Russian Air Force

The final addition to my Russian army is three Sturmoviks which, technically, aren't part of the 600 points but I wanted them for future armies and the planes are no longer in production.


These planes are part of the Model Power Postage Stamp series of diecast aircraft. Most of the fighters in the series are approximately 1/100 scale making them the same scale as 15mm miniatures. Battlefront has chosen to release a series of aircraft in 1/144 scale which, to me, are too small. Given that these planes are finished and ready to go for 75% of the cost of the Battlefront miniatures, they are perfect.

The planes, being die cast metal, weigh a fair bit so their bases are made from a floor flange. The wood dowel is then screwed into a nipple that fits into the flange.

Bombs away!

The Project Killer

Did you ever have a situation while working on a project that stops it dead in its tracks? Well, my 600 point Russian force met with one of these project killers. As I mentioned in All About Miniatures, one of my SU-152's had a miscast track. The two SU's were the last models I needed to finish to put the cherry on top of my 600 points. The net result is that without the track my Russian project has ground to a halt. With nothing to paint I finished my Lenin park objective and you can see the result below.

The upside of a project killer is that I can spend some time painting other things: Federation Commander ships, Rezolution Shadow War CSO troopers and other odds and sods. The downside is that things that go out of sight often go out of mind. The last killer has delayed my interest in painting some Starship Trooper Exo-Suit miniatures. It took several weeks to get an arm replaced. Since then, Mongoose has announced a switch to prepainted miniatures reducing my interest to continue to almost nothing.

Variety, the Spice of Life?

On Sunday someone (okay it was my mom) wanted to hear episode 1 of AllAboutMiniatures, so I played it for her on my laptop. This gave me a chance to hear it again and something John and I mentioned in passing raised a question in my head. On the previous day we had reviewed Battlegames magazine. In the opening editorial Henry Hyde, Battlegames editor, expresses concern for the state of the hobby due to the large number of games available to the beginning gamer today. This got me to thinking. Are we (in terms of gaming now) living in "perilous" times for the hobby?

I've been gaming in one way or another now for 23 of my 33 years. When I first started out (with AD&D) no one knew what gaming was. As far as I knew when getting started there existed no more than a handful of established games. Over the last two decades this has changed dramatically. Now if you go to The Miniatures Page under the Manufacturers directory you will find so many manufacturers that I cannot imagine having enough time to visit every website. Many of these produce their own rules sets to go with the miniatures they sell, especially within the fantasy/sic Fe genre. Is this good or bad?

First let's look at the pros. Ten to fifteen years ago when you started playing a game it was usually the miniatures that "sucked you in". This really hasn't changed much for me. You would buy and paint what you needed to start playing and settle down to your first game. At this point you would finally find out if you liked the rules. Often times, particularly with historicals, people would continue to play a less than perfect, often over complicated, set of rules because alternatives simply did not exist. Coming back to the present we have as many options as we have time to play. This seems to allow a group to work through all the rules they want to until they find that which suits them best. John and I have been going through this process over the last few years with WWII rules. It seems for now we have settled on Flames of War as fitting what we want in a wargame based on the second world war. Is it perfect? No, but we enjoy it more than some of the previous sets we have played.

There is a second "pro" in the corner of variety. Having a broad range of games appeals to a broader audience. This, in my opinion, has the potential to attract more new gamers. As we are all aware, once you are "in the door" so to speak you are bound to find more that interests you.

Now for the cons. As John and I mentioned in AllAboutMiniaures Episode 1, we really like the Warlord game by Reaper. We have, however, only played this game four or five times in the last two years. Why? It's because we have so many games to play. After accumulating twenty years of games it leaves some excellent ones by the wayside. Some that come to mind for me are Man 'O War, Grand Armee, and the Warmaster line (Warmaster, Ancient Master, and Blitzkrieg Commander). These are all games we really liked. Unfortunately perhaps, new shinier objects have come along. Will we ever get back to these games? I think so. We have plans to play Man 'O War next time we game. It will then probably go back on the shelf for at least another year or so.

The second con against variety is finding opponents. In the modern age of wargaming we have to be flexible in being willing to learn and play different games. I just started playing Saganami Island Tactical Simulator. Where do I find opponents? The internet helps, but often opponents are a good lengthy drive away. Unless you are part of a regular gaming group and you can get them to go along with you (they don't always) you are left with a game you really like and no one to play it with. Some people like to stay locked into the system they have "always played" refusing to try anything new. When there existed far fewer games it was more likely to find someone who played a given system.

