3 Trolls Panzer Grenadiers V. Armored infantry.

Ariana was working this Saturday which means I got to do some gaming over at 3Trolls in Chelmsford MA. Every Saturday they have a game usually 1750 to 2000 points a side played by however many people show up (usually 3 to 6) Dick the shop owner either holds court or joins in depending on how many players they have.

On this particular day Dick (seen above) was commanding the right wing of the American Force while I took the left. The Germans were Reluctant trained while the Americans were Confident Trained.

 Charlie and Warren commanded the Germans Charlie (above) was opposite Dick while Warren was facing me.

 Warren presented me with an immediate problem three Panthers pushed forward aggressively.  Warren has a bit of a reputation at the shop he tends to be at one end or the other of the old bell Curve.  Sadly for me he was a the high end this Saturday, I seemed to be at the low end.

 I also move in aggressively hoping for side shots and to kill his infantry with my many MGs of my armored infantry.  With no cover it was a quick draw contest I drew first but every shot that hit was bounced though I did chew up his infantry.

 This was the High point of the day for my tanks two bailed panthers... the next turn all my tanks were dead.  At the same time Dick and Charlies infantry were in a close range fire fight that ended with an advantage to the Germans.

 Air got all of one AT gun all game. Bombs did bounce off the top armor of several Panhters Warren always rolled at least a 5+ on all armor saves. 

With my tanks and infantry (mostly) dead and Dick in a stalemate with Charlie we called the game. Many laughs were had over the oddities of dice.  A pleasant way to pass a Saturday morning, once Ariana was out of work it was off to the beach for the afternoon also a pleasant time.

Red And Gray Breakthough FJ and Comandos

This Thursday we returned to an old theam my Fallshermjagrs facing off with Chris' Polish Comandos. The mission awas breakthrough a corner to corner mission with the attacker's (Chris) men arriving around the back (on top of the objectives) . Chris decided not to use night attack so his guns were in play from turn 1 fortunaly he had an off night.

 Full veiw of the table (note the massive Artilery park in the corner.

 My defensive line in the upper left corner I didn't want Chris going this way because his men would have had more cover aproching the objectives. Also my 88s had a good field of fire coving the lower right half of the board as well if Chris bbroak through there. It worked Chirs went the other way.

 Chris used his tanks agressively to try and break my infantry line and why not comandos feal nothing for their tanker brothers.

His first go lost hime one tank

 The Seccond attack got the rest of his tanks and his company and higher comand teams killed in my counter attack.  I thought I was in pretty good shape at this point as Chris didn't get his reserves on turn 3.(Delayed reserves)

 So I started forming a nice defensive postionion.

 Chris facked me out by moving on and digging in his HMGS and Mortars I took as many shots as I could at the Mortars and didn't get one!

 Then Chris got 5 hits in assult with his infantry who snuck up behind my StuGs I rolled 3 1s so all three tanks where bailed! So much for Probablility! Chris followed on and our infantry cut eachother up badly but I had more guys so I "won" the fight but I was without any high fire power wepons that could shoot at Chriss.

Sadly it was 11:30 by this point. Having considered this at some length I have to think that Chris would have won in the end. He had the Mortas to kill my men with and the HMGs to pin or kill themif they tried to assualt. Good game Chris someday I will beat your comandos just not yet.

United States Artilery

Since these guys may well be appearing on the table in the not too distant future I thought I would post some pictures.  The guns and figures are Old Glory (Command Decision ) .  I started this bunch when I was unemployed so I picked the cheapest figures available. I actually like the look of the Old Glory  American Artillery they mix reasonably well with Battle Front though I would not put them side by side with Battle front 105s.  I had a lot of time on my hands so I did a lot of work on the bases as I was doing an Italian theater Army I did the bases "dug in."

About the same time I did the 105s I also did a battery of 75mm Pack Howitzers because I loved the look of the gun and they are a support option for the French expeditionary Corps in Italy.  I really like these guns they are like mortars with direct fire, OK so all infantry Mortars now have Direct fire but at the time they didn't.  Even now you can get 6 Confident Veteran Guns for 165 Points that's a good deal and while the AT firing direct is only a 6 that better than any mortar and Direct Fire Power of 3+.  Bombarding they will rarely kill any thing other than Infantry in the open but they can smoke or pin and some times that's all you need. I just wish they were an option with more lists. These are Battle Front Guns and Figures.

June 6th D-Day

Take a moment today to recall those who made the ultimate sacrifice in Normandy France 68 years ago today.

I would love to have some eloquent  statement to make but its all been said before by others who are better at this sort of thing than I.  I am grateful not just to the American Soldiers, Sailors and Airmen who fought that day and the many days that follow but also to the British and Canadian allies who stood by our sides (or maybe it would be better to say we stood by them, it was their war before it was ours).

I also feel a special reverence for those Poles, Frenchmen, Czechs, Dutch, and Greeks (there are others I am sure) who left their home lands to carry on the fight when all seemed lost.  Should we ever face invasion and occupation I pray that God will provide us with such men and women.

Also remember those who defended those shores many of whom were caught by forces they could neither control or understand.  This does not absolve them, but we should not judge too harshly.

This is also the 70th anniversary of the Battle of Midway perhaps the most decisive victory in the history of the United States Navy.

