On the weekend I cleaned up my work area and tried to place out on my ready-shelf (where I tend to keep my main project forces to I can easily see them and hopefully be inspired) all the units for this force. I managed to discover a few German bits and peices that with a few quick touch-ups and some rebasing with look top notch.
I also went through all my stowage and started adding it to my remaining 2 M10s, along with the appropriate crew. Just need another Allied stowage set to complete them.
Most fun was had with my 4 MMG Carriers. Did a bit of head-swapping (I hate the fact that BF only supplies the same 3 poses - driver, relaxed chap in front passenger seat, and even more relaxed chap in the back) so I've randomly distributed late war style helmets through the crew. I also repositioned 2 of the vickers MMGs (which I previously had all facing directly forwards) so they look like they are being fired - I cut a seated gunner in half and added him to a standing trunk & legs - if that makes sense - the cut off feet etc until he was the right height. Made up a few green stuff rolls etc and need some bits from the Allied stowage set to complete.
Also need a new MMG Platoon as I've had to 'kill' my remaining two gunners to fit into the back of the Carriers.
Will add pictures on day I swear.
Have fun...
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
87 WHEELS! or Distraction No.1 revisited
Over the long weekend I took my 10 Pumas to a stage that I would be almost happy to game with (in the privacy of my own garage). This means they are about 75% done. So whats not finished - the airbrushed camo, the decals, the crew and some details like handles on tools. It's this last 25% that can sometimes take up heaps more time than you expect, but it does leave you with a great looking model.
It took ages to paint the wheels in simple black - Why? Because as I discovered - there were 87 of the damn things to do. 8 per Puma + 7 more (spare tires) on the backs of the Battlefront Pumas. Very glad that's over.
So... I'm stopping this particular distraction here - at a point where if I have a game coming up where I'd like to use them I can knock them over in a couple of nights.
I also ordered some of the new German decals from Dom's Decals especially for the Pumas so I'll give some feedback on them once they arrive.
Back to D-Day...
Have fun
It took ages to paint the wheels in simple black - Why? Because as I discovered - there were 87 of the damn things to do. 8 per Puma + 7 more (spare tires) on the backs of the Battlefront Pumas. Very glad that's over.
So... I'm stopping this particular distraction here - at a point where if I have a game coming up where I'd like to use them I can knock them over in a couple of nights.
I also ordered some of the new German decals from Dom's Decals especially for the Pumas so I'll give some feedback on them once they arrive.
Back to D-Day...
Have fun
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Main Project - The Table
Okay back to the Sword Beach table…
I’ll be using the map on Page 32 of Battlefront’s D-Day supplement as my guide. I’d like to post it here to show you but don’t want to thread on BF’s toes in anyway. So I’ll just have to describe it briefly to you.
The table will need to be 6’ x 4’. The battle will run from short edge to short edge with one end being the sea and the other being the area where the German reserves arrive from.
Officially the sea zone and surf zone will be 8” wide followed by an 8” beach section. The rest of the board will be a standard flat playing surface. The beach will need to slope down very gradually to the water and will have some kind of exit up onto the flat area. Much of the beach will have a sea wall separating it from the “farm” type land.
Along the beachfront will be roads and some houses. Three bunkers sit above the beach. The first is a Panzerstellung – which is a Tobruk style bunker with an out-of-date tank turret placed in it. I’ve already completed this – yeah and it came out quite well. Once I get a camera I put it up.
The second is a 5cm defilade bunker which I’ve got the structure largely made. This looks pretty odd as it faces away from the beach and has a thick wall protecting it from the seaward direction. Its 5cm gun is pedestal mounted and can fire sideways in either direction.
The final bunker which I’ve made the basic structure is a real brute with an 8.8cm PaK43 anti-tank gun mounted in a Type 667 bunker, that also has a thick way protecting it from seaward fire. It was designed to fire lengthways along the beach rather than out to sea.
The houses are all done so that’s not a problem.
The table includes a couple of fortified positions and at the moment I’m thinking of making these as separate MDF pieces that can be just placed on the board. One will represent Strongpoint ‘Cod’ and the other is Strongpoint ‘Sole’. Cod will be slightly more complex as it needs a couple of gun pits built into it for the 7.5cm Pak97/38s.
