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eldannardoFiled under: Marlburian, Wargaming, Wargaming works in progress, Warhammer Ancient Battles, World War One
Latest painting update.
Just finished another Pagenses and an Uchelwyr for my last unit of Combrogi. The corollary has been the reduction of the teulu by 2 figures, but I think it will be worth it. The unit will still contain 14 figures, and as none of units is bigger than 28 figures, it should hopefully still avoid opponents being able to FBIGO.
Warhammer Great War sees me needing to paint another 36 Germans and 20 British troops. Dan has taken on board some of the Brits as well. So I have just put the base coat and highlights down for a further 10 German infantry. I plan to paint them in 2 lots of 10 and 1 of 16. The 16 are all to be painted with camouflage helmets, which is why they are separate.
I have also undercoated and painted the chainmail on my first unit of Caballeros Hidalgos for El Cid. All can be seen here:
Finally I have decided that I will begin the Marlburian project. Every month I will purchase a unit of either 18 infantry or 6 cavalry. The mission is to have this unit painted by the time the next order arrives, without falling behind with any other projects. I’m pretty sure that I can do it! My first battalion will of course be the British Foot Guards. The rules will be Under the Lily Banners by Barry Hilton.
Nate
On Saturday we played out a battle from the Great War, in order to learn the rules. As with every first game it was a bit of a slog as play slowed for us to search the rulebook and we came to grips with the nuances. So on Sunday we relaxed with a game of WAB (where we are still coming to grips with some of the rules…).
We flicked through the Age of Arthur book for a scenario and decided on the Battle of Mount Agned as we hadn’t played it before and it gave a straight up 1500 point fight. In the photos that follow, the movements of the Saxons (Angles) are marked in blue, the British in Red. Combat is marked in yellow.
Here are the armies after deployment. Dan tried something new, which was to mass his troops on the flank that my Teulu weren’t on.
The first move sees everyone head for the crest of the Mount. The skirmishers unleash on each other, with one Saxon falling casualty. In a cunning move, the Saxon horse turn and march for the centre of the battlefield, having lured the Teulu out to the right.
The sides edge closer and continue firing. The Teulu get restless and charge the Skirmishers, only to see them fire and flee. The centre unit of Combrogi turns in anticipation of hitting the Gedricht in the flank as support for their friends to the left. The left unit of Combrogi stand still – they will need their Shieldwall to try to survive the onslaught of the Gedricht!
With the battle in full swing I forgot the photo at the end of Turn Three! Basically, the Saxon right flank charged in. The Pagenses were swept away by the Duguth at the top of the battlefield. The Gedricht charged as foreseen, but in order to hold up the supporting Combrogi unit, the Saxon Skirmishers charged into them! This was completely unnecessary, as the Gedricht ripped through the Combrogi front rank, broke their morale and hacked them down as they ran. The interesting side of this was that the Combrogi in the centre destroyed the Skirmishers and pursued them past the watchtower.
At the bottom of the battlefield, the Duguth charged the Combrogi and the Skirmishers and Pagenses clashed. The first combat was a stalemate, but the second saw the Pagenses sweep the Skirmishers away and charge down to the bottom of the hill, where the rallied skirmishers routed by the Teulu in turn two were waiting.
In the meantime, the Teulu began their turning manoeuvre.
In turn four the Gedricht and right flank Duguth turn around. The mounted Duguth charge into the Combrogi who had about faced at the end of Turn Three. The Duguth lose heavily, but stand firm, leaving the Combrogi with a horribly exposed rear (titter)!
The Teulu continued their turning manoeuvre.
As feared, the Gedricht and Duguth charge into the rear of the beleaguered Combrogi. Despite taking down the last 2 mounted Duguth, they are soundly beaten. Morale collapses and they try to flee, but with no direction of escape, are mercilessly cut down. The Saxons give a particular shout of glee as the Sacerdot loses his final wound. In the previous round of combat the Mounted Thegn had issued a challenge to him, and inflicted the first blow. Warlord Danwulf particularly dislikes these militant Christian types!
