BEF (getting better, just)

 Apart from a game with Matt I had nothing planned this week so when Stuart offered a game at the club based on the Little Wars episode on the relief of Stalingrad I thought I would try it out. The game is 6mm and based on a scaled down version of the Fistful of TOW's rules, a Fistful of T-34's, the Germans fight several engagments on the road to 6th Army and based on how well they do they get die rolls to see how close they get to the city. An interesting game.

Marder'/s and PAK's.

My Soviets in the woods.

German armour.

For the first engagment Ashley and I were the Soviets and Stuart and Simon the Hitlerites, Stuart had 3D printed almost everything required and his little Panzers and T-34's looked very nice along with anti-tank guns, machineguns and troops etc. The Germans were to envelop the Soviet defenders and wipe them out. I held a large wood to the south of a village and was probably looking good to be cut off, the German two pronged attack was just beginning to strike when the Russian armour turned up. A furious couple of turns turned the tide of the battle despite heavy lossed on both sides and a Russian victory was declared.

Considering how dense the Fistful of Tow's rule book is there must be an awful lot not in the T-34 set of four A4 pages, it relies heavily on the dice and you can lose whole units in an exchange. Having said that our game was an introduction and you could quite happily, once familiar, play the whole campaign at a club. I really do like the idea and it could provide the basis for a decent Chain of Command mini campaign.

Talking about Chain of Command Matt turned up for the second game in our Capturing Caesar's Camp campaign, after the dreadful drubbing I got in the first game I was wary but confident I could get something from this one, I needed to as if I lost I could not rely on anymore armour being available for the attacks. The terrain again was terrible, one side of the battlefield being completely open, the other open but with hedges which ruined line of sight, the game was a flank attack on a small village but it was apparent that even so I was going to be deploying on the table edge.

What idiot would attack over this ground?

I took one tank which was basically a Bad Things Happen morale blow as the Germans were allowed a 'Bunker Buster' 88mm firing from off table with an incredible amount of AP dice (12), my little tank having an armour of five! I was hoping that this would survive the first shot of the monster gun and then my mortars would cover it in smoke to make it useless, watch this space. I also took two MMG's which I hoped would rain down a hail of lead on any Germans foolish enough to deploy on the edges of the town. Matt took an extra infantry squad which surprised me as he likes having heavy weapons of one kind or another.

I got most of my 'army' on the table quickly and they targetted an enemy squad upstairs in the nearest building, 42 shots, nothing, I had a feeling of deja vu, this more or less continued until Matt pulled his men back needing nothing more than a couple of asprin. My tank turned up and yes, boom, gone, but the 88 was now visible, sadly these guys died in vain, my mortars used up nearly all their smoke and none of it landed where it was supposed to, the monster now targetted my infantry eventually helping rout my first squad.

The British arrive.

Supporting machine guns.

I still managed to fight back and after some time although I was reduced to a morale of four, on the German side all their officers except one was either wounded or stunned, despite this Matt managed to continually role a four to keep his Senior Leader capable of directing the defence. Normally this amount of leadership casualties would result in zero morale but Matt held on reduced to two.

Jerries hold the town.

My forlorn hope.

Bunker Buster.

By now I was reduced to one squad and one MMG along with two mortars, however with the Germans pulling back the terrain prevented me from targetting anything unless I advanced, and this would have been suicide so we shook hands and called it a day. I had come so close but I failed, so I will be unable to get any tanks for future games but to be honest I can't see that being a big loss. The next attack is even worse terrain for the British than the two we have fought, I suspect my Jump Off Points will again be on the edge of the table and wonder if I will be able to make it to a sunken road half way across the table to get some cover. Worse for the British is that they now have to husband this platoon and cannot ignore heavy casualties as in the previous games.

 I have now completed all my extra figures for Legio XII and the Seleucid phalanxes, so there are no troops on the painting tray and no intention of getting any for now. I have also started on the new buildings and scatter which Matt Smith sent me, this well keep me busy for a bit, so not only can I put down city ruins I will easily be able to put a full town on a 6x4. Matt has also posted out a box of 'scatter' items which he has printed off, determined not to let me rest.

Toilets, complete with loo rolls and bins.

Cohort I, Legio XII.

'White' phalanx.

