I’ve been slowly increasing my terrain holdings and recently turned to on some of my Timeline Miniatures. I have never built any of their offerings, but I saw some great designs on their website and pleased to report that they are excellent in “the real.”
The outbuilding is excellent. It’s a great piece for northwestern Europe across a wide variety of time periods if you vary your roofing material. I’m intending on using it for WW2, so may be doing a tile roof on it eventually.
The product out of its bag
The pieces go together perfectly, and unlike some of their competitors, Timeline includes detailed instructions with every kit. They recommend, (and I always find it useful – even with such solid kits), to dry fit everything first.
The building dry-fitted but not gluedThe fully built building
The building is a good size for a section to take up cover, or for an objective if searching for downed pilots or resistance fighters.
Some FJs to show scale. The figures are Warlord (metal and plastic)
Overall, I’m very happy with this piece. It was only 9 pounds, and was a steal. It was simple to assemble, and has great detail. I will be ordering more of the modern line from Alan (his Normandy farmhouse looks amazing).
Next up, a simple fantasy piece: a well.
All of the Timeline products come in plastic Ziploc bags with instructions
The well is a good piece, but nothing spectacular. I forgot how much I didn’t enjoy sticking MDF parts in a circle formation (as with Warbases Celtic houses) and this was no different. I prevailed and the piece is nice. It was relatively quick to put together and will do the trick.
A 28mm Blacktree Saxon for scale
Last, but not least is the Timeline Watchtower.
The beautiful watchtower kit
I was trepidatious about ordering this as many of the late Roman watchtowers on the market look wrong. They are too squat, or the tower walk is too wide etc. This tower is great.
The nicely proportioned tower. Warbases low walls in the background. More on Warbases in a future post.
The tower walk is supported by 24 supports, which was worrying. They fit in so well that it was simple to affix the walkway. In fact, everything fit wonderfully on this kit.
The view from below showing some of the many supports for the walkThe watchtower has an entrance room with fixed ladder into a guard room on the main level of the tower
As you can see, the tower makes sense. There is a ladder to get into the tower, with a lower room that can be fought over. Then another fixed ladder leads to the guard house (with a cutaway for those entering from below). Then the walk itself with its nice railings wide enough for 25mm bases. This is a perfect piece for Dux or any fantasy/medieval gaming. I highly recommend it.
Having built Warbases, Sarissa Precision, and Terrains4Games, these are by far the best quality MDF kits I’ve seen. Each company has some good points and some points that could be improved upon, but Timeline’s attention to detail, design aesthetic, and price point are excellent and outshine their competitors. I shall (to my wife’s chagrin) be purchasing more of their terrain in the near future. I hope that you check them out!
It’s been 18 years since I moved to the Island and I consider myself well and truly a local now. It still hit home when my old city of Ottawa was hit by a big storm. The tornado hit outside the town and went along the river right by the capital and into the city of Gatineau on the other side of the river. This hasn’t made much of the international news, but CBC has a story that’s worth a look. Luckily, there are few injuries and no deaths reported. All of my friends and family are safe.
A tornado. Every area has its risks, but tornadoes aren’t something I associate with my nation’s capital. Frostbite and heat-stroke are. That city has a 100 degree Celsius temperature range from the summer to the mid-winter. It gets so cold that when I was in high school our school caught fire and the students, after evacuating, were put back into the gym as we’d freeze before we burned. Ah -40.
In any event, as for the blogs, I have a list that I routinely check and it’s out of date. I regularly go to a favourite site, check the sidebar and then peruse what’s being looked at (by the way, Anton’s Wargame Blog even has SPQVI on his blog list, thanks Anton)!
I noticed that there are wargaming sites that I do end up visiting several times but are missing on my list. So, while this list is still incomplete, please take another look at the side/bottom. Of note, The Tactical Painter, A Terrible loss of Lead and Wealth, Jay’s Wargaming Madness, Lair of the Uber Geek. I’ll be adding more in the coming weeks and maybe even organizing the list so it’s easier to navigate. Sadly, WordPress isn’t like Blogger, and doesn’t show which blogs I visit when I’m signed in with my account. Hopefully this will make up for that. If any of the multitudes that read this blog have your own blog and want me to add it, please let me know in the comments.
