CoC Korea

 

Somewhere in Korea October 1951

Darryl Cox and I kicked off our foray into Chain of Command Korea with a Patrol Mission. The Australians from 3 Bn Royal Australian Regiment send a platoon strength Fighting Patrol out to identify Chinese PVA positions in this poor looking scrubby landscape…..

Although the Aussies rolled a meager Force Morale of 8 against the PVA of 10 they quickly got the upper hand. In spite of their right section taking suppressing fire their return fire was very effective using the Five Rounds Rapid inflicting shock and wounding the PVA Squad Leader. On the Aussies left flank their fire was more effective in inflicting significant shock on a PVA squad attempting to crawl in to assault range!

Not a good start for Chinese!

 

 

 

Suddenly the staccato roar of a Maxim Machine Gun rips out from the centre of the PVA positions! However this only inflicted a small amount of shock on the centre Aussie section.

To the horror of the Chinese Commander, the Aussies had a surprise of their own with a Vickers Machine Gun in support! In the ensuing Machine Gun duel the PVA gun team took 3 yes, THREE, casualties! The middle section adds its Bren gun teams fire with 5 Rounds Rapid and quickly the PVA machine gun is first Pinned and then a final casualty routs the hapless Maxim’s remaining team member.

 

The Chinese Force Morale is dropping rapidly and the Commander decides belatedly to send his right hand squads forward hoping to kill or capture the Vickers gun, the section next to it and the Platoon Commander who happens to be here as well!

While the right hand PVA squad has inflicted significant shock on the Aussie section to its front the return fire is equally accurate thanks to the Platoon Commanders fire direction (5 Rounds Rapid causing 9 hits and resulting in a LOT of shock!).

Unfortunately this move by the Chinese is too little too late and the Aussies are able to bring the combined firepower of two sections AND the Vickers team on the luckless Chinese. First the LMG team is wiped out, the Chinese Sergeant (Inferior Senior Leader) is then wounded and more riflemen killed and finally only two riflemen are left. With far too much shock (11 on 4 figures) they break and route taking both wounded Leaders with them.

With the loss of this PVA squad the Chinese Force Morale has dropped to 4 losing them a Command Dice and consequently the engagement; leaving the battlefield in Aussies hands.

Old Faithful 3 RAR have lived up to their name!

The last image shows the final disposition of troops.

The Chinese have one squad in good order and the second has accumulated too much shock to be effective although not yet Pinned, however the Chinese Commander is alone (except for his bugler) in the centre of the field and unable to help.

On the Aussies side there are two sections in good order supported by the Vickers and they have not yet brought forward the sniper, 2” mortar and M20 Super Bazooka teams!     

A great game and this will be definitely the first of many!

As usual the Chinese forgot to take advantage of the “Bunched Target” with the Vickers co-located with two other teams on the flank.

The Aussies made good use of the 5 Rounds Rapid fire control!

Great game thanks Darryl and well deserved win!

Detail of Owen's Chinese force (1st Corps and Warlord figs)

By Paul:

WoW - what a fabulous looking game! I haven't tried CoC v2 yet and have had a Korea itch for some time, so this really appeals to me.

That's a great CHICOM force you've assembled mate, sorry to see them wiped out in their first game but we all know the fate of newly painted figures in their first game! :-) Maybe I need to do a USMC force....

Reminds me that I still have that modular Kapyong battlefield we made for the club open day back in...'98 I think? maybe it deserves to be unearthed for this!

Great work Owen and Darryl - looking forward to the next bout!

Paul

1870 Opening Shots in the Saar

 Paul has repeatedly harangued me to post game reports here... be careful what one asks for! 

After the French declaration of war on Prussia on 2^nd August 1870, Prussian patrols crept through the thinning early morning mists seeking to find the advancing French forces. 

In Saarbrücken the 40^th Regiment frantically prepared defensive positions desperate to delay the anticipated French thrust.

This Sharp Practice game saw an engagement between French and Prussian platoon strength patrols confronting each other.

