Adventures on the Wargames Table

The only significant items missing from my North African scenery collection were some buildings so when I saw the Middle Eastern range produced by Simon at Blotz (very nice chap), I knew they’d be ideal. They’re good value and neatly designed too. I’ve bought and built three so far but will definitely add a few more, particularly the buildings with enclosed yards. Here, some DAK troops are clearing the village. This building has been built exactly as per the kit instructions. This building has an added dome roof (not part of the kit). I made this from a polystyrene ball from which I sliced a “spherical cap”. Glue it to the roof and use some wet polyfilla to blend it in and hide the polystyrene texture. The largest of the three kits, again with added dome. The flat roofs lift out to allow models to be placed inside and for this kit the upper storey lifts off too. Highly recommended! Before painting I used a little all purpose filler to smooth over any joins. Painting was very easy: two ...

The very useful 1940 handbook for Chain of Command includes a scenario called “Going with a Bang” where the objective is to destroy a pair of culverts in order to delay the advance of the enemy. As published, it is usually played so as to stall the advance of the German blitzkrieg, but there’s no reason why such a scenario shouldn’t apply to other theatres. With this in mind, we intend to apply this to games set in Sicily/Italy where perhaps the Axis forces need to slow the advance of the Allies. So, I’ve knocked up a couple of very simple culverts using some Javis rough stone walling mounted on pieces of MDF. I’ve attempted to give the ground either side of the structure a damp, almost boggy look, using plenty of scenic tufts and clump foliage, with a few patches of open water. The murky water areas are Foundry French Blue shade followed by a wash of Agrax. The rest is my usual Honey/Tan Yellow/Dark Sand/Boneyard basing scheme. The flocked areas are first painted GW Mournfang Brown.

We’re very excited here at the table about these new pantile kits! They’ll be perfect for our games of Sharp Practice in Spain and Portugal, and Chain of Command or Bolt Action in Crete, Sicily and Italy, plus Silver Cutlass in the West Indies. First up is Pantile Carthouse 2 . I plan to build mine as a small roadside or waterfront tavern. A few barrels and a simple sign (and perhaps a figure representing a lady of “negotiable virtue”) will complete the look nicely. Charlie Foxtrot have stock of the splendid Debris of War barrels so that’s that sorted. Next is Pantile House 5 . This will be ideal as a more up-market residence. I can picture Captain Horatio Longshaft RN keeping a careful eye on the harbour from the top balcony. More about him when Silver Cutlass weighs anchor! Here is Pantile House 7 . Another splendid residence. I particularly like the bricked up “folly” doorway. A couple of these, maybe leaving out a storey on one, will be ideal for giving a little town in Italy a mor...

Painting and gaming has been a bit thin on the ground recently, due in the main to illness.  However, I'm on the mend now thank goodness, so I recently decided to do a little photo session with my Napoleonic terrain and figures.  These are mainly aimed at playing Sharp Practice in the Peninsular War, although the buildings will also see service in WW2 for Crete and Italy using both Bolt Action and Chain of Command.  I was looking to create a new banner for the blog and photoshop-whizz Colin was kind enough to do a little bit of magic to replace the 'bookcase & armchair background' with some sky. The majority of the buildings are from the superb Charlie Foxtrot Models pantile range, with extras from Grand Manner and some scratch-builds too.  Scatter terrain and animals are from Hovels, Redoubt, Warbases, Warlord, Debris of War, etc.  My good friend George has picked up some Last Valley horsehair style trees for me which I think will suit the terrain very wel...

This Warbases kit is perfect for a little French Garage. I wasn’t too thorough about taking step by step pics but here’s a few work in progress shots.  The roof is tiled using strips of textured card supplied with the kit and makes for a great effect. The front and back long walls were textured using masonry paint. This wall was textured with fine ballast. The brick wall was painted a dark red/brown then washed with Agrax to help pick out the brickwork. These are the colours used for the tiling effect on the roof. The doors and window frames, etc were painted using the Foundry Forest Green triad. The bricks were picked out using the base colour along with a variety of dark browns through to warmer reds. Next, I added a few suitable printed signs. The building is free-standing but to better set it in context I made a base tile.  The cobbles are textured wallpaper.  The WC is from Charlie Foxtrot. Finally I made some little piles of junk from oil barrels, crates, fuel cans,...

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...

Perusing the bits box the other day I found this lovely greenhouse kit from Warbases.  I wanted to build it as part of it's own little scene rather than a free-standing building on the table, so I dug out various bits of scenic scatter or 'clutter' to add to it. Rather than have an empty greenhouse I scratch built a potting table from coffee stirrers and found some other bits of resin ( Debris of War ) to fill the space.  I've not glued the roof panels in place as I want to be able to place figures inside, although you can't get too many figures in it! Outside is a small raised bed and some more DoW resin clutter.  The plant pot by the door is a cylindrical lego brick.  The planter trays are window frames.  Base from Charlie Foxtrot. Painting was quite simple: spray with AP army green primer, then paint the wooden frame in Foundry Forest Green, the bricks in Foundry Slate Grey or Stone then give it a wash with...