Blitzkrieg comes to Perbais

It's been a while between games, but we managed to get one in at the club on Sunday. It was the first game in the Too Fat Lardies 'Pint-sized Campaign', Gembloux Gap.

Having seen a couple of players struggle to win this scenario, I thought it was going to be a major challenge. The forces are a standard French platoon, to which Steve's support choices added an R35 and a Sniper; and a standard German Schutzen platoon. I had 10 points of support available, and ummed and ahhed about it for a while - a Stuka attack was tempting, as the buildings could be a major obstacle. I knew armour was a French option, and I also considered an extra squad, so they could bear the brunt of the casualties.

In the end I took the IeG 18 75mm infantry gun, for AT, and also to deal with troops hiding in buildings, 4 support points, a tripod mounted MG34 for 3, a red dice for 2, and finally a Shabby Nazi Trick. I really wanted a pre-game barrage, but couldn't see how to get the points in, when I needed stuff on-table.   

Steve had picked up some second-hand railway track, and sourced some teddy bear fur, so the terrain was pretty much sorted. It's interesting to have seen the terrain versions of Rich and Nick, and the 20mm version used by 'The Tactical Painter'. I don't think ours was too far off.

To the game itself, and both sides started with a morale of 10, and the Jump Off points were fairly neutral, I had one well forward on each flank and a much deeper one in the middle, on my base edge. Steve's were in the village itself

The basic plan was to use my support options (tripod MG and infantry gun) to dominate the table, push one squad down each flank, and reinforce whichever one looked like being successful.

The terrain, wide open spaces. The bright sunshine made photography difficult.

German initial deployment, a squad each flank, and a MG34 in the middle.

Ready to advance tactically across the wheat fields.

IeG18 75mm gun. I was hoping it would be a trump card.

Who's that lurking next to the French JOP? A shabby Nazi for sure! He was brilliantly effective. (Even though we did get the rule wrong.) Steve had real difficulty getting troops deployed to this JOP

Le Tank appears... It is immediately engaged in a firefight with the infantry gin which eventually it loses, and the crew bail out due to excess shock..

German Left, advancing stealthily across the fields they seem unopposed!

The German right tries the same

Ok, what now...?

The French deploy a squad, and a firefight erupts, in which the French have much the best of it, the German corporal is wounded and his men pinned. 

The German Lieutenant is sent out to shore up the situation

A nasty surprise on the German right. Two squads, one behind entrenchments..  

The survivors, very sensibly pull back

But the French have showed their hand, so the third German squad deploys and replaces the shot up 1st squad, with the MG34 moving up in support. In response, the French deploy the rifle grenadier team on the German left, but their fire is not hugely effective before they ran out of rifle grenades.

(I probably should say in the middle of this, Steve rolled 3 sixes to end the turn and my SL had removed a fair bit of the shock on the first squad, so I was able to move them.)

A German double turn pours 22 dice into their French opponents, twice, and in the ensuing French turn I play an interrupt and shoot again.  

The French sniper covering the French left before he repositions, luckily for me he only got off about 3 shots, Only one hit causing 2 points of shock.. 

The French Senior Leader is hit and Steve obliges with a one on the effect dice, he's dead, and with the junior leader also taking a second hit in the previous phase, all over, French Morale falls to 0, and the Germans have taken Perbais.

The difference was that my support options were much more effective than Steve's and once he had deployed on his left, trying to run men across the open road to support his isolated squad was a hazardous exercise while I was holding CoC dice to interrupt, and gun his men down crossing the road. There was also a dreadful toll of leaders wounded on both sides, with Steve losing two leaders killed. German morale was, 5, and they lost 11 men. So they immediately get 5 back, and then half the remainder, (3) are lost for the campaign, 1 returns to duty, and 2 return after the next game.

Another cracking game, and it's on to the next game in the campaign.

Inspired By

So if you haven;t had a look at some of the scratch built MDF buildings made by John Bond in Oz, you really need to go have a look, they are quite sumptuous.

So 'Inspired By' - I have started a small project. It needs some balsa to fix a few issues, and add cladding and frames, but it's a starting point. My target is to have it finished so I can put it on the table on Sunday at the club.

We shall see...

Day 1

Ok, it's a wonky start...

Day 2

Day 2 - cont...

Just spotted I need to fix the right hand railing..  ok.

