4Ground 15mm Pre-Painted Shop

The second of my 4Ground purchases from SELWG was the 15mm Pre-Painted Shop.  This one is quite similar to build to the 15mm Pre-Painted Semi I previously posted; however, there are some notable differences.  The front and back elevations come as single pieces (since the two halves are the same colour).  The shop window comes with two alternative finishes but if quite fiddly to put together in the one I chose.  The building is slightly taller than the Semi and has a separate attic level - although there aren't any windows or openings at this level.  Here are a couple of picture of the assembled building:

Overall I'm pleased with the result and think it will look good on the table.

First Look: SAGA Northern Fury

I was wandering past Orc's Nest the other day and decided to pop in for a look.  Whilst browsing I spotted the first supplement for Saga and decided to pick it up.

Northern Fury is a 22 page booklet published in a similar style to the main rule book and is accompanied by four cardstock battle boards.  The supplement introduces four new factions - the Anglo Saxons, the Bretons, the Jomsvikings and the Scots - along with an new scenario.  The first three factions utilise the same dice as factions from the original rules but the Scots have their own new dice (assuming you are bothered about the custom dice).

Each faction has a brief introduction, any special rules, new Heroes and the faction's specific abilities which run to around four pages per faction with a few accompanying photographs of appropriate figures.

Superficially, the Anglo Saxons are geared around large levy units, the Bretons javeline armed cavalry, the Jomsvikings have a variable level of "Wrath" which enables/enhances various abilities and the Scots spear armed infantry; however, each faction looks like they have their own playing style and each differ from the others and the original four factions.

The scenario, Wooden Oaths, is designed for two teams of players and looks interesting.

Since I have figures for some of these factions already and am particularly interested in the Anglo Saxons and the Scots I though this would be a useful addition to my Saga collection.

I see another supplement is due out shortly and has some Irish too ....

15mm Pre-painted Semi Type 1

Having been pleased with the 4Ground 28mm buildings, I decided to pick up a couple of the 15mm ones to give them a go.

First up is the 15mm Pre-painted Semi Type 1 which comes with the two halves of the building in two colours which makes the assembly of the exterior of the front and back slightly more fiddly but not much so.  Other than the fact that these are physically smaller buildings they were just as straightforward and quick to put together as their 28mm counter parts.  They don't come with interior detail; however, I am not expecting to use them for skirmishes and so this isn't an issue for me - plus I expect it keeps the costs down.

The structure is similar to the 28mm ones in that the walls come with an exterior section and an interior one which gives them rigidity; however, in this case the doors and windows are simply etched onto the interior component rather than being separate (I suspect they would have been rather too fragile otherwise).  Here are some photos of the build:

The component parts

Ground floor in progress

Ground floor structure completed

First floor outer components

First floor outer skin assembled

First floor structure completed

Roof added to first floor (it's removable)

The chimney stacks

The completed building

Door to Door

Last Saturday I made it down to the club and put on a 20mm World War II game using Nuts! by Two Hour Wargames.

1000 6 June 1944 - South East of Chef-du-Pont, France

Men from all units of the 507th and some from the 508th PIR reached the railroad station in the center of Chef-du-Pont with little opposition. A small but important bridge is to the southeast. Whilst the remainder of the force clears the town, you have been sent to clear the the road to the southeast of the station.

The players had two squads supplemented later by a third and their objective was to clear the buildings and secure the road so the main force could advance.

The first two squad decided to concentrate and advance on the right flank.  They successfully crossed the crop field and hunkered down behind the hedgerow.  As a few were pushing their way through to observe they were spotted by a lone German rifleman who opened fire.  He missed and quickly ducked back into cover when the paras returned fire.  One group then rushed across the road to the churchyard wall.

One man was sent to recon the church and found nothing but when another group popped up to take a look at the adjacent houses they came under fire again from the rooftop sniper; however, this time a BAR was in place and swept the German's window silencing the threat.  They then advanced into the church.

With Germans obviously occupying some of the buildings on this side of the road, one squad decided to rush across the main road to try to outflank them.  Unfortunately this took them straight across the front of an MG42 team emplaced on the cafe balcony at the far end of the village.

The charge was led by the man carrying the .30 cal and he was hit.  The man carrying the tripod thought better of the advance and darted back to the cover of the field but a couple of the others made it across safely.  With their only machine gun now stranded in the middle of a road swept by enemy fire things were not looking good.

