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! 

BEF (Bloody Execreble Firing)

First up this week was a War and Conquest game with Ed, I had decided to throw caution to the winds and field a German army while Ed again took Legio XII. The Germans as you would expect were basically warbands of average quality apart from their Nobles, but you can tool them up so that they can be devastating in the first clash of a melee as long as they charge first, this and their sheer size along with being Resilient means they are difficult to shift, at first. 

Herman the German.

 

Germans left, Thunderbolts right.

 

 I took five warbands along with a unit of Batavian Deserters from the Roman army backed up with some skirmishers, Forest Warriors and some light cavalry, Opposite Ed had three Roman cohorts, with several Auxiliary units, horse archers and cataphracts. My plan was simply to get my warbands in quick and take advantage of their first charge, I was unsure about my flanks as they looked weak. Ed struck against both flanks while placing his centre on a nearby hill. I threw my Forest Warriors against the enemy light troops on the opposite side of the wood and managed to spectacularly rout them, I now did not really need to worry about my left. On the right I lost my archers but the Roman cataphracts got carried away and attacked a warband on the nearest hill across the front of some legionaries causing some confusion, I held my cavalry back as a threat, albeit a weak one. The rest of the army plunged ahead.

My warriors in front of the Roman massed archers began to suffer from accurate fire and I prayed to the gods they would get to grips with their tormentors while there were still some left in the ranks. I got too close to the enemy centre and Ed charged, I had lost my edge, despite this my troops held and several furious melees commenced. At this stage I was just about to look for a white flag as more and more of my lads fell. As the battle progressed I began to win on my left while the right was managing to hold, the Romans were less than aggressive here. Slowly but surely the Romans gave way, apart from their Praetorians who were in a life and death struggle against some Warriors who refused to run, eventually however they did send their foes running but they were now surrounded by the enemy. Although some Roman units managed to rally the others still in combat were being worn down and it was only a matter of time before they routed too. It was all over.

The Roman centre breaks.

German nobles.

Veteran legionaries (Praetorians)

What happened.

Old guy photo bombs.

Another great game with the Germans snatching victory from defeat as Fortuna deserted Ed, he had had some excellent die rolling at the beginning but the pendulum swung against him after the first clashes. I can only conclude that after three recent defeats under different commanders the Thunderbolts need their beloved Legate back to turn the tide.

After clearing the table late that night I got up early the next day to set it up for Matt and I's first game of the Caesar's Camp campaign, it was going to be the first outing for my new British Expedionary Force. Although I had to cross some dangerous open ground to attack Hedgehog Wood with my Cameron Highlanders I was quietly confident I could do it.

I took an extra infantry squad, mortar and a Bren carrier, Matt went heavy with an MMG and an infantry gun. I deployed aggressively and was prepared to take losses as I built up my firebase, not as many as I actually did however with a full squad almost wiped out in a matter of a couple of phases. I tried putting smoke down but an end of turn got rid of it before it gave me any cover then my mortar team was wiped out. Matt's shooting was deadly, mine completely ineffective although I did manage to break a squad Matt had pushed into the open in his rush to get at mine.

Lt. Cameron with the papers.

Wait for it lads, waaait.

British armour turns up.

I got my second mortar on and built up a wall of smoke to silence his MMG and infantry gun, this left me with three squads firing on his two in the woods. At one point I shot 52 dice and got 1 shock on the enemy as a result, it left me in shock, return fire when it came cut down two Junior Leaders and one Senior, my morale fell, I was getting nowhere, I could not even make the Germans suffer as this platoon could be used again later in the campaign. There was a broken down British staff car with secret papers on the road so I beat the Jerries to it with my Bren carrier to get something from the disaster, this allows me a full Chain of Command dice in Scenario 3.

German killing machines.

Something wrong with our bullets today.

British leaders hit the deck.

Taxi for Lt. Cameron?

I cannot lie about it but I was very frustrated by the turn of events, my shooting had no effect whatsoever against the troops on the edge of the wood while the return fire cut me up, there were times Matt missed but on the whole he was cooking with gas. All the scenarios have the British on the back foot and having to cross open ground to get at the Jerries, I am not yet down hearted, it is too early for that and know that newly painted troops never have a decent introduction to the table but I do need them to buck up. Despite all this a good morning's wargaming with a good opponent who never made a mistake, on the other hand I fare better with a spear than a Lee Enfield it would seem.

Another bundle from mate Matt Smith arrived yesterday, completely out of the blue, five Dutch buildings suitable for Arnhem scenarios if TFL ever get around to releasing said book, also of course simply to fill up the table, so no hanging up of the brushes quite yet. Two small packages which I did know about turned up today, some pikemen to upgrade two phalanx's and some Romans to upgrade Legio XII's first cohort.

