Australian Infantry

1200 Point Australian Infantry Battlegroup for Blitzkrieg Commander.  Figures are 15mm Battlefront.

Union Regiment Painted

I promised I would paint something.  A standard Union Civil War Regiment with Black Powder rules in mind.  Figures are 15mm Peter Pig.

Afrika Korps v Australians : Blitzkrieg Commander Battle Report

Welcome to another Blitzkrieg Commander Battle Report.  This time we return to the desert in 1943 and pit the Deutschland Afrika Korps against the Australian Imperial Force.  Godders commands the Germans, I command the AIF.   At stake is the small town of El Godfrey, a place where weary goat herders can rest after a long day of goat herding.  (Does anyone know where I can buy some 15mm goats?)  Rommel needs this town as a staging point for his thrust to Cairo.  The Australian plan is simple and it worked at Tobruk.  Let Rommels tanks pass the outer defensive perimeter and draw them onto hidden guns.  Ambush the following infantry.  And cut off the panzers retreat. 
 

 The Panzers advance towards El Godfrey in two powerful formations.

"It's a trap!"  The Australian anti-tank guns sited in the town open fire on the Germans.  British armoured support hits the Panzers in the flanks.  The German commander is not worried.  His following infantry will deal with the guns while he turns to deal with the flank tank attack.  "Where are the infantry?"  

"It's another trap!"  The Australians rise out of their caves and ambush the panzer grenadiers on the left & right flanks.  This was a blood bath.  All the bonus flank shots decimated the Germans.  After the first round of shooting only a few Germans remained. (Apologies for unpainted figures - that's a carton).  

 The Panzers take a terrible beating from the Anti-Tank guns.

 But the Australians don't get it all their own way.

 The Germans turn to secure their flanks.

The British are out gunned and out armoured.  Very soon the British tanks are all burning wrecks.  However enough damage has been done to the German Battlegroup and they reach breaking point.  A roll of the dice seals their fate and they are forced to retreat.

El Godfrey has been held.

This game was set up in scenario format ignoring army points.  It was going to be a hard ask for the Germans to win.  The idea was to have a fun game.  All it takes are a few failed CV rolls on the Australians part and the Germans would have a good chance of winning.  We tried to simulate the circumstances of the first battle of Tobruk, using a later time period to suit our models.  It seemed to work.  A good interesting game that lasted 2 hours.  We have seen what German do to cows, thankfully the goats where saved.    

Belgians v Germans : Blitzkrieg Commander Battle Report

The brave Belgians and the Germans face off in a 1000 point meeting engagement of Blitzkrieg Commander.  Both sides advance towards a farmhouse destroyed by the relentless Luftwaffe.  Yours truly commands the Belgians, Guido commands the Hun.

The Belgians win initiative and move first, attempting an outflanking maneuver on the left.  The Belgians have one awesome ACG-1, and two not so awesome FT-17's.

Unfortunately, the Belgian flanking tanks are up against a nasty German tank formation.  Outranged and outgunned the Belgians are destroyed in a matter of minutes.  Flanking maneuver failed.

The Germans decided they don't like cows and shoot them all.  Here two German mortar teams set up behind a stone wall.  Ready to rain suppression down on any Belgian infantry that advance towards the farm.

And here come the Belgians advancing along the right road.  Infantry with a couple of HMGs in support.  They come under heavy mortar fire.  Yellow markers are suppression.  Blue dice are the hits taken.  Each unit needs 6 hits to be knocked out of the game.

More Belgian infantry advancing in the centre.  This time they have 47mm SA-FRC anti-tank guns in support.  However highly mobile German infantry are now in the farmhouse and are raining down fire on the attackers.  Both AT Guns are suppressed and are soon knocked out without firing a shot.

The Belgians Alamo.  They make it towards the protective cover of a stone wall and find more German cow atrocities.  The Belgians have two anti-tank rifles which will surely put a halt to the advancing Panzers.

The Panzers line up on the Belgians left flank and let rip.  The Belgians are under intense fire from armour, mortars, infantry and HMG's.  Before long the Belgians reach breakpoint, fail their break dice roll and run off the battlefield.  Germany victorious.  The Belgians lost three tank units, two AT units, two AT Rifle units, and three infantry units before breaking and fleeing.  The Germans lost one HMG unit and two Infantry units.  Thanks for the game Guido.

