It is really sad to have to say that it had to be a work-related project that got finished, and then only because it was work-related.
The evening course on tabletop wargaming I am teaching at uni has started and is nearing its first run. Yesterday evening we had a practical session, and the chosen system was one which is very simple to master and which stuff can be added to - Tanks.
I spent most of yesterday morning painting the last 19 tanks for the game.
We had two players against two, so I ended up as umpire and photographer. But I almost finally played a game.
Here's the pics and a very sketchy report - I did not include photos of the players, for privacy reasons.
The allies were represented by a British and an American force - here is their starting line up.
As you can see it's a rather spurious line-up, which included a Tortoise and 4 Grants, 2 75mm Shermans, 2 76mm Shermans, a Pershing and a T28.
Here's the Germans, with 3 Tigers (!), a Jagdpanther, 4 Panzer III and 2 Brummbar (not quite in the right place, a game of Tanks...)
They also had a Pantherturm.
General view of turn 1.
One of the players was happy when his Grant hit and promptly destroyed a Panzaer III.
Smug-looking Grant.
Crouching Tigers and other beasts.
Dirty paws on this Brummbar...
Lots of shooting in Turn 1, with little effect other than a handful of criticals, many of which were repaired. But the Grant did its player proud by hitting a Panzer III with two hits and a critical which finished it off outright!
The allies were a bit stuck in the village though, whilst the Germans Blitzkrieged through the trees.
Turn 2
Germans in the open.
A bit of a pile up - where is General Patton to guide traffic when you need him?
March of the superheavies - T28 leading a Tortoise. Only in wargaming...
The Tortoise never got to shoot! The T28 seemed to block its view each time; it did, however act as a fire magnet, getting hit a dozen times without taking damage. We tried house rules for the two superheavies, the Brummbar and the Pantherturm, and the T28 was a shell-absorbing monster.
The target Sherman.
As we only managed two turns, the Germans focused their fire on a rather forward 75mm gun Sherman, and blew it up too. The Allies tried the same with the Pantherturm, which being placed forward of the tank line at the start proved a juicy temptation for the allies, but resisted to the end.
The table was 4' x 4', and the 2 turns took 2 hours (!) including set up - but as all were new to the game, it went quite well, lessons were learned and fun was had.