Engineers at Jametz

Lenin and I played the first game from the next campaign in the Rommel's Route to Verdun booklet from SkirmishCampaigns.

As with the previous games Lenin took the Germans, although without Rommel himself this time, and I took the French.  Unfortunately, since it has been a while since we played one of these I forgot the lessons in converting the stats to Nuts! by TwoHourWargames which, combined with me accidentally giving the German officer Rommel's stats, meant it wasn't going to be easy for les Poilus.

The German 13th Engineer Battalion, advancing with the 123rd Grenadier Regiment and elements of the 124th Infantry Regiment, were advancing to the Meuse River.  Their objective was to cross the table with their engineering equipment and supplies.  The French simply had to hold them up.

Unfortunately I also followed the deployment rules from the book and the first German section onto the table triggered fire from the first French unit which did very little.  The Germans then suppressed the French and advanced.  With the first French section taking serious casualties the advancing Germans came under fire from the second French section but took cover in some shell holes and, in the subsequent exchanges of fire the French came off worst.  As a result the Germans rushed the remaining French who surrendered.

Note to self - try to learn the lessons about not slavishly converting the stats from the book next time!

Shoot-out in Bleid

So after our visit to Salute Lenin and I sat down to play a few games. First up was the next in the ongoing Rommel's Route to Verdun campaign, the assault on the village of Bleid.

22 August 1914, 0930 hours - the village of Bleid, about 50km northeast of Verdun

Several companies from the French 101st Infantry Regiment were holding Bleid and the areas north and south of the village.  Rommel brought his platoon up and prepared for an assault.  The focus of the early fighting was a church near the centre of the village.  The German assault teams set several buildings on fire to flush out defenders and also to create smoke to cover their advance.  The morning fog had still not totally lifted adding to the problems confronting the French defenders.

As previously Lenin took the role of Rommel and command of the German force assaulting the village (in fact the presence of Rommel is only an option for this scenario but Lenin decided he wanted the main man there).  I took command of the French defending the village.

The Germans split their forces with Rommel leading one party through the woods and up the left flank. With the remainder moving up to the first house on the right.  The fog was a real boon to them as it limited visibility.

With the first house secured the right flank group advanced on the next house up the road where they encountered their first resistance.  Although the resistance was rather limited as three of the four French soldiers in the house decided to take to their heels and join their compatriots in the adjacent property!  The remaining man fought bravely for France but was overwhelmed quickly.

Meanwhile, on the other flank, Rommel advanced from the woods and came under fire from the nearest house.  His group laid down a barrage of rifle fire and then rushed forward and stormed the house.  The defenders were quickly despatched and the house secured.

The group on the right flank decided to move on to the next house.  Not only did they come under fire from the house itself but they were caught in a crossfire from the house across the street and took several casualties.  This setback stalled the advance on the right.  Rommel pushed his men forward to assault the next house on the left and then moved quickly over to the right flank to restart the advance there.  He decided the best way forward was to literally smoke the defenders out.  He and two of the assault section rushed forward and set fire to the house.  They came under fire but were able to complete their task and fall back.  The fire quickly took hold and the French were forced to fall back once again.  As the first spread it also obscured the house across the street and allowed the German advance to continue unhindered.

With the final house on the left flank having been secured after brief but bloody hand to hand fighting, the Germans regrouped and moved out of the house across the road to take up a position on the last house in the centre.  However, the French occupying the house weren't about to give it up easily and a hail of rifle fire rained down on the advancing Germans, who hunkered down behind the garden wall.

But it wasn't enough as Rommel advanced using the smoke from the burning house as cover and stormed the final property.  Once again the French defenders were defeated and Bleid was taken.

Skirmish Campaigns: Screaming Eagles

The final book in my Skirmish Campaigns collection is a Skirmish Elite book and it moves us on from WW2 to Vietnam - Screaming Eagles at Hamburger Hill.  It centres on the US 101st Airborne's struggle to capture the NVA strongpoint on Dong Ap Bia (Hamburger Hill) in May 1969.

Screaming Eagles at Hamburger Hill is a 44 page, black and white, staple bound book in US letter format which includes 8 scenarios forming three campaigns.

