Amateurs talk strategy, professionals talk logistics. US 6mm

 Here are a few more vehicles, that I finished over the course of this week. If you paid any attention to my previous post then you will see my musings on paint jobs. I went with US Dark Green. The soft tops and tilts are British Uniform - a generic canvas sort of colour. 

I like the cartoony look of having blue windows at this scale. With the jeeps and trucks I worried about how they have no doors and are open sided, but due to molding needs they are filled in. How would I paint them then? I think it worked decently to be honest. 

These Chaffees are the new mold. They are pretty gorgeous. I had fun painting them and look forward to them dying quickly to some Panthers...

BattleGroup - 500 points US infantry division vs. Volksgrenadiers

 Last night I decided I would play a game. During the early evening I set up my mat and then got my terrain out. My four-year-old son loved helping me build a village, he especially liked placing the trees. In fact, he wanted to do it again today but we didn't get to it in the end. The lighting wasn't exactly great, and I have to admit, even though I had the table set up early, I didn't start playing until 20:30. 500 points was a push at that sort of time. I ended up calling the game after 2 hours as I was getting tired. 

The table looked great. It made me happy to see my terrain being used, and not looking as garbage as I often believe it looks. The dark green field is a new addition, made from an actual green towel, drybrished with cheap craft paints - white and dark yellow. I also stuck some clump foliage along one edge, which I think was a genius move. My burnt out cottage also made its first appearance on table, in fact I put a smoke marker over it which was fun.

The game was an Attack/Counterattack game. The US forces had some scout units while the Germans did not. It made for an interesting start, but eventually it all bogged down into a bit of a slog fest of me bringing troops on slowly from the rear into a meat grinder. I didn't particulary enjoy the game much. Maybe I am bored of solo games?

Here the 57mm ATG starts putting in work, knocking out a StuG III who decided to advance up the road. 

High point of the game was when that same 57mm crew needed to roll 12 to penetrate the Panther - and managed it on their second shot. 

There was heavy fighting over this barn - it is one of the objectives. The flags represent a unit inside the building.

In the end it worked out as a marginal US win who had pulled 17 BR vs. 20 BR for the Germans. 

Battlegroup Fall of the Reich Soviets attacking a hasty German defensive line.

Last night I played a "defensive line" game where an ad-hoc Wehrmacht vanguard is attempting to stall the inexorable Soviet advance. I don't think I have played Fall of the Reich yet. It was the one that got away all those years ago, and when they did the reprint I jumped on the chance. Playing it felt a little different, but mainly that it felt like I couldn't afford as much German stuff, with point costs being higher. But that may be imagined. I was also surprised that my two armies ended up with the same Battle Rating. Usually my US armies have a far higher point to reach before breaking. I assumed the Soviets would be the same. But both ended up with BR 23. The Soviets, however had many more infantry to throw at the fascist invaders.

Germans
FHQ is a Panzer IV.
1 infantry platoon.
1 Panzerfaust team
1 80mm mortar team
1 Pak 40 with loader team
1 StuG III
1 sniper + spotter

Soviets
1 infantry platoon
1 T-34/85 platoon
1 Maxim MG team
1 ZiS 76mm gun
1 BA amoured car
1 sniper + spotter
4 trucks and a jeep for the platoon command

A handful of German units held the wooded areas along the road. A sniper team were overlooking the northern fields, a Pak 40 also. An MG team were over looking the southern fields along with the Battlegroup Commander in his Panzer IV. A knocked out Tiger has been left on the road to create an obstacle to an easy advance.

The Soviets advanced across the field with a T-34 out in the open. It took fire from the Pak 40.

It brewed up easily, rounds cooking off inside.

The Soviet armoured car attempted to engage the LMG team, but the fire was ineffective.

In response to movement the LMG team opened fire on an advancing truck.

It blew up, but luckily the squad inside managed to escape. To be honest, advancing a truck was a bad idea, but I wanted to see how it worked shooting against soft skin vehicles.

Due to having to escape under fire, the Russian squad end up pinned.

The Panzer IV attempted to fire on the armoured car but missed. You can see a Soviet sniper team and the platoon commander advancing up the field.

Due to the left flank being unopposed, the platoon commander decided to relocate to the central wooded area, in order to best respond to the attackers. The forward infantry squad would soon follow suit, leaving the sniper on the flank to harrass any enemy towards them.

Soviet infantry managed to clear the MG 34 team from the woods, opening up the right flank.

This is the state of things. One lost truck and a T-34 gone. But otherwise, advancing. The ZiS 76mm has been deployed as a Panzer IV has been spotted firing. More troops will advance up. The forward most squad and armoured car will secure the woods ahead.

The Panzer IV and T-34 fired on each other.

