Priming, Painting and another P Word

Experimenting with ways of brushing on german camo

After the camo job, with the paints used - it looks okay, a little too washed, but okay

After the wash and gloss coat, next - decals and flat - oh yeah, tracks

After that, finish the Bren and 6PDR - something has to bring that monster down

Hobbytime one day - Litko mini splashes, GaleForce Nine bases, FIB infantry, CDTOB markers

Wargamers Cave in Granite City Illinois

Wargamers Cave in Granite City, IL Forged in Battle Goodness!

Some photos from recent hobby stuff.
Just about done with the Airfix Stug III, 1:76 scale. Just need decals, which I've not done in ages - 30 years. Matte varnish and tracks on. I like the camo job I did on it, though it could be a bit more pronounced.  A second, less watered down layer would do the trick.

Next up is finishing the Bren and 6 pounder. It is fiddly as all get out. Funny, I just read that on someone's blog about the plastic kits found in the Battlefront Achtung box set. That they are less fiddly than the airfix. That would be nice.

I also finished some order cubes for Command Decision, Test of Battle. They turned out okay, If I need too many more, I'm tempted to buy the order cubes they sell.

I bought some of the Litko mini splash markers to use for Naval Thunder. Litko has some cool stuff. I wish they weren't the only US company making bases - wait, there's also Gale Force Nine, and ???  I bought them at Wargamers Cave in Granite City, IL. The markers are cool looking and were $6 for 10. And I got to use them...more on a later post.

While at the Wargamers Cave, I also bought some Forged in Battle 15mm Russians and German infantry. timmy! recommended I look there for these. They're both platoon packs with 40 some figs.  First some thoughts on FIB figures:

• $17 for 40 figs makes about 12 infantry stands for CDTOB, 4 Inf Cmd Stands, a Battalion Command Stand and a couple MG stands. (though it appears I may have been slighted a MG stand. There's one firing and one with the soldier carrying it down facing. .. I would rather have two firing. They show two firing in photos on site...)
• nice sculpts with nice detail 
• looks they'll need minor clean up - though I can feel they'll need a good hot water and soap bath
• price seems decent - though you still have to buy stands for them - though I would anyway. I say all that because these are obviously designed for the Flames of War player in mind. FOW soldiers come with stands. Though they Showed me some cool rubble stands at the Cave.
• not a lot of variety in the figs - not that big o deal, but I can see it turning some people off

Second, on the store - he can get a ton of stuff special ordered. But he stocks a lot of FOW alternative stuff which I think is cool. He has a great selection of the Forged in Battle product. Pretty small shop, just room for three tables, but that's okay. Though I was surprised it was empty for a Sunday afternoon. Next time I will shop online or via phone and have it shipped for $6. It's about 60 miles from my house, so it's worth it to have it shipped.

I was tempted by the FIB figures and the Plastic Soldier company ones. However, the fact that you have to assemble the plastic figs kind of freaked me out a bit. Silly, I know, but I'm used to 6mm, where I've not had to assemble much. Modelling just isn't my thing. But hindsight, PSC may not be a bad option. First 130 figs for about $30. And they're slightly thinner than their metal counterparts which would make the next purchase:

Gale Force Nine 20mm magnetic bases. Bought these at The Fantasy Shop. 20mm is very small. However, Jerry says his CD are based on 5/8" squares - which is smaller than 20mm! So I'm going to try them out.

At the Cave he can also get the Old Glory line of figures...some of them anyway. I need to send him an email to see what he can get and what cost.

My only concern with this set of minis is that there's a lot of what I need to get to fill out the infantry. Accoring to CDTOB, this set nearly makes up the basics for a Russian battalion, however, there's a lot to get. So, something like Command Decision Old Glory are nice because you buy a bunch of different sets to round things out.

All this is why I don't blame anyone new to the hobby getting into Flames of War. They make it very easy to get involved in miniature gaming. You know your base size, your miniature size, and how to make up units. Great visuals, and even in packs that have exactly what you need. Spoon fed, maybe, but you can get in and get going. And, in many rulesets you can use these as is.

Anyway, that's it for now - in the future:
A Naval Thunder play.
A quick Black Powder ACW test
An Aces at Dawn play
Planning an army
Plans for the year...need a focus and a plan

WWI at Jerry's

This one happened at Jerry's during Geekway, which explains why not much got done with these pics until now. Jerry made this board out of the blue home insulation foam. He said it was very messy. But it looks like it was worth it. What a great looking table. Sounds like it was a fun game.

Go to the Command Decision Test of Battle Forum to see his complete write up with more photos.

Couple more photos from the forum:

 

Pre-Game Pics of Jerry's CDTOB WWI Board

Jerry is getting ready for another Command Decision WWI game in 15mm. He's been spending a lot of time on these great looking boards.

Jerry will send me more info on the boards. Ask any questions you have and he'll be glad answer them.

