flames of war late war

Here is some pictures of our late war game from last nights game between my SS Das Reich company v British 3rd infantry company. The game ended in a draw with neither side been able to claim the objectives. The Germans suffered the loss of 2 platoons to the British 3 platoons.

My new Sdk Kfz 234/2 Pumas

Here is a peek of my newest models i have purchased for my late war German army... Sdk Kfz 234/2 Pumas. The models are made by Command Decision and at £18.00 for the three of them i think they look great, definitely my favourite design of armoured cars from world war 2!

Warhammer Dark Elves v Daemons of Chaos

For Monday nights game we had decided to fight a Warhammer game for the first time in a few weeks. I decided to use my Dads Daemon army for a change and he used my Dark Elves army. The game was 2500pts and the mission we rolled was Dawn Attack which meant that we had to roll for each unit to see were on the battlefield they would be deployed.

On my right flank i had a unit of 20 Bloodletters with Herald and 5 Flamers of Tzeentch with a Herald of Tzeentch Lv 2 wizard, behind the burning barricade i had 5 furriers. In the center was 20 Horrors with the Changeling in the unit another 20 bloodletters and Skulltaker, 5 Flesh Hounds with Karanak leading them and also my Lord which was a Bloodthirster and finally on my left flank were 3 Juggernauts of Khorne. On my Dads left side were 5 Harpies and 9 Coldone Knights with a Master on a coldone leading them. In the centre were 20 Repeater crossbows and a Reaper Bolt thrower, these were deployed behind a Ghost wall meaning they cause fear while they are defending it. In the center were 2 horde units of 30 Spearmen with a Lv 2 Sorceress and Master with the Battle Standard and 30 Corsairs with a repeater handbow, a war hydra and 24 Black Guard ( we just used the executioner models to represent them ) and finally the army general, a Highborn mounted on a Manticore.
The monument on my right flank was a idol of Gork so if you were within 6" you could re roll failed charge moves. The deployment rolls had not worked out to badly for both sides however i would have liked the flamers and wizard in the center of the field to soften up those horde units, however the game plan was very simple.... get into combat asap before my units became porcupines with all those crossbow arrows pointing my way!
I failed to grab the first turn so the Dark Elves started...

The first turn saw the Dark Elves start to move forward their battleline, most shooting was out of range though the reaper bolt thrower felled to horrors. In the magic phase the Dark elves Sorceress rolled 3 dice to cast Black Horror and managed to roll two 6's causing a miscast. The roll on the miscast table let the Sorceress off lightly though 3 of the spearman she was with were blasted from the sudden surge in magic power. The result was that all my Bloodletters including skull taker had to pass a strength test, some good rolling meant i lost only 2 of their numbers though Skulltaker lost a wound too.

In my turn i advanced my army forward at full pace, the Flesh hounds passed through the forest and when i rolled to see what kind of forest it was it turned out to be normal. In my magic phase i cast the Flame of Tzeentch at the Harpies killing 4 of them, the resulting panic test saw the remaining Harpies scuttle to the skies and flee. The horrors unleashed the same spell at the Hydra but it was easy dispelled. The flamers had a shot at the Knights but failed to penetrate their armour.

The Dark elves line holds ready to receive the oncoming Daemon hordes. The Knights pulled back away from the flamers as did the War Hydra from the horrors and there flaming magic attack and the Harpies continued to flee. The shooting phase was much more effective for the Dark elves and a combined shot from the bolt thrower and crossbows killed 8 horrors. The magic phase came to nothing as the Bloodletters magic resistance helped them save the wounds that were inflicted on them.

I was now in charge range so i charged my Juggernauts and Bloodthirster at the Black Guard and the Flesh hounds charged the spearman horde. All the Dark Elves elected to stand so i rolled the hounds charge first, i rolled a charge distance of 14" when i needed 15" so they failed which meant they moved in front of the Juggernauts which meant in turn they could no longer charge... not good! i think i have lost the favours of the  Gods of Khorne! The Bloodthirster had no such problem and went crashing into the Black Guard on his own. Because of this i readdressed my lines ready for the counter charge in the following Dark elves turn. Magic saw the Dark Elves use a Scroll and it was onto the combat phase.  The Bloodthirster cut down 5 Guard and in return suffered a 1 wound winning the combat, however the Black Guard are Stubborn and passed there break test.

