Sunday, June 7, 2015

Bolt Action: For the free France!

Fight for the liberty of France continued last friday, when i had a battle against clubmate Juhas early war germans. We had a scenario based battle where the germans had tasked to occupy a nearby town of the bridge they captured last time. As the germans advance has been fast there would be no artillery support available in this battle.


French comander giving last orders to the defenders before the battle

Defenders of France                            

Command Squad                               
3x Infantry squad                 
Machine gun team                                   
Mortar team                                          
Anti-tank rifle team                                  
Renault FT-17 tank                                    
Light howitzer                

German Attackers

2x Command squad (+1 bonus and +2 bonus)
4x Infantry squad
Armored car
Mortar team
Sniper team
Tank (cant remember the model)
Anti-tank cannon
Medic

This was or battlefield

The defenders of France had made preparations for the oncoming battle before the germans arrived, so French deployed into the houses.


German commander decided to deploy his infantry on to the right flank and also into the midle of the battlefield.
Armored car and tank rolled towards the town from the left flank, supporting each other. Infantry on the right were also supported by the anti tank cannon.

French commander sent his trusted Renault FT-17 tank to meet the germans on the right flank. The tank saw an opportunity to make a huge inpact on the German force and targeted the command team of the right flanck. Luckily for the germans, the commander only lost two of his squad members but was saved himself.

Renault FT-17 acting as a gatekeeper into the towns right side

Light howitzer ready to bombard anyone in view.

Soon the howitzer saw its first target. The German armored car speeded towards the town. Howitzer fires and narrowly misses it, flying shrapnel and dirt to the cars side. This proved to be too much for the cars driver who decided to reverse as fast as he could. It took couple of turns for the driver to be convinced by his gunner to drive back towards the town.

German tank also advanced towards the town, seeing the armored car reversing, it also saw where the shot came from. The tank opened fire at the howitzer and managed to hitting and killing a gunner.

On the midlle of the board two german squads got orders from their nearby officer. One squad was ordered to run in the cover of the light fence and use the same road as the tank and armored car. The other squad was set to sneak into the town trough the woods, on the righ side of the town.

German squads line up behinde the fence
Soon the squads receive new orders



















Over at the right flank, the massive german formation with two squads, anti-tank cannon, medic and the other command squad were advancing forward. One of the squads was hit by mortar fire and went to the ground, suffering some casualties. The germans soon noticed the French mortar spotter sending message pidgeons from the nearby forrest. Nearest german squad opened fire, but the spotter managed to send one more pidgeon before he was gunned down by second turn of shooting from the german squad.

German right flank

Leader of the whole german force, after loosig his squad members



In the town, French infantry squad on the left most building notices that it is out of position and leaves the house and runs to the midle building. There is still a machine gun team in the left most building.

In the middle of the board, the german squad trying to enter the town with the vehicles got shot to pieces by two full French squads in the middle building and the machine gun in the left building.

German squad, couple of footsteps before the French unleash hell on them

German mortar got into firing position earlier in the game, and now its spotter sent the coordinates to strike the french howitzer. The german mortar fire was deadly accurate and first round hit the howitzer killing the crew.

The French mortar team positioned close to the howitzer saw their countrymen perish before their eyes. They knew that  they were now the only slim chance that the left flank had of stopping the german vehicles before the anti-tank rifle team could relocate. Despite their best efforts the mortar team did not hit the german tank closing in the town on a high speed.





Anti-tank rifle team making a quick relocation to the other side of the town
On the right flank the germans were trying to close in on the town. They pushed their anti-tank cannon into a firing position, forcing the Renault to reverse back into the town. The French soldiers on the right most house also opened fire onto the germans, trying to hold them back.

The german mortar targeted the middle house and hit, french troops in the house suffered some casualties. Also the german tank closed in right next to the house and fired with its machine gun in point black range, trying to pin the french.

At this point the French commander ordered the two squads in the middle building to exit, fearing that they would be pinned into the house and the german mortar was allready zeroed in. This was a move that costed the lives of alot of his men, but also the german tank got destroyed. The tank chased the French footmen now in the field at the middle of the board, turning the back of the tank to a direction that it should not have done. The anti-tank rifle team made a quick dash behind of the tank, set their gun into position, quickly aimed and fired. They hit the exhaust system of the tank and setting it on fire and taking it completely out.




