More Modern Spearhead

We played 3 more games of Modern Spearhead, all based in the mid-70s, meaning ATGWs were much less prevalent than RCLs. First up was half a Polish Division attacking a British Brigade.  The Poles were an Infantry Regiment in OT-64s, organised as three battalions (the regimental tank battalion's 3 companies having been attached out to the infantry battalions), plus a tank regiment.  The Polish tank regiment organisation at this period was highly unusual, since it consisted of 5 largish tank companies, plus various supporting elements, with no battalion-level structures. In MSH it counts as a single very large "Battalion": in this case, it was some 30 elements strong once attached assets had been factored in.

The Poles hastily attacked with 800 points against 600 of British, who were organised in 3 battalions IIRC: I not only forgot to take photos (although Rhys has some here) but also notes as well. I do remember the Wombats performing credibly, and the Chieftains being, as usual, incredibly hard to shift. But the game was something of a draw, with Polish numbers making their presence felt in several close assaults.

The second game was another where we forgot to take photos... For  change, I took command of some of Rhys' American figures, while he ran Czechoslovakians at me. I defended, and not being used to such a tiny force, added an "A" option to bring myself up to 650 points.  This still left me with only 2 battalions; neither of which was full-strength. One was however reinforced with an ACAV troop in Sheridans. These performed quite well, as they were placed behind M60A1s that drew enemy fire, meaning their weak armour was seldom tested. Rhys had the standard 2 regiments that MSH "WarPac2" nations can field on attack under Keith's scenario system: an infantry regiment organised as 3 battalions (with attached out tanks), plus a 3-battalion tank regiment. All 6 moved on-table in the first bound, as Rhys didn't like the odds of flank marching (a 6 being required). How did the battle go? Let's suffice to say that Rhys scored 1 point (a single contested objective), while I scored 15 (even after subtracting the 1-point penalty for the A option), which was commuted to 10...

Set-up for the last game. The 5 objectives are the red dots. Germans defending. Dotted paths represent reserve commitments.

For the 3rd, I finally managed to take a few pictures. I took Czechoslovakians, while Rhys took a West German force with Leopard1A3s and Marders. This amounted to 3 small battalions totalling a paltry 29 elements (28 plus an observer). Accordingly Rhys chose to sit back, covering only the 3 objectives nearest his baseline: two summit points, plus a bridge. He had no effective way to contest the summit point in front of my centre (being on a forested road), but the one to my near left (a town sector spanning a stream) was at least covered by his tanks, being in a relatively terrain-free valley.

Of my 3 tank battalions, I flank-marched one (path B on the map), while I initially kept the other two in reserve. As it turned out, they both got fired upon quite early, and had to commit themselves a bit sooner than I had planned.  My infantry regiment was tasked with the initial advance; as usual, its tank battalion was attached out to the three infantry battalions. Being a 1970s game, this attached-out tank battalion was smaller than the equivalent 1980s formation; each company being 2 MSH stands, and not 3. The central battalion had to make its way through dense forest, and thus was slowed down considerably (path "1" in the deployment map). This did mean, however, that it almost no casualties in getting into a position where it could start to assault the German centre.

The photo to the left shows one stand of mine that I had brought out with me from Japan (the OT-810D), with the others being Rhys' own. Rhys cuts the corners off his HQ stands to make them more easily recognisable. I think I'll do this with mine too, because HQs don't shoot, and thus don't really need full-length straight edges for all base sides. I might keep the front corners, as this makes it easier to see if an armoured element is being flanked or not.  The OT-810D is a conversion from an H&R Sd.Kfz.251. It's not a very useful vehicle in an attack game, alas, since it can't do a half-move and fire like a tank can.

The battalion on my right (path "3" in the deployment map) advanced steadily, and some awkward fire angles from Rhys' perspective kept my casualties down. In contrast, the battalion on my left (path "2" in the deployment map), faced with the most open terrain, got hammered. I was hoping to catch Rhys in a pincer with my flank-marching tank battalion, but it never turned up. The "A" tank battalion was able to support it on its right, but it took too many casualties on the left, and broke. Tank battalion "A" was itself eventually broken as Rhys' battalion in the area, not seeing any flank marchers turn up, was able to move towards the centre.

The climax of the game.

Unfortunately for Rhys, elsewhere on the field, he had not been able to whittle down my forces enough to stop them moving up into positions where he could be close assaulted (although some LARS rocket fire didn't mean it was all plain-sailing for the Czeschovakians...)  In the centre, Battalion "1" was able to over-run the infantry defending the village just beyond their first objective, and a combination of artillery fire and supporting tank fire was enough keep the rearward German elements from interfering. And on the right, a dearth of German tank support meant opportunities to pick off my advancing elements couldn't be capitalised on: those Marders may be very tough for the period, but they do cost a lot of points...

Outnumbered Germans attempt to hold the line...

On my centre-right, a wooded hill was stoutly defended by a combination of armour and Panzer Grenadiers. This was attacked head-on by my "C" tank battalion; you can spot attached some OT-62 infantry platoons in support in the photo to the right. The battle was relatively even, with my greater numbers about making up for their poorer equipment. Eventually this defending force was faced with encirclement as my "1" and "3" battalions started killing the defending elements in front of them, allowing them to manoeuvre more freely.

Although Rhys had broken two of my battalions ("2, and "A"), and left a 3rd in bad state ("C"), he was not in a good position. I had claimed more objectives than he had held, had two decent battalions left on-table compared to his one, and had another one off-table that - at some point - would eventually take his one decent from directly from behind. A clear - albeit far from bloodless - victory to the Czechoslovakians.

Cossacks ahoy

Next up was a WW2 stoush. Rhys wanted to take his Soviet Guards Cavalry Division for an outing, it not yet having seen action of the tabletop.  I opposed it with a late '44 Wehrmacht Infantry Division  which amounted to 4 battalions, each of 13 or 14 stands, organized as two regiments. No armour of any sort was included.  His force was 4 cavalry regiments (counting as large battalions, each over 20 stands strong) plus a tank battalion, 7 stands strong: the entire division.  I was again in a Hasty Defence posture, and the boards were arranged this time so that there were some definite valleys to be seen, trending mostly up and and down. Three of the objectives were on his side; the central sector on my side was the only sector without an objective. 

