More Than Just Tanks

This weekend saw Brett and myself take on Sauron's evil minions in an attempt to learn how to play Lord of the Rings LCG. I'm a little late once again to the party of what's good and what isn't in the realm of newer games. It normally takes a lot of research and a little bit of risk when it comes to buying board games or card games these days. A lot of what's out there is very expensive and a lot of the time, not very good.

There is NO Escape!

In this weeks installment of Friday Night Fights, a small group of us played Escape From Colditz. It's a board game that came out in the mid 1970's, it's creator was a prisoner at Colditz Castle during WW2. Colditz Castle is located in Eastern Germany, and has existed for a thousand years! It became a prisoner of war camp at the beginning of the war in 1939 and was in use right up until April 1945. The board game is loosely based on the layout of Colditz and the premise of the game is to escape to Allied territory using any means necessary.

The cover art has changed over the years, a Swastika appears on the first run of the game, but was later replaced by an Imperial Eagle.

What's Next!?

As usual, I have been too busy to really concentrate on a Nationals list for the event that is a mere two weekends away....(should I have sent that in?)
I have been super busy with real life and have not had that much time to paint, play or really do anything other than maybe get out for a few hours on the weekend and go game hunting with Tristan. We've dusted off some of our old consoles and have started to add to our collections, tracking down some vintage stuff at flea markets and the odd retail store. I've also been pretty active on my Twitter account and getting into reading about all sorts of things that interest me. NASCAR, Flames of War, retro video games. Even managed to work a few extra hours of research into editing and making the podcast a success. The next episode will be cleaner and a little easier to follow, I did some up some intro and outro music as well.

Long Weekend, Historicon Close Out and more!

Closing out my three part series on our trip down to Historicon, just some final thoughts more than anything. I got sidetracked by my new airbrush....can you blame me?!! All together it was a great event, the Flames of War Nationals certainly began a little later than expected, but Dave did a great job running it solo and we look forward to him running Canadian Nationals at the end of the month. This brings me full circle all the way to this weekend, where we had a holiday and as usual it was time for some gaming out at my place in the 'War Room'. I was getting tired of calling it the shop, not much work get's done out there....it's more of a fun place to chill out and listen to Split Infinity Radio.They're a great site and online radio station that plays to my inner geek. You can find them here SI RADIO

New Airbrush!!

So you're thinking about an airbrush. Maybe you want to get through that huge pile of minis that are just lying around in boxes, or maybe you're just looking to touch up some camo before a tournament. Tired of using brushes to try and get German camo patterns the way I would like them to look, I made a leap into something new. On my recent trip to Historicon, I had just finished buying some new buildings and some other gaming terrain. I had seen the Grex booth in vendor area and heard the name Grex airbrushes through other sources, but I had never seen one in action. After trying both the pistol grip 'Tritium' and the 'Genesis' models they had on their demonstration area, I bought 'Genesis.XSi3' with the compressor. I'll get to the compressor in more detail later, let's take a look at what you get in the kit.

Everything to get you started in one box!

Best Care Anywhere

Another night has passed until Historicon! Everyone is ready to get on the road and get to the hotel at a decent time to wind down from a long journey. Maybe you turn on the TV and start going through your list, you could open your case and find that your army has survived bouncing around in the back of a SUV for 11 hours. It's likely you won't encounter any issues and your models will be tournament ready once the dice start flying. Uh oh! You go through your stuff only to find a barrel broken, staff table tipped over or a .50 cal has come off a turret?
Enter your emergency kit! Like the combat medics, nurses (HELLO!) and doctors of WW2, you'll have to make do under pressure, get whatever treatment done with the fewest tools possible.

Simple $2 Tackle Box

Whatever you decide for storage, it should at least carry the minimum amount of paint, tools and glue to perform McGyver type repairs and touch ups. There is no point in over doing it, you can always find a paint color, tape measure or full model in case you forgot a turret on your buddies table after a last minute game before heading on the road. Remember your basic colors from kindergarten, black and white make grey! So if need be, experiment and you'll get a color close to the finish of that turret you replaced.

Storage For Spare Barrels, Stowage, Antennaes, Flock etc...

Small items store better individually in divided areas or tucked away in a small plastic container or plastic sandwich bags. Ensure if you do get a top opening box, it has a lid with decent clips that won't pop open or have any gaps that will allow small bits to come out and get lost.

