20mm BG Pacific game

 I played my first game of BG Pacific last Thursday.  Will set up the table and all the terrain and models are his - and very nice they are too.  We played one of the island hopping scenarios, taking the point or getting the point.  This pitted a US marine platoon in Amtraks (in this case LVT-4s), landing on beaches in front of a rocky plateau lined with Japanese pillboxes and armed with two 47mm field guns, an HMG and two LMG teams, guns and HMG with loader teams.  The Japanese also gained a reserve platoon on turn 3 coming on from the right hand table edge (in the photo above).

First turn, Wills marines stormed ashore with two Amtraks scuttling out of the surf and crossing the beach, only for one of my 47mm guns to open up.  A spot, lucky to hit throw of 6 and AP roll of 8 meant one of the Amtraks brewed up with lots of pinned and broken infantry teams bailing out.  This worked quite well as Will dismounted his 60mm mortars from an Amtrak at the edge of the surf and they advanced up the beach, under a timed 81mm mortar strike pretty much on the destroyed Amtrak - more pinning and more misery for the bailed out teams.  Luckily for Will, his second Amtrak on the beach got a successful beyond the call test and motored up to some shelter from the jungle before dismounting his troops.

Pinned survivors of the destroyed Amtrak.

Reinforcements arriving on the edge of the surf.

Survivors of the brewed up Amtrak mill around ineffectually, while infantry from another Amtrak in the surf push up the beach on the left.  Yet another Amtrak dismounts its infantry in the surf on the top right.  Wills infantry in the jungle push forwards and secure one of the objectives marked by the star (the other is on the heights behind the Japanese pillboxes).

The defenders with their commanding positions on the bluffs overlooking the beach.

Some of the plucky defenders, the lucky 47mm gun crew that picked off a fully loaded Amtrak.

More American marines advance into the jungle and work their way forwards, taking out a sniper team in the process.

American infantry starting to concentrate for the push into the jungle.

Japanese reinforcements advancing in a skirmish line ready to meet the American infantry as they push forwards.

Sadly, we ran out of time, with the Japanese having taken 8 BR losses out of 27 or so, while the Americans were in the mid-20s with a BP in the mid-30s.  Still lots of hard fighting to go, but with so many American infantry units pinned down on the beach and kept there by mortaring pre-registered target points, it seemed only a matter of time.  Not a lot of decisions for the Japanese player in this one, which would make the scenario quite suitable for a solo practice game, basically, the Japanese shoot at anything with a sensible target priority and push their infantry as far through the jungle as possible to prevent the Americans getting up the flanks of the plateau.  Choice of PRTPs is important - its tempting to put one in the jungle rather than having both on the beach.

Lots of fun, thanks to Will for laying the game on and providing such a determined US Marine force.

As ever, thanks for looking.

Thursday night game of BG Wacht am Rhine

Well, it turned out to be an interesting game last night.  Playing US infantry task force vs German Panzer Division kamfgruppe.  Germans went with heavy armour - 3 Panthers, a Jagdpanther and a Tiger 1, plus a Puma and sniper recce and an infantry platoon and off board 120mm mortars.  US went with 2 Sherman platoons, each including a single 76mm version, one M10, an infantry platoon, recce in the form of an M20, jeep recce team and two snipers.  Crucially, the US also took two on board 105mm guns and an offboard medium mortar battery.  German BP 30, US BP 42, US tanks were weak and pitted against German behemoths, but the German force was brittle - who would hold out.

The battlefield was laid out as below and the scenario was flank attack.  German random deployment was top left, so US took the lower right and opted for their recce to come on lower left, leaving German recce top right.  German deployment only allowed a single main force unit (a Jagdpanther) and the two recce.  US troops got 3 mainforce units, a 105mm howitzer, spotter team and M10 tank destroyer, as well as their 4 recce units.  Germans were outscouted, so took a chit and there were 4 on table objectives at the crossroads, one of the village buildings on the left, the left side of the woods left of the village and left side of the woods in the foreground.

The M10 quickly took up overwatch in the woods lower right, covering the road and village while the observer team pushed down the right flank.  Recce pushed down the left, using available cover, with a sniper rushing across the road to join the M10 and eventually try and enter the village.  Crucially, my 105mm fired on a programmed target, right in front of the Jagdpanther.  A lucky 6, followed by a double figure score on 2d6 scratched the Jagdpanther (see below).  Suddenly, things were looking better for the Americans.  Jerry pushed his Puma forward to the crossroads and sniper forward towards the village.

