Combat Cards, 9/13/11

A couple more games of TA:CC were played last Tuesday.  This was a special week for Todd...

Doug faced off against Mike in a Tyranid vs. Space Marines battle on the Red Planet.

A look at the table at the beginning of the game.  Space Marine units bunch up in groups to take advantage of each model's Personality card.

Tyranids peak around the ruins.

Space Marines gather in a corner for warmth.

Marines are flushed from their cover when the Respected leader is hit with spore mines!

An aerial shot of the table.

Space Marine swarms approach the Tyranid Warriors at the bottom of the picture.  An assault marine sneaks up on another Warrior at the top.

Warriors fend off a Ticker attack.

Todd and I squared off.  Todd broke out his Orks and I again ran my Chaos Marines.

The battle a few turns in.  My Land Raider moves in to kill the Trukk, and Ork Boyz are surrounded by forces of Chaos.

So close to the Trukk that I don't think the laser sponsons could even hit it...

A Chaos Sergeant commands demons to attack the Orks unaware.

Ork infiltrator storm the table, sending the Rhino up in (invisible) flames!

Demons to the back, Teminators to the front...

This game ended in a dead draw when Todd destroyed my Land Raider with an infiltrator.  A dead draw at 13 points each.  This broke Todd's losing streak!  Hooray!

Combat Cards 9/6/11

We kicked off our newest Combat Cards league last Tuesday.  This time around we're playing 28mm Sci- Fi, with 24 point armies on 3'x3' or 4' x4' tables.  We are also playtesting the Personality Cards.  You can find out more about them at http://www.tacticalassaultgames.com/.

We had 7 players and three games going.  Dan took the bye so he could observe the games.

Mike and Todd squared off on the site of a crashed space ship.

The tabletop.  Mike fielded his Space Marines, and Todd brough his Necromunda Cawdor gang.

A Cawdor heavy hides amongst the twisted debris of the space ship.

Mike's Land Raider surveys the battlefield from a hill while Cawdor units move in for the kill.

Mike's Razorback is shook up by the Cawdor gunner.  Unfortunately the gunner doesn't see the Assault Marine screaming down on his position.

Crow and Mike Z. faced off in some Martian ruins.

The scene of the battle.  Crow is taking the field with AT43 Karmens, and Mike Z. is fielding AT43 Red Blok.

Gorillas in power armor flank Red Blok units.

A Red Blok soldier spots a karmen from his sniper position.

Units surround the ruin, but none dare venture inside...



I had the pleasure of facing off against Doug.  I dug out part of my old ruins.  The real dust and cobwebs really added to the feel of the game...

The battlefield.  Doug's Tyranids swarm through the ruins towards my Chaos Marines.

Chaos Terminators and a Land Raider prepare for bloody combat.

Doug's Gaunts begin their approach.  The Terminator lays down Bolter fire.

A Chaos terminator sneaks up on a confused Carnifex.  They both manage to escape with their lives!

Mike set a Combat Cards record; managing a win in a mere 7 minutes.  Losing a Behemoth on turn 1 in a 24 point game is not the way to win, Todd! :)

I managed to scrape out a victory at the last minute, and I'm not sure who won between Crow and Mike Z.

Needless to say the Personality Cards added a new level of tactics to the game.  I'm looking forward to the next game!

Combat Cards Week 6, 8/09/11

And so it ends, the 15mm WWII Tactical Assault: Combat Cards 2011 League.  It was very close in the ponits, so the last games were going to be crucial.  Dan squared off against Mike, and I had the pleasure of testing my new (and theoretically broken) army against Todd.  Unfortunately Jeff got a bye and was not able to defend his position in the standings.

Over the course of the campaign we found behemoths very, very, very hard to kill.  So hard, in fact, that I figured if one or two were bad, 6 would be unstoppable.  So I did it.  I made a list consisting of 6 behemoths, 3 aerials and 2 artillery.  Disaster was to ensue...

A shot of the table mid game.  I'm already short two Tiger tanks due to infantry attacks.

Another Tiger is surrounded.  Soon after the infantry polish this one off, too...

The same action from a different angle.

A behemoth slugs it out with an American mortar team.

After everything was said and done I ended up winning 22- 18.  Winning isn't the disasterous part; the fact that I lost three powerful units to infantry and pulled off a much smaller margin of victory than anticipated.  I figured the sheer power of a behemoth would make it able to hold it's own, even when outnumbered and outflanked, but Todd's infantry felt otherwise.  Behemoths are still incredibly devastating, but they still need someone to watch their flanks or they end up like their targets: a burning wreck!

