My Trip to NJCon 2016

This past Saturday morning, June 11th, a couple of HAWKs and I headed north to New Jersey Con.  After an unexpected tour of Trenton, we arrived at the convention site around 10 am - missing out on the morning session of games.  But it gave me time to check out the Bring and Buy as well as the dealers.

The Bring and Buy room - small but packed with stuff for sale

One half of the dealer area - Age of Glory is way back in the corner

Dennis from OMM was playing in the ADLG ancients tournament, so they allowed him to play his games in front of his vendor area while the other games were back in the tournament area.  There were 14 ADLG players.

The other half of the vender area

A hot of the main gaming area

Another shot from the same spot looking to the left

Geoff preparing for his Lego Pirate game

A WWI trench battle - Duncan contemplating his next move

A view of the FoW and ADLG tournament space

There were 6 tables for the FoW tournament with 12 players (I think).  There was also a small Bolt Action tournament set-up in one of the small side areas that looked like it had 6 players.

 

There was a great 28mm Chain of Command Pegasus Bridge game set up.  It seems it was only played one time on Friday night so I missed out on that.  But the game remained set up all day on Saturday.  Wished they would have ran it a second time.  The table terrain and figures looked great, especially the 4Ground bridge.

View of the entire Pegasus table

Some of my favorite building by Crescent Root adorned the table

Another eye candy picture

A scratch built glider

A view through the bridge

Geoff's Lego Pirate game

Regimental Fire and Fury

A Disposable Heroes Game

Battle of Albuera

Duncan checking out Howard Whitehouse's Flint and Feathers game

A large Fields of Glory game

Great looking fort - too bad it was just scenery - it played no part in the game

Bruce and Dave getting ready to discover that Fields of Glory bogs down once battle lines collide

Unfortunately, the game I wanted to get in at 2 pm was full - so I didn't get a chance to play anything.  I did have a chance to play in a WWI naval game but preferred to just bang my head against a wall instead of playing - it was more enjoyable. 

But I was able to chat with several friends - John from West Point, Mike from Boston, Jim from NYC, Joe from Delaware, Steve from Age of Glory, talked about ADLG with Don M., .....I also made a few purchases.   Overall, I had a good time.

The NJCon staff thanked the HAWKS for attending and running games. Hopefully they will be coming back to Barrage again.

Frostgrave Campaign Game 4

It was that time of the month again.....Frostgrave Campaign Day!!!  We met at Chris' house for the fourth installment of our campaign.  Having recently picked up Dark Alchemy, we decided to use the new potions and potion tables.  The scenario today would combine the Worm Hunt and Living Statues together.

The table set-up

With 5 of our 7 players present, we all placed our statues and treasures.  While the one on one games are okay, we enjoy larger multi-player games and modify the scenarios accordingly.  We then drew randomly for selecting our starting locations.  I was able to choose first and selected a center position.  I would be flanked by Greg (The Doctor) and Chris (Kodiak) with Jim (Vaaron) and David (Lingzhu) across the table.  David remembered to bring coffee and donuts but forgot all his miniatures (at least he remembered the donuts).  Chris loaned him enough figures to play.

After all the warbands were set-up in their starting locations, we drew numbered chits to see who would activate first.....

Lingzhu at the start

Vaaron at the start

Kodak at the start

The Doctor at the start

Knabe took a deep breath of the frosty morning air.  The day was clear, and one could feel the magical energies emanating from the ruins.  He patted his young apprentice Vogel on the shoulder and smiled at his youthful eagerness.  Ah to be young again……but this is not a time to be distracted.  Knabe could hear others moving about off in the distance.  Bobo growled loudly as he too sensed the presence of the other warbands – eager to get into action.

Knabe ready to enter the ruins

He handed Potions of Teleportation to Agger (Treasure Hunter) and Faenger (Treasure Hunter), and a Potion of Healing to Vogel (The boy usually hurts himself).  Having successfully cast Raise Zombie, Knabe was prepared to lead his 13 man (and animal) strong warband into the ruins.

