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:

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 Sopranos
The 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 Herbert
Author: 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: Golf
Team: 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.

 

Biggest Wargaming regret?

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.

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!!

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...

US MW Nats List

Since the lists had to be turned in to Joe Krone two weeks ago, I decided to go ahead and post the list.

Here it is...

US Rifles.

I thought a lot about this list and about other lists in MW.  Outside of US Armored Rifles, my MW lists are confined to US Armor and Brit Paras (Italy).

So how did I get here?

Armored Rifles were easy to consider.  Great list, great mobility and great integrated AT (if you buy the zooks).  Add in Shermans and US TDs (a MUST have!!) and you have great punching ability that can defend.

Brit Paras - thought about it, but my problem in previous games was the lack of mobility and armor support.  Yes, you can get armor but 3 vehicle armor platoons are just too fragile.  So I threw this guys out of consideration.

US Rifles - the list above and one variant that I ran in my last tournament (and won!!  first time!!) were also considered.  V3 brought out some goodies for infantry, the biggest was driving off armored assaults with two "bad things happening" in Defensive Fire.  You get a hit with a 'zook and bad things are going to happen!

Tankovy - ahh, the 'ole stand by.  In MW, Hen and Chicks has not yet been point adjusted, so you could have some fun.  But at 1,625, you don't have the full power of the Soviet lists.  The only list I considered had 10 T-34s, 10 Lend Lease Stewies, 3 SU-85s and 3 BT-64 (recon).  I still like that list.  If I were to run an armored company, I would do this one.  Fearless Trained and they can move and shoot.  But see the earlier comment about assaulting with armor and it is even worse for Soviets.  10 vehicles (trained no less) closing in on a platoon with 3 bazookas are not favorable odds.

Since I don't run Germans, it came down to ARP or Rifles.  That left me with one question:

Do I want to attack infantry or defend against mech?  Bluntly, do I want to attack my Rifle list or defend against my ARP list?  I chose to defend.  And the other simple truth is that I am not that good at running ARP.  Yes, they are awesome.  But they need to be in the right hands.

The easiest part about this decision?

USA.  Not jingoistic here - in terms of game play for MW, getting 4 Shermans and 4 TDs on the table is too good to pass up.  Way to good to pass up!  I have an ambush?  Take the easy way - ambush teh Shermans and the TDs already have the TD ambush.  Bring it.  Even against the tankovy horde, I am hitting on 2+ or 3+.  8 Shermans shots get 4-6 hits and 8 TD shots get the same.  The horde will be shredded and will not have enough strength to assault infantry.  So I am feeling good about that situation.

The "killer" list?

German Panzergrens with Remer.  That is the one that I fear and that I think is even stronger that ARP.  Remer is that good!  Basically, the list has Remer, 2 PGren platoons, Nebs, maybe recon and two platoons of armor (Panzer IIIs / IVs).  Yes, you could even go with a platoon on Panzer IIIs and a Tiger.  Either way, that is a beast of a list.  Up against my list, it will all depend on mission, terrain and players.  If I get them in FW, I will feel a little better.  Breakthrough?  uggh.  Surrounded?  I might just see if I could get a 2-5 before the game starts and head to the bar!

So if you are going to Historicon, be sure to say hi!  I will be the pasty skinned guy / baby seal from Wisconsin...

My Therapist said... It is ok to criticize Battlefront

For those of you who don't hang out on the FoW forum or the WWPD Forum, here is a post I made earlier:




This has been bugging me a bit, so I thought I would just come out with it and release my deep breath when done. I am not trying to be flippant either - I have struggled with this one. So I have finally gotten to a spot where I can say:

It is ok to criticize Battlefront.

Let that sink in for a minute. I am big with the "everyone has a vote" and "my beliefs do not require you to believe" view of the world.

But like my favorite sports teams, I can be a fan and still lament poor trades, poor play and still live and die by the results! And I will still wear the jersey / kit and I will still celebrate the big win over the biggest rival.

