Gordon to Vladimir: "It's on!"

"HELL-O!" Apaches paste the Russian troop carriers.


"Black Eagle" special needs company (note black smoke 'suppression' markers)


"Come in XXX Corps..." Paras hold the crossroads.

Warsaw Pac... er... Russians and Belorussians.

Brown's boys.

Some photos from Thursday's 6mm "Cold War Commander" game... thanks again to Greg and Mike for putting it on.

Check Your 6! - Pushing Into France

Situation:
The setting was January, 1941. As part of a "Rhubarb" patrol, two 3-plane flights of Spitfires from No. 64 Squadron were on a fighter sweep over Calais. They spied a target of opportunity, a small ammo dump. From a nearby airfield, a ready flight of defending Luftwaffe Bf-109s was scrambled to intercept them.

On Dec. 28 I hosted another Check Your 6! game. Kevin, Brian, Byron and Ray each flew a vic or rotte of planes. Dallas dropped by after work (!) to lend morale support. This was the first time playing CY6! for Byron and Ray, but the game mechanics are simple enough that they were well into air combat tactics in a couple of turns. The scenario was a variation of the "Leaning Forward into France" scenario, taken from the Over the Channel: Battle of Britain scenario book.

The table was 6' x 4', using a Hotz Artworks European Fields mat. The ammo dump was near the eastern (short) table edge. The RAF came in from the west. Brian ran the ground attack flight of 3 Spits, coming in at speed 2, altitude 4. Byron flew top cover, with his 3 Spifires at speed 4, altitude 6.

Kevin and Ray each flew a rotte of 2 Bf-109s. Rolling randomly, they arrived on the table to the north and south of the RAF flights at altitude 2, giving the RAF the height advantage. Clearly, the German early warning system was lacking!

Brian dived to treetop level to be in a position to strafe the ammo dump. Meanwhile, Byron mixed it up with Kevin's and Ray's Bf-109s. In an inspired bit of tactics, Brian peeled off a single Spit, to even up the dogfight behind him.

The photo above illustrates the turning point at mid-game. In the same turn, two planes from different flights on either side ended up in the same hex at the same altitude. This was a result of the simultaneous movement that is a main feature of CY6! Brian's and Byron's planes managed to miss each other. However, Ray and Kevin were not so lucky - two Bf-109s collided in mid-air, sending one crashing to the ground and leaving the other heavily damaged. Note the smoke of defeat (or smoke of victory, depending on your point of view).

Subsequently, Kevin's damaged plane was shot down by a Spit. Down by half their number, the Germans gamely carried on.

Meanwhile, east of the furball, Kevin's Rottenführer had set his sights on Brian's other two Spitfires:


The range and deflection made for some tough shooting, and Brian managed to score enough hits to send the ammo dump up in a fireball.

Thanks to everybody who showed up, especially during such a busy time as the Christmas holidays. Special thanks to Kevin, who took the great photos.

***

I just received 3 "egg scale" Bristol Blenheims (they're Furuta toy surprises) in the mail. Next time, we can run an Operation CIRCUS mission, with Bomber Command supported by Fighter Command, and more defending BF-109s.

Correction: Blaze Away pricing information

I've been advised by Jon of Blaze Away miniatures that I posted incorrect pricing info on my review of the Great War cavalry: http://wpggamegeeks.blogspot.com/2009/01/28mm-great-war-cavalry-from-blaze-away.html

The correct price is $12.50AUD for a pack of three mounted or six infantry models. This does indeed represent excellent value for money as at the current exchange rate, that's less than $3USD per mounted model.

Sorry about that Jon!

Battle Report - Back To The Drawing Board for "Black Eagle"

Possible Photo of Russian "Black Eagle" Tank In Action Last Night

Executive summary

Brtis - well done lads, particularly the rock hard paras!

Poles - was there a battle?

French - that was close! Maybe Sarko will give us autographed copies of Carla's latest album...