Okay, that’s a little confusing for a title. But here’s the conclusion to the 2nd delaying action that Lucius and I played.
We left off with my forces pulled back, trying to get re-organized to make a final push on the objective. My left flank was stable, with my field gun slowly moving forward, and 1 section with the platoon 2IC (unteroffizier) holding the line. On my right, 3 Section bailed out from the Hanomag with the Commandoes to the front. Unfortunately, I had left my platoon commander out in the open (where he was trying to encourage the 3 section weapons team before they broke), and the pinned Commandoes shot him, luckily only dazing him for the turn. My 3 section opened up on the Commandoes, killing another one and making the remaining 4 break due to excess shock.
On the left, Lucius brought on the Vickers and rallied yet more shock off using his platoon commander (who was so inspirational that he was gazetted Captain based on his performance).
Vickers on overwatch over the JOP
With my 1 section, I tried feinting right (pretending to want to go through the house) and then move back, but the Vickers was almost always active and able to face the direction of my attack. I’d have to get into hand to hand combat with the remains of the Canadian 1 section plus an MMG with 5 crew from the front after rolling 3 dice to charge in. Not good. It was time to pull back and let 3 section secure the flank to divide and conquer.
It took forever, but I managed to get 3 section up and moving (and rejoining with the scared remaining member of the wiped out weapon’s team). Lucius meanwhile managed to rally off shock and get the 4 commandoes back up to the fight.
The Canadian resistance circled in red. On the left 2 soldiers and the Vickers, on the right, 4 commandoes. My 1 section is waiting with my Unteroffizier on the left, while 3 section moves up to take a JOP on the right. I’m about to bring on my Panzerschreck team to try to force the Commandoes to move
I activated my field gun when I could, attempting to get 3 “6s” to blow up the building on the left flank (more for fun than for any tactical purpose, though I figured it would make my opponent guess). Meanwhile, it took a few phases to get my Panzerschreck on (as both my senior leaders were on the table).
The commandoes were guarding the wall ahead. So my 3 section moved right to take the JOP while my Panzerschreck team sprinted up towards the commandoes. I ended the turn on the most exposed JOP with a chain of command die, but Lucius played one of his and avoided the test. Drat. He then shook the Commandoes out towards the woods behind the house on the right and went on overwatch. I managed to get just outside the arcs and put a bit of hurt on him, but he returned the favour and wiped out an LMG and crew. Drat.
3 section pulled back but stayed close enough to threaten the last JOP on the right while the platoon commander made his way up. The Panzerschreck made it to the low wall where the commandoes were sheltering before. They were going to use their rifles to take a shot at the Canadian platoon leader but were engaged in close combat by the commandoes. I played an interrupt but the Kar98s missed. In close combat, well, once again everyone died. I rolled a 1 and avoided losing any morale but Lucius lost his JL killed and the section gone. Down to 1 morale and the JOP on the right flank was removed. Lucius was down to 2 dice but fought on.
I moved 2 section up to be ready to get into hand to hand combat, effectively fixing the Vickers to face me. Meanwhile, 3 section moved back up. The Canadian officer was exposed and was injured. Morale shot, the plucky North Novas left the field, unable to face an attack from both sides and with their beloved leader bleeding.
Conclusion
Quite the fight! The North Novas had forced me back twice before being finally overwhelmed, and a few chance dice rolls would have made things very different. Another close run thing and my first victory with this rules set (Lucius has won the other 3 or 4 games we’ve played).
Looking at “At the Sharp End” and the ending force morale, the FJs would have permanently lost 8, with 5 missing the next fight and 4 returning to fight immediately. The 34 man platoon would be down to 21 for the next fight. This would be only a full section plus HQ and a few extra men. Not a lot. Additionally, the Hanomag was a loss, and those were not always easy to replace. The delaying action fought by the North Novas cost the Germans!
