Italy Campaign Long Weekend....part 2!

My second game of the Dice Devils Italian Campaign had me facing off against Tristan and his US Armored Rifles. He also had a platoon of Chaffees and Shermans for armored support. I went with a Panzergrenadier Company, throwing in some Panzer IV and Elefants to bolster up the offensive side. The table was little more open and made for a great game in the later part of the afternoon!

The Americans dig in for the long term!

The mission we played was Counterattack, a mission I have gotten used to when it comes time to deploy. I think this is key, as you have to get to one of the objectives in a hurry and also be wary that you may have your ass hanging out in the wind when your opponent get's his reserves on the table!

Dice Devils Double Desert FnF

For this past Friday Night Fights, we broke out the desert terrain and went at it under the sun! We had a full house and quite a few games were played, I managed to grab some pics of the games and get a game in against Duane's in progress 'Cromwell' list. 1500 points was the total we went with, this gave everyone over at the house a chance to play. It was an all out slug fest on the camo table with Chris and Marty fielding what must have been 25+ pieces of armor running around the table.

Marty and Chris prepare their forces on the camo desert table.

Duane points out to Tristan that Cromwell's are a 'viable' tank.

Tristan's forces prepare for battle, note the 'bailed out' figures.

The night was fairly quick as we got two games in on one table, while Marty and Chris slugged it out for the whole two and a half hours. I was busy catching up and being a good host, so that means I was a terrible correspondent.....not really sure what either mission was and Duane was testing his list, so he pretty much had German's representing his British Cromwell recon list. Have no fear, his tanks are in the mail! I was able to score him a great deal on the Cromwell recon box for $140! They should be here sometime this week, although likely not in time for this weeks FnF.

Deployments done, now time to fight it out! The game only lasted a few turns.

It's Table Time!!

A few weeks ago during Friday Night Fights, there was some discussion about my gaming table and a few of the guys thought it would be good to turn my modular table into a 'how-to' type post for the blog. I took some video and some pictures, so everything you are about to see is easy to do and best of all, CHEAP!! I think I ended up spending maybe $40 for all the wood and the legs for this project. Feel free to leave any questions you may have and I hope a few of you build your own table to use with your mates on your next gaming night!

Materials and Tools Required

• Wood Glue
• Wood Saw (Power Saw or Table Saw)
• #2 Phillips Screwdriver
• Measuring Tape
• C-Clamps x3 (I used 3" Spring Loaded Clamps)
• Wood Screws (At Least 1.5" or 2" Long)
• (2x) 1"x3"x6' Table Rails
• (2x) 1"x4"x6' Main Table Support
• (4x) 1"x2"x4' Crossmember
• (3x) 1/4"x2'x4' MDF Boards
• (4x) Removable Legs

The Build
Lay everything out on the floor so you have all the edges lined up and the table ends are FLUSH. I left the center MDF board out so you can see how it should look before you start putting everything together.

LAYING IT ALL OUT FIRST ENSURES YOU HAVE EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO BEGIN YOUR BUILD

A THIN STRIP OF GLUE ALL THE WAY DOWN THE EDGE

Once you have that, take one of the 1"x3"x6' pieces and put glue all the way down the one side as shown in the picture above. Line up the edges of the 1"x4"x6' piece and ensure they are flush before you clamp them in place. Once you have them glued and clamped in place, let them dry for a few hours or as directed by the wood glue you used. I did mine late the night before I built the rest of the table. Go play some World of Tanks or muck about on EasyArmy to kill time!

Check Your Equipment!! Part 2 of 3

In the first installment, I went over my list and some of the expectations and experiences of this years Late War Nationals Tournament held in Fredericksburg, Virginia. After a ten hour drive and a no show for my first game, I was ready to get into playing and have some fun to make this trip worth it. I was not the only one without an opponent, as I soon found out in game two. Chuck Leach was my opponent and we both discovered we each sat out round one with no one to play against. Not a big deal for either one of us, only we could have played the first round if it was caught in time. There were a TON of players, so Dave and Bruce had their hands full for sure. So much so, that I presented them each with one of the WWPD coins for doing a great job running this event. I can't wait for next year and Early War!

