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The unprepared and spread out Germans suffered quite badly from a British bombardment which was promptly followed by a powerful attack on their right flank! The initial British advance was screened by smoke the Germans reacted by pushing a Panzer IV forward which was promptly destroyed by the British Churchill. Revenge was sweet though and the German JgPz IV took out the British Firefly as it probed through some woods. The British left/German right now became the centre of the action! The British advanced into a hail of German fire, soon a Staghound was in flames and the German PAK was blasted by two Sherman’s pouring H.E. into it. The Germans then counterattacked, a Pz IV with a Platoon of Infantry in support charged. A close range action ensued and it was a bloodbath! Two Shermans were cooked and some British infantry were routed but the attacking Germans were shattered, the Pz IV was a knocked out and the Platoon of infantry was scattered! The British were ready to exploit the open German right when the Kampfgruppe Commander launched a final attack with his trump card, his mighty JgPz IV! The tank hunter rumbled forward and was offered a flank shot at the British Churchill but the Brits got the first shot off and it was a good one, the mighty Panzer rolled to a halt and was out of action. The Germans with no armour left and their infantry depleted now conceded retiring a British Victory! The British advance! A British probe well supported by infantry resulted in the German PAK smashing their Staghound armoured car, the infantry and supporting armour then pounded the PAK into oblivion... In a final throw of the dice the Germans tried to take out the British Churchill... Only to see another successful British interrupt and a very good shot...scratch one Panzer! The full AAR is on the TSOG Blog... TSOG Blog

Monday we played a scenario from the Iron Cross Rulebook, set in North West France in 1944 with the Germans on the attack and British defending The Germans massed in the centre of the battlefield advancing rapidly taking full advantage of the sparse terrain available to them! The British meanwhile concentrating their spread out force. Once the German neared their defensive line the British opened fire on the attackers and counterattacked on both of the Germans flanks! Quickly the Germans were in trouble even though they destroyed all the British armour they lost two of their own plus two sections of infantry! Then to top it all off for them a British section advanced into a position with a line of sight of the Germans HQ and Mortar sections and started directing indirect fire onto them! A last lung forward by the Germans cost them another Pz IV and infantry section, they were then too weak to achieve the victory condition of getting a third of their Break Point value into the British defensive zone in the allowed time. We completed 5 of the 7 allocated turns. A good British Victory! With no infantry support (!) a Pz IV advances on the British line... British anti-tank gunners await a suspected German attack! The full OOB and AAR is on the TSOG Blog... TSOG Blog

Trotted out the old CoC rulebook last Monday night and tried something a bit different with Patton heading East! We used the rulebook Take an Objective scenario Al commanded the Yanks and Dave the Reds. The game played smoothly, the Americans got their support on the table on the first turn and the rest of their force followed during their very next go! The Soviets in response thanks to some good dice got their defenders in place quickly and set up a perimeter. But the Americans slowly advanced while their support delivered a phenomenal amount of firepower which was telling, the Soviet Maxim was put of action and in the dual between the Sherman and the T-34 76 they got the upper hand. We did not actually complete the scenario but when we called it a night the Americans were holding all the cards, the Soviets demurred and conceded! A couple of pics The full AAR with more pictures is on the TSOG Blog... TSOG Blog Link

Game three of our Malaya 1942 Campaign is done and dusted! As the Japs were stymied last time it is a replay of that scenario but slightly further down the road, so again we are playing a Probe game. The Japanese and Australian deployments started equally but a flood of Japanese reinforcements had them outnumbering their enemy and successfully infiltrating the jungle around the Aussie right. The Aussie CO tried to distract the Japanese launching an attack on the Japanese left supported by a mighty Lanchester A/C! This surprised the Japanese but they correctly persisted with their advance and under extreme pressure the Aussies withdrew forestalling a total Japanese victory. So the result; a Japanese Victory and an Australian Losing Draw! The full AAR with more pictures, OOBs and Campaign updates is on the TSOG Blog... TSOG Blog Link! Some pictures... Aussie Infantry support a mighty Lanchester Armoured Car manned by the SSVF... The reserve Aussie section (understrength) arrive on the battlefield to engage the Japanese right... Japanese Sniper, Jōtōhei Sanyo takes a shot at the Aussies, clever figure placement by the Japanese player!

