Saturday, December 6, 2014

The battle of Stonne in 1/32


The battle of Stonne is not the most well-known battle of WWII but it is an interesting one.

As quoted in Wikipedia:
On 13-14 May 1940, German tanks crossed the Meuse River under the command of General Heinz Guderian. The town of Stonne and the woody hills of Mont-Dieu were the single area where it was possible to try to stop this German advance. On the night of 13 May, the French moved various elements to this area to attack the Germans;
Operations near the town involved 90,000 German troops and 300 German tanks, opposed by 42,500 French soldiers and 130 French tanks. The Germans lost 26,500 men (wounded and killed) and 24 tanks, while the French lost 7,500 men (wounded and killed) and 33 tanks.

Some historians call it the Verdun of WWII:
The village changed hands 17 times over the course of three days of fighting between 15 May and 17 May 1940.



The battle of Stonne; setting up the village


We built the village with our first "destructible buildings".  The houses are made of wood pieces.  The other buildings are made of foam panels.  Both are "totally destructible " as you will see.  We also had a public market to increase the number of buildings.

battle of Stonne

battle of Stonne




The battle of Stonne; French troops going forward

In the real historical event, there were B1bis tank battalion deployed.  Unfortunately, we haven’t done any yet.

The French tanks used are a mixed of real tanks (like the Renault D2) and "out of our twisted mind" tanks.  Only for the French army, we did create some.


battle of Stonne

battle of Stonne


battle of Stonne



The battle of Stonne; fighting for the town.


 

battle of Stonne

battle of Stonne

battle of Stonne

battle of Stonne

battle of Stonne

battle of Stonne

battle of Stonne

battle of Stonne

battle of Stonne



The battle of Stonne, the end.


battle of Stonne

battle of Stonne

battle of Stonne

battle of Stonne