Itty Bitty Battlefields

Nery 1914 game

2011-11-11T09:20:00.000-05:00

I hosted my first 1914 game the other day at my store. The game was to represent the action at Nery between British and German Cavalry. The British had one HMG section at the Sugar Factory, one gun section of 13pdrs in the hay field (L battery) and two dismounted cav troops in the town (11th Hussars). They had a reserve platoon but did not know what it was or where it was going to come in. It was a troop of mounted Guard cav in delayed reserve but more on that later.

The Germans had a full battery of 7.7 guns, one HMG section and two mounted troops. The guns were deployed on the ridge and the players were given the option to have the cav mounted or dismounted, they chose mounted.
The first turn the Germans were the attacker and got to fire first but not move. The British started pinned down to represent the surprise and the lifting fog.

After some exchange of fire and maneuvering, The German Artillery had been reduced to two guns while L battery stayed whole. The German cav charged across the field at the guns and took a few before they were shot to pieces. The troop that was trying to take the Sugar factory was mowed down by the HMGs.

In the end the Germans went below half strength and not having a CO failed company morale. The British lost L battery but held the field. It was a good game and all had a grand time with many cheers and laughs. Thanks to the players for entertaining me and my WWI obsession.

Early Germans core army finished

2011-04-27T08:14:00.000-04:00

I finished my core stands for the Early German army. It is 1- 4Wb(Gen), 10 - 4Wb & 1 - 2Ps. As I noted in my previous post, I based three figures instead of four on the 4WB base size. I could not see mounting four. It would be to crowded. I enjoyed doing the guys and I really like the poses. The shields are okay, I wish I could free hand scrolls better but...

For their camp I mounted up an Ox cart. I think it will work fine. I left room for a stand to be placed on it. In the future if I find some camp followers I will add them.

I plan on doing the following options for this army - 1 - 3Cv (Gen), 1 - 3Cv, 1 - 2Lh and 1 - 2Ps. I have one more stand for my Romans, 1 3Cv, and the core of both armies will be done and I can start gaming with them.

The pics still are not great, need to work with this camera some more.

Early Germans II/47 not British

2011-04-08T08:20:00.000-04:00

Well I was wrong in my last post. The barbarian army I am building are actually going to be Early German not British as I had noted in my last post. I have decided to go with three figs on the 4Wb (20mm) stand. Putting four of these guys on a stand would be really crowded and I don't think it would look as good. I will be able to build the A, B, D, F & G lists when I am done but for the moment I am going to focus on the G list. This army is to be a matched pair for the Romans so I will only focus on those lists.

II/47 Early German 115BC - 250AD

a) Cimbri & Teutones(113-102BC) - 1x3Cv(Gen), 1x3Cv, 9x4Wb, 1x2Ps

b) Ariovistus (58BC) - 1x4Wb(Gen), 2x3Cv, 8x4Wb, 1x2Ps

c) Batavi Rebellion (69AD) - 1x3Cv(Gen), 2x4Aux, 8x3Wb, 1x2Ps

d) Other Batavi - 1x3Cv(Gen), 9x4Wb, 2x2Ps

e) Cherusci - 1x3Cv or 3Wb(Gen), 9x3Wb, 2x2Ps

f) Tencerti - 1x3Cv or 4Wb(Gen), 1x2Lh, 9x4Wb, 1x2Ps

g) Others - 1x3Cv or 4Wb(Gen), 10x4Wb, 1x2Ps

Red indicates enemies to the Roman army II/56.

This is what they looked like when I got them. Some still do.

This is after a Simple Green soak and a wire brush.

This is them in all their glory! Not the best pic, still trying to figure this camera out. I will post pictures of my finished army hopefully soon.

I have ordered some shield decals and am waiting to see how they will work.

Losing focus but gaining an army

2011-04-04T09:24:00.000-04:00

I started this year with a list of projects and was hoping to stick to it. Well, that didn't last long. I wan digging through the bins of figures I have and came across some 25mm Romans. When I opened the shop I had taken a few stands and rebased and touched them up to make a demo DBA army. They are RAFM historical figures which we can call old school style. So I did five stand and five stands of some Old Glory Celts (more on them later). They never really got used so they were put away and kinda forgotten. So I am looking at the bin of figs and decide that I don't need all of them, seventy some painted green, yellow and blue. I pull the blue ones, rebase and touch them up as Aux, four stands. The others are in the case at the store for sale. This gives me four Blade, a Blade general and the four Auxilia. Not much more and I have an army. I find two cav that will work as Light Horse, so I ordered the artillery piece (using some extra figs as crew) and Cav from RAFM to finish it up. They are not great but a decent gaming quality and I think it will make a great army for a better visual game. The camp is very simple and generic, works for me.

The RAFM figs are not that bad. They have separate heads and weapons so you can personalize them. They are the older chunky style but still not bad. For the Aux I removed any plum form the helm to give them a different from the Blade along with the different base and staggered line basing.

Once the Cav and Art come in I will paint them up and will be done. I will post a pic of the complete army then.

As for the Celts, I have decided to do them up as a British Amry so I have a matched pair. Since I have a ton of Old Glory figs I will not need to buy anything for them but it will be a total Warband army. I do have enough cavalry to give them two light horse to add a little something different. These will take a little longer as I have to strip the figs (ghastly paint job) and repaint them.

I am still working on my FoW - EW, MW and LW but slowly and my WWI figures have been calling my name lately ...

FoW, SDS (61/65) and Warhammer projects progression

2011-01-31T08:24:00.001-05:00

I have completed a few more parts to the many projects I have in the works.

First up is a Flames of War early war Panzer IIC platoon. I really dragged my feet on doing these because I was not enthused about them. Thier stats are not that great - Rof 3, AT 5, FP 5, but they are a required combat platoon for the Czech tank company that I have. I have been having trouble with the big tanks of EW, Char B, T34, etc. and could not see how these little guys would help. My air support was not making it through the AA fire. Well they can't help on the monsters but they are a good light vehicle/infantry killer so they can be good for holding an objective.

These are 28mm tents that I have been molding for my Song of Guns and Shakos/'61-'65 games. I found a really old resin tent and just made a mold with 3D Gel and Plaster of Paris from the craft store. The molds only lasted three pours each so I will need to find a better molding compound for my next project. Once dry I will paint them to seal and protect them but they will be fragile.

On the table now is another unit of archers for WHFB, and some French ATGs. I am considering a Hungarian Assault gun company for a FOW 1750 challenge pyramid we are going to start at the shop. Just what I need, another project in the mix. We will see...

Warhammer HYW/WOR Song of Drums and Shakos

2011-01-24T20:39:00.000-05:00

Here are a few pics of my latest Warhammer Fantasy Bretonnians. I plan on using the archers and billmen for HYW/WOR 28mm DBA in the future.

Seven ranks of five billmen with full command and a knight. I am hoping this dept will allow them to stay on the table longer.

A GW Damsel, not a fan of Magic but I am finding it is an important part of the game. I am planning on using her more for defence from Magic than actually attacking with it, more because I am up to speed on the Magic phase. I left her eyes all white as if she was going into a trance.

GW Trebuchet, I am not a fan of the crew though they did paint up nicely. The peasants are made to be such dregs of the earth and not my cup of tea.

Song of Drums and Shakos is a skirmish level Napoleonics rule set that I just recently discovered. I have played it twice now using my ACW figs and really am enjoying it. I just got a copy of the 61/65 ACW company level rules that have the details on playing ACW with SDS (only a few rule changes).

I plan on writing a number of scenarios for the Mosby raids and doing some Peninsular War.

I have started on some terrain for this and will have pictures in my next post along with some more Bretonnian archers.

2011 goals

2011-01-11T09:34:00.000-05:00

For 2011 I have made a few personal hobby goals and I want to post them up to maybe help me stay on track and get a few projects completed. These are for me compared to my business (Huzzah Hobbies) goals.

First off is to blog more often. I would like to post at a minimum once a month but hopefully more often.

Next is a list of projects. Each is rated by priority (1-5, 1 being high) and percentage complete.

FOW1918
1914 German Inf. Co. 45% 3
1914 British Cav. Sq. 80%    4
1917 Arabs                 50%    2

FOW EW WWII
French Tank Co.         90%    1
German Tank Co.       85%     1
(the EW Escalation at the store should help with this)

WHFB
Bretonnians                 75%     1
(the league is helping with this)
This is a little outside my normal historical realm but I plan on using a majority of the figures for historical games)

28mm Skirmish
Napoleonics               0%        3
ACW                       90%        2
Have started to play with Songs of Drums & Shakos

I try to get a few minutes of painting in every other day or so. This does not seem like much but after a while it starts to add up.

Currently on the table is a Brettonian Trebuchet about 75% complete. It is needed for the next pts game so I will focus on it till finished. Then I have some men at arms and archers for the next pts step.

