Gripping Beast Arabs - 40 become 6.

Another week and the last of the Gripping Beast Plastics are done.

With the various options on the sprue I have been able to create 6 whole units from a single box, all really useful for the forthcoming Lion Rampant outing. The original batch generated 4 spear units, now for additional options.

First up with the addition of sword and shield a completed unit of Warriors, they mix in well with the Footsore Miniatures and the odd Blacktree which I had repurposed from other projects.

Then a unit of 6 archers to support the Spear ranks.

Next up more cavalry.... The clock is ticking the Christian forces are done and every extra Arab model will make the Christian job that little bit harder.

Outremer Arab Spearmen

Back to Outremer. 

Having decided on the plan for the next all dayer - It turns out we might be woefully short of Arab foot types. 5 weeks nothing like deadline to focus the mind.

Not usually a fan of plastics for gaming, I tend to lose bayonets and spears during regular game play, but you can't argue with the value for money. Gripping Beast offer 40 figures for £25.00 - 62p a figure can't be bad.

The box contains 8 sprues with enough to make a mixture of spear, bow and sword armed units together with command elements horns etc.

The Sprue contains 3 round shields and two teardrop so plenty of mix for the various units, while there may not be obvious leader types they are very useful to fill the ranks of generic warriors.

Good quality casts with minimal mold lines and and they detach really easily, limbs are pre-molded carrying spear or sword so construction is minimal.  

The Gripping Beast figures fit in well with other manufacturers hidden amongst the masses are a bunch of Footsore and some Black Tree Design

The shield designs are from Little Big Man Studio such a good time saver.

Next up more cavalry.

Tactics II - Turn 3 Axis - Game 6 Spotters Ridge.

After being mothballed over the summer months the Tactics II Desert Campaign kicks off again, thanks to my good gaming buddies who indulge my map movements and come along to roll some dice, the games take on a new meaning when their is a little more of a back story.

A few miles outside of Karalaan the 1st Parachute brigade are holding the road looking to stall the Axis advance.

The German Armoured formation having been slow in mustering is finally pushing forward looking to counter attack and recapture the costal city where the allies have been shipping in reinforcements the Axis force need to put them under pressure before they can breakout.

Using Platoon Forward the mission is Hasty Attack which orders the German to breakthrough the British lines who are holding a rocky rise and the only pass on route to the city.

Both sides were given the aerial photo showing the ridge and the road rather than blinds both sides were given their available points to spend, but are also provided with the option of additional support should they pass the various rolls. The allies had a positive roll on the support table and were able to deploy a stretch of barbwire to cover the road this would be deployed after the Germans had announced their table top plan.

Hidden amongst the scrub and rocks the allies awaited the advance of the Germans. A glint from the spotter reveals his location as he ranges in on the advancing column.

The Armoured Car moves up the road but is brought under fire by the allies bringing down mortar fire and an off board 25 Pdr. A lucky strike and the A/Car is immobilised. The German infantry scatter. Not the best of starts the curse of freshly painted units strikes again.

The German armour swings left across the desert plain, still no sign of the Allied defenders. They break into the compound the locals having left hours before.

The Germans fan out and head towards the ridge line Pz III's and infantry advance forward.

Shells land amongst the advancing Germans as they moved swiftly to secure the ridge line still no sign of the defenders.

Unable to wait any longer the Allied forces opened up on the advancing Axis forces killing a number of the attackers, the armour responds sweeping the line, artillery shells burst amongst the ridge line. The casualties start to mount.

The clock was ticking down the Brits start to drop from the firing line seeking shelter on the reverse sloop having kept the Germans at bay for as long as possible. At this point the British as well up on points.

No one was certain what happened next the allies ahead on points decided to fall back on the table, they only have two parachute formations in their roster and they may be needed elsewhere but in a fubar moment the Infantry falling back from the German assault bump into the Captain moving forwards, words were exchanged and burst of fire and the officer is killed. A costly loss of 75 points on game night just as the clock struck 11.00 pm.

A hard fought battle with losses at 145 Brits to the Germans 135. The allied forces fall back on the map but are forced to swing right to avoid the enemy forces on their flank, despite a hard fought effort the road to Karalaan is open.

Next up the Allied initiative and an opportunity to counter the German attack.

AWI - Rebel Sharpshooters, casualty markers and buildings

The end of the summer and the AWI stage one is complete.

I admit I might have to have watched Revolution again to get these over the line.

This post is some what of a sweep of the least elements, 4 skirmish units representing woodsmen or riflemen to counter the British Army and their German Jaegers. 

Rather than taking figures off units within Rebels and Patriots given I plan on using casualty markers before I take a base off. Hopefully clusters of ones and two's will be enough in a 48 Point game. 

Just need a game to play and this cracking purchase from Helion makes for some light reading.

Last up a couple of buildings to flesh out the table also from Pendraken.

