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A fairly typical summer holiday meeting, with just a couple of games and a few visitors dropping in. Michael and Sam played a 15mm FoG Ancients game, using Koreans and 12th Century Syrians. Sam won by a narrow margin - just one point! One unit of Syrian lancers did particularly well, single handedly taking care of one flank of the army, but things weren't going so well on the other flank, so it was a very close game.
Kendall and Philip had a FoG Napoleonics game, using Prussians and Mamluks. Another close game, with Kendall getting the win. The Prussians were defending a couple of gentle hills with a strong force of infantry and artillery. Some areas of broken and difficult ground didn't affect the battle, other than slowing the Mamluk advance as they manouvred to avoid the bad going. Both armies had massed artillery in the centre of the table, and we both kept a respectful distance from each other, so most of the action took place in the flank sectors. The Prussian light cavalry division waited safely behind their infantry until the Mamluk cavalry had been spent on attacks on squares, and then counter-attacked most effectively. The Prussian musketry didn't roll well today, but the combat dice from their cavalry more than made up for that. It was a very enjoyable and action-packed game, with the losses of both armies gradually increasing to around the 40% mark. A final push by the Prussians pushed the Mamluks over the 50% level, including the capture of the command post.
Well, that wraps up another year for the club. We have had rather more activity than in previous years, and looking forward to more club events and competitions next year. We have a Waterloo refight planned for January, and there's the Battlecry convention and World competitions coming up in February. The club's first meeting in January is on the 9th. See you all next year!
Robbie and Ken had a Flames of War game, as practice for the Worlds next year. It was a see-saw game, and finished with Rob's British Paras beating the US force.
We had two FoG-Napoleonics games. Kendall's Prussians beat Philip's 1815 Allied army using a well-placed flank march. Brett's French and Andrew's Italians (featuring lots of newly painted figures) had a drawn-out battle over some bad terrain, as you can see in the picture below.
Another FoGN game at the club today between Kit using 1815 British, Dutch-Belgians and Brunswickers making their first appearance, against Brett's French army. A 40-20 win to Brett.
We also had a couple of 25mm DBMM 240 point games to give us some practice before next week's tournament at AWC. Philip's Egyptians beat Rob's Portuguese, and Andrew's crusaders beat Kendall's Hussites. Some good exciting games with the 2nd ed rules.
Andrew (Army of Italy) beat Brett (Jerome s Westphalians) in a FoGN game using the latest version of the rules. The Italian cavalry division charged incessantly against the crowded Westphalian right causing them to become panicked and eventually break. Jerome s doom was sealed by an Italian infantry brigade marching on a side road to capture his chamber pot. The new version has a tightening up of some rules allowing for quicker results. Additional uses for command points makes for tough decisions to be made for the players. In all a very good game.
There were several North Shore players at Rallypoint. Mike Haycock was 1st with German Armour, and Ken Camel 3rd = with German Armour. Robbie was 6th= with British Infantry. Not a bad showing out of 32 for the first Tourney with the new Blitzkreig book.
There were also some War Machine and 15mm Napoleonics (First Volley?) being played.
Not much on at the club today. Kit (Polish Cavalry company) thwarted the Blitzkrieg of Ken (German Light Panzer company) by holding the line 4-3. First use of the new Blitzkrieg book saw an exciting see-saw game.
There was a good turnout at the Battlefront GT with Ken, Kit, Lee, Lyndon, and Robbie representing our club. Kit was third overall, using a German Grenadierkompanie.
The Battlefront GT is coming up soon, so we had a couple of practice games. Lee's Germans beat Brett's Finns, and Kendall got a win over Kit's Germans.
Benny and Philip had a 25mm DBMM game using the new version 2 rules. Benny won 22-3, using Later Carthaginians against Kushite Egyptians.
At the regular club meeting on the Sunday, there was also a Flames of War game.
This weekend The City Guard hosted GuardCon with the Fields of Blood Warhammer competiton and a Lord of the Rings Grand Tournament. Robbie was there representing the club.
