It's great to able to play both sets of rules as and when I want to. Having completed a run through of BA I set up a small tank battle for FoW. I'm getting a feel for the rules now and really enjoy pushing tank platoons around the tabletop. I tried a few different models to see how different anti tank values and armour saves work and interact. I only realised yesterday that a Sherman V with it's anti tank of 10 cannot penetrate the front armour of a Tiger 1E in this game, quite rightly so, the Tigers front armour of 9 means that even on a save throw of 1 the very worse it can do is to bail it out on a firepower check. Turn that around however and the Tigers anti tank of 13 against the Shermans front armour of 6 means that it can't stop the shot on a D6 roll, it's a straight firepower check, 3up to blow it up , otherwise the crew bail out. The 17pdr Firefly Sherman is more of a match, but the same armour rating means it remains vulnerable. Evening things up a bit with smaller German Panzers give the Sherman a more even chance. The initial 'to hit' throws are very straightforward, the main factor being the skill rating of the target, Veterans being much harder to hit (4plus) as they have more skill in avoiding fire and using cover etc. but with only half a dozen factors to remember it' very easy to commit to memory. The M10's got a run out, and did destroy a Tiger through it's front armour.
Artillery rules got a first run through, a German battery of 4 howitzers. Rules seemed fair enough if followed through in stages, you have nominate the spotter, then from memory you get three attempts to range in and each failed attempt raise the 'to hit' score by 1. No restriction on how you place the template it seems, and you roll to hit anything under it. The 4 gun battery template is 6" square, but I have seen some HUGE Russian battery templates that appear to be a foot long! Not done a bombardment yet.
'Dug in' markers, only received these yesterday and delighted with them as I had not realised they came ready painted, better than a card token for sure. I'm going to order another pack.
Yet more pics of games in progress, I'm getting there and have a potential opponent lined up so I want to get a good grip of the rules first myself.
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| I keep meaning to paint the rubber on those spare wheels! |
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| A Firefly lines up for a shot. |
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| The PaK 40 was knocked out by the Typhoon on it's first run, but failed to appear after that. |
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| No not false teeth, dug in markers. |
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| More hedgerow under construction. |
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| For scale 15mm. |
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| My favourite Panzer III's take a photo opportunity, Battlefront models, resin and metal. |
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| Tiger lines up on a bogged down M10 and destroys it. |
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| General view of the table. |
Nice work... lovely looking game... Shermans and Tigers... attack and defence values... takes me back 40 years or so to those early WWII games using Grant and Featherstone... brilliant! :o)
ReplyDeleteCheers Steve, these rules just seem to have clicked for me, I'm really enjoying them.
DeleteHi 'Lee - the template for artillery has to be centred on a unit, as far as I know. Relevant as you cans do a smoke bombardment without actually targeting a enemy unit with it!
ReplyDeleteCheers Jamie, not tried smoke rules yet, but have seen it used in bombardment, useful.
DeleteVery impressive layout and beautifully executed models.
ReplyDeleteThank you Matt :)
DeleteI am enjoying following your enthusiasm for your new projects. Your journey from a hexed to non-hexed table is interesting.
ReplyDeleteNorm, I'm enjoying the freedom of breaking away from hexes after so many years.
DeleteCheers,
Lee.
Norm, re. "your journey from a hexed to non-hexed table is interesting", enlightened I'd say.... :o))
DeleteArti template has to be centered on target unit for both bombardment AND smoke and lined up so it has one flat side angled toward the guns firing the bombardment. (And don't forget the 12"x12" huge template that can be dropped down - my Canadian Land Mattress rocket launchers can really put the willies up my opponents with that!)
ReplyDeleteArtillery in FoW is a pain imo. Too many dice rolls that have to be made in order to kill stuff. :)
Shermans really are up against it when the Tigers march onto the field. Even rear shots most often just bounce... You'll need to use some well placed ambushes/positioning with your M10's and Fireflys in order to take them out. Or, just smoke them every turn with direct smoke shots, which is a far better use of kit.
Those Panzer iii's look fantastic. I really love those models.
Thanks for that Dai,
ReplyDelete12" x 12" template... sounds mad, but must be pretty devastating! Certainly a number of stages to use of artillery, I'm still picking things up, I must run through the use of smoke next.
Cheers,
Lee.