Tales of The Legend

2012-01-30T15:00:00.000-08:00

Kaamados Dominion vs Arc Fleet

A 1500 point Critical Mass Games Battle

On Sunday the 29th of January I and a fellow wargamer dusted off our Critical Mass Games armies for another run through of their rules system. We decided on a 1500 point battle playing the basic engagement mission. The scenery was set up as a desert settlement with a collection of hills to the centre of the Arc Fleet positions and the extreme left of the Kaamados right.

Initially the Kaamados had the worse of the engagement following losing one of it's two Main Battle Tanks to the Arc Fleet medium armour. The rest of the battlefield consisted of a series of manoeuvres to get troops into position. The Arc Fleet moved forward into comanding positions on the high ground and valleys to its centre and left flank. The Kaamados moved into the settlement on it's right flank ready to repel the obvious Arc Fleet push with it's armour. They also took command of the hill to their left flank and in a daring move the Vivipari moved directly forward into the centre of the table.

As the engagement unfolded, the Kaamados were pinned into position by the Arc Fleet on the hill and in the valley. On the Kaamados left the Arc Fleet Augments took a heavy toll on the Naga infantry. In the centre, the Vivipari were pinned down, unable to move as they would be cut down by fire.

A break in the stalemate came in the form of a brave Togura Naga Commander who led his unit first into close assault with the Scout Cars and then the Arc Fleet Armour. Along with the assistance of the Dragamaa in the centre the Naga and his Squamata managed to finish off the Scout Cars. Then as they pulled back into the safety of the settlement, the G.O.D. banners of the Squamata managed to kill one and cripple another of the medium tanks as they foolishly moved into the tight, close quarters of the settlement.

With their Armour destroyed or crippled this allowed the Agaamids to split themselves between finishing off the Arc Fleet Tanks and a drop trooper unit that had dangerously exposed itself. The Agaamids executed them all with brutal efficiency. Following the loss of their scouts and two thirds of their Armour the Arc Fleet were on the back foot.

The Arc Fleet lost their troopers in the centre as the Kaamados rallied to the purpose of executing the remnants of their forces. The engagement was finally sealed in the Kaamados Dominions favour when the Naga Draconum Lord called in an Artillery strike with the intelligence the Gekotaa Comms Scout Car had been collecting. They were able to call in such a devastating barrage that they wiped out the Augment platoon in one fell swoop.

With a single Medium Tank and a scattering of troops left the Arc Fleet withdrew from the field and allowed the Kaamados to secure the area. Hours later a larger Kaamados battalion moved through the settlement towards the Arc Fleet landing sites in Acheron Canyon beyond the Mesas of the Blackstone ridges. The Arc Fleet settled in for a siege as they started the evacuation from the Otilium refinery they sorely needed.

The Arc Fleet need a miracle as The Dominion close in.

The battle was excellent and I intend to report the next game in this series of battles. So stay frosty.

1500 Point Kaamados Dominion Legion Cohort

Front row: Vivipari Unit, Agaamid Unit, Naga Draconum Gekotaa with Comms Gekotaa, Naga Togura Cohort Commander with 5 Squamata G.O.D. Banner bearers

Back Row: 2 Dragamaa Heavy Tanks, Draco Aganath Imperator Unit, Naga Togura Infantry

1500 Point Arc Fleet Drop Platoon

Front Row: Augment Drop Trooper Platoon, 2 Drop Trooper Platoons, Drop Trooper Command Unit

Back Row: Grav Scout Unit, Medium Tank Platoon

Arc Fleet Deployment

Kaamados Cohort Deployment

First move by the Arc Fleet Heavy Armour Knocks out a Dragamaa

Daring Vivipari move into the open.

Draco Aganath Imperator try to relieve the Pinned Vivipari

The Arc Fleet Armour moves too Close to the Squamata

The remaining Dragamaa exacts revenge for it's fallen Comerade

The Vivipari emerge from being Hunkered Down to a hail of fire

The Agaamids destroy the Droptroopers in the open.

The Plasma weapons of the Agaamid unit finish off the second Arc Fleet tank

Hope you enjoyed the report. It's a shame the camera died before the end of the battle, but by this point in the game it had really swung into the Dominions favour. A really enjoyable game that to be honest I wish I played more often. I intend to amend that in the coming months though. There will be more games to come. More for the Dominion to conquer.

