Tuesday 3 November 2015

Ardennes 1944: Chain Of Command

I had another game of Chain of Command at Earlswood last week. The game saw my Fallschirmjager pitted against Keith's Yanks (although they were commanded by Tom, with Keith acting as referee/mentor). We made the Fallschirmjager elite, to see if it would make a difference to the game. Tom took a regular rifle platoon supported by a MMG and a mortar, and a Sherman tank. Big Al made some really nice hedges covered in frost and dead leaves. 

Unfortunately for me the yanks were dug into some ruined farm houses, but luckily enough his line of sight was partially obscured by a ridge of hills running across the fields, meaning I could advance through cover until quite close to the Yankie's position. 

Highlights for me- learning how to use smoke to cover an advance, and blowing up the Sherman with a panzerschreck.  Highlights for Tom- winning three turns in a row just as I launched my final assault. 

Things I have learned- Use smoke more. Panzershrecks kill tanks, especially if you hit them in the side at close range! Elite Troops are very hard to kill!

Here are a few photos...








6 comments:

Silver Whistle said...

This ticks a lot of boxes for me, chain of Command, Ardennes and great looking scenery. Your right about elite troops in these rules being hard to kill.

A few questions re the scenery if you would be so kind please?

What did you use for the base cloth and where purchased?

What did you use for the frosting effect and leaves on the hedges?

Where did you get the trees from and did they come with the snow already on them?

Many thanks,

Pat.

Silver Whistle said...

Another question if you don't mind.

The US soldiers in picture 4 look like they are Artisan figures but I don't recognise the guys with white sheets over their coats and helmet covers. Have these been converted? Very nicely done.

Simon Quinton said...

Looks Excellent!

I think the ones ones your on about Silver Whistle are the Devil Brigade also by Artisan

http://www.artizandesigns.com/list.php?man=15&cat=151&page=1

Rob Bresnen said...

Glad you all liked the photos.

The base cloth was actually a cigar box games mat turned upside down, using the white fleecy fabric as the playing surface. We discovered it accidentally when we were using it as a bit of padding under some TSS tiles I had made up for snow effect. We liked it so much we didn't bother with the TSS tiles. The club bought two Cigar Box Games mats but only one has the fleecy effect on the bottom- not sure why.
The hedges were made by big Al, so I couldn't be sure how he made them. I know he used rubberised horse hair glued to a card base. The 'leaves' are seeds of a silver birch tree. I think he sprayed the white on, but I don't know if he used a spray can or an air brush. If you want to ask him you can PM him on Lead Adventure Forum where he goes by the handle AlCal. There is not much he doesn't know about making terrain.
The light green trees I bought from 4Ground. I added the snow myself using plaster of Paris and the 'frosted' them with a spray can held at arms length. The smaller dark green ones were bought very cheaply on Ebay and are listed as Christmas Village Trees form Lemax. They pad out my 4Ground trees very well and make it look more 'Ardennes Forest'
I am afraid Simon is wrong about the figures, as they were indeed conversions based on the Artizan figures. Dave from the club used to work in a bakery making high end cake decorations and I guess all that sugar work has made him a dab hand with the Green Stuff. Mind you those figures Simon spotted would do the job too. The idea behind the figures is that during the battle the US troops had no white camouflage at all and ended up improvising their own from bed sheets etc (I am told this actually happened).

Hope this helps. Ask again if you have any more questions.

Clint said...

Both looks and sounds good. I concurr with your conclusions as well.

Vladgothic said...

Dead right about the sheets Rob, plenty of pictures showing this solution in action, also used on various vehicles as a stop gap solution.

Shame I missed the game as was looking forward to it, most disappointed!