Desired scans : Black Powder supplements Rank and File supplements Harpoon 3 & 4 supplements Hail Caesar! Late Antiquity to Early Medieval Army List Force on Force supplements Hind Commander At Close Quarters War and Conquest Germany Strikes!
Benjamin Stewart
TODAY IN MILITARY HISTORY 0 Feast of Saint Joaquina de Vedruna, Patron of Exiles 715 Accession of Pope Gregory II (715-731), later canonized 1579 Peace of Arras: Reconciliation of the Southern Netherlands to Philip II of Spain 1588 Spanish Armada sets sail from Cadiz for Lisbon 1639 Battle of Thionville: Imperialists defeat the French 1643 Battle of Rocroi/Allersheim: Decisive French victory over the Spanish -- Learn More 1649 Parliament declares England a republic, known as the Commonwealth 1652 Spanish capture Gravelines 1780 New England's 'Dark Day': Wildfires in Ontario spread ash into the athmosphere that blots out the sun over most of New England and some adjacent areas. 1793 Dutch capture St Maarten from France 1796 Battle of Lodi: Bonaparte's French defeat the Austrians 1822 Gen Agustin Iturbide is proclaimed Emperor Agustin I of Mexico (May 19, 1822-March 19, 1823), deposed 1849 Battle of Velletri: Neapolitans beat off Garibaldi's Roman troops 1864 Battle of Spotsylvania ends 1929 General Feng Yu-Xiang declares war on Chinese government 1931 "Pocket Battleship" 'Deutschland' launched in Germany 1934 Military coup in Bulgaria by Col. Damian Veltsjev 1940 Charles De Gaulle's 4th Arm Div counterattacks the Germans at Péronne -- Learn More 1943 Nazis declare Berlin is "Judenrien - Free of Jews" 1943 Winston Churchill addresses Congress for the second time 1944 US 88th Inf Div liberates Itri 1944 US troops overrun most of Wakde, New Guinea, & begin repairing the airfield. 1949 Ticker tape parade on Broadway for General Lucius D. Clay 1951 UN begins counter offensive in Korea 1960 USAF Maj Robert M White takes X-15 to 33,222 m 1964 Over 40 "bugs" found in the U.S. embassy in Moscow 1967 US bombs Hanoi 1997 USS 'The Sullivans' (DDG-68) commissioned in New York
Lincoln Campbell
apparently Today in Military History Server date does not match local time with me. ;_;
As we are on the cusp: TODAY IN MILITARY HISTORY 1631 The Sack of Magdeburg: Imperial troops storm the city with great slaughter -- Learn More 1635 Battle of Avein: French defeat the Spanish 1741 Lord Vernon's British expedition retreats from Cartagena de las Indias 1796 Battle of Borghetto: The French defeat the Austrians 1825 Charles X becomes King of France (1825-1830) 1848 First Battle of Vicenza: Austrians defeat Veneto-Papal forces 1859 Battle of Montebello: Franco-Piedmontese defeat the Austrians 1902 US military occupation of Cuba (since June of 1898) ends 1912 Battlecruiser SMS 'Moltke' reaches Hampton Roads, on the only visit to the US by a German capital ship 1930 Pres. Hoover reviews the US Fleet off the Virginia Capes 1932 Engelbert Dollfuss becomes chancellor of Austria, k. by the Nazis, 1934 -- Learn More 1936 Neptunus Rex inducts 29,751 USN polliwogs into the Order of Shellbacks, and personally decorates CNCUS Joseph M. Reeves -- Learn More 1938 Chinese Air Force Martin 139s conduct leafleting raids over Nagasaki and Sasebo 1940 German tanks reach the Channel 1941 Max Schmeling and thousands of other German paratroopers invade Crete 1942 Japanese submarine-borne aircraft reconnoiter Durban, South Africa 1944 US Army Engineers blow up the remnants of the Nofi residence, Itri 1958 Ticker tape parade up Broadway for Van Cliburn, winner of the Moscow International Tchaikovsky Competition; the only musician to receive the honor 1970 NYC: 100,000 march to support US policies in Vietnam 1971 Pentagon reports blacks constitute 11% of US soldiers in SE Asia
Luke Ramirez
Beat me to it by five minutes
It is 75 years since the German invasion of Crete began, during World War II. After one day of fighting, the Germans had suffered heavy casualties and the Allied troops were confident that they would defeat the invasion. The next day, through communication failures, Allied tactical hesitation and German offensive operations, Maleme airfield in western Crete fell, enabling the Germans to land reinforcements and overwhelm the defensive positions on the north of the island. Allied forces withdrew to the south coast.
