French Foreign Legion at Historicon - Historicon Part II

Have you ever had one of those wargaming days were everything goes right and you roll over the enemy like they were bowling pins? Doesn’t happen too often, does it? (Editers Note: I've been wargaming for five years now and am still waiting for that sort of day!) Well, I have got to tell you the tale of this cavalry troop that I commanded at Historicon. I was playing exclusively French Foreign Legion (FFL) scenarios using the TSATF rules. The second day I was part of an FFL force that was trying to reach a besieged strongpoint in the desert. I only had one unit which was this French colonial ally Spahis cavalry troop. These chaps were black colonials wearing uniforms that bore a strong resemblance to the uniform that the Brits wore in the 1879 Zulu War, which I thought made them look a bit odd. I wondered what I was getting myself into, but these chaps really gave me a big surprise.

I was leading the FFL march column and was trying to move down the right side of the long table edge since the enemy units were all coming in on the left. It looked like “clear sailing” until a random die roll brought two more enemy units onto right side of the board right in front of me. (Throughout the scenario I was appalled by how many enemy units the GM threw at us. It just seemed to be overwhelming.) Well, by the time these two units finished their arrival move they were at long range for a charge attempt, so I gave it a go thinking that my unit would meet an early end. I rolled high and completed the charge into the first unit. I was then surprised when they failed their “stand and fight” roll, which meant that they had to flee right back off the table edge. The second unit charged me on the next turn but I successfully evaded. Then on turn three I charged them as well. Everyone was amazed when they also failed their “stand and fight” test and fled off the same table edge! You should have seen the look on the face of the kid who was controlling those units! Within a matter of minutes he had been wiped out without a shot being fired, a spear being chucked, or a sword being swung! Tough luck, you little creep! (He was a nice kid actually.)

After this the enemy started to swarm across the middle of the table and assail the middle of our march column. I charged into and out and back into the flank of that mass of enemies three times. Each time I routed an entire enemy unit, or finished off one that had been whittled down by the infantry rifles. In the last attack I took heavy losses in close combat but and was forced to fall back. However, the enemy unit that had just barely defeated me failed the critical morale test they were forced to take because I had carved them down to about 20%. So they were eliminated as well! By the end of the game I only had one unwounded trooper left, but get a load of this: I calculated that these 12 cavalrymen were responsible for the elimination of about 90 enemies all together! Well worth their ration of gruel and oats, don’t you think? It was one of those days I will never forget. I wish they were my figures, I would have painted a Croix de Guerre on all of them! (With TSATF you can do that and it will actually mean something.) My only regret is that the picture I took of this valiant lot didn’t turn out very well; as you can see.

Editers Note: Thanks again to "Bwana" Bill!

Historicon - Part 1

Robert ran a game of Flames of War at Historicon. The game was the Tractor Factory in Stalingrad. I was able to see this terrain "in the rough" the week prior when he ran a test game. Everyone who played it said it was a great game! I don't have any captions for all the photos. I'll do what I can to get updates on this.


In addition, expect an After Action Report from "Bwana" Bill on a game of The Sword and the Flame that he played in at H'con!

Enjoy!

Tin Soldiers: Alexander the Great: First Impressions

UPDATE!

Guest Blogger "Bwana" Bill is back!

