Operation Sea Lion - 1500ish points!

For more information on Operation Sea Lion, visit Operation Sea Lion!

This was a game for the Operation Sea Lion Campaign being put on by the WWPD guys. We kinda missed the early weeks of it and didn't get a chance to do the initial beach assaults, so we did one now anyway (and plan to do another in a few days!) Mission was a haphazardly tossed together 1500ish to 800ish game of "Hit the Beach". Chris built his list based loosely on a MW Eastern Front list, using the added assault platoons from the campaign book, whereas I made my Paras from Turning Tide. I ended up dropping a piat from each squad to make it more "mid-war"ish, but I still had 17 pdrs so....

Chris's Beachlanding Germans HQ Boots Full boots platoon Full boots platoon Half boots platoon 3x DD Panzer 4s

Scott's British Paras HQ boots Full boots w/ 1 piat Half boots w/ 1 piat Half boots w/ 1 piat 4x Airlanding 75mm pack howitzers 2x barbed wires

SETUP AND DEPLOYMENT

Pack Howitzers in the woods

Bunker on the beach with some paras hiding nearby

These may just look like ordinary houses, but they house death and destruction inside! (Or maybe just some paras)

Preliminary bombardment kills one para...

and THREE pack howitzers!

The Germans awaiting in the surf

UNITS IN RESERVE
Chris's Beachlanding Germans 2x squads of boots in boats	Scott's British Paras 2x short squads of boots

DEPLOYMENT SUMMARY

Chris's Beachlanding Germans: DD Tanks and one boat in the water. Preliminary bombardment kills 3 pack howitzers and one pair of boots Scott's British Paras: Full boots and the pack arty on the board. Two short boots platoons in reserve.

TURN 1

COMBAT CASUALTY SUMMARY
Chris's Beachlanding Germans	Scott's British Paras 3x pack howitzers 1x boots

TURN 1 SUMMARY

Chris's Beachlanding Germans: A single PZ4 comes ashore...everything else drifts away. For a lack of better targets, the PZ4 shoots at the bunker, but misses. Scott's British Paras: 17 pdr misses the only PZ4 on the board!

TURN 2

More boots and 2 more PZ4s arrive!

COMBAT CASUALTY SUMMARY
Chris's Beachlanding Germans 1x PZ4	Scott's British Paras 3x pack howitzers 1x boots

TURN 2 SUMMARY

Chris's Beachlanding Germans: A platoon of boots and more more PZ4s come ashore. Scott's British Paras: 17 pdr bunker kills a PZ4

TURN 3

Flamer melts some boots and sets the tone for the assault

This is what assaults look like when they are done

COMBAT CASUALTY SUMMARY
Chris's Beachlanding Germans 1x PZ4 5x boots	Scott's British Paras 3x pack howitzers 6x boots

TURN 3 SUMMARY

Chris's Beachlanding Germans: Infantry move up and kill a para with a flamethrower. They assault and kill three more pairs of boots in total before falling back. Scott's British Paras: Paras fail to hit anything in counterattack the first round of combat, and get two Germans in the second. On my turn, the para scharge out and kill another 3 Germans before dying in assault.

TURN 4

More boots land, but the boat gets stuck!

COMBAT CASUALTY SUMMARY
Chris's Beachlanding Germans 2x PZ4 1x platoon of boots, that went back into floating reserves	Scott's British Paras 3x pack howitzers 6x boots

TURN 4 SUMMARY

Chris's Beachlanding Germans: More boots come ashore. Scott's British Paras: Bunker kills a 2nd Pz4.

TURN 5

Two stands of boots were hiding in a building (leaderless) after the rest died in the forest assault. More Germans boots come and flame one para, leaving a sole survivor. Who runs away.

COMBAT CASUALTY SUMMARY
Chris's Beachlanding Germans 2x PZ4 1x platoon of boots, that went back into floating reserves	Scott's British Paras 3x pack howitzers Full para platoon

TURN 5 SUMMARY

Chris's Beachlanding Germans: Moves up and finishes off the rest of the large para platoon. Scott's British Paras: The single pack howitzer kills a pair of boots! A squad of paras arrives and double times up behind the trees.

