29 Let's Go the assault continues.

We got another CoC game in tonight. This time I played the Germans along with Howard. Nate and Matt were the Americans. Once again it was tough going for the Americans. They were rolling well on the command dice and firing dice.

My well placed LMG came under heavy fire and was pinned almost immediately  and then broke.

Howard moved in to defend a farmhouse only to find the far wall didn't have windows. He then spent a turn or so breaking firing holes into the roof and walls.

Although he took some heavy fire he managed to hold off the assaulting Americans. 

In this scenario I think the Americans would eventually break the Germans. My sections were broken up and I lost both junior leaders. Most of Matt's platoon was in good shape. We stopped due to time but another phase or two would have seen the German units break further.

All in all a good night of gaming.

35 thing painting challenge part 1

So Bill over on Campaigns in Germania issued a challenge to paint 35 items by April 15th. Always looking for new ways to be motivated I joined up.

Twenty days into the challenge I just finished fifteen figures the twelve WW2 Americans and three Warring States Chinese.

I only counted the three humans for the challenge not the horses or chariot.

So this leaves me with twenty more figures. I have six 40mm cavalry and fourteen gangsters to go. The cavalry are very close needing a few details and basing the gangsters are primed. Seventeen days to go.

AGW, The French Invasion.

Thursday night found us at Hobby Town. Howard still packed up from running a game down at Cold Wars suggested a game of A Gentleman's War. This is a game I'm always happy to play and Matt showed some interest so that's what we did.

We played with three players and two card decks. I was the brave and stalwart British and Howard and Matt the Frenchies. The opening moves seemed to favor the French on both decks but soon things came around allowing the British to recognize the avenues of approach and adjust accordingly.

On my right I placed a unit of rifles which were quickly eliminated but as the cards started to favor me Matt was unable to take advantage. On the left The women's league rode up on their bicycles to engage the French. They were able to harass the Zouaves and keep their own casualties down by riding away and forward as needed. Great invention that bicycle.

Meanwhile back on the right the Chassuers kept up a galling fire while three line regiments moved up into position to ford the river and assault.

I moved a cavalry unit over to replace the destroyed rifles and poured artillery fire into the advancing French. Back on the left a unit of skirmishers and the Cameroons occupied the woods and fended of all attackers. My attempt to break the French left with an ill advised charge on the Turcos ended as to be expected with the loss of my Lancers.

Howard continued to move up troops but the stalwart British  held them off. The French attack on the  right continued to gain momentum. The flank was threatened by two units of cavalry and although one infantry regiment was destroyed two more were stacked up behind it and continued the advance. 

The hour was late and the British decided they had held off the French long enough and started to withdraw before they lost anymore units. 

This was a great game. It's really the whole package. The figures look good, painted in as toy soldiers with glossy coats but with a modern touch of shading that makes them stand out, the table bright as it may be accents the miniatures, the buildings are just the right blend of toy and model and the rules capture the feel of Old School gaming just as I recall it was.

This is the fourth game we've played this year and puts me close to reaching the 6x6 challenge but I'm sure there will be many more games played before the end of the year. 

Saga; The Warlord dies again.

The second game of Saga was played last Wednesday. Even though my Warlord Halvar Skullsplitter had been killed in the last game time was short so we went with his stats rather than rolling up a new one.

The scenario was an ambush with Tostig Bloodaxe being the Ambushers and Halvar hoping to get off the board. Alive would be good.

Seven turns to move thirty inches. Seems easy enough. The Vikings move first and the Vanguard is one move closer to the edge. Halvar uses an attribute to move two units at once and the Hearth guard in rear activates twice to tighten up the column. A unit of Anglo-Dane warriors comes out of the woods just behind the Viking Vanguard. Hoping to punch through this blocking unit Halvar orders the forward Hearth guard unit to attack. Not quite prepared for battle the Vikings take extra fatigue but the Anglo-Danes are pushed back.

More Anglo-Danes are attacking on either side of the Vikings.

The Vikings rush to escape the ambush. Halvar takes his Heartguard and attempts to run off through the woods on his left. Unfortunately Tostig has arrived with his Heartguard and Halvar is forced into combat. He fends off several attacks from Tostig but can't get out of his reach. Eventually Halvar succumbs to fatigue and an overwhelming number of hits.

The other Vikings have fended for themselves and are off the board or close to the edge.

With the death of their Warlord the Vikings are searching for a new leader. Still the memory of their fallen leader is etched in the lore of his people.

Another good game. I think we missed a few things, like me losing Saga dice as units moved off the table, but most of the main mechanics were done right. I'll need to study my battle board a little more and search the web for advice on running the Vikings. 

Saga, Death of a Warlord

That would be my Warlord. After a few weeks of scheduling conflicts  we got the first game of the Saga campaign in.

