Category: Miniatures
Armourfast Panzer IV G
I’m a bit of a fan of the Armourfast kits. They offer a cheap price for a chunk of models suitable for the game table. Working with my German platoon for Bolt Action I wanted to have a few tank options and getting a Pz.Kpfw. IV was certainly on the list.
First off I will freely admit that the detail on these are pretty parsed down. The tracks and tread wheels are molded as one piece. Overall though, the detail of the kit is pretty decent. The turret hatches can be modeled open for a commander if wanted. The hull pieces are done well, with hatches shown in enough detail to stand out. The kit is also pretty easy to put together and fits well when fully assembled.
What stands out some of the front tread wheels which stick out from the hull. They lack any central axle making it look like a free-floating disk. It’s not much of a detraction but can be spotted if looking at the right angle. Also, no armored skirts come with the kit.
Still, you get 2 tanks of pretty accurate detail. As with other Armourfast kits they really are a wargamer’s model. You aren’t going to get a super accurate, highly detailed model in this kit. You will however get 2 tanks of nice quality plastic that paint up very well. I can’t piss and moan too much about the kit as I’ve got another tank on it’s sprues aching to get worked on. I might try my hand at a little converting and whip up a passable Panzer IV D or F1 for an early war tank.
WW2 bamboo hut terrain
One thing I’ve discovered difficult for my Pacific Bolt Action games is finding some appropriate buildings. I simply cannot find anything in 20mm scale. There are some Quonset huts that I had gotten that will certainly be appropriate. However I wanted something a little more rustic
I opted to try my hand at building some structures myself. Using a frame of foam core board, I was able to get a simple structure assembled. I also lucked out and had gotten some thick cardboard at an angle which would work great as one piece roof sections.
One thing that stands out with these type of buildings is that they’re usually on raised platforms. Hanging onto some sticks I picked up from hitting a street food vendor (gotta love late night munchies after drinking soju in Korea), I was able to cut sections to simulate logs that a hut would stand on.
This lead me to trying to figure out a way of making bamboo walls. I had gotten some wooden food skewers that were about the thickness of a toothpick. Cutting pieces of an appropriate length, I got a pile together to make up the outer walls of the hut.
The trick of course was gluing them to the foam board. I could do this gluing them individually using PVA glue, but I figured that would be tedious. Instead I lined them up side by side using a ruler to create an even edge at the base. Slathering hot glue onto the foamboard, I could then lay the base of the hut down even with the lower portion of the wooden skewers, and carefully press the entire wall section flat onto the wood pieces. They would then be firmly affixed to the foam core walls.
I did this for all four sections of the hut. To hide some of the uneven pieces, I framed the top of the walls with a single piece and was also done on the sides of the hut. This way, I could frame the entire hut with sections of wood with relatively the same length.
For the wall sections that were peaked however, I had to glue those one by one after cutting each section individually with a slight angle. This was a little time consuming but at least I only had two small sections to work on rather than the entire walls of the hut.
After completing the outer walls, I placed the hut onto a thick cardboard base. This base would be used to create the platform for the raised hut. One section was longer to simulate bamboo flooring for the front of the structure. Cutting out larger sections and gluing them individually, I was able to make the entry flooring easily. I then used PVA to adhere the wooden supports to the hut floor.
The roofs would need a little work. I decided to go for a grass look and glued a section of cleaning cloth onto the roof piece. Being cloth however, I would need to do something to seal up the surface, otherwise it would absorb all the paint. I gave the entire surface of the roof section a coat of watered down PVA glue. After drying, this created a coating all over the roof providing a simple barrier to prevent paint from being just soaked up.
I now needed to create some windows and entryways. If I had the gumption, I would have cut our sections in the foamboard. However this would also require me to cut and glue individual wooden pieces. Instead I cut sections of popsicle sticks with very thin sections to be used for the door frame and shutter supports. Gluing them onto the sides of the hut walls, they could provide openings for troops inside to shoot out of or mark the location of the building entrance.