The Americans just about won the race for reinforcements, but only just.  Jerry pushed forward with his Tiger 1, but couldn't advance out of the beaten zone of the programmed artillery point.  Repeated 105mm strikes pinned it turn after turn, soaking up chits each turn for the German to unpin.  In the meanwhile, the US Shermans quickly dealt with the Puma, and offtable mortar fire slowed the German infantry, causing casualties on the way.  Crucially, the German Panthers, once they turned up, were able to advance without serious trouble, down the centre and into the US right flank, and once a hit was scored, that was it for the Shermans.

US infantry cautiously advance into the woods, attempting to infiltrate the edge of the village.

US 105mm howitzers, hoping for lucky KOs on the German armour.  Alas, after the Jagdpanther, the other German tanks led a charmed life.

We had to close the game at the end of the evening just short of a conclusion.  The Americans had just 2 Shermans running and were losing the attrition with the Germans.  However, the US artillery, especially mortars which were specifically targeting the German infantry, were whittling them down and the Americans still held three of the four objectives.  When we totted up the chits, the Germans were on 29 and just one short of their BP of 30, whereas the US were on 19 out of 42.  So, somewhat bloody, but likely to be a reasonably comfortable win for the Americans.  The Detroit factories would have to run some overtime to replace the lost armour (well, perhaps release some from the massive stockpiles) and levy the surviving crew members with some replacement personnel and some replacements drafted into the infantry as well, having lost an entire section to Panther MG fire, but the units would soon be back in the fight.  Meanwhile, Jerry had lost a powerful tank destroyer and quite a few irreplaceable infantry and gun crews, as well as the tactical loss of the village.

All in all a fun game - I've decided I like the American firepower, although I'm less impressed with the performance of their Shermans - at least a Firefly or Achilles means the Germans have to be more canny about how they push forwards.

As ever, thanks for looking.

15mm US Shermans and tank destroyers

Getting ready for a 700 point Wacht am Rhine game tonight, so dusted off these models that I finished over the summer, but never got around to photographing.

Two troops of three 76mm Shermans - all from Battlefront I think.

A troop/battery of M10s.  Cheap, gun no better than a regular Sherman and open topped, so no match for German armour in a stand up fight and really vulnerable to artillery.  Did I mention they were cheap though.

Two of these were from the Battlefront tank destroyer box set, which came with 2 jeeps and an M20.

An M18 Hellcat.  Cheap, open topped and still not much better gun than a Sherman - again, not much use in a stand up fight.

An M36 Jackson - 90mm gun so at least a bit more oomph.  Still open topped and again not much good in a stand up fight.

M20 utility car with .50 cal.  Just realised - this one needs some decals.

Back these up with some on table 105s with a spotter team and pre-reg target, off table 3" mortars and a platoon of infantry and they should be able to put out some fire power.  Even 105mm howitzers can give a Kingtiger a bad day with a killing hit and a good dice roll.  Probably needed as I'm up against Tiger Phil tonight!!!!

Battlegroup Kursk 15mm club game

Last Thursday night saw Pete and I slugging it out between two 650 point evenly matched battlegroups.


My German Panzer Division battlegroup was spearheaded by two Tiger Is, supported by a platoon of Pz IVGs and a panzergrenadier platoon with PAK40 and HMG team.  Recce comprised a 250/1 with 4 man recce team and a 222, with off table support from 80mm mortars with an on table observer team.


Pete's Russian Infantry Division battlegroup included 2 T-34 platoons, plus a platoon of KV-1s, an infantry platoon, recce foot patrol and sniper team, plus numerous observers and an off table Katyusha battery,


We decided on a simple meeting engagement between the spearheads two thrusts, no objectives, d6 units plus scouts on table and 1d6 reinforcements from turn 2.  With equal scouts, I was lucky to win the initiative as well as having a slight edge with three units plus scouts on table vs two plus scouts for Pete.  I opted for a Tiger, Pz IV and HMG team to supplement the 222 and 250/1 team.  All moved to hull down positions on the subtle crestlines of the low hills in fromt of me, except the PzIV, which advanced into the woods on the right.  Pete brought on a KV-1 and a T-34, while his sniper team unsuccessfully tried to draw a bead on the HMG team.