Given the superior nature of the German command & control abilities under the Spearhead rules, I deployed all 4 battalions on board: 2 up, and on the flanks; 2 back, one somewhat more centrally located, and the other on my right. Rhys massed his forces on my right, with nothing at all opposing my left: 1 regiment in the centre; one centre-right; one right; and the tank battalion on the extreme right (from my vantage point).  One unit was held off table in reserve, and I had no idea if it was waiting to move on to my left once I had redeployed, or if it was waiting on my right as reinforcements for the assault there.

Cavalry essentially ignore terrain under the rules, which means they barrel through woods at 9" a turn - very scary.  They were right in my face in no time at all.  As in close-assaulting me on the second turn in some places...  It's true that they are easier to hit than leg infantry (defence factor 4 instead of 5) but charging through a wood evens that penalty out, since woods count as cover. Further, since they are SMG-armed they can move while counting as firing "stationary". This means they can charge up to you from out of rifle range (6") and shoot at you without getting an unanswered shot off first on the way in.  Very nasty indeed.

The battle turned out to be a blood bath. Rhys has some photos here.  Rhys' tank battalion commander was clearly a hothead, as the unit charged straight up the flank, past one battalion, and right into the one behind it without pausing to do much on the way, other than uncover a PaK40 platoon in ambush, and a bunch of lurking infantry who used their panzerfausts to great effect. Scratch one T-34-76 unit.  Meanwhile, my front right battalion was chewed up by endless waves of cavalry, although it also inflicted quite a few casualties in the process. It soon broke, and eventually so did my central one. However, this broke one of his regiments, and forced another to take a moral check and left it unable to resume offensive actions.  This left me in possession of two objectives, and him two while we were both contesting the fifth. I had an undamaged battalion that was moving across from my left, and my while my rear right one was only moderately damaged, it wasn't in that good a position to do much offensively. Rhys also had 1 unit almost untouched (his reserve one had moved on in the centre right), and the rest too battered to do anything offensively. So essentially we were down to one decent unit each - facing off each other across a valley that nobody wanted to advance across!  Clearly this battle had fought itself out to a bloody stalemate. Totally up the victory points, it was 9 to 8 that could easily move to 8 to 10 due to the contested nature of one objective, reinforcing the impression of a bloody draw.

Lessons learned? The cavalry are very scary, but will need some further testing: when to dismount is a critical issue, for example. At what point does minimizing casualties become more important than having an extra 3" movement factor? I think only experience will resolve that one.  Another one is deployment.  I reckon wide but shallow unit deployments, en echelon, might be the way to go, with one regiment sweeping through another as it halts.  But it will need to be tested...

Back to gaming!

Having arrived at Rhys', the first item on the agenda (after ascertaining the state of his latest batch of stout) was to flock and affix the final woods to a couple of his terrain boards for use in (M)SH while he was finishing up at work. 

6 terrain boards assembled for action

We then made up some lists for the first game: Soviets against Americans, 1974.  I suggested this date so as to have a game with minimal ATGWs for once. Soviets are more expensive than Czechoslovakians, and I also turned out to be in a Hasty Defence posture, meaning my force was quite a bit smaller than I am accustomed to.  I had "just" a single Motorized Rifle Regiment, organized as just 3 battalions (the tank battalion was attached out to the rifle battalions). The terrain was reasonably well distributed across the board, with no particularly obvious concentrations nor open spaces.

With so few manoeuvre elements, I decided I had to deploy all 3 on board; arranged 2 up, and 1 back in the centre. Of the six boards, that on my left flank was missing an objective. I suspected Rhys might flank march, and the question was would he march on my right, to aim for the extra terrain objective there, or go on my left, because that would be sneaky?  I figured him moving to my left wouldn't be so serious, as I would have more time to react to it, while to the right would be a bigger problem.  So I put my 3 towed T-12 anti-tank guns in ambush positions on my right to cover the most logical entry points.  As it turned out, he did flank march, but on my left..

To cut a long story short, despite me failing to get any artillery into action for ages (first four roles were 1s....) Rhys managed to immolate himself on my defensive positions while his flank march stubbornly refused to turn up.  And when it finally did arrive, it had nobody to fight, and no objective to take.  He threw in the towel, and was rather surprised to learn he had managed to kill just 4 (count 'em!) of my stands, while having lost two battalions in the process, and having secured just 2 objectives (and one of those none too securely...). Lessons learned?  Hmm, Soviets are much harder to confuse with electronic warfare missions than Czechs are?   Nah, that one's obvious.  Rhys' boards are working out well? Yes!  Just the right amount of terrain density to get that 1000-metre West German average sight line...

Mi-8s

H&R 1:300th scale Mi-8 "Hip"

It's been over a year since I painted anything, but something has finally been done: a pair of Heroics & Ros 1:300th scale Mi-8s for my Czechoslovakian ground forces.

These had been sitting in one my "undercoated but awaiting further painting" trays for several years, because finishing looked a bit of a challange - camoflage would have to be applied, and they would have to be numbered, etc. As it turned out, the job wasn't too dificult.  Of course I realise that two models isn't exactly a huge dent in the proverbial lead mountain, but from small beginnings do great things grow...

The Mi-8, or "Hip" in NATO parlance, was the standard WarPac utility helicopter throughout the 1970s; an upgraded version, designated the Mi-17, was introduced into Czechoslovakia in the mid-1980s; it can be distinguished by having the tail rotor on the other side of the vehicle. 

Unit 0812 of the 51 vlrp, modelled ca. 1980.

No. 0812 belonged to the 51st Helicopter Regiment, which was part of the 4th Army, and is thus suitable for use with my usual ground formation: the 3rd Motor Rifle Division. Although a utility transport helcipter, the Mi-8 can be found armed as a makeshift gunship, usually sporting large amounts of rockets, which in MSH amounts to a very poor anti-tank attack factor, but a good anti-infantry one (factor 7).

