Trains, Planes And Milicanas

Well train tracks to be precise, being some additions to my terrain and Spanish Civil War collections I have completed over Christmas.

The Boring Bits

Airfix 1/72nd Henshel HS123 “Angelito”

Azur 1/72nd Polikarpov 1-15 “Chato”

Empress Miniatures Milicanas, Flag Adolfo Ramos

A Short And Sharp Affair

Dave came over today for the last game of 2018 at Casa Rawnsley, I decided on a small Spanish Civil War game, this would see the militias in action this time around. The Requettes got four six man squads, one with a light machine gun and the support of an army medium machine gun.
The Anarchists got three ten man squads, a Type 10 armoured truck with a turret mounted machine gun, transported on board were four Dinamiteros.
We would use the BG/BA/CoC concoction again, one D6 would be thrown for orders the Carlist force adding one for their Officer, the Anarchists would have to dice for theirs, if a 5 or 6 was rolled then they would add 1 for their officers influence.
If the truck left the road it would bog down on anything but a six, both sides had bandaras, if a squad was within 5” it could re-roll a failed rally test, the Requettes also had a religious icon which had the same effect but would also enable a squad within 5” to re-roll a failed morale test as well. The Dinamiteros if assaulting could roll two dice for their grenades and use the higher score .

The Crossroads

The Requettes started with three units on table, this was decided by rolling a D3. The title of the post will no doubt give you a clue to how the game went, despite cover a plenty it could no compensate for the uncanny amount of fives and sixes rolled by each side during the game. Both sides decided to keep in the cover of their respective walls, the truck attempted to move off road and got bogged down, both sides squads got pinned and then unpinned in turn, but the superiority of numbers finally told and the Requettes morale was reduced to 0 and the surviving icon bearer and officer fled for their lives. The Republican winning streak shows no sign of abating.

Anarchists Advance

The Requettes Wait Patiently

The Anarchists Take Up Firing Positions

The Icon Bearer Lends Moral Support, They Are Going To Need It!

Look Senor Hemingway, See How They Run

I have finally commenced painting the Moroccan Regulares, perhaps these will tip the balance in the new year.

All that remains is to wish you all...………………………….

 Merry Christmas
Joyeux Noël
Fröhliche Weihnachten
Buon Natale
Feliz Navidad
счастливого Рождества

God Jul
 Vrolijk Kerstfeest

A Bit Of This And That

Jon came over last night for a Spanish Civil War game and kindly agreed to use my rules mash up, I take the Force Morale mechanic from Chain of Command (CoC) and modify the bad things happen chart, I didn’t use the Patrol Phase last night, we did however both place one Jump Off/Deployment point, within 10” of our respective table edges. Units would begin on table when activated with a Bolt Action dice within 5” of it, in Battlegroup (BG) you get two actions so the unit can also fire if it has a target. Now when you want to deploy several units in a turn it was a little cramped so next time if there is only one deployment point I may allow units to deploy within 10”, this would be two actions so no firing.
In BG you roll for the amount of orders you can issue in a turn, with pluses for officers, I use this but following a post on a UTube AAR I translate the amount of orders to BA dice, these are then put into a bag and drawn as per BA. I cap the amount of orders at 12, if you roll a natural 12 then this triggers a random event, for these events I used the BG chit ones.
Movement, firing etc is as per BG in the main and I add SCW flavour with things like the Foreign Legion being aggressive troops so can add one to the dice score when testing to enter close combat, last night the International Brigades got plus one to their Force Morale score, to reflect that capture wasn’t a preferred option.
You can bring on units or not as you wish, but if you bring your platoon commander on with squads still off the table they will need to pass an Experience Test (BG) to come on.
It turned out to be a cracking game, very nip and tuck to the very end. The Nationlist force morale got down to 4 the Republics then stood at 8, you reduce the number of orders you can issue when your force morale drops below 5. Before you knew it the Republics morale was down to four also, tense stuff, but the Nationalist resolve finally collapsed and after two hours of play quit the field.

The Field Of Battle

The Republicans Occupy The Farm

The Nationalist PAK36 Deploys

And Claims A Victim After Two Near Misses

The Republicans Occupy The Farm Outbuildings, Is That Bull A Nationalist?

A Legion Squads Protects The Flank

The Legion Engage The Enemy In The Farm

They Return Fire

VICTORY! Juan Blanco Raises The Flag After A Hard Fought Battle

Another SCW game when Dave pops to OHQ for last game of 2018.

Hasta La Vista

A Hill In Spain?