FOW WWII Early War game

2010-12-13T08:38:00.004-05:00

It has been some time since I last posted. My new venture http://www.huzzahhobbies.com/ has been keeping me very busy. I did manage to get a few hours this last Sunday to get a game in. I am a fan of the early war period of World War Two and with the new release of Blitzkrieg from Battlefront I have been working on a French force to go against my Germans that I did some time ago. We only got in a half a dozen turns before I had to give up the table to a customer so they could get a game in. We called it a German minor victory because they had destroyed one platoon with none of theirs destroyed. The Stukas showed up almost every turn but did not always hit. My French unit is a DLM so can not take AA. Need to look at the other lists!

It was a fun game and who knows what could have happend.

New European terrain

2010-06-11T10:18:00.003-04:00

I acquired some new terrain for my FOW1918/FOW WWII games. I am not sure of the manufacture(s) but I like the sizing and look of the buildings. They should do nicely as a French/Belgian village in 1914 and in 1940.

The bridge and stone walls in the above picture are from JR Miniatures. They make some very nice products and I have number of their destroyed buildings.

Here some 1914 German Uhlans move down the empty main street. The villagers have fled or are in hiding. Notice the cart on the left loaded up but left.

The buildings came painted (not very well) so I touched them up a little.

I have pulled the 1914 German Infantry out (I was going to send them out to be painted but...) and will start working on them. I will try to keep the interruptions to a minimum so that I can finally get a 1914 game in in 2010. ;-)

Canadian Motor Machine Gun Brigade (CMMGB) late 1918

2010-06-08T08:46:00.004-04:00

This is my CMMGB FOW1918 force. It was created using the Minifig Generic truck, Model T truck, some extra US HMG figures, a few PP head swaps and some scratch built Mortars.

The Model T's being the command element.

The Newton mortars mounted in their lorries.

I tried to make them as modular as possible so the trucks could be used of other purposes. Each mortar/HMG section is mounted on a metal base that fits into the truck bed. The command units have a crate. I plan on working out an extension on the canvas bed cover so they just set in the bed securely.

One of the Machine Gun sections. When dismounted I will just remove the figures from the bed and replace with the normal HMG stand.

The intel is on the FOW1918 Yahoo group and covers the other options available for the force (bicycle inf., cav, a/c, artillery, etc.) and includes a list of sources.

It is truly a mobile force but very vulnerable in the unarmored trucks.

The Fighting Withdraw scenario (Germans defending in 'open' terrain) will be the most appropriate for this force in the last 100 days.

I hope to game them soon!

DBA Camps

2010-05-23T11:49:00.005-04:00

Here are a few pictures of some DBA camps I recently created and posted on ebay.

The asian camps were from purchased items repainted but the stone hut was all scratch built,

foam, fabric & wood.

More German EW Cavalry

2010-05-22T17:15:00.004-04:00

I just finished a half troop of Peter Pig German Uhlans. This finishes off the German cav from the lot I bought last year. This gives me enough mounted bases to table a Squadron for EW/MW. I really like teh Peter Pig figures. I just wish they had a command pack like the British.
I need to scratch/kit bash one or two HMG wagons to go with them and then I need dismounted. I will probably do another German Artillery section next and then maybe move to some LW Canadians but we will see.

Back in the WW1 saddle!

2010-05-07T13:27:00.004-04:00

Well I am finally back at my WW1 life long project. I just finished a half troop of Peter Pig German Dragoons. They were from the huge collection I obtain last year. I stripped them and repainted. I really like them but I wish they had a command pack and a few more poses.

Next are a few pics of some recent ebay purchases. The first is an FT-17 TSF from an unknown manufacture. I have it assembled and base coat painted. I plan on making an extension on the skid for the antenna wire and it has a hole for the antenna. I think it will make a great little model.

Next are some Iron Brigade Miniatures also from ebay.

This is a very cool truck. It should go nicely with the Minifig ones I have (pic).

This is a Mk 1 tank. I am really excited about this model. Should make a nice piece.

It looks to be about the same size as the Peter Pig Mk IV model.

Last is an Austin A/C. I have it pictured with my QRF modified model. I will keep this for my Russian army. It may be some time!

Still on the job hunt but the ebay business is keeping my head above water.

I have one more half troop of PP German Uhlans on the workbench along with a number of GW items heading for ebay. Then on to the TSF and Mk 1. Hope to get some gaming in with my mates next weekend.

Been away for some time.

2010-04-22T10:19:00.005-04:00

Well, it has been some time since I last posted. I lost my job, unexpectedly, over a month ago, continue to train and race my bicycle and have started a little eBay business to keep the bill man at bay. I was lucky enough to come into an inventory of minis and such which has alloyed me to stay afloat as I look for a job.

I did step away from WWI for a short time to take a breather but am getting the itch again but more on that later.

You can track my eBay auctions by doing a search on seller offroad_nut.

I have discovered the Games Workshop world in doing this and have gotten a few games in. I enjoy it and am looking forward to the Historical side in the future.

In my sell, I have upped the value of a few things by giving them a slap of paint and glue. Below are a few.

For Sale $30.00 obo

On ebay now!

SOLD

Nery and German Uhlans Cavalry Command

2010-02-14T10:43:00.005-05:00

I just finished reading Nery, 1914 - The adventure of the German 4th Cavalry Division on the 31st August and the 1st September by Major A.F. Becke. It is a detailed look at a cavalry vs cavalry action. There is also a nice website on the action - www.chakoten.dk/nery_100914_2.html

The GWSH yahoo group has a nice scenario on the action also. I have created a FOW1918 version and will post it in the files section once I have play tested it.

This book along with the delay in receiving my German infantry from the painter, more on that in another post, I have decided to use the remaining German cavalry figures I have from the big purchase to create a Squadron to game with. I only had a few Minifigs Uhlans so I decided to use them as the Squadron Command.

I had to strip them of there original paint job. The horses are not Minifigs but I am not sure what manufacture they are.

While I was working on the Uhlans I also did two more command stands. One is for the artillery and the other will be for the Cavalry HMG teams.

I am now working on another 7.7cm gun section, the German Horse artillery batteries had four guns and I will need a full battery for the Nery scenario. I am also working on the remaining Peter Pig German cavalry I have left. They need major stripping and cleaning. Four stands of Dragoons and four stands of Uhlans. I plan on mixing them in with the Minifigs stands i have already completed to make two full troops.

1914 British Life Guards

2010-02-07T13:04:00.006-05:00

With a snow storm that dumped over 24" of snow I had a little time to do some painting. This is a troop of British Life Guards. The figures are a mix of Minifigs and the updated version from GFI titled British Lifeguard Troopers. The GFI figures come with larger horses than the old Minifigs. They come with lances but I removed them because my research into the Life Guards did not have them as lancers. Not like the Germans, only Lancer units carried lances. Only one squadron was sent to France in August 1914 as part of a composite Regiment. They saw action at Mons, the Marne and Ypres. The rest of the Regiment arrived in October 1914. With the completion of this troop and the half troop of Peter Pig figures, very little will be needed to complete a Squadron. I plan on finishing the second half of the Peter Pig figure squadron (still need to order the figs), create a Squadron HQ and paint up some packsaddlrey horses (QRF makes some nice figs) for the Cavalry machine gun section.

The other items completed are two artillery limbers. I still need one more for the half battery and plan on ordering it with the next GFI order.

Again the pictures are not that great. I suspect I need a new camera.

Reference:

http://1914-1918.net/lifeguards.htm

More progress on the EW project.

2010-01-31T18:30:00.009-05:00

I am getting more and more excited about gaming 1914. I really feel this is where the rules and game will shine. I have started to collect scenarios and modify them to FOW1918. I am concentrating on the BEF retreat at the moment since they are ready for the game table.

Above are a few objectives I created for the 1914 games. Very generic but would be fine in an open field or abandoned village.

This is a half troop of German Hussars (Minifig). I modeled the officer after a picture I found of the Totenkopf Hussars. I also did their penants in black. Not sure if it is 100% accurate but I think they look cool. Sorry the pictures are not that great, they look much better in person.

Now if I could just get my Germans back from the painter!

Next up are a full troop of British Guard Cavalry (Minifig). I just stripped them of their previous paint job and should be to work on them soon. Another batch of German Cav (Peter Pig) are in the stripping soak tub at the moment.

Flee market time!

2010-01-24T19:40:00.004-05:00

I am posting a few extras I have For Sale. All are of an average to low paint level but good enough to game with. If interested let me know, prices are negotiable. Shipping will by via USPS.

Irregular Miniatures EW French gun crew, 14 figures $7.00
Minifig LW German Infantry, 11 stands (30 figures) $15.00

Peter Pig HMG teams, 12 figures, $6.00

Peter Pig British EW HQ stands, 8 figures with tables and acc. $5.00

Minifig crews, Peter Pig 18pdrs, 3 guns and crews $10.00

Irregular Miniatures EW British gun crews, 12 figs, $6.00

German Limbers

2010-01-06T08:29:00.005-05:00

Artillery limbers are not something that we get excited about. They are only on the table for a short time if at all but they represent an important piece of the game, especially in EW.

