Monday 6 April 2020

Norway 1940 - The Road to Dombas - part 1


My apologies for the long delay in posting on this blog and not leaving feedback on the many blogs out there. This was due to a loss in interest and motivation in the hobby after a death in the family in January.

Apart from the world Pandemic, things are now sort of back to normal on the hobby production front. The lack of gaming means more time making and painting, so when we finally get back to the table, there should be an abundance of new terrain and painted collections to view out there on the blogosphere.

Recently, an article in issue 100 of the Wargames Soldiers & Strategy magazine caught my eye and I thought would be quite achievable and fun to do.

The Road to Dombas 1940, an article by David Hunter using the Too Fat Lardies Chain of Command WW2 rule set. David has written a seven game campaign based on German parachute troops landing near a key road and railway junction in Norway in April 1940.

The article ticks a lot of boxes for me and I thought would be quite doable with what would be needed to run the campaign.

First of all, I needed to make a new flexible snow mat (having sold my last one), but I wanted to make this a little different to my last winter mat, with roads and river built into the mat, along with plenty of rocky ground showing through where the snow has started to melt.

Some winter woods and plenty of barbed wire fencing. A reinforced Norwegian Infantry platoon and supports and a couple of reduced strength Fallschirmjager platoons.

 WIP of these have been shown in this post, and in each additional post I will show the following items needed for the campaign. Buildings, stone bridge, a couple of civilian vehicles, road block and slit trenches. So as you can see, not too much to collect and very achievable.

Once everything is complete, I will do further posts with a battle report of each campaign game, unless of course the Germans lose a game, in which case it is campaign over.

First off, the winter woods WIP. For these I have glued three trees to a base, leaving plenty of room in the middle for troop movement. Keep trees near the edge of the base and I have added a little fencing and tree stump with fallen branches. After grouting, sand and glue and then painting, I plan to add plenty of dead foliage to hopefully get the right look.


You can also see the barbed wire fence and gate bases WIP.



Where the road meets the river I will be making a stone bridge to cross over the ford.

For the Norwegian Infantry I have used Warlord Games plastic German infantry in greatcoats and Belgian HMG and crew with slight conversion and different paint scheme. The Fallschirmjager are Wargames Foundry and Crusader Miniatures (not all painted yet).

I still need to finish painting and winterising the bases on the figures below.

Norwegian Platoon HQ - Officer and Sergeant.

Magazine fed LMG Team and Junior Leader.

Water cooled HMG and crew.

Early war Fallschirmjager.
   

  If you are interested in a step by step guide for making winter terrain and you would like to put your name on the waiting list for a reprint of my first book Setting The Scene Winter Wargaming or you would like to buy a copy of volume 2 Setting The Scene The Mediterranean then click on the following link

http://www.stevenlampon.co.uk/settingthescenevol2/

Stay safe,
Pat.

47 comments:

  1. Very interesting and timely too since the 80th anniversary is upon us. Is the entire seven battle campaign contained within that one WSS issue?

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    1. Hi Jonathan, yes the entire campaign is in just the one issue of the magazine and it is worth buying it for that alone, although if you have an interest in the Fallschirmjager then it is a must.

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    2. Great issue! Thank you for the recommendation.

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  2. Sorry to hear of your bereavement Pat. I shall be following your project with great interest.

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  3. Nice to see you back online Pat and sorry to read about your loss. Your terrain and figure painting are as always, exemplary !

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  4. Sorry to hear of your sad news Pat. I love CoC and look forward to your games.

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    1. Thanks Rodger, I am looking forward to playing this campaign with the understrength German paratroopers v the superior numbers of the Norwegians who come back at full strength each game.

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  5. Sorry to hear about your loss. Happy to see you are back in the saddle though. I certainly go through periods where I just can't muster the interest or desire to work on hobby stuff --- everyone needs a break now and then. Also happy to see you are safe and healthy --- and making great use of the quarantine time :-)

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    1. Thanks Jay, I see on your blog you have also been making use of your home time with the hobby.
      Stay safe.

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  6. Hi Pat and great to see you back on the blog after yours and your families loss. Deepest condolences. Take care and I look forward to reading and seeing how this project unfolds with great interest.

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  7. Sorry to hear about your death in the family Pat...Wonderful pictures, very atmospheric terrain, I am in awe of the ford, and great looking minis...A gem in a sad world!

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    1. Thanks Phil, I am pleased with the ford and the flexible water effects.

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  8. Sorry Pat for the sad news, nice start to your new terrain project
    cheers John

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  9. My sympathies for your loss Pat. Good to see you have found some solace in the hobby and I look forward to the outcome with interest. Take care.

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  10. Thanks Michael, I look forward to seeing your fantastic WW2 project at Salute 2021.

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  11. I own Volume 1 and can concur that it is a useful high quality product and well worth purchasing. As an aged wargamer please can you use larger text and use each page fully rather than having some wasted space near the bottom or top of certain pages. I will be buying volume 2 very soon. Damn MOT cleared me out!!!

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    1. Thanks Phil,
      Standard size text has been used in the books, if we go larger then it will mean more pages, more printing costs and more postage.
      Cheers,
      Pat.

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  12. Very sorry for your loss Pat.Good to hear your back into the hobby to help pick your spirits up and it of course looks great. Looking forward to more on this.

    Christopher

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  13. A very interesting project..I had plans to do something similar in 10mm ages ago using Pendraken WW1 Austrians for the Noggies. Just didn't get round to it. Sorry to hear about the bereavement. Hope things pick up from now on.

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  14. Thanks Jim, there seems to be a lack of Norwegian figures in 28mm and I guess 10mm must have been the same. The Warlord plastic Germans being in greatcoats and flat caps do the job though, although the button counters may disagree.
    Cheers,
    Pat.

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  15. Your figures and terrain are always so top notch. This sounds like a great project to focus on while stuck at home. 😀

    Condolences on your and your family’s loss. Take care of yourself and the family during these strange times.

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  16. Glad things are getting back on track for you Pat! Will follow this project with interest... as always. Your efforts thus far look promising and actually I was thinking about doing something for Norway at some point myself.

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  17. Thanks very much Nick.

    I believe it was mentioned on one of the TFL forums that there would be a Chain of Command Norway supplement at some point in the future, so fingers crossed.

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  18. Lovely work on your Norwegians, a good conversion with paint! Sorry for your loss, good to see you back!
    Best Iain

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    1. Thanks Iain, I will probably show the full Norwegian platoon and supports as part of my next post.

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  19. Fabulous, I look forwards to seeing this develop.

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  20. Hi Pat, my condolences on the loss of a family memeber. Good to see you back to the blogging. I am always enthralled by your work & dedication to the hobby. Keep up the great work!

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  21. So sorry to hear about your family loos Pat. I'm glad your feeling the gamer/blog love again. Looking forward to more Norway 1940!

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  22. My condolences to you and your family.

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  23. Lamento la perdida de tu familia Pat. Me alegra que hayas vuelto al hobby, se echaban de menos tus entradas.

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    1. Thanks Dabz and yes it is good to be back with the hobby.

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  24. Great to see someone of your skill gearing up for this mini-campaign. What you've done so far looks amazing.

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    1. Thanks David, its your article what inspired me to do this project.

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  26. Brilliant as per usual. Just got back to the blog and found out i have a new 3 part series to enjoy.

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