during the Gallipoli campaign of WW1 Australian and Turkish trenches were so close together that they would often throw "gifts" back and forth including cigarettes and "Bully Beef", which the Turks would quickly throw back with a small bite taken out of it.
The Aussies were already so defeated that building some rapport with their enemy was likely a very smart and possibly life saving move. May have aided in the clean evacuation of Gallipoli.
@calciumgoodness4073 i wouldnt say that, but that evaluation plan was genius. Would highly recommend people look into a bloke by the name of Sir General John Monash.
Diorama's at the museum are what got me into miniatures. Specifically one of the Alamo, and one with Omaha beach. Both were huge, on tables bigger than my bedroom, but you could see individual famous people, and around the table it had little plaques to read explaining that section. I got into painting minis, and it was almost a decade later I learned people actually war gamed with them. I thought people only displayed them. I think those are a really good way to get kids interested in history
I agree on the levels of construction. If you look at different armies, especially in World War One, their trenches were not made equal. Lots of allied trenches never evolved beyond wood, sheet metal, and sandbags. While some German trenches were metal and concrete. I think the table is a good contrast for two different armies: one focused on attacking and barely being in the trench, and the other dug in for the long haul defending their lines. Excellent video!
Looks amazing. Interesting historical fact: In WW1 the Allies/Brit trenches were those ramshackle and went from horrible to meh level. Axis trenches were neatly designed, had plumbing and crew quarters dug in deep, even had electricity. As the allies believed that the Axis' trenches were like theirs just charged after bombardments. Huge bombardments and shelling that would have killed them many times over in their trenches did nothing to the Axis forces. Their dugouts and all of that were bomb shelters and so once the shelling stopped they just came out without casualties.
Axis and Allies are WW2 alliances, WW1 was the Entente and the Central Powers, with the Entente being the French/British and the Central Powers being Austria-Hungary and Germany
While this was true one some part of the front where lines didn't moved a lot, this definitely doesn't apply to all, nor even the majority of them. Trenches traded hands pretty often, with overall battle lines still changing on some parts of the front. So while absolutely not wrong, it's not an absolute.
Another small detail to add to that while i may not remember the ratio well the entente while not notorious for it used far more canister shells than they should have If i remember correctly, the 7 day preliminary barrage done by the British during the battle of the somme a large portion of the 1.5 million shells fired were shrapnel shells and not high explosive shells, and ontop of that due to some manufacturing defects an unforgivably high portion of shells were duds
Sorry that was worded poorly Essentially the British doctrine slightly preferred shrapnel shells over HE wich had a noticeably lesser effect on trenches especially the German ones. But it's one of the many reasons why British artillery barrages were less effective then they could have been
the 3rd edition 40k rulebook had a big trenchwork table shown in the middle showcase section and I've always wanted to build this kind of table. I LOVE this Eric!
To add some historical novelty to this video -- extensive use of trenches was a "signature" of Cossack warfare in *_mid-17-th century!_* Paul of Aleppo writes in his "The Travels of Macarius, Patriarch of Antioch": "Every one of them has a protection -- a hole in a ground. They stand up and shoot, and when their enemy shoots back -- they hide in a pit, so not a single bullet will hit them". There are a ton of shovels in findings of Cossack equipment of this period. Great video still, thank you for your content!
@@jeromekammerer4733, it is crazy... for some people, if video says "trench combat started to emerge during American Civil War", which is 200 years after this notion. So I did my best to excite people a bit. :D
Eric, it’s one thing that I regularly steal your techniques. It’s another thing when you publish this video after I’ve spent the past month rewatching parts 1 and 2 of this series. Beautiful work, as always.
Mate, I've been watching your channel for years. As an Oldhanmer Rogue Trader original, I can honestly say that yours and Arbitor Ian are probably my two go-to Hobby channels. Keep up the great work.
Yes! Me and my wife have been waiting for the end of this one. We love your videos and think you're voice is very soothing, we even started saying 'hell yeah' in our personal lives haha!
