Battle Report: Games Day & Chain of Command 1940

Yesterday, the January PDX Historical Games Day and Vic's game night fell on the same day, so I packed in several hours of pushing toy soldiers around at Guardian Games.

British squads moving up to rush the German defenders.

 I did a demo of Bolt action using 15mm Flames of War figures that ended up being more of a game than a demo, as the other fellow had played before. I'd forgotten how quickly Bolt Action Moves, and also how quickly pinning markers can add up. It was British versus Germans in a simple attack scenario; the British (me) had to seize a couple objectives on the German side.

Both sides had similar composition: Command squad, three infantry squads, a supporting Sherman V or StuG III. The Germans were mostly Veterans, while he British were mostly Regulars but had a PIAT and a mortar to even up the points.

The Germans deployed first, setting up in the woods on their side of the table with their StuG watching the road. I dropped the British down with command, one squad, and the Sherman coming up behind a village on my left, and the other two squads coming up behind the village on the right.

Firefight in the village

 After that it was just a matter of marching forward and using cover, at least for the Brits. Unfortunately for me, I rolled some terrible command checks. My Sherman rolled double sixes on two activations, one turn after another, and thus fled the table, so it fell to the PIAT to deliver the killing blow on the StuG. On the right flank, my veterans advanced, but my regular squad kept failing to move forward. The veterans took a gamble and tried to assault the German position after softening it up for a turn with fire, but were cut to pieces by Hitler's buzz saw.

The British veteran squad's point of view.

 Over on the left, both sides contested the village across the little road, chipping away at each other until the British command squad was annihilated. It was at that point we called the game a German victory, as the British didn't have enough resources left to go after any of the objectives.

I was quite happy with how the game played in 15mm. We used the measurements for 28mm - movement and weapon ranges - and it felt like a good fit. It could use more terrain on the table, though.

Lion Rampant: After battle, knights and footmen still on the field.

 Over on the other two tables we had a couple games of Hundred Years War Lion Rampant going on. Can't say how they went, but they looked fun.

Lion Rampant: Forces fighting over a field...

I forgot to get any pictures of the Dragon Rampant game I played against Jared - my Circle Orboros vs his GW Beastmen - but it went well enough. Just a simple teaching game as it was my first, but still fun. I do find one reservation about Rampant, though: If you fail a couple activation rolls in a row, you can quickly find yourself on a downward spiral, which is... less than fun.

After the Game Day games, I sat down to take up the flag of France against the German invaders in Vic's Chain of Command game - two platoons of infantry each supported by a small tank squadron, battling over a patch of woods somewhere in France.

Chain of Command: French troops moving through the woods toward a German jump off point

This was just about everyone's first game with the rules set - there were six players plus Vic as the referee - and so, to be honest, there was more looking up rules than rolling dice and moving figures. Still, it seemed to give a pretty good game. The scenario restricted us to no more than 6" of visibility unless on a road, so there was a good bit of careful probing and advancing.

French FT-17s moving up to support the right flank

I took command of the FT-17 squadron and an infantry squad, and saw a fair bit of action.

Germans hold a bend in the road against French infantry...

... and with their little AT gun, incapacitate the FT-17 tanks.

 As seen above, the tanks attempted to zip along the road to support the French right flank, and were somewhat successful. However, the Germans were able to move their AT gun and cripple the squadron - immobilizing two tanks and knocking out the main gun on the other.

The center holds, for both sides

 Meanwhile, in the center, my infantry squad repulsed a German squad, twice. The game pretty accurately portrays rushing a machine gun as a terrible idea.

The German mortar pitches in too, but the AT gun has taken a few hits.

Over on the left flank, the German Panzer I tanks advance down the road and encounter a French AT gun

I left before the game came to a conclusion, but at the time of my departure it looked as if the balance was starting to swing toward the Germans. But not by much.

Battle Report: Hochkirch, 1758

Austrian heavy cavalry passing by the Prussian right flank.

