WW1 using Rapid Fire & Pendraken 10mm (First Game 17.9.2014)

[Wirelizard]

That looks good so far!

Any thoughts on how you're going to do wire entanglements?

[Mick_in_Switzerland]

@Fred
This was a very quick job.  I started on Friday night and finished at lunchtime on Sunday.  Most of the time was waiting for a layer to dry.
I will add much more detail to mark 2 version - sandbags on the front edge of the trench, piles of earth, machine gun emplacements, planking on the trench walls, bunkers, a sap for observation, duckboards etc.


@Wirelizard
I plan to represent wire with coils of florists wire or springs. 
I have not decided whether to base these seperately or to put them onto the front of the hill. 
I think I will probably do them on 25x50mm bases so that I can easily remove a base to simulate a section of cleared wire.

Mick

[fred]

If this is just a quick test piece!!! Then the final versions should be awesome.

[Turbo-Ben]

I really love the look of those 10mm models!

I was thinking about getting into 15mm for ww1/rcw but I think I will do it in 10mm instead!

[Mick_in_Switzerland]

Dear Turbo Ben,

I decided to go with 10mm from Pendraken and I am very happy with the decision.  The figures are detailed enough to see who is who but also small so that you can have a lot on a small table.  A 500mm x 1000mm table (roughly 18 inch x 3ft)  has the equivalent troop density as using a table of 4 feet x 9 feet with 28mm figures.  Also the cost is a tiny fraction of 28mm (see post from 8th April).

I did also consider 15mm.  There are some great 15mm models from Peter Pig, Khurasan and also the new Battlefront but they are all 2.5 to 3 times as expensive as the Pendraken 10mm stuff.
Regards

Mick

[Mick_in_Switzerland]

Last night I repainted the A7V.

[Abwehrschlacht]

I really like it, I like the idea of the trenches being cut from polystyrene boards. It is something I may have a go at myself in the future. Thanks for the pics!

[Mick_in_Switzerland]

6th August

Shell Craters and Gun Emplacements.
I have made a large number of shell craters as scatter terrain. I cannot easily buy Milliput in Switzerland, so I bought a new product called Fimo Natural.  This is an air drying modelling clay based on wood pulp that dries in air at room temperature.  I used this to make some shell craters and gun emplacements.  These were covered in sand and painted to match the terrain.  Fimo Natural shrinks and warps as it dries which is a pain. I had to repair them with Milliput.

I also added sandbags to the trenches and two German machine guns using Milliput.

Barbed Wire
I decided to represent wire with coil springs and to put them onto the front of the hill. I have simply stretched springs between posts made from cocktail sticks.  This looks good and is easily removable.  Next time, I will add a wooded strip underneath the surface of the terrain to have a good base for small nails.



Large photos are here.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/31905569@N05/

Regards

Mick

[Mick_in_Switzerland]

Rapid Fire – WW1: Somme, 1st July 1916

For the 100th anniversary of WW1, I have been working on a project to look at key battles from WW1 with simple scenarios with 10mm Pendraken figures and custom built trench terrain.  David Knight visited yesterday and we had our first WW1 game.  This was the first time that we had tried to game a scenario for the project.  This scenario was chosen because of the relatively simplicity of the forces.

The rules are the standard WW2 version of Rapid Fire without modification.  Infantry companies are represented by ten figures. Both sides are treated as regulars with small arms except for one German Maxim unit which is a MMG on a tripod.  Infantry companies can split fire between two targets as two teams of five.  According to the rules, each unit makes a standard morale test when reduced to 50% strength.  We also added a second rule that a unit is removed when reduced to 30% strength.  This represents the few survivors taking cover and also tending to wounded companions.

The scenario is based on the morning of the first day of the Somme as the Pals battalions went into action.  The action takes place in a thin rectangular strip of terrain, representing the action in one small sector of a 25 mile wide front.  The table is a rectangle 4’ x 2’ with German trenches at one end with a large open area of grassy “no man’s land” in the middle.  Towards the German lines there are a large number of shell craters.  The British trenches are at the opposite end but there is no need to actually have terrain for the British trench lines as the scenario starts from the point where they go over the top.  
 
The British Army is represented by six units of 10 infantry.  The British start 36” from a line of barbed wire in front of German trenches.  This equates to six turns of advancing cross country to get to the wire.  The wire takes one turn to cross.  The whole advance is in the open.  At the start the trenches are unmanned as the German forces are sheltering from an artillery barrage in underground bunkers.  Three German units (1 x Maxim MMG team, 2 x units of 10 infantry) are available in the sector.  According to a D10 dice roll each turn, the German defenders may or may not emerge from their bunkers.

In game 1, German units had a 10% chance of arriving each turn. Unfortunately this left the German trenches unoccupied except for a solitary MMG unit which emerged in turn 2 but only inflicted 10 causalities in five turns.  Therefore, most of the British units were intact as they reached the wire.  The final assault was a walkover for the British. This played out as the British high command had planned the first day of the Somme.  (David British, Mick German)

For game 2, we changed conditions for German troops to arrive – 10% round 1, 20% round 2, 30% round 3 etc. up to round 10.  The German MMG arrived in turn 3 and was joined by infantry units in turn 6 and 7.  The Germans split their fire to inflict casualties on four attacking units.  As they crossed the wire in turn 8, the British had taken a total of 25 casualties, which took three units out of action and weakened another.  The remaining British units crossed the wire made close assaults on the flanks of the Germans.  Three rounds later, the Germans had successfully repelled the attack. It was a closely fought contest.  The result matched the actual historical outcome in several sectors on 1st July 2016. (Mick British, David German)

[fred]

Interesting game Mick. I think your second set of percentages are probably more realistic. Troops were trained to get to their firing positions very quickly after a barrage finished. It was only after the most heavy of barrages that troops were so shocked that they stayed in their bunkers.

Also what are the big brightly coloured numbers for!

[Mick_in_Switzerland]

Dear Fred
The Germans occupied the trenches on D6 roll. 1-4 are front line trenches.  5-6 are supply trenches further back?. The British units were numbered 1-6.   I found the number sets in a craft store a few weeks ago.  I may make something more subtle later 
Mick

[fred]

I may make something more subtle later 

Please !

[Dave Knight]

A lot of fun to play in