Nice weather = poor hobby blogger

Absent again,

Due to the outstanding weather we have been experiencing recently, I have simply been making the most of it. 

Lots if golf, lots of work in the gym and camping trips with the family. Make for poor amounts of hobby time. 

I havnt been completely absent from the hobby over the last few months. I have however bounced from prodject to prodject with not a lot of purpose. 

So I will post here a few of the things I have done since my last post. 

Firstly Salute, the same as last year, myself and members from my club, Cardiff Wargames club were 4grounda go too guys, for their WWII display board. 

Stauart the Co owner of Greatescapegames.co.uk took the helm. The demo also have Great escape games the chance to display thier new WW2 rules set, Iron Cross (released later this year). 

For this prodject I was chief gardener, this  entail me making flower beds, painting and "planting" flower pots. And the pain staking task of sticking foliage to tree armatures. 

Products here, can all be found on GEG website. And they are all fantastic prodjects, and what I show here isn't even a drop in the ocean of the amount of these amazing products they stick. 

On to the table, we produces at the end.

It's is band of brothers inspired Holland style landscape. With undulation and raised roads. 

The brand new parish church from the wizards at 4ground. 

A perfect shot of the plant pots and allotments I made. 

The new Parish Church. I can not express enough how amazing this model is! Complete with stain glass window, it looks fantastic. 

During the game, I rolled this firefly to the top of this bluff, where it took pop shots of the tiger over the wall. 

This is a brilliant shot, to show how the board had undulations built in. The way we made the board means we could have deep undulations and raised roads ect. 

Also in this shot a view of the hay stacks I made last year. Inspired by Pat over at paintingwithasilverwhisle, check this page, and amazing amount of insperation terrain and models. 

Getting on to the other things I've done of late (I did want you I jumped from prodject to prodject). Over the last few months to a year, I have started playing a lot of Warhammer fantasy, much to my discust at all the roumors of 9th. Just my luck a game that has been around longer than I have been alive, as soon as I start playing there is all this talk of them killing it. Oh well, I've enjoyed painting stuff that isn't controlled by historical accracy. 

So whole the game is in a state of limbo, I've decided to paint some character models. 

Mage/loremaster

Prince

Noble BSB 

More to come on these. 

Thanks for looking. 

Somewhere in Northern France...

Yesterday 5th July, saw is play a huge battle, whilst we continue to play test the rules from the salute game. It's a very fun game, and easy to pick up. And lends it's  self to big multiplayer armoured battles amazingly. 

Amongst the boccage and farm land that stretch between villages of northan France. A great battle raged. A meeting engagement of key objective, to be taken at all costs. 

Elements of the britsh brake out force from D-Day started pushing on let objectives to gain a foot hold in Europe. 

In the North west, a German infantry brigade supported by Pak 40s and a Marder set themselves up to ambush a unknown collumb of Alies advancing toward the town. 

A Pak 40 conceals it's self in a shed. Knocking out the Churchill below. 

The brigade was left to defend the german armies forward operation base, a hotel secured in the fall of France. 

As the attack came, british mechanised convoys start led poring towards all of the strategic possistion on the map. Securing the village with ease, infantry units a Firefly and Cromwell hunkered down, with orders to hold the village at all coat. 

Realising what was happening the German FOB sprang into action, calling up renfocments as quickly as possible. 

The right wing of the German reineforcements push into the town, to try and dislodge it's new inhabitants, which would prove to be a much harder task than the first thought. 

As the left wing of German reinforcements rushed to help defend the FOB, their heavy tanks got bogged down by the rough farm ground. 

The Defenders at the fob were atleast overwhelmed by British armored vehicles well supported by infantry. Then the message came over the radio for the FOB to evacuate. The Reinforcement push hard to stop the Alied advance before it gains anymore ground. 

As the Alies come into site, a barrage of AT shots rains down on them, from a group of panzers hull down along the easterly road. 

Dissolution strikes the Alied forces hard as the Stark reality hits home that this is tiger country and they are finding their mark. 

Back at the village the infantry take a firmer grip over it, with Panzer and Firefly trading blow for blow in the streets around them. 

A courageous Cromwell tank, sneeks around the flank of an approaching Tiger tank. 

As the Tiger support is brought up to the town, more british vehicle are being lost. The infantry try their best to disrupt the vicious tanks with piat and grenades. 

 

As the Alies tighten their grip on the key objectives, all seemed lost, apart from a vital cross roads to the East where a squad of infantry and recconacence Puma, hold on and follow orders to the bitter end. 

In the end, it was a major Alied victory. The Panzer and Infantry elements in the area forces to retreat and regroup.

A final tally of the outcome: British armour suffered terrible losses, losing a Churchill, 2 Fireflies and 4 Cromwells, but the infantry suffered light casualties in securing the eastern outskirts, hotel, crossroads and part of Cuverville. 

The Germans lost 3 Pumas, a Marder, 3 Panzer IV's and their infantry company was effectively destroyed. They controlled the farmhouse and the west of Cuverville but were forced to retreat from the village before their remaining armour was mopped up by the British infantry which totally controlled the east end and were awaiting the arrival of the remaining British armour.

Overall a very good fun game, with the advantage swinging from side to side. 

I expect a lot from this rules system, for many things. Simplicity, fun and the chance to get all my toys on the table. 

I will be play testing this agin on Thursday night, seeing how it plays on a 6x4table 1vs1. I will write a small report after that.

Thanks for reading

Regards