Regina 2013 - AAR Number One - Golan Heights, 15mm

Syrian T-62s rumble into action - models by QRF

Note - This post was originally published as a guest post at Analogue Hobbies.  Click here for the original. GB.

Greetings again to the visitors at Analogue Hobbies.  I'm sorry to interrupt the steady stream of entries to the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge (well, not sorry if it interrupts Ray), but I'm sure many of you have noticed your recent entries to the competition have been slow to appear on the Blog.  That's because I have rocketed out to Regina for a wonderful visit with Curt and Sarah, and we have been gaming our faces off!  Here is the first of a few AARs from the trip - a tank battle set in on the Golan Heights during the Yom Kippur War in 1973.

Syrian T-62 company - nearly all QRF models, with a few Old Glory

Those of you who visit the Fawcett Avenue Conscripts pages will have seen the Golan Heights in 1973 appear as one of my not-infrequent "new insane projects" back in the summer of 2012. I have painted a good sized pile of 15mm Syrian and IDF tanks and infantry since then, and it was fun to kick off the gaming here in the centre of God's prairies with a Yom Kippur game.  We used the Bolt Action rules engine for the game, with the platoon-activation modifications our Fawcett group has used previously for 15mm WW2 games.

Centurion Sh'ot MBT - model by Peter Pig

In the 1973 surprise attack on the Golan Heights a small number of IDF tank battalions, spread thin along the "purple line" at the frontier, held out heroically - and at very high cost - against several Syrian divisions.  Many Syrian units broke through holes in the IDF lines during the first two days and tried to find their way to the bridges over  the Jordan River. If they had succeeded, it would have been game over in the north for the IDF. This scenario imagined an action involving of one of those units - a company of Syrian T-62s approaching the "customs house", a very old bridge and collection of buildings that straddled the previous border with Palestine.

Table on the first turn - Syrian platoon enters along the road

Historically the Syrian spearheads approached this location, met some resistance, and turned back - night was approaching and they were not sure what defences were in place. If only they had known at the time there was practically none, the 1973 war might have turned out differently. So this scenario is a "what-if" of sorts - what if the Syrians were more aggressive?

Centurion arriving as a reinforcement

The table was 6'x4', with the Syrian force - a company of 13 T-62 MBTs - entering at one edge, and having ten turns to get at least two tanks across the old bridge representing the crossing of the Jordan river (I think the actual bridge was a Bailey-type bridge, but I found the stone piece evocative of the age of the place in question).

Traffic jam on the advance - the tank in the foreground is Old Glory

Another picture of the Old Glory tanks - one has already been dealt with by IDF gunners

Opposing this tide of armour was a small force of IDF tankers composed of reservists coming up into the fighting - two Centurion Sh'ots behind some improvised defences, and three more arriving from off the table during the game. The old buildings represented an orchard and farm area near the "customs house". The IDF mission was to stop the Syrians at all costs - if they could knock out or disable eight of the Syrian tanks, it would halt the attack. But would they last?

T-62 platoon struggles forward under fire, but at least they took out one of the Centurions (at top)

Curt took the IDF side and I plated the Syrians. The Syrians started with one 3-tank platoon already coming down the road, and would arrive in platoon-sized batches over the first three turns, while Curt would receive another Centurion on each turn starting with the first until all five were on the table.

IDF Centurions await the Syrians

I tried to split the difference between moving and firing, thinking I could put enough fire on the IDF to to knock them out AND overrun them. I mean, I had a 13 to 5 advantage, right? No such luck! Soon T-62s were burning on the road, causing a traffic jam and causing the tanks to detour. The Bolt Action rules model the movement of tracked vehicles very well, limiting the turns of the vehicles.  You need to think ahead a bit - sure you can turn and move, but will your flank be exposed? Will you be able to move again from where you end up? When you are trying to get 13 tanks moving, this is a challenge.

Syrian T-62 settles in for some cover to duel with the Sh'ots

As more T-62s arrived the battle heated up.  The Syrians managed to knock out one of the Sh'ots.  For good measure Curt parked one reinforcing Sh'ot on the bridge over the river, and moved the other Centurions forward aggressively.  Tank shells criss-crossed the battlefield as both sides blazed away.

