Adventures on the Wargames Table

Initially I was a little surprised to read about snipers in the American Civil War, but really I shouldn’t have as ‘sharpshooters’ had been around in some form for perhaps a hundred years or so.  Anyway, I decided these were a ‘must have’.  This Union sniper is a Dixon’s figure. The Reb sniper is from 1st Corps and I’ve paired him with a Perry artillery limber to give him some suitable cover.  The 1st Corps set has two kneeling figures with a selection of heads - highly recommended! A while back I mentioned posting up some army pics for my Union force.  So here they are!  The gaming mat is Geek Villain, Sicily and again is highly recommended! There are still some troops to be added (e.g. cavalry and maybe a unit of Zouaves or a black/coloured unit, etc) plus a host of supports.  This lot comes in at around 100 points so plenty to be gaming with.

The Early War in Europe is, in my humble opinion, quite fascinating.  Whether it's the myth surrounding "blitzkrieg", or the astonishing collapse of France - considered to be the world's pre-eminent military power, or the adoption of new tactics and technology many of which were effectively lessons learned from the Great War, it's jolly interesting stuff and bursting with potential for some very satisfying wargames. My Desert War project has reached the point where I have two substantial forces and lots of scenery, so I feel I can simply add the odd unit/vehicle/building as and when I fancy without it being one of those half finished projects many of us wargamers know only too well. So my attention is being drawn to the Early War theatre.  Looking at my existing collection of (nominally late war) British I note that many of the figures are perfectly suitable for the early war era too.  Obviously equipment such as Sten guns and PIATs will have to stay in the bo...

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...