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Hello everyone, I’ve been asking myself if this is the right place, but as this project has been the one that kept me busy for most of my recent time and is very dear to me, I would like to present it to you. The whole idea to this was born during the time when I nearly stopped painting miniatures and doing wargaming. I had some pretty bad experiences with some guys and communities in Germany and my overall motivation to do some painting and building stuff was down to almost none. I even stopped writing which normally is my preferred method of relaxing. In short: A midlife miniature crisis. Read some more about the background over here: Gallia to Arms - original blog entry During that time a friend of mine bought the miniature kit of the Edelweiß tank that became available just then and later also purchased the kit of the Shamrock tank. That was the moment I decided to also make a small miniature project within the world of Valkyria Chronicles which I had known and liked since I first came to know the original game (or rather … its soundtrack). I had a lot of 20mm figures left and some 1/72 scale tanks, which I figured to be perfect for my plan to recreate the equipment and figures of the game in small scale. They don’t need much space, are easily convertible and they don’t cost as much as 28mm figures and vehicles. As some of my friends continued to do wargaming on WWII and I had so much stuff left, I soon decided to create a small force of Gallian troops for WWII skirmish games. Unfortunately it turned out that the game rules they were using rendered the Valkyria Chronicles scenario almost useless (due to balancing issues). So I continued creating models just for fun, using the whole anime scenario to set up the amusing story of a guy doing weird stuff. It somehow got out of hand … My little builds caught the attention of some guys organizing an annual local tabletop event called “Do or Dice” – and they asked me if I’d like to present some of my miniatures. I thought – wow – what an honor – but … it’s a tabletop event, not a miniature showcase event. So … hm. What to do? Right! Create an own scenario. Luckily I had acquired some left-over scale train terrain from my late uncle – and there were two grass mats measuring 100cm x 70cm. Perfect for a small skirmish game. Reason enough for me to tackle that challenge. Fortunately I’ve like 8 month or so left. Well then – Let’s Make … Gallia to Arms! Creating a scenario set in the Valkyria Chronicles universe requires certain elements. As I plan to use this thread as the main thread and create threads for the single elements of the game – Gallian Forces, Imperial Forces and Terrain – consider this as some kind of register for the different threads. I will frequently update the different sections, so stay tuned. What do we need? Gallian Forces Gallian Army WIP Thread Imperial Forces Terrain Terrain WIP Game rules and scenario setup Game supplies Well then Let’s make this: Into this: Or at least something that looks like it …

This will be the Terrain build-up thread for the Valkyria Chronicles scenario I am creating here: Let’s Make … Gallia to Arms! A 20mm Valkyria Chronicles Scenario I wanted to create a double effect with the terrain. On one hand, my goal was to recreate the atmosphere that Valkyria Chronicles radiates, this special kind of game and anime combination that made the game's artstyle so unique. On the other hand I was aware that there is some difference between the view the player in VC has on the units and terrain and the view a player has on a board game. So I decided to mix the overall design with the art style of the original Blitzkrieg strategy game. Well then - gehen wir's an!

This will be the Gallian forces build-up thread for the Valkyria Chronicles scenario I am creating here: Let’s Make … Gallia to Arms! A 20mm Valkyria Chronicles Scenario I haven't started that totally ill-prepared - as I normally do - so here we start with the Gallian Forces. Unlike the Imperial Forces, the Gallian forces have never been designed to fulfill a greater combat role other than defend their homeland. As the Principality of Gallia is a rather small country, its vehicles and units rely on weaker armor for the sake of speed and agility. Still they can bring a suprisingly heavy amount of firepower to bear, which allows them to strike fast and retreat as soon as possible. Like vikings. Just a bit nicer. For the scenario setting, the Gallian Forces will consist of 1x Light Tank 6x Scouts 6x Shocktroopers 3x Lancers (Anti-Tank) 1x Mortarer (Anti-Personnel) 2x Engineers (Repair and Refill) 2x Snipers Well then - let's go The Gallian light tank: Gallian light tanks are rather old combat vehicles. Having been in service for almost 20 years, its armor can easily be penetrated by most of the available anti-tank weaponry in the game. Still - with its 75mm gun, a co-axial machine gun and a mortar, this tank is a vital support unit for its accompanying infantry. It also can combat light and medium Imperial tanks, but is severely outclassed by heavier imperial models. Starting with nothing much than the game design book and a few unbuilt tank kits, this work can be considered my first real "scratch" build, though not everything is completely scratch. Messy, but not dirty! Having checked the main parts I needed, I cannibalized the tank kits I had arround, using parts of a Panzer 38(t) and a Panzer III as main elements for the chassis and wheels. The front body was created using styrene plastic. To stabilize the whole construction, some poxy putty was used and put on the inner side of the vehicle. There are still some gaps to fill and mishaps to be corrected. But we are making progress! Time to contine with the turret. As one can see, the turret equals that of a Panzer III from WWII, but its main gun is rather positioned to the right side as it was on the Hetzer and the Panzer II. Well then - let's cut it into place. Let it dry for a moment and then continue next time

Well then, Let's go on. As written in my WIP thread ->Check Here<-, the first few Gallian infantry units for my Valkyria Chronicles scenario ->Check Here<- are done. That means: First few units are ready to be shown. As I wrote, those are units I made over a time frame of almost 4 years now, so I guess a constant quality improvement is clearly visible. Still - even if they are not perfect to the last, every of these figures is quite dear to me. As you can see, on the first two I tried to apply eyes, but it looks weird, so I am currently thinking of repainting their faces. Some details: And just to give an idea of the scale - here's Reaper's Troll Slayer Sophie for comparison: Next units are already on their way.