If you need to later foam to mark it for cutting, I would use the painters' tape and super glue method that woodworkers use. Tape on the upper and lower part (lined up, of course), then put super glue on the tape on each side and put them together. You can use skewers to punch through all 3 layers and mark the path of your cuts, then pull them apart (the painters' tape just detaches from one side). Then just use the skewer marks like a dot-to-dot to trace the path of your cuts.
I love it, if I may offer a suggestion for the finishing touches. If you can make a few places in the trenches appear to have suffered a direct hit, and been rebuilt. Or even just cut off… that would offer a sense of realism to the finished battle field, that highlights that the trenches weren’t always safe.
If you ever make changes to this or make another trench in the future, consider adding bunkers, pillboxes, machine gun nests etc. these fortifications really defined trench warfare in ww1 and even in modern warfare as strategic strongpoints which a defense was centered around. Especially if a force is entrenched for a long period of time, they would take great effort to constructing more elaborate defense networks of bunkers, nests, and pill boxes. BUT INCREDIBLE JOB!!!
For some reason, your work really calls to me. I don't play tabletop games much anymore, but would love a chance to play on that table. Awesome work, Erik.
4 วันที่ผ่านมา
It finally came! Can't wait to see with details, muddy water and pigment powder everywhere
Glad other folks are mentioning Trench Crusade! Since it's made by the folks behind Mordheim, seems like a great fit for you, Eric! Table looks epic! Also....saaaand @_@
5:40 a lot of pre-war British homes now have stubs of metal railings in front of them as the iron railings were cut down at the start of WW2 to provide metal for the war effort and were never replaced. The irony (no pun intended) was that a lot of that metal actually ended up in the waste stream as the metal was of too poor quality to actually use, although it was useful bit of propaganda to encourage people to think about reuse and recycling.
The mud mix is really good. For the scene there could be more random junk and weathering. Like if it'd been hit by shelling a few times there'd be broken bits of reinforcements everywhere. Also the corrugated sheets seem a bit large, usually they'd be in smaller rectangular sections.
Really glad we're revisiting this build. The first one was something really special, but I've enjoyed them all. I do fear for the assaulting army on this board though. Without a lot more scatter terrain to give them cover as they advance, that is going to be hell!
Epic build, Eric!! It seems I learn something from each of your videos. This time it was the way you used tin foil. I appreciate the history lesson you included, also. -Rick, USMC
This is a really great board. I think If there was extra time, I would start adding things like rust to the metal, damage to the wood/metal (bullet holes, wear) and things like craters and dead bodies. For effect, you could always cut small dug outs into the side of the trench, or doorways under bigger sections (perhaps just a door?) Fantastic job.
Gotta say, when I can get my fifty-odd-year-old mother to not only sit through this entire video, but to show her the next when it comes out, you know it's quality content, man. Can't wait to see the next one.
This is gorgeous. I was so disappointed when I first started the series and realized part 3 wasn’t out, but now I realize just how much the wait was worth it. So hyped for the finale!
A reminder to many that at the somme many german trenches had convrete reinforcement and extensive tunnel systems. Trenches varied from ramshackle to permanent structures. So i think he did a fantastic job here.
ERIC,that’s really good to see you at work and listen to you , always generous to share your personal method! And your voice is so cool! Because of your inspiration I have a lot of nice stuff from DVD PLAYERS ,TV , old phones and I dream to find a stamp device like the one I saw on your channel! You are a true professional! Thanks a lot! My gran-gran-father died in Verdun!
