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.

Algernon over the Isonzo

My order from tabletop flights just came in. Also my flight stands from Litko also came in. Both were 2 days ahead of schedule. Very impressed. This brings my early 1916 project to the following:

Italian Aircraft	Number	Austro-Hungarian Aircraft	Number
Nieuport 10	2	Hansa-Brandenburg C.I	2
Nieuport 11	2	Fokker A.III	2
Caudron G.3	1

I have ordered a single Caproni Ca.3 from XPForge. I also am getting a friend to print a Caquot observation balloon for the Italians. This will give me a good starter force for both sides.

There are other aircraft that I could try to get but are harder to come by. For instance, the Albatros B.I is unavailable in 1/144th scale. The Lloyd C.II and Lloyd C.III are similarly unavailable. The Albatros B.I and Lloyd aircraft were both two-seater observation aircraft. The Austro-Hungarian's didn't have bomber aircraft at this stage of the war.

For the Italians, they have the Bleriot XI as a reconaissance aircraft. It is available in other much larger scales but not in 1/144. The Nieuport 11 was not available until late in February 1916 but there are models of this aircraft available. There were armed variants of the Nieuport 10s that were fielded as make-shift fighters. Only the Bleriot is unavailable.

As such, there are only a limited number of types of aircraft for this particular theater and time. Most of which are available as models. The Albatros B.I was being phased out and moved to training units as was the Bleriot. The Lloyd's were in active service but there seem to have been fewer of them than the Hansa-Brandenburgs.

For the scenario I want to run with this, I will need several more Caproni bombers and several more Eindeckers. But for the time being, I have more than enough to get started.

My question is, does anyone run games with seaplanes for WWI? The Austro-Hungarians had a number of seaplanes that are interesting looking.

Singling - Wrapping it up

I am still waiting on one final building. It shipped in early May but still has not made it yet. Hopefully soon. I have been working on the couryards of building 9. Since you can order them separate from Sarissa, I will make this one a winter one.

Building 8 is still proving to be harder than I anticipated. I am trying to 3d print some doors and windows for the building. My printer is still being problematic.

The fences for building 28 have been primed. I think I should be able to get a number of them knocked out over the weekend. I just need to work out the basing for them.

Once those are doine, I still have US Infantry to base and a bit more armor to paint. I should be close enough to get a game in soon.

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Well, the weekend has come and gone. I figured out how I was going to base the fencing. I am pretty happy with what I have come up with. I need to paint and base them still. I also started to base my US infantry. In going through the miniatures that I have, I have the lions share of the miniatures that i need for the scenarios. I still need two LMG teams (m1919s) and a 60mm mortar team. I have a stand in for the mortar team. I am ordering some LMG teams from Gajo. I have a couple more steps left to finish basing the infantry that I have. I think I have enough to start some playtesting. Once I have the snow on the bases, I will be in good shape.

That just leaves the terrain left. There is still the building that has not arrived. Building 8 needs doors and windows. I have also finished the yards for Building 9.

The school is in better shape. I was able to spackle the building over the weekend and I think I am ready to paint. The windows on the back and side are not 100% accurate but I had so much trouble with getting window frames printed, I just went with what I had. I still need to build an angled base for it. That part will take some tinkering. That leaves me with the hill structures for the games. If I can get some cheap foam sheets, that should do the trick.

I also completed the two bunkers that I need for the Singling table.

I did receive my Hansa-Brandenburg C.I model from XPForge. I really like the model.

It was good progress for the weekend. Except for my 3d Printer. That was still frustrating.

Back to Algernon

In getting ready to play a game of Algernon Pulls It Off, I placed another order with TableTopFlights. I picked up another Hansa-Brandenburg C.I, a pair of Nieuport 11s and a Caudron G.3. This will round out most of what i need for the Isonzo Front early 1916. I also bought some Litko Flight stands for them. One of the things I bought was an altitude dial to go one these. The problem is that I will still have to paint these.

It should be fun to get this going again.

