Joe's Delaware Area WarGamerS (DAWGS)

UN Recue in Africa

2012-01-31T22:11:00.000-05:00

Rules: Force on Force
Scale: 20mm
Figures: Caesar and Liberation

I received the rules about a week ago and couldn't wait to give them a try. I played them twice over the last 6 months and I had to get them. I played a test game and then my son and I played a second game.

I took the scenario from the book in which US forces rescue two contractors surrounded by Iraqi forces. I replaced the contractors with UN soldiers and put the scenario in an African setting. Here is the result.

The Table is set up per the scenario

The African militia are set up in small units across the board. They are using the UN forces as bait and will not fire at the exposed troops. They know the US forces will be sent out to rescue the UN and think they will have the upper hand.

The African militia form up and wait

The RPG team fails to react and the building is quickly seized. The high level will make a great over watch position. Two of the other fire team are hit by some of the hostile mob across the street but roll an OK result (double 6's).

The US form up and take the building.

The RPG team on the roof top are neutralized as the over watch team takes up position. The US has only a few turns to reach the stranded troops and return. The firefight was not successful for the militia and their casualties increase. The African morale is a D10...must be chewing Khat before the battle.

The Africans move and keep firing in reaction

The US fire teams start their mission and begin to move by turn 2. They have their hands full and have to clear the way for the rescue. The US is rolling about 8D8 in their action rolls against the African D6 rolls. The US is averaging about 3 hits per action as 8's and 7's can not be canceled by a D6.

The troops on the roof are on over watch and the other fire team moves out under cover

Most of the African troops are leaderless and with a D6 quality they are slow to move or react. In this scenario they have completely random reinforcements and entry points. Being irregular forces the Africans can only react once. Regular troops can react move once and react fire multiple times.

The Leaderless mob...they could be a problem.

The M113 is damaged and the troops wait giving no support to the US. They will fall under the dependent rules within FOF.

The UN troops are of no help according to the scenario rules

The US forces are really dishing it out as the militia fall and some run away as I roll a "1" during morale checks.

The US fire team scores some hits.

The maneuver element of the squad is moving and firing. The over watch did very well in dealing out some punishment. irregular troops are not pinned but are actually shaken and their morale of D10 quickly becomes a morale of D6.

The US fire team works their way forward being reacted to all the way with an over watch helping them.

I have a mix of Caesar and Liberation miniatures which look ok together. The Liberation are a bit chunky in comparison and are needed since Caesar minis don't have the M249 minime in the kit.

They are only fast move away!

The US forces reach the UN troops by fast moving which actually worked out well. African troops score 2 hits, a light wound and a kill!

Got'em...haul ass back to the rally point.

The African militia get reinforcements that arrive a turn too late by the stricken M113. They did score some hits as the over watch failed a previous roll. In the next turn they are decimated as the maneuver elements remember to pop smoke.

African reinforcements appear every turn...time to call broken arrow?

The remaining African troops lose heart and gather their wounded. The US did retrieve the UN troops but had 2 KIA and one light wounded soldier. I had to explain to my son that he could not leave the KIA behind as that would be a political victory for the militia, the news reports would be very damaging.

African militia pays the price for their resistance.

We both really enjoyed the game and rules. We played 2 games in 3 hours and had to stop several times for references to the rules. I can see my self expanding my collection so I could run a game on a 4 x 6 board. It would be fun to have a 6 player game that takes place in a large town. I need to get some Elheim figures, Dragon vehicles and some foam core for some new buildings.

Flames of War Games

2012-01-30T20:06:00.000-05:00

Flames of War night for the club so each player received a 500 point force and took part in a head to head game. We had 3 games going on at once so there is no AAR for the night's activity, just some photos of a fun relaxed night. Only a few of the club actually plays FOW regularly. We have been discussing a campaign for operation Market Garden or Monte Casino so we need some hands on experience with the rules.

Rules:Flames of War
Scale 15mm

The set up - Each player picks their forces

The 6' x 12' board was divided into 3 different games. The most experienced player was umpire to all 3 games and we took it slow and asked a lot of questions.

Game 1

Game 2

German Panzer Grenadiers from game 3, my game and forces

The opponent in game 3 - The Indian Army

The Generation Gap - Jim Ferich (host) and my son Kyle

Jim F. attacks the town defended by Kyle.

Jim is attacking toward the town

Game 3 - Jim Carpenter has the Indian army and I have the Germans at the bottom

The Indians advance then get pinned by fire from MG42's

Americans and Germans go at it in game 1

The night went quickly and we finished all the games. I have only played FOW about 3- 4 times over a couple of years and we did learn the rules quickly. We heard that another version (version 3) will be released this year. I didn't get a chance to hop from game to game since I was playing and learning. We hope to get the campaign running soon.

Romans and Epirote Armies painted

2012-01-26T12:53:00.001-05:00

Ancients: The armies of Republican Rome and Epirus for Hail Caesar

I finally painted the last box of figures, most have been in my basement since 2007 and I finally got the urge to finish them after reading Hail Caesar. The figures are from HaT, Italeri and Caesar in the 1/72 scale. I need movement trays for some of the units as I ran short. Thank God Cold Wars is coming up. Another 125 x 100 mm tray from Renaissance Ink should work for the phalanx and thin masonite bases that are 20mm x 60mm should do well for the infantry. I orginally painted them up for WAB but the club is moving on to Hail Caesar.

Roman Forces so far:

2 units of Velites - small units about 9 figures each
6 infantry units - 3 rank infantry standard size. 5 units are 3 bases wide and 1 unit is 4 bases wide.
3 Italian Allies - 2 units are 3 bases wide and in 2 ranks and 1 unit is 2 bases wide in 3 ranks.
3 Cavalry units - I have 3 units of cavalry. that are 4 bases wide.

I could create more infantry units by moving from 3 bases (total of 27 figures) to 2 bases (total of 18 figures). So I could get 9 infantry units in total and 4 Italian ally units. I am not sure how that would play out but I may try it.

Epirote forces so far:

3 Macedonian Phalanx with pikes 4 ranks deep and 6 figures wide
2 Greek phalanx with spears - 4 ranks deep and 6 figures wide.
2 Medium or light infantry units in 2 ranks at 3 bases wide.
2 Skirmish units - 1 using bows and 1 using slings and will be small units
3 cavalry units in a single rank that are 4 bases wide.
6 war elephants - mounted individually.

I could break down the medium/Light troops into 3 units, 2 bases wide in 2 ranks. Maybe I'll buy another box and beef them up.

Greek Mercenaries and Macedonians

I purchased a broom from the dollar store and cut the plastic bristles off to be used as pikes and spears. As I mentioned in 2007 I would need to be creative since HaT figures are not supplied with spears or pikes. The Zvezda phalanx did include the pikes (sarissa) with the kit.

Macedonians

The war elephants are from HaT and the cavalry is from Zvezda and HaT. These kits really saved me money. True they are not to the standard of most 28's, but neither is my wallet! I do like the look of a mass unit for ancients. Back in 2007 I bought most of these kits for $6-8 USD. I plan to buy more in the future.

The movement trays I bought were from Renaissance Ink and were on sale at previous conventions. I completely forgot I had them. That means I can spend money on more figures!

The Italian allies are from HaT and will fight in 2 rank formations. At first I wasn't sure if they would look good, but they turned out alright thanks to a dose of brown ink.

The Roman cavalry is also from HaT and the velites are HaT and Italeri.I like the look of Caesar miniatures, but their Roman Republic kit does not include Velites.

The Roman infantry in 3 rank formations for the Hastati, Princeps, and Triari. As I stated before I am thinking of breaking down the units into units that are 6 figures wide. That will increase the unit count.

The Romans with yellow and blue shields are from Caesar and the figures are much better than other manufacturers in terms of scale and detail.

A rear view of the Triari who are from HaT and Caesar. These are the Roman heavies. This unit is 4 bases wide and I may keep it as a large Roman unit. Apparantly the Romans consolidated the Triari from different legions into a seperate unit. So I painted the shields different colors to match the Hastati and Principes.

Once I get the last movement trays they will hopefully see the table. Next time I won't wait 5 years to finish them. I do want to move on to Napoleonics for 2012. I want to build up the Russians as I have a French brigade waiting for an opponent.

The Battle of Gerald's Ford

2012-01-15T13:40:00.005-05:00

Rules: Black Powder

Figures: 28mm Most manufacturers represented

Zulus vs British

This is the first game of the new year. The club has not met since November so there were a lot of members present. The game takes place in Africa as the Zulus are n force in the area. A British column is approaching a small outpost from the opposite end of the table.

The Game Table

The outpost contains a small infantry unit supported by a Gatling gun. Morning brings no news or activity from the surrounding country side. The soldiers in the outpost hear the approach of horses in the distance.

The first unit to enter are frontier horsemen. They arrive ahead of the main column scouting the countryside.

Suddenly the steady clatter of spears hitting shields is also heard. The Zulus are on the march and the Zulu impi creating the head and chest makes the first appearance. The left and right horns make an appearance later as the initiative rolls dictate.

Zulu Impi of the chest

Additional units enter with 3 impetus or up to 36"in movement.The skirmishers are deployed up front to absorb any shots. They will count the guns by sacrificing their soldiers.

Skirmishers in front and 2 more units on the left flank

The British column arrives and the commanders know they need to deploy quickly. The Zulus are moving fast and the British don't want to be caught in column.

The British column enters

The British figures are painted to a very high standard. They are based individually and placed on movement stands. We play TSATF, Black Powder and other rules so we need to be flexible with basing.

The British line infantry in column

On the next Zulu turn the left horn enters. The Gatling gun had been firing at the center units but missed. The outpost commander knew he had a problem and redeployed the gun to face the new threat that was closing in.

The Left horn enters on the next turn near the fort

We had a lot of players and we caught up on all holiday news. The Zulu Players are on the left contemplating their next move and discussing hobby news. The person seated in the center is the British outpost commander Joe Krone.

The DAWGS , Zulu on the left, British on the right and center

The British players Jim, Dave, and Leo, are getting instruction from the game master Jim Ferich. You can see Jim's extensive collection on the shelves in the background.

More DAWGS playing the British

The British deploy and the Zulus try to close. The British need to keep moving up as more units are following and they don't want to be crowded in.

The British form line

The British move slowly and the rest of the column is coming in with limited space. Both side are rolling and getting one impetus and delaying the inevitable.

The British and ANC form up to slug it out

In a larger view of the field you can see how the British started out. They entered in column and bottled up due to having one impetus, meaning a 10 inch move. They couldn't get all their rifles on the line but did enjoy support in case the Zulus close on them.

The Brits try to move forward

Kyle, my son and one of the Zulu players, declares a charge! He rolled double 6's and got that sinking feeling. His fumbling resulted in a charge so he still got to close. Basically he fumbled and bumbled his way in. I guess it doesn't matter how you get there, just as long as you do.

A charge is declared...Double 6s...and the result is ....a Charge!

The Zulus are moving to support the charge. The British fire has been not been effective so far and the Zulus slowly close. The Zulus finally make contact on turn 3. Jim and Leo had to fight right out of their staging area.

Zulus make progress against the Brits

The British are shaken but stay on the field. The Zulu skirmishers in the rocks take the brunt of British fire and are also shaken but stay on the field. The British have a characteristic called "Steady" and get a re-roll on one failed morale roll and it really made the difference. The British absorbed a lot of what the Zulus could throw at them.

The red markers show shaken units and the white markers show disordered

The Zulu movement on Turn 3. The Left horn made their appearance. Jerry Accord was commanding the left horn and he stayed back. His job was to prevent a crossing at the ford and the British were still tied up with the center formations of the Zulus. Kyle Schulze and Eric Boyle had their hands full as the Zulu commanders of the chest formations. The British columns kept coming in and there were more than originally thought. Joe Krone the out post commander was constantly shifting the machine gun to meet the new threats as they appeared.

