A bit of CoC action

A couple of Sundays ago, I ran a game of Chain of Command for two new club members who had never played the game before.

I put on a basic encounter game with a British Rifle platoon facing off against a Heer Zug. Rolling for supports, the British ended up with an additional Rifle section and the Germans gained an additional Senior Leader. The table was reasonably cluttered, as befits Somewhere In Normandy in 1944. The Germans would be approaching from the upper right of the picture above, with the British entering from the opposing side of the table. The British half of the table was slightly higher, representing a ridge.

The scenery belongs to the club and all the figures are from my Peter Pig 15mm Late War collection.

I gave the new guys the choice of sides and they chose the Germans. I was happy to take the British for a change.

After the Patrol Phase, which was naturally a bit confusing to the new guys, we began to deploy, with the British platoon sergeant and 2" mortar team getting some smoke laid down in front of the Germans. As in many things I did in the game, this was as much about showing Mike and John how the rules work as it was about my tactics.

I pushed the British forward aggressively from their JOPs, but the Germans were also taking up position behind the hedges lining the roads. I was giving Mike and John suggestions about what they might want to do, to keep things moving along.

The Germans were deploying on both sides of the road, with the extra SL helping them get into useful positions quickly.

I was more concerned about explaining and keeping the game alive than taking photos. However, this section below had taken a lot of casualties from the central German section across the road from the cornfield when the it charged into melée against the German rifle team within 4" at the crossroads.

The British did manage to win the fight, forcing the rifle team to break, leaving a weakened MG42 team behind.

The section on the German left moved along the lane towards a more central position. 

Meanwhile, the British were consolidating in a central position. I explained to Mike and John that my plan was to drive a wedge between the German flanks and push on to control the central crossroads.

We played out a few more phases of play, but it was becoming apparent that the extra section had given the British the advantage, despite having two sections take a severe mauling. As casualties and shock began to reduce the Germans ability to fight back, Mike and John pulled their remaining troops back to their starting point, leaving the British in control of the crossroads.

This was an interesting game. I like showing new players what Chain of Command is all about and how it forces players to think about the problems that are thrown up in terms of what their troops can do and how to use them to their strengths. I stressed to Mike and John that the MG42 team in each section was the most important component, especially when the Germans are defending, which was essentially what they were doing in this game.

I'd stressed that although this was nominally an encounter between two platoons probing forward, what the British needed to do was secure a road along which armour might advance, while the Germans were essentially seeking to delay the British and stop them getting across the table, rather than trying to grab an advanced position that would be difficult to defend in the future.

Happily, both John and Mike liked the game, so hopefully I've Spread A Bit More Lard.

Some What A Tanker! action

Last Sunday we had one of our occasional all-day sessions at the club. Although I had something planned for the afternoon, my diary was empty for the morning. Therefore, I grabbed my WaT folder and a few tanks and bunged them in the car.

The tanks I chose were Western Desert 8th Army and DAK ones. I took the four DAK tanks I painted up some time ago, as seen here and here, plus some British ones that I bought ready-painted at our Tabletop Sale in 2018. 

Doing this turned out to be a good idea, as Matt, a recent new member needed a game, so we played some WaT. Given the option, Matt chose the Desert Rats, picking a Matilda II and a Crusader II, both with the QF 2pdr gun. I decided on two PzKfw III tanks, an Ausf. H with the shorter 5cm Kwk 38 gun and a Ausf. L with the longer 5cm KwK 39 gun.

The scenario was pretty simple, an encounter in and around a small oasis.

I decided that I'd get the PzKfw IIIL into cover, where its superior firepower might give me the edge.

I then sent the PzKfw IIIH around the other side of the oasis.

Things were quite cagey at first, bit I did inflict a bit of damage on the Crusader which decided to go to ground in some partial cover.

I was horrified when the Matilda managed to brew-up my main strike tank, the IIIL pretty soon after it had sustained damaged gun optics from an earlier shot of mine.

The rest of the game was all about my remaining tank dodging the two British ones, while taking potshots whenever possible, nibbling away at their effectiveness and eventually knocking out the Crusader in a tense exchange of fire across the limpid waters of the oasis.

Eventually, I also managed to take the Matilda out, despite my tank having taken damage to both gun optics and running gear.

All in all, a fun game, which reminded me of what excellent rules these are. Once again, well done the Lardies!

Some treasure scatter pieces from Bad Squiddo.

I bought these a couple of years ago but somehow managed to mislay them until about six weeks ago. I know that I had them with other scenic pieces to be painted and then, POUF! they were gone, as though some evil wizard had spirited them away. Somehow, they ended up in a box full of non-gaming stuff and I only found them while looking for something else.

