More Dwarven Forge Completed...

Did about 50 tiles last night down at the bach.Still plenty to do but we are starting to get a dungeon's worth.

Three sets + rewards now completed. With the rewards there are a lot more pieces than I was expecting. I'm not sure I will need the other 5 sets when they turn up. Of course they would make for an epic dungeon assault game some day... 

A couple of Dungeons from the Caves of Chaos.

The Kobold Lair

 One of the Orc lairs

 Random action shot- more Reaper Kobolds.

 Craig

Dwarven Tiles- a quick dry brush

A very quick dry brush and the tiles are ready for action.

I simply drybrushed a dark grey

 Then a light grey highlight- done!

And a couple of comparisons with the unpainted tiles. 

Still, plenty more to do!

Craig

Dwarven Forge kickstarter arrives

The first part of my Dwarven Forge kickstarter arrived today- just in time for this week's game of Castle's & Crusades :)

I have a few days painting ahead of me...

As you can see there are a few more boxes to open- and I've the same ordered again so maybe I ordered too much! 

It should look great painted up!

And the winner is...

Some (a lot of) last minute indecision and I ended up changing the list quite a bit! Not sure what happened to the Vals but decided some of T34/85s were in order (I must be subconciously worried about higher front armour vehicles).

I ended up submitting this as my official list, time will tell how it fares!

 

HQ      30

8x        Motostrelkovy (SMG)           130

15x      Motostrelkovy (SMG)           240

5x        T34/85s          390

4x        SU 100           310

4x        M10s  250

6x        120mm Mortars         130

4x        Zis 2   160

3x        M16s  110

                        1750

No matter how it goes it should be a fun weekend and hopefully re-inspires me to play more Flames.

FoW reinforcements

A few reinforcements for my Soviet forces. 4x ISU 122s and 3x M16 AA half tracks.

Still can't decided for Conquest it comes down to either:

 I'm happy with the core:
HQ
1x 2 platoon company
1x 1 platoon company
8x Valentines
4x M10s
4x Zis 2 AT guns
6x Heavy mortars

Its the heavy AT option I am not sure on:

a) 4x SU 100, 3x AA trucks + limited air support 
b) 4x ISU 122s, 3x M16 AA half tracks

I prefer the ISU 122 model (its big squat and ugly) over the SU 100 but the SU 100 version has a bit more flexibility with the air support to worry about too.

I've been playing a few solo games to test out ideas, using my Hungarians as opposition, they have been quite enjoyable but its not quite the same as vs a real opponent.


Decisions, decisions...

Craig

Conquest 2013- LW Motostrelkovy

Yes, it is that time again, the annual Conquest tournament. I have been umming and ahhing about whether or not to go and if so what to play. I was thinking about playing Bolt Action but in the end tradition won out. I’ve played Flames at all 10 events so far so it would be rude of me not to continue. So I guess my self imposed sabbatical from Flames is at an end.

Haven’t really thought too much as to what to take and can’t be bothered coming up with anything to radial or new so thought I’d take my Winterfest 2012 Motostrelkovy list for a spin- with a few minor tweaks and see how it fares.  

I’ve a couple of units I’m not sure on but the bulk of the force has written itself:

The Infantry Core:

HQ

1x 2 platoon motostrelk company

1x 1 platoon company

All SMG armed. I know the meta is to take 2x min strength platoons but my larger motostrelk are to do the heavy lifting at assault time and more often than not it is they who win the game for me. They can also double duty as my ambush screen- more about that later.

Light tank platoon

8-9 valentines (all 6 pdrs). Who cares that they are slow and don’t have MGs the valentines has more often than not performed sterling work for me as a flanking force/reserve. AT 10 is not to be sniffed at and with 8-9 of them they usually last a few rounds- protected ammo helps as well. IMO they are a must take unit and at 250 pts for 9 of them they are an absolute bargain.

Heavy Mortar platoon

Last time my mortars were a bit so/so (I only had 4) and so it was a toss up between mortars or Zis 3 and M3A1 scout cars, in the end 6x mortars for 130 pts seemed a bargain, hopefully I can keep them alive long enough to use their wider template. Again they almost pick themselves as a very versatile unit.

 Light Assault gun platoon

Last time I went with 4 of my beloved SU 76s, this year I will do as every other Soviet player does and run SU 122, their role is obviously get up close and let rip vs enemy infantry and gun teams- keeping them a live long enough to do that is the trick. However they also make for an excellent flanking/reserve unit and can be devastating if in ambush too.

AA platoon or recon?

This was a harder decision. Last year I went without any recon and in most games it didn’t really hurt to bad- even though removing GtG on gun teams is almost mandatory in V3, so I thought long and hard as to whether or not to take some recon (BA 64s or Spetnez), in the end I went for something different- a platoon of 3x M16 quad AA half tracks! Why? Not sure really. I guess mainly because I have never fielded them and they can do a good job of suppressing infantry, half tracks or most recon. Time will tell if it was the right call.

So that just leaves my last two units and this is where I still haven’t made a decision:

Option 1: 3x JS 2 + 4x M10s

Last year I used a combo of 3x JS 2 and 4x SU100s as my heavy hitters, this year I am toying with 3x JS 2 and 4x M10s- I like the fact the M10 has RoF 2, can volleyfire and comes with a 50 cal as factory standard so can move forward and offer a suppressing fire option (well maybe) and might actually hit a target once in a while. Still, the M10 is more of a long range sniping vehicle than a scary proposition. If I can keep the JS 2s alive they will double as another assault unit (they have tankriders on them).

