Basilhare's Game Blog

Battlefront vs. Gaming Models Miniature comparison

basilhare — Sun, 24 Jul 2011 12:37:09 +0000

To be up front and honest, I have always been a huge Battlefront Fan….I have never owned or painted any 15mm WW2 models other than BF’s….on a whim, I decided to order some of the Gaming Models Resin tank miniatures to see what they looked like…you judge for yourself….to be fair, the BF’s have my paint job and some extra “bits” to detail the BF models while the Gaming Models are right out of the “box”….the JagdPz IV GM’s are unpainted….the Stug IIIG & T-34/85 have the stock GM paint job. The Stug IIIG from Gaming Models is much smaller (even more so in “real life”) than its BF counterpart…the JagdPz IV from GM is much wider than the BF version…the BF’s pictured are the short 75mm version while the GM’s pictured have the L/70…overall, the GM T-34 looks decent (note: I do not own any BF Russians for quality & size comparison) as does the JagdPZ IV….the only real complaint is that some of the guns are bent such that the soft plastic is warped and cant be bent straight…crooked guns on about 20% of the vehicles I ordered. The cost is $4 per model for GM’s vs. $12+ for BF’s….I received a polite e-mail when the GM’s were shipped and received my order in about 2.5 weeks….the GM’s can be ordered painted or unpainted (same cost eitherway)…the Russian paint job is okay…I do not care for the German Yellow-Tan shade as it looks “off” to me…my assessment would be to use GM’s where a large # of vehicles are needed (Ie., Russians) and/or cost is a factor…. whereas w/ Germans I would be more apt to collect the BF’s…my 2 cents worth… http://www.gamodls.com/

Marders, Jagdpanzer IV’s and such….FoW Progress Update

basilhare — Sun, 19 Jun 2011 21:15:13 +0000

Despite a hectic schedule at work & home, I managed to get a few new vehicles & items painted for our next FoW game….ordered in 3 x Battlefront Marder III M’s, 4 x 7.5cm Stuk 40 Jadgpanzer IV’s, some heavy mortar teams and managed to paint the 4 x Sd Kfz 250′s I had laying around for awhile….also painted another Sd Kfz 10/5 & 7/1 so that I could add a 3rd AA vehicle to my AA platoons…I now have 3 each of those types as well as 3 Flakpanzer 38′s….Next – I will probably try and tackle another panzergrenadier platoon w/ the new rubble FoW bases I just received…looking forward to fielding some of these new items next weekend…..!

Battlefront Panzergrenadier boxed set

basilhare — Sat, 28 May 2011 15:11:43 +0000

I painted up a BF Panzergrenadier Platoon this week….though the cost is a bit steep @ $60 +/-, I really enjoyed working these up….I love the BF figures & vehicles…they paint up rather nice….still getting back into 15′s, but im starting to get comfortable painting them again…The figures required some prep work as some of the BF molds must be getting old…fair amount of flash & trash to clean…but I like the size & bulk of the figs vs. my other Old Glory Germans that I remounted for FoW….The halftracks were mostly plastic, w/ a resin hull…lots of extra stowage items…I really got a kick out of the gear hanging from the sides of the vehicles…BF has done a good job with the extra stowage items…some of the crates were out of my “bitz” box, but the helmets & such were included in the platoon box…fun project…working on 2 x 7.5cm ATG’s next & then some Marder III M’s….

This Week’s FoW Progress

basilhare — Wed, 18 May 2011 00:36:51 +0000

Work is muderous here lately, but I did manage to paint a Platoon of 5 x Mk IV H’s….these models were from the BF Platoon boxed set and come with some nice extras….decals…stowage bits….open or closed hatches w/ a Tank Commander…and the rare earth turret magnets….the plastic Shurzen side plates are a royal pain, but look cool once they are in place….I had fun doing these up….taking a break the rest of the week from painting to read rules for our Game Session on 5/21….hoping to get a few of these on the table in our 1500 pt Mid-War game….

