'Advance' to Hill 192, Part 2 - 'O' Group AAR

The usual crowd assembled at Ted's this past Saturday to finish the ongoing game of 'O' Group. As Chip unfortunately couldn't make it, John stepped in to take his place as the third American commander. 

With less than half the allotted turns left to cause 6 more section losses to the Germans, Ted suggested a strategy of using our orders to focus on one flank per turn; sort of a 1-2 punch solution, rather than diluting 

We started by tackling the platoon in the BUA that had nearly wiped out one of my platoons. A couple turns of focused fire reduced the German platoon to a single stand (and forcing another FUBAR onto Steve), but it tenaciously hung on. John and I readied our platoons for an assault. 

Meanwhile, a poor morale roll saw my platoon that was assisting Ted's company retreat behind the woods in had been taking cover in. 

John managed to remove another stand from one of Steve's platoons with a long range engagement from his Sherman platoon. 

With both battalions having lost two order dice each, the turns were moving fairly rapidly; this could have meant a victory for the Germans if the Americans didn't do something to break the stalemate. 

It was Ted who led the attack, suppressing the German platoon that had been holding the industrial BUA for most of the game and then risking a sprint across open ground. 

With a roll of 11" for movement, his platoon leapt into the assault and managed to beat the German defenders, removing another stand and forcing the Germans to retreat.  

Steve spent his orders rallying his troops and firing back at the Americans who now occupied the industrial BUA. 

With only a couple turns left before the end of the game, John and I readied our companies for an attack on the remaining German forward position (which Steve and reinforced with another reduced platoon and one of his two company commanders). 

Unfortunately, a tactical error (i.e., forgetting one of his orders) left a suppressed German platoon out in the open. The Americans spent their last remaining HQ orders to order the Shermans to fire twice at the platoon, which removed the final two sections that the Americans needed to win the game!

Had Steve moved that platoon into the cover of the nearby woods, this game may have ended in a German victory. While I didn't do much (all of the action ended up on the flanks), I did at least pin down some of Steve's platoons which allowed Ted, Chip and John to focus on engagements that favored the Americans. Even so, Steve's dice rolling and defensive tactics meant he was able to hold out against a determined attack for 17 of 18 turns. 

This was an interesting (and as always, fun!) scenario to compare to the other's I've played in. Those scenarios usually had the defenders set up in a multi-sector BUA. Having a more strung out setup meant that the defenders couldn't stack their units all into one area, but it also meant that the attackers couldn't concentrate as well. 

If we were to revisit this scenario, I'd like to see it played out with the more standard "2 forward, 1 back" approach that was used during the war, instead of attacking on a broad front.

'Advance' to Hill 192, Part 1 - 'O' Group AAR

We've continued to play 'O' Group at Ted's, slowly mastering the set of rules as we try different scenarios with a variety of forces. 

This time, Ted set up a scenario from the "1944: The Battle for Normandy" booklet, "Advance to Hill 192." 

This scenario sees an American infantry battalion attacking the town of Saint Georges d'Elle, which is defending by a worn battalion of German paratroopers. 

Unlike other scenarios, the BUAs that make up Saint Georges d'Elle are strung out separately as seven individual sections. To achieve victory, the Americans have to cause 3 FUBARs to the Germans within 18 turns. If they can't, then the Germans win. 

Ted, Steve, Chip and John had already plated another version of this scenario, with a worn American paratroop battalion defending against a German attack. Apparently it went rather quickly, with the American's under Ted's command folding quickly against the German blitz.

Chip, Ted, and I took command of the Americans. I had the center company with Chip on my right. 

Ted had the left flank. 

The Americans advanced with a mix of infantry platoons and combat patrols, moving quickly and hoping to find where the Germans had taken up their defenses. 

We didn't have to wait long. Steve revealed a number of hidden platoons, opening fire on the Americans. There weren't any losses, but Steve was happily handing out plenty of shock to the American platoons. 

I brought on another infantry platoon to assist Ted's attack on the left flank, and Ted received the first of two Sherman platoons that were assigned to the battalion. 

Chip's main effort was attacking the remote farmstead that was defended by a German platoon and an attached machine gun. With one platoon moving to take cover in a copse of trees, Chip sent out two combat patrols to further surround the objective. 

That quickly turned into the largest engagement on the table, as both sides deployed infantry platoons in support. Steve had two platoons against four American platoons (Chips' entire company and my last deployed platoon).

Unfortunately, even with a double set of re-rolls, the Americans failed to call in a potentially game-changing divisional artillery bombardment to soften up the Germans. 

On the American right, Ted was busy dealing with a StuG that had turned up along the road bisecting the table. Not wanting to expose the Shermans, Ted instead opted for the integral AT weapons in the infantry platoon taking cover in the orchard. Unfortunately, it couldn't make the range and missed. 

This was the table about halfway through the game. 

The American advance had stalled, as the Confident German infantry was difficult to shift.

