RETURN TO DRAGON RAMPANT

Well after about two months of pretty much solidly playing What A Tanker! my gaming group has  returned to an old favourite of ours, Dragon Rampant by Daniel Mersey.  Whilst I was I was really rusty on the rules, a quick speed read through them and the latest version of our club House Rules (link) quickly refreshed me.

I dusted off my Orcs and here are a few pictures of them in action.  The opposition (last picture, far side of the table) had a Hydra with mystical armour that just would not die, so a defeat for my Orcs, but an entertaining game nonetheless :)

-

-

King Tiger Tank - Restoration In Switzerland

There is a King Tiger being restored in Switzerland.  They obtained it in 2006 and have been posting videos (12 thus far) from time to time showing how they are progressing.

They make fascinating viewing are are recommended viewing for any WW2 tank enthusiast :)
-

-
Annoyingly the video link is now dead, but the tank has its own web site, which I would encourage you to visit :)

http://www.koenigstiger.ch/english/story.html
-

WHAT A TANKER! - Puma Outing

Had a fun game the club on Thursday.  Myself, Andy B and Simon A as the clean living Axis players took on John E and Theo as the Soviet peasants.

Andy took a Panther, Simon a Tiger I and myself a Sd234/2 'Puma'
Theo had a ISU152 and John took an SU100 and a KVIS
Due the points different the Axis had 5 cards (Andy had 1, myself the other 4)

Fighting over our usual 8' x 6' we had a reasonable amount of manoeuvre room for our 20mm / 1/72nd vehicles.

On the Axis side we decided to that the Panther and Tiger would concentrate on the ISU 152 whilst I tied up the SU100 and KV with my superior speed.   This cunning plan almost went badly wrong very early on the ISU152 spotted me in the open and successfully lobbed a huge shell my way.  Lucky rolling on my part meant I only took two damage which I was able to recover straight away with one of my cards.

I then powered into the town and with some good die rolling surprised the KV with a shot into its rear.  Annoying, due to its heavy armour (and bad rolling on my part) the round only lost the KV one command die.  He successfully reversed and firing back hit me the turret causing two permanent damage and damaging my optics (+1 to hit).

Meanwhile the Panther and Tiger and had been skirmishing with the ISU and shells were bouncing off all over the place.

Down to 4 command dice now and at the back of the gaming table I came round behind the ISU and with some good rolling banged a round into its flank knocking it out.  As it was almost midnight we ended what had a fun game at that point.

For those interested, the stats I used for the Puma were:

• Armour Value:  3
• Strike Value: 6
• Slow Turret.  (it doesn't have a powered traverse).
• Fast  
• Fast Backwards.  [can go the same speed backwards as foward]   (has the same number of reverse gears as forward and a rear driving position). 
• Wheeled.  [Cannot cross major obstacles, and if on a road can convert any die to a movement die, but must remain in the road, cannot rotate on the spot]
• Total Points Cost: 10

-

WHAT A TANKER! - LADDER TOURNAMENT

Having finished a campaign based on the one in the WaT rule book at my club I've suggested to my gaming crowd at the Harrogate Wargames Club (HWC) we try a ladder tournament.  The advantage of this structure is that:
a)  Players get to try out a large variety of tanks,
b)  The tournament is time-bounded.
c)  Kill rings are not awarded, so failure is not reinforced.
d)  Its easily adaptable for different lengths and periods.

HWC – 2018 - WHAT A TANKER – LADDER TOURNAMENT

1.            The tournament involves every player, playing in 13 games.

2.            There must be an equal number of players in the tournament (i.e. 2, 4, 6, 8 etc.)

3.            The winner is the player at the end who has the most kills.  In the case of a draw result, then a 14^th game is to be played by the respective players to determine the final winner.  

4.            The tournament starts with each player having 10 points with which to purchase a tank from the 1943, 44 or 45 years. They cannot select a tank less than 10 points.

5.            After each game the number of points available to each player increases as per the following ladder.

Game 1                10 points.

Game 2                11 points.

Game 3                12 points.

Game 4                13 points.

Game 5                14 points.

Game 6                15 points.

Game 7                16 points.

Game 8                17 points.

Game 9                18 points.

Game 10              19 points.

Game 11              20 points.

Game 12              21 points.

