First Game And Victory Of 2015

The first game here at OHQ in 2014 was a Great War game as befitting the centenary year of the start of that conflict. It was therefore inevitable that 2015 would also start with a Great War game, this years game would see us using modified Bolt Action rules with a scenario from Neil Thomas's One Hour Wargames book.

The Field Of Conflict

Each side would have six units the type was generated using the table Neil provides in the book, I decided on armament, type and class of each unit.

The Germans

2 Sections of veteran Stormtroopers, one with a MG08 the other would be bombers, classed as tough fighters.

3 Sections of regular Angriff troops, one with a captured Lewis gun

1 A7V tank

These would all move from the road to the left of picture on turn one.

The British

2 sections of regular infantry, one a Lewis gun section the other a rifle section.

These would be deployed between the road running from the bottom of the picture and the centre

In turn three British reinforcements would appear on the road from the right in the picture these could be, the British player (Dave) could decide, either a regular rifle section and a 18pdr gun or a regular bomber section, deemed tough fighters and a Whippet tank, the other would then appear in the same location on turn nine.

The German Forces Advance

The game would last twelve turns with the victor being the side in possession of the crossroads.

The British Deploy Each Side Of the Crossroads

The German plan was to hold the left with an infantry section and the centre with the tank, which could pending developments advance on the British centre position.  The two stormtroop sections supported by the other two infantry sections would work around the British left.

German Support Section Advances

The British plan was to hold both flanks and advance down the road splitting the German force in two, to this end on turn three Dave bought on the rifle section and 18pdr, deciding that the range was too great the gun fired on the German infantry advancing on his left centre, this in the event had little effect. The next turn seeing that the German tank looked unlikely to be moving tried a shot and succeeded in destroying the tank!

However by this time the German Stosstruppen were well round to his flank, so he really had to keep the fresh infantry unit back in case his other section could not hold them, all eyes were now on this flank.

The A7V Burns

At this point I should mention that in our games we add a dice to the order dice, when this is drawn an event card is turned with various things effecting either or both sides such as an extra movement, random artillery shells, ammunition shortage. In this game the cards drawn had no real effect for either side, so I have not mentioned them. On the German left the section there continued to pin there counterparts, however pin markers were mounting up, but they had a lucky break, there adversaries rolled a FUBAR and panicked! While centre right the casualties started to mount up for the British and on that flank the Stosstroop were almost getting behind them, but turn nine was approaching the British would reinforced, could the flank hold? Unfortunately no the combined fire from the two sections of Germans broke them so they were then able to turn on the reserve British section who had to cancel their advance down the centre due the other section panicking, the gun meanwhile tried to hold up the Stormtroops but its fire was dismal, so the then arriving section had to be sent to the flank to intercept them. This really left the gun and crew to the mercy of the Germans in the right centre, while they were in turn fired on by the other section and remaining Stormtroop sections. By turn eleven all that remained was the Whippet, with two German sections at the crossroads and the two Stormptroop sections moving a around behind, Dave conceded the game. It was a tough game for both sides going nearly to the wire. In hindsight Dave said that he should really have retired in front of the German advance on the left rather than come into effective range by two German sections. Apart from that I can't see what else he could done differently given the run of the order dice and firing results.

Stormtroops On The Flank

Germans At The Crossroads

I have a feeling though that I may be changing the title to "First Game And Only Victory Of 2015" ;-)

TTFN