2011-05-24T16:07:00.000-07:00

15mm Hot Shots and Objectives update.

I've started to finish off the Hot spot markers for Tomorrows War but have also decided that they will work just as well for objectives in Critical Mass. These two Games are by far and away my favorite Sci-Fi games that are out currently, with the possible exception of Future War Commander and Full Thrust.

Although some of the objectives do look a little large I have tried to keep them as small scale as possible. I love the cheesier colour schemes from 70's and 80's TV shows like Space 1999 and Buck Rogers so I decided that the uniforms and building designs would follow this bright style of aesthetic. This is in complete contrast to my Infantry which is being painted in WWII style uniforms. More on those soon.

Yes I know it's cheesy but hey..... It's Sci-Fi

Comms tower with figure for scale.

The same Comms Tower painted.

The Bunker entrance

Another Comms style tower.

2011-04-28T16:07:00.000-07:00

15mm Tomorrows War

I've been experimenting with the new Force on Force rulebook asymmetrical rules for using Kurasan miniatures Space Demon models (Aliens from the movie of the same name basically). After a few playtests I decided that I need some funky 15mm scale sci-fi hot spot markers. I'm using GZG models for the infantry and most of the vehicles too, you can see some of the models in a few of my earlier posts.

Hopefully some actual game photos will follow soon along with some nicely painted versions of these Hot spot markers.

Two GZG Technicians (Alien Food)

The completed Hotspots

A Power Generator

Ammo / Supply crates

Comms Uplink

Bunker Access

2011-03-21T10:15:00.000-07:00

The Greatest Challenge(r)

This is an Italleri model of the Challenger II. I built this as a display model for my dad a good few years ago and it has since become a standard for the tanks and armour models that I paint on commission. I like Italleri kits, simple to put together and very nice mould quality. As you can see with a minimum of effort they can really be turned out nicely.

Even though this is a display model it has made me think recently about using this model in Force on Force. An excellent game about modern conflict that is exceptional. We'll see however as I am torn between 15mm and 20mm scale as I love the idea of 15mm modern but S&S Models Chinese Modern miniatures are excellent figures.

2011-03-21T09:50:00.000-07:00

Harlequin Babylon 5

These miniatures are from the now long defunct Harlequin miniatures range of figures. These miniatures are a real mixed bag. Some as you can see are excellent casts and sculpts, however some are a little out of proportion. It is my experience that they get significantly better as the ranges progressed. The worst if the bad sculpts are in the earlier sets from the first season miniatures while the ones from the second season sets are excellent.

Those you see on this page are all from the second season sets with the exception of the Zack Allen, which is a first season generic security officer. I just happened to think he looked very much like Zack. and the two Soulhunters of course. I have a clutch of additional miniatures including Ko'Dath and Londo Mollari to paint just have not had the time to indulge yet.

Elric The Technomage

Babylon 5 Medtech

Kalain of the Minbari Warrior Caste

Amos

Soulhunter

Security Officer Zach Allen

2011-03-20T13:56:00.000-07:00

Critical Mass Games Kaamados Infantry

Ok these are much, much better quality photo's of my Kaamados Infantry. I'm extremely pleased with the way they have come out however I now feel that the army is a little disjointed. Following me starting the armour for the army I have decided that while the Naga and the Squamata look excellent I'm afraid they just don't fit. I have decided on a new colour scheme for the Squamata but not for the Naga Infantry yet. I will be purchasing more infantry packs as a replacements, this means that the Naga and the Squamata will be heading onto ebay.

More information as to this as and when I've produced replacements of course. For now, enjoy the pretty!

Kaamados Naga Infantry

Kaamados Agaamids

Kaamados Draco Aganath Imperator

Kaamados Squamata Imperialis Infantry

2011-03-20T12:07:00.000-07:00

Full Thrust, Stargrunt and Future War

The following pictures show my fledgling NSL fleet for Full Thrust. We have started looking at a campaign for science fiction gaming and although we are all fans of the 6mm Epic range, the 15mm GZG ranges have persuaded us to use them instead . I've got a fair portion of my new NSL fleet completed and have even purchased a second fleet, the NAC in this case. Most of our group have a couple of fleets or at least plans for a second fleet.

