Tournament at Active Imagination

There was a small tournament held up in Albuquerque (about a three hour drive for me) a few weekends back and I made sure to make the trip.  This would be the first locally held event I've attended since I moved here last year.  Kieth ran the show and did a great job, even if we only had a small four person turnout.  BF supplied a few prizes and all four of us walked out with at least a blister.  Thanks for putting this together, I'm looking forward to your next event!  Totally forgot to take any pictures of the first game but here are afew from the second.  We only played two rounds.

Attacking with my FJ in Counterattack.  Mike, my opponent had Grenadiers.  His 88s could see all the way into my deloymet zone so I was forced to cross the river.  His Stukas came in almost every turn and kept me pinned down.

Since most of my army couldn't get past the 88s or wouldn't unpin, only my StuGs and one platoon of FJs were able to close on the objective.  Unfortunatey he was able to get there first with more and I couldn't push them off.

Fun Game at Zia

Got a game in today with Ken at Zia Comics and had a fun time.  1650 Late War to practice for a tournament next month.  I ran Cassino FJs from the new Fortress Italy book and Ken ran Polish armor (Shermans).  Ken's poor Fearless troops couldn't roll above a two for morale but still killed three of my platoons before I forced him to make a Company morale check which he failed.  4-3 win for the FJs.  The new book allows me to add Panzerfausts, which are always a good thing, but also increased the price of each Combat and Weapons platoon by 10 points because of the 2+ morale.  Luckily a few other options, such as the Marder IIs dropped by a few points and it's basically a wash.  Couldn't get any pics since my boys threw my phone in a bucket of saltwater yesterday (happy birthday daddy!) but did get to use my new Crescent Root terrain base which looked amazing.

New Terrain Bases from Crescent Root Studios

I don't usually post about stuff I buy but I'm making an exception.  I just purchased these terrain bases from http://crescent-root.com and I already love them.
The pre-painted town base is made from laser cut MDF and has a locking system to keep everything in place.  It also comes with three road caps that can mark the exits from the town or more road sections can be added. (most likely my next terrain purchase)
The smaller base comes in two parts and is unpainted resin.  For a little extra they can come painted, but I'm going to probably use these for an Italian board.
I can only recommend these.  The larger pre-painted MDF board is $90, the small resin unpainted one will be back in production come June 2014.  I guess I must have got one of the last ones!

Out of the box.  

Just needs paint!

With BF buildings and a few loose trees added.

'Bout time for a game!

Got a game in with Ken today at Zia Comics, Late War 1750.  I ran Cassino Fallschirmjäger and he ran a Polish armored company with Shermans and Sherman Fireflies.  We rolled for a Hold the Line and I defended.

Deployment: I chose to defend the river and placed my Objective in the center of the deployment area, in the patch of trees near the road and river.  My small FJ platoon is holding it and the house near the bridge.  Ken placed his Objective in the patch of trees on the opposite side of the river and I placed my large FJ platoon there.  Ken's tanks and supporting infantry are spread out around his deployment area, his 25 pound battery in on the far hill.

Ken's recon Stuarts move up to the trees opposite the large FJ platoon supported by a platoon of infantry.  

Fallschirmjäger holding the river bank.  Attatched MG42s ope up on Ken's infantry, killing two stands.

Having given away their position, Ken's artillery is able to range in.  Fire from the Shermans kill three stands of FJs.

The Marder IIs reveal their Ambush, killing a Firefly from the left platoon and killing two Shermans and Bailing two more from the center platoon.  The latter platoon fails a Fearless motivation check and breaks.

The StuG platoon arrives and prepares to engage the left side Shermans now that the Firefly is gone.

My 10.5s arrive from Reserve as Ken's troops prepare to cross the river near the bridge.

Ken kills a Marder with artillery fire on his turn and crosses the river.  He attempts to Assault the FJs in the bridge house, but they are pushed back by defensive fire.  On my turn the Marders and StuGs kill three Shermans and Bail two more.  The smaller FJ platoon moves out to push back the troops near the bridge.  The panzershrek team kills the Stuart on the bridge and Assaults the infantry platoon that crossed the river, destroying it.  Ken calls it and the Fallschirmjäger hold the line 6-1.

Good to get a game in, it's been too long.  I've heard that there might be a small tournament about three hours away in May, let's see if I can get something new painted by then.  Maybe 150. Panzerbrigade or Hermann Georing troops?  Looking forward to the new Italy compilations.