Building 6mm Terrain in under 72 hours, part three

Success! In the end, everything turned out well. The boards took a little beating on the trip up, but a little emergency flock fixed them up.

Rules used for this game are the fun and cheerful Cold War Commander and the two forces pitted against one another are Soviets and 'mericans.

Building 6mm Terrain Boards in under 72 hours, part deux

We did it! After a late night and early morning, Mike and I "completed" the nine boards. Some frantic last minute flocking ensued before we packed them away into the truck along with all of my ImagiNation stuff.

Part three will show off the boards on table and game.

I told Mike immediately after finishing the boards: "that was fun, lets never do this again".  Safe to say, next time we embark upon crafting terrain, we need to plan a little bit more time.

Off to the KHANNNNNN!

Building 6mm Terrain Boards in under 72 hours, Part 1

When Mike and I began working on this project, we had about three and a half days to get it done before this year's RayCon (Which I hope to be blogging about during the event itself).  If that is the case you, the readership of this blog, must be asking, then why does the title say less then 72 hours?  There is a quite simple explanation for this: 1.  being housemates, Mike and I have had to "deal" with having guest over this week and 2.  we discovered a computer game "Wargame: European Escalation"and have been playing a little to much of it.

The strange benefit of playing so much of Wargame: EE is that their maps are very detailed and perfect to use as templates for building terrain.

Mike wanted the initial batch of terrain boards to be useable from the Second World War and the Cold War and set in Europe.

Day 1 (Tuesday) :

Setting out around lunch time, we drove to various locations around Kingston picking up the supplies needed.  A discovery at our local arts supply store yielded the base on which we set out the build the boards.  For a very fair price, you can purchase wood painting panels, which just so happen to be perfect for terrain boards as they come in a variety of sizes and are all framed, no more fear of the dreaded MDF warp.

Mike begins by mapping everything out onto the wood.  He had pre-planned before hand, but lack of 2 foot by 2 foot panels forced him to change it up slightly.

A 1 foot by 1 foot terrain panel that Mike did up earlier this month as a tester.

By end of the first day of work we managed to cut out the rivers, glue stockcard on the bottom and use drywall compound (aka smegma) to create the rivers.  We also started work on the Autobahn panels.

Day 2 (Wednesday) :

Around lunchtime on Wednesday we got to work again, getting good work done on the Autobahn.  The day ended with a game of spaceships that was canceled by the horrible weather we have had in the evenings and nights.  Believing that the thunderstorm could be weathered out under our gazebo, Peter, Rob and Mike had a nasty surprise and were last seen dashing into the house with all forms of gaming stuff.

The unfortunate Peter falls asleep while Mike is working on the boards.

Day 3 (Thursday) :

It was really only until today that we realized that we really needed to kick things into top gear and crank out the remaining 60% percent of construction and 100% of the painting.

We set to work in the early afternoon and by working as efficiently as possible, we managed to get the entirety of the construction done around 7:30.

Adding the fields, dirt roads and base for the forests, we soldiered on.  Now we are forced to play the waiting game as the drywall compound and acrylic paint used to seal the foam dries.

The boards are really beginning to take shape.

The project begins to spread around the backyard.

Hopefully we can post up tomorrow in triumph, having stayed up into the wee hours finishing the boards.

WWII Surprise

Somewhat belated but this past Christmas provided a pleasant surprise from Daniel. In an apparent effort to rekindle my gaming mojo, he assembled and painted this great Warlord Games German 88mm gun to go with my early war Wermacht force. This is a fine model and Daniel, in his normal way, has made a damned fine model out of it. The detail is impressive, especially the shell casings scattered about the base. 

The Duchy of Libations

With much trepidation, I have decided to showcase some of my opponent's army, the Duchy of Libations (beware, however...they are a bunch of wine-quaffing reprobates...probably why I like them so much). So, some pics of Phil's growing army below. If you want to see more, check out his blog: It's History, There's No Hurry.

 

 Cacciatore de Galliano

 

 Primo Battaglione della Guardia della città di Campari

 

 

 Primo Battaglione di Reggimento di Fanteria di Sambuca

 

 

 town militia

 

 

 Truppa della marina di Frangelico

 

 

 What army is complete without a wine cart?

And a wine guard?

The Full Might of Le Grand-Duché de Gourmandie...quake with fear!!

Preparing for Raycon in a few weeks and the start of our new Maurice campaign, I have asembled the full might of Le Grand-Duché de Gourmandie. A couple of new units have joined the host and another has been filled out. The army now consists of five full battalions of infantry, five squadrons of cavalry, two battalion guns, and a battalion of chasseurs (irregular infantry).

