Tag Archives: 20mm

WWII Train Track “How too”

Posted on by
Reply

Several of you have asked how I did the train tracks for my WWII 20mm set (featured in the last posts Battle report) and I remembered that I had taken pictures of the process done a few years ago intending to do a “workbench” article. So, digging deep I found them and wrote up a bit on what I did.

I use HO scale for my 20mm WWII games, yes it is just a bit small being 1/87 scale and 20mm being 1/72 but it is hardly noticeable and given how much is out there and how cheap you can pick it up for its a winner. I had done several games using the HO scale track before but it looked a bit phony just laying on top of the game map. Most train tracks are on a raised “roadbed” and I put my mind to trying to figure out how best to accomplish this. The raised roadbed would not only look better it would make the track stay in place better on the game table, as well as create the “berm” for troops to hunker down behind and tanks to go “hull down”

The first step was to determine the “roadbed” size for the different pieces of track I planed to use.

The roadbed is made from 3/16 plastic PVC sheet that you can pick up from plastic supply vendors (sign shops carry it many times). It comes in 4′ x 8′ sheets but most suppliers have some cut offs or will split a sheet for you. It’s a very handy material for all sorts of wargaming projects.

After determining the different sizes I would need I made a master for each type and then traced enough outlines to the PVC

Care has to be taken at each step to make sure the “ends” all match size wise so the track is interchangeable from piece to piece and end to end. I then used a bandsaw to cut the “angle” on each side. If you do not have a bandsaw you can use a small hobby copping saw. When doing this “angle” I created irregular sides to make the pieces more natural looking. Just take care to make sure the ends remain uniform. The first saw cuts are made straight, the second pass the cut is made at an angle and irregularly.

All the basic roadbeds done.

A Dremel rotary tool with a rough grinding tip followed by sandpaper smoothed out the sides again to make it look natural.

While not essential I went an extra step and used magnets on each end of a section so that they would stay together better. If you do this pay close attention to the polarization on your magnets.

I should mention that in the picture above the magnets are all FLUSH MOUNTED! The picture shows how I made sure the polarity was correct by using my “master” track, then sticking the next track pieces magnets to that “masters” magnets, applying a small amount of super glue and using the “master” track to push the other tracks magnets in to place. This assures a flush mount with no gap. By then sliding the track pieces sideways to separate them instead of just pulling them apart the glue can dry without bonding the track pieces together. When finished the magnets on both pieces are flush to the ends of the track.

All the PVC was primed using a good automotive primer. I use fast drying Krylon black primer.

Cheap brown poster paint did the trick for the earth color berm.

The tracks received the same treatment, Krylon primer, then brown poster on the tracks as well.

The next step is to mount the tracks to the roadbed. Take your time and get the track EXACTLY centered so no matter what combination you do they line up! Do one track as the master and then you will line every other track to match that one.

Once I had the “master track” set and pinned in place I glued the track down with Super Glue (not cheap stuff hobby quality) then carefully painted white glue in between the tracks and sprinkled rock “ballast” in and around.

When done right all your tracks should line up no matter the piece or order the are laid out in. The track on the left has only the black primer coat and a thin coat of cheap brown to give the wood, iron and rust effect. The track on the right has been finish painted. Wood, bare steel, and rust highlights make it look real!

Green flocking, the same shades that I have done my game mats with is added to help blend in the roadbed. Bushes, brambles and tufts were the used to break up the sameness and again make it all look more natural and realistic.

The finished product! I was pleasantly surprised at how good they came out and how well they work in games.

Next project is to do just a bit more track, 1/2 sections and end sections with bumper stops. I also want to do a few bombed out and destroyed sections. Then onto repainting the train engines and rolling stock to make it look more WWII period European. If you enjoyed the article please leave a comment!

 

WWII Russian Front in 20mm, the Hell you say!