Crete was the first battle where Fallschirmjäger (German paratroops) were used en masse, the first mainly airborne invasion in military history, the first time the Allies made significant use of intelligence from the decrypted German messages from the Enigma machine and the first time German troops encountered mass resistance from a civilian population. Due to the heavy casualties suffered by the paratroopers, Hitler forbade further large-scale airborne operations. In contrast, the Allies were impressed by the potential of paratroopers and started to form both airborne assault and airfield defence regiments.
At 08:00 on 20 May, German paratroopers, jumping out of dozens of Junkers Ju 52 aircraft, landed near Maleme airfield and the town of Chania. The 21st, 22nd and 23rd New Zealand Battalions held Maleme airfield and the vicinity. The Germans suffered many casualties in the first hours of the invasion, a company of III Battalion, 1st Assault Regiment lost 112 killed out of 126 men and 400 of 600 men in III Battalion were killed on the first day. Most of the parachutists were engaged by New Zealanders defending the airfield and Greek forces near Chania. Many gliders following the paratroops were hit by mortar fire seconds after landing and the glider troops who landed safely were almost annihilated by the New Zealand and Greek defenders.
Eli Young
Some paratroopers and gliders missed their objectives near both airfields and set up defensive positions to the west of Maleme airfield and in "Prison Valley" near Chania. Both forces were contained and failed to take the airfields but the defenders had to deploy to face them. Towards the evening of 20 May, the Germans slowly pushed the New Zealanders back from Hill 107, which overlooked the airfield. Greek police and cadets took part, with the 1st Greek Regiment (Provisional) combining with armed civilians to rout a detachment of German paratroopers dropped at Kastelli. The 8th Greek Regiment and elements of the Cretan forces severely hampered movement by the 95th Reconnaissance Battalion on Kolimbari and Paleochora, where Allied reinforcements from North Africa could be landed.
A second wave of German transports supported by Luftwaffe and Regia Aeronautica attack aircraft, arrived in the afternoon, dropping more paratroopers and gliders containing assault troops. One group attacked at Rethymno at 16:15 and another attacked at Heraklion at 17:30, where the defenders were waiting and inflicted many casualties. Heraklion was defended by the 14th Infantry Brigade, the 2/4th Australian Infantry Battalion and the Greek 3rd, 7th and "Garrison" (ex-5th Crete Division) battalions. The Greeks lacked equipment and supplies, particularly the Garrison Battalion. The Germans pierced the defensive cordon around Heraklion on the first day, seizing the Greek barracks on the west edge of the town and capturing the docks; the Greeks counter-attacked and recaptured both points. The Germans dropped leaflets threatening dire consequences if the Allies did not surrender immediately. The next day, Heraklion was heavily bombed and the depleted Greek units were relieved and assumed a defensive position on the road to Knossos.
Aiden Gutierrez
As night fell, none of the German objectives had been secured. Of 493 German transport aircraft used during the airdrop, seven were lost to anti-aircraft fire. The bold plan to attack in four places to maximize surprise, rather than concentrating on one, seemed to have failed, although the reasons were unknown to the Germans at the time. (Among the paratroopers who landed on the first day was former world heavyweight champion boxer Max Schmeling, who held the rank of gefreiter at the time. Schmeling survived the battle and the war.)
Crete is a perfect wargamer's battle; history could be easily changed in many ways, it's playable from tactical to strategic level, and it's a story of exceptional drama.
The German battlecruiser SMS Moltke was the lead ship of her class consisting of two ships with her sister becoming SMS Goeben. Designed in early 1907, the Moltke-class would be an improved form of the earlier Von der Tann battlecruisers. Moltke and her twin were designed to counter British ships-of-the-line by blending speed and fire power and she was named for German Field Marshal Helmuth von Moltke who later became the chief-of-staff of the Prussian Army, eventually holding that post for thirty years. Moltke proved a great military strategist in the late 19th Century and became a national hero and celebrity in Germany. For his service to the fatherland, over 50 monuments were erected in his honor throughout the German Empire.
