Northern Front Episode 4 and 4.5

The Northern Front Episode 4

Right on Schedule, the release of episode 4 and 4.5


In The Northern Front Podcast Episode 4 we talk about Chain of Command, finish up the Black Powder questions that were cut off in Episode 3, and then dive into Bolt Action doubles tournament using the Adepticon rules the guys attended.  Finally, we conclude with some updates for up coming events and plans. 


In  Part 2 (Episode 4.5), Brian interviews the Bolt Action Nationals Champion, Ben Cone and another participating Internet famous attendee of the Nationals, Seamus Hamrin, AKA the Weekend Wa....err... General.




Episode 4:
http://northernfrontpodcast.libsyn.com/northern-front-podcast-episode-4


Episode 4.5
http://northernfrontpodcast.libsyn.com/the-northern-front-podcast-episode-45


Enjoy!

Status of the Fleets

Looking back at by Blog posts and picture log it has been the Fall of 2013 since I was active in Naval gaming when I hosted a Naval Thunder event at RockCON.


ROCKCON 2013

Today while browsing the magazine racks the cover of World at War caught my eye with an article about the battle of Samar and the British in the Med.

As a result I was motivated to pull out the fleets that have safely resided in dry docks while my gaming interests were diverted to other periods and developing an extensive 28mm WWII, AWI and now Anglo-Zulu collection.



Fleets in Dry Docks

My Naval collection started back in 2007 with the release of Axis and Allies Naval Miniatures (AANM) "War at Sea".  The title immediately caught my attention as I use to play the classic Avalon Hill board game War at Sea and Victory in the Pacific.  AANM was nothing like the board games as it was a games using 1/1800 scale pre-painted models using a simple rule system with stat cards for each model played on a small grid map.  I was already playing the land game and I was instantly hooked as the models looked great and were playable right out of the box.  At the time I was no longer painting due to time constraints, but that soon changed.



Axis and Allies 1/1800 Fleets

While Playing AANM I discovered a few more traditional set of Naval War game rules, but the one I settled on was "Naval Thunder" which allowed you to use any scale miniatures in a traditional table top war games setting.  As I already had a vast collection of WWII 1/1800 scale ships I was set for that period.



1/2400 SPAN-AM, RJW and WWI Fleets

After attending NAVCON in Milwaukee and being exposed to the Russo-Japanese War I decided to build my own fleets of 1/2400 Pre-dreadnoughts.  Before long I had the complete OoB for all the RJW sea battles and expanded into WWI and later the Spanish American War as new supplements came out for Naval Thunder covering all periods from Span-AM War through WWII.



Spanish and Americans duke it out in a hypothetical action

Not long after AANM was coming to an end after releasing six sets of miniatures.  The producer Wizards of the Coast (WotC) decided the game had run its course.  Because it was a collectible miniature game (CMG) there was only so much that could be done in a historical setting without making many duplicates. 


The community was not satisfied though.  Although there would be no more "official" sets the community came together to release new decks (without miniatures) to keep the game alive.  Due to the creative use of repaints and 3D models the ships that WotC did not produce could be made and keep the game alive.  The original ships and planes are still available on the secondary market at a hefty price.  WotC released the last "official" set over four years ago, but just today I bought the latest community deck on E-bay which will open up an whole new list of possibilities for new ships to model.



Makings of the German Battle Line for Jutland

So my fleets have been neglected for the last 2 plus years.  One of my goals is to revive my naval gaming so the great ships can see the high seas again.  Maybe I can introduce some of my new "land" gaming friends into the wonderful world of Naval Gaming.



Pre-Dread American, Spanish and German project neglected

First things first though, I do intend to complete my Anglo-Zulu project and tie up a few Bolt Action loose ends so the work bench is clear.  Then the dock workers can return and start cranking out the many naval projects that have been on hiatus.



Shapeways Fleets waiting for paint

AANM waiting to be converted to new ships via repaint

The ships will sail again in 2016........

Northern Front Podcast

Welcome to the 1st episode of the Northern Front Podcast.

Brian, Phil and I have decided to start a historical gaming podcast devoted to our gaming interest.

Currently the focus is on Bolt Action, Black Powder and Chain of Command.  In the coming episodes we will expand into other areas to include getting back into my Naval gaming as well as many other historical gaming interests.

Northern Front Podcast

You can also follow along on our new Facebook page.

Nothern Front Podcast FB page

Look forward to your feedback.  If you have topics related to what we are working on let us know and we will try to include them in future episodes.

Hope you enjoy!

2015 Gaming Year in review

WOW, where did 2015 go? 


Not a single post in 2015.....I will try to do better in the coming year.


I tend to take a lot of pictures of games and thanks to Photo bucket they catalog all my mobile uploads by month.  In the near future I will be a guest on a podcast to talk about the Bolt Action scene in our area during 2015.  In preparation I reviewed my pics from the last year and a lot more than I imagined transpired.


Here we go.......


Bolt Action and Black powder (AWI) was the primary focus for gaming in the past year.  My figure collections seems to have grown exponentially in the process.


This past year I managed to complete (well are they ever really complete?) two new Bolt Action Armies as well as almost complete most of my AWI armies (close to 900 figures now).  In addition I added many new models to the existing armies.






IJA Infantry Vehicles and SNLF

In the process I also participated in a Firestorm Normandy campaign adapted to Bolt Action (Great experience) by Phil.  Finally I closed out the year by hosting/playing in one Bolt Action Tournament and playing in two others.  All in all it was a stellar year on the gaming front.

Undefeated French List that went 6-0-3 in Tournament play

Here is the month by month break down per my pictorial records.


