RayR & LeeH - Terriany Day's & Sundays (120 points)

 

I'm not sure if this is a first or not but today's Terrain entry is actually from two Challengers. You may have seen on our respective blogs, that me and Lee got together a few weekends ago and spent the day making and finishing some Winter terrain for our Retreat from Moscow shenanigans, now of course this can also be used for our new Winter period, the Russo-Finnish War.

Here are 2 boxes of trees, that we winters over with a spray of white paint and also a flick and drybrush, with a very large 3 inch brush.

We also had to sand, paint, drybrush, add grass tufts and finally add the snow mixture 

We are both pretty chuffed how they all came out, there are a total of 76 basses of trees, some smaller trees have 2 or 3 trees on them. The bases are 70mm circles from Warbases.

I have no clue how Byron will work out the points for these???

Next up we have some road, or trackways.

This is how we left them after our days terrain building.

And here's how they ended up!

They were painted twice with our earth brown mix, then drybrushed white before adding our winter snow mixture.

We cut out some different shapes and bends, but stupidly forgot a T-Junction?!?!

The straight long lengths measure 15 inches long and 3.5 inches wide, all in all the measure approx. 17.5 feet in length.

Once again, I'm not really sure how Byron will work this one out??

But as its a 2-Man project the points, whatever they are will be split down the middle, half for LeeH and half for me!

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Hello to both Ray and Lee, and well done on a huge submission here that will I am sure literally fill a table with terrain.  It is however a second entry for terrain today that has a bunch of parts that are light on the "painting" aspect with the trees.  However, once again I will score some points for the bases being painted up, and there is some paint on the trees to give that winter effect.  I have don't this exact thing in the past though and while it is certainly some work due to the pure number here, it is fast and easy.  Therefore for the 76 bases of trees I am going to say a bit over a point a base and go with a 80 points, as they are very quick as I think you will agree.

As for the roads, those have a lot more painting and work going on with them (although again very simple to do, but highly effective).  When I did my roads up like this I was able to do a few sections an hour, so I am going to count 2-4 of them as a figure, and award 40 points for the lot.  

That gives 120 points for the huge batch of terrain, which in my mind is the same as painting about 12 figures each that day, so works out probably a bit to your advantage points wise, as I know I can't paint a dozen figures in a day, but I feel is fair for such a huge amount of terrain being done here.

- Byron

From KillianF: Fantasy Elf Heavy Infantry (40 points)

 Good day all,

Thank you for the nice comments on the Orcs & Dwarves previously. I am following them up with 8 Elf  warriors. These are for the most part from the Oathmark Elf Heavy Infantry, which is one of my favourite renditions of elves in plastic. The bodies are dynamic, the armour interesting, and there are far more posing options than the other Oathmark Elf kits. Additionally, I have used arms from the Wargames Atlantic Armoured Late Romans, which are a slightly different style of mail, to create even more poses. I also gave one of the greatsword bearers a crest from the old Warhammer High Elf Archers kit. These old High Elf kits provide a fantastic range of gubbins and decorations to create some really ornate panoplys. Here's the group: 

 

 

This then inspired the leader in his massive dragon helm. 

I made the dragon itself by carving one of the High Elf Spearmen banner pole toppers, with the wings coming from another piece, some sort of winged gem. Judicious filing and application of miliput hopefully has hidden the gaps sufficiently. The arm was made by chopping some various bits and pieces to straighten it, and then more miliput to fill the gap in the armpit. I used a small amount of terracotta putty for the initial fill, and then after a day some black miliput on top. I then carved a cocktail stick to the desired size and sculpted the mail. I essentially poked holes in the black until the orange showed through. Miliput is not the best for such fine detail (I'd rather green stuff), but it's what I had on hand. Overall I'm quite happy with him.

The painting is pretty simple, given the quantity of armour they wear. The cloth was either blue or turquoise, and the leather was either red, turquoise or brown. I always try to give my elves a green tinge to the skintone. I much prefer it when elves are characterised as somewhat alien, so I try to avoid painting them as just "humans, but better". These guys were based with a skintone mixed with yellow ochre (a fantastic colour), washed brown-green, and then highlighted up with Titanium Buff. I have yet to decide how I'm going to do the shields, so for now they're remaining plain blue.

My Elf army will have one unit of greatswords and one unit of axemen. These may or may not have similar stylings to Warhammer High Elf White Lions and Swordmasters. Sometimes in life you just want to recreate the army you badly painted at the age of 12. I have 2 additional fantasy elf armies to paint yet. One day when they are complete I will be able to field a massive host with several different types. But for now, I've got to finish off these Oathmark ones......

Points:

8x 28mm: 40 points

Squirrel: 1 point 

Squirrel tally: 7

Zona Scavengers, 10mm Black Orcs, 10mm Skeletons, 28mm Goths, 28mm Elves, Dwarves and Orcs 

From DaveD . That a fine addition for this Sunday Killian.good work on the kit bash elements here . 40 it is 

 

From FrederickC - Western Lumber Camp Buildings and Log Piles for 'What a Cowboy' (25 Points)

 Woohoo! A third submission already. 

