Painting Update - Napoleonics, Starship Troopers, WWII

 Here's what I've been painting as we approach the end of the year.

Arachnid swarms in Sector Sweep act as five warriors bases moving together. When a Warrior is killed, the swarm splits up. 

Here's another French line battalion for the 1813 project. 

And more French! Here's a pair of 25mm anti-tank guns for O Group. 

Painting Update - Starship Troopers, Quar

Work continues as we approach the end of the year.

Here are some Arachnid models for the Starship Troopers project; some example Warriors and a trio of "Tiger Bugs", which come from the expanded universe. 

I should note that these models, as well as the infantry from my previous painting post, are designs from Wakes Emporium and printed by FilamentResinHunter. I picked up two of the starter kits, which has enough models for a two-player game.

I've gone back to my 15mm Quar project. I finished an HMG squad, a snyper team, and a cavalry squad.

Also completed are some vehicles to supplement the Crusader infantry company; a Baeliog heavy tractor, an Ailthean light tractor, and a Krassyl "contraption". 

The Rodes Goes Ever On - Wars of Such Magnitude AAR

Hey, check it out; I played a game!

Kelly recently hosted a game at his home for the Army of Central Maryland group. Rocky was having us refight Chancellorsville using his rules, "Wars of Such Magnitude".

Scott and I played as the Union, while Kelly was commanding the Confederates. 

Both sides were given some pre-game deployment options. I had II and IV Corps (Couch and Meade) on the Union right flank, with III, XI, and XII Corps (Sickles, Howard and Slocum) on the left flank. The plan was that the left would hold its positions, as their brigades were less reliable. Couch and Meade, with larger, steadier brigades, would be the attackers. Scott took command on the left, while I commanded the right.

Kelly opted to follow Lee's plan for the day, splitting his forces between Lee (attacking the Union left) and Jackson (attacking the Union right).

Seemingly out of nowhere I had a number of Confederate divisions attacking Couch's flank, which was out in the open. Luckily Meade managed to get his divisions moving towards the steam. Couch couldn't seem to get off his ottoman, so most of his brigades sat still. 

Seeing that the terrain had split Lee's approaching troops, Scott decided that the best defense was a good artillery barrage. He quickly reorganized his guns into better firing positions.

Kelly did realize that he had been moving Rodes' divisions a little too quickly, and so moved them back down the road they were approaching from. A good sport, and what likely saved the Union's right flank; I don't think I could have handled that concentration of Confederate brigades.

Scott's troops continued to hammer the approaching rebels. You can see a couple divisions moving to block Kelly's troops moving toward the gap in the Union line. 

Here's an overhead shot of the game around midway through. You can see the gap between the two Union forces that Scott is working to fill. If Kelly's troops managed to break through, that would be free to cause havoc in the rear of the Union lines. 

Over on the Union right, Couch's troops managed to finally get moving, aiming to push the Confederates from the hills in front of their position. 

Meade received an order to swing his divisions along the intersection towards the Orange Turnpike, aiming to push back A.P. Hill's troops. 

Scott's "unreliable" continued to do remarkably well, going so far as to begin rolling up Lee's own flank!

In the last few turns, both sides were relatively battered. Meade desperately tried to get his brigades to stop moving forward as Hill continued falling back in good order. The fighting eventually petered out with both sides unwilling to advance into the others' lines. 

Over on the side side, it was looking fairly grim for Lee and his troops. Scott's forces continued their wrap-around while fresh troops moved up the road.

We called the game there as a decent Union victory.

After-game discussion touched on how to produced a more historical result. Since Scott and I were free of Hooker's indecisiveness and could see how Kelly's troops were approaching, we were able to counter and fight off what had been Lee's masterstroke tactical plan. 

Blinds may be an option, forcing the Union players to react to divisions that don't actually show up. For example, had Kelly deployed his entire force together while I thought I was attacking Jackson's historical flanking maneuver, only to end up punching at shadows, then Scott's troops would have been sorely outnumber while I desperately counter-marched to his aid. 

Regardless, I enjoyed trying out Rocky's rule and I look forward to trying them again. 

Painting Update - Napoleonics, WWII, Starship Troopers

 I've not had a lot of time to play games recently, but I have been painting.

This is a second battalion of the 10th Legere, post stripping and repainting

I copied Storm of Steel's patrol markers for O Group, using 2" bases with miniatures and bases colored to match the company they belong two. I think they look very nice compared to just having paper markers.

I also completed the mortar base for the French battalion. While not necessary, it's a good reminder for when your battalion mortars run out of ammo.

Here's a trio of French HMG bases, which are useful to either attach to platoons or use independently. And some 60mm mortars, which can be attached to French company commanders. 

