Why I Love Blood Bowl

- with Greg

So today is officially release day for the new Blood Bowl boxed game from Games Workshop, the first in the (hopefully) ongoing re-release of specialist games from the company. Blood Bowl has a special place in my heart as I have been playing it since around 1988.

My first memory of Blood Bowl was having one of my Dad's wargaming mates drop off his stadium and his teams at our house for storage for a while. Ken had 32 fully painted Blood Bowl teams....32!!! Pretty much every team that existed in the fluff at the time, all the Star Players, cheerleaders, you name it, he had it. And we played the shit out of it when Dad wasn't watching.

Blood Bowl has always been, for me, one of the most perfect games GW ever created. There was balance, the rules were fun, there was always the potential for shenanigans and it was a game that always drew a crowd, no matter what was happening. People would actually cheer for things happening in the game! Seriously, what other game has that happen?!

My first official Blood Bowl team was the Chaos All Stars. I got those in 1995 for my birthday and was playing games with them that weekend. Unpainted of course...THE HORROR! I played in a league with some guys from school and my team soon evolved into a killing machine that would wear down the opponents via death and mayhem.....and then score touchdowns. We were playing the 3rd edition of the game by then and were also including the fun extras from the Deathzone expansion.

We always had a barrel of laughs and it is still, to this day, some of the best gaming I have ever done in my life!

I still have the Chaos All Stars....and I'm proud to say that 21 years later....I've actually finished painting them!

So, the new edition is actually going to be in my hands today and I don't think I've looked forward to getting a new game as much as I am with this one. I pre-ordered the game so I could get it on release day and actually put off buying other toys so I'd have the funds to get it.

I'll be doing a video unboxing over on the YouTube channel and I'm gonna try and rope Damo or Dan into playing a starter box game with me.

So why do I love Blood Bowl? For me, it represents some of the most fun gaming I've ever done in my almost 30 years of playing games. Those are memories that stick with you and make you remember why we do this weird little hobby.

And there's something strangely satisfying about smashing a Beastman into an Elf and watching it crumble.....and die!

Team Yankee - Leopard

- with Greg

Deciding to head into a new game can sometimes be a daunting prospect, especially within smaller gaming groups. While there are a heap of TY 6mm players within my group of players, not as many are playing the 15mm version from Battlefront. I myself was pretty reluctant at first....until I saw the models for the West Germans!

They are a serious piece of equipment, let me tell you!

So, I've invested in a Kampfgruppe Muller starter box and of course, I needed a copy of Leopard itself to get started.

The first expansion volume for Team Yankee, Leopard comes in at a very reasonable 49 pages full of background for the Bundeswehr and its evolution from the Wehrmacht of WWII as well as some "history" information for Panzer Division 1.

Leopard allows you to field a number of different companies in the West German army. As well as the Panzer Kompanie, you have the option of a Panzergrenadier Kompanie and a Panzeraufklarungs Kompanie as well as divisional support for them all.

The Panzer Kompanie is just that. Tanks! Namely, the mighty Leopard 2! This thing is a serious beat on the table. They're gonna set you back 22 points for a pair but they're FA 18 and hit on a 4-up. The monstrous 120mm gun is going to make Ivan's day just bad....really bad!

Your Panzergrenadier Kompanie builds from the mounted assaults of the Panzergrens of WWII but instead of Hanomags, they're mounted in the new Marder transports. A full PzGren Zug will run you 7 points netting you 3 MG3 teams, 2 Milan teams and 3 Marders...BUT...you can decide to forego a Milan team from the game and just mount the Milan on your Marder! AWESOME!

And finally the Panzeraufklarungs Kompanie. These guys get the 8-wheeled Luchs armoured cars to scout ahead and harass the enemy and can be backed up by the older, but still reliable Leopard 1 tank.

You also have the option of taking the Fuchs Panzeraufklarungs Zug to give you some feet on the ground. You'll be buying 3 MG3 teams and a Milan team with 3 Fuchs transports for your 4 points and again you have the option of mounting a Milan on one of the Fuchs for some fast AT 21 action!

Support options are awesome as well. You have all your bases covered here so no reason to want for anything really!

Artillery is it? Well sure! You can have either the awesome power of the M109G SP Artillery, the M113 Panzermorser Mortar carriers or the awesome rocket salvos of the Lars Raketenwerfer. All options allow you to lay down covering smoke for the German advance or dig some pesky Soviet infantry out of their holes.

(My personal fave....the Raketenwerfer! Who doesn't want Raketenwerf their opponent?!)

3 x M109G for 7 points. 155mm howitzers for big bada-boom!

Option of either 3 or 6 M113's for 3 points per 3. Great for mobile smoke.

Option for 2 or 4 LARS for 3 points per pair. SALVO time!! Also the option for Minelets!

Now, tanks are always gonna get harassed by aircraft. Its just how it is. So the best thing to do is get a heap of awesome looking AA tanks! And the Germans have that in spades! You can have the serious dual-power of the Gepard or the dedicated AA capability of the Roland or for on the ground protection, a Fliegerfaust gruppe.

Gepards! 5 points per pair and 5 shots per Gepard! Pew pew!!!

My mate Roland. AA missiles please, just 3 points a pair!

Now, if you want to do some sneaky tank hunting without spending a heap of points on tanks themselves, then you probably wanna take a look at the Jaguar 2. This thing is a great asset on the table. You're paying 3 points for a pair, or 5 for 3 and they mount an improvised TOW missile with AT 21 and FP3+. You cant shoot them on the move, but they make for a great ambush weapon!