Brett and Philip had a game of DBR in 15mm. Lots of losses on both sides, but Brett's C-in-C got into the baggage and won the game 8-2 to the Muslim Indians over the Algerians. The Push of Pike tournament is on the weekend of 25/26 September, so this was a good practice game for that.
There were a couple of Flames of War games. Rob's British armoured cars got a 4-3 win over Ken's 3rd US Infantry.
Kendall (US 2nd Armored Tank company) beat Kit (SS Panzergrenadier company) 6-1. The US tanks sprinted forward to assault the German PaK 43 battery while avoiding the menacing Tiger by firing smoke at it. Von Goldsbury was last seen trying to rally a platoon of Panzergrenadiers, leaving the single Tiger trying to defend two objectives at the same time.
The DBA gathering was quite a success, with six players and twelve games played. Participants were: Benny (Carthaginians), Joel (Marian Romans), John (Swiss), Kendall (Mycenaean Greeks), Mark (Komnenan Byzantine), and Philip (New Kingdom Egyptians). Part of the motivation for running the DBA games was practice for the IWF next year, but DBA could be good for our club for casual games and for beginners getting into Ancients.
Also at the club today, a Flames of War game between Michael (Russians) and Kit (Germans). The Russian heavy tanks were doing well against the Germans, until one of their lightly defended objectives was over-run by Pz IVs.
Lots of games at the club today. There were three Flames of War games: Ken's Americans took on Kit's Germans. Lyndon's US Airborne took on a German force. Kendall used a German army with two king Tigers to get a 4-3 win over Michael who was using a Russian army.
Philip and John played four quick DBA games, with New Kingdom Egyptians and Sea Peoples, and Philistines and Saitic Egyptians playing two games each, all the wins going to John!
Rob (Empire) and Dan (Skaven) played a game with the new Warhammer book.
Andrew (Italians) and Brett (Austrian Reserve Corps) had a game of FoG Napoleonics.
The most spectacular game of the day was a 1/300 moderns game between Al and Bruce. Much of the terrain depicting Kuwait had been produced by Kieran.
Andrew and Lyndon had a Flames of War game, with Brits and Germans fighting it out in an Italian scenario. It was a night attack on a vineyard.
We had a couple more FoG Napoleonics game. Brett's new Westphalians got a decisive victory over Philip's Netherlands and British army. The Westphalian advance pushed the allied army back from their defensive positions, and then the reserve Netherlands cavalry arrived just in time to see their infantry leaving in rout. In the other game, Andrew's 1815 Neapolitans defeated Kit's British. A long skirmish line of Neapolitan infantry and wide ranging cavalry managed to pick off British units which became isolated. The British Dragoon Guards made a splendid charge on an opposing cavalry unit, routing them on contact, but that didn't save the battle for them.
There was quite a lot of drooling over the new Warhammer book. The size! The colour! The price!
Brett and Kit had a FoG Napoleonics game, with the French Old Guard defending against a British assault. There was lots of action, and both armies were in bad condition by the end of the game. Although resulting in a draw, it was an exciting game.
We played the two remaining games in the Ancients competition. If either Rob or Sam won their game they would have won the competition, but as it happened they got a loss and a draw. That left three players with two wins, one draw and one loss each. Mike wins the competition as he had the highest score from all the games. Congrats, and good to see a win for a chariot army!
Today we had a couple of Flames of War games. Gavin and Lyndon played one game, but no details just yet. Kendall and Lee had a mid-war game, both using Germans. Lee's force included some Panthers who did rather well against Kendall's Tigers. Kendall is now heading off for a holiday touring the battlefields and bars of northwestern Europe.
We had three more games in the FoG Ancients competition:
Benny (Pyrrhic) and Brett (Japanese) had a draw, and Mike (Urartians) got two wins against Sam (Syrian states) and Philip (Late Dynastic Egyptians). The latter game ended with both sides racing to the opponents undefended baggage camps to break the armies, with the Urartians winning that contest. There are still two more games to be played next meeting (Benny v Sam, and Philip v Rob). With Mike, Sam, and Rob having three wins each it is still a close competition.
There were four games at the club today.
FoG Ancients. Brett and Robbie had a competition game (as Rob is going to be at another tournament during the second round of the comp next meeting). It was a decisive victory to Rob's Byzantines over Brett's Japanese.
