Lead Adventure Forum
Miniatures Adventure => The Second World War => Topic started by: Tommy20 on January 19, 2021, 04:00:19 AM
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I’ve been on the cusp of 28mm WW2 gaming for about 20 years now.
I bought a Battleground WW2 starter set at GenCon shortly after it first came out, test painted a few of the miniatures, and started buying more. I picked up some of the Skirmish Campaign books, selected one to try, and proceeded to buy all of the additional figures and vehicles needed to play through the campaign. Unfortunately, the BGWW2 rules never really gelled for me, and the project was shelved. I sold off the Easy Eight miniatures at a local auction a number of years ago, but never gave up on the idea.
When Bolt Action came out, I decided to try again. I picked up a starter set and several army books, and again began to acquire the rest of the troops needed. This attempt stalled out after playing Bolt Action for the first time at a local convention. Again, the rules just didn’t work for me.
Shortly after this, I started reading about Chain of Command, and liked what I saw. I picked up a copy of the rules, and decided that the third time might be the charm. After reading about what the Pint Size Campaigns bring to the game, I bought At the Sharp End and 29 Let’s Go!, and decided give CoC a try. I revised my list of troops needed for the Skirmish Campaign to those needed for 29 Let’s Go!, and for a third time, began to acquire the missing pieces. This moved along at my usual (snail’s) pace until two things happened to speed up the process.
First, I took the leap into Citadel Contrast Paints. As you can tell by now, I work s l o w l y. My OK Corral project (https://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=128843.0) was basically four buildings and a dozen figures, and it took me the better part of two years to get that done. This project was much larger! While looking into ways to quickly paint up the troops necessary, I stumbled onto Sonic Sledgehammer Studio’s YouTube channel where I found:
How I Paint Things - WW2 US Infantry with Contrast (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8eai34eU6nA)
and:
How I Paint Things - Contrast: WWII German Grenadiers (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QMvyM52DChw)
All of a sudden, painting up two platoons of infantry didn’t seem so daunting.
And then the Pandemic hit. With game nights usually spent at a friend’s house now free, I began in earnest to put together the figures and terrain. This was last summer. Today, I decided I should document this project, so started this thread to start posting pics of my work. I hope someone enjoys it.
As of today, I only have two things left to do. Unfortunately, those two things are making 18’ of hedges and painting about 150 miniatures…
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Jump Off Points
I wanted my Jump Off Points to look more like makeshift rally points than full-on supply dumps, so decided to go with small piles of backpacks & man-portable supplies, as well as the hand carts that were ubiquitous in both armies.
Two of the US JOP’s feature hand carts by Warlord, which I tried to differentiate by adding some random stowage. The others are piles of spare backpacks from the Warlord US infantry sprues:
(http://leadadventureforum.com/gallery/50/1472-220221205451.jpeg)
The German carts are by Valiant, filled with stowage from Valiant, the Warlord German Grenadiers sprue and German Stowage pack. The piles of supplies are from Warlord:
(http://leadadventureforum.com/gallery/50/1472-220221205642.jpeg)
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150 minis? Maybe don’t over phase yourself and aim for the minimum number of troops with just a few obvious support options to actually get a game ready. You can always add more later...
I like the carts....just been pondering my own markers and you have inspired me already with these!
What’s next on the agenda?
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Great work Tommy20. As Digits says try to break up the queue into workable sections or (if you’re anything like me or many others here) you’ll burn yourself out easily. To start with CoC you only need the basic platoons and a few straightforward supports like a mortar or MMG. I know you’re aiming for 29 Let’s go (awesome by the way) but I’d focus on getting the basic platoons done and playing some games (I know it’s not that easy currently but play both sides as it’ll help) to get the fundamentals down and second nature and this should spur you on to finish everything you need for the campaign and allow you to fully enjoy it without having to check you’re doing everything right whilst playing. Not trying to be negative just thinking about how I’d approach it if I was starting again.
Oh and I’m STILL half way through my 30,40, more than 40ft? (it’s been a couple of months since I looked at it to be honest) of bocage for my dream Normandy table as it can be hard going (especially when you’re super critical of your own work and love the idea and aesthetic of a terrain rich table).
Keep up the good work,
BALM
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Thanks for your comments!
