Memoir '44 - Flanking Caen Battle Report - Withdrawal from Hill 112 - 6 x 6 Challenge

Amy and I played the 3rd scenario in the Flanking Caen Campaign Scenario for Memoir '44.

Withdrawal from Hill 112 Historical Background.

On June 29, Operation Epsom entered its fourth day.  The British were holding onto a salient that incorporated high ground known as Hill 112 on the far side of the Odon River, near the village of Baron.  The British 11th Armored Division had a tentative hold and the Allies knew, thanks to intelligence reports, that the Germans were amassing armor for a counter-attack.

The German command made a preliminary push, sending the 9th and 10th SS Panzer Divisions and the 2nd SS "Das Reich" into action along both sides of the Odon.  Although the 11th Armored Division was abel to hold Hill 112, the British commander, Lietenant-General Dempsey grew concerned about having this lead elements isolated on the far side of the river.  He ordered them to withdraw back across the Odon, a decision that came back to haunt him when the Allies paid a heavy toll to reclaim the same fround nine days later.

 Although Operation Epsom never quite achieved its original objective of flanking Caen, it did manage to draw the bulk of the German armor into the area which freed up the Americans on the right and opened the door for their break-out into hedgerow country.

The Allied forces are commanded by Amy and the Axis are commanded by me.

You can see the full play through here.

This game went a little more in my favor.  It was still close and a win was not assured for me.  I was really hoping to capture the temporary medal objective for the extra campaign points, but I couldn't pull it off.

I did fail to record a victory point during the game, that would have had me win sooner and put me in a better position in the overall campaign, but it was my mistake so I'll just eat it.

The campaign points after the third battle (including Objectives);

Allies: 18

Axis:  11

Stay tuned for the final battle in this mini-campaign; Hill 112.

Xia: Legends of a Drift System - Unboxing

Today we will be taking a peak inside of Xia: Legends of a Drift System published by Far off Games.

This is another game that I backed via Kickstarter (No, I don't have a problem.).  I backed this when they announced they were doing a solo expansion.  I had previously been looking at this game, but I wasn't sold until they decided to put out a solo version.  I gave them some money and they gave me this game with the promise to send the expansion later.

The expansion is getting closer to being completed so I thought I would open this box up and see what kind of treasures it holds.

There are quite a few components in this box and they are all pretty nice quality.  I like the design of the components.  They are colorful and look easy enough to read.











The ships included with this game come pre-painted (which isn't always a good thing), but these look very nice.  Yes, some people could do a better job, but these look pretty good and they come already done which I count as a bonus.





This game looks to have a lot of content and once I get the solo expansion, I'm sure you will find me exploring the vast reaches of space.

The Walking Dead: All Out War - Solo Battle Report 3

Next up for my 6 x 6 Game Challenge is another play through of The Walking Dead: All Out War.  This is the third and final scenario in the Prelude to Woodbury expansion.  As I was editing the video, I found a few mistakes that were made during the game.  I noted the mistakes in the video.

In this scenario, Brian is now in charge of Woodbury and is out collecting walkers for future arena battles.  Brian needs to capture 4 walkers and load them into his vehicle.

The scenarios dictate the equipment you start with in all the scenarios.  I think a little different selection of equipment would improve my chances of successfully completing these missions.  Maybe when I replay them, I'll mix up the equipment.

Deadzone Terrain Test Piece - Painting and Assembly

My friend Bill picked up the second edition box of Deadzone and wants to try this game out.  I've got a copy of the first edition and a fair amount of terrain, but never put any of it together or painted any of it.

This game needs terrain so I thought I would assemble a building and do a test run on a color scheme to see how it looks.  I want something that will be easy and quick to paint, but still looks good on the table.  

I sprayed the pieces with a black primer and then sprayed them with a medium grey.  I think I ended up putting a heavier coat of grey than I wanted, but they still look alright.  

After this was dry, I masked off a small section and used a foam sponge to apply some yellow to the wall sections.

I painted the beams on industrial sections with black and then dry-bushed them silver.

I assembled the pieces and am pleased with the look.  I think I will used some different colors for future buildings so there is some variation on the table.  

I think for the next building I will try to sponge the grey onto the black to see how that looks.  I'm not sure about the time it will take to paint them that way, but they might have a better look.

I think I will be able to paint a fair number of buildings pretty quickly which is always a good thing.

Too Many Bones - Unboxing

I received my copy of Too Many Bones published by Chip Theory Games a couple of weeks ago.  I purchased this game through Kickstarter.

Too Many Bones is described as a dice-builder RPG.  It is supposed to be a strategic, fantasy based RPG that puts the player(s) in control of characters as they travel to the northern territories in search of a enemy forces that they must defeat.

I put together a video showing off the components that come in the box.