The warband warily moves forward, looking for treasure but ever scanning for members of the opposing warbands.  A sharp crack of a spell being cast sounds out somewhere off to Knabe’s left front.  Ignoring it for a moment, he weaves the spell Telekinesis to move a pile of treasure closer – only to have it not cast.  He looks up and sees a glowing sigil in the cloudy sky.  Someone had successfully cast Draining Word – Telekinesis.  Well that will require a slight change of tactics.

 As Faenger (Treasure Hunter), Gauner (Thief), and Fritz (Marksman) move forward, Vogel attempts to cast Bone Dart towards Kodiak’s warband.  He fails and suffers a minor burn for his troubles.  A short while after that, he watches in awe as a giant worm explodes out of the frozen ground right under the feet of several of Kodiak’s henchmen.

Glad that thing popped up in Kodak's area

Bobo, Fleck, and the fox move out to the left to what trouble they can cause.  One of the Doctor’s crossbowman hits the fox – he doesn’t get back up.

Knabe once again decides to try and cast Telekinesis as one of Lingzhu’s henchmen gets close to a treasure.  Even with the effects of the Draining Word – Telekinesis, he successfully moves the treasure out of the reach of Lingzhu’s warband – at least for now.

Meanwhile, still amazed by the appearance of the worm, Vogel’s distraction causes him to fail to cast Bone Dart again…and he wounds himself, again!  But he does get to see the worm make a quick meal out of Kodiak’s thief before the rest of his warband kills it.

Legio (Ranger) notices Lingzhu is glowing brightly, making him an easy target.  With a perfectly placed shot that cannot be dodged, Lingzhu falls to the ground.  Faenger (Treasure Hunter) drinks his Potion of Teleportation and propels himself inside the top of the hut tower – only to have a statue come to life inside the room shortly thereafter.  After a few blows are traded, Faenger manages to severely wound the creature but is nevertheless defeated.  Just before losing consciousness, he sees Lingzhu’s thief run in and finish off the badly damaged statue; and collect the treasure.

Both Diebin (Thief) and the zombie manage to pick up treasure items. They head back towards the safety of the Inn.

 Knabe and Vogel both fail to cast Bone Dart at one of the living statues (1 of 6 spells successfully cast so far).  Crossbows miss their targets but Legio (Ranger) manages to kill one of Lingzhu’s thugs as he tried to make a play for a treasure item.

Then disaster strikes.  Bobo is felled by The Doctor’s treasure hunter.  Fleck is killed from behind by an animated statue.  Another giant worm emerges from beneath the ruins and attacks Bogen (Crossbowman), severely wounding him.

Knabe successfully cast Bone Dart at a statue but the dart fails to do any damage.  Rubbing his Fate Stone doesn’t help at all.  Vogel also fails to cast Bone Dart and injures himself once again.

The worm is charged by Agger in an attempt to save Bogen.  It will ultimately cost him his life as the worm makes a quick meal of his corpse.  Still hungry, the worm turns its attention back to Bogen and he too goes down for the count.

All across the ruins, the smells of magic being cast and the sounds of multiple battles being fought ring through the cold air as the other warbands engage the statues, and each other.  But Knabe doesn’t have time to stop and dwell on any of that, the worm needs to die.  He and Vogel cast Bone Dart again but fail to cause any damage.

 Fritz had been firing bolts at the Doctor’s warband all morning, with no real success.  As he cranks the crossbow once again, he notices the Doctor looking his way.  Suddenly, his crossbow crumbles in his hand.  He decides it’s time to leave and beats a hasty retreat towards safety.

Vogel takes out a giant worm

And then things began to look up….Vogel manages to successfully cast Bone Dart on the worm and kills it.  Legio fire and arrow at Lingzhu’s apprentices and strikes him down – two magic users killed in one day – this could become habit-forming.

