Second Battle of Cawnpore (Can the dynamic duo improve on the first battle)

As previewed last week, last night our reporter had moved to the dusty plains of North India in 1857, and the Second Battle of Cawnpore. The game reprised a scenario played against Dave a few weeks ago, but this time with Phil taking the British and Chris and Tony trying to co-ordinate the Mutineers. Greg ate scampi and chips and drew the chits, whilst I made tea and coffee and took a few photos.

The initial Mutineer deployment saw their cavalry on the right,

badmash on the left working their way through the copses towards the village, and the Sepoys in two divisions in the centre. One formation took up position in line on the hill, with the other forming loose column and preparing to advance.

Phil deployed his HEIC infantry on the left facing the cavalry and Mutineers on the hill.

His gun trundling forward to the redoubt

and Sikh skirmishers on his right facing the Badmash. His “Thin Red Line“ of British regulars held back somewhat “in reserve”, ready to strike where needed most.

Tony’s cavalry advanced at the canter only to be hit by the HEIC 1st fire musketry.

Only one dead but lots of shock, and a 2nd round of Sharpe Practice musketry saw the cavalry retire, only to return much later as shock was rallied off. All was not perfect for the HEIC as Chris’ massed sepoys on the hill began to pepper them with uncontrolled fire and inflict casualties and shock, but at least they stayed in the battle.

On the other flank Tony’s Badmash moved menacingly towards the Sikhs, who started to pour fire into them.

The Badmash with “Big Choppers” faltered but their musket armed compatriots charged into the fray killing half the Sikh unit and forcing it to retire from the battle. Time for Phil to swing his red-coated Regulars into action. Tony did manage another hand-to-hand combat, but this time the British held. Short range musketry with 1st fire did for the Badmash who wavered, and after another round of fire fled taking the “Big Choppers” unit with them. Indian force morale was dropping like a stone.

Chris’ plan to let Tony do all the fighting and dying was going superbly, except there was far more dying and routing than battlefield success. His own six units were remarkably static, with three units stationary on the hill and another three deciding whether to charge the artillery redoubt. When the order was given Phil’s close-range “whiff of grapeshot” broke the formation leaving two units still stationary and the third trying to manoeuvre around its compatriots. It was clear the Mutineers had failed in their objective, and they conceded the battlefield to the British.

Everyone seemed to have had a good time, but comments were made about Chris’ lack of determination to take the battle to the British. He tried to claim that the chits were against him but that didn’t wash with anyone else.

Simon

Time to get the Winter Mat out Again

After a Thursday away on business with the Picts and Scotti north of Hadrian’s Wall, our trusty reporter resumed duties this time in December 1944. The setting was the North-West Ardennes, as the Panzers of 2nd Panzer Division’s Kampfgruppe Bohm headed for the Meuse bridges at Dinant. Rushing towards them were the hastily manned tanks of the British 29th Armoured Brigade’s 3rd RTR, re-equipping behind the lines with the new A34 Comet, but now ordered back into action with their old Shermans and supports. The clash took place in and around the small hamlet of Foy Notre Dame.

The Germans moved onto the table uncharacteristically slowly. Maybe they were conserving fuel? The Hetzer hunkered down behind a wall, the Pz MkIV advanced gingerly along the Southern edge with only the Panther craftily disguised as an M10 making a fast advance in the North.

The British deployed as best they could, having to use either the bridge or the ford as entry points. Luckily, they managed to get the Achilles into position facing the “German M10”. Less lucky was the Sherman who found himself exposed on the Bridge staring down the road at a Panther. His shot missed as did the return fire of the Panther.

The “decoy” Panther hunting down the Achilles or other targets, but acquisition amongst the farm buildings proved problematic. However, the Achilles did his job and soon one Panther was a burning wreck.

In the South the Pz MkIV and Tony’s Shermans traded desultory shots, resulting in damage to the Panzer. Chris decided to make a run for it with his Panther which charged up the road only to find the enemy melting away and hiding. Once again acquisition proved elusive, and the dice didn’t help.

