Kampfgruppe Normandy Arrives

A knock at the door this morning turned out to be the daughter of our neighbour across the road bearing a large brown parcel.  It seems my copy of Kampfgruppe Normandy arrived while I was away for a short break in Whitby.

It's certainly a very impressive book, weighing in at 348 pages, and very nicely produced. From a quick glance the rules look simple, but with enough tactical complexity to keep interest, and bear no relation at all to the WFB/40K systems (bonus!).  The activation and morale systems look interesting, and there's scope for suppressive fire and proper use of artillery.  The rules were written by Warwick Kinrade, who also wrote Forge Worlds Aeronautica Imperialis ruleset, another simple set of rules that I really like.

The only bit that looks a little disappointing is close combat.  It looks like it's just an extension on normal ranged combat, with little risk to the attacker, whereas I'd prefer something a little more... pivotal I suppose;  but it should be easy enough to graft something on (maybe more akin to Fast and Dirty's system) without upsetting balance too much.

Now I just need to get a game in to try it out.  In the meantime there's a great review on Warseer.

Leader of the PaK

Couple if quick posts tonight.  Firstly, I've just finished painting a pair of Italeri fast assembly Pak40s.  Great little models, assembly was really quick.  They don't really need glueing, but I have glued the front armour plate and wheels just for security.  The only suggestions I'd  give to anyone about these models is that shaving down the lugs on the main gunshield a bit helps (its easier to assemble and put less strain on the part, I nearly split mine before doing this) and, if you're painting camo, to do it before assembly.  Luckily I did this and it made things much easier.

One of the other great things about this set is that each gun comes with a complete crew of 6.  They're on the painting table at the moment, so I should be able to post them in a couple of days (I'm having camo traumas...).

Next up should be some Italeri M3 half tracks, presuming I can pick them up from the post office tomorrow between meetings.

Painting and Decorating

Been a bit lax with the posting recently.  I blame my lovely wife, who kindly (if foolishly) bought me a PS3 and a copy of Mass Effect 2 for my birthday.  An excellent game, but a real eater of spare time!

However, I do now seem to have torn myself away from saving the galaxy, and found the paintbrushes again.  I'm working on a few more GW Tau, a couple of old Grenadier Dwarfs and a 1/72 German Pak40 Anti-tank gun at the moment but, first up, is a finished building for my WWII Normandy project.

Some of the joints are distinctly rough and below par, but I'm still pretty pleased for something that was knocked up in a evening a few months back.

Now, any suggestions for a shop name?

Buying the Farm

With my better half staying at her mothers overnight while our bathroom is rebuilt (I miss plumbing!), managed to get a WWII game in tonight, to try out using Fast and Dirty for the period. The plan is to play some linked games as a mini campaign from the point of view of a single platoon. Taking my cue from computer games like CoD and the excellent (but under appreciated) Brothers in Arms, I thought I'd start with something simple, then make the games more difficult over time, with the Axis opposition governed by the solo play rules that are available through the FAD site.

FAD includes a rather neat scenario generator, which I used. You start by choosing a stance (Offensive, Neutral or Defensive) and attitude (Aggressive, Cautious or Passive). For the first game, the US would be on Offensive and Aggressive, and rolled up an Assault mission; with the Germans Defensive and Passive and getting a Hold mission.

"Lootenant, get yourself over here! Some Frenchies say they've seen Krauts setting up in a farmhouse up the road. Hustle your platoon over there and kick 'em out. Rest of the battalion'll be coming up behind you so don't take your time about it!"

US forces:

HQ - 4 models, M1, regular

1st Squad - 1 thompson, 6 M1s, 1 BAR

2nd Squad - 1 thompson, 6 M1s, 1 BAR

3rd Squad - 1 thompson, 5 M1s, 1 BAR

German Forces:

MG42, 2 crew, regular

1st squad , 1 MP40, 3 k98

2nd squad, 4 k98

To represent the bolt action k98s, I decided these would use the lower of 2 D6s instead of the higher to represent the lower rate of fire over the M1s.

The US will be entering from the left, aiming to seize the farmhouse. The Germans need to last 3 consecutive turns with no enemy nearer than 15" to the farm.

The US deployed 2nd squad on the road, and used a recon point to push the squad up another 6". 1st squad hugged the north side of the hedgerow with the HQ and third squad in the field to the south of the road.

The Germans deployed the machine gun in the upper window of the farmhouse to cover the junction, with the two rifle squads providing security.

As the US second squad pushed up the road, the MG42 revealed itself and opened up, wounding two of the squad members. Dragging their wounded with them, second squad took cover on the other side of the hedge to treat the wounded, one of whom was only lightly wounded and able to carry on. While 1st squad continued along the hedgerow, 3rd squad took cover in another hedge to form a base of fire and returned fire on the farmhouse, dropping the Machine Gun loader outright! The gunner continued on, killing a member of 3rd squad in return.