I was never really happy with how my LW limbers turned out. I did them with one pair of horses on a medium base. It just looked insufficient in the way it did not match up with the gun base and was not strong enough looking.

Actual limbers had six horses as pictured above.

I considered making custom bases. Long enough to hold all six horses and the gun would have been really cool but instead I went with what I had to save money and time. I mounted them on a large base which had room for four horses. It matches up with the gun base and looks strong enough. I need to create a mounted command team so the unit can have mounted and dismounted pieces.

EW British Cavalry

2010-01-03T20:19:00.003-05:00

I just finished touching up and rebasing some Peter Pig EW cavalry mounted and dismounted.
Most were from the collection I purchased but I had to order a mounted command pack and used an artillery crew and some Minifig horses for the dismounted stand.
It is only a half a troop so I would like to finish it off sometime in the future. I have a full troops worth of the Minifig Guard Cav figures that I will rebase sometime soon.

The Peter Pig figures are very nice and paint up easily. I wish the paint job was better on these but will do.

There is a really nice article on the British cav on the Renegade Miniatures site - http://renegademiniatures.com/article16.htm

I am really looking forward to gaming the EW period, if I could just get my Germans back from the painter.

Adding a little variety to my British infantry company

2010-01-03T19:54:00.006-05:00

To give my games a little more flavor I have created two new company command teams.

The first is a Scottish Lowland command. Many of the Lowland units wore the same uniform as the regular British so the infantry are fine. The Scottish get the Bagpipe rule so the 2IC needs to have a bagpipe. The 2IC and CO are wearing Glengarrys.

The second command team is Australian. The uniform is again as the regular British. Here the 2IC and CO along with a rifleman are wearing a slouch hat. updated 1/4/2010

I also plan on using my British as Canadians but you don't need to do any modeling mods.

Here are a few links for sources.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_52nd_(Lowland)_Division

http://renegademiniatures.com/article10.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ANZAC

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_Corps

Trench Raid Mission

2009-12-30T09:12:00.002-05:00

This past Monday (12/28) I put on a Trench Raid game for the DAHGS.
This was the first play test for this mission with others and I was really looking forward to their feedback. I had played it solo and enjoyed it. I will post some ideas on how to do this in the future.
I let them pick sides and nations. Jan and Frank chose the British and Attackers and Josh (with my help) was the Germans and Defender.
The British had a raiding force of three full infantry platoons. Since the rules allow the attacker the Kampfgroup rule they created a fourth platoon using the 2IC and teams from the existing platoons. The Germans had three infantry platoons, an HMG section, a Marksman HMG section and two SOS barrages.
The British chose to attack at night. For those not familiar with the Night Fighting rules this limits movement (no double timing) and visibility (each platoon must roll for visibility each turn).
After the placement of the objectives, six in all, three placed by each side, the Germans plotted their SOS barrages. The British then placed their platoons and wire gap markers.

Turn one through three were fairly uneventful as the British moved through the wire and into the trenches quietly in the dark and the Germans did not successfully roll for any troops (reserves). The British did manage to take two objectives (I made a mistake on the first one and allowed them to capture the first one incorrectly). To counter this I gave the Germans an extra die for the next two turns for reserves.

One turn four the Germans were successful in calling in both SOS barrages and receiving two platoons. They rolled a 2 and 6 for location of entry. The six being the left side front trench that the British had not set up a blocking unit like they did on the left (location 1). The Germans entered an infantry platoon at this location. Location 2 was the right side support trench which the Germans brought in the HMG section. From this point the left side was afire with grenade blasts and rifle and MG fire pretty much the rest of the game.
The Germans assaulted the British, forcing them back and successfully holding the objective in that location.
The British had obtained two objectives and needed a third to have a minor victory. Their right flank was in a struggle costing them casualties so the left went for a bold move to capture a deeper objective on their side. Luck was with them as the Germans had a difficult time unpinning their platoons and allowing the British to sneak a few teams up and eventually taking the third objective. The German HMG section on that side must have had extremely bad night vision because they were never able to see farther than 4”.

Now all the British had to do was get it’s platoons off the board. Easier said than done!
Their tactics were text book as they left Lewis gun teams to cover the escape and it was working on their left. Their right was another story and before the last teams could escape their casualty numbers caused a moral test which they failed reducing their number of platoons that had captured an objective to two. A Minor victory to the Germans.

A good time was had by all! The only tweak to the mission is to reduce or eliminate the 8” distance from the table edge requirement for the objectives.

Christmas gifts

2009-12-28T09:13:00.004-05:00

I received two wonderful books on French uniforms by Andre' Jouineau for Christmas.

The FRENCH ARMY - VOLUME 1: 1914 (Histoire & Collections: Officers and Soldiers) and
FRENCH ARMY - VOLUME 12: 1918 (Officers and Soldiers). They are loaded with color plates of all the uniforms of the French. The detail on the markings like rank is fantastic. It covers all aspects, dress uniform, field and even barracks along with Quartermaster, aviation, etc.

If this does not inspire you to build a French army then nothing will. I pulled out my French lead and started planning what to do and what was needed. It is almost to good because you start making plans that can note be completed in a life time. At least as fast as I paint.

I highly recommend these!

Making 15mm Trenches

2009-12-21T08:54:00.002-05:00

There are a number of trench products on the market but to get the volume that I wanted it would have cost me a fortune. I decided to make my own.
In deciding to make my own I started searching the web for ideas. I could make table sections (and still may for specific terrain/games in the future) but it is limiting in the terrain you have to game on so I went with the modular style.
The next decision was what to make it out of. I looked at making masters and molds and mass producing them in plaster. Nice and heavy so they don’t move but if dropped…
I then looked at something out of clay or wood. Lots of work and the wood can not be shaped as easily. I decided on foam, which I had a large stock of at the time.
The foam is light and I was afraid it would move on the table but with it laid out it is fine and you can drop it without any issues. It is delicate to work with but can be shaped easily. I started out with right and left angles, straights, T’s and some angled sections.
I marked the foam and then cut the sections. For cutting I went with my table saw. A little dangerous and I will caution those considering this. BE VERY CAREFUL! It does give nice straight cuts and makes all the trenches the same depth. It is also much faster than by hand.

Once I made the cuts I molded or mushed the sections by hand, removing the straight angular look. I then painted them with craft paint and sprinkled with some fine sand to give a little more texture. Add some detail – sand bags, wood, tin sheets, etc. I did not model them like a display; these are for gaming so not to much clutter. The last step is a coat of wood glue. This gives it a nice hard shell and also some highlights.

Hope this is helpful and inspires you to make your own trenches. As I posted before, what is a WWI gamer without trenches?

Scratch building a 15mm 6" Newton Mortar

2009-12-16T09:35:00.005-05:00

I thought since I was creating a few more I would give some details and show how easy it is.

The 6” Newton Mortar was the standard medium mortar for the British army in World War One from early 1917.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newton_6_inch_Mortar

This project is actually very simple. The items needed are; a regular round toothpick, some card stock, thin wire, glue and a little patience.

I glue the tube to the base and let dry. Then I cut the wire and glue it on. I add a dab of glue to the top to get a ridge around the top. Some wire as hand holds.

Hope this helps!

Brutinel's force

2009-12-15T08:45:00.004-05:00

With the flash of painting a month ago the holidays have slowed progress dramatically. I did get a few DBA and WoW games in with friends but the work bench has been quiet and again I find myself slipping from my Middle East project. I am reading the Osprey book on Vimy Ridge and have been searching Canadian stuff, well I ended up back at Brutinel's MMG force (I created an Intel for them some time ago and it is posted on the FOW1918 site). After making my Talbot car I thought about making the 6" Newtons mounted in lorries.
reference - http://www.chakoten.dk/cgi-bin/fm.cgi?n=963 along with a number of books I have.
So, I am working on them but need to get some more of the Minifig generic trucks.
I plan on painting up a few Model T's as the CO and 2IC vehicles. I think it will make a great gaming force; 2 sections of two trucks carrying 2 HMG teams each. Two trucks with mortars mounted in them, some Cyclists, cavalry and maybe some late model Austin a/cs. This force was active in the last few moths of the war so they will generally fight withdrawing Germans. I will post some pics once done with the mortar trucks and maybe one of the whole force assembled. It should make for a great game. Mobil warfare!

Middle East project progress

2009-11-28T10:03:00.003-05:00

I have made some more progress on my Middle East project.
Below are the Arab LMG teams I created a few weeks ago in full color.
I am really happy with them!

The next is the third and final Turkish infantry platoon completed along with six Turkish guards mounted individually. These will be used for raiding games I am planning on running.

Last is my version of a Talbot Car used in conjunction with the Rolls Royce A/Cs.
It is a Minifi WWI generic truck. I did a head swap on the driver using a Peter Pig WWI Sun hat head.

The Talbot Cars were armed with old light field guns. The gun is a Peter Pig Screw Gun from the PITS line. The crew are EW British Minifig.

