SteveKrieg
Company Commander
G'day all,
Just a quick one regards another piece of fine German ordnance as part of the overarching 'Plan DAK'...the 7.5cm Leichte Infanterie Geschutz 18, or Light Infantry Howitzer model 18. I'll be using this piece to for the scene covering the so-called 'Siege of Tobruk' where Rommel's faltering plan to take the vital harbour with inadequate forces relied heavily on artillery bombardment.
I watched some period footage showing a DAK kanonier plying the gun with a bandage wrapped around his head - such I guess is the crucible of war to keep the guns firing regardless and underpins the fact that Rommel never had enough of anything to achieve what he hoped would be a drive across Suez and on into the oil fields of antiquity beyond (a strategy that initially he was not ordered to achieve but back to the gun).
Short and snub-nosed, the '18 was the first German artillery piece designed following the First World War and was in-essence just an oversized mortar allowing a high elevation of plunging fire. The breech was that akin a shotgun which in-itself is unusual for a field piece. The '18 weighed around 400kg making it ideal for infantry use and was fitted with a box trail and either spoked wheels (for horse drawn) or pneumatic for wheeled transporting. Though it was largely superseded by better models as the war progress it remained in-service with the Wehrmacht throughout.
The model: Is a CHE polystone that came out around 2006, with the "Hans Cremer" figure. As with many of the larger CHE pieces, the polystone is not the best material in my opinion for 1/6th. It's unnecessarily heavy and prone to warping (field kitchen undercarriage a prime example if left sitting for some time). Upon opening mine the back of the box trail was found shattered and thanks to a major repair job by a mate of mine using glue and putty; was able to be made ready for my 2015 'Blitzkrieg' diorama but was not actually used on the day.
Sitting on a shelf ever since, when it came time to employ it for 'Plan DAK' the area of wheel and axle (where the weight is at its heaviest) had cracked...again the result of its polystone construction and had to be braced below and top to ensure it did not suffer any further.
Repainted, along with its ammo component, the gun is now representative of an infantry regiment's light gun platoon which fielded two of the 7.5cm howitzers; each German infantry regiment had a gun company which consisted of two light and two heavy (15cm) howitzers for immediate close support fire. Enjoy, Steve
Just a quick one regards another piece of fine German ordnance as part of the overarching 'Plan DAK'...the 7.5cm Leichte Infanterie Geschutz 18, or Light Infantry Howitzer model 18. I'll be using this piece to for the scene covering the so-called 'Siege of Tobruk' where Rommel's faltering plan to take the vital harbour with inadequate forces relied heavily on artillery bombardment.
I watched some period footage showing a DAK kanonier plying the gun with a bandage wrapped around his head - such I guess is the crucible of war to keep the guns firing regardless and underpins the fact that Rommel never had enough of anything to achieve what he hoped would be a drive across Suez and on into the oil fields of antiquity beyond (a strategy that initially he was not ordered to achieve but back to the gun).
Short and snub-nosed, the '18 was the first German artillery piece designed following the First World War and was in-essence just an oversized mortar allowing a high elevation of plunging fire. The breech was that akin a shotgun which in-itself is unusual for a field piece. The '18 weighed around 400kg making it ideal for infantry use and was fitted with a box trail and either spoked wheels (for horse drawn) or pneumatic for wheeled transporting. Though it was largely superseded by better models as the war progress it remained in-service with the Wehrmacht throughout.
The model: Is a CHE polystone that came out around 2006, with the "Hans Cremer" figure. As with many of the larger CHE pieces, the polystone is not the best material in my opinion for 1/6th. It's unnecessarily heavy and prone to warping (field kitchen undercarriage a prime example if left sitting for some time). Upon opening mine the back of the box trail was found shattered and thanks to a major repair job by a mate of mine using glue and putty; was able to be made ready for my 2015 'Blitzkrieg' diorama but was not actually used on the day.
Sitting on a shelf ever since, when it came time to employ it for 'Plan DAK' the area of wheel and axle (where the weight is at its heaviest) had cracked...again the result of its polystone construction and had to be braced below and top to ensure it did not suffer any further.
Repainted, along with its ammo component, the gun is now representative of an infantry regiment's light gun platoon which fielded two of the 7.5cm howitzers; each German infantry regiment had a gun company which consisted of two light and two heavy (15cm) howitzers for immediate close support fire. Enjoy, Steve