Posted on by
Reply

The first real Wargaming I did was WWII micro armor and that became a lifelong fascination with the period, the conflict, the men and women who fought, died, and sacrificed so much for their beliefs. The battles in Europe and in Russia have always had the bulk of my interest as they were by far the most epic and important during the war. Micro armor had me for about 5+ years then I was introduced to 20mm or 1/72 scale WWII figures and was truly hooked. I have collected and played this scale for over twenty years and now have a huge collection of figures (both painted and unpainted!), more terrain and buildings than you could imagine (enough to do Berlin 1945 on a 4×8 table). Unfortunately as happens in wargaming rules change, periods go in and out of fashion, scales too…and over time I and my friends played less and less WWII, some got hooked on Flames of War and 15mm but I couldn’t get behind that type of game, to me Flames of War was a lot like Warhammer 40K, a game that made you buy their bloated rules, buy their figures, use their army list, and frankly the games don’t look like WWII. OK enough of that, bottom line our WWII games became few and far between. Well last week Steve and I dragged out the WWII 20mm toys! Wow I don’t think they have seen the light of day for years! I had even contemplated selling them off! I figured to have one last game before making that kind of decision.

Clicking on a picture will give you a larger version!

20mm scale is “Gods scale” when it comes to WWII “in my opinion”! I have always felt it gives great detail compared to 15mm, easy on the eyes, fun to paint without the detail or cost of 28mm.

A wrecked train adds realism to the scene as well as breaking LOS and providing cover. I hope to repaint and age these soon and I think this game has sparked my interest to do it!

For most of my WWII games I like to use maps to aid with the hidden deployment. I make this easy by setting up the terrain then taking a overhead picture and producing a map from it for the players.The Germans had the advantage of being deployed in defensive positions covering about 3/4s of the map with the Russian entering on the remaining quarter. Crossfire uses hidden deployment so I as the Russians had to start by probing the German lines in an effort to find them. This first probe quickly got out of hand and turned into a full-blown attack by the Russians.

The commanders maps are made from pictures taken from “their” side and then put in a clear page protector. Players then use “wet” erase markers to mark their deployments and moves.

We did a Russian front scenario loosely based on a game we did perhaps 4+ years ago where its late 1944, the Germans are fighting a tactical withdrawal back towards the borders of the Reich. The fight takes place with the Germans trying to hold a strategic section of railroad open as long as possible to allow both military and civilian transport trains to move west and escape the Russians. German forces consisted of a Company of infantry, a couple of Heavy Machine gun squads, 1 81mm mortar, 1 PzIV H, 1 Panther, and flak 88 AT gun. Russians had 2 companies of infantry, 2 Heavy machine guns, 2 x 120mm mortars, 3 T34/85s, and 2 ISU 152s. They also had some off-board artillery.

One of my first 1/72 scale buildings done 25 years ago! As I remember this one was from an Arifix kit and made of cast plaster! It originally a RAF control tower, I added stairs walls on the roof, window frames, doors, ect…. Its still going strong!

The Germans had the advantage of being deployed in defensive positions covering about 3/4s of the map with the Russian entering on the remaining quarter. Crossfire uses hidden deployment so I as the Russians had to start by probing the German lines in an effort to find them. This first probe quickly got out of hand and turned into a full-blown attack by the Russians.

Steve’s Waffen SS look real nice, he did a great job painting these!

Steve played the Germans and I the attacking Russians. The rules used were CROSSFIRE by Arty Conliffe, a very unique set of rules that while fairly simple use some very interesting mechanics that in my opinion give players the ability to play WWII in a much more realistic way. Less emphasis on dice results and more on tactics and maneuverability.

Steve once again playing the part of the “10,000 foot General”

One of the problems with most WWII rules and with larger scale rules in general is the “10,000 foot General” the fact that both player can see the deployment of the enemy force and couple that with most rule systems “I go, You go” turn based approach the games lose the ability to simulate the uncertainty in the decision process that commander faced in the field. In most games you look at the map see the other fellows force disposition and plan your attack. you can see all your enemies move and simply counter them as they can with your forces. Games turn into a simple stacking of odds and who roles better dice!

Russian armor appears in the form of three T3485s on the main road. Silly Russians…what are they thinking? That big striped thing down the road isn’t a Zebra!

Crossfire has fairly simple yet novel mechanics that allows you to as the defender to use the fact that the enemy would not really know your positions until the battle was joined and even then that knowledge would be limited. That is why in defense smaller forces many times held of or even destroyed attacking forces many times their size.

The Flak88 is a “Dragon” 1/72 model and the figures either Battle Front or Britannia.

Steve has a long-time reputation for poor die rolling so I had taken fewer troops to compensate, that was a big mistake! Steve proceeded to roll better than I have ever seen frustrating all my attacks.

