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.

Big Anzio Bolt Action Game

Yesterday, I had an opportunity to participate in a 10-player Bolt Action Game at Adler Hobby.  We we playing a stylized Anzio scenario with five Allied players defending the beachhead against an attack from five Axis players.  Gordon set the scenario in the historical context of the start of the German offensive of Operation Fischfang. This would mean tired Allied units facing strong German units including armor and heavy artillery.  The saving grace for the Allies would be strong artillery units on the beach and a preparatory bombardment called in by a British Forward Observer.  Many of the Allied units would begin the game dug-in giving them the 'Down' modifier while still allowing them to shoot.  The plethora of flamethrower (both vehicle and man pack) in the Axis army would negate most of the benefits of the foxholes, but it would help against other weapons.  Each army was a 750 point base with available extra points/units from the campaign capped at 1000 points.

Here is the excellent beach side of the board set-up by Gordon at Adler Hobby:

The Allies are on the left and the Germans would advance from the right.  The next photo shows the Axis portion of the board.  Each Allied unit began the game with one pin marker to represent the hard fighting they had already done prior to the start of the German offensive.

The Axis side of the board including their initially deployment units.

The Germans would push very hard on both flanks and straight down the road in the center of the photo above.  My forces (Fench CEF) along with a British force would face the center and the German halftracks on the right of the photo above.

The British/French flank of the battlefield with the initial deployment of Axis players.

Bold first and second turn moves by Axis forces (flame tanks) in the center.  The tanks would include riders who as Veterans wearing body armor, would stand around the brown building for almost the entire game.  They caused some significant damage.

British and French forces on the Allied Right Flank.  The German halftracks on the right of the photo would get nearly to the water's edge, destroying many allied units on the way.  But the British troops would give good amount of themselves as would the French in front of them.

The battle proceeded through the first six turns and the Allies were hard pressed with only a few squads and one Sherman tank left on the beach.  The Axis forces were closing in for the kill!

Then the miraculous happened.  All of the Axis units within range of Allied troops on the beach fired during Turn 7.  It came down to one German command squad firing at the remnants of the last French squad.  Only one rifle was left to shoot and the die was cast.  IT CAME UP A "1"!!!  The French survived!  It was just barely an Allied victory!

The two remaining infantrymen from an Algerian Tirailleurs squad who, along with a lone American Sherman tank would secure the beachhead for the Allies. 

This was one of the best games I have played in for a long time.  My hat is off to my Allied co-players and all of our Axis opponents.

At the end of the game Gordon had some really cool awards and raffle prizes.

Vacation Time Work on the German Bolt Action Army

I have been on a week long vacation and I have had an opportunity to work on my German forces for Bolt Action.  I am still working on platoons and supports for a Herman Goering Division unit.  This particular unit requires that each of the infantry units be mechanized or motorized.  Consequently, I have built a couple of Sdkfz 251's to transport my Panzer-grenadiers.  Also, the HG army in Bolt Action can have multiple Anti-aircraft units.  So, I have added a Flak 38 20mm AA gun.

During vacation, I built all three models and got them base coated with Dark Yellow spray paint.  Here are the results of the work so far:

I have base coated the models in Warlord Dark Yellow spray paint.  I really like the color which is not as dark as it appears in this photo.  I think it will be easy to add some details and have the models ready for the table pretty quickly.

I'll post additional photos when i have them done.

First Italian Campaign BA Game

Had a chance to travel to Aldernest Cafe and play a the first Bolt Action game in the Italian Campaign that store owner Gordon is hosting.  I had a really great time playing with Eric as our Romanian (Eric) and FFL (mine) Armies squared off.  We rolled for the scenario and got "Envelopment".  Eric ended up being the defender and I took on the role of attacker.  Eric's army is really well painted and he has done an amazing job of converting a range of figures into a really excellent army.

Here are some pictures of my forces in the game as it progressed:

A French Foreign Legion Infantry Squad advance on the enemy!

Fire Support being provided by the 62nd African Artillery Regiment.  Note the spotter in the upper floor balcony.  The gun provided very effective fire support for the infantry, taking out a Romanian Light Howitzer.

French Stuart and Medium MG advancing in the center of the French position.

A French Infantry squad passing a burning Romanian R-35 Light Tank,  The Renault survived three turns of shots from Bazookas, Stuart main gun shots and even a close assault by the before mentioned infantry squad armed with anti-tank grenades!

The Stuart prepares to cross the open area of a rail road ben.  Most of the game there was a Romanian AT gun on the rail line at the top of the photo in Ambush.  A very good position, but once it was given up and the gun moved, it opened up the middle of the board.

The game was pretty one-sided.  The dice gods really favored me and I was able to destroy several units including an infantry squad, a tank and two guns.  I was also able to get two of my squads off board or within a foot of his side of the board.

As a part of the campaign I was able to gather another useful terrain piece which will allow me to add 30 more points to my army in each game.  Overall it was a very good result for the Allies.

Eric is new to Bolt Action and I haven't played in a while.  But we muddled through the rules and we both learned things.  For me, I think that I will need to have two different available army lists so I can play one as the attacker and the other as the defender.  This game could have gone very badly if there were enemy units in slightly different positions or if the dice had gone just a little bit his way.

April Snowstorm Equals More Bolt Action Stuff

Well, a pretty good snow storm today led me to spend the day on Bolt Action painting and construction.  I managed to get 16 more Germans painted and based.  I am waiting for the glue to dry and then I will finish them with wash.  Four of the figures that I painted were for a 75mm AT gun crew.  tomorrow I will get to work on the base and the final painting of the gun.  Pics will be forthcoming soon.

