Operation Grenade

Oh boy. The Seagull has Landed 2015 was a fine tournament. A fun event for the Bolt Action player. And worst of all for Operation Grenade: it was a high benchmark for all other Bolt Action events.

Operation Grenade was a Bolt Action tournament in Chatteris, hosted by the Chatteris Warlords. We were off to a good start: despite some hairy driving in the fog, it was less then an hour from Cambridge. Then we arrived:

Niles models the top end of the hall while Rob bows down

And the lower end

Well, perhaps the Seagull has Landed 2015 was quite a revelation in nice tables, but the quality and layout of most of these tables were usable. They had some standout nice tables, while a few others were very thrown together. Not something you want for an event, leaving me anxious for the day.

My army for the day, plus everything else I needed for games!

Despite original intentions to play my Soviet Shock Army like Seagulls, I had to swap to the Axis side as we had an extra Allies player who wouldn't be able to play unless I did. So I dug out my SS. A much less competitive lists, I was much less hopeful for my chances. Still, I went forward with a decently mixed list: some rifle squads backed up by StG armed assault squads, with a STuH 42 as support and a Nerblewerfer as added help. A sniper rounded out the soliders, with a Kubelwagon for my Leutnant/Untersturmfuhrer and a medic to fill the last seat.

The board for game 1

Oh dear. As an owner of a train and rails for BA terrain, the hugely oversized train here really threw the board and the mat underneath ended any illusion of a excellent board. A lack of balance in the terrain (more building and hardcover for one side) made it so I was not looking forward to this game. The mission was the final clincher: demolitions, my least favorite of the book missions.

An assault squad advances

Again my lack of name memorization bit me in the backside, but I ended up playing who I was later told who was Steve (the eventual winners) main competitor. He had a very strong and game-y list, but I did enjoy my game against him regardless and after some good dice we came out with a draw. What a surprise.

The closest my opponents got to my base

Or not really! Still, I found out at the end of the game there was a secondary objective. Not written anywhere in the pack, it was the start of a long list of grievances. Only by sheer dumb luck I contested it without knowing it existed.

Prepped for my second game

My second game dawned. A hopeful looking table: it still had the rugish base but the wrecked vehicles, again much to big thanks to the odd scale, ruined it once more. In fact, I believe the table could have worked without it.

Apparently, my Nerblewerfer can't see the building.

Playing against a US airborne army, it looked to otherwise be a fun game. Once more though it was marred: point defense was the mission, a notoriously unbalanced game type.

The SS advance

After a few lucky shots (such as my STuH taking out my opponents Meatgrinder on turn one with a lucky indirect hit), I came across my first issue: terrain. While admittedly they had laid out a sheet for each table, I was unaware that the hills were considered impossible to see over regardless of true line of sight. Having misplaced my Nerblewerfer because of this, my opponent refused a retroactive re positioning, one of the first breaks of the good sportsmanship during my time playing Bolt Action events.

On final approach

A few other problem arose, such as no indication to outflanking along with a potential for cheating which I had to let slide. Ultimately, we drew again based entirely on running out of time. Having been aware of the secondary objective this game (after making sure by asking the TO) I did manage to grab it.

The kubelswagon once more shows it's impossible to kill, coming out of a hit from an AEC with only a pin

My last game was against a British Commando force. And what a game. Against a fun and friendly opponent, we went into a game of attrition. As is commonly the case, the free British artillery proved to strong for even my excellent luck that game to save me.

The wrecker advances

The STuH had a fun time, removing five units in three turns thanks to some excellent rolling and filled UCs to shoot at. Ultimately, I lost but this was still my most fun game all day!

I know one commander who got an Iron Cross that day...

So, conclusions? Better luck next time! I came fourth (again), just missing on on prizes. But the TO is where I ultimately place that statement. From poor organisation, rolling for missions at the time, to a unclear, to a bad tournament pack, to mediocre terrain and poor organisation (half the people I talked to during and after the first game were entirely unaware of the secondary objective and it turned out we needn't arrive as early as we did) left a salty taste in my mouth.

Jack, in his infinite smugness

Still, Jack won what amounts to least lucky. So we have that!

