Even more battles.

I have just recieved my 1/72 Stuka so this weekend I will build and paint it, I am still waiting for a few things to turn up which were ordered weeks ago. I do not have any Allied planes as the kits are quite expensive online and postage is not cheap. I may just continue to keep my eyes open for bargains, or maybe I should ask Julian or Robert to look for me, they are the Del Boys of cheap deals.

I did get my Sdkfz 231 (6-rad) and a very nice print it was, I finished it in panzer grey and put a cross on it, the only markings they had, although I saw one photograph with a name on the side. It looked very bare and plain, the obvious choice was a flag, the kind used to identify the vehicles to the Luftwaffe, very popular from '39 to at least '41, but of course this would mean showing the swastika. What do I do, would this get me a Non Crime Hate Incident report if someone took umbrage and ruin my reputation as a valued member of the community. I decided that history was on my side and duly put it on. The same dilemma applies to my new Luftwaffe ground attack aircraft which carried a swastika on the tail, it is not supplied by model manufacturers in case it turns you into a rabid fascist, although funnily enough I did get one with my 1/48 FW190. I could have just left it off or stuck a black square on as many do but no, I ordered up some decals to make the planes right. In the past I wouldn't have given a thought to this, but it is not the past.

A lovely 3D print.

Anyway, I managed to source a cheap 1/72 FW 190F-8 ground attack fighter in a local shop in Morecambe and duly built it up, it was a bit of a struggle after having built my last airplane kit nearly sixty years ago. I left quite a few pieces in the bin, especially the wheels as they didn't seem to fit very well when put up in the wheel bay but as no one will see the underneath as it zooms past I felt justified. I also struggled with the canopy which did not want to fit properly. Once I had painted it up and added decals it began to look a lot better, the close up photograph looks horrendous but step back and it looks fine. I am still waiting for the plastic base and rods to show it flying overhead hoping it will not result in friendly fire. When I was a kid decals were transfers, I was quite amazed at the very detailed sheets with the 190 but there was no way I could get them on that plane.

The club this week was a game put on by Matt Dower, it was Wars of the Roses using Hail Ceasar, I was the Yorkist commander with what turned out to be a very cautious Battle under my command with an even cautiouser (?) one on my left while my right flank went head for heels at the enemy. Although we were basically pushed back to our start line with heavy casualties the Lancastrians were not much further forward than they were when the battle opened, but they were winning as we shook hands. The death knell of these rules for me is the insane rule of 6, which disorders you (why) and now also makes you take a morale test, which is completely arbitrary and can result in a whole fresh unit disappearing into the void at worst or half your army halting terrified of getting a scratch from missiles.

Where's the rest of the guys?

Bombards.

Blunder to the left, first move.

Today Matt Crump turned up braving the ferociously cold weather to play another Konigsberg Campaign game. This is the second version of the game and I don't think it has been thought through well, we have kind of given up and intend to simply play on the next couple of maps and then call it a day, or maybe not.

This game found the shoe on the other foot and the Soviets had woken up to the break out attempt so I was on the attack, there was a bit of confusion about the start lines but we sorted it out and I, as usual, was looking and feeling good about a victory for the Motherland. I brought some extra infantry and a T-34/85 in expectation of a big cat arriving for the Germans and I needed something to be able to kill it. Matt had also brought extra infantry, this time local Volksturm units of old men and young boys, and a StuG III in support.

Battlefield.

Matt played his patrol phase well and I was brought up short with my Jump Off Points deep in the village of Lindenau, not a great start, made worse by my command dice rolls. The Jerries again did well and built up a firebase along one of the road ditches which promised to kill anything dumb enough to leave the village, my useless mortar (a new one from Eureka Miniatures) did not help at all. As the German firebase built up I slowly, very slowly moved my squads along the village hiding from the MG42's. eventually I managed to get my tank on and it bravely moved forward to take a shot at the StuG. At last a Russian success as the enemy armour went up in flames, was this the turning point?

Onwards Comrades.

We were both still playing hide and seek with out infantry and Matt had moved a squad into the village and his panzerschrek to take out the T-34, it missed and I turned my mortar on it helped by some troops in a nearby building with a line of sight to the little team, the dangerous duo hit the dirt dead. I will admit these things frighten my armour. I now managed to get a triple turn and moved more infantry through the village and into close range of the German squad on the outskirts, the heavy fire succeeded in cutting these men down, enemy morale was falling.

