Tuesday 9 June 2020

1/100 Kursk Project - Scenery Pt. 3

I finished off the 'Rusgorov' paper-craft hamlet models yesterday, and I have to admit that I am quite pleased with them. I was a bit unsure about them at first because they seem to lean towards the fantasy rather than historical end of the hobby, being a little on the stylised and colourful side.

But, in the end, I don't think they look too outlandish or unrealistic...


Building these paper and card models was very enjoyable and I look forward to making some more when the opportunity presents itself. (Predictably, I already have an idea for another project in the back of my mind.) 😊

The purpose of these little buildings are to provide some scenery and tactical cover for my planned Battle of Kursk war-game. GF9 TANKS! is intrinsically a 'line of sight' game and therefore having scenery and objects that can obstruct a direct view between a tank and it's target can help to make the game more interesting and challenging. Well, at least this is what I have come to believe from the games I have played so far and this is why I wanted to include a little Russian hamlet as a key objective in my Kursk themed game.


Well, what else will I include on my game table? I can't just have a village in the middle of nowhere.

I've had a good look at a lot of photographs of the landscape on which the Battle of Kursk took place in 1943 and what strikes you most of all is how well suited the countryside was to 'The Biggest Tank Battle in History'! I suppose that's probably putting the cart before the horse as it was as likely as it was the flat and open nature of the region that made it a obvious choice for a set-piece tank battle.


Obviously, I don't think I'll add rolling hills, dense forests or lakes to my battlefield, rather I'll be constructing a pretty flat board with large grass plains interspersed with the occasional hovel and field. Therefore, any obstructions to line of sight will have to be artificial.

Natural landscape 'To do' list:
- How to make 1/100 scale fields.
- How to make some small dirt roads.

What these obstructions ill be will be the next challenge.


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