Dust & Tears Campaign - Game 3

After the battle at Marmistra the remaining party made good progress and the Port of Alexandra came into sight, when the dice let them down and an encounter was triggered

Stripped of a number of their heavy cavalry this encounter might be more challenging within only one unit of Knights.

The pilgrims edged forwards one unit of Elite Knights, accompanied by 2 Spear units, 2 missile units, a warrior unit and 1 skirmisher screen.

8 Arab blinds were spread across the table, the Christian mission to cross the wadi with as much of the party as they could. To the front of the party Arab forces appeared, light cavalry blocked the advance of the Christian forces.

The Arabs rushed forwards showering the skirmishers, felling 3 of their number, they scuttled backwards.

Warriors charged the Christian line but were counted by the knights who pushed them backwards, the fanatics are great in attack but not so good in defence.

The Arab forces fell backwards, driven further backwards by a volley of crossbow bolts who took out a number of Arab archers who struggled to match them for accuracy.

The Christian blood lust was up and having dispatched the warriors followed up crashing into the Arab cavalry. The way to the wadi crossing was open.

More Arabs appeared on the far side of the wadi. A greater push is going to be needed.

A tough fight and a number of Christians fell before they could break the Arab defenders.

As the Arab defenders fled, the Christians took stock, adjusting for losses, the Pilgrims pressed on.

1 Knight Unit, 1 Warrior Unit, 2 Missile Units, 1 Skirmish Unit, 1 Spear Unit.

Tactics II - Campaign Allied Battle 3 - "Dust up in the Wadi"

Continuation of the Tactics II campaign and a useful way of joining up the odd games. Several months ago the British launched their assault which resulted in 3 games, finally the last game of the set.

On the battle map the allied forces had the choice of Allied Armour as their selection with supports from a veteran Mountain Unit, Up against a German Axis Armoured unit selection.

Using Platoon Forward the scenario was a Point Recon Battle - Not quite the clash of armour I was expecting. 

The random force roll gave the Allies 2 Vickers Light Tanks, an MMG plus a Mortar Barrage not a bad haul but it did give the Axis forces plenty of blinds to position across the front.

The table presented an interesting predicament for the allies on the far left was a string of minefields and wire, with a wadi running through the remainder of the table, plenty of places to hide multiple German units. The main objective was the wadi crossing.

None of the options looked great for the Commonwealth forces so with limited options they decided to go straight down the middle. Under the cover of a Mortar Barrage which pinned a German section.

This allowed the allies to push on to the through the limited greenery still unsure on what they were facing.

They found their way blocked by a fixed MMG which ripped through the Infantry who dived for cover, it took the arrival of a Vickers Light tank to supress the MMG.

The Indians itching to get into the action fixed bayonets and rushed the gun position over running the crew and getting into the wadi.

The Germans had one last roll of the dice a 'C' Class blind in the hope it will be the long awaiting German armour - bad news it was a flaming lorry :-(

Game over.

A short but fun game, easing my opponent into Chain of Command.

The loss of a section and an MMG team for the German's who were forced to fall back on the map, with limited losses for the Allies.

Let's see what the Axis initiative will bring.

LOTR Campaign Game - The fall of Fangorn.

The Lord of the Rings Campaign is back.... my wargaming buddy has been investing heavily in bad guys so to accommodate the larger forces we have switched to Dragon Rampant, amending the point values and reinforcements to keep the balance of the game.

In the south of Middle Earth, the Forces of Men have been looking to dodge the evil Orcs' but have finally ran out of room, chased by 4 armies the battered force moved into Fangorn only to be blocked by a far larger enemy force, pinned in on all sides They need to win the day or be wiped from the map.

The plan is a simple one, await the evil horde and hope to batter them as they crest the hill. I picked a largely archer force, paying for the sharp shooter skill to try hold them back and break their morale.

With approx. 100 points to field Sauron's forces were not short of impressive units chase down human forces, Trolls, Heavy Pike and lots of cavalry....

The heavy cavalry swept forward facing off against the Riders of Rohan who fired their bow and evaded the initial charge, some of the cavalry were felled as they charged into the skirmishers in the tree line losing their advantage... the evil guys would only fall for that once. The Trolls and skirmishers rushed forwards to clear the wood.

The men of Gondor refused their flanks as the enemy cavalry regrouped as their infantry pushed around the left flank.

On the right the enemy infantry advanced, throwing their crossbows forward to be greeted by a hail of arrows.

On the left the Infantry braced themselves for the heavy cavalry charge, they could perhaps stop one unit, but four might be a challenge. 

The hammer blow fell. Holding off the horns left nothing to hold off the charging Trolls who swept through the rough terrain and smashed into the formed ranks, pushing them backwards.

The Human General was killed in the melee, Victory was complete for the evil army.

With nowhere to retreat the good army was removed from the board. Things were going to get harder before they got better in this campaign. Nice to know switching rules made no difference to the outcome of the game :-)

One more battle to fight this turn..... hopefully not a year before the next outing...

Tactics II - Turn 3 Allied - Game 4 Race for Garharish.

A month or so later than planned and it's the turn of the Allies to take the initiative, with the centre ground starting to bog down the Commonwealth forces pushed down the coast road clearing the mountain passes and rushed for the town of Garharish.

The town was garrisoned by the 20th Infantry 'Friulti' Division the Italians were facing 15th Scottish Infantry Division supported by the 16th Bedfordshire.

Rolling on the Platoon Forward encounter table the allies are ordered to launch a 'hasty attack' so with little or no recon the allies viewed the old maps to and made their move.

