A Game of Blitzkrieg Commander

 This past Friday night I had an opportunity to play in a Blitzkrieg Commander game at our club game night.  One of our club mates, John, has made some great simplifications of the rules and has really brought out the foundations that make it a great game. I like playing in John’s BKC games because it gives me great inspirations for my Cold War Commander games. 

We played a medium large game set during Operation Bagration in mid-1944 Germans defending against a small section of the huge Russian Offensive. There were four Russian commands against three German commands. 

The Germans had an infantry battalion with a couple of Panzer MkIV’s and an artillery FOO. They also had a Panzergrenadier battalion with Sdkfz 251 PG infantry and three Panthers. The final unit was three Tigers and command stand.  These troops were veterans and combined with the heavy armor of the Tigers, they were a real challenge for the Russians. 

The Russians had two units of T-34’s with Tank desant riders, a foot infantry battalion and two special units - an ISU-152 unit of four vehicles and a JS-2  unit of three tanks. These heavy armor vehicles are really intimidating when they show up on the table. 

The Russians entered from the left attacking to secure tactical points on the hill and in the town upper center of the photo.  My Tigers held the German left flank at the bottom of the photo.

My opponent, Dick, had never played these rules before but by turn three he was driving his infantry forward and used the small hamlet to screen his T-34’s from the long range fire of my Tigers. Dick played a great game and if we had played a few more turns, those Russian infantry units would have been a big problem for me. 

Gamemaster, John (r), contemplates the PzGr unit and Panthers with the other three Russian players (l-r) Kevin, Greg and Rob.  No one could solve the puzzle and the Panthers stopped the Russian left flank cold. 

AJ, the Panther and PzGr commander, sits innocently as his dice wipe out the Russian left flank.

My Tigers have taken some hits, but they don’t have to worry about flank shots so they maneuver to get fire lanes on the T-34’s. 

This sort of sums up the game. A Tiger sitting on one of the tactical objectives without a Russian in sight!

The Russians suffered losses from the long-range fire from the Tigers and Panthers and the center German player, John, called in some devastating artillery fire. Ultimately, the Russians did secure one of the tactical goals and killed several German stands.  We agreed at the end of the night that it was a German victory although probably only a marginal one. 

All-in-all it was a great game and I learned a lot of lessons that I am sure will help me improve my CWC games in the future. Many thanks to John for a great evening.  

World War Two Games

Over the past week I have had an opportunity to play two games of Iron Cross WWII. Both of them turned out very well.

The first game was at our monthly club game night hosted by my friend Charlie G.  The battle was an infantry and armor assault by New Zealand and Indian forces against the town of Cassino being defended by Falschirmjagers.

Here are some photos of the game

The entire table.  The British started on the near edge (Indian Infantry Company) and the right edge of the table (New Zealand Infantry Company and Armor Platoon).  The Germans (three reduced Falschirmjager Infantry Companies) set up within the town. 

The German command check the rules to see if they are short of MG42's!!  The Machine Gun squads would definitely play a huge role in the defensive plan.

The Allies look forlorn as (l to r) Bob, John, Ralph and Phil [just off-camera] endure yet another round of MG fire into their vulnerable infantry.  Just a couple of turns later they would be celebrating the victory as John moved up their armor and destroyed the German AT gun position.

The Allied attack developed slowly with the Indian units pushing in from the German left flank.  The New Zealanders moved very slowly but kept some pressure on the German front.  Being the first to attack, the Indians paid a heavy price as two machine gun squads tore into them.  Just as the Indian attack started to falter, one of the New Zealand companies rushed the right front part of the German defense and made it into the cover of some ruins without any casualties.  At the same time the Armor Platoon made a move up their right flank in an effort to assist the Indians.  The bold move did cost the tankers one Sherman as they advanced, but they pressed the attack.  Once the armor made it to the German flank, the Green Devils were not able to hit either of the remaining metal monsters with effective AT fire and the German AT gun position could not pivot to bring fire on the enemy.  In the end the AT position was destroyed giving the Allies a minor victory.  The win did cost the Allies dearly with almost two companies rendered combat ineffective and 1/3 of the armor force destroyed.

In the second game I had friends visit the house.  Andrew, his son Thomas and their friend Shaun visited and I set up a German vs British scenario to let them play the game for the first time.  Shaun and Thomas played with a couple of reinforced platoons against Andrew and I pushing British Commandos supported by a some armor assets.  The forces were exactly equal in numbers and composition.