And this leads me to my riff on BF:

I love you guys! I like the models, the rules, the books - heck everything! I was giddy when I received my V3 rulebook, I was excited the first time Phil chimed in on one of my forum posts and I was really excited when I played my first tournament. But like my sports team above, I can chime in with what I see are issues / problems with the books, rules, business model, etc. It doesn't make me right and this is not about being right. It is just about making a better game - but still being polite about it.

• There are problems with EW. I believe those problems to be based on points. I just don't understand from a game mechanic that an MG gun / infantry team can cost about the same as a vehicle with a MG. Same price, but I get armor and a 12" to 16" inch move? Really? Others like to point to the BAR issue as a problem with EW, but hey - a mistake was made and fixed. Did they go too far? Maybe. And yes, I have 20+ BAR vehicles on my table to be painted that I just can't get motivated to finish.

• The plastic Sherman from Actung! is bad. Really bad. Not sure that the fix is here, but there are other options for the beginner that will take away from BF. I hope they get this right...

• I don't like the point differences between Turning Tide, V3 Forces, BGG and the quick look at DC that I got last Friday at my FLGS. Having experienced other game systems and their model of "the newest list is always the strongest" (some call it Codex Creep) I have to say that I can understand people having this view with respect to BF. I will admit to wanting to give BF the benefit of the doubt here, but right now things are just a bit off. I was really angry with the point cost of a Sherman vs. Panzer IV in V3 Forces, then only to see the cost of a base Sherman go down in BGG. And there was just a handful of weeks between the two releases!

• Please, ambushing PSV is plain dumb. I have read all the posts and threads on this subject, but come on! Recon cruises down a road only to have wire pop up behind them on the same road. No amount of "historical info" will change my mind. This is a game mechanic that is simply wrong.

• LW war is headed towards EW right now. The split into EW / MW / LW is arbitrary from BF. There is no vodoo here or special reasons. It just helps the game mechanic. But as we progress later into '44 and '45, the points will get completely out of whack. If they don't, then it just means that the list that is fielded from the latest point in the war will be the strongest.

• It is a game, not a recreation of history. Some decisions will need to be made based on the game over history. See PSV ambush above as an example. So vehicles found themselves surprised in a mine field. So what? Saying that an ambushed PSV recreates this is dumb. A minefield didn't always sprout up in the perfect spot everytime. Arguing over stats and historical accuracy is also interesting. I am sure that somewhere in history, a 37mm gun blew a track off of a Tiger or Panther and immobilized it. Does that mean that a 37mm gun in LW should have the ability to bail a tank? Nope. Poor game mechanic if it did. So this is a game that represents history or potential history. Sometimes it seems like we all get a bit caught up in the history argument and forget that we play with toy soldiers.

• Finally, this is a business for BF. Making a game that is fun is good business. Promoting the hobby and the game itself is good business. Not alienating the FLGS is good business. Creating a fair game to play is good business. What is not good business is forgetting that the hobby is expensive. On this point I am candid - I can afford all the toy soldiers and books that I want. I am lucky and blessed. But I never assume everyone else is in the same boat. I see young players who save money and buy 1 Panther at a time. I see young professionals that have taken 6 months to purchase two platoons due to life issues, financial constraints and time. I am concerned about "compilations" and what it means to this game and BF. It is not good business to render LW Eastern Front books "useless in tournaments" a mere 12 months after publication. It is not good business to make my list from D-Day simply not competitive with later book releases. What do you say to the poor person that saved and invested time into the hobby, just to make the list they loved not a viable list for a tournament? I know tournaments shouldn't rule the game - really I do! But do consider this for a moment – on average, tournament players will spend more money in the hobby than non-tournament players. Can’t we have a game that works for both? My fun in tournaments is meeting new people and having fun. But if I travel to Historicon to play in the tournament, I would like to think that my list has a fair chance. And right now my CV list for US Armor in Turning Tide is nowhere near as good as BGG. Disagree? Ok, then why in a game that is points based can my 5 CV Shermans from Turning Tide cost me 450 points and in BGG they cost me 415? Same era here. Let's make it worse, take my BGG Shermans and give them an additional 2" move. Now my 5 CV BGG Shermans cost 440, still cheaper than Turning Tide and they move further! Yes, the equipment got better later in the war. But in the game mechanic, we are in the same era and we are a points based game. The same vehicle with better stats should not be cheaper in the same era!