FoG Napoleonics. Andrew's Neapolitans got an equally decisive victory over Philip's Netherlands army, which featured the first properly painted Dutch unit (the only one that did well as it happens).
Flames of War. Ken (Germans) played Kit (Russians) in a late war game with lots of armour on the table.
Grant and John had a 1745 Jacobite rebellion game, using a modified version of DBR.
There was a good contingent of NSWC players at Nicon this year, playing in Flames of War. Kit came 3rd (Mid-war, Punjabi Rifle Company) and Rob 4th in their competitions, with good mid-table performacnces from Ken, Lyndon, Mike and Tristan as well. There were about 20 Flames players, 20 to 30 in WHFB and 40K, 6 players in 1st Volley Napoleonics, and WWII aerial and Napoleonics display games.
It was a cold wintery day outside, and none too warm inside either! But we had a good meeting today with a total of eight games played. This year's Field of Glory Ancients competition got under way today. After the first two rounds, Sam is in the lead with two wins using his new army. These are the current scores (using win/draw/loss followed by percentage losses on opponents):
1. Sam, Syrian States, 2 wins, 100%
2. Rob, Byzantine, 1 win, 1 draw, 65%
3. Philip, Late Dynastic Egyptians, 1 win, 1 loss, 90%
4. Mike, Urartians, 1 draw, 1 loss, 83%
5. Brett, Muromachi Japanese, 1 draw, 1 loss, 59%
6. Benny, Pyrrhic, 1 draw, 1 loss, 40%
The final rounds will be held on the club meeting on 27 June.
There were a couple of games of Flames of War, with several of us getting ready for Nicon. Ken (Germans) and Kit (British) had a game on a very attractive desert terrain.
Andrew (German armour) and Lyndon (US Airborne) had a game in another good terrain setup, struggling their way through the bocage. Here's Lyndon's After Action Report:
The scene was set for a very interesting game when Andrew turned up with his newly created bocage terrain. After setup, the majority of the board was covered in bocage apart from one narrow channel down a flank (which would prove decisive later in the day.)
After all the preliminaries and deployment, Andrew was appointed the attacker and had first turn. His first turn consisted mainly of movement with a little attacking fire which did not inflict any damage.
Lyndon was able to dig in his two rifle platoons in his first turn and made a bold move by transporting his four Shermans to the top of a hill in full view of 5 Panzer IV's. His risky strategy was to destroy the majority of the Panzers before they had a chance to counter attack and early in the battle his plan looked to have paid off with two Panzers destroyed.
Unfortunately for the US the other three came through unscathed and braced themselves to reap havoc on the brittle Shermans. Andrew jumped on the opportunity straight away and let loose with a barrage of fire. Surprisingly the result was the bailing of a single tank and the Americans must have thought their birthdays had come at once! On the other side of the board Andrew used his rocket launchers without much success but managed to knock out an Anti Tank gun with one of this three Panthers who were lurking ominously amongst the bocage.
After a couple of turns of missed opportunities and dice saves Lyndon took the initiative by firstly destroying a Panther with an Anti Tank gun (revenge is sweet!) before taking a side armour shot with a Sherman on another Panther. The result meant two Panthers destroyed and the subsequent failing of his motivation roll saw the Panther platoon's demise. All the while Lyndon managed to call on Air Support most turns but it did not provide overly effective.
Andrew was not impressed with the series of events and in double quick time cleaned up the Shermans who had exposed themselves in order to attack the Panthers. Losing a platoon of Shermans for a platoon of Panthers sounded like a good deal for Lyndon at the time! With that side of the board dominated, Andrew started to move his other Panzer IV's down the clear flank with a view to assaulting the nearby objective.
Lyndon was able to disrupt the advance to the objective by dropping well placed smoke but did not anticipate the rapid charge by Andrew which saw him approach the objective in strong numbers. Andrew destroyed the US 57mm gun platoon and went on a killing spree against a hapless rifle platoon. Although the fearless Paras never gave in, eventually they were no match for the Germans and were smashed!