That’s enough for today, hopefully some more soon.
Have fun…
I’ll be using the map on Page 32 of Battlefront’s D-Day supplement as my guide. I’d like to post it here to show you but don’t want to thread on BF’s toes in anyway. So I’ll just have to describe it briefly to you.
The table will need to be 6’ x 4’. The battle will run from short edge to short edge with one end being the sea and the other being the area where the German reserves arrive from.
Officially the sea zone and surf zone will be 8” wide followed by an 8” beach section. The rest of the board will be a standard flat playing surface. The beach will need to slope down very gradually to the water and will have some kind of exit up onto the flat area. Much of the beach will have a sea wall separating it from the “farm” type land.
Along the beachfront will be roads and some houses. Three bunkers sit above the beach. The first is a Panzerstellung – which is a Tobruk style bunker with an out-of-date tank turret placed in it. I’ve already completed this – yeah and it came out quite well. Once I get a camera I put it up.
The second is a 5cm defilade bunker which I’ve got the structure largely made. This looks pretty odd as it faces away from the beach and has a thick wall protecting it from the seaward direction. Its 5cm gun is pedestal mounted and can fire sideways in either direction.
The final bunker which I’ve made the basic structure is a real brute with an 8.8cm PaK43 anti-tank gun mounted in a Type 667 bunker, that also has a thick way protecting it from seaward fire. It was designed to fire lengthways along the beach rather than out to sea.
The houses are all done so that’s not a problem.
The table includes a couple of fortified positions and at the moment I’m thinking of making these as separate MDF pieces that can be just placed on the board. One will represent Strongpoint ‘Cod’ and the other is Strongpoint ‘Sole’. Cod will be slightly more complex as it needs a couple of gun pits built into it for the 7.5cm Pak97/38s.
That’s enough for today, hopefully some more soon.
Have fun…
Making a Desert Wargaming Table
This won’t be the first time I’ve made a wargaming table. Obviously like most people who battle it out with little miniature chaps I have a pretty generic table which hopefully can be used in nearly any Northern European type setting i.e. it a big Games Workshop paper-backed grass flocked supposedly 6’ x 4’ playing surface that I put over a 8’ x 4’ piece of chipboard. It gives me a at section at each of the table for playing the opposing armies in preparation for the game, bring on reserves during the game and somewhere to place your casualties as you suffer them.
Over the years myself and a friend (Dean) have collected a relatively good variety of 15mm houses, trees, hills etc to add variety to the table. Recently I also dummied up a stream which can cut across the table. It was all done terribly quickly and is certainly not what I would consider final.
A couple of years ago Dean and I put together a desert wadi type table (in an effort to motivate us to build North African armies) but mostly to take to Cancon and compete for the best table prize that was on offer – which I won.
I wanted a table that was modular without too much effort. Dean came up with a good design (much smarter than me – and more artistic too, the bugger) and here’s some photos of how it went together. This first 4 are just the basic board with the foam stuck to it. The foam has been cut with ye olde GW hot-wire foam cutter.
Over the years myself and a friend (Dean) have collected a relatively good variety of 15mm houses, trees, hills etc to add variety to the table. Recently I also dummied up a stream which can cut across the table. It was all done terribly quickly and is certainly not what I would consider final.
A couple of years ago Dean and I put together a desert wadi type table (in an effort to motivate us to build North African armies) but mostly to take to Cancon and compete for the best table prize that was on offer – which I won.
I wanted a table that was modular without too much effort. Dean came up with a good design (much smarter than me – and more artistic too, the bugger) and here’s some photos of how it went together. This first 4 are just the basic board with the foam stuck to it. The foam has been cut with ye olde GW hot-wire foam cutter.
Once finished it looked like this:
If you want close-ups someone will have to ask!
The table went down a treat at Cancon, but ultimately proved a little hard to play on. We probably needed to add another layer of hills on some parts of the table and maybe a little Tunisian village for one of the more open layouts. However the concept worked well and as a first attempt we were pretty damn pleased with ourselves.
