Prepping for an X-Wing weekend!

o/

Just a quick post this go-round. this week I'm taking a break from Bolt Action to get some X-Wing gaming in. We haven't played that in a few weeks and I miss it (unlike say...40k). Friday night Wolfy and I will be teaming up to take on Billy and...possibly someone else (no word on that yet) in a 200 point game. Following that, Sunday we'll be playing in a 100 point free-for-all with Kushial and I.R. Voril.

In preparation for Friday's game, Billy asked if I would paint his HWK-290 to look (quote) Scum and Villainyish. In return he gave me a still new-in-the-package Y-Wing! The Y has been painted to match the rest of our Rebels' purple squadron, and I think it looks quite a bit better than the first Y-wing I painted. My apologies though as I don't have a pic of it handy.

As for Billy's HWK, his first time with it on the table top will be trying to blow it up as we'll be using it (probably alongside our own HWK-290) against him, lol. Anyways, here's his repainted HWK:

I was joking as I was painting it that it kinda looks like its starting to burn up on atmospheric reentry...

The first battle for Wylsh independence...

o/

I wasn't going to do a Bolt Action battle report for Friday's game, but Neverness was outraged by the notion, and so Wolfy started snapping pics after the game was underway. As such, the set up was 500 points, Quar (Dad's Army) vs. some British paratroops  fielded by Kushial. He was using Cadian (or is that Canadian? yeah, I think I'll go with Canadian) proxies as he hasn't gotten his actual Warlord minis yet. The mission was maximum attrition/colonial oppression. Basically: Kill them...kill them all!

Group pic! From left-to-right: Kushial, Dallas (in back playing X-Wing), Screech, Bob, Jim, and Myself.

The photos start just following the treachery from afar! I rolled a '1' and Kushial pushed my artillery strike marker right into the middle of my line (which was devastating) and that was followed immediately thereafter by his arty strike. Ouch!

The Canadians advance...

Here the Canadian 'Jeep'  is targeted by my tank just after it mowed down my medium mortar team.

BOOM! My tank's first vehicle kill!

My 2nd Militia squad arrives (finally, though thankfully after all the of the artillery strikes).

Canadians be damned, my Commandos outflank and open fire!!!

Bob looks puzzled, probably wondering why his armies didn't fare nearly as well as this one is...

Casualties in this firefight are light (thus far) as all models need a 5+ to be wounded.

The tank tries to soften up the oncoming horde with its MMG, but does little more than aerate some Quonset huts...

They're getting closer! Unable to depress the MMG far enough to be effective, the tank only kills one Canadian.

The militia add their weight of fire, though like last week they cause little damage.

With a blood curdling charge, they attack my tank with grenades!

Tank go BOOM! Sad face.

Meanwhile the rest of the Canadians mop up what little Quar resistance is left. Luckily the game ended on turn 6, saving me from getting tabled.

Well there we have it, that so-called 'elusive victory' I was looking for last week...lol. With the odds of the Quar getting their own BA sourcebook being literally nil, the Wylsh division will stay firmly under the British colonial heel. It was a good game, though that misplaced artillery strike was the beginning of the end, as my army never really recovered from it. Oh well, such is the way of not-so-friendly fire.

Your Tauntaun will freeze before you reach the first marker!

lol, yes I know, I know...most of the country (the northeast in particular) is literally buried under several feet of snow, and has been for quite some time. However not one to be left out, Tennessee is doing its best to feel like Hoth as well. It snowed the other day, and every day since, about 8" worth. Add to that 40+ mile an hour wind gusts, the temperature this morning (not counting the windchill mind you) was -2F, and today's 'high' projected to be a balmy 0. Friday night's low will be about -15F! WTF? Reminds me of growing up in northern New Jersey!

So needless to say, there's not much going on in the painting department. There's no priming or clear coating in weather like this. That said, I did finish two Quar (aside from clear coats). The first was my Homeguard Quar with a shotgun. Wolfy kept making fun of his 'naked base' (unflocked), and the poor bastard was so self-conscious about it that he never managed to hit any of Bob's paratroopers.

Ya know its a bitch to paint squad numbers on warmahordes bases, and decals don't like to work on them either (much like Space Marine shoulder pads), thus I just use a pen. Not my best effort I guess, but it works...

  The 2nd was my Quartillery Officer. Between the first game's excellent arty strike, to damned near reaching the objective in the 2nd game (plus adding a pin marker here and there to the paratroops), he's been hitting well above his weight class. Better yet, he's FREE to the Brits!

Beware the fat man...er, I mean Quar, with the radio!

 I'm tentatively scheduled to play vs. Kushial's British paratroops this coming Friday. However given the inclement weather here of late, I'm not sure if he's going make it or not, so we'll see...

Bolt Action game 2: Quar vs. Band of Brothers

o/

For our 2nd outing of Bolt Action, Bob opted for his American Paratroopers vs. a slightly different set-up to my Dad's army-Quar. 500 Points, Demolition scenario which is very similar to 40k's Auto-Tie mission (I forget what it is actually called), 1/2 our forces started the game set up on the board, with the rest coming in via reserve.

