Adventures on the Wargames Table

The backyards and gardens of our buildings can often just be open table enclosed by walls or hedges, perhaps with the odd shed or outside WC.  This is fine for most games as it makes it easier to place our models but I wanted to make those open spaces a bit more realistic.  So I've made some garden sections using offcuts of mdf. I began by chamfering the edges then added some putty to give ridges for rows of potatoes.  The planks are wide coffee stirrers roughly snapped whilst the raised beds are narrow ones.  The bean poles are are simply wire spears from which I've snipped the sharp points. The holes were drilled at a slight angle as the steel wire can be tricky to bend in to place.  Super glue gel holds the the cross piece in place. A good coat of PVA and a variety of sand/grit finishes off the construction. I used the following paints to get a good earthy colour: Americana Dark Chocolate Americana Milk Chocolate American Honey Brown...

Game One of Kampfgruppe von Luck Private Goodbody scanned the hedgerows through his telescopic sights.  There was just enough light now to properly make out the shapes of trees and bushes across the wide fields of wheat.  He shifted his weight slightly, as his left ankle was still sore after the drop.  Laden with extra kit and plenty of ammo, his landing had been heavy.  His ‘stick’ had been fortunate as they’d landed close to Ranville but plenty of his fellows in 12 Para were still unaccounted for.  The drop had quickly become a shambles as aircraft weaved to and fro through heavy flak.  He wasn’t too concerned though as the lads were gradually turning up in 1’s and 2’s, sometimes more. Sergeant Cameron appeared at his side and held out a tin cup of scalding hot tea. “Movement?” he asked, his broad Scottish tones barely a whisper.  Private Goodbody was the sniper in No. 3 section and had the sharpest eyes in the platoon; if anyone could spot Jerry...

Continuing with the theme of shops for my World War Two collection I decided to add a (mini) petrol station.  Here it is... More of a 'petrol shed' really! I've built it to be used stand-alone or butted up to another building.  Here it is next to my newly painted Tabac. The 'shed' is made from a foam-core box covered in coffee stirrers (it's the only thing I use them for as I don't have sugar in hot drinks!), the door frames are matchsticks and the windows are spares from another MDF kit.  The roof is corrugated plasti-card. Rummaging through the bits box I found some resin crates and a barrel.  The splendid petrol pump is from 1st Corps here .  The cobbles are pieces of textured wallpaper. I primed it using Halfords grey primer then set to with my brushes ... The green woodwork is Foundry Storm Green, washed with GW Agrax, highlighted with the base colour then Foundry Dragoon Green shade and mid. The roof was painted using the Foun...

I’d like to build a small village for my World War Two games and that means adding a few shops!  I've got the Epicerie and Chapellerie from Colin's fantastic range but thought I'd start with the Tabac .  Here it is... Paras hoping to find a few packets of Gauloises To add extra interest I've added wooden boards using coffee stirrers to the edges of the roof and the base of the upper floor.  I've also swapped the chimney for another from a farmhouse kit.  Here's the basic MDF building. I also decided to paint the floor boards - the pic is a bit blurry tho! I textured the walls and chimney using a fine grit/ballast mix fixed using slightly watered PVA.  Then it was on to the painting... The walls are simply the Foundry Moss Green triad.  The gritty texture makes highlighting very easy. The brick front was base coated in Foundry Conker Brown then I picked out a few individual bricks using the colours in the pic.  Then wash with GW ...