We finally started the Malaya 1942 CoC Campaign featured in the Lardies 2015 Christmas magazine Monday night. The 'troops' have been ready for ages, they are my old 1/72 Airfix plastic men with support figures and vehicles from various makers! The Japanese plan was to hold on their left and deploy strong forces to their right and sweep the Australians they suspected were in the village aside. The aim of the Aussies was to inflict maximum pain on their enemy and retire intact. The battlefield was split by a road; to the east of that dividing line both sides deployed a section and the firefight between them ended with the Japanese falling back. To the west of the road the Japanese advanced boldly and received a bloody nose for their efforts. Before they could regroup for a second push the Australians wisely withdrew! While these two actions took place a Japanese Ha Go tank tried to run down the road but got stuck in a duel with an ATR team both sides scoring hits but neither knocked the other out! A Japanese Victory and an Australian 'Losing Draw' (yes that is possible in At the Sharp End Rulebook)! A good night was had by all and even though we hadn't played CoC for quite a while we went thorough the evening only rarely referring to the rules! The full AAR is here with more pictures is on the TSOG Blog; TSOG Blog Link Some pictures from the night; During the game Gunso Shitmee urged his support men on as the Infantry advanced into the 'huts of death'... Witherspoon's 'extra' section deployed along the bund of a paddy field of the Aussie's right, here they stayed for the game successfully pushing back the Japanese they faced! Gunso Tomato's Ha Go tank arrived at the battlefield and barrelled down the 'deserted' road!

Monday was a public holiday so we fired up the BBQ and after that hit the gaming table with the Iron Cross rule book in hand, George and I played the Breakthrough Scenario using an an Eastern Front late war setting. Soviets vs Germans. It was a tight game as the Soviets slowly wore down the German foot units while the German Armour did a good job of duking it out with its Soviets opposites while still keeping the Soviets infantry in check! The Soviets failed to gain their objective but the German losses were heavy we decided in the end it was a draw! German PAK and HMG Crewmen await the Soviet advance. While the Soviet Mortars played hell with the German foot troops the Stug III in true fire-brigade tradition rushed to and fro duelling it out with the Soviets...here a T 34 brews up! A lot more details and pictures are on the TSOG Blog! Blog Link

Game two of our Malaya 1942 Campaign completed! How it played out... Flushed with success the Japanese continued to push south in their conquest of Malaya! Meeting more Australians the Japanese CO decided to refuse his left and push forward to the West of the main road south with his entire force, the Australians again hoped to carry out a fighting withdrawal! The Japanese deployed rapidly but to their surprise despite having a barrage laid on them so did the Australians. The Japanese pushed forward with a Ha Go tank covering the left flank! In response the Aussies set up a 2-pounder to cover the road and the Ha Go was quickly turned into a smoking wreck! Despite the loss of their armour support the Japanese pressed forward! The battle was in the balance! The lead Japanese section was pinned down by the the Aussies who launched a counterattack to threaten the Japanese left flank. Ignoring the Australian impudence the Japanese closed in to contact with the Aussies main defences despite withering fire and a deadly melee ensued! This close combat decided the game, both side took heavy losses but the Japanese were decisively defeated and their morale plunged! An Australian Victory! A loss to the Japanese this early in the Campaign was a surprise! Both sides took heavy losses but in this Campaign the Japanese can replace men much easier than the Australians! This is our first CoC Campaign and it is already looking very interesting. Next game will be in two or three sessions time. Some pictures! The Japanese deploy! Their initial roll allowed three sections and their 2IC to hit the ground running! Sergeant McCarthy's section was on the far left of the Australian line, in the foreground of the picture you can see Senior Sergeant Barry 'Bazza' Griswald, his leadership was crucial in the game! Staged photograph taken after the action of Sergeant Peters with his 2 pounder ATG, in the background Gunso Tomato's burning Ha Go Tank can just be made out... The Japanese third section attempting to move right around the Australians left flank, McCarthy's section can be seen in the background to the right of the smoke... Japanese to the left Australians to the right the battle was in the balance at this point! Sergeant Thompson's section engages in some biffo with a Japanese section! The full AAR with lots of pictures is up on the TSOG Blog... TSOG Blog Link

So for the last little while I've been collecting and painting some 15mm WW2 stuff, a mix of PSC and FOW mostly. I'm not super happy with most of the first attempts I've made, so I'm revisiting my methods. Painted a base of German grenadiers today and I'm much happier with the result. Especially the bases, which have come out a treat with very little work. I'll try and update this as often as I have anything to show, but my work on this project is kind of sporadic. But we will see. Hopefully this thread will keep me motivated!