Last summer my wife and I spent a week at Wasagaming in Riding Mountain National Park. While dropping into the local Dollar Store to get a jug of water, I happened to spot two dYI log cabins that looked like they had some potential for scenarios of 'What A Cowboy'.

They did need a bit of extra work, as there was a gap under the bottom log onthe sides of the building, an artifact due the the nature of the assembly. This was filled with a piece cut from a chopstick to ensure the wall came all the way down to the ground, 

I also decided that the roof would look better with shingles, rather than just a thin piece of wood. So strips of cardboard shingles were cut ad glued into place. That is as about as fancy as it got. Having assessed what would be needed to actually cut the doors and windows through the logs, I decided that is wasn't worth the effort, I did however cut a base on which to mount the cabins to give greater stability, and to make sure the structure would sit flat on the table.

"I'm in pieces, bits and pieces."

Assembled cabins (still without pases.)

Showing the 'lift off' roof.

 The dimensions for the two cabins/bunk houses/lumber camp office are 5" x 6" x 3.5" 

These were painted with water base latex paint from the 'Oops' section at Home Depot.

Pop Up Roof to show interior

 

 

The final group of items are five log piles which would be handy cover from bullets. Here I painted some doweling different shades of brown, and using a jig, sawed them into standard lengths. They were then glued on a base until I thought it looked like the right height. Eventually I produced 5 log piles, each 1" x 2.25" x 1.75". 

All the bases got a thin layer of sand glued on them, with some sporadic bits of greenery scattered here and there. Once again, what Byron says it's worth. 

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What a great little find Frederick.  I agree they needed something with the roof and the shingles make a big difference and look great.  As a suggestion to fit even more into that really rustic look, you might want to try gluing some flock onto the roof in patches as well, as a lot of old cabins get that moss growth on them and it could look good, but if your thinking of these as a new build then I wouldn't.  

Overall, the colour choices overall are really good as well, the cabins look suitably aged and the logs being different colours look great as well.  I might even be stealing the idea for some of my own western terrain.  Points wise I am going to say about 10 points a building as they are pretty simple, and then a few more points for the logs piles.  I would say about 5, but am going to go to a total of 30 between the buildings and the log piles.  Keep it coming Frederick.

- Byron

from RayR - 25mm Russo-Finnish Winter War 1939-40 - 37mm Bofors - Oh Rats! 80 pts .

 

For my next entry it's back to the 1939-40 Winter War, the figures are once again from Parkfield Miniatures, great range packs WWF33 the Bofors and WWF34 the crew. You get 5 crew in the pack, but only need 3 crew in Bolt Action, but I thought It might as well paint them all up. The base from Charlie Foxtrot and is a spare from my Retreat from Moscow French.

The 1939 Finnish 37 mm Bofors anti-tank gun was a highly effective, Swedish-designed weapon that played an important role during both the Winter War and the Continuation War. Originally developed by Bofors in the early 1930s, it was intended to provide infantry units with a lightweight yet powerful defense against armored vehicles. Weighing only about 370 kilograms, the gun was easy to maneuver and could even be towed by a single horse in Finnish service, making it well suited to Finland’s rugged terrain and mobile tactics.

In combat, the gun proved accurate and reliable, with a practical rate of fire of around 12 rounds per minute. Firing a 37×257 mm cartridge, it could penetrate approximately 40 mm of armor at 300 meters—more than sufficient to destroy most light Soviet tanks such as the T-26 and BT series encountered during the early stages of the Winter War. Its semi-automatic mechanism automatically ejected spent shells to speed reloading, while an optical sight and protective shield enhanced both accuracy and crew protection.

Finland relied on both imported Swedish-made guns and domestically produced copies, with roughly 355 Finnish-built versions manufactured under the designation 37 psv.K/36 or VTT37-36. Although the weapon gradually became obsolete as heavier Soviet tanks like the T-34 entered service and thicker armor rendered the 37 mm gun less effective by 1943, it remained a dependable and durable asset. During the initial phases of the conflict especially, the Bofors 37 mm was a critical component of Finland’s anti-tank defences.

For the points, there are 5 figures, one of them is laying down - 22.5 pts

1 Crew served weapon - 10pts

Plus whatever Dave wants to give me for the base?

Next we have some Rats, that will fit into either the Winter War or the Retreat from Moscow.

I'm sure they didn't starve unlike the poor French and Allies, I guess they were the breakfast dinner and Tea!

I bought these at the Warfare Show last November and can't for the life of me remember the company I bought them from????? I know they came in a little round tine, with Body Parts written on it??

Anyway the 25mm Rats will add a little discomfort to our snowy game, there are 20 rats all in all, 3 are based on 25mm circular bases while the bigger horde is on a slightly larger irregular base.

I'd guess at 2pts per rat, as they're roughly the size of a 15mm horse?

But again, I'll leave that up to Dave!

