Foggy out there?

Fields of Glory page added.
Jon
Happy New year

Dystopian Wars the Beginning - FSA VS Prussians

The sea swelled gently against the hull of the FSA Paddle Steamer Lexington, as the Battleship moved steadily through the water with the waves crashing gently over the bow.
Wind blew sea spray against the windows of the bridge.

"Bring her to course 260"
"Eye eye Captain"
The Bow swung to the new direction, the rest of the battle fleet following.

"Ships off our port bow, Captain!" shouts a cold and damp look out.
"What are they?, are they  ours?"
As the captain peered through his telescope at the distant grey shapes, Bright flashes burst from the ships.

The sound of  screaming wind followed by a loud splash and a whoosh, close to the ship columns of water bust sky wards. Seconds later a thunderous noise was heard on the wind.

"Prussians!" Cursed the captain.. "Battle Stations!, lets show these buggers what were made off"

Dystopian wars, starter set, ships only: Prussia Vs FSA

With a few islands scattered we deployed our ships. I used a heavy screen of Frigates and the cruisers on my right and a squadron of frigates and my Battle ship on the left.
Dennis deployed his big boys all on his left flank with a screen of frigates across the table.

The Frigates closed quickly and we saw mutual destruction. The Prussians closed very quickly and straddled the FSA frigates using both bow guns and stern Tesla's to good effect. Slowly they Prussian frigates were sunk but at a high cost.

A surviving frigate takes on the FSA Battle ship

The FSA cruisers try to use the island as protection but the Prussians are faster and swiftly round the Island. The ensuing battle between the cruisers is a bloody affair.

Prussian Frigates about to surprise the FSA with there turn of speed.

The FSA cruisers about turn to face the Prussians head on. The resulting exchange of fire results in one of the Prussians disappearing in a Sturmagen Flare. The Prussians then fired back and the lead FSA cruiser also disappeared into the void. We were left wondering if with just wondered into the Dystopians wars version of the Bermuda triangle, two criticals, two double 6's, we waited for the third.

FSA cruisers loose one of there number before about their about turn.

The final tally is all the FSA cruisers sunk or disappeared, whilst the Prussians are left with one surviving ship. But not for long. The guns of the FSA Battleship fires sending the last Prussian cruiser to hell with a critical roll of double 1's leaving nothing but raining shrapnel as the ship explodes into little pieces.

The battle continued between the two Battleships. The FSA battleship starts to take a pounding and the Prussian battleship continues to close. The sole surviving FSA frigate moves away around an island knowing that is is now too far and out gunned to aid its big brother.

With a turn of speed the Prussian battleship crosses the bow of the FSA Battleship, with all guns blazing the my Battleship takes a pounding.

Prussians close for the kill

This sneaky manoeuvre leaves the FSA battleship with a problem. Do I call and all stop, but I still have to move 2" or do I try to turn. The result is either way a collision and my Battleship turns into the Prussian ship causing 1 hit. The Prussian ship must be made of stronger metal (Causes a critical hit + 2HP) as it rips the bow of the FSA battleship ploughing her under leaving behind in her wake little signs of the Big ship ever existing.

Oops! FSA Battleship is in trouble.

After action comments:
The Prussian fleet is quick and the Tesla coils are devastatingly good. Next time I need to hold them off at arms length.
Dystopian wars is a dice thirsty game and just ship on ship leaves something missing from the game.
Once we start introducing additional squadrons and air power it should hopefully get more interesting.
At the moment it is a case of wipe out the frigates, then the cruisers to leave Battle ship on Battleship.

Merry Christmas
Jon

Sand dunes at night - the Ambush

Some where in the desert night, the wind blew sand across an empty road, in the distance through the wind can be heard the roar of truck engines.
An Italian re-supply convoy moves slowly down the road with the escorting soldiers tired and sleepy being bounced around in their drafty vehicles.
The Drivers fighting tiredness look across enviously at there sleeping partners, wishing that the change over point would come soon so that they could take a turn at sleeping.
The lead trucks headlights pick out little in the blowing sand, beyond the circles of light, shadows loom and disappear, It was going to be a long drive.

Earlierthat day:

God morning Chaps.
Your mission today is to destroy an important supply convoy that is taking supplies to beleaguered troops.
With out these supplies the Italians will not be able to withstand our attacks much longer. If these supplies get through we will be unable to push him back and it will cost us dearly in lives.

Gentlemen, This convoy must be destroyed at all costs.

By mid afternoon the men had fueled up and equipped their vehicles. The LRDG trucks started their engines and slowly moved of into the desert gavering speed over the hard sand. They had to be at the road before midnight and it was going to be a long drive. 
At 11pm a patrol veers off and heads at top speed into the desert night, its mission to delay any possible reserves.
The other two patrols find the road and the newly founded SAS patrol dismounted and headed across the road to catch the convoy in a cross fire.  Engines off they wait and it is not long before they see the lights and hear the sounds of distant engines, the convoy is coming....

Driving the lead truck is Mario. Cursing the blowing sand he peers through the gloom of the night, the lights of the truck are not helping much, ahead on the road he sees some dark shapes, then again he seen many dark shapes loom and disappear, suddenly his lights make out the shape of trucks and Mario slams on the brakes..too late. The flickering light of the machine guns illuminate the LRDG trucks and suddenly as his truck burst into flames, Mario falls into a long un-waking sleep.

