Building 12

I have started assembling the buildings that I bought on ebay. There are 8 separate buildings that can be put together and joined. I did a pretty good job of putting these together except when gluing them together in a row, I of course messed up and glued one in backwards. I also put one of the wall facings in backwards on another building. Again, very frustrating. However, I have four of them put together as a rowhouse. I used spare sprue from the parts and made a roof support to create a bombed out version. Then tiled the roof. I need to do some more with the roof but it is coming along much quicker than I thought.

I have taken some cutters and cut holes in the supports where it is not covered by the tiles. I think it is coming together.

I also ordered some paint for my 1/144th aircraft for Algernon Pulls it off. I started painting on the scheme that I wanted for some Nieuport 11s. I realized after starting that the scheme is more appropriate for 1917 than 1916. While disapointed, I still like the scheme. It is an interesting comparison between the 3d prints I received years ago from Shapeways and the modern prints now. The newer resin prints are not paint sponges requiring many coats to paint. The details are clearer and better. It is really interesting to look at.

No pictures of the Nieuport 11 so far. I may take some later once I get the rest of the paints in.

Building 12 has arrived, Scenario Writing and the Summer Scenario Sale

My missing eBay order arrived last night. This is a set of 8 row houses with some sidewalk in front of it. While the buildings are very nice and the parts fit well together, this was not exactly what I was looking for. The scale seems off with my other 15mm buildings. They seem almost better suited for 10mm miniatures rather than the 15mm miniatures that I am using. I need to fully assemble one before making the final determiniation. I was looking for something closer to what I purchased from Sarrissa. I would like to have a ruined roof section on it to allow troops in the roof area to shoot down onto the street below. I am not sure this will be possible with this particular miniature.

I have a stand in that I am currently using. It is an older solid cast structure. Possibly an old JR miniatures model. It just doesn't have the foot print size that I am looking for. Hopefully, once assembled, the new building will work out. If not, I will reach back out to Sarissa and place an order. I think I found a few things that would work but be more expensive.

In my excitement about possible Chain of Command games, I looked at some of my order miniatures and that gave thought to my older scenario books. This led me to look at the Ustilug scenario book. It strikes me that this needs to be redone. First, I have a reference to the TooFatLardies website that is now broken since their website change last year. Since those were a free order of battle sheet that they published, I will end up including some of that data into the scenario book for simplicity. I also want to add some images of some games to it as well. To that end, I have started doing a photo search of the town and the countryside on Google maps and street view. The town is drastically changed from the war. The town was heavily shelled in the opening hours of the war and not many original buildings remain. There are a few. Part of the issue is finding the right names go Google as the town had Polish, German and Ukrainian names for things. All of these may or may not change when going from English as a starting point. But that is half of the fun. I did find a church that seems to be in the right place with a cemetary next to it. It is very well maintained so I am not sure if it is the original Orthodox Church or a replacement from after the war.

The best map I have found is a 1:25,000 scale map from 1938. It is titled Special Edition XII.1940 4538/4. The map appears to be in both German and Polish. It is better than the 1:100,000 scale map that I build the scenarios from but still not as ideal as a 1:10,000 scale one. But I have yet to find it. My old go to source for maps of the Ukraine was wwii-photos-maps.com. The site is gone but he has moved all of his materials to an FTP server. You can get to it with an anonymous loging using something like WinSCP. The site is jccalvin.ddns.net on port 21. Still a great resource for all parts of WWII. It is a treasure trove. He just has very few 1/10,000 scale maps.

Also I just put up a sale on my Payhip Store. Use code SummerSale2025 for 50% off until July 15th 2025.

Chain of Command 2 Playtest 1

I got in my first game on Sunday. I played the Attack and Defend scenario from the main rulebook using my new scenario for Singling. It worked great. I used the historical forces for the US troops as the attacker but a full Panzer Grenadier Platoon for the Germans. That was probably a mistake. The US forces were the historical remnants of two platoons whose combined total was less firepower than a normal single paper strength platoon. The action ended up being a tank engagement as the scenario is designed for Big Chain of Command with each side having an armored unit and an infantry element on the table. I really liked the Final Countdown. I ended up using a shock marker dial for the final countdown. The game had fairly historical results with even fewer casualties. I miscalculated the German support points and short changed them a bit. I really don't think it mattered that much. I plan on running some more games on this table to get a full feel for it before finalizing it. But it was great to finally play a game again.

