General's Day at Knightly Gaming

A smashing time, smashing tanks (and infantry)

Once again, I found myself out in the quaint town of Lanark to visit the ever welcoming 'Knightly Gaming', run by Brett Knight. The last time I was down was for his opening back in late September.
This time around the plan was to have a 'General's Day'. A day where novice (or experienced) players of Flames of War could come down and have a few games to hammer out some of the rules with lower points cost and experience playing a different opponent than usual.

The shiny new sign that went up a week after opening

Let the games begin

I rolled into the shop around half-past nine with my good friend Iain; who was acting as driver and an extra player today. With two tables set up and the points being a lower value, we were looking to get a good few games in over the course of the day.

With one of the tables set up as a Soviet style town, I got to work setting out the other in a Western European style, using a good whack of Gale Force Nine terrain. A few bocages, a destroyed church and a smattering of houses; the table was then ready to go.

A good looking table, ready for the day's battles

In addition to Iain bringing his German Grenadier Kompanie, we also had on the day; Keni with his British rifles, Martin fielding German Panzers, Murray with American Paratroopers, Tommy with Russian Tankovy and James with the 51st Highland Division Rifle Company.

The original idea was to have players show up and have ready-made armies for them to use, but time constraints alas made this an idea for the future. Instead, players were to make an army of 750pts to use, and led to some interesting ideas. One such idea was Keni taking the bare minimum rifle platoons, command and... 3 Churchill Crocodiles.

Keni's Crocodiles, a daunting prospect with their armour and flamethrowers.

The first games were set up, with Tommy and Martin being regular opponents, instead we split them, letting Martin face the daunting prospect of the Crocs, while Tommy's Tankovy Batalion faced off against James' Reluctant Veteran Highlanders.

Martin was apprehensive about the Crocodiles after finding out that against the front armour, his Panzer IVs could do absolutely nothing. But, after giving him some encouragement and advice about getting round the sides of the lumbering behemoths, he felt a little more confident about the idea, even if sometimes his dice rolls let him down.

A lucky shot from the Churchill's 75mm gun ends one of the Panzers

The game was a decent one though, with both players having a run of luck which came to a shuddering halt. Eventually, the armour of the Crocs held out against the Panzers. It was a closer game than the result made it look though, with Martin's long, looping flank manoeuvre taking a large chunk of his tanks out of the game for a while. But, that's what the day was all about; learning some tactics, seeing what worked and what didn't.  

 Over on the other table, it looked to be a one sided affair from the set-up. But, as they say, looks can be deceiving. Tommy advanced his Soviet T-34s (Some looking a little Sherman-ish, towards James' dug in Brits. I didn't watch the majority of the game, as I was helping Keni and Martin with their game, but on the occasions that I took a walk over to the other table, it seemed the game was an interesting one. 

A formidable line of Brits await the Russian armour

A few early exchanges let to some burning armour left strewn across the cornfield, while the few remaining tanks wheeled round the house after dealing with the couple of Shermans James had as support; the fearsome 85mm guns on the T-34s making a mockery of the front armour.

"Dress up tank as Emcha, confuse opponent. Nothing can go wrong"

As Keni and Martin's game wrapped up, I managed to catch the end of the game between Tommy and James. The 6-pdrs doing their bit to slow the advance of the few remaining Soviet tanks. for the most part, both knew the rules fine, there were just a few to hammer out, and a couple of reminders about little things such as 'Cautious, Not Stupid' for the Highlanders. It was the Brits who won the day, as the last Russian tank went up in smoke.

The Soviets make a final push round the flanks, but it is to no avail as the last tank goes up

It was at this point we broke for lunch, and some lovely fish (or in my case sausage) and chips.

 Second half and a few more games

SIG33 and PaK40 face down the Crocs

 The afternoon began, and games were set up. This time, Murray had arrived with his American Paratroopers, and Iain set out his German Grenadiers to play Martin and Keni respectively. Once again, the muttering about dealing with the Crocs arose and the advice of  'Don't panic' levied out.

 I stuck mostly to the table with Iain and Keni, offering advice to the more novice players, while still staying on hand to answer questions from the other game.

 The game began and Iain's question about dealing with the Crocs was answered for now, with his SIG33's landing a bombardment onto them and taking one out of action immediately. A small victory, but one that gave him a little confidence for now. Meanwhile, on the other end of the table, some German Grenadiers and some British Riflemen sat staring at each other, a forest for the Brits and a bocage line for the Germans, and a gap of 7" meaning neither wanted to risk moving into the open to engage for fear of being ripped to shreds by the other's MG fire.

 The Crocs then showed what they can do when they get close, by clearing out the SIG33s and knocking a few teams out of the Grenadier platoon hiding in the nearby forest.  A bad move, since the PaK40s were left in action, and this was soon to be the death knell for the Churchills.

The Churchills pick their targets and inflict some damage on the Germans

Iain moved his PaKs round the building and engaged the 'weaker' side armour of the Crocs. The shots were telling though as both of the mighty machines succumbed to 75mm rounds. Withholding the usual 'I told you so', the game continued, with the British Infantry advancing from house to house down the road towards the German positions.

 Their shots were rattling off the gun shields of the PaKs as they moved to engage them. The plucky Grenadiers who had survived the horror of the flame tanks picked themselves up and advanced out of the forest to help the entrenched guns, a move that ultimately proved to be the game changer.

The Grenadiers await the advance of the Churchills

 With the Grenadiers out in the open, Keni changed targets, and whittled down the hapless Grenadiers, ultimately forcing Iain into a platoon, then a company morale check, resulting in the game going to Keni. Iain definitely learnt some lessons about dealing with heavy tanks, and the importance of keeping platoons safe. I also think that Keni learned that while something as big and impressive as a Churchill Crocodile can add some punch to a force, it can lead to a lot of points being sunk into a tiny part of your overall force.

A sound defensive line by the Germans was picked apart by some brave Brits

 Once again, I only caught the last turn or two of the other battle, but the dug-in Yanks were pipped to the post by some few inches as the objective was taken from them. The wrecks of the Panzers on the table though was testament to their resilience and a reminder that Infantry don't bounce off armour.

The Paratroopers leave the Panzers smouldering husks

 With both final games wrapped up, we decided to call it a day. I'm sure if it were not for travel time and tiredness setting in, we would have been able to get a lot more played. With players quite hyped about the prospect of something similar being done soon, I have no doubt that Knightly Gaming will be accommodating another day of Flames of War soon, and perhaps the word will spread and the attendee numbers will continue to rise.

 A big thank you to Brett for allowing the games to be run, and with all the set-up he did for it. Thanks to Martin, Tommy, Keni, James, Murray and Iain for attending and having some memorable games. I'm sure when this comes round again, we'll be seeing them down; Especially with Martin taking advantage of the '3 for 2' offer Battlefront have at the moment, and almost clearing Brett out of German boxes.

All that remains is for me to put up a few more pictures of the day and to sign off for now.

Murray (left) and Martin (right) engage on the Eastern Table

Iain (left) and Keni (right) battle it out on the Western table