The book starts with a three page introduction and history including some designer's notes; a very short bibliography (it only has 2 items) and a campaign map.  This is followed by a two page explanation of the Skirmish Campaigns format and a table detailing how to translate the scenarios to various sets of rules before moving into the actual scenarios.

There are three campaigns:

• The Approach - 3 scenarios covering the first few days of the battle when the 3/187th didn't yet know what they were up against
• The Assault - 3 scenarios covering the actions on the main ridge line
• King of the Hill - 2 scenarios covering the final days of the battle when the NVA had been worn down

The scenarios are all infantry, roughly platoon size or smaller, and are set in hill and jungle with the exception of the third scenario which centres on an NVA night assault on the airborne firebase.  Several of the scenarios require a number of two man bunkers and tenches for the NVA.

The first campaign is a couple of encounter engagements and the NVA assault on the firebase.  The second campaign is the frontal assaults on the NVA positions and their counter attacks.  The final campaign has two quite different scenarios, the first is an ambush on Col. Honeycutt and his party moving from the LZ up a trail whilst the second is the final battle for the hill top.

I picked up this copy from Lenin mainly for interest as I do have some Vietnam forces in both 20mm and 28mm (although the 20mm stuff is USMC rather than airborne) and so haven't yet got any of these to the table.

Skirmish Campaigns: Red Devils of the Orne

The final WW2 book in my Skirmish Campaigns collection is also one of my latest acquisitions and it's entitled Normandy '44 - Red Devils of the Orne.  It centres on the fighting east of the Orne river in June 1944 involving the British 9th Parachute and 1st Canadian Parachute Battalions.

Normandy '44 - Red Devils of the Orne is a 60 page, black and white, staple bound book in US letter format which includes 12 scenarios forming three campaigns.

As before the book follows the standard Skirmish Campaigns structure, starting with a single page introduction, a two page explanation of the Skirmish Campaigns format, a table detailing how to translate the scenarios to various sets of rules and a strategic map; however, it doesn't contain the usual background history, but has a two page annotated bibliography before moving into the actual scenarios.

Paratroops of 6th Airborne Division blackening their faces, 5 June 1944 © IWM (H 39066)

There are three campaigns:

• Critical Moments - 3 scenarios covering the Merville Battery assault and the actions around Varaville
• Mesnil Crossroads - 3 scenarios covering the desperate fight to hold the crossroads at le Mesnil on the 8th June
• Chateau No-Man's Land - 6 scenarios surrounding the battle for the Chateau St. Côme from the 9th to the 12th June

The first scenario is an assault on a casemate and so, whilst infantry only, requires the casemate itself and the surrounding trenches, bunkers and magazines.  The second and third are played on the same terrain which requires a number of buildings, including the gatehouse which is the centre of the scenarios, along with some trenches and bocage.  Other than some motorcycles the first of the two is infantry only  whilst the second requires 2 x captured R35 tanks and a possible truck mounted AA gun.  Incidentally the last of these three scenarios requires 6th Commando rather than airborne troops.

As might be expected the three scenarios making up the Mesnil Crossroads campaign are all played on the same terrain representing the crossroads.  This time a walled farm and smaller walled house along with a hill, woods, bocage and fields are needed.  The first of these is really infantry; however, the second and third require a StuG III.

The final campaign is also played across the same terrain centring around the Chateau although two of the scenarios do have a slightly shorter version as they are more condensed.  Obviously a building suitable to represent the chateau itself is required along with some stables and a barn; whilst the remainder of the table is woods and a little bocage.  The first and second scenarios are principally infantry with a jeep with a gun mount and a horch car as a variable attachment for the Germans.  The third introduces 2 x StuG IIIg and an SdKfz 233 as a variable attachment.  The fourth provides for a German base force with 1 x SdKfz 250/1 and a couple of french civilian trucks but allows the selection of additional support (at the expense of victory points) which includes 2 x StuG IIIg, 1 x SdKfz 250/9, 1 x SDKfz 233 and 1 x PzKpfw IVd (the latter being a speculative addition in any event).  The fifth has only the StuG, an optional SdKfz 251/1 and a universal carrier for the paras.  Whilst the final scenario has either the StuG or a Marder III and 3 x Shermans and a Firefly to support the paras.

