Wargames @ farfaraway.org » Photographs

Warpwolf, Wolfen, Warpwolf?

owen — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 21:35:34 +0000

The Confrontation Wolfen miniatures make great proxies for Warpwolves. I’ve never been that interested in starting a Circle Orboros force, but I’ve had these old Confrontation miniatures for years and when I saw the Warpwolf Stalker I thought they’d make perfect proxies. The only Warpwolf miniature I actually like is the Pureblood; the original Warpwolf is in a weird pose and the new Stalker, certainly next to these Wolfen miniatures, is only so-so. These Wolfen will never be tournament legal, but I don’t care. It’s about putting paint on some neglected miniatures. I’ll never play Confrontation, so they may as well be used for something worthwhile!

Anyway, here are a few more of photos of my ‘impostor’ Warpwolves.

Here’s the painting scheme (and more-or-less the order I painted it in) -

Skin: Codex Grey; Fortress Grey; Fortress Grey + Skull White (50:50); Fortress Grey + Skull White (33:66)
Gums: Gore Red
Ears: Elf Flesh (DB)
Armour (Green): Orkhide; Orkhide + Knarloc (50:50)
Leather: Snakebite
Claws: Graveyard + Snakebite (66:33)
Armour (Metal): Brass Balls + Graveyard (50:50)
Sword: Boltgun
Everything: Watered down Magic Wash
Base (Earth): Watered down Graveyard Earth
Base (Stone): Watered down Codex Grey; Fortress Grey (DB); Badab Black (Wash)

I’ve 4-5 more of these guys unpainted in the shed. I wonder which Circle warlock is good with Warpwolves?

Owen

Battle Report for Warmachine Beginners – Part 2

owen — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 22:01:15 +0000

Part 1 of the battle report is here.

Control Area and Feats: All warcasters have a control area which is a circle that radiates 2 x FOC from their base. In Rahn’s case that’s a radius of 16”. Only in this area can warcasters allocate focus to ‘jacks, so you need to move your ‘caster if your ‘jacks are advancing. Many spells and feats, a unique once per game mega-spell, effect this control area. A player may measure from his warcaster to any point in his control area at any stage.

Not a lot of damage done to either side so far, but Steve’s next turn would change all that. He allocated focus to the Chimera and Manticore and set about causing some mayhem. The Chimera charged the Drakhun and destroyed the horse. This left just the rider. The Mage Hunters zeroed in on the Juggernaut ‘jack and caused 15 points of damage with their crossbows (they get boosted damage rolls against warjacks) and disabled its left arm. Rahn activated next and feated. His feat is called Arcane Alignment and gives friendly spell casters +2” range on their spells and boosted attack and damage rolls for the turn. He then cast Telekinesis on the Devastator to spin it around so its back was facing the Battle Mages. The Battle Mages focus their attention on the Great Bears and the Manhunter (my assassination solo) and destroy them all. That’s the power of the feat. Ouch! The Manticore activates and puts 4 more points of damage on the Juggernaut with his Cyclone Cannon, taking out its movement.

Okay, I really need to respond before my whole army is gone. The Butcher loads up the Devastator with three focus and then he activates. He casts Full Throttle (three focus) allowing all of his ‘jacks to run, charge, slam or trample without spending focus and it also gives them boosted melee attack rolls. The Butcher shoots a Battle Mage for good measure. The Devastator activates and tramples towards Rahn. The trample is free because of Full Throttle, but uses the warjacks initial attacks, i.e. it counts as having attacked. Focus can be used to gain more attacks, so the Devastator makes three attacks at Rahn. Despite them being boosted (again because of the spell), he only connects with one causing 8 damage points. Rahn has 16 damage starting the game, so I’m only half way there. My Mechaniks run to engage the Battle Mages, in order to prevent them retaliating on their turn. Meanwhile the dismounted Drakhun does 13 points of damage to the Chimera tearing off its left arm.

It’s down to a slugfest at this stage and unfortunately for Steve his dice luck abandons him. The Mage Hunters only manage another 5 points of damage to the Juggernaut and the Battle Mages kill two of the four Mechaniks. As this is 50% lost in a single turn they must make a command check, which they pass. The Manticore manages to kill the War Dog. Rahn, loaded with focus, however only managed 14 points of damage on the Devastator. He could be in trouble next turn.

Time to finish this. I put three focus on the Devastator and activate the Butcher. He casts Full Throttle again (it isn’t an upkeep spell) and uses his feat, Blood Frenzy, which gives all models in his control area an additional die on damage rolls. The Devastator activates and does a special attack called Rain of Death where it lobs short ranged grenades. Everyone in base-to-base contact with it suffers a POW 18 blast hit! That would have finished Rahn except that the Force Field spell makes him immune to blast damage. Damn! I use a focus on the Devastator to buy an additional attack. It is boosted to hit because of Full Throttle and boosted damage because of the feat. Rahn is squished by the towering ‘jack.

The Aftermath

This was a pretty small game, but I hope it highlights some of the cooler aspects of Warmachine. It is a game of brutal damage and devastating effects, but it is pretty well balanced and no faction is considered vastly superior to any other. Steve played like a true gentleman in this game. He had a chance to finish things early on by hitting the Butcher with all of those Mage Hunter attacks instead of the Juggernaut. It would have been a much shorter battle report had he taken the easy kill, so if you suffered through the report this long you have him to thank!
Hordes is the feral cousin of Warmachine that features fantastic warbeasts and their warlock handlers. It has a completely different magic mechanic, but is fully compatible with Warmachine. Next time I’ll write about this other cutthroat game from Privateer Press. Whatever you play, remember to “play like you’ve got a pair!”.

Battle Report for Warmachine Beginners – Part 1

owen — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 22:00:07 +0000

The elves of Ios are angry, very angry. They believe that the magic wielded by mankind is killing their remaining god, Scyrah. The Retribution of Scyrah, once a small and outlawed rebellious sect, but now a popular movement amongst Iosans, aren’t willing to sit back and watch their gods die. Every nation of man that supports and promotes the use of magic is a legitimate target, particularly those who use magic to wage war.

The nation of Khador has been expanding their borders aggressively, having consumed the country of Llael and encroached into northern Cygnar. Their warcasters have been at the forefront of this empire building, leading massive armies to conquer their former neighbours. This activity has not gone unnoticed by the stealthy Iosans and their rapid armies have moved to intercept and assassinate these human warcasters. The Retribution of Scyrah cares little about the wars of other nations. It is the scalps of those warcasters that they seek.

The Protagonists

This battle report is aimed at giving an overview of how the mechanics of Warmachine combine to make a compelling, tactical and exciting wargame. Steve Coleman and I lined up two 25pt armies with a very simple mission – assassinate the opposing players warcaster. 25pts is a smallish game, but sufficient to show the main aspects of the game. I had my beloved Khadorans led by the walking beatstick that is the Butcher of Khardov. This warcaster lives for the sound of battle and the smell of blood. He is an unstoppable monster that can support his troops with his potent magic and push his warjacks to excel in combat. The rest of my force was comprised of two warjacks, a Juggernaut and a Devastator, a couple of small units and a couple of solos. The ‘jacks of Khador have the most formidable armour in the game also have the ability to absorb as well as dish out a lot of damage. They are typically slower than the ‘jacks of other nations, but what do you expect of constructs that are over 10 tons in weight!

