Ruined Italian monastery by Dule

I have recently decided that what I really need is different terrain features for the game. I liked the Italian monastery on Battlefront site
http://www.flamesofwar.com/hobby.aspx?art_id=2710
and decided to try to make it myself. Battlefront`s Battlefield in a Box are beautifully molded and painted models but they definitely do not suit my pocket.

The idea is that Chapel ruins can give some cover while the Bell Tower can hide an observer or a sniper team.

I used 4 plywood pieces which a carpenter had made for me for some other purpose and plasticard panels of 1,5mm for the Chapel and of 0,2mm for the Roof of the Bell Tower.

slika 0

What I don`t like about the Battlefront model is that while Chapel is totally ruined the Bell Tower does not have a scratch, which does not have sense. On the other hand we can say that it is God’s will and not argue about it any more.

I did not have correct dimensions of BF model so I improvised. It would have been nice if the width of the playwood pieces had been a couple of millimeters larger, but anyway small base fits the finished Bell Tower as shown on the photo.

slika 6

I decided to put a 5mm magnet at the bottom of the Bell Tower and to make a place for it on the ruined Chapel with a magnet too. I am so proud of the idea!

slika 1

Plasticard panels of 1,5mm are solid enough to hold the entire construction but can still be cut by scissors (If you have strong muscular hands as I do) which makes entire process much faster. The walls are made of either 1,5mm or 2mm panels. I  tried to use some pieces that remained from some earlier constructions.

slika 2

When the construction was over I glued some sand and “rocks” around the building.

slika 3

The roof of the Bell Tower was made of tiny 0,2mm plasticard but I  put some greenstuff and thicker plasticard on the invisible side to make it a bit more solid. The cross was made in one piece from plasticard too. I made some „openings“ of 0,2mm plasticard to help me paint the monastery more easily later.

slika 5

First I used grey spray as a primer and then white spray partially.

slika 7

After that I used Humbrol enamel brown for the roof and future cracks on the building.

slika 9

After that Aquarelle red, white, khaki and gray occasionally to finish off the monastery. I glued some flok to get more realistic look.

slika 8

I made it in some 10 days simultaneously working on some other models. I must say that I am satisfied although the model is not perfectly painted. Still it is going to be a fine piece on the gaming table for 1,5 euro which was the cost of the used material.

 slika 92

slika 93

Battle for Orel 1941 (Dule)

Battle Report by Dule 
How not to play Flames of War 
Dule (Defender, Motostrelkovy) vs Dorian (Attacker, Leichte Panzer)
Early War 1390 pts

Mission Cauldron (Immediate ambush, Prepared Positions, Reserves, Delayed Reserves and Random Deployment special rules)

Dorian and I have decided to find out what kind of EW lists can be made for 1390 points, the limit officially announced for tournaments in North America and maybe even Europe next year. I was so happy to try some new Soviet lists from Barbarossa and I have suggested Dorian, who chose to lead a Panzer list, to roll a die to pick my list. On a roll of one and two I would lead the Red Banner Strelkovy list, on a roll of three and four - Motostrelkovy list, and on a roll of five and six - Tankovy list. I could not decide myself because I wanted to play all of them and I though it would be fair to make it random, since Dorian told me in advance that he was going to play with German tanks.

Dorian rolled a die and I was given the opportunity to lead Motostrelkovy. We have rolled the Cauldron mission. My first though was that there were small chances for my Motostrelkovy to lose this game. My Immediate Ambush, and Prepared Positions coupled with Reserves for Dorian are good for me. Delayed Reserves and Random Deployment special rules are not good but defenders are already used to this.

Since I felt so relaxed and confident in my own victory I started making mistakes. My first mistake was very poor deployment. In my head this was to be a long and exhausting game, with my stubborn infantry and AT guns holding their position at any cost waiting for tanks to arrive and save them. Well, that always works well in the movies. I have decided to put both Motostrelkovy platoons on the table to hold objectives and 76mm howitzers to support them. It seemed smart at that time leaving all my mobile platoons in Delayed Reserves. But when I calculate now, Motostrelkovy had 470 points on the table, pitted against German 1050 points (PzIIIs plus SdKfz 231 and Stuka).