Pretty much ready for paint

Added levers to interior

And I hit a snag.. my spray can of black primer ran out.. I can't replace it till tomorrow afternoon, so my scheduled is disrupted again.

Hideous till some drybrushing, more washes etc.

\awaiting final tidy up, brickwork paper applied to lower storey..

Soviet Jump-Off Points

Some Soviet Jump-Off points completed tonight:

Bare minimum - and basic paint..

A short while later...

Another angle. They'll do. Now back to the serious matter of finishing off the infantry platoon and supports. 

A Day's Work

Fairly productive day today. I finished off the Warbases Russian House, some Haystacks, also from Warbases, some entrenchments from Anyscale Models, and undercoated some jump-off points for my Russians. The jump off points are generic ones from Anyscale, with some added bits and pieces from the Warlord Russian sprue and green-stuff tarpaulins.

I really like the haystacks, nice moulds, all different, from Warbases, done very simply, just undercoated black, then drybrushed with housepaint sample pots, pistachio and magnolia, and once that was dry, a very light wash streaked upward from the base with Agrax Earthshade.

Is 20mm still sellable?

I've finally decided to bite the bullet and sell off all my 1/72 (20mm) WW2 stuff. There's a large number of built & painted vehicles and quite a few kits still in their boxes.

I'm really not sure what demand there is for this stuff, and I am not sure whether to try and sell it in bundles, or as individual kits, or even what to ask for it. But there are some very cool kits in here, I am sure someone must want them?

1970s British

WW2 British

WW2 German Part 1

WW2 German Part 2

Italians

1970s US & Russian

The bottom box is an SU85, a T26 and a PzII

Skelp 2019

And another Skelp is over. It's a very nice wee show, and there are a lot of the 'faces' in wargaming circles in Scotand who make the effort to get to Forfar in October. Beautiful day in Forfar, with the run up from Dundee in glorious sunshine.

This year there were a wheen players up on stage with Magic the Gathering. From what I saw, they were so immersed in their own games, the rest of the hall could have been a wheatfield for all the interest it had. But well done to Highlander Games for organising it.

The Bring & Buy seemed a bit anemic unless you wanted 15mm unpainted ancients, although I did manage to direct Steve to some bargain supports for his US forces in 28mm. One bloke had decided to dispose of his 28mm Warlord Plastics other than his Germans and Russians, so there were some good bargains. Sadly for me, pretty much all stuff I already had.

The tables were a very mixed bunch..

A good selection

 The Wild West table for the Kirriemuir club got players of all ages, sizes and shapes.

'SPIT' (Stupid Projects in Twenty Eight Mill)

Arnhem? in 54mm? all buildings etc scratchbuilt, and also Dr Chris Brown there playing..   had a good chat with him. Interesting chap, and if anyone is going to put on an Arnhem game...

Battle of the Nile

Lovely mat for this one, though the waves may be slightly out of scale with these guys below..

1/3000?

 Very effective -

Battle of Hopton

Didn't get a note of who these guys were, but a very nice looking game with excellent figures, and I like the backdrop.

Galleys!

I offered to make drum noises to make the rowers go faster. When I looked round later they had some lovely markers for fire weapons. Simple, but very effective.

Moonbase Sturm Acht (or something) 

Nazis? On the Moon? Ok, not a new concept, but this was very nicely done with some great models, and a fun attitude. I think this was Gothenburg Gamers.

Mine!

Morat

A well deserved winner from Dave Imrie et al. The Scottish sunshine made photography tricky, but this was a beautifully realised table, using Lion Rampant, Burgundian vs Swiss, all figures by the Perrys.

Pebble Island

Another fun game - sneak on to the airstrip and blow up the planes. It seemed to be a popular game throughout the day, Falkirk gamers perhaps?

Banzai!

The Leuchars club put on this rather nice game entitled 'The Last Samurai' - not sure of rules, but when I looked again, it seemed the atavistic sword-wielders had the upper hand!

Dead Man's Hand

Kirriemuir Wargames Club put on a fun participation game, grab the loot, don't get shot.. I think it needs more dust and tumbleweeds.

SWag

I was fortunate enough to have a winning raffle ticket that got me the paints on the left, otherwise Martin  and Co at Warbases seem to have done best - an old barn, a Russian house, and some haystacks. I picked up a couple of US engineers at the B&B, and otherwise a laser toy and some tufts.

All in all, a good day, so now it's Targe to look forward to .