Flames of War Progress

basilhare — Mon, 09 May 2011 11:13:51 +0000

Shifting gears a bit from my usual 28mm Napoleonic painting…..I have spent the past week painting some Battlefront 15mm German Vehicles and remounting all of my Old Glory 15′s to FoW stands….Managed to do up 2 Stug III G’s, a Mark IV H, 3 Flakpanzer 38 (t)’s and a pair of Sd Kfz 7/1 Quad 2cm’s…..obviously an anti-air theme going on here…..gearing up for a 1500 point Mid-War game later in the month…..Late War is my favorite period, but Mid-War is the next best thing…:>)

“Waterlitz” : Command & Colors Napoleonics

basilhare — Sat, 02 Apr 2011 22:01:24 +0000

Rich and I played our first game of Command & Colors: Napoleonics this morning (Saturday, April 2nd). As detailed in the previous post, I built terrain for the “Waterloo” scenario but substituted my Austrians for the British and my Saxons & Bavarians for the Allied troops vs. my French. My 6mm collection had not seen the light of day for several years – not since we had stopped playing “Grande Armee.” It was good to see them on the table again and I was quite pleased with the epic look of the terrain & figures. Rich chose to play the Allied side, while I commanded the French.

The game opened on the French left with the assault on Hougoumont. We were surprised how easily unsupported troops could be dislodged from terrain features, including the built up areas, but I’m figuring you have to take into account the scale of the game and the scope of what is going on in a rather large Hex. Im guessing that each of my Units (mounted on 2″ Litko stands) must equate to roughly a division of troops and each 3″ hex must be about 100-150 yards in scenario scale. In any case I quickly overran Hougomont with a Light Division but was counterattacked by the Grenadier Guards which annihilated the French Light Division in the next card play sequence. Hougomont would change hands several times during the course of the game, but would eventually fall back under Allied control. The French Left Flank would remain the focal point of the game for several turns. As in the historical battle, it seemed to draw much of the attention (and resources), especially in the first few turns

Meanwhile, the action shifted to the French Right Flank and the action became very hot & heavy around Papelotte. The French took control of Papelotte in the middle of the game and despite all Allied efforts, Rich could not wrestle it back. The loss of the built up area cost the Brits a victory banner each turn, which would prove their undoing. Sporadic fighting would ensue on the French right for the remainder of the game, but focus began to shift toward the map center for the final portion of the game

By late game, the Allies held Hougomont but had lost a couple of divisions in the fray. Both sides began to focus on the map center and I lost an infantry division in a sharp exchange near La Haye Sainte. The walled farmhouse changed hands several times as well. The highlight of the latter portion of the game was a grand French cavalry charge (Cavalry Charge Card) which featured the French Cuirassier Division overrunning an Allied Minor Infantry division and then a supporting Light Cavalry Division in the breakthrough move. This satisfied the French victory conditions and the game was called.

Final score was French (8) vs. Allied (2). Losses were 3 Allied Divisions (Units) destroyed vs. 2 French Divisions lost. Thinking that the game was a bit lopsided in favor of the French, I played a second game today solo and achieved much the same results. Game #2 yielded a score of French (8) vs. Allied (2). Same losses – Allied 3 units lost vs. French 2.

Game balance is a tricky thing with these types of games, as the card draw is all important and somewhat dependant on luck. Our inexperience with the system is of course a factor as well. We could have done a much better job on supporting our units so that retreats were less of an issue. All in all though, I’m feeling that when we replay the Waterloo scenario we should “write in” two special rules: (1) The Allies ignore 1 flag when deployed in the BUA’s and (2) At the start of any turn in which the Allies hold all 3 BUA’s, they score 1 victory banner. I think this may help the Allied side and give a better game. I highly recommend this game though – we had a blast and thought it was the best of the Borg games so far. I hope that GMT releases the major nationality stats & rules soon. I can wait to properly field my Austrians using their own stats!

