Miniatures: In Her Majesty's Name- The Society of Thule

Reports have been made that Count Von Stroheim and his Society of Thule have been spotted in Luxor.  The Prussians arrived soon after reports were published detailing that pieces of the Scrolls of Skellos may have been found in a near by temple.  The Society of Thule is an old and secretive organization, with activities that span the globe wherever occult phenomenon are reported.  Just what the Society is after, and what their ultimate goal might be is a mystery.

This image depicts Count Von Stroheim and associates emerging from the jungle at an undisclosed location.

The Society is supported by the brilliant, yet deranged scientific devices of Dr. Kobalt, inventor of the serum that creates the hideous Tod-Truppen, zombie-like soldiers raised from the dead.  Here Dr. Kobalt is armed with an Arc pistol and a portable Arc generator.

 The Society draws many adventurous types such as these Prussian Nobles, fanatic swordsmen and duelists out to test their blades.

Feldwebel Krieg here may seem slight of stature, yet he is strong enough to carry a two man flamethrower all by himself.  He is usually found not far from Von Stroheim's side.

The Jagers of the Society of Thule are inoculated with a revivifier serum that turns them into the dreaded Tod-Truppen upon death.  As zombies, they fight on for their cruel masters.

 From time to time the Society also uses conventional technology, such as the Kaiser Wilhelm Walker.  This one is equipped with a machine-gun.

Count Von Stroheim himself is a monstrosity of a man.  He typically carries a Mauser pistol and a huge saber, which he wields with an All-Electric prosthetic arm, which is powered by the portable Arc generator he wears on his back.  The Count has been known to be very erratic, be well advised to stay out of his way if you should cross paths with the Society of Thule.

Miniatures Special Edition: Dashiell's first painted Miniatures.

My son Dashiell (11) painted his first miniatures, a squad of 54 mm robots that we will use for the Laser Blade rules.  Here are his robots along with some 30 mm troopers I painted up to fight them.

 Dashiell's Robots will have heavy armor protection and have a variety of specialists with heavy weapons, rapid fire weapons and a hand to hand specialist.

The human troops can be played as a single squad, survivors of larger units haphazardly pulled together to face the robot threat.  They can also be played as individual squads, the Blues and the Yellows, as seen below.

More Robots and Humans are underdevelopment, and we hope to get our first game played in the near future, so look for a game report then.

Miniatures: Operation Squad Game

A squad of  U.S. Airborne and  German Panzergrenadiers have a chance encounter.  Each side strives to eliminate the enemy command as they vie for control of the ruined building center board.

Each side takes cover behind hills, light woods and piles of rubble from previous battles.

The German squad leader positions himself near an Mg-34 team.  From this position he points out targets for the German light mortar.

For the Americans, their B.A.R. gunner takes point as they maneuver into position.

The German Mg-42 sets up position in a copse of trees to cover their advance.  German riflemen rush through fire by the U.S. .30 cal in order to reach the building.

The Americans suffer the first casualty when a rifleman goes down to German fire.

The U.S. .30 cal team has a good position in a ruined building, and covers a rifleman as he strives to flank the German position.

Both sides cautiously approach the building, jotting from cover to cover.

The Germans, led by their Corporal make it inside the ruins first, with the American Sargent and his men nearly on top of them. Whoever is quickest to react will determine the outcome of this struggle.

Meanwhile, the American B.A.R. gunner and riflemen in the woods come under fire from the German morar. They are pinned down and suffer further casualties.

The German Corporal steps forward with his MP-40 and sprays the Americans attempting to take the ruins.  The U.S. Sargent and several others go down in a hail of bullets.

U.S. riflemen bravely charge the German positions in a last, desperate attempt to win the battle.  One German rifleman goes down, but the hardy German Corporal stands his ground.  The U.S. withdraw leaving the Germans in command of the field.

Miniatures- In Her Majesty's Name. A report from my first game.

Miniatures: Two companies for In Her Majesty's Name

The Victorious Order of Saint George, Protectors of the Realm  (The Saint Georges)- British Rifle Company, 300 points.

