Merry Christmas to me, and slow, snail-like progress on various things.

 Analysing my own hobby and blogging patterns, September through November are normally slow, with me picking up in December around Christmas. Add to this the whole 2020 thing, my dad passing away, and me swallowing up my grief with World of Tanks Blitz, I have done even less than I normally would have. But here we go, some progress. 

I bought myself 8 ruined European buildings ready for some Battlegroup games. 

I will be doing a heavy load of dry-brushing of many colours to see how they end up looking. 

Here are my Iliada Game Studio buildings. I am hoping they stay stuck to these bases, I sanded them. Some texture and paint and we will see how they turn out.

I have one light and one dark oil mining device and I am beginning to paint my satellite dish. This could all mean a game at some point.

Another gift, this time not from myself. A great Christmas score.

The Defense of New Charon pt. 5

 I managed to get off my butt and play a spontaneous game the other night. It was quick, a little bit lame, half hearted by myself, and stopped when I started paying more attention to the TV show "This Is Us", that my wife was watching, and I was kind of half keeping up with. Great show so far (2 episodes in). 

New Charon Militia:
P2 Mech HQ Unit
P2 Mech - heavy hitters
P3 Heavy cavalry
P1 Light infantry x5

NCU
P2 Mech HQ unit
P2 Mech
P2 Light cavalry
P2 Light cavalry
P1 Light infantry x4

A frontier on a frontier. That is how Natalya Phillips would describe this place. New Charon was meant to be an escape, a fresh start for so many. It was out of the way enough to avoid UCS attention, and for those who wanted to avoid even the centralisation of a few settlements coming together to govern each other it was possible to pack up and drive off into the sunset, find somewhere, irrigate, grow, harvest and live a simple life. The handful of locals left in this community called it Sprucewald, but did a landing pad and a few prefabs really need a name? 

As part of the ongoing hunt for the mysterious invaders, Natalya's job was to rest here, refit and await resupply. Her militia were weary of the seemingly endless skirmishes, wary that there was no end in sight, and hoping to be taken off the line (if it could really be called a line). 

Suddenly shells begin bouncing off a prefab. The sentries within jump on the comms back to Natalya. 

"We need you up at this end, incoming fire".

Natalya responds, ordering all of her militia up to the edge of the settlement to return fire. 

An exchange of fire between the sentries and the enemy vehicle causes a little damage and a casualty, but nothing too serious.

Dunn Harrison, prowling on the left flank sends HEAT rounds punching into another enemy vehicle, smashing through the armour, damaging important components.

The enemy responds by trying to get out of sight and close the gap to make their armour piercing chain guns more effective. Infantry rushes forward in an attempt to flank Sprucewald and take the militia in a wicked crossfire.

The militiamen garrisoning the prefab keep the enemy armour engaged in long range sniping, shells bouncing off of the outer walls. They just need to keep them distracted until Natalya and the rest appear.

Natalya and some more footmen arrive, Natalya charging into the village to support the infantry, while the footmen move up to support Dunn.

Dunn exchanges fire with the advancing infantry, taking some damage to his vehicle, but manages to lay down enough HE to scatter an enemy squad.

Natalya lets rip with her CSMP, sending off rockets that tear the enemy vehicle to pieces. No-one was seen leaving the wreckage. At this point the remaining enemy withdraw. This short, sharp skirmish just another in the seemingly endless short, sharp skirmishes taking place out beyond the Reaches. Another firefight, another report for Natalya to write up and send off to Command. Just what she needed on a Tuesday.

Not the most exciting game. It was more about having an evening where I wasn't playing World of Tanks Blitz and didn't feel like painting. This was a fun game to put together, but I want to work harder on making better scenarios.

Modular Industrial Complex pt. 7 Looking more like it.

 After a long time living in a cupboard, I decided to make some progress on these industrial tiles. It is the kind of non-committal job I can do, without having to think too hard. Work is really stressful right now, my dad recently passed on (painting reminds me of him), and as such I have been numbing everything by just grinding tanks on World of Tanks Blitz. I am also having trouble with my wet palette. I can't seem to stop it going mouldy. 

I am excited to try and get some small games in on this complex. Excellent for some sneaking around.

