Building 12

I have started assembling the buildings that I bought on ebay. There are 8 separate buildings that can be put together and joined. I did a pretty good job of putting these together except when gluing them together in a row, I of course messed up and glued one in backwards. I also put one of the wall facings in backwards on another building. Again, very frustrating. However, I have four of them put together as a rowhouse. I used spare sprue from the parts and made a roof support to create a bombed out version. Then tiled the roof. I need to do some more with the roof but it is coming along much quicker than I thought.

I have taken some cutters and cut holes in the supports where it is not covered by the tiles. I think it is coming together.

I also ordered some paint for my 1/144th aircraft for Algernon Pulls it off. I started painting on the scheme that I wanted for some Nieuport 11s. I realized after starting that the scheme is more appropriate for 1917 than 1916. While disapointed, I still like the scheme. It is an interesting comparison between the 3d prints I received years ago from Shapeways and the modern prints now. The newer resin prints are not paint sponges requiring many coats to paint. The details are clearer and better. It is really interesting to look at.

No pictures of the Nieuport 11 so far. I may take some later once I get the rest of the paints in.

Building 12 has arrived, Scenario Writing and the Summer Scenario Sale

My missing eBay order arrived last night. This is a set of 8 row houses with some sidewalk in front of it. While the buildings are very nice and the parts fit well together, this was not exactly what I was looking for. The scale seems off with my other 15mm buildings. They seem almost better suited for 10mm miniatures rather than the 15mm miniatures that I am using. I need to fully assemble one before making the final determiniation. I was looking for something closer to what I purchased from Sarrissa. I would like to have a ruined roof section on it to allow troops in the roof area to shoot down onto the street below. I am not sure this will be possible with this particular miniature.

I have a stand in that I am currently using. It is an older solid cast structure. Possibly an old JR miniatures model. It just doesn't have the foot print size that I am looking for. Hopefully, once assembled, the new building will work out. If not, I will reach back out to Sarissa and place an order. I think I found a few things that would work but be more expensive.

In my excitement about possible Chain of Command games, I looked at some of my order miniatures and that gave thought to my older scenario books. This led me to look at the Ustilug scenario book. It strikes me that this needs to be redone. First, I have a reference to the TooFatLardies website that is now broken since their website change last year. Since those were a free order of battle sheet that they published, I will end up including some of that data into the scenario book for simplicity. I also want to add some images of some games to it as well. To that end, I have started doing a photo search of the town and the countryside on Google maps and street view. The town is drastically changed from the war. The town was heavily shelled in the opening hours of the war and not many original buildings remain. There are a few. Part of the issue is finding the right names go Google as the town had Polish, German and Ukrainian names for things. All of these may or may not change when going from English as a starting point. But that is half of the fun. I did find a church that seems to be in the right place with a cemetary next to it. It is very well maintained so I am not sure if it is the original Orthodox Church or a replacement from after the war.

The best map I have found is a 1:25,000 scale map from 1938. It is titled Special Edition XII.1940 4538/4. The map appears to be in both German and Polish. It is better than the 1:100,000 scale map that I build the scenarios from but still not as ideal as a 1:10,000 scale one. But I have yet to find it. My old go to source for maps of the Ukraine was wwii-photos-maps.com. The site is gone but he has moved all of his materials to an FTP server. You can get to it with an anonymous loging using something like WinSCP. The site is jccalvin.ddns.net on port 21. Still a great resource for all parts of WWII. It is a treasure trove. He just has very few 1/10,000 scale maps.

Also I just put up a sale on my Payhip Store. Use code SummerSale2025 for 50% off until July 15th 2025.

Chain of Command 2 Playtest 1

I got in my first game on Sunday. I played the Attack and Defend scenario from the main rulebook using my new scenario for Singling. It worked great. I used the historical forces for the US troops as the attacker but a full Panzer Grenadier Platoon for the Germans. That was probably a mistake. The US forces were the historical remnants of two platoons whose combined total was less firepower than a normal single paper strength platoon. The action ended up being a tank engagement as the scenario is designed for Big Chain of Command with each side having an armored unit and an infantry element on the table. I really liked the Final Countdown. I ended up using a shock marker dial for the final countdown. The game had fairly historical results with even fewer casualties. I miscalculated the German support points and short changed them a bit. I really don't think it mattered that much. I plan on running some more games on this table to get a full feel for it before finalizing it. But it was great to finally play a game again.

The primary action was between the armor. The US Infantry came close to the Jadgpanzer IV in the town center spotting it in the smoke. The armor then engaged it ineffectively causing it to retreat. Similar to the historical outcome. The US tanks never made it close to the courtyard with the horse dung. The US infantry siezed the objective marker in the church. One accomplishment that I had was getting to play with completed fencing for Building 28. The fences received a very basic paint job. I made a mistake with the metal work. I should have painted it black. Instead I did a silver and then put a rust wash on it. Not 100% happy with it but it will do.

In looking at it, I am not 100% sastisfied with the chimneys on some of the buildings. The ones where I just went with a black chimney, i need to revisit. I might brick them or at least paint some kind of stone work on them as they look off compared to the rest of the building. I also need to up my jump off point game. Using an unpainted wooded 25mm base just seemed bland. It worked but is bland. Overall, I am pretty happy with how this is turning out.

