First game of our BA2 Greece Campaign and going for Baroque at the Club!

Mate Ian at the club last Wednesday chided me for yet again neglecting my blog and not posting for weeks - and clearly spending way too much time on #@$%ing Facebook. Guilty Yer Honour! To make amends I'm posting on not one but TWO games I had recently.  The first was my introduction to Bolt Action Ver 2 - which rules we tested out at 3D6 in Tuggeranong. Now I always give a decent establishment a plug as well, hence the link and this one to their nicely done pub next door, the Loaded Dice which has a decent bar and hot food reasonably priced mere steps away from your gaming table (food delivered while-u-throw dice!)

The first game was several weeks ago and featured by LV33 tankettes uncharacteristically successful and my Bersaglieri getting into all sorts of trouble in town. No matter as the purpose was to get use to the new revised version of BA - which is a quantum improvement over the first IMO.

The stirring sight of Italian LV33s coming to the rescue of the DAK. Hilarious!

 A rather good table with my very own 12' desert battle mat made from a canvas drop cloth from Bunnings (all of $24 - the rubber backed ones are $36 but better mats).  The second game of BA2 also went well as the first of our Greece Campaign series. In this as Italian commander I am taking a rather un-historical tack by successfully invading Greece from Albania along the coastal route.  It is a surprise move so the poor old Greeks are heavily outnumbered by Italian armour, mobile troops, artillery support and even air cover.  My opponent Mark put up a game fight (note to any Italian generals: avoid hand-to-hand with Greeks!) but pounded by a preliminary artillery bombardment (which also heralded my rolling of more boxcar D6 for any game in living memory!) which absolutely hammered the Greeks who had no defences other than a solitary bunker with an AT gun in it - an almost impossible nut to crack as it turned out.

The Greeks were outnumbered 3 to 1 and faced a horde of tanks supported by mobile infantry: the lead truck is stopped by taking a few hits - the Bersaglieri section dismount and advance across open ground at the Greeks hiding amongst the grapevines. They were reduced to half strength but kept on going - not bad for Italians!

The Regia Aeronautica also enjoyed uncharacteristic success being called in by the FOO and taking out the Greeks only artillery ordnance (a WWI vintage Austrian howitzer) virtually before it could fire a shot. The explosion marker on the other side of the grape vines marks another hit on the Greeks only HMG - which otherwise should have done great execution on the Bersa out in the open.

  Even the Italian tanks performed well... mostly. One copped several hits from the AT gun in the bunker and refused to go anywhere but the other two used their plentiful MGs to hose the Greek infantry among the grapevines.

Mark's Greeks were plenty tough - twice they had to be taken out in hand-to-hand and even hugely outnumbered, inflicting as many casualties as they suffered in the process. Like the Japs, you do NOT want to get into fisticuffs up close with the Greeks - they'll hurt you every time!

Italian armour advances. The flame symbol on the bunker in the distance is a rather optimistic (as it turned out) aerial attack marker. 

The Italians didn't get it all their own way - the AT gun in the bunker took out a truck and some of the infantry section it was carrying, forcing the rest to bail out.

The second wave of Italians, regular infantry plus supports, were most reluctant to come on before all the fighting was done, so just in time for the awarding of medals.  The Greeks bunker was a true beast which was impervious to everything thrown at it. To kill anything in the bunker you literally need to roll three 6D6 in a row, otherwise the only way to take it is with infantry assault. That's hand-to-hand. Against Greeks. Not good!

The tank made no impression as had the aerial and artillery bombardment beforehand. It was up to the brave Bersaglieri to frontally assault and pin the crew inside while the rest went around the back to get inside.  The two surviving crew took the leading NCO and his oppo with them. Another was given a large AT hole in him trying to throw grenades etc into the embrasure. Mumma mia!

The game at 3D6 was really enjoyable and we got through four turns in three hours as we became more familiar with the rules. Mark's Greeks put up a credible performance considering the odds stacked against them but the next encounter will be in the mountains to the north and they will only be outnumbered two to one next time - and no tanks!

At the Lanyon club last Wednesday Doug and I finally had that TYW game of Baroque ('Europe At War 1550 - 1700') we'd been promising to do for months. Its an unusual Impetus-style rule system that reduces things to simple mechanics rather than multiple factors, so once you get used to how it operates, the game flows and its quite enjoyable.