Game 13              22 points.

6.            Players may select a tank with less points than they have available and randomly draw cards from the tanker deck to compensate.

·         Example. In game 5, John selected to play with a Sherman Firefly, a 14 point tank.  He liked the tank so much that his next game (game 6) he opted to keep it and draw a Tank Deck card.  He kept also the same type of tank for Game 7, and so drew 2 cards.

7.            Players may not select a tank that is any more than three points less than the table above (i.e. you cannot select a 10 point tank in game 13).

8.            Players are free to change nationality from game to game, so for example there is no requirement for a player who started in a Panzer III to always have to fight in an Axis tank.

9.            The sides in each game must be always balanced, i.e.  1 v 1, 2 v 2.

10.          The sides must always be Axis versus Allied.

11.          Players do not get awarded kills rings as per the campaign in the WaT rule book.

12.          The terrain can be set-up to play however the players sort between themselves. 

13.          The starting side of the table, or corner should be determined randomly.

14.          The 12” spacing between players on set-up, does not apply in this tournament;  i.e. in a multiplayer game tanks may come on within inches of each other (as if they were a Platoon).        

15.          If there are multiple players in the tournament, it may not possible for everyone to play together in each round.  In those circumstances, those players missing need to play catch up games.  It is for those players to sort out at which level they are playing, some flexibility needing to be shown by players.  It doesn’t necessarily matter if each player doesn’t get to play at each level as long as everyone gets to play the same number of games overall.

16.          In multi-player games if one side loses half the number of tanks they started with, they have the option as per the normal WaT rules to immediately stop the game and withdraw.  However, if they choose not to do so at that time, they must remain in the game until either:

a)            They all get destroyed, or

b)            They destroy all the opposition, or

c)            The opposition exercise their option to withdraw (assuming they haven’t already foregone it).

-

The Sherman Tank Site

A came across this site called 'The Sherman Tank Site'.  For the tank-heads out there, there is a lot to enjoy in the articles on there, well worth a look.  I especially found this article on Fire Control of interest.
-

WHAT A TANKER! - PzKpfw II Ausf L "Luchs"

These last 5 weeks we've been playing What A Tanker! (WaT) at the club.  Thus far I've had a PIIIM destroyed along with its crew.  I then fought with a Marder IIIM, switched to StugIIF, then switched again into a PII Aust L 'Lynx'.  Sadly it got destroyed by a an M10 along with the crew, but I liked using the vehicle, so I came back into the campaign with another one and a new crew.  In 20mm scale they are quite a rare model, so I've ended up buying a resin Milicast resin one (not cheap).  It arrived yesterday (very quick service) and I'm assembling it this weekend.

Here's a great video I found of a restored one :)
-


-

WHAT A TANKER! - 'HARDCORE' Variant

At my local club (HWC) we've been playing numerous WW2 games using the excellent 'What a Tanker!' rules written and published by the TwoFatLardies of Nick Skinner and Richard Clarke  If you haven't check them out yet, they are definitely worth a try as we have had such a laugh with them.

What this posting is about, is providing optional rules for the 'hardcore' tanker enthusiast who wants some extra detail in the game, a few of the inconsistencies in the data tables smoothed away, and the ability to use half-tracks and wheeled vehicles.  Feel free to:
a)  Use all the extra elements and amendments suggested, or
b)  Just use the bits you like, or
c)  Disregard completely as an utter waste of time of.....  LOL

I will shortly be placing all these into a single word document, in the meantime feel free to keep coming back to this page as I type up my hand written notes.


ACCELERATED CAMPAIGN 

If you want to play an accelerated campaign, use the following mechanism.
-  For each game played that your crew survives they receive a Battle-token.
-  Both Battle-tokens and Kill Rings can be cashed in to  Level Up.



EXTRA CHARACTERISTICS

Please note that for some of these new characteristic, a small amount of additional record keeping using either extra tokens or dice or written notes, will be required.

Slow Reload
The reloading action takes two Reload Order Die.  The activity can be carried on spread over turns.
Design Note:  Some vehicles due to the size of the rounds involved used two part ammunition,  i.e.  Soviet 122mm, Soviet 152mm, German 128mm.