TURN 6

Some paras got splashed by German naval gunfire support

COMBAT CASUALTY SUMMARY
Chris's Beachlanding Germans 2x PZ4 5x boots	Scott's British Paras 3x pack howitzers Full para platoon 2x boots from another para platoon

TURN 6 SUMMARY

Chris's Beachlanding Germans: Naval gunfire support flattens two paras. Scott's British Paras: Last platoon of paras arrives and double times up, while the paras that arrived the previous turn moved into the woods to protect the objective.

TURN 7

COMBAT CASUALTY SUMMARY
Chris's Beachlanding Germans 2x PZ4 5x boots	Scott's British Paras 3x pack howitzers Full para platoon 2x boots from another para platoon

TURN 7 SUMMARY

Chris's Beachlanding Germans: Stuff moves up, but nothing really happens. Scott's British Paras: Nothing to see here.

TURN 8

The PZ4 bogs on the assault attempt, but thanks to new V3 rules instant unbogs and sittings right in front of some hungry paras in cover. I'll get to assault it without taking defense fire on my turn!

...unless I fail tank terror.

COMBAT CASUALTY SUMMARY
Chris's Beachlanding Germans 2x PZ4 5x boots	Scott's British Paras 3x pack howitzers Full para platoon 2x boots from another para platoon

TURN 8 SUMMARY

Chris's Beachlanding Germans: PZ4 attempts to assault the last pack howitzer, but bogs on the way in. Scott's British Paras: Paras fail tank terror on the "free tank kill here" assault.

TURN 9

Another horribly bloody assault kills off one of my para squads, but the assaulting platoon is also wiped out on morale

COMBAT CASUALTY SUMMARY
Chris's Beachlanding Germans 2x PZ4 More boots that go back into floating reserves.	Scott's British Paras 3x pack howitzers Full para platoon 2x boots from another para platoon

TURN 9 SUMMARY

Chris's Beachlanding Germans: The germans assault and kill off a para squad, but the pack howizer lives. The assaulting Germans are wiped out and go back into floating reserves. Scott's British Paras: Paras do not unpin, so they dig in.

TURN 10

PZ4 runs over the staff team, and bogs on the consolidation

COMBAT CASUALTY SUMMARY
Chris's Beachlanding Germans 2x PZ4 More boots that go back into floating reserves.	Scott's British Paras 3x pack howitzers Full para platoon 2x boots from another para platoon

TURN 10 SUMMARY

Chris's Beachlanding Germans: PZ4 kills the staff team in assault, but bogs on the consoliation. Scott's British Paras: Paras kill the bogged PZ4.

TURN 11

COMBAT CASUALTY SUMMARY
Chris's Beachlanding Germans 2x PZ4	Scott's British Paras 3x pack howitzers Full para platoon 2x boots from another para platoon

TURN 11 SUMMARY

Chris's Beachlanding Germans: Germans assault into and wipe out the remaining paras, however they are also reduced below half and run as well! Scott's British Paras: I have zero models left on the board.

TURN 12

COMBAT CASUALTY SUMMARY
Chris's Beachlanding Germans 2x PZ4	Scott's British Paras 3x pack howitzers Full para platoon 2x boots from another para platoon

TURN 12 SUMMARY

Chris's Beachlanding Germans: Turn 12 starts, and nobody controls the British objective, while the Germans have the German-placed objective. Scott's British Paras:

A 4-3 victory for the British, despite having no models left on the table! We held the last objective to the last possible turn, slowing down the German advance until reinforcements can arrive!

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June 2 Game Vault LW 1750

So this past Saturday I attended a 1750 LW event at Game Vault in Fredericksburg hosted by the I95 folks. It was a good time. Saw some old faces, met some new folks, and as usual, played a lot of Germans. It really dawned on me this weekend that when you are an Allied player in a Red vs Blue event, you don’t get a lot of variety in who you play against – just Germans, Germans, and more Germans. At least in EW/MW you get the occasional Italian opponent. I’m sure I’m in the minority here, but I think I’d rather see less Red vs Blue events. Adds more variety to the games you play, and requires you to be a little more flexible. Everyone’s all up in arms about the new TD stuff, but if I’m playing Allies in Red vs Blue, I know I don’t even have to think about it.

