Desert to Trees

 Busy time coming up for me with a wedding, NHS appointments and a little late year break so possibly the last blog for a few weeks as again the Atlas is catching up with me and proving difficult to finish despite the end of the tunnel being in sight, just.

So this week I travelled the still horrendous roadworks on the M6, with no one in sight working yet only allowed to go at 50 mph, seemingly I must have missed the majestic sweep of a horde of wildebeest, neon signs told of 'Animals on Road' as once again I was slowed down for around 6 miles. I digress, as usual, I went to Matt's and had suggested something medieval, I found myself somewhere in southern Spain commanding an Arab army with some Christian mercenaries against another local Arab Emir. Another lovely set up with two fairly large armies, both mainly spearmen, light and heavy cavalry with plenty of archers, my heavy cavalry were Christians while Matt's counter were heavy camelry.

An oasis.

Good guys on the left, baddies on the right.

We played using Kings of War, well outwith my comfort zone but Matt likes them and ran the game well, giving me the odd advice when required. My first impression was that I would push my cavalry on both wings, especially my left as there was quite a bit of missile troops on that side and massed archery has a power of its own. My right I was trusting to my heavy mercenaries, I would wait and see what Matt did in the centre. He actually came on at a good pace and I decided to push everything into combat I could, a lot of the time I was fighting uphill but the way the rules played I only had a slight minus and I was prepared to weather the storm.

My left flank.

My left centre missile men.

My left flank light cavalry.

Here come the camels.

My right advances.

I was assaulted by the camels but held and it turned into a long to and fro combat, my heavy cavalry on the right could not be stopped and put paid to the enemy horse on that side and then charged some spearmen. On the left my cavalry again swept away the enemy which was lucky as both sides were equal on that flank. My tactic of letting the archers loose was paying off as Matt was slowed down and unable to close while his morale suffered.

The camels are knocked back.

Christians forward!

The camels about to lose.

We arrived at the crises point as my men routed the camels at last while my other victorious infantry closed in on the remaining beasts, it was all over and I received Matt's sword and then returned it as he had fought so gallantly, Mustapha Rest was delighted. Another superb game in the Dungeon, is there a period Matt cannot do, I doubt it and if there is I am sure it is waiting on his shelves. Due to us both having hols our next clash will be mid-September, the BEF might have got over their shock victory by then. 

The next game is in two days time against Erik who has asked to have another shot at Johnny Reb. I have set up a small, but interesting game based around the Reb flank march at Chancellorsville, once again one of Paul Stevenson's, I have found a file with all sorts of scenarios from years ago and most are Paul's, recommended if you ever find some. 

The above was played today, I offered Erik sides and thought he would jump at the Federals but he chose the Rebs, outnumbered with little chance of holding the crossroads objective however I could not stop him getting the wagon trains off the table, so it was down to an old fashioned firefight. We both managed to get our forces on with the Confederates setting up in the centre while I stretched my brigades to eventually take on the Secesh flanks. I had two battalions of Berdan's sharpshooters for the first time ever in a game I think and they proved pretty dismal, once failing to hit an enemy regiment full flank and get a kill.

The forces arrive for both sides.

The Rebs rush forward.

The Federals do the same.

Erik skilfully withdrew his troops and soon I was in a position to force the issue as my men closed in and a furious firefight began. Neither side suffered much at first and I launched my first charge as I was confident I had the numbers, win or lose. More charges followed from both sides while my less than stellar sharpshooters edged around the Reb left flank. Erik was now hemmed in as his line buckled, he threw some more charges in in a desperate attempt to gain time but it was not to be. The Confederate left and right were now in disarray with regiments fleeing and Union troops bursting the line and heading for his rear area.

The Yanks are ready to advance as musketry breaks out.

The Union left move into the woods.

The Rebel line in dissaray.

We called a halt at this but after he left I finished the few moving fires we had not done, these brought nothing new except the 4th Virginia which had stood like a stonewall (as they did at Bull Run) threw snake eyes for a loss of stand and fled, it really was over now.

The Confederates break.

The Rebel right.

The Confederate left.

The New Yorkers get behind the Rebs.

So another exciting game of Johnny Reb under the belt, I don't think either side would have got their objectives so it was down to a stand up fight and although Erik got some rather good morale throws he also got a couple of bummers, my own remained pretty average and that was fine.

I forgot I have one more game before heading for a break, after that it will be mid September before I pick up a set of dice again. 

I was dragged kicking and screaming to the Morecambe Maritime Festival which turned out to be a posh name for four or five groups singing sea shanties for charity. I popped in to the Winter Gardens building and spent a bit of time at a model ship section which had some beautiful models on show, the light was dodgy hence no photographs. I then bumped into an old salt who had his own mini Titanic travelling show, I took to him right away and we bantered about the Merchant vs Royal Navy, fair winds and calm seas old 'un.

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.

 

 

 

The Band Back Together

 Both my sons have been spending a lot of time with me recently and Stewart, the one who wargames, has made efforts to meet me across the table on more occasions than before. He let me know he wanted to fight a large, probably two day American Civil War battle this weekend, I offered two scenarios and he left me hanging on which he wanted to play. By the Friday I was chomping at the bit to get on with the terrain and setting up, but he still refused to choose, despite coming through early and working from my computer. The Memsahib forced me to go out for a bite to eat then dragged me around a couple of garden centres, then I got home. If you are of a certain age this is where the picture goes fuzzy, some wooooo, woooo music is heard and you appear opening the door to the Bunker.....

