Quick Infinity Post

 Ziggy and I put Infinity on the table Saturday evening. I went with a thick jungle theme this game instead of the more typical urban battle zone. For what was a very one-sided slaughter, it was at least a good looking game! My Ariadna French force completely whipped the Pan Oceana knights, setting things right in the world. No real AAR, but a few pics of the proceedings.

Recent Goings On

 Haven't posted in a bit. Just doing a bit of a recap of the last couple weeks. Mark, Ziggy and I got together for games of Swordpoint (Italian Wars-flavored armies) and Rank and File Napoleonics on Memorial Day weekend. Both games were a lot of fun - certainly different fare for us given our sci-fi and moderns tendencies.

Armies line up preparing for battle

A couple of turns into the proceedings

An amusing situation developed on my right flank. I had sent light cav around. Mark set up some gunners to block them but expected them to be bowled right over. He had a large group of halberdiers right behind the gunners, set to crush my cav after the gunners fall. Turns out the gunners were more than capable of of handling the light cavalry and my poor dice rolls all by themselves. The Halberdiers ended up being in a terrible position for the rest of the battle and this really hampered Mark's chances.

Swordsmen and spearmen clash in the center. The two units were very well matched and for a smaller engagement on the table, was quite enjoyable to watch play out.

My second unit of cavalry charged into some greatswords while my pikemen and Mark's cavlary duked it out in the center. The pikemen went haywire and absolutely thrashed the cavalry!

In the end, I won with my "Ventian" army, but the "Spanish" performed well and I'm excited to see these two groups get back at it again. I was happy with the Swordpoint rules. Not a bad addition to the collection at all.

Ziggy arrived part-way through the first game. We left the terrain exactly where it was for game 2 since it was also a 20mm affair, this time Naps, Prussians and French. Ziggy commanded the Prussians while Mark and I split the French. Mark was going to have to leave a bit early so it just made sense.

The armies arrayed for battle.

I was hoping to lay waste to the Jagers  on the left flank, but the skirmishers turned heel and fled behind the house!

And there they go. The French cavalry has just smashed into the Prussian line!

And then an almighty scrum develops!

My horses had to back off, leaving the French with just one infantry unit at the line! Not looking good for us.

But the Chasseurs rally and spur their mounts forward one more time! The infantry has held up amazingly well, frustrating their Prussian opponents tremendously. In the foreground you can see that the godforsaken Jagers are about to sack a second cannon. - they'd bagged another earlier.

The battle at the line continues

The, painfully for Ziggy, morale tests start to fail. Units begin falling back and French momentum increases. It's a snow-ball effect and in the blink of an eye, it's over. 

A tremendous game with a huge swing half-way through. Ziggy was running us ragged in the early turns. Mid-way through, Mark left and all of a sudden the luck changed. My dice woke up and Zig's cooled off. R&F always delivers a fun game with simple mechanics. We did make one house-rule change from the last game Mark and I played though. We reduced the morale effect that casualties have upon units. Instead of a -1 modifier for each stand lost, we changed in to -1 for every TWO stands lost. Units stick around longer and there is more fighting and less running away. It was a solid improvement. The skirmishers were a fun addition and the leader models got their first outing. A wonderful day's gaming for sure. Thanks both of you, Zig and Mark!

So, what else has been gong on? Some painting, so starters. I picked up some interesting models to start a Stargrave crew and painted them up last weekend.

The Bat-Guy and reporter are Warlord minis from the Judge Dredd line. The other two are Reaper Bones. Much of the appeal of games like Stargrave/Frostgrave is finding and painting up an interesting selection of figures. I've got a handful more incoming from Gamekastle and will leverage some of the Infinity collection for others.

I also scratch-built a 15mm house just because I felt like it. I have some similar buildings in the collection. 

With a few 15mm minis for scale. Simple, I know, but it scratched the itch.

David and I had a mini games-day for some of his Boy Scout troop yesterday. We played Rink Racers, King of Tokyo and X-Wing. Eight hours of goofing off and rolling rice - not a bad way to spend a Saturday!

We kept X-Wing very simple and focused on the basic basics - moving and shooting. It was a great time.

Some Infinity Painting

We did manage to get some games played on Sunday over the weekend. I'll post an AAR some time this week. Yesterday I knocked out some Infinity models that had been in the queue a few weeks. They were a real piece of work to assemble, but once I settled on a painting strategy, a lot of fun to finish up.

I guess it's pretty obvious that they're close-combat specialists. This herd and the herder in red will make a nice inexpensive (points-wise) addition to my Combined forces. 