You can find them on the Bad Squiddo website under the Bad Squiddo Terrain menu. Annie notes that;

"These sculpts were originally part of Ristul's Extraordinary Market and purchased by Bad Squiddo in 2018. We still work with Ristul to add new goodness to the range.". 

They were still Ristul items when I bought them, and I have to say that they are the best resin pieces that I have ever bought in terms of crisp detail, casting and general cleanliness. I have no reason to doubt that they are still of this first-rate quality.

First up are some treasure chests, in varying sizes and styles, all perfect for Frostgrave and pretty much anywhere else you might needs a chest or two.

Next are some lovely piles of treasure, just like you would expect to find in a dragon's horde or in a previously-undisturbed treasure chamber in Felstad or pretty much anywhere else you might stumble over skeletons in armour, heaps of gold coins, enchanted weapons and arcane artefacts.

These were a lot of fun to paint and so easy. I undercoated them in Halford's Matt Black spray paint, which covers perfectly and then built up the colours by dry-brushing, picking out details with a smaller brush.

I really need to show you the reverse view of the seated figure, because it is a beautiful piece of work;

Isn't that absolutely fantastic sculpting and casting? A real joy to paint. Mind you, with casts this good, the painting becomes so easy.

  

Thornbury IPMS show 2019

Last Sunday (4th August) saw the annual IPMS Show at Thornbury Leisure Centre near Bristol. The Lincombe Barn Wargames Society has been helping run parts of the show for a long time and this year was no exception.

As well as running the popular Bring and Buy table, the club also has a display stand, showing some of the games we play and we run a participation game. This year, our chosen game was Congo by Studio Tomahawk. Despite having not played the game for a while, we managed to get three games completed on the day, and I think that everyone enjoyed themselves. Below are a selection of photos from the games. All figures were supplied by Clive (the Forest Tribes) or me (the European Explorers). We played the same simple scenario in all the games, Raiders of the Lost Mask from the Last Queen of Aksoum bulletin sheet.

In addition, some of us submitted entries for the Wargaming Class of the IPMS Painting Competition. The first picture shows the winning entry. I think that is an Age of Sigmar thing, but I have no idea what they are, apart from being some kind of animated trees. Anyway, it was a nice paint job.

This Ork vehicle battlegroup (below) was an impressive entry, but was unplaced.

I submitted a few different entries from stuff already painted which I use for gaming (rather than specifically-painted competition pieces), both in the hope of getting a top three spot, but also to ensure that there were enough wargames entries to the competition. My entries were a mixed bunch, featuring figures from Bad Squiddo, North Star, Pulp Figures, Copplestone, Reaper Miniatures and Perry. I had high hopes of getting some recognition for my Freyja's Wrath entry, but it was not to be (insert sad face here).

Below are all my entries together, plus one from someone else at the bottom right.

"How did I fare?", you might ask. Well, I didn't win, but I did grab second place with my Perry 28mm plastic Condottieri foot men-at-arms figures at the top left of the picture above.

Next year I really Must Try Harder.

More 15mm sci fi stuff

I am slowly working through the 15mm science fiction lead pile. It is something that isn't top of the To Do list but every now and then I feel the need to do something about figures and models that have been lying around for maybe a year or, in some cases even longer.

First up are two combat mechs for my Alien Squad Far Eastern Leader Corporate Mercenary army, which I have found to be severely under-gunned whenever I've played with it. These are from GZG, where they are sold as Police/Security Mecha. I decided that they had a sufficiently Far Eastern look to be perfect as Daemon Class Oni Mecha as listed in the relevant ASQL army list, but I wasn't happy with the batons the standard models have in their left hands. In any case, I wanted the guns in the left hands and something a bit more impressive as the required Laser Katanas. Luckily I had some odds and ends from a box of GW Space Marines (don't ask) that would do the job.

So, here are the two latest additions to an army that I really need to use more often.

In the second picture, I have added a standard trooper as a size comparison.

Next, I have six rather evil looking big droids with powered claws and big serious-looking shooters. These are from Alternative Armies Ion Age range where they are sold as Shia Khanate Psycoborgs. I've had these for a fair while too. I have had several plans for these, but now I think that I will use them as Robotic Servants (heavy droids) in an Alien Grey army.

Here they are as a group.

And now in two groups of three;

Finally, here they are with a standard 15mm trooper for scale purposes. As you can see, these are smaller than the big battle mechs, but still look pretty impressive.

Of course, I might be able to use these in other armies too, once I've given it some thought.