All Miniatures Great and Small

Dystopian Wars - Tsukuyomi Class War Gyro Review

2012-01-10T12:05:00.000-07:00

This week we look at another Large Flyer for Dystopian Wars. This time around we take a close look at the Empire of the Blazing Sun's Tsukuyomi class War Gyro.

Large flyers in the Dystopian Wars universe are interesting beasts indeed. They are Battleship sized flying warships. Typically they don't quite how the same firepower of a battleship but they do have significant firepower plus all of the flying bonuses.

The Model:

The Tsukuyomi comes as a single large hull and two metal Turrets. It also has a stats card and two peg clear flight stand.

As is the standard with Spartan the mold itself is crisp but there are some flashing and mold line issues.

Detail and molding issues(Click to expand)

The photo to the right shows off both the excellent detail of the model and also the significant mold issue along the outside of the hull.

While it's nothing a hit or two of sandpaper won't cure it's interesting to note the last few ships for Dystopian Wars and Firestorm Armada have both had similar issues to lesser or greater extent.

Port rear quarter view

The design of the ship itself is excellent. With plenty of detail to pick out. I am a fan of the design ethic of the existing E0tBS ships and the Tsukuyomi fits right in.

One of the new features are the metal turrets. these are a new design that look fantastic.

Port Forward view

The Ship is covered with weapons, rockets and lifting fans. Hatches and portholes are also well detailed.

There is an elegance to this design and you can tell the designer gave it a lot of thought.

Overall I love this model. It may be my favorite EotBS design after the Squid! Despite the casting issue I recommend this model completely.

Game Stats:

Topside detail

We will compare the War Gyro with other Large Fliers of the 4 starting Nations.

Stats:

CR/DR: The Tsukuyomi War Gyro has a healthy CR of 6 and DR of 9. This fits in well with the Prussians and Brits who have 6/8 and the FSA with 7/8. The Brits have "Armored Belly" MAR which can bumb their CR up to 9, giving it parity with the Tsukuyomi in some situations. Overall however it is better or equal to the other Large Flyers.

Underside detail

Hull and Defensive Systems:
The one big weakness of the Tsukuyomi over it's competitors is the 7 Hit Points, compared to the 8 points everyone else enjoys. While a single hit point is big it still takes 4 crits to destroy like any other Large Flyer. It has generous AA of 7 and is only bested by the FSA here. It has no CC, which is the same as the FSA and Prussians (only the Brit War Gyro has CC)

The Tsukuyomi does have the least AP (assault points) at 7. however this is still respectable and only 1 less then it's competitors.

Overall the Defensive systems are pretty average, nothing that really stands out but nothing massively handicapping as well.

Fore detail

Weapons:

Here the Tsukuyomi shines. She carries two Battleship class turrets that provide a whopping 13 AD at RB1. No other Large Flier comes close to this amount of direct AD, which is even more potent with it's generous arcs of fire.

She also carries port and starboard rocket batteries that, at their best RB of 3 can pump out 9 AD each.
Lastly she can drop a respectable 9 AD of bombs as well.

Aft.

Lastly, how does the Tsukuyomi compare to the other Large Flyers individually? Let's see.

Vs. FSA:

The FSA has the advantage is base defensive stats. DR/CR is a wash. Weapons wise the Tsukuyomi rules. At RB 3 the FSA can put out 10AD of rockets or 5 AD of direct fire. It's fixed channel rockets and Broadside can't be combined on the same target.

the Tsukuyomi doesn't suffer this limitation and from the broadside can put out 9 AD of direct fire and 9 AD of rockets. Getting closer it only gets worse for the FSA. At RB1 the Tsukuyomi can link it's primary turrets for a massive 20 AD dice. the FSA can't touch this.

Now the FSA flyer is 20 points cheaper but even with this in consideration the Tsukuyomi, with it's weapons suite, is the better ship.

Vs. British:

The Brit also has a slight advantage in basic stats. DR/CR would be a wash except for the Guardian Generator which gives it 2 shields. Giving the Brit an edge.

Weapons wise, again the Tsukuyomi dominates. at RB 3 the Brit War Rotar puts out 3! AD when linking it's two turrets. and not missiles. At RB 1 the Brit puts out 13 AD combined... not too shabby and better than the FSA but still a far cry from the 20 linked AD coming from the Tsukuyomi.

Even with the buffed defensive stats I believe the Tsukuyomi still wins out.

Vs. Prussian

the Prussian airship is an interesting beast. It's the cheapest of the large flyers, a good 35 points less than the Tsukuyomi. The Prussian is covered with Fixed Channel Tesla Coils and a decent broadside.

Stats wise it's a wash with these too, however we should note that the Prussian and Brit have the weakest AA of all the Large flyers at 5. This is problematic when facing lots of rockets!

At the important RB 3 the best the Prussian can do is 4 AD of Tesla from the bow or 1 AD of tesla and 3 AD of broadsides from the broadside... again massively outgunned by the Tsukuyomi.

Short range is better but not by much. At RB 1 best attack is a forward 9AD tesla or from the broadsides 6 AD of Tesla and 7 AD broadside.

In conclusion the Tsukuyomi is a blessing for EotBS players. I feel it's the best of the 4 original factions large flyers by a considerable margin and I'm looking forward to getting this one painted up and on the table soon!

Firestorm Armada - Here comes the Dreadnought!

2011-12-28T21:29:00.000-07:00

The Firestorm Armada universe just got a whole lot bigger

My latest addition to the fleet (click for larger picture)

Scroll to the bottom of this review for the glamour shots!

This review is going to take a look at the Dreadnought for my favorite faction, the Sorylians. The Sorylian Broadsword class Dreadnought represents the largest ship in the Sorylian fleet and in an imposing presence on the battlefield.

The Model:

All the parts

The Broadsword class Dreadnought comes as a single hull, 4 stubby wings and an Engine end cap. All resin and no metal. It also comes with a two peg clear large base and a new format Stats card.

The casting is overall well. I did notice some, what looks like, mold slippage in several of the ships I've recently purchased but nothing major. The Dreadnought was the least obvious and to be honest did not notice it until I started detailed painting. The area most effected was the seem that bisects the round gun deck. Again nothing major and a spot of Sandpaper cleared up most of it.

Fore detail

the hull is covered with gun ports, hull plating and internal ribbing. The detail here is excellent and all the gun ports, even the small ones, were cast perfectly.

Engine Detail

The 4 wings, containing turreted cannons, were also well cast and had no issues. They all fit well into the main hull.

The engine end cap posed the biggest challenge as it was slightly larger (taller actually) then the main hull. I balanced it out so there is a slight overhang. It looks fine though and I only noticed it as a mistake because of the Spartan pre-release renders showing it flush with the hull... again not a problem but something to point out.

Once all glued together the ship is a beautifully imposing chunk of resin.

The cost is pricey ($30 US) but for the size and amount of resin I would say well worth it.

In-Game Stats and Game Value.

The Sorylian Dreadnought is a beast in game as befitting the largest ship in the fleet.

Stats:

The Broadside has a healthy DR of 6 and CR of 12 though not the strongest of the Dreadnought. For example the excellent Dindrenzi Dreadnought is DR/CR 7/13 a single pip better in both categories. The saving grace for the Broadsword is the Shield Generators (2) that balance out the damage potential.

Weapons:

Huge broadsides that max out at 17AD on each side plus a separate Tier 2 weapon that, while not as powerful is better at range, at it's best putting out 7AD at RB 4.

Fore we have the mighty Scatter Cannon, en essence a RB1 shotgun that can but 7AD on EVERY ship in arc and in RB1!

This ship is meant to mix it up with the enemy and is well equipped to do so.

Missing from the Dreadnought are Torpedo tubes, however the Tier 2 weapon system seems to be a superior replacement for them, so there loss is not really felt.

Most of the new Dreadnoughts seem, on the face of it, to be well balanced against one another and the Sorylian Broadsword fits right in. It does everything the battleship can do, only better and with more style.

Adding the ship to the fleet.

I painted up my Dread in my Standard fleet colors, with Tamiya Medium blue spray for most of the ship. GW yellows and browns and for most of the detail and trim. GW Badab Black wash was a life saver on the exposed metal

Aft shot

Overall view

Detail on aft hull

Comparison to Battleship... ain't he cute?

Scale comparison to other Spaceship models...

Dystopian Wars - FSA Valley Class Airship review

2011-12-28T08:50:00.002-07:00

Spartan Games releases continue with new units for Dystopian Wars. Today we are looking at the Federated States of America Valley class large flier.

As usual we will take a look at the model and then the game stats. Painted example will be previewed in a future post.

FSA Valley class Airship (Click for larger image)

The Model itself comes as a single piece made out of resin. this is a nice big hefty ship and looks great. It also comes with a two peg flight stand and stat card.

The model, as is Spartan norm, is beautiful. a giant three dirigible monstrosity that just screams steampunk.

Detail is great with tiny doors, windows, ladders all cast in crisp detail

Top side detail

Like many ships in Spartan's gaming range the bottom of this beauty is just as detailed as the topside.
On the top you have a bridge and detailed turrets.

On the bottom you can make out rows of turrets and an inventive rotary bomb rack! Also the flight stand peg holes are well cast and hold the ship well without additional drilling.

Bottom side detail (Click for larger pic)

One additional note that deserves mention is the fine lattice structure that covers the airship. this detail is very fine and captured without issue.

This couldn't be said for the Lee Scoutships, which have the same feature. Those ships had several casting issues where this detail wasn't formed. The Valley does not have this issue and looks great.

Model Conclusion: Another hit out of the park for Spartan. The ship looks lovely and is well cast with excellent detail. Model-wise there is nothing not to like about this piece.

Rockets fore!!!

Stats:

Classified as a "large Flier" this ship is, in essence a battleship in the sky.

Stats wise this ship is nothing spectacular. In game it costs 130 points, making it significantly cheaper then the FSA Battleship.

This ship appears to be a brawler. It doesn't have the turrets or long range firepower that the FSA Battleship is rightly feared for. Instead it has broadsides that, at Range Band 1, can put out 9 AD each.

Two banks of fixed fore rockets give the Valley a long range punch, but at 7 AD per rack it's not a dominating weapon. Max linked fire can give you 10 AD of rockets in it's preferred Range Band of 3.

Rounding out the armament is the bomb rack. This puppy can drop 9 AD worth of attack dice.

Overall there is no attack this ship can put out that is greater than 10AD. not your typical battleship firepower at all.
Compare this to the Blazing Sun's Tsukuyomi Class War Gyro which can link two main turrets for a whopping 19 AD! almost double the AD of the Valley.
The KoB Eagle War Rotor at short range can pump out a respectable 13 AD attack by linking it's two main turrets.

With the FSA customary high DR rating and average CR rating (7/8) and 8 hit points the Valley class will be able to take some serious damage to bring down. High compliments of AP mean that this ship can fend off most boarding attempts and be able to capture targets of opportunity.

Now, how are FSA players going to use this ship? To me it seems to be up close and in the middle of enemy formations. The only way to counter the higher total linked AD of competing Large Fliers is to make sure that BOTH broadsides can be used on the same turn.

Unlike the FSA battleship the Valley is not at the top of the heap in it's weight class. As a result brute force will not be enough to win. FSA players will need to aggressively maneuver these ships to get the most out of them. Getting them in position to throw more AD means more damage to the enemy and this increases the value of these ships.

The FSA Valley class is a departure from normal FSA tactics and follows the model of the smaller Lee class Scout ships. Rather than large, heavy turret fire these airships are broadside oriented. This means they need tactics that are entirely different from their water bound companions.

Bridge in detail... excellent casting and stand out detail

I find it interesting that the FSA airship fleet, and once we get a FSA small flier can can field an all air army, will play entirely different from the FSA on water. In essence this a stealth faction that will present FSA players with a lot of new options and choices.

Game Stat Conclusion:
This is not a replacement for the FSA battleship and Stats wise it is not a stand out among the other large fliers. FSA players will have to work hard to earn their points with this ship. That said it's not hopeless at all and smart play will reward the player.

Firestorm Armada -Sorylian Destroyer Review

2011-12-12T15:19:00.001-07:00

Spartan Games has kept up a blistering pace of new releases this year and look set to continue into the next. One of the most anticipated releases is the Firestorm Armada Dreadnoughts and Destroyers.

This review looks at the Sorylian Kestros Destroyer. A later review will take a look at the mighty Sorylian Dreadnought.

