Barbarossa - Our experiment

Hi all,
Saturday we played out a Flames of War game based on Operation Barbarossa. The game was based in Army North's sector and did not have a specific historic location or units involved. We wanted to see if the Blitzkrieg would work with Flames of War rules.

The forces involved were extensive for Flames of War. On the Soviet side was a full Strelkovy Battalion and an aarmored company in reserve. The Soviets also had sporadic air support for interception only. The Germans had an infantry company, Czech Panzer company and a Medium Panzer company with two sets of priority air support on call.

The Soviets began the game dug in and secretly wrote down what sector their reserves came in, left, right or center. They also rolled to see what turn they would arrive. This could be from turn one to turn four. The Germans were not aware of when or where these reserves would arrive.

Here is the battlefield from the German left, center and right.

The above pictures are as the Soviets are setting up and before any German units are placed. It is a little difficult to see, but the terrain is mostly rolling hills with scattered woods and villages.

Above you can see the entire battlefield as seen from the German left and after the Germans and Russians have deployed.

The next four pictures are from the Soviet perspective and follow the bard from the Soviet right to left.

the German strategy was to use the infantry company to hold the Russians right flank and use the two armoured companies to break through the Russian center or left. The Czech company was placed on the German right flank and the Medium Armoured company was in the center. The German artillery was centrally placed to support all companies with the help of the air support.

Below we see the German first turn where they advance both armour companies with a smoke screen laid down to prevent an anti tank platoon from disturbing the advance. The German infantry digs in on the left.

The Soviets get off some A/T shots and cause minor casualties. Below we can see the effects at the end of turn two. The Germans continue their advance and the Soviets hold onto their initial positions.

On turn three the Russian reserves still have not arrived and the Germans are now engaged in assaulting the Russian positions in the center and on the Russian left. The Czech company is very successful in destroying the Soviet anti tank threat on the German right. They then concentrate on eliminating the Soviet infantry to their front and left.

Below is the situation on the German fourth turn.

In the top two pictures you can see that the Russian infantry has disintegrated before the German assaults. In the third picture you can see German recon and armour exiting the table which is helping to fulfill their victory condition of getting a full company of armour off the table. Looks like a cake walk at this moment.

Then on the Soviet portion of turn four tragedy strikes. The Soviet armoured reserve appears at just the right place at just in the nick of time.

Four KV-1's, 8 T-34's, 10 t-26's and 7 BA-7's arrive right in front of the German's medium tank company. A close range firefight causes tremendous losses to the Germans who then extract payment in part by destroying 3 of the 4 KV-1's with their 88 guns on the hill near the center of their base line.

The T-26 unit was severely mauled by a few Mk IV's and some 34t's. while the T-34's destroy anything in their way. At this point we had been playing for over 5 hours and decided to call the game a German minor victory as they managed to get some mobile units off the table and would, given enough time destroyed the balance of the Russian armour and infantry although at additional casualties.

So how did our little experiment play out? I think that the rules can provide a fair simulation of the events that transpired although it eludes us to find a way to recreate the human factor in a game of this size and scope. As we all know the Soviet armour was far superior to the German equipment yet the Germans were able to accomplish much more with less than their Soviet counterparts. Perhaps the folks at Battlefront will have some rules that can compensate for hindsight when their Barbarossa rules finally come out.

Good gaming!! Greg



Check out this paint job!

Hi all,
Here are some picture of a figure that my oldest son just finished. Nice work by my standards or anyone else's for that matter. But I am prejudiced. So see for yourself.

Note the sword and light on the back of the cape are all freehand. The figure is a warrior priest from Dungeons and Dragons but I do not know the manufacturer.

Greg

Ps. The figure is from Reaper Miniatures

http://www.reapermini.com/OnlineStore/60111/latest/60111

Fort Apache - Ancient Britain

Greetings to all.
Yesterday Mike hosted another ancient game at his house with his fine collection of figures. This time we had an extra added bit, a Roman fort with all the trimmings. Towers, gate, walls and ditch. This wonderful addition to our gaming is available from Atcheson Creations and a nice bit of work it is. I believe that Mike's was painted by the Evil Bob's PAinting Service but will post any corrections if this is incorrect.

