World war 2 Terrain

 Its been an interested month.  I've half-painted about 30 figures and assembled some french cavalry but I've been Pretty unmotivated about actually finishing anything. this past weekend I was looking in a box and I found a 4Ground Polish Rural Dwelling model, and a pack of 4Ground Yard Panel fencing with Gates.  both of these will work well for eastern front terrain so i decided to get them assembled and based up. I also had a pack of Wizkids Deep Cuts log piles, that I tossed into the pile to work on.

4Ground Polish Rural Dwelling with
scratch-built fence

I built a wooden fence using 2 types of balsa wood(posts and planks) and  matchsticks(crossbeams).  i used a steel wire brush to accentuate the wood texture.  the building kit came with fur for thethatch roof.  I soaked it in PVA to harden it and then I highlighted it with light cream colour. i then applied patches of GW Agrax Earthshade wash(brown) and Athonian Camoshade( green-brown) wash to mottle the colour a bit.  I also added a pile of stacked wood from the deep cuts pack to one of the walls on the opposite side of the base from the fence, and added a trio of matchsticks to the peak of the roof to cover up the seam of where the teddy bear fur pieces meet. Otherwise the building is unmodified, other then some Scenic Express  Super Turf  texture foliage around the base to make it look less like a building glued to a piece of HDF.

4Ground Polish Rural Dwelling internal detail.

 this kit is well designed and is much nicer looking then some of 4Grounds early, more simplistic looking buildings. the interior has a nice stove/fireplace and the front door opens and closes. it also comes with matte board blue shudders.

Wizkids Deep Cuts Wood Piles(3). I fixed the
stacked woodpile to the building.

I left the remaining 2 wood piles lose so they can be placed as needed. they aren't big enough to affect anything so they are just around to add some character to tables. still they are nice and not hugely oversized like some end up being. the Wizkids Deep Cuts line is as always wonderful. 

4Ground Yard Panel fences with Gates.

 

The Yard Panel fencing is nice looking and easy to put together, but badly designed.  They have the fence panels situated along one edge of the base, with no overlapping bit to improve stability. As a result if left unmodified, they fall over if you breath a little too heavily.

lower angle of 4ground fences for height comparison

As you can see below, I added some pebbles I have kicking around to help counterbalance them. this makes the fence sections much more stable. the fences are tall enough to lock infantry LOS, and give concealment to even large-ish tanks. I didn't check but it may actually completely block a 1/56th BT-7 or T-26.

Rear view to display rocks needed for stability.

If anyone is interested in what makes the models i used for size comparison, the tank is an Army Group North Miniatures T-28 medium tank, the infantry in front of the panel fences are Crusader Miniatures  Soviets, and the soviet infantry inside the fences are 1 each of The Assault Group and Black Tree designs.  the AT gun on the building base is a 47mm at gun I got from AGNMiniatures (old force of arms model?) with crew from Warlord Games and Black Tree Designs.

Given my fickleness with painting, I'm now aiming to have at least one new post a month. if I'm in the painting mood, I'll post more often. when the mood strikes me I paint a ton, so I'm sure I will end up with a good deal more then 12 posts in 2021. But i think otherwise that is a more reasonable way to ensure I get some progress done on something regularly.

Pandmic Projects 4: Terrain Making and Casting

 I've had a few terrain projects dangling near-finished for a while, but I lacked the motivation to get the over the finish line.  some like gun position has been sitting around needing to be grassed for 9 months. others like the walls have only been sitting idle for 2 or 3 months. then there is the bridge, which I bought at HotLead(I think?) in Ontario 6 years ago, before i moved to Edmonton.either way i decided i needed to get some  finished.


The bridge was a great find.  I bought it at the HotLead fleamarket 6 or 7 years ago, broken in two.  I knew I could pin it and fix it, and more importantly, it fits 50x50mm bases perfectly! it also happens to fit my river system well.  it also painted up really nice.

It had broken right at the middle point to the side of the central arch stone. I pined it in 4 places for extra strength.

Side shot of bridge

 

50x50mm bases fit perfectly!

 Next is gun position. I built this a year ago as a test bed for some techniques in making wood texture. it was a general success. I used Renedra wattle fencing and gabions, but I intent to make my own for future projects.  in the future I'll probably also make the walls higher. they came out a little lower then I'd want.

The texture on hte wood planks was created by "scrubbing" the wood with a wire brush. The wood used was basswood.

Position occupied by Napoleonic British guns

Lower angle to show the height of the position walls.

Reverse angle. Note the texture on the planks.

