Into the Bocage

When I started playing WW2 games I decided (or rather my regular gaming partner and I decided) to initially focus on Normandy. Unfortunately my opponent was very slow to start collecting, veered off by buying Russians and then, sadly it seems, lost interest altogether (at one point during a game he even said “I’m bored of Normandy gaming”, I looked at the open table where Germans and Russians were fighting and realised that I was on my own). If I’d known (whilst I am really interested in Normandy) I might have chosen an easier theatre with less scenery like Africa (it’s in the works). Luckily my new gaming friends from my local club are really interested in playing D-Day onwards so nothing has really been wasted.

A key feature of Normandy gaming (at least in some sectors) is Bocage hedgerows. These are banks with thick hedge on top which create a very unique gaming experience. They are hard to cross and reduce the effectiveness of tanks by blocking line of sight, perfect from my point of view as I wanted to play games like Chain of Command which are infantry centric. Unfortunately this means that to play such games you need to build a fair bit of bocage (literally tens of feet of the stuff); something that often stops gamers totally or means that the bocage that is put on the table is just not representative (usually there is just not enough of it).

Allied troops fighting through the bocage in 1944. 

I was lucky enough to grow up in deepest, darkest Herefordshire where most lanes are lined with what is in reality bocage. I have experienced trying to get through it whilst adventuring as a child and have a realistic view of how hard this would be for adults under fire in full kit. Whilst you can buy pre-built bocage from various online sellers such as battlefront (quite costly, not particularly realistic and comes in small amounts) I’d decided I wanted to try and make my own.

Scots Guards fighting in the bocage by Terence Cuneo from Cranston Fine Arts website. This is an excellent representation of the true severity and size of the bocage country (and a beautiful painting).

I started  by using laser cut MDF from Supreme Littleness products using their 25mm wide linear terrain bases. I could have cut them myself (with considerable effort and hassle) but the ones from SL were the perfect size, affordable and had a good range of junctions to make it varied. The owner Michael was really helpful and went out of his way to provide exactly what I needed. Sometimes I’d rather spend money and support a fellow hobbyist when it reduces the work I’d need to do and the products are of such good standard.

The sheets of MDF ready to be separated and become many feet of bocage.

I bevelled the edges using a sharp knife, then cut and glued some 10mm thick blue foam I had in store to each piece and left it to dry overnight. Next day I trimmed the foam to generate a bank like profile. I then covered each section with 4ground base render (any grout or render would work I just seemed to accidentally keep buying pots of the stuff) and left it to dry. Next day I coated the pieces in Woodland Scenics Scenic Cement and covered them in sand. In some sections I added gateways using bits of 4ground fences, I also marked up some parts to be made as destroyed sections or as defensive positions for the Germans to hide in. I then sprayed the finished pieces with Citadel black spray paint. I have started twisting and forming some of the smaller Woodlands Scenic trees which would be be inserted in various places to raise the height of the hedgerow and give it a more realistic appearance. At this point I realised that I hadn’t made quite enough straight sections and got back in touch with Michael at Supreme Littleness. He rapidly sent out more straight sections which arrived promptly just before the current lockdown. 

The pieces ready to covered in 4ground base render. Note the defensive positions (writing on them in pen saved a lot of confusion later). 

Some of the final pieces before and after being covered in sand. At this point it seemed an endless task. Let’s hope it’s worth it.

So that’s where I am at the moment. The bulk of the bocage bases are done and I’m working on the extra bits (I’ve had to give up my evening workspace recently as my multi-talented wife has been busily making scrubs for our local doctors and hospital). I have a good selection of Woodland Scenics products to create the hedges and will cover this in a further post (a clever way to say I don’t yet know what I’m going to do yet).

Not the most exciting post or pictures but I’m getting quite excited to play on a proper Normandy table soon. I’ve also started forming and basing trees to help make my table more aesthetically pleasing and I’ll post about these too soon.

Hope you are all safe and well

BALM