The Destroyers come packed with two ships, two clear flight stands and a Stats Card.

Model Review

contents of Pack

The Ships themselves are lovely little models. These are single piece models which, unlike the majority of the Sorylian range, which usually contain a metal Engine endcap.

Without the metal endcap these ships look a lot sleeker then most of the Sorylian fleet.

topside detail

Detail is excellent. Sharp and crisp details are something we've come to expect from Spartan and this ship is no different.

I've also got to say that Spartan has improved their peg holes. I had no problems setting the ships on their stands, it fit snug and was level. This has not been the case for a lot of my Firestorm ships which have needed extra drilling to accommodate the stand.

Fore Detail

There is nothing exceptionally amazing in the design of the ship. they fall well within the established look and feel of the rest of the Sorylian fleet. Thankfully staying away from the crazy design of the Sorylian Escort.

Aft detail

The Engines look good, with a fair amount of detail.

Model conclusion:
I prefer the single cast piece over the multi-part standard Sorylian Cruisers. These ships are a sleek and great looking. I recommend these ships to any Firestorm Armada or general Sci-fi fan.

In-game stats and comparison:

R: Heavy Cruiser L: Destroyer

The Destroyer is an entirely new class of ship, not directly related to the current wet-navy interpretation of a Destroyer.

First lets talk about what the ship can do in the game. Destroyers are Cruiser sized ships (4 Hull) with powerful armament.

It's on the slow side for a Cruiser, only 8" versus 10" for the standard Cruiser and Heavy Cruiser.
DR/CR is nothing to special, equal to the standard Sorylian cruiser at 4/7.

The Destroyer is more vulnerable to boarding than all the other Sorylian Cruisers... indicating this ship should not be getting close.

Weapons: This ship's forte is direct fire from the front with a powerful fixed forward cannon that, at it's best range of RB3 puts out a 7 AD attack.

This is almost double the forward cannons on a standard Cruiser.

It can also pump out a small swarm of torpedoes forward as well.

Lastly this ship has the MAR Hidden Hunter... if it's stopped it can not be targeted from RB3 and 4.

So best case attack scenario. A maxed out squadron of 3 Destroyers Target an enemy that is at RB3.
You are firing 13 AD from your cannons (7+3+3) and 8 AD of Torpedoes (4+2+2). Compare this to the Standard Cruiser squadron with 3 Cruisers. They can put out 8AD from their guns and 8AD from torpedoes.

The downside is most of the Destroyers weapons are fixed... once flanked by speedier enemies the Destroyer will be a liability, as at close range the performance of their main weaponry is seriously degraded.
Proper fleet deployment and support will be necessary to make these ships shine

So overall there seems to be a niche for this ship in the Sorylian Navy except for one thing...

Sorylian Gunship

The Sorylian Bombard Gunship fills the same role of Long Range bombardment and is only 5 points more expensive! 75 versus 70.
At RB3, the Kestros's prefered range band, the a three strong Bombard Squadron is pumping out 16 AD of torpedoes! and 9 AD of direct fire.
For those 5 extra points per ship the Bombard also gets higher CR, Hull points, AP and a shield!

Yes, those 16 AD of torps can be intercepted but represent far more firepower for the points increase.
And yes, the Bombard doesn't have the Hidden Hunter MAR, however it does benefit from a shield and higher overall CR...

At an affordable 70 points this ship this ship is a decent option for a Sorylian fleet that plans on fighting on a somewhat open table. However even then the Kestros shouldn't be your first stop... the Bombard, for only 5 points more per ship, is the better deal. Both of these long range "artillery pieces" are in serious trouble when flanked by faster enemies.

The MAR for the Kestros is cool but hard to implement... you must come to a stop to use it, surrendering initiative to the enemy, letting them avoid your RB3 or flank you. Skillfully lead ships can also jump your RB3, getting from RB4 to RB2 in a single move, negating your superior firepower.

Conclusion:

From a model standpoint the Kestros Class Destroyer is a win. Spartan took everything that make the Sorylians cool and puts it in a sleek and deadly looking ship. Price wise it's a good deal as well, with two ships per blister pack.

In Game the value isn't so cut and dried... Playing the Long Range game takes a certain tactical finesse and there is a better option in the Bombard Gunship.

Spartan is to be commended in that we now have 4! choices of Sorylian Cruisers. Each one offers something different and all though some are better deals than others they are all great looking and well matched against the other races in Firestorm Armada.

US Armor Vs. Brit Armor FOW AAR-Lite

2011-12-05T08:05:00.001-07:00

A Quick AAR for Flames of War. Jake and I got a game in this weekend. US Armor vesus British Armor in Late War!

Again this isn't a full AAR, just an overview of the key points.

My List

HQ 2 x M4

Platoon 1: 4 x M4(76)

Platoon 2: 4 x M4

Platoon 3: 4 x M5

Platoon 4: 4 x Hellcats

Platoon 5: 3 x Priests

Platoon 6: 3 x 81mm Armored Mortars

AOP

All Trained.

Jake's 7th Armored

HQ 2 x Cromwells

3 x Cromwell Platoons (3 Cromwells, 1 FF each)

4 Sextons

3 Stuarts

Armored Car platoon

AOP

Reluctant Vet

The British are coming....Everything stacked on their right

Overview... Spearheading Americans are gunshy

US Deployment.... luckily objectives are close enough together that
I can centrally cover both.

First move... Brit Stuarts light up the 2iC and M-20!

Vengeance was swift as Hellcats and 76s destroy the Staurts

Overall action on turn 2! Shermans hiding from Cromwells!

I get my reserves in the right place, Jake Doesn't.
American Stuarts push on an open objective.

Hellcats get bold and pay the price! They pass
Their Moral and I pull the platoon to avoid giving Jake
a Victory Point.

Shermans and Stuarts shoot off the only Cromwells that could contest.
Return fire isn't enough to wipe out the American Stuarts.

End Notes: Jake's reserves didn't do him any good. He thought he could beat me on the objective and left one of his objectives wide open... my Speedy Stuarts made him pay... 6-1 to the Americans and Jake's 7th Armored takes a rare loss.

Weekend Fun - FOW Battle Report

2011-11-30T11:24:00.001-07:00

Last Weekend Jake and I wanted to try out the new Desert Table we've been slowly building. We had recently played in an Early War tournament but did not face each other so we decided to have a grudge match between us!

This is just a quick report... told mainly by pretty pictures, enjoy!

I would be playing my French Armored Company lead by Charles DeGaulle and Jake took a Brit Tobruk Fortified Company. We rolled for the mission and it would be Fighting Withdraw! As always click the images for a larger picture!

Jake Deploying his fortifications... Don't ask about the shirt... teenagers!

French deployment.. Using Degaulle's special rule both the Chars
and R-35s advance closer to the objective

On Jake's left flank the Objective is secured by 18/25 lb guns
and the infantry platoon.

The sparce defenses oposite my Company... but he
did have two Matilda IIs in Ambush.

The Starting Line... Panhards rev their engines

Infantry ready to go...

Chars go wide left....

Panhards run across the open desert to target the observer

French swarm descends on the objective... Matlidas appear in ambush

Smoke Allows the French to close in on the objective with
little return fire...

Laffly AT guns manage to bail one Matilda one turn and
another the next Infantry assault

The Brit CO attaches to try and fight off the assault

Meanwhile Panhards play tag with infantry in trenches

End Game! French Infantry take the Tanks and kill the Brit CO.

6-1 for the French

A relatively lucky game for the French. A combo of the French special rule (Which allowed me to move an objective 4" closer... and successfully making my Degaulle Special moves meant my Chars were 12 inches closer to the objective from the get go.

Unlike the German fortified Company and it's nested 88 there is nothing in the list that can really threaten a Char B from the front.

The Lafflys spit out enough AT 9 that even Matildas aren't safe... he's got to roll a 1 or 2 sometime! In defense of the Brit Fighting Withdraw means he had to protect 3 objectives... so he had to be spread pretty thin...

Least you think I brutalized Jakewe played another round right after this one. French Fort versus Rommel and his 38(t) forces in No Retreat... I was Steamrolled from the beginning to a noble 2-5 loss...

FOW Battle Report! Bring on the Fort!

2011-11-12T18:37:00.001-07:00

It's been a good time to be a Flames of War player with plenty of releases and fun toys to play with. One of the newest and neatest of the new toys is the Desert Fort... A great and affordable model that we will try to review at a later date. For now I was just excited to get it out on the battlefield.

A trip out to a local game store to meet up with some friends provided me an opponent and a table to play on.

I would be playing Sam and his Early War British Rifle Company while I would be fielding a Vichy French Foreign legion with my fort. The die was cast and the battle would be Fighting Withdraw... not the most logical considering I had a fort but what the heck, right?

I took...
HQ
2 x Legion Infantry platoons
4 x 75mm Arty
4 x 75mm SP AA trucks
3 x 25mm AT platoon
3 x R-35s
Fort with 1 broken wall

While Sam took British Guards Infantry

HQ
3 x Guard Infantry platoons
4 x 25lb guns
2 x Matilda IIs
3 x Universal Carriers.

I placed the fort in the middle of my deployment area, making sure I could deploy my 1 objective inside. Sam deployed the other two Objectives on either side. I'll break up the action on each flank.

My Left Flank: would be defended by a Infantry Platoon backed up by the 75mm Arty.
My Right Flank: R-35s and SP 75mm AA...
Fort: Infantry platoon and 25mm AT guns.

British Deployment

For Sam he deployed heavily on my right, with 2 Infantry platoons and the unstoppable Matilda IIs. And set up a diversionary attack on my left with 1 platoon and his Universal Carriers.

Early turns...

Universal Carriers get too close...

Sam starts the game aggressively, with everything but the 25lb guns pushing forward. his Universal Carriers push close to the left objective but are dispatched brutally by combined fire of 25mm AT, 75mm AA and Rifle fire.

On the right the British advance over the rocky hill, with Matildas flanking ...

The situation on the left doesn't look bad for the French, with the Universal Carriers destroyed there is only a single Infantry platoon.

Add caption

The right hand objective is looking a lot more dicey My R-35s and 75mm AA trucks start taking losses...

The 75mm Artillery causes heavy losses to both of the advancing British Infantry platoons. The combination of Vet arty and the 75mm special rule (re-roll misses) cuts them down.

Fearing the loss of the Objective the Foreign Legion platoon moves out from the fort but is terribly shot up for it's efforts.

The British contest the objective... and I have nothing to stop them! The Brits shot up the French infantry as they tried to leave the fort, the R-35s were gone and there was only a single 75mm AA truck Remaining.....

Through pure luck the 75mm AA truck manages to get within 4 inches of the objective in my turn 5... I would be safe temporarily. The Matildas predicable destroy the Truck but not before the Right objective is pulled of the table!

Not everything is coming up roses for the Brits however as they lose a Infantry platoon to Morale and have another platoon knocked to a couple of teams!

In my next turn I have to pull another platoon, I pull the shattered Infantry platoon in the fort... which had been whittled down to one stand.

The not forgotten left flank... The British advance to keep me busy... but they pay the price as the Frenchmen lay accurate rifle fire from the mountain top.

End Game!

I'd dodged a bullet once but things were still looking grim for the French. Two Angry looking Matildas wanted in... I only had my Company Commander in the fort.!

The Matildas roll over the rubble to enter the Fort.. assaulting the CO. Fortunately the Matilda can't machine gun or crush the wily Frenchman... the CO has to fall back, as he is an independent team! can nothing stop these armored behemoths! ?

The Matildas enter the breach!

In direct fire the 75mm gun bails the trailing Matilda with a lucky hit!

The Last French race towards the fort, but I won't be able to get any teams to contest... However, I can get a team within command distance of my CO, just on the other side of the fort wall...

Now, as part of a Platoon, the CO Assaults! The Matilda machine guns hit twice in defensive fire but the wily Frenchman's luck holds out, in return the CO hits the Matilda!

The Matildas are invulnerable to my infantry, their fists pounding uselessly on the outside of the hull.... but the Matilda platoon fails their moral to counter attack! They have to break off and the Bailed out Matilda is captured!

With that the game ends on the last turn with the battered French army withdrawing successfully 5-2

This was a close fought game, and I had a great string of luck in order to pull off a win. I won 5-2 but Sam almost destroyed 2 platoons (R-35s and an infantry platoon) before I withdrew them.

All in all a great battle and one of the most fun ones I've had in a long while! As always Sam was a great opponent!

Looking forward to playing with this list again!

