Battle Group

 

Last week I had my second game using the Battlegroup rules. I have been wanting to play purely tank actions and I have found that the 2 rulesets I have previously tried out just not that interesting. I find What a Tanker a bit foolish and the Achtung Panzer way too granular. I discussed this with Jean-Philippe who has been playing Battlegroup for quite some time and he kindly agreed to demonstrate the game to me.

I have a pretty good selection of 20mm Soviet and German tanks and of course the great tank battles in WWII took place in the Ukraine. We decided to set our game there. I put together a table.

German Start in upper left, Soviet start in lower right

I took the Soviets and Jean-Philippe took the Germans. We decided to play the Recce Screen scenario from the book. The OB was as follows:

Germans

PzIV Command 

PzIV x 3

StuGIII G

Sd.Kfz 250/9

Soviets

T34 Command

T34 x 6

T70

It was a very close game, with me eking out a very marginal victory. The game was a lot of fun and I would definitely play again and I see BattleGroup as my primary WWII Tank game. Many thanks to Jean-Philippe.

Storming the Citadel-Game 2

A couple of days ago, myself and Graham got in a second game in our Storming the Citadel campaign. I had already played this scenario with William as documented in the previous blog post. I had won but it was a close run thing.

This time we played on Graham's table as you can see below.

Forces

Germans (FM 9, Supports 3)

1942 Panzergrenadier Platoon (less 7 men)

Adjutant

Pregame Barrage

2 Engineer Teams

Soviets (FM 9, Supports 2) (less 6 men)

1942 Soviet Rifle Platoon

8 minefields

2 entrenchments

Game

Patrol Markers and JOPs

The only photo I took of the game, as you see Graham placed the 8 minefields Straight across the table, but more importantly they were at least a foot from my closest JOPs. I placed a PG squad in cover next to the forward JOPs. I was hoping my PGB would allow me to get forward quickly to the minefields. It did not work out that way. Graham entrenched one section on his right flank. Although this was a long range he was able to weaken both my squads. I placed a 3rd squad on the left with the SL and advanced my squad on the right.. In response, he placed his entrenched 2nd section in the clump of foliage close to the minefields. A battle of attrition ensued. This went back and forth and I was able to drop his FM to 6 but by now I was suffering attrition as well. I still had not placed my engineer teams. I checked the loses on both sides and I could see I had lost fewer men than the Soviets, so decided to withdraw. Like Scenario 1 in this campaign, this table is only played once. Best to reserve my troops for the next 2 battles, where I have to actually win the table to advance. 

Summing Up

Well that will be it for a while as Graham is going away at the end of March for a couple of weeks and this sojourn in Montreal has come to an end. 

Crossing the Minefields

 

William and myself got together for a quick CoC game a couple of days ago. He wanted to play theSoviets again but this time we set up a 1942-43 game using one of the scenarios from the Storming the Citadel campaign. Incidentally, this was the next game in my campaign with Graham. 

The Germans have to clear 4 minefields of the 8 placed on the table by the Soviets (2 of which are dummies). They get 2 free engineer teams and the Soviets get 6 free minefields.

Forces

Germans (FM 11, Supports 1)

1942 Panzergrenadier Platoon

Adjutant

2 Engineer Teams

Soviets (FM 9, Supports 2)

1942 Soviet Rifle Platoon

8 minefields

2 entrenchments

Patrol Markers and JOPs

Half way through the game, with the entrenched Soviets giving the Germans hell. William did put down a 2nd entrenchment next to the first while I put my last platoon behind the engineer team. There was a lot of shooting back and forth but ultimately once weakened, I initiate Handgranaten to charge.

It was an interesting game, I am not sure it is possible to clear 4 minefields in this game, I did identify 2 dummies and cleared one before the Soviet FM dropped to zero. Although, I ultimately won the assault on the entrenched Soviets it is pretty tough even with the Soviets being pinned. It took 2 rounds and it was only on the second that I broke through. 

Eastern Front: Storming the Citadel

This past Monday myself and Graham got together to start a new Chain of Command campaign, this one centred on the Eastern Front during the Kursk offensive. Graham has recently painted a platoon of AB Soviets and we wanted to get them on the table.

