Saturday 25 June 2016

Making a 28mm Normandy building.

A couple of lads who used to come to the 'Reivers' club have got into Bolt Action and they asked if we could do some Normandy buildings for them. They were researched using the internet and some very useful then and now photos. Also Saving Private Ryan and Band of Brothers  type films and programmes proved very useful. This model is bassed on a building from the latter.

All parts were made from Mdf.  This is what we came up with-

Four pieces make up the roof supports

Two dormer windows will slot into the roof.


3 parts make up the chimney.



The internal floor has a wall to make removing it easier. This is all the internal detail they wanted.


The windows were added to the walls before the walls were glued together.


Additional detail is added to the chimney.


The first of the roof sides is added to the frame.


The second is added.



Dormers are glued into place.



The chimney and dormer roof sections are then added.


The walls are glued together and added to the base.



The floor supports are glued into place in each corner.


Doors are postioned along with the ridge tiles and the two chimney pots to complete the model.



I have 14 Normandy buildings done for them and the lads are wanting a couple of specials like church, chateau or cafe types which i will get done soon. Fortunately they seem pretty pleased with them, so much so that they now want ruined versions too!!!!

A few of other buildings-




WW2 Iron Cross game




20mm Germans v British.

We have really been getting into this set of rules as its quite quick to learn and play. A word of caution though. This has to be the most irritating set of rules ever if you're throwing crap dice and your opponent is throwing great dice! How it remains enjoyable when this happens i haven't quite been able to fathom out. Perhaps i need professional help! Anyway, on to the game.

As with the WW1 air combat game these were taken awhile ago so will also be picture heavy comment light. Apologies for that.

A Stug with supporting troops. 


A blown up Stug, i'm guessing i was the Germans! The blue discs show a unit has been activated. Each tank/squad has 1 activation plus the commander gets extras, all of which are placed in a pool and can be used to activate any unit, more than once if required. Initiative can be passed over to the opponent by the active player, Its often a good idea to save tokens in order to intervene when your opponent moves or fires.






As can be seen here some units have been activated more than once. The coloured tokens have since been replaced by small tufts of dirtied cotton wool to maintain the look of the table.


Second game using the same rules.

Again Germans v British with the Germans advancing down the table towards the British.





A tank commanders view of the battlefield.




A Sherman brews up. Note the tufts which have replaced the coloured discs.




Casualty discs record hits. Note from the tufts that one tank has been activated 4 times this turn,




A couple of Panzers are taken out. Note when a unit is destroyed its activation token is removed for the next turn.






 A troop of Panthers await suitable targets.












More German tanks are taken out.


Unfortunately this game can become quite engrossing and i forgot to take any more photos!

You can, however, find plenty of pictures of Iron Cross games and many others in fact, on our club website gallery here-


Air combat in WW1

Its been quite a time since we did a game report but that is down to being bloody lazy rather than a lack of gaming.

These pics have been on my camera, which happens to be able to make phone calls too, for some time so this will be picture heavy as i cant remember what happened!!!!

The rules used were a mix of two sets written by Chris and John, the result beng a set that has the right feel for WW1 air combat.

The game uses a hex mat as shown below.
  

Dice are thrown to show which level you start at. The British-


The Germans.


Flight stands are made from aerials and magnets by Chris allowing the planes to pivot.


Germans manouvering, one diving and the other turning.


Coloured tokens represent each side and are drawn randomly out of a bag to see who goes next. The token is then placed behind the plane one it has completed its turn.











The dice on the base are for the rounds each plane can fire.





A nice dogfight ensues here.











And another between the other two planes.


























The Hun gets his man.











A target rich environment for the remaining plucky allied pilot.












































This doesn't look good!


Our plucky survivor heads for home for tea and medals to fight another day.

We usually finish a game having tweaked the rules a bit so i'm sure this game would have been no different. Chris has since purchased a new mat with less obtrusive hexes and this will feature in the next game no doubt.

Cheers

Carl/Mick