M3 Grant- A Bit of an Orphan Tank

 

I recently resin printed a M3 Grant AFV, I got the STL from a Canadian Vehicles kickstarter. I have to say that these were the best vehicle STLs I have received with supported and unsupported versions but also a hollowed version. I find hollowing vehicles a little challenging, so I was quite happy that this was already done.

Most of the vehicles in the kickstarter were trucks and it was an interesting collection but after some research not really a collection that was useful for wargaming. This was especially relevant to the M3 Grant which was primarily used for training purposes by Commonwealth armies except in North Africa where both the British and Australian armies used it for operational purposes.

I have to admit that I had not done this research before I painted the tank. So I will have to make it a training vehicle for the 2nd Canadian Armoured Division. 

But who knows it may end up being transferred to the Soviet Union where the M3 Grant did have operational history with a new livery.

Chain of Command Version 2

Two weeks ago, we had our June Gamesday on or about the second anniversary of the founding of our club. We initially put up 5 games but only 3 were subscribed fully. I put on a game of Chain of Command to illustrate the changes in version 2. We also had a game of Muskets and Tomahawks as well as a Pirate game of Port Royale. 

I actually ended up playing the Chain of Command game twice, first with my friend Pierre-Yves. We are both experienced CoC players and seemed to have little problem with the rules changes. The planned game had PY, Iannick, Julien and Jen-Philippe. Everyone had played before except JP who I believe was a novice to the game. He has played a lot of Battle Group but was quite interested in giving CoC a go.

I went with a terrain dense table using the Delaying Action scenario. This wa quite different than the same scenario in version 1. Here we have an objective to capture with a possibly a limited amount of time to capture it. Interestingly enough the defender can take no engineering works. I decided to replicate an action that the Canadian forces were involved in the follow up to D-Day.

Saint-Lambert-sur-Dive, August 18, 1944. During Operation Tractable, to close the Falaise Gap, elements of the 4th Canadian Armoured Division were ordered to attack and hold St Lambert to prevent elements of the German 7.Armee breaking out of the area in their retreat east. Our scenario will recreate the initial attack of a Canadian Rifle platoon on an entrenched German Grenadier platoon.

I used the forces from the CoC v2 rulebook with the said supports, the Attacking Canadians had 10 supports and the defending German 6. I will not bother to go into the specific action as I have forgotten it now but here are some photos.

I certainly enjoyed playing a game and games mastering the second game. This is a terrific re-vamping of a great set of rules. I personally found the mechanics basically the same and I cannot say the rules were more granular but there was a lot of chrome added. I am really looking forward to getting in my next game.

Saga Night-English vs the Flemish

 

Ten days ago we had our monthly night, this was well attended as usual with 6 tables set up, half being Age of Vikings and half being Age of Chivalry. I again brought my English and this time my opponent was Eric's Flemish. I had yet to play against Eric or the Flemish so it was going to be a novel experience for me.

English

3 Warrior Bowmen

1.5 Hearthguard Knights

1.5 Warriors

Flemish

2 Warrior Crossbowmen

4 Levy Pikes

We used the chaos method to set up the game.

Starting Position

Eric has beautifully painted figures

Bowmen to the centre

The final position, I won the game by killing the Flemish Warlord with my bowmen.

It was an interesting game, I am not sure if the Flemish have an inherent disadvantage  against the English. The Pikes are quite slow moving and the English can cause a lot of damage with their Bowmen at a distance.