World War Two Games

Over the past week I have had an opportunity to play two games of Iron Cross WWII. Both of them turned out very well.

The first game was at our monthly club game night hosted by my friend Charlie G.  The battle was an infantry and armor assault by New Zealand and Indian forces against the town of Cassino being defended by Falschirmjagers.

Here are some photos of the game

The entire table.  The British started on the near edge (Indian Infantry Company) and the right edge of the table (New Zealand Infantry Company and Armor Platoon).  The Germans (three reduced Falschirmjager Infantry Companies) set up within the town. 

The German command check the rules to see if they are short of MG42's!!  The Machine Gun squads would definitely play a huge role in the defensive plan.

The Allies look forlorn as (l to r) Bob, John, Ralph and Phil [just off-camera] endure yet another round of MG fire into their vulnerable infantry.  Just a couple of turns later they would be celebrating the victory as John moved up their armor and destroyed the German AT gun position.

The Allied attack developed slowly with the Indian units pushing in from the German left flank.  The New Zealanders moved very slowly but kept some pressure on the German front.  Being the first to attack, the Indians paid a heavy price as two machine gun squads tore into them.  Just as the Indian attack started to falter, one of the New Zealand companies rushed the right front part of the German defense and made it into the cover of some ruins without any casualties.  At the same time the Armor Platoon made a move up their right flank in an effort to assist the Indians.  The bold move did cost the tankers one Sherman as they advanced, but they pressed the attack.  Once the armor made it to the German flank, the Green Devils were not able to hit either of the remaining metal monsters with effective AT fire and the German AT gun position could not pivot to bring fire on the enemy.  In the end the AT position was destroyed giving the Allies a minor victory.  The win did cost the Allies dearly with almost two companies rendered combat ineffective and 1/3 of the armor force destroyed.

In the second game I had friends visit the house.  Andrew, his son Thomas and their friend Shaun visited and I set up a German vs British scenario to let them play the game for the first time.  Shaun and Thomas played with a couple of reinforced platoons against Andrew and I pushing British Commandos supported by a some armor assets.  The forces were exactly equal in numbers and composition.

Here are some photos of the game in progress:

The British try to push a flank using their Daimler Armored Car.  This would be the best shot of the game as the Daimler took out the German Armored Car with a very difficult shot.  I love it when Andrew S. rolls a 'six' at just the right time!  Unfortunately, it was just about the only positive aspect of the game for the Brits. 

The overview of the Armored Car shot up the left flank of the British advance.

The German Recon Platoon advances under the cover of an MG42 Support Squad.

Commando infantry take a commanding overwatch position on a hill.  In the distance, the Germans begin their well planned attack.

The British of 2 Commando push forward to seize a building enclosure and small woods.

A Commando Vickers MG Support Squad covers as a Commando Squad moves up.  Unfortunately, the infantry faltered a the wall and spent two full turns trying to get over the obstacle.  Their hesitation was a major negative factor on the British Advance.

This was a pretty one-sided game as Shaun and Thomas handed Andrew and I a real drubbing.  They had a better plan than we did; they moved better than we did; and they rolled their dice lights-out.  We played along the long axis of the table - and that made it a much more of a slugging match.  Not much room for maneuver.  But the Germans made the most of the terrain and with a slow advance by us British, the game was one-sided.

I'd like to highlight the game mat that we used for this game.  It is my new Killing Fields Static Grass mat that I just purchased.  I love the way the looks and mixes in with my other terrain and buildings.  If you like it, check out the Killing Field site HERE to get your own.

Club members and my friends really enjoy Iron Cross for our WWII skirmish/tactical gaming.  It is fast paced and the ability to distribute command tokens and activate units in any way during a turn makes players fully engaged in the game at all times.  I highly recommend that if you have an opportunity to play Iron Cross that you give it a try.

