When Unreliable Bites - 654th vs the Trees

Paul and I got together at Brookhurst Hobbies a few weeks ago. I dusted off the 654th schwere Panzerjaeger Abteilung, while Paul brought an IS-2 Regiment.

Two things you, the reader, should note:

(1) I'm going to start taking notes in the future. By the time I get to editing and uploading the photos from the game, I sometimes forget the place in the action.

(2) I blame the WWPD guys for the dice photos. I am compiling evidence that there are dice gods, despite their denials!! {{j/k guys!}}

(3) This is this blog's 100th post. Thanks for the continued support and visits!

Click below to continue...

Greatest Tank Battles

Greetings fellow Treadheads. In case you are unaware, the Military Channel is running a series called The Greatest Tank Battles. According to the website, there are supposed to do 20-episodes, but the Episdode Guide lists only 10 so far. It's also my understanding that the series has been around since 2008 or 2009. I've only just found it and happily recording it to the DVR.

The CGI is comparable to the Dogfights series - sighs, I miss that show. Curse you History Channel for cancelling it after 2 seasons!!

What's really cool about each episode are the veteran interviews where they tell their stories and then we see the action unfold. Instead of focusing on the grand battle, the episode narrows down the view to that of the common tanker (the interviewed veteran) as they relate their actions.

Battle of 73 Easting clip


"Jagdtigers" at Bastogne clip

Erm, those Jagdtigers look suspisciously like Panzer IV/70(V)'s to me.

So, if you can get the Military Channel, look for the show on Wednesday night (that's when it's played on the West Coast).

Another Black Library novel review..

Santa dropped a Borders gift card into the stocking back in December. A couple of weeks ago I finally went to Borders and I picked up three Black Library novels, one of which was The First Heretic by Aaron Demski-Bowden.

Now, I have my reservations about ADB due to his Night Lord's novel, Silent Hunter. Oiy, did I struggle to get through the book. I remember skimming through the last 30+ pages, just wanting to get to the end.

So, it was with some trepidation that I chose The First Heretic because of its cool looking cover. I'm also happy to say that I was glad I picked it up.

I was hooked from the beginning. I hated the Ultramarines. Those bastards. You have to be a pretty arrogant Space Marine Legion to make a future Chaos Marine Legion look good. Good job, Ultras!

The Word Bearers are True Believers. I found the Legion, as a character, to be worthy of sympathy. If I ever did a CSM army, I pick the Word Bearers.

Logar, the Primarch of the Word Bearers = p***y. Yeah, he came across as easily manipulated by his most trusted advisors, especialy that maniac Kor Phareon. I found Logar to be ancillary to the story.

The lead character, Argel Tal, is an average one, but you can follow the events through his eyes and that's what counts.

I think the book, while not quite Dan Abnett'ish in a sweeping scope, is very good. I'd pick up another ADB novel (Grey Knights due in 2012). I think he's a young guy, learning and getting better at his trade as he goes. We can only expect good things from him in the future.

If you like CSM, hate the Ultramarines, and want to know more about the Eye of Terror at the very beginning of its discovery, this is a book to pick up.

Postcasts

logo copyright WWPD Poscast

I'm glad to see that Battlefront jumped into the realm of podcast with its debut of Radio Free Battlefront. The first episode is rather...dull. I'm sure Mike and Wayne, if they become the regular crew of the Radio Free BF podcast, will grow into their rolls. It isn't easy talking in front of a microphones.

Radio Free Battlefront's first episode really shows how spoiled and lucky we are to have Steve, Joe, Luke and the guys of the WWPD Podcast. I think the relaxed atmosphere is conveyed beautifully in their podcast. The reason they capture the feel of gamers sitting around discussing FOW and other games and having a good time and enjoying adult beverages is because THEY ARE a bunch of gamers sitting around and having a good time and enjoying adult beverages. My buddies and I do the same at our favorite watering hole. The only difference is that we don't have microphones recording us.

WWPD is the right mix of FOW, AAR's, reviews, movies, TV shows, other games, adult beverages and good natured BS sessions. I hope more FOW podcasts will be created because it can only grow the hobby. But right now WWPD is the standard.

Their latest effort can be found here.

The other podcast I listen to regularly and look forward to the next episode, just as I do for WWPD, is The Independent Characters.

It's all WH40K. I stumbled across the podcast because I was looking for a podcast that was 2+ hours. Well, each of their episodes is 2+ hours and I'm presently surprised to say that the IC is right there with WWPD as a joy to listen to.

