Photo Report: Games Day on October 24th

And what a day it was- a great turnout, four games on the go, and a lot of fun had by all.  Let's get straight to the pics!

First off, Andrew's Star War games which looked to be a real gas.  It featured a fantastic terrain piece that rather reminded me of a futuristic attack on a Foreign Legion fort, but it was of course a Rebel attack on an Imperial outpost.   And as it turned out, the rules were based on a set for colonials by none other than Don Featherstone!

Here Andrew looks over the layout, with a clearly fascinated Giovanni admiring the miniatures.
 

 

 Brian decides that he now knows what he wants Ayu to buy him for Christmas from "Toy's 'R Us".

I just loved the palette of this layout- although it was a swine to photograph, the sand yellow of the gaming cloth matched that of the outpost well, and the game really looked good.

*****

We were able to run two WW2 games using Blitzkrieg Commander II rules.  Peter and Brian had a France 1944 game between the British and Germans.   Pete is a master builder!  His buildings and models looked fantastic, as can be seen here.

Fresh out of the carrying cases.  Some excellently modelled Panzer IV's and a Tiger, along with a  very drool-worthy gun and limber (an SHQ model).

 

An amazing collection of buildings.  Many made from scratch, and very well painted. 

 Peter and von Brian cross swords across the bocage.

Another shot of Peter's gorgeous terrain layout.

 

 Giovanni's German armour and infantry. Note the dug-in Panther turret.  

We had Brian using Giovanni's collection of Germans, while Giovanni himself played in the Star Wars game. Meanwhile, Ron was using Brian's British against my Soviets.  The triangles we wargamers get involved in...

Here are some of Peter's British forces.

*****

A really colourful game was this Warhammer 40K game put on by Ivan and Howard- I don't know much about the genre myself, but I was struck with Ivan's well-painted Tyrannids on one side, and the  silver horde that were Howard's Demon-Hunters.  There was an eye-catching statue that formed the centre piece of their game.

 "Watch it- they bite!"

That is a really impressive armoured vehicle.  Wonder if anyone would notice if I painted one green and added it to my Soviet army?

Scale creep writ large...

*****

Finally, the game I had with Ron.  Kind of a learning experience for us both.  This was his first time with the BKC II rules, and I hadn't played for a few months myself, so was a little rusty.  It is June, 1945, and the Soviets are having a little "dispute" with the Western allies over boundary demarcations.

This was a race for a bridge (a nice model that Brian knocked together from parts at the local 100-yen shop), with a British armoured brigade supported by motorized infantry on one side, and a battalion of Soviet infantry supported by a company of T-34/85's and a ground attack aircraft on the other. If the bridge and the two buildings on either side of the river were secured, it would be considered a complete victory.  Anything else would be a draw.

"Today's Fox!" Some jolly sporting chaps (from Brian's collection).
 

 Heroes ride.  Goats walk.  My Popovs wait for the order to be unleashed.
(A Mig 3 takes aim at my cellphone as punishment for my cluttering up the table.)

  The objective.  Brian's bridge looked great on the table.

Tally Ho, lads! 

Urrah!!!!

Tank on Tank!  The T-34's take a loss, but manage to hold their own against the Capitalist Forces of Reaction. The last Sherman attacking on this flank is knocked out. (The river was fordable by armour, and infantry would have to expend one whole action just to cross it).

Hors de Combat.  These fell prey to the T-34's.   I dare say, hard cheese, old boy, what?

 But more where they came from...(Gulp!)
  

Bar's open!  Any room at the inn?

The game ended a draw, as the Soviets managed to ever...soooo...sloooowwwly  send their infantry to the building on their side of the bridge, while the British were steadily enveloping the whole board.  However, they wouldn't have had enough infantry to winkle out the still well-armed Soviets from their cover.

But conversely, the Soviets were effectively trapped; if any on them so much as stuck a boot out of the any of the doors they would have had it blown off by a shell from a waiting Sherman.  Stalemate, and the outcome would depend on whichever side would have sent reinforcements first.

Given some abysmal initiative rolls at the beginning of the game, the subsequent advance of the Soviet infantry was carried out at a snail's pace.  With all the British armour and transport, and fairly open terrain, there was little in the way to prevent Ron from flanking the Soviets early in the game and shooting up the Red infantry in the open.  Given my faulty deployment (the Soviets should have set up further forward on the table), the Russkis really did deserve to have been wrung out and then hung to dry in very short order, and Ron's plan to envelope the Soviets from both sides was a sound one.

The only thing saving the commies' cute 'lil crimson butts was that they managed two amazing runs of luck with the dice.  The first was when the T-34's achieved Glory for International Socialism against a company of Shermans, by passing critical command rolls and getting double-ones (which allowed them to get to carry out an additional action).  This meant that they could  then concentrate their fire on the oncoming armour one victim at a time.  Even the Mig managed to do some damage!

The second was later in the game when two mortars managed to hold up the flanking attack long enough for the (by now panic-stricken) infantry to seek shelter in the village. The 82mm mortar was particularly well served by a very efficient crew.

 Gee whiz, Ron, is that the time? Aw, shucks, we'll just have to call it a draw (phew!)

The dice rolling had its ups and downs for both of us, and as Ron was able to quickly grasp the fundamentals of the rules, the game played quite quickly.   I really enjoy our BKC II games, the mechanics are fairly simple, but it plays well and calls for some thinking about the tactics you want to employ.  And of course, Ron is a real gentleman to game with.

Moral of the story for the Popovs; more terrain pieces laid out in depth.  And start with the infantry in defensive positions. Either that or start building lend-lease trucks!  Lot's of 'em.

*****

There you have it.  All in all, A wonderful way to spend a Sunday, with a memorable afternoon of gaming!  Next games day is November 14th.  Thanks to Giovanni and Ayu for the pictures. 

-Robert