A few months ago I started to re purpose an old escarpment that we used for the Back of Beyond game we took on the show circuit, I adapted a Chinese fort we used for the game to sit on top. Dave had given me some surplus buildings from his palazzo build but I could not see where to utilise them with the way the castle sat on the hill so the project had stalled. Then a couple of weeks ago Pat posted pics of his hill top village build, suitably inspired, and with sitting down for figure painting time curtailed by a bout of sciatica, terrain I can do standing, I removed the castle and set about the hill, without the castle in situ it would be more versatile and I could  then work on the castle as a separate piece which would still fit on the hill.
Here is the result.....

With buildings.....

My latest additions to the Republican forces advance stealthily up the path....

I may extend it in due course, but will wait until Pat 's Mediterranean book is published for further inspiration and tips.

I am off to GHQ Monday for a Seven years War game and Jon is due Tuesday evening for a foray in the Spanish Civil War using my Battlegroup/Bolt Action/Chain of Command mash up.

TTFN

A Station East

Having long coveted the Lancer Miniatures eastern front railway station, a small tax refund and Kievan attending Colours meant that it would finally be mine, a pre show order was placed and collected. Although I really should crack on with Rahnstadt. I could not resist painting the little beauty first.

The figures in the last photo are from left to right OOP Battlefield, FAA and Elheim

TTFN

Some Crossbows

To deliver Medici medicine to the beastly Borgias.

Keep an eye out for the latest action in GHQ later this week.

TTFN

Breakfast In Bikkelheim?

General Bikkliski was suitably recovered to announce that he would like "breakfast in Bikkelheim".
So the attack got underway, it appears some troops were not expecting his recovery so soon and were a bit slow out of the blocks. However the Germans it appears were not keen to sell their lives so dearly for the Fatherland, and they too did not get going in numbers until turn three. The troops that did arrive were treated to a timed artillery strike, pinning all but one of their units on table, not a good start, one BR counter for being out scouted, one for the Russians having one of the objectives and one to unpin at the end of the turn.

Turn three and the Russians were well on their way, luckily for the volksturm holding Bikkelheim, this turn also saw the arrival of the German Hetzer battery, one vehicle of which took out a T34, unfortunately the orders roll was a double one, which with two officers only gave them four orders so little else was achieved, although several units had again been pinned so there was not much scope to inflict further pain anyway.

 Turn four took place after our lunch, so the General did not make breakfast, would he get lunch?

Now unpinned the volksturm let loose with two panzerfausts from the town, would they miss? of course two, ones! I don't know how I do it. My Hetzer advanced to the edge of town, could it do better? don't be daft, hit yes! dice for penetration, Bob Hope. The return shot from the target was not as forgiving, KABOOM!

To add insult to injury the Russians drew a BR counter to un-pin units and drew an air attack counter to dice for on turn five, arghh! Never mind thought I, they never turn up, should have known better.

Four Rockets At The German Supply Wagon On its Way To Re-supply  My Now Depleted Hetzers, You Can Guess Where The Fourth Hit

A counter for the air attack, one for the destroyed supply wagon, one more counter and it will be curtains, next Russian order, AP at the remaining Hetzer. Good Night Vienna, another Russian win, now up three points up in the campaign.

The Russians Advance Into Bikkelheim To Prepare The Generals Lunch

 A fine game, it is never going to easy for the Germans in 1945 and they generally need a little luck, which today was in very short supply, I am off to work out how much time they have bought for the chaps in the next defence position.

TTFN

Bikkelheim Awaits

Although Soviet General Bikkliski is a tad out of sorts, unfortunately the for the volksturm of the town, the assault will go ahead with or without the General at the helm.........

To be continued.......

Rahnstadt Campaign - Game Three

Having stalled the Soviet advance in the south the Germans must now turn their attention to the east again, General Bikkliski has re-supplied and renewed the attack. The Germans need time to prepare for the onslaught and have sent a battery of Hetzers to support the Volksturm in Bikkelheim who must delay the Soviet advance rather than retreat, artillery support will also be on hand.

We Will Remember Them

I Know I Said.....