Command & Colors Napoleonics: “Waterlitz” – Waterloo Scenario Conversion to 6mm Miniatures

basilhare — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 02:33:36 +0000

I have had a collection of 6mm French, French-Allied & Austrian figures for years. I recently bought the new Command & Colors Napoleonics boardgame and just had to try converting it into a miniature game. I bought a custom hand stenciled 3″ hex mat from “Action Terrain” (dispang@yahoo.com) @ $30.00 (includes shipping). I have a “Hotz Mat” on order as well, but good grief they are slow. I received my felt mat from Action in 7 days. In any case, my collection of 6mm figures are mounted on 2″ stands (for Grande Armee) and so I went with 3″ hexes. I decided to build the Waterloo scenario but use my Austrians and French Minor Allies for the “Allied” side (not having any 6mm Brits) along side my French figs. Im calling this project ”Waterlitz” since there are Austrians instead of Brits…..

I bought 3″ Litko Hex Stands for building the terrain pieces and constructed the necessary hills & forest hexes. I wanted a way to show the units deployed into the forests so I made the forest terrain pieces with a removable 2″ center so that I could place my units on the 3″ hex tile. I think it worked well…The towns are from JR Miniatures http://www.jrminiatures.net/ and work well for the game map. I will use an off map display to show deployed troops so that I dont have to remove the buildings.

All units are labeled as to type & starting strength (the camera flash washed out the labels – sorry). We will use numbered beads to display strength, once losses occur. Rich & I plan to play Saturday and I will update as to the results of the game.

2010 in review

basilhare — Sun, 02 Jan 2011 10:48:22 +0000

The stats helper monkeys at WordPress.com mulled over how this blog did in 2010, and here’s a high level summary of its overall blog health:

The Blog-Health-o-Meter™ reads Wow.

Crunchy numbers

The average container ship can carry about 4,500 containers. This blog was viewed about 24,000 times in 2010. If each view were a shipping container, your blog would have filled about 5 fully loaded ships.

In 2010, there were 9 new posts, growing the total archive of this blog to 36 posts. There were 83 pictures uploaded, taking up a total of 90mb. That’s about 2 pictures per week.

The most popular post was “Retribution” : Lasalle 1809 Peninsula Scenario.

Where did they come from?

The top referring sites in 2010 were theminiaturespage.com, sammustafa.com, sharppractice.11.forumer.com, littletinmen.blogspot.com, and jeudhistoire.free.fr.

Attractions in 2010

These are the posts and pages that got the most views in 2010.

“Retribution” : Lasalle 1809 Peninsula Scenario April 2010

28mm Napoleonic Figure Comparison: Perry Plastics, Front Rank and Foundry June 2009

Our second “go” at Lasalle December 2009
2 comments

Gearing Up for Lasalle November 2009

4th Italian Line Marches off the painting table…

basilhare — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 02:12:26 +0000

First of my newest Italian Line Battalions off the painting table. I used Pre-1812 28mm Front Rank French Figs in campaign dress based on suggestions for figs off TMP. These are painted in the uniforms of the 4th Italian Line, circa 1809. Will use along side my French for our Peninsula Lasalle & Sharp Practice Games. The flag is from GMB.

Update: Went back and repainted the shakos to the correct colors for the fusiliers, deleting the red trim. Also added a second battalion…working on the 3rd & final line battalion…still need to do the artillery and a light battalion to make up an Italian Allied support choice for the French, under the Lasalle system.

Supply Train! Game 2

basilhare — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 20:31:16 +0000

In honor of my good friend Tom McBrayer’s B-Day, we gathered the clan and played another game of “Supply Train!”, using the Lasalle rules with 28mm figs. Jim Grifford broke out his most excellently painted Victrix KGL & Highlanders to compliment my stock of Brits, Portuguese and Brunswick Troops. I GM’d the game while the Allied side was run by Jim Grifford (Center & British Left) & Rich Grove (British Right). My 28mm French troops (mostly Front Rank w/ some Perry Plastic) were ran by the McBrayer’s. Tom ran the French conscripts on the left, while his son Jim ran the center and Brad ran the right. Despite the humidity, heat & plague of insects (lots of rain lately) in my garage, we braved the elements and had a good time. We brought the game to conclusion in about 4 hours, managing 14 turns. The French turned the British right & left flank and caused heavy casualities in the process. Rich & Jim gave a good game and caused substantial French losses, especially in the center, but the day was clearly the French’s as they managed to get the supply convoy off the road. I had a great time – very hard fought game.