I painted these guys ages ago for a wargaming friend. It's been a while since our last game, so I haven't been able to hand them over yet. Some of these guys were obviously modelled with camouflage smocks and helmet covers, so I had to paint them up as mid-late war.
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| Battlefront metal miniatures, all. |
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| Camo at this scale is usually considered kinda pointless, but I still like doing it anyway. |
Again, this battle occurred long ago, so most of the details have been forgotten. Nevertheless, for completeness, here it is.
Stinging from the rebuke of Imperial sector command, and seeking vengeance for their defeat in the defence of Glon Station, the Falcon Guard kept an eye out for any opportunity to strike the hated Eldar.
Not long after the Glon disaster, an Eldar orbital station of some sort had materialised near an Imperial world in the sector and begun attacking its population. As soon as this was reported, the Falcon Guard raced to the scene to get their revenge, deploying it's main fleet and Chapter Flagship Mormaer, in addition to escorts and strike cruisers from the patrol fleet.
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| The Space Marine fleet, including the Battle Barge with Terminators, a standard strike cruiser, a carrier-cruiser (Gathering Storm) and numerous escorts. |
And get their revenge they did: destroying the Eldar station in brutal close-in bombardments and boarding, including lucky vital critical hits on the Eldar station's shadowfield generator, which rendered it vulnerable to attacks and Terminator teleport assaults. As it turned out, the Eldar in question were Drukhari, and not the Corsairs who had attacked Glon. However, this was of little consequence, and a victory was a victory. The Flacon Guard were not yet redeemed in the eyes of the sector commander, but they had performed an important duty nevertheless.
The weakness of the Dark Eldar space station was that much of its fleet had to deploy through a webway portal created by the station itself. So when the Falcon Guard destroyed the station, this prevented any more Dark Eldar from coming through.
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| The Falcon Guard surround and attack the Dark Eldar station. |
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| Prelude to a dogfight. |
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| Angel Sinistre absorbing the brunt of enemy firepower. |
This battle happened a long time in the past and I haven't got to it until now, so unfortunately have forgotten most of the details.
In the outer orbit of the gas giant planet of Glon was an Imperial Navy supply station. Among the assignments of the Falcon Guard given to them by the Imperial sector commander was to guard the supply station for Imperial Navy fleet operations elsewhere. A large number of Eldar Corsairs were known to be in the area.
Unsurprisingly, the Eldar Corsairs, including a powerful Void Stalker battleship, elected to strike and destroy the Imperial station. The Falcon Guard patrol fleet detected the Eldar approach and moved into position, while the Imperial Navy station went on red alert.
The Eldar attacked and quickly managed to destroy the main Imperial space station - their highly accurate and difficult-to-hit torpedoes and bomber squadrons, in combination with large weapon and pulsar lance batteries, proved too much for the (stationary) space station.
The Eldar also managed to inflict significant losses on the Falcon Guard patrol fleet escort ships. In response, the Falcon Guard were able to cripple or destroy one or two Eldar ships and eliminate a few of their escorts. However, the Eldar had clearly achieved their objective and retreated, victoriously, from the raid.
The Falcon Guard received a severe rebuke from the sector command for their failure to protect the important supply station at Glon.
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| The Falcon Guard patrol fleet line up to defend the Imperial space station (Custom 3D printed miniatures) |
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| The Eldar raiding fleet, with the awesome Void Stalker battleship fifth from left. |
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| Eldar firepower and ordnance practically destroys the Flacon Guard Gladius squadron. |
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| The Falcon Guard Vanguard Cruiser holds off massive Eldar attacks. |
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| Gladius frigates dodge Eldar torpedoes. |
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| Trading fire with the Eldar. |
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| Glon station (3D printed miniature borrowed for the game). |
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| The defensive minefield belts were not particularly useful against the Eldar, who could easily manoeuvre at will and just 'not go there.' |
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| The Falcon Guard Strike Cruiser Vigil of Caliban batters an Eldar cruiser. |
Many years ago I bought some second-hand Team Yankee 15mm British and Dutch infantry and painted up a few, intending to use them in Force on Force games set in an alternative history 1970s campaign I called 'Cod War Gone Hot.' This would have represented a war between the United Kingdom and it's neighbour Iceland over territorial waters and fisheries, envisioning an escalation of the 'Cod Wars.'