Here are some photos of the game in progress:

The British try to push a flank using their Daimler Armored Car.  This would be the best shot of the game as the Daimler took out the German Armored Car with a very difficult shot.  I love it when Andrew S. rolls a 'six' at just the right time!  Unfortunately, it was just about the only positive aspect of the game for the Brits. 

The overview of the Armored Car shot up the left flank of the British advance.

The German Recon Platoon advances under the cover of an MG42 Support Squad.

Commando infantry take a commanding overwatch position on a hill.  In the distance, the Germans begin their well planned attack.

The British of 2 Commando push forward to seize a building enclosure and small woods.

A Commando Vickers MG Support Squad covers as a Commando Squad moves up.  Unfortunately, the infantry faltered a the wall and spent two full turns trying to get over the obstacle.  Their hesitation was a major negative factor on the British Advance.

This was a pretty one-sided game as Shaun and Thomas handed Andrew and I a real drubbing.  They had a better plan than we did; they moved better than we did; and they rolled their dice lights-out.  We played along the long axis of the table - and that made it a much more of a slugging match.  Not much room for maneuver.  But the Germans made the most of the terrain and with a slow advance by us British, the game was one-sided.

I'd like to highlight the game mat that we used for this game.  It is my new Killing Fields Static Grass mat that I just purchased.  I love the way the looks and mixes in with my other terrain and buildings.  If you like it, check out the Killing Field site HERE to get your own.

Club members and my friends really enjoy Iron Cross for our WWII skirmish/tactical gaming.  It is fast paced and the ability to distribute command tokens and activate units in any way during a turn makes players fully engaged in the game at all times.  I highly recommend that if you have an opportunity to play Iron Cross that you give it a try.

New Game Mat for the Table

I recently invested in one of the new mats from Killing Fields Battle Mats company.  It arrived last week and I have to say that it is just as advertised.  Here are some photos to show you what the mat looks like.  I will comment more on the mat as I use it in games.

The mat is approximately 4' by 6' and although it had some ripples in it from being folded during delivery, it has relaxed well and there shouldn't be any issue with use in games.

The buildings are from Cresent Root.  These are excellent pre-painted and assembled buildings that come ready to unpack and put on the table.  The roads are from Deep Cut Studios.  The straight sections of roads are as you see them in the photos.  I trimmed the intersections and corner pieces to match the width of the straight sections more closely.  I do not know the manufacturer of the hills.

Photos:

I am looking forward to having actual games on this mat in the near future.

Game Night at Adler Hobby

I had a great game night yesterday at Adler Hobby.  I played in a great Bolt Action Game with Russ Vickery.

The game was 1250 points pitting a late war French force against strong German force from the Hermann Goering Panzer Division.

We used the Demolition Scenario from the Main BA rule book.  Russ played the French and I played the Germans.  We each had our objectives set in hard cover terrain within 4" of our respective table edges.

THE ARMIES
The French Army is a force that I have been working on for awhile.  This is a late-war army which can be found in the Battle of Bulge theatre book.  The army has two regular infantry squads, a Veteran 1LT, a veteran Goumier squad, a veteran Brigade de Choc (para-commando types), a veteran Jeep with MMG, a regular bazooka team, a veteran Sniper team, a veteran MMG team, a regular Light Howitzer and a 3/4-ton Dodge truck as a tow vehicle and capped off with a regular M4 Sherman.  Overall command is a veteran Captain.  I use US Infantry for the French regulars and the Bazooka team.  I have Goumiers from Artizan Designs, and I use the new plastic American Airborne to represent the 1er Regiment de Chassuers Parachutiste (1 RCP) for the Brigade de Choc squad.  The artillerist are the American 75mm Pack Howitzer with US Crew.  The Jeep is a Rubicon model with Old Glory crew painted as the paratroopers.

On the German side I use Old Glory (Westwind) for the majority of my forces.  I have two squads of regular grenadiers, a veteran Kubelwagon with MMG, a veteran Marder III, an regular Sdkfz 251/1 half-track, two veteran MMG teams, a regular Medium Mortar, a veteran 20mm light anti-aircraft gun, a veteran Pioneer squad with Flamethrower and LMG teams, a veteran Sniper team, and a regular Goliath Team. Command is provided by a veteran Oberluentnant (1LT) and veteran Hauptmann (CPT) The pioneers and Goliath team are primarily Warlord plastics with a couple of metal figures in the mix.  The 20mm AA gun is a kit from Ace Models with crew from the extensive Victory Force line of WW2 figures.

