A great days gaming in Norfolk.

Yesterday, after an interesting drive Iain Burt –EB- and I arrived at Gary’s (garyp) humble abode in the wilds of Norfolk for a day’s gaming.  Using only two large and lovingly painted collections –those of Gary and Iain, the sizable table was soon covered in lots of 20mm Les Higgins goodness for a game loosely based on the Battle of Minden. As Iain missed his chance and was too late choosing any other command except the Guards Brigade, he was by default made the French and allies CNC, while Gary’s friend Iain determinedly grasped the nettle and took on the mantle of the British commander.

Opposite me on the British right Mark (Peeler) and his host of Bavarian allies marched resolutely forward towards my stoic defenders who left the relative safety of the village to meet them in open ground. His cavalry soon outpaced the infantry and two cuirassier regiments decided to make a name for themselves and charged my infantry lines. Not knowing a great deal about this particular period it was with a certain amount of trepidation that I rolled the dice for musketry and was pleasantly surprised when, after a volley and melee, the French cavalry were pushed back in some disorder.

In the British centre, Iain and Peter (Purps) for the Brits against Iain (no relation) and Simon (Goat Major) for the French, advanced towards the town but with a shorter distance to cover, the French arrived first and set about defending the place.

On the British right centre and far flank, Peter and Tim (Tim Hall) began their steamroller advance despite being faced by at least six regiments of Simon and Gary’s French cavalry who, like the two against me decided to ‘get stuck in’ as soon as possible…with pretty much the same result.

With the Bavarians and my infantry soon in firing range we began blazing away at each other with positively alarming results and the casualties began to mount up. Alternatively falling back to recover and moving back up into the line, the fight went on for quite a while until my cavalry advanced. Seven regiments from Ian’s and my command charged forward across the killing ground and fought their way into the Bavarian infantry, forcing some to rout, others to retire, but worryingly, supported by two artillery pieces, one remained and for a time, held off all comers.

Behind the British centre, an angled second line had been formed to stop our victorious cavalry from wreaking any more havoc; it was just in time. In the centre, Iain and Peter were making inroads in and around the town while on the far flank, the French ended up with only one usable infantry battalion out of several brigades after some very spirited fighting by the British against determined defending.

Peeler’s Bavarians started doing some damage and my casualties were beginning to mount when fortunately, 'time' was called.

After the inevitable post mortem it was unanimously decided that the French would have been able to make a fighting withdrawal leaving the British in control of the field. The phrase ‘marginal British victory’ was bandied about by the French in more hope than anything -the British commanders just sat there with smug looks on their faces.  

All joking and partisan reporting aside, it was a thoroughly enjoyable day, great company and hearty cuisine -I mean you can’t really go wrong with jacket spuds and chilli- coupled with an almost endless supply of cakes, tea and coffee. Thanks must got to Gary and Iain (no relation) for putting on a really good game and letting the rest of us play with their little chaps and to Gary alone for his hospitality. Brilliant!   

 Gary's Wargames mansion.

 Mark's Bavarians facing me.

 Simon's infantry in the fore with Iain's (no relation) Guards Brigade behind.

 Simon's massed cavalry

British infantry of Iain and Peter waiting for the French cavalry to charge. 

 Iain (no relation) indicating to Gary how many ladle's full of vegetarian chili he wanted for lunch !

 Panorama just before lunch call.

 The single minded French -l to r, Mark, Iain (no relation), Simon and Gary.

 The thoughtful British - l to r, Tim, Peter and Iain.

 Traffic jam in the centre of the battlefield.

British pressure increases in the left centre and flank. 

 Gaps appear on the French right flank while the British movement gods continue to advance their army.

 A last panorama as the sun begins to set over Norfolk and the battlefield.

Perhaps a little too late, Marks Bavarians sense the British left is faltering...I had lost 3 battalions by this time and decides to advance.

A final note. From a period novices’ point of view the rules -Rank and File- seemed to work quite well, simple enough to pick up, reasonably fast paced and seemed to capture the ‘flavour’ of the period. Iain’s (no relation) innovative idea of using red flags to denote morale checks was a great success, with many of us thinking that the idea could find its way our own tables in the not too distant future.

Iain's (no relation) rather nifty morale flags in action.

Battle of Garston.