All Your Brushes, Files, Hand Drill and Hobby Knife Right On Top

You don't need to pack everything off your hobby desk! I don't even care if you leave the house with everything in the bottom of your pack or tucked away in a pocket of your army case. At least make an effort and who knows, you might even be asked by someone "Do you have....." and you can step up and say "Yeah, I brought one of those." Your brushes need to contain one flat, one fine tip, one for inking and one for dry brushing.

Simple Color Selection and Glue!

Let's talk about your paint for a second, you'll have no room for a spray can and likely painting outside in the humid July temperatures would be disastrous. Let's face it, at this point should you be priming models? I hope not. Your kit will likely contain: black, brown, green, yellow, ink of a medium tone and a light color for dry brushing. The yellow is a good one because it mixes well with any other colors to give different tones. It also happens to help if you have a desert or German armor to touch up, or maybe a light tone for hair or shoulder flashes.

Packed and Ready

I decided the baby blue trim was hardly worthy to be packed up for a war gaming convention, so I painted it black and then applied German Armor from the Flames of War line of paints! Leave your thoughts in the comment section below or hit me up in an email. I'll likely get one more post in before heading on the road, I hope you take this and run with it. It's not expensive to get together as you own everything already minus the box. Hope to see ya at Historicon!!

Matty

Tournament Survival Guide

So it's another tournament, time to get your models ready and pack a bag for a road trip with the lads to roll some dice and share some war stories. Whether it's an overnight trip or simply a drive to your LFGS for a day of games, I'm here to share some tips to make your tournament experience more enjoyable. We're going to look at planning, travel, food and the convention.

Below is a simple list to ensure you get the maximum amount of rest, food and of course wins on the virtual battlefield. All the while having a ton of fun doing it. I draw on my experiences of military exercises and having attended trade shows, gaming conventions and local tournaments. I hope you take just a few points away from this and I contribute to helping all of you have a better time at your next convention.

It's all in the planning.....

• Pack your list (models, dice etc.) a few days in advance. Make your list, check it twice and then bag it up. Use the 'Pick List' option on Easyarmy to make sure you haven't forgotten anything. Extra copies of list, tape measure, dice and rulebooks. PDF versions save on weight in your army bag.That being said, a small backpack for everything else is key.
• Create an emergency kit with the following items; glue, a few key paint colors you used in prepping your army, hobby knife and some paintbrushes. Place them all in a plastic container or in a tackle box tray. You can get all sorts of storage options at your local discount store for no more than $2.
• Buy a cheap serving tray, paint/flock it or simply buy a non-slip pad used in kitchen cupboards. Cut it to size and your models won't slide around and it'll hide the hideous graphics. It shouldn't take two people to move your army around and take up a 4'x6' table. (Note: Massive display boards are only ok if you're third generation Airborne. Thank you for your service!)
• Don't over pack, this is a classic mistake made by travelers. You need extra underwear and socks....do you really need six t-shirts for two days? A light coat or sweater just in case of weather or A/C inside the convention is enough. Travel in your hikers or sandals, don't wear them to the venue. Comfortable shoes are better for walking around and standing on concrete for eight hours. (No! Socks with sandals are never ok. EVER.)

Artillery.......the new 'Sitzkrieg' for 2014.

• Stay in a half decent hotel, don't share more than three to a room. Your body will thank you for it. It's worth the extra $10/night per person. Take turns spending one night on the pull out couch or cot.
• Try and get a room with a fridge or make use of the ice machine and keep water, juice and other 'beverages' in a cooler. It's easier to take your own water to the convention than spending $5/bottle while you're gaming.
• Staying no more than 30 minutes away will ensure you are well rested and won't require you to get up too early and rushed to make it to your first game. Giving yourself just 15 more minutes will allow for that coffee or construction you can't avoid.
• Grab something at the breakfast bar if you don't have time or want to stop for a full breakfast. Banana, bowl of cereal or even just a chocolate milk will be enough. You need that initial energy first thing to set your body up for success for the rest of the day!

Das convention food tastes like scheisse!