Régiment d’Infanterie Roquefort (2 battlaions)

Régiment d’Infanterie Pont l’Eveque (1 battalion)

Grenadiers de Camembert (1 battalion)

Regiment der Grenadiere Oettinger (1 battalion)

Grenadiers à Cheval Boursin (3 squadrons)

Régiment de Dragons Saint-Feliciens (1 squadron)

Régiment de Dragons Saint-Nectaire (1 squadron)

Chasseurs de Chevrotin (1 battalion)

Note: My apologies for the photo quality below. They look great on the iPad but when transferred to Blogger they lose considerable quality. Hmmmm....

 The combined might of the Grand Duchy, led by the Marquis de Fromage (front, right).

 

Five battalions of infantry (from front to rear): Roquefort (2 battalions), Pont l'Eveque (1 battalion, newly filled out to full-strength), Camembert (1 battalion in very fetching mauve/purple), Oettinger (used notmally as the mercenary force when on the attack).



 

The cavalry wing: (front to rear) Dragons de Saint-Feliciens (one squadron), Dragons de Saint-Nectaire (one squadron), Grenadiers a Cheval Boursin (three squadrons).





For those interested, the regulated army establishment of Le Grand-Duché de Gourmandie:

Army establishment consists of regular and militia regiments of foot, horse, and guns. Provision has also been made to accommodate private sponsorship of infantry and cavalry legions, approved by the governing council and the Grand Duke.
 

The regular army consists of infantry regiments, cavalry regiments, and artillery companies. The infantry is divided into two classes: line and light. The cavalry is divided into two classes: heavy (dragoons & cuirassiers) and light (lancers and hussars). The regular artillery consists of field (6lb or 12lb) and siege (18lb or 24lb) companies. The militia consists of infantry and cavalry regiments and artillery companies.

Regular line infantry regiments are each composed of two field battalions (each with one 3lb artillery piece, crewed by infantry personnel) and one depot battalion. The first (or Colonel's) battalion is composed of two divisions of musketeers and one of grenadiers, carries the Colonel's colour, and is commanded by the regimental colonel. The second battalion is composed of three divisions of musketeers, carries the Ordonnance standard, and is commanded by a Chef de Battalion. The depot battalion is composed of two musketeers divisions and is maintained and recruited in the regiment's home district.

Regular light infantry regiments are each composed of one field battalion and one depot battalion. The field battalion is composed of two divisions of chasseurs and is commanded by the regimental colonel. The depot battalion is composed of one half-division of chasseurs and is maintained and recruited in the regiment's home district. Light infantry regiments do not carry their standards in the field.

Militia infantry regiments are each composed of one field battalion (each with or without one 3lb artillery piece, crewed by infantry personnel) and one depot battalion. The field (or Colonel's) battalion is composed of three divisions of musketeers, carries the Colonel's colour and the Ordonnance standard (if available), and is commanded by the regimental colonel.  The depot battalion is composed of one musketeer division and is maintained and recruited in the regiment's home district or community.

Regular heavy and light cavalry regiments are each composed of three field squadrons and one depot squadron, maintained and recruited in the regiment's home district. The first squadron carries the Ordonnance standard and is commanded by a Chef d'Escadron and the regiment by the regimental Colonel.

Militia cavalry regiments are each composed of one or two field squadrons and one half-depot squadron, maintained and recruited in the regiment's home district. The first squadron carries the Ordonnance standard and is commanded by a Chef d'Escadron and the regiment by the regimental Colonel.

Regular filed and siege artillery companies are each composed of two divisions and a depot division. Each division is composed of one or two guns of appropriate caliber. Field companies are equipped with 6lb or 12lb guns; siege companies with 18lb or 24lb guns. A battery is commanded by a Capitaine and each division by a Lieutenant.

 

Maurice campaign tracking spreadsheet

For those interested in these sorts of things, I have updated and (hopefully) improved the Maurice campaign tracking spreadsheet (cuz I seem to have that kinda time). You can see some snapshots below. I have added much to the sheets so that army creation, purchasing units during the campaign, and spending EPs are included. The sheet now tracks EPs gained and spent for each army.
 

A look at the Overview Page that tracks all of the stats from the other worksheets. Army Creation Point Allowance and Winning Epic Point Total are editable according to campaign requirements and drive the formulae thorught out the workbook.

 

 

One of the Army worksheets, in this case for my army, Le Grand-Duche de Gourmandie. Army Creation Points, Epic Points, National Advantage purchases, and unit purchases are tracked here in detail. As well, on the bottom right, the Principal Arm ratio is calculated.

 

The Battles worksheet where details of battles are recoded. Epic Points earned here are reflected on the other worksheets.

 

If anyone would like a copy of the excel workbook, drop a comment below and we'll make arrangements.