FOW Terrain - Like sand in an hourglass....

2011-11-01T08:38:00.000-07:00

Home Made Wadis!

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This entry we are taking a look at Desert Terrain for Flames of War.

With the release of "Hellfire and Back" and the upcoming release of "Burning Empires" Early War action in the desert has enjoyed a resurgence in popularity. In fact Shifting Sands, the premier Flames of War Tournament in Arizona is themed to the Desert, with a Doubles Early and Mid War 2 day event. (More on Shifting Sands can be found here The Shifting Sands Website

The Tournament is not until February but it's never too early to start on terrain, especially at my slow pace. I wanted to be able to provide at least one table of terrain themed for the desert and I started this project with that goal in mind.

The ground cloth. My wife found a suitable cloth at Joannes fabric store. This was an on sale piece of apposition that has a great suede like texture. With this as my base I decided to scratch build several elements for the board. First up would be a Wadi system. The new "Hellfire and Back" rulebook has rules on a Wadi, or dried river bed. I wanted mine to be modular so I decided on several pieces that could be set up a multitude of ways.

Universal Carrier for scale

The "Wadi System" would be made up of ten pieces some larger than others and including a couple of corner pieces.

I used a jig saw to cut them out and then used a axle grinder to sculpt the edges. I kept the edges a little rough and didn' try to tidy up any mistakes.

I tried to create several long pieces of terrain that would act as good linear obstacles and help block line of sight.

Once I had the pieces cut out and shaped I realized they were a little too light and decided to add MDF bases to all of the pieces. I traced my pre cut pieces and then cut them out with the Jigsaw and then edged them with the axle grinder. Using wood glue I glued them all together and set them to dry in the Arizona heat.

While the Wadi System was drying I also created some palm tree and rough ground templates.

These are simply MDF templates cut out with a jigsaw with some Woodland Scenics Palm Trees and plaster Rock casts rounded out the bases.

Making Terrain can be a family project, here my little one is painting one of the templates with textured paint.

Now we return to the Wadi System.

With the foam now glued to the base we cast some plaster rock faces using Woodland Scenic plaster rock kits. We just cast a bunch,broke them into small shapes and glued them randomly along the sides of the Wadi.

There is a trade-off between building hyper-realistic terrain and building terrain that is gaming friendly. While an expertly build hill is a joy to behold on the table it can be a real challenge to balance your miniatures on them. The other exterme can result in the "Cake Tier" effect, with the final result being great for placing miniatures but looks artificial on the table.

Before flocking

To round out the project we just coated the Wadi with textured paint (I just dumped sand into my paint) and coated them. A dry brush with an off white finished the effect.

flocking added

In some spots the plaster rocks didn't fit completely flush with the foam, so in that case we used railroad ballast and flocking to hide it.

I completed 10 pieces, enough to fill almost one whole side of a standard 4 x 6 table...

Or opposite corners like this....

The point of the build was to make something totally modular and able to uniquely configure each time we set up.

All in all it was fun building them and even more fun playing on them!

Enjoy!

Flames of War Tourney report - Soviet Steel -Made in the USA!

2011-10-17T11:04:00.000-07:00

This last weekend saw another Flames of War Tournament here in Phoenix. This event was hosted at Imperial Outpost, a great game store with friendly staff. If you are in north Phoenix or anywhere close I recommend you check them out!

The Tournament had no theme, just a straight up 1500 point Late War Battle. We had 18 players show up as well, a great turnout!

For this battle I wanted to take the new Plastic Soldier Company's new Sherman tanks. I build 15 of them for a fun little Soviet List. Unlike most tournaments I actually got to play a couple of Practice games.

My list was something like this...

HQ
10 x Sherman (76)
5 x Sherman (76)
3 x SU-100

No infantry but at 1500 points the budget was pretty tight, hopefully I wouldn't feel their absence.

My Son Jake would be taking his British 7th Armored. He has plenty of experience throwing Cromwells around but this would be his first outing at 1500 points.

Jake setting up for Hold the Line.

First Round game set me up against Sam on the Table that Jake and I brought!
The battle would be Hold the Line.

I actually played Sam early in the week as Practice and had lost horribly! Would history repeat itself or would vengeance be mine?
Sam had German Falshirmjagers from Casino... 2+ Moral checks on Platoons and Company! Here is a pic of his elite German troops.

Sam's Troops!

He had some Tank busting, the Marders and 88's scared me the most, the StuGs could be troublesome but I like my odds pitting them against the Sherman 76.

Sam was obviously defending in this mission. He deployed StuGs, and a meaty Infantry platoon and placed his 88s in ambush.

Sneaky German defenses... somewhere 88s are hiding.

My Shermans at the starting line!

I hoped to push the left flank and survive the 88 ambush before pushing on. In practice I've found mass AT 12 fire to be intimidating and effective.

Sam's excellently modeled 88s spring their ambush!

...and takes out 2 tanks!

The Ambush hurt but it wasn't too bad and the 88s could now be screened by the woods while I dealt with the StuGs.... Unfortunately a good reserve roll sees the Marders join the fun...

Sweeping right to avoid the 88s!

Sam starts a very effective dance, using storm trooper moves to evade my return fire. I try to minimize my losses while waiting for him to fail a Stormtrooper or bog test.

lots of stuff happening!!

The massive amount of fire I can put out starts to tell. Sam starts losing his StuG's and I start snipping out his 88s. The Marders fail a Stormtrooper and a round of shooting takes them out.

Pushing forward!

With most of the German AT assets dealt with it's just a matter of dealing with his deadly Infantry platoons.

My Small Sherman platoons runs rampant

In the backfield my small Sherman platoon runs rampant, wiping out the Mortar platoon and the MG platoon, forcing Sam to a Company check.

Flanking with the SU-100s and a Sherman platoon

My SU-100s launch and assault but are easily repulsed. This would be a mistake as they lose two and fail moral! cursed Fearless!!!

My next platoon goes in, assaulting the infantry... This assault goes well. I win after several rounds and push Sam off the objective.
At the start of Sam's turn he makes a company moral test... 2+ should be easy to make... until he rolls a 1! Ouch! 5-2 victory to the Soviet Shermans.

This battle was a blast. Sam is a great player and fun to play against. He would get my Sportsmanship vote!

Lessons learned: Always keep in mind there are two ways to win, take the objective or force the enemy to fail their company moral. I shouldn't have assaulted with my SU-100s but at the time it looked like a good move... oops!

Next battle was against Tim and his Soviet Infantry list.

Lots of Armor in this infantry list!

We would be playing Free for All on this wide open board.

My large Sherman company on the left, small Sherman company on the right and the SU-100s hanging in the middle for snipping duty.

Tim would push his assault up my left flank, leading with his mixed t-34 platoon of 10 tanks. His Assault guns would also sit back in the snipping roll, fortunately my SU-100s would out range his guns.

The Anvil of Tim's army!

Tim's t-34's move up to attack my Shermans... I take some losses the first turn but my return fire is very effective. Gun tanking the T-34/85s proves the key.

I'm able to force a company check, which he fails! This reduces the pressure somewhat, the only other dangerous long range AT he has are his assault guns, which over the course of 3-4 turns my SU-100s knock out.

Conscripts wade across the river into machine gun fire... with predictable results.

The Conscripts keep me tied up enough that I can't force the objective in the 2 hour time allowed. Tim's force bravely (and repeatedly) made it's Battalion moral test to stay in the game and deny me a win. 3-1 to me.

Lessons learned: Play faster! Once I removed all of Tim's AT threats he played a masterful delay game. While I did end up killing 4 platoons and only lost 4 tanks it wasn't enough.

Once again the Sherman 76 did not let me down... I'm loving these things!

Round 3: If you follow my battle reports you may notice I take less and less pictures as the day goes on and I get more tired... So I apologize for the lack of pictures in my last game... however, based on the outcome I might just want to block it from my memory!

I played Shane the last round in a new mission from Hellfire and Back called Dust-Up!

He fielded a lot of heavy armor in the form of a Soviet Assault Gun Company.

Shane's initial deployment

My plan, for what it was worth, was to hunker down on the only piece of terrain in my corner until my reserves showed up.

my initial deployment

He's heavy armor rolled forward, bouncing my AT 12 shots with impunity, I did bail a couple but they climbed right back in. Things were looking okay if I could hold on until reserves showed up.

Alas it wasn't to be... Shane's reserves rolled in on turn 3 and my lonely little hill turned into Custer's last stand! When turn 7 rolled around I still had failed all reserve rolls, that's 5 dice of reserves on my last turn!

His tanks finally cornered my, losing my 6 sherman put me at a company test, for which I duly roll a 1, and then the Battalion commander re-roll and then another 1! -Sam I feel your pain now!

I lose 6-1

Great game... I had bad luck but Shane was relentless and played very well, giving me no other options.

Lessons learned: Odd number of platoons stinks! oops!

I finished with a mere 9 points but had a good performance. I only lost 2 platoons the whole game and my Shermans were a real stand out. Against other medium tanks that Front Armor 7 is great and AT 12 is wonderful in massive quantities!

As a side note my son won the Tournament... with a 15 points! Has the learner become the master? perhaps... but probably not :-)

For me I had three great games against three really fun players. I look forward to playing them again!
I like my sherman list... I'd like to add a few more as well as some tank riders to the 1750 point version.

Here are some random pictures of pretty miniatures from the rest of the tournament.

My sons only platoon loss all tourney.

lots of soviets showed up here!

Thanks for stopping by!

Sherman Showdown! Battlefront versus Plastic Soldier Company

2011-09-21T09:53:00.000-07:00

Today we take a look at the M4 Sherman (76mm) tank from both Battlefront and Plastic Soldier Company.

Battlefront is the big kid on the block when it comes to WW2 Historical miniatures in 15mm. They produce some beautiful stuff, however the downside is that it can be pricey, with a single blister pack (That's one tank!) for over 12 US dollars.

Plastic Soldier is the new kid on the block, can they knock Battlefront from the top spot?

First up we look at Battlefront's entry.

BF Hull and Turret

For this review I am using the Russian lend lease version of the M4 (76). The Blister is the Russian Hero Loza. This model runs $12.50 retail.

The model itself is a resin, plastic hybrid. The Hull and Turret are resin while the tracks and accessories are on their new plastic Sherman track frame.

The hull and turret are well sculpted and are up to Battlefront's usual level of detail. One feature I LOVE about this model is the driver sticking his head out of the hatch. Great detail.

BF Sherman Track frame

The Hull is also covered with detail like tow cables, gas cans, etc.

The Track frame is a great addition. Track detail is excellent and, importantly, in one piece.

Overall the BF Sherman is a beautiful little tank. It captures the lines of the Sherman quite well and looks great when painted up.

In the other corner is theM4A2 Sherman box set from the Plastic Soldier Company(PSC). In the box you get 5 all plastic kits for $28.00.

First thing you notice is the great wealth of options on the frame. Two turrets, one for the 75mm and 76mm versions. Gas tanks, spare track are all options.

Assembly is not as easy as Battlefront, these are more accurately described as little model kits, rather than gaming miniatures. Assembly is pretty straight forward save for the track assembly. The tracks are the main downside for these kits. Each track has 4 pieces, 2 track links, top and bottom, wheels and extra wheel. The fitting of the track itself, in clam shell fashion is just horrible.

Besides the track assembly the rest of the kit is a breeze and actually fun to assemble. At a little under 6 bucks a tank these are half the price of the BF equivalent.

On to the comparison

Round 1: Tracks

BF Track on top, PSC on bottom

The BF tread wins this round hands down. The Single piece BF track is well detailed and easy to assemble.

The PSC tread is also well detailed, but the track links fit poorly. This piece is very fiddly to glue together and was the most frustrating part of the build.

WINNER: Battlefront

Round 2: Turret

BF on left, PSC on right

The turret is the most different between the two models. The BF turret is longer taller, the PSC turret is wider and shorter. The Oversized BF barrel also makes it appear that the BF turret is larger.

Overall both turrets look good. The BF one is well sculpted and the PSC looks good and has the option of adding additional stowage.

Aesthetically I like the look of the BF Turret, however by my purely subjective opinion it looks like the PSC is more accurate in overall shape.

The BF Barrel is over-sized but looks good.

WINNER: Battlefront by a hair!

Round 3: Hull

BF on left, PSC on right

The Hulls from both companies are pretty good. The PSC Hull is shorter in overall length, but not by much. The BF Hull is taller in height.

