Ouch, again

 Back to Chain of Command and the next game in our Abbeville campaign. I am now fighting to the end with this platoon albeit I do get reinforcements if required, which I am sure they will be as Matt can replace his platoon with a fresh one if he needs to.

For support I chose an A10 tank and a Universal carrier with a bren and a Junior Leader, I had plans to use this as a mobile pillbox. Matt went all Panzerwaffe again with a Pz 38(t), one of my favourite tanks, along with an extra squad. There would be two ammunition dumps on my side of the battlefield and I had to blow both or force the Germans to retreat, I received two free demolition teams for this but still felt it would be a hard one to win. I have played this type of scenario several times and have never been successful.

British end of the village.

German approach.

The Ammunition dumps.

I quickly put troops in an orchard which controlled the approach to the dumps while Matt had, as seems usual in these games, to come at me over open ground. I also brought on my tank and Matt parried with his, the armour would spend several phases duelling before my tin can exploded. Meanwhile the Germans built up a firing line and peppered the orchard, I reinforced the boys there and bullets flew between us, I had also backed up my men with the Universal carrier. Matt brought his usual French saboteur which I had to spend time to deal with, grrrr.

The saboteur makes a quick getaway.

So much for the British armour.

Matt attacks the orchard.

Things looked to be going my way and I got quite a few double turns, quite soon a couple of German squads were fleeing rearward, then I lost my tank, this gave heart to the Jerries and my guys in the orchard began to suffer from the steel monster. The game also picked up as my morale fell to one while Matt's dropped to three, Matt only needed a decent command roll to receive bragging rights. Then things went pear shaped for him, I got two good command rolls and ran my carrier into his line and captured a leader, I think I got something else during the round as the resulting Bad Things Happen test put the Jerries on zero, I had won. As I counted the cost it turned out it had been a Pyrrhic victory, my platoon had been cut to ribbons. I have yet to roll for reinforcements and I need something really high for that, I could have slunk off but where would the fun have been in that.

Pz 38(t).

Boom, got one, one more to go.

Game winner, for you Fritz the war is over.

We should of course have the Jerries fighting again on this table but to be honest with my losses and more Boche support points I don't think it would be worth it. I have now fought a couple of 1940 campaigns and have another going with my son, yes I know the Jerries should win but in a wargame the underdog should still stand a chance however slim, the next game may put the kibosh on things.

Friend Simon fixed my PC problem recently and had to return to install another drive, I took the opportunity to offer him a game here in the Bunker and he chose ACW. I found an old disc with my collected ACW scenarios from various sources and chose another of Paul Stevenson's, Harris's Farm. It is 1864 and the Union are running out of men in the East and have brought garrison troops and heavy artillery units in to serve as infantry, I believe this was their first real fight and they suffered for it. 

In the scenario the huge new regiments are split into three green battalions each and their officers are rated Poor so their command and control is almost non existent, on the Confederate side the troops are mainly veterans and many are elite albeit some are only 200 men strong. The Union must hold three farms and a crossroads while the Rebs need only to capture one along with the crossroads, a hard task for both sides.

View towards the Reb lines.

The Union in the distance.

I  took the Union and tried to move them to the front as quickly as I could but it was slow going, the Rebs came on quickly and my forward troops were swept away by the surprise attack. I did eventually manage to build up a decent battle line but had only managed to take one of the farms, I did however control the crossroads. It looked like my left was fairly safe but there were some furious firefights in the centre and the pressure was building up on my right. 

The Federals rush for the front.

Simon rushes his troops forward.

Although my lines was beginning to stabilise I was losing out in the firefights as my casualties were double those dealt out to the Rebs. As Simon now began to push forward against my right I got two guns up to hopefully chase him away and anchor my defences. It was not to be, the battery ran out of ammunition and one gun crew were shot down around their piece. I now tried to surprise the Rebs and threw three charges at them, I felt safe as I now had a line behind which could be a refuge if things went wrong, although it was still a desperate move.