Overall, I'm impressed with nearly all the goodies in the box.  My only complaint is really a pretty minor one.  The health chips are plastic instead of the nice clay poker ships that are used for characters, monsters, and other things.  I really feel that they should included the upgraded clay health chips in the game.  They are available as an add-on if you would like to purchase them.  As I said this is a minor gripe.

I really like the artwork in this game.  The play mats are very nice, the cards are plastic, so they will hold up to repeated play very well.  The rule book looks to be easy to read.

There is a lot in this game and I look forward to reading through the rules and trying this game out.

PFC CinC Unboxing - Cold War Era 6mm US UH-60A

I just love the look of the Blackhawk helicopter.  I saw that CinC had a model available and I was already ordering some M60 tanks so decided to add a couple of these onto the order.

Cold War Commander has a scenario called Airborne Assault, so I actually have a use for these.  I believe they also will work with Fistful of TOWs 3 and maybe at some point Team Yankee will put them in an expansion.

These look very nice, though there are quite a few pieces, I don't think they will be to difficult to put together.  The rotor blades are very bendy, so I'll need to be gentle with them.

I'm pretty excited to paint these up and may even get them into a game at some point.  Of course, I've got to finish my US infantry for these to actually be useful in a game.

I really need to buckle down and get some painting down to catch up with my model purchases as of late.

PFC CinC Unboxing - Cold War Era 6mm US M60A3

I decided I need some lighter tanks than the M1 Abrams that I have been using for my US forces.  So I put in an order for some 6mm M60A3 tanks from PFC CinC.

These will be used for Cold War Commander and Fistful of TOWs 3 (and maybe Team Yankee if they release stats for them).

I'm happy with these models and I think they are nicely detailed.  Once painted they will look great on the table and will be a great addition to my forces.  If you would like a lighter tank than the M1, you might check these out for your games.

Stay tuned as I'm planning to put together a video on painting these models.

The Walking Dead: All Out War - Solo Battle Report 2

I've played another game of The Walking Dead: All Out War for my 6 X 6 Game Challenge.  This is the second scenario from the Prelude to Woodbury Expansion.  I feel more comfortable with the rules now that I've played a couple of games, but I did forget to roll for panic when the threat got high and I could be missing a few other things.

In this scenario Brian is out collecting supplies and needs to collect all five tokens on the table and then move off the board.  I managed to pick up 3 tokens before the threat got so high that I lost the game.

I've not played enough to have any solid tactics, but I've got some ideas to try the next time I play this scenario.

Kings of War Battle Report - 1500 Point Goblins vs Dwarves - Ransack

Bill and I played another game of Kings of War for my 6 X 6 Game Challenge.  I'm not sure if I'm getting worse at this game or if Bill is getting better, but at least I had a good time playing.

Our 1500 point armies faced of in the Ransack scenario from the Clash of Kings book.  In this scenario we had d6+1 objectives that were each worth d3 victory points.

Bill's army was pretty similar to our previous games, but I wanted to try out something a little different.  I used more small units (for goblins) but it didn't work out like I had hoped.  I think I will be painting up some more trolls and maybe adding back my 2nd giant in our next game.

I failed to take pictures of the game, but I did record video of the battle.  This game was played at my FLGS, Gauntlet Games, so I apologize for the noise.

Kings of War Battle Report - 1500 points Goblins vs Dwarves - Pillage

My next battle for the 6 x 6 Challenge was Kings of War.  I played my Goblins versus Bill's Dwarf army.  We are still new to this game and are learning.  I think we generally have the rules down, but there is always the chance we have missed a few things.

We built 1500 point armies for the game and rolled up the Pillage scenario.  In this scenario, kills didn't matter, only the number of objectives that you held at the end of the game.

This was Bill's first chance to see War Tombones in action and he was unimpressed.  I however, found them to be a good addition to my army.  I understand that in the new book scheduled to be out in a few months, there will be some changes to these as they will begin reduce their to-hit rolls because of cover, but for now they hit on a 4+ regardless of any modifiers.

Both sides had some good rolls during the game and some not so good rolls.  I enjoyed the game and look forward to the next battle.

Kings of War Battle Report - 1500 points Goblins vs Dwarves - Kill andPillage

Next up in my 6 X 6 Gaming Challenge is another Kings of War Battle.  Again I have played my Goblins and played against Bill and his Dwarves.  It was a fun game, but I didn't do very well in the battle.

We set up 1500 point armies and rolled for the scenario and got Kill and Pillage.  In this scenario, each player is awarded points for killing enemy units as well as holding objectives at the end of the game.  Each objective was worth 150 points in this game.

Bill focused on my war trombones and wizards early in the game and managed to take many of them out of the game fairly early on.  He also routed my trolls before they could get into combat.

Bill earned about 1000 more points than I did in the battle so we will call it a victory for the dwarves.  I might have to adjust my army a little before our next battle.