Battlegroup Overlord...with a real, human opponent.

I mean, this is amazing. I barely ever get to play with a human. I was heading that way, had rearranged my timetable and schedule to free up time to attend a local group...then lockdown. It was a shame. I hope to join at some point soon though. However, with my brother visiting, it gave us a chance to sit across a table from each other and fight it out. He is a recent convert to Battlegroup and describes them as everything he has looked for with a set of WW2 rules. I am inclined to agree. I don't like mass battles. I also struggle with a squad of infantry vs another squad...or at least with the rules I have. But Battlegroup, they give a great simulation of platoon level (and higher) combined arms actions. I genuinely love them and how they reward actual planning. I even enjoy building army lists, which is something I tend not to enjoy. List building is a  game within a game. Also, my brother is Alexander from The Player's Aid for those of you who may dabble in wargames that come all in one box.

We played two games of Battlegroup across the weekend. 

Game 1: About 330 points per side. I re-used two armies from my third game of Battlegroup. US were defending against a German assault. 

1 infantry platoon with an HQ squad, 3 rifle squads and 3 BAR teams
2 MMG teams
1 81mm mortar
1 57mm AT cannon + loader team
1 M8 Greyhound
3 M4 Shermans,

German Forces are as such:
1 Panzergrenadier platoon - 1HQ squad, 3 grenadier squads, 3 MG34 teams.
2 MG42 on tripod teams
3 Panzer IVs, one of which is an ace (making it elite)
1 StuG III

The US were holding a line. The objectives were the two woods in the centre of the table and the building on the southern side of the T-junction. They began with a 57mm gun overlooking the approaches to the village, a BAR squad and MMG team in the southern woods, with the same in the northern woods. They also held the centre building with a rifle squad with a BAR team in the field, along with the HQ.

The Germans advance with an MG42 team, rifle squad and I think the HQ. I can't remember. It has been a few days, and when playing with another person I found my note taking was not as thorough. I also didn't take as many photos.

After the initial German advance, the MMG team in the southern woods opened fire on the HMG, killing two of the crew, causing the final member to break and run.

This was a surprising first kill. A welcome one for the US though as it forced a chit pull right away. Alexander claims to have famously bad luck with his dice rolls, so maybe it is my game to win. We played some things wrong this game: for instance he didn't have to pull a chit even though I was holding objectives. Also I had a scouting unit and he didn't, meaning he should have also pulled a chit. 

The Germans advanced in an attempt to secure some cover and a good firing positions. The US northern flank advanced out of the woods to flank the Germans. A few firefights later and these units ended up pinned. 

I am guessing this was turn three, as if they are pinned, and his other unit is KIA then he has no more units to order and loses. But the game carried on, so I reckon there are reinforcements.

The cavalry have arrived! An advancing Panzer IV opened fire on the US flank, killing a GI. 

We did NOT arrange beforehand how many of the Panzer IV's ammo would be HE and AP. Not sure if you must do this, but we did do that for the next game.

The US infantry holding the house shattered the central German squad, causing them to retreat. Another chit pulled.

Another advancing Panzer IV. Caught out, it got brewed up by the 57mm cannon watching the road.

US Shermans arrived to help back up the infantry, but one got caught in the open on the road by the advancing Panzer IVs. It took a hit and was destroyed!

With the allies losing a tank, it was looking shaky, but luckily their commander focused on clearing out the advancing infantry, and managed to do enough, in order to bring the Germans past their breaking point. The attack was called off. A fairly straight forward US victory.

Game 2: the better game. I took more photos. We also decided beforehand to have a scenario of US attacking Germans who are in a defensive line. We also build our own armies in secret. It was incredibly fun trying to guess and second guess what Alexander might have chosen for his German defenders, analyzing our previous conversations about what goes well in a German defensive line.

In the end I decided to go crazy and try something entirely new. I went with a US Armoured infantry platoon, transported in M3s. 

US Armoured platoon: 2 squads of 10 men with a bazooka and BAR each. The command squad is identical. Then 2 MMG teams and a light mortar team. Transported in M3s. 

1x platoon of 3 M10 tank destroyers.

1x scouting M5 Stuart tank.

1x 105mm timed barrage by a battery of 4x105mm guns. I selected the centre of the crossroads at the beginning of turn 3.

Germans: A standard German platoon

2x MG42 teams (or just one)

1x light mortar

1x sniper and spotter (scout unit)

2x Panzer IVs

1x PaK 40

1x booby trap, in the building on the south-western corner of the crossroad, which is also an objective.

The US opened the attack by bussing on an infantry squad, right into the woods to face the PaK 40. The infantry unloaded and opened fire on the gun team, killing one of them, causing the rest to break and run. 

A great first kill. When Alexander failed the morale test and I read the result, it was hilarious. Deployed gun? Abandoned. Oh dear. Also, because we had equal numbers of scout units, no-one had to pull a chit. I did, however pull two chits before the game because the Germans were occupying two of them. The other was booby trapped.

