AdeptiCon Doubles. This is the main event. The big clash that we look forward to for months. After a good showing in Combat Patrol the night before, I was ready to go, along with my trusty partner Chris. We played together last year in Doubles and we were looking forward to another amazing time! Running a Battle of France themed German force, we were relying on a mass of machine guns to subdue our enemy. Would this plan work?

Our Army – 1400pts, 18 Order Dice

Platoon #1 – Chris, 1940 Panzer Division, 702pts, 9 Order Dice

Sdkfz 250/3 Command Half-track – Reg (90) Armor 7, Forward-facing MMG Command Vehicle	90
Panzer I – Reg (70) Armor 7, two turret-mounted MMGs	70
Panzer I – Reg (70) Armor 7, two turret-mounted MMGs	70
Kradschutzen Squad – Reg (70) 7 men x7 Motorbikes (35) NCO SMG (3) x1 SMG (3)	111
AT Rifle Team – Reg	30
Panzer I – Reg Armor 7, two turret-mounted MMGs	70
Sdkfz 231 6-Rad – Reg Armor 7, Light Autocannon w/ co-ax MMG Recce	100
Panzer III Ausf. E – Reg Armor 8, Hull-mounted MMG, turret-mounted Light AT Gun w/ two coax MMGs	140
Kubelwagen – Reg (21) Armor 6	21

Platoon #2 – Joe, Battle of France, 696pts, 9 Order Dice

Second Lieutenant – Reg (50) Extra Man (10) x2 SMGs	60
Heer infantry squad – Reg (100) 10 men x1 LMG (20) NCO SMG (3)	123
Heer infantry squad – Reg (100) 10 men x1 LMG (20) NCO SMG (3)	123
Heer infantry squad – Reg (60) 6 men	60
Heer infantry squad – Reg (60) 6 men	60
37mm Flak 36 Heavy Autocannon – Reg (65) Gunshield x4 crew	65
Motorcycle with MMG Sidecar – Reg (40) Recce	40
Panzer I sIG33 Bison – Reg (155) Armor 7, Forward-facing Heavy Howitzer Open-topped	155
Horse-drawn Limber – Reg (10) Literally soft skinned	10

Game 1
Sectors vs Al & Tony (Commonwealth)

Our Opponent’s Army

Chris and I played against Al last AdeptiCon and we had an absolute blast playing with him and his partner Ernie. Unfortunately, Ernie couldn’t make Doubles this year so Tony stepped in. At Polar Vortex back in February, Al challenged me to a Grudge Match at Doubles. Not being one to shy away from such a blatant challenge, I accepted on behalf of Chris and myself. This would end up being quite a challenge as they brought some very heavy armor against our little Panzer Is.

Combined they had three Vickers Light Tank Mk VI C – Reg, Armor 7, Light AC with co-ax MMG, two A13 Cruiser MK IV Tanks with Light AT Guns and Armor 8, two Matilda IIs with Light AT Gun coax and Armor 9, Slow, four Trucks, three Maori infantry squads and an Engineer squad with a Flamethrower, and a Lt team. It was an enormous amount of firepower, and staring at it from across the table, we were worried.

The Mission

The first mission of the day was Sectors, where players scored points for having units in each of the “neutral” Sectors of the table, and additional points for having units in their opponents’ deployment Sectors. However, each team could only score a sector if they had a unit from each player’s force in the zone, so it required teams to carefully coordinate their troops to ensure they were scoring points. This twist made for an interesting take on a well-known mission that highlighted the fun of playing with a partner.

Game Highlights

• Chris and I explode out of the gate and move up and set up to secure two Sectors on the opening Turn.
• The mass of Al and Tony’s Commonwealth armor is caught in a traffic jam for the first two Turns (pictured above) and made little forward progress.
• Pins are all over the place but very few actual kills or damage to all 19 vehicles that were strewn around the table.
• Twice, a Matilta tried to kill the 231 at close range and both times missed. That little 6-Rad was definitely an MVP this game.
• When time was called, Chris and I had three neutral Sectors and one opponent deployment Sector, while they only had one neutral Sector. By playing the objective, and with a lot of luck on our side, we had managed to win against the Commonwealth armored onslaught.

Result – Win

Game 2
FUBAR vs Jesse & Sean (Germany)

Our Opponent’s Army

Game 2 we played against Jesse and Sean. Two great guys from Minnesota who were running a mechanized 251 Hanomag list and foot Platoon with a Panzer II, Flak 88, Forward Observer, two SS squads in 251s, MMG team, 222, and three Regular Heer squads with two LTs.