Focus: this represents magical ability in Warmachine. Every warcaster has a Focus stat and this finite resource is what they use to cast spells, boost attacks and support their warjacks. It is replenished every turn, but there is never quite enough to go around!

Facing the might of Khador would be Adeptis Rahn, an arcanist beyond compare. His ability to manipulate magic and support other mages in his force is stunning. He has amazing spells to support every element of his army and blast his enemy with arcane blasts while doing so. He has one of the highest focus stats in the game, so he can put out a lot of support and/or hurt every turn. Making up the rest of Steve’s army was made up of two myrmidons (warjacks to you and me), a the much feared Mage Hunter Strike Force with Commander, a unit of Battle Mages and a couple of solos. The warjacks of the Retribution tend to be more specialist and nimble than those of Khador. They also sport an Arcantrik Field that can absorb damage before the ‘jack itself is damaged. Nifty! One of Steve’s warjacks was a light ‘jack named a Chimera. This ‘jack has a couple of nice tricks, but it also has a feature known as an arc Node. All factions (apart from Khador, doh!) have access to arc nodes that allow warcasters to bounce their spells through the ‘jack. This are very useful in keeping your ‘caster out of harms way. Remember, the mission in this game is to assassinate the opposing ‘caster.

The Game

Warmachine is usually played on a 4’ x 4’ battlefield with deployment in 10” wide on opposing sides. Steve’s Retribution force deployed between a wood and hill with the large Manticore myrmidon in the centre of his army. It was surrounded by Battle Mages who had Rahn in their midst and a Soulless Escort capable of absorbing enemy magic attacks attached. The Iosans view the phenomena of Soulless being born as a true sign that Scyrah is dying. To the left of this unit is the Chimera and beyond it is a Magister, a veteran Battle Mage. deployed. The Mage Hunters and Commander are advance deployed (up to 6” beyond the standard deployment zone) to the front and right of the rest of the force. Finally, an Archanist, a Retribution mechanic deployed beside the Manticore.

Casting Spells: Every spell has a Focus cost and this is deducted from the wascaster’s total when cast. If the spell is cast on a friendly unit then only the range needs to be checked. If it is in range it’s cast. If a spell targets an enemy the ‘caster check range and then must roll to hit. They player rolls 2D6 and adds their focus (FOC). If this total equals or exceeds the enemy’s defense (DEF) it is a hit. Spell effects are then resolved.

Across the table my red Khadorans deployed beside a hill with the warjacks up front. Just behind them was a unit of Mechaniks, the Butcher and a War Dog. The Mechaniks, as their name suggests, are adept at repairing ‘jacks in the heat of battle. The War Dog offers protection to a ‘caster through counter charging the enemy if he gets too close and increasing the ‘casters Defense stat in melee. In my previous article I mentioned the stats briefly, but I’ll go through the basics of combat when the action kicks in. On the far right flank a mounted Drakhun was ready to chase down whatever came near it. On the left flank stood the formidable Great Bears of Gallowswood, a trio of battle hardened veterans with the capacity to utterly destroy both ‘jacks and units.

Steve won the dice off, so the first Turn would go to him. He allocated one focus, from Rahn’s eight, to the Chimera to allow it to run on its activation. Warjacks function like any other unit, but they can be allocated up to three focus to allow they to run, charge, boost attacks and perform power attacks, such as slams, throws, and headbutts. Rahn cast Force Field (three focus) which allows him to control the direction of missed blast shots. He also cast Polarity Shield (two focus) on the Battle Mages which prevents them from being charged. The remaining two focus are left on Rahn and they boost his armour. He then advanced forward. The rest of his force moved rapidly forward and the Arcansist assigned one focus to the Manticore to allow it to run.

On my first turn I allocated one focus to each ‘jack and then ran most of the army forward. The Butcher walked up behind them and cast Iron Flesh (two focus), from his total of six, onto the Great Bears, which added +3 to their DEF. I was afraid of the Mage Hunters firing their crossbows through the wood at my precious (and expensive) unit. The Commander with the Mage Hunters granted them the Phantom Seeker ability allowing them to ignore line of sight when targeting. Of course I forgot they have an ability to also ignore the focus boost to armour and spells that add to DEF and armour (ARM). They are Mage Hunters after all. Doh!

On his next turn Steve had Rahn upkeep both spells. Some spells can last from one turn to another. The ‘caster must spend one focus at the start of the turn to keep a spell of this type in play. Again his army advanced up, thankfully he wasn’t in range of the Great Bears. On his left flank he moved the Chimera up to arc spells at the Drakhun. Rahn first cast Chain Blast, an offensive spell, through the arc node. He hit the Drakhun with ease. This spell has a power (POW) of 12, so Steve would normally roll 2D6, add it to the 12 and compare that to my ARM. If the total exceeds my Drakhun’s ARM it does the amount of damage it exceeds by. The Drakhun’s ARM is 19, so Steve decided to boost the damage roll giving him an extra D6. Thankfully he only rolled 9 on the 3D6 and only managed to do two points of damage. The Drakhun has ten boxes of damage. Since that wasn’t enough Steve used the Telekinesis spell to move the Drakhun 2” and spin him around. This is important as models need line of sight (LoS) to charge. They can still walk into combat, but they don’t get a movement advantage or cause more damage on their initial attack. The Magister charged the Drakhun, but failed to cause any damage. He missed with his first attack and the second just bounced off of its armour.

The Drakhun got his revenge on my turn; he spun around and smashed the Magister, but the Chimera was still lurking nearby, so his vengeance was going to be short-lived. Again the Khadorans advanced forward. The Devastator is the most heavily armoured warjack in the game so it ran right up close to the Battle Mages. It couldn’t charge them due to Polarity Shield spell. The Butcher decided to send his Obliteration spell towards the Mage Hunters. I knew it would miss as they have the Stealth ability (all ranged attacks originating from more that 5” away automatically miss), but I was hoping for a lucky deviation. Attacks with a blast template scatter when they miss, just like in Warhammer, and I was hoping for a lucky deviation. However, I forgot Force Field allowed Rahn to decide the direction of deviations in his Control Area, so he sent it harmlessly away from the Mage Hunters.

Part 2 of the battle report continues here.

Talion Charter: Photographs

owen — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 17:00:37 +0000

There’s a complete gallery below, but first up are the recently completed Thamarite Cultists -

And Fiona the Black -

Everybody –

Owen

Malifaux Photographs – The Guild

owen — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 20:30:39 +0000

Here is Lady Justice and her Guild crew. Individual photographs below.

