Project Battle of Fallujah (WIP update 29/05)

[tereydavi]

First off, I´ll introduce myself: my name is David, and I'm the author of Frontline Heroes: Modern Warfare, a skirmish wargame.

I've always been interested in wargames with settings close to pulp, the Roaring Twenties, and Cthulhu themes, but for a while now, I've started looking more into modern combat backgrounds.

Taking advantage of a small MENA (Middle East - North Africa) village set I had from my pulp games, I decided to start a small group of US Marines to fight Iraqi insurgents in small skirmishes set in the early 2000s.

In this thread, I'll be documenting the progress on these two factions for this Frontline Heroes: Modern Warfare project, which I'll call: Project Battle of Fallujah.

To start with, I had six Marines and a few 32mm insurgents from Black Scorpion miniatures. They were an impulsive second-hand purchase, and their time had finally come.





The 32mm Black Scorpion minis were perfectly scaled with some 1:43 scale diecast vehicles I had lying around the house. I even had a US Army Humvee.







As I mentioned, I already had a fairly large Arab village set, although it lacked variety.



With all this I started playing Battlespace, but I have decided that it has to grow up and upscale.

The next steps will be to expand both factions with more members, increase the number of vehicles and scenery pieces, and add more variety to the Arab buildings.

I'll be advancing this project little by little, and I'll post everything in this thread to share it and keep it all organized. I hope you enjoy this little project.

[mikedemana]

Great start to the project! I'm sure the games will look good. For some inspirational movie viewing, check out "Warfare" in limited release in the theaters, now. Gritty look at a SEAL mission in Iraq. Very much in the vein of Black Hawk Down with crap going wrong...

Good luck!

Mike Demana

[Sakuragi Miniatures]

First I saw that Melissa Joan Hart is playing a grandmother, then I saw someone wargaming the war I was in... I need to schedule a doctor's appointment.

[Rick]

First I saw that Melissa Joan Hart is playing a grandmother, then I saw someone wargaming the war I was in... I need to schedule a doctor's appointment.

Don't do it; if you're over a certain age he'll start with a prostate exam and you do NOT want that! 

[Sakuragi Miniatures]

I did 22 years in the Navy, I'm used to getting screwed in painful ways. Let the doctor do his worst!

[Sakuragi Miniatures]

Nice minis too, I forgot to lead with that. Your setup looks nice, the only thing missing is random junk that may be an IED and a fine layer of dust on everything. EVERYTHING.

I once took a laptop in for repair and the guy asked if I was in Iraq or Afghanistan, I told him it was about two years ago. He said he could tell by the amount of sand clogging my machine.

[Rick]

The Black Scorpion minis are absolutely brilliant - I picked up a few in metal some years ago and a few more in resin recently. The detail and poses are superb and the scale is great for painting details on them. The only reason I've not used them is that I can't seem to find a similarly sized range of opponents!

[tereydavi]

Great start to the project! I'm sure the games will look good. For some inspirational movie viewing, check out "Warfare" in limited release in the theaters, now. Gritty look at a SEAL mission in Iraq. Very much in the vein of Black Hawk Down with crap going wrong...

That movie is a must to get the vibe for this project. Looks like a Black Hawk Down scaled down.
Thanks a lot!

Nice minis too, I forgot to lead with that. Your setup looks nice, the only thing missing is random junk that may be an IED and a fine layer of dust on everything. EVERYTHING.

Good point!! I´ll try to make some scatter terrain full of rubbish.
I hope you dont get upset by this project as it feels so close to your experience.
In Spain there is still many people who refuse to play Spanish Civil War, so I would understand it.
I hope you like the project, and your opinion is going to be really helpful.

The Black Scorpion minis are absolutely brilliant - I picked up a few in metal some years ago and a few more in resin recently. The detail and poses are superb and the scale is great for painting details on them. The only reason I've not used them is that I can't seem to find a similarly sized range of opponents!

Black scorpion miniatures are 32mm, and most modern miniatures are 28mm, so there is quiet a difference. I bought a bunch of black scorpion modern militia as well, so the fit like a glove. Now I´m printing modern miniatures at 32mm to fit the black scorpion range.

[tereydavi]

well, upscaling the forces I have only has one way... More miniatures!!!

I just bought another set of USMC and more modern militia from Black scorpion miniatures. The problem is that the USMC set is the same one as I had...  That means that there is going to be less variety among the USMC force.



The modern militia (aka insurgents) are great miniatures! Full of detail and the posses are top!



Now they need some paint. I wish I were a better painter, but I´m getting even worse as sight gets worse. I´ll try to do my best as they deserve.

See you in the battlefield.

[robh]

Interesting project. If you have not seen it the semi first-person documentary "WARPIGS: Block to Block in Fallujah" is up on Youtube. Sobering viewing.

[tereydavi]

Scatter terrain is very important on any gaming table. Most of it might not provide cover, but it helps set the scene and creates a more immersive gaming experience. As sakuragi miniatures pointed before, there should be a lot of junk everywhere.

Any city where we stage an armed conflict should have plenty of scatter terrain. And almost any modern city, even without any armed conflict, will have its streets filled with this kind of terrain pieces.

So I gathered a bunch of bits I had accumulated and, along with some terrain pieces I already owned, I made a few scatter terrain pieces.

There are pieces from Mantic’s Terrain Crate, small terrain bits, 3D-printed pieces, bits of unknown origin, various plastic scraps... anything goes to achieve the desired effect.

Now I just need to prime and paint these pieces so they look perfect on the gaming table.

[CapnJim]

...check out "Warfare" in limited release in the theaters, now. Gritty look at a SEAL mission in Iraq. Very much in the vein of Black Hawk Down with crap going wrong...

Mike Demana

That movie is a must to get the vibe for this project. Looks like a Black Hawk Down scaled down.
Thanks a lot!...

I thought Warfare was interesting.  It's based on a real action, but just as easily could be a 1:1 wargame put to film.  25 or so SEALs, a bunch of baddies, an IED and some Bradleys.  At 28mm, the area covered by the film could be on a 6'x4' board, and could be adapted to several different genres......just sayin'...

[tereydavi]

Warfare would be a great scenario for any modern skirmish wargame. I'll try to play It using Frontline Heroes as soon as everything (miniatures and terrain) IS ready.

[CapnJim]

Warfare would be a great scenario for any modern skirmish wargame. I'll try to play It using Frontline Heroes as soon as everything (miniatures and terrain) IS ready.

It'd be interesting to see how that goes...

[tereydavi]

It has been a while since last update, but I have been painting miniatures and terrain to get everything on the gaming table as soon as posible.

First of all I'm glad that I finished two US marine fire teams.
I decided to do a three-colour DCU.

I tried to do my best and I think they are done, maybe I'll add small brown stripes, but I'll decide It later: