Beacon Gaming Club - July games

 I managed to fit in a few different games at the new club in July.

I tried out Necromunda with Mark, which was a first for me - never played any GW except Bloodbowl previously.  Interesting game and proved to be a lot of fun.  I may yet finish up buying the starter set with a couple of gangs to use as a pick up game.  Interesting to compare with Space Hulk, which I've just acquired from the collection of the late Mike Yates, and might even get to play this with my son.

Will and I also tried out Mad for War, the new 17th Century naval rules from League of Augsburg/Ark Royal Models.  Unfortunately, it's a pre-release pdf download version and there is a lot of fleshing out and explanation needed to cover all the situations we encountered in our little game.

English ships top left, Dutch ships lower right, sand bar at top.

Closing in for some action.

The Dutch open fire at longish range.

The lightest English ship grapples the nearer Dutchie, but another Dutchie collides and become entangled (rules didn't really explain how to resolve this).  Lots of shooting and boarding ended up with all three damaged and the English ship striking its colours. 

A practice game of Sharp Practice 2 ready for our Woebetides game weekend in September.  Set in a fictional island chain in the Indian Ocean during the early part of the 17th Century will see English, plus their Sepoy mercenaries, taking on French, with Spanish allies, all under the watchful eye of Arab traders and slavers and the local indigenous Weobetidus tribal peoples.

Sepoys advance past a tribal cult henge-like monument. 

Privateers, with liberated sheep advance on another tribal fetish under the watchful eye of some elite British infantry.

Indigenous Woebetides people take pot shots at the Spanish as they attempt to forage sheep and honey.

Spanish pirates with sheep in tow top left and infantry rushing off table with their pots of honey, while the Woebetides natives take pot shots at them, while another party of dastardly Spaniards advance on a sheep pen and the native sharp shooters.

Upset by the British pirates attempting to snatch the golden monkey god, a large party of spear armed natives sweep the pirates from the field - the survivors flee back to their boats.  Even the well ordered English infantry didn't halt their charge, although did kill quite a few, only to reply on a unit of Sepoys to save the day with a well-aimed volley.  Lots of fun in this game system and some nice opportunities for incorporating role play and character-specific objectives. 

Sadly, last weeks game was so interesting, I didn't take pictures.  Will brought in his War of the Spanish Succession British and French armies and we had at it using Will's home brewed rules for the period.  The British cavalry wings met with considerable success on both flanks, while the infantry on both sides slowly plodded to within musket range.  By the time they got within range, the cavalry had put the day beyond a reasonable doubt.  Wills WSS figures are beautifully painted Strelets figures from their new releases and made for a great looking table.

Some interesting games planned for August, so hope I manage to get some decent photos.

Thanks for looking.

20mm WW2 German 21st Panzer Division vehicles - Normandy

Ready to Roll 21st Panzer vehicles suitable for the battle of Normandy, especially early German attempts to nip out the British landings on Sword Beach.  All are painted in Vallejo middlestone with a little Iraqi sand, with stripes of WW2 German field grey and a little refractive green alternating with stripes of armour brown with WW2 German camo mid-brown.  All washed with Agrax Earthshade and dry brushed with Iraqi sand.  Decals are from Skytrex.

A Somua Pioneer half track with light bridge mounted.

The SPW P107 command half track.

The Hotchkiss SP AT gun with PAK40 75mm AT gun and Grubby Britannia SS crewmen.

The Hotchkiss SP 105mm Howitzer with Grubby/Britannia SS crewmen.

The pair of Hotchkiss vehicles.

The Somua SP AT gun half track with 75mm PAK 40 AT gun and Grubby/Britannia DAK crew painted as late war SPG crew.

Rear detail of the Somua SPG crew.

And from the front with their brightly coloured scarves/bandanas - a souvenir from an evening excursion to Caen or Rouen perhaps?

Still to come for 21st Panzer are more SPW P107 half track infantry carriers, commanders vehicle with PAK 36 and 20mm AA variant and longer term there are plans for more of Becker's "funnies" including the unarmoured half tracks, and multi-barreled mortars and rocket launchers.

Thanks for looking.

6mm CWC post-lockdown game

 Some of the Cold War Commanders managed a get together to play a socially distanced wargame in a well ventilated room between players who had all had both jabs.  A nice scenario pitting three NATO brigades carrying out an opportunistic spoiling attack on a degraded Soviet and Czech troops.  In the photo below, Canadian (far left), German (middle left) and French (near left) were advancing left to right on hastily dug in Soviet (far right) and Czech (near right) defenders. 