So a win by the Germans and a thoroughly enjoyable game. With two relative newcomers to Flames of War it meant a number of rule clarifications and some definite learning taking place but that just made for an even more interesting game!
Not so many people at the club today, with Mothers Day and other stuff keeping us busy. There were a couple of games. Ken (Germans) and Robbie (British paras) had a Flames of War game. It was a win to the Brits, but their C-in-C didn't survive. Brett (Austrians) and Kendall (Saxons) had a game with the latest draft (version 4) of the Field of Glory Napoleonic rules. The new command & control and flank marching rules were used, and gave a good victory to Kendall.
Andrew, Kit, and Stu have been working hard to get two games ready for our ANZAC Day meeting. Both games looked really good, with custom made terrain and models, and would make good exhibition games and are well worth replaying.
There was a Gallipoli landing, using Airfix WWI figures and Flames of War rules, with some modifications for the naval landing and bombardments. The British had an array of ships and boats providing transport and fire support. This was a difficult game for the ANZACs and a good win for the Turks.
The other game was based on the defence of Maleme in Crete. Several players contributed troops and aircraft for the game, and most of the modelling and game design was done by Stu. Again we used Flames of War, with a few special rules for this scenario. This was a very close game, but by the end of the game the Commonwealth side still held Maleme airfield, but with greatly depleted forces. The pictures here show the gliders (based on the 2D models from the old Featherstone book), and the terrain boards during construction.
There were several other regular games at the club today. In a 15mm DBR game, Ian's Low Countries Spanish played Philip's Algerians. The invading Spanish began by rushing some fast lancers around both flanks of the Algerians. After some initial successes the lancers were eventually shot down. The superior warbands took heavy losses in breaking the Spanish infantry, but at the same time the rest of the Algerians were being defeated by Spanish musketry. After all these losses, the game was a mutual break.
There were two more Flames of War games. Ken and Lee played one game, and in the other Lydon used his US Airborne force for the first time, and got a win over Andrew's Germans.
We had a good productive day at the club today. We had a painting table set up with Kendall de-flashing some 15mm pike and shot figures (old Mikes Models), Robbie rebasing his 15mm Napoleonic Poles for FoG-N, Kit painting some Airfix WWI British figures (remember the officer with a sword, and the chap doing semaphore?) for use in an adaptation of Flames of War, and Philip working on the bases of some 15mm Medievals. The picture here shows Benny, Kit, and Robbie hamming it up for the camera. Kendall is out of shot, but his handiwork is on display on the table.
We also had a couple of Field of Glory games in 15mm. Scott's Swiss army got a comprehensive win against Philip's Medieval Danes, not losing any units and only a couple of bases lost in the game. Brett and Sam had a harder fought game, with the win going to Sam (New Kingdom Egyptians v Japanese).
During the Easter weekend Natcon was hosted by the Hutt Miniature Wargames Club, at the St Patrick's College hall in Silverstream. In total, there were about 150 wargamers at the convention, although only a small number from the NSWC this year. It was a good venue, there was good weather for the weekend, and the canteen on site had nice home-made food! There was a bring-and-buy table, but perhaps with a little less on offer than we have seen in the past. Some of the local gaming stores also had trade stands. At the end of the convention we had the prizegiving dinner at the Totara Lodge, very convenient for all of us staying there!
The main hall had the Flames of War competitions (Early, Mid and Late), Warhammer Fantasy Battle and 40K. WHFB was the largest individual competition with 32 players, although there were 50 FoW players across the three periods. On the stage area and side rooms were FoG Ancients in 15mm with 12 players and a DBA mini-campaign with 6 or 8 players, and Spearhead Moderns. There was no DBMM because of lack of numbers. Some of those who entered in DBMM played instead in other competitions. DBR competitions got a good turnout, and for the first time since the early 1980s both 15mm and 25mm scales were played, with 8 in each competition including two players visiting from Australia. There was also a Warmachine competition, unfortunately with some unpainted models in use. No soft scores here!
There were also some display games, including 25mm American Civil War, and a very interesting looking ancients system called "King of Kings". The rules were written by NZers, with some innovative ideas for gaming including a campaign system for generating battles. Units were on 20x10 cm bases packed with lots of figures giving a very impressive look to the units and to the battle overall.
