In the Kursk Saliant - Battle Group Kursk

Yesterday at the club we played a game of Battlegroup Kursk. I had been looking forward to playing this set of rules since their release late last year and having played an earlier reincarnation Kampfgruppe Normandy.

Our game set up was a "Meeting Engagement" with two forces composed of infantry and tanks approaching the battlefield from opposite corners of the table. The set up has four objectives identified which, possession of, determines victory and impacts the overall morale of the side that does not have control of them.

The initial set also takes into account the amount of recon assets each side possess to determine the how far on the two sides can advance their lead units. The German force having a platoon of armoured cars and recon infantry in half tracks dominated the recon of the position allowing the Germans to occupy three of the objectives at the start of the game.

The German recon victory had immediate consequences for the Russians as the three objectives now occupied plus their loss of the recon move meant they had to draw four chits. These chits generally have a number on them from 1 - 5 plus a few with special events such as air attacks, vehicle breakdowns etc. The number on the chits indicate that number of morale points lost to that side. These chits are also drawn when units are destroyed, when unpinning friendly units or when an objective is lost to the enemy. Thus the end of battle is predicated by the events of battle and the Russians having just lost 14 points were off to a bad start.

The Battlefield - Komsomolets State Farm and the workers settlements

The success of the German recon also meant that the Russians would be advancing into an ambush zone set up by those same recon units, supported by German pre-registered artillery fire. In the end, as the T34s advanced on to their corner, it was the artillery that caused the first losses of a couple of T34s plus several pinned tanks. This was swiftly followed by an air attack from bomb armed FW190s who screamed in to add to the mayhem caused by the artillery.

The Russian tanks reeling under this barrage of fire responded as best they could by knocking out the armoured car platoon to their front. These pyres burned throughout the battle on the front line.

German Recon occupy the front line - the SdKfz 231s burn in the background as German artillery falls on the Russian tanks

The rest of the German recon infantry resolutely awaited their support units and watched as the Russian armour struggled to regain its composure to recommence their approach to the Farm. They were able to choose their moment to strike, as being recon units in cover made them difficult for the Russians to spot and gave them multiple ambush opportunities.

Ambush position on the main road

As the T34s now supported by infantry and T70s closed in on the Farm complex the first German reserves started to arrive led by a formidable Tiger platoon.

Enter the Tigers

Urra - The Russian Horde closes

It was now time for the Russian artillery to enter the battle and they reserved their greeting for the Tigers. The Russian CO obviously had connections as he calmly picked up the field telephone and requested support from Army. The big Russian guns responded promptly and large calibre shells started to drop around and on the Tigers in the fields close to the main road, knocking out one of these leviathans. The mayhem caused was compounded by the Germans having put Panzer Grenadiers on the decks of their Tigers who were now scrambling for cover in the barrage and getting themselves pinned just when their support was needed.

The Tigers are welcomed by the "God of War"

Despite the success of the Russian artillery, events were moving to stifle their advance. The German reserves were coming on thick and fast to consolidate the gains made by the recce. The Panzers and Panzer Grenadiers were spreading out to deal with any threatened Russian penetration of the front line.

German Reinforcements

Panzer Grenadiers in the wheat

The artillery fire rained down in the forward area

The Grenadiers move in to consolidate the position

Panzer IV's and a Flamm Panzer approach the Farm Complex

The Germans abilities in command and control were enabling them to build up their front line force quicker than the Russians could theirs, despite the distance across the table that the German units had to travel. The Russian force needed to break in to the German line quickly to regain the initiative or the front would solidify around the German positions.

Panzer Grenadier Kompanie HQ with AA protection

The Russians having now got a solid group of armour and infantry up to the farm complex now commenced their main attack. Their initial preparation consisted of firing along their front to pin the German infantry and tanks prior to their assault. Then using their special tactics of "Stal Stal" allowing their armour to pretty well move en masse they threw it in at the recon elements occupying the Farm Complex.

This attack resembled the tanks rolling into the buildings occupied by Sgt Steiner's men in that classic Russian Front movie "Cross of Iron". The fighting was close up and personal, but this time the Germans held. Throwing in dice and chits to unpin their supporting units, the Germans were able to throw back the Russian infantry following up their tanks.

