Round up of book purchases

Hello there! I have found a few photographs lurking on my camera again. In an effort to clear the camera memory before going abroad later in the year, I have posted them on here.

The first two publications came from E Bay. I have been looking at Sherman tank design and the noticable difference between different marks. I have some 20mm 3D prints to paint. I have removed many of the print lines but the rear engine deck is incorrect and I am considering adding an engine access door(s).

The next, also from e Bay complements the other two Nafziger publications on the infantry and SS units.

These came from a couple of secondhand bookshops in Edinburgh, (below). There are many such places in the city and all well worth a visit.

Rome Versus Carthage

Hello there! Another game, which has been lurking in my camera is the above game, using Epic scale figures from a collection of a wargaming friend.

I did spend part of the game feeling they could easily be mistaken for 15mm figures! It has been a few weeks since I played this game and I cannot remember the rules used but it was a very entertaining night with good company. The game was also well run and the rules were easy to pick up.

Green, North West Europe, Terrain Part One

Hello There. Alongside the desert terrain, I have been making some terrain tiles for the above. These will be used for NW Europe, American Civil War and any other temperate climate.

The construction is the same as the desert terrain, up to the point that the surface finish is obtained. The tile already has a hardened coat of tile adhesive.

The desert terrain has a light spread of small stones, then a layer of sawdust.

The temperate terrain has a scatter of small stones (obtained by sieving sharp sand from a builders merchants), scattering that onto a layer of PVA watered down and spread over the whole board.

Then this is topped off with a covering of the sand from the same sharp sand.

When this has hardened and the PVA has set then the tile is painted 'English Brown' this is the same shade from the Vallejo range of paints. I have used artists paint and mixed a quantity of a close approximation to this colour, (Raw Umber and Yellow Ochre).

When the colour has dried I have dry brushed a layer of an an artists paint equivalent of 'Iraqui Sand' over the entire surface. When that is dry we are onto applying the flock.

I initially used Earth Blend fine turf. With hindsight, I will not bother with that step in the future as it is so similar to the painted surface that I do not think it is worth it.

The idea of obtaining a realistic covering is to keep the different shades of tine turf random and do not cover the whole tile in just one shade.

Leave gaps to show the painted surface through.

I used fine turf flock from the Woodland Scenics range. The colours I used are Burnt Grass, Green Grass and Medium Blend. Finally I used some 2mm Green static grass. Mine was in my stock and from 'OO scenics' which a model railway scenery company.

As seen above the glue used was watered down PVA which still had a very adhesive quality and covered well. It also extended the use of the PVA. 

This was the covering for the Earth Blend, which would be excessive coverage if I was using some of the other colours.

Use one colour at a time and let it dry. In this way you can conserve the different colours without mixing them all to one homogenous colour.

This is one completed. It now requires a covering of watered down PVA.

Once the last colour has dried then you can cover the whole surface with a thin layer of PVA and water. This helps the fine flock stay on your scenery. It will dry clear and harden the surface. I would normally add more clump foliage or bushes. 

This is a modular tile which the tutorial for was in Wargames, Soldiers, Strategy magazine. While it does not fit into the modular height of the other tiles, I have made some tiles to flank this which will bring it into use. Of course I have added some clump foliage. The brown circles on the top right are places for the trees which are not permanently fixed to the tile. This is so if there are knocked they fall over and so not snap off. 

In this case, I intend to place modular terrain such as roads, fences, stone walls and bocage on top, so making the surface more uneven would defeat the object of the terrain.

Hello There! I recently attended a club night at the New Buckenham Historical Wargamers Club. It was a busy night with a good turn out. Two games were on and a third was being prepared for the following day.

The game I was involved in was these rules. I was a bit apprehensive at first as they were entirely card driven, (a situation that usually make me go cold), no dice throws and no measuring.

Here is a view of the overall table. The table is divided up into grid squares. Here all the terrain is 600mm x 600mm squares so this is easier to imagine. Four squares to each tile. Units occupy a square. In some situations more than one unit can occupy the same square. Units draw a card to decide if they can move. Initially a card is drawn to see if the unit, (or the brigade on the first move), and the size of the number on the card gives an idea of the chances of subsequent moves. If the next card is less than the previous card, then that brigade can no longer move until the next move.