The Seagull has Landed 2015

Long time, no update: I would blame summer if it was not for the plenty of games taking place! With new Freshman in the society and my election to Warmaster, there is much, much more good coming up however. But first, I would like to talk about the last event of our (Somewhat extended) summer: The Seagulls has Landed 2015, a Bolt Action tournament.

Not everyone loves early mornings and it was quite an early one to make the hour and a half car journey to Lowestoft from Cambridge. Still, once we arrived at the Seagull Theatre in Lowestoft, there was quite a sight to behold:

The top end of the hall

The bottom end of the same hall

Considering how most of our gaming is stuck on rather plain and droll tables, with the same limited terrain each week it was a pleasant change to see the variety. In addition to the usual European villages (the staple of our Bolt Action games down at the society) we had pacific jungles, snow blasted lands and the desert in both village and airfield variety. Another big addition, one which most of us are unused to, is intact buildings.

Between the "sculpted" base sections, leading to natural hills and dips breaking up the flatness of most boards and the variety and sheer quality of some of the terrain it left me excited for the games ahead.

For the event, I had painted up my Soviets who had sat in brown base colors for quite some time. Armed primarily with SMGs, it was an up close and punchy list. I had even made a small display tray for them and was happy for a few best army votes considering the competition! With a small story of partisan heroism and a look at the organisation of the soviet shock armies (the 3rd Shock Army in my case), I had my list, Historical and painted but still a nasty one once/if it gets close.

On display on the day! I might even get around to doing better photos of these guys!

My first game was on one of the jungle boards, against a very mixed German list.

My first opponent's army

With a noticeably wrong scale Puma and a real mix of colors, it wasn't exactly the prettiest army there. Add in other things like inexperienced indirect fire weapons, a lack of theme of historical context and this was the real tournament army which I think some people in our group worry about. With the jungle board looking good for my style of army, with plenty of cover, it actually proved bad. With plenty of difficult terrain to slow down my men and with all the beneficiary terrain on my opponents side (A pair of watchtowers, buildings and access to the road from one side along with the light cover and terrain which is all I had) made it an uphill struggle. Still, excuses eh!

The table, from which I deployed from the right

Still, I had some luck on my side. A good artillery hit at the top of turn two left my opponents nebelwerfer, heavy mortar and machine gun team with three pins a piece, leaving them useless for the rest of the game. One of my cheap inexprienced partisans, acting as a tank hunter team, managed to snipe his officer despite taking assault rifle fire back from the veteran German since his arrival, in an attempt to get the artillery doing something.

Revenge for his dead comrade!

My ZiS-3 indirectly hit my opponents half track to. The open topped vehicle didn't stand much of a chance. The later arrival of the quad AA halftrack proved deadly, but was itself hit indirectly later to. A good day for the gun crew.

Who needs AP shells anyway?

Ultimately it was all for nought. Between the use of buildings from deployment which I could not use, to the speed given by the road led to the struggle been much to hard, with several of my units left pinned beyond usefulness by a pioneer manned flamethrower leading to the loss of my first battle.

My second game was a stark reversal of fortune however! I was playing against Shaun Reiley's Fallschirmjaeger. Despite him having lost a few models after his own first game and thus needing proxies, it was a very nice looking army. The mission was a somewhat modified version of Demolitions from the main rulebook and a tough one to win by anyone I imagine.

The board for the second game

I left my free squad in a nearby warehouse to guard my base, but soon two units of Fallschirmjaeger were bearing down on them. So to help the inexperienced squad I called up thwe Soviet's next mightiest weapon: artillery, the god of war itself! The Fallschirmjaeger were witlessly moving up when artillery fire struck their position. Perfect shooting ensured they both took a huge hit. One squad lost three men and took a full 6 pins. The other was simply destroyed in the ensuring destruction. The road to the left was quickly driven up by the SU76, which promptly hit and killed half the surviving squad. With seven pins, the remaining men broke and fled.

The board in the middle of turn three

With the attacking fascists dead or routed, my reinforcements arrived. One guard squad moved to guard my base, the other rushed forward towards the enemy's own base. With my officer and medic in tow, they made good progress. However, next turn they were struck down by a passing fighter, but my third squad quickly filled the gap. From there, the German's base was doomed as everything began it's move forward.

They lay in wait of fascists!

