Tuesday 30 June 2015

Malifaux Progress

Very quick and messy shot of in progress Malifaux crew.   I picked up the Pandora crew boxes set at Carronade and have started to work through them.  Started with the easy stuff before I move on to the tricky Candy, Kade and Pandora.  

Photo is as ever, completely rubbish.

Saturday 27 June 2015

Ruined!

Saturday fun with the kids.  Basing up Osgiliath ruins.  Had these for a while but the imminent release of Frostgrave inspired me to get them painted.  Going to be generic so will be flocked etc. to match with my other ruins.  Given up on the Amon Hen kit just now and have put them back in the garage.  

Sunday 21 June 2015

Any Ideas?

I bought this about ten years ago on a trip to Salute.  It is basically a model
of Amon Hen.  Sold by Antenocitis Workshop as "shrine of Eagles".  I am doing some buildings for use in frostgrave just now and thought it might be a good time to put this together.  Only problem is there are no instructions.   I have had a Google for them with no luck and my enquiries to antoniciti himself have gone unanswered.  Any of my few readers know someone who has built this in the past?  I know I am clutching at straws a bit but you never know.

Wednesday 17 June 2015

Raiders April 565AD

May in the Kingdom of Alt Clut saw a lot of Raider activity. Must be the start of teh good weather.

My kingdom was raided twice this month, with teh British coming of rather badly out of both games.

The Scotti managed to get away with a large amount of livestock, once again thanks to the tardyness of my defending troops failing to even catch them, never mind put up a decent fight.

My other region was raided by the Saxons (again!) and despite the British defenders having a perfect position to stop the raid theu failed miserably, suffering moderate cacualties in the process.  THis means that next month the Saxons from Northern Rheged will be able to return and demand money from the defenceless British province, while the other province tries to fight off the inevitable raid from teh Scotti or Picts.


May was a bloody month in the North of Britain, with the Saxons of Bernaccia getting a bloody nose at the hands of the British shock cavalry and Levy(!) of Goutodi, while the Scotti of Cenel Loairn got a beating at the hands of the Picts of Flotla.

All this fighting means that in May only the Saxons of North Rheged, Scotti of Cenel N'Gabrain and the Picts of Fib will be able to carry out any raids, as everyone else is at home licking their wounds, so to speak.

 So far  the British of Alt Clut are having a pretty ropy time of it, failing to defend their kingdom successfully at all. Hopefully that will improve as I think teh British are in for a rough summer of being raided!



 


Another 48 Hours in May Campaign Turn 1

The results of Campaign Turn 1 for the Earky War Chain of Command Campaign:

The German Probe at Ophove:

The German force probed through Ophove and successfully completed their mission. The French (under Barry) fell back to the bridge with the Germans following up so no combat for either in turn 2 of the campaign.

German Casualties were 7, with 3 dead and 4 wounded recovered to be available for turn 3. The CO's opinion of my officer is now +2 and the men's opinion +1.

French casualties were 12,but reinforcements replaced 4 of the 6 dead and the 6 wounded have recovered and are available for turn 3. The Co's opinion of the French Officer is -1 and the men's opinion -2.

I took an armoured car and a flamethrower as support, Barry took 2 machine guns. Apologies to Barry as I did not realise the limitation on 3 shots for the flamethrower. The excess casualties caused were reinstated. I was particularly lucky to get the only double turn of the night as one of my squads approached the table edge and it just managed to sneak over by a couple of inches on its second move.

 The German Probe at Arques:

Somewhere on the outskirts of Arques the German advance was trying to be sneaky by coming up on the one side of the board and nearly made it to the baseline before the British Patrols encountered each other. Thankfully for the British a line of Barbed wire had been set up to block any infantry trying to come through on the flank and thus it was that the game started.

The German advance was stalled by the barbed wire on the flank and they started trying to come round on the far side whilst thier armoured car came down the road towards Arques. The British squads started to deploy within the houses on the edge of the village/town? and along the walls and hedgeline of the fields approaching the village. The Germans caught behind the barbed wire were eventually slaughtered by weight of firepower, while the armoured car retreated under the weight of lead pinging off it's hull. Those forced to come down the road didn't fare much better as the turn ended and the British kept pouring fire into them as they ran across the open road.

Eventually it was all too much for them and the German infantry followed thier armoured car back up the road.

British win on the probe scenario.
Morale 7
Losses 13 (6/7 dead, 3/4 injured, 3/4 recovered/replaced)
CO +1
MO -1

German loss
Morale 4
Losses 25 (12/13 dead, 6/7 injured, 6/7 recovered/replaced)
CO +1
MO -3



So going into Campaign Turn 2:

The German advance has been stalled in the North around Arques but has pushed through at Ophove where the French defenders have traded ground for time to recover their wounded. They have fallen back to defend the bridge over the canal while the Germans advance in the centre.