During construction, SMS Moltke was identified as "Cruiser G" and she was officially christened on April 7th, 1910 and formally commissioned on September 30th, 1911 into service with the Imperial German Navy. At the time, the British Indefatigable-class battlecruisers posed a great threat to German Naval superiority and Moltke was developed as their counter - carrying more tonnage with increased armor plating and firepower improved through an additional main gun turret.
Xavier Peterson
Moltke's Design
Moltke's complement numbered 1,050 officers and men as built and this increased to a crew of 1,350 during wartime. She held a length of 615.78 feet (186.6m) long with a beam measuring 97.0 feet (30.33M) wide while her draft dropped to 29.4 feet (9.19m). Her weight was 22,979 tons when empty and displaced 25,400 tons under maximum load. Moltke was a trim ship in profile with a low silhouette and carried thirty-four guns (as built) including a main gun armament of five twin (double-barreled) turrets holding 10 x 11.1" (28.3cm) SK L/50 (280mm) cannons capable of sending a 1,000lb shell a distance of 14 miles (513yd, 23km). The five turrets were mounted as one forward, two echeloned amidships, and a pair on the rear deck. These guns were capable of firing three salvoes per minute while the vessel carrier 810 shells in all - essentially enough for 80 full salvoes.
The mountings for the 11.1-inch guns utilized electric pumps to drive hydraulic elevation gear while the training of the guns was powered by electric generators. The positioning of the turrets had the "A" ("Anton") turret at the bow placed at the center line. "B" turret was on the starboard side between the two funnels off centerline and close to the outside railing of the deck. "C" and "D" turrets, paired for stability, were on the centerline behind of the aft mast. "C" turret was mounted higher over "D" turret for maximum clearance with both facing the stern on the main deck. "E" turret was stationed on the portside aft of the amidships funnel and forward of the aft conning tower. Three of the five main turrets were on the center line for ocean-going stability.
Brayden Perry
This main turret placement provided near-maximum firepower with turrets A, C, D and E able to fire an eight-gun broadside to port and turrets A, B, C, and D firing the same broadside to starboard. If the battlecruiser needed to flee from a larger, heavier (and therefore slower) battleship she could fire eight guns aft (B, C, D, and E) against a ship that could, at most, only bring one or two of its main turrets to bear on the Moltke. If the battlecruiser was chasing an enemy cruiser, turrets A, B, and E could fire a six- gun, 11.1-inch volley forward against the fleeing vessel with her 6-inch gun array. The guns were an improved type although the range was initially less for the maximum elevation yielded only 13.5-degrees. After the Battle of Jutland (May-June 1916), SMS Moltke had the elevation of her 10 x 11.1-inch guns increased to 16-degrees and that, in turn, increased their range by 2,000 yards (6,000 feet, 1.12 miles).
The secondary guns that were mounted were 12 x 5.9" (15cm) SKL/45 150mm fast-firing guns. Their placement were through barbettes along the second deck with the crews protected by armor on the inside of the hull. Six guns were placed at portside and six on starboard and these could fire a broadside against smaller attacking surface ships making torpedo runs against Moltke's hull. One gun on the port and starboard sides could fire directly aft and forward if needed. For aircraft defense, a scant amount of 12 x 3.45" SKL/45 88mm Anti-Aircraft guns were placed onboard as built. Four were found on the forward conning tower (main bridge area), two on the rear tower, two more on the main deck forward (protecting the bridge), and the balance scattered along the available decks around the ship. 2 x 19.7" (500mm) submerged torpedo tubes were placed, one on the centerline below the bow firing forward and the other in a stern facing aft on the portside - twelve torpedoes were carried, three per launching station.
Kayden Rodriguez
Protection
The "battlecruiser", as a naval warship classification, featured more armor than a traditional ocean-going cruiser though less than a battleship. Moltke's armored deck ranged in protection from 3.2" over the engine and ammunition spaces to 1" over areas needing less protection. To guard against torpedo attack, Blohm and Voss used Krupp steel for the 10.7" armored belt leading from "A" turret to "D" turret below the waterline. The belt armor was reduced in thickness to 4" close to the bow and stern. Bulkhead armor was 8" to 4" in thickness and AA batteries held 8" to 6" protection. The 6" gun barbettes followed suit with 9" armor in front thinning to 1.2" on the sides. The 11" main gun turrets were 9" thick on top to protect from plunging fire and on the curved front to deflect from horizontal fire. The armor on the back of the 11" turrets was 2.4" thick by the back door and the conning towers had a maximum of 14" to a minimum of 0.2" of Krupp armor plate.
