Howdy!
I'm still trying to finalize my idea for the diorama campaign... Seems like no matter what I think up, I wonder if it 'really happened' or if my implied story will make sense to the viewer.
My original idea was to have my sniper hiding a damage guardhouse (shack) at the end of a bridge. Then, a few questions came up:
-how do I imply that the guardhouse is by a bridge?
-were there ever really small guardhouses like I'm thinking of?
-would a sniper ever actually hide in a tiny guardhouse? (for the idea, the only things I'd put in it would be a small table, a chair, and a fireplace-heater)
I am going to stay with the winter sniper theme; I picked up my 'snow' today, along with florists foam to use as a base.
Anyone have a suggestion?

YodaMan

Hola YodaMan!

I think the guard house by the bride would work out perfectly fine! I mean, just put a beam acrosst the end of the bridge and make it a road block
Also, as far as a sniper being there, I can't really think of a place a sniper wouldnt be if his target were in the area

Brianstorming free association style:
A sniper covering a bridge is tactically a very good idea. Your targets are bottlenecked in the open (Think Antietam when the Union Troops used a narrow bridge to cross Antietam Creek). The best postion to attack this is from high ground directly in line with the roadway, like the dot on an "i".
Okay, the guardhouse: Italeri used to have a guardpost, at one time available with several other diorama accessories. The house itself would have to be significantly damaged to be useful as a sniper post, since a relatively whole one would be a good piece of target practice as soon as it was sighted. Also, the sniper is going to get off one shot before he becomes the focal point of the squad he's just attacked. Also, the guard house is going to be on relatively low ground reducing the effectiveness of the sniper.
The bridge: I think there's a Verlinden set that has a bridge in it. This would be relatively small so it's questionable if it would have a guard house. You may need to construct a rather large section of bridge which would then be cut away. This then makes your guardhouse pretty small and artistically out of place. The bridge can't really have any railings or wall to speak of, because again, the sniper gets one good shot and his targets have abundant cover to close in on him.

I don't know in what country you want to try this, but many bridges in Western Europe used to have a small shack for the 'bridgeturner". Most bridges are too low to allow boats to pass underneatch, so there's a guy who has a full time job to lift or turn the bridge when a boat needs to pass. This is often a small shack, allowing the bridgeturner to shelter from the weather and read his newspaper (or knit a sweater) to get through the dull hours of the day.
These can be normal buildings (bricks, etc) or metal shacks. Of course they have windows with a view on the bridge.
This would be more realistic than a guard house, but it would serve the sniper's purpose just as well... Just an idea.

Good idea, Jan! This may be what I need instead of a guardhouse. Would you happen to have any pictures or other inspiration handy?
Thanks for the vote of confidence, guys!
If I can't figure out an ingenious way to make a guardhouse and a bridge present in a 4x6 dio, I'll move on to plan 'B'...
PLAN B - Change location. The guardhouse would still be present, but it would now be a border checkpoint. (Think Indiana Jones and last Crusade ). The building would still be damaged... I could have a damaged crossing arm laying on the ground, and a signpost in there somewhere. The backstory would tell of a small village near the checkpoint that is held by the sniper's allies, and that they will try to repel a German advance. (I'll say it's an out of the way village, so no huge battles need to have happened...)

YodaMan

When I first thought of a guardhouse, I was thinking something like this:



I'll probably build a building similar to that for the finished piece. However, I don't think I can find a way to make a bridge fit into the small dio. So, I think I'll go with the idea of a guardhouse at a border checkpoint instead. (as I mentioned above.)
Thanks for the suggestions! Time to write a backstory and start the planning...

YodaMan (:-)

Yodaman
Remember - you don't need the whole bridge to make your point. You could do just the 'bridge head' on the edge of the dio and let the view fill in the rest. Or use a back drop in photos to create the bridge (may not fly for the contest). Anyway, a couple of ideas to get you your bridge without the space!