The Svalbardians are coming,The Svalbardians are coming!

 Wednesday 29th March,

Location- some nameless Canadian Airfield High In The Rocky Garvald Mountains.

Quiet time at the airfield.

Canadian Sabre.

Airport Car Park.

        After a gap of which seems ages normal service was resumed on the gaming front with a visit to some obscure airfield hiding some experimental aircraft and some purloined equipment making it so called easy pickings for some philandering Svalbardians or roaming aliens complete with The Mekon in tow.The local militia and Mounties were having none it.Rules for this evening were the Xenos Rampant rules which although having a hint of outer space sci-fi were going to be used in this not so future game based on some well stocked Canadian airbase which has a reminiscence of Fort Churchill. The toys involved tonight were as spectacular as always.You can never have enough Dinky Toys on display.

Various Rocketry.

The boys are back.

Engine Service.

R.C.M.P on stakeout.

        Tonight’s Mcguffin was the appropriation of various crates scattered around the base with added bonuses for the eradication of the enemy be they earthly or outer worldy.Each player was equipped with a couple of infantry squads backed up by various vehicles/guns.Comrade Gilchristi as always was in charge of the Svalbard Soviets,El Presidente took charge of the Mekon led aliens whilst I took a stand for dear old Canada by taking charge of the local militia supported by the Mounties.

Advanced Aeroplanes.

PT 76.

The Mounties are here.

                  Once again the game kicked off with everybody heading for the nearest crates to get some booty under their belts before engaging the enemy.The vagaries of these rules are unless you are souper dooper you can only move or shoot so one has to choose wisely.Also unless your unit has free shooting or moving you have to command them and if you fail your turn is over.My plan as always was to charge in and end the game quickly.One day that is going to work but not tonight.My lads headed straight across the airfield ready to die for Canada.My armoured vehicle came in the form of a Saracen armoured personnel carrier but under these rules it was armed with a gun.A bit abstract but hey ho.My nearest enemy was the alien laser gun that was making an appearance in my gun sight but initial shots went wildly astray making my Saracen the object of the laser guns desires.

Servicing the Shooting Star.

The Lasgun cometh.

The Svalbardians are coming.

                Meanwhile the Svalbardians were making an appearance on the other side of the table with a PT76 leading the charge backed up by various NEO Svalbard squads one which just happened to be female festooned with Soviet uniform.Well it is El Presidente’s dojo.The object of their desire were the yellow clad aliens belonging to El Presidente.One of the aliens met their demise and Bill was off to a good start.

Super spy NPC.

Servicing the Shooting Star.

The PT76 moves forward.

The Laser Gun.

          My Saracen began to take hits but in the good old traditional Canadian way kept on returning fire until El Presidente finally got lucky with his purple dice of death and done away with my Saracen.Revenge will be sought immediately-maybe!The Svalbardians began to swoop over all the airfield buildings causing the aliens to dither and eventually take more casualties.My lads were up for it though and saw an opportunity to move round the side of the hangar and deal some Canadian justice among these Svalbardian interlopers.I thought I was about to succeed when Bill decided to move back out the hangar and confront my lads.A firefight commenced with casualties being taken on both sides and both squads thinking wisely that retreating (sorry regrouping)would be a good option.Comrade Gilchristi was having a very productive evening with his destruction of El Presidente’s infantry giving him a chance to fire on the laser gun.My militia meanwhile were hoping to do away with the laser gun but the gun backed up by the Mekon proved a step too far and ended up with my second militia squad heading back to the Rockies.

The Mounties taking cover.

Various rocketry.

The Mekon hides behind a police car.

Airport fire engine.

     The Mountie squad were faring better with the collecting of crates and getting to grips with the Svalbardians causing them to retire out of shooting range.This was only a hindrance to the Svalbardians as their other squads were dealing with the alien interlopers including the laser gun. The game fizzled out so victory points were divvied up and lo and behold a victory for the Svalbardian invaders was proclaimed.

The Laser gun turns it’s attention towards Comrade Bill.

The female Soviets indulging in some tennis.

The Svalbardians digging in.

El Presidente’s remnants scatter.

My Saracen simmering.

     Yet another great game with a great number of toys on display all from the collection of El Presidente.

          Hopefully this’ll be the start of a productive spring and summer.See You All When I See You!

