Even Less Quiet

On the Western Front, following on from the previous game the British have continued their advance. Their objective is to take and nullify the German observation bunker on Church Hill.

 

For this game I used modified WW2 rules from Neil Thomas's 'Introduction to Wargaming' some of my own ideas and bits from Mark Pipers adaptations for Rapid Fire.

The British mass for the assault, they would not know the extent of the damage to the German wire until they got to it. They had support of a Whippet tank, off table artillery and in table mortar and heavy machine guns.

The Germans had taken cover from the British bombardment in their dugouts and the crypt of the church.

The German off table artillery support had been nullified by British counter battery fire do had to rely on their trench mortar and heavy machine guns for support.

Their ammunition must have been of variable quality as they did not cause much of a problem to the British infantry advance, they did however stop the Whippet in its tracks.

Bolstered by their artillery, mortar and heavy machine gun fire the British advance continued undaunted.

Aided by a gap in wire created by the bombardment in the centre and a gap by the Whippet on the left.

The German return fire was sporadic the British fire support keeping them pinned down consistently.

The German spotters were subsequently rendered hors de combat and the mortar had to rely on runners to direct their fire further nullifying their effect in the advancing British.

The granatenwerfer provided some extra support but not enough to stem the British advance. Two German companies were eliminated, despite the casualties the British had three times as many men to mop up the remaining German company. The battalion commander ordered a withdrawal, 

the British advance continues.

The rules worked pretty well we thought, the game unfolded pretty much the same as the previous game using Bolt Action. I will probably stick with Bolt Action for future games until the release of Dave Stone's 'Zero Hour' later this year.

Until next time.......

TTFN & KBO

New Army Syndrome

Yes it struck my Early Byzantine force the other day although the new unit I had painted dId itself proud. However it was not enough to stem the Ostrogoths attack.

We used Neil Thomas Ancient and Medieval rules as planned but as we had not played for a while we used them straight out of tin without our house rules to keep things simple.

A photo montage to show the course of the engagement follows.

The Byzantines arrayed for battle.

After a cautious start the Ostrogoths cavalry engage their opposite numbers.

The combat continues for several turns neither side giving way.

Over on the flank the opposing light cavalry conduct there almost private contest, the Moors galloping up and back again throwing their javelins while the Huns reply with their bows.

Meanwhile both sides infantry are content to stand by while their archers to exchange missiles

The far right Byzantine cavalry are eventually bested and the victorious Ostrogoths slam into the flank of the other unit.

Although assailed on both the flank and their front the Byzantines bravely fight on but numbers begin to tell and they too are put to flight. The Huns seeing the destruction of the Byzantine cavalry also quit the field leaving the Byzantine infantry at the mercy of the maruading Ostrogoths cavalry.

They too fight on tenaciously but they know it will be to no avail as they are heavily outnumbered now. They put down their swords and surrender to the mercy of the enemy.

It was good to get the army out on the table for the first time, I now need to get on with some more cavalry.

TTFN & KBO