Sunday, September 22, 2013

Anne's Top Secret Giveaway! You just didn't hear it from me!


Your mission, if you choose to accept it is to enter into this contest:

Anne is hosting a kick ass giveaway with a fun twist....with great prizes I may add!

But wait there is more, he most important part! Read the secret message below (highlight to reveal)
"This give away is being sponsored in part by author Patrick Hatt. You can find Mr. Hatt's Amazon Writers Page at http://www.amazon.com/Pat-Hatt/e/B00AGFMYVC."

This Blog post will self destruct in....5.....4.....3....2.....1

British vs Germans - Bolt Action - Hold Until Relieved!

Chris and I scampered off for an afternoon of gaming with the guys, Lee was breaking out the new Space Marine codex with some of the other guys while Chris and I jumped into Bolt Action to get a good game in!

Chris brought his Desert Themed British along to tool around and I brought my German Heer army to give him a fight. 

Chris had about 14 dice, including 2 platoons each with a Lt, a 3 few regular squads with rifles and an SMG, a 8 man unit of Gurkhas, a flamethrower unit, a truck, a Grant tank (with the dual AT guns), a scout car with an AC, a recon jeep decked out with guns, his free artillery observer and a sniper team.




My load out was a single platoon with a 2nd LT with AR+1 man, 2 squads of 5 Pioneer squads with flamethrowers, 2 squads of Grenadiers with 3 ARs, one 7 man with two panzerfausts, and 1 in the 6 man squad, all had rifles otherwise. I also had a Puma, a 251/16, Nerbelwerfer, a Truck, sniper team and air observer.



We setup a crazy looking table with some water on it and some bridges all over....we rolled and got Hold Until Relieved! I lost the roll and Chris opted for Attacker. I setup one pioneer squad in the house by he bridge and the Nerbelwerfer behind a wall next to the building. Chris scattered a few units on the table and held the rest for reserves. We both placed our snipers and observers. 

Game on! It was a back and forth game, my Germans was beating on the British pretty hard after the first few turns and a few luck points happened in the game of if he gets the first dice draw, a unit of mine was dead and just the same if I got the dice draw first. Most of the time it went in my favor on the pulls. 

The game ended with a draw. He managed to run one squad up to a house and hid in here making i hard for me to get him out of it with his Grant tank parked on the bridge (the objective).

Here are some shots of the game....

British deploy near the bridge to flank the Germans!

Nerbelwerfer ready!

Snipers among the trees.

Observer hidden in a ruin in the back.

Brits run for cover behind a wall!

British advance to the bridge.

Puma and Truck cross he bridge to  backup the objective.

Plane dive bombs the target squad! 
A 6 was rolled for a fighter/bomber! 

BOOM! Dead squad!

251/16 set the sniper's building on fire only to get hit by the Grant  with dual AT love!

Scout car sneaks forward!

Pioneers hold the smaller bridge to the right.

Chris ponders his next move!

Deep thinking!

Grenadiers dart forward and blaze away shots with a British Lt near!

The turn prior the Pioneers set the truck on fire with a flamethrower forcing the flamethrower and Gurkhas out and keeping the busy for most of the game. Here towards he end a lone NCO holds the bridge against all odds for the Reich! He did kill the the officer before the Gurkhas got them! 

Here is the said death moment. Chris had the perk for his army that prevents me from shooting a charging unit! Oh well, at least I killed one before he he was beaten to a pulp!

Germans swarm the bridge on he last turn to ensure that it is a draw. I tried to set the Grant on fire but no such luck! 

Shot from the other side of the table.

Tank on the bridge!

I spy with my little eye!

Model Review: Pegasus Hobbies V-2 Rocket

Picked up this little gem the other day, it has been floating around on my "to buy" list for some time and with the looming series of demo games I may be doing soon, this would make for a cool item to use as and objective and scenery on tables for future games.