UPDATE ON TIN SOLDIERS: ALEXANDER THE GREAT

Since my first article I have now played out the first three battles. It has been a very intense experience! The first battle, Thebes, isn’t too bad, but the second and third battles, Granicus River and Issus, are really hard. You go right down to the wire with both of them wondering if you will be able to eek out any sort of “victory.” With Granicus River I was able to pull it off, but with Issus I wasn’t. This seems to be one of those games where you will have to replay each battle at least once in order to “get it right.” There is a lot of “fog of war” built into this game and by that I do not mean just hidden enemy units, you also do not have an appreciation for the ground you are fighting on when the battle starts. Let me give you examples. When Granicus River starts it is apparent that you need to fight you way across the river. What I failed to realize during the set up, and first few turns, is that there are only two places where you can cross the river. I had to discover all this by trial and error after the battle had started. Fortunately, I still had time to recover from this and slog my way across the two fords. It was brutal, and I lost well over half the army by the time it was over. In the Issus battle I was aware that there were two points on the field that needed to be captured and held, but somehow I missed the fact that there was a third, which I only discovered by accident when the game was almost over. I also think that perhaps the game is set quite a bit harder than “real life.” For example, about half way through Issus a classic show-down developed between Alexander and his household cavalry, and Emperor Darius and his scythed chariots. Darius was defeated and killed, which from my reading of history would have caused a severe blow to the morale of the entire Persian army. That didn’t happen this time! Far from it! There were about 9 fresh Persian units right behind Darius and they came on like a swarm of angry hornets. As a matter of fact it was so overwhelming that I had to put the entire left flank of Alexander’s army into a full tactical withdrawal. All this is not a condemnation of the game though. The battles held my interest and I was quite emotionally involved. It takes about 3 to 4 hours to play just one battle and I was not able to tear myself away from the computer to get the sleep I needed for the upcoming work day. After all, I didn’t think I would be able to sleep until I knew the outcome! I just need to discover the secret to winning. I suspect it might have something to do with replaying each battle until you get a result that gives you enough money to upgrade the “training” of all of your units. I already know for sure that you have to replay each battle at least once, just to learn what-all you are up against in terms of enemy units, terrain, victory objectives, etc. I let you know how it goes, IF I am not battle fatigued before much longer! I tell you one thing for sure; I am already NOT looking forward to the Indian war elephants that I know are going to come up at the end of the campaign!

Editors note: Thanks Bill!



Special article by Guest Blogger "Bwana" Bill

This article is about a computer war game. Why write about a computer game in a table top blog? Well, the approach this game takes is worth mentioning in a table top setting because it tries to give you the feeling that you are playing with lead miniatures painted and mounted on movement stands! This is a good deal for those of us who sometimes get frustrated by a lack of opportunity to “push lead.” The figures even appear to be 25mm to my eye. One amusing little touch you will notice is the trees, which appear to have the same round plastic bases that you see in the hobby store variety! Also, during a battle a big “hand” descends to remove stands when they are eliminated.

I broke the game disk out of the package and started playing right away without reading anything. The manual is on the disk and I did not feel like printing it or trying to study it on the screen. Nevertheless, I was able to play the first battle all the way through and win it just by experimenting with the interface, which is pretty easy to figure out. I believe that “intuitive,” is the computer term that would apply here.

Even though the game looks like you are playing with 25mm tall pieces of lead, you still get the benefits of a computer game. By that I mean that movement is not “my move, then it’s your move.” You input you orders then indicate when you are done. Movement then happens somewhat simultaneously with the units having higher initiative ratings going first. That does not mean that you are always a helpless spectator after pushing the “Done” button. A third of the way through the turn play stops for a Reaction Phase during which the computer may give you a chance to issue new orders to units who meet certain qualifications. In addition to this, you are allowed to assign units to a tactical reserve status before the turn starts. This means that when the Reserve Phase comes up you can issue orders to them after you have had a chance to see what is happening. I like this approach, it is a good compromise between real-time strategy games (which I have never really cared for) and taking turns. I like the ability to reflect on the situation before making decisions as opposed to frantically scrolling and clicking here, there, and everywhere like a maniac! But that’s just me I suppose.

Another computer benefit that you get with this game is “fog of war.” Enemy units are revealed to you only after your units are able to spot them. The program actually projects a swirling mist; simulating “fog of war,” not weather conditions, over the areas of the battlefield that you can’t see clearly.

Right now I am studying the manual and I intend to re-play the first battle before moving on into the campaign. Other reviews I have read say that the AI is quite challenging, so I prefer to understand the mechanics and nuances of the game better before moving on. IÂ’ll let you know how it goes.

Editors Note: Thanks Bill! I'll have to try it out! If you are interested you can buy this game from the www.strategypage.com store.

Getting a few things done

It's always nice when I get more than 15 minutes in the War Room. I managed to finish a few things last night, and bring several other projects nearly to completion. Amazing what one can accomplish when one is focussed and is given some time!

