Hell in the Woods

 Been back at the painting desk this last wee while. I got my Nuns for possible inclusion with an upcoming campaign, they will double as refugees or useful if I ever get a chance to put my church on a battlefield, had it for years, a couple of new vehicles for the Road to Bremen campaign are also complete. The Kangaroo APC was a resin piece from Warlord and very nice if pricy, there was also two sprues for make up some soldiers being carried and sticking out of where the turret used to be, I only put three together and never again. I hate all that sticking of arms, weapons, helmets, rucksacks et al, all with parts that are particularly prone to breaking if you are not careful, I have dropped metal figures on the floor and they simply shrug it off and off we go. I also repainted a small Dingo recce car, I had forgotten what green I had used for my British and it stuck out like a sore thumb, it has now been rectified.

Next up was some earthworks from Ironclad Miniatures, just what I wanted for the Italian Wars, I kept it simple and bought a can of brown paint, sprayed them then drybrushed the woodwork and earth, very pleased with the result. I also really need to get back to my Stradiots who were pushed to the back of the queue while all that was going on.

I almost forgot to mention my other new addition, streams with bridges from Andy at The Last Valley, I have rubber and cloth stream sections but decided my new room needed something better. 

While on about painting Jimi surprised me at the club with a small vignette of a little cart, a very tired looking horse and a well wrapped up infantryman trudging through some cold terrain. Jimi wants to paint up a German force for Late War and has bought some cavalry, beautiful figures and the company also had the little cart, I intimated if he bought the cavalry I would like to add the cart. So a nice gesture and a beautiful addition to my scatter terrain. 

I also for no particular reason treated myself to a Winter mat for the Eastern Front, I don't have any snow based figures or vehicles but I thought it would still be OK for Russia as the cold sets in. I received the mat but immediately did not like it, the non snow parts were blue and there was a lot of them, maybe it is supposed to be melting snow I really do not know, I did know that it would bug me forever. In the end after rolling it out several times I decided to send it back, I had to pay the postage but for the sake of my sanity it was the better option. I now wait to get my refund.

Bolt Action at the club again last Tuesday, I offered Joel a game using the same secret papers scenario I had played with Jimi the week before. Joel was Soviets and plays in a lot of tournaments so has a very different play style from my usual opponents at the club, I was of course Germans, I took four squads slightly smaller than what I normally take, a couple of trucks as transports and a PzIII N to support my infantry, I left my anti-tank capability with the squads and their panzerfausts.

 

Truck with machine gun, yeah right.

The fight for the centre.

Using transports again, but no machine gun.

PzIIIN for support.

Late to the party.

Just like the last time we played Joel went full aggressive mode from the beginning, he surprised me with three two man tank hunter teams which became a pain in the bum and then ran a truck up to near one of the objectives and seized it with his officer! The Hero of the Soviet Union died very quickly of course but gave me a fright nonetheless on turn one. Joel managed to get a look at the left hand objective but it proved empty, we now both moved on the two which were left, a huge, bloody fight began around the central objective with both sides striving to clear the enemy to get a look for the papers. As the game counted down the Reds managed with the help of a T34 to also seize the right hand objective and I could not budge them from it, we got to the end of turn five and we decided the middle objective was held by no one but the Soviets could claim the right hand target, and yes, the papers were under the right hand objective. A win for Joel and a hard fight for both sides, he had kept me on the back foot for most of the game and I only wish after all the blood spilt over it the papers had been in the centre.

I spent most of Saturday building the table for a Johnny Reb game based on the battle of Champion's Hill, while also sorting out the troops and typing the OOB's. The Rebs are basically defending the hill and surrounding area against a Union assault, at the beginning it is a pretty even fight despite the Rebs being outnumbered slightly, as the battle progresses more troops for both sides arrive.

Champion's Hill

Union left.

Confederate left.

Triage.

I took the Union right flank while Ed took the left, as we surveyed the battlefield it looked good for the Federals to take their right flank objectives of a bridge and ford while Ed could put two brigades against one protecting the crossroads, it was obvious then that if we got those three then the Rebs would have been pushed back and we could possibly claim a victory on the hill as well. I did not forsee any problems taking my objectives despite the fact the Rebs were dug in on the hill.

My boys get stuck in, but not hard enough.

I sent all my brigades forward against Fran while hoping to crush his left with artillery and infantry then swing in to mop up. As the Rebs opened up one of their batteries ran out of ammo, somebody stop me! Well, the 17th Georgia stopped me, nothing I could throw at this regiment could budge it and while attempting to do so my brigade failed miserably and my window of opportunity began to slip away. As the whole line now blasted away at each other my boys had a really hard time causing casualties on the Confederates behind their hasty works but I could do not afford to waste time and had to try and use my superior numbers.

I move on the Reb centre.

Over on the left Ed slowly advanced while James prepared his men to defend the crossroads, this was interupted by a marksman who shot down one of Ed's officers bringing a halt and confusion while he was replaced, a more likeable officer eventually took over. I was still trading shots with Fran's line and noticed I seemed to be losing the numbers battle, especially on the right. I moved up fresh regiments and even managed a charge but in the end got nothing from it, that damn 17th Ga. still held its position, on the other hand with my lines thinning out and my right hand brigade losing two regiments I had one unit much like the 17th which stood its ground round the flag, I was for quite some time fearing a Confederate advance but it never transpired, I doubt I could have stopped it.

Desperate close range firing.

Ed was now up and putting pressure on James, however the outnumbered Reb defence of the crossroads area was also putting up a stiff fight, Ed would eventually almost sweep away the Rebs in this part of the field but it had taken too long. In my sector I had eventually managed to move into the expanding gap between Fran and James, but I was fought out and did not have anyone in reserve to push my limited success.

The crossroads so near yet so far.

We got to move 10 which is when two new Confederate brigades would turn up just south of the crossroads, three Union brigades would turn up on turn 12, but we had been at it for nearly five hours and although there was a slim chance that Ed would take the crossroads against the arriving Reb reserves it was wishful thinking and would involve a lot more fighting, it would have been interesting nonetheless. On my side I had been fought to a standstill, my efforts had resulted in heavy losses and there was simply no fight left in my division. I had managed to cause some hurt on the Rebs but their losses were not as concentrated as mine so my morale suffered correspondingly. The first part of the scenario is actually a good fight on its own, you would need to leave the table up and return for day two to finish it properly and I didn't have the time for that needing the table for Italian Wars this Wednesday. Maybe in the future, I would like another shot at it.

Another busy week here in the War Room, a game on Wednesday and another game next Sunday with my son and grandson, not sure yet what we are playing, and I draw swords again with 'Lucky' Jimi at Bolt Action at the club tomorrow.