Smolensk: Barbarossa back on track

 Quite a nice day and as usual I was ensconced in the now defunct Post Office (Lancaster Council please note) to play the fifth game in our Smolensk Campaign. I decided to go out on a limb and instead of cleaning out the central tables still in the hands of the Soviets I went for their supply line at the village of Zaborye, if I can capture the village the forward Russians will be cut off and cannot use any Resource Points.

I have yet to steel myself into choosing an armoured platoon and as the terrain here is not conducive to the use of armour I only took one Panzer II for support along with an anti-tank rifle and a motorcycle recce squad. If the motorcycles enter dismounted you get a free patrol move, I planned to move forward quickly and grab as much ground as I could, in the end I managed one extra move so I got a measly two. Matt was defending and had chosen supports to pin me down, an infantry gun, heavy machine gun and two 50mm mortars giving him three altogether.

Russians on the left, Jerries on the right.

There Hans, there!

Russian defenders wait in the half light of dawn.

Matt deployed early and soon had all his forces in the woods, most on overwatch as I struggled with Plan A, things rattled along quite quickly as I tried to decide whether it was still possible for me to force his right flank. I gave up with this idea and as I had two Chain of Command dice I conjured up a cunning plan for which I needed a double move. Russian mortar fire up till now had been mainly ineffectual apart from sending my anti-tank rifle running for cover. I had now brought all my troops on to the table and had moved my attack to the Russian left, my boys waited with bated breath to unleash hell, my little tank had again decided to play cautiously and barely moved into first gear, but it was getting closer and the 20mm autocannon would have to hit at some point.

Soviet festung.

The little tank.

My left flank, hold, hold.

And then I got it, a double move, the whistles blew and the troops leapt forward to the edge of the wood as I cancelled all the Soviet overwatch tokens before opening up. A deadly duel now transpired between both groups in their respective woodland. I was now able to bring my own mortar into action and at last the tank was making headway. The Soviet fire was not as successful as it could have been although my motorcyle troops were taking a beating and their shock was climbing. As the fight continued several Russian NCO's fell and the heavy machine gun along with the infantry gun and a squad broke. Soviet morale plummeted, as the light fell 3rd Panzer took possession of Zaborye.

The left still waiting.

The battle in the woods.

The Panzer II moves at last.

This game lasted longer than our last one, I actually made an attempt to attack the Russian position albeit carefully, I had expected a Russian tank hence the AT rifle, but nothing turned up so I wasted three valuable Resource Points on it. I think we now both have one point left until Game Seven, so the cutting of the supply line is not going to hurt for the moment the Russians in the Yartsevo Pocket. Matt had some bad luck with losing several NCO's and his shooting could have been better, my own was not much better (40 dice and no kills) but the loss of the officers and the support teams took his morale down to 1 and the sheer volume of fire ate away at the Russian units. At the end of the day we both enjoyed the game and look forward to the next one.

Before this I played two skirmish games at the club, I cannot remember the name of the first which was a Dark Age combat with me as the Saxon's and Stuart as the Vikings, I had ten men and Stuart had seven. I won the first game and lost the second, so honours were even, as you know I prefer battles with hundreds of figures so a big change for me, even Dux Britanniarum had about 40. No matter it was good of Stuart to put up with me for a night. The second was Kill Team, and yes there were gasps as the troops turned up to see me sitting there again, there were no historical games at all last night. Simon was the host this time and ran two games. I as Space Marines was up against some kind of Imperial Guard, six men vs ten, it was fast and furious although I was never quite sure I was playing it right, I am sure there is a lot of nuance in the game but you won't cotton on after just one game. Jimi's poor guard were simply targets for my superior warriors and they were massacred to the last man. Again thanks to Simon for an entertaining evening.

Saxons.

Vikings.

Kill Team.

Jimi wondering where all his men went.

However, I have learned that these games are just not for me, rightly or wrongly I see them as more games than wargames, they can be complex, for that read beyond my ken, and need an investment in time to learn and I just do not have that. Yes I know that Chain of Command and Bolt Action are skirmish games, but they seem like more and I can identify with them.

And now back to the Italian Wars, I have at last finished the French commander, King Francis I, it is unusual for me to leave the leader so long before he joins the army. I have based my version on Massimo Predonzani's painting in Helion's Vol. 3 on the battle of Pavia, why Francis flew France Ancient and not France Modern in 1525 I know not, but it looks better anyway. Also around the same time I completed a second Imperial unit of men-at-arms and an artillery piece.

 The Assault Group came through with my next phase of the Imperial army, the Spanish additions. First up is a Spanish pike block, the front ranks are done and I have mixed in some sword and buckler men to make them stick out from all my other pike blocks. Another week should see these done and I will move on to some arquebusiers then Jinette light cavalry before getting back to pikes.

