Warning Order - Issue #28

2010·3 MB·English

by  Wasatch Front Gaming Society

Issue #28
Fall 2010 Blitzkrieg Commander 2
When Blitzkrieg mand you fail a command roll
Commander first ar- mechanism then that command stand
rived on the scene it from what is cannot issue any more or-
entered riding a wave termed the ders for that turn. Simple,
of enthusiasm for the Warmaster very effective, and it cre-
Warmaster system. system. ates the ebb and flow of an
The fantasy version Basically, armored battle on the table-
had enjoyed great suc- each com- top.
cess and the ancients mander
Firing, artillery, air-
version also made huge (represented
strikes, engineering, and
inroads into the ancient by a com-
more were topped off by a
gaming community. mand stand)
quite impressive collection
Although it was initially is rated for their command
of army lists. So after sev-
surprising that it could be skill, usually from 6-9.
eral years of being in the
adapted to WW2, BKC Commanders issue orders
hands of gamers, numerous
quickly gathered a large to their units by rolling
r following. The system was 2D6 and if the number is discussions online, and two
additional sets of rules with
obviously successful as it equal to or less than their
a common system having
e spawned a modern version command value, then the
been published, what is
called Cold War Com- unit or group of units can
BKC 2 all about.
mander and a sci-fi version move, deploy, fire, call in
d
entitled Future War Com- a barrage, and more. If you First, the book is very
mander. roll a 12 then there is a similar to the original rules.
blunder which is rolled for The contents follow the
r There was a great deal
or if you roll a 2 then the same setup, so gamers use
learned in the interval be-
unit (s) can take two ac- to the first edition should
O tween BKC and BKC 2
tions. Each successive have no problem transition-
that started showing up as
order subtracts one from ing to the second. The
rules in the other two
the command value and the army lists have been ex-
books. As the system con-
tinued to be popular, battle further a unit moves form panded and the format has
its commander decreases changed slightly, so if you
g reports were posted, and
the value as well. Once have lists already prepared
numerous rules were
L hashed out in the forums, from the first edition you
C n will need to make a few
author Pete Jones incorpo-
S changes. One of the more
rated these things into the
positive aspects of the new
design of BKC 2.
i edition are better pictures
For those who have and several concepts are
n
seen the term BKC on vari- explained better with the
ous forums and hobby use of images. In fact, you
sites, BKC stands for Blitz- could say that the new edi-
r
krieg Commander. The tion focuses on trying to
game system uses the com- make it easier (cont. on p3)
a
Inside this issue:
W Special points of interest:
Review of Blitzkrieg Commander 2 2
Review of Blitzkrieg Commander 2 and
BKC2 Battle Report 4 several articles on 1/285th gaming with
BKC2.
General de Brigade Battle Report 6
Battle reports for Fire & Fury, General de
1/285th Terrain-What’s Available? 8
Brigade, and Age of Reason.
WMA Battle Report: Seleucids vs. Romans 12
Several boardgame reviews.
Age of Reason Battle Report 18
Regular features
Fire & Fury ACW Battle Report 20
Blitzkrieg Commander 2 (cont.)
for gamers to un- command penalty rules to see what has changed.
derstand the basic during that side’s
The previous issue of Warning Order
concepts of com- turn. There is also
had a battle report where we played with
mand, movement, now an Air Superi-
BKC2 for the first time and reactions
and firing. ority determination
were generally positive. We did a great
phase added to the
Don’t let the many things wrong, but then again we
start of the game
length of the rules only had two copies of the rules for five
which can greatly
fool you as al- of us and those two sets had just arrived a
influence request
though there are few days before the game! We did notice
for air support and
many pages, it is that some of the blunders were painful,
the effectiveness of
laid out in a clear the artillery rules worked better, the hav-
that support.
and concise manner ing to work out AP and AT dice throws
which will allow gamers to quickly get Other changes include artillery spot- took a bit longer than the old generic
into the game. After a game or two all ting and deviation which cuts down on combat system, and we liked the changes
you will need are the army list for your the wild results you could sometimes get with tactical doctrine.
forces and the quick reference sheet. when calling in artillery or airstrikes.