I absolutely plan to paint up the basic platoons first to get a few practice games in before jumping into the campaign. All of the troops are built and primed (a must before the winter weather set in), and I’ll probably do an MG or Mortar Team first just to get the process down before assembly-lining the squads. In all probability, I’ll end up painting some of the supports only after they’ve been selected for the next game.
And getting the games in won’t be a problem, as I thought ahead and made my own opponent. My 16yo son (let’s call him Tommy2.0) will be my opponent the first time through the campaign. By the time we’re done, hopefully I’ll be able to game in person with my regular gaming group, and I’ll referee two others through it.
Thanks again!
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lovely work Tommy! These little heaps of backpacks and small arms ammo are much more plausible than collections of large oils drums as front line JOPs.
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Sorry Tommy I wasn’t effusive enough about how much I liked your JoP’s. They’re an excellent idea and as DonF says much more believable than many you see. I have some of the Para handcarts in 15mm and will now probably
steal use your idea :).
You’re very lucky to have a captive opponent, I am envious. CoC is not a complicated game as some people think it just takes a little getting used to so practice games and umpiring others will help. I didn’t want to put you off your plans (and you seem to already be approaching it in a sensible way) but as someone who already has a moderate collection of WW2 forces I have found that the figure list needed for some of the Pint sized campaigns can seem very daunting especially if you’re doing both sides. Oh and there are a number of errors in the CoC rulebook (although they’ve never bothered correcting these in print afaik), mainly in the force ratings, and the corrections can be found in the Lard forum if needed.
Keep up the good work and updates,
BALM
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The corrections and errata can be found here
https://toofatlardies.co.uk/blog/?p=7135
and yes I would start with a basic platoon out of the rulebook or one of the free pdfs and a few common support weapons ( extra sections, MMG, light mortar etc.) and get stuck in
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Minefields and Barbed Wired
I had originally intended to buy the excellent minefield and barbed wire kits done by the Australian company LaserCast (https://lasercast.bigcartel.com/product/barbwire-minefields-and-battle-field-defences). Unfortunately, at the time they were not shipping outside of Australia due to the pandemic, and I had to come up with another plan. Luckily, I stumbled onto John Bond's Wargaming Stuff, and his ingenious method of making them (http://iagsmgm.blogspot.com/2016/12/minefields-barbed-wire-exploded-mine.html). I found sections of sprue from the Warlord US and German infantry boxes that were very close in size to the correct dimensions, so did not have to rework them at all. I just cut off all of the unneeded parts, sanded to shape, and added posts made from toothpicks. The wire is from Gale Force Nine, and the signs are from an old Bandai 1:48 scenery kit (https://www.scalemates.com/kits/bandai-8250-sign-posts--504157).
(http://leadadventureforum.com/gallery/50/1472-220221210548.jpeg)
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Ingenious
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Very good idea !
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Those are excellent Tommy and will blend with you mat/surface really well. Bits of terrain like that are really useful as if you don’t want to be funnelled into waiting machine guns they create the need for engineers and trying to achieve something under fire rather than just slugging it out endlessly.
BALM
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Very nice work :-* :-* :-* :-* :-*
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Great idea for the barbed wire.
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Best of luck with the project, 150 figures seems excessive for 28mm skirmish. Break it down into two or three sections and a few support bits and work up from there if you are a slow painter.
Nice work on the wire, John Bond does have some great ideas for tabletop terrain that is for sure
Cheers
Matt
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Stone Walls & Gate
A LONG time ago I purchased a bunch of cheap Christmas village stone walls that were on clearance at Michaels. So long ago, in fact, that I no longer remember what I had originally planned to do with them! I do know that I spent some time trying to remove the cast-on snow that each piece had, and realized just how difficult a job that would be.
When I discovered that I would need about 8 feet of stone walls for 29 Let’s Go!, I dug out the walls and got back to work. I found that I could cut off chunks of the snow using side cutters that would leave jagged edges that more or less blended in with the stone texture. It was somewhat labor-intensive, though, so I only removed about half of the snow, and camouflaged the rest with vegetation. I gave them a light coat of primer so some of the color variation in the original paint still showed, and then painted with GW Contrast Skeleton Horde.