The Quar deployed on the field of battle. The two Quonset Huts that are not on the hill are the objectives (which must be destroyed by remaining in direct contact for a whole turn with no interference from the defending forces). Note the over-sized Churchill making it's battlefield debut as terrain.

My sniper team, which like their 40k counterparts would often (but unlike 40k, not always) prove to be useless...

Turn 1 starts off with the regular infantry advancing at a run.

Meanwhile the wily stand-in for Major Winters ponders his next move.

Keenly aware of his Germans' lack of AT weaponry, Bob's paratroops brought along a bazooka team. Thus began a long and pathetic dual between the Quar tank and said bazooka team...

The Quar militia (Homeguard) units arrive to defend their objective.

Turn 3 saw the Commandos outflank as per the last game, however with their targets also being veterans, they failed to wound anyone, instead inflicting a mere pin marker on the unit.

As the leading infantry squad rounds the hill the front ranks are cut down by the paratroops. Murica!

A penetrating hit resulting in...crew stunned. lol, to which Bob asked: Where have I heard that before?

A second squad of Militia arrive from reserve (finally). In hopes of creating a crossfire, they arrived on my far left.

LOOK OUT! THEY HAVE TRACERS!!!

Taking the hill!

Up to this point, my sniper team was rolling straight 1s to hit. However, you see that gap between those two guys by the back of the Quonset hut? Yeah, that was the paratroopers' C.O.. There's no 'look out sirs' in this game!

The Quar onslaught rolls forward...aside from the out-flanking Commandos who were locked in a firefight which was producing little damage on either side.

The bazooka loader is down, however nothing else of note has happened in several turns of this so-called duel.

Meanwhile at another table, boredom (a.k.a.: Federation Commander) kicks into high gear...

Tired of watching the tank fail to take out the bazooka team, the Militia add to the weight of fire, with little effect.

Keep firing lads!

A rather nice shot...er, um, photo I mean. As for the tank and bazooka gunner, nothing of note happened here, again, as usual.

As the Quar continue the inexorable advance, note the Quartillery officer (primed black). His arty strike having largely failed, he advances, gun blazing hoping to make up for the artillery strike's failure. Meanwhile the Infantry squad continues to die horribly.

GAAH! WHY WON'T THEY JUST DIE ALREADY?!?!!

The Quartillery officer runs for the objective but comes up short of the objective (no doubt due to that heavy radio). Unfortunately, the game ended at the bottom of Turn 6, and with both objective Quonsets still standing, its yet another draw.

Yup, another tie. I'm starting to think that a decisive victory in this game will be rather elusive. In prior posts, I've railed (as usual) about the all-veteran army, however their numbers are so few that if anything, it seems to work against them. I mean, these aren't space marines, just regular guys. True, vets are only killed on a 5+, but they're still easily pinned, and with the sheer number of my units (approx 2:1) meant that the pin markers stacked up on Bob quickly. So whilst the all veteran army is a quick way to build up an army, I'm not sure how threatening it is.

I suppose I'll get to see next week when I square ff vs. Kushial's British paratroops.

Edit: Most names and terminology of the Quar are based on the Welsh language. As such, my 'Dad's Army' Quar have just been named by Wolfy as: The Welsh Division. Ooh, I rather I like that!

Size doesn't matter...does it?

Okay-because we all know its going to be said somewhere, I may as well get it out of the way right now: Some ways back, Screech made the infamous comment on this blog stating that: '2 inches didn't matter' (sorry buddy, but you knew it was coming, whether right here or in the comments below), but this time we're not talking about length so much as about girth...or maybe both...or um...nevermind, lol.

Anyways, one endless debate surrounding Bolt Action is what scale of vehicles to use. Usually its 1/32nd vs. 1/48th scales, though I'm not sure what scale Warlord uses, but their vehicles look to be tiny! I pulled a Warlord Churchill out of its box at the FLGS, and the bubble wrapped tank looked miniscule--way smaller than 1/48th scale.

My Quar tank looks about right to me, though in all honesty it is scaled to my Quar. Looking for a 2nd tank, I picked up a Churchill tank off of ebay. The scale was a bit ambiguous, but I figured it would work just fine, but...wow. Its huge!

Now remember, there is about 32 tons in weight difference here...

Clocking in at almost 38 tons, the Churchill is no small tank (the Quar tank is a stand in for the Vickers 6-Ton tank...so it ought to look like a toy next to this one), but...yeah, I think this is too big. What do you guys think? It ought to paint up just fine, its a toy, feels quite sturdy, guns and turret move, honestly size aside I still think it was a good deal at $17, shipping included.

Quick boys! To the other side of that Baneblade!

Its probably a moot point in terms of game play, as I didn't realize how expensive it was in point costs: it tops out at 522 points!?! What the hell?!?, that's more than the army I fielded against Bob last weekend! Not to mention that my Dad's Army can't use it, so it will probably spend the majority of time just being terrain anyways.