Propulsion
Propulsion for the Moltke was 4 x coal-fired Schulz Thornycroft boilers that produced the steam required to operate the 4 x Parsons steam turbines. These used pressurized steam to generate rotary motion to drive the 4 x shafts below, each providing 85,782 horsepower (63,968 kW). The propeller blades were 12.3 feet in diameter. The steering gear was connected to 2 x rudders,one ahead of the other. As designed the turbines could make headway at 25.5 knots with a maximum speed of 28.4 knots for shorter distances. Her range depended on the coal carried and fed to the boilers as well as onboard fresh water supplies and food for the crew. Her coal bunkers could hold 1,100 tons standard and 3,300 tons of coal maximum. Added later were tanks for 200 tons of oil. Sortie ranges also depended on her fuel stores and weather - calm weather meant a steaming range of about 4,120 nautical miles at 14 knots (26 km/h, 16 mph) and a maximum operational range of 6,500 nautical miles at 10 knots.
Colton Jones
This seems like a place which would know- does anyone know much of anything about the Balts and others at the time they were crusaded against? At the very least, being directed to something to read would be very helpful!
Charles Ward
Crete is one of those scenarios where you have to salute those Aryan ubermensch. To not only survive but actually make progress in such a landing is one of the most spectacular feats of warfare ever.
Ayden Martin
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Brody Ortiz
I think I just my pants.
Christopher Clark
bump it
Brayden Thomas
Has anyone found or made a Five Men in Normandy Force selector for the Japanese?
I haven't been able to turn up anything via google, and I'm just slightly too lazy to write one up myself at the moment.
Kevin Ward
I just use Italians but let them take Brawler or Brave instead of another skill they rolled.
Austin Moore
Great Crete write up user. We're getting to the stage of adding all the custom scenarios to re-fight in the ostfront rules (although it will take a shit ton of playtesting) and Crete is definitely one of them! Will try to give players a way to re-fight most of the famous battles from WW2.
Kayden Cooper
Italians are like the literal opposite of the Japanese though. They run before they die. Whereas with the Japanese they run TO die (ideally yelling "BANZAAAI")
Brayden Barnes
Yeah, but their weapon distribution was similar if I'm not mistaken, and that's why I switched the Skill thing, where Italians get Runner, Japs get Brawler or Brave, which both fit their style better.
Crete's a big deal for me, and in NZ military history too. There are all the tales of great gallantry - it's where Upham won his first VC, and the counterattack at Galatas is legend. But there's also a lot of controversy to it. Colonel Leslie Andrew VC made a grave tactical error that effectively handed Maleme airfield over to the FJ; while it's understandable in context he was never allowed to live it down and his career was effectively ended. There's also the issue of air support which gets brought up occasionally; Churchill understandably could not spare a single plane from Malta or Egypt, but no-one on Crete ever forgave him for it.
The Cretans themselves were notorious for ambushing FJ patrols or isolated wounded troopers and torturing them to death most savagely. Consequently the horrified FJ took brutal reprisals on various Cretan villages. This subject is still pretty raw on Crete to this day.
We also can't forget the naval aspect, which saw the Germans suffer terrible loss in their amphibious efforts, and a lot of heated ship-on-ship actions.
I think the most significant thing about Crete, in the long-term, is that it really squelched any enthusiasm for airborne warfare among the Germans. The prospective invasion of Malta (Operation Hercules) was effectively stalled permanently because of it. IIRC there were no major German paradrops above battalion level for the remainder of the war. There was stuff like anti-partisan actions, especially the jumps at Vercors and Drvar in 1944, and that farce at the Bulge; but they never attempted anything like Crete again. That was kind of a victory for the Allies, if only a psychological one.
>How It's Made >The Canadian made program 'How It's Made', featuring a segment on us figure making and Renedra's mould makeing process, will be aired in the US tonight at 9pm (EST). The following link will lead you to the listings sciencechannel.com/schedule/ >We don't have a date as to when it will be screened in the UK, but when we do we'll let you know. This was filmed in early last year so it good to see it finally see on screen.
