Aaron got his group together on Armistice Day to start some Great War on the table. We played on an 8x4 table, 2 players per side, and each side had 300 points.
This time the Allies were on the defence. Mark's Canadians held the left flank while Aaron's Metropolitan French held the right. Todd and Jon's Germans formed along the front, using their infantry to keep the defenders busy while massing their armor against the left flank, hoping to overwhelm them.
Shawn Bagley organized a real extravaganza of a tournament for Bolt Action this past weekend, which he called Rumble in the Rubble.
We had a total of 22 players turn up, playing 3 games on 11 tables, each based on an urban area that saw heavy fighting during World War Two.
The GHS group started a new theme recently, planning a series of Napoleonic battles using the Black Powder rules from Warlord Games. We use the excellent supplement special rules from Clash of Eagles, as these give a very Napoleonic flavor to our battles.
The action saw two wings of the French Army pushing against a Russo-Prussian one. The defenders had decent positions, but were heavily outnumbered, especially in cavalry on their left.
The NUTS group had it's regular monthly WW3 Team Yankee game recently.
In a change from running large points of super tanks, we went with 105 point forces. This makes a number of other forces viable, as the super tanks are thin on the ground at 105 points.
The NUTS group's latest campaign, set in the Beqaa Valley of Lebanon in 1982, had its second game recently.
Bart commanded the PLO and Syrian forces, with a formation of PLO fighters, supported by a formation of Syrian T-55s and another formation of Syrian T-62s.
The NUTS group's latest FOW game was set in Hungary during 1944, and featured a mix of Germans and Hungarians taking on three Soviet forces.
We went with 105 point forces this time, which was a different challenge for list building. Dave ran two Soviet 105 point forces, and Gary ran one; taking on my 105 point Hungarians, and Mike and Jim both ran 105 point German forces.
The NUTS group, after concluding their Suez 1973 campaign, decided to stay in the modern era for the next one. They have turned their focus to Lebannon in 1982, focusing on the fighting in the Beqaa Valley in the south eastern part of the country.
The first action we generated was an Israeli assault near Marjaoun, with an Israeli armored column hitting a PLO position, supported by Syrian forces.
The GHS group game for this month was a trial of the new edition of Muskets and Tomahawks, set in the Pony Wars period.
Shawn had just visited the Little Bighorn Battlefield, and wanted to try out his pony wars figure collection. Dave had the new version of Muskets and Tomahawks, and volunteered to run the game for the group to see how they liked the rules.
The NUTS Group gathered for another of our regular Flames of War games at the end of June. We have been alternating between Eastern Front / Bagration and the British sector in Normandy. This month was Eastern Front, and we set up an action in Hungary during 1944.
We used 120 point forces this time, giving the ability to build nice, balanced forces.
The NUTS Group gathered for another of our regular WW3 games early in July.
We played another Super Tank Challenge Mission, which allows 250 points but requires players to take a formation of tanks with front armor of 17 or more.
Garry, Shawn and I got together for another of our regular WW3 games early in July.
Garry has gotten quite skilled with Soviets, while Shawn and I have been working together to make the Americans work.
We played at 240 points on a 12' by 4' table, with Garry having 240 points of Soviets and Shawn and I each fielding a 120 point US force.
After a long hiatus due to Covid restrictions, we held our first mega game of the year on the 5th Saturday of July.
The scenario was based on the fighting around Debrecen in eastern Hungary, during 1944, and featured Soviet forces facing off against a combination of Germans and Hungarians.
Garry, Shawn and I recently got together for our regular WW3 game. This time I built a force for both Shawn and I, to match Garry's 240 points of Soviets.
We selected the mission using the Mission Matrix, and as we both chose an attack posture we rolled for Free for All, a classic meeting engagement.
The GHS Group opened their set of Ancients games in early May with a hoplite clash between Athens and Sparta, set during the Pelopennesian Wars.
Hoplite warfare is often thought of as just a push of spears, but Hail Caesar provides a nice engine allowing differentiation between different troop qualities, while retaining a simple and clean play sequence.
Our long-running Suez, 1973 campaign using Fate of a Nation, has reached its end point.
After a lightning crossing of the Suez Canal, the Egyptian forces slowly ground their way across the western Sinai, relentlessly closing on the critical passes in the center of the penninsula.
The GHS Group continued their Hail Caesar block this month, with a Roman versus Carthaginian clash in Spain.