 

This wall project started both because I wanted some more walls, but also because I wanted to try my hand at casting in 2-part self-skinning polyurethane expanding foam.  i started by making some dry stone walls. I had to modify how i cast them, but they ended up working ok.  there are some bubbles because I don't have a vacuum chamber I can't really do much about it. Note on the drystone walls the moss/vines on the walls furthest from the camera. I did that to cover up places where walls were damaged coming out of the mold the first few times. the skin would separate from the foam. I managed to solve the issue after a few castings.  Each wall section is 6 inches long. for this set, i have a single straight wall, one with a gate, and one with a corner on the end like the old GW stone walls.

the 3 unique lengths of wall.

A three sided paddock defended by the Buffs

From a lower angle so you can see the height

 

The second set of walls is more of an attempt to replace my old GW fantasy stone walls. you can't get them anymore, and they are slowly breaking.  I built these out of individual styrofoam blocks textured with a foil ball. the blocks are on average under half the size of the massive 200lb blocks the GW ones are apparently made out of. I also varied the block size a bit more. So there are some that are very small and some that are almost the size of the GW ones, near the bottom usually.  I built two unique straight sections, one section with a corner, and one with a gateway/opening. I've seen these style of opening in several pictures of similar style old stone walls.

These cast nicer then the dry stone walls. I thin there are less extreme changes in topograghy for air to get stuck in. there are still air bubbles but they are generally less noticeable.

the four unique sections of wall

Three of the master walls shown with a GW
Fantasy stone wall for comparison

From a lower angle so you can see the height

And finally, a well I bought on Friday this well is from the Wizkids "Deep Cuts" line of scatter terrain and accessories.  They are cheap ($6.95 CDN, or about $5 USD) and are full of detail. This one came with a little water insert that pops out easily.  good 28mm wells aren't easy to find so I'm glad I got this one for really cheap.

Deep Cuts well with water insert out

Well with water insert in

As some of you might have noticed, I'm trying to update once every week or two now. we'll see how long that lasts.  being unemployed certainly makes finding the time a bit easier.  Its also nice to have some Motivation to paint. The lack of historical gamers in Edmonton combined with lack of gaming during the pandemic had certainly taken its toll.

Cheers!

Long Time No See!

well I'm back for what is hopefully not another few and far between post.

I've been fairly unmotivated to post since I moved to Alberta.  The Historical gaming scene in edmonton is much smaller then I had grown used to in Hamilton, Ontario.   For a while some local guys and myself tried to host a monthly game day at the clubhouse in my condo subdivision, but after 2 years we weren't making enough money to break even on the rental fee. so we shut it down.  the local cons are almost entirely devoted to Mainstream and tournament related games like Warhammer 40K , Kings of War, and Bolt Action. 

I have discovered Beneath the Lilly Banners for my Imagination armies. Its a great set of rules, and the 3rd edition makes it a little easier to use armies from a slightly later period.  they released the  eastern wars supplement, With Talon and Claw, which introduces some Polish and Ottoman specific rules, both of which are armies I use in whole or part in my Imaginations.

For the One small historically oriented Convention we have in Edmonton, MayDay, I always help out and host a big game as well as smaller games.  I've run  a 10 foot napoleon game using Field of Battle, Imaginations using Muskets and Tomahawks and Beneath the Lilly Banners, a Big Chain of Command Battle of France game.  I've used all of these to get some serious work put in on  the related projects.


I've Expanded my Ottoman army substantially to include more heavy cavalry, light cavalry, and non-Janissary infantry. My Electorate  army(imaginations) is all painted, and i only have a few figures left for my Polish.  I've expanded my 28mm WW2 collection to include French Cuirassier Portes, German Schutzen, and more tanks and support teams for both sides. I've also reorganised my Soviets into early war squads to fight the Japanese I've added, with tanks for both sides.

I now have a 28mm Napoleonic Prussian brigade painted, with a 2nd one waiting to be painted.  sadly there is no one I've found who seriously plays big battle Napoleonics here, so all the unpainted stuff I have for that project has languished in its boxes.

I've also recently  begun painting my long awaited AWI project for Sharp Practice.

I don't have decent pictures of all of this available yet, but here is some pics of my Ottoman army as it stands now:

Ottoman Akinji light cavalry, TAG miniatures

Ottoman Artillery.  TAG guns and crew, Front Rank carts and Limbers

Ottoman artillery from another angle

Timariot Sipahis, TAG minis

Janissaries, TAG Minis

Levant, TAG minies

Tufekci Skirmishers, TAG minies

Ottoman Command Stands, Tag Miniatures

TAG Sipahis of the Porte, TAG miniatures

I still have 1 unit of Sipahis of the Porte(Kapikulu) waiting to be painted, and I've added a large bombard with crew to the artillery recently, but no picture yet.