My remaining guard squad and the new conscripts in the form of my free squad remained behind, for units still waited in ambush. The ZiS-3, starved for targets turned to add HE shells to the defense. The new unit was wiped out by the Fallschirmjaeger when they arrived, but the guard acted quick and one close range burst of PPSH fire later the last push on the enemy part had failed and the German elite lay dead. My first win of the day!

My friend Jack faces off against brits in his second game, on the boards I would be inhabiting later...

My final game was an interesting, if quick one: I faced off against the Hungarians! I had not faced them at all during my time with Bolt Action, and I can believe I see why: their special rules are nothing to shout about and their units are nothing beyond other armies. Still, it was a challenging if simple game for the first few turns. While I approached the enemy, their was quite some attrition and I lost some units. My artillery even misdirected itself onto me!

Hey kids, you want to buy some artillery?

Still, as should have been expected, the moment the SMGs got close the opposition melted away on the massed fire.

The crew of the SU76 faces off against the enemy artillery.

The ZiS-3 once more showed it's worth, finishing off the Panzer III ausf N. From that point, it was just a game of mopping up the rest of the enemy. A win for the Soviets.

The Pz. III arrives!

The board itself this game was a good looking one, but I had some issues. The trees fell over all the time and the large central area, as seen in the picture above, was impossible to roll dice in, as they couldn't stand flat! We ended up putting our reference sheet over the worst potholes to make an are where we could roll.

Niles' Prizes: a turnip cart and some dead livestock!

Ultimately, I cam fourth overall! Not bad for a tournament of twenty two players! Ultimately, only Niles, who came near bottom, actually won prizes from our small group that day. Still, we had enjoyed a good day out, against (mostly) great looking armies and fun players and some nicely done terrain, and would enjoy coming back yet another year. Next year, third place!

The Greatest Crusade: Horus Heresy Event!

On Sunday I had the pleasure of attending a friendly Horus Heresy tournament: The Greatest Crusade at the Titans Wargaming Club in London! And friendly was the name of the game: games were shorted not due to scoring but due to narrative match ups and no one was bringing to much of a. Disgusting. List, not that you can bring such a thing in Horus Heresy...

As you might imagine, I took my Mechanicus, finally getting to use them in some full Horus Heresy game: now that I have I can tell you why Horus Heresy is that much more popular then 40k among much of the community these days. But I digress, my list:

My Mechanicus Force

HQ - Magos Dominus: For the HQ, I was more focussed on keeping him cheap. Having run more expensive Magi in the past, they never seem to beat Space Marines in combat and never pump out e eqivilent firepower of their Mechanicus counterparts. I simply mounted this guy on an Abeyant to give him some survivability, and gave him a few defensive upgrades.

Elite - Tech Priest Auxillia: With the free feel no pain upgrade, I kept this guy cheap and cheerful to: he was only there to provide extra an Cortex Controller to keep the Castellax under my command...

Troops - Adsecularis Covenant: cheap and cheerful, these guys helped fill my mandatory troops and provide some expendable bodies. The tech priest helped the, stay alive, but I don't think they killed anything all day...

Troops - Thallax Cohort: My other troops choice, and a fun little harassment unit. I still ink these guys are not worth the points, but they can perform their roll reasonably well.

Troops - Castellax: Here is the real bulk of my force: 4 separate Castellaxs. Two armed with enhanced targeting arrays, two with 2 Flamers replacing the rear bolters. These guys are tough to kill and can pour the firepower onto Legion Marines. With the Magos' Cybertheurgy buffs, they proved much, much better.

Fast Attack - Avenger Strike Fighter: With two Autocannons filling the other two hard points, tp the Avenger proved a good choice: able to mow down infantry, destroy tanks, hurt Knights and hunt flyers, it is an extremely versatile choice, and one I will be taking again.

Heavy Support - Krios Venator: This thing is nasty. On paper it looked like it would provide the ranged anti vehicle I was lacking: in game it proved much, much more. A 4 shot Lascannon with ordnance as it's main gun, it could kill any vehicle if it got the chance. And it did...

Lord of War - Mechanicum Queatoris Knight Errant: With my Thanatar unpainted, I decided to take his guy... And he proved so very, very useful...

Now with that done, onto the games....