So forgive me, but like my beloved Chicago Cubs, I can root for them and still complain and criticize their horrid pitching and hitting. And I can complain about Michigan State and Northwestern (alma maters) when they lose a game. But I still bleed for those teams and I want to see them win.

I want BF to succeed just like I want my team to win. But I just see some things that I would love to see improved. And if I offended anyone, it was by no means intentional.

Wow - No June Post!!

Holy cow!  A whole month went by and I had no post.  I guess I should put an update out there!

I am in the process of completing my MW Nats Historicon list.  I already submitted the list to Joe Krone, but I needed to paint up some units to fill out the list.  Other than a few basing options, I am good to go!!

I am fielding a US Rifle MW list.  It was really tough, since I thought long and hard about Armored Rifles.  But in the end, Rifles are the winner.

Here are my thoughts regarding US Rifles and infantry in general in FoW:

1. Battlefront is doing everything they can to move away from "tank fest."  One example is the change in V3 for repelling an armored assault.  If I just get two "bad things" to happen to the assaulting armor platoon in Defensive Fire, then the assault stops.  Think about 5 tanks assaulting US Armored Rifles. I have 5 bazookas that can shoot over friendly teams at vehicles.  Assume I get all 5 in the 8" bubble.  5 shots needing 4+ to stop the assault.  Done.  Say you pin me, now I need 5+ on 5 shots.  You will only get by me 55% of the time (rough math).  Say you are Soviet.  Sweet!  Now I need a base of 3+ in LW and 2+ in MW!  And you have 10 targets, which will bring in a much larger bubble.
2. Gun saves.  As long as my guns stay silent, they are GtG and get the 3+ save.  At some point, you will have to get closer than 24" and the guns will open up.
3. In Devil's Charge (saw the preview copy on Friday), you can replace one infantry stand with a bazooka in each squad.  Basic Rifle Platoon is 9 infantry stands (three squads), command stand and a bazooka.  Now I can have 6 infantry stands, command stand and 4 bazookas.  I can also combat attach HMG platoons (each with two bazookas if you upgrade) and a Weapons platoon.  So add 2 HMGs to each platoon and another bazooka.  And don't underestimate the power of automatic rifles...
4. I can take TDs as support.  My MW list has Shermans and M10s.  In MW, these are beasts.  Yes, they are priced like beasts, but I will be defending against most everything.  Give me an ambush and then it gets awesome...
5. US Rifle Platoon Commanders can call in arty.  Yes, they could always do this before.  Again, don't underestimate the power of this national rule.

The good news is that all US lists are feeling the love right now.  The bad news is that my Turning Tide book is done for...

For competitive play, all US lists will come from BGG and DC.  Time will tell what Nuts! has in store for the US.

And to all going to Historicon - please, be sure to say "hi" to me!  James / Chairborne was awesome at Adepticon.  He just comes up to me and says "Are you Webgriffin?"  We get to talking and even have dinner with a group on the Saturday after the tournament.  So don't be a stranger and be sure to look for the loser Wisconsin guy!  I will be on the Baby Seal table!!

Local Tourney Results (my first win!!)

This past Saturday, Mike (cornishkeebler) ran a local tournament for the group.  We wanted to call it the "Wisconsin Championships", as we tried to invite everyone from the state to the tournament.  We did get three great players from LaCrosse to come down and play!  We had a total of 12 players.

Before I get into the details, I did want to thank my three opponents - Rob, John Pickle and Bill "Mad Hungarian".

