"Firing into the Brown" #79 - Yapton, Royal Commissions and stuff...

"So Carnehan weeds out the pick of his men, and sets the two of the Army to show them drill and at the end of two weeks the men can manoeuvre about as well as Volunteers. So he marches with the Chief to a great big plain on the top of a mountain, and the Chiefs men rushes into a village and takes it; we three Martinis firing into the brown of the enemy".

Kipling "The Man Who Would Be King"

Time for another update..

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Yapton Beer Festival come and gone again - another year gone..! 😏🍻

Picture courtesy http://devoursussex.co.uk

The sun shone, the beer flowed again, and Yapton worked it's usual magic and we got mildly sun burnt and enjoyed some decent (but not outstanding) ales... another small turnout from the jolly boys (the bunch I go drinking with) this year, a feeling I think that beer festivals for them may have had their day?

Beers were still cheap - I think in 2019 we were paying £1.70/ £1.90 a half and this year it was £2/2.10, but still excellent value. Unfortunately I thought the choice of beer was down this year (again) so that may be the price for that cheapness.  

So why the apathy? I think the beer drinking culture in the UK has changed significantly since we first started going to festivals (and we've been going to this one for 20+ years) - put bluntly I think CAMRA (the Campaign for Real Ale pressure group) has achieved their aim, and there are now micro pubs (some brewing on premises) and real ale pubs in every town and city, and we are now spoilt for choice. 

An example, one of the pubs I go to in Portsmouth ("The Hole in the Wall" in Southsea) has just put on tap it's 170th different ale this year - their target for the end of the year is 500 different ales served. They charge the same price per pint as were paying at the festival. The rest of the guys I think look at that, then the fact it's local and easy to get to, that they can save the ticket price and then put it over the bar there instead.. 😏

Anyway - what did I drink?

• Roosters Brewing Company - "Pangea" - 5.2%
• "A fusion of three styles of IPA (Traditional English, West Coast & New England), brewed using British, Australian, NZ and US hops, as well as being co-fermented with West Coast & New England yeast strains. The beer pours with the clarity of a classic IPA, while displaying the juiciness associated with the New England style".
• Poor choice for a first beer - too strong - but in my defence I didn't have my glasses on and had just arrived hot and thirsty and this was a free half included in the ticket price.. 😁  It was OK but not outstanding
• Goldmark - "Citra Smash" - 4.3%
• "Single Hop and Single Malt pale ale classic, generously dry hopped with Yakima Valley Citra hops".
• Drinkable but again not outstanding
• Langham Brewery - "Victory Ale" – 4.5%
• "Offering floral notes intertwined with light fruity esters from the English yeast, this beauty has a pleasing amber colour and a slight citrus palate, overlaying a light biscuit-malt back bone, and a more-ish bittersweet finish".
• Now I'd had a couple of pints of this in the pub earlier in the week, and in the face of pages and pages of brewers in the programme I had not heard of (and if I don't know the beer I go with the brewer as that is usually the safe bet) I seized upon this as a life belt in a stormy sea..  and then proceeded to drink it for the rest of the festival..  an above average pint definitely

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 "[Item #]76. With a view to secure Portsmouth from capture by land, lines of defence have been constructed at different times during the last two centuries; those immediately covering the dockyard and town were commenced in the reign of James II., and were continued at intervals until near the end of the last century, when the works at Portsea were completed. The earthworks and wet ditch on the Gosport side, enclosing the victual- ling yard, were constructed about the year 1678, and were extended to Priddy's Hard [we've been there - clicky] about 1790.

These lines have long been considered a most inefficient protection, not only on account of the limited space enclosed by them, and the obstruction caused by the spread of buildings round them: but also on account of their having no influence whatever in protecting the naval establishments and harbour from bombardment.

We are nevertheless of opinion, that as these works exist, they ought to be maintained in a state of efficiency, to protect the naval establishment [so they were already thinking of maintaining the Dockyard defensive walls only, as there's no mention of 'town'] from capture in the event of an enemy forcing a landing in their immediate neighbourhood ; and we recommend that the right of the Portsea Lines, which is now open, should be closed by being joined to the left of the Town Mount Bastion of the Portsmouth Lines [in other words they were advising a continuation of the walls at Hilsea Lines all the way down the west side of the harbour to join up with those that already existed - suffice to say this was never done], and that when this is done, all the fortifications from that bastion round to King James's Gate should be removed [ and there's the confirmation - see map]. This would add considerably to the strength of the lines, and the expense would be insignificant as compared with the value of the land, above 37 acres, which would thus be enclosed by the fortifications and rendered available for the exten-sion of the Government establishments".

