Ragnor's Recruiting Trip (Dux Britaniarum)

A message from our latest correspondant, Mal.

This scenario was set around Ragnor's Viking raiding band (Mal)  returning to their ship with their hostages/captives, in the face of a Saxon (Dave) rescue mission.  Ragnor's plan was to mask the Warriors with their hostages with a screen of archers and levy, while the Warriors, captives in tow, made directly for the longboat, around the right flank. A mob of Viking berserkers were also available to spoil, delay, upset any promising Saxon attack. Ragnor and his personal elite hirdmen waited anxiously at the longboat.

The plan all started quite well and the Viking archers quickly slew the Saxon archers without giving them a chance to reply. Unfortunately (or possibly due to leadership incompetence) the Viking berserkers became enraged by the approaching Saxon shield wall, that they immediately charged and met their summary demise despite supporting fire from the Viking archers.  During this slaughter the Viking levy succeeded in forming their own shield wall opposite the Saxons a wary stand-off ensued. Meanwhile the Viking warriors, captives in tow, moved across behind the shelter of the levy shield wall, toward a light wood on the right flank.

Over by the beach Dave had amassed his 3 units of Saxon Levy and his unit of elites, against the single unit of Viking elites holding the Viking encampment.  However, acting on a sign from Odin (umpire Phil) and also heavily outnumbered, the Viking Lord fell back, thus avoiding immediate contact with the approaching Saxon horde.

All this time, the wary shieldwall stand-off continued centre table. Convinced that this well dressed Vikings, led by the striking Lagertha, could not just be levy, Dave moved his Saxon Lord and his elites up, to support a concerted attack on this imposing Viking shield wall.  The Viking Lord responded by moving into a flanking position behind the Saxon Lord, with his unit of elites.

Calamity! Thor was not with us! The Saxons seized the initiative, turned the tables and struck the Viking Lord and his bodyguard, first with levy and then more seriously, in the rear with elites and a Carpe Diem!? The Viking elites repelled the levy but were driven from the field to cower in their leaky longboat by the gloating Saxon elite.   Viking morale was not good.  However, with Loki’s stealth, the Viking warriors had now passed behind their levy Shield wall, traversed through the light woodland and arrived at the rear of the Saxon elites.  With wolfish grins and bared steel, these mighty warriors fell upon the Saxon rear (another Carpe Diem) driving them from the field after a mighty struggle.

All was not done.  As the victorious Viking Warriors moved to escape to their longboat with their captives, they were struck in the rear by a group of Saxon levy rallied by the Saxon lord himself.  After a close fought contest this levy scrum were driven off and the warriors, now joined by their Lord and master, recaptured their scattered hostages and rallying the exhausted warriors.

Centre table, the Saxon warriors finally realising that this well dressed shield wall opposite, were mere levy, now moved to attack! Disaster, poor dice rolling, a misplaced Strong Arm card and shock slowing movement, resulted in the charge falling short in confusion.  The Viking archers, finally realising the ineffectiveness of their harassing fire, now moved around the flank the Saxon shield wall, while both shield walls finally met in inconclusive combat.

By this time, the Saxon lord realised the game was up and retired. They would have to buy the captives back. So the poor hostages were finally dragged into the longboat, to be taken to their uncertain fate in Norway. However Ragnor was not a happy man. He had lost 2/3rds of his elites and a good number of warriors and levy. OK, the Saxon upstart would think twice before tangling with Ragnor’s men again, but Ragnor could not afford this rate of loss. So, a sort of marginal victory for the Vikings, but not for the poor hostages!

Operation Martlet – Push through Fontenay

This is the second game from the Too Fat Lardies Operation Martlet campaign. 

The photograph shows the game layout after the patrol phase and with the jump off markers deployed. This was going to be a brutal fight for the Orchard and farmhouse in the centre of the table.

The British deployed their first section into the Orchard in front of the farmhouse hoping to capture it before the Germans woke up.

Unfortunately the British had map issues or a late breakfast and managed to turn up long after the barrage to soften up the German had ended. So the Germans were now ready and waiting. However the supporting Vickers in the barn opened up killing one of the loaders of the MG team. 

The Germans deployed another section against the farmhouse wall hoping to hold off the British attack. 

In true stoic fashion the British threw grenades and charged.

Charging Panzer Grenadiers in cover was not going to be easy and after rolling a bucket full of dice each, the result was a lot of casualties, or in this case a very quiet battlefield. Both sides force morale dropped to a worrying level at this point.

As the Germans managed to get a double turn they deployed their Mark IV hoping to get a double shot at the Sherman that had deployed earlier. The first shot missed and the dice gods were not with them as none of the dice would allow the tank to activate on the second turn. All that could be done was to bring up the senior leader to bolster the defences in the farmhouse.

The Sherman fired back at the Mark IV and hit, causing to driver to panic and refuse to do anything. At the same time the bow gunner hosed down the farmhouse in preparation for the next assault.

Having not leaned the previous lesson the British went in again with the bayonet and managed to wipe both themselves and the German occupiers of the farmhouse out. At this point the British force morale plummeted to 0 and they were forced to retire from the game. Casualties on both sides were heavy due to the two infantry assaults on the farmhouse and as such the German hold on Fontenay may be tenuous at best. 

One of the other games…..

Simon was apparently conducting some market research for Lancaster University into a game called  Dungeon Saga, produced by Mantic Games.  Enough said.....

Operation Market Garden

Report and Pictures by Fred.

This June, we will be doing three linked Market Garden scenarios for our annual Club WW2 day. Last weekend saw us play-test the "middle scenario" in which elements of the Irish Guards and Wessex Infantry Division tried to clear a route to Arnhem after the capture of the Bridge over the Waal. 

The Germans deployed an 88 and Pak 40s with pockets of supporting infantry.

The Brits immediately ran into trouble as they probed down the left-most road and ran into a PRT which was subjected to a hard-hitting 120mm mortar stonk.

Not to be put off, our resident "Marshall Ney", Tony, decided to push forward with as much armour as possible down a single road rather than try to stretch the Germans by using the rest of the road network. One bren gun carrier went off the road and bogged down in the soft Dutch terrain straightaway.

The lead M5 got smacked in the side by a pak 40.

Rather like the breakout scene in A Bridge Too Far, the British spearhead was heavily exposed as it moved in column down a single narrow road. German Panzer Grenadiers armed with Panzerfausts tussled with the hard-pressed Wessex men in ditches along the side of the road (I'll need to make these for the big game in June - on Sunday we just counted any infantry within one inch of the roadside as in hard cover).

A battery of Stugs entered the fray.

The crossroads in front of the village descended into a wild melee.

But the Germans were not having it all their own way. Their squads were being gutted in their attempts to knock out British AFVs whilst one Stug fell victim to well-placed off-board artillery.

Hell's Highway indeed.

In a final throw of the dice, the British sent a second group of tanks down the middle roadway, including two fireflies which somehow failed to knock a stug with several side and rear shots.

To add insult to injury, one firefly then took a side shot itself from the 88 and went up in flames.

At which point we called it a day after 6 action packed turns. Although the British had taken a real hammering and did not secure their objective of exiting vehicles off the German edge of the board, they were only 3 points closer to their BR total than the Germans, who had less points (800 v 1100) and were therefore more brittle. So it ended up a close run thing.

The key might have been to have thrown two spearheads down opposite ends of the board and prevent the Germans from concentrating their forces. By going down a single road, the British ended up in a tight vice and their attack ground to a halt - rather like the real battle.