Volley & Bayonet Test Game

I recently had a chance to play a game of Volley & Bayonet hosted by my friend Ed.  This was a concept test for his modifications to Volley & Bayonet in Wing/Battalion Scale.  Ed has been working on this particular edit of the base rules for a couple of years now to use his incredible Austrian and Hungarian armies for mid-19th Century European conflicts.  I think that his edits are right on the mark as the game seemed to flow well tactically and was a lot of fun to play.

During this game I faced off against fell Conspirator and blogger, AJ.  AJ has written an excellent review of the game on his blog at this link (look for the entry "Battle of the Bloggers") so I will not go into the details of the game.  I agree with everything that AJ has outlined in his post.

I did take a few of my own pics of the game in progress so here they are:

My advance guard moves the Army frontline forward.  The beautiful Uhlan Squadron would conduct a very hasty charge and be destroyed in the process.

Appropriately massed Austrian infantry, my foot artillery and a half-battalion of Jagers prepare to enter the battlefield.

My Army commander and my foot artillery battery.

A big Jaeger fight erupts in the woods on the Austrian left flank.  The Hungarians definitely got the better of this part of the fight and by the end of the battle one of my Jaeger battalions was destroyed and the other was routed back.

My army commander oversees the musketry of two infantry battalions.  You can just see the Austrian grenadier battalion on the right of the picture.  The White Hats of the Hungarian Army - one of the best units on the board - prepare to conduct an assault.

AJ plots his next move.  Apologies to Ed for cutting off his head!

My pictures of the game cannot do justice to the beautiful figures that Ed has collected for this set of rules and period.  I encourage everyone to visit Ed's Blog here and scroll down to see closeups of the armies and the many different conversions he has put together.  Really an interesting read.

Many thanks to Ed for hosting such a great game and the work he has put into coming up with great rules for the period.  Also, a big shoutout to AJ for being a great adversary across the game table.  I look forward to playing the game again soon.

Blood Red Skies

The game system I have been working on the most lately is the relatively new WWII Aerial Combat rules from Warlord Games called Blood Red Skies (BRS).  I have played a few sets of air combat games in the past and quite frankly I found most to be 'fiddly'.

I think the cliche of a game mechanic being 'elegant' is overused recently.  But I have to say, that is the most appropriate word for BRS that I can think of as I play it.  The combination of cards, pilot skill, boom chits and plane status is simple but gives a real feel for the descriptions I have read of air to air combat in WWII.

Here is a very good summary of the game mechanics that I found on the RPG.net website here.  I think it really captures the essence of the system and I have to agree with most of his conclusions on the game.  This is a relatively easy review, however, having been done in November, 2018.  In December a full BRS Rulebook titled Ground Attack (yeah, I don't get it either but that is Warlord Games for you!) is due out.  The new book will bring all rules together in one place - not three - and will incorporate all of the FAQ comments and addendums that have come out over the past couple of years.  Sort of like a Version 2.0 of the rules without the fanfare.  Ground Attack will also introduce rules for bombing (including dive-bombing) and strafing.  These were major components of the air conflict in WWII and so it will be beneficial to have these aspects addressed with official rules.

Like all modern gaming systems, BRS has wealth of social media support including the Facebook Page called the Ready Room.  If you use FB, look at the Ready Room and you will find some really neat ideas and supports for the game.

So one of the best parts of the game is that it has given me the opportunity to collect and paint new forces for my game room display!  Here are a few of the planes I have painted and there are several more on the painting table as I write this so stand-by for more!

Hurricanes attack a flight of Do-17's during the Battle of Britain.

A pair of Me-110 Night Fighters on patrol.

A close-up of the Nachtjagers preparing to hunt some British intruders!

Me-109's dive into the Hurricanes to save their bomber comrades!

British P-51 Mustangs of 200 Squadron RAF

A BRS 'Squadron' of British Mustangs.  Each aircraft will receive a pilot skill level tab on its base for the game.  For most games this would be the maximum number of aircraft that a single player would control.  In most games that I have played in, players have controlled between 2 and 4 aircraft comfortably even if they were new to the game.  Games I have played averaged about an hour to complete.

Mustangs prepare to escort a flight of Allied bombers to target and back.