In the dark of the night the LRDG wait for the convoy.

Awoken from their slumber the sleepy Italian soldiers quickly jump from their trucks into a fusillade of shots from the LRDG trucks. The convoy and its escort are shown no mercy and is quickly wiped out.

The convoy is quicly surrounded and the slaughter begins.

With the convoy destroyed the SAS remount and the trucks head of into the gloom of the desert night.
Suddenly lights appear in front of the trucks, the LRDG gunners waste no time and open fire. A few Italians fall,  but the rest dived for what little cover the desert offers and returned fire.
Tracers suddenly appear out of the night to the right of the patrol and they realise that they are caught in a cross fire between two platoons of Italian infantry.

The LRDG have no choice but to try and drive through the troops to their front but the fire is too intense, truck after truck bursts into flames.
The lead Patrol is destroyed, the Commander and his second try in vain to force a path but too are destroyed.
The second patrol takes cover in an oasis. On hearing engines close by they hope that the last patrol had returned but looked on in horror as a Armoured car platoon descends upon them all guns blazing.

Luigi gunned the Armoured cars' engine and drove straight at the Oasis, his commander giving him directions through his head set.
It had been a good evening, they had earlier surprised the Interdiction Patrol destroying it before it could signal what had happened.
The trap had been sprung. Infantry converged quickly on the area and blocked these marauders escape route.
Yes it had cost them the convoy but it was worth it to destroy a full LRDG patrol. They had been plaguing the Italian rear areas for such a long time wreaking havoc... NOW it was pay back.

Luigi brought his Armoured car to a stop and saw, as the cannon on his vehicle opened fire the LRDG trucks burst into flames. As the occupants jumped to safety they were met with a hail of bullets.  They were shown the same mercy they had shown the convoy.

The End, Italian Armoured Cars finish off the LRDG.

It only took a few moments for the LRDG to be destroyed, the night sky lit by the fires from the blazing trucks. 
SAS member Andy had jumped from his truck right at the last moment and he landed behind some shrubs near to the oasis. Near by he heard a groan and peered out to see his Friend Tim laying not far away, he reached out and dragged him into the shrubs.
The Italians moved in on the trucks, inspecting their handy work.  Andy dragged Tim away from the scene further into the gloom of the night, behind a dune, Andy quickly peered over to make sure he had not been seen then swiftly threw Tim over his shoulders and as fast as he could made his way further into the desert away from the carnage.
Andy saw the faint light of dawn and knew he had to find shelter, it was going to be a long walk back, but he vowed that one day the Italians would pay.

After Game thoughts:

I used too many points for this mission. Which allowed the Italians to muster a strong force. The Italian Infantry had too many heavy weapons for me to defeat.
The armoured cars coming on was the clincher.
The interdiction raid was useless and a waste of points, I repeatedly failed to stop any reserves and having to throw the Interdiction dice regardless of if the reserves arrived or not hurt for latter.
Remember for every 100 I spend the defending player gains an additional 100.
Fighting at night did not really help me, it slowed me down greatly and the fact I was fighting all the way meant that I was observed by every one and they were long range firing with HMG's and 47mm's before I could retaliate.
Picking up the SAS patrol cost me time, so maybe next time I don't use them.
Shoot for 1 turn then leg it may be the way forward.
Jon

Dystopian Wars Game 2

2nd outing for the Dystopian wars last night. 2 complete novices being umpired by me (The blind leading the Blind).

British Vs American as Dennis had not painted his up yet. It was a slow game with several rule look ups and quite a surprising few rounds of fire especially Turn 1.

Dennis used the Brits whilst another friend David used the Yankees. Dave's' Cruisers opened fire onto Dennis cruisers and well, er...

First Salvo from 2 main turrets linked together resulted in a critical hit on the first cruiser. Then the rockets linked fired at the third cruiser suffering another critical hit (we forgot that you can link AA fire from other vessels in the squadron but that would have only added 1 dice and I do not think it would have changed the out come). So Dave threw for the first critical.... then we went onto the Rockets which caused the critical on the third and he threw for that.

Two magazines hits in the same round of firing..Ouch!

Yes Dave threw double 1 twice. So in one round of firing Dave took out two cruisers which didn't even get to move let alone fire..Ouch.
And that was turn 1...lol
Another mad moment for Dennis was when the his Battleship was hit with a whopping 20 hits, all this from, if I remembered correctly, A 6AD attack..lol

Ok do we have enough armour to stop that lot?

This meant that the ship took 2 critical hits which I think was a Hard pounding and a Fusion Leak. Lucky ship. The game only went to turn 3 before we called time. Once we are all up to speed on the rules I anticipate that the game will flow a lot quicker. Next time It may be my turn and hopefully  Dennis will have painted his Prussians or Japs by then.

Stockport Pick and Mix

This weekend saw me attend the Pick and Mix competition held at Marauder Games Northwest Gaming centre, Stockport, near Manchester (England for the guys in the states..lol and no not New England, the Old one.) which was run bu Hammy from MAWS. On the Saturday it was to be a FOW Mid war 1500 point comp and on the Sunday an Early War 1500 comp. There was also a FOG comp and I think a DBM comp.

The comp was to be three rounds with Hammys patented point system which was not too bad. I supplied the terrain and was there on hand to umpire and play if need be.

