The Germans while heavily outnumbered made their troop quality and superior firepower count. The high velocity armament out ranged the approaching Sherman's with only the Firefly's in the opening hours able to dual at a distance with the Panther Battalion on the left, the Jadgpanthers supported by Tigers in the centre and the probing advance on the right by a Panzer IV battalion.
The British outnumbered the Germans by at lest 3 to one but had to close the range to give the Sherman's a chance to make their guns tell. Meanwhile the British infantry battalion debussed and occupied the town of Borouex where they dug in and managed to repel an attempt by German infantry to dislodge them from the North East part of town. This was thanks to the close bombardment called in which supressed the assaulting Germans.
The jadgpanthers and tigers were knocking out Sherman's consistently in the centre where the weight of numbers of the Shermans meant a few shells found their marks. The British advanced their reserves to the ridge line in the form of a company of Achilles and the lended weight of their 17pdrs quickly saw a couple of platoons of Jagdpanthers brewing up.
The threat of German air power was ever present but failed to materialise.
Over on the left the Panther Battalion wiped the 2nd tank battalion out to a vehicle and nothing was opposing them other than some dug in infantry within a wood. Other than them the Panthers could quickly roll up the British flank.
As night fell, the British still held the town and the volumes of British vehicles now had the range closed on the centre and right which meant that the German losses were starting to be felt harder than the British ones. However, with the Panthers soon able to bring their guns to the centre would have meant that the outcome would have been difficult to guess.
Conclusion
A very enjoyable game and a number of times the command and control rules meant that we couldn't just do what we wanted to do. For example, I wanted to change my orders on the infantry on the left to support the Sherman's facing the Panthers. However, I gave them orders at the beginning to occupy the Woods and then take up defence positions. I failed on two turns to issue orders which meant that my Shermans were outgunned by the panthers and quickly destroyed.
The Germans had the best of the early part of the game as their initiative bonus and better quality of troops very often meant a hard earned suppression in a panther was recovered. Their superior guns meant that they ruled the long/mid range engagement, but only when the Sherman's swallowed hard and moved to close the gap with the fireflies and Achilles in the rear to provide support did the British get the kills.
Artillery was effective, even though you are rolling to suppress tanks. However, because they fired first the effect of artillery is effective, but subtle. The Brits having 12 x 25pdrs (admittedly half couldn't range in for most of the game) meant that they had superiority over the Germans in this respect.
Germans had a chance of Air support, but it never materialised (relief) which showed it to be quite an expensive resources with minimal chance of turning up....
A very enjoyable game... roll on the next one.
Friday 19 November 2010
Thursday 18 November 2010
Spearhead Revisited
After a successful 1st innings of the Spearhead rule set Paul and I are taking things a bit easier and we are hoping to get to grips with the rules and nail the command and control and spotting aspects. It seems really alien as a wargamer who can see the whole battlefield not to move their forces to counteract some unseen threat from the ground. That is what really intrigues me with this ruleset as you can have your forces marching blindly into an ambush, but cant do anything about it (or try to) until the ambush has been sprung and they have engaged with the enemy. Recon, Recon, Recon!!.
Very realistic, which I think most rule sets I have played don't allow.
We are playing a moving engagement between British and German forces set in the Normandy Countryside.
Very realistic, which I think most rule sets I have played don't allow.
We are playing a moving engagement between British and German forces set in the Normandy Countryside.
Monday 15 November 2010
Day 1 of operation Epsom
Our first game of Spearhead was a success!
The rules played very well, and even though it was our first game and as a result missed some parts of the rules, the feeling and the outcome seemed spot on.
The British advance over the river Odon with the two bridges quickly became a bottle neck. The armoured reconnaissance advanced to the wood line and spotted entrenched German infantry and SPGs. Before they could radio in the recon was brewing up!
With the British infantry in the rear of the armoured column the armoured regiment engaged the entrenched infantry and SPGs which had effectively blunted the advance. In addition the German FO was calling in howitzer support which left the approaching British column confused and dazed.