My second mistake was that even though I knew I was facing a German Stuka and I had an AA platoon, I did not put it on the table since I decided that Stuka could not hurt my platoons too much. I could not have been more wrong about that. Stuka was inflicting damage upon Motostrelkovy almost every turn. It would not be an exaggeration to say that Stuka bombardments were crucial for the outcome of the game.

On the other side, Dorian played brilliantly with his Germans. He did not have luck with the Reserves but he played aggressively with what he had, shooting at Motostrelkovy all the time. Motostrelkovy were Gone To Ground and Dug In, but since they are conscripts, Germans could hit them on a 4+ within 16”. Of course, Dorian’s first target were 45mm AT guns which had not managed to fire one single shot before they died.

Motostrelkovy were lucky with the Delayed Reserves, on a roll of 6 I have decided to bring two T-34 tanks, one of them with the upgraded gun!

Even at that moment the game could have been saved for me, but I have made the third and crucial mistake. Supposing that EW PzIII has better front than side armour I have decided to come from behind to shoot at them. Soviet T-34s shot well, destroying one and bailing out another PzIII tank but they were so far away from the objective! On the next turn Dorian bombarded them with Stuka, destroying platoon commander and leaving the other tank helpless, far from the battle, for the rest of the game.

After that German Panzers decided that is their finest hour - time for an assault. They hit on a 3+, but did not make significant damage. Motostrelkovy made a counterattack but did not do any better. But next turn when German Delayed Reserves finally came, Motostrelkovy platoon had no chance, an objective was taken and the game was over. Dorians Panzers performed a real Blitzkrieg and deserved a quick and brilliant victory - 6:1!

Now when I think about the game I would have played much differently. First, I would deploy DShK AA instead of the 76mm howitzers. They would probably live one or two turns but could save many lives. When I look at the photos now I can see clearly that only one Motostrelkovy platoon was enough for covering both objectives. And one additional platoon of tanks could exchange fire with Panzers.

When Soviet Delayed Reserves arrived I should have put them at the centre of the table, as close as possible to the objective so that I could have reached the objective the following turn and deny it.

Second Motostrelkovy platoon was totally passive. I did neither move nor shoot them the entire game. Since two of my platoons never came (the game ended) and I have put my T-34s in deep space nine, I realize that I was playing the whole game with one Motostrelkovy platoon worth about 200 points!

But I have to justify my “Awesome looser” diploma from the ETC somehow, do I? Ha, ha, ha.

Review of Barbarossa (Soviet forces) by Dule

I  started to play FoW two years ago and since then I have been waiting for this book. So, I am truly delighted. I can finally play with EW Soviet forces with all of their nice equipment like T-34s, KVs, Katyushas and mortars. That way, this book fulfilled all my expectations. All lists are interesting in their own way.

Tankovy batalion list is made for people like me. Unfortunately, T-34 tanks are quite expensive in EW so only a few can be taken. I will not argue about the “price” of those or any other tank or unit in the game. They do seem to be expensive since their skill is Conscript, and they have Hen&Chicks and Always attack special rules. German tanks are not as good as Russian tanks in EW, since their gun is weaker, their armour is thicker but they are veterans, and mathematics is protecting them better than additional millimeters of steel. They have higher ROF, protected ammo, stormtroopen and other nice German special rules. They are real threat for Russian light tanks that will definitely be in soviet tankovy list since they are cheap. Threat for soviet T-34 KV tanks are german veteran artillery, 88mm FlaK gun, pioneers and Stuka of course. That is not particularly new. I will have to practice a lot with T-34 and KV tanks since they are very good in EW.

