Full Nelson Playtest v2

 

Last Saturday myself and William got together for another playtest of the Full Nelson rules from TFL. This is the first time we had an opportunity to play version 2 of the rules.

We went with larger ships this time with the Brits have two 3rd rates and one frigate with the Spanish having one 1st rate and 2 frigates. The Spanish 1st rate was the famous Santa Ana was of the largest Age of Sail ships built.

First game setup with William taking the Spanish

We played 2 games with alternating sides, each game probably took less then 2 hours, it is a pretty fast playing set of rules. In our first game we were still learning the rules but the 2nd game went very quickly.

I pretty well have all the accruements required for the game done now, most of them of my own design. They all worked quite well. 

William slaughtered me in both games! It was a lot of fun.

Storming the Citadel-Game 7

We played the 7th game in our Storming the Citadel campaign last Thursday at the Abyss. This was on table 6 and was the third attack by the Germans. The Soviets again carried over their supports from the previous game. We both got extra dice rolls as this was 3rd go on this table. I should note to gain a major victory, the Germans have to win this game.

Forces

Germans (FM 11)

1942 Panzergrenadier Platoon (no. 3) 

Supports  19

SL

MMG

StuH 42

IG18

Soviets (FM 9 )

1942 Soviet Rifle Platoon (no.2) minus 24 figures

Supports 7 (+ 17 previous)

Marsh

DSHK HMG Tm

ATR

PGB

Minefield

3 entrenchments

L46 ATG

Flamethrower team

MMG

Regular Squad

Game

This was an interesting game as it could be the last. The Soviets were already significantly depleted and although the Germans had a strong force, they had to win at all costs. The game initially started off somewhat tentatively with both side reluctant to deploy with a focus on going CoC pips. Soon after suddenly everything was on the table (except the Soviet Flamethrower Team). I knew that this was not going to be a tactical movement game but more so an attempt to crush the Soviets with HE as they were well entrenched in hard cover. This turned into a bloody battle, certainly the Germans had more double phases as well as better attack dice but their defence dice were not good and they lost both SLs as well as a full squad. The Soviets held up as best as they could but the heavy bombardment took it's toll. Both sides had plumetting morale, but the Soviets hit 3 while the German morale was 5. Game over.....German Major Victory.

Summing Up

I believe this campaign structure made it pretty difficult for the Soviets do win. Notwithstanding, we decided to go on to part 2: The Breakthrough, so more to come.

Three Million Views

 

Some Royal Navy Ships

 

I have enjoyed play testing the TFL Naval rules so I recently decided to finish off a couple of more ships. I already have quite  few brigs so I focused on the one 3rd and 5th rate that I had yet to assemble. I was lacking Royal Navy ships as my primary focus when playing Black Seas were the Spanish. Not sure why in retrospect but it is what it is.

The ships are easy enough to assemble and paint and I have applying the sails down but rigging is still a challenge. I have noticed that some of the rigging is not necessary and I am not a purist so it was ok to leave some off. I also had no interest in attaching the rat tails. I am pretty happy how they turned out.

I still have some work to do on the rigging of 4 or 5 more ships but that will have to wait until I get to Montreal.