As I only received this book a few days ago, I have yet to play any of the scenarios; however, I fully intend to remedy that as I have almost enough kit in 28mm for the infantry scenarios - I'll need to do a little more collecting for the armour required though.

Skirmish Campaigns: Drive on Minsk

The next of Skirmish Campaigns booklets is another one on WW2 but this time it's the eastern front with Russia '41 - Drive on Minsk.  This one is centred on the German invasion of Russian in 1941.

Russia '41 - Drive on Minsk is a 60 page, black and white, staple bound book in US letter format which includes 12 scenarios forming five campaigns.

Anyone who has been following these posts will be familiar with the Skirmish Campaigns structure but for anyone coming in new - it starts with a single page introduction, a two page explanation of the Skirmish Campaigns format, a table detailing how to translate the scenarios to various sets of rules, a strategic map, three pages explaining the 5 campaigns followed by six pages of background history and then the bibliography before moving into the scenarios.

As with the previous two WW2 books this one requires a significant amount of armour if you want to play all the scenarios.  Unfortunately there are no infantry only scenarios this time although a couple do only require armour on one side or the other.   Overall you would need 2-4 x PzKpfw IIc, 2-4 x PzKpfw IIIg, 2 x PzKpfw IVe, 2 x StuG IIIb, 2 x SdKfz 231, 3-6 x T26, 3 x BT-7, 2 x BA-10, 3 x T34, 2-3 x KV-1, 1 x KV-2, 1 x OT-26 (the ones listed in italics are only needs as variable attachments) along with various trucks etc.  You also need Soviet airborne troops for the final two scenarios.  The scenery is mostly hills, woods and marsh with a few buildings being required.

If you are interested one of the scenarios Armor Clash (sic) is available for download.

I have yet to play any of the scenarios in this book but I am hopeful that I will get some of them to the table eventually.

Skirmish Campaigns: Withdrawal to Dunkirk

Hot on the heels of the Ghost Division, my next Skirmish Campaigns booklet is one of the follow ons, it's entitled France '40 - Withdrawal to Dunkirk.  The follows the last days of fighting around the Dunkirk perimeter in May 1940.

France '40 - Withdrawal to Dunkirk is a 60 page, black and white, staple bound book in US letter format which includes 12 scenarios forming five campaigns.

Once again, the book has the standard Skirmish Campaigns structure, starting with a single page introduction, a two page explanation of the Skirmish Campaigns format, a table detailing how to translate the scenarios to various sets of rules and a strategic map (with a small paragraph below showing how to roll the five campaigns into a single grand campaign); however, it restricts the history to a single page followed by the bibliography before moving into the twelve scenarios.

The first two scenarios are infantry only but involve bicycle mounted Germans versus Belgian troops (although the bicycles are easily resolved and they could be converted to other Allied troops).  The next scenario has German infantry facing 5 Dingo scout cars possibly supported by a universal carrier and crew or an A9.  Along with some British and German infantry and German trucks the fourth requires 2 x PzKpfw IIc plus 2-4 PzKpfw IIIe or 2-4 PzKpfw IVd as variable attachments facing 3-5 x A9, 2-3 x A10 and 3-6 x Mark VIB although the larger numbers are as a result of variable attachments again but quite a number as you can see.  The fifth has 4 x PzKpfw IIc, 2 x PzKpfw Ib, 2 x PzKpfw IIIe, 3 x A9 and a Mark VIB plus a kubelwagen, a SdKfz 251/1 and 4 motorcycles with sidecars along with the accompanying infantry.  The sixth and seventh are infantry only scenarios, although some British trucks are called for in the sixth and a universal carrier and German motorcycle combinations as variable attachments in the seventh.  The eighth sees German infantry facing the French in trucks with 3 x R35 with an additional 2 x R35 and 2 x PzJaeger as variable attachments.  The ninth is similar but asks for 2 x H35 in addition.  The tenth is Germans versus British infantry but the eleventh sees the Germans needing 2 x PZKpfw IIIe, 2 x PzKpfw 35(t) and 2 x PzKpfw IVd as variables.  The final scenario is similar.  A number of the scenarios, particularly the later ones require quite a few buildings but otherwise are all relatively straightforward.

