks and tankettes had no cover to hide behind, and several tanks were literally toppled over by the sheer force of Pravda’s shells.

    

Taking out the entire opponent team in one salvo, such is the power of a school that ended Kuromine’s drem for a 10-year win streak. Just like the one salvo that ended Bonple’s road to the second round, Katyusha and Nonna together shall bury any unworthy opponent into the dust bin of history.    

     

Comment:

Seems like Jajka got completely outplayed by Katyusha.

Also I had to take a bit of creative freedom with the last sentence. Originally it was something along the lines of “‘Chifubuki’ Katyusha and ‘Blizzard’ Nonna together will show no mercy to any weak opponent”, which sounds rather stupid because fubuki means blizzard in Japanese.

[Gekkan Senshadou battle report] Anzio vs. Maginot [Anzio]

Line up 

Anzio: 3 x M41 Semovente, 7 x CV-33

Maginot: 2 x Souma S-35, 2 x Char B1 bis, 3 x FT-17, 3 x R-35   

  

Match overview:

In recent years, under Anchovy’s leadership, Anzio’s senshadou has seen a renaissance. For this year’s tournament, Anzio brought highly mobile CV-33, along with heavy punchers such as Semovente 75/18s. On the other hand, Maginot was determined to dig in and not let anything past their formidable defenses. The match hinged on whether Anzio could break through Maginot’s line, or Maginot could break up Anzio’s attack.  

At the beginning of the match Anchovy sent all seven of her CV-33s、led by her lieutenant Pepperoni, straight towards Maginot’s defense, hoping to disrupt their formation and disrupt their command. Even though the CV-33s lacked armor or firepower, they still managed to severely disrupt Maginot’s deployment and run off without a scratch. Maginot’s main force fell for the trap and chased after the CV-33s, while their flag tank, a B1 bis was left behind in the starting area. Anchovy can’t let a chance this scale to pass: she brought all three Semoventes up, ordered one Semovente to attack from the right while her other lieutenant Carpaccio and Anzio herself would attack from the left, delivering a killing blow through B1’s vulnerable radiator grilles.

A portion of Maginot’s force, realized that their flag tank was in danger, turned around and rushed back towards their flag tank, with the intention to catch Anzio in a pincer and take out Anchovy’s flag tank. Carpaccio, noticing the sudden change of situation, wheeled her Semovente around and charged at incoming Maginot tanks. Even though she was outnumbered, Carpaccio’s determination, coolness under fire and strenuous training allowed her to fight like a trapped lion, buying Anchovy precious time that she needed. With her back temporarily secured, Anchovy turned her attention to Magniot’s flag tank, and took it out right after Magniot’s reinforcement knocked out Carpaccio's tank.  

Despite quite a few intense engagements that lasted throughout the match, it ended with both Anzio and Maginot only losing one tank each. Rumor says that to counter Ooarai team, Anchovy has prepared a secret weapon.  

Comment: Anzio’s 75/18 could penetrate 80mm of armor at 500m (something Caesar commented when Ooarai was analyzing Anzio’s strength), well over B1 bis’ 60mm front armor. Why Anchovy decided to take the extra effort to flank a lone B1 remains a mystery.

[Gekkan Senshadou battle report] St. Gloriana vs. BC Freedom [St. Gloriana]

Line up

St. Gloriana: 1 x Churchill, 9 x Matilda II  

BC Freedom: 5 x Hotchkiss H-39, 3 x M5 Stuart, 1 x B1 Bis, 1 x M4A1 (76mm conversion)   

 

Match overview

         

The match between St.Gloriana and BC Freedom happened in an area similar to a western Europe town, which makes St. Gloriana’s classic “advancing in one beautiful formation” strategy rather difficult to execute.  

   

But St. Gloriana’s Captain Darjeeling came up with a rather daring plan: she was going to run her team straight down the street where BC Freedom has most likely set up an ambush. A column of three Matildas would lead the charge and defeat the bait force BF Freedom sent in, while the maine force led by Darjeeling would follow right behind. Once BC Freedom sprang their trap, Darjeeling will swing her Churchill around and blow apart anything BF Freedom had prepared behind her.  

 

Now St. Gloriana could have easily won with the three leading Matildas alone, since BC Freedom’s M5 Stuarts and Hotchkiss H-39s are no match for anything St. Gloriana fielded, but Darjeeling in the spirit of Noblesse oblige insisted on leading the main force from the front. Such is Darjeeling’s senshadou: not simply to win a match, the captain must always be at the front to show the team how to win.  

 

The match began as St. Gloriana planned: BC Freedom’s Hotchkiss were quickly knocked out once they encountered the vanguard Matildas. Meanwhile, the leading Matilda also found a Char B1 bis in the town square. Darjeeling decided that the town square must be where BF Freedom’s trap was and ordered her whole force full speed ahead to advance on it.  

 

Just as Darjeeling’s Churchill raced past a single lane, the Matilda behind her, commanded by the newcomer to National Tournament, Nilgiri, suddenly brewed up: BC Freedom has placed their converted M4A1 at the end of that road. Meanwhile a pair of M5 Stuarts raced down the other end towards Darjeeling’s Churchill. It seems that St. Gloriana had jumped into a trap slightly ahead of their plan.   

 

But Darjeeling, knowing that Stuarts couldn’t hurt her Churchill, told her visibly shaken loader Orange Pekoe to calm down, ordered driver Ruhuna to reverse the Churchill and point the tank towards where the Sherman was coming. Just as BC Freedom’s Sherman ran across the crossroad, Churchill put a couple shots into its broadside, the second shot whiteflagged the Sherman, which turned out to be BC Freedom’s flag tank.

Darjeeling was seen hurrying off after the match to attend a friendly match with Ooarai Girl’s High School.  

 

Comment: BC Freedom's converted M4A1 Sherman used a 3-in gun from a M10 Wolverine, which makes it more like a Kelly's Heroes Sherman than Alisa's M4A1 (76mm).