Sadly - as neither Dean nor I never really got around to finishing our North Arfican armies so this table sits stacked in its four parts in my garage, getting hammered when we move it to use the table it sits on. Needs some serious loving to resurrect I'm afraid.
Have fun...
Main Project - The Jerries
`Okay – Now the German Forces. These will be representing the III Company of the 736. Grenadierregiment of the 716. Infanteriedivision, the unit defending quite a lot of the Normandy coast where the invasion took place.
I have a couple of variations of German forces already painted so part of the Main Project is to go back and work out which units are up to standard and which are not. If not can they be salvaged by a touch up and rebasing or simply pushed to the back of the shelf.
The make up is as follows:
Company HQ – 2 small infantry stands and 2 80cm mortar teams. Pretty sure I have these and fix them up easily.
3 Grenadier Platoons – each of 1 small infantry stand (Platoon commander) and 6 medium infantry stands (Rifle/MG teams). One will have to represent some Reluctant Trained Ost Troops (typically Russians who preferred joining the German Army to starving to death in a POW camp). For these I’ve ordered an Early/Mid war Grenadier platoon and I’ve just got a brand new Panzer-Grenadier platoon for one of the other units. Pretty much everything here has to be painted by June.
Scout Platoon - 1 small infantry stand and 2 medium infantry stands (Scout Rifle teams). I have a slightly different variation of these – in that mine have assault rifles – already done to a pretty good standard. So it just comes down to how pedantic I am!
Machine-gun Platoon – 1 small infantry stand and 4 medium infantry stands for the HMGs. I have all these painted and just need to bring them up to standard. OR – I may decide to model these as Tobruk MG posts instead. (This will be very easy).
Anti-tank Gun Platoon - 1 small infantry stand and 2 7.5cm PaK97/38 anti-tank guns. These are captured French guns fitted to PaK38 chassis and used by the Germans. I have them on order from Battlefront.
Artillery Battery - 3 small infantry stands (Battery Commander and 2 observer teams) and 1 medium infantry stand (staff team) plus 4 10cm leFH14/19(t) (100/17) howitzers. Strictly speaking all I need to do for this is paint the 2 observers as the battery is off table. However, I thought it would be cool to field this unit with its odd Czech guns and all even if I have to make a little board up to add onto the back of the table representing Strongpoint Daimler which was where the artillery were based further inland.
Panzer Platoon – 4 Panzer IV H tanks. COMPLETED!!
Next up...The Table!
I have a couple of variations of German forces already painted so part of the Main Project is to go back and work out which units are up to standard and which are not. If not can they be salvaged by a touch up and rebasing or simply pushed to the back of the shelf.
The make up is as follows:
Company HQ – 2 small infantry stands and 2 80cm mortar teams. Pretty sure I have these and fix them up easily.
3 Grenadier Platoons – each of 1 small infantry stand (Platoon commander) and 6 medium infantry stands (Rifle/MG teams). One will have to represent some Reluctant Trained Ost Troops (typically Russians who preferred joining the German Army to starving to death in a POW camp). For these I’ve ordered an Early/Mid war Grenadier platoon and I’ve just got a brand new Panzer-Grenadier platoon for one of the other units. Pretty much everything here has to be painted by June.
Scout Platoon - 1 small infantry stand and 2 medium infantry stands (Scout Rifle teams). I have a slightly different variation of these – in that mine have assault rifles – already done to a pretty good standard. So it just comes down to how pedantic I am!
Machine-gun Platoon – 1 small infantry stand and 4 medium infantry stands for the HMGs. I have all these painted and just need to bring them up to standard. OR – I may decide to model these as Tobruk MG posts instead. (This will be very easy).
Anti-tank Gun Platoon - 1 small infantry stand and 2 7.5cm PaK97/38 anti-tank guns. These are captured French guns fitted to PaK38 chassis and used by the Germans. I have them on order from Battlefront.
Artillery Battery - 3 small infantry stands (Battery Commander and 2 observer teams) and 1 medium infantry stand (staff team) plus 4 10cm leFH14/19(t) (100/17) howitzers. Strictly speaking all I need to do for this is paint the 2 observers as the battery is off table. However, I thought it would be cool to field this unit with its odd Czech guns and all even if I have to make a little board up to add onto the back of the table representing Strongpoint Daimler which was where the artillery were based further inland.
