Painting Update - WWII

 I finally finished a major project!

With the end in sight of the 1939 German Platoon, I pushed on ahead to complete the last few minis. 

These will represent the Hauptmann commanding the various platoon, my infantry platoon's Oberleutnant, and two attending infantrymen.

The invading Germans will also have a medic, a spotter (for mortars, artillery, planes, etc.), and an anti-tank rifle team. 

To round out the support options, I also included a light mortar team and a sniper team. 

And that's that! At least as far as I've planned. I may add another vehicle or two, maybe a Panzer II and IV, or a halftrack to tow a gun. Now we just need to wait for the Poles to coalesce and we can start gaming. 

Painting Update - WWII

 I've been watching paint dry. Now you can too!

I decided to take a break from the mechs to work on the 1939 Germans again. Here's a medium mortar and a medium machine gun to support the infantry.

And I picked up a Panzer 38(t) platoon for my armored force. These were great little kits that painted up quick. 

Instead of the strict "panzer grey" color, I decided to use a grey and dark brown camo mix that was apparently used early in the war, before the Germans moved to just using grey. 

The last vehicle for the platoon is a Kradschützen to act as recon either for the infantry or the tanks. 

Painting Update - WWII, Battletech

Since I'm back to regular work hours, I haven't had as much time to devote to the hobby. But I'm still getting work done!

This Citroen Traction Avant from Rubicon is perfect as a field car for the staff officers that will be commanding during the upcoming Invasion of Poland campaign.

This Opel Blitz will also be in use, either transporting infantry or towing light artillery pieces.

I've also been working on a pair of lances for Battletech's fast playing Alpha Strike ruleset. These are a light-class Eagle and a medium-class Huron Warrior. They're painted as Death Commandos, the elite special force soldiers of the Capellan Confederation. 

The lance's real firepower comes from the heavy-class Lao Hu and the assault-class Lu Wei Bing. 

Rats on a Sinking Ship - Man O' War AAR

While we haven't been able to play Man O' War in a little while, here's a battle report from a game in August. 

For this game, John set me up with a Skaven fleet, to once again face off against the Orcs & Goblins. 

The Skaven have a ton of special rules. The Doombringer, the rat-race's Man O' War, only carries a Great Bell, but it's a very scary ship. The Great Bell starts by rolling 2d6, and then adding a volume counter every turn the bell rings (or removing one when the bell stops tolling for a turn). Each volume counter adds an additional d6 to the Doombringer's attack, which range is equal to the total pips of the dice rolled. Any doubles rolled is a result on a chart, which can range from the Great Bell destroying itself, or every enemy ship in range taking one automatic critical hit!

The other Skaven ships are almost as wacky. Deathburners have a massive burning Incense Burner which smashes enemy ships like a plague-infused mace. And Warp-Raiders belch out columns of warpfire, setting enemy ships aflame. 

John (not the host) and I would control the Skaven, while John (the host) and Steve would control the Orcs & Goblins.

The mission was a smash-and-grab, with the central fort holding five treasure tokens. Ships could dock with the fort and roll to find the treasure.

Also in the game were Chaos Terrain that could damage ships or harm their crews, and a couple random monsters. Out of the deep came the mighty Kraken and the sinuous Gargantuan!

The 3d6 movement speed of the Orc Drillakillas meant they were able to quickly land on the island, get into the fort, and grab the treasure. In short order, the Greenskins were in possession of four of the five tokens, with the Skaven only able to grab one.

The fighting then came down to a close quarters battle. The Doombringer's Great Bell managed to get some hits against the Orc fleet, but broke before it could do any real damage. The MVP of the game was the Kraken. John and I diced for control of the Kraken, and I managed to keep control of it for most of the game.

Its long tentacles swept the decks of the Greenskins ships clean of their crews, which meant John had to move his other ships' crew over to keep the Skaven from claiming the treasure.

(Skaven) John lead his Deathburners in a frontal charge against the Orc Hulk, and between the nasty plague incense and good dice on a boarding action, the Hulk was quickly de-crewed.

In fact, the Orc fleet was looking dangerously low on crew members. Still in possession of four of the treasures, (Orc) John and Steven began backing the Drillakillas out of the danger zone and back towards their board edge.

Three of the Drillakillas were close to escaping, but the Deathburners were in hot pursit.

Fortunately for the Greenskins, two of the Drillakillas managed to escape off the table with their treasure, while the rest of the ships in the fleet were either burning or lacked crew.

The game ended with the Skaven eventually securing three tokens on their ships. However, had we put a time limit on the game, it would have taken far too long for the Skaven to move their tokens off the ship, so the game was decided as a victory for the Orcs!

This scenario inspired John's next game, which which see two fleets attempting to navigate some nasty terrain to get treasure, instead of just rolling up to the fort.

We also decided to allow the Orc Bigchukkas to move and shoot, instead of the move or shoot that the rules allow. This gives the Orcs a little more dependability with a somewhat lackluster overall roster. Although one suggestion from the Man O' War Facebook group was to treat the Bigchukka like the Empire Hellhammer, which can move and fire but has to spend a turn reloading.

Overall, another fun game of Man O' War. Still missing from the game are Flyers and Magic, which John may add in soon.

Ohio Valley Skirmish - Brother Against Brother AAR

Recently, John was kind enough to host a game of Brother Against Brother for our semi-regular Thursday gaming meetups.

Bill commanded the Rebels, while John and I managed to convince Sam to put on a Federal coat. For a little while, at least.

The goal was to control the town by the end of the game.

Sam and I had each had a commanding officer and for units of infantry. Bill controlled two officers with three infantry units each, with a supporting light artillery piece. 

Units in the game activate using a deck of cards that match the letters on a unit's base. There were also two Halt! cards that, once both were drawn, ended a turn. We ended up adding one more Halt! card as turns in the first half of the game were ending too quickly. 

The Union managed to get half their forces on the table and moved up in a wide front.

The Confederates moved up along the road into town thanks to some good movement rolls (movement for infantry and unlimbered guns is 2d10 inches. On the road, units roll 3d10 and take the two highest dice). They focused on moving up behind the woods on the other side of the town. 

Since the Confederates were closer to the town, they managed to set up a defense first. But it also meant they were in range of the Union's rifles. Rebel soldiers were the first to fall from skirmishing Union fire. 

Meanwhile the Union officers were busy trying to call up reinforcements as Sam pushed one unit of Zouaves forward to force the issue in the town. 

Those Zouaves were going to be in a bad position if they couldn't get into the building. The Confederates were massing in the woods, hopping over the streams to ready an attack on that flank. 

I was trying to support Sam's advance towards the town with my own troops, but they started to take fire from both the Confederate artillery and a unit that had moved up to the fence line. 

Sam's attempt to capture the green building seemed to go well, with his Zouaves pushing the defending Confederates out. Unfortunately, a Confederate counter-charge and the dice saw the Zouaves scattered and the house reoccupied.

Other Rebel fire smashed into the leading Union units and blunted the attack. And before the Union could rally for another push, the scenario came to an end.

We discussed the rules afterwards. They were great, light set for skirmishing in the horse and musket area. There are even rules for playing games set earlier in the era, like the French and Indian War and the American War of Independence.