I think at this point BKC has gone far
Cover and visibility have been clarified
Naturally, if you’re going to be asked beyond the original Warmaster system. It
better along with better explanations for
to drop $40-50 on a new edition has successfully taken the command,
how things like recon, infantry support,
(depending upon where you order it) you movement, and shooting core rules and
direct and indirect fire, and an expanded
may want to know what has changed. morphed them into something suitable for
section on field defenses.
The answer is a lot, but in a good way. WW2 combined arms operations. For a
The Initiative Phase has been ex- long time BCK was seen as an alternative
First, let’s talk about the army lists,
panded as well, giving troops that start to Flames of War or for those who had
which have been greatly expanded. Units
close to the enemy additional options. moved on from rules such as Command
are now rated for both AP (anti-
What was called the Combat Phase has Decision. The biggest complaint about
personnel) and AT (anti-tank) fire. In my
now been changed to Close Assault and the rules were that they could be generic
mind this was a necessary change as the
this can take place during the Initiative at times and that there were limited, if
original combat system was a little too
Phase at the start of the turn. I like this any differences between the armies. The
generic for my tastes. The second change
change and it gives commanders a lot game was fun, played quickly, but you
is that the limits on units that can be cho-
more flexibility in attacking enemy posi- were left with the feeling that it could
sen have been altered so that you can
have been better.
better create more historical orders of
battle. Infantry now have several classifi- In my opinion, BKC 2 has moved
cations, such as veterans, so you can pay past the original rules to the next level of
points for better troops in your force. complexity, past Flames of War and
many other similar systems. The addition
The basic command system has been
of air superiority, tactical doctrine, sepa-
slightly modified to reflect tactical doc-
ration of AP and AT fire, and many other
trine. Instead of having the same com-
additions has the rules progressing from
mand ranges for everyone, there are now
game to dare I say it, simulation. It is
limits depending upon country. I think
still easy to pick up and play, but there
this was a great addition as again, every-
are changes in the new edition that set
thing seemed a little too general in the
these rules apart from the current crop of
first edition of the rules. Knocked out
“throw large numbers of toys on the ta-
command stands can now be replaced,
bletop and let’s blow things up” type of
the blunder table has been expanded, and tions then exploiting them during move-
rules that permeate the hobby today.
the overall commander can attempt to ment.
reissue orders to those units that failed to In summary, BKC 2 is a huge im-
As you can tell by the above items,
receive an order. Basically, the command provement on an already popular rules
we’re not just talking about a new edition
system has been upgraded substantially system. The author deserves credit for
with a few added pictures and one or two
by these changes and for the better. listening to fans of the game, taking the
items added into the references list at the
time to tweak rules, and expanding the
Opportunity fire is now no longer an end of the rules. This is taking the base
game to make it better. Highly recom-
optional rule. Any unit can use it in the system and expanding upon it greatly.
mended.
opposing side’s turn, but there are conse- It’s not quite a new game, but the many
quences, such as being unable to act in changes will definitely make players who Images from the Specialist Military Publishing
the Initiative Phase and suffering a –1 are familiar with the system check their Ltd. Site where you can order BKC 2.
Page 3 WARNING ORDER
BKC 2 : Russian Armored Attack Battle Report
If you’ve been following country beyond the railway cut. The
this magazine for a long time Russians would need to push hard to
then you know that each Friday clear the gap before the remaining
after Thanksgiving we have a German forces could cut them off.
game, whether it’s our regular
The game started well for the Rus-
game night or not! This year
sians as most of the armor and mech
we had players with a lot of
infantry got on the board and began to
other commitments so three of
move towards the gap. A battalion of
us gathered at GAJO in Sandy
T-34/76s screened the Luftwaffe
for a game of Blitzkrieg Com-
troops so that they wouldn’t get any
mander 2. GAJO is an excel-
ideas about counterattacking the Rus-
lent gaming store located in
sian armor moving along the road.
