Konigsberg 3 and Sanguetta (Italian Wars)

 It was back to the Ost Front in '45 last week, Matt came and we played our third campaign game. The Germans were continuing their attempt at a breakout and had reached the town of Metgethen albeit with a reduced infantry force but now supported by a Pz IV and a StuG III, the Russian defenders had a full platoon along with a T-34/85.

Once again I had no reason to advance but wanted to cause more hurt on the Panzergrenadiers, so I sat at the edge of the town and waited. Matt brought in a mortar barrage which went awry and although it did manage to hit one of my squads it also hit his forward observer and the Pz IV, the barrage did not last long and an end of turn finished it, Matt did try a second attempt but after comms could not be established things heated up and the observer was not asked to make contact again.

Mortar barrage hits.

Pz IV.

Russian forces.

German Forces.

One of the German squads had set up in a house at the end of the village and got into a firefight with one of my squads in a house at the opposite end, this amounted to a stalemate. The Pz IV tried to drive into my left flank but I managed to manouvre the T-34 in order to get a close flanking shot and the Jerry tank exploded. On the other flank German infantry slowly moved forward in conjunction with the StuG which eventually managed to start a duel with the T-34 and force it back but not to eliminate it. It was now obvious that the Germans were not going to be able to break the Russian defence and Matt withdrew.

T-34/85.

A kill.

Meeting in the woods.

We have one more game before the Germans have to make a choice whether to accept reinforcements for the panzergrenadiers or hand over to a Heer platoon for the final push. The Russians will cease to have a new platoon for every game and instead have to husband their resources as they make a final effort to stop the breakout.

I did get to the club last week and I played Bolt Action against Jimi's British, I took something completely different and based my forces on the last days of the Reich, I took Hitler Youth, Volksturm, Kriegsmarine and French Waffen SS squads, I also brought along an old French tank which had been converted to a flamethrower and a 3.7cm 'door knocker' with the steel grenade anti-tank round, everyone except the French were inexperienced.

The object of the game was to take a crossroads in the middle of a village, Jimi started out well and soon had the centre within his grasp with the help of a Sherman. Then the pendulum swung, the Char B tank fried the Sherman along with a nearby squad, my HJ took out the British commander and a machine gun  team while the old men and sailors moved further into the village, all my casualties fell on the French fanatics, supposedly my best troops. More British troops fell and having a very slim to nothing chance of retaking the crossroads Jimi gave up.

Kreigsmarine.

Volksturm.

Hitler Youth.

Char B Flammpanzer.

In order to get away from WWII for a bit and with stinking weather I set up a solo game of Italian Wars, the battle of Sanguetta 1497 from Rodolfo Verginella's scenario book, I want to eventually make my way through all of the scenarios.

Both sides were fairly equal with the Orsini commander Vitellozzzo Vitelli just having the edge in numbers while the Papal forces under Giovanni Borgia had the edge in the quality of his infantry. I put the infantry in the centre of each battle line and then set the supports up with the help of a die, Vitelli put all his cavalry on his right flank while Giovanni had them on both flanks. As the battle started it was the Papal troops who showed more enthusiasm and they sped towards their enemy, seeing a problem with his left Borgia sent his armoured cavalry to that side.

 

Papal forces.

Orsini forces.

Both sides advance.

Push of pikes soon.

Very soon the pike blocks of both sides clashed and surprisingly the Papal infantry began to suffer and were pushed back failing several chances to recover. Meanshile the Papal heavy cavalry were bested by the Orsini cavalry while the Papal light cavalry drove off their Orsini opposite numbers. This limited success was fleeting as the Papal infantry were routed and Giovanni left the field.

The clash of arms.

The end.

So, a fairly good run of games there and I have also managed to clear a few map commissions. I also painted up some Soviet Tank Killers which mate Robert gave me and I have actually started on the SYW battalion, I had to convert a standard bearer but all now have their red coats. 

Nine Years War, Ireland.

Hungary 1945.

British in India.

