From MilesR: The Island of Peleliu (850 Points)

 

Welcome to the tropical island paradise of Peleliu - one of the most sought after snorkeling and scuba diving spots in the world.  Well that's how Peleliu is billed today.  In September of 1944, it was anything but a tropical island paradise and was the sight of the one of the most hard fought campaigns of the Pacific war.  I'm building this project to be be both a convention game and the subject of a Little Wars TV episode.  It's also in teeny-tiny 3mm scale, which can be controversial scoring wise for the Challenge - are they mini's? are they terrain? are they just wargame counters?  All valid points and best left up to the judgement of my fellow minions and Curt.

The game itself will be "cooperative" with the players either commanding a US marine regiment or one acting as overall commander.  The GM (me) will play the Japanese and will be guided by a table and some preset actions.  Of course there may be a surprise or two in store for the players.  Ok maybe 3 or 4.....

Regardless of the scale, the terrain portion of this project was a bit intimidating as I wanted to make as realistic a depiction of the island and it's terrain as possible.  I think I got it to 80% correct, which is all my meager skills can manage.  Peleliu is a island shaped like a lobster claw and is roughly 6 miles long by 2.5 wide at it's widest point.  I'm using a scale of 1"=100 yards so that fits (along with the neighboring Ngesebus Island within a 10x4 foot footprint - with a little bump out at one end.

Peleliu, like most Pacific Islands, was formed by volcanic activity and consists of coral and limestone outcroppings.  It was also covered in dense jungle and mangrove swamps.  The Jungle is light green clump foliage (affixed with hot glue).  The limestone rocks are just carved EPS foam.  Lastly the coral outcroppings along the coast are made from ground up coconut husks which are commercially available to be used to line the pens of pet reptiles.  I'd like to think the coconut was sourced form the south Pacific.   It's super light and when mixed with matte medium dries rock hard with a very interesting texture.  I think you'll see me using this material a lot more in future projects.

The far right side of the US landing beaches. The island itself is made out of 1/2 inch cork board that is covered with a pre-mixed flexible tile grout (my goto for ground texturing).

The left side of the US landing beach (which I'm currently doing a small play test on).  The action depicts the initial landing of the US 1st Marine Regiment which was opposed by a Japanese infantry battalion and some bunkers.  In the background you can see the Umurbrogol Mountains.  The fighting was savage and during the first 6 days of the campaign the 1st Marines sustained 60% casualties and had to be withdrawn.  I do realize there is a stand there with unpainted mini's (M3 halftracks w/ 75mm guns attached).  I deeply apologize for that transgression.

This picture also has a nice view of the airfield which was the main US objective and fell on the first day.  Unfortunately, the US also needs to take the high ground to the north of the airfield and that will prove to be a much more difficult nut to crack.

A closer view of the fighting and the bunker complex that was known as "the Point".  Fire from this position destroyed 29 Amtracks during the initial landings and damaged just about every other tank that made it ashore.  It was finally taken by a Marine company from the 1st Regiment which was reduced to less than a platoon strength during the fighting.  The Amtracks were a critical resource for the US - both for the initial landings as well as supply distribution.  There will be consequences in game terms if the US player looses too many of the Amphibious tractors.

The next 3 pictures are of the main part of the Umurbrogol Mountains and all of the major geological features are carved in.  This process was very painstaking as the terrain is super complex.  One very daunting aspect of the mountains is they were ringed by steep coral cliffs that were 60-90 feet high along the seaward side and are honeycombed with natural caves that the Japanese used extensively.  I've labeled some of the key terrain features that have been modeled into the board.

The Central part of the mountains saw the most savage fighting - a lot of which was centered on the Horseshoe - which had the islands only source of fresh water and both sides fought with desperation to gain access to it.

The northern tip of the mountains this are and the rest of the island were held by second class Japanese troops and saw some of these troops surrender after months of fighting.

The middle north section of the island,  You can see some of the mangrove swamps in the lower left portion of the picture.

The Northern most mountains were held by a Japanese Naval Construction Battalion and had a cave system that could house over 1,000 men.  The last hold out from the garrison made their stand here and did not surrender until 1947.  The US had to fly in a former Japanese admiral to convince the remaining 37 soldiers that the war was over.

Ngesebus Island was connected to Peleliu by a wooden causeway and had a secondary objective - a small air field for fighters that was nearing completion.

Lets look at the other side of the island which is dominated by Jungle and Mangrove swamps

An alternative US landing beach - its was not used because of the fear the US troops would get bogged down in the jungle and swamps.  

The backside of the airfield and the opening into the horseshoe.

Lots of swamps.  The US will need to get to the tip of this peninsula to capture a Japanese radio direction finder which must be put out of action before the Philippines invasion fleet sails.

The water was made using a paintable latex caulk and three shades of blue paint which were wet blended along the edges.  The colors does impact gampleplay as the US player may use only amtracks to traverse the light blue water and there will be (or should be) a lot of secondary amphibious operations to flank various Japanese positions.

The underlayment of the boards are 1/2 inch cork board, carved EPS foam which was then covered by pre-mixed flexible tile grout. The airfields are just chip board cut in the shape of the run ways.

Points

Hmmm, how to score this beast.  Well it's clearly terrain and we do have a unambiguos standard of the holy 6 inch cube - or more specifically 20 points for each increment of 216 cubic inches.

Lets calculate the volume - there are 4 2x4 panels so that's a foot print of 96 x 48 inches or 4,608 square inches.  The Ngesebus Island section is 5.5 12" square sections, so the adds another 792 square inches for a total footprint of 5,400 square inches.