Panzer Platoon – 4 Panzer IV H tanks. COMPLETED!!
Next up...The Table!
Main Project - The Brits
So here is the list of things I need to do for my project. It’s totally (at this point-in-time) based on the scenario from Battlefront’s D-Day Book. I have considered some simple changes to the lists, but want to try the mission as per the book first.
First the British Force which is representing the 2nd Battalion, East Yorkshire Regiment, 8th Brigade and attached units.
Company HQ – 2 small infantry stands, 1 for Company Commander and the other for his 2IC.
4 Rifle Platoons – 3 small infantry stands, Platoon commander, PIAT team and 2” mortar team plus 6 medium infantry stands for rifle/mg teams.
I’ve got 2 completed platoons already – what I might call generic British late war infantry. For the final 2 platoons I want to use them in an upcoming tournament, and I want them to look a bit special – so they’ll be based with beach obstacles etc. I’ve already started to paint the obstacles on the bases – but the 2 platoons will form part of the 3 month painting challenge.
Pioneer Platoon - 1 small infantry stand for the Platoon commander, plus 3 medium infantry stands for pioneer rifle teams. I’m not painting any vehicles for this platoon as they will be next to useless on the beach and will just provide targets for the Jerries to shot at.
MMG Platoon - 1 small infantry stands for the Platoon commander plus his Carrier. 4 medium infantry stands for Vickers MMGs plus their MMG Carriers. I’ve got 2 MMGs about ½ painted, and I need to spice up the carriers a little before even starting on them – so a fair amount to go here.
Anti-tank Platoon (Self-Propelled), Royal Artillery – 4 M10 self-propelled guns. I’ve nearly completed 2 – with just their crew to paint and some details in the open turret top. The other 2 haven’t even been undercoated.
Field Battery (Self-Propelled), Royal Artillery – 4 Priest self-propelled guns plus 2 command teams, a staff team and an observer. The Priests are base coated, the command teams and staff team are finished (for the same army as the two completed infantry platoons) and I just have to paint the observer team. I’ve also decided not to include the Sherman OP tank as I think a small OP team may be more survivable on the beach.
Armoured Platoon – 3 Sherman DD tanks – COMPLETED!!
2 AVRE Sections – 4 Churchill AVRE tanks – 2 AVREs are COMPLETED!! One other is base coated – and I’ll be attempting to make it a Fascine Carrier, while the other hasn’t even been put together and I want to make it a Bridgelayer.
Flail Platoon – 3 Sherman Crab flail tanks – I’ve put them together but have yet to attach the flails – A job I’m not really looking forward to.
And finally a Commando Platoon. 3 small infantry stands, Platoon commander, PIAT team and 2” mortar team plus 4 medium infantry stands for 2 SMG Teams and 2 rifle/mg teams. This unit has not even been cleaned and undercoated.
I almost forgot - from memory I think I have 4 to 6 LCAs, 2 LCMs and 2 LCTs to paint as well. I'm thinking I might buy one more LCT so the Priest Battery can loiter off the beach and pound anything the observer can see. Just a though at this point-in-time.
So a fair amount to do for the Brits. Next up…the Germans
First the British Force which is representing the 2nd Battalion, East Yorkshire Regiment, 8th Brigade and attached units.
Company HQ – 2 small infantry stands, 1 for Company Commander and the other for his 2IC.
4 Rifle Platoons – 3 small infantry stands, Platoon commander, PIAT team and 2” mortar team plus 6 medium infantry stands for rifle/mg teams.
I’ve got 2 completed platoons already – what I might call generic British late war infantry. For the final 2 platoons I want to use them in an upcoming tournament, and I want them to look a bit special – so they’ll be based with beach obstacles etc. I’ve already started to paint the obstacles on the bases – but the 2 platoons will form part of the 3 month painting challenge.
