The Christmas Massacre: A 1000 point battle report for the Station 42 War

 December 25th 3032:  Members of the Titania militia attacked the Redwing Farm late in the afternoon on Christmas day.  The farm has been operating under the management of the Smith and Wilson Agriculture Corporation for over a year now and a small garrison of Hell Knight mercenaries were stationed there to defend the facility.

 The Hell Knights had little warning of the attack but managed to respond quickly to the threat.  With no armor on site a LAGAREV transport and a single short range missile launcher provided the mercenaries with heavy support.  

The attack was led by militia leader Ivar "Bear" Belyakov and consisted of about 28 militia member and three improvised armored vehicles.

 At least three snipers were among the militia force although two were killed in the fighting.  Early in the battle it appeared that the militia members would be beaten back by the mercenary defenders.

 After the Hell Knights afv was taken out of action the tide of the battle began to turn.  The militia infantry carefully used the farm's out buildings as cover as they moved into position.

 One unit of Hell Knights did manage to destroy two of the militia improvised armored vehicles and force a unit to fall back.

 The other Hell Knight unit did not fair as well.  Facing Bear's men, a sniper, and a technical vehicle the right flank of the mercenary defense began to crumble.

 The other unit of Hell Knights left their defensive position in an attempt to reach their comrades.  They traded fire with a few militia as they advanced which slowed their progress.  

 Despite efforts to aid them the mercenaries fighting Bear's unit died to a man including a mercenary officer presumed to be their leader.

 With only six member of their squad left standing the remaining mercenaries withdrew from the field.  

The last shots of the battle were fired by the mercenary missile emplacement which killed a few militia and routed the rest of their unit which allowed their comrades to escape the field.

Notes:  We gave the militia 1200 points vs the mercenaries 1000 points in this battle because we have found in the past if one side gets any kind of defensive position from the start that it really unbalances the game.  Also this was a surprise attack that we did as much to move the story line along as anything.  It wasn't that we pitched the battle specifically for the militia to win but we did want them to have a slight advantage.  My wife really used the terrain well pinning down my units with her "technicals" and snipers while Bears assault rifle armed unit moved into place.  With a rate of fire of 2 they are usually devastating at close range although they lack the skill of my trained mercenaries and they had the high ground as well.  All in all I think it was a fun little fight and it worked out well for the story line.  The militia were able to make off with some badly needed supplies and bloody the mercenaries which will bolster their recruitment and allow them to hold out a while longer.  
The insurgency phase of the campaign is about wrapped up.  We have some interesting things in store for the next phase of our little war.    

Battle of the Smuggler's Camp: A 1500 point No Limits game report for the Station 42 War.

 Sunday December 15th 3032:  Early Sunday morning a patrol of Hell Knights mercenaries operating out of Station 42 engaged a group of insurgents off loading supplies at a smuggler's camp about 8 kilometers east of the spaceport.

 The Mercenaries attacked swiftly with three light APCs and a light hover tank supporting a light mech.  The insurgents seem to have been caught unprepared but they quickly rallied and fought back.

 Several militia improvised armored vehicles arrived on the scene trading fire with the mercenaries.  Among the insurgents was a squad of Wolfhound Friekorps and a Wolfhound APC.

 The Hell Knights quickly overwhelmed the insurgents right flank but were stalled by the determined resistance of Boon's Militia and the Wolfhounds.

 The Insurgents managed to destroy two Hell Knight APCs and push the light tank back.  The Hell Knights mech picked off the last of Boon's Militia but slipped and fell on some loose ground near one of the smugglers ship.

 The remaining Hell Knight APC charged the center of of the insurgents line and offloaded it's squad which engaged in hand to hand fighting with some Venture Star Miners while also trading fire with the Wolfhounds.

The mercenary mech regained it footing and attacked the insurgents field cannon and sniper killing them both.  The Wolfhounds APC was destroyed by the Hell Knights light tank and the rest of the Wolfhounds were killed by the mercenary APC.  The remaining miners immediately surrendered.  The smugglers ships managed to take off and escape in the confusion.  Other insurgents seen approaching the battle broke off and fled Northeast.

Notes:  This was a brutal battle that turned into a complete rout of the insurgents.  Most of the mercenary vehicles were heavily damaged and two were destroyed but I only lost one trooper.  I think my wife should have brought the rest of her reserves onto the board much more quickly but that's always a hard call.  

