Battlegroup Overlord - Battle Report

Elliot and I decided to play 500 point meeting engagement with Battlegroup Overlord. 

 

I chose Panzergrenadiers and Elliot took British Airborne.  The army lists are below.  In order to give the game a more Normandy feel we pushed the table size down to 4ft by 4ft.  Combining this with as many hedgerows as we had – must make some bocage- we hoped that it would give us a game which wasn’t dominated by armour in the early turns of the game.

 

We placed four objectives.  One is the church the other is a black truck on the German side of the table and the British have a Jeep and a fuel dump.  The game begins with the Germans advancing their recce elements into the town and bumping into a British Recce jeep.

 

 

Panzer Division (Overlord)

(Officers: 4) Army Size: Platoon

507 / 35br

 

Forward Headquarters

28/3BR

3 men & SdKfz 251/3

Infantry Units

Panzer Grenadier Squad

26/3BR

Bipod MG34

Armoured Pzr Gren Squad

42/3BR

SdKfz 251/1, Bipod MG34

Panzer Grenadier Platoon

100/11BR

Regular

Anti-tank Gun

30/2BR

50mm PaK38, Medium truck

Tank Units

StuG III Battery

120/9BR

3 Stug III Gs

Artillery Units

Off-Table Mortar Fire

72/0BR

2 120mm mortars

Reconnaissance Support Units

Recon Platoon Command

36/2BR

SdKfz 250/10

Armoured Car

20/1BR

SdKfz 222

Logistics Support Units

Supply Column

8/1BR

1 medium truck

Additional Fire Support

Off-Table Artillery Request

10/0BR

2nd (4+)

Pre-Registered Target Point

15/0BR

 

6th Airborne Division

(Officers: 4) Army Size: Platoon

499 / 31br

Forward Headquarters Units

Forward Headquarters

24/3BR

Jeep

Comms Relay Team

14/0BR

Infantry Units

Airborne Infantry Platoon

147/15BR

Veteran

Light Mortar Team

0/0BR

PIAT Team

0/0BR

Anti-tank Gun

39/2BR

6 pdr, Jeep

Tank Units

Sherman Troop

130/9BR

3 M4A4

Artillery Units

Off-Table Mortar Fire

81/0BR

3 3" mortars

Reconnaissance Support Units

Recon Platoon Command

29/2BR

4 men and a Jeep

Additional Fire Support

Pre-Registered Target Point

15/0BR

Timed Typhoon Air Strike

 

Having more recce units the Germans follow up their recce elements with a Stug supported by a squad of infantry.  The 222 move straight down through the cross roads and opens fire at the Para Recce Jeep – missing. (just visible by the two house with red roofs).  The Recce Command in the 250 turns right but is hit by a mine which destroys it.  (chit draw for capture of objective at turn end) 

A half squad moves along the hedgerow towards the objective.

The British player only manages to bring on a Sherman which opens fire at the 222 missing it despite the short range and clear target.

The British player has selected the church as a preregistered target point and the 3” mortars land with a direct hit on the Stug which destroys it
Meanwhile the Germans start to advance using the fields as cover.  The Forward HQ in half track forces it way through the hedgerow whilst the platoon command element follow up on 1^st squad.  Another Stug takes a shot at the Sherman as the infantry advance.  The Panzergrenadiers in the 251 make it into cover of the building and the squad dismounts and moves into the building overlooking the British positions

British Sections arrives and opens fire on the Germans in the right hand house.  This firefight would continue throughout the battle but whilst taking casualties the MG34 team hold out pinning and delaying the British infantry

The Paras direct the Sherman to fire on the house that is holding up their advance.

The Typhoon strike arrives and destroys the Forward HQ completely and also pins all of the infantry.  This is may give the British the opportunity they need to take the village

Finally the Stug gunner hits the Sherman, combined with a mortar barrage that pins the replacement British para section – the previous section had been pinned and routed by the Panzergrenadier squad in the house.  The British BR is reached

 

It was a very good game, finished in two hours.  Elliot was unlucky to lose, he had caused me much more trouble than I had him but when his hand went into the pot for a chit it was harsh.  The first three chits were all 5s.  He was also unlucky with his morale rolls which saw a section route with only a single casualty having been pinned and then take a casualty with aimed fire.  In contrast the German squads (MG and Rifle) were whittled down to just 2 men an passed their morale each time.

