Happy New 2020, now entering an unprecedented third year.
I'm really supposed to be working on a regiment of French line chasseurs à cheval at the moment, but I promised my friend DF (aka the dastardly Baron von Driberg) that we would fight a battle, so most of the weekend was spent working on my new system of vinyl tile terrain pieces.
The tiles, which were all a foot square and came in any colour I wanted as long as it was black, were picked up from my local tip for about 5p per tile. I bought a hundred of them. I wasn't at all sure how well they would respond to paint, but as they were pretty solid affairs and a mere 2mm thick I thought it would be worth a try.
Seen below, using some very basic Thomas-the-Tank-Engine/Brio-style geometry, is what I did with a few of them:
The scenario we're to fight is the very first 'Table TopTeaser' by the late Charles Grant, which appeared in Battle for Wargamers magazine in February and March 1978. I was only eleven back then. The battle is to be fought next weekend.
A battle report will appear in due course, but before then I may also have a test chasseur ot two to show off.
Adieu, and wish me luck (on both counts),
WM
Very nice, that table is just begging for a battle!
ReplyDeleteIt's certainly overdue. The last one was just over two years ago.
DeleteA great retro set-up! I thought your table was a re-purposed / re-painted table-tennis table (or half thereof)? Looking at the surface there must've been some pretty odd bounces; it was clearly calling out for a career change.
ReplyDeleteLosing track of how many times I've tried to post this comment - keep getting the 'Whoops there's been an error' message from Blogger... Grrrrh.
It was indeed, Rob. As you say, it is somewhat battle scarred. If I ever get round to painting the other half it will produce a table which is either 9'x 5' or 10'x 4.5'. Not the most practical choice as it weighs a ton!
DeleteMatt, great minds obviously think alike, I have also recently been working on a bespoke terrain system. Mine utilises some left-over laminate flooring underlay, which is about 5mm thick, is light, easy to cut, and lies very flat. I will post some pictures when I've made a bit more progress. It's amazing how wargamers can look at stuff that most people would throw away and think , "You know what, that old carpet would make a great cornfield, and those plastic bristles on that old brush would make about 200 pikes".
ReplyDeleteWellington Woman would undubtedly prefer the 'throw it away' option. Nevertheless, the vinyl tiles have worked really well, I think, although it took ages to measure, cut and paint them accurately. I can see now why people just go out and buy ready-made things.
DeleteThere's also a new hill in preparation, by the way, which will be painted in a new, experimental shade of green. I make these out of 18mm kitchen cupboard doors wgich are also from the local tip!
WM, I love the clean geometric look you have come up with. It's very old school and will highlight the figures nicely. It is funny what you key on when a post comes out. While I know the post is about the rivers and roads ($5 what a score!), what I really noticed was the bridge. It inspired me to drag out all of my bits and pieces of my HO Scale Linka system to see if I had enough cast to build something similar. In any event love the color choices for your battlefield and look forward to seeing a new battle.
ReplyDeleteBest,
David
The bridge is great, isn't it. Unfortunately I've no idea who made it.
DeleteI'm beginning to think about making breatworks and whatnot now, and maybe even some home-made buildings. This is all just an excuse to go out and buy some nifty new power tools, of course!
Let’s see… Airfix cottage, Britain’s hedges… Merit trees and Bellona bridge? It’s crying out for 20mm magic!
ReplyDeleteI'm a 20mil-ionnaire, Jeffers, so your wish is my command.
DeleteI should have added - You are correct in all regards except that the bridge is not Bellona but some heavy resin thing, but you can't have everything as they say.
DeleteThat’s a lovely looking table Matthew…
ReplyDeleteIt will look even better with lots of toys on it…
All the best. Aly
That is the hope, Aly. As you can see, my Lammings are giving it the once over, but it'll probably be other troops doing the honours.
Delete