Some coats of paint and a basic wash, the hut was done. I opted to keep things simple with painting and gave the interior of the bamboo hut a simple black coat. I’m pretty happy with the results. The roofs fit okay and come off allowing me to place troops inside. The structure itself is pretty sturdy, however I think the real weak parts are the platform supports. Throwing the bamboo huts around in a plastic tub for storage and transportation seems like a great means to snap them off. I’ll have to be sure to keep them wrapped in some bubble wrap.
I’ll also admit the windows and doors a little lacking. It would likely be far better looking if I had cut them out. Instead I opted to go the less fiddly route but the huts turned out okay. While I would love to give a lot of attention to the buildings, I am happy just getting something together that would look decent on the table. I’d much rather spend extra time modelling and painting miniatures than dedicating a lot of time towards terrain. So while my bamboo huts won’t win any awards, they do offer fair looking structures that are flexible enough to allow troops to be put inside, and also handle your typical gaming wear and tear.
Armourfast Hanomag
So I’ve been slowly accumulating different units for my German platoon. I’ve been wanting to dabble a bit in transports. With the new Tank War book out in the wild, I also wanted to think about fielding an armored platoon with mechanized infantry units. So having a few German halftracks would be ideal.
For a while now I’ve been a fan of Armourfast. As with many of the other models I picked up from them, they offer a wargamer-grade replica. This is not a super accurate kit, but a model that has decent detail that looks good enough on the table.
The kit does not offer any crew, with a simple troop compartment. The half tracks include a rear pintle mounted MG42 in addition to a forward mounted MMG. The treads like other Armourfast models are fitted as one piece. The outer side looks good, but the inside tracks are open with struts to support the tread section. When assembled it’s really hard to see the inside tread but if you look really closely at a low angle you can see it. As typical models from the company, they are great for tabletop gaming, but nothing you want to put in a diorama.
The half tracks are a snap to put together and don’t have any gaps. If anything, the port visor guards are a little tricky to mount. There are mounting bumps on the hull of the model, but they really aren’t pronounced so it’s easy to have the ports slip a little when cementing them into place.
I gush a lot over Armourfast. However, for 20mm models you really can’t beat them. They are nice kits for very reasonable prices and given they are transport options for a Bolt Action force, perfect at two half tracks per box.
Review: No Stars in Sight
From Nordic Weasel Games, No Stars in Sight is a new sci-fi ruleset that expands on the conventional wargame from the same designer, No End in Sight. The game is designed for small unit action of a reinforced platoon with a vehicle or two at most. The scale is for 6-15mm individual models, but larger scales or infantry stands could also be utilized. One thing that stands out is the game is meant to have a very small footprint on the table, with 2 to 3 feet being enough space to duke it out.
The game is more geared towards near-future engagements. Some trappings are offered for more futuristic technology and aliens. However there is a foundation that troopers in the future will be armed with advanced weaponry that utilize some type of projectile. All the while the universe tends to be geared towards a generic setting of future conflicts that somewhat mimic what we have in the world today.
Player’s troops are organized into units or independent fire teams with assigned leaders. Coherency with the units are pretty tight, with each trooper required to be within 6 to 8 inches of their leader. This works out though as squads are designed to be 4-5 troops at most. Players activate a unit and alternate with their opponent until all unit leaders are exhausted. Victory conditions are assessed, stress removed from leaders, and the turn sequence is repeated until one side has a clear advantage (or victory).
Units activate based on rolling a d6 and retaining that many activation points for their squad. Individual troops firing, recovering from pins, movement, and other miscellaneous actions require an activation point. There are options for group fire and movement, allowing 2-3 models a chance to activate on one point. Models but can only move and fire once when they are activated. At the conclusion of the unit’s activation the leader gains a stress marker.
Movement is a simple affair keeping everything at a constant 3 inches provided they are in cover. If players move a unit out of cover into LOS of an enemy however, this becomes a random roll of d6 inches. If caught out in the open, their opponent has an opportunity to fire at them hitting a trooper on a 6 (with the poor grunt being pinned on any other result). So those dashes across open terrain become a very tricky proposition, and even more so as there are no cutoff for weapon ranges. Anything that can be seen on the table is fair game.