The surviving skirmishers charge into the Pagenses, but the wild men of the west have their tails up now and rout them from the board. Unfortunately, they follow them off it…
The Combrogi on the ridge line finally destroy the Duguth, and cut them down in pursuit, particularly angry at the death of Sam the Sacerdot!
The Teulu finish their turning manoeuvre – finally!
Taken on a different angle, this shows the battlefield from the British side.
The Teulu crash into the Gedricht from close range and rain down hammer blows upon them! It is too much for the Gedricht, even with their Army Standard Bearer reroll. They break and run, only 10″! Surely the Teulu will run them down, but no! They only roll 9″ in pursuit! It is enough to bring them into contact with the Duguth, but that is all. The surviving mounted Thegn decides things are getting too hot and runs away. The Combrogi advance towards the tower, but it is too late! it is the end of turn 6 and the game is over. No one has secured the tower decisively and it is starting to get cold and dark and it is time for tea… a bloody draw!
Dan’s ploy almost worked. It took me 5 turns to get the Teulu into a place where they would be effective. This is the problem with such a wide unit. I could make it three ranks for manoeuvre, but as we play the optional rule of being unable to reform within 8″ of the enemy, this would limit the ability to add width in a hurry. I may consider dropping a couple of cavalry and put a character in my third unit of Combrogi. I need to check to see that I have enough character points for that. But the smaller the Teulu get, the easier it is for opposition to FBIGO (fall back in good order) instead of routing. It is a bit of a toss up really.
Anyway, it was a good game to end the weekend on.
Nate
This was our first outing of Warhammer Great War, excluding a brief playtest when the rules first showed up. As such, we wanted to both try everything out, so i made a scenario where both sides would be attacking and we could use our 1500 point army lists. First thing to note - two 1500 point sides is a long game! Please excuse the unpainted figures on the table. Neither of us has had the time to finish painting our armies, but it is the priority!
Anyway, on to the battle:
We did alternate deployment. I chose to leave two companies in reserve as I felt that this was historically what happened. Dan massed the British on the Serre Road.
In the following, green lines are German movement, blue lines are British and red lines indicate fire. Red circles indicate hand to hand combats.
The first move was predictable enough. The British began their advance up the Serre road. In the south the Germans left their trenches for a flanking attack with the flamethrower team. At this stage shooting was pretty effective, but not crushingly so. The German battalion command moved behind the trench line towards the road, sensing that it may have to hold the line until the reserves arrived.
Turn two saw the advances continue, and the Mark IV moved forward to exchange fire with the A7V. Tank vs tank combat proved to be as ineffective as it was in history! No reserves arrived and the German AT gun and mortar were destroyed. The Stosstruppen holding the trenches were taking plenty of casualties, but also inflicting a few too. (apologies for the lack of arrows in this turn).
Turn Three saw the British infantry assault and destroy the A7V. Unfortunately their grenades hit the ammunition for the 57mm gun and the tank exploded in a devastating way, taking out most of the assaulting British! The Stosstruppen reserves showed up in the nick of time, rushing to occupy the wall of La Signy Farm and the now practically empty trench. British fire had decimated the holding platoon. The troops holding La Signy farm were also suffering heavily, but the battalion command placed itself to make sure that they could firm up the troops. Meanwhile the British were on the verge of their assault on La Signy farm.
Turn Four saw the British pour fire into their intended objectives. The Reserve Stosstruppen platoon that had occupied the empty trench were cut down almost to a man! The advance guard of the assault on the farm reached the farm wall, but a shot from the supporting mortar scattered back onto its own men! Not only did several members of the platoon face the end of their game, the unit was pinned as well!
Things had been looking grim for the German line when the Stormtroop Company arrived. They swept into the battle, assaulting the leading British formations and cutting through them! The battle had reached a turning point!