I have only managed to get one of the scenarios to the table, which was in 20mm at the club (some photos here).  I do have plans for adapting a couple of the others to enable them to be more practically playable with my collection though.

Skirmish Campaigns: The Ghost Division

The next WW2 book in my Skirmish Campaigns collection is also my latest acquisition and it's entitled France '40 - The Ghost Division.  The follows the rapid advance of Rommel's 7th Panzer Division during the German invasion of France in 1940.

France '40 - The Ghost Division is a 56 page, black and white, staple bound book in US letter format which includes 10 scenarios forming three campaigns.

The book has the, hopefully now familiar Skirmish Campaigns structure, starting with a single page introduction, a two page explanation of the Skirmish Campaigns format, a table detailing how to translate the scenarios to various sets of rules, a strategic map, three pages explaining the campaigns, six pages of background history and a selected bibliography before moving into the actual scenarios.

The scenarios don't require huge amounts of infantry - most not even a platoon - but some need quite a few armoured vehicles including 2 x SdKfz 222, 2-4 x PzKpfw IIc, 2-4 x PzKpfw 38(t), 2 x PzKpfw IVd, 2-4 x Char B1-bis, 4-6 x H39, 2-4 x S35, 3 x Matilda 1 and 1-3 x Matilda II (the larger number generally includes variable attachments).  This is, perhaps, unsurprising given the subject of the book but might be a little daunting in a larger scale like 28mm and only a single scenario requires no armour at all; however, some of the scenarios only have armour on one of the sides.  The terrain is all pretty straightforward with only a few buildings required.

If you are interested one of the scenarios Dragoons at Haut-le-Wastia is available for download.

As I only received this book a few days ago, I have yet to play any of the scenarios; however, I fully intend to remedy that as I have a reasonable amount of the kit required for some of them albeit in 20mm!

Skirmish Campaigns: Norway!

The second WW2 book, chronologically, in my collection of Skirmish Campaign books is Norway!  The book is centred on the German invasion of Norway in April 1940 and the Norwegian, British and French response.

Norway! is a 56 page, black and white, staple bound book in US letter format which includes 10 scenarios forming two campaigns.

The book starts with a single page introduction, a two page explanation of the Skirmish Campaigns format, a table detailing how to translate the scenarios to various sets of rules, a strategic map, three pages explaining the campaigns, six pages of background history and a selected bibliography before moving into the actual scenarios.

The scenarios are all around platoon size and the only armour required is a lone PzKpfw I in the base forces but addition ones, SdKfz 222 or PzKpfw IIs in the variable attachments; however, many of the scenarios require Norwegian troops, which will be difficult to source in some scales.  In addition, they call for a mix of troops on both sides with the Germans requiring standard infantry, mountain troops and fallschirmjaeger; whilst the Allies require standard British infantry, Scots Guards, French Foreign Legion and Chasseurs Alpins in addition to the Norwegians (with some ski troops needed in the variable attachments).

British troops with French Hotchkiss H39 tanks in Steinland, Norway, 1940 © IWM (N 229)

The terrain is largely woods and hills but some scenarios require a few buildings and one needs part of the twon of Bjerkvik.

If you are interested one of the scenarios Encounter at Roa is available for download.

I have yet to play any of the scenarios from the book, largely as I don't have the suitable figures and, indeed am finding it difficult to source appropriate ones in 28mm.  Of all the Skirmish Campaigns booklets I have I suspect this is the one I am likely to actually play the fewest scenarios from.

Skirmish Campaigns: The Black Brigade

The next in my collection of Skirmish Campaign books is the first in what is their core period - World War II - it's Poland '39 - The Black Brigade.  The book focuses on September 1939 and the actions involving the Polish 10th Mechanised Brigade, of the Army of Krakow, under Colonel Stanislaw Maczek in their struggle against the German invasion.

Poland '39 - The Black Brigade is a 56 page, black and white, staple bound book in US letter format which includes 10 scenarios forming four campaigns.