New Miniatures and Singling Continued

I received some prints from a friend at work. While my printer is still having issues, he printed some Sherman tanks for me. I received four hulls and 12 turrets. For whatever reason, his prints did not have the fit issues that mine did. These are a mix of the 75mm turret and the 105mm turrets. In addition he got me a number of fence pieces to finish out the Singling build. I now should have enough to complete the build. He also gave me the misprints that I can use a wrecked fence pieces. Lastly, he printed the windows I need to finish out the school house. I was able to glue these in place last night. I still need to plaster the building and paint but I am confident that this will move forward at a better pace now. For building 8, I did more brick paper on the building. I need to work out what I will do for doors and windows. The roof is built but I need something to fill the gaps in the angle joins in the roof. I haven't figured that out yet. But it is moving forward. I actually believe that I can see the light at the end of this tunnel.

What is left once the terrain is wrapped up? I need to base the US Armored Infantry platoon. I do not have the LMG teams for the platoon. I am looking at buying some from Gajo if they have any. I need to finish painting the second Jadgpanzer IV. Then I need to assess what Panther tanks that I have. I should not need more than 3 total. If I make some wrecked models, that would be a nice to have but not necessary. For the Americans, there were a total of 13 total tanks in the company that attacked Singling. No platoon had more than four Shermans. Actually, 1st Platoon had five tanks but Sgt Kenneth Sandrock's tank broke away from 1st Platoon and supported the advance of third platoon up the center of town.

Platoon	Commander	Gun
Co HQ	Captain James Leach	76.2mm
1st	1st LT William F Goble	75mm
1st	S/Sgt John Fitzpatrick	75mm
Ist	Sgt Emil Del Vecchiop	75mm
1st	Sg Robert Fitzgerald	76.2mm
1st*	Sgt Kenneth Sandrock	76.2mm
2nd	2nd Lt James N. Farese	75mm
2nd	Sgt Joseph Hauptman	76.2mm
2nd	Sgt John Parks	75mm
2nd	S/Sgt Bernard Sowers	75mm
3rd	1st Lt Robert Cook	76.2mm
3rd	S/Sgt Max Morphew**	75mm
3rd	Sgt Giles Hayward	75mm
3rd	Sgt Robert Grimm	105mm***

Notes:
* - Did not remain with 1st Platoon in deployment
** - Platoon Sergeant. His radio failed and he didn't deploy in the battle.
*** - Assault gun from HQ Company attached to 3rd Platoon.

Both the Company HQ tank and Sgt Sandrock's tank would be available as support elements as how they deployed. Historically, they both deployed to the town center or in support of it.

In comparing the structure of the US Armored Infantry platoon to the men of B Company, 51st Armored Infantry Battalion was rather jarring. The entire company was closer to platoon strength. In looking at Gary Kennedy's Bayonet Strength website for the November 1944 TO&E of an Armored Infantry Battalion showed the following company paper strength:
Company HQ: 1 officer, 8 men
Maintenance Section: 1 offier, 6 men (probably not deployed in combat unless things go really wrong)
Admin & Mess: 34 men (Again, probably not deployed)
Anti-Tank Platoon: 1 officer, 32 men wiht 3x 57mm Atni-Tank Guns
3 Infantry platoons: Each of 1 officer, 55 men with 2x LMGs (M1919) and 1x 60mm mortar

This is a formidable force. But the B Company that attacked Singling was a shell of this force. The only component that was close to full strength was the Company HQ which had 1st Lt Belden and six men. Lets contrast this to the Chain of Command Armored Infantry Platoon from the new Core Rulebook.

Organization	COC Strength	1st Platoon	2nd Platoon	3rd Platoon
Platoon HQ	Lt (Senior Leader) S/SGT (Senior Leader)	Lt Price T/Sgt Mitchel	Lt Padgett Sgt Heitz*	Lt Cowgill
HQ Section	SGT (Jr Leader) 7 men	Cpl McElwee	-	PFC Stanton
Mortar Team	60mm Mortar 5 men	-	-	S/Sgt Herring 2 men
Rifle Squad 1	Sgt (Junior Leader) 9 Riflemen 1 SMG	Sgt White 7 men	6 men**	6 men**
Rifle Squad 2	Sgt (Junior Leader) 9 Riflemen 1 SMG	S/Sgt Sayers 7 men	6 men**	Sgt McPhail 6 men
MG Section	Sgt (Junior Leader) 2 LMGs 10 men	-	-	S/Sgt Dennis 3 men***

Notes:
* - Was newly added to the platoon and used as a runner.
** - The squad was commanded by a PFC.
*** - I am assuming that they just had a single M1919 LMG with them but the battle reports do not mention a machine gun being used by the infantry.