Something new in BF books, considering those tanks, is that I can take only two T-34s in a platoon or single KV tank if I like. That is something that I like very much since now I can hide them and make them concealed. I like available hero, Lieutenant Konstantin Samokhin and sometimes I will play using him definitely. Unlike the „Rising Sun“ book which only had a confident/conscript option a player can now choose between that and a fearless/conscript option that is definitely a plus for me, no matter the price. ,

At this place I would like to say a word about Katyusha rocket launchers in this book. They have some tremendous rules and since they are not expensive they could be something that will treat German artillery, infantry and FlaKs.  One can take them as a platoon in any tank list but they could be afforded in infantry list only INSTEAD of tanks. For instance, motostrelkovy can take Katyushas but then can afford only one tank platoon and strelkovy can take Katyushas and no tanks at all! This makes me think that these lists have been tested many times and that they are balanced well.
Inomarochniky tankovy batalon is another very nice list. A player can lead a mix of british Land & Lease Valentine tanks and different soviet tanks. Optionally, player can take british Matilda tanks, which are very good in the EW, at a lower price than in british Infantry tank company from Blitzkrieg! Their skill is conscript, but who cares with such an armour! This list is very nice since so many different tanks can be taken at the same time. Of course, I will definitely play this list one day, I just need some Valentines...

Motostrelkovy list is very competitive and maybe this is the best list for tournaments. The only disadvantage of motostrelkovy is that they are confident/conscript since they do not have fearless option. But what do you have with motostrelkovy? The first thing that surprised me is that this list is an INFANTRY list since in all other books motostrelkovy are considered mechanised. A player must take two platoons of infantry and can take TWO tank platoons. So what else do you want? One AA, some mortars or AT guns and you have 6 veeeery nice platoons. I can still lose a game with this list but more about that in my next article.

Strelkovy infantry company has the greatest choice of skill and morale. Red Army and Militia are rated confident/conscript, guards are fearless/conscript and they all use Wave attack special rule. But a real delight for me is  Red banner guards that don’t use Wave attack but are fearless/trained. I can make fearless/trained Siberian rifle division to defend Moscow! And be sure that I will not ask about the price of those units. The plan is simple, two platoons of strelkovy, AA, some mortars and/or 45mm AT guns and one tank platoon of 2 T-34s or 3 Matilda tanks or just one powerful KV tank. They remind me of Dorian’s Fallschirmjaegers with PaKs and a Tiger in MW. But there is another spice in strelkovy list. An ARMOURED TRAIN! Well, probably it is not so useful but it is so beautiful and so Russian, and there is no Hen & Chicks for the train. Hurrah! I have to make one definitely. That could make strelkovy list a bit more mobile. Another platoon that can make strelkovy list a bit more mobile is a self propelled anti tank platoon with ZiS-30 guns. They have a very powerful gun (AT 11 FP 4+) but they are conscripts, have armour 0, awkward layout and cost around 100 each and with Hen&Chicks I will think twice before putting them on the list.

The authors of the book could make some spice in Militia strelkovy option since in this book there is no difference between them and the Red Army except that they have fewer options. The authors could give to Militia (Opolchenya, Partisans) at least some special rule like in Red Bear so they could be a bit different and more enjoyable for playing. Like in the Rising Sun they could make a Kavaleriyskiy polk list. It could be quite the same only with additional tanks, mortars and other new stuff like divisional/corps support.

After all there is only one question. Who wants to play anything else except Russians from Barbarossa?

Nešto kao recenzija knjige Barbarossa

Nekako mi ova knjiga nije legla i to iz prve. Možda je za to kriva sama naslovnica koja je objavljena puno prije nego se knjiga pojavila.

Gledajući tu naslovnicu, čovjek bi u najmanju ruku pomislio da se radi o Kursku, o nekoj Ruskoj protuofanzivi koja je nešto značila na istočnom bojištu. Nacrtani su Ruski tenkovi, puno tenkova T-34… pješadija u jurišu, gori Njemački tenk… Ima li slika veze sa podnaslovom koji govori da se radi o Njemačkoj invaziji? Po meni nema, međutim to je samo naslovnica… idemo dalje.

Probat ću komentirati samo ono na što sam obratio malo više pažnje, na liste.

Gledajući Njemačke liste, pogotovo tenkovsku listu nekako imam osjećaj da sam sve to već vidio. Možda u Blitzkriegu?

Evo slažem tenkovsku listu, prvu u knjizi… Confident/Veteran i to za 1550 bodova.