The fate of most Syrian tanks on the Golan Heights in 1973

IDF tanks under heavy fire - one knocked out

I had one platoon which managed to stay relatively pin-free, and they cause some trouble for the IDF - immobilizing a second Sh'ot and putting some heavy pins on a third. It was the opening I had hoped for.  But I was not able to get the other tanks moving consistently - I had one fellow zipping down the flank, but he got tagged by the Sh'ot on the bridge.

Curt's last line of defence

Ultimately the IDF knocked out the eight T-62s needed in order to halt the attack by the ninth turn, but it was a close-run engagement, with the IDF having lost two MBTs themselves. My early decision to try and engage hurt me in the end - we should have been running up that road for all we were worth, losses be dammed!

More burning and immobilized T-62s

The game was a blast - I love a table filled with burning tanks, and the Golan Heights in 1973 is a setting that obliges that preference for sure!

Table at the end of the game

Following the battle we sortied for lunch in Regina and then re-set the table for our second game - the Sudan in 1884. Now let me see if I can find all of those entries from Ray here on Curt's computer and delete them...

New Unit Done: 95th Rifles

I've been beavering away getting some stuff ready for a Napoleonic game we're having in Saskatoon at John's new place tomorrow. This one is just off the workbench. The 95th Rifles... Yeah, some Conscripts may smirk at this as they well know my acerbic opinion towards British Napoleonic gamers that just have to have a unit of the 95th before all others. Well, colour me green and call me Obadiah Hakeswill but I've succumbed and done one up as well. (I try to rationalize this in that at least I've painted some regular line battalions so I should be able to treat myself to fielding an elite unit from time to time. Yeah, I know, but the 95th? It's sooo... Sean Bean.)

Anyway, here are a few shots of the finished product. I wanted to do something a little different than a typical 'skirmishing vignette' and so have instead done the Rifles quickly assembling into line, with officers and NCOs bawling and shouting at the men to form up.  The trick was that the models are from two ranges with slightly different scales. It took a bit of MacGyvering to sort it all out but I think they came out alright. Anyway, if you want a more detailed 'expose' feel free to check out my blog post here.

28mm Napoleonic French Line Artillery

Here is a 28mm Napoleonic French Line Battery using Perry castings. In 'Republic to Empire' terms this represents four 6 pounders and two 5.5 inch howitzers. Ultimately I will be adding another gun/crew and each gun will have a trail of limbers and caissons running behind.  But that's for later. So, 1 point for each foot figure and 2 points for each gun = 18 points to my tally.  Now, I just need to get those Foxconn workers painting faster. I hear its just a matter of voltage...

 

28mm Command Stand: Michel Ney, Marshal of France

Here is a new Corp-Level Command stand for my 28mm French. This is Michel Ney, Duke of Elchingen, Prince of the Moskowa and Marshal of France. He was also known by many Frenchmen as 'The Bravest of the Brave." I thought I'd try to get him done for the anniversary of his death. This is a Perry casting and he is seen here as he would be in 1815 at Waterloo. The set also comes with two of his ADCs Pierre-Agathe Heymès (in red) and Pierre Levavasseur (in blue). I have also included a squadron trumpeter from the 2nd Dragoons of Kellerman's Reserve Cavalry Corps.

I have done up the stand to depict Ney after the first massed charge on the Allied squares in the late afternoon at Waterloo. He has just come back to gather more men from Kellerman's command to lead them back up the hill. Ultimately these charges would result in the destruction of over 5000 French cavalry. By the end of the day Ney would have four horses killed from underneath him, his epaulets shot away, sword broken, covered in mud screaming at the retreating French around him, "Rally on me! I am Ney, Marshal of France. Follow me, I will show you how a Marshal of France dies!" Yep, completely mental but that's how the boy rolled.

Having a Marshal for either 'Black Powder' or 'Republic to Empire' is pretty over-scaled but I reasoned that Ney did like to lead from the front so it would not be uncommon to see him down getting mucked-in with the lads.