Option 2: 4x  SU 100s and 5x T34/85s

The SU 100 give a better overwatch type unit, parked up and daring anything to come within range but being RoF 1 H&C, overloaded and slow hurts them a bit. However, 5x T34/85s do offer another flanking/assault option and may last slightly longer than 3x JS 2s might in the AT 15 environment.

So there we have it. Why motostrelk?  A couple of reason really. Firstly I like the flexibility of the list, it really as a wide range of options; and secondly, being mechanised I get to attack vs infantry lists. It is having to attack infantry that does concern me a bit though mainly due to my lack of recon but I will learn to live without it (as I have in the past)- by using my infantry to grab any potential threatening areas.  But overall I'd rather attack than defend, its often a lot more fun!

So there we have it. It will be interesting to see how the force fares.  

Now I need to build to AA half tracks and make another 2 winter based heavy mortars to finish off the force. 

Craig 

FoW- EW- Hasty Attack

 It's been a while since I posted, been off on holiday with the family. We drove up to Blenheim for my son's rep soccer tournament and took the opportunity to head over to Wellington on the ferry for a few days. The kids haven't ben to the North Island before and thoroughly enjoyed spending time with their cousins and exploring our capital city.

On the way up we stayed at my friend Ian's place for the night so we too the opportunity to play a game of Flames.  Ian had made up a couple of Mid War tank forces  suitable for Operation Barbarossa.

Ian ran:

5x panzer III hs- late Js

3panzer IVDs

2x 88s

2x 231 armoured cars

Priority stukas

For me had selected a mixed tankovy:

10x T26

10x T34/76

3x KV1E

3x tank rider platoons + 2x HMGs.

We played on a 6x5 table which (IMO) gives a much better game that a 6x4 does. The extra depth on the table made it in a game of manoeuvre much more than happens on a 6x4 table- during the game the 88s needed to redeploy twice to get better opportunities. It’s a shame that Ian uses is beautiful terrain boards so infrequently- each  time I use them it inspires me to build as similar setup. Maybe another future project…

 Ian won the dice roll so was the attacker. I deployed 2 KVs and put the infantry into immediate  ambush. Ian deployed both tank platoons and my ambush deployed on the objective that wasn’t removed.

                                                  

 Some of Ian's lovely scratch built buildings.

 The panzer IIIs deploy.

 The large conscript blob sits on an objective.

 I love his objectives.

Turn 1: Ian advanced his panzer IIIs and command tanks towards my tank riders pinning them. My company command KV survived a direct hit from a stuka and rumbled forward towards Ian’s panzer IVs.

 

Turn 2: No reserves for either of us. The panzers assaulted my tankriders killing a few and I retreated. Ian consolidated his tans forward forcing my infantry to give up more ground. The KVs continued to move over to help the infantry and the company command tank too headed towards the objective on Ian’s side of the board.

 KV to the rescue- if only it could hit something!

 Ian tries to bloc the objective with panzers. 

 Turn 3: The 88s turned up and missed my company command KV. The Luftwaffe again bombed my tans without success and y infantry once more were assaulted and driven back away from the objective. One of my two KVs was bombed by te Luftwaffe and so I was now down to two tanks. In my turn a team was just able to get close enough to contest the objective and keep the game alive. My company commander rumbled out of LoS of the 88s as it headed to the objective. My other KV took a pot shot at the panzers but missed.

Turn 4: Ian’s panzers again assaulted my infantry and cleared the from the objective, the survivors ran off the board despite the attempts of the commissar to keep them following orders. So now I was down to 2 working tanks and my reserves again failed to turn up. The 88s spent this turn redeploying.  A recce 231 managed to grab the central objective.

 

 

 My KV “platoon” rumbled down the balka to contest and keep the game alive- now came an amusing situation of Ian’s panzers being unable to hurt the KV. My company commander again missed the panzer IVs but my platoon commander managed to hit and destroy a panzer III.

Turn 5: I was contesting Ian’s objective so he used some to blind the company command KV and made it almost impossible for him to hit.

My reserves finally arrived but not where I wanted them. The T26s arrived on the central area and rumbled forward against the central objective. Unfortunately my T34s arrived on my far right and so were in completely the wrong position but they too moved round a balka to take potshots at the 231 which promptly broke off and hid. 

Turn 6:  Stukas once more arrived and in a spectacular bombing  run knocked out 5x T34s, including the commander and a T26. The panzer IIIs knocked out 2-3 T26s and mt return fire either missed or was saved.

Turn 7

The 88s had redeployed on a hill, lined up the KV which was skulking in the balka and knocked it out. The T26s were reduced to 2 working tanks with no commander and the panzer IVs again used some to minimise the effectiveness of my commanders KV. 6-1 to Ian.

A fun game in which I managed to kill one tank! I’d probably tweak the list I was given, adding some air support by losing tank or two and taking motostrelk instead of tankriders (or I'd add a 4th KV1E) but they were two flavourful forces that mad for an entertaining game. The Luftwaffe was amazing arriving 6 turns in row and knocking out most of my tanks- it was only the last round or so that the panzer IIIs got any kills (T26s)

I really do like using  6x5 table as it makes for a much more interesting game due to the extra depth (I would recommend giving  6x5 a try).

Lessons learned:

1.    I still hate using conscript Soviets!

2.    The T26 is complete junk, FA 1, slow, unreliable. I now know why I’d never taken them. I’m sure they have some redeeming features (cost?) but would rather use T60s if given the choice (which I wasn't). 

3.    I probably screwed up deploying the T26s but had to try to contest the  central objective- I wanted them to take on the panzer IIIs from the side if I could have.

Craig