'Blue' Phalanx.

Seleucids on parade.

I received more stuff in the mail this week, my Veteran's card and a novel from the US for which I produced some maps, very kindly sent by the author despite the eye watering postage.

Not a lot on for next week, so I contacted Ian and offered a game, he is coming for some Seven Years War action next Friday, I will have to work on a scenario. I have said before I don't understand how I managed to build two armies for this period as I know virtually nothing about it, so my rules are simple and it looks good.

The Atlas author is having a break on another project so nothing on the map front either just now for a week or so, I do wonder though with all that is going on how many maps will be added before the book is published, some have already had to be amended. 

My surgeon was quite positive today, my scan shows only one 'anomaly' which he suspects is fluid surrounding the area cut out last December, fingers crossed the next scan is set for four months

And in other news, Dublin Zoo chose to entice mothers to visit free by showing, well, you can see what they think of mothers. I don't know whether to laugh or cry.

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.

More Gaming: Part 2

 The last game of the week, I was invited to Erik's for an English Civil War clash using his own rules which he has tried to keep on two sides of an A4 sheet, so this is the second battle involving Royalists and Parliament in just three days.

Erik had set up the Battle of Lansdown Hill and had prepared OOB's, rules and a lovely map and information on the battle, I had a quick look over before arriving. Parliament under Sir William Waller had marched out of Bath and took position on Lansdown Hill, the Royalists under Sir Ralph Hopton tried to tempt Waller from his hill but failed and decided to withdraw. Waller saw an opportunity and attacked Hopton's rear around 3pm.

The Royalists turn around, Lansdown Hill in the background.

At first glance it looked like I (Waller) could inflict some damage on Hopton's (Erik) rear guard with four cavalry squadrons vs  two, I also had three more approaching the enemy left flank supported by some dragoons. Full of enthusiasm I threw my troopers at the enemy, I was roughly handled and a bit disappointed as it looked like I had failed, I had lost a full brigade of cavalry and my centre decided to retire towards the nearby hill, everything seemed to be in Hopton's favour as more and more Royalists turned up. However as the dust settled and both sides reorganised several of the enemy units had taken heavy casualties and were going to need some luck to push me off the hill.

A tsunami of Parliamentary cavalry.

Lansdown Hill.

Surely we will win........

My flanking cavalry about to be run off.

 

With the first phase of the battle over we set up for the second phase, I put my dragoons along a hedge bordering a wood on my left supported by two badly cut up cavalry units, I had a full regiment of pike and shot in my centre interspersed with cannon the on my far right Haselrig's 'Lobsters', armoured cavalry completely fresh. Erik put his gun batteries in the centre and split his army across both flanks with most of the cavalry on his left and most of the infantry on his right. I was a bit dubious about my ability to hold the left as it was fairly weak.

Steady boys, steady.

The Royalist right move on the hill.

Haselrig charges in.

Fortuna smiled on me as Haselrig's troopers smashed into the Royalist cavalry and slowly and surely routed all around them, the guns on both sides firing at long range were basically no threat to either side. Seeing this and the Royalist infantry intent on rolling up my left I now decided to move a gun and all my infantry apart from one dragoon unit over to support my dodgy flank. I did this just in time as Erik chased away some dragoons and my supporting cavalry. With the Royalist left destroyed it was now up to his last untouched infantry regiment on the right to continue in its attempt to roll up my flank and centre. It was not to be as the Cornishmen had taken several hits during their advance from the dragoons and the Parliamentary foot stood their ground and and finished them off, they fled, the battle was over. 

Haselrig routs the enemy left.

 

Waller holds the hill.

I was a bit surprised at the result as it looked like my fate had been sealed during phase one, but the damage inflicted by my forlorn hope's ensured taking the hill would not be easy for the enemy, this along with the success of Haselrig and the redeployment of my infantry sealed the victory.

I have fought at Erik's three or four times and each time the armies and terrain keeps getting better, this battlefield was a real joy to play on, I suspect he will need another room if he keeps this up. 

I have a busy week next week, Ed on Wednesday night and Matt on Thursday, not sure about the club yet on Tuesday. There may also be a visit from GHQ's David Bickley, I must break out the chocolate biscuits, a present to our troops in Mafeking.