TERRAIN - Railway Track

The dust has settled after the fantastic Partizan 2022. There was a really buzz in the hall and around the Cold War Commanders table.  While we were at Partizan the topic of conversation turned to what has to be our favourite show of the year, the Joy of Six show up in Sheffield. The Cold War Commanders will be there with an extended version of the table that was seen at Partizan. 

So it was back to the workbench to start work on few terrain pieces to add to the table as well as the terrain collection for 'The Unit Wargaming Centre'. First up a double track railway line. This will come in useful for some of the games we have planned later in the year at both 'The Unit' and at GWS (Grimsby Wargames Society).

While sorting through some stuff up at 'The Unit' I came across this bridge that i'd bought a while ago and never got round to doing anything with. I wonder.....  😉

Anyway more on that in later posts. As always thanks for looking and if you have a bit of time check out some of the great Partizan 2022 highlight videos on YouTube. In particular Alex Sotheran over at the fantastic Storm of |Steel channel https://youtu.be/0y9SH0KvJw4 which includes an interview with yours truly, Wargames Guru who included our game in his Top 10 at Partizan https://youtu.be/lFlBjWqHc28 and Mel The Terrain Tutor who took some great video and photos of the table https://youtu.be/qHitwGWuemc

Until the next time take care everyone!

PARTIZAN 2022 - Soviet Assault at Rendsburg 1985 (Part Four)

After a pretty quick table set up at Newark Showground on Saturday afternoon with the help of fellow Cold War Commanders Andy T and Ian S we retired to the hotel to meet up with the Pendraken team and a few other traders for a very pleasant meal washed down with some real ale! 

Early breakfast on Sunday and then off to the the venue to meet up with the other Cold War Commanders, Stephen G, Mark J and Richard C to put the final touches to the table and start deploying the troops.

As expected we didn't get many turns completed as most of the day was spent discussing the new rules, the terrain, the miniatures and many other aspects of the hobby.

The Cold War Commanders (l to r)

Leon P (Pendraken), Ian S (British), Andy T (West German), Mark J (East German), Richard C (De Groots Fire Brigade NATO), Richard P (Mark Fry's Terrain Guy!) and Stephen G (Soviet VDV)

Thanks to everyone who came along and said hello. Some great comments on the table we are looking forward to Joy of Six where we will be putting on an extended version of this table. Hopefully we will see you there. My new venture 'The Unit Wargaming Centre' situated in Stone, Staffordshire is nearly up and running and there will be more updates on that soon.

As always thanks for looking and take care!

CWC II Update

 

The 2nd Edition of Cold War Commander is nearly with us. Pendraken will be officially releasing the new rules on Sunday 22nd May at Partizan. 

PARTIZAN 2022 - Soviet Assault at Rendsburg 1985 (Part Three)

A quick update on the table for the CWC II game at Partizan later this month. Still got the canal to paint and a few more roads to finish off. Plus I have a bit more detail work to do on the bridge but we are nearly there.

Also decided to have a go at representing a road tunnel going under the canal. I think it should work. Just a couple of WIP shots so far.

As always thanks for looking and stay safe!

PARTIZAN 2022 - Soviet Assault at Rendsburg 1985 (Part Two)

As promised in Part One here is the information on the parts and suppliers used to construct the 6mm representation of part of the Rendsburg Loop as it crosses the Kiel Canal.

Railway Track

The railway track comes from Wonderful Walt at Commission Figurines http://www.commission-figurines.co.uk 

Fencing

The railside fencing again comes from Commission Figurines (see link above) and are from his 6mm Rail Fence Pack (Code: 6Fence). The sections are 100mm long which work great with the 300mm railway sections. 

Bridges

I got the bridges a few years ago from the fantastic Ali at Iliada Game Studio based in Turkey http://iliadagamestudio.com I'm not sure if he still makes them as I couldn't find them on his website the last time I looked but it might be worth contacting him if you are looking at getting some.

UPDATE (29/04):- Just spoken to Ali and he is still making them and they are on special offer at the moment.

Bridge Supports

These were designed by me and Leon at Pendraken very kindly got his Laser Team to turn them round in double quick time so they could be collected at Hammerhead. 

As well as the bits mentioned above the track beds were cut from Plasticard and the bases are 2mm MDF with a few 2p coins attached to give the pieces a bit of weight. I'll go into a bit more detail on the finishing of the pieces in the next part where I will also be working on a simple conversion to a Baggage Train road bridge to add a bit more detail.

If you are interested where the train came from, I got them off eBay about 10 years ago. They are originally from a Japanese equivalent to a Kinder Egg I believe. I got them from a chap in the UK for no more than £2.00 each but last time I checked the UK supplier was no longer trading and there were a couple available Internationally but they were over £30 each!!!

As always thanks for looking and if your are interested in coming along and playing on some of this terrain in the future please keep your eye out for details about weekend events coming up later in the year. In the mean time stay safe and enjoy the hobby.

PARTIZAN 2022 - Soviet Assault at Rendsburg 1985 (Part One)

You may have seen that the Cold War Commanders have been invited by Pendraken to put on a Display/Participation game at the Partizan Wargames Show on Sunday 22nd May 2022 at the Newark Showground to celebrate the release of the CWCII ruleset. We will be located on Table PG16 right opposite the Pendraken trade stand. If you are planning on attending the show please come and say hello and maybe roll a few dice.

The game will see Soviet and East German ground forces supported by Soviet VDV attempt to secure the bridges and gain a foothold on the northern bank of the Kiel Canal around Rendsburg. British and West German troops will attempt to hold them long enough to allow reinforcements to arrive. 

Preparations are well underway and I will start to post progress on the table during the run up to the show. The table will include one of the largest terrain pieces I've made, a 6 foot long railway bridge to represent the Rendsburg Loop crossing the Kiel Canal. I will go into more detail on the construction of the bridge and where all the bits come from, but for now here are just a few WIP pictures.

As always thanks for looking and if you are interested in coming along to one of our events please get in touch by email coldwarcommanders93@gmail.com.