The missiles should be extra rockets...

The Mi-8, while a "medium" transport helicopter, is nonetheless a very large vehicle, and is noticeably larger than e.g. an Mi-24 "Hind". The base size here is 90 mm square - in contrast, the H&R Hind-D, if turned somewhat askew, will just fit on to a 60 mm square base.  I base my helicopters on the ground, mostly because I've never found a way of representing moving rotors that I've been entirely happy with (the plastic disks some people use don't do much to me... )  This way, I don't have to wrestle with the problem: the unit is parked, awaiting orders, and the engine isn't even fired up! 

Deploying (half) a paratroop battalion.

In MSH a standard Hip model can transport up to 3 stands of infantry at once. This is why my bases are 90 mm square, rather than the 80 mm that the model could fit on to: it coincides with the deployment width of 3 bases of my infantry. I only have two models, and thus can't transport an entire paratrooper battalion at once, which is probably entirely realistic, because the Czechoslovakians would have really struggled to do so in any real life conflict.  In game terms, either I will have to transport a weakened battalion, with just 6 fighting stands (aided by my lone Mi-4 model taking the HQ stand), or be forced to take two trips to insert a full-strength unit.  Which, all said and done, doesn't sound any more doable on tabletop than it does on a real-life battlefield swarming with AA systems. Unfortunately, under Keith McNelly's scenario system, a half-strength battalion isn't sufficient to claim an "objective", only prevent an enemy from claiming it...

Scratch-built BzK vz. 59 in centre fore.

The Mi-8 was just large enough to take a GAZ-69 jeep equivalent through its rear doors, which is important, because this was the standard tow for the primary Czechoslovakian infantry battalion-level AT weapon system: the BzK vz. 59 RR. This was a heavy 82 mm recoiless rifle, with capabilities almost comparable to an 85 mm AT gun, but weighing considerably less (but at nearly 400 kg, still clearly far from being man-portable like the SPG-9 found in other WarPac forces). Thus, an infantry battalion's entire weapons inventory could, in theory, be helicoptered into a conflict zone. 

Seleukid-Ptolemaic mini-campaign, part 2

Following on from our first clash, the Sarlukids looked to extend their territorial ambitions. The second battle of the day used the 1st Chaironea battlefield from the rule book. This feature not one but two streams meandering across the battlefield, as well as a pocket of marsh and three hills to congest the field of play.

Both the forces in play were very similar to those used before. The Aronaic horse was definitely improved in quality (1 x ALC replaced by 2 x VHC), while the infantry was somewhat less numerous, with 1 x APH and1 x LLI missing from the previous line up. Overall, the forces consisted of:

Aroniacs:                    Sarlukids:

2 x AEL                      2 x IEL

9 x APH                      8 x APH

1 x VPH + AL             2 x AHI

1 x VPH                      1 x ALI

2 x LLI                        2 x LLI

1 x AHI                       2 x AHC

1 x ALC                      1 x ALC

1 x AHC                      1 x VHC + AL

2 x VHC                      1 x VHC

FV: 68                          FV: 68

The field viewed from my side of the table. Terrain by Aaron (some work still to be done).

My generalship in this contest was not the best. I failed to tailor the forces in each of my zones to properly account for the attack limits imposed by the terrain. As a result, my left, while numerous, couldn't bring its weight to fully bear on the opposition properly, due to the watercourse, while Aaron's opposite force, consisting of smaller units, was able to strike more tellingly. Thus, despite the presence of my king in this sector, I was soon in trouble, and the spent markers quickly added up.

Checkmate!

As a result, I was forced into attempting "rallies",  always a dicey proposition, especially if you are a mere "average" leader... Too many rallies, and the inevitable happened: I lost my leader.  Now the army technically survived this loss, but not for long. Morale plummeted, and command and control was crippled, so I was unable to salvage victory from other zones were I had been faring better. It was just left for Aaron to mop of the paralysed remnants of my army (a unit of light infantry in the marsh on my right was doing good work holding off his horse there, but was then overwhelmed, for example).

We were thus on equal honours after two games. The final showdown took place on a battlefield taken from Gabiene. A plain, devoid of significant terrain, but with the wrinkle that "dry and dusty" conditions were in effect. This meant that every turn, there was a 50-50 chance of a turn reversal occurring, meaning the player who previoulsy went second would now go first - which could be good or bad, depending on the situation. Extra fog-of-war randomness!

Sarlukid elephant, with new-fangled tower on top.

Army compositions changed somewhat again. Aaron's forces had only one unit of elephants this time around, and an extra unit of average light cavalry in compensation. Mine had more extensive changes. There were now three contingents of elephants instead of two, and sporting towers as the campaign date had marched on. However, the two units of mercenary heavy infantry had been reduced a single large unit of native levies, and one of the average light infantry units had disappeared. One of the veteran horse units was now only average, but it had an "uninspired leader" accompanying it. Further, my side had an unfortified camp to protect.

This battle was even more closely fought than the other two, and both sides suffered heavily. My sub-general, on my right, should have given me the edge in the cavalry fight there, but Aaron's forces were better man-for-man (VHC against AHC), and prevailed much to my disappointment. They were then able to sweep around the field and threaten my camp. Aaron pulled an excellent move by squeezing a unit of LI between the battered lines to encircle some of my infantry units, making them very nervous. If his victorious cavalry sacked my camp, my by-then precarious morale situation would have shifted over to "sunk", so I pulled back my C-in-C in an attempt to defend it, but this meant leaving my damaged phalanx leaderless, and it was then destroyed. Game lost! So that made for three great games, and showcasing Lost Battles' first-class combination of nail-biting decision points with historical verisimilitude.

Aaron's account here.

Some moderns painted!

I've finally got around to doing something constructive over the last two weeks in terms of converting lead (and plastic) into fieldable forces. The catafracts still lying on my sidebench still looked too daunting a task for just a few evenings, so I went to my moderns trays to see what could be fruitfully pushed forward.

