The Blue Foam has Ran out!!

In my last blog I mentioned I had discovered more blue foam. So i made up another 2 bunkers of the same type and a bigger bunker for a small artillery piece. I used a bunker in a set from warlord as inspiration 

The roof also had raised walls so soldiers can go up there.

The roof comes off and inside my 6 pdr should fit nicely.
With more foam left I liked the idea of a bunker complex which i imagine would be quite a brutal close up fight. First up was the entrance to the bunker

The entrance has a hole in the concrete entrance for a LMG ambush!

The entrance has lotabof sharp corners and a hole in the concrete for a machine gun surprise.
Now I started work on a design. So I had an idea of what bits I needed.

I used cardboard as a base and used magnetic tape to attach the foam to the cardboard as this
enables me to take the whole thing down and put it away.  Also hoping I can adjust the design every now and then.
I made up some straight corridor sections, one straight corridor with an opening to create a T junction, corner sections and 2 rooms.

The corridors are nice and cramped to make taking the bunker a challenge. After a lot of cutting and sticking the end result does not look to bad I don't think.

Next up slightly watered down filler to create that concrete look then painting.

Quick Terrain Piece

A friend recently had asked for advice on making a dungeon for his D&D games, which could be almost modular as I guess you don't want to explore the same dungeon over and over. My thoughts went straight back the stone walls I made and how great the blue underfloor insulation is for 'carving' bricks into. So I passed over my suggestions and mocked up a quick example.

Its roughly put together but I think it looks quite impressive. I tried later on (with no photos sadly) using magnetic tape to hold the walls to the floor (this allowing it to be packed away) which seems to work quite well.
After doing this I realised my blue foam was down to a small sheet. Now I'm trying to organise my wargaming stuff for space saving so I decided to use it up so its one less thing in my terrain making box.
Quick scan through some YouTube videos and I settled on a WW2 bunker made by the Terrain Tutor. Here is the Link for the video. If you have never heard of the terrain tutor he a great sauce for all wargaming terrain ideas and techniques.  In the video he used foam board where as I used the blue insulation foam but other than that I tried to use the same techniques.  First of I cut out the bits required.

A couple of pieces cut out.

The cut pieces were stuck on top of each other.

Next I stuck it all together with good old PVA and then down into a cardboard base

No bad for a short period of time I reckon. Next up was to 'paint' it with filler

I write these as I build but update! I've found more blue foam!!! So have more bunkers and maybe a small bunker complex planned!! Will keep you posted!

Quick MDF Update

As I've mentioned in previous blogs, I have been aiming too magnetise my collection of MDF buildings so I can keep them flat packed until required. Well after drilling I dread to think how many little holes I've finished! !!

Sorry about bad picture but the magnets are only 3mm across!!

The lines you can see at to help me know what piece matches with another so putting together is quicker. As you can see the magnets are tiny (3mm x 3mm I think) but not are they strong. The buildings hold together nicely, I mean they won't hold up against heavy handedness but you can now take roofs off and different floors off the buildings without the sides falling off!

Some MDF factory and outbuildings all held together with magnets

I have a great (hopefully) idea for a bolt action scenario using all my MDF terrain to create a small town. This should result in some heavy urban fighting ☺.
Other things on the horizon are back to painting my Test of Honour force and brain storming ideas for a 3d dungeon as I was asked by a friend who plays Dungeons and Dragons. (Knew I'd find a use for the rest of that blue foam!!)

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Terrain is the word this time around (and a sneaky game of bolt action)

My focus has shifted a bit this week  from painting my test of honour stuff to terrain. Now I have lots of terrain but I felt I needed some cheap and easy road sections so I can use my MDF buildings more effectively. I decided this while pulling an old shed down and decided that the roof felt would potentially do the job.
I cut several road shapes out of card board and cut the roof felt to match

Sat out in the garden cutting the strips

A straight section

One type of corner section

Once the felt had been cut to match I glued it to the card board templates.

Emptied kitchen cupboards to weigh everything down

After an night being weighed down they are done. They look quite rough and ready but I'm hoping they do the job, I'll be able to tell more when they go together with my MDF buildings.

My Cromwell on one of the straight road sections

Next up I needed something for my MDF bridge to cross. I have a river on my game board but that board is only 3x3 which is a bit small for large bolt action games. (And untill I get a bigger house the board is not getting bigger). For the same of space I went down the ultra simple approach (I had seen this on the table top battle YouTube channel) I just cut some sections and painted them blue. I'll give them a few games and see how I feel about them

Ultra simple river sections

Last Sunday I also managed to go to the Infamous Wargamong club in West Bromwich and get a game of Bolt Action in. I met my opponent Steve (a great and super knowledgeable guy) and we battled Russians vs my Brits.

My 500pt force plus a tank for the day.

We decided to do a simple kill every thing battle. We set up (there were a lot of Russians!!) and started.

The battle field.

A horde of Russians attacked my right flank and a tank went for my left flank.

The Russians swarm over the hill towards my lines

One squad of infantry and a PIAT team hold the flank against the tank (not very well)

My PIAT team spent a lot of time hiding in a wood as the tank understandably wanted them out of the way but the plucky Brits survived (one think I learnt was I need more anti tank weapons / tactics).  A sniper was pickongm off my machine gun  team and having no mortar I dispatched the squad on my left to flush the sniper out. Mean while on the right the Russians charged my trenches but luckily (for me not Steve) their charge fell short by one inch so my infantry brought them down.

The Russian charges fall short

There was another squad following the Russians that charged but they stayed more cautious and wiped out my paratroop section.
Back on the left the Russian tank has manouvered behind my lines which is never good. I moved my tank along the line to help counter the threat. 

There be a tank in my rear!!

While all this was happening on the  flanks the centre was mostly just long range shooting. My mmg and a regular squad (that had forced the sniper to retreat) had a mini battle with another Russian squad where they gained the upper hand.
We were nearing the end of the game and I thought my PIAT team can't hide much longer! They stepped out into the open and tried a long shot at the tank. They struck a glancing hit which caused no damage but stunned the crew and caused them to go down taking them out of that turn. Then very luckily my dice was pulled out of the bag so my tank tried a shot at the opposing tank.  With some great rolls the shot struck penetrated and detroyed the tank!

The Cromwell scores a kill

After that the battle was over with my Brits winning.  (If I missed details apologies I'm trying to remember how the battle went).
This week (and a for a few more!) I've been trying to crack on with magnetising my MDF buildings (so I can keep them flat packed for easy storage). This is a relatively simple job but so fiddly!!! (Mainly became I'm ham fisted and keep putting the magnets the wrong way round so they repel!! ) almost finished the one house only several more to go 😢

Magnets doing a good job!

Hopefully the more I do the easy it will get. Have a great day folks!

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