Sunday, October 21, 2012

Soviet Tank Assault!

Feeling a little less like dying this week, I ran another Force on Force game on Wednesday evening. I wanted to try out the vehicle rules but didn’t want to dive into a full-blown, combined-arms battle, so I ran a modified version of the Soviet Assault scenario from Cold War Gone Hot.

I still haven’t gotten balance down in this game or a clear idea of how many points should be awarded for which, so I have to admit the victory points I just pulled out of my ass and the forces were based on what I had… There are two T-80s in there… but I called them all T-72s as that’s what the majority of them were…

SITUATION

A Soviet motor rifle division has smashed through the front line at the Inner German Border! Tanks are pouring through the gap to exploit the break through!

SCENARIO

Duration: 10 turns
Initiative: Soviets have initiative for first turn, and then test thereafter.
Fog of War: Determined normally by Reaction Tests
Table Size: 7’x5’

Special Conditions:
- The river is not fordable at any point. It may only be crossed at the bridge.

SOVIET MISSION

The soviets are to advance through the village and exit as many tanks off the far end of the table as possible.

SOVIET VICTORY POINTS

Each Soviet tank exiting the far (west) end of the table: 5 points
Each American Tank destroyed: 5 points

SOVIET FORCE
Initiative Level: D8
Confidence Level: Confident
Supply Level: Normal
Body Armour: None
Troop Quality/Morale: D8/D10

Soviet Forces

Tank Company
2x Tank Platoons, Each with:
3x T-72 tanks


NATO MISSION

Stop the Soviet advance!

NATO VICTORY POINTS

Each Soviet tank destroyed or immobilized: 3 points

NATO FORCE
Initiative Level: D8
Confidence Level: Confident
Supply Level: Normal
Body Armour: None
Troop Quality/Morale: D8/D8

NATO Forces

2x US M1 tanks

THE GAME

Gary took the Soviets and I too the Americans.

(Remember: click on the pictures for a bigger version)


American M1 tanks lurking in the woods hoping to stem the tide of the Soviet tank assault.


The Soviet tank column coming entering the valley.


A small German village and a bridge across the river running down the middle of this picturesque valley.


The M1s lurking in the woods across the river.


And finally a view from the American position…

I took a lot of pictures at the beginning but then forgot to take more as play went on as I was constantly trying to look things up (that's not to say the rules are preticularly comples, I'm just an idiot with  a bad memory, and I'm also the only one with the rules...)

TURN ONE

I think all but one (or two?) of the Soviet tanks passed their TQ roll to stay unbuttoned. As their orders were to press forward and pass through this valley, Gary decided to drive them all through at Rapid Speed.

T-72#1 roared into the valley. M1#1 reacted with fire.


BOOM!

First shot – vehicle killed. The Gunner was injured, but the Commander and Driver managed to get out unscathed!

T-72#2 rolled out into the open M1#2 attempted to react and failed! (which, I think, means they didn’t get to fire or make anymore reaction attempts for the rest of the turn…?)


T-72#3 rolled into the open. M1#1 attempted to react again. Fired on and knocked out the T-72’s main gun! The crew did a bail check, but passed.


End of turn one; one T-72 knocked out, another with a main gun desotryed.

TURN TWO

The Soviets retained the initiative. The Crew from T-72#1 did a first aid check on their gunner and turned out that he was okay – what he thought was bleeding turned out to be some hydraulic fluid that had splattered his legs… Despite the situation, they probably had a good laugh about it.


Checking for buttoning up, I think all off the Tank Commanders passed – all having a good look outside to see what’s going on!

T-72#2 attempted a rapid move attempting to get to the bridge and the cover of the village. M1#2 reacted firing on the T-72. The T-72 brewed up; the Gunner and Driver were injured but the Tank Commmander successfully bailed.

T-72#3 also attempted a rapid move attempting to get to the bridge and the cover of the village. M1#1 reacted, firing on the T-72.  T-72#3 also brewed up; the Gunner was injured but the Tank Commmander and Driver successfully bailed.