Will there be any way to watch/get this online later on?
Wyatt Garcia
Just got a load of minis from Footsore but they all need holes drilling in their hands.
Is there a way to do that without a hand drill?
Luke Mitchell
DRILL PRESS R I L L
P R E S S
Sebastian Hall
1/48 scale Type 97 Chi-Ha medium tank
Tamiya? Can't find.
Robert Taylor
As far as I know Tamiya doesn't make any Japanese stuff in 1/48.
Justin Myers
Going by Scalemates, the only Chi-Ha model in 1/48 ever produced was made by Aurora in 1972/6. OldModelKits have one for $100 (US, I guess).
Certainly not cheaper than Warlords Bolt Action. Thanks guys.
Liam Peterson
actually screw that, those .jp BA models are nasty. Real ugly sculpts. Will save pennies and not buy.
Jordan Stewart
Thats why I love 1/72. Have about 3 chi has in my house, and a shit ton of japanese infantry, even man-portable mountain howitzers!
Ayden Green
My local club has a decent player base for a a lot of /hwg/ stuff but none of them play in 1/72. It's just so cheap and the minis are actually really nice.
I mean saga isn't an expensive game or anything but a 40-50 box of 1/72 Viking is about £6.
Aiden Wood
Convince them to do it. Make two armies for an era and brag about how cheap they were.
Nicholas Gomez
I am reading Europe's tragedy, a book about the 30 years war, and Merian's Topografia Germaniae was named. Jesus flying fuck that shit is beautifull. I have the largest fucking boner right now.
Wyatt Green
>I am reading Europe's tragedy, a book about the 30 years war, Who isn't?
[Spoiler] it's pretty good [/spoiler]
Luke Walker
It's very good
Jose Adams
Anyone have it in a pdf, a doc, or any Kindle compatible format?
...and because it apparently lets you throw divisions around the table, and I feel the urge to play something larger-scale than my usual FFT. It has one stand representing a company, with engineers, bridging, and various levels of artillery & aviation. FFT's on a lower level, with a stand being a platoon, and I've never gone as high as a division. Battalions, yes, reinforced divisions, no. Seems a wee bit crunchier, as well?
Oliver Richardson
So I'm thinking of getting into Bolt Action and I really like the look of the plastic USMC so I'll probabley do a marines force.
Any reason a noob shouldn't play marines? I'm thinking about picking up the build an army deal, what units would folks recomend I pick up looking to make a decent 1000pts starter force?
Wyatt Cooper
The USMC has a really great box set, so a good choice. I can't remember if they are veterans or not, but whatever the case is, I'd say they are a good starter army. The build an army deals are generally gives you a great deal, so you can't really go wrong with that. For army building, HQ +2 infantry squads are mandatory, other than that, whatever you fancy to be honest.
Robert Ross
Some one record this for us Eurobros pls
Kayden Hall
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Jace Perez
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Owen Lee
I know literally nothing about the 30 Years War. Is the book a good entry point?
Tyler Bailey
I guess. In case you want the feel of the period, I'd recommend the novel series by Sienkiewicz. With Fire and Sword, The Deluge, and I don't know the English title of the third one. The first one is about the Ukrainian Cossack Revolt, the second is about the Swedish-Polish conflict, and haven't read the third yet.
It's truly a fascinating era as basically everything was there that you could imagine. Classic heavy cavalry with barding, full plate armor, muskets, pikes, horse archers, big-ass swords, grenades, everything.
If you're looking to play it, I've heard good things about By Fire and Sword, tho I'd recommend doing it in 10mm. Pendraken has some nice figures for it.
William Gray
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Logan Roberts
Check out the Lutzen Osprey in the horse and musket folder in the OP. Very cool run down on some of the forces and a great battle of the 30 years war. That was my introduction. inspired me to write a game about it! Fascinating period
It sounds like a cliché, but when it comes to books like this they really don't make them like they used to.
Grayson Rodriguez
Was there campaign rules for SAGA?
Michael Perry
If you want something like SAGA but with campaign stuff, try Dux Britanniarum or however it's spelled from the TooFatLardies
Mason Campbell
Age of the Wolf, coming out next week (anyone going to get it and scan it?)