While I also bought a few 1/300 aircraft and 1/3000 ships from Heroics & Ros and Navwar respectively, I never got far with the project due to competing priorities and lack of interested gaming partners. Maybe one day I'll get back into it, but for now, this is all I've got to show for it.
My recent encounter with hex games, specifically Tactical Combat Series - Goose Green, prompted me to finally upload pictures of the similar-era British infantry, in a sort of segue-related post kind-of thing...
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| British LMG team taking cover. |
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| Around two sections of Brits, plus a pair of 84mm Carl Gustavs at the back (Battlefront miniatures). |
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| SLRs with two different sets of furniture. |
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| Although it does not show up very distinctly in photos and low-light conditions, painting the British camouflage was a lot of fun. |
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| If the project ever continues, these guys will be accompanied by more Battlefront miniatures, probably including Scimitars, Warrior IFVs and Fox armoured cars. |
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| 84mm Carl Gustav team. |
Of course real world Iceland does not have a military (the closest they've got is a coastguard of a couple of boats and some rescue aircraft and helicopters). In the Cod War Gone Hot campaign setting, Iceland has a tiny but well-trained and motivated military including infantry and armour with equipment from Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Austria and Nordic countries, a navy based on Norwegian missile boats and German submarines, and an air force of Swedish SAAB aircraft (Mainly SAAB 35 Drakens because they look the coolest). While they would stand no chance in a total war against the UK, their aim would be to hold off long enough for international intervention and mediation from Britain's potential rivals (including Norway, the USSR, and even the USA if the latter thought it's Keflavik airbase was threatened).
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| These are the Icelandic Army troops who would have faced the Brits in the campaign. I gave them grey trousers and plain green jackets. I made Argentine-style goggles for two of them out of tiny pieces of paper (this was tedious). If the project continues they would have Marder IFVs, and ambush armour such as SK-105s and Stridsvagn S-Tanks. |
A gaming mate and I have recently got into boardgaming online using the program Vassal. Although they lack the tangible visual awesomeness and the hands-on hobbying offered by miniature wargaming, the 'hex & counter' games of earlier decades have an appeal all of their own. This post will be a wordy one, as there aren't any miniatures to photograph. Here is my first true encounter with hexes...
We have tried out and played two scenarios from the Goose Green campaign for the Tactical Combat Series (TCS). This is a battalion-level game designed in the 1990s by a guy named Dean Essig which was produced most recently by Multi-Man Publishing (MMP) but whose rule and scenario/campaign booklets can usually be found free on the internet. The nicely-made Vassal module for Goose Green has its own visual appeal (not quite are great as actual physical miniatures and 3D terrain but the best 2D can offer), and is intuitive and easy to use, with all the helpful QRS and charts needed included. The TCS rules themselves, while very long, dense and fairly complex, are not surprisingly also very comprehensive and detailed, covering a wide range of contingencies, and seem quite realistic in terms of the combat and decision level for the player as battalion commander. We also found that we managed to pick up the rules quite well, learning-by-doing as we worked through the scenarios.
One of the main strengths of TCS are the very clever way it deals with uncertainly, the fog of war and command and control limitations through a pre-game (and during game sometimes) pre-planning system where players must develop 'OP Sheets' for their companies and platoons - drawing their planned movements, timings and actions on a hex map. This gives units (usually platoons down to individual weapons teams or vehicles) some scope for independent manoeuvre and firing, but within the strictures of the battle plan.
New OP Sheets (i.e. new plans) can be created during the game to respond to changed circumstances, but it can be difficult to implement the new plans, especially when units are already in action, or if the leadership is not particularly skilled. This system means that you have to think carefully in the time leading up to the game to draw up a plan for your operation - a badly planned operation can result in bloody disaster(!) and you can't cheat by using your player's 'god's eye view' of the tabletop battlefield to run your units around getting the most efficient shots at the enemy with all the right weapons. Sometimes you might need to scramble to implement a new plan to pull your men out of some messed-up situation, reorient your defence, or halt a failing or misdirected attack to mitigate losses.
