Hero Tankovy v Schwere Panzerkompanie in Breakout

Mick and I got together last Thursday to play a game of FoW.  We where using our 1650 Corrivalry lists, so it was to be a Late War match up. We decided to play the new mission from WI 315, Breakout.  We diced of to decide who would attack, Mick and his Russians won the rights.

Below are some shots of the table before the action began, I chose to defend from behind the hedge.

Initial deployment, the Russian commander faces of against the dug in 88's, Carius, Kerscher, 2IC and 1IC.  Katy's at the rear of his deployment with a platoon of Zis 3's dug in around the forest and houses.  As you view the picture there are 2 SU-152's on the bridge with 3 T34-85's and the 1IC forming the right hand side and a platoon of 3 T-34/85's on the left hand side.  The BA armoured cars have moved forward to deploy on the right as a vanguard.

Russian deployment right hand side

Russian deployment left hand side

Tigers arrive from scattered reserves, wrong side of the table to do anything just yet.

Multiple shots land on the Assault guns and finally score a killing blow, the multitude of 88 guns fail all fire power tests against the T34's and armoured cars.

Scattered reserves sees the arrival of the armoured AA platoon, right behind the Katyusha's.

T34's threaten the objective, Kersher goes to contest and feels the wrath of the 85mm guns.

2IC is flanked and brewsup, its a cunning plan by the Germans to provide additional cover.

Carius and his CO redploy to cover both objectives.

The Luftwaffe do not survive the next round, 88's destroyed to a man.

The two surviving T34's move to shoot Carius's blind spot.  The thick armour on the Tiger tank deflects the shell's to protect this hero of the Fatherland.

The wayward Tigers mix it up with the remaining rocket launches after mauling the AT guns in an assault.

And then there was one.

Carius puts on a sweat as he rapidly spins the turret around then opens fire on the T34's.

Boom!  One down, one bailed.

 The CO bags the other platoon.  Now down below half and with no commanding officer the Russians break.  5 - 2 to Schwere Panzerkompanie.

Initial thoughts on the Festungs company. 6 platoons. 2 Ultra defence platoons, should very capably hold their own against most enemies, 4 88's in nests is NASTY. 4 mobile(ish) platoons to cope with fair fights (to a degree!) or allow a 50/50 set up with all the good stuff on. I think i'll make up one of the platoons to see how I feel about the whole thing. The good thing here is that its a cheapo list, 90% of the stuff can be home made. Watch this page...

D Day 70th anniversary looms - what list will YOU do?

With the 70th anniversary of the D Day landings looming, and a Flames Of War late period themed event run by the reluctant Conscripts also planned, its time to wonder what army to do to remember this amazing feat of military planning and engineering, and all the lives lost and saved as a result.

I already own a Wehrmacht 352nd Infantry division force. This is based on the units just inland from the invasion itself, and is quite tasty to use with 8 Marder IIIM's, 150mm artillery and 3 full platoons of MG wielding Confident Vet troops, amongst much more.

I also own the core of a British Para army, painted by Ian Mann, another cracking force to play with.

I've had the idea floating in my head that i'd do a fortified company however. These companies can be very unwieldy in the game, and the current list structures are hard to make competitive in my personal opinion. You can field a viable army based on the brittany lists than only requires 1 fortified platoon, and can have nice additions to it. This may well be a 'good' tournanment list, but misses what i'm looking for.

So I think i'll do a 2 platoon fortified list, based on the 343 brittany festungs company. 2 fortified platoons with a full odds and sods to fill out the points allowances. It will not be able to attack in any real form, but then its not supposed to! I'll make it as its supposed to be, a defensive beast, and will shrug my shoulders should I have to attack at all.

More to follow...

Late war Germans - now with Panzerfausts!

It occurred to me last year that I had been using and abusing the same 3 German Grenadier platoons I first bought when I started playing Flames of War, and that I needed to get some more appropriate miniatures to represent all the options available to me in Late War. So one afternoon before Christmas, I set out to remedy this.

A Sturmkompanie box set and two Assault Rifle Platoon blisters gave me enough models to make....

2 Panzerfaust/MG platoons, 2 Panzerfaust/Assault Rifle platoons, 2 panzershreck teams and an Assault Rifle platoon. And in the excitement I also assembled 2 Puma armoured cars

Based and ready to be sprayed. These are now sprayed black and sitting in the queue, waiting their turn to be painted. Unfortunately for the Germans, I have a pressing need to get some American infantry done in time for Corrivalry on February 8th, but more on that later.

