Wednesday War - Chain of Command Op Spa

This game sees the first of 'game four' in our Chain of Command campaign as the Germans attempt to capture Spa in Belgium

 

In the first three games the SS commanded by Matt made short work of the American platoon commanded by Elliot.  In the Centre the Soviets ably commanded by Neil repulsed the initial attack by Chris's German Heer platoon and continued to push them back towards the start line.  In the south a bitter series of actions took place on the outskirts of Meiz  with the British finally pushing back Frazer's Panzergrenadiers

 

Prior to this weeks (game four), campaign game was played.  There were two requests for redeployment, the first by the Americans was held up at HQ and the second was accepted by the German commander and pulled the battered Heer platoon to a quieter sector.  The unstoppable advance of the SS was to meet a delaying action by the Soviets under the command of Neil.

 

 



 

The soviets were holding a tree line in the west and the SS were advancing down the road from the farm in the east.

 

The battlefield

 The Germans start deploying along the road

The soviets try to push the Germans back hard and fast with armour but a long range shot from the panzershrek team knock out the KV-1

 A few points of shock start to build on the lead German squad.

The HE fire from the T34 forces the lead squad to fall back - unfortunately they run through the 'shrek team and dump 5 points of shock  causing them to fall back as well

As SS reserves arrive the German commander calls up his Flammpanzer to shift the Soviets that are arriving to support the T34

The Germans lob smoke grenades to cover their position as a second squad arrives to move up the left flank

A hasty barrage lands amid the soviet position, fortunately for the Russians most of the their units are unaffected but the reduced LOS prevents the T34 from causing much trouble

 The soviets are wisely holding the line waiting for the SS to cover the open killing ground

The SS move into the wheat field  trying to get a base of fire going

Fanatical the SS are, suicidal they are not and they hold position  waiting for the Forward Observer to shift the barrage onto the soviet infantry

Morale in the Soviet postion is still remarkably high

 The Flammpanzer gets into range and prepares to fire

 Unconcerned the reds swig vodka and shout rude words at the SS

 Whoosh!  The first time a flame tank has been in action a timely use of a CoC dice for the SS

 The results are horrific and the morale takes a big knock dropping to 5

 With the KV-1 burning it is up to the T34 commander to take action

 Having slowly edge to the flank the commander is now in a position to take a shot

Lucky for the Soviets it's a good shot and the Flammpanzer is knocked out. 

The German moral was on 10 with the soviets on 5 and it looked like trouble for the Russians.  Neil was fortunate to get 3 turns in a row and remove most of the shock from the burning squad before they fled the table and the moral affected the command dice.  With reluctance the SS withdraw.  Whilst their morale is still high the casualties are mounting and another battle is just over the horizon

The seemingly unstoppable advance by the SS towards Spa has been stopped for the time being.

Will the soviets dig in or counter attack?  The British have the same choice to make before they fight battle 4 and the Americans are on the attack for the first time since the campaign started.  Casualties are starting to have an impact on the other German and American platoons. 

Wednesday War - Battlegroup Overlord & Dead Man's Hand

Battlegroup Overlord (BGO)

 

 

This week’s game saw Si and Frazer return to Battlegroup Overlord.  We decided to drop the points from 600 to 400 in an effort to complete a game in an evening.  We also used a single D6 for orders.  This produced some tactical challenges and produced a quick turn for each player most of the time.  We haven’t played with a single D6 for orders since the first 3-4 games and having played a lot more games it is now far less of an obstacle than it first appeared to be.

 

Frazer’s list

 

Fallschirmjäger Battlegroup

 

Forward HQ

Infantry Platoon + Pak38 + 2 Panzerfausts

Infantry Platoon + Pak38 + 2 Panzerfausts

2 x 80mm Mortars – off table

Sniper

 

Simon’s list

 

British Armoured Division

 

Forward HQ

Infantry Platoon inc light mortar + 6 Pounder + Vickers HMG + 3” mortar + PIAT

Tank Troop 2 x Sherman, 1 x Firefly

Off table artillery request (2+)

Sniper

 

We used the Carentan layout from the BGO book but had the Germans holding the three buildings in the centre and the road junction with a platoon and the British started with a platoon on the Western table edge; all other units in reserve.  Snipers were deployed

 First and Second squads hold the village

 Third squad hold the road

The British advanced through the wood line and wait for their armour to arrive before attempting an assault on the village

 Holding both the village and the main road, the Fallschirmjäger bring up an AT gun (used as a Pak38)

As the Germans pull their other AT gun forward 25 Pounder barrage lands pinning the platoon HQ and the sniper.  The MG team at the corner of the wall were targeted by the British 6 pounder, the Vickers HMG and mortar fire.  The never lost a man and the two occasions they failed their save they passed their morale check with a successful beyond the call of duty test and brassed up the advancing infantry

 The Platoon HQ and Sniper are pinned down

 When your number is up it’s up.  The Pak38 may lack some punch at this point in the war but double 6 is double 6 and the lead Sherman brews up.  Moments later the Sherman on the road meets the same fate.  The tankers had pushed their luck as the firefly had been pinned twice as

The chit pulled for the loss of the armour and the attempt to call in the aircraft.  The British had two attempts for aircraft and were unlucky to miss both chances. 

It wasn’t to be a day of days for the British as a wildly deviating ranging shot lands in the British forming up point pinning a section, the Forward HQ and the light mortar team.

As the evening drew to a close the British still had a lot of open ground to cover and the BR was 18 from 29 whilst the Germans were 10 from 34.

