Late War Megagame @ Gamer's Armory

It's been over a month since I've done a post!  :)  Summer has been very busy.

Today we had the finale megagame celebrating the end of the Late War Escalation League run at Gamer's Armory.  I only got to play in about the first three weeks of the league, but I definitely wanted to play in the grande finale!

We had 6 German players and 5 Allied players (split between Soviets and US).  Each one of us had our full 1750 point armies to push and we played on a 6x16-20(?) foot table.  The Germans were the attackers and we gave the Allies some extra fortifications and a couple ambushes to help make up for the missing player.

We played the Total War scenario and victory was determined by cumulative victory points gained by holding the objectives.  We had a 5 minute planning session and then a 15 minute deployment for each side.  Whatever you couldn't place, came in as reserves.  The Germans setup first and then the Allies.

We played 4 complete turns in about 3-3.5 hours of game time.  The Germans were able to get an extra objective in the middle and get a three point lead which won the game for us.  It was mostly a draw, but the Germans were starting to get an advantage by starting to destroy more of the Allied forces.

A great game and wonderful company made it a fantastic afternoon.  Met a couple new players of whom one has only been playing FOW for about a week or so.  My son came away with a renewed interest in the game and we are going to start playing more at our house.

Here is a link to Facebook photos taken by the store owner:  Gamer's Armory Pics

In no particular order or anything here are some pics of the game.

Setup of the terrain.  My Stalingrad boards are in the foreground.

Southern Front 2011 - FOW Regional Qualifier Tournament

Now that Historicon is over, we're starting to talk up the Flames of War tournament we are having at Southern Front this year.

It's the FIRST East Coast regional qualifier of the 2011-2012 season! 

Here is the snapshot from the BF website list:

Date:	September 24, 2011
Location:	Southern Front Regional Qualifier Southern Front Convention 3415 Wake Forest Rd Raleigh, NC 27609-7330 www.trianglesimsociety.org/southernfront keith.miles2@gmail.com The convention fee is $20 for the weekend, $15 for a single day. There is no additional fee for the tournament registration. In addition to full access to the convention, registering for the tournament earns three tickets for the convention raffle. Amongst other things, the raffle will include several Flames of War items including a fully painted 1750 FOW Fallschirmjager army!!!! Additional raffle tickets are available for purchase on site. Look for additional details on the Southern Front website as they become available. Hope to see you there!!!
Period:	Late War
Points:	1750
Players:	24

Lameness....

I've been busy with many things lately and haven't been able to properly AAR the last two games I've had in the escalation league.  One just happened last night, so I have an excuse there..

Two weeks ago, I played an 800 point game with my Cassino FJ against Bruce Nemet's Fanatic Hungarian University students.  We rolled up Cauldron with me attacking, again...  This time Bruce was able to get his students setup with good fields of fire and my FJs just couldn't get the assault to charge home early enough before his reserves started to arrive.  He was also able to get his aircraft to come in this game and that kept my nebelwerfers hopping!  I was finally able to break into his defenses, but didn't have enough left to completely dislodge him.  He won 7-2.

Last night I played Ben Hanley (Cassino 91st Recon) at 1000 points.  We played Hasty Assault.  Can you guess who the attacker was?  I really need to get some fortifications in that list!  It was a disaster.  It was over in three turns.  I setup with my guns (AT, mortars, nebs) on the board and the FJ platoons as reserve.  He had a Sherman platoon in immediate ambush along with a 105 battery and some sort of recon infantry platoon on the table.  I think I ranged in with the nebs one time, the mortars were destroyed by the Shermans.  I got my first FJ platoon on turn 2 which was good, but his Shermans then destroyed them.  Main Gun/stabilizer 6 shots - 4 hits - two "1s" rolled for saves.  Two dead stands.  Six MG shots - 5-6 hits - 3 "1s" rolled as saves.  Most of platoon gone.  He assaults and ends up killing the rest.  I conceded at this point because my last platoon was just going to be helping defend my objective for the rest of the game and that wasn't going to be fun.  7-2 to him.

I'm falling way behind in the league not just because of my spectacular losses :), but because I also haven't been able to play as much as everyone else.  I'll probably still try to get one game/week, but I'm not worried about "placing" now.  :)

I have been spending a lot of time working with Gregg Siter on the easyarmy.com website.  He's had me entering data for the company diagrams.  I've worked on the East Front Germans and now I'm working through the Cassino book.  We're hoping we can start getting more and more lists out there for everyone to use.

