The battle of the Dutch Oven Concluded! - Pic heavy

[Chairface]

Yesterday a few LAF'ers and friends got together to celebrate the birthday of our good friend Sterling Moose. In attendance besides myself and Sterling Moose were  JamesManto, Hitman and a few non LAFers, although we won't hold it against them

The quiet of the dawn was broken by the clang of steam engines working overtime as the two very different armies moved across the Venusian valley. On the one side, the Dutch-Russo Alliance thundered into view, some mounted on fantastical steam powered contraptions, led by King Willem III himself with the blessings of his great grandnephew the Tsar. Facing them was an unusual assortment of Americans and Brits, desperately banding together in an attempt to avoid feeling the wrath of the angry monarchs. How did this happen?

This continent of Venus had been long ago divided and ruled by the friendly Russian and Dutch governments while the Americans and British had spent the majority of their efforts building their empires on Mars. Now a large strike of Unobtanium  had been discovered in the mainly uninhabited southern plains of the continent and the British and Americans now wanted in. Arriving separately, the Americans under the command of renowned Martian fighter General George Armstrong Custer and the British under Colonel Haig each landed on the plain and set up covert mining facilities. Custer immediately made his headquarters in the ruins of an ancient Parrotmen temple, just the first of his many mistakes on Venus…..

The mightly Dutch and Russian Armies take to the field

Cavalry, Panther Panzers and a steam carriage prepare to blitzkrieg the English left flank, supported by Dutch Parrotmen sepoys and Marines



Black Dutchmen march next to Princess Wilhemina's women's brigade, with Jagers skirmishing ahead. Note Colonel Flashman, torn from the comfort of his place in the back of the field with the high command with orders to take the temple at any cost.



Dutch Sailors, Marines and experienced KNIL troopers follow another Jager unit. The high command looks on



Russian hired Askari's start are tasked with holding the middle



The mighty Russian Warhost stretches on as far as the eye can see - Cossacks, troopers, mercenaries.....



Steam powered battle suits, and the most feared unit of all, the Cossack Scorpion riders



General Custer surveys his troops with confidence from the towering Parrotman temple ruins. How could a group of serfs and wooden shoe wearers triumph over his glorious Americans and his British allies?



The left flank:



Some exquisitely painted Empress British hold the centre



While American troopers are entrenched around the temple



Meanwhile Roughrider Colonel Teddy Roosevelt, distrustful of the rash and reckless Custer's command abilities, cautiously places and organizes his roughriders, sailors and rocket unit



Roosevelt's ace in the hole? A steam tank, previously concealed from Custer



So there is the setup. Time for bed. Action shots tomorrow!

[twrchtrwyth]

I like what you've done with those Mage Knight technocat figures. Look forward to those action shots.

By the way, Dutch Oven,  .

[Malamute]

Custer leading a VSF American army is a great idea. I can just imagine his last stand against thousands of whooping Parrott men.....
Looking forward to more photos.

[Slayer]

haha Custer caught picking his nose

cool stuff you have there

[Ray Rivers]

Ohhh....

Big battle coming.  Some great mini's on that board.

Looking forward to the see the action!

[Thunderchicken]

I recognise that basement! A truly epic scale game with lots of goodies. Going by the UK time I was chatting to Sterling on Sunday morning you guys had fun!

Bbring on the next bit!

[Chairface]

Custer leading a VSF American army is a great idea. I can just imagine his last stand against thousands of whooping Parrott men.....
Looking forward to more photos.

It's funny that you said that..... 

[Froggy the Great]

Good to see the Hinterland figures on Venus.

[Skrapwelder]

Nice looking troops. Are those Empress Dismounted Natal serving as Americans? Great idea.

[Chairface]

The Dutch mission was slightly more complicated than just removing the Americans and British from their territory. Custer's act of occupying the Parrotman temple had huge ramifications for Dutch rule on the continent. While many of the Parrotmen were now good Calvinists thanks to decades of a successful missionary program, the sacred nature of the temple made it revered to King Willem's Venusian subjects. The Dutch had to remove the Americans to prevent a total revolt.

The mighty Russian horde advances



On the other side of the field the Dutch war machine advances





First blood goes to the Russians as artillery reigns down on the Roughriders, killing four in a bloody mist (in an ominous roll of the dice the American player roles four ones to save.....)

All in all very little of real importance happens in the first turn - the bulk of the Dutch are inching forward through the dense Venusian jungle, the Parrotmen visibly agitated as they near the great temple. The rest of the armies move into place....

Turn Two

The action starts with the Dutch calvary and Panther Panzers crashing into the British naval units stationed on the left flank. The Panthers are cut to shreds as they charge up the hill to meet the sailors. Four make it into hand to hand combat and take their revenge on their enemies. Sabers and mechanized claws glisten with blood as the sailors are torn apart, the remainder of the unit breaking in fear. The calvary, still at a strength of eight after the charge, breaks the marines



On the other side of the field Russian walkers engage the American steam tank with less effective results.



In the centre, Dutch troops engage an American tank, temporarily stopping it from moving, but they could not silence the barking maxim gun



Cossack scorpions engage the American sailors, again suffering the fate of charging cavalry as they are torn apart by gunfire before most could reach their target



The British hold the centre - not really doing anything, but damn, nice models.  



The end of turn two - time for a birthday cake break and some admiration for the rabbits  

[Chairface]

Good to see the Hinterland figures on Venus.

I agree. I was very happy to get them on the table. And as you're about to see, they behaved beautifully later on

Nice looking troops. Are those Empress Dismounted Natal serving as Americans? Great idea.

No they are serving as Brits. It was something of a grand coalition. Beautiful beautiful minis.

[jamesmanto]

Gordy the rabbit did seem to enjoy nibbling on the stray Player Aid Sheet he got hold of.

Well, David, you're doing just fine with the AAR. I may just direct readers of my blog to here.

Everyone's got sailors now, even the Yanks. I'm starting to get Naval Brigade envy!

James

[Chairface]

Well, David, you're doing just fine with the AAR. I may just direct readers of my blog to here.
James

I was hoping to see your unique take on the game James. You write them up so much better than I do.

I'm glad Gordy enjoyed his snack. 

[jamesmanto]

My blog posting about it is here: http://rabbitsinmybasement.blogspot.com/2010/09/unexpected-party.html

You're getting the blow by blow details a bit better than I am though. Stuck out on the Dutch right I missed a lot of what was going on over on the Russian side of the table.

I totally missed a lot of what happened. Did the Rocketmen do anything?

[Chairface]

I totally missed a lot of what happened. Did the Rocketmen do anything?

Embarrassed to say that I'm not sure. I'll have to ask Pete