So we have moved into Round 2 of the Campaign. If you are interested in the campaign rules, check out my previous post.
This past week, Mike went down the list for determining "initiative" which meant that I was subject to everyone else's whim.
And guess what? My expanding territory was not even atatcked! Turns out that Rob decided to attack Robert. So Rob went for a para-drop. Mike decided that since Robert wasn't there to play, that Rob would instead face me as Robert's proxy. The deal is that if you can't make an evening, you should not be penalized with an "auto-loss." Not sure how Rob was feeling about that...
So we had US Paras dropping on top of... US Paras. Both Rob and I fielded a list out of Nuts! I went with 2 para platoons, para LMGs attached into those platoons, TDs (Hellcats), glider arty, and 2 sections of .50cal jeeps. I also upgraded to Toccoa Sergeants and bought "Shifty" Powers. Rob went with 4 para platoons, AT guns and arty. We fought the Airborne Assault mission out of the new Normandy Battles.
No pictures (again?!?!!). The game went fairly quickly as I deployed the 2 para platoons and the recee jeeps on the board. I did have to shift one of the para platoons to be able to cover the two objectives that were left (attacker pulls one of the two he places). Rob slowly moved in, waiting on his reserves to arrive. So we got to Turn 3 really quickly. Bottom of 3 Night is still in effect. Top of 4 Night stays in effect and Rob now is closing the gap very quickly. I need night to lift!! Bottom of 4 I get my wish. And the timing was very bad for Rob. I ran the arty, but at the cost of my 4 jeeps! You see, I killed all but a gun and the commander and lost 2 recee jeeps in the process when Rob shifted his paras and got shots on the jeeps. So with just the gun and the commander, I assaulted with two jeeps. Got through DF just fine. So two swings with Vet and... I missed two. He doesn't have a hit, so no Motivation test needed. Two swings with trained... and two hits. Damn!
Elsewhere I am gutting paras in the open with LMGs and the TDs had come on to blast .50cals into the same para unit. After that turn, Rob decided to "pull back" and withdraw from the mission. This is allowed after Turn 4 in any mission that we are playing for the Campaign. So Robert keeps his territory with the loss of 100 points. Not bad... Rob got a bit of a bloodier nose from the fight.
Doubles Tournament
This past Saturday, Mike hosted a tournament at The Last Square. The event was MW Doubles at 1,165 per Company - with the ability for you to mix nations as long as they are both Allies or both Axis. For those of you wondering, Mike did that point level because that is the cost of 3 Tigers. As a 10th team, he played 6 Tigers.
I partnered with Joe. He ran Mixed Tankovy with Lees, Stuarts, T-26s and BT-"whatevers" for the points. Lots of Soviet Tanks. Oh yeah, Conscript Soviet Tanks. I ran US Armored Rifles with 2 ARP, M10s, Scotts and Armored Mortars.
Round 1 we ended up playing 6 Tigers. Thanks Mike! In a twist, Round 1 was Free For All. Basically, Joe's 1,165 were almost useless since the best the Lees could do was bail on the side (no long barrels). But what Joe did was to litter the objectives with a ton of tanks to keep the Tigers from moving in certain places. The M10s got a Tiger, but couldn't kill the other one. The ARP did that and we claimed an objective. Mike was 2-2-2 across the back and he couldn't get over to the objective in time. Plus we had the other side also locked down with ARP.
Round 2, we played Chriss Fretts and Andrew Hobson from Indy. Great guys and a game that I will remember for a very, very long time! We played Breakthrough and Joe and I attacked Chris' US Tanks (Stuarts, Lees, armored recee) and Andrew's Brit Paras. Bloody, swarming battle that came down to the bitter end. Joe and I broke Chris' company and took them 6-1. But the score does not at all describe the closeness of the game.
Round 3 was against Robert and Robert in Fighting Withdrawal. Robert #1 had Soviet Strelk horde with AT guns and recee, while Robert #2 had US Tanks with Lees, Stuarts (AGAIN!?!?!!?), 105s, Scotts and SP arty. While I was the main attack force in Round 1, Joe was the main attack force in Round 2. My job was to kill Lees and the M10s did that perfectly. Joe's job was to line up and assault Strelk. Which he did perfectly. In the end, we had the objective on Turn 5 and won. But even if we lost the objective, we were going to get both guys to Company Morale rolls the next turn. 5-2 to us.
So we ended up 5-2, 6-1 and 5-2. With some scoring adjustments (you got extra points for wins and lost points for losing 1iC, 2iC and any warriors), we came in 2nd place behind some of the Indy guys. So it was Gary's team in 1st, we were 2nd, Joe Lewis' team was 3rd and Chris / Andrew were 4th. Not bad company!!
But most importantly, I had a blast with my friend Joe! We played well together and our lists allowed us to carry the other guy when needed - me in Round 1 and Joe in Round 3. THAT is what a doubles tournament is all about!!
Monday, December 10, 2012
Wednesday, December 5, 2012
LW Campaign in the US Midwest!! Who knew??
New Campaign Underway!
After getting a little burned out with just playing week after week of "decide and era, build a list and drop dice", Mike decided to take matters into his own hands again. And that is when he came up with the idea for a campaign set in the Midwest USA.
Basically, think of this as a game of Risk. Everyone that wanted to join the campaign was given two territories - a rural and expansive territory and a "capital." So with 10 players, we took a map and went about splitting up Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois, Michigan and Minnesota.
But that wasn't enough...
Mike also decided that we would be given a "bank account" of 3,500 points to use in battle in Late War. Now a single battle could only go to 1,780 points. You could choose to use less if you wanted. And when you lost a vehicle, you lost the points. When you lost a gun, you lost a point. When you lost an infantry platoon, you lost the points. If a vehicle platoon runs from the table, you only "lost" what was left behind (i.e. destroyed vehicles). If a platoon of infantry runs, you lose 50% of the points. You lose more if you had 3 or fewer stands. Of course, if the entire platoon is destroyed you lose all the points. And for aircraft, you only have 10 total planes. If two get shot down in a single attack, you now have 8 total. So air will be at a premium and expect your bank account to go down.
