Adding to the Terrain Tiles

My decision to extend my wargames table from 5 feet by 9 feet  to 6 by 10, has presented a problem with my terrain tiles. More correctly the problem is that by expanding the table by just one foot on each axis increases the number of tiles needed to cover the table by fifteen and with my existing inventory is insufficient to cover the table without having a river or stream on every table. So I need to increase the number plain and plain with road tiles by 20.

So I ordered 20 tile MDF frames and the supplier sent me 23 (overruns I presume) for the same price.

In all I made 14 plain tiles, 8 road tiles (two of which are sunken roads) and one beach tile. Here is the whole set laid out on the garage floor.

One of the things that terrain tiles are great for is creating features below the surface, such as rivers, streams, ponds, etc, or hills and ridges that rise above the surface.  What is often not created are those dips in the ground that can give a more rolling terrain. In my first batch of tiles I did five of them with slight dips in them in, but just small ones, a swale if you like. So this time I decided to do something a bit more substantial. I made four of my plain pieces to do just that. The dip is not deep - my tiles are 20mm deep overall and at its deepest the dip is only 13mm below the surface, so it is just a dip rather than a gully. I made them so that they can interface with other dip sections and run for 600mm or more. Two of them have a dip the runs the full length of the tile while two are 'end' pieces, so that they can form one long dip, or two short ones running in from the edge.

I am quite pleased with the way they turned out and at some point may do another five or six of them. Although they don't show up particularly well when photographed, you can see the profile of the dip in the stack shown below.

The only tile that is worth photographing individually is the beach tile with a rocks feature tgat extends out into the water. The addition of this one tile gives me six beach tiles and that means I can now have a beach that runs the full width of the table.

Also complete are the first three of eight small fields that will lay on top of the tiles, helping to conceal joints

French Line Infantry

Ahead of the recent price rise for the Perry plastics I bought three boxes of  line infantry to 'round out' my French Napoleonic army for the solo campaign I am planning for next year. For my 24 figures battalions each box, with an additional command frame, makes two battalions and eight skirmishing figures. 

These three boxes therefore makes six battalions, which added to two other spare battalions that I have makes two brigades - one small division.

Here is the first batch of three battalions - a line infantry regiment. I like the way that the battalions can be built with a mix of figures in tunic and greatcoat.

The First Battalion

The Second

The Third 

The regiment deployed with its voltigeurs to the fore

The second batch will be a three battalion light regiment and some guns will support them.

The Garde on Review

My lack of posts in recent weeks should not be seen as a lack of inactivity on the painting table (far from it in fact) but rather a reflection on how frenetic the real world has been for me of late.

That said, with my Garde Imperiale completed, it is well over due time for a review.

First is the three generals that will command the Garde.

Then there is the infantry, all six battalions.

The artillery, horse and line.

The cavalry

On the painting table, or rather on the basing table, are a number of French line infantry battalions that should grace these pages in the next few days.