Drones and Gangers? 6mm Sci Fi

One of the projects I got done this week was my drones. I have had these things and the idea knocking around my bits box and head for ages. They are clips to hang Christmas cards on striped, festive string that you put up at the end of the year. I saw them years ago and immediately thought "drone". It has just taken years to actually go for it. The rocks on the base are from Ikea and are originally pink. I chopped up paper clips for flight stands and I'm not sure I like them. Painted black.

However, I would hate to be on the receiving end of these bad boys.

I also finished my Iliada Studios gangers. I tried to give them a Fallout sort of colour scheme. Blue and Yellow, a la the bunkers. 

The windmill. Possibly my favourite terrain that I have ever bought.

Guarding their supplies. These are made from little bits of wood that came out of window and door holes in my MDF Normandy buildings. The more little bits of cargo I can litter around the better.

What's on the Bench?

 With school starting up again, and my opponent leaving, I found that other than writing up army lists, most of my hobby time has been spent playing World of Tanks Blitz. I mean, it is an utter mind-killer. Games are short, graphics aren't demanding, and it is just really fun. I also spent cash on an event pass, which I never do, and got loads of in game benefits from it. Needless to say, I am really enjoying it, but don't want it to take over. There was a tank on offer for real money, which I bought, and got 14 days of premium pass with it. I left it to the last second so that I have as much of Half Term available to play with premium. 

A couple of weeks ago I had a burst of productivity, but finished nothing. I also had to wash my wet pallet after discovering that they can dry up and go a bit mouldy. I then went back to tanks. Last night I nearly finished a bunch of projects so wanted to post a photo of my bench.

I put together a few of my Iliada Studios buildings, the windmill, the satellite uplink and the oil rigs. Only one of them is based and will be on the table soon. You can also see a handful of their "wasteland gangers" who just need to be sprayed and then they are ready. 

There are three flying drones that need flocking and dry-brushing, and a barkeep from Reaper Bones Miniatures.

The National Trust cards will find a new life as bases for Iliada Studios buildings, once I am happy with how best to attach the buildings, whether to paint and texture the bases first etc.

Playing Flying Lead - Brits vs Wehrmacht

 So for our final game of his visit, Alexander and I wanted to get out the 20mm stuff. Table space isn't great, so this led us down the route of Flying Lead. A squad each, a tank each, and a ton of terrain.

My battle mat was awful. I mean, I like it loads, but it does not agree with my Cromwell's tracks. It was like velcro. When we started the game, I remembered how much fun I find the activation and measurement systems. But...that was where the fun ended.

Advancing and taking pot-shots was fine. My Cromwell fired on the Panzer IV, and destroyed it. However, this whole system of tank vs tank combat was dreadful. Like there were tables that seemed to have no meaning. There were steps that seemed confusing, then actually weren't even necessary. Together we had to read the rules through a few times before we got it. And in the end it was just a case of the dice rolls having already finished the combat. Wasted reading.

Here are some of my Brits. I miss playing with them. I think this game, and getting all of my 20mm toys out to show Alexander has inspired me to search out a new set of low figure count WW2 rules. A squad of infantry vs a squad...but fun. We had no actual objectives in this game, which made it just a slug fest, which was annoying.

The Cromwell got Panzerschrecked. The Brits conceded after a game that was far too long for what it was. We should have just played a third game of Battlegroup.

Any suggestions of low figure count, small table size WW2 wargame rules are welcome. I will, however begin painting up my 20mm stuff more.

Battlegroup Overlord...with a real, human opponent.

I mean, this is amazing. I barely ever get to play with a human. I was heading that way, had rearranged my timetable and schedule to free up time to attend a local group...then lockdown. It was a shame. I hope to join at some point soon though. However, with my brother visiting, it gave us a chance to sit across a table from each other and fight it out. He is a recent convert to Battlegroup and describes them as everything he has looked for with a set of WW2 rules. I am inclined to agree. I don't like mass battles. I also struggle with a squad of infantry vs another squad...or at least with the rules I have. But Battlegroup, they give a great simulation of platoon level (and higher) combined arms actions. I genuinely love them and how they reward actual planning. I even enjoy building army lists, which is something I tend not to enjoy. List building is a  game within a game. Also, my brother is Alexander from The Player's Aid for those of you who may dabble in wargames that come all in one box.

