Cromwell-T

After my wife purchased a BritishKonflikt `47 starter set for me, I settled in to assemble and paint. One of the first items that I tackled was the set's Cromwell tank.

British Cromwell - World War II Version

Assembly of the kit was strait-forward. The top went on the bottom, the treads were added, and the turret was popped on top. Being Weird War, the set actually came with two turrets. The standard, historical version, and the Konflikt Tesla version. For mine, I also added tank commanders in the hatches to add a little more life to the model.

If I've ever assembled any World War II armor before, it would have been 30+ years ago when I was a kid, though I don't recall building any before. Being my first, I browsed the world of the Internet for ideas on colors, markings, etc. I came across Pete the Wargamer's video on painting a Cromwell for Bolt Action.

Front View

Following this video, I gave the tank and turrets a primer coat of dark green. A lighter green was dry-brushed over the top, bringing out the various panels and greebly bits. I think I also added a bit of gray or silver for chipping and weathering. The treads were given a treatment of dark brown and black to muddy them up a bit.

Rear View

I can't recall where I found it now, but the marking were added based on some research into British World War II vehicle markings. A career military friend of mine mentioned that the Allied star was upside down, but based on my research, that's how the Brits painted it, if they painted it all. Many of their vehicles apparently were left bare.

K`47 Tesla Version

For the Tesla version of the turret, I did a quick search online for how others had painted things like laser weapons. I wanted sort of a lightening look, to match the fluff images in the Konflikt `47 rule book. If I remember correctly, I started with a watery dark blue, then a dry-brush of lighter blue, then some streaks of whitish blue to represent the light. Overall, I was happy with the results, and very happy that both turrets look completely at home on the tank body.

K`47 Tesla Version

 

Flashback: Konflikt `47

As I mentioned yesterday, I wasn't completely absent during the Pandemic of 2020-2021. In fact, 2020 saw me enter the world of Warlord Games Konflikt `47 game.

I'd been eyeing Konflikt `47 for a bit. The story line of the game is that, during World War II, a couple of space/time/something rifts open in the United States and Germany. Due to these rifts, Germany learn show to animate corpses, and some troops begin to change into things like werewolves. On the Allied side, technology jumps forward and bit, and armored walkers and Tesla-coil weapons start appearing on the field. The alternate history has the War continue past 1945, and into 1947.

Early in the summer of 2020, my wife innocently asked if I needed anything when she went into town for groceries. “A British Konflikt `47 starter set from the game store,” I joked.

To my surprise, she arrived home with said starter set.

The British are Coming!

Being in pandemic lock-down, there weren't going to be any games happening anytime soon, but I'd have plenty of painting time. Thus started my foray into the weird world of K`47.

Weird War Elements

I'll cover individual units in upcoming posts. For the short story, I painted up the box set, added some command and support units, and generally had a good time putting together an army. As summer went on, the world started opening up again, including the game space at our local game shop. There was a small group of regulars in the area who played K`47 weekly. On July 6^th, I joined them for my first game.

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Report of the action of 6 July, 1947.

Orders received at 16:21. Intelligence indicated the presence of a small strategic point just past enemy lines, roughly one city block from our position. With enemy infantry on the ground in the area, it was requested that we take their strategic point while simultaneously holding our own. A Bren gun team was stationed on our right flank at the axis of two main roads, providing cover along both open ways. A team of automatons was sent forward along the right to scout. On the left flank, a medium mortar team was set up. Their spotter, overlooking the city, was in radio communication from the top of a building near the machine gun team. A second team of automatons and one infantry squad were placed in the center.

Infantry, with Automaton backup, take up positions.

Sniper fire began instantly, targeting our infantry. A member of the mortar team spotted the muzzle flash, and a shell was immediately laid down on that position, destroying the threat. With our first pair of automatons clanking slowly up the right side, our infantry moved across the road to take cover along the walls of a ruined cathedral. The machine gun team was ordered into defensive position, keeping an eye on both roadways. Enemy infantry were spotted, just out of range, moving on our right and center. Infantry from our reserves arrived near a ruined farmhouse in the center of our line. Calls for armoured support went unanswered.

