Another Club Night

While I was transferring photos from my phone to my laptop I found these shots of a Napoleonic naval game we played during my blogging hiatus. Recollection of events is hazy at best so these are presented merely as eye candy rather than a batrep.

All the ships are 1/2400 from Hallmark and the rules used were Grand Fleet Actions in the Age of Sail which have taken over from FLoB II as my go to rules. Keith and Barry played the Royal Navy and I think John and Tom looked after the French (?)

 The French windward squadron...

... and the leeward squadron.

The Royal Navy advance in fine style, Keith leading.

First fire...

Keith brings his squadron alongside the crapauds...

... achieving remarkably little!

Here comes Barry...

He ignores the unengaged French squadron and crosses the T of Keith's squadron, totally blocking him!

Emergency turns and collisions ensue!

The general melee.

At the end of the session things were pretty balanced. The melee was breaking up as squadrons broke out and reformed in preparation for a second pass at the enemy. Unfortunately I was ill the following week and in my absence the table had to be cleared for another game so we never finished.

I believe Vice Admiral Barry was court martialled and executed...

Club Night 26th April / 3rd May - Man O' War

The 26th was the night of the AGM for Stoke Wargames Group so we knew we weren't going to get much game time in and needed something quick to set up. Off to sea!

Keith agreed to put a game of Man O' War together for us and turned up with his lovely Bretonnian and Empire fleets as well as a gazillion boxes of accessories. Matt and I took the Brets., Tom and Ryan the Empire. The Brets. had a Galleon, 3 Corsairs and 6 Buccaneers and the Empire had a Greatship, 3 Wolfships and 6 Wargalleys. Our MoW was 'heavy timbered' and theirs had a 'crows nest'. We both had a wizard.

We only managed a handful of turns on the first night but it wasn't a good start for us Brets. One of us (I'm not naming names, but it wasn't me (I made all the other mistakes)) turned our Corsairs into the wind and they took a pasting while they struggled to turn back out again. Bizarrely, MoW has no tacking rules...

I hadn't got my camera so a few phone shots will have to show how things were at home time.

In the South things looked OK. A plunging Buccaneer catapult shot sent a Wargalley down to the bottom of the sea and our Galleon was moving up in support.

Things were 'grim up North' however. You can see our paralysed Corsairs and in the distance our mostly dismasted Buccaneers. Oh dear...

Seven days later. Ryan couldn't make it so Tom took sole responsibility for slaughtering the remaining Brets.. In the close quarter fighting the Empire ship's oars and forward firing guns gave them a huge advantage. We took a few with us and had the satisfaction of sinking their Greatship but by the end of play all we had left was our Galleon; crippled, toothless and on fire. (Oh... and one Buccaneer heading for home!)

 

Good game. Thanks, Keith.

Club Night 19th April - Bolt Action: Hold Until Relieved III

Turn 5

The Dingo continued to pile the hurt onto the squad pinned just in front of it (aided by the mortar)while the nearby Pz IVH carried on ignoring it.

The 222 was performing a similar trick against the poor remnants of a British section...

The real drama started on the German right as a long range 'schreck shot lit up a Sherman; the Ronson rule guaranteeing it's distruction.

The Firefly took more pins from the opposing panzer effectively taking it out of the game

Turn 6

Boom! The right flank Sherman was set on fire and went 'all inferno' (Ronson!) thanks to the continuing efforts of the Pz IVH. In the graveyard the pinned Brits failed to make their dash to the objective. Not so the German platoon HQ who sneaked up to claim it, using it as cover.

The central Pz IVH rolled up and the German MMG went into ambush covering the road.

Oblivious to the now ineffectual Firefly the right flank Pz IVH moved to cover the objective as the 'schreck team eyed up the British mortar position.

If the game had ended now the Germans would have won, but no, the dice gods said play on.

Turn 7 (Final Turn)

There was no way the German HQ could be winkled out of their position behind the bunker so the only hope for the Brits was to contest the objective for a draw.

The graveyard section refused to move again, (probably saving their lives) so it was down to the fresh section that had moved in from the left flank. If they took the shortest route they would be Advancing (6") through a hedge and would fall short. However, Matt had correctly eyeballed the distance and was planning on Running (12") around the hedge to reach the objective but alas, the next order die was German... This allowed Keith to display the low, underhand, gamey sort of cunning that makes him ideal to play the 'vile Hun'.

He drove a Pz IVH up to the hedge and parked with his 'bumper' against it. The Brits now had to go around the tank and could no longer reach the objective!

 Game over. German victory!

 

Thus ended our biggest and best game of Bolt Action yet. We all enjoyed it and (at least up to turn 6...) felt like realistic tactics were used and rewarded. A club noobie who joined in liked it so much he invested in a whole 20mm WWII army at Salute the next weekend!