The book starts with a single page introduction, a two page explanation of the Skirmish Campaigns format, a table detailing how to translate the scenarios to various sets of rules, a strategic map, three pages explaining the campaigns, six pages of background history and a selected bibliography before moving into the actual scenarios.

Whilst the infantry requirements for the scenarios are all relatively small, the majority of them require armour of some sort.  The Polish are mostly equipped with TKS tankettes or Vickers E light tanks and the Germans with SdKfz 222 armoured cars or PzKpfw I or II light tanks with a few motorcycles thrown in.  The largest scenario calls for 4 x Pzkpfw IIc, 1 x SdKfz 221, 3 x Vickers E and 3 x TKS (2 with MGs and 1 with a 20mm cannon) along with assorted other vehicles.  With regard to terrain, most of the scenarios are pretty straightforward with not too much requirement for buildings, just light woods, hills and some fields.

I have yet to play any of the scenarios from the book, but will be able to once my Polish figures are painted; however, that will be using a little poetic licence as my figures aren't right for the Black Brigade (who wore the German 1916 pattern helmet and black leather coats - hence the unit's nickname).  A small range of suitable 28mm figures are now available through Gorgon Studios.  Clearly some of the scenarios, especially the larger ones, may make more sense in a smaller scale given the amount of vehicles (although a TKS doesn't actually take up much space!).

Picture from www.wwiivehicles.com

If you are interested one of the scenarios, Rabka-Mszana Road is available for download.

Skirmish Campaigns: The Winter War

Next up in my collection of Skirmish Campaign books is Finland '39-'40 - The Winter War.  No prizes for guessing what conflict this covers!  Obviously having some Winter War figures I thought this book would be a good addition to my collection.

Finland '39-'40 - The Winter War is a 56 page, black and white, staple bound book in US letter format.  In addition to the introductory material it contains 10 scenarios forming four campaigns set during the Winter War between Finland and the Soviet Union.

The book starts with a single page introduction, a two page explanation of the Skirmish Campaigns format, a table detailing how to translate the scenarios to various sets of rules, a strategic map, four pages explaining the campaigns, five pages of background history and a selected bibliography before moving into the actual scenarios.

All but one of the scenarios are all platoon size or less but one requires around a company of Soviets. The terrain is mostly snow, frozen marsh and quite a bit of woods; a couple require buildings and another couple trenches and two require three T26 tanks each.

I have played  two of the scenarios from the book so far (albeit with some minor adaptations to suit the figures I actually had available at the time):

• Lake Kokkojärvi (photos here)
• The Church Village (photos here)

They were both interesting and challenging scenarios and seemed to give a good flavour of the period - at least as far as I can tell from my reading.  All in all a good addition to my library and a good vehicle to get my Brigade Games and Bolt Action figures to the table.

If you are interested one of the scenarios Defiant Confrontation is available for download.

Skirmish Elite: Battles of the Borderlands

The next Skirmish Campaigns booklet I own, chronologically, is The Russo-Polish War 1919: Battle of the Borderlands and, technically speaking, it's actually a Skirmish Elite (although the difference is a little lost on me).

Battle of the Borderlands is a 48 page, black and white, staple bound book in US letter format.  In addition to the introductory material it contains 8 scenarios forming three campaigns set during the Polish Soviet War of 1919-21.

The book starts with a single page introduction to the conflict, a two page history of the borderlands, a further two pages on the campaigns, a theatre of operations map, a single page explanation of the Skirmish Campaigns format,  two further pages covering notes on scale and figures, attachments and victory conditions; a table detailing how to translate the scenarios to various sets of rules and a bibliography before moving into the actual scenarios.

The scenarios are all platoon size or less but a couple require Polish cavalry. The terrain is all relatively straightforward but several of the scenarios require a number of buildings (6-10, including a church) and one requires a locomotive some freight wagons, a couple of abandoned trucks and a railway station.

Unfortunately I haven't actually played any of the scenarios from this book as yet.  I do have figures suitable for the Poles as you can use figures from almost any WW1 army as they fought in most of them.  It's the Soviets I need to pick up some figures for and that's on the list for my Russian Civil War project.