Battle of Garston

The past few weeks Ma Subs and I have been involved in a project, completely unrelated to wargaming but necessary, and that was fixing the conservatory. This involved taking off all the roofing pieces of wriggly plastic bits –broken and otherwise- and replacing them with nice new see-through sheets, painting all of the supporting woodwork etc., etc. even with my mate and his missus helping it still took several days to get the lid back on so as all the little fiddly jobs could then get done. Luckily the weather held. So, while Ma Subs went back to Brum on a family visit, I was able to have a solo game set up in Narnia. It was still on-going when the roof was being done so I managed a couple of moves every so often.

This time, I thought I would play a 6mm WW II using my new scenery and try out the old WRG Armour and Infantry 1925-1950 Rules from June 1973 that we used to use. Now I have fond memories of these rules from playing with Airfix models and figures in a mate’s front room so there was quite a high nostalgia factor here.

So, onto the game. The wind was blowing from the south-east, so that's why all the smoke is angled across the board. Advanced apologies for the slight blurriness of some of the pictures but I don't have the space for a full tripod set up.

The Wargame Map

 Garston Aerodrome on the bottom left of the table. (The tower building is based on the one at West Malling in Kent and the two hangers are 'J' Type from all over the place).

 The town of Garston. (Buildings based loosely on some in Maidstone)

A uniquely British institution

Orbats

German

            Aufklarungs Bataillon, Major Kroos

     Gruppe Kroos

1 x SdKfz 234 A/C (Puma) (d), 1 x SdKfz 222 A/C (d), 1 x SdKfz 251 Command ½ track, 3 x lorry borne infantry

                 Gruppe Muhler

1 x SdKfz 234 A/C (Puma) (d), 2 x SdKfz 222 A/C (both d), 1 x SdKfz 251, 3 x of armoured infantry

Panzer Bataillon, Major Mertesacker

               HQ Kompanie, Major Mertesacker

3 x PzKpfw IV (1), 1 x Ostwind AA

1. Kompanie, Hauptmann Schweinstiger

                       6 x PzKpfw IV (5)

                        2. Kompanie, Hauptmann Lamm

                                             6 x PzKpfw IV (3)

3. Kompanie, Hauptmann Zeigler

                        4 x PzKpfw IV (1)

British

Officer Commanding, Lieutenant-Colonel Moore

            A/T Battalion, Major Noble

                        6 x 6pdr A/T guns (3), 2 x 17pdr A/T guns

            Armoured Battalion, Major Hurst

                        ‘A’ Company, Captain Peters

                                    3 x M4 Shermans (1), 1 x Firefly

‘B’ Company, Captain Bond

            3 x M4 Shermans, 1 x Firefly

Infantry Battalion, Major McAvenney

HQ Company, major McAvenney

            1 x command, 1 x mg, 1 x 81mm mortar

            ‘A’ Company, Captain Cresswell

                        3 x infantry (1)

            ‘B’ Company, Captain Jarvis

                        3 x infantry (1)

‘C’ Company, Captain Brooking

            3 x infantry (1)

The German Right flank

The Centre

The German left flank

On the first move Kroos -on the right- and Muhler -on the left- advanced onto the board by the SE and SW roads respectively. Kroos immediately came under fire from a 6pdr AT next to the Queens Head pub which took out his lead 222. His advance halted, his infantry dismounted and began a stealthy advance along the tall roadside hedges towards the pub. The Puma used the destroyed 222 as cover while it's gun sought out the enemy.

On the other flank, Muhler also came under fire, a 6pdr AT hidden amongst the buildings of Theakstons Farm knocked out his lead 222  and his infantry in the lorries came under small arms fire from the nearest group of rocks. The infantry immediately dismounted and dove for cover along the hedge line.  

This went on for several moves. While Kroos managed to make some headway, Muhler was not so fortunate; eventually losing all his AFV's for very little gain. His only real success was to force the infantry out of the rocks and make them fall back the Pine Tree Wood. This happened just in time for the British as on Moves 7 and 8, Mertesacker's panzers began to advance towards the British positions. 

By Move 10 the panzers of Hauptmann Schweinstiger's Nr. 1. Kompanie had crossed the hill but immediately came under fire from 'A' Company's tanks concealed by the high hedges just outside Garston. Eventually Schweinstiger lost all but one of his Mk IV's and had to make an ignominious retreat.

In the centre, Hauptmann Lamm and his company of Mk IV's initially made some ground but the Shermans and Firefly of 'B' Company knocked out half his command.

