First Game of the Year: NUTS!

I played in my first game of 2020 last night at the club.  Greg ran some "teaching" games of the WW2 skirmish ruleset NUTS!  It was nasty Russian vs even nastier Germans.  Keith and I were Russian players and we faced of against Dave and Tony

The game is a very tactical depiction of WW2 with some RPG elements thrown in.  Your commander is meant to represent you and each figure can have unique attributes.  We kept it all pretty generic for the first game.

To be honest, I was a little leery of the game as I tried to read the rule book and found it to be very hard to understand.  My concerns were misplaced, I really enjoyed the gameplay and look forward to playing again.

There are all sorts of rules that make getting your commander killed outright pretty hard.  Tony and I managed to blow past all of those protections as the first casualty for each side was our respective commanders.

Can't wait to try the game again.

AHPC VII: Submission 4 - US Rangers, Somali Pirates and some Frostgrave Soldiers

 The bulk of this submission week the mini's I got from the Radio Dishdash Kickstarter on the Blackhawk Down incident in Somalia.  The figures are very well done and depict but a bit on the delicate side.

 First up 16 US rangers with light weapons - great poses, easy to assemble and fun to paint.

 Closer shot of the back two rows and..

 Then the front two.  These are the first moderns I've painted and I went with a somewhat abstracted desert cammo uniform.

 Next up are 12 Somalis who I'll be using as pirates.  I really like these figures and wish I had purchased more.  They don't seem to be on sale any more on the Radio dish dash web site.

 These figures are meant to be used with the Skirmish Sangin ruleset which I have but haven't played.  The rules look very promising and I need to give them go.

A bit of a random inclusion in this post - I found an unbuilt sprue of the plastic frostgrave "soldiers" from Northstar Miniatures and decided to get them done - easy to build and paint up.

Back from Fall-In 2013

 I got back from the HMGS Fall-In convention yesterday and I'm pleased to report I had a great time.  I spent both days playing in tournaments - Friday was the Flames of War doubles tournament and Saturday was Bolt Action.  Both events were a blast.  Pictured are the three objective markers I made as gifts for my opponents in the Bolt Action tournament, which is now becoming something of a standard practice and is useful in reminding us that these games only are fun if everyone is having a good time.

 I was fortunate to be paired with Luke Melia (WWPD) for the FOW doubles tournament.  Luke is great guy and a very experienced Flames of War player and I was grateful he let a tournament noob like myself tag along and learn the ropes.  He also designed the list and provided the troops!  Yes, I was pretty much just dead weight.  We fielded a german infantry teams that were backed up by 8 Marder IIIs and a King Tiger.  Pictured is our first of three games vs a US armored force and we got stomped!  We lost the second game but it was a much closer and then we won the third.  Perhaps that was me coming up the learning curve.

I did have a great time at the event and definitely want to get more playing time in with FOW.  Thanks Luke!  I spent Friday evening playing the Board game Eclipse, which was fantastic - it's a really fun game that rewards strategic thinking and will be added to my Christmas list.

 Saturday brought around the Bolt Action tournament, which I thoroughly enjoyed.  My first game was against Mike P (Mike with a Plan) and his Brits.  I fielded my Japanese force and we played on a table that featured the 4Ground Hotel Complex which is an amazing model - all the interiors are detailed (Ok, it's more doll-house than war gaming terrain!).  My game with Mike was fantastic and went down to the last turn.  Mike earned a well deserved win.

 My second game was against a very new player who was borrowing my 8th army to field a force. He played well but didn't understand the rules so I managed to win very handily so I received my first win - but it should have an "*" next to it, since I beat both a new player and my own army!

My third and final game was against John Brader and his mixed US force.  This was yet another great game and showed how the variability of the rule both given and taketh away.  This games example involved US Airpower.  He rolled a "1" for his first strike which means I got to place were it arrived and he lost a squad.  On turn three, John called in his second strike and rolled much better and I lost a squad and got a bunch of pins on 4 other units.  The game went back and forth but I managed to eek out a win on points as neither of us could capture our objectives.  At the end I had 2 wins and 1 loss and, more importantly, I had a great time.

Sorry for the lack of pictures but I tend to focus more on the games than taking pictures.  Overall it was a great con and I'm looking forward to Cold Wars which is the next HMGS con.