The last big part of this is the elevations. I am sold on the idea that the excersize mats are the way to go at this point. I have a 6'x 4' matt currently under this. I need two more identical ones that I can do surgury on them to get the look I am going for. The hope is that this will prove to give me flexibility to design multiple hill terrain options. The matts come with an edging piece so you don't have a puzzle piece look on the sides. This edging should be able to be cut as a slope to avoid an oddly stair stepped look under the ground cloth. It is still on the to do list.

Singling - Next Steps

This project is getting really close. I still have not received building 12 even though it was ordered on May 7th. I have an existing building that I can use as a standin. It is not as large as I would like but will do.

I am missing the fences around building 28. These are still being painted. I just got some basing on them last night.

They need the iron bars painted and the wall itself painted. I should have made details in the walls but it will do. I also need some walls on the west side of buildings 9 and 10. These featured in the battle as the tanks had to run over and shoot through them (litterally) in the battle. I have some taller generic walls that I plan on using.

Lastly, the large pile of poop in the courtyard of buildings 8,9 and 10 is missing. THis is painted up and ready to go but I have no idea where I put it. And I forgot to look for it last night.

The only other missing item is the elevation. I am not sure how to accomplish this yet. The terrain elevation plays an important role on two of the three tables for this scenario set. i would like to get two more sets of floor mats that I use for basing. These come with nice edge pieces that hide the puzzle piece look that it would otherwise have. I think I can use those to arrange the table the way I need. Also, if necessary, I can pin items down through the cloth into the floor mats. I will have a trip to Home Depot soon.

Singling Progress - Getting Close

At this point, I have all of the US Infantry painted up. I am missing a pair of soldiers armed with SMGs and a winter 60mm mortar operators. I have the spare figures to serve as crew. All are now based and ready. Here is what I have so far:

HQ with a Platoon Leader, Platoon Sergeant and a Bazooka team that can be taken from any of the other squads.

The Headquarters Squad

First Squad (this is missing an additional man with a SMG.

Second Squad (this is missing an additional man with a SMG.

60mm Mortar Squad. The mortar and crew is a stand in from my other US Infantry. The additional crew are winter troops.

The LMG Squad

This gives me a nearly full platoon of US Armored Infantry. I will not need it for the scenario as the units were severly reduced. As shown before, I also have a full German Panzer Grenadier platoon. They also had casualties so would be reduced. This gives me more than enough to game.

Where are we with terrain? Well I am 90% done with Building 8. I made significant progress on this building over the weekend. I had an old Impudent Mortal 15mm L shaped building. I wrapped it in brick paper and added some tile roofing. Then I used some old windows and doors that I found in a drawer. I want to do more with the chimney but am not sure what I will do with it.

Lastly is the school. I was able to get some paint on it over the weekend. I still have to paint the details such as the door and windows but it is coming along. Another couple of hours of work, and I will be ready for the scenario. By this weekend, I will start running games on this terrain.

Algernon over the Isonzo

My order from tabletop flights just came in. Also my flight stands from Litko also came in. Both were 2 days ahead of schedule. Very impressed. This brings my early 1916 project to the following:

Italian Aircraft	Number	Austro-Hungarian Aircraft	Number
Nieuport 10	2	Hansa-Brandenburg C.I	2
Nieuport 11	2	Fokker A.III	2
Caudron G.3	1

I have ordered a single Caproni Ca.3 from XPForge. I also am getting a friend to print a Caquot observation balloon for the Italians. This will give me a good starter force for both sides.

There are other aircraft that I could try to get but are harder to come by. For instance, the Albatros B.I is unavailable in 1/144th scale. The Lloyd C.II and Lloyd C.III are similarly unavailable. The Albatros B.I and Lloyd aircraft were both two-seater observation aircraft. The Austro-Hungarian's didn't have bomber aircraft at this stage of the war.

For the Italians, they have the Bleriot XI as a reconaissance aircraft. It is available in other much larger scales but not in 1/144. The Nieuport 11 was not available until late in February 1916 but there are models of this aircraft available. There were armed variants of the Nieuport 10s that were fielded as make-shift fighters. Only the Bleriot is unavailable.

As such, there are only a limited number of types of aircraft for this particular theater and time. Most of which are available as models. The Albatros B.I was being phased out and moved to training units as was the Bleriot. The Lloyd's were in active service but there seem to have been fewer of them than the Hansa-Brandenburgs.

For the scenario I want to run with this, I will need several more Caproni bombers and several more Eindeckers. But for the time being, I have more than enough to get started.

My question is, does anyone run games with seaplanes for WWI? The Austro-Hungarians had a number of seaplanes that are interesting looking.

Singling - Wrapping it up

I am still waiting on one final building. It shipped in early May but still has not made it yet. Hopefully soon. I have been working on the couryards of building 9. Since you can order them separate from Sarissa, I will make this one a winter one.