Germans - I told you it was a mistake to come to Poland!

Belarus - friendly fire IS very dangerous.

Russians - I sure hope there are more BMP-3s back at the depot...

Detailed Summary

Last night Dallas hosted a game of "Cold War Commander" in 6mm scale. The scenario was another battle from our continuing (fictionial) invasion of Poland by Russia and Belarus. It was set-up on a 6'4" table, and the battle was a classic "seize the objective" scenario. There were three objectives - a crossroads in the middle of the table, near a 50% destroyed town, and two hills at either end of the table. A multi-national force, anchored by British paras, tanks and infantry, was going up against the very best the Russians could offer, supported by some less-glamorous Belorussian units.

Mike F and Mike B, Bill and Dallas all took part on the NATO side. The Brit Paras, Poles and French would start on the table, with the rest of the Brits and the Germans coming in as the cavalry.

Reassured that the British tankers would probably do better than they did at Arnhem in 44', Bill took control of the Paras, digging them into the town in the center of the table where they could contest the cross roadsl. Mike B controlled a contingent of Polish mechanized infantry and French Leclerc tanks. The Leclercs set up in the centre as well, and the Allies were ready.

For the Russian side, Dave V took command of the Belarus "classic" contigent (T-72s, BTR-70s), Cam took the bulk of the forces including two battalions of BMP-3 Motor Rifles and a battalion of T-90 tanks. I rolled with the "special group" of "Black Eagle" tanks, sent to the front for experimental purposes, and I bodged some rules to reflect the likelyhood they might break down etc. They were "special" all right...

On the first turn, the Russian side siezed a vacant objective one side of the table, lined up to pound on the paras, and were so emboldened by some successful command rolls that we even reached for the third objective. This looked great until the NATO turn, when pratically their entire brigade appeared almost on top of Cam T-90s which had been racing for the hill.

In the second turn, the BMP-3s started to hammer the town, and Dave V's T-72s engaged the Leclrecs at the crossroads, managing to score a kill thanks to exposed flanks and hot rolling. However, Dave also encountered the first of several damaging command blunders, courtesy of this BTR battalion commander, which cost him a unit of T-72s! Throwing doctrine to the wind, Cam sent his T-90s straight at the NATO brigade on the hill, until they were nearly muzzle to muzzle. The Leopards and Challengers had excellent targets to pick, but they pooched their rolls, and missed their "opporunity" fire.

Cam went on an amazing streak of successful command rolls, and the T-90s fired again, and again, and again, and again! Most of the Leopards were knocked out, as were a few British units. The NATO troops on the hill struggled to get their act together. A Russian artillery strike hammered the British troops, and while it did not cause kills, it slowed them down and pinned many units.

Yet the tide was turning. Despite round after round of 100mm HE, 30mm and small arms fire, the paras were quite stuck in their cover to contest the crossroads, and started to knock out BMP-3s. Two passes courtesy of an Apache, and a strike by the British AS-90 "Braveheart" SP 155mm guns took a heavy toll, as did the moment where the balance of one BMP-3 battalion went muzzle-to-muzzle with Challengers. The results was much smoking wreckage.

The "special" outfit managed to knock out a Leclerc, as did further fire from Dave's Belurussian tankers, but Dave took as many hits from his own side as the French, rolling boxcars on multiple occasions. His BTRs didn't even make it on to the table, as their HQ was too busy trying to find ways to kill his compatriots in the T-72s. That officer was later transfered to a deep-water post in the Baltic Sea...

And the Poles? Well, with all the action, why bother to move? Those NATO guys seemed to be holding alright...

We called the game on the fourth turn. Technically a draw, as Dave V controlled one objective for the Russians, Bill controlled the crossroads for NATO, and the last objective was being contested in a battle-royale by the T-90s. The French and German contigents were past their breakpoints. However, on balance, it looked bad for the Russians, as their flank was exposed to an armoured thrust by the Challengers, and that Apache was surely coming back soon.

