This is the second and final part of my Wintercon 2014 coverage, and I'll focus on the two games I was lucky to play in.
The first day I tried to help defend Pegasus Bridge from the surprise attack of the Brit Paras in a Chain of Command re-enactment fought on a massive table.
Gaming buddy Jason D and his fellow gamers Andrew and Brad built an amazing table complete with the Warlord Games Pegasus Bridge model and hotel. Jason made three Horsa gliders for his paras , which landed in almost perfect positions for their assault.
Chain of Command uses an innovative activation mechanic whereby each player at the start of their turn rolls a number of dice, usually 5-6, to determine what types of units may activate. In true Fat Lardies style, the game focuses on the effect of leaders at all levels, and hence rolling a 3 or 4 allows a leader to activate a squad with themselves, whereas a 1 or a 2 activates a small team or a squad without a leader. Leaders can add extra bonuses to the squad they activate, so a 3 or 4 is always handy. A roll of two or more 6's enables that player to have the next turn, and hence you can get big runs for one side if the dice roll well.
And that is exactly what happened....the Brit paras stormed out of their gliders, killing the defenders of one flank and seizing the 50mm ATG almost immediately, and were able to close right in close to the MG bunker and 37mm AA gun on the opposite flank.
Into em lads!
Ach! Ve are surrounded!!
The HMG in the bunker managed to get off one burst, but the panicked Ostruppen inside was only able to hit 2 paras. The 37mm AA gun fared a little better, taking down 3 paras with its HE rounds. The ATG crew gave a good account of themselves, killing 4 paras in close assault, but the remaining Red Devils finished off the crew, seizing the ATG for later use...
The Brit paras used their PIAT teams to take out the HMG bunker and then the AA gun, before the Jerries could fire again.....with all the casualties, the German Force Morale level was reduced to below breaking, and the scenario was over. The lads played a second game that afternoon, which involved a German armoured counter attack, but the Paras managed to hold on and keep the Germans off the bridge by the end of the scenario.
On the second day I took part in an 8 player, 4 per side game of Bolt Action, using 1250pts of Late War Germans.
As the attackers, our job as the Axis was to break through past the halfway line into the enemy deployment zone, and the closer we got to the baseline, the more points per unit we would get. Of course, killing the enemy was a good idea too (and scored us points) so I set about doing exactly that.
I faced off against a French army, commanded by John, of War and Peace Games who is a wonderful gentleman and great opponent. Highlights of the game were my sole airstrike lining up my own command squad instead of the Char B tank I had assigned it (stop laughing Paul!) , my PzIVH getting its second kill ring from the French R35, and my Veteran Infantry squad that deployed from the halftrack at point blank range into a French squad, wiping them out with shooting, assaulting the French Sudanese veteran squad before they could assault me and wiping them out, and then withstanding an assault by French regulars before finally being wiped out by another assault.
I was a little too involved in the game to take many pics, so the ones above are of the last two turns showing my PzIV pushing up the centre, and my two squads holding off the Char B on the other flank. I should add my sniper scored three kills from 4 shots before being killed by a direct hit from the Char B's 75mm gun, and I was able to fire my Panzerschreck and both Panzerfausts in my infantry squads , to no effect, except a big morale boost :-)
That ended day 2 of Wintercon 2014. I'll cover the loot in my next post.....;-)