1st squad move up the left flank

3rd squad appeared to be charmed, another high die roll seeing them finish of the MG gunner in turn 3, while squads 1 and 2 moved to flank the farm to the north and the HQ squad to the south. The German squad with the MP40 consolidated into the farmhouse, trading shots with 3rd squad behind the hedgerow, but to little effect. 3rd squad had no such problems, immediately killing one of the new arrivals. 1st squad made a dash across the secondary road to get around the north side of the farm, but a low move roll left part of the squad hanging and one of the squad was wounded by the German rifle squad and had to be dragged behind the a wall by his squad mates, who were now in position to open up on the Germans in the farmyard with good effect.

The 2nd German Squad, led by their NCO, set up in the farmhouse

The US HQ moves up on the right flank to put fire on the farmhouse

2nd squad prepares for the assault on the farmyard

1st squad flanks the farmyard to support 2nd squad assault

While 3rd squad and the US HQ kept the Germans in the farmhouse under fire and suppressed, 2nd squad assaulted the remaining German in the farmyard. Not only did he survive, despite being outnumbered 6 to 1, and losing the assault and falling back, killing one of the US soldiers in the process; he also survived a second assault from 2nd squad, falling back again! With US soldiers in the yard, the remaining soldier in the farmhouse also broke and ran.

The GIs go in!

A clear US victory, who were left in control of the farmhouse having lost 2 of the platoon with 2 more wounded. Sorting out the post-battle bits and pieces, the platoon received replacements for the killed and wounded and 2 campaign points. One was used to raise first squad from conscript to regular (having acquitted themselves well in their first action), the other to give third squad the 'trigger happy' trait (+1 fire effect) in recognition of their stirling work as a base of fire (these guys are going to need to carry more ammo)!

Objective completed!

In all, a good game. The solo play rules are simple to use and effective, and the main rules don't distract from the tactics. Speaking of which, proper fire and movement tactics work well in FAD. After a hairy start when the MG42 first opened up at close range. The US 3rd squad did an excellent job of providing a firebase, reducing the effectiveness of the forces in the farmhouse and allowing the remaining squads to outflank the defences. If they hadn't been so successful (rolling three 6's in a row for fire effect), the MG would have been a major headache.

I do wonder if the tweak for the K98s underpowered the Germans a little (although they certainly did rely heavily on their MGs, as happened here); I'll have to think about that a bit.

Joining the Great Finecast Debate

Much has been said on the 'net about Citadel's new finecast models. From GW's original, somewhat bombastic claims of the latest step in 'hobby evolution' through various debates on TMP and Wayland Games decision not to retail the stuff based on their assessment of flaws (some of which seem fair to me, others which I wouldn't have been surprised by in pewter).

Well, I just had to find out for myself, didn't I? I had some GW vouchers and, not really needing things for any of my main GW armies, thought I'd indulge myself with something that might be interesting to paint. So out of GW Chesterfield I skipped (well, tripped on the doorstep really...) with a Ludwig Schwartzhelm clutched in my eager little hands.

So, first impressions? Here's the inevitable pics...

It's a very light material, and slightly bendy (although not brittle). How well it will hold paint on thin items like swords and staffs? Will it flake over time like the soft plastic on 1/72 models. Compared to pewter flash seems to be a surprising issue. Partly it's because there are so many gates for the material to enter the mould, some of which are on points of detail.

However these do seem to be easily cleaned up without leaving noticeable damage. There are quite a few mould lines as well (multi-part moulds?), but no more than you'd find on pewter, and it's an easy material to work.

What I will say is that I've not noticed anything like the problem with bubbles that some have reported. One or two small ones but so tiny and in out of the way places that they're not worth worrying about. It also holds detail really well; just look at the detail on the barding, above.

Verdict so far? Not sure yet, I'm going to hold fire until assembly, but so far it's neither feeling like an improvement on pewter, nor as bad as some have said

I CAN'T HEAR YOU, I'M A LITTLE BIT DEAF!!!

Quick paintjob on some Empire Artillery Crew that I'd obviously started a while back and forgotten about. They've come out OK, although now I'm going to have to paint (and find) their cannon.

Forgotten Purchases

Having a bit of a tidy up the other day (I needed to make some more space in the cupboard for my wife's school textbooks), I came across a box of resin scenery pieces I'd forgotten about. I recall I picked them up at Salute some years back from (I think) a mix of Snapdragon studios and Ainsty Castings. Anyway, they looked like a quick win on the painting front so, hey presto, here they are.

You can never have too many crates to hide behind. Computer games have taught me that...