My Current Hell Knights Army and the painted Woflhounds force

 Just felt like posting a pic of my Hell Knights army as it stands at this point.  There are 56 troops and 13 vehicles bringing the army total to 69 pieces.  Of course I have quite a ways to go before I "finish" this force but it's a pretty decent army worth several thousand points in No Limits which give my quite a bit of variety for most games in our campaign.

The Wolfhounds have a much more modest force but considering that at the end of October they consisted of only one six man squad I'm very happy with the progress I have made.  I'm planning on focusing on this force for my winter work break and hopefully I will add another 12 troops and a few more vehicles so it will be a nice little army by early in January.

Tanksgiving: Project Wrap Up!

Well I went a little over my deadline wrapping this up but I'm okay with that.  I managed to get 9 tanks and armored vehicles finished in one month for my Tanksgiving project and since I didn't start till the end of the first week of November and I just finished these at the end of the first week of December I'm still pretty happy with my progress.
I finished four vehicles for my Hell Knights Mercenaries bringing their vehicle total up to 13.  Three of the tanks are for my Wolfhound Friekorps which is my next big army project.  Two of them I just painted up as generic mercenary tanks for general use.

Tanksgiving Update: 5 Vehicle Mix!

I've been trying to finish up a few more tanks for my Tanksgiving marathon so I spent the last two days trying to build up several of my half finished projects.
My wife built the grey APC from the body of a cheap "Army Man" Patton tank.  We are going to be using it for the Wolfhounds.
The green 6x6 is from Secret Weapons Games and it is the only "kit" model I have done for this project.  It also cost about what the rest of the tanks in the project cost combined but it is a very nice model.  If I had the budget I'd buy at least a squadron.  I may pick up some more in the future.
The two smaller hover tanks in the front are based of a Matchbox toy.  These "Douglas" Medium Hover tanks are for my Hell Knights.  I already have one of these completed so this will bring me up to a full squadron.
The large hover missile launcher is a variation of my Landshark AFV called the "Hammerhead".  It is also for my Hell Knights.   It is built from a toy LAV-25 which came in a set from Dollar General and included the missile launcher as a tow behind weapon.  I simply converted it into a missile turret.
Hopefully I will get these painted by tomorrow night.

Tanksgiving Update: Two heavy tanks finished!

I finished these two tanks up today for my Tanksgiving Marathon.  This brings me up to four finished tanks.  Both are based on a $3.00 toy tank I picked up at the Dollar General store.  The green one is pretty much just a paint up and the camouflage one has had it's tracks removed and replaced with hover drives I scratch built from cheap razor handles.
Obviously the design owes a lot to my M1 Abrams MBT but it is a bit more narrow in design.
In my setting these tanks are produced by the same company.  The hover tanks obviously has less armor but greater speed.  The design designation will be the Laird MBT and Laird HHT respectively.  I've painted the hover tank up for my Hell Knights army with the company markings.  The tracked version I have painted up to be a part of a generic mercenary motor pool I am building so I have gone without giving it a company or national marking and have instead simply given it a name and number.
I intended to photograph these with some miniatures to show their scale.  They are pretty big.  Defiantly "heavy" tanks although they are not as big as the two Ligers I just finished. I'm happy with the way they turned out and they will likely be making an appearance in my campaign very soon.  

Tanksgiving Progress Report: Heavy Anti-Grav Tank built!

I've been working on converting this $3.00 Dollar General tank to a hover tank for the last couple of weeks and it is basically built.  Enough to show it off anyhow.  The underside is a bit of a mess so I'm probably going to do a bit more finish work on it.
The drive is made from cheap shaving razor handles also purchased at the Dollar Store for $1.00 per 12 pack.  I used 8 to build the drive.  I used the same system on my "Hobelar" light anti-grav tank also for the Hell Knights.
The tank is shown here with my Hell Knights Mercenaries who use anti-gravity or "hover" vehicles exclusively.  This tank will probably be designated the "Laird" and it will likely be the heaviest tank in the Hell Knights arsenal.  
Hopefully I will have it painted up and ready for the table in a day or two.

