AAR: A Canadian VC
/Originally posted 10th August 2012
Paul Scrivens Smith with a great AAR of a game from one of the scenarios in the IABSM v3 rulebook. Plenty of excellent pictures!
Paul Scrivens Smith with a great AAR of a game from one of the scenarios in the IABSM v3 rulebook. Plenty of excellent pictures!
The second Gebirgsjaeger platoon has now been painted:
More Gebirgsjaeger painted: this time it's the mortars. Three in the Kompanie HQ, and three more in the Schwerer Gruppe (Weapons Platoon).
Sorry about all the errant flock...I always forget to brush it off until after I've photographed the figures!
Great game using a scenario taken from the Vyazma or Bust scenario supplement:
More Gebirgsjaeger from Battlefront. Some of my initial enthusiasm has worn off, but I still think they are very finely sculpted figures. I'm almost sure two sculptors did the range: most of the figures are amazing, but there are a few that are more blobby mannequins!
First off, I'm loving this Big Man. Full of character and paints up really well.
Next, here's the first infantry zug completed. I particularly like the standing LMG team, far left in the middle squad as you look at the picture:
Note that I've changed the way I base my infantry. Rather than singles on 5p pieces, I've used doubles on 2p pieces, with a five-2p-piece movement tray allowing even quicker deployment. The 2p coins do come out of the movement tray for casualty and in-cover deployment.
And finally, here's a group shot just to let you see some more of the sculpts:
Right: on to the mortars now!
Another great battle report from a Tony Hobbz solo game. Using a variation of Platoon Forward adapted for company-sized actions, a German force attempts to hold a small village against overwhelming Soviet assault. Some fantastic photos!
A Charlie Don't Surf after action report that features a game fought with flats rather than figures.
Even if I am now buying all my tanks and other vehicles as plastics from the likes of PSC and Zvezda, I still have a soft spot for the Battlefront infantry. Some of it is far from perfect (British Paras!) but some of the ranges are exceptional...including the relatively new Gebirgsjaeger.
I've only just started painting them up, but here are the infantry guns and an FOO:
Buying all the vehicles you need for an armoured infantry company is always a painful experience, whatever nationality you're collecting. My late war Germans need half-tracks, but the thought of buying four per platoon caused my wallet severe palpitations!
Step forward Zvezda! They do a lovely little SdKfz 251/1 that I managed to pick up at only £2.99 a go. With P&P, my nine models cost only £30: a bargain considering what purchasing them from other manufacturers would have cost me.
The models snap together easily in about five minutes...once you have the knack of it. You need to take care you don't bend the front axles when popping on the wheels, and the curious thread-through, over-and-under body construction took me a bit of time to figure out.
So, how do they look? well, judge for yourselves:
PS I know these are the Ausf. B so technically early war...but who's going to notice once they're on the tabletop!
A great battle report from a Tony Hobbz solo game. Using a variation of Platoon Forward adapted for company-sized actions, a German force attempts to clear a small French town. Some fantastic photos!
A quick battle reports for I Ain't Been Shot, Mum!: I finally managed to get around to playing one of my favourite Operation Compass scenarios: the assault of the El Gubbi airfield.
As those who read this website regularly know, I have recently really got in to buying my WW2 tanks in plastic from either the Plastic Soldier Company or Zvezda.
It means that I can afford to buy tanks by the squadron as opposed to the platoon with, in my opinion, no loss of quality either.
Here's my latest set of paint jobs: a good part of a late war British armoured squadron armed with Shermans and Fireflys. Again, I can only say how easy they were to put together (once you get the knack of it) and how beautifully they paint up.
Are plastic tanks the way forward? Well, all I can say is that Battlefront have just released plastic Panthers. Better late than never, eh?
Then we have another report from the keyboard of Paul Scrivens Smith as he replicates the Carentan action from Band of Brothers: not once, but twice.
We have our first report from the Devon Wargames Group, re-fighting the Neuville au Plain scenario from the All American scenario pack:
We have a flourishing community of Scandinavian Lardies: renown for their good humour; extraordinary combinations of hair style and beards; and wonderful After Action Reports.
Here are three After Action Reports, all from the Miniatyrmannen (The Miniatures Man) blog: two from various Cons, and one from a club game.
A Tale of Wooden Crosses describes how a German reconnaissance force succeeded in its aim of finding the enemy...
The game put on at Incognicon 2012 was based on the Nice One, Kirill! scenario from the TFL Summer Special 2007:
Finally, a good looking Winter War game set back in 1939:
As I have often mentioned, one of the problems with some figure ranges is that they don't include any infantry support weapons. Plenty of men-with-guns, sometimes plenty of vehicles, but very little in the way of things such as the sci-fi equivalent or mortars and medium/heavy machine guns.
I accept that argument that in the future that sort of weapon might be redundant (firepower supplied via enhanced personal weapons, battle suits, different sorts of vehicles etc) but it's still nice to see that Khurasan Miniatures provides "full" ranges rather than just the grunts.
Here's my latest bit of painting: Pouncer Portable Missile Launchers for the Felids, and the other great thing is that the mortar operators can also double as drone operators for the Snaggletooth attack and Whiskers scouting drones.
Talking of Salute, I didn't buy very much, but I did buy some of those nifty explosion markers from Litko to replace the rather tired cotton wool that I usually use...especially as I had run out for the last game and had to use torn up make-up removing pads!
It was great to meet so many Lardies at Salute yesterday. Included amongst the many was Benito and his fellow wargamers from Madrid, Spain. It's therefore good timing to post one of Benito's latest Charlie Don't Surf after action reports, with a scenario taken from the Surf's Up scenario pack.
Inspired by the arrival of Battle for Liberation, here is an AAR from a great Normandy game played yesterday.
I've included details of the terrain and forces used, so you can actually re-play this game yourself if you want. If you do, let me know how you get on!
A third outing for the North of Caen scenario from the IABSM3 rulebook, also from Paul Scrivens Smith:
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