The Mission

For our second game, we played the FUBAR mission. In this mission one player from each team deployed their entire army between 8 and 18 inches from their side, leaving only 12 inches between the opposing forces. The other player’s entire force arrived via First Wave. Once the deployed units were on the table each side suffered some additional Pins, some killed NCOs, and a few units were ordered Down for the first Turn.

Teams scored victory points for destroying enemy units, as well as one victory point for every three Pins on enemy units at the end of the game. The team that had fewer total Pins also scored one additional VP.

Game Highlights

• The Bison fired kills five crew off the 88, five Pins and they fail the Moral Test and flee! Great shot from the Bison who didn’t do anything in Game 1.
• My 10-man squad minus its NCO kills Sean’s Lt.
• My Heavy Autocannon team kills Jesse’s MMG team. Score 3-1.
• At the end of Turn 1, both of Sean’s 251 Hanomag and the squads in them have 4 Pins each.
• On Turn 2 there were no kills, but Pins galore! Our opponents put out 4 Pins on us while we put out an incredible 10 Pins!
• In Turn 3, they tried to advance both remaining 251s, but with a large number of Pins on each, they both failed and reversed.
• Our Panzer III with one Pin failed and goes Down with a reverse move.
• My Heavy AC killed their Panzer II.
• At the top of Turn 4, Chris launched a Blitzkrieg and between his 231 and a Panzer I, killed their squad who finally dismounted from the half-track. The Hanomag then flees due to empty transport rules.
• Craig and Kevin set up the bulk of their force on our left flank, leaving the right side of the board open for my Light Tanks to advance to engage the Panzer IV.

When they called the time, we had killed 5 units, got an additional 5 VPs for Pins on their units, and the bonus +1 VP. They had 1 VP for Pins on us. Final score 11-1.

Result – Win

Game 3
Combined Arms vs August & Josh (Soviet Union/Finland)

Our Opponent’s Army

Game 3 was against August and Josh. Coincidentally Chris and I played against them last year in Doubles in Game 3! They had a Late War Soviet/Finnish army with a T-34/85, an Inexperienced Katuysha, the free Rifle squad, Assault Engineers, ZiS-3, M-30 Heavy Rocket Launcher, Finnish Snipers, a Flamethrower team, a couple Infantry squads, a Mortar team, T-20 Komsomolets, Shirker squad, and Sissi Recon squads. Double multi-launchers would be a pain to deal with.

The Mission

The final mission of the day was Combined Arms. There were five objectives on the table – one in the center and one in each of the four corners, 12″ from the edges. Whichever team controlled more objectives at the end of the game was the winner. In order to control an objective both players on a team had to have a unit within 6″ of the objective.

Similar to Sectors from Game 1, this mission required teams to work together in order to capture/contest objectives. This emphasis on team play was great and made for fun interplay between teammates.

Game Highlights

• Things went badly right from the beginning. The Katyusha killed the sIG33. Then next turn killed the Heavy Autocannon. Two of our three big AT pieces/anti-infantry units are gone.
• Conversely, Chris and I missed every shot on Turn 1 and Turn 2. Talk about bad luck.
• Top of Turn 3 the T-34/85 showed us who was the boss and deleted a Panzer I.
• On Turn 4 we made back some ground, killing their Shirker squad and Chris’ ATR team beating the Finnish LT team. We moved to secure the middle objective and the far right corner objective, as we were failing to kill things we had to get the objective to win.
• With minutes to go, we made a dash for the back right objective, Chris’ tanks were in position, but my motorcycle was less than an inch away from the zone of control.
• Each side controlled two objectives and the middle was contested.

Result – Draw

Final Thoughts

Going 2-0-1 against some great opponents and beautifully painted armies on gorgeous tables was a blast. The missions that Andrew had created, which forced teamwork between your partner and yourself were incredible. The creativity and intricacy were top notch and I cannot give Andrew enough credit. Also, I can’t forget Tom who helped Andrew run the event. It went smoothly and efficiently, which is no small feat trying to get some 64 people to run on time!

Chris and I took 6th Overall. Hell yeah, we’ll take that! While unable to secure any of the major awards, we could hold our heads up high with a respectable finish in the field of extremely talented players and hobbyists, all of who were amazing over the day. I cannot wait for next year’s AdeptiCon, where I hope to see all the teams who made it this year and hopefully more!