We played two games of Battlegroup across the weekend. 

Game 1: About 330 points per side. I re-used two armies from my third game of Battlegroup. US were defending against a German assault. 

1 infantry platoon with an HQ squad, 3 rifle squads and 3 BAR teams
2 MMG teams
1 81mm mortar
1 57mm AT cannon + loader team
1 M8 Greyhound
3 M4 Shermans,

German Forces are as such:
1 Panzergrenadier platoon - 1HQ squad, 3 grenadier squads, 3 MG34 teams.
2 MG42 on tripod teams
3 Panzer IVs, one of which is an ace (making it elite)
1 StuG III

The US were holding a line. The objectives were the two woods in the centre of the table and the building on the southern side of the T-junction. They began with a 57mm gun overlooking the approaches to the village, a BAR squad and MMG team in the southern woods, with the same in the northern woods. They also held the centre building with a rifle squad with a BAR team in the field, along with the HQ.

The Germans advance with an MG42 team, rifle squad and I think the HQ. I can't remember. It has been a few days, and when playing with another person I found my note taking was not as thorough. I also didn't take as many photos.

After the initial German advance, the MMG team in the southern woods opened fire on the HMG, killing two of the crew, causing the final member to break and run.

This was a surprising first kill. A welcome one for the US though as it forced a chit pull right away. Alexander claims to have famously bad luck with his dice rolls, so maybe it is my game to win. We played some things wrong this game: for instance he didn't have to pull a chit even though I was holding objectives. Also I had a scouting unit and he didn't, meaning he should have also pulled a chit. 

The Germans advanced in an attempt to secure some cover and a good firing positions. The US northern flank advanced out of the woods to flank the Germans. A few firefights later and these units ended up pinned. 

I am guessing this was turn three, as if they are pinned, and his other unit is KIA then he has no more units to order and loses. But the game carried on, so I reckon there are reinforcements.

The cavalry have arrived! An advancing Panzer IV opened fire on the US flank, killing a GI. 

We did NOT arrange beforehand how many of the Panzer IV's ammo would be HE and AP. Not sure if you must do this, but we did do that for the next game.

The US infantry holding the house shattered the central German squad, causing them to retreat. Another chit pulled.

Another advancing Panzer IV. Caught out, it got brewed up by the 57mm cannon watching the road.

US Shermans arrived to help back up the infantry, but one got caught in the open on the road by the advancing Panzer IVs. It took a hit and was destroyed!

With the allies losing a tank, it was looking shaky, but luckily their commander focused on clearing out the advancing infantry, and managed to do enough, in order to bring the Germans past their breaking point. The attack was called off. A fairly straight forward US victory.

Game 2: the better game. I took more photos. We also decided beforehand to have a scenario of US attacking Germans who are in a defensive line. We also build our own armies in secret. It was incredibly fun trying to guess and second guess what Alexander might have chosen for his German defenders, analyzing our previous conversations about what goes well in a German defensive line.

In the end I decided to go crazy and try something entirely new. I went with a US Armoured infantry platoon, transported in M3s. 

US Armoured platoon: 2 squads of 10 men with a bazooka and BAR each. The command squad is identical. Then 2 MMG teams and a light mortar team. Transported in M3s. 

1x platoon of 3 M10 tank destroyers.

1x scouting M5 Stuart tank.

1x 105mm timed barrage by a battery of 4x105mm guns. I selected the centre of the crossroads at the beginning of turn 3.

Germans: A standard German platoon

2x MG42 teams (or just one)

1x light mortar

1x sniper and spotter (scout unit)

2x Panzer IVs

1x PaK 40

1x booby trap, in the building on the south-western corner of the crossroad, which is also an objective.

The US opened the attack by bussing on an infantry squad, right into the woods to face the PaK 40. The infantry unloaded and opened fire on the gun team, killing one of them, causing the rest to break and run. 

A great first kill. When Alexander failed the morale test and I read the result, it was hilarious. Deployed gun? Abandoned. Oh dear. Also, because we had equal numbers of scout units, no-one had to pull a chit. I did, however pull two chits before the game because the Germans were occupying two of them. The other was booby trapped.