But if you take a territory, you earn 250 points. If you take a capital, you get 500 points. So you are rewarded if you attack!
Players had to choose a nation and cannot change at all. We also decided that Canadians will not be considered British, rather they are their own nation. In addition, we can only use books or PDFs that are published and approved by BF. I, of course, went with U S of A baby!! American, F@#* Yeah!!
As to the map itself, Mike also rules that if you are on Lake Michigan or Superior, you can amphibious assault from the lake into another territory. Now you don't have to have a list that is "beach assault" and we are not running the "beach assault" mission, but it does allow you to traverse the map quickly. He also ruled that you can paradrop on any other territory on the map - provided you have access to a para list. And for our campaign, that means Soviets and Canadians do not have paras. As a note on that, this isn't a historical argument but rather a list issue in FoW.
Without further ado, here is the map after Round 1: (although two players have yet to complete Round 1)
I was given Milwaukee (USA) and the area surrounding the city (green in the lower right). CJ (Canadians) is to the west in Madison, Patrick (Germans) is to the north in Green Bay. Rob (USA) is up in the UP of Michigan with Mike (German) to his south in Wausau. Joe (British) is hanging out in Iowa, with Robert (Soviet) to his north in Rochester, MN. Ben (German) is in Minneapolis area, Kevin (USA) to his north in Duluth, with Pickle (his last name!) in Eau Claire, WI (Germans) and bodering almost everyone on the map.
To start Round One, Mike picked three players who could start the game by declaring their attack. If you were attacked, you don't get to pick a battle - you are now "spoken for." He will rotate this list throughout the campaign so everyone gets an equal chance. I was able to go second and in a quirk of map making, Mike had created an open territory in Illinois with a capital in Rockford. Well I had to go and liberate my Illinois Brothers! But I think someone forgot to tell Illinois that they needed liberation. To counter my move, CJ decided to also invade Illinois. That led Mike to declare that CJ and I will play Encounter! Mike decided to paradrop on Rockford for the easy points. But wait!! Joe also decided to paradrop on Rockford! Pickle decided to invade Minnesota and took on Ben. Patrick and I have a peace pact and he decided to attack Rob to the north! So four games all happening at the same time!
In my game of Encounter, I went with a 6 platoon Cav Recon list. To be completly fair, CJ wanted a short game and wanted to experience the TD stuff. Okaaaaaaaaay - I can do that! I deployed Jackson Sec Section, Towed Sec Section, 2 ID infantry. Chafees, and the two recee platoons were in Reserve. In a brilliant move, CJ decided to actually keep the high point totals off the board because he thought he would be wiped out. So he put 25pdrs, a Sherman platoon with 1 Firefly, Stuart Recce platoon and an infantry platoon on the board. His reserves were two Sherman platoons, an infantry platoon and an AA Crusader platoon that was split off from the HQ. He also got some special hero in a tank.
I won't give a full AAR, but basically the Shermans were dead Turn 1 before he even had a chance to play by virtue of my Towed TDs popping within 16". My zooks stayed in the halftracks and lit up the infantry platoon. The Jackson Sec Section stayed on the board and wiped the 25pdr command stand, staff team and the battery command team. The 2 ID dug in on one of my objectives. Turn 2 saw me kill the hero, two 25pdr (Jacksons popped) and the Stuarts. CJ passed the platoon morale. Now in his shooting over the first two turns, he did get 3 guns and a Jackson. Turn 3 saw my Chaffees arrive from Reserve in the perfect spot and move to assault the infantry platoon. But the Jacksons completely destroyed the 25pdrs, and with CJ below half and having lost the 1iC, the game was over.
What was "sad" is that I told CJ I wouldn't go completely crazy with the TDs - meaning I did not pop the Jacksons, assault the guns and run the platoon in Turn 1, which would have placed me on the objective and ended the game because he could not have moved over quick enough. And that, my friends, sums up a big issue with the TDs. The infamous Turn 1 win without the other guy really getting a chance.
To that end, I do want to thank BF for opening the official dialog on the subject of TDs!
In the other games, Mike fought to a bloody victory over Joe; Pickle took out Ben and Patrick took out Rob's US Paras.
I will keep folks updated as the campaign progresses!
After getting a little burned out with just playing week after week of "decide and era, build a list and drop dice", Mike decided to take matters into his own hands again. And that is when he came up with the idea for a campaign set in the Midwest USA.
Basically, think of this as a game of Risk. Everyone that wanted to join the campaign was given two territories - a rural and expansive territory and a "capital." So with 10 players, we took a map and went about splitting up Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois, Michigan and Minnesota.
But that wasn't enough...
Mike also decided that we would be given a "bank account" of 3,500 points to use in battle in Late War. Now a single battle could only go to 1,780 points. You could choose to use less if you wanted. And when you lost a vehicle, you lost the points. When you lost a gun, you lost a point. When you lost an infantry platoon, you lost the points. If a vehicle platoon runs from the table, you only "lost" what was left behind (i.e. destroyed vehicles). If a platoon of infantry runs, you lose 50% of the points. You lose more if you had 3 or fewer stands. Of course, if the entire platoon is destroyed you lose all the points. And for aircraft, you only have 10 total planes. If two get shot down in a single attack, you now have 8 total. So air will be at a premium and expect your bank account to go down.
But if you take a territory, you earn 250 points. If you take a capital, you get 500 points. So you are rewarded if you attack!
Players had to choose a nation and cannot change at all. We also decided that Canadians will not be considered British, rather they are their own nation. In addition, we can only use books or PDFs that are published and approved by BF. I, of course, went with U S of A baby!! American, F@#* Yeah!!
As to the map itself, Mike also rules that if you are on Lake Michigan or Superior, you can amphibious assault from the lake into another territory. Now you don't have to have a list that is "beach assault" and we are not running the "beach assault" mission, but it does allow you to traverse the map quickly. He also ruled that you can paradrop on any other territory on the map - provided you have access to a para list. And for our campaign, that means Soviets and Canadians do not have paras. As a note on that, this isn't a historical argument but rather a list issue in FoW.