First up is another MSH battalion's worth of DANA vz.77 152 mm gun-howitzers to add to the one I already have. These are the Heroics & Ros 1:300 th scale model that was released in late 2012. For this second battalion, I've put the gun into travelling position (the barrels can also be positioned elevated). The previous battalion is intended tp represent a battalion from the 4th Army's 332nd Artillery Brigade; they received their DANA's only in 1985. This second battalion represents one of the divisional artillery battalions from either the 1st Tank Division or the 20th Motor Rifle Division; these being the best equipped of the Czechoslovakian divisions; they received their DANAs in 1980.

Next comes a PM-55 bridgelayer. This is a model by Karl Heinz Ranitzsch, aka Dragoman, done, like all my Shapeways purchases, in the cheapest plastic available - nylon-12 (aka Shapeways' "white strong & flexible").  The PM-55 is essentially a truck-borne version of the MT-55 bridgelayer, and thus suitable for MBTs to cross. WarPac MBTs at any rate; with a rating of 50 t, some western MBTs would be straining things... A model like this is only required for the single game turn it takes to set the bridge up - but it's such a beautiful model, I couldn't resist. The truck concerned is the Tatra-813 ("Kolos") 8x8 vehicle in production from 1967 to 1982, and with exceptional off-road capabilities due to its tubular frame split axle configuration. Karl Heinz sells not only the unfolding version shown above, but also a version in travelling configuration (plus a deployed bridge section).

And here is the travelling version... The PM-55 routinely sports a earth moving blade at the front to prepare the approaches to the bridging position, and Karl Heinz' model comes equipped with this. Like many Czechoslovakian pieces of equipment, the PM-55 saw some degree of export success, and this is why Karl Heinz models it - it served with the NVA (East German army).

And this is Karl Heinz' model of the AM-50, a lighter VLB that is also based on the T-813, and more suitable for infantry units being carried around in APCs. Like the PM-55, he sells an unfolding version; I've already paointed one of those up - you can see it in action here. The AM-50 was first trialed in 1972, with more substantial numbers coming in1974.

This is an attempt at making a vz.53/59 self-propelled AA gun. I've taken an H&R (?) BTR-152 model, and sawed off the back. Then I've stuck a ZPU-23/2 on top, and stuck on plasticard box on top of that to represent the distinctive ammo bin, and added some crew members from the artillery crew pack, The guns are noticeably too small (to me, anyway), since the vz. 53/59 sports twin 30 mm cannons, as opposed to 23 mm, and the curving superstructure on the left of the mount is missing in my model (not that you would see it from this angle, even if it was there...). IIRC, I've now made up sixteen of these conversions; this is the last, and will form part of my 183rd Battery of the 82nd AA Brigade - this unit was primarily equipped with SA-4s, but also had some SPAAGs for close-in air defence. The Czechoslovakians used this instead of the ZSU-57-2, which offered them no advantages. However, they never replaced it with anything more modern (such as the ZSU-23-4), and its lack of radar would have meant it would have had severe problems keeping enemy aircraft at bay in any conflict in the 70s, let alone the 80s. The Czechoslovakians trialed the SA-4 from 1974, and the 82nd AA Brigade went operational in 1976 (the 2K11M, i.e. "SA-4b Ganef").

The two vehicles are my own creations, printed out by Shapeways. They are Tatra 815 VT 8x8 prime movers, distinguished from the T-815 VVN truck mostly by having a shorter deck but a longer cab, so it can accommodate an entire howitzer crew. The T-815 series (also available in 6x6 and 4x4 versions) suceeded the T-813 starting from 1981, and going into full production in 1983. In addition to hauling artillery pieces, it could also be used to tow tank-transporter trailers, etc.

I think this is what Skytrex called a "BTS-M"; it's a PTS-10 light ferry as far as I am concerned. It's a fairly large model, hence the double-depth base. My bases are usually 30 mm square by the way; no way am I using Imperial measurements! The model has an odd lean forwards, as if it's braking extremely hard. Two of these models get used as part of the Pontoon Company of my Czechoslovakian 3rd Division's Engineering Battalion (along with a whole bunch of truck-borne pontoon elements).

And this is, IIRC, a Skytrex GSP-55 heavy ferry set. These are found in the (river) Assault Company that was added to Czechoslovakian divisional Engineering Battalions from 1979, along with extra PTS-10 light ferries.

Another artillery battalion... you can never have too many as a WarPac player! The tractors here are another of my own products printed out by Shapeways: the ATS-59G. The ATS-59G was the first 3-d printing effort I tried, and it still holds up reasonably well compared to my later creations.  You can see a close-up of the vehicle's rear below.

Now when your artillery is as ancient as these pieces, you need a lot of them to have any hope of doing anything! This is the H&R M-30 122mm howitzer (I think they call it something like mk. 31/37), or the vz.38 to the Czechoslovakians. These pieces were found in the artillery battalion of the motor rifle regiments: 3 batteries of 6 pieces, which translates to 4 models in MSH. The vz. 38 designation tells you they are a 1938 production piece, so they have, by 1970s and 80s standards, a truly horrible range. These pieces soldiered on until the demise of the Czechoslovakian state (there were grand plans to replace them with 2S1s in the late 70s/early 80s, but few of these were actually purchased). My close-in eyesight has detriorated markedly over the last two years, so I now need separate glasses to paint with. Even so, I found I couldn't be bothered painting the faces on the crewmen here - I just couldn't see them! And I certainly can't see them at a gaming arm' length away...

This would appear to be a T54 or T55-based ARV vehicle, but I can't remember which manufacturer it is... probably Scotia.

While this would appear to be a T-34-based ARV. Again, not sure who makes (or made) it. A platoon's worth of vehicles like this is part of each tank or motor rifle regiment's enegineering company; more are found in the divisional Engineering Battalion's maintenance company.

The towed tank here is I think a Scotia POL trailer, while the tractor is another of my Shapeways creations: an AT-S. These are usually found hauling artillery pieces in my forces. The AT-S was a design from the early 50s, and superceeded by the ATS-59G. To my-brought-up-in-New Zealand mind, it's got a definite "Hillary crossing the Antarctic" feel to it.