I made the gun removable by mounting it on a piece of metal basing allowing the truck to be used for other purposes. I think it turned out smashing and should be a real blast on the game table.

Next up, Arabs!

The Arabs gain some LMGs

2009-10-30T21:21:00.003-04:00

I guess I am pretty motivated. Tonight I created two LMG teams for my Arab Irregulars.

I started out with the lying down shooting Arab and the British Yoemanry Hotchkiss Gun team from Minifig.

For the Lewis Gun, I removed it from a Battlefront SAS figure and grafted it into the arms of the Arab. His companion just has his rifle removed. I may try to find a Lewis Gun drum or two for him.

The Hotchkiss gun was pretty straight forward.

I think they look smashing! Just waiting for the putty and glue to dry and then off to painting.

Inspiration from others work

2009-10-30T08:58:00.005-04:00

I search eBay for 15mm WWI miniatures regularly; Who doesn't love a deal? Recently there were some WWI Middle East items from a guy in Canada. One of the listings really inspired me.
I think he did a grand job on them and I love all the color!

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=150383939728&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT

While I wait for my EW Germans to return from the painter I have pulled out my Arabs and Turks and decided to work on them some more. My Turks have one infantry platoon and some guards (for raid missions) that need completing. I also need at least two limbers.

My Arabs are much farther behind and they need more, head swaps and mods more lead, etc. I will be creating a Lewis gun team and a Hotchkiss LMG team along with a Talbot Car with its 10pdr (British crew) guns. The thing with the Arabs is they take twice the stands, mounted and dismounted versions. So, I send a small order into Peter Pig for the screw guns and some Sun Hat WWI heads.

I will post some pics as I make progress.

BTW -I did get permission to post the pic from the seller, thanks Ross!

More EW figures done.

2009-10-23T07:56:00.002-04:00

Since I sent my EW German company out to be painted I have been working on some smaller units for my EW armies. I can usually only get a few minutes every few days at the painting table so it goes slowly.

This is a British Artillery section. The figures were already painted (fair) so I just did some touch up and re based them. I did not mount the guns allowing the unit to have 4.5" How (pictured above - QRF model) or 18pdrs (pictured below - Peter Pig). Crew are Peter Pig.

I did the same thing with the German Artillery section. I repainted the figures completely with these. This is with the 7.7cm Field gun (Peter Pig)

This is with the 10.5 How (Peter Pig). Crew are also Peter Pig.

This last pic is of German Cavalry dismounted. They were just touched up, dipped and re based. They are Peter Pig figures.

I am currently removing some French Colonial Zouaves (Blue Horizon Miniature figures) from there original bases, touching them up, dipping and re basing but more on them in another post.

1917 Nivelle Offensive game

2009-10-17T14:03:00.004-04:00

Last night some friends came over and we tried a new scenario I created,
1917 Nivelle Offensive.

The Germans had full knowledge of the attack and prepared well. The French tanks were a disappointment and the artillery was not well coordinated.

The Preliminary bombardment did little to the one German platoon in the trenches, only pinned them but it was effective on the wire creating a few large gaps.

This is the French starting off.

By turn three the Germans call for one of there SOS/defensive barrages and it catches a Schneider tank and sets it a fire. The French rolling barrage is starting to get away from the infantry.

Turn four the second SOS barrage falls but does little. The French continue to push forward as the barrage rolls pas the front trench and the Germans start to man the line.

The French get into the trench and try to fight their way down the line but the Germans put up a stubborn defense.

The French left tries desperately to get up the trench as the right takes the trench but is then pinned and never recovers. Eventually they are ground down on the left and the game goes to the Germans.

It was a lot of fun and played and flowed well. The German HMGs caused major problems for the French.

I will post the scenario on the FOW1918 yahoo group.

1914 German Infantry - The repaint begins

2009-08-28T08:37:00.004-04:00

I have started on the EW German infantry that I obtained recently. I was hoping that they would be as easy as the EW British but after review I will be doing a complete repaint.

I did the CO, 2IC and the HMG Section as a sample to see what I was getting into. It is not to much, though the little detail of the red piping and such will slow me down.

The platoons are huge, 17 bases each. So this part of the project will take longer than I had hoped but better to do them right the first time.

I am fighting the urge to follow my gaming mates and do a DBA RRR army. I will eventually do a French one based on The Three Musketeers but for now it is back to the 1914 Germans.

EW BEF Infantry

2009-08-15T19:17:00.003-04:00

Here are my 1914 British Infantry. They were part of the large collection I purchased a few months ago. The figs are Peter Pig painted to a reasonable gaming standard. I rebased them for FOW1918 and dipped them. I think they look pretty good. I just need to do some cav and an artillery battery but I am on to the German Infantry next.

CO and 2IC.

1914 German Kurassiers

2009-07-19T20:50:00.001-04:00

One of the many early war German cavalry units that I am rebasing and touching up from my resent acquisition is a Kurassier troop. The Kurassiers were the heavies of the German cavalry. They no longer wore the breast plates of yore but were still large men on large horses. For my EW force I want a full troop (nine stands) so I will have to purchase a few packs from Minifigs to finish this unit. One thing that all German cavalry shared was the lance, leading to confusion within the allied armies as to whom they were actually dealing with.
The lances all had pennants distinguishing there region. I used some medieval ones off Warflags.com and painted them. I will do a different region for each type of cav unit I created, Hussar, Uhlan, etc. I found the Renegade Miniatures article very helpful and it matched up with the pictures on the Landships website.
I am very much looking forward to seeing them on the table in mass.
I have some Peter Pig Kurassiers figures but they are a wee bit smaller so they do not work on the same stands. The nice thing about the Peter Pig figs are the pennants are already present and the lances are much sturdier.

Online sources:

http://www.renegademiniatures.com/article13.htm

http://www.landships.freeservers.com/german_earlywar_uniforms.htm

http://www.germanmilitaria.com/Imperial/photos/G005957.html

EW Armies, O' my!

2009-06-14T11:42:00.003-04:00

I just purchased a large collection of EW Armies. British, German, French, Serbian with some Russians, Italians and AH thrown in. It is huge and I am a little over whelmed. Most are Peter Pig but a good amount of Minifig and then Eureka.

A large amount is painted but then again a lot is not.

I have started to rebase the British for FOW1918 and then will be doing a little touch-up painting. This will get the EW gaming going fairly quickly.

The things we find on eBay!

2009-05-31T20:58:00.003-04:00

I search eBay regularly for WW1 15mm figures. My latest score are these Serbs. I am not sure the manufacture since the only current line is Eureka and these are different. I rebased them on to Litko bases and have no idea when I will ever game with them since I will need a EW AH or LW Bulgarian force as an opponent. They sure look cool!

The little things that can be done.

2009-05-31T20:41:00.004-04:00

With my bicycle training hitting its most demanding period and starting a new job I have had very little time for gaming. I did manage to 're-base' my WoW WWI aircraft in the few minutes I could find. It is a really neat way to enhance the gaming with the miniatures but I can not take the credit for it. Harry did something similar for his Check Your Six miniatures.

It is a steel ball hot glued to the stand and a ring magnet glued to the plane. It allows total variance in yaw, pitch and roll of the plane with little effort and it stays in place. It makes a difference when using the miniatures and the plane to plane rule instead of the base for shooting.

Now to just find time to game!

Trench Battle Game - FOW1918

2009-05-16T10:00:00.005-04:00

The other day I hosted a game for the DAHWG's (Dulles Area Historical Wargamers) at the Monday night fights. It was a pure infantry attack based in 1917. I used a combination of The Big Push mission in the main FOW rule book and the D-Day mission. I will work it up as a FOW1918 mission and post it on the Yahoo group after a few more play tests.

The British had four infantry platoons, a Stoke mortar section, a rolling barrage and a counter battery barrage. The Germans had two full platoons, one with three squads (no bombers), a HMG section and a Defensive (SOS) barrage.

The Pre Lim bombardment was fairly effective in clearing some wire but did little damage to the one German platoon on the table.

By turn three some of the Tommies were through the wire and into the trench. Will the Hun finally got their SOS barrage only to have it blasted away by the British counter battery. On turn four the German HMGs come on the table as his ambush.

Turn six the Germans finally get their reserves (both platoons) and they rush to cover the objectives.

It came down to a real nail biter at the end of turn 11 beginning of turn 12.

Jan wrote up a more detailed review from his point of view as the British CO at http://knightrecoil.blogspot.com/2009/05/western-front-wwi-tactical-combat.html

I think we may actually have it. The feel is good the game flows. The different weapons and FOG is good.

