Something I like

How did I cope before without all afternoons off, I don't seem to have enough hours in the day.

I just went in and got on with my SYW game, I got through another few moves but felt I had to call a halt and retreat. You see although I have a sign up saying I am closed with the shop front being all glass I cannot hide, so if someone batters into the door and see me they think I should do the decent thing and serve them, despite said sign. So perhaps my solo gaming will have to be done when I am usually closed.

Anyway the upshot of my starter game is that I got most things right but a couple of serious things wrong, well one main mistake, I did not have enough commanders on the table and this would have made a difference to the steadfastness of my men. As for the game itself the British were coming out as the losers and were close to breaking point, their cavalry had been beaten and swept from the field so their left flank was wide open and the 2nd Brigade had obviously got the frights as they refused all orders to advance once the Guards had retreated from Kutzdorf. The French had lost one battalion and although a couple more needed to rally they were winning the firefight.

2nd Brigade not so keen now.

Mercy buckets silver plate.

It is really going wrong for the British, outnumbered and on the back foot.

So there we have it, my first foray into the Seven Years War and it won't be my last, I can see more troops being added now after I finish all my other projects which will take about two to three weeks perhaps. In the meantime I am ordering up officers as I need at least three more for each side at the moment, maybe even four.

The first naval campaign is coming to a close, it has given four of us something to do for about a week I have another just started. I have a small action to fight and then a report to write up so it will keep me going for another day or so. I suddenly realised I needed damage cards for the ships concerned and looked out all my old naval stuff and thankfully found all my old files, but I am having a hard time opening them.

I looked online to see if I could pick up a game to play on the PC, there is only one which caught my eye and I first heard about it way back in the early 90's and for its day was off the charts, Hitlers War in Russia now titled War in the East but the £68 price tag was just too much, still.......

So I have plenty to do in the upcoming weeks, but I do miss sharing everything at the club with social interaction and a bit of a laugh and a chinwag.

Operation Martlet Probe into Fontenoy

Lt. John Cavendish, last seen defending a position in the Western Desert now leads his Cameronians against the men of the 12th SS Panzer Division in Fonteny-le-Pesnil, his job is to clear the town, gain the road and push towards the high ground around Rauray. To aid him in this attack he has a Sherman tank, a PIAT team and a medic along with his full, up to strength platoon, the Germans on the other hand have already suffered casualties and their squads are reduced but they are also veteran fighters and have a Panzer IV on standby should it be required.

Cavendish's plan is to advance along the left hand side of the main road, take the lone building and push on through the German lines, the Germans occupy the outskirts of the town and unknown to Cavendish have fortified the building he is aiming for, he has inadvertently chosen the strongest position in the defences to assault.

The preparatory bombardment of the enemy has not helped the British but they rush towards the village, the Sherman targets the bunker hoping to rattle the men inside and make an assault possible, also mortar fire manages to cover parts of the building in smoke. As the British approach closer to the festung, Obersturmfuhrer Braun radios for armoured support and is rewarded as Oberscharfuhrer Weber's Panzer IV rumbles into view and starts to open up on the enemy using the main road. Although ordered forward just as the smoke dissipates, Sergeant Stuart cannot get his squad to move as machine gun fire pins them down, despite the best efforts of the platoon medic casualties mount.

With the minor British probe on the left held up Braun moves a squad along towards the crossroads and pours even more fire into the British huddled on the road. A foolhardy attempt by the PIAT team to rush the Panzer IV ends in disaster as the men are shot down, the British armour still concentrates on the bunker to its front, but the support is pointless as the infantry cannot approach the building. As casualties mount Cavendish gives the order to retire.

So, that's the first game over, four moves in total which took me a leisurely two hours or so. I spent some time looking up rules as it has been a while since I played Bolt Action and I replayed some orders as I realised I had not done the right thing or was being unfair to the troops and there was a better, more commonsense action for them.

What went wrong? Well, sadly for the British they picked the house turned bunker to attack and then when the moment came to assault it the assaulting squad refused to move. The German fire was also pretty ferocious as the veteran SS squads had two LMG's each and their luck was most definitely in. The positioning of the Sherman was particularly bad and despite being on target with the smoke the mortar then suddenly could not hit anything. First blood to the Germans. I apologise for the photographs as I set the table up in the living room and the light is pretty bad, I did not want people gawping through the shop windows at the saddo playing alone, they wouldn't understand.