Over on the right flank the German Panzer's started rolling, fortunately the British right had advanced with dismounted infantry and had enough time to deploy the attached 17lbs which now laid in waiting for the advancing panzer's. When they opened up, the lead units of Panzer's were quickly wrecked. As the Panzer commander couldn't pinpoint where this fire was coming from orders to fall back were issue and obeyed.
Back to the left the British infantry had been brought up and hard fighting follwed to try and dislodge the dug in engineers from the wood.
As darkness fell, the British forces had established a strong bridge head with further armour, infantry and supplies still rumbling over the Odon late into the night
The Germans had blunted the British offensive with minimal losses, hopefully giving the time to mobilize the Panzer reserves for the British offensive on Hill 112 which will surely continue in the early hours of the morning.
Observations:
We used a lot of kit for the first game and perhaps bit off a bit too much.
Didn't use the indirect fire factors for artillery which would make them not as powerful
Infantry anti tank fire was wrong. Not the same as normal AT fire, so again a bit too keen.
Could be useful to have a crib sheet to record losses to easily assess break points for regiments (Nev's idea).
Vehicle who fire can only move at combat speed (1/2)
Roll on the next scuffle!
The rules played very well, and even though it was our first game and as a result missed some parts of the rules, the feeling and the outcome seemed spot on.
The British advance over the river Odon with the two bridges quickly became a bottle neck. The armoured reconnaissance advanced to the wood line and spotted entrenched German infantry and SPGs. Before they could radio in the recon was brewing up!
With the British infantry in the rear of the armoured column the armoured regiment engaged the entrenched infantry and SPGs which had effectively blunted the advance. In addition the German FO was calling in howitzer support which left the approaching British column confused and dazed.
Over on the right flank the German Panzer's started rolling, fortunately the British right had advanced with dismounted infantry and had enough time to deploy the attached 17lbs which now laid in waiting for the advancing panzer's. When they opened up, the lead units of Panzer's were quickly wrecked. As the Panzer commander couldn't pinpoint where this fire was coming from orders to fall back were issue and obeyed.
Back to the left the British infantry had been brought up and hard fighting follwed to try and dislodge the dug in engineers from the wood.
As darkness fell, the British forces had established a strong bridge head with further armour, infantry and supplies still rumbling over the Odon late into the night
The Germans had blunted the British offensive with minimal losses, hopefully giving the time to mobilize the Panzer reserves for the British offensive on Hill 112 which will surely continue in the early hours of the morning.
Observations:
We used a lot of kit for the first game and perhaps bit off a bit too much.
Didn't use the indirect fire factors for artillery which would make them not as powerful
Infantry anti tank fire was wrong. Not the same as normal AT fire, so again a bit too keen.
Could be useful to have a crib sheet to record losses to easily assess break points for regiments (Nev's idea).
Vehicle who fire can only move at combat speed (1/2)
Roll on the next scuffle!
Tuesday 2 November 2010
Spearhead
Our Micro forces have been dusted off and tarted up.
Prelude...
The Channel storm of 19-22 June delayed the arrival of the three new divisions (the 7th Armoured had already landed), with the result that Epsom was postponed until 26th June. Because of strong German positions on high ground to the west (the British right flank), 49th Division (known as the Polar Bears after their distinctive shoulder badge) were to attack Fontenay and Rauray a day before the main assault to secure the high ground the Germans occupied. This attack went in on 25th June, so by 26th, the German defenders – mostly 12th SS Hitlerjugend Division (Hitler Youth) – on Hill 112 were expecting an attack. The attack was launched at 0730 hours with a tremendous artillery barrage, rather like a First World War set-piece infantry attack. Amongst the indirect fire support assets were three RN cruisers anchored offshore and firing shells accurately fifteen miles inland! The first objective was to reach and force a crossing over the Odon river. As the opening barrage crept forward one hundred yards every three minutes, the infantry of the 15th Scottish division, moved confidently forward, supported by Churchill tanks...
Epsom night will hopefully concentrate on the bridgehead gained by the 15th across the river Odon and Major-General George Roberts commander of the 11th Armoured Divisions breakout and push on to Baron and Hill 112 with a view to control the high ground that overlooks Caen and cut it off from support before the 9th SS Pz Division and 21st Pz Division in turn cut the salient.
