Plancenoit Church - Building of the Week

This weeks building of the week was a little more involved than a typical single building. Not only was it a focal point in the battle of Waterloo but I have been given instructions by Lee to put it on a hill. Plancenoit was the scene of bitter fighting between the recently defeated Prussians and a mix of Guard and other quality French battalions. The church swapped hands several times as did most of the town. The Prussians showed that losing a battle is not always the same as being defeated as they battled away until Plancenoit was firmly in their hands and the Prussians continued to advance into the French right flank and the rest as they say is history.

So in expectation of another titanic struggle I thought it needed to look presentable. Leven Miniatures have released this building on their site this month so it's a new model (NAP09 £3.50) and is another piece in their excellent Napoleonic range.

The walls are also Leven made, ACC02 Dry Stone Wall Set, actually about one and a third sets to fit round the full base. I have used three of my Warbases, one 3mm thick and the other two 2mm thick. The corners broken off leaving rough edges and the long edges sanded to a slope.

Here the walls are suck in place but the church won't go on till near the end. The actual walls were higher and were more round in shape so I have had to accept a few compromises, none that worry me though.

The usual basing system, though the final touches would only be added once the ground and walls have been painted and the church ready to be glued in place.

I went a lot heavier with the static grass than usual as you would expect almost total grass coverage around the graves. I also added grave stones and floor stones via coffee stirrers though these could be replaced at least in part by metal ones if Perfect Six get them produced in time.

The tree is one of the ones I bought about three months ago and I like the height of the tree to balance the tile. It also helps fill in the rear corner as I did not want equal spread of the graves.

I also added clump foliage to cover some of the worst wall joints but did not want to cover them all and tried to not make them too regular so no pattern built up.

I may yet add a few figures or other furniture to add a bit more interest. The church is to one side of the town so will stand out a bit. We are using about twenty buildings for the town so the church should not stand out on it's own nor disappear into the mass.

One of the models I looked at had greenery creeping up the tower and having success with doing this on a farm tile I thought I would do it again here. Really happy with the result.

So now I have Frichermont and Le Haye to paint up and all the buildings are finished. Frichermont is prepped and ready whilst Le Haye is yet to be made available by Leven. So we are quite close to being ready. Looking at the boards with the various buildings in place, even before all the hills are added really makes the battlefield start to stand out. Really looking forward to showing you images of the boards as they stand and more once they are textured and ready to roll.