 

10645--View from the British lines.

10652--German hill fortress gets bombed.

10670-- Birdseye view of the battlefield.

10679--Brit tanks and infantry attack the fortress.

10680--Stosstruppen massing for a counterattack.

10684--German command group. Note the scissor scopes!

10679--Brit tanks and infantry attack the fortress.

 

Command Decision Normandy to Lorraine Review

A few months ago I mentioned that I was going to be listed as a play tester in the newest Command Decision: Test of Battle Scenario book - From Normandy to Lorraine, by Jake Strangeway.

I finally ordered it and received it last week. Opened it up and there I am! I showed my 9 year old and he got a big grin on his face and said, "You're famous. Kind of."

I've not played any of the scenarios yet. However, I wanted to give an overview of what's inside.

It covers U.S. v German actions from June 7, 1944 to September 19, 1944.  Strangeway decided, I think wisely to spit up the US and Commonwealth scenarios.

I like this, for a couple of reasons. One, It gets the book out to the market more quickly. I don't own any Commonwealth forces to game with anyway. And it helps me to not be even more tempted to get other forces in this year of a seriously cut back gaming budget. (Side note: nothing saying I couldn't use my US forces as proxy or use the scenarios with tweaks here and there for this or other game systems.)

 Some of the scenarios accommodate up to 12 players. However, turns out there are a couple that are suited for 2-4. Also, most take place on 6' x 8' tables.

The book has a comprehensive table of contents then includes a brief history section. I like having these because I always learn something new. Another aspect that is nice is that Jake incorporates the scenario titles so you see a bit of the bigger picture of what was going on.  For example,

"To the north, the Americans crossed near Diulouard, and secured a crossing there, beating back a German counterattack. A more complete account of the fighting can be found in Scenario 8: "Forcing the Moselle." With the German counterattack halted, Combat Command A of the 4th Armored Division began a mad dash into the enemy rear, covering 45 miles in a day and a half."

Following the history are a couple pages covering special rules, scenario guidelines, advanced rules used and how to read the maps.

Speaking of maps...they are crazy bocage heavy, obviously. Especially the early ones. Crazy, even using cm instead of inches, I would need to work for some time to get enough hedges to make a dent.

The map to the right is from Scenario 5: Duel at Barenton. This is one I play tested, see pic below it. I'm standing to the top right of the map and taking the picture to the Southwest. Here are pics from the game on my Picasa page.

The Scenarios are laid out:
Scenario Title
Date of battle
Situation
Notes: Number of Players, number of turns
Special Rules
Historical result
Map in 12" increments
Then the armies, including
Tactical notes like the following from the US side on Scenario 5:

"Your job is to press forward on your right, while checking the German advance on your left. Your mobility in your half-tracks is a great advantage, as long as you stay on the roads..."  (It continues for a couple more sentences.)

Deployment guidelines
OOBs
Special Notes for the army
Then the Army Data Chart

There are a few black and white photos spread throughout. They're OK. I liked the photos in the Operation Market Garden book better because there were more of them (It seems, but I didn''t count.) And, they were captioned to tie them to the scenarios. 

Honestly, I probably won't play many of the scenarios in this book based on their size... at least, at my house. Jerry, who I play tested these with has all the resources and group to game some of the more giant ones, and it would be years before I get there. However, I've noticed in our games that you could divide up the scenarios into sections (Left third, middle, and right third) and battle just that side for one on one. 

For example, in Scenario 8, Forcing the Moselle, the other one we play tested,  most of my time in the game was fighting one other opponent as he took the town I was in. Now, the thing you would want to do, is to have an option for reinforcements to simulate the other players on the field possibly coming to help. When we played the game we had a tank battalion that was supposed to come in and help us out. However, as it was coming on board, the German got an incredible shot, across the table, taking out the lead tank. It essentially took them out of the a large chunk of the game.

(You can see that roll and hit in the video below. This video, btw, covers all the basic steps in the sequence of play, if you're unfamiliar with CD:TOB.) Also, here are pics from the Picasa album.

To sum it up: I would buy more, especially, In the Clutches of Eagles and the Benghazi Handicap. If for nothing more than to have more scenario options and because they're well done and I want to support the crew at Test of Battle. Here's a link to the Test of Battle online store and their listing for From Normany to Lorraine.
For the main rulebook.


Command Decision: Test of Battle has a great forum, btw, if you want to ask more in depth questions of the author and players with way more experience with the game than I have.

Command Decision TOB WWI

Went to Jerry's house and watched him put in a game of Command Decision Test of Battle. It was an ahistorical game between France and Germany.

Unfortunately, I didn't get too many photos of the troops, especially the French.

I didn't play the game and just watched and left before it was over. However, the German right was crumbling. The center and left were about to engage in two turns.

Video here
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWTao2TFP3U&sns=em