Turkish duldroms

2009-05-06T09:17:00.012-04:00

I have been working on my Middle East project, specifically the Arabs at the moment. With the limited number of figures available I will be using 19th century Mahdist/Ansar figures which has sparked an interest in the Wars in the Sudan and other British colonial affairs. The variety of units makes it a very colorful period and looks to be a lot of fun to paint and play but what it has done is dampened my enthusiasm for my Turks. The Turks generally come in two flavors, regulars or Arab. Both wore the same uniform with the Arabs donning a keffiyeh instead of the kabalak. They did have cavalry and even a Camel Corp but generally it was foot sloggers with some HMGs and Artillery. Nothing really fancy or flashy, not that you have to have that to have good troops but it sure does help motivation when painting. You can add some German support if gaming Palestine 1918 but no one makes any 15mm figures for them. I have looked at some Peter Pig EW British to modify. They really did not have any air support so that is out. There are pictures and documents that discuss Stoss troops but that again is Palestine and there uniform is the same just with a Turkish version of the German M1916 Stahlhelm.

They fought on a number of fronts, so your opponents can be varied but Johnny Turk stays the same. I know I should just buck up and get at them since I only have one infantry platoon, one 10.5 How and some limbers and then they can hit the gaming table but it seems like taking medicine to do so. I have been reading "In the Clouds Above Baghdad" by M.C. Lt Col J. E. Tennant. It discusses the war in Mesopotamia with a focus on the air operations. It gives a variety of possible wargame scenarios but sadly nothing to increase the motivation. Hopefully when I finish some Arabs I will move to the Turks and finish them.

Going over the top

2009-04-30T08:43:00.009-04:00

What is a WWI gamer without his own set of trenches?

I had created trenches a year or two ago but they were very blah and I think if the terrain is blah the game is more than likely to be blah.

Well, I got side tracked, not sure how or why, from my ME project these past few weeks and started looking at the trench battle side of FOW1918. I purchased a copy of "Through the Mud and Blood" to see how they handled a few things that I thought were week in FOW1918. This with some discussions with Robert Dunlop (GWSH designer and historian) and I think we are on our way, just some play testing.

Back to the terrain, I started looking for pictures of other peoples trench terrain and actual photos. I modified my existing pieces. I think the angle pieces make a big difference. The sand bags are modeling clay and the metal sheets are some plastic sheet I got at the local train store supported by small dowels (logs). The actual trench is made from foam cut on my table saw (very messy).

One of my inspirations was this from Landships.com http://www.landships.freeservers.com/new_pages/trench_schematics.htm

I think it makes a big difference.

Bedu seen on the horizon!

2009-04-30T08:35:00.004-04:00

It has been some time since a post. With my spring bicycle racing, family and work I have still been doing a little painting. One of the things that I managed to finish was some Minifig Bedouins with rifles and swords. They are not my favorite figures, I think the camels look a little odd and the riders don't seem to fit just right but after painting they actually tunred out okay. I modified the flag figure to represent Lawerence. I painted them up per a nice print in the Osprey book THE ARAB REVOLT 1916-18 depicting the capture of Aqaba with the Howeitat tribe. I plan on using them as his body guard. I may get another pack and have them as an additional tribe.

In FOW1918, Lawerence is an optional hero. I think he will make an interesting figure in the game.

The rest of my Arabs will be Old Glory Colonial ANSAR figures also pulling duty with PITS.

Inspiration and PITS ramble

2009-04-17T08:24:00.006-04:00

In my search for 15mm Arab figures to create my FOW1918 Arab Revolt army; I have come across a number of European colonial themes. This has sparked an interest in something that I have intentionally strayed from. I remember my first Airfix FFL figures and how much they conjured up day dreams of sand dune deserts and wild lands. My friends never caught that interest, all being big into BIG tanks, so on to WWII. With the search for the correct Arabs, I found that most figures available are of the Dervish style and only a few of the al-Hejaz regions flowing garb. I will create a post later discussing the actual figures and which I will be using. In researching what these other figures should look like I got into the late British colonial period. I found some other blogs on the period and then came across PITS. Patrols in the Sudan is a set of rules based on the company level, perfect crossover for FOW1918. I borrowed a copy from Harry and skimmed them over. Looks like a smashing good time! (in my best victorian English accent) So one thing leads to another and I am skimming the 'free' movies On Demand and come across the 1939 version of The Four Feathers. How timely! I vaguely remember the 2002 version with Heath Ledger and decided I would give this one a look. It was great! The Dervish & Fuzzy Wuzzies looked as I found in my research. The huge sweeping desert scenes are right up there with Lawrence of Arabia. (another must see, inspiring movie) This has motivated me to push harder on my painting projects so that the gaming can commence. At the moment I have a little more to do on my Turks and I have started on the Arabs. My FOW1918 Arabs will look a lot like Dervish but I will explain that in a later post. I plan on trying these two armies out with both FOW1918 and PITS. May even try a combination of the two. Then I plan to move right into a colonial Anglo-Egyptian army and some Fuzzy Wuzzies. I love saying that!

Here is a link on the 1939 movie -
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0031334/

the 2002 movie -
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0240510/fullcredits#cast

PITS -

http://www.peterpig.co.uk/range22.htm

More Turkish delight!

2009-04-12T08:26:00.005-04:00

Eureka Turkish Infantry, nice posses and paint up well. The only negative is the thin tip to the rifles that breaks off easily.

A trench catapult I scratch built out of balsa and card stock. Figures are Eureka. Mainly to be used in Galipoli games.

Snipers - Minifig figures.

I redid my Turkish officers Serpuş. After reading this article, http://www.turkeyswar.com/army/ranksuniforms.htm

,I repainted them all grey with a red top.

I have one more infantry platoon, artillery limbers and another 10.5 How to paint up and I will be done. I have pulled out my Arabs and ALH and started preping them for paint.

British 6" Newton mortar section complete

2009-03-21T20:44:00.003-04:00

This is my 6" Netwon Mortar section I just finished. The mortars are scratch built the crew are Minifigs artillery figures, some with head swaps and the wagons are BF.

They should be a blast (pun intended) on the gaming table and add something different. With only two tubes they will probably not be all that effective though.

I plan on pulling them out for an Amiens game some time soon with the DAHWGs.

Progress on the Middle East project - Turks

2009-03-21T20:18:00.008-04:00

I just finsihed my Arab Turks platoon which will also be my Arab Turkish cavalry dismounted. The only Arab Turk infantry figures I can find are made by QRF. They are a bit crude but actually paint up okay and will do the job. I need to finish two more regular infantry platoons, two snipers and a trench catapult. I have decided to do a some Galipolli as I build up myMiddle East armies.

Turkish Artillery, I need to get one more Peter Pig German 105 How and some BF limbers to finish them.

Middle East objective - Peter Pig Camel caravan from the Colonial range.

QRF Arab Turks

Minifigs Arab Turkish cavalry - They list them as Syrian. Most of the Arabs in Turkish service were from what we would know as Syria and Iran.

Now off to paint some ALH dismounted so we can game Galipolli next.

Cold Wars 2009 AAR

2009-03-18T08:19:00.006-04:00

Last weekend was the HMGS East convention Cold Wars in Lancaster. PA. http://www.coldwars.org/

I went up Friday morning and stayed till Saturday afternoon and had a blast the whole time.

First thing Friday morning I attended a sculpting class for beginners. There were only four of us in the class and the sculptor, Don Goddard, was very informative on all aspects. It is not easy making clay do what you want. Practice, practice, practice!

I then wondered the Dealer area a bit checking out possible future buys and grabbed something to eat before setting up for the first of two FOW1918 games I was hosting.

The Friday game was the Cambrai, Day Two game I have hosted at other conventions.

It is a general Hold the line scenario but the objective area is a destroyed town. I had three players how up. not sure what happened to the fourth because it did sell out. I was busy reffing and forgot to take notes and only got a few pictures. The three players enjoyed the game but the British were overly cautious and failed in there mission.

One of the only times the RFC made it to the board but they were very effective in intercepting the German air support.

After the FOW1918 game I got in a Trench Wars game. It was a Boer War variant and we had over ten players. The table and figures were very nice but the game was very slow and I ended up talking more with the other players then actually gaming. I would like to try a true trench battle with the rules before I complete my judgement of them.

I had hoped to get in on the DBA Midnight Madness game but the Trench Wars game ran over and I decided to just get some rest.

Saturday morning, Harry and I got in on the DBN game. There had been a lot of discussion on this game on the Fanaticus forum. Harry and I ended up being French and supporting each others flanks. It was a great time even if my attack was fended off by Bob's Brits.

The Allies

The starting positions
My attack on the left flank

The French (Winners!)

After the DBN I hosted my second FOW1918 game. It was a Fighting Withdraw scenario of the French against a German Stosstrupen. Again I only had three players, not sure what was up with the fourth guy. The German players were fairly new to FOW and so they got beaten pretty badly. I still think the scenario is a good one and will host it for the DAHWGs sometime.

Overall a great time and I look forward the next convention I can make.

Chateau n'importe où

2009-02-23T08:14:00.005-05:00

I am hosting two FOW1918 games at Cold Wars this March. One of the games is based on the German Blücher-Yorck Offensive of May 1918. I want to have nice rolling terrain with plenty of woods. This area is wine country and had not been devastated in combat. Some diaries mention how peaceful and beautiful the area was.

