cat herder | 10 Aug 2014 8:57 a.m. PST |
Hello chaps, I have never really been intereasted in the fighting in Norway in 1940, however today I watched a documentary about the battle for Narvik and it really got the old wargame juices flowing. Most of you probably already know about this but the battle involved land, sea and air forces and some very bitter fighting. On one side were the Germans ( yeah I know "obviously" ) but on the other side were Brits ( including several detactments from Yorkshire regiments, HURRAH!!!), Norwegian forces, Polish forces, and the French Foreign Legion. I must admit that I am very enthusiastic about collecting the forces to fight this. Now for the tricky bit I have had a bit of a quick look around but can't seem to find much info on the land element in the Narvick battle, there are several books on the naval engagements but as yet I have not been able to find anything on the land fighting. The sort of info that I need are numbers for the five nationalities involved, any heavy weapons and armour that they had ( the documentary mention the French having numerous Rennault light tanks, but did not mention anything else) Also how would the FFL have been attired for this campaign, would the have worn the standard French issue kit or would they have had spealist kit for artic conditions. Also in the documentary there is newsreal footage of German para's boarding an aircraft, however they are not wearing their usual DPM smocks, is their any reason for this. If anyone can answer any of these question or point me in the direction of some books on the subject I would be very greatful. Thanks in advance, all the best, Glen. |
bc1745 | 10 Aug 2014 9:26 a.m. PST |
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boggler | 10 Aug 2014 9:44 a.m. PST |
This site is very useful: link Good luck finding figures…that's what has stopped me doing this so far, although 10mm is an option. |
cat herder | 10 Aug 2014 9:54 a.m. PST |
Thanks very much gents, very good of you to reply, best wishes, Glen. |
Gaz0045 | 10 Aug 2014 9:55 a.m. PST |
The Osprey Campaign on Norway isn't bad……….cheap on EBay too…. |
Patrice | 10 Aug 2014 10:25 a.m. PST |
Gorgon Studios has FFL in winter gear (I don't know how they were dressed in Norway):
They also have Norwegian infantry, German mountain infantry, British in greatcoats, Poles, etc. link |
Fatman | 10 Aug 2014 11:45 a.m. PST |
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Black Cavalier | 10 Aug 2014 2:46 p.m. PST |
The Skirmish Campaign series has a book on the Norway campaign which includes 10 different battles: link (at the bottom) The series outlines history, battles & objectives, & converts the forces into kind of generic orders of battle so you can use them with just about any game. But they also do have suggestions on how to use their lists for some of the more popular WW2 rules (I don't remember which ones specifically). For figures, Adalen Miniatures does a line of interwar Swedish figures link & some of them in the caps might be similar to the Norwegian infantry. |
Doctor X | 10 Aug 2014 9:04 p.m. PST |
Finding figures in 20mm should not be much of an issue. Between Early War and FAA I think you have almost everything you need. Now finding some of the more common Norwegian artillery is another matter…although you can kitbash and get "good enough" for 20mm. |
Doctor X | 10 Aug 2014 9:07 p.m. PST |
What size are those Adalen figures? Nothing I could find on the website… |
Thomas Nissvik | 11 Aug 2014 3:13 a.m. PST |
The Ådalen minis are 28mm. This link is to Dalaupprors blog. He is a friend of Björn who is behind Ådalen. link |
cat herder | 11 Aug 2014 10:24 a.m. PST |
Hello again gents, thank you very much, you have been very kind in providing me with some very useful information. As for size I am torn between 15 an 10mm. There seems to be more kit available in 15 especially from the flames of war people. At the present I am thinking of going with Peter Pig where I can and then filling gaps with FOW and QRF stuff. Anyway thanks once again for all your help, best wishes,Glen. |
Weasel | 11 Aug 2014 10:48 a.m. PST |
15mm probably has the biggest range of choices though 10mm is amazing. I just got sold on the little Pendraken guys and they are lovely figures. If you do bigger games, it'll end up pretty cheap as well, particularly for vehicles. Choices choices :) |
Legion 4 | 12 Aug 2014 6:33 a.m. PST |
It is a very interesting campaign … worth studying and gaming … |
Leadgend | 12 Aug 2014 9:43 p.m. PST |
The France 1940 site has plenty of OOB info for the french in Norway: france1940.free.fr/oob/cefs.html IIRC the French troops wore a variant of the Alpine uniform and kit in Norway. Unfortunately I'm not aware of anyone who makes appropriate figures in 15mm. |
lou passejaire | 13 Aug 2014 2:33 a.m. PST |
i agree with Leadgend, the oob for the french CEFS are quite usefull . In 28mm you can use on the allied side : Gorgon studio French foreign legion, British, Norvegians, but not the Poles … For Polish troops, you have to use standard french infantrymen ( with some officers in polish uniform ) Hotchkiss H39 form army Group North . For the germans, a mix of Gebirgsjagers ( Gorgon studio and Brigade Games) early war fallshrimjagers and some uboat crew from brigade games . and NO tanks ! |
Leadgend | 13 Aug 2014 7:21 p.m. PST |
See plate F of Osprey 315 – The French Army 1939-45 (1) for uniform details of the French forces. The Gorgon figures appear accurate to me. |
lou passejaire | 22 Aug 2014 11:05 p.m. PST |
the main problem with the Gorgon figures is that they seem's to dislike helmets ! and the main problem with the Narvik campaign is the lack of decent artillery . If you can use the 25mm AT gun from crusader, the canon de 75 from Warlord is … unacurate at least, with artillery crew in full kit , a gun way to big, with wrong design wheels … and no german mountain artillery … |
wargamer6 | 24 Aug 2014 4:06 a.m. PST |
Pithead miniatures do a good range of Norwegian artillery in 10mm with an 75mm mountain gun and a 75mm Erbhardt Field gun plus infantry, 81mm mortars , Colt Machine gun and a 1937 Chevrolet truck. pithead-miniatures.tk |
deephorse | 28 Aug 2014 9:14 a.m. PST |
Sounds like you should try to get hold of a copy of "Hitler's Pre-emptive War – The Battle for Norway 1940" by Henrik O Lunde. No information on uniforms, but the detail of the fighting and who was involved is just what a wargamer wants. |