Game 1 - Mechanicus vs. Emperor Children

Dawn of War - Onslaught

My Opponent's Army

My first game I was playing a new comer to Horus Heresy. With the event focused around encouraging more 30k at the club and in the area, painting and proxy rules for this one event were slightly relaxed. Taking the most advantage was my opponent this game, with various 40k marine models and two different color scheme altogether.

Deployment, as per the rules for the Onslaught mission, was strange but I managed to seize the initiative! Taking the first turn, all my firepower amounted to a single attack bike killed, and some hull points taken of a Sicarian. Still, it proved better then his first turn: he failed to do anything but take a wound off a Thallax. This continued for much of the early game, with his entire deployed force destroyed by turn 3: luckily for him, a Storm Eagle bearing 20 marines had arrive, and this squad included more then a few characters...

The Destruction by turn 2...

At the beginning of turn 4, I held both objectives and had destroyed half his force: but he managed to slowly claw it back, striking the mostly abandoned objective in my deployment, I had to rush my forces back. Unfortunately, they arrived piece meal, and the two Castellaxs, the Tech Thralls and the Thallax all got cut down, eventually, by the unit and the Praetor in it: fortunately they held out long enough for the Knight to arrive, at which point it was all over.

Sir Oberon comes to the rescue while a Castellax holds up the enemy

The Storm Eagle rushed to contest his own objective, and I failed to shoot it down repeatedly. In the end, I win because it went on to turn 7, and the knight was able to shake the tactical squad off my objective...

Game 2 - Mechanicus vs. Word Bearers
Hammer and Anvil - Shatter Strike

Unfortunately, I got few photos of this game. Still, it was a fun one: versus Word Bearers, which were using then new possessed Contemptor Dreadnought which he picked up at the Horus Heresy weekend.

With his army held in reserves mostly, I had only that Dread and a duel Assault Cannon one. The possessed dreadnought showed it's worth, it's special rules forcing my Thallax and the Adscularis Covenant to fall back on the first turn. They eventually rallied however, and soon a Dreadclaw had arrived. With little else to shoot, it was killed by one quick blast from the Knight's Thermal Cannon, disgorging it's occupants, Kor Phearon and all, right into my right flank. One hail of fire later, and the squad is reduced to just Kor Phearon and the nuncio vox. Unfortunately, the nuncio vox called down the Gal Vorbek. Kor Phearon joined them, cast endurance, and the grind began. Getting a round of shooting before charging them, it took 4 turns with all 4 Castellax, and for the last two the Knight (which was freshly back from stomping on the Dreadnoughts) to kill them all. Having lost all but one of the Castellax in the fight,

Meanwhile, a veteran squad outflanked in a rhino onto my flank, firing missile launchers out of the back hatch at my Magos, killing him. In return, a hail of firepower from me wiped them off the board.

With everything of the enemy but the lone nuncio vox, the game ended. The nuncio vox which was in my deployment zone: I had lost the game because of this one guy! Curses!

The accursed Nuncio Vox, saved from a gory end by the end of the game

Game 3 - Mechanicus and Salamanders vs. Night Lords and Death Guard
Dawn of War - Crusade

The final game of the day: a doubles game! This would be no easy task however: the Night Lords were led by Curze, and the Death Guard had friends: not one, but two Knights!

Conspiring with my ally, we made out plan. With two objectives close to each other on one flank, we focused our forces, as did our enemy (They did put a battle cannon armed Knight on the other flank, although he was alone over there). Fortunately, between my Knight, my allies Spartan and bad luck for our enemy, the Knight Errant attacking us (A seneschal with extra WS, BS and a 3+ invuln) was killed turn 3. With a huge Night Lords assault squad on the run, it came down to Curze and his raptors to survive and win the day. Then the showdown happened...

Vulkan Lives! The epic showdown...

Unfortunately for Curze and his raptors, the Firedrakes, my Castellax and Vulkan proved way to much for them. All the Night Lords were swept aside in one round of combat, Curze himself left broken and dead.

From there, the game was as good as won: Victory for the loyalists!

Conclusions
I loved the event, and loved seeing a variety of well painted armies! It was only a shame I didn't get more games, and am fervently looking forward to similar events in the future. Chris organised it extremely well, the spirit of fun over competitiveness in the entire day.