2 vs. 1 Flames of War in El Paso

I made the hour drive down to Jon's house last weekend to get a game in.  This time Alex and I would team up to stop Jon's Soviets in Encounter.  Alex and I both made 1900 point companies, while Jon also had two 1900 point Soviet battalions.  We also each had an extra Higher Command team to represent a regimantal commander.  Jon had a pair of Rota Razvedki lists, one with cossacks, pioneers, T-34s and Spetznaz, the other with pioneers, T-34/85s, Emchas, and Spetznaz.  Alex had an SS Charlemagne company with 10 platoons, two SS platoons with attached HMGs, a Hitlerjugend Platoon, a platoon of Volkssturm, 15cm Nebelwerfers, 7.5cm PaK40s, Hetzers, Wirbelwinds, and Kleinpanzer Wanze.  I brought a company from Schwere Panzer Kampfgruppe Bäke.

We played on a longer table than standard, about 9' x 4'.  Each of our companies would need to keep half of our platoons in Reserve, Jon electing to deploy Pioneers, Cossacks, and Spetznaz from one battalion, and Pioneers, Rota, and Spetznaz from the other.  This would leave three Rota, T-34/76s,  T-34/85s, and Emchas in Reserve.  

Alex would deploy two SS platoons with attached HMGs, Volkssturm, Nebelwerfers, and PaK 40s, while I would deploy my Panthers and Sd Kfz 10/5s.  This would leave the Hitlerjugend, Wanze, Hetzers, Wirbelwinds, Tiger Is, and Sd Kfz 250/9s in Reserve.

Alex surveys our extra-large battlefield.

Jon started his My Little Cossacks and Spetznaz on his right, deployed in a wood bordered by a stream.  Jon found some plastic horses in a box and couldn't help himself!

My Panthers and HQ would deploy in support of Alex's Volkssturm and SS Grenadiers, opposite the ponies.

Jon infiltrated the Cossacks and I used Bäke to recon-move the Panthers.  They wouls move to oppose the brightly-colored Communists.

On the other side my 2cm FlaK deployed to support Alex's SS, PaK40s, and Nebelwerfers.  Jon deployed a Rota company, pioneers, and Spetznaz, infiltrating the Rota.  2cm FlaK would move to counter the attack and protect the PaKs.

Jon presses the Cossacks forward, and tries to get around the Panthers.  Many of the ponies are cut down by MG fire.

Fire from the PaKs and 2cm FlaK would hurt the Rota bad, causing them to break and run on Turn Three.

The Cossacks would fail their attempt to flank the Volkssturm, losing more half of their number to the Panthers.  The Panthers continue to press their counter-attack.  

An assault by the Panthers on Turn Three would see the Cossacks flee.  The Spetznaz are also reduced to one stand.  Panthers consolidate backwards to wait and see where Jon's armor would arrive.

Jon's T-34/76 (proxy Shermans) company would arrive on the far right and put fire into the PaK40s, destroying one.  However, on our Turn Four I would luckly get my Tiger I platoon from reserve.  Not only were they double-aces with re-roll misses and 2+ motivation, but they arrived exactly where they were needed to counter the Soviet armor.  They would roll onto the board, onto the wooded hill, and knock-out one T-34, while Bailing one.  Other Bails were from the PaK40s.

The remaining Cossacks would fall-back to defend the Objective.  My Bergepanther would chase them down.  The remaining Spetznaz team fails it's Sole Survivor check.

The Panthers would make their push to the now very open Objective.  Alex's SS would assault a Soviet Pioneer company just off-camera to the right, and the panthers would assault the three teams from the Pioneers that were on this hill, destroying them all.

On Turn Five Jon would get his other armor on the board, all in the same location.  The Emcha company would arrive directly in front of the Tiger Is, losing five tanks to the accurate fire of 8.8cm guns.  On Turn Six he pushes their flank, but only gets one hit, which is bounced.  The T-34/76s and Spetznaz would continue concentrating on the PaK40s.

Jon would assault the Paks with his Spetznaz, knocking the platoon down to a single gun.  His T-34s go in for the assault as well, but fire from the gun and several SS Grenadiers would halt it, Bailing four tanks.

On Turn Seven Jon would get a Rota company from reserve on the left side.  They would save the Cossacks from the aggressive Bergepanther.  

Alex's SS Grenadiers would easily assault the Bailed Out T-34s, destroying five.

Jon attampted to sneak a company of Pioneers up the middle through woods, but the arrival of my 250/9s and fire from the 2cm FlaK would keep them at bay.  Alex's Wanze tried to get to the tank abttle, but couldn't get there before the game ended.

On our Turn Eight the Panthers would assault the Soviet Battalion 2iC in this building, destroying him and capturing the Objective.  The two remaining Cossack stands were too far away to contest.  

Jon did get his revenge on the Bergepanther, a flamethrower would end his wild ride.