Ignore the shot from the 18pdr that says the mortar was destroyed. That was intended for turn two!
The Germans go over to the offensive, not wanting to lose the momentum of their attack. In every combat of hand to hand they are totally successful, not losing a figure. But there aren’t that many of them, and shooting keeps whittling down their numbers. Even those British units falling back continue to fire their Lewis guns. In the South the Flamethrower team finally reaches the hedgeline. Can they get past the assault party and occupy the road corner?
The British Assault party throw back the flamethrower team with their shooting. There simply won’t be enough turns to take the road now! Meanwhile the Stormtroop counterattack continues, scything through the British in hand to hand, aided by their bombing ability. But always suffering casualties. It might have even been worse for the Germans, but at about this stage Dan started rolling the worst dice I have ever seen. Five 1s and three 2s for his HMG? Oh dear…
What is left of the two forces engage in a desperate struggle in front of the Sugar factory. The hand to hand combats continue to be fast and decisive, but the familiar pattern is still there. Only the Battalion commander’s leadership rating is keeping any troops still going. And at the end of this turn the sole survior of the Stosstruppen platoon that was in the first reserve wave begins to fall back. In the north, the mortar crew pull out rifles and pin their attackers. In the south the flamethrower team pushes pointlessly on.
The final turn. The Germans assault and occupy the Sugar Factory, but there are only five of them, representing three different units. They can’t claim the victory points. In the south the flamethrower team and assault party are still largely intact, but have not managed to do anything decisive. The battle is over and it is a very bloody draw!
So what lessons did I learn from that?
First of all, the Stormtroopers and Stosstruppen are devastating troops and move like lightning. Their extra d6/6″ gives them a huge counterattacking advantage. If you make them bombers, their assault power is overwhelming. In this game only the Stormtroopers were bombers, but they were exceptionally effective. On the other hand, there are very few bodies to soak up the bullets, and it was telling that for all of their assault power, they simply didn’t have the numbers to achieve their objective.
The Brits mounted a human wave attack and it very nearly paid off. As they don’t have any troops that can zip about the board like the Germans, they must go on the offensive early and be prepared to take a lot of fire. For this reason, fielding the maximum unit strength is important for them. Dan was not convinced that having a field gun was particularly useful, and despite some notable target kills (the German Mortar team), he is probably right.
I’m still not convinced that Dan massed his troops in the best place, not used his tank effectively. But just one tank is a pretty ineffective toy to have. I don’t think I’d bother taking one for the Germans again. It draws fire for a while and distracts the opponent, but it is a pretty pricey distraction. If the Brits had two tanks, it might be more effective for them. An attack on the centre of the ridge with two tanks and a company of troops might have been a better help to the attack on the farm. It would certainly have meant that the Stormtrooper and Stosstruppen Reserves would have been less concentrated and easier to deal with.
Trenches and hedges may give cover saves, but don’t rely on them. I had two platoons who never left the trenches almost totally wiped out. Mortars are particularly effective for this, and I would recommend taking the maximum number of mortars in attack or defence. Same with HMGs. Dan was of the opinion that if we played a lengthways Blitz mission HMGs and Mortars would be more of a hindrance on the attack as they can’t move and fire. I guess so, but using them to support an advance in stages is historically accurate.
So what will I do with my attacking army list now? I think that I will go to an assault battalion with a Stormtrooper Company as support. The Stormtroops will be three platoons strong, two armed with Lewis guns, and one with a flamethrower. They will all be bombers. The 2 Assault Companies will be 2 full platoons strong each. It just gives a few extra bodies, and that is important in this game. I’ll price this up and work out the support and see if it is viable.
Not too sure what Dan will do with his list other than drop the field gun and maybe work another tank in – or maybe no tank at all. I thought the British came very close to winning the game, but a few bad dice rolls and pinning his own attack didn’t really help.