The pack of cards are two sets of normal playing cards with the picture cards removed.

This was the battle for today. Part of the seconds Barons War and not readily known.

The Scots side was particularly well painted. There was also no need to put the units into smaller base sizes and so each unit was on a single base. This would probably prevent damage to the pikes.

At the same time a table was being prepared for the tournament game which would be held on the Saturday.

This included many bystanders who would also be present on the day.

Lastly a Spanish Civil War game in 20mm.

The first game went really well. While I cannot attest to the historical accuracy of the game, because I have little knowledge of the period, the game had a smooth flow and the rules were easy to pick up with guidance of Nick, who was familiar with the rules.

 

Snow Terrain Tiles For Sale

Hello There! After transferring scenery to the new log cabin I have this Retreat From Moscow terrain for sale. Price is £200 plus sending to destination. UK only. Depending on location I may even be able to deliver as we are always after an excuse to use the mobile home!

Sale does not include the figures, that were supplied by a wargaming friend.

There are three 600mm x 600mm square modular tiles which can be fitted together in a variety of ways.

These include a partly frozen river, a crossing point and a Russian izba. It was the subject of a features in Wargames Soldiers Strategy, Issues 91 and 92. 

It includes and open ended storage box which holds the three tiles and also a pot of Woodland Scenics snow.

The trees are separate to the scenery so if the are knocked they will simply tip over, not snap off.

If you require any further information I can be contacted through this blog.

Desert Roads Part Two

Hello There! I have completed the desert roads and have covered in the AK Dry Ground. It dried very quickly. The first part of the roads post is here.

With reference to the cracking problem, I have kept these items in a warm house and there has been no repetition of this. I put this down to the temperature in the cabin, overnight, where it can get down to three degrees Celsius.

They have retained their flexibility and are ready for gaming.

Desert Rock Outcrop

Hello There! While looking through a number of desert photographs I noticed the rocky features that played an important part in many of the clashes that took place in North Africa.

Especially in the Gazala battles these higher areas were seized by the Axis forces and caused the Commonwealth forces countless headaches and losses as they used penny packets of, sometimes, untrained and unacclimatized forces to recapture the high ground.

I wanted to avoid making some special to type terrain, as this may have been very large and caused me some real storage problems. I would also have been unable to change the size and shape of the high ground and could not change the high ground to include or exclude trenches or dug in positions.

I thought out a system of modular tiles which could allow replacement of the type of high ground or, if no high ground was needed I could use as a back ground.

This a basic plan to show what I envisage. The two central, plain squares are 600mm x 600mm flat desert tiles which can easily be replaced with times with trenches or positions in.

Each of the surrounding tiles are 600mm x 300mm and have a rock face along all or part of one side. Each of the four corners have a turn in the rock face and can match up with the tile next to it. They can also be swapped round as they are modular.

Three of the above tiles have slopes to aid access.

Here is a cross section of the tiles. The central higher tile on the left sits on a 2" thick sheet of polystyrene. The surrounding tiles have the timber edge extended to the same height as the raised central tile.

I have started to make some of these already.

One thing I have learnt, is how to cut the plaster rock face moulds. I did not want many repeated rock formations and I was limited to four Woodland Scenics moulds. After experimenting with layers of the smaller rock moulds, here. I decided to use the larger rock casts but cut them to the required height. At first I scored a line with a craft knife and continued during this until the cast snapped. Then I realised I could cut them with a general purpose saw and it was a lot faster.

I have started from one side and worked across to the other. I also try to over lap the castings to make them look more natural.

This close up shows that more clearly.

I deliberately model a curve into the face of the styrene so that the rock face does not look flat and unrealistic.

This tile includes one of those access slope I mentioned earlier.

The slope is also bordered by rock castings but cutting the larger rock casting down to the height that is required means that you now have double the shapes to build up you scenery.