Building 8 is still proving to be harder than I anticipated. I am trying to 3d print some doors and windows for the building. My printer is still being problematic.

The fences for building 28 have been primed. I think I should be able to get a number of them knocked out over the weekend. I just need to work out the basing for them.

Once those are doine, I still have US Infantry to base and a bit more armor to paint. I should be close enough to get a game in soon.

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Well, the weekend has come and gone. I figured out how I was going to base the fencing. I am pretty happy with what I have come up with. I need to paint and base them still. I also started to base my US infantry. In going through the miniatures that I have, I have the lions share of the miniatures that i need for the scenarios. I still need two LMG teams (m1919s) and a 60mm mortar team. I have a stand in for the mortar team. I am ordering some LMG teams from Gajo. I have a couple more steps left to finish basing the infantry that I have. I think I have enough to start some playtesting. Once I have the snow on the bases, I will be in good shape.

That just leaves the terrain left. There is still the building that has not arrived. Building 8 needs doors and windows. I have also finished the yards for Building 9.

The school is in better shape. I was able to spackle the building over the weekend and I think I am ready to paint. The windows on the back and side are not 100% accurate but I had so much trouble with getting window frames printed, I just went with what I had. I still need to build an angled base for it. That part will take some tinkering. That leaves me with the hill structures for the games. If I can get some cheap foam sheets, that should do the trick.

I also completed the two bunkers that I need for the Singling table.

I did receive my Hansa-Brandenburg C.I model from XPForge. I really like the model.

It was good progress for the weekend. Except for my 3d Printer. That was still frustrating.

Back to Algernon

In getting ready to play a game of Algernon Pulls It Off, I placed another order with TableTopFlights. I picked up another Hansa-Brandenburg C.I, a pair of Nieuport 11s and a Caudron G.3. This will round out most of what i need for the Isonzo Front early 1916. I also bought some Litko Flight stands for them. One of the things I bought was an altitude dial to go one these. The problem is that I will still have to paint these.

It should be fun to get this going again.

New Miniatures and Singling Continued

I received some prints from a friend at work. While my printer is still having issues, he printed some Sherman tanks for me. I received four hulls and 12 turrets. For whatever reason, his prints did not have the fit issues that mine did. These are a mix of the 75mm turret and the 105mm turrets. In addition he got me a number of fence pieces to finish out the Singling build. I now should have enough to complete the build. He also gave me the misprints that I can use a wrecked fence pieces. Lastly, he printed the windows I need to finish out the school house. I was able to glue these in place last night. I still need to plaster the building and paint but I am confident that this will move forward at a better pace now. For building 8, I did more brick paper on the building. I need to work out what I will do for doors and windows. The roof is built but I need something to fill the gaps in the angle joins in the roof. I haven't figured that out yet. But it is moving forward. I actually believe that I can see the light at the end of this tunnel.

What is left once the terrain is wrapped up? I need to base the US Armored Infantry platoon. I do not have the LMG teams for the platoon. I am looking at buying some from Gajo if they have any. I need to finish painting the second Jadgpanzer IV. Then I need to assess what Panther tanks that I have. I should not need more than 3 total. If I make some wrecked models, that would be a nice to have but not necessary. For the Americans, there were a total of 13 total tanks in the company that attacked Singling. No platoon had more than four Shermans. Actually, 1st Platoon had five tanks but Sgt Kenneth Sandrock's tank broke away from 1st Platoon and supported the advance of third platoon up the center of town.

Platoon	Commander	Gun
Co HQ	Captain James Leach	76.2mm
1st	1st LT William F Goble	75mm
1st	S/Sgt John Fitzpatrick	75mm
Ist	Sgt Emil Del Vecchiop	75mm
1st	Sg Robert Fitzgerald	76.2mm
1st*	Sgt Kenneth Sandrock	76.2mm
2nd	2nd Lt James N. Farese	75mm
2nd	Sgt Joseph Hauptman	76.2mm
2nd	Sgt John Parks	75mm
2nd	S/Sgt Bernard Sowers	75mm
3rd	1st Lt Robert Cook	76.2mm
3rd	S/Sgt Max Morphew**	75mm
3rd	Sgt Giles Hayward	75mm
3rd	Sgt Robert Grimm	105mm***

Notes:
* - Did not remain with 1st Platoon in deployment
** - Platoon Sergeant. His radio failed and he didn't deploy in the battle.
*** - Assault gun from HQ Company attached to 3rd Platoon.

Both the Company HQ tank and Sgt Sandrock's tank would be available as support elements as how they deployed. Historically, they both deployed to the town center or in support of it.

In comparing the structure of the US Armored Infantry platoon to the men of B Company, 51st Armored Infantry Battalion was rather jarring. The entire company was closer to platoon strength. In looking at Gary Kennedy's Bayonet Strength website for the November 1944 TO&E of an Armored Infantry Battalion showed the following company paper strength:
Company HQ: 1 officer, 8 men
Maintenance Section: 1 offier, 6 men (probably not deployed in combat unless things go really wrong)
Admin & Mess: 34 men (Again, probably not deployed)
Anti-Tank Platoon: 1 officer, 32 men wiht 3x 57mm Atni-Tank Guns
3 Infantry platoons: Each of 1 officer, 55 men with 2x LMGs (M1919) and 1x 60mm mortar

This is a formidable force. But the B Company that attacked Singling was a shell of this force. The only component that was close to full strength was the Company HQ which had 1st Lt Belden and six men. Lets contrast this to the Chain of Command Armored Infantry Platoon from the new Core Rulebook.

