Wednesday, August 30, 2006

Camp Cromwell 30/08/2006

Warhammer ECW

Jim was ripped off! We tried a free for all using Warhammer ECW. Unfortunately, I didnt print off the army lists I had chosen. Going from memory, I had most of the parliamentary army as 'raw' -- so they had to take morale tests when charged. But I had paid for them to be 'steady', so they should have been able to stand up to the royalists.

The results were inevitable -- Jim's pike and shot were charged, failed morale, ran away, and exposed the rest of the line to be rolled up. Prince Rupert and his cronies were reduced to a few gentlemen, but had ripped the heart out of the parliamentarians. The Parliamentarian cuirassiers ran away in their panic test, and Jim conceeded the game (as only Jim can).

The mistakes were legion:
- Incorrect morale for the parliamentarian infantry.
- Incorrect armour for the royalist cav -- they had light armour.
- Incorrect unit sizes for the parliamentarians -- they had too many cav.
- Incorrect unit sizes for the parliamentarian infantry -- they were based in a pike block that was 3x3. Unfortunately, the rules require 4 figs in a rank to get a rank bonus, so this was the worst formation they could be in -- no rank bonus and no frontage to fight on.

Still, good to experiment with different rules sets.

Friday, August 25, 2006

Camp Cromwell 24/08/06

A quiet night tonight - just SteveJ, Jim & a late Peter.

SteveJ's Grenadiers defending v. Jim's Russians in a HTL.

Jim stuffed up first turn by rushing forward with his T34s forgetting about the Pak 40 ambush (a week in the bush does things to your head). This cost him his T34 platoon. The rest of the Russians charged on. The infantry made it to the objective & actually took it briefly before melting away under a hail of Nazi bullets. Another win to Huns.

Fort Floriet 22/08/06

Game 1: Steve Jendrich made the trip up from Hobart and used his Russians against Aggros grenadiers in a Free for All. A close game but Steves KVs won the day Aggro having nothing to stop them on his right flank. The German 88's were deployed to far to the left preventing them dominating the battlefield.4-3 win to Steves Russians.

Game 2. The final round 1 game for the Floreat Tourney.Encounter Starn 1600pts russians vs Doug 1500pts Frogs (USA impersonaters). A long slog the Russians lokked good early but melted away under a hail of Machine Guns. The Frogs lost 1 platoon before the Russians failed company morale. 5-2 win to the Frogs. The handicapping system seems to work at least in the encounter scenario where numbers cant used as easily early on.

Current Standings after Round 1. Chris 1 win 6pts. Aggro 1 win 6pts. Doug 1 win 5pts. Rodney 1 win 4pts. Matt 3ptsStarn 2pts. Corina 1pt. James Scott 1pt.

Monday, August 21, 2006

Fort Floriet 15/08/06

A big turn out htis week with 8 players.

Floreat Tourney First round Encounter Games played

Table 1. James Scott 1600pts USA Rifle Coy vs Aggro 1600pts Grenadiers. The Shermans got minced by the 88's and the Germans took the right hand objective for a 6:1 win to Aggro.

Table 2. Corinna 1600pts Grenadiers vs Chris 1500pts DAK. The Dak took out the enemy artillery and pushed for the right hand objective taking it, but were beaten back off by the Grenadier reserves. The DAK re took the objective to get a 6:1 win. The DAk had horrendous casualties which luckily were spread over 5 platoons.

Table 3. Matt 1600pt Finns vs. Rod 1600pts New Zealanders.A 6:1 win to the Sheep lovers the more experienced wargamer Rodney adapted quickly to the world war 2 game system.

Sunday, August 13, 2006

Area 52 Competition Week 2: 13/08/06





Week 2 saw more furious action. This time we had 6 players, so 3 games per round.

Round 3 -- Hold the line

Nick vs Mark. US Armour vs Fallschamjagers. The US armour was dominating -- destroying all of the German's antitank equipment. Unfortunately, they ran out of time, and the Germans got a 6:1 win under defender rules!

Peter vs Steve II. US Infantry vs Russian Infantry. The Russians had to assault accross the river. They never made it -- a 6:1 to the US Infantry.

Chris vs Steve I. Afrika Corps march company vs German grenadiers. The Afrika Corps was having a bad day. But the grenadiers could not clinch victory before the end of the round. A 4:3 to the Afrika Korps!

Round 4 -- Roadblock.

Nick vs Steve II. Russian infantry with KV's vs US armour. The openning ambush killed ALL the Shermans. The US went on the offensive with their Stuarts and armoured infantry, mowing down hordes of Russians. But the KV's advanced relentlessly. When time was up the objective was still contested by the US scout platoon, so a 6:1 to the US. But in another turn it would have been a different story!!!