Owen

Arrr… here be Pirates!

owen — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 19:50:09 +0000

Progress on my Privateer force, my MkII project, is going pretty well. Here is a gallery of photographs -

Captain Phinneas Shae

First Mate Hawk

Lord Rockbottom, Expetidion Financier

Doc Killingsworth

Bosun Grogspar

Mariner

Buccaneer

Sea Dog Crew

Sea Dog Riflemen

As I mentioned before this is a strange project. I bought some of the miniatures painted. Everything shown here has seen some paint from me to touch them up, but the Mariner, Buccaneer and Bosun Grogspar were painted from scratch, as was one of the Sea Dogs. They are coming along nicely now. I’ll post a painting guide for the ‘jacks soon.

Owen

Why can’t I play Hordes?

owen — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 23:22:37 +0000

Saeryn’s powers couldn’t keep the Carnivean from crumbling to the onslaught from Kaelyssa and a Hydra. She could feel it’s fury being turned against it by the Iosan ‘caster. The Archers were dying in droves to her right and the Legionnaires were all but wiped out. She knew her only chance was to hit Kaelyssa at range, but despite damaging the enemy she couldn’t bring her down. As the ‘caster charged towards her Saeryn wondered how it had gone so badly…

I had a game against Steve last week and Saeryn was taken down too easily. It was a good game, but it showed me something loud and clear – I CAN’T USE DELICATE WARLOCKS.

I’ve had pretty good success with the beat stick that is Thagrosh, but when it comes to the other Legion warlocks I really struggle. I’ve played subtle and tricky ‘casters in my Cryx and Khador (well, maybe not so subtle) factions and I’ve always gotten on okay with them.

The subtle Legion warlocks that I own are a real problem for me – Lylyth, eLylyth, Saeryn and Rhyas – I can’t figure them out! When I win with Thagrosh I think I’m playing the Legion of Everblight as if they were Khador. The Carnivean is pretty close to being a Khadoran ‘jack. He can certainly dish out a lot of damage. Maybe that’s my problem… I need to go cold turkey on the Carnivean. I haven’t really used the Angelius that much, so maybe it’s time to take him out a bit more often and figure out the slightly more subtle side of Hordes.

Okay – I’m off to make up a couple of lists and think about how they might play.

Owen

Butcher vs Kaelyssa (35pt Battle Report)

owen — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 21:40:02 +0000

This is just a short battle report of a game Steve and I played before Christmas. It was a 35pt game between Khador and the Retribution. Steve’s army was -

Kaelyssa, Night’s Whisper
Chimera
Griffon
Hydra
Dawnguard Invictors (Leader and 5 Grunts)
Dawnguard Invictor Officer & Standard
Soulless Escort
Mage Hunter Strikeforce (Leader and 9 Grunts)
Mage Hunter Commander
Arcanist
Ghost Sniper
Mage Hunter Assassin

The Mage Hunters scare me. Advance deploy ‘caster killers with Stealth. When they lined up across the table I knew I’d have to keep a distance between them and the Butcher. The Ghost Sniper frightened me too.

The Butcher of Khardov
Devastator
Juggernaut
War dog
Battle Mechaniks (Leader and 3 Grunts)
Great Bears of Gallowswood
Iron Fang Pikemen (Leader and 5 Grunts)
Iron Fang Pikemen Officer & Standard
Widowmakers (Leader and 3 Grunts)
Man-o-war Drakhun (without dismount)
Manhunter

Okay, my battle plan was to keep the Butcher behind my ‘jacks and let the rest of my army run interference. If I can stall Steve’s ranged threats and let the Butcher get to the heart of his army then I might have a chance. The Manhunter and Drakhun would act as flanking threats.

THE GAME

This shot is from about half way through the game. The Widowmakers were to the right of this picture, but fared badly against the Mage Hunters. One of them did manage to take out the Commander and the Manhunter killed a couple before he was killed.

The IFP performed much better storming forward to kill a couple more Magehunters and take out the Chimera.

The Great Bears stormed out of the woods into the Hydra and wrecked on their charge. One of them was picked off, but the next turn the remaining two were within walking distance of Kaelyssa, who had feated. The Butcher cast Fury on them and feated. The Great Bears missed with three of their four Backswing attacks, but the one that contacted nearly killed the Retribution ‘caster. The Drakhun hunted down the Ghost Sniper and Assassin and was now close to Kaelyssa.

Steve’s retaliation was swift. The Invictors wiped out the remaining Great Bears and the remaining IFP. The Mage Hunters dropped loads of shots onto the Drakhun, but barely managed to damage him. Kaelyssa sensed real danger and charged the war rider. She completely stuffed up her attacks and was now standing in front of an angry horse.

The Khadoran ‘jacks were primed to cause havok. The Juggernaut was loaded with focus and had the Griffon in it’s sights. The Devastator was about to show some Invictors was it was like to be up close when he rained down some death. However, before they could do their thing the Drakhun ended it by trampling the Retribution ‘caster with his horse’s attack!

It was a good game. A lot of Khadorans died to the Mage Hunters, but it was necessary to keep them away from the Butcher. The only damage done to the Butcher was with Whiplash and the Ghost Hunter. My ‘jacks were completely stalled by Kaelyssa’s rough terrain AoE. Steve cast is on my Devastator and completely stalled their movement through a narrow gap between rough terrain. They never got into the game and this in turn stalled the Butcher. It meant I had no use for Full Throttle, which was the spell I really wanted to try out!

Owen

PS Sorry for the poor quality photos – I took them on my phone.

Thagrosh vs Xerxis (35pt MkII Battle Report)

owen — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 11:18:01 +0000

With the release of the MkII Field Test for Hordes I’ve been looking forward to getting some games in. I’m not a particularly good Hordes player, but I wanted to see how the Legion had fared with the rules changes. I should probably qualify what ‘not particularly good’ means. Around Dublin, and in Ireland generally, there is a very active Warhammer Fantasy Battle scene and the game is played to a pretty competitive level. When it comes to Warmachine and Hordes we tend to be a little more relaxed – we don’t try to build the horrible lists or do gamesmanship things like declaring a charge or trample you know you cannot make in order to gain an extra 3″ of movement. In other words, we don’t try to pull off the weird little tricks that are possible in the rules, but that seem unlikely to occur in ‘real life’. We have a pretty soft meta around here. The reason I’m mentioning this is that you rarely saw a conga line of Idrians or Drakhuns flying through the air, so some of the changes in MkII, for example the new formation rules, have practically no impact on the way Warmachine/Hordes is played around here.

Anyway, during the week Harry, a Skorne player, and I fought a 35pt game using the new rules. I had Thagrosh leading my force with a healthy balance of beasts, units and solos. I wanted to try out a bit of everything. Here’s my list (which I wrote up on Forward Kommander as it now supports Hordes) -

Thagrosh, Prophet of Everblight
Nephilim Soldier
Carnivean
Shredder
Shredder
Blighted Nyss Archers (Leader and 5 Grunts)
Blighted Nyss Legionnaires (Leader and 5 Grunts)
Blighted Ogrun Warmongers (Leader and 4 Grunts)
Blighted Nyss Shepherd
The Forsaken

That’s exactly 35pts (when you factor in Thagrosh’s +5 Warbeast points). I’d have to be careful to keep my non-fearless troops away from the abominations in the army, but other than that it’s pretty straight forward. Thagrosh, the Carnivean and the Warmongers can hit pretty hard. The Legionnaires are a great defensive unit and the Archers are decent at taking out lightly armoured troops or combining ranged attacks to threaten moderately armoured enemies. The Nephilim is a decent counter punching beast and the Shredders make good transfer targets with a useful animus.