It was a straight up fight between Matt's Normans and my Vikings. Scenario one in the rule book. Clash of the Warlords. I choose two woods and placed them just off the center of the table, Matt placed a hill over on his right flank. I knew the woods would protect me from the fire of the crossbows but didn't realize they offered no protection for melee.

I placed my troops behind the woods and Matt set his up with crossbows near the table center and cavalry on my right flank.

My Vikings moved into the woods where we hoped to make combat difficult for the Normans. Several times I used the ability of the Vikings to force a missile unit to move rather than fire. 

The Normans shifted the cavalry over to their right and then attacked my warriors and Warlord. Pushing back the warriors the Warlord was left exposed. Matt then attacked the Warlord with his mounted Warlord and Hearthguard. Adding a special ability gave him plenty of dice to crush my warlord which he did.

Not a successful game for me but still fun. I had missed a few attributes of my force which may have helped and forgot the victory conditions. I should have pulled back my Warlord as it was turn five and could have fought to a draw or a least not such a catastrophic defeat. 

I think that Saga is a good game that gives a number of decision points to the players. The mechanics are basic for movement and combat but the use of the battle board takes a little thought. 

Matt's telling of the tale can be found here http://saltflats1929again.blogspot.com/2017/03/saga-age-of-wolf-game-2.html

29 Let's go back and get some more support.

Nate and I met at Hobby Town for a game of CoC. We played the second scenario out of the 29 lets go campaign . Once again The Americans were tasked with attacking the Germans and looking capture a jump off marker at the rear of the table.

I remember what had happened the last game and felt I had adjusted my tactics to meet the challenge. A couple of good rolls let me bring on most of my platoon and some support. It was uphill from there. My attempt to advance quickly with advancing fire was crushed by Nate's HMG and the squad in the field consistently rolling five hits each activation Kills and shock started to pile up. I brought up the tank and brought on my Senior leaders to help stop the crumbling of my front line but to no avail. The Sherman was unable to do any damage, several Junior leaders were lost and finally the Sherman was knocked out by the Germans.

I think that I should have brought all my 30 cals on early. Choosing a 50 cal would have been better than the mortar. I'm thinking about the advantage/disadvantage of attaching leaders at long range. Also a little Patience setting up the attack may have helped.

All in all a good game. I'm looking forward to playing again and may even do a practice solo game to work out some ideas.

A few more shots of the action and more detail of the game can be found herehttp://www.addictedtolead.net/2017/03/17/29-lets-go-scenario-2-delaying-action-at-arthenay/

La Cambe, Chain of Command

We got together for a four player CoC game. Nate and I were the Americans while Matt and Howard played Germans. The Americans were tasked with pushing the Germans out of their positions in the town.

The Americans moved on to the table quickly but then the assault started to stall. On the left Nate was able to move up and engage with support of a Sherman but it was ambushed and destroyed.

On the right my troops came under a heavy suppressive fire and the troops hunkerd down behind a wall stopping their advance and only returning fire.

A second Sherman moved up in support but that was taken out by off table 88s.

The Germans stationed in the farmhouse pour a devastating fire into the Americans as they moved across the open fields. The US attack had stalled on both sides and the hour was late so we called the game. 

It was another enjoyable game of CoC. Once again I left the table thinking of what I could have done better to achieve my units goals. Spending some more time reading the rules will help and remembering some of the special rules for my army is key also.

This was the third game of CoC for the 6x6 challenge and I can see how playing games close together and consistently help improve the experience. 

AGW AWI

It was back to Hobby Town Nanuet after their move. Howard and I played a game of A Gentleman's War using the AWI version. I was the British with a unit of regulars, 2 light infantry and 2 light guns. My objective was to destroy the Rebels. Opposing me was a Rebel force of 2 regulars, 2 light guns, 1 rifles and 1 militia.

Immediately after entering the board my regulars and guns were fired upon by the rebels rifles and given a couple of casualties.

Then one unit of my light infantry moved up to attack the rifles on the flank. They attempted to fall back but were unsuccessful and my troops went in with bayonets and destroyed the unit.

My other light infantry moved up along the right flank as the main body slowly moved through the town. The Rebel guns fired upon the column as it advanced forcing it to deploy into line.

 One of the guns moved off to the right and aided the lights in firing on the Rebels lines.

The Rebel infantry moved up and pressured my regulars and light infantry on the right. A militia unit in the woods moved up and poured a withering fire on my troops. The regulars were forced back. Then both my guns were attacked by infantry a forced back. I thought for sure that would be the end of the game but the regulars rallied and the lights started to wear down the rebel guns and infantry.

The American commander decided it was better to leave the field than lose more troops and withdrew. Although the British had forced the rebels back they were in no shape to pursue and fell back themselves.

It was a great game with plenty of tension through out. The firing rules are a little different for the AWI version muskets counting every three figures per die and having a  reload rule. Infantry units are a little larger also with12-24 figures.