From the Russian perspective, our tactics were a bit daft. We should have sent BMP-3s to take the hill, not tanks, as tanks would have been able to endure some of the abuse from the Challengers and Apache, while the BMP-3s could not sustain exposure to the cross-fire from the town and the Challengers. And nothing short of a nuke was going to pry those Paras loose from the town. That's one thing about Cold War Commander - the adrenaline from a string of successful command rolls can take you all sorts of places!

Stay tuned here for photos courtesy of Dallas. Watch for the pics of Mike F's new Brits - they looked awesome, especially the SP artillery pieces, which he converted to be in an actual firing position.

As for the CWC rules themselves, they definitely showed some weakness in the game last night (and have in some other games too). The fact is that they don't play very smooth at the modern end of the time-line - nearly every tank on the table had a save of 3+, took 6 hits, and had 6 shots - or even 8! Buckets and buckets or dice are rolled for little result.

Conceptually, trying to apply the Warmaster command rules to a modern game has some upside in terms of being quick for players to relate to, but the Warmaster engine is not well suited to representing the tactical outcomes of T-90s engaging Challengers and Leopards, or even the T-72s against the Leclercs. And as Dallas pointed out last night, the circumstances of repeated firing are a bit pants - Cam's vegas rolling is to be commended, but it certainly felt a bit odd - surely they would need ammo, or to cool the barrels, or something????

The hunt for some rules is on - and I think I might just develop some myself! I will hope to invoke the spirit of Dallas' awesome Blitzkrieg rules as an example of how home-made stuff can be better than what is out there. Stay tuned for more developments, and experiments, in this space!

Thanks again to everyone who came out to play, and thanks to Dallas for hosting.

WIP: Pig Iron Kolony Militia

A couple weeks ago I ordered a whack of Pig Iron Kolony Militia from Brandon at Rattlehead Games. I was in the grip of "AT-43 Mania" at the time - I bought a Red Blok army for cheap cheap when Fantasy Flight had their infamous 70% off sale just before Christmas. However I didn't really like the look of the Red Blok infantry so I figured I'd pass on those, and proxy in some other models I liked better. (It's funny, I never would think for a minute of proxying other manufacturers' models in a W*rhammer or 40K army, but I don't have any qualms about in Rackham's game... go figure).

Anyway I hum'd and haw'd for awhile about what figures to get. It came down to a choice between Copplestone Neo-Sovs and Pig Iron Kolony Militia. I liked the Neo-Sovs for their drum-fed guns and retro-future look, but the Pig Iron stuff had its own brutish appeal too (for some reason I just love the look of gas masks on sci-fi figures). I elected to go with the Pig Iron Kolony Militia to stand in for Red Blok Spetsnaz and Dragonov Kommandos (i.e. the elite dudes). For now I can use my Eureka Soviet chemical troops for the Krasnye/RPG Soldaty units (i.e. grots). I may pick up some Neo-Sovs in future just because I love the look of them and their bulk fits a bit better with the Pig Iron lads than the Eureka figures do.

So! Here is the work from last night on the models. I've decided on a real Russian scheme. First thing I did was to file down the sides of the helmets slightly to smooth out the "coal scuttle" look and make the helmets look a bit more "Russian". The models required very little cleaning - all I needed to do was fit the separate heads, and base them on round GW slottabases (thanks Mike F. and Brian). I converted the NCO model to be a standard bearer. This was a bit tricky as it involved switching his pistol from his left to his right hand, and sculpting a new left hand holding the standard. We'll see how that turns out when it's painted ;-)

The colour scheme will be brown greatcoats with olive-green flak armor, tan pouches, grey masks and gloves, yellow-tan trousers, and black/steel weapons. The ammo-carrying robot (one of my favourite models in the range) will be olive green with some rust and wear.