Harry’s force (which I wrote up in iBodger and emailed to myself) comprised of –

Tyrant Xerxis
Cyclops Brute
Rhinodon
Titan Gladiator
Agonizer
4 Cataphract Arcuarii
6 Paingiver Beast Handlers
6 Praetorian Swordsmen

I’m not very familiar with Skorne having only fought them once before, but Xerxis seems like a solid beat stick as are the heavy beasts. I really wasn’t familiar with this army (I even forgot to ask Harry what Xerxis’ feat was until he was about to do it!), but there’s nothing like learning what a unit does by plying against them!

I’m going to write the report in my terrible narrative style again, but I’ll comment on the MkII changes at the end.

Several days ago Thagrosh had send a scouting party of Striders ahead of his force to kill all of the inhabitants of a small mining settlement. His army needed to rest and recuperate after the long march south and the supplies, and fresh meat from the slain miners, should sustain his force for a couple of days. As they approached the miners’ huts the Striders seemed to have done an efficient job as there was not a living person in sight. Thagrosh had been distracted for the last few hours. Everblight’s ever active mind was revealing an intricate plan that sucked him deep into the Dragon’s vision and away from what was going on around him. The real world was a dream through his eyes. Even in this trance like state one unsettling thought began to surface, why had the Striders not reported back to him.

Pain pulled him from Everblight’s mind into his surroundings before he fully registered the significance of the missing Striders. He felt the Carnivean howl as brutal blows smashed the life from it at the edge of Thagrosh’s senses. He tried to see through it’s eyeless vision, but it was too late. Something had destroyed the creature. Thagrosh focused all his will to draw it’s energies back to him. He was at the fore of his army and he could not afford the time it would take to bring another beast from the rear. They had been ambushed.

Black and gold armoured troops appeared on his right. He recognised them as the Skorne, desert dwellers from the East. Maybe they were drawn to this settlement for supplies too and the presence of the Striders had alerted them to his approach. It did not matter. He needed to react quickly. He ordered the Warmongers and Archers forward on the left, hoping to outflank his unseen opponent. The Legionnaires were hopelessly outnumbered on the right, but he ordered them to hold to the last Nyss. He forced the Nephilim Soldier forward and through it’s sight saw the Skorne Titan that had destroyed the Carnivean.

Seeing it made his outflanking plan seem foolish. This Titan could rampage through his moving troops without rapid intervention. He moved forward and called the Warmongers back to take on this beast. The charge from the Warmongers was brutal tearing chunks from the Titan, but still it stood defiant and struck two of the blighted down. To make matters worse a lumbering Rhinodon appeared between the houses. Thagrosh forced the Nephilim forward to finish the Titan which it did with a grace against which the Skorne beast could not defend.

Thagrosh was aware of the Archers shooting at something on the left, but neither he nor his beasts could see at what. On the right the Legionnaires were faring poorly. They had taken down a couple of the large armoured Skorne, but their numbers were dwindling quickly and another unit of the enemy was closing in.

That was the least of his problems, the Rhinodon was now hurtling towards the Warmongers and Nephilim. With a swipe of it’s tail it dropped two more Warmongers, but failed to hit the Nephilim. Thagrosh urged the Nephilim to the right to block the units of Skorne and hoped that the spiked Skorne beast would not strike it down. The gamble paid off and the Nephilim swooped to engaged the enemy troops.

Now was the moment for him to join the fight. He barrelled towards the Skorne beast and swung with all his might. His repeated blows struck home, but it’s impressive armour prevented him from taking it down. In the distance Thagrosh could see the Skorne warlock approach with his maces held ready for combat. Now he needed the Carnivean back in action. Using Everblight’s gift he brought the destroyed beast back by his side.

The enemy warlock urged his force to inflict brutal damage and charged in damaging the Carnivean, but failed to destroy it. The spiked beast attempted to break it too, but was having difficulty hitting the Legion creation. On his right the Nephilim Soldier miraculously held and blocked the advancing Skorne troopers. This was his opportunity. He forced the Carnivean to make room for him to engage, but in it’s fury it started to strike the Skorne warlock. Between it’s vicious jaws and powerful claws the Carnivean, which was the first victim of this encounter, finished it. The Skorne warlock had been felled by it’s anger. The settlement and supplies were Legions to exploit.

So, that is MkII then (well, at least the Field Test). Unsurprisingly it plays much the same. I forgot Vengeance on the Legionnaires twice during the battle, so there is more to be considered during the Maintenance Phase. I also forgot about Abomination early in the battle, resulting in the Archers not taking a Command check when the Warmongers strayed close to them. Neither of these were game changing. Harry got pretty unlucky at the end. He should have wiped the Carnivean out a second time, but then again my damage roles on the Rhinodon were terrible! He also should have taken out the Nephilim soldier, but again his dice abandoned him. When the Carnivean struck down Xerxis he was had four fury for transfers, but Harry had run too hot in his turn and both of his beasts were fully loaded. That said, Thagrosh was sitting on full fury and could probably have finished him too. It was an excellent game, but without any beasts frenzying (there was only one Threshold check in the whole game, and it was successful) or the need to Shake Effect we didn’t get to test out most of the newer aspects of Hordes MkII.

Owen

Updated Legion of Everblight Photographs

owen — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 11:00:51 +0000

I grabbed the camera tonight and got more photographs of the Legion. That’s everything that I have painted so far. Epic Thagrosh, the Strider UA, Raptors and Harriers are still in their boxes, but I don’t intend to start painting them until the run up to Hordes MkII next year.

Owen

PS There are much bigger versions on flickr if you click through.

eIrusk vs Severius (750pt Battle Report)

owen — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 19:54:23 +0000

During the week Phil and I fought a 750pt game over my newly constructed battle board. The last time we played my Cryxian force got the better of his Menites, but this time I would be using my old reliable Khadorans. We rarely play 750pt games, so I took this opportunity to field eIrusk. I really like his non-epic version and have really good success with him. Both versions are support ‘casters that frustrate your enemy and buff your troops and ‘jacks. They can get stuck in when needs be, but you’d want to be sure they get the job done as any retaliation will hurt. I talked about my force construction already for this game, but here’s my list again -

Supreme Kommandant Irusk
Destroyer
War Dog
Great Bears of Gallowswood
8 Iron Fang Pikemen
Iron Fang Officer & Standard Bearer
3 Man-O-War Shocktroopers
Greylord Ternion
Widowmakers
4 Battle Mechaniks
Man-O-War Kovnik
Man-O-War Drakhun (+dismount)
Manhunter
Eiryss, Mage Hunter of Ios

That leaves me just a few points shy at 747 points comprising 34 models and 29 VPs. We’re going to play for the ‘caster kill so VPs aren’t going to matter. Phil’s army was relatively ‘jack heavy with four arc nodes, but these were balanced by some solid troop choices -

Grand Scrutator Severius
Guardian
3 Revengers
Choir of Menoth (6)
10 Holy Zealots
Monolith Bearer
10 Temple Flameguard
Temple Flameguard Officer and Standard Bearer
6 Knights Exemplar
Reclaimer
3 Wracks

That comes in at 25 VPs and 46 models and whilst ‘jack/troop balanced is lacking in the solo area.