The Mountain are up to 5 inches high so lets go with an average height of 1.5 inches, so this beast weighs in at 8,100 cubic inches.  If we dived that total by 216 we get 37.5 scoring "cubes" or 750 points.  I'll leave it to the Minions for a final determination on scoring.

Miles this is spectacular, love the accuracy and attention to detail. Significant bonus points are awarded, in case at the end of the challenge you are short of points. Good luck with the game

MartinC

From JohnE - 28mm Napoleonic Horror - (65 Points)

My son and I have been enjoying The Silver Bayonet so much that I've been trying to crank out as much as I can to support that before either, or both of us, suffer from "shiny object syndrome". Here we have some Goblins from North Star, some zombies from the Eureka French Revolution range, and some Revenants from North Star.

New this week - I've improved lighting my photography subjects, but need to work on position and focus. Enjoy the crisp images of the bases...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Points Summary:

 

13 x 28mm foot @ 5 points = 65 points

 

Total = 65 points

Minion Miles - one last go with Mr John.... this week........

From JohnE - 28mm Pulp Miniatures Oberleutnant Heidi Reitsch - [High Adventure] - (25 Points)

Dipping into my Bob Murch stash again. Here's Oberleutnant Heidi Reitsch from the Dangerous Dames 2 pack. Seems to fit the bill for High Adventure.

 

 

 

 

Points Summary

1 x 28mm foot @ 5 points = 5 points

High Adventure (Green Pass) bonus = 20 points

Total = 25 points

From GrahameH: Another 15mm Mix

 I am still focusing on getting some armies finished. So some more 15mm Midianites, Galatians, Prussian Napoleonic Cavalry and Early Republican Romans.

15mm Midianites (Essex Figures)

I can honestly say I am a bit fed up painting camels, but these, apart from some to be used with the baggage, are the last of them. Same as last time 16 double crew camels. 

                             

I felt that natural colours on the saddle cloths were a bit dull so I painted them brighter colours, so they would stand out more. However, not sure that was a good idea, so I painted the generals cloths in duller colours which now seems better. Oh well, live and learn, and they aren't too bad.

Next the General, two Sub-General (spot the old DBM players) and three camels on their own. I have started painting figures that are left in the packs once the army is completed. They can act as Heros in Too the Strongest rules or just extra baggage, but more importantly I don't want loads of unpainted figures hanging around and I can't bring my self to throw them away.

Points wise (see if I can get it right this time)

2 X Camel units of 16 camels (each camel = 3 figures) 96 X 2 = 192 pts 

The General (9 Figures) = 18 pts 

Sub Generals (10 Figures) = 20 

The "Extras" (6 Figures) = 12 Points 

Total = 242 points 

The Early Republican Romans 

I have now finished this army apart from the camp, which I will probably do after the challenge has finish. For some reason I think I am wasting time painting terrain when I could be painting figures!!

Three units of Triarii (Chariot Miniatures). Each unit is made up of 16 figures, rather than my usual 24, as they tended to operation in smaller units. I painted my Early Imperial Army red so, for a change, I painted this army white. 

Then finally some Italian Allied Cavalry (12 cavalry) made by Essex Miniatures. These figures come in the same poses, so I turned their heads at different angles just to try and make the figures look different. Many a figure has been decapitated by turning them too far. 

Another army finished (well apart from the Marching Fort). 

Triarii = Each unit 16 Figures (32 points) - 3 units = 96 pts.

Allied Cavalry = 12 Cavalry = 48 pts

Total = 141

Galatians

A mentioned before I was going to sell this army, as I didn't really take to the figures, but I hate parting with figures, but I already had an Ancient Briton Army. So I thought I could use these as a small Galatian army, which I think is what Museum Miniatures call them. I read somewhere that the units on a table should never be more than the tables length multiplied by the tables width. I have a 6 X 4 table, therefore the total units on the table should be 24. 12 units per army, plus perhaps some skirmishers. So I thought I give this a try, but for some reason my armies seem to become large than this. No idea why.

The Last of the Galatian are some Skirmishers (3 to a base, 15 bases)

The General and Extras (13 Figures)

Some Galatian Cavalry (Essex Miniatures - I am a bit of an Essex Fan-Boy) 16 Cavalry

And finally three Scythed Chariots. 

Apparently Galatians used these, although I'm not sure they has as many as I have painted? Added the reins too. It would seem I hate doing reins as much as I hate painting camels.

Skirmisher (15 bases each of 3 figures = 45 figures) 90 pts 

General etc (13 Figures) = 26 pts 

Cavalry (16 Cavalry = 32 Figures) = 64 Pts 

Scythed Chariots (3 made up of 5 Figures and the Chariot - 10pts for the Crew & Horses, 5 for the chariot) T= 45 pts

Total = 225 pts 

Napoleonic Prussian Cavalry (AB Figures)

My treat for painting the above, painting some more Napoleonics 😊

This is the the 6th Hussar Regiment (2nd Silesia). Some Prussians seemed to have two names just to confuse ME. (32 Cavalry). This regiment was painted as it was Green, and not BLUE, having got bored painting  a load of blue on Prussian Infantry prior to the challenge). You can obviously see now I get bored very easily. 

The 5th (Pomeranian) Hussars (back to Blue) (32 Cavalry)

64 Cavalry = 256pts 

And that is it until next Time.

Total 

Midianites = 242 

Roman = 141 

Galatian = 225

Napoleonic Prussians = 256

Grand Total = 837 pts 

Minion Miles: Now this is a post worthy of exclamation! 15mm Nappys FTW!  I came up with a slightly different total 846 points but thats your fault because I had to add up all the infantry and cav to get it in the spreadsheet