Hunting Tanks we are...

 So,

Today my buddy Robert and I threw down another Bolt Action game, this being the 4th game for me and Roberts 5th game. Robert wanted to try something a tad bit different today and I was all game for it. He wanted to try out a all tank army against a more balanced list as written in the book. I know, I know, some of you are thinking, "You can't take all tanks! It's not in the rules!" Well, Robert and I love trying out new ways to play games and Heh, this is our game! Oh and we also took about 1100 points to boot, I know crazy huh?

So here is Roberts force below:

4 Sherman's
1 M10

I can't remember which Sherman's he took and I am sure he will chime in when he see's this post.

 My force is as follows:
Veteran 1st Lieutenant with two attendants all armed with SMGs

Squad 1 - Regular 10 man unit with NCO with SMG and a light MG, also equipped with tank grenades.
Squad 2 - Regular 10 man unit with NCO with SMG and a light MG, also equipped with tank grenades.
Squad 3 - Regular 10 man unit with NCO with SMG and a light MG, also equipped with tank grenades.
Squad 4 - Veteran 10 man unit with NCO with SMG and a light MG, also equipped with tank grenades.
All Infantry squads are Tank Hunters 
2 Regular MMG's
1 Regular PaK 38
1 Regular Panzer IV

Total cost 1128 Oh and I forgot to take pictures of my force!

We played scenario 3 Point Defence and we agreed that Robert would be the attacker while I played defender. Below you can see how I deployed, most troops being Hidden as per the scenario rules. the Veterans and the 1st Lieutenant were deployed in the buildings yard in the center.

This scenario uses 3 objective markers which were deployed 6" in from the edges and one in the center of the board. Here is a MMG team covering one objective wondering how they will stop a tank!

 My Panzer IV deployed on the road awaiting the Americans!

And my Pak38 hidden in the wheat fields with another squad of Tank Hunters lying in wait.

Robert opened up with a Preparatory Bombardment and the best he got was 2 pin markers on a few units, while most only got 1 pin marker. So Turn one started with me having to rally most of the units which I was successful with.

Robert got his tanks to come on his left flank and slowly moved towards my line.

 And he push forward on the right flank with the other two tanks, he kept the M10 in reserve. Once both tanks advanced on the right they took their shots at my Panzer IV, but both failed to damage it but caused me two pin markers and also caused me back up!

Turn two started with Robert pushing his tanks on the left closer towards my line. Meanwhile I kept most of my troops hidden not wanting to reveal them just yet. He took aim at my Veterans that moved into the farmhouse and one unlucky veteran was killed by MG fire from the tanks.

On the right the other tanks started to push up and close in. My squad in the wheat field advanced to the hedge line while the Pak 38 took a shot at tanks that revealed themselves on the right, but the gunners missed. Also my Panzer IV took a shot at the approaching tanks but failed to cause any damage, they must still have been shook up from rounds taken earlier.

Turn 3 started with my PaK 38 taking another shot at the Sherman's on the right, but once again they missed, the Panzer IV took another couple of shots from the Tanks approaching on the left, but now the US gunners could not hit anything.

So Feeling lucky, the German tank crew took aim at one of the Sherman's and scored a hit causing it to be knocked out

The Veterans that had moved into the farmhouse decided to move out and head towards the woods next to the Sherman's to get  into a better position to attack the Sherman's. While heading towards the woods one Sherman opened up with it's MG's and they manged to kill 4 more Vets, which was not enough to cause them to test. meanwhile the 1st Lieutenant moved up to assist with his Leadership for the Vets in the next turn.

 My regular unit decided to head towards the two approaching Sherman's that were concentrating on the Vets, while my MMG on the Left went into Ambush awaiting the M10 that was sure to appear.

Turn 4 started with the veterans in striking position to spring their trap but the M10than decided to enter on my left side.

Good thing my MMG team was on Ambush because it opened up on the M10 and got lucky to cause a Pin marker. This worked out for me since the M10 crew decided to open up on my regular troops coming out of the woods, but  their aim was off and no hits were scored.

the next order dice came up German, so the Veterans sprang their attack and since they were Tank Hunters with grenades they caused damage to the Sherman and caused it to catch fire. The crew had enough and lost their nerve and broke and ran.

Seeing that the Veterans did a great job, the PaK 38 trained it's sites on the M10. It was a long shot, so they took it and scored a hit on the M10 causing it to become knocked out.

With three tanks out of four being either knocked out or on fire, Robert called the game giving me my first win in Bolt Action! The Germans had fought off the American armored attack and they would live to fight another day.

So after was all said and done Robert and I sat down to discuss the game and we both came to the same thing. Unsupported armor in this game had the same troubles that real tank commanders in war have now, it is tough! What we also understood was that this was a very unique game with specific army lists. First off, Robert took all tanks and was the attacker, secondly I took all tank grenades giving my troops the Tank Hunter ability. So with that this was not like most games and I would have to say that I had a huge advantage in this fight, but I could have seen this going the other way for me as well. Robert dice rolls were terrible and I was glad that the dice Gods were on my side this time.