U komandu stavim PzIII, dva tenka za 305 bodova. Jedan tenk poboljšam verzijom H za 55 dodatnih bodova, drugi verzijom J za 80 bodova i evo me na 440 bodova. Na koliko? Na četiristo četrdeset bodova!

Onda punim prvi vod i odaberem samo tri tenka PzIII pa malo nadogradim osnovnu verziju sa sličnom i minimalnim razlikama (jači oklop, malo bolji top…). Ta tri Panzera me koštaju 460 plus 80 bodova uz samo jednu nadogradnju na verziju J. Ukupno za prvi vod dajem 540 bodova.

Komanda i jedan vod za «samo» 980 bodova? U koliko bodova se igra EW? Nema veze, idemo dalje…

Srećom ne moram imati dva voda sa tenkovima.

U drugi vod stavljam pješadiju sa Halftrackovima. Smanjujem vod na dvije sekcije, ne dodajem AT tim i prolazim samo sa 215 bodova jer sam komandi dao Panzerknacker.

Odlično, imam već dva voda, a potrošio sam samo 1195 bodova!

Moram biti jako štedljiv ako planiram imati više od 3 voda.

Uzimam vod sa 3 oklopna auta SdKfz 221 (MG) za minimalnih 100 bodova; ukupno 1295.

I sada nastaje problem. Uzeti jaki AT top u kalibru 88mm za 156 bodova (RoF 3) ili još jedan vod pješadije, možda neku artiljeriju.

Na kraju izbor pada na dva 15cm sFH18 topa za 250 bodova čime se dolazi na konačnih 1545 bodova. To!!! Mogu kupiti i SdKfz 9 pa da mi vuče zaglavljene tenkove i točno sam na 1550 bodova.

Pretjerujem li sa ovim tekstom? Vjerojatno da, ali nekako sam nagurao 4 (četiri) voda u listu.

Da izbacim nešto? Naravno da mogu.

Evo, može samo jedan Panzer III u komandi za 155 bodova, jedan vod sa 3 Panzera III bez nadogradnje za 460 bodova. Ukupno 615 bodova. Zadovoljni? Ja nisam. To nije ni važno jer imamo Barbarossu koju godinama čekamo. Mogu u ovu drugu listu nagurati dva voda pješadije, možda 4 topa i još neku sitnicu i evo me na 5 vodova. Savršeno! Mogu se sa svoja 4 Panzera III zabiti u 5 T-34/76 koji u lošijoj verziji (obr 1940) i najgoroj varijanti (Confident/Conscript) koštaju 215+430+430… znači koštaju 1075 bodova. Uzme li se bar verzija obr 1941 (isto C/C) isti tenkovi vrijede 300+600+600 bodova i evo nas na savršeno okruglih 1500 bodova. Istina da ta razlika u verzijama donosi samo AT za 1 veći (sa 8 na 9). Panzer III F ima Front Armour samo 3 pa ovih 8 ili 9 nije važno. Uzmem li ipak onu prvu listu sa Panzerima III verzija J i Front 5, moglo bi biti bitno ima li T-34 AT 8 ili 9.

Želim karikirati što se sve može staviti u listu.

Ukoliko vas zanima koliko tenkova T-34 možete staviti u vod nema problema. Možete ih nagurati 10 komada za 2830 bodova (C/C, verzija obr 1940), za 3680 bodova (C/C, ali verzija obr 1941)… pa sve do 4165 bodova za 10 T-34 (Fearless/Conscripr, verzija obr 1941) ili za 4365 bodova (F/C, T-34/57 obr 1941).

Ima li zainteresiranih za jednu kraću bitku? Vodim samo komandu i 2 voda po 10 tenkova T-34… I vi možete imati 10.000 (deset tisuća) bodova.