A shot of Dan and Mike's game.  Units are taking cover where ever they can to avoid the dangerous firing lanes.

Two Russian takes fire from concealed positions in a village. 

Russians test a new hover- tank on the battlefield... :)

Dan achieved victory over Mike, solidifying his 1st place finish in the league.  My minor victory over Todd kept Jeff 2 points ahead of me in the standings, giving him 2nd place.  I was able to achieve 3rd.

The league was fun and the games were well played.  I think everyone is going to enjoy their hard break!



Combat Cards Week 5, 7/27/11

Week 5 down, and only one more to go!

Two more furious games were played.  Jeff and I played in what turned out to be a hard fought, yet uneventful game.  The combat was tight, and there was a near constant barrage of artillery, mortar, bombs, cannons and small arms fire, but both sides were able to hang in for a long time!

Not much for pictures.  We were just too busy trying to pound each other into the dirt!

Dan and Todd face off on the Russian countryside.

A small village. 

Sorry for not getting more pictures of this game.  It was over and done with before I knew what was going on.

A French village and farm.  The village center of the table is quite dense with buildings and bocage. 

The same table from the other side.  Fighting was heaviest around the farm on the opposite side of the table.

The eternal battle.  With a Tiger I, 2 StuG III's and an infantry unit nearby, it still took me many, many rounds to destroy the Sherman 76.  And Jeff dispatched my Tiger immediately after, nulifying my efforts.

A German mortar team is harassed by American infiltrators.  This one eventually became a mutual destruction.

Unfortunately that's it!  I will try to get more pictures for next week's finale. 

Dan was victorious over Todd, and Jeff rallied at the end to destroy me. 

Combat Cards Week 4, 7/20/11

We were town two players this week, but it didn't matter.  The four that did play were in games so engaging and brutal it was more than enough!

Jeff and Todd faced each other again.  This time the game was very quick and deadly, with Jeff scoring a win.

The table.  A small village surrounded by hills and woods.

Armor clash!  An M10 and a Sherman take cover in woods while German Panzers push the offensive.

German infantry and put "Out of Action" while moving towards a mysterious wreck.

Unfortunately these were the only shots I was able to get before the game ended.  Jeff won the day today!

For the first time I faced off against Dan, the current league leader, my boss, AND the creator of the game.  No pressure here! :)  Our table was a farm bordering a wood.

Russians hunker down in the farm yard. 

A look to the south from the farm.  Germans have entrenched themselves in one of the orchards, with Russians occupying the other. 

Late game carnage.  Both German and Russian forces have taken heavy damage from the fighting around the farm. 

The Tiger approaches a T34 it destroyed earlier.  Or is it destroyed?  The greenery around it is ablaze, but the tank seems to be OK!  The Tiger crew is Confused! (Don't worry, the T34 really was Eliminated.)

A StuG III burns brilliantly while Russian Infiltrators survey a hill.

No unit escaped the fury!  Three of five aircraft were destroyed in a vicious dog fight. 

In the end I was able to squeak out a narrow victory.  Regarless of who won or lost, fun was had by all!

Combat Cards Week 3, 7/13/11

And another week of play is behind us.  Only two games this week as one player didn't show up and forced the other player into a bye.  They were both fun games though, and despite the outcomes I think everyone had a good time.

I remembered to use my fire markers this time to make some shots more interesting.

Here's a look at the table Jeff and Dan played on.  Dan's bomber passes over with a fighter escort.

Todd and I squared off for another game.  Against my better judgement, I went light on the buildings today.

Our table from the other end.

Todd's Americans receive a heavy shelling while moving through the bocage.  One of my infantry units tries to sneak up on the Sherman.

German amor and mortar team taking cover in the woods.

U.S. infantry and a mortar team wait for tank support...

...While German infantry moves around their own minefield and into a defensive position.

Only a few miles way (Ok, actually a few feet on another table) Jeff's Sherman 76 takes up position in a farmstead.

Both Dan's Panzers and Jeff's Ronsons :) getting cozy in the woods.

KA- BLAAAAAAAM!!! 

My Tiger scores a direct hit on Todd's M4, sending it up in flames.

My squad of infantry finally assault another one of Todd's Shermans, just to destroy themselves in the process.

Behmoth's pound on each other on Dan and Jeff's table.

Jeff's mortar team is down, but not out! 

(Well, they are Out of Action.  Which is technically "out" I suppose.  You know what I mean.)

The games were a good time as always.  I would like to thank Todd especially.  It simply wasn't his night for gaming, but he was still a very good sport about it!

Winners this week were Dan and myself.