Major Mertesacker with the HQ Kompanie and Zeigler's Nr. 3. Kompanie fared little better in the face of the 6 pdr AT guns hidden in the rocks and a 17pdr AT gun even further back on the bend of the road by the wood.

Eventually Mertesacker, with almost half his battalion lost, had no option but to order a retreat and request an artillery barrage before the next assault.

On the Orbat, losses are the numbers or the letter 'd' in brackets after each formation.

Game with Postie's Rejects.

While at Broadside in Sittingbourne last year I got chatting to the group known as Postie's Rejects and was asked if I would like a game someday. Well, that day was yesterday. We had a Crimean War 15mm game to Postie's own rules where the British and French were defending a small town not far from the main supply port on the peninsula (the name escapes me at the moment) against the Russian Bear. I was given the left flank with the British, one Rifle Brigade and three others plus a battery of medium guns. Immediately opposite was Big Lee with eight Russian infantry battalions and a battery of guns. John was our CNC in the centre with Ray on the right. Opposite them were Ian, John and Smiffy.
   The game started well as my infantry fairly barrelled along the road to protect the left of the village, while our centre and right prepared to fight off another Russian Brigade.
    The long and the short of it was that the right centre was eventually overwhelmed by sheer weight of numbers although my flank was holding it's own after reducing the spearhead of the Lee's Russian attack down from eight battalions to three through various morale checks under fire etc., it was decided that the Allies would have to withdraw and leave the field to the Russians.
   Postie's Shed o' War -which has the space for a 14' x 6' table with all the trimmings- was like a wargamer's Aladdin's Cave. I thought I had some lead but this bloke had got all of the main periods covered and then some in huge numbers -Postie said he has 30,000 15mm Napoleonic figures alone! I saw some of his other armies so I can well believe it.
   I had a brilliant time and it was a perfect example of what wargaming should be like, good conversation, lots of good natured banter with a lot of like minded people all enjoying their hobby. Plus, I couldn't knock the in-house catering as supplied by Postie -doorstep sarnies of cheese and pickle with fruit cake to follow. Food of the Gods! Thanks again all for a great day. They even made me and Honoury Member of Postie's Rejects and I have a little 7YW Frech figure on a plinth as a trophy. I'll post a picture of him next time as the camera is upstairs.

Here are some pics of the day.

 My initial command 

 The Opposition!

 Our Centre and Right

 The Russian Bear ambles forward towards the village.

 My Rifles and artillery slow down the battalion on the flank. That's one distracted, only the other seven to deal with now.

 Our Centre looks a bit hairy with all that lot bearing down on them.

 The Opposition l-r Lee, Ian, John and Smiffy. At this point in the game the Russians were not holding out much hope of success. How fortunes change.

The Russians ride roughshod over the French in the centre. The Russian cavalry -who up until that point had been described as cr*p- suddenly found their battle mojo and made short work of the French cavalry on the far flank, two battalions of Imperial Guard were forced back as was the line unit just to the right of the building. With no stable right flank -and not much of a centre either- the French CNC had no option but to call for a withdrawal.

In case you were wondering, the small pieces of white craft pipe-cleaners are first fire markers.

Neustadt, a solo 5mm Napoleonic battle.

Over the past few evenings I have conducted a solo Napoleonic game using my venerable 5mm Mini Figs blocks and a great set of rules that our group used to play with, known colloquially by us as the Flinch Point rules. Now these figures haven't seen the light of day for at least thirty years so I decided they well overdue an airing. Although my forces are organised for 1815, they fit the bill.

The terrain is all home made including the buildings which have been constructed out the old standby, cereal packet card and are based on the buildings in a painting of the Battle of Friedland by the contemporary French artist Simeon Fort..

I'll bet some people haven't seen these for a long time and others may have never seen them!

Bit of background:-

It is 1813 and the French armies are advancing through Prussia towards the crucial town of Hanover. A single Corps d’Armée commanded by Lieutenant-General Compte Reille has been ordered to take and retain the small market-town of Neustadt to deny the enemy the use of the area, especially the valley between the high ground to the south-west of the town. Earlier in the campaign, the Emperor re-assigned Foy’s division but has hinted that it may be in the area to act as reinforcements.

Already occupying the town and the surrounding area are troops from General von Zietan’s I Armeekorps. His orders from Feldmarschal von Blücher are to hold the town until the remaining two brigades of the Armeekorps can arrive. This is estimated to be sometime in the early afternoon.

The battle is opened at 06:00 by the French artillery.

