Alright, August has come and is just about gone. The heat has ranged from hot to damn hot! Fires are burning in the hills, smoke hanging in the air and you can't breathe without coughing. Why do I say all this? I'm looking for excuses for not doing very much painting the past week and a half. The heat (100+) did exceed the tolerance levels of the paint can, so I couldn't paint this past weekend.
I do have the 6 Shermans base coated. I think I am done with Army Painter, at least its base coat. It took almost an entire can of green base coat to cover up the Shermans. Plus, even after vigorous shaking, I saw small spots spit out of the nozzle to land on the vehicles. :o(
The ISU-122's I bought from warweb arrived late last week. I also did a LGS run and purchased Spetsnaz and an 251/1c for them, along with 81mm mortars for the 654th list.
GeekEGuy is busily painting away. He's uploaded WiP shots on his blog. Check them out!!
Maus Haus II is coming up in October. It's a one day tournament with 3 battles. I am thinking of signing up, but I'd be very nervous since I haven't played many games and certainly not with an entire 1,750pt Lend Lease force. I still have time to decide and get the Lend Lease unit ready should I decide to go for it.
Monday, August 31, 2009
Saturday, August 22, 2009
Dog Days of August
It's 76% humidity today. Definitely stay inside weather, especially for California? Where did the humidity come from? There's been no rain, not a drop of it, on California in eight months.
On the plus side, 6 M4A2 Command Decision Shermans arrive to complement the 3rd Guards Mechanised Corps army I am building and acquiring. I've also ordered 3 ISU-122's. I didn't think to order them at the same time and now get the pleasure of paying $8 shipping cost...twice!
GeekyGuy is on the painting warpath again! Huzzah! He's going to paint the company leaders for the two M4A2 Emcha companies.
Oh and we've both caught the 654th Jagdpanther Company bug! Jagdpanther heaven! Woot! He will paint up 5 Jagdpanthers of the Second Company; he will either take the First or the Third Company. I am also taking the Noak Warrior in his Panther. This gives me the chance of buying and GeekyGuy painting up the PanzerKanone Panther I've been drooling over the past couple of months. Yes!!
Mucho painting to do the next few weeks. I'd like to get the full 3rd Guards Mechanised Corps finished in time for a the late winter tournaments at the Realm, possibly even for October (crosses fingers).
In other news, Battle Front is releasing the updated Africa book. If you would have asked me last month what force I was thinking of doing next, I would have said a DAK force. Things change, especially with the appearance of the 654th Jagdpanther Company list in WI262 and working on the Lend Lease Tankovy. The 654th list just grabs you. The chance to run Jagdpanthers and a Panther in the same list brought me back to the days of the Steel Panthers computer game, which is an all-time classic! My friend and I played several joint e-mail campaigns. He always took the Tigers and King Tigers as the war progressed and upgrades became available. I patiently waited for Panthers (available 7/43) and then the Jagdpanthers (9/44) while he is stomping everything in the ground with his Tigers starting in Oct 42. But I digress. What I am saying is Jagdpanthers and Panthers in the same army list kick ass!
On the plus side, 6 M4A2 Command Decision Shermans arrive to complement the 3rd Guards Mechanised Corps army I am building and acquiring. I've also ordered 3 ISU-122's. I didn't think to order them at the same time and now get the pleasure of paying $8 shipping cost...twice!
GeekyGuy is on the painting warpath again! Huzzah! He's going to paint the company leaders for the two M4A2 Emcha companies.
Oh and we've both caught the 654th Jagdpanther Company bug! Jagdpanther heaven! Woot! He will paint up 5 Jagdpanthers of the Second Company; he will either take the First or the Third Company. I am also taking the Noak Warrior in his Panther. This gives me the chance of buying and GeekyGuy painting up the PanzerKanone Panther I've been drooling over the past couple of months. Yes!!
Mucho painting to do the next few weeks. I'd like to get the full 3rd Guards Mechanised Corps finished in time for a the late winter tournaments at the Realm, possibly even for October (crosses fingers).
In other news, Battle Front is releasing the updated Africa book. If you would have asked me last month what force I was thinking of doing next, I would have said a DAK force. Things change, especially with the appearance of the 654th Jagdpanther Company list in WI262 and working on the Lend Lease Tankovy. The 654th list just grabs you. The chance to run Jagdpanthers and a Panther in the same list brought me back to the days of the Steel Panthers computer game, which is an all-time classic! My friend and I played several joint e-mail campaigns. He always took the Tigers and King Tigers as the war progressed and upgrades became available. I patiently waited for Panthers (available 7/43) and then the Jagdpanthers (9/44) while he is stomping everything in the ground with his Tigers starting in Oct 42. But I digress. What I am saying is Jagdpanthers and Panthers in the same army list kick ass!
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Tweaking the Lend Lease List
I played a couple of practice games 2 weeks ago with a small 600-pt Lend Lease force. It was up against a force of 2 Tigers and a Panther. I think I was outpointed, certainly I was outpointed. Nevertheless, I managed to surround a Tiger, but to no avail. I managed to bail one Tiger, but couldn't brew it up. AT 10 versus SA 8, means I have only a 16% chance to kill a Tiger. My force of M4A2's just brewed up one by one as the 75mm shots bounced off the armor.
Granted, I wasn't very good with my tactics and I'm still learning to use the force, but I definitely need a bigger AT kick for the 1,750 version of the force. Hen and Chicks doesn't help when facing big AT Germans.
FOW's weekly update had this article.
Anti-Tiger Tactics:
That's all fine and dandy, but again it's AT 10 versus FA 9 and SA 8. After speaking with the guys at The Realm and a board post, I've decided on using ISU-122's and complimenting them with IL-2 Sturmoviks. I like the combination. I like the models. I like the idea of Big Cats forced to react to the threat of ISU-122's and air at the same time, rather than just sit back and pick tanks off with their big guns.