Tabled

On Friday night I travelled to Godders house to play a game of Blitzkrieg Commander. It was a 1000 point meeting engagement with new forces. I was the Germans and Godders was the Russians. We are both building up to 2000 point armoured battlegroups for the very late war period. This is not much of an after action report because I got tabled after six turns. Tabled means I lost all my units and Godders lost none. I was thoroughly beaten down and humiliated, Hero unit of the battle, a Russian Katyusha Rocket launching truck (unpainted!!). Godders got all his forward observer command roles in. Constantly suppressed my units and maneuvered his formations into positions that offered him cover and good fields of fire. Artillery is king of the battlefield. Good win to Godders.

My 1000 point Germans. (Sorry about the crappy photos)

Godders 1000 point Russians. Note the unpainted and unmade Katyusha!

An example of my units in flames.

I Painted Something

I actually painted something. I had to get out of my slumber. Perth is in it's hottest recorded summer and boy is it hot. Even at night. Painting is hard work. I painted up this 15mm Sd.Kfz. 250/1 Halftrack. This little fellow will be a Blitzkrieg Commander HQ leading a Panther formation. He will be in his first battle tonight against the Soviets. Vehicle is 15mm Battlefront.

Belgian 47mm SA-FRC Anti-Tank Gun

In between turns playing Battlefield Academy on-line over the last two days I painted a couple of Belgian 47mm SA-FRC Anti-Tank Guns for my Belgian Blitzkrieg Commander Army. These two units were the last parts needed for my 1000pt army. I was held up by a very long wait for the gunners to arrive in the post (3 months). 15mm guns are from QRF and the 15mm figures are from True North. I will attempt to photograph the whole army over the next couple of days.

15mm Belgians are finished. Next on the painting table are 28mm Waffen SS. And Monty, have mercy in BA. Give me a chance.

First Painted Figures of 2011

Finished my first figures of 2011. Union Cavalry based up as a regiment for Black Powder. Figures are 15mm Peter Pig. I dropped one of these bases after I took the photo so now I have to repair it, sigh..........

A Difficult Affair II

Wednesday night is gaming night and once again Godders and myself faced off with Blitzkrieg Commander. This time we used a real historical battle scenario titled "A Difficult Affair II" written by Steve Curtis. A Difficult Affair II is part of a series of scenarios centred around the Battle of Kursk in 1943. This scenario is played out in a small area of 16" x 24". All infantry.

The situation : At 1500hrs, on the 4th of July 1943 various German units of the 4th Panzer Army are sent forward into Soviet positions on reconnaissance in force missions. The objectives of these missions were to discover traps and gain lodgement in the Soviet lines.

Godders in Command of the 15th Company, 3rd Battalion, Panzer Fusilier Regiment, Grossdeutschland is tasked to capture the western edge of a low treeless ridge west of the village of Butovo. High command believes the ridge consists of dummy positions.

Godders sets up in his starting positions. He is in command of 9 Infantry Sections, 2 HMG Sections, a FAO and off board 81mm Mortars.

I am in command of a Soviet Reinforced Platoon, 3rd Battalion, 199th Guards Rifle Regiment. My mission is simple, hold the postion at all costs. Not one step back. I have 4 Infantry Sections, 1 MMG, 1 on-board 50mm mortar, a FAO and off-board 82mm Mortars. I have one wooden bunker and my troops can start the game dug in. I have access to barbed wire. The string line in the centre of the photo represents the crest of the ridge. I placed my MMG in the bunker. I put two infantry Sections in the crops on the left flank. And two infantry Sections dug in on the crest of the slope on the right flank. All troops are concealed.

The Germans started and immediately advanced into no-man's land. As the Soviets are concealed the Germans cannot shoot until they reveal the Soviet positions, or the Soviets reveal themselves by opening fire. Which they did to good effect. Most Germans were under half range and were in the open. German sections began dropping like flies or were suppressed. This went on for three turns then Godders diced up a blunder. Which was actually lucky because his visit to the blunder table forced all his units to retreat one full move, safely away from the open ground.

Now in cover, and all Soviet positions revealed, the Germans began the process of concentrating fire and slowly withering down the defenders. Although the Germans took casualties from return fire. But it was the Soviets turn to blunder. My visit to the blunder table was devastating. All my troops advanced one half move towards the enemy. This included my MMG in the bunker and my dug in sections. Now they were all exposed in the open in no-mans land. (The blunder chart represents a loss of command and control of your troops and my lads obviously got all excited at their success to date and went forward after the Germans).

Needless to say, I lost 3 sections and the MMG. I was now down to 1 section, 1 mortar, and my off board mortars.

The Germans advanced up the hill without much effort. The mortar and remaining section were knocked out in close combat. And the game was over. Victory to Godders. And a game well played.