Attention will now switch to the south where the German 1st platoon (Allan), attempting to circle round the French defences and probe towards the tunnel under the canal, has encountered the outposts of a second French platoon (Chuck). Campaign turn 2 will see these two platoons clash in a Probe scenario. Meanwhile up North the initiative lies with the British who can choose to strengthen their defences around Arques while the Germans will have to decide whether to press the attack again in Turn 2 or wait to recover their 7 wounded.

Here Come the Yanks, Campaign Turn 1

No posts for a while as the lighter evenings have meant out cycling rather than being stuck in teh house in front of a PC.  Trying to catch up a bit now though.  

Campaign Turn 1 of our Chain of Command campaign has finished, with some mixed results:



Third Platoons action at Ophove:

Report by Feldwebel Willi Beier 'commanding third platoon'
Third platoon set up defensive positions in and around the village of Ophove erecting barbed wire obstacles across and around the roads that were the most likely axis of the advancing Americans, 1st squad commanded by Unteroffizer Rolf Steiner deployed in the village on the left flank where he was joined by Feldwebel Willi Beier ‘the platoon leader’ over on the right flank on the outskirts of the village 2nd squad commanded by Unteroffizer Rudolf Krebitz deployed behind a hedgerow that ran along into a small wood, this position giving them cover and good arcs of observation and fire.
The yanks were detected moving cautiously forward they used the cover of woods and the thick hedgerows to close up on Ophove, seizing the initiative they called for mortar support and 2nd squad came under fire ‘a few random ranging shots’ then a hail of small arms fire was unleashed, krebitz and his lads immediately returned fire targeting the woods to their front and a hedgerow beside the road to its rear, hits were scored and one of the GI NCOs was seen to fall when hit.
Over on the left flank a squad of Americans poured out onto the main road and charged towards the village, 1st squads LMG team were on overwatch covering this road and immediately opened fire, however despite being presented with a massed target of infantry confined between two tall hedgerows the German fire was spectacularly un-impressive and the yanks charged home. A vicious hand to hand combat was quickly and savagely resolved the Americans having charged sixteen inches came up against a full squad of Germans that included a junior and a senior leader both armed with machine-pistols, three Germans went down but twice that amount of GIs fell and they rapidly withdrew back down the road that they had just charged up, leaving there casualties and a shiny new BAR lying at the side of the road.
Some sporadic exchanges of small arms fire continued over on the right flank resulting in one of 2nd squads LMG team being hit, the Americans were observed moving about and an officer was seen running round rallying his men? ‘headless chicken syndrome’ but no further attempts were made to advance on the village, with the Germans still holding their position they claimed the victory, 3rd squad having been held back in reserve had a brew on the go and brought forwards a mess kit full of ‘Ersatz Coffee’
Result:
USA two squad leaders (corporals) and five GI casualties (3 killed) C.O.s opinion -1, men’s opinion -2
German four casualties (2 killed) C.O.s opinion +1, men’s opinion +2


2nd Platoons action at Arques:

Report by Leutnant Franz Beckenbauer commanding 2nd platoon
The platoon set up with 1st section on high ground on the right flank of the village of Arques and the 2nd section behind hedgerow in front of the village. 3rd section was positioned in the village itself. The Americans advanced through the wooded area to the south of the village with two sections forward and ran into heavy fire from the German forces, taking heavy casualties, particularly the section advancing towards the high ground. The American 3rd section advanced to support this section and their combined fire managed to pin the Germans 1st section. Meanwhile the German third section was laying down heavy fire along the entire front. The Americans continued to take heavy casualties but a lucky ricochet wounded Obergefreiter Gerd Muller commanding 2nd section, knocking him unconcious and putting him out of action for the remainder of the battle. Both sides continued to exchange fire but despite taking heavy casualties, the remnants of the initial Amarican section on the German right flank held it's nerve and, taking advantage of the cover provided by high ground, managed to outflank the pinned German 1st section and reach the main road
Result:
Americans suffered 17 casualties (7 or 8 KIA - all G.I.s) C.O.s opinion +1, G.I.s opinion -2
Germans suffered 8 casualties (4 KIA - all Grenadiers) C.O.s opinion -1, Grenadiers opinion +1


So a mixed bag, with the Germans losing one game but inflicting massive casualties on the Americans, causing them to pause and regroup allowing 2nd Platoon to dig in, while the third platoon successfully held and will attempt to hold off the Americans in turn 2. Meanwhile 1st platoon under the command of the whily old veteran of the war, Ltnt Linderman will investigate reports of Americans being spotted just south of Las Fontinettes, leaving all three PLatoons committed on both sides.