Before:
(http://leadadventureforum.com/gallery/50/1472-220221210051.jpeg)
After:
(http://leadadventureforum.com/gallery/50/1472-220221210012.jpeg)
I made 8 feet, and have enough of the original walls left to make another 4 feet if needed, as well as incorporate some pieces into my hedges. The gate was scratch built from balsa strip on a Warlord base, and based on this photo:
(https://st3.depositphotos.com/1006668/17088/i/1600/depositphotos_170887056-stock-photo-wooden-gate-in-field.jpg)
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Nice good find :-* :-* :-* :-*
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Entrenchments & Smoke
I bought these resin entrenchments by Easy Eight Enterprises back when Battleground WW2 was the hot new WW2 ruleset. After 20-something years, it was nice to finally put some paint on them!
(http://leadadventureforum.com/gallery/50/1472-220221205545.jpeg)
(http://leadadventureforum.com/gallery/50/1472-220221205616.jpeg)
The smoke is just a small wad of nylon batting applied to a flocked 3” round base from Hobby Lobby:
(http://leadadventureforum.com/gallery/50/1472-220221205817.jpeg)
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Great to be able to incorporate stuff you’ve had lying around 20 years!
Good work with the walls. Will you be doing fencing as well?
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No immediate plans to do fencing. The maps for 29 Let’s Go are full of stone walls and hedges. I’m currently working on large hedges/small bocage.
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Platoon Boards and the Troops!
I’ve found a lot of great tips and inspiration on the Tactical Painter (http://thetacticalpainter.blogspot.com) blog, but perhaps my favorite takeaway has been the Chain of Command Platoon Boards (http://thetacticalpainter.blogspot.com/2017/03/chain-of-command-platoon-boards.html). These boards are great for organizing your miniatures, both before and during a game. Since these were designed for 20mm figures, and I use 28’s, I had to expand to a second board per platoon in order to fit in all of the support options. I made mine per his instructions, although I found it easier to design and print the pages in excel (guess I’m just a spreadsheet guy). My addition to the design was to add page number references for a quick reference to the rulebook.
(http://leadadventureforum.com/gallery/50/1472-220221205903.jpeg)
(http://leadadventureforum.com/gallery/50/1472-220221205719.jpeg)
I built out the platoons per the 29 Let’s Go! Lists, including all of the support options. I actually have one additional German MMG Team, not shown as it was on my painting desk.
(http://leadadventureforum.com/gallery/50/1472-220221205935.jpeg)
(http://leadadventureforum.com/gallery/50/1472-220221205753.jpeg)
My troops are all Warlord figures, many of them acquired when I was planning to play Bolt Action. The bulk of the platoon, as well as a few of the support options, are the newer multipart plastics. I really like the look of these figures, but the assembly nearly broke me (why they would opt to have small items like canteens as separate parts is baffling)! My other gripe with these is the number of rifles supplied. Both the US Infantry and German Grenadiers boxed sets only include enough rifles for half of the figures. Even after using all of the kneeling figures for support (AT Teams, Snipers, Engineers, MG Ammo bearers), I still needed to buy additional sprues to get enough rifles to go around. I built the figures last Summer & Fall, and finished them just in time to prime before the weather turned cold. I’ve been working on terrain since then, but have just this week started painting. I plan to paint up the base platoons and a couple of support options for each army first.
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Hmmm... Just saw that my Facebook images are expiring. I guess I need to find a better way to include pictures...
<edit> AND Fixed!
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Great progress Tommy. The Tactical painter is a great gamer and helpful blogger, I love the platoon board idea (something I need to do in 15mm). You’ve done a great job and I’m envious you managed to sneak base coating in (I missed the only dry bit for ages and I’m currently on tenterhooks staring at the weather :D). I don’t game WW2 in 28mm and was shocked at the fragility of Warlord plastic weapons when I encountered them. Do you still need weapons I may have something suitable, I’ll look.
Keep it up,
BALM
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Thanks BALM, but I'm good. I ended up buying an additional boxed set for each side, which gave me the additional rifles I needed, and in different poses. As an added bonus, I now have the start of a US Airborne platoon as well as an Early War German platoon!
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Very nice additions to your gaming.
Some very useful tips for other gamers to use.