One detail I think you should add is bodies from the side who control the hill to the no man's land as what made Trench warfare such a proverbial meat grinder is the fact the often neither side could not take the lines of the opposing sides, so both sides just threw troops on failed attacks that left the killing fields full of bodies from both sides. So few bodies or another ruined tank from the side holding the hill could easily give the impression that side tried to counter attack to clear the low lands but were cut down and thus the whole thing has become a stalemate where neither side can really take out the other without a major breakthru.
plaster and cheap, rough cloth also makes for convincing 'rough land', like aluminum foil. Just a neat tip if you find that the foil is too costly for a big, big project.
trench warfare in its modern acception actually dates from renaissance for sieges. The star bastion were impossible to assault without trenches. So they dig trenches to approach the enemy bastion. But it wasn't thought to be a defensive fortification in itself before a few centuries later.
Looks great! While it will give a different look it will be a bit faster in some spots, for the bamboo skewers next time get a small Styrofoam block (cardboard would work too) & a can of the oil to stain wood. Stain the bamboo a color of your choice then poke in the Styrofoam then let it dry. A lot easier to control than trying to paint it. And for the duckboard or bridges too use masking tape on the ends of the long planks to quickly set them up.
Trenches have actually been used since gun-powder became wide spread in Europe. Since cannons could relatively easily shatter old medieval wars which were tall, thin, and filled with stones, the nature of fortifications shifted to address the new weapons. Medieval castles gave way to star forts, which were designed to allow the forts artillery to position and concentrate fire in nearly any direction. This meant that assaulting these new forts would be very costly, and the new methods in how the walls were structured made them ideal for resisting cannon fire. To counter this development in defensive craft, armies began making much heavier use of sappers to dig trenches in zig-zaggy patterns towards the enemy fort and allow them to build temporary battlements so that their guns could fire much closer.
During the First World War many Trenches were built fairly haphazardly, British Trenches especially were known to be quite poor, therefore massive amounts of time and manpower was dedicated to repairs and maintenance of the existing networks. Over the course of the war, in particular during the stagnation of the middle years, trench warfare & building techniques were improved, Trenches typically were deeper toward the end of the war, some would contain acoustic listening devices in order to detect enemy sappers tunneling under defenses, Machinegun nests, firing stands and sentry posts would see various upgrades such as Sentry/Sniper Shields, Camo Netting, Decoy Soldiers, Observation Periscopes and if you were particularly lucky... a roof. German Trench systems were particularly famed for their sturdiness, with many established networks being largely built from concrete, Stone bricks and sometimes even clay, with large pillboxes and subterranean bunkers that were pretty much immune to direct hits all but the largest artillery shells, some of the bunkers even had openings in the roof to allow indirect fire weapons (Like Mortars and Howitzers) to fire from within the bunker itself. All this is to give some ideas for detailing and expansions of your trench networks, things like: bridge planks for vehicles and cavalry, beginnings of new trenches or Sapper tunnels, and collapsed, or part-collapsed, sections of trench walls Camouflaged sections using netting or foliage, and Sniper 'Hides' inside fake tree stumps and 'Dead Animals' Sentry/Sniper shields and observation bunkers (Small one or two person pillbox with vision slits and/or periscope) Roofing, some proper (Corrugated metal or wooden) and others improvised (Raincoats and ponchos over foxholes and sentry posts) Improvised utilites, Rain water collectors, Cooking spits, Lavatories... etc. Reinforced sections for command posts, mortar pits or ammo dumps,
I incredibly love learning about ww1 and I love when you come out with videos so it was amazing to see the board technically finished, and I don't know why but I though there would have been a spot for siege mortar batteries. But still This is amazing through all and I see this as one of the best battle fields built for Warhammer.
Great video! small addition to the boards for the trenches, in scale they would be super long and difficult for troops to carry to the trench, so I would recommend using boards that are short enough for one man to carry inside the trench ( I use 1,5m in scale ) and then some sort of perpendicular element like a peg to connect them
Eric, I love how you add history and stories to your videos. Your knowledge of your trade is very commendable. Believe it or not, you ARE a tradesman. And an artist. Never stop!
Thank you. Utterly incredible work. A small point, trenches were used offensively to assault star and bastion forts. Their use in this way was developed -- from the fifteenth century to the forts' obsolescence in the nineteenth -- to counter the initial superiority of the forts defensive and offensive capabilities over those of the attackers.