NoCO
Vehicles with No dedicated Commander (NoCO) need one extra Acquisition die to acquire a target.
Design Note:  Some vehicles due to their small size only have a one or two-man turret or fighting compartment and therefore do not have a dedicated vehicle commander.

Half-Track
Cannot rotate on the spot.  Can only reverse over major obstacles.
Design Note:  The wheeled suspension is fragile.

Wheeled
Cannot rotate on the spot.  Can change any Order Die to Move Die when on roads (must remain on road for the movement..  Cannot cross major obstacles.

Fast Back
Does not suffer the normal penalty for when trying to reverse.
Design Note:  Some vehicles such as the German 234 range of armoured cars have two driving positions and the same number of reverse gears as they do forward (6).

Hot Shot
+ 2 to Penetration except at Long Range.
Design Note:  Some vehicles were issued with a full compliment of Tungsten Carbide cored rounds, USA and British tank destroyers in the main. Performance dropped off at long range however.

Very Slow
Vehicle can only use a maximum of 1 Movement Die per turn.


NEW RULE AND AMENDMENTS

Track On Target
The benefit of using additional order dice to aim at a target are not lost once the firer has fired.  They are retained for all follow on-shots (across turns if need be) until aim is lost because either the firer are target move or acquisition is lost.the next shots.  Additional Aim order dice can continue to be added.

Example:
Turn 1:  A Sherman acquires a target, and has two AIM dice. It's long range no cover in the way, so he needs a 7 modified down -1 to a 6.  He fires and misses.  He makes a note of his -1 Aim modifier.
Turn 2:  The Sherman rolls his Order Dice and gets two aim dice.  His basic 7 to hit is now modified down by a total of -3.


Point Blank
This is a new range category of 0 to 12" range.

Adjustments For Range - To Hit
Point Blank -1
Standard Range: No adjustment.   (as per existing rules)
Long Range: +1  (as per existing rules)

Adjustments On The Number Of Strike Die
Point Blank +1
Standard Range: No adjustment.   (as per existing rules)
Long Range: -1


Flank Shot Bonus
Vehicles from the flank have a bigger aspect than from the front or rear, as a result they are 1 die easier to Acquire and are -1 to hit at all ranges.


Point Of Difference Card
Sometimes it is not possible (or desirable) to have point balanced games.  In these instances for each point of difference between the sides a card is issued; this card, 'The Point Of Different Card'.  This allows the user to, once per game:
a)  +3 or -3 to their Initiative Roll
      or
b)  change two of their rolled Command Dice to a different number.
Note:
-  The cards must be distributed before the game starts.
-  Players can only play a maximum of one card per turn, although multiple cards can be played in a turn by one side (if multiple players are involved).

AT Guns
Anti-tank guns have the following Characteristics by default:
Small, Low Profile, Rapid Fire.  They may not button up.  1 drive dice allows then to change their facing, otherwise they count as immobile for the game.
They also count as TD, in that they can change any die to an aim dice, BUT this is for the first shot at a target only.  This limitation is to reflect the blast issues associated with gun barrels so close to the ground and recoil issues which disturbed the aim on many AT guns.


NEW VEHICLES THAT WILL BE ADDED

Here is a link in Dropbox to the current version of the Hardcore Vehicle Listing v18:  Link
Latest version uploaded on 31 Jul 2021.
It's currently work-in-progress...  The Germans are almost there, as are the USA.

NEW HARDCORE RULES & RULE CLARIFICATIONS !! 
I've written the Hardcore Rules up into a document that can be found here:   Link
Latest version 2-6 uploaded on 9 Jul 2021.

Let me know what you think below in the comments :)

MOVING THE JAGDTIGER

For the tankies out there here is an interesting read and watch of moving the Bovington Jagdtiger for the first time in 50 years.  Link
-

Harrogate Wargames Club - Facebook Page

For those who are interested, here is a link to the public Facebook page of the Harrogate Wargames Club.  Link
-

Lack Of Blog Activity + A Short Rant

Well, my activity on the Blog has almost been non-existent this last 12 months.  The main reason for this, is my disillusionment with the photograph hosting fraternity.  I have now used 3, or even four  free sites, and they have all either overnight changed their terms and conditions to having to pay
(what I consider to be unacceptable fees), or changed the way the photos are displayed/stored.  It is so annoying :(

