The Full Monty, (or Cunningham)

Late in the game, the 15th Panzer in control of the field with swarms of Commonwealth infantry scrambling to hold the line after the heavy British tank losses. German infantry still cling to the airfield at Sidi Rezeg on the left of the pic. Italians still hold Bir El Gubi at the bottom right, and the South African Brigade is left facing German armor in the center.

I got a copy of the Memoir 44 "Breakthrough" boards in last Friday's post and I had some time today to set up the "Crusader" scenario. I had also recently purchased the new "equipment pack" with lots of special figures to add some spice to the M44 stew. In this big game I am going all-out with all optional rules and added a few extra units to the original scenario as well as some adjustments to the map to make it look "more like the actual battle" to my eyes.

Playing a desert scenario of a battle this large demand the inclusion of such goodies and rules like scout cars, supply trucks, 88s, big guns, mobile artillery, command cars (to represent Rommel) and the air pack. I also used the Churchill tanks included in the equipment pack to represent Matildas and treated them using the "Tiger Tank" rules (since they were really hard to kill given the light guns of the time) and reduced their move to 2 hexes since they were slow infantry tanks. And finally the grey French figures in the new equipment pack served nicely as Italian infantry and the Japanese tank minis from the Pacific served here as Italian armor.

The Lufwaffe really took a toll in this first game since with his free order Rommel was able to keep the air assets up and flying for several turns in the center sector where all the British armor was concentrated. The supply truck rules allowed units to withdraw to resupply and recover a hit. This made the game ebb and flow just like the real battle. With 12 medals required for victory the the game was long enough to support a withdrawal and return to the fray. For such an abstract game this was really not a bad representation of the battle.

Two Gridded Games: Part 2

The Americans approach the outskirts of San Lorenzo

 Knowing that In my second gridded game this week that my table size might stretch "The Portable Wargame" rules a bit far, I decided to play them with doubled range and movement distances. I think this did not affect the game unduly and gave a sense of the game's scale (a battalion level attack on a town) that was similar to my last game using slightly altered Memoir 44 rules.

Under heavy fire the GI's advance. This time US armour tries to outflank the town rather than drive headlong down the main street

 In this game both side put all their initiative "eggs" in one basket and devoted their moves and firing to the struggle around the town...the units on the ridge never moved in the game though some mortar rounds were exchanged to no effect.

Still they lose a tank unit to Panzerfaust  fire from heavily defended buildings

 One change I made to the rules was the addition of infantry AT markers that are added (single figures with an AT weapon) to a square allowing infantry in the same square to destroy tanks at half range (in this game, two squares). Normally infantry and MGs are not allowed to destroy armor at a distance.

Also I used my "heroic leader figure" rule that allowed a single leader figure "stacked" in the same square as an infantry unit to call for a re-roll of the opponent's hit die and regardless of the second outcome the leader must roll a d6 less than 4 to survive the "heroic moment". That rule actually worked to the German's advantage when one of their company commander's got a good re-roll negating a hit on a significant unit...unfortunately the next turn the unit was destroyed and the leader as well so the "Amis" captured the town by result of a series of good rolls in the final turns.

Again, the "Portable Wargame" and M44 prove that complex can be simple if designed correctly!

Two Gridded Games

The Valley of San Lorenzo

 Inspired by the new edition of Bob Cordery's Modern version of the Portable Wargame I dug out my generic WWII plastic figures and a couple of odd scaled plastic tanks all of which came from dollar store sets from China. I set up a scenario set in 1943 Italy where an assaulting force attempts to capture a village surrounded by a rough semicircle of ridges.

Army Tan playing the role of the Americans

 The idea was to play out an experimental game first using Memoir 44 as is on a square grid with a few added rules for MGs and Mortars. ( MGs get a 4-3-2-1 rating and count as 3 hit infantry  and mortars a 3-2-2-1-1 counting as 2 hit artillery) Then to reset the battle and use the Portable Wargame Rules. Not so much to compare their merits, but to just enjoy gaming with both of them.

Army Green playing the role of Germans

 I'm also keen to put my homemade Spanish Village to use and since my SCW collection is still under construction, these odd little plastics will serve in their place. They are just a basic color spray coat with the helmets picked out in a darker color...pretty effective for a "quick and dirty" set up.