The Hetzer also broke cover but Chris simply couldn’t manoeuvre into position for a shot.

The Panther took damage and Tony finally realised that by reversing his Firefly he could find cover and manage a side-shot into the German big cat. Cue another explosion marker being placed on a German tank.

With both Panthers out of action and all six Allied tanks still running the Germans conceded. The Meuse bridges at Dinant were safe and “Wacht am Rhein” had run its course in the North-West.

All had followed history, as Kampfgruppe Bohm was effectively wiped-out in December 1944. The points count had actually given the Germans a slight advantage, especially using the “unofficial” points system. However, most points were spent on the Panthers, so the loss of one so early in the game was a big set-back. It must also be said that the dice didn’t favour the Germans.

The WAT game also marked the nadir of Dave’s fortunes. Three games played that day; three losses. All of them featuring big doses of bad luck!

Next Thursday will see our indefatigable reporter pack his Havelock for duty at Cawnpore in North-Central India during the Mutiny.

Simon

What A Tanker on TableTop Simulator, 16th Nov 2022

Today's battle shifted to virtual deserts of North Africa, on Tabletop Simulator. Dave & Steve took the Germans (two Panzer IIIs & a PanzerJager I). Rob, Mal & Phil took the Brits (two A10s & a Matilda II).

The Brits rapidly moved to flank the village, with Mal moving right with one A10, while Phil moved left with the other A10 & Rob lagged behind in the Matilda II.

The Germans moved one Pzr III right (Steve) & the other Pzr III & Panzerjager I (Dave) moved to the left side of the village.

Phil attempted a quick dive into the village, to sneak a flank shot on the PanzerJager, but was caught in the rear by Steve's Pzr III, while still navigating the market!

However, this allowed Rob's Matilda to catch Steve's Pzr III in the rear, but disaster, Rob's first shot missed and his second resulted in a double 1 (miss, plus loss of Aim & Acquisition!!). Not Rob's usual dice rolling at all!!

On the German left, Mal's A10 flanked the village & engaged the PanzerJager I. However, Mal could not land a killer blow. The flimsy armour of the PanzerJager managing to keep the net hits to 2, while Dave then rolled 6s, to recover his lost Command dice!

The arrival of Dave's Pzr III forced Mal's A10 to pull back, allowing the PanzerJager to dart forward into the village, to finish off recovering Command dice.

Back the German right, the tables turned dramatically! Taking the initiative, Steve swivelled his Pzr III, swinging around the lumbering Matilda, for first a flank shot.

Then a rear shot!!

Then finally a brew-up!!

On the German left, Mal's A10 ventured out of cover, but Dave's PanzerJager I, swung around a house, to snatch a flank shot, taking two Command dice, then before the A10 could react, a further two Command dice!

Then Dave's Panzer III moved in to finish the A10, with a frontal shot, to cause the crew to abandon!

 A bad day for the Brits!!

Seven Days to the River Rhine: Kaboom Power Plant Scamble: Lost Ark: 5th Nov 2022

 

Game two of the Lost Ark mini convention. 15mm Cold War, using the ‘Seven Days to the River Rhine’ rules. The premise of the game was that ‘rogue’ Warsaw Pact elements were threatening to seize the Kaboom Nuclear Plant. Three Warsaw Pact elements deployed in locations Red 1, 2 & 3, while 3 ‘scratch’ NATO Combat Teams deployed in locations Blue 1, 2 & 3. The British being in location 2, the West Germans in location 2 & the US Marines in Location 1. Each force nominally comprised of a tank platoon, supported by a mechanised infantry platoon.

The game opened with Rob’s more superior T72s (compared to the other WP T55s!!) dashing forward to cover the left flank of the advance on the Power Plant, while Phil’s more elderly Polish T55s covered the right flank & Dave’s equally elderly East German T55s advanced on the Plant itself.

Simon’s BAOR Chieftains ventured out to engage Rob’s T72, but quickly had lost 2 of the starting 3 tanks, for only similar number of T72s being knocked-out in reply.