When the Bourbons were reinstated after Waterloo they wanted Ney's head for siding with Napoleon. The trial was very unpopular as Ney was well-liked by soldiers and the common folk. Nonetheless, the royalists wanted blood and so he was sentenced to death. Ney was executed by firing squad in the Luxembourg Gardens in Paris on December 7th 1815. He refused a blindfold and with his typical panache he gave the execution squad their orders to fire. Pretty hardcore.

'Black Powder' First Play: Rearguard on the Minho

This past Sunday Dan, John and Sylvain came over to my place to try out a small Napoleonic scenario using my unblooded copy of the 'Black Powder' rules. The scenario I came up with is a fusion of a series of historical rearguard actions that the British conducted during their retreat to Corunna in January of 1809. During the retreat it was not uncommon for the British to attempt to forestall the French by fighting a delaying action at a river crossing, fall back and then demo the bridge. Accordingly, the scenario has a small British force trying to buy time for the engineers to rig the bridge to blow while a large force of French press on in an attempt to push the rearguard aside, force the bridge crossing before it is destroyed and carry on to threaten the main British force up the road.

In this action the British have two infantry battalions as their mainstay. One is the solid 28th which historically fought in many of these rearguard engagements. They are solid regulars. The other is a composite battalion made up of bits and scraps of several battalions that have largely disintegrated during the retreat. I classed them as 'Untested' which means that once they take their first casualty they test to see how they react for the rest of the battle. This can range from near-collapse to raising-up to fight like heroes. The British line infantry is also aided by two companies from the 95th Rifles. These specialized skirmishers can either fight on their own or be attached to any battalions to reinforce their own light companies. The British infantry is also supported by two sections (4 guns - basically a half battery) of Royal Horse Artillery, one section of 6-pound canons and the other of 5.5 inch howitzers.

The French vanguard has a full brigade of infantry composed of four line battalions (roughly 2400 men). One battalion is considered large in size and all are classed as Regulars. In addition the French force benefits from being supported by two squadrons of Dragoons (around 160 troopers). The French commander, a General of Division, knows that the Emperor wants the British 'brought to ground' so I've rated him as a bit of a fire-eater to help keep the French moving forward aggressively.

We rolled for sides with John taking the British while Sylvain and Dan having joint command of the French.

Though this scenario could easily be played on a 4x6, or smaller, we played down the length of a 5x8 table with the bridge about 2 feet away from one end. The British (John) set-up first with one battalion, the 28th, a bit forward of the bridge with a 6 pound section of guns from the Royal Horse Artillery in support. The 28th also benefited by having the both companies of 95th Rifles in skirmish order to their front. John chose to make the 95th as in integral part of the battalion so they would benefit from the rules of 'mixed order' but risk the same fate if things went bad. The RHA howitzer section was deployed behind the river on the British right flank. The remaining British composite battalion was also back behind the river, arrayed in line next to the bridge.

The 28th positioned in front of the bridge with the 95th Rifles acting as skirmish screen and a section of 6pdrs as artillery support.




The untried British composite battalion arrayed in line near the bridge awaiting orders. Note the local monks cajoling the heretics and helping the engineering party with the powder kegs. Better the devil you know...

The French deployed 12" in from the opposing narrow edge. They chose to place the majority of their battalions in attack columns so they would benefit in the better command roll modifier (the rationale being that the compressed nature of an attack column makes it easier to manage as opposed to the more fragile and disjointed battleline formation). I believe the Dragoons also started in column as well to facilitate greater mobility.

The base mechanics for Black Powder are reminiscent of Warmaster but perhaps a little more streamlined and sophisticated. Basically each unit only gets one chance with a command roll but if the roll is especially good (i.e. low) they can benefit with up to 3 actions (moving, formation change, charging). Alternatively if the roll is pooched then that unit does nothing and the commander is done for the turn. This mechanic makes the command phase entertaining as there is much arguing of who should 'lead off', general nail biting, groans and cheers. It also makes movement and charging interesting as a lucky unit can potentially take the bit by the teeth and streak across the table to engage the enemy while other poor souls can have an unlucky streak and flounder.