The Victorious Order of Saint George, Protectors of the Realm  (The Saint Georges) is a British Rifle Company that responds to the more esoteric threats to England manifest by foes using mystical energies or advanced technology.  The Saint Georges are led by Captain Hodges, a veteran of South Africa, and supported by the indefatigable Doctor Collins, who is never seen without his cigar.  Sargent Tremaine has hand picked 4 stout privates  to form the bulk of the riflemen for the company, and drills them with the bayonet daily.  Corporal Miller, a sturdy country lad, carries the company Machine gun all by himself.  It's said that his marksmanship with a rifle was not up to the best standards, so the extra fire power is a fitting compensation.  Finally, Sapper Doyle carries a Congreve Rocket gun for foes too stubborn to fall under volley fire.

The Servants of Ra-  Akhenaton Reborn, herald of New Egypt, 300 points.

The Servants of Ra dream of bringing back the might and power of ancient Egypt.  To do so, they are active around the globe seeking long lost artifacts to enhance their mystical prowess.  They are led by Akhenaton, the Pharaoh reborn, who wields the Staff of Osiris and other artifacts and powers that protect him from harm.  Ahkenaton has resurrected a Mummified Priest to serve his bidding, a powerful terrifying creature sure to bring nightmares to mere mortals.  Professor Abir, a leading Egyptologist, is a fanatic follower of Ahkenaton and is quickly learning mystical powers of his own as he guides the Servants of Ra to the artifacts they seek.  His daughter, Sairah, is also a fanatical believer, and serves the cause with her own powers, as well as a poisoned blade.  Also accompanying Ahkenaton are several Nubian Riflemen to provide a little modern protection in support of the mystical powers.  Where ever they travel, the Servants of Ra can count on men seduced by the promise of power and riches.  These cultists give their aid, and their lives, when called upon.

Miniatures: Operation Squad WWII

We recently played our first game of Operation Squad, a WWII skirmish game.  Scott played U.S. Airborne, while I played German Panzergrenadiers.  Operation Squad has a unique activation system that allows each player a series of reactions and counter reactions, so that one activation may see each side activating up to 3 figures each.  Above, Scott is pointing to where his first man will run to once activated.  Each figure activating states their intent, and once all actions are declared, models roll off for priority to see who acts first.  This system kept us both actively involved throughout the game, and offered an interesting unknown quality reflecting the chaos of the fire fight.

The bulk of my Panzergrenadiers huddle around some makeshift cover.  We found out pretty fast that we did not have enough terrain set up, and therefore, the U.S. .30 cal machine gun had a devastating field of fire.  Several of the Germans above were eliminated within the first few turns of the game before they could reach adequate cover.

The deadly Paratrooper support weapon in question.

The U.S. Airborne troops deployed in much the same grouping on their side of the board, but did not have to contend with advancing through machine gun fire.  None the less, a few of them were wounded on their way to their objective, the ruined building center table.

The Germans approach the building, seeking relative cover from the U.S. .30 cal.  In the distance an Mg 42 sets up in the woods to slow the U.S. advance on the far flank.  Machine guns have both long range and a high rate of fire, making them especially deadly in the game.  This Mg 42 has 7 shots per turn.

One Panzergrenadier takes up a firing position to attack the approaching Paratroopers.  He managed to pin down a few with rifle fire and a lucky grenade toss, but inflicted no real damage.  He was later killed by the U.S. Corporal who shot him with a grease gun.

Not enough of the German soldiers made it through the .30 cal fire to hold off the advancing Americans.  Here one wounded Paratrooper props himself up on the wall and fires on the German position.  Far left we see a pinned soldier hunkered down to avoid German fire.  The system for resolving fire involves rolling 3d6 and adding the figures tactical value (VT) and adding extra dice for the weapon at that particular range.  Dice are subtracted for factors such as moving and firing, a running target, and of course cover.  A shooter needs to score an 11 or above to gain any effect.  A target can be pinned, wounded or killed outright depending on the amount of success.

We called the game after playing 5 out of 8 turns, which gave us a good feel for the game, and some ideas for our next game.  The U.S. had a decisive victory, killing off most of the Germans and only loosing 3 men themselves.  Operation Squad has rules for support weapons such as mortars, snipers and vehicles as well.  A newer version was published earlier this year, Operation Squad Evolution, which cleans the rules up quite nicely, provides more detail, and compiles several earlier books into one.  I found the game well worth trying again, so I am busy preparing more WWII forces so as to try out different aspects of the game.