To close this oh too lengthy post, I have to say that I like variety. I may be a sucker, but I like to buy new sets of rules just to read them and get new ideas for games, scenarios, and backgrounds. To me it is as much a part of the hobby to collect and gather various rules sets as it is to paint the miniatures and play the game. I'd really like to hear comments on what other people think.

Until next time,

The Lieutenant

Silly Games

Some miniature games might be silly but that shouldn’t detract from their value in the hobby. Ebob Miniatures made a recent product announcement on The Miniatures Page for miniatures and rules that simulate a game of paintball. Some found the game not to their liking but I thought the concept so refreshing I bought two teams. I’m not sure I like their rules but that just gives me the opportunity to write my own.

There are quite a few games that don’t take themselves too seriously: Battle Cattle comes to mind. The game has an odd premise, strapping weapons and armor onto bovines, and even miniatures. I wonder; can you put a grenade launcher on an Angus steer? Another game, and I actually have miniatures for this, is Fairy Meat which is billed as using “actual sized miniatures” because the fairy miniatures are supposedly life sized and battle in and around whatever environment you have. The last game like this I can think of that I think everyone has (or at least has had) “miniatures” for this is Fuzzy Heroes for combat between stuffed animals. As a note for future Fuzzy Generals learned after long hours of study of the “construction” rules: unless the rules have changed the game is optimized for a 4” brown bear.

Sometimes it’s good not to take your gaming too seriously and have some fun. As for me, I can’t wait to paint my two paintball teams and have a go. Does anyone know how to paint splats? Comments appreciated.

Command Finished

I have finished my Russian Infantry command teams. This includes both the Strelkovy Company command as well as Battalion HQ. Below are two pictures with the first being Battalion HQ. The two vignettes are in the front: one being the Comissar actively "motivating" the troops and the other is Battalion Command cogitating over a makeshift field HQ. The parts came from the Strelkovy Company box headquarters base with the exception of the map which is paper and drawn with technical pens. The rocks keeping the map on the table are builder's sand which is also the same stuff on the base flocking. The banner base is Battalion 2iC.



The second picture is Strelkovy HQ and is straightforward. The Company HQ banner base can be distinguished from Battalion 2iC in that the Company base has a rifleman while the Battalion base has a SMG gunner.

Kiel und Kessel

The method of operation for German blitzkrieg operations can be described as Kiel und Kessel (wedge and cauldron). Typically, the opening stages of a blitzkrieg operation would be a surprise attack, possibly against fortified enemy lines, and this attack would include Panzer and Luftwaffe forces combining their firepower on the schwerpunkt (focal point) in a classic example of conservation of force. The goal of this strategy was to use local superiority to achieve a breakthrough (the wedge) and then encircle the enemy and destroy them (the cauldron). As the war progressed, all the allies adopted some form of breakthrough and penetration strategy which makes this campaign suitable for all armies.

This campaign has many similarities to the Axis of Attack campaign rules found in the Flames of War second edition rulebook with one major exception: the seven Sectors are not used and the players will use the chart shown below instead.

When using the chart, one side will be considered the aggressor. The aggressor is the side that currently has the upper hand and is likely (but not always) the attacker. This determination of who is the attacker in the campaign missions overrides any special rules (like Defensive Battle) found Flames of War.

The campaign can open in one of two ways: one way is with a deliberate attack against an enemy that is well fortified and entrenched; a prime example being France’s Maginot Line in 1940. In order to start the campaign in this way, the players will need to decide which side will be the aggressor at the start of hostilities. If players can’t decide, then start the campaign as a surprise attack like the Polish Campaign of 1939 or Operation Barbarossa.

The major difference between this campaign and Axis of Attack is that, rather than rolling a random mission, the current “tempo” of the campaign determines which missions are played so ignore the “Advance, Retreat, or Hold in Place” and “Select the Next Mission” section of the rules.

Meeting Engagement
When a battle lines have not been established, either due to surprise or because a force has regained freedom of maneuver after a successful breakout, both sides will try and move into positions of advantage in an attempt to gain the initiative. The battle that takes place where the opposing forces meet is called a Meeting Engagement. The time and location of these battles is often a surprise as neither side is fully deployed. The side that wins this battle has gained the initiative and is now considered the aggressor on this front. In order to exploit the advantage, they will launch a Hasty Attack as soon as possible.
For Flames of War, play the Encounter mission.

Hasty Attack
The Hasty Attack trades preparation time for speed in an attempt to exploit a temporary advantage. The defender, naturally, also has limited time to prepare and the defenses are often limited to the use of terrain for ambush from concealed positions and defenses such as foxholes or weapon pits. The side that is the aggressor in the campaign is the attacker in the Hasty Attack battle. If the attacker wins the battle, they have penetrated the enemy lines and will seek to encircle and cut-off the enemy. If the attacker loses the battle, the enemy lines remain intact and the enemy has time to reinforce their positions.
For Flames of War, play the Hold The Line mission.