Nitko vas ne tjera da vodite tenkovske liste. Ustvari, kao da nas netko nagovara da ne vodimo liste sa po 5 ili 7 tenkova. Kao da nas nagovaraju da igramo sa pješadijom… Kupite jeftinu Rusku pješadiju, vod za 20+ eura i uživajte u igri. Treba mi samo 6 vodova za dvije «Combat Companies». A-ha, 6 boxova pješadije, pa HMG timovi, Mortari, Sapperi… i puno lakih tenkova. Možda 16 T-26 tenkova za 775 bodova ili 16 BT-5 tenkova za 925 boda. Cijena 8,5 eura po tenku (box sa 5 modela košta 42 eura). Ma kao da je to važno. Tko hebe listu za 500 eura ako se sa njom može igrati!

Srećom ima se novaca i nije kriza.

Dobro da su samo Nijemci i Rusi ratovali. E, da je imati stručnjaka u marketingu, pa da on prouči povijest i kaže… ma možemo ubaciti i Slovake, Mađare, Talijane, Rumunje, Fince pa i onih par Hrvata koji su u sklopu neke divizije bili na istočnom ratištu.

Da je napraviti 100 stranica više i imati bolju knjigu. Ili ne? Sada ćemo mi objaviti Barbarossu, pa za par mjeseci ubacimo još neke liste i evo druge knjige. Par mjeseci kasnije dva nova Warriora, jednu bitku više i evo ti treće knjige, pa male promjene jer će izaći nova pravila (v4) i stiže nam četvrta knjiga plus sve te knjige na nekom tabletu… Hvala, ali ja ću ubuduće dobro razmisliti da li želim imati novu knjigu na polici.

Ne bih želio da ispadne kako se liste mogu slagati jedino sa PzIII na Njemačkoj i T-34/76 na Ruskoj strani. Ima stvarno puno opcija. Samo je upitno što raditi sa tenkićima BT-5, T-26, PzII, Pz38…

Ako pogledam malo bolje opcije za listu… recimo 2x StuG plus komandni SdKfz 253 koštaju 495 (C/V) ili 555 (F/V) bodova.

Dicker Max košta 480 bodova ili dva komada čak 960 bodova. Sa svojim topom od 10cm ima AT 15 i FP 2+, ali oklop je nikakav (Front-4, Side-1, Top-0). U svojoj listi ću ga imati nikada pa čak ni tada.

Na Ruskoj strani isto ima takvih skupih vozila. Recimo jedan KV-2 košta 365 ili 410 bodova, ovisno da li je Confident/Conscript ili Fearless/Conscript. Želite li znati koliko košta 10 KV dvojki? Samo pogledajte :)

Što se tiče oklopa, da vodim Rusku listu ne bih igrao vez tih KV tenkova, pogotovo modela KV-1e (Front-9, Side-8, Top-2).

Zgodno izgledaju modeli T-35, a bilo bi lijepo isprobati i oklopni vlak sa svim dodacima.

Kako će svaka knjiga naći svoju publiku tako ću i ja složiti bar jednu Germansku listu, možda jednog dana i Rusku.

Igrati sa Germanima i ne imati Štuku je kao i ne igrati uopće. Jesam li napisao da Njemački  tenkovi skoro da ne mogu probiti oklop KaVejaca? Štuka može :)

Ovo su moji dojmovi. Znam da je Dule oduševljen Ruskim listama. Najavio je i on recenziju knjige pa ćemo svi zajedno čitati.

I još samo jedna stvar. Izgleda da ću izbaciti Japanske tenkiće iz liste. Bolje mi je imati još jedan vod pješadije sa Nikuhaku timovima nego tenkove sa nikakvim oklopom.

Tomislav

Just another friendly game at Zmaj club

Dule

Mid War 1485 pts

Vlada, German Pioneer (Afrika) vs. Dule, Mixed Tankovy

Mission Encounter (Fair fight)

Mission Special rules: Delayed Reserves, Meeting Engagement and Scattered Reserves

This was my first game against Vlada. Like all generals, we were prepared for battles that we have already played (and lost) in the past. So, Vlada was utterly prepared against Russian tanks because he recently had terrible losses against Milan who also leads them. He had pioneers with Tank Assault 4, artillery, minefields, and many AT guns. On the other hand, I have an old complex from Dorian’s nasty veteran artillery and AT guns, which severely influenced my way of playing and more or less, my list.