Loved this series dude! I am planning some foam cut tables soon with just textured tops and pretty ambiguous otherwise so I can add terrain and use them for multiple different games, and a trench table for Bolt Action, 40K, and Legion has been on the list! This will be a huge help, thank you
Looks awesome. Have you considered adding small hardpoints for heavy weapons teams with stuff like heavy bolters/machine guns or mortars. It would fit both historically and work well for the imperial guard to have a place for some of their more potent firepower
Thanks to War Thunder for sponsoring this video! Play it for free on PC, PlayStation or Xbox now by using my link: playwt.link/ericshobbyworkshop
You need to do a battle report on this please!
As war thunder play who has been playing for 7 years you should really sell your soul to the snail
Make a Sabaton diorama.
How much did it cost?
Dude they always say that ‘war thunder is the most comprehensive vehicle combat game ever made.’ They have clearly never met DCS
I saw the mini table saw and immediately wanted to mention that in the future you should use a push stick to protect your fingers!
Seconded, that thing seems like a bonafide digit subtractor.
i was just about to type the same thing as a former EMT ive seen to many injuries from table saws
Came here to say this! Otherwise, the board looks amazing. Keep up the solid work and keep those craft fingies safe!
It should be a mini push stick
Agreed, see the finger so close of the disc was nerve wracking 😱
I have soo much people hurt themself in woodworking 🤯
It came! It finally came!!
You remind me of her
@@Haruki2009dawg I didn't even think of it like that and now you reminded me of her and now I'm sad LOOK WHAT YOU DID
Thats what she said
So did I !
I did too
during the Gallipoli campaign of WW1 Australian and Turkish trenches were so close together that they would often throw "gifts" back and forth including cigarettes and "Bully Beef", which the Turks would quickly throw back with a small bite taken out of it.
Also where us Aussies were granted the nickname of "Digger"
I like that they were actual gifts and not just grenades inside tins
The Aussies were already so defeated that building some rapport with their enemy was likely a very smart and possibly life saving move. May have aided in the clean evacuation of Gallipoli.
@calciumgoodness4073 i wouldnt say that, but that evaluation plan was genius. Would highly recommend people look into a bloke by the name of Sir General John Monash.
Anzac ffs
Diorama's at the museum are what got me into miniatures. Specifically one of the Alamo, and one with Omaha beach. Both were huge, on tables bigger than my bedroom, but you could see individual famous people, and around the table it had little plaques to read explaining that section. I got into painting minis, and it was almost a decade later I learned people actually war gamed with them. I thought people only displayed them. I think those are a really good way to get kids interested in history
If you are ever in Austin, Texas. Check out the museum at Camp Mabry. Couple large sized dioramas.
ITS HERE, really really great Eric
I agree on the levels of construction. If you look at different armies, especially in World War One, their trenches were not made equal. Lots of allied trenches never evolved beyond wood, sheet metal, and sandbags. While some German trenches were metal and concrete. I think the table is a good contrast for two different armies: one focused on attacking and barely being in the trench, and the other dug in for the long haul defending their lines. Excellent video!
Looks amazing.
Interesting historical fact: In WW1 the Allies/Brit trenches were those ramshackle and went from horrible to meh level. Axis trenches were neatly designed, had plumbing and crew quarters dug in deep, even had electricity. As the allies believed that the Axis' trenches were like theirs just charged after bombardments. Huge bombardments and shelling that would have killed them many times over in their trenches did nothing to the Axis forces. Their dugouts and all of that were bomb shelters and so once the shelling stopped they just came out without casualties.
Axis and Allies are WW2 alliances, WW1 was the Entente and the Central Powers, with the Entente being the French/British and the Central Powers being Austria-Hungary and Germany
@@Person4772 Couldn't remember the correct terms. Thank you.