Directed fire is split into two types as shock or kill dice. All basic weaponry throw out shock dice. For every 2 shock dice thrown, 1 kill die is generated. Shock dice can pin a model on a 5 or 6, while kill dice hit a model on a 6. Hits are rolled again resulting in killing the model outright on a 6, or wounding them. Either way, hits with kill dice typically mean the target is out of the fight being wounded which can be rather deadly.
Close assaults are even deadlier. When units approach within 6” of each other shock dice are dropped and kill dice are rolled instead, having hits generated on a 5 or 6. Actual hand-to-hand fighting results in just rolling of a d6 between players, with the attacking player killing the enemy if they roll equal to or higher than the defender (and being killed in turn if they do not).
With all of these pins being thrown around and casualties, they all contribute to degradation of morale. If players cannot roll over this amount on a d6, they immediately fall back a random distance. Casualties also incur stress on the leader. For each excessive casualty, one point of stress is added to the leader. At the end of the turn when all units are exhausted, each leader can discard 3 points of stress. All excess stress becomes permanent, making it more difficult to activate on future turns.
What you end up with is this slow degradation of a unit’s ability to function. Pinned models cannot take any actions until an activation point is used to remove the pin. Casualties and activating a unit slowly accumulate leader stress. After a few turns, they begin to whittle down the ability of a leader to do anything but have their squad hunker down and remain in cover.
Different types of troops with varying equipment is offered, from elite troops in power armor to irregular, lightly armed forces. Vehicles are also presented with a variety of armaments although most are land-based as tracked or walker equivalents (with no real rules for flying units). There are several optional rules to mimic near-future battles, including rules for improved communication and command (along with hacking these aspects) and there are also rules for drones and simple automaton combatants.
There are a variety of scenario ideas and a simple campaign system to allow for a more role playing type of experience, following a single trooper or unit through a series of battles. Some more military-centric rules for off board ordinance, smoke, combat drops, and the like are also presented. There are several generic alien species offered with small tweaks to combat abilities along with suggested scenarios to play them as.
Finally suggestions on a point system for force construction is presented. While the numbers do not not necessarily ensure a balanced game, they can provide some guidance for a fair engagement if trying to figure out how best to match up power armored troops against regular militia. This is a nice feature of the game.
Don’t let a point system detract you however. This is very much a wargame ruleset based on players agreeing to have a fun game and tinker around with asymmetrical forces. There are a lot of optional equipment and rules to utilize. The game does require going through some set hoops for playing them however. You have to use a board with a certain amount of terrain density, or at least be willing to break up long alleys of open ground. You really can’t field larger forces more than a few squads of 4 or 5 troopers each.
The Good – Pinning and suppression are key. I really enjoy the whittling down of actions a unit can complete due to taking enemy fire, and it’s not dependent on killing troops (but it doesn’t hurt either). I also appreciate how task resolution uses a relatively streamlined system for determining outcomes.
There is a fair bit of optional rules and varying techs and equipment to give games a little variety. There are a few scenario tables offering a pretty diverse list of possible combat encounters as well as a more narrative campaign. As there are aliens and planetary environments, the game is not exhaustive in detailed rules but certainly provides a nice platter of choice sci-fi elements to try out.
I have the PDF version so I can’t speak on the quality of the printed book. You get a very spartan layout with a decent number of charts including a few summary sheets at the end of the book. It’s serviceable and plainly explains the rules.
The Bad – The game has some rough edges, especially with excessive bookkeeping. Troops typically are wounded which need to be indicated somehow. Effectively they are out of the battle however a unit needs to spend actions stabilizing them and getting them to an extraction point. While untreated wounded troops have an effect on morale, treated/stabilized figures don’t. Add to this individual units getting pins and you have a clutter of markers and tokens hovering around every unit. While a small engagement with 2 units and 8 figures total would not be much of an issue, adding more models into the mix seems to glut the game down some.
Another rule regards stressed leaders passing off leadership to another model in their unit. Effectively this can get rid of any permanent stress (as it stays with the original trooper and is not transferred to the new leader). While the vibe of the rulebook certainly rings of folks playing in an agreeable manner, this is something that could certainly be abused.