Peter vs Steve I. US infantry vs German grenadiers. Not much information, but a 6:1 to the US infantry.

Mark vs Chris. FJ's vs Afrika Korps. The ambush took out the Afrika Korps artillery. But two Stugs remained, and they held off the FJs while reinforcements rushed in.

Camp Cromwell 10/08/06

Thursday at Camp Cromwell: Roadblock Practice

1. Jim's Stelkovy ambushing Nick's US Armour
The Soviet anti-tank guns got 3 Shermans and bailed another in the ambush, but the gunners were in their turn gunned down by Homeys & MGs. The KVs then began a ponderous advance on an objective while the US set about mowing down Ivan infantry. The KVs took the objective, but losses of other platoons meant they were dependant on passing company tests to stay in business. The US Recon managed to contest the objective long enough for the Soviets to fail a morale test.

2. MarkW's Grenadiers ambushing SteveP's Strelkovy with Cossacks
Another tough fight. The Grenadiers eventually got to an objective. The Shermans attacked to take it back & were destroyed. This left the Germans on the objective, but they were below half strength and had to pass morale to win the battle. They failed the test & lost.

3. SteveJ's Grenadiers ambushing MarkO's US Armour
The Cossacks ran amok - overunning Pak 40s & two infantry platoons to win the battle single handed.

Verdict on Roadblock scenario. Pretty good. The "Attacker" won all 3, but 2 of them were very close - one decided by a single dice roll. So it seems balanced.

Wednesday, August 09, 2006

Fort Floriet 8/8/6

Only 4 people this week Doug, Aggro, Rod & Chris. We played a beer and pretzels tanker challenge Aggro & Chris Axis vs. Rodney & Doug Soviet. A bit of fun Chris was 1st to 100pts of kills and the Axis had victory on the night.All lists bar 2 are ready for the Floreat Tourney so we hope to play the first round next week. A total 9 entrants 4 more than the Area 52 Tourney. The 3rd Area 52 Tournament had a disappointing turn out from the non-Hobartians maybe it needs to be better advertised or promoted? First round will be an Encounter Mission and we will rotate randomly through the 4 chosen, and then repeat.

Monday, August 07, 2006

Area 52 Competition Week 1: 06/08/06

AREA 52 FOW TOURNAMENT 6-13 August 2006: Week 1 report

A disappointing sign up of just 6 players, made worse by Mark having to hold the fort in the shop & being forced to forfeit his matches in the first week. Nick Bowler was unavailable for week 1, but teamed up with Jim Gandy who is unavailable for week 2. On the plus side there were some apologies and a few interested spectators unable or not ready to take part this time.


Round 1: Encounter Scenario

Jim Gandy's US Armour v. Chris Raine's DAK Marschkompanie Coy
The first moves were rushed through as both sides waited for their reserves arrived before being prepared to attack. Both attacked on their left when they were ready. The German attack with infantry & Stugs supported by artillery and mortars was slowed down by accurate fire from the US SP artllery. The US attack by Stuarts and Shermans used the terrain to let them get in close to the 88s which were smothered before they could even fire. The combined attack on the objective by Shermans & Stuarts was irressisable. The DAK lost 1 Stug, their 88 platoon, 2 Infantry Platoons & a Pioneer Platoon. The US lost just 2 infantry teams in a 6:1 win.

Steve Jendrich's Grenadiers v. Steve Page's Strelkovy

The Russians advanced a tidal wave of infantry across the table under heavy fire. They got to the objectives, but were blasted back off them by German fire & counterattacks. The KVs were still advancing ponderously & might have clinched victory given time. But time ran out with heavy losses on both sides and the battle was adjudged to be a 3:3 tie.

Bye:

Peter Moy (4 points).

Round 2: Breakthrough Scenario

Jim Gandy's US Armour attacking Steve Jendrich's Grenadiers.

The battle opened with the US Armour standing toe to toe with dug in & concealed Pak 40's. It took 4 turns of up to 30 dice a turn for the US to finally get the last one. Meanwhile the German 105s & Henschells were wearing the US down. By the time the Paks were finished off the US had lost 2 Priests, 2 Shermans & 3 Stuarts. But the US had stuck to their plan, the surviving Stuarts had broken off from the fire fight to join the GIs in their half tracks in a right hook towards the closest objective. The objective defended by the fire zones of AA guns & 88s. The GIs, still in their half tracks, plus the surviving US armour charged over the hill that had covered their aproach and took the objective. The Recon also still mounted came on from reserve to cover their right flank. The Germans hit them with 88s, AA & Henschells. The last Stuarts, Shermans & Priests died, as did a half track, but the SP guns passed their morale test still leaving the US with more than half their platoons on the table and inn possession of the objective. The US 5 Shermans, 5 Stuarts, 3 Priests & 1 half track . The Germans lost their Pak40 platoon & a few infantry teams. A close 4:3 victory to the US.