We played a Chain of Command game last Monday night and we used the Take an Objective scenario from the rules. We haven't played these rules for quite a while so this was really a reintroduction to them, we made a few errors early on but they did not effect the overall flow of the game or the result! The Patrol Phase left the Soviets in a good position with one JOP very favourably placed close to the objective! Then the real game began! Initially the Soviets had an edge deploying their troops more quickly than the Germans. The Ruskies advanced and their infantry successfully put a German section out of action unfortunately their left was moving forward slowly leaving their right exposed! Hampered in setting up their troops by a Russian barrage the Germans breathed a sigh of relief when the big guns went silent and at that point rapidly placed the balance of their force. Reinforced the Jerries blunted the Soviets infantry advance while their ATR scored a hit on the Communists BA-10 causing it to retire! At this point the Soviets realised the jig was up and the Fascist Devils were to strong...they retired! So a German victory! This game could have gone either way but a few crucial decisions and dice rolled sealed the Soviets fate. Now we're up to speed on CoC again we'll be playing another Russian Front game soon. Some pictures from the night... Soviets advancing supported by a mighty BA-10! Early in the game German deployment was hampered initially by the Soviet Pre Game Barrage, at this point 2 German Sections were facing four Soviet Sections and a BA-10! The Soviets at their Zenith, their advanced stalled through a mixture of poor Command Dice and German MG34 firepower! The full AAR is on the TSOG Blog here... TSOG Blog AAR Link

We played a WW II game recently using Great Escape Games Iron Cross rules. We pitting British against Germans in Normandy! We choose the 'escalating battle' scenario from the rulebook. It was a hard fought affair. Both sides started with strong infantry units supported by armour. Initially the British looked to be in the box seat and in a position to decisively defeat the Germans but the Jerries fought back! On one of the flanks they took out a Sherman and the Tommies accompanying it halting the British advance there. The battle was then decided in the centre where the fighting focused on a town and its important bridge. The Germans tried their best to take the town but were defeated and the British occupied it. At this point with their armour support knocked out the Germans decided to retreat and save their infantry, a British victory! A German PAK 38 crew were deployed and awaiting any British attempt to take the bridge! In the distance they spy a Sherman! German Infantry and Armour 'On the Move!'. A German infantry platoon 'attack' a Sherman A Pz IV and Sherman duke it out! The full AAR is on the TSOG Blog here... TSOG Blog Link

Took a while to put together but Dave has written the AAR for our ANZAC Day weekend game! Set in North Africa and located to the south of Tobruk the Easter Battles scenario is based on an actual action where the AfriKa Korps tried to break the iron ring the Aussies had placed around Tobruk! The battle was quite bloody on our table top and we replicated the historical result, a bloody nose for the AfriKa Korps! A couple of pictures from the night... TSOG Easter Battles AAR...

Hi all Just letting those interested in taking part know, there is a globally-involved Kriegsspiel game starting up through facebook (just type Sealion 40; it's a private group). It's dedicated to re-enacting Operation Sealion (1940), Hitler's abandoned planned invasion of England. The game will be at command level so no individual troops are involved or required athough you can show off some minis to while the time before kickoff. The event is due to kick off around autumn northern hemisphere time, and is expected to run through several months. Commitment is a priority. There are already forty-five signed onboard. There are expected to be eighteen roles for either side with six required umpires so there will probably be double-ups involved with a consensus decision involved. I have never played a Kreigsspeil game but that's not going to stop me from involving myself. I expect it's somewhat similar but nowhere near like TEWTS (Tactical Exercises Without Troops). Lol. Cheers.

Tried out Great Escape Games Iron Cross WW II Rules Monday night. Used 10mm Pendraken figures for a 1944 battle between the Jerries and Brits! Two British Platoons deploy with armour support, each infantry base is a section... Scratch one Panzer! The below link takes you to the game AAR and thoughts on the rules for our use (not a full rules review!)... TSOG Blog Link Cheers!

Over the current lock down I have finally completed my 1/72 Figures, Vehicles & Terrain required to play the CoC Malaya 1942 PSC. Everything ready to go... Some closeups! The jungle production line... Scratch-built Flamethrower Guys (the Aussie won't actually appear in these games but is set for future PTO games!)... The mighty Lanchester A/C is one of those cool interwar armoured cars and looks really cool! It is a Resin UV print from OTP and it is a great model! The detail is fantastic and there is not a print layer to be seen! Japanese support... Here's a link to the TSOG Blog with lots of details and more pictures! TSOG Blog Post We had a Aussie vs Japs game on the Queens Birthday Holiday Monday just to use all this stuff before commencing the campaign, I'll post up an AAR on it soon.