King (Tiger) of the Hill - Rapid Fire Reloaded AAR

Yes, I realize I've made the same title pun three times now.

This past weekend I attended a game of Rapid Fire Reloaded at Kelly's place. 

It was my first experience with the rules, which are intended for playing brigade-scale engagements (a base of infantry and a single tank representing a platoon each). 

Kelly had adapted a scenario from Warning Order, a free online wargames journal, for the game, representing Soviet forces pushing towards Berlin.

The scenario sees the Red forces (in this game, late-war Soviets), having two crossings across a rivers; one damaged bridge that only carry infantry, and a natural ford that vehicles can cross. The Grey forces (late-war Germans) are scattered across the battlefield. 

The Soviets want to score 15 victory points by either capturing critical terrain pieces (a center hill and two villages) for 5 points each, or bypassing the German defenders and moving off the table for 1 point for each company equivalent formations (4 infantry bases or 2 tanks). 

The Germans just need to hold for 15 turns without allowing the Germans to score 15 points. 

For the first six turns of the game, both sides would receive reinforcements. The Soviets would have to pick which crossing their additional troops would cross over at, while the Germans would have to roll randomly to see which road their support came on from to represent their ad-hoc nature.

Mike and I played the Soviets, while Kelly and Alex played as the Germans.

The Soviets started with a T-34 tank battalion surging forward across the ford.

Mike focused on removing the two German companies that were contesting the infantry crossing.

Mike infantry continued to push forward, but the stubborn German defenders held the line. I sent a couple platoons of tanks over to assist in the attack. 

My own attack against the hill stagnated. I managed to knock out one of Alex's Panzer IV platoons before it could scoot back into cover, but had two tank platoons damaged in return. 

A company of Panthers with accompanying Panzergrenadiers rolled onto the table, aiming to blunt the Soviet armor's advance.

You can see multiple companies of StuGs moving into position. I also had another battalion of T-34s move to reinforce the first. 

Here you can see my hesitancy; I was hoping to exchange long-range fire with Alex's defenders. But between the worse AT value of the Soviet guns, the range, and the German's cover, it wasn't going to work in my favor.

Alex's lone infantry company was fighting a rear action, delaying Alex's advancing Soviet battalions.

And more German armor arrived in the form of a King Tiger platoon! 

Alex's infantry continued to lead Mike's battalions on a merry chase. Kelly was busy fortifying the hill with a pair of Panthers platoons, to the tune of several lost T-34 units (including one of the two I had sent to aid Alex).

It was at this point that I realized I wasn't going to get anywhere trying to engage in a long-range duel with Kelly's armor and decided to do what every wargamer does in such situations: CHARGE!

Luckily my losses so far made for convenient cover as the rest of my T-34 swarm advanced. I also brought on some of the last Soviet reinforcements; a heavy tank battalion consisting of T-34/85s and ISU-122s, with some accompanying infantry. 

Alex's assault guns moved into position to fire into Mike's infantry. 

I attempted to knock out Alex's Panzer IV platoon defending the hill, or at least force it to retreat. 

Finally, Alex's pesky German infantry company was wiped out. Mike consolidated his infantry into cover.

Finally, my T-34s were getting into knife-fighting range, having managed to survive a round of German fire. 

Rather unexpectedly, my ad-hoc company of damaged T-34 platoons was doing remarkably well. They had blunted one prong of Kelly's armored attack, knocking out one Panther platoon and forcing another to retreat without any losses in return. 

I ended up losing the T-34 unit I had sent against Kelly's Panzer IV platoon up on the hill. On the bright side, it further blocked the tank unit's line of sight.

Tanks were being knocked out left and right (mostly the T-34s). I attempted to assault the German infantry on the hill with my SMG-armed infantry platoons, but was forced back. Luckily, Mike's concentrated artillery barrage cleared the hill after my failure to take it.

Unfortunately, I had to leave early and didn't se how the game ended. Here's the table at my departure, with a lot of burning tank hulls. 

I was informed that the Soviets managed to take the hill after the Germans fell back and were in the process of shelling the town on the far edge of the table with good results. However the time it took to wrest control of the hill from the Germans ate into the scenario's limit, and the Soviets were unlikely to control all three towns or push enough troops off the table by the game's end.

I think that if I had rushed the hill with a dozen T-34 platoons right from the outset, that might have made a difference! 