The box cover

Sprue 1

Sprue 2

Sprue 3

Some stickers to add to it....ok this is he bad part of the kit so far!

instructions and a cool historical blurb of what you bought

V-2 assembled in less than an hour. Just a few clips off the sprue, some trim and snapped together!

See the figure here in the above picture to get an idea of scale. The rocket is 1:48  which works well with 28mm gaming scale for things. Plus on a demo table a huge rocket is going to get attention!

Friday, September 20, 2013

The Awesomes New Hulu Series


If you are a fan of super heroes, wow this series is a scream! It is a Hulu  Original series that is just packed full of jokes, adult content and just some funny stuff....it is well worth the watch! Plus at the end they are plugging Jack Links snacks....they remind me of the animated version of the Hostess Fruit Pies ads in the back of comic books!

The overview: Proc (a mix of Professor and Doc) is the son of  Mr Awesome a superman rip off character that has been a hero for 70 years and is hanging up his cape to retire. His team disbands and his son tries to pick up the torch and make  his father proud. His powers short of being very intelligent is the ability to stop time that he is told is bad for his health, thus making him a second stringer hero along with him oafish friend Muscle Man that goes out to recruit a new team to maintain government funding (think Avengers) where he recruits a team of misfits including Sumo (an 11 year old that turns into a Super Sumo when angry), a former original Awesome that is 80 years old but has the body of a 25 year old due to a freak accident called Gadget Girl, Hotwire the untrustworthy new recruit that Proc has the hots for, Concierge (not an actual member) but the only support staffer with a super mind to keep things organized, a black hero from Imperserio that creates things with his mind with his mother's face on them (he's a mama's boy) and Frantic a super speedster that is hyper active, a red neck and dumb as dirt......their adventures takes them into a variety of humorous adventures! 

Thursday, September 19, 2013

Talk like a Pirate Day

I hear today is talk like a Pirate day!


Who better than Captain Jack Sparrow to show us how to act and talk like a pirate!

In memory of past one's here are a few favorite posts about Captain Dan that I dredged up from Davy Jones Locker! Great stuff! Not friendly for work or younger kiddies....

http://diceoflegends.blogspot.com/search/label/Pirate%20Songs


Tuesday, September 17, 2013

Armies of France Review: Part 1: French


My copy finally showed in the mail yesterday and I spent part of last night going over my book getting familiar with it and looking at what has changed from the PDF and compared it to what I heard online and on the BAR for inside scoops.

The final result is mixed with both excitement at some good changes and some negative things that I really dislike. First I will go into an overview and discuss things as we go…for this post I am just going to focus on France, then to the Partisan list then on to the rest of the book…

Special Rules:

Communication Breakdown: In a nutshell, if the first dice drawn is yours. Your opponent can ask you to redraw a new one after putting that one back. Not a huge negative factor and is flavorful.

Forward Artillery Doctrine: This is a nice option if you ask me; you get one free inexperienced or regular artillery or anti-tank gun. The only limit is you can’t take a heavy artillery option. Plus this does not count against your unit choices from the reinforced platoon list.

Hurriedly Conscripted Reserves: Take 3 or more inexperienced units and get another unit of the least cost free (with the same gear). At first I thought this was crap, now in retrospect I think this could really have some options.

New Weapon: VB Launcher was introduced in this book and several armies can opt to take it. Simply, it is a light mortar that can be taken as an option for a squad at the same price as an LMG, the range is jut 6-18”, it is HE(d2) and indirect. I see some prospects here.

Infantry:

Headquarters Units:

Officer: Nothing special, just like other lists.

Medic: Allows for Regular and Veteran only. Nothing else to write home to mom about.

Forward Observer: Same as any other army.

Infantry Squads and Teams:

Regular Infantry: Nothing different from the PDF except the VB launcher and you do get the option for the 12th guy with a pistol for a few less points.

Inexperienced Infantry: Same as Regular in options but no SMG option.