As enemy infantry approached carefully on our right, a second section of infantry rushed into the ruined cathedral, firing on our second automaton squad, which was destroyed. The first automaton section, firing into the building through the windows, caused casualties among the enemy riflemen. On our left flank, a Spinne Panzemech appeared in the distant rubble. Mortar fire was directed to its position, but no damage appeared to be caused. With the appearance of the Panzermech, our amoured division brought forward a Cromwell-T to support our men on the ground. A Guardian light mech was requested, but was not available. The newly arrived infantry took shelter in the ruins of the farmhouse in our center.

On our right, while our machine gun laid down defensive fire on approaching enemy troops, infantry from both sides traded fire. On the left, there were reports of Nachtjager in the area. An anti-tank team was also spotted, firing into the left quarter of the newly arrived Cromwell. Keeping an eye on the Spinne Panzermech, the Cromwell's crew moved their vehicle into cover next to a nearby building, aligning their turret to be able to fire at the enemy through broken windows. Another call was made to the Guardian, which was still not in the area. The platoon medic and myself arrived on scene, positioning ourselves near the farmhouse, just as an enemy Panther-X tank came into view up the street to the right. As the tank approached, our machine gun defensive position was eliminated.

Light Machine Gun team covers intersecting streets.

 
Heavy fire continued along our front. A couple of men in the farmhouse had been hit, but our medic was able to save one, a Private Orwell from Shropshire. Enemy infantry was beginning to come out of the rubble of the cathedral, but took immense fire from our boys. On the flanks, however, the fight had turned against us. The Panther tank, moving quickly up on our right, shredded our brave infantry who had sheltered against the cathedral wall. On our left, two Nachtjager did indeed appear, ripping apart the rear of the Cromwell-T before the crew had fired. Our forward observer, who had taken shelter in a building right across from the tank, sacrificed himself, calling down an artillery strike on his position, and the fowl flying beasts, keeping them from taking our location. Back on the right, a pack of Schreckwulfen attempted to jump our remaining automatons, but were eliminated by the team's machine gun fire. Distracted by the Schreckwulfen, however, the automatons fell to the enemy infantry still on our right.

Tesla armed Cromwell arrives for support.

 As our defensive line crumbled on both flanks, the requested light walker finally arrived. It traded shots with the Panzermech, but strategically blundering by placing its back to the Panther while taking cover behind a building. The Guardian was quickly eliminated by a shot to the rear.

With our forces nearly eliminated, we were required to retreat with the small remains of our infantry, leaving our strategic point in the hands of the enemy.

- 1st Lt. Nigel Teetotaler

U-Boot: The Board Game

 

U-Boot: The Bord Game

Over a year. Time to dust off the old blog and see if I can get myself writing again. I'll admit, Covid and the associated debates, mandates, and actual sicknesses has given my personal moral a hit, which has led to a lack of motivation to write. However, I haven't stopped reenacting, painting, crafting, and gaming when I can.

Yesterday afternoon, for instance, I met up with some folks to try out a game of U-Boot: The Board Game. I'd read about the game a year or two ago, but never really looked into it, as I don't have a lot of fellow players in my area. A couple of gentlemen from the Vermont Historical Gamers Group, who I'd met at a game this past summer, were looking for players, and, being a weekend, I was able to make the trip north to The Boardroom cafe to join them.

In U-Boot, up to four players take on the roles of command staff on a German U-boat, circa 1940. The Chief Engineer, which I played, is responsible for the upkeep of that boat. The Navigator keeps track of the boat's location, as well as plots courses to various targets. As a secondary role, he also acts as the vessel's cook. The third role is that of the First Officer. This player is responsible for intercepting and decoding message from Command, firing weapons, entering data, and generally running the game. As a secondary role, the First Officer also has some medical abilities. The final role is that of Captain, who is responsible for the overall running of the ship, making the high-level decisions, issuing orders to the crew, and keeping track of moral.