Stupidly, the US commander ordered the M10 to advance and attempt to engage a Panzer IV. It was a failed attempt, and was punished swiftly and mercilessly! Both Panzer IVs advanced, and while a shot bounced off, a second shot penetrated, cooking off ammo.

An MG42 team occupying the south-eastern building opened fire on the command squad on the hill, causing 50% casualties! Luckily the squad held its resolve and kept going.

In response the M3 advanced to the edge of the woods and sprayed fire down on the occupied building, killing some and causing the rest of the gun crew to retreat!

But then disaster struck with an engine malfunction on the M5 Stuart, causing an engine fire! The vehicle had to be abandoned!

The chit pulled for the loss of the MG42 team was a Break Down chit. Neither of us had ever seen this before. I had to roll. With great anticipation I rolled, scoring a 6! I was super excited...until Alexander read out the disastrous result. Oh well.

Catching the M3 unaware, one of the Panzer IVs penetrated the shoddy armour with a round, destroying it completely.

We are standing at the end of turn 2! So much has happened. The US only has a half strength command squad on the table. Luckily Alexander was unable to get a suppressing shot onto them to end my attack there and then. And with Turn 3 beginning, I would be able to bring on reinforcements.

A screaming overhead announced incoming 105 rounds. Exploding around the crossroad, the sniper team dove for cover within their building, a Panzer IV was completely obliterated, while the other Panzer IV was left unscathed. Some luck for the US commander.

There were two pinning hits against the surviving Panzer IV but it passed the checks.

US infantry advancing up the northern flank took casualties from the sniper who put a round through the bazooka carrier. But an exchange of fire ended up killing the sniper team who was caught in a crossfire between a few units.

US reinforcements advanced up the southern flank, attempting to take on the Panzer IV who had retreated to the wooded hill (one of the objectives). The rocket bounced off the frontal armour, but caused the crew to check themselves. The tank became pinned.

Another attempt was made to knock out the Panzer IV, and this time was successful! I can't remember it if was the M10s who did the knocking out, or the bazooka team. With the flank open, an M3 charged up the hill to secure the objective, forcing a chit pull and ending the engagement. The German survivors would begin pulling back to another defensive line.

This final move felt a bit gamey. But overall, I love, love, love this game. It was a good laugh, and having surprise armies was really cool. I look forward to getting to do that again. Still loving 6mm at this sort of game level (platoon plus some armour).

This is the first time I ever used all of my smoke markers. It was touch and go for the US at the beginning and we were only 8BR away from breaking. The table was nice. We basically put all my terrain out and then took a couple of bits away to de-clutter the table. 

I took fewer photos because if felt rude and would have slowed the game. It was a school night and I didn't want to be up too late.

Bring on the next games.

Holding the Line - a 6mm AAR

Tonight I took the rules A Sergeant's War for another spin, mainly to test out a few things, namely AT fire and HE fire.

The Scenario: A few squads of US infantry are holding a defensive line near a farm while an under-strength German platoon probes to test the viability of a larger counterattack in this area.

US forces: 2 BAR sections (4 men each), 1 30cal LMG (2 men), 2 rifle sections (5 men, one has a bazooka), 4 leaders, 1 57mm AT gun.

German forces: 2 LMGs (3 men each), 3 rifle squads (4 men each), 4 leaders, 1 StuG III.

The US defensive line. The 57mm gun covering the road with a BAR team holding the farm buildings. Their plan would be to fall back to the bocage lines held by their comrades should an attack of any note come. The right flank is being held by another BAR team while the rear is held by the 30 cal and the rifle squads. The Germans would be advancing in a general line.

 Jumping through the bocage a German rifle squad attracts some ineffective reactive fire from the BAR squad in the farm complex. Annoyingly this revealed their presence. Something I semi-ignored last game is spotting. But shooting basically gives the game away and by the opponent's next turn any enemy unit can shoot at you if they can get LOS. I think.

 Seeing a StuG III cautiously advance up the road the AT gun crew decide to engage. As the shot screams off it is clear it hits true as the StuG shudders...

 ...and begins to billow with smoke as rounds cook off inside. No crew make it out. I was almost disappointed that the first AT shot I have ever made with these rules hit and resulted in simple destruction. More likely would have been forcing morale checks from the crew.

 Seeing Germans in the open this rifle squad opens fire. The yellow is the hit die which was successful. The red die is the casualty roll, needing a 1 to cause a casualty, which they managed.

 The squad throw themselves to the ground, check on their dead comrade and wait for a chance to return fire. One hit and one casualty mean this squad performs 2 morale checks. Actually it is three because they are caught in the open. Their morale value is 4 so they need to roll 4+ on each die to avoid getting pinned. They actually failed two morale rolls, but the leader allowed them to re-roll one of them, which was a success. This squad cannot move, but can fire with a heavy penalty. However, before the Germans start moving and shooting, all German units who have pin markers can try and rally to remove one pin each.