While this was true one some part of the front where lines didn't moved a lot, this definitely doesn't apply to all, nor even the majority of them.
Trenches traded hands pretty often, with overall battle lines still changing on some parts of the front.
So while absolutely not wrong, it's not an absolute.
Another small detail to add to that while i may not remember the ratio well the entente while not notorious for it used far more canister shells than they should have
If i remember correctly, the 7 day preliminary barrage done by the British during the battle of the somme a large portion of the 1.5 million shells fired were shrapnel shells and not high explosive shells, and ontop of that due to some manufacturing defects an unforgivably high portion of shells were duds
Sorry that was worded poorly
Essentially the British doctrine slightly preferred shrapnel shells over HE wich had a noticeably lesser effect on trenches especially the German ones.
But it's one of the many reasons why British artillery barrages were less effective then they could have been
Loved the mention of the Māori using trenches.
Kia ora
@@BigBoss-xr8dg Kia ora bro
Maori battalion march to victory, Maori battalion staunch and true! Legends
yea i loved reading up on those wars and tactics
Im proud to be a kiwi new zealand @superbuu666
Very cool end result, sure the Trench Crusade folks are going to love this as a terrain reference as well!
the 3rd edition 40k rulebook had a big trenchwork table shown in the middle showcase section and I've always wanted to build this kind of table. I LOVE this Eric!
To add some historical novelty to this video -- extensive use of trenches was a "signature" of Cossack warfare in *_mid-17-th century!_*
Paul of Aleppo writes in his "The Travels of Macarius, Patriarch of Antioch": "Every one of them has a protection -- a hole in a ground. They stand up and shoot, and when their enemy shoots back -- they hide in a pit, so not a single bullet will hit them".
There are a ton of shovels in findings of Cossack equipment of this period.
Great video still, thank you for your content!
Very cool, thanks for sharing!
Huh you mean that during a century where trench warfare was dominant in europe, cossacks used trenches ? Crazy !
@@jeromekammerer4733, it is crazy... for some people, if video says "trench combat started to emerge during American Civil War", which is 200 years after this notion. So I did my best to excite people a bit. :D
Brilliant work! That method of connecting the two layers of terrain with pegs is especially genius.
Eric, it’s one thing that I regularly steal your techniques. It’s another thing when you publish this video after I’ve spent the past month rewatching parts 1 and 2 of this series.
Beautiful work, as always.
Mate, I've been watching your channel for years. As an Oldhanmer Rogue Trader original, I can honestly say that yours and Arbitor Ian are probably my two go-to Hobby channels. Keep up the great work.
I really wanna make a board like this for my Quar. Excited to see how you finish this!
You don't know how happy i am seeing Quar in a comment section
QUAR!
We are many, we are legion, we are Quar!!!
Yes! Me and my wife have been waiting for the end of this one. We love your videos and think you're voice is very soothing, we even started saying 'hell yeah' in our personal lives haha!
I'm so glad i supported you on patreon. I absolutely love this
Appreciate you bud!!!
8:12
"And a bit of rubbing alcohol to thin it down"
Proceeds to pour half of the damn bottle
Those wooden cubes to keep the lid attached are pretty ingenious. Thanks for the tip!
Would so much love to see a Trench Crusade Narrative Battle Report on this!!
Great video Eric! Loved hearing you talk about Māori pā during the NZ wars.
Please do a full game on this with someone! I would love to watch a 3 hour long game on this table!
love this series, think its been your best work yet. love the combo of history and modelling
If you need to later foam to mark it for cutting, I would use the painters' tape and super glue method that woodworkers use. Tape on the upper and lower part (lined up, of course), then put super glue on the tape on each side and put them together.
You can use skewers to punch through all 3 layers and mark the path of your cuts, then pull them apart (the painters' tape just detaches from one side). Then just use the skewer marks like a dot-to-dot to trace the path of your cuts.
You make it look so easy, just the confidence to do it is required! the man
Incredible build. The sandbags add so much, giving it a very realistic look. The "mud" mixture is something I will definitely use. Thanks for sharing!
