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 ...

A very quick post to show the latest painting for my Desert War collection. Both resin vehicles from Warlord. Needed quite a bit of cleaning but nice models. Simple paint scheme: VMC Iraqi Sand, GW Agrax wash, then highlights of VMC Iraqi Sand, VMC Dark Sand and Foundry Boneyard light. Tyres painted in VMC German Grey followed by sand highlights. The canvas cover is Foundry British Canvas mid/light.

The QF 6lb AT gun did not enter service in North Africa until around April 1942, so up to that point the Allied forces had to rely on the 2lber (plus 25lb howitzers in a direct AT role) to knock out enemy armour. In order to game these early desert war battles (e.g. Compass, Brevity, Battleaxe, etc) I’d need a 2lb AT gun.  This is a Warlord Games kit.  The extra crew are actually from the mortar set… but shhh! Thanks for looking.

A change is as good as a rest, or so they say.  So here’s a few more troops for my North African WW2 collection. All Perry metals; a Vickers with a couple of extra figures, a 2” mortar team and a spotter with binoculars to accompany my radio operator and make a FOO team. Here’s a couple of closer pics. Made a nice change from all the ACW and SP2 stuff I’ve been working on recently.  Also, on the painting table at the moment is a 2lb AT gun.  Painting recipes can be found on the Painting tab above.

There is an old wargames adage something along the lines of "you can never have too many trees" and I think that includes palm trees. Bases from Charlie Foxtrot Models here .  Small Tree Bases 1, 2, 3 and 4.  My new hot glue gun (£7 from Hobbycraft) was perfect for sticking the trees to the MDF discs. The trees were sourced via eBay and cost very little, less than £10 incl P&P for this lot.  In the fullness of time I intend to repaint the trees (inspired by Lardy Rich's splendid jungle terrain ), but they'll do fine for now. The bases were simply covered in a variety of grit and stones then primed with a light brown spray.  Basecoat is Americana Country Maple, followed by highlights of Americana Tan, VMC Dark Sand then Foundry Boneyard light.  Garnish with some clump foliage and a few tufts to round it off.

Here are a few random pics from a recent game of Chain of Command set in the deserts of North Africa.  The scenario was Probe (with slightly increased support allocations) but alas Jerry couldn’t quite break through the British lines. The Germans begin to deploy Some decent firepower here Plenty of cover here amongst the rocks and craters Germans enfilade the position on the hill, so troops deploy at the barricade The German squad has had more than enough! British line holding firm The German forces couldn't seem to hit a anything in this battle.  The tank literally didn't cause even one point of shock on the British.  Then the Germans took a series of morale blows in quick succession so decided to withdraw and look for another road to Cairo. Thanks for looking.

This first piece is a 28mm scale ruined building from Battlescale.  I bought an extra pack of the rubble as I wanted a more extensive ruin.  The kit was very cleanly cast and great fun to paint in my usual desert colours for scenery. I followed the same recipe as for my temple ruins , although I did wash the first base coat with Agrax Earthshade to help bring out the texture of the brick work. I think the model is really aimed at a Northern European setting but seems to paint up well in a desert theme I reckon. Next, a home made rocky outcrop.  Base from Charlie Foxtrot, stones from nearby countryside.  My new hot glue gun was great for sticking the stones on to the mdf. Approximately enough to comfortably fill another painting challenge cube, so 20 more points bringing the total up to 370.

More British desert war troops join the ranks!  Some support options for the main platoon this time.  An ad-hoc sniper team and a Universal Carrier. After doing a bit of research I decided to try a caunter style camo pattern on the Universal Carrier.  The colours are Foundry Night Sky and Foundry Rawhide. The dismounted Bren team and Officer/NCO with Thompson SMG.  The latter figure was painted previously so has already been included in the painting challenge total. I had a couple of figures spare from the Perry's plastic box set so I made a Sniper team.  I tried to find something suitable to represent the telescopic sight but in the end it was too fiddly.  So perhaps in this scene he's asking his assistant to pop back to base and pick it up? That’s another 45 points bringing the painting challenge total to 350 points.  Thanks for looking!

A wargames table always looks better with some scenic “clutter” to make it look a bit more lived in.  What could be more appropriate for North Africa than a pair of camels?  These iconic beasts are from North Star miniatures.  The chap looking after them is a Perry figure. Some work in progress pics.  Base colours then washed. For the highlights on the bales of cloth I used the original colours plus one or two highlights most of which were Foundry colours. Another 25 points for the challenge.  Total now standing at 305 points.

The British began the desert war with the QF 2 pounder AT gun but by April 1942 these were being superseded by the QF 6 pounder which was much better able to defeat advances in German armour.  Naturally my chaps needed one too.  This is a Warlord kit. Another 25 points for the painting challenge.  So that’s 280 points.

I’ve had a few requests to show the British Desert War collection so far.  So, “meet the gang, coz the boys are here , the boys to entertain you ...” 🎶😉 ( Okay, I know that was Burma, not North Africa! ) Plenty more to paint though.  Thanks for looking!

With all three sections ready it was time to turn my attention to the HQ group and then start on some support weapons.  So here is the Lieutenant, the Platoon Sergeant, a Boys Anti-tank Rifle team and a 3” mortar. The AT rifle team are Perry plastic whilst the rest are Warlord metal figures. Here’s the Lieutenant enjoying a cuppa and a good pipe!  I really like this figure and it was great fun to paint. A very dynamic figure for the Sergeant, rushing forward Thompson SMG at the ready!  Sergeant Jack Tanner perhaps? 🤔 A closer view of the 3” mortar.  This can be used as is for BA, whereas in CoC mortars are off table so the crew will be used to help man either a 6lb or 2lb AT gun. The platoon HQ includes an AT rifle team, so here they are.  The earlier phase of the desert war has quite a lot of lightly armoured tanks and scout cars so these weapons can prove very effective. That’s another 40 points (counting the mortar itself as an ordina...