Unlike other systems it does not require hordes of figures, which is also useful. Two 650 point armies going at it will give you a good three hour game. Doug fielded his Ottomans and I my Poles taken from the Baroque lists. The only criticism is that artillery seem completely useless. You really don't need to spend the points on them as they do very little anyway. I realise that artillery were not as effective during this period but I think they probably go too far the other way (I may be a bit harsh here - if you buy a Master Gunner they are more effective). No matter - it doesn't spoil the game and the combat is, as it was at the time, rather brutal!

Polish army with Pacerni closest and Rieter behind. The other Pacerni are on the other side of the useless gun and Winged Hussars next to them.

The infantry - must be a later Polish army as only one unit of the fearsome Haiduks (closest) are allowed in the army list.  The rest are all standard Pike and Shot.

After being rebuffed by Doug's Sipahis, my Pacerni are hit - hard - by his ferocious Quapukulu Sipahis heavies.

My Pacerni hold and a second unit hits his Sipahis in the flank. In the background my victorious Hussars (scratch two units of mounted Sipahi Bow) are about to get their comeuppance with a devastating volley or three from the Janissaries. 

Reduced to just one effective figure the unit somehow remained on the field with Doug frustratingly unable to get the one extra hit that would have destroyed them.

Closeup of the endless melee between the Polish Pacerni and the Sipahi (Deli?) heavies.  The Ottoman heavies are as hard to kill as my Polish winged hussars.

The Pacerni in turn were hit by Doug's Sipahi/Deli heavies.

  After running out of time the infantry on the right didn't really get engaged.  The Haiduks volleyed the Ottoman bow (Anatolic skirmishers?) into oblivion but Doug's advancing Janissaries were unable to get to grips with the Poles. On the other flank Doug's Ottoman Dragoons (lurking in the rough) were destroyed by a rolling attack - effectively a caracole by the Reiter and one of the Pacerni units - who rode up to the edge of the rough, fired then were replaced by the next unit etc. With Doug's entire right wing (a third of his command) gone it was a convincing Polish victory  BUT Doug generously explained how the rules worked and I got lucky dice when I needed them.  After a frustrating start where most of my units failed their initiative several times while Doug's entire right wing division advanced, I got lucky with the melees. All in all an interesting game to play and - importantly - gave me the excuse to get out armies I haven't played in years. Great fun. We'll be playing more Baroque in the future.

'Pulled' the post for a final bit of editing as I just noticed the counter has turned over 150,000 visits. Wow - has it been that long? A HUGE thank you to all the followers and visitors to my humble blog.

Cheers,
             Doc

Perry's 25pdr, quad and limber

For our forthcoming Crete/Greece/Nth. Africa campaign (Chain of Command or Bolt Action) game (note a lot has not been decided!) I have been encouraged to do up my 25pdr field gun with Quad and limber from Perry's WWII British range.  First off I have to say its a beautiful model with a good crew with the range of functions including the rammer and two loaders (one with shell, one with charge). Rather than crowd the lot on the same base as the gun I've divvied them up.



So basically you've got the gunner seated, twiddling with the elevation, a second gunner adjusting the sights? then the loader (Number 3!) has finished ramming home the charge and has closed or is about to close the breech.  Watching on is the NCO in charge and the two other loaders who are next to the limber, holding shell and charge ready for the next shot.



This is another variation of the two bases together with the Quad, which I have not based up. I think the separate limber and crew base works well either way.



The Quad is also solid resin with an open-able command hatch.  I thought seriously of chopping up one of my binocular command figures (with mortar crew I think) and putting him in with the hatch open but in the end couldn't bring myself to do it - although I may  change my mind at some future date!  I don't think the Quad needed to be based as well as it can be more easily used or removed for gaming purposes. I haven't put any markings on it as I haven't decided yet whether it'll be Aussie 9 Div or Brit RHA.



Anyway it's a great model and I can't wait to get him into action!



Note I've used the barrel without the muzzle brake so it will fit in with the earlier Mediterranean stuff. Anyway I thought I'd post this before my Warlord DAK etc, arrive and the painting frenzy begins again!

Bolt Action Op LIGHTFOOT game

Taking a break from painting up my Bavarians (and domestic duties various!) just had a great Bolt Action game at Jolt Games in Mitchell so I thought I'd post the AAR and photos of the day.  The scenario for the game was loosely based on Operation LIGHTFOOT, an Allied armoured assault on an entrenched Italian held position in North Africa, devised by Andrew our Bolt Action guru. My mate Paul and Andrew played the Allies and myself the Italians (a nervous first for me).  Given the Italian propensity for morale collapses and running away - two more unit losses than the Allies and you have to test to see who stays and who doesn't - I was rather worried about just how resilient my Eyeties would be under a sustained armoured assault. As you can see from the following photo of the Allied armoured juggernaut waiting to be deployed - I had good cause to worry!

