Almost done...

The modelling part, anyway.

I added the roofs to the MMG bunker and the observation emplacement, both made from foam-card and textured with filler for effect.

After wondering exactly how I was going to model the steel doors, inspiration came in the form of one of the small plastic bases that comes with the Battlefront/ Flames of War minis. I scored a centre line with a razor saw, glued it down to the stone floor, added hinges and supports from wooden off-cuts, and used two small washers as door handles. Now the garrison commander, the Freiherr von Talus auf dem Skree, can access the MMG bunker, and more critically the wine cellars.

I also textured the trench sides and added some supports to the log wall. I've just glued down the main walls using PVA and a wad o' toothpicks to anchor them.

Once the walls have dried thoroughly, I'll fill in any gaps as well as the odd accidental gouging and holes where I pushed the toothpicks through,. The final step is to give the whole thing one more coat of watered-down filler to soften the outlines of the stone.

Then I will set it aside to dry for a few days, clean the horrendous mess that has accumulated on top of my painting desk, and then get painting- both miniatures and Anthill.

"Mir sein die Kaiserjager"

Here's one for the Austrians. The song (and march) of the Tiroler Kaiserjager, who did a lot of the fighting in the Dolomites.

Note the photo of the minenwerfer with the finned projectile that appears towards the end of the video. I've the model from Brigade games that I need to put together. Just the thing to plunk in the middle of the Collina della Formica.

With that thing looking over the Allied lines and lobbing hate into their trenches from above, there will be plenty of incentive for the Allies to want to eliminate the stronghold!

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Speaking of which, here is a recent shot of the Anthill in progress. As you can see, the flagstones have been added to what was once the floor of the now-ruined building.

Looking down into the defensive works set in the "basement".

Looking from the back ("back" here being the side facing away from the enemy).

Mein schlauer Plan...

The Protagonists...

The Collina della Formica nears completion, I have received a bunch of Austrians and French from Scarab Miniatures, and my barbed wire and bases are on their way. It is time to look at what the next stages of my Italian Campaign project will be.

1) Paint up a small garrison of Kaiserjager for the Anthill

2) paint up a platoon of the French 701st with some support weapons

3) detail and paint Kallistra trenches

4) mass produce a wad o' barbed wire emplacements on 75mm square bases, as well as some rocky outcrops and sangars for cover.

These will not necessarly be done in this order, and I'll probably work on things like barbed wire positions between painting phases. But it should see me through to the summer, and in July I'm going to get myself a fold-up ping-pong table for gaming on.

I might even get myself either this one or this one for "flavour"!

I have been mulling over a setting and scenarios for my games, and have started on a cast of characters. The French capt. Raymond de Bouillon-Cantinat, Marquis de Sangfroid, commanding a detachment of the 701st that has been sent to Italy, will be sparring with that young but extremely self-confident scion of the noble Tyrolese house the Count von Talus auf dem Skree.

The Marquis is the latest in a line of Bouillon-Cantinats who have found their way into my French armies down the ages. It is only natural that he make an appearance here!

Tre Sassi

Lots of goodies due here in Tokyo this week through the post.

I've ordered both French and Austro-Hungarian minis from Scarab Miniatures, including an observation, AA and MMG team for the fort garrison. Also on their way are a bunch of round 25mm bases from Litko Aerosystems, and three boxes (eighteen metres worth!) of barbed wire from Antenociti's Workshop.

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Work on the Collina Della Formica continues apace. I spent the last few days on the laborious- and totally unexciting- task of modelling the stone effect in the trenches and and on the walls. A mix of techniques, but the effect is pretty good.


Now I have to finish texturing the inside walls with a few think coats of filler to blend in the card and balsa "stonework", and then I'll glue down the larger walls.

After filling in any gaps I'll add the emplacement covers and doors, then it is pretty much a matter of painting.

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A large part of the inspiration behind this is the Festung Tre Sassi, an Austro-Hungarian fort built in 1897 near Cortina.

Here in 1916,



...and as seen today. What a beautiful place to have to be fighting a war!



When the Italians declared war in 1915, the Austrians actually decided to withdraw from their line of forts in the Dolomites to a line further back from the border, and used the mountains themselves- to great effect- as natural fortresses for the Italians to have to attack.

There appears to be a good museum at the Tre Sassi that I'd love to visit if I ever get to that corner of Europe.

Il Piave mormorò....

Dating from 1918, a popular Italian song about the Piave campaign.

Austrian Terror Weapons...

DeathTrapp?

No, I'm actually talking about this;

I'm putting together an order for some more of the excellent Scarab miniatures, and find myself hesitating about whether to order a flamethrower or not.

The idea of deliberately setting out to grill one's fellow man or to ruin his lungs (as was the case with my great-grandfather) for the sake of the fulfilment of some political goal or redrawing of a border just doesn't sit comfortably with me. 

Yes, I know I'm being neither logical nor consistent. War is hell in all it's aspects, and being blown to fragments by a shell or being hit in the face by a high-velocity rifle bullet can be no less horrific, but there is something about the use of flamethrowers- and the use of toxic gas- that "pushes the envelope" of my comfort level when it comes to using them in a wargame. 

It is a personal thing. It is not something that I need a debate with others on, or that I lose sleep over. I know it is just a game. I may very well order them anyway just as models anyway. 

 

Somewhat heavy thoughts for what is after all just a gaming blog, but for me the issue sometimes arises, particularly when gaming WW1 and later where one doesn't have the excuse of colourful uniforms to justify collecting the miniatures.  

I've had an interest in military history all my life, and as I look at the human cost vs. ultimate benefit side of things down through the ages, the study has pretty well made a pacifist out of me.  

And like that other great pacifist and pioneer of our present-day hobby,  H.G. Wells, I like to limit myself to just playing with toy soldiers.  

I won't be bringing up this issue again on this blog, but I do feel that it healthy for me to reflect on just how nasty warfare can be in the scientific age, and not to let myself get too divorced from the reality as we move our metal models around on the tabletop. 

More WIP pics

Spent the afternoon working on the stonework again. These were cut into the surface of the papier-mâché. I like how they came out.

I also used a sheet of thin card to cut out the stonework for the trench mortar emplacement. Looks rather like ceramic bathroom tile in this picture, but I will give it wash of PVA/filler "goo" to soften the edges.   All will be hidden under a coat of paint later anyway.

The top "decking" between the ruined walls will get the same treatment. I will add a hatch to the floor to represent access to the MMG pit below.

Another day or so with the trench interiors, then I will begin work on the walls.  About another week to go and it will be ready for painting!