Rommel’s command and making a wadi

After several weeks of focussing on the English Civil War period and play testing a draft set of rules, I decided it was time for something different. I do have a half-written ECW game report that I'll post soon, but the change was sparked by the arrival of a parcel from Steven of Sound Officers Call! The contents of which was Rommel’s command set in 6mm. 

Rommel’s command - a recent arrival in the post

The story behind this package goes back to when I was reading Steven’s posts about his preparations for wargaming the Battle of Kasserine Pass. He was facing the same challenge I had encountered with making palm trees, which are very tricky to make, particularly for the smaller miniature scales. In my case I had eventually decided to purchase a couple of bags of palm trees suitable for both 20mm and 6mm scales. I eventually ended up with a surplus of 6mm trees, so instead of letting them gather dust on a shelf, I posted them to Steven.

Knowing that I also game in the WWII North African theatre, Steven emailed me to let me know a surprise package was on its way. Well what a surprise! A very nicely painted and based command set which will be incorporated into by WWII Western Desert armies and be on the gaming table very soon.

A closer view of the detail. The models I believe are Baccus.

So a big thank you to Steven for the gift which will be incorporated into by WW2 Western Desert forces. The reciprocity in the wargaming community is a wonderful thing.

Sticking with the WWII North African theme and the ongoing need for terrain, one terrain feature I was missing on my tabletop was how to represent wadis and depressions. So, this past weekend, I attempted to make some using foam fill. Previously, I had made hills and sand dunes using the same foam fill material (see here). To create the wadis, I cut the foam fill into long, wiggly lines, shaped them just using pair of scissors, applied watered-down paint, and then dry brushed some highlight colours to finish them off. 

British armour are hidden in the wadi ready for a surprise attack.

Foam fill from the local craft shop was used to make the wadi.

To add a bit more to the wadi I used some railway brown course stone scenery as boulders.

Railway scenic 

A closer view of the wadi.