Multiplayer Vietnam game at Sanctuary Gaming Centre

Whilst the four of us were at Sanctuary Gaming Centre after Christmas, Owen, Mick, Phil and I got in a multiplayer Flames of War Vietnam game in. The scenario was simple enough, ANZAC forces billeted in a local village come under attack from the PAVN, and a Cavalry Troop is dispatched to relieve them. As long as they can get up the treacherous road of course....

(We played the Elephant Grass as knee high, so the infantry would be concealed)

An ANZAC force resting in a sleepy little village in the middle of nowhere...

... and the Cavalry sent to save them

A PAVN company appears out of the tree line to surround the village.

Add the M113s have driven straight into a minefield

A second PAVN company appears, and is harassed by a pair of Huey Hogs

The command tries to get his reinforcements to land inside the perimeter of the village, not an easy task

The M113s get themselves some Helicopter support to try and escort them down the road

The Hogs take a heavy toll on the PAVN south of the village

Whilst a full company of PAVN attempt a frontal assault on the ANZAC perimeter

AA guns reveal themselves, hidden in the paddy fields, to give the helicopter pilots a bad day

The M113s get going again

But one of them was destroyed by the minefields

The Hogs guarding the Cavalry patrol are called up to the village for much needed fire support

The Hogs are seen off by the AA

Meanwhile the other platoon of Hogs takes its toll on the infantry assaulting the village

Then relocate to try and fend off another attack on the village from the other direction

A Medivac slick is called in to deal with the mounting casualties inside the perimeter, and more troops are called in by helicopter

With no Helicopters left to harass them, a third attack is opened up on the village

Whilst the M113s drive into both another minefield and an ambush, they are massively outnumbered

With Recoiless Rifles hidden at the end of the road taking their toll

These RcLs were then taken out in swift retribution by a pair of Hogs

With the relief force destroyed, the ANZACs in the village were holding out, destroying the bulk of the forces facing them in the village, but they would not be able to hold out forever.

We ended the game here, as we were out of time, but multiplayer games, and large tables seem to suit Vietnam quite well, given the mobile nature of the forces involved. Definitely something we will be coming back to.

Reluctant Conscripts will be running 'Storm Over Saigon', a Flames of War Vietnam campaign weekend Tommy has been planning out this summer, and I am hoping to get some Americans assembled for a 7th Cavalry force in time for that.

Alex Billing's 2014 painting queue

After reading Lee's painting queue, I decided I had to work that out for myself. I spent several hours over the past weekend (both Saturday and Sunday) getting all my miniatures into the right boxes, but here it is:

Germans
2 SiG 33 Guns - need painting
6 Command teams - part painted
Hans Von Luck infantry - stand part painted
Panzershreck team - part painted
1 Pak 38 - part painted
1 Puppchen launcher - part painted
1 Pak 40 - part painted
Wittmann objective - part painted
15cm artillery guns - Unassembled
Motorcycle Recce platoon - Unassembled
4 '88's - Unassembled
2 Command teams - Undercoated black
Tiger (P) - Undercoated black
2 PF/MG infantry platoons - Undercoated black
2 Assault Rifle/PF infantry platoons  -Undercoated black
Assault Rifle platoon - Undercoated black
2 Tiger IE - Undercoated yellow
6 Stug III G - Undercoated yellow
2 251/21 AA - Undercoated yellow
4 Pumas - Undercoated yellow
11 250 halftracks - Undercoated yellow
2 Mobelwagens - Undercoated yellow
2 7/2 3.7cm AA - Undercoated yellow
3 Kingtigers - Undercoated yellow
8 Panther A - Undercoated yellow
5 Panzer IV/70 - Undercoated yellow
2 Sturm Tigers - Undercoated yellow
4 Hetzers - Undercoated yellow
5 Panzer IV H - Undercoated yellow
Uthoff warrior team - unpainted
Crashed Kubelwagon Objective - unpainted
2 Pak 41/43 and command - Undercoated black

Finns
2 Rifle Platoons - Undercoated black
SMG Platoon - Undercoated black
2 Anti-tank rifle platoons - Undercoated black
HMG platoon - Undercoated black
Mortar platoon - Undercoated black
76/K02 artillery - Unassembled
5 T-26 - Undercoated black
Captured KV-1 - Undercoated black

Vietnam - ANZAC
2 flamethrower teams - Undercoated black
9 M113s - Undercoated black
2 Centurions - Undercoated black
Mortar platoon - Unassembled