Thanks for the posting.
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Thanks BALM, but I'm good. I ended up buying an additional boxed set for each side, which gave me the additional rifles I needed, and in different poses. As an added bonus, I now have the start of a US Airborne platoon as well as an Early War German platoon!
And the snowball of hobby gathers momentum! lol
BALM
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German Platoon & MG42 Team
My first painted troops for the Germans is the MG42 MMG Team. I decided to do this first in order to try out the method from Sonic Sledgehammer’s “How I Paint Things - Contrast: WWII German Grenadiers:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QMvyM52DChw
This was key, as I tend to paint very slowly, and the idea that I could paint up a platoon quickly using Citadel Contrast Paints is what finally got this project off the ground. If I wasn’t happy with the results, it was going to be back to the drawing board! Here are the results:
(http://leadadventureforum.com/gallery/50/1472-030321201830.jpeg)
I’m not going to win any painting (or photography) contests with these, but am very happy with the results. They actually look much better in person, and I’ll be happy to put these on the table, especially since it only took two nights’ (about six hours) worth of effort.
With the test team out of the way, I moved straight on to the core platoon. Using an assembly line, I painted three figures a night, averaging an hour per fig. The figures in zeltbahns added another hour per night. I hate painting camouflage, and the pattern isn’t very historical, but it should work from a few feet away. Again, they’re not going to win any awards, but I’m happy with the results. Especially considering that this is more painted figures than I’ve turned around in years, and it only took 11 days.
(http://leadadventureforum.com/gallery/50/1472-030321201550.jpeg)
(http://leadadventureforum.com/gallery/50/1472-030321202012.jpeg)
(http://leadadventureforum.com/gallery/50/1472-030321201942.jpeg)
One neat feature I did was magnetizing the panzerfausts. I don’t know where I first saw the idea, but here’s one version (https://www.tabletop-terrain.com/2015/07/28/bolt-action-magnetised-panzerfausts/). This will allow me to remove the panzerfaust from the figure once it’s been fired.
(http://leadadventureforum.com/gallery/50/1472-030321201903.jpeg)
(http://leadadventureforum.com/gallery/50/1472-030321201751.jpeg)
I can’t decide whether to move on to the Americans next, or to go ahead and finish the German support options. I’ve been on a roll with the Germans, and am leaning toward wrapping them up before moving on.
<edit> BTW, although the feldgrau looks very grey in my pictures, it's actually much greener in person, and looks more like the color in the video at the top of the post.
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Don’t put yourself down...these look great! I like the idea of magnetic panzerfaust....but I’d never have the patience!
I say continue with the German support.......you are on a roll!
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I feel your pain with the Warlord figures - I bought a couple of boxes and thought that the figures weren't to my taste and that Warlord clearly were in fantasy land if they thought the make-up of the box in way resembled a WWII platoon. So I put them to one side and bought some AB 20mm figures.
The good news is that the Americans are much easier to paint than the Germans - apart from not having camouflage gear all the webbing etc is the same colour. They are much less "busy" than the Germans. And the good thing about "29, let's Go" is that there aren't many support options on the vehicle side - three guns and teams for the Germans and a Sherman for the Americans.
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Germans Finished!
Here's a photo of my base German platoon with better lighting. While still not a great photo, it gives a better idea of the uniform color (which still looks greener in person than in the photo):
(http://leadadventureforum.com/gallery/50/1472-230321043828.jpeg)
Having painted the base German platoon in such short order, I needed to slow down a bit while doing the support options, but still managed to complete them over the past two weeks. Doing the camouflage was daunting at first, but with it now behind me, I’ve decided that I really hate painting camouflage. I’m very happy to have this part of the project behind me.
Medic
(http://leadadventureforum.com/gallery/50/1472-230321043936.jpeg)
Panzershreck Team
(http://leadadventureforum.com/gallery/50/1472-230321044155.jpeg)
Sniper Team
(http://leadadventureforum.com/gallery/50/1472-230321044227.jpeg)
MG42 Teams (I did two as this seemed the most likely support option to duplicate...)