 On the German left flank the MG34 team comes under fire from the defending BAR team, but the presence of their NCO helps steel them against getting pinned.

 Advancing up into the corner of the bocage a German rifle squad fires on the BAR team holding the farm house. Again, the presence of their NCO encourages them. I had many more successful Leaders leading this game, although I think there were a couple of times when they actually got killed and I forgot.

 At time goes on and it appears to be turning into a stalemate the BAR team on the US right flank looks like it might break, allowing the Germans to roll up the flank.

 Taking a chance the 57mm gun opens fire with HE against the MG team in the field to devastating effect. Under such fire and being in the open, not even the presence of their grizzled NCO can stop them breaking and seeking cover behind some bocage. A 57mm gun is a light HE gun, meaning it has FP2, so I roll 2 dice, needing 3+ to hit in this case. The hits plus being caught in the open led to 3 morale tests, all of which failed, and the NCO re-roll achieved nothing.

 Rifle fire sends the NCO scurrying off for cover also. I may have misunderstood the rules, but it doesn't seem you can kill leaders. They can only die while leading? I may be totally way off though.

 The already pinned down rifle squad takes more fire from the BAR team, becoming further pinned, but luckily avoiding becoming broken. Those German NCOs really know how to inspire their men!

That is until the 30 cal team opens up, breaking them, forcing them to retreat behind the bocage and off the battlefield. I read more about broken units. They keep retreating unless there are no enemy within LOS. So they kept retreating.

 On the US right flank the MG34 team comes under more fire.

 The BAR team on the right flank gets pinned again, but they keep rallying.

 The German squad firing up the road take some HE fire from the 57mm gun. They rally though and pass the morale tests.

 The MG34 team takes two casualties and becomes heavily pinned. They won't be doing much for a while. The unit is at less than 50% strength so the FP is halved. With 2 pins they cannot move or fire, but don't need to retreat.

After rallying some the MG34 team on the other side of the fight breaks again and retreats away. At this point the remaining German NCOs begin withdrawing their men. This may not be the right place to poke through the US defenses. 

This wasn't the best game in the world. I mainly wanted to experiment with AT and HE fire. I was thinking about having wave after wave of Germans coming, but decided it would get boring so kept to the first wave. The next game may be larger. I anxiously await my Heroics and Ros order with some Shermans and Stuarts. I want some actual allied armour.

Motorway sort of...

So i tried making some motorway sections so I can have them cross the table. I am not sure how I feel about them. Each lane is wide enough for a coin wih a miniature on.

Also I made some more modular hills but in an easier way. I sprayed the cork with a brown spray paint and then stuck static grass. Painting them was far quicker.

More Hedges: Normandy Progress

I managed to complete some hedges for my WW2 project. The trees are from a different bag of trees, and are quite frankly hideous. The foliage is fine, and I applied it with neat PVA glue this time. I will see tonight how well it has solidified as it will have been left for 24 hours. 

As it stands though, I think they are promising. A good stop gap until I find a better method perhaps.

Operation Build a Village...almost done. Imperial Assault...

I love these MDF buildings from HACME, available over on Rapier Miniatures. They are a delight to put together and turn into terrain. I purchased two packets of the Normandy farm buildings at Colours 2016, and only now, nearly two years later are some of them pretty much table ready. I have two more stands not as ready as these, but I am confident that I will be setting up a WW2 game before the end of the year. They just needed a little bit of grass to make them pop. I now have dreams of making a small well and other random crap out of Green Stuff.

A few weeks ago my brother asked if I could paint some of his Imperial Assault miniatures from Fantasy Flight Games. I agreed as he gave me no time frame other than "take as long as you want". He also didn't offer to pay, nor did I ask him to. I love Star Wars and love painting. This will give me the chance to improve my 28mm (ish) skills with the benefit that I don't have to store them anywhere long term.

I am pleased with the stormtrooper so far. I need to highlight him. The rebel commando in the front also just needs a few highlights. The Wookiees and other rebels need to be washed then highlighted. Almost this convinces me to fork out cash for this game... or to just dust off my large collection of Reaper Bones miniatures, such as the dragon in the background which has been sitting around nearly finished for three or four years. Tonight I scraped off the cat litter from the base and textured it differently. The dragon will be finished next week and I keep threatening my wife to display it in our new display shelves in the lounge. More likely it will end up in my classroom.

Hedges and Normandy progress.

Tonight I painted the hedges on my Normandy dwellings to the point where I am happy with them. I also framed the windows and doors on these two buildings. I like the light contrast to the grey. 

I also based up 18 Colonial Marines to go bug hunting. Naturally they needed bugs to hunt so I based them also.