Frostbite - Turn 2 - Ice Floe Oscar

Our 2nd turn of battle started off with Dave's monkeys facing off against Rob's Red Blok, again in Ice Floe Oscar. The mission differed slightly in that Rob had controlled the sector last turn and could deploy his initial forces in the center of the map. He also had purchased some jersey barriers with his leftover MP from the first turn - to provide his company with a more defensible position. Dave entered the battle from the same challenging table edge - across the ice floes - but his company was fortified with more monkey mechs!

Rob began by placing his jersey barriers, and then deployed Urod and a few infantry units on the central ice floe. The victory point marker was on this floe - which meant that Rob needed to dig in, and Dave needed to force the entrenched Red Blok of the floe to gather VP. Because he was a defender, Rob would only start with 1000AP - but as we've learned in many battles, having Urod in your assault force can be a huge equalizer.

Dave started his push across the ice floes, getting Saint Anuman and his monkey mech, Jindo-Un, into position quickly. There was going to be an early exchange of fire between Jindo and Urod! Dave's Trike didn't fare as well, though, and had a hard time getting space to move on the central ice floe. With Urod, Jindo-Un, and a monkey crystal in close proximity, Dave's company was squeezed through a small "pipeline".

If I remember correctly, Rob was forced to trigger Jindo-Un's overwatch early in the battle to close range. Jindo-Un opened up with some decent anti-AFV fire, but couldn't take Urod down quickly enough. (You have to take down Urod in a quick strike to have a serious effect on the battle. Otherwise, Urod's 2 mechanics can make the AFV nearly indestructible). With the Trike squeezed for space, there just wasn't enough monkey firepower in range, and sadly, Jindo-Un was blown to pieces. The Trike moved into closer range the following turn, but couldn't inflict much damage, and was destroyed quickly by Urod.

From here, the battle trudge to an inevitable conclusion. Dave didn't have the AFV firepower to inflict any harm on Urod, which meant that the Red Blok could easily "camp" on the ice floe and collect VP until the game ended. What few infantry Dave brought into the battle were picked off by snipers, and he decided to not bring any infantry in from reserve because they would suffer the same fate.

Frostbite - Turn 2 - Planning

Last Tuesday we did the planning for Turn 2 of Frostbite : replenishing forces, and buying special advantages, with MP; and moving our companies around.

I used my meager MP to replace my... repurposed, Wraith Golgoth. Dave replenished monkeys lost in the 2 battles he was involved in. And, Rob utilized some of his MP for extra barriers for an upcoming battle, and a couple air-strikes.

Rob spread his companies out, pushing one company into the Underground Base (which I currently control); shifting a second company into the Restored Fortress, to prevent anyone else from taking it; and left one company at Ice Floe Oscar.

I opted to keep my companies stationary and hold three sectors. One active thing I did do was use the Cursed Fortress' special ability to unleash a nanovirus upon Ice Floe Indy. No companies can move or drop-ship into that sector this turn.

Dave shifted one company into Ice Floe Oscar and a pair of companies into the Abandoned Base.

So, in Turn 2, we have 3 battles. Two of them are re-runs of the first turn; the third, a battle in a sector we haven't played yet. (The Ice Floe Oscar battle was completed last week, and I'll be posting a battrep on that today or tomorrow).

Busy, busy

I've had a busy week and a half - (including a trip this past weekend over to the Gorge to see Soundgarden, Queens of the Stone Age, and the Meat Puppets). But I should have some more posts up (w/pics) over the next couple days.

We've started Turn 2 of Frosbite, and there's one battle, between the Monkeys and the Russians, already completed. So, I'll get on the ball shortly, posting an updated map, and a battrep for that battle.

I'll also sneak in some pics of 15mm scifi dudes that I've completed recently. :)

The FEF Growler

About 2 months ago, I decided to start up a Summer project. It had been a long time since I'd dabbled in actual mini painting and modeling. Probably about 8 years. I wanted to play around with it again - to explore whether I could produce some decent, little, metal men.

Another impetus for mini modeling/painting was that I was putting together a Traveller rpg campaign for Jake's group, and wanted to give the campaign a bit of a personal touch by using my own minis. Hell, having scifi minis handy for other campaigns - or even for small-scale wargame skirmishing - would be cool. I've owned some in years past - resold some; gave some to Adam - they've all disappeared over time.

The first step was to determine what scale of minis to invest in. I did a lot of looking around at both 25/28mm and 15mm lines from different companies, and I was really impressed by what I saw in the 15mm scale. There were a lot of solid manufacturers in that scale, and generally it's a little easier to paint 15mm since extreme levels of painting detail aren't necessary. 15mm is also quite a bit cheaper than the larger scales which was another factor in my decision. I bought a few random packs from RAFM, Khurasan, Ground Zero Games, and Critical Mass Games. Aliens, mid- and high-tech level soldiers, technicians, robots, vehicles. All very affordable.

The attached image is a tracked, civilian exploration vehicle that I've been working on. It's getting closer to completion - some flock or static grass would be nice to add to the mud and rock surface. Likely some paint cleanup so the basecoat doesn't look as dark. And I'll need to spray on some dullcote to cut the gloss shine from the "Army Painter" dip I used to shade and seal the mini. I've christened the vehicle, the Frontier Expeditionary Force (FEF) Growler. (A "growler" being a great unit of beer measurement, of course, as well as a cool name for a tracked vehicle). :)

What does this have to do with AT-43? Nothing at all. :) But, whereas AT-43 is a great wargame, modeling and painting isn't necessary to play it. Which can be it's greatest advantage and disadvantage at the same time. I'm certainly not going to take a break from playing my robots crabs, or space americans any time soon. It's just a relaxing little side-hobby.