Prepared Defense
An attacker must face a deliberate defense when the enemy has been given the opportunity to prepare an extensive network of fortifications including pillboxes, trenches, minefields, and other obstacles. This situation can occur if battle was not a surprise or because a previous exploitation attempt failed. The inherent danger of a static defense is the attacker may try vertical envelopment (airborne operations) as a means to bypass the heavily fortified lines. The side that is the aggressor in the campaign is the attacker in the Prepared Defense battle. If the attacker wins the battle, they have penetrated the enemy lines and will seek to encircle and cut-off the enemy. If the attacker loses the battle, the enemy lines remain intact and the enemy will launch an immediate counter attack in an attempt to regain the initiative.
For Flames of War, play The Big Push mission. The attacker may substitute the Death From Above mission if their army list allows it.

Delaying Operation
Delaying Operations trade space for time and seeks to slow enemy momentum by inflicting maximum damage while preparations are made for a new line of defense. The destruction of the enemy is secondary to slowing the advance; however, grievous losses may sap enough of the attacker’s strength that they lose their temporary advantage. The side that is the aggressor in the campaign is the attacker in the Delaying Operation battle. If the attacker wins the battle, the enemy withdrawal was unsuccessful and they have been encircled and cut-off from retreat. If the attacker loses the battle, new enemy lines have been established; however, huge losses will require a pause giving the enemy even more time to reinforce their positions.
For Flames of War, play the Fighting Withdrawal mission. Note that if the defender during this mission scores a Stunning/Major victory the next mission will be Prepared Defense but if a Minor Victory was scored, Hasty Attack will be played.

Breakout
If a force is encircled, they must attempt to create a gap in the enemy defenses in order to regain contact with friendly forces. If the force can’t breakout, they will be destroyed or be forced to surrender. The side that is the aggressor in the campaign is the defender in a Breakout battle. If the attacker wins the battle, they have broken through the enemy lines and are once again free to maneuver. If the attacker loses the battle, the campaign is over and the aggressor (defender in this battle) is the winner of the entire campaign.
For Flames of War, play the Breakthrough mission.

Reporting For Duty

Greetings everyone! My name is Dan (aka The Lieutenant), and the General has invited me to be a guest Blogger here for a while as we work on a Flames of War project together. Those of you who have listened to our podcast AllAboutMiniatures have already heard me and will learn more about both of us in the next episode.

As the General has previously described we were both inspired by an article in White Dwarf called a tale of four gamers to chronicle the construction of a new army to go with the new edition of Flames of War. No doubt you've all been reading about the progress he has made on his 600 pt Russian army. Now I will begin the tale of my 600 pts of Germans.

I don't have an exact order of battle yet. I prefer to keep things a little more open to change than John does when building an army. In short I don't like to play exactly the same force twice. Looking at the Flames of war list I decided I would base my force off of a German Grenadier platoon. This gives me a good selection of infantry with good armor support to boot. For starters I took the obligatory Company HQ. This will be followed with a Machine Gun Platoon and a platoon of 3 Pzkfw III's. The remainder of the points will be spent on the biggest infantry company I can afford with the possibility of adding either the mortar section and or the puppchen options. What I select will be based on scenario.

In order to implement this plan I ordered the following items:

1 Grenadierkompanie Box $45.00 (includes 2 platoons, 1 Co HQ and all options)
1 Machinegun Platoon $9.00 (includes 2 MG sections and command)
3 Panzer III J $27.00 ( $9.00 ea)
total $81.00

These were all ordered from Neal at The War Store, so I saved 10% getting all I needed and then some for $72.90.

I spent one night cleaning and prepping all the infantry. The next day they were primed. I hope to start painting this evening, but had to take a day off to watch football while reading the Rezolution rules. Hopefully once they are finished I can get John to take a couple pictures to post here.

Lenin Park Flames of War Objective

I thought the best way to see my Lenin objective marker for Flames of War would be before I painted it so I could better identify the parts. As you can see from the picture,

the park is built on a large Flames of War base. The Lenin statue I mentioned previously was from Historifigs and he is sitting on top of a ¾” block from the craft store. The casualty was one of the casualty/pin markers from the Strelkovy box. I think the dead Russian helps reinforce the nationality of the objective. The crater is built from a Games Workshop slotta base that was glued on upside down and then putty and sand were used to build the crater sides. Finally, the fence is N-scale wrought iron fencing from Model Power. In my recent trip to Russia I remember a lot of wrought iron fencing, especially in the middle of the boulevards, so it seems appropriate. I will post a picture again when it is finished.

