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Post by dawgofflanders on Jul 29, 2016 19:19:13 GMT
Hi All, I am hoping to keep the home fires burning with reports from our local groups campaign, based out of Winnipeg and the northern States of North Dakota, Minnesota and Wisconsin. Allied Command is planning for an eventual counter attack and capture of Port Arthur (Thunder Bay), Ontario.
Our first battle was a 'grand ambush' east of Madison, Wisconsin, to slow down the Martian advance. The resultant encounter was a learning experience for the humans and a draw. While a tripod was lost and several damaged, U.S./Canadian losses were heavy. However valuable lessons were learned, firepower, hidden units and distractions were successful, as was artillery.
Last night we used a Canadian and North Dakota National Guard force to make a reconnaissance in force move out of Winnipeg, moving south-east towards the Minnesota border. In a textbook affair, Infantry fearlessly close assaulted the Tripods, while machine gun crews poured fire into them. The Canadian artillery were the first targets of the Martians and quickly wiped out. However while destroying the guns, the Martians allowed hidden units and charging infantry to close into assault range. Stuck fighting infantry the Martians attacked piecemeal and with many lucky shots (one player rolled no less than 30, 10's!) 5 Tripods were destroyed in one turn! Enraged and looking for revenge the Martians pushed forward only to be met by a second deadly barrage of machine gun and light artillery fire which knocked down a stunning 5 more tripods. Valiant U.S. and Canadian Tank crews released from reserve pressed home a counter attack and combined with U.S. Heavy Infantry chased down and destroyed the remaining 5 tripods. For a loss of several guns, 6 tanks and about 16 Infantry stands against 15 Tripods destroyed the Allied command was jubilant and eager to press forward. The Martians were furious and ready to avenge their lost comrades.
Allied reinforcements are being rushed to this sector, anxious to follow up their successes.
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Post by mikedski on Jul 29, 2016 19:44:02 GMT
awesome victory at Winnipeg!
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Post by madmorgan on Jul 30, 2016 0:17:13 GMT
Huzzarh! A grand battle. I'm sure the Martian players in your group are planning a suitable revenge. Any chance of an OOB of the forces for those of us who like to try other forum members games?? Not to worry about it - sounds like a really great time was had by all - the vision of humans 'chasing down' Martian tripods is a humbling sight. Cheers!
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Post by dawgofflanders on Jul 30, 2016 15:34:25 GMT
Thank you for the kind replies. I will type up the OB's today.
Cheers
Kev
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Post by dawgofflanders on Jul 30, 2016 17:56:37 GMT
OK. After a quick tally of the forces involved the Allied victory is pretty impressive. Proper use of tactics, ambushes, lots of shooting, flank attacks and luck, all worked out.
Canadians- Regulars and Kitchener's enter table from reserve after turn 3.
1x Coil gun, 1x AT gun, 3x Hotchkiss guns (house rules), 9x MG, 4x3 elements Canadian ‘Regulars’ (used U.S. stats), 1x Command Infantry stand, 3x Cree Scouts (Forlorn Hope), 2x Assault Infantry, 2x 3 stands Canadian Militia (used U.S. stats- had kilt figures so…), 3x Kitchener Tanks (used converted TOG’s from Flames of War). Approximately 900 points. About half survived.
North Dakota National Guard (we still use NG designation…well because we like the name!) All moving onto table turn 1.
1x Command Infantry stand, 1x Mark I steamer, 4x MG, 2x assault Infantry, 3x 3 Infantry stands.
Approximately 270 points- 4 infantry stands and 2 MG stands lost.
U.S. Regular Army – All in reserve as two flanking forces. After turn 3.
6x Mk III steamers, 2x3 U.S. Regulars, 3x2 Heavy Infantry, 1x3 Rough Riders, 1x3 MG.
Approximately 790 points. Most lost.
Canadian Cavalry Reserve- Not used
1x Command, 2x AC, 18x Cavalry, 2x Towed Field Artillery
Approximately 500 points
Martians
Start force- Enter on table turn 1.
6 assault Tripods- 2 with Black Dust, 2 with Green Gas, 2 normal- 1400 points
4 Scout Tripods- 600 points
1 Veteran Tripod (Commander)- 300 points
Martian Reserve- On call (After casualties).
1x regular Tripod, 1x Green gas Tripod, 2x Scout Tripods
All Martians Destroyed!
This is all we had painted, based, flocked. We have ready to paint, Sailors, marines, Germans (really nice Slave2Gamming), French and converted Generic South American regulars and militia.
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Post by dawgofflanders on Jul 30, 2016 17:59:16 GMT
Oh and the 'charging' was out of desperation. If we stood we would be burned down, so better to fix bayonets and charge.
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Post by Quendil on Jul 31, 2016 8:23:15 GMT
Sounds like a great game
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Post by madmorgan on Jul 31, 2016 10:38:40 GMT
Yes, impressive indeed. TY for the OB; I always add forum players scenarios to my notebooks - too many good ideas and interesting games not to keep handy for a store setup, etc. Had a few of questions please -
1/ House Rules for Hotchkiss guns??
2/ Converted TOGs ??
3/ What sort of 'towed artillery' in the reserve Can. Cav.?
4/ Which AC in reserve Can. Cav. ? (I suspect either Spectres or Definates. )
Impressive victory with roughly 1960 human vs 3050 martian machines. 30 tens!! who'd of tunk. LOL
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Post by dawgofflanders on Jul 31, 2016 18:25:32 GMT
1/ House Rules for Hotchkiss guns??
- Moves like Infantry. 30” range, power +1, Rate of fire 2. We used the excellent Slave2Gamming British Machine guns. They are nice and large, we thought of an enhanced machine gun but my son came up with the idea to call them a Hotchkiss. Beside I like the name Hotchkiss, sounds really cool!
