Size matters at Bushy Run Games Day

     On August 10th Linda and I spent the day with our friend Scott at the Bushy Run Battlefield outside Pittsburgh.  Scott is involved with the battlefield and he puts on a Gaming Day fund raiser there.  A good number of people showed up to play while others visited the battlefield and just stopped by to see what all the commotion was all about.

     I ran a game of Cruel Seas in the first "session" then ran What a Tanker for a group of Boy Scouts who were spending the night on the battlefield.

Cruel Seas:  3 British Vospers try to defend and escort a Cargo Freighter into the safety of port while 2 German E-Boats lie in ambush.  The action was fast and furious with one of the E-Boats and one if not two Vospers being sunk.  I don't remember how many torpedoes were fired in total (I like the rules that the E-Boats can be hit by torpedoes, so we play that way) but I know 2 struck the freighter.  Amazingly every torpedo WAS A DUD!  Every one!!  The freighter didn't make it though, one of the E-Boats maneuvered for what used to be called a 'Stern Rake' and hit with every mount...twice....the accumulated damage sunk the cargo ship.....

No one had played Cruel Seas before and for three of my 6 players it was their first wargaming experience....

Bob and friend Gary played the Germans, the three newcomers took the British and my wife Linda was the 'Salty ole Freighter Captain'

Bob and Gary moving out from behind the islands to spring the trap

Throttles forward the E-Baots leap from the shadows....torpedoes in the water!!

A pair of Vospers close in on Kaptain Bob's Schnellboot.  The Vosper on the right has two torpedoes tracking him down....one missed while the one that hit was a dud...

Close quarters action, I check for point blank range.....The other E-Boat fires a torpedo at the freighter...

  The beginning of the end for the Freighter.  Both Germans torpedoes hit but were duds.  Bob's E-Boat (just visible on the right) was sunk by gunfire this turn.  Gary's E-Boat (on the left) raced past the Vosper, slowed behind the Freighter and hit it with all four gun mounts over the course of the next two turns.  One of the mounts being Quad 20mm......

All the King's Men:  I then played in Bob's All the King's Men game with the 40mm figures.  The motto of the company that made the figures is true: "SIZE MATTERS".

I believe the action was during The Peninsula War, Linda and I were the French / Germans and our opponents were British / Portuguese.  It was a slugfest that was a hoot to play in.  It all came down to "next side to lose a unit loses the game".  We lost...but hey, I'd rather lose a nail-biter than stomp or get stomped in a one sided game any day.....

What a Tanker:  Then finally I ran a game of What a Tanker for some Boy Scouts and a gentlemen named Shawn; none of which had played a miniatures game before.  The settings was France, 1940.  Both sides had lost 2 vehicles before we had to call it because of time.  I'm pretty sure they enjoyed themselves, there were lots of questions about the minis and where to buy the rules.....I forgot to take any pictures, these two were taken by Scott......

What a Tanker! - France, 1940

It was time.  The German Panzers were painted.  The French armor was painted.  The field of battle was set.  It was time.....

Somewhere in France, May 1940.  The French were to slow the German advance and defend the town crossroads of Le Petite Rutherford.  Assigned to the small defensive group was:
Kevin in a Char B heavy tank and Gary and myself in two R-35 light tanks.

Fording a river on the right of the picture, the German advance was spearheaded by:

Joe in a Pz IVd, Dave in a Pz IIIe and Mike in a Pz38.

Gary advanced up the French right and came into sight of Mike's Pz38.

(and a Diet Coke)...his shot went wild...

Kevin in his Char B trundled up the road and came face to face with Joe's Pz IV.  

He shot and missed ...

Joe returned fire and bounced...but scared Kevin.  He ordered his driver forward, maybe to the safety of the woods...?

Meanwhile Gary in his R-35 danced with Mike's Pz 38.  Dave bogged down with his Pz III.  I on the other hand (in my R-35) advanced upon the bridge and thought I'd spring a little surprise on Joe's Pz IV....

But before I could cry out "Driver, hard left stick!" Mike had tired of playing with Gary and charged over the bridge.  As I crashed through the hedges Hell bent to shoot at Joe I found myself nose to nose with Mike's Pz 38!

"YIPES!" I cried out (but with a bad French accent).  I shot wildly at Mike....and destroyed the top floor of the house in front of me.......😆

With Joe and Mike distracted by me, Kevin's Char B driver punched it (if that's a thing in a Char B) and crashed through the woods and over the river to come face to face with Dave's Pz III...