The germans behind the fence saw their tank on fire and the french soldiers running in the field. They quickly adapted to the sitation and opened fire on the french who had no casualties. They suffered major casualties. The germans took a reinforcement squad from the right flank and it also opened fire into the other french squad on the field. After a turn of firing the german squads assaulted the french squads taking them out, but they also took casualties in return.








The Renault reversing on the road, saw their infantry squads getting beat down at the field. The gunner of the Renault also noticed that behind the german squads there was a german officer and his squad. He unleashed a short burst with his machine gun, rolling 6 to hit, to wound and for exeptional damage, killing the officer.

The game was closing to a end. The germans had made good advance into the town, but now they had the right most house to clear. The german commander looked at his troops who had taken a beating during the battle and none were at full strenght. He ordered squad after squad to take the right most house, but none of his men came back out of that house. He loaded his submachine gun, ran to the house and kicked in the door. He looked and the remaining surprised french infantrymen and unleashed burst after burst with his weapon and killed them to the last man. This german counterpart of srgt Spears from band of bothers had earned his medals and shown why he was in charge. This took the game for the germans. But the battle had coused major casualties to the german forses. For the french the casualties were also horrific.


This was one of the greatest battles i have had in bolt action, and i hope that there is more to come. Also the whole early war setting is something that i realy enjoy.

Ill try to open the galleries for my french and brittish troops during this week, so stay tuned!






                                                                      

Thursday, June 4, 2015

Dropzone commander: List review Air Cavalry 1.0








Hello all! I feel like i want to talk more abot Dropzone Commander and my UCM Air army. I have named it Air Cavalry. After yesterdays post i have got some new ideas and i feel that i can now play my army better. So i think its time to go trough the units i have picked and why (Other than i dont have the models). I assume that this will benefit me more and mayde my readers will also get something out of it or they can give me feedback :)

 Air Cavalry 1.0

Clash: 1498/1500 points

Standard Army
    Standard Roster [1498/1500 pts]
     
  Field Command [415 pts]
            Phoenix: Phoenix(Lieutenant) [250 pts]
            Ferrum: Ferrum [165 pts]
      
For the field command slot i have picked the Pheonix for my commander. First of all the Pheonix model is awesome. With the pheonix i can benefit from the UCM command cards, which are clearly better for air units. 16" Move, 9damage points. I just need to learn how to place my Pheonix in the battlefield. The Missile battery with large template and E 10 seems like the perfect counter to the scary Scourge squad of 6 hunters, killing them on a 3+. It also has AA-weapon with 2 shots and the heavy chain guns with 1 shot each and E10. Perfect to take pot shots at anything within 12".

Another choise for this slot is the Ferrum, which seems like a good choice to pair with the Pheonix into the same battlegroup. It can launch 8 drones with a 30" move or 15" move if they want to shoot. The drones will die to anything that takes even a look at them, but the Ferrum can replenish three drones in a turn and all drones can act indepently. Tough if you want to benefit from the Focus-4 rule you want to be shooting at the same target. I think that the targets for the drones are light and medium dropships. Also they can go and thin out Minder swarms, alltough the minders can reaction fire before i can shoot them. The drones also have a threat range of 21" with 15" move and 6" range.

 Armored Formation [265 pts]
            Katana Squad: 3x Katana [99 pts]
            Rapier Squad: 3x Rapier, Condor [166 pts]
   
   Armored Formation [265 pts]
            Katana Squad: 3x Katana [99 pts]
            Rapier Squad: 3x Rapier, Condor [166 pts]




For my Armored formations i have chosen two identical battlegroups. Squads for those are a unit of three drive on Katanas and three Rapier Anti-Aircraft tanks in a Condor medium Dropships. 
The idea in the Katanas for the first turn is to give me the ability to fire 6 shots into a building that the enemy will want to get in. Also they can use their smoke launchers and cause a +2 accurasy modifier to anyone shooting at them for a turn, if my Katanas wont fire.

 I am a litle torn in between the Katanas and Sabres. As i am mostly fighting Scourge at the moment the Katanas might be little better. Lets take a look

Katana, 2 shots, E9 A9, MF is more than with the Sabre, so good for a drive on unit. Hits Skimmers on a 4+ and kills them on a 4+.  Units like Scourge Hunters kills them on a 3+. Can use smoke for survival but instead cant shoot for that turn.