At the outpost the Zulus hold waiting for an opportunity

The Zulus in the center cause a British unit to flee the field which opened a gap in the lines. Another British unit begins to waiver. The Zulus appear to be in a strong position and the left horn has not entered yet. When the British begin to fire the Zulu ranks thin and units begin the hit their point of being shaken.

The Zulus defeat a British unit opening a gap but face withering fire

Shaken Zulu units are forced to fall back and British cavalry closes in for support. The Zulu right horn finally appears on turn 4 from the rocks. The British slowly move forward keeping their lines straight and preventing gaps from opening. Their are few units for support. Once again the British ability to re-roll one failed morale roll makes the difference in the battle.

Zulus in the center begin to break

On turn 5 the British must refuse their flank to keep the Zulus from over running the ANC and British units on the exposed flank. Chris Ferich is the Zulu commander for the impi making up the right horn. The first few units made contact but it was slow moving through rough terrain for the Zulus. Units from the center are in disorder and shaken. They need to be rallied but the Zulu commander has more than enough on his plate and can't rally everyone. His priority is to rally the units closest to combat and hopes the right horn will pick up the fight.

The center is broken

The right horn fails to win the melee and most of the units are now shaken. The Zulus must retire and give the British the field. As for the victory conditions the British failed to get any units across the ford but did hold the field. Depending on your view it is either a draw or a Marginal British victory.

The center tries to rally but its not enough and the Zulus leave the field

We finished the game by 10:30 pm so it took about two and a half hours to play about 7 turns. Our club prefers rules that allow us to finish a game in under 4 hours. We typically start playing around 7:30 pm and play until 11-11:30 pm. We like to discuss the difference between rules. We are convinced that Black Powder meets our needs for the periods it covers. Had we played TSATF we probably would not have had a decisive outcome in the alloted time. TSATF takes much longer to play a game of this size, but we still love those rules (Thank you Larry Brom!). Colonial Adventures also comes up in discussion as a really good rules set that can be modified to meet our needs. We are discussing future games for a Flames of War campaign for Operation Market Garden.

5150 Star Wars Second Play Test

2012-01-13T18:17:00.001-05:00

Rules 5150 SA

Figures : 28mm Star Wars

Here is another play test of the new 5150 Star army rules. We played at the Icehouse to make sure we understand the rules and to revise the Jedi force powers.

The object of the game is for either side to capture the houses during their patrol. This is a play test for an upcoming Cold Wars game.

The Clone troopers advance along the river bed with a Jedi leading the way

The clones blew the initiative rolling a 6, so they got off to a slow start. The Sith start fast moving to gain the advantage.

A second Clone trooper squad moves through a field with another Jedi

The fields slow movement to half the distance of a normal move. Fast moving is different as you move 10" then roll for each figure for additional movement. This will easily disperse a squad quickly.

A squad of Separatists are following the Sith

The Sith have the same powers as the Jedi which is deflecting shots, force push We are adding force lightning and force choke for the Sith and Healing for the Jedi for now. Other powers to be added later.

The houses are the objective

We wanted to test some of the building rules in the new 5150 SA rules. Unfortunately most of the combat occurred outside.

Movement is slow going and the Clones struggle through the field at 1/2 movement

The insight checks are similar. Squads move into the open as the seen figures halt after 2" and the remaining figures move 2". As the est of the squad comes into view additional insights are taken. I thought the Clones were toast but most of them made it across unscathed.

The Jedi is spotted as he moves with the markers showing the intended movement

The Jedi moves ahead unafraid as the rest of the squad moves in support. The Jedi deflects all of the shots and finishes the move. The Clones get into a fire fight.

A Clone trooper lags as the rest of the squad makes it with only one trooper stunned

A man down, the clones pick up the wounded man who is only stunned and they duck back behind the building. Previous fast movements left one of the Clones behind, and he pays the price for being slothful.

The solitary trooper is hit and left to die

The sole Clone trooper is dropped as the rest of the squad remains in duck back.

The Jedi deflects the shot with double 4's putting the Droid leader OOF

Shooting at a Jedi can be dangerous. The laser blast hits but the Jedi rolled double 4's against his Rep. The shot hits the shooter putting him OOF. We used reaction tests for the Symons when playing out the Droids reaction tests. They seem to fit perfectly. The Clones used the Star Army tables.

The game was called as the clones were caught in the open. We also ran out of time because we were discussing rules and abilities in between turns. This is turning out to be a promising game.

In addition to abilities we will give the Jedi and Sith Star power. These figures will represent the players so they will be able to cheat death along with other advantages.


The clones are trapped as their Jedi is wounded

The game took about two and a half hours. We took out time, researched the rules and played with different abilities. The game will easily play within 2 hours living up to the rules name sake.

The Icehouse Gaming Area

2012-01-11T17:53:00.001-05:00

If you are close to Delaware and looking for a great place to play a game you need to be here. The Icehouse is located in Newark and is in an industrial park that contains a refrigerated warehouse, hence the name. The site manager is a gamer and is using the empty office space for gaming. He is an imposing figure, but at his core he is a gamer and an all around nice guy. Open gaming hours are typically Sunday 12:00 -5:00 pm and Monday 5:30pm - 9:00 pm so you can bring what you want and play anything. You can find the information at http://www.meetup.com/Icehouse-Warriors/

When I first heard about the place I was a bit skeptical. It is located next to a refrigerated warehouse in an industrial park. I was thinking that the place would be in a run down area in a dark corner of a drafty room. I have worked in too many warehouses and had not relished the idea of playing in an area that reminded me of work. When I arrived I was stunned at what I saw. Lots of room and shelves full of terrain with over a dozen gaming tables. Good lord was I wrong!

The room with the gaming area is well lit and very spacious. The terrain boards are built by Jesse Greene, the manager, and other members of the Icehouse.

The terrain boards can be used for any time period and are well built with lots of detail. This board is about to be used for a Star Wars game in 28mm.

Do you wanna play Malifaux? The terrain is already available. Just bring some figures and a friend and play away.

Here is a board being used for a Flames of War game on the Russian Front. It is better than hauling all of your terrain with you.

Here is another Russian front board. The buildings are 15mm. I have taken my 20mm buildings for use on these boards for skirmish gaming.

Here is some more buildings for FOW games. There are other types of terrain too such as jungle, plains and Northern Africa.

This gaming area is home to tournaments for different rules systems.So if you are interested take a look at the link and give these guys a call. You won't be disappointed.

5150 Star Army Playtest - Star Wars

2012-01-08T12:05:00.001-05:00

Rules 5150 Star Army
Figures 28mm Star Wars

I bought the 5150 Star Army Rules from 2 Hour Wargames as a Christmas Present for my son. We were very interested in the new mechanics and seeing how the game has changed. My son also plans to run a game at Cold Wars using these rules so we need to get familiar with the game.

We decided to keep the game small so he took the Sith with Seperatist Droids and I took the Jedi with clone troopers. We assigned a Rep 5 for the Sith and Jedi and a Rep 5 fire team leader with Rep 4 troops. We are also testing out how to use force powers in the game.

The objective is to secure a platform and prevent the other side from doing the same.

The Jedi with his clone troopers move first and take cover behind a small structure.

The Sith and his droids are fast moving. The rules for fast move are different than the original 5150 rules. We move everyone 10 inches then roll to see how many additional inches they move. The interesting thing is that you must move the number of inches indicated on the dice.

I decided to send the clones to the right and have the Jedi move straight ahead. The clones take cover by the hydroponic farm.

The Sith move normal and close in on the landing pad. I blew my initiative roll giving the Sith the advantage reaching the platform first.

Now we test the powers of the Jedi in the game. I roll and pass 2D6 allowing the Jedi to leap up the side and land in front of the clones. The Jedi declares a charge negating the in sight check. The clones roll slightly better during the charge and are allowed to fire at the Jedi. The first shot hits so now the Jedi gets a chance to deflect the shot. I rolled double 3's. We agreed that rolling doubles in a successful deflection will send the shot back to the firing figure. The shot hits the droid and kills him. The other 2 droids completely miss and the Jedi closes in to melee. The melee rules are slightly different but rolling a 1,2 or 3 still means a success. The result is a tie and the fight continues next round. We forgot to take the man down test for the droids but that's part of play testing. In the second round the Jedi loses as I roll poorly and the result is an Out Of Fight.

The Sith moves into melee and has a much better result than the Jedi. The melee winner is the Sith as he Out Of Fights 2 clone troopers. The day belongs to the Sith. The next play test will be a bit larger with one squad per Jedi and Sith. At Cold Wars we plan to have 6 payers, 3 Jedi and 3 Sith players. The whole game took about 45 minutes so as we add more troops and terrain we are sure to add game length as well.

NUTS - Stalingrad Mission 4

2011-12-23T12:20:00.004-05:00

Rules: NUTS 2.0
Figures: 20mm Ceasar, Battlefield Blitz, HaT, and other 20mm mfgs

The presents are wrapped and the cookies are done. It's time to have some skirmishing fun.

The Stalingrad campaign continues. The Germans need to advance to the other side of the industrial complex then push on to the Volga. The STUG III must not be lost during the advance because of a shortage of armor. The Russians have a certain possibility of reinforcements and the Germans have a strong possibility of receiving support. Lt. Goerling has been assigned a REP5 for the series of exploits during the campaign in Stalingrad. His squad is not at full strength but he did retain his LMG. A second squad is also assigned during this mission. I randomly rolled for the REP of the STUG crew, the commander is a 5 and the rest are a 4, a pretty good crew. I place the PEF's (Possible Enemy Force) but I assign one of them as an ATG which will be determined by the first non-infantry result.

EAL 6
Support 4

The STUG III is idling the engines as the squads get their bearings and decide how to proceed. The Lt will clear the left side and the second squad will clear the right side. To minimize the chance of immobilizing the STUG the assault gun will have to stay in the narrow road and avoid entering the rubble of the factory district.

The second squad's Sgt peers down the road. He is given the all clear to move as no enemy is seen.
Turn 1 : I roll Russian 6, German 5, which could be a problem, but the tank commander is a Rep 5 and activates the second squad.

The view of the roadway, there is some rubble to cause concern. No Russians are seen but to reduce the risk the commander closes the hatch and rolls forward. He is a veteran and lost many friends; the lessons of urban warfare are written in blood. The stench of burning flesh, metal and wood combine for a sickening environment.

Lt Goerling leads his squad through the rubble, fast moving and trying to keep some form of cohesion. He waves his veteran corporal to the right as he moves left. The rubble reduces movement but is a life saving terrain feature. The LMG provides crucial support during the advance. The plan is to put the LMG on over-watch as the rest of the squad moves.

The second squad also splits up as the Sgt moves through the rubble and 3 men follow the assault gun.
There is still no enemy contact until the Sgt moves far enough to see the Russian PEF. The random generation reveals an infantry squad. A fire fight erupts.....

Lt Goerling advances and comes into view of another PEF...the random result reveals a Russian infantry squad with an AT Rifle. A real danger the STUG as it could immobilize it by knocking out a track. The Russian Commissar hits Goerling and he is given an Out Of Fight (OOF) result. Another squaddie is killed out right (a REP 3). The nearby figures pass the receive fire test but completely fail the leader loss roll and retire and hunker down. The closest man grabs the Lt and they scurry back to an abandon building. They are completely shocked; the Lt has survived so many engagements and done so many heroic deeds only to be taken out at the the start of the mission. The squad panics and doesn't know what to do, they need rallied!

The results of the second squad fair better as the Russians missed, the Germans pass the receive fire check and score several hits. The assault gun moved forward in support as the squad advances. The STUG commander purposely lets the infantry advance first to make contact. The fear of ATG's and assaults creates caution and the vehicle moves slowly as the crew just negotiated rubble in the road.