Saturday I took along my Mid war Tunisia Brits which I had used successfully previously. The only alteration made was I dropped 4 25 pdrs and took 2 17/25's (Which turned out to be a waste of points).

I set the tables up Saturday morning, 5 in all and they looked like this.


Table 1



table 2



Table 3



Table 4



Table 5

Saturday

 My First game was against a German Panzer Grenadier in Break through with me defending on Table 3, I managed to pen the Germans in pretty tightly. Leaving 2 infantry platoons and the 6 Pdrs to advance on to the objectives. The 17/25's covered the German deployment area and the objectives and I sorely missed having HE rounds. A bitter battle took place with the Germans struggling to get out of there deployment area against an infantry platoon and my Bofor's which the later were pined for 3 turns before being wiped out failing a last man standing roll. The German reserves arrived only to be blatted by a cheeky ATR shot and 9 shots from the 6pdrs.



Sig 33 guns nearly cost me the Churchill's and made me double the 2iC over to appoint a new commander. The Sig's promptly died to the combined Churchill and 25pdr fire.

Game over: 5-2 to me.

Other players Game 1 photos:


DAK Armour Vs US Armour



Finish Infantry Vs Hungarian Armour

Game 2 pitched me against the Finish Infantry and I was attacking in No Retreat(Grrr) on Table 4. As I rarely attack  with my Infantry, I forgot that they can attack at night (DOH!) and walked into the Finish Infantry loosing in a moment of Rashness my 2 carrier patrols and in a hard fought melee with Churchill's  and Infantry to which I manged not to kill a platoon but contested an objective


Moving up



After two failed assaults.

Game Over: 6-1 Loss.

Other game 2 pics:


DAK Armour Vs DAK Panzer grens.



US Armour Vs Hungarian Armour, The Yellow Reindeer was the Objective.

Game 3 saw me against a US Armoured company in Fighting Withdrawal on Table 1. As the person I was playing only had played two games before and was still learning I took pity on them. Also the fact that I came to realise earlier that besides myself and the Finnish Army player every one else were novices with none to limited gaming experience. I decided not to walk over this person in turn one and explained why I had set up the  way I did and how best to counter my set up. This cost me my 17/25's and it was then a slogging match with the Churchill's chasing the American Armour that walked into a gun line of 3 6pdrs.

At this point I was too tired and forgot to take pictures of the last games.

Game Over: 5-2 Win to me.

Joint Second Overall.
First place was to the Finnish Guy.

Not a bad day but I tired far too easily and this cost me and my over helpfulness in the last game cost me a valuable point, But sometimes it is more important to take stock of the level of players within a competition; rain your self in and take your game play down a notch or two, you already know what your army can do so its a case of be helpful and just be satisfied in the knowledge that you could have destroyed them Turn 1.

Sunday

I took along 2 armies, French armour and German Armour as I was a fill in player and could alternate the armies to face there historical enemy.

Game 1 saw my French Vs a German Infantry Company attacking in Cauldron on Table 3. Although the Germans was set up by a seasoned player it was controlled by marauder games owner Darren who was also advised by myself and another FOW player. The selection of the German force and its deployment along with the random deployment for my tanks left me with a very difficult game indeed and a after few calculations in my head I worked out that I was not going to win easily if at all. Several assaults later saw 2 tank platoons destroyed, a company test passed, reserves arrive and the CO and a platoon surrounded by AT weapons which were promptly destroyed with 3 105mm rounds and 15 Pak 36 shots needing 4's to hit, you do the math.


Well Plan A failed what next... I hate cauldron, it has no place in a competition.

Game Over: 5-2 Loss, Company Broken.

The Other Game:


British Matilda company Vs German Panzer Company..guess who won.

Game 2 saw me defending against a German Panzer Company on Table 4 and a Shiter (yes I know, but it is that bad) of a mission; I had 3 platoons to protect 3 objectives to which one disappears. Superior German Gunnery and being Veteran made short work of my 75mm battery and my Recce was forced to disengage 4 out of 5 turns. By turn 5 when my reserves arrived I had to drive straight up to the objective which was already held by 2 Panzer platoons and the One man turret really screwed me up. Drive up get shot to pieces bring on next platoon, Drive up get shot to pieces bring on next platoon, drive up get sh..well you can see where this is going. I eventually managed to kill a platoon of PzII's at the cost of a 76mm battery, 10 H-35's and 3 Panhards. Normally my French ain't that bad but it seems I was having a really bad day dice wise.


Ominous shadows make the French look skywards.



End of my Turn 4 just before the Germans rush the 75's

Game Over 5-2 Loss, Company Broken.

The Third game of the day saw me pitted against the now obvious Competition winner Dan. Win or Lose there was no way to prevent Dan from loosing 1st place. I was using a Pz38 Kompany and after a quick discussion we thought we would make the game more of a challenge for Dan and swapped out some 38T's for 2 88's. The mission was free for all on Table 5 and I had already worked out that I could win if Dan attacked as he could not protect both objectives and I could not actually hurt him with my tanks (hence the 88's). This game lasted 2 turns. Dan pulled his recce off table so they could not get chased down by my Tanks. I hid my units from his Matilda's and we called it a draw as Dan worked out there was a way to defend 2 objectives with one platoon and attack mine but it would take him 8 to 10 turns to get past the 88's and take the objective providing he killed every thing I put on the objective to hold it, It would have taken him at least another 8 to 9 turns to wipe out my defending armour.



