Showing posts with label Tanktober. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tanktober. Show all posts

05 November 2015

Tankfest at the Hobby Shop

A big cat waits for prey...
We are off to enjoy Fall-In today!  While we are gone I'll leave you with these pics of a recent Tanktober celebration (well it could have been incidental, but professionals don't believe in coincidences now do they...)

Two weeks ago my local Hobby shop put on a six player FoW game which was rather an impressive setup.

It was a 1945/late war/Fall of the Reich style game played lengthways along a long 12 x 4 table, pitting 4k of advancing Soviets from one short send, 4k of advancing Americans from the opposite short side, and 6k of Germans sandwiched in a defensive position in a central city.

Each nation had 2 commanders to make it a 6 player game.  On top of that, the Russians and Americans weren't allowed to talk out loud to coordinate their actions (no common codes you see).

...while Ivan advances on the right...

...and on the left...
...supported by the big guns of the Red Army
Stalin's "God of War" looks impressive. I love the diorama effects with the spent shell casings but all that Arty should be off board!
Meanwhile on the other flank the Americans advanced more cautiously...

...with their own guns in support...

...to be met by some angry Panthers in defensive positions
The boys were clearly having fun and had made a few adjustments to the rules to make them work better in this fun setup.  The lead elements of both allied forces had taken a good blooding but the US and Soviet aircraft were getting into the fray and starting to pick off the big panzers.

The ruined city terrain is by Novis (the guy who used to own JR Miniatures) and is very, very nice even unpainted (it had arrived two days before the game) - I clearly need some.  So do you Alan.

Another gratuitous King Tiger shot, because it was Tanktober!
See you when we get back from Fall-In!

01 November 2015

Farewell Tanktober - Answers and Results

The mighty Tanktober Grand Prize!
And so closes out Tanktober 2015.

Thanks to everyone who dropped in to play this year's challenge; a bit of fun that I hope you all enjoyed whether you were a casual observer or a die hard participant.  I'm here to present the final results and the winner of the magnificent prize shown above, but first - the answers!

1. Russian T-34/85, Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, USA
2. US Sherman DD recovered from the debris of EX Tiger in 1944 (see here), Fort Taber Military Museum, New Bedford MA, USA
3. US M50 Ontos, USMC Museum, Virginia USA
4. German PzKpfw V 'Panther' Ausf. A with zimmerit, Canadian War Museum, Ottawa Canada
5. Russian experimental superheavy tank "Object 279" - submission from Steve H
6. British Centurion Mk 5 (in Australian Army service), Australian War Memorial, Canberra, Australia
7. Russian T-72M1, Canadian War Museum, Ottawa Canada
8. French Char Renault FT17, Musee de l'Armee, Paris, France
9. US Sherman M4A3, USMC Museum, Virginia USA
10. Russian KV-1 (background) and SU-76 Assault Gun (foreground).  The SU-76 was nicknamed The Bitch by its crews.  Bovington Tank Museum, UK.
11. British Churchill, Canadian War Museum, Ottawa Canada
12. Russian T-62 (captured while in Iraqi service), Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, USA
13. US M60A1(RISE) Patton Tank,  Bovington Tank Museum, UK
14. SU-76 at the Museum of Artillery, Engineers and Signals, St Petersburg, Russia - submission from Dux Hormunculorum
15. German PzKpfw VI 'Konigstiger' Ausf. B, Musee December 44, La Gleize, Belgium
16. British Valentine II, Australian Armour and Artillery Museum, Cairns, Australia.
17. German Sturmgeschutz (StuG) III Ausf. G, Canadian War Museum, Ottawa Canada
18. British M3A5 Grant, Imperial War Museum, London, UK
19. German Jadgpanzer 38 'Hetzer', Battle of Normandy Museum, Bayeux France
20. US M48 Patton, War Remnant Museum, Ho Chi Minh city (formerly the "American War Crimes Museum" in the city formerly known as Saigon!)
21. Trick Question - its a composite range target vehicle made of of different components, many of which were sourced from a Centurion and a Chieftain.  Everyone got a point for guessing with bonus points for getting correct components. Bovington Tank Museum, UK - submission from Oberst Owen
22. Russian T34/76 in German Service with 75mm gun replacement, Arnhem War Museum, The Netherlands.
23. Russian PT-76, Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, USA
24. Sweden S-Tank.  Bovington Tank Museum, UK
25. German Panzerjager V 'Jagdpanther' with zimmerit, Imperial War Museum, London, UK
26. Russian T-55, Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, USA
27. German PzKpfw II Ausf. C, Canadian War Museum, Ottawa Canada
28. British Churchill Crocodile (without fuel trailer), D-Day Museum, Portsmouth, UK
29. Russian T-54 in North Vietnamese Service,  Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
30. German AS-1 Leopard in Australian Service, EX BEERSHEBA 98, near Townsville, Australia
31. German PzKpfw VI 'Tiger I' Ausf. E, Bovington Tank Museum, UK

Onto the results!

After being neck and neck throughout the month, Simon Jones managed to squeeze out resident tank geek Dux Humunculorum by just 2 points and snag first place with his very impressive knowledge!  Congratulations Simon - email me your address and I'll send you the glittering Tanktober prize! OK, its more camouflaged than glittering but its yours anyway :-)  Dux, your second place reward is that you get to game with me on a weekly basis from January next year.

Special mentions in no particular order to Leif, Moiterei_1984, Peter V. Dell'Orto, Barks, Alan Hunt and Kiwi who not only racked up great scores but provided some of the trickier answers.  Notable mentions go to Miles and Cedric for their more amusing input but everyone is a winner really.  Excellent Tanktober spirit chaps!  Here are the individual scores:

Individual cumulative scores for Tanktober 2015
Thanks to everyone for participating, to the four special pic submitters (I hadn't planned that but it was a great development) and to especially to my wife for her indulgence on an apparently unreasonable number of holidays to visit tanks around the world. I really enjoyed fishing through my old pics and it was great to share them.

Until Tanktober next year Comrades!



31 October 2015

Tanktober #31

We are closing out this year's Tanktober with this blast from the past of'Oberst Owen' and I posing with a classic Panzer more than a few years ago now - and she is a movie star no less!

30 October 2015

Tanktober #30

The penultimate AFV for Tanktober - this time its a cheeky action shot submitted by Barks.
Thanks mate!


25 October 2015

Tanktober #25

If you've been to this venue I think you'll recognise it immediately:

21 October 2015

Tanktober #21

To mark the end of Tanktober week 3 we have another special guest submission, this time from my old gaming buddy "Oberst Owen".  This one is quite the challenge...

16 October 2015

Tanktober #16

Remember: bonus points are awarded for being first to correctly ID the tank AND pick the location.  The latter is a toughie for this one though...

Tanktober #15

Something special for Tanktober's half way point!
For those just joining in, feel free to go back and fill in your answers for previous entries to catchup


14 October 2015

Tanktober #14

To celebrate the completion of the second week of Tanktober 2015, the ever dapper Dux Hormunculorum (the original creator of Tanktober BTW) has provided this submission.  Thanks mate, and you'll get credited one point in thanks!