Saturday 23 February 2019

On the Workbench: Fallschirmjager & Rivers

Another batch of Fallschirmjager have been completed together with a British para engineer stand. 



The Fallschirmjager are primarily for the Op Market Garden project. They are part of Kampfgruppe Walther being 3 reduced battalions of Fallschirmjager. I therefore needed 3 extra HQ's but decided they should be fighting HQ's on normal stands. Here I have completed 2 x MG42 stands (front row), 3 x HQ stands (2nd row), 4 x stand platoons with Panzerfausts (3rd row), and at the rear the British para stand.

Continued -



I have also been experimenting with my 6mm river sections this week. There was a question on Facebook about why my rivers were so blue. I gave a flippant response "because I like it that way". The reality is that I have been considering for some time that I should repaint them. They were originally painted blue to match my commercially built terrain tiles but I have never been too happy with them. The Facebook comment gave me the spur I needed to take another look at these.

An 'old' and 'new' comparison. When you look at Google maps satellite view, streams and small rivers are usually heavily bordered by foliage and trees which quite often hide the water beneath. These river sections from Baccus are quite thick especially when sat next to 6mm figures. The plan is to hide some of that depth in foliage to give it a more natural look on the tabletop. I may try more foliage for the next sections with just very small bare patches. The odd tree would look good but I have to be careful of the practicalities of storage.

The river/stream bed was painted with a mixture of black/brown for the centre with a couple of shades of khaki nearer the banks. They were blended together while still wet. The surface is Woodland Scenics 'water' which is carefully poured on. It normally takes 2 or 3 coats to get the best results. 


A couple more shots, and I think from eye level does not look too bad. 

Who listened to the latest Meeples & Miniatures podcast? Fortunately for me they tend to talk about boardgames, skirmish level wargames or games involving 28mm figures. As I have given up on all those aspects of the hobby I am reasonably safe from temptation.

However, the latest was about 2mm wargaming! I was aware from previous episodes that Mike Hobbs had started a 2mm project which had already got my attention. I had dabbled in this scale over 20 years ago but never followed it up. My interest is this:

I have always liked the idea of fighting Austerlitz or Borodino but even in 6mm it would be difficult to do them justice without dedicating myself to another 'Waterloo' type project which could take years to prepare, not to mention the space required. I have never really liked the idea of one unit representing a brigade which would have been an option. The largest I can live with is battalion. This is where 2mm comes in. Mike Hobbs states on M&M that it takes just a few minutes at most to paint a unit. That I can well believe as you are only painting what is obvious. e.g. for French Line the front will be white with the sides and rear blue for the entire block. If primed black the shakos are already complete. Depending on the moulds there may be a need to paint faces for the first rank but I am guessing that would be it. I would not intend to base it leaving the unit as is.

Terrain may be a stumbling block. Easy enough for woods which would be just layers of loose Woodland Scenics clump foliage and buildings are available from Irregular Miniatures. Roads and rivers would be a trickier proposition. For rivers I would explore the option of using Acetate (as in the original Fire & Fury book) painted one side and bordered by loose foliage. Not sure at this stage about roads. Rolling countryside would be another problem for my modular terrain. I may have to go down the terrain mat route to solve that problem.

Rules is another issue. I battalionised Sam Mustafa's Grande Armee rules a few years ago which worked well. Another option is to explore the more recent offerings such as Blucher.

I would be determined though not to displace my existing projects so it would be one of those to sit in the background to be completed as and when the mood takes me. First up though is to get a few samples from Irregular Minis, see how they paint up including speed of painting, and make a decision from there. 

Has anybody tried 2mm and if so any tips? 

18 comments:

  1. Wowzer, the rivers look great. Old and new are chalk and cheese.

    I did 2mm years ago. Did Quatre Bras on an 18” x 18” board. The good bit was that I had units responding to timed orders and the game had a very strategic feel to it, also did Rome and Carthage ar The Trebia, that was OK, but, today, with older eyes and chubby finger tips, it all leaves me a bit cold. A few years ago I tried some 3mm, photographed then and realised that I had set the middle base up facing the wrong way, that pretty much killed it for me.

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    1. I must admit I am in 2 minds. I already have enough stuff on the go. Will probably still go with the samples and see how it develops. The attraction being the chance of playing a large iconic Napoleonic battle without taking years to prepare!