Without further ado, here is the map after Round 1: (although two players have yet to complete Round 1)
I was given Milwaukee (USA) and the area surrounding the city (green in the lower right). CJ (Canadians) is to the west in Madison, Patrick (Germans) is to the north in Green Bay. Rob (USA) is up in the UP of Michigan with Mike (German) to his south in Wausau. Joe (British) is hanging out in Iowa, with Robert (Soviet) to his north in Rochester, MN. Ben (German) is in Minneapolis area, Kevin (USA) to his north in Duluth, with Pickle (his last name!) in Eau Claire, WI (Germans) and bodering almost everyone on the map.
To start Round One, Mike picked three players who could start the game by declaring their attack. If you were attacked, you don't get to pick a battle - you are now "spoken for." He will rotate this list throughout the campaign so everyone gets an equal chance. I was able to go second and in a quirk of map making, Mike had created an open territory in Illinois with a capital in Rockford. Well I had to go and liberate my Illinois Brothers! But I think someone forgot to tell Illinois that they needed liberation. To counter my move, CJ decided to also invade Illinois. That led Mike to declare that CJ and I will play Encounter! Mike decided to paradrop on Rockford for the easy points. But wait!! Joe also decided to paradrop on Rockford! Pickle decided to invade Minnesota and took on Ben. Patrick and I have a peace pact and he decided to attack Rob to the north! So four games all happening at the same time!
In my game of Encounter, I went with a 6 platoon Cav Recon list. To be completly fair, CJ wanted a short game and wanted to experience the TD stuff. Okaaaaaaaaay - I can do that! I deployed Jackson Sec Section, Towed Sec Section, 2 ID infantry. Chafees, and the two recee platoons were in Reserve. In a brilliant move, CJ decided to actually keep the high point totals off the board because he thought he would be wiped out. So he put 25pdrs, a Sherman platoon with 1 Firefly, Stuart Recce platoon and an infantry platoon on the board. His reserves were two Sherman platoons, an infantry platoon and an AA Crusader platoon that was split off from the HQ. He also got some special hero in a tank.
I won't give a full AAR, but basically the Shermans were dead Turn 1 before he even had a chance to play by virtue of my Towed TDs popping within 16". My zooks stayed in the halftracks and lit up the infantry platoon. The Jackson Sec Section stayed on the board and wiped the 25pdr command stand, staff team and the battery command team. The 2 ID dug in on one of my objectives. Turn 2 saw me kill the hero, two 25pdr (Jacksons popped) and the Stuarts. CJ passed the platoon morale. Now in his shooting over the first two turns, he did get 3 guns and a Jackson. Turn 3 saw my Chaffees arrive from Reserve in the perfect spot and move to assault the infantry platoon. But the Jacksons completely destroyed the 25pdrs, and with CJ below half and having lost the 1iC, the game was over.
What was "sad" is that I told CJ I wouldn't go completely crazy with the TDs - meaning I did not pop the Jacksons, assault the guns and run the platoon in Turn 1, which would have placed me on the objective and ended the game because he could not have moved over quick enough. And that, my friends, sums up a big issue with the TDs. The infamous Turn 1 win without the other guy really getting a chance.
To that end, I do want to thank BF for opening the official dialog on the subject of TDs!
In the other games, Mike fought to a bloody victory over Joe; Pickle took out Ben and Patrick took out Rob's US Paras.
I will keep folks updated as the campaign progresses!
Monday, October 22, 2012
RockCon Update, Fall-In Preview!
New proclamation:
No More Proclamations.
Another month goes by with a single post. Wow. So here is my FoW update to cover the last 4 to six weeks:
This past weekend was RockCon, which is a mid-sized convention held in Rockford, IL. My LGS is a big supporter, so the guys try to either run events, participate in events or just help out where and when we can. This year, Joe ran a Bulge game (not a tournament) on Friday night and a 1,780 LW Normandy Themed Tournament on Saturday. Let me start with Friday.
If you want details, you can see the details at FoW forums under the Conventions Thread. Basically, the Allies got 1,000 points and the Germans got 2,000. However, if anyone ran a list out of the three Bulge books, then you got an extra 100 points. So I created three lists that all saw the table at 1,100. They were a 2nd Cav Recon list, a 2 ID list and a Combat Engineer list. We ended up having a Ranger list from Normandy (Igor from Poland was in the house again this year!!), a Para list from Nuts! and Armored Rifles. We went up against 12,000+ points of German nasties! The boards were laid out in a giant "H" shape, with each verticle being 24' long and the connector part being 6' long. Bastogne was located in the vertical connector - right in the middle. So the Germans could come on at any of the 4 "ends" of the H shape. Roads were normal, off road was slow going and concealed (very light woods) but did not block LoS. There were also 4 random events for each section of the ends and the middle connector. Here is a map:
Bastogne is Orange and the grey boxes were towns along the way. Based on a random event, my 2nd Cav Recon popped up in the lower left corner of the map above - facing Panthers, Stugs, Grens - Oh My! Rangers were in the upper left, Engineers popped on the upper right section and Rifles in the lower right. 2 ID was deployed at the start of the game split between the two towns to the left and right of Bastogne. And of course, our Paras were defending Bastogne!!
After 4+ hours of bloodbath, my Cav Recon were destroyed, but they fought valiantly and took two German companies with them - one by destruction and the other by "no way in heck we are getting to Bastogne so we run!!" All told, 1,100 Cav Recon points destroyed 2 Panther Platoons of 4 Panthers, 1 Panther Platoon of 3 Panthers, 1 StuG Platoon with 3 StuGs and a Panther 1iC - with that kill coming from a M8 Greyhound!! But my Jacksons, Towed TDs, 2 Recon Patrols, 2 ID platoon and another M10 TD platoon from the 2 ID company down the road all met a glorious end for the Allies! The other areas were just as bloody, but the Germans did make it much further down the road than in my sector. However, in the end Bastogne held as the Germans forces that finally got there were so depleted that they could not move the Paras!
It was a great time and the second time in three years Joe has run this game. It takes a lot of work and prep. I do think the next time we run it, we will make movement a little easier as the Germans have a tough time getting down the roads.
