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

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...

FOW WWII Early War game

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

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. ;-)

Chateau n'importe où

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.

Middle East project

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.

Z scale model RR products

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

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

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?

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.