Steve’s Panther works a crossfire with the flak 88 to insure a killing zone on a suspect Russian approach area. The control building was the main German held strong point.

The trains and the original track came from a HO set given to me by a neighbor. The trains need repainting and some conversion work to look more European. The track has been mounted on PVC, repainted, and flocked to look more part of the terrain.

German 81mm mortar deployed in bombed out warehouse. The painting, ageing, and basing of the train track really helped to make it look more part of the scene as well as create a defensive “berm” for troops or hull down position for tanks!

20mm gives plenty of opportunity for creating photo ops not possible in smaller scales.

After a short exchange of shots between the German “88” and the T34 the score was T34-0 Flack 88-1! The Panther moved up and soon all 3 T34/85s lay in a smoking pile…

The German Panther moves up into a better position. Now the Russian T34/85s are caught in a deadly crossfire!

The other flank saw the second Russian push but the results were not any better. The first Russian squad to leave cover was pinned down with heavy casualties, I ordered two Russian ISU 152s to destroy the German Mark IV and take the pressure of my advancing infantry but with Steve’s stellar die rolling they too soon lay as smoldering wrecks!

Britannia ISU 152s move up only to fall prey to the exceptional German fire! The pips/beads are use to mark things like Pinned, Suppressed, No fire, etc..

So within two hours the Russians lay strewn about like so many spilled matchsticks, their armor all ablaze, and I as the Russian commander being escorted into the woods, flanked by several commissars, to a fate familiar to “under preforming” Russian leaders…Dam we haven’t had that much fun in a game for years! I may even paint some stuff of the 20mmm lead mountain. .

A second German strong point on the other side of the railroad yard. The German forward observer scans for Russians.

Steve’s a happy camper given the performance of his Germans! and dice!

 

After the Battle Report; WWII Eastern Front “Hube’s Pocket” using “CROSSFIRE”

Posted on by
3

My main buddy and Wargamer par excellence Steveie G and I got together for another game in our favorite period WWII in 20mm, “God’s” scale! It was mid week our wives were away, and the gamers will play!

Hubs1board2

We have been using CROSSFIRE rules by Artie Conliffe and we are getting to know them quite well, so well that I have been looking into converting some of the old Squad Leader scenarios into Crossfire scenarios. Squad Leader has a ton of great scenarios in them with a lot of historical research done by some real WWII scholars. Looking over the Force layout showed me that with some fairly simple force conversions, like dividing the troop strength by 1/3, leaving armor alone, and piling individual weapons into the Squads and Platoons things should work out well. Then I looked at the maps and realized that SL and ASL maps are 10 times the size we normally play Crossfire on. There was going to be no easy way to convert them…so I set to figuring out how to create my own map that would look and feel like the Squad Leader map is a size we could use for Crossfire. I read the scenario, checked victory conditions, and then studied the map trying to see what, why, and how the terrain affected the battles scenario. I then tried to reduce and combine these features while retaining the look and effect it would have on the battlefield in a size and scale that would work for our 20mm Crossfire games.

The first Scenario I decided to do was “Hube’s Pocket” a Russian front Scenario taking place in February 1944 during the trying period when the German Werhmacht was being hammered by the Soviets and only able to fight back with one hand, the other tied behind their back by “Hitler’s” no retreat orders and constant interference with his Generals.

I also picked this one because we had ALL the troops for it and Steve has beautifully painted Waffen SS that he loves to get into action. This being a relief attack by Paul Haussers 1st SS Panzer army, late war, and involved Panthers, Panzer Grenadiers, and a “target rich” environment Steve was all for it!

This would be a rescue and breakout scenario for the Germans with Russian forces simply trying to prevent this and cut off escaping German forces.


I normally do a nice map using a overhead photo of the battlefield but as we were just play testing and there were really no hidden units I didn’t as we put all troops on table as of the first move. I regretted this when writing the battle report… so you get a hand drawn one from memory…it shows both sides deployment points route taken and final position during the battle.

