Saturday, January 16, 2016

'Epic Fail' from GregB - Epic Fail On The Purple Line


Well, for me the "Epic Fail" theme round offered an opportunity to paint this little vignette for my Yom Kippur War gaming.  This is a knocked out T-55 in 15mm, available from Peter Pig.  I have painted in the colours of the Syrian army, used in the surprise attack against the Golan Heights during the Yom Kippur War in 1973.


Casualty models are always a kind of mixed bag for me...I usually just avoid them, but I liked this vignette from Peter Pig.  It has been sitting around forever waiting for a coat of paint, so the Challenge was a great spur to just pick it up and finish it off.


The Syrians vastly outnumbered the IDF defenders during their surprise attack in 1973, but the beleaguered IDF tank crews had fabulous tanks, well prepared defensive positions and a wide open field of fire.  The Syrian tankers showed a lot of courage advancing into the teeth of what they had to know would be murderous defensive fire.  Many T-55s, and their crews, suffered the fate imagined here.


The IDF recovered, barely, and pushed back over the "Purple Line" (the ceasefire line from 1967) and into Syria, so this model could be a good, if haunting, piece of terrain for a number of situations and scenarios set in 1973.  I'm sure that period will appear again on our gaming tables before long.  

11 comments:

  1. Another poignant entry, all the more so because the damned wars just won't stop. Excellent brushwork, well done!

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  2. Very nice, Greg! Poignancy aside, I can see this being good for an objective piece as well as a morale/unit casualty marker.

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  3. I thought this was lovely. Peter Pig tank wrecks seem to paint up nicely.

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  4. Beautiful paint job Greg, love the camo on the tank.

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  5. Apt entry Greg. A good bit of modelling too!

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