The STUG fires then moves after suppressing the Russian infantry. There were 2 stunned and one killed. The Russians realize they are out gunned and fall back.

The STUG advances too far and is spotted by the remaining PEF, it is the ATG. A gun dual begins as loaders keep pace with the action. The STUG has hull down status since a pile of rubble and a partial wall give cover. The StuG gunner is the first to score a hit as 2 crew man are OOF and 2 are stunned. The ATG did score 2 hull hits but the hull down status saved the AFV from a fiery fate.

The ATG and surviving infantry can be seen hiding in the rubble. The STUG's main gun firing. The bow MG can not fire because it is hull down.

The Russians here the AFV and fail the fast move roll, but they prepare for an assault. They know the Germans they were facing ran away. They keep part of the squad on watch in case the German infantry come back. Most are drawn to the AFV. The Sgt from second squad moves to the first squad position since he sees them falter and fall back.

The Germans are rallied by the Sgt from second squad, he fast moves and makes it to the hunkered down squad, and on the next activation the Germans move up for revenge. The commissar rolled double 1's with his pistol and he's out of ammo. The Russian grunt misses as well. The German's return fire and kill the Commisar and wound the grunt. The Sgt scored double 6s with the SMG and rolled a result of 1, killing the Russian commander. The Russian squad is forced to Duck back and the position opens up.

Meanwhile the second squad, lead by a Corporal, advances and melees the stunned crew and infantry. The position is finally taken but with a high cost. Two are killed and one ducks back as they pop up to fire by a few remaining infantry protecting the ATG.

During the Russian activation the ATR (REP 4) peeks out, there is no one to spot him and he takes aim and fires. If he hits there is a good chance of damaging the STUG from the flank. He won't get another opportunity like this.

He rolls a 5 and a 6; both die fail to create a hit as they exceed his REP. The shot sails harmlessly past the AFV. He now has to spend an activation to reload.

On the next activation the STUG moves and spots the ATR in the rubble. The AFV fires and OOFs the threat. The Germans receive a MK III in support, a 7 was rolled and the support level and random reinforcements yields another AFV. The Russian's lose heart and fall back. The sector that the Lt was to clear has been cleared but with a high cost.

The sector assigned to the second squad has also been cleared. Mop up operations begin as the AFV's roll through the complex. The ATG was eliminated and the supporting Russian infantry was killed off. No quarter is being given as the struggle for Stalingrad grows desperate. It is late October and food is becoming scarce.

The Lt is attended to and then removed from the rubble. He is taken to the airfield to be airlifted from the city. He will spend months in recovery and hears about the fall of the 6th army from a radio broadcast. He spends some time at home to visit family in a small town outside of Hanover. His exploits are widely reported in the media, assaulting MG positions, an armored car and leading his squad to victory. He is reassigned to the 2nd SS Panzer division because of his bravery and man power shortages. He takes the train to a small village in Russia and meets up with his new command. The story continues....

NUTS - Stalingrad Mission 3

2011-12-14T19:30:00.003-05:00

Rules: NUTS 2.0
Figures: 20mm many different mfgs.

Lt Goerling has rested and received reinforcements (All REP 3) to bring his squad to full compliment. He was awarded an infantry assault badge and an Iron Cross for his actions in hand to hand combat. He has now received another Recon Mission. Since he discovered an armored car in the sector his squad was given mines to deal with the new threat. Sgt Klein has also shown bravery leading his team against the MG nest.

EAL 5
Support - 1

With a support level of 1 there is very little chance that Lt Goerling will receive any help. Things are going bad across the entire front as the Russians are fanatically defending the factory district. The EAL of 5 means a very real chance of Russians swarming into the battle.

The German squad starts in the ruins and is ordered to recon north through the rubble of a housing district. The Lt is facing north and the Sgt is facing east to watch for Russian infantry thought to be advancing in their direction. Activation: German 2 Russian 6, the Lt wastes no time advancing. The Lt splits apart the squad to check out the building from opposite sides.

The next activation German 3 Russian 5. The Lt fast moves with the MG and one of the new replacements. Sgt Klein advances quickly and looks inside from the opposite side. A reinforcement results in a vehicle, a BA10 armored car hiding in the building. The Russians have yet to move.

The BA10 fires the bow MG and the co-axial MG resulting in an OOF for a REP 3 soldier. The cover saves the rest of the squad from being shot to pieces. Lt Goerling rolls a charge test and the "Who wants to be a Hero" test. He passes both and places the mine on the BA10 from the rear and is not seen. Sgt Klein is forced to duck back taking the wounded man with him. They are out-gunned.

The BA10 explodes and all inside are lost. The Germans seem to be having an easy time of checking out the sector. On the next initiative both sides roll a 3 and a special event yields no surprises.

The next activation: German 1 Russian 2, the Russian PEFs begin to close in after hearing the explosion.

The Germans advance to the blown out windows, Sgt Klein sees a Russian infantry squad moving to his position and enters his field of fire.

The roll for the reinforcements reveals a REP 5 leader with an SMG leading the squad.

The Russians are placed on each side of the road and a firefight erupts.

Sgt Klein and his fore team are forced to duck back into the rubble when another man falls. They did do some damage of their own. Lt Goerling was stunned and falls his men rush to his aid and drag him back from the accurate fire.

One Russian is dead and another is wounded, some of the Russians who were 4 inches from the fallen duck back. The rest of the Russians hold their ground being outside the 4 inches when receiving fire.

The Russians win the next initiative and fast move to firing positions. The Germans are still in duck back and the advance goes unchecked. Sgt Klein's section rushed forward once more and another fight ensues.

The Germans are shot to pieces. Sgt Klein is killed and most of his section is wounded. Lt Goerling retreats with his section and has no time to recover the wounded o r the dead. The Russians got the best of the Germans.

The only survivors of a 10 man squad. The Lt did well but his squad was decimated. The Russian leader (REP 5) and his SMG were the turning point. Rolling 5s and 6s in each burst he killed everything he shot at when he received fire and when giving active fire.

NUTS - Stalingrad Mission 2

2011-12-11T17:00:00.001-05:00

Rules: NUTS 2.0
Figures: 20mm many different mfgs

Lt Goerling was called back to HQ. His squad was given orders to recon the buildings on the outskirts of the factory district. The Germans are huddled together on the left side of the board. They need to move fast across the road and enter the factory ruins. The orders are to see the enemy strength in the next building.

Once again the Germans split into two groups. The Sgt moves up the middle and Lt Goerling enters from the flank. The single Russian figure is a PEF (possible enemy force) who is about to be spotted.

The contact table reveals a Russian squad of militia. Once again the Lt faces dug in factory workers and civilians. This tome the Russians pass their insight test. A firefight ensues with casualties ecalating on both sides.

In an aerial view the Russians can be seen holding onto the pile of rubble in the bottom right corner of the building. The Lt is working his way around the building at the top and is forced to duck back. The Sgt's fire team is taking casualties and he is forced to duck back. The Russian riflemen also duck back as SMGs fire away at close range.

The Germans gain the initiative with a roll of 4 and the Russians roll a 6 for turn 3. They catch the russians from behind and active fire since the Russians can not take an insight check. The rest of the Russian squad has ducked back into a different section of the factory.

The Russians fail to activate again and the Germans enter in hand to hand combat. The Lt leads the charge trying for glory and a medal from the little corporal himself. The Sgt regroups and moves in again but is facing fire from the militia. More of the Sgt's section begin to fall and even the Sgt is stunned and falls back down the pile of rubble as an LMG chatters away at him.

Another aerial view shows the mounting casualties. This actions is much more difficult as the militia has to be taken out in a melee. The Sgt lies stunned and is mad that he forgot to throw grenades before rushing in. A real rookie mistake.

The Russians finally regain initiative and a PEF enters in from the top of the board. The resulting reinforcement roll reveals an armored car. The radio operator fires the MG but misses and the gunner fires at the Germans holding the pile of rubble. The Lt is completely taken by surprise. The shot falls short but the explosion manages to stun another German. The armored car's loader fails to reload (double 6's) as the car sits scanning for more targets.

Goerling has had enough and decides to recover his wounded and haul ass back across the street using the rubble as cover. The five remaining Germans drag the four wounded soldiers as the Russians again fail to activate two more turns.

The wounded and dying are left behind but the Russians held on until help arrived.

The armored car finally activates and turns around but the Germans are long gone. The militia wait patiently before moving out to pick up their fallen comrades.

The Germans need rest and recovery since half of the squad was wounded. A medic would have been a great help. Although the Germans have secured the sector they occupy the appearance of an armored car was a real shock. Time to call in some help from the Pioneers or a STUG unit. Well there are definitely Russians in the area and they have support.

The game played in about 2 hours and took 9 turns. I did not roll any 7's to generate reinforcements and the Russians failed a lot of activation rolls. The REP 3 militia are very unpredictable but that makes the game even more fun.

Stalingrad - Recon Patrol

2011-12-10T22:03:00.003-05:00

EAL - 3
Support - 1
PEF - 4
No Privation
Day 1 Recon Mission

The weekend is here and most of the club players are getting ready for the holidays. I have some free time and decided to play a quick solo game. A game of NUTS will help meet the need to play something. I have decided to play a mini campaign of 4 scenarios using NUTS and Clash of the Titans from 2 hour war games, a favorite rules set.

A German infantry squad of 10 men is lead by Lt. Goerling (Rep 4). The Lt keeps the squad spread out. The mission is to recon the next building for Russian troops. Militia and infantry are suspected to be scrounging in the area. The German squad is a mix of Rep 3 and 4 figures and all militia are Rep 3.

The Lt promptly splits the squad into 2 groups. The possible enemy forces (PEF) move about the rubble. Finally the militia PEF settles into the building that is about to be searched by Lt Goerling. A Sgt takes a team to the right while the Lt moves into the center. The 2 groups spot the possible enemy force through the rubble. A roll on the contact table reveals an enemy force of militia. The militia take the insight test and roll double 6's. The inexperience troops freeze in place.

The Germans take the initiative and active fire at the untrained mob of infantry. Rifle fire is mostly inaccurate as the rubble is used extensively by the Russian workers. A shot then finds its mark and a figure is out of fight (OOF). A man down and received fire is completed for the Russians who surprisingly hold their ground. The Russians return fire (snap fire) and score a hit and a soldier of the Wehrmacht goes down (OOF). There are 2 groups of Germans so each of the Russians can only react to one group lead by the Lt or the other group lead by the Sgt. The Germans pass their man down and receive fire check and kill another Russian. The Russians roll 6's when checking the Received fire but pass the Man down, the worse result is applied.

When the firing stops two Russians and one German lie motionless in the rubble and dirt. The Russians lost two militia troops ( Rep 3) but the Germans lost a veteran soldier (Rep 4). The firefight was quick with a definitive outcome. The tactics of splitting up the squad into two groups was very effective and made the difference.

The Russians retire 12" and Hunker down. The run from the building and across the street and hide in the next building. The Germans continue to advance slowly. They decide not to fast move. Half of the squad moves up the side of the building and look around the corner. The Sgt and another soldier see an LMG team as another PEF is spotted and the contact table reveals more Russians. Both the Sgt and the private unload on the gunner scoring an OOF, the remaining 2 Russians take a receive fire check and fail miserably so retire and hunker down with the militia. No other PEFs exist on the board.

The Russians are broken and hiding in the rubble nearby. There are no other leaders to rally them. Confusion and panic have gripped the Russian forces as the Germans advance from 2 sides.

The Lt seizes the initiative and quickly closes in on the Russians. These Russians are not fanatical troops and they surrender. The Lt has completed his mission and captured a lot of Russians. He has gone over and above the mission requirements. Then again, he has not run into any of the Russian guard units.