Organization	COC Strength	1st Platoon	2nd Platoon	3rd Platoon
Platoon HQ	Lt (Senior Leader) S/SGT (Senior Leader)	Lt Price T/Sgt Mitchel	Lt Padgett Sgt Heitz*	Lt Cowgill
HQ Section	SGT (Jr Leader) 7 men	Cpl McElwee	-	PFC Stanton
Mortar Team	60mm Mortar 5 men	-	-	S/Sgt Herring 2 men
Rifle Squad 1	Sgt (Junior Leader) 9 Riflemen 1 SMG	Sgt White 7 men	6 men**	6 men**
Rifle Squad 2	Sgt (Junior Leader) 9 Riflemen 1 SMG	S/Sgt Sayers 7 men	6 men**	Sgt McPhail 6 men
MG Section	Sgt (Junior Leader) 2 LMGs 10 men	-	-	S/Sgt Dennis 3 men***

Notes:
* - Was newly added to the platoon and used as a runner.
** - The squad was commanded by a PFC.
*** - I am assuming that they just had a single M1919 LMG with them but the battle reports do not mention a machine gun being used by the infantry.

Just taking 3rd Platoon, the Chain of Command platoon should have at least 48 individuals, 3rd platoon has only 22 people. 1st Platoon only had 19 men and 2nd platoon had 14 men. This is 55 men total with an additional seven men in the Company Headquarters! The main thing that they had going for them was that the German Infantry was equally battered and apparently had a much worse force morale based on the number of troops captured.

Algernon Distractions

So instead of maintaining a laser focus to complete my Singling project, I have been distracted by wanting to run a game of Algernon Pulls It Off again. I pulled out my miniatures and found that I have some that are painted. I want to do a Early 1916 project for the Isonzo Front. For my Austro-Hungarians, I have a pair of Fokker A.IIIs (The Austro-Hungarians gave them the A prefix instead of E). One is painted and complete. The other has paint but no decals. Luckily, I found my decals I bought for these.

I just ordered a single Hansa-Brandenburn C.I two-seater from eBay. Ultimately, I would like at least one or two more of these. The great part of this is there just were not that many aircraft above the Isonzo Front in early 1916. The eindeckers were held back over friendly lines as they were forbidden to pursue enemy aircraft back over Italian airspace due to the fear of the gun sychronization being captured by the enemy. The Hansa-Brandenburgs we the mainstay of the Fliks. With between 6 to 8 aircraft in a given Flik, this gives a relatively small force to model. Flik 4 in early 1916 had a pair of Fokker A.IIIs and some Lohner B and Hansa-Brandenburg C.Is at their disposal. I can't find a model in any scale of the Lohner B.

For the Italians, I have three of the later Spad aircraft from Wings of War. They can be a temporary standin for the Nieuport 11s that I really want. I have two Nieuport 10s, a two-seater aircraft heavily used for reconnaisance and artillery spotting. One is actually painted. The other is still as received from Shapeways many, many years ago.

The aim would be to buy some actual Nieuport 11s (probably 2) and some other aircraft like the Farman MF.11 or the Caproni Ca.3 or the Caudron G.3. I am only looking for a single aircraft of each. This should give a good mix of the different Italian squadrons that operated across from Flik 4.

Lastly, I want some observation balloons. These would be large in 1/144 scale. I found some models availaible on Thingiverse but they are way too big for my print bed of my resin printer. I will need to get someone to print them for me.

The plan is to use the Squadron Forward supplement from Joseph Legans to make a campaign. I have reprinted cards and the QRF for the base Algy rules that I will need. We will see what happens.

We will see how this goes. I also found some models in 1/300. The problem is, I am unhappy with how these look. I have a Vosin III bomber and three Fokker A.IIIs. All are painted. We will see where that takes me.

Chain of Command Squared Arrives

I got my PDF from Age Of Glory. I have been steadily working my way through the rulebook. This is going to have an impact on me finishing the Singling supplement as I want to play more games using these rules first. So far, the changes are straight forward. I like the armor activation. I am reading it through and enjoying it. I still have a good amount to read yet. But I am looking forward to getting a game in.

Over the weekend, I was able to get a little bit of painting in on building 9. The bulk of the building is painted. I have the shutters of one floor to go. I used a speed paint on the brick work on the bottom floor but wasn't completely happy with it. I am experimenting with some lighter bricks in the middle of it to see how it goes. I am hoping that tomorrow, I will get some additional windows printed from a friend. That will let me finish the school building. I also had him print some more of the decorative fencing. This leaves building 8 left to finish. I have started on the roof. I was thinking of using brick paper for the building. I am trying to figure out how to get the shapes right for it. I will try to finish off Building 9 tonight and its courtyards. The picture below is before I did the shade on the roof (I think). The back side of the bottom floor still needs paint.

