Favourite Unit in............ TANKS Modern Age

Time for another favourite Unit post.
I've always wanted to play Team Yankee. Been a big fan of the book for a while however the cost of Team Yankee was to high for me at the time. I thought about trying it in 6mm but then I saw the makers of Tanks were producing a modern version of their WW2. I hadn't got into the WW2 game as I have tanks from Bolt Action and didn't want to double up (even though they were different scales).
I preordered the starter set which contains 1 Abrahams US tand and 2 T-64s. Seeing all the different forces being made avaliable I immediately chose the British because I got to use the Chieftain tank.

Britain's main battle tank during the time Modern Age is set (80s) and in fact has its own WW3 novel called Chieftai. Though this book is a bit darker and grittier than Team Yankee. Its a tough solid tank. More expensive in points cost  compared to other tanks but its a strong opponent.
My current platoon has 2 Chieftains at its heart supported by a Scorpion Tank and a Lynx helicopter

I don't play nearly as many games of Tanks as I would like but my oldest son likes it (Thankfully he takes the Russians so he can have more tanks so I get to play my Chieftains)  so hopefully the older he gets the more I get to play.

Favourite Unit in............... Bolt Action

I love Bolt Action after getting back into war gaming with Across the Dead Earth, Bolt Action was a game I always wanted to play as I always have had a love of ww2 history. When I got hold of a box of British infantry I was hooked. £25 and you can make 2 squads a HQ and some support teams is value I love when you are in a budget like me.  The rules set is great and simple to play (I started just as V2 came out).
As in war gaming tends to happen what starts of as a "little" force rapidly turns in to something much bigger. So I now have a decent sized British late war army (To be fair it helped the army could  be used in Konflikt 47 as well) with regular troops, airborne troops, tanks etc.
So onto the blog post my favourite unit in this game is (feel free to make a drum roll noise in your head)

The Universal Carrier

Also known as the Bren Gun Carrier it has many incarnations and with over 113, 000 built. Now the reason this is my favourite Unit in Bolt Action is mainly the rule of cool (My main reason for picking units) . I love the model (Also helps it remains one of the easiest model kits to build. I'm looking at you automated infantry!) and the fact it can zip around the board taking shots with its LMG plus my usual tactic is once thr artillery  observer has dropped his artillery strike he jumps in and can then use the pintle mounted LMG  as well! Or fill it with 5 sub machine gun armed. paras for some quick close up strikes. It has one more armour value than a normal truck so cannot be penetrated by small arms fire though it is still open topped so can be pinned.  Plus having tracks makes it more manoeuvrable and be able to reverse out of a situation quickly.
I have 2 in my army

At the moment I'm probably not going to get any more due to my rapidly shrinking hobby space but you never know!

RCBBL Orcs vs Dark elves

Today the last match of the first round was played. My Orcs the Bearwood Brawlerz took on the Dark elves, Slap and Tickle FC.

10,000 Slap and Tickle fans and 60,000 Brawlerz fans turned up for the match giving the Brawlerz the edge on crowd support.
The elves won the toss and elected to receive the ball

Rallied by their fans both teams got a re roll and the ball was kicked off.  Unfortunately for the Orcs it sailed off thr pitch giving the Elves a touch back. The ball was passed to a runner and the game began.

The Elves try to break through the Orc line 

The witch elf helped bash an Orc Lineman out of the way for the runner to make a break for it. The rest of the Dark Elf team did their best to tie up the other Orc players so their runner had the best chance.

The runner spots a lovely route through the Orc players and scores! 

The runner exploited a hole on the Orc tackle zones and he dashed through to score!

Slap and Tickle FC 1 - 0 Bearwood Brawlerz

The sides reset to go again. The was ball kicked off. The the Orc thrower scooped it up and passed it to the Orc Blitzer. The black Orcs bashed a hole in the Dark Elf line and the Blitzer dashed through.
The Dark Elves had been frustrated that they couldn't get the Orcs to stay down, they even had a blitzer sent off for a foul! So a cheer rang out when they stunned an Orc lineman

The Orc blitzer made it over the half way line before being tackled by Dark Elf doing the ball in the middle of a a scrum of players.