Well to sum things up, I know that the standard Bolt Action game is balanced for play, but both Robert and I both agree that this was yet again another great game and we will be playing this in the up coming year. Now I must get working on my Pim Markers and the rules for our little Tale of Three paint challenge.

TK

Germans vs American Bolt Action!

So,

This past weekend Robert and I got together to play some Bolt Action up at Imperial Outpost games. We decided to play 1000 points and try out the Top Secret scenario. We set up a pretty generic table as seen below.

 For those that do not know the scenario, both side start off of the table and you place an objective marker in the center of the table. Then both sides are basically racing to reach the objective and then carry it off the table very much like the Seize the Prize or Bilbo's Treasure scenario for LotR. Here is the objective placed in the center of the table.

Well Roberts side of the table was pretty wide open, while mine had only a few lanes of clear open ground, the fields were considered rough ground. So saying that Robert advanced his Americans as fast as he could towards the goal and by turn 2 he was along the hedge line. Meanwhile I was stuck crossing the wheat fields in the center. To make matters worse Robert decided to call down an artillery strike in the middle of the board which made it really tough for me.
 

Once Robert had taken up position along the hedge he started to hook around to take the objective by turn three. 

 I started to send my tank after his M10, but got caught wide open as I crossed over a fence and soon my Panzer IV was a smoking wreak.

 I tried to rush the objective with two squads, but I got caught by the Americans and the two squads soon went away in hand to hand combat.

 The start of turn 4 saw things go bad for me, I was starting to take loss' and Robert was quickly heading for his side of the table with the objective. Unfortunately I was not able to stop him and by the end of the turn I was in bad shape. I only had a few units left.

 Turn 5 & 6 saw Robert heading for his side and by the end of turn 6 Robert was only 4" away from leaving the board.

 
 The Top Secret scenario can go one more turn and you roll a D6, if you roll 4+ the game goes one more turn. As luck would have it, he rolled a 5 and the game continued. Now it was down to who got the next order and Robert drew one of his dice for orders and moved off the table for the win!

All in all this was a great game and Robert and I are very excited about playing more games in the near future. In fact we are planning on doing a few Crete games in the near future. So stay tuned for more Bolt Action games...

TK

Black Powder Hits the Table!

So,

Today, Robert, Tom O, Joe and myself threw down a game of American Civil War using Warlords Black Powder rules. This game has been in the works for well over a year now and I have to say it was well worth the wait. We met up at Imperial Outpost and set up a 8' x 8' table and did a very generic looking table.

 Robert and I took command of the Union troops, while Tom and Joe took the Confederates. The Rebels were to hold the bridge in the middle of the board, while the Union was trying to take the bridge themselves.
For the life of me, I can not remember which units were represented on the board, but we each had about four units plus a gun. I will leave the more formal descriptions to Robert when he posts up his battle report. So for now, here are some pictures that I took while playing the game.

So we played for about 2 hours and had a blast! I really like how the game played out and looked on the table. Everyone that stopped by enjoyed the way the game looked and we had a lot of complements, the best one coming from a 8 year old girl who said, "That's Cool"!

Needless to say, I am already planning to start building a few American War of Independence armies for my own big game. Hell I am even thinking of building a Napoleonic army as well, we also talked about using the Black Powder rules for some early WW1 games! So in a nutshell, I really really liked the game and will be spending my money to build armies for this game.

So long Games Workshop, I'm off to bigger and better things!

TK 

I'm A Winner!!!!

So,

It seems that I have won an award, yes that's right Cursed Treasures fans, we have won the coveted Liebster Award! It seems that a few friends from the Blog sphere have nominated my little space on the old Internet! The basic concept of the award is to recognise fellow bloggers that have less than 200 followers, it also is just a nice way to recognise folks for their blogs.

So first up thanks to the following friends and bloggers:

John over at Plastic Legions, next up Aaron over at Dulce et Decorum Est and Mike at Da Green Skins

Now before my Nominations, the criteria for the award:

1. Copy and paste the award on your blog linking it to the blogger who has given it you.

2. Pass the award to your top 5 favourite blogs with less than 200 followers by leaving a comment on one of their posts to notify them that they have won the award and listing them on your own blog.

3. Sit back and bask in the warm fuzzy feeling that comes with knowing you have made someones day!

4. There is no obligation to pass this onto someone else but its nice if you take the time to do so.  

Now my nominations in no particular order:

Rob Jedis Miniatures Blog

 

I have been following this talented painter for some time now, Robs work just blows me away as you can see from the above picture from his blog. Rob is all over the hobby map, very much like myself and he is a guy that I would love to play against.

Jerry's Big Picture

Jerry is a local gamer and a good friend, besides being a great painter, he is also an author like myself. He self published his book Fates Needle and can be purchased on Amazon. Jerry is an avid miniature gamer and in the last few years he has started to throw the GW shackles off and has branched out to other games.

Chef of War

Jeremy Williams, what can I say about this kid??? Well for starters, he is an awesome chef! I met Jeremy a few moons ago while out at Adepticon, than Jeremy came out to Gathering in the Desert. What caught my eye was his converting and painting of LotR figures. He is a great guy to play against and a all around great guy to just hang out with.

