"Do you play with Funnies?" Topic

Just been reading Holbart and the 79 division. I had not realised how much the Ram APC and the Buffalo amphibious vehicle was used in Normandy. This is just crying out for some interesting scenarios using all the Funnies in a single engagement. So anybody done such a scenario, do you have the kit, is it available in 1/144 or have I got to commission a whole load of stuff from Shipyards to print?

I've played with a few funnies. That's why I don't go to conventions any more ;)

That's a rather leading and loaded question. But leaving the people who game with me out, only during landing scenarios. All the stuff I have is 1/72 but the minifigs 10/12mm line would work in a pinch, I know for sure they have DUKWs.
link

Most of my wargaming pals are certainly describable as 'Funnies'.

:-)

Only when the Freakies are unavailable.

Bash you bit, I had not realised that minifigs had more or less done them all! The Crab is under US which is a bit of a cheek and it's a bit odd but trying to depict flailing chains on a static model is a bit of a tall order. Putting the Ram Kangaroo under British is also a bit unfair to the Canadians!

Now all I need is the ultimate scenario to use them all in one game!

One does not simply 'play' with Funnies.

Not only do I paly with them, I design them.

For example in my "The Shattered Century Game" the Germans are represented by Fahrvergnuggen or the 7 3/4 Reich. Here we have such things as the "nibble-waffles." which are a sort of cannon that can shoot and parachute land mines that look like waffles. Another item is Helga, Queen of the SS (Schlits Staffel) and idol of all the boys in the Huxter Youth. She and her aryanically cloned poochie Blitz-Fritz and the pack of puppies rampage through the battlefileds, snapping off allied necks with a single bite. Of course the merchandising and marketing has not been forgotten and like this Barbie of the Beer Hall putsch, she has her boyfriend "Kurt" who picks her up every night in his souped up "Mauspanzer" and they go out to their world dominating table at the local drive in. Then there's the V-8 intercontinental ballistic rocket. It's really just a huge V2 and it has a phenominal accuracy (as long as you're just aiming for a continent.) Then there's the OOPAH mark three. its a super loudspeaker that blares oompah music constantly across the lines and a OOmpah II that can override the signal of the Jazz coming from the other line. This demoralizes the enemy .

"I always wanted to the be the guy that beat the drum that went boom boom that played in the German Band."

Each Nation has it's own funnies produced by it's R&D department.

For example the WWWF (Worker's Winter Wonderland of Freeland ) Guess who? has Lenin-aide. It's a syrupy sweet strawberry lemonade that's waiting in line five hours for. It's a high energy drink that will put the spank back in you sagging little Tovarisch and make all the Rossilka the Riveters go mad for your um… dictatorship of the Proletariat. All stands who have stonked Lenin- aide before a close assault get a +1 point to their value.

By the way, there IS a real Lenin-aide produced her and now, and it's a hoot to read the bottle. It's actually rather good. Once I saw it at a specialty store I HAD to incorporate it in the game.

Bottoms up Komrade!

The specialised armour used during the Normandy campaign consisted of Sherman Crabs (30th Armd Bde), AVREs (1st Aslt Bde, RE) and the unused Canal Defence Light (1st Tk Bde).

The LVTs were first issued to 5th Aslt Regt, RE, in Aug44, and latterly 11RTR from the now disbanded 1st Tk Bde.

The actual RAM APCs didn't make an appearance until late 1944, following on from the Canadian 'defrocked Priests' that debuted in Totalize during the Normandy fighting.

79th Armd Div reports that its Sherman flails and even AVREs were pressed into service with inf units in Normandy, simply because the inf saw them as tanks rather than specialised vehicles, so while not the envisioned use for them you could conceivably find a few AVREs and flails supporting an Inf Bn. The RAM and LVT units were used extensively from, say autumn 1944, right up until the end, in the perceived roles.

I rather think Crocodiles saw extensive use in Normandy and beyond too, aqs well as armoured bridgelayers.

re the Kangeroos,I ran a Reichswald operational game some time back and the Allies very rapidly discovered the Kangeroos were far more useful ferrying supplies around than carrying infantry as the land was inundated and the wicked Germans had mined/demolished the roads.

, yes, I did forget the Crocs; in my defence I was thinking of 79th Armd Div and 141RAC was technically under 31st Tk Bde which didn't join the Div until Sep44, so… yes I did still forget them.

Didn't think that would get bleeped?

Early on the crabs were used extensively in there intended role at the start of the Normandy campaign. Only at the end were some crabs to have there flails removed to batter act as gun tanks. The other device that was used to a reasonable extent was the Buffalo for crossing rivers and occasionally insure work. The Kindle Holbart books notes than in the ear world the Rams did sterling work as APC's saving many lives. The Buffalo did sterling work in taking troops across rivers, and flooded ground in assault as well as ferrying supplies to combat troops. Some were also fitted with mat laying bobbins to provide landing runs for DO tanks on enemy held river banks.