I was going to do a bit on why should I bother continuing to blog, there are few other things I am streamlining as I settle into retirement, possibly mapping or the amount I am doing as well, but it will have to wait until I give it some more thought. At the very least I may be cutting down on the number of posts. I also continue to look for a decent cave in which to hide from the modern world.

The Gin Pit again.

 Another Sunday and once again Grange-over-Sands echoes to the thunder of cavalry, the sound of guns and the rattle of musketry, or in other words another grand Napoleonic game organised by Rob aided by Stuart. I missed the last one so was looking forward to this one.

We had a choice of multi-coloured envelopes to choose from and inside was a brief note on the game with details of your forces, I got the French, a brigade of heavy cavalry and a brigade of infantry, five battalions plus artillery, my companions were Paul, Michael and Fran, the enemy were Rob, Ed, Julian and Stuart. The game was to be a battle of attrition, the British had 886 infantry, 168 cavalry and 16 guns, the French were outnumbered with 678 infantry, 156 cavalry and 16 guns. I think up until now the French had the numbers but the lads have been busy painting more British/Allied troops. Winners would be the side with the most points for breaking the enemy or capturing objective points.

A quick conflab and Plan A was born, I asked and got the left flank as the terrain there was fairly open and I thought this would be good for my cavalry of which I expected great things. Michael was a free agent next to me, then Paul was holding a farm complex and part of the main road which were objectives and Fran on the right had the Guard, he was to deliver a right hook, hopefully get a church and the other end of the main road for an overwhelming 15 points along with knocking Julian out of the game. Simples.

Julian's lovely lancers.

British on the left, French on the right.

The cavalry arrive.

The cavalry of both armies were on the table and I set my cavalry off to demolish Ed's, they were not keen and Ed ruined my attack by a bold opening move, although he did not win he had blunted my forward squadrons. I recovered and counterattacked, this worked well and just as the enemy infantry turned up his cavalry were swept from the field. I decided against taking on the infantry and withdrew the troopers to the far left hoping at some point to get in a flank attack once they had reorganised and recovered. With my cavalry threating the Allied right and pulling away a couple of battalions I decided to overwhelm the three that were left with my infantry and set off, cautiously as it transpired. Michael's cavalry had not done well and were pulverised by Rob's horsemen, opposite Paul Stuart's cavalry had decided to ride hell for leather at the nearest enemy (a blunder) and sped towards the waiting guns and infantry, chaos and disaster followed. On the right the Scots Grays and French lancers dueled.

My cavalry.

Those lovely lancers again.

My troopers discomfited.

A very aggressive Rob had moved on Michael and I noticed a brigade of his infantry was in a position to threaten my own flank, I had to turn a couple of battalions to meet this threat, or one of them as one decided it knew best. My own attack on Ed's line was getting nowhere, the only consolation being that neither was Ed. I wandered over to the far right and although Fran seemed to have pushed forward on his right the bulk of the guard seemed static, had Julian stopped the peacocks? There was now a gap opening between myself and Paul, Michael was under severe pressure from Rob and his forces were in a mess, I now decided to stop with my useless efforts to break Ed and start to move to my right, one to support Michael and second to stop the British getting a nearby tower worth 5 points.

My infantry, some of them, advance.

Stuart's cavalry in a mad charge.

Rob and the reluctance of my brigade to move stopped this as he fell on my flank, things looked decidedly fraught and the fighting was intense, as the smoke cleared I had survived, just, and made Rob's men suffer, but they had stopped me moving toward the objective. by this time I had left one cavalry unit to continue to threaten Ed's right and brought the other two around to possibly threaten Rob's brigade but time was running out. 

My cavalry come back to support the infantry.

The struggle in the middle.

Michael under pressure.

The Guard arrives.

Another trip to the right and I saw that Fran had weathered the late arrival of Andy's Prussians and given them a bloody nose and was at last turning on Julian's flank. The battlefield between Fran and myself looked like a dreadful mess but the British were advancing, a wild cavalry charge brought the tower under British control and crushed the artillery defending it. 

The British pensive.

Rob attacks my flank.

The struggle on the French right.

More nice cavalry.

I had been holding my own up until the last turn against both Rob and Ed, I also saw an opportunity to slam a cavalry charge into one of Rob's battalions in an effort to succour my infantry and grab some points, my cavalry declined, and in fact retired from the field (the final blunder), then one after the other as Ed unleashed volleys of musketry at close range my remaining infantry fled. It was all over.

A quick count up saw the British with 130 points and the French with 127, if only my guys had just held, three points! Nonetheless, a good day with a good bunch of guys and a great game of wee sojers.

Books and an Adventure.