The squad has lost one man but accomplished the mission. A replacement has been requested so the squad can remain effective, but new recruits are hard to come by and they don't last very long. The Lt did such a great job and the platoon's captain is being asked for more of the same results. Another recon mission is planned for tomorrow since the squad has reached the outer edge of a factory district. Somewhere a Russian Commissar is furious and calls for a squad of Red Guards or NKVD to bolster the line. A few summary executions among the line troops will surely stiffen resistance.

The whole game took 90 minutes, because I haven't played in a while and had to read up on some of the tables. Now to find time on Sunday to play another game; I need to shop for a Christmas tree and start decorating.

Tomorrows War

2011-11-21T23:19:00.021-05:00

Rules: Tomorrow's War
Host: Jerry Acord
Figures: 28mm Rackham AT 43
Location: Icehouse

We play tested the rules and wanted to use armor as well as infantry. The rules are very similar to Force on Force and easy to remember when you understand the number and type of dice you need. Repetition is key to understanding most rules and that means we need to play as often as possible. The rules are based on fire teams. Each side rolls initiative, the winner declares actions (Move & fire) and the defender then reacts by firing or moving. When all of the fire teams for both sides have moved or fired then the turn ends. LOS is center of team to center of team.
In the first turn the Communist Forces entered the board. The idea was for the Communists to exit the other side of the board as quickly as possible.

The opposing forces are the Foreign Legion of the Republican Forces. The initial defense involved a blocking force at a key cross roads. The defenders were lightly armed with little support. They had a D8 quality and had AT capability. Gaining initiative is crucial to success.

The communists are making use of any cover they can find during the advance. They have a D8 quality and basic armor (2D8). Each fire team has a SAW and an RPG giving extra D8 for firepower purposes.

Several Mechs enter the board with supporting infantry and the Republican forces seemed outmatched. The fire teams all have AT ability rolling 3D8 vs 3D10 armor...hard to kill but still a chance.

The legionnaires take heavy casualties and can't seem to get the initiative in the reaction of opposing the movement of the communists. The Reds have an impressive armored assault. Advances are made across the entire front but how long will their luck hold out.

The last few Republican forces are holding on to a small corner of the the board. It looks like the Reds are going to have an easy go of it. The defenders were swept from the crossroads; the Red armor support was too much for them. Now the Reds need to move quickly to the exit point.

A heavy battle mech looms in the background as the last of the republican forces are mopped up...but a call goes out for support. Armor was rolling 8D8 when attacking. The main gun and MGs were very effective. A distant rumble past the trees reveals a Republican heavy infantry unit with armor support to stop the Red menace.

Uh Oh...The mech emerges from the woods and erupts in flame as it receives fire from the heavy mech. The armored infantry moves from the woods and damages then destroys the Red mech. The Communist forces are flanked by elite units. Then all goes terribly wrong for the Reds. The Commie heavy tank loses optics and then a main gun. In the end it was only rolling 2D8 vs 6D10 armor....as you can guess it did not last long after.

One of the Red's mechs makes a dash for the exit...but then gets recalled from HQ. An initiative result of "1" means a Fog of War Card is read resulting in recall orders...damn the luck. This particular mech had to turn around and go back. He won't be any help toward a victory for the communists this game.

Falling from the sky Republican jump troops land behind the Red forces....and the Red force is destroyed in short order on the left flank. The Reds realize they can not advance any further and must turn back.

The game lasted about 2 1/2 hours with several pauses for rules clarifications. Once you understand the basics of how many dice you get the game moves very quickly.

I recommend these rules for anyone looking for anyone looking for a fast paced game under 4 hours of play time. The fact that the are based on Force on Force is also helpful if you want to expand a core set of club rules to include several genres.

Boxer Rebellion

2010-04-10T23:56:00.011-04:00

We played a Boxer Rebellion game using the rules from 2 hour wargames called Colonial Adventures. The formations are 20 figure units and the game is based on rolling D6.

The game had Colonial forces consisting of 2 units of French Marines, 2 Units of Italian Bersaglieri, 1 unit of American marines with a Colt machine gun, 1 unit of Russian sailors and a unit of Russian Cavalry.

The Chinese had 2 units of Chinese Imperial infantry, 2 units of Kansu Braves, 1 unit of Tiger men, 1 Unit of Cavalry, 2 Artillery pieces, 2 Jingal crews and 3 units of peasant mobs.

The goal of the Chinese forces was to destroy the rail line running to a major port being used to shuttle supplies and forces into China.

The Chinese and Allied players rolled for initiative and the Chinese activated while the Allies stalled. Seizing the initiative the Chinese began to quick move towards the rail line and get a jump on the Allies.

The Allies begin to move into position and the Chinese commanders ponder their next move. Initiative is very different as you may not be able to activate all of your units. If you roll poorly you may not be able to move any of your units. units with higher reputations have a better chance of activating.

A unit of Tiger men reach the rail spur but a unit of US marines and Russian cavalry try to halt them on the Allied left flank. The Tiger men are a ferocious unit and are very difficult to beat in hand to hand combat.

The Italians (shown below) on the right flank deploy in open order as Kansu braves decide to meet them shot for shot before closing in.

The Italians are holding their own but a unit of cavalry are trying to flank them. Flank attacks can cause an entire unit to run away if the reaction roll result is too low.

The Italians begin to run low on ammunition, and lose a D6 in their fire combat dice roll. The pack mule with the ammunition has not made it to the from line yet. It takes and action to resupply. Each fire combat may continue result in multiple low ammunition. The more low ammo results the more fire dice you lose so supply is very important.

Mean while the French marines (below) are holding the center line as 2 units of screaming Chinese rush toward them. Their fire proves ineffective as the mobs move towards them for close fighting. Volley fire can cause units to break more easily.

The French marines begin to be pushed back as the hordes of peasants hit them. The Chinese believe they are impervious to the rifle fire and close for the kill. The French decide not to withdraw and hold the line.

Meanwhile on the Allied left the US Marines are locked in combat for survival as the Tiger men try to rid their country of the foreign devils. The Tiger men closed and gave the Marines a very close call; they were in need of help.

The Americans are fighting for survival and may be overrun. Soon the hear the Russian infantry advance behind them. The Russians have a Rep. 4 and their approach has been slower then the Marines (Rep. 5). They are also escorting an ammunition train as the pack mule represents a chance to resupply.

A close up of Old Glory as the Americans get a chance to reform. Imperial rifles are in the distance with the yellow flag.

The center is being held by the French but just barely. A lot of French have fallen in the defense of the rail line.

Eventually a unit of Chinese did make it to the rail line anf did destroy a section of track. Delays in supplies and reinforcements caused the Allied Powers to pause in their pursuit of the Boxer menace.

The players enjoyed the pace and some of the mechanics of the game. These rules challenge you abilities as they do not follow the same mechanics of more traditional rules sets, like the Sword and the Flame. Units react to opposing forces moving within 12 inches of their position or if they are charged. After the first couple turns we were all comfortable with the mechanics of the system. We did make some mistakes, especially involving melee, and movement of troops. The more you play the rules the easier the system becomes.

2009-02-17T20:38:00.013-05:00

Star Wars : Clone Wars
Rules: Modified Star Grunt II
Figures : WOC
4 players.

The game involved the clones attacking the Seperatist Droid army who was harboring a Viceroy.

The Clones had to advance with 2 squads, 1 command squad, 1 commando squad, 6 speeder bikes and 2 Jedi. The droid army had battle droids, super battle droids, spider droids and 2 assassin droids as snipers. There was one Sith preset on the field to counter the Jedi threat. The Viceroy was hidden in a bunker complex with a personal guard.

The Clones launched rockets against the 2 vehicles, destroying the walker tank and advanced while firing. The droid missile vehicle fired and the Clones took light casualties. Battle droids and snipers began returning fire.

The Clones advanced and the first Jedi was impatient and jumped into the first battle droid squad. Several droids fell back in disarray. The clones tried to take the momentum and pushed forward. The Jedi pushed too far ahead and was soon isolated.

Suddenly the lone Sith took an aggressive stance and attacked the Jedi, pushing him back. Amid lasers and rockets the Sith pushed forward.

The Sith then rushed forward to engage the first Clone squad. Deflecting shots she jumps into the formation killing and wounding all.

She then retreated behind the wall to defend herself from the lasers and explosion. The the droids fire several squads at the wounded Jedi...he fell trying to hold off the droid onslaught.

The remaing Clone forces pushed ahead. The commandos fought to secure the shuttle pad while speeder bikes flew ahead and thinned out or suppressed the frontline droid squads.

Eventually the defenders proved too much for the attackers.

The rules are very good and depend on die shifts as combat modifiers. I am currently working on modiying them for WWII.

Macedonians and Persians and Welcome Burt

2009-02-02T19:56:00.008-05:00

Rules : Fire and Fury (Ancients Variant)
Hosted by Jim Carpenter
Played January 30, 2009
Figures: Essex and Old Glory 15mm
Based : As per DBA

The game consisted of a sizable Macedonian force facing off against a large Persian army contingent.

Greek Phalanx, Persians , Macedonian and Thessalian cavalry faced off against one another .

The Persians placed their heavy infantry (Greeks) in the center rear. The light and medium troops were placed forward center and to the right flank. A token Persian light cavalry unit was placed forward right and scythed chariots were placed in a hidden position on the far right. The Persian left consisted of medium and heavy cavalry.

The Macedonians placed most of their cavalry on their left flank. The phalanxes were center an to the right. Light and medium troops filled out the center .

We realized quickly that the phalanxes moved at a very slow pace.
6 inches at the most, medium and light infantry moved at 9 and 12 inched respectively. The phalanxes were quickly outpaced on both sides.Heavy cavalry on the Persian left clash against Macedonian and Greek formations. Heavy cavalry proved quite valuable in this set of rules for both commanders.

About one hour into the game the heavy fighting began. We learned a long time ago to set up opposing forces close enough to get into the fighting quickly, we only have a 4 hour window.

The Macedonians are aas good as an armored column in modern combat. Light and medium troops struggled.

A broad shot of the battlefield shows the scope and size of the battle. Many of the group were familiar with Fire and Fury which helped the game move along.

There were many units on the field but maneuvering was not a problem. This is the sign of a great game.

The Persian left struggled but their right flank made progress.
About 2/3 through the game some Macedonian units took severe casualties. Like most games t helps when you roll well.

Macedonians and Thessalian cavalry progressed quickly across the field.

The white markers denote disordered troops. Disordered troops can slow movement and have negative combat modifiers.

Persian troops advance as they steadily gain ground but were ground down as they faced fresh Macedonian reserves.

Light Persian cavalry face off against heavy Macedonian infantry....the result wasn't pretty.

In the end the Persians did fare better than the Macedonians. A very close game. Our newest member, Burt, played his first ancients game. He seemed to really enjoy the game and hopefully he will be a regular player.

2009-01-05T18:25:00.008-05:00

So far I have completed 11 Plasticville buildings. I added interior walls for room to room conflict. As I stated in the last post I went to a train show that had a flea market. Most of the buildings cost $1.00 - $2.00 because they had cracks or missing pieces.

I still have a city hall, airport and riverfront dock/pier to complete, but I am getting tired of gluing and assembling.
The soda machines and news paper stands are paper down loads from various web sites.

This is a street level shot. When I add cars, trucks and trees it will look very different. I just wanted to get an inventory of what was finished.

Here is a shot of the Diner and Robotic Shop. Adding vehicles will help the gaming experience.

I added interior details such as floors, wall paper and I even found a bathroom set to scale. These I bought for $0.50 a piece but they are a real pain to cut and fit.

I used 2 different styles of grass mats to mix up the look.

I am hoping to use this for some Sci-Fi or Zombie games. Hopefully these will get to see the table at a convention soon.

O scale buildings

2008-11-26T22:30:00.009-05:00

I have always wanted to build a modern town in a larger scale. The problem is that resin buildings are too expensive and my modeling skills are minimal.