On the WP right flank, Phil’s Polish T55s and OT64s managed to fight their way into Threlsville, but only after suffering massive losses from Chris’s mast equipped LAV/TOW system.

In the centre, Dave’s East Germans managed to breach the Power Plant’s perimeter fence & seize the main control facility & reactor building, before Greg’s West Germans could start to contest the Power Plant’s accommodation blocks.

The rest of the game was attritional, with Infantry fighting it out among the Power Plant accommodation blocks, while tanks & APCs manoeuvred to provide fire support. By the end of the game, the WP elements were down to a single operational T55, while the British retained a single Chieftains and the West German & US Marines still had a couple of tanks left running. Fire from these remaining MBTs, plus the surviving APCs, was thought to be sufficient to drive the remaining WP infantry elements out of the Power Plant, thus re-securing Kaboom for NATO.

As ever, SDttRR is a quick & bloody game, but a fun in-fill for what was left of the afternoon!

Chain of Command: A Bridge Too Far: Lost Ark: 5th Nov 2022

 

Our first experiment with running a Big Chain of Command game, at the Lost Ark shop in Stevenage. This enabled up to set-up an 8’x6’ table, pitting a US paratrooper platoon, a British Tank Platoon & a British Infantry platoon against two German infantry platoons (with support).

The British tank platoon would enter via the road in the South East corner and needed to exit at least one AFV, over the bridge, on the eastern edge of the table, while keeping the Germans at least 12” from the road. The US paratroopers started on the bridge, while the German entry point was on the track at the centre of the Northern table edge. If the Germans could prevent this, while at the same time gaining 2 Chain of Command dice, they would win (time running out!).

The patrol phase went well for the US & German contingents. The US managed to get a Jump Off Point (JOP) behind the house just to the East of the bridge & in the woods overlooking the road, SE of the bridge. The Germans managed to get a JOP right down the bordered field, adjacent to the road, as well as JOPs near the farm and behind the fields overlooking the bridge.

The British infantry only managed to get their JOPs, one up into the field overlooking the farmhouse & the other in the woods just South of the road.

Turn 1 saw the British tanks roar onto the table, while a British infantry section deployed into the fields, just to the North of the road, to cover their advance. The US paras modestly only deploying an LMG and sniper, into the house.

The Germans responded aggressively, by deploying a section behind the low walls to the South of the farmhouse, while simultaneously deploying the FAO, with an LMG team, in the bordered field, right down next to the road.

The US paras then revealed an entrenched section, in the woods, to the SE of the bridge. These opened up with murderous long range fire on the FAO & supporting LMG team, eventually resulting the loss of both the FAO & LMG team.

On the East of the table, the German section was suffering from fire from the Brits in the field, but also the US sniper, in the house near the bridge. However, the German platoon leader deployed here and started to restore some order. So much so, that casualties in the British infantry caused them to deploy a further section here.

But the continued focus of the British infantry on the farm area, was leaving their tanks exposed. Panzershrek teams were sneaking down and ambushing the tanks on the road. One was soon burning, while another had somehow survived two ambushes!

The US paras decided it was time to help out. They threatened an advance toward the German JOP in the South, while deploying a rifle team & bazooka, in the North, to try to flank the German positions. The advance of the rifle team in the North was rapidly checked by the deployment of first a Stug IIIG, which opened fire on the house, while an infantry section deployed across the advance line of the US paras, forcing them to deploy smoke & retire.

Further South, to counter the threat to their Southern-most JOP, the Germans deployed a Section into the bordered field next to the road. However, this rapidly started to lose the long range firefight with the entrenched US paras in the wood. Soon these were broken & running.

Seeing that the British infantry appeared too distracted to cover his tanks, the British Tank platoon leader decided to press on with his two remaining tanks. However, time was running out. The Germans were rolling more 5s and soon had further Chain of Command dice, enabling them to launch further ambushes on the exposed British armour, but also end the game.

A classic case on not maintaining focus on the objective, but all agreed it was a great venue & we would be returning.