T-72#4 rolled out into the open also attempted a rapid move. M1#2 reacted firing on the T-72. T-72#4 also brewed up (can you see a pattern developing here…?) the Tank Commmander was injured but the Driver and Gunner successfully bailed.

T-72#5 rolled out into the open and tried to fire on M1#1. The T-72 actually got to fire first! Shots were exchanged but the round of fire was inconclusive – no hits!

T-72#6 also tried to make a rapid move around the burning wrecks of the lead platoon. M1#1 attempted to react but failed.


End of Turn Two: four knocked out T-72s smoking in the distance.

I need to get/make some better burn markers… 

TURN THREE

The Soviets again maintained the initiative.


The various crews checked on their injuried comrades. T-72#2’s gunner was seriously injured, but the Driver, it turns out, was okay (hit his head on the drivers hatch on the way out and was temporarily stunned). T-72#3’s gunner was lightly wounded. T-72#4’s Tank Commander was seriously injured.


The remaining T-72 commanders remained unbuttoned to have a good view of the developing situation.

T-72#5 fired on M1#2, both M1s attempted to react. M1#2 fired first – suppressing the T-72. The T-72 fired next, but caused no effect, M1#1 fired last, brewing up the T-72. The T-72 crew attempted to bail taking two casualties.

T-72#6 moved up behind the wreckage of the rest of the force. M1#1 attempted to react but failed – rolling a 1 – bringing out the first Fog of War card, which was FIRE! FIRE! One of the buildings in the village took a stray round and caught fire.

TURN FOUR

I think the remaining Soviet tank retained the initiative…?

T-72#5 checked their crew members: the Tank Commander was Killed in Action (he probably never made it out of the tank as it brewed up), and the Driver was Lightly wounded.

T-72#6 made one last ditch attempt at a dash for the bridge and the cover of the village. M1#1 reacted. This time it was the Soviets turn to roll a one on the reaction roll – drawing a Fog of War card; something about soviets taking time out to do some looting… not really applicable…

Then the M1 fired…


Scoring a Catastrophic Kill – blowing the tank up and killing averyone inside! KA-BOOM!!!


Six smoking wrecks…

Lesson learned. T-72s; no match for M1s…

Soviets
Tanks Lost: 6
KIA: 4
Seriously Wounded: 2
Lightly Wounded: 2
Okay: 10
Victory Points: 0

NATO
Tanks Lost: 0
KIA: 0
Seriously Wounded: 0
Lightly Wounded: 0
Okay: 8
Victory Points: 18

Well… that was a rather one-sided affair. I suppose if one were really grim the Americans could have spent some time machine-gunning the surving tank crews as they ran for cover… But at this point - early in the war – there probably wouldn’t be the sort of bitterness that would precipitate such action. I imagine the Americans were probably thinking “Poor, dumn fü¢kers…” and just glad they had M1s and weren’t in those T-72 death traps!

I think I’ve got the vehicle rules pretty much down. Still trying to get my head around some aspects of the action-reaction system. I have to add in air support and artillery and asymmetric operations next…

Coming soon on Tim’s Miniature Wargaming Blog:

More game reports… more toys… 

Saturday, October 20, 2012

Assorted Africans


Rolling off the workbench this week: a few more African items…


It's a rather cold, grey, overcast day is Saskatoon today, hence the lower quality of the photos... 

(Remember: click on the pictures for a bigger version):

First up a Modern African Militiaman from The Assault Group. This chap will actually be a regular member of the Federal Army of the Republic of Timbogo (F.A.R.T.)

Two ZANLA from Eureka Miniatures which will serve as regulars in the Peoples Revolutionary Army of Timbogo (P.R.A.T.)

I’m using the same colour-coding-scheme I used in my AK-47 Republic armies for these Africans.