So I went to the local train show and found the answer. Plasticville structures on sale for cheap...dirt cheap. I picked up 10 buildings for $1.00 each. I then purchased foam mats for $0.50 each and some scrap book paper for $0.50 a sheet.

A little paint and inspiration and the town started taking shape.
I also went to Michael's craft store to find sheets of grass which I glued to the foam. The one problem I found is the dreaded warping effect. I plan to use terrain pieces, like mail boxes and pone booths to weigh dowm some of the problem areas.

I wanted the slum look to the town so it had a post apocalyptic look. I used scrap light bulb packaging for the corrugated metal look. Not every business succeeds so I decided to clos a few shops. I guess the Happy Days are behind us!

This abandon building was fun to do and makes a good hard point position against any foe. The building had many broken parts so I used additional pieces to show a run down look which also hid the broken parts.

The combination adult book store and free clinic was another fun building to do.
This makes another fun building to fight over.

The interior was also simple. I used scrap balsa wood for interior walls so some room to room fighting could take place. I used scrap book paper for flooring. It takes about two nights to complete a building and base. The side walk is painted to save time and material.

Currently HBO is constantly running Sweeny Todd, so the name for the food stand became quite obvious. A dollar well spent in my opinion.
The meat pie stand took no time at all to finish.

Behind the diner I placed some old wrecks. I also used a different type of grass mat for that uncut look. I have a few more buildings to go, I am currently working on the Oppenheimer robotics building. Cyborgs need a home too.

After these buildings are done I plan to start HO buildings I picked up for an Eastern Russia game in 20mm.

Rourke's Drift

2008-04-28T20:28:00.019-04:00

Rules : The Sword and the Flame
Scale: 25mm
Host Jim Ferich

Truly a classic battle as a few British soldiers hold off the Zulu nation. The game was played with 8 man units which helps players from cluttering up large numbers of figures in a small space. The Zulu goal was to capture or burn the hospital and capture the storage building.

The thin red line holds fast as chants of ZUUULUUU are heard in the distance

As the British set up to cover all the areas of approach. They did not know the initial entry was condensed to one area of the board.

The barriers help keep the Zulus at bay so they do not overrun the British. Any melee modifier is welcomed.

Here come the natives, the Zulus enter and start to take casualties as only they can. The first wave hits the Brits, additional waves wait for their turn.

The Zulus close fast so they can melee before taking too many casualties.

Some units falter and leave before making contact.

The 8 man units keeps the battle spread out and easy to play.

The Zulus round the corner only to be met by a devastating volley. No worries, there are thousands more in the wings.

Zulus finally close on the Brits, the stone wall has less protection than other areas.

The Zulus break through the defenses after slaughtering the wounded.

Zulus are also approaching the hospital with a meager defense. Most of the Brits are fending off the natives around the store room.

A few defenders fire from the roof as the Zulus run over the undefended walls. The British are in disarray as they are getting hit from all sides.

Here come more Zulus pouring through looking for anything wearing red. Note the last stand of Bromhead....poor bloke. It looks like another rough day for the 24th.

Truly a bad day as the stores are being overrun, perhaps the Brits should get inside?

There are just too many of 'em and the defenses have fallen apart.

Knock , knock.....who's there?

The Zulus start to swarm the lightly defended hospital. The defenders desperately try to hold off and avoid a terrible fate.

The fighting is getting into close quarters. The wounded and sick await their fate.

Over by the storeroom a firing line forms to buy time...it is too little too late.

A top view of the hospital....the Zulus did well in this game.

A very popular game with the club, everyone had fun. important to note that the second wave of Zulus never came on as it was getting late. We finished the game in about 4 hours.

Normandy Breakout

2008-03-23T18:19:00.022-04:00

Host: Jim and Chris Ferich
Rules: Flames of War
Scale: 15mm
Game Length: 4.5 hours
Objective: The British were to exit as many units as possible off of the opposite edge.

On Saturday 3/22/08 a game was played on a 6'x6' playing surface. The game consisted of German Fallschirmjaegers and SS holding off British infantry and armor units breaking out around Caen. The Germans were veteran units that set up hidden across the board, and had the support of a company of Tiger Tanks.
As you can see the game board consisted mostly of bocage with narrow roads leading out of the town. There were a few hills that were used by German mortars and tanks to fire long range harassing fire. The bocage rules in FoW make movement very difficult, infantry had to stop when reaching it and could then pass through the next turn. Tracked vehicles were in danger of bogging down and exposing the vulnerable under carriage to enemy fire.
Germans were secretly deployed in the fields waiting to ambush the advancing British forces.

The beautifully painted town was a focal point of the British advance. The Gemans did not deploy in the town, bu the British player did not know where the German deployment zone was located.

The British enter and deploy mortars and Sexton SPG's to lend support to the upcoming advance. Since there were no targets, the artillery sat idle until recon units arrived to find targets. The British have established a rather large support group. They deployed behind the town fearing the possibility of urban combat. The biggest worry to the British is the thought of dealing with Germans in the hedgerows. Hopefully the artillery would be the great equalizer.

British recon units begin to enter the town. They have a special ability allowing them to see hidden units in an 8" range. These prove extremely useful in uncovering enemy units lying in wait. Without these troops the British casualties would quickly mount.

These units made it safely through the town after thoroughly inspecting each town section. The British player was wondering what was on the other side of town.

German Fallschirmjaegers open fire on advancing British Troops.

German paratroopers guarding the left flank attack, they inflicted light casualties. Stuart tanks lend support, even these light tanks are a threat as the Germans had little anti-tank capability.

The British recon arrive a little too late to uncover the ambush but their machine gun support and artillery spotting ability make up for their late arrival. The Germans are really up against it.

(Note - These are the same figures appearing in the Flames of War supplement.... these are fantastic to look at and are really inspiring.)

Action on the British left.

The British that advanced on the left flank opposite the town had open ground to cover. The Achilles tank destroyers gave the British some comfort knowing that a company of Tiger tanks were roaming the field. The lethality of the Tiger was evident as British armor suffered from long range fire. British armor approaches a farmhouse.

British reinforcements arrive and stack up along the road. If there were only a Stuka provided the British may not have been so bold.

The reinforcements arrived by company, every turn added a D6, for every die roll grater than or equal to 5 the British could bring in a company. Unfortunately for the British most of the results were lower than needed and the companies entered piecemeal.

Sherman tanks start to brew up from long range shots. The Firefly is still out of range to counter the Tiger tank threat. The British press forward to close the attack.

German paratroopers take casualties as British troops press on. The Germans are forced back to a second line of defense as they also dish out fire and take a few Tommies with them.
British armor scoots around to the road and are trying to find more hidden Germans waiting in ambush.

Sextons wait in a field waiting for a target to be called in.

Germans line the road and try to halt the armor by any means

The lightly armored recon units suffer from a hidden recoiless rifle...definitely a cheap (cheat?) shot.

The British are running out of time.

The town is stacking up with armor for the final push.

Anti tank guns are brought in to try and help break out.

The British attempt to double move but the Germans bring the Tiger company to bear on the column.

Time has run out ...the game was very close, but the Germans held out.

Army of Epirus continued

2008-03-12T21:19:00.007-04:00

I have just completed painting the Macedonian phalanx and light troops. I then based them on steel bases. Each figure has a 20mm X 20mm base, but I have used 20x60 and 20x 40 so units will be easier to move for the WAB rules.

As you can see the shields are plain with little to no embellishment, I am not that talented to attempt a shield design. Now to find out who has the best range of 20mm shield decals.

The figures cost about $7.00 a box with 40-50 figures per box. The steel bases cost $3.75 per pack. This a very cheap alternative to metal figures. I returned from Cold Wars with a few 25mm metal figures, the costs hover around $3.00 per figure depending on the manufacturer. Doing a skirmish game in 25mm is not too bad if you stay with a limited number of figures. Ancient battles in 25 mm is way out of my price range, and I don't care for 15mm ancients, so the 20mm plastics are a good alternative. Te steel bases will help give weight to the figures. I did try wood and plastic bases, but the figures fall over too easily and are too light. It just feels wrong.

A closer look at the Zvezda range of Macedonian infantry

At Cold Wars I picked up Thessalian Cavalry and Mercenary Greeks from HaT for $12.00 and Republican Romans from Zvezda for $7.00 which helped stretch the dollar. The only problem with the Greeks is that no weapons are supplied, so I must now be creative.

I also managed to finish some of the Macedonian cavalry from Zvezda, they really have set a high bar for the rest of the manufacturers to follow.

Here you can see the Macedonian cavalry. I thought these to be very high quality for plastic figures.

These will be part of a 8 or 10 figure unit. I can only imagine the size of the army this time next year. I have a tendency to burn out on figures and ranges. I thought that if I paint a little every week, and take my time, it will help me keep my pace and stay focused. I am wanting to collect figures for conflicts in modern Africa.

Well until next time.

WAB - Arthurian Battle

2008-03-01T11:44:00.017-05:00

Rules: WAB - Authurian Supplement
Miniatures: Old Glory, Gripping Beast and Foundry
Host Jack Pope
Game length: 7 turns
Played 2/22/08

The lay out of the battlefield before the game... the livestock is a nice touch.

The battle field put two opposing forces advancing toward each other for control of a watch tower (the main objective) and a town (secondary objective). The table is 6'x12' and we always try to use s much of it as possible. We had 3 players per side with Jack hosting and acting as umpire.

The figures were panted in Sri Lanka and by Jack. As you can see by these close up pictures they are exceptional by anyone's standard. I could never hope to come close to this kind of quality. The bases are from Litko, Jack has spared no expense in his collection. It made the game much more fun to play. I have never had a desire to collect this period...yet. Our club is diverse enough that we can play almost any period twice a month with no repeat games. We are fortunate, we lucky few.

A kit bashed Warhammer fantasy standard looks great in the ranks of the ancients. You never know where the good ideas come from.

The battle was set in England after the Romans had left. This involved two very distinct troops, those who fought with strong Roman influence, and those who had a war band mentality in their fighting style. The war band troops were a bit unpredictable as there was a chance every turn that they would charge uncontrolled at the closest enemy. The randomness of discipline meant that you do not have complete control over your troops. Your best plans would be soon discarded when the combat started.

The Roman style troops led by Ambosius advance with a screen of archers and light troops. The heroes Crisius, Sextus and the priest Cassius lead the way. This is the left flank of the army, they had solid leadership and morale and proved to be a tough opponent. The right flank had allies that fought in a war band style.

You can see he WAB style formations, these rules are very popular with the club. The supplements do a great job explaining the details of each unit type.

The two forces approach each other at the top of the hill.

By turn 3 the two sides started closing in. There was the customary opening volley of arrows and spears in a "getting to know you" game turn. Casualties were very light as most archer units had 8 or 9 figures firing, there was not enough missile weapons to sway the battle in either direction. It was very clear that we had to close and kill; with minimal dancing around the table. All we had to do was find an opponent and start the melee sequence.

The cavalry were placed on both wings of each army. These units played important roles as infantry had to be careful of their flanks. Infantry was kept in check and could not advance too far.

On the Roman right flank the cavalry maneuvered around the town to hit the enemy from an enfilade position. A large cavalry battle ensued with a Roman victory. But the fate of the town remained in doubt.

The fight through the town was brutal....urban warfare never changes!

The forces opposing the Roman troops fought well, but the generals and heroes were used to force the issue. We did forget that the general and heroes were soon out of command range of the units in the center....oops. This caused the Roman allies in the center to quickly flee. The war bands fighting the Roman center were victorious when they committed their king to the battle, he killed a lot of Roman allies that day. At this point the Roman/Brit flanks were stable but the center was lost. The war bands soon seized the watchtower... it was a see-saw battle and anybody could win it..(except me as my units routed with poor leadership!). The Roman/Brits were in trouble as the war bands charged the Roman/Brit center to secure a victory. It was amazing to see a unit lose very few troops , and run from the field. Leadership is the key to this game.

