May 12, 2014

Battle Report: 5/10/2014 X-Wing

It has been a little bit since I last posted a X-Wing battle report (I did play one or two more games since the last report), but this past weekend was all about getting some games in.  Friday night I got in a game of Warhammer Famtasy, Saturday morning, a game of X-Wing and on Sunday a game of Bolt Action.

So on Saturday morning my son and I threw down a quick game of X-Wing before he headed off to work.  I really like playing with two YT-1300's, so I went back to one of those lists.  I ended up playing with APL on both of the YT-1300's, but I may make a tiny change to this list next time I play.  I ended up using APL only once, and no damage was recorded.

Rebels: (Dean)
Han Solo
(Marksmanship, Millennium Falcon, Anti-Pursuit Lasers)
Lando Calrissian
(Veteran Instincts, Nien Nunb, Anti-Pursuit Lasers)

Rebels: (Dragi)
Wedge Antilles
(Marksmanship)
Rookie Pilot
Rookie Pilot
Jan Ors

Deployment
For the first time I was actually able to fly the two large bases without running into one another, but my son also did a good job flying and like mentioned above, only got to use APL once this game.  My son's Rebels concentrated their fire early on Lando knocking out his shield quite easily.  I made quick work on taking out Wedge and then the Rookie's, but not before the Rookie Pilot's were able to finish off Lando.  It was then down to Han and Jan, and Han easily won that match up.  It was a victory for the double YT-1300's.

The change I am thinking about doing is replacing the APL's and Millennium Falcon upgrades and giving Gunner to Han.  Still debating that option (even though in this game I would not have use Gunner either as Han was on fire with his shooting)

May 1, 2014

Painting Points: April 2014

April was a so-so month for painting points.  Being caught up on the majority of my models for Bolt Action, most of my time was then spent actually gaming with Bolt Action and X-Wing.

The upcoming month of May will also be a very slow month for me.  There is a chance that not a single model will get done, but I may not let that happen.  The end of May will see an influx of models coming in for Bolt Action, so my month of June looks to be another busy month.

Right now I am enjoying some down time and actually playing with the models.

Total Painting Points for the month: 59

Total Painting Points for the year: 347

April 28, 2014

Bolt Action: Germany 'MG42 Medium Machine Gun Team'

It has been a little while since I last painted a model for Bolt Action (about 10 days), which if you can tell from my posts this year, that is a long time.  With having three fully painted armies now for Bolt Action, the painting has slowed and the gaming has increased.  At the end of next month (May), my son will be getting a influx of models for his Unites States army, so June will be a busy month.  Plus later in June maybe July, I will be starting the British Airborne army.  So right now I am enjoying the gaming and slowly adding a few models here and there.

So to most likely close out the month of April for painting, this past weekend I completed a 'MG42 Medium Machine Gun Team' for the German army.

Germany: MG42 Medium Machine Gun Team
Germany: MG42 Medium Machine Gun Team
Germany: MG42 Medium Machine Gun Team
Painting Points: 3

Battle Report: 4/27/2014 Bolt Action 'United States vs Germany'

It has been 2 weeks since my son and I each played a game of Bolt Action.  Been busy playing X-Wing for awhile.  But yesterday it was time to bring the armies back out.  My son decided he wanted to play with his US army, so I was then going to be playing the Germans.  I have yet to play with the German Sd.Kfz 251/1 Half-track, so I decided to put together a list to include this vehicle.  We randomly rolled a mission from the rule book and got 'Top Secret', that should be ideal with the Half-track.

Sunday 4/27/2014
Points: 1000
Scenario: Top Secret
Objective: Seize the objective and carry it off your table edge..
Armies: Germany (Dean) vs United States (Dragi)

I am still lacking 'terrain' for our table, so majority of the woods were just represented by 'area terrain'.  My plan is by the end of summer to have a wide selection of terrain, from building to roads to woods.
End of Turn 01.
End of Turn 02.
End of Turn 03.
End of Turn 04.
End of Turn 05.
End of Turn 06.

