"WATERLOO 1944 (Joe's Pics)" Topic

This is the link to a 28mm WW2 battle scenario set in the last week of August 1944, a few days before the liberation of Brussels.

link

The pics show a speculative ‘What if…?' wargame set on the historic Napoleonic battlefield of Waterloo, south of Brussels. It features the famous landmarks of Château d'Hougoumont, La Haye Sainte, La Belle Alliance, and the town of Papelotte. The primary game objective for the Germans was to prevent the Allies from securing the Charleroi–Brussels road which bisects the centre of the table.

Some Belgian villages were empty of the enemy when Canadian and Commonwealth soldiers got to them, and others had to be fought for in what were usually brief-but-costly affairs. Large parts of western Belgium were quickly liberated as the Germans managed to marshal their defenses in only a few key areas. Although most of the liberation of Belgium was achieved quite speedily, it was not a pushover. For example, the battle to cross the Ghent Canal was a particularly bitter one, with the Canadians establishing a bridgehead only after a hard and costly effort. There was also stiff fighting as the Allies pushed east towards Antwerp.

Played: 31-12-08
Venue & figures: Robert Browning
Sculptured terrain: Ron Ringrose
Photography: Joe Dever

Very, very, nice. Love the terrain and the figures! Lots and lots of variety!

I thought I saw George Lucas ;) in one of those photos… No wonder everything looks amazing! :)

WOW! Stunning game…good to see lots of Solido and Corgi stuff, the terrain is fantastic, especially all the buildings…just awesome in general…

regards,

Brad :)

Nice to see what appears to be 3 generations all playing a game together.

Impressive on a whole lot of levels! Thanks for sharing.

Excellent set-up. Thanks for sharing.

Rules used?

Spectacular game.

Could you tell me how wide the table is

and what did you make the ground terrain out of?

Simply amazing!

B-E-A-UTIFUL

great article, loved the pictures. What rules set did you use?

I'm green with envy. Very nice toys, terrain and games room.

>"…and what did you make the ground terrain out of?"<

I, too, would like to know!

How did the Prussians do on this occasion? :)

Now that is a 28mm W.W.II G-A-M-E!

Very impressed, thank you, I have added this one to my favs!

Am I seeing things or are there some 20mm vehicles in there?

Lovely stuff all round.
Just two off-the-wall questions ……. is it an unheated barn conversion?
It is just very noticeable, the wearing of hats, and hands shoved deep into the pockets of zipped-up fleeces, etc.
And also, is the owner of the venue a Napoleonic re-enactor?
Deduced, perhaps in error, from the paraphernalia around the walls….
I am very envious of the setup and venue, anyway. Lucky man.
Thanks for the viewing.

*THUNK* Sorry, that was my jaw hitting the floor. Amazing setup. Wish I had the time, space and budget for something like that. Very nice photographs, as well (my PC gave me a 'virtual memory too low' warning before half the page had loaded). Nice variety of armour- I struggled to identify some of them, but then my knowledge is hardly comprehensive.

Awesome.

Answers to some of the questions posted above:

We use a set of house rules that have evolved over the past few years. They are fairly simply but effective, and have been condensed to four sides of A4.

The table size is 24ft x 6ft with four sections that are 10ft in width. The three cut-aways allow for access to the middle of the table.

The ground terrain is based on 8ft x 4ft insulation boards (a 80mm thick polystyrene core that is sandwiched between two layers of foil sheeting). Polycell is applied to the playing surface of the terrain board and sculptured to depict ploughed fields, roads, ditches etc. Then the surface is coated with a mix of PVA glue and cat litter. When dry, the terrain is painted using matt acrylics. A final dry brushing is applied to highlight the different features. The cat litter is particularly effective – it readily absorbs the glue & paint, and it provides great texture for the final dry-brushing. The boards are big, tough, easy to sculpt, yet very light. You can pick up an 8'x 4' section with one hand.

There were no 20mm vehicles used in the game, just 28-30mm's. It's an optical illusion we call the "Airfix Effect"!

The game was staged in a barn conversion, built and owned by Robert Browning. It has two floors. The games table is on the ground floor, and figure storage, secondary table, WC, lounge and kitchen on the first floor. It is heated, although we had a power problem on the morning of the WW2 game. This was all sorted out during the lunch break.

Robert [pic 89], and Ron [pic 15] – the guy who constructed the scenery – are both long-time members of the Napoleonic Association and have taken part in many re-enactments over the years, both as French and British soldiers. You'll notice a lot of NA memorabilia dotted around the games room. They also appeared as extras in several episodes of Sharpe as British Infantrymen. John Horwood [Pic 05] was crew boss on the Sharpe series. If you look closely you'll notice that John is wearing his blue Sharpe Series IV crew jacket.

Where's the lion mound ?! Only joking – looks great!

Nice…….

Correction to credits: Terrain by Robert Browning & Paul Darnell