Chain of Command Battle Report: Attack and Defend

Vlad and I got another game of Chain of  Command in last week.This time we played the attack and defend  mission. I played the US Airborne attacking Vlad's German Heer. The US were supported by three Sherman Tanks, and and engineer section (comprising of a flame thrower team and a demolitions team). The Heer platoon was supported a Panzer IV and a Flakpanzer with a 20mm cannon.

The Americans objective was to get the demolition team in contact with the 88 flak batteries (which were not able to fire- they were just an objective). Obviously the Germans objective was to stop them. This game was played out using Vlad's 15mm figures and terrain.

The Germans began the game holding a farm house with good sight lines covering the objective, and their two armored vehicles threatening the roads heading towards the 88 battery.I deployed my paratroopers in the cover of a near by farmyard, and set up the light mortar were it could fire on the Germans defenses. I was very lucky, winning three or four turns in a row near the beginning of the game.My Sherman managed to fire on the Panzer IV. It still took five shots to knock the Panzer out! never the less, with the Panzer gone, I could bring the rest of my platoon up to attack the trenches and farm house. 

I used my Machine gun teams to suppress the German infantry while my rifle teams maneuvered ever closer.The Flakpanzer was a bit of a pain, as it sat right back and used its High Explosives to slow my advance up the roads. Vlad was uncharacteristically unlucky and only managed to kill a couple of paratroopers with the Flakpanzer before my Sherman was able to knock it out. After that it looked bleak for teh Germans, as  I used my Paratroopers to suppress the Germans while I was able to bring the engineers up to use their flame thrower to clear out the defenders. All the time the Shermans and the light mortar dropped a lot of HE shells on to the German defenses.

Vlad was unlucky that I knocked out his Panzer IV before he got to do much with it, as it meant I was free to maneuver closer to the targets. I was pleased with how well able to use fire and maneuver tactics to advance through cover while suppressing the Germans. As paratroopers are Elite solders the -1 to the Germans shooting due to the effects of suppressing fire meant that it was very hard for Vlad to stop my men advancing. 

Here are a few pictures from the game...

Home Front: A Few More Home Guard

 Here are some shots of three more Home Guard  swelling the ranks of the Defenders of the Realm. They are all from Warlord Games. The one at the bottom has roller-skates on, but I thought this idea was a bit silly (try firing a Tommy Gun while on skates!) so I banked the basing material up over the wheels.
 My favorite one is the old guy having a tea break. I just hope Jerry doesn't invade while he is brewing up!

Home Front: Civilians and Volunteers

Apologies for the dodgy photos but the light has been very poor this week in the UK.  Here are a few more additions to my Home Front collection. First up...and old man, This one is made by Foundry and is a Perry Sculpt. Just a nice useful civilian figure...also useful for VBCW.

Next, Mr Churchill...or perhaps an actor impersonating the Prime Minister? Not a great sculpt, I forgot where and when I got it, but I think it might be from Westwind. Useful as an objective in some scenarios. 

And finally two of the cast of Dad's Army in their civvies. Sargent Wilson and Lance Corporal Jones from Warlord. Lovely Sculpts, full of character, by Mr Hicks. 

Home Front: Dad's Army Cast.

 For my Dad's Army/Sealion collection I have painted these two...One is verger Maurice Yeatsman (made by Foundry and sculpted by the Perrys) and the other is Private Godfery, in his civvies (from Warlord Games, and sculpted by Paul Hicks). Both look amazingly like the cast member they are based on. 
Nice additions to my growing collection. 

Stalingrad Game Photos

Unfortunately I was at work on teh 27th, so I missed the All Day Game at Earlswood Wargamers, although I did pop in for a chat and to take some photos after work. I was glad I did as it gave me chance to see Big Al's Stalingrad board in action...Oh My God! 

Alas my camera ran out of power after a few minutes of watching the game, but I managed to get these shots off...Prepare to be amazed by what is possible the best urban battle board EVER! Big Al scratch built these boards himself. I am going to shut up and let the photos do the talking...

Nuf said.

Home Front: German Agents Disguised as Nuns?