The primary action was between the armor. The US Infantry came close to the Jadgpanzer IV in the town center spotting it in the smoke. The armor then engaged it ineffectively causing it to retreat. Similar to the historical outcome. The US tanks never made it close to the courtyard with the horse dung. The US infantry siezed the objective marker in the church. One accomplishment that I had was getting to play with completed fencing for Building 28. The fences received a very basic paint job. I made a mistake with the metal work. I should have painted it black. Instead I did a silver and then put a rust wash on it. Not 100% happy with it but it will do.

In looking at it, I am not 100% sastisfied with the chimneys on some of the buildings. The ones where I just went with a black chimney, i need to revisit. I might brick them or at least paint some kind of stone work on them as they look off compared to the rest of the building. I also need to up my jump off point game. Using an unpainted wooded 25mm base just seemed bland. It worked but is bland. Overall, I am pretty happy with how this is turning out.

The last big part of this is the elevations. I am sold on the idea that the excersize mats are the way to go at this point. I have a 6'x 4' matt currently under this. I need two more identical ones that I can do surgury on them to get the look I am going for. The hope is that this will prove to give me flexibility to design multiple hill terrain options. The matts come with an edging piece so you don't have a puzzle piece look on the sides. This edging should be able to be cut as a slope to avoid an oddly stair stepped look under the ground cloth. It is still on the to do list.

Singling - Next Steps

This project is getting really close. I still have not received building 12 even though it was ordered on May 7th. I have an existing building that I can use as a standin. It is not as large as I would like but will do.

I am missing the fences around building 28. These are still being painted. I just got some basing on them last night.

They need the iron bars painted and the wall itself painted. I should have made details in the walls but it will do. I also need some walls on the west side of buildings 9 and 10. These featured in the battle as the tanks had to run over and shoot through them (litterally) in the battle. I have some taller generic walls that I plan on using.

Lastly, the large pile of poop in the courtyard of buildings 8,9 and 10 is missing. THis is painted up and ready to go but I have no idea where I put it. And I forgot to look for it last night.

The only other missing item is the elevation. I am not sure how to accomplish this yet. The terrain elevation plays an important role on two of the three tables for this scenario set. i would like to get two more sets of floor mats that I use for basing. These come with nice edge pieces that hide the puzzle piece look that it would otherwise have. I think I can use those to arrange the table the way I need. Also, if necessary, I can pin items down through the cloth into the floor mats. I will have a trip to Home Depot soon.

Singling Progress - Getting Close

At this point, I have all of the US Infantry painted up. I am missing a pair of soldiers armed with SMGs and a winter 60mm mortar operators. I have the spare figures to serve as crew. All are now based and ready. Here is what I have so far:

HQ with a Platoon Leader, Platoon Sergeant and a Bazooka team that can be taken from any of the other squads.

The Headquarters Squad

First Squad (this is missing an additional man with a SMG.

Second Squad (this is missing an additional man with a SMG.

60mm Mortar Squad. The mortar and crew is a stand in from my other US Infantry. The additional crew are winter troops.

The LMG Squad

This gives me a nearly full platoon of US Armored Infantry. I will not need it for the scenario as the units were severly reduced. As shown before, I also have a full German Panzer Grenadier platoon. They also had casualties so would be reduced. This gives me more than enough to game.

Where are we with terrain? Well I am 90% done with Building 8. I made significant progress on this building over the weekend. I had an old Impudent Mortal 15mm L shaped building. I wrapped it in brick paper and added some tile roofing. Then I used some old windows and doors that I found in a drawer. I want to do more with the chimney but am not sure what I will do with it.

Lastly is the school. I was able to get some paint on it over the weekend. I still have to paint the details such as the door and windows but it is coming along. Another couple of hours of work, and I will be ready for the scenario. By this weekend, I will start running games on this terrain.