For Sale at Fall-In and More Japanese Done!

 A very good friend of mine, Mike M, will have some painted 28mm figures for sale this year at Fall-In.  They will be on display at the Architects of War booth.  First up is a nice sized 8th Army made from 28mm Perry and Blitzkrieg Models.  I think the camp on the Matilda II is very well done.  Also for sale (in the next photo) is a 28mm Confederate infantry brigade (again Perry figures).  Mike's done some work for me in the past and he's both a top flight painter and very good person.

The last few figures of my Japanese force for the Bolt Action tournament are nearing completion.  In the back row are 5 infantry figures which ail be used to bring my Bamboo Spear unit up to the max 15 figs.  Yes, I know, that 4 of those figures have rifles, but you see they are unloaded!  The flag bearer has a bayonet attached to the end of the flag pole so that's kind of spear-like.  In the front row is a two man flame thrower team an extra rifleman and, lastly, a figure with a captured Boys ATR.

 I also completed two crewman for the 150mm cannon armed Ho-Ro assault gun.  I didn't do the good of a job on those guys so the picture has to be fuzzy.

Another picture of the Ho-Ro.  All that's left to do is the flag and rifle banners and then scenic the bases and I'm ready for Fall-In!

Yet More 28mm WW2 Japanese

With Fall In less than a week away there isn't much time to finish up my Japanese army for the Bolt Action tournament.  The final figures are on the painting desk now 6 Infantry, 1 Anti-Tank Rifle, a 2 man flamethrower team and some crew for the Ho-Ro assault gun.

One of the infantry figures is a flag bearer and just for fun I added a bayonet to the end of the flag pole so the figure will qualify as a Bamboo spearman.  It's a bit silly but what the heck.

Yet More 28mm Japanese

 22 more figures were completed today for my Japanese Bolt Action army.  All of the figures are metals from Brigade Games Pacific line.

 First up are twelve Japanese riflemen, which form the core of my Bolt Action force.

 Next up are 6 Suicide Anti-Tank figures.  The rules in "BA" are very interesting for Japanese Suicide anti tank teams - each unit is a single fig and gets it's own order die.  If they survive defensive fire it's an auto hit with 8+ penetration (that's pretty devastating in "BA" terms).

 An 81mm mortar just to add to the fun.

Here's a shot of the whole Japanese force.  I'm planning on fielding 5, 12 man squads and 6 suicide anti-tank teams plus a tank and some other support.

The sharp eyed amongst you may noticed a primed flamethrower team that may get added to the mix.

11 More 28MM WW2 Japanese

 This morning I managed to knock out 11 WW2 Japanese infantry for my Bolt Action Force.  The figures are from Brigade Games and are all metals.

 There are 8 riflemen who will be used to replace the LMG teams in my 4 infantry squads.  The BA rules don't really handle LMGs well for a tournament - your better off replacing with riflemen.  12 regular riflemen cost the same as a regular squad with 10 figures - including the LMG team, yet have one more shooting dice (12 vs 11) and 2 extra swings in close combat.  It's not that historical but I mostly play in tournaments for BA.

I've got another 16 or so figures to finish up.

Perry 28mm British Infantry Completed

 The first box of 38mm Perry British infantry is complete - all 38 figures!  I apologize for the horrid photos - I thought natural sunlight would be great but not so much in this case.  Anyway the first batch of Brits are done.

 Yet another awful photo.  12 of the figures use the SAS heads that are supplied in the box - there are enough heads to do 18.  The Bren carrier is a separate kit.

 Three guesses what my next Bolt Action army will be - perhaps this picture of a Blitzkrieg models Panzer III J provides a hint.....

I'm looking forward to picking up a few boxes of the Perry DAK to go with the Brits.

Perry British WW2 Infantry Almost Complete

The basic painting is finished for the first 30 Perry plastic British 8th Army infantry.  These troops will be part of a force I'm building for WW2 skirmish gaming.  The current ruleset of choice is Bolt Action which gives a great game and a good feel for the period.

 First up is a 12 man squad of SAS guys - the Perry set has extra heads for the SAS so a little surgery and you're good to go.  I'll likely field these guys in smaller sections for Bolt Action.