Even with Spearhead, the orders of battle for Epsom would mean a lot of kit so we will only be using a fraction of the forces involved in Epsom.
Lets see if the Brits can get to the Hill. Watch out for the Panthers!
The preliminary bombardment begins...
4th November will be Operation Epsom!
Spearhead rules are for divisional combat and should give a taste of bigger type WW2 battles....James Montgomery Mills will be leading the British attack hopefully to smash his way around Caen ...
It has been reported that elements of the 12th SS panzer Division "HitlerJugend" division will be in the contested area commanded by the Obergruppenführer Josef "Sepp" Dietrich and his wily crew.
The game will be played using an Umpire with hidden deployment and Orders and off table Artillery support, hopefully the game will inspire the FOW players to see the possibilities of larger type games using 1/300th scale mini's.
It has been reported that elements of the 12th SS panzer Division "HitlerJugend" division will be in the contested area commanded by the Obergruppenführer Josef "Sepp" Dietrich and his wily crew.
The game will be played using an Umpire with hidden deployment and Orders and off table Artillery support, hopefully the game will inspire the FOW players to see the possibilities of larger type games using 1/300th scale mini's.
Prelude...
The Channel storm of 19-22 June delayed the arrival of the three new divisions (the 7th Armoured had already landed), with the result that Epsom was postponed until 26th June. Because of strong German positions on high ground to the west (the British right flank), 49th Division (known as the Polar Bears after their distinctive shoulder badge) were to attack Fontenay and Rauray a day before the main assault to secure the high ground the Germans occupied. This attack went in on 25th June, so by 26th, the German defenders – mostly 12th SS Hitlerjugend Division (Hitler Youth) – on Hill 112 were expecting an attack. The attack was launched at 0730 hours with a tremendous artillery barrage, rather like a First World War set-piece infantry attack. Amongst the indirect fire support assets were three RN cruisers anchored offshore and firing shells accurately fifteen miles inland! The first objective was to reach and force a crossing over the Odon river. As the opening barrage crept forward one hundred yards every three minutes, the infantry of the 15th Scottish division, moved confidently forward, supported by Churchill tanks...
Epsom night will hopefully concentrate on the bridgehead gained by the 15th across the river Odon and Major-General George Roberts commander of the 11th Armoured Divisions breakout and push on to Baron and Hill 112 with a view to control the high ground that overlooks Caen and cut it off from support before the 9th SS Pz Division and 21st Pz Division in turn cut the salient.
Even with Spearhead, the orders of battle for Epsom would mean a lot of kit so we will only be using a fraction of the forces involved in Epsom.
Lets see if the Brits can get to the Hill. Watch out for the Panthers!
The preliminary bombardment begins...
The 15th move out ...
The 11th Armoured in convoy to the river Odon crossing...
What's the big idea?
The idea for the Exploration series came about when Paul and Nev had a game of Impetus with Wayne and the Lasalle game with Paul and Paul.
Its about tying up loose ends and unfinished projects all wargamers have in their draws, cupboards, garages, sheds etc.
The exploration series is about getting to grips with rules/periods that we have always wanted to do, or have done in the past and want to bring back to life. Its also about getting people involved and on board.
Having fun is the key and having nicely painted models on good quality terrain helps as it brings the game to life and hopefully inspires others to join in or tackle their white elephants of the gaming world.
Some of the proposed topics for the exploration series include;
Spearhead .....WW2 Divisional Combat
Grande Armee ....Napoleonic 6mm Divisional/Corps
Disposable Heroes / Rules of Engagement ....WW2 Skirmish
Force on Force ....Afghanistan/Vietnam
28mm dark age skirmish
First up is Spearhead....
Some of the proposed topics for the exploration series include;
Spearhead .....WW2 Divisional Combat
Grande Armee ....Napoleonic 6mm Divisional/Corps
Disposable Heroes / Rules of Engagement ....WW2 Skirmish
Force on Force ....Afghanistan/Vietnam
28mm dark age skirmish
First up is Spearhead....
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