The Panzer Grenadiers who had come up with the Tigers launched a counterattack on the Russian infantry throwing them out of some workers houses, before they themselves were thrown back by more assaulting Russian infantry.

"Where the Iron Crosses Grow"

The Russian armour was held and as the German armoured cars continued to burn with the occasional pop of 20mm ammunition, the smoke of battle started to shroud the carnage.

Russian Reserves

Thus ended our Battle at the Komsomolets State Farm on the road to Kursk.

My impressions of the rules and game:
I really enjoyed the flow of the game. These rules played faster as we got our head round the mechanisms and, with the chit draws, give a lot of the "unexpected" that many "IgoUgo" games seem to lack. As signed up members of the Too Fat Lardies IABSM club, the unexpected has now become the expected, and so these rules ticked a box. There is an element of the old school systems of recording ammo amounts for individual vehicles and ticking off usage that is slightly cumbersome, but I stress slightly. This is counterbalanced by the author including the use of replenishment vehicles and rear area support units such as medical teams and wire laying groups that can add "spice" to any scenario.

I suppose my only quibble having sat back and thought about these rules is the orbats themselves. The use of   three tank platoons particularly for the Germans and 5 man sections with one light machine gun nags at my historical simulation gene. I understand these are mechanics to make the game system playable, particularly with the German machine guns. Apparently two of these weapons in a section are not workable in the rules.

Would these be my turn to set of WWII rules? Definitely not. I'm afraid IABSM still hold that position.
Would I happiliy play this game system again? Definitely Yes. The rules give a fun game that seems to capture that movie element to WWII and I will get a copy of my own to play. I think for the Russian front these rules have some distinct advantages particularly when there are numorous units on the table.

I will certainly be awaiting the launch of the Normandy module (which is more my own personal interest area) with great interest.

Great game, good fun. Thanks to Andy, Jason Nathan and Gus for a fun day

Robin Hood - Escape from Nottingham

The year of 2012 was rounded off with an annual get together in North Devon at Chas's. Our New Year's Eve games tend to be light hearted affairs and this years scenario was one of the best.

It was just another day in Nottingham, but King John and the Sheriff had laid on a feast of entertainment for the good people of the city. Not only would they get to see the Sheriff take the Lady Marion as his wife, to be married by the Bishop of Nottingham, but also as a little starter to the days celebrations, they would get to see Robin Hood executed by losing his head on the block. What fun, what joy!!


The Bishop of Nottingham on his way to marry the happy couple,The Sheriff and Maid Marion

The Bishop had to make his way to Nottingham through the forest road to Trent Bridge, just by the cricket ground, a new game invented by the peasants. Now that Robin Hood was in custody no trouble was expected, and the Bishop even travelled on foot to be able to swap pleasantry's with the locals he met on the journey.

Nottingham is on guard as the outlaw Robin Hood is due to be executed before the wedding.The road at Trent Bridge is heavily policed by the Sheriffs men.

The town was tense with expectation, surely Robin Hood would be able to stop this, surely something had to happen, but what?

In the centre of town King John, the Sheriff, Gisborne and the guard await Robin Hoods meeting with the axeman.

As the King and the Sheriff awaited Robin Hood's arrival in the square, the city guard became aware of large groups of peasants moving in the nearby forest. Were the natives restless? Was there a plan to rescue the outlaw? surely not!

But wait, is there a hint of trouble!

Then it started. The crowd that had gathered in the city square suddenly turned ugly. Robin's men had infiltrated the towns folk and were now attacking the guard. Someone threw a sword to Robin and the fight was on.

Robin makes a break for the wall supported by his merry men disguised as townsfolk

Robin Hood's men were desperately fighting to hold of the Sheriffs crossbows and spear men as they tried to fall back to the south tower. Equally the Sheriff was desperate to make sure that Hood would be recaptured, nothing would be allowed to spoil his day.

Little John leads the foresters in an ambush on the Bishops convoy

Meanwhile the Bishops guard was assaulted by a hail of archery delivered from the forest edge that decimated a unit of his crossbowmen. The remaining guard closed up on the Bishop's coach as Little John led a charge from the forest by the Merry Men.

