Chain of Command and other stuff

I have noticed my labelling of blog posts is not very inspiring hey hoy…..

The last two games have both been with George, starting a new Chain of Command campaign. But I do have more games in the dungeon over the next week or so. Anyway with George having completed his BEF force he was keen to give them a run out.

A pint sized campaign which I think is a bit of a misnomer as it is 6 or 7 Battles. George has covered much of the details of the campaign and our first battle on his blog. So just a couple of photos of our first two battles and some thoughts from me as the Germans. Of course George’s lovely early WW2 collection stands out 👍 given the nature of the campaign the British appear to be attacking most of the time, always tough.

In the first battle for HedgeHog wood the Germans have a fairly restricted deployment but as the defender it is pretty easy to get cover setup and wait for the British to attack. Above in the first battle my infantry supported by a 75mm and a MMG. The British immediately start to lay down smoke. But the ground is very open for the attack and they pay the price.

A secondary objective is to capture the scout car, but the Germans are more interested in throwing back the attack

Not surprisingly the Germans have jump off points in the wood itself and quickly move to the edge and setup a very strong defensive line

The British really like their smoke !

But ultimately the open ground (and some below average dice for the British) means the British are thrown back, a win for the Germans hoorah !

On to game 2 which we played yesterday.

The Germans are dug in, in the village with some off table support from 88Flak guns, I took the photo here but actually the off table support wasn’t coming from the village

If anything this was an even tougher table for the British the German deployment is contained in the village, internal lines of communication and support, especially with 2 German senior leaders available. The German jump off points are in three of the buildings. The hedges block line of sight which is a challenge for both sides but inevitably gives more of an advantage to the defender.

The off table 88 is called in and immediately makes short work of the small French Hochkiss tank, seen burning in the distance. The British objective is to drive the Germans away from the village but this is a really tough ask given the lines of sight.

The Germans get stuck in but when they come under heavy fire they are able to pull back out of harms way, no point dying if you don’t have to.

After about 4 hours of hard fighting it became clear that even though the Germans morale had dropped to 2 and they had lost nearly all their Junior leaders, stunned, wounded or dead the British just don’t have enough fire power left to finish them off. A second ‘minor’ win for the Germans by default as they are still holding the village.

Some thoughts so far on the campaign, the maps in the campaign are very open with the Germans almost always dug into cover, giving a big advantage to the Germans, the British (George) has so far rolled pretty below average at one point two British MMG fired 20 or more shots at some German infantry on the right of the village who were for a short time in the open they failed to score even a single shock ! In these first two battles both sides effectively had ‘free’ platoons from now on we may need to be more careful. With two really tough and slightly frustrating battles for the British we are considering whether to continue this campaign or swop to something new, time will tell.

Next up some completed painting.

Some more British Napoleonic command stands, above two brigade commanders from Perry, the extra figures are foundry I think from some random secondhand stuff I had and a couple of random horses

Also some Battalion command stands, these are to use when I split 24 man battalions down into smaller units. Perry Colonels with again some random standard bearers from who knows where ?

The weekend was family time with both children at home for the Mother’s Day weekend, but we managed to visit a small Gladiator exhibition up in Carlisle which was fun.

The weather has been kind for a couple of days so I headed for the hills, a significant lack of fitness was showing but the  day was beautiful perfect walking weather.

And when I got home !

A recent Peter pig order had arrived, these effectively allow me to fill out a more rounded Scottish Montrose Army, which is waiting in the wings. This may be my last ECW purchase for a while as I have more than enough now to paint and pretty much play any battle within reason. Marston Moor was never my intention.

That’s it for now folks, more games to come and I am cracking on with more painting 👍

Thanks as always

Matt ❤️

The Battle of Polotsk : Russia 17/18th August 1812

Like buses my games are coming thick and fast at the moment. Next up a rescheduled Napoleonic battle at Martins. The battle of Polotsk, we would be focussing on the Bavarian defence of the Spa/convent, the Russian attack and then the larger French counterattack. The Russians were really looking to delay the French advance and shouldn’t have got engaged but historically the outcome was a bloody nose for both and a draw.

Martin has been painting Bavarians so it was a first chance for them to get on the table.

A search of the internet provides some useful ideas for the battle, but also a very wide range of differing OB’s we went for something reasonably balanced although even then when the French arrive the Russians will be outnumbered. The challenge is for the Russians to defeat the Bavarians quickly and then go on the defensive ?