Union right under pressure.

It turned out to be a disaster, all the charges were stopped and had to retreat, the resulting morale checks also put paid to my 'safety' line and as the smoke cleared my right was shattered. I called a halt, I had nothing left to hold on to the crossroads. Simon's luck was certainly in during this game, he won the firefights and several times dealt out devastating casualties (two sixes) which ensured the defeat of my charges. Having said that for green troops my boys held out quite well, but it was a struggle with only one order per three battalions to get them to do what I wanted before the Rebs hit. Nonetheless a good days fighting.

Union centre forms up.

More Federals make it to the front.

Some skirmishers are chased away.

Alas it costs me my right flank.

I have now finished my fourth American vehicle, a M8 Hellcat that I picked up at Claymore, it is a really nice looking tank and a lovely kit, I have some tank crew given to me by Robert and after I get this last squad done I will get on to them. 

Not a lot else going on, I have a wedding to attend in Scotland next weekend, a flying visit up and down in the one day, made easy by the fact I don't drink anymore. I have a couple of games sorted for next week but then a bit of a struggle as Matt is away looking at battlefields, lucky sod. I might so do some Italian Wars solo. 

The Atlas is still not complete, I suspect September now as  real life takes up more of my time.

 

 

 

Not an April Fool

I didn't get to the club again last week as mate Robert was in the area and instead I met up for a couple of beers and to put the wargaming world to rights, we managed this in only a  couple of hours. I only had one game organised and that was a Seven Years War bash with Ian here in the Bunker. I have quite a nice collection of SYW figures in 28mm, but know almost nothing about the period, so why do I have eight brigades covering the British and French, it seemed like a good idea at the time, so the defence rests.

Anyway I asked ChatGPT for some ideas and tweaked 'The Supply Train' scenario it came up with both sides need supplies and there is a cache between the lead elements of both armies, represented by a wagon train, best not to think too much about it. Ian arrived and chose the French and got one Ditherer, one Dependable and two Rash commanders, I got two Ditherers a Rash and a Dependable. Ian took an aggressive stance and threw his infantry forward very quickly to grab the supply train and occupy two 'villages' while waiting for his cavalry and artillery to turn up. My right and centre were true to form and failed to move and meet the French advance, my cavalry turned up very early and I put them on my left to hopefully get into the French rear and cause mayhem, my artillery were right behind them and I placed it to fire on the village between my right and centre.

Table set for battle.

British forces.

French forces.

I was happy enough to hold on my right once in musket range and did the same in the centre, I was having no luck at all moving the Royal Scots from the nearest village so instead concentrated on the Germans and Irish who had captured, for now, the supplies. The French cavalry and artillery had now turned up and we were set for a clash of horse, the terrain was more open on my left than the French right so if they won I could be in trouble. The British cavalry proved to be more than a match for their opponents and won a spectacular victory and sent the enemy packing. 

The French approach the prize.

British horse turn up.

French Guard.

French cavalry advance.

On the infantry front I managed to put in some effective fire on the French and as some of their battalions withdrew I managed to keep up a concentrated fire on the ones still in line, I had some of my own units pull back as well but I managed to keep the pressure on. Slowly but surely more French units fled and the remainder were now under a hail of fire. I pulled my left back slightly as I was having no effect on the Guard in the village and instead shot at their supports. Another turn brought the French to within one point of their army breaking, we called it a day and shook hands.

Cavalry melee.

French mercenaries under pressure.

British left open up.

French centre falters.

Die rolling on both sides was pretty steady and casualties mounted quickly, I think I just had the edge hence the enemy routs and my own troops managed to withdraw and return to the fray. I did extremely well with the cavalry melees, the artillery on both sides was fairly useless as they tried to get open fields of fire and generally failed. So in the end a good days wargaming and a nice turn out for the SYW collection. 