Overall I found the rules pretty well laid out. However a few topics seem to jump around some. It feels like a few sections could have been tightened up and reorganized in a better fashion. There are some critical rules that seem to get buried in other key topics. The rulebook is far from being difficult to go through, but it’s also far from being perfect.
The Verdict – I see No Stars in Sight as sort of a mixed bag. I really don’t like the wounding of troops and seems heavy on keeping track of fiddly conditions in the likes of pins, stress, and unstabilized wounded troopers. But the game has many more hits than misses. The random activation of units, the desperate dash of units out of cover, the accumulation of control stress on a unit, all are highlights to the game.
I also appreciate the abstract systems employed by the rules. Movement, cover, and weapon types are not mired down in detailed minutia. However there is certainly enough optional rules and suggestions to make the game have some unique flavor from unit to unit. It’s a decent set of rules that give a challenging feel of command for small, tense, engagements with a futuristic feel. Still, there are some rough edges to the game. I think No Stars in Sight is a fair set of rules and not a bad choice if looking for sci-fi skirmish action, just not quite the home run I was hoping for.
Bolt Action house rules
Some time back I lamented about LMGs in Bolt Action. They aren’t the only rough spot with the rules for me. While I understand the philosophy of some game elements being the way they are, it does at times seem to run roughshod with historical accuracy. Another big stickler with me was transports not being able to fire mounted weapons without passengers. I get why it was done this way (to prevent a bunch of mobile LMG platforms running around), but this sort of flies in the face of some nation’s tactics using armored troop carriers.
Other folks have taken up the mantle for using standard house rules. I think it’s a good idea. For house rules, I always liked having a document prepared to pass around before the game. It’s nice to be able to trumpet loud and clear rule changes you are playing with. So here are my limited list of house rules that can be found in the downloads section.
LMG point cost – I’ve talked about it before. LMGs are broken with their point costs. They cost far more than what they are worth on the tabletop. I’ve opted to drop the requirement of having a loader. It’s likely still overpriced, but at least they are no longer throwing out less attack dice than an equivalent point squad armed with rifles only.
Open-topped armored transports and pinning – I was waiting for the Tank War book to address issues with open-topped vehicles. It never did. Open-topped vehicles are simply too fragile to work as troop transports. By adopting the Tank War pinning rules, it’s a gamble for the attacker to throw a pin on transports now. It encourages folks to pick up veteran troop transports and start utilizing APCs more.
Transports firing weapons without passengers – Another stickler with me was requiring passengers to fire transport weapons. My solution likely adds to the ‘problem’ of roaming LMG teams. However I like the idea that transports can throw their firepower into the mix without needing passengers, but it’s limited to fire orders only.
Fixed weapons rotating – I find it interesting that Beyond the Gates of Antares, a sci-fi sister to Bolt Action, has this rule in place. Not being able to rotate fixed weapons at all seriously hindered MMG and AT guns. Being able to do so now allows them some more flexible use on the table.
Priority air strikes – It’s always a crap shoot with air support. Not only can it bounce and hit your units, but you might flub your support roll getting a strafing attack instead if targeting a tank. It’s a little too random. While there are optional air rules out there, I thought about instead allowing the air observer a greater chance of calling in heavy air support. It still is risky, but can be mitigated with taking a veteran observer (again offering an advantage if doing so).
MMG/HMG teams and pins – MMG teams to me seem fragile and despite the volume of fire they can throw onto a unit, they can only inflict one pin. Being able to rotate helps however I decided to add a new weapon tag, suppression. MMGs when targeting infantry units now have a 1 in 3 chance of dropping 2 pins on a target unit instead of 1. It’s just a little boost to indicate these weapons are effective at forcing infantry to keep their head down.
Deviating smoke rounds – I am not keen with the indirect smoke round rules. It’s too much in the hands of your opponent. I’m more favorable with random deviation on the round lands instead. The distance is also random, and can also drop closer to the target area which might actually make it work too well. But I dig the idea of using smoke more and the rules in the book discourage it.
So these are my changes. I haven’t dabbled much in vehicle flamethrowers. I understand they certainly could use tweaking based on the grumbling on various forums. That might be something else to add to the list at a later date. Hope folks get some use out of these rules (or at least inspire you all to whip up some of your own).