Dragons Portes (Mech Infantry): Nothing special but a smaller unit size of 10 with the option of 2 lmgs and a VB launcher as well and are Regular infantry.

Groupe Franc/SES/GIA: Veterans, 2 LMG options with a VB launcher option, 3 SMGs as before. They also give skies to the Chasseurs D’Alpines for free.
NOTE: This part I am unhappy about in two parts. Alpine Chaussers get jack. These were mountain and snow specialists, thanks guys for the free skies. The Belgium list gets for their Chaussers an option for Tough fighters. No bonus to outflank? Nothing. Second I am going to defend the GIA or rather the Groupe Franc, they put in the book they are “heavily armed RAIDERS used to INFILTRATE enemy positions and undertake deep RECONNAISSANCE missions. What the flip? You give them NOTHING really? Very disappointed here.

Foreign Legion Vets: Still have Stubborn and gains a VB launcher. Nothing new.

Senegalese Tirailleurs Infantry: Small up charge Regular unit with Tough fighters, otherwise standard regular French Infantry.

Moroccan Goumiers: Veteran Senegalese, small up charge with Tough Fighters. LMG only and 11 man unit size.

Calvary: Can be up to 13 men! Same price as a SS Calvary unit in price with horse for Veteran but also can be Regular also.
Note: It does not say CALVARY for the list and there is debate online if this. It is the same cost and well, it is pretty dumb to just have them be living bicycles for the French (and other armies).

Motorbike Section: 13 man squad again that can be on motorcycles and sidecars. LMGs only. Sad nobody makes them!

Machine Gun Team: Standard as other books

Anti-Tank Rifle Team: Standard as other books.

Sniper Team: Same as before

Light Mortar Team: Yes, still 3 men. A little more expensive than other armies due to the bonus man.

Medium Mortar Team: No changes.

Artillery and Field Guns:

Light/Medium/Heavy Artillery: No change from other armies.

Anti Tank Guns: Both Light and Medium options and the same cost as other armies.

Anti-Aircraft: A single light automatic cannon as other armies in cost.

Tanks:

Renault FT: MAJOR (almost  50% point drop) compared to the PDF. Think of it as a cheaper MMG on tracks.

CHAR D1: About 1/3 of the points dropped off and lost the 9+ frontal armor perk in the PDF.

CHAR D2: Cheaper than the D1, also no major difference but takes extra pin markers if hit due to Unreliable.

RENAULT R35, R39 and R40: Light Tank now, points dropped a great deal from the PDF.

HOTCHKISS H35, H38 and H39: Not a bad new tank if you can stand dealing with the single turret rule and willing to upgrade the gun to a light ATG.

FCM 36: New tank, but really sucks, cheap but has no option to upgrade the ATG.

AMC 35: New Tank, to me will be a standard tank for the French, I know of only one company that makes a resin model of it. No single man turret rule or slow on this guy. Still a light ATG though.

Somua 35: Massive drop in points, but also now a light tank, no medium ATG but they did get rid of the Vulnerable spot rule and gained the 9+ front armor rule. Still has the one-man turret rule.

CHAR B1: Small points increase from PDF, lost the medium ATG for a light version.

CHAR 2C: Small point drop from PDF, otherwise no change.

Tank Destroyers:

There are three trucks with guns mounted on the back, just saving time typing on this. Two are light and one has a medium ATG.

Armored Cars and RECCE Vehicles:

AMC SCHNEIDER P16 Half-Track: Points went down from the PDF but also lost the light ATG for the low powered version with no upgrade options. They also pulled the dual directional steering rule.
NOTE: I am a little annoyed not as much by the ATG change but the steering rule as it clearly states there are two drivers, front and back!