This means I need to get to work on my US Infantry. Fortunately with my handy PDF of Chain of Command, I know what forces I will need. The interesting part of the battle of Singling was the reports showed the Machinegun and mortar sections were not used as such. They were issued two bazookas from the company stocks and they went to battle with those. There are pictures online of a mortar team at Singling but this was not mentioned in the after action reports. I wonder if this was a staged picture after the battle.

Below is the current status of the town square.

Singling Buildings 8 and 9

I made some progress on both buildings. The rowhouse, building 9, was base coated and the roof and chimneys are on. I will have to paint the chimney tops black but the brick paper is on. The roof will need to be painted still. The upper floor is painted. I am going with a dark wood for the shutters and white for the sills and window frames while the rest of the house is a dirty white. I think I have at least three more hours of work to finish this with its gardens.

Building 8 is just getting started. I have some of the roof in place. I will be using brick paper for this. I don't think I will put too much effort into this building.

The school is still sitting in its same state of incompleteness. I decided that i will just manually make the windows for the back and the side. I have had nothing but trouble with my 3d printer. I hope to get it fixed but am just not sure what to try next.

I also have some pillboxes that I picked up off of ebay. I am happy with them They match the singling AT bunker and the small machine gun bunker fairly well./ They still need to be painted.

I did manage to get my winter trees finished. I am very happy that these are done. I sould have everything I need for Table 1 of the Singling battle. Table 3 should be mostly ready. I just have Buildings 8, 9, 12 and the school left for table 2.

Singling - The Orchard & Chain of Command 2

I found two likely models to use for the bunkers on the western side of Singling. There is an eBay trader named MiniatureTanksCompany that had two that would fit the bill of a anti-tank bunker and a machine gun bunker. The machine gun bunker is still visible today. It is a simple square structure that is low to the ground. While I was there, I notices a nifty miniature of a German Field kitchen in 15mm. I got that as well. I have no idea what I will use it for, but it could make for an interesting objective. While I was shopping I purchased some decals for the armor I need for the battle. This should put me in pretty good shape.

Chain of Command2 is ordered from the US retailer. I have watched the videos that have come out on YouTube and some of the changes look really good. I am looking forward to getting my hands on them. I joined the TFL Patreon on the free level so far. I have some reservations and wonder what this will mean for the future of independent scearios for their rules but will wait and see what happens. I have some IABSM scenarios that I have been thinking of converting to Chain of Command.

I have been working on the winter trees. I have finished just under half of them so far.

The ones in the bin are the completed ones. Some of the snow mixture started turning a dirty gray. I will have to throw it out and try again.

I did finish one more building. I think I am happy with how this turned out. This will be Building 6 on the map.

I also started on the large row house that will be house 9 on the Singling map. It has a long way to go. I added the tile roof and painted part of one side.

I also finished off my platoon of German Panzer Grenadiers. It is complete based on the Chain of Command list in the original book. I also have an addition LMG team and a panzershreck team. I have enough miniatures to add another Junior leader and plenty more riflemen. I just lack additional light machinegunners.

From the picture, you can see my painted version of the large pile of poo that stood in the courtyard of buildings 8, 9 and 10. It is mentioned in the after action reports and I felt it was important to have availible on the table.

I am still waiting on the final building that I have ordered. I should have it by month's end. Not sure if I will have Building 9 finished by then but I sure hope so. Here is there the village stands:

As shown, building 9 is in progress.
Building 8 I need to get a building for this. I may have an existing one that I can use.
Building 12 has been ordered and is in the mail.
The School house.... I am very frustrated with this. I can't get my printer to produce the remaining windows. It is a simple object but the printer is just not printing. The items stick to the bottom of the resin tub no matter what I do. I will have to figure something else out to get that building finished.
Building 23 I will use something out of my existing collection.
Building 33 will also be an existing building.

I am getting very close to finishing this build off. I need to get some more fencing built to surround building 28. I have some existing walls that I can use for the large yard next to building 10.

I managed to take a look at some miniatures in a drawer. I have been watching the Crusty Colonel's YouTube channel and enjoying his Sharp Practice games. I took a look at my French Napoleonics. I was modeling a Legere Unit. I have a mounted officer, 9 groups of Chasseurs, two groups of 6 Carabiniers and a group and a half of Voltiguers. I have a number of sergeants for the Chasseurs (like 5 of them) and three officers and musicians for them as well. I have a Carabinier officer and musician as well as a sergeant and musician for the Voltiguers. Lasty in support, I have a light gun with four crew. On painting sticks, I have enough Voltigeurs to make another group of six and some Carabiniers to make them groups of 8 instead of six. I also have a drum major and a pair of sappers/pioneers. Lastly on painting sticks I have a pair of mounted ADCs. I have some French cavalry as well. They need some flock on their bases but are otherwise completed. There are three groups of 8 (possibly Hussars). I think I want to start a campaign with them. I will have to look at my British forces.