Er..Wot now???!?..hide and no blinkin chance.

Game Over:  Draw 1-1 (I think? or it may be 3-3, not too sure either way)

The other game was a bloody affair with German Panzers confronting the German infantry...OUCH! for the Panzers, I believe.

All in all it was an interesting weekend, with new experiences and rules learnt, better luck next time.

Last but not least Dans Tank company, seeing as Dan had to walk to the comp (or come by cab as he says) he left his BAR behind and brought with him what he could carry.


Small but deadly, Sod the BAR watch out for these buggers.

Dystopian wars Arrived

Yes my Dystopian wars has arrived. The two fleets are sitting now painted and awaiting a victim to play it with.

The Rule Book

Hmmm.... The rule book looks nice and is full of fluff on the fictional history variety, not backed up with many illustrations and the few illustrations there are look dark and too grity for my taste. Sarted reading the rules after watching several you tube vids and found it harder to read than most rule sets.

The book in its self is very badly laid out, with the index being almost next to useless. With important rules mentioned out of context or in-passing it is almost as bad as FOW to find the rule you need. Instead of logicaly putting the rules in order and in the relevant section you will find the obscure references in a totaly unrelated section.

The rule book smacks of the person who wrote it knows the rules inside and out and actualy forgot that someone else who reads them may not know the rules, so he has written them as he remembers.

Rules I struggled to and still can't; to find: Comodore special rerolls. Break test - What effect it has if failed (Its not actualy in the Break Section but the one before), Obscured flying models firing, small target modifiers, and many more.


FSA Starter set ships

Britonian fleet

The starter sets on the other hand are briliant. With little time needed in cleaning up the resin and with a wash they quickly paint up. Two fleets painted in 5 nights, thats not bad.

My first two fleets were the ones featured in the Triple Helix You tube vid, Britonia and the FSA.
The Britonia ships are very like there World War one counter parts and are easy to paint but realy lack anything cool. The FSA are al paddlers and are very nice when painted up and look very cool. The Britonians are actualy quite week compared to the other nations. They have very poor gunnery values but make up for it with torpedoes, The FSA on the other hand have deverstaing firepower but low critical hit points. So you need to hit them fast before they do the damage and you are unable o hurt them.

The Prussians and Japanese look cool with their flying machines and flying aircraft carriers. These are future purchases.


Two big ships fight it out

Still I have to sort these damn rules out into some sort of order, wheres me high lighters.
Jon

Dystopian Wars

Yes thanks to a friend I am slightly enthused about this system. NEVER watch You-tube as it got me interested big time.
So now I am awaiting two fleets and the rules. 
Grrrrrrrrrrrrr.

FOW Hell Fire & Back.

Played a 1500 point EW from FOW Hell Fire & Back.
Italian Fortress company vs Commonwealth Infantry Company.

Not a pretty game. Mission was Witch's cauldron and for a Fortress company to set up was very difficult indeed. Half the game time was taken in trying to work out how to set the Italians up. With Half of the Brits in reserve there was not enough troops to deal with the defenses. No HE meant the bunkers could not be neutralized and the only rifle company on table made it to the trenches with one stand remaining and assaulted and was eventually wiped out.

Matilda's dodged being penned in and just could not kill any thing, but in return were invincible.

My own fortifications are still under construction.
Oh well better luck next time.

6-1 loss
Jon

World War III is coming

Just dug out my Challenger 2 rules for my 1/300th scale moderns that I seem to have lots of.
Reorganising the armies to 1980-1986 standards.
Sorting through my US, Soviet, German, UK and NATO troops.
All excess is being put on E(vil)bay to pay for other projects.
Got rid off so far late 1990's US and North Korean/China. Next up will be 1990's Uk and stock of BTR152's followed by some Russian T80's and BTR60's (the later if I can't find a valid use)

Gave the rules to my Friend Scott to read, so in a few weeks time there will be a battle report. If I don't start using these micros I gotta loose them.

Jon

France 1940 - Czeh Panzer kompanie Vs Escadron de combat

France 1940 - Czeh Panzer kompanie Vs Escadron de combat
Flames of War, 1750 points

Czeh Panzer Kompanie

HQ: 2x Pz38(T)

Zug 1: 4x Pz38(T)

Zug 2: 4x Pz38(T)

Zug 3: 4x Pz38(T)

Zug 4: 5x PzIIC (Early)

Zug 5: 2x Pz IVD

Escadron de Combat

HQ: 1x S-35

Plt 1: 4x S-35

Plt 2: 5x H-35

Plt 3: 5x H-35

Plt 4: 5x H-35

Plt 5: 5x Panhard A/Cars

Plt 6: Infantry Platoon

Plt 7: 4x Hotchkiss 25mm A/T Guns

Plt 8: 2x 105mm M1935 Artillery Guns

Set Up:

Looking up the table. The Mission rolled was Encounter; the Germans were the attacker and chose the right side of the table leaving the French the left which contained a dominating hill overlooking the town.

German Deployment

French Deployment

The Germans deployed a Kampgruppe consisting of 2Ic and 3 Pz38(t) in the middle flanked on their right (On the road leading to the town) by the PzIV's and on the Left flank a reduced platoon of 3x Pz38's + the CIC (on the road at the top of the picture). There objectives were one on the road leading to the town and the second was just the other side of the stream (Where the hand is).