Hi UshCha,

I don't know what you've been reading, but as SR says, the 79th Armoured Division used neither the Ram Kangaroo or the Buffalo in Normandy.

The Royal Navy and RASC used Buffalos for ship-to-shore resupply in Normandy, though the 79th Armoured Division didn't start to receive them until the end of the Normandy Campaign and didn't use them in action until the assault on the Breskens Pocket in October 44.

II Canadian Corps invented Priest Kangaroos and used them in August 1944. They remained a Corps asset in Normandy and weren't transferred to 79th Armoured Division's control until September 1944, after Normandy. They weren't replaced with Ram Kangaroos until October 1944.

Having Buffalos, Kangaroos, AVREs, etc, in the same scenario is something of a non-starter, as why would you use a thin-skinned Buffalo in the same situation where you needed thick-skinned Kangaroos? However, there is one example of Buffalos being used alongside other 79th Armoured Division assets:

During Operation ‘Infatuate' in November 1944, Buffalos landed elements of 4 Commando Brigade at Westkappelle, at the western tip of Walcheren island. Instead of returning for further troops (as at Breskens or in the Rhine Crossing), the Buffalos remained on shore to provide transport through the flooded interior of the island and in some cases found themselves providing close support with their armament (NOT a situation they wanted to be in). Sherman Crabs and AVREs then landed from LCTs, so the three vehicle types soon found themselves fighting alongside each other.

Re Crocs: As SF says, they were part of 141 RAC (31st Tank Brigade) in Normandy, which at the time was not a part of 79th Armoured Division. They were absorbed into 79th Armoured Division after Normandy and the 31st Tank Brigade was later reformed within 79th Armoured Division as an all-Crocodile brigade.

Re Crabs: While some Crabs might have been 'de-bagged' to provide gun support, 30th Armoured Brigade remained an all-Crab formation and Crabs continued to perform sterling service until the end of the war.

Re armoured bridgelayers: While 79th Armoured Division had a few, the majority belonged to the Bridging Troop assigned to each Armoured/Tank Brigade HQ, which usually consisted of 6x Valentine or Churchill bridgelayers.

A good scenario for getting a large number of 79th Armoured Division vehicles on table together (AVREs, Ram Kangaroos, Sherman Crabs, Crocodiles and armoured dozers – no Buffalos, sorry) is Operation ‘Alan', the assault on ‘s-Hertogenbosch in October 1944, which can be found here: link

Jemima , thanks for the link not sure for the operation what the ground scale is. The real map is not high enough reloution to read the scale. Any idea what it is? Looks like I could adapt it to our style of operation.

I've got the original here somewhere. Give me a minute…

How's this?

The centre map here is high-res, so try right-clicking and saving it, then opening it on your machine and zooming in. Each square is a km:

Or these:

Thanks, can't get the much better but I'm on a tablet as I'm a long way from home at the moment. I will download them when I get home. If I understand it at 1 km squares the is a LOT of hedges! That will add some "fun" to AFV'S if they have a significant bulk to them. Certainly a lot of cover for the grunts.

We used a number of 'funnies' for a large Battlegroup: Fall of the Reich game. The basic scenario was to force a river crossing (mostly fordable) and seize the high ground on the other side. Specialist assets were available including Crabs to deal with minefields and AVREs or other bridgelayers to span demolished bridges, anti-tank ditches and the like. I planned to bring along some Buffalos containing Commandos but being able to ford the river changed my plan to using the first wave's Kangaroos to bring them forward, once a bridgehead had been grabbed. It was a points game. so we were allowed to mix and match odd items, regardless of whether Buffalos and Kangaroos ever operated together hostorically (I personally enjoy trying new tactics and force compositions).

As it turned out, my Crab spent a fair part of the game plastering distant Panthers with HE to distract them from the forward units and my AVRE had to resort to trying a desperate shot against a marauding King Tiger that was counter-attacking! Percy would have turned in his grave seeing his creations mis-used like that…

The black lines basically mark field boundaries and aren't necessarily physical obstacles, so it's not as bad as it looks. In the northern and south-eastern parts of the map they're mainly drainage-ditches (see our scenario map) – the wiggly road at the top marks an old coastline, before they drained the sea north of it.

Nevertheless, yes, lines of sight are very poor in that part of the Netherlands – a factor also encountered during Market-Garden. The hedgerows, while providing plenty of concealment, don't provide much physical cover, however – just thin rows of shrubs, lines of tall trees, chain-link fences and the like.

Tiffy,

Sadly for Percy, that's often what happened! There are numerous instances of Crabs being used for infantry fire-support and I do have an example of an AVRE knocking out a Panther! :)

(It actually hit the lamp-post next to the Panther, but the blast alone killed the Panther)