In the next couple of turns, the Germans won the reinforcement race and soon had quite a gun line hull down along the line of hills and were trading shots with the Russian T-34s and KV-1s as they appeared on the left flank.  By the stage in the photo below, I was coming off pretty poorly, as I lost a Tiger to rocket artillery and two Pz IVs to T-34 fire, although I had KO'd a KV-1, 2 T-34s and immobilised a third.  My sole surviving Tiger was getting the range and starting to hurt the enemy.

On the right flank, my Pz IV on reserve move in the woods was in a stand off with Petes KV-1 on ambush fire.

Not long after, a lucky double 1 immobilised my last Tiger, leaving me one running tank.  However, the Tiger could still shoot and, in a rush of blood, Pete tried to KO the Tiger by rushing it with his remaining T-34s and a KV-1.  Sadly, I had a PAK 40 in defilade behind a hill in front of my main line of defence, which took flank shots at Pete's armour, while the Tiger, receiving multiple non-penetrating hits, managed to roll beyond the call of duty tests successfully and fired back out of turn, KO'ing all the remaining running tanks. 

This left just the single KV-1 on the German right in the stand off with the Pz IV.  I reserve moved the PzIV to the edge of the woods, but out of sight of the KV-1 behind the hill, which forced Pete to move onto the hill and, in the trade off of shots, the KV-1 came off worst.

Meanwhile, on the German left, infantry scurried forward past the burning Russian tanks and whittled away the Russian infantry and command.

Pete's battlegroup eventually broke under the sustained losses.  Due to some really fortunate chit pulls, my chits weren't even at the 50% level, so a German victory.  It all seemed a bit pyrrhic though as I was left with only one running Pz IV, although I'm sure the Tiger could be patched up and got back into service once the Russian force broke.  All in all a great game, rather attritional and some interesting swings in fortune.  Those 12 dice from a Katyusha battery can cause havoc, thank goodness they only arrive every third turn.  This was the second outing for my early war German infantry, although the Pz IVs and Tigers were on their first tabletop appearance, so have broken their beginners curse.


As ever, thanks for looking.

15mm Winter Panthers

After a bit of a summer break - one with very little sunshine this year, unfortunately - it's back to the painting table.  I had a box of Battlefront Panthers some time ago and assembled two of them as Jagdpanthers.  Recently, I converted the spare turrets into Pantherturms.  I'd always intended to use the three remaining kits as winter Panthers, as I have plenty of regular version.  I also found a free to download 3d model of the Jagdpanther, so decided to have a go at 3d printing using the new 3d printer at our company - I won't mention the source of the file as I don't think my printing abilities come close to doing it justice.

I painted these as normal and then winterised them with some snow made from PVA glue, Vallejo off-white and baking soda mixed into a damp paste and liberally daubed over the models.  Applied as a paste it looks quite good as snow and with more dry brushing it resembles frost, especially as the baking soda starts to crystallise as it dries.  The Jagdpanther also had a dilute wash of off-white before the snow effect was added to simulate whitewash.

The complete group.

The three Panthers.

Platoon leader with commander in the hatch.

Close-up of the leader in a snow smock and frosted helmet.

The whitewashed Jagdpanther.  I printed this one with the model standing on the rear end, resulting in the scan lines running vertically across the model when it stands on the tracks.  This wouldn't have looked good without the snow effects, which mask a lot of the printing lines.  Experimentation appears to be resulting in quite a bit of improvement in the final finish of 3d prints.

The whole group from the rear.

Detail of the snow effect on the Panther rear decks.

 

I have 4 StugIIIGs on the painting table, ready to winterise, so should soon be able to field the Recce infantry platoon from BG Wacht am Rhine, supported by a battery of Stugs, and/or a platoon of Panthers and a Jagdpanther, all suitably winterised.  They should also do for any late war eastern front winter scenarios.  I'm starting to feel chilly already.

 

More on the winter Stugs and some early war German kit, suitable for BG Blitzkrieg to Kursk to follow.  As ever, thanks for looking.

15mm WW2 US trucks

I needed some softskin transport for my US infantry, so when I saw these as a pack of four from Forged in Battle at the Phalanx show last month I thought, they will do the job fine.

I painted them in Vallejo brown violet, with khaki tilts and black grey tyres and .50 cal MGs.  Cab gunners are in Russian uniform with brown violet helmets.  I'm not sure the .50 cals were standard WW2 issue, perhaps more for Korea or even Vietnam?