For this battle report I’m going to try something different and write it as a fictional narrative. It’ll probably be rubbish, but here it goes.

Irusk had his eyes closed. The wind was picking up and it carried the undulating chanting of the approaching Menites. They had strayed into this newly acquired region of the Khadoran Empire and trespassers, even those who claim to have a God at their side, will not be tolerated. Irusk could sense his men’s readiness. They were a hammer that was poised and he would decide where the blow would land. No one understood the lands and terrain that armies fight over better than he and it would act as his anvil. He would channel the enemy to the point where he wanted them and would then release the hammer, striking them, smiting them.

Even with his eyes shut he could see every detail of the low hill with ruins atop that stood before him. Whilst it might appear to be a strong defensive position to an inexperienced commander, he saw it as a means to divide the enemy’s strength. He committed the Widowmakers forward on his left flank and sent the mercenary Elf with them. He did not trust her, but knew she could slow any opposing ‘jacks that advanced that way. Behind the hill he deployed the Destroyer with whom he had developed a strong bond in the last months. He could sense it’s strength and it’s eagerness to surge towards the enemy. He would have to work to control it as his plan was to use it as a pivotal point in his army, the centre about which he would divide the enemy. The Great Bears had the Iron Fangs under their command and he had ordered them to advance on the right along the dried river bed when the saw enemy in numbers. He was confident that they could deal with any that came that way. He and his entourage, consisting of of a Kovnik, Drakhun, Greylords and the Wardog Ronoyxa, would stay flexible, ready to react to where the enemy sent the bulk of their force, but he was sure it would be the river bed.

On the wind he caught the acrid smell of coal smoke and as he opened his eyes he could see the massive Guardian ‘jack followed closely by spear-armed Temple Flame Guard and possibly Exemplar Knights advancing towards the Widowmakers. So it began.

He barked orders to the Men-O-War to move to the centre, willing them forward with extra speed. His ‘jack held steady whilst the Bears and their Iron Fangs rush up the right. In front of them he could see the smoke of three small ‘jacks in tight formation as they moved along the riverbed. The chanting seemed to be coming from that direction and he knew that the choir of Menoth had strange powers the thwart the efficiency of the Khadoran guns. The Iron Fangs would have no such trouble. A glint of light flashed from atop the hill and amongst a large group of zealots he spotted Severius. He knew the threat range of this old man and his ability to drain magic from the air was disconcerting. He moved his entourage along the river slightly careful to keep the enemy ‘caster in his slights.

The report of the Widowmakers guns caught his ears and he hoped that signified the deaths of Menites. If the Elf did not delay that Guardian ‘jack then he could be in trouble, but the smoke from it did not seem to be closing quickly. In the centre, the Men-O-War were quickly enveloped by the Zealots. Even these maniacs were not foolish enough to use their fire bombs in close combat and the highly armoured Khadorans began wading through them. Irusk ensured the advancing trio of ‘jacks were slowed by turning the previously dry river bed into a quagmire below their feet. The Iron Fang Pikemen charged to engage one of these smaller ‘jacks which now appeared to be Revengers. He would have to deal with all of them as having even one nearby was as dangerous as getting too near Severius. The Great Bears dodged and weaved through the pikemen to engage the second Revenger, but they did not seem to be dealing with it as quickly as he’d expect. More sporadic shots could be heard from the Widowmakers, but they were now less in number. Irusk feared that the left flank would not hold much longer and as if to add insult to injury he felt all the magic surrounding him dissipate forcing a temporary retreat.

The Iron Fangs and Great Bears became enclosed in clouds of ashes as some troopers seemed to disintegrate, but those remaining were slowly dealing with the enemy ‘jacks. Irusk could see Severius focusing his energies towards them. In the centre the Drakhun launched forward towards the third Revenger and totalled it, but the horse fell in the assault. The Guardian appeared on the hill as, almost simultaneously, the depleted Flame Guard and Exemplars rounded its base. This was bad. Irusk only had a few Mechaniks and the Destroyer in that area as the Men-O-War were still engaged with the Zealots in the centre. Without even being ordered the Mechaniks launched themselves at the enemy spearmen, but were cut down to a man.

This bought a little time and he focused his mind on the Destroyer levelling it’s bombard towards the enemy unit. Four fell in the explosion. As they crowded together and began advancing he attempted to halt them, but only felled one. He urged the Greylords forward and they took care of the rest, but were almost wiped out in the process. Eyriss and the Widowmakers were nowhere to be seen, but they had at least reduced the now leaderless Exemplar Knights to three. On the hill the Guardian engaged the Men-O-War over a ruined wall and killed one of them. The others repositioned to engage the remaining Zealots, who had managed to throw some bombs towards the dismounted Drakhun and the Great Bears. Between the bombs and the magics of Severius the right flank wasn’t looking great either.

Urged on by their leader the Exemplars engaged the Men-O-War to the rear and obliterated them as the Guardian rounded the wall in the direction of the Destroyer. A foolhardy Monolith bearer surged towards the Khadoran ‘jack, his attack barely scratching it’s armour. The dog Ronoyxa bounded towards him and lunged at his neck, felling the fanatic and returning to his master’s side. Irusk saw his chance and focused all of his mind on the Destroyer. Through it’s eyes he could see the Guardian become nearer as the Destroyer hurtled at it. He swung hard rending the lance arm from the Guardian’s body and on the backswing took it’s other arm off. The ‘jack wasn’t disabled, but it was essentially neutered. Just as he returned to himself he was nearly thrown off balance by a fire bomb that landed at his feet. He drew his handcannon and dropped the lone Zealot. The Iron Fangs and Great Bears could not be seen from where he was, but there were several casualties lying near the now destroyed Revengers. Again he fired his handcannon, this time killing a Knight. The dog killed another and with an almighty swing of the axe the Destroyer finished the Guardian and the final Exemplar.

It was only now that Irusk noticed that the choir was no longer chanting and that Severius had retreated into a defensive position on the hill. As he surveyed the scene he noticed that there were no other Protectorate troops standing. Severius’ anger caused him to surge forward frying a Manhunter that Irusk himself did not even spot until he went up in flames. This was the chance, time for the Destroyer to Blitzkrieg the enemy warcaster, who would now be finding the ground under his feet turning to thick gorse. The Destroyer swung, but before it could connect the enemy ‘caster dove out of the way and quit the field as quickly as his aged feet could carry him. The day belonged to Khador. Irusk felt every the pain of every man lost, but he was relieved to see the Great Bears pull themselves to standing from amidst the corpses of fallen pikemen. Many good men of the empire had died today, but losing the Bears would have been a severe blow.

