Carentan Playtest

Dave and Elliot were over yesterday to playtest the Carentan MayDay convention scenario. They were real sports suffering through a raw, unbalanced scenario. However, with their feedback, I think the game will be pretty tight come MayDay.

A platoon of paratroopers advance through a hedgerow and begin their assault on Carentan from the south.

The headquarters section leads a right hook around the German main line of resistance.

The Fallschirmjagers get an MG into a 3rd floor position and start hosing down the advancing Americans.

The German HQ section winds up being pinned down by American sniper fire and advancing riflemen for most of the game.

The German reinforcements prove to be too much...stalling the American advance from well defended rubble and building positions.

Thanks to the guys for being good sports and helping critique the scenario set up. Now it's time to move onto my other MayDay game...an American daylight bombing raid over Berlin using the Warbirds in Miniature air combat ruleset.

'Til next time.

More Fallschirmjagers

Well, I've got just over 30 German figures ready for the Carentan game. I painted a few of these about a year ago...thankfully, they work for the scenario.

Here's a group of riflemen, most of them in Water Tan '43.

An LMG section.

A command group with an MG34.

Advanced elements of 17th SS Panzergrenadier Division were involved in the Carentan battles of early June, '44. To represent them, I've included a small group in SS camo smocks and automatic weapons.

An MG42 team.

Panzerknackers.

Dave and Elliot are over at the house this weekend to do a dry run of the MayDay convention scenario. We'll see how it goes!

'Til next time.

Carentan Terrain

OK, time to think about the terrain set up for the MayDay convention Carentan scenario. For the subject at hand, I have a nice set of Grand Manner Carentan buildings in 28mm. Also, a few years back, I spent a summer making trees and hedges...which will get a workout in this game.

For the dry run this weekend, I've done a terrain layout in my dining room. Happily, my wife cleared away all the quilting stuff laid out on the table there!

The block of ruins.

The orchard.

The cafe, warehouse and doctor's office.

The manner house.

Movement ranges in Disposable Heroes (the rules I'm running the game with) are fairly short...3" to 9". As such, I've made the terrain as dense as I can on the 6'x4' playing surface. I'll use these photos to rebuild the layout at the convention.

Photos of Fallschirmjagers up next.

Final Paratroopers for Carentan

The MayDay convention is coming fast, and I'll be playtesting my Carentan scenario next weekend. So...everything has to be pretty much finished up this week. Will the American's be victorious this time around? Who knows!

One of the American objectives will be to secure this wounded company commander, who will be set up on the board prior to play.

American bazooka team.

The platoon command section.

Thankfully, I made progress on the final German squad this weekend as well. They just need their weapons painted and their bases completed...and we'll be good to go. I'll post some photos of the final Fallschirmjagers this week.

'Til next time.

1st Fallschirmjager Squad

Time to get back to the Carentan project. Soooo...we have 101st Airborne versus 6th Regiment Fallschirmjagers. Two squads of Americans are done so far, and now we have the first squad of German's ready.

First a couple of shots of German paratroopers in Normandy. An MG42 team...

And a trooper with a panzerfaust.

Here are some color shots of re-enactors. The two on the left are in splinter '41 camo, while the one on the right looks to be in water tan '44.

Here is a handy gear load out shot from the rear.

OK, now for the minis. First, bare metal. Artizan 28mm figs.

I decided to use a faster painting method for these guys than I normally use. First, I started with block painting of the base colors.

Then, an ink wash. Camo painting and details went on after this step.

It's finally warm enough outside to take some photos in natural sunlight. Hmmm, that makes it warm enough to do yard work as well...bummer.

German Fallschirmjager squads were split into two light machinegun sections, one led by the squad leader, and the second led by the assistant squad leader. Section number one...

And section number two.

I tried my hand at three different camo patterns on the jump suits and zeltbahn coverings. Most of the figures are in splinter '41. Two are in the darker brown water tan '43 pattern and one is in the lighter water tan '44 camo uniform. Honestly, I wasn't able to put in enough detail to really tell much of a difference between the outfits, so I'm not sure I'll really try to distinguish them in the second squad project.

I've got an itch for more Warmachine, even though the Carentan project timeline is getting critical. Well...warjacks are up on the table right now...soooo.

'Til next time.