 Stewart had started building the terrain on the table and there was another guy standing beside him, I was nonplussed to say the least until my brain identified Mark Armstrong, a JR player from years ago, I couldn't believe it. I was then told we were going to fight Gaines Mill from 1862 by Paul Stevenson, Mark showed me the map and I thought that is huge, too large for three or us, should I try to contact some of the guys from the club, even if short notice. About 45 minutes later Davy, Billy and Robert came through the door, Stewart had teased me with their arrival but I had dismissed it as Robert had only just had knee surgery and I know he was having a hard time with pain. The band was well and truly back together, all in the one place after our last gathering in my loft in Carluke decades ago, I was truly overwhelmed.

The band.

Ready to go.

Even more Rebs.

We spent most of Friday afternoon getting the terrain built and organising the troops required for the battle, 15 Union brigades and at least 18 Confederate brigades, it was obvious quite quickly we would never get them all on the table in two days, but we got ready anyway. Myself, Robert and Davy played the Yanks and Billy, Mark and Stewart were the Rebs. The Union troops were on a plateau and the Rebs had to drive us off, they were going to need some luck as the ground was covered in Federal blue, nearly all behind hasty works backed up by artillery. 

The Reb right (Billy).

The Reb left (Mark).

Reb centre (Stewart).

Stewart and Mark.

The good guys, Davy, me, Robert.

The game started and the first problem from our side was that our left flank was under intense artillery fire which in many cases enfiladed our position, this was made worse by Stewart's green artillery batteries acting as though they were elite and causing high casualties on anyone they hit. Robert took most of this fire and it caused him to pull back in an attempt to straighten our line and try and stop the flank fire. I had the division in reserve and the cavalry, the latter I sent to protect the Union right from being flanked, I then sent one brigade to help Robert if needed and another to the edge of the plateau beside the small stream the third formed a line behind Davy's troops. I had taken command of Robert's right hand brigade otherwise I would not get into the battle for a while, I pushed this forward to contest the woods adjacent to the small stream to my front, with one of the reserve brigades to help. The Yankee artillery now began bombarding their opposite numbers and Billy's artillery battalion on our left was almost wiped out, Davy and I did the same to Mark's battalion on our right, only Stewart's green devils were left as a viable threat.

There Robert, there!

The Confederates advance.

John Wayne and the cavalry move right.

Billy gets ready to assault.

Stewart in trouble.

The Reb infantry now came on with the intention of closing on the high ground, shot and shell flew everywhere, Mark now received a division as reinforcements and began to muster it for an assault on the Union right. At this point the Rebs had no thought of a Federal attack and I thought I could catch Stewart off guard as his brigades were the closest to my line. I threw the 4th Minnesota in a charge down the slope, this turned out to be fatal for Stewart's green brigades as several regiments routed while the attack stopped the advance in its tracks, his dice failed him at this critical moment. The Rebs now tried to strike back against the lone Yankee regiment but things again went awry and although the 4th were dispersed they had shattered the enemy completely.

Around this time we called a halt as none of us, apart from Stewart, are spring chickens and we had the pub booked for dinner. The recrimination phase now began as we supped a few beers and enjoyed our meal.

Pressure mounts on the Union left.

Quicker lads, quicker.

Mark is thrown back.

Union right survives, just.

Traffic jam in blue.

This morning we opened the fight at 0930, Billy was in a fight to the death with Robert, Stewart was trying to recover but was again ignored by Lady Luck as two brigadiers and his division commander were struck down by sharpshooters, maybe even the same one. His efforts to rejoin the fight were now well and truly over as he disengaged the survivors from in front of my line, his artillery though were still a formidable threat and that corner of the plateau was a death trap for my boys. Mark now threw caution to the wind as time was running out and we were finishing at lunchtime, his whole division gave a Rebel Yell and launched themselves at Davy's thin blue line in a series of wave attacks. As the smoke dispersed Mark's division lay wrecked in front of the Union line, the survivors hurrying back to the shelter of the woods behind, Davy and Robert and I sighed in relief as Davy's die rolling only just managed to win the contest. 

We were never going to finish the game but it became evident the Confederates would never be able to achieve their aim of sweeping the plateau clear of Yankees, even if we had played long enough for two more Reb divisions to turn up, on the Union side we could not physically get our fourth division on the table as we had retreated on the left leaving hardly any room for what we had never mind more troops. Despite it becoming obvious the game was too big it did give all the players something to do from the start, we all suffered the highs and lows dealt out by the rules and the dice gods, there were cheers, insults and great banter flying to and fro.

I had my moments but did manage an inordinate amount of double sixes, Mark suffered from some less than useful dice at wrong moments and might have given Stewart a run for the unluckiest roller on the table. Stewart suffered most from the fickle dice gods and could do nothing to stop his brigades from dispersing. I don't know how Billy and Robert fared but from the language it was intense on that side of the table.

Look away now or grab a tissue, maybe a couple. This weekend was a meeting of passionate wargamers and good friends from all over the country organised by my son to give me a game to remember. My wife also deserves a mention for looking after us. We swapped health stories in the pub like the guys in Jaws showing their wounds, we remembered what happened and who did what in games long gone, we have plumbed the depths of despair as snake eyes turned up time after time and punched the air as we led our wee sojers to victory. What great people and what a great hobby. We are not the band after all, we are the Old Guard.

A very satisfied bunch.

 

All over, thanks everyone.