And a pair of 75mm field guns, which act as artillery barrage markers. 

I've also started a new project (gasp!). Little Wars TV released a secret set of rules for gaming in the Starship Troopers movie setting. They're meant for solo or co-op campaign play as you take a platoon of Mobile Infantry through a series of missions, trying to keep your platoon commander alive through their deployment. 

The above is a standard Mobile Infantry platoon of one command team and seven infantry teams. In the back row are a media team that can be added as a side objective while playing, and support options; a recon team, a heavy weapons team, and a Marauder power armor team (a nod to the original Starship Troopers Mobile Infantry).

I've got a second platoon to finish as well as plenty of bugs, so expect more Starship Troopers in future posts. 

Painting Update - Napoleonics, WWII

 I'm still busy painting. Here's what I've recently finished.

The main push of my Napoleonics project is finishing the French infantry. Here's the first battalion of the 6th Legere.

And this is where I would have posted the second battalion for the 10th Legere, if the varnish hadn't frosted for no damn reason. Now I have to strip the minis and repaint. At least I managed to save the fanion.

I also decided to finally put together a couple battalions and supports for O Group. I've been missing the game since moving away from New Jersey last year.

I decided to paint up French and German battalions for the Invasion of France, as I believe it's underrepresented on the tabletop and wasn't as much of a crushing victory as 'mainstream' history would have you believe. The above is a French Company, made up of Command Decision.

After a lot of hemming and hawing between 3mm, 6mm, 10mm, and 15mm, I just decided to go with 15mm miniatures for the relative ease of access and quick painting (although some French vehicles are incredibly difficult to find decent versions of). It's also been around a decade since I first started in the hobby with Flames of War, and there's a certain nostalgia of working on 15mm WWII again.

I decided to follow Storm of Steel's battalion building guide, as I like how little table space the platoon sections take up for the infantry companies. Plus, battalions are dead easy to paint up in this scheme, with 29 models per company. That's only a few more models than a single battalion in General d'Armee.

The Gorokhov Breakthrough - Rapid Fire Reloaded AAR

This past weekend I took part in Kelly's kickoff game for a campaign using Rapid Fire Reloaded.

Set in a semi-historical 1944/45 Eastern Front, Kelly has a series of games lined up with players taking command of Soviet and Germans forces.

The first game was based on the "Take the High Ground" scenario from One Hour Wargames.

The Soviets started with two tank battalions and a motorized rifle battalion on the attack.

The Germans began with an infantry battalion dug in on reverse slope of the hill.

Both sides aimed to control the hill by the end of the game, which would run for 15 turns.

The Soviet rushed forward, looking to push their T-34s and T-34/85 around the hill and hit the dug-in infantry. 

The attackers also had three turns of artillery barrages, but these failed to hit any Germans; the first two barrages targeted empty locations, and the last missed.

German reinforcements quickly arrived; Panthers, Panzer IVs, StuGs, and a mechanized infantry battalion.

The shorter travel distance for the Germans immediately saw Soviet losses as the Panther platoons reached cover and opened fire.

Hoping the Germans tanks were two preoccupied with their Soviet counterparts, the Soviet infantry prepared to rush over the top of the hill and engage the dug-in Germans.

One lucky Soviet infantry company held the flank in the case of a German counterattack.

Unfortunately, the Soviet infantry's attack failed and most of the infantry platoons were wiped out. The survivors retreated back down the hill, out of line of sight. 

Pressing their advantage, the German Panthers began advancing towards the remaining Soviet tanks. Soviet infantry reinforcements were added to the encampment on the hill. 

The Soviets did receive a few more reinforcements (additional T-34/85s and T-70s) which did an admirable job of attacking the weaker German flank and destroying several tank platoons.

However, this couldn't put a dent in the German advantage. While neither side was able to establish an uncontested claim on the hill at game's end, the Germans had caused enough damage to be able to declare a victory. 

Painting Update - Quar, Napoleonics

 I've been away from the hobby for a bit, but I'm back to painting! Here's what I finished.

I decided to work on the Crusader company first for my Quar 15mm project; Here's the Company Command Squad. They're wonderfully characterful models, especially the pistol-wielding Caerten and the "musician" carrying a gramophone.

One of the models in the Command Squad is a Pykpyk handler (pykpyks being small furry squirrel-like mammals that the quar use to relay messages to squads). The 15mm rules use these animals as a means to issue orders.

Rounding out the basic Crusader company is a weapon squad, which adds both anti-infantry and anti-tractor firepower via H-11a LMGs and Splagen torpedoes (the Quar version of a rocket-propelled grenade). 

I also, finally, picked the Napoleonics project back up, finishing a couple batteries of foot artillery. 

