ADLG - Game Report 11

Thessalians(60) vs Spartans(60)

A very good game against Kevin Perry, which wasn't as close as I would like.

I knew it was going to be a battle of the spears against spears, and therefore from experience wanted to work the flanks. However, a little better appreciation of the ground would have led me to use the secure right flank a lot better, rather than expecting the cavalry to hold or better on the right!

The lines are about to meet!

And the lines meet! Spear against Spear who would prevail?

Honours were about even on the Spear vs Spear battles.

On the right my cavalry have been destroyed after holding back the Spartans back for a while. They are now starting to sweep around my right flank.

My one success was destroying 50% of the Spartan hoplites, and also King Leonidas; perhaps he won't be lending his name to a brand of Belgian chocolates on this timeline :)

My elite Hoplites on the right of the line are about to be destroyed.

Meanwhile my timidity on the left flank means that I fail to capitalize on my numerical advantage and achieve sufficient kills. I disordered a lot of Kevin's army but in the end my losses soon ramped up to a losing position.

Outcome

A losing margin of 26 to me and 9 to Kevin. A little on-sided!

The one highlight was that in three pursuit moves by hoplites (2 for Kevin and 1 for me) we rolled a 6! I am sure that Adidas trainers weren't the normal foot wear for Greek Hoplites. but who am I to know?

What I do know is that Kevin's two armoured hoplites, forgot their body armour and perished in the battle! 

Lessons Learnt

• Once again I failed to make the most of the ground leading to a less than optimum deployment.
• The spears vs spear battles of hoplite vs hoplite is always going to be a 50:50 battle.
• Cavalry can hold their own, but not for as long as one would like!
• Peltasts can take on Hoplites but it is best not done in the line of battle.
• Kevin's deployment of light troops along the line was instructive, and in line with the period.

Bolt Action - Game Report 2

Mist in the Seulles Valley July 1944

Introduction

This was to be my baptism of fire as I engaged in my first game of Bolt Action with an opponent. I brought along 9 Platoon Duke of 1st Bn Glendon's Light Infantry (1 DOG), whilst Han fielded a mix bag of Germans including an SS Squad. We fought Scenario 1 "No Man's Land".

Situation

The storm of the 19th June constrained operations for both us and the German forces. It is however, given the opportunity to gather forces. 1 DOG has been in the front line during the storm and has been ordered to destroy the enemy to their front and in doing so deepen their position to their front to expand the bridgehead and to secure a more secure start line for future operations. 

En Forces

Our combat patrols had reported that there were weak German forces in front of us with at least 2 or 3 weak infantry sections, they were supported by a heavy 75mm Atk Gun emplaced to our front. 

Mission

9Pl 1 DOG is to destroy the enemy to their front to create a more secure start line for future operations.

Mission Report

This report is made by Cpl Blanding No 1 Section Commander, who assumed command of 9Pl during the action

Before the battle the Pl commander decided to leave 3 Section and the half-track in reserve, my section and 2 Section were deployed close together to give each other mutual support. We had good fire support from our 3" mortar section and a Vickers team.

At H hr we waited nervously for our preparatory bombardment to start. As it did we were worried that they were falling short until we realised it was the Germans were doing the same. They were attacking us to prevent us securing the ground we needed. Their bombardment was very timely and effective it knocked out the Vickers team, our FOO and Pl HQ. Both 1 and 2 sections were pinned down through the weight of fire. 

While the bombardment lifted we rallied in place to continue the advance. 2 Section reported that they could hear engine noises to our left flank and they were concerned it might be German motorized reinforcements.

Fortunately 3 Section were observing from a hide and recognised that we were in trouble. And using his initiative Cpl Grimes ordered the men to mount the halftrack and ordered it to advance. This timely action allowed them to intercept and destroy a motorcycle team that were coming around our left flank.

He dismounted his men and engaged a German section in the buildings to their front. His halftrack and his section were overrun by the German section when they attacked at close quarters.

The fire support from the 3" mortar was excellent and they destroyed the threat of the 75mm Atk gun before it could be used against us.

Once my section and 2 Section had reorganized we tried to continue the advance but effective enemy fire started to give us serious casualties. We were constantly pinned down, I moved my section to the right behind some higher ground to regroup. 2 Section continued to give fire where they were and take casualties. Eventually, only the section commander Cpl Davies and another rifleman were able to continue the fight.