Last night I but a base coat of dark brown craft paint on the models (couldn't find my GW Scorched Brown!) highlighted with GW Bestial Brown, and painted the green parts with a base coat of GW Catachan Green. Results are shown.

More updates as they get further along...

Conscripts Afield

Received a note the other day from Conscript Sean, currently living "in the East", about a game day he held for his pals there. Over to Sean...

"Things went quite well on Tuesday for our gaming day. We managed to get in two games of Necromunda, including a 4 way gang battle, and two introductory games of Warmachine. None of the five guys who had shown up had played WM before, so I ran the rules for the first game, then we had a 2 vs. 2 750 pt game.

First off, Nathan and Danny Mac threw down in a Caine vs Sorscha 500 pt duel. Nathan took the early advantage, with his Widowmakers snipers picking off half of the Arcane Tempest Gun Mages and causing them to rout for 2 turns. Then he boldly advanced his warcaster, a Destroyer and his Man o War shocktroopers forward to engage the cowardly Cygnar troops and their accursed gun powder weapons. Danny countered by charging with his heavy 'jack, and a light, but they were no match for superior Khador armour. However, after using Sorscha to try to gun down a warjack, Nathan left her dangerously exposed in the line of sight of Lt. Caine, who proceeded to give her a starring role in a Sam Peckinpah gun battle. Game over due to caster kill. Danny Mac then went home, not wanting to jeopardize his only win over Nathan (in any game) for quite some years.

Next came the four way Necromunda gang battle. Danny Ray and myself took rival Goliath gangs, while John and Nic took Van Saar gangs. I have a feeling that was to max out on the max amount of plasma weapons, as there a lot of 8 figure gangs out there... Danny and John proceeded to square off, with Danny coming out the worse for wear, while I shot up Danny and Nic on the way through to get to John. Danny soon bottled, as did Nic, then John decided to bottle when faced by my more experienced Goliaths. Everyone got much underdog XP, and there were advances all around.

The last game was the Nemo/Haley Trencher force (Nathan/Danny Mac) vs. the eSorscha/Butcher Winter Guard (Sean/John) force. Again, this was another learning game, and it was noteworthy in that the warjacks spent the game circling the board, while the infantry carried the engagement. The Elite Cadre Winter Guard proved their mettle time and time again, with the Tough rule (recover from a wound on a 5-6) allowing them to successfully carry the charge on the Trencher Chain Gun. On the other side of the board, the Trenchers successfully charged the Guard Mortar and Field Gun, but then were cut to pieces by eSorscha and her Cyclone spell. The game wrapped for time, with all casters on the board. I think the game has made an impression out here.

Sean"

This Thursday's Game - "Tell it to the Vistula"

This time, it's POLITICAL

This week we will play Cold War Commander in 6mm, and the scenario will continue with our imaginary (at least for now) invasion of Poland by Russia and Belarus. You may recall from our prior battles that the Russian spearheads had driven the Polish forces back towards the Vistula river, only to be checked by a joint Franco-Polish counterattack, buying time for various NATO countries to send help.


The Poles, reluctant to abandon the northeast of their country, have finally agreed to pull back. But they have waited too long, and substantial forces may become trapped north of the Vistula. A force of British Paras and surviving French and Polish armour units are holding out while NATO command has dispatched multi-national brigade anchored by the British to hold a corridor open long enough for the Poles to pull back.

Putin's generals are keen to sieze the opportunity to trap several Polish units AND give NATO a bloody nose. And they might take advantage of the situation to deploy a new tank for some "testing"...

The Russian "Black Eagle" tank - still a prototype?

The battle will mark the debut of Mike F's newly painted 6mm British figs. We all know how well his freshly painted 25mm Brits did in our former Yugoslavia game last year. Presumably, the Challengers will have a better go of it this time around...

Hope to see you on Thursday for a "Battle of Nations" as Russians, Belarussian, Poles, French, Brits and Germans engage in ballistic discussions on the Vistula!