Order of Battle

Prussia

France

Commander: General von Zietan, OC I Armeekorps 3rd Brigade, General von Jagow 7th, 29th IR’s and 3rd Westphalian Landwehr IR 7th Silesian Artillery Battery [ 8 guns] 4th Brigade, General von Henkel 19th IR and 4th Westphalian Landwehr IR Silesian Shützen Battalion 8th Brandenburg Art Btty [ 8 guns] Attached cavalry II Armeekorps Reserve 5th Brigade, General von Sohr 3rd and 5th Hussars, 5th Kurmark Landwehr Cav Regt All infantry regiments are 3 battalions and all cavalry regiments are of 4 squadrons unless specified otherwise. Total of 16 battalions, 12 squadrons and 16 guns.

Commander: Lt Gen Baron Reille, OC II Corps d’Armée 5th Division, Lt Gen Count Bachelu 1st Brigade, 61st Line and 2nd Light [ 4 battalions] 2nd Brigade, 72nd and 108th Line [ 5 battalions] 1 artillery battery [ 8 guns] 7th Division, Lt Gen Girard 1st Brigade, 82nd Line and 11th Light [ 3 battalions] 2nd Brigade, 40th Line and 12th Light [ 5 battalions] 1 artillery battery [ 8 guns] 2nd Cavalry Division, Lt Gen Baron Pire 1st Cavalry Brigade, 1st and 6th Chasseurs-a-cheval 2nd cavalry Brigade, 5th and 6th Lancers 1 Horse artillery battery [ 8 guns] Total of 17 battalions, 16 squadrons and 24 guns.

Wargame map for the Battle of Neustadt, 1813

Map Details

Prussian formations are in black or black/red and the French are blue or blue/red.

Dark brown areas are the hills, all of which count as high ground. The large hill at lower left has a pass through the middle and this is the only section that can be negotiated, the hills either side are impassable. The hill in the centre of the Prussian lines is wooded as is the hill on the French right flank. There is a wood in between the two hills of the French centre and right. The remainder of the battlefield is open ground.

The Game

Prussian infantry battalion (I/29) in line

French regiment in columns advance towards Neustadt

Prussian set up

French set up

The town of Neustadt

Girard’s first, and unsuccessful, attack on the town is set in motion. 

The French attack on the right flank gets underway. Four battalions supported by Bachelu’s artillery firing canister; the Prussian I/19 flinches under the fire.

The French continue to press on their right flank and now break the I/19 leaving only the III battalion which begins to retire. This means the whole Prussian left is now in complete disorder. All three battalions of the 12 Light charge into the town of Neustadt, forcing the defenders to back away from the barricades and deeper into the town. There is now no chance of the Prussians holding the position so Zietan orders a general retreat covered by Sohr’s cavalry brigade.

The French declined to pursue the Prussians as Reille decided he had achieved his orders and captured the town.

Casualty Returns

Prussia

France

Commander: General von Zietan, OC I Armeekorps 3rd Brigade, General von Jagow 7th Line [-], [-], [-] 29th Line [ 26], [-], [-] 3rd Westphalian Landwehr [10], [-], [12] 7th Silesian Artillery Battery (8 guns) [-] 4th Brigade, General von Henkel 19th Line [34], [94], [-] 4th Westphalian Landwehr IR [6], [-], [-] Silesian Shutzen Battalion [-] 8th Brandenburg Art Btty (8 guns) [-] Attached cavalry II Armeekorps Reserve 5th Brigade, General von Sohr 3rd Hussars [-] 5th Hussars [-] 5th Kurmark Landwehr [-] Total casualties: 182 officers and men.

Commander: Lt Gen Baron Reille, OC II Corps d’Armée 5th Division, Lt Gen Count Bachelu 1st Brigade, 61st Line [-], [102] 2nd Light [136], [92] 2nd Brigade, 72nd Line [50], [60] 108th Line [-], [-], [26] 1 artillery battery (8 guns) [36], [Destroyed] 7th Division, Lt Gen Girard 1st Brigade, 82nd Line [44], [120] 11th Light [56] 2nd Brigade, 40th Line [54], [12] 12th Light [12], [12], [12] 1 artillery battery (8 guns) [-] 2nd Cavalry Division, Lt Gen Baron Pire 1st Cavalry Brigade, 1st Chasseurs-a-cheval [-] 6th Chasseurs-a-cheval [-] 2nd cavalry Brigade,   5th Lancers [-] 6th Lancers [-] 1 horse artillery battery [ 8 guns] [-] Total casualties: 772 officers and men.