As we were regrouping in cover German reinforcements led by an SS Squad tried to overrun us. We were lucky enough to destroy them at close quarters. I tried leading a counter-attack but again we took casualties.

I decided that myself and Rifleman Briggs needed to do something. We spotted a lone German advancing and giving fire. He seemed to be in charge so we charged him. He died before we could capture him, examining his body we discovered he was a German 2nd Lt. At that point I decided to withdraw the remainder of our troops and retire to 1 DOG lines, having failed our mission.

Our casualties at the Bn Aid Post

Age of Eagles - Game Report 1

Encounter at Perlach 15 April 1809

Introduction

I was lucky to make contact with Matthew, through the entoyment facebook page. He is another Napoleonic Wargamer with 6mm figures and he was looking for a set of rules to play. I suggested introducing him to Age of Eagles, as I thought from our conversation that this would be an ideal set of rules for the sort of game he wanted to play. I suggested a game based on the first encounter of my 1809 Campaign.

Strategic Context

In the campaign this is just as Napoleon has assumed command. He has ordered his Corps forward to find out where the Austrians were as Berthier seemed to be struggling to make sense of what the enemy were doing. Napoleon was particularly concerned about his right flank and the crossings over the Isar River. If the enemy seized these then there was  strong danger of being attacked from the South as his forces tried to concentrate closer to the Danube. 

He ordered Massena and his IV Corps D'Armee south to find, fix and delay any large Austrian forces against his far right flank, and to secure the southern crossings over the Isar River. On the 15th April Massena seized the river crossings south of Munich and advanced east to find the Austrians. This he managed to do later that morning. Both he and the commander of the Austrian V ArmeeKorps decided to deploy from the line of march to engage.

Orbats

A guide to the unit strengths if you do not know Age of Eagles. Infantry are 360 men per stand, Cavalry are 180 men per stand and an artillery battery represents  between 6-8 guns. Therefore a unit which has, for example "10/8/5" means that at full strength it has 10 stands and is "Fresh", when it is reduced to 8 it is "Worn", and it is "Spent" when it reaches 5 stands.

French Orbat

Austrian Orbat

The Battlefield

The village in the right foreground is Putzbrun, with Haching in the left foreground, and Perlach in the middle of the battlefield. In the North are the suburban sprawl of Munchen. The ground is open pastureland with some small hills . The woods do restrict movement. The view is looking from SE to NW.

Initial Moves

Both sides were deploying from line of march.

The Austrians, led by their Advance Guard Division, headed to Perlach to seize the village. The two line divisions came on left and right of the road from the east. The road represented the interdivisional boundary. 

The French were concentrated in the centre, and heading to Perlach. The light cavalry have just arrived and are deploying on the left flank.

Initial Contact 1000hrs

Both French and Austrian forces have made contact around Perlach and the woods to its north. The Austrian Line Divisions are deploying to pass through the advance Guard to attack the woods to the North and Perlach. The Advance Guard cavalry are deploying to the left flank, with the 8 Huss Regt falling into disorder from long range artillery fire.

The Cara St Cyr's Division is well positioned to hold the western side of the village of West side of Perlach. Legrand's Division has deployed to their right, with the Baden Bde  moving to secure the gentle hill North of Haching. Ledru's Bde has fallen into disorder from Austrian artillery fire, but this is only a temporary setback for them.

The Austrian columns managed to throwback Dalesme's Bde from the wood, but a swift counter-attack from Cosson's Bde halted the Austrian advance before they in turn were counter-attacked by the Austrians and forced out of the wood. 

The French Counterstroke 1130hrs

The Austrian Cavalry were directed to try and move around the French right flank. As they did so they left the Austrian batterys exposed, and General de Brigade Ledru seized the opportunity to attack the batterys column. Despite taking losses they overran and captured three artillery batterys from the Advance Guard Division. 

The Austrian Cavalry launched an immediate counter attack, but were forced back by Ledru's Bde, which had time to form square. This counter attack and supporting fire from the French Corps and Divisional batterys broke the will of the Austrian Cavalry and they took no further part in the battle.

Meanwhile the Baden Bde has continued to refuse its flank against the possible Austrian cavalry movements.