Quick recap of the event. I played a somewhat subpar Tankovy list – kinda decided on it last minute. 21x 85s, 3x ISU-122s, and the AA trucks. Overall I went 2-1 win/loss for a total of 13 VP. I didn't take good enough notes for a detailed bat rep, so have some summaries followed by random and terrible pictures.

Round one I played Eric Turner. He played a PZ4 company. This was actually the one round I lost, yet was probably my most favorable matchup. Shows how well he played his list (and/or how terribly I played mine!). Mission was Encounter. I front loaded with the 85s on the board. One platoon was deployed pretty poorly- they wiped out a PZ4 platoon, but then did nothing for the rest of the game. One flank collapsed, and his Pumas came in to take the objective before my reserves could get there. Well played by Eric. Lost 2-5.

Round two I played against Kurt Reese. Kurt played a boots list with Tigers and Otto Carius. Mission was Fighting Withdraw (my favorite by far). I pushed objectives on one side and got stuck in against some boots, while 10x 85s on the opposite flank snuck in and stole the objective from Carius and his merry men. More German players should take this Otto Carius guy – free VPs for me! Won 5-2 turned into a 6-1 from Otto.

Round three I played against Ted (don’t know the last name). Ted played that nasty boots list where everybody has a Panzerfaust. Yeah, my Tankovy wasn’t going to get stuck in against that. One thing I’ve discovered playing Tankovy is that 10x 85s should be able to win a shootout against Pak40s, but never do. ISUs one-shot Tigers…that was amusing. Yet I continue to try nonetheless. After about two hours of ducking around and avoiding the Faust-wielding boots and picking off all the support, I pulled through on company morale. 5-2 win.

Huzzah May 5th Wrapup

Had the 1625 MW tournament at Huzzah yesterday, put on by the I-95 boys. Three rounds of wholesome goodness.

As usual, I started with the intention of taking lots of pictures. Round was one fine, round two I took pictures and notes of deployment and then forgot the rest of the game. And round three I didn't even take a single picture or note. So only one battle report for you today!

I won't go too much into round one, as you can read about it below. Round two was against a newer fellow playing Panzergrenadiers. Mission was No Retreat. My paras did pretty much what they were expected to do - sat dug-in until the Germans got close, and brutally slaughtered them in close combat. They even charged a 4-panzer squad and ravaged them. Go go gammon bombs I suppose. Ended up a 4-3 win for me, as I lost the Shermans and ATG.

Round three was a nailbiter to the end against Hungarian infantry. Mission was Breakthrough. I ended up attacking (using British Night Attack, of course). I keep shermans and one platoon of boots in reserve.  Two squads of boots attacked in the beginning - one got slaughtered and accomplished nothing, the other munched on some arty and kept some infantry occupied all game, but ultimately died. The reserves came on, and over a series of 3-4 swinging turns, managed to eek out holding the objective with one single pair of boots and one single tank alive. Great game. Another 4-3.

All in all, I was happy with my performance. My 6 pdrs did nothing the entire day, reinforcing my belief that gun teams are bad. They become worse and worse the more terrain on the board, and there was ample terrain yesterday (which is a good thing!). But I feel like I needed to take them to have a second ranged AT option. While the paras a close combat monsters, even against tanks, I do feel they need to soften the attacking waves a bit.

The event was great. Big thanks to Bill Dorais and the other I-95s that put the event on. And huge shoutout to Chris and Huzzah Hobbies for providing a great place to play. Props all around!

Huzzah 1625 MW May 5th FoW

Round One against Steve. He's playing Italian Carris. Lots of tracks, no boots. Mission is Free for All.

Scott's British Paras HQ w/ 3 Piats Full Boots Platoon Full Boots Platoon Full Boots Platoon 4x 75mm Pack Howitzers 4x 6pdrs 3x New Zealand Shermans (CV)

Steve's Italian Carris HQ Carri 4x Carri Platoon 4x Carri Platoon 4x Carri Platoon 4x PZ4 G Platoon 3x AB41 Armored Cars 4x 75 Cannons

SETUP AND DEPLOYMENT

Left side deployment

Right side deployment

This is what you look like before round one after driving 2 hours on little coffee at 0930.

