First Play: Blood & Valor

Given I have quite a selection of 28mm WW1 figures I have been looking at options for rules to help me get them to the table.  Whilst Blood & Valor (sic) may look nearer the game end of the spectrum rather than the simulation end, it is flexible enough to enable you to put together historical organisations.

So I decided to put together a couple of scenarios to test out the rules at the last club meeting.  I decided to go with late war using my French and German troops.  It also gave me a chance to get one of my purchases from years ago to the table (finally!).

Here are a few photos from the two games:

The rules were very easy to pick up and the players commented how easy they were to remember during the game without the need for lots of referencing.  The initiative bidding mechanism is interesting but really only creates meaningful choices once the sides are engaged.  Whilst I'm not a huge fan of saving roll mechanisms they work pretty smoothly here.  I need to reflect on the morale results as I wonder whether some tweaks there will help with the feel but I need more games to decide.

Battle of Komarów - 3rd Day (Tarnoszyn/Korchiv Engagement)

Having finished painting my second division of WW1 Russians I wanted an opportunity to get them to the table.

This scenario is set on August 28th and the third day of the Battle of Komarów. The battle was relatively quiet on the second day with a lot of redeploying of lines and movement of various Corps to cover different areas on the field. There had been some reverses for the Austrians, primarily the 10th Cavalry Division had been driven back. 

This engagement area is to the extreme Austrian right, where Archduke Joseph Ferdinand’s group was going to launch into the Russian XVII Corps. 

The Russians were not set up for defence and were actually on the move to the west to try and shore up the crumbling XIX, XXV and V Corps, who had been hard pressed on day one and had spent day two retreating along the line. 

The action started early in the day with the Austrian 8th and 41st Honved Infantry Divisions launching a surprise attack into the Russian 3rd and 35th Infantry Divisions.

Here are few pictures from the game:

Battle of Krasnik - Poland 23 August 1914

After having actually got out my paint brush and painted up quite a few of my Peter Pig WW1 Eastern Front figures I decided it was high time to get them to the table.

The scenario was based around the early stages of the Battle of Krasnik with two divisions of Austro-Hungarians facing a division of Russians in defence.  It was based on one from Summer Harvest by Shawn Taylor for Great War Spearhead but I converted it to use Battles with Brusilov.

Here are a few photos from the game (apologies for the quality, I only had my phone camera with me):

In the end the Austro-Hungarians advancing through the forest got seriously bogged down and the whole attack stalled leading to a Russian victory.

A Tale of Two Skirmishes

As I was putting tog ether the forces for our club game at the next Skirmish show in a couple of weeks (the Second Battle of El Teb, 29 February 1884) I realised that I hadn’t written anything about our second visit last year.

Setting out the figures for El Teb

As to last year’s games, for the first show we had decided on a 28mm Vietnam game based on a hastily mounted search and rescue operation for a downed helicopter crew (You can find the relevant blog post here).

Our second visit to Skirmish later in the year was another 28mm affair but this time winding back to the Great War.  In this case our game was set early in the war, featuring a certain Erwin Rommel and taken directly from his own account of the action in his book Infantry Attacks. In his own, admittedly potentially self aggrandising narrative, 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.  Surprised by Rommel’s bold attack the French put up little resistance and then surrendered. In our scenario the player who took Rommel was somewhat less bold and when he encounter the French decided to fall back and gather his platoon before attacking.  Unfortunately for him that meant another French squad had arrived before the Germans returned and they had more of a fight on their hands!

Wargaming Weekend: Battles with Brusilov

Back in August we had another wargaming weekend and it was a chance for me to try out the Battles with Brusilov rules with my newly painted Peter Pig Great War Austro-Hungarians and Russians.

I used a scenario from Shawn Taylor's Great War Spearhead II scenario booklet, Summer Harvest.  During the Battle of Krasnik, the Russian Grenadier Corps attacking X Austrian Corp at Goraj.  Our scenario involved the Austrian 24th Infantry Division dug in on the high ground to the north and south of Goraj overlooking the Lada river and Zastaroie.

I took the 1st Russian Grenadier Division which was advancing to take the Austrian positions.

Obviously the key to the engagement was for Russians to take the river bridges which was easier said than done!  Here are some photos of the game

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!

1st Corps - Erhhart E-V/4

I just spotted that 1st Corps have announced the release of the Erhhart E-V/4 armoured car for Partizan:

This looks particularly interesting as it would be useful for my stalled WW1 Eastern Front project and also the interwar German revolution project which I have been thinking about starting.

I've been thinking about their Minerva armoured car to go with my Brigade Models Belgians but the separate crew only come with the later Adrian helmets and so I'd need to do some head swaps or modify some other figures.

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: 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.