Wednesday 27 September 2017

Last 2 Weeks

I've been back to Lancaster Wargames Club again these last two weeks and played a couple of new rule sets (Exciting!!).
Overview of board
Last week I joined in a 6 player game of Dracula's America. Set in the post American Civil War USA,the basic rules are basically Wild West (we didn't play any undead etc). I'm not sure but it did not seem massively deadly and almost impossible to actually get an outright kill. However I think this may have been due to a misunderstanding with regards save rolls. (We were saving with fails being per hit rather than the amount below the save value).
Left Flank - Nutter running across the street - survived and ran back.
With a lot of these games (this one included) there is an error in the set up of terrain - no one wants to cross the "valley of death" (or street as in this example). So it almost just becomes dice wars.
Having said that the card mechanic by which you drew 4 cards for a turn then bid with your cards for where you were to go in the turn had a good blend of luck and game theory.

This week myself and AE played our first game of Rommel. (Unfortunately I forgot my camera so no pictures). So we felt we could judge the rules correctly we played a scenario which was half based off the Breakthrough mission and a Spearkrieg game we played a few year ago over the Battle of Prokhorovka. Scaled down we played 1st SS Panzer Grenadiers against 52nd Guards Rifle Division.

The game worked well with the Germans having to peel a way through the defensive lines (reinforced by the "Workers to the Front" event. Maybe I wasn't sufficiently aggressive early doors (new game syndrome) and it took a while to get through. Eventually a whole appeared and I was able to widen it out. By turn 15 the aggressive use of Recce, Armour and Armoured Infantry allowed me to take an objective where we called it.

Things we learned:
  • Tactics and defences really help to reduce casualties; in reverse the fact that my entire force was motorised meant I could evade to reduce hits against myself. As ops dice disappear and attacks are going in by brute force, combat becomes more deadly.
  • If you can lure an attack onto yourself and pinning attack has already been used and surprise attack isn't in effect then withdraw is a really good way to make your opponent burn and waste ops dice.
  • Recce units with their free scout turns are really useful (even with a 50% success rate). I had a full battalion of recce as the Germans formed their Recce units as fighting battalions which really helped.
  • Always plan for the worst. I attacked a single infantry company with one remaining hit in the open with 3 stands. Missed and I hadn't left enough space to retreat. Up until this point these were my only units destroyed.
  • Attacking across the narrow part of the table is grim.
  • All in all the rules are simple whilst giving a seemingly historical result. Could be really interesting to battle the whole campaign although we discussed it and think we'll go for an ops sheet per division. The ebb and flow of resetting etc could be absorbing as the various attacking divisions have to pause at different times.
As a side piece I also based Schy'yrk. I'm going to do the rest of Gronne Flamme like this to complete my raiding party for Frostgrave.
Schy'yrk

Thursday 14 September 2017

Austrian Army at Lobositz

So a year plus in the making; my Austrian Army is finished! (I've run out of static grass at the moment or the Prussians would be finished too). Before I begin - making both armies from scratch for a battle by yourself is a big ask (especially alongside Family, Work and American Football).
Austrian Army ready to go
I decided to keep it simple on the bases - I had had thought of trees, fences etc but I figured that they'd look better by selves (Exception may be the Grenzers). All in all I'm really pleased with how its worked out.
The force is divided into 3 blocks of infantry, a cavalry division (which can be split in 2 between division and corps commanders) as well as an unusual formation in the advanced guard. On the defensive (which I assume it will be at Lobositz) its going to be a hard nut to crack.
FM v Browne and Grenzers
I decided to identify my command levels by bases size as well as number of figures. So the the CiC has a large base and 4 figures. I'll also have the data strips attached to the back edge of the units.
Advanced Guard
This really is an unusual formation and it feels like a weird use of some of the forces available - that is half the artillery and half the grenadiers! Backed up by a mix of cavalry, it will be interesting to see how this operates in Volley and Bayonet.
Lacy's Infantry
This is the first of the blocks of Infantry - a manageable size with artillery to back it up. The divisional commanders are just the 2 figures.
Kollowrat's Infantry Corps
This feels like a big block of a force with 10 stands of Infantry. It is a good job that the infantry all have dedicated guns because otherwise they would be awfully exposed. The Corps commander at he front (you may have guessed) has 3 figures.
Luchesse's Cavalry Corps
Its described as a corps but its made up of 1 division. I'm not sure if this will be kept as a mass or split in 2 between corps and division commander.

Sorry about picture quality - was just excited to get these up. May well retake these outside when get a chance.

For those interested in how I based these;
  1. Glue to bases in formation
  2. Polyfilla (cheap equivalent) around stands to smooth into bases, add weight as well as texture.
  3. Paint base brown
  4. Stickle paint green onto base - good opportunity to cover any spots you've missed/paint has been absorbed by plaster. Be warned you will ruin a brush doing this.
  5. Dry brush a cream/bone colour over bases.
  6. Static grass.
Nice and simple and I think gives a good result. Soon to come; the Prussians as well as a game report on Rommel at end of month.