I had some spare time so popped into Waterstone's in Kendal while the Memsahib was busy and treated myself to a bit of light reading, a history of Rasputin and his affect on Russia and a 2,000 year old best seller, The Aenid, I have read The Illiad and The Odyssey of course, several times but never the follow up. Big fan of the Trojans.

Couple of possible games on for next week, I also have an appointment with my surgeon, other people have lawyers. I still need to get back to the Italian Wars even if only solo.

Tempus Fugit

 Life is racing on, I seem to be playing catch up, health, birthdays and the ever encroaching Christmas, which has been in our sights now since around September? The local supermarkets, there are no shops per se, are already full while the local roads in Carnforth are a nightmare on a weekend and also now during the week, people turning up for a game find it increasingly difficult to park in the village. So what's new.

With no soldiers to paint I decided to at last get a few more explosions to use in a mortar barrage, years ago I got a very large tub but couldn't find such a beast this time so got two bags of Woodland Scenics foliage. This was disappointing as they were not large but expensive, so in the end I only got two markers out of them, but I did get around to using that heat glue gun I have had for years. I won't buy anymore so will make what I have do.

New and old.

Next up was a couple of bombed out buildings, I got these from Inverness and they were excellent 3D prints, a huge amount of detail for those up for such and reasonably priced I thought. I primed them black then picked out the walls, floors and bricks, after this I set too with the dry brush and then an overall wash with Agrax Earthshade, in the end I ended up with two buildings suitable for the old three foot test. That's my stretch these days.

The latest book from Helion on the Italian Wars is the Battle of Pavia, I have quite a bit on Pavia as this is the period I have based my armies on but I like to complete series, good friend Charles Singleton once again kindly used his influence to procure me a copy.

I also took reciept of my snow roads from Poland, not perfect but better than using my normal dirt tracks, my only beef is that there are not enough straights in the pack. I have asked for some straights but if this is not possible I will probably get another pack as standby. 

Of course there were games the first was at the club, Simon and I played the Uman game from WSS magazine, I didn't have much time for pictures as the club was busy with people popping over whom I have not seen for a wee while. The Russian assault did not make a lot of headway against the German defences, the end came as I managed to launch a Panzerschreck team from ambush to blow up the KV-1, kill its commander and a nearby officer and two of his men as the explosion rocked the table. As you will know I am quite at home with version 2 of the rules while Simon is not.

The main game of the week was next, 'Blitz on Villeroux', Matt was continuing his lunge through the Gap and could bring armour along for this scenario. The defensive position looked quite good but with Panzers available I was forced to take a 25mm anti-tank gun, for which I had a cunning plan, and an R35 light tank. Matt took as supports a 75mm infantry gun, an off table MMG, SdKfz 222 and a Pz IV. He had to get two units off my end of the table.

My useless mortar.

Armour and gun.

Refugee's fleeing the Boche.

The Jerries came on quickly and concentrated on my left flank opposite of which was a large wood which his infantry lined and hid in. I placed my men in the houses and a barn, after which the enemy infantry gun and MMG appeared along with the armour, the tank eased forward to get in range of the buildings to spot the men in them, it was time for the surprise. I used a command die to place the 25mm on the table almost in front of the tank, I knew this was a one shot wonder as the return fire would no doubt pin or break the crew but it had to be done. Bang, the tank was hit but the shot only knocked out the hull machine gun, sure as god made little green apples the return fire pinned then broke the gun crew. I now brought on my little tank and it began a dual with the Panzer IV, this lasted all the remaing game with the German hitting and me saving and vice versa.

Surprise!

Busy wood.

Achtung Panzer!

I had taken a mortar but it's nine shots resulted in nothing but clouds of earth, I did manage to kill some of the crew of the infantry gun and rout one of the squads in the wood but again many of my hits failed to turn into casualties. Matt was having a hard time shifting my dug in troops but in the end I lost the squad holding the left flank and due to officer casualties my morale had plunged, the German armoured car had also managed to flank my defences and was heading for the table edge with nothing to stop it. I decided to withdraw before I lost anymore men.

Once again due to the difference in morale the Germans managed to return almost all of their casualties ending up with only one dead and one in hospital, I have now lost a complete squad and these guys will have to fight on for the next game. 'Get the Guns' is next, the French should manage well on this table but I have thought that before. Thankfully the Germans do not get the same fistful of support points as the last game and I get a free infantry gun.

Not a lot planned for the coming week apart from the next game in the campaign on Thursday, not sure about the club.