 The second 12 man squad is regular British infantry.

 A Bren Carrier - this is the first of three that come in the Bren Carrier Platoon deal from the Perry's - it's a one piece resin model that was a lot of fun to paint.

 Another view - it needs some decals doesn't it?

The Perry box comes with 38 figures and here are the last eight on the painting table.  These should get done in the next week or so.

Blitzkrieg Miniatures: British Crusader Tank

 A quick in-progress shot of a 28mm British Crusader tank from Blitzkrieg models.  I picked up a few of the Blitzkrieg from the Architects of War booth at Historicon to flesh out my British 8th Army unit I'm building for use with Bolt Action.  My overall impression of the kit is extremely positive.

The Blitzkrieg models are all resin and this one came with 7 pieces.  I would say the resin casting is the finest I've ever seen - the Blitzkrieg line is VERY impressive.

I've also started a bit of work on some of the 28mm Perry British 8th Army figures.  The plastics are up to the very high Perry standard - they are just head and shoulders better than the Warlord plastics.

I'll post a more detailed review and walkthrough of the Blitzkrieg model in a few days.  I need to good find some decals....

Bolt Action Japanese Force - So Far....

The above photo is an in-progress shot of my Japanese force for Bolt Action (or any other WWII skirmish style game).  It consists of:

- 1 HQ, with 2 Infantry escorts
- 4, ten figure squads, each with a LMG
- 1 MMG unit
- 1 Sniper Team (2 figures)
- 3 Light Mortar teams
- 1 70mm Mountain Gun and crew (2 figures)
- 1 Chi-Ha tank w/ 47mm gun
- 1 Captured Stuart (not complete)
- 1 Chi-Ha w/ 105mm gun (not complete)

I'm finishing up a US paratrooper unit over the next few days to use a force to play the Against the Japanese

Aliens Invade Potterville, PA!

 Ernie put on a fantastic 28mm Alien Invasion game tonight that had the real feel of XCOM in miniature.  The table was amazing and the game pitted local cops, the DEA, the US army, a mysterious government agency and local criminals against Aliens who had crash landed and were awaiting rescue.  Oh yeah, the Aliens had all sorts of crazy weapons including a virus gun that would turn humans into Zombies.  In other words the game was a blast.  I just post a few pictures as Ernie will be doing one of his "Table Fable" posts about the game.

 Here's a picture of the Alien mothership coming in the pick up the stranded crew.

 Another shot showing the table - I loved the trailer park.  Why do strange things always seem to happen near trailer parks?

 I had command of the local police and county SWAT.  Here's a pick of one brave officer returning to the fray after escorting some civilians to safety.  It's a pretty cool picture.

Oh yes, the mother ship had a full interior.  The humans managed to win the game as the guys in the yellow suits cut a hole in the top of the mothership and allowed my county SWAT team to get in and wipe out the Aliens after a few rounds of fighting.  Ernie has amazing game creation talents.

SAGA Norman Warband Completed

 My Vikings now have a foe for the tabletop - a 4 point Norman War-band, which consists of a Mounted Warlord, 2 units of Mounted Hearthguard, a unit or Warriors with spears, and a second unit of Warriors with crossbows.  These gents should pose a good challenge to my Vikings.  All of the mounted figures are plastics from Conquest Games.  The foot figures are metals from Gripping Beast.  Sorry for the bad lighting in the photos.

 The unit of spear -armed Warriors look dashing sporting their Little Big Man shield transfers.  Some of you may remember the rather questionable attempt at hand painting shields with my Viking War-band - the figures just look so much better with the LBM transfers.  They are well worth the cost.

 Some crossbowmen to pepper and annoy my plucky Vikings.  Wow designer shields AND annoying crossbow bolts - those Vikings are really going to hate theses guys.

 The first of two units of mounted hearthguard.  I really like the Conquest Plastics.  The LBM shield transfers required just a bit of trimming along the bottom to fit the Conquest figures but that wasn't too hard.

 The second unit of mounted Hearthguard.  All of the figures in each unit sport the same tunic color to help tell them apart on the table top.

 A close up of the shields - I here they're all the rage on the Paris runways this year....

Lastly, here is the Norman Warlord.  I think he came out "OK" but will likely switch him out for a metal version that will look a bit more heroic.