Thursday 28 August 2014

Feng-Aoliu - an RJW battle using BlitzKrieg Commander 2

This is a fictitious battle set in the Russo-Japanese War (RJW) fought using BlitzKrieg Commander 2 (BKC2). BKC2 is a set of rules for WW2 based on the Warmaster game engine. In the past I have fought RJW battles using Future War Commander, which is from the same author, but I didn't want to have saving rolls as this would slow the game down.

Each base represents a platoon of infantry, a machine gun section, a battery of artillery or a Cossack sotnia
The scenario was a Japanese Divisional assault against an entrenched Russian brigade. The Japanese has to capture the Old Fort, the Hill and the Temple. The Japanese could recycle their destroyed battalions
The Russian stats are...

Quantity Troops Arm Move Attack Assault Hits
1
CO (CV8) cmd
60
2/30
6
6
HQ (CV8) cmd
40
3/30
6
64
Infantry Unit (Regulars) inf
10
3/30
4
6
8
Cavalry Unit (Conscripts) inf
10/25
2/30
3
6
6
Support Unit (MG, Maxim) inf
10
3/60
2
6
4
Support Unit (IG, 76mm) inf
5/15
3/80
2
6

These were split into 5 infantry battalions each comprising 1 HQ, 1 MG section and 12 platoons of Infantry. Brigade assets were 1 CO, 1HQ, 4 batteries of Artillery, 1 MG Section, 4 Platoons of  Infantry and 8 Sotnia of Cossacks

The Russians have a Rigid Tactical Doctrine which reduces their Command & Initiative Range to 15cm but if all units are given the same order then it is  +1 to the CV. They are also classed as Stubborn which means that they drop a Suppression dice and won't retreat.
The Japanese stats are ...

Quantity Troops Arm Move Attack Assault Hits
1
CO (CV9) cmd
60
2/30
6
2
HQ (CV9) cmd
40
2/30
6
65
Infantry Unit (Regulars) inf
10
3/30
4
6
5
Support Unit (MG, Hotchkiss) inf
10
3/60
2
6
4
Support Unit (IG, 70mm) inf
5/15
3/80
2
6

These were split into 5 infantry battalions each comprising 1 HQ, 1 MG section and 12 platoons of Infantry. Brigade assets were 1 CO, 4 batteries of Artillery and 5 Platoons of  Infantry

The Japanese have Normal Tactical Doctrine which gives them a Command & Initiative Range of 20cm. The Infantry are classed as Elite which means there is no command penalty for assaulting and they drop a Suppression dice

The Japanese were allowed to recycle battalions as they broke or got destroyed
Mike and Rodge played the Russians and Shaun and myself played the Japanese
The Russians entrenched at the foot of the Hill with the Old Fort in the distance
Two Japanese battalions form up for a frontal assault
Their target patiently waits - the hill is starting to look a bit tatty
The Japanese begin their assault
The Russian Brigadier's view of the assault - the blue dice indicate that the unit has opportunity fired
After wiping out the assault the Russians move forward
The Japanese command and artillery - are those French Franco-Prussian war limbers?
The Japanese right flank sneaks up on the the Temple
The Russians roll a Blunder and leave the Temple
Another Japanese battalion gets thrown into the grinder
A recycled battalion poses for the camera before retiring from the field
Cossacks decide to ransack a village rather than pursue the enemy

With hindsight the scenario was rubbish as the Japanese never had enough troops on the table to make an impact but that's life and it's nice to get the toys on the table.

All of the figures were from Pendraken Miniatures mostly from their RJW range but also from their WW1, South American Pacific War and Russo-Turkish ranges. The 6mm buildings are by Mura Minatures

BKC2 worked well for the command and control, movement and weapon ranges but with 120 bases on the table firing was quite slow even without the saving rolls. The Blunder mechanism had a 75% approval rating - the other 25% didn't see the funny side when his troops vacated the Temple.

I've just purchased Great War Spearhead so give them a go in the next RJW game.

Tuesday 5 August 2014

Skirmish at Phaffans - French v Germans - WW1 Bolt Action

Germany declared war on France on August 3rd 1914. Part of France's Plan XVII was the recapture of  the "lost provinces" by an attack into the Alsace. As the mobilization of the armies commenced both sides sent out reconnaissance patrols to discover what was facing them.