Knabe then takes out Kodiak’s archer with a Bone Dart as he heads toward the last unclaimed treasure.  This allows Legio the opportunity to pick it up seconds before being attacked by a statue.  Legio manages to survive but is locked in combat.  Knabe tries to cast Leap on Legio to get him out of danger but fails.  Vogel then tries and a small miracle occurs, he is successful and Legio leaps to safety with the treasure tightly clutched in his arms.

Knabe, Vogel, and Legio quickly make their way back to the Inn to join the rest of the survivors.  When he can catch his breath, Knabe takes stock of the butcher’s bill – 7 out of 13 warband members succumbed to their injuries.  Agger (Treasure Hunter) was consumed by the worm; and Fleck (Snow Leopard) doesn’t make it back home.  While Agger's assistance will be sorely missed and hard to replace, another snow leopard can be easily summoned.  Bogen (Crossbowman) and Gauner (Thief) are badly wounded.  They will be paid and sent back home to recover.  Maybe they will be able to rejoin the warband in the future but for now, they will be replaced with new recruits.  Faenger, Bobo, and the Fox manage to make it back safety.  After some food and sleep, they will be ready for the next trip into the ruins.

Knab'e's Warband suffers s few casualties

On the positive side, Vogel has gained some notoriety for slaying a giant worm.  Knabe will be able to advance three levels.  The warband managed to recover three treasures with 190 gold coins, Potions of Poison and Healing, and grimoires with Elemental Bolt and Reveal Secret.  The magic casting wasn’t very good; with only 8 of 16 successfully cast spells.  My spell distribution wasn't good either:  Bone Dart was attempted 12 times, Telekinesis 2 attempts, and Leap two attempts.  I usually cast more Telekinesis spells, either to gain treasure or deny it to other warbands, but the Draining Word make it too difficult to mess with; that plus all the statues and the two worms made Bone Dart more of a necessity.

Kodak's home base?

Another great game graciously hosted by Chris; already looking forward to next month’s outing.  Not as many pictures as usual, the action was too intense.  Will try to do better next month.

 

For your reading enjoyment, and some additional pictures, here are a couple other game reports covering today's action:

 

Lingzhu - Who keeps shooting my magic users?

 

Kodak - Help Wanted: An apprentice who doesn't get killed

 

 

 





Frostgrave Campaign Game 3

This past Saturday, the entire campaign group was able to get together for a large, seven player game of Frostgrave.  We played a combination of the "Haunted Houses" and the "Well of Dreams and Sorrows".  We placed 12 huts and two wells plus several other pieces of treasure.  We then randomly determined starting locations.  I was unfortunate enough to be stuck in the middle with the other warbands in a semi-circle around me.  It would be an interesting game.  Unfortunately I did not take very many pictures - was having too much fun.

The entire table

 The frozen ruins stretched out before him, beckoning him to enter and seek out its hidden secrets.  Knabe and his band of explorers readied themselves for another foray into icy unknown.  Some touching their lucky charms or quietly praying to their gods while Knabe and Vogel used their magic abilities.  Both of them successfully brewed a potion, Teleport and Invisibility.  Knabe successfully summoned another snow leopard to accompany the group while Vogel raised an undead being to serve the warband's needs.

Tightening straps and shouldering weapons, they moved out of their base and made their way towards the ruins.  Following rumors of magic fountains with the ability to grant some kind of enlightenment upon those brave enough to take a drink, Knabe wanted to see if they actually existed.
Upon finding a good spot to enter, Knabe quickly detected multiple wisps of magic energy permeating through the area - there were other wizards nearby.


To the left, a necromancer enters the ruins

The Doctor and his gang

To the right front, another warband

To the right a sigilist's warband

Kodak's Warband

Once again Knabe split his band into two main groups, one led by himself, the other led by Vogel.  The animals (Bobo the bear and the snow leopard) were sent left and right, and commanded to go cause havoc with any other groups they encountered.  Knabe cast telekinesis on a chest he spotted half buried in the snow and moved it through the air toward Vogel and his group.

