Jungle terrain markers, and platoon commanders, for Crossfire Japanese

Having returned to full time work for a term (as Acting Principal in a lovely rural school) my hobby time is a little more limited. I realised that I'd made an error in basing the Japanese for Crossfire. I'd based platoon commanders on normal 1.25" square bases. Now that's not critical, but in my other 20mm armies, PCs are based on 5/8th x 1.25" rectangular bases. It's not an OCD, but I like consistency. So, I plucked the officer figures from their larger bases, and rebased on to the rectangualr bases.

I also created another four jungle terrain markers. Here are all of the markers so far, the Company Cokmand stand, and gthe three PC stands. Small steps, eh...

 

HotT Fantasy in a napoleonic world

 This was the second of two HotT games Andy and I played using our 20mm armies, this time a pseudo napoleonic stoush between Andy's British and my French. I hasten to begin this short AAR with the disclaimerthat we know we are NOT playing a napoleonic wargame. We use Volley and Bayonet for that. This IS a HotT fantasy game with no pretence to be anything else.

The French were using two olumns as behemoths, a base of Grenadier a Cheval of the Guard as knights, ahero general, some shooters and blades.

Andy's army was mostly shooters, including a shooter general, with some riders, two bases oif highlanders which Andy chose to take as warband, and a hero.

Deployed, as seen from the French lines

Two behemoth colums flanking the knights, on the French left

British riders

The British shooter general

The French left immediatelly goes onto the attack, and a base of British riders is eliminated

The French right comes under attack, the highlanders seen on the far right working around the French flank

More British riders are eliminated on the French left

The Highlanders eliminate a rench shooter base and contimnue their push

The Highlanders attack a base of rench shooters from the rear

The Fench shooters are eliminated

However the British right has collapsed and the centre is now under attack

Andy rallies the British to try to establish a new line facing the enveloping French left 

Hoiwever he contimnues to lose troops

Including his gerenal, and the battle is lost

Another great game, some interesting challenges, but.., its fantasy.. and a nice aesthetic and fun are simply all it's about.

Across the bleak gas poisoned landscape

 A yellow haze slithered across the pock marked landscape, crawling deep deep into craters gouged into the earth one atop another, crawling out again across lips of earth and bones thrown up by cacophonous explosions enough to deaden the senses of any man. But these were not men. These were creations of another time and another world, the remnants of a humanity past, scourged and deformed by gases most fowl, and they came on, relentlessly, with purpose to freeze the heart of any ordinary man.

Andy and I faced off with our 20mm Weird World War 1 armies, his German, mine British, in another game of Hordes of the Things (HotT), with 24 point armies.

From behind the glorious British army lines

Foul zombie beasts and Undead sopirit

The British right flank with two riders, and an airboat

The British centre with a mix of blades and shooters, and a behemoth

First turn and the airboat overflies the German lines preparing to atack from the rear, while the riders prepare to try an outflanking manouvre, although one base is pushed back by German fire

The lines clash

The German behemoth goes in to the attack against the British artillery

Mixed results from the first turn of combat

The airboat swoops into the rear of the German behemoth to support the glorious gunners

The airboat moves to apply pressure to the German left

The British behemoth, having destroyed its opponent, moves to support some stout British infantry

The German Shooter General...

A German horde eliminated

German shooters target the airboat

The German Shooter General 

Ganging up on a German blade base

Attempts at elimninating the German left

But the airboat is brought down... 

A German blade is killed too

Despite the apparent progress of the British, losses had been accumulating on both sides, the loss of the airboat pushed the army over its 12 AP killed (14 in fact), and while the German army also reached 12 AP lost in the same turn, it was less that the British losses and so the German army claimed the victory.

Developing the Pacific Theatre aesthetic (for Crossfire)

I'm still working on my 'prototypes' for the Pacific Crossfire project. I have made some changes to the figure bases I've already painted, and also trialled 5 terrain markers (for scatter terrain in sme way shaope or form yet to be decided).

I think I'm coming close.

The squad bases mixed in with the terrain pieces

Originally I thought I'd base the terrain markers on washers, but couldn;'t find anything in my garage that suited, so I tried a series of card pieces that were offcuts from my figure basing. This means that the marker bases vary in size, and I'm not sure I like that. I am also wondering if my original washer idea, which would have given round bases for the terrain markerts, might still be a better aesthetic.

It's stilll a work in progress.

Pacific War with Crossfire

 I've played Art Conliffe's Crossfire rules on and off for quite a few years. I've never got so into it that all else disappears from consciousness, but I do potter .. I think they are a very clever rules set. I have four armies painted and based for 20mm for Spearhead, and the same basing is correct for Crossfire (all infantry on 1.25" bases), and Andy and I have played a few Eurpoean Theatre games with these figures, and Andy's US marines, and Italians. 

I have however watched with considerable admiration the work of 'gamer Brett Simpson's work building and playing Pacific Theatre games of Crossfire, and have to say I have been inspired. I was pottering in our CBD last week (actually waiting for my car service to be competed) and happened into one of our larger miniatures retailers, where I came across a box of the Airfix Japanese infantry. I succombed, bought the box, and the sprues had been spray undercoated by the evening.

I have started with four bases that will be a company command, and three platoon commands. These are my 'prototypes', my 'proof of concept' bases. As I reflect on them, I think they need more low level vegetation (yes, I know the Japanese army also fought in China where the terrain is different, and also that not all Paficic Island terrain is dense jungle). Anyway.... here are the four prototype bases. I think I'll look to add a little more vegetation though.