After an initial couple of turns of programmed artillery fire and scouts moving and spotting, the first hidden pact troops were spotted and NATO advances their initial forces (two battalions up and one in reserve, awaiting the identification and degrading of key pact strongpoints).  Initial French advances (nearest the camera) were great, especially on the right flank where a mechanised battalion seemed particularly full of elan.

However, they were advancing on an apparently empty terrain (the hills in the foreground had just been swept by a particularly effective French artillery strike by a regiment of 155mm SPGs, wiping out a Czech AT company.

The French attempts to sweep around the hill to their front was a slow affair, not helped by programmed artillery hitting the crossroads in the village on the left, which pinned one of the cuirassier battlegroups.

The French mechanised battlegroup exhibiting wreckless elan - the fields to the right of the minefield were a programmed artillery point.

Czech defenders rush into the town to defend the crossing point, just in time to make the weak French mechanised battlegroup pause for thought.

Another cluster of Czechs attempting to pour flanking fire into the Germans to their right front, but doing so in the face of two squadrons of cuirassiers.

The final positions around 4pm on the day.  The French trying to get a move on, but failing command roles or blundering.  The cuirassiers beyond the road did get some telling fire into the Czech tanks and ATGMs supporting the infantry battlegroup in the woods in the distance.  The mechanised battlegroup nearest the camera were trading shots with tanks on the edge of the built up area around the river crossing.

Sadly, too few turns, but mainly due to us having a great laugh and enjoying the company of like-minded wargamers, something we've sorely missed in the last 18 months or so.

Nice to get the toys out on the table and a great venue for weekend gaming - one we hope to use again very soon.

Thanks for looking.

20mm WW2 German artillery tows

I wanted some artillery tows, able to tow light weapons like the PAK 36, 20mm AA gun and 75mm infantry gun, so the SdKfz 10 fits the bill.  I also wanted to provide tows for a pair of 105mm howitzers, that would also be able to tow heavier PAK AT guns such as the PAK 38 and PAK 40 and a heavy tow for the 88mm FLAK gun, so SdKfz 11s seemed appropriate.  Finally, I wanted a tow for the 88mm FLAK gun, so an SdKfz 7 seemed called for.  All are available in resin from Britannia Miniatures from Grubby Tanks.

A pair of Britannia Miniatures SdKfz 11 medium artillery rows, suitable for towing weapons like the 105mm howitzer.  Britannia SS drivers and a couple of the SS vehicle crew.  These can tow a pair of 105mm howitzers or Pak 38 or 40 AT guns.

Painted in middlestone with a little Iraqi sand and stripes of WW2 German field grey with a little refractive green.  Black grey for tires, black brown for tracks.

A Britannia Miniatures SdKfz 7 tow for heavy artillery, best known as the tow for the 88mm FLAK.  Driver is from the Britannia SS driver set and the three passengers are from the Britannia SS passengers set.  Paint scheme as the SdKfz 11s with the addition of some armour brown, diluted with WW2 German camo mid-brown.

The casting on this model wasn't particularly crisp and took a lot of filling with modelling paste.  I'm very happy with the final result though.

A Britannia Miniatures SdKfz 10 light artillery tow, suitable for the 20mm AA gun, infantry guns, etc.  Paint scheme similar to the SdKfz 7 above.

Nicely detailed models, a few bubbles to fill and some make good work around the headlights and grills mainly, but overall quite pleased with these.  They fill a gap in my late war German forces to get towed artillery mobile, so do the job.

As ever, thanks for looking.

20mm WW2 Marder IIIM

A Ready to roll version of the Marder III M, the last variant to be produced, effectively a PAK 40 on a Pz 38t chassis, with the fighting deck lowered compared to other variants due to the forward positioning of the engine.

I've painted this using Vallejo Middlestone lightened with Iraqi sand, with stripes of WW2 German field grey mixed with refractive green and Armor brown lightened with light brown.  The brown swatches are overpainted on the green grey, leaving the green grey as margins of variable width.  Tires, gun muzzle, bore and spade blades are black grey, tracks are German camo black brown.  Exhaust is rust, wooden tool handles are new wood.  Vehicle is washed in Agrax Earthshade and dry-brushed with Vallejo Iraqi sand.  Galleria gloss varnish was added as a protective layer before the decals went on, followed by Galleria matt varnish to seal the decals and provide a matt finish.

Decals are from Skytrex.

Crew are from Grubby (Britannia Miniatures range) from different crew sets.  They are painted in a spring oak leaf camo pattern using the Farnsworth guide for paint palate suggestions.

I'll add a second of these next time I order, to give me a Rapid-Fire AT unit.

As ever, thanks for looking.