The French Deployed the 105s and infantry on one objective behind the single house at the top left and the 25mm's in the wood (not visible) on the hill in the middle left protecting the second objective. The S-35's were deployed on the forward slope near the corn field.

French Turn 1:

Both the artillery and Anti tank guns dig in, whilst the Infantry drank a bottle of wine which affected their ability to dig in. The S-35's moved down the forward slope towards the corn field near the town.

German Turn 1:

The Panzer IV's headed up the road towards the road junction in the town whilst the middle Pz38's moved past the corn fields towards the houses using them as cover. The other tank platoon moved cautiously along the road.

French turn 2:

The Infantry finish their wine and manage to sober up enough to dig in. The french 105's range in on the PzIV's at the road junction missing both tanks but bailing a Pz38(T) hiding behind a house next to the PzIV's.  Some of the S-35's move to better firing positions whilst the other stationary tanks open fire on the PzIV's but also miss.

German Turn 2:

The Bailed Pz 38 fails to get back in. The PzIV's move forward to a better firing position in the town whilst the hiding pz38's pop out for a shot at the S-35's, all shots bounce of the thick armour of the S-35's. Meanwhile the other Pz38's move further along the top road towards the lone house.

Sorry had to go to bed here whilst writing this so now I am awake I will continue....

French turn 3:

One of my reserves arrive and I use the wood the other side of the stream by the single house as cover also giving some additional protection to the infantry from those lurking panzer's.
The duel between the tanks in the town was going nowhere and I had to start maneuvering some of the s-35's into better positions. The 105's use their staff team to repeat bombard the bailed  pz38 to no effect.


French tanks trying to out manouvre the Germans

German Turn 3:
The Bailed Pz38 still stayed bailed. No German reserves turned up, maybe they found some barrels of wine. Again the panzer's in the town played peek-a-boo with the S-35's and managed to bail one. The panzer's on the top road left the CiC hiding on the road and moved towards the newly arrived H-35's and engaged them at close range bailing one, before storm trooping behind a hedge.

French Turn 4:
The bailed H-35 stayed bailed an the S-35 remounted. A second platoon of H-35's moved on and headed to support the S-35's in the center. The platoon near the infantry moved two tanks into the woods and bogged one. The return fire from the two stationary tanks managed to destroy one of the 38's behind the hedge. Meanwhile the gunnery duel in the town only resulted in a a bailed Pz.IV. The 105's attempt to range in on the PzIV's resulted only in a ranged in marker.
German Turn 4:
The bailed Pz38 decided to stay bailed (This was quite funny considering it had protected ammo, that 105 hit must have shaken them badly). A reserve platoon arrives on the road to the town. The Pz IV remounted and the Pz38's in the town started there peek-a-boo maneuver.  The result again was a bailed S-35. The duel between the tank platoon near the infantry turned in the Germans favour and resulted in 2 burning and one bailed H-35's who passed there morale.


The gunnery duel swings in the Germans favour.

French Turn 5:
The armoured cars arrive and re-enforce the French's right flank. The tank platoon in the centre continues forward intermingling with the S-35's. The Left flank platoon manages to remount and un-bog and maneuvered to finish off the 2 remaining Pz38's to no avail. The artillery failed to range in. and the gunnery duel in the town was ineffective.
German Turn 5:
Another reserve platoon arrives on the road to the town and again the tanks in the town start to play peekaboo. The previously arrived platoon moves to block the newly arrived armoured cars and mange to bail two of them forcing a disengage test which they pass. The panzer 4's manage to kill a S-35 that was trying to outflank them. The duel near the single house continues and once again bails a couple of the french tanks which pass there morale.

French turn 6:
The last tank platoon arrives from reserve and moves on to support the artillery and out flank the now annoying panzer platoon near the house. The Recon platoon fails to remount and moves to bring there guns to bear. The Artillery from this point onwards is not worth mentioning as they either fail to range in or range in on the third roll and can not hit anything.  The H-35's supporting the S-35's break cover and head towards the field on the German side of the table.
German Turn 6:

The panzer's now being outflanked decide to advance to point blank range of the H-35's the other side of the stream. The Panzer II's arrive on the road to the town. Whilst the previously arrived platoons move around the German left flank to counter the French armoured cars. This leaves the armoured cars with 1 burning and 2 still bailed who fail a disengage roll and fall back. The panzer's point blank charge results in another burning tank and one bailed.

German tanks start to move up their Right flank.

French Turn 7:
Now the French are in trouble. The Germans have committed their reserves and there is nothing to stop them. I need to finish off  that platoon on my left flank and Bolster my right flank. This move or shoot rule is now annoyingly hindering me. The Tank platoon on the hill flanking the panzer's half moves towards the panzer's, The armoured cars continue to scuttle away to oblivion. The S-35's manoeuvre to bring all guns to  bear on the exposed right flank, whilst the H-35's that crossed the road now move towards the German objective.
Finally a mighty PzIV falls. The combined fire manages to bail the 2 charging panzer's who promptly pass their motivation and stay in the game...Boo!, This means that I have 2 tank platoons tied down for another turn.


The Charging panzers are in trouble.

The french Right Flank is in trouble.