The allies had sight of the table above and had orders to cut the road west of Garharish, the Italians had the opportunity to roll on the support table for defences but chances of securing anything substantial was slight.... What you can say is the Italian commander is lucky....

The allies had marked their route of attack and thinking they could save time by cutting the road and seizing the town they placed their forces across a broad front, a front now blocked by wire and pill boxes.

The allies rushed forward looking to do things the old fashioned way with cold steel, ran into a number of defenders in the mosque, the Scots managed to break into the command but were losing a number a significant number of their fighters. 

The left flank looked to be clear of defenders and with the attack on the right pulling in more and more men, perhaps a chance to flank the Friulti Division.

Rising up from behind the dunes the allies rush forward.

The ambush is sprung and the Axis forces pour fire into the mobile gun platform and knocking it out.

Additional Italian troops are unmasked, with troops dug in across the front and covering the open square, The Bedfords and Scots would not be getting into Garharish today.

Axis Losses.

-160 Points

Allied 

15th Scots Inf Division - 55 Points

16th Bedfordshire Division - 100 Points

A great campaign game and one the of the reasons why Platoon Forward is a great system, the table on face value looked difficult to defend but some low rolls on the defensive tables turned the battle in the Italian's favour with wire and bunkers. If the allies could have cut the road they could have won the day, they can take some comfort that they inflicted a number of losses on the defenders which may force units from the main front to reinforce the town.

Tactics II Game Turn 2 - The Axis forces Strike Back.

With the Allied forces turn over, initiative switches to the Axis Forces, their first move is to attempt to break across the river, pinning a number of infantry units as their more mobile units pushed forward to break across the wadi.

Playing the Allied defender, I opted for a Veteran unit, armed with Anti-Tank Grenades in the hope that their better defensive saves would keep them in the field longer, the terrain was favourable with high ground to the rear and the ability for troops to be dug in.

The fascist forces would be heading straight down the road, with the possibility of reinforcements forcing the left or right flank, so I had to be prepared for that possibility, with infantry dug in on across the front and a mobile reserve of a couple of light tanks to plug any gaps.

On the high ground a HMG and Spotters scan the possible entry routes of the Axis forces.

As the Vichy French appear they are hit by off table and on table mortars peppered their line, the French had deployed a mobile field gun and armour but they failed to hit their mark against the dug in Infantry.

The French struggled to get organised under the burst of HE rounds. The infantry went forward looking to close the ground between the attackers and defenders.

The British light armour advanced to counter the enemy treat and break up the infantry attack, the armour under took a long range dual took place with both sides taking several hits before the French lost a tank.

On the right flank Axis reinforcements turned up in the shape of the mighty Africa Korps, but they were few in number and lightly armoured.

But despite this they were making a nuisance of themselves breaking through the dug in Infantry into the soft under belly taking out a number of support sections, they were driven back by the allied light armour.

All the time the force morale of both sides dropped point by point the French infantry rallied and charged into the wadi and defeated the battered defenders, on the right flank the Germans infantry was routed as it attempted to clear the defenders from their fox holes.

Unbelievably both sides were left with one force morale point. The Allied sniper finally found his mark after missing all game killing the AT Rifle team which forced the axis forces to withdraw. 

The allies had held the river line but losses were heavy on both sides.

Axis - 519

Allied - 445

Tactics 2 = Desert Campaign Allied Move 1, Game 2 - Raid & Prisoner Grab.

Having seized the town of Karalaan 1st Armoured Brigade were tasked with raiding the outskirts of town to unsettle and push back the Axis forces. They can been slow to react and had reached Karalaan only to find it in Allied hands.

The 9th Colonial Infantry Regiment were deployed in the pumping station over looking the town, the concentration of blinds gave a good defensive position with barbwire and slit trenches to bolster the line. However the Allies had some luck and were able to call in a preliminary bombardment hitting the pumping station which put the Vichy forces automatically under pressure.

The Allies picked a full platoon, reinforced by a further section and supporting elements, together with a spotter from an off table artillery piece, more than enough for a raid and prisoner grab?

Unsure of the weak spot in the line, the Allies opted for a couple of section across the entire front with the mass of troops filtering through the mosque. That seemed the closed to the enemy positions as else where there was simply to much open ground to cover.

Rather worryingly the CO spotted a H35 Light tank parked up, that could be problematic as the allies only had a single boyes rifle and no one thought that AT Grenades might be an idea.

Several moves in and the British Infantry moved ever closer to the enemy lines, the spotter for the 3inch scrambled on to the roof top, to get a clearer view of the defenders.

The attackers started to make their move under cover of HE rounds.

As the shells landed, the first section rushed across the road the colonial infantry were unable to raise their heads long enough to supress the Brits, who had their eyes firmly on a light mortar team who were valliantly throwing the occasional round towards the attackers, in a sharp firefight the team was over powered and bound up for a race back to the allied lines.

Meanwhile having sensed this was not the full blown assault they had been expecting, the French Armour rolled forwards chasing down the flank section who were forced to fall back, the 3inch turned to fire on the tank but it was difficult to score a hit. The two HMG's were really taking their toll on the allies.

Over confident perhaps. The Boyes AT team popped up from the mosque wall disabling the French tank and allowing the British to slip away. It would be repaired but it was enough to force the French to call it a night.

The 9th are forced to fall back having sustained losses totalling -346 points to the allied -80 another good showing for the allies. Let's see what the next round brings as the Axis forces take look to respond to the allied opening moves.