A German attack ! CoC AAR

Today we played an attack defend scenario with a regular German platoon attacking an American armored rifle platoon. Below are pictures of the terrain

The Germans rolled a 6 and got 4 free moves in the patrol phase.

The end of the patrol phase.

The German OBJ was the orchard behind the house.

The Germans deploy first and rolled two double sixes in a row and were able to deploy 2 squads, one in the center of their line in front of the Inn, the second squad deployed to the far right .

The next phase brought another double six and the German squad on the far right mad a dash for the American jump off point in the back yard of the Inn.

The next phase the Germans made it within 4 inches if the American jump off point denying them use of it, also denying the Americans the ability to deploy into the building.

The Americans answered with their own double six phase and deployed their machine gun squad along the back of the fence and their 60 mm mortar squad behind of the orchard, immediately bringing fire onto the advancing Germans, inflicting shock.

The next phase the Americans rolled another double six bringing more and more fire on the Germans who were shutting down the American  jump off point. The German Jr. leader was wounded, pinning the squad.

The Americans also deployed a senior leader in the orchard.

The next German phase brought a double 6 allowing them to deploy one of their support options,    an observer for the 81 mm mortar who called for a barrage. They were also able to inflict  some shock on the 60 mm behind the orchard.

The next phase the Germans deployed yet another support option, a Stug III with JL targeting the American senior leader "hiding" in the orchard. He was by himself, thinking he was safe behind the line. The HE round killed him.

The Germans fired a ranging shot for their barrage, hitting their mark right on and forcing the Americans to make a dash before the barrage fell.

The next American phase saw half the American machine gun squad run into the bottom floor of the house and the other half jump the fence into the back yard just outside the reach of the oncoming barrage. The American 60 mm also fell back outside the reach of the oncoming barrage.

The Germans in the field in front of the building on over watch poured fire into the Americans as the entered the building killing one and inflicting shock. 

The strategically placed mine field in front of the house was a brilliant move on the American's part forcing the Germans to  cross into the open on either side and not allowing them to rush into the building.  The Germans decided to stay put, and put fire into the bottom floor of the Inn. Also they knew that another American squad was lurking off to the German's far right.

The Stug also fired some rounds into the building and with combined HE and MG fire after many phases were able to kill the half of the American machine gun team in the building. But not before the Americans caused the Germans who were shutting down their jump off point to rout back behind the hedgerow, allowing the Americans to deploy a rifle squad into the second floor of the building. 

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The German squad in the field in front of the house was being withered away by the Americans in the building. The command dice didn't allow the Germans to active their Stug.

The Americans then deployed their last squad in attempt to rush the battered German squad. The Germans then played their Only Chain of Command Die of the game to interrupt the phase and shoot the machine gun team at the charging Americans killing one and applying 3 points of shock. unfortunately, that wasn't enough to stop the charging Americans. Even with the Germans thowing one more die than the American in the hand to hand, they managed to kill only one American, dooming the defending Germans. 

The battered Germans then deployed their last squad and poured everything they had on the squad that had just wiped out the German squad and pinned them.

                          (Picture recreated quickly) 

Unfortunately that's all we had time for! As we spent a great deal of time  looking up rules, really trying to get these rules down pat! 

Personally I don't think there was a clear cut winner, as we ran out of time and both forces still in pretty good fighting shape, and both sides force morale still in great shape at 8 per side.

Following the game I asked a great deal of questions on the forum. 

All in all another great game and a good time with the club mates! Looking forward to more games!

Making bocage 20mm 28mm world war 2

The first thing you need to make bocage is some foam board from your local hardware store. Cut them into desired length . I cut mine all 6-8 inches long.