The French roll forward to attempt to push back the lead British battalion and gain access to the bridge.

The French moved first and decided to keep their formation as tight as possible for maximum impact. The British opened up with long range artillery fire causing a bit of disruption in the French ranks but nothing that a few bawling sergeants couldn't handle. The rifles tried a shot at the cavalry but were just short of their maximum range. The Dragoons arched their collective eyebrows at the rifles' longer range and knew they had to get these fellows sorted quickly.

In the next turn the French managed their initial moves but did not get the rolls to allow them to charge home. John 'held his bottle' a bit longer to give the approaching cavalry and march columns some more galling fire, all the while risking the coming charge. Next turn, the French used their initiative moves to declare a series of charges from both the infantry and cavalry. The fact that the cavalry were threatening caused the British battalion to automatically recall the Rifle skirmish screen and attempt to form square. The Brits made their roll and formed a solid square to repulse the cavalry. BUT the wily French, knowing the English were vulnerable in this compressed formation have also sent in their infantry to take advantage of the situation. The Brits gave a good account of themselves but were forced to fall back from the combined arms threat. But here was the rub: The bridge hampered their retrograde movement in square and with nowhere else to go the men panicked. The 28th's square broke and its men were swept aside by the French assault columns (the Rifles sharing their fate). The now isolated British horse artillery section fired canister at short range and scampered back to redeploy at the river's edge. The remaining British battalion gaped at the slaughter in front of it while its commander screamed ineffectively at his men to move to the bridge to thwart the French. The Brits needed to hold for three more turns to have the bridge ready to be blown.

The golden moment had arrived for the French. The screening British battalion had been shattered, its supporting artillery pushed aside and the bridge was wide open. To make matters worse for the British their isolated battery was assaulted on its flank and silenced by a French regiment using its own initiative. Dan duly picked up the dice to send in the first column across the bridge - and uttered something unmentionable as (of course) his roll failed. John breathed a sigh of relief as he knew he had just been given a new lease on life. (Note: Particularly astute BP players will notice that the entire British force should have been 'broken' at this point as half or more of it's numbers were now out-of-action. I pointedly ignored this as the scenario was so small and I wanted to have as long a game as possible. I also reasoned that both combatants knew that the 'stakes were high' and would have greater resiliency for this action. Besides, why let a petty truth get in the way of a good story!)

In his turn, John rolled for a 'follow me' order and moved his command stand to join the British battalion (they used three actions to change formation, move to the bridge and shake-out into line). The howitzer section had a perfect target with the French battalion that had just silenced their brother unit. They fired canister which caused the battalion to fall back in disorder, out of the action. Two turns left.

Dan rolled for the French Brigadier and he led the leading column across the bridge to assault the British on the other side. The Brits fired a closing volley and prepared for the assault. As the French were on a very narrow frontage in order to cross the bridge they could only bring a limited amount of men to the fight whereas the British were arrayed in full battle order. The result was that the French battalion was shattered on the British line. Nonetheless they did cause enough casualties for the British to have to test their mettle as they were a composite battalion. If John rolled poorly they could route leaving the bridge entirely undefended. John's luck held and so did the British. John then redeployed the howitzers to enable them to give enfilading fire on a French column marching to the bridge. In a spectacular roll the artillery tore the guts out of the French formation making it combat ineffective. The French were running out of troops and they had only one turn left before the British could see if they could demo the bridge.

The 1st Neuchatel assault the bridge while the British prepare to give close range volley fire.

Sylvain suggested trying to soften the British up with musketry but Dan was chomping at the bit wanting to force the issue with the bayonet (watching the two 'debating' was as entertaining as the game itself). Dan won out and another French battalion was sent in, but alas it too was sent back reeling from the steady British volley fire. In his turn, John had the British stay put, give harassing fire and basically waited for the turn to end. The engineers completed their preparations and John rolled to see if the bridge would go up. The roll was too high so he girded himself to hold for at least another turn to try again (at this point we speculated that during the assault some French rear-rank fusilier had dropped his trousers while on the bridge and put out the fuse).