Bremen 2 and 3: Tears and Smiles

I have been fairly quiet of late, a run of bad luck with Covid and some cancelled games here have not helped. I did manage a couple of games at the club and although good fun nothing serious, Kill Team courtesy of Simon and Dead Man's Hand for Jimi and his son.

Mate Robert is at nearby resort Pine Lake for a week, five minutes away and got the green light from his missus to pop up for a game, we therefore played the second game on Map 1 of the 'Road to Bremen' campaign. This time however I had lost all my riflemen from my squads along with the sniper, Robert took a new platoon. Even more this time I thought it would be goodnight Vienna for the Jerries, however as things turned out my boys, despite their lousy die rolling for shooting, remembered the Fuhrer's stand fast rule and in the end it came down to one point between us, sadly Robert got the point.

 

The battlefield.

British armour.

German defenders.

Bloody annoying carriers.

British surge forward.

 

The game had come down to the wire and could have went either way at the end, Robert fought another good game and I thought I had done well to have come so close to winning, albeit with hardly anything left if we had went for another game on the same table.

My shooting aside, and it was desperate at some points, things got worse. I had decided not to fight Map 2 and had laid a large mine on Map 3, in an effort to slow the British down, they took 2 and swiftly moved unhindered to 3, some local hayseed set the mine off before the Tommy's arrived, the British leapt forward to Map 4.

As I said Robert was only just down the road, so after treating his wife and daughter to a successful trip into the Lakes he got another day off, so we settled down to fight the next game. My second Fallschirmjager platoon had decided to put up a fight and I set up three minefields and some wire obstacles on the battlefield, I had also decided to bring my last Pak 40 and a 3.7cm Flak 36 as support, Robert had another new Platoon along with the usual tanks and carriers. I did not envy him his task as the Germans had a large wood at their end of the table while the British had almost no cover at all.

Open ground.

 

My poor sniper.

Give me some room Dave.

Sure enough I held back while Robert crammed as much as he could behind the only cover in the British deployment area, he plastered my front line with smoke from his mortars but he would still have to make a move across the open ground at some point so again, I waited. I did deploy my sniper but due to a mix up with the rules he missed the entire game, I therefore hope to make this up in the next game. I did eventually deploy my three squads but hidden in the woods just waiting, I did see an opportunity and deployed my Hitler Youth with their 3.7cm Flak, they fired on one of the carriers and sent it backwards off table, sadly not destroying the thing but at least the British were now a 2" mortar down. The boys took a lot of accurate fire before they could damage anything else but I was happy enough.

Smoke and more smoke.

Covering fire, annoying but great idea.

There now followed a cat and mouse game as the smoke dissapated and before more turned up I advanced and got into a firefight, as the British reply mounted I again slunk back into the woods. Robert now took the opportunity to move forward and the Tommy's surged ahead, I brought on my Panzerschreck and brewed up the last carrier, British morale fell and they withdrew to fight another day.

The British advance.

 

The defenders prepare.

Casualties were very light considering the toll in the last two games, I eventually suffered one man wounded while the British lost 2 dead and 2 wounded. Robert had started on the back foot with low morale and a low score for support, my morale was high and although I lost the Flak 36 I still have a Pak 40 in reserve and a full Fallschirmjager squad to defend the same table. In the last game I threw some 40+ dice and managed to inflict one shock, that was the last straw with the 'German' dice, I dug out my other 'German' dice (with 2nd Panzer logo) and used them this time, yep, 32+ shots and one shock! It's not the dice then, it's me.

Still fighting to get my painting mojo back, I started the SYW battalion but had to put it aside again, I have had a sudden rush of map commissions and sorted a couple of Eastern Front buildings which I was never happy with. Robert brought me some Russians which I am painting up as tank killer teams now that I realise how dangerous these guys are so they have been moved to the front of the queue for now.

I hope to continue with more games here, I should be playing Matt this week and I am hoping to get an ECW game maybe the week after. Back to the club with Bolt Action.