The PSC Hull is barren of detail, most of which can be added optionally from the frame. The Battlefront model has the details and stowage modeled on. Again the shape is slightly different but overall this one is a wash.

WINNER: Tie!

Round 4: Everything together

PSC tan colored tank, BF Black tank

Coming into the final round the BF tank has been leading.

However assembling everything actually gives us two very nice looking tanks. Put side by side the differences in Hull, turret and tracks become minimized.

The BF tank is still noticeable larger then the PSC tank but painted up I don't think the difference would be that noticeable.
Overall Winner: Plastic Soldier Company.

PSC (Right) gap in the tracks

Final Thoughts:

The PSC Sherman is a neat little model kit. The model is well detailed and has plenty of extra stowage that can be glued on. The down side is it's harder to assemble then the BF one... especially the tracks!

You can see in the picture to the left the gap in the tracks that will need to be corrected.

The cost of these models is excellent and makes these little tanks well worth the money.

The BF Sherman is a great model, well sculpted and detailed. It looks great on the table. The plastic tracks are great! The only downside to the Battlefront model is the price. 12.50 for a single Sherman is too expensive. With some American lists that can run over a dozen Shermans, or Russian lists that can run over 2 dozen, the cost quickly adds up!

Overall the PSC offering is a great kit, and at it's current price point there is no reason not to recommend them. The track fitting issue aside I recommend these little kits as an excellent option in Flames of War.

There is nothing wrong with the BF Sherman, save it's price. I would actually prefer BF Shermans over the PSC offering if it weren't for the price.

As always I'd love to hear back from the readers. What do you guys think of these models? What is your experience?

On the Workbench - FOW French

2011-09-19T08:20:00.000-07:00

Flames of War French...

French AMD-35

There is something about the Early War French that struck a cord with me. Maybe it's the cool looking tanks, or the interesting paint scheme. Regardless my collection continues to grow.

Here are the latest French units on my workbench.

The AMR-35, Wiki entry here , is a tiny tank. This small platoon is destined for my French Recon list, they are an inexpensive option that are also very cool looking.

These little tanks are from Battlefront and come 3 to a blister pack, at under 10 bucks each, while not cheap they are affordable. Assembly was easy and, as a nice touch, it comes with Turrets for both variants. In the photos you can hopefully see one of the tanks as having a longer Machine Gun.

The Autocar 75mm Anti-Tank platoon. This thinks look awesome, look at the old timey car with a giant rotating 75mm Anti Aircraft gun.

I must admit I bought these guys purely based on looks. I will field them but game wise they take second seat to the much more usefully Laffly 47mm AT platoon.

Model wise these things are great, a big rotating turret and a car with deployed jacks and stabilizers. And check out the spokes on those wheels!

Lastly we have a French 25mm anti tank gun platoon.

I've assembled the guns, the gunners will go into my VERY long infantry painting queue. These little guns are great models and go together with no problems. They will give my Infantry and Mechanized list a little extra Anti- tank punch!

These little guns are only 50 points in game for a platoon of 3. nice!

Thanks for stopping by and look for more updates soon!

Flames of War - French versus Rommel!

2011-09-06T13:12:00.000-07:00

I've been collecting the Battlefront French since they were released but sadly the number of Early War games I have played with them can still be counted on one hand. This battle would be #5!

This weekend my 17 yr. old Son Jake and I busted out the Flames of War board and got in a game of Early War!

My Son took his Panzer Company, with only 4 platoons. However his force was lead by Rommel himself! granting any Platoon Rommel joins with 3+ Motivation and a re-roll on Stormtrooper! This would cause me no end of trouble.

HQ: 2 x PZ 38(t)
5 x PZ 38(t)
4 x PZ IIC
Kradschutzen Platoon (Motor Bikes)
88 Luft Anti Tank platoon

I took a French Recon Company with

HQ: 1 Hotchkiss H35
5 x Panhards (Armored Cars)
3 x Hotchkiss (short barrel)
3 x Hotchkiss (short barrel)
4 x Somau S-35
4 x Laffly 47mm AT Trucks
1 x Infantry Platoon
4 x 105mm Arty Battery

We rolled Free for All as the mission. I used the French special Rule to deploy the objective 4" closer to my side.

here's the table...

Setup: Jake deployed his Motorbikes on foot, surrendering the initiative and deciding to dig them in on one of his objectives. They would be backed up by the Panzer II (c) platoon. On my right flank he would protect that objective with his Panzer 38(t)s. His 88s were placed in the middle to over-watch both objectives.

I placed a Hotchkiss Platoon and an Infantry platoon on my Left Objective.

Left Deployment zone - Hotchkiss's have re-conned forward

I placed the Panhards on the road so they could drive up the middle.

On my right I stacked everything else, Somua's, Hotchkiss, Laffly Trucks all raring to go.

On the right - Hotchkiss recon forward!

Opening Moves... Recon moves make me pretty mobile. The most exciting thing in the first turn is the Panhards racing up the road and machine gun one of the 88s before it can dig in.

I went on the offensive early, moving all my armor up on the right flank. I liked my odds against the Panzer 38(t) swarm.

Viva la France!!! Moving out!

The Germans counter...

Sneaky Germans use Stormtrooper to deny French shooting

French tanks move into position.

It was a cat and mouse game on the right flank, with the Panzers doing their best to stay hidden. Rommel's stormtrooper re-roll was essential, meaning he gave the French very few shots in return.

The Laffly trucks, ( one of the few french units that can move and shoot!) takes on the Panzers!!!

Laffly trucks right before being gunned down.

But the attack is a failure, Panzers are bailed but the crews bounce right back in. Rommel giving them a 3+ Motivation!

In the middle the Panhards trade shots unsuccessfully with the Panzer IIc... I can't make a firepower to save my life, but then neither can the Germans!

Bail tokens for everyone!!!

Back on the left side, the Hotchkisses move out, are forced to Reorganize, and move back in.. .again bails all around but very few tanks are destroyed.

The Germans launch a risky assault to chase away the Hotchkiss tanks...

And it goes poorly.

Two turns sees the Infantry wiped out. The way to the objective looks open! This would be deceptive, as the Hotchkiss tanks would spar with the Panzer IIs for the rest of the battle.

Charge forward!

On the Right I have to push the issue. I pull up to the hedges, hoping that the Germans will whiff their shots and then can't stormtrooper too far away!

German fire is heavy but crucially the 88 misses with all three shots! thank you Mr. Hedges. I manage to kill several 38(t)s and hose down the last 88 with MG fire.

Finally getting some 38(t)s into the gunsites

Sneaky Germans re-deploys with Stormtrooper

I'm not having enough luck hunting the Germans in the hedges and need to force the issue. I'm losing tanks at an alarming rate. I push my remaining tanks onto the objective! He will have to expose his armor to contest!

Swirling armor battle... man those 38(t)s are fast.

HA! now I am killing 38(t)s but I'm also losing tanks at an alarming rate. After 4-5 turns of trading shots I'm down to a single Somau and the Company HQ Hotchkiss... Jake is down to the Platoon Commander 38(t) and Rommel...

In my last turn I manage to kill the last 38(t), Rommel hops into his tank... Yeah! the Germans have no way to contest

[Note: upon further investigating we learned that Jake did NOT have to have Rommel take over the other tank He could have sacrificed Rommel to keep his one remaining platoon Commander contesting]

On the German players turn the Panzer IIc Platoon proves to be the key to German Victory. They bail the remaining Hotchkiss tank on the left flank, causing a morale check which I fail, which puts me below half of my starting platoons and I fail Company morale! curses!!!

The Germans win a very close, and fun, game 4-3...

Lessons learned:

I learned I hate Rommel. His special rules are awesome and save the Germans on several turns. Re-rolling Stormtrooper is huge!

It wasn't until I parked on the Objective and MADE him come to me that I had a chance. My Artillery was useless in this battle, it was out of position and I kept forgetting to move the observer into better positions.

All in all a really fun battle. Early War means a lot less kills and a lot more bailed out tanks. I'm looking forward to playing more Early War battles.

Dystopian Wars! The Blazing Suns are coming!

2011-09-06T09:56:00.000-07:00

Welcome back intrepid readers!

With several friends starting up Dystopian Wars locally my son and I were inspired to do some more work on our fleets. This update is on my neglected Blazing Suns fleet. I purchased one of the amazing Ika Squid models and just love it... renewing my interest in the Blazing Suns!

The fleet so far!

I decided to go with a very simple paint scheme in order to get them on the table as fast as possible.

1. sprayed the models black

2. Overcoat with a spray of white, leaving a hint of dark in the recesses

3. Paint the decks brown, guns Bolt Gun metal, Stacks and bow Red.

4. Take a big brush and wash with GW Gryphonne Sepia (Man these GW Washes are awesome)

5. Paint Brass parts

6. Detail as needed

This method is fast and gives you the option of going back and adding details (Eventually I'll add another layer of highlight to the decks)

Still some highlighting but you get the idea

An unsuspecting KoB Battleship is attacked by an Ika!

All in all the Blazing Suns have some amazing designs. I'm glad I selected them as my "second" fleet after the Federated States of America.

Enjoy!

Dystopian Wars Review - The FSA Dreadnought review - Part 1

2011-07-11T20:57:00.000-07:00

Dystopian Wars added the big boys to the line-up. Ships so massive they make Battleships look puny in comparison. I refer to none other than the FSA Enterprise class Dreadnought!

This article will take an initial look at this beast of a ship and Part 2 will cover the build up and ship discussion.

The Model: The FSA Dreadnought package comes in 7 parts. The main hull, Bridge, 2 modules and 3 metal turrets. It also comes with a Stat card for the ship.

As with all of Spartan Games models the resin is excellent, with plenty of detail on the hull. The deck of the Dreadnought is festooned with hatches, stairs and other crisp details.

Major parts of the Dreadnought

Detail on the aft of the Dreadnought, click for a high res pic!

Dry-fitted together

Size wise this thing is a monster. The FSA battleship is appears small and sleek next to the Dreadnought.

FSA Battleship and Dreadnought

Overview shot

From the front.

All in all a beautiful little (well not so little model) ship that I look forward to painting up.

Look for part II shortly, where we paint this bad-boy and talk about the game stats.

Enjoy!

Dystopian Wars: FSA Battleship review

2011-07-05T13:14:00.000-07:00

Dystopian Wars - FSA Battleship review

Dystopian Wars (DW) is the latest miniatures game from the fine folks at Spartan Games. DW follows the footsteps of Spartan’s early games Uncharted Seas and Firestorm Armada.

Dystopian Wars treads into the popular sub genre of Steam Punk and Alternate History presenting a global conflict that takes place in the 1870s. Current participants in this struggle include the Kingdom of Britannica, the Federated States of America, The Blazing Sun and the Prussian Empire. More about the game itself, including my review can be found in an upcoming blog entry.

This entry is the first look at one of the main ships available in the game’s initial release. The Federated States of America Independence Class Battleship.

As in earlier reviews I’ll cover the model itself and then, for those that are still interested, look at it’s stats and in game performance.

I received the FSA fleet box as a early Christmas present (shout out to James, thanks buddy!) and have yet to be disappointed with a Spartan Games release and their win streak continues with this release.

Now let’s talk about the battleship itself. Each faction has it’s own style that provides a diverse range of of ship styles. The design style of the Federated States of America hearkens back to the big paddle wheel steamers of the of the 19th Century. Also evident, in the low draft and large turrets of the FSA ships, is the lineage to historical ships like the USS Monitor.

The model itself is a beauty. It’s a little bit smaller then it’s Firestorm Armada Battleship equivalent but still impressive in size compared to the other ships and packed with Details.

The Model comes with 5 parts. The main Hull, 2 main turrets and 3 optional modules (a rocket battery, Shields or Engine boost) The ship can only hold one of these at a time but can swap them out between battles.
The hull: the resin hull is a beauty. It’s a low draft ship like all FSA ships but has pleasing lines, looking closely you can see the ship pocked with windows and hatches. The little touches really make the ship stand out. I love the ends of the smoke stacks, great detail overall.
The hull is festooned with many smaller turrets, both secondary and AA turrets are evident and easy to tell apart. Both also have a certain Steam punk charm to them. (I especially like the little AA guns with large gears)

Painting in progress... lots of wood decking!

The turrets are the only metal parts and are suitably detailed. These single barrel turrets are impressive, they are opened topped and if you look closely you can actually see the loading mechanism and the ring of shells waiting to be loaded into the gun!