..from the Royal Commission Report of 1860..  my highlights..  interesting, eh?

More reading:

• Royal Commission on the Defence of the United Kingdom - Wikipedia
• Palmerston Forts Society - a scanned copy of the actual report

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Laters, as the young people are want to say...

One Hour Wargames Scenario 27 "Disordered Defence" - Setup and Game

Time for the little metal men to march across the table in slightly more numbers than has been usual recently, and as there's no beating One Hour Wargames for scenario ideas, and as I also wanted an opportunity to play this years John Corrigan Memorial Game [clicky]) I opted for the next one in the series, which is #27, "Disordered Defence"..

In summary, a small attacking army has launched a surprise attack on a (potentially) bigger defending army positioned to protect a cross roads..  the question is can the attacker beat enough of the defending enemy to win the battle before the defenders reinforcements arrive.. 😏

As mentioned this is the Memorial Game so our battle will be set in the American War of Independence using those glorious little metal men that John painted and gifted to me all those years ago. I just have this feeling that this is one of those games where the smaller attacker screams out to be British/Hessian, so they will be the attacker. 

Setup:

• Each side was diced for as per the tables in the book, but as the table is 6' x 4' I will roll twice for each side doubling up the numbers..  the only change being to ignore the skirmisher column and substitute regular foot, all artillery will be light. 
• All units for both sides get maximum Strength Points/SP's (ie. 6) and are classed as regular with no morale modifiers - there are also no national modifiers, so both sides units are equal in fire/melee...
• The scenario in the book is 15 turns and American reinforcements arrive on turn 8.
• The side occupying the crossroads at the end of the game is the victor.

OOB Blue/Anglo Hessian Attacker:

For the sake of organisation they are divided into two brigades of equal size - each with a Brigadier, and under the overall command of a C-in-C

Unit/Base No.	Notes/ Type	MP's	SP’s
New York Loyalist Artillery #22	Light Art	0	6	5	4	3	2	1	💀
Brunswick Jaegers #3 & 4	Infantry	0	6	5	4	3	2	1	💀
Brunswick Jaegers #5 & 6	Infantry	0	6	5	4	3	2	1	💀
Battalion von Barner #8 & 9	Infantry	0	6	5	4	3	2	1	💀
New York Loyalist Artillery #2	Light Art	0	6	5	4	3	2	1	💀
17th Foot #36 & 37	Infantry	0	6	5	4	3	2	1	💀
23rd Foot (Royal Welsh Fusiliers) #38 & 39	Infantry	0	6	5	4	3	2	1	💀
71st (Frasers) Foot #40 & 41	Infantry	0	6	5	4	3	2	1	💀

Red/American Defender:

The American's have the greater force, but the tactical problem of deciding which half of their units to deploy first, and which half to hold back as their reserve. Given they are a defender though, and given they have to hold until the reserves arrive I decided to deploy the artillery and five of the foot regiments first.

• Holding Force:

Three separate commands - one per each deployment point as defined in the scenario but under the overall command of a C-in-C assisted by a Brigadier.

 

Unit/Base No.	Notes/ Type	MP's	SP’s
Connecticut Artillery #28	Light Art	0	6	5	4	3	2	1	💀
Green Mountain Boys - 1st Battalion #1 & 2	Infantry	0	6	5	4	3	2	1	💀
Green Mountain Boys - 2nd Batt #3 & 4	Infantry	0	6	5	4	3	2	1	💀
New York Regiment #9& 10	Infantry	0	6	5	4	3	2	1	💀
9th Pennsylvania Regiment #11 & 12	Infantry	0	6	5	4	3	2	1	💀
1st New York #39 & 40	Infantry	0	6	5	4	3	2	1	💀

 Americans start deployed in three isolated positions - I opted to put the American gun where it could cover both flanks - it's light but it it has the range..

• Reinforcements:

Organised as one Brigade..