More detail of one of the trucks.  Allied star decal is from Skytrex, vehicle numbers and unit markings are I-94 from Pendraken.  Dust effects are a simple dry brush in Iraqi sand.

Various angles on the individual models.

I used a diluted Agrax Earthshade wash to bring out some of the details.

Unit markings on front and rear.  Allied stars and vehicle ID on bonnet or hood as they would say in America.

So, when I need to rush some infantry reinforcements to the front, these guys should do the job.  They'll need to keep well out of the way of indirect fire and line of sight from just about anything in range.

Thanks for looking.

15mm D-day Game Gauntlet 2019

Saturday saw the first of a weekend of gaming at the Gauntlet Show, held at Deeside Defenders club based in Broughton, Chester.  Owain and Ben had come up with a scenario based on a generic Omaha beach-style landing, with US paratroopers attempting to secure vital cross roads inland and meet up with the seaborne forces.


Ben and Mike defended the beaches, that Owain and his Dad landed on, while Ian and I took on Richard's reserves with our paratroopers.  Each sector had 800 points for each side.  Rules used were Battlegroup - Overlord supplement providing the forces.


I don't really have a coherent account of the overall game, being fully preoccupied with the doings on our end of the table.  We used the recce screen scenario and rolled for 6 turns before either the paras or German defenders were able to reinforce.  US recce consisted of a jeep recce team, a jeep recce command team and an infantry recce squad.  German recce comprised 2 SdkFz 250/9s, a sniper team and a recce infantry squad in a 250/1.  The US troops using their superior Jeep mobility on road, quickly secured the objective in the middle of the table and the infantry team secured the objective in the US deployment zone.  German recce infantry did the same in their sector and then pushed their 250/9s forward.  Despite lots of 105mm artillery and mortars to call on, the German recce systematically wiped out the 2 jeep recce teams and secured the central objective.  While the rear area was pretty quiet, the beaches were very busy, with a lot of US infantry casualties, especially amongst the flamethrower teams.


On turn 7, the US troops started to arrive, pushing forwards along the hedgerows.

An artillery spotter raced forwards to try and get a good position before the German armour (S-35s) arrived.

The FHQ also takes up a good vantage point.

Paras scurry across open terrain, trying to beat the advancing German armour to the hedgerows.

One of the Somuas beats the Americans to it.

The vital gap in the hedgerows with burning recce jeep by the chateau.

A lucky deviation saw an 81mm mortar battery land a barrage right on top of some advancing Somuas, brewing up one and pinning the other - phew a delay.

More paras, this time engineers in the foreground and a platoon command beyond.

Another chateau, this one providing an excellent vantage point to the recce infantry squad, who called in mortar fire from this point throughout the game.  A newly deployed 81mm mortar would soon be available for smaller fire missions.

A para LMG and bazooka team advance to support the infantry.

The bazooka went on reserve move and then closed with the Somua by the hedge, which was pinned by mortar fire.

More artillery and mortar strikes - lots of pins and a brewed up Pz III and another Somua.

The engineers advance to get in the fight.

The Somua gets brewed up by the plucky bazooka team.  With the rest of the tank platoon brewed up or pinned, we expected more armour, but it had been directed towards the beaches, to contain a US armoured breakthrough, spearheaded by a Sherman dozer.

At this point the Germans on the beaches exceeded their break point and resistance ceased, allowing the US armour to push across the beach road and enter the town - they would be looking for some infantry support from reserves across the beach or pressing paras into service.  With the German tanks in the rear areas whittled down, they too decided discretion was the better part of valour.


It was a great game, fortunes favoured the Germans initially in our area and the US recce was slaughtered, although the foot patrol managed to keep up withering mortar fire on the advancing German reserves.  With the arrival of US reserves, an artillery spotter and the FHQ were able to call in 105mm fire, which swung the balance back in favour of the yanks.  That and a couple of heroic bazooka team members.


I'd have been happy to try the scenario again the following day (maybe swopping sides), but sadly we had a pre-commitment to Joy of 6 in Sheffield on Sunday, so Richard, Ian and I went over for that, putting on a game based around 21st Panzer's attempts to push the British back into the sea inland of Sword beach in the late afternoon of D-day.  More on that in a later post.


Thanks for looking.