Another attraction of this scenario was the availability of air cover for both sides. I bought 'Doc's Airforce' along with a Blenheim bomber, Hurricane fighter and Gloster as a scout plane for the Allies and a Stuka and a Macchi 'Arrow' fighter for the Italians - each side diced for which plane and when they came on.  Luckily for me I got the Stuka which took at least three turns after I got it before actually coming on to attack, doubly lucky as the Allies did not have their usual Ack Ack - Andrew left the Bofors at home - while the Italians had a 90mm monster mounted on a truck which doubled as either a heavy AA or super-heavy AT gun. Unfortunately for Paul and Andrew they were only able to get a scout plane on at the end of the game (survey the damage I suppose) so I never got a chance to check out the 90's AA capabilities! Not that it mattered, as an AT it is superb - easily as good as an 88 - and had a major affect on the outcome of the game.

The 90mm author of much mayhem...  'effin' big gun on a truck! I had no idea the Italians had something like this.

Hot work on the 90 - carting those monster shells up there would have been quite a job in the desert heat!

The generous tables in Jolt meant that it was also a chance to test out my new desert battle matt - all 12' of it - and given the size of the respective forces, we needed every inch of it! Biggest WWII game - at least as far as armour is concerned - that I've ever been in! The combination of Andrews and my Italian armour gave me a decent force of about five M13/40s, three Semovente AGs (two of them with 75s) and a half dozen L3/35s, one with a 37mm AT gun as well as various scouts - a Lince (as armoured command vehicle) an Autoblinda with a 37mm autocannon (sweet!) and my awesome Sahariana. Together with two full platoons of infantry (3 x sections each) together with two 75mm field guns, 81mm mortars, HMGs and Elefantino AT guns it was quite a large defensive force.

Infanrty section with sniper team in the palm grove, next to it a well fortified position next to the other road into town protecting a 75mm field gun, a HMG and an 81mm mortar with a Semovente AG (47mm gun) parked behind the barbed wire barricade next to it

Italian infantry defending a native grove of some sort but behind them a major trench complex bristling with MGs, ATs and mortars AND the command. Strangely I don't think one shot was fired at it the entire game. 

Needless to say my careful preparations still did not prevent first blood to the Allies and my Sahariana brewed up after her crew abandoned her on fire. A British scout (Daimler?) fitted with a Boyes AT gun (i.e. giant rifle) scored a shot on the rapidly reversing Sahariana setting her fuel cans on fire.  I failed the saving roll so the crew, rather than put the damn fire out, abandoned the vehicle.  Oh the shame, the shame!  Personally, I blame that useless sot of an NCO swigging on his vino in the back of the car. Andrew reckons its the first time he's ever seen a Boyes AT rifle set fire to anything in a BA game, let alone knock something out.

Momma mia shes-a burnin'!

Shameful - the abandoned Sahariana goes up in smoke

The loss of the Sahariana right at the start meant I had nothing to radio in what was coming through the town approaches but for some reason my opponents seemed intent on driving down the gun-barrel straight main road on the right flank.  That would be the one I parked my truck with the 90mm at the other end. The response was swift and just as deadly.

Op LIGHTFOOT opening shots - and the 90's first victim  (this is one end of the table - the 90 is at the other end!)

Under fire the Autoblinda beats a hasty (albeit temporary) retreat - finding that reversing gear rapido as the Allied lights - a gunned up Humber scout and two Honey's race onto the table

The Allies very nearly drove in my scouts which would have blinded my guns as they were acting as the Forward Observers. Nearly.  Actually the 'Blinda performed magnificently and even if it took half the game to discover it was armed with an auto cannon (two shots instead of one) it gave good account of itself, getting pins on the Honeys and more importantly NOT running away but providing a blocking force of its own that meant the only way out of the town was down the road - where all my ATs were ranged in!  It was down this road that Paul's Vickers light tanks raced - to their doom (brave lads tho)!