Will Scarlet and Friar Tuck take the wall by the south tower to enable Robin's escape

At the same time Will Scarlet and Friar Tuck led a coup de main party to take and hold the south tower curtain wall and thus enable Robins small band to get away from the city. The plan seemed to be working like clockwork, or was it?

The fighting is fierce on the road between the Bishop's guard and Little John's men

All of a sudden things started to go wrong. The Bishops men gave as good as they got and as soon as the Merry Men closed in hand to hand the armour and swords of the Bishop's guard started to take effect. The guard was badly mauled, but the Bishop was on his way into town. He would have made a useful hostage for any future bargaining.

The Bishop's coach makes it into the city walls but only just

As the Bishop came careering in through the city gate, his carriage looking like a porcupine on wheels with all the arrow shafts sticking out of it. The Sheriff and King John's men started to win the battle in the town and on the wall.

Friar Tuck was struck and seen to fall from the battlements landing in a heap of straw and dung, that was fortunately well placed!!.

Robin's men were either captured or cut down as the fugitives fell back to the south tower and made their escape through the Trent to the safety of the forest beyond.

With Robin recaptured, Marion decided to rescue herself. Girl Power

And what of our hero, well he was last seen diving out of the way of the Bishops coach that got between him and the pursuing Sheriff's men. When they finally clambered over a rather shaken and distraught Bishop the outlaw was nowhere to be seen. Like wise the lady Marion deciding discretion being the better part of valour quietly armed herself and slipped past the guard at the gate to make her way into the forest.

The King and the Sheriff had won the battle, but, perhaps, not the war!

Thanks to Chas for setting up a great days entertainment, and to Ian, Clive, Nick, Steve and Vince for getting into character.

Happy 2013 to everyone
Jon

The Battle of Whipton Cross - Wars of the Roses

It is a common misconception that the far south west was a quiet backwater during the Wars of the Roses when one considers where the major clashes happened. The battle of Whipton Cross, a hamlet just outside of the City of Exeter must rank as one of the major clashes of this dynastic struggle between the Houses of Lancaster and York.



The Devon Wargames Group have a tradition of pulling together an annual Xmas game to include all club members, and this years event was our fictitious Wars of the Roses clash, where all members were asked to contribute at least one unit of troops and align themselves with one house or the other. The rules chosen to run our big game was Peter Pigs "Bloody Barons", and yesterday saw the two forces fight it out on a three table battle set up with hundreds of colourful troops flying banners for the various factions.


The Lancastrian left with the village of Whipton bottom left

The Centre table

The Lancastrian right - the quiet sector!!

The tables were set up as illustrated and with no apology from the author, captioned from the point of view of the Lancastrian House whom God has favoured.

"An army marches on its stomach"

As with all major campaigns it is really important to make sure your forces are well provisioned, and with the festive season well under way, a good supply of nibbles and mince pies were made readily available to commanders throughout the days battle.

Whilst the terrain was arranged the various troops of each faction were organised into Household, Retinue and Levy contingents, with the die rolls made to determine late arrivals on the field.

The commanders set up their respective forces and then the skulduggery and double dealing was sorted out. Bloody Barons has a set up procedure where the commanders can spend points on various aspects that might influence a Wars of the Roses campaign such as bribery, spying, route of march, supplies etc. depending on what priority the commander gives to these various aspects may give his forces an advantage over the enemy.

Well it seemed that the Yorkists were on their game as my commander none other than the Earl of Warwick found himself away from the field of battle when it all "kicked off". In addition several of our units who were ordered to take up strong defensive positions were led to the wrong parts of the field and found themselves out of position. Oh the fickle Gods of War!!


The forces arrayed on the left

With the forces set up, the battle swung into action. The Lancastrian plan was to hold the wings and smash the centre. The Yorkists went for holding their right, contest the centre and destroy the Lancastrian fores on their left at Whipton Cross moving to support the fight for the centre.

The centre set up

The clash in the centre when it came was fierce and bloody with the advantage swinging one way to the other, but eventually with gaps appearing in the Lancastian line the Yorkist pressure started to take control.



The hard pressed Lancastrian right - they shall not pass!!

