Warmachine/ Hordes Painting

I plan on playing more Warmachine this year especially in the Summer when I am not working. The Slag Troll is an addition to my small Trollblood force I painted a couple of years ago. Kovnik Malakov is going to be used in my main Khador army. I also painted a swamp gobbers bellows crew which can be used with any Hordes army but I especially need them with my Trolls to provide some much needed cover. During a game last week my Fennblades took some serious casualties from winter guard infantry shooting. The 5" cloud the bellows crew provides should help shield them from missiles.

 Slag Troll



I'm looking forward to using this guy against Warmachine armies and Circle constructs. 

 

Kovnik Malakov

 

I've never used a jackmarshal before but Malakov is also a journey warcaster so he should be a welcome addition. I need some cheap infantry near him so he can pass off hits with his "sucker" ability. I might run him with some c=mechanics nearby. Sucks to be you guys!

 

 

Several months ago I picked up a Skorne battlegroup for really cheap. I don't know if I will ever use them but I went ahead and painted them anyway. I'm still undecided if I want to keep them or put them on the selling block.

 



Blood and Roses Battle of Bosworth Scenario

I played the Lancaster forces led by the upstart Henry Tudor Earl of Richmond against my friend Cisco and his Yorkist army led by King Richard III. Looking at the large marsh and bog- filled area in the center of the board, I thought this would be an infantry slugfest, but it turned out to be a cavalry battle between Tudor's mounted wing and the Yorkist cavalry on my left flank. I made several mistakes that caught up with me. I overlooked the fact that levy cannot attack unless supported by another unit and put them in the front blocking some lanes in the center. I also got engrossed with the cavalry fight and didn't get Stanley's forces into play. I also didn't realize how outnumbered I was when it came to mounted men at arms. Consistently failing continuation roles was the final straw leaving me helpless to respond to the cavalry charge which eventually won the game for my opponent and killing my commander in the process. Pictured also is a pint of ale from the good folks at Emerald Tavern in Austin,Texas where this battle took place.

 

This is the set up. Lancaster forces are the red counters to the SW while the Yorkist forces are the white counters NE facing SW.

 

 

I thought the most of the action would be in the marshy area in the middle of the board but my opponent worked his mounted men at arms around my right flank.

 

 

I shifted my own mounted men at arms led by Henry Tudor to my left. In previous games mounted troops are susceptible to longbow men but my archers were woefully out of position to bring any fire to bear. I did eliminate 2 mounted Yorkist men at arms with my own cavalry but that left Henry in a vulnerable position.

 



 

My opponent's counterattack catching Henry in the open.

 

 

This is the end of Henry. His loss plus losses I took earlier caused me to fail my flight check. Overall it was a fun game but I badly misplayed my army. I launched an infantry attack on the right (not pictured) and managed to reached some Yorkist longbow men with levy infantry only to notice after I moved them that they cannot shock attack unless supported by another unit. I failed several continuity roles and was not able to bring the Stanleys on the board. I'm sure at the end of the battle Richard III rewarded them handsomely for their neutrality on the field. Overall another fun game.

 

 







Blood and Roses

Blood and Roses--Battle of Tewkesbury

I just had the chance to play the battle of Tewkesbury scenario from GMT's Blood and Roses. I love the Men of Iron tactical system. It is both elegant and simple yet provides enough detail so the historical units in the game perform similarly to their historic counterparts. The 3 games in the series--Men of Iron, Infidel, and Blood and Roses--have a distinctive play style that is easy to learn yet a challenge to master. I like the scenarios from Infidel more because of my personal preference for mounted combat and the crusades, but that doesn't take away from the other two games in the series.

This is the opening attack from the Yorkist(white counters) side. Notice the thick hedges in the center of the board. The Yorkist player(my friend Cisco) chooses to go around the right side to attack the Lancaster left flank. I shifted my left wing but have already received some damage from the Yorkist longbows.