I had made a mistake when deploying an infantry platoon to support Chip, which gave Steve an excellent chance to deploy a platoon into the BUA on the close side of the road and mow down the American platoon. 

Ted's infantry had been forced to fall back, and one of his own platoons had similarly been reduced to a lone section. 

Chip, however, was doing the necessary work and assaulted the farmstead, slaying the defending German platoon and routing the other platoon which had deployed in support. 

Ted could also count a victory, with his AT gun knocking out the StuG, which gave his Shermans the opportunity to advance. 

A lucky round of rolling saw one of Steve's platoons retreating. This ended up being a boon for him, however, as it meant that the Americans couldn't put more hits on the platoon and try to knock out more sections. 

With the farmstead secured, Chip diverted his platoon of Shermans to assist with knocking out the Germans that were pinning down my platoon. 

The left flank had remained fairly static, with both sides trading fire. 

We ended the game on turn 11. The Germans were down 6 sections, while the Americans were down 9; a fairly bloody battle that had seemed pretty peaceful in the first half. 

We'll continue the game this upcoming weekend, and it seems like it could swing either way. The Germans are halfway to losing the necessary 12 stands to end the scenario, but Steve still has reserves left that could hurt the American troops. The Americans have been beaten up, but they still have their tank platoons in good order. They need to be wary of German anti-tank weapons, but they've got the superior range to anything the Germans currently have deployed. 

So we'll see how this ends next week!

Painting Update - Mythic Americas

Unfortunately due to some unforeseen scheduling mishaps, I wasn't able to get any games in over the long weekend, so I'm back with another painting update. 

Apparently Mythicos Studios is planning a Mythic Americas tournament at Historicon this year. I wasn't going to go, but I could see myself getting a single day admission ticket and heading over to Lancaster for this event (if attendance seems like it'll be high enough). 

Over the past year, Mythic Americas has seen the addition of the Inca and Maya factions, and I really wanted to put together a Maya warband. I started with the Ah Kin Priestess as a test model for skin tone and faction scheme (teal, purple, and orange). 

It also helps that the Priestess is accompanied by models from another Maya unit; Alux Swarms. Pronounced Aloosh, these tiny statues were inspired by Maya legends of mischievous spirits. They use "Insults & Trickery" as their in-game weapons, causing Pins instead of Wounds. 

Painting Update - Dieselpunk, Ancients, WW2 French

Let's take a break from the battle reports and take a look and what I've painted since the last update. 

I finished up the rest of the dieselpunk tanks. I went for a pea-dot camo pattern for these larger tanks. 

They're great looking tanks, inspired by Ghibli movies; rounded edges and bristling with guns. 

This larger tank got a simpler camo scheme, as who would really bother trying to hide a tank the size of a house? 

Speaking off, I also finished a set of 6mm houses. These were 3d printed and intended for ACW gaming, but they should work for any small scale wargaming that needs generic houses for built-up areas. 

I also finished my Pontic force for Strength & Honour. 

The Pontic army lists has some of the same infantry types as the Romans (Skirmishers and Imitation Legions), but they're one of the few factions in the rulebook that still use the Pike Phalanx (the others being Eastern Client Kingdoms and Armenians). I had an interesting time creating the pike effect, by combining drybushing on the resin unit base and painted brush bristles to imitate lowered pikes. 

Unlike the Romans, the Pontic army makes much more use of cavalry, like the above Cataphracts. 

They also have options for Light Horse and generic Cavalry.

And they can even take Scythed Chariots!

With all of my 2mm Ancient painted, I decided to move on to a new project - 28mm WW2 French. 

Usable for a variety of rules (most likely Bolt Action and Chain of Command), this platoon and accompanying support units will be an excellent opponent to the Germans I painted for the Polish campaign that the SJGA ran last year. 

Ultimately, I'd really like to be able to use these to play out the "Taking the Gembloux Gap" campaign from TooFatLardies. I would need to add some more armor to both sides, but the infantry should cover most options needed. 

 

The French have an interesting platoon organization; 12-strong squads, each equipped with a light-machine gun and a rifle-grenade launcher which can be seperated out as a separate squad (at least, in Chain of Command). 

'Crowning' Achievement - Strength & Honour AAR

This past weekend was Kozcon, a small mini-convention put on by a group of wargamers from Pennsylvania in memory of a friend and fellow wargamer. The ticket costs are donated to the American Cancer Society. 

It was a well attended event with over two dozen players. There was an ADLG tournament (28mm open) along with several other participation games. The main event was a dice-off raffle with plenty of prizes. 

I met up with Ted and Steve, who had agreed to play our first game of Strength & Honour at the convention. I had just finished the Pontic Greek army a few days prior.

Another attendee (Russ) dropped into the fourth player spot alongside me as the Pontic commanders. Steve and Ted led the Romans. 

As to not complicate things too much, we kept the terrain and scenario simple; a good ol' brawl to test the rules. 

