Saturday, December 27, 2014

28MM BOLT ACTION: MARTIANS ATTACK BERLIN 1910

Having built Berlin for our 1945 Rapidfire game we decided to use the setting for a bit of pre-christmas fun with a Martian attack on the city in 1910.
The mighty supreme quadrapod - a tincast toy and yes it does move.....



Earthling steam walker explodes
 
Colin Jack provided the great bulk of the models.    The scenario was that the Martians had sent a punitive expedition to earth and they had targeted Berlin.  After bombarding the city from space they set up a space gate in the Tiergarten and were landing ground forces thru that to attack the city.   An alliance of European forces faced their attack.  We used the Bolt Action rules for the game with the most Powerful Martian quadrapod being rated as a Tiger I.  Since their earlier invasion you will see that they have added an extra leg to their larger walker designs.

Martian Quadrapod Mk IV and levy infantry

More steam armour falls victim to the supreme quadrapod - brave but fatal deployment
 
It was quite enjoyable playing the role of a Martian commanding the most powerful of their quadrapod walkers.  It’s heat cannon knocked out 3 of the earthling steam tanks.  This allowed the lighter Mark IV quadrapods to enter the city thru the Brandenburg Gate and begin attacking the remaining civilian population.  It was a fun, enjoyable and very silly game….

All my photos with descriptions on Flickr at
https://www.flickr.com/photos/bill26048/sets/72157649966970615/

Bart has written a report at

 
Mark IV quadrapods stride thru the Brandenburg Gate preceded by a scout tripod
 

Tuesday, December 16, 2014

20MM RAPIDFIRE: BERLIN 1945

In November at  Hugh Wilson’s we completed a long term project which was a refight of our 20mm Rapidfire Berlin 1945 game.    We first played this game in my garage in 2008 but we decided that we needed to do more work on the game.  Over the years we obtained more large ruined buildings including a considerable number loaned by Kenny Thomson of Falkirk.  In addition Hugh improved the Tiergartern area by adding shell holes and all the shell blasted trees.  Colin Jack and I provided all the figures.  For this version I painted and based 40 extra Soviet and German vehicles to be used in the city area.  They included lots of heavy Soviet armour - IS2s, ISU152s and ISU122s.

View from the Tiergarten

Ruined city centre

Defenders look down on Soviet armour
The game is a race by 2 soviet armies, one starting at each end of the table for the honour of planting the red flag on the Brandenburg gate.  It took us 2 nights to play thru the game – in 15 turns the Soviets had broken all the German defenders including knocking out the mythical Maus.- but had not raise the red flag.
Panther engages IS2s

ISU152s batter the Tiergarten defences at close range
 
For more photos and descriptions see flickr at
https://www.flickr.com/photos/bill26048/sets/72157649797746105/

The full OB is already on Bart Zynda’s blog at
http://asienieboje.blogspot.co.uk/2014/11/judge-dredd-berlin-update-sedzia-dredd.html

Soviet heavy armour column winds thru a side street

Mythical Maus explodes - shot in the rear

Thursday, November 27, 2014

28MM AWI BLACK POWDER: BENNINGTON 16TH AUGUST 1777

This week’s 28mm AWI game that I arranged at the my house was based on the Rebellion scenario for the battle of Bennington August 16, 1777.   Scott Duncan was up visiting from Gatwick and this gave me a good excuse for the game.

Hessians and Indians deployed near the Hessian redoubt
Some History
The Battle of Bennington was a battle of the American Revolutionary War that took place on August 16, 1777, in Walloomsac, New York, about 10 miles from it’s namesake Bennington, Vermont. A rebel force of 2,000 men, primarily composed of New Hampshire and Massachusetts militiamen, led by General John Stark, and reinforced by men led by Colonel Seth Warner and members of the Green Mountain Boys, decisively defeated a detachment of General John Burgoyne's army led by Lieutenant Colonel Friedrich Baum, and supported by additional men under Lieutenant Colonel Heinrich von Breymann.

Baum's detachment was a mixed force of 700 composed of dismounted Brunswick dragoons, Canadians, Loyalists, and Indians. He was sent by Burgoyne to raid Bennington in the disputed New Hampshire Grants area for horses, draft animals, and other supplies.

Rebels close up on the Loyalist redoubt
The Setup
The game was fought on a 10ft by 6ft table. We used the standard movement and ranges given in the rules not the 66% version that we use in most of our BP games.  The terrain for the table was based on that in the Rebellion map – it is largely wooded except for an area of open ground in front of the 2 redoubts and along the road and the ford.   I used 20 figure units for the standard units and 10 figure skirmishing units as small units.   The figures are mainly Front Rank, with some Perry, Foundry, Old Glory and Sash and Sabre.  Given the size of the units used I slightly reduced the number of units given in the scenario – you will find the revised OB at the end of this report.  I used the troop ratings given in the scenario including the Militia with a Ferocious charge but added in some Rebel skirmishers.  We used the alternative turn sequence, a Break Test chart based on the one from Hail Caesar, and I did not count formed troops in woods as an unclear target but did give them the +1 to their saving throw for the cover.   We decided to ignore the scenario rule about the inactivity of the British troops in the first 2 moves.