The campaign is pretty simple, and to win a major victory the Germans have to blast through 6 tables in 7 turns. Three of the tables are one off battles, but it is still a challenge as table 3, 4 and 6 can be fought over several times. We play the games using CoCv2 scenarios but tables 2 and 5 are quite novel in their objectives so we will go with those scenarios as written in the campaign. Of course, the orders of battles and supports as listed in the campaign booklets will be used. I should note that the campaign uses all 6 basic scenario types as listed in the rulebooks and it is notable that they are played in order!

Scenario One: Eyes Down!

This is played as the Probe. Minimal terrain on the table with the Germans having to drive the Soviets off the table by dropping their Force Morale to a point where they lose a Command Dice.

Forces

Soviets FM 9-Supports 6

1942 Rifle Platoon

Replen Point

5cm Mortar

Medic

Sniper

Germans FM 11-Supports 5

1942 Panzergrenadier Platoon

Sniper

Senior Leader

Game

Of course, I only took few photos.......

.....the game was about 90 minutes, it started as a bit of a slugfest and really could have gone either way but I think my dice were a little better and having the higher starting FM helped the Germans being the victors in this first game.

Summing Up

Graham has done a very nice SS to track progress.

Hopefully we will get to game 2 this coming week.

On to the Eastern Front

 

I have been wanting for sometime to play some Eastern Front games. There is no question that most of the TFL campaigns for CoC are for the Western Front with a significant focus on Normandy. All good....but playing the Soviets is always a challenge especially because of the significant changes in platoon organisation throughout the 2nd World War. Most of my gaming on the Eastern Front has been during the Winter War with large 14-15 man platoons with no team structure. Version 2 of Chain of Command which covers 1944-45 has significant changes with smaller sections and now broken in 2 teams. My previous post details some work on Russian buildings so I was excited to put them on the table. I offered to put on game with my William so we met at the l'abyss this past Saturday.

Scenario 3: Attack and Defend. Patrol Markers and JOPs. Soviet Attackers from the left and German Defenders from the right. The Objectives were the Oil Tanks and the Ruined Building.

Soviets (FM 9, Support 12)

V2 Rifle Platoon

Captured Panzerfausts

Pregame Bombardment

Entrenchment

Mortar Bombardment with Extra Phase

Maxim MMG

Germans (FM 10, Support 7)

V2 Grenadier Platoon

MG42 MMG

Ig18 IG

Adjutant

It was a good game, I did not take any photos until the end. The game was quite close with the Soviets capturing the Oil Tanks within a few phases. William was also able to land the Bombardment quite accurately which covered my MMG, IG as well as one Grenadier squad and the Rifle team in a 2nd squad. It looked like I was doomed but I was going into the end game with a good advantage in FM as the Soviets were a bit unlucky in their FM throws. I was able to Handgranaten the Soviets who had captured the Oil Tanks while throwing 3 grenades (I had 5 commands), this was enough to break the section but also rout several leaders. I was a bit lucky with my dice, it was an excellent tactical game with William aggressively attacking. 

My next CoC game will feature the start of a Eastern Front campaign with Graham, stay tuned.

Many Rivers-Turn 5-The Open Road

To carry on with our Many Rivers campaign, myself and Graham got together at his place a week ago for the 5th turn on a new table. The Germans are finally able to bring on some vehicles, which would be useful in the Blitzkrieg scenario as victory is determined the attacker getting 2 units off the table before the defenders accumulate 2 Chain of Command dice.

Forces

Guards Platoon #2 (missing 3 men)

FR 0, 5CD, Regulars

Supports (7)

1 Minefield

2 Entrenchments

Extra Section

Schützen Platoon #3 (missing 3 men)

FR +1, 5CD, Regulars

Supports (12)

Shabby Nazi Trick

Engineer Team

Red Dice

251/1

PGB

PzII

Game

Looks easy enough

I not sure what I was thinking but I played a horrible Patrol Phase which saw me well back without any cover aside from on the right.

I got my troops on, but the destruction was so massive I completely blanked on taking photos

Summing Up

Again this was a fairly quick game and I withdrew because my loses were massive. I probably should have packed it in after the placement of the JOPs. In a game where I needed a 3 on my CD, I kept on getting 4s. I should also note that Graham had I 5 double phases in a row just before the end of the game. I did get my 251/1 with an infantry squad half way up the table but by then I had lost almost half my platoon and the Brits had 11 CoC pips. Really going to have to rethink how I play the next attempt on this table. What a disaster!

