28mm Omaha Beach Scenario (Bolt Action)

I've managed to make a lot of good progress on planning my Omaha Beach scenario for DundraCon.  You can see the map of my plan below that covers Dog Green and Dog White sectors for Omaha beach.

The Plan - Scenario Map

One of the catalysts for me doing this scenario was coming upon the outstanding Omaha Beach mat that is available from Terrain Mat.  I already have one mat from them - my sea mat I use for naval games and it is top notch.  The mats come in many different sizes and scales to suit your needs.  I purchased a 5 foot wide by 7 foot long mat.

Terrain Mat - Beach Landing Mat

My terrain mat has arrived (along with a couple of others I ordered).  I've laid it out on my table to flatten out as it is shipped in a large tube.

My mat has arrived!

I'm laying it out to flatten ... you can see the
dark area between the green edge and beach
which is the "cliff face" that will be elevated
by blue foam under the mat.

Of course any beach landing needs obstacles ... and there are many that can and should be used.  Fortunately I was able to source all the various obstacles I wanted.  First up was looking for Cointet Element (C Element or Belgian Gate).  I couldn't find any in 28mm, but there is a provider for 20mm and I've seen pictures of these next to 28mm miniatures - so close enough, these will work.  Gamecraft Miniatures has these - pictures below.

Gamecraft Miniatures Cointet Element (Belgian Gate)

You can connect the gates together ...

Acheson Creations as a 28mm Fortress Europe series of models that are great for beach landings.  I purchases small and large Hemmbalks from them as well as a Tobruk VF67v with APX-R turret.  Pictures below.

Acheson Creations Large Hemmbalk

Acheson Creations Small Hemmbalk

Acheson Creations  Tobruk VF67v with APX-R turret

I'll be using 4Ground's Hedgehogs and Dragons Teeth.

4Ground Hedgehogs

4Ground Dragons Teeth

In addition to the 4Ground obstacles ... I'll be using the hedgehogs and dragons teeth from Warlord Games as well ... pictured below.

Warlord Games Anti-tank Obstacles
(Hedgehogs and Dragons Teeth)

I'm also going to use the bunkers from Warlord Games "Atlantik Wall" set.

Warlord Games Atlantik Wall

To land the troops I have several LCM and LCVP landing crafts from Cor Sec Engineering.  There are of course other kits available now from others but I bought these a while ago when they first released from Cor Sec ... and now I finally get to use them.

Cor Sec Engineering LCM Landing Craft

Cor Sec Engineering LCVP Landing Craft

I'll be building the Pak40 bunkers from foam board in a style similar to the Warlord Games Atlantik Wall set.  Regular US Army and Rangers will recycle onto the table and operate in smaller than normal teams (6 figure teams).  The landing will also be supported by several Sherman tanks.  I need to spend some more time on the exact forces and objectives that will be used.

So, that is it for now ... lots to assemble and get done (although for once no miniatures ... just terrain).

General Update - 10/25/2015

Hello all!

Well, as I mentioned before, this is my busy time at work and this year has been no exception.  I have one conference down and one more to go, but things are starting to settle a bit.  That being said, I do have some time between now and my next trip to get some pictures taken and perhaps one or two posts up here.

I have two complete brigades for ACW I need to photograph - which I may attempt to get done at some point today.  There is another Union infantry brigade and some cavalry in progress.  I also have another wave of Robotech RPG tactics stuff getting painted.  My modern project also continues - this next week I should have Iraqi vehicles back and I'll have a large group of insurgents and Iraqi Republican Guard back soon as well.  It is times like these that I'm happy to leverage painting services so progress can be made even when I don't have the time.  I've had several packages arrive with ACW terrain I'll be working on between now and the end of the year.

DundraCon approaches this February and I was thinking of running a Normandie beach landing game using my new beach landing mat (Omaha beach) from Terrain Mat (see image below).

Omaha Beach mat from Terrain Mat

I already have all the necessary miniatures to run this game.  I just need to make some bunkers and build the beach obstacles and such (all of which I have).  I also have several landing craft from Corsec Engineering to paint up.

I've also picked up a large green steppes mat and a gunfighter mat from Terrain Mat as well.  I'll use the Gunfighter mat for my Dead Man's Hand games (picture below of the Gunfigher mat).  The green steppes mat can be combined with my beach landing mat.  I need to go buy more blue foam to put under the mat to make the ridges and hills.

