6mm Flames of War preparation and the first two companies – DAK Panzerkompanie Afrika and British 8th Army Heavy Armoured Squadron (Africa)
I finished my first two 1,500 point test armies for Flames of War in 6mm and tested them in battle (see next article). Below are some pictures and some of my notes on the ‘how to’ of 6mm Flames of War.
I have tried wherever possible to maintain Flames of War scaling and other conventions. The main differences I want to see in 6mm Flames of War are a generally larger playing area providing more room for interesting deployment and manoeuvre. It may be necessary to make some modifications to the rules to suit this larger playing area (e.g. tweaking some mission parameters).
Basing: To keep as close as practical to Flames of War conventions, I am using the following basing measurements (bases for 1:300 or 1:285 scale should be roughly 40% of Flames of War size) :
- Small Base 12x10mm (FoW scale is 32x25mm). Two to three figures
- Medium Base: 12x20mm (FoW scale is 32x50m). three to four figures (more than four probably would not fit and anyway you'll run out of models quicker putting five guys on a base – let’s face it, one of the core reasons for choosing 6mm is financial).
- Large Base: 20x25mm (FoW scale is 50x65mm). Large guns, about five crew. Objective Markers.
Making Bases: I glued 0.5mm thick plasticard (a.k.a. Evergreen scale models Sheet Styrene, available from our local hobby store – Monaro Hobbies) to a backing of magnetic P-plates (L-plates might work just as well, but they might be designed with a weaker magnetism due to the lower speeds at which learners drive. They are also bright yellow on top which might look weirder if it shows through).
Thicker plasticard, say 1mm), might work fine for bases as well. The key aspects are to have magnetism for easier storage/transport and for the base to be rigid and thick enough for you to pick up the team with minimum contact with the miniatures, which are a little bit fragile at 6mm scale).
0.5mm Plasticard and P-plates are both easy to cut with scissors. I'm not completely sure what will be the most efficient way to prepare the bases. I think the two components are more easily cut separately and then glued together but you've got to be careful to measure them as near to exact as possible so the pieces match. Alternatively, if you glued the plasticard and P-plate together then measured and cut you would only need to cut once. More testing may be necessary to achieve Ford-like efficiency.
Basing for vehicles: I haven't bothered basing the tanks and vehicles because I like them on their own, however, basing might be good for some very small vehicles (e.g. Kubelwagens, Jeeps, Bren Carriers and Kettenkrads).
Measuring scale: As 6mm is basically one-third the size of normal 15mm Flames of War scale, using centimetres for inches on all measurements scales things down nicely (1"=2.54cm). I don’t mind the relatively shortened ranges or movement and fire so long as the larger playing area mitigates the 'panzer parking-lot' visual effect. Speaking of which…
Size of Playing area: The first test game (see next article) was played using my two 1,500 point test companies on a 122x90cm table. In normal Flames of War scale, a table this size relative to the miniatures would effectively have been 10'x7.5'. I reckon we only used about a third to a half of it during seven turns of gameplay. As I’ve said before, the intention of the larger table is to provide good manoeuvre opportunities and (to be totally honest) more scope for transport units to play a part because I just like trucks and half-tracks and want to use them!
Templates: I cut the bombardment template and measurement aid (an odd-shaped thing with sides of 1cm, 2cm, 4cm and 6cm to help with the likes of spacing and assault distances) out of plastic take-away food containers. The bombardment template is best transparent so you can see the targets under it. As for the measurement aid I will make revised ones in cardboard.
Measuring devices: Aside from the measuring aid (which admittedly did not see use in the first test game) we used the usual metal tape measure and some Epic 40,000 centimetre rulers. I must say the Epic rulers were ideal (perhaps not surprising considering they are basically made for purpose). I wonder if you can still buy them somewhere?
Miniatures: I am using GHQ miniatures currently because, although expensive, the quality is awesome. Infantry (but not gun crews) are slightly larger than life for the scale apparently but that's good because it shows more detail. I hear that CinC is also good and a bit cheaper but I haven't tried them yet. From their website it seems they might be more efficient with their deployed artillery models. Heroics & Ros have a very good variety of aeroplanes but I’ll stick with the more detailed GHQ for the main playing pieces for now. Speaking of aeroplanes, I just picked up some Scotia Grendel and Raiden/I-94 items of which I will endeavour to provide some illustrative photographs.
Painting the miniatures: For infantry and gun crews it's best to paint them when they are on their sprues rather than as individual models. I would also recommend painting them before you base them as you don't want to have neighbouring figures getting in the way of your brush when you are going in to apply some fine details.
For trucks and guns etc, glue them securely onto the heads of toothpicks (glue to the underside of the model) for ease of painting. I've been sticking the downward points of the toothpicks into foam so the miniatures don't fall/lie down while they are drying. To give you a picture of what this looks like, envision a forest of toothpicks topped with impaled tanks and trucks.
Armoured vehicles will usually have two components: turrets and hulls. To stay in keeping with Flames of War rules you need to be able to rotate tank turrets as facing can be important. I've found you can stick a toothpick through the hole in the hull where the turret usually goes (a tiny amount of glue helped hold each hull to its toothpick). The turrets should also be mounted on toothpicks. For tanks with very small turrets and short guns (e.g. Panzer IIF) I have had to make an exception to the Flames of War standard and just glue the tiny turrets in place.( I will have to resort to using hull facing when determining things like armour values for these units).
I spray-varnish the vehicles while they are still on their toothpicks after I have finished painting them. Once I break them off the toothpicks I give them a once-over with some extra paint and matte varnish where the toothpicks were, as well as any other parts that need touching-up.
It is a good idea to use gloss varnish on the underside of the turret and the turret-ring area of the hull so the turret can rotate smoothly.
Army Painter Quickshade was great for bringing out the details. I would never dip miniatures into the Quickshade (you will lose 6mm miniatures in the can for sure). Instead I paint small quantities of Quickshade on each miniature with a brush.
Here are some (low quality) pics of the two finished playtest companies.
2x Sherman II (one with .50 cal AA MG)
Combat Platoons
a) 3x Sherman II (one with .50 cal AA MG)
b) 3x Grant (one with AA MG)
Divisional Support
a) Motor Platoon (Cmd MG team, Light Mortar, 2x AT Rifle, 3x MG Teams, 4x 15cwt trucks, Sticky Bombs all round) – Confident Veteran
b) Scout Platoon (3 Bren Carriers) – Confident Veteran
c) Royal Horse Artillery Battery (Cmd Rifle, Staff, Observer Rifle with 15 cwt truck, 4x 25pdr guns, Sticky Bombs) – Fearless Veteran
d) Air Support (Limited Kittyhawk)
DAK Panzerkompanie (21. Panzer Division) – Confident Veteran
HQ2x Panzer IV F2
Combat platoons
a) 2x Panzer IV F2 and 1x Panzer III J
b) 1x Panzer IV F2 and 2x Panzer III J
Divisional Support
a) Afrika Schutzen Platoon (PzKnacker Cmd SMG, 6x MG Teams, 1x Kfz 15, 3x Krupp Protze 6x6)
b) Nebelwerfer Batterl (Cmd SMG with Kfz 15, 2x Observer Rifle with Kubelwagens, 4x 15cm Nebelwerfer with Sdkfz 11 half tracks)
c) Air Support (Limited Bf.109E)
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