The Roman/British army give one last charge...but fall short!

The game was a very close one, a very balanced scenario. The game lasted about 3 hours and took 7 turns exactly. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed the game and it was an inspiration for me to start painting more figures, (I have been working on Macedonians from Zvezda). As I do not play these rules frequently I did rely on the others for help... yes we even help the opponents. Our next game is postponed due to Cold Wars.... I hope I can make it. There is also a Ground Zero Games convention on March 1st , we have a few members going to that one as well.

Here is the overview of the battle.....oh the humanity!

Well off to Cold Wars!

1815 - New England Rebellion

2008-02-10T16:12:00.000-05:00

RULES: Fire and Fury
Scale: 15mm
Figures: Old Glory
Hosted by Jim Carpenter
The game was played on Friday 2/8/08 and we had 9 people show up for the game. The battle was a fictitious battle in a fictitious war. We played the first Civil War in 1815 in which New England decided to break away from the United States. They were supported by British and Canadian forces. The rebels set up defenses outside of Hartford Connecticut and decided to hold off approaching Federal troops led by Ole' Hickory himself, Andrew Jackson. The Federal troops approached from two roads from the south and consisted of troops from Kentucky, Tennessee as well as the regular army. There was a mix of veteran and militia armed with muskets and rifles. There was support in the form of 6lb guns and cavalry. The rebels were mostly green troops of militia quality supported by British and Canadian regulars. They also had artillery support and were entrenched waiting for the approaching government troops. Federal troops steadily advanced to the defenses and began to fire to soften up the defenses. The Federals had a distinct advantage as they had rifles instead of smooth bore muskets. Casualties were light on both sides as the exchanges went on for a few turns.The defenders remained static for as long as they could, waiting for reinforcements. The defenders enjoyed modifiers making it difficult to to hit them and giving them a favorable ground advantage for the upcoming hand to hand combat. Here the rebels troops can be seen exchanging fire with the federal troops in open field. Their veteran status of the federal troops gave them a slight advantage. In a wider shot of the battle you can see the rebel set up, reinforcements are staged in a town behind the battle. Canadian and rebel troops advance to the center in an attempt to halt the advancing enemy. British cavalry an be seen moving along the tree line trying to get to the flank in support. The red markers show disordered units that have already been engaged. As you can see the rebels had good coverage and a well organized reserve to act as a relief force if needed. Since this is an ongoing campaign it is important not to lose units completely, they will be needed for the next engagement.
Now he battle gets fully involved. Red markers are marking the disordered troops all over the field. The rebel militia (New Englanders) are taking the brunt of the attack. To the right you see British flags marking the the better quality troops, they were held in reserve. The blue and white chips mark low ammunition and silenced cannons. Andrew Jackson can be seen on the left on his command stand. Casualties began to pile up on both sides. On the rebel left flank you can see the rebel forces holding up inside the town and in their defensive position. Columns of federal militia stream to meet an approaching rebel unit. In Fire and Fury it is a huge advantage to have one unit supporting another. Riflemen in green uniform advance down the road with more militia to their right. Six pound cannons are coming up in support to deal with the rebel defenses. The federals stop the advance to stay out of musket range but remain in rifle range. The rebels use cannon fire to shake things up instead.
The rebel forces start to become disordered and have supply problems. A second line of defense starts to develop in an effort to stem the tide. Rallying green troops is very difficult. The disorder causes your troops to fire at half strength. The low ammo causes a half strength as well, so the unit with multiple color chips is very ineffective in its current state. At the bottom of the picture troops meet in hand to hand combat. It was a hard fought game indeed.
Federal troops poor over the top in an attempt to catch the disordered unit in a vulnerable state. The federal troops have broken through and are pushing the rebels back with the bayonet. In this game melee causes much more casualties than firing. At the bottom of the picture you can see another engagement. Canadian and British troops are waiting in the rear.

The federals have punched through the rebel defenses. The troops will need to reorganize before the next advance. With the flanks secured the rebels will need to establish another line of defense. Andrew Jackson is really pouring it on, but will the momentum carry on?
15mm is a great scale to see the detail of the figures and for gaming large battles. The rules are a club favorite and the night went very fast.
At table level the figures make an impressive sight. Here is the militia from Kentucky and Tennessee mixing it up with the boys from New England. The artillery is moving up in support and is having difficulty keeping up. They only move 8 inches compared to the 12 inches that infantry moves. When the infantry receives a 1.5 move rate (18 inches) they can leave the artillery in the dust. Militia and regulars hit the rebel line simultaneously. The federals are moving in support of each other and there just isn't enough rebel units to counter. In the rules you count all stands making contact and in support, this gave the federals a 3-1 advantage. The situation is critical for the rebels and they are being pressed. The defenders make a valiant stand but just can't hold the line any more. The federal fired and caused a disorder result to gain additional advantage before pressing the attack. If British and Canadian troops had been present, perhaps there would have been a different outcome.
The center of the rebel line is compromised. The federal militia scored high on the maneuver roll and were able to move at 1.5 time the normal rate. They hit the left flank of a rebel unit creating a delaying action. This unit was outnumbered 4-1 and took heavy casualties.
Rolling to maneuver adds uncertainty to the game. A low roll could just have easily been made causing the unit to halt for a turn. It was a bad day to be a rebel as the momentum stayed with the Federals. Here is an overview of the battle, federals are on the left of the picture. As you can see there is not a lot of clutter in the game. Maneuvering troops makes for a better game than just plowing straight ahead and hoping to roll well. The game started to wind down when Federal troops started to enter the town. The rebels had trouble holding on as the Canadian and British forces just looked on. Andrew Jackson had the rebel towns put to the torch as there was no room in this country for traitors. We played an entire game in about 3 hours and had a blast. The rebel troops were a outmatched by the quality and concentration of federal troops.
The rules are fun, but the trouble (and strength) with a club our size is that we never play the same rule s frequently enough to get really good at them. I may not ever master a set of rules but I am never bored and we always have a great time....barring politics.
I hope to have another post in 2 weeks.

Fall of Khartoum

2008-01-13T11:01:00.003-05:00

Our battle of Khartoum actually spans two battles that were held on two different nights. We used "The Sword and the Flame" rules through out the campaign.

The dervishes have held the city under siege for several weeks. Supplies and living conditions in Khartoum have been poor. The defenders are fewer but morale remains high in the hopes that relief is on the way. The fort is buzzing with the news that British troops have landed in Egypt and they are working their way south. A gunboat was spotted heading toward the town, could it be the relief they have been waiting for?

At this point the dervishes decide to attack. If they can press the battle then perhaps Khartoum will fall and the infidels will be put to the sword. The great and all knowing Madhi commands that the battle is today.
Thousands of dervishes come screaming out of the hills. The defenders have been stunned by the awesome sight. The desperate struggle begins as Ansars, Fuzzy-Wuzzy and other tribesmen pour forth to destroy all that is unholy.

The dervish forces close in for the kill as rifle fire has not been entirely effective. The issue will be decided by cold steel.
The +1 for defending the wall really helps even the odds for the Sudanese.

The dervish enjoy the ability to throw spears prior to closing for hand to hand fighting.

The terrain and figures were accumulated over the years by Jim Ferich. There are several different manufacturers represented on the table. Jim has been playing these rules since their inception.

The close quarters fighting continues on, the Egyptian and Sudanese infantry decide to fall back to stronger defensive positions. There are just too many tribesmen to fight and they are being overwhelmed.

Infantry takes position behind the barricades to await another fanatical charge. Artillery and reserves are repositioned to deal with the threat.

Smoke can be seen on the river, an approaching gunboat is spotted, are the relief forces arriving?

The tribesmen lose heart and withdraw at the sight of the unexpected force. They have no desire to face the artillery and machine guns of this new threat.
The gunboat arrives to the horror that it has been shot to pieces steaming to Khartoum. There is no supply column or relief force accompanying the crippled steamer. The meager supplies are offloaded, perhaps the survivors can hold out.

The sailors tell Pasha Boyle-Gordon that the river journey has been hazardous and there is no escape. The gunboat is too damaged to remove civilians.
The dervishes watch from the hills with great interest.

The following day the Madhi commands his army of faithful to go forward and finish off the defenders. There is no sign of a relief force, and Pasha Boyle-Gordon must be killed. There are too few survivors to man the walls around the fort. The have consolidated to defensive positions through out the town. The dervishes pour through the outer walls with ease. Allah is indeed great.
The defenders have no choice but to hold fire until it is necessary.

Pasha Boyle-Gordon looks on with interest and great concern. He holds his position with fewer defenders as casualties mount.His loyal body guard stands by his side throughout the ordeal.
He exudes confidence despite the odds, is his will enough to carry the day?

The dervishes roll through the streets raping cattle and stampeding women and children!
They never knock before entering either, how rude! How un-British!!
The dervishes stopped to kill any wounded infidels they happened to come across.

The buildings are foam core, they look great don't they?

The battle carries through the streets as dervish rifles take their toll on the defenders.
The tribesmen with rifles scale up to the rooftops using ladders. The spearmen skewer anything moving in the streets and houses.

The defending Sudanese prove a tough match even when out numbered. Mounted officers help decimate whole units of attacking Ansar. There are just too many, the defenders fall back the last remaining defense of the inner fort. The gunboat offer support from the river. Soon the walls are covered with Tribesmen hell bent on destruction. The battle rages on.

The defenders take many enemy with them as they fall. Artillery crews were soon overrun by natives. One by one the defending units fall. Even the Pasha Boyle-Gordon has defend against the onslaught. He defends the doorway with his body guard. He kills 20 of the screaming tribesmen (he gets a +3 to his roll, and Eric rolled very well all night), but another unit of angered Ansar step on and over the bodies of their fallen to strike, they are more frenzied then ever. Finally a spear finds its target.

The epic defense of Khartoum is over. The struggle was the stuff of legends. The London newspapers will carry the name of Pasha Boyle-Gordon to history.

The campaign continues on as the dervishes gained 25 points for capturing the town of Khartoum.

ACW Fire and Fury - Petersburg

2007-06-30T07:53:00.000-04:00

Figures: 15mm from several manufacturers.

Rules: Fire and Fury

These rules are a club favorite, they enable you to fight large battles in a short time . They are no longer in print, a real shame as they are really fun to play.
Basing: Four figures are on 1"x1" square bases, 6 to 10 bases make up a brigade. Two to three brigades make up a division. I only wish I had a copy of these rules. They can be used for any horse and musket period.
To move each brigade the player must roll a D10 to see if the brigade moves and the distance it can cover. Units wheel up to 45 degrees with a maximum move rate of 12" for infantry. 18" for cavalry and 8" for artillery. Leaders are rated from poor to excellent and can effect movement and melee rolls. If a unit is in disorder it has a different movement chart, but can rally as part of its movement.
Fire combat is based on the number of stands and the distance involved. Artillery has a devastating canister shot of 10 points, when combined with infantry it is very lethal.

Game Report5 Union players against 3 Confederate players

The Confederates were to hold the Union forces off and prevent them from reaching the town. To start off with the Confederates had 2 infantry brigades with 1 artillery piece in a redoubt and 2 Cavalry brigades with 1 horse artillery piece deploying freely. The Union was to randomly enter on 3 roads from the opposite roads. As you can see there was a lot of ground for the defenders to cover .

The defenders get a defensive bonus, fire combat rolls at a -2 against the redoubt, in melee the defenders get a "favorable ground" modifier. It seemed a logical choice to place the infantry as the Confederates would be out numbered. If they could weather the Union storm there would be hope.

Here come the "Blue bellies"marching in column on a road toward the prepared defensive positions. It would take a couple of turns to reach small arms fire so the Union troops would be in column as long as possible.