From DaveD . Nice to get some more firepower on  the table Ray . Rats ! Oh blimey I look forward to seeing the rules for those . I’m make this 80 pts 

From LeeH: Soviet Tank Hunters and T26/M1931 (100pts)

I narrowly missed last week’s submission deadline by a matter of hours, so this week turns into a double offering: more Soviet infantry and a tank. 

First up is another twelve-man Light Machine Gun Squad, the nearly finished unit that never quite made it onto the blog last time. All that stood between them and glory was drying basing and a final layer of snow, but time ran out. One of my quietly declared New Year’s resolutions was to stop saying yes to every new project that wanders past. That resolution has already collapsed in a heap, leaving me busier than ever. Not necessarily a bad thing, but it does add another tick to the ever-growing “suspected ADHD” column.

Next on the bench is another tank for my Soviet forces. This time it’s a T-26 Model 1931, the distinctive twin-turret variant armed with machine guns. Unlike my previous T-26 from Rubicon, this one is a 3D print from Danger Close Studio. Aside from some minor clean-up around the tracks where the supports had been, it’s an excellent print and blends in seamlessly with my other vehicles. Historically, the T-26 Model 1931 was heavily influenced by the British Vickers 6-Ton and was intended as an infantry support tank. Its twin turrets, usually mounting DT machine guns, offered impressive firepower on paper, but in practice proved awkward to command. That complexity eventually saw the design abandoned in favour of more practical single-turret models.

Finally, there’s a Tank Hunter team. This unit consists of two men armed with the 7.62mm PPD 1934/38 submachine gun, a design based on the Bergmann MP18/1 and fed by either drum or box magazines. They’re supported by two riflemen, with the NCO hefting a Molotov cocktail. The Molotov was a small conversion, using a plastic piece from the Warlord Games Soviet infantry sprue that recently appeared as a giveaway on the cover of Wargames Illustrated, which couldn’t have been better timed. On the tabletop in Bolt Action, Tank Hunters are nasty little specialists, with rules that allow them to double their attacks in close combat against vehicles, making them a serious threat despite their size.

In short: a delayed update turned into a productive one, with a finished LMG squad, a characterful early-war Soviet tank, and a converted Tank Hunter team all joining the ranks. Progress may be chaotic, but it’s definitely moving forward.

Scoring:
15x28mm Foot = 75pts
2x28mm Prone Foot = 5pts
1x28mm Vehicle = 20pts
Total = 100pts

From DaveD . The winter coolness continues . Your forces are building up nicely . The twin turret tank is interesting , but of course entirely understandable it didn’t meet the requirements in the end . I have one in the Back of Beyond stash too. Hopefully Ray has his can openers handy . Grand stuff Lee . 100 it is 

ROBERTT - 12 Lengths of Hedges or Vineyard (12 points)

 

This is my first proper terrain entry.  In between watching pain dry, I thought I would try my hand at some hedges to line or be fixed to fields.  Materials used - Pan scrub? Check; Lots of PVA? Check; Various types of flock? Check; Isopropyl alcolhol? Check; Lollipop sticks? Check.

These are designed for use with my 15mm chaps in France, for my poor BEF chaps to lurk behind.  but then my regular gaming chum got his hands on the latest Battlegroup book for Italy and suddenly I could also use these as a Vineyard.  They are based so that they can be used as both, with a light earth AK terrain paste on 6" lollipop sticks instead of being fixed to fields.  This means that when I am defending in Italy I can have serried ranks of vines to impede any advance.  But when attacking I can place the edges facing me, thus opening up avenues of fire.  I am sure no one will notice.

This is my first attempt at terrain, so please be gentle with me.  i have spotted bare patches where the flock didn't stick to the pan scrub, so I will have to fix that.  (I only spotted this when looking at the photos, it is not as noticable from six feet away).

I have included a 15mm Peter Pig chappie for scale.  He is pointing so must be important. Also in one of the shots there is a ruler to show length.

Without further ado, let's get on with the show.

There are 12 lengths of hedge / vineyard.  I have not put any points for these as I understand that there is a mysterious prognosticating device that will determine the outcome.

I am also trying to improve my photography, there are some incedibly talented photographers in this challenge and I am looking at things like lighting and background and trying to copy with what I have to hand.

Thank you for looking. 

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Hello Robert, these are lovely looking terrain bits and very similar to how I made my bocage years ago.  The idea of using them as vineyard rows is a great one as well that I had not thought of.  It would have been nice to have a few work in progress pictures as a mini guide for others on how they were built so that they could follow along.  I am sure they will get a ton of use in various games.  Great work.

Now however, the bad news.  I am going to award a few points for the painting of the bases (1 point per strip), BUT other than that there is no real painting here.  This being a painting challenge there are no points awarded for building things (hence the reason we are allowed to build and prime figures before the challenge) and almost everything there is simply built, not painted.  I say this, not because your work is not lovely, but because I have to remain consistent and there is not much actual painting here.  That said, I have no issue with people posting these types of terrain posts, especially if you include steps on how to make them to help other people out, but I just can not award points for painting if no painting was done. I am sorry if you didn't understand about the painting part from the rules before hand, and you did create some nice terrain here, so I hope having the terrain for your games is reward in itself.  

- Byron