Knabe and his warband

Meanwhile Kiefer (a ranger), who had climbed up some ruins, spots some kind of construct moving in the distance and lets loose an arrow.  His aim was true and the arrow hit home but didn't even slow the beast down.  Seconds after shooting, Kiefer found himself flying through the air as an unseen force pushed him off the ruins.  He landed 30-40 feet away; it took some time to regain his senses.  Knabe saw Kiefer's unplanned flight and immediately summoned a fog to conceal the rest of his group.

Vogel commanded his summoned undead creature to enter a nearby ruined hut, look for treasure, and take whatever it found back to base.  He then turned his attention to the chest floating in the air.  He made some intricate patterns with his hands and the chest moved closer to his location.  Diebin (thief) ran over and picked it up - the first treasure of the day.


The leopard attacks the necromancer

The snow leopard was prowling through the broken walls and centuries old rubble when he spotted a gaudily dressed man bending over and drinking from a pool of water - a necromancer.  The leopard pounced like a...uh...leopard and landed smack on his back.  A thief and a thug ran in to save the necromancer but both were successfully forced backwards.  The leopard then killed the thief with a single swipe of his paw.  He then laid into the wounded wizard and finished him off as well.  While licking his chops and relishing his kills, the leopard was struck from behind and collapsed to the snowy ground.
Knabe and Vogel once again teamed up to cast successive telekinesis spells to move a chest out of the reach of a thief who had just spent a lot of time climbing up a tall ruin (got to love that spell....)

Bobo engages some gurads

Bobo is taken down

In another part of the ruins, Bobo found the warband of the sigilist.  He remembered their smell from a previous excursion and moves towards their wizard.  He is ambushed from behind by three gurads (strange duckbilled manlings).  Bobo killed one and threw another across the snow.  Then his luck ran out as the remaining thug took him down.


Faenger mad dash.....

Faenger, in an act of bravery, or maybe stupidity, decides to run across a rickety wooden bridge three stories up.  He spotted what he thought was an item of treasure.  As he is running across, he dodges a magical push and survives several arrow shots.  And then, just as he reaches the treasure, he falls to a well placed shot from a member of the sigilist's warband.  Before he lost consciousness, he saw The Doctor's apprentice materialize out of no where beside him and claim the treasure.

While Faenger was making his wild run, Gauner climbed up three stories and grabbed a bag of loot.  Fearful of arrows and magic spells, he quickly climbed down and headed to the rendezvous point.
Having recovered from his fall, Kiefer decided to move in the opposite direction.  To the left of the group, Kiefer spots the necromancer's apprentice trying to help get some kind of treasure.  He takes aim and puts an arrow through his chest - ending his day.  Kiefer then changes location.  While surveying the ruins, Kodak appears out of thin air.  Once again, taking careful aim, he puts an arrow in his back.  Kodak proved to be tougher then he looked but a well placed bolt from Bogen's crossbow sealed his fate and he collapsed upon the icy ground.

From his lofty perch, Kiefer next spotted what looked like an elementalist's apprentice.  And again, a well placed shot was fired, and again, an apprentice ended her day face down in the snow.  Just as Kiefer was thinking that killing magic users could become habit forming, he too was struck down.  Even though Bogen carried his body away, Kiefer did not survive.  Bogen was hoping to recover his magic boots of speed but was surprised when they crumbled to dust.

Gruber was cautiously moving through the rubble when he heard a heart stopping, piercing wail off to his left.  A quick glance revealed a wraith floating in his direction.  Not knowing if he had been seen, he quickly ran to his right and passed through a wall of fog.  That was the last time he was seen alive.  His arrow and bolt pierced body was finally found but it was too late.  His corpse was recovered and will be transported to his home village for burial rites.

Unbeknownst to Gruber, the wraith followed him towards the fog.  Knabe saw the wraith and immediately drank an invisibility potion.  Knabe realized that neither he, nor any member of his warband, had the magic to take down an immaterial being.  The wraith then spotted Fritz (a marksman) who was hunkered down and shooting bolts at two other warbands.  He never even saw the wraith coming...until it was too late.  Fortunately, the wraith was distracted and moved off towards The Doctor's warband.  Gruber was able to recover and will be ready for the next expedition into the city.