The hosts Carl and Geoff have GREAT chemistry. Before knowing what they looked like, I only heard their voices and immediately an image of the Myth Busters hosts came to mind. Their chemistry is that good. You can hear's Carl's passion for 40K in his voice. Geoff is the anchor and has a very dry and understated sense of humor.

The gems of the podcast is their review of the Imperial Armour books. Their reviews of Vol 9 and Vol 10, the Badab War Pts 1 and 2, nearly had me plunking down $90 on each book and I don't play the game! I still might buy them except I have FOW needs that come first.

So if you're a 40K player and even if you're not a 40K player, visit their site. I recommend grabbbing their reviews of Badab War Pts 1 and 2. Who knows, if you're a closet 40K player like me, it might inspire you to jump into the game again.

Finally, I've heard rumors about the D6 Generation (3+ hours) being really good and may download an episode.

Any podcast I listen to is uploaded to my phone so I can listen to the episodes on the drive to and from work. Traffic gets ugly and a 1.5 hour commute home goes quickly as I listen to a WWPD or IC podcast. It also helps me unwind after a long day.

Well, how about you folks out there. What podcasts to you enjoy listening to?

Jan 2011 - A Month in Review

T-90 tanks in review...


Instead of a 2011 Year In Review, I've decided to chronicle my FOW/Hobby progress as the calendar turns. I've found that I forget to mention many things in the Year in Review post in December simply due to the passage of time. Let's see if I can make a Month in Review a regular post.


New Releases--

The month of January saw BF releasing blisters to fill out their Early War Blitzkrieg line for Germans, BEF and France. The Polish Armored Train is still nowhere in sight. Blitzkrieg was released in August and I think any exictement was tempered by BF trickling out the blisters necessary to complete a Battle of Poland / France army. Looking around other blogs, I see players went to other 15mm manufacturers to finish up their EW armies.

Compare the Blitzkrieg release schedule to that of Stalin's Europe. In January, the Sherman 76 Tankovy and Panzer IV/70(V) boxes, indivdual Sherman 76, Panther G, Hungarian Assault Pioneer Platoon and the Zrinyi II. These releases added to those in November and December allow a person to make basically any force they want out of the book.

So in 3 months, Stalin's Europe is basically done. Blitzkrieg still has blisters coming out in February, which is 6+ months after the book hit the shelves.

In defense of BF, the Blitzkrieg book required a huge amount of new sculpts to be produced. Any LW and MW book have the standard grenaiders, strelkovy, riflemen, Panther, Tiger, Panzer IV, T-34, etc to form the backbone of any lists. EW needed new tanks, new infantryman, new AT guns and so on and so forth. If BF had waited and released everything at once, there's only a handful of LGS who'd can order that much stuff. My own LGS now orders FOW by request. FOW is just very small piece of its business and its BF distributor raised the minimum order amount too.

If you're an Eastern Front fan, like myself, it was a good month for minis.


Games--

The month and new year started with several misfires, while I attempted to get a game in. It was looking rather bleak until the Indefatigable Paul braved our continuous game of phone tag and maneuvered a rendevous at Brookhurst Hobbies this past Sunday.

The 654th Schwere Jagdpanzer Abteilung faced off against a Guard's Heavy Armor Regiment. A good time was had by all and shall be chronicled in a forthcoming AAR.


Hobby--

I weathered, decaled and sealed 2x Old Glory M4A2 Soviet Shermans, 3x Old Glory BA-10's and 4x Old Glory BA-64's. (need to take pics for blog)

White-washed 3x BF Pz IIIE's for the Barbarossa 2012 project. (to be posted in upcoming entry)

WI279 issue is late....again. It arrived the day after I sent an e-mail to WI asking what happened to the mag. Weather problems on the East Coast and in Europe delayed the issue. At least WI communicates by responding to e-mail inquiries. WI280 is following the trend of being late that WI278 and WI279 started.


Tourneys--

No SoCal tourneys scheduled for 2011 yet. The LoCal (San Diego) group put on a 3-game LW in Jan, and have scheduled a 2-day event for April. NoCal (Bay Area/Sacramento) group has a big schedlue of tourneys throughout the year.

I saw Tim K at Brookhurst. He left open the possibility of a SoCal (non-convention) tourney for May, but plans are up in the there.


Well, there it is. A good month for putting the final touches on vehicles, some exciting new releases from BF and a FOW game with Paul.

Thanks for visiting and see you next time.