Unit/Base No.	Notes/ Type	MP's	SP’s
4th Dragoons #37 & 38	Cavalry	0	6	5	4	3	2	1	💀
Lauzun's Legion #43 & 44	Cavalry	0	6	5	4	3	2	1	💀
2nd New York #41 & 42	Infantry	0	6	5	4	3	2	1	💀
Maryland State Marines #24 & 25	Infantry	0	6	5	4	3	2	1	💀
Bourbonnais Regiment (1st. Batt.) #31 & 32	Infantry	0	6	5	4	3	2	1	💀
Saintonge Regiment #47 & 48	Infantry	0	6	5	4	3	2	1	💀

The American reserves wait patiently..

Table:

A crossroads - American reserves enter from top - forward positions in place.. British deploy within 4" of the bottom table edge.. the table is flat - no hills and the fields are purely for visual effect - no impact on movement/visibility..

The Game:

The British plan (hah! "Plan" indeed.. 😏) was to pile drive one of the two forward positions with everything they had - looking to defeat them in detail before the other American units (and indeed the reserves) could spoil the party..

An Anglo Hessian "piledriver" (a pfahlramme apparently) - as you can see I opted to go for the American forward position on the right 

The British advance was on a very concentrated front - each brigade with two battalions up and one in reserve (to protect them from small arms/cannon fire), each brigade giving enough room for the artillery to pound the Americans,,

The American response was three fold, 

• the brigade under attack retiring on the crossroads
• the brigade at the crossroads moving to support them directly, while
• the second of the two forward brigades pivoted with the aim of launching a flank/delaying attack on the exposed Anglo Hessian right 

End turn 4 and under the watchful eye of  Lofty C the American flank attack is forming to the left while the first American position has been driven in.. the British reserve battalions are moving to cover the flank

It took the Allies a while as every time they got within charge range American fire either caused them to delay or they retired out of range again, but as you can see following - turn 5 was a  bit of a game changer for the Allies - both American regiments in the flank attack have taken damage, and both regiments from the primary forward position are routing (note red dice) towards the American edge. 

It hasn't gone all the Allied way however - they are leaking valuable SP's they need to save for when the American reserves turn up..  in my heart of hearts I knew they were never going to pull this off

End turn 5

...and so it transpired - as one Hessian regiment bravely charged the gun in order to take it out of the equation before the imminent arrival of the American reserves - and was handled badly - one of the two routing American battalions recovered and poured in a withering volley on the 17th Foot.. both Allied Battalions now shaken, and also on worrying strength levels...

...and then the reserves arrived...  😏

End Turn 8 and look at the massed horde of reserves... 

..and then to rub dirt into the wound, both those Allied battalions fail morale checks and rout, allied firing is ineffective, and with a whoop that could clearly be heard across the table the American 4th Dragoons put spur to flank and charge into the side of one of the two routing regiments causing them to surrender, and then (almost unheard of) the other routing Allied Battalion is found to be within their second charge reach - it throws successfully to not surrender (brave boys!) but fails a test to stand (unsurprisingly) and dies to a man were they stand - the Dragoons triumphant.

End Turn 9 - very, very, messy for the Allies

With another Allied Battalion already routing, the Fusiliers exposed, shaken and about to go the same way - the British General orders 'sauve qui peut' ('rettet euch', perhaps 😏?) and withdraws from the field..  

Post Match Analysis:

• a crushing victory for the Americans, but to be honest that is a very difficult scenario to win for the Blue/Attacker - the size of the battlefield is such that the three outposts can fairly easily reinforce each other, which gives them a strength of 6 to 8 fairly quickly - more than enough to fight a delaying action until their other 6 units arrive on turn 8. Even if none of the defenders survive, when the reinforcements arrive it will be 6 fresh against whatever is left of the attackers 8
• alternative tactics? 
• The attacker could consolidate and 'defend' - it's 8 vs 12 but it's always difficult to press home an attack on a stationary defender, but the scenario calls for you to take the crossroads to win, and the defenders already have it, so at some point you will need to attack/advance
• attack both forward positions at the same time so no flank defence is possible?
• I think the Allied plan was good but one of the other unintended problems with doubling up units is being able to concentrate or focus the "pfahlramme" (😏) of a large force on a comparatively smaller one - put simply, only a third of the piledriver could get close enough to do any damage the others were either too far away or blocked by their compatriots! 😀 The second of those two "alternative tactics" would address this problem?
• The Allies were badly in need of some cavalry - but that's the luck of the dice
• Scenario modifiers? 
• at the risk of going on about it (but I will 😁), the forces in the book are 6 vs 4 (initially 3 vs 4), so doubling up does give the attacker an extra (unfair ?) advantage (instead of two they have four extra units in hand), I suspect I have badly skewed it in their favour by doing this, and what I should have done is prorated the increase in each side in some way, so as to maintain a narrower advantage. Perhaps maintain the two unit advantage so give the Allies/defender another couple of units making it 12 v 10 (rather than 8)
• there is no benefit of surprise for the attacker - it might be worth considering giving them a one or two move benefit before the Americans can move but with firing allowed