Anyway enjoy the pics!

NSL Heavy Cruiser

NSL Light Cruiser

NSL Destroyers

NSL Fleet from GZG

2011-02-17T18:10:00.001-08:00

Warmachine and 15mm Sci-Fi

I thought I'd provide an update on the miniatures I've been collecting and painting recently. I've gotten into the Privateer Press game Warmachine. An excellent skirmish game with fantastic miniatures. Although this is not a great picture of the figure I must admit I enjoyed spending a lot of time on this figure and the three warjacks I have. I look forward to gaining more Warmachine figures for my games.

Now this selection is a current obsession of mine. 15mm Sci-Fi has me in a sort of grasp, I've been increasing my collection ever since I bought a boat load of the Critical Mass Games figures at the Border Reivers show last year. This selection is from the Ground Zero Games NSL faction. I have been painting them in World War II style colours as they are supposed to be Future inheritors of the Germanic states. The Power armour you see is of course in German ambush camo and I've painted the Jaegers in German Fieldgrey with Prussian Blue mixed in. I have also collected together an opposed force of NAC (Future British). I'm not sure which skirmish rules to use with these figures yet. I have been considering the Gruntz rules but there are aspects of the system I don't like. I love the Battlefield Evolution rules and have been considering an amalgam of the modern combat rulesystem and the original Starship Troopers. But again I'm not sure about that. I also like the idea of the Stargrunt system and have enjoyed the few run through games I have had of the game. I will eventually make a decision but until then I'll keep painting the beautiful GZG figures and keep you all updated.

NSL Jaegers

NSL Powerarmour

Comparison of the two types of troops

15mm Samurai

2010-11-04T18:29:00.000-07:00

Well two posts in 24hrs! Ha ha. This is a number of photos taken from my game on Sunday at our local gaming club, The Contemptible Little Wargames Club in North Shields, Newcastle Upon Tyne (Here's our website http://sites.google.com/site/contemptables/Home ). For a number of years one of our patrons has had two 15mm Samurai armies for the Sengoku period of Japan (at least I think it was, I'm not that well informed about the period) around AD1560 if I remember correctly. Steve had came up with his own set of rules as he felt that most sets available today do not capture the feel or look of the period effectively. He demoed previously with another member of the club and was due to play him again after the game had been amended with some playtest revisions. Unfortunately something came up (Fiasco in Leeds) and he was unable to play. So, I stepped up to the plate.

I had been very impressed with the demo steve had previously put together and had quite fancied a blast myself. The system seemed simple, effective and most importantly exciting! I had a basic understanding of the system after hearing about it from the previous session and whilst I stood around gawping at Steve's wonderfully painted figures, so I felt I could stumble through a game no problem.

We did not stumble however, the game is very fast and easy to pick up. It revolves around multiple dice throws based on the number of bases in a unit. I won't say too much at this point as this may yet be something that is developed and I don't want to give away too many secrets. The number of bases is important for morale, casualty and fighting prowess too. This keeps a nice visual reference for the effectiveness of your units and overall strategy. Ninjas play a key part in deployment and initial recce. They allow you to spot hidden enemy troops and of course perform assassination attempts. All of this is toned to the point where it does not interfere with the main focus of the game. The Battle.

I enjoyed the game so much that an order to peter pig is on it's way with the start of my new Hojo clan! I will give as many updates I can on the development of these rules and of course of my New CLAN HOJO SAMURAI army, as soon as I can. In meantime here are some pics.

Keep safe and Happy Gaming!

The Legend

Samurai from Uesugi Clan catch a unit of peasant after having destroyed a unit of Teppo.

Uesugi Kenshin attempts to emulate a praying mantis and tries to surround the approaching Takeda Samurai. Unfortunately this goes badly and the Household Samurai are devastated.

A better view of Uesugi's Trap.

Critical Mass Playtest

2010-11-04T16:52:00.000-07:00

Wow has it really been that long! Sorry for the lack of any updates recently, I'm afraid every time I've played a game I've either forgotten my camera or the battery ran out before I could take any pics. In this first comeback post I'd like to talk about a playtest game that myself and a fellow gamer had of Critical Mass Games own ruleset. They are developing these to coincide with their own Miniatures range and background. It is currently undergoing a beta playtest but I understand that a published version will be made available next year sometime (Sooner hopefully, rather than later).