The dogfight continues.

Another aircraft falls burning from the sky!

So that is my introduction of the new game system.  I hope to host a couple of games at Adlernest Hobby Store on November 9th so be on the lookout for a battle report or two in the coming weeks.

New Game Mat for the Table

I recently invested in one of the new mats from Killing Fields Battle Mats company.  It arrived last week and I have to say that it is just as advertised.  Here are some photos to show you what the mat looks like.  I will comment more on the mat as I use it in games.

The mat is approximately 4' by 6' and although it had some ripples in it from being folded during delivery, it has relaxed well and there shouldn't be any issue with use in games.

The buildings are from Cresent Root.  These are excellent pre-painted and assembled buildings that come ready to unpack and put on the table.  The roads are from Deep Cut Studios.  The straight sections of roads are as you see them in the photos.  I trimmed the intersections and corner pieces to match the width of the straight sections more closely.  I do not know the manufacturer of the hills.

Photos:

I am looking forward to having actual games on this mat in the near future.

Long Time No Post

Wow!  Where did the summer go?  I haven't been posting, but I have been pretty active on the hobby front.  Getting new units painted up and doing some organizing of the hobby space.  I will be posting several different items to get re-booted on the Blog.  Plus, saying that I am going to post something helps motivate me to get the final bit of paint or decals on the model so I can photo and show you.

Napoleon's Rules of War First Game of the 2nd Half

Well, it didn't take long to get the first game of the official 2nd half of the season in the record books. Played a game of Napoleon's Rules of War at a club game night the other night.

Great game put on by the rules designer - Charlie.  The scenario was the battle of Bailen.  I was one of the Spanish players commanding a division on the southern flank.  In this battle, the Spanish had seized the town of Bailen with one force while two other forces moved in to help reinforce them.  The two moving forces were also slowly encircling the French forces.  While the Spaniards held the town, the French were trying to retake the town whlile preventing the Spanish from encircling them.

The forces were pretty equal in that the Spanish had superior numbers while the French had a slight advantage in quality.

Here are some photos of the game:

My division deployed along the river just south of the French attempting to attack into Bailen.

My Spanish light and militia troops attack from the West into the flank of the southern French attack.  It ended up being a pretty successful spoiling attack.  It was never going to stop the French outright, but it did slow them down enough to hold out until night fall.  

The French in the south had to face south in reaction to my division at the river as well as north to attack into Bailen.  It was not an easy tactical situation.

The French move on Bailen from the south.  A small Spanish brigade attacks from the west.

Our valiant French foes! (l to r) Kevin and Byron were commanders attacking from the North. Charlie, the GM.  Ralph, commander here on the southern sector.

Overall, I had a really good time playing the game.  Charlie is making some changes to his rules to help make them a bit easier to play.  I think he is getting very close to finishing all of the edits for Version 2 of the rules.

Gaming for the 2nd Half of 2019

As I was looking at my Hobby Activities for the Year (See Below), I noticed that so far in 2019 I have played the largest number of different rule sets than any other year I've been in the hobby - by far.

It just seems that I have been willing to go out on a limb and try new things (such as Star Wars ver 2, Warlords of Erehwon, and GW Kill Team).  More so, it seems, then ever.  I'm not really sure why this is, it just seems to all be piling up this year.

And I don't think that the trend will be slowing down either.  Right now I am planning to play in a game of 'Fistful of Lead' later this month (I'm painting up some US Cavalry and Plains Infantry, complete with Gatling Gun for that game!).  I also have planned to try a game of Black Ops from Osprey War-games sometimes later this summer.  And right now I am reading another set of rules from Osprey, Rebels and Patriots, that I want to try out for that all elusive 'great' rules set for my War of 1812 skirmishes.

So many games, so little time!  I really want to settle on a rules that I enjoy playing and that I have enough painted minis to do effective games and/or campaigns.  There will always be one off games like the Fistful of Lead at my local hobby store, but I am talking about rules that I play enough to get comfortable with, or that I 'work harder' at so I can become somewhat proficient.  I don't ever want to 'work' on game system to be a competitive player, but I would like to develop a feel for some game systems so I can game master a game or campaign and be do a pretty good job.