Here's to hoping I post more often!

Settled in Edmonton and New Room Set Up.

I've been in edmonton for 2 months now.  Things are starting to settle down a bit.  I've managed to get most of my gaming stuff unpacked.  and i've picked up some display cases and shelves to equip my " computer cave".

the 4 utility shelves arranged along the 12 foot wall. 
my  computer desk is in the opposite wall at the end.

The week after we moved into the new house,  Home Depot was having a sale on black plastic utility shelving.  $27 per unit.  I grabbed 4. they are 18" deep and 36"(3') long. they fit perfectly on one wall, as the wall is 12' long.  nearly all my miniatures, terrain, and supplies fit on them. On the opposite wall there is an alcove that is 6' wide, and 32" deep.

The Alcove, After furnishing

I picked up 2 Detolf display cabinets a few weeks ago form Ikea.  I was back down in that area last week, so I picked up a pair of Dioder lighting kits.  This past weekend I was in Canadian Tire and they had a bookshelf on sale that perfectly fit the space I had left over.  My books finally have a home!

so with that my little room is complete.  I bought 4 folding 6' x 2.5' tables, which i can set up in the main basement area(rec room) for games.  My only problem at the moment is that i don't have a gaming mat big enough to cover all the tables.  So now i have to come up with a plane for a 5'x12' gaming mat!  Always a major project in the works!


I have done some painting in the last month.  I painted up a unit of 8  foundry continental Infantry for the forthcoming  AWI project, using Muskets and Tomahawks.

first unit of the 2nd Pennsylvania regiment

 I've found after several playtests that using the "varied" unit sizes in the main book doesn't work well.  Because of the way the rules represent firing,  a max sized unit of 12 line will crush an 8 man  of rangers, or any other irregular force(other the light infantry).  sure, irregulars have better firing, but if the line unit has 50% more fire, the better to-hit is irrelevant.  now this is more pronounced in the more irregular forces (rangers, Couriers de bois, various riflemen, militias etc)which are limited to max units of 8, or sometimes 6.  i know many of these units are supposed to be weaker then line units, but in many cases they were not, specifically in the north American theater, where la petite Guerre was so common.  but the morale system, coupled with the high casualties rate from fire, cripples units of 6-8 in often a single volley.   my simple solution is just to keep everything in units no larger then 8(few units can be smaller then 8 anyway). this levels the playing field, and lets the point system balance all other differences, in my opinion.

Moving Sale and Off to Cold Wars

As some may already know, I'm planning on moving to Alberta some time this summer.  the exact time depends on how long it takes to finish the renovations on my house, and for the house to sell.

These renovations are one of the reasons I've been so inactive on the Blog lately.

as such I've been looking at alot of my gaming stuff, and am getting rid of things i have not used in a long time.

I'll be taking the following items to cold wars this coming weekend, and then anything that does not sell there is going to hotlead with me later in March(along with a few things I won't be taking to cold wars)



first thing up is my Modern collection.  I'll be selling my iraqis and British, plus all my vehicles.

infantry: $32 per squad of 8(all squads of 8)
Vehicles:
Resin Vehicles $30 Each
landrovers/humvees 2 for $30  
Plastic tanks $10 each

anyone buying large lots can probably get a bit of a deal too.

i have 

TAG Iraqis. LSloppy Jalopy Vehicles. not everything pictured

3 squads of Iraqi Republican guard
3 squads Iraqi regulars
4 squads of Fedayeen
1 BMP1
2 BMP2
3 BTR60BP
1 BRDM-2
1 AML -90
3 Plastic T72

TAG British, Not everything pictured

4 squads of British Infantry
2 Mortar teams
1 GPMG team
2 British Para squads
1 SAS Squad
4 Warrior IFVs
7 Land rovers
1 FV432 Peak Turret

TAG Deltaforce and Humvees. Forces of Valour Blackhawks

Closeup on Delta Force

1 Plastic Challenger

24 USMC
2 Delta Force Squads
2 humvees
1 Stryker
1 plastic  M1A1 Abrams
2 Forces of Valour 1/48th Blackhawks
1 FOrces of Valour 1/48th Apache


All my Desert Terrain(pictured below)


Pinkish Foamcore buildings(4) $15 each
Small Buildings(4) - $15 each
Medium buildings(3) $25 each
Compounds(3) - $40 each
Parking Structure - $100
Palm trees(6, 3 built, 3 unbuilt) $10
Rock formations(2)  - $5 each

Forces of Valour 1/48th Helos

Picture of All terrain set up.

