Nothing says 20th century warfare like miles of barbed wire and signs ominously warning “Achtung minen!”:
All this stuff is 28mm scale, and goes nicely with my dug in troops. I’ve got some emplacements for heavy weapons, and I want to do some log bunkers for MGs as well. I’m not looking to put mega concrete bunkers and lines of WW1-style trenches on the table, it’s all about the kind of hasty defences that the infantry throw up themselves whenever they stop advancing.
Wire
I’ve built 4 feet of triple concertina wire in 6″ sections. I put some of this stuff up when I was in uniform, and if the air force can put this up then anyone can.  It’s  also a lot quicker and easier to model than some of the more complicated obstacles. Four feet of it should be enough, it would span a 6×4′ table which should make an attacking force stop for a brew.
The bases are cardboard and gritty sharp sand, with some of the stones picked out in grey. The posts are matchsticks. The wire is galvanised but I dumped all the coils of wire in distilled vinegar overnight and it ate the zinc off them enough for them to rust up nicely. I just glued them onto the bases and gave them a very light highlight in silver. Easy peasy.
If I’m feeling keen I might go back and make some more bits like a knife rest or a section that’s been crushed and/or blown, but this ought to do for now.
Mines
I reckon the easiest way to represent minefields is to just make the signposts (after all, the mines themselves are invisible…). This means you can make the minefield any size you like, and it works on any terrain so you can mine roads, forests, etc.
The signs are just cardboard on a matchstick. I downloaded a sign from the internet, printed it out and stuck it on, then painted the rest of it to match the colour.
Roadblock
Czech hedgehogs, gotta love ’em. I built these guys out of plasticard and some plastic angle. I made all three in under an hour.
I just undercoated them, painted them with Vallejo Dark Rust and highlighted them a bit. To be honest a couple of them are a bit wonky, but they look ok and can be used as either scatter terrain or a functional roadblock in CoC.
11 Responses to Field Defences
Carlo says:
Fantastic work Andy – superb tuition as always from your excellent blog.
Andy says:
Cheers Carlo. Loving the pics of the BigCoC game on your blog. Looks like a lot of fun!
Neal says:
Thanks especially for the hedgehog pics! That helps a lot!
Was the wire the typical stuff sold by GF9 and others? I have a bunch of it coiled up and was wondering how I was going to get it to look right…
Andy says:
Yep, same stuff Neal. All you need to do is find something the right thickness to wind it around. The coils should be about waist height on whatever scale miniatures you’re using.
Neal says:
Thanks! I have a “large” plastic syringe (have no idea where it came from) that works well for making the wraps.
Matt OS says:
Very tidy indeed Mr D, I especially like the wire sections. Might have to rethink mine now!
JOHN BOND says:
Nice work Andy, especially like the Hedgehogs, great trick for the rust on the barbed wire, this page will be a great reference when I get around to the stage of making some of my own, thanks for sharing info.
Andy says:
Judging by the standards of your recent JOPs and engineer conversions I’m sure yours will put mine to shame, John!
Pat G says:
Very nice work indeed.
Ian Bowyer says:
The field defences are great; I have copied them without reservation but I have a question on the Czech Hedgehogs. What paint do you use to prime the plastic angle ? I used Humbrol Acrylic Matt Black and it does not seem to adhere to the plastic. I have thought about roughing them up with a file or sandpaper but it will be rather fiddly work.
Any suggestions or advice will gratefully received
Andy says:
Oooh, it was a while ago Ian and I don’t remember. Probably just matt black spray paint. If I was doing it properly I probably would have used a spray plastic primer (automotive ones are fine).