Sabre, costs little more than a Katana. 1 shot,  E10 A10. Hits Skimmers on a 4+ but kills them on a 3+. Hunters kill them on a 4+. Will also need a dropship so you can get them into position. 

At the moment i think i will go with Katanas, but i need to experiment more. Also with air list the point save between Katanas and Sabres might be just the thing that decides this for me. (I also need to get models for Katanas as i am currently proxying them with Sabres, and everyone knows that proxies hit worse.

Rapiers. Well these are pretty obvious choice as they are the best AA unit that the UCM has. They also have a dropship to get them into position. The thing i need to experiment with is that do i need two squads of rapiers. Or can i manage with one and a squad and a squad of Wolverine A:s. The wolverines could go for light dropships hunting. This might make for another blog post later on.
   
   Legionnaire Corps [219 pts]
            Legionnaires: 3x Legionnaires, Condor, 2x Bear [141 pts]
            ^ Sharing ^ Legionnaires: 3x Legionnaires [78 pts]
     
  Legionnaire Corps [200 pts]
            Legionnaires: 2x Legionnaires, Raven A [80 pts]
            Falcon Squad: Falcon [40 pts]
            Legionnaires: 2x Legionnaires, Raven A [80 pts]


Legionaire Corps. Ahh the humble foot soldier of the UCM... which are mostly in apcs, dropships or buildings... still they use their... feet...but not for moving that much.

Anyways, First battlegroup is currently two squads of 3 Legionaire infantry stands in a Bear apc in a Condor dropship... shipception anyone? :D Ok, a bad pun. Dropzone Commander is a game where you really need to play the mission instead of just killing stuff. Thats why i need infantry to claim and transport objectives for me.  in a 1500pts match i think i will need 4 squads on infantry.

The Legionaires cant really shoot or fight any better for the mattter. I have two options. First is to keep this battlegroup like it is, or change them into 2 stands in a squad and mount them in Raven A light dropships. This would save points and give mobility but less protection, and make them surely lose any close quarter fights against anyone. Tough in air list 4 small and mobile squads might be better.

Falcons. If I save up points in the Rapiers and with the Legionaires i could have more than one falcon in my list. I could aim for 3 or maybe even 4. The Falcons have good mobility with a move of 24" and mf of 12", It can put a hurt into anything that it can hit with its E11 gun. The thing is the hitting. Agains skimmers its 5+ on one dice to hit. Falcon also has the Evasion rule so +2 accuracy to any AA shooting at it. This means its +4 if the enemy wants to reaction fire. Taking this into consideration a squad of 4 Falcons booming out of the skies against skimmers might put a litle fear into the enemy (or not?). Even better if i could find apc:s and divide the shots into 2 per apc (if i have 4 Falcons), but i think that would happen very rarely. Against Scourge the Falcons are not at their best (or i dont know how to use them and i suspect that this is the reason)
      
 Air Wing [134 pts]
            Archangel Squad: Archangel [67 pts]
            Archangel Squad: Archangel [67 pts]

The Air Wing. UCM has a splendid Fast Mover option and that is the Archangel. 2 shots with E7 and costing only 67pts a piece and can strike basicly anywhere in the battlefield is a fair trade. It has a limited range of targets tough as it cant harm some units efficiently. Targets i will be going after with these are from light to medium dropships, and flying units that cant shoot AA, anything with armor 5 or 6 so apc:s will also do. I just need to find the perfect targets and moments to strike. I have used these one time and it ended up in the Angels not hitting anything and dying to reaction fire :(


Thats all for this time. Feel free to comment my list or anything above! Also, any tips to figthing Scourge would be awesome!

 

Wednesday, June 3, 2015

Dropzone Commander: The age of exploration and first contact




Today we are talking about dropzone commander. I will share couple of toughts about my ucm list and about my last game against Herkkos space squids (Scourge).

Previously i have said that i wanted my UCM to be mostly air based army. So i got myself Falcons, Archangels, Raven A:s, Ferrum and the Pheonix command ship. Last sunday i had my first contact against the Scourge with them. This was our first larger game of 1500pts so Herkko also had some new alien technology with him.