UNITS IN RESERVE
Scott's British Paras	Steve's Italian Carris

DEPLOYMENT SUMMARY

Scott's British Paras: Standard deployment. One platoon of boots on each objective with one in the middle. 6pdrs deploy in a way that they do not shoot all game, but they do close off a nice lane of fire in the center. Steve's Italian Carris: Pretty balanced central deployment. Everything rolls Veteran on the 8MB chart exect for the recon, which isn't too suprising since they are all Elite.

TURN 1

Shermans kill a Carri and the platoon gets its unknown hero

COMBAT CASUALTY SUMMARY
Scott's British Paras	Steve's Italian Carris 1x Carri

TURN 1 SUMMARY

Scott's British Paras: Shermans kill a Carri on a lucky potshot. Carris find their unknown hero right off the bat. Steve's Italian Carris: Tracks move forward. Arty smoke some shermans.

TURN 2

Smoking carris!

COMBAT CASUALTY SUMMARY
Scott's British Paras	Steve's Italian Carris 1x Carri 2x Carri from another platoon 1x Cannon

TURN 2 SUMMARY

Scott's British Paras: Shermans kill 2 Carris, pack howitzers kill a (not dug-in) cannon. Steve's Italian Carris: PZ4 fire fails in a spectacular fashion and only manages to bail a Sherman

TURN 3

Poor sherman.

COMBAT CASUALTY SUMMARY
Scott's British Paras 1x Sherman	Steve's Italian Carris 1x Carri 2x Carri from another platoon 1x Cannon

TURN 3 SUMMARY

Scott's British Paras: Shermans bounce shots of PZ4s. Steve's Italian Carris: Platoon with 2 carries remain starts to push the objective. Arty decides to start digging in, but fails. PZ4s kill off a sherman.

TURN 4

"No way we're going in there...that tank is SCARY"

COMBAT CASUALTY SUMMARY
Scott's British Paras 1x Sherman 2ic Piat and 3 para rifle stands from one platoon	Steve's Italian Carris 1x Carri 2x Carri from another platoon 1x Cannon

TURN 4 SUMMARY

Scott's British Paras: Shermans kill one carri, dropping them to one, but they pass morale. Even under the cover of smoke, paras get pinned down and the assault fails, losing one pair of boots in the process. (It wasn't great odds of a successful assault, the boots got tired of sitting there and wanted to have some fun) Steve's Italian Carris: Arty still dosn't want to dig in. Musta forgot their shovels. MG fire kills 2ic, piat, and 2 para rifle stands.

TURN 5

Shermans finish off the carris. Yay VP!

Meanwhile on the other side of the world, some paras start to move up the flank to a seeminly unguarded objective.

COMBAT CASUALTY SUMMARY
Scott's British Paras Sherman platoon 2ic Piat and 3 para rifle stands from one platoon	Steve's Italian Carris 1x Carri 1x Carri platoon 1x Cannon

TURN 5 SUMMARY

Scott's British Paras: Shermans finish off the carri platoon, doing the work the boots could not! Pack howitzers bail a Pz4. Steve's Italian Carris: Arty finally digs in. Third try is the charm! PZ4s kill off the Shermans, and the last of my mobile AT assets.

TURN 6

Not many boots left on the objective. Mass carri MG fire finishes them off.

COMBAT CASUALTY SUMMARY
Scott's British Paras Sherman platoon 2ic Para platoon	Steve's Italian Carris 1x Carri 1x Carri platoon 1x Cannon

TURN 6 SUMMARY

Scott's British Paras: Arty kills a PZ4 (lol!) Steve's Italian Carris: MG fire kills off the remaining paras struggling to hold the objective, and tanks move into the objective.