I know I mention never having played Cauldron, this was only the case in tournaments. It doesn't get played much though, but after the tournament, it's a fun scenario and not sure why players don't like it.

I won that game by only a narrow margin, Chuck's reinforcements gave something else for my Sherman V's and Firefly's to deal with as I tried to put some more pressure on him. The game started out with Chuck electing to use the Night Attack rule out of the rulebook, so visibility was cut to 4" at a time and rolling the dice to see how far our troops and armor could see in the dark. As shown in the video, I struck first and was able to cut down three out of four tanks in one of his armored platoons. He made his motivation and was able to shoot back, only the visibility was so poor due to low light, the sole surviving Sherman V couldn't see his targets due to darkness. I think it ended up being a 4-3 win for me.

The Canadians Prepare To Move In!

A Kangaroo Takes A Long Range Firefly Hit!! Everyone Off the Bus!!

Game three, and the last one of the day! I faced off against British Paras and came face to face against a former Marine. The military is a dominant force for Flames of War gamers. It seems a lot of players either served or are are still serving in the US military. I wish there was as much interest up here in Canada to play Flames of War, it would be great to have a larger following and larger events in Canada. I get that there is a 'Nationals' being held in Calgary this year, but really.....it's more of a West Coast Regional event than a National one in my opinion. I'll be looking to perhaps figure something out for this region as it boasts more players in the top 25 than any other part of Canada. On to the pics of my game against Mike, the super friendly and former Sgt. Major of the USMC. Video is after the pics!

Typhoon!!! Incoming!!!!

Armor Moves Towards The Objective Under Heavy Artillery Fire!

Multiple Typhoons Close In On The 82nd!

Another Pass To Finish Off What The Minefield Couldn't!

Historicon Nationals Game 3 vs. Mike Hall

Lost this one 1-6

Get ready!...Stand up!....Hook up!! Historicon 2013 Part 1 of 3

So, I had planned on doing a large video and picture dump from our trip to Historicon. I felt it would not have looked as I wanted, I didn't want to rush it and get it posted. Stay tuned for a three part series with pictures, video and more in the coming week.

This is how my army turned out and what I took to Historicon to compete. The group of us that went down, discussed all of us running Canadians for Nationals. After Dennis (MattVarnish) was the first to bail, I went ahead and completed the army I had started some time back. I figured it would give me an opportunity to get it done and on the table!

I think the only thing I added at the end was a .50cal AA to my command Sherman V in one of the platoons. It cost me five more points and got me to 1780 points on the nose. Over the course of several weeks you have seen a few 'in progress' sessions in trying to finish painting my paratrooper stands to get them ready for this event. Right up until the night before we left, I was finishing up the basing, all the painting had been finished.

I had a lot of positive comments and for my first attempt at painting such a large portion of infantry figures, I think they turned out awesome. Thanks to Mike for stopping by and giving me some advice and tips on how I can make a few changes and really improve my painting skils. I take in as much as I can get when I have an opportunity to get tips or tricks when it comes to painting.

I'm not intimidated of getting into assaults as much as I used to be. It's the one part of the rules I have yet to nail down, all the opponents I had made it easy and helped with any questions or problems I had. I only found myself going to the rulebook a few times during the whole tournament. I was even able to point out to a veteran player that plane stands can NOT be placed in or on terrain. That was a great game on day two I think. I'll have all that for my battle reports when I get all of it ready for posting. Russ from CGR painters passed on quite a bit of info that helped me in my later games. A big shout out to him in this first of three posts. If you need anything painted and you don't have time to do it yourself or you're just overwhelmed with everything that's in your queue, look up CGR painting services.

