"20thC Belgium in 2mm?" Topic

Just wondering which Brigade Miniatures packs or other urban buildings would work best for a 20thC Belgian town?

Just wondering which Brigade Miniatures packs or other urban buildings would work best for a 20thC Belgian town?

Which part of the 20thC, 1914, 1940 or 1990? Some parts will be essentially the same whilst others will be radically different over the course of a century. Have you got Google Earth? Spend some time in street view and get an idea of what the place looks like. Yes, a lot will be modern, but older areas are also present.

I'm using them for 1914 (when I get some finished) and find that all but the obviously ancient or modern ones will work with some imagination.

The terraces and town buildings fit best, villageagricultural set is OK (but scrap the oast houses), Medieval set is usable, detached houses are about 50/50. Normandy & the associated churches are good. Industrial are OK but lack smaller warehouses and workshops typical of the canal-side buildings (adding a small chimney to some houses would work though). Some of the railway stuff is good, other bits a bit too British.

I'd like to see more smaller industrial types and possibly something like a small mine – would do from 1880-1950 with only minimal variance. Small warehouses (say 3/4 stories about 15mmx20/25mm footprint) and some high walls (and factory gates) would also be good additions IMHO.

Look for resin castings of the "grote markt" of Bruxelles, Antwerp, etc. There are pre-painted souvenir versions available in a variety of scales. That's probably your best bet to get those distinctive facades from the old guildhalls.

1940 is my target date. Thanks to all for the advice and especially GildasFacit for your detailed response.

It surprises me how England-orientated wargame scenery can be when we haven't had a major conflict since the ECW!

A good part of the Brigade Models range started as scenery for their Aeronef range set over England around the turn of the century so an anglo-centric design was inevitable.

What most impresses me about the range is the realistic range of buildings in a pack. Even though most of the English buildings are modelled on examples in the south of England I can go through the town shops pack and pick more than half I recognise from local towns up here in the North.

If you are doing 1940 then most of the rail and industrial packs are useful and virtually all the detached houses too – it is the 1920-30 designs that I don't use but OK for 1940.

While the Grote Markt is obviously very distinctive, ordinary houses and terraces in small Belgian and northern French towns don't look a lot different from the UK, especially in 3mm. Industrial buildings also seem to be fairly universal but I think I may have to be more careful with churches.

I see Brigade Models are now planning a Northern France/Low Countries range which is good news for me.