Toulmorese Serial 3

The third, and final, training serial for the 1st Toulmore Rhyfles has completed it's Flocking Practical Performance Check and is ready for deployment. 

This batch includes a second H11 LMG team. 

A second Light Mortar team. 

The Assistant Mortarquar is wearing a metal ammunition pack

A better view of the metal ammunition pack. He's also making the "metal horns" sign. It resembles a Quar letter, so we've decided it is a tactical sign.

A squad of Bombers, because I want to keep the First World War vibe going with distinct Bomber Sections. The Light Mortar section will substitute for a Rifle Grenade section. 

They are carrying a mix of 3d printed, plastic and metal grenades

The 3d printed version of Rhyfler Merch is included in the Bomber Section because he's carrying a grenade and others on his belt. His knit cap is a bit out of place, but it's an eccentricity the others ignore. Perhaps a jungle parasite is giving him the chills.

More Rhyflers. 

NCOs

A Light Recoilless Rifle. This is supposed to be for the more old fashioned looking Tolly-Maeryn. But I think it's modern, light, man-pack design makes it more suitable for the technically advanced Crusaders. Also brilliant for the Jungle Warfare theme I'm going for. I just did a head swap on the Tolly-Maeryn gunners.

Yes the webbing and tunics are slightly different. But that's pretty hard to tell from three feet away.

On the base are some extra shells set on RAFM ammunition boxes.

There is also a gun being pulled by the trail handles. I'm just waiting for a couple more heads from Don to assemble it.

I've also asked Don to print a marksquar carrying a captured Coftyran Harlech. 

This brings the Company up to 34 (35 once the marksquar is done) Quar with pack beast, 1 gun with crew (in both firing and transport mode) and a tractor. 

I've got them roughly organized into:

HQ Squad: Caerten, Is-Caerten, Master-Yawdryl, Quarter Master-Yawdryl (with pack Ganga), Medic, Messenger Squirrel Handler

Rhyfle Squad 1: Yawdryl with Bogen, 3x Rhyflers with Bogens, 3x Rhyflers with Rhyshis

Rhyfle Squad 2: Yawdryl with Bogen, 4x Rhyflers with Bogens, 2x Rhyflers with Ryshis

Bomber Squad: Yawdryl with Bogen, 4x Rhyflers with Bogens, all with grenades

Weapons Squad: Yawdryl with Bogen, 2x light mortars (2x crew each), 2x H11 LMGs (2x crew each)

Recoilless Rhyfle Team

Twaenhyr Light Tractor

So a strong Base of Fire and a good Maneuver Element. A bit thin on troop strength, but hopefully the extra firepower will make up for it. I figure a Rhyfle Company at the end of a long Line of Communication and suffering attrition in the jungle will be keeping as many of it's heavy weapons operating as it can.

The ferns, big leafed plantains, and tall spikey tufts are all from Gamer Grass.

Toulmorese Serial 2

Fr'yd sat in the shade created by the spreading branches of a Koolibah tree. He whistled an old folk song about a jolly bandit and his lover while tending the small fire and waiting for his billy-can to boil. The officers and the Master-Yawdryl would see to their own meals, but as a veteran campaigner, who was able to get a fire going and make a brew in a monsoon, Fr'yd would get the tea up for the other senior leaders in the combat team. 

It wasn't so bad being Quarter-Master Yawdryl for a Rhyfler battalion. His spots were too big and grey to be running around in the bush with a squad like the young bucks. Yeah, job's a good'un. Just like working at his family's store as a kit. Rotate the stock, make sure you had what the customers want. 

Except the customers were the rhyflers, and they wanted ammo, rations, and more ammo. Well, really they wanted beer, baccy, and dyna magazines, but they could buy that for themselves at the Rhyfler's Shop in the Base Camp.

And his store was on four legs. Here she was now, using her big boney head to push over a rotten tree trunk and her spikes to tear at it, revealing all the tasty crawlies inside. M'tylda was a Ganga; a big gentle beast that was good for jungle work. Their big feet were good in the muck, they were pretty good natured beasties, and they could eat a wide variety of insects. So keeping her fed was easy enough. 

He opened a package of corned moth and pulled his fork from his breast pocket, were it was safe beside his spoon, pipe, and baccy pouch. He'd just eaten the first mouthful when there was a familiar snuffling in his ear and a gentle bump to his shoulder as all four of M'tylda's pink tongues wiggled towards his ration pouch.