The M-10 Platoon is ready for Decals. Then I'll muddy it, Dullcote it (flat, clear, protective coating) and then sell it off - since I sold off my American Paratroopers already and no longer have an American force for them to support! I'll also be selling a few trucks that I was able to completely finish last night.

For my Fallschirmjagers, I was able to get nearly done with the Panzer II Luchs (Lynx) which will be an integral part of their Recon support.

I also got General "Pip" Roberts command tank done for my Brits - or rather, ready for inking and 'muddying'.

I finished a unit of Tau Fire Warriors for 40K.

I got a good start on my Imperial Guard Officer for Inquisitor (=I=).

So, busy, productive night. And all because I was recovering from my first bike ride in ages (12 or so miles), and my girls had a "chick flick" that I had zero interest in! Serendipity really, don't you think!?

I'll be posting photos as soon as I am able.

Starship Troopers

Update!! - M-8 Ape Suit

This is a very cool model, though a little tricky to build. Note at the base, a bit of wishful thinking on my part - the ripped off arm of a 'bug'. Nope. This guy lasted two turns, got swarmed by about 8 Warrior bugs, and that was all she wrote!

That follows Murphys Laws of Wargaming. Rule #2. If it's your newest, shiniest, most impressive model, it's dead in less than three turns!

Enjoy!



I was up at our local to run a game of Trench Wars the other night, however fine weather, local schools closing for summer, and the beginning of the vacation season put a damper on our game. That is to say, I had one player show up - and he was only there for "an hour so" to watch.

My friend Bill was putting on Starship Troopers by Mongoose Publishing and with no players for Trench Wars, I was able to dive into this game.

I have always be a Heinlein fan and felt that SST was one of his better works. I hoped that the game would provide some of the feeling of the storyline.

To be honest, I'll have to play it again to get a better feel for the storyline/game/movie/CGI intersection of "feel".

I did like the game though!

My buddy Steven, who came to watch Trench Wars, played Skinnies and one squad of Mobile Infantry. I played Mobile Infantry. Rob, a new player at our shop, played Bugs with the able assistance of Bill, the Game Master.

The game seems a tad technical, but that's only because every new game we play is slightly different from every other game we play! I'll get used to it with time.

One funny incident in the game involved poor timing in shooting and a poor choice of targets.

It was our turn (MI and Skinnies) and our fort was being overrun. I had a single trooper with a triple-barrel grenade launcher and was preparing to fire grenades down a bug-hole and seal it - when my buddy Steven laid down fire with a template weapon the Skinnies use - and it killed my poor grenadier! I thought about it afterwards, that I should have fired my grenades first, then if he simply had to take the shot, fine!

He laid down fire across two Bugs and it went directly across my Grenadiers' noggin. I rolled his save - and he failed. Dead grenadier, never fired a shot.

Another interesting occurrence was when a "Hopper Bug" dropped into the fort and ripped off my Lieutenants' head. Ouch.

At the end, we had a total of 4 MI remaining, and 4-6 Skinnies, and we still had nearly 2 squads of 5 Bugs remaining - plus stinkin' Hopper Bugs. Now, the Hoppers wouldn't have been so bad, however we had no anti-aircraft weapons. Thanks Bill! ;-)

We might have been able to pull out a win, but it would have been desperately close. Much like the book and movie!

I liked this game, so I picked up an M8 Ape Suit to aid my Mobile Infantry - that I have yet to purchase! Box set is about $75.00 U.S. - but it's the best way to go. You get 16 MI (2 squads) and 20 Bugs in the box set, along with rules, templates, etc.

If you buy a box of MI, you only get 8 guys, and it runs $20.00 U.S.

In the box of Arachnids (Bugs!) you get 6 bugs for $20.00.

So, for $75.00 you get the rules and $80.00+ worth of figures! Nice Deal in my humble opinion.

Give it a go!

The Final Cut

Dave over at AIM is fantastic! I sent him an email letting him know what I needed (decals for the Hawkers, decals for my German gliders, and another assault glider) one day, sent him a paypal for it that night, and BAM!!! A box was on my steps the day after! I'm very pleased. I'm sure he went well out of his way to make that happen, and I don't expect that sort of thing from folks - it sure is nice when it happens that way!