The optional modules are well done as well. the Rocket Module is the most visually exciting with batteries of rockets pointing skywards, the rockets red glare indeed!

Model Rating: 5 out of 5

In Game

Stats:

the Battleships in the game are pretty similar in basic stats. The FSA Battleship has a DR (Damage Rating) of 7 which is the highest of the battleships. The all important CR (Critical Rating) is a healthy 10. Not the top of the heap but not too shabby either. Like 3 out of the 4 initial battleships the FSA Battleships defensive stats like the AA (anti Air) rating is slightly higher then their CC (Concussion Charges against subs and torps) rating. There is no real standout advantage or disadvantage in the basic stat lines of this battleship. In this area I would rate most battleships equal with perhaps the Prussian BB being slightly higher

MARS: This are special rules that give the ship character and flavor. The FSA Battleship has the “Maneuverable” special rule as well as “Sharpshooters”

Maneuverable: this sounds like a great bonus. Being able to use those large paddle wheels to spin in place. In practice it may be hard to use, as it commits you to at least 2 turns of NO forward movement. Further testing will bear out the usefulness of this rule, though props to Spartan for making a the FSA’s unique propulsion system have it’s own rule. Also I can see this being very handy in any games that have narrow channels of water, River battles for example, might see this rule shine.

Sharpshooters: This allows you to try to “pick off” enemy AP (assault points) before boarding. Nifty if Boarding Assaults are your game.

Weapons:

The most powerful linked attack would be the two main (Primary) turrets.
Range Band 1: 18 AD (At -1 to hit)
Range Band 2: 15 AD
Range Band 3: 12 AD
Range Band 4: 9 AD

In Range Band 1 linked attacks put the FSA Battleship in last place, with the Blazing Sun BB putting out 19 AD at RB1 and 21AD for the Brits and Prussians.
While this seems to indicate the FSA battleship is the weakest of the lot there are a couple of mitigating factors.

One, optional Modules, the other factions (Save Blazing Suns) must give up at least one of their turrets (With a commiserate drop in total AD) to add a module. The FSA gives up their Rocket system for the same option.
For example if all 4 factions Battleships mount a Shield module then the numbers shake out quite differently. The FSA Battleship remains constant at 18 AD, the Prussians drop to 16AD and the Brits to 17AD. Only the Blazing Sun Battleship remains the same at 19AD.

Two, with one two large turrets, as opposed to the KoB Battleship's 4 Turrets, you lose less attack dice per damage you receive. For example an FSA battleship takes 2 damage, it’s main guns are reduced by 2 AD each for a total loss in 4 AD in theoretical maximum firepower. A KOB Battleship taking the same 2 damage loses a total of 8 AD (2 for each of the 4 turrets) Attrition is rougher on multi turret ships like the KOB and PE Battleships.

On the other end of the range spectrum nothing trumps the FSA battleship in Range Band 4 (24”-32” away)

FSA RB4: 9AD
Brit RB4: 5 AD
Prussian RB4: 4AD
Blazing Sun RB4: 4 AD

For Prussian and British Admirals sacrificing a Turret for a module the numbers get even worse.

Stats and personal experience indicate that the FSA Battleship is great in a long range run duel. Once the enemy has taken even minor damage then closing in becomes viable.

Points wise the FSA Battleship comes in on the low scale. costing 170 points to most battleships 180. Not a huge difference in points (less then the cost of a frigate) so we shouldn’t see a dramatically less powerful ship. The Savings you get with a Battleship and the even cheaper FSA Carrier means you may be able to deploy an extra Cruiser or frigate over your opponent.

All in all I heartily recommend Dystopian Wars in General and the FSA Battleship in Particular. A great sculpt and a great model in battle. It’s truly a stand out unit for the FSA!

Flames of War Review - French Early War Laffly W15 TCC Tank Hunters

2011-07-03T12:46:00.000-07:00

Flames of War Review - French Early War Laffly W15 TCC Tank Hunters

Battlefront releases the latest in their trickle of Early War releases. French players can rejoice as the W15 TCC tank hunters join the battle... These little trucks, with a massive 47mm anti-tank cannon grafted on the back, are a welcome addition to the growing French EW line.

The models themselves are the usual Battlefront quality... which is very good. For such a small vehicle there are a lot of pieces to assemble. The casting is crisp with good detail with little flash or cleanup needed.
The crew are also nice but I would have preferred a little more variety in the poses. There is a lot of internet complaining about the French Adrian Helmets despite this I like them. Yes there are over-sized but at tabletop distance you can still get the impression of the shape of the helmet. To each their own!

Lots of pieces!

Assembly: assembly is pretty straight forward, though watch out when gluing the struts for the roof, these are tiny and easy to mis-align. Also the little wheels at the front are also a pain to glue but the fit is just fine.

Normally I would paint the crew separate but due to the small size and position of the crew I decided to glue them on first and then paint the whole thing. This meant I had to leave the armored roof off until I was done, it would be the only way to get to the drivers.

First truck coming along

Gun added, about to glue the tiny wheels

All the trucks assembled.

Crew added... I would not glue the roofs on until after they were painted.

One last assembly note, I found, after I had painted everything, that the helmets of the drivers were too tall to allow the roof to sit flush on the truck. I had to take a file to 4 of the 5 drivers heads and sand about half of the helmet off to get the roof to fit! This may or may not be a model issue... it could just be I didn't fit the driver down as far as possible before I glued them in.

First four W15's off the assembly line

The command Truck...

Gaming with the Laffly W15 TCC

These little guys are monsters. The are fully armored (granted it's all armor 0 but it's better then a transport save!). Movement is the only downside as they are treated as Wheeled for movement. The star of the show is the excellent 47mm Anti-tank gun. While it doesn't have H.E. it has ROF 3, AT 9 that will intimidate almost any Early War tank! Since it is hull mounted it can even fire on the move, which French tanks can't do! The AA machine gun can protect you from Infantry and air attacks!

I've been looking forward to these models since the release of Blizkrieg last year. I've pointed out both a Recon and Infantry list that feature these as the main Anti-tank component of those lists.

I would recommend these models to any French player as they are not only a great model in and of itself but also a powerful part of the French arsenal.

Viva la France!

Flames of War Battle Report - Shifting Sands 11!

2011-05-20T08:53:00.000-07:00

Welcome back everyone, sorry for the delay in updating the blog. Real life and a new baby at home have slowed my gaming and blogging.

May 14-15th saw Shifting Sands 11 come and go. Shifting Sands is the premier Flames of War Tournament in AZ and was held in Mesa at Empire Games. This year’s theme was the Korsun Pocket so only Germans and Russians would be allowed.

I only had the makings of a German army but decided to let my son, Jake, take it. I would build a Russian army from scratch. And I needed to do it on the cheap.

Since I’m not a Russian player we didn’t have much to start with. We had a box of Katyusha Rocket Launchers and a few blisters of Infantry we had won at a tournament several years previously.

Huge Russian Infantry swarms would be fun but I wouldn’t have time, or the inclination, to paint that many infantry stands in such a short period of time. T-34 swarms could also be fun but the cost for 20+ odd tanks would be too much. I decided to go with IS-2 Heavy Tank Company. My Birthday came and went and I found myself in possession of 2 IS-2 box Sets.

My list was as follows

HQ: 1 x IS-2
Platoon 1 : 5 x IS-2
Platoon 2 : 3 x IS-2
Platoon 3 : 2 platoon Engineer Infantry Co.
Platoon 4: 2 x Katys with extra loaders

My Russian Heavy Tank Battalion

Small, compact and powerful, should be fun to play.

Round 1:

Versus Jeff in No Retreat!

Jeff had a tough looking list with Panthers (Bane of the IS-2) Tigers supported by Arty, AA and recon.

Special rules for this scenario included having all my tanks on the board bailed on turn one (Surprise!) and a mysterious fog bank, placed by me.

I kept my large IS-2 platoon in ambush and my Infantry holding the Objectives.

Jeff main line of attack was up my right flank, using the fog bank as concealment. Halftracks followed by Panthers pushed into the Smoke. I countered with my newly arrived IS-2 platoon (The small ones). With 4 Panthers pushing into the fog I foolishly threw my 3 IS-2s against them. After two rounds of shooting I had miraculously survived. Killing 3 Panthers for the loss of 1 of my IS-2’s, the Ambush of the other IS-2s took care of the half tracks and AA, giving Jeff nothing on my side of the board.!

Russian Defenses - Germans push the right flank

IS-2s counter the German Advance

Panthers charge in, looking for a fight.

After the fire two Panthers are brewed up.

Ambush is finally popped

End game!

6-1 victory to me.

Wrap up: Fun Game, Jeff is a great guy and always fun to play. His luck wasn’t with him today. My List performed well, the IS-2s survived all the long range Tiger fire and artillery bombardments Jeff threw at them.

Game 2: Breakthrough versus Tim P.

Tim is a great guy who I’ve seen at many events but had yet to play. This game was great fun. As per the Event rules I would be Defending with my Tank co. (Soviet Relief forces auto defend first three rounds) versus his German horde. Large German Infantry platoons, with a platoon of Tigers, and Brumbars in support.

The line was drawn and my 5 strong IS-2 Platoon was deployed out in the open and across from them Tim deployed his Tigers and Brumbars. My Infantry would, unsuccessfully as it turned out, try to book it to the objective and dig in. The rest of my army, due to scenario rules, was in reserve.

This mission would also see the use of the Freeze/Thaw token. Giving each side a 50-50 chance of each turn having Frozen ground(no effect) or Thaw (Difficult terrain for ALL vehicles)

The IS-2s took the initial German volley with little damage and return fire was brutal, Despite German smoke, air attacks and difficult terrain after several turns of shooting the IS-2 had vanquished the Tigers and Brumbars. However I did lose my second platoon of IS-2s to an assault by the German Pioneer platoon. Not before they killed the last Tiger though.

However the German Armor sacrifice was worthwhile. Arriving German reserves squashed the Russian Engineers, giving Tim the win on the objective.

IS-2 duke it out with Tigers and Brumbars

Germans nab the objectives fast

Slow moving Russian Infantry can't get to the objective in time

field littered with destroyed German tanks

Gunning for the last Brumbar, IS-2s go on the offensive

Loss 3-4

My IS-2s performed great. Going toe to toe with Tigers and Brumbars and coming out ahead. The Russian Infantry didn’t do so well, Rifle teams aren’t putting out enough firepower to stop the enemy from sitting on the Objective. There was not enough time to extract my IS-2s from their fight and get them over to the objective in time to contest.

Game Three: Free for All versus Jake H.

Ah, sweet, I thought. I get to battle my very own son.
Jake’s list was StuGs, Stug Riders, and Tigers backed up by a healthy number of Rocket Launchers.

My Deployment was separated by a large wood, so there would be two distinct sides to the battle, all the action would go down on my Right flank.
My son will typically show no fear and his charged forward with his Tigers and a platoon of StuGs, covered by smoke.

The Battle was short, bloody and ugly. I couldn’t roll a 5 or 6 to save my life and Jake’s tanks took out 2 of my IS-2’s bailed one and a failed moral check later gave the Victory to Jake.

My Son setting up his Nebbels

The German left flank

Russian right flank

Germans dash in on my right flank

Closest my forces get to a German objective before they are pulled back

IS-2s dash through the wood, too late to save the Day

Tigers take on an IS-2

Close range furball

The fight does not go well for the Russians

More IS-2s arrive only to see the Germans claim victory

Too little to late... curses!

1-6 loss!

This was the first time my IS-2s let me down. I couldn’t hit the broadside of a barn and Jake used his smoke very effectively to mask his charge in. In hindsight I should have rushed up my left flank with my Infantry and short IS-2 Platoon, which would have given my a good chance of overrunning the single StuG platoon protecting that Objective.

So I end Day 1 in the middle of the pack with a paltry 10 points but had 3 really fun battles against three great guys. The highlight for me though would be seeing my son playing well and enjoying himself. He would end the day with 17 points)

DAY 2.

The scuttlebutt is that the Russians were taking a beating in the tournament so far, the challenge was to keep those pesky Germans in the pocket!

Game 4: Cauldron versus Brandon

Brandon was very friendly. He was from the Tuscon contingent and was fielding a Tiger Co with 8 Tigers and not much else. While I like the IS-2 in this matchup Brandon rolled well with his Tiger Aces Skills, all but one platoon had ROF 3! ouch!
The Scenario was stacked against the Germans from the beginning. As the Defender I had an immediate ambush, as the attacker in Cauldron Brandon could only field 1! platoon (such is the price if you only have 3 platoons total)

Sadly for Brandon my immediate ambush of 5 IS-2s dealt with the one Tiger platoon and on turn two Brandon failed his Company Moral Test, giving me the game. Freeze/ thaw was in effect again but didn’t cause us much trouble.