The convent sitting in the centre which for V&F will be a defensible feature, the woods will provide some cover, the stream is difficult terrain.  It only slows movement. The two smallish Bavarian brigades on the left. We would be using the free downloadable V&F sheet for these, who actually rate them pretty high !

The Russian columns advance using the woods as cover and deploy their artillery.

The fight for the convent quickly kicks off, even though it is only held by a battalion of light infantry they get the advantage of the defendable terrain and hold on the leading Russian columns are badly mauled.

In fact the leading Russians are driven back from the convent

On the Bavarian right the Russians are coming under heavy volley fire, whilst light infantry contest the woods

On the left the Bavarians are threatened by Russian Cossacks so are forced into square at the edge of the woods. The Bavarians are holding but only just.

Just as they are about to break the drums are heard as the French arrive from the south.

To counter the Russian reserve cavalry arriving the French bring on their cavalry !

The Bavarians are pretty much out of it now, the Russians have finally made it into the convent and a Russian reserve brigade can be seen advancing from the rear. But the French have the numbers

The Russians are thrown back on the right but the French advance is constricted by the stream

On the left of the convent the French initially fail to seize the moment and spend two turns redeploying in the woods, but then they charge forward in column to drive the Russians back.

The Russians are not giving up though and contest the convent to the end

The fresh french infantry has the advantage though and they are able to retake the convent, and drive back the remaining Russians. Time for Wittgenstein to withdraw…… somehow I missed taking any other photos of the cavalry battle. Not completely decisive but the cuirassiers eventually chased off the Cossacks, whilst the Russians dragoons sent my French hussars and chasseurs fleeing the field 🙁 honour even on the cavalry front I guess ?

A splendid set to, wargaming at its best. We might revisit this some time but give the Russians more time to finish off the Bavarians ?

On the painting front I have been painting up the WW1 warships, these were mainly picked up secondhand for a bit of fun to try them out, I have rebased them and at this scale it is a pretty simple paint job.

Finally with some improving health and a sunny day I got out in the hills not too far but the views were spectacular.

That’s it for now as George is arriving in a bit for an ECW battle down in the dungeon 👍

Thanks as always

Matt ❤️

The Battle of Sabugal 1811

After the Tallarn jungle adventure, time for something historical. The battle of Sabugal 3rd April 1811 Wellington was driving the French out of Portugal and the Light division caught the French rearguard under Jean Reynier near the village of Sabugal. Bad wether, mainly Fog meant the french were caught and heavily outnumbered. 

The starting positions, the light division coming on from the left, the French on the slightly higher ground. The french brigade on the hill can’t activate until the leading brigade of Pictish 3rd Division crosses the river. The British need to try and pin the french in place, the french need to try and save as many troops as they can and get off the battlefield to the near edge, where the British light cavalry is outflanking their position.

The French position

The 2nd brigade under Drummond advances to support the rest of the light division. Lots of green coated riflemen thrown out in front.

The french open fire, Portuguese troops are sent to cut the retreating french off but are menaced by the french light cavalry

The French light cavalry

The British attack the french right flank which starts to fold back on itself

Ouch Pictons Division starts to arrive, one turn late after the french played a dastardly fate card 

After a failed charge at the Portugese the french light cavalry is forced to pull back and regroup

The British assault through the light woods on the french right

In the centre the french are starting to pull back to buy some time

Finally the rest of the French see the advancing 3rd Division and are activated to move off the ridge

A second charge by the french cavalry has wiped out the Portugese who were caught in the field,

The french right wing has managed to extricate itself despite every unit in the brigade being shaken. The fresh troops can hopefully now hold the position long enough

The British are now in the driving seat pushing up onto the higher ground driving the french before them

The position of the light division, it has been badly beaten up and at one point was on the verge of collapsing completely but it held on just, with the rest of the 3rd Division arriving it is a British win as they have forced significantly more Brigade Fortitude tests out of the french.

Lots of fun and a surprisingly tight game, the British really were on the point of collapsing, it didn’t help that the French rolled pretty badly, especially early on.

The ECW painting has continued with a planned battle later this week.

These are lovely Peter Pig command figures to use both for army and Batalia commanders. I like the fact that each is named on the base so thought I would highlight this, they do a couple more figures which I’ll get next time I order something. For now I have been completing units of dismounted dragoons.

Well that’s it for now , hopefully two games this week.

Thanks for checking in Matt ♥️