Somehow I though that this was going to be a quick victory for Vlada since his list was the perfect counterpart to my list.

Even though the dice chose a fair fight mission it was obvious that I was going to attack since Vlada`s list was very static with only one small recce platoon. In this mission reserves are quite important because we don’t know when and WHERE they are going to show up. I have put in reserves my T-34s, T-26s and BA-64s and put on the table KVs, infantry and mortars. So, I have decided to make first move at the double with my KV and strelkovy platoons and then to stop and wait to see what was going to happen. My strelkovy were spread across the table to minimise losses from German artillery and to threaten both objectives since I did not know where to expect my reserves.

Nothing of note had happened for some three turns since I halted advance of both strelkovy and KVs at some point. Strelkovy suffered some losses but nothing significant. They never managed to dig in but nevertheless survived the whole game, at least couple of them. I have tried to destroy some PaK 5cm (AT 9) guns with my KVs but with no succeess. Reserves came neither for Soviets nor Germans at turn three.

And then something finally happened at turn four. My reserves did not arrive once again but Vlada got two of them and just in the right place, so he put four PaK 40 (AT 12) in front of my KVs. At this point things looked very bad for my tanks, since it was clear that if Germans can handle Russian KVs, the rest will be a peace of cake. Especially, since Soviet reserves have not yet arrived.

Still, my KVs suffered no casualties (one was bailed out) and in turn five my reserves (T-34 and T-26 platoons) finally arrived on the opposite side of the table which was not bad at all. And even better, my KVs managed to destroy two of the four PaK 40 guns! At this point things did not look well for the Germans.

On turn six, we had all our reserves on the table and the game finally started moving. I cautiously moved T-34 and T-26 tanks and managed to destroy one PaK 5cm gun with machine guns! That was pure luck. On the other side, KVs, still undamaged, managed to destroy the entire PaK 40 platoon. At this point things looked very bad for Germans and since we had already been playing for more than three hours we were on the verge of calling the game a draw.

Still, we decided to play a bit more just to see what would happen. I have advanced T-34, T-26 and BA-64 platoons and managed to destroy another PaK 5cm (should I say, again with MGs) and Panzerspah platoon. I have decided to save my infantry and return them to the rear. They deserved it.

Finally, on the right flank I launched an assault with KVs. They killed nothing (they are conscripts) but did not suffer any losses either, and German pioneers did not to pass Tank terror and have broken off. I placed KVs on the objective. I have played very cautiously but this time I made a mistake that could have cost me a lot since I left all three of them under artillery template. Of course I rolled two „1“ for saves and had one bailed and one destroyed tank.

On the left flank assault with T-34 was much more effective, since one pioneer platoon was destroyed and the objective was taken.

Generally, I can be satisfied with a game, although it lasted a bit too long. I did not like the fact that I had to play cowardly - I had been constantly checking how many tanks were under the template. Had I not done that, I would have suffered many more casualties. I have learned that artillery CAN make artillery bombardment after they try to dig in.

Dule

---------------------------------------------------------

    Vlada about the game

 

Every friendly game, starts, with a "friendly" list. At the moment, most popular incarnation of friendly list is Russian tank horde. Being German army list player, learning how to cope with this kind of list, is one of my top priorities. So far, I played (and lost) several games (in fact, I lost all of them), and most of the time, I was trying to battle the horde with mixed infantry/tank list composition, with little success. Now, I tried different approach. I tried to maximize anti-tank defense and play without the tanks.

 

To do that, in mid-war list, I choose pioneer infantry list, with 5 pak 38 guns (distributed in 3 infantry platoons) and additional 4 pak 40 platoon, backed up with light artillery platoon (LefH guns) and recce 8 rad platoon. Being defender, I put half of my platoons on table (2 pioneer platoons, with 4 pak 38 guns, 2 minefields, and artillery platoon). The opponent fielded 3 KV1 tanks, mortar platoon with 6 mortars, and infantry platoon in front formation. My idea was to try to neutralize KV tanks, and then deal with other threats. 

