David Bickley's Wargames Blog

The occasional ramblings of an average gamer, journeyman painter, indifferent modeller, games designer, sometime writer for Wargames Illustrated and host of games in GHQ.



Friday 25 March 2022

Maps!

Well, as you’ll know only too well I don’t rate highly in the modelling stakes to be brutally honest. Notwithstanding my lack of any recognisable talent I do enjoy creating small vignettes for my various armies. None of them generally stray very far from making use of commercially available figures and terrain dressing items but generally add to the look of the game which here in GHQ is a major consideration I find. Anyway, as my Ephemera blog post went down well I thought I'd post some other projects under the general theme of 'maps'. You never know, there might be something that you can use to generate your own, much better, vignette...
1914, Belgium: the BEF commanders in this sector consult the maps to plan their next move. The maps are downloaded and reduced from actual period maps I found online, as is the newspaper you can just see being read by the officer in the back of the staff car. The car itself was £1 from a seafront antique shop in Scarborough, with a driver from Empress Miniatures.
Straight from Perry Miniatures French Napoleonic range but adapted for my FRW French army with tricolour sashes.
Three Trent Miniatures Austrian officers, a table, bench and chairs from Irregular Miniatures and more downloaded and reduced period maps for my small FRW Austrian army.
WWII German staff group from AB with command vehicle and staff car. (Maps must be inside!)
ACW Union staff group using Dixon Miniatures' figures, a Redoubt Enterprises resin tented cabin; table, chairs, benches etc from Irregular Miniatures and another downloaded map!
WWII British O Group from AB with Dorchester ACV from Ready to Roll/RapidFire! In the foreground the AB RAF officer coordinating air support.
Back to 1914 Belgium for a better view of the maps!
Another ACW Union Staff grouping using Dixon Miniatures' figures. The two seated figures are from the train passenger set I recall and the table and chairs from the Wild West range also. The tent is an old Ian Weekley foam/resin cast. More downloaded and reduced maps of course!
Another Perry Miniatures French Napoleonic set of Staff Officers and ADCs. The tent in the left background is the Grand Manner single Command Tent. The map chest is from Irregular Miniatures!
A Parliamentary Council of War for my ECW army. Figures from Wargames Foundry and Redoubt Enterprises; table, bench and chair from Irregular Miniatures; downloaded map a real find,  a C17th map of the area I live in and where we set our games!
Finally another ACW Staff Group, Robert E Lee and J.E.B.Stuart with their staff plan the next move for the ANV. As I recall Matt hand painted the map and orders. Figures from Dixon Miniatures of course and tent from Ian Weekley's range back in the day. HQ flagpole base is from Redoubt Enterprises but no idea who made the axe and woodpile, sorry.
Well, there you are. I hope you have found something of interest or to inspire your own much better efforts. Me? Presently I'm painting Grand Manner resin pieces for my Italian settings of Renaissance and FRW games. They had a sale of unpainted resin so I could just afford the pieces I wanted to add to the terrain bank! Otherwise they are right out of my price league sadly!


16 comments:

  1. You appear to have it all mapped out Mr. B.

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  2. What a cracking mix of command stands you have there David, with the maps making a lovely focal point for each one. I have one for my SCW International Brigade, but really should add more after seeing these fine examples:).

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  3. Excellent scenes! These will most certainly add some fun flavour to your tables. Inspiring stuff sir.

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  4. Something different, very nice, you do yourself an injustice sir.

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    1. Your encouragement is much appreciated George.

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  5. Lovely David and an inspiration to us all I have a few but not enough 👍

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    1. We never have enough, we wargamers, do we? Glad you liked my offerings Matt.

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  6. Splendid vignettes…
    I love the diminutive cartography… an idea work stealing.

    All the best. Aly

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    1. Thank you Aly! I hope you find suitable maps in your chosen periods!

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