Editor in Chief Bill | 25 Feb 2017 5:39 p.m. PST |
Are telephone poles worthwhile on the tabletop, or do they just get in the way and get knocked over? |
Mako11 | 25 Feb 2017 5:59 p.m. PST |
The do look nice, but suspect they may get in the way, in some cases. Of course, you can just move the minis from the other side of the road, so they don't get bumped. Don't have any myself, but they do make tables look more realistic. |
myxemail | 25 Feb 2017 6:27 p.m. PST |
I use them in my 15mm WW II games. I mount the poles on fender washers so they are easily moved if need be. I use them essentially as scatter scenery, with no effect on play but enhances the visual appeal of the tabletop Mike |
Extra Crispy | 25 Feb 2017 6:52 p.m. PST |
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cloudcaptain | 25 Feb 2017 6:53 p.m. PST |
Using just a few here and there looks good. Overdoing it gets in the way of moving things. |
kallman | 25 Feb 2017 6:54 p.m. PST |
Telephone poles for WW II and modern games are just that little bit of icing on the cake that says you are going for a great looking game table. |
BigDan | 25 Feb 2017 7:14 p.m. PST |
They make a road look like a road. |
etotheipi | 25 Feb 2017 7:33 p.m. PST |
I used them once when they were part of the scenario objectives. |
Grignotage | 25 Feb 2017 7:41 p.m. PST |
I think they really dress up a table. I use them in my 6mm games and move them aside when they are in the way. |
thorr666 | 25 Feb 2017 8:13 p.m. PST |
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Lion in the Stars | 25 Feb 2017 8:14 p.m. PST |
They're nice table-dressing. They can also be a really cheap way to turn a near-Napoleonic French town into a WW2 French town. Plus they're very small and easy to store. For my Infinity gaming, I plan on mounting them with strong RE magnets, so even if they get bumped they won't be damaged too much. |
mwindsorfw | 25 Feb 2017 8:30 p.m. PST |
Just scenery. You can add some black or grey thread hanging down to look like the wires are down. |
whitphoto | 25 Feb 2017 10:03 p.m. PST |
Cheap and add to the look. I got a pack of 12 or so from Amazon for my 28mm games and the scale is almost perfect. Looks great in photos and I only need half of the box really. |
piper909 | 25 Feb 2017 10:49 p.m. PST |
Useful if they're an objective, as noted above; otherwise, one must consider the aesthetic appeal versus the constant picking back up. |
capt jimmi | 25 Feb 2017 11:09 p.m. PST |
Telephone (and high-tension electricity) poles + (imaginary) wires should be an obstacle to helicopters in NOE flight. From a pilot's point of view they are an important obstacle. |
11th ACR | 25 Feb 2017 11:24 p.m. PST |
Also wire guided ATGM should not be fired over or near them. |
Axebreaker | 26 Feb 2017 2:52 a.m. PST |
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raylev3 | 26 Feb 2017 3:24 a.m. PST |
They get in the way and are tactically irrelevant. |
pzivh43 | 26 Feb 2017 4:37 a.m. PST |
In most game, sounds like the armored vehicles that I am in charge of! |
shaun from s and s models | 26 Feb 2017 5:24 a.m. PST |
we strung a load of thin string around our telegraph poles in a game many years ago and my mates low level bomber hit them as he was swinging it in for a bobming run and it catapulted backwards and hit the wall breaking it up a bit! much laughter we had. |
Evzone | 26 Feb 2017 7:24 a.m. PST |
Have used them to support an objective. Early Great War German attack on a frontier telegraph station guarde by French reservists. Made a lovely game,; Germans had to take the telegraph station, failing that cut the wires. I used railway scenic posts which did a good job. Next to,e I play that scenario I'll add some photos. |
Lion in the Stars | 26 Feb 2017 7:53 a.m. PST |
Related are high-tension transmission towers, which is a great way to turn a WW2 table into a Cold War Gone Hot table. Though high-tension towers are a lot bigger than the simple telephone or power poles in terms of storage required. |
Jamesonsafari | 26 Feb 2017 9:55 a.m. PST |
+2 myxemail I am endeavouring to have all sorts of tactically irrelevant terrain on my table to make look like more than a flat green table |
jefritrout | 26 Feb 2017 2:31 p.m. PST |
Friend of mine ran a game where the Special Forces unit had to get a certain asset out of a building they onto the chopper to escape. The telephone poles made it a very difficult game for the Spec-Ops helicopter to find a place to actually land. |
Dragon Gunner | 26 Feb 2017 2:57 p.m. PST |
I think it depends on scale of game, battle versus skirmish. I tend to like interactive terrain in skirmish games that resourceful players can use. A telephone pole is basically a tree, cut them down and lay them across the road and you have an effective road block to wheeled vehicles (assuming they cannot drive around it or the ground is perilous due to mud etc…) Troops will have to dismount and clear the obstacle and that is when you spring your ambush. Another variant is the players complete their mission and when they try to evacuate in their wheeled vehicles "Black Hawk Down" style they find the locals have felled the telephone poles to create road blocks. If you are really sadistic have live electrical wires prevent the player from just grabbing them and pulling them out of the road.(Get descriptive with visible audible electrical discharges)
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RKE Steve | 27 Feb 2017 6:42 a.m. PST |
Yes but is there an easy way to make them? |
GreenLeader | 27 Feb 2017 8:42 a.m. PST |
I would say they should be included as they are a potential 'land mark' / 'reference' for a player who is issuing orders. We did this in the army and, for similar reasons, I include the railway line and the plate layer's hut at the Battle of Colenso as, though they make no impact on movement / cover / line of sight, a good set of rules (in my opinion) is one which forces the player to draw up some sort of plan of attack, and these require the use of easily identifiable geographical features: '4th Brigade will advance to the west of the railway line, and take up defensive positions level with the plate layer's hut'. In a table top devoid of all such features, this would not be possible. |
Lion in the Stars | 28 Feb 2017 4:00 a.m. PST |
@RKE Steve: Dowel/plastic rod for the pole and basswood/plastic strips for the crosspieces, sewing pin heads for the insulators. Stick the whole mess onto a metal base for stability. Or you can just raid the model railroad stores, they're relatively cheap. Battlefront Minis makes a set of WW2-era telephone/telegraph poles for Normandy terrain, code XX703. Has 5 signposts and 5 telegraph poles per blisterpack. |