Loyalists close up on the River to engage Stark's brigade
How the Game Played
Scott Duncan commanded the British Army.  Dave Paterson and I commanded the Patriots.  The Loyalists deployed 1 unit in their redoubt on the south bank of the river with the rest of that command on the north bank.  The Hessians deployed 1 unit and the gun in their hilltop redoubt with their other 3 units deployed around the hill supported by the 2 Indian units in the forest.

In turn1 Stark and Herrick’s commands both arrived on table with Nicol arriving on turn 2.  All of Stark’s command under Dave advanced on the redoubt and after several turns of a firefight broke the defenders.  Then Stark’s brigade was broken by the steady fire of the Loyalists who had closed up to the north bank of the river.  The Rebel action was reinforced by Warner’s brigade which after some command issues  got across the river and started to force back the right wing of the Loyalists when Breymann’s reserve finally began to get into action.

Continentals cross river and engage the Loyalists
I commanded Herrick’s and Nichol’s brigades whose objective was the Hessian redoubt.  They came into action first with some of the Hessian infantry supported by the Indians.  I lost one unit very quickly but after that the ability of the militia showed thru and they broke the Indians and all the Hessian infantry.  Their ferocious charges into flanked Hessian units was a feature of the action.  They took the redoubt and then Herrick’s force moved west thru the woods to shoot at the flanks of Breymann’s reserve while Nicol’s force moved to support the Continentals.. 

We had played 12 turns when we had to end the game.  It was agreed that it looked like a Rebel victory, as though we both had 1 broken brigade, it was obvious that the Loyalists would be the next brigade to break.  Good enjoyable game – having not played full movement for a long time it worked okay – possibly because a lot of the fighting near the Hessian redoubt was done in the forest which halved formed troops movement.

Redoubt falls to Herrick's militia
Notes
All my photos are on flickr at
https://www.flickr.com/photos/bill26048/sets/72157647170199483/

I staged my own Hubbardton scenario at the SESWC 3 weeks ago and it is written up in Angus Konstam’s Edinburgh and Orkney Wargames site at

http://www.edinburghwargames.com/Journal%20100.htm

I dont have enough troops to stage the Rebellion Princeton scenario in 28mm with sensibly sized units so our current plan is that we will stage the game using Dave Paterson’s extensive 6mm collection.

I will write a separate report about the HC based Break test idea later.

Order of battle

BENNINGTON 6th AUGUST 1777

CROWN FORCES

LT COL BAUM (C-in-C)
4 Brunswick Infantry
Light Artillery

LT COL PETERS
4 Loyalist Infantry
Canadian Militia Skirmishers
2 Indian Skirmishers
British Marksmen Skirmishers

LT COL BREYMANN  (reinforcements)
4 Hessian infantry
Field Artillery

Reinforcements arrive on turn 7.

REBEL FORCES

BRIG GEN JOHN STARK (C-in-C)
3 New Hampshire Militia
New Hampshire Skirmishers

COL MOSES NICHOL
2 New Hampshire Militia
2 Massachusetts Militia (reinforcements)

COL SAMUEL HERRICK
3 Vermont Militia
Vermont Skirmishers

COL SETH WARNER (reinforcements)
2 Continental Infantry
2 Vermont State Infantry

Nichol’s reinforcements may try to enter from turn 3 and Warner’s from turn 4.

Wednesday, November 19, 2014

28mm CRIMEAN WAR WEEKEND


I was away at the weekend at Kirriemuir in Angus for a 28mm Crimean War event.  Over the 2 days 12 gamers attended from the LOGW.  All the scenarios were developed by Bob Lauder who also supplied 95%+ of the 4,700 Figures.

The camp of the British Cavalry Division
On the first day there was a choice of 4 tables with differing scenarios.   Each of the players played 3 games on a different table.  The scenarios were a naval landing at Kerch, a cavalry action at the Bulganak, an attack on 3 Causeway Redoubts at the start of Balaclava and the Traktir Bridge part of the Battle of the Tchernaya River. I played the first 3 scenarios as a Russian coming out with a draw at Kerch, victory at the Bulganak and a resounding defeat at the Redoubts were we failed to take a single redoubt in 18 turns play.

The Mighty Kerch Fortress - provided by Charles Grant - a superb Ian Weekly model.

The Bulganak - my cavalry drive back the Light Brigade commanded by Charlie Grant

The Redoubts - another failed assault

On the Sunday we played a single big game – a version of the Battle of Balaclava with the main Russian forces crossing the heights.  The table was 18ft by 16ft with an 8 ft cutaway in the middle.  My role was as Major General Gribbe commanding the left flank flank column which started the game having just occupied Kamara to the west of the Tchernaya River.  From there my force advanced on Balaclava whilst the main forces on the right were overcoming the doughty Turks holding the redoubts on the Causeway.   The 93rd the Thin Red Line moved to reinforce the defenders of Balaclava and meet my advance.  I threw my Uhlans against them and succeeded in driving them back twice but my unit was then shattered and broke under the fire of the 93rd supported by guns from Balaclava.