TURN 7

COMBAT CASUALTY SUMMARY
Scott's British Paras Sherman platoon 2ic Piat and 3 para rifle stands from one platoon	Steve's Italian Carris 1x Carri 1x Carri platoon 1x Cannon

TURN 7 SUMMARY

Scott's British Paras: Paras that were advancing the far left flank attempt an assault against some Carris that returned to defend it, but die miserably in a fire. Steve's Italian Carris:

Fun and quick game. 7 turns done in about an hour. I love fast moving games. 5-2 to Steve. It was a rough matchup for the boots - a Fair Fight against a tank swarm, and my list didn't really have much in terms of mobile AT assets. There were some things I could have done better, such as moving the middle paras into the right objective sooner, and probably advancing with the left paras earlier than I did as well. My 6pdrs literally took no shots all game, but they did a good job of keeping the center of the table clear with a good line of fire. Well played game by Steve - he definatly knows how to manuever those Carris!

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Sarissa Precision Terrain

Just a quick review of some Sarissa Precision buildings I've recent acquired. The buildings are laser cut, wooden buildings, shipped in flat pieces from the UK. They have a good amount of 3d-detail on them for laser cut wooden buildings. They go together in a snap, have a removable roof, and work well for FoW. Sarissa Precision also makes 28mm WW2 terrain, and a ton of 28mm sci-fi terrain, especially stuff for Infinity.

http://www.sarissa-precision.co.uk/

Wow the painting job looks so much worse in photos!

I think this is supposed to be a hotel or something. I like the breezeway.

This is the long building also pictures directly above.

This is the interior of a 3-way connect townhouse. Two stories - could easily add a 2nd floor if you were so inclined.

We will be using a good bit of this terrain , along with many other manufactures and homemade stuff, for Flames of War at NOVA 2012 (www.novaopen.com).

Slots still available for Early and Late War!

Polish Home Army vs Panzer Pioneers

1575 LW game. Scenario is Dust up. Chris is playing Panzer Pioneers, I am playing the Polish Home Army list. The Polish are mostly fearless conscript, with some trainer squads. Panzer Pioneers are confident vets.

Scott's Polish Home Army HQ & 2iC boots w/ Panzerfausts (FC) AK Squad with 21 boots, 5 pioneers, a piat, and a flamer (FC) Kedyw Squad with 9 boots, all fausts, one flamer (FT) Kedyw Squad with 9 boots, all fausts, one flamer (FT) 2x Panthers (FT) 2x Armored cars (FT) 6x Mortars (FC) 6x 105's with observer (FC) 2x Pak40 (FC)

Chris's Panzer Pioneers HQs with fausts and shreck Full squad of pioneer boots w/ supply truck Full squad of pioneer boots w/ supply truck Armored pioneer boots in haltracks with stuka de fuss 2x Tigers 4x 105s 2x Pak 40s

SETUP AND DEPLOYMENT

My arty on a hill, guarded by some Pak40s

His boots scattered around objectives

UNITS IN RESERVE
Scott's Polish Home Army 1x Kedyw boots squad 2x panthers 2x armored cars mortar squad	Chris's Panzer Pioneers armored boots squad 2x tigers 105s

DEPLOYMENT SUMMARY

Scott's Polish Home Army: AK boots, one Kedyw boots, arty, and pak 40s on board. Chris's Panzer Pioneers: 2x boots squads and pak40s on board.

TURN 1

Polish boots moved at the double through the woods with their special rule!

COMBAT CASUALTY SUMMARY
Scott's Polish Home Army	Chris's Panzer Pioneers

TURN 1 SUMMARY

Scott's Polish Home Army: Boots move through the woods at the double, arty fails to range in anywhere Chris's Panzer Pioneers: Stuff digs in.

TURN 2

AK boots move towards the building

COMBAT CASUALTY SUMMARY
Scott's Polish Home Army 1x AK boots	Chris's Panzer Pioneers

TURN 2 SUMMARY

Scott's Polish Home Army: boots continue to move at the double for the building, Kedyw squad digs in inside the woods, probably should have rearranged the flamer for a better shot next turn. Chris's Panzer Pioneers: Pak 40s kill one AK boot that moved at the double

TURN 3

Tigers lurking in the woods

How many bodies can we get through the door!