The Butchers Bill. The Soviets were wiped out. Not one step back. The Germans lost 7 Sections and achieved their objective.

Real Historical Outcome. The German 15th Company took the ridge after two hours of fighting at a very high cost in soldiers. It was pre-planned that the 15th Company would then support an attack on the village of Butovo but due to their heavy losses the company was withdrawn from the line. A sign of things to come in the Battle of Kursk.

So as you can see the game played out on the tabletop matched the historical result perfectly. The game would have dragged on if I had not blundered but the result would have been the same. Godders would have stayed in cover and slowly whittled away the defences with HMG, rifle and mortar file. Both of us agreed it was a great scenario to play and using infantry exclusively was challenging and fun. In this scenario one unit of infantry (stand) represent one section. We had to house rule off-board mortars as these are not covered in the rules. And once again Godders supplied me with Belgian beer. Very nice all round.

Another Game

Myself and Godders had another game of Blitzkrieg Commander. Godders hosted and supplied all the figures and old school terrain. This time we played a convoy ambush. I was the Germans ambushing a British convoy. 1000pts each. It was a good game and I won. The picture above shows a road going through crops in which visibility is reduced to 20cm. It caused all sorts of problems when firing at the enemy and added a new level of tactics to our game. Sorry, I only took one photo.

Rumble in the Western Desert

On Wednesday night the Afrika Korps commanded by Godders attended my house with victory in North Africa on their mind. A small band of Australian Infantry, a British 17pdr and one Valentine stood in their way. The allies were outnumbered 2 to 1. The game is Blitzkrieg Commander. Scenario 14 is the mission. The Allies must hold the town for 8 turns for victory. The Germans must break the defenders and force them off the battlefield.

The Australians and British hold the small desert town of El Whatitsname somewhere in Western Libya. The town is very famous for it goats. The 8th Army have been on the offensive and now the Germans are counter attacking. Godders chose flank deployment to enter the battlefield. An armoured formation will deploy on the Allies left flank. A small armour formation and an infantry formation will deploy on the right flank.

The Allies have three small formations. A 25pdr Gun and a HMG on the left flank. A Valentine Tank, a 17pdr Anti-Tank Gun, and a section on Australian veteran infantry in the centre. And two 6pdr Anti Tank Guns and a HMG on the right. An Australian Forward Observer is ready to call in support from an off-board artillery battery. The allies have spent resources on defenses in the form of gun pits, barbed wire, one visible minefield and one hidden minefield.

Enter the Germans. Godders passed command rolls on all three formations in turn 1 and they entered the battlefield. Three of his motorcycles carrying HMGs drove straight into the hidden minefield and were destroyed. The HMG crews were left suppressed and stranded in the minefield. The Australians thought this was very funny. One German truck was also destroyed by HMG fire. Godders placed his armour formations into good firing positions by the end of Turn 1.

The dreaded and very strong Afrika Korps armoured formation on the Allies left flank was under the direct command of the Commanding Officer with a CV of 10. Very tough. Turn 2 was a general slugfest between the two armies. The Allies took their first loss with the 17pdr being destroyed. The Germans remained unscratched but the infantry on the right flank were suppressed by artillery fire.

Turn 3 was the turning point of the battle lead by Godders throwing a double 6 for his infantry on the right flank. The resulting visit to the blunder table caused his infantry to advance into close combat with one of the 6pdr guns. Normally a disaster but hand to hand combat favours infantry over a gun crew and the 6pdr was knocked out. Firing between both sides continued with the Germans taking out the Vickers HMG on the left flank. Things were starting to fall apart for the allies.

Turn 4 saw the Germans continue to use their ranged shooting. First the 25pdr Gun was destroyed. Then the Valentine. Then the Australian Infantry section. The Allies fired back with what forces they could muster but to no effect. The allies had lost 5 units and were below Break Point. I had to roll a 9 or below from two D6s for the battlegroup to stay on the table. I rolled two 5's. The allies ran. Tabled in turn 4. Victory to Godders. His honour and prestige returned, a fact confirmed when Rommel invited him over to his tent for a late night coffee!

Once again an enjoyable game. I had great fun with the hidden minefield. If playing this game again I would take more armour. Thanks to Godders for the game. Nothing better than sitting around after the game in the spiritual guidance of "Black Powder" enjoying a beer and talking wargaming. Godders supplied some fancy beer from Belgian called Hoegaarden. At $70.00 a block it as very good. Those Belgians know how to make beer. All figures and terrain are 15mm.

