Monday, March 30, 2020

AAR: Bolt Action: Where's Captain K When You Need Him!


     After everyone has been cancelled by Coronavirus in our area, despite a lack of cases in our area, Kalissa and I decided to still play on! And so why not some Bolt Action! There was suppose to be a Bolt Action Tournament in our area in April, but that is not happening! This was a tournament that Kalissa and I were not running, so we planned on just playing in general. That is right! I am willing to play in a tournament where A.) I count!, and B.) I am going to try to win! It has been before this blog of my, since this has happened. So I went to the dark side! I decided to make a Soviet list. As a German player, this is unthinkable, but I still plan to do so if I play in a Bolt Action Tournament of my own choosing.
   However, in this home game of ours, Kalissa was playing the Soviets. I wanted to see what weaknesses the Soviet list I have made had. Now, to be fair, she did run the exact list. We tend not to play with point options. This list I would be running is based on 1250 points for the tournament. We would have subtract the medium machine gun and one of the 120 mm mortars. Yes, there would be three IS-2 tanks! She ran three IS-2 Tanks, one T-70, one inexperienced rifle squad, one regular rifle squad, one veteran scout squad, one veteran naval squad, one regular sniper, one regular medium machine gun, one regular medic, one regular HQ team, and two regular 120 mm mortars. I decided to run regular everything! I had four squads of grenadiers, one panzershreck team, one medic, one 1st lieutenant, three Stug III G's, and one Whirbelwind.
    How was the game! I would like to say that the Germans were Victorious................. in my mind. The Germans lost seven units to the three. We had a pre-bombardment that took out my panzershrek team and the medic! They were not important for the Germans! I failed seven morale rolls in the game. I rolled a plethora of "ones"! One might say, it was one sided. However, I got rid of the naval squad, one IS-2, and the inexperienced squad. It was a fun game, but these Soviets were pretty awesome. I just do not know if they will do well under my hands. I had Kalissa run them for the other reason. I wanted her to have more flexibility with Soviets. Her only experience with Soviets in the past where with Flames of War rules. She says she still likes her British better. Here are the rest of the photos. Enjoy!























Saturday, March 21, 2020

AAR:Flames of War: Version 3: Teaching Games.


        On the Saturday when the Coronavirsus decided to start shutting everything down, a group of us gamers had decided to play Flames of War. They were not interested in the 4th version, but the 3rd. This was fine for Kalissa and myself, since it gave us an excuse to dust off our 15mm models. Plus, it was going to be interesting to see how newer players to Flames would react to the game mechanics coming from mainly playing Lord of the Rings.
    The first game was just tanks to show basic mechanics of the game. It was a two versus two experience that ended rather one-sided for the Germans. We had a better defense and John was rolling out of control with "sixes". I guess you need to break some tanks before you can learn.
   The second game, I was teaching. Richie wanting to play Infantry and see how they work. Cy had his Soviets with much more tanks. It was another Soviet defeat. The infantry managed to win at the cost of losing a Tiger platoon. Overall, I thought it was a going beginning for people learning a new game. Now, if we can get to play anytime soon seems to be unclear.
























Friday, March 6, 2020

AAR: Congo: Bungle In the Jungle


 
       This was a game of Congo that Kalissa and I played recently at a local game store called Hit Point Hobbies located in Aberdeen, NC. It is a 45 minute trek away from us, but we he recently attended a Bolt Action Tournament there. Kalissa was asked to advise so to speak. Either way, we got to meet a lot more historical gamers than normal, so it seemed logical to go out there again on a Thursday. I think Lord of the Rings was slightly burning out for my wife for the time being, she likes playing different games. A kind of spicing of games, if you will!
  Anyway, we needed to brush up on some Congo rules, because my lovely wife wants to run a Congo game at this year's Historicon. This was a simple game of explorers versus the forest tribe. If you have not played Congo, you should really look into it. It is a fun game. It is card driven and initiative based. And I came to a realization that my wife does not like the Terror card I like to play. I think I enjoy that card more than shooting!
   Even though, I won the game as the explorers, it was a hallow victory considering I lost about the same amount of people as the tribesmen. It will be interesting to see how her scenario pans out involve four factions. We still have to get one more for me to paint. I am just glad my Terror reduced the pigmyes from being more dangerous. However, that did not stop them from poison darting my leader! Here are the pictures of our game. Enjoy!