Sandy, Utah that has historical
The second turn, however, had some
miniatures, Osprey books,
serious command failures and the Rus-
magazines, terrain, paint, and
sian forces barely moved. Fortunately,
plenty of gaming space.
the Germans were having command
The scenario was for a problems of their own and barely
The terrain would play an important
Russian armored force to seize a vital moved any of their reinforcements. So,
part of the battlefield, so it needs to be
railway station and exit units off the road after the first two turns it still looked
described here so that everyone can ap-
at the far edge of the board. The Rus- hopeful for the Russians as they began to
preciate the position the Russians were
sians started with two battalions of T- spread out in preparation for forcing their
in! The hill near the Russian entry point
34/85s, two battalions of T-34/76s, a way through the gap. It was beginning to
was held by a battalion of Luftwaffe
battery of SU-76s, a battery of SU-85s,
troops in entrenchments. In BKC2
and a mechanized infantry battalion in
troops in entrenchments are tough
trucks. The Russian force also had a
customers and you really need infantry
recon asset plus an artillery group of two
to flush them out, which the Russians
122mm batteries and BM-13 rockets on
didn’t have enough of as this was a
trucks.
mobile assault then exploitation. The
The Germans were a mixed lot, with a Russian players, including myself,
battalion of Luftwaffe Field troops in didn’t realize how tough this position
entrenchments on a hill along with a Stug was until we started to engage it!
-IIIH battery supporting them. There was
Then there was a series of railway
a mixed armor battalion consisting of a
tracks across the center of the board
company of Panthers and PZ Mk.IVHs
and half the board were these tracks in
entering the board, one 88mm AT gun, a
a cut. The cut functioned as an anti-
company of Jgpz-IVs, and an under
tank ditch in that armored vehicles could- look like if the Russians didn’t get into
strength panzergrenadier battalion also
n’t cross it. Naturally, this created a gap the open area within the next two turns
deployed along the roads. The Germans
through which any attacking force would that they could be facing most of the Ger-
had two 100mm batteries and a Nebel-
have to get through to enter the open man armor now moving up to the front.
werfer battery in support.
Page 4 NEWSLETTER TITLE
BKC 2 : Russian Armored Attack (cont.) Battle Report
The third turn found the leading T- when down to one Stug left were the brought fire on the Russian armor milling
34/85 battalion now at the gap and under Russians finally able to start to flow about.
fire from the Stug-IIIHs in the woods that through the gap. T-34s moved around the
The Russians were now firing in sev-
were supporting the Luftwaffe troops on burning hulk and broke towards the rail-
eral directions and trying to move to bet-
the hill. More T-34s joined in the fight, way station while still others moved
ter ground, but failed continuously on
but the Stugs continued to slug it out in around the hill and flanked the remaining
command rolls. Several German attacks
this unequal fight. A T-34/76 battalion Stug. The mechanized infantry battalion
forced some of the armor back into other
and the SU-76 battery tried to pound the moved up ready to attack the railway
formations, creating a huge traffic jam at
Luftwaffe troops and got brutalized in the station which was now securely in the
the gap. Another artillery barrage devi-
process. After several turns of exchanges hands of a depleted panzergrenadier bat-
ated right on top of the remnants of the
two T-34s and three SU-76s were left talion.
mech infantry battalion, which was shel-
burning in exchange for a 75mm AT gun
Then all hell broke loose on the Rus- tering near the railway cut and got fin-
and one platoon of Luftwaffe troops.
sians. The artillery spotter for the Ger- ished off.
The German reinforcements were mans could only see the front of the gap,
With the Russians now having no
finally moving towards the front, but the but a great roll on deviation dropped an
infantry to tackle the railway station, half
question was whether or not the Stugs artillery barrage right on the loaded
of the T-34s and supporting armor on
could hold out. They did. Several T- trucks of the Russian mech infantry bat-
fire, and German armor formed up in an
34/85s were left on fire as a testament to talion! This coupled with the Panthers
L-shaped killing zone we deemed that the
their dogged defense of the woods. Only and PZIVHs which had moved up now
game was over as a German victory.