(http://leadadventureforum.com/gallery/50/1472-230321044010.jpeg)
FO Team
(http://leadadventureforum.com/gallery/50/1472-230321043733.jpeg)
leIG18 Team
(http://leadadventureforum.com/gallery/50/1472-230321043901.jpeg)
Pak38 Team
(http://leadadventureforum.com/gallery/50/1472-230321044055.jpeg)
Pak40 Team
(http://leadadventureforum.com/gallery/50/1472-230321044129.jpeg)
For the guns, I again turned to Sonic Sledgehammer for a tutorial and he didn’t disappoint with “How I Paint Things - Tank Camo (No Airbrush!)”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xYHrumqRgEM&t=280s
After a failed attempt with the leIG18, I found a Pak40 photo online with a camo pattern that I 1) liked, and 2) felt I could reproduce, and just copied the pattern as best I could. Satisfied with the results, I stripped and re-primed the leIG18 and began again, doing it and the Pak38 simultaneously. All three guns are from 1st Corps (https://1stcorps.co.uk/product-category/20th-century/20th-century-world-war-2/20th-century-ww2-germany/20th-century-ww2-germans-german-supplement-packs/page/3/), and are absolutely beautiful models. They are so well designed that on the AT guns I was able to magnetize the breeches to traverse, and even hinge the trails for storage.
So that's a platoon plus all support options in just under a month. That's definitely a record for me! Next up: the Americans!
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Looking great!
Are the anti tank gun crews 1st Corps too? If so, how do they stand against your Warlord minis please?
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They are all Warlord. The leIG18 has crew from both the Heer & SS version, the Pak38 & 40 both have crews from the Heer & SS Pak 40. The Pak40 Junior Leader is from the Heer RSO. I bought the guns & extra crews from Warlord before realizing I really didn't like the guns. The castings were poor, and looked tiny. I then found the 1st Corps guns and immediately ordered them. In addition to the quality of the sculpts & castings, I really like their flexibility. You can buy the guns separately like I did, with 4 or 6 crew, or just the crews of 4 or 6. If I had it to do all over again, I'd buy the 1st Corps guns with 6 crew.
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Thanks for the info!
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American Platoon & MMG Team
After finishing my Germans, I took a bit of a break from painting late into the night. A little over a week ago, I got back into the swing of things, and knocked out the base American platoon plus an MMG in just over a week. Since the Americans have fewer colors to work through, and no camouflage, i was able to do twice as many figures per night, albeit the nights were a bit longer...
I again started with an MMG Team to test out Sonic Sledgehammer’s method from “How I Paint Things - WW2 US Infantry with Contrast: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8eai34eU6nA&t (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8eai34eU6nA&t)
Here are the results:
(http://leadadventureforum.com/gallery/51/1472-080421180155.jpeg)
I was able to turn this around in a (long) evening's work, and was again pleased with the way the Contrast Paints sped up the process. At tabletop distances, these will do quite nicely.
I then moved on to the core platoon. Using an assembly line again, I painted six figures a night, averaging about 40 minutes per fig.
(http://leadadventureforum.com/gallery/51/1472-080421180115.jpeg)
Now on to the supports! If things go well, I should have all of the miniatures for 29 Let's Go! painted in a little over a week.
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Cracking work.
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Excellent You Tube piece.
I have used a wash and stain method. for years.
I have used Contrast paints for a number of figures.
The paint works well.
It does speed up painting.
Thanks for the post, your figures look great.
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You've done an excellent job with the contrast paints!
The issue I have with contrast paint in general is that the highlights seem too lite for my tastes. Has anyone tried to paint the miniatures with a regular opaque paint in a lighter color than you want the finished product and then using the contrast paints?
Or would using a different primer help? Like using Army painter spray primer in the primary color and then applying the contrast paints.
If anyone has tried it, I'd love to see examples. Contrast paints are expensive enough that I want to be sure I'll get something that looks right to me before I invest in a lot contrast paints.
Thanks for sharing!
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I don't think they would work at all well over a colored basecoat (my previous method was to spray all figures with the most prominent uniform color, OD, khaki, etc...). A friend has had some success with Contrast over a zenithal prime, but my attempt at that failed miserably. Since these all had a shading wash, I think that has muted the brightest of the highlights.
Thanks for the comments!
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Thanks for the response! It will save me from trying the different options. The US troops jackets look perfect, the trousers look a bit light, for my tastes. The Germans look a bit too lite too. Beautiful work none the less. Thanks again!