Dead Man's Hand

Chris and NDM are heading in to Scout Hut and for Wild West entertainment of Dead Man's Hand

 The gangs are heading into town

Scene One

Chase “Quick Draw” Mcgraw, ducked back down under the window frame, wary he may be see.

A few minutes earlier he’d been rumbled, sneaking marked cards into the poker deck was always going to be risky, but being the chance of being caught is what made it exciting…. Until he actually was caught.
hase left the comfort of the Inn, intent on making a run for it, but no sooner had the saloon doors stopped swinging, did the bullets start flying.

From the cover of the outdoor latrine Wyat unleashed a hail of shots at Chase, who successfully ducked out of the way. Taking this opportunity, Chase rushed across the dusty street, burst through the latrine door and fired at point blank range…

Click, click, click…

Empty!

With one swift move, Wyat turned and bang Chase was down in the dirt.

Scene Two

Hearing about Chase’s demise, his former gang mates marched into to town to get revenge.
Finding the Wyat brothers held up in the boozer, the surrounded the hut ready to unleash pain.

Little did they know that the Wyat family knew they were coming, and as Chase’s crew got ready for the attack, Dirk and Clarence made the presence know and appeared out of the shadows, a hail of repeater shots pinging off the buildings, narrowly missing the strangers in town.

 

With the signal given, the Wyat’s burst out of the tavern, guns blazing, straight into the teeth of the shotgun of Curt, Chase’s brother!

Click, click!

Another empty weapon, another piece of bad luck!

Cursing at the inferior equipment is sibling had provided the gang, Curt ordered his gang to close up and dispatch the Wyat family as fast as possible.

Click, Click…

It wasn’t just Curt and Chase who had rubbish kit, the whole gang did, and as the realisation hit, so did the shots from the Wyat’s.

One by one Curts gang hit the dirt, blood seeping into the drainage as the Wyat’s shots found their mark. It was all over in minutes, and then the small town of Scout Hut went quiet, only broken by the clicking of glasses as the victors toasted their victory.

Wednesday War - Skirmish Sangin Patrols

Contact, enemy front! Wait, out.

 

Game night was very low attendance this week with only one game running.  Chris and I bought Skirmish Sangin when it was released but have only played a couple of games.  This is mostly due to the smorgasbord of games available to us on a weekly basis and having inappropriate terrain for Southern Central Asia.  As Matt bought some of the superb Empress miniatures in the form of Royal Marines we decided to have another game and introduce him to the lethal beauty that is Skirmish Sangin or SkiSa as we like to call it.

 

We played fast and loose with scenario just to get some of the game mechanics running. The mission was for 2 Troop, 2 Company, 40 Commando to patrol to a local compound and search for weapons and bomb making equipment.   For a change the intel was good and a local Taliban cadre were present including a high value target code name ‘Alan Akbar'

 

 Drone image capture confirm Taliban in and around the target building.

A stealthy approach is very difficult and due to delays the operation is under way early morning rather than middle of the night the result is the Taliban are ready and waiting for the Commandos

 

Troop leader Cpl Butters comes under fire from the main compound is seriously wounded.  Marine Hart applies first aid and drags him back to the Casevac point re-joining the troop some time later

 

The Taliban start to put fire down on the Royal Marines and a couple start to try and work round the flank.

L/Cpl Hamilton fires his Under slung Grenade Launcher (UCL) and the round lands directly in the compound.  Killing 3 immediately and seriously wounding two more.  The Taliban disengage.  The Marines go on to search the compound and recover weapons and Intel.  Mission success!

 

As you can see the first game was over very quickly.  This is a very lethal game.

Game Two

 

2 Troop are back in action again this time the mission is a meeting with village elders, they are providing security.  As Cpl Butter is wounded the troop is now led by Cpl Nutt

 

The time and place of the meeting is well known and local Taliban intend to ambush the Marine and Elders as the meeting breaks up.

 

Fighters move into their pre-planned positions

 

 The marines have good positions in the centre of the village

The Taliban open fire but the Marines are well trained and pass all morale tests and operate as expected

Marine Wheelwright comes under heavy fire from a PKM machine gun, he is unfortunately in poor position in the open.  After what seems like an age he manages to find hard cover behind a thick mud wall

 

Aseeb and Ashiq plan is to move into the building to fire on the marines from cover.  Marine Wetherill has been ordered to clear the building to allow the troop to extract from the village.  Neither knows they are about to contact

L/Cpl Read spots movement at the edge of a compound and moves to a better position to engage with his UGL.  Unaware that he is about to be outflanked.  However Ahmed isn’t used to his AKM and misses.

 

Ahmed doesn’t get another chance as Marine Hart opens fire from his position in the tower with the Minimi and kills him stone dead.

 

Marine Wetherill checks the building and spots enemy and opens fire but misses his shot.  He calls for support and Marine Benn arrives.  Unsure of whether there are friendlies in the building they opt not to grenade first.

 

As they enter both Aseeb and Ashiq fire but Marine Wetherill is saved by his armour. He shoots Aseeb dead.  Marine Benn is right behind Wetherill as they enter and smashes Ashiq in the face with his rifle knocking him to the ground dead.

 

Troop Leader Matt plans his next phase

 

Mission over.  Skirmish Sangin is a very deadly game and whilst it appeared one sided it was a much closer game.  When it came down to it Chris was unlucky with the dice result in a couple of places notably his very low rolls for damage.

 

Another operation soon, hopefully with both sides fully painted and the scenery complete

Chris looks to the devil for help with his dice