 

For three turns, I had to lay low (concealed and gone to ground) with my infantry platoon, since pak 38 cannot harm KV1. Being veteran, he had to come within 16" in order to shoot at me, so I waited. On the other side, artillery had a shoot at KV tanks almost every turn, without any luck (Having AT 4 in bombardment, and KV Top 2).

 

When my reserves arrived, I quickly deployed 4 pak 40 AT guns, at left flank, to counter KVs. Having AT 12 against Front 9 is just a bit better than trying to put them out of action with bombardment, and in next few turns, I managed to loose all 4 pak 40 guns, without destroying any KV. 

 

The rest of the game was a fight for survival. His reserves arrived, managed to kill 2 pak 38 guns, with MG fire, and then he assaulted me, on both flanks, chasing my platoons from objectives. 

 

Next time, I will try to play with 2 flak 88 guns with extra crew, instead of pak 38 or 40. 

 

At the end, It was a great game. And if someone, has any idea, how to manage defense against Russian tank horde, please share them with me. :)

 

Pozdrav,

Vladimir

War Museum at Thessaloniki, Greece

September 2014

Every year my school organizes an excursion with graduation classes in Northern Greece. Since this year I have graduation classes I went with them. One day is always planned for visiting Thessaloniki. Since I am not interested in shopping I made some research on the Internet and found what I had been looking for - the War Museum!

 

 

 

The War museum is located some 50m from Egnatia Street which is the main street in Thessaloniki and everyone knows it. Since there is quite a chance that there is no War Museum on your Thessaloniki map you should know that it is very near Thessaloniki Fair. Once you see the barbwire on the walls of the nearby military base you know that you are in the right place.

 

The first impressions come from the courtyard. I have to say that military “touch“ is obvious since everything is so orderly, the grass is mowed and the exhibits are shiny. In the center of the courtyard dominates Northrop F-5 from the Greek Air Force , but there is also an armoured car, a couple of jeeps, a torpedo and some artillery and anti tank guns. The building is very nice and freshly painted. So, my students and I went in.

 

We were welcomed by a Greek soldier. He was very kind and after consultation with his supreme officer they allowed my students to visit the museum free of charge! I asked for a guide and then the other soldier named Dimitrios came and took us for a tour. I must say that Dimitrios has a remarkable knowledge of history, speaks English very well and has an exceptional gift for narration. So, when you come, you should definitely take a guide (it is free) since only this way you get the maximum of the museum.

 

 

What you can see in the building is plenty of different military equipment such as weapons and uniforms; documents, maps, paintings, newspaper articles, caricatures, dioramas and so on. Most of the exhibition is of course dedicated to the Greeks, but you can find many things that belonged either to their enemies or allies like the Turks, Bulgarians, Italians, Germans, British, Russians, Serbs and others.

 

We started the tour from the almost five centuries long Greek struggle for freedom against the Ottoman Empire. After many unsuccessful uprisings came the First and Second Balkan War in which Greece was finally liberated from the Ottoman Empire and formed the state with the present borders. Greece was involved in World War I without its will trying to remain neutral but finished it on the Allied side.

 

 

The main part of the exhibition is dedicated to WWII and heroic struggle against the Italians in 1940-1941 and later the Germans. Among all the uniforms and weapons there are books with the names of all killed Greek soldiers, pilots and marines as well as exhibits concerning some war heroes and their act. After the WWII Greek Army was involved in Korean war (on American side) and in humanitarian missions in former Yugoslavia so there are photos and exhibits concerning this.
Going this way you get a well documented history of Greek army and people in the last two centuries. But at the lower part of the museum there are other things to see like a collection of small fire arms and traditional dresses.

 

 

 

My students and I had a wonderful time at the museum. Everything was great. The excursion lasts for one hour and that is brilliant. Adults pay 3 Euros for entrance, but as I said, my students did not pay anything. For some categories of visitors the entrance fee is 1,5 Euros. They allowed us to take photos freely but without a flash. The notes on exhibits are written in the Greek, English, Russian and German languages I think, but with a guide you do not really need to read them. This War museum is definitely a must see when you visit Thessaloniki.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dule

http://www.warmuseumthessaloniki.com/