Initial deployment and Immediate Ambush!

Tigers hide!

As more Tigers hide, this time the CO

The Ambushing platoon deals with the only German platoon, causing a company check which is failed.

Win 6-1.

I felt bad for Brandon as he was a really nice guy. However list-wise you need to have a plan for missions with reserves. Starting with only 1 platoon is asking for trouble.

Battle 5 Encounter against TJ

I drew the top German player (and current score leader) for the last scenario. TJ had a powerful force with lots of infantry, Pioneers, Artillery, Mortars, Pak 40’s and 2 platoons of 88s. He was light on the tank department with only 3 StuGs.

The special rule in effect was Mud! Every turn was a difficult terrain test for all moving vehicles. This would be prohibitive for my mostly armored force (With no wide Tracks)

I lined up my IS-2s aggressively across the center of the board (right across from TJ’s AT guns) , placed my Infantry to cover my right flank objective.

The game started well with my IS-2 bouncing almost everything the Germans could throw at me. I managed to kill both 88 platoons while only losing 1 IS-2 to their return fire. Things were looking good, but I hadn’t really moved yet.

Moving killed me. My reserve IS-2 platoon arrived, with 2 of them bogging as they rolled on the board. The last one was killed by Arty and that platoon failed moral and fled.

As soon as I moved my IS-2’s closer to TJ’s gun line I started bogging in the Mud. I had at least 1 tank bog every turn that I tried to move. By the time TJ’s infantry rolled into my flank objective and assaulted my Infantry I was down two 2 operational tanks with the majority of the other’s bogged. (Or captured because they were bogged)

My IS-2 platoon flounders in the mud and dies or runs away

Large IS-2 platoon pushes forward and hits mud.

3-4 loss

TJ played a great game and deservedly went on to win the overall championship but the mud really killed me this battle. However, just like the Tiger Co, such are the breaks when you take a mostly armored company.

I ended up with 19 points, not too shabby , one of the higher scores for the Russian side. TJ won overall and my Son Jake took second place with a whopping 25 point!

Flames of War - Early War Tournament Report

2011-03-21T20:55:00.000-07:00

Early War report.

I was able to participate in an Early War Tournament recently at Game Depot in Tempe AZ.
The Tournament was 1500 point Early War, three rounds of Flames of War goodness. Early War is still very much in it's infancy in this area and we could only must 9 players. However we had a great time and we had some great players and some excellent looking armies.

I brought a French Tank force.
HQ 1 H-39
3 x Char-B
4 x Somua S-35
3 x H-39 (1 long, 2 short)
4 x 75mm Artillery

Though I've been painting my French on and off since the Early War release last year this would mark the first time I actually played an Early War game.

Below are a few pictures of the Tables... Sorry I missed one!

This is the table I provided. the debut of my Train track embankment and new hills.

Open table with River and small town

Another river and town

Battle 1 would be Free for All against Tom. While Tom was a newer player to Flames of War he has already played several games of Early War and would prove a challenging opponent.

He would field a German tank company with several platoons of Pz I & II, and a scary platoon of Panzer IIIs. His list also included Stukas and an Infantry platoon.

French Deployment

The plan was to rush the right and hold the left... things did not work out as planned.

Somua plunge into the gap and are caught in a cross fire!

On my left the H-39s repel an attack of Panzers I & IIs

After two turns of shooting the German armor platoon breaks, leaving the field with only wrecks left behind.

Back on the right, the Somua's are taking a beating, they score hits but can't make firepowers. The Panzer IVs heavy fire is telling.

Somuas burn and a Stuka claims a Char-B!

The Somua remains clutter the railroad gap

Char-B's move through... the Panzer I & II cower in fear

Meanwhile on the left, my H-39s smell blood and surge into the German deployment area. Assault and push back the German infantry.

The Infantry put up a fight but the H-39s are victorious when the Infantry and Panzer IV platoons break

Meanwhile the Char-Bs roll up on the other objective as the Germans cower behind a hill.

I win 5-2, having lost my Somuas... it was a fun Game. Tom has hot and cold luck, but when he failed a couple of moral checks at the end it was game over for the Germans. However his Stukas were golden, taking out a Char-b, H-39 and a 75mm gun.

Battle 2

Next up was Hold the Line (old school) on this table. I would be playing Mark Francis and his brand new Polish force of Motor Cav. These Fearless Vet troops were backed up by lots of Tankettes, 7TPs and a couple of platoons of AT guns... Backing all that up was a 75mm battery.

Mark had a good deployment and held the 7TP and a platoon of AT guns in Ambush.

The table... My side is closest

The scene of the battle. The plain large base if the closer objective. Mark defends with a rock hard Fearless Vet Motor platoon and 75mm guns.

My deployment... I would rush up the side and charge into the objective as soon as possible.

The French Armored wall closes in!

While the Polish troops hold fast.

Somuas go in first but roll poorly and fail moral to counter attack.

Charge!

Meanwhile Polish Reserves rush up

The Polish defensive line thickens.

Char B's go in next, but again fail moral and have to fall back!

7TP tanks rush the objective, trying to hit the less armored H-39s... the Char's take them out of the equation.

Just prior to last charge (didn't get an end game picture)

The game ends when my Char B's charge in again. This time I have 2 bog, the last Char tries to troop on but I roll a "1" on my Armor save in close combat and the ATR wielding polish madman puts paid on my last tank!

Loss 2-5

Mark had a great defense and in retrospect I should have lead the assault with the Chars, not the Somuas. But it was a great game against an excellent opponent!

Game 3 would be Breakthrough against Nelson. Another player who has been around a while but this tournament would mark his first real Early war games.

He fielded a German Tank co. Panzer IIIs, Pz (38(t)s and Panzer I and IIs. He also had an engineering platoon.

Initial deployment

With the initial advantage I would charge in with my tanks into his Engineers.

We tangle in the buildings

A mistake in Nelson's army list gives his Engineer platoon Commander a Panzerfaust... I don't catch it because I'm not that familiar with German lists.
This panzerfaust equipped Platoon commander kills a couple of tanks including a Char. Worst it causes my Char's to break away from the objectives!

Time is called with Nelson closing on my remaining 75mm guns holding the objective. It didn't look good for my Frenchmen!

2-5 win to Nelson.

I finished with only 9 points but I did pick up best painted!

All in all it was a great tournament against great players! My list wasn't ideal but it was a lot of fun. I look forward to playing more early war games and painting up more of my French.

Until next time!

Jon

Bunker Review - Antenocitis Workshop Part 2

2011-03-17T19:10:00.000-07:00

A quick update to show the first complete bunker from Antenocitis Workshop (http://www.antenocitisworkshop.com/). See part 1 of my review here. Bunker review Part 1

This is their 5cm Enfilade Bunker. After assembly I painted it using various shades of GW Gray. I used some netting from Antenocitis to provide some camo. I stained it with brown ink and white glue so it would hold its shape on the bunker roof

I also customized mine with a magnet for the gun mount (which lets is spin quite nicely) and another magnet to hold up the Roof.

Front with BF DD Tank for scale

Side Detail

From the top

Front wall

Removable roof

As I build the other bunkers I'll post them as well. However I've very pleased with this piece and it's a great alternative to the Battlefront Enfilade bunker (Which is several times more expensive!)

Enjoy!

Flames of War Terrain - Train tracks Part 2

2011-03-14T10:30:00.001-07:00

Welcome back!

This is Part 2 of the Train Track Embankment project. Last post we talked about creating the parts out of MDF and blue foam.

Below we have the dried sections, fully textured with sand.

Textured and painted

Next up I added the static Grass. (Note I should have done this last)

also, the boulders and rocks were picked out in white

Static Grass mix added

Using White Glue I glued down the Track and then sprinkled ballast over it.

Gluing down track and adding rock ballast

Woodland Scenics Grey ballast would do, luckily I had some left over from the Normandy Beach table project.

The Ballast in question

After the ballast was down it was still not secure enough. I "borrowed" one of my wife's empty spray bottles and mixed up some white glue and water. Now my tracks smell faintly of Black Raspberry!

Adding a little spritz of water and white glue, with a lovely raspberry scent

Covered in wet glue the pieces are banished from the house and out in the sun to dry

Outside to dry

Once it was dry it was time to play a little. I just set out the grass mat to snap a few pics. The finished table will have plenty more terrain!

My Camera acting weird

Crossing the tracks

While working on the tracks I also knocked out a few new hills with Cliff faces.

In order to account for different size tables I created a destroyed section of track that can be as wide or narrow as needed to allow the rest of the track reach the ends of the board. I've also built a standard section that can replace the two wrecked section if anyone wanted to run an actual train.

A test track layout below. I think in game play I would treat the Train embankment almost like a river. So in the picture below there are two crossings that are no problem. I would consider that tracked vehicles would be able to climb the embankment as Very Difficult going (Like bocage) Wheeled and Half Tracks can't climb the embankments at all. Infantry doesn't have a problem climbing the embankment.

Overview

Enjoy!

Flames of War Terrain - Train tracks Part 1

2011-03-07T09:40:00.000-07:00

Welcome to another exciting episode, this time we are tackling another terrain project. In our house the Computer Game "World of Tanks" (www.worldoftanks.com) has become a minor obsession with my son and I. One of the levels has a great raised train track running across the battlefield replete with destroyed rail cars.

Using this as an inspiration we decided to build something similar for our Flames of War games.

The Plan

To create a raised track embankment that will run the length of your typical FOW board (4x6). The idea is that this will be modular and easy to set up in a variety of ways. It also has to work well for a Flames of War game.

Supplies. 1/4 inch MDF (Just scrap I had on hand) and Blue styrofoam.
I ordered some TT scale track since it's the same scale as FOW and, if I play with a soon to be released Polish train model it should fit perfectly.

Scrap MDF cut to rough shape and used and an outline for the blue foam

Blue foam cut to shape

20" section rough cut and shaped with angle grinder

Track placed for scale

Scale shots with French Somua S-35

Testing the hight, track embankment should totally block LOS

Rough cutting the Track crossing section

40" of track laid out

First texture coat of sand and glue, leaving the track area clear for now. Adding the track will be the last step

After the glue dried I hit the piece with a couple of different colors. Grey Primer, and a couple of shades of brown

In our next installment we will

add static grass and bushes

add track

add track ballast

-Jon

Flames of War - Feb 26th Tournament report

2011-02-28T12:38:00.002-07:00

With a busy month and a 7 month pregnant wife I was lucky enough to sneak away for the good part of a day and play in a Flames of War Tournament at Empire Games in Arizona. (Yes, my wife is amazing like that)

I brought a US 2nd Division Armored Rifle List out of the new Turning Tide Book.

How would these brave troops fare in the battles ahead? read on, loyal Reader, read on!

My list was as follows

HQ
2 x Armored Rifle Platoons
4 x Stuarts
Tank Destroyer Platoon (4 Hellcats)
1 x section Priest Battery (3 Guns)
4 x M12 (155mm SP)
Air Observation Post

I am traditionally a US player, and while I've not played with this exact list before I do have some experience with them.

Round 1: Fight!
The first round was Free for All and my first battle was against Jacob (Not my son, but other Jacob, the T.O)

He was fielding a really nasty looking, almost all armored, German force that included

HQ StuGs
3 Panthers
4 Brumbars
3 StuGs
3 PZII Luchs
Short Pioneer platoon

A lot of German Armor for my boys to handle.

The table for battle 1

As often with Free for All this battle broke down into two separate actions. Left and right flank.

Here is my right flank covered by the Stuarts and the M12s

On my left the Priests and a Armored Rifle Platoon

In the Center I had my other Armored Rifles and the Scouts for my Tank Destroyers.

I think we were both a little intimidated by the other Army. I Spearheaded my Stuarts on the left to cause trouble, and tried to hunker down everywhere else.

Left Flank develops: On the left Brumbars and Luchs move out. The Luchs make a daring move to try and take out the Artillery and pay for it dearly. Eventually being destroyed in my lines, the last Luch falling to my Observer Sherman!

Sneaky German Recon looking for trouble, they found it

The Brumbars pushed forward unsupported, and with some artillery support I take the attack to them, my Armored Rifle Platoon assaulting and destroying them with very light losses.

