IRON CROSS in 15mm

 Today we started to experiment with WW2 rules to decide which ones will suit us best. We have Rapid Fire, Bolt Action, Battlegroup and for today's game Iron Cross. We may even try Flames of War at some point. At aprox 460 points a side this is a small game with a simple aim of capturing the cross roads in the small town mid table. Dice decided that Phil and I took the role of the British against Ian as the Germans, somewhere in Normandy.

The rules were a little confusing to begin with as there seems to be no rules covering indirect fire (unless we missed them), no Forward Observation officers. Bit by bit the game speeded up as we got used to the implied simplification and started to understand the abstracted bits.

Here is the table set up for turn 1. 

First major 'kill' of the game, my Sherman destroys Ian PzIV

But it was Phil who proved to be on deadly form destroying two PzIV's, a Puma armoured car, a Pak38, a SDKFZ 251 half track and a Stug 111. 

The orange explosion markers denote some of Phil's kills. The nearest PzIV took Ian's force over their breakpoint giving the British victory. 

Man of the Match was Phil's 25pdr which did much of the damage with some very impressive dice throwing. 

(We used green markers to denote British activations, blue for the Germans). 

Overall we enjoyed our game and are quite pleased with the rules. When we return to WW2 we will give Rapid Fire a go and see how we feel about them. The Iron Cross rules are intentionally quite simple in their approach to WW2 gaming; we felt that we may need a little more depth, but certainly no more complexity. 

Finally, my 28mm dwarf building is coming along quite nicely... 

Here the flannel/towelling has been added to the roof to hopefully create a thatched effect.

I also added a dragon head design from the bits box to the roof to help create a Norse Dwarf feel. 

Brown undercoat applied all over.  

Here the house has been painted in it's base colours, ready for a wash then dry-brushing. You can also see me starting to play with idea's for the base. I am not too sure about my thatching just yet? Doesn't seem rough enough? 

On the Vikings TV series when Bjorn Iron-side dies he is buried in a tomb surrounded by a ring of stones. I have made a couple of stones from xps to see how it looks. The idea being to place stones of roughly this size all around the house, maybe even paint runes on some of them. I will also add a spare barrel, sack of flour and wheel etc... as extra detail.   

SITC-a bit of progress.

 I am keeping myself busy with so many painting projects that I have only really made a tentative start on my build for the second SITC. I am keeping my target small and achievable yet it will hopefully be very useful in many fantasy games. The aim is to create a dwarven house built with a Viking flavour that will hopefully suit my Oathmark Dwarves. I did do a quick concept sketch but I seem to have lost that but essentially I want to create a sort of Dark Age 'A' frame thatched house with a bit of Nordic 'Dwavishness'. I have already changed my mind on a few aspects of the build but here are the basic pieces I have made so far. 

The front piece is the one with the door and the blank piece a central support and you can see the base I cut today with the position of the house drawn on. 

Here the house end pieces are glued onto the base with a central chimney stack created from xps foam. Next I added the sides made from card and will later cover them with a piece of old towel to create a thatch effect. 

I put a couple of my Oathmark Dwarves in this photo to check the scale, seems OK? I have also started to 'theme' the building with added dwarf detail. I also have an idea that I will play around with once the thatch is on that I have pinched from the 'Viking' TV series-which is why the base is so wide. I will eventually need another couple of buildings to make a small dwarf settlement. 

Finally, I have also started (because I need more projects!!!!) on a 15mm Dark Age project (or Early Medieval as they seem to call it nowadays?). Here are my first few Vikings...

These lovely little chaps are 'Forged in Battle' figures and eventually there will be Anglo-Danes and Normans too; mainly aimed at use with Hail Caesar but also Fantastic Battles with the addition of a few trolls and Frost Giants. 

 

When Rivers Run Red, a 10mm game of Fantastic Battles

 It is just over a year since I got my copy of Fantastic Battles. So far I have played two solo games and a game a few weeks ago with Ian and Phil and I am really impressed. The rules are well written and produce a quick moving game. You can also design any fantasy army you wish as there is a clear set of guidelines/stat lines and an easy to follow points system. 

