Catching up with pictures of WW2 games..In three scales?

Five months? Ouch, I didn't realise it was that long since I posted anything here.
Well, apart from the first year this blog has never been been updated very regularly and I decided to just continue and to resurrect it once in a while . So I will just continue to throw something up the blog whenever I feel like it :)

First for the Dutch readers a quick word on Poldercon next Sunday in Utrecht. I'm sure you are all aware of this new event but in case you somehow managed to miss all the announcements here is the info from www.poldercon.nl. Not sure if it's sold out or not by now. I will be attending so might see you there.

PolderCon is the newest wargaming event in the Netherlands, that does everything a bit differently from the rest. At PolderCon, you can play in participation games, make new friends, meet up with old ones, learn to play new games, get better at playing games you already know, participate in workshops, game, shoot the breeze over your hobby, game... and had we already mentioned chatting with your friends? And yes, gaming of course.

So today a couple of pictures of games from the past months. We had quite a few games but taking pictures is another thing. I often forgot to bring the camera or the lighting was that poor you could not shoot proper pictures.
But anyway, we tried the campaign system from TFL and did a series of 28mm Desert games. Huge succes, while we only used the simple ladder system to start with it certainly added something to the games. You have to think just a bit harder on your tactics as this will have an impact on the next game and you calculate your risk in a broader perspective. No more 'all in' charges because we are running out of time but quick withdraws losing ground to save men. Simple example maybe but it played different, more realistic if you will. Another nice side effect was people start to think different on their support options and after each game I noticed them ordering and painting new stuff hoping that would save their next day...Not a chance BTW, British had four or five straight wins in a row.

Another fight lost for Feldwebel Von Vugt. Now Pay attention at the workshop next Sunday Marc!

Next up a game of Battlegroup Overlord. In our search for a company level ruleset (15mm and 20mm) for multiple players to use we have tried two games of BGO now. For us the most important feature this game needs is that it has to be relatively simple and fast playing. With six easily distracted gamers chatting over the next painting project we don't want to overcomplicate things. So far, BGO seems to meet our requirement while still offering good variety and concepts for a WW2 game.

Finally a 20mm game set in Normandy as well. We recently rediscovered the 20mm scale for WW2 after we started and never finished it fifteen years ago. So what do you do? You just go for it and realise you are painting the same period in yet another scale.

Gaming with Curt...a Chain of Command AAR

Two weeks ago we had the pleasure of having globetrotter Curt, world famous for his annual painting challenge, and his lovely wife Sarah come visit us for an evening out and of course a good day of gaming. Curt himself did a writeup of his time in Holland here so I'll try to add some more pictures and details of the game. Browsing through the pictures though I realize we did not take phase by phase shots so let's see if I can make something out of it.
In preparation for the game we asked Curt which period he would like to play on the day and it became clear a game of Chain of Command was one of his preferences. Maybe this has something to do with his visit to Sidney and Lard HQ a week earlier? Anyway we were thrilled as CoC has rapidly has become one of our favourite rulesets.
We quickly created a scenario Attaque sur le pont des Pêcheurs which involved 2 German platoons needing to recapture a vital bridge to secure the advance for an armoured division nearby. So all was cool until I laid out terrain the night before and found out the river was too wide and would take too much space to accommodate a game for four platoons. Fortunately CoC has six ready to go scenarios in the book so we decided to pick scenario 6, attack on an objective, and have the Germans attack from two sides effectively creating two separate games. Easy. In a combined effort the Germans had to capture the centre of the village and hold it until the American Paratroopers had to withdraw from the table.
As we had four platoons we used the 'Bigging it up' rules from the book and it worked perfectly fine. I see a lot of discussion and suggestions at the Lardie forums these days but I personally don't see a need to change anything. Might there be an issue, which we did not experience, we just use some common sense (or a dice roll if things start to heat up) as in any other odd situation with whatever rules.

The game itself was divided in 2 sections with Curt playing the Fallschirmjager against Jacco's Paratroopers on the left and Rob playing a regular late war German platoon against my Paratroopers on the right side of the table. And two different games it turned out to be! While Curt cautiously advanced his FJ, set up a base of fire in a barn and slowly moved his observer in a good position Rob on the other end saw an opportunity from the first minute and immediately moved his first German section in the open in an attempt to outflank the Paratroopers. It was a misjudgment with huge consequences. The section was caught in the open by a quick deploying Paratrooper squad and from that point the German Heer platoon had to go all in in order to save the poor men and put pressure on other areas forcing the outnumbered Paratroopers to make choices.

The outflanking manoeuvre. if you take a good look you can see the silhouette  of a Para behind the hedgerow. He carries a .30 LMG :-)

While this may be Rob's specialty it did not work out this time. He was ambushed by deploying Paratroopers once more and when he went in for his final blow he was completely surprised to see another Paratrooper squad deploy shooting up another of his sections. Apparently the platoon was reinforced and more men emerged in the village than expected. Force rating was dropping quickly now (once this starts it tends to go fast) and Rob tried a last assault using the Stormtrooper trait but failed miserably losing another squad and more force morale which was close to zero now. His final attempt was to bring in the big guns when he drove a Panzer IV towards the outskirts of the village. It was too late though, when it arrived on the scene the only thing the crew saw were fleeing Germans. Time for the commander to throw his Panzer into reverse and save what can be saved.

