Incoming!

Yep.  Lost another game. 

Blood Angels vs Astra Militarum.

Overall though, I just wanted to see what the Astra Militarum list would be like to experience. 

My opponent is a long time 40K player who relocated from the west coast to the east coast.  He just loves the AM (IG). That said, some of his stuff was proxied in order to just test the list idea. 

I only got one picture...then thankfully my camera batteries died...

 This is a shot in towards the middle of Turn 1.  My Death company had started as 10 models...they started on the table and moved forward using their stratagem.  I used everything I could to rough up the center AM squads, then charged in. At the end of turn 1 the Death Company were all gone to massed AM firepower.  

Not to belabor my own list.  I just used the same one as last time, having been to busy to change it.

My opponent started with about 19 command points (using the FAQ) to my nine.  Overall, he had something in two battalions like: 3+/- commissars; 3+/ officers; a few Ogryn bodyguards; about 8 full infantry squads, each with a plasma gun and 6 had mortars, 2 had lascannons; a full squad of plasma-maxed scions in reserve; a full squad of plasma-maxed rough riders to outflank; a squad of all heavy bolters; and a squad of autocannons; and two manticores.  Vostroyans (his manticores could reroll dice for more hits). The officers gave him enough orders such that he was rerolling 1's to hit and or 1's to wound from units. Commisars to keep units from failing morale. I was outnumbered 3-1.   

For the first four turns, the two manticores and lascannons would pick off a vehicle or so per turn.  The mortars would pick off a dismounted squad or two per turn.  Everything else would take out a nearby assault unit per turn.  

We were fighting over 4 objectives.  Through turn 4 I was winning by a point (7-6).  By the end of turn 7 I was tabled, with Dante being the last blood angels standing. Final score was about 10-1. 

I ran out of command points in Turn 3. 

He had command points for the duration. Probably had 1 left at the end of the game.  

In reality, he could have played more aggressively, but that comes with practice. IIRR this was his third or so 8th edition game. 

The two bright points for me included: (1) Dante arrived turn 2 (per FAQ) among my castled up vehicles and game them all rerolls to hit.  (2) the Sanguinary Guard, Ancient, Chaplain, and Sanguinary priest dropped in Turn 2 on the right flank - they withered away to plasma guns and assaults through turn 4.  The commissars over there kept the AM in line. The Sanguinary priest actually did his job further, bringing back a sanguinary guard from the dead pile on turn 3 and giving wounds back to the Ancient in turn 4...but still, there is only so much for plasma you can eat! 

My third best moment was seeing the Manticores run out of rockets. 

One big issue was that at the beginning of each enemy turn, the AM would retreat, and then in some cases get back in the fight.  Regardless, it meant that I'd get shot all to pieces each time.  

Considering all of the non-deviating indirect fire I was taking, I think it was pretty good to last as long as I did.  

Kinda makes me wish I had a bank of three Whirlwinds in my own back corner. 

Two thumbs up to predator autocannons, although they played no real role in the game that could not have been met by just having more twin assault cannons. 

Until the next disaster, 

MING 

      

   

Bolt Action! US vs Germans, Cherbourg Peninsula 1944

WOW! I went to the FLGS - Crossroad Games - for a special - hopefully monthly - event.  A regional historical gaming group has created a defacto "Bolt Action League", and plans to have events here and there each month for gamers to attend.  Overall, it was really cool, as guys I have not gamed with in a decade were there leading the tables, and there were in total about 20 attendees from Maine and New Hampshire.  I'd originally had hoped to attend their March event, but I had other things to do. 

For this one - the attendees were invited to bring their own figures if possible - I dug out my dusty American Infantry from my earlier experience with the old BGWW2 game system.

On arrival, it was truly fun to see old friends and meet some new ones! I was hoping to buy a new Bolt Action 2nd Edition rulebook...or maybe the starter set...but the store was out of product! Boo!

For gaming, I was assigned to the newbie / training table.  I was teamed with Tina, and we were to be a combined force of American paratroopers (82nd Airborne and 4th Infantry Division), and out fictional mission was to cut across the highway N13 - the main road that cuts from Carentan to Cherbourg.  We'd be fighting against a mixed german infantry force in the heavily hedged "Boucage".

