Friday, May 31, 2019

Market Garden Campaign: Turn Three

I played another game towards the greater NorCal group's Market Garden Campaign, this time against Dave and his British Paras.  I would be defending Arnhem and we'd play Rearguard.  I had a platoon of SS Gepanzerte Panzergrenadiers in support, while Dave had two platoons of Paras added to his force.

On my left I deployed FJs, 2cm FlaK guns, and the 7.5cm PaKs.
More FJs, HQ, and StuGs on the right.  SS in ambush.
Dave had several platoons on the bridge approach, and his HQ began moving through the woods next to it.  My StuGs close to engage them on Turn One, but to no effect.  PaKs and mortars are also ineffective.
You can see pack howitzers and mortars in the distance, while Dave's Paras moved through the buildings.
On Turn Two I was forced to pull the PaKs, and the StuGs move a bit closer but don't hit anything.  My mortars kill one stand of Dave's mortars.
Dave's Paras were getting too close by Turn Three so I pulled the StuGs back a bit, and they continued to miss the HQ troops.  I pulled the 2cm FlaK.  My mortars also fail to do anything.
Dave fired a bunch of PIATs at my StuGs and bagged one after an assault, forcing the other two back.  On my Turn Four the SS deployed their ambush, doing enough damage to break a Para platoon and force it to run.
It took everything I had to get those Paras to run!
I also managed to knock out a recon jeep!
I had to withdraw another unit on Turn Five, this time the StuGs.  My shooting does nothing and now Dave's Paras are in my apartment block!  I am forced to assault him through the houses, reducing the Paras to a single stand which then breaks and runs, but both my SS and FJs are down to a handful of stands.
By my Turn Six, more of Dave's Paras have arrived, and another set of assaults sees them forced back, but the SS die to a man.
With time running out we called it, as I only had my HQ platoon and two stands of FJs left to defend the objective, while Dave had two more platoons of Paras in striking distance and would have been able to take it from me long before Turn Nine.
2-7 loss, and the Allies would win big in the campaign's third turn.  Out of ten games played, they would win eight, securing most of their objectives.


Sunday, May 12, 2019

Star Wars Legion Demo

My friend Reno showed me how to play Legion the other day and I'm pretty sold on it.  The minis are great and the game plays pretty well, only thing that kind of bugs me is the weird mix of troop types that cam be on the table together, but that's mostly visual.  (Snowtroopers and Shoretroopers together)
We played a quick 400 point game and I took the Imperials out for a spin in preparation for a Kublacon event later this month.  Trying to remember what the scenario conditions were, Minefield, Supply Grab, and some kind of L-shaped deployment?

Stormtroopers engage Rebel Troops from the high ground.
Vader and more Stormtroopers move to engage the Rebels, now supported by some Fleet Troops.
The Lord of the Sith charges into combat, dispatching the last three Rebels in this squad.
After cutting down Luke Skywalker, Vader engages the last of the Rebels backed by a handful of Stormtroopers, ending the game on Turn 5.
I had fun, and can't wait to play a full-sized game, maybe with an AT-ST!