End of Turn 07.
Well the dice were not with the Germans today.  The game started out as planned with the German Half-track advancing up the road and a Veteran squad disembarking towards the objective.  Once they arrived at the objective, the Germans could not hold it nor pass it along as the Americans had 4 squads approaching and reigning down on fire eliminating the German Veteran squad.  The German Stug IIIC could not hit anything and was eventually blown away from the American Sherman.  By the time the Americans were able to capture the objective, there was not enough time left for them carry it off the board with the dense woods in their deployment zone.  The Americans then decided to just decimate the Germans killing them all.  Technically the game was a 'Draw' per the rulebook, even though the Americans slaughtered the Germans.  Usually if this game was played in a Tournament Environment, the Americans would have received +1 points for controlling the objective at the end of the game.

April 16, 2014

Bolt Action: Soviet Union 'Flamethrower Team'

A few weeks ago, Warlord Games announced a new Soviet Union 'Flamethrower Team', '50mm Light Mortar Team' and an 'Ampulomet'.  When I heard that they were releasing these models, I had to order them right away.  With Royal Mail taking there usual two weeks to ship items to me, they finally arrived late last week.  Seeing how I already had a few items on my painting board, these models were going to slide to the back burner for a short while.  With already having a 'Medium Mortar' for my Soviet army, I am in no rush to finish the 'Light Mortar', but I am for the 'Flamethrower' and 'Ampulomet'.

The Soviet did not previously have a 'Flamethrower' model from Warlord Games for their army.  Yes there is a 'Flamethrower' with the 'Assault Engineers' (still yet to model and paint) but not in their standard Soviet uniform.  So this model was first to hit the painting board once I cleared up my other models.

Last night it was there turn for the board and they were completed after my game of X-Wing last night.

Soviet Union: Flamethrower Team
Soviet Union: Flamethrower Team
Painting Points: 2

Battle Report: 4/15/2014 X-Wing 'Firespray-131 x3 vs X-Wing x4'

Earlier today I mentioned that I recently picked up another 2 Firespray-131's for X-Wing.  Well last night I wanted to try the 3 Firespray-131 list and see how it does.

Rebels:
Luke Skywalker
(R2-D2, Marksmanship)
Red Squadron
Rookie Pilot
Rookie Pilot

Imperials:
Bounty Hunter
Bounty Hunter
Bounty Hunter

Firespray-131's deployed.
Rebel X-Wings deployed.
Fantasy Flight Games just released a new 'Tournament FAQ' yesterday, so we played with those rules.  There were only two changes to the rules, initiative and margin of victory.

In this game, the dice were not with the Galactic Empire.  I had no problems maneuvering the three large ships, I just had problems providing damage and defending damage.  The 'Bounty Hunters' did manage to take down a 'Rookie Pilot' and I had to take out 'Luke Skywalker', but in the end, the Rebels were able to destroy all the Imperial ships.

Up next I will be trying 2 Firespray-131's along with some variation of a TIE and upgrades.

X-Wing: Firespray-131 x2

Well the majority of our X-Wing models probably belong to my son, but when I get into a game, I go all in.  After playing a 2 YT-1300 list the other day, I thought to myself, "ok, what can I do with the Imperial counterpart".  So after searching for some Firespray-131 lists, I found that some people like to play with 3 of them.  Seeing how my son already had 1, Monday night on my way home from an Arizona Diamondbacks game, I decided to stop at my LGS and pick up 2 more.

Galactic Empire: Firespray-131
"Originally intended as a prisoner transport, the Firespray-31 gained notoriety through association with some of the galaxy’s most fearsome pirates and bounty hunters, including the infamous Boba Fett. The Slave I™ Expansion Pack for X-Wing™ allows players to take advantage of the Firespray’s versatile armament and heavy armor plating, as well as a host of deadly new upgrades. Slave I comes with a detailed miniature, four pilot cards, twelve upgrades, and all requisite tokens. New rules and a new mission further expand your games of X-Wing!"

