Adventures on the Wargames Table

With the attacks going in on the Olive Oil factory it was important to try to keep Jerry off balance. The Australians of 2/1 Battalion must not let the enemy consolidate the their positions. So, orders came through for the reinforced 3rd platoon to begin the attack. I had hoped to paste Jerry with some naval gun support but the meagre points available for this scenario meant that the matelots would be pointing their guns elsewhere. More on “support” later. Here’s the table. The brave Australians would be attacking along the road from the left in the second picture. The patrol phase went rather well and I was able to get a couple of JOPs in the gardens around the house with the lavender. The other being next to the little culvert. Dave had his in the vines and amongst the buildings which certainly suited him. First in the field was a section whose aim was to defend the right flank and/or harass FJs in the buildings with covering fire whilst the real attack went in on the left, where the...

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 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.

Grand Manner produce some very characterful resin scenery. I especially like this bread oven. Painted for friend, this piece has been completed as per all of my other pantile scenery. Handy for WW2 Italy, Crete, etc, plus Peninsular Napoleonics. Thanks for looking!

Following on from the earlier unsuccessful attack on the Olive Oil Factory , the Australians of 2/1st Battalion have regrouped, called in armoured support (just like the real attack) and launched another assault on the heavily dug in FJs. Here’s the table laid out the same as before. Orange Dave played a very aggressive patrol phase, pushing his markers forward along the road with all possible haste. He was determined to make the Aussies cross as much open ground as he could manage. This resulted in my JOPs being mainly in the sunken lane (out of shot, left) and adjacent woods whereas his own were nicely placed around the olive oil factory (ammo trolley in the gardens, the motorbike in the courtyard and the camo tent just outside the walls) Jerry gets a succession of double turns and soon has plenty of men ready to give the Australians a warm welcome. Due to casualties one of his squads is half strength and the other two are a man down, but that’s still an awful lot of firepower. I bri...

I’ve been mulling over some ideas for an introductory Chain of Command scenario and finally got some time to actually play it. Like most wargames CoC is better with a proper scenario and ideal when played as part of a narrative campaign. This scenario is based around the idea that the Germans have lost a truck containing special equipment, secret papers, etc (possibly even a bespectacled boffin in a white coat) all of which are vital to the war effort. Well, the truck has been spotted and both Axis and Allied forces are scrambling to reach it first… yep, you guessed it, they arrive more or less simultaneously! The aim is that this sort of scenario will encourage players to advance and attack rather than just stand back and shoot from afar. Here’s the layout. The truck is blocking the dusty, dirt road between a small church, an olive farm and a vineyard and is approximately in the centre of the table. Allied forces will enter from the East (right) and Axis from the West (left). The Patr...