The 'light' Semovente AG claims the first Vickers

As expected the Allied armour poured on in successive waves - so much of it I believed it was only a matter of time before they started to overrun my outer defenses. But that never eventuated as the brave 'Blinda held up the Allied lights in the centre and the awesome 90mm Super Heavy AT gun got into action. The Allies had four Matildas, two Valentines and a Bishop (25pdr on a Valentine chassis - a sort of British KV - and almost impossible to stop with most of the lighter Italian ATs) as well as a Crusader, two Honeys and two Vickers Light tanks and four armoured scouts: Humbers and an ancient Rolls Royce - the later with armour so light it was classified as a truck - mounting a Vickers HMG turret though. Add another two 25pdrs and numerous 2pdr ATs including a portee and there was plenty of fire-power to be unleashed on the Italian defenders. It should have been but much of it never got the chance as an enormous firefight developed in the the centre and the 90mm began to pick off tank after tank as they tried to come down the main road.

Another one bites the dust... the Crusader falls victim to the mighty 90

A tough-as-nails Matilda succumbs to the 90 - the marker in the middle is for my eventual air strike that I called in because even the 90 couldn't contain all that armour

The third thing that sealed the game for the Axis was the air strike. I got lucky with the dice and got the Stuka rather than the little Macchi fighter but it still circled for three turns before finally striking (trying to communicate with the Italians on the ground - he probably just ordered a pizza with the lot). One more turn and the target would have been too dispersed but it had a second Matilda with accompanying infantry section behind and a newly deployed 25pdr to one side. The tank with its thinner top armour stood little chance with a direct hit.  The infantry behind rather than dive for cover stood up and blazed away - very tough boys (Aussies of course) and although loosing two of their number, continued to advance sans tank cover! The 25pdr took the other direct hit and amazingly (bit controversially I think) was not damaged or destroyed BUT the crew were either killed or ran off (whats that? RHA abandoning its gun? Never!!! I hear you say) so quite a result for the Stuka. No wonder the Allied infantry hated them - its been my experience that whenever they've been used in a BA game they have caused major destruction - save once which we blamed on the Italian pilot and on one other occasion when Andrew remembered to bring his Bofors!

The surviving Matilda continues to grind forward... very very sloooowwwly.

The Allies got absolutely hammered on that open road BUT despite their armour losses, pressed home the attack without the tanks.  Aussie infantry y'see - tough-as-nails!

The centre of the battle was no better - absolute carnage ensued.

The battered 'Blinda had played cat and mouse with the Humber scout and two Honeys for the entire game - getting shots in with its 37mm - which slowed Honeys down as they in turn tried very hard to kill it off. One finally got around behind an put a shell into the engine compartment that started a fire but either passed right through or failed to explode. The Autoblinda's engine was kaput so she ended up unable to move from her perfect blocking position even if she'd wanted to AND (more amazingly) the crew didn't bail but chose to fight on. That's gotta be a first for a buggered up Italian AV! After taking care of the two Vickers I sent the Semovente to its aid where it dueled with the second Honey but was caught as the Humber sneakily drove  OVER the hill and bushwacked it from above.  The 'Blinda gave the Humber two in the guts from point blank and brewed it up in turn.  The 'Blinda also disabled the Boyes mounted scout that killed my Sahariana as it tried to find a way out of town other than the rather dangerous road. Set on fire the crew abandoned it rather than putting the fire out - just like the Sahariana!

Autoblinda about to get one up the derriere from a soon-to-be-cactus-itself Honey. Note the Rolls Royce tin-can in the background - its story was as nearly remarkable as the 'Blindas.

The Autoblinda after copping a stingy one in the rear continues to blaze away at anything and everything - on this occasion the Bishop mobile 25pdr (just out of the photo) - but despite scoring repeated hits Andrew very un-generously ruled no damage, not even a thrown track. That's what happens when your armed with a pop-gun, full marks for effort though. Note the AT armed L3/35 behind causing mayhem amongst the cluster of Bren carriers. They had disgorged their Vickers HMGs to deploy in the open where they were all eventually destroyed by intense Italian fire.

Paul's Rolls Royce AC is a virtual tin-can so light armoured its rated as a truck (thus vulnerable to small arms fire).  Despite being vulnerable to just about everything it charged madly forward against the Italians in the palm grove, blazing away with its Vickers HMG. Never has one tin-can fired so many rounds with so little result BUT I'll be generous and say one or two KIA and the entire squad pinned, hugging the dirt for the rest of the game, only a casualty or two away from bolting in my opinion. 

The Rolls managed to achieve this despite having every available weapon that could get a bead on it firing at it. It must have resembled a colander but kept on blazing away at its tormentors. At one point no less than four mortars FAILED to range in on it (see coloured dice next to it in photo below).  That's one serious bug I have about about Bolt Action - its way too hard to range in with mortars as it requires a D6 to do so. History tells us they were far more accurate than that in experienced hands - more casualties caused by mortars than any other weapon apparently so they were  effective. The Italian 81mm was considered one of the best in WWII and the Italians knew how to use them - quite deadly in experienced hands SO I say with an experienced team D5-6 to get on target, only a D6 for an inexperienced mortar team. For a veteran team make it 4-5-6.  Gotta make mortars more useful in Bolt Action I say. 