This is it.

After months of fiddeling with other peoples models, with other game system figures and models for myself, I've finally got the Hawker IID done. The decals and clearcote (I used GWs Matte Varnish) truly put the finishing touches on this 1/100th scale wargames aircraft. Now I need to paint up some Brits for the Hawker to support!

I won't bother with captions. These decals really are a very nice touch, and historically accurate in shape, lettering, and colors, as well as being 'in scale' for the model, since they are designed by the same person that designed the model!

Enjoy the eyecandy, and pay Dave a visit over at Armaments in Miniature for your 1/100th scale (15mm) aircraft needs!

Armaments in Miniature (AIM) Hawker Hurricane IID

Update!

6 July 05 - This is as good as it gets without adding decals! So now I have to order the decals. Once again I am struck by how detailed this model is. Surface detail is so very important to the overall look of the model, and the Hawker Hurricane IID is a wonderful example of a manufacturer 'getting it right'. Enjoy the eyecandy!

Imagine this: the last thing a German Afrika Korps tank commander saw - the Hawker IID diving out of the sun, canons blazing.


Side-on shot, more detail - note the terrain clearing stand mentioned in the earlier post! I love this stuff!


Close-up of detail. Note the ribbing in the ailerons. Amazing! Look out kitchen table, he's firing!

A poorly lighted view of the undercarriage detail. No difference. Top to bottom this is just an incredible model.


And last but not least, another poorly lighted shot of the top. Oh well. I barely passed High School Photo and it shows!


Upate!

23 May 05 - I slapped another coat of paint on this beastie last evening and it looks pretty good. I absolutely must invest in a decent airbrush, or I'll never do justice to models of this quality. I'll put the camo (second) color on, then I'll snap and post! Well, if the riches ever start pouring in from the ads here, I'll be sure to put that money towards a new airbrush!

What's not to like about a tank-hunting aircraft!?

I was like a kid in a candy store when the box from David at AIM arrived. I tore it open, nearly drooling. Inside was my order of 1 DFS-230A German Assault/Cargo glider, and a terrain clearing stand, plus, David included a pair of Hawker Hurricanes for me to review!

I was so excited, I plumb forgot to start snapping pictures from the box opening on. Suffice it to say, David packed the box very well and everything arrived in pristine condition.

I've not had much experience with British fighter/bomber aircraft, so I spent some of my valuable search time looking up paint schemes. I found one that will work well for the North African desert, and will get started on that in a short while!

I pulled the models out and, as ever, was astounded by the clean lines of these magnificent little aircraft and small mold lines. Less cleaning, more painting makes for a happy Tabletop Gamer!

I knocked out the cleaning (still haven't remembered the camera at this point!) in less than 20 minutes. I took a bit longer than usual to clean it, as I'm not very experienced with the material the model is molded from and wanted to be extra careful with it.

I built the IID model, took it outside on a spitty, semi-rainy night, and primed it anyway, rolling the dice that my primer wouldn't muck up on me.

It turned out very nicely, a smooth paint job with no drips, no runs, no errors.

I'll get some paint on it and then I'll slap up some eye-candy of my work.

Also, in looking at these lovely models, I came to a serious decision; while it's less expensive and time-consuming to field the die-cast, pre-painted models (Davids aircraft run roughly $5.00 U.S. more than the die-cast models) I will start buying my attack aviation needs from David at AIM.

After drilling (which is very quick and easy, with clear and concise instructions that come with the terrain clearing stand)these incredible models fit so nicely on the terrain clearing stand, and I know that once they are painted they will be the envy of the "regulars" (and perhaps even the "Irregulars!)

Stand by - Photos to follow!

The Review:

Packaging (well protected or not): A+

Molding: A+ - The cleanest model of the cast-resin type that I've ever seen. Required little cleaning.

Detail: A+ - for a model with no interior detail (it's for gaming more than display!), this model is highly detailed. Since David deals with exterior detail, it's immaculate.

Instructions: A+ - Though there are few "bits" that need to be cleaned and glued on, if one is not familiar with the model, mistakes could have been made. The instructions were clear and correct for the model.

