1914 Belgium - UD 18/12 - news re German infantry paint scheme

[Silent Invader]

 

At the mo the plans are quite small with 3 tiles of town and 6 tiles of countryside.

Given there will be approx 25 British and 75 German minis that does make for a fairly packed 90 cm square of board but it's intentional to avoid the temptation of spread out forces, flanking moves, and other such space-requiring tactics. With say 25 BEF defending a 90 cm front, there'll still be open areas as a 12 man section will fill about 30 cm of line. Essentially what I'm aiming for is approx one diminished platoon on each side's part in a bigger battle.  Rather than a skirmish wargame, the intent is to zoom on at a platoon level of an imaginery battalion-level wargame.

I do have reserve plans for extra tiles for a bit more variety but they might not happen for a while.

I therefore expect that most games will comprise columns of Germans bearing down on the British in their hasty defences.  That said, there were plenty of British left behind in the retreat so there's also opportunity for more skirmish-like escape and evasion games.

Posters I've pondered but in the Belgium towns I can't see much evidence of their widespread use - in France yes but not so Belgium (if anyone could further enlighten me on this it'd be appreciated).

Lampposts are an easy later addition but only if I can find or make some I like.  In the smaller towns they don't seem to have been that widespread so I think it's best to finish the board before deciding on distribution. I'd also prefer that they worked so plenty to think about there.

Ah, the Boer War table. That's at the painting stage which I really want to do all at once when I have a big chunk of time and space to work.  Could be a few months yet    The advantage of these WW1 tiles is that they really need to be worked on one at a time, which works for me at the mo.  

[Slayer]

holy crap this thread gets better and better 

[pocoloco]

Whoa, that finished tile looks stunning! 

Minor thing but did you consider adding wallpaper in some of the ruined rooms? You could have torn it at some points and even burned it a bit

Second tile looks good but how about a graveyard around/next to the church. It could have some shell holes in it, broken cemetary fence here and there, few gnarly trees etc?

Or if you keep the current set-up, maybe a small passageway between the restaurant and the shop?

[Silent Invader]

Thanks chaps 

Cheers for the suggestions Pocoloco... I'm not planning to add wallpaper as TBH I'm not aiming for true scale models like the Victorian beauties that Thunderchicken builds.  These have a smaller footprint so all those lovely detailing extras like drainpipes, gutters, furniture (I know you didn't suggest these - I'm just thinking aloud) and wallpaper would I think emphasise that the footprint is underscale. Also urban churches of this type seem not to have had graveyards (the town photos I'm working from have a very clustered, compact look, lacking trees, etc) but I really like your idea of an alley between shop and restaurant and so I'm going to try and achieve that.  Many thanks 

[Mason]

 

That is one seriously stunning looking board with so many geat skirmishing possibilities.
So many nooks and crannies and places to hide figures.
Wonderful.

The wallpaper idea is worth considering.
I know you dont want them to add an unrealistic scale issue, but plain paper and stripes should not add too many problems.
But you already have enough on your hands with the builds so wallpaper may well be a step too far.

A gorgeous sight as it is, so it does not really need it.
 

[Malamute]

Absolutely brilliant. 

[Silent Invader]

Thanks chaps 

Have finalised the layout and assembled the main building shapes for the second of the town tiles.

A reminder that this tile combines a church, a restaurant and a small shop.















The next stage will be application of greenstuff and milliput, followed by assembly of the tile elements and painting of the interiors.

Both Jimbibbly and Sir Sydney Roundwood have made crypts for their churches and with such inspiration I shall be doing the same.  The crypt will be beneath a lift-out floor. The crypt will have a medieval tomb for which I needed an effigy and not having one to hand I raided my Wars of the Roses project for bits (11 bits to be precise) and built my own.  It still needs some greenstuff to finish it off.



And finally, for the two tiles so far, I've used 7 of the Airfix resin buildings with quite a few offcuts that might yet come in useful:

[OSHIROmodels]

Great stuff mate 

Really like the tomb cover 

cheers

James

[pocoloco]

The set-up for the 2nd tile looks great to me And you have already finished hacking and gluing the buildings!  

Good point regarding the town church, a church with a graveyard next to it is more fitting for a countryside setting.

Great work with the effigy, always better if it's your own making than needing to purchase a one.

[Captain Blood]

Wonderful.
The Perry sarcophagus is genius. Why didn't I think of that?!   

[Silent Invader]

Thanks chaps! 

Btw Richard, I have decided to add posters to the cafe and store - just got to find some!

[janner]

Love the effigy 

[Centaur_Seducer]

Loving this Silent Steve!

[Constable Bertrand]

Smashing work so far Steve!

I like that church and your alleyways.

You could easily use the board for SSS too.. for a place a little less wintery.

[Silent Invader]

Thanks chaps 

Found a very useful link for vintage posters .... Most also include dates (click on the poster):

http://mamaisondepapier.be/site/wp-gallery2.php?g2_itemId=91

You could easily use the board for SSS too.. for a place a little less wintery.

That is very true ..... Hmmmm

Btw the church is actually two identical pieces that have been converted then placed end to end.