I have all of next week off (Independence Holiday here in the US) and I hope to start documenting my painting that I've been doing this year.  Going to work on the easyarmy stuff and try to get some painting in along with the "Honey Do" list...  :)

Plastic Soldier Company MkIVs and T-34s

After seeing cbaxter's (Craig?) review of the Mk IVs and indie's talks about the T-34s from Plastic Soldier Company, I decided to finally order some and see what the fuss was really about!

Neal (no relation...) at the Warstore carries Plastic Soldier Company stuff.  I didn't know that before Tuesday morning!  So by Tuesday afternoon, the order is packed up and is ready for UPS.  I get it delivered sometime late mid-morning on Thursday!

I bought 10 Mk IVs (2 boxes) and 1 box of the T-34s.  After shipping the cost/tank was $5.80!

Thursday night I put together one of the T-34 76/85 tanks and tonight I put together one of the Mk IVs.  I've taken some pics of the process.  Also, some folks were asking about the compatibility with Battlefront tanks.  I've taken some pics of that too, so you can see it firsthand.  Eventually I'm going to try to take some measurements.

Overall, I like the vehicles.  Very detailed, easy to build but do take longer than BF tanks usually.  The parts are more finely detailed and and produce a better model, IMO. One thing, be sparing with the glue!

I think the Mk IV kit has had some improvements made to it over the T-34 kit and I believe the model fits better with the BF ones, but you can be the judge...

Apologies for a lot of terrible photos...  :)

600 Point, LW, Games - Lessons Learned

I've played all of four (4) 600 point LW games now and I'm an expert!  :)

Here are some things I've done, but my opponents not so much, that have worked for me.  Some of these are somewhat redundant with each other...

- Ignore the "toys", bring low-level Combat/Weapons platoons for the most part.

- Bring as many "combat platoon" types of units as you can.  If you are an infantry company bring a couple infantry platoons.  It's OK, at this point level, to bring a "sub-standard" option.  I did this with the Gebirgsjager platoon to save points.  I ended up with two 7 stand units instead of two small FJ platoons.  Same can be said for the tanks. Bring some lighter tanks or tank hunters, etc.

- Mortars are the "King of Battle" on this level.  Even the short ranged FJ stummelwerfer is worth it on this level.  When we go to full size boards I may have to go with a regular mortar battery, but these HQ guys are great right now.

- Bring something that can kill at range (AT and Anti-infantry).  Mortars and then AT guns.  They are cheaper than tanks/SP guns.  Unless of course you are a tank company.  :)  This also gives you something to do while you move in with your "kill team".  Never let the enemy have a turn where they don't have to react to something you are doing.  If you do, then it gives them time to think about their turn and what they are going to do to you!  :)

- Bring as many units as you can fit.  The more dice you roll for fire, the more chances you have to kill something.  This also dilutes the enemy's fire because they have more units to deal with.  Again making him think more about the mechanics instead of his plans...

- Don't be afraid to sit and wait.  Either for reinforcements or for your long range stuff to start working their magic.


I haven't taken on a purely tank force yet, so that will get interesting, but I think I can hold my own.  Tomorrow we start the 800 point round...

Comments? Was this all just common sense?  :)

LW Escalation League - Game 2

Saturday night I was able to get in two more games for the escalation league (600 point level) we are running.  These were pretty fast paced games, so I got no pictures!  I hope my minimal skills with MS Paint will suffice!  :)  I'll post the second game tomorrow as my lunch time wasn't sufficient to draw the pics for both! 

We played on a 4x3 table and used the same table for both games.  Free For All ended up being the mission for both games.  Yes I rolled a "1" both times... I ended up being attacker both times with the defender getting to go first!  I chose the same side of the board both times too!  :)

The table had very sparse terrain. Here is a picture I drew in MS Paint...  The yellow box is a "wheatfield" that was difficult going, did not give BP cover, but did block LOS/LOF like woods.  The stream was difficult going and bogging except at the ford.

Game 1
  

Neal's Fallschirmjager HQ + 3 8cm Mortars 1 x Fallschirmjager Platoon 1 x Gebirgsjager Platoon Fallschirmjager AT Gun Platoon (2 Pak 40)

Dave's Sturmkompanie HQ 1x Sturm Platoon w/Panzerfausts StuG G Platoon (3 vehicles)

LW Escalation League - Game 1

Keith Miles is running a LW Escalation League at The Gamer's Armory. We had our first meeting last Saturday, June 4th. Here is a link to the rules of the league: rules

I chose to run a Fallschirmjager army.  I spent a lot of time working through which book to pull it from.  I finally settled on using the list from the soon to be released Cassino book.  Until June 11th, I haven't really taken anything that can't be found in the other FJ lists.  After June 11th, I'll start popping out some of the more interesting choices.  :)

The field of players runs the gamut of veterans to complete rookies.  Keith even managed to convince his mom and dad to participate!  That's awesome!  We also have about a 50-50 mix of tank companies and infantry companies.