Luckily for the Brawlerz there were more Orcs in the scrum than Elves. The area was cleared and the other  Orc blitzer  grabbed the ball and sprinted into open pitch. Unfortunately Dark elves are quicker than Orcs and he was intercepted and tackled.

With a little help the Dark Elf takes down the blitzer 

The Orcs moved to get the ball while still in a high pitch position and a brutal scrap erupted around the ball.

Amazingly the Dark Elves managed to throw the ball out of the scrum down field. Sadly it was not accurate but the danger had been moved away. The Orcs vented their anger, one Black Orc injured 2 of the Dark Elves with another being knocked out.
One of Slap and Tickle FCs runners picked up the ball and sprinted within metres of the Orc end one!
The Orc thrower and blitzer managed to stop the runner at the last second. Again the Orcs moved the ball up the field, creating a cage around the ball carrier.

Confident the Orcs set their sights on the end zone. Not to be deterred by the cage, a Dark Elf blitzer leapt at the ball carrier and despite a 3 dice block in the Orc favour, the blitzer managed to take down the ball carrier again. Unfortunately being 4 players down meant the Dark Elves were seriously outnumbered and once the Orcs got hold of the ball again they managed in their last turn to run the blitzer I to the end zone for the score!

Final result

Slap and Tickle FC 1-1 Bearwood Brawlerz


The Dark Elf casualties were nothing serious so will be back next match. The Dark Elves earned 10, 000 gold and the Orcs earned 60,000 gold.
The Dark Elf runner who scored  got MVP and levelled up and acquired the Nerves of Steel skill. My Black Orc who caused the 2 casualties got MVP  and leveled up also. I gave him block to help him out.  It the most exciting but a blocker should have block me thinks!

That's the first round done.

New Addition to 15mm Barbarian Force

While I was having a sort through the various odd models I have next to the paint tray and sat side by side were a 28mm bear missing his rider and a 15mm Barbarian. An idea formed in my brain!

How about a giant bear for my 15mm force!! That will show those civilised orcs a thing or too!

I had a few ideas like a platform on top but I though I would try something quick.

A bit bending the legs and we have a rider! 

I don't think it looks to bad at all really!

Let's Play Bloodbowl!!!!!

This week our friend Bloodbowl league started. It all stemmed from a WhatsApp group organising DnD sessions. When real life kicks in and DnD slowed down the group just turned into a cracking little chat group. Everyone  in the group had an interest in wargaming so when I got Blood Bowl interest was peaked.  Teams were bought, painted and the RCBBL (Random Chat Blood Bowl League) was born!

There are 6 teams in the league.

Ye Olde Giants - Humans
Bearwood Brawlerz - Orcs
Outriders - High Elves
Corpse Sporkers - Orcs
Slap and Tickle FC - Dark Elves
Crypt Kickers - Undead

Today saw the Giants take on the Sporkers and the Outriders faced the Crypt Kickers.
The Giants brought 10,000 fans and Sporkers brought 60,000 fans giving the Sporkers the edge on crowd support.

The Giants kicked off and the game began. The Orcs did what Orcs do best and grabbed the ball and piled forward. Trying to roll the left side. The Giants scrambled to halt the green tide. The game descended into mainly a brawl.

The humans stopped the left side attack for the orcs to reform and go again, this time aiming for the centre. The humans down a line men to a KO reformed a defensive line. The time running down, an orc blitzer made a break for it hoping to catch a thrown ball. The Giants Throwers sensing the danger rushed the blitzer, sending him sprawling and stopping the passing threat. Halftime was called and after some pieces of orange the teams went at it again. The speed of the Catchers caught the Orcs unaware but they ignored that and charged down where the ball landed. Players charged into the melee. A catcher was took down, and the human thrower Eli Manning took a chance dodged away from an Orc an launched a ball down field towards a Blitzer. He caught it and sprinted for the touchdown!
The teams reset and the Orcs pushed hard but couldn't break through but they did leave 4 humans badly hurt and one blitzer with a broken neck!!!!

After the match my blitzer (Thankfully not the one with the broken neck) levelled up so I got him mighty blow.

The other match was played at the same time so my friend Spartan Dave wrote up a short summary.