2/ Converted TOGs ??
- Flames of War, Mid war Monsters British TOG. Used all stats for BEF Imperial Tank. Added machine guns and steam stacks. They look really nice and since I can’t find any BEF vehicles right now…thought I’d get them on the table. Now need to find something French.
3/ What sort of 'towed artillery' in the reserve Can. Cav.?
- Regular BEF field artillery, towed by horses. I am using WWI British 18pdrs , leftover from my WWI armies.
4/ Which AC in reserve Can. Cav. ? (I suspect either Spectres or Definates. )
- Used the stats for a BEF Spectre armoured car. They are also leftover AC’s for WWI.
Impressive victory with roughly 1960 human vs 3050 martian machines. 30 tens!! who'd of tunk. LOL
I know. Imagine our surprise when we totaled the points, even better because we only started with about 600 points on table. It really worked to have the hidden units and ambush attacks. They tied up 3 Tripods for 3 turns. The Martians just couldn’t score a kill. Then the U.S. Regulars flanked the Martians and drew 4 tripods onto them. Most of the Regulars were wiped out but that meant the Martians went into the center of the battlefield piecemeal and were easy targets for 15-25, low level rifle and machine gun shots on each Tripod. I also can’t emphasize enough for any game. Make a plan, try to stick to it if possible and cooperate with your teammates. We (the humans) were a really good team.
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Post by madmorgan on Aug 1, 2016 11:51:40 GMT
Hmmm, I did some stats on the 37 mm infantry guns that all IRL major powers came to use for bunker busters and mg nests. Old Glory has them on their schedule for production at some point, one for each of the WW1 factions (BR,US,GR,FR). And indeed the US and French were IRL made by Hotchkiss I believe. I had the same stats I think! amazing great minds ... Nice conversion on the TOGs btw. The Old Glory line has a good selection of Mark 1 thru 5 tanks; for my money, I use the Mark 1 Gun carrier for mobile artillery and the Mark 1 Carrier for ammo carrier. The Mark 4 with its male/female versions work well, as you can either have 6 pounder tanks with mgs or all (female) mg tanks. All these make nice militia tanks, saving your ADs for 'regulars'. Okay 18pdrs/83.8mm/3.3" all good. I sometimes add deathfromaboves Tripod Buster Shells to a battery of those for an anti-Tripod role. See his tab on those - gives the shot a +3 Power, some nice ummph to get through that Martian armor. Here's the original text on those: Tripod Buster Shells - give you a +3Power but each time fired you may run out - roll d10 first fire 1-3 you're out, add 1 to the range each turn fired thereafter (ei 2nd turn = 1-4, 3rd turn = 1-5, maximum range is 1-8). See my reply for final workup on those. Gads, that is a lot of lead slinging!! Your final statement is the most telling. A good team can often overcome the shortfall of weapons with tactics and coordination. Cheers!  |
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Post by dawgofflanders on Aug 3, 2016 3:36:03 GMT
Thank you for the good advice and encouragement. We will try to post pictures of the figures.
Where are the rules for the 'tripod busters'? I have to really go through the home rules section, I do like that we add or change rules now.
Kev
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Post by madmorgan on Aug 3, 2016 11:01:07 GMT
Tripod Buster Shells - give you a +3Power but each time fired you may run out - roll d10 first fire 1-3 you're out, add 1 to the range each turn fired thereafter (ei 2nd turn = 1-4, 3rd turn = 1-5, maximum range is 1-8).{my adds}: You can 'resupply' TB shells with an ammo tender. It cannot do its normal bonus die function when it resupplies the TBS. These are usable in all BEF weapons from 13 to 20pdr guns as well as any 3", 75 mm or 76 mm gun. Note that they are almost always found only in the BEF inventory as they require the British metallurgy skills and a mix of Martian alloys and titanium metal and have a uncommon casing colored more silver than brass due to the hard steel used for the casing.
You can find my listing based on deathfromaboves wonderful articles under the BEF tab, Alternative BEF tanks. I also ended up doing the Forever Autumn stats with his permission. Finally, check the photo gallery for his really nice pictures of the various tanks he dreamed up. They are all practical and useful designs and I do hope he's okay as haven't 'heard' from him in months. He was one of the conversion modelers whose presence is missed.
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Post by wisercj on Dec 10, 2016 18:16:12 GMT
For your French TOG equivalent, try the Char 2C. Designed in 1917 and built in 1921, it is the largest tank ever built and used. Gamodls out of Ohio has them for still only $5 each. I have one for my France 1940, and although not Battlefront quality it looks really nice. www.gamodls.com/Scripts/French.htmlLooks like he is now making a line of steampunk tanks that would fit well with AQotMF. |
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Post by madmorgan on Dec 15, 2016 0:09:42 GMT
Sweet find! And that Char 2 C falls well within my artificial 1925 tech cut off for my games - ty again |
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Post by dawgofflanders on Jan 21, 2017 2:17:46 GMT
Hello and sorry for the looong delay in contacting the forum.
I am going straight away to look at the Chars. I picked up some St Chamonds and added smokestacks and machineguns. They look passable.
We had our first game since August last night. Part of our fighting around Duluth-Port Arthur. We did 500 points worth of Allies (Canadian and U.S.) mostly infantry vs. 800 points of Tripods- scouts and a slaver on patrol. The Allied force was searching for negative from a downed flyer. The Martians (I was one ) were overconfident and spread out to far from each other. 3 scouts, the slaver, 6 lobotons and 3 sniper drones were lost. The U.S. and Canadians took the center of the table and concentrated fire.
So now my engineer/artist best friend is making a map of the area for an Allied offensive. Should be fun.
Thank you to this forum for supporting our hobby.
Kev
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