The First contact

This was my list:

Pheonix/1 Falc
Clash: 1453/1500 points
Standard Army
    Standard Roster [1453/1500 pts]
        Field Command [450 pts]
            Phoenix: Phoenix(Captain) [285 pts]
            Ferrum: Ferrum [165 pts]
        Armored Formation [265 pts]
            Katana Squad: 3x Katana [99 pts]
            Rapier Squad: 3x Rapier, Condor [166 pts]
        Armored Formation [265 pts]
            Katana Squad: 3x Katana [99 pts]
            Rapier Squad: 3x Rapier, Condor [166 pts]
        Legionnaire Corps [219 pts]
            Legionnaires: 3x Legionnaires, Condor, 2x Bear [141 pts]
            ^ Sharing ^ Legionnaires: 3x Legionnaires [78 pts]
        Legionnaire Corps [120 pts]
            Legionnaires: 2x Legionnaires, Raven A [80 pts]
            Falcon Squad: Falcon [40 pts]
        Air Wing [134 pts]
            Archangel Squad: Archangel [67 pts]
            Archangel Squad: Archangel [67 pts]

Units i have never used in my list was Pheonix, Archangels, Raven A:s Falcon and the Ferrum. Now looking at my list i see that i am just under 50 points short of the 1500. I wonder why... So i could had a second Falcon. Oh well. Herkkos list is a bit under too so it was fair.





Herkkos list was this:

Herkko's list
Clash: 1484/1500 points
Standard Army
    Standard Roster [1484/1500 pts]
        Oppressors [307 pts]
            Desolator: Desolator(Champion) [195 pts]
            Minders: 4x Minder, Intruder Beta [56 pts]
            Minders: 4x Minder, Intruder Beta [56 pts]
        Vanguard [450 pts]
            Reaper Squad: 3x Reaper, Marauder [158 pts]
            Hunter Squad: 6x Hunter, 2x Marauder [292 pts]
        Vanguard [253 pts]
            Reaper Squad: 3x Reaper [117 pts]
            Stalkers: 3x Stalker, Harbinger [136 pts]
        Warriors [237 pts]
            Warrior Horde: 3x Warriors, Marauder, 2x Invader [156 pts]
            ^ Sharing ^ Warrior Horde: 3x Warriors [81 pts]
        Warriors [237 pts]
            Warrior Horde: 3x Warriors, Marauder, 2x Invader [156 pts]
            ^ Sharing ^ Warrior Horde: 3x Warriors [81 pts]


This list is rather scary as i have not faced a squad of 6 hunters before. Those E11 guns are pure evil.
Herkko also had more units i have not faced before. Those were The Desolator, Harbinger and stalkers.

The Scenario of our last game


We played the Land Grab scenario. This scenario uses Focal Points (first time for me with these aswell) Player will score one victory point if he has a unit within 6" of the Focal Point. Also the player with the most amount of units in points cost within 6" of the Focal Point will score an aditional victory point.

This was a fun alternative for the objective or intel based game that Herkko and me have played. Also it put my UCM airlist to a big challenge right of the bat as aircrafts cannot score for Focal Points.


The outcome

In the end i won the game, but not by much. In the last turn my Pheonix got shot down. I had one unit of rapiers scoring in the middle FP, some litle stuff here and there. Herkko also got pretty major casualties. I wont be going into the game with more details as i didnt take any pictures.

Couple thigs that i learned the hard way:

1. Harbinger has an AA-gun! I got one of my Archagel Fast Movers comming out of reserve by rolling a 6 on one dice in the first turn. I attacked a marauder full of invader apc:s, missed with both shots and got shot down by the Harbinger.

2. Scourge infantry in houses are a pain in the *ss! Herkko got two large squads of warriors into building and started popping tanks here an there. Range of 12" combined with the rule that will change 3 hits from a infantry base into a E11 hit is so annoying! all this with an accuracy of 3!

3. Minder swarms... Those litle buggers! 56pts for four minders and an invader beta light dropships is a absolute bargain for the scourge. Minders have gun that can shoot aircrafts and will hit on a 2+. It will also kill most UCM aircrafts on a 4+ as they are armor 5. These little buggers can fly and over work my AA squads, or if i wont shoot them, they will just sit there and reaction fire all my vital aircrafts.

I need to find some way to sort out these problems with my list. I prodably have the solutions in my list already, but i dont just know it yet. If someone has some input to these problems it is greatly appreciaded.

The expolarition

I will keep on practising with my air list. The changes i will make are that i will drop the infantry squads in the bears for infatry squads in Raven A:s instead.