Chris is my main gaming buddy for fantasy battles so I was delighted when I was able to 'encourage' him to get a copy of the rules. Sadly as Chris lives over an hour away we don't get to game as often as we would like, He was supposed to be popping up for todays game but sadly personal reasons prevented him from coming and sampling the delights of a game of Fantastic Battles but hopefully we will manage this soon.  

 Ian and Phil came along though so it was going to be a 3 player game, a straightforward encounter battle between an Elf/Dwarf alliance and a Barbarian Horde . I always like to have some back story so here is today's story. 

When Rivers Run Red

 a Fantastic Battles 1,000 points per side encounter battle.

Recorded in the 'Red Book of Alsof' is the following passage...

“It was during that troubled time that the great dwarf hero Amflodi the Tall (so called because he was so tall his beard did not reach the floor) came down from the mountains with his warriors to aid the elves of Galgoen in the fight against the might of the barbarian hordes.

Here by the banks of the Greenspyke River did the force of elves and dwarves give battle to the barbarian host.”

It was randomly decided that I would take on the role of the Barbarians and Ian and Phil would be in control of the Elves and Dwarves. Having carefully deployed my troops in neat lines the 'mishaps' stage completely disrupted this and split my forces all over the place, certainly the worst mishap rolls I have ever seen. By contrast the elf/dwarf force only suffered the loss of a dwarf archer unit. 

Look at the neat barbarian lines on the right.

and now look how disrupted we have become. 

My right wing never fully recovered control of the troops on that side. 

Once the battle proper began the barbarians went for a rapid advance, the elf/dwarf troops were more defensive. Their shooting was certainly effective taking out the Barbarian war Mammoth with one round of shooting! (Look at that dice throw!). 

Once the two forces got into melee the elf/dwarf units managed to maintain the upper hand and the centre became blocked preventing my two main units of Barbarian Warriors from getting into the fray. The elf knights and the dwarf shieldwall units were very tough to fight and they gradually defeated my cavalry and ogre units over about 3 turns. The barbarian berserkers were not very effective and so my casualties mounted until my breaking point of 50% of companies defeated was reached. 

Even when my ogres managed to defeat the enemy treeman he fell on my troops injuring them! 

So  a well deserved victory to the elf and dwarf alliance. The river certainly ran red with blood, unfortunately it was from my troops. We all enjoyed the game, Fantastic Battles is a great set of rules which always give a good game. 

Here is a shot of the victorious elf and dwarf generals celebrating...

I am far to polite to post my response!

Latest painting projects

 If anyone ever needed proof of my butterfly approach to wargaming here it is; my latest batches of completed painting. First up I have finished a second unit of 15mm British Napoleonics (Essex Miniatures). Essex produce a really nice range of sturdy yet well detailed figures and I am really pleased with how well they are painting up. Based for 'General D'Armee' rules. 

One of my targets at the start of this year was to expand my range of 15mm WW2 British and once I finally got round to painting these they did not take too long and they just about double in size my British force. It was also good therapy to quickly drybrush a couple of tanks in between all that detail on the Napoleonics. I have enough British and Germans done now to put on a decent sized game of either Bolt Action or Rapid Fire in 15mm. 

Last project was to quickly rebase some 10mm Copplestone Fantasy figures to suit the Fantastic Battles rules. We have a game of these rules planned for this coming week and we needed more bad guys, so here they are (about their 3rd rebase at least!). Fantastic Battles is a great set of rules and i will be expanding several armies for these rules. 

I also made some 28mm archer stakes for my Never Mind the Billhooks force and I am not that far away from completing my first unit of 15mm Vikings (photo's soon). 15mm Dark Ages is going to be a big project that will keep me happily painting for years. Finally I have made a tentative start on a dwarvish house in 28mm for the current 'Second International Townscape Challenge'- more details soon when I have made better progress.  

6MM Napoleonics with Polemos rules

 In today's game we tried a sample game of Polemos Napoleonic 'General de Division' using Phil's large collection of 6mm figures. He has a real mix of Irregular, Baccus, Heroics and Ros and the newer, rather nice Grumbler miniatures. We set up a small encounter battle using the army selectors, this was quite quick and easy. The Tempo turn sequence is fun and quite easy to follow once you get used to it. However our game unravelled into stuttering confusion trying to work out the Attack Sequence, even with four of us trying to figure things out. We made some progress but at just over 20 pages, Polemos is quite a short set of rules but it perhaps does need greater clarification although that could double the length of the book. 