Tuesday night I was planning on trying out the 3 ship list against my son.  If I do not like the way the 3 ship list plays since running them this way does not allow for any upgrades, then I will try a few 2 ship versions that I came across.

April 14, 2014

Battle Report: 4/13/2014 Bolt Action 'Soviet Union vs Germany and United States vs Germany'

After our game of X-Wing yesterday morning, it was time to throw down some Bolt Action.  After reading a battle report from AdeptiCon on the Bolt Action tournament and seeing a min/max Soviet Union army with two tanks, I thought to myself  'I'd like to see if I have the models for a cheese list'.  I did not have the exact models that player played, but I came close with a list.  I wanted to give it a try and see how it would do.  The Soviets have two Late-War theater lists that allow two tanks, so a second 'Reinforced Platoon' is not needed.

Officer:
1 Jr LT w/SMG
1 Infantry w/SMG

Infantry Squads:
Vet Squad 1
1 NCO w/Rifle

1 Infantry w/Rifle, Panzerfaust
3 Infantry w/SMG

Vet Squad 2
1 NCO w/Rifle
1 Infantry w/Rifle, Panzerfaust
3 Infantry w/SMG

Vet Squad 3
1 NCO w/Rifle
1 Infantry w/Rifle
3 Infantry w/SMG

Free Rifle Squad
1 NCO w/ Rifle
11 Infantry w/Rifle


1 Medium Mortar (Inexperienced)

Artillery:
1 ZiS-3 Divisional Gun

Tanks:
1 ISU-122
1 OT-34/85 Flamethrower Tank

Sunday 4/13/2014
Points: 1000
Scenario: Maximum Attrition
Objective: Destroy the enemy.
Armies: Soviet Union (Dean) vs Germany (Dragi)

Turn 1:
During the first turn, we saw all three tanks in the game fail to hit.  Infantry from both armies were advancing onto the battlefield.

Table setup.
Table setup.

Tanks fail to hit.

Turn 2:
OT-34/85 misses point blank on the StuG III but flames a Germany Veteran squad with 3 kills and 4 pin markers.  The Vet squad fails the morale test and is removed.
The ISU-122 also missed the StuG III.
StuG III hits OT-34/85 and knocks out.
Soviet ZiS-3 shoots German Veteran, kills 3, and they pass their test .
German Sniper takes another shot this turn and misses again.

OT-34/85 misses point blank on StuG III.



After Turn 2.
Turn 3:
ISU122 knocks out StuG III.
German Sniper finall hits, fails to wound.
Soviet Mortar zeroed in on Sniper causing 5 hits 3 wounds and removing the Sniper.
German Veterans kill 2 Soviet Veterans.
German Flamethrower Team no shot that they can see.
ISU-122 destroys German StuG III.
Turn 4:
German Flamethrower Team kills only 1 Soviet Veteran but causes 2 pins, Soviet fail Morale even with the ability to re-roll.
Soviet ZiS-3 failed fire order.
Soviet and German Infantry shooting back and forth.
Soviet Free Rifle squad outflanks on my right.
Soviet Mortar hits German Veteran squad, 6 hits, 4 wounds (2 alive and pass morale).
Soviet Free Rifle squad outflanking.
Turn 5:
German Flamethrower kills a Soviet Veteran and they pass their morale.
Soviets ambush German Veterans, kill 1.
Soviet Veterans assault German Flamethrower Team, 7 attacks only kill 1 but enough to win combat.
ISU-122 howitzer and kills all 5 German Veterans.

Turn 6:
German Officer assaults, fail to wound, Soviets attack back and kill both men.
Soviets assault Germans, combat tied, round 2 of combat, Soviets win.
ZiS-3 finally passes order and fires at lone German Veteran and kills.

Game Ended on a roll of 3.
There were only 2 lone Germans left on the battlefield.
Soviets: 8
Germans: 2
After the battle.
This Soviet list was made for this scenario, even though we did randomly roll for the scenario.  Would I play this list in a 'tournament', not sure, I know there could be a little more 'cheese' added to it.  I usually like to play well balance lists.  It is tough to say what really is 'cheese' when technically this list was made from a "theater list".  Yes it was fun playing with 3 big guns, most likely in friendly games I will stick to the 1 tank.... but I can see both of them coming out together in some big games.