For the first set of games we tried to pair up the rookies with a veteran.  I was paired up with Keith's mom, Jane.  She complimented me on my teaching skills and all I could say was that I'm glad I played her now because in a couple more weeks she's going to be a very formidable opponent!  She even hinted about a re-match when we are "allowed" to play each other again!

We both ended up bringing 600 point Fallschirmjager forces.  I'm not sure which book her's came from.  Talk about "Blue on Blue" games!  It actually turned out really good because it let us play the game and talk tactics and rules without having to deal with big differences in the armies.

Neal's Fallschirmjager HQ + 3 8cm Mortars + 1 Panzershreck 1 x Fallschirmjager Platoon 1 x Gebirgsjager Platoon Fallschirmjager AT Gun Platoon (2 Pak 40)

Jane's Fallschirmjager HQ 1x Fallschirmjager Platoon Fallschirmjager Light Gun Platoon (2 LG40 guns) Fallschirmjager MG Platoon (2 HMGs) StuG Platoon (2 StuG G)

600 Point LW Practice Game

This was a practice game for a LW, 600 point, escalation league starting up at The Gamer's Armory in Cary North Carolina.  Game date was Thursday, June 2nd.

It was a tuneup game for me against a good friend who's FOW game experience can still be counted on one hand.  He got a bunch of figures painted up and was itching to try them out so we did!  :)

We did 600 points with my Fallschirmjagers, coming out of the to be released Cassino book (nothing in this list that ain't really in others...), and Brent's Paras coming from Turning Tide via easyarmy.com.

We were playing on a 4x3 table and the mission rolled was Encounter.  I think I was the attacker.

I stole the table format from WWPD...

Neal's Fallschirmjager HQ + 3 8cm Mortars + 1 Panzershreck 1 x Fallschirmjager Platoon 1 x Gebirgsjager Platoon Fallschirmjager AT Gun Platoon (2 Pak 40)

Brent's British Para HQ + 1 PIAT 1x Parachute Platoon DD Armoured Platoon (1 Firefly, 3 DD Shermans (2 with .50 cal MGs))

I started with the Pak 40s (in woods bottom left) and my Gebirgsjager platoons (in woods near my other objective) on the board.  I screwed up the rule about how HQ weapons were supposed to deploy and I thought they were another platoon under the 2iC command.  Was that version 1?  :)  Anyway, the mortars and the FJ platoon were in reserve.  He had his DD platoon deployed between the field and the woods and the HQ teams right behind the objective in the top right of the picture.  He had his para platoon in reserve.

The first three turns were kind of slow.  I popped one Sherman with the Pak 40s on turn one and he moved the rest behind the woods near his other objective.  His HQ and PIAT moved behind cover into the building without the roof.  My Gebirgsjager stayed in cover and we waited for reinforcements!

The First EW French!

I hadn't planned this to be my next post, but I just finished matte spraying the first EW French platoon of Panhards and they turned out so well that I just had to take some pics and post them up!

I haven't decided if/how much I'm going to weather them yet...  Usually I splash mud all over the wheels/tracks, but I'm just not sure yet...  :)

The pics are from my Droid X phone...  I'll probably take some better pics next time I set up the SLR and the lightbox, etc. 

Spring Fever -Day 3

Day three of Spring Fever was somewhat typical of a normal Sunday of a convention, but we had a lot more gaming going on and a lot more people hanging around to get that last game in!

Here are a couple shots of the crowd for Sunday:

Spring Fever - Day 2

Day two of Spring Fever was a very full day. The entire game schedule was full all day long and we had two tournaments going at the same time. The Warhammer Fantasy event, Brawler Bash, has been held in conjunction with Spring Fever for three years now. We also hosted a Warmachine "Iron Arena" event for the first time this year. We are pretty sure it will become a regular feature from here on out. :)

First we have some general shots of the crowd from Saturday. When all was tallied we had about 175 people during the weekend. That was a 20% increase over last year's numbers!