Pioneer Platoon - 1 small infantry stand for the Platoon commander, plus 3 medium infantry stands for pioneer rifle teams. I’m not painting any vehicles for this platoon as they will be next to useless on the beach and will just provide targets for the Jerries to shot at.
MMG Platoon - 1 small infantry stands for the Platoon commander plus his Carrier. 4 medium infantry stands for Vickers MMGs plus their MMG Carriers. I’ve got 2 MMGs about ½ painted, and I need to spice up the carriers a little before even starting on them – so a fair amount to go here.
Anti-tank Platoon (Self-Propelled), Royal Artillery – 4 M10 self-propelled guns. I’ve nearly completed 2 – with just their crew to paint and some details in the open turret top. The other 2 haven’t even been undercoated.
Field Battery (Self-Propelled), Royal Artillery – 4 Priest self-propelled guns plus 2 command teams, a staff team and an observer. The Priests are base coated, the command teams and staff team are finished (for the same army as the two completed infantry platoons) and I just have to paint the observer team. I’ve also decided not to include the Sherman OP tank as I think a small OP team may be more survivable on the beach.
Armoured Platoon – 3 Sherman DD tanks – COMPLETED!!
2 AVRE Sections – 4 Churchill AVRE tanks – 2 AVREs are COMPLETED!! One other is base coated – and I’ll be attempting to make it a Fascine Carrier, while the other hasn’t even been put together and I want to make it a Bridgelayer.
Flail Platoon – 3 Sherman Crab flail tanks – I’ve put them together but have yet to attach the flails – A job I’m not really looking forward to.
And finally a Commando Platoon. 3 small infantry stands, Platoon commander, PIAT team and 2” mortar team plus 4 medium infantry stands for 2 SMG Teams and 2 rifle/mg teams. This unit has not even been cleaned and undercoated.
I almost forgot - from memory I think I have 4 to 6 LCAs, 2 LCMs and 2 LCTs to paint as well. I'm thinking I might buy one more LCT so the Priest Battery can loiter off the beach and pound anything the observer can see. Just a though at this point-in-time.
So a fair amount to do for the Brits. Next up…the Germans
Distraction No. 1 Panzer Lehr Panzersahkompanie
I’ve got to be honest – when it comes to pretty much anything (that starts to feel like work anyway) I become easily distracted. Wargaming is no different as almost every week I see something that makes me think – “Oh gee – I’d love to do that…” and once its in my head it stays there until I’ve at least started it – which generally means buying at least some of the force, putting some stuff together – and then putting it all to one side when a new distraction comes along or an older project rears its head again.
My chief distraction at the moment is my painting of 10 Sd/Kfz 234/2 Pumas. 7 are the beautiful new BF sculpts and 3 are older Old Glory – I think. Anyway they don’t look too bad together.
I sprayed them on the weekend and last night started my simple magic wash treatment. That should be finished tonight and then I can move on to dry brushing and then air-brushing on the camo. Then they’re almost done.
The great thing about this distraction is that once the 10 Pumas are finished I can simply add them to already existing stuff and field a really different new force.
You’ll find if you follow this…anyone out there?…that I like odd little forces that are a bit different – hence writing the Churchill Squadron briefings that appear on the BF website.
One day - soon hopefully when I replace my busted camera - I'll show you some of this stuff.
Anyway – enough with the distractions – back to the main project I tell you…
Have fun
My chief distraction at the moment is my painting of 10 Sd/Kfz 234/2 Pumas. 7 are the beautiful new BF sculpts and 3 are older Old Glory – I think. Anyway they don’t look too bad together.
I sprayed them on the weekend and last night started my simple magic wash treatment. That should be finished tonight and then I can move on to dry brushing and then air-brushing on the camo. Then they’re almost done.
The great thing about this distraction is that once the 10 Pumas are finished I can simply add them to already existing stuff and field a really different new force.
You’ll find if you follow this…anyone out there?…that I like odd little forces that are a bit different – hence writing the Churchill Squadron briefings that appear on the BF website.
One day - soon hopefully when I replace my busted camera - I'll show you some of this stuff.