Right now I think that is the following games in the indicated period:

Napoleonics
Volley & Bayonet Wing Scale
Napoleon's Rules of War

War of 1812
Volley & Bayonet Wing Scale (Ed's Edits) - For battles
Rebels and Patriots - For skirmishes

WWII
Cruel Seas - Naval
Blood Red Skies - Air
Bolt Action - Skirmishes

Modern
???

Sci Fi and Fantasy
X-Wing ver 2
GW Kill Team
Warlords of Erehwon

Ten sets of rules plus at least one for modern gaming!  Too many, I think.  But these are all rules that I have tried out and I really have enjoyed each one of them for their own reasons.  I think that I will have to consider them one-by-one and pair out the ones that I really don't want to play on a regular basis.

I have figures for most, if not all, of them so painting isn't really an issue - just have to finish off lead that I already have as I go along and then get stuff out to the table.  Terrain is also not an issue as I have all types of terrain already made for all of the scales of figures that I have and for all of the time periods and settings (Europe, N. America, etc.).

I will update the blog as I play through these.

Post Napoleonic Wing Scale Volley & Bayonet

Had a really good time at Ed's house yesterday playing a game of Volley & Bayonet in Wing Scale.  They rules have been used in our club for many years and they really have passed the test of time.  We tweak them, but in many cases we return to the base rules when something different does not work out.

The scenario we played was the Hungarian Uprising against the Austrians in 1848.  Ed has become quite the expert on the time period.  He has researched and painted an extensive set of forces for both sides and the armies are a sight to behold!  The scenario we played was challenging for both sides and ended up being well balanced.

I played one of the Hungarian divisional commanders.  My forces consisted of three balanced brigades of two infantry battalions, a light infantry battalion and a squadron of cavalry.  My mission was to defend two ridge lines in front of a town that we had to defend.  If the Austrians could take our town under fire, we would lose the game.  Large numbers of Austrians under George and Ralph attacked my positions and eventually wore my units down.  I had to give ground but I was reinforced by another division similar to mine under Charlie and we ended up holding the line.  Meanwhile, Byron entered the table on our right flank and crashed into Mike C. scattering his units and making for the Austrian town which were tasked with taking under fire.  Due to Byron's ferocious attack, we ended up squeaking out a victory.  Here are some photos of the game with Ed's great terrain and even better Hungarian and Austrian armies of 1848.

The first attacks from George come in.  Note that I established a reverse slope defense in the hopes of staying away from Austrian artillery fire and a coordinated charge.

My initial dispositions with Charlie as the last line of defense.

Heavy pressure on my center number one.  George and Mike had a well coordinated attack 

Heavy pressure on my center number two.

The Austrian juggernaut pushes us back.

The Austrian are forced to react to Byron's attack from our right and Ralph and George pull back to save their town.  The Hungarians are victorious!

Overall, I had a great time and being with good people over the fields of friendly strife is always a great way to spend the day.  Thanks to Ed for an excellent game!

Bood Red Skies Premiere at the New Aldernest Gaming Cafe Location

Our friend Gordon and his lovely bride, Denise, have moved their super hobby store from Western Manchester, NH to a new location in the great town of Merrimack, NH.  The new diggs are a 1000% improvement over the Manchester location.  Store size and location as well as parking, location, etc. are all vastly superior to the former store.

I stopped by the store this afternoon and got to host a game and play a game of Blood Red Skies.  It was an excellent time!

Here are some photos of the action in the game that I played in.

Hurricanes engage a Do-17Z.

German close escort take on the attackers!

The German bombers on their way to the target!

The jig is up as Top Cover descends on the attackers!

It was a great game with one German bomber shot down for the loss of one Hurricane.  The British were driven off, but a second German bomber was a 'probable' with an engine shot out and several crew down.  The target would not get a bad pasting!  So, as the British player I claim a moral victory even though I lost in game terms!