January 2015:
-Worked on my newly acquired French Bolt Action army adding the Bus and Schneider armored car
-Added Rubicon T34 for the Soviets
-Played AWI Freeman's Farm with the crew

Rubicon T-34

AWI Freeman's Farm

February 2015:
-Added a few models to U.S Airborne for upcoming Firestorm Campaign
-Completed Warlord Tank Obstacles
-Played the first games for the Firestorm Campaign


U.S. 82nd Preparing for Normandy invasion

First successful Airborne Landing vs. Sam's Vet Grenadier's Apparently they do not like BBQ

March 2015:
-Finished U.S. 1st ID for possible Normandy landings in the Firestorm campaign and then never used them as I ended up being the U.S. Airborne commander
-Expanded the French with  R35, FFL Light Howitzer and more Infantry
-Helped out at the Demo Day at Black Dog Games by providing armies and playing
-Supported Bolt Action Demo Day and Vanguard games

1st ID rebuilt....yet to see the table

French Armor support

Mighty French Cavalry will become vital to my list

Black Dog Demo day

April 2015:
-Started Soviet Cavalry project
-Played Brian Soviets Vs. IJA (Epic 1250 pt Battle)
 -Attended Little Wars in IL




Little Wars...Mark's Gold Beach Scenario in 15mm

IJA vs Soviets where all Armor was neutralized early and it became and infantry slug fest

Vanguard Games Demo DAK vs. 8th Army

May 2015:
-New Project Purchased IJA used.  This was very unplanned, but to good a deal to pass up.  I had previously sworn off the Pacific theater now it is one of my favorite armies.
-Played AWI With Phil (Chatterton's Hill)
-French added HQ units, Senegalese and  L37
-Soviet added BA 6
-German Lieg Gun and PZ J1...Liege gun was an inside joke as it was my downfall when Brian played me the first time and I did not know what it was.

Chatterton's Hill...a resounding American victory

IJA....an unplanned project

Senegalese....Regular tough fighters

June 2015:
-Much progress on IJA adding some armor:Type 94, HaGo, Shinhoto Chi-Ha, Scout Cars, Vent and Jungle Infantry

IJA goodies added

Jul 2015:
-Battle of Kahlkyn Gol (Soviets vs IJA) with Brian and Donavon on Brian's terrain Board.  This was one of the best and most memorable Bolt Action games of the year.  Not just because we won with the IJA, but the terrain board Brian created truly made it an event.

Kahlkyn Gol.....IJA win Handily, awesome terrain

Type 94 Charges down the river bed

August 2015:
-Soviet Cav Complete with the help of Brian (My little Pony)
-Added Soviet Small Teams
-Played French Maginot Line with Brian...first real test for the French in what turned out to be a lopsided affair as the Germans never had a chance with the terrain.
-IJA Matchbox Truck conversions
-Restarted ACW 10mm project (now all painted pending basing)
-Thursday night Game night in Madison kicked off w/ Ben and crew
-Added BA Plastic Panther for the Germans painted by Brian
-Char 2C added in Prep for Vanguard Tournament which in the end I could not attend.

Soviet Cavalry ready thanks to Brian's painting

Maginot Line is a tough day for the attackers

Match box 1920 Mack truck conversion for IJA

10mm ACW Project rekindled

Char 2C joins the French...compared to T28

September 2015:
-Added Warlord T34
-Prep for What-Khan TO...I always start early as in order to make the events look as professional as possible and run smoothly with great prize support.

Char 2c Goes into battle for the first time

Warlord T34 (Top) with Rubicon

October 2015:
-What-Khan Tournament as TO (Played as odd man)
-What-Khan AWI game
-Phil's WWI CoC at What-Khan....I am sold

What-Khan Bolt Action Tournament ready to go

Generous Prize Support

AWI Freeman's Farm with 7 new players

Phil and James hosted a great WWI Chain of Command Demo

November 2015:
-Game Hole Con Tournament run by Brian
-Added IJA Type 92 Shape ways
-Started Anglo-Zulu Project....Impulse project with Brian and Phil
-AWI Bemis Heights...this game was a year in the making, but well worth the wait.

Game Hole Con...French once again thwart Phil's IJA

Ben's Soviets prove a tough adversary resulting in a draw

Dice gods took a coffee break giving Donavon's Italians a well earned draw

In true style Phil's dice abandon him along with his troops and Gen Arnold captures the redoubt.

December 2015:
-Continued Anglo-Zulu (Confirmed what we already know Brian has A.D.D.)
-Supported Steven and the  Twin Cities "Winter Storm" Tournament
-Playing BA w/ My Son, Justin (Americans v French Americans v FJ)
-End of year clean up and organization of hobby bench

Anglo-Zulu Progress

Luke's Americans feel the sting of French Cavalry

Char 2C Scores a rare Ace on Joe's Greyhound



Rick's Germans fight the French to a draw in the final game

Justin returned home and learned to respect the French

Hobby Area cleaned and ready for future projects

If all goes well before the end of the year I will get a couple more games of Bolt Action in with Justin as well as play at least one more AWI scenario.


Gaming goals for 2016:

1.  Be a better blogger with at least a monthly summary post if not for each significant event.


2. Surprisingly, adding another BA army is not on the list, just the opposite I am going to try not to buy any more BA other than a few models to round out what I already have.  Mostly I want to take time to play and enjoy the collection I already own.


3. Host at least one area Bolt Action tournament, although in may not be in conjunction with a convention.  The past two years at What-Khan were very rewarding, but not the participation level I had hoped.  My gut tells me there are too many other distractions at the convention that pull the Bolt Action players away.


4. Host another Black Powder game at a Convention, possibly Bemis Heights.


5.  Possibly return to my Naval gaming which has been on hiatus for the past two plus years since I discovered Bolt Action and Black Powder.


6. Continue to enjoy the friendship of my current gaming group and add new ones.


Until next time......