Spring Fever 2011 - Day 1

Well, after an exciting afternoon of wondering if a tornado was going to hit us, I've decided to bring it down a little by posting some pics of our local miniatures gaming convention we held last weekend.  Spring Fever.

It starts Friday afternoon and runs through Sunday.  This is our 4th year for this convention an offshoot of our senior show Southern Front.

On to the pics!

First a couple shots of us setting the place up on Friday around 10am.

A Tour of the ManCave!

I've got quite a few things to post about over the next week or so, but I'd like to start with some pics of the ManCave!  I took these a week or so ago.

First...  The Gamer Dog!  (Ginger)

Flames of War Game Day 2

Here's a brief report of our second FOW Game Day at The Game Connection this past Saturday March 26th.  We had a smaller turnout this time, but several folks couldn't make it and we knew that ahead of time.  We did have one new guy play and it seems he likes the system quite a bit.  He's already starting a Panzer Lehr force and seemed to be real Gung Ho for the system!  :)

I took a lot more pics this time, but still not a lot of details of the battles.  I took notes, but don't have them with me right now...  I'll update later when I get my notes...  :)

Spring Fever 2011

We are getting ready to have another FOW Game Day tomorrow at The Game Connection, but I thought I'd go ahead and post up something about our upcoming local miniatures convention.

Our group, Triangle Simulation Society (TSS), has been running a mainly historical miniatures convention (Southern Front) for over 20 years now and 4-5 years ago we had the idea to hold a second one that would be an "all inclusive" miniatures convention and thus was born Spring Fever!

At first mostly the same folks came to both conventions, but we did attract a few more sci-fi/fantasy genre games. I was actually exposed to 40K for the first time at our first Spring Fever convention and have enjoyed it in moderation since... :)  The next year we hooked up with the Oak City Brawlers and their Warhammer Fantasy Battle tournament (Brawler Bash) they hold every year and we haven't looked back! This year's convention boasts two tournaments (Bash and a Warmachine event) and a fine mix of other games including some boardgames.

So if you happen to be in the Raleigh/Durham, NC area April 8-10 come on by and get some gaming in!

FOW Game Day - March 5th

Posting up some pics of a Flames of War Game Day that we recently held at The Game Connection March 5th, 2011.  It was the first one of these that we'd held in years.  We had 10 players attend which was pretty amazing!  We kept it free form and had 4 tables going the whole time with MW and LW games of 1500 to 1750 points.

We are planning the next game day for March 26th with the same format, although I'm hoping to be able to get my first EW game in!

The pics were taken via my phone (Droid X).  I didn't get a ton of pics and some folks did get to play two games so the pics might not make much sense. :)  

Some pics of the game I played. LW 1750 Breakthrough - Kampfgruppe Bake (me) vs. Soviet Tankovy (Nolan).  I had met Nolan before and never realized he is a high school student (well mannered - His momma would be proud!  :) )  It was a really good game with both sides having the tables turned on them and thinking there was no way to win.  I ended up capturing the objective with my Jager platoon that was part of the flanking force.

Stalingrad Project - Ongoing...

This is a post about a project that I started back in the Fall of 2006.  I worked on it off and on until about January 2008.  I've dabbled in it a bit off and on since, but am getting the bug to get back to it again.  It is currently a 4'x6' area with a 2'x4' section being the new part I'm working on.  Ultimately, the entire board will be 8'x16'.

It is modeled off of the Red Barricades factory area of Stalingrad and I used the map from the old Advanced Squad Leader module Red Barricades.  I blew up a digital copy, printed them out and taped them together into 2'x2' sections.  Most everything, except for trees and the railroad tracks (N scale BTW), was built from scratch.

Here are a few key photos of the project.  The rest of the photos can be found here:  StalingradProject

The maps:

Welcome to the ManCave!

Welcome all!

Yes this is yet ANOTHER blog about some miniature gamer's game room, miniature collection, and games he's played...

I was inspired by Steve MacLauchlan's What Would Patton Do blog and the number of great quality games his group was playing.  I talked to him about starting the blog and he suggested that a blog makes a great diary of what you've been doing and you can look back and reminisce about the past year, etc.

I'm going to be starting out by just posting pics, etc. of some older projects that I've worked on in the past few years.  I'll try to take pictures of games and post AARs although I haven't done much of that before.  I'll also post up some pics of the ManCave proper...

Most of this will be Flames of War related, but I do play other stuff...  Oh!  And I'll be advertising our group's local conventions!

Yes, that is my license plate...  :)