Bremen 5 and Dark Ages

 I recently managed to get a War and Conquest game in against my grandson helped by his dad, it was good fun despite me getting beat. My son and I went into Lancaster for a meal and a few drinks, I had enjoyed the day and thought why not rinse and repeat. This time I persuaded Stewart to bring his own army, Carolingians, I will use my Saxons as he cries foul if I use the more professional ancient armies. The Carolingians are much like the Normans, several armies of which are turning up at the club much like they did in 1066, lots of very good infantry and cavalry so I am going a bit heavier than normal with more household troops than I would usually take, my cavalry will be outclassed but I shall take them to watch my flanks. 

The deployments were typical for the period, cavalry on both wings and infantry in the centre covered by some skirmishers, I had an idea to lead with my left and hold back my right, the enemy simply came on all along the line. I was worried about my right as a large Carolingian cavalry unit was approaching, so I decided to annoy it with skirmishing bowmen and cavalry while holding an infantry unit in reserve, the light troops did their job and the cavalry became confused then as casualties mounted their morale failed and they fled chased all the way. My own cavalry on my left faced mounted Carolingian skirmishers and after I was getting the worst of the exchange I simply charged them and swept them from the battlefield.

 

Saxons.

Carolingians

Meanwhile the infantry had clashed on my centre left, I was feeling good about this one as my Picts and Franks were up against some poor Liberi foot soldiers, in the middle of this one of my hearthguard units with the king met an enemy household unit and a tremendous struggle enthused in which my king was wounded and his men pushed back. The Liberi put up quite a struggle and failed to break quickly, I had wanted the warbands to turn and make for the right flank tout suite. The Liberi did eventually rout and the King's men made an exceptional comeback to rout their tormentors as both sides suffered at least 70% casualties, things were looking up for the Saxons.

 

The battle begins.

 

The infantry clash.

The Carolingians hoping for God's help.

It was now that Stewart asked why my Saxon king was fighting under a Christian banner, I then realised I had taken the wrong leader out of the box and the troops were being led by my Romano-British commander. I was in a quandry, would my wargamers superstition insist that the lost king be returned to his troops in mid battle, who so far had been fighting well under the Brit or do I leave him in place hoping they would not notice as Stewart had done, I left him in place, bleeding but unbowed. As I looked over the battlefield everything seemed to be going my way, but I did have a problem on my centre right as the remaining enemy closed, I knew I would likely lose my Ceorl's but I had another hearthguard unit sitting untouched protecting the far right flank. Hubris now got the better of me, I charged into the nearest enemy to seal the enemy's fate, a short while later my men were either lying in the grass or running for home!

 

Hold, hold.

The Franks in pursuit.

Carolingian cavalry.

Stewart took heart from this turning point and kept the battle going as he turned for my victorious left, I still had the Picts, Franks and the survivors of the king's bodyguard in the field, they were well supported by skirmishing cavalry and foot bowmen, these troops now surrounded the Carolingians and as javelins and arrows flew more and more of the enemy fell to the missiles, Stewart eventually conceded.

This was a very hard fought battle and a close win for the Saxons, the loss of my Gedriht unit almost snatched defeat from the jaws of victory and was a big surprise for me, at the very least I expected them to stand and fight like the men around the king. Stewart wasn't enamoured of the Liberi but they had been more than a speed bump and held the warbands up for a couple of moves and had drawn the Franks away in a pursuit for a time rather than me redeploying them to the right flank.

The nights are fair drawing in and last Tuesday it was back to the club and my second Bolt Action V3 game against 'Lucky' Jimi, he has a new 'army' themed as Winter troops, essentially Gebirgsjager from Offensive Miniatures I think. Jimi is an excellent painter and his new soldiers look the part, I was going to get to use my Russians at the club for a wee change. I decided to use some of the equipment which has either never been on the table or hardly ever, I took the Quad Maxim on a Gaz truck, in wargaming speak a Tokarev but I am unsure if that is correct, a mind dog and handler along with an Ampulomet anti-tank mortar, the last two only saw a few months of use at the front. I also had four squads, HMG and a T-34/85. Jimmy had three squads I think, one on ski's and borrowd a StuG III and a 37mm Flak on a halftrack.