Saturday saw 1,780 in LW Normandy - you could only field lists out of Turning Tide and Earth & Steel. I ran the Cromwell 7th AD list - yes, not TFA! 24 players started the day ready to fight. I started the day going up against James (Chaos45) and his very good list of CT guns, arty and grens with CV Marders, 8-Rads and StuGs. James ended up spanking me 6-1 and was a great sport because for a bit he ended up playing against himself as work called and had issues. So after the game, I talked to Joe and relegated myself to the bottom and helped teach some newer players. Plus I kept getting calls from work and it was not fair to my opponents. So I had a fun game with Nick, who was playing a Panzer IV company. Congrats to Panzer Dan for the victory and to all the other players. It was great to see everyone.
So now I can prepare for the upcoming Fall-In Doubles Tournament and a MW Double Tournament in Madison next month!
I am also finishing up some long awaited painting chores. I am close to getting 8 Hellcats, 4 Jacksons, 2 M10s, 6 M8 Greyhounds, 2 Oddballs, 4 Jumbos, 5 Easy Eights, 4 M4A3 lates and 2 Abrams Warriors done and off the table! Whew... I am now in the hated "painting treads" part as I choose to paint the treads on the models. Yes, I know... Yes, I know...
I will also be finishing up some buildings and I will be placing an order for more Sentinel buildings now that they have released the Row Houses. And yes, the church will be mine too!
And I also used my Lucage from Luke Melia on Saturday (although we played them as hedges and not straight up Bocage). They looked great and we got a lot of compliments!
No More Proclamations.
Another month goes by with a single post. Wow. So here is my FoW update to cover the last 4 to six weeks:
This past weekend was RockCon, which is a mid-sized convention held in Rockford, IL. My LGS is a big supporter, so the guys try to either run events, participate in events or just help out where and when we can. This year, Joe ran a Bulge game (not a tournament) on Friday night and a 1,780 LW Normandy Themed Tournament on Saturday. Let me start with Friday.
If you want details, you can see the details at FoW forums under the Conventions Thread. Basically, the Allies got 1,000 points and the Germans got 2,000. However, if anyone ran a list out of the three Bulge books, then you got an extra 100 points. So I created three lists that all saw the table at 1,100. They were a 2nd Cav Recon list, a 2 ID list and a Combat Engineer list. We ended up having a Ranger list from Normandy (Igor from Poland was in the house again this year!!), a Para list from Nuts! and Armored Rifles. We went up against 12,000+ points of German nasties! The boards were laid out in a giant "H" shape, with each verticle being 24' long and the connector part being 6' long. Bastogne was located in the vertical connector - right in the middle. So the Germans could come on at any of the 4 "ends" of the H shape. Roads were normal, off road was slow going and concealed (very light woods) but did not block LoS. There were also 4 random events for each section of the ends and the middle connector. Here is a map:
Bastogne is Orange and the grey boxes were towns along the way. Based on a random event, my 2nd Cav Recon popped up in the lower left corner of the map above - facing Panthers, Stugs, Grens - Oh My! Rangers were in the upper left, Engineers popped on the upper right section and Rifles in the lower right. 2 ID was deployed at the start of the game split between the two towns to the left and right of Bastogne. And of course, our Paras were defending Bastogne!!
After 4+ hours of bloodbath, my Cav Recon were destroyed, but they fought valiantly and took two German companies with them - one by destruction and the other by "no way in heck we are getting to Bastogne so we run!!" All told, 1,100 Cav Recon points destroyed 2 Panther Platoons of 4 Panthers, 1 Panther Platoon of 3 Panthers, 1 StuG Platoon with 3 StuGs and a Panther 1iC - with that kill coming from a M8 Greyhound!! But my Jacksons, Towed TDs, 2 Recon Patrols, 2 ID platoon and another M10 TD platoon from the 2 ID company down the road all met a glorious end for the Allies! The other areas were just as bloody, but the Germans did make it much further down the road than in my sector. However, in the end Bastogne held as the Germans forces that finally got there were so depleted that they could not move the Paras!
It was a great time and the second time in three years Joe has run this game. It takes a lot of work and prep. I do think the next time we run it, we will make movement a little easier as the Germans have a tough time getting down the roads.
Saturday saw 1,780 in LW Normandy - you could only field lists out of Turning Tide and Earth & Steel. I ran the Cromwell 7th AD list - yes, not TFA! 24 players started the day ready to fight. I started the day going up against James (Chaos45) and his very good list of CT guns, arty and grens with CV Marders, 8-Rads and StuGs. James ended up spanking me 6-1 and was a great sport because for a bit he ended up playing against himself as work called and had issues. So after the game, I talked to Joe and relegated myself to the bottom and helped teach some newer players. Plus I kept getting calls from work and it was not fair to my opponents. So I had a fun game with Nick, who was playing a Panzer IV company. Congrats to Panzer Dan for the victory and to all the other players. It was great to see everyone.
So now I can prepare for the upcoming Fall-In Doubles Tournament and a MW Double Tournament in Madison next month!
I am also finishing up some long awaited painting chores. I am close to getting 8 Hellcats, 4 Jacksons, 2 M10s, 6 M8 Greyhounds, 2 Oddballs, 4 Jumbos, 5 Easy Eights, 4 M4A3 lates and 2 Abrams Warriors done and off the table! Whew... I am now in the hated "painting treads" part as I choose to paint the treads on the models. Yes, I know... Yes, I know...
I will also be finishing up some buildings and I will be placing an order for more Sentinel buildings now that they have released the Row Houses. And yes, the church will be mine too!
And I also used my Lucage from Luke Melia on Saturday (although we played them as hedges and not straight up Bocage). They looked great and we got a lot of compliments!
Friday, September 14, 2012
LW List Discussion - Cav Recon in DC
If you have been reading my blog for a while, you know that I have a certain love for all things Tank Destroyer. Now this post is not about my feelings over the rules and the power that TDs and multiple TDs bring to the game. That is a different topic and I am not using this post to discuss that topic. This post is about list construction using the rules as they exist today.
So with that in mind, here we go!