German Turn 7:
The two panzer's remount and then obliterate the remaining tanks in front of them. The platoon hiding in the town now moves to engage the french platoon threatening the objective. The Panzer II's swing through the corn field also heading towards the threatened objective. Meanwhile the 2 Left flank platoons move further along the flank to start their climb up the hill to the French objective, bailing several Armoured cars on their way.

French turn 8:
Doh...one platoon down. The Middle platoon now moves onto the German objective and the A/T guns in the woods now turn there attention on to the closing Germans. with good results. The second PzIV is destroyed and3 Pz38's in one platoon bailed. The platoon on the french left looses one and passes its morale test.


The french Right Flank.

German Turn 8:

The surviving Pz 38 crosses the stream and hides behind a wood taking a pot shot at the S-35's. Only one of the 38's remount and moves further round the flank. The middle 38 platoon rushes to protect the objective supported by the PzII's, resulting in it being contested. The German panzer's move up the hill towards the woods and target the armoured car platoon which is again peppered with fire and is either destroyed or bailed and passes another motivation test but must again fall back.

German tanks move to counter a french attack.

French Turn 9:
Now that the lone 38 has scuttled off this release the left flank platoon that moves down the hill towards the road in the general direction of the nearest objective. Two of the Anti tank guns move through the wood to protect their flank. The Armoured cars again mill around. A gunnery duel now develops over the contested objective but to no avail. The A/T guns now mange to blow up another Pz38 and bail one more.
German Turn 9:

The Bailed tank stays bailed and the lone Pz38 scuttles into the middle of a wood. 2 38's now advance upon the wood within assault range of the A/T guns. The gunnery duel at the contested objective is more or less a turkey shoot with 2 french tanks ablaze and 1 bailed. On the hill all available guns fire upon the A/T guns and the resulting MG fire pins and also destroys two of the A/T guns (Good FP rolls at a critical time). A shooting too successfully move brings the tanks with in assault distance of the guns. DF fire bails one tank and the remaining tank its the one A/T gun killing it. The French platoon passes its morale and the platoon commander and observer now assault the tanks. The observer hits the one operational tank and does nothing but the tank then fails its motivation for counterattack due to the hit and retires leaving the bogged tank to its fate. The remaining tank fails its morale and flees the field.

German tanks posed to assault the wood.

French turn 10:
The left flank platoon continue to head towards the objective. The remaining A/T gun moves through the woods to boister the exposed flank. The armoured cars again mill around unable to do anything. The tank platoon on the objective fail to do anything and the S-35's act as mobile pill boxes.
German Turn 10:
A second platoon advances up the hill towards the wood and in doing so obliterates the Armoured car platoon who promptly does what the French are renowned for. meanwhile the gunnery duel at the German objective comes to an end with the french tanks following the armoured cars off the table.

The Pizza's are ready so game over.

Under Fair fight the game is a:

 3-3 Draw

After Game report:

Hmm last time the Germans faced the french they got their ass whooped. What a difference Pz38(t)'s make compared to the usual PzI/PzII mix. I should have ignored the panzer's on my left flank and headed straight up the middle. Our after game discussion concluded that the french should have marched onto the objective then played at being pillboxes. the armoured cars were wasted and should have re-enforced the guns in the wood.

List wise the Germans were quite strong and no modifications were seemed to be needed other than to maybe drop the Pz IV's and put in more 38's or even a second PzII Platoon.

The French Artillery let them down and 2 guns is not really worth taking. A way is need to make sure you have all 4 guns. This will cost the French either a S-35 or 2 H-35's to have 4 105's. The discussion also included the possibility of adding the 75's instead of the 105's due to their longer range in the A/T role.

All this as we ate the pizza's....Yum Yum

Soviet infantry Vs German Luftwaffe Company

Russian infantry Spring their Ambush.

Just a quick battle report from when I visited my Friend Richard.
I had taken along my Mid War Russian Infantry knowing that he had a Luftwaffe Kompany. Both lists were to 1500 points. My choices in the Russians were limited as I had dispose of my KV company and Assault Guns earlier in the year.

Russians
HQ+Commissar
2 Full Company's each + Commissar +1x HMG
5 T34/76
GOW Battery consisting 4 122mm & 4 76mm
4 Katushkas

Mission was Hold the line and I got defend. I deployed the GOW battery on a hill at the back and held a Infantry Company in ambush.

German Luftwaffe was
HQ
2 Platoons Infantry
1 Platoon pioneers
2 Marders
3 Stug`s
1 HMG Platoon
2 88's
and a Battery of French 76mm's

As the Germans Advanced I sprung my Ambush and decided to cover both objectives in a way to stop the Germans Outflanking me. The German fire was mostly inaccurate but the Russian casualties slowly built up.

The Stug's were the danger and along with infantry that were threatening my right flank. On my left flank the Germans now used a corn field to good effect and advanced unseen.  The Marders, 88`s and Stug's were slowly killing Russian teams. Turn 3 my T34's came on and started trading shots with the Stug's in an effort to prevent them advancing.  The German Infantry weathered the Russian fire better then the Russians were doing and eventually assault a less than half strength Company. The Russian artillery was trying its hardest to knock out the Marders and eventually killed one. The Russian infantry fought off 3 assault seeing 1 platoon off and reducing the over to under half strength but by this time both the company HQ and the Commissars were dead and there was nothing to stop the Russian Company Fleeing the field. The German understrength infantry platoon that was left holding the objective after the assault was then un merciless pounded over open sights by the GOW and Fell under the rain of fire. The Russian tanks held the Stug's up for two turns allowing the 2nd Infantry Company time to deploy on table.