With the T-34 coming out on top. The German battlegroup had now lost its overall commander. The platoon commander would attempt to keep the defensive line going. I searched and there didn't seem to be too much of a morale penalty for losing a FHQ unit, or a unit with the rule "senior officer". Maybe I didn't search hard enough. I feel like this should be a bad thing.

The Germans in the central wood managed to manhaldle the Pak 40 and move themselves around to face the enemy. This did, however, leave their new left flank exposed, but the infantry squad kept watch.

The T-34 and Pak 40 exchanged fire across the road. 

The Soviet shots went wild, whereas the Pak 40 scored a direct hit, destroying the attacking tank. The Russian sniper team advanced up through the woods, while the command tank remained just out of vision from that nasty German Pak.

Two Soviet squads and a Maxim team began to advance over the open ground on the newly exposed German flank. The German sniper did his job by providing harrassing fire to them, in an attempt to slow the advance.

The German platoon commander managed to spot the sniper team and fired with no effect.

Not wanting to get pinned down by sniper fire, the infantry squad bravely charged, killing the team and taking no casualties.

The Soviet squad advanced into the southern woods, claiming that objective. They could now provide covering fire while the others advanced up the flank. Inaccurate German mortar fire hit around the T-34 but achieve nothing, except for getting the attention of the Soviet armoured car, who circled the woods and plunged into the German rear to hunt down the mortar team.

Here we can see the Soviet flanking advance. The T-34 platoon commander still hugging the woods, and a truck load of infantry advancing up. Unseen, the ZiS has limbered back up to reposition in case and German armour reserves arrive, the BA armoured car has rushed into the German rear to cause havock, and the infantry squad has advanced to the edge of the woods to provide covering and harrassing fire.

More German sniper fire and he managed to take out the squad LMG gunner.

The central German infantry squad managed to pin a Soviet squad to help stall the advance.

Finally some German reserves arrived! The StuG III engaged and blew up the armoured car, which had been attempting to machine gun the mortar team into submission for a while.

With the armoured car gone, the mortar team was ordered to open up again on the advancing Russian trucks, pinning them. Unfortunately for the Germans the truck had already unloaded it's squad which was advancing towards the Germans in the woods.

The Soviets charged into the woods and destroyed the German squad, killing them to a man. The Russians took casualties themselves, and became pinned after faltering in morale. So they won the Close Assault, but lost three men and became pinned. Not sure it was a good idea. 

At this point it was 23:00 and I was getting tired. The Soviets had pulled 22/23 BR and so were not pulling more chits, leaving quite a lot of units pinned. Meanwhile the Germans, were only on about 12/23 and had finally gotten their reserves to arrive. We were on turn 6 or 7 I think. The Soviet victory conditions were to win by turn 9 by destroying/pinning everything or holding objectives. It looked like I was about to have a second battle within the battle by having most of a German platoon arriving to defend for two turns and time the Soviets out. So it was a pretty good German win. However, I played the Soviets poorly in two areas: 1. I wants to see how squishy T-34s were, so I sent one vs a Pak 40 to die. 2. I wanted to see how easily trucks died, soe let it die vs. an LMG. I would probably not advance trucks so close to the battle again. 

This game I switched inches to centimetres and I must admit my experience was far, far more fun than previously. The table felt the right sort of size for the game. The ranges, looked better when compared to the table. It was pretty cool. My brother is coming over in a few weeks and I imagine we will play. He bought me the Russians after all.

Battlegroup Overlord - US infantry attacking a Wehrmacht defensive line.

 I managed to get a good game in of Battlegroup Overlord last night. It is such a great set of rules. I pitted a US infantry platoon against a Wehrmacht platoon with support to see if I could finally get a German victory in one of my games. I promised I wouldn't fudge any dice rolls.

US Battlegroup:
1x US infantry platoon, upgraded to regular.
1x MMG team. (The platoon itself is the only thing that gets upgraded to regular when you do the upgrade. I have been playing this wrong the whole time)
1x Bazooka team

1x M4 Sherman platoon, with one upgunned to a 76mm.

1x M8 Greyhound - to try and win the scout battle.
1x US Recon patrol (a normal infantry squad and a normal BAR squad, but with the scout rule).

They also have 2x 81mm mortars off board, and a pre-timed 105 barrage.

Wehrmacht Battlegroup:
1x infantry platoon, upgraded to veteran.
1x HMG MG42 team
1x Panzerschrek team
1x Pak 40 with a loader team

1x Puma
1x Panther
1x Jagdpanzer IV

A recon flight shows the lay of the land. US infantry attacking from the north. Germans hold a line in the middle. There are three objectives: the copse on the hill; the farm house in the centre; and the farm complex on the left flank.

As the Americans have more recon units than the Germans, the Germans are forced to already pull a chit towards their Battle Rating. I also think the Americans might have been supposed to pull a chit also as the Germans are sitting on the objectives.