While invisible, Knabe briefly contemplated on trying to reach the fountain and risking taking a sip.  However, the shadows were lengthening, so instead, he moved towards a nearby chest and picked it up.  With his invisibility gone, Knabe started moving towards the prearranged meeting location.  As a precaution, he called up a fog to cover his movement.
At the rally point, Knabe waited for the rest of his warband to arrive.  Both Diebin and Gauner made it back, each with a treasure.  The zombie lumbered in dragging a chest as well.  Added to the one Knabe brought back, it made for a good day's haul. Bogen arrived with Kiefer's body slung over his shoulder.  Vogel also made it back - unscathed this time.  Maybe the lad was learning after all.

As the zombie crumbled to dust, Knabe gathered his survivors and headed towards the inn.  Injuries needed to be treated, tall tales needed to be told, and most importantly, loot needed to be assessed and divided.

Six warband members were incapacitated this trip.  The treasure hunter Gruber and the ranger Kiefer had made their last visit to the city; the other four will be ready for the next time.

Four chests were recovered, containing 410 gold coins, three grimoires (Banish, Shield, and Fleet Feet), and a pair of magic gloves of casting.  Some gold will have to be spent to hire a couple new members, plus an assessment will need to be made whether or not to promote a couple of the lads who did well.

With four chest and eight successfully cast spells, Knabe should be able to advance his skills and knowledge a couple of times.  He'll take some time to determine what he will study as he considers rumors of great wurms and a museum full of rich treasures - there for the taking.  But how to best prepare.....how indeed?  Stay tuned for next month's adventure......

For another telling of this adventure, go here:  Kodak's Fanciful Frostgrave Adventure

Combat Patrol - Boer Wars

Last week during our regularly scheduled game night, Dave hosted a Boer Wars scenario using the newly released Combat Patrol rules - modified for the colonial period.

The scenario involved a patrol of British troops escorting some wagons and a Gatling gun.  Overall the game went pretty smoothly even though it was a playtest of Dave's modifications.  He'll be running it again at Cold Wars.  If you have the time, come by and play or just watch.

And on to the battle report - - kind of, sort of.....

In 1880 we took a little trip
Along with General Smit down the mighty Bronkhorstspruit

...

We took a little beef and we took some biscuit balls
And we caught the bloody British in the woods of the Transvaal

...

 We fired our guns and the British kept a-comin'

...

 There wasn't nigh as many as there was a while ago

...

 We fired once more and they began to runnin'

...

On down the Bronkhorstspruit all the way to Natal.....

My apologies to Johnny Horton.....

Frostgrave Campaign Game 2

This past weekend we got together for the second game in our Frostgrave campaign.  Four wizards managed to show up.  Additional write-ups can be found here Tower of the Archmage and here
One More Gaming Project

The druid Knabe climbed up on the remains of a nearby building to survey the ruins.  Off to his right, he could make out the shadowy figures of Kodak's warband (an Illusionist) moving near the dock area.  To his front, he could see what appeared to be the warband of a Necromancer making their preparations.  After a few seconds, he felt a tingling sensation that told him a chronomancer (probably The Doctor) had to be nearby even though he couldn't actually spot him in the ruins.


The warbands  in their starting locations

His warband was prepped and ready to root out the treasures and secrets of the frozen city.  Before entering the ruins, Knabe had successfully cast Animal Companion and attracted the services of a Snow Leopard.  He also successfully brewed up a potion of Teleportation which went to the treasure hunter Gruber.  Knabe then promptly failed his Raise Zombie attempt.  Vogel failed both his spell attempts - that boy still has a lot to learn.

Since his last foray, Knabe had established a base of operations in the old inn called the Hungry Shark.  This allowed him to increase the size of his warband by hiring the services of a ranger named Kiefer.