VOLUME 1, ISSUE 1 Page 5
Prussian Assault General de Brigade Replay
I guess that through the gaps in every time they prepared for an attack
our group should the terrain under units would get disordered and it would
feel blessed that heavy fire. Also, use get postponed.
we have enough their advantage in
On the Prussian left the leading bri-
figures and ter- cavalry to threaten
gade ran into trouble near the ridge.
rain to not only and hopefully pin
First, they had to cross the stream and
play large Age of down one of the
woods under fire from the French artil-
Eagles scenarios, flanks. The Prussians
lery, then were met by musket fire from
but we can also for their part would
the French battalions on top of the ridge.
play General de attack with infantry
Miraculously, they made it across and
Brigade or pretty columns at four dif-
charged up the ridge, driving the French
much any other ferent points, hoping
infantry back and creating a huge hole in
system! One of to create a break-
the French defenses. At this point it
our members had recently finished up through which would hopefully dislodge
looked like the game might end early, but
several more units of Prussians and was the defenders somewhere and make the
the combination of a counterattack by
anxious to use them, which led to this rest fall back or be in danger of being cut
two Young Guard battalions and taking
scenario. off. The French held ridge looked like a
so many casualties crossing the stream
particularly tough
It is the spring of 1813 and the Prus-
nut to crack with
sians are on the move. A French and
a battery of artil-
Saxon force has taken up positions near a
lery deployed
vital town and road network. There are
along the top and
very good defensible positions in the
two infantry bat-
area, including a low ridge between two
talions flanking
crossroads and a forested area on one of
the position. Not
the flanks. The terrain also includes
only that, but the
some streams, making it difficult to at-
three regiments
tack in some areas and forcing the attack-
of the Saxon
ers in some areas to be channeled towards
cavalry brigade
the defenses.
were positioned
The Prussians had several strong in- close by to offer
fantry brigades spread across the board immediate sup-
for the attack, but were woefully weak in port.
cavalry, with just one unit attached to
The action
each division. The French had several
began almost
infantry brigades which were spread thin
immediately near
along the main defense line, but they had
the forest on the
a brigade of Young Guard in reserve with
Prussian right. The attacking battalions caused the Prussian brigade to break.
a brigade of Saxon cavalry.
engaged the French infantry and artillery The supporting artillery battery broke
The French plan was pretty simple; almost immediately, beginning a life and with them and suddenly there was a ma-
hold the ridge and forest for as long as death struggle in that area that would last jor gap in the Prussian lines! The shat-
possible, then make the Prussians attack almost the entire game. Two Prussian tered units fell back to regroup and the
battalions in column charged into focus of the attack moved elsewhere.
the forest and pushed back the
The Prussian left was moving very
French infantry, but they in turn
slowly due to the threat of the Saxon
were met by counterattacks and
cavalry near by. They had already de-
barely held on to the gains they had
feated the Prussian cavalry which forced
made. More and more units began
the infantry brigade to form square and
to get sucked into the bloodbath at
advance very slowly down the road. The
the forest as the battle progressed.
Saxon cavalry charged again and again,
In the center the Prussian attack but were repulsed by the Prussian squares
was met by several French battal- with a few of the charges almost succeed-
ions and a series of firefights broke ing and they would have ended the game
out which would last several turns. by rolling up the entire Prussian force!
The Prussians couldn’t get any mo-
The attack and counterattack in the
mentum in the center at this point as
Page 6 WARNING ORDER
Prussian Assault (cont.) General de Brigade Replay
forest on the Prussian right continued. getting going, now surged forward, driv- The Prussians certainly earned the
The Prussians burst out of the forest only ing a wedge in the French defenses. Two victory and both sides had played well.
