Posts made by Nomad

Well. we’re now upto

2 Type 95 ‘tinks’ 18 points
2 Sargeants 18 points
4 Arisaka Riflemen 12 points in total
2 Type 92 MG teams 14 points
3 50mm mortar teams 27 points
and
3 47mm AT guns 21 points in total

110 points, enough for a standard scenario with a few variations. Hav’nt used it yet.

(The Type 95 tank got miscalled a ‘tink’ on one occaision and it stuck - seems kind of appropriate, the noise its 37mm shells make bouncing off a Sherman)

Breaking news check out the new Japanese and German snipers on the Avalon Hill site http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=ah/article/ah20051031c

Bl**dy hell! Take cover….

Fr Renault R-35 (but with a german Balkankruz on it(!?))

Actually Romanian. See my last post on the ‘What is A&A Miniatures’ thread.

The British Army normally used 2", 3" and 4.2" mortars, 82mm is a Russian army calibre.

It’s only a tiny model soldier, what difference does the uniform make? Given the limited range of units currently availible, you’re often going to have to mix and match to field any effective force, except for the Germans.

I might have underestimated it…
I played one yesterday; it came along with some SS infantry who took a very long time to die, and took my foot with them.
I had a standard Sherman and an Easy Eight. The E8’s avanced suspension came in useful to bounce over hills and deny the Tiger a long range target, but eventually it came down to a close range knife fight, and I just could not take the thing out. By that time it was sitting in cover on the objective.
I want my Sherman Fireflies!

I had some luck with one…disrupted it with a Churchill, then double outflanked it with the Churchill and a Sherman…badda-bing, badda-brewed-up Tiger. :D

Seriously, it depends both on the terrain and on your opponent making mistakes. The sixth map configuration in the rulebook is called ‘Tiger Heaven’ for a good reason - nobody else has anything to hide behind! On that map, a big, long ranged tank rules, even if there’s only one of it.

On other maps, it’s a different story, and the Striped One can be stalked by faster and more numerous opponents. Personally, I think the points are better spent on two Pz IVs, but that’s just my opinion.

Whoa, dude, it’s only a simple little game of toy soldiers!

Seriously, I think you’re loading the game with more detail than it wants or needs.

Yes, you can see an rifleman figure as representing one squad or section (8-10 men at full strength, which they usually were not) but by the same light, there’s nothing to say that one Hanomag model represents one SdKfz 251 or one jeep model one actual jeep - it’s the tactical effect that matters.

The SdKfz 251 is expensive in points terms because the troops can fight from it, unlike a jeep, and maybe also because they were expensive and comparatively rare vehicles. The Wehrmacht never had enough to equip more than a fraction of their PanzerGrenadiers, while the allied armies were awash with jeeps.

Some of the Special Abilities within the game make sense - a T34 can carry infantry, well, the Red Army did a lot of that - some don’t - why should a late model Sherman have the same ability? It wasn’t a tactic the US Army used to any extent, so far as I’m aware. Why does the M3 Lee get a fire and fade option? but then this isn’t a detailed combat sim such as Command Decision or Spearhead (both of which I play and enjoy).

And why get into TO&E’s in a collectable game? Frankly I’m delighted that AH have not tried to say ‘you can only use Panzer II’s in platoons of five’ or whatever to try to boost sales of, er, booster packs.

The game is simple, quick and fun. There are other games to represent ‘higher level’ functions. And if this game gets a few of the younger generation of gamers to do something which does not involve orcs, trolls and men in pointy hats for a while, then as far as I’m concerned it’s a winner.

Suggested variant rule.

“All mortar units have one Smoke round at the start of the game. Place a small coin beneath the unit to represent this.
The Smoke round may be fired instead of an attack by the mortar during any assault phase. It need not be fired at an enemy unit, but can be placed in any hex the mortar team has a line-of-sight to within the mortars’ maximum range.
Place the coin in the target hex. It will cause no damage to any unit, but all units in that hex automatically count as in cover against attacks from outside the hex - even if the hex is open ground - and line-of-sight cannot be traced through or out of that hex.
The effect lasts until the end of the next assault phase, when the coin is removed.”

That’s pretty much my thinking, too…use your tanks kill the enemy armour and then swat any foot between you and the objective.
One variation might be to use massed AT guns to supress the panzers, protected by MG’s and mortars, and rifle teams, possibly in transport, to seize the objective on turn seven.
There again, that’s just because I have six 6pdrs, five jeeps, three Vickers MG teams, two 60mm mortars and no idea what to do with any of the damn things!

That’s the Japs

that’s the Allies, and

that’s the Axis.

I havn’t finished painting the Matilda.

Picked up some Japanese troops today. In total I now have

1 Type 95 tank 9 points
1 Sergeant 9 points
3 Arisaka Riflemen 9 points in total
1 Type 92 MG team 7 points
1 50mm mortar team 9 points
and
3 47mm AT guns 21 points in total

Grand total 64 points, 10 units

Which leaves at most 5 units to soak up the remaining 36 points. The most obvious approach would be 4 more Type 95s, but this leaves what I wanted to be an infantry force too tank-heavy.
Trouble is, absent any proper (ie expensive) tanks, it’s difficult to build up a large force iof infantry without bumping into the 15-unit limit. Or have I missed something?

But note that Flames of War’s 15mm isn’t necessarily the same as Axis & Allies’. I’ll post a photo (as soon as my photo blogging service recovers from it’s current bout of constipation) of a FoW Matilda and an AaA Easy Eight…the Sherman in reality was a much bigger vehicle.

And one for the Bad Guys.

I hope that helps!

LGTI MicroMachines made soft plastic minis of TNG-era Federation, Klingon, Romulan, Ferengi and Cardassian ships. The company went under in 1998, but they’re still availible on Ebay.

Star Fleet Battles may be somewhat ancient, but it’s most certainly still about, courtesy of Amarillo Design Bureau Inc. They produce a very extensive range of starship minis including TOS-era Federation, Klingons, Romulans, Orions, Tholians and Gorns.