Hail Mr Lincoln: ACW 28mm

ACW scenario for 14 June 2016

Ratings numbers are: HTH / Shooting / Stamina / Command Rating

Confederates:
Div 1: 4 cavalry 3/2/4/9 mtd, 2/3/4/9 dismtd (shotguns & pistols).
           Start deployed within 6" of town, mounted or dismounted.
Div 2: 4 veteran infantry: 5/5/6/9, 1 rifled cannon.
           Start on centre edge of table in columns abreast.
Div 3: ditto. Start in RH corner of table in 2 columns of 2 with guns between.
Div 4 ditto.  Start on or beside road on left flank in 2 columns.
CIC: CR 9.  Start with Div 2.


Union:
Div 1: 4 cavalry 3/2/4/9 mtd, 2/3/4/9 dismtd (carbines), 2 Zouaves: 4/4/6/9.
           Start deployed within 18" of road entry point at centre of rear edge.
Div 2: 6 Regular infantry: 4/4/6/9, 2 rifled canon.
           Start in 3 columns of 2 with guns between about 27" from rear LH corner
Div 3: ditto.  Start in 3 columns of 2 with guns between about 27" from rear LH corner
CIC: CR 8.  Start with div 1.

Objectives:
Win by:
1) Breaking the enemy army.
2) Being in possession of all the buildings in the town at 10pm if no army is broken.

The Confederates are on the far side commanded by Mike on their left and James on their right. Union are this side of the table with Mark on their right and Jim on their left.

The Union cavalry have charged the Rebel horse and done well enough for the Zouaves to get up close to the town.  The Union have also rushed forward on the far flank.  On the near flank the Union are fluffing about, but a blunder has brought Rebs over the river to them.

The Zouaves have seized the railway station & the Saloon.  The Rebs get into the whorehouse.  The union attack on the left, but are beaten off. On this flank the over-enthusiastic Rebs have fallen back over the river.

This view is from the Union left.  The Union have reformed their line.  Rebs from the centre are coming over the ridge to help out.  The village has stalemated with shooting between houses and cavalry lurking safely in the rear.   Mark has got his attack underway on the Union right.

Whoops I got a bit close here, someone might notice that some of the Rebs are English Civil War musketeers (we gave up waiting for Chris to paint his Rebs typical of Confederate logistics). 

Mark has pushed the Rebs back over the river and also reinforced the centre. 

As Mike's left is driven back he tries a desperate cavalry charge past madame Orres.  It drives back the Union horse, but Mark's infantry turn on it and shoot it up.

The Rebel cavalry has broken and Mike's infantry is sore pressed.

Another pic from the Union left.  A Union cavalry charge past the railway station into the Reb's flank has been beaten off, but it served to take the heat out of the Rebel counterattack on this flank.  Mike's division on the far flank has now broken & the Rebs concede the battle.

Bolt Action at Good Games

Jim's Panzegrenadiers v. JohnM & Chris' Soviets
1000 pts modified Bridgehead Scenario.  We played the Bridgehead scenario from the Ostfront book with time limit 8-9 turns & no limitations on troop types.

The Soviets are on the far side of the river.  They initially deploy up to half their force within 12" of the bridge.  They could have put troops on this side, but declined the option.  The remainder come on as delayed reserves from turn 3.  The Germans start with half in the first wave on turn 1 & the rest on turn 2. To win you need to have troops within 6" of the centre of the bridge with no enemy likewise at the end of the game.  

From the start things did not go well for the Riech.  Their artillery & MMG were wiped out by enemy artillery & mortars before they fired a shot leaving the spearpoint rather short of support fire.  An over-ambitious charge over the bridge by panzergrenadiers out of the Hamomag was destroyed by ambush fire & counterattack.  Belatedly, the Germans went on the defensive, hunkered down a unit in the house near the bridge & played for a draw.  But they had lost too much by then, The Ziz & ATRs picked off the Hanomag & Stummel and a Soviet counterattack across the bridge by a truck full of pioneers took the house on turn 8 leaving the Germans with no way of coming back, so they conceded.