I was looking at my buildings and terrain and thinking of the new Crescent Root bases decided to create a chateau. Thinking of the German high command building in the movie "A Bridge too Far" where the young boy spots the staff car, it had to have high hedges around the outside.

So this is what I came up with.

This should add to the table and I am sure it will draw some great infantry assaults.

German 7.7cm Feldkanone 96 n.A. Battery

2009-02-20T20:45:00.007-05:00

The workhorse of the German Artillery during World War One. With over 5000 available in 1914 and still in service in 1918 the 7.7cm Feldkanone was very common.

Specifications

Weight: 1020kg

Barrel length: 2080mm

Calibre: 77mm

Elevation: -12 degrees to +15 degrees

Traverse: 4 degrees

Muzzle velocity: 465 kg

Maximum range: 5km (3.1 miles)

My Battery is painted in the Dappler Camo and the crew are in the M1916 Stahlhelm making it MW/LW. The guns, crew and limbers are all Minifigs. The staff team wagon is Battlefront and the staff team table, chair and optics are Peter Pig.

Sources:
http://www.landships.freeservers.com/

What's on the work bench?

2009-02-17T21:56:00.006-05:00

Just two shots of the work bench. On the left side (above) are the Turkish waiting to be worked on. It is the QRF Turkish Arab cav dismounted a Bedu camel objective and two artillery limber drivers. The limbers were take back by the Germans (more on that later).

On the right is the transport for my MW/LW Germans, the staff team, another squad of cav and a hospital tent objective. This will finish of my German artillery which I will do a post on when done and up my MW/LW cav to three squads. All in prep for MW Russian Front action. The limbers are all Minifigs but for most of the other nations I will probably go with the Battlefront generic limber as it is much cheaper and they only see the table for a few turns if at all. The Staff team wagon is Battlefront and the Command team mounted is just two left over cav figures. SO the whole battery can be mounted/limbered to go into action.

the Hospital tent objective is a JR miniature Medieval tent with the ruffled sides filled in some with wood glue and a Peter Pig stretcher team. Pretty simple but I think it will look okay.

Yes, that is a British Cav command stand hiding behind the tent. They are actually the artillery mounted command stand. I plan on doing the British Artillery limbers next, after I finish another platoon of Turks.

Battle report - FOW1918 September 1918 Western Front

2009-02-10T10:13:00.007-05:00

Taking a break from painting Turks I got a game in with Jan at the LGS.

It was the standard FOW Fighting Withdraw mission that works well with late 1918 after Amien. The Germans were mainly fighting a delaying action to keep the Allies off German soil until the Armistice. Jan took the British Bicycle Infantry Company and I had a regular German Line force. The British had two cycle platoons, one lorry mounted infantry platoon, one cavalry troop, a full RHA battery and a 17th Battalion A/C section. The Germans had three full infantry platoons, on HMG section, one Light mortar battery with the new lMW n.A. and a 37mm ATG, and a full 7.7cm battery with an AA MG team.

Set-up was straight out of the rule book with the three objectives.

Turn one the British advance and the Germans immediately respond with HMG and Artillery fire. The RHA take a bloody nose off and loose two guns.

The German Artillery continues to dish out the hurt on the RHA. The British Cav sneaks through the woods dismounts and assaults the left flank throwing the Germans back a little but the lMW battery that was in ambush pops up and takes range. The British push up the road on right cautiously.

The left flank becomes a heavy fire fight with the lMWs starting to take some toll. The area around the villa is starting to heat up as the British continue to push forward.

The Cav are taking the short end of the stick as the mortars continue to cause damage.

The British get to the edge of the villa and the fighting becomes hand to hand. The British push in but are counter attacked. The attacks taking many casualties. The A/C unit starts exchanging fire with the HMG teams in the fields.

The final positions at the start of turn six and the LGS telling us to pack up our toys and go home. The British concede.

The situation on the left is clear.

It was a good game even if er did not get to completely finish. The RFC only showed once and did not do anything. The A/Cs provided great support to the infantry trying to take the villa but with literally no artillery the British had an uphill battle. In WWI the artillery was the king of the battlefield and it proved itself today.

Middle East project

2009-01-23T14:33:00.005-05:00

I have decided to start in earnest on my Middle East FOW1918 project. The intels are still a work in progress but are looking good so far (posted on the FOW1918 Yahoo group). I plan on creating an Ottoman Turk Army, Australian Light Horse Squadron and an Arab Irregular Army. I had dabbled in some of the figures like the Rolls Royce A/Cs and some Turkish stands and have all the minis for the ALH but kept putting it off in favor of my 1918 Western Front projects. Since most of those are finished or to a point that I am happy with it is on to the ME.

First will be the Turks. The nice thing about them is that they did not change uniforms or equipment pretty much through the whole war. Next I plan on creating an Arab Irregular Army, this should be a nice project with all the color and Allies available to them.

There are even some nice WoW air support projects for this theater.

WoW future releases news!

2009-01-13T11:37:00.003-05:00

From: http://merlindex.free.fr/spip/index.php

Wings of War Miniatures série 4 :
Se5a
Pfalz D.III
Breguet 14
Rumpler C.IV-C.VII
Wings of War Miniatures série 5 :
Morane Saulnier N
Fokker E.III
Airco DH.2
Halberstadt D.III
Wings of War Miniatures séries 6 :
Hanriot HD.1 ( ?)
Sopwith Triplane ( ?)

These are some great releases and I am especially looking forward to the early planes in Series 5. No idea on the actual in-store date but probably not till mid/late 2009. Worth the wait!

Jasta 12, Albatros D.V, late 1917

2009-01-08T10:19:00.018-05:00

It has come to my attention that my Tutschek is more than likely wrong. A print showing his DV as having green/purple wings, black fuselage and regular white edged Maltese crosses was posted on the WoW Yahoo group. I will repaint and decal the model and post a picture soon. 01/21/09

Jasta 12 was one of the highest scoring Staffeln during "Bloody April" 1917. The unit markings while under Adolf von Tutschek were a black rear fuselage and tail.

These are to represent mid to late 1917. I used the WoW Albatros D.Va (Jentsch) WW07I model.

Ltn Viktor Schobinger

Unknown

Obltn Adolf Ritter von Tutschek

(I am still looking for proof that he flew an all black D.V. He did fly a D.III so it is possible.)

The crosses are I-94 decals and the pilots are Reviresco.

They will make some nice 1917 air support for my FOW1918 Germans.

Sources:

http://members.cox.net/tbittners/schobinger_d5.html

http://mwmiller.theaerodrome.com/alb/schemes/j12/j12.htm

http://www.theaerodrome.com/services/germany/jasta/jasta12.php

Lieutenant Werner Steinhauser joins Jasta 11

2009-01-08T09:12:00.010-05:00

It has come to my attention that my re-paint is incorrect. Steinhauser's plane with the red band and yellow Xs did not have the yellow with red lines tail. His later plane that had a yellow band with red Xs had the tail depicted here and with Baltic corsses. I have painted over the horizontal tail section in camo green so that it is correct. 01/17/2009

Continuing my repaints of Jasta 11 in the Spring of 1918; I have added Lieutenant Werner Steinhauser. Steinhauser joined Jasta 11 at the end of 1917. He scored ten victories before he was killed in action in his DR.I over Neuilly in June of 1918.

I used the WoW Fokker Dr I (Rahn) WW07L model. The pilot is a Reviresco. I really enjoyed the painting and think it turned out okay even with my shaky hand.
There is question about the paint job on his plane. Some have it as a red strip with yellow Xs and others the reverse, yellow strip with red Xs. I used the Osprey JG1 book print as a reference.

Sources:
"Richtofen's Circus' Jagdeschwader Nr 1, Aviation Elite Series, Osprey Publishing, Greg VanWyngarden 2004

http://www.theaerodrome.com/aces/germany/steinhauser.php

AA MG teams all around!

2009-01-08T08:24:00.006-05:00

With most of my main WF 1918 forces mostly finished (still need to build the US) I have started looking at them in more detail. I stumbled across a reference to Lewis gun teams in a British Artillery Battery in the book that I am reading, The Imperial War Museum Book of 1918: Year of Victory (Pan Grand Strategy Series). I started to look at the deployment of AA MG teams closer and discovered that the threat of air attacks was forcing pretty much all nations to have them scattered about. We have added the option of one AA MG team to each Artillery battery of the WF 1918 forces but we reduced the number of teams available as Divisional support to the infantry to two.

I had already created two AA MG (Lewis Gun) teams for my British force but none for the others. I used a Battlefront SAS Lewis gunner. So, I decided to do one for each.

The US version is the Eureka WWII Early War, Wake Island Marines Lewis Gun on a tripod figure with a Minifigs officer as a spotter. No fancy mods, I just cut off the WWII model canteen. This is not exactly correct since most US forces used French weapons. All of the photos I found were of the Hotchkiss machine-guns. Maybe when I get to my US force I will create a correct Hotchkiss version.