Harrogate Roleplayers at the Harrogate Wargames Club

This a a shout-out about the Harrogate Roleplayers which is a section of the club I go to, the Harrogate Wargames Club.  They have their own excellent web page which is regularly updated.  Link-
-

The Mother of Dragons - Dragon Rampant Scenario On The Man Cave Blog

Check out this new Dragon Rampant scenario on 'The Man Cave' blog, it's called 'The Mother Of All Dragons' and looks quite good :)   Link

Inside The Tanks: The Jagdtiger - World of Tanks

-

-
Worth a watch :)

Inside the underground Nazi 'village'

Shifting sands have revealed a forgotten world of Nazi tunnels underneath The Hague. Link to the BBC website.
-

Search/Destroy: A Strontium Dog Fan Film

-
Comment: This is very good, and definately worth a watch if your into sci-fi :)
-

BATTLETECH - PDXCON Trailer

-
Comment:  I could get quite excited about this :)
-

Stargrunt II - 15mm Sci-Fi - 'Supply Column Hit'

Played a game of 15mm sci-fi using the Stargrunt II rules at the club on Thursday night, our fourth SG2 game in a row.  This was a follow-on to a game the previous week (one that I've yet to add to the blog).

SCENARIO

Planet:                  Rimstone

Location:              Outer Periphery

Date:                     Terra Year 2250 May 4th 

Scenario Name:    'Supply Column Hit'

Scenario Setting:

Battlegroup Elwen having failed last week to secure Ambassador Lauralie from a downed dropship have been re-tasked to convoy duties.  Task Force Ludlam has been given the mission to intercept them… 

Table Set Up
Lightly wooded terrain with a road running north to south.  Small village to the west.

Task Force Ludlam

Background:      

Intelligence have determined the route for a re-supply convoy belonging to Battlegroup Elwen.

Your Mission:

Ambush the convoy.  Destroy at least half the vehicles and secure a least 1 prisoner.    

Forces At Your Disposal:

Light Infantry Platoon – Veterans (4 squads of 6 men in each  (1 x SAW, 4  x Low Tech Assault Rifle + GL, 1 x MAR)).

Special Equipment:

1.            Enough (dumb) mines for a strip 4” long.

2.            Electronic stealth cloaks.  Troops completely hidden when dug-in underneath them.  Discarded once that element fires/moves.

3.            Specialist ECM Operator (2 chits per turn).

Deployment:

Mines can be placed where ever you want.

Troops can be placed where ever you want (and can be dug-in).

Battlegroup Elwen

Background:      

After recent combat activity you have been assigned a less onerous task.  You are tasked to escort the re-supply convoy from 'Firebase Alpha B’ to ‘Strong Point Dredd’.  No enemy activity has been reported in this sector.  This is a ‘safe route’.

Your Mission:

One of the soft skins is carrying valuable fuel rods for grav vehicles.  This vehicle must make it off the north table edge.

Forces At Your Disposal:

Light Infantry Platoon – Regular (4 squads of 6 men in each  (5  x Low Tech Assault Rifle + GL, 1 x IAVR or SAW)

2 x 4 wheel high mobility scouts, 4 x Low & High Tech Grav APCs, 1 x Low Tech Grav Sled with Rocket Pack (no ammo), 2 x military trucks, 1 x Piranha APC, 2 x Hover sleds (unarmed and unarmoured).

Special Equipment:

One of the trucks is a HQ vehicle with some ECM capability (1 chit per turn).

Deployment:

Enter the sector from the South and exit on the North.  Vehicles are in column.

Umpire Notes:

The missions for both sides were not known until after the game.
Ludlum had intel and knew the strength and composition of the Elwenian forces.  They by contrast knew nothing about the ambush forces.
Elwen secretly picked the vehicle to carry the fuel rods.
The convoy vehicle sequence had to be decided before the game started,
The convoy could not depart the road until the ambush was triggered.
Vehicle convoy spacing was 10". 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Pictures From The Game

Ludlam's troops spring their ambush knocking out the head of the Elwelian column.

Game Result
After an entertaining game, Task Force Ludlam managed to (just) grab a victory by achieving their victory conditions.