The heroism of the North Novas was also expensive. 15 men were permanently lost, likely dead. 8 were out of the fight for the next battle, and 7 would limp into the lines ready for the next battle, leaving the newly promoted Captain to command 13 soldiers out of 36.
I think we’re happy with our knowledge now, and are going to do the Arnhem campaign in WSS 74 in October. Playing a full campaign will be fun and will add some complexity to the fights. Had this been a campaign game I would have likely conceded the field when I lost my Hanomag. Next time we’ll have to think about more than just the ground in front of us, and keep the overall mission in mind.
No more Chain of Command until next month. Priority now will be getting terrain ready!
After another RPG play report, I’ll be turning over the next WW2 post to Lucius and he’ll be showing his North Novas platoon.
A little while ago Lucius and I played a delaying action to get better acquainted with Chain of Command. It was a close run thing and we decided to switch sides and try a re-run over the same terrain.
The Forces
I played my Fallschirmjager and had 14 support points, Lucius had 7 for his North Nova Scotia Regiment. Note that we were using the core-rules only (not the arsenal that can be found at Tiny Hordes and other places). Lucius was an armoured officer so I hemmed and hawed and out-thought myself, figuring that he’d bring some armour or AT to the field. With 14 points I could field my new Tiger II. His PIAT wouldn’t do anything against that. So, I reasoned that he would have to take a 17pdr, or a tank-hunter. In order to get around that, I went with a pre-game barrage, a 5cm mortar team, a Sdkfz 250 (hanomag) manned by half of my 3 section, and a Sig 33 infantry gun.
It turns out that Lucius bought a sniper and a Vickers MMG. Of course. Had I shown up with a Jagdtiger or any sort of heavy armour he’d have been overrun in minutes. But such is life and wargaming! It really shows that you need to make sure you plan for maximum flexibility. Last game we only had 2 sections, but this time we each fielded 3. Lucius brought 2 sections of North Novas with 1 section of Commandos as the North Novas were a little short. The added firepower from those many SMGs were made up for by my force rating.
The Battle
We played for about 3 hours and things moved quickly at first, but got bogged down in casualties after a bit. I started with a force morale of 10, Lucius had 8.
The patrol phase was uneventful, with reasonable JOPs for both of us. I needed to take a JOP in a specific swath of land at the far end of the table, and only one of the JOPs was there. So, the left flank was my priority. I was going to see if I could rush it, or if not, pin down resources there while my hanomag and remaining troop did an end run around the woods. In red below are the Canadian JOPs. #1 is my real goal.
My initial plan. 1 Section left. 2 Section right. 3 section detachment watches over JOP #2. 2 Section then pushes straight or around the right flank. The remainder of 3 section is in the hanomag which will flank on the right.
The pre-game barrage did its trick and I brought in 1 section on the left flank and pushed up past the wood. The non-tasked squad from 3 section put covering fire into the woods on the right flank near the JOP there as 2 Section moved up.
There was no response from the Canucks. It took until the third Canadian phase for some movement to happen at the far end – 1 section deployed near the JOP on my right flank. My 5cm mortar started its impressive kill count and killed one of the 2″ mortar (which I hate; that thing and its smoke!). My 1 section rushed the house at the double and fell short. Twice. 7 measly inches forward on 3d6.
And then the turn ended and Lucius got a double-phase with three 6’s rolled. Great. Shortest turn I’ve seen in Chain of Command and now my boys were strung out a little too far forward from their supports and I still hadn’t managed to get my hanomag up to do an-end run around the woods on my right side or get my big infantry gun to put some hurt on the Canadians.
Lucius’ sniper showed up at the start of the turn, caused some shock and then in the next phase killed the JL in 1 section – the section that was SOOOO close to the house and the key JOP behind it. Force morale goes down. My dice failed me and I couldn’t move 1 section either back or forward with their JL dead, so I brought my Sig 33 on and my hanomag while pushing forward on the right flank.
1 section on the left getting hurt. 2 section limping forward slowly
The sniper fired again at 1 section, as did some of Lucius’ troops on my right flank. Another section appeared near the house on the left.