to be met by the French reserves and Young Guard battalions moved forward The game went two nights, or almost 7
driven back. Both sides had already lost to fill the gap and were met by a regiment 1/2 hours. Even though at times it looked
several battalions and there looked to be of Prussian cavalry. The cavalry overran as if one side or the other had won or
no ending the battle early as more units one battalion, then turned on the Young could have won the game, both sides
continued to join the attack. Guard and despite a gallant defense recovered and the game went on. Cer-
where the Young Guard killed about half tainly if one of the Prussian squares had
The Prussian left continued to have
of the Prussian cavalry, they were shat- been broken, the first attack on the forest
one brigade regroup and take up blocking
tered and fell back. defeated, or if the French had not had to
positions while the second steadily ad-
commit their reserves so early, the game
vanced in square, driving the Saxon cav- The Prussian center and left now
could have ended much differently.
alry further and further back. The infan- surged forward, finally moving beyond
try brigade began to get the support of the the forest and carrying the attack towards General de Brigade is certainly dif-
Prussian artillery which had returned to the town while various French units tried ferent than Age of Eagles or when we
the battle and since the French were al- to make a stand at several places. With used to play Empire back in the day. The
ready spread thin they were forced to no reserves left and most units either game does a good job of focusing the
give ground, although slowly. heavily engaged or down 25-50%, the action at the battalion level and best of
French decided to withdraw and the game all, you can use Age of Eagles basing for
Now it came time for the main event.
was ruled as a Prussian victory. the games!
The Prussian center, which had troubles
ISSUE #28 Page 7
1/285th Terrain: A Glimpse of What is Available
For as long as I’ve been involved with range is that they are inexpensive. $5 or the small scale gamer with inspiration!
miniatures gaming, 1/285th has been the $6 will get you a small bag of 2-3 build-
Timecast sells a wide variety of build-
red-headed stepchild in regards to terrain ings (usually identical) and if you get a
ings for Western and Easter Europe in
availability. I can remember ages ago in few bags of different types you can as-
several scales, but we will confine our-
the late 70s and early 80s when we would semble a good looking village in no time
selves to talking about the 1/285th offer-
do massive armor battles, be it WW2 at all. The buildings are made of a dry,
ings. There are farms, single story
Eastern Front or NATO vs. the Warsaw whitish-gray plaster that paint up well,
houses, two story stores, houses, and
Pact, with GHQ miniatures that still hold but if you’re looking for intricate detail
much more. They seem reasonably
up well today. Our problem back then you will need to look elsewhere. Overall,
priced, but I’m sure the shipping from
was trying to find terrain in that scale. they’re good value for the money and I
England will greatly add to the total cost
Felt roads, bottle brush trees or items use them as filler buildings for my large
if you’re ordering from the U.S.
scavenged from craft stores or still worse villages.
lichen for forests, was the norm back Again, where they score some huge
GHQ
then. There were a few points is with the pictures on their site of
buildings here and there, GHQ is naturally large villages, Italian towns, modern vil-
but the quality was not known for their out- lages, and much more. The pictures of
very good and so wood standing 1/285th scale village blocks with tiny walls, sheds,
blocks with sheet plastic micro-armor ranges and greenhouses, and much more will provide
roofs were sometime their 1/2400th scale ships. the gamer with so many ideas that you
used. They also have a range of cannot help but want to get started imme-
1/285th scale buildings diately on some kind of building project!
Surely then, with the
that are similar to their
Internet, modern pro-
miniatures in that they
duction techniques, and
are very detailed. Each
a much larger gaming
building will easily
audience, things have JR Miniatures offers a wide range
cost you double what
changed for the better in of inexpensive buildings in this
many other companies
1/285th scale? Well, scale.
charge, but with a
yes and no. There are
good paint job they do stand out on the
more offerings and you can definitely
tabletop.
search online for terrain and ideas about
how to build it, but in GHQ also makes
comparison to 15mm the Terrain Maker One of the many striking examples of terrain
and 25mm, it is still line of terrain which building from the Timecast site.
way behind in terms of use Styrofoam hexes
choices. This article that can be cut, modi-
will hopefully highlight fied, and painted to Leva/Wargamer-Poland
some of the better ter- represent almost any
Determining who or what company
rain options for the terrain on the planet.
owns this line of resin 1/285th scale
small scale gamer. I’ve seen some spec-
buildings and terrain is difficult at times.