In turn 3 the Highborn charged into my Flesh hounds and the corsairs moved into shooting range of the horrors. The magic phase saw the sorceress cast the black horror again onto skulltaker and his bloodletters but taking no chances i dispelled it with a scroll. The combined shooting ( around 80 shots ) saw the Changeling killed and leave only 4 horrors alive. The combat was again won by the Bloodthirster thanks to his thunder stomp but the Black Guard stood firm. The Highborn killed Karanack and 3 flesh hounds who in return inflicted 2 wounds onto the manticore, however i rolled high on my instability test and disappeared back to the depths of were they came from. The Highborn overran into the forest out of my Juggernauts line of sight.

Skulltaker and his bloodletters charged into the spearmen and the remaining horrors moved in front of the corsairs to stop the from flanking my Lord in the following turn. The furries could now charge the Bolt thrower which they did and the other Bloodletter unit moved into a position to be able to charge the Knights if they were to fail their stupidity test next turn. The magic phase saw a Knight struck down. In the combat the Furries overran the bolt thrower into the flank of the crossbows, the Bloodthirster killed all but 3 of the black Guard but once again they held there ground. Skulltaker easy dispatched the unit champion in the challenge and the Bloodletters won the combat but the morale of the Dark Elves was good due to them been Steadfast and they held there ground.

The Knights passed there stupidity test and charged the Bloodletters and the War Hydra joined into the combat with the Black Guard and the Corsairs charged into the Horrors. In the magic phase the Sorceress cast Bladewind thinning the numbers of Bloodletters locked in combat with her.  No shooting meant straight to combat, The knights were beaten in the combat after a very poor charge and the combat between the master and herald saw them inflict one wound each, the Bloodletters won the combat but the remaining Knights held their ground. The Bloodthirster finally finished off the Black Guard and the Hydra inflicted 2 wounds onto the Bloodthirster meaning a stalemate. Skullcrusher once again issued a challenge which the hapless Sorceress excepted and was brutally chopped down, also a killing blow hit was made against the Master with the battle standard, he failed his ward save and was killed out right. The dark elves still held there ground and had reduced the Bloodletters down to only 3.

I moved moved my Juggernauts away from the Lord on the Manticore and with little else to do moved straight to the combat phase. Skulltaker and the Bloodletters fought to another standstill with the spearmen, the Bloodthirster inflicted 3 wounds on the hydra ( he had flaming attacks thanks to his magic weapon nullifying the hydras regeneration save ) and killed both handlers. The beast had now become unbreakable after the roll on the monster reaction chart but couldn't inflict a wound onto the Bloodthirster. The Bloodletters broke the Knights and caught them in there pursuit and the furries lost the combat with the crossbows by 1 who the changed formation to bring their ranks into play.

With time and men running out the Corsairs charged into the Bloodthirster to lend their weight to the Hydra and the Highborn and Manticore charged into the Bloodletters and Skulltaker who were locked in combat with the spearmen. The crossbowmen were held by the furries this round and the Bloodthirster killed the Hydra. With his successful thunder stomp on the Corsairs he won the combat but the steadfast corsairs held their ground. Skulltaker was killed in the challenge with the Highborn but he did manage to kill the manticore before he was felled. The spearmen finally destroyed the remaing Bloodletters. In my turn i charged my Bloodletter unit into the crossbowmen who were defeated and fled from the table in the combat round although they did manage to kill the remaining Furry before they fled. The Bloodthirster again defeated the Corsair's who refused to give ground but were unable to inflict any wounds on the Great Daemon.

Turn 6 saw another round of combat with the Bloodthirster and Corsairrs but even a charge into the flank with my Juggernauts could not break them and the game ended after a very brutal 6 turns.

After a quick calculation the final score was Daemons scored  1651 pts to the  Dark Elves 1085 pts. A difference of 566 pts saw the Daemons claim a very hard fought victory.

Flames of war Early war 2000pts Encounter Mission

CZECH ARMOURED TANK COMPANY V BRITISH ARMOURED TANK COMPANY WITH FRENCH ALLIED PLATOONS 2000PTS

Well for this weeks game we decided on fighting an early war tank battle. I took control of my Germans as i now have my new 88mm models and Panzer 1s painted and ready to go.  Also i was able to use my Dads Panzer IV D which he has just purchased and finished painting. Facing me today was a mixture of British armoured tanks company and allied French who were picked from the Escadron de Combat Tank company with a points value of around 680 pts. The mission we played was Encounter.

My force was as follows:
General Major Ewrin Rommel in a Panzer 38t B
Company HQ Panzer 38t B
Panzer 38t B x 3 and Panzer I x 2
Panzer 38t B x 3 and Panzer I x 2
Panzer II C x 4
Panzer IV x 2
88mm with extra crew x 1
Lieichte Pioneer platoon x 2 squads
Sd Kfz 231 8 rad x 2
Priority Air support

I decided to Kampfgruppe the Panzer I from both Czech Panzer 38t B platoons with the 2ic leading them to give me a total of 8 platoons.