World of Not Painting and FnF

With some well deserved time off of work, I have been busy painting, reading, and trying to get some things done around the house. With the arrival of my parents from the east coast of Canada, I need to get this all out of the way and finished so I can make my way to Historicon relatively 'guilt' free.
Having time off and having friends living close to downtown, it's easy to get a game in at Boutique FDB's (Freres de Bataille) new store. Obviously with the french name, it's a short trip over the bridge into Gatineau Quebec, where they recently moved into their newer, brighter and roomier space. Dennis and myself were eager to trial our Historicon lists and generally talk about our other passion at the moment, World of Not Painting, also known as World of Tanks to everyone else in the Flames of War, or PC gaming community. If you're not a PC gamer, the Xbox 360 will soon have it as well, I know the July 4th weekend was the BETA for the game and so far has had great reviews. The game however will be hosted on a separate server, so right now Xbox vs. PC for World of Tanks is a no go for Wargaming.net

Most Tank Battles End Up Like This

First Platoon!! On me!!

With Historicon right around the corner, it's time to put the paintbrush and basing into overdrive. I've recently completed what will be one of two platoons of 82nd Airborne troops for this years tournament. I seldom reveal what I will be playing at any event, but seeing as it's my first National event....my expectations are less than high. I've been busy working on one platoon at a time and one stand at a time. I find it a little easier to keep track of what I have left to paint and once they're complete, I can move on to tanks.

The hardest part, has been the color schemes, I went with a few different ideas to really make these guys pop. The scrim on their helmets is a very bright, almost neon green, but once it has been washed, it certainly subdues the color and it leaves a nice eye catching effect that is not distracting. Red Leather for their pistol holsters, airborne knives(M3) and gun slings. I used a Flat Brown for the boots and stocks of all the weapons, this included the BAR, M1 and Thompson MG's. Adding Gun Metal Grey to the barrels of the weapons, makes them stand out a little more. Though I find extreme detail a work a bit beyond my skill level so far when it comes to painting 15mm figures.

In a past post, I mentioned before I was using a wash made by Warpainters. They come in several different shades and each one leaves it's own look on what ever it is you are painting. The darker ones are better for the armor/vehicles and some even have more of a gloss finish once they are dry. Basing these has been relatively fun to do and I have used a few things to get them just right. The initial basing is a fine coarse train ballast, followed up by a layer of dark brown paint. Spreading white glue liberally on the base, then place the entire base into some Burnt Grass from Games Workshop. The remaining tufts of grass are more train modelling flock and a whole bag of that will go a long way for $4!

With a few more stands to do, including command and bazookas, I will be taking my time. Even though we have moved into July, there are still a few weeks left to get some more done and I will be on leave starting next week, so there will be even more time to get that armor up and ready to support the 82nd Airborne! The original plan for me, was to get some Canadians together for Historicon, but after doing 15 Chaffee tanks for my US Light Tank Company, I really feel like I have enough armor running around and wanted to do something different. There really is nothing like getting a new army on the table for a tournament. Once the whole army is done, I'll be sure to break out the game mat and set up some scenery to show the whole thing off.

In case you are not a visitor to WWPD.net and it's vast network of sites, blogs and forum. This weekend, Operation Overlord kicks off it's 6 week campaign for Flames of War. Get over to the website and sign up if you have not already done so. Something else I am excited to announce, is the creation of the WWPD Challenge Coin,  aka:'Project Ultra' until I had everything necessary from Steve of WWPD, including giving me the 'ok' and letting me run with this idea. The coin will look like the picture you see below and will measure 1.75" in diameter. The cost is $20 USD and can be found on the WWPD site for payment/delivery information. Some of the proceeds from the sale of the coins will be going to Wounded Warrior and there will only be 50 coins produced. Over half the coins have already been sold in the first week, so if you are interested please leave a comment or email me. They will also be available at Historicon for sale if you happen to be down there as well. I'm hoping to have them in hand for the tournament, the company minting these coins has given me an indication they will be done and in my mailbox well before that date.