So, there it is, my Khadorans emerged victorious when Phil conceded with only Severius left alive (and standing in combat with my Destroyer). I had the Wardog, Kovnik, one Greylord, the Destoyer and the Iron Fang’s Standard Bearer left alive with Irusk. The bit above about the Great Bears is just character fluff. None of them passed tough checks during the game! It was a hard fought battle, but by performing a refused flank and not attempting to take the hill I was able to only fight half of Phil’s force at a time. That said, when the TFG and remaining Exemplar Knights appeared around the hill in good numbers I thought I was in trouble. The ranged ability of the Destoyer and Greylords, coupled with some shots from Irusk and the Kovnik really took care of them. I forget how good Khador can be at range when needs be. Here are all of the photos I took -

That was a epic game!

Owen

Flames of War – Panzer Lehr Photographs

owen — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 21:01:11 +0000

My Flames of War Panzer Lehr force is growing in size, so I decided to take a few minutes to take some pictures. I have loads of things to paint, but an armoured heavy mortar platoon is probably next on my list.

Owen

Asphyxious vs Severius (500pt Battle Report)

owen — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 22:24:33 +0000

My newly painted Cryxian force faced off against Phil’s Protectorate of Menoth tonight. Phil is an old hand at the Protectorate and I’m relatively inexperienced with Cryx. We are, however, both very experienced at playing Warmachine, so I knew this was going to be a challenge. We decided on a simple 500pt kill the ‘caster scenario with lots of terrain to force us to think a little.

The Armies
I decided I go with a ranged magic assassination list with a strong Bane influence. I was hoping Tartarus could get close to the enemy troops and scythe through them. Here’s my list –

Iron Lich Asphyxious
Skarlock
3 Defilers
Bane Knights (6)
Bane Thralls (6)
Bile Thralls (6)
Bane Lord Tartarus
Pistol Wraith

That’s exactly 500pts. Phil’s list had his usual two units of Zealots and two arc nodes. Both of our casters had the potential for ranged magic kills, but the big differences are that he had some magical defence and I had a ‘caster that could really do a lot of damage in melee. Here’s Phil’s list -

Grand Scrutator Severius
Hierophant
Guardian
Revenger
Choir of Menoth (6)
Holy Zealots (6)
Holy Zealots (6)
Temple Flameguard (8)
Temple Flameguard Officer and Standard Bearer)
Knight Exemplar Seneschal

Terrain and Deployment

The table had a good amount of terrain with three fields, two good sized houses, a couple of hills, a forest and a pond. We decided that the fields would count as rough terrain, but would also provide concealment to small based miniatures in them.

Phil won the toss and decided to deploy and go first. He deployed on either side of a field with his Temple Flame Guard (TFG), Seneschal and a unit of Zealots on one side and ‘jacks, the other unit of Zealots and Severius’ retinue on the other.

I deployed with a front line of the Pistol Wraith on my left flank, then a Deflier, a unit Bile Thralls, the Bane Thralls, the Bane Knights and Tartarus in. They were followed up by Asphyxious with two more bonejacks and the Skarlock. My plan was to use the mobility of the Bane Knights and Tartarus to out flank Phil’s army on my right flank; use the stealthy Bane Thralls to cause a nuisance in the middle; give him a problem in the form of the Bile Thralls on my left and use the arc nodes to run up and take out things as they came forward.

The Game

The Protectorate forces moved quickly up between the house and a field with the Zealots leading the way. Severius hung back to cast some support spells. I know how painful some well placed fire bombs from the Zealots can be so I ran a sacrificial bonejack up to arc Breath of Corruption (BoC) onto one of the units. Five of the unit were killed and I finished off the final with Hellfire. I should have targetted the other unit with BoC first as the template was exactly where I wanted it. Being an upkeep spell meant casting it again would remove the first template. So that was a lot of focus to get rid of a 40 point unit, but it was worth it. The remains in play cloud from Breath of Corruption was right in the way of where the TFG would like to advance. This stalled them significantly and gave the Bane Knights time for their flanking move.

Phil responded immediately by casting Immolation on the lead Defiler and between that, some fire bombs from the remaining Zealots and critical fire it was disabled. The Seneschal moved out into an exposed position. I had little to kill on that turn, so I moved my army up the right flank and used the Pistol Wraith to kill him and only him that turn, thus denying him Restoration. Phil moved the Zealots to throw some fire bombs towards the Bane Thralls killing one and then sent the Guardian to arc Ashes to Ashes on the Bile Thralls. Five of them were destroyed and my left flank was left with nothing on it. This was okay as the Guardian was now out of position and I would be able to take care of the Zealots with my own arc nodes, which I did on the next turn.

My Bane Knights and Tartarus continued their relentless advance and were now closing on the TFG. Asphyxious moved into a copse of trees and conducted things from there. He arc noded Hellfire onto the Guardian several times, using his feat to deal a lot of damage, but somehow failing to disable the ‘jack. Phil retaliated by casting Ashes to Ashes through the Revenger, this time on a Bane Thrall killing him and another, and bouncing it onto Asphyxious for little damage. All the same, it served as a warning and I would have to be a little careful. The three remaining Bane Thralls then pulled off the charge of the game and utterly annihilated the Revenger in one turn.

Phil charged and killed the two Bane Knights he could reach and then bolstered the TFG for the impending onslaught, but unfortunately (for him) failed to cast Holy Vigil (+4 DEF) on them as he was just out of range. Tartarus walked into them and used his Thresher attack to kill five TFG, thus adding five to the Bane Knight unit, which set up to charge as many TFG as possible. On the charge the TFG were reduced to three and they would be easy to mop up next turn. Things were looking grim for Severius and he backed into the nearby field.

Phil moved up the Guardian and attempted to immolate the Pistol Wraith, but (amazingly) failed to do enough damage. The Bane Thralls, who were on a roll, then charged it, dealt a good deal of damage and took out its arc node. Asphyxious moved up, using his movement and Shadow Wings, to behind one of the houses and sent another bonejack towards Severius. Tartarus and his Bane Knights killed the remaining TFG and moved on the choir. They still had Severius to kill and that would be a challenge as he now had Holy Vigil upkept on himself in the concealing field.

I charged everything I had at him and Asphyxious swooped in, but Severius’ feat forced the Iron Lich back for a turn and his magic killed everything I threw at him. Asphyxious came at him again and this time would not be denied. His first swing missed, but the second hit triggering Sustained Attack. Severius was destroyed with a couple of boosted hits. None of his force remained alive and all I had left was Asphyxious and two Defilers. Utter carnage, but a great game.

Here are all of the images I took of the game -

Owen

Photographing Miniatures

owen — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 21:57:58 +0000

This is not a general purpose article on how to photograph miniatures, despite the title. It is a guide to how I shoot ‘quick’ photographs. By quick I mean picking up the camera, grabbing a sheet of A4, placing the miniature, turning on the lamp and then shooting. Post editing is optional, but worth the 10 seconds it takes before upload to make the images brighter.