Things were getting desperate for the French. Dan and Sylvain decided to move the commander to the two squadrons of Dragoons to entice them with medals and easy women and then led them in a pell mell charge across the bridge to see if the British would fail in forming square. They did not. The square was formed and the cavalry were compelled to recoil. John rolled the dice for the bridge and was relieved to see it finally blast apart ending the French pursuit for that day.

The French Dragoons try to force the issue with the British. Note the Engineer by the bridge lighting the fuse with his cheroot...

We had a load of fun with the game with the result going right down to the last turn. The rule's mechanics were very easy to pick-up with us basically using the single quick-reference playsheet after only a few turns. Later I noticed I made a few slips here and there but I attribute that to the natural learning curve on any new ruleset and it did nothing to hamper the enjoyment of the game. I think they would be great for a large group of players as the command rules are quite streamlined promoting quick resolution of turns. On our part I think I can safely say that we'll be giving them another try.

In a couple weeks we'll give "Republic to Empire" a run through using the same scenario. We'll let you know our thoughts.

Deadline met for Napoleonic British

"Waddya mean we have to paint more crap for this battle...?"

Two weeks ago we were visiting our good friends Amy and John Bertolini in Saskatoon and I invited John to come down to Regina to play a game of 28mm Napoleonics. On the drive back home I thought up a small scenario we could do, but to pull it off I needed to rebase and finish off my lone British battalion, complete another, do-up a couple artillery pieces with crews and come up with command stands for both sides. A tall order but I've always liked working with an objective in mind and I really wanted to try out the 'Black Powder' set of rules. I had most of the stuff on-hand from past purchases except for artillery which I quickly ordered from North Bay Hobbies. So brush in hand I dug-in for some marathon painting and here are the results.

I want to build Colbrne's ill-fated brigade of four battalions which was over-run by Polish lancers and French hussars at the battle of Albuera (almost a 70% casualty rate). This first unit is the 2nd battalion of the 31st (The Huntingdonshires) which was the only battalion of the brigade that managed to form square before the cavalry hit. Twenty four of the figures were previously painted and based but I added a colour party, a mounted officer and some additional casualty figures to flesh it out - so 12 points here.



The next battalion is the 2nd battalion of the 48th (The Northamptonshires). This unit was mauled by lancers, rallied and then endured a protracted firefight with a French brigade. It lost over 400 men during the action. All these boys are new additions - so 35 points all told.

Next are the artillery. Royal Horse Artillery from the Perry twins. One base is a crew running up its 5.5 inch howitzer and the other is a 6 pounder being fired. I dunno what you count for artillery pieces but there are 8 crewmen in total.









The French command stand depicts a Divisional general taking a report from a couple officers from his command. 6 points.



The British command stand is a Brigadier general chatting with an officer on foot. The mounted guy is from a month or so ago but the foot chappie is new.



The last unit I prepared was a French battalion in greatcoats. I did these up as 3rd battalion conscripts fresh from the depot. They are pretty grotty looking, with some veterans seeded in the ranks to chivy them along to the front. I got a chunk of these off an eBay purchase and so I rebased them, inked them, touched up their highlights, did a bit of weathering and then added a fresh mounted commander and two sergeants and ten rankers to bulk them out a bit more.



I've done some completely mental painting binges in the past but I think this one takes the brass ring. I think this batch adds around 76 points to my tally (plus whatever for the guns). I'm completely knackered and will probably take a few days off from the painting desk...

Oh, and incidentally we did have our game yesterday afternoon which was a blast! I will post an after action in the next few days.

Battle of Raszyn, 1809

This past weekend I pulled out my 6mm stuff and we had a small game of Fast Play Grande Armee (FPGA). The scenario was based on the 1809 Battle of Raszyn which is somewhat unique as it is a Napoleonic battle where the French were not one of the main combatants. The background is that as part of the Austrian strategic plan for their 1809 campaign they wished to quickly knock the Poles out of the war so as to have greater freedom on their flanks for future operations against the French and their German allies. Historically the Poles were caught flat-footed, so I decided to have two players control them to reflect their more scattered command. Dan volunteered to run the Austrians and so Stacy and Sylvain had the honour of defending Poland from sausage-eating, lederhosen-wearing tyranny.