More and more Union troops in the advance. The confederates were hoping the Union troops would bottle neck by entering more troops on a single road but it did not happen. The Confederate horse artillery would fire off a few long range shots in hopes of slowing down the enemy. They cause some disorder but it was little effect.
Finally the Confederate reinforcements arrive. AP Hill starts to enter, hopefully he is not too late. The rebels need to reinforce their left flank and establish defensive positions in their center and right flank. The Confederate units are smaller but are better quality.

Union cavalry are excellent troops when dismounted, they are advancing on the rebels taking a few casualties along the way. As they got closer they were greatly reduced in strength.
The rebels get help on the left flank, the red marker is used to show low ammo. The Union troops are preparing for an advance followed by an assault. The white marker is used to show disordered units. Eventually these troops would make a desperate attempt to attack the Union troops by coming out of the defenses.

Here is a close up of the Union troops massing in the center for an assault. I wanted to show the detail of these excellent figures painted by Alan and Jim C. It looks like hand to hand combat will be the preferred offensive strategy.
Confederate forces arrive to match the Yanks in the center.
Here is a birds eye, the Union is on the left, Confederates on the right.
Her is the Union advance from their view of things. You can see the Division Commander is controlling his 2 brigades and artillery. The guns must be deployed to soften the defenses. The unit on the left is in line, the one on the right is in column. The column formation gives you a +1 to your movement roll.
More columns of troops advance on the Union left, there is no shortage of troops for the North. Those Yanks breed like cockroaches, or they could be newly arrived from foreign lands. Welcome to America, here is your rifle , now head south.
A mistake made be the Confederates is that we did not deploy a brigade in support of another. The Union moves in force. Fire combat and melee in the center. The Confederate player (my son) rolled poorly, the Union decimated the center of the line in the opening stages of the battle.Confederate cavalry moves to attack the center with the aid of infantry. The Union troops were repulsed , but with out loss.... a common theme. The South just couldn't roll well at the critical moment in the center of the line.The Confederates pull a risky maneuver by assaulting artillery on their right flank, as you can see the south is in a pickle. The North's guns were causing havoc, so they had to be dealt with. The first battery fell, a break through charge took out a second battery. After that the infantry was left unsupported against overwhelming odds.Wave after wave of Union troops assault the center. The South could not hold on much longer. Confederates are disordered, the Union advance moves steadily forward . AP Hill is giving orders to hold, the Union die rolls really did the south in. If you roll poorly you can't pull off a win no matter what quality you troops are. The Union juggernaut rolls forward, the Confederate right flank ceases to exist and the game was called.

Recap: The game lasted just over 3 hours. A Union victory was the final result. A blessing and a curse our club has is that we play different rules every game, so I constantly make rookie mistakes when playing.... but we have an endless variety of periods and battles so no complaints from me.

Creating the army of Pyrrhus of Epirus

2007-06-24T10:21:00.000-04:00

In April 2007 we had a WAB gamesday, there were 4 games playing at one time with 18 participants. I had never played WAB before so I kept an open mind and had a lot of fun, now I have another need for rules, figures and all things ancient. So now the dilemma, I want to get a WAB project started but I don't want to spend a lot of money.

The solution: 1/72 plastics, the quality has really improved and they are inexpensive. I then decided on the wars between Pyrrhus of Epirus and Republican Rome. The armies are quite flexible since the Pyrrhic army is Macedonian and can be used to fight other armies...like Persia and Greece. The Republican Romans can be used to fight just about everyone else. So an order was placed with Michigan Toy Soldier Company, and with a cost of $28.00 (including shipping) I have the core units of a Macedonian Army. I got the light troops from HaT and the phalanx and cavalry from Zvezda, I was very pleased with the quality of the figures. The detail was better than I thought, time t open them up and start priming.

This is a typical sprue from the Macedonian phalanx box. The figures need assembled.The arms need attached and the spears need attached to the hands. An Xacto knife works best with a new blade.

I prefer to mount the figures on craft sticks after assembly. I use the Krylon spray paint for plastic as a primer. It dries in about 15 minutes and I can work in assembly line fashion.

1/72 scale is small enough to run large battles and the figures show more detail then the 15mm scale. I really like this scale. The phalanx kit has 37 figures, I have completed 15 from the set so far. I plan to use metal bases to give the figures some weight. One down side to the phalanx is that the spears are level, this may make it hard to game with to show bases to base contact, so I may need to see how it works out. I prefer the advacing positions with the spears upright.

Sudan Campaign - Akasha

2007-06-19T07:22:00.000-04:00

The Battle of Akasha has taken place on the 4th turn of the campaign. Egyptian forces have moved south again as they fight their way to Khartoum. The Egyptians have had a run of luck beating back every assault from the Mahdi. They have now encamped at Akasha and have awakened to the sound of the sentries calling the alarm.

As you can see the dervishes have started very close to the perimeter but they are spread outmaking a consolidated attack difficult. The Egyptians are surrounded but get a defensive bonus that proved very critical in the fight to come. If the dervish break through they can kill any wounded they come in contact with which would cripple the relief effort, they must hold at all costs.

The dervish cavalry was held to punch through at a critical moment when needed. Here we see camels employed to support an Ansar advance against the southern facing of the camp.They were part of 3 tribes attacking the one area. They are good troops but against fixed defensive positions they had a hard time.

The Egyptians are really in the thick of it. The camels are pushed to the breach as the Egyptians put up a steady fire. A mass attack of Ansars is also stretching the defenders to their limit. The Egyptians had to shift their defenses to close the breach.

Wave after wave of Ansars attack, the fighting has resorted to hand to hand combat. The very survival of the relief column hangs in the balance. The +1 modifier for defending the terrain proved to be the crucial factor. The dervish infantry just couldn't pull off the deciding blow to break the line.

The Naval Brigade was positioned on the North side of the camp. It did not see much action as it it would be too dificult for the dervishes to deal with. The gun would eventually be repositioned to repel Mahdist rifle units in the eastern hills. A very effective weapon to eliminate waves of crazed tribesmen.

Egyptian infantry started taking casualties, the wounded and dead begin to pile up. The Egyptians managed to hold on as the Ansar could not deliver the death blow to their enemy. This battle proved to be the turning point of the game. The Ansar did not take many casualties, they were pushed back by the Egyptians. They had trouble rallying to go at the Imperial dogs once again.

The camp was saved , the last few dervish units skirmish to cover the retreat. Once again the Egyptians have defied the odds and beaten an enemy many times their number. It looks like the Egyptians will beat the British to Khartoum, unless something goes terribly wrong, but what are the chances of that?

Now it's time to count the dead and wounded, the Egyptians are slowly being eroded away in a game of attrition. The Northern district is being handled well, but the real test lies further south. Since the southern district has a higher revolt index there should be considerably more Mahdist tribes rising up to repel the hated infidels. Now on to turn 5.

Sudan Campaign - Suakin

2007-06-18T20:22:00.000-04:00

Suakin was another battle in our campaign. It had been under siege and supplies were running low. The city is key for one reason, it is the only port outside of Egypt that can receive reinforcements. Troops from India are currently enroute, so the city had to be saved. An infantry company of Egyptian infantry was sent to aid in a break out attempt.
A you can see the Egyptian defenders are manning the walls, there are only 2 roads of escape behind them. Should they flee there is no guarantee they would be able to reform on the far side of the river. The defenders were bracing them selves for a massive attack.
This is indeed the thin white line. In the background you can see the main attack as a large contingent of dervish tribesmen charge the defenses. In the foreground is the feint to keep the defenders in place. If they can keep the Egyptians from supporting their other company then the dervishes have a chance.
Now is the desperate struggle in brutal close quarters fighting. The fate of the town came down to a single die roll, if the dervish wins it they will have broken through the main lines and seized the town. The Sword and the Flame at its finest.
The Egyptians held and are now counter attacking the dervishes who begin to flee. Suarkin has held and is able to receive troops arriving from India....and there was much rejoicing. At this point the Egyptians had won 3 in a row, a pretty good run of luck. I wonder how long it will hold up. Now the campaign is at turn 4 and another battle awaits. Egyptian troops continue south to Akasha where they must fight to regain the town. They are becoming fewer in number.

Sudan Campaign - Wadi Halfa

2007-06-17T08:08:00.000-04:00

This battle took place on the third turn of the campaign. The town of Wadi Halfa, although it was only worth 5 points, was key as it is required to establish a rail line to help speed troops south. The Mahdist forces captured the town and was using it as a strong point in the Northern district. I remember this as the battle of the Allah'mo.

Here the Mahdi defenders were on the walls to repel the expected counter attack. The defenders had few musket or rifle units, so closing with the enemy for hand to hand seems to be the best tactic.

Egyptian infantry starts off across an empty field. Although the dervishes are not the best shots, they are sure to lose a few infantry. he Egyptians are well trained and led so it will be difficult to break them during their advance.

The Egyptian infantry advanced across the field and have scaled the walls with the help of supporting artillery. In this picture it is good old hand to hand. More dervishes wait below for their chance to close with the infidel dogs. The dervish artillery is manned by a captured crew of non-believers, if they do not fight, then they die.

Egyptian cavalry advance too close to the main gate and are rushed by frenzied natives. The cavalry easily evaded the onslaught thanks to phased movement. The dervishes realized they could not catch the cavalry and had to dash back into the fort.

Due to bad rolling during combat the dervishes lost the west wall. The Egyptians were now ready to fire at close range and clean up the town, although there were much less troops then what they started with. This particular company of infantry lost most of their company and will be hard to replace for future battles.

Boats can be seen approaching the Northern wall, they are loaded with Egyptian troops preparing to storm the North wall.
It looks bad for the Mad Mahdi's forces, the Eastern wall and half of the Northern wall have fallen. Now disciplined fire will rain down on the defenders of the faith. The Northern wall was taken at a high cost. How will the Khendive of Egypt replenish the ranks as the rebellion is at its peak.

The dervishes hold up in their last corner of town, the only thing they can do now is take as many infidels with them as possible before they break out to the open desert.

It was another victory for the Anglo-Egyptians. It will be interesting to see how much longer they continue to push on before the losses add up. At this point the Egyptians do not seem to need the British troops headed for Egypt.

Sudan Campaign - El Obeid

2007-06-16T07:32:00.000-04:00

Our club is currently involved in a Sudan Campaign using the rules set The Sword and the Flame and will last through out the year, it started in March. Luckily I game with veteran players (some more than 20 years experience) who have accumulated vast amounts of beautifully painted figures from Foundry, Old Glory and several other manufacturers too numerous to mention as well as eye popping scenery. So here is an era where there is no purchase necessary and the only limit to the battles is in relation to thesize of the game table (12'x6'). Last night we played out the battles occurring on turn 4, but this is an attempt to catch up on what happened in the previous turns.

To obtain the campaign rules please check the SUDAN CAMPAIGN link on this blog.

Currently all provinces are in rebellion as the Mad Mahdi has been spreading the word (and Sword) across the Sudan. Egyptian and Sudanese forces were initially placed through out the Sudan with various strong points. Once the rebellion was under way, many of the small outposts fell with out a struggle(no table top game required) to ambush. Any other forces manging to survive were placed under siege with a limited amount of turns with supply. Khartoum is reinforced with extra infantry companies, artillery and cavalry. If the supply runs out, the defending units surrender....Khartoum is in a desperate state.

The Great Khendive of Egypt has sent relief forces south, but they will need to fight their way to Khartoum the entire way,all of the provinces are in revolt. England is sending help in the form of Guard and Highlander companies, and India has dispatched Cavalry and infantry support as well.

The Battle of El Obeid was the first table top game of the campaign. It was a small skirmish played out to get things rolling in the campaign.Egyptian infantry was breaking out away from Mahdist positions in a key town. The game played quick as the Egyptians had to march across open terrain to close with the enemy, it is a bit easier with artillery support.

