Playing Hammers Slammers with John Treadaway

Yesterday I had the absolute privilege of spending a day gaming in the shed of John Treadaway, a long-time veteran of the hobby and editor of Miniature Wargames magazine. Joining me around the table were Kevin Dallimore (painter & designer) and Paul from Pazoot Wargaming. We dived headfirst into a game of Hammer’s Slammers, with Paul and I taking command of separate Slammers detachments, each fielded with a pair of M2A1-4 Blower Tanks, M9A1-3 Combat Cars, an A21 Hover Jeep, and a couple of infantry squads. Facing off against us was Kevin, commanding a simngle larger rival mercenary detachment commanded by a Colonel. Our joint objective was to search a local town and recover a critical data crystal from one of the buildings, but there was a catch; unbeknownst to each other, both Paul and I had been secretly bribed by outside influences to secure the crystal for our own shadowy benefactors. The promise of enough credits to retire comfortably and never step foot in a tank again was just too tempting to pass up.

One of the two Slammers detachments lined up where they deployed. 

The enenemy mercenary units were scattered throughout the town

Kevin considering his options... missiles. Lots of missiles!!

Deploying right on top of our objectives forced Kevin into a rapid reaction, though thankfully for me, his opening salvo of missiles smashed directly into Paul’s vehicles while mine were largely obscured by terrain. Despite taking swift early losses, we pressed hard into the town and traded fire at close range, obliterating a significant portion of Kevin’s armor. Enemy infantry attempted to tilt the balance by raining Buzzbomb fire down from the rooftops, but their attacks had little effect and only served to betray their positions. Our retaliatory fire was immediate and severe; we swept the buildings with heavy powerguns, including a devastating main gun strike from my own Lieutenant's command tank. With his force reduced to absolute tatters, Kevin’s Colonel decided discretion was the better part of valor and ordered a full retreat, leaving us masters of the field.

Most ranges were effectively unlimited, but close range inferred a bonus to hit that often proved the difference. 

Incomming missiles. If these can't be taken out they hit the tanks weaker top armour.

Thinner skinned armoured vehicles like the combat cars were picked off quickly by Kevins forces. Thankfully these arn't my vehicles burning!

That was when the real trouble started. With the main threat eliminated, our secondary agendas immediately took center stage. I managed to grab the data crystal and made a frantic dash for the board edge, but couldn't quite clear the perimeter in time. Realizing Paul likely had the exact same secret mission, I swung my remaining Blower Tank around and opened fire on his detachment, taking out his Lieutenant. Paul’s Sergeant took command of the detachment and didn’t hesitate to return the favor, sending a shot straight into the rear armor of my tank and vaporizing my Lieutenant in response. 

The layout was simple but verry effective and made for a quick, fun game. 

My Combat Cars provided much needed anti-missile cover and counter fire against Kev's infantry up in the buildings. 

One by one the enemy vehciles were blown to smitherines.

The Blower Tanks are not hovercraft. Downward facing Jet engines means these are effectively very low flying helicopters with an armoured skirt. Tough as hell for incoming fire on the front and side and packing a massive gun, secondary tribarrel powerguns and anti-missile defences. 

Kevin's infantry were hidden in various buildings and were an unwelcome appearence when they suddenlt revealed their positions by firing down on thin top armour with their Buzzbombs. 

Two of my Combat Cars reach a greenhouse and find a data crystal...containing someones music collection! This is not the Data Crystal we were looking for. 

Tough as nails, none of the Blower Tanks were destroyed by the enemy. 

With both of our command vehicles in smoldering ruins, our bewildered second-in-command officers hopped on the radio to ask what on earth had just happened. They then secured the crystal, returned it to high command, and left both Paul and me missing out on our comfortable retirements. We managed the rare feat of winning the scenario while simultaneously losing our own personal games!

Paul interviewing Kevin between game turns. We all took time in front of the camera and gave our thoughts on how the game was progressing. I'm looking forward to seeing the final Battle Report on Pauls channel in a few days (no pressure Paul 😉)

One of my Combat Cars is destroyed. 

The final shoot-out...between my Lieutenant and Pauls Lieutenent in our respective command tanks. I destroyed him first, then his second in command repaid the favour. 

It was a fantastic day of gaming filled with great banter, incredible miniature scenery, and cinematic tabletop moments. Paul filmed the entire engagement for an upcoming battle report, which should be going live on his Pazoot Wargaming YouTube channel in a few days. If you want to see the action play out in full detail (and witness our tactical betrayal firsthand) be sure to keep an eye out for his video.