The Puma scout car prowls on the left flank, ready to advance and spot for any other German units. Ahead is an MG42 team along with an infantry squad. They are covering the road and field. A Pak 40 covers the road and open ground on the centre and right flank.

Another MG42 squad hold the centre, while the Jagdpanzer IV lies in wait behind the hedge. Another squad, a Panzerschrek team and another HMG team cover the right flank. The HMG team is atop the hill, in the cover of the copse. The Panzershrek team, however is pinned by a pre-game bombardment.

The advance US forces consist of the recon patrol advancing up the left flank, the M8 Greyhound in the centre there, along with the command squad who are taking cover behind the farm complex. A squad and BAR team advance up the right.

Turn 1

The opening shots ring out as the BAR team hugs the hedge line and opens fire at the German infantry. One unlucky Gefreiter is caught in the open. The GIs advance further behind the cover of the woods. The Jagdpanzer IV lies in ambush.

The Greyhound advances with the recon troops and takes a shot at the Puma, scoring a direct hit! It bursts into flames and will remain there, a funeral pyre for those unfortunate enough to not escape. This is an excellent start for the US attackers.

However, while manoeuvring again, the M8 hits a landmine! Luckily it does no damage, only shakes the crew who take some time to recover their morale.

This was the chit the Germans pulled for the loss of the Puma. This seems to happen quite often.

The BAR team gets caught in a crossfire by the infantry squad and an MG42. The squad is wiped out. 

I forgot the rule where you can retreat from fire. Also, the Panzerschrek team will remain pinned for ages, because I don't want to risk pulling a chit for just one unit who don't even have a job right now. There is no armour for them to kill, apart from the Greyhound.

The Wehrmacht infantry on the left flank attempt to pin the Greyhound but fail.

Turn 2

The US recon squads open fire and wipe out the MG42 team. More success for the US forces. Meanwhile the Greyhound rushes up, past the defending infantry in an attempt to hook around and wreak havoc in the German rear. The command squad take shelter inside a barn to better coordinate the attack.

The US squad on the right flank advances further towards the hill, in order to take the objective, take the hill and try to lay down fire against the flanks of the German defenders.

Worried about their flank, the remaining German squad manages to pin down the US recon infantry! It is an incredible feat!

Worried about the Greyhound, and with no other targets, the Pak 40 crew turn the gun and readjust their position. They then send a shot at said Greyhound...

...blasting it to pieces. The unlucky crew didn't even know what happened. Mearnwhile, the Jagdpanzer IV still lies in wait, waiting for juicy targets.

Turn 3

 The US commander calls in a few rounds from the 81mm mortars. While the spotter round lands way off target, the Pak 40 team and forward infantry squad come under fire. The infantry make it through, but the Pak 40 gets destroyed, many crew are lost with the remaining men running away!

The US infantry on the right flank assault the advancing German squad! It is chaos in the woods, heavy casualties on each side. The Germans are wiped out, while the Americans who are left completely lose the the will to fight, break and run.

On the left flank the recon squads lay down withering fire on the German infantry, killing a few and sending the rest running. Things are not looking good for the Germans, especially with US reinforcements beginning to enter the combat area.

This was making me sad. Another German defeat on the way.

Shermans come onto the battlefield. One advances up the right flank and attempts to use HE to dislodge the MG42 team. However, they were well dug in and avoided taking loses.

A high velocity round pings past an advancing Sherman. They react by trying to drive into cover, but a second round punches through the side of the hull, setting the tank ablaze. His platoon mate, the Sherman 76 advances up past the burning hulk, trying to get into cover also.

I feel like I may have missed a turn here. I struggle to believe the game ended in Turn 3.

The German Panzershrek team, finally unpinned (for a 5 chit!) advances up the side of the hill to engage the Sherman. The team bravely takes aim, fires, and blows the Sherman up. Panzerknacker indeed. 

This now brings the US commander dangerously close to his BR. A loss on either side could pretty much break either side.

The loss comes as the Jagdpanzer IV engages the third Sherman, destroying it with ease. The remaining US forces begin a fighting withdrawal, while the German commander takes breath and appreciates how close his Battlegroup came to having to retreat themselves.

Good game this. I am glad the Germans won. I had fun with my Jagdpanzer IV. Although, it only has six shots! I might need to look into resupply units now. The off board mortars were fun and did a lot of damage. It was also nice to see a Pak 40 in action as I had yet to use one. Now to finish up my 88. 

It was quite straight forward setting this game up and playing, although I was quite slow because I needed to refresh the rules after six months. I want to aim to play a game at least once per month. I liked making army lists, although with my limited miniatures, there isn't loads I can do. And I don't really want to have games larger than a platoon or so. 

I have this ever growing shopping list of miniatures that I want to buy, but that is all on hold for a while. I have to do that scary thing where I, as a miniature painter, I paint the miniatures that I have, and don't buy new, shiny things on a whim.