Whilst both forces merely skirmished and scowled on the Lancastrian left, Warwick on the right faced an onslaught of Yorkists keen to take advantage of his troops poor dispositions and his apparent absence from the field. However as their forces closed on the Lancastrians they were met by a hail of well place arrows and crossbow bolts severely mauling the lead units.

As his forces were one by one overwhelmed, Warwick finally appeared receiving a roar of approval from his remaining troops. With defeat staring the Lancastrians in the face, honour demanded one final effort of resistance. 

The Yorkists prepare to assault Whipton Cross

The gallant Lancastian garrison of Whipton - Warwick's retinue with mercenary crossbows in support 

Warwick and his Household troops

Gaps start to appear in the Lancastrian centre as the Yorkists close

Desperate defence around Whipton as the Yorkist seek to crush all resistance

With threats of disloyalty and treachery breaking out across the front - we had a simple die roll to test to see if any commander wished to change sides at this point in the battle - Warwick seized the initiative leading his mercenary pikemen in one last desperate attack to dispute the crossing of the Whipton Brook by lead elements of the Yorkist left as they turned to support their comrades in the centre.

Warwick places himself in the front rank as he leads a crashing charge by his mercenary pikes which smash the leading Yorkists as they attempt to cross the Whipton brook.

The fighting here became desperate and bloody as men struggled in the slippery muddy brook to maintain their footing whilst trying to kill the man in front. Warwick plunged into the mass of enemy bill men cutting a swathe through them with battle axe in hand until the Yorkists had had enough and broke in rout to the safety of their side of the brook.

This was but a minor glorious interlude in what turned into a crushing victory for the House of York. Lancastrian resistance in the South West was at end. The field would be left to Henry Tudor to contest, but that as they say is another story.

The day was a great feast of wargaming. Bloody Barons gave a good account of itself when used to run a large club game with over 12 players on three tables attempting to stay in sync with each other as the battle evolved. The club really did itself proud with all members making a contribution to the days fun and our big game provided an excellent close to our games for 2012. We are all looking forward to going bigger and better in 2013.

A happy and safe Christmas to all .

Barbarossa - WW2 - Flames of War

November saw Chas, myself and Andy B put on a scenario from Operation Barbarossa, using "Flames of War" rules. Jason joined in because no one else wanted him.

It was a 3000 point a side game, with the Soviets fielding a battalion of tanks (including 5 monster T 35's and 11 T 28's) and a battalion of infantry, all with attendant supporting arms.

The German force was more modest, with a tank company, supported by a company of panzer grenadiers and attendant supporting forces (including priority air support - Stuka schwerpunkte).

The scenario was an "encounter" battle, so half the platoons on both sides were deployed on the table, with the rest being delayed and scattered reserves (roll for entry from turn 3 and dice for where each platoon arrives).

Initial deployment saw 33 Soviet tanks facing 6 panzer III's and 3 armoured cars. The Soviets raced forward and the German pioneers raced onto the central hill objective and did what pioneers do best, dig in !

The German armoured cars were wiped out by a company of T 28's. The German motorcycle recce on the other side of the table saw two companies of Soviet light tanks and decided discretion was the better part of valour.

The German tanks went firm and shot it out with the T 26's and BT 5's, inflicting serious loses and sending a company of T 26's and one of BT 5's packing. The wave attack rule came into play and the BT 5's reappeared, at full strength, as if by magic !

A platoon of T 35's and a horde of infantry joined the Soviets and a platoon of Stugs bolstered the Germans facing the T 28's (much to Chas's relief).

The shooting contest started again and the new BT 5 and T 35 companies suffered the same fate.

The above picture shows the point when the Soviets conceded. Chas can be seen leaving the scene, suppressing his laughter.

Quality beat the quantity this time, but it might have been a different story if the Soviets had refused to engaged in a long range shooting contest and had just rushed the German positions.

Just to show there were no hard feelings the Soviet players posed for a picture with "Chuckling Chas".

Vince

Barbarossa 2012 - Flames of War

On the other table this month we had a beautiful collection of early Russian Front Flames of War action going on. The models and terrain capturing the feel of Russia 1941. Enjoy some wargamers porn, including Jason

Masses of Russian Light Armour

German units looking on in awe

Masses of Russian Heavy Armour. You've got to love those multiple turrets!

German Infantry preparing to see off the Russian Horde