The action poses are pretty incredible and the lengthy and difficult build should be rather apparent. I did put 25mm washers under their bases to lower their center of gravity figuring anything that shape would need all the help it can get.

Standing the Test of Time

I wanted to pick up a few Italian Renaissance "flavor" buildings for the 1/72 plastic troops and has trouble finding anything I was terribly happy with. Either the cost was too high or the models just didn't have the right "it" factor. I started perusing Wargame Vault for paper buildings and found quite a few suitable candidates. Just a few bucks and less than 24 hours later, I had them printed off at Staples on heavy cardstock. The PDFs were scaled down to 65% to be scaled for 20mm.

I've only put two of them together so far, but I'm quite happy with how they've come out. The trick is NOT rushing anything. I've mounted both on foam.

I implanted pennies in the foam bases to provide a bit of stability with a low center of gravity.

Magically, the bottle of glue fit perfectly in the tower, holding the base flaps secure while the glue set. 

Et voila! A completed tower and carriage house. A first go of Swordpoint may occur tomorrow and it should look a bit more period-appropriate with these inexpensive additions.

New Additions

  I finished up a few more Infinity models this week. They're Combined Army Suryats Heavy Infantry. Very tooled-up and expensive from a list-building perspective but neat models and fun additions to the group. Now the question is, will they end up in a game of Infinity first or Stargrave which I just picked up this week?

Barbarossa Game - Scenario Test

 Howdy howdy! Check it out, a real tabletop wargame AAR on my blog! It feels like it's been a long time. Zig and I got together Saturday evening for a test of the Rate of Fire scenario I'm going to host at my 2021 Memorial Day Game Bash. Last year's edition was a Covid casualty, like so many other gaming get-togethers.

The scenario is a simple breakthrough / transit situation for the Germans and and ambush / kill for the Soviets, set in the summer of '41. The Soviets deploy hidden, represented by markers, including a few dummy counters.

The battlefield. The Germans are transiting from top to bottom. They have an 8-rad and a recon fireteam in a Schwimmwagen starting the game on the tabletop. Everything else arrives later when the recon elements have done their thing.

Hey look, there they are!

A Soviet AT-Rifleman takes a shot at the armored car. The crew take note and loose a burst of 20mm rounds into the treeline. A lucky shot takes out the Soviet.

I moved a T-26 over to the road looking to shut down the 231. My shot is way off the mark, while the armored car's return fire manages to kill the tank's driver! At least the tank is stuck in a useful location.

As German forces continue to flow in, I reveal a 12.7mm machine gun and loose a hail of fire at a nearby 38t. The tank crews grit their teeth and pray that the thin armor holds. It does, but barely.

Another angle of that action on the road. A Panzer III cruises up behind the 38s.

The recon element take note of the machine gun's position and radio the mortar guys further back. A wicked accurate first-round takes out the team.

On the far side, the Soviet anti-tank crew finally have a target and take a shot at a Panzer II. The shot is a bit short and kicks up a geyser smoke and dirt in front of the tank. Return fire is ineffective.

A second shot finds the mark and the wee tank's thin armor is no match for the high-powered 45mm round. Moments later a mortar round lands on the Soviet gun crew, killing two. Curses!

I pulled my second T-26 out of hiding and took a long shot at the big 8-rad which had gotten itself into an unfortunate position. The tank commander's shot is perfect as the armored car quickly belches smoke and flame!

Things are looking grim for the Soviet defenders. The only positive news is that time is running out for the attackers. They were given 10 turns to exit as many units as possible from the far end of the battlefield and time is rapidly running out!

There was an infantry engagement at the edge of the field. The Soviet defenders held but the Germans were absolutely fanatical! Although nine of his brothers fell, Private Meine felt like he could take on all of Russia himself. He continued fighting as the rattled Soviets recoiled in horror!

Panzers rumble forward past the wrecked T-26.

The commander of the Panzer III underestimates the gun on the remaining T-26. A well-aimed round punches through the German tank and it is destroyed.

At the end of the day, Ziggy managed to get two tanks and a halftrack loaded with an infantry squad off my side of the table. I was able to kill two tanks, an armored car and rendered an infantry squad ineffective. It was an enjoyable battle. The Soviets probably came out on the better end of things, since the Germans still had an infantry squad and recon team left against two full Soviet squads and a T-26. The remaining Germans would be hard-pressed to achieve their objective.

Terrain setup was solid, troop choice fine. Ziggy suggested that all German infantry be motorized or mechanized, which I think will be fine, but we'll add a tank to the Russian side and maybe one more AT Rifle. Ten turns is fine. e were able to set victory points for specific activities. I'm confident that the game on Memorial Day will be a good one.

Be well and good gaming!