Camouflage = Veteran or Elite
One Colour = Regulars (Green = F.A.R.T.,  Khaki = P.R.A.T.)
Mixed Colours = Irregulars

“Prince” Kidongo – the son of President for Life; General Xavier Millerbutu (also from Matakishi’s Tea House)

A Rhodesian scout from Eureka Not sure how these will fit into the fictional Republic of Timbogo…? Mercenaries…? Cross-border patrols from neighboring Zutu?

Coming soon on Tim’s Miniature Wargaming Blog:

I have four game reports to catch up on from earlier this week (all this actual gamin’ is starting to seriously cut into my painting time!?) and lots more Africans and Modern British on the workbench… Along with Ancient Greeks, Great war French, WW2 British Paras and other odd and sundry items lurking on the fringes of the bench… 

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

More Modern British

My plan for the Modern British is to be able to field a rather generic looking platoon that cold be fielded as either a light role platoon or an armoured infantry platoon anywhere from the mid-90’s to… well… almost now… I have a few odds and sods in Para Berets, Fusilier Berets and Black Watch tams that can be thrown in to give the unit a bit of flavour.

For use in the armoured role I’ve picked up a few Warrior MCV-80s from Imprint Models and have ordered a few plastic 1/48 Challenger 2 kits…

I know… a lot of the Brits by the mid to late 90s had webbing that was DPM, not green… and some of the kit these chaps have likely wasn’t used until Gulf War 2 or Afghanistan… but… whatever… They’re British… and they’re Post Cold War…

(Remember: click on the pictures for a bigger version):


These chaps are all from The Assault Group. I still have a few more Black Watch and Fusiliers to paint up, and an SF GPMG team…. Then it’s the IFVs (one of which I have assembled!) and then the Challengers, when they arrive…

I do also have a handful of Royal Marines (of which I painted a few last week).

I also have a great deal many modern SAS. Like about 50 or so… (as if you could find 50 of them in any place in the world at any one time!? I got a killer deal on a whole bunch of pack of them from a store that was blowing them out) The planfor them is to do them in two sets of about 25 assorted guys (one set in Temperate DPM, the other in Desert DPM) from which I can pick out a team or two of whatever make up is required for whichever scenario I happen to dream up.

I also have a smaller handful of Cold War British – armed with SLRs, etc. I’d like to get more of those at some point too… But for now I’m working on the more modern Brits – as they are closer to having a complete force finished. The Cold War force would require buying a whole bunch of stuff and is thus a long way off… I just hope Sloppy Jalopy, Mongrel Miniatures, and the Gripping Beast MoFo stuff is all still available when I get around to doing it!

Coming soon on Tim’s Miniature Wargaming Blog:

Oh… probably some more Modern-ish stuff. I seem to be on a roll with the Modern British… so likely some more of that.... or some more africans... 

Sunday, October 14, 2012

Modern Africans

Nuthin' for a week and then three (maybe four) posts in one day!? You'd think I'd spread these out over a couple of days. Pfft! That'd require something like patience....

While planning all these modern forces I’m working on at the moment I started wondering (sensibly) what was I going to use at opposing forces…?

I’m in a bit of a gamer’s vacuum here. Ever since the first group of guys I played miniature wargames with split up (oh, twenty years ago… has it really been that long!?) and went their separate ways leaving me with armies with no opponents, I thought it only sensible to always do both sides. That way I’m never reliant on others. If a gaming buddy packs up and moves away, I’m no longer left with armies without opponents.

As an added benefit I can game with anyone. I don’t have to seek out other guys that have armies to play with. Anyone that wants to try out a game doesn’t have to first build an army of their own…. The downside of this is that most of the guys I now game with just rely on me to provide all the toys when we game and would never consider buying or painting any miniatures themselves….