THE BATTLE
We were playing the Demolition scenario and that makes you try to both take the offensive and capture the enemy HQ while defending your own HQ.  We both placed our HQ well back and set up our forces to protect.

Here is the game table.  Russ set up on the left and I set up on the right table edge.  Russ' HQ was behind the hard cover ruins at the middle left.  I set up my HQ in the ruins behind the destroyed building middle right of the picture.  The Sherman would move down the road in the middle of the picture with impunity thanks to my terrible dice rolling!

Russ played an excellent game and with the luck of the dice got to place his Sherman last during deployment so he could see where my Marder set up.  He of course placed the Sherman on the opposite side of the table. on the road in the middle of the table photo above.  The Sherman would move with impunity down the road due to terrible dice rolling (one of the German grenadiers was heard to exclaim, "Herr Hauptmann, there is something wrong with our anti-tank weapons today!").
In succession, the Goliath team, the Marder and two Panzerfausts either were destroyed by fire or missed the Sherman - or both!  He basically drove the Sherman down the road and right up to my HQ.  Totally fearless, totally crazy and TOTALLY EFFECTIVE!

Meanwhile the Kubelwagen was making an end run on the other flank aided by fire support from the Pioneer squad and the Hauptmann command squad.   Destroying any Frenchman who got in the way, the Kubelwagon managed to get to the objective and with the German commander covering the flank from those who would cause harm - we managed to secure the draw.

Overall the game was vicious from the start and included very effective flamethrower shots, close combat that went very well for the French as the attacked, but also went very poorly for them as the HG Grenadiers gave as much as the got.  Russ did a great job pounding away with the howitzer almost causing one of my grenadier squads to break and run for it.  The combat also included some very effective longer range shots from my AA gun on a dominating hill.  Neither one of our sniper teams could hit anything.  The German MMG teams chewed up several of his units before they could get within range to threaten my HQ.

One of the regular Grenadier squads from the HG Panzer Division!

The Marder overmatching the German defenses.  The Sherman would come down the left side of the picture and although I did get turned towards hime and fired off a round, it bounced and he killed me as soon as he got the chance!

The German pioneer squad and Kubelwagon.  They would play a key role in capturing the German HQ.

One of my Grenadier squads holds off the French Goumier squad in close combat.  My guys ended up winning and routing the Goumiers as they couldn't kill any Germans!  Only killed one of them, but that was all I needed.

The German pioneers take on another French Squad after destroying the French Marquis squad.  Note the flamethrower in the lead!  This is the first time that I have use a flamethrower in a BA game.

The Sherman makes quick work of the half-track, the mortar squad and he starts to take on the  LT.

A grenadier squad also gets between the Sherman and my HQ.

Doesn't make a bit of a difference!  I passed my morale test, but that only means that we get out of the way and he reaches the objective!

On the other side of the table, my Kubelwagon captures the French HQ!  The game is a draw!

Another view of my guys on the objective.  Kubelwagon and the Hauptmann squad.

Overall I have to say that this was a super fun game!  There were great dice rolls on both sides - a terrible dice rolls on both sides!  We had a very good Chinese Food dinner at half-time.  The company and social interaction was excellent!  Best night of gaming I have had in a long time.

Bolt Action Gaming So Far This Year

I know I have been off the blog for the past several months but there have been big changes in my personal life and the annual challenges of a new fiscal year.  But now waters are calmer and I have been spending some time at the gaming table.  We have been involved in an Escalation League at our local Hobby Shop - Alder Hobby's Gaming Cafe.  We are only at the first level of the league but we are having a ton of fun!

My French force fighting against the hated Boche somewhere in France, 1944.  The recon jeep in the middle of the photo tried to secure the objective but ended up dying.  I ended up losing this game in a near run thing.

Another view of the battle.  One of my squads advances on the Germans but cannot overcome the firepower. 

So far I'm having a good time in the league.  I am looking forward to moving to the 1000 point level as both of my lists have some pretty interesting additions with the extra points!  Plus I found a really interesting option that I had not known about that is going to throw an interesting curveball for my opponents moving forward.

Vacation Time Work on the German Bolt Action Army

I have been on a week long vacation and I have had an opportunity to work on my German forces for Bolt Action.  I am still working on platoons and supports for a Herman Goering Division unit.  This particular unit requires that each of the infantry units be mechanized or motorized.  Consequently, I have built a couple of Sdkfz 251's to transport my Panzer-grenadiers.  Also, the HG army in Bolt Action can have multiple Anti-aircraft units.  So, I have added a Flak 38 20mm AA gun.