The match started the Crypt Kickers kicked to the Outriders once receiving the ball on the left wing of the field the thrower attempted to make a long bomb  across the field as the Crypt Kickers players swarmed him, he made an accurate pass but unfortunately it was intercepted by the crypt kickers wight who then tried to get through the chaos but failed dropping the ball. The Outriders lineman picked it up and showed the thrower how it’s done making a solid pass to the completely open catcher allowing them to score a touchdown. Play reset and the first half was over. Second half Crypt Kickers received the kick off and ran with the ball unfortunately a sneaky elf got in the way and caused a death killing the wight ball carrier right next to the end zone fortunately he regenerated back to life. Play continued until eventually a ghoul grabbed the ball and instantly the team formed a cage around him and forced their way up the field scoring a much needed touch down. Two turns to go for the elves they tried the same tactic as turn one and it was successful again the Crypt Kickers couldn’t believe it on their last turn the Outriders had managed to pull the win right out from underneath the crypt kickers

And that was it we have one game left to play this round so I'll let you know how that goes! 

Guest 40k Battle Report!

My friends recently had a 40k battle report. I thought it would be a good idea to get them to write up a battle report for a bit of variety for my blog. I don't play 40k myself but love all the fluff and stuff that comes with it. So without further or do from my good friend Spartan Dave here is Tau vs Ultramarines.

Operation Cathedral Defence.

It was a cold evening as the forces of the Tau army strategically deployed themselves to protect a derelict cathedral from the superior forces of Roboute Guilliman.

With the Tau army deployed Guilliman started to deploy his reserves. Starting with his Storm raven loaded with a venerated dreadnought and a squad of space marines followed by a crusader tank loaded with a squad of six space marines one of which was a commander.

Next an assault squad of Terminators tried to deep strike onto the field. Failing their drop, they ended up at the furthest edge of the battlefield.

With no more forces deploying this round it was over to movement. The storm raven moved first flying right over the top of the Tau emplacements with the plan to drop the dreadnought into the fray, it made its move dropped its payload which scattered to outside the encampment.

Following closely was the crusader tank armed to the teeth with weapons.

Now to combat the Crusader shot first taking out 2 of a 12-man fire warrior squad, following this the Storm raven opened fire on another 12-man fire team on the roof of the cathedral ruins. The plasma cannons charged.... and with a failed roll to keep the cannons cool they exploded causing one wound and saving the fire warriors from certain death.
With that it was the tau’s turn to strike, not needing to move they went straight to shooting.
The tau opened fire and caused no damage to the space marines
Back to the marines, this time the crusader and the storm raven caused no damage
Now the Tau were fired up raring to cause harm.
The riptide battle suit fired its ion cannon causing no damage to the storm raven
Next a battle suit commander fires his railgun at the crusader piercing its armour causing one wound.
Noticing that the tank was injured the tau’s Hammerhead gunship commanded by Longstrike opened fire... but failed its hit roll luckily he had tank hunter meaning he could re-roll a miss which turned out to be a blessing finally penetrating the crusaders armour it exploded killing 3 of the HQ squad inside. Listening to the burning screams of their comrades the remaining squad members rallied together and pushed onwards.

Now noticing the dreadnought at the edge of the compound the Tau’s crisis team opened fire at it making an incredible roll and succeeded in destroying its main weapon leaving just its power fist.
Now suffering significant losses, Guilliman deep strike in another squad of marines but they scattered to the edge of the battlefield too, The storm raven left the battlefield but not before dropping its payload at the rear entrance to the compound.

With this squad dropped they made short work of the unaware battle suit commander killing him instantly. Next the dreadnought and the terminator squad with their captain tried to charge but didn’t quite make it.
The Tau retaliated firstly by launching a barrage at them from the riptide taking out 2 of rare squad.
Following up, the crisis team fired upon the dreadnought and with some luck they managed to wipe it out. Also providing cover fire at the heavily wounded terminator squad advancing the fire warrior squad managed to pick off 2 of them leaving just the captain to defend himself

And with that the battle was over time had not been kind to the space marines but could they push on and win the next battle


That was it guys. I hope you enjoyed it, always good to try a bit of variety and adds more content to the blog.

