Lead Adventure Forum
Miniatures Adventure => The Second World War => Topic started by: Mark on January 11, 2022, 09:23:24 PM
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Back in 2017, I visited the Vercors plateau and the Resistance museum in Vassieux whilst visiting my wife's family. A great bit of local history as the family farm is only a few miles away. At the time I thought it would be an interesting project to put together, but that was as far as it went... until now!
I had previously read Paddy Ashdown's "The Cruel Victory" but for Christmas my good lady wife bought me the Osprey "Vercors 1944" and a box of Wargames Atlantic French Resistance. So now it is on! I have a friend who is in possession of a Fallschirmjager force, so the initial plan is to focus on getting a representative force for the FFI and starting with the German glider borne assaults on Vassieux and it's surrounding hamlets, and the FFI counter attacks. Should be enough to start!
Initial project photos follow...
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Looking forward to following your thread.
Vercours is a very interesting set of actions.
What is your personal review of "The Cruel Victory?"
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I thought it was a really good read - I have a ex-library hardback which makes it look like a bit of a slog, but I found it to be very easy reading. It is very comprehensive and doesn't get into the fighting until a long way in, as it covers the development of Plan Montagnards etc as well as the battles of July. Ashdown's perspective as a former soldier and politician also makes it interesting as he has an understanding from both these sides and the fate of the Vercors was sealed politically rather than militarily. It also influences his conclusion and title of the book!
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So far so good. Looking forward to seeing them painted!
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Whilst awaiting bases and a bunch of rifles from the good members of this parish, I have started on the first of many buildings to create Vassieux...
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A very interesting project! I am looking forward to seeing it progress.
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Peeled and hand-embossed foamcore board walls?
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Looks great - what rules will you use? Chain of Command sounds like it would suit the level of action.
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Thanks for the comments all.
BillK - yes, got it in one. I have looked around but can't see any reasonably priced buildings available commercially with the irregular stone look, so the classic foamboard and pencil it is! Good for the wallet, but not the fastest of processes!
jon_1066 - as yet undecided, but probably either Chain of Command or Bolt Action. As you mention, it is the right size for the forces involved. The patrol phase in CoC might also work nicely for determining glider landing locations...
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Hmmm…I may have to have a read. Interesting topic, looking forward to seeing what you do….
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Got the first building mostly finished this weekend - chimney needs finishing, floor needs a stain and some general tidying up, but I am pretty happy with the result.
Also started painting the first FFI section, but had to stop when I discovered my khaki paint had dried out. New pot now purchased, so can carry on this week.
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That building looks great! I wish I had the time (and patience) to do stone buildings with texture like that.
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Thanks Tommy.
A bit more progess this week, with the first section painted up, awaiting basing and varnishing and work started on the second building, the mairie and post office.
Thanks to Harry Faversham and leadboy of this parish, I now also have enough rifle arms to finish the box of maquis.
I also found an aerial photo of vassieux online which I have marked up and used to produce a plan for terrain building for some scenarios, probably using Chain of Command.
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Again - so far, so good. The figs look great!
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Thanks again CapnJim.
A bit more progess this week, with work on the building that will be the mairie and post office, and a second section and MMG painted up though awaiting basing.
Although my painting is nowhere near the standard of many others here, I am pretty happy with it as a tabletop standard. However, I am not particularly happy with the MMG crew, so may have to return to them at some point.
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After what seemed like an eternity of scribing stonework into foamboard, I got the mairie/poste built tonight. Huzzah!
Needs a first floor constructing and some signage, but pretty happy with it.
Also been working on some walls - thankfully these ones don't need stonework!
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The school in Vassieux was bombed by the Luftwaffe as part of the preparations for the assault on the plateau. The Musée de la Resistance en ligne has a couple of photos showing both front and rear of the school post bombardment, so this is a pretty faithful recreation.
My favourite thing about the building is that it was all rendered so no stonework to be scribed! Putting it together has therefore been a lot faster than the first 2 buildings! Paint next...
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The school has continued and is almost complete. I took a few photos where the buildings are on something other than a cutting mat and in natural light today... the construction of the table is about halfway there. All comments welcome as I appear to be talking to myself at the moment!
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No, no, I'm listening. Just hoping you do a PSC for this campaign, of great interest to me. Lovely buildings.
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Very impressive models, envious if your skill and patience :)
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Thanks both. Went to the Beachhead show in Bournemouth today and picked up a couple more bits for the project - some list 1 support in the form of a Citroën truck (civilian vehicle) and some nurses (medic). Also a war memorial which is well worth the £1.50 in lack of stress I would get from scratch building! The WW1 memorial in Vassieux is and was located opposite the school - you can see a 60x60mm base acting as a placeholder in a couple of the above photos.
Regarding a PSC, it is the intention as the actions are exactly the right size. I need to invest in "At the Sharp End" to get a proper handle on it though, which is down the line a bit. Overall the whole battle probably is three PSCs (a "Nice Session Campaign -NSC?!) with one being the airborne assault on Vassieux, one the northern break in via St Nizier and the other the gebirgsjäger assault through the Eastern passes.
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Nice little haul of useful items - although nurse in British tin hat may not make this campaign or are you planning a head swap?
Look forward to some more on this campaign
Cheers
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The amount of work in those stone buildings hurts me to think upon. Great project! Will continue watching.
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Been a bit lax over the last couple of weeks, but there has been some progress...
A few more walls, road network started and a completed war memorial, with renedra walls kindly provided by recceboss of this parish.
