Adventures on the Wargames Table

Game three of our Normandy campaign sees the action switch back to the airborne bridgehead east of the Orne river. British 12 Para hold Ranville as the German 125th Panzergrenadiers begin their counter-attack on the village. It is late morning on D-Day now and the Germans are pushing through orchards and along a sunken lane on the southern edge of Ranville. As I’ve mentioned before, some of the campaign games are inspired by the Chain of Command supplement “Kampfgruppe von Luck” (KGvL) – this time it’s “Probe Amongst the Hedgerows”. Whilst Chain of Command is not quite my cup of tea, the supplements are well worth a read. Anyway, here’s a map of the table And here's my take on it. and In the game I would be leading the German forces; basically a reinforced platoon comprised of regulars and inexperienced troops. I wanted to reflect the fact that a good number of the German troops stationed in Normandy were not exactly first rate! That's five squads, tw...

Wargames Table chum Dave Toone is organising a get together for fans of Warhammer Ancient Battles. Details here on Facebook. D o you miss playing historical mass battles? Do you enjoy exciting, brutal wargaming? Have you got a painted army gathering dust? Then why not reignite your passion for Mass Battle Wargames! Put aside your warbands and gather the entire might of your army for the epic conflicts that lay ahead. Let your mighty heroes stand once more at the head of their troops before they slip into distant memory. Bring hundreds instead of dozens of warriors to fight epic battles, then tell the exaggerated tales of those battles to any fool that will listen! Now is the time to put aside your fear, banish all doubts and book your place in the Warhammer Ancient battles, Shieldwall event. Saturday 12th & Sunday 13th August 2017 The theme for both days will be: The Dark Ages in the British Isles. Using the WAB 1.5 rulebook and the SHIELDWALL su...

My social calendar has been pretty hectic recently but somehow I've still managed to squeeze in a bit of terrain building! I already have some roads that are about 3 inches wide but I wanted to add some narrower roads, i.e. lanes or tracks if you prefer. Incidentally, I need these for the next game in the Normandy campaign - this provided the real spur to make them. As with my other roads, it all starts with a 300mm x 300mm cork tile, 3mm thickness. My tracks are about 2 inches wide so I simply cut a number of strips, plus a couple of angled sections so that it could join the main road at a variety of angles. Trim the edges to about a 45 degree angle to better help them blend in to the table. Painting: Texture the cork with fine masonry paint (add in a little fine grit for extra texture if you like). Drape the strips over thin paint brushes to prevent any curling as it dries. Then base coat with Americana Milk Chocolate, followed by dry brush highlights of Americana Honey...

The Paras were initially repulsed in game one of the campaign, so we've moved forward a few hours on D-Day to just after the initial Allied foothold was gained on Sword Beach. It was imperative that the first forces to arrive quickly neutralised the beach defences and pushed inland. Our game is just one such Push Inland (Battleground Europe - Scenario 5). To fit our game (and to be honest, the forces we have available) nicely in to the campaign we’ve devised a vaguely plausible ‘what if’. The village that Steve and I will be attacking is going to be Hermanville. It’s just half a mile inland from Sword beach and was officially captured by late morning on 6th June 1944. Now, as you'll see we've had to "adjust" the forces slightly from exactly those that would have been there on the day - this is simply due to the fact that these are the figures we have available ;o) Troops of the 3rd infantry division took this route inland towards Caen. I can’t find any info...

I've decided to make some complete field tiles, as opposed to just putting hedge/fence around areas of the battlefield. I think it adds depth and interest - plus they're fun to build! This is what I've come up with. The finished article... With Para mortar team for scale If you're interested in finding out how I made it then please read on. It all starts with a piece of MDF 40cm x 48cm, 3mm thickness. I've sketched on roughly where I want the hedges and gates. Hopefully you can make out my scribbles in the pic below. The next step is to apply some texture. These are the areas that will not be covered in flock or foliage. The left area will be bare earth whereas on the right I wanted more of a meadow effect. This is just a mix of small stones, grit and sand. The remaining bare areas of the board are given a coat of textured masonry paint (to which I added some light brown paint). This gives a better base for the next stage; painting! Note British Para f...