Small rural village revisited

A longer time ago than I care to remember I bought a 15mm village in a box from Kerr and King. It's so long ago that I cannot find it on their website anymore. I think that it is a slightly obscure region of the trans Caucasus or Romania. The buildings are quite quirky; I particularly like the sharp, pointed roofs.

I originally painted them before I had discovered flat brushes and weathering powders. The first paint job was quite bland, with washes over some dull coloured browns. My paint scheme never really lit my fire so the buildings got relegated to a draw when I discovered the railway building scene. Having recently played some 15mm WWII on hexes I got the buildings out again as they fitted nicely on my hexes and suited an early war Russian front scenario.

Finding the buildings interesting again, I thought it was time to give them a little love again. To lift the detail I used a light grey to edge the roof tiles and edges of the buildings. I also patched areas on the roofs and walls. It was then time to get out the weathering powders; dry mud, track brown and black smoke. Finally a spray varnish to blend it all back together.

Now, what random thing shall I move onto next? Quick wins and quick gains at the moment...

 

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In the pursuit of (wargaming) happiness.

In an attempt to speed up finding the right balance of playing interesting, quick rules and a visually appealing table, I've been looking at some existing boardgames to use. I've owned for some years the boardgame 'Panzer Grenadier' by Avalanche Press. The system has been supported by many expansions, however the reviews of the system have been somewhat mixed; too light, with not enough detail or meat.

My hope is that the system is robust enough to bolt on the command system from the ACW miniatures rules, Altar of Freedom. Myself and Stew had a go with the actual boardgame on Wednesday which seemed to go okay. But would it convert to miniatures? Here's the initial set-ups:

I wanted a mix of unit types without the game being overly complicated. The Soviets had 12 platoons of infantry, a couple of supporting MG platoons, a towed 45mm AT gun and field gun, all supported by 2 T70s. The Germans were similar but on a smaller scale, with mortar support. I didn't include German tanks, but thought I could add them in as reinforcements.

I've only played two turns, but the game went along very quickly. The Soviet infantry attack in the centre quickly stalled as it was bombarded by mortars, and softened by close quarter shooting. The Russian right flank slowly entered the woods, with the T70s making a wide wheeling flanking manouvre ready to pounce.

So far, it seems to work well to what I had hoped. My new basing helped as I could use different coloured dice to represent their status (white for disrupted, red for demoralized). The playing surface looked clean without the normal levels of clutter that I have felt with games played with other systems. I have also recently modified some of my hexon blank, city boards into wood/brush areas which I am quite pleased with. I'll play a few more turns and see what happens.

 

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Tonight's game - The Great War

Just a quick one, played (and didn't finish) The Great War. It seems to be a bit of a theme at the moment; I seem to end a lot of games by chatting rather than reach an victory conditions. So here's some piccies of the game as it stood.

In essence the British trench line went over the top, got hit hard by Krupp exploding steel on the wire, and made it into the first German trench line. The scenario ended with two victory medals each; many brittle infantry bases and the few German bases in a similar manner. Slowly making our way through the scenarios, don't know when we will be tempted by the crunch of the tank tracks.

 

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Unfinished business - an incomplete 15mm Chain of Command game

A combination of being busy, playing games, and most of all, suffering the worst hay fever in years, has sapped my energy to put finger to tablet. With a nice fan breeze and help of the right medication, now feels a good time to fill in some of the blanks. Myself and Ed played half a game of Chain of Command, with a willingness to finish it the following week (which didn't happen). Here are some snaps of the game:

The pictures tell a little of the narrative of the game. British defence evenly across their own lines. German thrust down their right flank, lead by a PzIII. Firefights in the centre and left, with casualties mounting on either side. A gun duel between a deployed 6 pounder and PzIII, which lasted a couple of rounds, with the AT gun finally wining the contest. At this point the game was halted for the following week...

Ed had bought a lovely Cigar Box mat which we used in the game. Final photo...the mat and terrain:

 

 

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Chain of Command - 15mm British platoon finished

Well, that's a pleasant surprise, a finished wargames force completed in quick time. Here are the Brits, fresh from the paint parade ground. They saw first action on Thursday night, but we're not fully finished. A quick highlight of the details, and basing has seen them ready for full action.

These PSC figures were quick to paint up to a reasonable standard. Pleasurable moments were the character of the H.Q. figures, and the camo added to the helmets. Down moments, basing the laid down teams where sand leaked onto the figures. Next job, the anti tank section with A.T. guns.

 

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Chain of Command. - in 15mm

After still not feeling the love from Chain of Command in 28mm, both Ed and I had a rethink. The scenery just didn't feel right in the two games which we had already played. There was certainly a good game to be had lurking in the rule book, we just hadn't found it.

As I had already a large collection of 15mm WWII kit ready to go, we decided to try the game in the smaller scale. Ed had suggested that the rules were designed in 15mm to be 'true scale' when viewed on the tabletop. For a small fee, Ed bought some Flames of War plastic panzergrenadiers (very nicely posed), and I used my Christmas bought Brits...apologies for the unfinished figures. Here's my standard list, supplemented with a M5 Stauart light tank.

I have to say, the game played much better in this scale. Just by looking at the terrain layout alone, we felt it was 'right'.

In terms of the game, the British patrolled up to the centre of the board (just shy of the green houses), with a slight flanking to the left. Ed's panzergrenadiers prepared their attack from behind the two houses.

From the Brits perspective the battle unfolded with the Stuart entering the central road, with a section to it's left. The Germans took a central position and set up their MG34s ready to stop any forward momentum. The Brits matched this move by placing a section behind the Green houses. A contest between the opposing MGs began, with the Germans getting the better of the fight.

To try and gain some momentum, the Brits deployed their last section on the forward left flank, with the tank switching flanks to lay down some fire on the central German MG strongpoint. The Germans rapidly responded by moving a section into opposing woods, bringing forward the jump off point, and deploying a panzerschreck team...a single shot...which missed the tank. The tank began to exchange fire with this group and the MGs.

The finale to the game came with a German close assault on the British left flank. A decisive engagement which sapped the will power of the troops to carry on..a wiped out section and two wounded leaders which routed from the table.

All told, a fun and interesting game. On reflection, it struck me that Chain of Command, whilst close, is not a true skirmish game; but rather a small action game of little 'groups' of troops. Therefore the use of the terrain in a slightly less cluttered fashion still provided enough opportunities and challenges to make the game interesting. What is certain is that it has provided the incentive to finish painting the British company, build some universal carriers and construct an anti-tank gun!

 

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Loos battle using 'The Great War'

It's been a while since I made a posting, yet it feels like I have been busy with other things. More particularly I have been doing some thinking work on my own fantasy rules; I've been trying to include some of the fantastic time clock mechanics from 'Alter of Freedom' into the command structure of the game. I did play a game/ photograph the action of Daz and Ed with my newly finished WWI figures. Here's the results:

What I enjoyed the most about the game is that it provided some simple dilemmas in what is normally perceived as an unimaginative, flat tactical piece of military history. Whilst 'going over the top' signifies an overall approach, the ability to choose where to place the most pressure on a trench line, using the best supporting elements to achieve this, comes out in the flavour of the game. Likewise, it was not an even slugging match between two evenly distributed opponents. The provision of multiple trench lines, with rushed in reserves, produced an ebb and flow to the gameplay. All of this wrapped in the usual 'command colours' framework. The thing that makes this WWI system is the addition of combat cards and HQ points, providing some variety to what could be a linear experience. Looking forward to another game...

 

 

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