I built the model in just under an hour; that's slow for me for this type of model. I took my time cleaning and sanding it lightly with 600grit sandpaper. Priming showed that I missed a small spot near the trailing edge of one wing, but it isn't a big deal.

The model comes with the bits to do two variations of the same aircraft. There are two air intakes for it, one for European Theater, and one for the North African desert.

I rate this model an A+ overall. I need another one! :-)

Kreta DFA Scenario - Snatching Defeat from the Jaws of Victory

I’ll make this very short. Relatively.

Friday night we ran another Death From Above (DFA) scenario for Flames of War; My Fallschirmjagers jumped into Crete once again.

I fouled up the game from the start by placing all objectives too close together, and effectively giving my opponent the ability to cover them all easily.

My demon-possessed die were on a rampage the whole night.

In DFA, the paratroopers army is 25% larger than the opponents army. This helps to offset the expected loss of 25% of the troops on the drop zone (dz).

Unfortunately, 25% doesn’t come close to offsetting for my miserable die-rolls, which ended the game for 40% of my ill-fated Fallschirmjagers.

To add insult to injury, the two most expensive units on the table were the two Glider Assault Infantry Platoons. They took 1/6 casualties when a poor die-roll resulted in:

1. Glider crashed on landing;
2. Team failed its saving throw to survive the crash.

Taking that insult beyond the mental to the near-physical face-smacking realm, my shooting was unbelievably poor, resulting in only 1 or 2 stands of Brit infantry dead. I did manage to kill off most of an HMG platoon. However, on assaulting the remains of the platoon and managing to destroy it, I left the survivors of the Glider Assault platoon open for a vicious fusillade, followed by a close assault that finished them off. 325 points gone in one shot, with one platoon dead.

The second Glider Assault Platoon, which was already 1/6th under strength, opened fire on a Brit platoon guarding the objective, missed most of their shots, assaulted and actually won. However they were now in a position to be fired at and assaulted immediately, and they were severely under strength. One can only hope that the Brits would fail their initiative.

Beginning of Turn One – my opponent, Rob, rolls to unpin all of his pinned units. He only fails to rally one unit, a non-critical infantry unit too far away from the fray at this point to do any good. He then rolls to bring on “reserves” and rolls a 5 – he needed a 4. On come his truck-borne Brit infantry, and where should they arrive? Right in the flank of one platoon of Fallschirmjagers. They had not made it to their equipment canister, so they were unarmed, except for pistols. They fought hard and only lost by a little! Still they lost. Luckily for me, the remnants, barely over half their original strength, fled towards their equipment canister.

The Glider assault platoon was fired on, losing another stand or two, and then assaulted by Brit infantry, led by the Company Commander. Of course, the Fallschirmjagers, outmanned, lost miserably. They were utterly destroyed.

Turn two wasn’t much better. My firing was ineffective, Robs saves worked. When it came time for his portion of the Turn, Rob naturally rolled to bring on his reserves. He rolled 2 die – and rolled a 5 and a 6, bringing on two of the last three units he had off-board.

I lost the remains of 1st platoon, leaving the commander still running for his canister, nearly alone. The Mountain guns fired and managed to kill one stand of infantry, but as Robert started his turn, I realized I had no combat-effective units remaining on the table – and with the dual-impact of two arty units (one of his reserves was an arty unit, he had begun the game with one on the table), and the tanks that were due to come on next turn, I knew the game was over. On one objective, I had the commander, the 2IC, and some anti-tank rifles (1 stand). Out 20+ inches from any of the objectives I had my mountain gun platoon intact, and 4 stands of infantry with their platoon command.

I called the game at this point.

The combination of my poor objective placement, compounded by my demon—possessed die, enhanced by Rob’s innate ability to analyze a situation on the tabletop and immediately exploit it, as well as his amazingly good die-rolls resulted in the worst loss my Fallschirmjager have ever had.

Louis handed me my other serious defeat, and a well-fought battle it was. Meat-grinder in a city-fight! Ouch!

Aside from my frustrations with my own stupidity in placing the objective so close to the other objective, and my utter disbelief at my horrific die-rolls, it was a good game, and played out much like at least one actual battle in Crete, where an entire FJ battalion was wiped out to a man.

