Overlord/Normandy is a perennial favourite setting for games of BA. A major part of this theatre was the rural French “hedgerow” or “bocage” system. This method of fencing, which had been used since the Roman times, consists of mounds of dirt mounds, toped with thick trees and brush, set in irregular patterns that served as fences between plots of land. There impact of the hedges proved to significant as the bocage turned every field into a potential fortress. The hedgerows were a thick mass of dirt, rock, trees, and brush. They restricted visibility and made troop movement both treacherous and arduous.
Specific hedgerow rules are included the Battleground Europe book which says:
“… block LOS unless either shooter or the target unit is in base contact with them, or on top of elevated terrain like a hillock. Since these hedgerows were on top of large dirt mounds, they also provide hard cover. Hedgerows count as obstacles. Furthermore, units passing through them under “advance” orders cannot fire after they move to account for the extra effort it takes to get through the thick vegetation.”
Bolt Action rules also provide an option for Allies players to break through the bocage, using the “Culin cutter” (p. 38 of the British Army book).
To help players create hedgerow terrain deweycat has produced stl pack that allows you to print an interlocking hedgerow system. Each piece will butt to the next with an elongated “S”, so that the parts will appear unbroken on the table. There are two complete systems within the pack – one which is just the branch “frame” on which you can add the flock and foliage as you wish, and a second which has the foliage included. The pack includes:
Three (3) different straight sections (approx. 115 mm long, 65 mm high)
A “Y” junction
Two (2) 45-degree corners
Two (2) end sections
An opening section with a separate removable gate
A section with an opening to represent one made by a Culin cutter or similarly equipped vehicle.
Deweycat has also previously produced a stl for the Culin Cutter which is available at: https://www.wargaming3d.com/product/culin-cutter-hedgerow-cutter-28mm/