Confident Brummbars advance on the Americans...

...And foolishly pay the price

You'd think from the description here that things were going all my way... and I wish that were true, but on the right things were shaping up differently!

When we last mentioned them the Stuarts had bravely Spearheaded forward, to play tag with Panthers and Stugs, and Infantry!

Bravery is relative as the Stuarts cower behind a building

Things didn't go too well with them. They were flamed, (D'oh! forgot about the German flame Throwers) and 2 were bailed but managed to get back into their tanks

Realizing the direness of the situation the Stuarts go on the ATTACK! storming into the woods to try and assault the Germans... it almost works too, except for the Bog checks! (Number 1, how I hate you)

The Stuart Charge ends in smoke, fire and tears

With the Stuart Threat done the Germans roll up my right flank, Infantry, Panthers and StuGs taking out my M12s and parking on the Objective.

Desperation fire picks off the German Infantry, but Hellcats couldn't do more then scratch the paint on the Panthers.

Jacob wins a most enjoyable game 4-3. It was a bloody game, I lost 2 platoons and Jake lost 3, but he managed to get to an objective first and hold it for a well deserved win.

What I did wrong?

I think, to a large extent, I lost this one on deployment. If I would have deployed the second Rifle platoon on the right hand objective I might have been able to hold out. The problem is the battle was "Free for All" and I hate just sitting on the defensive in these missions.

I should have popped the Hellcats earlier but, hey, they kept his Panthers and StuGs away for a good while.

What I did right?

Attack! you win by taking objectives or breaking the enemy company. Attacking is good an forces an opponent to react to you, rather then passively waiting for the enemy to come to you.

Tales of interest!

Oberserver Sherman Kills a Luch
Speedy, my lucky M-18 Hellcat bailed a Brumbar
Number of enemy tanks destroyed by Infantry: 4

Round 2:

This round was "No Retreat" against Nelson, another great opponent. My son had just played him and defeated him 4-3 so he might be looking for revenge against our family :-)

Nelson had a Panther Company

7 Panthers, Pioneers and some other assorted bits.

This Battle was fought here.

The Scene of the crime!

As armored rifles I'm not really afraid of Panthers any more than any other tank. I am afraid of attacking any tanks across mostly open ground though!

Unfortunately with the chaos around us I didn't snap any end game pics(forgot to do that first round too) , for that I'm sorry guys!

Here is my starting lineup, the plucky Stuarts are sweeping around the left, charging the Panther CO!

The US Starting lineup

The plan was simple, Charge!

I wanted to hit the closest objective with everything, while the Stuarts kept him honest on the other flank.

The deceptively thin line of Germans

My troops smoked and assaulted but were cut down in defensive fire repeatedly.
Smoke didn't seem to help as the apparently laser targeted German machine guns killed me.

Crap! where did those guys come from? Ambush revealed!!

The only bright spot was my Stuart Platoon, who swung around, hit several Panthers in the rear, killed an arriving infantry platoon and contested the objective... but ultimately I asked a little too much of them and they were finally gunned down.

Overview showing the Panther gauntlet

Not to knock my opponent (Who played very skillfully) in the least but, unlike the first game, I lost this one primarily due to luck, or lack thereof.

Over three turns, while in smoke, my infantry failed to attack or were repulsed in defensive fire. The ultimate kicker was failing a massive 16 out of 20 Infantry saves, gutting my two platoons.
The Stuarts were the only thing working well and kept me from a one the scoreboard.
5-2 to Nelson in another fun, if frustrating, game.

What I did wrong?

I don't think anything was particularly wrong with my plan... In hind sight I might have driven the M12s in closer for direct fire on the Panthers but that has the potential to backfire too!
In desperation I through my M-18s out, only to see the fragile open top vehicles torched by Flames, however at this point I was just looking for VPs and the battle was already decided.

What I did Right?

Attack... you can't be shy in No Retreat... I kept attacking hoping something would open up, but nothing did.

Tales of interest!

16 out of 20 Infantry saves failed
2 out of 2 (2+ Firepower) attempts failed.
Observer Sherman bailed out two Panthers on Consecutive turns but could make the FP to destroy them.

Round 3

Round three was Breakthrough against Jeff.
I'd played him last tournament in Round 1 and this time he was playing Hungarian Armor with no infantry support.

Jeff ran afoul of the fact that my US Armored Rifles ALWAYS attack. As the Defender in the Breakthrough mission you can only deploy 1 unit with vehicles.
This meant he would/could only deploy 1 platoon on the table. He deployed his Hungarian Tigers in the woods in the Center of the table.

We played on this table

And the plan was to, again, charge down the middle. This time, however, I had a giant forrest to conceal me.

Armored Rifles charge through the woods towards the Hungarian Tigers

More charging!

Blurry but here is my artillery park

The Armored Rifles take out tiger, gotta love Bazookas!

Taking the objective on turn 3, just need to hold out.

I felt sorry for Jeff as the full weight of the Americans fell on a single Tiger platoon. 155mm, Hellcats and Bazookas destroy the last two Tigers, including the CO!

Jeff was able to Bring on a Panzer Platoon, that did get lucky and kill my Stuarts, but they were not close enough to contest the objectives by turn 6.

I won 5-2 in a landslide as Jeff couldn't get his reserves on fast enough to contest any objective.

What I did Wrong:

I got cocky with my Stuarts and tried to tangle with Panzers IVs. I paid the price in a lost Stuart Platoon.

What I did Right:

Charged with the Armored Rifles and rolled over the Tigers like they weren't even there. I didn't do anything particularly wrong, my opponent was handicapped by his own force selection and the mission.

This was something I taught my son, Jake, as in practice his all tank force was similarly handicapped. If you take a ALL Vehicle force you better have a plan for defending in Breakthrough!

Conclusion:

All in all it was a great Tournament against fun people. I finished in the middle of the pack with a whopping 10 points.

Below are a couple of random pics from the tournament.

My Son Jake pushing is Desert Rats around the table

Germans on the defensive

German Pioneers with their truck

All in all a great time, thanks to Jacob for acting as TO, thanks to Empire Games for hosting us and congrats to Sam for the overall win.

till next time!

Flames of War Tournament - The Tables

2011-02-27T19:39:00.000-07:00

Hi Guys,

Here is a brief post of all the game tables at the recent FOW Tourney at Empire Games in Arizona.
I'll have a more in depth AAR later but wanted to get the tables shots up for everyone to look at.
As usual please click to enlarge the picture

Empire Games have a great selection of FOW stuff.

Below is the Table Jake and I provided

Open Box Review - Flames of War: DUKW Section

2011-02-07T08:39:00.000-07:00

Add caption

Here is one of the new releases that accompanied the new Normandy book compilations.

On the surface of it the DUKW release doesn't sound that exciting. After all they are just trucks that float, right?

Transports in Flames of War have a very short lifespan on the table, if they are deployed on the table at all! Most of the time they end of never being deployed as they only serve as a nice juicy target for your enemies!

But the DUKW gives you a little more. Rules wise they can be used to Transport Artillery batteries to the shore in the Beach Assault missions. Allowing you to bring in your guns quicker than on a dedicated landing craft. How wise this is during the battle is another matter!

But for the most part they are just glorified floaty trucks. So what do you get for your money?

Well, when I first saw the cost of these I was initially put off. They cost as much, if not more, then individual tank models! So to equip a Field Artillery Battery you would need 4 of these! Ouch, that's about the cost of a whole Tank Platoon!

However, since I've been on a Normandy kick lately I thought I'd add some to my US Forces. I'm glad I did, these are sweet little models!

Below the contents of the box set. You get two DUKW loaded with Troops and Machine Gun options.
A word about the crew in this box. They are excellent, and I'm sure are the reason these kits are so expensive, with 18 DUKW riders included! the Cargo area is filled with troops!

Close up on the detail of the hull and wheels.

Below, gluing the six wheels on, forgive the messy state of my work table! That's what I get for working on 3 projects at once!

The most fiddly part of the model is the AA machine gun mount.

Cleaning up and playing with the crew. Each Truck comes with 9 troops for the back and a driver and gunner.

Playing with spacing

The Crew getting ready for painting!

The DUKW are great models, lots of details but the standout of these set is the Crew.

I can see using these crew as US Tank riders. (Something that we've needed for a while) almost moreso then using them in the DUKW.

Enjoy!

Jon

Early War French in Flames of War

2011-02-04T16:15:00.000-07:00

All French jokes aside, the French Army, in 1940, was a powerful force. Let down by their leaders and Generals, who were still trying to fight a World War 1 trench style battle, the French Army and their British Allies learned first hand the power of Blitzkrieg.

Speaking of Blitzkrieg this is also the the name of the first of the Flames of War Early war books that covers the Invasions of Poland and France. (See what I did there? Neat segue).

Being Primarily a US player in Flames of War, I was without an army in Early War. The US didn't join the fight until early '42, Mid war period in Flames of War so, baring some wacky time travel accident) I was going to have to pick a new country. the playing field was open to me.

I could have gone with the Germans, Polish or French.

I considered the Germans because I like painting blue, but comparing their plain paint scheme to the Poles and French put them in last place.

The Poles were attractive, and offer cool and unique options like Cavalry and even an Armored Train!

However I finally decided to go with the French, Primarily because of the different types of tanks available to the French, from tiny light tanks to hulking behemoths, and the great camouflage paint schemes available for them.
It will be a nice break from painting American OD tanks.

I ended up buying both box sets of French troops, the Tank Army and the Infantry Army boxes.
While this is not a review of the Army Boxes I will say that I was very pleased with these guys. The Tanks are up to Battlefront's excellent standard and I really like the infantry and guns as well.

Char B1

First Up, the mighty Char-B1 Bis. Ironically this tank is not found in either Box set, and can only be purchased individually as German version, which includes late war Flame thrower, etc. Fortunately you can assemble them as a stock vanilla French Char-B1. I stuck an extra French tank commander from the tank Army box set on the turret and the illusion is complete!

These detailed minis are impressive, especially the detailed panel lines and rivets. These are large tanks and make an impression on the battlefield especially in an Early War Battle. They are some of the toughest armored tanks in Early War.

Another great aspect to these guys is the camo. The Green, brown and tan make for a striking look in the table, and the markings, with French roundels and squadron and name markings make them look even better.

Painting the camo was pretty simple, I base coated them green and used a sharpee to mark the camo areas and then just filled them in. Using this method even gets you the black line between colors.

These bad boys are almost done, just some dust and mud, a little flat coat and they are ready to face the German Blitz.

Somua S-35

Here is the first platoon of the French S-35. Personally my favorite French tank, it features good armor and a decent gun.

Where the huge Char B1 was an infantry tank, the Somua was more of a Cavalry tank, faster and more maneuverable.

1st platoon

Again a fun camo scheme and some cool markings make the tank. I love the fact the French use playing card symbols to denote their Tanks platoons.

The dashing French tank commander getting some air

H-39 Hotchkiss

A neat little light tank, the H-39 comes in two flavors, with a long gun for tank busting and a machine gun version.

This guy is even more dashing, it's all about the scarf

Panhard Armored Car

The Panhard is a cool little armored car. Bigger then a light tank it's got a great tank busting gun and in interesting fact about the real car is that it carried two drivers, one pointing each way, it made backing out of an ambush a lot faster. Though I don't know what would happen if both guys floored it at the same time.

with a roomy turret this is one of the few French vehicles that can effectively move and shoot at the same time.

I found this paint scheme on the Flames of war website and really liked it, I liked the variation from the other armored units.

Our last unit today is the 75mm Artillery Battery.

These guys are out of the French Army Box. On forums I've read some complaints on these figures that primarily complain about the accuracy of the helmets. As far as I'm concerned they look pretty good and the there are a nice assortment of poses available.

As far as the battery itself you can assembly these babies with spoked wooden wheels or steel wheels, I went for the more archaic looking wooden ones. The guns also have an ammo caisson to add to the detail

Here is the Platoon Command and Observer teams

One of the gun teams.

The entire 4 gun battery ready to lay the smack on the Germans

I still have lots more to paint and have begun an arms race as my son rushes to complete his Early war Panzer company. More to come soon!

Jon

15mm German Bunker Review - Antenocitis Workshop

2011-01-24T11:36:00.001-07:00

Reviewing the Antenocitis Workshop German Bunker range

While building a Beach Table for Flames of War I needed some German Bunkers for my American's to storm.