Travelling in a fried-out combi! On a hippy trail; head full of zombie...  Well, near enough, anyway. This is the Scotia UAZ-452 minivan; I will probably add some ambulance markings in the weekend to it to give it some sort of utility.

This is the van version of Scotia's UAZ-452. I will probably add some sort of diorama scene here, given the large expanse of available base, but I will have to buy some more crew figures and the like first, as I appear to have run out...

Tatra-111 trucks; one of which was already painted. Another of my Shapeways efforts - these ones have suffered from very noticeable "stepping" during the print process. These trucks can be used not only for Cold war Czechoslovakians, but also for WW2 Germans, being produced from 1942 to 1962 (by which date the cab had been given a more modern look).

H&R assault rafts. WW2 German, I believe, but who can tell the difference? Me, of course! Czechoslovakian ones were not even inflateable!

No idea why I have this - it's a Scotia decontamination vehicle. And why do I not need it? Because I've already made the Czechoslovakian equivalent of this Soviet vehicle, and printed it out via Shapeways! A stationary pair of these vehicles, each mounting a jet engine on the back, were supposed to decontaminant chemical warfare agents from a column of exposed vehicles driving between them. As a professional chemist, I have doubts about the efficacy of this... These vehicles were found as part of the divisional NBC battalion. WarPac forces took a lot of effort regarding counteemeasures for the C part of the NBC equation, even though it appears they naver had any serious intention of using themselves (unlike the N part, for which they had serious plans for...).  For example, FROGs were in service for over a decade before a chemical warfare warhead was even considered for them.

Another Scotia Soviet duplication, for which I have the Czechoslovakian equivalentalready printed out... It's quite a nice piece of kit, though.

A battery of BM-24 MRLs; another of my Shapeways creations. These weren't used by the Czechoslovakians. They were instead found in Soviet Tank Regiments in the 1960s, prior to being replaced by the BM-21 Grad: 12 per regiment. I made up the model since it's just an AT-S with a launcher on the back deck instead or a tarpaulin, so a relatively easy conversion..

And finally, this would appear to be a Scotia BAT, but it's missing what i consider to be the most important part of the protoype - the enormous dozer blade, which is a real shame, because the thing isn't easy to scratch build...

So, a bunch of rear-zone elements for the most part, but that's fine, logistics can be fun too!

Brigade Commander

Our second game was something rather different from the first, what with using 1:300th moderns instead of 15 mm ancients, and with a new rules set to boot in place of my usual Modern Spearhead. The rules are called "Brigade Commander",  and cover both WW2 as well as moderns; Aaron suggested I take a look at them, because he had heard they were fast play. 

Initial set up, from behind my right flank.

We have a great problem when we pay Modern Spearhead in that we seem to take over an hour a bound on average, so getting a game actually fininished is a real task. I'm not one for trying new rules out willy-nilly, but something clearly had to be done, so I took a stab - they are a ten buck downloadable pdf, so I wasn't going to exactly break the bank taking a look. A quick once-over gave me the impression that would indeed be fast, and they also had a couple of mechanisms that were rather similar to a homebrew set I made back in 1989/90, so that was another plus: one was having attachments one lower down the command chain represented as smaller bases tagging along with the big base (only my rules were a "Division commander" equivalent, so one level higher up the command chain). Another was having effectiveness of fire vary with relative technology as opposed to have fixed effects - this is exactly the way forward IMNSHO, so I don't understand why more rules writers don't adopt it. I am doing the same in my may-they-ever-see-the-day ancients set too.

On the other hand, some bits were really confusing - especially the unit displacement rule - when you first spot a defender, it gets moved randomly to a slightly different position.  We just couldn't get our head around that one - why should a defending unit hiding in cover be teleported outside of it when it is first seen? So we just ignored that one.  (Maybe we simply didn't understand it properly - our brains aren't what they were when we were younger...)

Being a plonker, I left my printed-out copy at work, naturally, but we could still access the electronic version to play -  internet to the rescue! We rolled up our forces pretty well much randomly, going "by the book". I had Aaron's Americans as "stretched", so his force would be smaller (but naturally, the tanks are way better - their 105s are vastly superior to my 100 mm guns); my Czechoslovakians infantry/MICVs had a miniscule advantage over his infantry in M113 APCs in that I could let off anti-tank fire at a greater distance - needless to say, I never got to use it...

Yankee mechanised company in front of a T-55 company.

I planked down some terrain - which was four of my terrain mats, giving a 1.2 by 1.2 m board (i.e. 4 foot a side) with forests made of carpet tiles thrown over the top; these last I snagged from Rhys when I was last back in NZ, since they were now surplus to his requirements.  We ignored any hedgerows, given the basic unit was a company, rather than a platoon as in MSH. We also ignored difficult fields, but that was more because we entirely forgot about the possibility of having them being difficult!  It was one of a number of things we forgot during the course of the day (e.g. I couldn't find any of my bridge models, so no rivers could be used).

Aaron's game objective turned out to be "hold area against enemy" - he chose a hill just on his side of the centre line that had a good view of a lot of the board to be the key location.  Mine objective to exit at least 1/4 of my companies off his baseline.  I got two extra companies in compensation for him being able to take a defensive stance, further inflating the numbers discrepancy (he had 6 companies on table at the start, plus one as reinforcements; while I had 8 plus 3, respectively). The recommended 'base size' of company is extremely hazy in the rules. They talk about 1", 2", and 3" bases sizes in a single passage...  Since there is at least a defined ground scale (1" = 100 yards), I took that into consideration when decreeing we would use three MSH bases to represent a standard company, with ranges being taken to and from the middle one; the flanking ones would be to make sure they occupied a realistic amount of space.

Turn 6. Aaron (top) has been forced to retreat numerous times.

I had some good initial luck with me being able to get a good march onto the table through a timely "scurry" where everybody got to move:  this would appear to be, relatively speaking, generally better for the more numerous side if it happens on the first time - normally you get only three company activations a turn, so usually a smaller force gets a smaller proportion of its units to move. The first few turns saw most of our more lethal artillery assets (of which I had more) exhausted; whether it was wise to do so initially or later I didn't know, give it was our first game. And since this was a first game, there were no doubt many things we stuffed up rulewise too...