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  2. Beautiful units...and inspired job on the river!

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  3. Jon,
    Reading as always with interest. Many many years ago I ordered and indeed still have a range of Irregular 2mm Nap & ACW strips. They painted very easily but didn't have the visual appeal of even 6mm unless presented as part of a coherent unit such as a brigade, division or suchlike. Just like you I was considering the possibility of the really big battles. At the time I had absolutely no idea about rules for them and therefore purchased several different sets also available from Irregular at that time. These sets were suitable for both 2mm and 6mm and dealt primarily with the Nap and ACW periods and even incorporated at ACW campaign system. Whilst I enjoyed reading them, they were based on a timed system of movement where actions were dialogued between players, timed and then pieces moved within the time frame. I thought it had much to offer then but unsuitable or at least difficult to adapt as a solo system. I was never a great rules tinkerer and hence never really got into trying them out to any great degree. Irregular also had at that time a collection of small boxed fast play rules sets, Nap, ACW, FPW & WWI. Insofar as I can recollect all these sets were Brigade based but with the tactical units being at the Battalion level of 2/3 strips of 6mm/2mm. I used these boxed sets several times with 6mm, they were fast play and very simple to use. As for the 2mm figures I never followed up with them and as happens I got sidetracked by other projects. I still think though that there may very well be a great game in them, particularly for the really big battles, akin to the visual spectacle that was your Waterloo. I regret I can offer little else as I did not pursue the scale at that time. I will watch with interest should you post further on the subject.

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    1. Many thanks for your detailed reply Karl. One of my concerns about 2mm being that will it be just like a glorified board game. You can certainly see the potential and the thought of playing one of those large battles within the space constraints of my room is enticing. Will see how the samples paint up and take it from there. I recall that part of my 2mm collection was one of those Irregular Minis box sets including rules. I sold it years ago and regret doing so now!

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  4. Your new river sections are superb! A quantum leap forward in aesthetics and realism. Well done!

    As for 2mm, I have not tried that scale but a buddy is building 3mm Napoleonic armies that are striking. Check out macpheesminiaturemen.blogspot.com and search “3mm napoleonics.” You will be amazed at the detail of the stands.

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    1. Thanks Jonathan for your positive comments. Just had a look at the 3mm Naps and agree they are amazing for their size. All these shiny things.... far too tempting!

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  5. I tried 2mm a few years ago and was quite happy with the results. IMHO the basing and flags make a big difference, as do the unit markers because everything looks the same from a few feet! In the end it just didn't give me the visual kick I was after and to get the massed unit look, ended up working out more expensive than going down the 6mm - 10mm route.

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    1. Many thanks for your comments Steve. You make some interesting points here. My current intention would be to attach labels to each unit as I presently do for 6mm. I may have to go down the basing route but will make a decision on that when I have painted up a few samples. One of the attractions of 2mm for a large battle was the saving on time and expense, so concerning that it could work out more expensive. I also agree about the visual appeal and all these factors will have to be considered in determining whether I will pursue this project.

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  6. Those minis look great - that’s a lot of Camo.
    I also like the river

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    1. Many thanks Itinerant. In reality I probably could have thinned out the camo in this scale but that is the OCD in me. Not as difficult as it looks though when you get a production line on the go.

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  7. Definitely prefer the new river sections to the old ones. Who makes the 6mm figures? They look really detailed.

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    1. Thanks Jim. The figs are Heroics & Ros. A big step up from their original sculps. They are of comparable size to GHQ but bulkier. I am certainly impressed and intend to stick with H&R now for all my WW2 needs. They are still working their way through their range so awaiting updates to many of their figures. Not only are they updating them they are expanding what is available.

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  8. New river sections look great. I also have blue rivers mainly because I’m trained to think water when I see blue and not brown. We all know brown and green rivers are more realistic but I always think that unless the whole table is super realistic the brown rivers just look out of place.

    Scale is such a personal preference that it really doesn’t matter as long as the people are having fun. 😀

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    1. I agree Stew. Same here with the water. I have noticed that some have gone down the muddy brown route but not overkeen on that. As for your final comment I could not agree more.

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  9. The revised rivers look great, even if I am in the "blue rivers" camp. I shall remain silent about 2 mm! :-)

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    1. 2mm.... lol. I shall not leave blue rivers behind completely. For the larger rivers I am considering a bluish tinge. That is a little way off though.

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