Either way it was good to get the guys out again for a run out - before I remove the terrain I may well play this one again but this time with 12 vs 10...

"Firing into the Brown" #78 - King James Gate, flags and stuff...

"So Carnehan weeds out the pick of his men, and sets the two of the Army to show them drill and at the end of two weeks the men can manoeuvre about as well as Volunteers. So he marches with the Chief to a great big plain on the top of a mountain, and the Chiefs men rushes into a village and takes it; we three Martinis firing into the brown of the enemy".

Kipling "The Man Who Would Be King"

Time for another update..

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Second of the gates in the occasional series of local history posts on the gates of Old Portsmouth [clicky]

This time we have the King James gate - built in 1687, and with the design and building works supervised by de Gomme himself (who we've also met already), this is the original gate, but not in it's original magnificence (though it's not too shabby!) and not in it's original position..  in fact it's been moved twice from it's original position since the 1860's/70's when the rest of the fortified walls of Portsmouth were removed..

It's current location is just across the way from the Landport Gate [clicky], where it currently provides access to the United Services Grounds (and where back in the day I saw Hampshire play cricket once).. the two side arches are much later additions, not original, and involve a lot of wishful thinking 😏

Still magnificent, but not as magnificent as it once was..

...and this is where it would have stood - following - between the corner of battlement/steps you can see on the left, and the other side of the road - the Camber (the inner harbour you can see on the map above) is just behind that first big white house on the right. 

The picture is taken from what would have been inside the gate looking out (as it's purpose was to protect Portsmouth, not the small bight of land north, known round here as The Point) and there would have been a bridge and moat between the gate and where that same big white house is...

...those steps - left - are mostly original and would have lead up to the top of the gate (they are slightly longer than originally as they now lead to a more modern promenade on top of the wall that is slightly higher than the original gate)..

...this is excellent and from the Portsmouth History page...  it dates from 1861... note the gate and arches centre... you can also see the building labelled "Master Gunners" which I guess were his quarters as there is also a kitchen labelled - it has a courtyard in front and the steps are those in my photo... I would have been standing in what would have been that courtyard to take my photo... isn't history amazing..😀

...and here is its position on the de Gomme map..

This picture - following - was taken probably 1850's, before the gate was removed from it's original location, and shows how grand it would have been originally* - all that huge decorative pediment is now gone.. the picture is taken from the opposite perspective to mine - so this is outer side, and the photo was taken from the Point, looking through the gate into the town - 

Note/comments 

• the moat/drawbridge with side rails. 
• When de Gomme was building the gate and new walls, he also utilised earlier Elizabethan walls - that's them, the rougher ones, to the left and right of the gate. 
• The Master Gunners building with those steps I mentioned would have come on to the battlements on the far right..

(* Sources indicate that a lot of the ornate elements of the gate would have been errr.. "mislaid" (ie. stolen and or sold) during its two moves - huge shame, but them's the breaks.. 😏)

"The Lower or King James Gate is a structure in the Venetian stile with double Corinthian pilasters on each side the archway, an entablature supporting a circular tower and ball and ornamental spires on each side. The inscription is IACOBVS SECVNDVS A R III AN DOM 1687. On the key stone are the initials IR surmounted by an imperial crown with the date 1687 and below the Ordnance arms three cannon on a shield. A heavy drawbridge is in front. The ancient batteries near this gate have been for some time under repair. About forty five years since during a tempest the marble ball fell from the summit of the tower of the gate and split into fragments at the feet of two ladies who were passing at the time (😁). The gateway remained in a very dilapidated state till 1826 when being under repair in March we addressed a letter to the commandant relative to the inscription which was nearly obliterated and on May the 3d it was restored. On June 29th the repairs were completed and the present immense marble ball placed on the summit." (from "The Chronicles of Portsmouth" written by Henry and Julian Slight and published in 1828.)