Once we really started coming to grips with each other, I kept scoring 1s or 6s on my "shock" dice, forcing Aaron's units to fall back constatantly. In fact, it looked like he was running out of room to retreat at some points, with some of companies falling back even beyond his HQ. On the other hand, my poor tankguns meant I was never in a position to land any "kill" dice on him, and my few assaults didn't work out. On the few occasions Aaron was able to actually get some shots of with his M60A1s, he was able to rip up my guys handily. I forgot to bring my smoke markers, so that part of the visual spectacle was AWOL; in the above picture we are using little 5 mm-a side coloured cubes to represent unit status. This should be done with appropriate dust, smoke, and fire markers...

Goddam Yankees! The American's are Aaron's own figures.

Anyway, I was making quite a lot of ground, but was taking quite a lot of casualties in the process. Eventually however, I not only started taking too many casualties, but got some "firefight" activations that prevented me from actually doing anything useful just when Aaron seized the initiative with a freshly rallied tank company that went on a rampage down my right flank, smoking up two companies in front of them, then sweeping round my flank (see left) and taking out two more.  Ouch!

Things were really really really not looking good for the Czechoslovakians at this juncture...

The casualties (Aaron's sole company lost at top).  Not pretty...

Now technically, I did complete my objective - I did get 3 companies of Aaron's baseline. But since he not only held his hill, but had but a single company rendered hors de combat while doing so, while I had lost seven (!) in getting my three off table, it was clear who the real winner was!

So what did I make of the rules? Well, they were indeed fast play. Very fast. You get maybe 6 to 12 companies total, and they are digital: they are either alive, or dead.  So no fiddling about with 'casualities' or the like as platoons get whittled down. No 'morale' as such to speak of, either - combat results can force you to halt, or retreat, but only on a company by company basis. And this is all fine. I'm not sure I like the way artillery was handled - will have to investigate more. Likely we mishandled it...

There are lots of things I would tweak in terms of 'army list' design - I think not having lots of attachments is likely to be more of a wasted opportunity than a useful simplification, but further play-testing will be required. Even if I don't end up liking everything, there is a solid core here that is very much worth investigating. The fact that we could slap a game together, starting with generating an OOB on paper, to packing it away after the game, in something like 4 hours maximum, was quite the revalation. It would probably take me 2 days to do that with MSH...

Trapped in the bocage...

My final Spearhead game with Rhys was a meeting engagement using Keith's scenario generator system; 650 points a side.  In keeping with our Normandy theme this week, we set up a table with plenty of terrain, including lots of bocage-type heavy hedgerows.

The table from what would become Rhys' left corner.  The water course counted as just a stream, so was fordable by all.

Rhys's force was taken from a German Panzer Division (1st SS) list - 4 rather small battalions (10 to 12 stands apiece), graded Regular.  Two were of leg infantry, each of which had an 88 stand in support, along with a stand of 120 mm Mortars, and two were armoured, with Panzer IV Hs and their accompanying half-tracks cross-attached.  Rhys had two small batteries of off-table artillery; 2 stands of 105 mm howitzers, and 2 of 150 mm.

Rhys had been telling me about a game he had recently where he had maxed-out on British field artillery.  25-pdrs might have crap attack factors, but the British ability to mass their fire over and above what any other nationality can do in Keith's scenario system proved cost-effective in his game, and he recommended I give it a go.  Sure, I said, I'm game!

So my on-table force was also 4 battalions-strong, each slightly understrength, but not greatly so, and larger than Rhys'; they were taken from a British infantry division list (15th Scottish), except for the tanks which were an independent Armoured Regiment, of Churchill VIIs (from 6th Guards Brigade), and whose three companies were parcelled out to the three infantry battalions.  In support, I had a full 18 stands of 25-pdrs, along with their corresponding 9 forward observer elements: one for each battalion per infantry battalion.  Thus nearly 1/6 of my points allocation was spent on FOs, and another 1/6 on the artillery itself.

German advance orders in red; British in blue; positional objectives are in yellow. I don't think the central one on Rhys' side is actually a valid one, but we nothing else in the centre that looked even this noteworthy...  Excuse the cropped off table - I didn't aim the camera properly!

Rhys opted to group his two infantry battalions together, on my left; they were tasked with taking the hillocks there; his 88s would be deployed in overwatch positions to cover the infantry's advance.  One Panzer battalion would be a central holding force, while the other would advance down the road on my right.

My three battalions were almost identical, each 21 elements strong  including the FOs.  I determined to defend on my right, anchoring myself on the village by the stream; while I would concentrate my attack on my left, and then sweep around toward the centre after the 10th move with timed orders.

Rhys' Panzer IVs move down the lane toward the village on my right while my 6-pdr element gets off some telling shots.

On my right, I secured the near village and adopted defensive positions as Rhys' tanks moved down the road.  The tall hedgerows here really limited manoeuvre and visibility.  My 6-pdr element, that had unlimbered just in time as the lead tank of his column moved into view, got off a lucky shot, suppressing it (factor 5 vs 6 isn't the best...), halting his advance temporarily, and allowing me time to consolidate my position and start calling in artillery fire.

Here's the same confrontation viewed from Rhys' side of the board.  The forests are cut up brown-fibre doormats with flock on top - easy to make and rather effective, visually.

On my left, I advanced boldly, and since Rhys did much the same, we were soon in close contact.  My artillery fire over here wasn't initially very effective (although that would soon change), but the constant casualties it inflicted gave me the upper hand.  And my Churchills weren't suffering too much from his 88 batteries either, as they swept up my flank, past a developing fire fight between two woods, and onwards...

The view from Rhys's centre toward my left flank; his troops are bottom- to mid-right.  I had the advantage both in numbers and in fire support here...