I also got some work done on some some objective markers for the upcoming Italian Bolt Action Campaign at Adler Hobbies.  Here are some photos with captions of the objectives I got done today.  There are two more markers on the workbench right now.  I will save any explanation of those until I have photos.

Two objective markers - a fuel dump and an engineer equipment supply point.  Both of the objectives are covered by camouflage netting.

Close up of the Engineer Equipment - obviously there are some mines included in the stash!  The supplies include a couple of rolls of concertina wire.

The fuel dump would have been important to Germans in the later years of the war.  Not sure of the markings, but if I recall correctly POL is Class III of supplies in the US military.  The marker shows a 'III' so I thought it was a good addition.

 Overall this was a very productive day!  Combined with the acquisition of the Corgi die cast 1:50 scale vehicles this has been a great Bolt Action Week!  I will have more pics in the next couple of days.

Big Addition to the German Bolt Action Army

My friend AJ told me about some auctions on eBay for 1/50 scale vehicles from Corgi for my Bolt Action army.  I ordered a couple of vehicles as the prices were just great.  The first one arrived in the mail today.  It is even better than I had hoped.  The 1/50 scale is really great with 28mm figures.

The model itself is good.  This is a Sdkfz 7 artillery tractor with a Quad 20mm gun. It is a die cast model with working tracks and front wheels while the gun rotates completely and elevates and depresses.  Details are nice with a good paint job.

Here are some photos of the models with some of my Germans for size comparison.

The gun, vehicle and some of my figures for comparison.

From another angle.

The paint job is adequate for the wargame table.  The truck is very large.  In the German Army book for Bolt Action  this vehicle can carry up to 12 men.  It can also tow everything up to an 88mm Heavy AT gun.

This view shows the gun at max elevation.

Another advantage is that the vehicle can be an SP gun, albeit in a pretty weakly armored  vehicle.

I think this vehicle is perfect for my Hermann Goering army. I have a couple of more models on the way.  Can't wait to show you all pics of them, because they are going to go with the army just as well!  Where have these been all this time!

German Bolt Action Army WIP - Part 3

Well,  we have had house guests for the past two weeks and it is a particularly busy time at work so there is not much to report on the painting front.  Here are a couple of pics of work on my Germans for Bolt Action.

I know if doesn't look like there is much change, but I have been able to get all of the uniforms blocked in.  After I took these photos, I got the weapons complete, canteens base coated and the start of the camp patterns on selected figures.  I am doing my own interpretation of "Pea Dot Camo" in beige, dark brown and dark green.  I will take some photos when I have them completed.  Weather is not looking very good for this evening, so I should be able to get some painting done!

The German Army WIP - Pt 2

The work on my German Bolt Action/Iron Cross figures is continuing on.  I have pretty much keep to my one hour per day minimum.  I have cleaned up all of the figures and gotten the first infantry squad, MMG, Panzerschreck Team, 2LT team and Senior Officer team ready for painting and primed.  I also have been able to get all flesh base and steel helmets painted.  I even got more uniform painting completed on the Senior Command team.

I also assembled my Sdkfz 234/1 armored car.  But as I was putting the kit together I noticed that the two turret covers were missing from the package!  This would make the kit look really incomplete.  A simple email to Warlord Games, however, and I have the covers enroute at no cost!  I even asked about buying some French tank crew heads and they included a few heads in with the cover at no cost as an apology for my inconvenience with the turret covers!  True customer service.

These are a couple of pics of the painting.  The photos are really dark, but they give you the idea of what I have been able to accomplish:

The primed figures and work so far. You can see the forlorn 234/1 in the background awaiting the turret covers so it can get primer and a proper paint job!

Here is the Senior Command team.  The officer is in a blue Luftwaffe uniform with a German field grey overcoat.  The other two figures sport blue Luftwaffe uniforms.

The MMG team with the 2LT Command team in the background.

I think I am going to really like this army.  I can mix Luftwaffe blue uniforms with Afrika Korps tan/sand uniforms and even get in some camouflage components with both types of uniforms!  I like the mix and match way that the Germans did uniforms.  Adds variety when you are painting and it looks really interesting on the game table.  Sicily/Italy seems to the place where all of the different permutations of uniforms came together.  Not just for the Germans either.  The British had not only their European temperate uniforms in Brown, they also had the temperate uniforms in shorts and they had most of their desert uniforms.  Just a really interesting mix.  Makes painting fun!

Thanks for looking!

Iron Cross Game

I had a chance to play in a game of Iron Cross WWII hosted by my friend AJ. It was a very large game intended to introduce members of our club to the rules. I had a great time serving as the German CIC trying to defend a radar station from attacking British troops. Here is a photo of the of the amazing radar station that AJ made from scratch:

I didn't take many pictures of the game but AJ has a great write-up on his blog HERE.   I did take a couple of other pictures of the forces that I commanded during the game.  AJ has some really great armies for his 28mm skirmish games.  Right now we are playing Bolt Action and Iron Cross rules sets for our skirmish gaming.

An Infantry Squad and supporting 12cm Mortar Team.

My command team and Sdkfz 250/1 transport.  I moved into this position on turn 2 of the game and remained there trying not to get wiped out for the rest of the game!

The Allies really handed us our butts in this game.  I am looking forward to the next try at the rules so I can get some of my wargame honor back!