Sunday 15 July 2012

Regina's late war 1750pt tournament

Captains log, star date Christina Hendrick's, late night movie and dessert... Yeah.. ... .. . Right the tournament... The voyagers of the U.S.S. Nostromo took flight on the Trans Canada bound for Regina, ensign Irwin was my Navigator as we set out on our expedition to the sounds of WWPD, the crunching of Ruffle chips and the cool refreshing taste of an Arnold Palmer...

We arrived in Regina after a fun drive of cruise control and few turns (the Trans Canada is like that for those non prairie folk) and checked in at our hotel and had a quick bite to eat before setting down to do those last minute painting details that always happen the night before.

A week out from the tournament we had to turn in lists and I was still unsure of what to do so I threw together a list I had never played, and said to hell with it, lets have some fun. Here's my list.

Gepanzerte PanzerGrenadier



MoralePointsPlatoons



17458
HEADQUARTERS
Gepanzerte Panzergrenadier Company HQ1x CinC SMG, 1x 2iC SMG, 2x Sd Kfz 251/1CV65
- CinC Upgrade1x Upgrade CinC SMG to CinC SMG Panzerfaust
10
- 2iC Upgrade1x Upgrade 2iC SMG to 2iC SMG Panzerfaust
10
- Panzerschreck1x Panzerschreck , 1x Sd Kfz 251/1
40
COMBAT
Compulsory Gepanzerte Panzergrenadier Platoon1x Command MG, 1x Sd Kfz 251/1 or 251/10, 6x MG, 3x Sd Kfz 251/1CV2201
- Command Upgrade1x Replace Command MG with Command Panzerfaust SMG
10
Compulsory Gepanzerte Panzergrenadier Platoon1x Command MG, 1x Sd Kfz 251/1 or 251/10, 6x MG, 3x Sd Kfz 251/1CV2201
- Command Upgrade1x Replace Command MG with Command Panzerfaust SMG
10
WEAPONS
Panzergrenadier Anti-tank Gun Platoon1x Command SMG, 3x 7.5cm PaK40, 1x Kfz 15 field Car, 3x Kfz 70 TruckCV1551
SUPPORT
Schwere Panzer Platoon1x Command KonigstigerCV3451
Panzer Platoon1x Command Panzer IVH, 3x Panzer IVHCV3601
Rocket Launcher Battery1x Command SMG, 1x Observer Rifle, 1x Kubelwagen, 3x 15cm NW41 rocket launcherCV1051
Anti-aircraft Gun Platoon1x Command Armoured Sd Kfz 7/1 (Quad 2cm) Half-track, 1x Armoured Sd Kfz 7/1 (Quad 2cm) Half-trackCV1001
Luftwaffe Heavy Anti-Aircraft Gun Platoon1x Command SMG, 1x Kfz 15 Field Car, 2x 8.8cm FlaK 36, 2x Sd Kfz 7 (8t) half-trackRT951

With 5 points left in reserve for the Fuhrer.

I worked on weathering some of my force and finished off some crew on my AA guns while watching IRON SKY for the night in the hotel, a documentary on US politics and foreign relations



A solid nights sleep later we awoke albeit way to early ( who gets up at 5:30 in a hotel room without a fire alarm anyways?) and put down a good breakfast before taking off to the tournament.

For those of you who haven't been to Regina on a game day this is what it looks like.


We made our way through that and headed to Tramps comics and games

and it was on. We met up with the guys and chatted it up a bit as we awaited all the players. We had brought a bunch of terrain and so with the tournament organizers help we  augmented a few of the tables before being walked through the terrain as a whole by the tournament organizer Lance... I can't say enough about this guy, he was great and did a ton of work to get everything set up for the event and ran a great and fun day.

I really think that doing a walk through of terrain is super important. Lance negated any sort of arguments based on terrain before anyone had rolled a die by doing this and took input from the crowd so everyone was happy. All in all if I run a flames of war tournament I'm stealing this from him and only hope I do it as well.

With that done we set out to play three games, Free for All, Hold the Line and Hasty Attack.  All of the Matchups were done by computer, Curtis (of Kages Flame of War blog for those who know him, and those who don't check on the right there I have a link to his blog) is working on the tournament app for Battlefront and it can do it all and impressively. Ensign Irwin and I (his names Duncan I just like going with this ensign thing A) because I'm still enjoying writing this with a Shatner voice in my head and B) because I know it'll annoy him.) having come so far had worried that we would play each other, " OH GREAT I JUST TRAVELED OVER 400KM AND I GET TO PLAY THE GUY I PLAY EVERY WEEK... GREAT!" But Curtis' app actually avoids that to get people to change it up and play new people... It was pretty cool.

 The heroic few about to do battle.

My first game was against Brody and his SturmKompanie.  Brody is a fierce and noble leader, and at 10 years old is a competitive gamer. We were playing Free for All and with his few platoons being very defensively minded it was up to me to attack. Brody got the first turn and swung 4 StuGs around a forest, and blew one of my Quad AA guns off the map. After a generous helping of flames and smoke being applied to the vehicle it was my turn for a counter attack. He had a Panther Turm holding down the Far right flank, so I avoided that like the plague and went up the left and center with everything I had. After a ton of fire  and a few turns, I managed to pin and assault my way into a victory. But have no doubts, he made me work for it. And noticing one of my mistakes (I forgot to shoot at or assault his lone OC, he openly mocked me for being weak... (in a funny and playful way) This was actually really good advice and would actually come into play later in the tournament. The game ended 6-1 for me.