I hope to complete the Lend Lease force before X-mas. I've ordered a second batch of Command Decision M4A2's (6 in all). The rest will follow after I've Army Painter'd those tanks.
Granted, I wasn't very good with my tactics and I'm still learning to use the force, but I definitely need a bigger AT kick for the 1,750 version of the force. Hen and Chicks doesn't help when facing big AT Germans.
FOW's weekly update had this article.
Anti-Tiger Tactics:
That's all fine and dandy, but again it's AT 10 versus FA 9 and SA 8. After speaking with the guys at The Realm and a board post, I've decided on using ISU-122's and complimenting them with IL-2 Sturmoviks. I like the combination. I like the models. I like the idea of Big Cats forced to react to the threat of ISU-122's and air at the same time, rather than just sit back and pick tanks off with their big guns.
I hope to complete the Lend Lease force before X-mas. I've ordered a second batch of Command Decision M4A2's (6 in all). The rest will follow after I've Army Painter'd those tanks.
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Recap of 2nd 7-29-2009 battle at the Realm
After the first game (FFA), Paul and I decided on a Hold the Line with him defending with the same forces in the first game.
Paul sets up his Stugs behind a Village
Paul's PzIV's conceal themselves in the local trees
The 3rd Mechanized Corps assemble for the attack
The Scout Cars try an end around
Panzers take up Overwatch positions on a small rise
Silly Hills and roads can't stop us!
Key moment of the battle. Paul fails a Stormtrooper roll. I stopped my line and opened up with ROF 2 with 7 tanks and scored several hits. Unfortunately, the FP rolls aren't as good and Paul escapes with only two lost tanks.
Scout cars continue onwards to the objective
Shhhhh...maybe the stug won't notice us
Whoops, lost tanks to bogging. Germans in retreat!
Paul's reserves arrive
Gap in the photos. Many were blurry. Paul skillfully stormtroopered, defended the objective and then picked apart my forces from concealment. My dice couldn't hit anything after the first key moment when Paul's forces stalled on the hill. My tanks are burning and it's game over. Good game, Paul!
Paul sets up his Stugs behind a Village
Paul's PzIV's conceal themselves in the local trees
The 3rd Mechanized Corps assemble for the attack
The Scout Cars try an end around
Panzers take up Overwatch positions on a small rise
Silly Hills and roads can't stop us!
Key moment of the battle. Paul fails a Stormtrooper roll. I stopped my line and opened up with ROF 2 with 7 tanks and scored several hits. Unfortunately, the FP rolls aren't as good and Paul escapes with only two lost tanks.
Scout cars continue onwards to the objective
Shhhhh...maybe the stug won't notice us
Whoops, lost tanks to bogging. Germans in retreat!
Paul's reserves arrive
Gap in the photos. Many were blurry. Paul skillfully stormtroopered, defended the objective and then picked apart my forces from concealment. My dice couldn't hit anything after the first key moment when Paul's forces stalled on the hill. My tanks are burning and it's game over. Good game, Paul!
Saturday, August 1, 2009
First battles at the Realm
Where did the month of July go? I'm happy to say July wasn't an uneventful month. The M4A2's of my fledgling Lend Lease army were bloodied in two battles against Paul at the Realm on 7/22. Apologies for blurry pics. I didn't have a tripod and at times I forgot to remove the flash on other photos.
Battle 1:
I have enough tanks to field 600 pts. My force consisted of 8 Emchas and 3 BA-64 armored cars from H&S. Paul had 2 Stugs and 5 Pz IV's. Since this was my first game playing FOW, we decided on a Free for All mission.
Initial Deployment
Paul Deploys
BA-64's make a run for an objective.
First Blood to the Red Bear
Uh-oh, armored cars get noticed
Paul fails a Stormtrooper Role and gets whacked
Trading armored cars to occupy the Stugs
Paul Pz-IV's fails a motivation check and flees the field. Victory!
Pz-IV's and Stugs versus M4A2's is a fairly even match. A few die rolls either way influenced the outcome of the battle. The Lend Lease tanks made several crucial armor saves and Paul's failed Stormtrooper roll left his tanks vulnerable in the open and not concealed.
Paul is a pleasure to play against. He is also a good and patience teacher, accepting defeat from a newb with grace and dignity and a shake of the hand.
Battle 2 follows next time and the following update will discuss fighting Tiggers and the plans to expand to 1,750pts. I also hope to have a positive update on 11PD soon.
Battle 1:
I have enough tanks to field 600 pts. My force consisted of 8 Emchas and 3 BA-64 armored cars from H&S. Paul had 2 Stugs and 5 Pz IV's. Since this was my first game playing FOW, we decided on a Free for All mission.
Initial Deployment
Paul Deploys
BA-64's make a run for an objective.
First Blood to the Red Bear
Uh-oh, armored cars get noticed
Paul fails a Stormtrooper Role and gets whacked
Trading armored cars to occupy the Stugs
Paul Pz-IV's fails a motivation check and flees the field. Victory!
Pz-IV's and Stugs versus M4A2's is a fairly even match. A few die rolls either way influenced the outcome of the battle. The Lend Lease tanks made several crucial armor saves and Paul's failed Stormtrooper roll left his tanks vulnerable in the open and not concealed.
Paul is a pleasure to play against. He is also a good and patience teacher, accepting defeat from a newb with grace and dignity and a shake of the hand.
Battle 2 follows next time and the following update will discuss fighting Tiggers and the plans to expand to 1,750pts. I also hope to have a positive update on 11PD soon.
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