I’ve returned to my WW1 French army for Blood & Valor, finishing some units up. I’ve posted some random members on this page before. Here are completed units.
The first unit here is an officer (a Lieutenant or Major) with one of his ensigns. The other ensign is currently on stand-by, as I wait to see if I will upgrade him into a Medic or Standard Bearer when the new book comes out. The officer wears a smart blue outfit, with leather gloves and a gold-trimmed khepi. His ensign, a grizzled bearded veteran (epitome of the poilu stereotype), stands with his rifle shouldered, ready for orders.
Next are a Rifle section of 8 men. They have a rifle grenade and Chauchat LMG. I added scarves to a couple members for some variety. Their section leader waves his men forward.
The other Rifle section is armed the same way. Their leader has his sidearm out, advancing to the enemy.
The last unit is a section of Trench Raiders. These brave men wear gas masks, including the so-called duck masks, as well as one with an armored face shield. Some wear improvised body armor, and all carry extra grenades, pistols, and knives and clubs. They will be in the center of the fiercest fighting, and might even survive.
All these models are from Wargames Atlantic. I like the variety I could get, with 6 different bodies to give some individuality to the members. The Raiders were highly converted, with extra parts like armor and straps and even some hand and weapon swaps. One has a German potato masher on his belt.
The last unit I need to finish is a section of the Senegalese Close Combat troops. They’ll be a change, certainly, with their khaki colonial uniforms and those nice red fezzes.
With the arrival of the new Wargames Atlantic French Infantry kit, I can return to my army of the French Republic of WW1 for Blood & Valor. Like my Germans, most of the force will be made of this kit. I’ll also be making use of some of my WW2 French, using them as Foreign Legion, since the uniforms are close enough.
The first section of infantry is finished, with 4 riflemen and a member carrying their Chauchat LMG. They are painted in the same fashion as the previous entry with the recruit soldiers and HMG team. The Wargames Atlantic is pretty nice, with enough parts and variety to avoid any sameness for the members.
The second group, currently in progress, are members of a Trench Raider unit. These veterans are rough combatants, carrying extra gear and all wearing some sort of gas mask. Some members, including the section leader, wear ad-hoc armor and carry pistols and combat knives. The armor was made from plasticard and paper, properly chipped and distressed. This guy has seen action, including a few close calls from enemy fire. I also added a little dusting of mud on their legs and the bottom edges of their coats.
More to come. I’ll finish out the Trench Raiders, then start on some Senegalese close combat fighters and another section of Infantry.
This week’s game of Blood & Valor was a fun variant of the Disabled Tank scenario. The French had broken through the German lines, into the secondary trench network, but their push had stalled and a tank was stuck in the middle of it all. With the Germans coming to take back their trenches, the French scrambled to rescue their tank.
We had a cool table, criss-crossed by trenches and craters. I’ve been thinking of a variant rule for trenches, and we tried them out.
Trenches and dugouts count as hard cover as normal. In addition, for this scenario, they also count as difficult terrain at their edges. Units could choose to either be ‘on’ the trench, on a parapet, firestep, or ladder, or ‘in’ the trench, running on the boards. Units on a trench line have normal LOS, but benefit from cover. Units in the trench do not have LOS, but also cannot be targeted by normal shooting. Grenades, bombardments, flame throwers, and snipers can target units in a trench. A unit on the outer edge of the trench can see down into it as normal.
To move into a trench from the surface is a normal move, but moving from in the trench to on the firestep requires a move action, as does moving from on the firestep to the surface. Movement inside the trench is normal, so units can move or run down the line.The LOS restrictions also affects commanders, so the Grand Maneuvers and command points might not work on all units nearby. A commander on the trench wall can draw LOS to units inside the trench and on the surface.
Not sure how well these rules changes work out, but it seemed interesting for our game. It changed up our decisions that’s for sure. In the game the French swarmed their side of the table, while the Germans were more careful. We both snuck units forward in the trench network, with both sides sending units over the top to push forward. The tank crawled away, but lucky fire kept pinning it down. French casualties were building but we ran out of time with the tank still in question.
My French army is currently a mishmash of Great War miniatures from WW1 and WW2 French from Warlord, with a few German units standing in as well. I plan on rebuilding most of the army with proper WW1 gear and uniforms when Wargames Atlantic releases their French plastic set. I think it will be a mix of sky blue and khaki, representing colonial forces and Foreign Legion units reinforcing the standard French army.
I’ve gotten in some more work on armies for Blood & Valor. The Germans are still waiting for some random models, but I’ve finished a few units for my future French army. I’ve been using my Bolt Action Early War WW2 French for games, subbing them in as the Foreign Legion, which had uniforms roughly similar to their WW1 counterparts.
I plan on building a proper force in the mid-war Sky Blue uniforms when Wargames Atlantic releases their plastic French Riflemen. Until then I’ve got a few metal units from Great War Miniatures.