German Platoon #3

Platoon Leader Outlook: Secure

Men’s opinion: -2

CO’s opinion: -1

German Platoon #3: 10 dead and 4 missing next game

German 1st Platoon has lost 5 dead , 5 missing for next game

German 2nd Platoon has lost 8 dead, 4 missing for the next game

British Platoon #2 

Platoon Leader Outlook: Happy 

Men’s opinion: 0

CO’s opinion:  -1

British Platoon #2: 2 dead, 0 missing next game

British Platoon #1: 5 dead, 2 missing next game

Many Rivers Turn 4a-Farm and Road

Getting a bit behind in my blog postings. This is a game from about 10 days ago at my place featuring a Blitzkrieg from Table 3 to Table 4 in our Many Rivers campaign. I had won our last game and decided to Blitzkrieg the next table with the surviving forces from the previous battle.

Forces

Guards Platoon #2 (missing 4 men)

FR 0, 5CD, Regulars

Supports (12)

AAMG 1

2 Minefields

2 Barbed Wire

2" Mortar

Extra Section

Demo Team

Demo Team (free)

Schützen Platoon #3 (missing 3 men)

FR +1, 5CD, Regulars

Supports (19)

Shabby Nazi Trick 1

Red Dice 2

Smoke Barrage 2

le.18 IG 4

Stuka Attack 4

Pioneer Squad 6 (10 men)

Game

The table, the 3 area of bushes represents clumps of trees, not forests. They block LOS and provide Light Cover. They do not slow movement.

Patrol Markers and JOPs from the German attack area.

View from the Britisg=h defensive line with the Stuka attack, not a whole lot of success destroying buildings, just one which was inconsequential.

Side view of the table, this was the Going with a Bang scenario from the 1940 handbook. Graham had to take out 2 culverts to win the game. I added in the railroad track for the fun of it but we treated it as a road for game purposes as laid out in the scenario.

Lots of smoke in this game

Summing Up

Well this was a fairly quick game with the British withdrawing before they could destroy either culvert so the road is now open to the German advance and in Turn 5 they are now able to bring in AFVs. Graham was a bit unlucky with the placement of his JOPs as neither was close to a culvert so he had great difficulty deploying his demolition teams. He decided to withdraw to preserve his platoon.

German Platoon #3

Platoon Leader Outlook: Secure

Men’s opinion: 2

CO’s opinion: 0

German Platoon #3: 3 dead next game

German 1st Platoon has lost 5 dead , 5 missing for next game

German 2nd Platoon has lost 8 dead, 4 missing for the next game

British Platoon #2 

Platoon Leader Outlook: Happy 

Men’s opinion: 0

CO’s opinion:  -2

British Platoon #2: 2 dead, 1 missing next game

British Platoon #1: 5 dead, 2 missing next game

It was a busy week and I have 2 more CoC reports to post!

Many Rivers-Turn 4-Farm and Forest

Myself and Graham got together at his place last Sunday week for the next game in the Many Rivers campaign. We finally had moved on to another table, this time playing the Swift to Support scenario from the 1940 Handbook. As you can see I was extremely lucky with my support roll get 19 support points. Graham ended up with 9. Both platoons were in good shape but I should note that my other 2 platoons are pretty shot up.

Forces

Guards Platoon #2 (missing 1 man)

FR 0, 5CD, Regulars

Supports (9)

AAMG 1

Infantry Section 4

4 Emplacements 4

Schützen Platoon #3 (missing 4 men)

FR +1, 5CD, Regulars

Supports (19)

Shabby Nazi Trick 1

Red Dice 2

Smoke Barrage 2

le.18 IG 4

Stuka Attack 4

Pioneer Squad 6

The Game

I got boxed into a corner with my JOP's. Graham stayed well back. The Stuka Attack resulted in the large barn being in ruins which was a significant advantage for me as this is solid cover for the British with a good LOS over the hedges.