WARNORD - Death From Above - Kreta 2

Robert is running a DFA game tonight for Flames of War - my Fallschirmjaegers will be jumping and gliding into combat in Crete-like terrain against the British.

There will be no armor in this game, other than Armored cars. Still, I have a feeling those can be nasty.

I'll try to make notes and do a good AAR.

I've been playing my American Paratroopers and have been slaughtered in the last two outings. Too little armor support against well-armored foes is my excuse, and I'm sticking to it!

Oh yeah! Also my demon-possessed die! Yeah. Never my tactics!

An Odd Bird

That's me.

Well, for a gamer, I'm an odd sort, apparently.

See, for me, family must take precedence in my life. Though I do enjoy all aspects of gaming from the shopping (admit it gamer, so do you!), the painting, the playing. It's all a blast.

But it's just a hobby.

And nothing can take the place of family.

For the last week or so I've hosted my son and his wife and their lovely little boy, my grandson, in our home.

It's been an interesting and educational week, as well as some fun.

However that left no time for gaming, or blogging. One had to go.

So, while my son and I went gaming when we were able to escape, or we played in the house, my blogging lagged seriously.

For all of you who have stopped by to see what I've been up to, I sincerely apologize for the lack of updates. For the rest of you, tough! (Just kidding!)

Thank you for dropping in. Please feel free to post a comment somewhere to let me know you were here!

Thank you. Normal blogging will resume.

Friday night may be another Fallschirmjaeger Death from Above scenario - more to follow!

New Comic - Turn Signals on a Landraider

If you are a Warhammer 40, 000 fan you will appreciate the humor of this comic! Head over to Turn Signals on a Land Raider and have a few chuckles. The artist is very talented and the humor is spot-on. I've placed a link to the main page under Wargamer Humor. Enjoy!

If you are not a WH40K fan, but have any inkling of how to play the game, you'll still get a laugh.

Hat tip to my friend Louis.

Fashionjaegers or Parasoltroopers?

Apparently a new term was coined at a recent Flames of War tourney at our local; Fashionjaegers.

I don't know if that was a Freudian slip, or if it was just plain silliness, but we've come up with a couple of alternative army names;

Fashionjaegers
Pansy Grenadiers
Parasoltroopers


Tonight we are playing a 1500 point Mid-War game at Eagle and Empire.

I am contemplating which army to field.

Tough choice - American Parasoltroopers, or Fashionjaeger. Cotton or Tweed. Decisions, decisions!

The first coat of the primary color is on the Hawker IID. It looks rough - I don't own a decent airbrush, so it's the paintbrush life for me! 

Treasure Hunt - A Warhammer 40K Game AAR

We played WH40K on Saturday – but the game got off to a late start, due to the foul traffic here in Northern Virginia.

Carl had the plan and the terrain. My son, David, and I arrived 10 minutes late, and Bill was waiting patiently for us.

Bill had a table staked out for us at a local game shop, a place where the owner had an odd flight of fancy and provided us with blue tables to play on.

I don’t know too many gamers that want their troops marching across water.

We waited nearly two hours for Carl, but the traffic wouldn’t loosen it’s grip on him, and his precious cargo of terrain; I ran next door to Hancock Fabrics and bought some mottled brown cloth to throw on top of the blue tabletop.

With that, we started unpacking our figures and preparing for battle.

Then Carl arrived. Nice. I think the key to breaking Evil Traffic’s grip on a fellow gamer is to go ahead and prepare to play, as if you are going to play without them – the Voila! They show up!

We divvied up into two teams. David and I on one side – David’s Blood Angels in all their gleaming red glory alongside my Tau in their camouflaged, high-tech beauty. The thought that my firepower would supplement his superior hand-to-hand capabilities was like dancing sugar plumbs in our little pea-brains.

Across from us was Carl’s Road Warriors – a battle-tested Ork Speed Freaks army, and Bills Chaos. A brutal army, those Chaos guys. His newest bit for his army was a Defiler that may have cost us the game.