 The gentleman over at College of Kings is planning to do a huge battle of Pavia for the 500th anniversary in 2025 with between 2,000 to 2,500 figures on the table and he is blogging his progress, so I for one am interested. Already he is questioning the use of heavy arquebuses using forked rests which are not thought to come into favour until much later, what difference that would make in a game I don't know but one source says a shot from one could go through two men in armour. On his recommendation I bought The Battle of Pavia by Jean Giono, first printed in French in 1963, this is an excellent book and not your typical battle book. The author brings alive both Francis I and Charles V warts and all, and examines all the primary sources on the battle which he calls 'a skirmish'. My only grumble is that there is no map and this is a must to understand what is happening. It helps to find one online, of which there are many, and have it close by on your phone or tablet or check out the one on College of Kings which has obviously been drawn from the info in the book. Do not be put off by the blank cover there is treasure inside.

On the subject of books I read an article on truth by Peter Hitchens and he mentioned the effect a book written by Josephine Tey, The Daughter of Time, had on him when he was at school. It involves an infirm detective who passes his time recuperating looking at Richard III and investigating his 'crimes' from a modern (for 1951 at least) point of view. Being a big fan I dove in and got the book, it arrived today.

This week I played in a Back of Beyond game organised by Rob, he also provided everything required from his extensive collection. I commanded the bad guys for a change who consisted of all manner of cutthroats and mercenaries, gathered together to capture four spies making their way to a train station in the middle of nowhere to be rescued. A European force including British and French troops were to ensure the train made it to the station and the said spies brought home safely.

The train and escort arrive.

The spies.

I got to the station first and put my disparate groups in terrain which hid them from the oncoming train, I also had an armoured car which someone had stolen, as we waited and watched the train another armoured car approached from the east, the spies! The Westerners were a bit too keen and were taught a lesson by my renegades, in quick succession several units including a squads of Scots were gunned down, I got carried away and sent some brigands forward to occupy the station only for them to be shot in turn but some managed to retire behind a small hill. 

Woo, woo.

The sweepings of the Bazaar.

I now brought up my own armoured car while my cavalry ran too and fro not knowing where to attack, more fire was turned on the locomotive and the machine ground to a halt a short distance from the station, as the crew tried to make repairs I spotted this and shot them down. Now a hero in a red coat rode forward, jumped into the cab, released the brake, and leapt once more onto his horse. By now I had two of my hero's in the station and one giant, bald character broke cover and threw several molotov cocktails in the trains direction, whatever the timing of this attack the train stopped just a tad short of the station. The enemy armoured car was now alongside the station, my other hero made an attack and then the remnants of my earlier squad also made an attack, despite taking hits I managed to kill two of the occupants and force the others to abandon the vehicle. For a moment I managed to get someone into it despite the carnage and turn the gun on some British troops nearby, this did not last long as a flurry of grenades finally finished the tin can off.

My hero's tackle the armoured car.

Almost over as my boys close in.

Using my now overwhelming numbers I rushed the stalled train and delivered death to the British contingent, the remaining spies were given one of the horses and rode into the gathering dusk leaving behind my victorious troops ransacking the carriages. Although two of the spies made it out my desperadoes were more than happy. A great little game and a desperate struggle for the train, I have to admit that Lady Luck was more inclined towards the old Navy veteran in this tussle. I shall be back in Rob's company in Grange on Sunday for another large Napoleonic clash.

I have finished the first unit for the Imperial cavalry led by the Marquis of Mantau along with an artillery piece, I now have a second on the tray with another gun in waiting. I am making a concerted effort to finish these troops as I bit the bullet and raided the LMF in order to get two pike blocks with supporting arquebusiers, crossbowmen and sword and buckler skirmishers along with some light cavalry for the Spanish contingent of the army from The Assault Group. I suspect gathering this amount of figures will take time so I think I have a week at least, this is my first big spend this year and it will give me at least two-thirds of my planned Imperial infantry although I may add some cavalry between the pike blocks, but wait, I am getting ahead of myself. On a run to B&Q I picked up some lengths of wood and a tub of polyfilla to make some breastworks, I was planning on maybe doing it this weekend but I need to source some bases first.

I have solved my TV dilemma just as I was about to give up, Korean TV! No more searching for 45 minutes and then ten minutes of lecturing before turning off. Yes there is the odd cultural moment which surprises but overall far better than anything I have watched in ages, and it brings back memories of my trip there several years ago. I have also given 'Beef' a try, a 'comedy' which is flavour of the month at the moment (no pun intended) however just finished episode three and the shine is coming off and I have yet to laugh.

Taxi Driver.

The map front has been steady which is better than being overloaded, my name was passed to another large military publisher but I do not want to go down this route as I have enough on my plate and I do not want mapping to turn into a 'real' job. If I can keep the LMF ticking over I am happy. Some interesting projects recently with wargaming connections, Helion's upcoming book on the German Peasants War which Artizan and Steel Fist are making figures for and an upcoming scenario book for Simon Miller's 'For King and Parliament' rules called "Montrose: To Win and Lose it All" by William Linhart, Peter Page and Paul Reynolds.

Road of Slaughter.

 

German Peasants War.

Bavarian Succession.

Wellington's Unsung Heroes.

 

Montrose.