I found some promising ones from a company in the UK called Antenocitis Workshop. http://www.antenocitisworkshop.com/ After a quick browse through their website I ordered 4 bunkers in early December, with hopes that I could have them ready for my beach table and our D-Day event in January.

Unfortunately my order didn't arrive in time, a clerical error (which could happen anywhere) delayed my shipping. I didn't receive my order until Jan 21st.

In this review we are looking at

H667 Pak 43 Bunker

5cm KWK Enfilade Bunker

Open 5cm KWK Bunker

First impressions: H667 Pak 43 Bunker

I ordered one of these bad boys, the biggest of the Bunkers available. This bunker is a 9 piece, all resin affair. It came it it's own blister packaging, however there were no foam or packing materials or even assembly instructions. Surprisingly, even with a trip over the Atlantic, there was no damage to the Bunker (I guess these things are as tough as their real world equivalent. )

Bare bones packaging

All 9 pieces

The pieces are nice, with nice detail inside and out. After carefully examining each piece I only found one casting error on one of the doors, which was missing some of the detail though nothing major

Detail on the inner walls, Ammo locker perhaps?

The roof is a big chunk of resin, it looks like it took them 4 resin pours to finish

Dry fitting

Overall a really nice representation of a German Bunker. For gaming though there are a few things to consider.

There is no floor (more later) and this is a big miniature, it can easily take a FOW Large base with no issues, and needs to be securely assembled.

To keep the whole thing together I used a sheet of thick plastic card

Plastic card base

Glued to base, ready for a base coat!

Conclusion:

Good: the H667 bunker is a great looking bunker and, at right around 10 US dollars, it's not a bad deal at all. It's a rather large model but would well represent the centerpiece of any German defense.

Bad: Packaging and no instructions. For historical sticklers out there please note I couldn't find a picture or floor plan of a real H667 bunker that matches this model exactly.

First Impressions: 5cm KWK Enfilade Bunker

This is a mid sized bunker that closely matches pictures of the real deal. The Bunker itself is 2 piece resin and comes with a metal 5cm KWK gun.

Packaging is good, it has a nice picture of a painted example of the bunker.(Would have been helpful for the H667!). Still no foam or packing material but no damage to the resin. Obviously these things are tough!

Nice package art!

No foam however no damage either!

The main pieces, Bunker, roof and gun. Like the H667 above there is no "Floor". and as a result no base for the 5cm gun to attach to. A floor and mount will have to be added.

Simple model!

The Gun is a nice model, though with no assembly instructions I'm not sure where the two little pegs go (See image below). Also there is no pedestal or stand, so the gun won't stand on it's own.

Detail is nice but plain, its concrete, what did you expect?

Roof detail

Slight gap between roof and wall

Conclusion:

Good: Solid, detailed model of a German Bunker, sold at a great price and comes with the gun!

Bad: Some warping but nothing too bad. No floor for the bunker to stand the gun on.

First Impressions: Open 5cm KWK Bunker

These open bunkers are simple one piece models that also include the same gun as the Enfilade bunker above. I ordered 2 of them.

Not much to say on these ones, they are pretty crisp but require a little cleanup

Nice detail inside and out. Note: These DO have run mounts

5cm gun dry fitted

Conclusion:

Good: Simple model, good detail, great price, nice gun model.

Bad: Not much, minor flash and cleanup needed.

Scale compare: Open Bunker, French Char-B, Enfilade Bunker

Based and base coated

Overall Conclusion:

Nice bunkers at a great price. A little work is required to get the best out of them but once completed they make great pieces.

Look for this review to continue with the completed Bunker models and a look at some more Bunkers from Antenocitis Workshop (Namely their new West Wall Bunker and Radar Station!).

Jon

Review - Old Glory Panzer 38T

2011-01-10T21:27:00.000-07:00

My Son Jake received one of his Christmas Presents late this year. He is building a Flames of War Early War Army and wanted to field Rommel's 7th Division. One of the interesting features of this division was its high use of captured Czechs tanks, which the Germans called the Panzer 38(t)

I ordered these from the War Web. www.warweb.com they took a while to get here but the price was right. We bought 3 packs of 3 tanks at a little over 13 bucks a pack! Compare that to the 12.50 for one tank from Battlefront and they are already looking pretty good!

Overall these sculpt are pretty good. The are all metal and come in 8 pieces.
Assembly is pretty straight forward and didn't present any challenges.

Click any of the pics below for a closer view!

Laying out and cleaning the parts

Close up of Turret, nice detail and rivets!

All the parts for one Tank

Another view of one Tank

Assembled tank... it's a cute little bugger

Top of assembled Tank

Size Comparison with some of my French Tanks

Another Compare

That's it for now... we will post some more pictures as Jake get's them painted

Enjoy!

Jon

D-Day! A Battle report for Flames of War

2011-01-08T22:36:00.004-07:00

Nothing is better then a day or two of gaming to help unwind after a long week at work.

This weekend I participated in a Flames of War D-Day event that was hosted at Empire Games

http://www.empiregamesaz.com/ (A great store if you are ever in the area check them out!)

My son and I filled out car up to the brim with Flames of War stuff, including my Beach table.

Friday night was D-1 and we had 8 folks playing 4 games. Three of them Seize and Hold. I forgot my Camera but did take my 101st Airborne against a friend's German defenders. It was a bloody game that ended with a 5-2 victory for the American invaders.

Saturday morning was Beach Landing. We had three tables, Empire Games has a large beach table in the store, so big in fact that my son, Jake and three others played a massive3000 point assault! With British storming the beaches there.

Mark Francis brought his Sword beach table. With meticulous research in the defenses and layout his board was probably the most historically accurate. ton of bunkers presented a formidable obstacle for his 3rd Division.

I set up my table to represent Easy Green on Omaha Beach. We used a modified version of the scenario presented in Bloody Omaha. I would be landing my US Assault Company and Mike M, a great guy, would lead the German defenses.

Below is my table, The Bunker is a defilade 5cm bunker that we proxied with a Standard BF Bunker. In addition to the 5cm gun, the Germans had 3 MG Tobruk bunkers and 1 Tank Turret bunker. Static Rocket launchers and a single Grenadier platoon rounded out their initial defenses.

Beach Table at Start of game (Click for larger Picture)

US Forces struggle to get ashore. Of my 4 DD tanks 2! of them are swamped and sink in the channel, 1 does make it ashore, the other stuck in the Sea zone. Only 2 other platoons make it ashore in the first turn.

The First DD Tank struggles out of the surf

US Troops begin to pile up, only a few German Machine guns can draw fire to the beach but I'm already losing stands.

Engineers make it to the shingle

The DD Tank churns through the sand and heads up the left draw, leaving behind a pinned Assault platoon.

Starting to get crowded on the beach

Engineers hit the wire... here is were things get tough... Though my Engineers remove some wire they are now in range of several Machine Gun tobruks and static rocket launchers.I get lucky when my expensive Naval Gun fire bullseye's the Rocket battery, destroying the remaining launchers!

Engineers make it to the Barb Wire and cut through

I'm stalling on the right flank under heavy machine gun fire, the left flank is looking better for a breakout, led by my plucky DD tank!

The Tank that wouldn't quit keeps going

Follow up waves arrive, including more troops and my Armored Field Artillery Battery... sadly two of the beasts bog in the soft sand as they try to drive ashore.

Armored Field Artillery makes it ashore but 2 bog in the soft sand

On the left flank things are looking better...

On the left Assault platoons and the DD Tank push forward

As an Assault platoon makes it through the interlocking defensive fire of the Bunkers to destroy the 5cm!

Assault Platoon destroys the 5cm Enfilade Bunker

The left flank attack progresses, hitting the German Strong Point...With Smoke the troops go in...

Assault on the German Strong Point

Breaching the defenses....

Breaching the Strong point

The DD Tank proves it's worth, killing the Turret Bunker, and a Machine gun Tobruk on consecutive turns! As a result, the weak German resistance is swept aside and the Closest objective falls to the Americans.

Knocking out the Bunkers in the Strongpoint the Americans take the first Objective!

Though I spaced taking any more pics of my battle the main fighting was over, German reserves do trickle in. Another Grenadier platoon, a 8cm mortar Platoon, and a Pak (anti-tank gun) Platoon arrive, template weapons are deadly to the tightly packed US Troops, but Naval Bombardment, and my own artillery turn the tide.
Between Naval Artillery and Priests on the Beach these units are neutralized without too much loss.

The Battle wraps up from there, going down to the wire on turn 12, when the last Objective is captured, give the US a 5-2 win in a great and exciting game! Thanks to Mike M, a gracious and kind opponent!

The Standout unit for me was the lead DD Sherman, making it out of the Sea, it's 75mm gun was instrumental in taking out Tank turret bunker and MG Tobruks.

Meanwhile the 2 versus 2 match looks interesting. The Brits are stacked up but manage to break the German defenses and win 5-2 (I think)

Empire Games Beach Table

My son Jake plotting his attack!

British assault the German bunkers

Over on Pegasus beach Mark's British find it tough going....The German defenses are amazingly tough and reserves, including Mk IV tanks put the kibosh on the British Assault for a 5-2 German victory. Below are some pics I snapped of that game in progress.

Mark's Beach Table -The British assemble

More Brits hit the Beach, they brought heavy armor

AVRE goodness

Brit Armor litters the beach exit...

Good pic of all the wonderful British assault vehicles

I also set up a Bocage table... we used this for my Airborne fight Friday night and two other games were played here on Sat.

Bocage table!

More bocage

All in all we had a good turnout... 8-10 folks on Friday night, I think 12 playing at various times on Sat. It was a blast to play an event where Victory points aren't everything. Tournaments are great fun but friendly get togethers like this, with a specific theme, make for really memorable gaming.

Enjoy!

Flames of War - Omaha Beach Table Pt. II

2011-01-06T09:19:00.000-07:00

There are always distractions when it comes to gaming, especially around the Holidays, and shiny new models and games can often take the focus off of terrain projects. However I was dedicated... this time... to finish my Omaha Beach Table.

For those that missed Part 1 of the Beach table adventure you can view it here
http://buckaroo13.blogspot.com/2010/12/flames-of-war-omaha-beach-table-part-1.html

When we left off last time the Beach table ready for pouring the water.
For the water effect I used Parks Super Glaze from Home Depot. It's a High Gloss I ended up using two packs of this.

The Epoxy is sticky and smelly but it works wonders. I decided to pour it in two layers.

Above is the first pour going on

Super Glaze is self leveling and covers the entire water area.

I had to move to the garage because of the smell, here is a couple of days later when we poured the second layer. Here was where I encountered my first big problem with the Super Glaze. The Second layer would not cure. I waited a week but the surface was still tacky! Either I didn't mix the resin enough or the cold temps in my garage caused it. Either way I had to go with a third pour, this worked without issue and cured within 24 hours... I was back in business!

Next up was the waves. This is probably the most 'artistic' part of the whole project. For the waves I used Woodland Scenics "Water Effects" I would also use Woodland Scenics "Realistic Water" once the waves were complete to give it more watery shine! (I didn't want to buy another box of Super Glaze!)

Above the Water Effects goes on, just like toothpaste! I wanted two wave lines, these would also serve a game purpose, marking the Deployment and landing Zones.

Above we have put both Wave lines in and used a paint brush to feather them and make them look more "frothy" Too bad Water Effects dries Clear! This required us to go back and PAINT the waves white.

Above Jake paints the waves. I only had GW Skull White on hand, which is a flat white, so once it was painted and dried we covered it with another coat of Water Effects that was stippled over the whitewater and then some "Realistic Water" to make it even more glossy.

Above the waves are taking Shape!

The Beach table was designed to accommodate the official Flames of War scenario "Hit the Beach" So I needed another two 2x4 board sections to play the scenario. I used 2" thick foam for these sections. These are not the sturdiest (I would have loved to find the denser pink foam for this project)

These sections were covered with Sand, painted browns and tans and then flocked.

The Hit the Beach scenario can also include a lot of defenses for the Germans. I used scraps I had around the house, Molding and a plastic parking sign to create 4 feet( 6 sections) of Barbed wire, 3 mine fields and 5 feet of Trenches

Here is a close up of a Trench section on the table

Just playing with the set up. I tried to keep the table as open as possible so that it could be set up many different ways.

Troops hit the shore and make a dash for the Sea Wall

Well that's that then! One Beach table for flames of war. We are having a D-Day event this weekend and hopefully my table will see some action and I can get a battle report posted on the gaming goodness.

Until later!