"Oi! Get off!" He laughed and pulled the pouch away.

M'tylda lumbered around to face him, quietly lowing, her head weaving.

Fr'yd got up, holding the corned moths above his head. He danced about, "is this what you want, girlie?" M'tylda danced back and forth, following the food.

Caerten J'yk Darby came along hoping the tea was ready. He laughed. "Whattya playin' at Fr'yd?"

"G'day Boss." He brought the pouch down so the beast of burden could slurp up some corned moth. "Just me an' M'tylda havin' a little waltz."

Quarter Master-Yawdryl Fr'yd and M'tylda

The Ganga Squidcow was originally from one of Joshua Qualtieri's other fantasy worlds, but he figured that they'd fit with the Quar too. And Quar sell better. 

I made M'tylda's cargo harness and a few rolls of tentage with Miliput, then stuck in extra printed packs and gear. There's a LMG assistant gunner pack, an ammo pack for a Spalgen, a Medic pack, a rucksack or two, and lots of the little ration boxes.

View of the QMYs pack, carrying all kinds of gear! 1 piece print with a head swap.

Master-Yawdryl with tactical mug. 

Medic

He firmly believes that a good cuppa cures what's ailing you.

He's got biscuits tucked in with the bandages, tourniquets, splints, and ibuprofen 

Two officers and a Ryshi gunner 

The officers are a 1 piece print but I got Don to swap the Crusader officer head with the Toulmorese hat in Blender before printing.

Squirrel handler tells his squirrel which way to go

H11 LMG team. Assistant gunner is carrying a spare barrel 

Assistant gunner on the right. Pack with another spare barrel and extra magazines.

Light mortar team. It's like the British 2" or the Japanese "knee" mortar. 

Mortarquar in firing position. No. 2 with ammunition pack

And if you don't believe the Medic that a good cuppa will cure whatever ails you, then just listen to this:

Xenos Rampant in the Kuban

Huzzah! I finally got a game in this year. After four weekends of plans being canceled by weather or illness it was nice to roll some dice.

Dan has been working on some Eastern Front figures, thematically inspired by the movie Cross of Iron and the southern parts of the Russian Front east of the Black Sea.

The game featured Soviet infantry with Lend Lease armour probing a defensive line held by German Mountain Troops and Huwi auxiliaries. The landscape was pretty bleak. Arid scrubland in the summer and swamp in the winter.

German Huwi Cossacks in reserve, who didn't do anything. The dismounted Cossacks in the background did add some weak rifle fire.

Soviets advance 

Valentine tank

Pak36, which struggled to have any effect on the Valentines

MG34 

More Soviets advancing. Urrah!

M3 tank. Trying to beat this down with an antitank rifle and a 75mm infantry gun was tough.

Sgt. Steiner and his troops from the movie.

75mm iG. This attracted much of the Soviet fire. 

Valentine approaching the wire

The wire is breached!

That was the high water mark of the Soviet attack. Infantry tried pouring into the gap behind the Valentine, but attracted all the MG, rifle, and off board artillery we could pour onto them. The Valentine broke, taking 5 hits. The other Valentine (in the background) failed a roll and was knocked out. The M3 and the T70 on the other flank were also heavily damaged and falling back, each with 3 or 4 hits on them,

Dan was testing some ideas for making the tank and antitank rules in Xenos Rampant less vanilla.

Currently his thinking is a weapon will get "Antitank" (which halves the target armour value) up to a certain Armour Value, then only "Armour Piercing" (which reduces target AV by 1) for targets with a higher AV. So the Pak36 got AT vs targets with AV up to 4, then only AP after. So firing at the Valentine with AV of 6, it only got AP.

The M3 had similar for its 37mm gun, but the 75mm gun got "Engulfing" which ignores cover. My 75mm infantry gun hit on 4+ but without any AT or AP it was tough going to get any wounds on the M3 with it's frontal armour of 6.

Plus any vehicle hit by an AT or AP attack had to test, and on a roll of 11+ it was knocked out. This could get modified to a 10+ somehow that I wasn't sure about. Perhaps bigger caliber antitank weapons?

Fun was had anyway. Dan's figures are always enjoyable to play with.