Nick's Garage 27/02/09

Warhammer Ancients: Nick's Franks v. Cameron's Byzantines

Cameron refused his centre & attacked both flanks of the Frank line with cavalry as it advanced. His flank attacks defeated Nick's flank guards, but did not stop the charge in the centre which smashed the Byzantine line to gain victory.

FOW: Rich & Tom's Canadians v. Tony's 21st Panzer in 1500 pt FFA

Tony guarded his LH objective among the hedges with SS Panzergrenadiers & deployed his armour (8 mkIVs & 1 Tiger) in a long line centre & right. Neblewerfers & SPAA were in support behind.
The Canadians put infantry on both objectives, 6pdrs in the centre, armour, bugs, wasps & Priests on the right & M10s in reserve in the centre.

The Canadians advanced with their armour on the right & defended the rest of their line.
The Germans dug in on the LH objective and advanced their armour.

The MkIVs in the centre took out the wasps but then got destroyed by the Shermans & 6pdrs. The Shermans & bugs continued on through the hedges to attack the objective covered by the SS. On the other flank the MKIVs & Tiger destroyed most of the 6pdrs then engaged the M10s. The MkIVs gradually melted away, but they took all but one of the M10s with them while an air attack got past the AA to get the Tiger.

On the other flank the Shermans attacked the SS. The SS fell back from the first attack, but the hedges took their toll in bogged tanks. A counter attack through smmoke destroyed the Shermans & the bugs.

Both sides now had beaten off attacks & had no objectives under threat, but had heavy casualties. The Germans had also lost their commander & all their tanks. The surviving Canadian armour, 1M10 advanced on the undefended objective in the centre. The SS moved over to contest, but the M10 got there first & when the SS failed tank terror held it to win the battle.

Camp Cromwell 24/02/09

Late War Big Push 2000 pts on 8x6 table
Jim & Steve's Grenadiers defending v. Nick, Byron, Rich & Elizabeth's Russian Armour

The Russians had 3 platoons: 5 JS + 5 Shermans + 10 Shermans + 1 cmd Sherman & Sturmoviks.
The Germans had 1 Grenadier, 105's & a King Tiger on the table, 3 Pak 40s & 4 Marders in ambush with 2 more Grenadiers, HMG, Neblewerfers & 2 SPAA in reserve.

The Germans suffered badly in the preliminary bombardment losing half their artillery & anti-tank guns. It got worse on turn 2 when the Sturmoviks got the King Tiger - a cause for much cellebration on one side of the table (see pic 2)& equal despair on the other. On the other hand, the Russians lost a few tanks on the minefields & to the surviving 2 105's as they advanced.

The JS's went to the left, the small Sherman platoon to the right & the large Sherman platoon up the centre. (Pic 1 shows the initial deployment).

The German reserves were slow to arrive so the line looked awfully thin. The Marder ambush was put in the centre wood to face the large Sherman platoon, but shot badly, getting just one with 6 shots. Then when the artillery was finished off by the JS's & the lead one took an objective it looked all over. But the Germans had a card or two left. The 1 surviving Pak 40 was dropped out of ambush to contest the objective & 2 Marders survived return fire to hit back & force a morale test on the Sherman platoon (weakened in the minefields & by boggings in the woods). The Shermans failed morale & when the Commander tried to rally them he failed too. The only German reinforcements to show up, a Grenadier platoon, had shrugged off the Sturmoviks & was now able to support the Pak 40 on the objective near the JS's. Suddenly the Germans had a sniff.

The 5 Shermans on the right now attacked the 1st Grenadiers on the other objective while the JS's backed off from the 2nd Grenadiers & finished off the last Pak 40. The 1st Grenadiers had a Panzerfaust & support by HQ with 2 Panzerknackers, so it was a fair fight, but the German luck reverted to form & the Shermans took the objective.

The Germans had one last chance for victory, the 2 surviving Marders moved to the edge of the wood for side shots on the last 2 JS's. They needed a bail to force a morale test on the platoon, or 2 kills to destroy it - as the Russians had already lost their commander this would have meant Coy Morale failure & a German victory. They got the two hits, but the JS's threw 2 5's to save & the German miracle comeback finally petered out.

With the Germans decimated by the preliminary bombardment & the air strike on their KT on turn 2, it had then looked like it was only matter of the Russians going through the motions. But the ambushes, weakened as they were, plus a bit of luck swung the game back into the balance. It goes to show that if you have a sound plan & hold your nerve, there's always a chance of getting out of jail in FOW.

Eylau 1807

Eylau was set up & played solo as an exercise to refine the rules for the 6mm Napoleonic figs (for which enough figs have been repaired & rebased). This scenario was fought without special weather rules as a what-if.

Davout's attack on the Russian left was properly supported by Murat while Augerau pinned down the Russians frontally. While Augerau's attack was beaten off by the Russian batteries as in the real thing, by the time they had done so Davout & part of Murat's cavalry was in their rear, while the rest of Murat's cavalry was on the flank of the line with massed batteries in support.

The exercise demontrated that if the weather had not made it impossible for Napoleon to coordinate his forces he had the Russians on toast.