In the ditch.

A risky advance.

Smoke grenades for cover.

Matt now desperately moved another squad out of the ditch only for the Soviets to move the T-34 into a firing position where, along with nearby infantry support, it should prove invulnerable to a possible attack by panzerfausts, that was the hope anyway. Machinegun fire from the tank now began to tell on the Germans and with their morale plummeting due to several Junior Leaders being killed or wounded Matt retreated. I did not get out without loss, my casualties were fairly high and had been until the pendulum swung my way, I had lost a Junior Leader and one of my squads had broken with another heavily pinned and close to breaking.

A weight off my mind and a turning point.

Now Boris, now.

Boys and old timers.

Another up and down Chain of Command game, I found it a struggle to get into a position in which to use my tank due to the bad lines of sight from the village, I was hoping for a double turn so that I could end the turn and allow my forces to move up without being shot to bits by Jerries on Overwatch, but I always needed my dice for other things and never seemed to have enough spare.

My ACW campaign is off to a good start and I at least am having fun watching the different forces feel their way towards objectives and the enemy. Quite a few players are finding out that with 1862 technology and the distances between troops and commanders there is usually a dearth of information. What a shame he said insincerely.

I am venturing once again into a new rules set, or at least a game with one, Stuart has bought the flavour of the month Midgard rules and wants to fight Arthurians vs Saxons next week, I volunteered my Romano-British. After that I have a game of Chain of Command against Rob during the week here in the Bunker, Italians vs French 1940.

White Flag Week

New club member Simon put on a WWII 6mm game at the club and brought along his set up, very nice it was too, the rules were "All Hell Let Loose." I was part of the German team and the game was set in June 1941. Mike was fairly well up with the rules having played it before and I think Simon had dabbled but Paul and I didn't have a clue. The Germans had to take a village with a crossroads and I was all for simply charging forward but this was frowned upon by my CinC, so we cautiously approached the objective while Mike fought off a counterattack on our left. As the clock hit 2200 or rather 2140 we stopped and I think the Germans were lucky to get a possible winning draw, or it was simply a draw.

My Kampfgruppe attacks.

Lovely board.

I don't know the rules and I am not good with new rules unless I have bought them and specifically want to play them, which I confess I have not done (I am not counting versions) for a long, long time. The game was beautifully set up and was fun to play and Simon had put in a lot of effort, he also seemed to have everything for 'Barbarossa' in 6mm.

Mate Robert has been told not to drive for two weeks so he had to cancel our upcoming campaign game, so three days later I took Erik up on his offer of an ECW game at his, more new rules. Erik's troops are mainly old (vintage?) Minifigs and he managed to provide two small armies for a simple meeting engagement to try out some rules he was tweaking. I completely cocked up my arrival and was banging on the door of the wrong house, I shall leave it at that and not make a fool of myself with the whole story.

Anyway, Erik had set up a nice table attached as if by magic to the top of a bed, I just happened to be on the Royalist side of the table and raised the King's standard. As the game kicked off my right wing cavalry seemed to be getting roughed up by the Parliamentary horse, but I sent some reserves to that flank just in case. With the rest of the army I flung them at the enemy hoping something would happen before my flank disappeared, this turned out to be spectacularly effective, my infantry began shooting and chased two enemy regiments from the field. My left wing cavalry had started off well, been pushed back then returned with a vengence, meanwhile my right had stabilised. With the bulk of his army running from the field Erik called a halt.

Parliament to the left the good guys on the right.

 

Rupert goes in.

Forward boys.

The rules were in modern parlance, quick and easy, the Parliament army fell apart in dramatic circumstances, I must mention Erik's dubious morale throws didn't help. These rules are going to be tweaked as the game was also a test, I would play these again, not too serious and quite good fun.

 Julian has been very busy for some time but had found a gap in his schedule for a game, he had bought Bolt Action Version 3 and he wanted to try it out. He has an Italian force for the Desert but wanted to use his Americans, they are fairly new so I said I could make up anything he needed with my British.

I took the Germans of course and had an infantry platoon with some supports and an armoured platoon with my new Sdkfz250/9 and a Hetzer. We used a scenario from the BA book, we both had to get troops in the enemy deployment area to gain points and/or wipe out the enemy. I stupidly kept troops back and paid for this arrogance with my Hetzer not turning up until halfway through the game, Julian came on good style. Too late I realised I was running out of time while the Yanks were like a tidal wave, the pathetic shooting of most of my troops was matched by Julian wiping out several squads/teams, on turn five I put up a white flag.