At first, the game seems complex. There are traditional board game elements, as well as a miniature 3D sub and figures to help keep track of where the crew is, and what damage the ship may encounter. There is paperwork for the Navigator and Captain, and a computer application for the First Officer to enter orders on, and generally run the game. It's a neat hybrid of board game, computer game, miniatures game, and role-playing game. Oh, it also takes place in real time.

As two of us had never played the game before, we played a training mission to learn the game. Dave, our First Officer, fired up the game app on an iPad. He started the mission, and our orders were received. There were three known targets at sea. A couple of freight ships, and a small convoy. It was believed that the freighters were unescorted, while the convoy was likely to be protected. Our mission, as early war German submariners, what to sink as much freight as possible withing 48 hours. In addition, we were given information about the location of possible mine fields.

Steve, acting as Navigator, plotted the locations of the various elements using the game's maps, a ruler, and protractor. He then plotted courses to each, relaying that information to George, our Captain. The Captain decided to go after what was believed to be the smallest freighter. This should give us a chance to learn the game mechanics without getting into too much trouble. He gave the order to plot course and make way at full speed. The Navigator's crew (each player gets four crew members), calculated our course. My Engineering crew readied the engines, and Dave input the data into the game app. We were underway!

As I mentioned above, the game takes place in real time. While underway, this part could be slow, but the game app, which keeps track of the time, allows for speeding up time (A “fast clock” for those who may be familiar with model railroading). The Captain ordered fast time, and we were thrust forward an hour or so to the first problem, an engineering task. The torpedoes in the first section of the U-boot needed to be checked. Crew members needed to be allocated to the task, and the location. To do this, the Captain ordered a Mobilization. This is where the 3d model of the boat and the crew member miniatures come in. In order to move crew members around the vessel, they must be mobilized. During a mobilization, the players move their figures around the 8 sections of the ship. In my case, I needed to move two engineers to the 1^st section in order to check the torpedoes. The Captain then ordered the “repair” to take place. The two men that I had moved forward each received and Order Token (each man could take up to three orders before affecting morale). In real time, I reported to the First Officer that my men were in place and working on repairs. Dave entered the data into the game app, and we moved back into fast time.

Within a few hours of game time, we came across our first target (we may have had some more engineering tasks in between, but I don't recall). Steve had plotted our course perfectly! The game app switched back into real time. The First Officer, after his men had been ordered up on deck, observed (in real time, with the app acting as binoculars) what was around us. It appeared that our initial information was correct. We saw a small freighter, out on its own, with no protection.. The Captain ordered a Mobilization to man the deck gun, and to slow to half speed. Dave's men were on deck, observing. Steve's men were moved on deck to the gun, and my engineering team moved to the engine room to change speed. At this point, the Navigator's role moves from operational level to tactical level. The First Officer called out the relative position of our target, its speed and bearing. Steve plotted this information on a smaller map, using tokens to represent our ship and our target. Information was relayed to the Captain, who then made decisions of when to change course, by how much, and so on.

This is when moral starts to play a factor. With each order given, the Captain loses the ability to give more orders. Crew members also start losing the ability to do things, as they are only able to take on three orders at a time. If more are given, moral starts to drop ship-wide, and fewer tasks can be take on, etc.

Also, this is all in real time. So as we're discussing strategy, tactics, moving figures, arming guns, and so on, our target is still moving.

To make a longer story short, after all the orders, movement, and so on, we were able to fire on the target vessel using the deck gun. This, again, is done via the game's app. The First Officer actually had to move the gun and fire on the ship in real time, video-game style. Turns out, firing a deck gun while bouncing on the waves during a rainstorm is as hard as it sounds. In the end though, we sunk our first target.

I think it was here that the ship's crew had its first meal. Like other actions, this required an Order from the Captain. Steve, in the Navigator/Cook role, put together a three element meal. Meals are made up of tokens laid out in the “kitchen.” As the tokens are used, they are replace by other tokens from the “pantry.” This means that the cook may not always have the supplies needed to put together a full meal. In our case, though, a full meal was served, and ship moral increased.