First is a Hotchkiss M1914 machine gun team, crewed in some of those lovely bright blue longcoats and hats. The gun itself is pretty unassuming, with a dull black metal finish and green tripod. I like the detail of the extra ammo boxes and the crewmen’s rifles off to the side. I found out the ammunition wasn’t belt-fed, instead being fed into the gun on a large strip like an automatic rifle.
Next are a small unit of Rifles, wearing early-to-mid-war uniforms. I wanted to use the sky blue colors rather than the amazingly garish dark blue coat/red trousers look. I added a detail to show the packs these poor guys had to hump around on the battlefield. I imagine that metal cup on top would hit you in the back of your head every step you took. It’s interesting that these French and my Germans barely look like they’re from the same war.
Once again I found myself seeing the limitations of metal models. These have thick and sometimes chunky details, soft edges, and odd undercuts. Not to say they weren’t fine models, I’m just more used to plastics nowadays.
On another note, I’ve been getting in some games. The most recent saw my Germans face off against a friend’s Americans in the Downed Pilot scenario. I’ve done that one before, as the Defender, but this time I was the Attacker. This meant my force was set up at the start, and the Americans moved on, but at least they were able to set up the Pilot in the center at a point of their choosing.
I set up the table using the Green Stuff World trenches set. These are the neoprene prints, and I can’t recommend them more. They do so well at making a great looking table. We set it up like this was an abandoned section left from when the front shifted, leaving it in no-man’s-land. The pilot had scrambled to the trenches for shelter before our forces came looking for him.
My Germans set up across the trench line, covering the whole front, since I wasn’t sure where the Americans would deploy the pilot. He ended up being on my left flank, but I still had plenty of troops to go after him. An artillery attack from the Americans completely missed its mark, hitting off table (he rolled a 2 so I placed it, but he had no troops on the table yet). Both sides were very aggressive in their movement, using the Grand Maneuver immediately to surge forward across the whole battlefield. The American drew first blood, cutting down a few Stormtroopers while they made a beeline to the pilot, right into the teeth of the American assault squads. Some close range firefights and grenade tossing wiped out the close combat teams, but cost the Germans several men.
The Americans valiantly kept attempting to grab the pilot under fire, but it was too much and they got cut down. Any Germans trying the same suffered the same fate, so they opted to destroy the Yanks instead, which worked in the end. By the end the Americans had lost all but 2 Riflemen, while the Germans had lost a scattering of Riflemen and all but 1 Stormtrooper.
Looking back, I don’t think the pilot was placed in the best position for the Americans, but you never know. My friend also fields 2 (!) close combat specialist units, which certainly eat up his points. My Germans, with some squads from the reserve companies, outnumbered the Americans by a fair bit.
I’ve been working on various projects for clients, but also dipping into my own miniatures to keep me going. The latest are more Riflemen for my Imperial Germans for Blood & Valor.
The new squads are Inexperienced Riflemen, representing the late recruits and reserve units moved up to reinforce the attack regiments. I’ve finished 2 more units of 7 and 6 men.
I talked about them in previous posts. The units are distinguished from the Regulars by wearing Feldmützen caps instead of the standard Stalhhelm. I liked the idea that the newbies are still learning how to keep their heads down, and not wearing their proper helmets yet. Both units also still have clean uniforms and boots.
One unit is built from the Wargames Atlantic plastics, like the rest of the force. The other uses Great War Miniatures, which are metal. This unit still wears their rucksacks, which my research has said was left behind in the trenches by the experienced troops. The backpacks help my opponent and I tell the units apart on the table.
There is something to be said for the state of current plastic sets. I don’t paint too many metal models these days, and I find returning to them to not always be enjoyable. Metal can sometimes have thick and blunt details, while the plastic casts are nicely thin and have sharp details. The Great War Miniatures are fine, but I guess I prefer plastics now.
Next are a set of barbed wire emplacements I kit bashed together. They started as Renedra Generics fences. I broke up the poles and crossbeams, wrapping them in brass wire to represent the wire. I wanted them to look ‘lived in’ and having been on a WW1 battlefield for some time. I’ve made 4 pieces so far, which covers ~18″ on the table. I’ll need to make more at some point.
I included some pics with the soldiers to show them off.
I played a game of Blood & Valor this week versus a friend. My Germans faced those tenacious Americans in the Downed Pilot scenario. A British ace had gone down in no-man’s-land and we both raced to snatch him up. The table was a bunch of blasted forest, with a few stands of intact trees and a single village cottage, probably where the pilot had been trying to get to before the armies found him.