First game using Memoir 44

the table is a 4'x4' gridded with 2 1/2 " squares 18 by 18

The Americans approach the town

US armor assaults the outskirts driving back the defenders temporarily

Tough German defenders inflict damage as the tanks outrun their infantry support

On the right flank the GIs fight their way up the steep slopes of San Lorenzo Ridge

I just used d6s to count hits and I counted plowed fields as "rice paddy" terrain as per M44 specs.

The advancing US infantry take casualties from the Germans who have re-occupied the outskirts of the town

The battle swings in the defender's favor as one of the American armor units is destroyed by close assaulting infantry

Though the Americans manage to clear a portion of the ridge, their attack stalls and the Germans hit their 6 victory points and get a win.

So all in all a simple, somewhat crude looking game but fun nonetheless...and in keeping with the abstract level of a gridded game. The M44 rules worked just fine using a square grid (I did not allow diagonal range counting) and playing solo I just dealt each new command card face down and then played the opposite side before turning it up. A fun game for sure!

 So on to the next game using the Portable Wargame rules.

Pencil Trick part 2

 Just a few more images of the pencil trick I mentioned in my last post this time a bit better lit.
This is a "Bolt Action" 28mm German MG42 on a tripod mount. I decided to paint the tripod armour yellow since I saw a few images of the real thing painted that way. It helped add some detail to an otherwise all gunmetal weapon.

The one thing about the pencil trick to remember is that the sharper the point, the more fine detail you can highlight on the mini.

And finally here is an image of the real thing for comparison. I've seen the MG42 with both a black shoulder stock and a dark wood colored stock. I always go with a wood color for a bit of added detail.

A Trick I Learned

Using a pencil to make gunmetal highlights

 Here's a trick I learned from the 1/35th scale modeling folks and it works pretty well on minis. A great way to simulate gunmetal is to use a graphite pencil and hit the high spots on a black undercoated weapon...or in this case some German equipment. The graphite sticks just fine and if the figure is clear-coated it becomes permanent.

 These are the 28mm Bolt Action plastics that were such a headache to assemble, but are really nice to paint up...(except for a broken rifle barrel during drybrushing)

(Note: the grey in the pics shows up lighter than actual)

The last pic is an SMG man still in progress just after a wash of the older GW "flesh shade" which is still better than their newer formula. The new version seems not "strong" enough. Too bad I'm on my last jar ("pot").
On the good side, the GW "Skavenblight Dinge" Layer color (available in my town at the local game shop) is an almost exact match for Vallejo "German Field Grey" #830 (that I have to order online). I try to support the local shop if can...and they are always good for a quick Warhammer fix if need arises.

Pencil trick on an 1/72 "Armorfast" Achilles (MGs and chipped turret edges)

Pencil trick on 15mm FOW US M4s ...esp the treads.

Where's That Beeswax in the Ears When You Need It!

Them si-reeens done loved him up and t-t-turned him into a toad!!!

 So I succumbed to the siren song from "Warlord" minis and started in on a set of 28mm WWII "Bolt Action" figures (sitting around here at Lead Gardens unpainted and more importantly un-assembled since last Christmas) on the strength of the "Bolt Action" rules I recently bought. The rules, on first read, seem like they will be fun and just the ticket for some quick casual solo play since the dice activation/order mechanic will serve nicely in taking some control of the game away from me.

BUT oh, the humanity!... those multipart figures are a pain to assemble! So after several sessions of trimming gluing and general cussing, I managed to finish a three squad platoon of Germans. Next up is the Russians and thank heaven for metal figures!  Now granted I do love the variations you get in the figures from all those loose little legs and arms and tiny weapons and heads when they finally come together. (...though I wish the rifles were a bit more robust even if it meant a bit overscaled) and at least the hard part is over.

The other mere "glint in daddy's eye" here these days is the new SAGA rules for dark age skirmish combined with the beautiful Sash and Saber 40mm dark age minis. Though I'll have to sell something...maybe a kidney...to afford the special dice. (Yes just kidding, I can make some homemade ones I suppose...)

10mm WWII Action: Attack on Uden

British infantry in the foreground defend "Hell's Highway" the village of Uden in the background...American paras under assault in the far distance.

Today I had some time to set up and run a small WWII action in 10mm using some terrain boards and my new Pendragon 10mm figures. The battle was just to have a go at the rules (I've not played them before) and to see how the terrain boards look and work with the figures.