So the scenario was an assault on the fort by some riotous and brave Celts from the Isles of Britain. We had 6 gamers plus our host Mike. Bill, Wendel, Phil, Ken, Larry and myself. Larry was destined to leave early so mike would take his place at that point. The rules we used are homegrown and were created for a specific game we ran at a convention many years earlier and used a tremendous number of figures. By my meager memory I believe that game had 1440 Celtic infantry, 96 to 144 Celtic cavalry and over 500 Romans and allies. It was really epic.

But I digress. The sides were Bill, Ken and Phil as the Celts and Wendel, Larry and myself as the Romans. From the beginning the Celts plan was to swamp one section of the fort to gain entrance.

A view of the fabulous Roman fort.

The heavily weighted Celtic Right flank.

Another view of the Celtic Right flank.

So the Celtic hordes begin their assault without wasting any time. Each commander gives his men an inspirational speech to stir them on to victory! This is a die roll and check on a table where the result can increase, decrease or have no effect on the units fighting ans morale. During the initial moves it is not really needed but seemed like fun.

Everyone had very good mobility. The Celts could move 16" per turn and the Romans had internal lines of movement and communication moving about 10" to 20" per turn.

The Romans began the game with missile troops lining the walls and 10 balista in support in the towers and on the walls. The Celts took a heavy beating with the missile fire causing them to reach the walls with some units near the breaking point.

The assault on the Roman Left flank.

 Another view of this attack.

A view of the Roman Right flank showing the Celtic attack meant to tie down Romans from participating in the defense of the Left flank.

After four turns of see saw fights for a foothold on the wall of the Romans left flank, an opening appears on the wall! It was just prior to this point that Larry had to depart and Mike took over for him.

 And the Celts take full advantage of this opportunity to get on the wall and into the fort.

 And now on the next turn another and much greater opportunity presents itself for the Celts. A large section (the entire left side of the fort!) is left without any troops to defend it and the Celts come pouring on to the wall.

Well this looked bad for Rome. but valiant counter attacks and the freeing up of troops from the Right flank, stole this victory from the brave and valiant Celts. A Roman victory and off to the woods for the Celtic warriors to tend to their wounded and fallen companions. Perhaps another day with more warriors and no less determination will carry the day to rid their homeland of the despised invaders.

Here as always, a couple of pictures from Mikes collection.

Romans from Foundry.

Roman cavalry but I did not get the manufacturer.

The Celtic hoard are Old Glory but sorry I do not have a picture to do them justice.

Thanks again to Mike for hosting anther gathering of gamers and letting us play with his wonderful toys. Everyone had a great time and as always the high point is the camaraderie enjoyed by all.



The Spanish are revolting! (No offence intended)

Well we had another Tactica game at Mikes house Saturday and as always we had nothing but fun.

I would like to note that all of our games are Tactica I as we have heard rumours (for over 5 years now) that there is a Tactica II that has been play tested and is ready to go but the author seems to have no intrest in publishing it. We have modified Tactica I so that we could use massive armies of our own configuration and not be bound to the lists in the rule book. Having said that, on to the game.

For this game Mike supplied two beautiful armies. A Republican Roman army led by Caito, and a Spanish Army led by an unnamed Spanish rebel who has managed to piece together enough of his friends and relatives to cause a sizable local revolt against Rome.

We only had 3 players able to make the game this time but as it turned out theis was enough for another great game and gathering of gamers and friends.

For this game we incorporated a few twists. Mike had a stream and some woods on the board. The stream was fordable at any point but cost 2" from your movement rate to cross or move along it. The woods posed no restrictions to the Spanish as we considered them semi-barbarian but cost the Romans and their allies 2" to move through them. We probably should have made the Romans disordered also but maybe at another date.
Here is the initial set up from the Spanish side.

And this is from the Roman side.

As you can see, it is a traditional deployment, with the cavalry on each flank and the main infantry forming the center line while some lights add their support.

The first turn is a general advance for each side with some deployment for the Spanish and Roman units. The Spanish are feeling a bit cramped and can not deploy as they want causing several units to be in reserve behind the main line.

Both of the above pictures are from the Spanish side of the board. And by the way, the players were Mike, Wendell and myself with me as the Spanish.

Turn two saw some fast and bloody fighting on the Spanish left flank as the cavalry on this flank clashed. Spain took 7 casualties and Rome 6. Out of 24 figures, this is some serious fighting. We also continued the general advance causing the light troops to become embroiled in melee also.

