Another Pot Pourri Post

Things have been rather quiet here on the Home Front, courtesy of a lingering and frankly rather boring cold. 'Tis the time of year I suppose and, fingers crossed, at least we've got it out of the way before Xmas! Only time will tell...

Startline

Despite this, a few things have been going on in the background, one such being an invite for another FtF trial game of Keith Flint's Startline rules. Once again the setting was Germany March 1945, with the Germans mounting a counter-attack against an American Combat Command in and around a village. I took command of the Americans, with Adam the Germans and Keith umpiring, clarifying and taking notes etc. It was rather a busy day, but I managed to take a few shots towards the end of the game.

An overview of the table, with the Americans deployed along the lower part of the table. The Germans are beginning to threaten parts of the village and are contesting others.

Wolverines have turned up just in time to provide the Shermans and infantry with much needed firepowere.

Adam tries to hide the Sdkfz 251's behind the smoke screen to avoid those nasty Wolverines.

One Sdkfz 251 has already been brewed up by a Sherman and the Panzer Grenadiers have debussed as they came under mortar fire.

Shermans take position behind a hill and go on overwatch to await what might come from behind the smoke screen.

Stug III's move into the village, unaware of the Shermans on the other side of the smoke.

The Panzer Grenadiers begin to enter and assault the village.

Panthers and more Panzer Grenadiers move forward, luckily avoiding the American artillery and air support (ie my dice rolling was shocking!).

Panzer IV's move up alongside the Panthers.

An overview near the end of the game.

Sadly time was against us and by the end of Turn 6, the Germans were still a way off being able to realistically contest 2 of the 3 objectives for a win. There were another 2 Turns left, but Adam and I both had to leave to get home in time. 

As always a fun game playing with friends, as well as helping Keith see how the rules panned out with how we played, as well as questions we posed. Hopefully we provided plenty of useful feedback and ideas.

Books, Books And More Books

My family know my love for the printed page, so I received some book vouchers as part of my birthday, which was very nice of them. The problem as always, was what to actually buy, given that I have plenty already, and the equivalent of a 'lead pile' in unread books! However with a few days perusal, I came up with tomes that interested me on many levels.

One of those books to add to those related to 'Operation Sealion'. Like many gamers of a certain age, a perennial 'what if?' that has a Siren like call that is hard to resist. Whilst reading the Crimean War book and realising how unprepared the British Army and Navy was in the 1850's, the butterfly in me wondered on a German invasion whilst Britain was weak and relatively undefended! Maybe something to ponder for a future campaign?

I'd heard of this book, but never read it, but at a bargain price, it was hard to resist and looks to be an informative read for all theatres of WWII in Europe and North Africa.

The Osprey campaign books are, with careful selection, really good primers and set at a perfect level as an introduction for wargamers. I thought I would add to the ones I already have on the Italian campaign, so that at some point I could have my fictional South Gloucestershire force fight their way from Sicily all the way up to the Gothic Line. I have the Anzio book on order too to aid this.

I've never considered fighting the later part of the Italian campaign, but as mentioned above, this could be a fine way to wrap a campaign up.

Rather like 'Operation Sealion', the opening stages of 'Operation Barbarossa' have a similar pull for me. My German forces are almost at a point where I could field a decent force, but the Russians are sadly lagging behind, especially on the armour front.

Toys For the Boys

Whilst laid low by the cold, it has given me plenty of time to reflect upon the hobby and what I really like and what to concentrate on. First and foremost this will be finishing up all those 'odds'n'sods' for my British and German forces for 1944, which will help me finish my 'Canadians in Normandy' campaign.

The rather large collection of my 'odds'n'sods'! Mainly Germans but with a smattering of British too.

More updates on this to follow in due course. At the same time I have decided which stalled projects, of which there are many, that in all honesty I will never get to start, and so will be disposed of in due course. A rather cathartic decision and one that has been in the offing for a long time. A bit of a pain to sort it all out, but I'm sure I will feel the better for it, as well as it allowing me to maintain greater focus on painting and gaming. Time will tell of course!

What Next?

Well, with Xmas nearly upon us and the house full once gain in a week or so, not much gaming or painting will be done for sure. At least reading will still be undertaken, ideas generated and mulled over, so not all bad! Hopefully a bit of priming can still go ahead whilst the weather is good, so I've got stock ready as and when time allows for painting.