Fido or Fedor does the job.

Underwhelming firepower.

Same again.

A decent tank for a change.

NKVD look on.

New troops, very nice.

Lovely figures.

We sorted out a meeting engagment somewhere on the Eastern Front, I felt quite confident and was hoping my recent luck would remain intact. Quite quickly I was disabused of that notion, the AA truck was firing 24 dice and I think I managed to give one German a headache before the StuG brewed it up, in return the T-34 destroyed the German halftrack. I didn't get a chance to fire the Ampulomet before it too was cut down, I did however manage to get Fido or Fedor to run at the StuG and blow it up, sadly it was not out of the battle, it had caught fire but this was put out while it was left immobilised for the rest of the game. The T-34 had been firing at the StuG but getting nowhere. As the clock ticked down the dice gods got their revenge and Jimi had an uncharacteristic run of good luck and took the game as I floundered at what to do next.

Jimi lost two units and I lost three, we were again slightly slower with the new version and maybe it was just my perception but I just could not make a saving roll, which is usually a five these days, cover is now very important. Early days yet and a long way to go before I feel completely happy with V3.

Mate Robert found himself in the area again and booked in for the next game in our Road to Bremen campaign, we had a fight on our hands as I had managed to get my Heer platoon to stick around, supported by a Hitler Youth panzerschreck team and a Pz IIIN, I had also laid two minefields and a small line of barbed wire. I managed to get my Jump Off Points close to two buildings and a small wood which would be my defense position, the British this time had a bit of cover for their approach.

The battlefield and the British approach.

 

The last hope.

Robert hiding again.

A nice piece of support.

I did not at first put any troops on the table so Robert had plenty of time to bring on all his troops and get them set up around a couple of buildings near his deployment edge. He brought a Firefly, two carriers with Bren teams and three engineer teams along with a mortar to back up his infantry platoon. The high number of engineers were to take care of the minefields and it took them a long, long time to clear the obstacles. By this point I had put two squads, a panzerschreck and the Pz III on the table, bullets started to fly, the Panzer managed two shots and got nothing out of them, my luck really had changed, it then took to hiding from the threat of the Firefly, which in turn was hiding well back in case it was ambushed by a 'schreck team, I should be so lucky.

British fire base.

Herman decides to turn up.

Time runs out.

I attempted to bring my remaining squad on table and they refused up until almost the last turn, I needed them as one of the two defending squads had broken under concentrated fire, this was mitigated by me breaking a rash British squad which had thought to push forward. Robert is a working man and we had to call a halt before we could get a result as it was getting late. Notes were taken as well as pictures of the situation so we can continue at a later date. Both sides are pretty even for now, both have lost a squad, both are at Force Morale of 7 so the next round should be exciting. I have been exceptionally lucky with all my troops deciding to stand and fight, this may not last of course, still in positions towards Bremen are another Heer Platoon and a Volksturm force, will they fight or save their skins as the end of the war approaches?

I have completed yet another halftrack, a recconaissance vehicle with a 2cm auto cannon, I do have recce vehicles but they are wheeled armoured cars, so I thought why not, it looks cool. Talking of cool I have also ordered up one of the six wheeled armoured cars to use with my Early War Germans, they proved a disappointment in combat and were quickly dispensed with however they do look good and as I have nothing on the tray at the moment, again why not. I really must make an effort to get all my recce stuff on the table for a game. Warlord have one at a staggering £27.50, so I got mine from eBay, a 3D print which looks very good in the pics, there are a couple to choose from but I went for the more expensive one at £12.75. I think I have enough Panzer grey left in my tin to cover one more vehicle.