The pic (taken from Davout's flank) shows the situation after we had played another French turn as a rules training exercise though the Russians clearly should have pulled out before this.

Camp Cromwell 27/01/09

Maharajah 2008 1st Semi Final Free For All

Steve's Panzer Lehr
HQ 2 Panther
375
Bergepanther
15
4 Panthers
750
4 Jagdpanzer IV
380
Whitman
350
3 Flakpanzer 38t
120
1990

Jim's 7th Armoured
HQ 2Crom+2AA+Arve
260
3 Crom + 1 Firefly
325
3 Crom + 1 Firefly
325
3 Crom + 1 Firefly
325
Field Batt SP (8 Sextons)
355
Rifles
135
4 M10
275
2000

Both sides were pretty unimpressed with the terrain Nick had provided for them. While there was a good deal of welcome concealment in the form of low hedges & cornfields, rivers & streams cut of corners & a road embankment ran almost down the middle between the two armies making attacking a dangerous option (bogging roll to cross).

The Germans got the first move but held back defending the wood with the British RH objective with Flakpanzers inside & Jagdpanzers on the edge, Panthers on the left and right of it, & Whitman in ambush.

The Brits deployed their mass of armour in a long line, weighted to the right with the M10s in the centre. The Sextons were in a conrfield in the rear while the infantry were in the centre cornfield. The infantry snuck forward in the cornfields while the armour was carefully positioned behind the embankment & the Sextons did a bit of long range sniping - getting first blood by popping a Panther.

With both sides at long range and firing at veteran concealed targets across embankments, hedges, woods & cornfields it was all about sixes. The Brits immediately got the best of it picking on the Jagdpanzers in the wood & popping 2 for no loss.

Whitman came out of ambush in a hedge on the German lright. He had 3 shots with re-rolls & 5's to hit the Cromwells - and missed the lot. The Panthers came forward centre & (German) left but also missed before stormtropping back out of range.

The Sextons dropped smoke to screen off Panthers on each flank, the M10s moved up & fired at the command platoon - 4 dice, 4 rats & a dead CIC. On the right the LH Cromwell platoon charged over the embankment, passed all bogging rolls & took 4 side shots at Whitman's Tiger. The Firefly & first 2 Cromwells missed, but the 4th hit, Steve rolled a 1 & Whitman died. With that double whammy the German morale cracked & they conceded the battle.

The Germans had lost their CiC, their Hero & half their armour without even getting a hit on the Brits. While the Brits might claim to have used some pretty good tactics, it has to be admitted that for once the Red Rats trunped the famous black L's. A good plan backed by hot dice is a pretty mean combination - it was all over in less than an hour.

Pic 1: Deployment - from behind British left.

Pic 2: Panzers burning everywhere - from behind British left.

Pic 3: Whitman's Tiger burns.

Camp Cromwell 20/01/09

FOW: Jims' Grenadiers v. Nick's Russian Armour Late War 1500+a bit points

The Germans defended in a Cauldron mission deploying 2 Grenadier & a Pioneer around the objectives with 3 Pak40's in immediate ambush, Tigers, 105's, SPAA & HMG in delayed reserve. The Russians had about 7 T34/85's & 3 JS on the table to start with more T34/85/s, a horde of light tanks & 3 A/cars in reserve. The ambush was aimed at the T34's & they suffered enough to run away to join the rest of the army on the other flank. But the bailed one left behind got popped forcing a morale test & the platoon was lost. Meanwhile the other T34 platoon & the SU's were softening up the grenadiers & pioneers on the objective in the open while the light tanks rushed up to the German left flank.

The Germans brought their 105s on as their first reserve & started whittling away at the soviet armour in crowded templates. As soon as the Russians got all their forces massed they started their assault on the German infantry. It gave ground to buy time & finally the Tigers arrived behind the JS's& took them on. The T34's desisted from the attack on the infantry to support the JS's, but the Paks had redeployed from the right to support the Tigers. The light tanks continued the assault on the grenadiers.

The Tigers had a charmed life while the Russians took a pounding. The light tanks beat the grenadiers, but had accumulated over 50% losses themselves from artillery, infantry & finally SPAA. The JS's & T34s also lost more than half to the Tigers & Paks. The light tanks & JS's failed morale, the T34's passed. But with the other T34 platoon already gone, that meant an army morale test - which also failed giving the Germans victory in an exciting little battle.

Pic 1: The Paks are finishing off the T34s on the right rear. The Sviet armour is massing on the left. The 105s are deploying in teh foreground.

Pic 2: At the end the Tigers sit on the hill overlooking the battlefield littered with burning Soviet tanks.

