My parents came up for my Birthday over the weekend and my Dad and I got in a little Flames of War. I hate to admit that it was the first game in a long time where I found playing a bit of a chore. I normally love playing my Dad and he wasn't the reason at all, but the combination of mission (Free for all vs tanks when you're infantry is never fun), a headache, and bad luck made my interest level drop. I am normally very good at keeping in good spirits even when things are going south, and I felt a little silly for losing interest, though Flames of War and the dice Gods are wont to surprise you and in one fateful turn the game totally swung my way. We didn't get to finish, and it could've still been a hard fight, and I look forward to a rematch where I can pay better attention and focus on having a good time with the old man.
Later we tried a game of Victory at Sea with a US New Mexico class Battleship escorted by a Brooklyn class cruiser against a Japanese Kongo class Battlecruiser escorted by a Myoko. The game was surprisingly VERY fun, I think we both had a blast and I look forward to playing it more. In the end the Myoko was sunk, and all 3 of the other ships limped home. Both fleet commanders had a lot of letters to write home, and some time to think about it in dry dock.
The rest of the weekend was good. I had to scramble to catch up with some homework but it's always worth spending time with the family. I miss Tito- we need to hang soon!
We looked at a real junker of a house over the weekend. Tomorrow we're looking at another one, and I feel really good about it.
This week I have to write a paper on "Siddhartha" by Herman Hesse, study for a killer physics test, write a genetic algorithm for Artificial Intelligence, study for a Database Design Test, and try to squeeze some sleep in there somewhere :)
On top of that Jaime (my boss) is going to be out from work for a while due to new baby. Its hard to believe that A) I now consider Jaime one of my best friends. Before I knew him I thought he was a jackass. I couldn't have been more wrong (much like my initial impression of the Strokes- wrote them off as a boring one hit wonder band, but they rule!). He's one of the nicest dudes out there! Weird to think he'll have a kid in a handful of days. Growin' up man.
Anyways, I'll leave you with a handful of pictures from me and my Dad's game. I stopped taking pics about halfway through.
The Grenadier platoon in the center wood (in the last picture) all received iron Crosses. They single handedly wiped out 3 armored platoons (Carriers, Stuarts, Shermans) after weathering torrents of MG fire and artillery called in from that damned L4 Grasshopper.
As always, way more pics after the break!
Initial table setup.
The German battle lines.
Marders. The little AT guns that could.
Panzerwerfer
The Panzerwerfers open up
British M10s cautiously advance through a wood escorted by the 2iC...
and the blasted Grasshopper. (his 8 gun battery is off board :( )
British tanks on the move
"Fire for Effect!"
Overwatch
British tanks reposition
The panzerwerfers were overpriced fireworks this battle. That burning sherman is from a stug, not a rocket.
Said Stug.
This is the last picture I took. The grenadiers in the center wood charged headlong into the british lines. The Marders tried to outflank but 2 got blown up and they pulled back. The M10s retreated to the road on the right and knocked out a stug from extremely long range in concealment.
the grenadiers in the center succesfully beat back a Sherman platoon and a Stuart platoon in the same assault in one turn without losing a single stand. They never got below half despite 2 rounds of Murders, assaults, and countless MG dice slung their way.
Moral of the story- German grenadiers in woods are evil.