Stupidly, the US commander ordered the M10 to advance and attempt to engage a Panzer IV. It was a failed attempt, and was punished swiftly and mercilessly! Both Panzer IVs advanced, and while a shot bounced off, a second shot penetrated, cooking off ammo.

An MG42 team occupying the south-eastern building opened fire on the command squad on the hill, causing 50% casualties! Luckily the squad held its resolve and kept going.

In response the M3 advanced to the edge of the woods and sprayed fire down on the occupied building, killing some and causing the rest of the gun crew to retreat!

But then disaster struck with an engine malfunction on the M5 Stuart, causing an engine fire! The vehicle had to be abandoned!

The chit pulled for the loss of the MG42 team was a Break Down chit. Neither of us had ever seen this before. I had to roll. With great anticipation I rolled, scoring a 6! I was super excited...until Alexander read out the disastrous result. Oh well.

Catching the M3 unaware, one of the Panzer IVs penetrated the shoddy armour with a round, destroying it completely.

We are standing at the end of turn 2! So much has happened. The US only has a half strength command squad on the table. Luckily Alexander was unable to get a suppressing shot onto them to end my attack there and then. And with Turn 3 beginning, I would be able to bring on reinforcements.

A screaming overhead announced incoming 105 rounds. Exploding around the crossroad, the sniper team dove for cover within their building, a Panzer IV was completely obliterated, while the other Panzer IV was left unscathed. Some luck for the US commander.

There were two pinning hits against the surviving Panzer IV but it passed the checks.

US infantry advancing up the northern flank took casualties from the sniper who put a round through the bazooka carrier. But an exchange of fire ended up killing the sniper team who was caught in a crossfire between a few units.

US reinforcements advanced up the southern flank, attempting to take on the Panzer IV who had retreated to the wooded hill (one of the objectives). The rocket bounced off the frontal armour, but caused the crew to check themselves. The tank became pinned.

Another attempt was made to knock out the Panzer IV, and this time was successful! I can't remember it if was the M10s who did the knocking out, or the bazooka team. With the flank open, an M3 charged up the hill to secure the objective, forcing a chit pull and ending the engagement. The German survivors would begin pulling back to another defensive line.

This final move felt a bit gamey. But overall, I love, love, love this game. It was a good laugh, and having surprise armies was really cool. I look forward to getting to do that again. Still loving 6mm at this sort of game level (platoon plus some armour).

This is the first time I ever used all of my smoke markers. It was touch and go for the US at the beginning and we were only 8BR away from breaking. The table was nice. We basically put all my terrain out and then took a couple of bits away to de-clutter the table. 

I took fewer photos because if felt rude and would have slowed the game. It was a school night and I didn't want to be up too late.

Bring on the next games.

Junk Build Spacecraft 3.0

 I finished my third junk build space craft a couple of weeks back, posted it on Facbook, but didn't blog it yet. So here she is in all her glory. Name ideas welcome.

Trying to book passage off this rock, while local security eye up the offworlders.

Five Parsecs from Home Campaign - Mission 1. The Scavenging

So after the bug hunt on that nameless settlement, two teams of scavengers are going to have a rifle through. One team is the campaign team. The other team will just be goons. 

Here is my starting point for the crew and characters of the main scavenger team:

Augustus Holmes

Origin: Religious Cult
Motivation: Glory – defeat the strongest and become immortal!
Class: Hacker. Re-roll one hack/intrusion task per mission.
True Believer. On a BAIL result, move 6in towards the nearest enemy to initiate a brawl.

Aralay Brenko

Origin: Primitive/Regressed world. Off the beaten path. Low tech.
Motivation: Technology – The hunt for alien and advanced tech.
Class: UCS Agent. If fighting mutants, dissidents, anarchists, roll 1D6. On 1 or 6 add a goon with auto rifle.
Counter Attack. May reroll when attacked via brawl.

Ward Roberts

Origin: Lower class Mega City.
Motivation: Order. Disorder is bad. Must fix the universe.
Class: Bounty Hunter. Can find patrons on 1 or 6. This patron can only be used once.
Free Auto Rifle.