North Novas push up on my left flank. Getting ready to defend the JOP just off the frame to the right
My boys were leaderless, gaining shock, unable to see the sniper, taking fire from their right flank and having a full section of enemy appearing to their front. This wasn’t good. Added to that, the silly little 2″ mortar dropped smoke in front of my Sig 33. Great.
I deployed my platoon 2IC (unteroffizier) on my left and pulled back 1 section as my 5cm mortar killed the 2″ mortar! As far as I was concerned, that was a win for the entire game. My right flank stuttered forward (2″ on 2d6) but I sensed that I was getting into the right place. Lucius was putting his section on my left flank in front of the house there, in line of fire of my field gun. On my right, I had 1 and a half sections moving up, one group always on overwatch. The hanomag was getting ready to support, and my 5cm mortar was dropping rounds to weaken the enemy on that side. So I ended the turn with my only Chain of Command die (at that time) to take away the smoke in front of my Sig 33.
A double phase for me. The Sig then fired and evaporated 2 of the bren team facing me on the left flank and wounded the JL. 1 section moved forward and laid more hurt on the Canadians to my left. On my right, wanting to try out this Handgranaten rule, I charged into the smaller Canadian section.
Plucky North Novas ready for hand-to-hand combat defending JOP #2
I only got 1 grenade in but we won. Or lost. I’m not sure. We both killed everyone. Except for the leaders. Morale goes down to 6 for both of us. I was within 4″ of a JOP there though, and my weapons team from 3 section was close by.
Lucius added some shock and a kill to my Sig 33 from the section and sniper on that side, but not enough. My field gun replied at the section it could see, and with 1 section under the command of my platoon 2IC killed the bren team and all but 1 rifleman and the wounded junior leader, leaving them running with 11 points of shock between them. 2 Section goes on overwatch. The sniper fires and I see him! And kill him. All that action brings force morale down to 4 for the Canadians. Left flank steady.
Nothing except 2 scared soldiers and a platoon lieutenant between 1 section and the JOP! Except for the Vickers and a squad of Royal Marine Commandoes who haven’t shown up yet and could ambush me. Huh. Okay. Focus on the steadying up my right flank and slowly push up on the left. No crazy stunts.
On the other side the 2 JLs engage in hand to hand combat and both fall. That wood is now called Bois-du-mort. 20 men lying there now, and more to follow shortly. Lucius plays a Chain of Command die to avoid a force morale check or he’d be on the wire. He also brings on the Commandoes and wants to get in close combat with my 3 section weapons team. I back them off, bring up my hanomag onto overwatch.
Uh guys?!
As I had backed off from the JOP, and hadn’t managed to capture it, it’s used to launch a PIAT ambush at my hanomag. Double 6s are rolled and the hanomag brews up but my men get out unhurt. 3 unanswered kills for that PIAT. My next great foe…
There goes the ride!
The commandoes then charge into fire at my weapons team at close range with their SMGs. I play an interrupt to fire at them, which whittles them down, but they still rip into my men. I get everyone on that flank firing and 1 of the teams break but I stabilize the situation overall. There are 5 commandoes left facing 6 of my guys plus a mortar. I outrange his SMGs so I should be able to break him. I still have a heavy field gun with 4 crew plus JL, but the challenge will be to get this beast into action (it takes the lower of 2d6 rolled to move).
On the left the heroic Canadian platoon lieutenant rallies enough shock off of the remains of the section I massacred that they join him behind the wall near the JOP. I have 8 men from 1 section plus my unteroffizier 2IC. Should be fine. Except that the Vickers hasn’t shown up…
We left off there. 20 Canadians lying dead or wounded. 17 Germans. I haven’t brought on my Panzerschrek, and Lucius has a Vickers team and his PIAT still off the table. This will be a near-run thing! My left flank is okay, but vulnerable to the Vickers. Support is a long way behind. On my right I’m pretty evenly matched. I’ll need to be clever or lucky (or both) to win this.