FPGA has a mechanism whereas each turn can last between 1 and 4 'pulses' (determined by a die roll) which makes time rather elastic and adds a bit of friction and nail-biting for the players. In this scenario the game length was set at 5 turns and the Poles definitely wanted the sun to go down as soon as possible so the full weight of the Austrian attack could not be brought to bear. As it turned out poor Dan had to watch as the first 3 turns melted away with only a pulse played for each. The Austrians were barely at their assault positions and the day was getting late! Feeling the pressure Dan threw a cavalry brigade over a ford on his right flank, hoping to occupy the opposite town and force a bridgehead before the Poles could move to block his efforts.



The Austrian hussars made good inroads initially, moving over the river to the opposite bank, but while they were waiting for infantry support the Poles quickly moved a cavalry brigade, supported by artillery, to throw them back.



It was then a race to see who would be able to get infantry into the town for control of this part of battlefield. The Austrians had a moment of hesitation (reflected in a bad control roll) and the Poles stole a march and made it into the town to set up a hasty but firm defense.



The remainder of the game was spent with the Austrians trying to force their way across the river at three crossing points but with no real success.

There were several cinematic moments in the game, one of which was when a Saxon Brigadier General commanding an elite grenadier brigade (allies of the Poles), safe in his town sector position across from the central bridge, got his blood up (i.e. Epic Fail on the control roll) and decided to launch an unsupported assault across the bridge to 'run those Austrian rascals off'. In our mind's eye we could see the Saxons going across the bridge in a route-step march column, with orders from their brigadier that they go in with muskets unloaded and only use the bayonet in the assault. Little did they know that there was a MONSTROUS Austrian brigade across from them with no such romantic notions who let them have it with point blank musket fire. Lets just say there were many grenadier bearskins floating down the river a few minutes later.

Nonetheless, this bright spot aside, the Austrians just could not shift the Poles in a meaningful way and the battle ended as a bloody but solid Polish victory. I had streamlined the skirmish rules a bit which seemed to work well but the artillery still needs to be made more lethal as they just don't have that 'killer-of-the-battlefield' feel. Next time!

Two New French Battalions

I've been beavering away at the painting desk since getting back from vacation and here are the completed results to date. The first unit is a oddball battalion from the Napoleonic French army. This is the Prince of Neufchatel's Battalion better know as 'The Canaries'.

In 1807, as a reward for his service to the Empire, Marshal Berthier was made Prince of Neuchatel (or Neufchatel), which is a small principality in what is now Switzerland. He mustered enough troops to create a battalion and had unique yellow uniforms tailored from his own designs. The 'Canaries' fought in 1809 at Wagram and were then transferred to Spain for anti-guerrilla duties. They were recalled in late 1812 as reinforcements for the Russian campaign but only made it to Smolensk where they met the retreating Grande Armee that was tumbling back from Moscow. The battalion suffered terribly during freezing rearguard actions and when it finally crossed the Berezina there was only one officer and seven men left of an original fighting strength of around 660. They were reconstituted in 1813 but after the Leipzig campaign it ceased to exist as a fighting force.

The next unit is the 1st battalion from the 2nd Regiment of Ligne. This regiment has the unique distinction of having served as ship-borne troops in the Battle of Trafalgar.



In 1809 they also fought against steep odds defending the village of Aspern at the two-day battle of Aspern-Essling, and were again heavily engaged during the Battle of Wagram less than two months later. They participated in all the major campaigns right up to Waterloo.



I really like having the plastic 'bitz' around from the Victrix and Perry boxes. I've been scattering my groundwork with battlefield detritus (broken muskets, abandoned packs, shakos, helmets, etc.) which helps bring the units more to life. Some of the stuff required a bit of trimming , shaving and drilling but I like the effect. In so far as the Fall Painting Challenge is concerned I'm not counting the first unit as I had just started them before I left in September so they fall outside of the Challenge parameters. Nonetheless, the second unit is for the books (32 foot and 1 mounted). Now, back to the table...