 

Weapons Available.
Ward Roberts’ free auto rifle. 1K 1S. May fire at any point in movement but only 1S. 2S when guard firing.
Hand gun. 1K 1S Range 12. Will win brawl on a draw.
Glare sword +2 brawl. Enemy within 4in of a kill roll 1S. If wielder is knocked down, 1D6. On 1 injure self and fo out of action.
Hand gun
Hand gun
Old fashioned blade (knife). +1 in brawl.

Ordnance
1 Frakk grenade
1 Dazzle grenade

Gear
Duplicator. Add a free grenade after each mission.

There will also be a couple of goons/grunts along for the ride, who may develop into characters as time goes on. I will be interested in leveling these characters up and seeing where to go.

I also have a viable solo play AI taken from a Facebook group all about solo gaming.

The Mission.
For this mission, Augustus Holmes is armed with a frakk grenade and hand gun. Ward Roberts has the auto rifle, while Aralay Brenko has a hand gun and the glare sword. They are accompanied by two goons armed with hand guns. 

                                                                                                                                                               

The deep space listening device aboard The Pelican chattered away. Augustus Holmes was only half listening when he stumbled across the messages from a marine unit active in the Tavroid System. They had just successfully eradicated an infestation on a planet not important enough to have a name. If the crew of the Pelican didn't act fast, someone would get there before them. This settlement was within a three day flight. It was time to go. 

Landing a way off, and then leaving their transport hidden behind the trees, the crew advanced on foot into the settlement. It was time to search the place and look for that massive pay off, or failing that, enough junk to keep them flying for another little while.

Splitting up, Augustus, Ward and Malachi headed to the transport vessel to search what looked like  fresh supply drop. Meanwhile Aralay and Quentin went to search one of the habs.

A rumble in the distance. "We've got company!" Aralay called over to the rest of the crew. It was time to draw weapons and protect whatever haul they might be able to make.

As per scav law Aralay and Augustus fired a few warning shots towards the vehicle. It was the polite thing to do. I mean no-one liked to get sloppy seconds, but when the Pelican crew were done with this place these other scavs could have given the settlement a once over.

Not accepting second best, this scav crew jumped out of their vehicle and opened fire! 

Quentin dove for cover behind the hab, bullets thudding into the plasticrete. 

Three of the incoming scavs ran up to the hab, seeking cover behind it.

Augustus opened fire, shooting off some hot lead! His bullets caught an enemy scav, sending him sprawling on the ground, very still.

Aralay blasts on another crew member, sending her scurrying for cover behind their transport.

This was a FIREFIGHT. So no moving but lots of shooting.

The two enemy scavs behind their transport returned fire, causing Augustus and Aralay to dive for cover.

Augustus ran around the hab, managing to avoid getting shot! His own fire caused an opponent to seek cover.

Malachi decided to circle around to get a bead on the scavs hiding behind their transport, and then opened fire...killing one of them. Things were looking good for the Pelican crew! Hopefully this would all be worth it!

Aralay charged up to one of the other scavs, swinging her alien blade to great effect! It slid through flesh with ease. The scav crumpled to the ground.

The two remaining enemy scavs opened fire on Augustus, knocking him out of action. The rounds caught him in the flak vest, but with enough force to knock him out for the time being.

He was knocked out of action, but in the after game injury rolling, it was determined he was just knocked down, and will be able to be in the next mission, whatever it is.

One of the scavs fired on Malachi, who had to scurry for cover.

Aralay, inspired by her brawling success, charged down another scav, slicing him up with her humming blade.

She gets +1 for being attacker. Then +2 for having this alien blade. So she is almost always going to win a brawl.

Surrounded, outnumbered, seeing his team dead, the one remaining scav surrendered. After a discussion, it was decided that she could join the crew, but would need to be watched for a while.

Afterwards, having searched the entire settlement, the crew decided to remain here for a little while to rest and refit. It turned out the transport space craft was in much better condition than the Pelican, so while Augustus recovered, the others began the process of cannibalizing the Pelican and upgrading the new craft. Many, many government issue nutrirations were also found, which while unappealing, would keep the crew fed for a few months. The cargo hold of the new ship was also large enough to hold a larger ground vehicle, so they commandeered one of those found in the settlement. 

I liked this. The game lasted 40 minutes. The campaigny part is going on right now as I write this. Not sure what they will do just yet and it is nearly midnight so I will be calling it a day.