I see no French cavalry.

French hold on the supplies withers.

Victory, we will eat tonight.

With some spare time I turned to painting up the houses and terrain that Matt Smith had sent me, I used spray paint for most of it and then a bit of weathering to finish off, I was very happy with the result although I may return to the weathering. I would think this lot has now completed my terrain requirements and my tables will get the benefit, maybe some small hedges and that's it.

 We had a new lad join the club FB page and asked if there were any Bolt Action players, so I offered a game last night as I was free, Steve had not played in a while and we settled on a Germans vs British game of 750 points, I would bring the British. I settled on three small squads, a MMG, a Cromwell and a Humber armoured car. I met Steve outside the club waiting for the club to open and after looking in my box he declared he had not brought a tank or anti-tank weapons, knife to a gunfight popped into my mind. He was relying on close assaulting any British vehicles which turned up but I doubt he expected an actual tank, he had four squads of infantry, two in halftracks and a mortar. We found a Pz IV and a Puma in the games cupboard but he decided not to take them, I did ask three times if he was sure.

Germans left, British on the right.

Cromwell.

I set up a simple game with three objective markers and off we went, Steve kept his halftracks in reserve while I kept the tank and MMG back. The infantry soon came into range and bullets flew, I took heavy casualties in the centre with a squad cut down to two men and I lost the MMG. I did push on the flanks and the armoured car was on my left and helped secure that objective, I brought the Cromwell on in the centre and Steve's plan to rush the tank collapsed as I took out the first halftrack and shot up the passengers who then made a brave attempt to get into contact with the armour but were wiped out to a man. The second halftrack turned up and although it managed to survive it's passengers suffered as they tried to grab the centre objective.

Humber.

Ooops.

In the end Steve had put up a good fight despite having no armour, he also had some bad luck with the dice just when he didn't need it, he almost took the crown from 'Lucky' Jimi. My bad luck of course is waiting for my next Chain of Command game.

I have some time on my hands now that I am not painting anything and have finished most of the little bits and pieces which were gnawing at me. The Atlas author is also very quiet. So I have decided to look at writing my own mini campaign of five or six games, it will be based on 6th Panzer Division's actions during Operation Winter Storm and their Panzer Recce Battalion will be the main force used, I have lots of German Recce options and it's about time they were on the table. I have tracked down information for December 1942 for the Jerries and next week will look at the Soviets. I have also identified the actions which will make up the campaign, I now need to put some meat on the bones.

I should be off to Penrith and the Dungeon tomorrw, next week I am joining Stuart in the medieval skirmish game Ecorcheurs set during the Hundred Years War, not sure if I can fit anything else in at the moment.

I have just finished the excellent Rasputin by Antony Beevor, if you ever needed confirmation that those in charge are idiots, this confirms it, sadly it led to utter chaos for Russia and subsequently for the rest of us.

I have now started a bit of light reading, Virgil's Aenied, at least some Trojans got away. Ignore the bloody horse! 

Fickle Luck

Nothing going at the club for me last week so I set up an Arnhem scenario from Wargames, Soldiers and Strategy magazine written by Nick Skinner, it looked interesting and had some Paratroopers holding a defence perimeter against some Waffen-SS with two old Char B1’s in support, one of which was a flammpanzer. The British had two small squads supported by some PIAT teams and a 6 pdr anti-tank gun, they had a special rule to use a ‘PIAT Hero’ once during the game on any leader they wished.

The battlefield.

 Erik turned up, I explained the terrain which was quite busy with trees and copses all over the place. Erik was aggressive with his Patrol Phase, I got to put some Jump Off Points halfway up the table and one where I could set up a MMG to close down the large open area on my left. I managed to get one squad down in the middle of what we termed an Orchard while Erik managed to oppose this with one squad behind entrenchments and another dug in on the left of this covering my right flank, two brave moves for defenders. I responded by putting down another squad which gave me a good base of fire on his forward squad in the trees, very soon it was shot up and had to withdraw, I now turned most of my attention to the last one on my right.

