Alpine activities...

I'm expecting to receive my first order of Scarab Miniatures' Austro-Hungarians any day now, so it's time to start eagerly checking the letterbox daily.

What's more, my order to Kallistra for some of their trench works went through yesterday, so it is a matter of waiting for them to arrive so that I can start working on the top of the Collina della Formica. Tomorrow it is off to my local craft/ hardware shop and buy a sheet of blue insulation board and a wooden baseboard. The former will be carved to shape to form the base of the hill, and for additional rugged terrain pieces to add both cover and "atmosphere" to the table."

I'm no great artist, but I've been working on a drawing that will give me a rough image of what I want the tabletop to look like when done. I'll scan that and post it when I'm happy with it.

In the meantime, I have been scouring the web for photos of actual trenches and works from the Dolomites. There is an amazing amount of photos and resources out there, with many of them being in their "natural" state. This is unlike so many manicured trenchworks that one seems to come across in photos of the preserved battlefields of Flanders and in France, no doubt because of the more rugged terrain and the permanance of rock fortifications when compared to those dug in chalk and earth.

Here are a few.

Trenches dug into the rocks in the Monte Piana.

View taken from the inside of a trench.

WW1 fortification in the mountain side.

Lots of ideas for colours and modelling details here. Note the horizontal striations that I need to model into the rock. There is a lot of stonework in the trenches as well.

Finally, no prizes for guessing the identity of this decorated German officer of mountain troops and veteran of what the Italians call the "La Guerra Bianca", or "White War". In time he would prove himself adept at fighting not only in the cold of the Dolomites, but also in much hotter climates as well!