 

Great game.  Now off to build some proper bocage J

Can you play too many games?

How many games do you play or own models for? How many games are played at your club?

When The Lonewolves Club started in the late 1990's we only played Games Workshop games. Warhammer Fantasy, 40k and the occasional Specialist game were the staple of our weekly meetings. This is all we knew, it was mainly fuelled buy a large number of us either working or having worked for Games Workshop.

Over the last half dozen years the spectrum of games we play has grown and grown and we now boast nearly 20 games in our portfolio.
Not everyone plays every game, some are only played by two of us and some of us have never and will never play some titles.

 

The first thing to change our gaming habits was the interest in World War Two gaming, and our gaming started with Flames of War. We don't play FoW any more with our 15mm WW2 gaming replaced with Battlegroup.

 

After a club visit to Salute, the number of games we played began in to increase quickly. At Salute we saw Saga for the first time, and after seeing a pre release version of Bolt Action we scaled up to 28mm

 

 

During 2014 the five games that as a club we played the most were, in increasing order of games played; Battlegroup, Warhammer, Dead Mans Hand, Warhammer 40,000 and Chain of Command. So you can see that although we play loads more games, we still maintain our love for Games Workshop and WW2 gaming, with a little bit of Cowboys and Indians to add some flavour.

 

 

2015 has started off in similar fashion, with only Warhammer yet to have an outing, replaced by the modern combat game Skirmish Sangin. At the end of this year we expect to add more games, with Napoleonics and Malifaux coming soon.

 

So to ask the questions we started with, Can you play too many games? How many games do you play or own models for? How many games are played at your club?

 

Let us know your thoughts in the comments. 

 

 

Hobby round up 2015 week 4

Another week another hobby update.

Sadly not a lot to report this week, but here goes....

With Neil and Frazer looking at some Napoleonics this year, we have our first sighting of some French line fusilier figures.

 

 Now there may only be three of them and they may only be white, but its a start on the slippery slope to a table full of the mass regiments of French we're all looking forward to in the coming months.

Next up are some American tanks painted by Chris for Dave.

Three Jumbos and a Super Pershing this time around ready just in time for Dave to take to his next tournament.

While painting the tanks Chris also started the long and arduous journey of building 90+ Night Goblins.

 

23 down, loads more to go, including 60 more spear goblins, a dozen netters and clubbers and loads of spider riders.

Review of 2014

Now that 2015 is underway, its time to look back over the highlights of 2014 and remember all that hobby we did and games we played.

January

January was a big month for painting Germans. Chris 'finished' his 28mm WW2 force and Frazer painted some 15mm vehicles for BGK and some 28mm ones for Matt.

 

Chris also finished his Desperados for Dead Mans Hand and started a Dux Bellorum project

 

February

 

February saw the continuation of Chris's Dux B projects, and the start of the construction of an Afghan town ready for some Skirmish Sangin

 

                                      

 

We also saw Elliot and Neil play some BGK

 

March

 

March saw Matt buy the club a new hat, which we never really bothered with! To balance things out he also made some patrol phase markers for Chain of Command, which we do use.

 

Frazer painted more 15mm German tanks and Elliot added a Shaggoth and some Ogres to his Warriors of Chaos army.

 

                                       

 

April

 

In April, we played some Sails of Glory, more Chain of Command and Chris finished his Irish for Dux Bellorum.

 

                                       

 

May

 

May was quiet for hobby; Frazer showed off his 15mm British and Chris painted some 15mm Americans for Dave

 

                                        

 

June

 

In June, Chris continued to paint Americans for Dave, Elliot added more things to his Nurgle and also revealed he was working on some Tau.

 

Chris and Elliot also showed off the figures they had painted for A Fistful of Kung Fu

 

                                       

 

July

 

In July we began our Chain of Command campaign with the Allies taking early control.

 

Chris was a frenzy of painting, with more Americans for Dave, some Slaaneshi Daemons and a brand new force for In Her Majesties Name

 

                                                           

 

August

 

In August, Chris continued to knock out new models at pace, finishing off all his remaining Lizardmen figures.

 

The Chain of Command campaign entered turn two and Fraser knocked out a 15mm Soviet force.