Solar Empires

I've finally settled on a name for the Sci-fi setting we have been playing our "Station 42 War" and "Maxed Out" games in.  I'm going with "Solar Empires".  I had previously called the setting "3031" and "Moon Miners and Terraformers".  I didn't like the first choice because it seemed silly to name a setting for a single date and I didn't like the second one because it was a mouth full and sounded dated.  I Google searched "Solar Empires" to check for conflicts and found that there was a video game named "Sins of a Solar Empire" but no game or anything titled just "Solar Empires"  Although this is merely a personal setting for my home games I would like to have an original title if possible in case I decide to develop it in the future.

I feel this name reflects the various different factions well.  Governments, corporations, and criminal enterprises can often be called "Empires" and since my setting is based on the Solar System it seemed like the best choice.  

I have some basic setting notes that we have actually been using for a couple of years now that I have not published because I was never satisfied with the setting name.  I have now created a new page for those notes on this blog here:   http://ironworkersminiatures.blogspot.com/p/solarempires-nathan-miller-2013.html
I plan to add some artwork to the page as soon as we create some.  As it stands it is just a big block of text and I want to make it more interesting to read.

Battle of the Venture Star Depot ( A 1000 point No Limits Battle report for the Station 42 War)

 October 27, 3032 12 Kilometers south east of Station 42 on Titania.  Earlier today a small scouting force of the Hell Knights Mercenary Company raided a supply depot owned by the Venture Star Prospecting Company a known support of the Titania insurgency.  This volatile region has been quite since mid July when the Hell Knights Mercenary Company captured Station 42 from insurgents and renegade elements of the Titania Planetary Guard.

 As mercenary light armored units made a move toward the entry to the compound members of "Bear's Militia" opened fire disabling both vehicles.  Hell Knight scouts and snipers responded killing at least two of the militia members occupying a building with a communications array.  One unit of scouts kicked in the back door to a smaller building to gain access.

 The mercenary scouts and militia members continued to exchange fire.  Bear himself was shot by a Hell Knights sniper and one of his units was broken by the scouts in the building.  At least two scouts were also wounded in this exchange.  The Hell Knights Marksman Battlesuit exchanged fire with a militia auto-canon.  The mech was damaged but one of the crewmen manning the weapon was killed as well.

 One of the Hell Knights snipers killed the last member of Bear's personal unit while the other shot down a NOVA trooper.  A unit of scouts moved into the middle of the compound and killed the remaining crewman of the militia auto-canon but one of their own was killed by a member of Wolfhound Friekorps.  Three Wolfhounds were killed by grenade and laser fire from the mercenary scouts in the building while the mercenary battlesuit killed the militia sniper.  The militia field gun actually hit and damaged one of the compound buildings trying to hit the battlesuit.

 The two remaining members of Bear's militia rallied and found cover but were almost immediately gunned down by the scouts in the building.  Two more of the mercenary scouts in the middle of the compound were killed by NOVA troopers leaving only the Sargent of the unit standing.  The two remaining Wolfhounds fled from their position.  

 The Hell Knights battlesuit moved into point blank range with the NOVA security troopers but neither the mech nor the troopers could hit each other.  Another trooper was killed by one of the mercenary snipers.  The Wolfhound troopers rallied before fleeing the compound completely.  One of the Venture Star employees was shot by a mercenary sniper as his coworkers fled to one of the storage buildings.  The mercenary scouts began to pull back.

In a bloody and final exchange of fire the last two NOVA troopers were gunned down by the mercenary battlesuit.  The Hell Knights scouts continued to withdraw under the cover of their snipers.  As the mercenary forces withdrew it was unclear if the Hell Knights had achieved their objective.  They had certainly bloodied the nose of the insurgents and caused significant damage.  The remaining militia units did not attempt to pursue them.

Notes:  Well this was a pretty smooth skirmish.  It had been a long time since we had played so we didn't want to do a very large action.  Also we have decided that it would be logical for the next phase of the campaign to involve several smaller skirmishes with militia insurgents instead of pitched battles with the Planetary Guard.  We decided to hold this game to 6 turns.  The Hell Knights main objective was a scan as many of the compound buildings as they could.  I managed to scan 5 out of 6 of the buildings and inflict more casualties than I sustained so we considered it a victory for the mercs.  One of the funniest things about this battle was the poor performance of the militia field gun.  They managed to hit the Venture Star earth mover and shuttle as well as two generators and one of the buildings with scattered shots.  The only two shots they fired that hit nothing flew way over the heads of the snipers.  
Also I decided to try and take wide shots of the battle every turn and then add smaller inset details of the action which I think worked out here.  I plan to do that again for other battle reports.  I like to keep my total number of images small but this way I can also show more of what happened.        