COMBAT CASUALTY SUMMARY
Scott's Polish Home Army 2x AK boots	Chris's Panzer Pioneers

TURN 3 SUMMARY

Scott's Polish Home Army: AK boots starts to move inside the building. Kedyw move out for an assault but did not get the expect smoke support, so they stay put. Chris's Panzer Pioneers: Pak40s kill another boots that moved at the double. Tigers come on the board.

TURN 4

Pioneers open up on Kedyw, killing 2 and pinning them.

Tigers kill one Pak40 and run away into the trees. Cowards.

AK boots moving into the building. It takes forever for these huge squads to get in.

Panthers on the prowl

COMBAT CASUALTY SUMMARY
Scott's Polish Home Army 2x AK boots 2x Kedyw boots	Chris's Panzer Pioneers

TURN 4 SUMMARY

Scott's Polish Home Army: Panthers arrive and start booking it towards my home area to defend against the Tigers. AK boots move into building some more. (Fearless) Kedyw do not unpin, so they sit out in the open to die. Chris's Panzer Pioneers: Armored pioneers come on the board.

TURN 5

So Kedyw flamers are homebuilt, meaning if I roll a one on the to hit, they count as destroyed when they are removed. This guy setting himself on fire means the squad now has to test morale after he shoots, but before they can assault!

...which they make! (Only to die horribly in defensive fire)

COMBAT CASUALTY SUMMARY
Scott's Polish Home Army 2x AK boots 5x Kedyw boots, including the flamer who ignited himself	Chris's Panzer Pioneers 1x pioneer boots

TURN 5 SUMMARY

Scott's Polish Home Army: Kedyw flamer ignites himself. Push on the assault with 4 stands, lose three in defensive fire. Survivor fails to do anything and is smashed in return. Chris's Panzer Pioneers: 105s come on. 2 more Kedyw die while sitting in the open.

TURN 6

Here come the conscripts! I hope I get smoke, cause assaulting with conscript blobs and no Quality of Quanity might suck.

Good thing conscript arty smokes just as good as veteran arty!

AK flamer sets himself on fire as well. 2/3 flamers commit seppuku.

COMBAT CASUALTY SUMMARY
Scott's Polish Home Army 2x AK boots Kedyw platoon Pak40 platoon 1x 105	Chris's Panzer Pioneers 3x pioneer boots

TURN 6 SUMMARY

Scott's Polish Home Army: Kedyw platoon moves on the board and up the far flank. AK platoon charges out of the building under smoke cover for an assault. Flamer kills one + himself), assault kill off 2 stands before consolidating into smoke. Chris's Panzer Pioneers: Assaults kill off the Pak40s. His (veteran) 105s bomb my (conscript) 105s and kill one.

TURN 7

Last Kedyw flamer blows his load all over himself. 3/3 suicidal flamers today.

Conscripts stand victoriously on the objective that they earned!

But alas, tigers sit on the objective that they earned LAST turn!

COMBAT CASUALTY SUMMARY
Scott's Polish Home Army 4x AK boots Kedyw platoon Pak40 platoon 3x 105 1x Panther armored cars platoon 1x flamer that killed himself from the 2nd Kedyw platoon	Chris's Panzer Pioneers Pioneer platoon Pak40 platoon

TURN 7 SUMMARY

Scott's Polish Home Army: SMG fire kills one Pak40. Flamer kills another Pak40 (and himself). Kedyw attempt to assault and are pinned. Armored cars attempt to assault in behind them and are destroyed. AKs assault, lose one in defensive fire, and kill two pioneers. Pioneers run away (even after CiC encouragement). Chris's Panzer Pioneers: Tigers move onto objective. Halftrack MG fire kills off 2x 105s from the side, as the guns had to turn at a bad angle for smoke support last turn. Tigers kill one panther and bail the other. Pioneers kill one AK stand through the smoke.

A 4-3 win for Chris and the Panzer Pioneers. I was honestly suprised that the AK conscripts made it onto the objective at the end! I expected the heavy hitting to be done by the trained Kedyw. So good work, conscripts! I'll be playing the same list tomorrow at a tournament at Huzzah Hobbies (huzzahhobbies.com). While it might not be super effective, it should be super fun!

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