Plastic Soldier Co. Churchill
For my Bolt Action British platoon I had originally picked up a Cromwell. I figured it could be a recon element for my reinforced platoon. But for a more standard force, fielding a tank commonly used to support infantry was something I wanted. So I picked up a Plastic Soldier Co. Churchill tank kit.
The 1/72 scale models are well done. They really are a snap to assemble and fit together nicely. The treads and wheel sections fit as a single piece. The rear side of the tread section lacks detail, but it’s really difficult to notice once assembled.
The hull is well detailed. There are some nice extra bits like jerry cans for the rear tread fenders and spare tread sections. The hatch can be modeled with the doors being either open or closed, and include a tank commander figure.
There are a variety of barrels provided for Mk III, Mk IV, and Mk V tanks, as well as an AVRE variant. There is a lot of flexibility with the kit. The set comes with 2 tanks and as you have another turret available, you can really get some mileage out of the models.
I liked the bren carriers I picked up and feel Plastic Soldier Co. has another winner with their Churchill tank. It is a good buy for a 20mm platoon. Not only do they look nice assembled, but they have a lot of options for barrel types meaning you can really stretch the use of the kits out for different tank types. Quite worth the buy for 1/72 wargaming.
Review: Battlegroup ruleset
Plastic Soldier Co. and Iron Fist Publishing have teamed up to produce the Battlegroup series of books. From my understanding Battlegroup Kursk was the first set of rules released combined with supplementary material to describe that engagement in WW2. From there, a small ‘mini’ book was released with just the base rules. There are several other books released that detail different campaigns with various theater selector lists for forces and scenarios, but these only have special rules related to those campaigns. You need the small rulebook in order to play.
The scale for Battlegroup is set at 15mm to 20mm. Additionally it is a 1 man = 1 model system. There is no basing of units into fire teams. However as the game plays, actual basing isn’t really an issue. There are many examples of folks playing the game with multiple troops on single bases (like Flames of War). However, having a handful of single troops on lone bases is ideal to indicate casualties for a squad.
The rules themselves detail a pretty ambitious task of outlining a system that can be played at a variety of engagement sizes, from a squad up to an entire battalion. The squad level game is a bit of a misnomer as they expect you to take at least a platoon of troops, but it does give you varying levels of forces to play which can range from a few squads for an afternoon of fun, up to a full day of gaming at the battalion level. It’s a point system game, where you decide a point total and purchase units up to this limit. I picked up Battlegroup mainly for company level games.
The game utilizes a IGOUGO system of sorts. A player will roll a set number of dice to indicate the total units they can activate for that turn. For a platoon level this would be 2d6, while at the company level would be 3d6. I groaned a bit at this first but digging into the rules a bit more, I started to like it.
You roll to activate units, which really breaks down into teams. An entire platoon is really 4 individual units (a command team, plus three 8 man squads), and in addition you might have a few LMG teams that are also units. So that 3 platoon company suddenly mushrooms into 12-18 units, making that 3d6 activation roll a little more unpredictable. Add in additional MG teams, AT assets, field guns, artillery spotters, a few tanks, mortars, etc. You suddenly have a lot of things that may not be able to activate on your turn.
Each activated unit can be given one specific order; firing, maneuvering, a combination of the two, or just waiting in ambush to react to your opponent. Reaction orders also are a nice element, giving a chance to interrupt an opponent’s turn. This really allows for a fluid back and forth type of game making the turn progression more tense and engaging.
Movement is a flat rate for vehicles and infantry. Difficult ground will reduce movement to a d6 inch roll depending on the type of vehicle or terrain. Overall movement is a simple, easy system to execute.
There are maximum effective ranges for weapons, with small arms topping out at 30″. However this is tweaked some as there are two modes of fire. Area fire is a simpler affair where total firepower is determined and a single die is rolled to see an effect. If successful, they pin a unit.
The alternate is aimed fire which has a maximum range and individual die rolls for troop weapons, designated to inflicting casualties. Successful rolls to hit forces the target unit to roll for saves (6+ if in open ground, and much better if in cover). Failed saves result in casualties and morale tests, likely resulting in a unit either being pinned or forced to retreat. Combined with aimed fire is the need for spotting a target unit. Again a simple d6 roll test altered by different modifiers. If they can’t spot the unit, they can’t conduct aimed fire (area fire does not require a spotting check).