The table had six buildings on it; four of the buildings had “secret markers” – that was the treasure hunt part of the game – and two more “secret markers” were in an underground labyrinth.

There were also openings to the labyrinth in all six of the buildings. Each opening corresponded to a spot in the underground labyrinth, where your troops would come out after climbing down ladders and such.

The game went badly for David and I from the first turn. Bills Defiler fired its huge canon and killed a vehicle of mine, which snookered one of my Broadside Battlesuits. Trapped behind the burning vehicle, it could only fire its Smart Missile system – if I moved it, the entire unit would count as moving, and lose an entire turn of firing. I needed every shot I could take at this point!

To add insult to injury, Carl’s Speed Freaks entered a building close to them and found the “hidden Treasure!”

Well, it wasn’t “game over” just yet.

Since we were running low on time, I took my shots while David marched across the board. His Death Company and Assault Marines jumped into hand-to-hand with a unit of Chaos space marines and decimated them. Unfortunately on the very next turn, two units of Chaos blokes assaulted the Death Company, at least one of them was a unit of Berserkers, and the Death Company died gloriously.

I got one good hit on the Defiler with the one rail gun that had a clear shot – I destroyed the huge canon on it that took out my grav-tank earlier. Unfortunately, it kept trudging across the board.

If you’ve every played the computer game Dawn of War, you’ll well know how evil a Chaos Defiler is in close combat!

My surviving scouts, who had bailed out of the destroyed grav-tank started taking fire from a machine on one of Carl’s Ork War-Truks. I took a couple of casualties but not enough to cause a morale test. The three lads with rail rifles fired at a Chaos troop transport that was trying to get across the board and charge into our foot troops, causing tank shock. The heavily armed scouts managed to immobilize it for the rest of the game.

My army general and his bodyguard saw an opportunity to go after the win by jumping down a rabbit hole and popping up in the rear of Carl’s Orks. Unfortunately for me, Carl had the same idea, so popped his Orks down some rabbit holes too. By the time my general and his bodyguard arrived, there were two solid units of Orks in the labyrinth.

At this point we were out of time. Unfortunately, on top of us starting two hours early, I had promised Lovely Wife that we would be home by 6pm-ish. We failed to count on the fact that two strong hand-to-hand armies would take a lot of time to figure out combats, so while David and Bill were rolling die and figuring out attacks, Carl and I were chatting about old movies and such. We started packing our gear at 6:15. Lovely Wife was not happy. And the day before Mothers Day too! Good thing I bought flowers! ;-)

My general and his bodyguard jumped down the rabbit hole, ran straight to the nearest group of Orks and started hammering them. Unfortunately, the Orks only lost two lads on the first attack, and then they attacked back and caused a three wounds on the commander – I saved all but one. Since I lost combat, I tested for leadership, and passed with no problem. Next turn, the commander attacked and caused 3 wounds, but their retaliatory attacks caused him a further 4 wounds – and I failed to save 3 of them, resulting in the death of the commander.

At this point we called the game, not because there was a clear victor due to combat, but we were just plain out of time.

Carl and Bill won, due to the fact that Carl’s Orks held the “hidden treasure” chit when the game ended.

It was a nice re-introduction to WH40K and as always, a nice time to hang out with the lads and just talk ‘guy-stuff.’

Warhammer 40K Revival

I've not played Warhammer 40, 000 (WH40K or simply 40K) in over four years - probably closer to five. Saturday, I will play a game with a new army, the new, 4th Edition revised rules, and three other relatively innexperienced players.

I say relatively; One of the lads has had photos of his army in Games Workshops' White Dwarf magazine. Carl does amazing work, both modeling and painting. And as if that isn't enough, he's one of the cannier generals in the game!

Bill and my son are the other two players; Bill has played a bit, and my son has only played 2 games.

Normally you won't seem me touting Games Workshop (GW) stuff on my Blog. I figure they get enough press on their own, throw in a few thousand Internet news groups on the subject of their various games, and they don't need my Blog boosting their sales.

I don't feel the need to boost their sales because I have become very dissenchanted with the company and their business practices. While the popularity of their product climbs, their prices increase for everything they sell.

They package stuff so that you have to buy a pile of junk you don't want to get the one or two items you need.

