Monday 24 October 2011

Club Night 21st October

Duncan and I finally got together to play some games of Malifaux, even if I had not managed to paint my stuff yet. It was very much a learning experience and the games were not especially quick and strewn with errors, but the second game we played was for me the highlight as I got some good tactics worked out and everything went quite well.

I managed to use Candy and her run away home ability to grab the objective and leg it and I also used the Dreamer for the first time, and although I will need to refine him a bit, found him easier to use than Pandora and very enjoyable. Using his I can fly ability to rush across the battlefield and then summon a teddy and Lord Chompy Bits straight into combat is some awesome alpha strike ability and makes the force feel very manoeuvrable which always suits my style of play.

SELWG, 16th October

SELWG has come and gone. I always enjoy this show, if nothing else since it was the first one that Luke and I went to over 15 years ago and it is good for a bit of nostalgia!

There seemed to be less game and more traders, which is good for shopping, but not so great for inspiration, which again I found sorely lacking. Again there was nothing that really grabbed my imagination, which is not to say there were not some good looking games, they just retrod the same old themes again, albeit very well.

There was one exception, I got a chance top play the new Hammerin' Iron rules from Peter Pig and will definitely be investing in them and some ships at Reading next month. I did some shopping, but it was not very exciting! Figure case galore! All from the excellent kaiser Rushforth range, I got case for my Helldorado, Malifaux, Blood Angels and nice little bag for my Dystopian wars. One of those not exciting but essential purchases, like paints and brushes.

Club Night 14th October

I played my second 40k league game against John-Paul and his Dark Hunter marines. It was an objective based mission with dawn of war deployment. The Dark Hunters had a mixed force, 3 scout squads (1 with sniper rifles), and a long range dreadnought (twin-linked lascannons and missile launchers), then 3 tactical squads and a standard assault cannon armed dreadnought all in drop pods and a squad of terminators. The force was finished off with a pair of land-speeders, a pair of whirlwinds and a chaplain to lead them.

The sniper scouts started on table and John-Paul took the first turn landing two tactical squads right over deep in to my table edge with the land speeders sweeping forward to support them. I bought my assault squads on, one attacking the marines in the centre and one beginning to flank the enemy.

A viscous close combat developed in the centre with my assault squad eventually re-enforced by some death company against tactical squads and some terminators. I was eventually defeated but had inflicted heavy casualties on my opponent.

On my right flank I found my flanking squad caught up with the drop-pod landed terminator in a prolonged combat as I failed to defeat it. However the death company with the Chaplain who had dropped in to support them were attacked by a scout squad they quickly dispatched and they moved off to support the attack on the enemies rear.

I dropped the veterans into the enemy centre and saw off my opponent and hurried to try and attack the snipers, but had to go to support the the final assault squad. This combat finally swung against me and the game ended with the objective on my table edge not held by anyone, the objective on the left also not held by anyone as I was still unable to defeat the dreadnought and move to take it, while the objective on the Dark Hunters table side was held by the scouts and my surviving marines in the combat on the far side were too far to contest it so I suffered a defeat after a close, enjoyable game.

Saturday 15 October 2011

Club Night 12th October

Luke and I headed up the club for mid-week game and decided to start an early war axis of attack campaign, with Luke using a Jock Column force and me using a Bersaglieri company. Our first battle was the Jock column attempting a breakthrough. Luke made a brave gamble by keeping his infantry as part of the flanking force and committing just his armour and artillery to the main attack. I used my numbers to surround him as best as possible and keep my armour in reserve.
I used my reconnaissance move to hurry my motociclisti into the town to my rear and occupy it ready to repel the flank attack
Luke through his armour at my forces, but a combination of 47mm gun fire and the amazing pluck of my fearless conscripts in the front line they defeated the first attack.
I then began to hammer the artillery with air power and my own artillery. By now my reserves had started to arrive, but the other element of the jock column appeared to be lost in the desert.
I even was able to launch my tankettes (my new favourite unit along with the mid-war L6 light tanks) against the 25 pounder battery. This proved the last straw and the battered attackers broke.
So the Bersaglieri had been victorious and are now on the attack and ready to push forward to Egypt.

After this shorter than expected game I tried to introduce Luke to Malifaux with a basic game. He took my Lady Justice crew and I tried out Pandora for the first time. And she is touch to play. Initially I seemed to have the edge with my multiple moves and distance spells, but once I got in too close Lady J and her Marshalls did what they do best and dispatched my physically weaker crew with ease.

Sunday 9 October 2011

Club Night 7th October

Rick and I took an early war Compaignia Carri against Luke and Steve with a Jock Column defending in a fighting withdrawal. With all the fearless veteran RHA we knew it would be tough, and our 8 million bayonet rolls did not help us. We decided on a flank attack with the motociclisti troops attacking towards one objective, with the armour in the centre free to support or attack to another objective as the game played out.
The flanking troops hurried forward with tankette support and managed to destroy the universal carriers sent out to meet them which prevented their reconnaissance move. In the centre the armour force advanced on mass.
As the flank attack pushed forward we unfortunately lost our coastal artillery trying to move it into a less exposed position. Despite coming under artillery fire the Bersaglieri pushed on with their own artillery providing support. But now I failed possibly a key roll as I failed the motivation to perform an avanti move and dismount to enable me to assault the pinned down defenders.
With this failure and the appearance of the RHA 2 pounders in the centre we were on the back foot and beginning to take unsustainable casualties and eventually our company broke before we could threaten the British withdrawal.

Club Sunday 2nd October

As the club met for our usual Sunday I decided not to game but to take advantage of our Indian summer and the outside space to get some painting done in the sun so I sprayed the base colours on Steve K's infantry tanks and primed my next wave of Dystopian wars.

I managed to actually get the Dystopian wars ships not just primed but painted to completion and army painted then when I got home, ready for basing and flat-coated. They are looking good and I will bring some photos when they are finished.

Saturday 1 October 2011

Club Night 30th September

Having played Hail Caesar at Colours I was keen to play to play them again at the club. We had a member unable to play at the last minute so we changed it to a Roman Civil war game as we could get plenty of Romans at short notice.

The rules played so well and quickly we actually managed two games. In the first the enemy deployed all their infantry on one side and their cavalry on the other. Our cavalry promptly engaged theirs in a mutually destructive and very brief melee. All that was left was our light cavalry. This covered our flank as we advanced and moved to encircle the enemy. With their infantry pinned in and surrounded on one flank they admitted defeat and we stared our second game.

This time the enemy deployed in a more concentrated position, but again refused to advance on us, forcing us to advance and attack their infantry behind a stream. We made good progress before eventually being pushed back. Meanwhile under a new commander, their cavalry moved round our flank and defeated our own cavalry and begun to roll up our flank and threaten our legionaries rears so this time we were defeated.