Gunfighter mat from Terrain Mat

So, even thought I've been busy with work there has been progress on several fronts.  Last, but not least, my ACW ruleset I think is just about ready.  I have some final edits to do through but it has come a long way from the beginning.  I'm looking for playing more games using that system moving forward (as well as adapting it for Napoleonic's).

28mm American Civil War Terrain

I thought I would put together an article on all the various terrain I'm pulling together for my ACW gaming.  Admittedly some of it is hard to find but most it still available today.

Buildings

I don't have any need to have my troops enter buildings for ACW so I've looked more towards resin buildings than my normal MDF kits I like to use.  Don't get me wrong, there are still a pile of nice looking MDF kits out there, but I really love the look of some of the resin kits you can get.

Sally 4th

First up, the project I'm 1/2 way through, building and painting Seminary College.  This is a beautiful kit that is available from Sally 4th.  I'm really looking forward to finishing up this kit (this is happening very soon!) and will be posting part 2, the conclusion which has been long overdue.  Picture below from the Sally 4th website of the completed kit.  This is the only MDF building I'm planning to use at the moment.

28mm Seminary College
Sally 4th

Hovels

I've used Hovels in the past and they make some great resin buildings in many scales and periods.  They have a great ACW range, but I was looking specifically for their following kits:

• 23AC - Clapboard house from Guiney Station. South of Fredricksburg where Stonewall Jackson died 1863.
• 24AC - 'Four Chimneys' Three storey brick house, four chimneys shuttered windows, veranda with tiled canopy. This house also from Guiney Station.
• 40AC - Leister House ( Meades Headquarters).
• Discontinued - Brawners Barn
• Discontinued - Brawners Farmhouse
• Discontinued - Bryan House

Although the last three are discontinued you can still find it from secondary dealers.

Hovels 23AC

Hovels 24AC

Hovels 40AC

A better paint job on 24AC and Brawners Barn on the right.

Perry Miniatures & Renedra

I also plan to do the Perry Miniatures North American Farmhouse model and the ramshackle barn and church from Renedra.

Perry Miniatures
North American Farmhouse

Renedra
Ramshackle Barn

Renedra
North American Chruch

Obstacles (Fences & Walls)

If you are going to play ACW you are going to need a heck of a lot of fences and stone walls.  I have stone wall sets from Architects of War that I've used for years now.  Additionally, I've picked up some of the hasty works set from Architects of War as well.  These blend in nicely with the stone walls I already have from them and can also work with the Architects of War overgrown stone wall set and hedgerow sets.  I've also picked up stone fencing from Monday Knight Productions (PW01 and RW01) that although a little on the smaller side, works well for marking the area around a farm house or similar.

Architects of War
Hasty Works

Monday Knight Productions
PW01

Monday Knight Productions
RW01

A mix of Monday Knight Products RW01 and PW01 with
Hasty Works from Architects of War.

Although very hard to find these days, the Lemax Snake & Rail fences look horrible out of the box but are actually very good.  I lucked out and recently got some off of Ebay for cheap.

Lemax
Snake & Rail Fencing - "out of the box"

Lemax
Snake & Rail Fencing - with a little TLC

I've also got a bunch of the Cross & Rail fencing with stone bases from Renedra.  Their picket fencing is also top notch and I'll be using that as well along with their 5 bar fencing.

Renedra
5 Bar Fencing

Renedra
Picket Fencing

Corn Fields

Last but not least are corn fields.  Matt Hilzendrager has the best looking corn fields I've seen - but they have been painstakingly put together using wire and rubber bands.  You can of course attempt this on your own, but I found an equivalent solution using O-scale corn stalks from JTT (easily found on Ebay).  What is great about the JTT corn stalks is that you can get both healthy corn stalks and dried up corn stalks.  I've order both.

JTT of Ebay
2" O-Scale Corn Stalks

JTT off Ebay
2" O-Scale Dried Corn Stalks

You can't beat the price on these and they are very nice.

Well, that certainly gives me a lot of terrain to go work on and will fill out my ACW battlefields very nicely.  Hopefully you've all found this useful in some way.