At some point, we received a message from Base ordering us to go to a specific grid coordinate and report on the weather there. Our Captain decided to ignore this order for now. A course was plotted to our next target, the second freight ship. While underway, we made repairs as needed, and kept checking our surroundings for enemy ships. The fast clock was engaged as needed to keep the pace moving. Our second encounter was much the same as the first, with the addition of it being dark, making the target that much more difficult to hit. We were able to, though, and the second freighter was sunk with plenty of time to spare.

During the course of the game, other small things happened. A crew member sprained a finger, another hit his head on a bulkhead, repairs had to be made to systems, and so on. The game really does get to that granularity, but not in an overbearing, bogged down way.

Our third encounter was the most exciting. In this case, our Navigator successfully plotted our course to the freight convoy, consisting of two loaded freighters, protected by a Destroyer. Again back at real time, we started discussing our strategy, with the ultimate decision on what to do laying with Captain George.

As we approached the convoy, the Navigator went into tactical mode, keeping track of all the ships on his map, based on bearings and relative locations supplied by the First Officer, who was keeping an eye on our targets through the telescope (game app). The Captain had given the order to dive, so my men were in the engine and control rooms working on that task. Other men were readying the torpedoes as we slowly approached the enemy ships. Again, we were in real time, which awesomely adds to the tension of the game. Dave would call out distances, “2.3 nautical miles... 2.1.... 1.9...” We carefully approached the convoy, turning carefully to stay on course with the freighters, but not get too close to the destroyer. We plotted angles, and distance, and time, all while keeping an eye on the clock. When the time was right, George gave the order, “Fire tubes 1 and 3! Fire tubes 2 and 4!” We waited, watching our attack play out.

HITS!

All four torpedoes struck with deadly blows! Two sunk one freighter, and two sunk the other. Suddenly the iPad app starting blaring a warning. The destroyer was on high alert!

At this point, George, as Captain, made a brilliant move. He ordered us to dive dive dive! We pulled the crew together and went almost as deep at the boat could go. George's plan was to hide from the destroyer, hopefully under the range of their depth charges, and make our way away from the battle site as quickly as possible (which, for a sub under water, isn't that quick). There were several tense moments as we plotted the courses of the two ships. The destroyer started circling, searching for us. We carefully stayed on course, trying to leave the area without detection. At point the enemy ship was directly behind us and, I, at least, thought we'd been found. As we held our breath, Dave called out bearings “One-six-oh, 1.1 nautical miles. One-six-two, 1.2 nautical miles....” This went on for several minutes. Eventually our distance from the enemy ship started to increase. Using a combination of real time and fast time, we slowly made it away from the destroyer without being attacked. It took nearly three hours for the enemy to give up it's search for us.

If you're wondering, just moving away from the battle site wasn't smooth sailing. Because we were so deep, systems on the boat started failing. We sprung a leak in the control room. The lights went out in the engine area. My Engineering crew went here and there, trying to keep the boat patched together, all while order slots ran our and morale began to lower. At one point we had a hull breach in the engine room. The game mechanic to fix this is for the Engineering player (me) to sold a small jigsaw puzzle of the boat within a short time limit (two minutes, if I recall). I failed this task, because two of the pieces were hiding under one of my charts. Technically, this should have flooded that compartment, killing any crew members in that section, and making it more difficult for the U-boat to continue its mission. The two veteran players decided to give me a pass, though, since this was my first game, and the needed pieces to the puzzle had been out of side under paperwork.

To wrap up the game, the Captain ordered us the the secondary objective that had been given to us early on. That of the weather check. Navigator Steve plotted our course, we surfaced, and were underway, making repairs as we went.

Arriving at our destination, we took a weather reading. Unfortunately, the app didn't recognize any weather. First Officer Dave took a sextant reading to verify our locations. We were several grids off! Steve had confused our direction and sent us the opposite way from where we needed to head. Recalculations were made. We turned around and made our way to the correct spot, with hours to spare on our mission time. Once our weather report had been submitted (via Enigma machine, another piece of the iPad app), the Captain called the mission complete. Dave clicked some buttons on the app, and our mission score was calculated.

A! We had completed all mission objectives, including the secondary task, and made it back to port relatively unharmed (since we ignored the flooded engine compartment).

Overall, awesome game! I'm looking forward to playing again.