Wednesday 24 December 2014

Monday 15 December 2014

Wednesday War - Chain of Command Op Spa

This game sees the first of 'game four' in our Chain of Command campaign as the Germans attempt to capture Spa in Belgium
 
In the first three games the SS commanded by Matt made short work of the American platoon commanded by Elliot.  In the Centre the Soviets ably commanded by Neil repulsed the initial attack by Chris's German Heer platoon and continued to push them back towards the start line.  In the south a bitter series of actions took place on the outskirts of Meiz  with the British finally pushing back Frazer's Panzergrenadiers
 
Prior to this weeks (game four), campaign game was played.  There were two requests for redeployment, the first by the Americans was held up at HQ and the second was accepted by the German commander and pulled the battered Heer platoon to a quieter sector.  The unstoppable advance of the SS was to meet a delaying action by the Soviets under the command of Neil.
 
 

 
The soviets were holding a tree line in the west and the SS were advancing down the road from the farm in the east.
 
The battlefield

 The Germans start deploying along the road

The soviets try to push the Germans back hard and fast with armour but a long range shot from the panzershrek team knock out the KV-1

 A few points of shock start to build on the lead German squad.

The HE fire from the T34 forces the lead squad to fall back - unfortunately they run through the 'shrek team and dump 5 points of shock  causing them to fall back as well

As SS reserves arrive the German commander calls up his Flammpanzer to shift the Soviets that are arriving to support the T34

The Germans lob smoke grenades to cover their position as a second squad arrives to move up the left flank

A hasty barrage lands amid the soviet position, fortunately for the Russians most of the their units are unaffected but the reduced LOS prevents the T34 from causing much trouble

 The soviets are wisely holding the line waiting for the SS to cover the open killing ground

The SS move into the wheat field  trying to get a base of fire going

Fanatical the SS are, suicidal they are not and they hold position  waiting for the Forward Observer to shift the barrage onto the soviet infantry

Morale in the Soviet postion is still remarkably high

 The Flammpanzer gets into range and prepares to fire

 Unconcerned the reds swig vodka and shout rude words at the SS

 Whoosh!  The first time a flame tank has been in action a timely use of a CoC dice for the SS
 The results are horrific and the morale takes a big knock dropping to 5
 With the KV-1 burning it is up to the T34 commander to take action
 Having slowly edge to the flank the commander is now in a position to take a shot

Lucky for the Soviets it's a good shot and the Flammpanzer is knocked out. 

The German moral was on 10 with the soviets on 5 and it looked like trouble for the Russians.  Neil was fortunate to get 3 turns in a row and remove most of the shock from the burning squad before they fled the table and the moral affected the command dice.  With reluctance the SS withdraw.  Whilst their morale is still high the casualties are mounting and another battle is just over the horizon

The seemingly unstoppable advance by the SS towards Spa has been stopped for the time being.

Will the soviets dig in or counter attack?  The British have the same choice to make before they fight battle 4 and the Americans are on the attack for the first time since the campaign started.  Casualties are starting to have an impact on the other German and American platoons. 

Sunday 7 December 2014

Hobby Updates

Another Sunday, another hobby update from our club members.

Its another quiet week for us, Chris has been busy decorating the house and Frazer has been hunting Father Christmas in Lapland, so just the two pictures this week.

First up an Eldar Wraithlord from Neil, this one made it on the table last Wednesday, taking plenty of punishment from the Imperial Guard.

 
Next up some scatter terrain for modern day Afghanistan, painted by Frazer. You can also see the work in progress work on Matts modern British in the background.

 
Hopefully we'll have some more work in progress for you next week, but as Christmas creeps up on us, it may be a quiet month.


Saturday 6 December 2014

Wednesday War - Mordheim & 40k

This Wednesday we had two games on the go, ND Matt and Neil played 40k, whilst Chris and Simon returned to a classic and had a game of Mordheim.


 
The table was set up, using all the ruined buildings that Simon had built and Neil had painted. Simon has a few more to finish off, and a massive wizards tower which we can add to the next game.

 
We had two games, in the first Chris's Sisters of Sigmar had to breakthrough Simons Skaven. In this picture the Sisters take cover behind a wall as the rat men watch them from a nearby building.

 
Simon's Skaven occupy the high ground, but when going for a diving charge, fluffed the initiative test and broke his neck.

 
Game two was a traditional skirmish, with a dust up happening in the grave yard. The Skaven were again beaten, mainly down to the worst dice rolling known to man by Simon!
 
Despite a horrific night of bad dice for one of us, we both agreed it was great to get Mordheim going again and even convinced Elliot to look into a gang for a campaign we'll run some time next year.
 
 
On the other table ND Matt borrowed Neil's Imperial Guard, to take on Neil and his Eldar. So engrossed I didn't manage to get many pictures, well only one!
The game ended in a win for Neil with the Imperial Guard seemingly spending more time wandering around the board, than actually engaging the Eldar in combat...