It was decisive victory for the Soviets, but that does not mean the scenario was unbalanced, although we might have had a bit too much terrain this time.  The Germans had bad luck early, but still might have salvaged a draw if they had gone the defensive sooner.

The Way We Were: 1975

Reorganising the wargames room turned up some old pics of the way we were in the days of steam cameras.

A summary execution on the veranda at 89 Cambridge Rd for crimes against the state on the wargames table.

Dramatis personae: Sue (wife MkI) as Madame Defarge, a rather younger me as Ernest Defarge, Socrates as the cat, Mike Shevak as executioner and Peter Williams as the condemned.

Medieval: Scots v. English

Braveheart was on TV last night & the NBN was so slow I couldn't watch Iview or Netflix (thanks Malcom).  Crap movie, but there are worse battle scenes in movies.

English: Jim & Chris
Scots: Mike & Mark

The Scots are on the hill far left.  Cavalry on their left,  highlanders in the centre with shiltrons each side.  The English have cavalry on their left in column, Men at Arms on their right, bowmen in the centre & billmen in reserve.

 The English occupy the village while advancing onto the Scots right flank.  The Scots redeploy their spearmen to face the cavalry.

In the centre, the English bowmen advanced, but were immediately charged and disappeared in a flurry of lousy dice.The English cavalry charged the shiltrons, also threw lousy dice and bounced off.

Down a division already, the English went on the attack rather than let the Scots keep the initiative.  The billmen this side of the village charged, but the cavlry refused to renew their attack in unison & their attack petered out.

On the far flank the English Men at Arms withstood the charge of the highlanders & are pushing them back, but the Scots cavalry have outflanked them preventing exploitation.  The billmen in the centre have fallen back shaken. The English cavalry have finally charged again and this time have  made a hole in the line, breaking the shiltron on the end of the line. 

The succesful English cavalry charged on into the shaken spearmen that were withdrawn to be rallied and took out 2 units. 

The English cavalry success came too late.  The billmen finally broke in the centre and the Men at Arms on the right were overwhelmed front & flank by highlanders & cavalry.  So Mel won this one.

Bolt Action: Bridgehead Scenario from Ostfront

Jim's Germans v. Chris' Soviets 1000 pts

The Soviets start with half their army deployed within 12" of the bridge - Dug In not hidden (Dug In = - extra 1 to hit).  The other half come on in delayed reserve from turn 3. The Germans come on from the left, half in 1st wave on turn 1, half in reserve from turn 2.

The Germans set up fire support with an LMG squad on their right, MMG & A/car on their left, HT's in the centre  and charged the bridge with the rest of the infantry.

The German panzergrenadiers with assault rifles took the bridge, but the Soviet reserves are gettign sorted for a counterattack

The Soviets lost heavily, but the Germans had lost heavily in the original attack and there were just too many Soviets to resist.  They retook the bridge on turn 8.  This scenario goes for 10+ turns which seems a bit out of whack with the norm.  An extra turn or 2 to allow for delayed reserves is more logical.

Modder Fokkers

Mike Shevak was down from Coff's Harbour & as an old veteran of WWI air wargames at Mt Stuart in the 70's he was keen so see how the rules had evolved.

Game 1: Mike x2 with 2x Albatrii v. Jim's Tripe, Chris' Neiuport & Mark's Pup.
It was 2 v. 3, but the Abatrii had twin MG's & tougher bodies.

The inexperienced Germans made a mistake in splitting apart.  The Allies got in between them and ganged up on MikeN after MikeS dived through the pack..

MikeN's Albatross ducked & weaved with a trio of Allies on his rear end as MikeS made a token gesture  of turning back towards the fight.