AMR33 and AMR35: I was happy to see this addition, a tankette for the French in essence.
NOTE: I am VERY disappointed that someone feels asleep here and did not cover the other variants like the ZT1 and ZT3. I really like the ZT3 and was about to buy one as I really liked the look of the vehicle and it had a 25mm gun (light ATG). Maybe Warlord can PDF this as an add on PDF.

Here is more about the ARM series of tanks: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AMR_35

painting and photography by Steve Thompson
ZT3 made by Army Group North Miniatures

AMD PANHARD 178: You’re typical light ATG on wheels with Recce.

LAFFLY S15TOE: Armored car with Recce and MMG…

AMD LAFFLY 80AM: HMG and MMG armored car with Reece. Almost missed the fact it has a HMG.

AMD LAFFLY 50AM: Recce vehicle with a low vel ATG….nothing special.

AMD PANHARD 165/175: Overseas version, Recce with low vel ATG only….no upgrades.

Transports and Tows:

11 vehicles, nothing special and includes a ton of tractors, some armored options including the UNIC. Nothing special to note but they did cover finally a vehicle that can haul a heavy howitzer!


Overall: The French list gets about a 3/5 review. It would have be stellar if they would have included the ZT tanks, forgot dual directional steering on the P16 and I was really disappointed by the treatment of the Alpine Chaussers and Groupe Franc lack of rules as well as the lack of making it clear if Calvary is well just that in the rules. I assume they are until they say otherwise in a FAQ. I can deal with the light ATG being moved around on a few tanks with no medium option being a bit of a disappointment as well. 

Monday, September 16, 2013

A Cool Blog giveaway that almost slipped by!



http://walladvantage2.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/500-posts-and-2nd-blogaversary-giveaway.html

The Blog with No Name just hit 500 posts and is giving away some great swag! Check them out!
Mind you there are no actual pirates being given away but still! I am in Florida everything is plunder!


Sunday, September 15, 2013

Product Review: Warlord French AMC Schneider P16 Half-track

Trying to get ready for the new French and Allied book I picked up my first vehicle as I heard the Panhards may suck so I opted to go with the P16 Schneider half-track for a starting Armored Car.

Everything you get.

What I really liked the most is the detail of the tools stored on the vehicle.

The other side.

One thing I hate, air bubbles! 
I had to use some filler to fix it, no big issue.

The light kit and roller.

Tracks and tire kit.

Turrent with main gun and MMG

Assembled side shot.

Front shot.

Another side shot.

The rear.

The good: High detail with the tools and is a cool looking oldie but goodie for the French ranks.

The bad: Had some air bubbles in the rear, the tracks was a bit of a pain in the ass to line up. I also drilled out the MMG and pinned it in as I felt i would have popped off otherwise after the first game. The cable on the one side was a bit lumpish and I had to use some creative knife work to clean that spot. The light kits are also a bit of  pain to seat into those tiny holes! 

Overall I give it 3 out of 5 stars. It is a good kit, it has a few mold issues as you can tell that set me off a little as it made me do more work than I admit I like to do. I like clean mold models that require minimal work and slap together to get them to the painting table and then to the game table!


WW2 Bolt Action Painting Update

Well, over the past week or so I have been doing a variety of this and that for Bolt Action, here are the results of where I am at!

My Germans, on the final leg of touch ups and base work.

French Alpine Chaussers in progress.

My LMG team that I rebased.

American Lt and assistant for my Demo set.

Sniper Team for my Demo set

Squad 1 for the demo set.

close ups

better shot

some of the guys in the back

Squad 2 for the demo

Sgt and BAR

close up of the squad

more o the squad

Tiger, my first early attempt to airbrush the camo, going to touch it up. Not bad, but very light.

222 with green sprayed on some, still have to add rust and more green later.

Westwind Wierbelwind with green on it. Just playing around with my new airbrush paints.

About 40 French primered brown/green using the airbrush. 
Took about an hour as I am new to using an airbrush.

Rebased Alpine Chaussers LMG....I like the larger bases for a more scenic shot.