I enjoyed both the rules and scenario. Rapid Fire Reloaded falls on the lighter side of rules writing and definitely requires some in-game fudging in certain situations, but a friendly group of gamers shouldn't have any trouble with that. It makes playing larger battles like this fairly easy. I wouldn't mind revisiting the scenario in the future or playing RFR again.

The Wizard of Osma - General d'Armee AAR

As I was back in New Jersey over the past weekend, I met up with Ted, Chip, and Steve for some classic Saturday night gaming.

The guys have been focusing on General d'Armee V2 for the past couple months. I was happy to hear this, since I had purchased the rules but not had a chance to play them yet. 

We were refighting Osma (during 1813 in the Peninsular War), with four British and one Portuguese brigades clashing against three French brigades. The game would last 10 turns, with both sides trying to break the other. 

Chip and Steve commanded the British and Portuguese, while Ted and I commanded the French.

The British were deployed a fair distance from the town (which gave them a tactical advantage if they managed to take control of it, giving a negative initiative modifier to the French), with the Portuguese anchoring their right flank.

The French defenders seemed somewhat anemic on the ground, with a decent gap between the two brigades and my own left flank wide open.

Ted put his veteran troops into skirmish lines to try, giving him a wider front against Steve's advancing battalions.

Meanwhile, my troops were backpedaling as fast as possible while also trying to shift to the left. Apparently garrison fire is much more effective in this version and I was hoping to get a clear line of fire for the battalion in the town.

Chip's British brigade was hot on my heels, but the Portuguese seemed less enthused about the whole affair, lagging far behind.

I realized that I wasn't going to get a chance to shift my battalions like I wanted and instead elected to stand and fight.

Of course, that would have been easier had Chip's counter-battery fire not forced my artillery battery (and the only artillery battery on the French side) into retreating behind the town.

Ted and Steven continued to skirmish, with Steven slowly forcing Ted back.

With some forceful language, Chip harangued the Portuguese into finally moving forward. Once in position, he was able to use one of the new C-in-C commands; Flank Manoeuvre! This allowed Chip to bring in another infantry brigade, threatening to overwhelm the French flank.

Luckily, I was able to bring on and double-time a third brigade of Nassau troops (low quality recruits, but hopefully enough bodies to throw into the British lines!) to cover my flank.

My dice were pretty good that night, and Chip's British brigade was forced back after losing a battalion. I also lost a battalion, but was able to keep my brigade from faltering by using a C-in-C command.

Steve's advance had brought him into range of my recovered guns, allowing me to rout one of his battalions. Ted's troops had formed a solid wall and were exchanging fire with the British.

We reached the end of 10 turns with two badly mauled British brigades. The French had taken casualties as well, but came out of the fight better off and were still in control of the town. This gave them an non-historic victory.

Apparently it's quite a tough scenario for the British to win. While they have the numbers, the British have a good distance to cover. Even a single British brigade becoming hesitant during the advance (especially a flank brigade that restricts the placement of another flanking brigade!) helps the French.

I appreciated Ted, Chip, and Steve helping me learn the new version of the rules. My first impression is that I like them! Fire combat (skirmish, volley, and artillery) seems much deadlier. Modifiers for fire combat have been drastically reduced; instead of needing to balance negative and positive modifiers on both hands, negative modifiers just reduced the effectiveness of your fire chart and positive modifiers give you extra casualty dice (which have been standardized across the board to 4+ effectiveness). 

I also really like the C-in-C Commands and Ammo Caissons. An issue of the previous version was the feeling of never having enough ADCs to do anything but make sure your brigades wouldn't go hesitant. With Ammo Caissons able to affect your artillery and C-in-C Command giving you that pivotal extra boost, the lack of ADCs at critical moments can be circumvented.

I think this has reinvigorated my interest in my Napoleonics project, which was sorely needed. And I always appreciate gaming with Ted, Chip, and Steve. 

Painting Update - Quar

Here's what I've been painting recently.

I decided to take a break from the Napoleonics and start work on a project that's been languishing in the "to do" pile for some time now. The recently released 28mm boxset of plastic Quar from Wargames Atlantic has introduced the quar and Alwyd to a much wider audience. While I was waiting to acquire the box for myself, I thought I'd ride the tide of enthusiasm and start on the 15mm companies I received from the kickstarter a few years back.