The Germans came on Strong with Panthers moving forward on the Northwest most road followed by Panzer Grenadiers in Sdkfz 251 ½ tracks just behind. The South west road saw a similar group led by a couple of PzKw IVs trying to make as much distance as they could to link up with the Germans racing West out of the “Kessel”

The cry of “Ruski Panzer” rang out as sharp eyed German commanders spotting from there unbuttoned AFVs sighted the Russians streaming out of the woods to the Northeast. Hatches slammed shut, turrets swung, armor piercing rounds slammed into breaches, “Fire”, the first rounds slammed into Russian hulls and turrets, one of the six Russians burst into flame, the others however survived the Panthers hits? The German commanders looking more closely now realized that half of the Russian armor is made up of T34/85s and KV85s! A much tougher nut to crack and one that can fight back and win, even against a Panther!

The Russians came on in a fearsome attack to destroy the Fascist Vipers before they could properly deploy. The Russian tank riders moved off and into an ambush position to the East blocking the Northern road and taking the approaching German column under fire. Russian infantry soon had the first 3 German vehicles of the column burning. The Russian Armor unfortunately had to advance across the front of the Panthers in an attempt to out flank them and get into a position to get flank shots and a fair chance of penetration against the better armored and gunned Panthers. The first Russian tank T34/76s raced forward followed by a few better gunned and armored T34/85s that took up firing positions to try and cover the T34/76s flanking moves, the 85mm guns barked and the Russian guns hit their marks, rounds bouncing off the Panthers thick hulls. The return fire from the Panthers was ineffectual, probably because of the stunning effect of the Russians fire.

The Southern Road saw the advance of the German Mark IVHs and more Panzer Grenadiers attempting to also reach another column of 1st Panzer Armies escaping troops. The Russians had sent part of their force around the hills dominating the center of the battlefield in an attempt to take up a blocking position astride the southern road waiting for the columns of 1st Panzer Army to appear. The Russians arrived at the southern road junction and deployed around some nearby light woods just as the German MkIVs came into sight. The Russian Southern battle group was comprised of T34/76s and some very heavily armored KV85s also mounting the same powerful 85mm gun, this group was more than a match for the 2 MkIVs. As the Russian and German armor began their firefight Russian SMG armed infantry that had been riding on the tanks jumped off and took up positions in the woods along the southern road just as the 1st Panzer Armies columns came into view.

The Mark IVs fired and hit the Russians numerous times but their 75mm rounds bounced of the thick Russian armor. Russian return fire soon saw the two German Tanks burning and their accompanying Panzer Grenadiers taking cover in the woods.

In the North the battle soon swung in favor of the Germans as the Panthers made short work of the Russian armor, 6 Russian vehicles lay destroyed and burning. The Germans now pushed forward, the way for the Panzer Grenadiers being cleared. One of the Panthers moved up to support the advance of the German infantry while the other two moved slightly south to engage the Russian armor that had just destroyed the Mark IVs. Catching the Russians off guard and to their side the Panthers soon knocked out the Russian heavies, even though the one Russian KV 85 did send a round into one of the Panthers destroying it, common sense sent the others looking for cover. The Russians had now taken devastating losses, had their armor commanders killed, and their infantry had little in the way of anti-tank weapons suited to dealing with the German heavy armor.

 

Panzer Grenadiers deploy in the center with support of the Northern most Panther

German Panthers press home their attack in the center. One Panther is “brewed up” by the KV85s potent gun. The second Panther looks for revenge!

With in moments of destroying the Panther the Heavy Russian KV85 suffers the same fate at the hands of the other Panther. (yes it is a KV1 substituting for a KV85 model yet to be finished)

The Russians fired a few last rounds at the German infantry causing them to temporarily fall back to cover but the German panthers return fire cut deeply into the Russian infantries flank eliminating two Russian squads. The Russians infantry at this point melted back into the forest from which they came, to regroup and wait for reinforcing armor to renew the attack with!

We ended the game here and declared the try at converting a Squad Leader Scenario to Crossfire a success. Victory? Well it was not fair to say the Germans won since I don’t feel the Russians had a fair try at it. They ran out of Steam despite doing well. There should have been more Russians arriving during the battle. we will modify it slightly by for future use by giving the Russian infantry limited antitank capability, and having more Russian vehicles show up after say initiative 12 on turn generated rolls to simulate the arrival of more Russian troops as was the case. This will have the affect of causing the Germans to push harder and bring on their columns more aggressively in order to exit the ten trucks off the East board edge and victory.

The game was a lot of fun since it had clear objectives for both side and some interesting tactical deployment problems for both sides to overcome.

Steve’s Panzer Grenadiers deploy in textbook fashion preparing to assault the Russians!