Vehicle fire mimics small arms fire some, however there is more gradation in target numbers to hit based on the type of gun and target armor. Also unlike infantry units, vehicles must keep track of the number of rounds fired. Close combat is more of an extension of aimed fire. When units come to within 5″ of each other, an intense firefight breaks out with both sides making attack rolls.
Morale is a pretty simple affair. If a unit is pinned they cannot be given an order until it is removed (more on that later). If a unit suffers a casualty, or is damaged, while pinned they roll on a d6 chart. On a 2 or less most units will break outright if they are pinned. The game is exceedingly dangerous to units in the open. Get them pinned and follow up with effective fire, you likely will have them break and run.
This leads into an interesting tweak to the the game, the Battle Rating (BR). Every platoon, tank, command team, etc. in your army has a value and the entire sum represents the overall morale and will of your force to fight. For each unit that is destroyed, you draw a random counter. These are also taken for other aspects of the game, such as your opponent having more scouts or when your opponent takes an objective. Effectively the only way to unpin units requires you also to draw a counter (unpinning d6 units while doing so).
The counters themselves are an uneven distribution of numbers ranging from 1 to 5 (with most being 2-4). As you draw counters you put these aside and secretly sum up the total. If the total of drawn counters ever exceeds your force’s Battle Rating, your entire group collapses and withdraws from the battle. This makes for some nail-biting decisions. Pinned units can do nothing and are exceedingly vulnerable to additional fire. If they break, you draw a BR counter. If you decide to rally some units, you draw a BR counter. So there is this fine line of deciding when to try and unpin units (or instead just let them keep hitting the dirt), as you never know how much pressure your force can take before they break.
There are rules for calling in off board artillery and air support. A series of rolls are made to simulate communication and firing priority. As off board artillery goes, there is a fair amount of randomness where rounds actually land, certainly allowing for the potential of friendly fire. Anti-air assets on the table also have a role which is a pleasant change from other systems.
The book comes with a handful of scenarios depicting typical engagements you might see, from patrols to withdrawing actions. Most scenarios also dictate the use of objectives. Given that holding objectives forces your opponent to draw BR counters, these alternate goals add some variety to the scenarios and provides for some differing victory conditions.
As mentioned earlier this is a point system game. You select units up to an agreed total. The actual force lists are rather structured however, with limited choices based on the core units you pick up. The game is very infantry-centric but armor heavy battlegroups can also be drafted up.
There are no force lists within the rules however. These are all provided separately in different campaign books which have battlegroup lists, special unit rules, unit profiles, etc. and are very much themed towards specific combat theaters. In this aspect, historical gamers will probably enjoy this as gradation in forces can be achieved to represent different parts of the war. With a universal force list for different nations, this would be harder to model. However, you are not getting a complete game just picking up the ruleset book. You also need to invest in a campaign book to play the game.
The Good – There is a lot here to like. Yes, it’s an IGOUGO system. However with the random die activation and a plethora of individual units representing a platoon, you aren’t going to be able to count on activating every model on the table during your turn. Further, the reaction orders also provide a means to make responses to your opponent’s actions making the game even more dynamic.
Pinning units matter and is an effective means to shut down your opponent. The splitting of fire modes into either suppression or trying to inflict casualties is also a nice touch via the area and aimed fire orders. Among this is the Battle Rating system. Pinned troops are effectively out of the fight. To reactivate them requires drawing a BR counter. If you let them sit pinned and they get hit by further fire, they will likely break forcing you to draw a BR counter as they are destroyed. Do you let them remained pinned and wait a few turns before opting to unpin d6 units? Or do you force your hand early and just unpin that one unit? It’s a challenging decision with slow degradation of your force’s morale, along with the unpredictability when it has had too much and will retreat, all of which makes for a fun game.
The rulebook itself is written fairly clearly and offers plenty of examples. There is a good amount of artwork and photographs to entice the reader. It’s a rather handy size and well bound. The addition of a solid quick reference sheet at the back of the book is an especially nice touch.