Get the bazooka.

My new halftrack advances.

Keep down Hans.

Fury, of course it is.

Before the mayhem.

I think this was my third game of V3 and I cannot say I am over the moon about it, there are three or four changes which I think were warranted and improve the game from an historical standpoint but I am not convinced of the new shooting procedure, in the open you are simply dead but even behind soft cover you need a 5 or 6 to save.

Being a glutton for punishment Matt at the club offered a Bolt Action game and as I had nothing else planned I volunteered, somewhere in southern Russian 1942, well that was the plan. We followed the new scenario choosing rules and ended up with both sides facing off from opposite corners of the table and Fog of War. This means that the half of each players forces held in reserve can turn up on any table edge from Turn 2, yes it is as fearsome as it sounds and frankly pretty daft. Anyway another shock lay in store for me as I had 10 order dice and Matt had 17!

We both put our first wave on the table (Matt won the toss for choice of quadrant), there were 7 objective markers there for capture, I basically was close to three, I think Matt had the same and there were a couple in No Man's Land. As the dice bag was shaken out came a flood of grey (German) dice, I was the Soviets, I took quite a lot of casualties which led me to have to put troops on Down or have them destroyed, this took away more initiative dice from me, do you see where this is going.

A festung.

Try harder guys.

Pointless Soviet armour.

Are we winning?

My predicament was not helped by my knee jerk reactions to German troops appearing out of nowhere, I deployed my troops to hit back but this left them miles away from the remaining objectives, also I didn't quite wipe all the infiltrators out. I brought on a little T-26 but it proved pretty useless as I let my fear of a Pak 38 stop it running amuk, I had a T-34/76 to help the light tank and had a plan for it but it refused to turn up until almost the last move. As the clock wound down and with no real prospect of doing anything other than reacting to the enemy I was lucky I had brought that white flag along and started waving it.

Matt played well and grabbed objectives from the get go, I, as usual, only wanted to kill the enemy and objectives etc. seem to come second. I am still not convinced, not at least with the scenarios from the book which are obviously tournament driven, Matt Crump designs his own and they are a joy to play and so different, I keep saying I must go this route but never do, but this time. I found my little T-26 fairly useless with a vehicle machine gun's shots now halved, I think I also played it badly, I would have had more success simply running over things. There are more battles to be fought and perhaps I can be persuaded to continue otherwise the new, good tweaks could be added to V2, I am keeping it close for now.

I have made a leap and started an ACW campaign in the Shenandoah Valley, there are four players aside and the armies are fairly even with around 13 brigades each, the rules will be Johnny Reb II and the games will be played here in the Bunker. The main idea is to play some fairly large games over the otherwise dreary winter and of course to get my favourite period and rule set back on the table.

The club is getting busier and we have grown more in the last year than in all the years before since I became a regular. You know I am not keen on the Warlord Black Powder etc. stable but for the last two club nights Ed has set up some lovely Hail Caesar tables with 28mm armies, this week he brought a mate with Romano-British and Irish armies and they were lovely, real armies for a change, big and beautiful. You all know I am a War and Conquest guy but Ed and Pete were having a lot of fun at their table.

Quite a few people do not believe me when I say that is it for me now, I do not intend to start any new periods or armies, I am done, I want to concentrate now on playing more with everything I do have. I will continue to add the odd piece to what I have but pretty much on the small scale, and talking of that I have a Panzer I and a Pz IV Flakpanzer (Mobilwagen) coming. The former as how can I have 1940 forces without the choice of a Pz I, the Mobilwagen because I just like the look of it and I have several flak vehicles but not this iconic one. The other thing I have on the way is a Soviet 50mm mortar, I did not want the get the Warlord one as I didn't need the other figures which came with it and to be honest their new prices are a bit steep, hence the Pz I and Mobilwagen are 3D prints.

I cannot resist this parting shot, we went for a new mattress last week and Dreams have a machine on which you lie and it recommends the right mattress for you (yes, usually the most expensive). However the assistant has to put in your details, age, Male or Female, and wait for it, Non-Binary. I couldn't let it go and asked how the computer could tell the difference, especially as no human can, "We never ask" was the reply. Where did I put that white flag.

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.