Want to get the roads and last few walls finished before I crack onto the rest of the buildings.
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Great scratch-building skills :)
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Thanks Ballardian.
Having failed to note which way up a couple of road pieces went when I cut them out, I set up the layout so far this evening. It's progressing nicely, 3 more buildings, a few walls and a drainage ditch to build.
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Looking good and look forward to the final layout
Cheers
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Terrific looking terrain :o What make is the truck? Does it say 'Atlas'?
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@retrovertigo apologies, I had meant to reply weeks ago. It does say Atlas, photo of the end of the box below. I got it from Clive's Die-casts at the beachhead show.
The project continues, though slower than originally, with nothing major to show now. I have done some work this week on some Blood Red Skies planes though, and massive props to Miscmini, who do transfers. I ordered last week on Thursday and they appeared through my letterbox on the South Coast of Blighty on Tuesday! Not finished yet, but coming along nicely...
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More good stuff! Keep it coming!
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Am getting back into the swing of things a bit - have finished the core platoon for CoC with a bit of basing this morning. Now I need to get back into the terrain!
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Your partisans look good.
But may I make a suggestion? You might angle your lighting so that it hits more of the front of the figures. I bet teh pics will come out even better if you do. Just suggesting...
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(http://)How much of that shine is from lighting and how much of from the finish? personally, i never use anything gloss or satin in varnishes, but it looks like you might be doing so here. I find matte just looks better all else being equal. A simple switch to a matte varnish and i expect you will suddenly find your painting skills were not as limited as you think and suddenly you are rivaling all the great stuff you see elsewhere.
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Thanks for the comments both. Photos taken under the living room light with a flash - no varnish at that point. Poor photography does not help for sure!
Having had such excellent advice, I am now ignoring it by doing exactly the same as before with some new support options painted up - mortar team, sniper and a possibly excessive 3 medics!
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Hey, pal, I've been ignored by worse people... :D
Nice supports, though. Really like the nurses/Red Cross ladies. Who makes them? I may have to get some if I can...
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Bad Squiddo?
Hey, pal, I've been ignored by worse people... :D
Nice supports, though. Really like the nurses/Red Cross ladies. Who makes them? I may have to get some if I can...
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Yep, they are Bad Squiddo.
Made a bit of progress on some odds and sods of terrain too, but nothing to share as yet. I now just need to grizz on through the three buildings I need and will be pretty much set for a first scenario.
Had a mini battlefield tour whilst in France this month so have some impetus to get the job done!
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Finally finished some odds and sods of walls and roads that needed doing for months! Building number 4 is also progressing nicely... so much stonework! Going to do another house in render, so will be much quicker, then just one big building to etch with stones!
Picked up a box of Perry US infantry who will make up the OSS Operations Group Justine which I started assembling too - the OC, Hoppers, is at the back.
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Building number 4 painted up tonight, along with a few more of OSS Operational Group Justine.
One question for the assembled throng who play Chain of Command regularly (also asked on the CoC Facebook group) - do you ever use more than one additional section as a support choice? And if so, do they make it onto the table?
The platoon rating difference between the maquis and the fallschirmjager is a massive 9 points, and with the maquis attacking after the initial assault, I could get up to needing 19 support points! As the maquis had little in the way of heavy kit, additional sections are the most historical choice, but I don't want to buy and paint a load of troops who will never actually make it into action!
Also another question I have just thought of... I am sure I saw a CoC game on here with off table support from guns rather than mortars but have been unable to find it. If it was you, how did you do this - rules, cost etc? The maquis supported their final attack with a 25mm hotchkiss autocannon so would be interested to know how others have dealt with a similar situation.
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I have not been idle, but have been lazy on photography... the US OSS Operational Group is now complete, as are all the buildings.
Set up a portion of the table to check it all fits...
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Not sure why the last batch of photos appeared upside down... hopefully these will be the right way up! Last element of terrain for the vassiex table is a drainage ditch, which I will represent through areas of long grass showing the edges (thanks to Matakishi for the idea). First few lengths in progress, need some basing. Also assembled and primed the final support options: an extra section and a bazooka team.
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I love following along with your progress! I'm really looking forward to your progress!
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Hi Mark!
Great buildings and miniatures!
I started playing CoC from the beginning and a lot of games (defeats?) under my belt.
So my suggestions for your questions are:
Artillery support: if the support was very heavy, and if you're planning a PSC with At the sharp end (that I strongly suggest!), you can just skip a turn in the campaign as an advantage for the defender, or consider as a strong pregame bombardment , allowing deploy on 5-6 only as an advantage for the attacker. As I suppose that this bombardment would hardly occur during the fight.
Glider landing: in the 1940 Blitzkrieg supplement there is a scenario that deals right with this.
Squad support: having several squads or teams as supports could be very tricky, as often it's very difficult to handle them properly. So my suggestion is to buy a second Senior Leader, quite obviously, OR, with reference to that 1940 Blitzkrieg supplement, allowing as a support choice the so called red dice. Practically costs 2 support points, allows to add a sixth command die (different fron the others) to be rolled at the beginning of the phase. The only results allowed from this die are from 1 to 4. 5 and 6 are discarded. IIRC this die can be bought only if you choose three or more infantry squads or teams as supports.
Hope this helps!
Marco
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This project is still progressing, even if real life has got in the way of posting for... Well over a year?! Been playing some games of Chain of Command to get the rules down, and even gave the green Maquis a run out last week.
Got a few months to have a half pint size campaign ready for the 80th anniversary in July.
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Following this with interest!
T