 

                         

 

September

 

September saw Frazer reveal his third force for Chain of Command, and we took loads of pictures of one of our games nights, which was packed with Warhammer and Dead Mans Hand.

 

                                                    

 

October

 

In October we changed the format of the blog, and Frazer for a new camera for his birthday.

 

Chris painted a random Carnifex, Neil painted some Banditos, Simon some Space Wolves and Frazer some Chaos Warriors

 

                                  

 

November

 

November saw us attempt the £5 challenge with carrying degrees of success, the Chain of Command campaign continued and we started a Dead Mans Hand campaign.

 

November saw a resurgence of 40k games amongst some of the club, however Simon's army list writing remained last minute.

 

                                 

 

December

 

The end of the year approached and as the nights drew in painting became less productive.

 

Wednesday games continued unabated and Simon and Chris even played a few games of Mordheim.

 

                                

 

Well that's 2014 in review, what will the rest of 2015 bring?

 

 

Hobby round up 2015 week 3

Week three already!?

This week its all about building things.

First up we have Simon, who has been building, err... buildings...

 

At last years Salute we spent a large amount of the club funds on some 4ground buildings to increase the amount of scenery in our WW2 games. Once back home in Bristol we gave them all to Simon who built them all for us.

 

This is the Hotel complex, including Stables which he has recently finished.

 

 

Next on his building list, is this Norse Longhouse, which we'll be using when we begin Elliot's Saga campaign.

 

Talking of Elliot, between writing the rules for the campaign, he has been building some reinforcements for his Warriors of Chaos Nurgle force.

 

 

With The End Times introducing some beautiful new models, a few of us have invested in some figures, which will hopefully hit the battlefield soon

Hobby Project: Napoleonic French Army. Part 1, The History Book on the Shelf

Bonjour!

Just getting in the spirit there.
Following up the New Year Resolutions with the first of what's likely to be a sporadic log of progress on my Napoleonic Army.


Firstly though I'd thought I'd mention why I'm bothering with Napoleonics at all, the whos, the wheres and whys!
The main reason is - it looks pretty!
Massed ranks of infantry, cavalry and artillery batteries smashing each other apart all whilst wearing fancy uniforms and flying impressive banners.
Who wouldn't want that?!

Check this pic out as a random example plucked from the web.
Not that I'm planning on going THAT large with a force.

There's also a feeling that Napoleonics is "true wargaming". Difficult to quantify but over the many years I've been playing wargames I've been aware of Napoleonics and it appears to be one of the stalwarts of wargaming and possibly even lead to modern wargaming as we know it.
I've no real evidence to back this up of course, just my own perception!
I must add I have no real knowledge of this period of history, pretty much none. Not even watched that much Sharpe and I also have no desire to leave the Fantasy (Tolkien got me into this mess!) or Sci Fi behind.
Just another fun gaming avenue.

Is that the 2nd or 3rd regt Carabiniers, didn't think they had those silver buttons until after 1812?


I feel its at this point I should mention I'm not looking to represent specific historical regiments in the games I play so things like the correct colour of a regiments collar facing and the length of a jacket of a French lineman matters little to me, as long as it looks good on the table!
That would make a lot of Napoleonic gamers spit into their beards!
This may change the more I look into and read about the period though.
For example I had plans to create some French artillery from a box of British and just swap the heads, the uniform is near enough, surely?
However having read a bit more I know that not only is the uniform different the guns are also different in design.
Different enough for a casual onlooker to realise? No, but enough to bug ME now I know!


So Napoleonics decided upon but what rules to play?

This is a potential minefield!
So many rulesets.......
Internet research didn't help much either for as much as some people love one ruleset as many people hate it!
A few rulesets made it out ahead of the scrum namely, Blackpowder, Grand Armee, General De Brigade but I settled on a random one - Warhammer Waterloo from the now defunct Historical section of Games Workshop.

Reviews ranged from "I've read the rules and they look ok" to "I wouldn't touch it, its got Warhammer in the title" but no one actually seemed to have played a game!
About the time I (and Frazer) were looking Waterloo was on a half price sale. This seemed a great bargain and a good way into Napoleonics. We both bought in.
I'd already purchased Foundry's "Napoleon" (eh, whats the turn sequence? How many in what formation? How do I even move? Next....) and General De Brigade (hmmm, these seem ok, good in fact but I'm a little lost at some of ther historical references. I'll come back to these) but wanted something more "entry level".
The Warhammer familiarity might just help, as did the half price!