I deployed my 88mm on the hill on my left flank to give it a clear line of sight across the battlefield with the Panzer II C platoon deployed in front of them, these 2 platoons would guard the objectives. Next to the Panzer II C's i placed a 38t B platoon accompanied by Romell. On my far left flank i placed my 2nd 38t B platoon just behind the hill, the rest of my platoons were to be held in reserve. The British deployed both Armoured companies of A13 Cruiser tanks and light Mk VI C tanks and also its divisional cavalry of universal carriers, the french were held off in reserve. The British started the first turn....

My Panzer II C platoon uses Rommels fingertip feeling rule to reposition itself before the start of the first turn.

In the first turn the British managed to bail a 38t which was attached to Rommel.
In my turn the stukas show up but only 1 arrives and fails to cause any damage. The 38t B platoon goes hull down behind the hill and manages to bail a A13.

The British light Mk VI tank platoon move forward behind the wood supported by the universal carriers and the A13 in the field advance on Rommel and his Panzer 38t B failing to inflict any damage, the 88mm destroys one of the A13 in return fire and the panzer II C platoon moves around the wood to face off against the on coming British light tanks and recce vehicles knocking out one of the MK VI Tanks.

My Panzer II C which moved  around the wood are fired at and suffer a destroyed tank and one bailed.

The British A13 platoon destroy a 38t B in the fire fight over the wheat fields

A13's view of the hull down Panzer platoon and guarding the objective.

The Stukas get through the allied fighter interception but fail once again to penetrate the armour of the British tanks.

After a couple of rounds of firing the 38T B platoon wins the fire fight against the British A13's, with two destroyed and one bailed the A13 platoon fails there morale opening up the way to the objective, the British are desperate for the reserves to turn up.

The British universal carriers successfully maneuver through the woods and open up on the 88 causing one hit, although i fail my save i had dug in the 88mm in a previous turn which saved it as the firepower test was failed to destroy it. The 88 returned fire destroying two carriers, although the remaining carrier managed to pass its morale test it was  forced to disengage. Rommel and the 38t B platoon pushed forward to the objective.

The panzer II C platoon having finally destroyed the  Mk VI Platoon moves back around the wood

A platoon of British light tanks moves from behind the white house ruins and hits Rommel and the panzer 38t B platoon in the flank missing with all their shots! Rommel and the 38t B push on to the objective ignoring the light tanks leaving the panzer II's and the newly arrived Panzer IV tanks to deal with them.

Finally the French start to show their faces and a platoon of Somua S-35s turn up but alas for the British they arrive on the left flank were they are least needed.

The Panzer IV platoon moves forward and behind the wood the 8-rad platoon arrived.

Finally the French entered the battlefield were they were needed, a platoon of 25mm Anti tank guns arrived and opened up on Rommel and the 38t platoon, this fire power and that from 3 supporting A13's and a Mk IV Light tank managed to destroy one and bail the other 38t. Despite the damage caused the 38t platoon passed its morale and stayed put.

The Somua S-35 platoon which is supported by MK VI Tanks are attacked by the 38t platoon with flank shots, two are bailed as a result.

At the start of this turn i managed to get three stukas to show up, i decided to take a little bit of a gamble and attack the A13 and CC Tank behind the hill to the right of the objective, this was a risk as if the 38t command tank did not remount his tank he would be with in 16" of the planes and they would abort..... thanks to the protected ammo roll he remounts and he and Rommel drive away across the field to allow the airplanes to range in on there target with devastating effect, all 3 A13 and the CC are destroyed by the bombs of the stukas. Also the remaing light tanks are destroyed by the panzer IVs

The French Panards showed up on the British left flank again were they are least needed.With the company CC dead and only one platoon from going below company half strength my Dad the British commander decided to call it a day leaving the Germans to win by 4 - 0 platoons securing a stunning victory.

Conclusion

Well that all went well for me in this game, my 88mm again proved to be a lethal weapon although i was glad i remembered to dig it in other wise it would have been destroyed by MG fire from the carriers, also although for the first 5 or so turns the stukas did nothing they proved there worth when the destroyed the CC and three A13's in one raid which was the straw that broke the camels back for the allied armies. My Dad had little luck in the game, not once did the RAF manage to intercept my stukas and his French reserves had read the wrong maps and turned up far to far away from the action and abit more luck in the shooting department and things might have gone different. However for the time being Rommel and his Czech panzer company continue to power there way through Europe defeating the allied armies who stand in front of him, till next time.....