Belgian Army Commander

My Belgian Army Commander is done. I'm not too happy with the staff car. I would rate the actual model as poor. A classic case of a worn mold. I found it to be very difficult to paint. The rear end looks like it melted in the sun. However, it will do the job. All my army needs now are two 47mm AT Guns. I have the gun models but I am waiting on Old Glory UK to send a pack of Belgian AT crew. (Ordered early October!) Once they have arrived I can complete my 1000pt Blitzkrieg Commander Army. Staff car is from Quick Reaction Force and figures are from True North, all 15mm.

I have some 28mm figures on the paint desk now. 80% complete. Should have pictures soon. I also got too cocky in Battlefield Academy. I got absolutely smashed in my latest game. Back to the loser corner for the time being.

Belgian Ford-Marmon Herrington Armoured Truck

Sorry for the lack of miniature posts lately. I have not been doing any painting or wargaming. I have been heavily engaged on the Internet playing Battlefield Academy. And what a poor commander I am turning out to be. There are a lot of good players out there.

Today I finished a Ford-Marmon Herrington Armoured Truck for my Belgium Blitzkrieg Commander Battlegroup. This particular truck will be the HQ for my armour formation. I stuck an officer figure in there to give the vehicle the look of command. I have been doing a bit of research on these trucks. Mainly used by Belgians and Dutch. The Germans and Japanese also used them as captured vehicles. The Japanese got hold of them in Timor. Blitzkrieg Commander don't do stats for this truck as an armoured vehicle so it will played as a normal truck when not in use as a HQ model.

Truck is 15mm from QRF. Officer is 15mm from True North.

Belgian Infantry

At long last I got off my butt and did some painting and basing. This is the infantry element of my Belgian Blitkrieg Commander Battlegroup. And a spotter who is attached to an off-board battery of 105mm Artilley Guns.

The formation consists of a HQ, 8 Infantry Sections (2 upgraded with Boyes Anti-Tank Rifles), and 2 Maxim HMG sections. I broke a figure while basing. I cut off the broken figures legs and glued him back on the base as a land mine victim. Problem solved. Figures are 15mm True North. Click on the pictures to get a better look.

Suppression Markers

I have not been doing much painting lately. No reason for that really. I just finished making some suppression markers for my Blitzkrieg Commander Belgian army. Figures are 15mm Peter Pig. They are dead French figures masquerading as dead Belgians.

Blitzkrieg Commander 8th Army v Afrika Korps

Monday morning Godders came over for a game of Blitzkrieg Commander before we went on duty. 1500pts per side. Godders played the Afrika Korps and I was the 8th Army. We each placed an objective on the 6x4 table. The goal was to reach the objective or break the enemy force. I had to reach the wounded Australians pictured above.

Godders went first and split into two formations. The first being a large tank unit consisting of various Mk III's and IV's, supported by three units of HMG infantry on motorbikes. I had three Shermans and two 6pdr Valentines waiting for him. Godders was throwing command rolls with glee racing up to my tank formation. When he came into range I used opportunity fire and halted his advance. Godders second formation consisted of infantry, two Panzer II's and a Diana. They started to sneak down the right side of the table. Godfrey's Diana is not painted and I argued unsuccessfully that it should cause a -1 to his command roll!

My command was split into three formations. The heavy tank formation now engaged in a dual with Godders tank formation. A fast tank formation consisting of three Honeys and two Crusaders, and a three 6pdr Anti-Tank formation lead by the CO. I also had a forward artillery observer floating around. I decided to send the fast tanks up around Godders flank with the intention of coming in behind his army. Good plan ruined by the Diana firing at long range. Slowly I had to break suppression and destroy that Diana. My anti-tank guns sat on the objective.

Slowly the fast tanks closed in on the Diana and destroyed it, along with two Panzer II's. My tanks were now headed for the objective guarded by three units of infantry.

Godders heavy tanks wiped out my heavy tanks but at a terrible cost. Only two of his tanks survived the engagement. In context of the game, a mortal blow to the German army. His two surviving tanks did a u-turn and raced back to protect the objective. His three HMG units were taken out by artillery fire and his army Break Point reached. Godders began each turn dicing to stay on the table. He failed and the Afrika Korps fled the battlefield with a bloody nose. Much to Rommel's displeasure.

The 8th Army (me) were victorious and basked in the glory of victory.

Thanks Godders for a good game, and thanks to Blitzkrieg Commander for being a really good gaming system. This is my fifth game and I only needed to look up the rulebook once. That's pretty good.