So the book turned up and I knew I'd made the right choice. All the elements I'd come to expect from a Napoleonic ruleset (Officers and command ranges, formations like march column, square etc) were there wrapped up and presented in Games Workshop fashion (clear diagrams, lovely pictures of models etc) and army lists to help me get my head around what I "should" be fielding.
Its got a load of scenarios, siege rules, history (fluff!!) and a comprehensive Waterloo campaign.
Plenty to be going on with.

Well I think that's enough of a grounding for now.
Next time I'll go over choices of models and the bugbear that is basing........

"FORM SQUARE!!"

Hobby round up 2015 week 2

Welcome to week two of our hobby round up.

First up, originally completed last week, but just too late to post, we have some Shermans, a Cromwell and a Churchill painted by Frazer.

Next up is a work in progress shot of some Dark Eldar Scourges painted by Chris. Since this photo was taken, these five have been finished off, with only their bases to do, which will be done once the next five are finished.

 

 

The final work in progress picture for this week is from Big Papa Jon. Jon who is currently residing north of the border will be returning to Bristol in the summer and has dug out some of his Mordheim Goblins. He is preparing them for our campaign which we intend to start later this year.

 

An last but not least, Wednesday saw games night return. Matt and Frazer played a game of Chain of Command, which they got half way through, and Elliot and Neil played 40k. Below are a few pictures of the 40k game.

The Blood Angels deploy

Orks deployed

The end of the Baal Predator

 

 

2015 Resolutions

Happy New Year!

Another year is upon us and as tradition dictates, its time for some hobby resolutions. We've done these in the past, and its always interesting to look back and see if we managed to keep our resolutions for more than three weeks.

So what have some of us pledged this year?

Elliot:

"My resolution.... Of sorts, is to finish all my armies.... Painted the lot. So that means, 120 Skaven painted. Add some new stuff to my Blood Angels and Orks and add anything to my Chaos stuff. Not going to start a new 40k or WFB army. I will have a new Musket & Tomahawk army as well as a Malifaux gang. So, in short. Completed and fully painted, Grey Knights, Blood Angels, Orks, Ogres, Skaven, Warriors of Chaos, Tau, Saga Jomsvikings, Malifaux and M&T."

 

Frazer:

"Resolution. I will only play with finished figures for any game I play"

Chris:

"After so much painting done last year, this year will be the year of adding to existing armies; so finishing off my Dark Eldar, adding Goblins to my Savage Orcs and Warriors of Chaos to my Nurgle Daemons.
Im going to start Malifaux, paint some Mars Attacks, sort out my Imperial Guard, and most importantly get my game fully written, do more play testing and look at taking to the next stage...published?

Neil:

"Finish an army. Empire is a possibility.
Also clear the decks and do some Napoleonics. Not playing any naps until the army is painted so this could go with my first point."

 

Matt:

"Resolution is just to be a bit more committed to Wednesdays and the hobby generally. Mordheim gang is a definate for me in the new year. Fancy a bit of Lion Rampant and want to generally look at other Skirmish sized games. Loving CoC so more of that. And build my Saga army, read the rules....and re read all the rule sets again for the games I play.

Might even paint something...gasp "

Simon:

"Resolutions......finish an army of my own, the Mordheim scenery not really sure if I want to commit to more than that, it'll mean anything else is a bonus."


Check back in 12 months to see who we did, or check back every week to see how badly its going!

Hobby Round Up 2015 Week 1

Welcome to the first Hobby Round Up of 2015. After a quiet last few weeks of 2014, some of us have been busy over the holiday period.

Frazer has been busy finishing off Matt's Modern British Paratroopers to be used in Skirmish Sangin.

 

 

 

 

Frazer has also been working on some 15mm tanks, hopefully we'll see them finished and on the table soon.

 

 



 

Chris got some new Dark Eldar models for his birthday in October, and the first one, a Voidraven Bomber, is finally finished.

 

 

 

Chris has also done a test figure in preparation to adding 1000pts of Nurgle Warriors of Chaos to his Nurgle Daemons. This is a Nurgle Ogre and was mainly an experiment in using the Games Workshop technical paints, namely Typhus Corrosion, Ryza Rust and Blood for the Blood God.