Two 1500 point armies is a BIG battle. The purpose of teh game was to learn the rules properly and try out everything in our army lists to see how it performed. In that sense, it was a success. But I’d definitely recommend only 1000 vs 1000 or 1500 vs 750 point games for the future.
Finally, the thing that we both agree on is DON’T think that you are playing Warhammer 40,000. We got caught out with the rules several times as they were not what we had expected. Great War is its own game, so be aware of that!
Nate
Filed under: Uncategorized
On 29th March 1918 the German Spring offensive ‘Michael’ was well underway. The British Expeditionary Force was in retreat and there was a dangerous gap forming in the front of the Third Army. Into this gap was thrown the best reserves possible – the Australians and New Zealanders. On the 29th the 1st Rifle battalion made the initial contact at an old Sugar Factory. This Battalion was hard pressed until the arrival of the 2 Auckland battalions and the 2nd Rifle battalion. These troops were tasked with capturing the Serre ridge and linking up with the 4th Aussie Division at Hebuterne.
This scenario is based on the Aucklander’s attack on the Serre ridge. There was a ridgeline where the Germans had established themselves, a hollow in front of it, at the top of which was a hedgeline, and behind which was a sunken road. The Aucklanders pushed through the hedgeline and took the defences on the right, but were slower closer to the road and had to wait until dark for success. I’ve set up the terrain as below:
The New Zealand player has to capture the defences on the Serre ridge (20 victory points each) and La Signy farm (40 points). The German player (remember this is still the great German offensive – they are attacking too!) needs to capture the Sugar Factory and the bend in the sunken road (40 points each). At the end of the game, the player with the most scoring units in objectives, or who last occupied those objectives (allowing troops to attack and pursue the enemy rather than simply holding ground), will count those points. Casualties are immaterial for victory points.
Dan and I will play this tomorrow morning. I’ll let you know how it goes!
Nate
They came yesterday, many thanks to Caliver Books (always get great service from them). I based them up last night, and here’s a picture of the French army.
If you are wondering what the Imperialists look like, well, they are identical. Should these guys expand into a BBDBD (Big Battle DBD) army then there might start to be a little variation. The Imperialists would need Croats, Cuirassiers and Grenz. The French would need, ummm, more French! I might have a solo game today to try the rules out.
Nate
As would be obvious to anyone who has followed this blog, my twin passions are the First World War and the Age of Marlborough. The first of these I am happily set to game, with the new Warhammer rules and plenty of figures (including 38 more to paint!). The other I have notyet found any rules that I like, nor do I currently have the finances or time to embark on creating vast hordes of Front Rank figures. I am hopeful of winning the lottery, but as I don’t take tickets, it is quite unlikely. Looks like it will be my long-term goal…
Anyway, in the meantime I thought I could still game in the age of Louis XIV, but on a small scale and in a bit earlier period than Marlborough. The 1670s and Turenne and Montecuccoli to be exact, using Pendraken 10mm figures. I can get 2 armies together quickly if I look at using rules based on DBA. There are the Humberside Gamers extension for DBA, but I would like my Pike to be integrated into my shot elements, so I’ve devised my own period specific supplement – De Bellis Denticulati – the Lace Wars (apologies for my Latin). The only problem is that I’ve neglected to take account of the effect of the new troop types on the old troop types. This is something I will look into soon. In the meantime I’ll post them here:
The main reason for going with something as small and simple as DBA is that I want to play solo campaigns and fight the battles out when I have spare time. I’m planning on using Google Earth to give me a good idea of wnat my battlefields will look like and to produce a hex map of the Rhineland campaigning area. The two armies will be 12 element Imperialist and French armies. If I really get into it, these might be followed by Dutch, Spanish, English and another French army. The basic force for both sides is 5 cavalry, 5 mixed infantry 1 Artillery and 1 Dragoons.
When the Pendraken figures arrive I’ll post pictures.