The Battle of Station 42 (A 4000 point No Limits battle report for the Station 42 War)

Hell Knight forces on the western edge of the spaceport

 Over two months ago a company sized force of the Hell Knights mercenary company assaulted and secured Station 42 a vital space port on Titania.  During the fighting our "Flyspy" news drones were captured by agents working for the Smith and Wilson Agriculture company the Hell Knights employers.  It has taken TNN some time to recover the images taken by our drones so that we could cover the events that happened during the battle.

A Hell Knights X93 "Vampire Bat" combat drone eliminates a militia sniper

 In the weeks following the battle Smith and Wilson Agriculture conducted a media blackout while the Hell Knights instituted strict martial law on the spaceport.  All of this was done while government officials in Titania City turned a blind eye.  The renegade Planetary Guard commander "General" Drake led the Titania forces.  

Hell Knight hovercraft speed to support their left flank.

 The Hell Knights arrived early in the morning and reached the western edge of the spaceport unopposed.  Most of their troops arrived in fast moving hovercraft but a few units of scouts and snipers had infiltrated deeper into the facility.

Rosie's robotic troopers marching out of her workshop

 In addition to Drake's troops the well known local mechanic and roboticist known only as "Rosie" fielded her own personal mech and 15 robotic security bots.  This came as a bit of a surprise to the locals but if this bothered the other Titania forces they didn't show it.  

Rosie's Battlemech destroys Hell Knights infantry units

 Also on the side of the Titania forces were the local NOVA Securities officers and some snipers and light vehicles from the local militia.

Armored units from both sides exchange heavy fire

 The most intense fighting of the day happened around the local "Klancy's" convenience store.  The Hell Knights took up positions inside and around the building as Titania forces closed on them from the east and south.

A Hell Knights "Incubus" mech outmaneuvers Rosie's heavier mech

 The Hell Knights fielding an extremely agile Incubus class light Battlemech.  This unit not only inflicted serious casualties against the Titania infantry and light vehicles but it also proved very difficult for the slower moving Titania forces to catch up with.  Using jump jets the mech was able to continually fire then flee before enemy firepower could be brought to bear.

Planetary Guard tanks burn near NOVA Securities office

 The Planetary guard tanks proved difficult to destroy but after suffering literally dozens of hits each both were finally destroyed in the vicinity of of the NOVA Securities station.

Hell Knight armored units speed past the remains of a "Guardian" class battlemech

 In addition to loosing their tanks the Planetary guard also suffered the loss of the Guardian class medium Battlemech while it was trying to root out the entrenched mercenaries in and around Klancy's.

The remnants of the Titania forces prepare to retreat from the field

After suffering the loss of most of their heavy fire power the combined Titania forces withdrew from the field.  Both side suffered heavy casualties reported as nearly 50%.  In addition to loosing their tanks and mech the Titania forces lost all of their militia light vehicles.  The Hell Knights lost two of their light transports, a light hover tank, and a heavy combat drone in addition to several casualties.

This has been Alphonso Marks for the Titania News Network.  

Additional photos from this battle can be found at this location: The Battle of Station 42 

Notes:  Unfortunately it has been so long since we fought this battle I was unable to do a play by play like I wanted.  I think we took over 70 images and I edited about 30 which you can see in the flickr gallery.  This was a massive battle with over 120 models on the table.  It took two long session and about 8 or 10 turns to play out.  We still plan on several more battle and one large final battle before we call it quits on this campaign.  We hope to wrap things up by the end of the year.  

Battle of Station 42 in progress! (The Station 42 War)

 Well we are in the middle of playing out big 4000 point No Limits game for our Station 42 War campaign.  We decided to have this battle in Station 42 itself which we set out on a 5'x12' gaming table.  That's 60' square of gaming surface.  This is the way the table was set up just prior to deployment.  

