FNN's WWII - North Africa in 28mm - More terrain done!

[Captain Blood]

Oh yeah it's really not noticeable on the table, or even on the shelf unless you really look at them (from eye level, even). I just thought I'd mention it nonetheless since Cpt Blood asked how I think they compare.

Thanks!

Thank you 
Yes, the Americans are a little different in stature to the Germans. Useful to know, so thank you for posting that pic.
The figures are coming up nicely under your paintwork 

[FriendlyNeighbourhoodNerd]

Thanks a lot everyone! I really appreciate the encouraging comments.

Can't wait till exam season's over and I can get some more toys/make more terrain (the latter would be wisest I think).

[FriendlyNeighbourhoodNerd]

I've been slowly chipping away at some terrain for about a month, and it's finally done! Couple hills/mini escarpments/big rocks/formations/you get the idea, and a base of palm trees.

Next thing in line is finishing some walls I've made in foamcore, painting some more sandbags I've sculpted, and a small oasis/lake/puddle.

Pretty happy with how these turned out! I think they strike a nice balance between realistic, stylised and playable.

[Sakuragi Miniatures]

That's all good terrain. The desert is my other favorite place to play.

[FriendlyNeighbourhoodNerd]

Thank you! What's your favourite one then 

[BeneathALeadMountain]

They?re looking great. If you?re struggling with painting and tempted by the idea of contrast paints there?s a better solution now - Monument Hobbies (under their Pro Acryl range) make a product called Glaze and Wash. It is witchcraft. It?ll allow you to take any decent acrylic paint and make a contrast paint out of it with a few drops (except it flows and looks better) and you can also then add a few drops of water and make a wash that?ll help tie everything together. It?s about ?13-14 a bottle and will last you a fair while - a much cheaper and better investment than (in my experience) hit and miss contrast paints.

Andrew
BeneathALeadMountain

[FriendlyNeighbourhoodNerd]

Thanks a lot!

That new Monument product sounds really cool, thanks for sharing  although I quite like how my minis are currently coming out with standard acrylics, I really enjoy the process, and have no intention to switch to contrast. Or did the painting recipe sound too convoluted?

[BeneathALeadMountain]

No not at all, I think you’ve done a great job. I really enjoy (old school  ) basic acrylic painting (and like a complicated paint job) and your recipe sounds pretty close to what I’d do on my 15mm’s. More a knee jerk reaction to the mention of contrasts earlier on in attempt to save people money and disappointment    It does do a good job on shallow detailed plastics but nothing your not effectively doing already (the proper way) with paint, wash and edge highlights.

The biggest problem I’ve found doing Tunisia (in 15mm) is trying to model the cactus patches……… love to see your terrain on a tabletop. What are you intending to play with them?

Andrew
BeneathALeadMountain

[FriendlyNeighbourhoodNerd]

The few 15s I have (WotR, ACW) I have indeed also painted in that sort of way  and thank you!

I haven't bothered with cactus patches yet  , I'll get some kind of ground cloth soon though, trip to the fabric store is in order.

I'll be playing Five Men in Normandy, dunno if you've heard of it. It's made by the same guy as Five Leagues from the Borderland and Five Parsecs from Home (in fact it's the game that kickstarted the series), Nordic Weasel Games. It's a simple, fast and cinematic/action packed skirmish game, about 5 guys a side. It's got campaign rules that are just the right narrative depth and complexity for what I have in mind, too.

I'll be playing solo; I'm planning on doing a few pickup games first before going into a full campaign (which is one of the main draws of the game). Even if I end up getting bored of it there's a bunch of squad-based WW2 skirmish games that I can try in the future.

I do have most of the Perry boxes left, so I can go up to a platoon game if needed - problem is I don't really have storage space, time or energy for many more figures, a bigger table or the space for it, or the time, energy and space for more terrain to fit on said bigger table. So for now I'll focus on filling out a 2x2 table and maybe go from there. Maybe next upgrade will be the floor? 

[BeneathALeadMountain]

so I can go up to a platoon game if needed - problem is I don't really have storage space, time or energy for many more figures, a bigger table or the space for it,

you sir are a wise and sagacious hobbyist that many (especially myself) would do well to imitate (many years ago) - I’m currently trying to rationalise and deal with my hobby mountain in order to get more use and actual game time out of my collection.

I like the 5 men series (I have Normandy) and spin offs. I would also recommend Grey for Now Games’ 0200 hours (especially as there’s a desert pack) for a different style of solo game and some nice characterful minis if you wanted to do raids or commando bits and bobs. There’s also the fun, more old school, Normandy Firefight which is works well at 1-10 chaps a side and would be easy to use for desert skirmishing (although you’d have to double head it as there’s no AI) just have to knock up some stance counters. I need to go back and re-approach 5men as that may help get me out of my gaming rut.

The best thing about collecting Historicals is the total freedom of game systems available to you.

Looking forwards to seeing some AAR’s of 5 men.

Andrew
BeneathALeadMountain