• Snacks in your backpack will allow you to eat throughout the day. It's cheaper to buy in bulk for a few days supply and will keep extra money in your wallet for that model, terrain or t-shirt you had your eyes on buying. 
• Snacks low in salt and sugar are best. Chips and chocolate bar diets are a bad combination and will lead to you feeling run down, and making mental mistakes when you're playing games.
• Get out of the convention center if you can for meals, the food at most venues is horrible and expensive. Plan your meals so you can find a place to eat and get back to gaming in a reasonable amount of time. You could even pack a lunch, there are lots of sandwich options like Subway or similar choices you can store in a small lunch bag in your backpack.
• If you came down in a group of four or more people, break up into smaller groups. It will make planning easier when it comes to food choices, what games you want to play or just walking about the convention center. You'll feel less irritated and rushed while your mates look through a box of unmarked blisters if you're in smaller 2-3 person groups. I did find that one pack of armored recce jeeps though......
• Your backpack should have; sweater/light coat, emergency kit, hand sanitizer, snacks/lunch, water. Carry a small notepad, pen and either your phone charger or extra batteries along with your camera.

I hope you find some of this information useful.  There's something to be said for not being too rundown once the dice start hitting the table. You'll make better decisions, you'll be healthier, better rested and able to fix any problem with your emergency kit. Especially those bloody .50 cal guns or that loose gun team you forgot about. You might even be able to glue a rear tail back on your Hurricane because someone broke it and didn't tell you about it....they were nice enough to leave the piece on my army tray however.......

Take a shower.

Use deodarant.

Brush your teeth.

SCUMBAG!

Painting Panzers The Video Edition

As promised, here is the video for the process and tips I used in getting my Panzers ready for Historicon 2014!

Thanks for watching and stay tuned for more videos in the future. I enjoyed getting all the historicon videos up from last year and look for the same type of AAR once the convention has wrapped up. See you there and at the WWPD podcast!

Two Pounds At A Time

So, with the EW tournament at Perkin's Hobbies quickly approaching, I have been hard at work rounding out my British Armored Company to lay some non-HE type destruction on the table. As most players of FoW are well aware, the Brits lack HE anti-tank capability almost right through all of WW2. It's a huge hurdle when you are facing opponents that have dug-in infantry or guns....or anything else for that matter....up to and including a mess tin! You can't kill any of it without some firepower of a HE round.

East bound and down, loaded up and truckin'!

Now with the two trucks complete, I managed to create two small stands with magnets so the guns can be fully removed from the trucks and mounted on a small base. At this point, I know the trailing arms on a 2-Pdr face to the front, I'm just waiting to get my hands on some small wheels to finish these up proper. For the tournament, they'll do just fine and I can not wait to use them.

Gun Stand and Rear Deck of the Trucks

The Full Monty

Initially I had zero interest in Early War and found myself with an entire company of tanks that had no use in any other theater. What I found though, after playing a few games, is that it seems to be a 'pure' game when you are having it out against your opponent. Sure this list, like my MW Australians lacks a lot of 'toys' and high-explosive capability. In the end it's still fun to play and I'm looking forward to Sunday. I'll bring a post-tournament writeup along as usual when I get back and actually show off my army when it's on fire and smoking on the table! Hopefully you are all having a great beginning to your summer and you should see some holidays at some point I would think yeh? One month to Historicon!

Italy Campaign Weekend! Pt.1

When there is a long weekend, I usually have a chance to have some of our group over for some gaming, food and beverages, I usually host at my place in the 'country' for a change of venue. With another nice long weekend on the calendar, we decided to get together on Monday for some Italy Campaign. The first game saw Andrew and myself, taking on Tristan and Rob in a 2000 points per side doubles game. Fighting Withdrawl was the mission in this game.
Andrew and myself played a Schwere Panzerkompanie out of Fortress Italy, made up of Tigers, one Elefant and some Panzer IV H's. We threw in some PAK 40's and 88's for a small anti-tank boost. We faced American Rifle Platoons and tons of Rob's Canadian Armor!

Reconnaissance photo show the Germans control the southern road and the vineyards west of the river. They also control the objective east of the church.

Panzer IV H's look on, as the Royal Airforce comes in for the attack!

Andrew and I could only look on for most of the match as we were either being hindered by smoke on the battlefield or re-positioning our armor to deal with trying to cover three objectives!

The remaining Panzers move in to try and stall the Canadian's for a turn or two so they could withdraw the objective, denying the Allies precious supplies.

This game was a short one, we ended up only play 3-4 turns before it was too much and the Germans were routed off the table in defeat. Without the ability to destroy the sheer number of tanks on the table, Andrew and I played 'catch-up' nearly the whole game and reacting to a very aggressive attack by Rob and Tristan!

Wrecked hulls of German armor strew the battlefield as the Allies take the town, capture the objectives and regroup in case of counter attack!