Wargame Campaigns

Wargame campaigns come in many varieties: from the map and resource based “grand campaign” to those with a handful of linked scenarios. As war gamers, we like to start campaigns but have a horrible track record of finishing them. There are many reasons why campaigns fail and many of these failures are because of the same, oft repeated, reasons. Many campaigns simply die, unfinished and forgotten. Most often, the group of players that start the campaign have the best of intentions and seeming commitment to see the endeavor through to the end; however, over time: Bob moves away, Joe gets a new girlfriend and stops coming to game day, while Fred thinks he can’t win any more and simply quits. All these events underscore the potential pitfalls in war game campaigns.

It should be obvious that the more people participating in the campaign, the greater likelihood that any of the previously mentioned events will occur. When players drop out, the ideal situation would be to recruit a new player; however, in map and resource campaigns it may be difficult to recruit a new player who sees that the previous player was in a no win situation. Ideally, the campaign system should be able to survive a change in players with little disruption.

Another reason for campaign failure is a phenomenon known as ‘snowballing’ in which one player or faction will have a series of successes which gives them an advantage that increases the likelihood of continued success. In this situation, players often quit the campaign because it has become unwinnable even though the campaign is far from finished. To keep players engaged in the campaign, the side currently losing should feel like they always have a chance to turn things around. If possible, players who have been eliminated from the campaign should be given a role so the entire group can remain active throughout the entire campaign.

All too often, the rules and record keeping for the campaign become a game in and of itself. It is worth remembering that the reason the players started the campaign was to give a reason to play the tactical game, not the campaign game. Therefore, the campaign should be simple to manage and have little or no record keeping.

In the next few articles I will describe a tree style campaign system that meets all of the criteria outlined above and allows players to participate in the types of engagements forces would face during a World War II blitzkrieg operation. While the campaign system will be generic, I will focus on how to relate Flames of War scenarios to the campaign tree missions.

Moving to 1,500 points

While finishing the painting on my 600 points of Russians, I’ve been thinking about the composition of the full 1,500 point army. My short list of options is to continue building the Strelkovy Battalion by adding the second infantry company or switch to a Tankovy Battalion using my one painted company as the tank riders for the tank battalion. I’ve had a chance to see a tank battalion on the battlefield when we used it in a previous Flames of War scenario and it performed well.

Adding to my desire to field the tank battalion is the fact that I have one box of T-34 tanks in the closet just waiting to be painted. It wouldn’t be too much more to get a second box of T-34’s and a Battalion HQ T-34. Another possibility might be to get lighter tanks or even heavier tanks like KV-1’s. Being that SU-152’s will stay in the army from the 600 point version, perhaps the KV’s are too much. The tank battalion would also give me the chance to add Cossacks which would really look different. I welcome comments regarding the Tankovy Battalion’s strengths and weaknesses from anyone who has been using the army.

Speaking of the SU’s, they arrived in the mail yesterday and I plan on working on them right after I finish the command teams that I am currently working on. Given that I am painting fewer figures, production has increased although this is offset by the greater variety in figure types. Infantry finished by the weekend is a definite possibility.

Russian Pictures

Well, here are the pictures of my painted Russian infantry. I am quite pleased with how they turned out and my camera: Canon Powershot A520 takes a pretty decent pictures. I am continuing to paint the command elements today and waiting for my Su-152 mail order to arrive. I’ll take pictures of the command teams when they are finished. In the mean time, enjoy these pictures.

A Tale of Four Gamers

A few years ago Games Workshop ran a series of articles entitled “A Tale of Four Gamers” in which several GW employees were given an allowance of money spread over several months to build a Warhammer Army. I really enjoyed those articles and found them to be quite inspiring. I thought as long as I had this blog I would do the same thing with my Flames of War Soviet Army. There won’t be an allowance: I’ll be free to spend as much as my wife allows and if I can get Dan to discuss his army we will have a tale of two gamers. This tale of one (or two) gamers will chronicle the growth of the armies from the 600 point level to the full 1500 point level. Don’t worry, I’ll continue to muse on other topics of interest while I’m painting.

As I said previously, my 600 point Soviet army consisted of a Strelkovy Company ($45), a Battalion HQ ($9), and two SU-152 Assault Guns ($22) for a total of $76. Not too bad considering it is the start of a very playable army.