Other sources:

• Memorials and Monuments in Old Portsmouth (King James Gate)
• King James Gate - History, Travel, and accommodation information
• The Historic Gates of Portsmouth - King James' Gate | Strong Island
• History In Portsmouth

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 Works in progress

Never a pretty sight half way though.. 😏

Nice new flag.. !

80% done..

Needed to wait for the glue to dry and then I flocked them to match the rest of the project..

Done!

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Laters, as the young people are want to say...

"Firing into the Brown" #77 - Bearn, Kings and stuff...

"So Carnehan weeds out the pick of his men, and sets the two of the Army to show them drill and at the end of two weeks the men can manoeuvre about as well as Volunteers. So he marches with the Chief to a great big plain on the top of a mountain, and the Chiefs men rushes into a village and takes it; we three Martinis firing into the brown of the enemy".

Kipling "The Man Who Would Be King"

Time for another update..

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Another in the occasional "regiments of renown" series featuring the histories of various regiments painted in haste at the beginning of a project but which were not documented here for posterity.. so we come to French infantry regiment "Bearn", part of my War of the Spanish Succession collection

There is a very (very) good potted history of this regiment on the Kronoskaf WSS site (link below) so there's little point in me repeating the good work completed there, but by way of a framework to hang some 'rabbit holes' on (and I do love a rabbit hole😏), the regiment came into being on the 3rd September 1684 as “Béarn Infanterie”, and was raised in the Pyrenees region.

As we've seen before in the regimental histories of a number of the other French Infantry regiments in the project, Bearn were another one of those 30 regiments Louis XIV raised between the 1st and the 30th of that month in response to the threat of a new coalition of countries opposed to France (when it was needed Louis knew when to splash the cash! 😏). The kernel/core of the new regiment was a battalion of the Picardie Regiment (itself one of the Vieux Corps) so it was a very solid base to form the new regiment round!

During the War of the Spanish Succession, the regiment was commanded by:

• 

  Marie Anne Colbert de Blainville
  painted by Pierre Gobert
  (1662 - 1744)  

  from 16 November 1689: François Bouton, Chevalier de Chamilly (killed in action on 14 October 1702 at the Battle of Friedlingen) - very little to be found on this fellow - he was the fourth son of Erard Bouton (who was one of Louis's Field Marshalls) and at the time of his death a brigadier - some sources say he died of wounds received at the battle so it may have been in the immediate aftermath..
• from 15 October 1702: Jean-Baptiste de Rochechouart, Comte de Maure 
• the 15th was the day after Friedlingen so they didn't hang around finding a successor to Francois.. 
• Jean Baptiste de Rochechouart de Mortemart to give him his full title (he was the 5th Duke of  Mortemart), would have been 20 when he was given command (born 1682) but as the son of a General, and the Finance Ministers daughter, he would not have been without influence! That's his mum over there on the left by the way.. 
• Another interesting snippet - his father in law was Jean-Jules-Armand Colbert, the Marquis de Blainville, the very same who commanded all those French regiments crammed into the village of Oberglauheim at Blenheim, and who was to die there on the battlefield...
• Anyway, after commanding Bearn (for less than 18 months) he went on to command the Dauphin Infanterie Regiment  in January 1704 (probably a more fashionable regiment than one of the "30 day wonders" that Bearn was 😀) and survived the war(s) to live to a good age (74)
• from 27 January 1704 to 22 December 1714: Paul-Auguste Gaston de La Rochefoucauld, Comte de Montendre and Jarnac. 
• he commanded a regiment in the Army of Italy (named after him as was fairly common), from it's formation in 1701 for about 18 months
• Paul Auguste died young - at just 38 or 39 - in Paris - his missus (who had bought the title Jarnac to the marriage table) was married again within 6 months (they were different times 😏). 
• Some sources intimate he may have come from a naval background having served aboard the galleys from 1694 to 1703 (though that may have been a brother)
• I have not managed to find anything out about the cause of his death as my interest was piqued - there were no major military engagements in that year so I don't think it was as a result of wounds - the parties would have been deep in negotiations for the various treaties that brought the war to an end. Who knows? Illness - smallpox was the killer in those days?