This was a really fun game, Panthers and Tiger Is can still be nasty when the Su-100s stay home.  The Panthers were able to blunt the Cossacks' attempt to flank the Volkssturm, break through a thin line of Pioneers, and claim an Objective by smashing through a house.  Bäke would only miss one or two shots all game, those on the 2iC in the house.  They would also knock out a pair of T-34/85s that arrived late from Reserve.  The Tiger I platoon would destroy an Emcha company and five T-34/76s while holding the right flank.  Alex's SS Grendiers were constantly moving to either support his Volkssturm or assault Soviet Pioneers that were trying to sneak up the middle and divide our forces.  His PaK40s were also instrumental in holding the right flank against twenty tanks plus infantry.  

The Germans would take a 4-3 victory, losing the 2cm FlaK to long-range T-34/85 fire on Turn Seven, and the PaK40s in Jon's final turn to the Spetznaz.  Jon's poor luck with the location of his reserves really was the difference in the game.  If one unit had rolled a 4 or 5 for location, they could have defended the Objective I captured.  Thanks again to Jon for hosting us!

6MMRPC Week Seventeen: Skeleton Warriors WiP

In preparation for October I finished assembling these skeletons.  I wrote up a little side dungeon for my D&D group and these will be the main enemy in an abandoned keep in the hinterlands of the Sword Coast of Faerun.  One of them will be a leveled Big Bad at the end, the former officer in charge of the now cursed keep.  These have been partially constructed for months, but with the holiday coming it's time.

Skeletons are Challenge Rating 1/4 Undead, the leader will be a Challenge Rating 2 Undead.

These minis are really cool, I wanted the bits-of-rusted-armor look for them.  I think they're Kings of War from Mantic.

The officer.  These plastic minis came in multiple parts and let you swap arms, torsos, etc.  Options for weapons too.

October is almost here!

6MMRPC Week Sixteen: Animated Weapons WiP

This week I mostly worked on continuing projects, cleaning mold lines from the Great War British, and masking the Ki-45 in preparation for airbrushing.  I also was able to get a few easy minis for my 5th Edition Dungeons and Dragons campaign painted up, just need to do the bases still.

First up was the Animated Weapons.  These are a Challenge Rating 1/4 Construct and I simply used some spare plastic weapons from a sprue of skeletons I built up previously.  Mounted on some push-pins and quickly painted and washed.

Two Short Swords and a pair or Hand-Axes.  These will be used to ambush unwary adventurers!

I also painted up a cloak that can be used for several different monsters, but will first be used as a Shadow, a Challenge Rating 1/2 Undead.  Also made from spare bits and painted quickly.  The final mini is a plastic Orc from Mantic, I think.  I wanted some orcs on the cheap and couldn't source the Reaper bones at the time I ordered these.  Orcs are Challenge Rating 1/2 Humanoids and are commonly found raiding the lands of more civilized races.

The orc is armed with two hand-axes and is the first of a small warparty I have planned for the campaign.

That's it for this week!  Hopefully I can get these finished up by next time and even get some paint on the Ki-45.

6MMRPC Week Fifteen: A Little Bit of Everything

This week I dabbled a bit into several projects.  My paint finally arrived for my Ki-45 and I was able to get some work done on it.  I continued working on Sam's Great War British, priming the landships and getting some infantry and guns cleaned up.  I made a decision on my Shifting Sands list, and I also dug out my Kensei figures and worked on them a little.

This particular color of paint for the Ki-45 took way too long to arrive, was back-ordered or something.  I should've just mixed something I already had, oh well.  I airbrushed the interior areas and then finished up all of the details before putting a basic wash on it.  Once that was dry I assembled the body and wings, and moved on to masking the canopies.  I've never done that before and it was tedious for sure.  Next up is camo.

The cockpit assembly came together pretty well.  Fit on the wings left a gap I'll need to fill.

Canopy masking in this scale is a pain...

The landships got a coat of primer but the male sponsons all need to have some uneven spots filled on the top.  I also got most of the guns cleaned up and some infantry too.

I almost forgot to put the front MGs on the Mark IVs.  I was wondering why I had so many extras!

The Kensei stuff I bought on a whim from Bartertown several months ago.  Some of them were already assembled and primed but I need to go back and clean up a few mold lines.  They also got beat up pretty bad and I'll need to do some repair work on the sashimono banners and yaris.  Date Masamune also seems to have lost his trademark crescent moon helmet crest.

Such good sculpts!  I also got mounted samurai, nodachi samurai and a few other single figs, like a geisha, ninja, and a few monks.  Also ended up with some mythological monsters.