After lunch we decided to play another game.  Now I was going to be playing Germans, and my son was going to be playing with his US army.  We once again randomly rolled for a scenario, and rolled "Hold Until Relieved".  We have yet to play this scenario before, so I was not sure exactly how to play it.  I did make a few adjustments to the German list and added in some more Assault Rifles.  I was going to be playing the Attackers and my son was the Defenders.

Sunday 4/13/2014
Points: 1000
Scenario: Hold Until Relieved
Objective: Control the objective at the end of the game.
Armies: Attackers Germany (Dean) vs Defenders United States (Dragi)

I did not take turn by turn notes for this game as I wanted to speed it up a bit, but did take a few pictures.

Table after Deployment.
Germans approaching the Objective marker.
Seeing how I never played this scenario before, I was unsure exactly on how I should deploy the Germans.  I think I made some big mistake deploying them.  Turn 1 I had already lost 2 squads to the Americans so it was not looking good.  Plus the dice were not good for the Germans.... I would either hit and then fail to wound, or failed to hit.....  In the end the Germans were just about wiped off the board with only 1 squad left in the game and the Americans were holding the objective.

One thing about this game that I am taking from it is; we learned more about the assault rules, especially when directly behind an obstacle and assaulting over it (obstacles are not 'rough terrain') so if you are directly behind an obstacle, you can assault over that obstacle the full 12 inches.

So at the end of the day, the country of Germany had lost both battles in this War.

Battle Report: 4/13/2014 X-Wing

Besides painting up some 'Assault Rifles' for our German Bolt Action army, I really did not get much painting done this weekend.  Instead this weekend more about playing some games.  We started first on Friday night with a game of X-Wing (click here for the Battle Report) and then played an intro 650 point game of Flames of War, followed by another game of X-Wing Sunday morning, and then two games of Bolt Action.  Here is a quick run down of Sunday's X-Wing game.

After playing a 'Han Shoots First' list on Friday night, on Saturday I was thinking how cool would it be to play with two YT-1300's (Millennium Falcon ships), so after our Flames of War intro game on Saturday, my son and I ran out to one of our local game stores and I picked up another YT-1300 and another X-Wing.

In this game it was a Rebel vs Rebel battle.  I wanted to try the two YT-1300's and my son wanted to try three X-Wings with named characters.

Rebels:
Han Solo
(Marksmanship, Gunner)
Chewbacca
(Push The Limit, Millennium Falcon)

Rebels:
Luke Skywalker 
(R2-D2, Marksmanship
Wedge Antilles
(Marksmanship)
Biggs Darklighter
(R2-F2, Shield Upgrade)

A lot of the two YT-1300 lists has Chewbacca with the 'Draw Their Fire' upgrade, but I thought I'd try something a little different with him in case I needed to use two actions in a turn.  Turns out I really did not have to use it.

I did manage to better maneuver the YT-1300's in this game and only once bumped into my own ship.
Chewbacca bumping into Han Solo.
The battle came down to Han Solo and Chewbacca chasing down Luke Skywalker (once we've taken care of Wedge and Biggs).  With the two YT-1300's firing on Luke, there was nothing that could save him, not even RD-D2.  It was a win for the smugglers.

Han Solo and Chewbacca get the Win.

April 13, 2014

Bolt Action: Germany 'Heer Veteran Grenadier Assault Rifles x10'

I was finally able to get a few models done this week after the vehicles.  The Assault Rifles for the German army are now all completed as well as the army for now.  We will slowly add more units for the Germans and expand them.

Since all I had left in regards to my German infantry were the models laying down, I decided to use all I had left for the Assault Rifles.  The Assault Rifle can only be used in 'Late War', so these guys will probably be played only half the time.

Germany: Heer Veteran Grenadier Assault Rifles
Germany: Heer Veteran Grenadier Assault Rifles

Painting Points: 10