I spent several hours this weekend finishing the infantry stands. They just need a spray of sealer and they will be done. Hopefully I will have pictures tomorrow. I ordered my SU’s and got started on the “command” models. I could tell that I was having fun with the models because I took time to make a Commissar vignette using one of the casualty/pin markers. I also used parts of the command base from the Company Box to make another vignette but made sure it fits on the small base rather than use the bombed out building. I think I will save the building base for a later project or staff team.

Ready for Shadow War

The friendly UPS man dropped off my copy of Rezolution Shadow War the other day. There was a small mix up on the order and my rulebook (part of the deluxe starter set) was not shipped. It is being shipped now but for the time being I have to use the little mini rulebook that comes in the starter.

The best way for me to describe Rezolution is: Shadowrun meets Cyberpunk. You have the high tech/low life urban background as well as a type of model called “esper” which can do magic of sorts. The combat is rather straightforward: die roll + ability and models can take a number of actions. Like many games these days, stats for the troops are found on cards so you can mark off hits, etc. If I wasn’t working so hard to finish my Russians, I would have started painting the Rezolution models already.

Speaking of the Russians, they are moving along quite nicely. All I need to do is highlight the detail bits and paint the guns, boots and helmets; then they are done! You may want to know that Dan, co-host of AllAboutMiniatures, was also bitten by the 600 point Flames of War army phenomenon and has started on some Germans. Both of us have one full Flames of War army already; we are now working on an enemy for our existing armies: Russians for my Germans and Dan’s new Germans for his British.

Russians Russians Everywhere

Last time I said that Flames of War 600 point armies inspired me to start painting my Soviets. I have two Strelkovy company boxes and was planning on sending them to Fernando Enterprises in Sri Lanka. Two things were holding me back from sending the figures: one was that I had already painted 4 teams from one of the boxes and I wanted the rest of the figures to match. The second problem was finding the spare cash to pay for the paint job as the gadgets for podcasting took up part of the miniatures budget.

In the end I decided to bite the bullet and put the remaining infantry teams from the Strelkovy company on lolly sticks for painting. This was going to be a monster project: 76 figures all at one time! Given that Monday was a holiday in the United States, I had a few spare hours for painting and managed to get through the Khaki Brown base coat (base coat, wash, and highlight) which is a large part of the model. For the remainder of this week, I have been able to find about 45 minutes a night to put on one color’s worth of detail (Greatcoat, Haversack, etc.) Based on current production I should have all the infantry finished this week. I plan on rewarding myself by purchasing the ISU-152’s that are in the army I described. I will also take some pictures when the troops are finished.

I had previously picked up a 28mm scale Lenin (perfect for a 15mm statue) from Historifigs so while colors were drying I also started work on one of the objective markers for my Russian army: a Lenin statue! Basically, the statue will be in a little park (the size of a Flames of War large base) with some battle damage and a casualty figure. I’m waiting on an order of some N scale wrought iron fencing in order to finish the base so painting can begin. I promise pictures of this too when it is finished.

Is smaller better?

I was reading my new copy of the Flames of War 2.0 Hardcover Rulebook and I noticed a section talking about 600 point (or lunchtime) games. Now, personally, I could never play during lunch but still I seem pathologically attracted to tiny games. I’ve pretty much sworn off Warhammer 40K except for Kill-Team (160 points) and Patrol Clash (aka 40K in 40 minutes) which are 400 point games.

I used to think that Games Workshop was moving toward low points (tiny) games because of ridiculously high prices and their customers could no longer afford “properly” sized armies. The pricing issue wouldn’t explain why Flames of War featured tiny games since, in my opinion, Flames of War prices are not as outrageous as Games Workshop's. Battlefront does copy a lot of the Games Workshop business model, did they just copy this part too; or, do these tiny games make the hobby more accessible to beginners?

A quick search of the Internet revealed some stores holding 600 point Flames of War tournaments! I’ve also seen Kill-Team and Patrol Clash tournaments and 500 point Warmachine tournaments so, clearly, these games have their place.

Maybe accessibility is the answer, since, nothing can be more discouraging than being told you need to paint 150 Romans or 500 French Line before being allowed to play. Perhaps other rules can learn from these tiny games and incorporate them into their rulebooks. Two games that try are DBA/DBM and Armati (intro scale) yet the game mechanics are different between the two levels of game which isn’t the case for the other tiny games.

So, like a moth to the flame, I designed a 600 point Flames of War Soviet Force: Battalion HQ, 1 Infantry Company, and 2 ISU-152 assault guns. The army just seems so gosh darn cute that it motivates me to paint! I know, it’s a sickness.

The only thing I do wonder about the 600 point games is that it basically turns a company level game into a platoon level game and the army now only has three tactical units. Has anyone tried a house rule allowing the squads in the platoon to operate independently? I welcome comments.