And finally we take to the skies. You have both fast movers in the Tornado and the tank hunting PAH chopper.

The Tornado gives you some SALVO firepower in the bomblet dispenser as well as the ability to protect itself with an anti-helicopter autocannon.

The PAH Anti-tank helicopter is just that. It has the AT23 TOW missiles coupled with the Hunter-Killer special rule. Pop up, kill tank, hide. 

So there you have it. If you're not interested in the Americans or Soviets, why not give the West Germans a look. They have some amazing weapons at their disposal and just look super-cool on table!

Thanks for reading!

- All images, copyright Battlefront Miniatures.

Behind Enemy Lines YouTube

-with the Team

We've been a little busy over on the old YouTube channel of late with some new content being uploaded for you guys to take a squizz at. Hopefully it can help you with decisions you're needing to make on new toys or just give you a bit of a laugh.

Dan unboxes Genestealers!




Yes, even though we rag on good old GW all the time, they do make some pretty nifty kits. Dan got a hold of some of the new Genestealer Hybrids to have some fun with.

Greg unboxes Grim!




Kickstarters do come true!!! Grim has arrived and Greg takes a look at whats in the box....ENTER IF YOU DARE!

Dan and the Grens




Bolt Action time! Dan got some new plastic Grenadiers to have a look at and give away! (Contest may be over at the time of reading)


Greg der Deutsche




Greg's taken the plunge into 15mm Team Yankee with the West Germans. Here, he looks at the Kampfgruppe Muller boxed starter.

SQUEEEEEEEE!!!!




I'll just leave this here.....


So if you're not subscribe to our channel, what are you waiting for?!

BEHIND ENEMY LINES - YOUTUBE

FlamesCon 2016 - A Photo Journey

We have just wrapped up what was the biggest singles tournament for Flames of War held in New Zealand this year. While not quite as large as CanCon or Historicon, we still managed to get a large number of players to the event.

5 games held over 2 days across New Zealand's Labour Weekend, this year saw 36 players bring 1625 points of Late War fun to the tables. We saw a great mix of forces from all across the nationality spectrum. This year, Dan and I took the reins for organising the event and with the help of some pretty awesome sponsors (namely Battlefront and Mighty Ape) amassed a huge range of prizes for people to vie for.

5 missions in total and we tried to go for a few that we havent seen in a while. The final selection was Free for All, Hold the Line and Breakthrough for Day 1 with Encounter and Counter-Attack for Day 2. And so, with mutterings of 6-1's, Banzai and all sorts of other national slogans, we launched into it!

But before that....we got some sneak peeks from Battlefront at some new toys on the horizon; most exciting of which were the new Mid-War plastics coming to a gaming table near you!

Bear in mind that these are rapid prototypes so the finishing touches havent been added yet. Also coming are some new goodies for you Team Yankee types...

And so, Late War gaming at it's (New Zealand) finest...

On the morning of Day 2, we ask the players to arrange their armies for parade and the vote for which they deemed to be best painted.

We had a great mix of infantry, tanks and mechanized forces, as you can see!

And a few more action shot, just because they look so good!

And now, to the winners....the crowd eagerly awaited the announcements...

And the prizes...

1st place: Kit Goldsbury

2nd place: Mike Haycock

3rd place....now there was a slight clerical error with this one. The prize was awarded on the day to Sofia Chambers, but the actual 3rd place getter was Rob Sadler...

Best painted: Russell Briant

We also awarded a prize to the person coming roughly middle of the table, Most Mediocre! This one went to Sophie Jenkins.

And finally, the crowning glory...THE WOODEN SPOON!!!! No photos here but congrats to Chris Townley! Battlefront REPRESENT!!!

All in all, it was a spectacular weekend of gaming and I'm sure everyone had a great time!

We must, once again, give massive, MASSIVE thanks to both Mighty Ape and Battlefront for their support of their event. Without sponsors, there is no way these get off the ground.

Roll on 2017!!

Full results are as follows, for those interested...

Name	Placing	Army	Points
Kit Goldsbury	1st	US Infantry	28
Mike Haycock	2nd	German	27
Rob Sadler	3rd	Poles	27
Sofia Chambers	4th	Soviet	26
Andrew Duncan	5th	British	26
Damian Caufield	6th	British	23
Andrew Haught	7th	Finns	23
Russell Briant	8th (Best Painted)	Germans	22
Lee Reygate	9th	Germans	22
Steve Eyles	10th	Germans	21
Steve London	11th	Germans	21
Wayne Turner	12th	Hungarians	21
Tony Vodanovich	13th	British	20
Ryan Jeffares	14th	US	20
Pat Gribble	15th	Germans	19
Leigh Watson	16th	British	19
Matt Martin	17th	Germans	19
Gavin van Rossum	18th (Best Sport)	Germans	19
Mark Scaletti	19th	US	18
Nick Booth	20th	Germans	18
Ben Fouche	21st	Germans	18
Sophie Jenkins	22nd (Most Mediocre)	Soviet	17
Andrew Agutters	23rd	Germans	16
John Lee	24th	Germans	16
Ryan Bailey	25th	Polish	15
Craig Ross	26th	New Zealanders	15
Jon Carryer	27th	German	15
David Greig	28th	Japanese	15
Brent Young	29th	New Zealanders	14
Blair Ramsdale	30th	Romanians	14
Ray O'Connor	31st	Germans	14
Darren Morgan	32nd	German	14
Greg Hagg	33rd	Germans	13
Lyndon Mason	34th	US Airborne	12
Paul Western	35th	German	11
Chris Townley	36th (TEH SPOON)	Soviets	8