This photo is from pretty late in the game, as I had forgotten to take photos as usual. I held off with the smoke barrage which landed right on target until I had my troops ready to advance rapidly forward. I also waited to see where Graham was to set up his defence. He eventually placed all 4 sections behind the hedge on his right flank. I used my large Pioneer Squad as the main advance. As you can see above they got quite shot up. I had a strong firing base on the hill on my left flank.

Base of fire with SL, IG, squad and 5cm mortar.

As you can see the British suffered quite a few casualties and shock from my firing base with at least 2 teams routing. Graham decided he had enough and withdrew. Game over!

Summing Up

German Platoon #3

Platoon Leader Outlook: Happy

Men’s opinion: 0

CO’s opinion: -1

German Platoon #3: 3 dead next game

German 1st Platoon has lost 5 dead , 5 missing for next game

German 2nd Platoon has lost 8 dead, 4 missing for the next game

British Platoon #2 

Platoon Leader Outlook: Happy 

Men’s opinion: +1

CO’s opinion:  -1

British Platoon #2: 2 dead, 2 missing next game

British Platoon #1: 5 dead, 2 missing next game

Next Game

I have decided that I will use a Blitzkrieg to attack the next table using my same force. The 5cm Mortar will be out of ammo and we decided that it would be unreasonable for the Pioneer Squad to be intact as they lost 6 figures, so using the casualty table they will be down 5 men for the next game.

Norwegian Platoon and 2025 Gaming Plans

My last partially completed figures, that I wanted to complete by the end of 2024, were my Norwegian platoon for WWII Chain of Command ruleset. These figures are almost all 3D Printed in resin. You can read about their manufacturer, organisation as well as painting scheme in 2 previous posts. I had painted almost 2 squads but I had all the Leaders, Supports and two more squads to paint to complete the platoon. I finished these on December 31st but by then the New Year festivities were starting to catch up with me, thus the delay in putting them on the blog.

Complete Platoon, the newly painted figures have yet to have snow on their bases.

Colt M29 MMG Team

Medic, Forward Observer, Sniper, 2 Senior Leaders and King Haakon!

Well it has been a pretty successful painting month, I have been isolated in the United Sates for the last month with another 2 weeks to go before I can get back to my native country. I am working on various playing aids/terrain pieces now, including for CoC, WaC, Midgard as well GdA.

2025 Aspirations

I usually do not do this, as really I play too many different rulesets now, have too many armies and warbands and have too much terrain. I have been really starting to thin things out so I basically have been subtracting rather than adding but there are some forces I would like to paint and rulesets I would like to add.

Vietnam

Still have not decided on a ruleset here, I already have several but I am looking at 2 that are still in development or I have yet to receive. A Vietnam version of CoC is being developed by John Savage, the author of What a Cowboy. He really does first class work, I am not sure if this version will be ultimately official but it looks like a lot of fun. I am waiting to receive Battle Group's latest ruleset Nam 1968. It sounds interesting and I have a sense that it is aimed at squad actions rather than platoon sized games. I am more attracted to the smaller actions but I will have to see. I still have to paint maybe 15-20 figures for a Platoon sized force for Vietnam but it is a nice project.

Midgard

This is an exciting new game which covers both historical and fantasy battles from the Classical Period to the late Middle Ages. I have a lot of figures that I can use for this including the Dark Ages in Europe as well as the Crusades. My LoTR figures which will be good for fantasy. I am also putting together a Sengoku era force for the game. Semi-official force list are presently being developed for Warring States gaming with the ruleset. This will be a long term project, as I have quite few figures to paint but I am attracted by the uniformology and well as the tactics of the period. I have printed off quite a few movement trays which the ruleset requires and am just terraining them now. 

SAGA Age of Chivalry

We should be receiving the rulebook within the month. I still have not decided on a warband or painted any figures but I see many of the players in our club already have several armies, so I am hoping to borrow some in the short term for gaming.

Gaming

I am going to try restart some games with rulesets I have not played for a while, almost exclusively from the TFL stable of games. These include Picketts Charge, Kiss me Hardy as well as Algernon Pulls it Off. 

I will of course continue CoC, GdA, WaC , M&T, Congo and SAGA as well as the Alternate History games I play including Pulp Alley, Draculas America and Carnevale. 

That should keep me busy for 2025!