I love it, if I may offer a suggestion for the finishing touches. If you can make a few places in the trenches appear to have suffered a direct hit, and been rebuilt. Or even just cut off… that would offer a sense of realism to the finished battle field, that highlights that the trenches weren’t always safe.
If you ever make changes to this or make another trench in the future, consider adding bunkers, pillboxes, machine gun nests etc. these fortifications really defined trench warfare in ww1 and even in modern warfare as strategic strongpoints which a defense was centered around. Especially if a force is entrenched for a long period of time, they would take great effort to constructing more elaborate defense networks of bunkers, nests, and pill boxes. BUT INCREDIBLE JOB!!!
Been waiting all year for this last instalment, glad to see the last section was as thoughtfully planned and executed as the first two. Top job!
For some reason, your work really calls to me. I don't play tabletop games much anymore, but would love a chance to play on that table. Awesome work, Erik.
It finally came! Can't wait to see with details, muddy water and pigment powder everywhere
IT’S FINALLY HERE!!!!!
Glad other folks are mentioning Trench Crusade! Since it's made by the folks behind Mordheim, seems like a great fit for you, Eric! Table looks epic! Also....saaaand @_@
Beautifully done. The new side needs a few shell holes.
The NZ Maori invented trench warefare to protect their PA during infighting, but it worked very well in fighting the Brittish also.
5:40 a lot of pre-war British homes now have stubs of metal railings in front of them as the iron railings were cut down at the start of WW2 to provide metal for the war effort and were never replaced. The irony (no pun intended) was that a lot of that metal actually ended up in the waste stream as the metal was of too poor quality to actually use, although it was useful bit of propaganda to encourage people to think about reuse and recycling.
Thanks for bringing up the Māori trench’s, something new to investigate for a week lol
yes thankyou for your acknowledgement of our Whanau the only ingenious population that stopped English colonialism until the treaty of Waitangi.
While i wqs active duty. We had big 4×8 sand tables were we built trench set ups for table top games it was wonderfull
I have huge respect for this man like bro he built a realistic trench warfare in his table
Part three is finally out! PLEASE can we get a well done video of some gameplay on it? With Imperial Guard of course.
you knocked it out of the park with this
The mud mix is really good. For the scene there could be more random junk and weathering. Like if it'd been hit by shelling a few times there'd be broken bits of reinforcements everywhere.
Also the corrugated sheets seem a bit large, usually they'd be in smaller rectangular sections.
Really glad we're revisiting this build. The first one was something really special, but I've enjoyed them all. I do fear for the assaulting army on this board though. Without a lot more scatter terrain to give them cover as they advance, that is going to be hell!
NEED to see a battle report for a game on thsi table… this is incredible!
Epic build, Eric!! It seems I learn something from each of your videos. This time it was the way you used tin foil. I appreciate the history lesson you included, also. -Rick, USMC
This is a really great board. I think If there was extra time, I would start adding things like rust to the metal, damage to the wood/metal (bullet holes, wear) and things like craters and dead bodies. For effect, you could always cut small dug outs into the side of the trench, or doorways under bigger sections (perhaps just a door?) Fantastic job.
This looks amazing. It's terrifying seeing the eye-level shots and imagining how it would feel being one of those soldiers.
Wow man! That is awesome. Just finished up the third part of this miniseries. I admire your patience and commitment to accuracy!
Gotta say, when I can get my fifty-odd-year-old mother to not only sit through this entire video, but to show her the next when it comes out, you know it's quality content, man. Can't wait to see the next one.
This is gorgeous. I was so disappointed when I first started the series and realized part 3 wasn’t out, but now I realize just how much the wait was worth it. So hyped for the finale!
A reminder to many that at the somme many german trenches had convrete reinforcement and extensive tunnel systems. Trenches varied from ramshackle to permanent structures. So i think he did a fantastic job here.