The above is a typical Crusader rhyfler squad, consisting of a Yawdryl (sergeant), a Milwer (corporal), and 8 rhyflers. They are armed with combination of Bogen semiautomatic rifles and Rhyshi heavy rifles. 

And here's a typical Coftyran rhyfler squad, with the same roster as the Crusader squad. However, the Yawdryl is armed with a Doru SMG, the Milwer has a Cryfen LMG, and the rest of the rhyflers are equipped with Harlech bolt action rifles. 

Painting Update - Napoleonics

Here's what I've been painting.

I've finally started on my French for Weissenfels, starting with test light and line infantry battalions. The above is the first battalion of the 10th Legere. 

Beginning a series of units always takes the longest time, as I need to double check my references and figure out how the miniatures have been sculpted. A few more units in and the process tends to speed up. 

As an example, it took a little work to figure out that these miniatures (from Viking Forge) have shako covers on with their chin straps folded up. 

The standard bearer doesn't come with a flagpole, so I've purchased some from Essex Miniatures. Not perfect, but fine from arm's length.

I also finished the light infantry brigade's complement of skirmishers.

The second test unit was a line battalion, this one being the first of the 14th Line. I have another 11 battalions to paint up like this!

Overall, I'd say I'm aiming for about 70%-80% historical accuracy. These won't be a perfect recreation of French troops, but I think they're a pretty good overall effort. 

And to round out the post, here's the first line brigade's skirmisher bases. 

Running Up That Hill - 'O' Group AAR

A couple weekends ago, I attended another game run by Rocky of the Army of Central Maryland group.

The game was 'O' Group and the theater was Italy, 1943, with an attack on Caiazzo by an American battalion.

Alex and I were commanding the German defenders. We had two infantry companies with limited assets; a trio of machine guns in pillboxes, a pair of 88mm flak guns, and a 20mm anti-aircraft gun. The Germans also had a number of defenses they could deploy to the table; three foxholes, four lengths of barbed wire, and two minefields. 

The Americans, controlled by Kelly, Scott, Jim, and Kevin, had three infantry companies (two rifle, one engineer) and a tank company. Assets included MMGs, an HMG, some light mortars, and an airstrike.

One of the two 88s was deployed on top of a rise that gave it good coverage of the American approach. It was defended by two platoons of infantry in foxholes. Two lengths of barbed wire and a minefield created a funnel for the advancing Americans, and two MMGs in pillboxes added their weight of fire.

On the other side of the small town the Germans placed another minefield and two lengths of barbed wire, defended by the last MMG in a pillbox.

The American infantry companies pushed hard up the flanks (with the company on the far side of the table being targeted by artillery and machine-gun fire), while the tanks were being hammered by the 88 up on the hill.

The Germans lost their first defense when the Americans deployed their engineer company (whose platoons where equipped with flamethrowers and SMGs) and assaulted the machine-gun pillbox. The flamethrowers made quick work of the German defenders. 

While the German defenses on the hill were formidable, they were also static; the perfect target for American artillery. 

A daring American raid punched through the German lines and assaulted the 88. The gun was destroyed and the crew routed.

The Americans only had two tank sections left (the Company HQ and a remaining section of Shermans), but they now had more freedom in movement and fire. 

After the MMG team in the pillbox was removed, the secondary German defense - more dug-in infantry - revealed themselves to the Americans. 

The remains of the German company defending the hill were in full retreat as the Americans continued their push up and over the hill.

Their attack was stymied by the remaining 88 and the last German MMG team. 

The two sides were in something of a stalemate. Both were close to their last FUBAR, and the Germans were incredibly lucky , having survived a couple of American assaults out from the town in the center of the table. 

However, the Germans turned their eyes upward as the roar of engines became louder and louder...

And watched as an American airstrike knocked out the last 88. 

At that point, the Germans decided to call it quits and retreat. If I remember correctly, we were only three bases away from our third FUBAR. While the Americans were only two bases away from their fourth FUBAR, they now had the long-range firepower from the remaining tanks to chip away at the remaining Germans. 

Still, it was a fun scenario. I think the Germans could have deployed their defenses a little better (mea culpa, Alex) but we still put up a decent fight against an opposing force twice our size. And 'O' Group continues to be an excellent set of rules.