In the centre, there was some exchange of fire between our tanks where visibility allowed, which went to my advantage, aided by the Churchill VII's formidable 8 Defence factor, and this tied up his central force, preventing it from aiding both his left and right flanks. On my left, my artillery dice suddenly started to roll hot (oooh look at that - 4 sixes !), and Rhys' casualties mounted alarmingly.  By turn 6, I had forced his first battalion there to check morale, which it failed, and the survivors started legging it toward their rear; they didn't survive the next turn however.

A bit of smoke won't help Rhys' batallion here - the lane to the left is littered with dead Panzer IVs (which we keep forgetting to provide wrecks for...)

On my right, Rhys' tanks were taking too many losses from a combination of artillery fire, PIATs from behind hedgerows, and AP shells; by turn 8 this battalion had also been forced to turn tail.  Since Rhys had only bagged a single victory objective - which he was about to lose, whereas I had not only already broken two battalions, taken 2 objectives, and was about to seize 2 more, the proverbial operatic fat lady was clearly in fill aria mode by this stage!  I'd only lost 8 elements in the process, and Rhys was just 1 stand off losing his 3rd battalion...

So what were the lessons learnt?  Well apart the the obvious ones we all know about 6s beatings 1s, the British fire concentration, although appearing a non-starter to the casual eye, proved its worth.  Individually, each gun isn't up to much, but the ability to keep a sustained massed barrage going at the crucial point of contact - assuming you don't dilute your attack too much - can be very much worth it.  I'm wondering if the ability to do this with heavier pieces than 25-pdrs would be too overwhelming.  Test-driving required!

The other thing I learned were some further inanities of the points system.  Apparently the WW2 points were developed by the Auckland club and thus pre-date Keith's involvement; and they really need reviewing.  For example, a Pz IV H has a +1 attack factor on a Sherman, and a longer range.  For this it pays a 20% premium in points (4 points), which seems a bit steep, but is perhaps arguable.  But a Churchill VII pays just 10% extra to get 2 extra defence factors over a Sherman (and 3 on the side armour!), albeit while losing some speed in the process, making it very good value in comparison:  there is no way 11 Shermans are as good as 10 Churchill VIIs, and even more obviously, there is now way 11 Panzer IV Hs are as good as 12  Churchill VIIs - indeed, 13 of them  aren't!  Likewise, a T-34/76 costs the same as a Sherman, despite moving faster, and having all other factors the same.  Even worse, a Panther costs more than an IS-2, despite the IS-2 apparently being better, or at worst, equal, in every respect, factor-wise!

Rhys' game account here.

Falaise Gap - Part IV

To the west, things sounded like they were even more bloody, but I naturally had little idea what was going on, it being all of two meters away...  From what I could see, Peter had driven westwards hard with his first wave, and been mauled in the process, losing both the 2nd SS Panzers and the 362nd Infantry in the process, before his southbound force had even arrived on the table!  He almost broke Rhys' Podhale Rifles in the process, but there's a big difference between "almost" doing something and actually doing it... 

The veteran paratroopers assaulting from the other direction proved to be a big headache for Rhys - and he new this would be case, since they are his regular WW2 gaming force!  And once the 9th SS Panzers arrived just in time to replace the exhausted 353rd Infantry on their northern flank, they started pushing up the hill in real earnest.

Detail of elements of 9 SS Panzer Division supporting 3. Fjr-Division assaulting Mont Ormel. The brownish pipe cleaners are being used to represent light entrenchments (the Poles having dug in during the night).  The number of vacant positions attest to the intensity of the fighting in this sector of the table.

As it happened, the Germans just couldn't shift the Poles off the northern Hill 262, just as happened in real-life (in our game the 9th SS Panzers were  essentially destroyed in the attempt), but the Poles couldn't hang on to the southern portion of Mont Ormel either; again, mirroring the real life situation, and thus opening the way east for those elements that could make it.

The rest of the view of Mont Ormel shown above, at the end of turn 12.  No German forces remain to the left (northeast), while the 3rd Paratroopers have cleared a path straight up the centre of the shot, demonstrating yet again that when it comes to assaulting close terrain, "veteran"-rated infantry just can't be beat...

So after 5 1/2 hours of play, and 12 turns completed, we essentially had our result, and it was very close to what happened historically.  The Poles had fended off all assaults on Hill 262, but could not prevent a corridor being opened up for part of the 7th Army to slip through, south of Mont Ormel.  But while men may have gotten through, hardly any heavy equipment made it. A satisfying result to a good day's gaming!

In hindsight, the eastern end of the battlefield should have been rotated northwards, gaining an extra km there at the expense of a kilometre of unused terrain to the south.  And with more research, unit positions and strengths, etc., could have been tweaked, but it all went pretty well I thought. Here's Rhys thoughts on making up the scenario.

Falaise Gap - Part III

The "Attack" orders I issued to the units under my command were simple, and effectively amounted to "Move east", through St. Lambert for the units in the north, and over the middle bridge for those in the south; I was determined to avoid the hornets nest of Chambois as much as I could.  In the previous day's play test, the Canadians in St. Lambert had given a very good account of themselves, and prevented any German armour from passing their, while the Poles in Chambois overextended themselves in trying to close off the open plain to their north; we also hadn't figured out the correct way to represent the powerful American artillery support. Knowing this last point would be rectified on the actual day, I was determined to assault St. Lambert with as great as force as possible.

My advance in the north got off to a rocky start, as I hadn't even got within sight of the enemy when Paul successfully rolled for a P-47 flight, which proceeded to take out my SP 20 mm AA platoon, plus a platoon of mounted Panzer Grenadiers.  However, Paul had deployed the Canadians ultra-defensively, with essentially everybody deployed within the village, rather than around it, which meant he essentially gave up the chance of inflicting any casualties as I approached the village, even when my infantry waded across the shoulder-deep river.  As a result, I was able to assault the village pretty well much at leisure: the first assault went in on turn 6, and I had completely cleared both sectors by turn 8.

German troops surrendering to the Canadian South Alberta Regiment in St. Lambert, 19 August 1944. These roles would be reversed the next day in our re-fight.