Well done eirc absolutely amazing. Our forefathers would be proud ❤
I haw been waiting soooo long on an update to this amazing project. This series has become one of me favourites on TH-cam
ERIC,that’s really good to see you at work and listen to you , always generous to share your personal method!
And your voice is so cool!
Because of your inspiration I have a lot of nice stuff from DVD PLAYERS ,TV , old phones and I dream to find a stamp device like the one I saw on your channel!
You are a true professional!
Thanks a lot!
My gran-gran-father died in Verdun!
And I thought the 1st video was epic... What an immense amount of work. That table is astounding Eric.
Eric friend your skills have truly come full circle you've masterd the "craft" outstanding terrain awesome vid!
one thing that would be cool is to attach a tiny camera (FPV) on a soldier and place it inside and watch how cool it is
One detail I think you should add is bodies from the side who control the hill to the no man's land as what made Trench warfare such a proverbial meat grinder is the fact the often neither side could not take the lines of the opposing sides, so both sides just threw troops on failed attacks that left the killing fields full of bodies from both sides.
So few bodies or another ruined tank from the side holding the hill could easily give the impression that side tried to counter attack to clear the low lands but were cut down and thus the whole thing has become a stalemate where neither side can really take out the other without a major breakthru.
You could add some sheltered artillery pieces slightly behind the trench lines to reflect the essential part that artillery plays in trench warfare
Looks amazing! Time for you to film an action report on it!
perfect spot to 3d print some tanks and other broken stuff to place in nomans land. Very cool thanks for the video!
Taking notes for my Quat terrain.
Great video and great board. This fits in so well with the other board but you can also see the improvements👍
Hope to see a battle report on it.
plaster and cheap, rough cloth also makes for convincing 'rough land', like aluminum foil. Just a neat tip if you find that the foil is too costly for a big, big project.
Now that I have a house I can finally dive into painting minis, and now I have an inspiration for the battleground
trench warfare in its modern acception actually dates from renaissance for sieges. The star bastion were impossible to assault without trenches. So they dig trenches to approach the enemy bastion. But it wasn't thought to be a defensive fortification in itself before a few centuries later.
I didn't know they changed Christmas to july 18th.
This board is epically amazing and was a joy to watch you create, Eric!
This is an amazing project, and I really enjoy learning about trench warfare while watching it come together !
Looks great! While it will give a different look it will be a bit faster in some spots, for the bamboo skewers next time get a small Styrofoam block (cardboard would work too) & a can of the oil to stain wood. Stain the bamboo a color of your choice then poke in the Styrofoam then let it dry. A lot easier to control than trying to paint it.
And for the duckboard or bridges too use masking tape on the ends of the long planks to quickly set them up.
Trenches have actually been used since gun-powder became wide spread in Europe. Since cannons could relatively easily shatter old medieval wars which were tall, thin, and filled with stones, the nature of fortifications shifted to address the new weapons. Medieval castles gave way to star forts, which were designed to allow the forts artillery to position and concentrate fire in nearly any direction. This meant that assaulting these new forts would be very costly, and the new methods in how the walls were structured made them ideal for resisting cannon fire.
To counter this development in defensive craft, armies began making much heavier use of sappers to dig trenches in zig-zaggy patterns towards the enemy fort and allow them to build temporary battlements so that their guns could fire much closer.
dude, that mini table saw is so goddamn adorable... You broke me with that little thing
During the First World War many Trenches were built fairly haphazardly, British Trenches especially were known to be quite poor, therefore massive amounts of time and manpower was dedicated to repairs and maintenance of the existing networks.
Over the course of the war, in particular during the stagnation of the middle years, trench warfare & building techniques were improved, Trenches typically were deeper toward the end of the war, some would contain acoustic listening devices in order to detect enemy sappers tunneling under defenses, Machinegun nests, firing stands and sentry posts would see various upgrades such as Sentry/Sniper Shields, Camo Netting, Decoy Soldiers, Observation Periscopes and if you were particularly lucky... a roof.