The French Counter Attack 1230hrs

While the Austrian left was having its problems, the Austrian right was menaced by Marulaz's Cav Division. The German Lt Cav Bde launched a premature attack against the Austrian IR22 defending the right flank. They beat back the German cavalrymen, who retired and eventually broke. Castex's Bde simply stayed outside range of the Austrian's and pinned down their right flank.

In the centre the French were starting to have some progress and forced the Austrians out of the wood, and Perlach.

On the Austrian left the defensive line is being formed to try and hold of the French counter-attack. Ledru's Bde continues to take fire and losses from artillery and musketry, but continues to advance even  though it is now "Worn"

The cumulative effect of Austrian losses is now starting to have an effect. Following the retirement of the Austrian cavalry the 8GIR follow them in leaving the battlefield. The remainder of the Austrian forces morale is rapidly diminishing with more and more units departing the field. By 1430hrs most of the Austrians were clearly in retreat protected by a rearguard. Massena decided not to pursue immediately. 

Outcome

Losses in men were relatively even with the Austrian's losing 5400 men KIA/WIA, and the French 5000 men KIA/WIA. The more worrying issue for the Austrians were that 10000 men routed and would have to be recovered, and the loss of 4 batterys of artillery captured by the French.

In the daily Army dispatch the Emperor would heap praise on the performance of the IVeme Corps D'Armee, and specifically general de Brigade Ledru. Ledru was elevated to the Napoleonic peerage as Count of Perlach. His units received unit commendations for their Eagles. 

Meanwhile Ludwig was castigated by Archduke Charles for the loss of the artillery, and he was severely warned about his future in Austrian service.

Game Thoughts

This was the first time I had fought Age of Eagles with an opponent. I was very pleased with the way the rules played and the feel it gave for a grand bataille. Matthew was equally impressed he certainly liked the way the rules played and particularly in this scale. Food for thought for him. Would he rebase his own 6mm Adler figures? He was certainly impressed enough to buy the rules. 

Bolt Action - Game Report 1

Action in Normandy July 1944 - Solo Game

Introduction

The purpose of this game was to start re-familiarizing myself with the rules, and to have a bit of fun. I don't have two sides in 28mm, so I used my 20mm figures with the ground scale reduced to 20mm to the inch. It makes fighting on a 48" square table the equivalent of fighting on a 60" square table!

I chose the meeting engagement scenario from the rules. However, I did allow the scenario to run on beyond the 6 moves in order to see what would happen and of course to secure the benefit from rules familiarization - as best one can playing solo.

Forces

To make it more balanced I invited my friend Dave to prepare the German plan, and I gave him 3 sample orbats to choose from. He chose the Wehrmacht orbat an understrength infantry platoon, reinforced with a StgIII, an HMG section, a sniper and a Panzerfaust team. 

I fielded an understrength 9 Platoon C Company 1st Bn Duke of Glendons Light Infantry, supported by a Churchill from C Squadron 147th Regt RAC and a FOO, and a Mortar section.

Aerial Photo from Spitfire Recon

This view is an oblique view from the oblique camera on the spitfire recon of the objective from the South

German Plan

General Concept: 

• To move quickly into position and remain static to engage the enemy as they advance
• 1st Move all units get to ‘RUN’; this will take the StuG III, PaK38, Sniper and MMG teams into position; PzSchreck into the woods; the others half way to their objective.
• 2nd Move may require more tactical ‘Adv’ move, but if no enemy contacted / sighted then RUN again into position. 
• Open fire at close range when the enemy are in the open or moving when possible.
• Movement: . – See following diagram
• SNIPER Team to the upper floor of building ‘A’.  Spotting & Sniping on the left flank
• MMG Team to the upper floor of building ‘B’.  180 arc SW to NE  covering the left flank, the approach down the road and the bocage encl in front of Sec 2
• 2nd Section – to the enclosure;  LMG & loader on the right in the NE corner; rifles and smg to their left
• 1st Section – to the wooded are on the hill to the right of 2nd Sec.  Rifles & SMG on the left & within the wood;  LMG & loader on the right, within the wood but able to fire to right flank;  PzFaust to its right, able to fire to the right flank, or move if necessary to cover the left.
• Pln HQ to follow 2nd section and position outside the enclosure on the reverse slope.
• THE FALL BACK POSITION for these three units are the woods and wooded hill to their rear.
• PzSchreck Team to the woods by building B, covering the road and high ground hill ‘U’.  To engage armour only. 
• PAK 38 to the right of woods to cover the right flank. 
• StuG III to Building ‘B’, sited to take advantage of the cover of the building, arc covering high ground ‘S’ to ‘X’, the road, woods and enclosure between the two.