The key element to maximizing the power of the TDs is to bring more than one platoon to the table. There are many options here: Task Force A in Turning Tide, Rangers in Turning Tide (I believe), TD Company in Blood, Guts & Glory, Rifle Company in Devil's Charge and Cav Recon in Devil's Charge. I might have missed one or two, but you get the idea. Now if you want a discussion on TFA, look in my archives to March of 2012 and read those posts because...
Right now, my list is Cav Recon.
When BG&G came out, I was all over the Tank Destroyer Company. You can build a great list using that force - no doubt. But when DC came out, a friend let me on to the Cav Recon list as a possibility. After looking into the details, I am convinced this is a great list.
Rather than going through my thoughts, I will simply show the list and discuss each platoon and the reasoning around my choice. And it will be done with an eye towards tournament play.
Here is a solid iteration of the Cav Recon Company from DC:
Let's start with the "core" of the list, which are the Combat Platoons. You have to bring two platoons, just like almost every list in the game. To maximize the points in support, choose the smallest platoons possible. So with a single patrol in each platoon and the HQ, you have spent 265 points. That leaves 1,515 out of 1,780 yet to spend. And this is a huge benefit! For the math fans out there, I have just spent 15% of my total points to fill out the diagram of what I have to bring. Amazing! And this is a key for building a nasty, tournament worthy list.
Next are the TDs. You have the ability to bring two platoons of TDs with this list. To bring anything other than two is just crazy talk! So which do you bring? One word - Jacksons. I love the M10s and M18s, but you have to bring M36 Jacksons. AT 14 is necessary in LW. Plus you get Detroit's Finest and you get Front Armor of 4. One thing that killed me in a game at LW Nats was Ed Harding's AA guns. Those are nasty against Hellcats. In fact, more Hellcats were killed by AA than by Panzer IVs in that game. So Jacksons get a better gun, 14" movement and enough armor to ward off machine gun fire, HMGs, .50cals (think Blue on Blue) and some AA. Do you go Vet or Trained? The answer depends on points and play style. Personally, I am going Vet. Why? Well, you will whiff on some shots - trust me. So what is the best defense in that situation? Easy - don't get hit with the shots coming back! Assuming you are in terrain, you will be 5+ to hit. And that is better than 4! 8 shots coming back will hit you between two and three times at Vet. At Trained, you are getting hit four times. You want Vet.
Now the second TD platoon will be Towed, since that is all that is offered in the diagram. But fear not! You must add in the bazzokas and the halftracks to make a mobile unit. Plus, with 5 infantry stands (4 being bazookas) that are also recon running around the board, this is too good to pass up. You need to go after infantry - .50cal them to death. Armor - guns and bazookas to clean up the mess via shooting and assaults. And you can leave the guns behind if necessary and take the infantry and tracks to go raise hell on the table! Now, Vet or Trained? I still like Vet here because I need the Vet roll on skill checks. Lift GtG with bazookas? Yes, with a 3+. Need to hit in assaults? Yes, with a 3+. So make the investment in Vet.
So we are now at 4 platoons and have chewed up 1,105 points. Yes, the TDs are expensive but well worth it. What do we do next?
Grab an infantry platoon. You can choose Vet or Trained Rifles, Trained ARP or Vet Engineers. Now I love Engineers. I use them in my TFA list and they work really well, provided you jack them up with the bazookas and supply trucks. With TFA, you can even add a Sherman Dozer, but not here. The knee jerk is to go with the Trained ARP. Now this would work and can work in this list if you need points, but the sleeper is the Vet Rifle Platoon (2 ID). Take that and either go SMG for all or go with max bazookas. Both have their place. But remember that you will get the 2 ID benefit of Moving At The Double through Difficult Terrain. Yes, 16" of Vet, nasty, bazooka laden Riflemen goodness! This will help when you have to attack an Infantry Company or another Mech list.
Next, you need one more trick up your sleeve. You need smoke. It would also help to have more armor. And fast armor at that. So go grab Chaffees!! Your 6th platoon will be 5 Chaffees. Now I know they cost about the same as a Sherman. But the real value with the Chaffees is that they come from a different box in the force diagram. They are not a Tank Platoon, they are a Light Tank Platoon. And you can get this in the Cav Recon list while still getting two TD platoons. So you buy a Stuart with a Sherman gun. And with Stabilizers... and with Smoke... This is the final piece. What you will do is smoke those units that did not die from TD shots. Or use them to get side shots on high armor targets, like Panthers...
And with the 40pts you have left, go grab an AOP. Use it to prevent an ambush right where you don't want it to appear.
And that does it! You have a 1,780 point LW list that:
And that makes for a killer list...
So with that in mind, here we go!
The key element to maximizing the power of the TDs is to bring more than one platoon to the table. There are many options here: Task Force A in Turning Tide, Rangers in Turning Tide (I believe), TD Company in Blood, Guts & Glory, Rifle Company in Devil's Charge and Cav Recon in Devil's Charge. I might have missed one or two, but you get the idea. Now if you want a discussion on TFA, look in my archives to March of 2012 and read those posts because...
Right now, my list is Cav Recon.
When BG&G came out, I was all over the Tank Destroyer Company. You can build a great list using that force - no doubt. But when DC came out, a friend let me on to the Cav Recon list as a possibility. After looking into the details, I am convinced this is a great list.
Rather than going through my thoughts, I will simply show the list and discuss each platoon and the reasoning around my choice. And it will be done with an eye towards tournament play.
Here is a solid iteration of the Cav Recon Company from DC:
Let's start with the "core" of the list, which are the Combat Platoons. You have to bring two platoons, just like almost every list in the game. To maximize the points in support, choose the smallest platoons possible. So with a single patrol in each platoon and the HQ, you have spent 265 points. That leaves 1,515 out of 1,780 yet to spend. And this is a huge benefit! For the math fans out there, I have just spent 15% of my total points to fill out the diagram of what I have to bring. Amazing! And this is a key for building a nasty, tournament worthy list.