Friday Night Fights & Project Ultra for WWPD

This week on the virtual battlefield, it was an all Infantry affair as I continued to test Rob's Canadians for the upcoming 2013 Historicon tournament. We rolled up 'No Retreat' as the mission. Seeing as we both field foot footsoldier lists, we had to roll over who would attack. I came up with the higher number after Rob rolled a big fat 1. After choosing which end he would defend, we began deployment and objective placements. Enjoy the video of the game and I happened to take some pics as well covering most of the action.

Looking at the board layout, Rob chose the best side from which to defend. No matter which way I wanted to approach from, there were going to be a lot of slow moving anti-tank guns and bog checks moving 4" at a time in order to get range on those dug in Canadians. I have to say after being bombarded nearly every turn, rocket batteries are the way to go for maximum effect on target.

88's in tow, the Germans make their push!

88 nach unten! PAK 40 VORAUS!!!  (88's down! Pak 40's advance!)

I had a hard time breaking through all the terrain to get my guns going during the game. Rob did a good job of deploying his reserves to prevent my Tigers from over running his rocket battery positions at the rear of the table. His 6 Pdr guns in ambush made quick work of my Tigers, destroying two while they tangled with his Shermans and Fireflys.

Canadian tanks hold off the Tigers from taking any more ground!

I hope you enjoy the video, it was not as shaky as the last one and I captured most of the turns with all the 'key' action. I won't tell you how it ended, but there certainly was a lot of back and forth between both sides during this game. I have also been working on a side project for WWPD that should be made public shortly, I have some things to discuss with Steve, and I look forward to his feedback and going ahead with letting WWPD nation into what's transpiring. I think a lot of other people will be excited about this as I have been putting it all together.

I'm also hoping that those of the WWPD Network affiliate sites have a chance to get together 'post-podcast' at Historicon. I'll be looking into a place where we can maybe get to and have a drink or two and share some war stories and meet others that make the WWPD what is, the best community for Flames of War! I am making significant progress on my US Para troops and all their support elements. Here is a latest pic of on of my LMG stands, just so I have something other than a rifle/mg and command team stands being posted over and over again.

Enjoy the game!

Death From Above!

Never having painted strictly a mass amount of 15mm 'Infantry' figs before, I'm finding myself a bit overwhelmed to get through them all! Back in April I had some time off work to do a few stands and really experiment with colors and techniques in order to get it right the first time. If you missed it, you can find that entry HERE Doing this ahead of time when you have never painted 104 figures before, is the best way of getting the necessary research together. Painting videos, color charts and countless hours of Band of Brothers all helped in my road to victory......at least the uphill battle part of getting them done. The greatest delay of getting through all these is partly because I was working on some armor for a tournament around the same time I started my Paras. Since then, I have been playing my Germans almost every 'Friday Night Fights'.

Three completed stands up front.

Final detailing, washing and basing details are next!

Aside from war gaming, I am an avid WW2 history buff and have always been fascinated by the men and missions that shaped our world. I've been lucky enough to feel the waves of Utah,Omaha, Juno and Dieppe crash against my feet while I made tracks in the sand. I've dug up artifacts the Germans left behind in the 'Falaise Pocket'. I've even lit a candle and had some time to reflect on it all, in the famous church at Sainte-Mere-Eglise. Vimy Ridge, Pegasus Bridge, all the museums of Normandy, and locating Michael Wittman's resting place were all small highlights of my trip in 2007. Though let's be clear, a member of the SS himself, I respect Wittman's abilities as a tank commander, not any of his political or fanatical viewpoints.

For now, I can only look back at pictures and think of all the sights and experience of seeing it all up close as I finish what will likely be my last army for Flames of War for some time to come, that is until I start to assemble the boxes of Battlefront M4A3 76mm Shermans, Plastic Soldier Company M4A1 and Firefly tanks I have lying around!

St-Mere-Eglise

One of the guns of the 'Longues-sur-Mer' Normandy battery. Four 155mm guns made up the battery.

