Cold War Gone Hot 1985 : The 4th Netherlands Mechanised Division Order of Battle (CWC)

Hi all,

I have finally decided on the order of battle for my Dutch.

We have:

Division Assets:
298th Helicopter Squadron: 1 x Alouette iii

41st Armoured Brigade:
Bde HQ: 1 x HQ M577.
41st AA Battery: 2 x Gepard SPAA.
41st Engineer Company: 3 x M113 Engineer Combat Teams, 1 x AEV, 1 x AVLB
41st Artillery Battalion: 4 x M109A2 155mm SPG, 1 x FO (YPR-765C).
42nd Mechanised Battalion:
BHQ: 1 x HQ YPR-765C, 1 x Recon Lynx M113 C&R.
3 Mechanised Companies, each: 3 x YPR-765, Combat Teams
1 Weapons Company: 2 x YPR-765 with RT61 120mm Mortars, 1 x YPR-765PRAT (TOW).
41st & 43rd Tank Battalions, each:
BHQ: 1 x HQ Leopard 2A1, 1 x Recon Lynx M113 C&R.
3 Tank Companies, each: 4 x Leopard 2A1.

43rd Mechanised Brigade
Bde HQ: 1 x HQ M577.
43rd AA Battery: 2 x Gepard SPAA.
43rd Anti-Tank Company: 4 x YPR-765PRAT (TOW).
43rd Engineer Company: 3 x M113 Engineer Combat Teams, 1 x AEV, 1 x AVLB
43rd Artillery Battalion: 4 x M109A2 155mm SPG, 1 x FO (YPR-765C).
41st & 47th Mechanised Battalions, each:
BHQ: 1 x HQ YPR-765, 1 x Recon Lynx M113 C&R
3 Mechanised Companies, each: 3 x YPR-765 Combat Teams
1 Weapons Company: 1 x YPR-765 with RT61 120mm Mortar, 1 x YPR-765 with TOW.
42nd Tank Battalion:
BHQ: 1 x HQ Leopard 1A1-V, 1 x Recon Lynx M113 C&R.
3 Tank Companies, each: 4 x Leopard 1A1-V.

These two formations above are part of the 4th Mechanised Division, and are generally kept at high readiness (as far as that goes for Dutch forces) at their stations in Germany.

Cold War Gone Hot 1985 : The 42nd Tank Battalion - "Regiment Huzaren Prins Oranje"

Hi all,

Painted up my first Dutch unit for the 85-89 period, these are Leopard 1s for the armoured component of the 43rd Mechanised Infantry Brigade.

The aim was to try to create that strange brown/green that they seem to have used, sometimes appearing very brown and in other photos appearing dark green, like below:

Either way, the GHQ models carry my average painting!

Regards,
Peter

Cold War Gone Hot 1985 : The 4th Netherlands Mechanised Division

Hi all,

Well I recently (ie today) decided to sell of the Heroics and Ros Dutch army that I had and buy a new GHQ one! The price was about 3 times greater but I like to think that my painting has improved as much over the past few years ;)

I am going to include in my force the 41st Armoured and 42nd Mechanised Brigades, I am not sure what air support if any will be included.

I was really pulling my hair out in trying to find out when the Dutch began to paint their equipment in the NATO camo scheme - sources said that they were an early adopter but it was unusual to see a vehicle not in plain green before the 1990s! After asking on some of the forums I frequent I decided to base my force on the look of the army during the 1988 Free Lion exercise.

Below are some excellent videos to get you in the mood:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4jPu_9v36Ss  (Dutch in 1987)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSg3-OYChI4  (Germans, Brits, Americans and Dutch in 1988)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7V1V1F67ZU  (Dutch in 1989)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZWhMiTBuN0  (Dutch in 1994)

Thanks all, pics of the models forthcoming when I have had chance to paint them!

Peter

1:2400 Naval Warfare: Flagships of the fleet!

Hi,

Just a quick comparison shot of the two battleship squadron flagships. Probably the best looking WW1 capital ships in my opinion!

Many thanks!

1:2400 Naval Warfare: Radetzky Class Pre-Dreadnoughts

Hi all,

Once again there is progress on the Austrians! This time it is the semi dreadnoughts of the Radetzky Class.

1:2400 Naval Warfare: Hussar class destroyers

Hi all,

Work has been quite manic so progress on my prey dreadnoughts has been slower than expected. Instead please enjoy the first of 4 destroyer squadrons for my KuK!

The Huszár class was a class of destroyers built for the Austro-HungarianNavy before the First World War. They were built to a design by the British shipbuilder Yarrow Shipbuilders, who built the first ship, with a further 11 ships being built in Austrian and Hungarian yards between 1905 and 1909.



The base has come out slightly lighter than the originals and I have to confess I don't like it as much. Ah well, plenty more to do!

Peter

1:2400 Naval Warfare: Tegetthoff Class Dreadnoughts

My first completed ships!!!

The Tegetthoff class (sometimes called the Viribus Unitis class) was the sole class of dreadnought battleship built for the Austro-Hungarian navy. Four ships were built; SMS Viribus Unitis, SMS Tegetthoff, SMS Prinz Eugen with SMS Szent Istvan following later in the war.

The Austrian government ordered the construction of a new fleet in 1908 following the announcement of the start of construction of first dreadnought for the Regia Marina (the Italian navy): the RN Dante Alighieri. The chief designer of the Austro-Hungarian navy, Siegfried Popper, was nearly blind at this stage (he was retired before the ships were launched), and some have blamed this for design deficiencies of the class of ships.

The ships of this class were among the first ships to utilise triple gun turrets for its main armament, the first one being the Italian battleship Dante Alighieri whom the Austrian ships were supposed to act against in a war; as for the Italian ship, this choice made it possible to deliver a heavier broadside than other dreadnoughts of a similar size. The triple turret was built at the Škoda Works, in Plzeň, Bohemia, and was available at short notice because Škoda were already working on a design for an order for the Russian navy

The colours have become a bit washed out in the photos (the sea especially looking a bit grey/purple) but I am still chuffed by them! Especially so considering their size.

And the fleet flagship in close up:

What do ya think?

1:2400 Naval Warfare: The one that started it all...

Whilst I'm at it I would thought I would post a pic of the test ship I painted, it was meant to be a one off not the precursor to purchasing an entire battle fleet!

Please ignore the name tag, its a WIP.lol

The base is actually a composite of two smaller mdf bases on a cardstock base - it will be replaced in the course of time but it was all I had to hand. Worked for testing out my idea for sculpting a seascape I can live with though!