The Cryx photos, and most of my other Warmachine/Hordes miniatures, were shot with a Canon 400D with a 17-85mm USM/IS lens. They were shot handheld, thanks the the IS, at a distance of about 30cm in Aperture Priority (F10) and ISO 400. Adjust the f-stop to play with depth of field as required.

The centre was set as the AF focus point with partial metering selected. I used custom white balance with a blank (unfocused) shot of the white background (an A4 sheet) as the reference. The miniature is lit from above (the lamp is literally just out of shot) by a fluorescent energy saving bulb (equivalent of 60W). I usually set the head (nose if it has one) of the miniature as the focus point.

Post editing involves boosting the shadows by 50% and performing an auto level (based on the B&W colours) in your favourite editor. I then upload the photos to flickr adding appropriate tags and grouping them in a set.

Sounds complicated, but it’s really not!

Owen

PS If you’re looking for a general guide many can be found on the web. If you’re too lazy to search – grab a tripod, set your camera to macro mode, change the white balance to match the light source, turn off the flash and take your picture!

Cryx Photographs

owen — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 21:15:14 +0000

Since I’m in the process of adding to the Cryx I thought I’d post photos of what’s been painted to date. As you can see it’s a small force badly in need of more units. A 500pts army makes for a very ‘jack and solo heavy force with nothing capable of tying down enemy infantry. Thankfully I just finished the Mechanithralls and Bile Thralls in a marathon painting day yesterday…

Owen

Warmaster Undead Photographs

owen — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 19:47:48 +0000

I’ve been working on these recently. So far I’ve painted four units of cavalry, three units of chariots, two units of carrion, four units of archers, three liche priests and a tomb king. There is a Sphinx on the painting table at the moment and I have a load of things to assemble (Skull Chukkas, Bone Throwers, another Sphinx, a Bone Giant, more chariots).

Owen

Flames of War – Battle of Bloody Gulch

owen — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 22:27:43 +0000

On the 12th June 1944 (D-Day +6) the 101st Airborne took Carentan, a crucial objective that provided a linkup between Utah and Omaha beaches. They encountered only light resistance with the majority of the 6th Fallschirmjager Regiment having withdrawn due to a shortage of ammunition. This two-battle campaign describes the events of the following day, when the 501st, 502nd and 506th PIR encountered the German counter attacking force consisting of paratroopers and the 17th SS Panzergrenadier Division to the southwest of the city.

BACKGROUND
The loss of Carentan on the 12th June was a heavy blow to the German chances of repelling the the Allied forces as it provided a vital link between two of the main invasion beaches. On the 13th June the resupplied 6th Fallschirmjager Regiment linked up with elements of the 17th SS Panzerdivision, including some Panzer IV H tanks in order to retake the town. At the same time the paratroopers of the 101st Airborne were in entrenched positions to the southwest of Carentan, having extended their defensive perimeter around the town while they awaited support from the 2nd Armoured Division. At dawn on the 13th the German forces were ready to counterattack and moved from the southwest.

Figure 1 [1] – Battle for Carentan

CAMPAIGN
This two game campaign represents the events of the 13th June, with the first battle representing the overwhelming German forces clashing with Dog and Fox companies from the 501st PIR and the second game representing their advance towards Carentan being resisted by Easy company. The Germans are attempting to breakthrough the dug in paratroopers to retake Carentan and the Allies are attempting to repel this assault and hold the town. Game 1 is a Fighting Withdrawal (P.205) with some modifications. The outcome of this battle determines how prepared the Americans are to fight the German advance in Game 2.

Game 1 is a Fighting Withdrawal (P.205), but uses the map from Hold The Line (P.204). This represents the German advances being hemmed in by bocage hedges (players may use the Boacage Special Rules in both games) and the fact that they were using Route d’Auvers (shown in this Satellite Image) for their advance. There are a couple of minor changes to the scenario. The Defensive Battle special rule is not used as the Germans are always the attackers; The Ambush and Prepared Position special rules is not used as the German forces caught the defenders off balance, having just left their overnight entrenched positions in order to push out the defensive perimeter. Otherwise the battle is fought as described in the Flames of War rulebook. In brief, this means the defending American force must place three objectives and incrementally withdraw their forces and remove objectives. While doing so they must not allow the objectives to fall to the attacking German forces. Effectively an American win would hinder and slow the German advance, giving time for Easy Company to bolster their defensive positions. A German win would leave Easy unprepared and in real danger of being overrun.

Two key aspects of Game 2 are determined by the outcome of game 1: the timing of the Reserves and the American’s capability to mount an anti-armour Ambuscade. Game 2 is a Hold the Line battle as described on P.204 of the rulebook. Again the Defensive Battle special rule is not used, with the German forces being the attacking force. If the Americans lost the first game the Reserves special rule become the Delayed Reserves special rule. If the Germans lost the first game the American player may detach up to three bazooka teams from any platoons and form them into a new platoon (that does not count in any way towards the total number of platoons or the number of platoons destroyed). This new platoon may be deployed using the Ambuscade special rule. Regardless of the winner of game 1, the American player must hold all tank platoons in reserve.

The overall outcome of the campaign is determined by the outcome of game 2, i.e. an American win in this game results in them winning the campaign whether they won game 1 or not.

GAME 1: AFTER ACTION REPORT
SETUP

For game one we set out a 4′ x 6′ board with Route d’Auvers running lengthwise surrounded by hedgerows and fields (see Photo 1, right). The American forces had hastily chosen positions and whilst ready for the German attack had not the time to properly prepare their positions or organise ambushes. The Germans would enter from one end and attempt to seize key objectives and disrupt the American withdrawal. Recognising that they had little chance of defeating the German armour unsupported the Screaming Eagles would have to try to delay them so that their own tanks would have a chance to engage (in Game 2). This game was set at about 1250pts with Paul playing an armour supported German Fallschirmjager force and me playing American paratroopers.

The German force consisted of -

Fallschirmjager Company HQ (2 SMG Teams) supported by 2 Panzerfausts and a Mortar Detachment
Fallschirmjager Platoon with three Rifle/MG squads and a HQ with Panzerfaust
Fallschirmjager MG Platoon with four MG42 teams and a HQ with Panzerknacker
Fallschirmjager Mortar Platoon with two 10.cm NbW35 and HQ
Panzergrenadier Platoon with three squads and a HQ with Panzerfaust
Panzer Platoon with three Panzer IVh tanks (including HQ)

At first glance it is not a very mobile force, but considering the bocage terrain, where tanks can easily bog down, the infantry have an advantage. The MG and Mortar platoons can concentrate on keeping the American’s pinned down while the Fallschirmjager and Panzergrenadier platoons advance under their fire. If the tanks can advance freely they have the potential to rout the American force all by themselves!