Next are the TDs. You have the ability to bring two platoons of TDs with this list. To bring anything other than two is just crazy talk! So which do you bring? One word - Jacksons. I love the M10s and M18s, but you have to bring M36 Jacksons. AT 14 is necessary in LW. Plus you get Detroit's Finest and you get Front Armor of 4. One thing that killed me in a game at LW Nats was Ed Harding's AA guns. Those are nasty against Hellcats. In fact, more Hellcats were killed by AA than by Panzer IVs in that game. So Jacksons get a better gun, 14" movement and enough armor to ward off machine gun fire, HMGs, .50cals (think Blue on Blue) and some AA. Do you go Vet or Trained? The answer depends on points and play style. Personally, I am going Vet. Why? Well, you will whiff on some shots - trust me. So what is the best defense in that situation? Easy - don't get hit with the shots coming back! Assuming you are in terrain, you will be 5+ to hit. And that is better than 4! 8 shots coming back will hit you between two and three times at Vet. At Trained, you are getting hit four times. You want Vet.
Now the second TD platoon will be Towed, since that is all that is offered in the diagram. But fear not! You must add in the bazzokas and the halftracks to make a mobile unit. Plus, with 5 infantry stands (4 being bazookas) that are also recon running around the board, this is too good to pass up. You need to go after infantry - .50cal them to death. Armor - guns and bazookas to clean up the mess via shooting and assaults. And you can leave the guns behind if necessary and take the infantry and tracks to go raise hell on the table! Now, Vet or Trained? I still like Vet here because I need the Vet roll on skill checks. Lift GtG with bazookas? Yes, with a 3+. Need to hit in assaults? Yes, with a 3+. So make the investment in Vet.
So we are now at 4 platoons and have chewed up 1,105 points. Yes, the TDs are expensive but well worth it. What do we do next?
Grab an infantry platoon. You can choose Vet or Trained Rifles, Trained ARP or Vet Engineers. Now I love Engineers. I use them in my TFA list and they work really well, provided you jack them up with the bazookas and supply trucks. With TFA, you can even add a Sherman Dozer, but not here. The knee jerk is to go with the Trained ARP. Now this would work and can work in this list if you need points, but the sleeper is the Vet Rifle Platoon (2 ID). Take that and either go SMG for all or go with max bazookas. Both have their place. But remember that you will get the 2 ID benefit of Moving At The Double through Difficult Terrain. Yes, 16" of Vet, nasty, bazooka laden Riflemen goodness! This will help when you have to attack an Infantry Company or another Mech list.
Next, you need one more trick up your sleeve. You need smoke. It would also help to have more armor. And fast armor at that. So go grab Chaffees!! Your 6th platoon will be 5 Chaffees. Now I know they cost about the same as a Sherman. But the real value with the Chaffees is that they come from a different box in the force diagram. They are not a Tank Platoon, they are a Light Tank Platoon. And you can get this in the Cav Recon list while still getting two TD platoons. So you buy a Stuart with a Sherman gun. And with Stabilizers... and with Smoke... This is the final piece. What you will do is smoke those units that did not die from TD shots. Or use them to get side shots on high armor targets, like Panthers...
And with the 40pts you have left, go grab an AOP. Use it to prevent an ambush right where you don't want it to appear.
And that does it! You have a 1,780 point LW list that:
- Has exceptional AT capabilites
- Huge amount of Recon
- Great Ambushes
- Strong infantry
- Supreme mobility with Recon Moves and fast armor (the slowest tank is 14")
And that makes for a killer list...
Friday, August 24, 2012
20 Questions - everyone else is doing it!
I see on several blogs that folks are posting answers to 20 Questions. So, having the need to be a "cool kid", I thought I would do the same. Here they are:
The Godfather
Raiders of the Lost Arc
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
Caddyshack
Austin Powers
The Bugs Bunny and Road Runner Show (really)
The Big Bang Theory
Star Trek (original – duh!)
Band of Brothers
Author: W.E.B. Griffin
Team: Michigan State University Spartans!
Single Team: US Men's Olympic Ice Hockey Team, 1980
Historical: Go back to Philadelphia, 1776 and ask “can you clarify this part and this part…”
Religious: Go back to the Middle East and watch…
“Always look on the bright side of life!” – Crucifixion, somewhere around 30 AD.
Biggest Wargaming regret?
Favorite Wargaming period?
WW2. It is really the
only period that I wargame with miniatures.
Next period, money no object?
I would license the FoW rules and create books and models
for Cold War “What If” series.
Favorite 5 films?
My favorites are:The Godfather
Raiders of the Lost Arc
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
Caddyshack
Austin Powers
Favorite 5 TV series?
The SopranosThe Bugs Bunny and Road Runner Show (really)
The Big Bang Theory
Star Trek (original – duh!)
Band of Brothers
Favorite book and author?
Book: Dune, Frank HerbertAuthor: W.E.B. Griffin
Greatest General? (Can’t count yourself)
Omar Bradley, US Army
Favorite Wargaming rules?
Flames of War, Battlefront Studios
Favorite sport and team?
Sport: GolfTeam: Michigan State University Spartans!
Single Team: US Men's Olympic Ice Hockey Team, 1980
If you had an “only use once” time machine, when and where
would you go?
Romantic: Go back to the day I met my wife and relive it.Historical: Go back to Philadelphia, 1776 and ask “can you clarify this part and this part…”
Religious: Go back to the Middle East and watch…
My real answer: Go back and play the stock market, already
knowing what will happen. I will make
billions… mua mua mua…
Last meal on Death Row?
One that has a key in it that will let me get the heck out
of Dodge before the morning…
Fantasy relationship and why?
Darth Vader. I want
him to tell me he is my father and he wants to rule the galaxy together. That way I can say “Sounds good Dad, let’s go!!”
If your life were a movie, who would play you?
Brad Pitt. Duh.
Favorite comic superhero?
Superman. Too easy
and vanilla, but come on! He’s
Superman!!
Favorite military quote?
“I want to kill some naaaahtzies” – Inglorious Basterds
“What’s this ‘we s%@t’ White Man…” – Tonto, upon being
surrounded by 10,000 native Americans with The Lone Ranger “Always look on the bright side of life!” – Crucifixion, somewhere around 30 AD.
Historical destination to visit?
Omaha Beach. Been
twice.
Saying yes to a demo game of Flames of War…
Favorite fantasy job?
I am weird – I like the one I have pretty well!
Favorite band?