Germans Advancing

The Stug's moved to seize the most forward objective whilst there escorting Infantry were gunned down by the newly arrived Infantry Company. The Luftwaffe artillery had managed to range in on the GOW in turn one and in the whole game only managed to kill a 122mm and a 76mm. the 3 remaining 76's were all that were left to take on the Stug's.  In the critical turn they only managed to Bail a Stug and with the end of the Russian Turn came a German 4-3 Victory.


Postmortem:
As predicted the Stug's were the main threat. I should not have spread my infantry company out thinly as I did and should have kept it nearer the first objective relying on the GOW to protect the rear objective. I also should have bought on the second infantry first instead of the T34's. I really wasted this unit in a fruitless delaying action.
Richard is a good tactical player and although he had not played in a while used some good tactics. Next time I may not be so merciful..LOL

Work in Progress

I have added a work in progress page, showing some of the little men that I have recently finished.
Jon

Beut Panzer Vs Tankov

Hi
Wednesday night game vs my friend Dennis, started with a phone call that ended up with Dennis saying "Ok then, Late war 1750 pts, you be Germans with your Panthers and I'll be Allies"...Click.

So, I recently got my copy of Earth and Steel and was very happy to see that the Beut Panzer company was included and I decided to Proxy it with my EW French (try before you buy) and sorted through the list. I knew at 1500 points the army did not have much left over, but at 1750 points I just squeezed in (Max points for this army may just about touch 2000 if you are lucky).

This gave me 12 Platoons, a very powerful Attack forces with a defence force to boot.

HQ: 2x R-38
1st,2nd,3rd platoons 1x S-35, 4x R-38
4th platoon 1x S-35, 3x R-38
5th Platoon 3x Char B-2, 2x Char B-2 Flamme
6th Platoon 3x Marder 1's
That's 26 tanks and 3 tank hunters
7th platoon Full Grenadier Platoon
8th platoon Full Pioneer Platoon
9th Platoon 3x Pak 40 A/T Guns
10 Platoon 3x Flak 37mm Guns
11th Platoon 4x 155mm Artillery
12th Platoon 2x 88mm Luftwaffe assault battery

All CT except the 88's which were RT

I arrived at Dennis' expecting Para's. It turned out that Dennis had put together a Russian FT tank force (GULP!)

HQ: 1x M4 Sherman
1st Company: 10 M4 Sherman's which included Dedov
2nd Company tank Rider Company attached to 1st Company
3rd Company: 10 M4 Sherman's
4th Company: 3 Panthers
5th Company: Carrier born SMG Company.

The 3 T34/85's in the top left of the tray turned out to be Panthers.

Well I was like, OMG I'm dead. We set up the terrain and then rolled for the mission which resulted in Hold the Line and I was then please,please don't let me be the attacker and luck had it, I got to be the defender.

So it was all tanks off table along with the 37's and every thing else on table with the Pak 40's in ambush. Dennis then pulled a sneaky move with his Panthers and infiltrated them along with the Dedovs' tank company just out side of 16 inches from my troops. A quick check of the special rules and a dice throw latter meant that I had not detected them.. Uh Oh!

This meant that Dennis could not in theory assault turn one so I was safe for a moment.

Russian Turn 1:
Both tank companies moved forward one on my right flank and one up the middle. The carrier born Infantry followed the right flank tanks and the Panthers waited engines idling in the centre, and come the shooting phase opened fire upon my Flak 88's killing 1 (Mistake No.1). Massed MG fire vs my dug in pioneer platoon on my Right Flank was ineffective.

German Turn 1:
I sprung my ambush as I needed to hit the infiltrated platoon hard. My artillery ranged in and decimated the bunched up tank company, bailing 2 and blowing up 3 more. The pak's and marder's now opened fire and killed another 4 and bailed the rest. This massed fire also effected the Tank rider company causing a few casualties and pinning them. The lone 88 missed with all 3 shots at the panthers, but then you can not have it all your way. the Russian tank company promptly passed its motivation test without Dedov who had been bailed.

German center where the Pak's ambushed from the wood.

Quick shot of the rest of the Russians.

Russian Turn 2:
Only one of the decimated company bailed tanks remounted and the tank rider company unpinned and dismounted and moved forward ready to assault my Pioneers supported by the tank.
The second Tank company moved forward using a church in the middle of the table as cover.
The Panthers fired at the 88's again causing a hit but it was shrugged off (continuation of mistake No.1). A Pak 40 was killed by tank fire from the 1st Company. The tank riders then poured fire into my pioneers pinning them then close assaulted them killing two teams. I decided that I would pull back the only team within 4" of the Russian infantry so that I would still contest the objective with a almost intact platoon. The Russian infantry then consolidated behind the hedge.

Russian Turn 2 just before the Assault phase.

German Turn 2:

The Pioneer company unpinned and went to ground. My artillery ranged in on the second tank company and the pak's turned to face adding their weight. The combined fire resulted in 6 burning tanks and 1 bailed. The 88 missed and the marders only accounted for one more Sherman, bailing two more tanks of the first Russian tank Company.

Russian centre tank company after German turn 2.