Several of us, me included, expressed disatisfaction with the Recce rule. I know I've seen it slated on a few forums. The ability to repeatedly escape from fire encourages unrealistic offensive action. House rules incoming...

Club Night 19th April - Bolt Action: Hold Until Relieved II

Turn 3

The British pushed forward aggressively on their right flank trying to move into the graveyard which would make an excellent jump off point for taking the objective. A Sherman moved into the cover of the wall to trade potshots with the Pz IVH opposite. The Germans were content to hold the hedge line along the road and exchange shots.

The British were also the main players on the other flank. The section that had been cowering behind the house started to move towards the centre and a Sherman along with the PIAT team moved into a forward position. The German Panzerschreck team arrived and moved up their right flank covering the Pz IVH that was sitting there engaging the second Sherman and Firefly.

 

Turn 4

 

The British surged into the graveyard and the Sherman accompanying them continued to unsuccessfully engage the Pz IVH, taking a couple of pins. The cheeky Sdkfz 222 moved up again putting a few rounds into the troops that hadn't made the cover of the walls.

 

Shortly after, a third Pz IVH arrived which took up a position covering the objective, totally ignoring the Dingo that was taking point blank shots at the infantry nearby, (knowing that it could simply 'recce away'.)

The Pz IVH on the German right managed to put a pin on the Firefly and the 'schreck team continued their wide sweep

 

Part III will relate the final three turns. Maybe later tonight, maybe not...

Club Night 12th April - Bolt Action: Hold Until Relieved

After painting up the new vehicles I was itching to get them into a game. Our three previous games of Bolt Action were a larger British regular force against a smaller veteran German group but because I'd mainly painted Germans the British were now seriously 'outpointed'.

So for our fourth game the situation was reversed, British vets. against German regulars (mostly old men and boys. This allowed me to squeeze in all my new toys - our biggest game yet.

Scenario: Hold Until Relieved

Germans (Keith and John) 1703 pts	British (Barry and Matt) 1703 pts
HQ	HQ
Regular	Veteran
Sdkfz 250/1	AFO
Regular	Regular
Squad 1	Squad 1
Regular	Veteran
Squad 2	Squad 2
Regular	Veteran
Squad 3	Squad 3
Regular	Veteran
MMG 1	MMG
Regular	Veteran
MMG 2	Medium Mortar
Regular	Veteran
PzSchreck	Firefly
Regular	Veteran
PzIVH	Sherman 75mm
Regular	Veteran
PzIVH	Sherman 75mm
Regular	Veteran
PzIVH	PIAT
Regular	Veteran
75mm Pak 40	Dingo A/C
Regular	Veteran
Maultier
Regular
Sdkfz 222
Regular

Deployment

The Germans set up one squad in a walled graveyard near to the bunker objective and a MMG in the first floor of a building overlooking the bunker. The British then deployed their infantry on three sides of the Germans, only leaving the route to their baseline open.

Turn 1

The British opened the turn by firing their mortar at the graveyard squad; 6! Half the squad dead...
It was the Germans however making all the moves as their 1st wave came on. Taking advantage of the Brits' temporary dearth of AT capability the Sdkfz 222 cheekily rolled up to point blank range and riddle a squad on the British right, causing a couple of fatalities. The squad weighed up the chances of a successful assault and fled around the corner of a hedge instead. A Pz IV arrived on the German right.

Photos from the end of turn 1. Two whole table shots (6' x 7'); first from British left, second from the right.

 

The British left flank cowering behind a house.

German 1st wave arriving...

 

Turn 2

 

The Pz IV went into ambush and incredibly 10 of the first 11 dice pulled were German allowing a relentless advance across the whole front. They did fail a number of reserve roles however so the 'Schreck and the other Panzers were delayed. The 222 repeated it's point blank attacjk but only managed a pin, even with the help of the first floor MMG. Random chance had turned the game into IGoUGo and it was now the British turn!

 

All the British reserves arrived and one of the Shermans opened fire on the 222 but it retreated and hid (recce.). The Pz IV in ambush fired on a Sherman arriving on the opposite flank which returned fire, both missed. Lots of fire was poured into the graveyard but to no effect. This included a cheeky run by the Dingo trying to emulate the 222 but the hard cover of the walls resisted it's efforts.

 

End of turn 2. The Germans advance...

 

Unless they're hiding...

Whole table. Good luck spotting the differences...

The Sherman that saw off the Sdkfz 222 and infantry attacking the graveyard.

The cheeky Dingo.

Pak 40 moves into position.

 

Setting up took a lot of time and it was now 11 p.m. (we talk a LOT) so we called it a night. We'll finish this Friday. Watch this space.