The French version is a Minifigs Hotchkiss HMG and artillery crew figures cut in half and grafted together. The tripod is just wire. The spotter is a Minifigs EW officer.

The German version was a little different. One field improvised way of making an AA stand was to use a wagon wheel. The wheel gives the gun a steady, 360 degree platform. So I cut a Minifigs EW HMG in half. Did a head swap to a steel helmet and used a spare Minifigs German lower half. I keep my headless figures from head swaps for just such a requirement. I am not 100% satisfied with the gunner but he will do. The spotter is a LW German Infantry officer with the grenade in the boot removed.

Sources:

Early Anit-Aircraft Weapons, The Small Arms Review, Vol. 9 No. 11, James L Ballou, August 2006

http://www.earlyaviator.com

WoW planes for Trade or Sale

2008-12-31T09:04:00.002-05:00

Santa was very good to me this Christmas but I think the old guy is getting senile. He gave me a number of duplicates, not that I don't like or want duplicates for repaints but I am only shooting for three or four planes per squadron and type. I have the following planes available:

Sopwith Camel (Barker) WW07D - two each, new in box
De Havilland D.H.4 (Atkey) WW08L - two each, new in box
Fokker Dvii (Schafer) WWo8B - two each, new in box
Fokker Dr I (Rahn) WW07L - one each, new in box
Albatros D.va (Udet) WW07G - one each, used, no box

I would like to trade for the following:

Watch Your Back! box set
Burning Drakens box set
Albatros D.va (Jentsch) WW07I - one, maybe two
Series III planes - pretty much any

So, if you have excess planes new or used, let's talk!

Chris

The Scoop on Series 4 WWI WoW

2008-12-29T09:35:00.001-05:00

This was on the WoW Yahoo group from one of the creators, Andrea Angiolino.
"The next release is going to be the DoW WWII series 1 planes then Balloon Buster will follow. That's the kit with Ni.16 with rockets and balloon, 2 different color schemes. Prototyping is closing in these days, production will start just after WWII Series 1 I guess.Then Series 4 will follow. It should include R.A.F. SE5a, Pfalz D.III - D.IIIa, Breguet BR.14 B2 and Rumpler C.IV-VII,. with 3 color schemes each - some of them colorful indeed. Again, two Allied and two German planes, one fighter and one two-seater each."

In the repaint world-
Dom's Decals releases Jasta 37 decals (Albatros D.V) and is working on sheets for the Series III Nieuport 17 and Series II RFC Snipes.

Poilus

2008-12-29T08:34:00.011-05:00

I just finished my LW French Infantry Company with the completion of the last platoon and the addition of air support. The French are a very interesting army to game with in FOW1918. They have a mix of weapons in a platoon, rifle teams, Chauchat teams, bomber teams and VB teams.

I will probably add some Chauchat teams to the CO HQ and build a Trench Mortar Battery in the future.

My French sniper patiently waiting for that target of opportunity.

The French tanks are an interesting lot. The early models were pretty much junk but can be fun to game. Minifigs makes the Schneider 1917 (above) and the Saint Chamond M16 (below)along with the FT-17. This is a chance to do some very interesting camo schemes.

For more info on the French tanks check out Landships - http://www.landships.freeservers.com/tank_articles.htm

For air support I went with the WoW SPAD XIII. It is to represent the famous Escadrille les Cigognes, Group de Combat 12, Spa103 'Storkes' with Fonck. They will also be great taking on Jasta 11, 15 and the others in WoW.

I was asked to add a few close-up shots of the infantry so here you go.

FOW1918 US Air Support, WoW US bomber group

2008-12-29T08:03:00.000-05:00

The American Air Service used the DH4 'Liberty Plane' as it's standard general purpose two-seater aircraft. Aircrew operating the DH-4 were awarded four of the six Medals of Honor awarded to American aviators, with First Lieutenant Harold Ernest Goettler and Second Lieutenant Erwin R. Bleckley receiving posthumous awards after being killed on 12 October 1918 attempting to drop supplies to the Lost Battalion of the 77th Division, cut off by German troops during the Meuse-Argonne Offensive, while 2d Lt Ralph Talbot and Gunnery Sergeant Robert G. Robinson of the US Marines were awarded the Medal of Honor for beating off attacks from 12 German fighters during a bombing raid over Belgium on 8 October 1918.The type flew with 13 U.S. squadrons by the end of 1918. From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airco_DH4

For FOW1918 the Wings of War 1/144 models make a great air support option. The DH4 would be right at home bombing and strafing the trenches.

For WoW the DH4 is a tough nut for the Germans to crack. It is fast, well armed and can take some major punishment. I removed the blob gunner and single Lewis gun that comes on the model with the dual Lewis gunner from Reviresco. This is more accurate for the US DH4 as it was armed with the dual rear guns not the single as the model comes. It is not a simple replacement. The original single Lewis gun is molded into the body of the plane. I had to use the Dremel.
I left the blob pilot as he is well under the upper wing.

Now to build a US ground force for them to support!

Reviresco Fighter Pilots Review

2008-12-19T08:10:00.001-05:00

I was not able to make Fall-In this year but a friend went and picked up a pack of Reviresco Fighter Pilots for me.

The packing notes 30 figures but I ended up with more. I got 26 pilots, 5 observer rings, 10 observer/tail gunners 'German' and 6 observers/tail gunners with dual Lewis guns for a total of 47 figures. Some of the figures had a lot of flash and a few of the empty observer rings were in poor shape but overall most were okay. The pilots are fine, nice detail for 1/144. The observer/tail gunner 'German' (that is my title) is nice and looks to have a MG08/15 type gun but the observer/tail gunner with dual Lewis gun is only fair. Not sure how many planes I will actually be able to use him for. I may try converting him into a single Lewis.

The pilots paint up nicely but will not fit as-is into the WoW planes. They will not fit at all into the SPAD and I am still trying to figure out how I am going to get them into the Sopwith. The upper wing is in the way.

For the Dr1 you just need to cut the pilot at the waist and fit him in. For any of the series II and III planes you will need to remove the blob of a pilot. This is a touchy procedure. Kinda like playing the kids game operation, don't touch the sides.
I cut the top off, hand drilled a small hole in the center and then used my Dremel with a bigger bit to get the bulk out. I still chipped some paint so from now on I will do this prior to re-painting.

For the price it is not bad and if you do not have a lot of planes may be worth getting a friend to split it with you. If all you use are the pilots they come to about .32 cents. Not a bad price to not have pilotless planes.

I am still hoping to get my hands on some of the Peter Pig models in the future and will compare them.

The 148th take to the air!

2008-11-23T15:13:00.000-05:00

As I noted in my last post I was inspired to do some Sopwith Camels as the 148th Aero Squadron. My biggest problem was finding letters the right size and white triangles. The letters ended up being rub on letters that I transfered to clear decal material and then applied them to the planes. Not exact but close enough to me. The triangle ended up just being hand done. They are close and a few had to be done a few times. I am reasonably happy with them and they will look nice taking on my Jasta 15 and 11 in WoW and providing my British forces air support in FOW1918.

Inspiration for a Sopwith Squadron

2008-10-31T14:21:00.000-04:00

In searching for pictures of Sopwith Camels for some repaint ideas I came across a few links on the 148th. The 148 Aero Squadron was a US unit that served with the British. I think it will make for some pretty easy repaints and offer something different.

Here are a few of the links.

http://mwmiller.theaerodrome.com/camel/index.html
This one also has some great prints of two RNAS squadrons. Future plans?

http://www.crossandcockade.com/pdf/148th.pdf

"The 148th fulfilled many ground attack and bombing missions, as well as their normal pursuit duties."

Perfect for FOW1918 and WoW.

Pics and details to follow.

Sneak peak at WoW series 3 planes

2008-10-24T15:48:00.000-04:00

Here are a few pics of some of the Series 3 planes.
They are due out in November and will give use FOW1918 players some Austro-Hungarian Air support and the Nieuports can be modified to Italians.

Nieuport 17 (Lufberythenault)
Nieuport 17 (Nungesser)
Nieuport 23 (Kibanov)
Albatros D.iii (Brumowski)
Albatros D.iii (Hautzmayer)
Albatros D.iii (Voss)
Ufag C.i (Flick 23/d)
Ufag C.i (Luftfahrtruppen 1)
Ufag C.i (Luftfahrtruppen 2)
RAF R.e.8 (Longton & Carson)
RAF R.e.8 (Ferguson & Fry)
RAF R.e.8 (Aviation Militaire)

These pictures were taken from www.boardgamegeek.com

Here is a picture of the Peter Pig WoW pilots. I really want to get my hands on some of these!

This picture is property of Peter Pig.

FOW1918 Armies and what to do next.