The other groups continued their advance, one squad through the woods to the rear of the buildings and the other to try to clear the first building, the one occupied by the sniper.  One man rushed forward, primed his grenade and tried to throw it through the nearest window.  Unfortunately it ricocheted back and landed nearby!  He clumsily threw himself to one side but, fortunately, was only stunned by the blast.  The remainder of his team tried a more direct approach and assaulted the building neutralising the  occupants.

The squad advancing through the woods moved into position to cover both the buildings and engage the MG team in the cafe.  Unfortunately they were spotted and came under heavy fire, taking several casualties; however, whilst the MG42 was reloading they managed to neutralise its crew.  Two Germans, reluctant to surrender their primary weapon, crept out of the cafe under cover and took over the MG.  Meanwhile the other buildings were slowly being cleared.

The MG42 came back into action but despite cutting down several of the paras the new crew came under heavy fire and suffered the same fate as the first.  The Germans were clearly coming off worst in the firefights, largely due to their poorer quality troops and several casualties were captured as the next building was cleared.

Having heard the exchanges of a fire a third squad had been sent to support the first two and they were slowly advancing down the left flank.  Advancing through an orchard they came under fire and took a casualty but their response silenced the opposition.  An aggressive assault on the building secured it, despite the grenade blasts causing some structural damage.  Moving forward to observe the road, this group spotted and engaged a lone German rushing from one of the buildings about to be assaulted on the other side across to the cafe.  Despite several bursts he managed to throw himself through the open cafe door and out of sight.

This firing gave the assaulting paras pause and luckily they spotted the fact the building they were about to enter had been booby trapped.  A luck escape.

A small group of Germans now engaged the squad on the left flank but, after several exchanges of fire, they were badly mauled and withdrew.

With the upper hand now moving to the Americans, things were looking up when a disturbing noise was heard from the road into the village - the round of tracks!

A Panzer IV and a section of Germans had been sent to support the section holding the village.

The German tank advanced slowly with the infantry split to both the right and the left of it.

The group on the left had a nasty shock as they were outflanked by some paras who soon put paid to them.

The squad on the left flank prepared themselves for the assault but when the tank swung into view the first man's nerve broke and he ran.  He fell in hail of bullets from the tank's machine guns.  The NCO, however, was made of sterner stuff and he threw his Gammon grenade at the tank.  It was a desperate move but his aim was spectacular and the explosion brought the tank to a grinding halt as it burst into flames.

Several exchanges of grenades and automatic fire between the infantry caused casualties on both sides but with their armour support destroyed the Germans decided to withdraw and the engagement went to the Americans.

SELWG 2012

So SELWG has come and gone for another year.  Once again I travelled across to Crystal Palace, although this time more than ever to catch up with people rather than to fill my shopping list.

Overall it was very similar to previous years, perhaps a little less well attended (that's just a guess though) but still quite a few there.  Unfortunately a couple of the traders I would have bought from dropped out late on but there was still a decent selection there.

It was quite hot - especially in the cafe area which was like a greenhouse - but I shouldn't really complain given we haven't seen too much of the sun recently.

I managed to catch up with some old friends, plus those legends of the blogosphere Ray from Don't Throw a One and The Angry Lurker who once again showed tremendous forbearance with a cheeky blighter and amateur blogger like me (although I would have liked to have seen the poolside reaction to their manly frames in speedos - all those young ladies swooning!)

I also managed to catch up with game designer, regular celebrity guest on Meeples & Miniatures and all round top chap, Rich Jones - it was great to be able to a face to the name!

There were some nice looking games at the show, although I did recognise a couple from Broadside.  No pictures unfortunately as the wife went off with both our cameras by mistake.

I didn't pick up to much in the way of toys but did get a couple of the 15mm 4Ground buildings - so I'll be seeing how assembling them compares to the larger 28mm ones and then posting my experiences.   I also picked up another squad of Bolt Action 28mm US Airborne from Warlord and another book to add to my Marlburian collection.   Hopefully it will help me keep up the focus I need to actually get the project to the table.

Overall another worthwhile outing and I look forward to next year's show.  I suspect SELWG will be my last show for 2012 - so roll on Cavalier 2013 (assuming it's on - as TWWS haven't posted anything yet).