German Trench systems were particularly famed for their sturdiness, with many established networks being largely built from concrete, Stone bricks and sometimes even clay, with large pillboxes and subterranean bunkers that were pretty much immune to direct hits all but the largest artillery shells, some of the bunkers even had openings in the roof to allow indirect fire weapons (Like Mortars and Howitzers) to fire from within the bunker itself.
All this is to give some ideas for detailing and expansions of your trench networks, things like:
bridge planks for vehicles and cavalry,
beginnings of new trenches or Sapper tunnels, and collapsed, or part-collapsed, sections of trench walls
Camouflaged sections using netting or foliage, and Sniper 'Hides' inside fake tree stumps and 'Dead Animals'
Sentry/Sniper shields and observation bunkers (Small one or two person pillbox with vision slits and/or periscope)
Roofing, some proper (Corrugated metal or wooden) and others improvised (Raincoats and ponchos over foxholes and sentry posts)
Improvised utilites, Rain water collectors, Cooking spits, Lavatories... etc.
Reinforced sections for command posts, mortar pits or ammo dumps,
I incredibly love learning about ww1 and I love when you come out with videos so it was amazing to see the board technically finished, and I don't know why but I though there would have been a spot for siege mortar batteries. But still This is amazing through all and I see this as one of the best battle fields built for Warhammer.
This table looks incredible!!!! Really beautifully crafted 😊😊😊
Sweet , this is perfect for the diorama Idea have planned involving a trench
Great video! small addition to the boards for the trenches, in scale they would be super long and difficult for troops to carry to the trench, so I would recommend using boards that are short enough for one man to carry inside the trench ( I use 1,5m in scale ) and then some sort of perpendicular element like a peg to connect them
This was pretty sweet to watch. But I cannot wait to see the progress on the imperator titan!
We need a battle report on this.
Eric, I love how you add history and stories to your videos. Your knowledge of your trade is very commendable. Believe it or not, you ARE a tradesman. And an artist. Never stop!
That's looks so good! I just got into Trench Crusade and I would love to be able to play on a table like this.
Great stuff Eric. The patience and finesse you bring to building is really inspiring ❤
Lets go!!! Its finally here!! Wish I could see the kriegsmen fighting on this excellent table
This has gotta be the coolest hobby project I've seen, love the videos and I can't wait for the next installment!
Looks fantastic! My only feedback would be to add some more damage, like broken deck boards or half collapsed walls and piles of dirt
Loved seeing how this board has been coming along! Great job on it chief 😎
Thank you.
Utterly incredible work.
A small point, trenches were used offensively to assault star and bastion forts. Their use in this way was developed -- from the fifteenth century to the forts' obsolescence in the nineteenth -- to counter the initial superiority of the forts defensive and offensive capabilities over those of the attackers.
Great job, thanks for inspiring me to take up a hobby
this is so impressive! would have such an incredible time playing on this board.
A real masterpiece, Eric. Congratulations. I hope this will get prominent display and use at tournaments and conventions.
Super efficient way to tackle all those sandbags! Didn't expect the lotion, though, haha.
i wondered early today how this build was going
and here it is
I absolutely love it! I think some pill boxes would complement the look nicely as well.
Incredible table I would love to play on a table like this
Loved this series dude! I am planning some foam cut tables soon with just textured tops and pretty ambiguous otherwise so I can add terrain and use them for multiple different games, and a trench table for Bolt Action, 40K, and Legion has been on the list! This will be a huge help, thank you
Amazing job on this board Eric, it’s very inspiring.
This is beyond amazing. From now on you shall be named Eric the Epic! 🙌🏻👊🏻
Looks awesome. Have you considered adding small hardpoints for heavy weapons teams with stuff like heavy bolters/machine guns or mortars. It would fit both historically and work well for the imperial guard to have a place for some of their more potent firepower
This looks absolutely awesome Big E