Our game was based on reinforced platoons encountering each other at Phaffans on August 4th. Phaffans is located on the road between Belfort and Mulhouse which the French attacked on August 7th 1914.
The ruined village of Phaffans looking north- the French enter from the west and the Germans from the east.

We used Bolt Action rules without any amendments.Shaun and Mike played the French whilst Dave and myself played the Germans. The toys were all 28mm Renegade Miniatures

The Germans
2 HQs - each with 1 Lieutenant and 2 Riflemen
5 Squads - each with an NCO and 9 Riflemen
3 MMGs - each with 2 crew
The French
2 HQs - each with 1 Lieutenant and 2 Riflemen
5 Squads - each with an NCO and 9 Riflemen
2 MMGs - each with 2 crew
1 75mm Light Howitzer with 4 crew
The German plan was to seize the hill with 2 MMGs and 2 squads whilst the remaining 3 Squads and an MMG  held the village. I was not privy to the French plan but it appeared to be advance towards the village and hold the flanks with single squads.
Opposing forces start to occupy the village
The German left flank heads towards the hill
The French centre heads towards the village
The French right flank occupies the road at the foot of the hill
French Marines on the left flank get pinned by MMG fire
The German right flank also gets pinned even with Lt Alan behind them
The French being their 75mm into the village to pound the German defenders
A French squad occupies part of the village
The advance German squad gets several pins from artillery and rifle fire
The German right flank looking towards the Marines' position
The Germans start to clear the French from the village
With the French retiring then it's On to Paris!

The French lost 2 complete squads plus the 75mm. The rest of their force had been shot up badly. The Germans lost a MMG and a couple of squads were below 50%

A fun game that came down to who could roll the best dice or the least worst! The French had very bad dice rolls - their 75mm with HE D6 got 6 hits and did not kill a single figure.

I've had the French since 2006 and the Germans since 2010 and this is the first outing for them!

Saturday 2 August 2014

Star Wars Pod Racing in 6mm - Race 1

After seeing Shaun's 6mm Pods we were all queuing up to have a race. So he put on a game at the club using the rules from The Armchair General
The course was a figure-of-8 clockwise around rock A and then anti-clockwise round rock B. As none of us had ever played before we decided to have a practice lap followed by a 3 lap race. Seven of us played with a Monaco-style start line.
Each player gets dealt a playing card - the 2-9 cards are used to either add an extra 2 inches of move per card or repair 1 point of damage. The 10 card repairs 2 points of damage and the picture cards are events that you either play on yourself or on your opponent. Events for yourself include avoiding spin-offs, avoiding collisions and bribes. Events for your opponent include being shot at by the locals, fuel leaks or have your pods decouple
There are two basic speeds - standard which is 1d6 +1 inches or overdrive which is 2D6+1 inches and may cause engine shutdown. If you move over 18 inches then there is a chance of a spin-off as well. you must move the full amount
A pod can turn upto 90 degrees with a 1 inch drift. If you do 3 or more turns in one move then there is a chance to spin off
Pods can drive over anything except really big rocks and buildings so if someone breaks down on a bridge then it's not too much of a problem.
Each pod has 20 points of damage. Damage is caused by driving over plants,1 point, collisions, 1D6 each, driving into canyon walls, 1D6, and event cards.
Shaun may be a star at making the pods but he is pants at driving. His pod is the one with the yellow dice indicating he has spun off. The black pod is the leader so Shaun is half a lap behind him. For those readers with a taste for Schadenfreude then Shaun's spin-off roll sent him straight into the rockface by the pond.
Pods can glide across water. I am tempted to try this the next time I drive on the M4 to Wales rather than pay £6.40 at the toll bridge
After ruining his paintwork, in two more spin-offs I should add, Shaun finally managed to get onto the bridge
Each turn a player gets an extra card and can hold a maximum of 5 at the end of his go. One of the picture cards is Bribe. This allows you to take one card from each of the other players. I got this card 3 times allowing me to disable the two front-runners with fuel leaks and pod-decoupling, increase my speed with the 2-9 cards and avoid spin-off cards from other players.
Therefore it is not surprising that I won the race convincingly.

I'm great!

And that was the practice lap which, with the usual messing around, checking the rules, fag breaks, getting a round in and dealing with unwanted phone calls, took us a couple of hours We didn't get in the 3 lap race.

An excellent way to spend an evening - well done Shaun for coming up with a cracking game. There is a very good chance that we will put this on at Blast-tastic