This week, I've added a few bits and pieces to my Operation Crusader collection.
Here are the tanks I need to field 7th Armoured Brigade. With the addition of a regiment, plus a company, of Crusader tanks from 22nd Armoured Brigade (painted already), plus their command tanks, I can now field another armoured brigade group. I can't field them together. This is a pity, as 7th and 22nd did fight side by side, at reasonable strength, on the 21st of November 1941. A day later, 7th Armoured Brigade, following its clash with 15th and 21st Panzer Division had almost ceased to exist; certainly the A9s and A10s of 7th QO Hussars were no longer present - the Hussars were caught unsupported and were annihilated in a brief head on clash. It begs the question: How far should I go down the 'everything' line? I would need 13 more Crusaders to field both formations. Is it worth it?
7th Armoured Brigade was unusual in that it seemingly got all of the old obsolete cruiser tanks that were in theatre: Some A9s and A10s, and a whole regiment of A13s. The rest of the formation had Crusader tanks. This makes it more interesting than 22nd Armoured Brigade and 4th Armoured Brigade, which were solely equipped with brand new Crusaders and M3 Honeys respectively. 7th Armoured Brigade sums up everything that was bad about pre-war British tank design. As machines, these tanks were pants. It's a dream British wargames formation!
I've done them all of the tanks in a Caunter scheme. The A13s and A9s are blue / grey and green. The A10s are blue / grey and a dark winy colour (copied from an old Osprey print) which looks a little different. The red and white markings are 'Operation Crusader Stripes' which were plastered all over some tanks. All vehicles were supposed to sport them during the operation for easy recognition. You can see why the Germans liked them, and why the British crews hated them - "Herr Schmidt, we're over here!"
Lastly, I've done my German air superiority marker. A Fabbri die cast FW190. I like these models and they are reasonably priced, though they need repainting for the desert.