I do feel that this ruleset has great promise to get lots of 6mm units on the table so I have joined the Baccus Forum and a Facebook page where I have found some clarification notes. I am off to read them now as I really would like to gain an understanding of these rules. 

Back to Billhooks - The Battle of Rathmell Bottoms.

 For this weeks game we returned to playing another fictitious battle of 'Never Mind the Billhooks' set loosely in our local area. For this game the local Yorkists under the command of the Duke of Eldroth ( Phil aided by me ) were deployed just outside Rathmell waiting for the advancing Lancastrians under the Earl of Lawkland (Ian).  The Earl had to quickly deploy his troops along the Rathmell road with the River Ribble at his back. This area of land is always quite boggy so a few areas of marsh were placed mid table to make advancing more difficult; (this marshy theme was inspired by my daughter trying to get to work when some local roads were flooded the other morning). 

There was just over 160 points per side with 4x commands each. We were also trying out the veteran and levy rules for the first time. Otherwise, it was just a basic encounter battle. 

So Ian (Lancastrians) deployed his troops with a gap in the middle 

We (the Yorkists) went for a more connected line.

My Knights were keen to get into the action today as the last two games they just sat and watched. 

Ian sent forward his light cavalry (slowly) through the woods. 

The Yorkist plan was to protect the left flank with their Shire Levy but the Lancastrian Light Cavalry was looking threatening. 

This was going to be a vital moment in the battle. Thankfully Phil managed to repulse the light cavalry and secure the field, thus protecting our left flank. 

As my knights advance the Lancastrian artillery took shot and inflicted three wounds, ouch! 

Big clash in the middle that got very complex...

... Ian's (Lancastrian) Men-at -Arms gradually ground out victory over the enemy. 

Here are the victorious Lancastrian Men-at Arms duffing up some enemy billmen. 

It was around this moment that we ran out of time. Of the units remaining most were heavily damaged but the Lancastrian's seemed to have the least damaged units plus the only unit of longbow men with ammo left. Thus a hard won victory  was declared in favour of the Lancastrians. Funnily enough after a couple of turns or so Ian had looked to be in trouble so he really turned the game around. This was a really cracking game and we really seem to be getting a hold of the rules now. 

Earlier this year myself, Mister C and Merjin took part in a friendly medieval building project based on the Warhammer Townscape buildings. My building (a bakery) was aimed for use with Billhooks but also fantasy games. 

Merjin had already built most of the townscape so he created a ruined tower whilst Mister C produced a rather amazing Inn, a real centre piece for any gaming table. 

(tower in progress) https://another-wargaming-blog.blogspot.com/ 

(and a stunning Inn). https://periodicpainting.blogspot.com/

So now we have decided to have another go but with a slight twist. The challenge this time is to create a building for a non -human race such as elf, dwarf or goblin etc...I have elected to create a dwarf abode for my Oathmark dwarves and will record my progress on here. 

Chris (Mister C) has  very kindly put the details together below, and remember this is for fun with the main aim being to create a great piece of terrain for your own gaming table. If anyone fancies taking part please get in touch (and blog your progress). 

THE SECOND INTERNATIONAL TOWNSCAPE CHALLENGE – BEYOND HUMAN

AIM

To build a Warhammer model in the style of the Townscape appropriate for a non-human race.

RULES (more sort of guidelines really)

The building may be based on one of the Warhammer Townscape models or may be designed from scratch, providing it fits in with the Townscape style.

Other sources may be used (e.g. the 4^th edition scenario packs, Grudge of Drong etc).

You have until the end of December 2021 to complete the model.

You must post one blog post before the end of November demonstrating progress. Otherwise blog your progress however often you feel appropriate and link to each other’s blogs.

The challenge is designed to inspire and encourage. There is no prize apart from the congratulations of your peers, both in the challenge and on our blogs and as many pats on the back (self-administered) as is deemed appropriate.

GOOD LUCK