The Bad – The game does have its share of bookkeeping. Ammunition use for tanks is the most notable. For a tank or two this isn’t much of an issue, but running with a platoon of armor, it could bog down. I dig the concept as a means to balance out heavy hitting guns compared to the armor workhorses and also a way to mimic logistical problems, but it’s clunky. I wonder if using a d6 roll to determine if a unit was out of ammo would be better.
Another thing that crops up are past orders for opposing units. Spotting a target can also depend on whether it fired the previous turn. Get a big enough game going and it can get a little murky keeping track whether individual units fired on the previous turn or not, so you likely will need to use markers indicating given fire orders.
Some of the task resolutions require a lot of procedural die rolls. Artillery is especially damning as you need to make a fire mission request, a communications skill test, then determine how close the spotting round hits, the number of guns that are part of the strike, etc.. While all the die rolling allows for more predictable results due to probability, it can be a chore to go through.
The rules express a differing view of design also. Some parts are well detailed (like vehicle aimed fire and artillery) while other aspects of the rules are glossed over with abstract task resolution. There aren’t hard definitions of cover. Close combat is very streamlined under a general assault that takes place within 5″ of an enemy. There are some points in the rules suggesting resolution by player agreement as opposed to hard, defined rules. It just seems a bit of an odd match in how the rules are presented where some elements are highly detailed, while others are not.
The book would really be aided having an index. Some important rules are shuffled off into sidebars. It’s not incredibly difficult to find what you need, but tracking down a key rule can sometimes be a little bit of a chore. The book itself is a scaled down version of the larger campaign books. I appreciate the lower price of the rules, however the print is exceedingly small. This isn’t a comfortable font to read at all and it’s a shame a larger one wasn’t used.
The Verdict – Battlegroup is a solid WW2 miniature wargame. There are some rough spots and with larger games, bookkeeping can get to be somewhat clunky. Additionally, this isn’t the most innovate set of rules and you’ll likely be finding yourself treading over familiar game elements found in a myriad of other WW2 rules.
However it gets a lot of things right. One thing that stands out with me is the sheer unpredictability of unit activation and force morale. You can count on your plan of battle up to a point and then… well… things get interesting. It’s another game that emphasizes suppression and pinning of units. This has an important role in the game and you’ll find ordering units to cross open terrain will get either pinned to hell, ripped to shreds, or dispersing in a retreat. The utilization of cover and judicious use of ambush orders are needed.
Yes, it is a point based game. However taking a peek at some of the campaign books, it doesn’t feel like a tournament army list-of-the-month game. Battlegroup really seems to have it’s feet firmly in the historical camp. I’m certain that it’ll get some complaints on not having proper campaign TOEs, but there are far more hits than misses with the force lists.
I don’t think Battlegroup will quite replace my WW2 infantry skirmish game of choice. I need to get a few more games in, however I still feel that Bolt Action and Chain of Command both scratch that itch for me. However I wanted a ruleset I could use for 15mm and was looking for something different to Flames of War. Battlegroup does this quite well, and I totally expect it’ll be my go to rules for WW2 company action in the future. If folks are interested, an excellent overview of the rules as an intro report can be found in a list of PDF download links.
15mm sci-fi habitat structure
A short post today. As I’ve been dabbling in 15mm sci-fi models, I certainly needed to get some terrain built too. I’ve done plenty of fantasy and WWII stuff and it’s never been a real challenge to whip up something serviceable on the table. However for fair looking sci-fi terrain I’ve been a little at a loss.
Some of the model kits floating around are gorgeous, but not quite that cheap. Granted as 40K prices go much of it is a steal, but one thing I liked about running 15mm games was the low cost for picking up figures. I’d rather spend the money on another platoon of minis than just a cool looking building.
Slowly I’ve been picking up a lot of little plastic containers and odd packaging bits. For the most part I never quite figured out how to add small elements to make pieces stand out and avoid looking like a plastic tub. Then I stumbled across folks adding pieces of thin cardboard from cereal boxes to build up layers of material. Glued onto a plastic container, you can simulate doors and windows. Not to mention add additional layers in odd shapes to put on building details.
