Spanning the centuries

The last 10 days have been pretty busy on the gaming front - thank goodness I'm retired as I've never have the time!

First up some WWII using the latest iteration of Keith Flints Startline battalion level rules. They have a strong heritage in the classic 80s WRG rules but cleaned-up and sped-up. We cracked through a 1944 scenario in an evening and there is interest in doing a Monday-night club campaign.   

Germans hiding in wait

British attackers

We're now almost ready to start our Montrose campaign so we did a final practice game that introduced the Scottish/Irish troops. They are more fighty than the Covenanters but shoot less well.  Not shown I also played a 20mm game with Roy but the intense heat forced us a to halt before the end.  

Highlanders attack

Irish getting stuck in

It was also monthly Beneath the Lilly Banners time with us once again fighting Ottomans vs Russians in the Great North Wars. This game has a distinctly colonial feel and was a resetting of the Battle of of the Pyramids. We called in a marginal victory for the Russians as they took the riverside village and withstood fierce Ottoman attacks which broke up the front square but did nt rout it. 

Front Russian square - they would bear the grunt of the casualties 

Finally some Blucher - the Battle of Mincio (1814) river which pitched French/Italians against Austrians in an encounter game where both armies were divided by a river. Both sides opted for a left flank movement with the French looking initially to be too slow. 

6mm Austrians

The French centre was able to hang-on while their comrades on the left destroyed all the Austrians west of the river. Units were traded in the centre allowing the French to break the Austrians when their losses hit 50%.  

 

French attacking the Austrian centre and flank

Finally finally (not pictured) was some Deadzone scifi skirmish. I'm playing in  a tournament in August so some practice was in order. I was nt entirely happy with the Enforcers I used (AKA space marines) so will return to my trusty cyborgs from the evil Mazon Labs list 

Triple S - SciFi, Scots and Spies

 A fairly busy week of gaming as we approach the end of June. 

I'm still painting for a new addition to the "5 Parsecs From Home" solo Sci-Fi skirmish  family - "Planet Fall". In this variant of 5FPH you are the commander of an expedition seeking to colonise an alien world. I've been painting both the xenomorphs and the crew.

Crabman xeno

Expedition soldiers

Expedition scientists

I've also been to Fishponds for another game of "Test of Honour". The scenario involved the Samurai trying to smuggle a spy off the table as the Warrior Monks look to block their progress.    

Warrior Monks

Samurai

The spy did nt escape before we completed the game be we called it for the attacking Samurai.    

Action in the centre

Finally we're starting our new campaign looking at the Montrose rebellion in ECW Scotland. We're using "Never Mind the Matchlocks", a new set for us so plenty of learning to do.     

Highlanders

Covenanters

Our learning this week is that the cavalry rules are more complex than the infantry ones. We'll look to reduce the cavalry numbers to speed up the game.     

5 Parsecs - into the belt.

To quickly recap; the crew of the Hermes are in pursuit of evil scientists from Blackwell Biometals who are conducting experiments on prisoners to develop adaptive biotech armour (Project Chrysalis). In the previous episodes, clues directed them to a secret facility in the asteroid belt and so they make haste to the spaceport to blast-off for asteroid X754E.

Turn 19 - Q'arr strikes back

Things are never simple for the Hermes crew as this is the moment former "business partner" Q'arr has chosen to launch a major attack on their ship in revenge for a deal gone wrong. He's loaded-for-bear by sending two merc teams and an elite merc to destroy the ship.   

Crew moves towards the space port

Under attack from two sides the team opt not to rush straight for the ship but take- up a position in a building overlooking the entrance to the space port. 

Crew takes up position

The Mercs rushed forward into heavy fire from the crew and were soon pinned down. Lacking much motivation they withdrew once the casualties started to build. Silas was stunned but the crew was otherwise ok.   

Skulker Mercs advance with covering fire from an elite Merc

Turn 20 - X54E, Blackwell facility

Very strong magnetic storms near the facility meant the crew had to land a few clicks away and finish the journey on foot. The storms have attracted "Distorts", strange beings who are partly between this dimension and subspace. They can phase through terrain and have attacks that bypass even the best armour.  