Follow Up on Winter Germans

I am struggling with my winter Germans. I am trying to give them snow bases. I am basing on US pennies for individual figures and on FOW small bases or some round bases for LMG teams. I have a small tin of Army Painter snow flock. This is the same flock that I was using on my winter trees. I read the section on this in Pat Smith's book on winter terrain but he was using Woodland Scenics products. I tried to use his recipie with the Army painter product and I am not sure that it looks right. I only did one squad just in case I didn't like it.

Here is the rest of the platoon.

In all, it could be OK. I will look at getting some Woodland Scenics snow at the local train shop and trying again.

Also, the building that I intend to use for Building 6 in Singling is coming along. I managed to get some painting in. I still need to paint the downspouts and shutters on it. The doors are also in progress. Still thinking through if I will change the scheme.

Singling - Seeing the End of the Tunnel

I just purchased a set of row houses on eBay. The seller was Kristoff_Designs. It comes with two row houses with a cobble stone street between them. I probably won't use the street. I will take one of the row houses and make a damaged version. I will make a ruined version of the roof to match the state of Building 12 during the battle. There was a large enough hole in the roof that the American infantry were shooting bazookas through the roof down on the street below.

It may take some time to get here and since the preorder dropped for Chain of Command2, I made my preorder.

I did the initial basing for the Winter Germans. I have enough for a Panzer Gernadier Platoon with a few additional figures. I still need to add some snow to the bases. I am trying a different way of applying the snow flock and only applied it to a single squad. We will see how it goes. Not sure if the new version of Chain of Command will change the orders of battle. I also started painting more on the Cafe building from Tabletop Terrain. It is coming along nicely.

My 3D printer is giving me trouble. I have not been able to successfully print for a while. I still need to print some more walls and the remaining windows for the school. I have no idea what is going wrong.

Distracted with Coastal Patrol

The past week was too busy to get any painting done. My hobby plans for the week are to buy the remaining buildings needed for the Singling build. Possibly to complete some more trees. But instead of working on that, I was rereading the Coastal Patrol rules. Back when i worked on the East Africa supplement, I wanted to do a semi fictional campaign with the naval force present in Italian Somaliland against the British Red Sea Fleet. I had done a good bit of work on it but it never went anywhere. Mostly because of how bad the Italian forces were. Most of the vessels were out of date or in a poor state of repair. But they did have a number of vessels that could have seriously challeneged the Royal Navy for control of the Red Sea. One of the things I wanted to do was to have scenarios with submarines.

I didn't realize how much work I had done with it. It turns out that I had been emailing James Schmidt (the rules author) about this close to four years ago. That was really interesting reading back through those old emails. I looked through my old kindle docs and found a number of books that i will be using for this. Anyway, it gives my mind something to do while I wait to paint again.

Building 10 and the L Shaped Barn

It was a productive weekend despite some setbacks. First the setback, my printer is acting up again. I attempted to print both some windows and some fences over the weekend. What came out was a very thin sheet of resin on the print plate. I think that I will have to take it apart again and see if I can work on it.

I was able to prime and start painting several buildings. The two I bought from TableTop Terrain (the cafe and L shaped Barn) were primed as well as two German Jadgpanzer IVs and a 76mm Armed Sherman tank. Bringing these back inside, I started to paint. I did the roof on the L shaped barn and the roof on the model I am using for Building 10. I caught a bit of motivation and finished both off.

I am really happy with the Barn so far. Building 10 is having some roof issues.

The JadgPanzers have a base coat and some "DunkelGelb" on them. I need to figure out how I want to paint them. I painted the 76mm Sherman but it looks rather plain without some decals. I need to get some for both the Germans and the Shermans. I did not base any further infantry. That is still on my to do list, both Germand and US.

I am reviewing my trees. I am not entirely happy with how they are turning out. I need to figure something else out. The trees look more sugar frosted than snowy at this point. But overall, this is coming together.

Current State:

Singling Update

The town square of Singling is coming along well. There will be 13 buildings on the table for this setup in 15mm. Of the 13, five are completely done. Another five are in a partial state of at least 50% done. Of the remaining 3, I will need to buy 1 and can use existing files for the other two. I made a map previously showing what I have build overlayed on a map of the town. I updated this with the currrent state of the buildings.

The main need is a damaged rowhouse where troops can fire down upon the street below from a hole in the roof. As to the rest, I have some trees as mentioned before for orchards. Those should be done in the next few days. And the fences. I have some low stone walls that I can use for the garden near building 10. I need to print more walls for the ones near building 28. That should be easy. I gave 3d printed the dung pile that sits in the courtyard between buildings 8, 9 and 10. It needs to be primed and painted. I also have some windows to print for the School House as well.

I have ordered the last few LMG teams for the Germans. Both the Germans and Americans need basing. As to armor, this is where I have work to do. I have printed 2 German Jadgpanzer IVs. I would like to have at least 4 of these. I have some already painted Panther tanks. It would be good to have about 2 more. I have files to print them but I am hesitant given the issues I had with the US Tanks. For the American tanks, I need a couple different types. There are 75mm gunned, 76mm gunned and a single 105mm gunned Sherman. I printed two 76mm tanks. The problem here is the tab for the turret is too large for the hole in the hull. I have been sanding one down to attempt to get them to fit. I glued the treads to the hull as well. One of the treads has proven to be quite fragile. Of the 4 sets of treads that I printed, three have broken during cleanup. Disapointing but they do seem fragile.