The tourney was a Mid-War 1,625 with three rounds.  The missions were Fighting Withdrawal, Breakthrough and Free For All.

My list for the tournament:

US Rifles - Confident Trained

HQ - 2 Command Carbine Stands
Platoon 1: US Rifles (with 'zook)
Platoon 2: US Rifles (with 'zook)
Platoon 3: HMG platoon (combat attached to rifles above)
Platoon 4: Tank Destroyers (4 M10s)
Platoon 5: 4 Shermans
Platoon 6: 57mm AT Guns (3) with 2 bazookas
Platoon 7: Arty - 4 105mm Guns
1,620

Round 1:

I drew Rob in a Fighting Withdrawal mission.  He ran a FJ list with 2 FJ platoons, a Tiger platoon (Tiger and Panzer III) and a Ferdinand.  We diced off and Rob was attacker.

Here is a picture of the end state -



I put my objective in the back middle, slightly off center to the left.  It is located just between the building and the road.  Rob put his on the left in the field and the right in the field.  Rob pushed forward in the middle with one FJ platoon, the right objective with another FJ platoon.  He ran the Tiger on the far left and the Ferdinand went up the middle.

I deployed the 105 on the far right, a rifle platoon inbetween the rigth and middle objective, another rifle on the left objective that also strattled the middle objective, Shermans and Security Section of the TD in the middle with the AT guns in ambush.

Basically, I was able to get MG shots from the Shermans on the FJ in the middle, I smoked the Ferdinand every turn I could and I sent the TDs to take the Tiger platoon.  On Turn 4, I was able to kill the Ferdinand by concentrating the Shermans, the AT guns to bail and then assaulted with the two bazookas.  The end result was a dead Ferdinand.  The M10s took care of the Tiger and the Panzer escort.  Basically, I pulled the 105s and then the AT guns right after the assault on the Ferdinand.  That left Rob with 2 FJ platoons and there was no way he was going to do anything.  We shook on a 6-1 win for me.

Round 2:
Breakthrough vs. Pickle's German recon list

Here is the end picture -


Basically, Pickle put everything in Reserve that he could.  He put an 88 gun, nebs, Pak 40s and another light AA gun on the board.  His foot soldiers were in Reserves, with Marders.

The short version is that I just couldn't move and dig-in again without getting blasted.  And I could not kill his stuff quick enough.  Bloody battle ensued when his Reserves came on, but I could not break him.  It was really close, but in the end I came up just short for a 3-4 loss.

Round 3:
Free For All vs. Bill's Hungarian Armor

Bill did not have a list for me, but this is what I remember:

HQ - 1iC and 2iC in a light tank I think
Platoon 1: Hungarian Panzer IV
Platoon 2: German Marders
Platoon 3: Hungarian Panzer III
Platoon 4: Hungarian Recon tanks
Platoon 5: Hungarian SP AA Whirblewind or something like it
Ok, I did not get any pictures, but here is a picture of the empty board -


I defended on the bottom edge.  Bill put an objective just to the left of the orchard trees and just to the left of the building in the lower right of the picture.  I put my objective in the large bombed out building in the upper middle and in the far upper left corner.

The game was tight, until Turn 4 or 5 when I was able to wipe 3 platoons off the board at the same time.  I had already killed the SP AA, but then I added the Recon Tank, the Panzer III and the Marders to the kill list.  That caused Bill to roll for Company Morale and he did not make it.  However, had he made it he would have continued to roll.  Even if we got to turn 20, he would have eventually lost.  6-1 to me.

My final score was 19 points, since the tourney added 2 points for a 6-1, 1.5 points for a 5-2 and 1 point for a 4-3.  I went 6-1, 3-4 and 6-1.

However, the players above me ended up in a "draw" (3-1) and Pickle had another 4-3 bloodbath.  That caused me to "submarine" to win!  I was shocked, but two 6-1 wins go a long way.

And that was how I won my very first tournament!

Wohoo!!