Arachnophobia - Gruntz AAR

While I'm still waiting for my VTOLs to arrive, Gary was kind enough to let me borrow his DEVGRU and USA forces to use in Gruntz against his Prang. 

Our game once again on the eye-searing Prang homeworld. We used a scenario in which the humans would need to defend three objectives as reinforcements came onto the board, while the Prang would need to destroy those objectives in six turns. As the defender, I placed two objectives on both flanks of my table side, while Gary placed his objective behind the rocky formation in the center.

The humans started with their infantry and snipers prone, and three spider tanks. The Prang had their entire force on the table - a collection of slow, heavily armored tanks and APCs, and a massive dropship.

The Prang started by double-timing across the table. 

The humans got a single ATM armored car to arrive. Then the spider tanks emerged out of cover and opened fire, scoring solid hits against the lead Prang vehicles.

The Prang returned fire, scoring some hits. An APC speed towards the objective on the human's left side of the table, disgorging a Prang infantry squad into cover.

The humans received another reinforcement as a heavy wheeled APC rolled onto the table. Their second salvo ripped into the Prang forces, destroying a tank and two APCs.

The Prang pushed on, using their dropship full of warbots to get behind one of the humans' spider tanks and let rip with its weaponry. The humans tried to focus fire on the dropship, but between the damaged systems on the spider tanks and the dropship's micro-CIWS, most of the fire was ineffective. 

With the clock counting down on the scenario, Gary raced his dropship further into the human lines, approaching the objective on the right side of the table. The spider tank in the middle of the table finally fell to Prang plasma weaponry.

Unfortunately, further reinforcements and concentrated fire brought the dropship down, along with the warbots. Another APC was destroyed, and the armored wheeled APC used its Gatling gun to mow down the remaining Prang infantry by the left objective.

The Prang moved in for one last push, with their infantry mortars decimating one of the defending human infantry squads. But there simply weren't enough Prang units remaining to make much of  a difference. The humans finished the game by taking out the Prang mobile artillery unit.

The VP count at the end of the game gave the humans a solid win, thanks in large part to the spider tanks. They're extremely mobile, relatively hard to damage, and pack enough firepower to do some major damage on their own. The Prang vehicles might have been more heavily armored, but enough concentrated fire from the humans was usually enough to get through the aliens' defenses.

Rumble in the Hive - Shadow War: Armageddon AAR

Some of the local 40k players have started up a Shadow War: Armageddon league at Stomping Grounds as they wait for the new edition to drop. As I'm always interested in campaign-based skirmish games, I decided to pick up a box of Harlequins and join in. The initial game night went well, with the Harlequins winning both games and adding more bodies to their kill team (as an elite force, they can only have six permanent members, whereas most factions have ten, and others can go up to fifteen or twenty).

This last Saturday I had a chance for a couple more games. The first was against Andy's Tau, in the Kill Team fight. The objective was to force the other kill team to either bottle (fail a leadership test after losing 25% of their numbers) or voluntarily retreat.

With the Tau setting up a firing line in the cover of the building at the lower left in the above picture, the Harlequins spent most of the game running between cover to encircle the building. After the Tau's sniper was downed by a neuro disrupter, Andy decided to retreat, rather than let the Harlequins get into close combat.

The second game, against Shawn's Dark Eldar, was the Scavenge scenario, where both sides had to collect d6 loot tokens (we rolled five) as a monster lurked around the outskirts of the board.

The Dark Eldar fared better against the Harlequins, as the Wyches gained a 4+ invulnerable save in close combat. However, the high Weapon Skill and Attacks that the Harlequins possess meant they won combat again and again. Eventually, the Dark Eldar bottled, dispersing back into the ruins.

From the four games I've played, it seems that Harlequins might be somewhat overpowered, at least in the early game of the campaign. Since this league should last awhile, I'm curious as to whether increased body- and skill-count in the other kill teams will offset the inherent advantages that the Harlequins start with. In the meantime, we'll likely be increasing the Harlequins invulnerable save to 5+, as they're difficult to hit in the first place.

Painting Update - FIW, Pirates, Horizon Wars

Let's go to the painting desk for an update. 

I finally got around to finishing the French Wilderness Force for Muskets & Tomahawks. Part of the force is made up of a Canadian Officer and Canadian Miltia.

Another unit of Canadian Militia is also included, but these are Coureur de Bois - woodsmen and trappers who have gone native. And speaking of native, a small unit of French-allied Indians rounds out the force.

I made a slight mistake when talking about the British Force. It turns out the unit size restrictions in Muskets & Tomahawks only allows a Ranger unit to be eight men at max, so the six so-called "militia" are actually rangers as well, to make two units of eight.

And now that all the irregular forces are done, it may be time to start looking for some regular troops to fill out the conflict.

I also painted up some pirates for Blood & Plunder. While I like the rules, and the miniatures look great, I wasn't so enamored with the idea of painting up the same four miniatures for each unit in the game. So I've been shopping around and buying up Wargames Foundry Pirates where I can find them.