No more posts this year, but yes but no but. Today Dave came over to OHQ for our inaugural game using Black Powder 2nd Edition, we both agreed that we could not let it go unrecorded.
I used a scenario form Neil Thomas's "One Hour Wargames" book, Take The High Ground, which itself is derived from Charles S Grant's "Scenarios For Wargames".
We used my First Carlist War collection for the action, the forces were...…
Carlists Forces
1st Brigade - 3 battalions line infantry - Standard - First Fire, Skirmish
                      1 group of skirmishers - Small - First Fire, Skirmish
2nd Brigade -1 battalion infantry - Standard - First Fire, Skirmish
                      2 battalions infantry - Standard - First Fire, Freshly Raised, Skirmish
To reflect the inherent ammunition shortages all the Carlist battalions would fire with two dice, but to reflect their perchance for close combat they would get the Tough Fighter rule.
One battalion and the skirmishers would start the game occupying the hill.
Isabelino Forces   
1st Brigade - 2 battalions line infantry - Standard - First Fire
                      1 battalion light infantry - Standard - First Fire, Skirmish
                      4 squadrons of line cavalry - Standard
2nd Brigade  2 battalions British Auxiliary Legion - Standard - First Fire, Skirmish
                      1 battalion  British Auxiliary Legion Rifles - Standard - First Fire, Skirmish
                      2 Squadrons BAL Lancers - Small - Lancers
                      1 Royal Marine Rocket Battery
The Isabelino forces must be in unopposed possession of the hill by turn twelve or have forced the Carlist forces to quit the field.

The Carlist Left Advances

The Carlists And BAL Clash

Action On The Right Flank

Stasis On The Left Flank

The Carlists Are About To Charge

While The Infantry Engage In A Firefight The BAL Lancers Enter The Fray

It turned out to be a very to and thro game, one side looking to have the upper hand, then the other making a swift rally, the thing we most like about Black Powder is you can never say you are done till the fat lady sings.

All though the Carlists had some success the superior firepower of the Isabelinos finally led to both brigades becoming broken in turn eleven, so close yet so far from victory.

There are various reviews on second edition now so no need to repeat the glaring mistake and other lesser errors here. We liked the re-roll for commanders, I have always thought it odd that the C in C could command so many other units and do his job at the same time, as it says in the book the first edition approach is more suited to smaller and colonial actions. We did not have any evades to sample this new rule, but the rockets, which we never found very effective in first edition anyway is certainly more unpredictable and dangerous, as it should be.

Are the changes worth forking out for? maybe not, but then I have both Albion supplements, Rebellion and Glory Hallelujah, both of which "I don't need" just because.

TTFN 

Taking A Break

Looking back over the blog it is all becoming a little repetitive so I will be taking a break until the new year when I may have something different to blog you never know 😉. Thank you all for the comments and encouragement over the year.
TTFN

Robinski Routed

You may recall way back in February last year we played the first game in the Rawnstadt campaign, no? me neither I had to look it up.
Well the second game would focus on General Robinski's attack from the south, this would be easy, the Germans were focusing all their efforts on stemming the Red tides advance from the east under General Bikkliski. The southern sector would only be thinly held, Robinski gleaned from prisoner interrogation and reconnaissance reports that the road to Rawnstadt would only be held by infantry so launched his assault accordingly. In the haste to attack, the re-supply of the tanks was not achieved, so only the ISII had a full supply of HE the three T34s had an over stock of AT (I thought it a tad unfair that knowing the scenario I could load up with all HE, so before the game I diced for each T34s ammo mix, I am too kind methinks).
Unknown to the Soviets the Germans were well dug in along a ridge intersected by the road to Rawnstadt, when this was discovered the attack had the benefit of an air and artillery strike, it certainly helped but troops in reinforced cover are hard to shift. The attack started well but I attacked on too narrow a front and too tardily, the infantry held back to long and came under heavy fire and it was not long before several squads were either pinned down or forced to retreat. The Germans launched a pre-registered nebelwerfer strike, from which the Soviets got of lightly, only one T34 being pinned the other was pinned by a hit from the only two effective shots from the German Pak40, more on the second later.

The Infantry Appear Reluctant To Leave The Cover Of The Woods

Meanwhile Their More Enthusiastic Comrades Take Cover In The Corn Field

A T34 Is Knocked Out By A Panzerschrek Shot

Meanwhile The ISII Burns On The Left

The Reason It Burns, I Pull An Ammo Low Chit, Result The PAK40 Has One More Shot Before Running Out. I Don't Belieeeve It!

With Only One Full Infantry Squad Is Left, It Is All Up For Robinski's Attack, Another Chit Pull Confirms The Inevitable And The Attack Is Aborted

Well I can go on about my inability to pin or hit the entrenched Germans and my uncanny ability to roll ones when testing morale, but at the end of the day my tactics were poor. Result the Germans have now evened up the score in the campaign, but due to the poor showing by Robinski, the forces of Bikkliski will no doubt get an influx of troops to continue the main thrust, while a nice desk awaits Robinski somewhere.

TTFN