Bolt Action Far East - (Not) Breaking the Jitra Line 1941

Wow this seems rather green and lush compared to the number of recent desert games. A great club game bringing together various players collections of Far East forces with an encounter based loosely on the breaking of the Jitra Line in 1941 and the blocking force at Nangka.

Japanese forces advance on mass looking to capture the bridge and break through the US forces defending it.

The Marines were dug in and were able to pour fire into the charging Japs.

Both sides were able to pick their own support points so we (Japanese) opted for a light tank to break the line.

However the Yanks were ready for them, rushing forward with satchel charges meant for destroying the bridge instead throwing under the tank and immobilising it. There would be no breakthrough today.

Games like this really get the creative juices flowing despite several projects on the go, some of the new Warlord releases for the Far East are very nice..... I must stay focused.

American Revolution - Pendraken 10mm - The British are coming (again)

Continuing with the theme.

Another couple of regiments of British regulars to protect the colonies from the rebels.

White facings and backpacks are the order of the day to separate them from the last units, plenty of variety from the team at Pendraken.

These represent the 43rd Regiment of Foot who were originally garrisoned in Boston and fought at Lexington and Bunker Hill before finally being captured at Yorktown.

I also completed a couple of officer bases, which will be available for each 24 Point detachment within Rebels and Patriots, round bases separate them out from the standard infantry bases.

This completes the base units for the British Forces at least until I put another order in, now for some of the more specialist units in the shape of Grenadiers and Skirmish troops.

Until next time...

Xenos Rampant 1st Outing - The Battle for Arkadij

Arkadij in deepest drakkastan has been under the boot of the alien invaders for several months, resistance is rising and the People's Army is ready to strike a blow for freedom.

The first outing for Xenos Rampant, after several games of Lion Rampant which have been really enjoyable, not really a surprise that we should turn our attention to other rules in the Daniel Mersey stable. 

24 points aside - Scenario Bravo - Secret Mission. The Alien forces must Assassinate the human leader to win the game. The humans simply need to kill as many alien units as they can.

These have been tucked away for a number of years, having tried a number of rule sets from Laser Burn to Tomorrow's War. Great fun sitting down and picking the right characteristics for each side. In my head it was a Russian version of Battle for Los Angeles, with perhaps a touch of later Terminator movies for good measure.

The Invaders came on across a broad front, selecting the Mechanoid trait they had no fear of being supressed, but if they fell below 50% strength they ran the risk of shutting down.

Making best use of the cover and free move and/or shooting however the human forces had been busy in their workshops and had been producing battle suits of their own.

The main human position was a factory unit, the heavy cover made it difficult to crack for the Invaders but unbeknown to the human player the Invaders knew that's where the leader of the resistance was, kill him and it's a victory. However the HMG on ground floor supported by spotters was chewing up alien units as they broke cover.

Local militia looked to flank the attackers, but caught in the open were wiped out, it turns out that a unit with armour 1 in the open does not last long, when facing armoured infantry with heavy weapons.

The left flank was clear and the invaders poured fire into the factory causing the resistance to rout. Victory to the off worlders.... But the human leader will leave to fight another day.

Great Fun...

First game complete in under two and half hours including the occasional rule read and cuppa. 

The tactical challenge of having to pick a unit to activate without throwing initiative over to your opponent gives a unique challenge. The free activations reward faster moving troops, but if you can get your heavier troops into the right position they can be rally powerful, especially if you get caught in the open. 

Really fast to play with enough nuance in the trait selections to make forces very distinct.

Having played several Sci-fi rule sets over the years, the ability to create modern/Sci-fi units across your own settings is very appealing, I am already thinking, Starship Troopers, War of the World, V and even Chechnya.

I can defiantely see us playing several move games in the coming weeks as players head home to dig out old collections to bring back to the table.

AWI - British Regulars 10mm Pendraken.

Six months behind schedule but the first of the American War of Independence figures come off the painting queue, they have been undercoated and based for a while, but the transition from 28mm to 10mm took a while for me to get my eye in or perhaps 10mm are not the figures to be painted at 10.30 in the evening.

Based on the Flames of War Small bases, with 4 figures to a base my plan is to use the Rebels and Patriots Rule set which calls for 12 and 6 figure units, I figured I would use casualty bases to denote 1-3 casualties before taking a base off.

The facings do match the regimental standards 10 out of 10 if anyone can actually tell on game night. I must be honest before inking and basing I was beginning to this project was a step to far, but I am really pleased with the output and they look great on mass.

The standards are from Maverick models, a great choice and they can be scaled should you want slightly larger flags for the units.

The plan is to base the opposing forces loosely around Lexington and Concorde, it does mean that the American militia are largely in civilian dress, which will make them more of a challenge than the Brits given the lack of uniformity.

Plenty more to go before I have enough for 24 points a side but nice to get the first three units on the table.

Footsore Miniature - Islamic Medium Cavalry

The Crusader project continues apace.... 

Still along way short of what's needed for a big game in the Autumn, Medium Cavalry from Footsore Miniatures, these will be very handy in the battles against the Christian forces, reasonably well armoured but with bow as well, so plenty of options to keep the opposition guessing.

Lovely sculpts from the Footsore guys, you will need to drill the hands out which can be tricky and the steel pins certainly seem to inflict more damage on the players than the mini's on the table.

Next up a switch in scale and the 10mm AWI whilst I wait for the Atlantic/Footsore plastics in the shape of foot sergeants and levy, the painting queue shows no sign of shrinking.