Recently I have been continuing my interest in Operation Sealion as an alternative World War Two setting. Sumner 20017 saw a flurry of releases from Warlord Games to support their Bolt Action Operation Sealion supplement and these complement the original Wargames Foundry Home Guard figures quite nicely. 

Some of the figures are certainly more tongue in cheek, but I love that. I am a massive fan of Dad's Army and don't mind if my Sealion collection veers into the slightly silly or even has a shade or two of Pulp. 

The idea of German agents disguised as nuns seems to have originated in the the "Fifth Column" scares in the British media at the beginning of the period in 1941-42 when the threat of invasion looked real. As far as I am aware it was just hysteria/media hype, and no German agents ever dressed as nuns...never the less the idea fits in well with the slightly silly Dad's Army vibe. 

These figures are by Warlord and Foundry. 

15mm Chain of Command Battle Report

I managed to get a game in with Vlad at the Earlswood Wargamers last week. We played Chain of Command, using Vlad's 15mm scale figures. I played an american rifle platoon supported by a couple of M5 Light tanks, and Vlad played panzergrenadiers. 

For this game we plated on a 6x4 table and kept all ranges etc the same as they are in the 28mm scale game. this gave the game a different feel than using 28mm figures, as the perspective was altered to make the battle field feel much more open. it has other advantages to, as vlad was able to offer a vast choice of support options for me to choose from, from Shermans to M10s, to artillery and antitank guns. the low cost of 15mm tanks compared to 28mm scale means that you can pick and choose freely, so each battle will be quite different. 

Vlad's scenery was lovely too, and this was the first outing of Vlad's complete set. 

We played a strait forward meeting engagement, with my infantry platoon advancing up a lane in Normandy, and running into the Germans coming the opposite way. 

Here are some photos...

An M5 Light tanks moves rapidly up the lane, scouting out potential German positions...

 Sneaky Panzergrenadiers emerge form a french farm house ready to sping an ambush. 

Having spotted movement in a ruined farmhouse the Yanks deploy along the hedgerow. 

German MG's pin the Yankee gun team in place while a squad of Panzergrenadiers assaults their position breaking their moral and driving them off.  

A German NCO directs fire from the ruined farm house...

The lead M5 uses its co-ax MG to rake the Panzergrenadiers behind the hedge. But what is this coming around the corner of the lane?

A German Panzer IV comes in to view and opens up on the M5....the plucky little tank is damaged but continues to rake the German infantry with MG fire. 

The American GI's move up to support the tanks, one team throws smoke to try to protect the M5 from the Panzer IV.

One of the American GI sections breaks under sustained fire from the Germans. 

The M5 was eventually knocked out by Panzerfaust, having survived two shots from the Panzer IV and a Panzershreck from the Panzergenadiers command section. 

This battle ended in a victory for the Americans...but only just. The American force was down to one force moral when the loss of a junior officer drove the Panzergenadiers force moral to zero...you couldn't get a close fought battle. 

Stalingrad: First Russian Platoon

I have finished basing the rest of my Russian platoon for Stalingrad. I have more figures on order from Crusader Miniatures and, with the addition of some armour or some more support options, this will make two platoons. 

Stalingrad: Platoon Support Options

Here are a few more of my Stalingrad defenders. These are the support options for my Platoon. Were would the Defenders of Stalingrad be without their snipers? And the trusted Maxim machine gun can be very motivating for reluctant raw troops, if positioned behind them to mow down anyone trying to retreat! Also I have included a flame thrower as these are something of a must in Bolt Action, especially when clearing Nazis out of ruined buildings. To finish it of I have a  medical officer and Commissar to support the platoon leader. 

Deadly Snipers Wait to Strike

Burn out those Nazis comrade!