Initiation to X-Wings Edition 2

Yesterday I had an opportunity to play my first two games of W-Wing Second Edition thanks to an invite from my friend, Ralph.  In both games I played a 105 point Rebel Alliance Squad consisting of two Z-95 Headhunters and one Y-Wing fighter/bomber.

I learned quite a bit about flying my ships around (and into) asteroids and space junk.  Overall I believe I did a fair job of keeping my ships out of harms way and working on getting opponents' ships in my sights for a fleeting shot.  It is a fast paced and fun game system to play.

In the first game, I paired up with AJ and his list of an Rz-1 A-Wing, and Wedge Antilles and his X-Wing.  This gave us five small ships.  We faced two players (Rob and Mike).  Rob's list was simple - a Resistance Bomber fully tricked out and Mike flew a Scum and Villainy list of a YV-666 light freighter and a Kihraxz Fighter.  We played a full 75-minutes in game time.  The game was very close and came down to us losing two shields on one of our Z-95's which meant we lost 1/2 of a ship.  We didn't cause a half-ship worth of damage to any of their ships so they won the game in a Technical decision.

Here are a couple of photos I took during my first game:

Ralph prepares his 200 point list for a face-off with Bob O.

Mike and Rob plot their next rebellious scumy next move!

And the scrum begins!  If only AJ and I could roll some hits!

In the second game, I paired up with Rob O. He ran a list of a Fenn Rau Fang Fighter and Black Sun Soldier Z-95.  We were fighting that YV-666 light freighter/Kihraxz Fighter list along with a 3 x Tie Fighter list with Howlrunner as their leader.

This second fight went well but I was so into preparing my movement dial and trying to decide who to shot next, I forgot to take any pictures!  Oh well, maybe next time.

As always when playing with the guys in the club, it was a wonderful evening of leaving my worries behind, laughing and enjoying a great new game system!  What a wonderful way to spend a Friday evening - if I'm not going to be with my lovely bride.  I look forward to many more adventures in the X-Wing galaxies!

Cruel Seas Playtest

I had an opportunity to run a play test of my Cruel Seas scenario for an upcoming local gaming convention in May.  The scenario that I am running at the convention is based on the D-Day convoy crossing the English Channel on June 5, 1944.

Allied forces are American and British and include PT Boats, Fairmile D's, US Submarine Chasers, and a Corvette escorting some landing craft, a trawler and a tanker.  The Allied objective is to move their convoy across the long table edge without being sunk.

German forces are based around 6 S-Boats (2 x S38 and 4 S100), a Minesweeper and a Flakship.  The German objective is simply to sink as many Allied ships as possible.

Highest number of points is the winner - nice and simple for a convention game.

Here are some photos of the play test that I did at our local gaming store:

The Germans begin to chase the Convoy which is just out of the photo to the  right.  Allied escorts move out to engage the German torpedo boats.

The rest of the picture above showing the relative position of the Allied convoy.  Sort of dangerous for the Corvette to be heading out towards the torpedo boats as they would be launching their fish in an all-out effort to sink as many of the convoy ships as possible (of course)!

Shots being traded in a very high number!  Many of the boats were down to ten or less hull points by the end of the game.

Torpedos about to strike home on the LCT (G).  The results would be devastating and the LCT was quickly on the bottom of the English Channel.  At the bottom of the picture is the remains (flames and smoke) of a US Submarine Chaser which had been sent to the bottom by gunfire from a couple of S-Boats.

The melee continues.  At the top of the page two S-boats collide.  This would result in one of them sinking.  Above them, a US PT-Boat collides with the German Flakship which resulted in the PT Boat sinking!

We learned several lessons to incorporate into my game next month.  I will change the deployment of both sides in a couple of ways in an effort to speed up the first two turns of the game.  The convoy also has to start the game a ways down the table edge if they expect to exit any boats off the table by the end of the game.  Time will be limited in the convention setting.

Overall I think we should be able to get a good game in for participants.  I will keep you posted on how the game goes!