 

Larger of the 2 Compounds. both have removable roofs

Big Parking Structure - 16"x18"x9", 4 peices

 

32x Old Glory Romans.  looking for $3 per figure

Random box ofWarmachine  Cryx.   3 Privateer rulebooks. 
I'd sell the whole box for $50 OBO

Lot of old Ronin: Duels and Ronin: war rules and figures.
half a dozen large Ronin mecha, serveral small ones,  serveral sprues of
tanks and aircraft.  lots of extra weapon bits.   $20 for the lot.

 WINGS of War WW2:
Deluxe boxed set(complete rules, all expansions and 4 planes in one box) $30
A6M2 Reisen  $10
F4F Wildcat $10


Zvezda Ring of Rule Undead Romans (each legion box is 20 legionnaires plus 4 archers)

1 Cursed Legion box, unopened  $15
1 Cursed Legion box  assembled and painted(24 figures) $20
3 Cursed Legion Box, loose on sprues $10 each
1 Cursed Cavalry Box, opened partially assembled (8 figures)
1 Cursed Artillery box, assembled ( 1 CarroBalista and 1 Onager with undead crew & mantlets)

If you have any interest in reserving anything for pickup at Coldwars, let me know in before Wednesday night.  You can find me on facebook using the badge on the right isde of teh page,  or email me at

stephen(dot)thomson81(at)gmail(dot)com

We can arrange pickup some time during the weekend.

Hotlead AAR and New goodies

Hotlead wrapped up last Sunday.  it was a good con this year. according the the Con Chairman's AAR, the con saw a rise in games to 70, from about 55ish last year. the Bring and Buy did around 18000 in sales, which means the Con's cut of 1800 will be donated to charities(Scouts and cadet groups in the con's region.).  Sunday as especially surprising.  I've never seen a convention so busy  on a Sunday!  here is a link for Jame's Manto's AAR for more detailed breakdown and pics!

Martin making a deal while i give James(behind the camera)
2 thumbs up!

  I went up with J&M miniatures and helped out at the booth most of the weekend.  they also had a good weekend from the looks of it.   James and Martin attribute it to being present all 3 days, and having a better selection of merchandise.

Overhead view of my Con Game: The battle of Kulm.

My napoleonic game went quite well.  despite the previous table users taking up about half my setup period taking down there, and the resulting late start. we finished the game in 2.5 hours.  pretty good, considering the game involved 600 infantry 128 cavalry and 27 guns on the table with 8 players.  the Russians/Austrians won but just barely. i was a little bit worried initially as the french took a beating initially, but they came back to almost even up the army morale chits before finally succumbing to the allied onslaught.  Thanks go out to Mike Garner and Jon Holmes for helping me GM the game. the pics below are courtesy of Mike Garner, as I completely forgot to take pictures(as usual)

 

finally my favourite part, the spoils.  as seen below i picked up a great deal of terrain as the majority of  purchases over the weekend(all 28mm where aplicable). I bought  from 4ground an ECW/renaissance Cottage and shop, a Saxon/Medieval dwelling, a water cart, and 3 packs of walls. I also picked up anther box of Perry Napoleonic Russians(still need one more to finish off the 26th division)  a box of Wargames factory Viking Huscarls, and a copy of Dux Britnarium.  I also picked up a broken resin bridge for really cheap, and finally took delivery of an army group north KV with 3 turrets to make KV1/40, /42, and KV2.  this was bought 3 years ago, but has been sitting in our friends basement ever since.  There is also a bag of loose GW LOTR miniatures. 5 metal war riders including Sharku, and 25 odd metal dwarf warriors and bowman. Not pictured are the Xwing purchases of the  Imperial aces box, an Awing, a TIE advanced, and a HWK-290.

 the 4ground walls seem like they are expensive, but these 3 packs got me enough walls to do an 18x18" walled area with 2 gates, and even  destroyed wall ends if I so choose.  I paid 40 dollars for them, and the closest comparable product is something like Acheson Creations wattle and timber set which is a 12x9 area for the same price. and they are rather nice walls too.

close up of 4ground wall corners which are really nice.

Incidentally, I have some 28mm TAG Iraqis for sale that I did not sell at Hotlead.  there are 4 groups of 8 iraqi regulars, 2 groups of 8 republican guard(in the 3 tone camo)1 group of 4 snipers and command,  and 4 groups of 8 fedayeen. I'm selling these at $40USD per group of 8 + shipping. if you are  interested  email me at crucible_orc*AT*sympatico*DOT*ca