Eli Phillips
Some valiant user will eventually, it just might take a little while like Crescent and Cross did
Samuel White
BMP
Lincoln Gomez
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Bentley Reyes
lol at first glance I actually thought those were miniatures. good job
Liam Rogers
They are minis user, those are Perry Afghans
Camden Kelly
Panzer II best panzer.
I'm working on some tank-riders for early/mid war to go along with the panzer IIs I just finished.
Evan Ortiz
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Lucas Sullivan
BMP
Jackson Price
If I were to make a WWII skirmish ruleset- would having grenades behave something like this be too stupid:
When a soldier throws a grenade rather than acting as an invisible modifier for an upcoming assault or an standard attack made at range, an actual 'live grenade' token is thrown up to x inches.
Grenades and other explosives don't detonate immediately under most circumstances, but instead in a kind of mini 'ordinance phase' at the end of both player's rounds.
Any unit a grenade is thrown at has to make a morale check to avoid fleeing away from it into cover as per standard morale rules.
If it passes, it then has the choice to flee or to try and discard the grenade- designating a squadmember who then rolls a d6.
a 1 or 2 means it explodes as per normal centered on said soldier, a 3 or 4 means the soldier manages to cover it and it only kills him, and a 5 or 6 means the soldier can throw it as per a normal grenade back at the enemy.
While it may seem a little excessive, I imagine making grenades more of a 'dislodging' tool is a bit realistic- and this mechanic is pretty fun. It also means grenades can be used quite strategically- being thrown at open areas to 'threaten' or deny paths or safe cover to infantry.
Sound reasonable?
Justin Gomez
Could be interesting, but risks making things finicky and bogging down play, though the smaller scale of a skirmish game will help with that somewhat.
Charles Reed
Sounds reasonable, but this would be painfully slow to resolve even on platoon level. Maybe on a squad level, it could work.
Gavin Bailey
frankly I think it's too much, but it's sort of hard to say without knowing the rest of your rules.
I mean most infantrymen would carry grenades so it could really lengthen the game if everyone is allowed to just hurl grenades around, and if you have to start inventory tracking each individual guy to try and avoid this I'm not sure that is an better.
Also, and I'm not sure of course, but I don't think it is common practice to throw grenades into open ground not occupied by the enemy as a movement blocker (at least I've not heard of it). That sounds very gamey and might not be something you really want to encourage.
Blake Jackson
I was imagining each 'fire team' or 'squad' could only throw one grenade a turn, somewhat akin to them being a squad upgrade in 40k. Can't say I've heard of any game where individual grenades are handled like that.
It's a skirmish game in the same vein as chain of command or bolt action- so at the absolute most if all 4-5 fireteams on each side all threw nades in a turn it would be 8-10 throws, so maybe 20 dice rolls at absolute most if you count morale, not too bad I think.
As above limiting to just one grenade each squad helps. As for the historicity of it I definitely can't attest to the open field use- but it also works to throw it into empty houses to ensure they are empty, or ahead of smoke screens to clear them.
Most rules seem to guarentee all grenades are used on known enemy locations, or that probing grenades are just fluff happening in the background as units move and fire. Here- it's a player controlled act that could have some (admittedly gamey) but fun uses.
Tyler Sanders
Could also interact interestingly with vehicles- if grenade tokens lobbed onto vehicles move with said vehicles you could do some commando shit with satchels thrown onto a truck then driven at max-speed into enemy positions. Also gives the above tank-riders some use in throwing back AT grenades and such.
David Mitchell
>still riding a tank when enemies are close enough to throw hand held at nades I don't know, sounds a tad dangerous.
Ian Turner
welcome to soviet army comrade- here is potato and vodka. Vodka is for of fueling tank- potato for fighting off german
Owen Martin
Are they zvezda pz II?
Anthony Green
Nope I dont like it. Soldiers tend to cook grenades anyway so there's no chance an enemy could throw them back or avoid them. Grenades should kill and/or disable, ideally as many enemies as possible.
You know your players would just powergame this anyway and cook the grenades so there's no chance of it going wrong.
In a WW2 skirmish (I'm going to assume you want something semi-realistic, otherwise what's the point of choosing a period at all?) your players are at a high risk of death most of the time already, no sense in adding to that by having cheeky enemies throwing grenades back or running when someone threw one at them (although this surely would have happened...)
I ran quite a few one shots of our homebrew WW2 skirmish game called BANZAI! (attached) Its pretty simple, but also pretty effective.