All quiet at Blackwell's facility

Distorts - mindless but deadly on mass

The crew advanced across the frozen surface, looking to find shelter from the intense storms. The Distorts are attracted to electrical activity and so zeroed in on the team as they neared the facility.   

After a desperate struggle the crew staged a fighting withdraw in the face of the relentless horde. Sera and Skor were wounded but using their Luck were able to keep moving and make it to the safely of the facility.   

Fighting wirgdrawal

The gunfire and explosions was not to go unnoticed though. A team of Enforcers were deployed from a nearby Unity base monitoring the sector - they will need dealing with before the base can be properly searched. 

 

 

5 Parsecs - Operation Crysalis

We're deep into the current campaign which has mostly been set on the prison moon of Tybos. In turn 17 the Hermes crew receive a tip-off from their long term patrons The Pale Accord that their nemesis the Ossian Veil are conducting experiments on prisoners to develop adaptive biotech armour. A source reports there may be secret underground labs on Tybos where the work is being done.

Turn 17 - search the camp 

Their first break comes when a warden hires them to investigate a remote work camp where prisoners have been disappearing - something that matches the alleged MO. So the team set-off to search the camp but encounter a large group of Tech Zealots holding the facility.  

Tech Zealots tooled-up and ready 

With time essence, and a stand storm restricting visibility, the team decide to attack through the front door and hope to surprise the defenders.   

Let battle commence

Resistance proves very stiff as they fight their way into the compound and begin a rapid search. Shots ping in from all directions felling three of the crew. Having found a clue to the next possible location they beat a hasty retreat before more Zealots arrive.  Ivarr is wounded but will be back in action soon.

 

Clue found - time to leg it 

Turn 18 - search the other camp 

The clue from the previous mission pointed to a second camp in the same region as the first, so the next day the team set off to push through that and look for further evidence of Project Chrysalis. This camp was slightly larger and defended a Corporate Security team. They had also hired a Merc to beef-up the defences.   

Hired Merc supports security staff

The defenders were on the alert following the earlier attack and so were ready when the team arrived. Luckily they had not defended the perimeter itself so the team were able to force an entry under heavy fire.   

Behind you

Moving cautiously they used classic fire-and-manoeuvre tactics to sweep through the complex engaging targets as they went. Trusty bot PDP-11 was damaged before the Corp Security were driven off and a proper search undertaken.        

Compound secure

There was evidence of research activity on the site but the rooms used had been cleared out recently. Careful cross-referencing of flight data and timing material indicated a ship had headed into the asteroid belt in the last few days, likely carrying the unfortunate victim's of the experiments, so next stop the belt...  

          

5 Parsecs - journey into the wilderness

I played the latest two episodes of my ongoing 5 Parsecs From Home as a linked scenario as the two seemed to fit quite nicely together. 

Game 1 (Turn 15) - into the wilderness

New Patron MeetSpace VR had hired the crew to recover some tech from a crashed shuttle. The aim of the first mission was to secure the site, recover the tech and call for extraction. The area was in a deserted zone of the penal moon of Travoris but it was known to be home to a group of Precursor (space elves) Exiles. 

The crash site

The game started with the crew at the crash site and needing to beat-off the Precursors. They are a shooty faction with a good combat skill and lots of ranged weapons, so the crew soon came under heavy fire.  

Precursors (space elves) mover forward

After an extended fire-fight the Precursors had been pushed back but three of the crew were downed - two stunned and one wounded. The stuns are removed after the battle and wound turned-out only to be minor, so quickly fixed in the med bay.         

The crew holds the perimeter

Three down but the site is secured

Game 2 (Turn 16) - Dust Off 

Although the Precursors has been pushed back, the crash-site was too hot for a safe extraction as they would surely be back. So the crew decided to hike a couple of clicks to a safer spot. Little did they know that a group of Void Rippers was in the area - aggressive and territorial, they quickly moved to attack the party. 

Void Rippers on the scent

Fast moving and tough they swarmed towards the crew making good use of the cover. Their tough hides deflected lots of shots so most of the swarm made it into close combat.   

Void Rippers attack 

Luckily the crew are well equipped with good armour and close combat weapons. After a brief struggle the attackers had be temporarily withdraw allowing the extraction to go ahead before they renewed their assault. No wounds but lots of dented armour.    

A desperate struggle

Dust Off