I should be in position to start playtesting the scenarios fully in the next few weeks. I plan on making these available in both What a Tanker and Chain of Command versions. Honestly, WAT seems to make the most sense given the descriptions of how the battles went.

Reinforcements

I purchased a lot off of eBay of what I thought would be a full winter platoon of Germans. They were based for Flames of War. The painting was very nice and the miniatures looked great. I bought these because I needed to get three additional LMG teams for my Winter Panzer Grenadiers. What I ended up with was five stands of 4 riflemen and a single LMG team with two additional riflemen. Very disapointing. Unsure of what to do next, I reached back out to Gajo Miniatures who I bought my first painted platoon from. Gajo is fantastic. They said they will sell me just the LMG teams. Now I am just waiting on the invoice from Gajo. These I won't have to remove the base from and rebase individually. I should have gone with that to begin with. The miniatures I received are still really nice and I will find a use for them somewhere. Possibly for a mid war regular infantry platoon.

I also received a second eBay purchase that I am 100% happy with. This is a set of Plastruct tiles for the buildings. I can finish building 28 now. Once the roof tiles are complete, I still need to paint the roof and add some water stains/dirt to it. For a very simple 3d model I based off of the measurements on Google Earth, it is not too bad. I also need to make doors as well.

Based on the city description, I have, one of the dominant colors of the houses in Singling was pink. I chose this for the Warbases townhouse that I have built. The building is getting close at thsi point. The roof is fully built. I am currently trying to figure out the windows. I think I need a white technical pen to finish out the window frames. I used a gloss varnish on the windows to try to make the windows look better. I need to add some water stains on the building as well and paint the roof. But it is getting close.

I am still trying to work out a couple of more buildings for the scenario but I am getting close. I need somekind of apartment or rowhouse behind buildings 8 & 10 (Building 9). I have a really nice one from Sarissa that I have started to build. This will probably serve for this. And a ruined one for Building 12. The ruined one really just has roof damage that a bazooka team can use to engage the enemy armor from. I think I found a vendor from the UK that has what I want on eBay. I would have to make the damage sections myself. For Buildings 8 & 10, I have one 3d printed building that I have started work on. I have an old Impudent Mortal L shaped MDF building that I am looking at modifying to be the other building. The way the roof is shaped will take work to get it looking normal. I will need a chimney to add to it as well. I have not started on it yet.

Lastly, I have started to base my German Infantry. Basing is a chore that I don't like but has to be done. I have about 1/3rd of the German Infantry based. None of the Americans are based yet.

The trees that I worked on didn't work out too well. I used some PVA spray on the trees and sprinkled snow flock on them and it didn't look good. I am trying something else to see if that will work.

Over the weekend, I pushed through and finished off two buildings. Building 28 and the pink building that I haven't figured out where it will go.

German Armor For Singling

I managed to 3d print two JadgPanzer IVs. These are Bergman models downloaded from Wargaming3d. They printed really well. Very happy with the results.

The US 76mm Gunned Shermans that I printed are another story altogether. The parts printed really well. However, the tab on the turret that fits into the hole in the hull is way too big. I am not sure how to fix that. I may need to attempt to reduce it. I may cut that tab off with a band saw and see if I can find the right size wooden dowel to replace it with. If that works, I will be really happy.

I do have some other Shermans and some Panther tanks for the remaining American forces. These are painted and ready to go. I could use a couple more Panthers. I have not yet based any of the infantry. I just made an eBay purchase for some additional Germans to complete out the platoon with additional light machine gun teams.

I did begin to winterize some trees. I based about fifty of them and gave them a light spray of Gray paint. I will try to give them a brown wash next and lastly glue some snow flock on them. I think these will look great.

I did get to spackle the Warbases Townhouse and get some paint on Building 28. I also managed to order some additional roofing tiles. I am not sure if I have the right size but the price was OK and it should be close. For building 28, I only need the ridge tiles to complete the building.

With this done, my next concern will be how to simulate the hillside that the town is built on. The school was built on the side of the hill with the basement exposed on the back side of the building and completely underground on the front. I will need to figure out how to have the hill and the building together. I had originally 3d printed a lower to the building but it is a different size than the one I am scratch building. I will need to sort that out.

The hardest part of this is waiting in between steps.

Singling - The Orchard

In the first scenario of the campaign, there is an armored attack uphill through an orchard. All of my current trees that I have are summertime trees or late spring. I have a handful of fall trees. So I need a large orchard of winter trees.Looking through the bits box, I came up with fifty-eight Woodland Scenics armatures. These range from small trees barely bigger than the 15mm miniatures I have to about four inches tall. This should be a nice variety of sizes.

Now that they are bent into shape, I will need to decide on the basing. At this point, I am guessing that individually will probably be for the best. I will give them a light spray of gray paint and then a brown wash. This should make them look less plastic. Once this dries, I will use a spray adhesive and then sprinke them with some snow flock. We will see how that looks.