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I've done both forces in 20mm (I wanted to paint the AB figures and I prefer the less crowded battlefield, and buying the vehicles wouldn't break the bank). I painted mine using traditional paints for the base colours, Agrax Earthshade wash (I watched Sonic Sledgehammer too!)and highlighted with original colours. I also washed some figures with AP strong tone from a tin - for these the highlighting was a bit more optional and I thought demonstrated the differing properties of the two products. I used Vallejo 70.984 Flat Brown for the trousers and shirts on my American figures - the green was more of a late, late war thing, I believe.
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Americans Finished!
Last night I finished the last of my American support options. I now have all of the troops necessary to play 29 Let’s Go! All figures are Warlord, and most of the supports are metal, some of which are getting long in the tooth. Although the sculpts are mostly fine, the castings had a fair amount of flash and evidence of mold wear.
Medic
(http://leadadventureforum.com/gallery/51/1472-240421024907.jpeg)
Additional BAR’s
(http://leadadventureforum.com/gallery/51/1472-240421024456.jpeg)
Bazooka Team
(http://leadadventureforum.com/gallery/51/1472-240421024527.jpeg)
Flamethrower Team
(http://leadadventureforum.com/gallery/51/1472-240421024711.jpeg)
Sniper Team
(http://leadadventureforum.com/gallery/51/1472-240421025116.jpeg)
60mm Mortar Team
(http://leadadventureforum.com/gallery/51/1472-240421025012.jpeg)
FO Team
(http://leadadventureforum.com/gallery/51/1472-240421024734.jpeg)
.50 HMG Team
(http://leadadventureforum.com/gallery/51/1472-240421024756.jpeg)
The Engineers are plastic with metal equipment from the Rangers (https://store.warlordgames.com/products/rangers-lead-the-way-us-rangers-boxed-set?variant=31468982632528) boxed set supplemented with “Extra Hand” (https://www.victoryforce.com/victorychoosehandpage.html) handheld equipment from Victory Force Miniatures (https://www.victoryforce.com/index.html).
Engineer Wire Team
(http://leadadventureforum.com/gallery/51/1472-240421025143.jpeg)
Engineer Mine Team
(http://leadadventureforum.com/gallery/51/1472-240421024945.jpeg)
Engineer Demo Team
(http://leadadventureforum.com/gallery/51/1472-240421024608.jpeg)
The tank commander is by Warlord, mounted in a hatch I found on Shapeways (https://www.shapeways.com/product/Q5PCTEQ76/1-48-scale-m4-early-commanders-hatch?optionId=182217550&li=marketplace). It can be mounted on a third Sherman to denote the Senior Leader.
Sherman Senior Leader
(http://leadadventureforum.com/gallery/51/1472-240421030256.jpeg)
(http://leadadventureforum.com/gallery/51/1472-240421030319.jpeg)
All of the troops on parade:
Painted American Platoon plus Supports
(http://leadadventureforum.com/gallery/51/1472-240421025041.jpeg)
Painted German Platoon plus Supports
(http://leadadventureforum.com/gallery/51/1472-240421034127.jpeg)
With the troops finished it’s time to move on to the hedges, and finally get some games in. Any suggestions on good scenarios for a first game?
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Nice painting.
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6/28 Hedges Finished!
It’s been a long time since my last update, but other than a couple of weeks off for vacation (more on that later), I haven’t been idle!
Looking through the scenarios for 29 Let’s Go!, I estimated that I would need 18’ of hedges. Per the campaign, these are not bocage, but the less dense farm hedges south of Omaha Beach. Looking through aerial photos of the area taken before and during the Normandy campaign, I don’t see a lot of difference in appearance between these and the bocage in the Cotentin (at least from the air/gamer’s viewpoint), so I decided to make hedges that could serve as either.
I based my design on the methods found on Pizzagrenadier's Miniature Wargaming Blog (http://thisveryblog.blogspot.com/2009/08/hedgerows-simple-fast-and-nearly.html). For the base, however, I used yardsticks from Home Depot. They are flat, strong enough not to warp, and happen to be marked at regular intervals making it simple to measure the cuts! After cutting the bases to length, I beveled the edges using a handheld mini-circular saw, whittled the basswood embankments to shape, and painted the whole thing brown to match Vallejo European Mud ground texture, which I used to fill the joins & add texture the whole piece. From there, I flocked and added foliage per the blog. Now that they are done, I heartily agree with his comment that these suckers are tough!
