Saumur Tank Museum, and Flames of War Grumbles

Musée des Blindés, Saumur, France

I had the good fortune recently to visit this well-known museum whilst on holiday in France. What a great thing it is to have an understanding wife! I thought I'd include a few photos and a couple of comments on this blog.

The museum occupies a more suburban setting than Bovington,
and feels a little cramped.

One of my favourites. The Panzer II looked ready to start up and drive away.

Interesting to get really close to that 20mm appliqué armour.

R-35. Four colour camo, including pink. Or is that purple?
No wonder the French lost in 1940.

Another fascinating vehicle - one of the 21st Panzer's SP conversions.
A 10.5cm howitzer on a Hotchkiss chassis.

Panzer III in lovely condition.

Marder III with Russian 76.2mm gun.

Another favourite AFV of mine - a Jagdpanzer 38.

The mighty Jagdpanther.

Nice to get close to some interesting anti-tank guns.
This is the Russian Zis-2 57mm L/73. Now that's a long barrel!

World's only running Tiger II. A magnificent vehicle,
let down by a feeble display. See my thoughts below.

Jagdpanzer IV with battle damage.
Look at the way those welds have failed and the armour has cracked.
And note the round that has half-penetrated the vertical front plate. 

Outside the museum, with no info display, I found this fabulous Panther restoration. 
Don't have any details. A shame the museum didn't flag it up in any way.

A bit of an overview, showing the rather bare and bleak interior.

As you can see, the museum has a great collection. There were, of course, many other outstanding AFVs on display, apart from those shown above. It was a fine experience to be up close and personal with so many classic vehicles. But at the same time, the museum was a bit of a disapointment. As you might be able to see from the photos, the museum is rather like Bovington 40 years ago - something of a tank warehouse. 

Bovington has made great strides over recent decades and is now a fine, modern museum with absorbing, informative and imaginative displays. Saumur is, I'm afraid, stuck in the past, consisting of rows of AFVs with small information plates by each one, and not much else. This may be due to underfunding or any number of other reasons, but I have to say the experience is definitely second rate. 

Just to take one example - the Tiger II at Saumur is the only one running in the world. And yet there it sits, with its little information board, with nothing to celebrate this or even mention it. There should be a whole display explaining the provenance of the tank, explaining it's restoration, what it takes to keep it running, etc etc. But there is just about nothing. A great shame and, to be honest, simply not good enough. And that lovely Panther which I found hiding round the back of the museum. I think it was in running order, and it had been beautifully restored, but who could tell? 

So, for the tank nut this an unmissable visit. But this is also a museum which needs major investment, along with some imagination and flair, and frankly a bit of love. I'd be interested in the views of anyone else who's been there recently.

Flames of War are making me cross again

If you take any notice of what's going on in the world of FoW, you'll have noticed that 'the Poles are back'. In other words, the 1939 Polish range is being revived. As someone who games this period in 15mm, I guess I should be pleased. But I'm not.

First of all, I'm still rather miffed at the way the original range disappeared without any warning many years ago. I assume the reason was that it had ceased to make enough money. But even when the original range was available, it was full of holes. How about a Vickers 6 ton tank, so that the famous 'Black Brigade' could be represented? No chance. Tows for those 37mm and 75mm guns? Not a hope. How about some of those funky half-track prime-movers the Poles used in their mechanised units? Not present. As for a model of a 'Taczanka', the distinctive 3-horse wagon mounting an MG that supported the cavalry, well, forget it.

But here we are - the range is back. Or parts of it. Prominently offered is the Armoured Train, which of course provides a really worthwhile profit margin at £120. To be fair, the fact that 7tp models are now available as plastic kits rather than resin is positive. But at the time of writing there is no sign of any of the ubiquitous TKS tankettes, for example. But guess what? What is available is a '14TP Tank Platoon'. 

"A what?", I hear you say. Yes, the reason you've never heard of the 14TP is that it never existed as an operational tank. The 14TP was a Polish experimental tank, and the single prototype was never completed. It would have made a very competitive medium tank in 1940-41, but Poland's defeat ended it's development. However, here we have a complete platoon ready for combat. A bit of fun? Certainly. No issues with that - once all the historical models are available. But the basic vehicles that the Poles used in 1939 are being ignored in favour of a fantasy. This really is bollocks, IMHO. Sometimes I think the word 'historical' should be banned from any FoW communications. 

We all know the reason for this nonsense, of course. All together now - "Tanks Make Money".

I have little hope that all those missing models I listed above will make any appearance in the new FoW Polish range. But there we are - solace can be found by fielding a dumbass 14TP platoon. I dare say they will sell well. But dare I conclude that sometimes history deserves a bit of respect? In a hobby commonly called 'historical wargaming with miniatures'?

And on that sour note I will say farewell. 'Til next time!