Other strengths of TCS are the combat mechanics. There is a neat but effective Overwatch system that does not get too bogged down in actions and reactions. There are realistic combat modifiers that take into account unit stances, bunching up ('stacking') and terrain. There is an emphasis on laying down suppressive fire, use of cover and defilade (including the cover of night, smoke and fog), and morale. Speaking of morale too: this is a strength, as the morale system efficiently combines both individual unit and battalion-wide morale in believable and nuanced way.
The most problematic things I found with the rules were firstly the artillery or mortar smoke firing system (overly simplistic and strangely difficult to actually get mortars to do their primary job, per British doctrine anyway, of providing a smoke-screen). We also had more difficulty than we should have trying to identify lines of sight across contour lines. The rules are very detailed about this, but it all seems unnecessarily complicated and I think there ought to be a better way to explain them, or show terrain on the hex maps in a way that there is no uncertainty (perhaps with the use of light hill-shading?) I pretty much just ended up winging it, based on what I've seen reading real world contour maps. However, both these issues can easily be solved by house-rules or scenario-specific alterations.
So we fought the 'Bloody Goose Green' scenario from the Goose Green TCS module and bloody it was. I commanded the British 2 Paras, with the support of two Scimitar light tanks, and my opponent took the Argentines with Commandos as reinforcements. Looking at the scenario, it seemed like the Brits probably couldn't win using the primary victory conditions, because of the distances and number of objectives that must be captured and held, and the very high impact of casualties (I knew I'd be taking some). Therefore, I planned an operation to rush down the south-east side of Goose Green to take the main towns and airfield, regardless of casualties, thus achieving the secondary victory. The Argies hunkered down in defensive positions in their main trench line at Darwin Hill, around the airfield, and at Goose Green itself.
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| My original (overly detailed) plan for 2 Para's advance down to Goose Green. |
The plan called for a rapid advance in cover of darkness (and smoke) to get into Darwin settlement quickly, bypassing the Argies' trench lines and hilltop defences. However, in the dark the lead elements (Charlie Company and the Scimitars) ran into Argentine infantry who were making a pre-planned withdrawal from their forward position back to Darwin Hill. The Brits inflicted heavy losses on the Argies in this initial firefight, but one of the Scimitars was destroyed by a 66mm from a brave Argentine platoon and the firefight delayed the Paras' advance.
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| Early stages: the 2 Para recon units run into withdrawing Argentine platoons. |
The advance in darkness was further slowed by the bridge to Darwin being out, then over-cautious Brit platoons bunching up, and finally a critical mistake by D Company's artillery observer which dropped 105mms on the British spearhead - pinning it down at a crucial moment. Dawn broke then, and the mortar smoke cover - which the plan relied on - never materialised. The dug-in Argies and their artillery inflicted heavy casualties on the pinned and flanked Paras stuck in a bottleneck until finally some platoons managed to break through using superior skill and morale.
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| What an absolute mess: 2 Para gets stuck in a bottleneck, ambushed on three sides, unable to see the enemy, hit with artillery (the enemy's and their own) and eventually bombed by the FAA and losing their commander. However, they still managed to break out by sheer force of heroic willpower. |
More disaster struck as Argentine aircraft napalmed the advancing British column and killed COL H. Jones! All British plans were wiped out with him and the platoon he was with, and so the Brits were stuck for several more hours in a terrible position until MAJ Keeble could take control and the Paras finally broke through (relying more on their own courage than anything else).
From there, the badly-shot-up Paras continued on to the airfield, and this is where the low Argentine morale (and the heavy casualties they also had suffered in the Darwin fight) showed. The last remaining Scimitar tank played a key role in providing overwatch to eliminate Argentine AA guns and allow the Paras to advance to take the airfield and prepare to move on Goose Green itself.