The mission we played was called, base of operations which involved an attacking player catching the defender out at his base. The play escalates in scope as reserves are pulled in by both sides to seize or capture objectives. This also helps or hinders the amount and level of support that can be pulled into the area as well. It's a nice slant on the take and hold missions and works very well with the wonderful communications rules that they have developed to allow for Artillery strikes, orbital bombardments among other effects that can be called on as well.

Arc Fleet Armour on the Southern Flank.

Armour and Mech Recon on Northern Flank.

The above photo shows the Terrain layout. Quite sparse desert terrain with a dry riverbed along the north table third and a BUA in the southern third of the board. The area of trees around the green felt is actually an oasis (we did not have any blue felt, but this is an alien planet anyway).

BUA with my heavy troops and the little guys!

I was the defender. I deployed two units in the BUA, a horde unit of little misfit like aliens, think the grunts from halo (Squamata Imperialis) and a unit of Heavy hitting Augmented troopers with heavy cannons (Draco Aganath Imperator). I put my two elite units with the CIC and 2IC in the wadi and bhind the crest of the central hill to cover those two objectives. Finally I had one unit of strong fighters (Agaamids) in reserve.

My opponent placed his units almost to either flank. A unit of light scout tanks on each flank. a unit of mounted (on jetbikes) recce troopers on his right and a unit of medium armour to his left. I immediately saw the error in judgement as my heaviest infantry was in the dead centre away from his approaching armour. I decided to stick with my original plan, cross my fingers and hope my reserves didn't turn up too late.

The game itself was a grinder. At first there was an awful lot of maneuvering for position. In fact in the first turn of the game there were only 2 casualties from both sides! But as the units started to pin down their enemies the struggle started to reach fever point. Both sides were drawn into a pointblank firefight for the BUA in the centre whereupon the Kaamados 2IC instructed his comms truck to signal the orbiting battlecruiser and bombard the position. The comms were successful and even though the 2IC himself was caught in the resulting annihilation, the bombardment broke the centre of the Arc Fleet assault (the 2IC was lucky enough to survive). One tank destroyed outright one out of action and almost half a recon platoon wiped out. My Heavy troopers (Draco Aganath Imperator) in the BUA followed up this devastation with a barrage of fire of their own nocking out one more tank and almost demoralising the remaining tank to the point where it nearly routed itself.

Following that turn the Arc Troops were on to a hiding to nowhere and were unable to shake the remaining Kaamados troops. A successful assault by the Little Guys (Squamata Imperialis) saw off the remaining tank and at that the Arc fleet retreated with one under-strength Recon platoon. only 4 out of their starting 6 Scout tanks and their CO lying wounded or dead on the field. I had lost my 2IC following a valiant close combat for the objective on the central hill in which both sides destroyed each other. I had major casualties in the Squamata Imperialis infantry (only 3 out of 8 left). The Agaamids had only taken two casualties and had weathered everything the northern most scout tanks could muster. The Draco Aganath Imperators had taken a single casualty which I thought was sterling work considering the amount of ordnance that was loosed in their general direction. I had lost two APCs and all my elite troops though. This was a bitterly fought engagement and both sides did deserve the win.

Overall I would have to say that I love the Critical Mass game. The turn is exciting, it forces you to think strategically and you find yourself planning sometimes a few moves ahead. Then of course one of your units comes under fire and you have to judge if you want to try and overwatch, take cover, or take the pain which may result in you being pinned which in turn sets your plan back a turn or two. Excellent game and I can't recommend this enough when it is released. It rips away that I go U go nature that is very much a standard in wargames for some reason.

I have to say though. I am biased. I like games with interaction between players outside the normal turn sequence. I play Epic, I play Cold War Commander, I play Battlefield Evolution, I play AT-43. All of which either alternate activation or at least have an element of reaction to an opponents actions. This is the way it should be. Real soldiers don't just lie down and say, "It was a fair cop guv'nor. It wasn't my turn to shoot". No! They duck for cover, they shoot back, they run back to the safety of that nearby building and hunker down.