This picture was taken later in the same battle. Here the Yorkist king Edward IV gets into the action but is surrounded by Lancaster units. I tried several times to kill/capture him but he managed to escape back to his lines. This was a very close game with both sides rolling flight checks. In the end I rolled a 9 on the Lancaster check causing my army to flee the field. If I would have rolled anything else they would have stayed in the fight but that is the fickle nature of wargaming. Next up will the battle of Bosworth where the upstart Edward Tudor attempts to wrest the crown from the Yorkist King Richard III.

First Model of 2015--Ravenloft Ranger

A couple of months ago I started playing the D&D board game Castle Ravenloft which contains a bunch of plastic unpainted miniatures. Below is the Ranger--one of the five adventurers included in the game.

This is the same model from behind. I went with basic green and brown colors since she would spend most of her time in the wilderness. I really enjoy Ravenloft and hope to pick up the other two games in the series.

 

Look for further updates to this blog in 2015. I am painting 15mm Japanese and Americans for Bolt Action as well as some knights and mounted warriors for DBA. I am still playing SAGA and recently started playing the excellent game Warhammer Diskwars. 2015 promises to be an exciting year for gaming!

Bitter Woods--Battle of the Bulge

Bitter Woods

The Battle of the Bulge 16 Dec 1944

Even though Bitter Woods was released by Avalon Hill in 1998, it is still the definitive game of the Battle of the Bulge to me. Since I haven't played it in over ten years I decided to dust it off and play a solitaire game.
   And what a quick game it was! The Germans pushed through the center and southern half of the board and were able to cross the Meuse River in two different places. The first crossing by the Panzer Lehr division was stopped by US reinforcements just in time, but that left the crossing in the Southwest corner of the map unguarded allowing the Germans to exit 6 mechanized units off the western edge on 21 December before the Allies receive the bulk of their reinforcements.

 

 

Here are a couple of pictures from the first two days of fighting

 

Night of Dec 16--North half of the map

 

 

 

I start sliding the Germans south to avoid the rough terrain around Elsenhorn. Even though the Germans have the size advantage, the forests and bridge crossings are easily defended by the US especially with the American armor sitting in Malmedy.

 

Southern Half

 

Here the Germans have more space. There are only two stacks of units available to support the weak regiment in Bastogne.

 

 

Night of 17 December--Northern area



The US succeeds in blowing up two bridges near Malmedy and occupy Trois Pontes with armor. Pieper and company stake the path of least resistance and slide south bypassing units of the US 2nd Infantry Division.

 Southern Area--night of 17 Dec

 

 

 

American armor reinforcements arrive in Bastogne but lead elements of Panzer Lehr bypass the town and are headed west to the Meuse River. I didn't realize it at the time but this was the turning point of the battle. The Americans had to race west to stop this unit, leaving Bastogne relatively undefended. This stack of Panzer Lehr armor and panzer grenadiers successfully crossed the Meuse but was destroyed just a couple of hexes away from the west map edge by the 101st and 82nd Airborne with the help of some armor. However they were not able to block all the crossings and enough Germans got through for the win.

 

 

Bitter Woods is simple old school hex and counter wargaming at its best. It is also a great game to serve as an introduction to others who have not played war games before.

 

Bolt Action Tanks

These kits are both 28mm tanks from Warlord Games for Bolt Action. I have never used vehicles before in our Bolt Action games so I am looking forward to seeing how they do. The Japanese tank is a type 95 HA-GO and the Allied tank is the veritable M5A1 Stuart. Both tanks were primed with Army Builder black spray primer then painted using Vallejo acrylics. I then gave both an ink wash. They aren't going to win any awards, but their real life counterparts were fighting in some of the worse terrain in the world so they aren't supposed to be pretty.

Man-O-War Shocktroopers

I just finished these 5 Khador shocktroopers after a long painting delay. They are Privateer Press models for their excellent game Warmachine. These guys were primed with Army Builder Red spray primer then I just picked out the details with Vallejo colors. I finished them off with an ink wash and some dulcote.

I've never used them before but want to give them a try. Their biggest weakness is their 4 inch speed but once you get them where they are going they can cause some damage.

Next up is finishing the Khador Behemoth that has been sitting in my shed for over a year.