Camp Cromwell Bulletin 05/05/05

Friday Juniors night

James' Grenadiers v. Dillon's US Infantry in 1500 pts Free for All.
James sent his armour (1 Tiger + 2 MkIIIs) to the right to deal with the Shermans and left his left flank under-protected. Dillon's Honeys, supported by artillery (3T19/105s), took out the Grenadiers, mortars & 2 Pak 40s protecting the German left and took the objective for the loss of just one tank. It seems "Tiger Terror" is being surplanted by "Honey Horror".

Saturday chez Barrie's

Barrie, Leigh & Jim had a hard core afternoon & evening of wargames with footy on the box.
We tried out some of the less used scenarios.

Game 1: The Raid. Barrie's LRDG v. Jim & Leigh's Fucilieri.

We were fumbling a bit with an unfamiliar scenario. Barrie probably made a bad call making it a dusk battle as it slowed down his guys relatively more than the Ities. The Ities also did well with their deployment dice, getting most troops turning up at the right end of the table to cut off the retreat. It ended with the last surviving Brit team surrounded by 6 Itie platoons. The 5 Semoventes assaulting a single team to finish it off looked a bit like overkill. No Brit survivors, so a 6:1 win for the Axis.

An interesting scenario, but the outsome is very dependant on the luck of where the defender's reserves arrive. But it was good to give the Sahariana & LRDG a run - such cool stuff !

Game 2: Fighting Withdrawal. Barrie's US inf withdrawing from Jim & Leigh's DAK.

Barrie's Sherman ambush was used up stopping a dangerous infantry push. The MkIIIs then rushed an objective and survived the Sherman counterattack to win the game. The USAF failed to arrive at all. A 5:2 win for the Axis (1 Gren plat lost).
The withdrawal schedule takes a bit of getting the hang of (we think we got it right). Not sure if I enjoyed it because it was a good scenario or because our plan worked so well.

Game 3: Hasty Attack: Barrie's Mech Inf attacking Jim & Leigh's Grenadiers.

The USAF tried harder this time. They turned up every time for the first 6 turns (before disappearing again). They were pretty ineffective against the dug in German vets, but on turn 3 when the 3 planes attacked the wrong side they destroyed the US M8 platoon (the Lees & Priests waved their attackers off). When the 2 Pak38's ambushed the Lee platoon & destroyed it in 2 turns it was Game Over. A 6:1 win for the Axis (total German losses 3 inf teams).
This scenario is a modification of Hold the Line (off the website) - it's a bit more complex and not really an improvement.

Tuesday

Training battle for new Steve: Steve's Russian Inf v. Jim's Fucilieri - 1500 pts FFA.
Steve learned all about 90/54s.

Thursday

Steve J & Peter's Panzer Grenadiers v. Jim & Steve P's Russian Inf in 2500 points Free For All
We went to 2500 points to give room for some serious armour - 3 Panthers, 5 MkIV*s, 10 T34s, 4 SU122s & 3 KV1s. It was a long bloodbath that lasted 'till after midnight.

Steve J made a methodical attack on his left with the Panthers & P/grenadiers. Steve P fought a delaying action with infantry supported by the SUs & KVs, frustrated by the Stormtrooper moves over a crest & back continually subjecting him to fire without chance of reply.

On the other flank, Peter's MkIV*s & Pak40s pussyfooted with the T34s, killing most of them. But the Russians kept passing morale while the Panzers funked off after just 3 kills.

The T34s then rushed the objective and endured repeated counterattacks. They kept losing tanks one by one, but they just kept passing morale until the very last tank held the objective undisputed. By then Steve J was almost through, but it was too late.

The Russians won a battle they should have lost. Of their 10 platoons, 5 were lost, 3 had 1 or 2 survivors & one was about to be overrun by Panthers.

Next week:

Thursday: There's talk of doing something completely different, maybe an Ancient &/or Modder Fokkers.