MicroMark Army List requests!

[Spicker]

Any chance of the Hermann Göring Fallschirm Panzer Divisions, 1944 Italy?
And, at the same timer, perhaps 1st Infantry and 2nd Armored Divisions (US), 1944 Italy?

[Jerboa]

Hi,
This is my first post on the forum. First Pendraken order is actually shipping today.
As you might discern from my screen name, I'm interested in the North Africa campaign. I've ordered several army lists from wargame vault:

BKCG2 German 15th Panzer Division, North Africa, November-December 1941 (this is great! specific to BKCIV)
G483 German Kampfgruppe Stephan, North Africa, 18th-20th November 1941 (covers the same period as BKCG2, but not specific to BKCIV. published 2020.)
B399 British 4th Armoured Brigade, Gabr Saleh, North Africa, 19th November 1941 (love this. published 2020, but not specific to BCKIV)

Question. If BKCG2 was one of the first specific army lists published, where are the opponent army lists? B399 is great, but I would prefer a specific version. And what about the other units, on both sides, in Operation Crusader? It is clear that Mark Bevis is researching the period. Are the BKCIV lists not commercially successful? Is that why the more recent lists are more generic than specific to BKCIV?

Impatiently awaiting my order.  Working on barbed wired to pass the time. But, that's a different post.

Jerboa

[sultanbev]

Hi there, welcome to the madhouse  and thanks for the purchases. Thought I'd be hearing from you looking at your other posts.

I'm afraid Covid19 threw out all the scheduling of my writing completely and am now about 3 months behind with BKCIV list writing.

All the BKC lists are requests, apart from BKCG1 the 29th Panzer Grenadiers, which was a personal test list if you like. So if no opposing forces have been written, it's because no one asked.
The BKCIV lists have proven to be quite good sellers, so will be doing a lot more as time goes on.

The more generic lists are my standard fodder, if you like, but in the case of the North African lists, have also been a part of a particular contract for another customer.

Anyway, the idea is, to save me doing all the work, ie, finding out what lists and units to do, customers request named units for particular dates, and I'll do them as soon as I can.
So if someone does a blanket request for the entire Op Crusader lists, it might take a year or two (someone asked for the entire May 1940 campaign, it is about 320 lists!!!), but if you ask for specific divisions or brigades for a set date/battle, it'll be much much sooner, pandemics not withstanding.....

Mark

[Jerboa]

Hi Mark,
Thanks for the reply. I really appreciate your lists.
I think the following divisions would permit lots of great historical actions during Op Crusader:
-- German 15th Panzer (already covered in BKCG2 published 2020)
-- British 7th Armored Divsion (4th, 7th, 22nd Armored Brigades) (expand on B139, B140, B399, etc.)
-- German d.b.V Africa Division (later 90th Light Infantry)
-- Italian 'Ariete' Division (is this IT15 published 1998?)
-- New Zealand 6th Infantry Division
-- Indian 4th Infantry Division

I've bought all of your lists associated with units. The convenience of a BKC-specific list would be nice to have. Some of these are new.

Cheers,
Jerboa

[sultanbev]

I've added them to the to-do list. I have earmarked September to do the outstanding BKCIV lists, so they'll be a while I'm afraid.

List IT15 is an older list for Ariete, List IT51-52 is a 2012 update and probably much more accurate, although theoretical rather than actual.

Mark

[Jerboa]

Thanks Mark. The lists may be done before my figs get here.
Cheers

[paulr]

...
-- New Zealand 6th Infantry Division
...
Cheers,
Jerboa

Hi Jerboa,

I suspect you have conflated the

• New Zealand 2^nd Division
• Australian 6^th Division

The organisations were similar but different

Regards,
Paul (a Kiwi)

[Jerboa]

Hi Jerboa,

I suspect you have conflated the

• New Zealand 2^nd Division
• Australian 6^th Division

The organisations were similar but different

Regards,
Paul (a Kiwi)

I'm reading as fast as i can, but I think 2nd NZ is right. From wikipedia:
"The 2nd New Zealand Division moved into Libya on the night of 18 November and began its contribution to the offensive three days later. The 6th Brigade was initially brought up the rear while 4th and 5th Brigades advanced on 21 November. The former targeted the Bardia–Tobruk highway and while the latter the area around Bardia and Sollum. The 6th Brigade, as planned, was detached to XXX Corps and sent to Sidi Rezegh to provide infantry support to the armoured units there. The brigade moved to Bir el Hariga with the 25th Battalion leading alongside the 24th Battalion.[17] However, the following day the situation at Sidi Rezegh had deteriorated, and 6th Brigade was ordered to advance to Point 175, set up a perimeter and then make contact with the 5th South African Brigade, which was in some difficulty, at Sidi Rezegh."

"The 6th Brigade was strung out along Sidi Rezegh in pockets, vulnerable to a counter-attack, and elements of the 15th Panzer Division made contact on 28 November. By 30 November, 6th Brigade was surrounded and after midday the Italian Ariete Division and 15th Panzer Division began attacking with tanks and infantry. Despite the support of anti-tank guns, both 24th and 26th Battalions were overrun. The survivors, and what remained of 25th Battalion, managed to withdraw before Sidi Rezegh was overrun."

[paulr]

Yes the New Zealanders were heavily involved in Operation Crusader, the Australians were in Syria at the time

[sultanbev]

"The organisations were similar but different"
Aye, the Aussies had a lot more Vickers MMG than a British TOE. This is one of the reasons I've stopped doing generic lists and now do division specific lists. When I started back in the 1990s there wasn't that much info to go on, but now it has swung the other way and no one person can ever collate every detail out there about each division or brigade.

The advantage of the Wargames Vault system though is that customers get free updates when new info is added to a list, for as long as the Wargames Vault exists.

As an aside, although the lock down has disrupted writing temporarily, profits from sales have gone mostly into books this year, many on WW2, as research material towards future lists.
Mark

[Jerboa]

Thanks Mark. If you ever need a proofreader (or just another pair of old eyes), please don't hesitate to ask. I'm an obsessive researcher by trade.
Are the old Nafziger lists still around?
Cheers,
Jerboa

[sultanbev]

Oh yes, I have all of the old Nafziger files stashed on my pc. Not sure if the downloads are still around en masse, although individual ones still come up on google searches.

They are a good starting point, although several of the German WW2 ones have transcribing errors, eg putting a May's regimental organisation into an August list, but I've found most are easy to spot once cross-referenced with more recent data.
Yes, I'm an obsessive researcher by trade too

[paulr]

The Wayback machine is your friend

[sultanbev]

Any chance of the Hermann Göring Fallschirm Panzer Divisions, 1944 Italy?
And, at the same timer, perhaps 1st Infantry and 2nd Armored Divisions (US), 1944 Italy?

Spicker, Any particular months or specific battle?

Mark

[FierceKitty]

Welcome aboard.