Curt moving his troops forward carefully watched by Rob's rubber duck from the Challenge

I have to say Rob did some very bad dice rolling but with this game a minor mistake can have big consequences and Rob was forced into an attack he was not prepared for. Maybe he should have gotten his scary Panzer to the village sooner. Lucky me.
Meanwhile on the other side of the village the fighting was very close with Curt's FJ making slow progress into the village taking the first two houses while most of the Paratroopers lay down pinned due to a clever mortar barrage. I'm not sure what else exactly happened as I was having fun shooting up Rob's Germans but I remember well Jacco telling me Curt being a very smart player making good use of terrain and available options.  Just when the FJ were about to take the second house on the left side  of the village the regular Germans broke and all that was left of the Platoon fled off the board to safety
Now one platoon from the victorious Paratroopers secured the area while two almost full squads turned to the FJ to help out their friends. That would would be too much for the remaining FJ so we called it a game and opened another bottle or two to celebrate the day.

Third squad Paratroopers deploying behind the roadblock ambushing the advancing Germans

Curt preparing his advance by briefing his men in the barn

Jacco organising his defense

Jacco organising his defense II

A very effective FJ mortar team

FJ advancing into the village

Scary faces at the roadblock? the Panzer IV arrives

Overview

and another overview

One more

Last one

Finally the groupshot, taken early to avoid red eyes

Many more pictures of the game van be found on Photobucket

We all had a great day and though I struggle  at times to maintain the blog and to regularly visit others a visit like this makes me happy I started a blog in the first place.

AWI AAR, the promotion of Loudmouth Bill

We started our 2014 gaming year very well with an AWI skirmish battle hosted by RobP. Now let's  follow the new year's and try to get some sort of AAR on the blog. We used Musket & Tomahawks for the game, which is fast becoming one of our favorite rulesets. Fast, simple, fun. And don't ask me why but we never have any discussion on the rules whatsoever.

Anyway, the day before the game we all received an email with some background of the battle, troop  details,  commander and objectives. All presented in a nice storyline.

I got to play a local commander named Bill. He was leading an impressive looking set of men with big muskets and apparently even bigger talk. Despite their many shortcomings they were willing to fight for the freedom of their country. As their homes were very dear to them their objective was to defend all the houses in area. That big mouth local commander Bill had his own agenda though. Yes, he wanted to save the village, but this could also be his opportunity to gain fame and glory. No this must be his moment of glory, Bill decided.  If he could show the Army commander his bravery and skills he might be in for a promotion! So he was not planning for any defensive moves. No, he planned for an attack in the open for everyone to see. That should get the proper attention and win the promotion for him.
Also, a few days earlier some professional riflemen had arrived in the small village. They had been ordered to cut off the supplies to the British Ford and to clear the area from Redcoats.

The four other players received their orders as well with the Indians to take the Fort. Since you never know what their next move is I placed a unit of Riflemen behind a wall just outside the village n. With their rifles they covered a large portion of the area. The Continental Regular army had their eye on the Fort as well but as soon as they noticed the Redcoats entering the area they went straight on in to the nearest enemy. The British had to hold the Fort and bring home the supply wagon while securing the area from any danger.

Setup for the game

The first British arrive at the scene

Opposed by an impressive first line of defense.

This is getting scary

Meanwhile, the garrison at the Fort is organizing the defense

and Continental regulars are approaching to save the day for the local defenders

The Indians appear from the woods to storm the Fort

while the British try to secure the bridge

Supply wagon starts to move towards the Fort with the Lights clearing the area

Riflemen protecting the houses from the advancing grenadiers

With the British Lights taking position at the fence and in clear view from the overall Commander at the end of the road, Bill decided this had to be his moment. He would be the hero of the day and get his promotion. He ordered his remaining troops to move in the open to prepare for a frontal assault on the surprised British Lights. It was all or nothing. And while the other commanders later stated it looked like a suicide assault Bill knew better than that. If he could hold the initiative and inflict some casualties to the Lights from shooting with the units on the left and near the house he would have a good chance for a successful assault.

And so it happened (count your cards guys:). Initiative remained with the local defenders and they immediately opened fire from the left killing a few Redcoats. This was the sign for the charge and five brave men and a brave woman launched forward.
The Lights, still confused by this sudden attack, tried to hold their line at the fence but it was too much for them. They tried to fight back but they panicked and tried to get away. In the end, not a singe men of the Light survived. Even the three fleeing on the picture lost their lives a minute after the picture was taken. The locals lost one men and the only woman in the charge.
On top of all this they are now in a great position to take on the next group of intruders.
Now that should settle Bill's promotion I would think.

Continental regulars making sure the village is protected from advancing grenadiers

Bill is enjoying control over his village

At the Fort fierce fighting as well, with the British reduced from this

to this by the Indians and Riflemen. But they have hold their objective, the Fort was safe

After a few hours it was time to head off to the restaurant but not before the final conclusion. Rob decided it was a draw based on victory points for the houses, Fort and a couple of other things.  Draw or not, it felt like a major victory to Bill and both Bill and I had a great day.

I've uploaded all pictures of the day here