Thursday 7 May 2020

Norway 1940 - The Road to Dombas - part 3.


I have been quite busy with this project and finished most of the terrain, I just need to do some small items like signposts, more fencing, (also waiting for the model wire to arrive for my barbed wire fencing as you can see in some of the pictures) small outbuildings and log piles to complete the project.

The Road to Dombas is a seven game, three scenario/map, mini campaign set in Norway in April 1940. German paratroopers were dropped in bad weather conditions flying under low cloud and 8 of the 15 transport were shot down and the remainder scattered. Out of 185 men only 63 were in a position to try and achieve their objective.

What I like about this campaign is that you have elite German paratroopers in entrenchments, but reduced in numbers from the start, with the risk of  running low on ammo and having to carry over casualties into the next game. The Norwegians on the other hand will get a fresh platoon each game and receive increasing levels of support.

David Hunter has written a mini campaign in issue 100 of Wargames Soldiers & Strategy magazine  on the fighting that took place around Dombas between the 15th and 19th April using the Too Fat Lardies Chain of Command WW2 rule and campaign system. It can also be adapted for Bolt Action.   

Steve Lampon and myself have been discussing if this would be worth doing as a small supplement to my first book Setting The Scene, Winter Wargaming  volume 1. If I decide to go ahead with this, there will be plenty of new content and it will be geared to cover everything you would need in a step by step guide in figure and terrain preparation for the seven game, three scenario campaign. 

If we get enough interest then we will set the wheels in motion, so if you think you may be interested, leave Steve your name and mention Dombas 1940 on the following link.

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




































Stone barn and house scratch built by me, stone bridge by Debris of War and the two large MDF timber buildings by Charlie Foxtrot.

We still have copies of Setting the Scene volume 2 for sale or if you want to put your name down for a reprint of volume 1 then click on the link below.

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

Cheers,

Pat.  

52 comments:

  1. Lovely work as usually Pat, an interesting idea for a campaign.
    cheers John

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    1. Thanks John, I am looking forward to giving this a try.

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  2. As usual a great pleasure to whatch, fantastic atmosphere, impressive attention to details and gorgeous pictures...Thumbs up!!!

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  3. Great stuff, great looking table

    Cheers
    Matt

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  4. Sensational Pat! I feel cold just looking at the snow and ice!

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    1. Thanks Michael but the snow is starting to melt, so it must be getting warmer.

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  5. As one would expect a fantastic set up Pat!

    Christopher

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  6. Really beautiful table top Pat! Very impressive.

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  7. Super presentation! I am very interested in this project.

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  8. Cracking realism there Pat! I'm feeling chilly just looking at it!

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  9. Brilliant stuff Pat.
    Cheers
    Stu

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  10. Stunning table and great 'photos throughout. An interesting campaign and one perfect for small scale actions. Hope to see more on this in the future.

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    1. Thanks Steve, I hope to do a battle report for each of the games in the campaign, so yes, should be plenty more to see.

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  11. Wow! Lots of progress! You are using time well in this crisis...time. I seem to have lost the power to write meaningful sentences. I must be distracted by all the gorgeous pics! The terrain is excellent, and the stream looks especially chilly. 😀

    I’m eagerly awaiting my copy of Vol 2. The post is slow these days, understandably.

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    1. Thanks Stew. Steve deals with the admin side of things and I don't know when he sent out your copy but if it doesn't turn up then give him a nudge.

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  12. The terrain wizzard has struck again! Wonderful work Pat, it already gives a good impression of how immersive this set up will be once it’s finished. And of course I'd love if you two did a book/ booklet/ PDF/ whatever on the build.

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    1. Thanks very much Nick, it may well be a booklet or PDF rather than the full blown thing this time but having said that, there is a surprising amount of material/info I can use.

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  13. Really impressive, you just disappear into the scenes.

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  14. Excellent stuff. My favourite piece is the woodland base, very convincing. A close second is the stream - looks bloody cold to me!
    Best wishes,
    Jeremy

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  15. Thanks Jeremy, I am pleased with how both have turned out.

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  16. More gorgeous images, lovely terrain and your Norwegians are ace!
    Best Iain

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  17. Cheers Iain, the Norwegians are the Warlord plastic German's in greatcoats with most of their kit left off and a different paint job.

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  18. Always a treat visiting your posts Pat! Your terrain work is top notch!

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  19. The first pic at the top was enough, georgeous, but obviously I looked further. Excellent.

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  20. As a budding WW2 gamer, this sort of thing is exactly what I have been mulling about with myself. I wanted to try out the Norwegians vs German paras chasing the King kind of scenario, and have been thinking of how to build it up for many days. How will you manage the Norwegian army in CoC as it has no profiles? I'd love to bounce some ideas off you for this, both game and terrain-wise, if you'd like.

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  21. Hi Cyrius, Norwegians vs German paras both have their strengths and weaknesses and should make for a challenging game/campaign. Do you have issue 100 of Wargames Soldiers & Strategy magazine? There is an excellent article in their with a campaign for CoC with stats for a Norwegian platoon including national characteristics and special rules such as, Inferior Leaders - as described in Blitzkrieg 1940 handbook, Shooting Clubs: to reflect their civilian hunting and shooting pursuits and ski troops: jump off points up to 9 inches. I have a thread running on the Too Fat Lardies forum for The Road to Dombas topic or you can bounce away here if you like. The 2016 WW2 film The Kings Choice was very enjoyable and would have gaming potential from what I can remember.