I know I'm ranting here but I really believe that this kind of game is more realistic. I think that Battlefield Evolution is the best Skirmish combat system in the wargames community at the moment. From the looks of things and my own personal opinion of what I've played so far, for mass combat at a company or battalion level it's far too close between Epic Armageddon (and may I say it Games Workshops BEST game ever) and Critical Mass for me to make a call. I'm sorry but you'll have to figure that out for yourself.

Take care until next time and happy gaming!

The Legend.

;-D

Kaamados Draco Imperator Infantry

2010-09-25T06:11:00.000-07:00

Next Bunch finished. Only a few units left to go.

Kaamados Dominion Update.

2010-09-24T16:38:00.000-07:00

So..... I'm almost ready to start playing this game now. Apart from the items you see here I have another 6 of the little orange guys stands and 2 command units for em. I also purchased some of the elite command figures that strike a good resemblance to the bad guys in Halo. Work has started on them and I should be able to do an army report on them soon with a battlereport based on the critical mass ruleset too.

Overall I have loved painting these figures and although it has been quite some time since I spent as long on a figure, I will be investing in the other armies too. I like their rules too, they are definitely an evolution of FOW. That being said though they have enough differences to make it a completely different affair playability wise. The alternating turn is a move in the right direction. Only time will tell I suppose but in the meantime here are my exploits.

Squamata Imperialis Infantry.

Agaamid Heavy Infantry with Plasma Launchers.

Agaamid Heavy Infantry again.

Critical Mass Games

2010-09-11T15:35:00.000-07:00

Critical Mass Games

Well it's been a week since the Border Rievers show in Newcastle Upon Tyne. A Decent enough show, a little on the smaller size but always a good turn out of manufacturers and traders. I went to the show looking for the Wargames Factory plastic Zombie boxset to go with the Battlefield Evolution Apocalypse-Z rules I had recently purchased. Alas it was not to be as it seems that no-one has any sets left.

I had resigned myself to a cheap trip and had decided not to purchase anything. I did not Bank on Critical Mass Games however. They were there with by far the most impressive display/participation game at the show. The Figures were beautifully painted and are fantastic sculpts. The Game itself was surprisingly good. The Mechanics share some aspects from Flames of War and seem to take the best aspects from Epic Armageddon. Alternate activation of units give the rules a far more fluid action than FOW. I was so impressed I took a price list went outside with a couple of my fellow wargamers from my club and worked out my purchases.

Critical Mass the game is in the Beta testing stage so is not for release but the game is very good. The miniatures are fantastic and I have been labouring over them now for a week. Here are some photos of the Miniatures I bought and a link to their website. Check em out, it's well worth it.

http://www.criticalmassgames.com/

Rackham Work in Progress

2010-08-16T18:13:00.000-07:00

This is the first in what I hope will be a series of posts that centre on the now out of print Confrontation 3 skirmish combat game from Rackham. The game was finished after Rackham moved it's miniature production to pre-painted plastic figures with the games, AT-43 and Confrontation Age of Ragnarok. Both games are excellent and well loved by my gaming group.

The interest in this game comes from my purchasing the Board Game Hybrid from Ludikbazar before their stock ran dry. The miniatures below are from that set and as you can see they are rather wonderful. Although you get everything to play a game in hybrid it gives you cards for several other miniatures in the Confrontation 3 range. So I started looking at some of those old miniatures and eventually stated to reason that I may as well try and pick up a copy of the Third Edition rulebook. Well I did..... and it's wonderful.

From the very start you get a sense that this game is very in depth and complex. That however is the beauty of this game. The complexity lends itself to a more intimate relationship with the miniatures and the action taking place. As a game unfolds the action and interaction between the different combatants can become quite frenetic. The rules are rather daunting to start off with but if you persevere then it is well worth it.

You only need a few miniatures to play this game so it isn't a bank breaker, although as it is out of production the mini's are becoming rather scarce. Ebay or some internet stores (including the rather excellent Ludikbazar) stock a large portion of the mini's that Rackham produced.

More on these soon, including some finished pics of the two forces I have and a campaign report which has a lot of similarities with Mordheim/Necromunda if you know them.

Templers of HOD about to enter a ruined village on a secret mission for the Temple

Two Monstrous Constructs of Dirz

Senechal of HOD, Leader of the Squad of Purifiers

The Abominations of the Heresiarch, Dirz

Lord of the Rings in 28mm

2010-08-12T04:10:00.000-07:00

Well, it's been some time since the last post and although I have been wargaming extensively I have neglected my poor Blog. So I've decided to do a couple of posts today to update everyone on the progress of a couple of projects I've been working on.