A desperate Argie counter-attack by Commandos and the FAA personnel was mostly wiped out when it ran into the British and was caught in open ground. Incredibly though, the FAA, particularly their HQ section, covered by an AA gun's fire, managed to overrun and wipe out an entire British platoon from Charlie Company!
However, the rest of the British forces finished off or forced the surrender of the remaining Argentine infantry units, and it was inevitable that they would take Goose Green, so we called the game there. It was a British victory, but at huge cost: I estimated that 2 Para had lost about 60% casualties, including their commander, plus one tank, with several platoons completely destroyed. The Argentines had fought very well, despite their low starting morale. They effectively used their firepower and entrenchments and exploited the disastrous failure of the initial British plan. Argentine casualties were very heavy (maybe twice the British, though including many surrendered units), but Argentine conscripts, airfield defence personnel, and other unlikely candidates were the heroes of their campaign.
I will definitely keep looking for future opportunities to play TCS either on Vassal or in real life, and got working on making my own module for a fictional 1980s Cuba scenario. TCS offers incredible scope to customise, design your own campaigns and forces, and explore possibilities, and gives players a wargaming experience that is just right in terms of tactical nuances and command challenges.
I also plan to look at TCS's larger relatives: Battalion Combat Series and Operational Combat Series, for wargaming at higher levels, and look into a way to link these all together in a campaign setting. I also hope to do a lot more hex & counter and other 'retro' military boardgaming in future, as, although you can't paint the playing pieces, it's all very interesting just the same.
A more recent game - we continued our campaign of High Elves versus Undead in the foggy uplands with a large 7 point SAGA - Age of Magic battle. This battle may be the last of our campaign (these battles are loosely peripheral to a friend's more organised campaign of the Forces of Good versus the Undead, the final battle of which is scheduled later this month).
In a huge battle just prior to the events of this blog entry, the Undead band of ghouls were slaughtered - their King and other leaders lying dead (or deader), the last survivors scattering in the darkness, maybe caught and torn apart by wolves or other predators, maybe still lurking out there in the mountains, but no longer a major threat to the Great Kingdoms.
But the struggle for the foggy uplands was not over. Far from it. For another evil force appeared to take the place of the ghouls: a horde of skeletons, including an undead giant and skeletal cavalry had seemingly risen from the very soil.
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| Practically the entire High Elf host was assembled for this battle. Because of the darkness and fog, units had to deploy within short distance of each other. This factor negatively impacted the Elves because of a nasty surprise the Undead would spring (Citadel miniatures). |
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| The skeleton army, with a catapult. |
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| View from the perspective of the Undead commanders: a Crypt Captain and Vampire sorceress. |
The nasty surprise that had followed the army of skeletons turned out to be the ephemeral forms of the dead: a legendary group of ghosts. These would float back and forth across the Elven army in the unnerving darkness, scaring the less stout-hearted elves, causing fatigue, and even scaring an Elven archer to death!
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| The ghosts. |
The darkness and fog limited the effectiveness of the missile units and magic users on both sides. The Skeleton cavalry commenced the action, attacking and driving back an unprepared unit of Elven archers who had attempted to take cover in rocky ground. I had a number of defensive battleboard abilities that I should have used to try to save the archers, but I neglected to do so.
A short-range volley from the Elven left-flank archers, a bolt of light spell from the Elven mage and a sharp, lone counterattack by the Elven paladin wiped out the skeleton cavalry.
The vampire sorceress used a spell to confer the benefit of flight to undead units, and my opponent used this cleverly to move his unit of skeleton archers right over to my board edge to claim Victory Points for a scenario-specific victory condition. The same spell was also used to move up a unit of skeleton spearmen to threaten the Elves and then levitate the massive undead giant into combat with the Elven lord: crushing him in combat.
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| The undead giant kills the Elven leader (Citadel miniatures elves). |
However, the Elven lord was able to inflict severe damage to the undead behemoth, and shortly after, the Elven left-flank archers (the emerald regiment) under command of a Captain (a Great Kingdoms hero type that has the We Obey special rule) took the opportunity to finish off the giant.