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    1. I just bought it today upon finding your blog. I'll have to get a copy of Blitz 1940 as well then. I was thinking of actually including some shooting club members as well, as they helped out where they could, especially in those first crucial days. Could they be statted as partisans? I haven't played any CoC yet, but it seems a fine ruleset, so I hope my local club wants to try it out. The King's choice is part of why I wanted to do this, but I read the book and its precursor first. It kindled an interest in this part of my national history in me which I have not had before. I was thinking of actually trying to make up a campaign for the King's escape route, with Dombås and Midtskogen being focal points.
      Model-wise, yours look very good! There was a great mix of equipment in the Norwegian army at this point - finnmarkslue caps, british tommy helmets, swedish 'baltic' m31 helmets and more. To represent this I thought of using some WL finnish cap heads and West Wind british heads in steel helmets to replace the more Germanic heads in the Winter Infantry set. Maybe use some Crusader Soviets in greatcoats and Polish rifles as well, as their helmets have the same basic shape as the baltic type. I'd love to brainstorm some more, as you seem to already have created the campaign I wanted to run! The landscape is a perfectly dreary Norwegian snowy spring.

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    2. Morning Cyrius, this could be very handy you being Norwegian, you are the perfect man for the job if we need some local knowledge.
      The 1940 Blitzkrieg supplement is very good and covers the campaigns of 1940 in the West with extensive army lists for Belgium, France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy and the Netherlands. The April invasions of Norway and Denmark will be covered as a separate supplement with their own mini-guide and pint sized campaigns in the future.
      In the special rules to reflect their civilian hunting and shooting pursuits, any rifle team may re-roll a single roll of a 1 when shooting. As you say though, they could be used as a unit of partisans, if they were not part of the regulars.
      Being a thrifty bugger, I just went with the plastic Germans in greatcoats and some additional Warlord metal heads in caps but what you have mentioned would make a more realistic look and would definitely be worth the extra cost and effort.The only helmeted troops that I have used are the Warlord Belgium HMG teams with the water cooled guns.
      Good to hear your feedback with the landscape, I can only go with images on the web and descriptions written. I think there would have probably been more snow than what I have portrayed but having already made a full winter mat and scenery in volume 1, I wanted to do something a little different this time.
      It is well worth joining the Too Fat Lardies Forum as there is a lot of knowledgeable members who will be able to give you a lot better advice than myself.
      Here is the link for the Dombas thread on their forum.Miniatures,Models and Scenery.
      http://toofatlardies.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=13166&sid=ae968cc43a6e48ff99cd9aa09508e419
      Cheers,
      Pat.

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  22. Thank you for the info about the upcoming supplement, I'll probably wait about getting any minis until that arrives then. You could also swap out the lugers on the winter infantry for US marines' colt 1911 hands, as that was the preferred army handgun, but as I said, there was lots of mixing at that time. And snow-wise, it would be knee-to chest deep in that part of the country. 1940 was a very snowy and cold year.If you are interested in more knowledge about the Dombås part of the campaign I have personally translated the King's choice book (which has a lot more than the movie does in it) in my spare time for fun, so if you want, I can send you a PDF copy, the same goes for the previous book, about the planning of Weserübung and the sinking of the Blücher.
    And here's a link from an american book which explains the Northern theatre in more general terms:
    https://history.army.mil/html/books/104/104-23/CMH_Pub_104-23.pdf
    Cyrius

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  23. Thanks very much Cyrius for your offer re a PDF copy of the books, that will be most helpful.

    I have also just checked your link with the American book and all looks very interesting and should keep me busy for many an enjoyable hour.

    Thanks for the tip with the handgun which I will pass on in my book but too late now for my collection of Norwegian infantry.

    Thanks for confirming with the deep snow in the area at that time, I thought as much but as mentioned earlier, I had my reasons for not going with the heavy snow on this occasion.

    I don't know how far down the pecking order the Denmark/Norway supplement is before it becomes available, as at the moment Richard Clarke (the main man at Too Fat Lardies) is putting all his efforts in his latest rule book Infamy, Infamy but as mentioned in the Blitzkrieg supplement, Denmark/Norway is on the cards.

    My email for your PDF's is kerstinsmith@ntlworld.com

    Many thanks,
    Pat.

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  24. Some of these photos are nigh on indistinguishable from reality. Very impressive!

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  25. Wow...I can only echo the previous comments about how wonderful everything about this post is! The images of your terrain and figures are exquisite!

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  26. Epic terrain and scenary items!Beautiful painted figures!
    All great!!

    Cheers

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  27. Como me gustan tus creaciones. Siempre serás un gran artista. Felicidades.

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  28. You sir, are the master of miniature photo and scene setting (see what I did here?). I am seriously considering going to the first ever post and follow the entire list of posts. Great work.

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  29. Thanks Penguin, That could take you a while as that is nearly 10 years worth of posts.

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