This week has been taken up with a lot of pre-reading prior to starting a weeks training course for a new job. Consequently time to devote to the table has been a lot more limited but in addition to getting the Portuguese infantry finished I have managed to get the 1st French Hussars on to the paint desk and turn my attention to preparing the buildings that will represent the outskirts of Oporto, see the map for details of the extent of the town I am looking to model.
I am trying to capture the colour and roofscape of the town as pictured above. I think these two aspects are key to fooling the eye into seeing the town as a whole with relatively few buildings mixed in with open spaces and walled enclosures.
The buildings are mainly from the JR Miniatures range with a few Hovels mixed in for variability. I also have my rural buildings to bolster the collection when set up on the table. I have managed to get all the block painting and dry brushing done. I just need to do the detail work, but that will have to wait until after the training course.
I have also started to translate a bit more of the terrain from the map, to which you can see the principle road network, with the French escape route being the right fork leading to the back of the table. I decided to lay the bulk of the road over the seam of the mat and boards to help minimise the impact of said gap. In addition I have used the benefit of the mat by adding undulating ground getting steeper to the rear of the table
I intend to make a mat to imply the edge of the town together with some more wooded mats. In addition I will add a few walled enclosures and crop areas to add to the overall look. You will also see I have alluded to the small brooks than ran down to the river with the bits of broken ground markers that lead through the open woodland.
All this clutter helps to break up the ground and cause disorder and fatigue to troops marching through it, something that is easily captured in C&GII.
Anyway that's all for now, more anon.
This is excellent! Those little boats are fantastic. You'll have loads of fun playing on this table.
ReplyDeleteBest wishes
Jeremy (warpaintjj)
Wow, what a superb looking table. The cliffs look even more magnificent with the entire table laid out.
ReplyDeleteJonathan, this project is shaping up nicely. Already the table is striking and you are not finished.
ReplyDeleteCheers guys, unfortunately progress will be stopped for a couple of weeks whist I am away, but I can now see the end of the preparation in sight and the start of the first game.
ReplyDeleteLooks great. The buildings seem to be far better painted then the displays on the manufacturer's web site as I didn't even recognize them. What do you end up doing with the board after you've played out the scenario?
ReplyDeleteHi Vl'E, thank you. The board question is a moot one. I intend to play a few games on it to get the most out of it and then decide. I have some storage space and as I intend to do most of my games on the mat I might keep this one to run as the odd Xmas game as an excuse to get together.
DeleteLooking great – I'd be tempted to get some lighter colours into the rocks of the cliffs – this could be done with dry brushing and need not be as onerous task at it may seem. Ditto the roads, the whole area around Oporto looks and feels light and sandy/dusty.
ReplyDeleteHi great stuff as usual :) where did you purchase the JR buildings from? I like the look of them too but not the price tag when I saw them at salute yesterday! :)
ReplyDeleteHi Robert, thank you. I purchased the buildings from Migister Militum. I put a link in the post and there is a link in my product list. They aren't cheap but frankly they were what I needed to achieve the look I was after, and I decided to invest in them as I reckon they will be appearing in a lot of future games
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