During vacation, I built all three models and got them base coated with Dark Yellow spray paint.  Here are the results of the work so far:

I have base coated the models in Warlord Dark Yellow spray paint.  I really like the color which is not as dark as it appears in this photo.  I think it will be easy to add some details and have the models ready for the table pretty quickly.

I'll post additional photos when i have them done.

April Snowstorm Equals More Bolt Action Stuff

Well, a pretty good snow storm today led me to spend the day on Bolt Action painting and construction.  I managed to get 16 more Germans painted and based.  I am waiting for the glue to dry and then I will finish them with wash.  Four of the figures that I painted were for a 75mm AT gun crew.  tomorrow I will get to work on the base and the final painting of the gun.  Pics will be forthcoming soon.

I also got some work done on some some objective markers for the upcoming Italian Bolt Action Campaign at Adler Hobbies.  Here are some photos with captions of the objectives I got done today.  There are two more markers on the workbench right now.  I will save any explanation of those until I have photos.

Two objective markers - a fuel dump and an engineer equipment supply point.  Both of the objectives are covered by camouflage netting.

Close up of the Engineer Equipment - obviously there are some mines included in the stash!  The supplies include a couple of rolls of concertina wire.

The fuel dump would have been important to Germans in the later years of the war.  Not sure of the markings, but if I recall correctly POL is Class III of supplies in the US military.  The marker shows a 'III' so I thought it was a good addition.

 Overall this was a very productive day!  Combined with the acquisition of the Corgi die cast 1:50 scale vehicles this has been a great Bolt Action Week!  I will have more pics in the next couple of days.

Big Addition to the German Bolt Action Army

My friend AJ told me about some auctions on eBay for 1/50 scale vehicles from Corgi for my Bolt Action army.  I ordered a couple of vehicles as the prices were just great.  The first one arrived in the mail today.  It is even better than I had hoped.  The 1/50 scale is really great with 28mm figures.

The model itself is good.  This is a Sdkfz 7 artillery tractor with a Quad 20mm gun. It is a die cast model with working tracks and front wheels while the gun rotates completely and elevates and depresses.  Details are nice with a good paint job.

Here are some photos of the models with some of my Germans for size comparison.

The gun, vehicle and some of my figures for comparison.

From another angle.

The paint job is adequate for the wargame table.  The truck is very large.  In the German Army book for Bolt Action  this vehicle can carry up to 12 men.  It can also tow everything up to an 88mm Heavy AT gun.

This view shows the gun at max elevation.

Another advantage is that the vehicle can be an SP gun, albeit in a pretty weakly armored  vehicle.

I think this vehicle is perfect for my Hermann Goering army. I have a couple of more models on the way.  Can't wait to show you all pics of them, because they are going to go with the army just as well!  Where have these been all this time!

German Bolt Action Army - First Units Finished (Almost)

Well, it has taken quite awhile, but I have finally finished the first units of my German Bolt Action/Iron Cross army!  Here are a few pictures.

One of the Iron Cross infantry squads with a Panzerfaust in the foreground. 

The Panzerschreck Team

2nd Iron Cross squad including an LMG team.

A squad leader in tropical uniform.

Medium Machine Gun team.  I still have some work to do on this one including getting a small magnet for the loader.

Herr Hauptmann!  A company command team including the Captain, an aide reading a map and a radio operator for calling in the Armor reserves!

A platoon command stand including a Lieutenant and two runners.

Obviously I still have to flock bases and one final coat of flat sealer.  This is a good start for the army.  Now I have to get another BA squad (two squads for Iron Cross) and some vehicles/guns done and I will be ready for a game.  Probably not for the upcoming Italian Campaign, but by the middle of the year they will be ready!  Hope you like them.

German Bolt Action Army WIP - Part 3

Well,  we have had house guests for the past two weeks and it is a particularly busy time at work so there is not much to report on the painting front.  Here are a couple of pics of work on my Germans for Bolt Action.

I know if doesn't look like there is much change, but I have been able to get all of the uniforms blocked in.  After I took these photos, I got the weapons complete, canteens base coated and the start of the camp patterns on selected figures.  I am doing my own interpretation of "Pea Dot Camo" in beige, dark brown and dark green.  I will take some photos when I have them completed.  Weather is not looking very good for this evening, so I should be able to get some painting done!