While he and i were cleaning up the table he introduced me to "Luck challenges" which are actually pretty cool and I think I'm going to do more of to help me wargame out problems and make me take a different look at some tough situations... Again Kids a monster and a genius and he's going to be destroying people in a couple of years unless his dad can somehow take away his models and force him to take dance classes or something.... Lance, I'm looking at you here...


So with that out of the way we set about arranging forces for the paint judgement and took off for lunch. I took some pictures of the armies for you all to peruse.







I wasn't able to get pics of all of the armies as some of the players were still in the heat of it and well, I was too hungry to wait! Overall it was axis biased with only 4 of the 14 armies being allied.

After a quick lunch we were back for round two where I was facing Curtis the computer genius(read hacker) and his Panzer Bake list. He had 4 panzerwerfers with extra crew, GpPzGrens, 3 2cm gun halftracks, and of course the big kids, a pl of panthers and a pl of Tigers.

We were happy to be playing each other as we had been talking for the last few weeks online. As soon as we learned the mission all I heard was "I hate that mission", quickly followed by "ON THAT TABLE?!??" Funny thing was I was thinking the same thing. I was worried with his full army of heavy armour rolling toward my small holding force.


As used a kampgrupped force with pzgrens and a pak 40 on the table along with the KT and the Panzer IVs (who spent the whole game hiding).  My ace in the hole was an ambush of Luftwaffe 88s. Now for the record I love these things, some people think 88s are junk, but I love em. And while I'll talk them up I'll refer you to someone who doesn't believe in them. Kages thoughts on 88s

 So I was fairly concerned with what was coming at me and so sprung my ambush with the 88s and instead of taking on the tanks I saw the halftracks as my biggest threat. With that the 88s opened up and the few cars that survived fled the field, leaving hulking wrecks blocking off the advance of the tanks behind.  Well it might not have blocked them, but it sure slowed them down.

You can see in the pic my KT on the hill, I sat it up there to cover the whole battlefield and it dominated the ground from there (with it's re rolling misses) He sent in his AA halftracks to try and assault my force, but they were blown away by the defensive fire. And at this point he started losing tanks fast, between the 88s, KT, Pak 40, Panzerschreck and Panzerfausts there was a lot of shooting going down range at a very few tanks. The game was fun with both of us having a good laugh and I can't wait to get in another game with him. I think it would be a great time and with both of us being amicable to adult beverages this may need to happen. The game ended a 6-1 for me.

The final game ( I apologize I have no pics as it was a pretty intense game against an awesome player) was against Rob with his SS WIKING panzer list. Last time I checked this guy was ranked 3rd in Canada and can seriously play the game. He had two HQ Panthers, a pl of 4 pz IVs, a pl of 4 StuGs, two quad 2cm halftracks, a pl of GpPzGren, a battery of 10.5cm guns and a battery of 15cm guns... Yeah... So he's explaining the list to me and how the Kannone work, and that he's rolled 6's for them all day... Yeah... Yeah.... He rolled a 5 and 6 for them again... They were rerolling monsters on the table. Well long story short it was a blood bath with both of our forces being mauled, and the game coming down to a single die roll for where my scattered reserve would arrive, with a role of a 5 I was able to challenge his holding my objective and eventually destroy his pl and OC. The game ended a 4-3, and could have gone either way in any turn. Super fun, and yes lance stressful.

With the last game done we tore down and waited for the results. All in all it was a great day and was made even better when Lance pulled out these bad boys...
I loved it, far too few tournaments do trophy's or any sort of cool tokens, but this event had golden tanks... OH YEAH!


Rocking a Soviet KGB shirt while playing Germans is how you have to roll. It throws the others off...

In the end 5 players walked away with one of these bad boys and I was lucky enough to take Best Overall, and players choice which I think is even better.  A fun surprise and a great time. I couldn't of asked for more, but with Devil's Charge being released that day and being available up the stairs my day got even better.

Here's a screen shot of Curtis' program with the final standings.


So we launched back in the car for another 4 1/2 hours of fun after an amazing day of gaming, a lot of lessons learned and a new bunch of army lists that my navigator could read out to me as we drove... Yup it was a good day.

And now to come up with a new list... Hmmmnnn with the tournament being heavy axis, perhaps some Canadians....

Until next time.



4 comments:

  1. Great write up Chris, it actually makes me want to go to Regina for the next one ! No small feat given my reluctance to travel at this time.
    Now Shilo is a lot closer than Regina so I really must get cracking on when I can go - complete with a Cdn list for entertainment value !

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  2. ya nice write up. Some bevi's would be fun as I think we have the same sense of humour.

    Although Prometheus was a good movie.

    maybe next time you guys can just stay at my place, and we can talk war, drink beer, and get ready for the next day. play Alien in the back ground.

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  3. I'm all about it Curtis, thanks for the offer. Yeah we can watch Aliens, and some of the other movie greats. Perhaps even agreeing on some of them!

    I'll bring some Manitoba beer...

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  4. Great report. I'm worried about the lack of diversity creeping into FoW tournaments. Vast majority of players in my area are also going German.

    ReplyDelete