The air list that i have looked online usually have only one unit of rapier AA-tanks, but i im not so conviced about surviving with only one squad yet. I might be changing a rapier squad to a Wolverine A squad tough. But that is a spot for another blog post.

The UCM has a heap of units that i also want to try. I will first build a strong air list and learn to use it and later i will get my hands on kodiak, scimitars, and longbosws!

If you read the whole post i thank you for your intrest and hope that you post a comment as you clearly have some intrest for Dropzone Commander lists.

Also we will be getting a new player for our gaming group! Herkko is having couple of practice games agains Jamo and his Shaltari army. I was suppose to be there aswell but i have so time issues.

Hopefully Herkko and me can arrange a Demo game out our gaming club. It would be awesome to recruit atleast one more player. Then we could have two matches of about 1200pts in the same day prodably!

Until next time! Dont let the space squid bite!


Friday, May 8, 2015

Dropzone Commander: UCM Pheonix command gunship

Hello all!

I got my Pheonix painted couple nights ago. Now im ready to start practising with it and the command cards. I still have alot more figures to paint, but im not sure when i get more time to paint them but anyways here is the brand new Pheonix! Enjoy!








Wednesday, April 29, 2015

Dropzone commander: United Colonies of Mankind gallery

Hello all!

I have painted some more of my ucm miniatures. From the 2x 2 player starter set UCM all but the two spare apc:s are painted. Here are the results. I wanted to post these as tomorrow i will be getting a buch of reinforcments that a friend of my bought for me from the salute. Se here we go:



The army so far
Condor transports

The pilot of 1 likes the fresh air





12 bases of legionaire infantry





Bear apc:s




Sabre tanks





Rapier anti air tanks




So there it is. Feel free to comment!

Sunday, April 26, 2015

Salute 2015

Hello there!


Its time to take a look at the Salute 2015. Salute is run by The South London Warlords, it is the biggest independent one-day wargaming and gaming event in the UK. As usual there will be vendors and overseas traders taking part in the Salute. There will also be alot of good gaming oportunities.


Myself on the other hand will not be taking part of the Salute as i need to work. But its fun to follow the social media about updates conserning the Salute.




Hawk wargames: Dropfleet Commander



Lets take a look at Hawk Wargames, who have shown new consept art for new units in Dropzone commander. Also Hawk has previously given out hints about their new game Dropfleet Commander, which is a spaceship battle game with a twist. (The name Dropfleet Commander is not 100% certain yet but Hawk has said that there is a great chance for it being the name. So we will go with that for now on)


There are good pictures in the Hawk Forums, posted by a forum member, i will not copy these images as they are not mine, but i will provide a link to the pictures


http://www.hawkforum.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=6543


First up are the UCM ships for Dropfleet commander. Scale is still 10mm so the detail in those ships is awesome. Anyone does not really know alot about dropfleet commander yet. It has been said that the game is not realy that much about getting your ships into range but rather about signature radious. The more you use your engines or guns, the more you will make it easier for enemies to detect your ships and fire at you.


Dropfleet commander is suppose to be released on Q4 of 2015 or Q1 of 2016. I hope that it is Q4 but i think it will be Q1/16. But i rather have a completely polished game than a rushed one. One thing is quaranteed and that is that i will be pre-ordering a Dropfleet starter set as soon as they come availabe!


I really like Dropzone Commander, so think abaut combining these games in a narrative campaing. that would be just AWESOME!


On the second page in the forums there is concept art of the new infantry choises for all of the factions, but i realy cant say alot about them before they are completely done. I am happy with the current choises as well.


Thats all for now! I will be making more post about Dropfleet when we get more information on that. And on next wednesday i will be fighting Juhas Germans for the bridge again, starting from where we previously left.


So stay tuned and drop me a comment or if you know something about Dropfleet do tell!


-Nojis



Friday, April 24, 2015

Dropzone commander: Ultimate deathstar unit

Hi all!

Ha Ha! I dont do deathstar units. So you are here to look at bus stops instead! But fine bus stops they are indeed. These are from Blotz and costs only 0.75£ each, so i got 12. I also got couple other pieces of scenery, but i will show them when they are completely done.




I might be addins some posters or something later, but for now these are considered as done.

As usual. Drop me a comment!

-Nojis