Painting.....Circus Style (*update*)

With the 'All-Tank' tournament at a local store next weekend, my paintbrushes have been hard at work getting my Elefants ready for the table in case we have an odd number of players. I love to play in tournament events, but I don't mind sitting on the sideline to run an event either. I have no issues walking around tables, taking in games, having a look at army lists or taking pictures for DiceDevils.com. I'd rather have all my attention on the games at hand and be there for rules questions, which most would admit I know NOTHING about.....but as the tournament organizer, at least having a rulebook in hand will help, should a question or dispute arise.

Fits like a thong on a fat stripper.....

Duelling In The Desert and The Russian Gambit

Well it has been some time since I have been able to form a sentence and put a piece together for Dice Devils. The past few months have been busy and there has not been very many hobby related items for me to post about. I've been lucky enough however, to have played a few games at my place and MattVarnish has been my opponent on both occasions in the two games thus far in the new year. We're both going through the task of tweaking our lists and getting ready for a Mid-War tournament that's coming up in April.

Australian Div Cav, my first army in what seems like an eternity ago!

 I have yet to decide what I will be bringing up to Petawawa, as the North Africa book has gone through some drastic changes and I can no longer field the first Flames of War army that I ever put together. My Australian Divisional Cavalry can no longer take 8th Armored Shermans for support options. This leaves a HUGE hole in my list, as it is no longer viable without some heavy hitting support platoons to help with the lack of offensive abilities of the Crusader. I like the Aussies because not a lot of people play them and initially when I wrote one of my first pieces for this blog, I explained I wanted to do something different from everyone else. Oh, and the Fearless Veteran rating is a big plus!

Crusader tanks, not much armor, or HE. It has speed though!

While I try and ponder what to put together, I have been testing a Panzergrendier list from Eastern Front. It has 7 platoons and some serious punch when dealing with opposing armored threats. I tend to use Infantry based lists as ways to get a favorable deployment coverage on objectives. I find it easier to dig in the grunts and have them deal with threats to victory conditions. In the meantime, use my AT guns as a way to divert enemy tanks into areas where I can chase them down with my own tank platoons or simply blow them to bits with my PAK-40's, 88's and of course the best 'bang for the buck' 7.5cm leIG18 guns. For 70 points, you get a Rate Of Fire 2 - AT 9 - with the ability to smoke, bombard and a gun shield. At the very least, it's a cheap platoon with great ambush upside and goes through most armored vehicles in the Mid-War era. Can even bail a Tiger I if you happen to get one in the side.
Anyone who thinks there is a better option for any AT gun for the cost, I have yet to find one that comes close.

Confident    Veteran	Grenadierkompanie Infantry Company	German Mid-War
Infantry Company

Platoon	Qty	Unit	Points
Headquarters
Grenadierkompanie HQ(Heer)  p.61	2 1	Cmd Panzerknacker SMG team 8.8cm RW43 (Püppchen) launcher	85
Combat Platoons
Grenadier Platoon  p.61	1 6	Cmd Panzerknacker SMG team Rifle/MG team	160
Grenadier Platoon  p.61	1 6	Cmd Panzerknacker SMG team Rifle/MG team	160
Regimental Support Platoons
Grenadier Infantry Gun Platoon(Heer)  p.63	1 1 2	Cmd SMG team Observer Rifle team 7.5cm leIG18 gun	70
Grenadier Anti-tank Gun Platoon(Heer)  p.65	1 3	Cmd SMG team 7.5cm PaK40 gun	220
Divisional Support
Mittlere Panzer Platoon(Heer)  p.34	4	Panzer IV E or F1	400
Tank-hunter Platoon(Heer)  p.86	3	Marder II	270
Heavy Anti-aircraft Gun Platoon(Heer)  p.89	1 1	Cmd SMG team 8.8cm FlaK36 gun	120
Company Points:			1485

'Maybe even some Russians', countless times you have likely heard that as part of the introduction of the WWPD FoW podcast. Yeah, sometimes the crew talks about other games and their adventures on the road, Knob Creek whiskey and whatever debauchery they get up to during their tournament circuit interactions with the rest of the WWPD supporters. After Steve packed up his family and moved off to New Zealand, the podcast itself has gone through some changes, but still manages to keep my interest for the full episode. I am sure there were others that were not sure how the transition would go, including Luke and Jon. With Eric coming into the studio for a full-time spot, he fills the void left by Steve in a different way. Eric is knowledgeable in many areas and seems up on his history and not just the game itself. I'm happy they are still able to squeeze Steve back from Mordor onto the podcast and have also had Sean "Throckmorton" stop in to bring some more hobbying and gaming experience into the fray! In the past few months, they have been talking a lot about Russians and the resurgence of viable options for Soviet lists. The new Desperate Measures and the Red Bear changes will lend itself to some very good Soviet lists in the coming year. I'm exploring the possibility of jumping into The Red Army and working on a tank list that will feauture some of WW II's most impressive pieces of Soviet armor.