A British 17lbr rushes to aid the Paras

The boards are made of 1/4" mdf with sections of outdoor carpet adhered to the surface. The sections are 2x4' and though they are abstractions of the real terrain in Holland, I tweaked the roads to make them "geomorphic" for more variety. The mdf color makes a decent road surface that will get some further texture with paint and foliage to make the roads a bit rougher. The buildings are 6mm paper buildings from GHQ's website. They have a nice selection of Dutch buildings and since I'm modeling the Arnhem battles, they work perfectly.

Elements of Panzer Brigade 107

The hedges are homemade using sections of 3M scrubber dipped in glue/paint and then dipped into flock...simple and fast... Still working on how to make convincing forests.

A Bren carrier scout platoon in some serious peril...

So far I'm enjoying the project and the rules as the figures paint up easily and look good, and the rules are interesting. All in all a nice break from my usual larger scale stuff.

(also...I've put up a link to some 15mm WWII Desert War unpainted stuff that I'm liquidating this week, just click on the For Sale link in the header.)

Jumping On the 10mm Bandwagon

There are a lot of guys out there who are doing some really great gaming in 10mm so I'm a bit late to the party, but this summer I'm scaling down all my WWII stuff to 10mm. I think the figure lines have really taken a leap forward in coverage and detail so it makes something I always wanted to do become something I definitely need to do now.

10mm Pendragon Germans and GHQ 6mm paper houses

What you are seeing here is an initial batch of Pendragon 10mm Germans next to some 1/285 GHQ paper houses (available free on their website). I'm finding a lot of 10mm players use 6mm buildings for less table coverage and it seems to look right with the minis...so initially, I'm doing it too. I'm going to collect armies for the Arnhem operations of WWII. There were lots of different troop types involved and that always makes for some fun army building. I'm using Blitzkrieg Commander rules for a start.

The initial German force I'm building is going to model Panzer Brigade 107...a unit that figured in the attempts to cut the main highway to Arnhem. It's an interesting unit typical of the period and is outfitted with Panthers and Jagdpanzer IVs so fun to paint. I just used the OB from the "Rapid Fire Rules" supplement, and just converted it to 1 stand = 1 platoon level.

These are just a few workbench pics of the Brigade as it is getting finished. Since I'm in the US I'm ordering these from "The War Store" online...and getting the usual great service even if Neal has to order the Pendraken stuff every 2 weeks. I was able to produce this brigade for around $120. USD...a real advantage over my usual 15mm Battlefront/Flames of War purchases which, though they are a quality product, really sting the pocketbook!

I'm pretty excited about the quality of these Pendragons and will post the British Grenadier Guards Battlegroup in a few weeks.
In the coming months, ultimately I'm hoping to rebuild my North Africa collection in 10mm as well since my 15mm desert collection has all been sold off to fund new projects...(and other more pressing financial things as well).

WWII British and Germans For Sale

Welcome to my 100th Follower (BigLee)!... and today some 20/25mm WWII figures for sale.
See them on ebay HERE.

NOTE: The auctions have ended on these without them being sold so they have been broken down into smaller lots and relisted- here is a link to the German infantry and you can find the rest under "see seller's other items"

It's elements of the Grenadier Guards circa Arnhem and based up for "Rapid Fire".

Believe it or not those "Armorfast" quick-build kits detail up pretty nicely (with some added detailing)...this is the Achilles TD.

And I'm also selling a German Panzer brigade (modeled after PZ BGD 107 from the Arnhem battles)

These are scratchbuilt conversions of a Flame thrower halftrack and a "Drilling" AA halftrack based on basic 251s by Hat (Armorfast kits)

Find the Germans HERE

Thanks!

What To Do With All That Old Micro Armor

OK since my son is clearly addicted to my iPad primarily because of the very popular "Plants vs Zombies" game...and much as I try to limit his time on it... I have decided to launch a counterstroke on behalf of tabletop gaming by breaking out a pile of old microarmour and 10mm scale armor and cooking up a set of rules that essentially turn "Plants vs Zombies" into a basic wargame that my 5 year old can understand. essentially the American M1s and Bradleys are the Plants and the Russians T-72s and BMPs (with a few exceptions and mixing on both sides) are the Zombies (no offense to my Russian friends!!) ...and it's no surprise that he got it immediately!
We used a gridded sheet of green foamboard that I was using to work on some 6mm Naps rules and a few buildings and we were off and running.