Knabe's warband as it enters the frosty ruins

Knabe spots an item of treasure and immediately casts Telekinesis moving it closer to his warband.  Fritz puts a crossbow bolt into one of the Necro's thieves but the thief is still able to pick up a treasure item and move out of line of sight.  Kiefer spots one of Kodak's thug trying to reach another treasure and skewers him with an arrow.  Bogen follows up with a bolt that takes him out of action.  Bogen then kept overwatch on that treasure chest preventing Kodak's band from taking it.


Bogen eyeballs his kill

Vogel gets into telekinesis battle with the Necromancer and they move a treasure chest back and forward several times -- until a cowardly crossbowman puts a bolt into him and takes him down near death.  Vogel then ducks to safety behind a bridge.

A telekinesis battle takes place

Fritz avenged Vogel by taking out the offending crossbowman with a single, well placed bolt.
The snow leopard (Note: freshly painted for this game) races into combat with the necro warhound.  It was a short fight that saw the snow leopard gasping out its last moments in the snow.

Fear the Bear!!  Bobo lumbered out from behind cover and engaged the necro's zombie.  It was quick - he threw the zombie's legs one way, and its head another.

Bear carnage in front of the ice rat

The necro knight charged the bear while the warhound charged Knabe's treasure hunter, Faenger.  Faenger parried the warhound's attack and then followed through with a fatal blow putting the warhound out of the fight.  Bobo managed to get the upper hand over the knight and inflicted several wounds.  In a later round of combat, Bobo easily defeated the knight just before a minor demon appeared and attacked him.  Bobo fights off the demon and forces the foul creature backward.  The demon is later killed by the necro's warband.

Meanwhile, in another part of the ruins, Diebin (a thief) and Gruber spot a thief running away with a bag of loot.  Diebin engages him first and inflicts a couple wounds.  Gruber moves in and with Diebin's support, manages to take him out and recover the treasure.

Vogel thought he was hiding.....

Crouching behind the bridge, safe from the necro's crossbowmen, Vogel is attacked from behind by an ice spider who crawled under the bridge.  Like I said earlier, the boy has a lot to learn, as the spider easily bests him in combat.  The venom knocked him out but he survives; although the venomous bite forces the amputation of several fingers from his left hand. 

Fritz puts a bolt into the spider pinning him to the ground.  Gauner, a halfing thief, races out of cover to grab a treasure chest.  He later heads for safety, his movement covered by Fritz.  Faenger managed to grab the loot dropped by Vogel.

Knabe hears two zombies scrabbling up the side of the ruined building he was using for cover.  He attempts to cast fog to confuse them but fails, forcing him to climb down and out of their reach.

The necro and his apprentice are last seen scampering away as fast as they can move.

Bogen fires a parting shot at Kodak's warband but is unsuccessful.  Although he does witness one of Kodak's hirelings being killed by the chronomancer's warband - dropping a bag of loot.  Sadly, it too far away to try and recover (and went unclaimed).

As the weather starts to run bad, Knabe and his merry band pick up Vogel and head for the safety and comfort of the inn.  Another good foray into the frozen ruins is over.....for now.
In the end, three treasure tokens were left on the table.  In the multi-player games, our group has decided that any treasure tokens not phyically picked up at game's end are lost.

Aftermath:
Knabe and Vogel only managed to successfully cast 5 spells (50 xp) out of 10 attempts, even with most of them only needing an 8 or 10.  He completely forgot to use his Fate Stone or his Orb of Power.  The warband recovered three treasure items (150 xp).  This gave Knabe enough points to advance two levels

The loot haul consisted of 190 gold, two scrolls (Planar Tear and Circle of Protection), one grimoire containing Enchant Armor, and a nicely crafted pair of Boots of Speed.

Vogel recovered enough to make the next trip out, but without the affore mentioned lost fingers. The snow leopard didn't make it but Knabe can attempt to summon another one for the next adventure.
This is the second trip into the ruins where Vogel has been incapacitated.  Knabe put a lot of training into physical fitness and managed to increase his health by one point (which means Vogel also gained an increase - hopefully it will help).