The terrain was a great mix of farm fields and roads - a small village setting with intact and bombed out or burned houses.  If you think of the table as long N-S, the terrain was split by the roadway running N-S.  Several smaller farm roads also cut the table E-W.  Tiina would attack through the center, and I'd be her right flank.

Our opponents were Ryan (an experienced player) and another new player (like me). Tina was familiar with the game but had played just once before.  Heck, I knew of the game, but had only just watched a Beast of War game on you-Tube that morning on how to play!

The "American" attacking force consisted of two platoons that were fairly identical - My platoon was led by a 1st LT, and had attached to it a 60mm mortar team with spotter, 2 30-cal MMG teams, a sniper team, and a 10-man infantry squad with BAR, and a 10-man paratrooper squad with all rifles.  The other platoon run by Tina was similar with two regular infantry squads and no paratroopers. 

Our opponents each were similar for this training game - 2 LTs for HQs, two regular infantry squads, each with a LMG, two falschirmjaeger squads with LMGs and submachine guns, 2 mortar teams, 2 MMG teams, and a crewed light artillery gun (somehow emplaced in the second floor of a building). 

To save time we all deployed simultaneously, but the battle diverged essentially into two conflicts which saved time!  The game would essentially be played on kill points (destroyed units). 

Here are some pictures and comments from the event:

Deployment - Paratroopers are hugging a hedgerow - The officer and runner are up at the building.  In the distance is our target.

The other squad and support.  Bob is the BAR gunner.  Lost his helmet someplace I guess. Probably days before on the beach.

Tina's troops are looking more professional. No milling around. 

Paratroopers are advancing (running) turn 1 to get to the next hedge, adjacent to the N13 roadway.  German defenders are scurrying around in the distance. 

Gunners re-positioning to place fire on the distant building - Only the gunner is peaking...there is a cannon out there that just missed the mortar team!

Paratrooper spotter is looking for the enemy.  He ultimately starts placing mortar rounds across the road to help the paratroopers advance.  It is good shots either hit or miss!

Tina's regular infantry squad from the 4th ID are getting tangled up with some German infantry! It does not end well for the Americans...

Priming up to dash across the road.  

Made it!  But look! German office just up the hedge line!

The source of a lot of trouble...how on earth did it get there? Blown up to the second floor when the building was destroyed? Or disassembled, moved up, and reassembled? No matter! These guys are bad shots!

Final photo...The runner is dead. The LT is all alone.  How did that happen? Well...the artillery piece somehow shot downward into the paratroopers, causing some pins...in unpinning, they rolled boxcars on the dice.  That meant the rolled on the FUBAR table...and the result was a friendly fire incident.  Don't tell the investigators...it was not a paratrooper - infantry dust up...

Overall - VICTORY for the American Side!  I think the score was about 8-4 at the end in terms of killed units.  I think I only earned 2 of the 8 points...Tina got the rest! If I recall right, I lost a MMG team...and a few casualties from the squads. I'd taken down a german FJ squad and officer, but pretty much collapsed the german flank.  If we'd gone another turn, I'd have hopefully taken out the artillery piece in assault!    

Once I get the rule book I'll need to go through and see if there was anything else to learn.  At the end I was dropping mortar rounds on a building, which was complicated.  Also shooting at units in buildings was a little iffy.  I think we were also a little lax on line of sight issues. That said, the rules are really easy and everything is all about the modifiers and having great models!    

So now, I'll wait for the next available game for bolt action - probably June.  I did win a door prize for the event - which I used to procure the Bolt Action Book on American Units.  It is nice to have - with points and such for list building.  But I still need the rule book!  Our table host - Larry - had some really nice summary sheets that had all of the key rule elements.  More importantly, he pointed out a website from which anyone can do list building.  I might need to pre-construct a 750 point and a 1000 point list of my own for next time! Not to mention American unit players seem to be rarer! Maybe I'll do some paint repair and basing improvements before next time...dust off that Sherman... 

All for now, 

MING