Vietnam - US
HQ Mortars - Unassembled
Mortar platoon - Unassembled
M113 passengers - Unassembled
HMG platoon - Unassembled

DAK 
Tiger IE - needs repainting
4 10.5cm howitzers - needs repainting
5 Panzer IIs - needs repainting
4 Panzerjager I - needs repainting
2 Kradschutzen platoons - Unassembled
2 Schutzen platoons - Unassembled
HMG platoon - Unassembled
Artillery Group - Unassembled
4 Marder III (7.62) - Undercoated desert yellow
3 Panzer III G - Undercoated desert yellow
5 Transports - Undercoated desert yellow
2 8-Rad - Undercoated desert yellow

Americans 
10 Command teams - part painted
4 Bazooka teams - part painted
2 M1 90mm AA guns - part painted
4 M5 3" Towed Tank Destroyers - part painted
HMG platoon - part painted
8 Rifle teams - part painted
Weapons platoon - part painted
Observer Sherman - Tracks unpainted
4 M18 Hellcats - Tracks unpainted
Devils Brigade Box - Unassembled
Devils Brigade platoon - Unassembled
Turner Turnbull - Unassembled
Airborne Engineer platoon - Unassembled
Parachute Mortar platoon - Unassembled
Para Warriors of Market Garden - Unassembled
Airborne Anti-tank platoon - Unassembled
Para Field Artillery Battery - Unassembled
Parachute Rifle Company - Unassembled
Parachute AA - 50 cals - Unassembled
Parachute MG platoon - Unassembled
6 Jeeps, Winter - Unassembled
4 M5 3" Towed Tank Destroyers, Winter - Unassembled
Mortar platoon, Winter - Unassembled
Easy Company - Unassembled
T27 battery - Unassembled
4 M3 75mm GMC - Unassembled
Chemical Mortar platoon - Unassembled
4 T27 Xylophone launchers - Unassembled
4 Long Tom Artillery - Unassembled
5 Chaffees - Unassembled
Engineer Support platoon - Unassembled
10 US M5 halftracks, Winter - Unassembled
4 M4A3 (75) - Unassembled
4 57mm, Winter - Unassembled
2 37mm, Winter - Unassembled
29th Beach Assault Company Box - Undercoated black
3 Jumbos - Undercoated black
Easy Eight - Undercoated black
Lt.Col. Abrams in M4A3 - Undercoated black
5 Chaffees - Undercoated black
Combat Engineers, Winter - Undercoated black
81mm Mortar platoon - Undercoated black
2 Staff teams - Undercoated black
2 HMG teams - Undercoated black
3 Snipers - Undercoated black
12 Command teams - Undercoated black
Rifle Company, Winter - Undercoated black
2 Armoured Rifle Platoons, Winter - Undercoated black
Weapons platoon, Winter - Undercoated black
2 HMG platoons, Winter - Undercoated black
3 Bazooka teams - Undercoated black
Observer team - Undercoated black
Commando Kelly - Undercoated black
Audie Murphy - Undercoated black
P47 Thunderbolt - Undercoated black
2 Pathfinder teams - Undercoated black
8 DUKW - Undercoated green
General Harmon - Undercoated green
4 Calliopes - Undercoated green
4 M12 SP guns - Undercoated green
Sherman Dozer - Undercoated green
3 M4A1 (76) - Undercoated green
4 M4A3 (76) - Undercoated green
4 M36 Jackson - Undercoated green
1 Jeep - Undercoated green
Engineer Support platoon - unpainted
2 Jeeps - Wheels not painted
Engineer Combat Company - Finish basing

Bolt Action
23 Artisan Designs Americans in greatcoats - part painted
Artisan Designs M1 57mm AT gun - part painted
Artisan Designs 81mm mortar team - part painted
Artisan Designs 2 HMG teams - part painted
Warlord Games M5A1 Stuart - undercoated white

All (most) of my Flames of War miniatures now in their plastic boxes

Winter Finns!

It was my 30th birthday after Christmas this year, and much to my surprise, I was greeted by this box that morning. My girlfriend had heard me mumble something about maybe wanting a Winter War Finn army several months ago, and took it upon herself to get it for me. Result.

 

Vietnam: Search and Destroy

After Christmas, Mick, Phil, Owen and I all went up to Sanctuary Gaming Centre in Sutton-in-Ashfield, for some Flames of War Vietnam games. Owen played Phil, and I played Mick. We both played the same scenario, 'Search and Destroy', and the elephant grass roll was a 6, so limited visibility all round.

The tables, with my ANZACs deployed in the foreground.