This has been a Garvald Film Studios Production.

Last Retro Man Standing

Stardate - February 9th.

Place-Some Garvaldian Spaceport.

Kroot Away 

            A quickly thrown together game found us out somewhere out in the Garvaldian galaxy with a few retro bands of figures all the way from the decadent 1990’s from the days when a certain company would fleece you and empty your pockets buying their expensive figures and they are still doing  the same today.

            On parade today we had ex Imperial Guard supplemented by underhive scum and a couple of very old(80’s) Imperial Army figures.Pitted against them were all the main players from an Eldar

The Desert Boys out of their comfort zone.

The Howling Banshees Cometh.

Rapid Fire.

army.Wraithguard,Dark Reapers,Warp Spyders,Howling Banshees and guardians were all on display.We were trying out the Xenos Rampant rules which have evolved from Lion Rampant through Dragon Rampant to the said set of rules.They were pretty easy to pick up but not for the too serious-just how I like them.

Kroot versus Banshee.

Down to Two.

                 

The Woeful Dark Reapers.

 The table was set therefore the only other thing was to get on with it.The objective was last man standing so off we went with my Kroot heading straight up the park.They had been classed as berzerkers so their plan was to get up close and personal.This proved to be my only move as my heavy infantry didn’t activate which meant my turn was over.El Presidente sent his Howling Banshees forward in order to meet my charge.He was giving some support from his Dark Reapers but their shooting was woeful.

The Warp Spyders Advance.

Supported by the Fire Dragons.

The Guardians Gather.

     This gave one of my Kroot squads the chance to countercharge the Banshees setting up a nice set of fisticuffs.Pity my lads came second best losing three figures to El Presidente’s two meaning I had to retreat and take a courage test with which they failed meaning they were suppressed.My heavy infantry squad dealt a wee bit revenge by devastating the Dark Reaper squad aided by some heavy weapons and armour piercing bullets.

Kroot go for it supported by infantry.

“Intae Them!”

Three against Three.

     My elite squad made up of Underhive Scum and Imperial Army tended to flatter to deceive as their shooting didn’t amount to a hill o’ beans especially when they started taking long range fire from the Warp Spyders and the Wraithguard.They began to dwindle.On my other flank my other Kroot squad headed towards the enemy supported by my other heavy infantry squad and these squads were to be my most successful units of the afternoon.

Start Again.

Now three against one.

        Facing this onrushing horde were the Eldar guardian squad who although was a big squad were not as powerful as their fellow Eldar.They fired off a salvo but this didn’t deter the Kroot from charging in.In the ensuing scrap the Eldar took a bit of a kicking but stood their ground due to a double six roll on their courage test.They lived to fight again albeit for a short time.After the Kroot did away with the guardians they set their sights on other prey, the Fire Dragons! The destruction of the Dragons took less time than the guardians.The only problem was it put the Kroot into the firing line of the Wraithguard.

And still they stand-a wee bit blurred though.

Back into them.

         Meanwhile on the other side of the park my forces were dwindling.The first Kroot squad evaporated due to constant incoming gunfire giving El Presidente the chance to charge his Banshees into my Elite squad but they were repelled reducing the Banshees to one wailing female.My first heavy infantry squad had long since gone meaning the Eldar could concentrate their fire on my Elites once again reducing them down to a solitary figure- my leader, and he didn’t last long.

“Whose Next?”

The Fire Dragons will do.

The Warp Spyders finally advance.

My remaining hope remained with the Kroot and the last remaining infantry squad.The Kroot were evaporated by the Wraithguard before they could close with them leaving my heavy infantry squad the thankless task of keeping my side’s chances of winning .

The Wraithguard take care of business.

Hanging On.

The remaining Eldar forces closed in on the infantry squad who were taking advantage of the cover behind a building.Their hopes were raised by the dispatching of the last Banshee and also a couple of Wraithguard but the balance of numbers were against them as they slowly disappeared one by one.

       A very good game with a chance to use all the retro figures albeit with a different set of rules. The rules were pretty straight forward and I’m sure we will be using them again.

Last Man Standing.

          My thanks to El Presidente for putting the game on at short notice as the table had been used for a Bolt Action game the previous evening.

        I’ll See You All When I See You.

    This has been a Garvald Film Studios