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.

 

Italian interlude: Somebody Stop Me!

 I was desperate to get back to the Italian Wars recently so I set up a solo game based on the Battle of La Motta from Roldolfo Verginella's scenario book, I amended the deployment set up and put the cavalry on the wings rather than in the centre of each army. Before I managed to set some time aside I found out Simon was free so offered to pick him up and bring him to the Bunker. We have now decided on a name for the wargame room, not Post Office, shop, study or downstairs, it is the Bunker. I digress, on arrival Simon sat down where the Venetian army was set up and when offered a side decided to hunker down with the Venetians. The Venetian infantry were not the best as 50% were Militia but they did have more cavalry, the Spanish infantry was better and included some Landsknecht mercenaries.

Venetian line.

Spanish line.

Spanish left, Venetians right.

 From my point of view I thought my left was in danger as only one cavalry unit held the position, so in true renaissance style I simply threw my army forward, although my infantry seemed less than enthusiastic, the Venetians also came on at a good pace, especially the cavalry. As the horsemen clashed honours were even on my right, we both lost a unit while the survivors headed for the enemy guns. On the left my heavy cavalry proved to be rubbish, they lost out while the Venetian light cavalry went for my gun while the victors reorganised.

Infantry advance.

 

The cavalry in action.

 

Things getting serious.

About this time the first pike blocks met in the centre of the battlefield, sure enough the better quality of the Spanish forces began to force the Venetians back, the Landsknecht pike block winning against its opponent was now hit in the flank by the rallied Venetian heavy cavalry. Despite this the Germans pushed their enemies back and routed the Italian foot at the same time, nearby two more Venetian pike blocks were destroyed. The last of the Militia met the second Landsknecht unit and in its turn was also pushed back. The Venetian army had been routed.

 

The last gasp.

 

Looters.

 Although my infantry were in the main better than the enemy my die rolling was very good while Simon was having an uphill struggle for most of the game, his cavalry had done very well but the attack on the pike block had failed. Nonetheless it was a good few hours of enjoyment and it was nice to see the Italian Wars back on the table.

Today I was back in Italy but at the bottom end, Matt had invited me up to Penrith and had set up a game in Sicily, as usual the game table was a treat to see and play on. I was the Americans and had the job of assaulting a small village and capturing a T-Junction. My first wave consisted of three squads of Paras and an M7 mobile artillery piece along with a mortar, in front of me were three squads of Germans one of which were Fallschirmjager, supported by an MMG, 50mm mortar and an infantry gun.

Looking towards the objective.

The T-Junction.

I could advance through a dry river bed in cover or concentrate on the German left wing which was holding the village, I decided there would not be enough time to try a left hand flank attack and get to the objective, so I went for the Jerry left wing, my reserves could advance along the river bed. Things went very well and in turn two the Ami's began to deal out casualties and the reserves moved quickly along the river bed. I fired my M7 at the German artillery and it was the only unit I had which could not hit a barn never mind the door. Thankfully Matt had a hard time with his command rolls after the preparatory barrage, shooting and the arrival of his reserves, I was simply on fire, apart from the M7, and Jerry was taking a beating.

 

Charge.

The Yanks take the pillbox.

The reserves arrive.

I continued to simply push all my troops towards the junction and in doing so began to wipe out several of the German units while taking very little casualties at first. I was swithering whether to move the M7 and take on the enemy over open sights or hold out for a hit as the number dropped, I held out, missed again and again. As I got nearer the village I did take some serious hits but by now had enough squads in position to turf the Krauts from the village, Matt's last reserve at last turned up only to be shot to pieces. There was no need to roll for a possible seventh turn, the Americans were victorious.

At last we get it.

Nearly there.

Now boys!

Least said the better.

My die rolling was vicious while Matt failed morale after morale and his shooting was also pretty poor until the last couple of turns. My M7 eventually took out the infantry gun, and on finding a new target promptly failed to hit that as well as the game ended. The scenario looked to be unbalanced but I didn't think so and it would have been much closer under different circumstances.

In keeping with the Italian theme, I am getting on with the Fourth Cohort for the Thunderbolts, maybe another week will see them finished. I have also received a map commission on a book involving the Italian Army in the Balkans during WWII, how's that for coincidence?

I have a Bolt Action V3 game at the club on Tuesday but nothing for during the week, I will have to concentrate on map work. I should also have another plastic kit from Rubicon to build, it is another halftrack, a 250/9 recce vehicle with an autocannon, can't help myself.

Alea iacta est

Big night at the club last week, Simon and I tried Bolt Action V3. Now as you know I was not going to bother getting this as I thought the price tag a rip off, was it a rip off, yes it was, there is far too much bumf in the thing and far too much unecessary eye candy. The actual rules take up less than half of the pages. The army lists are a huge part of the book but they are very generic and you cannot simply choose a German Eastern Front force for late 1943 without knowing what they had available, this will have to wait until the new army books are released although you can instead stick with a campaign book. I am lazy and use Easy Army which up until now I have found perfect, the author has put generic lists up for V3 but I am unsure whether he will attempt to change the Theatre lists, I really do not want to sit down with a calculator. I can say I have supported the author in the past and am not just taking him for granted.