Contingency

• Should the enemy come against the left flank the StuG III and PaK38 can pivot to face 
• 1st Section to reorientate to face the threat only if the right flank is secure.

British Plan

Battle Report from OC 9 Platoon

1 Sect arrived as planned on time with the Mortar Section

Subsequent recovery of imagery from returning recon flights showed the Germans had already started to deploy. We didn't realise the strength of forces we were fighting.

The FOO had an exceptional good view of the Germans deploying.

However the FOO managed convince his betters that we needed an Uncle Fire Mission, which caused significant causalities on the Germans in the Bocage!

Meanwhile I had to delay our advance as there was significant congestion to our rear and both 2 Sect and the Churchill were very late arriving to join us. Once they arrived we could move forward, however, the delay meant that we could not capitalize on the the success of the artillery fire mission.

Once the advance started it went well, until the closer we got to St Mere le Chappele. The first challenge was that the Germans had posted an HMG in the ruins of the village which supported by a StgIII proved a significant obstacle, and pinned down 1 Sect.

Secondly we were subject to intense and accurate sniper fire from the buildings NW of the village, which cause casualties to 2 Sect and pinned them down.

Our Churchill tank came forward to engage the StgIII. There was a long exchange of fire with the Germans failing to even register a hit of the Churchill. Which seemed unable to secure a hit in return. Until a shot from the StgIII penetrated and destroyed the Churchill.

Whilst we were trying to make some progress, at least our fire support was increasingly accurate and our Mortar section proved extremely effective in suppressing and then driving of the remainder of the German Infantry, who were seen by the FOO moving to their rear.

With the inability to advance and with the threat of the StgIII moving forward to engage 2 Sect, I sent the PIAT team forward. They managed to move to close range and with two shots were able to destroy the StgIII. At which point I decided to withdraw my platoon as we had insufficient strength to secure the village.

Bolt Action - Late War NW Europe British

1st Battalion Duke of Glendon's Light Infantry

This is my first Bolt Action Army in 28mm. Great fun to paint!

1870 Franco-Prussian War - Prussian Corps

1870 Prussian Corps

This corps is based as the French. In this case it is a regular Corps of 2 divisions, of 8 regiments. The Corps as the normal Corps Cavalry and artillery support.

1870 Franco-Prussian War - Imperial French

Imperial French Forces

I have 4 infantry divisions, with 16 regiments of infantry. They are all based 2 figures to 25mm bases 15mm deep. Each regiment has 12 bases. The Corps has all the command figures, supporting artillery and Corps Cavalry Brigades. 

The nice thing about this army is that the infantry are effectively indistinguishable from their early WW1 successors, and I use them in that role!

Here are some samples.

Age of Eagles - Game Report 1

Age of Eagles Solo Game - April 1809 Danube Valley somewhere near Regensberg

Introduction

This was my first foray into Age of Eagles (AoE) playing solo. I used my 6mm figures on my 48 inch square table. 

My figure basing isn't as per the rules. My figures are on 25mm frontages rather than the 20mm called for by the rules. Also they are a little less deep. I also wanted to maximize the use of my table and make it as large a maneuver are as I could under the rules. So with a bit of cunning computation I decided that:

1. Each of my 25mm bases would represent 2 AoE stands. Therefore making 12.5mm of my base equivalent to 3/4inch (20mm) of AoE
2. Based on that my equivalent of the 1 inch to 120 yds ground scale in AoE would be 17mm to 120yds.
3. I had pace sticks already marked for 20mm intervals, so I simply decided that I would use a ground scale of 20mm to 120yds.

All of this is approximate enough. Importantly it now means that my 48 inch (1200mm) table is in effect the equivalent to 4.09 miles or 6.5km! Or put another way the size of the battlefield of Waterloo!!!

Report

Candidly it is some time since I fought this battle, and my memory is a little vague. I do recall, however, that at one stage the French were in trouble but managed to rally and cause significant damage on the Austrians!