Entries by Dan Hobot

15’S ON THE RISE 

In August I will be running a 15mm WWII miniatures battle at the local miniatures convention – Recon. The last couple of weeks I have been feverishly painting away to have the forces for that battle ready in time. Well they are almost done (at least respectable enough to play with) so this past weekend I play tested the scenario I will be using with the Combat Cards. 

The setting is the Anzio perimeter in Italy, 1944. The Americans are preparing to breakout from the beachhead, and are conducting a series of probing attacks to determine the best location to concentrate their efforts. The Germans, consisting of elite parachute troops from the 1^st Airborne Division, are holding this section of the front and are tasked with stopping the Americans. 

LOOKING FROM THE AMERICAN PERSPECTIVE

We ran the scenario twice – once with a new fellow who had stop by the shop (welcome John) and one of the historical regulars (Chris L.); the second time between Chris and I. Both times the scenario proved balanced and very exciting. 

THE GERMAN LEFT FLANK

The Americans have a depleted company supported by a pair of Sherman tanks and a battery of M7 Priests (howitzers). The Germans had a battle worn platoon with four tank-hunter teams (panzerschrecks and fausts) attached, no armor and no artillery support. They were able to dig into optimal defensive positions though. 

A GERMAN PARACHUTE TEAM HOLDING THE LINE

The first game the Germans were able to repulse the American assault relatively easy (time just ran out on the Americans), but in the second game the Americans steamrolled over the German positions (although towards the end the Germans were able to inflict some serious losses on the Americans). 

THE AMERICAN RIGHT FLANK

Both games were tense, fasted paced and exciting – even the first game which I was essentially watching. The best tactics proved to be the ones really used by the combatants (using firepower to pin your enemy in place, and maneuver to flank and isolate them). 

THE GERMANS MOUNT A LOCALIZED COUNTER ATTACK

 In my game, even though I was getting the worst cards at the least opportune times, I had a blast. It was a real challenge to my command abilities to hold things together and try to slow the Americans. In the end I couldn’t prevail, but I had fun which is what it is all about! I can’t wait until we can play another game of the 15’s – I think I sense more painting projects on the horizon… 

Until next time… 

Happy Gaming! 

Dan

CONVERTING TO MINIATURES

In previous entry I wrote about a couple of our regulars who have been working on converting a very good board game (World at War: The Battle of Eisenbach Gap) into an equally enjoyable miniatures game. 

Recently the brought the game up to the shop again with some new terrain specially made for it. It really looked great, even though it was hexed based. The layout game me ideas as well for some games I play that could benefit from the hex gridding to convert them to miniatures.  

Terry and Doug are planning to bring the game up on several more occasions to play. As they are very agreeable to teaching new players, if this interests you you may want to watch the calendar or send “Grumpy” at message on the Forums.

Until next time…

Happy Gaming!

 Dan

BACK IN THE UNDERHIVE  

Last week the Necromunda League kicked-off at the shop. The League runs every other Thursday through the rest of the summer. At the end, the League Aministrator (Chris L.) has plans for a really big finale as well. 

Some of the Tables Being Used

Anyways, for the first night there were 9 players, with each playing their confirmed league game and then typically getting in two or three more “fun” games after that.  

Everybody seemed to have a great time, with the possible exception of Jeff P. He had the worst dice of the night, by far and away, which resulted in his gang losing ground (experience, money, etc.). He does seem to have regrouped since then (at least once we talked him down off of the roof J) and is ready for the next League night. 

Check Out the Great Terrain

Look At All of the Gear They Have To Carry...

With the energy and passion for the game evident that night, it appears that the League should yields some entertaining battles and storyline. I can hardly wait.

Never a Good Spot to be Caught in a Firefight

 Until next time…

Happy Gaming!

 Dan

A LITTLE FOUGHT CAMPAIGN

 Recently Chris L. and I played another WWII skirmish game using the Combat Cards. This time though is was during a campaign that is not often explored – the German invasion of Poland in September 1939.

Our scenario was a simple one: two patrols have a meeting encounter in a small Polish village. Both are scrambling to position themselves for a counter-attack to push out the enemy (the next scenario). We were fighting this using our 1/72 scale minis and our usual 25mm terrain (you can hardly notice the slight scale difference).

The Germans got off to a very slow start, the almost seemed a little surprised that the Poles were even attempting to aggressively probe. Quickly though, both sides figured out that speed was of the essence as they began to each seize houses one by one.

In the end the battle came down to a farmhouse in the center of the village. The Germans moved into to it first, but the Poles charged in, in force. In a final desperate act, the last German soldier in the house flung all of his grenades and dove for cover. Incredibly it worked! He forced a couple of the Polish soldiers back out of the house, while wounding and killing two others.

That last act was what tipped the balance in the German’s favor for victory points – they won the scenario by a one point differential. Truly they had no business winning after their atrocious start, but apparently their fearless commander’s persistence paid off! J

All-in-all though it was once again a very enjoyable game. Chris is a great opponent to play (especially when you play two grenade cards in a row), the Cards always give a great game and the mini’s looked terrific. We even had a couple of folks watching, who then went on to get some 1/72 troops of their own to start painting!

Anyhow, enjoy the pictures!

 Dan

 PS: The Stug III you see in the pictures wasn’t actually in the battle. Some of you may notice that it is an anachronism, the long barreled Stug III didn’t arrive on scene until 1943. I had just finished painting it though, and wanted to admire it a bit. It sat motionless in the corner the whole game. Hopefully though, that isn’t a harbinger of things too come in future games… J