On turn 3 the troops were involved in melee across the board. The light troops fighting on the left center, cavalry on both flanks engaged and heavy infantry ready for the assault on each side. While the Spanish scramble to get into the fight, the Romans calmly arrange themselves for combat.

Turn 4 sees the first mele of the main troops. The light troops are for the most part finnished with their efforts and have been removed allowing the main troops to advance into contact. As per Tactica, the Romans get to throw their pilum just before melee. Along with this the Romans are heavy infantry and receive casualties on a roll of 5 or 6 while the Spanish being medium infantry will take casuaties on a 4, 5 or 6. Pilum cause a casualty on a roll of 6.

Well Wendell rolls the very first pilum attack and gets 6 6's out of 12 dice. WHAT A ROLL! Is this a sign of what is in store for the Spanish? Well 2 of the Spanish main units disolve to determined and deadly Roman attacks while the Roman cavalry defeat the Spanish cavalry on the left flank. The Spanish can take solice in winning the cavalry battle on their right flank.

Turn 5, more bad news for the Spanish. Wendell initiates another attack and throws his pilum for 5 casualties out of 12 dice! How can this be? We tell Wendell to hit the casino tonight. Two more main infantry units for Spain disolve. A Spanish infantry unit takes casualties that eaqual 1/3 of its total figures but they cause the Roman cavalry unit to check moral. And since it is Wendell rolling the dice, of course they make their save (a 10,11 or 12 on 2 d6).

Turn 6 and this is the last chance for the Spanish to do anything. They have engaged in combat at every point but have been decimated by the Roman superiority of arms (read this as dice). Rome again stands to the call and destroys 2 more Spanish main units. Game over, Rome wins. Not only does Rome win but they win a shutout. Rome did not loose a single main infantry unit!!!! How depressing for the Spanish commander. The revolt fails and it looks like the nameless Spanish rebel and his surviving followers will spend the rest of their lives as Roman slaves. well there could be the arena and a chance glory.

As always we had a great deal of fun and Mike was the consumate host allowing us to play with some of his outstanding collection. Here, as usual, is some eye candy.

Italian Allies

Spanish infantry

Spanish heavy cavalry

More Italian Allies

So thanks again to Mike and Wendell for an enjoyable afternoon! I hope that all will enjoy this and I thank those who take the time to join us through the magic of the internet.
Greg

Rome vs Numidia

Yesterday, Mike hosted another of his fine ancient games at his house. This games was Rome's 3rd Gallic Legion under the able command of Marc Anthony attempting to subdue and conquer the Numidian king Jurath who was supported by escaped slaves and former Roman soldiers. As always we used Tactica as our rules.

Mike supplied all of the troops and as always they were superbly painted and presented. Each side was evenly balanced with the only exception being that the 3rd Legion had more units armed with pilum and had the advantage of all it's heavy infantry being able to use the Roman maneuvering and deployment options while the Numidian force only had about half of their heavy infantry able to do the same (the ex Roman soldiers).
The Romans were played by Bill Weber and Jamie Welling (who's work I will show at the end of this report).
The Numidians were played by the game host Mike Adams and myself.

Here we can see the initial set up from the Roman side of the table.

And this view is from the Numidian side.

After some adjusting for the personal tastes of each commander and the initial Numidian first move (they won the initiative roll and decided to move first) we ended up like this. Here we can also see one of the Roman generals (Bill) either expressing his immense dislike of the Numidians or boredom. Could go either way.

We can see that the Numidians were in no way going to sit back and let the Romans dictate how this battle was to play out. Taking the initiative, they begin their advance toward the Romans.

During the next two moves, the Romans advanced their cavalry on each flank to impact the Numidians opposite them. This view is from the Roman right and Numidian left flanks. As you can see there are great cavalry battles on each flank with each side hoping to defeat the other and thus allowing them to sweep in behind their enemy's main battle line. In addition the Numidians had continued the advance of their heavy infantry.

Here is a closeup of the cavalry action on the Numidian right flank. This was after the Numidian light cavalry was beaten by the Roman light cavalry. This flank was comanded by Jamie for the Romans and Mike for the Numidians.

