Battlecry 2014 Photo Dump

I've given up writing some sort of event report from Battlecry as time seems like it is flying by! Instead here are some brief notes, and some photos - sadly I was very slack with my in-game shots...
The list:  
HQ Platoon
1 Tiger I E

Combat Platoons
Schwere Panzer Ausbildungs Platoons
2 Tiger I E
2 Tiger I E
2 Konigstiger (Porshe) 

Leichte Panzer Ausbildungs Platoon
4 Panzer III N

Weapons Platoons
Panzergrenadier Ausbildungs Platoons
3 Grenadier Squads with 6 Pioneer MG teams

Support Platoons
Luftwaffe Light Anti-aircraft Gun Platoon
3 3.7cm FlaK43

Round 1 vs Lance (British Commandos). I spread my forces to avoid the NFGS whilst I waited for reserves. Luckily Lance got a little keen with his Archilles and I knocked them out early.

My Panzer IIIs spent the game dodging 6"shells and shooting up infantry, at the far end of the table my Tigers, King Tigers, and 37mm AA fought hard to keep the objective safe. In the end the Pz IIIs took the centre objective and I won

Round 2 vs Steven (Soviet 76mm horde). Steven and I had been discussing this match up at work, thinking that he would need the right mission to have a chance... turns out he got it. With half of our armies in reserve and mine turning up at the far end of the table he was able to jump them and easily knock them out one at a time. At the near end my infantry found themselves assaulted by another T-34 tank company and were quickly knocked out... a 1-6 loss

Part of Stevens horde on the starting line!

Round 3 vs Rob T (PAA500... with an extra King Tiger, but no Panzer IIIs). Rob and I had a bit of a mirror match, from lists through deployment. Unfortunately his extra King Tiger meant he had a leg up and I had to attack.... and that ended badly! I pushed on both flanks but lost things early, my King Tigers rescued some honor though by taking out his 37mm tucked behind the treeline by the river!

Round 4 vs Tony (Hero Motor Strelk). Tony and I are old mates and I knew he had a few tricks up his sleeve. I deployed hard on one flank knowing I would have to attack up the length of the table. I hide my infantry and 37mm AA inside forests to stop him picking up easy kills

Advancing up the table, slowing grinding my way (one infantry company down)

Tigers in trouble... luckily I diced my way out of that one! I eventually managed to knock out enough of Tony's infantry that I freed up some terrain to move around, allowing me to pick off some of his units piecemeal, resulting in a drawn out win.

Round 5 vs Rob S (PAA500...same list as the other Rob). Last game, another half on, half off mission... and lots of objectives to defend. Rob and I danced around a little, trying to minimise and maximise (depending on perspective) the effects of the 3rd King Tiger. In the end Rob got Tigers near one objective, and infantry on the other but I managed to hold him off (I even employed a dirty trick Tony taught me about making tanks flee off table in an assault) whilst my Panzer IIIs snuck down the near flank and took out his AA, resulting in Rob's company breaking.

Super cool Lego Star Wars!

 

In the end I came in the top half with three wins, but 2 solid losses. Really happy with how the list came together and found it to be really fun to run. Not sure if I would change anything to be honest... In a 1750 point event I would definitely upgrade the Pioneers to MG Panzerfaust teams, and try to fit in a 2iC to give the list a little more flexibility!

Last Models for Battlecry

Okay, so Battlecry has been and gone - more on that later, but in the rush to finish everything I am a little behind on the blog posts. I managed to finish my last two platoons 36 hours prior to the tournament (possibly a record for me, finishing so early that is!).

The Grenadier Platoon - I took a few liberties and made the MG/Assault Rifle/Panzerfaust/Pioneers...something for everyone for ultimate gaming flexibility... hopefully the purists won't notice!

FlaK43 37mm AA Platoon

I followed James' Splinter camo painting guide from the back of Desperate Measures with a few changes to suit my fast and loose painting style... I am unhappy with a few parts of the painting, primarily the rather average job I did on the faces and that the wash I put over the figures darkened up the camo pattern. However, the platoons are done and they look cool on the tabletop so...job done!

Panzer Ausbildungs Abteilung 500

With Battlecry only a few weeks away, I am furiously painting up my Panzer Ausbildungs Abteilung 500. My tanks are nearing completion with a couple of days work left to go with just detailing, decals and crew to finish up. This will give me all the tanks I require for the tournament as well as a 2IC tank for use later. 