The planning continues for phase two.

Afghanistan 1980 - Xenos Rampant

Another run out of Xenos Rampant we wanted to push the rules a little further and picked on the scenario of a Russian Armoured column pushing into an Afghan town to rescue a downed helo crew. A Soviet version of Black Hawk Down if you will.

The Mi8 crew were pinned down with fighters closing in using the nearby compounds as cover to get close to the crew, the pilot and his comrades were not able to moved until they were reached by their rescuers.

The armoured column planned to sweep through the town but found their entry into town blocked by enemy armour which forced them to swing left and right off the tarmac surface. MBT's exchanged fire which left burning hulks on both sides. Wheeled vehicles ran the risk of bogging in the soft sand. Around every corner RPG's and HMG rounds seemed to find a Russian target, not enough to kill but to chip away at the advancing Russians.

The Soviets called in air support to help the rescue mission trying to get ahead of the rapidly closing irregulars.

As the Soviets entered the clearing with the down help they were confronted by a battered T72 who disabled a BMP causing the infantry to bail out. The Soviets were insight of the crew but before the could move to rescue them the crew were captured by the Mujahideen and were being forced at gun point away into the interior of the town.

Spetnaz dropped in to a nearby rooftop but were under fire from the deadly HMG who inflicted a number of casualties on the specialists. An aging PT76 tried to chase the hostage takers but it was peppered by RPG rounds as it attempted to close with gap.

Time was running out the for the Soviets stripped of much of their armour and the pilots dragged into the narrow streets and alleys the remaining infantry were in danger of also becoming prisoners of the Mujahideen 

It's fantastic to finally bring this game collection to the table after my friend had it stashed away for over 20 years. 

The rules are a blast—quick to play, with a plenty of toys on the table, and they really capture the essence of the modern encounters to my eye. We've once again learned that armour is extremely vulnerable in urban settings, and light infantry can be decimated if caught in the open by heavy weapons. Both scenarios seemed reasonable to me.

The helicopter statistics could use a minor adjustment to enhance their speed and combat radius.

Although the rules are set for 24 points, they're adaptable enough to accommodate larger units and formations within an evening's gaming session. I'm confident there will be many more games to come.

Pendraken Miniatures - American Militia

Nothing like a bank holiday and a day on the brushes.

After the uniformity of the British these took a little longer to bring to the table, having opted for a mix of colours in both trousers and tunics the switch from one base to another added several hours to the process. But I have to admit having flocked, based and adding in flags they look rather good.

My intention is to focus on the earlier encounters of the war, but I dare say some more regular looking line infantry will of course make their way into the collection. These militia types have standards from those at Bunker Hill.

Not quite ready to get them on the table yet, but the six foot units and a couple of commands will do for the core of the American forces sharpshooters and casualty bases and I should be ready to go.

As an old friend of mine used to say they pass the three foot test and look great on mass.

Wyre Forest Gamers - Pacific Landing - Rapid Fire.

One of the things about club gaming is the ability to put on that BIG game outside of the limits of gaming at home.....

What a fantastic table to play on.... John at the club really does like to do things on the grand scale.

US Marine forces look to storm the beaches and push in land but where were the Japanese?  Apart from the occasion artillery round the US had it their own way as they started to push through the jungle terrain.

The big reveal, bunkers and pill boxes littered the dense jungle and poured fire into the advancing US forces.

From further back Artillery pounded the advancing troops.

Fearing the tide was turning against them armour was called forward as the second wave had landed on the beach.

We had planned for that and with clear fields of fire hit the advancing armour with hidden anti-tank guns.... Despite being heavily out numbered as the defenders we were feeling pretty happy with our defensive positions.

However over time one by one our positions were ground down, we had one more throw of the dice and a large infantry attack if we could punch through to the beach we might be able to slow the US advance.

Despite over running the company HQ and destroying another tank, we were a spent force.... Time to retreat inland and the next line of defences.

A great looking game and fun to play, played using Rapid Fire V3 which made for a fast game given the numbers involved but they did leave a feel a little too thin for me, in other rule sets the US should have been pinned or forced to ground and given some of the various ambush and kills we inflicted on them. There are other rules that perhaps give a better feel but you would have been playing a lot longer to get a similar result.

The shortening of the rule book from previous versions perhaps leaves gaps in the understanding, but given the number of ambushes and the human wave attacks they are not a typical occurrence in every game so it's not surprising you players have to work out what might feel right in working this element out.

But at £5 a set very good value for money verse others on the market. If you want lots of toys on the table and plenty of action I can see the appeal.

American Patriot Cavalry -Rebels and Patriots

With the core of the British bare metal complete time to switch to the rebels and a couple of cavalry units for a change, 

I did think about basing them on the medium Flames of War bases but opted for the same pill bases as the skirmishers to give them a slightly smaller footprint on the table top.

Very nice castings with lots of character in the posses.