(http://leadadventureforum.com/gallery/51/1472-280621204217.jpeg)
(http://leadadventureforum.com/gallery/51/1472-280621204234.jpeg)
(http://leadadventureforum.com/gallery/51/1472-280621204255.jpeg)
(http://leadadventureforum.com/gallery/51/1472-280621204316.jpeg)
(http://leadadventureforum.com/gallery/51/1472-280621204336.jpeg)
One if the determining factors in the amount (and sizes) I made was storage. I had to be able to store whatever I built in my (quickly filling up) gaming shelves. I use Sterilite stacking storage boxes, and the short 8.5” x 11” boxes determined the lengths of the majority of pieces.
(http://leadadventureforum.com/gallery/51/1472-280621204509.jpeg)
The final product in situ:
(http://leadadventureforum.com/gallery/51/1472-280621204451.jpeg)
This is a 5x8' table, so a foot on either edge will be used for troops, charts, dice trays etc... With that in mind, the hedges will cover a bit more space than shown, however, I think I may eventually need to make another box worth (aka six feet). I also picked up a number of ready-made Woodland Scenic trees that I intend to integrate into the hedges needed. These will be removable, however, to keep the storage easy.
Tommy2.0 & I also managed to get a couple of training games in to learn the rules. We have a couple of questions that I need to post to the group, but we are cautiously optimistic that we’re ready to dive into the campaign.
Oh, and on vacation we managed to visit Valley Forge, Fort McHenry and Gettysburg, so I fear a copy of Sharp Practice is in my future…
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Great looking hedges, well done.
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Nice output Tommy20. One of these days I ought to put together both sides for a CoC game and force my friends to play. As for Sharp Practice I heartily recommend the system. I've played it a grand total of one time, at Historicon 2019, but it makes for great narrative games and left enough of an impression on me that I have the rule book and enough miniatures for an AWI force. Enjoy the miniatures!
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Very nice work on those hedges and thanks for the link.
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So it’s been a long time since I posted to this thread, but we haven’t been idle. Tommy 2.0 & I have played a number of one-off games, and I’ve also run my gaming group through a couple of learning games, in preparation of (finally!) beginning the campaign over the boy’s Christmas break. We came up with quite a few rules questions, and discovered we were doing a couple of, fairly major, things wrong. We think we have the rules squared away now, and are looking forward to getting stuck in.
Over the past month, I have managed to throw together some scatter terrain, in the form of livestock. I posted earlier about how much I hate doing irregular patterns (camouflage, bushes, etc…), so why is it I decided I had to research the actual livestock found in 1944 Normandy? Of course, Normande cattle and Bayeux swine are both covered in irregular patterns of color!
(http://leadadventureforum.com/gallery/53/1472-171221033137.jpeg)
The livestock is by Hovels, and the pig stye by Kromlech.
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You always need cows!
These look very good fella.
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Yep, cracking job on those livestock. Looking forward to hearing about your campaign. My regular opponent and I are playing through Operation Martlet. (12th SS Division Panzergrenadiers with pea-dot and Platanenmuster camouflage arrgggghhhhh.)
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A great thread! Brilliant painting, suggestions and advice. This thread has been very helpful with my own CoC planning so thank you for taking the time to post.
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You always need cows!
Go on! Show him your exploding cow. :o
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Thanks for the comments! All credit goes to the Tactical Painter and Sonic Sledgehammer Studios for the methods…
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I think you've done your subject justice.
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Just short of a year after starting this thread, Tommy 2.0 & I just finished playing game #1 of 29 Let’s Go: Probe at LaCambe. My son is playing the Americans of the 175th Infantry Regiment, versus my German defenders. Here is the contested ground:
(http://leadadventureforum.com/gallery/53/1472-160122061533.jpeg)
In the patrol phase, the Americans swung toward their left flank, making it obvious that their infantry intended to try and bypass the outskirts of LaCambe from the south. The Germans patrolled straight forward in an arc, covering the entire front. This gave the Americans a JOP on the table edge, about a third of the way across the table, and two in the buildings along the road. The Germans had JOP’s behind the hedges on both sides of the road, with a third pushed forward toward the chateau. The intent was to use this one to launch ambushes with the Panzerschreck team, should CoC dice become available (as it turns out, they didn’t). Finally, the defenders placed two minefields in the plowed field to keep the attackers from massing their riflemen for a direct assault on the town.