French fielded 2 Line, 1 Zouave and 2 skirmishers with a Level 3, 2 Level 2s and a Level 1 Leader.

Prussians fielded 4 Line and a Jäger quad with a Level 3, 2 Level 2s and 2 Level 1 Leaders.

As the sun rises the skirmisher squads from both sides let fly the first shots. Prussian Jagers led by a Level 2 Leader lose a casualty and the squad leader is knocked out, but down a French skirmisher caught in the open. A squad of French Zouaves (with a Level 2 Leader) rush to support their skirmishers and a half platoon of Prussian line (with a Level 2 and a Level 1 Leader) move to support the Jagers.

                           

 The Prussian line led by a Level 2 and a Level 1 add their weight of fire to take down two more skirmishers and inflict serious shock on one squad. The Zouves in their rush to join the fray and are now “blown” needing water before being able to move at full speed (Spitting Feathers).

        

While the Jager squad leader still lies senseless the French skirmishers poor more fire on inflicting further casualties and shock.

                                 

The rest of the French patrol now arrives and emboldened the skirmishers start to move forward.

                                  

Ther Prussians still waiting for the rest of the patrol including their leader move forward to deal with the French skirmishers who are getting too close while the Chassepot continue to poor fire on from a distance!

                                         

At last the Prussian commander arrives with the rest of the platoon! Just in time to take some pressure off however they are congested and unable to manouvre! The Jagers have taken too many casualties and although the Squad Leader is now back on his feet he must move them behind the line of Regulars to avoid the effective French fire!

                                  

The fighting is joined in earnest now and both patrols start to advance. The French Zouaves are keen to get to hand to hand with the Prussians and start to move out of the wheat fields followed closely by the French Line. Unfortunately the Prussians have now moved into effective range of the Dreyse negating the Chassepot’s advantage and the telling fire does away with one of the French Skirmisher squads. The Jagers tart to move to a flank where their fire might be more effective without drawing return fire and the Prussian Commander wheels his half platoon to try to flank the French advance.

                               

The Zouaves more to close range and start inflicting serious casualties on the Prussians but lose more of their own in turn! The Prussian Platoon staff are working hard to rally shock off the men as this engagement hangs in the balance!

               

Finally the Prussian commander has been able to swing his second line to the flank and breaking them down into two squads to allow more flexibility starts to advance to outflank the French. While the French commander still has his main line in good hand seeing the last of the skirmishers break and the Zouaves reduced to an ineffective unit determines he has met his orders and gauged the strength and disposition of the Prussians in this sector. His report will be well received but tainted with the loss of his skirmishers and too many Zouaves.

For the Prussians it is a Pyhhric victory as they have too few many to lose so early!

                                 

By Paul:

Hey buddy, GREAT to see your post here. Sharpe's Practice was a favourite of our group in Sydney and with the exception of our FIW campaign back in 2017 or so, very much focused on Napoleonic. Not that thats a bad thing! But the game has lots more potential as you have shown here.

Game looks great and the natty little labels really look good too! Keeping things at a sensible level allows you to enjoy the narrative aspects (like the Dreyse vs Chassepot). Our games to expand to rather astounding levels, in which such things are lost.

As you know, FPW is a big interest of mine but has never gotten to the tabletop. The other period I think the SP would work very well for would be the Crimea. And it just so happens that I may already have an army ready for it...

https://tasmancave.blogspot.com/2024/01/ahpc-14-french-grenadiers.html

Maybe a just a small investment in some Russians then... bugger - you've done it again!!!! 

:-)

Tanktober #31

We are closing out this year's Tanktober with this blast from the past of'Oberst Owen' and I posing with a classic Panzer more than a few years ago now - and she is a movie star no less!

