Saturday 23 February 2013

AAR- Secure the Bridge

We had another Battlegroup game today, a platoon sized game with 355 points per side.
 As is so often the case, we did not finish the game- ideally I need another house to live in with a dedicated Wargames room that I could leave games set up in, so we could finish them over a couple of weekends. Part of our current trouble is that we don't play often enough for us to have a quick and easy grasp of the rules- I always find myself having to look things up. It may help if the Young Sarge & I play a few more games at home on our smaller table so we can get used to rules mechanics- I think he is rather good at grasping and remembering rules concepts.
This game pitted the US against the Germans in Normandy, it was decided that we would not purchase anything off the artillery lists- the mortars were off the infantry support lists. I'm not sure of the exact makeup of the German list, but the Yanks fielded two infantry platoons plus HMG and mediuim mortar support, one squadron of M4 Shermans, one squadron of M4 Shermans 76mm, a Battlegroup HQ in a jeep, and a couple of medics- they had no recce units due to lack of appropriate US vehicles. IN the end the Germans took two morale chits, and two & a five, plus ended the game with a unit pinned. Even though we didn't get too far in the game it made for some great pictures and some fun. One Sherman in particular should have received a little medal as it took out the Puma, pinned a German unit, took out a Stug.

The Young Sarge has a ripping account of the game with his own photos and excellent commentary- check it out, you can find it here:

http://smallsoldiersatarms.blogspot.com.au/2013/02/smoke-on-water.html

Enjoy the pictures:









































18 comments:

  1. Very nice looking game. Good to see Airfix and Matchbox in it.

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    1. Well spotted, yes some old classics in our collections.

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  2. Fantastic pictures, very nice vehicles and figures!
    Phil.

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    1. G'day Phil, thanks for your kind words. The figures and models come from three people's collections (some painted by me).

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  3. Fantastic looking table Sarge.

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    1. I'm glad you liked it Rodger, I wish I had a semi-permanent games area, then I could really go to town on the terrain.

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  4. Great game, excellent photos!! Thanks for sharing John!
    The table looks fantastic - especially the river. :)

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    1. Cheers Mr T :)
      The secret with the river is to use real water ;)
      No, but seriously, the river sections were from Flames of War/Gale Force 9 and have been totally repainted by me and given some coats of gloss varnish- looks better than the unrealistic blue colour of the original.

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  5. Game...Who cares about the game? It was the table and minis that I was looking at. Fantastic set up John. Lovely layered effect all over.

    Well done.

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    1. A man after my own heart.
      I love the visual side of this hobby, I always have- as a lad I enjoyed many hours setting stuff up on the dining table without every playing a "proper" game with rules and dice.
      I think they games are just an excuse to collect, make models, paint and do tabletop "set-ups" :)

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  6. Oh my, but you set a grand table! Fantastic stuff John.

    I want to know what would have happened to the chap with the Panserfaust facing down the Sherman at the bridge!

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    1. Thanks my friend I'm glad you liked the table, I am partial to a bit of tasty terrain.

      Well, the bloke with the panzerfaust was part of a squad that had become pinned by the Sherman's MG fire- I think the US infantry squad which was lurking at the US held end of the bridge would have moved up and tried to give them some aimed fire. The German side would have to take a morale chit at the end of their next turn to get unpinned, so it would not be able to shoot at the Sherman, thus giving the US another crack at them with tank and infantry- the only way out would be for other German forces to intervene & provide extra targets for the Yanks.

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  7. Fantastic looking game mate. The figures and terrain are superb. Looks like a fun one as well!
    Ben

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    1. G'day Ben, thanks for the encouragement.
      If you're ever down in Tassie you're welcome to pop in for a game :)

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  8. Great looking game, some cracking terrain and kit on the table and it looks like you certainly had fun.

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    1. Cheers EG. I'd like to do a lot more with the terrain if I had more time, energy, money and storage.
      I usually find that the fun continues after the game too when I get to edit the photos and do blog posts :)

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    2. Amazing looking terrain! What are those roads? Are they scratch-built?

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    3. Hi Ted. I'm glad you liked the terrain. The roads are from Flames of War/ Gale Force 9/ Battlefront - call it what you will, and were originally intended for 15mm. I found that if you do not flock the edges then they are great for 20mm too. I have given them a repaint as well.

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17th Century Characters...mostly

 Here are some 17th Century character miniatures I finished recently.  28mm metal, mostly from Wargamer Poland: https://sklep.wargamer.pl/gb...