Minden 1759

Minden 01/08/1759

Allies (Ferdinand): Various Germans states + Britain (about 42,000 men in 48 bns, 65 sqns & 105 guns)
Main army:
British infantry FV 6: 8 stands
British cavalry CV 6: 8 stands
German grenadiers: CV 5: 8 stands
German line infantry: CT 4: 2x8=16 stands
German cavalry: CT 5: 8 stands
Artillery: 5 stands
Wangenheim's Corps (left flank):
German infantry CT 4: 3x8=24 stands
German cavalry CT 5: 8 stands
Artillery: 3 stands

French & Saxons (Contades) : (about 57,000 men in 84 bns, 85 sqns & 90 guns)
Main army:
Grenadiers CV 5: 8 stands
Line infantry CT 4: 4x8=32 stands
Saxon infantry RT 3: 2x8=16 stands
Cavalry CT 5: 2x8=16 stands
Artillery: 5 stands
Broglie's Corps (right flank)
Line infantry CT 4: 4x8=32 stands
Cavalry CT 5: 8 stands
Artillery: 2 stands

The map attached has no scale, but other maps indicate that it is 3 miles from Minden to Hahlen, so the 8x6 table matches the map at 30cm = 1 km. the OOB has been worked out to this scale. An infantry stand is about 2/3 of a battalion, a cavalry stand about 3 squadrons & a gun stand about 12 guns.

The French marched out of Minden & over pontoon bridges on the R. Bastau during the night to attack the Allies. The Allies got early warning from deserters & were able to deploy as fast the French.

Both armies have a main body & secondary corps (on the wing nearest the R. Wesser), so both have 2 Generals - a CiC with 3 dice & a Corps commander with 2 dice. Army morale tests apply separately to the main bodies & the corps as well as to the total. If a corps fails, it must retire if separated from the main body, or if not separated cease attacking. If the main body fails, or the total fails, the battle is lost.

Both sides must deploy with their small corps on the Wesser wing, otherwise, may deploy freely not closer than 20cm to a line running from Hamlen to Maulbeerkamp then east to the Wesser. Both sides are to mark their deployment on maps before deploying figures. The maps I have do not correspond to the OOB I have - the OOBs have more troops in the secondary corps than shown on the map. It seems that both sides swapped some units from the corps to the main body. The players can do this too. The OOB has CGs of 8 stands, but they can be split up differently.

Ferdinand (Mark) pushed the scenario rule about swapping CGs further than intended & making Wangenheim's (Renfrey's) corps all British, but we let it go.
Contades (SteveJ) deployed short of the limit in a defensive box.
The Allies attacked on their left with the British and in the centre launched a converging attack on the angle in the French line.
The French tried to disrupt the Allied attack by sending their cavalry forward on the left.
The British cavalry beat their opposite number, but the French had a line of squares behind to prevent exploitation.
The British infantry were held up for a while, but eventually got some good dice & the tide turned fir them.
In the centre, the French cavalry got into all sorts of trouble having been sent out unsupported.
The Allied attack on the centre was met by French grenadiers with artillery support. The grenadiers held out fro a time, but the falling abck of the French cavalry with Allied cavalry in hot pursuit caused mayhem in the area & they were defeated leaving the French line broken & their army morale test failed.

Features of the battle included:
The Allies' totally incompetent handling of their artillery - which did not fire a shot.
The Allies identified and exploited the essential weakness of the French position - the angle in the line.
The French defensive posture did not allow them to use their superior numbers - on a restricted front the Allied quality counted.
The French handled their cavalry badly.
The rules worked well. There were a couple of minor points I noted for improvement - mainly to do with artillery (this is the first battle we've had with significant artillery). The shemozzle in the centre looked very messy, but with the alternate move system with the routs done in the other side's turn it just sorted itself out remarkably well.

The pics are taken from the French right.

Pic 1: The British attack is in foreground from the right. The cavalry ahs just won, the infnatry is still struggling. The German attack on the centre is about to go in. French cavalry is scattered about no mans land.

Pic 2: The French line is crumbling.

Camp Cromwell 10/01/09

Jim's Bersaliglieri v. Renfrey's Australians
2000 pt Cauldron, Ities attacking on 8x6 desert table.

Renfrey erred in placing one objective where the Ities had an approach partly protected by ridges. He placed 2 Digger platoons, 2pdr antitank guns & his double 25 pdr batteries on the table with more Diggers, HMGs, mortars, Valentines & a Matilda to come.
The Ities placed artillery, HMGs & Infantry on the table at the start & tried to weaken the defences while waiting for their reserves. As the Itie armour arrived it was accumulated in one lump behind the ridges. When the last platoon came on the Itie armour charged forward en masse. The Ozzie reserves that had arrived had been sent to harrass the Itie artillery & were unable to assist the diggers on the objective. They didn't have a hope & were quickly over-run.
A case of a deployment mistake ruthlessly exploited. The pic shows the Itie swarm taking the objective.

Camp Cromwell 06/01/09

David's Seleucids v. Renfrey's Pergumenes

A small Camp Cromwell Rules battle on 6x4 table.
David's planned flanking manoeuvre went too wide & failed to acheive anything except keep his best troops out of the action. This left Renfrey with more units in the centre, but he failed to use them effectively while the Seleucids got the best of the dice in the even fights. When the Seleucid phalanx pursued recklessly after their opposite number, the Pergumenes were about to pincer it with their reserves, but the Greek Cavalry routed the Cataphracts just in time to cause the Pergumenes to fail their army morale test first.

FOW

On the other table Rich Introduced his brother in law Mark to FOW with 3 quick 700 pts tank battles.
Your reporter was too busy umpiring the other table to provide any details.