 This is the Hell Knights force.  Two Regular Rifle Squads, one Veteran Rifle Squad, one Armored Assault Squad. two Scout Squads, two Snipers, one Assassin, three LAGAREVs, one "Vampire Bat" combat drone, one "Landshark" AFV, one "Hobilar" light hover thank, one "Douglas" medium hover tank, one "Incubus" light mech, and one mechsuit piloted by my captain.  64 models in total and every model I have painted for my army except one assassin.

This is the Titania force.  Four squads of Titania Planetary Guard and one command squad, three squads of Battledroids, one squad of NOVA troopers, three Snipers, three Improvised Armored Vehicles, Three Badger MRAPs, two Medium Tanks, one "Guardian" medium mech, and Rosie's "Cyclopes" medium mech.  65 models in total.

We are currently on turn 9 of the battle and plan to play to the end of turn 12 unless one side pulls out.  Right now it's a toss up as both sides have taken almost %50 casualties.

Hell Knight Regular Rifle Squad #2

I just finished another Regular Rifle Squad for my Hell Knights mercenary army.  This brings my total number of "troops" up to about 52.  I hope to finish another 10 man squad of Regular Rifles soon to finish out that platoon then I'm going to work on finish out my Veteran Rifle platoon.

Battle of Dutton's Camp (Station 42 War Battle Report)

 July 5th 3032 Titania "Green Zone":  Earlier today a small force of Hell Knights engaged member of the Titania Militia just near Titania City in the "Green Zone".  Regular vehicle traffic inside the zone is restricted to a few roadways so the mercenaries marched a force two kilometers inside the zone to reach the militia encampment.  Militia members under the command of Jim Dutton had set up a hidden recruitment base and the Hell Knights intended to shut it down.

 Hell Knight Scouts and Snipers crept close to the base.  Two NOVA securities officers were shot down in the opening exchange.

 Another group of scouts on Dutton's right flank engaged some Wolfhound mercenaries but in this engagement they did not do as well loosing two of their own.

 The commander of the Hell Knights and two Armored Assault Squads moved in with an Assassin saying in the cover of a large hill.  A militia sniper far on their left managed to take out one of the commanders men.

 The remaining three NOVA troopers closed on the scouts and engaged them but lost another of their member in the attempt.  A militia sniper kill one of the scouts but was wounded in return by a Hell Knights sniper.  That sniper was killed by fire from the commanders squad members who was shot by yet another militia sniper.

 The Hell Knights commanders final squad member was killed by fire from Bear's militia unit.  Another NOVA trooper was gunned down by the Scouts leaving only the Sargent.

 Leaping from the shadows a Hell Knights Assassin dispatched the remaining militia sniper on Dutton's left flank.  The three remaining scouts on the hill killed three of Bear's militia as the other Armored Assault Squad made a steady advance.

 Combined fire from the Scouts and Armored Assault Squad reduced Bear's militia to two members.  The return fire left only the Scout Sargent standing.

 The heavily armored Hell Knights took out Bear and his last militia member as the Scout Sargent withdrew from his position.  Dutton's militia and the Wolfhound mercs continued to close in.

The NOVA Sargent gunned down another armored Hell Knight but the mercenaries managed to break the Wolfhounds with accurate Heavy Blaster fire.  The assassin blew up a cache of  militia supplies and the mercenary commander gunned down one of Dutton's men.
With only seven men left in the battle the Hell Knights commander chose to withdraw from the field.  Although they had bloodied the militia they were unable to achieve their objectives.

Notes:  This was actually one of the more grueling battles we have had for the campaign.  With no vehicles allowed there was a lot of moving but there was also a lot of moving through difficult ground and a lot of cover.  The Militia snipers did a lot of damage to the Hell Knights.  The Hell Knight scouts really had a great position on the hill.  Elevated and with +2 cover from the woods enemy shots were at a -3 for the entire game.  This made them a tough group to take out.  Not only that they managed to give as well as they got in the long run.  If only I had put the other scout squad in an equally good position.  The Wolfhound Friekorps were also particularly nasty.  They dispatched my other unit of scouts in two turns without taking any damage.  The Hell Knights objectives were to take down Dutton and Bear and to destroy supplies and the militia's generator and communications up-link.  This may have been a few too many objectives especially with so many defenders to face.   This ended up being a pretty solid victory for the militia although a hard fought one.