The end of the month dispatch

Not looking to rush the year along it's time to recount what i did this month.

I managed to finish twenty AWI British which are based as singles to be used in Sharp Practice also two skeletons for Frostgrave moved off the painting bench. A shotgun house from 4ground was built even though I missed a couple of pieces it still looks good.

The big success for the month though was getting five games in. The first was a game of AGW, then came CoC with a game on Thursday night and another on Sunday both exciting games.

A break from the 6x6 saw a game of Howard's Alien War .50 being played. We had done a few games of this years ago so when Howard was given/lent an Post Apocalyptic urban set up he pulled the game out again. The game was a blast. I was a squad of marines attempting to recover a satellite and he was a group of mercenaries with same goal. Things didn't go well for me from the start and although I was able to put some damage on his group it wasn't enough to achieve our mission so I was forced to fall back.

The final game of the month was another of AGW this time using the 18th century variant and Howard's collection of 30mm flats. These are the toys that were sold on the back of comic books in the 1960s. I was the gallant Patriots and Howard played the oppressive British. His mission was to destroy my command. As his force advanced I was able to get my cavalry on his flank and destroy one unit of his cavalry. He pressed my center hard and moved his first nation allies up on my flank but after some fine firing by my riflemen my cavalry was able to destroy the rest of his cavalry and threaten his center. At this point the British realized they wouldn't complete their objective and fell back to regroup and fight another day.

I'm pretty happy with my hobby activity this month. Purchasing some Bolt Action figures and some Battlefront minis didn't help with The Pledge but I did keep the number I'm behind low. Getting five games in was a big plus. 

I joined a Saga campaign as Vikings and at the moment am waiting for my set of rules to arrive. There should be enough figures in my collection to build a six point force but I may still pick up a few new figures. 

CoC and 6x6

The January update.

On the 12th we played a game of Chain of Command. This is on my list for the 6x6 challenge so a double plus. Nate set the game up and did the patrol phase in advance as time is short when playing at Hobby Town. Howard and Nate were the defending Germans and I attacked with the Americans. Nate started with a triple activation and was able to bring on much of his platoon. Howard then brought on two squads. A decent roll by me brought on a squad and some supports. The attack struggled to get off the ground but started to threaten the German left. Unfortunately for the Americans the German right quickly advanced and flanked the Americans.

We played for about 2 1/2 hours. I'm not very familiar with the rules which is why I put them on the 6x6 challenge. Nate has a good command of the game and guided us through.

Realizing that the challenge would be difficult I jumped at the chance to play another game with Matt at his house. Garrett joined us for an Attack/Defend scenario. The roll for support was much better today giving the Americans two Shermans. We did the patrol phase which is bit of a game in itself that I need to study and practice more. The Americans moved on the board quickly and set up a fire base in the farmhouse. The Germans brought on a FO who although did bring the artillery as desired did occupy the  Americans who where trying to knock him out.

More troops arrived and an aggressive firefight ensued. The Germans used a CoC die to bring on their panzerschreck with knocked out one of the shermans. The American assault bogged down then while they waited for the other sherman to arrive. It arrived and after avoiding damage from a panzerfaust and the returned panzersckreck it eliminated the team holding the German left flank.

The game was much more exciting than my report let's on. Each phase brought both side closer to collapse. Garrett is well versed in the rules and Matt though not having played much had a solid knowledge of them.

This week was a great start to the New Year. Two fun games with great people. I'm three games into the 36 need for the challenge and have improved my knowledge of CoC.

2017 The start and first check mark.

As part of the goal setting for this year I've joined the six-by-six-challenge as described on Kaptain Kobold's blog The Stronghold Rebuilt. It's a pretty aggressive goal being six games each of six rule sets but I think it's doable. The games I've chosen are;

Chain of Command.
A Gentleman's War 
Sharpe Practice 2
Saga
Mad Dogs with Guns
Lion Rampant

This last may end more as any of the games that have evolved from it such as The Men Who Would be Kings, Dragon Rampant and The Pikeman's Lament. There are few other rules I'd like to play so we'll see how that goes.

Not wasting any time last Thursday I played a game of AGW with Howard. He was looking to fine tune the cavalry rules and it was a good reason to get my newly painted Uhlans out. I was in command of the invading French cavalry while Howard defended with his British cavalry supported by Gamekeepers and The Women's League both skirmish units. 

The French Artillery watch as the British troops move into range.

The French chase the Women's League of but are attacked by Hussars and Guard Cavalry and quickly destroyed. 

 The Uhlans charge the Guards and are pushed back but not with out doing some damage.

As with most of these battle reports our correspondent became so caught up in the action that he failed to take pictures. The remainder of the battle played out this way. On the right flank the French artillery wreaked the British cavalry enough that the French cavalry were able to chase them off. Over on the left flank the French chasseurs were able to attack the British dragoons from the protection of the woods and then the Chasseurs D'Afrique charged and eliminated them. 

With several British units falling back and it being late we wrapped up the game and declared the French the victors. 

Another great game. There was some discussion on how combats would be resolved and who could decide the sequence. Group movement also came under review. I'd like to try these rules out with someone who is unfamiliar with them and perhaps less amicable than Howard and I are.