Part of the Russian Main force advancing on the Causeway

My Composite Uhlans charge home on the Thin Red Line commanded by Charlie Grant
My 3 infantry battalions supported by 2 batteries engaged the Balaclava garrison and broke the 2 British units holding the defences – an unexpected success.  However I could not exploit the success as masses of Turks moved into the town to replace the broken units. 

Infantry columns face the defences of Balaclava now manned by the Turks
The main attack to the right finally broke thru the redoubts and engaged the British and French who had arrived from their encampments.  The brave attacks of the Russian centre could not break thru and the Allied numerical superiority was beginning to tell.  At that point the game ended.  It was judged by the scenario author Bob that the Allies were the winners.
It was an enjoyable weekend and the rules adapted from the Kevin Calder’s ACW rules worked well and were easily picked up by all the players.   My thanks to Kevin who acted as the hard working rules umpire and Bob who provided the inspiration and organisation for the very enjoyable scenarios..  All my photos with brief descriptions are on Flickr at
https://www.flickr.com/photos/bill26048/sets/72157648935991079/

Tuesday, November 11, 2014

28mm SUDAN CAMPAIGN WEEKEND

I was away at the weekend at Lundin Links in Fife for a 28mm Sudan event.  Over the 2 days 12 gamers attended from the AB1 group.  We used Black Powder with my house rules.   We made the British immune to terrifying charges and as suggested in the Zulu supplement allowed them to fire twice at charges coming from 3 moves away.

Khartoum with it's garrison manning the walls
On the first day we split into 2 groups and played games based on the River Column and the Desert Column each on a 15ft long table.  The Desert Column advanced 3ft 6in onto its table met the Madhists and then went slowly backwards but held of the repeated attacks of 20 Madhist warbands.  The River Column got half way along its table met a mass of Madhists and engaged in a desperate struggle which ended in tragedy when it was taken in the rear and dissolved – only a single battalion escaped to the surviving river steamer. 

Desert Column - British cavalry in action

River Column - steamer springs ambush - Sir they have heavy guns!

River column faces massive attack
On the Sunday we played a single big game – the assault on the town of Khartoum.  We reinforced the Egyptian town garrison with a British Brigade which camped in the suburbs facing the Nile.  Despite the valiant resistance of the Egyptians the town walls were was stormed by the Madhists who braved the explosions of General Gordon’s concealed electrical mines.   The British Brigade fought a spirited action but again only a single battalion escaped to the refuge of the River Columns steamer which had fought its way thru to Khartoum. 

Khartoum - early morning - Madhists mass for the attack

First rush at the walls

Madhists celebrate capture of the first tower

My thanks to Dave Imrie for organising the venue, to Chris Henry for working up the scenarios and to everyone who painted up for figures for the game in the past 6 months.   
All my photos are on Flickr at
https://www.flickr.com/photos/bill26048/sets/72157649170351996/

Bart’s report at
http://asienieboje.blogspot.co.uk/2014/11/sudan-big-game-desert-column-sudan.html

Jack’s report at
http://pioneerpainting.blogspot.co.uk/2014/11/sudan-desert-column.html

John's report of the last day at Khartoum
http://glassj50.blogspot.co.uk/2014/11/sudan-weekend-pt3.html
 
Here are the troop ratings we used
UNITARMAMENTH TO HSHOOTINGMORALESTAMINASPECIAL
Madhist SpearmenSpears614+3Fanatic, Warband
Madhist RiflemenBL Rifles624+3Fanatic, Warband
Madhist SkirmishersBL rifles424+2Skirmish, Small,
No Skirmish +
Nile ArabsSpears515+3Warband
Madhist CavalrySpears6--5+3Warband
Madhist CamelrySpears614+3Warband
ArtilleryFG How13/25+1--
HighlandersBL rifles734+4Stoic
British InfantryBL rifles634+4Stoic
British Inf KRRCBL rifles644+3Stoic
Naval BrigadeBL rifles634+3Stoic
Gatling/Gardener MG BRMG1Special4+1Stoic
Artillery BRFG How13/24+1Stoic
Hales Rocket BRRocket1Special4+1Stoic
British CavalryBL carbine914+3Marauders
British Mounted InfantryBL rifles425+2Marauders, Skirmishers, Small
Egyptian infantryBL rifles634+3Unreliable, Levy 4+
BazingersML Rifles634+3Unreliable, Levy 4+
Bashi Bazouk InfML Rifles415+2Unreliable,Wavering, Small, Levy 4+
Bashi Bazouk CavSwords6--5+3Unreliable,Wavering, Levy 4+
Egyptian Armoured CavalrySwords6--4+3Unreliable, Heavy Cav +1, Levy 4+
ArtilleryFG How13/24+1--
FanaticFerocious and Terrifying charge
Ferocious ChargeReroll combat misses when they charge
Heavy cavAdd + to result of combat
Levy 4+Roll 4+ to remove disorder at end of turn
SkirmishCan adopt skirmish formation
StoicReroll first break test if required
Terrifying ChargeCharged enemy must take a Break Test
UnreliableNo move on equal command roll
WaveringTake a break test whenever they suffer a casualty
British UnitsImmune to Terrifying charge