The Roman force consisted of:

    x1 Veteran Legion  

    x3 Experienced Legions

    x2 Raw Legions

    x2 Skirmishers

The Roman Legion in Strength & Honour is a big, tough block of troops. Even the Raw Legions can put up a decent fight, and the Veteran (and Elite) Legions are implacable, deadly, and relatively nimble for formations of around 5,000 soldiers. 

The Pontic army was much more varied:

    x2 Pike Phalanxes

    x1 Thureophoroi

    x2 Imitation Legions

    x1 Skirmishers

    x1 Pontic Cavalry

    x1 Pontic Light Cavalry

    x1 Cataphracts

As one of the few Successors factions in Strength & Honour, the Pike Phalanx takes front and center in the Pontic force; that is, as long as they're not trying to copy Rome with their Imitation Legions. They also had access to cavalry for this game, something Russ would use to good effect. 

We also calculated break points, with the Romans having 17 and the Greeks having 18.

The Romans won the roll off to be the attackers. Their skirmishers moved forward as the Legions began to spread out. The center of the Pontic line moved up, with the flanks staying still. 

The first two units to clash were the Pontic Thureophoroi and Roman Skirmishers, which only resulted in a push back. 

We quickly found out that Skirmishers are a headache to deal with. You need a 6 on the Combat Dice results to really do any damage, and if the opponent can pass their Discipline Tests (which Steve did with flying colors), then you can't give your opponent any Setback cards by pushing the Skirmishers back.

I realized my deployment mistake early on, when Ted's Skirmishers managed to push back my Cavalry from their woods. This left the right flank of the Pontic line up in the air; the worst possible situation for a phalanx!

It didn't take long for both sides to push their attacks on the enemy flank. The Romans had their Skirmishers, who had to contend with the Pontic Cavalry. However, because the Skirmishers were in partially in rough terrain (the small woods scattered around), both sides Combat Rating were greatly reduced, and the Cavalry wasn't able to do much. 

On the other side of the battle, the Pontic Light Cavalry and Cataphracts were lining up an attack on the Veteran Legion. 

The Thureophoroi managed to push back the Roman Skirmishers and the unit was Disordered. 

As the battle raged on, I was desperately trying to stop Ted's Skirmishers from getting into the flank of the Pike Phalanx, but failed. This is especially bad for Phalanxes, as they automatically become Disordered when attacked on the flank. Not only does this result in a Setback Card, but it's only a single step away from the unit Routing!

Meanwhile, Russ was pinning down the Roman flank with the Cataphracts. But with the Veteran Legion's Discipline of 5+, they weren't going to be panicking any time soon. 

Unfortunately, the Pontic Light Cavalry bounced off the flank of the Raw Legion that had failed to move the entire game and became Disordered. 

I wasn't so lucky with my forces. The first of the Pike Phalanxes routed, and the Thureophoroi were pushed back by a Raw Legion, becoming Disorded as a result. I was picking up Setback and Disaster cards left and right!

It was around this time that Steve and Ted called "Haemonculus Est!" to see if the Pontic army had broken. Luckily we only reached around 11 of our 18 break, which let us discard one of the Disaster Cards, but Fatigued the Pontic forces, reducing their movement for the rest of the game.

Despite continually hitting their flanks, my Cavalry couldn't seem to do any damage to the Roman Skirmishers! This meant they were free to hit my second Pike Phalanx in the flank and, with some poor luck, quickly routed the unit. 

Russ' Cataphracts continued to hammer the Veteran Legion, and for a moment the gods shined on the Pontic forces as the Legion failed its discipline test with a critical failure, resulting in the Legion retiring and ending up Disorded and  facing away from the Cataphracts. 

That luck didn't last long, however, with the Pontic Light Cavalry not only failing to reform, but instead dispersing with a Rout result.

Both sides continued the fight, but a second call of "Haemonculus Est!" from Steve and Ted revealed that the Greeks had finally crossed over their break point, which ended the game. We tallied up the Setback and Disaster cards; the Greeks had 23, while the Romans had 10. It would have been a little higher had the Romans not rolled box-cars twice on two separate Discipline Checks (which allows you to remove an unseen Setback card).

The vagaries of Fortuna aside, we really enjoyed the rules! 

One aspect of Blood Bowl (I know, hold on, stick with me for a moment) is the calculation of risk when activating players. There are some actions that are less risky than others; standing a player up should be done before trying to tackle an Ogre with a lineman, or trying to dodge past a member of the other team. 

Strength & Honour scratches that same itch. It's a balancing act of trying to determine what's the least risky activation first. It's recognizing when you should slide that unit of skirmishers up to support a combat so it's two dice, your choice, instead of a single die roll. 

You add that to a fun period of history and a relatively niche scale, and it's a blast. I'm going to be ordering extra units soon so I can run bigger and more varied games. Maybe I could even get a campaign going.