I digress, we set up an easy meeting engagement and with books at the ready, no one has so far put together a QRS, we got stuck in. I took infantry, heavy weapons, artillery and armoured platoons, Simon had pretty much the same. The Soviets were defending and were on the table when I attacked, I was fairly aggressive and threw my armoured car forward to spot the hidden Russians, this had to back off when a KV1 turned up, but I used the Recce rule for the first time ever and it dodged back behind a small wood. 

My Recce hiding.

More bang for the buck Hetzer.

I managed to start picking off some of Simon's small teams and he began to lose initiative dice, he was then forced to bring on a small anti-tank gun which annoyingly managed to get some decent dice rolls and first set my Hetzer on fire then immobilised it. The Germans were doing well when we called a halt as the clock struck 10, we only managed three turns but spent a lot of the time with our heads in the book.

Did they work, yes, some of the things I think will make the game better from an historical players view although there are still some bits which have me shaking my head. Chain of Command 2 will be appearing in January however I suspect I shall still continue to play both sets for different reasons.

Now for the main event, Rob organised a large Napoleonic game in the Gin Pit in nearby Grange-over-Sands yesterday, there were six French commanders and five Allied while Ed took the place of umpire and rules adjudicator. The gist of the game was that an Allied army was in position trying to stop the French from advancing, the French commander had seen an opportunity to strike while his boss was busy elsewhere, possibly garnering some browny points.

In a less than democratic manner the leadership of the French command was hung on my shoulders. The battlefield consisted of three farms, one each on the extreme flanks and one in the centre, an important road ran through the middle, if the French could take the road they would win, otherwise it would rely on both armies holding the farms and inflicting losses on the enemy. As we munched on some excellent pastries provided by the commander of the Guard I came up with a cunning plan. Julian and the Guard would smash through the centre and take the road, I would protect his left and Michael would protect his right, Stewart and Paul would be on my left and told not to get drawn into a battle around 'Hougemont' to their front but to watch what was happening in the centre and intervene if possible. Ian was given the job of protecting the extreme right and possibly taking the farm to his front. Well, that's what was in my head.

Discussion time.

The new Napoleon.

The battle kicked off and the Guard plunged ahead while the troops on his flanks were reluctant to move, the enemy came forward quite aggressively opposite me and I threw my lancers in to stop them, this action was less than glorious and I lost a squadron but had halted the enemy advance. This was a foretaste of the less than enthusiastic actions of the French cavalry all through the battle. For some reason I was being asked questions on the best way to proceed as though I knew what I was doing, I nodded sagely and kept schtum. As I advanced towards a hedgeline and the middle farm I noticed the Guard marching away to my right, Julian had decided to ignore the enemy centre and make for the road, his beautiful troops waving goodbye as they went, he had made a bold move, would it pay out?

The beautiful Guard.

French commander in true Napoleonic style, but with only a tad more hair.

Ed pronounces wisdon.

Elsewhere, yes, 'Hougemont' had proved irresistable to Paul and Stewart and a large gap opened between them and me, which for the moment was thankfully empty. Ian on the other flank had managed to take the farm but Russian strength was building up while his cavalry proved reluctant to fight. A crises now approached, something had gone wrong with the troops under Matt holding the road and Julian managed to throw the Guard at them, this was the beginning of some of the most brutal fighting of the day, if Matt was defeated Julian could claim the road and the French would have victory.

Desperate fighting for the road as time runs out.

 

The centre.

My boys wondering where the Guard have gone.

As time ticked away the Russians took back their farm and Ian was on the back foot, he was simply outnumbered, Michael had attempted to help the Guard but his infantry simply would not move forward until it was too late. I cleared the enemy from my front and took the farm in the centre and then simply held my ground as more and more Allied troops began to turn up. 'Hougemont' at last fell to Paul and Stewart. The Guard were under immense pressure in the centre as British reserves turned up, Julian was screaming for cavalry as the Russians were now heading for his flank, sadly the cavalry simply ignored his pleas and sat miles away despite being ordered to gallop to his aid. As the last turn ended Matt had secured the road while the Guard could take no more and the survivors retreated. Ed totalled up the scores and it was a draw! It now came down to a dice off between the commanders, Matt for the Allies and me for the French, I confess I do not know what Matt threw but his comment of 'Shit' said it all, I got a four and the French players whooped with elation.

Another great day with an impressive battle full of peaks and troughs, laughter and the odd expletive. Lots of lovely troops on the table and pastries to boot, what's not to like. Ed did a great job keeping the game flowing, Rob for organising and Stuart no doubt for helping. I believe there is one more in the series, so I am looking forward to it.

I have now finished my mercenary hoplites for the Seleucids, these are very tough under WAC rules so the Twelfth are in for some problems at some point. Mate Dan helped me out as the Little Big Man transfers I got for the Foundry figures were far too small for the hoplons and just did not look right, he had some from Victrix. I have made a change to my painting, I am not going to varnish these troops, nor the Romans already being worked on, my main reason is the paints are already matt and they will only be on the table once in a blue moon these days. I also find that the matt varnish over time really dulls the metals on figures.

The gaming continues this week, Italian Wars here on Wednesday and somewhere in Sicily at Matt's on Thursday.