Here we have a closeup of the Numidian left flank and the Roman right flank. The Romans on this flank were commanded by Bill and the Numidians by yours truely. This view has the Numidians at the bottom of the picture.

These cavalry actions were vicious as much could depend on their outcomes. Each side desperate to delay the others attempt to break out behind their foe. Many crucial saves were made by each side in these hard fought battles.

As the Numidians continued thair advance towards the Romans, their goal was to close with the enemy before any Roman cavalry could make an impact on the battle's outcome. Time was on the side of Rome and the Numidians needed to crush the Roman center before any results on the flanks effected the game.

This view shows the Numidian right flank crashing into the Roman left. The Romans fought like devils but the Numidian commader gave as good as he got.

Here you can see the action on the Numidan left flank. The Romans have crashed through the Numidian center and have turned towards their right to flank the Numidian heavy infantry. The unit in column on the left is a Numidian unit made up of former Legionaires. By this point in the game the Romans had defeated the Numidian cavalry on both flanks, but did the Numidians hold them off long enough to prevent them from having any effect on the game?

Going toe to toe, the battle for the center was a close thing. At one point it looked to be an overwhelming Roman victory but then as fate would have it the balance swung towards the Numidians! Could they bring off the upset? Would history be changed? Will I ever stop doing this? No! No! A thousand times no!

ROME WINS! But they had to do it the hard way without their cavalry.

The game was great fun for all and a the bantering and camaraderie were even more entertaining.

Many thanks again to Mike for hosting this game and allowing us to play with his wonderful toys.

Here are some pictures to feast upon.

Here is some of Jamie's handy work. What a talented painter. I will have more from him in the future.

So thanks to all who have visited my little world. I hope that you found this entertaining and I hope to add more content on a regular basis. Keep gaming!

Greg

Hello to all and my deepest apologies for this long absence. I have been buried at work and also have taken on some large home projects that have eaten up all my spare time.

As you may know, I have been 0 forever in trying to gain a gaming victory. With such a long dry spell (over a year) I was wondering if old age was finally taking its toll. But I am very happy to report that this has all changed and my wins at least recently have shifted in my favor.

I really trained hard for the Mid-War Flames of War tournament at this years Adepticon and it paid off. Last year I struggled to take last place and this year I finished ninth! A vast improvement. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of the people who helped make the Flames of War events at Adepticon such a pleasant and memorable experience. The team from Game Korps who ran the Flames of War events and supplied the boards and judges, and all of the players who participated. Everyone was a great sport and I could not find a single incident that could have detracted from the experience of the event. Each of my opponents were gentlemen and fine examples of perfect gamers.

Last year I fielded a Fucilieri Battalion. This year, in keeping with my heritage, I brought a Cari Company. this gave me much more flexibility and allowed me to win two out of three of my games. My one loss was to Paul DeVolpi who fielded a Russian tank company complete with KV-1's. Paul's steady advance with his heavy tanks and my lack of anything that could stop them except for three German manned anti tank guns, wore me down to the break point and my company left for the rear. Having won the other two games was a great boost to my confidence and a break in my loosing streak.

Sadly I do not have any pictures of the event. Again advancing years and distractions caused me to forget to bring the old camera. On a better note though I was able to meet friends from last year's event and catch up on news from them while enjoying their company in person once more.

Extra!! British and Italians clash on Egyptian border.

Greetings to all who gather here.
We had another Flames of War game on Sunday. This was the early war in North Africa, British vs Italian.
The British players commanded an Armoured Regiment of about 2500 points. Wendel and Bill were the two British commanders. Bill was in charge of the British right flank and Wendel was in charge of the left flank.
The Italian players fielded a Bersaglieri Company of about 1925 points. Greg Jr., Eric and Greg Sr. (myself) commanded the Italian forces. Eric commanded the Italian right flank with the second in command while Gregory commanded the left flank as overall commander and I handled the mobile forces.

The scenario was a free for all and the British were the attackers as they were armoured and the Italians were an infantry company. Our table had sparse terrain as we were trying to portray the desert area of Lybia near the Egyptian border. There was a village on the Italian left flank with a wadi running across the center of the table.