Just taking 3rd Platoon, the Chain of Command platoon should have at least 48 individuals, 3rd platoon has only 22 people. 1st Platoon only had 19 men and 2nd platoon had 14 men. This is 55 men total with an additional seven men in the Company Headquarters! The main thing that they had going for them was that the German Infantry was equally battered and apparently had a much worse force morale based on the number of troops captured.

Algernon Distractions

So instead of maintaining a laser focus to complete my Singling project, I have been distracted by wanting to run a game of Algernon Pulls It Off again. I pulled out my miniatures and found that I have some that are painted. I want to do a Early 1916 project for the Isonzo Front. For my Austro-Hungarians, I have a pair of Fokker A.IIIs (The Austro-Hungarians gave them the A prefix instead of E). One is painted and complete. The other has paint but no decals. Luckily, I found my decals I bought for these.

I just ordered a single Hansa-Brandenburn C.I two-seater from eBay. Ultimately, I would like at least one or two more of these. The great part of this is there just were not that many aircraft above the Isonzo Front in early 1916. The eindeckers were held back over friendly lines as they were forbidden to pursue enemy aircraft back over Italian airspace due to the fear of the gun sychronization being captured by the enemy. The Hansa-Brandenburgs we the mainstay of the Fliks. With between 6 to 8 aircraft in a given Flik, this gives a relatively small force to model. Flik 4 in early 1916 had a pair of Fokker A.IIIs and some Lohner B and Hansa-Brandenburg C.Is at their disposal. I can't find a model in any scale of the Lohner B.

For the Italians, I have three of the later Spad aircraft from Wings of War. They can be a temporary standin for the Nieuport 11s that I really want. I have two Nieuport 10s, a two-seater aircraft heavily used for reconnaisance and artillery spotting. One is actually painted. The other is still as received from Shapeways many, many years ago.

The aim would be to buy some actual Nieuport 11s (probably 2) and some other aircraft like the Farman MF.11 or the Caproni Ca.3 or the Caudron G.3. I am only looking for a single aircraft of each. This should give a good mix of the different Italian squadrons that operated across from Flik 4.

Lastly, I want some observation balloons. These would be large in 1/144 scale. I found some models availaible on Thingiverse but they are way too big for my print bed of my resin printer. I will need to get someone to print them for me.

The plan is to use the Squadron Forward supplement from Joseph Legans to make a campaign. I have reprinted cards and the QRF for the base Algy rules that I will need. We will see what happens.

We will see how this goes. I also found some models in 1/300. The problem is, I am unhappy with how these look. I have a Vosin III bomber and three Fokker A.IIIs. All are painted. We will see where that takes me.

Chain of Command Squared Arrives

I got my PDF from Age Of Glory. I have been steadily working my way through the rulebook. This is going to have an impact on me finishing the Singling supplement as I want to play more games using these rules first. So far, the changes are straight forward. I like the armor activation. I am reading it through and enjoying it. I still have a good amount to read yet. But I am looking forward to getting a game in.

Over the weekend, I was able to get a little bit of painting in on building 9. The bulk of the building is painted. I have the shutters of one floor to go. I used a speed paint on the brick work on the bottom floor but wasn't completely happy with it. I am experimenting with some lighter bricks in the middle of it to see how it goes. I am hoping that tomorrow, I will get some additional windows printed from a friend. That will let me finish the school building. I also had him print some more of the decorative fencing. This leaves building 8 left to finish. I have started on the roof. I was thinking of using brick paper for the building. I am trying to figure out how to get the shapes right for it. I will try to finish off Building 9 tonight and its courtyards. The picture below is before I did the shade on the roof (I think). The back side of the bottom floor still needs paint.

This means I need to get to work on my US Infantry. Fortunately with my handy PDF of Chain of Command, I know what forces I will need. The interesting part of the battle of Singling was the reports showed the Machinegun and mortar sections were not used as such. They were issued two bazookas from the company stocks and they went to battle with those. There are pictures online of a mortar team at Singling but this was not mentioned in the after action reports. I wonder if this was a staged picture after the battle.

Below is the current status of the town square.