Anyway – enough with the distractions – back to the main project I tell you…
Have fun
Table-top Terrain's 3 Month Painting Challenge
Just a quick one - followed by a more detailed post later today. I've decided that as additional motivation I'll enter Stu's 3 month painting challenge to finish 3 platoons or 750 points of FoW units from 1 Feb to end May 2008.
Actually I'll need to paint a hell of a lot more than that to finish the Sword Beach Project in time but any little incentive helps.
Have fun
Actually I'll need to paint a hell of a lot more than that to finish the Sword Beach Project in time but any little incentive helps.
Have fun
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
What it's all about...
So… what is this blog going to be about? Well – firstly, my favourite hobby – wargaming. From there, if I can maintain this, more perhaps, but this is a good starting point. I’m sure as my mind takes me I’ll wander off at times but hey, who doesn’t.
The blog is called Sword Beach because I’m trying to put together a game of that particular battle, using Flames of War, to be played on or around the anniversary this June 6.
D-Day has been something that has always interested me and I’ve already spent way to much money collecting books on the landings at Normandy. I was lucky enough to playtest the D-Day book for Battlefront and got to play the missions contained in that book quite a few times each. For those games I just painted a sea section onto my gaming table but never actually built a proper beach table.
This is what I mean...
So… this blog will hopefully document me building the table, painting the forces involved and playing the final game in June this year. The possibility of public humiliation (if anyone bar me ever reads this I’ll be pleasantly surprised) will supposedly help motivate me.
This is against a background of me being a “normal” person with a job, wife, son, two dogs and all that that entails. I also write for Battlefront, run the Sydney Playtest Group (which doesn’t involve too much at the moment), do some commission painting, and have a hobby which largely involves starting one project and then getting easily distracted into the next.
Hopefully, the work I do here will end up forming the majority of a Late War British Army I intend to take to the next tournament I’ll play in (next October). I'll also end up with a few more german units, some bunkers and a new table. This is my main project for the first half of 2008.
I already own most of the stuff necessary to complete this project and the odd bit of it is painted as in this Sherman DD I did probably almost 2 years ago.
Soon I’ll post up the Army Lists and what I need to do so you can see the scope of the project and I’ll try to keep you up to speed with my progress.
I have a couple of obstacles over and above the normal one – general slackness – including going overseas in late February for a couple of weeks (and buying more books!) and a couple of internet articles for Battlefront – but I’m keen to do this and I hope this blog will help.
Have fun.
The blog is called Sword Beach because I’m trying to put together a game of that particular battle, using Flames of War, to be played on or around the anniversary this June 6.
D-Day has been something that has always interested me and I’ve already spent way to much money collecting books on the landings at Normandy. I was lucky enough to playtest the D-Day book for Battlefront and got to play the missions contained in that book quite a few times each. For those games I just painted a sea section onto my gaming table but never actually built a proper beach table.
This is what I mean...
So… this blog will hopefully document me building the table, painting the forces involved and playing the final game in June this year. The possibility of public humiliation (if anyone bar me ever reads this I’ll be pleasantly surprised) will supposedly help motivate me.
This is against a background of me being a “normal” person with a job, wife, son, two dogs and all that that entails. I also write for Battlefront, run the Sydney Playtest Group (which doesn’t involve too much at the moment), do some commission painting, and have a hobby which largely involves starting one project and then getting easily distracted into the next.
Hopefully, the work I do here will end up forming the majority of a Late War British Army I intend to take to the next tournament I’ll play in (next October). I'll also end up with a few more german units, some bunkers and a new table. This is my main project for the first half of 2008.
I already own most of the stuff necessary to complete this project and the odd bit of it is painted as in this Sherman DD I did probably almost 2 years ago.
Soon I’ll post up the Army Lists and what I need to do so you can see the scope of the project and I’ll try to keep you up to speed with my progress.I have a couple of obstacles over and above the normal one – general slackness – including going overseas in late February for a couple of weeks (and buying more books!) and a couple of internet articles for Battlefront – but I’m keen to do this and I hope this blog will help.
Have fun.
Monday, January 21, 2008
My First Blog Attempt
This is a very quick post just to get things started. Once I've got the hang of this I'll start the ball rolling properly. So move on to something else while this one gets sorted out.
Have fun
Have fun
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