During the War

• 1701, the regiment was with the Army of Germany.
• 1702 regiment fought at the Battle of Friedlingen
• 1703 the regiment was with the Army of Bavaria.
• 1704 the regiment fought at the Battle of Schellenberg where its lieutenant-colonel (2-i-C) was killed, then at the Battle of Blenheim.
• 1705 the regiment was with the Army of the Moselle.
• 1706 the regiment was with the Army of the Rhine.
• 1707 the regiment was with the Army of Flanders.
• 1708 the regiment took part in the failed expedition in Scotland (now that's an interesting rabbit hole!) and then at the Battle of Oudenarde.
• 1709 the regiment fought at the Battle of Malplaquet.
• 1712 the regiment fought at the Battle of Denain, the Siege of Douai and later in the recapture of Le Quesnoy.

Sources:

• Béarn Infanterie - Project WSS

These are Minifig's and painted and based by me some time pre-2006 - the flag is from the old Warflag.com site which is still - regrettably - down (but accessible via the Wayback Machine website)... these guys are definitely going to get a new standard [clicky - thanks for your work David!] as that one is decidedly battle damaged - I may even rebase at the same time as the old plastic bases I used were thin and a bit warped now

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As promised a few posts ago - I was down in Old Portsmouth the other day* and paused to get some photo's of what must be some of the last remaining fortifications from the de Gomme period.. the Curtain Wall and the remains of King's Bastion

Scene of the crime - note also the Spur Redoubt

First the curtain wall (and moat)

Sea is to the left - end of the wall looking west'ish

Sea is off to the right - end of the wall looking east'ish - up their at the end (top right) is the old saluting platform which is bang on top of the Bastion

View from the top of King's Bastion of the Curtain Wall - off to the left is the remains of the 1680 built Spur Redoubt - piccie taken from the saluting platform and looking west towards Gosport

Remains of the 1680 Spur Redoubt - and in the background the glorious Solent - all this stuff was built to protect us from anyone wanting to approach the City and Dockyard from that direction 😏

Internal detail - Spur Redoubt

More internal detail - Spur Redoubt

Curtain wall and moat - the bridge is modern of course, but adopts the same route as the one in the 1860 map - there is a Sally Port in the Curtain Wall providing access (which I used) and which would have provided access for gunners and troops to and from the Redoubt in the original configuration

Reverse of the Bastion - this is the access to the main magazine which would have been huge. Given the design of the fortifications, this would have been the first Bastion to engage any enemy coming from the eastern (favoured) end of the Isle of Wight so there would have been plenty of ammunition required for both the guns on the Bastion and I assume for those on the Curtain Wall as well (an interesting rabbit hole on types and numbers of guns presents itself there)..

...and because I love a map as much as my reader - this is some detail from the 1861 Ordnance Survey map of the bastion - can't find a bigger picture regrettably - note the magazine entrances and embrasures..

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Laters, as the young people are want to say...

"Put a Tiger in your Tank.. (or errr.. Hanomag)" - preamble, setup and game...

Time for another update..  apologies for the lack of post last week - way too busy elsewhere [clicky].. 😏

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Preamble

Feldwebel Schmidt was feeling the heat..  late May in the early summer of 1940 in France was turning out to be hot..  very hot.. and dusty.. 

Somewhere off to his left, the rest of his Panzer Division (the 7th) were about to break their brief camp and continue their race west in pursuit of an enemy that was retreating faster than they could advance... 

Rommel's advance was so fast that he was constantly in danger of running head of his resupply, and of them all, the half tracks and tanks had a prodigious thirst for fuel.. and so it was, that as he and a section of his grenadiers were doing a quick recce for food and drink in a small settlement at the end of a branch line before they climbed in to the Hanomags to continue the advance, he was stunned to see a railway fuel wagon just sitting there.. "ich werde verdammt!"

Sending one of his men forward to check the wagon, he scanned the village and surrounds for any movement. When the man returned he advised that the wagon appeared to be just over a quarter full.. almost five thousand litres!

Sending another of his men back with orders to let his captain know what they'd found, and to bring back a lorry with jerry cans, he was just preparing to order his section to move in and secure the wagon when he spotted movement across the way...  "Scheiss! Engländers!"