First up is Lord of the Rings in 28mm. While musing over the warmaster system, myself and a friend of mine were discussing the merits of using Warhammer figures instead of the 10mm warmaster line. We got on to discussing how we could use the Warmaster system for 28mm historics too. Some time into the early hours of the morning, I struck gold. I remembered that our local Gaming store (Gateshead Gaming, check them out online) has a shed load of dirt cheap LotR figures from games workshops range. Add to this the ridiculously cheap prices most GW LotR figs go for on ebay and suddenly 28mm Warmaster sounds not too bad a prospect.

We knocked up some lists that night and decided to concentrate on three factions. Minas Tirith, Rohan and Mordor. The remaining factions will appear but at a later date. The lists themselves are based closely on a few armies selected from the warmaster ancients book. Mordor is most like germanic barbarians. The Minas Tirith are most like the Late Romans and the Rohirim were a mix of a few types. After creating the list we each chose an army. I decided to take the Gondorians my colleague with whom this all started took Mordor and lastly the Rohirim were taken up by one of our fellow wargaming adicts.

So far I have all of the infantry units I need in order to do a thousand points. I need one more regiment of horse the heroes to fill up my army and some ballistas. It has gone quite quickly. I only now need to finish painting them. They are all based on the Games Workshop War of the Ring bases. This gives perfect warmaster sized bases and once filled with infantry looks amazing. A battle report should follow soon so, keep an eye on this page for more details soon.

2010-07-21T07:09:00.000-07:00

Encirclement

On sunday gone (the 18th July) West Germany managed to catch an East German battle group that had strayed across the border. Caught in an encirclement, my valiant opponent attempted to push my force out of the way and ensure his safe return to his own lines. The game was a very short and brutal affair lasting only 3 turns. But it was a very exciting affair.

The East German army had set up entirely on their right hand flank just beyond a series of hills with a wood at it's 10 o'clock position and to the battle groups left flank a large built up area. The East german initial plan was to punch a hole up one side of the table and race for the other side with as many units as possible. This may have worked had I used mobile deployment on the same flank and allowed the enemy to roll up my flank. I did however, have an altogether different plan.

Upon setting up the terrain I allowed my opponent the chance to choose sides this then gave me a chance to work out a battle plan. I knew that the only way I was going to stop a numerically superior enemy on the terrain in question was going to be to use the BUA as a linchpin and strongpoint. Now I figured that I was going to be in a race for the BUA and did not expect my opponent to completely ignore it. This almost cost me the game as I very nearly changed my plans at the last moment. In the end though I decided that I would need a strongpoint incase the enemy switched his focus.

My forces consisted of Artillery with 2 175mm M107 SP artillery pieces, Four 120mm Mortar sections and a Phantom for ground support (Did sod all during the game due to my poor judgement and placing). 2 Armour battalions 1 of Leopard 1a5's and one of Leopard II's. Finally 2 Mechanised Infantry groups consisting of Marders and MArder 1a1's with one or two Fuch's thrown in. I deployed the two Armour groups on my left flank ready to go head on with the enemy. The artillery FAO's were placed so I could hammer the enemy from either direction should they switch focus and round the opposite side of the wood and hill to the centre of the battlefield. My Mech Infantry was placed in position to advance into the BUA and use this as a strong point and also to take the woods in the centre of the battlefield.

The Leopards line up against the whole
East German Battlegroup

East German forces were arrayed in a column with the 1st T-72 Battalion taking the lead of two Infantry battalions in BMP's. A 2nd T-72 battalion was positioned to the left of the rearmost BMP's. Very concentrated but also very formidable and more than a little intimidating.

Initial success on both sides was rather limited. I scored some hits against his lead T-72's and managed to suppress through Artillery barrage some of his mechanised units but turn one did not engender the possibility of a West German win. However I did manage to get one of the mech units into the BUA and start putting fire on the second unit of T-72's which now had their rear facing a group of AFV's with ATGW's on and a few Infantry units with IATW and a Milan.

