Played a quick scenario this afternoon.

M36 Jackson, a 75mm Sherman and a 76mm Sherman took on a PZ V Panther.  Panther was in a treeline, with the three US tanks behind bocage.  It’s a mismatch, but added an elite commander, gunner and loader to the Panther’s crew.  No additions for the US.

Decided that moving through the bocage would take one move, but without a movement modifier  reducing  the chance of a Panther to-hit die roll.

The  M36 would provide a base of fire, with the  76 mm Shermans maneuvering to engage the Panther from the front, with the 75mm Sherman trying to outflank it.

Well, it didn’t take long.  The M36 put three hits on the Panther in Turn 2, and in Turn 3, the 76mm Sherman put another three hits on the Pz V.  Take a look at these rolls….hits on 4-6, with a 6 being a critical hit.  Defense has to roll 4-6 to take off a hit.  Blammo!

Quick game, and an unexpected outcome.  Will try it again and see what happens.

Next project up, the buildings.  Oh yes, that was a complete bone-head move.  Spent the extra money to have laser print copies made – as per instructions’ recommendation.  Forgot to reduce them to 50 percent for 15mm.  Files are for 28-30mm.  Doh!

Had another flash of insight while painting the battle mats.  Maybe it was the olfactory stimulus from the spray cans.

Was getting ready to start cutting up card for terrain bases when I realized……why not use beer mats?  They are thin, come in a variety of sizes and are a good match for 15mm vehicles.  Fantastic!  One of the things we have plenty of here at The Lodge is beer mats.

The next step was to go out to the shed and dig out the old foam and nail trees made decades ago, having accompanied me during countless moves, just for this day.  The scrounged foam had been cut, glue sprayed and rolled in green flock.  The painted nails made excellent trunks.

When I opened the box I also found – ready to go with minimal work – rows of bocage just right for Normandy scenarios.  Yes!

I painted the beer mats using the same techniques/colors as the battle mats.   The Panther tank served as  a template for placing trees and shrubs so a tank could actually occupy the terrain piece.   How many times has elegant terrain been incapable of properly “holding” a figure or vehicle base?  That type of terrain looks realistic, but doesn’t “work” all that well.

Used a couple of larger mats for wet/swampy/bog ground.  Just sprayed a little dark blue over the battle mat mix.

After the paint had dried, super glued the trees onto the mats, as well as adding some plants and flowers to PUB.

Added a couple of 9-inch sections of bocage using stray balsa and trees without trunks.

Crummy weather, bad sports TV,  and an injured leg made for a busy wargame weekend here at The Pine Cone Lodge.

Focus was on my Tanks board and scenery.  As previously discussed, the game comes with a few quality 2-D terrain and building pieces. However, I wanted to go 3-D, but on a budget.  Battle Mats can be expensive at $30+ a throw for a 3×3 foot piece.

Last Thursday, I realized that a mat could be fabricated using thin, plastic, kitchen cutting mats.  I couldn’t find any at the Dollar Store, but Freddies had them at $4.99 for two 12×18 inch mats.   Needed six, so I shelled out the $15 bucks, then bought a can of green textured spray paint for another $5 or so.  Not quite the required 3×3 playing area, but close enough (which should be/is the motto of my wargaming efforts).

I had some other spray paint lying around that could be used, so economically this project made sense……if it didn’t degenerate into another Gunboat fiasco.   While cruising Freddies discovered that Krylon is making camouflage paints – marketed using the Duck Dynasty crew of all things.  Limited colors, but much much cheaper than shelling out $6+ bucks for a small can of green Model Master paint.

By Saturday morning the garage looked and smelled like a Spray Booth.  I started out with some brown “primer plus paint”.  Let that dry for about 2 hours, then started working with gray and green textured paint.  Let that sit, then started random sprays from stray cans of medium and dark green flat modeling paint, along with a few shots of an almost empty can of Krylon khaki.