But I digress - the Portee (truck-mounted AT gun) deployed and took out my M13/40 sent to bolster the flank.  Showed the risk of my strategy of relying on defence's firepower and feeding my armour reserves in piecemeal.  Here the effectiveness of the Elefantino 37mm ATs also comes into play - they took out the Portee at long range. Against lighter vehicles and tanks they are as effective as any other AT gun. 

At this point we were running out of time as after eight? or more turns the Allies had failed to crack the Italian defences and had lost over a half of their armour destroyed or abandoned for Italian losses of one Semovente, one M13/40 and the Sahariana scout (burned out) and the Autoblinda immobilized (but still shootin'!).  One L3/35 had pinned the furthest most infantry and wiped out half a section with repeated twin Breda MG fire. Losses amongst Italian infantry were negligible - two or three - although both forward sections were pinned. The 75mm gun in the middle took two hits from one of the 25pdrs, gaining a host of pin markers and loosing two crew but the surviving gunners remained at their post. Brave lads - a bottle of grappa from the commanding tentente is on its way to their position I'm sure! 

The Allies could not get their air cover going at all and in the end a scout overflew the battlefield to radio back the Allied failure to crack the Italian defences and Op LIGHTFOOT was called off. The Allies withdrew also leaving two damaged tanks and an armoured car abandoned for the victorious Italians to recover.  Quite a convincing victory to the Axis on this occasion. Dug-in Italians with plenty of AT and armour (even tankettes like L3s) are a tough nut to crack, despite their sometimes fragile morale.  

The advantages to me in this game were the extra commander which gave me initiative on all but two or three turns AND the super-heavy 90mm AT gun which in hindsight really should have been targeted by whatever means necessary by the Allies from the outset.  Without the damage it inflicted on the that flank I doubt I would have been able to have kept the Allied armour from overrunning at least my outer line of defense. Had THAT happened then the dodgy Italian morale thing would have almost certainly come into it (and who wouldn't run from a Matilda - especially as they're so slow you probably could outrun one if you tried!) 

Big thanks to Andrew for organising and both he and Paul for being the most congenial of opponents. A really great day's wargaming was had by one and all at Jolt Games in Mitchell. Do yerself a favour and get down there for a game (and tell 'em Doc sent you!)

Break out from el Alamein: Bolt Action @ Jost Games - part 2

In addition to my own photos Andrew kindly sent me shots he and others had taken of the other games at Jost.  Featured are those superb French Foreign Legion as well as some very nice (and I'm told very successful) DAK, 8th Army and of course the Italians.  The end result of the ten(?) games played that day reflected history with heavy Allied losses but an overall victory (points around 39 to 47?) The DAK won several of their encounters but I think the Italians lost all of theirs - albeit very narrowly. Anyway, an enjoyable day's gaming at an excellent venue. Enjoy the extra photos.

DAK assault on town held by Free French

Afrika Korps close in on Foreign Legion defenders

Legion Armoured Car in middle of town comes under direct assault from bold DAK

2nd turn for my 2nd game - note Italian Solothurn AT team skulking in the rocks to the right - they put a lot of holes in my Stuart (just racing past the lumbering Cruiser) 

Wasn't aware there were any ancient monuments near Alamein (otherwise an isolated crumbling railway halt) but magnificent scenery nonetheless through which a squadron of British Cruisers (or is it Crusaders?) drive & fan out.

Italian 13/40 brews on Crusader up while a Semovente looks like its about to cop it in the side as British armour seizes their objective

8th Army attack Italian strongpoint

Yours Truely under the watchful gaze of BA Rules Guru Andrew contemplating just how many of my exposed Aussies are likely to survive long enough to assault the town... while my opponent dices to see how many he shoots down this time 'round. His para's Elefantino AT put holes in both my armour and my men to equal effect!

Italians versus French Foreign Legionaires (I think) - dunno the outcome of this one but the French looked debonair as usual (see previous post for some close-ups)

Thanks for looking. Off painting Napoleonic Bavarians for some odd reason - just tidying up my Bavarian Brigade when I 'discovered' I had enough unpainted figures for three more battalions! Clearly some painting has to be done.