OK, time to refocus!

I have been doing quite a bit of thinking recently about my hobby and what direction to take it in. Over the last year I have collected so much stuff that I have lost my ability to focus on anything and it's time I sorted things out if I am to continue with this hobby. I have been very close to packing it all in completely, as I said to my wife, model soldiers have been part of my life for so long now that maybe it's time to do something different with my time. But the lure of WW2 gaming and in particular the Normandy campaign continues to hold my attention, and Flames of War remains the most playable set of rules I have used for years so I have decided to stick with it going forward.

On Sunday I had fully intended to get up and drive to SELWG, but instead we went off to Canterbury and had a lovely day shopping and sightseeing followed by a nice lunch washed down by a pint of Nicholson's Pale Ale in a cosy little pub opposite the Cathedral. It did me the world of good, despite being taken around several stores by my 15 year old youngest daughter including the wonderfully named 'Lush' which sells nothing but fizzing bath bombs, soaps etc and was a true sensory experience and very expensive! The day out really cleared my head.

I have recently been watching the series of videos by the Terrain Tutor on YouTube, and been thinking about how I could apply some of his methods and ideas to a 15mm Normandy layout for FoW. So I laid out the basic set up you see below  and I intend to gradually work on the scenic side of things over the next few weeks. What I'm looking for is to break up the bare board as a series on connected fields with the dreaded bocage lining the rural roads. I plan to work on the carpet tiles I'm using for this and another trip to B&Q will introduce some darker 'ploughed field' tones as I progress. I have much to do yet, but it's one aspect of the hobby I do really enjoy.  This has been very much inspired by the 'House of Hengist' blog (see right for link), where some beautiful landscapes can be found for his Flames of war games. I hope to describe the development of my table as things progress, of course everything must remain modular and interchangeable.

Where this leaves Bolt Action I'm not sure, I'll sit on it for a while and see how I feel, but no doubt that the release of version 2 with all it's errata, typos etc has really knocked my enthusiasm for the game and 15mm allows me to fight bigger tank battles on my table.

A few pictures, the basic table set up carpet tiles will be treated and toned, wood templates improved, houses given back yards and flower beds etc. US force I have chosen to represent is 2nd Armored from the Overlord book, and will start at 1675 points as listed below, I have most of whats needed for this list, just a couple of M20 scout cars and a couple more M4 Shermans to paint to complete it. I also have a German force ready to face it, this from the Open Fire list, requiring only a platoon of Panthers to complete it.

A couple of gifts from Canterbury - thanks to my daughter!

Forged in Battle Tigers.