Training Your Opponent

My copy of Wargames Illustrated 291 arrived today, which has my article "How to Train Your Opponent" at the back.  I was chuffed to see how well it came out.  Thanks for all the positive feedback, I'm pleased it came across as an interesting and different piece rather than just gamer Dad propaganda! Featured in the pics are not only the Lad but me, and fellow Man Cave Gamers Comrade James and Oberst Owen.
http://www.wargamesillustrated.net/Default.aspx?tabid=221&art_id=3083

I also really enjoyed the Kelly's Heroes article- particularly and the Lad and I had just watched the movie on the Man Cave TV the day before!

BLOCKtober

The boys ventured forth on Saturday to BLOCKtober, a small Blood Bowl tourney held in the Melbourne CBD.  En route we dropped in to see our mate Nic at Euereka Miniatures, bough a bunch of things we didn't expect to (including a Flakosaurus http://tasmancave.blogspot.com/2011/06/new-dinotruppen.html and a bunch of Nic's "Frog Warriors" range for conversion into a Blood Bowl Slann team) and coincidentally caught up with long lost Man Caver Oberst Owen briefly before we had to go.

We got to the tourney around midday.  As it is a 2 day, 6 game event we were never going to be able to be full participants (all in good time), but we went for a look and have some fun regardless.  We were warmly welcomed by the players there and had a look at some very nice teams and game mats (the orange tinted AusBowl pitch from FF Fields is very distinctive - I'll have to get one in the future).  Then we quietly settled into a corner to play a matchup of the Lad's killer Orc team the "Deathstars" vs my Human Team the "Cerberus Slayers".  As part of my inducements I got star players Morg 'n Thorg (being used for the first time in his new paint scheme) and Mighty Zug who would become instrumental in fighting off the well developed Orcs.

I won the toss, elected to kick off, and a long, grinding half began.  A classic Troll vs Ogre duel began in the centre, and the Lad's pair of ruthless ST5 Black Orcs smashed through the line to go headhunting.  Bolstered with Mighty Zug and a pair of Blitzers skilled with Guard, the Human line generally held  and gave ground slowly.  An Orc fumble about half way through the half presented an opportunity and a Human Blitzer ran to grab it, only to be shoved into the crowd and killed.  Another Human Blitzer, understandably upset at this, rushed forward to avenge him but perhaps regretted his impulsive behaviour when was badly hurt in the block he threw.  The misery continued when a Human lineman was ejected after he fouled star Orc Blitzer who had just killed his pal - the only consolation being that the Orc was stretchered off to the KO box.  A scrappy scrum developed and the half time siren sounded with the scoreboard still blank.  However, the Orc Blitzer recovered from being KOed, the Human star blitzers were off for the duration and the Human bench was empty with all reserves now on the field...

The Orcs kicked off to start the second half and a left flank push saw a Human breakthough on the left deep into the Orc Half with a catcher well protected by a Slayer Blitzer.  The Human thrower scooped up the ball to pass to them- a touchdown was certain!   That is until star Orc Blitzer Grink Lightningfeet leapt up to grab an intercept!!!  After another few turns of two well-played dodging and weaving past the Human safeties, he broke through to put the Deathstars into the lead with just 3 turns to run in the game.  Surely the winning TD had just been scored.

Very well aware that they had to hold off the Humans for the remainder of the half, the Orcs set up in an uncharacteristic deep ziggurat style formation to disrupt the Human advance.  The ball was kicked deep, dropping beautifully into the back corner of the human half and the Slayer thrower rushed back to grab it as the forward line advanced.  The Human push went deep on the right flank this time and the Orcs surged to contain it.  A scrum ensued, but then in the last turn of the half a Human catcher eventually dodged through and ran into the end zone. All he needed now was the ball.  The Slayer thrower, who had collected it by now, sprinted forward, and threw a lovely long pass which sailed into the catcher's glove as the full time siren blew: a 1 all draw!!!!  The Lad was not pleased to see his hard fought win disappear at the last second, but ended up with a smile in the end.