This past Saturday's game was a refight of Hochkirch - the Austrian army under General Daun catches Frederick the Great's Prussians asleep in the pre-dawn hours. Kevin put the game together using the Seven Years War variant for Shako (first edition) and I for one was rather pleased with how quickly it played. As with most multi-player games, it did rather develop into two separate games, left and right flank, but it went swimmingly from an Austrian perspective.

I took on the Austrian right flank, commanding from right to left:

• Ahrenberg, attacking the village with 4 fusilier battalions, 2 grenadier battalions, a battery of heavy guns, and 2 squadrons each of dragoons and cuirassiers, 
• Buccow, on Reserve orders with 4 squadrons of heavy cavalry and 2 squadrons of hussars
• Nadasdy, on attack orders in the center with two squadrons of hussars and assorted Croatian light infantry (who, true to their strong suite, stayed in the woods where they deployed and took pot shots at any enemies who came near).

James took on the part of General Daun and some other Austrian commanders who, not being commanded by me, were obviously unimportant. Opposing us were Prussians - Victor on their right holding the church, Andy in the center with separate cavalry and infantry commands, and Ken on the left, in the village, with Frederick himself asleep in the best house of the village.

Austrian heavy artillery bombarding the village while the grenadiers advance.

The Prussians began on the back foot, roused from sleep by the thunder of Austrian cannon. Despite this, Ken made a valiant effort to hold the village and the forest adjoining it, and it's this action that consumed my attention for most of the game. In brief, Nadasdy's division did little - I was unwilling to offer up the Croats in the open ground ahead of them, so kept them back to capitalize on any opportunities that might arise. None did. Buccow's division was on Reserve, and so held its position until Daun gave orders to attack. Thus, it was Ahrenberg who led the assault.

With Frederick's infantry holed up in the village and the wood, my cavalry were useless for the frontal assault. Thus, they passed to the right of the wood in a long gambit to catch the guns and such from behind, while the two columns of infantry, led by grenadiers, made their way toward the wood. Over the course of the first four turns, Ken's MVP was clearly his artillery, which put hits on the assaulting column and my own artillery.

Bird's-eye-view of the Austrian flanking maneuver. Cuirassiers charging home against Prussian foot.

The grenadiers assault into the woods - and are pushed back by the valiant Prussian fusiliers!

As above, from General Ahrenberg's point of view.

 The initial assault was unsuccessful - the assaulting grenadiers were pushed back, and it took another turn or two to clear the wood, at the cost of a grenadier battalion. I lost another fusilier battalion to the Prussian counterattack, and found my remaining battalions out of position to quickly capitalize on the victory. Meanwhile, the cavalry found itself out of command, delaying my flanking action by a turn...

Buccow's cavalry receives the charge of the Prussian dragoons.

Buccow's cuirassiers charge into the Prussians defending the church,,

Over in the center, Buccow's cavalry finally got into the action, throwing back Andy's infantry before taking the charge of his own heavy cavalry - to good effect, as I was able to push them back and have four fresh squadrons remaining to hold the center of the table.

Austrian cuirassiers turn the flank and charge into Prussian infantry - who repulsed the charge and saved the guns for yet another turn!

Once in command, Ahrenberg's squadrons finally looped around the woods and charged into the Prussian foot that Ken had hastily brought round to defend - and were repulsed. Twice.

Ahrenberg's final position: Infantry holding the woods and threatening the guns, with two squadrons of heavy cavalry coming around to the Prussian rear.

Battle's end - Austrians hold the church and are about to sweep into the village.

But the hour was getting late, and we called the game an Austrian victory with the Prussians in retreat, much as happened historically. While Frederick still barely held the village, he was badly outnumbered, and in assaulting the village Nadasdy's Croats would come into their own. And the church was now held by at least three battalions of Austrian fusiliers...

Quite a good game, though perhaps a little less fun for the Prussians - Ken certainly took it in the shorts from the dice a couple times. Kevin says he's looking to play this again, and I'm certainly up for trying Shako again.