Alien Covenant - Official Trailer

-
Comment:  So excited by this film, can't wait to see it !
- 
Post viewing comment:
Went to see it with my son, we both enjoyed it a lot :)   I give it a solid 8.5 out of 10.  If your a fan of the franchise, 'it's a must see' :)
-

Dunkirk - Official Film Trailer

-
Comment:  This looks like it could be good :)
-

2CELLOS - Now We Are Free - Gladiator [OFFICIAL VIDEO]

-
Comment:  This is great.
-

Flames Of War Cold War

10mm Flames of War Cold War is being played on a regular basis at our club at the moment, even joined in a game myself recently.  Here's a few pictures from the last two games :)   (None of the vehicles or terrain belong to me)
-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-
My general observation is that 10mm is a great scale for this set of rules.  15mm I'm afraid just looks like a tank park IMHO (apologies to those purists offended by such heretic thoughts... :) ).

Star Wars - The Last Jedi Official Teaser

-
Comment:  :)
-

Giant Rc F 35 Lightning II

-
Comment:  This is well impressive !
-

StarGrunt 40,000

Came across this interesting page today about a system for converting Warhammer 40,000 army lists into a format that will work well with the Stargrunt II rules system.  Worth a look: Link
-

Operation ‘Platinfuchs’ Was an Early Nazi Defeat on the Eastern Front

The Soviet navy during World War II is perhaps best remembered for its vigorous role in the doomed defense of the ports of Odessa and Sevastopol in the Crimean Sea. However, in the Arctic north, the Soviet warships would have a major impact in the opening months of the war with Nazi Germany.

A ragtag fleet of destroyers and patrol boats, backed up by two stout-hearted rifle divisions, brought Hitler’s elite mountain troops skidding to a halt, preserving a vital supply line to Britain and the United States.  Link to the full article.

-

Comment:  This article makes for an interesting read.

-

Rabbit hole leads to 700-year-old Knights Templar cave

An apparently ordinary rabbit's hole in a farmer's field leads to an underground sanctuary once said to be used by the Knights Templar - a medieval religious order that fought in the Crusades.  Link to BBC web site article.
-

Star Citizen MMO

My son Alex has joined in the Star Citizen MMO game.  It is in the Alpha state at the moment (i.e. still being developed) but looks fantastic.  The concept art for some of the yet to be released ships is fantastic.
-

-

-

C5 Take Off

-
Comment:  Not much runway left at the end there...
-

Picture Of The Week - No 63 - SA-8 Gecko

Comment:  Took this picture back in 2011 at the Duxford Vehicle Day.  The vehicle in question in a Soviet SA-8 Gecko Anti-aircraft missile system.

Crepusculum Imperii: Adapting Lion Rampant to the Late Roman period

I'm a big fan of Lion and Dragon Rampant and find myself quite impressed with this article written by David Sulivan on his blog about adapting the Lion Rampant rules to the Late Roman period. Link
Highly recommended :)

Picture Of The Week - No 62 - Destroyed Leopard 2

-
Comment: Came across this article on a site called 'Defence Watch; where there are a load of pictures of Turkish owned Leopard 2 tanks that had either been destroyed or severly damaged by ISIS in northern Syria.
-

The Perfect Captain

I've found this web site called 'The Perfect Captain'.  Their own description of the site is as follows: "We are a small group of gamers with some big ideas! We like to play and design boardgames, miniatures rules, and campaign games for a host of periods. We have a yahoo group that supports our products. By the way,  maybe we should mention that our goods are totally FREE! If you'll be so kind as to look below, you'll see a list of products under the headings of their historical periods. Each one of these has its own webpage with a bit of background, a list of variants, and of course, the download."

Comment:  I've very impressed with what I saw.  This is a great resource for the wargamer.

The Mud Hates These Tanks: US M1 Assault Breacher Vehicle + M1 Abrams Stuck in Mud Being Recovered

-
Comment: Stumbled across video of this vehicle that I never new existed ! LOL
-

U2 "Dragon Lady' Pilots Skim the edges of space at the Terminator Line

-
Comment: Awesome :)
-

Picture Of The Week - No 61 - A10 Thunderbolts In Action - Team Yankee

-
Comment:  Taken on Thursday night at my club, here we have a couple of A10s making a pass over the table in a 10mm scale Flames of War 'Team Yankee' game.  I wasn't playing in it, but it looked a fun game.
-

Company Of Heroes - Europe at War Mod

Fans of the PC game Company of Heroes should check out this new mod that is available on Steam:  Link.

