Following the December launch of the inaugural Warlord Games diorama challenge – the Warlord forums have been alight with project logs and progress reports – so, almost two months into the challenge, let’s take a look at some of the projects so far…
Melvin
“A couple of Months ago, I saw the Figure of the “Roman General” and his Warhound in the store. I love the Battle in the Germanic forest (from the film Gladiator), but also I think about the living of the roman legions before that day. So I decided to build a Diorama of the hard winter in Germania.”
Redarmy27
“I’ve always been intrigued by the Battle of the Bulge. You had soldiers fighting each other brutally in some of the most hostile conditions of the war. Both sides saw shortages of one thing or another but still had to press on viciously at each other. Compound that with the winter temperatures and the snow and you have yourself with a considerably hostile and challenging environment to work in. A while back, I read about Operation Grief and became intrigued by the idea of the Germans actually going out of their way to modify their Panthers and even Stugs to mimic their Allied opponents’ tanks. I wanted to incorporate this into a diorama.
The idea would be to create a scene of an Ersatz Panther that had gone off a saturated road and actually partially plunged into a roadside ditch while trying to evade fire. The Ersatz would be partially submerged having gone through the frozen pond. The crew would have been stunned and panicking to not only get out of the icy clutches of the pond, but to get as far away as possible from the Ersatz since many Germans were often shot while either donning Allied uniforms or using tanks mimicking Allied tanks. Unfortunately for this Ersatz crew, a group of greatcoat Americans with a Greyhound in company will be hustling them to get out of their tank, out of the water, and back up onto the road and into their custody.”
Sapperfred
‘”They came from the Sea‘, is a working title, I am just waiting on the arrival of my Commando Cockle Canoes and Commando’s.
I know the Arctic, Desert and Jungles are Harsh and Hostile environments, but nothing screams Hostile / Harsh than paddling a canvas canoe full of explosives between your legs into enemy territory and then trying to get away once you have done your job.
I have come up with 3 Ideas at the moment – all have 2 Canoe’s and a Single Commando moving around on “Dry Land” towards an unsuspecting German Sentry.”
Americarulz
“I am going to build a tiny diorama for the “Christmas Truce Soldiers” having a good time together apart from being at war with each other.”
Patchimus
“I initially started toying with the ideas of a fighting withdrawal, featuring a Tiger… however I’ve more recently changed my mind and gone with an assault instead. This is primarily due to the choice of a centrepiece being the StuH 42 which is a resin from WG with some conversions.
I have basically finished the assault gun now and will have it busting through the fence, clearing a path to for the supporting infantry.
The infantry are a mix of SS Charlemagne and Grenadiers, the next step is to finish them off and match up the bases. After that it is to finish painting the fence and add snow to the scene.
A caveat I placed on myself is that everything used has to be able to be used in game and that is why the troops will keep their bases.”
Nils.H
“My diorama consists of a factory being fought over between German infantry and Soviet Naval troops during the early winter, something that at least I would call a Harsh Hostile Environment.
The inspiration definitely comes from Stalingrad but it’s quite generic and could probably be used for other battles.”
stevepalffy
“I will build a small Normandy Diorama, featuring a Tiger from 102 SS heavy tank.They were almost completely wiped out in Normandy – so I think this qualifies as a pretty hostile environment!
I’ll start with a 20cm square wooden base, covered in roadway and rubble – and there’ll be British Infantry armed with a Piat in Ambush position.”
Dan Hewitson
Tom Mecredy
Craig Nixon