New Army 4th Armor

With the new Book Blood Guts and Glorry from Flames of War I decided it was high time I built an army list for a US army.  I settled on 4th Armor becasue frankly Armor armies are cheep and Shermans (even the advanced ones) can also be used in mid-war if you squint a bit.

Tank armies are also quick to paint, I was able get an army battle ready in about two weeks, see last Thursdays battle here.

Below is the list am currently running. its all tanks. I am trying to decide how to improve it.  (Thanks Easy Army)

Platoon	Qty	Unit	Points
Headquarters
Tank Company HQ (4th Division)  p.23	1 1	M4A3E8 Easy Eight M4A3 (76mm) Sherman	285
Combat Platoons
Tank Platoon (4th Division)  p.23	2 2	M4A3 Sherman M4A3 (76mm) Sherman Hedgerow cutters on up to 1/2 of the platoon tanks	460
Tank Platoon (4th Division)  p.23	2 2	M4A3 Sherman M4A3 (76mm) Sherman	455
Tank Platoon (4th Division)  p.23	2 1	M4 or M4A1 Sherman M4A1 (76mm) Sherman	300
Company Points:			1500

Source document: Blood, Guts, & Glory
I would like to stick to what I have at the moment as much as I can, Fortunately I have good selection of Americans to use as supports as I did all my late war Free French support teams in American Uniforms.

I could add a battery or 105s; Jeep mounted recon (I would need to add a few Half-tracks but that's not a serious issue). I have a US Rifle platoon and an US Engineer platoon (and a Sherman Bulldozer) if I want some infantry support.  I think having infantry would be great as the tank telephones let them act as recon for my tanks.

One unit I am considering buy would be the Half-track mortars as they are cheep points wise and would give me a good smoke option (or direct fire to kill dug in infantry and AT guns).


Air support is an option but I think these guys have to get in close to deal with the Big Cats (Tigers and Panthers) limiting what air can do for me.

I would be interested in peoples thoughts out there.

Thurday night game: Fist Full of Lead

While Ted and I were blazing away at each other with Machine guns and HEAT rounds Gordon and Chris had a very different battle going on using the rules A Fist Full of  Lead.  I had my own game so I can not give an AAR but I did snap some pictures.  I can't repeat some of what I heard at the table as Gordon and Chris taunted each other (in a friendly fashion). Gordon commanded his Buffalo Soldier and Chris had a gang of Outlaws.

Chris has killed two of Gordon's Buffalo soldiers

Pinned Buffalo Soldier

Outlaws in a defensive position.

Buffalo Soldiers pinned by Outlaw fire.

Chris decides to go hand to hand.

The Final Savage hand to hand fight in which left on Outlaw and one Buffalo Soldier dead.  Gordon took out three of Chris' four outlaws giving him a minor victory

Chris' Preacher figure "Padre Pio" not involved in this game but still a cool figure a true "butt kicking servant of the Lord!"

Red and Gray Dust Up US Armor Vs. PzGren

In addition to tigers I have some American tanks I have been working on. My 5 M4A1(76) tanks are done and there others were close enough that I brought them to give a new 4th Armored Division list a try.

After rolling Fair Fight twice Ted and I got the dust up mission.  Ted decided to defend the corner opposite the town I set up in two stands of trees on either side of the river. I only had three platoons at 1500 points so I was glad I had two Warriors in the HQ under the new rules.

I got a lucky sniper shot with one of my 76mm armed Sherman tanks taking out a Panther on Turn 1. Ted got two of said Sherman tanks on his side of turn 1.  I think I'll trade two Shermans for a Panther.   Not much happened on turn two with Ted and I both playing conservative. I did move my Company commander across the river to lead the now leaderless Shermans of my 1st Platoon.

On turn 3 I failed to get reserves, and tried to move my men into a position to get side shots on the Panther (or at least make them move to avoid them) using the woods and hills as cover. But Ted did get his reserves and suddenly I have Jagerpanzer IV(V)s behind my tanks and my CO is their sights.

 Fortunately for me the bailed tank above was the only result. Ted had a bad night with the dice.

 On my own turn I got side shots on these guys and got all three.  Great paint job Ted and the smoke looks awesome :)

 Ted made a push for my Objective but his Panther platoons got caught in a cross fire as my 2nd platoon arrived. He was lucky to escape with only one dead panther.

He tried to push his way in the woods next with the lone surviving panther and got double bailed and faild his motivation so the last panther ran leaving just the armored cars in the woods.  These didn't have a chance against Sherman tanks.

 When my 3rd and final platoon arrived Ted took out the Platoon leader so they were stuck here for the rest of the game.  At this point I was trying to soften up his infantry for assault and kill his AT guns. I did get the AT guns after several turn of sniping.

 My 2ic Bogged 3 times in the couse of the game twice in a row at this river trying to reach the leaderless platoon.

 Ted used his HQ force to assault my leaderless tanks and made very short work of them due to assaulting from cover. He probably could have done this a few turns earlier.

My tanks finally make their assault I could probably have done this a turn or tow earlier but I thought Ted had a few more panzer Fausts then he actually did with this platoon.

I really like American tanks with their new rules. The "easy 8"(and I only had 1) with the smooth ride ability is really a game changer (not as good as being able to storm trooper out of range but nice).  I also feel I under rated the Detroit's Finest that extra 2" of movement was the difference between front and side shots on those JagerPanzers and came came in handy other times as well.

Thanks Ted for a great game. Bellow are some shots of the Sherman 76s that are finished (the other tanks are still works in process)