Independent Painters

This blog is run by Wojtek as well as another guy. Wojtek does an amazing job with painting LotR figures and is always worth a look for inspiration. I think one reason I like this guy is that he is Polish, like myself (although 4 times removed).

Blackwarden

I found Scott's blog about a year or so ago and I check in every time I am online. Scott does some amazing work and is pretty focused on fantasy miniatures right now. He is also working on some LotHS stuff and I have to say I approve of his choice in costumes for Halloween.

So there you go, I am passing on the award to a few talented bloggers who would love for you to stop on by...

TK

The Hobbit - An Unexpected Price Hike!!!

So,

Like many on the Internet I have been waiting for the Hobbit game from GW. I have seen and heard the rumors and have been holding my breath as to how much GW was going to charge. Well the wait is over and OMG, I just about fell out of my chair!

Come on GW, what the hell are you thinking???? I saw the Ultimate bundle deal on their site was a staggering $745.00!!!! What the hell???? Really, you think this will get folks to play a game you have run into the ground? So after seeing that and crossing that off my list, I took a look at the rulebook, thinking if anything, I would buy that. But what is that price? $85.00 Frickin dollars!

ONCE AGAIN, WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU THINKING GAMES WORKSHOP????

I'm sorry, but GW has jumped the shark on this and they are never going to get the sales like they did during the Lord of the Rings movie years. With the economy still in the tank here in the states, I just do not see this stuff being your financial win fall like before.

So where does this leave me, well I will tell you, I am heading back into Historical gaming! Warlord Games has a bunch of games that I am interested in (Bolt Action, Black Powder) and I can see my hobby money going to Warlord and even Mantic (Dreadball). Hell for the price of the Hobbit Rulebook, I can buy a ton of Perry Miniature Plastics or Victrix Models or even Warlord miniatures.

So, I am sorry GW, but I will not be getting my hobby money anymore. This was the last straw, you have finally sent me packing, I am sure Warlord Miniatures will appreciate my money more than you!!!

TK

Pulp Game on the Horizon

So,

For some time now I have been planning a Pulp Egyptian Mummy game, and finally after about 4 years of working on it, I am about to unleash the first game. I am using LotR/Legends as the base for the rules. I have looked at many rules but always come back to the LotR/Legends rules, maybe it is because I am so familiar with them.

Well any way I have planned three games or scenes if you will and the first game is all about four groups (Nazi, Chinese, British and Americans) all looking for the Mummy' tomb. Scene one will have the four groups racing around a town looking for informants to find the location of the Mummy' tomb.

So here are a few pictures of some of the intrepid adventures, all are West Wind figures from the Gothic Horror line.

Besides the adventurers, I have a few surprises for the characters, like these deadly Asps, very deadly! These are old GW snakes from the Lizard man line, I do not think you can get these now.

In order to spring my surprises, I need some containers. I looked but could not find anything that looked "right", so I decided to make a few out of beads. These are from the local Wally Mart and all I did was make a few container tops out of green stuff. Here are the results, I think they came out rather well.

One last thing was this Genie, I have had this model for a long time, it is an old Ral Partha AD&D figure. I figured that I would use him sometime in some game, just did not know it would take almost 20 years!

Just to give you scale on this guy, here is a picture with a standard 28mm figure in front of him. I really like how this picture came out, it fits the theme of Pulp too me.

Anyway I will be posting up pictures of the game from this coming weekend as well as some of the rules that I came up with.

TK

Bolt Action

So,

Last Friday, I picked up my copy of Bolt Action from Warlord games from my local store. I have been waiting for this book for some time now and I am glad that it is now out. You see I have a pretty good collection of WW2 figures and over the years have played many of the WW2 rule sets that are out there. The problem was nothing ever seemed to be "just right" for me. So when I heard that Warlord was working on this, I had hopes for the game.

Well after looking through the book and getting to watch the game in progress last Friday night, I have to say this game is what I was looking for. It is a pretty simple system that gets results and I think that Warlord has another winner on their hands. So I am pretty excited about this game and the chance to bust out my 28mm collections again. (So look for pics coming soon of my collections).

There is another reason I am glad this game is out and it ties into GW's 40K. You see I have been wondering if I wanted to jump into 40K 6th edition. I have a huge Sister of Battle army and a growing collection of Orks that are waiting in the wings. I had toyed with dropping the cash for the new 40K rulebook, but the $75.00 price has kept me at bay since a Sisters codex is a long way off as well as an Ork codex. And this week GW announced the new Chaos codex at a staggering $50.00 for the book had got me rethinking 40K. I am not sure about dropping that much cash on a book that will only be good until the next edition comes out. So when Bolt Action came out at $35.00, I was all over that! So it looks like my Sisters and Orks will sit for a while longer and the WW2 collection (that has been sitting for years) will be coming out.

So anyway, look for more 28mm WW2 action here on the old blog in the very near future. In fact I can see FoW possibly cooling down for me since it has only been a fill in for my 28m obsession. So as I said above, I am really excited about Bolt Action!

TK