Overall, a tough game and the score probably reflected the game play well (though the Lad might not agree).  The Orcs won the casualty battle though - they inflicted 3 casualties (including 1 death) and the Humans badly hurt 2 Orcs but they will be back next game.  It was also fun to play on a different pitch with a mat loaned by the Blocktober Commissioner, who then very generously gave the Lad a set of red "Bushranger Bowl" dice to remember his first BB comp.  Thanks to all the players there for their very friendly welcome and a great atmosphere to play in.

PS When we got home the Blood Bowl frenzy was still upon us and after dinner we played again - my Vampires vs the Lad's new Ogre team (pics later). I won 2 nil, but in the process suffered 5 casualties but only inflicted one.  This included my team having two deaths (1 a vampire!  But luckily a new one playing his first game, and without skills) plus got a niggling injury on a veteran Vamp.  The Lad is now up to 15 career kills, as opposed to my pitiful 2: I couldn't even kill a snotling!

The Tax Man Cometh - Part 2

Viking Berserker 

If you missed Part 1 of this Battle Report, look here:
http://tasmancave.blogspot.com/2011/06/tax-man-cometh-part-1.html

When we last left our heroes, the Lad was embroiled in a fight around the Bishop's residence, Ken and Owen were fighting their way to Church, and my warband was being systematically destroyed by a ferocious, foul-tempered bunny....

The Lad managed to fight off the Saxon defenders and a bunch of reinforcements, and in fact did so without taking a single casualty.  He then packed up all the goodies into a handy cart (actually two handy carts, but he realised he couldn't make it with two carts and dumped one) and then began a slow withdrawal in good order while an increasingly large mob of Saxons tried to build up enough courage to charge the Viking line.

Back at the Church, the Vikings decimated the first Saxon shieldwall, and advanced upon the next wave, who sensibly hunkered down around the Church entrance to use the stone walls to secure their flank.

And while his oar-mates were being dispatched by the foul rodent, my Champion had challenged the Saxon garrison commander to single combat!

Dueling at the Village Crossroads

Victory!!!!

My boys then went on to mop up the rest of the Saxon defenders, burst into the Church and slay the pesky Tax Collectors (much to the chagrin of Ken and Owen, whose boys were still engaged outside the Church).  After a turn or two scooping up all the gold the could carry, these two jumped out the back window of the Church and scarpered into the woods!

Inside the church - the comfy chair was very temping to outfit the Dragonship!

Meanwhile the shieldwalls clash outside the Church

Meanwhile, back at the Cave entrance I finally managed to scare off (scare off, not dispatch mind you!) the evil bunny, and finally enter the cave... (This was a fantastic bit of terrain Pete had made up in a box lid)  The glittering of treasure on one side was offset by the hideous visage of the 3 stooges Troll in the other corner!

The Cave of Wonders!

A cautious advance ....

"Intruders? Why I oughta..."

Charge!

Luckily for me, the Troll put up less of a fight than the Rabbit and my Hersir dispatched the gruesome foe.
At this time, the Saxon Army Commander and his continent of Huscarls dramatically entered the board, intent on stopping this unwanted incursion and taking back the stolen tithe!

A mighty Saxon Hero leads his men!

As they entered the Fray, Ken and Pete were mopping up with shieldwall, and Ken called out the Mighty Hero to a duel which went back and forth for a few turns as the two combatants were closely matched.

And the Lads lads got their cart over the ford in the stream, just as more Saxons came on to oppose them:

An angry Harold the Missionary leads more men to take back the Church's gold

But the fearsome Vikings challenge them from the other bank, and their courage fails them!

At this point the Saxon hero fell the Ken's axe and the Saxon defences crumbled.  Having looted the Church, the Cave and the Bishop's residence, the Vikings had taken a good haul of loot and made their way back to the Dragonships.  The funeral pyres burned brightly on the beach for some of my departed lads.

Battle Epilogue: Hours later in in misty dusk, the Saxon hero regained consciousness, having been left for dead on the battlefield.  Binding a serious wound on his leg, he knew the Ealdorman's wrath would fall upon him for loosing the tithe revenue.  Swearing vengeance upon the Northmen, eternal hatred for them would burn deeply...