While I haven't had the chance to play Horizon Wars recently, I've finished painting up the last of the UMC forces. The above are medium Gladius mechs from Immediate Force Solutions, a private military company that exclusively fields mechs.

Rounding out the UMC is Fujikawa-Shaw Investment Retrieval LLC, which uses its airdrop capable light Zephyr and medium Squall mechs alongside airborne infantry, artillery, and recon units. 

Flames of War - SAGA AAR

Kevyn and I met up for the third season of our Age of the Wolf campaign. With the Normans defending and the Viking raiding, we rolled the Harry and Burn scenario. Floki and the northmen were on the attack, looking to burn down the buildings and fields on the table. Louis needed to keep the village safe for the sake of his reputation. 

The Normans started with their crossbowmen in the village, while the rest of the mounted units were on the table edge. The Vikings started with their warriors and warlord in the woods, while the hearthguard had gotten as close to the village as possible.

The armored Vikings moved in towards the waiting crossbowmen.

The Normans wasted no time, galloping towards the oncoming Vikings. The crossbowmen fired a volley, managing to down a hearthguard with a well-aimed bolt.

The Vikings retaliated by wiping out half the crossbowmen, and set a field on fire for good measure.

The sound of horses surrounded the village. Louis readied his knights for a charge into the woods, while another group engaged the lone Viking hearthguard in the village center. The crossbowmen launched another volley, felling the single Viking hearthguard.

Another group of Viking hearthguard moved in towards the knights, readying their weapons.

The Normans attacked, but to less-than-desirous results. The fight against the warriors in the woods was indecisive, and the knights in the village failed to put a dent in their Viking opponents. The mounted soldiers on the right were left waiting to see if the Viking warlord would come out of the woods.

Meanwhile, the Vikings managed to set fire to one of the buildings, and routed the knights, leaving the Norman warlord exposed.

Wheeling his mounted around, Louis called back his knights to focus on the Vikings in the village. Another Viking hirdman fell, a crossbow bolt in his back.

The Vikings turned and wiped out the crossbowmen, as the warriors in the woods emerged, hoping to get at the Norman knights from behind.

But mounted men weren't going to be caught off-guard. The knights in the village charged the hirdmen, riding them down. Another unit of knights moved in to attack the lone Viking, while the mounted Warriors moved closer to the Viking warlord.

The remaining Vikings moved out into the open, hoping to reach the Normans before their mounts could be reined in.

Seeing an opportunity, the Norman warriors charged the Viking warlord. A fierce combat followed, with the Viking warlord falling in combat, but taking more than half the mounted warriors with him.

The Vikings launched one last attack against a unit of knights, before both sides retired from the village.

After tallying up the victory points, it turned out that the Vikings had won, thanks to the bonus points from burning the field and building. Far from hampering him, Floki's wounds turned out to be superficial, and the Viking warlord increased his reputation and wealth. Unfortunately, a Levy upgrade went unused with no Levy in the Viking forces. Louis managed to gain a bit of reputation despite his losses.

Norman Ambush! - SAGA AAR

After a short break, Kevyn and I got back together to continue our Age of the Wolf games. For this season, Floki went a-viking, leading a Campaign into the Norman lands. Louis, seeing an opportunity after the Vikings had struck against a settlement, gathered his knights for a raid against the encumbered northmen.

We rolled and got the Forest Road Ambush scenario, where the Normans would be laying in wait as the Vikings used a road (denoted by a inconsequential fence) to quickly get back to their boats. Floki was once again leading his warband, with two units of hearthguard and warriors each. Louis had brought three units of hearthguard and some crossbow-armed warriors.

The vikings were surprised when the sudden and violent sounds of horses and horns echoed through the forest. Unfortunately, Floki's The Penny ability kept the Normans at bay.

The northmen split into three groups - one unit of warriors moving ahead, while the hearthguard surrounded their leader.

Starting to pick up initiative, the Normans slammed into the head and tail of the Viking group, slaying or chasing off a number of the invaders. One hearthguard went down, pierced by a crossbow bolt. But the Vikings weren't going to go down without a fight, dragging a few of the knights from their mounts.

The Vikings, seeing their numbers being whittled down, decided to move towards the board edge and a chance of escape.One group of warriors attempted a delaying action against the Norman Warlord and his retinue, while a hearthguard unit chased off their mounted counterparts.

The Normans decided to wait as a lull in the fight came, calming their steeds. A fresh group of knights began to move through the woods as the crossbowmen advanced back into range.

The wait gave the Vikings an opportunity to rout a unit of knights, moving closer to escape.

Not willing to throw more men into the fight, Louis ordered his crossbowmen to harry the retreating vikings, picking off another hearthguard as Floki made his way to freedom. With his men scattered but his pride intact, victory went to the Vikings.

Floki used a point of Wealth to double the incoming numbers of warriors, and managed to recruit a pair of hearthguard to form a new unit. Louis brought in a young knight to replace a casualty, and returned to his holdings to discover that the tax collection had gone well, increasing his Wealth.