The battle opened with action on both wings, while the opposing centers closed on each other. The Roman right flank cavalry got into action quickly, and soon routed their Carthaginian opponents. On the other flank the Carthaginian skirmishers utilized a hill and some rough terrain to stymie the Roman cavalry.
We took a break from the European Theatre this month to try 120 point forces in an irrigated valley in Khuzestan.
Bart, Dennis and I matched off with Iranians versus Iraqis, while Dave and Mike tried out Dave's new Australians against East Germans.
Since the release of the updated missions pack for WW3 Team Yankee, we have been enjoying trying the new missions in our regular games.
Shawn, Garry and I have recently played through the new Killing Ground mission twice, with two US forces attacking a double Soviet force.
We have been really taken with the new (revised) Victory at Sea Naval Game from Warlord Games.
Over the holiday weekend a couple of us fought out a fleet encounter in the Med, with British facing off with an Italian squadron.
We tried out my latest fast play mission for WW3 Team Yankee recently, with a group of "super tank challenge" (STC) forces.
An STC force is 250 points, but must include at least one formation of tanks with front armor of 17 or higher.
The mission is called Contested Ground, and uses two objectives per six feet of table, placed alternately within 6" of the table center line.
Our 1973 Suez campaign, using the Fate of a Nation rules from Battlefront, entered its final stages this month.
The Israeli forces have been pushed back, losing the Sinai passes, and have launched a series of desperate counterattacks to contain the Egyptian forces and retake the critical passes.
The final game in a series organized by the GHS club, the battle featured a Catholic assault on a weakened Protestant force in southern Germany.
The action was intense from the start. The Catholic left struggled with poor command rolls, and never really got to grips with their foes.
We continue to have a lot of Team Yankee activity. March featured a couple of really good big games.
First Garry, Shawn and I did a large US/Soviet battle. The Americans made the mistake of defending with a tank force, so we had very little on the table to start. Garry's Soviets executed a textbook assault on the weaker American flank (mine), held only by a dismounted US Mech Infantry platoon and 2 Chapparral launchers.
Our Suez 1973 campaign continued this month, with an Israeli counterattack near the destroyed "Budapest" position on the Bar Lev Line.
Dave led an Israeli Magach 3 formation against an Egyptian BMP formation led by Bart, and the mission was Dogfight.
This month's Team Yankee action featured a large "heavy metal" US vs Soviet clash. A heavy metal game is one with high points for force, either 200 points with no air or 250 points with air allowed, but requiring each force to include at least one formation of tanks with front armor of 17 or higher.
This month's game featured 500 points of Soviets, both forces featuring T-80 formations, against 500 points of Americans, featuring M1A1 and M1A1HC formations.
The NUTS group continued their 1973 Yom Kippur War Suez Front campaign game recently, with a series of actions.
The most recent turn focused on the Egyptian attempt to clear the Sinai passes, which would give them a strategic victory in the campaign.
The most recent NUTS group game was a large FOW clash set in the British sector of Normandy, in the open rolling terrain south of Caen.
A mix of Polish and British Cromwell units with support took on 3 German forces, all of which featured lots of Tigers.
The GHS group always enjoys big games using Pike & Shotte from Warlord Games. Mark organized their latest game, set during the Thirty Years War.
The game saw an outnumbered Protestant force staring down a much larger Catholic force, trying to tie them up long enough to cover their retreat.
One of the intriguing new formations in the latest WW3 Soviet book is the T-80 Shock Formation. Based around a solid core of T-80 tanks, it fights a lot like a NATO formation, with small units of good tanks that are hit on 4s and skilled, veteran infantry in BMP-3s or BMP-2s.
Garry tried out the formation against my US M1A1 tank formation, and we had an excellent game.
Our ongoing Team Yankee campaign continued this month with yet more action across Europe. The NATO forces had cut the last remaining supply corridor to the Warsaw Pact forces clustered around the Ruhr to Rhine areas, and also those holding Frankfurt, last month.
This month the Soviet and Warsaw Pact forces launched a barrage of attacks, aiming to re-establish their supply lines. The NATO forces were hard pressed, but in the end managed to hold and retain control of Harz and Leipzig, maintaining their encirclement of the WP spearheads. All did not go NATO's way, though, as a renewed NATO assault on Dresden was repulsed, and Soviet forces managed a very close draw to almost seize control of Braunschweig, which would have weakened the NATO corridor.
Jon, with a bit of help from the entirety of Chris' HYW collection put on a massive Hail Caesar battle in December, set somewhere in France.
The English army had encamped on a ridge and deployed behind a long line of stakes as the French approached.
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