Have to answer by eras / genres:
Simple Minds, The Who, U2, Johnny Cash, Nirvana, Green Day
Favorite wargaming moment?
Any moment that I have played with my son!
What upsets you?
Idiots.Monday, August 20, 2012
Trying to get back in the blogging groove
So last week, I went back into my business calendar (diary for you Commonwealth types) and realized the following:
I have been on the road each week since July 8th. Seriously?!?!?! Between work and play, it has been a rough stretch. I don't travel as a part of regular business, other than attending various meetings and conferences. I am not in sales, so this was a stretch "for the records."
And I wondered why I had not posted in a while...
I will be adjusting my painting queue to reflect some changes shortly. But here is what is on the table right now:
I have 8 Hellcats, 2 M10s, 4 Jacksons, 5 Jumbos, 5 Easy Eights, 5 M4A3 (lates), 6 M8 Armored Cars, 4 M20 Utility vehicles, 2 Oddball Objectives all primed and waiting painting. Funny thing is that the crews for all of these are basically finished.
4 Towed TD Guns based and awaiting finishing touches.
22 T-34s that need decals.
12 Stewarts that need decals.
A starter box of Bolt Action Brit Paras primed.
Bolt Action (28mm) Cromwell and Sherman primed (except issue with turret on the Sherman).
Patton Warrior and Abrams (two tanks) primed.
And boxes / blisters waiting to be painted including Early War stuff, 8 Brit 25 pdrs, etc.
And with that, I have started to unload some of my stuff...
Yes, I sold one of my Oddball objectives - this one was from Historicon. I saw that David Vigor sold one of his on eBay for $255!! Whhhoooaaaatttt?? So with a lot of encouragement from my wife, I posted the only Oddball that was still in the blister and it sold for $128. Wow.
I then decided to unload some other items in the consignment area of my FLGS. So I unloaded 12 Halftracks that were primed, basecoated and had the panels shaded. They were from Command Decision and didn't look right on the table. I also unloaded my Adepticon bag from Battlefoam - the one you got for being the first 500 to register. I also unloaded my BF plastic Shermans and a box of Brits Paras. Yes, I decided that there was no way I would ever paint another Para Company, so off they went. Hey, I only held on to the box for 18 months!!
And what did I do in return??
Bought more crap.
I decided to buy the US Rifle Company (Winter) and do winter bases. That meant I purchased the Woodland Scenics snow and paste stuff. BTW - if you want a really good tutorial on winter basing, check out YouTube and watch the Woodland Scenics Snow 10 minute video. It is geared towards model railroading, but it will work on bases. I am going to try it first on my Towed TD platoon to see how they look.
So this weekend I was able to get some priming in and assembled the Bolt Action tanks. It will be a few more weeks before I get another chance to paint. That is too bad because I do enjoy just sitting, painting and letting all the pressure of work just melt away.
Ahhhh....
I hope others are not as crazy as I am with respect to selling crap, then buying more crap. But I doubt it!!
I have been on the road each week since July 8th. Seriously?!?!?! Between work and play, it has been a rough stretch. I don't travel as a part of regular business, other than attending various meetings and conferences. I am not in sales, so this was a stretch "for the records."
And I wondered why I had not posted in a while...
I will be adjusting my painting queue to reflect some changes shortly. But here is what is on the table right now:
I have 8 Hellcats, 2 M10s, 4 Jacksons, 5 Jumbos, 5 Easy Eights, 5 M4A3 (lates), 6 M8 Armored Cars, 4 M20 Utility vehicles, 2 Oddball Objectives all primed and waiting painting. Funny thing is that the crews for all of these are basically finished.
4 Towed TD Guns based and awaiting finishing touches.
22 T-34s that need decals.
12 Stewarts that need decals.
A starter box of Bolt Action Brit Paras primed.
Bolt Action (28mm) Cromwell and Sherman primed (except issue with turret on the Sherman).
Patton Warrior and Abrams (two tanks) primed.
And boxes / blisters waiting to be painted including Early War stuff, 8 Brit 25 pdrs, etc.
And with that, I have started to unload some of my stuff...
Yes, I sold one of my Oddball objectives - this one was from Historicon. I saw that David Vigor sold one of his on eBay for $255!! Whhhoooaaaatttt?? So with a lot of encouragement from my wife, I posted the only Oddball that was still in the blister and it sold for $128. Wow.
I then decided to unload some other items in the consignment area of my FLGS. So I unloaded 12 Halftracks that were primed, basecoated and had the panels shaded. They were from Command Decision and didn't look right on the table. I also unloaded my Adepticon bag from Battlefoam - the one you got for being the first 500 to register. I also unloaded my BF plastic Shermans and a box of Brits Paras. Yes, I decided that there was no way I would ever paint another Para Company, so off they went. Hey, I only held on to the box for 18 months!!
And what did I do in return??
Bought more crap.
I decided to buy the US Rifle Company (Winter) and do winter bases. That meant I purchased the Woodland Scenics snow and paste stuff. BTW - if you want a really good tutorial on winter basing, check out YouTube and watch the Woodland Scenics Snow 10 minute video. It is geared towards model railroading, but it will work on bases. I am going to try it first on my Towed TD platoon to see how they look.
So this weekend I was able to get some priming in and assembled the Bolt Action tanks. It will be a few more weeks before I get another chance to paint. That is too bad because I do enjoy just sitting, painting and letting all the pressure of work just melt away.
Ahhhh....
I hope others are not as crazy as I am with respect to selling crap, then buying more crap. But I doubt it!!
Friday, August 10, 2012
Massive update and a little boring... (nice title!)
Here we are in August and I am very far behind on my updates...
Historicon -
What can I say? It was a blast. Those of you who read the WWPD forum know of my "less than stellar" time with Delta Airlines and my luggage. So I was the "best dressed" for the I-95 Tournament!!
I-95 Warmup:
I was "lucky" and drew Jon Cleaves as my first opponent. 6-1 Jon. I then went against John Baber / Dirty John from WWPD and took him 5-2. My last game saw me win 6-1, which put me in the bottom third for the tournament. Ah yes, if I only had not faced Cleaves...
MW Nats:
By the time the tournament started on Friday, I had my luggage and was ready to go. Too bad my gaming was not with me.