A bit of sandpaper was applied to the plastic to scuff up the surface and add some texture. I was able to add a few entrances and windows on a plastic food bin using thin cardboard. The bits of card were able to easily cover up your ubiquitous recycling symbol seen on most containers, and also could add some small detail to the building roof. Pretty easy modelling project to make a sci-fi structure.
I decided to just go with a simple base coat with a quick wash and drybrush. A very simple and quick alternate color for the windows with just a streak for highlights. Granted, it’s a very basic paint job and not too lovingly adorned for details. I think for other terrain I might try to put the effort in, but I’d rather save that for my minis. It’s serviceable, which is fine for now and I can always revisit it for a bit more color and detail later.
Italeri (and a smidgen of Revell) WW2 Japanese troops
Sadly when it comes to WW2 gaming the Pacific is usually under represented in many war games, especially miniature games. For squad based stuff, Battleground WW2 touched on it a bit with one of their supplements. However it’s always taken a back seat to the European theater. In fact, I daresay that the African theater gets more love over the Pacific.
It all comes down to manufacturers for minis, and clearly they want to produce lines that will sell. Just seems a shame the Pacific and Asian WW2 theater never seems to garner much attention. This was something I certainly wanted to rectify with my Bolt Action armies. So when the Imperial Japanese Army book hit, I certainly wanted to take a stab at collecting a force.
Fortunately, I am delving deep into 1/72 scale stuff, so getting troops is super cheap compared to 28mm. The downside is I really can’t get a lot of specific teams. However there is quite a variety of decent model ranges at that scale.
I settled on buying Italeri ranges for Japanese troops, along with the 70 mm field gun kits. The field gun kits were an especially great find as they had a lot of odd teams. In that set were AT rifle and suicide AT teams, along with some models that would be great for arty observers and could serve as mortar spotters in a pinch. Not to mention a couple of 70 mm field guns.
I like the range of Italeri models. There were a lot of options for different mortar types, including knee mortars and rifle grenade launchers. Both of which I could use to cobble together a mortar squad if I wanted. The downside was I could not field any models carrying smgs, so I had to settle with my sergeants just armed with rifles.
Being a Japanese list, I wanted lots of bodies in beefy infantry squads and planned on fielding at least 3 rifle squads and likely a full mortar squad too. Despite the high model count in the Italeri kits, I opted to pick up a Revel miniature set also. I only took a handful from that set but it was enough to fill out my infantry squads.
I also was struggling a bit finding appropriate minis for snipers. I opted to use a couple of kneeling figures and glued some plastic plant leaves on their backs to differentiate them some and still slightly capture that look of a sniper. A little wrapping of the barrels in trimmed athletic tape along with a healthy slather of water-downed PVA glue helped too.
I’m pretty happy how they turned out. A sizable force for Bolt Action with enough options to keep it interesting. Not to mention enough minis for another squad or two if I wanted to field another cheap inexperienced unit. Certainly looking forward to playing them and trying a different assault-heavy force. Now I gotta work on more jungle terrain!
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| Type 92 MMG |
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| Type 96 LMG mid-reload |
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| Type 97 AT-rifle |
Spartan Games terrain Kickstarter
This popped up on my radar. Spartan Games for a long while has been in the wargame and mini business. They’ve really grown into making some stellar resin miniatures and I’m a fan of Firestorm Armada.
It looks as if they’ve decided to dabble a bit in making terrain. There is a Kickstarter campaign running now to offer miniature terrain sets. What’s pretty clever is that it’s a modular frame system, where different artwork for the walls and floors can be swapped out depending on the genre you are playing. While much of the flooring and walls are card, it appears that parts can be upgraded to acrylic and laser cut MDF.
It looks pretty neat. The sets seem reasonable. However my beef would be with the artwork packs. Seems the lower pledge options are for one style of artwork (reasonable), but if wanting to get another style of walls/flooring, you are going to have to pony up about $30 USD and that’s without shipping.
Regardless, it appears this will be a product that they’ll be eventually pushing out into retail. If it looks like something that would tickle your fancy, the KS campaign likely would be a great way to get some of the sets accumulated.
Geek Ken 