The Americans asked for volunteers, and everyone stepped up apparently, as there was a veritable mass of infantry heading my Germans’ way. 200 points buys a lot of Doughboys. IIRC the Americans were Major Whittlesey, an HMG team, and 4 large squads of Riflemen. My Germans were a smaller force, since I brought very expensive Stormtroopers, but padded the line with some raw recruits. I had a Hauptmann (Major), 2 mid-sized Riflemen squads, 2 smaller Inexperienced Rifle Squads, Stormtroopers, an HMG team, Sniper, and an Artillery support barrage.
So many Americans!
The Yanks favor their right flank, using the cottage for cover.
The Americans were the Attackers, thus started on the table in full force. The Germans would deploy over the course of the first turn. It looked bleak at first, since not only did my opponent bring half the US army, but they were already one turn’s move closer to the Pilot than my army. Fortunately for me, he favored his right side, with only a single unit on the left. I placed the pilot far to the his left, near some good cover, and hoped for the best. The Germans came on and favored their right; we had both pulled a refused flank on each other.
I dropped my Artillery barrage on the Americans as soon as I could, hoping to catch them before they spread out too much. The Americans’ Devil Dogs rule meant the barrage was much less effective than it could have been (it hit 4 units) but it did spread a few fatigues around.
Germans pour through the blasted trees. The Riflemen with the Feldmützen are the Inexperienced squads. The Regular Riflemen (in helmets) come up the side, with the Hauptmann and Sniper in the rear. Please ignore the WW2 soldiers, as I’m still expanding the army to 200 points.
The lone American unit going for the Pilot, while the rest of the army gave covering fire.
The American HMG accounted for a gruesome amount of the Germans. It eventually got cut down by the German HMG’s return fire.
The Germans massed in the central area of blasted trees, sending a unit of Riflemen and Stormtroopers up the right flank toward the Pilot. Using speed and copses of trees, the Riflemen managed to safely grab the Pilot, before incoming fire started to take its toll. The Stormtroopers swapped places with them to escort them (and block LOS to the unit as they retreated).
Riflemen and Stormtroopers rush the Pilot. Already the Rifle squad is taking fire…
You are commink viz us, Britisher pig!
Stormtroopers cover the retreat. While it was an expensive unit to use as chaffe, I counted on their better Resolve to keep them around.
Even with constant fire the Americans push on.
The battle itself was a bloodbath, with long range fire back and forth and a deadly HMG duel. Both armies were equally mauled. Lethal fire from the Americans cut down many of the members of my Riflemen squads. The Yanks weathered my return fire like champs, pressing on despite mounting casualties.
Schnell!
Despite the storm of fire the escorting Riflemen scrambled toward my lines. The hindrance of only moving 2″ at a time meant they took 3 turns to get back to the German lines. They lost most of their squad along the way, and the Stormtroopers valiantly held the line for them before they were all killed. My Hauptmann moved over toward them in the last few turns as insurance, to give them an extra Command activation move (or to grab the Pilot if they died or got Shaken). I won initiative on turn 8 and they moved to safety. German win, but what a cost!
My army lost 5 from Rifle squad 1, 4 from Squad 2, 4 from Squad 3, 2 from Squad 4, the Stormtrooper squad, and a member of the HMG team. The Americans lost 2 Rifle squads, 5 from another Rifle squad, and the HMG team.
This was my first game with my blasted trees terrain pieces. They looked evocative on the table. Just need to make some more to fill out space.
While researching WW1 units and battlefields for Blood & Valor, I came across a series of photos of the terrain on the Western Front.
This one especially interested me, so I decided to build some proper blasted terrain for my games.
The bases are simple balsa slugs, with sticks from my yard modified into the husks of trees blown apart by WW1 artillery. Scattered throughout the stumps are puddles and shell holes full of mud. By basing them like this I can place them in a variety of positions and move them aside for movement of miniatures. The trees in my yard produce limitless sticks and small branches, so I could continue with more blasted woods over time. It was certainly ironic that I had to paint the little trees to look like wood, but it was necessary to make the coloring to scale.
I added a pic to show some of my Germans skulking through the trees. Most of the bases have enough room for model bases to fit through them or at least be placed between them.
Last are the Objectives for my German army. I wanted them to appear as part of the table for battles, though they did get white stripes on their base edges so they wouldn’t get lost or mistaken for other models.
-A signpost saying ‘MINEN’ (mine!)
-ACHTUNG (though highly damaged by enemy fire)
-Rattengasse, meaning ‘Rat Alley’ with a helpful directional arrow
-An armored observer post. A camouflaged metal plate hides a small plank platform for a spotter to survey the battlefield. A pair of binoculars rests behind it.
-A sniper dummy. These papier mache manikin heads were used to draw fire and fool snipers in order to reveal them and allow for counter-sniping or artillery fire. The head was painted simply, with a flat skin tone and scratched surface. The stones it uses for ‘cover’ features at least one near-hit.
My Imperial German starter force for Blood & Valor is almost done. I just need a Maxim Machine Gun to round out the 150 point force.