My southern advance was both more cautious, and less successful.  I attempted to utilise what cover there was as much as I could, but I was in a bit of Scylla and Charybdis situation - the cover was arranged in such a way that the more I minimised my exposure to the artillery spotters in Chambois, the more I exposed myself to the rather numerous 17-pdr-equipped Fireflies and Achilles platoons in its environs (the Poles had more 17-pdr equipped tanks and tank destroyers than I had tanks in total...).  Slowly, but surely, my casualties mounted, and I had almost nothing to show for it in exchange.  The only tank platoons to make it successfully across the bridge were two stands of Panthers, and these were promptly knocked out, one by artillery fire of all things (needing two rolls of 11 or more on two dice; not great odds to be sure, but when you have four full battalions of artillery at your disposal, why not?).

Thus by the end of 6th turn my combined 116th Panzer Division - 12th SS Panzer Division battle group, which together comprised just a single SH "battalion" of 17 stands, had lost 9 stands, including all their armour and mechanised assets, and were forced to retreat with a morale check result of 4.  Bereft of armour, my following up infantry units looked like they were going to have a hard time of it traversing the same route. As a result, Paul decided it was time to block off the southern half of the table completely, by moving his two Polish battalions north.  The 10th Dragoons, a mechanised battalion, drove out of Chambois, on the left (west), while to their east was the 24th Lancers; each had a company of Achilles tank destroyers from the 1st Polish Antitank Battalion in support.

The 24th Lancers move out into the open plain. Excuse the crappy photo - I discovered my camera was broken, and will have to be replaced; this is one of the few pictures I took that was even semi-useful.; most of the rest were just blurs...

In our test game Rhys has similarly decided the Poles should move out into the open, and, spurred by the knowledge he had just two turns' worth of fuel, moved as far out as possible. This left his more western unit rather exposed to attacks from the following up German infantry, which, although without tanks, did have the AT gun and StuG platoons to assist them, so were not entirely helpless at long range.  And so it was great interest that I watched Paul carry out exactly the same manoeuvre...

On the upside (from the Allied point of view), Paul's movement meant my northern Panzer unit, severely weakened from the assault of St Lambert, and which had just begun to move eastwards, would find itself confronted with a mass of armour whose guns covered most of the northern section of the plain, with precious few opportunities to hide. Sure enough, by turn 11, they had taken enough casualties to force a morale check, with however, they passed...

The downside, as Paul soon discovered, was that by moving not only his 24th Lancers as far north as possible, but also his 10th Dragoons, the Dragoons were no longer being effectively supported by the Americans still in Chambois.  My infantry, plus their limited, but effective support units (including one stand of 88s that did sterling service once it had unlimbered by St. Lambert) eventually (on turn 12) eliminated enough units to force a moral check on the Dragoons, which they promptly failed in the most horrible manner, and disintegrated, leaving the 24th Lancers essentially without infantry support, and suddenly very anxious to retreat back from where they came, opening up the route east. If the Dragoons had undertaken a more limited advance, I doubt I could have picked them off in the manner I did.

Falaise Gap - Part II

Rhys provided all the forces, as he had just enough to pretty well much do the whole lot by himself.  Getting information on the Allies was easy enough, but not so for the Germans, since these were for the most part a rag-tag collection of "units" in retreat, with even their commanders having little idea at the time how many men or pieces of equipment they had, and in case, many of them didn't live to fill out any sort of post-battle report...

The Allies on the east half of the table, who would be commanded on the day by Paul Reynolds, amounted to 688 points under Keith McNelly's scenario system, not counting the 1/6 chance each turn of receiving air support.  We omitted one of the Polish battalions that in real-life was defending Chambois, the (Polish) 10th Mounted Rifles, partly because we figured that something must have been guarding the area to the south, which we were not portraying, but mostly because we couldn't figure out how we could possibly fit four battalions into such a small area on the table!

Above: Cromwell IVs of the 10th Mounted rifles in action near Falaise (photo taken from here).  Note how open the ground is here in comparison with what the were fighting over a month before in the campaign. It must be said that Cromwell IVs are not exactly the most capable of weapons systems in Spearhead, so their absence from the table was not sorely missed...

The Poles around Coudehard and on Mont Ormel amounted to 778 points; again, not counting the 1/6 chance each turn of that they would receive air support (so it was potentially possible to have more than one air model on table at a time). We let them deploy just a little bit further south than they were in real life, because we didn't have quite enough of the northern end of the hill modelled on our table as it turned out.  These would be commanded by Rhys on the day.

Above: the view as it is now from the war memorial and museum on Mont Ormel, looking west toward the Dives. Public domain image by Jacques Wiacek.

The Germans attacking Mont Ormel from the east and north totalled 750 points, but were split into two waves, with the northern force (9th SS Panzer) only starting to arrive from the 8th turn, and thus would have a harder job of it than their points count would initially suggest.  These would be commanded by Peter Page on the day. Also taking on the Poles here, attacking from the west, were 396 points of veteran paratroopers and regular infantry; these were commanded by Jon Palmer, whom I had never met before; he turned up with a box of his gear for us to have a look at, and when he opened it it, I saw the largest collection of Russian WW2 lead I have ever seen - an entire 1:300th Tank Brigade, modelled at 1:1 scale! That would equate to a complete Tank Army at Spearhead scale...

Above are shown the on-table positions of the various "battalion" HQs, or, for off-table ones, their entry points: yellow for Axis and red for Allied, along with their turn of entry for those starting off-table.  I say "battalion" in quotes, because for the Germans, in many cases these represented the remnants of entire divisions, or in some cases, two divisions...

Play started at 10 am "real life", since Peter and Paul had to drive up from Wellington, representing daybreak, 20 August 1944.  After about half an hour going through the scenario and any little rules (e.g. air support, lack of counter battery assets, and low fuel stocks) we started the first turn, with Peter's 2nd SS getting immediately up and personal with the Strzelcy podhalańscy (Podhale Rifles) on the southeastern slopes of Mont Ormel. Peter was no doubt hoping to avoid this:

Above: the aftermath of the German assaults on Mont Ormel (public domain image from the Polish Ministry of Information).