Kit won the Flames of War Early War competition by 2 points (after having missed out on a placing by 1 point last year). He was using British Recce (11th Hussars). Lyndon, using a German army borrowed from Kit, got the Best Sport award in the Late War competition. Robbie's British Armour got him a mid-table result in the mid-war comp. He was also the only one of us to score a NATCON 2010 coffee mug! As is usual with Flames tournaments, the tables had pre-set terrain supplied by several of the local gamers. There were some very nice terrains and armies on show.
In the DBR 15mm competition, Auckland/NSWC took out the top three places: Philip (Muslim Indians) 1st and best painted army; Grant (Aztecs) 2nd; and Stu (Louis XIV French) 3rd. Stu got the award for the most enemy baggage looted, Philip got the 'General Slayer' award for most enemy generals killed. Not many people would have expected to have seen Aztec armies appearing in both scales, but they were there causing a lot of consternation to their outnumbered opponents! The 25mm Aztecs were most spectacular, with a large temple making an impressive terrain piece. They got the best painted army award for the 25mm comp.
Next year Natcon will be in Christchurch.
We held our AGM today. The full details will be posted here later, but the main points of discussion were club competitions and other special events such as ANZAC Day games, and club fees (we agreed it would be a good idea to pay them).
It was good to see new club members in action today, as well as the old timers!. There were some new armies on show. Michael's newly painted Urartian army won a close victory over Sam and Michael who were using Libyan Egyptians. The "Invincible Meshwesh" didn't live up to their name, although the Egyptian light chariots unexpectedly beat the Urartian heavies. (Picture above left)
In another practice game for Natcon, Philip's Muslim Indians got a 7-3 draw against Benny's Venetians, but claimed the moral victory when the Venetians were found to have too many points on the table!
There were a couple of Flames of War games. Firstly, pictured above right, Andrew & Son with a new German army took on Kendall's US Airborne. The American's did well destroying the Brumbars in an assault. In the other game, Brett's Finns took on Lee's Russians.
This weekend EQUINOX was held at the Freeman's Bay Community Centre (the City Guard venue). We had Kit, Ken and Lyndon representing our club in Flames of War, and Kit won the competition using Russian Guards infantry. Robbie (Medieval Portuguese) and Al (Spartans) were in the Field of Glory 25mm competition, taking out Second and Third place. There are some great pictures of the convention on this website http://www.lbj-photography.com/Equinox_home.htm
FoG-Ancients 15mm. Sam (Libyan Egyptians) beat Brett (Japanese)
DBR 15mm. Philip (Muslim Indians) beat Kendall (Later Imperialists). The battle began in the mist, hindering the long range Indian artillery, and limiting command and control on both sides. When the mist lifted, both sides' cavalry were close together. The Indian cavalry rolled much higher and got a 10-0 win, but the Imperialists did get a consolation elephant at the end of the battle!
There were three Flames of War games. Ken got a fairly comprehensive victory over Michael, with both sides using lots of German armour.
Lyndon, using a German army, won a close 4-3 victory over Kit's Russians.
Rob had a game against a new player Andrew (Brits v Germans).
Flames of War. Lyndon (Germans) beat Kit (Russians) 4-3 in a 'Fighting withdrawal' scenario from Operation Bagration.
Field of Glory. Sam (Pontic) beat Philip (Late Egyptians). The Pontic army with Armenian allies had 11 BGs to the Egyptians' 14. It was a close game, with both camps being looted, and a total of three generals killed in combat.
This weekend the Battlecry tournament was held at the ASB Stadium in Kohimarama. It was a great venue, and packed with lots of wargamers, roleplayers, LARPers, and other weird but harmless groups. We had a good turnout from the club.
Rob played in Warhammer Fantasy using a Warriors of Chaos army, and was part of the team that won the Team Prize, the same team that won it last year as well. There were 32 players in WHFB.
Brett (Medieval Germans), Philip (Kushite Egyptians), and Al (Spartans and frequently unreliable Athenian allies) played in the DBMM 240 point 25mm competition (in a field of only 4). Al took out first place.