tacular examples of this
JR Miniatures It is available from Poland at:
terrain system, but it
www.wargamer.pl and you can regularly
This is one of the does take time, a size-
see these products on Ebay, but some-
major terrain manufac- able investment of
times sold by different companies. Re-
turers in terms of build- money, and trying to
gardless of who is selling them, these are
ings for all scales. In make a large number of
One of the detailed buildings avail- some of the best 1/285th scale products
1/285th they have a reusable hexes can be a
able through GHQ. around. They make an extensive line of
large number of offer- challenge.
fortifications, railway items (both track
ings, including build-
Timecast and trackside buildings), and village/city
ings suitable for the Middle East, Euro-
buildings. The items are made out of
pean, and East European regions. They I do not own any buildings from this
resin and are very well sculpted. The
are available directly from the manufac- company, although I do plan to order
prices are reasonable and even though
turer and I’ve seen them sold on Ebay, some in the near future. However, they
they are usually shipped from Poland,
Warweb, and many more online sites, so do have one of the more spectacular gam-
I’ve had pretty good success working
you should have no problem finding ing sites in the business. Maybe not from
with them and they will combine ship-
them. a graphics/functionality standpoint, but
ping.
their gallery pages will definitely provide
One of the huge advantages of this
ISSUE #28 Page 8
1/285th Terrain: A Glimpse of What is Available (cont.)
sible, but you can do a search on the
Internet or check out Ebay. I’ve found
many one off type of buildings that can
add flavor to a village block or break up
what looks like a line of the same build-
ings. I’ve even seen some of the old Ga-
lia buildings (slabs of plaster!) available
on Ebay.
Free Paper Terrain
I came across several sheets of free
1/285th scale buildings and if you do an
This is one of the track sections from the
Internet search you can come up with a
Leva line (?). They make an extensive One of the outstanding examples of terrain
few more. I could be mistaken, but these
assortment of railway track and build- building on the 6mm wargaming site:
look like the sets that were sold by Ros
ings.
Heroics way back in the 70s and 80s. http://6mm.wargaming.info/index.htm
Paper Terrain a number of tutorials and examples on it.
The pictures of the highways and Middle
This company offers a wide variety of
East cities are inspiring to say the least.
1/285th scale buildings printed on card-
You can easily get a number of ideas for
stock. The buildings are in color with
your own designs by visiting this site.
several per sheet and include walls, out-
buildings, and more. The challenge is
having the patience to do the cutting and
folding, but if you can then you will be
able to produce spectacular results as in
the image below. I’ve ordered and built
some of the 15mm sets and they offer
very fast service plus a good product for
the money that gives you a lot of options
for creating terrain.
One of the many 1/285th scale pa-
per building sets that are available Perhaps beyond the realm of ability
online. for most gamers, the Z-scale buildings
on this site show what can be done in
this scale with some effort:
I printed these off on cardstock, then cut
http://zscalebuildings.com
and glue the various buildings together.
If reinforced with balsa or sheet plastic
and attached to bases with flocking they Another great site is the Z Scale
produce a very acceptable village. I also Building site listed above. Although
found someone who had taken pictures of primarily designed for use with model
actual European buildings, then created a railroads, Z scale is close enough to
One of the many fine examples you will set of 1/285th scale paper buildings. 1/285th to be of interest. Again, there are
see at the Paper Terrain site. There were only a few in the set, but they some inspiring models and they are all
quickly became factories and industry scratchbuilt!
Other Manufacturers
buildings near my railway lines! Because
I’m sure I missed a few companies,
There are enough odds & ends in the of the small scale, they look as good as
web sites, etc., but this should at least get
gaming world for this scale that it de- resin or plaster buildings on the tabletop.
you pointed in the right direction if you
serves mention. Many companies that
Other Sites are just getting into this scale. You can
regularly do 15mm or 25mm terrain will
create some incredible layouts by spend-
offer a few items in 1/285th scale. List- One of the incredible 6mm or 1/285th
ing a little time and effort with your ter-
ing all of them here would be near impos- sites is the 6mm Wargaming site that has
rain to go along with the miniatures!