For simplicity, all infantry battalions begin the battle with 800 officers and men, all cavalry regiments are 600 sabres and all artillery batteries are 100 officers and men. In all cases of infantry regiments, casualties have been recorded in square brackets as per battalion running in sequence starting with the first. 

A note on the rules. The different coloured stickers are used to show the state of a unit. The yellow and blue alternate each move to show outstanding Flinch Points  and are removed at the end of the following move. The green represent more serious disorder i.e. rallying after a melee and are also removed at the end of the following move provided the unit does nothing. The red show the current moral and physical state of the unit by using casualties as a benchmark. There are three states, Engaged, Committed and Exhausted each showing progressively higher casualties; these remain with the unit until the end of the game.

First Ever Solo Game Part Two

Move 1
Initiative
Mongols 13 (original 9), Kharizmians 10 (original 5). Mongols elect to move second.

The Khwarizmian SkC (Unit 1), advances to give some manoeuvring space for the troops coming over the Pass. The Levy SI (Unit 2) carries on its advance in march column with Abd Ad-Dill. Just behind them the Bodyguard BC (Unit 3) arrives on the field.

Out of sight the Mongols adjust their position slightly. On the left hand hill, Snoopy Bahadur’s 2iC, Temuge, watches the approaching enemy and prepares to spring the ambush.


Move 2
Initiative Mongols 13, Khwarizmians 9. Mongols elect to move second again.

Khwarizmian 1 automatically spots the advancing Mongol Unit A and rolls to react. The random result was Continue with Original Order –which was to scout ahead of the main force. The infantry 2 moves onto the flat ground but cannot deploy yet. Abd Ad-Dill’s Bodyguard moves down the pass.

Mongol A advances and fires at Khwazmian 1 –no effect.


Move 3
Initiative Mongols 10, Khwarizmians 11. Khwarizmians elect to move second.

Mongol Unit A advances to within Close Range of Khwarizmian Unit 1 and fires -no effect. The other Mongol units change formation in preparation for an advance.

Khwarizmain 1 can’t move as it is out of Abd Ad-Dill’s command radius, 2 continues its tentative advance while 3 advances away from the pass and redeploys. The new unit 4, another SkC arrives. 1 fires at Mongol A, again no effect.


Move 4
Initiative Mongols 12, Khwarizmians 8. Mongols elect to move first.

Mongol A initialises a Feigned Retreat Even though Khwarizmian 1 is made of steppe nomads it fails its Competency Roll and gallops off in wild pursuit. B and C move up ready to attack any exposed flanks of Khwarizmian 1. Because of the intervening troops and terrain, the Khwarizmians cannot see any of the Mongol flank movements. Mongol A fires at Khwarizmian 1 and one Base is lost. In the Mongol rear, Snoopy Khan watches intently.

Khwarizmian A is caught up in Feigned Retreat, 2 continues its advance. C forms up alongside B after seeing A inexplicably galloping off. D moves up behind B and Abd Ad-Dill move towards the protection of the remainder of his force. Unit 1 fires ineffectually against Mongol A.


Move 5
Initiative Mongols 13, Khwazmians 10. Mongols decide to move first.

Mongol A disappears over the hill chased by Khwarizmian 1. As they ride past B charges out of concealment into the flank and rear of Khwarizmian 1 and destroys it. C advances, opening formation as it does so.

The Khwarizmian leading units can now see Mongol C as they break cover and B as it rides over their advance guard unit. 2 shakes itself out into a defensive line while 3 moves up onto the right flank. 4 holds its position because it failed its Competency Roll.


Move 6
Initiative Mongols 14, Kharizmians 8. Mongols move second.

Not one of the remaining Khwarizmian units manages to make its Competency Roll so there is no movement. Abd Ad-Dill is beginning to get a little concerned.
Mongol A passes its Competency Roll and halts its Retreat to reform its order. B turns to face the Khwarizmians while C moves slowly up the table towards the left flank of Khwarizmian 2.


As this was just a quick playtest to see if the Feigned Retreat Rule worked -and it did- so I stopped the game at that point.
But here are a few pictures of the troops used.






Some of you may have been wondering about the character Snoopy Bahadur mentioned above and how 'Snoopy' is not really a Mongolian name...well, here he is watching the battle with the reserve from back near the village.