The first pic is the Hauptmann and his aides. I posted them earlier.
Along with the command squad is a Sniper. This model is a very simple conversion of one of the standard plastic infantrymen, with the addition of a scope atop his rifle. I also removed the bayonet, figuring that would just get in the way of the dedicated marksman. His helmet has a yellow/green/brown camouflage pattern used later in the war. It also helps me spot him on the table easier. His uniform and face are grubby, representing a soldier who crawls through the battlefield for the best position. I also added more detail to his base, since he’d seek cover wherever he could.
Next are a pair of Infantry squads. These are both 6 men units with an attached light machine gun. The Wargames Atlantic plastic sprue has six different bodies, so I used one of each for the 6 members.
Last is a unit of Stormtroopers. The unit got gas masks and submachine guns, with a few members bearing pistols (Walter or Mauser), grenades, and entrenching tools instead. The members also carry extra holsters, grenades, and mask canisters. One even carries a mace. The gas masks and camouflage helmets (also used by the Sniper) make them stand out nicely. I really like the squad member with the bundled Stielhandgranate. Their uniforms, especially their boots and trousers, got a little more dirt spatter. Compared to the Infantrymen, this squad really gets into the muck.
Once I get the Maxim, I’ll add a few extra members to the existing units and another small of unit of Riflemen to build up to 200 points.
I recently got in my first game of Blood & Valor. I played against my friend with his Americans. It was a 150 point battle using the Demolition scenario. For that scenario, three objectives run along the center of the table. The armies are both trying to dynamite them. Whoever takes out the most objectives wins. If they aren’t all destroyed by Turn 6, casualties instead determine the winner. For this battle a MG42 HMG from my Bolt Action force stood in as their Maxim. Time travelers?
These pics were from throughout the battle. The battle started with a mortar barrage from the Americans, which stunned a few German units but did no real damage. The Stormtroopers advanced to the woods by the right objective, while the Infantry slowly advanced using barb wire for cover on the left and center.
The Americans massed a few squads on their left, which threatened to overwhelm the objective. Other infantry squads moved through copses of woods for cover on their right and center. The Yankee combat specialists managed to take out the right objective first, despite submachine gun and even HMG fire, then the Americans went on to decimate my Stormtroopers with deadly crossfire and an assault. The surviving Stormtroopers managed to hold their morale and struck back, killing the last combat squad members and wiping out the command squad.
On the left German flank one of my Infantry squads rushed up to take out their objective. They got hung up on the wire but luckily the Americans were out of range to do any damage. After that they cut to the center to press my numbers.
In the center both sides suffered serious crossfire, one German Infantry squad pushed back under fire. The Americans were held at bay in the woods by sniper and the heavy machine gun. My Hauptmann decided if it he wanted it done, he’d do it himself. He ran up and his men planted their dynamite, but was in turn pushed back by American fire. In the brief moments before their charge went off, the brave surviving members of an American squad ran up and deactivated their bomb. Those men were then cut down by close ranged shooting, leaving no one in charge of the objective.
After that the game ran out of time, with 2 out of 3 objectives destroyed and the Americans pretty chewed up. It was pretty back and forth, and the American ‘Devil Dogs’ rule (reroll all failed Resolve tests) meant I had to just lay on fire to push units out of my way.
I’ve started a new army for the game Blood & Valor. I’ve always been interested in a World War 1 game, so I’m glad this has come about. The first force I want to work on is Imperial Germany; French will come later hopefully.
The new plastic kit from Wargames Atlantic are pretty nice. Good range of poses and lots of extra parts for variety.
These are my first units finished. I made the infantry first to work out the poses and color scheme. I built a Rifleman unit of 5 and a command squad, probably fielded as a Hauptmann (Captain) and his escorting Riflemen. The command squad got caps instead of helmets, to better distinguish them on the table.
The forces’ uniforms changed a lot over the course of the war, so it was a bit hard to nail color schemes down. In the end I went for a 1915-era look. The coat was Vallejo Fieldgrey, helmets were Vallejo German Grey, trousers were GW The Fang, and leggings were Vallejo Brown Violet. I wanted them to look ‘lived in’ so used stronger highlights at the knees and elbows and let some paint from the bases spatter the legs and boots. The helmets were highlighted roughly to give a washed out, dirty look. There’s of course a line to stop at before you get too messy. The bases were broken loose ground, representing the mud and debris of the front. Several models have barb wire on their bases, stamped down in the muck.
More to come. One advantage of Blood & Valor is the relatively small forces you can field. My projected starter force of 150 points is the Hauptmann and his escort, 2 Riflemen squads (x6, each has an LMG), a Stormtrooper squad (x6), Maxim Heavy Machine Gun team, and a Sniper. With the plastic kit I’ll be able to build a few extra models to give me choices.
Bughaus Miniatures 