Additional study was put into improving the casting ability of the spell Telekinesis, reducing it from a 10 to a 9.  This has been a very useful spell for accessing treasure, as well as denying it to rival warbands.

Knabe decided to keep the Circle of Protection scroll after seeing two demons show up in the ruins.  The Planar Tear scroll was sold for 100 gold. 

With such an outstanding performance, Knabe decided to promote Fritz from Crossbowman to Marksman (release crossbowman, hire marksman (-100 gold), keep the same name).

While he was studying and training, Knabe sent a few members out to scrounge up a Cauldron to assist with brewing potions (-250 gold).  Not sure it was the best purchase to make, only time will reveal its usefulness.  With only 160 gold remaining, the warband will need to make another trip into the ruins soon.

More pictures next time....

Fall In 2015 - Encounter at St Joost - January 1945

This is the second Battleground WWII game:

Encounter at St Joost - January 1945

The scenario: The British 8th Hussars had the task of breaking out towards the River Roer. In their path, lay the village of St. Joost with an unfordable stream and one bridge across it. St. Joost was thought to be held by a unit of second-line Germans reservists. Looks like a cake walk. Can the Germans prevent the British from breaking out towards the Roer River?

Rules:  Battleground WWII

This was a slightly modified scenario from Squad Leader - Cold Crocodiles.  Another member of the HAWKs ran the same scenario earlier in the day using the same terrain and figures but showcasing the new Combat Patrol rule set.

The German defenders used hidden map set-up and movement to make things more interesting.

The British cautiously advance into the village.  A view of the British attack as they entered the village with the infantry supporting the Cromwell's advance. 

One squad with a Cromwell enters the village

A building is captured

Another view of the British advance; in the bottom right corner you can see the Vickers MMG set-up to cover the street crossing.

Another view of the British advance

This British artillery barrage scattered a bit too close to the British Cromwell and infantry behind the wall.  It had no effect on the German defenders.  In fact, the British artillery was not very effective at all during the game.  Even the smoke barrages hindered the British as much as the Germans.

Danger close - no kidding

The Pak-43 claims its only victim of the evening - a Cromwell IV.  The Pak-43 then received a barrage of small arms fire that kept it out of action for the remainder of the game until the Crocodile moved into the village square and finished it off with a burst of flame.

A Cromwell is brewed up

A supporting Churchill Crocodile finally enters the fray. 

A Churchill Crocodile lumbers into the village

The hidden map movement and set-up didn't slow things down too much.  But because they couldn't "see" anything, the British advanced very slowly and were not able to capture enough of the village to claim a victory.

As usual, I failed to take enough pictures throughout the course of the battle.

Fall In 2015 - The Assault on Villers La Bonne Eau

 The Assault on Villers La Bonne Eau

The scenario:  During the later stages of the Battle of the Bulge, the 137th Infantry was deployed near Villers-la-Bonne-Eau.  On the night of the 29 December 1944, Companies K and L forced their way into the village.  They radioed back that they had taken the village but needed bazooka ammunition.  They settled in and waited for the inevitable counterattack.  The following day, the Germans attacked.

Rules:  Battleground WWII

This scenario was the first of five games that would be played using the village terrain over the course of the weekend.

A top view of the village square.

A top down view

A few views of the village from various sides.


A view from the North side

A view from the West side

A view from the East side

A view down one alley showing American GIs slowly maneuvering forward to engage the Germans.

GIs advance.....slowly

A squad of German infantry dismounts and prepares to assault into a building containing American GIs.  The GIs laid out the welcome mat with grenades and BAR fire.  A misthrown German grenade landed on their own flamethrower operator, killed him, caused the fuel tank to explode which then took out two German riflemen.

Panzergrenadiers prepare to assault a building

Panthers in the square

After several bazooka shots failed to hit, Panthers claim control of the village square.  It was a good close fight but the Germans failed to capture enough buildings to control the village.