The army shot (excluding the infantry that still need to be painted)

HQ Tigers - 2IC on the left and Company HQ (finished as part of the painting challenge at work) on the right

Two Tiger Platoons

King Tiger Platoon

Panzer III N Platoon

Once these vehicles are finished I have my Infantry Platoon and AA Platoon to do. I'll have a couple of painting days up my sleeve so I will need to maintain my focus to get them finished on time!

Taking Desperate Measures

When Mike finished working on Desperate Measures I spent a lot of time trying to work out what I list wanted to build from the book. Normally I find a list in each book that really excites me and like most wargamers I end up stashing some lead for when I am “definitely going to paint this!” This time I found it hard to find that one list that I had to make. I like the lists in the book and I own armies for both the Germans and Soviets so it should have been easy to pick something.

Looking through the book I started to narrow it down a little:

The Soviets

• Tankovy Batalon – I have something like 40-50 T-34s painted and whilst I need to do some of the support units (like artillery) it didn’t feel like a painting project when I was only painting odds and ends – that is more of a “two weeks before a tournament” project.
• Motorstrelkovy Batalon – I really want a massive Soviet infantry army…. But I am not sure about committing to that amount of painting given my magpie painting habits.
• Medium Self-propelled Artillery Regiment – okay, this one is low hanging fruit and will definitely hit the painting table… but I thought I would wait for the plastic SU-100 and I wanted to paint something now!
• Hero versions of the above – these are very exciting and was lucky enough to run one in a WI battle report. Running non Hen & Chicks T-34s is a liberating experience after playing Soviets for so long. Plus you do not need to paint as many figures, but the issues I had with the non Hero versions carried over to these companies too.

The Germans

• Panzer Kampfgruppe – I have no painted German tanks that I am happy with (with the exception of Kampfgruppe Bake, but they are white!), so this list was a chance to do whatever I wanted, plus it had all the toys. If only I could settle on a list…
• Panzergrenadier Kampfgruppe – PzGrens in 251s are on my “armies I must repaint before I die” list…. But not right now…
• Panzer Ausbildungs Verband – see my thoughts on the Panzer Kampfgruppe
• Panzer Ausbildungs Abteilung 500 – Crikey! Discounted Tigers and King Tigers thanks to the lack of Stormtrooper and the vehicles being unreliable…. You had me at discounted Tigers and King Tigers!

Looking through the PAA 500 list I did notice that it is a pretty tight list with a small number of support options. Normally this would run the risk of putting me off a little, but in this case I wanted something fun and compact that I could paint as a small self contained project. I also saw it as a gateway to start painting figures for the other German companies in the book. For instance if I took a pair of infantry platoons this would get me the start of my PzGren infantry as well (especially given the announcement of the plastic Sd Kfz 251). Tigers, Panthers and King Tigers always have a use in other lists! As for the AA, it did not matter which option I picked as you always need a cheap platoon of AA to round out a force.

In the end I settled on a couple of lists that I knew would cover my bases.

1500 points

HQ Platoon

1 Tiger I E    155 points

Combat Platoons

Schwere Panzer Ausbildungs Platoons

2 Tiger I E    280 points

2 Tiger I E    280 points

2 Konigstiger (Porshe)    445 points

Weapons Platoons

Panzergrenadier Ausbildungs Platoons

3 Grenadier Squads with 6 Rifle/MG teams and Panzerschreck team    130 points

3 Grenadier Squads with 6 Rifle/MG teams and Panzerschreck team    130 points

Support Platoons

Luftwaffe Light Anti-aircraft Gun Platoon

3 3.7cm FlaK43    65 points

1750 points

HQ Platoon

2 Tiger I E    310 points

Combat Platoons

Schwere Panzer Ausbildungs Platoons

2 Tiger I E    280 points

2 Tiger I E    280 points

2 Konigstiger (Porshe)    445 points

Leichte Panzer Ausbildungs Platoon

4 Panzer III N     180 points

Weapons Platoons

Panzergrenadier Ausbildungs Platoon

3 Grenadier "Sniper" Squads with 6 Rifle/Panzerfaust teams and Panzerschreck team    190 points

Support Platoons

Luftwaffe Light Anti-aircraft Gun Platoon

3 3.7cm FlaK43    65 points

So, I have achieved the “fun” part of Theory-Flames, now I need to work out how I am going to get it all painted!