Description:
"EaW is a historical mod for Company of Heroes that adds new battlefronts with new commander trees, abilities, units, vehicles and weapons for each, representing in the best way, as far as possible, historical accuracy, to immerse players in a much more realistic gaming experience."
-

Lead Adventurer Forum - Post A Picture Of The Last Game You Played

This is a very inspiring thread on the Lead Adventure Forum.  People simply posting a picture(s) of the last game they played.  Worth checking out: Link
-

Eight Things You May Not Know About The Battle of Passchendaele

2017 will see the centenary of the Battle of Passchendaele with events taking place in Belgium in July. The battle which was also known as The Third Battle of Ypres was one of the major engagements of the First World War and one of the largest battles Britain’s Armed Forces have ever fought.

Here’s eight facts on what First World War soldiers used to call the Battle of Mud:

1.The battle took place on the Western Front, from July to November 1917, for control of land south and east of the Belgian city of Ypres in West Flanders. It lasted just over 3 months, marginally less than the Battle of the Somme. The loss of life was considerable and the offensive achieved mixed results.

2. Within a few days of the battle the heaviest rain for 30 years had turned the soil into a quagmire, producing thick mud that often immobilised tanks. When the Tank Corps was formed it had no distinctive colours but in 1917 — just before the Battle of Cambrai — it adopted its Brown, Red and Green colours which are still used by the Royal Tank Regiment today. The colours represented the struggle of the Corps — ‘From mud, through blood to the green fields beyond’.

3. The standard British army rifle in 1917 was the iconic Short Magazine Lee- Enfield (aka the SMLE), a marksman could fire 15 aimed shots a minutes and earned an extra six pence a day — almost doubling his pay back then! It weighed around four kilograms, a similar amount to the SA80 individual weapon carried by troops today; however the SA80 fires a potential 610–775 rpm.

4. The battle saw an estimated 325,000 Allied and 260,000 German casualties. By 1917 armies had tried to modernise to reduce the casualty rate. At Passchendaele soldiers of all sides wore protective headgear. The weight of the British Mark I helmet was about 2 pounds, made out of manganese steel alloy, it was light, robust, simple to make and had the best ballistic performance of any WW1 helmet. The Mk 7 helmet used by troops today weighs 2.2 pounds and can stop fragments travelling at over 650 metres per second.

5. Some estimates claim 90,000 British and Commonwealth bodies were never identified and 42,000 never recovered from the battle. However bodies from the First World War are still being found and identified 100 years later. The remains of two British soldiers were found recently and given a ceremonial burial with full military honours on 19 October 2016. The Ministry of Defence’s Joint Casualty and Compassionate Centre will deal with fallen soldiers in the same way whether they’re casualties of the First World War or recent conflicts like Afghanistan.

6. As with the battle of the Somme in 1916, Passchendaele saw Britain forces fight closely alongside its Commonwealth allies of Australia, Canada, India, New Zealand and South Africa. This would be repeated many times in the next 100 years, including the Second World War, the Korean War, in Afghanistan and currently in the fight against Daesh.

7. Blood banks and transfusions were developed during the First World War and by 1917 the Royal Medical Corps (RAMC) established the first blood bank on the Western Front in preparation for Passchendaele. The RAMC expanded rapidly during the First World War; on mobilization the Corps consisted of approximately 9,000 ‘other ranks’, by 1918 there were 13,000 RAMC Officers and 154,000 ‘other ranks’. Wherever there is conflict featuring British Armed Forces the RAMC is always there. Since the Victoria Cross was introduced in 1856 there have been 29 Victoria Crosses awarded to members of the RAMC.

8. The last British surviving combat soldier of the First World War was 111 year old Harry Patch who died in 2009. Harry, who fought as a Lewis [machine] gunner at Passchendaele where he was wounded and evacuated never spoke about the war until he turned 100 years old. Harry was laid to rest in Wells Cathedral, his body was carried by members of his old unit The Rifles and walking behind his coffin in solidarity were military representatives of France, Belgium and Germany.

Comment:  Saw the above info on UK MOD web site and found it quite interesting. 

-