However, it's not my intent on this Blog to bash GW either! I still like WH40K a bit, and it gives me some 'bonding' time with my son.

Sooner or later, his interest in historicals will blosom and he'll be rolling bones and pushing lead alongside me, and ditch the plastic heap forever! ;-)

Bill describes the scenario like this: "Six numbered markers are placed face down on the table. Probably four on the "surface" and two in an underground labyrinth. Then a D6 is rolled to identify which one is the real objective. Both sides have to find the real one and get it off the table. The labyrinth is actually only a small aspect of the scenario.

This is one of those things where it could end quickly, or it could be very dramatic."

We'll see!

A Little Explanation - The Photos!

I'm new to using Picasa and Hello! and I've not quite figured it out yet.

Those photos below are a tad out of order. Partly due to my inexperience with Hello! and partly due to the fact that I just sort of lost track of taking photos during the game. That sort of thing happens when you are focused on keeping your little lead soldiers from "dying" at the hands of an exceptionally aggressive enemy! ;-)

What we had was 4 Allied players and 4 German players. Starting on the German left flank, they were faced with, in order, Free French (with U.S. equipment), American Armored rifle company, Soviet Strelkoya Battalion, and lastly, a Tankovka Battalion, with infantry attached.

On our left flank was a Panzer Company, a Panzergrenadier Company, my Fallschirmjager Company, and another Panzergrenadier company.

The two left-most battles, the Free French V.S. Panzer Company, and the Americans V.S. Panzergrenadier Company ended in ties. (The French may have actually won, but it was a very near thing!)

My battle was a definite defeat, as my troops moved far too aggressively into the city terrain, where the Soviet Assault company, a part of the Strekoya Bn. out-shot and out-maneuvered them, assaulting and destroying several platoons. It was truly brutal warfare at the knife and entrenching-tool (E-tool) level.

On my right flank, the Panzergrenadier Company, supported by a Tiger 1E and two StuGs decimated the poor Soviet conscripts, then turned to aid my beleaguered Fallschirmjagers. Unfortunately, as they rushed to my aid, the last unit I had on the board decided to retire and lick their wounds.

Louis was playing opposite me, and aside from some incredible and unbelievable saves on my part, the game went very well for him. At the end though, he had a bit of a rough time when his troops ended up targeted by Panzergrenadiers on both flanks, and my survivors in the center. We called the game, but it was a clear victory for Louis, and one he can be proud of.

Gaming is a bit of an expensive hobby – though this 15mm Flames of War game isn’t so bad. Small models/figures usually equate to small prices! But the game isn’t the hobby – or rather, there is more to the hobby than just playing the game.

Building your army, the way you want it, within guidelines laid down in the rules is one part of the challenge of this hobby. Another is the actual physical “building” of the army – cleaning the metal or plastic bits of mold lines, priming the models, painting them, flocking the bases so they look nice and uniform, clear-coating them to protect them, and of course playing games with them! That’s pretty much the whole hobby.

One more ingredient makes the hobby picture complete – the people you game with.

I am lucky, as most of the regulars are pretty good guys. Of course, you always get one or two “known personalities” that make you a little crazy.

And then there are guys like me who throw their die under their truck tires on leaving the shop, and spin out to destroy the evil, and obviously defective die, because we know it can’t be our tactics! ;-)

Aside from my possessed die, all else went well, and my troops all climbed back into their carrying case, prepared for our next excursion into the warzone - whether it is the Eastern Front or the Western Front - my Fallschirmjagers stand ready!

Dougs armor support stays close to his infantry.  

Haileys' T-34s move out in the typical "Hen and Chicks" formation. The early war T-34s had poor vision, and one radio per company (roughly!) so the company had to keep each other in sight to see what was going on in a battle.  

Rays' recon moving from cover to cover. Later in the game, after Louis has destroyed the majority of my platoons, these lads will show up on my left flank and finish off Louis' last platoon of infantry on that side. 

More of Haileys' troops. Note the Kommisar, pistol at ready. (Light blue hat.) He will "shoot" an infantry stand if they ever fail a morale test. "Not one step backwards commerades!"