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Author Topic: CoC Pandemic Project: 29 Let’s Go! - Game #1: Probe at LaCambe  (Read 7661 times)

Offline Tommy20

  • Scientist
  • Posts: 419
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 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

and:
How I Paint Things - Contrast: WWII German Grenadiers

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…
« Last Edit: January 16, 2022, 06:05:44 AM by Tommy20 »
-Tommy

Offline Tommy20

  • Scientist
  • Posts: 419
Re: CoC Pandemic Project: 29 Let’s Go! - Jump Off Points
« Reply #1 on: January 19, 2021, 04:29:34 AM »
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:


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:


« Last Edit: April 24, 2021, 03:36:37 AM by Tommy20 »

Offline Digits

  • Scatterbrained Genius
  • Posts: 3774
Re: CoC Pandemic Project: 29 Let’s Go!
« Reply #2 on: January 19, 2021, 08:03:58 AM »
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?

Offline BeneathALeadMountain

  • Mad Scientist
  • Posts: 681
Re: CoC Pandemic Project: 29 Let’s Go!
« Reply #3 on: January 19, 2021, 09:09:41 PM »
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
Beneath A Lead Mountain - my blog of hobby procrastination and sometimes even some progress
https://beneathaleadmountain.blogspot.com/

Offline Tommy20

  • Scientist
  • Posts: 419
Re: CoC Pandemic Project: 29 Let’s Go!
« Reply #4 on: January 20, 2021, 05:51:30 AM »
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!

Offline DonFabrizio

  • Bookworm
  • Posts: 58
Re: CoC Pandemic Project: 29 Let’s Go!
« Reply #5 on: January 20, 2021, 09:38:26 AM »
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.

Offline BeneathALeadMountain

  • Mad Scientist
  • Posts: 681
Re: CoC Pandemic Project: 29 Let’s Go!
« Reply #6 on: January 20, 2021, 05:23:10 PM »
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

Offline Truscott Trotter

  • Mad Scientist
  • Posts: 839
Re: CoC Pandemic Project: 29 Let’s Go!
« Reply #7 on: January 20, 2021, 11:31:09 PM »
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

Offline Tommy20

  • Scientist
  • Posts: 419
Re: CoC Pandemic Project: 29 Let’s Go! - Minefields and Barbed Wired
« Reply #8 on: January 25, 2021, 06:12:22 AM »
Minefields and Barbed Wired
I had originally intended to buy the excellent minefield and barbed wire kits done by the Australian company LaserCast.  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.  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.

« Last Edit: April 24, 2021, 03:36:54 AM by Tommy20 »

Offline Digits

  • Scatterbrained Genius
  • Posts: 3774
Re: CoC Pandemic Project: 29 Let’s Go!
« Reply #9 on: January 25, 2021, 08:02:26 AM »
Ingenious

Offline tancrede

  • Scientist
  • Posts: 458
    • Studio Caillou
Re: CoC Pandemic Project: 29 Let’s Go!
« Reply #10 on: January 25, 2021, 10:08:21 AM »
Very good idea !
My blog, for personnal and commission work, and sometimes other things too => http://studiocaillou.blogspot.fr/

Offline BeneathALeadMountain

  • Mad Scientist
  • Posts: 681
Re: CoC Pandemic Project: 29 Let’s Go!
« Reply #11 on: January 25, 2021, 05:55:58 PM »
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

Offline gamer Mac

  • Galactic Brain
  • Posts: 8207
Re: CoC Pandemic Project: 29 Let’s Go!
« Reply #12 on: January 25, 2021, 06:04:10 PM »
Very nice work  :-* :-* :-* :-* :-*

Offline Ash

  • Mastermind
  • Posts: 1943
    • Ashley Straw.com
Re: CoC Pandemic Project: 29 Let’s Go!
« Reply #13 on: January 26, 2021, 04:29:08 PM »
Great idea for the barbed wire.

Offline bluewillow

  • Scatterbrained Genius
  • Posts: 2280
  • Bluewillow- Matthew Williamson
Re: CoC Pandemic Project: 29 Let’s Go!
« Reply #14 on: January 26, 2021, 10:46:12 PM »
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
« Last Edit: January 26, 2021, 10:48:52 PM by bluewillow »

 

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