Don't give up yet Ivan! Help has finally arrived!

 

Not quite +1 for concealment, but still deadly.

Dice Devils Tournament at FdB

Shortly after Historicon finished, I could not wait to play another event. After some talking with the other Devils, we thought partnering up with FdB would be a great thing to do in order to get some more exposure for Flames of War. After discussions with the owners and players in the area, we set a date for the 8th of September. I was super busy at work leading up to the event, but was able to organize most of what I needed to do via email and a few late nights thinking about how much terrain to bring and what the tables would look like. Playing only once in this venue, I didn't know what to expect from FdB. You can see more on the store here at www.boutiquefdb.com

The new(er) location is a brighter space, more room and the host store could not have been better. Sebastien, Francis and Thierry own the store as a hobby and more or less run it in their spare time. One of the key employees that helped with a lot of the small, yet important logisitics was Dave. So all in all, the support we received from FdB was awesome and well above expectations. More on that later! Let's get to some pictures and some of the games.

CLICK READ MORE TO SEE THE DETAILS!

Standby.....GO!

This is it, the last of my three part series on Historicon 2013. 'Sitzkreig' is the new thing taking over Flames of War posts far and wide. It seems a lot of people had issues with people taking too much time during their games and now the community is looking for a way to fix it. That subject is for another post, for now I will close out this post with coverage of my games and my own thoughts on how Nationals went from my perspective. My first game was against Russ from CGR and we had a busy and great game! He really pushed with his forces and really put his Panzerspahkompanie German list to my limits, the 82nd really had to fight them off and keep the enemy from capturing their objective. Everything from Infantry, Panzer II's and Marders, this list had it all and was tough to fend off.

Looking back on this game a week later, I think I was luck with my deployment area and it worked out that I could only allow Russ to get to the objective by pressing hard against the dug in Airborne platoon. The Anti-Tank guns were able to suppress the incoming armor, and there was a lot of it! I got a lucky roll early in the game and was able to range in on a column of tanks and blew up three of his Panzer IV's. That was a big boost, as then my Sherman and Firefly platoon that came in on the secondary objective in the Reserve area, only had to deal with one Panzer IV. Russ had no choice but to trade shots with me a few times and we both went to the end, never losing that one Panzer IV to enemy fire. The Sherman and Firefly that were engaging it never hit it to take it out. Back to gunnery school for the guys in the platoon. My other tank platoon did not fair as well, they bogged a few times and got a little bottle necked and Russ was able to capitalize with Marder shots, nearly wiping out my platoon.

These two games were just plain tough! Steve was really patient with me and knew I had my hands full moving across open terrain, the threat of air attack and constant artillery kept me from getting an entire platoon across the board, they assaulted one of his observers and moved into the woods with intention of taking out his Nebelwerfers but we ran out of time. Dave kept me busy with his Canadian list, his use of devastating bombardments time and time again was enough to rattle the fillings out of my teeth! I was aggressively defending two objectives and was able to hold him off the right side of the table. He came at me with everything on the left, Shermans, Archers, Buffalo's, and infantry. We literally went down to time with his platoon commander carrying on the assault all by himself as a last ditch effort to win the game. I held my ground with four remaining stands and came out with a single point in this close loss.

Russ closes in with all the armor he could muster!

Really nicely painted Audie Murphy.

Get off the road!!

Beach landing display board.

I love airfields, this one was excellent!

Hard to taxi through a cratered runway!!

Rob and Dennis plan their next move at the I-95 Doubles

Cool rocket effects!

M-57 Anti-Tank guns cover their 82nd Airborne brothers as the Germans move in!

Now that it's all over for the next little while, we'll likely be looking at heading down to Fall In, being held in Lancaster PA. The ten hour drive was a long one, but worth it for this great event. I'll be busy in the next little while getting some battle reports ready for the Overlord campaign and deciding on whether to prep  an Early War army for next year. I'll likely get some more posts done in the coming week, hope you enjoyed the series!

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

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!