Grenades in Banzai made a large blast (about 3" diameter) and each enemy under the blast template took damage at +1. (for damage rolled a D6: 1-3 was nothing, 4-5 was wounded, and 6 was killed straight away.) So damage at +1 was pretty ruthless and tended to kill or wound whatever was hit by the grenade. one PC used them to devastating effect when all he had was a pistol and it was him against a bunker full of japs.
We mostly played pacific theater, the most popular scenario being the PCs landing on an island, and trying to take out Japanese artillery using anything they could get their hands on. Near the friendly airbase they could find a willies, a stuart light tank, and an inflatable raft, all of which they usually put to use. A lot of fun!
One player died within 5 minutes of the start of a session once. Walked off alone into a jungle he had specifically been told was crawling with japs, failed to spot a hidden MG nest, was shot in the head, GG. We let him "respawn" as a basic marine though, as he wasn't really a wargamer and just there for a good time, fun should always win!
Mason Campbell
Muskets and Tomahawks has an interesting Grenade mechanic. Units are activated by cards. Irregular units get one activation at a time, regular units two activations at a time, and Provincials have two single activation cards and a double activation.
Grenades/grenados take one activation to light, and then the next activation to throw. Whatever happens lit Grenades explode (I forget the exact wording for when.)
They're pretty deadly, but either a unit must spend time super close before using them, or run the risk of being shot with a live Grenade.
On the other hand, nothing else is better for clearing blockhouses of papist scum.
James James
You need a Luchs sometime for GOTTAGOFAST. Your ablative armor is looking good. Gonna magnetize them as a unit and some stowage so you can swap off riders as they dismount?
Hunter Bell
These are fucking nice! what scale? my intuition says 1/72
Parker Nguyen
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Camden Richardson
Spooky, I did not know ghosts visited salute
Owen Wright
Ian Heath "Armies of Feudal Europe 1066–1300"
Dominic Hernandez
Ghosts of wargamers long dead, forced to fight this battle for the rest of eternity.
Jonathan Phillips
I have a copy of that buried away in my folders. It's a classic and I should have added it to the Medieval folder ages ago.
Bolt Action rules query- When a unit assaults, and it gets shot at by the unit it's assaulting, at what point does the shooting happen? a) From the point the assault move began? b) At whatever point the responding player chooses, like an ambush order?
Cheers in advance.
Levi Hill
Yes. Excellent quality models for the price- go together in 5 piece real well.
The luggage on there is already glued on, but I will definitely magnetize the turrets and possibly the tank riders once I can get some magnets. The Zvezda models use molded pins to hold the turrets on which are passable but not as good as magnets.
15mm. They are well detailed for the scale and price.
I agree that most grenades are cooked down enough that the 1/3 odds of a throw-back is somewhat high. Perhaps just have the initial 'initiative' check to try and evacuate the position for less casualties. If we assume the 'token' is actually several grenades thrown by the squad then it would more represent the effect of several bursts dislodging them rather than a single kind of absurd Hollywood moment.
Alexander Bell
Good question - might we know why do you ask? I have to look for my rulebook to consult the rules, but if you give us the exact scenario, it might not be needed at all. I guess because of the ranges of some weapons.
Tyler Ross
Is there a pdf for Dead mans Hand in the OP, I've looked but I might just be being shit.
Has anyone played it?
Adam Ross
Two reasons-
1) Cover penalties- If a unit starts off behind cover, it can charge normally from behind that piece of cover, that's in the one of the FAQs or errata documents I think.
So if a unit is behind cover when it begins to charge, do I have to shoot at it whilst it's still in cover?
2) Point Blank range bonus. If an assault is declared within 6" you can't respond by firing back, of course. But if a unit 12" away charges you, can you wait until they're within 6" to gain point blank bonus?
Isaiah White
Well, on page 57, under "Target Reacts", it says "The opposing player takes an order die from the dice cup and instructs his unit to fire.". So I'd say it happens like this: player A declares assault on player B's unactivated unit, player B reacts by shooting at player A's unit, resolve the shooting, then move the assaulters to base contact. Not official answer, but based on rulesmongering, that's what I'd say in case I have to judge a similar situation.
Parker Davis
OK, that makes sense. I suppose if you could shoot at assaulters at point blank that would generally lead to a unit getting minced before it ever hit.