First game of Bolt Action battle report!

o/

FINALLY! Two years of badgering Rob and Screech to pick/build their armies, netted a result: a game with Bob. Yes at this point, I've given up on the other two. Anyways, I thanked Bob up and down as this was the first time I've ever been able to play a game of any kind with my beloved Quar (I first started buying them back in 2011!).

Anyways, here was the set up: 500 points, Germans (Early war, and no vehicles or pak38 as his order from the UK had yet to arrived), vs. my Quar (counts as British-Dad's Army). Long table edges with no deployment as all units arrived from reserve. The Mission was 'Top Secret' (basically the Relic from 40k).

My platoon, awaiting their baptism of fire.

The game's objective: a wayward Quar cook who apparently doesn't respond to "HEY! Get your ass over here private!"

The field of battle.

Bob's German platoon.

First up, my artillery officer arrives on the table.

Actually, everyone showed up on the first try, though the Commandos wouldn't arrive till turn 3 do to outflanking deployment.

Bob's army deploys quickly as well...aside from his officer and an MMG team.

First blood! A Quar falls to enemy fire...

The Quar Homeguard makes it an eye for an eye!

Then came turn three...Turns one and two was mainly advancing, and a few potshots. Turn three started with my artillery strike landing, and spreading 7 pin markers between these two units. I was feeling pretty good about that, but then...

STUKA!!! Damned thing pinned almost the whole blob of my line! Only my tank and a few outlying units were spared! A good chunk of the Painted Homeguard died as well! These two strikes totally changed the dynamic of the game!

My Commandos outflank, SMGs at the ready...

...and killing a few Germans plus adding another crucial pin marker!

Who's turn to go is determined by picking dice out of a bag. Its quite random and impossible to know who's dice are who's,  or at least it is until you realize that they come in different styles...WHAT THE FUCK WARLORD?!?!?!

Bob's abysmal rolling grants him a roll on the FUBAR chart, causing his squad to take flight. Meanwhile his air support officer and assistants try to take down the Commandos...

My Quar are continue to be pinned more or less everywhere! Oh and that D4, that's Bob's medium mortar point of impact marker. By this point, it needed a 3+ to hit, he rolled a 1.

My light mortar team is still out of range, and advancing thru some trees that look as though they've already been on the wrong end of some artillery.

The Commandos wipe out the Air officer and friends in one volley! At this point these guys were declared the MVPs for wiping out a flank on their own!

My Artillery officer, lacking anything useful to do after the successful artillery strike moves forward in hopes of sniping at some Germans with his rifle.

Most of the Quar line is on the move again (barring of course, the painted squad of Homeguard). My tank kept the enemy's heads down with its MMG (all game), and the light mortar team is still outta range...

With a few parting shots, the Commandos see the last of my right flank's Germans off of the table, huzzah!

As is the case in 40k's Relic scenario, anyone who reaches the objective, gets the living shit shot out of them, which was also the case here...

Bob's Mortar finally connects on turn 6, and the casualties are irrelevant, as the pin markers almost equal the Homeguard's LD value and they flee the field!

Actually, turn 6 was the turn of the Mortar as mine connected as well. However after Bob's successful strike, my light mortar was woefully unimpressive in the damage department...

Meanwhile, on another table....yeah, I...uh, just took a photo and walked away. No idea what who was proxying what for what.

The Boys AT rifle finally opens fire!

No casualties were inflicted, but they added a pin marker to Bob's squad after they blew yet another hole in their ruined hide out.

Ah yes, Bob's die rolling was...in a word: abysmal. Adding pin markers to his squads was kinda irrelevant given his average LD roll was a 10.

Not contnet with taking the flank, the Commandos take a hill as well.

Hitler's Buzzsaw kills a Commando and Bob claims 'moral victory'.

My Lt. and his cronies secure the cook and I win! Wait wha? Oh, this isn't actually the Relic, meaning I had to get the objective off of the table to win, making this a draw. Frustrated, my Lt. starts to interrogate the wayward cook at gunpoint!

Well that was fun! So after my first game, here are my thoughts on it:

• It had always struck me as odd that arty and air strikes were only once per game. However after seeing how much damage they did, it makes total sense now.

• The Commandos were definitely MVPs, however had Bob managed to roll worth a damn, 6 Anteaters with a 12" shooting range would have probably been easy kills. So I'll hold off on calling them OP just yet. Actually, they were the closest thing to being vaguely OP which was a really, really nice change from 40k.

• The Homeguard performed well. I mean, they're basically Imperial Guardsmen which I've feilded for decades. LD:8, Hit on a 4+, Die on a 3+, yup, guardsmen. Unfortunately they're dirt cheap (like Orks kinda cheap) which makes an army of them cost prohibitive to me. So I'm going to break the painted squad in half and will field 2 small squads of them (with the matching Lt., and friends) instead of a whole platoon.  :-(

• The tank's scale was just fine for this game. 1/32nd is too big, an oddly Warlord's tanks are tiny as hell! So in comparison to 1/48th, I think it works just fine. Also Bob's lack of AT weaponry made it invulnerable which was pleasing.

• Light mortar's suck compared to medium mortars.

• The dice, really? I still find the inconsistent dice mind boggling...

•  Yes, I want to play more of this game...a lot more!