The Germans waited patiently as the Americans deployed an HMG team and a squad of infantry in the farmyards along the south of the road, but due to placing their JOP too conservatively, they were too far away from the hedge line to deploy into a firing position. They also deployed a mine clearing team at the edge of the plowed field, and two tanks on the road, before the Germans even made an appearance.
(http://leadadventureforum.com/gallery/53/1472-160122061605.jpeg)
As the first Sherman passed the road to the chateau, a shell from the nearby 88 flew by (one CoC die down…). Not wanting to let the tank get too far down the road, a Panzerschreck team was deployed to turn it into a roadblock. This turned out to be a foolish gamble, as it hit the tank at point-blank range, but only rolled six hits, while the American rolled six saves on six dice. In the next phase, the first Sherman continued down the road at top speed hoping for a quick victory, while the second one swung off the road and fired it’s bow gun at the anti-tank team, killing the loader, and leaving the gunner pinned but still in action. The off-table 88 fired at the first tank again, and missed again (second, and last, CoC die down), so it was up to the pinned Panzerschreck, and this time he managed to KO the tank.
(http://leadadventureforum.com/gallery/53/1472-160122061659.jpeg)
On the other side of the road, the Germans had revealed an entrenched MG42 team at the corner of the town, which opened up on the engineers across the field. The first burst only managed to deliver some shock, but the second one took out two of the three engineers, sending the third running toward the rear. The Americans then deployed a second squad of infantry, and started off across the field. The Germans countered by deploying a second MMG team, as well as an infantry gruppe, along the hedge, and placing covering fire on the first American squad across the field. Under withering fire from two MG42 MMG teams, as well as an LMG team, the American squad was chewed up over the next several phases.
(http://leadadventureforum.com/gallery/53/1472-160122061725.jpeg) (http://leadadventureforum.com/gallery/53/1472-160122061836.jpeg)
Back in front of the chateau, the lone Panzerschreck gunner took his final shot at the approaching second American tank, but missed again. The tank made him pay for that shot, delivering the last German casualty of the game, then swung around the hedge and headed for the orchard, rolling 18” of movement. This placed him perfectly for the remaining German gruppes to appear at close range with their panzerfausts...
(http://leadadventureforum.com/gallery/54/1472-160122061858.jpeg)
...except the American player had rolled a double phase. He rolled well for movement again, and was well into the orchard, just a move away from driving off the table for the win. The Germens prepared to deploy a squad and take a quick shot with their panzerfaust when the Americans played a CoC die to interrupt and drive off the table.
It was a fun game, full of “what the…?” moments, and dice that always seemed to let you down just when you needed them. Although I probably shouldn’t have deployed the Panzerschreck the way I did, he did get all three of his shots off, albeit missing with two of them. I probably should have deployed some supporting infantry, who would have also had a shot with their Panzerfaust, but I was really counting on the 88’s (and more than my starting CoC dice) to do some damage… The German platoon only took two casualties, and hadn’t lost any Force Morale, while knocking the American Force Moral down by half, so other than that I do think my play was sound. I had really hoped to get an early win, though, as I assume they will only get harder to come by in this campaign. Tommy2.0 knew he had another platoon off-table just waiting to take over, so he wasn’t too concerned about taking casualties, and played it accordingly. I’m sure he’ll choose to charge forward, so its time to start planning game #2: Delaying Action at Arthenay.
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Great looking table and game!
Just played a "Probe"' CoC game myself. It really is all about exploiting double phases and using CoC dice to interrupt.
T.
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Awesome looking game! Fantastic terrain and great looking troops and equipment!
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Great looking game and report. Sounds like any number of ETO engagements, from what I've heard and read. An Allied win, but a costly one....
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Brilliant looking table and it sounds like an interesting game.