Favourite Unit in............ Konflikt 47

I thought I would do a sort of series focusing on my favourite units in different game systems.
First up I chose the game system Konflikt 47. As regular readers will know me and Alex Does Hobby Stuff have an ongoing Konflikt 47 narrative campaign so we have played a fair few games with. In fact I believe I'm correct in saying Konflikt 47 drew my good friend back into getting a big battle game.
The unit I have chosen is the British Galahad. The ever stalwart British Tommy now encased in rift tech powers armour.  I love the  design and sculpting of the models and the lore around them.
They are the strongest of the various armies power armoured units meaning they should shrug off most small arms fire as they carry the Tough and Resilient special rules. They are fewer in number as they are quite an expensive unit (A full squad will cost you 290 pts. You can get a Sherman or Cromwell tank for less than that). To me the cost is worth it and I will always take the full 8 man squad where possible as each soldier is equipped with an LMG packing 4 shots. That's a unit throwing out 32 shots!!

This can really devastate a unit or in the case of our narrative campaign a giant failed German bio experiment! 

The Galahads killed it in the first turn of the game. Since then they have been in every British force I make.
They have not been properly tested in close combat in any of our battles I don't believe but against regular equipped troops they have many advantages. Against Nazi horrors they are a bit weaker as their resilient is negated by Tooth and Claw. However if they can pass the horror test and unleash point blank range shooting on the attackers as they come in that could be a game changer with their LMGs.

So Ladies and Gentleman I give you the Galahad!

Smethwick Comets vs Bearwood Brawlerz

Tonight saw me playing Blood Bowl with my long time opponent and legendary friend from Alex Does Hobby blog.  Much like me he has not played blood bowl in years so we were looking forward to a match. He chose the Orcs. I chose the Smethwick Comets and we kicked off!

10,000 Smethwick Comet fans attended the match with the Brawlerz bringing 3000. Before the whistle was even blown a rock  was thrown from the crowd. Stunning a Black orc. The kick off sailed out of bounds and the touch back enabled the Orcs to gain an easy possession. The Orcs started to block the scrimmage line of the Human team.

The Black Orc stunned from the rock didn't halt the Brawlerz drive

The Brawlerz drove for the left wing

The Comets defensive line had to shift

Comets tried to halt the Brawlerz blitzer 

The Brawlerz made a strong push down the wing.  The resulting melee left a Comets lineman knocked out!

Good night! 

The Comets started to push the Brawlerz back but the Orc blitzer still had the ball.

Lots of push back rolls held the Brawlerz

The Comets coached yelled for the ogre to get stuck in. Unfortunately the ogre got all confused and failed his bone headed roll

Errr what coach?? 

Thanks to the ogres bone headedness the Brawlerz made a gap and the blitzer burst through

Ere we go! ere we go! ere we go! 

Seeing the danger a line man threw himself at the blitzer, sending him sprawling

The Comets thrower quickly snatched up the ball and looked down field

A lineman had broke free of the opposition! The thrower launched a short pass straight and true. Could the lineman catch it?

He does!!!! He makes a break for thr end zone. 

And Jessie Armstead scores!

After that the half ended.

We set up for the second half. The Comets would be the receiving team.

The ball went for a touch back so was passed to a player.  The blitzer and catcher combination on each side sprinted forward. The thrower ran the ball forward  and threw it to the catcher who ran in for a quick touchdown!

Victor Cruz scores!! 

With the clock running out the Brawlerz  surged forward!

The Comets ogre spent most of the game fighting with the Brawlerz Black Orcs. In the end both Black Orcs ended up as casualties.

The Comets went on the defensive taking out the ball carrier

The ball scattered in the Comets favour. The thrower scooped up the ball and ran for a gap in the line

Eli Manning spots players in free space 

A long throw this time. The throw is accurate!,  a Brawlerz player leaps up to intercept but misses. The pass lands safely in the line man's arms and he sprints towards the endzine

The Brawlerz scrambled a defence but it was not to be. The Comets before scoring shoved a Brawler into the baying fans. Luckily he made it  back to his dugout

With that the lineman ran in for the touch down

Another touch down for Jessie Armstead!
The final whistle went soon after. Comets win!

Was a great game and lots of fun showing my friend the Blood Bowl ropes. He seemed to enjoy so that was mission accomplished.
Hopefully I'll be entering a league soon!