Old Fuzzy is a tough opponent, in the rules "The Sword and the Flame" they get a bonus +1 to their melee die roll. As a frequent dervish player these are my favorite troops. Nothing too fancy, just close fast and kill. In this game, however, they are on the defense, milling about in the brush waiting for the infidel.

Dervish cavalry had attempted to sweep around the left flank,but they were checked by accurate gunfire. Eventually the Dervishes could not stand against the withering fire of the 2 Egyptian infantry companies. The Mahdist forces left the field and the Egyptians survived to fight again.... but as the revolt grows, so does the number of Dervish forces available for another skirmish.

A critical piece to the campaign system is that losses to Anglo-Egyptian infantry companies are very difficult to replace. If the player decides to fight to the last man and the unit(s) are wiped out, then that force is not available for the remainder of the campaign. Losses taken by the Allied player continue through to the next turns. So if a 20 figure company looses 10 men in a battle, then there is a chance that only 10 men are available for the next battle. So Allies must be cautiously aggressive in their approach. The Dervish/Mahdist forces have no worries about attrition. They may continually fight to the last as the number of units is dependent on the revolt number of the district and a die roll. A higher index and a lower die roll means lots of dervish units....very replaceable units at that.

Rapid Fire France 1940

2007-06-02T20:15:00.000-04:00

I ran a Rapid Fire Game set in 1940 France. The Germans were to attack and the French were on the defensive. Victory conditions were set so the side holding more buildings than the other would win the game. There was a farm complex with 3 buildings and a small town with 3 buildings. I have been collecting and painting these armies for 3 years and it was great to finally see them on the table. We had 7 players , Jim F. , Kyle, Chris, Steve, Jim C., Jack and Al.

THE RULES: Rapid Fire 2

OVERVIEW
The rules are simple and play very fast which is helpful in larger games. We had 7 players (3 French and 4 German) and completed a game in 4 hours. The game is designed for 20mm figures but smaller scales will also work. A turn is divided into segments: Morale, Fire Smoke, Heroic Action, Movement, Reserve fire (by opponent in reserve fire mode), Close assault, Fire and Final Move (if a unit did not move in the previous segment). It is a combined arms game st the battalion level and a favorite of the club. They are not high in complexity or detail, making them perfect for large groups with a time constraint or too much beer consumption...right Jim C?

SCALE
A figure represents a squad, so 8-10 figures form a company. A vehicle represents 2-5 vehicles.
A force is usually composed of an infantry battalion, (approximately 48 figures) and an armored regiment around 12 or more vehicles.

FIGURES and MODELS:
Germans:
The German infantry are from SHQ, Battlefield Blitz, FAA and Revell. The Anti-Tank guns and crew are from FAA. The tanks are plastic models I have purchased from Flea Markets and the resin models are from Frontline Miniatures (Pz 38t and half tracks) bought through RLBPS. The Opel blitz trucks are plastic kits from Pegasus, a great model for low cost.

French:
The French infantry are a mix of FAA, Battlefield Blitz and HaT WWI infantry. The Anti Tank guns are from FAA and the vehicles are from Frontline Miniatures bought thought RLBPS, as well as Armourfast (the FT-17's are very easy to put together). The CharB1 bis tanks were from Mathchbox as well as 2 other FT-17 tanks.

TERRAIN:
The buildings are Hovels , purchased from Wargames Inc., fast service and good prices for resin buildings. The rest of the terrain is scratch built.

German OOB:
Armor
4 x PZ38t's, 2xPZII, 1xPZI(Command Tank), 2xSDkfz 222, 2xSDkfz221

Infantry
4 x Companies of infantry (10 figures each) all with MG support.
1 x Command Company with anti tank rifle.
1 x Motorcycle company (8 figures)

Support:
1x75mm Infantry Gun with prime mover
2x37mm Anti tank guns with prime mover
1x50mm Mortar motorized
1x81mm Mortar Motorized.
1xHanomag with 37mm Anti tank gun
3x Stuka Missions

French OOB

Armor:
2x CharB1 bis, 4x S-35, 4xH39, 4xFT-17

Infantry:
4 x Companies of Infantry (8 figures each).
1 x Command Company with Artillery spotter.

Support:
1 x Hotchkiss MG
1x75mm Field Gun
1x47mm Anti Tank gun
1x25mm anti tank gun
1x light mortar
2 x Artillery missions of 155mm artillery

CLICK PICTURES TO ENLARGE THEM

The French started off occupying the town so they had 3 of the 6 buildings in their possession at the start of the game, and spread their armor across the front since they were not sure where the main point of attack was coming from. They deployed half of their armor forward with the rest in reserve to react as needed to the situation.
The Germans started with infantry in the center and most of their armor on their left flank. Their plan was to consolidate their armor and punch a hole in the French defenses.

German Infantry had to cross fields to make it to the farm complex. The fields provided cover to help conceal their movement. A quick advance to hard cover (building) is the key to survival for infantry.
On Turn 2 the Germans were under fire from French Armor , but the managed to occupy the farm house with an infantry company. The German Motorcycle company on the right flank received casualties as they pressed forward into entrenched French Infantry. The French tried to isolate the Germans in the farmhouse but German armor countered the move. As you can see the Germans massed their armor to punch through the defenses. The armored cars lead the way to recon the advance for hidden dangers.

German casualties started to mount as the Armored cars started to receive damage. A French 75mm Artillery piece slowed the German armor but was eventually overwhelmed by fast moving armored cars that survived the direct fire. The infantry in the center pressed on to capture 2 more farm buildings, both sides had an equal amount through most of the game.

Small arms fire from the farm buildings started to take its toll on a company of advancing French infantry. The French tanks were too busy defending themselves from the Flanking German armor. The Germans were pushing through and trying desperately to reach the town.
Stukas were attacking French armor concentrations and forced the Char B1 tanks (the best the French had) off the board with a rout result.

French artillery from the spotter took out half of an advancing German infantry company in the center. The German losses were mounting up, but they were very close in completing their flank maneuver. A well placed shot by a French S-35 forced a German Armor detachment (1xPZII and 2xPZ38t's) off of the board.

A failed Morale roll for the Germans (who lost more than 20 figures) meant that they had to leave the field. It is interesting to note that the French also were at the 20 figure casualty mark, and trying to hold on.

Everyone enjoyed themselves and the scenario was a little heavy on the French side, next time I would give the Germans a couple of Mk IV's or MK III's. I would like to take this game to a convention and give it a try as host.

In the 1940 setting, armor must close in and be aggressive, the gun sizes (usually around 37-47mm) are too small for long range tank on tank combat. Tanks need infantry in this era for support, and infantry is also key to occupying structures as well as assaulting them. Combined arms is the key to success. Definitely a different experience from the Panther and Tiger days of 1944 where tanks are lethal at almost all ranges.

StarGrunt - Star Wars game

2007-05-29T19:01:00.000-04:00

On Memorial Day I had 2 friends come over for Beer, BBQ and a game of Stargrunt. The DAWGS are a great group of people whao share in the common interest of war gaming. So when ever there is a chance to sneak in a game with even one of them I jump at the chance.

Now I have never played Stargrunt so I was interested in the mechanics. The rules can be used for a wide range of eras, I have heard of WWII and modern combat games played with the rules so I was curious. The rules based on dice adjustments, so the more effective the group the higher the die type, i.e. a 12 sided die is the best, a 4 sided is the worst. A defender may have a base die type of a D6 but in cover he would roll a D8.

Rules: Stargrunt
Basically you have 5 types of dice, a D4,D6, D8, D10 and D12. To put it simply you roll your dice against your opponents roll, the higher rolls win. Attackers roll up to 3 dice , one for quality type, one for squad weapons and one for support weapon, so an attacker may roll a D6, D8 and D10 in a single roll depending on several factors The range band is determined by the quality die type, so a D8 die type quality has an 8" range band, aD10 die type qulity has a 10" range band, etc.

The defender starts with a D4 and adjusts up in the die type by the number of range bands he is in and cover modifier, he then rolls a single die against the attackers Example: a D4 target in the second range band is a D6 defensive roll in the open, if in soft cover he has a D8 roll.

Determine the number of Hits:
The defender must roll higher then the attacker and beat all of his dice rolls with his single die roll. If the defender rolls lower then add up the value of all of the attackers dice and divide by the defenders die type to determine the number of hits.
Example: the Attacker rolls a D10 = 9, a D8 = 7 and a D6 = 1, the defender rolls his D8 = 2, tha attacker won so add up 9+7+1 = 17, divide by 8 = 2.1 rounding to a 2, for two hits.

Determine the hit results:
Now roll weapon impact vs armor, so a Rebel blaster D8 vs a Stoormtrooper Armor of D8 means both sides roll a D8, the higher roll wins. If the attacker wins then a wound, kill or Suppress result is determined by how much you beat the defender by.

Each squad activates with 2 actions and a squad can perform several actions but can only fire once in a turn. A commander can use his 2 actions to activate a squad by passing a command roll, even if the squad has taken its actions that turn, but if the command roll has failed, then the commanders turn is over.

Figures: Star Wars miniatures by Wizards of the Coast

The figures are inexpensive, pre painted to a medium to good standard, and already based. Alien races can be used in any SCI FI game and are 28mm in size so the match well with most lines. They are proprtioned accurately and a bit slim compared to other 28mm like Pig Iron or EM-4.

So the game was set up with the Rebels defending a communication station and the Imperial players trying to destroy the communication station before a transmission was sent. The Rebel forces were deployed around their Comms center, a unit of Imperial scouts was close by hidden in bushes and scrub reporting on the situation. On Turn 1 the Stormtroopers entered in their subtle camouflage of brite white armor, perfect in the dark green and charred black environment. The Rebel squad sees the Imperial troops come running up the road in their predictable frontal assault.

Han Solo is in the rear with the gear and issuing orders to move troops more quickly. All troop types had difficulty in the terrain and bad rolling for combat moves did not help, rolling a D6 x2 = the inches you can move , so a 1 result means a 2" move.

At this point the Stormtroopers start to enter, the most forward deployed Imperial troops are a squad of scouts that have been deployed forward to report on enemy movement. So the Rebel player and Imperial player alternate moving squads until All of the squads have activiated on both sides. At the end of Turn 1 there are 4 units of Stormtroopers and a command squad on the board. The Imperials know they must close fast as they have open terrain to cross to reach their objective.
The Imperials fire as they advance losing a few troops along the way and hitting nothing, the gang that couldn't shoot straight, just like in the movies. To relieve pressure on the Stormtroopers the Scouts decide to move out and draw fire,and they make it to the rubble losing only one trooper to a hail of laser fire.
Finally the Imperials have anchored their flank, but the Rebel forces continue to shift the reserve around waiting for Imperial reinforcements to arrive on the flanks. There are 4 squads of Stormtroopers in reserve waiting to enter at a moments notice.

Now in a daring display of tactics we did witness the seldom heard but never seen Imperial Stoormtrooper flanking maneuver. That is right, the Imperial players decided to try tactics instead of marching into an endless stream of laser fire. Of couse General Solo committed troops to check the move. The second ring of the Rebel defense also remained in cover.

Time starts to run short, now the Imperial players know that the shortest distance between to points is a straight line, so the Scouts charge ahead. A wild melee ensues and high tech troops armed with lasers, comms systems and targeting computers result to the basic, beat each other with a big stick approach. Han Solo now is worried, he draws on his reserve and shifts the second ring of defense to meet the new threat. In an unbelievable turn of events the Scouts beat back the Rebel Commandos, but it is too late. Time has run short and the Comms system is activated, the Imperials have failed to achieve their objective.
All in all it was a fun time with friends, the rules are easy to catch on to if you have an experienced player, luckily we had 2 during our game. For Man to man combat I do prefer 5150, but squad level cambat is very fun with Stargrunt.

The next scheduled game is Rapid Fire which is set in 1940 France. Hopefully all goes well and another report will be forth coming.