Page 9 WARNING ORDER
Building Command Stands for BKC
I’ve found that when playing any ing at his maps at the front of the vehicle
variant of the Warmaster system, whether while the rest of the crew/staff are in the
it’s the fantasy, Ancients, or WW2 ver- immediate vicinity. In this instance the
sion, it’s good to have the commanders roof was made from single strips of card-
stand out. Not only does it look good on board that are overlaid, giving it a
the tabletop, but you can quickly see “stepped” tile-like appearance and is eas-
where they are and it helps with game- ier to drybrush.
play.
The command stand in front of the
For this article I’m going to focus on overall commander’s stand is for an
command stands for 1/285th scale for use FAO. The Sdkfz-251 is hidden behind a
with Blitzkrieg Commander. For this ridge or on a sunken road (your pick)
system you need command stands to rep- while the artillery observer is lying prone
resent the overall commander, the com- on top of the ridge. The rear command
manders of various companies and battal- stand is a Jgpz-IV with a commander in
ions, forward air controllers, forward the tank and officers at the side of the
artillery observers, and recon assets. tank. Tank commanders require few
was probably a common scene in East
things to make, but tweezers and patience
I decided long ago that all of my com- Prussia, Hungary, or around Berlin. A T-
is definitely needed. Take pretty much
mand stands for any of the Warmaster 34/85 has smashed its way through a
any single figure and cut it in half, then
games would be on round bases. This house and the regimental commander has
glue it on one of the hatches after scrap-
would definitely set them apart from the arrived in a jeep to go over the next phase
ing the hatch off with an X-Acto blade.
other “regular” combat units that are usu- of an attack with the maps spread out on
Then, look at some pictures of the actual
ally rectangular or square based. For the the front of the tank.
vehicles to see how
bases the cheapest option are the wooden
The house is made the hatches were
circles sold in packs at craft stores that
of spare balsa scraps and shaped. Cut one out
come in various sizes. Two or three dol-
you only need to do part of thin sheet plastic,
lars will get you a good assortment and
of the house. Cut out then glue it either in
quantity, plus they are thicker than the
the area where the tank front or rear of the
usual basing material which also works
will sit and add a few tank commander. Not
well. My only complaint about them is
walls to the back side. always easy to do and
that they don’t take super glue well as the
You can build the roof it may take you more
surfaces have a smooth finish. A few
by taking a few strips of than one try, but the
swipes with some sandpaper, however,
balsa or sheet plastic to overall effect is terri-
takes care of that.
make the framework, fic.
For the overall commanders on both then a piece of stiff
Finally, to the left
sides I tend to use the larger circles to cardboard with the tiles
is a command stand
make them stand out on the tabletop. scored with an X-Acto
for a Russian motor-
These commanders are extremely impor- blade is glued over the
cycle, or recon battal-
tant in the Warmaster system, so they framework. This gives
ion which had a variety of organizations
should be highly visible. For the late the appearance that part of the roof has
and equipment. A BA-64 and a jeep have
war, 1944-5 Russian overall commander been blown away by fire or an explosion.
stopped one a crossroads near a wall with
in the middle picture I went with what
The rubble is made from a spare piece a tree to discuss the next attack. Again,
of balsa wood that has been cut simple to make with only the wall need-
into various chunks. These are ing to be scratchbuilt.
glued haphazardly around the
The important thing to remember is
building, painted black, then dry-
that your FAOs, overall commanders, and
brushed gray. The fence is from
FACs are going to be using less than
CinC and then you just need to
glamorous vehicles. This is a chance for
add some vehicles and a com-
the gamer/modeler to use trucks, tractors,
mand staff.
jeeps, etc., to enhance a command stand.
The German command stand Remember, you’re going for an effect
to the left is something similar. and to make these pieces stand out on the
Here, an Sdkfz-251 has stopped tabletop. By searching through your bits
near a destroyed house. The and scraps, you can make houses, walls,
kampfgruppe commander is look- bridges, and more for your commanders!
ISSUE #28 Page 10