Terrain and AI

 As mentioned in my last post, here are some images of recently added 3d terrain, and my ongoing mdf ruined building collection

After finishing the solo game on Thursday, I reset the table with some terrain items. The river by the way is from Peters Paperboys terrain but made 2 or 3 times as wide as normal and printed on A3 at work.

The red brick mdf buildings have had some simple architectural enhancements added - 2mm x 5mm balsa wood strips with brick paper PVA'd to them then added to the exterior wall

The 3d printed church in a bit more detail too

The church is in two parts with separate removable roofs

A well-known Cardinal doing a guest sermon in the local church!

And finally for the terrain, these came in a bag of mdf "bits" from local supplier Battle Kiwi for NZ$12

You get about 40 of these wall pieces, plus some rubble, and I combined 2 or 3 of the walls to create these multi use parts.

After some email comms with buddy Mark (1866 and All That) this morning I gave two different AI image generators a try 

I took this image from my last game 

In the Google Gemini I wrote something like "Use this photo to create a Commando comic book style cartoon image of the armoured car on a cobbled road in Russian countryside with a speech bubble saying "Vorwerts, Hans""

Not too bad - so then I tried another one....

I then decided to give the Chat GPT v5 one a try 

I took this image from one of my recent solo skirmish games

Again, the command was to make a Commando style comic illustration out of this image of Soviet female soldiers attacking Germans in a Stalingrad factory

Not bad - but I asked for another one with slightly amended instructions

I didn't really want the word Commando there - and the lady leading the charge is in a very weird pose - but I had to stop here, as I had used up all my free goes for this 24-hour period - I can do another 6 or 8 tomorrow, if I want too!

Now finally, going in reverse order as it were - this is the second image I requested from Chat GPT - the instructions were " create a close up of a 28mm wargames figure of a female soviet sniper in a brick built ruined building at Stalingrad 1942"

Drum Roll.......

The only problem is - now, I want this figure in my collection!

As a test - I just did the same instruction to the freebie no restriction do as many as you like AI generator I have been using previously - these are the best two - and not too shabby either really

Cheers for now.

Solo Barbarossa 1941 Game in 28mm

 I got some of the new terrain pieces together for a quick skirmish level game on Thursday evening, pitting the advancing Germans against hastily assembled local militia and some AT gunners defending a river crossing somewhere in Western Russia in June 1941. Rules were the usual home brew AS9 ones I generally use.

AI image of the Bridge at Svislach in Belorussia, over the Berezina River

My version, including the 3d printed stone bridge and church.

A bellicose local girl resisting the German advance

The church - a very nice model

Germans advance - the ruins are locally purchased mdf "bits"

German recon arrives to support the Landsers

Amongst the Soviet defenders is a small engineer unit

The Russians spring an ambush! Peoples Militia open fire on the German infantry while a "Sorokapyatka" (Little 45-er) opens fire on the SdKfz 221.

The Germans react quickly and professionally to the surprise attack and put hits on the militia. The MMG on the armoured car peppers the AT gun crew with 7.92mm rounds

Gott in Himmel! The AT crew brew up the 221 with a direct hit

A third squad of German infantry has arrived to bolster the attack

The Russian engineers sprint from behind the cover of the church

The first tank from the supporting panzer column arrives, a PzKfw III with 50mm gun.

The Germans continue to add hits to the militia who now carry 3 of a possible 4 before they have to fall back.

Without Order 227 No Step Back (which is still a year in the future) the militia retire to cover to attempt to rally off the hits they have already suffered

Turn 7 was a German event (they have 2 the Russians none) A Stuka dived into the attack, targeting the AT gun, and made a huge splash in the adjacent river!

The AT gun crew let off another 45mm round. to hit a medium armour vehicle, they need at least 10 on 2 D6

That will do it! The Panzer III is knocked out!

All the German infantry units head for the bridge - they are going to have to do this the old fashioned way!

Meanwhile, the Russian engineers roll a success for their demolition task (I decided they had to stand by the bridge and roll each time the Russians activated - a 9+ was a success and they needed to achieve three of these to set off a demolition explosion)

The Commissar attempts to rally the wavering militia squad

A second unit of militia appear on the Russian bank and open fire at the German infantry. The AT gunners, with no vehicle targets, switch to HE rounds and also fire at the Landsers.

Happily, for the Germans, two more Panzer III's arrive to bolster the assault

The tanks combine their MG fire with the infantry small arms and sweep the far bank of the river

Nothing much happened on turn 11 except the Soviet militia rallied

Turn 12 - a second Stuka strike and this one scored a direct hit on the Russian AT gun!

The German infantry press forward, supported by the MG fire from the two panzers

But the Russian Engineers, despite suffering several hits from German fire, have heroically completed their mission!

Now impassable to vehicles, I allowed the German infantry to advance at the rate of 1 D6 cm per action

The engineers, now on 3 hits, but their mission completed, fell back before they were overwhelmed

The Commissar led the re energised militia unit forward to drive the Fascist invaders back!

But on the open road, the combined fire from German infantry and panzer small arms and MG's tore into the hapless Russians and their morale plummeted again

Once again, the commissars appeal to the Soviet citizens inspired them to selfless courage (a double 6 removes all hits in the rally phase!)

But in the last turn of the game, the German fire power again proved a battle winner, with both militia units on three hits and the engineers carrying 4.

The German invaders were slowed down and they will have to rebuild the bridge before their panzer and motorised units can continue the advance on this route, but ultimately, the heroic Soviet defence has been insufficient.

A good little game that took about two hours to set up, play and clear away again. I took some more images of the 3d terrain plus some enhancements I have done to some of the mdf ruins, but I will save those images for a later post

Just to keep my end up with the tourist board, here are a few images from our coffee this morning taken al fresco at a local park at the top of the main street in Pukekohe

That's all for today - we are off out to a local vineyard shortly for a lunch to celebrate my wife's sixty aherm birthday, so no doubt a few nice images of the venue etc will appear in my next post!