Next you want to shape them into the mounds of dirt that the foam will be used to represent, with a hobby blade , and sander just shape them and take out any right angels , and give them a bit of a slope. Next you will want to take some "skewers" I use skewers because I feel their not as strong as tooth picks . First you want to take the sharp end and put them where you want ... Than take some white Elmer's glues and fill the whole and put the skewers in . I put 3 because I feel 2 isn't enough and over 3 is to crowded . The skewers will be used later to glue the foliage to and act as tree or bush stumps . After the skewers are in, you want to mouth them to bases. You can use MDF board or polystyrene cards from your local model train shop ... Cut your bases to the same length you cut the foam piece....I used the polystyrene I think it was a half inch width .. I don't have a picture of that at the moment but I will put one up soon. Let them dry to the bases over night to make sure there sturdy and dry.

Next you want to take Some Elmer's wood filler (stainable) I used the regular color or neutral color because I think that any dark color or brighter color might be harder to paint over, I'm not to sure but I'm sure that other texture would work but t think this will hold the best for what we're trying to do.



Take the wood filler and texture the whole mound leaving the skewers to poke out . This will bond the whole pice and base together to give it a tighter hold.



You want to let that dry fully . Usually over night is your best option . 

After the wood filler is dry you want to start the paint process ... With this being terrain and 
going to take a lot of paint I used some kraft paints you can get at your local arts and craft store instead of my Vallejo paints. With that being said you want to take some regular Elmer's white glue and some brown paint and mix the m at a 50/50 ratio .. Paint the whole mound with this mixture and let dry. After they dry it will almost feel plastic .. It's gives it a hard smooth but protective layer over your mounds .. THIS 
STEP IS A MUST !!! You need to mix your first layer of paint with glue or it won't hold right or feel right and painting your dirt won't come out right and will be ruff and not as resilient.
After
 the first layer of glue and paint is dry can can move on to painting the dirt. You can use any formula you have to paint the dirt. To each his own !! Paint the the skewers as well.

The next step is adding the foliage ...... I used GREEN FURNACE FILTER 




cut them up to size and pre fit them onto your mounds of dirt you just made .
You want to ruff them up and cut the right angles out and just bush them out and mess them up like a bad hair day ! 



After you have pre fitted BUT NOT GLUED YOUR GRREN FURNACE  strips your going to want to spray paint them .. So take them to a nice ventilated area or outside (if weather permits) and with brown spray paint you want to really spray them .. These hold a lot of paint and will take a few coats to get the desired affect. After their dry turn them upright and spay a lighter tan color just on the tops to give it more contrast ... I didn't keep the factory green because I felt that it was to fake looking and to bright and I choose the brown because it will represent all the overgrowth of branches and stumps that in the bocage .. It will give it a better result when you go to flock .



After the spray paint drys you want to fit the pieces onto your mound so that your skewers are in the bush itself ..put some TAC GLUE on the skewered and top of your mound to secure them onto your mound.. Let them dry for a wile ...before that you should flock your mound with some Green flock on the mounds itself to give it that over growth look .. It also blends into the table and the green filter better 



After all of that you are ready to flock the filter itself !! I used sawdust green flock that I've had for years you can it at your local hobby train store .
To flock the filter your going to need a spray bottle, water and glue and water down some Pva so that way it can spray out the bottle 


I then taped the mounds with blue painters carpenter tape .. To protect the mounds from the glue you'll be spraying and unwanted flock from getting all over your mounds.(this was my choice) you don't have to cover it with tape if you don't want to. some ppl like all the extra flock on their mounds.  
After you tape your mounds and have your water and glue in your spray bottle you want to go outside with your flock hold them upside down and spray the water and glue all over your 
"filter" and start flocking make sure you go over it a few times it will take a good amount of flock to cover it all.



This is what it will look like after your done flocking ... Let dry for a day or over night let the tape sit on until everything is dry peal the tape off  ENJOY YOUR NEW BOCAGE !!! You can further secure your flock on your bushes buy spraying them with hair spray to harden them like I did ... These are heavy duty and basically indestructible .. I got this idea from a great gaming blog called GAMING WITH SILVER WHISTE YOU CAN check out his fantastic blog for 
this and more terrain making.. I've made some slight changes in material and steps and wanted to share mine with you !! Feel free to send me an email if you have any questions on anything I left out or if I just wasn't that clear on a step.. Or you can go to silver whistle blog for his method !