Setup

Encounter game, using the John Lambshead "Skirmish Wargames" rules - remarkable in their simplicity whilst not removing the need to make good tactical decisions..

Orders of Battle:

Identical - both sides had a motivation of 0, and comprised two sections of 12 men, with two LMG's, and an NCO - in this case neither NCO had any additional command factors (probably should have given the German NCO a plus 1, but I wanted them to be the same). 

Both sides also had a lorry though it was clear these wouldn't be deployed unless the position was very secure!

Table:

..and then the battlefield..  two foot square.. all shrubs/hedges count soft cover, buildings/wagon/steel drums/rubble are hard cover..  all buildings/hills/railway wagon/trees block line of sight..

British enter from the right, Germans from the left..  both sides start off table (so action points will be required to bring troops on)

The Game

Both NCO's opted to divide their sections into two and send them down each flank..  initial action cards were low for both sides and it wasn't until turn 3 or 4 that either side had managed to fully deploy, but in what turned out to be a key decision the British managed to occupy the barn first..

Turn 3'ish - neither side has managed to fully deploy yet, but the British are in the barn - the Germans are about to attack to expel them..  that German by the buffers though is about to shoot and drop the British solider along the wall of the barn.. Schmidt is behind the pile of rubble, Smith is bottom right..

..and the fight for the barn turned out to be almost a mini Volgograd Tractor Plant as the British soldier in there dispatched not one, but three separate German close combat attacks (and in these rules if you lose a close combat it's an immediate kill)!

..a few moves later and the British have whittled down the German attackers in the barn..

The British were also being far luckier when turning cards to see what happened to the downed figures - German casualties were climbing rapidly! Concentrated fire from those four mensch on the hedge line saw three or four British figures downed, only to see them recover in the post turn phase..

..that British LMG had the luck of the devil all game with hit after hit being shrugged off..

...but despite those climbing German casualties, they continued to pass their morale checks...

..Sergeant Smith was feeling confident, his men were doing well and following his commands to the letter - it was good to be finally giving the Bosche 'what for' after the endless setbacks of the last few weeks, and now it looked like he might actually be able to get a tank full of fuel for the truck to allow them to re-join the Battalion further down the road.. 

..the British have reinforced the barn and are planning to use it as a jumping off point for a concerted attack on what is left of the Germans who who at this point had suffered almost 30-40% casualties.. notice the number of Germans "downed"..

..so near and yet so far, because then the unthinkable happened, and on the end of turn 6 or 7 morale test this - following - happened! Now that, in the Lambshead rules, is about as opposite a result as it's possible to get since an Ace counts "One", and a King "Thirteen"... 😀

Casualty count - British left (4), German right (6) - with those morale cards.. end of game!

..then just as he (Smith) is thinking they might get away with it, he hears the unmistakeable clank and rumble of tracks - "Damn!". Across the the way he can see Hanomags and Tanks... 

Schmidt's captain has clearly decided this is too good a prize to miss and sent him some reinforcements..

Quietly seething to himself..  "so close, so damned close!".. Smith orders his men to pull back to the truck, to make their get away empty handed..  the German bodies they have left behind are a very slim return for their own casualties..

Post Match analysis

• what a fun little game - about 8 or 9 moves all told, but could have gone either way all the way to the end
• close combat is deadly - and normally you would expect three separate attacks on one to have a decent result, but the British soldier was clearly commando trained! 😁
  
  

  

  ..."ooof".. 😁



• for the next game* I will be using grenades - should have done in this game really.. it might have made the fight for the barn a little more.. errr.. "interesting" for both sides!

* I actually replayed this (with the addition of grenades) yesterday, and this time the result was very different with the Germans completely dominant  - winning the battle as the results would say they should have done..  highlights of the game..

• having shot them with his own LMG's, the two British LMG's were down, and then on the next turn the Germans having won the initiative, rushed them, and finished them off while they were still down... 
• ..on the next turn a German rifleman running up to throw a grenade into the barn, turned a Joker as his to hit card which ended the turn immediately.. in the next turn though the British won the initiative and shot him!
• ..before on the the next turn two more German riflemen dropped all three British occupants of the barn with two grenades, and then won the initiative again and charged into the barn to finish off the comatose British riflemen... deadly!

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..enjoyed that, but for now, "Laters", as the young people are want to say...