Terrain Tiles IV. the proof of the pudding....

......Is in the gaming.

I took the terrain squares to the club this afternoon for a game of Spearhead.
First up, they went together OK (well just about) on one table. There was a sizable overlap which meant that there was no leaning on the table. There were no serious accidents.

My opponent Jon asked to be Germans. I knocked up 2 different defend lists and a German list I had prevously used here. This one has Pz Iv's. Keith seems to be the only person I know that likes PzIV's. I brought my Russian Cavalry division as I've never used it on table, and as an afterthought packed my US army if I had to defend (I have yet to think out a defend list for the Russians).

So of course I am defending.

2 infantry battalions with M36 TD's and M15/M16 AA as infantry choppers. A tank battalion at the rear completed the deployment.
Deployment on the right flank. Infantry battalion at right top, with the tank battalion bottom left.

 Left flank with most of the support troops deployed forward.

 Jons list had 4 battalions of ~11 stands. 1 Pz IV H, 1 Pz grenadier and 2 infantry. His plan was a frontal attack across the front. He used the infantry units on the flank and the armoured units in the center.
 As the game developed on the left the german infantry launched an all out assault on the US positions. The US tank battalion attempted to envelope the center thrust at the bottom right.

 On the right the Germans were flanked by the US infantry who eventually prevailed in close combat. With the movement of the US amoured battalion the center was open for the panzer granadiers

  In the center the german armoured attack was flanked by the US armoured battalion. Lead by an M4 Jumbo (US players, don't lead your tank units with anything else) and aided by some bad luck with the dice on the German end the Pz IV's died as usual.

I forgot to record the rest of the game, but the German infantry units were eventually broken by the US infantry. For a change my dice were not abysmal and I didn't manage to slaughter my troops.

Takeway lessons? 4 small German battalions in an attack list doesn't work that well, and Pz IV's are crap.

Terrain Tiles III

I have been slowly assembling the tiles. There have been hick ups along the way, mostly with magnets placed the wrong way round. Always check these things before final assembly. Easy to say, almost impossible to follow.
I now have 4 tiles that fit together. The attachment is 'snug' without being anything to write home about. However I think it will suffice for gaming.

Now to put some stuff on top

At the painting bench

With my new re-found eye sight, projects have started moving across the bench again.

First up the Russian horde required infantry.  I have had a packet around for a while, and had some SMG troops left from the Cavalry division.
I did some deep thinking about how many figures to put on a base (maybe 10 minutes). This is a balance between what looks good and what I either have lying round, or what my shallow pockets can afford. The number finally arrived at was 7. On the other hand, HMG stands (on the left) always look odd with just one gun team on them, so they have 2 plus an observer. There are also a few of engineer stands and some 82mm mortars to finish up.

 A closer look, though I tend to discourage this.

 Also in the basing stage were some H&R German SPG', in this case a PAK 40 mounted on a French chassis.

The British stuff has been sitting finished for a while and needs to go back into the boxes.

To finish I'd just like to say that I'm now "on" to Andy at H&R's cunning new sales tactic.  Orders can take up to 2 weeks to dispatch, which is quite understandable for a smaller setup with more important demands on the owners time. However this allows the chance to think "oh I forgot to order that", which is something that we have all done.Now we have the chance to add to the latest order, which I now note has doubled in size from 2 weeks ago when I first made it.

Terrain Tiles Two

Now, its one thing to have a nice square terrain tile, its another level up to attach them to each other.
There have been many different methods tried over the years with varying degrees of success.
I've had a look at a few of them and for a variety of reasons they just don't suit me. Now that I've backed myself into a self imposed corner so to speak, my solution is magnets. The smaller ones are commonly used to hold models together. I purchased 100 larger 10mm ones for just under NZ$50.

The trick with magnets is that they have 2 poles (lets just call them + and - as it will make me typing this easier). The trick is to have one of each on a side, and keep this consistent throughout the whole lot. I have made a master side with the longer side to the left. and installed 2 magnets in a + - orientation. As long as the rest match this (or mirror image if you stuff it up like I did) then they will all connect together.

 From bottom to top we have the master side, 2 magnets positioned in the right orientation above them (the magnets have a sizable through space interaction to the point that one shattered returning to the stack at high velocity). The magnets are then picked up and placed in the holes. The sides are turned over, placed on a flush flat surface and the magnets forced to sit flat in the hole. Fill the hole up with liquid nails (or similar) and leave till its set.

Assemble the sides round the plastic core and then glue the carpet tiles on top. Job done.

The first 2 completed, and they attach to all edges. The magnets are strong enough for one tile to hang off another but I wouldn't bank my life on it.

Back at the bench

Confession time.

I have not done that much painting in the last 12 months. This has been down to the slow deterioration of my eyesight. Fortunately I'm going towards the longsighted end of the spectrum, so I'm fine functioning in everyday life. the problem arrives when I'm trying to look at things up close....like 6mm figures. Its not too bad painting the AFV's (unless tires are involved) but the men have been a real struggle.
Now I've been trying to avoid accepting this for a while ( I'm Peter Pan dammit!), but last weekend I finally went into the Red Shed optometrist and after a couple of minutes came away with a solution of sorts.

I've been told that they make me look smarter (maybe I should wear them at work).They can be used as bifocals if you push them to the end of your nose, providing hours of hilarity for the lady of the house.

The result is that I finished a battalion of Panzer Grenadiers with supports. For a bit of variety I've modeled the 21st panzer division in 1944. This division was equipped with conversions from captured French chassis. The Half track is the Le SPW 304(f). I've used the H&R GR08 Panzergrenadiers, cutting the standing figures off to fit in the back of the half tracks.

 Well, apart from the BHQ which is a Sd Kfz 251/3 C model. It should be the later simplified D model but this came out of 'Der Box'. The stand still needs another vehicle

The support weapons are also on French chassis. From left to right they are; a baby neblewerfer, a Pak40 on a half track and a 20 SP mm AA unit.

Models are all H&R ex Armstrong models. I still have some other models to finish for the divisional AT units.