Russian turn 3:

The second tank company then moved into a firing position, whilst the first decimated tank company remounted and then with the tank riders moved to assault my pioneers. The Panthers moved forward to start to try and engage my other units. Combined fire from the remnants of the two tank companies accounted for 2 Pak 40's. Russian SMG fire killed one pioneer stand, who then promptly assaulted my pinned pioneers. My pioneers fired their DF and then pinned the platoon (Mistake No.2) causing casualties which meant that the Russian platoon failed its motivation test and fled the field.

German Turn 3:

The pioneers unpinned and Went to ground. Reserves resulted in my Char B platoon coming on table. Due to its front armour I thought it had a better chance then the smaller H-38's. the Company command moved forward still in the cover of the hill they had hid behind to fire at the Bren carriers but I forgot they can't move and fire but decided to leave them where they were. My Artillery fail to range in and my Paks managed to fail all there FP rolls. The 88 only manages to bail its one victim.

German reserves arrive.

Russian Turn 4:

The carrier born troops now dismount and move towards my pioneers supported by the 2 remaining tanks from the first company. 3 tanks from the second tank company move to assault the part of the pioneer platoon in the wood.

Russian carrier infantry dismount ready to assault the pioneers.

The sole surviving pak 40 weathers a storm of fire which was directed at it and the pioneers. The First wave of assaults went in. Firstly the infantry who lost 2 stands to DF assaulted, killing 2 of the pioneers. which failed its motivation and move back towards the wood. The second tank company assaulted the pioneers in the wood with 3 tanks of which one bogged. The pak 40 DF blew up another tank. The sole surviving tank failed to hit anything. But the pioneers failed another motivation test and pulled back along with the Pak 40. The tank platoon then consolidated away from the wood just in case I decide to come after it in my turn.

The tank from the first company supporting the infantry made a shooting too successful move followed by a break through into the pioneer's. Again the Pak 40 opened fire and killed the tank. With all assaults over my Pioneer platoon had to make a motivation test and promptly left the field. The Russian second tank company also failed its motivation test fleeing the field taking with it, its battalion commander. (Double 1's will do that every time).

End of Russian assault phase. Dedov and 1 tank is all that is left of the first tank company.

German Turn 4:

Oops..Now I am in a right pickle.I have no troops able to contest the objective. The Chars can only move 8" and the objective was over 16" away...Uh Oh. My reserve roll gave me two more tank platoons but with a maximum move of 24" I still would fall short of contesting the objective.

Lucky for me I left the HQ where it was. Alone this could not contest the objective but sneakiness abounds.

Forward moves everything except the marders which provides support. My HQ move to within 4" of the infantry behind the hedge. This is it can I do it?

My artillery hit Dedov and blew up 2 of the carriers and bailed one also killing 2 infantry stands that fail their passenger saves. The Pak and marder's also open fire and kill one tank and double bail Dedov who passes all Motivation tests including his company morale test..DOH!. 

The French (LoL I meant German) tanks open fire with a a hail of bullets and kill 2 infantry stands. Now the 88 plays its part, it nails one of the Panthers which turns out to be the Platoon commander which means that the Panthers can now not move to help contest the Objective and with no CIC or 2IC no one was left to appoint/lead them.

Now the real sneaky bit. My Company CIC now joins the 2IC who then joins the Char B's and together they carry out a shooting too sucessful move, my consolidation move now puts the Char B's within 4" of the objective..Phew!

End of French err... I mean, German turn.

Russian Turn 5:

The depleted carrier platoon now dismounts and Dedov mounts up. Dedov and the Panthers Blow up one of the mighty Char's. The carrier platoon hunker down not being able to tackle the Char's.

German Turn 5:

The Char's move to get ready to assault the remains of the infantry whilst the other two tank platoons race forwards just in case. Another reserve tank platoon arrives. The artillery range in on the Panthers but fail to hit them. the Marder's and the Pak at last kill Dedov. The MG fire from the tanks finally break the infantry and that was that.

German tanks race forward.

Russian turn 6:

The game ends as the Russians now had nothing in the German half of the table plus they auto fail their Battalion morale.

German Victory: 5-2

German final positions.

After game report:

This was going to be tough for both of us. I thought it would be over by turn 2. Its amazing what a 155mm battery and 6 paks can do. My deployment was a bit bodged with the 88's hunkered down unsupported on a hill on my left flank. I realised as my turn 1 came round that they should have been deployed in the wood in the middle. The pioneers were really lucky not to get squished and the lone Pak how it survived I don't know...An iron cross there I think.

Really this game was Null and Void due to mistake No.2 which really turned the game on its head.

Now for the mistakes:

Mistake No.1 was that Dennis was shooting at my 88's with his 3 Panthers for several turns, getting 2 hits the first turn killing one of the 88's. In reality only one panther was in range, I only realised this around turn 3.

Mistake No.2 was that my pioneer command SMG team fire full ROF whilst pinned. Neither of us could remember if they could do that and the extra hits it caused, pinned the assaulting Russian platoon who promptly ran away.  Thinking about it it meant that the Pioneer platoon would have lost 2 stands during that assault and I still would have pulled them back towards the woods. The Russian platoon would have had to take a morale test due to casualties so would have possibly ran away in any case but it would have meant the pioneers would have taken a morale test..maybe they would have passed but maybe they would have failed.

Also pointed out on the FOW forum, the Russian list may not have been legal.

We both agreed to carry on and that's what friendly games are all about... give and take.

ta

Jon