T-72's Turn to face the Infantry taking position in the strongpoint

Once in position the Mech unit my opponents flank really was a thorn. It kept his units trapped unable to fall back effectively and un
able to crest the hill for fear of running into two Tank battalions worth of Leopard.

The T-72's on the hill that been attacked by the Infantry turned to face this new threat
They were still shielded from the Armour by the crest of the hill so their rear and flanks were not exposed, or so he thought. As
the casualties started mounting from a mixture of Opportunity fire and ordered fire, I am afraid to say I began to get impetuous. I had smelled victory and thought that my trap closed and made a bit of a gamble.

Leopard 1a5's take a huge gamble!

I could see victory in my grasp. With a single decisive push from my Armour against the Armour on the hill I could mop up any survivors at leisure. Things did not go entirely to plan though. The initial move sped the 1a5's across the open ground up the hill and within firing range of the T-72's Opportunity fire from the battered T-72's off the hill suppressed one platoon but still allowed the rest to open up on the rear of the T-72's. Far from being the decisive action I required I had merely put them in imminent danger of being pushed off the hill or destroyed. Oooops.

To try and relieve the pressure somewhat I tried to pull the Leopard II's in to support on the Flank so I could at least try and keep the T-72's on the ground away from the flanks of my 1a5's. Alas the comms failed and the Leopards stayed where they were.

The game then settled into a grueling mire of firefights that made sure that casualties were mounting up on both sides. I had victory within my grasp and had watched lady luck snatch it away just as quickly. But I was not finished yet and the next two actions really sealed the fate of my opponent.

The Second Infantry Battalion Moves into position.

My second infantry was now in a position within the wood to hit the T-72's harassing my Stronpoint and keeping my Armour bogged down on the hill. They engaged at pretty much pointblank range with IATW and ATGW as well as the Marders cannons. All this added to the ATGW and IATW from my strongpoint and the Leopards in their rear was starting to overpower the T-72's.

The real killing blow came from my Artillery which ranged in both the 175mm and the 120mm Mortars on the Infanrty BMP group that had shifted it's advance and deployed for an attack on the Strongpoint. After the encirclement of the T-72's and the Artillery bombardment of the BMP's and their passengers the game was over. The East Germans were 2 over their break point and they failed their next command test.

Final scores.
West Germany 13/21 East Germany 35/33

Not an easy game but certainly very good fun. I have learned a number of valuable lessons from this game. Firstly more than one FAC is essential if you have the facility to use them. Most importantly....... Have some bloody patience.

Hope you enjoyed it. See you again soon.

2010-07-08T17:14:00.000-07:00

Best of the Space Marines!!!!

Without a shadow of a doubt my favorite of all the marine chapters has to be the Crimson Fists. I suppose I've always had a soft spot for em after buying the original 40k rulebook and playing the farmhouse attack scenario after furiously painting the two opposing forces for it. So a little over three years ago I decided that it was time to reinvest in my favorite Games Workshop game! Epic!

Without a doubt in my mind, Epic is the single most perfect game GW has ever produced. EVER! Nothing really comes close, the current edition is a master stroke and is rivaled in it's simplistic beauty only by Warmaster (and of course the Specialist Military Publishing games too). In short. I love Epic Armageddon.

When Epic Armageddon first came out again I bought a brand new army and painted it beautifully. It was the first Ork army I ever cared about and I never lost once with it. The Orks were unstoppable, however I sold the army to a mate of mine after became bored with it and stayed away from epic for a time. I eventually got back into it after receiving a shed load of marines and specialist marines. I set to building and painting.

The army is painfully far from completion with only two tactical detachments complete and a few tanks half done. With 8000 points to paint, I think this is gonna be a long haul!

2010-07-08T16:59:00.000-07:00

MBT's Recce and SPAA

Progress shots of the West Germans again. They really are coming together nicely now as the paint jobs get easier the closer I get to the end. I will have the full complement of vehicles painted by sunday and should have a decent start on the infantry. I'm liking the look of the clump foliage I'm using on the bases. The flock may be added to at some point, but, at the moment I love the rural look of the figures in the scene.

More to follow soon hope you like this little lot. Cheers!

A Pair of Gepard's

A Pair of Spahpanzer Luchs

And some Leopard II's...... Nice!

2010-07-06T17:07:00.000-07:00

Finished M107 175mm SP and Leopard II W.I.P.