Dave maneuvered his Pz III with all the skill and grace that a first time WoT player could and he damaged Kevin.  Me, finding retreat the better part of valor backed off the road through the hedges and tried to beat feet (in a R-35?) outta danger.  This gave Mike a chance to rear shot Kevin....which he took and destroyed him....

Joe took the opportunity to chase me down.....which to did.  He plunked at me...and plunked at me...until the inevitable happened...

Gary in his speeding R-35 started coming up the road only to run into Mike (who had just finished painting a kill ring on his Pz 38) coming back over the bridge...

 They exchanged shots and damage.  Mike backed over the bridge to gain a hull down position.  Dave, still maneuvering his Pz III with all the skill of a first time WoT player and was itching for a kill (since Mike had stolen Kevin's Char B) tried to work his way behind Gary.  Gary sensed the trap about to spring pulled off the road and tried to work his way between the woods.  It didn't work...the end of the French tanks came shortly...

Mike was the first the hunt Gary down...

Followed by Dave, er, Darryl...who took over because Dave had to leave...the end of Gary's R-35...

And the end of me...Joe getting his first kill in his first ever miniature game...

We all had a GREAT time playing What a Tanker !!  There were so many great quotes, most of which I couldn't repeat in public, but none of which I took the time to write down.  

If you haven't tried the What a Tanker rules, do so if you get a chance .

Fun times.....

Gaming Models - 1940 French Armor for "What a Tanker"

As promised in my last post, here are pictures of the French armor I purchased from Gaming Models.  They are 15mm resin, they come painted and dry brushed.  They can go right to the table, but I wanted to put my brush to them.  Unfortunately I have no other French armor from other manufacturers to compare them to, but, eh?  I thought all things considered, they are fine models well cast and they'll fight hard on my table.

I purchased a Char B and two R-35s.  According to my copy of What a Tanker they'll be a good match for my German armor.

Here they are in their just arrived in the mail condition:

Char B

 R-35

And here they are after I put the brush to them:

 Char B

 R-35

These were painted like the examples on the Warlord Games web page. 

The second R-35 is painted like my tank in World of Tanks.  One of my favorite tanks, I once held a bridge and destroyed 4 tanks attacking it.  I got all sorts of WOOT WOOT messages to my Xbox app..... 😎

And finally a group shot

As I said in my last post these are $5 each.  I think they are well cast and very table worthy.  I recommend them and Gaming Models in general.  He definitely will be getting more of my business. 

Next post:  The epic showdown somewhere in France, May 1940.......

Stay tuned........ 

Gaming Models - 1940 German Armor for "What a Tanker"

     Recently I picked up a copy of What a Tanker from Too Fat Lardies.  An easy game that simulates WW II armored warfare on an individual tank level.  It offers many different combatants over the war years.

https://toofatlardies.co.uk

     My problem is I didn't have many tanks available.  I have some American and German tanks for Flames of War, but what about other countries during other WW II time periods?

     Then I remembered reading on The Miniatures Page about a company that made 15mm tanks "pre-painted" for $5.00 each.  A little investigation lead me to a company called Gaming Models.

http://www.gamodls.com

     They offer resin models for the WW II years that they cast on demand.  For $5 each.  They also send them primed or painted in a base color and then washed.  They come "ready to game out of the box".  So I thought I'd give them a try.  I've never done France 1940, here was a perfect opportunity.  I ordered (for the Germans) a Pz38, a Pz IIIe and a Pz IVd.  For the French I ordered two R-35 "short" and a Char B.

     When they arrived I got exactly what was advertised.  They are not fine scale models, they don't claim to be.  They are models to be moved around on a gaming table.  They were gray for the Germans and green for the French.  I wouldn't say they were "washed", they look more dry brushed.  The casting look nice and yes they could have hit the table as is.  But I wanted to paint them up more.

     I present the following pictures of the German armor.  They are shots of the vehicles as received, shots of them after I "painted them up" and then comparison shots with other manufacturers.  Generally speaking I don't believe they fit too well with Zvesda or Battlefront (as you'll see) but they fit the purpose for which they were purchased perfectly.

Yes, I will be ordering more.  I hope you enjoy these pictures. 

Pz 38 as received

Pz 38 painted up

Pz 38: Zvesda on the left, Gaming Model on the right.

Pz IIIe as received (And yes, I have the Pz IV turret on it by mistake 😕)

Pz IIIe painted up

Pz III: Battlefront on the left, Gaming Model on the right.

Pz IVe as received (Displaying the two Pz III turrets I received, one a 37mm, the other a short 50mm.

Pz IVe painted up.

Pz IV: Gaming Models on the left, Battlefront on the right.

Next up is the French....