Paras, Tigers and Fights, Oh My!

This past week has been pretty busy with everyone scrambling to get a list or two painted for an upcoming tournament in Petawawa, Ontario. I had some down time from work, which is a rarity for me and I took it as an opportunity to paint some US Paratroops. I thought when I got into FoW a little over a year ago, I would be staying away from painting and modelling any type of infantry stands. I think it had something to do with not wanting to paint hundreds of individual boots, camo, weapons and get them all based while trying to make them not look like a rush job.

Lead from the front!

There are tons of blogs dedicated to 1944-45 US 101st and 82nd Airborne schemes and techniques, I found a few that looked half decent and managed to find a few color photos as well. After Band of Brothers was released some time ago, interest grew in the history of the 101st and particularly the 506th. After seeing the US, Canadian, and British cemeteries in the area surrounding Normandy in 2007, I had seen the landscape and even Sainte-Mère-Église. Many different men from many different units and elements of the military gave up their lives for history and ultimately the stories of heroism and sacrifice. All of this gives us an opportunity to play Flames of War with the hardships that they endured during WW2. For me, it was part of the reason to take on building a fighting force using the US Para Coy box I had sitting around. I was going to use these as Rangers of the 2nd Ranger Battalion, but decided not too for now. I'll wait until the new books get revamped a bit and I'm excited about the 'Bastogne' books, Devils Charge, Nuts! and the Market Garden lists for late war.

Painted and inked, just waiting a few more details.

Fresh Air and Natural Light!

Basing has always come first for me, I do not take the time to glue/tack them to nails, or sticks and would rather just have them arranged on the bases. I'll be adding a little more grass to these once they're all complete. I like the train ballast as a base with whatever paint and drybrush. Throw on a few tuffs of GW and mix in some GaleForce9 turf to give it more depth. Sometimes when you base first, it makes it a little harder to get right in there to paint, but all worth it in the end once you get used to it and take your time. Unlike tanks, painting figures on bases should not be something you do a week or two before an event unless you know you can crush them out quickly. With a few stands done so far, I have about 1 more boots to paint and taking my time so they turn out they way I want them to.

As promised, I mentioned Tigers!! Well, here they are and I tabled them against Matt Varnish (Dennis) this past Friday in our weekly Friday Night Fights. I like it when there is more than bragging rights on the line, this week it was Arnhem. Complete with a bridge on an angle through one half of the table and some destroyed buildings and fields in the other. 

I was tasked as the defender as we rolled up Cauldron. It started off simple enough with Varnish assaulting early on and his Marders taking out one of my Tigers and after two rounds of shooting. He whiffed on 8 shots missing them all early in the game and I was able to capitalize and assault his infantry, kill his HQ and then destroy and move through his Marders with my remaining Tiger. You can see him in the distance leaving wreckage in his tracks as he moves to find a new target.

Varnish's infantry ready to assault off the bridge!!

Later in the game, I got my reserve Marders in play but they were no match for the Panzer IV platoon he had on the far side of the table. They tried to take cover but were quickly disposed of, as you see in the picture below.The smoke is blocking the view of the other four Panzers lying in wait.

With my Marders burning, my infantry under constant siege at one objective, I was able to get Dennis below half and as I had killed his HQ early on, there was no way for him to check his Company morale. The victory went to me, but was earned only by the skill and gallantry of a single unit of 7.5cm infantry guns. They consist of two guns, one HQ and an observer. They're able to fire bombardments, smoke and have an AT rating of 9!! All this for 65-75 points I think in my MW list. Mix them into one unit of dug in infantry and you have quite a defensive line. I chose to bring them in reserve and deployed my PAK-40's instead in ambush. I figured because they had transports, I could get the 7.5cm's anywhere I needed in a hurry. They were able to hold off a late assault, passed a few 5-up gun shield saves giving me a turn or two to kill some more stands to put Dennis back on his heels, securing me the victory.