Peter Moy's US Infantry defending v. Chris Rain's DAK Marschkompanie

The DAL were severely constrained in their deployment by the terrain (crammed behind a big hill) and they suffered badly from the US artillery before they couild spread out. They finally did break out and when their reserves came on put some pressure on the objectives, but time ran out before they could take one, so under the Defender Wins Rule (which applies to this scenario), the US won. The US had lost a platoon. The DAK hadn't lost any platoons, but had much higher casualties than the US. A 5:2 victory to the US.

Bye:

Steve Page (4 points).

Generalship Standings after Week 1

Jim/Nick (US Armour) 11
Peter Moy (US Infantry) 9
Steve Page (Strelkovy) 7
Steve Jendrich (Grenadiers) 6
Chris Raine (Dak Marschkompanie) 3

Friday, August 04, 2006

Camp Cromwell 04/08/06

Tournament Practice Matches at Camp Cromwell 04/08/06:

Present: Jim, 2xSteves, Barrie, Peter & MarkO.

1. SteveP's Russian Armour attacking SteveJ's Grenadiers in a Hold The Line

The 88 ambush bailed up 5 T34 - which promptly unbailed & blew the 88s away.
The KVs moseyed onto the objective & the Germans couldn't stop them.

2. Jim's Grenadiers v. Barrie's US Armour in Encounter

The Germans protected their RHS objective with Pak40s & their LHS with HMGs & Grenadiers.
The US put Honeys on their LHS & Engineers on their RHS.
The Germans opened the batting by attacking on their left. The Engineers copped a pounding by HMGs before Barrie realised their ROF had gone up to 6. The Grenadiers followed up and destroyed the Engineers, Bulldozer & all. They broke through to take the objective from the Recon. On the other flank the threat to the US right had made Barrie move his Honeys to the right. The Panzers double moved behind a hilly wood to occupy the other objective.
The Honeys mowed down the grenadiers to retake their RHS objective. The Shermans had to move to cover the other one. This gave the Panzers first shot & an advantage they never gave up. The Shermans & MkIIIs & IVs traded blows. The Germans lost 2 tanks, but the Shermans were all killed or bailed & failed morale. This forced an army morale test which they failed.

Fort Floriet 02/08/06

Six players in attendance. The draw was done for the Floreat Round Robin to be announced next week as 4 players still to publish lists.

Game 1: Continuation of last weeks game James Scott Brat Armour vs Rodney Dak PanzersThe Germans continued picking off the British Armour piece meal eventually forcing a Company morale check for the British which they auto failed with no Company Commander.

Game 2: Practice game Encounter Corinna Grenadiers 1600pts vs Matt Russian Infantry 1600ptsThe game was fought to an inconclusive draw as time got the better of people. The Germans were enjoying the long range sniping as the less experienced Russian player sat in defensive mode. The small Russian attack up the right was held off fairly easily.

Game 3: 1500pts Free for All Dak Armour Rodney vs Brat Light Armour Chris (rematch of game 1 same forces different players)Chris had more platoons so weighted the right flank to try and breakthrough to the right hand objective.British right flank 13 Crusader III's, centre 3 Grants left flank 3 Grants & 3 Crusader III's. Facing this forminable force. On the German left 4 Panzer III early & 3 Panzer III lates, centre 3 Marders, Right flank 2 Stug D's & 3 Panzer IV F1's with a Panzer III early.As always the germans were out numbered. The british engaged with 10 Crusaders on the right vs 7 Panzer III's. What was supposed to be an easy kill for the Britsh here turned out to be a disaster.The British lost 4 tanks (including the 2 IC) and only destroyed one Panzer III late.On the opposite flank the Germans advanced through scrub. The unlucky Panzer III bogged and stayed bogged for 4 turns it finally unbogged' but then immediately bogged again trying to get out needless to say it took no further part in the game.The Marders advanced into scrub and fired at long range killing a Grant. A bad start for the Poms.The British reinforced the right with the last 3 Crusaders which drew the Marders out to play.The marders got destroyed on the following turn and the Crusaders withdrew from the right under cover of a hill.The Germans advanced to a hull down position on their left killing another Crusader. This still left 8 Crusaders on the British right which returned fire killing all but 1 of the Panzers. The Germans advanced on their other flank losing the Stugs but killing a crusader platoon.The final Panzer III on the German left got popped and germans failed company morale.5-2 win to the British (even though they lost 10 tanks).