Game 1:
First round I drew David Vigor. He brought Strelk horde and the mission was Encounter. We had a bloody fight that saw me almost run his KV-1s, but the Kommisar stepped in and "motivated" the last tank to hang around. I shot up his Strelk pretty well, but I learned about the MW Bi-Plane from Hell that the Soviets get. Rockets on a Bi-Plane?!?!?! Well, those tore up my Shermans and M10s pretty good. Although time was called, David was going to get the win the next turn. So I gave him the 6-1 win.
Total VPs so far: 1
Game 2:
I drew a great newer player in Greg from NY / NJ. He is studying to be a dentist, after becoming a sceintist and realizing that wasn't his calling. I asked if he watched Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer to many times as a kid... Anyway, he brought Staghound horde. I totaly udnerestimated the list. We rolled Cauldron and I defended. I was soooooooo sure I would get this game. Bad tactics on my part saw my M10 ambush whiff, my Shermans get destroyed by 25pdrs and 6pdrs and my M10s not survive the return fire. Company Morale check already??? Without Reserves on the board, the answer was yes and I failed. 6-1 to Greg!
Total VPs so far: 2
Game 3:
Played Shawn Morris (The Terrain Guy) in No Retreat. He was infantry, so we rolled to see who would win the game. He got to defend, so he won the roll. This turned out to be closer than I ever imagined it could be, but in the end he got me 5-2. If I defend, I get him 6-1 ro 5-2. Oh well.
Total VPs so far: 4
After Day 1, I am literally tied for last! The only way I can go is up!!
Day 2:
Game 4:
Played Chris in Hasty Assault. I defended and took him 6-1. The game was closer and planes again were my nemesis... He brought StugS, Marders and Grens (I won the roll to defend).
Total VPs so far: 10 (will get a +1 later for each win)
Game 5:
Greg Part 2! Yes, we played again. This time it was Surrounded. It was fun, bloody and brutal. In the end, I pulled out the 4-3 win...
Total VPs so far: 14 (will get +2 for 2 wins...)
Game 6:
Free-For-All vs. Joe Metz's Grens. Tigers and Marders. I got aggressive, lost the Shermans and M10s, then we prepared for a slugfest. Realizing that this would be bloody and long, we shook on a 4-3 to him and got a beer.
Total VPs: 17 +2 for 19 total. And after my start, I was happy to get that! In the end, I placed near the top of the lower third or top of the lower quarter. But going from tied for last did make me feel better.
What's new:
I did pick up some Bolt Action 28mm WW2 guys. Played a demo game and had a blast. So Brit Paras, Cromwell, US Infantry and a Sherman are on the table!
Very happy to get Devil's Charge. Lists are very strong!
That's about it for now. Lots of travel for business recently and it will slow down in the next week or so...
Historicon -
What can I say? It was a blast. Those of you who read the WWPD forum know of my "less than stellar" time with Delta Airlines and my luggage. So I was the "best dressed" for the I-95 Tournament!!
I-95 Warmup:
I was "lucky" and drew Jon Cleaves as my first opponent. 6-1 Jon. I then went against John Baber / Dirty John from WWPD and took him 5-2. My last game saw me win 6-1, which put me in the bottom third for the tournament. Ah yes, if I only had not faced Cleaves...
MW Nats:
By the time the tournament started on Friday, I had my luggage and was ready to go. Too bad my gaming was not with me.
Game 1:
First round I drew David Vigor. He brought Strelk horde and the mission was Encounter. We had a bloody fight that saw me almost run his KV-1s, but the Kommisar stepped in and "motivated" the last tank to hang around. I shot up his Strelk pretty well, but I learned about the MW Bi-Plane from Hell that the Soviets get. Rockets on a Bi-Plane?!?!?! Well, those tore up my Shermans and M10s pretty good. Although time was called, David was going to get the win the next turn. So I gave him the 6-1 win.
Total VPs so far: 1
Game 2:
I drew a great newer player in Greg from NY / NJ. He is studying to be a dentist, after becoming a sceintist and realizing that wasn't his calling. I asked if he watched Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer to many times as a kid... Anyway, he brought Staghound horde. I totaly udnerestimated the list. We rolled Cauldron and I defended. I was soooooooo sure I would get this game. Bad tactics on my part saw my M10 ambush whiff, my Shermans get destroyed by 25pdrs and 6pdrs and my M10s not survive the return fire. Company Morale check already??? Without Reserves on the board, the answer was yes and I failed. 6-1 to Greg!
Total VPs so far: 2
Game 3:
Played Shawn Morris (The Terrain Guy) in No Retreat. He was infantry, so we rolled to see who would win the game. He got to defend, so he won the roll. This turned out to be closer than I ever imagined it could be, but in the end he got me 5-2. If I defend, I get him 6-1 ro 5-2. Oh well.
Total VPs so far: 4
After Day 1, I am literally tied for last! The only way I can go is up!!
Day 2:
Game 4:
Played Chris in Hasty Assault. I defended and took him 6-1. The game was closer and planes again were my nemesis... He brought StugS, Marders and Grens (I won the roll to defend).
Total VPs so far: 10 (will get a +1 later for each win)
Game 5:
Greg Part 2! Yes, we played again. This time it was Surrounded. It was fun, bloody and brutal. In the end, I pulled out the 4-3 win...
Total VPs so far: 14 (will get +2 for 2 wins...)
Game 6:
Free-For-All vs. Joe Metz's Grens. Tigers and Marders. I got aggressive, lost the Shermans and M10s, then we prepared for a slugfest. Realizing that this would be bloody and long, we shook on a 4-3 to him and got a beer.
Total VPs: 17 +2 for 19 total. And after my start, I was happy to get that! In the end, I placed near the top of the lower third or top of the lower quarter. But going from tied for last did make me feel better.
What's new:
I did pick up some Bolt Action 28mm WW2 guys. Played a demo game and had a blast. So Brit Paras, Cromwell, US Infantry and a Sherman are on the table!
Very happy to get Devil's Charge. Lists are very strong!
That's about it for now. Lots of travel for business recently and it will slow down in the next week or so...
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