King (Tiger) of the Hill - Rapid Fire Reloaded AAR

Yes, I realize I've made the same title pun three times now.

This past weekend I attended a game of Rapid Fire Reloaded at Kelly's place. 

It was my first experience with the rules, which are intended for playing brigade-scale engagements (a base of infantry and a single tank representing a platoon each). 

Kelly had adapted a scenario from Warning Order, a free online wargames journal, for the game, representing Soviet forces pushing towards Berlin.

The scenario sees the Red forces (in this game, late-war Soviets), having two crossings across a rivers; one damaged bridge that only carry infantry, and a natural ford that vehicles can cross. The Grey forces (late-war Germans) are scattered across the battlefield. 

The Soviets want to score 15 victory points by either capturing critical terrain pieces (a center hill and two villages) for 5 points each, or bypassing the German defenders and moving off the table for 1 point for each company equivalent formations (4 infantry bases or 2 tanks). 

The Germans just need to hold for 15 turns without allowing the Germans to score 15 points. 

For the first six turns of the game, both sides would receive reinforcements. The Soviets would have to pick which crossing their additional troops would cross over at, while the Germans would have to roll randomly to see which road their support came on from to represent their ad-hoc nature.

Mike and I played the Soviets, while Kelly and Alex played as the Germans.

The Soviets started with a T-34 tank battalion surging forward across the ford.

Mike focused on removing the two German companies that were contesting the infantry crossing.

Mike infantry continued to push forward, but the stubborn German defenders held the line. I sent a couple platoons of tanks over to assist in the attack. 

My own attack against the hill stagnated. I managed to knock out one of Alex's Panzer IV platoons before it could scoot back into cover, but had two tank platoons damaged in return. 

A company of Panthers with accompanying Panzergrenadiers rolled onto the table, aiming to blunt the Soviet armor's advance.

You can see multiple companies of StuGs moving into position. I also had another battalion of T-34s move to reinforce the first. 

Here you can see my hesitancy; I was hoping to exchange long-range fire with Alex's defenders. But between the worse AT value of the Soviet guns, the range, and the German's cover, it wasn't going to work in my favor.

Alex's lone infantry company was fighting a rear action, delaying Alex's advancing Soviet battalions.

And more German armor arrived in the form of a King Tiger platoon! 

Alex's infantry continued to lead Mike's battalions on a merry chase. Kelly was busy fortifying the hill with a pair of Panthers platoons, to the tune of several lost T-34 units (including one of the two I had sent to aid Alex).

It was at this point that I realized I wasn't going to get anywhere trying to engage in a long-range duel with Kelly's armor and decided to do what every wargamer does in such situations: CHARGE!

Luckily my losses so far made for convenient cover as the rest of my T-34 swarm advanced. I also brought on some of the last Soviet reinforcements; a heavy tank battalion consisting of T-34/85s and ISU-122s, with some accompanying infantry. 

Alex's assault guns moved into position to fire into Mike's infantry. 

I attempted to knock out Alex's Panzer IV platoon defending the hill, or at least force it to retreat. 

Finally, Alex's pesky German infantry company was wiped out. Mike consolidated his infantry into cover.

Finally, my T-34s were getting into knife-fighting range, having managed to survive a round of German fire. 

Rather unexpectedly, my ad-hoc company of damaged T-34 platoons was doing remarkably well. They had blunted one prong of Kelly's armored attack, knocking out one Panther platoon and forcing another to retreat without any losses in return. 

I ended up losing the T-34 unit I had sent against Kelly's Panzer IV platoon up on the hill. On the bright side, it further blocked the tank unit's line of sight.

Tanks were being knocked out left and right (mostly the T-34s). I attempted to assault the German infantry on the hill with my SMG-armed infantry platoons, but was forced back. Luckily, Mike's concentrated artillery barrage cleared the hill after my failure to take it.

Unfortunately, I had to leave early and didn't se how the game ended. Here's the table at my departure, with a lot of burning tank hulls. 

I was informed that the Soviets managed to take the hill after the Germans fell back and were in the process of shelling the town on the far edge of the table with good results. However the time it took to wrest control of the hill from the Germans ate into the scenario's limit, and the Soviets were unlikely to control all three towns or push enough troops off the table by the game's end.

I think that if I had rushed the hill with a dozen T-34 platoons right from the outset, that might have made a difference! 

I enjoyed both the rules and scenario. Rapid Fire Reloaded falls on the lighter side of rules writing and definitely requires some in-game fudging in certain situations, but a friendly group of gamers shouldn't have any trouble with that. It makes playing larger battles like this fairly easy. I wouldn't mind revisiting the scenario in the future or playing RFR again.