Obviously this book has a much narrower appeal than Rommel's Route to Verdun and with only 8 scenarios (6 if you don't have figures for the Polish Cavalry) I think it's not as good value; however, there is very little material around concerning this conflict and if you are interested it may be worth a look.

Skirmish Campaigns: Rommel's Route to Verdun

The first Skirmish Campaigns booklet I would like to cover is World War I: Rommel's Route to Verdun.  This is a 60 page staple bound, black and white book covering Erwin Rommel's exploits in France in 1914.

The meat of the book is a set of 12 scenarios which can be played individually or grouped into 4 short campaigns.  The scenarios themselves are all based around encounters and engagements that Rommel himself describes in his book Infantry Attacks (originally published as Infanterie Greift An in 1937).  Rommel commanded a platoon in the 7th Company, 2nd Battalion of the 124th Infantry Regiment and the scenarios revolve around a set of small engagements that he was personally involved in.

The book starts with a single page introduction, a two page explanation of the Skirmish Campaigns format, a table detailing how to translate the scenarios to various sets of rules, a strategic map, a description of Rommel the Warrior and an annotated bibliography before moving into the actual scenarios.

The scenarios are all platoon size or less and, as you might expect in 1914, none require any vehicles.  The terrain is all relatively straightforward as it's mostly woods, fields and roads; however, a couple of scenarios require buildings and one, which is set in part of the town of Bleid, requires eight plus a church.

I have slowly been playing through these scenarios as you can see in the following posts:

• Recon at Cosnes (it's the fourth game in the post - the photos are here)
• Contact at Hill 325
• The Mussy-la-Ville Road

They have all been interesting and challenging scenarios. all the more so having read Rommel's book.  Obviously no everyone has the appropriate figures (although I've always thought the early WW1 uniforms are some of the most interesting) but the scenarios could easily be modified if at the expense of the historical flavour.

If you're interested in early WW1 skirmish or Rommel himself then this booklet is certainly worth a look.

Skirmish Campaigns

I was just pondering ordering another of the Skirmish Campaigns scenario booklets when I suddenly realised that, apart from a couple of AARs, I have hardly mentioned them on the blog.

Whilst they publish the Arc of Fire skirmish rules and Check Your 6! air combat rules, the core of Skirmish Campaign's output is their line of scenario / campaign booklets.  These are softback, US letter format and staple bound books, generally in black and white (although I think the later releases have colour covers).  They are typically 50-60 pages containing around 8-10 scenarios which can often be linked into individual campaigns.

Some brief introductory material providing some context to the scenarios is provided along with a table to help translate their troop categorisation into a wide variety of rule sets - Skirmish Campaigns use Training, Morale and Leadership categories (the table is available for download from their website in MS Word format).  A useful bibliography is also usually included.

Each scenario comes with an overview containing the specific setting (date, location, history, victory conditions, orders etc.), any specific scenario or campaign rules and notes and a brief outline of the historical aftermath of the scenario.  This is followed by a map showing the key terrain features and entry/set up areas and finally orders of battle (OOB) for the two forces.  The OOB is normally a base force along with some variable attachments which may be added based on the attachment rules and a d20 roll.  The OOB for each side comes on a separate page so these can be copied and handed to the players if required (I prefer to produce my own after converting to Nuts! or I Ain't Been Shot Mum as appropriate).

I have found the booklets a great source for both pick up and play games, linked campaigns and to help generate my own scenarios.  The only gripe I have is that some of the booklets have scenarios which vary wildly in the scale of the forces required and this is not usually obvious from the published information.  I am planning to put up a post on each of the booklets I have and I will be including an overview of the scenario sizes which I hope will help with that.

Wargames Weekend: The Mussy-la-Ville Road

Once again we managed to arrange another slot for Lenin to visit for the weekend. This time we added an additional day in order to get a couple more games in.

Our first was a return to our occasional WW1 campaign from Rommel's Route to Verdun, the Skirmish Campaigns booklet, with Lenin taking the part of Rommel. This time it was the Mussy-la-Ville Road scenario, which is based on a brief reference by Rommel in his book, Infantry Attacks. The action took place on the Outskirts of Bleid on 22 August 1914 at 0715 hours.