Oakie peeled off to chase MikeS who was now just trying to escape.  Jim & Chris shared the kill of his comrade while MikeS ran out of height & couldn't escape Oakie's Pup.

Game 2: Chris & Mark had 2 Fokker DVII's v. Jim's SE5, MikeN's Camel & MikeS' Spad.
Afgain 2 v 3, but the Fokker DVII was the best plane going.

Things went pear shaped for the Germans in the first pass when Chris was wounded. 

The Allies immediately  went for the weakened prey

Now it was Chris's turn to be hounded by a flock of enemies while his comrade found a safe spot behind the action.  Mark now found himself on the wrong side of the table with 3 undamaged enemy plane between him and his home side of the table.  He did a pretty good job of slipping through the pack & making his escape.

Barrie's Sunday School: Bolt Action & Saga

With 8 punters turning up Barrie's Sunday school split into 2 groups, 4 playing Saga & 4 playing Bolt Action.

Saga x2

Jake fought Nick & Barrie while Barrie fought JohnM.

Bolt Action
Darren was introduced to Bolt Action teaming up with Jim using Jim's Germans.
JohnM & Chris used a Soviet army provided by JohnM.
Scenario: Hold Until Relieved Germans defending, 1,000 pts.
Rules: The book with WWPD Season 3 changes & our house rule on Bombardment Miscalculation.

The scenario has a single objective near the middle of the table - in this case the road T-junction. The Germans deployed 2 units first  - 2 infantry in the house next to the objective.  The Soviets then deployed all their force no closer than 18" to Germans on the table, or the objective.  The rest of the Germans came on from the RH side half in the first wave on turn 1, the rest as Reserves.
The Germans brought on infantry & MMG on their left to distract the Soviet right while their main force came on their right to directly support the defence of the objective.
The German left was a side show, but a significant part of the Soviet force was diverted away from the objective to destroy it & the MMG got in some useful fire support against the Soviets attacking the village before they died.
The Soviet artillery miscalculated but we used the Camp Cromwell randomised plot rather than RAW Friendly Fire.  This resulted in the German armoured car getting pinned down until turn 5.  If we'd used the RAW the Germans could have placed the barrage on the main Soviet attack and very likely won the battle with one stroke of luck in turn 2 - and thus ruined what was to be a very good game.
The Soviet attack was lead by Pioneers who cleared out both houses with their flamethrower beofre German firepower finally blew them away.
Two more Soviet infantry squads armed with SMGs moved up to contest the village, but 2 squads of veteran panzergrenadiers supported by their half tracks took them on.

At the end of turn 6 the objective was still contested with 1 Soviet squad pinned down on the road between the houses & the German HQ which moved up on the far side of the house.  The dice decreed a turn 7 in which the Germans shot up then finished off the surviving Soviets in the village by assault.

Friday afternoon Bolt Action

With only Chris & Jim available this afternoon we moved the venue from Good Games to Camp Cromwell.  

Bridgehead Scenario from the Ostfront book:
This scenario has a mechanised German force attacking a bridge over an un-fordable river.  The Soviets start with half on and the rest in delayed reserves (coming on turn 3).  The Germans have half in 1st wave and half in normal reserve.  Game length is 10+ turns.  The winner is the side holding the bridge at the end (troops within 6" & no enemy within 6").  The Soviets on the table at the start are Dug In (an extra -1 to hit until they move).

 The Germans are coming from the right.

The Germans are pushing infantry forward under a barrage of covering fire.  One of the Soviet forward units has already been blown away.

The Germans have taken the objective & destroyed almost all the Soviet infantry, but the Soviet armour could still save the day as the German's have nothing more powerful than light a/tank.

The Soviet light tank was pinned to death by the 38t, A/car & ATR.  The T34 tried to move up to dispute the bridge, but was forced to withdraw, then immobilised by some hot shooting by the 38t.  The only other Soviet unit alive is a MMG team in the house who had no hope of reaching the bridge.  The Soviets conceded in turn 9.