Maxim MMG- Venerable but Reliable

Medical Officer and Commissar Political Officer

Stalingrad: New ptoject

While I wait for more tiny 15mm figures to arrive I have been finishing off another project. This one is for WW2 Stalingrad. This project sprang out of a conversation with Big Al at Earlswood Wargamming club who made the stunningly beautiful Battle of the Bulge scenery and the boards we used for Sharp Practice. Big Al said he had always fancied doing a Stalingrad board complete with cellars and so on. While we were chatting I remembered that I had about a platoon of WW" Russians from Black Tree Designs in my Lead Mountain waiting for a now aborted Winter War project (aborted when I saw the poor standard of the Finnish figures being produced by Bolt Action and Baker Company). I started to paint a few and found they were so easy to paint it was so very relaxing. I was churning out 4-5 competed figures in an evening. I have based them up with suitable ruined urban bases. I have even more on order and I plan to built it up to two complete platoons. I am not sure when Big Al plans to make his Stalingrad terrain but I know I will be ready to defend it from the Nazis when he does!

My Junior Officers

The Black Death- Soviet Sailors fighting in Stalingrad

Red Army

Some Pictures form Earlswood

 I managed to get a game of Force on Force in at the weekend, down at the Earlswood Wargamers club. I also took some pictures of Big Al's Battle of the Bulge Chain of Command game which I just had to share because the look so nice. I can't take any credit for the WW2 stuff- it's all Al's. 

I have posted a full AAR for the Force on Force game over on my other Blog (Hotel Zugando), if you want to pop over and see even more photos and read about the action. 

Ardennes, December 1944

 The 16th of December 1944 was the start of the German offence that became known as the Battle of Ardennes in America, and the Battle of the Bulge in Britain. It was a daring, and desperate gamble by the Germans as they attempted to push through a weakened american sector in the Ardennes Forest in Belgium, to cut the Allied advance off and secure a sea port. History tells us it was a failure, but it was a much closer run thing than hindsight might suggest. The surprise and force of the German attack shattered many of the American units stationed in the Ardennes, and it was only the heroic efforts of a few American that managed to stall the Germans long enough for Monty and the American Generals to rally and reinforce the sector. 

Big Al had long dreamed of playing the Battle of the Bulge, and with the Earlswood Wargamers taking to Chain of Command it was decided that now was the right time (and 28mm was the right scale). These photos are from last weekends game. Most of the scenery is made by Big Al, with a few bits and bobs of mine. We ran two games simultaneously, one for beginners and one for sightly more experienced players, so that we could learn from each other. Al and I acted as 'tactical advisor/ tutor' to help teach the rules. Young James took command of my Fallschirmjagers, and Vlad commanded his own platoon of American Motorised troops. 

An important river crossing in the Ardennes forest, 1944

This was the battlefield. The river was fordable but cost a dice of movement. The woods and hedges were soft cover and the barns were hard cover. 

The Wrecked M5 was just a bit of colourful scenery and not an in game casualty. I assume it was a scout vehicle from Vlad's Mechanized platoon that was taken out by enemy fire, causing the Infantry to debus and attack the Fallschimjager on foot. 

Fallschirmjager seize the initiative and cross the river to try to capture the American Jump Off Points

James played the FJ aggressive, which I think suits their style. In the first turn he sent a  platoon sergeant with a fire team over the river to try to seize on of Vlad's jump off points. It was a bold move, but on that was to prove vital .

Other FJ teams set up in the barn and in the woods with excellent sight-lines across the fields and river to the American Jump Off Points

  Americans tried to outflank the German proposition using the hills as cover but came under fire. They panicked when the FJ sergeant lead his men across the river towards their jump off point and ran back to assault the FJ in close-quarterer battle. It went badly for the Americans, who lacked the close range fire-power of the FJ and were routed, along with their senior officer.  The FJ's captured the Ami Jump Off Point and from there on it was a bit of a crap shoot. The remaining American Jump off points were exposed to fire from two FJ sections, so Vlad's reinforcements were coming on into a hale of fire form the FJ MG43s  As always James rolled amazing, and his lucky dice hammered Vlad's Yanks (at one point James rolled 11d6- needing a 5-6 to hit- and got 9 hits!).

  James's superior position and fire-power meant that Vlad was struggling to bring troops on as they were coming under terrifying fire as soon as they came onto the board. Vlad's machining gun section, with its two 30mm MMG did worry James for a bit but after a load of lucky dice that was soon pinned too. Eventually Vlad was forced to concede, with two squads broken, and one pinned there was little else he could do to drive the FJ out of their positions.