Nate
Dan sent these to me a little while ago. The barbed wire stands are for Warhammer Great War. The other terrain is generic – kind of 40K, kind of Thrilling Tales Gothic Ruins.
Nate
I’ve been busy with the paint brush in the last couple of days. I wanted to get the Flames of War 88s finished. I wasn’t too concerned with intricate detail in my painting; all I wanted was a result that would look OK on the wargames table. Here is the finished product:
and a close up showing the poor painting on the infantry:
I’ve also been working on a battalion of French Napoleonics using 1/72 HaT figures. I haven’t quite cleaned up the flag yet, but was keen to get the pictures up anyway. I’m going to use the Warhammer rules for them, and thought I’d demonstrate the different formations available. First up – Line:
Next, the Column:
And finally, Square:
I’m quite happy with how they have come out. I’ll do a small division a side with French and probably Austrians (my other favourite Napoleonic side).
Dan’s been busy too, building terrain stuff, more of that next post.
Nate
Filed under: Wargaming works in progress
It has been a hectic month and a bit since my last posts, so here is a brief update.
Dan and I had a weekend of dedicated gaming fun about 4 (or was it 5) weeks ago. First up was a WAB game. Idecided that I would try something different and let my Combrogi take the brunt of battle. I wanted to see what the army could do if it didn’t rely on the Teulu. By turn 2 it was obvious I was in deep doodoo! The Teulu rushed in to try to rectify the situation (with some pretty dodgy manoeuvring which was, by and large, not allowed) and were appropriately carved up. It is the first game that Dan has won since I gave the Teulu finest armour to go with their finest horses. It definitley gave me a clear indication of where the army’s strength lies!
Next was a Legends of the High Seas Campaign. Three battles in a row, and in all three I am happy to say that my little pirate crew performed very well. I lost one of my mates, Jiggly Jane, along the way, but was easily able to afford to replace her with her cousin, Jiggly Joan, so that was fine. My other mate, Easy Lizzie, has suffered a defence impairing wound which is unfortunate. Teo cutthroats, Rancid Ron and Backwater Bob, became Heroes. Quartermaster Jim ‘the Book’ Cook was captured but managed to escape. Origami the Chinaman was killed in his first outing. Heaps of character in these games – thoroughly enjoyable!
Above: My set up, minus the blue sea-cloth. Not from the game, taken just after I’d finished the beach sections.
Finally, we played a game of Warhammer Great War, just to try it out. We didn’t do points, just a couple of platoons a side with no real objective, just to see how the rules worked. We liked them, but several things were quite obvious – be careful to space your figures 2″ apart in order to get a 6+ save; avoid trying to attack where there are Heavy Machine Guns (should be obvious, but in limited terrain..?); try to end all movement in some sort of cover.
The hand to hand seemed to go on and on, with new troops joining the melee all the time. It is also quite random, and I definitely suggest shooting as many opponents as possible before hand to hand happens!
The Great War is our priority project now with Dan painting up the rest of the Brits and me the Germans. Then there is the rest of the terrain – some trenches (scrapes or foxholes), barbed wire and maybe another couple of buildings. We have our major trench system terrian boards to finish too.
lately i decided that I would finish off the German Flames of War that we bought a couple of months back. I also thought I’d see if I could repaint the tanks any better tha nthey were. I started last weekend.
First up, the repainted StuG. I might have gone a bit overboard on the green and brown in the camo, so I’ll try to cut back on the next tank. I was pleased with the result of the blacklining though, and of the whole effect in general. I lost a bit of detail by painting over what was already there, but the final result justifies it on a whole.
This is the staff car for the 88mm battery. This was painted from scratch, and I’m pleased with the result. It may have ended up a little too ochre, but I won’t complain. I’m pretty laissez faire with painting WW2 colours. I just always feel that people get far too anal about it. After all, there were many different shades and schemes from one unit to the next, and even within units.
Holidays are upon us, so there should be a bit more regular updating going on with any luck!
Nate