I’m straying off topic here… What I think I was initially starting to ramble about was what to do for opposing forces for my moderns… Vietnam is obvious – Americans and Australians vs. Vietn Cong and PAVN (maybe someday I could add some ARVN or other odds and sods). I’m interested in “Cold War Gone Hot” scenarios – and so I have a few cold war British and Soviets in 28mm… (and a few slightly-more-recent-than-cold-war soviets and British, etc…) and a pile of them in 20mm… but then I also have a smattering of more modern (Post Post Modern?) British and French and Americans… but I have no interest in gaming Iraq at all and no real strong desire to do Afghanistan… So what to do?

Then I got thinking I could revive my fictional African nation of Timbogo – which I originally dreamt up for AK-47 Republic (and have a LOT of stuff for in 20mm…).  Eureka Miniatures and The Assault Group have some great ranges of Africans that I could use for the primary local belligerents: The Federal Army of the Republic of Timbogo (F.A.R.T.) and the Peoples Revolutionary Army of Timbogo (P.R.A.T.). The French and British and such could simply be used as foreign (previously colonial) powers that are required to intervene from time to time…

Oh I suppose I could put together a force of central asian insurgent types… but perhaps they’ll be the denizens of Derkaderkastan…?

Anyway, here’s the first of the Africans….

(Remember: click on the pictures for a bigger version):


This is General Xavier Millerbutu (the “President for Life” figure from Matakishi’s Tea House) and a few Timbogan Militia from The Assault Group.

I have a one more TAG militiaman and a batch from Eureka Miniatures (ZANLA from their Rhodesian War line) on the workbench. I’ve run out of washers to base them on and have been too sick this last week to go out and get some more… Hopefully I’ll get to those this week!


Here, again is General Millerbutu with his personal body guard “The Jackals


Coming soon on Tim’s Miniature Wargaming Blog:

more painting... probably modern-ish... 

Modern British - Marines and Mortars

A few modern Brits rolling off the workbench…

(Remember: click on the pictures for a bigger version):


These are a few Royal Marines I thought I’d do in Desert DPM. They are a mix of Devil Dog Design (which, I think, are currently not in production) and The Assault Group. As you can see they’re considerable different in scale!? From left to right; DDD, TAG, DDD, TAG…

I have another handful of both DDD and TAG marines… maybe if I keep them in separate fire teams it won’t be so noticeable…




A British mortar team from The Assault Group. I’m not entirely sure why I picked up the mortar team. At skirmish scale there’s no way these should ever be on table… maybe if I was doing an “overrunning the firebase” scenario or something…?

Coming soon on Tim’s Miniature Wargaming Blog:

Modern Africans. 

Vietnam ANZACs


I’ve been sick again this last week. Just another cold. But what is up with that? Wasn’t I sick enough this summer!? Anyway… here’s some of the stuff I got painted…

(Remember: click on the pictures for a bigger version):


These Vietnam ANZACs are from The Assault Group.


Here they are with the rest of the Vietnam ANZACS I’d already painted (Including the SAS).

I just need to pick up three more packs and I’ll have an entire platoon!? Since I’m done these I can totally order more, right?! Well… I’ve been going a bit overboard with the spending and ordering of toys lately… So maybe when I finish painting the last two orders from The Assault Group (more modern British and Africans) I’ll go ahead and order the rest of the platoon…

Coming soon on Tim’s Miniature Wargaming Blog:

I have an assortment of Modern British and Africans just needing their bases finished up. Expect them to be posted later today or tomorrow.

I am feeling like I’m finally on the mend, so hopefully we’ll get some gamin’ in this week too! 

Monday, October 8, 2012

La Légion Étrangère


I finally finished up the last of my modern French Foreign Legionnaires…

(Remember: click on the pictures for a bigger version):


The last batch of Legionnaires from Eureka Miniatures.


Here is a shot of the entire force – about a platoon’s worth. I’m not really sure about the current organization of French platoons… I’ll have to look into that…  

Coming soon on Tim’s Miniature Wargaming Blog:

Maybe an AAR of these Foreign Legionnaires in action! Or some more painting…