My paratrooper force consisted of -

PIR Company Command Carbine Team and 2iC Command Carbine Team with three HQ Bazooka Teams
PIR Platoon with three Squads (Cmd R/MG, 9x R/MG, 1x 60mm Mort, 1x Bazooka)
PIR Platoon with three Squads (Cmd R/MG, 9x R/MG, 1x 60mm Mort, 1x Bazooka)
PIR MG Platoon with two Sections (Cmd/Crb, 8x LMG)
PIR Mortar Platoon with two Sections (Cmd/Crb, 4x 81mm Mort)
PIR Field Artillery Battery with two Sections (Cmd/Crb, Staff, Obs/Crb, 4x 75mm PH)

The Germans deployed towards the southern end of the road with this view (Photo 2, left). The MG Platoon was positioned between the two hills (see Photo 1, above), but otherwise Paul concentrated the bulk of his force behind the tanks on the road. It looked like Paul’s plan would be to storm up the road with the tanks shielding the troops behind.

The Americans were more spread out, with the PIR platoons positioned ahead of the rest of their force. One was in a wheat field and the other was close to the road hidden in hedgerows.

Just behind and between them in a well protected field was the MG platoon. These were in turn backed up by the mortars who were in a strong defensive position behind a stone wall. The man packed 75mm howitzer artillery was at the back of the field with their observer holed up with the PIR platoon in the wheat field. The Company HQ and their bazooka teams joined the platoon near the road (See Photo 3, right; Note: the Germans in the top left of the shot had not deployed yet). The three objectives they were defending may be seen near the rightmost field in this photo. All the Americans could do now was hunker down and wait for the distinctive sound of the enemy Panzers.

THE BATTLE

The Panzers initially moved up the middle of the road with the remainder of the force following behind. The tanks advanced tentatively while the Fallschirmjager MG platoon moved up towards the long hedgerow in front of the hills (see Photo 4, left). The Paratroopers holed up in the nearby field immediately stormed forwards to defend the hedgerow in an attempt to slow the advancing MG platoon and act as a diversion to the tanks. Their gambit was successful as the German MG platoon halted and opened fire which proved mostly ineffective due to the cover offered by the hedge. The Panzers indeed swung off the road towards these paratroopers and opened fire with their MGs wiping out three teams. The bazooka team returned fire ineffectively and then Americans managed to withdraw in good order, their feint having been successful.

On the German right flank the Panzergrenadiers moved up towards the large concentration of paratroopers concealed behind the hedges near the road. They advanced under American fire that caused few losses and they sized the opportunity to assault the hedgerow. The American defensive fire was poor and the Panzergrenadiers pushed the defenders back from their position (see Photo 5, right). The Americans counter assaulted and almost eliminated the German platoon, but the bloody exchange caused both to fall back. With the Fallschirmjager infantry and mortar platoons marching up the road the Americans moved into a position closer to the objective. This American flank was looking decidedly weak.

Meanwhile the Panzers continued to advance slowly between the orchard and the wheat field. The artillery observer (who had remained in the wheat field when the platoon moved out) called in a strike from the 75mm howitzers onto the tanks. This rattled the crew of one tank who bailed out. They regained their nerve quickly and remounted their vehicle. The PIR MG Platoon in the next field soon saw the three Panzer IVs appear in front of them. They had been preparing to withdraw, but with two objectives threatened they decided to stay and the mortar platoon behind them withdrew instead. One of these objectives was also removed (the damaged Tiger in Photo 6, left) leaving one guarded by the MG platoon (behind this field) and one by the weakened PIR platoon and HQ.

Realising that the Americans were withdrawing rapidly the Fallschirmjager infantry and MG platoon advanced at the double up the road and came under intense fire from the 75mm howitzers. This barrage mauled and stunned the Germans, causing their advance to stall. The severely weakened American paratrooper platoon in front of them was ordered to withdraw leaving only the Company HQ to hold the objective. The Germans did not regain their strength on this flank and the HQ and artillery were able to successfully withdraw and as the objective was removed.

On the German left flank two of the tanks faltered as they attempted to move into the field, but the MG platoon fell back rapidly none-the-less. They had nothing that could dent such formidable armour. As the German MG Platoon, who had now joined the Panzers, caught the Americans they managed to destroy two teams. The remaining teams, however, put up a valiant resistance. Their fight was hopeless, but it bought the time necessary to withdraw the nearby objective, thus denying the Germans vital intelligence.

AFTERMATH
The American paratroopers had barely succeeded in holding the Germans at bay. Their withdrawal was carried out under heavy pressure and only the Mortar platoon and artillery escaped unscathed. They managed to slow the German advance, but the cost was very high. Had the Panzers advanced more quickly they would have seized at least one of the objectives. It was the initial diversion to deal with the first PIR platoon and the fearless resistance of the MG platoon that gave the Americans time to withdraw. This delay in the German advance may prove costly if the American armour has been given the time to arrive. Game 2 should be interesting.

ALL PHOTOGRAPHS

REFERENCES

Wikipedia: Battle for Carentan Map
Wikipedia: Battle of Carentan
Wikipedia: Battle of Bloody Gulch
Ramsbury at War
Trigger Time – 101st Airborne WWII
Ambrose, S., E., Band of Brothers, E Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne: From Normandy to Hitler”s Eagle”s Nest (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1992)

Standard disclaimer – I am not a historian and I do not claim that everything written in this article is factually accurate, although I strove to ensure that it is. The battle report is fictitious and does not represent the events of the 13th June 1944.

Owen

Legion of Everblight Photographs

owen — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 09:00:38 +0000

My Legion of Everblight photographs. I’ve plenty more painted – I just need to get the camera out and take more pictures.

Owen

Khador Photographs

owen — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 20:13:05 +0000

I’ve been painting these for a long time and the photographs represent what I’d painted up to the end of 2007. There are a few more bits painted. I’ll hopefully photograph them soon.

Owen

Flames of War – Mini Campaign – Photographs

owen — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 17:52:04 +0000

[Overview | Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3 | Photographs]

Game 2
The first three images are from Game 2. The first photo above shows the crossroads in the centre of Schalbach that was the focus of the battle. The pivotal fight is shown int he second image with the Jagdpanzers and Panzergrenadiers having to fall back to tackle the advancing Shermans. The next image shows Peter’s awesome 105mm artillery in the background, but they were less than effective in this game with him having real difficulty ranging in (and rolling dice in general!).

Game 3
The next image gives an overview of the battlefield before deployment. The German objectives would lie in the top left corner, with them deploying in the closest quadrant. The next image shows the 1st platoon having lunged towards the objective, followed by the Jagdpanzers and AA guns. The tenacious 3rd rifle platoon can be seen on the left-hand hill. The second last and last images give a good view over the battle at about the half way point. The bulk of the American force is out of shot on the right-hand side, but the Nebelwerfers, American snipers, 3rd rifle platoon and the bulk of the German force can be seen. Objectives are to the top right.

As you can see we had to improvise with scenery as the range of 15mm terrain in the club is relatively poor. I think we need more terrain to really represent the area we were fighting in, specifically in the second game when we were fighting near the centre of the town.

Owen