The Paras dig in.

 

Flammpanzer.

 I brought on the Flammpanzer and was looking forward to using it, I had built up three squads now which took the remaining Paras under fire, but it was slow going, I was also having difficulty getting the right command dice in order to push further forward. Luckily for me Erik had left his lucky charm at home and his responses to my shooting were dire. I pushed up the panzer in order to get in range with my flamethrower and the driver did not listen and went hell for leather up the road and left his infantry supports behind. Erik ambushed and missed, he then played his ‘PIAT Hero’ and missed again, I sighed with relief, I cannot remember the exact chain of events but he deployed his 6 pdr which also missed then either the gun or a PIAT got another shot at the Char B1 and this time it blew up. I was gutted as I really wanted to try the flamer.

Paras under fire, notice the stretcher.

Support.

Ambush, oops.

Try again.

Third time lucky.

 It was now down to my infantry and the one remaining tank which had now arrived. Erik by now had lost his anti-tank gun and a full squad and his defenders were now a beat up Bren team and the remnants of his first squad holed up in a house to my front, no matter these had two Brens and were still picking away at my right hand squad which lost their LMG and became pinned. Erik now laid a long line of smoke which hid the house and stopped most of my shooting. I took the opportunity to redeploy my MMG, tank and two squads to be ready to end the turn, lift the smoke and fire everything along with the kitchen sink at the defenders. It took time but I eventually got a CoC die and played it at the beginning of the move ending the turn. Just to annoy me the gods allowed me to throw three sixes which again ended the turn! No matter my plan went ahead, everything that could opened up on the house, death and destruction followed and the game belonged to the Jerries.

Ha, ha, can't see anything, said in British accent.

 

Ooops.

A good start and end, but in between the game was frustrating for the Jerries, I had only one Senior leader but threw loads of 4’s, and each turn a useless 6, I did get quite a few 5’s but used them time and again to hit the dirt. Erik was not helped by his bad luck. I would like to play it again but take the British this time. There was the usual couple of rule questions so I am back to reading and checking the FB page.

My Nashorn and M3 turned up. They are very nice kits, a wee bit of cleaning up to do and I got off to a bad start by dropping the bag containing the M3 but did some quick repairs. The tank riders are also very nice as are the crew figures for the Nashorn, I now have some crew spare as I did not read the small print and got extra, duh. I also managed to finish my first BEF squad for the new platoon, the second is now on the paint tray, I do like these figures from 1st Corps and they sell a whole platoon ready to go.

The Atlas author has finished his holidays so I have several new maps in various stages of completion at the moment. I have knocked back several authors looking for maps but took on a small project for John Hussey who is an amateur historian with a few books to his name, John is 92 and putting together some of his essays into a book, for, as he says, a last hurrah. How could I refuse. Mate Charles is also looking for some work but I have yet to think about this.

I needed some new super glue so popped in to Tesco this morning and got some, seven quid! I don't normally register the price but I did get a brain freeze with this, what makes it worse is that you get just less than 50% of what the bottle could actually hold, much like buying a bag of ready salted air, sorry, crisps.

I have come late to the controversy surrounding the newly refurbished Redcoat Cafe in Edinburgh Castle, one of the usual suspects, taking time off from gluing herself to the highways or throwing beans at art, was arrested for annoying the patrons enjoying their coffee and cake. How long before it gets changed? Oh and the protestors, Action for Scotland, Scottish Republican Socialist Movement and, wait for it, the Scottish Resistance, shades of the People's Front of Judea there?

It's 2026 not 1314.

 Anyway, I should make my return to the club this Tuesday and a run out for my new Roman army, then the next game in the Gembloux Gap campaign with Matt on Thursday and a big War and Conquest duel with everything to play for with my son on Saturday, will Rome collapse at last?