Here is a rundown of the forces involved:
British - Tank Regiment
Regimental HQ - 4 A-10 tanks
Heavy Cruiser company - 2 platoons of A-13 tanks with 3 tanks in each platoon
Light Cruiser company - HQ platoon with 1 A-10 tank and 2 A-9 tanks and 2 companies of 3 A-9 tanks each
Light Armoured company - 3 platoons of MkIV tanks 4 in the HQ platoon and 3 tanks in each of the other platoons
Anti Tank Platoon - 2 25lb guns in portee
Royal Horse Artillery Troop - 4 25lb guns

Italians - Bersaglieri Company
HQ with attached Solothurn A/T rifle
2 platoons of Bersaglieri infantry upgraded to Rifle/MG teams
Bersaglieri MG platoon
Bersaglieri A/T platoon with 3 47mm A/T guns
Bersaglieri Mortar platoon with 3 tubes
Cari Platoon of 5 M13/40 medium tanks
Medium Tank platoon with 5 M11/39 tanks
Demolisher Platoon
Cannon Battery - 4 75/27 guns with observer
Howitzer Battery - 4 105/28 guns with observer
A/T platoon - 4 47mm A/T guns
Light AA platoon - 2 20/65 guns portee
Limited air support - Fiat Falco with bombs

The British had the first move and used it to cover their advance into a small village on their right flank. They also fired the Royal Horse artillery in an effort to suppress the Italian Guns on that flank. This was part of their overall strategy to sweep the Italian left flank and take the objective that was there. The British fire was ineffective.
The Italians tried to dig in their infantry and man packed guns on their first turn as the British had not presented any targets for them. The Italian strategy for this game was to present as small a target as possible while pounding away at the British in an attempt to force them in making moral checks and driving them from the field due to losses. The Italians on the right flank managed to dig in but those on the left were having a difficult time of it. The Italian Air Force failed to make an appearance and the Italians fired their two artillery batteries but failed to cause any significant damage.

On turn two both sides continued with their strategy. The British were occupying the town on their right while posing a threat on their left. The Italians were trying to dig in their troops and inflict damage from afar with their artillery. This turn the Italian Air Force arrived to do its duty but were driven off by the RAF (rare as fairies).
Here is a shot of the game at turn three from the British side of the table. Note the time delay as the author forgot to take pictures of the previous turns even though he remembered to set up the camera the day before.

Here you can see the British in the town on their right and the placement of their artillery and anti tank guns. Also you may note the placement of the Italian troops across the way. On the British right is a Bersaglieri platoon with 3 anti tank guns with the mortars and 105 guns in support. Also the Italian commander is in this position as well.

A better shot of the village.

In this picture you can see a force of British tanks rushing to attack the Italian platoon of M11/39 tanks represented in our game by L6 light tanks. Also you can see the other main force of Italians holding their right flank. A Bersaglieri platoon with 4 47mm anti tank guns and the 75mm artillery in support. On close examination I see that this picture is at the end of turn three after the Italian commander of the right flank, Eric, inflicted a devastating barrage of fire from his anti  tank guns at the British armour crossing his path. He destroyed all but 1 tank in this show of Italian marksmanship. Sadly though on the Italian left flank commander Greg Jr. was having a devil of a time getting his troops to dig in. Something about brave men do not cower in the dirt. The Air force arrived on time only to be driven off by those pesky British fighters.

Here we see the Italian right flank with the platoon of M13/40 tanks advancing on the objective guarded by a British Cruiser platoon. Their advance started out well and they suppressed their foe by causing the tank crews to bail out but failed in destroying any vehicles.

Here we jump to turn 5. The British advance out of the village to bring their strategy to a successful conclusion. The British tanks produced a tremendous volume of fire that decimated the Italian left flank. The anti tank guns were destroyed, the Bersaglieri company blasted away, the light AA platoon gone, with only the brave company commander and his guns left standing!

Here the platoon of M11/39 tanks make last ditch effort to destroy the British HQ but to no avail. All this time Eric had been trying to support his brother officer with artillery fire but it was not enough.

Even though more than half of  the Italian company was still intact and very capable of carrying on the fight, they were forced to admit defeat as the British occupied and held the objective on their right as there were not any Italian forces close enough to challenge them.

All in all a great game. My sons (Greg and Eric) had played their first Flames of War game but they are not strangers to gaming by any means having grown up on roll playing and board games. Alas, my losing streak remains intact. A very well played game by Wendel and Bill who are each great gamers as well as good sports. Maybe I will have better luck next time.
Greg