...the little guy decided mid-game that PT 76s had amphibious capabilities!

We didn't worry about the scales of the various vehicles (10mm and 1/285 and even a few 1/300!)...and really it was a pretty good time.

Basically the "Zombies" moved relentlessly across the table moving 2 grid squares per turn and the "Plants" shot them to pieces with a simple d6 5-6 hits rule that gave the little guy just enough suspense...and dad could push the Zombies and enjoy his martini in the process...much like the iPad game he loves so much, except dad got to be there for it...a huge difference between that and a checked-out kid wired into a video game!

And, since I don't do much in the way of small armor stuff anymore it gave the stuff I had a much needed outing before I sell it on ebay!

T72s lurk in a plowed field waiting for a target...

Tactical Problems

A few hours between classes and the close proximity of my game table a few blocks away combines to make a good lunch-hour series of games to take the edge off of normal work...

I've been recently interested in 15mm Flames of War "600 point games" as a way to both get in a quick game between classes and to study the rules in a deeper way by playing lots of games quickly...and besides I have the troops and they need a workout!

I played thorough a series of four battles this afternoon...each one taking only 30 minutes or so to complete. Because the games went by so quickly they became something of a set of small tactical problems and, as I find the Flames of War rules particularly well suited for desert war battles the entire set of games were a real blast.

The games were based on the "Encounter" scenario in the FOW rulebook scaled down for a 600 point game on a 4x4' table. I played through the scenario four times and each time adjusting the losing side's set-up to try to get them a win.  The match up was a German tank battlegroup versus a British battlegroup both entirely tanks. The Brits could afford 3 troops of 3 plus an HQ of 2 tanks (Crusaders) and the Germans were working with a platoon of PZIIIs in various combinations of 5 plus 3 PZ IIs as a recon platoon....so essentially 11 Brit tanks versus 5 German (plus 3 light tanks). The forces would not appear all at once so each game had markedly different feel. One of the things that strikes you at this "small game" scale is that "Flames of War"  is a tightly balanced set of rules and interestingly at this point level, REALLY tense and unforgiving of tactical mistakes.

The first three games went to the Brits because the Germans being outnumbered and having to hold a platoon off table as delayed reinforcements made it really difficult to hold both of the victory objectives. In each the first three games the Brits were able to "charge"  towards an objective and hold it for a win and the Germans could never seem to hold them off despite superior tanks. Their lesser numbers made winning the game problematic.

 British Crusaders charge towards the objectives...in the distance the Germans are about to open fire.

 The German force was re-deployed in each game and the British force came on in the same way so I could experiment with the German deployment in each game.

In the second and third game, the British tried to attack the left hand objective behind a low rise and despite a German flanking move still wound up winning by turn 4 by charging the objective

In the final battle I reconfigured the German force into a platoon of 3 PZIIIs and an HQ section of 2 PZIIIs and kept the light platoon of PZIIs off table as a reinforcement and it finally did the trick, giving the Germans the necessary weight of numbers to win. In the final battle of the afternoon the Germans charged forward instead of waiting for the British to advance, and with a full platoon of 5 PZ IIIs  they were able to roll over the first platoon of Crusaders and move towards their objective.

The Germans got their HQ and 2inC on to the objective while the 3 tank platoon engaged a platoon of reinforcing Crusaders...

In FOW, the British have a special rule for their tanks ("Tally Ho") that gives them a slight advantage at close quarters so it tends to encourage them to charge in and mix it up with the Germans. In this final battle that resulted in a fierce contest to wrest the objective from the Germans. The game lasted 7 turns (by far a long one for a 600 point game...) Most of the last three turns were consumed by a swirling tank battle that saw both sides charging into the growing dust cloud around the objective.

Close Quarters!

overview of the final moments of the fight as the last British troop of Crusaders arrives...

The Germans finally won the day against superior numbers by taking each British tank troop on individually as it entered the fray.. The other factor that made this final battle unusual is that both sides won their Company Morale rolls even after sustaining heavy losses so both sides slugged it out to the end.

overview at the end of the battle (with the smoke and dust removed)

After this set of battles I got the bug to do a 4x4 table surface with more texture....but that's a project for another day.