Mouse Droid

 I painted up this Black Series-scale MSE droid for a friend of mine, it was a resin print that my spouse made. Airbrushed with a mix of Tamiya colors.

One simple droid.

Skirmish With the Kiddo

 My son and I played a quick game and had a bit of fun, still trying to teach him some of the basics.

My infantry and Hetzers charge forward at his lightly defended lines.

Luke moves his Panthers and infantry forward.

Panthers arrive to defend against my bold attack, and hold.

VetCon - 2022

NorCal Flames of War has dwindled down a bit these last few years, but one of our members wanted to start a new convention in Auburn, as he was soon moving out of state and wanted to celebrate a bit first.  I agreed to run a three-round Late War Bulge event, and ended up playing to make the numbers even.  I ran German Panzergrenadiers and in Round One I was matched up against Sam and his US Engineers.

Sam's Stuarts blunt my attempt to sneak my halftracks across the rails.

A series of assaults saw me make progress into the town, but his numbers held out.

I nearly had it early, but his engineers held long enough for the rest of his reserves to enter the town, and I just didn't have the numbers to push him out.  1-8 loss, as I could't quite break a second unit.

In Round Two I'd face Dave and his British Rifle Company supported by Archers and AMTRACS.

Open sights to engage the enemy!

My defensive line

I quickly was reminded that a single unit of heavy guns isn't enough as the Archers and Fireflys took out my Panzer IV/70s early.  It was only a matter of time before the flamethrowers and MG toting AMTRACS put a hurt on me. 1-8 loss, and we went to have beers!

Round Three I faced Russ and his British Armoured Cars in a bit of a wild one.

Most of the fighting took place in this small wood

Russ took the objective eventually, a solid win for him.

Another 1-8 loss saw me firmly in last place, and that was mostly due to my poor list design. Once the PanzerIV/70s were gone, I couldn't even stop armored cars, really.  Fun times all around though!

DAK Action at Hammerhead

 Got a game in with Russ during Hammerhead Games' league day, the first Mid War game I've played in ages.  Thought I'd bring out the Tigers so I wouldn't have to bring much.

Tigers knock out the Lancia on Turn One, and are now free to engage the Italians as they see fit.

Russ' light tanks run circles around the Tigers, but my infantry can handle his easily.

The brave Italian tanks can only delay the inevitable.

I got lucky knocking out the only thing on the board that could hurt me before he got off a shot, and that was that. Fun time rolling out the Tigers!

CarrierCon 2021 - USS Hornet

 NorCal hosted a small skirmish tournament aboard the USS Hornet in the ward room, and I brought a recon force with Pumas, backed by Hetzers. In Round One I played Chris and his British Armoured Cars.

Pumas supporting infantry as the approach the objective.

Hetzers managed to destroy all of the carriers and took the objective.

I won that first match with 7-2, and would play Mike and his Americans next.

Mike brought real tanks and they were scary!

My infantry held the woods vs. US Rifles.

Once my Hetzers arrived they engaged the Shermans, and I was able to claim the objective.

An 8-1 win in the second round put me in a tie for first going into the final match against Wyn and his US tanks.

The objective in the center had our attention, and we had quite a fight over it. 

Had my Pumas or Hetzers actually hit anything, I might have won the game, but as it stood, I took a 3-6 loss.  I still managed second place in the event, and had a great time!

Teaching the Game

 My 10-year-old son wanted to learn the game so we took the opportunity and put a few tanks on the table.  His Shermans won the day!

Missed enough side shots to matter!

Brief Game at Great Escape Games

 Played another quick game vs. Johnny the other day to try out a Grenadier list and quickly realized that poor quality Americans can bring a lot of firepower to the table.  It wasn't even close... Still fun though!

Looked about even until the reserves showed up

Mine never did! 

Skirmish at Game Kastle

 Russ and I got together to try out a 30 point skirmish format for Flames of War with a pair or recon armies.  Smaller table and cheaper units, quite a bit of fun!

British Armoured Cars vs. German Aufklarungs

Carriers try to assault the infantry...

But the Germans win the day!

2021 Review

 Finally, there was a (limited) return to the tabletop!  2021 was another year of high expectations that ultimately got away from me.  Kids and other family commitments kept me from much hobbying, and without any large or consistent events, it's always tough for me to find any motivation.  I did, however, find a bunch of Flames of War models, either by way of gifts, prizes, or a late-year surge in army-building interest!  I initially planned on attending Nationals at LVO in 2022, and bought some minis to complete a Panzer IV force, but those plans have now changed.  

HG 7.5cm PaK40s

Panzer III Observer

Rebased Panzerschreck teams

SdKfz 250 Observer

I only managed to play seven games of Flames of War all year, but played four of them against old friends that I hadn't seen in about two years.  Crazy times we're living in.   I did get a few items painted up for a great event hosted aboard the USS Hornet in Alameda, and hope to attend another event there planned for the spring.

Event on USS Hornet

  Besides a handful of random minis, my largest purchase was about a dozen 28mm pirate figures that I hope to use for Ghost Archipelago, and a few dozen new (and used) Flames of War minis.  85 minis purchased/traded for/acquired in strange fashion vs. 7 painted, and a pair of 1/72 scale models sold brings me to a +76. Maybe I can get some Bulge Germans built in 2022?