Shifting Sands is in January and it is an Early War Blitzkreig event.  I've requsted that they add a few more lists that historically fought in the theatre but we will see if they allow them.  So far I'll be taking the Liechte Pionier list from the Blitzkrieg book, seven platoons of Confident Veteran Mechanized infantry for 1500 points.  One platoon of pioniers will be mounted in armored half-tracks, one in trucks, I have motorcycle reconnaissance, the ubiquitous 3.7cm PaK36s, a pair of 10.5cm howitzers for smoke and pinning, a pair of Panzer IV Ds, and three Panzer Is with demolition charges.  The Company Commander also gets a Panzer I.  It's not the most competetive list for sure, but I think it will be fun to build and play.  I need to buy several models still, so that'll cost me another joker. 

What I have so far.  Need to buy four tanks, five half-tracks, the howitzers, three trucks, and the motorcycle troops.

I also burned my second joker this week, bought a lot of Gebirgsjäger from a friend.  

Müncheberg Panzers vs. 1. Fallschirmjäger

I was able to get a game in today vs. Alex down in El Paso.  Alex wsa trying out the new digital Müncheberg Panzerdivision list from the Berlin releases and I brought my old 1. Fallschimjäger Divison army I built a few years back.  We played Hold the Line at 1900 points with me defending against the panzers at night.

Alex had two platoons of IR Panthers, an IR Panzersturm, Wirbelwinds, recon, and a battery of 10.5cm artillery.  We rolled for time of night and got Dusk.  The first three turns would still be light out, but then we roll for nightfall.  The sun would go down on turn four for us.  

Both objectives were close to one another and I was able to deploy both of my FJ platoons and the PaK40 platoon to defend them.  The Marder IIs would be in Ambush.

By Turn Three I had most of my Reserves in, including the StuG platoon.  I was able to hold off an assault by the Panzersturm on my front line but one of the FJ platoons was now at half-strength.  

Darkness falls on Turn Four and Alex had made a push down my left flank with a pair of Panthers.  The remains of his Panzersturm platoon was also creeping back up to my front FJs.  I'm able to bag his recon with a lucky shot which allows me to assault his Sturm first, destroying the final three teams for a loss of one of mine.  It puts me under half, but all I need is a 2+ to stay, which I make.

By Turn Five I had fallen back from the building, but was still contesting.

I dared to bring out my StuGs to take shots at the Wirbelwinds, which I Bail Out both.  The return fire from Alex would destroy one.

With the FlaK threat at least mitigated somewhat I'm able to deploy the Ambush on my Turn Six, destroying a Panther and a Wirbelwind.

Turn Seven would see the remaining Panther surrounded by Marders and StuGs, it would get knocked-out on Turn Eight.

Alex's last chance at a point would see the other Panthers destroy a team of FJs, but the two teams remaining make their 2+ check.  Alex's company breaks on his next turn.

It was nice to get a game in after a two-month break!  Alex is a great opponent who has a love for interesting German lists.  The IR-equipped Panthers are really cool.  6-1 win for the stubborn Fallschirmjäger from Cassino.

6MMRPC Week Fourteen: Midway Report

Now that August has wrapped up we have reached the halfway mark of the challenge.  When we started out in June this is what I hoped to get accomplished at the end of six months:
     - Assemble and paint a Great War British army for a commission. (Flames of War)
     - Assemble and paint units to finish my Early War German army for Historicon. (Flames of War)
     - Assemble and paint two entries for the Iron Cross Competition at Historicon. (Flames of War)
     - Start a 1945 Late War German Volksgrendier army. (Flames of War)
     - Paint some minis for my Dungeons and Dragons campaign. (D & D)
     - Paint some samurai minis just because. (Kensei)
     - Paint some custom ships for homebrew X-Wing Miniatures. (X-Wing)

What I actually accomplished:
     - Assembled about a platoon of infantry and three tanks for the Great War British. (FoW)
     - Finished four platoons plus more that I needed for my Historicon army. (FoW)
     - Finished two entries for the Iron Cross Competition and won! (FoW)
     - Thought about maybe someday painting a Volksgrenadier army... (FoW)
     - Run my D&D campaign about two times in three months, didn't paint anything for it. (D&D)
     - Forgot I even had the samurai stuff. (Kensei)
     - Painted four ships and a terrain piece for X-Wing. (X-Wing)
     - Started building a scale model of a Kawasaki Ki-45. (1/72)

Everything I finished, minus the bridge diorama.  It's been shipped to my friend Josh, winner of the painting contest at a tournament I ran last year.

Wehrmacht and Galactic Empire, together again for the first time.

My two favorites, the T-34 and the YT-1300 mod.

Not terrible!  I've also been really good about not buying anything, having only spent one Joker on a pile of swap-meet stuff at a convention, and purchased a single tank to finish an army.  I've also made all of my weekly blog-posts, even adding a few extras!  I placed twice out of three entries at the Historicon Painting Competition, played nine great games of Flames of War, and even dusted off a scale model for practice.  My blog even got a shout-out on the Battlefront Miniatures webpage!

I've really enjoyed this challenge so far and I think I may extend it out after it wraps up in December.