Ken (Afrika Korps grenadier company) and Kit (Gurkhas) played in the Western Desert themed Flames of War competition in a field of about 10. Ken got second place, and Kit was 4th, also winning the Best Army prize (an excellent prize pack from Gale Force Nine scenics.)
Michael (Pontic) and Sam (New Kingdom Egyptian) played in the 15mm FoG Ancients tournament. Sam did very well in his first tournament to get second place out of 8 players, and won a great prize from Battleline Miniatures.
Sam (New Kingdom Egyptians) won a FoG Ancients game against Scott (Kushans). After a tough game the Egyptians managed to invade the middle eastern steppes routing or fragmenting the required amount of Kushan units (6 routed and 1 fragmented). In return the Kushans had routed 5 Egyption units. The Egyptian scouting proved superior beating the Kushans even though the Kushans had a +4 to a +1 advantage.
There were two FoG Napoleonic games. Ney gave Wellington a bloody nose, only the arrival of nightfall saving the shopkeepers from annihilation. The Times called it a draw, praising the Iron Duke s front foot defense. However when later questioned in the House of Commons Wellington admitted he had fielded too many men inside the circle, and taken the field with a twelve man team. Bringing 652 to a 600 point party, jolly poor form. In any case it s been stenciled on the Arc de Triomphe as yet another French triumph, so it must have been a mighty conquest for the Gallic Cock.
Kendall's Saxons are still undefeated after a hard fought draw against Andrew's Italians! The Italians fight the Saxons to a standstill, the vaunted Saxon heavy cavalry riding completely around the pizza boys army and attacking it from the rear, bursting through enemy lines to the cheers of the sausage eaters. Recognising a great trick when they see one, a regiment of ravioli dragoons rode around the kraut army to take von Blau in the rear. Nasty. Another draw.
Rob was the only player from our club at the OTT tournament in Hamilton this year. He came 6th overall in Warhammer, and picked up the Best Painted Army prize for his Daemons of Chaos.
We had two Napoleonic Field of Glory games today. The game pictured below shows Andrew's army of veterans from the Kingdom of Italy with French allies taking on Brett's French Imperial Guard under the personal leadership of Napoleon. It was a good victory for the Italians who made good use of their superior numbers. Kendall (1812 Saxons) also got a decisive victory over Philip (1815 Netherlands). The Saxon guard cuirassiers were by far the strongest and most expensive unit on the board, and they got a clear win over the opposing carabiniers. Their brigade commander didn't survive the combat though.
Michael (Koreans) and Sam (New Kingdom Egyptians) played a 15mm FoG game.
There were also a couple of Flames of War games. Lyndon (Germans) played Rob (Brits) in a battle set somewhere in the green fields of Tunisia. In a Western Desert game, Kit's Gurkhas defeated Ken's Germans in a night attack, taking an objective just the turn before it was to have been removed.
There were two 15mm Field of Glory ancients games. Michael (Pontic) was beaten by Scott (Gauls, led by a mighty force of Gaesati). Sam (New Kingdom Egyptians) got a winning draw against Al (Spartans)
Brett and Philip played FoG Napoleonics, trying out some more new rules variants. Brett's Austrians defeated Philip's British and Netherlands army.
Lyndon and Ken had a Flames of War game, Americans v Germans.
This was our first meeting of the year, and we had a pretty good turnout.
Dan and Rob had a Warhammer game using Chaos and Skaven.
We had a couple of 15mm Field of Glory ancients games. Philip (Pontic) beat Sam (Macedonian), and the two Michaels had a drawn game, using New Kingdom Egyptians and Koreans.
Al and Andrew had some 25mm DBMM games using 200 point armies. They got in three games, using Later Hoplite Greeks and Early Crusaders. Greeks won twice, and the Crusaders once. Two games were close run things, and in the last game the Spartans caned the Crusaders. In one game, a three command Irr Sp(O) army was going OK until two generals died in one bound - that was enough to break the army. The other two games were with two Spartan Reg Sp(S)/Reg Sp(O) commands - less elements, same ME, same points per frontage (12AP/element frontage) but more manouverable (regular).
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This page last updated 7 April 2024