Hexes, we got hexes!

 

This is a great photo from oldSarges Wargame and Model blog. Old Sarge has done a great job creating a 3D hex grid for a 1/285 scale game of Squad leader. This is for a Pegasus bridge scenario. There are loads more pics on his blog and I recommend you take a look.

Not to be outdone (it goes without saying that Old Sarge has massively out done me!), I have got some hexes as well!

Just as an example, these are 80mm side to side. They are 2mm deep so I'm painting using undiluted acrylics which unfortunately leaves brush marks. Not a problem from three feet away but just irritating.

This will be my 3D battlescape for 2, 6 and 10mm OHW battles. Looking forward to getting this finished. Really, how long does it take to paint this stuff? The answer is far too long. I shall persevere. 

Before it goes!

 

I wandered into Tescos the other day and saw that they had moved their book stand. I checked it out and this paperback caught my eye. 

I have The White Army by Deniken and also Mr Figes' A People's Tragedy. Alas, Mr Figes must await a rainy day before I attempt it as it is a bit hefty. However, i suspect this one by Antony Beevor will be an easier read. The other thing is that, instead of £10.99 this one was £4.50 with the club card. Worth having a look as the offer ends on 18 June!

Путін іди додому

 

There you are Mr Mojo!

"Ho there Mr Mojo, where have you been?"

"Sorry boss, things were going **** up with Brexit so I shot over to Crete to paddle board with some Russians."

"Well, now you are back we can crack on, have you had any ideas?"

"Well, loads but....well we had a few beers and stuff so I'm a bit murky on where I got to."

"Good thing I'm doing your job for you then!"

First up, more progress on Stout Hearts as per picture. Nearly final map. Looking to finish this very soon. Play testing next week. The photo does show this is a floppy map, bits of A4 stuck together, but it does look nice in real life.

Inspiration

I have been very happily inspired by a number of developments in other guys wargaming lives:

Bob Cordery's Portable Wargame is getting a lot of interesting applications. This one (of many) from Mark Cordone is brilliant, from the home made map tiles and 2D buildings to the 1/72 micro armies is simply superb (here).

Useful review

I like reviews, especially ones which are useful. A simple like it or not is not helpful. However, there is a great review of my Hue game here.

The reviewer didn't like it all that much but appreciated the experience. The important thing for me is that he thought that it was a good simulation of urban warfare. That is, lots of static shooting and endless assaults. Possibly not a not a fun game for the manoeuvre enthusiast but I take that as a compliment

On the horizon

Against the Odds Magazine have a belated Annual coming out. This time, La Vendée - 1793. I find this endlessly fascinating so it is on my list (see the blurb here).

An apology

Unfortunately, some Google nutter has decided to screw up everyone's Drive links. I know this has affected some of you looking to download some of my files. Please keep trying, I'm working to make all of them available again very soon. Thank you for your interest.

Russian Front Notebook 1

I have decided to start keeping some proper notes on references for the Russian Front (Great Patriotic War if you prefer) so I can find them later on.

In this first installment, some references on useful but uncommon subjects.

Luftwaffe strategic bombing in Russia

Not a subject I am familiar with but a very interesting video from Bismarck (Military Aviation History channel).

Military Aviation channel

And one of the source documents he uses (the RAND Report on Luftwaffe strategic bombing).

German railway operations in Russia

Another subject that I must admit has not been on my radar since playing the Russian Campaign. A very useful article on The Influence of Railways on Military Operations in the Russo-German War 1941–1945.

Russian squad tactics

And a couple of useful references:

Soviet Squad Tactics in WW2

Russian/Soviet Rifle Squads 1935-2019

There are some points of accuracy to explore on these but nonetheless, very helpful. Possibly a clue about my current project.

More to come in due course!

Quatre Bras run out!

 

A belated thank you to Mr Rapier and chums for giving my old Quatre Bras game a remote run out the other week. Glad to see people having a go and, I think, reasonably successfully. Nice to see and also to have some useful feedback. Feel free to have a go here. One day the whole 100 days!

Also very worthwhile having a look at Martin's latest OHW game, this time GD at Kursk. Really really good!

Something for the weekend sir?

No sooner than I post about Stalingrad than I come across another series of brilliant documentaries by Army University Press (US Army that is!). Their series of four videos on the battle for Stalingrad describe the fighting through the lens of current (US) army doctrine. Big boy stuff this with acronyms and very unusual use of English. Really excellent.

One thing to look out for is their staff ride for Stalingrad. There are some brilliant handouts for staff ride leaders and a complete three dimensional environment that, unfortunately, is only available to US Army personnel. 

One other excellent video series that I have come across is by The Operations Room. They specialise in top down animations. The one that blew me away was their first episode of Black Hawk Down. Check it out, it's great!