After advancing west from Hill 325, Lt. Rommel stopped his platoon in cover in a field and took a scouting group ahead. Making use of cover and the foggy conditions, they passed one farm and found their way close to the Mussy-la-Ville road. As the scouting team approached they spotted a couple of French squads relaxing along the road. Rommel decided to attack rather than wait to bring up the rest of his platoon.

Rommel slowly advanced through the fog, just catching snippets of conversation from the French troops ahead. He and his men worked their way up between the path and a field to a convenient hedge-line. At this point he split his men. One group was to work their way along the hedge-line towards the road whilst Rommel took the others up past the barn in the direction of the houses.

The barn turned out to be unoccupied and so Rommel calmly advanced to the rear of the first house. At this point the other German group spotted some French troops up ahead, standing around smoking and talking, and decided to open fire. One French soldier sent down straight away and the others were taken aback. Meanwhile Rommel used the confusion to rush around the other side of the house and surprise the French.

Two more French soldiers were hit in the hail of fire from Rommel's men and a couple more decided to take to their heels. With the remainder confused and being shot at from both sides Rommel charged into them. The fight was over quickly with the last French soldier being taken prisoner. But another French section appeared out of the fog to Rommel's rear; however, he simply turned his men and opened fire once again putting paid to that threat. Having only lost a single man in the encounter Rommel took his prisoner and returned to his unit.

With the variable attachments available in the Skirmish Campaigns system (which aids re-playability), Lenin began the game with three more men than Rommel actually had on the day. That said he was still significantly outnumbered by the French and only had the fog and the element of surprise to help him balance things out. In the end he did slightly better than Rommel did historically.

Swift Service from The Wargames Command Post

I popped an order for a couple of the excellent SkirmishCampaigns books into The Wargames Command Post on Sunday night and low and behold they arrived today! Pretty decent service when you consider that Monday was a Bank Holiday.

Well done Bob - you can be sure of more orders from me in future!

Winter War Reading

I may have mentioned earlier that, having picked up some Baker Company Finns from eBay, I have developed a serious interest in the Winter War. I picked up some Bolt Action figures at Salute and have ordered some more figures in winter gear from Brigade Games (I've just had an email from Lon @ Brigade apologising for the delay to my order as their Finns were out of stock). So in order to get maximum use from the figures I started to look out for some reading material.

First off is William Trotter's book The Winter War: The Russo-Finnish War of 1939-40. I have just finished reading it and I can confirm the good reviews that I read of it. It is very readable and has provided an excellent introduction to me for the period. The author has clearly done his research and breaks the conflict down into the different areas in a very clear and accessible way. I can heartily recommend this one.

At Salute I spotted a copy of GURPS WWII: Frozen Hell - Finland in the Winter War and Beyond which is a supplement for the Second World War sourcebook for the Generic Universal RolePlaying System. I've always found the GURPS sourcebooks an interesting read and not too system heavy (something that's not always true for d20 sourcebooks). Interestingly the book as a brief introduction by William Trotter. Overall it's a good introduction to the period but obviously provides nowhere near the depth of the previous book; however, on the plus side in addition to the Winter War it also covers the Continuation War and the Lapland War, albeit briefly, which are both beyond the scope of Trotter's book. As with the other GURPS sourcebooks the sidebars provide some interesting asides and detail, and it also covers the weaponry used. A useful source.

I searched in vain at Salute for a copy of the Finland '39-'40 - The Winter War booklet in the Skirmish Campaigns series. Fortunately I found that The Wargames Command Post had a copy and they sent it to me very quickly. As with the other booklets in the series it provides a brief introduction, an outline of the format, information to enable the scenarios to the adapted to many sets of skirmish rules and then the scenarios, in this case 10 of them split into 4 separate campaigns. I am already checking to make sure that I have the kit for the various scenarios and, with a few exceptions (not enough T26's and trucks for one scenario; no Russian mortar for a couple of the others) I think I will be pretty close when the Brigade figures arrive. I plan to get some of these scenarios to the table later in the year - probably using Nuts! (which annoyingly isn't one of the rule sets they provide translation details for - but it shouldn't be hard) and will post the details.