I also have to make two winter gardens. I have not figured out how I will do that yet. Anyway, it is progress.

Singling Progress - 4/6/2025

I did manage some hobby time over the weekend. I completed the roof on the Warbases Townhouse. I still have to plaster the building. I am not sure what else I will be doing to it yet. Nor what color to paint it.

Next, I was able to get some work done on the Building 28. I got the roof tiles on and have them taped down. I also put lintels above the doors and a shelf below each window. I have the ridge tiles cut for the roof but may not quite have enough. Will have to check. I also 3d printed some chimneys for the building. I didn't plan for the chimneys when I did the roof. This may cause me issues.

So where am I with this? Actually, I think I am more than half way done. Here is the setup with the buildings i have so far:

I am really onely missing one building. I plan on buying a rowhouse that will sit behind the L shaped buildings. There are some stone walls that I have that need to be added and I need to print some more fences for around building 28. These will be 3d printed. I am happy with the progress so far.

Singling Revisited 4/3/2025

I have run out of some needed items. First is some caulk and super glue. I ran out of both. I also ran out of gloves for the 3d printer.

Building 10 needs to have a crack repaired in the building. The caulk is needed for that. Building 28 needs roofing tiles and some work done on the windows and doors. It is largely spackled. I also need to add some chimneys. I made some basic ones in Tinkercad. I will add some brick paper once they are printed.

Hopefully, I can get more work done this weekend.

Sidetracked - Cold War Miniatures.

I have been going through my Cold War miniatures again. This was one of the last projects I was working on and talking to Brian English about before he passed away. It is hard to believe that it has been 18 months already. I visited his widow over the weekend and was trying to help her with Brian's hobby stuff. She graciously gave me a bin of his Cold War miniatures and some of his Dark Ages stuff. Both things we had either gamed together or talked extensively about. I am very greatful for the gift.

One thing that surprised me was how much stuff that he had that was painted. He must have sent them out to be painted and got them back without ever unwrapping them from the painter. What I unwrapped was a big surprise.

Lets start with the Warsaw Pact forces. There was a large number of painted infantry. I am not sure which nation they belong to. There were a few miniature with fur hats. But there were light machine gunners with a top loading magazine fed weapon that to me looked like a Bren gun. based on this, I think they are Czechoslovakian troops as they carried the ZB vz 26/52/57 that look like they would be a good match for this weapon. However, the images on the Team Yankee website show the uniforms as much lighter than what I have. They could be Cuban as they also used the Czech weapon in their military. For now, they will be treated as a generic Eastern Bloc force.

There are 8x RPG-7 wielding guys, a general officer with a host of medals, a dismounted tanker, three pistol wielding junior officers, 24x AK47 wielding troops (some may have RPKs but I didn't look closely), 1x fur hatted AK wielding fellows, 1x fur hatted Bren gunner (easier to write than the Czech weapon) 2x fur hatted NCO/Offier types, 8x dead troops (with greusome paint jobs), 3x prone light machine gunners, three steel helmeted bren gunners.

These troops are really nice. I am looking forward to gaming with them. There are some minor touch ups needed on some helmets but look great. There was some kind of support vehicle that had some equipment/rails on top that had broken. I need to determine what that was supposed to look like to fix it. I just haven't been able to identify it.

In addition to these, there were a number of tanks. This really stretched my recognition skills. I have determined that they are T-62 tanksand a ZSU-23-4 anti-aircraft vehicle. I have wanted one of these for a long time. I wanted them for my Syrians for Lebanon 82, but this is a very welcome addition. The tanks had bent barrels from travel and most of the paint chipped off those bends. The ZSU required some straightening as well but was not as bad as I had feared. I have more than enough T-62s at this point. What is nice is I have a mix of hatch open and closed vehicles.

Then there were three BTR-60 (I think) vehicles and a pair of UAZ-469 (I think). In addition, there were some support teams in the box: Three mortars, three anti-tank missile teams and three DSHK teams. These are welcome additions to my estisting troops. My existing troops and vehicles are in the tray minus the T-55 tanks.

I also have five T-55 tanks of which only one is painted. The rest are at least undercoated and assembled. These I had purchased previously and are not pictured.

In addition, the lot came with some US forces. There were three M1 tanks! I have a box of unassembled M1 Abrams tanks that I haven't done anything with. I may have one painted but without the MERDEC paint job. There is what I think is an M2 Bradley, eight infantry and what I think may be an LAV-25. The LAV-25 mostly served with the 82nd Airborne Division within the US Army. I am not sure how much that will see action on the table but I have happy to have it.

This will provide me with more than enough for a Chain of Command sized game. I will try to spend some time doing touch up on the paint that has chipped before getting back to the Singling Campaign. For Chain of Command, I think I have enough men now for two to three platoons of Soviets. I now have both Mechanized Division and Armor Division forces. I have some T-72s in a box waiting to be assembled. I have one completed T-72 and another that is partially assembled. I will try to have three T-72s for my Soviets and build the rest for my Syrian troops.