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| The archers avenge the death of their lord. |
After this I forgot to take any more photos as it was a really intense battle. The ghosts flew back and forth inflicting fatigue on the Elves and almost leading to the death of the Elven paladin, killing an Elven archer. The Elven mage became exhausted by the ghosts swirling around him, and having to run back and forth casting spells. He was eventually hit by a long-range skull-shaped projectile from the undead catapult and killed outright, but not before he was able to slow the Undead Crypt Captain with a spell.
The vampire sorceress continued to cast wither spells to inflict more fatigue, but the Elves were able to invest large numbers of SAGA dice to rest ('dispelling fears'). The Elves also managed to use two phoenix SAGA dice on good defensive and offensive abilities that made any attack on their spearmen units too daunting a prospect for the skeleton spearmen, who merely demonstrated in fron of the Elven right flank.
Three of the four ghosts expended their frightfulness and dissipated (the ghosts counted as hearthguard for victory points, and were a legendary unit, so their loss was a major blow to the Undead).
Meanwhile, the Elven Reavers charged the skeleton archers (who had recently fired on them) and smashed many to the ground. The Elves were able to inflict enough casualties and hold on long enough to claim a fairly narrow victory. The vampire and remaining skeletons retreated to save themselves for another day.
This was a great, close game. I thought my Elves were doomed by Turn 3 due to the haunting exhaustion and loss of their leader. But they managed to turn it around by being conservative with their SAGA dice and defensive abilities. The mage should have taken the protective spell 'Laying On Hands' to deal with fatigue - as unexpected fatigue on heroes makes it unwise to use several Great Kingdoms battleboard abilities, in addition to slowing and weakening your units generally. I also should have used my SAGA dice more efficiently, and probably only won the game because of some luck phoenix rolls that scared my opponent.
Some weeks ago, we continued our series of linked battles, as a High Elf expedition skirmished with a band of ghouls and other undead in a foggy uplands area using the SAGA - Age of Magic rules.
SAGA is a really impressive and fun game on so many levels. There is a random battle-generation system, along with themed terrain generation (representing the commanders' choice of battlefield). This can be done by rolling on a table in the Book of Battles, but another way is by drawing cards for different categories.
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| I think there are usually five categories of cards. |
Both sides raced to reach the Ancient Monument, each for their own purposes.
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| My opponent's ghoul band. |
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| My High Elves (Citadel Miniatures) |
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| The Ghoul Sorceror-Judge (my opponent's painted miniature). |
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| The Ghoul King and his musician and standard bearer (hearthguard). |
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| The ghouls reached the monument first, with the Elves holding their line. |
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| Judge Ghoul cursed the Elven archers, a spearman is withered, and a pair of horrifying ghoul-hounds race forwards to maul the Elves. On the other side: the Elven Lord and Reavers charge the Ogre Ghouls and a nearby group of smaller ones. |
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| A great deal of effort went into attacking this one unit of ghouls: volleys of arrows, magic, and an attack by the Elven lord. The Reavers moved up to shield their exhausted lord. |
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| More ghouls fall to Elven arrow and spear, but will it be enough? |
The Elves were hard-pressed, and not performing particularly well in combat against their enemy: they were killing ghouls, but it was taking an inordinate amount of effort, and their own casualties were mounting. The Elves were also losing the clash of magic: Judge Ghoul was clearly more careful or powerful than the Ghoul King's previous magic-user (who was destroyed by his own spell).
The Ghoul King had an idea too. Suddenly and unexpectedly, the ghoul-hounds changed focus and ran over to attack the weakened Elven centre, slaughtering the Elven Lord, tearing into a unit of archers, and then finally the fatigued Elven sorcerer.
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| The ghoul-hounds attack, while the last surviving ghoul of their right-flank group flees. |
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| The terrifying attack. |
The High Elves were defeated, with heavy losses, including the loss of both their heroes. They had killed plenty of ghouls, including the ogre-ghouls. However, they notably failed to wipe out the units of ordinary ghouls, and seemingly could do nothing to stop the ghoul-hounds, which were terrifyingly quick, able to shed fatigue rapidly, and were used to maximal efficiency by my opponent. A good, fun game as always.