Ok everyone, sorry for the long wait in between posts but I've been busy painting my German Army. I've gamed them once so far in a far from perfect state in just base colours and brown bases..... Urrrrgh. Not ideal but I was just so desperate to try out the leopards on the field.

I must admit though my first outing was an absolute disaster for the poor Bundeswehr, I loved the game and can't wait to field two units of tanks against all comers. Ha ha. Well here are the shots up to now. Hope you all like them, thanks for keeping an interest and I'll see you soon.

West Germans based and ready for their first lick of paint!

2010-06-28T17:33:00.000-07:00

THE LONG ROAD TO HANOVER

I thought that I'd post a little bit of a work in progress on my latest wargaming venture. As I've been keeping a low profile on the wargames scene over the last year (funds and time eating away most of my chances for gaming) I've spent a lot over the last month making up for lost time. As I now have the time to dedicate to the huge projects I've been yearning to get into over the last couple of years.

First;y though I'd like to introduce my West German army of the late 1980's. You will notice the Leopard 1A4's and Leopard II's there along with a good old Gepard or two and of course a shed load of Marder IFV's. Much more than I needed in fact. I over looked the fact you can only have a max of twelve per battlegroup and bought 20! There are two types there so it ain't a complete disaster and I always had the intention of putting a couple on HQ stands anyhoo.

Bases are precision cut plastic from ebay, top class seller who will be getting a shed load of my business as his professionalism and product are fantastic. The horrible Broon stuff on the base is wood filler. I'll be using a classic flock on the bases to represent grass with tufts of longer stuff using static grass. Wood filler that shows through will represent mud. I also have some modeling scatter to represent bushes. Actually it's the same stuff on my mates soviet tanks in the earlier post.

More painted examples to follow!

Cold War Commander

2010-06-27T13:38:00.000-07:00

First Game of Cold War Commander

Soviets and Syrians in the 1980's?!?!!?

Ok, so my first real post begins with a Monster of a first game. Also before you say it, yes I know that this has absolutely nothing to do with any sort of historical action or even any kind of possible alternative history. Keep reading and you'll understand. Twas just what we had available at the time.

I've been putting together a battle-group for Specialist Military Publishing's rule set, Cold War Commander. I decided on the West Germans in 1987. The year selected randomly and for absolutely no particular reason, other than one of my primary opponents had bought the GHQ battle set with the T-80's and BMP-1 or 2's in (Can't remember which one off hand). I originally wished to play as the british in 1977 with chieftains and such like, but once Steve had those T-80's I decided something more modern would have to be done.

I bought a ton of GHQ mini's and a few C-in-C models to fill in the gaps and set about basing and prepping them for todays fight. Alas, these wonderful figures deserve more than just a quick slap of paint and so after a full week's evenings slaving away I hadn't even base coloured them. So I gave the grave news to my pal and we organised something a little different.

DON'T PANIC THOUGH!!!!

The West German Army shall march next week following another furious weeks tireless painting and modeling. For now though here are some pics of the first CWC game I have played. Saying that though I have played the first edition of BKC lots and even the 2nd Edition a few times more recently so I was very familiar with the rules.

After a few turns tightening the nuts and bolts of the game mechanics we had some great action. An early ambush in the woods to our (Soviets) right flank held up the oppositions tank brigade somewhat and drew a reserved battalion and recce unit held up for 4 full turns. Thats just 2 spigots and two infantry units. Sterling work boys.

The initial casualties on the Soviet side were from a command blunder and unfortunately for the plucky Syrian player it stayed that way for many turns. In fact the Soviet army caused three fifths the casualties the syrians did all game when the second command blunder saw 3 BMP-1 recieve crossfire and get blitzed with the infantry inside.

Although there was some confusion over the counter battery aspect of the rules the game was surprisingly some for a first attempt. We managed 5 turns in 5 hours including coffee and cig breaks (for those that smoked) and of course wandering off to the other games in the club and having a chin wag.

All in all an excellent game and I can't wait to get my West Germans on.

Anyway enjoy the pics.

2010-06-17T06:28:00.000-07:00

Ok so here are the tales of The Legend. This blog is going to be a catch all for my Guitar and Wargaming exploits. Updates will be as frequently as I can mostly, on a Sunday.