2008-10-23T10:03:00.000-04:00

So far I have created a number of armies for FOW1918 and since I have not been actively playing or painting resently I thought I would take inventory and plan my future projects. Currently I have the following:
British (mid to late war)
One HG section
Four full infantry platoons with two Lewis gun team stands. Three extra rifle stands to replace one Lewis gun team for 1916 - 1917 config. One Hotchkiss LMG team so one platoon can represent dismounted cav. (replacing the Lewis gun).
One, two section Light Trench mortar battery (Stokes 3" mortars).
One Lewis Gun AA section, two stands.
One HMG platoon, four Vickers stands.
One, one section Medium Trench Mortar battery (Newton 6" mortars).
One full cavalry troop (mounted).
One full six gun Field Artillery battery (18pdrs)
Four Mk IV tanks, two male and two female.
Four Mk V tanks , all male.
Three Mk A 'Whippets'.
One full 17th Battalion (Armoured Car), Tank Corp section.
Three Sopwith Camels for Air Support.
Additional HG section - Australians.

French (mid to late war)
One HQ section with one 37mm IF gun team and one sniper.
Two and a half infantry platoons.
One HMG platoon, three Hotchkiss stands and one mortar stand.
One, two squad cavalry troop, lancers (mounted).
One full four gun Field Artillery battery (75's)
One St. Chamond tank.
One Schneider tank.
One full FT-17 tank platoon (two MG tanks, three gun tanks).
One SPAD for Air Support.

German (mid to late war)
One HQ section with two ATR teams, two Granatanwerfer teams, two Panzerknacker teams and one sniper.
Three full infantry platoons with two MG08/15 gun team stands.
One full Light Trench mortar battery with one AT gun team.
One, two section HMG platoon, four MG08 stands.
One full Division Trench Mortar battery.
One, two section cavalry troop (mounted).
One full four gun Field Artillery battery (7.7cm)
One full Independent Infantry Gun battery.
One full Divisional Stoss troop platoon with all options.
One full Flammenwerfer platoon.
Five Mk IV Beute tanks, three male and two female.
Three A7V tanks.
Tons of Air Support. Jasta 15 (late 1918), Jasta 11 (early 1918), Albatros fight for 1917.

Austro-Hungarian (mid to late war)
One HQ section. Using Germans
Three full infantry platoons. Using Germans
One full HMG section.
One, one section Field Artillery battery (80mm)
One full Independent Infantry Gun battery.
One full Divisional Storm patrol.
One Divisional Armoured Car platoon, one Junovicz, one captured Russian Austin and one captured Italian Lanzia.

Italian Alpini (mid to late war)
One HQ section with one sniper.
Two full infantry platoons.
One full scout platoon.
One full HMG platoon.
One full Light Trench Mortar battery.
One, one section Alpini Pack Artllery battery.
One Armoured Car platoon, one Lancia IZ, one Lancia IZm and one Bianchi AC.

Ottoman Turk (mid to late war)
One HQ section.
Two full HMG platoons.
One, two section Arab Cavalry troop (mounted).
One full Artllery battery.

Lead waiting in the wings are Australian Light Horse and United States.
I have a based the Turkish Infantry so that would be a good one to start.
I have enough Italian Alpini to finish up the Pack guns.
I also have some motorcycles to create the MMC for the British which would be very cool. I also have some Italian truck mounted artillery to mod into German AA trucks that were used as Anti-tank.

So much to do and so little time.

I really should get back on the Turks and finish them so I can then move to the LH. I know they would make for some great games and big draws a conventions.

Chris

Small modeling to WoW

2008-10-19T10:49:00.000-04:00

I have made a few little modeling modifications to my Wings of War gaming to make it a bit more eye appealing. The first is making smoke markers out of foam rubber. I cut the general shape, cut a slit to slide over the lower wing and then rough it up by pulling small bits off.

The second is to make an angled altitude peg. It allows for banking to either side, climbing and descending. Take two of the clear pegs provided with the models. Cut one in half straight across and the other in about a 45 degree angle. Swap them and glue together. You end up with two angled pegs.

Wings of War meets Flames of War (1918)

2008-10-19T08:56:00.000-04:00

In gaming FOW1918 I have created a number of armies and was wanting to build air support for each. I found the metal models in 1/144 scale at first but then I came across the Wings of War prepainted models. For about the same price I did not have to assemble and paint those little buggers. The line is limited but expanding and the game is a blast so I highly recommend it to any WWI gamer.
In FOW you can only get a maximum of three planes so that is what I started to collect. I decided I wanted them to be all form the same squadron so it has actually lead to researching the airwar and really finding some neat stuff. I have started a few Jastas and plan on rounding them out with a few more planes.

My first squadron is of course Jasta 11 (Spring 1918) part of JG1 'Richthofen's Flying Circus'

Then I started Jasta 15 (late 1918).

Here they are ganging up on two US spotter planes.

I will post more photos and detail on these later.

I have been remiss in my postings!

2008-10-17T09:19:00.000-04:00

It has been some time since I last posted. The usual stuff of work, family, etc. has kept me busy. I have also put the 6mm stuff aside for a while and was thinking that I would expand this blog to the other scales and interests I have in miniature gaming. I am very keen on gaming World War One and have been very active with FOW1918 (Yahoo group) and Wings of War. I am also very interested in the American Civil War. How can one not be living in the area I do? I have been doing some lite research into the cavalry battles that happened in Virginia and the action at Gettysburg. I have also been known to play a game of DBA on occasion and have a few armies. So I will start posting on all of these subjects along with my 6mm stuff as well. Currently my gaming time and partners have all but disappeared so I am hoping to work out some new time and get my friends gaming again or try to find a few new ones.

Z scale model RR products

2008-07-02T09:03:00.002-04:00

Model railroad Z scale products are an option to add detail to your 6mm terrain.
Z scale is 1:220 which is a tad bit bigger than 1:285, 1:300. The items above are from a resent order. They are Micro Structures Phone Booth kit, Chain Link Security Fence, Split Rail Fence and Privacy Fence and Noch Asphalt Road.
The Phone booth kit contains two models and are of the US style. I plan on modifying them to a more Euro style (German) and using them for some modern terrain.
The split rail and privacy fencing kits come with about 30 inches of fencing and the chain link security fence about 15 inches. The one thing I did not like was that the privacy fence was only etched on one side. The road is a tape very similar to masking tape and is very flexible to make curves and bends. I plan on making a full on German Autobahn and a number of smaller roads with it in the future. It comes in 1 meter lengths so I will need to obtain more. I will have to do a price comparison of the split rail fence with other varieties available to see if it is a good buy but it is very nice. Z scale products are not as popular in the US as they are in Europe and the buildings them selves are very expensive. Check with your local RR hobby shop or of course the web.

Asian village

2008-06-27T15:46:00.001-04:00

Timecast makes some of the best miniature buildings and when I saw these in their South East Asian line I had to have them. They work well for when I pull my 6mm Japanese WWII army out to battle my friends US or my British. These are of the older basing style but I have no intention of updating. I looked at what GHQ had to offer and while they offer some really nice stuff I was not impresed with there Vietnam buildings. The idea is to represent an normal village that I could use in WWII and Vietnam. The boat shed and net drying racks are for when it is placed near a river. I opted not to use the fisherman's house that came in that set. I just could not come up with a good mounting. The palm trees are made in the GHQ fashion.

North African Village

2008-06-27T14:03:00.001-04:00

This is my North African village. It is created from ODGW Tiny Terrain miniatures which are no longer available. I scratch built the well/fountain, inspired by a scene in the movie "Patton". I also added a few items to the buildings, stairs, dome and awning. These buildings are nice and were inexpensive. The palm trees were created using the GHQ method.

La Haye Sainte?

2008-06-27T13:56:00.002-04:00

This is my version of the famous Waterloo farm house. It is a combination of JR Miniatures and QHG items and I think it came out fairly well. The main house and the walls are GHQ and the barns are JR. I based it on card, which I have considered doing over on mdf, and not of any standard size. It is larger than usable for our DBN games but works well for FOW in 6mm. If I do rebase it I will probably make the trees in the orchard removable. It is very limited in space for troops.

Why?

2008-06-26T08:42:00.000-04:00

Why am I starting a blog that focuses on wargame terrain, especially 6mm (1/285, 1/300) scale? Well, I enjoy gaming and creating terrain at this scale. I have also found that there are a number of small manufactures of quality terrain that many people do not know about. Most do not have pictures of the products and like any normal consumer; I like to see what I am getting for my money. I plan on doing reviews, how to's and of course lots of pictures. So to get started here are a few older pictures of some Normandy terrain. I have since decided to change my building basing to the 3x3 Spearhead standard so you will see this village again but in a differnet config.
I prefer to create modular terrain so that I can use it in a variety of ways but want it to look pleasant. I am not a fan of the plan square felt patches.
I generally game DBA (in 15mm at the moment but 6mm some time soon), DBN (same, 15mm but want to do 6mm soon and am very inspired by the other bloggers that I will list later), Flames of War (in 6mm!), FOW1918 (this is a varient of FOW that I started and have worked on with the Yahoo group, game it in 15mm) and ModernFOW (another varient, 6mm).