Two Additions

 Cranked out a couple more Infinity models over the last week or so. These are Combined Army Fraactas. Weird name, completely gorgeous models. I'm in love with the anime angel styling. Nothing too fancy, just some basic colors, black oil wash & wipe and some highlights here and there.

The 14-year-old has all of a sudden gotten a painting addiction. We picked up some D&D minis from the LGS and he's been steadily cranking since! It does a father's heart good. I'll get some pics of his work up here soon.

AAR: Infinity Saturday Night

 Zig and I got the Infinity toys out Saturday evening. It's been a few months, with being deployed in Germany and all. My recently-completed Starco Mercenaries would make their debut! I hunted around around and found a suitable scenario for a hot-as-blazes June day on the Corvus Belli website.

After laying out the tabletop, it became obvious that the "Revenants" mission would work perfectly for the setup.

The battlefield's most notable feature is the canal and stalled ship in the center. This lined up real nice with the Revenants prescribed zones which dictate victory conditions. Yeah, I need to put together a brownish-blue overlay for the surface of the canal when I use this table configuration.

The ship is quite obviously the center zone and the canal's edges are the neighboring zones.

The basic goal of the scenario is simple zone domination - points are awarded for control of the table sectors - 1 point for the middle zone closest to your own table edge, two for the center and four for the zone furthest away. Points are only awarded at the end of three turns. At the beginning of turn 3, all models which are dead or unconscious rise from their slumber in the form of Xenozombies and get back to fighting!

The lion's share of my force.

It's best not to ask how this Remote got on top of the building.

There's a better shot of the canal and boat.

In the early going, I get some LOS-blockers dropped - an eclipse grenade and a smoke grenade. Senor Massacre and co make their way up the building on the right while to Riot Grrls move forward.

The Riot Grrl with the missile launcher knocks out an Order Sergeant across the way. Having high-tech gizmos that let you see right through smoke like it's not there is pretty nice. That 'bot atop the building from earlier in the post also managed to catch an Order Sergeant with a Reaction Order just prior. Two substantial threats had been neutralized in record time!

Senor Massacre and friends continue their way across the bridge.

A short descent off the bridge and onto the ship. Note the Knight with an HMG off to the left. That jerk had my center occupied for a while.

A more interesting angle of the previous picture.

Hero Squad makes its way down to the deck, careful to remain out sight.

I didn't get any pictures of the action, but I got the Riot Grrls on to the ship. With a bit of an "oh fuck it" attitude, they burst from behind the Starlabs sign and quickly descended to ground level. The trooper with the rocket launcher exchanged fire with the HMG Knight across the way. Two, three, four firing actions were taken and we repeatedly tied eachother's dice rolls, resulting in misses all around! Note that the third turn had just begun resulting in Ziggy's losses rising from the dead.

The two black models are recently-risen PanO troopers.

With time running out and few order tokens, the Knights take a note from the Riot Grrls and storm the boat! Initially our shotgun-armed troops duked it out, but Ziggy's dice caught fire and he went on a streak of rolling nothing but critical hits, absolutely wrecking house. 

The third turn wrapped up and we tallied the score. Zig's PanO force won, 3-1. He was able to get the two point difference by dominating the center zone (the boat). That had been a really exciting game with plenty of back and forth and dramatic moments. Many times our games of Infinity are one-sided slaughters but this one remained competitive and in the balance to the very end. 

That Halloween scenario pack has a couple other missions in it. We'll give those a whirl over the course of our next games. Be well and good gaming!

Small Painting

 I had the urge to get some value out of my 6mm Fantasy miniatures and was inspired to go the route of Historicals rules. If things work out, I'm crafty enough to paste a magic system on top of the rules. I ordered Milites Mundi from Gripping Beast, having rather enjoyed Swordpoint. MM is pretty close to Swordpoint from a mechanical standpoint, but geared towards smaller scales and bigger battles. Enough of that though... I did slap some paint on a few 6mm Dwarves. Models are from Microworld Games. 

Dwarven Ram-riding handgunners.

Pikedwarves. It would be weird to call them Pikemen, right?

Yeah, I know the troop density on those bases looks thin, but for me it's the aesthetic I like. 

So, I went through the Late Medieval / Early Renaissance force list book and found suitable proxies for my Dwarf and Dark Elf armies. The Dwarves lined up pretty well with a Byzantine list. The Dark elves matched up nicely with an HRE list. More later for sure. 

Another D-Day Anniversary, Another Beach Battle

 Mike hosted a D-Day themed Bolt Action day at his house last weekend and although I went in with reservations about Bolt Action, it's about the experience, not the game, right? There were ten players and two tables set up. One table was set up for the the skirmish at Brecourt Manor, made famous in the TV series Band of Bothers whereby Captain Winters and a platoon of US Paratroopers takes out an artillery battery. The other table was a small slice of Omaha Beach. I played on that table.

Mike, Wayne and I commanded shares of the American force. Two fellows I hadn't met before shared the German contingent. Their names are Mark and Brent(?)

Ah, there are our opponents! Mark in plaid.

Miraculously, three tanks arrive immediately and safely! This isn't the D-Day we've read about. The American dice would remain hot.

A terrific 28mm scale bunker and trench section made by Mitch. Mitch drove up from Jacksonville. I actually met him back in February at the Bold City Con pop culture convention. He's a primary organizer for RapierCon's successor Skirmish which will be held in Jax next March.

Getting up close, using the tanks as cover. The German mortar was remarkably accurate all day.

The German artillery battery at the other table was still operational and it got in on the festivities. rounds land amongst a machine gun section, infantry platoon and a tank!

Our biggest problem, by far.

We get troops, tanks and importantly bangalore torpedoes up to the wire. Machineguns and artillery continue to slow our efforts.

Ah, there's Mitch in the OD t-shirt. Mike's hand makes an appearance in front of Wayne, saving my readers from the horrors beyond the hand! Mark naps.

Wayne's are the first troops past the wire! That obscured Stuka wasn't really part of the game. The Germans were just terrorizing us with it.

The pressure is squarely on the defenders now! My shots at the right side of the defenses are shockingly effective and I steadily whittle their numbers down. The left side however is still intact, completely intact, 100% intact. NO German casualties at all over there!

The phrase "shit's about to get real" is uttered.

Plenty of Yanks up the wall and into the trench network. GAME OVER, MEIN HERR!

It was certainly an enjoyable afternoon of dice and toy soldiers. Thanks to Mike for hosting and to everyone else who provided minis, terrain, etc. 

I'm not sold on Bolt Action. It's the second time I've played it, the first being at least five years ago. It's just weird and bad. I won't get into a nitpick. It's just not my cuppa. I'll stick with my Rate of Fire for this scale of WW2 gaming. Be well and Good Gaming!