WW2 campaign - defensive line action 2

The second of this weekend's trio of games was the action at the railway bridge. Problem number one was setting up the tabletop with a lack of railway track. Once upon a time I had some track with my childhood Hornby railway kit, but that disappeared in one of my relocations. So an improvised railway track made from a cardboard box and lines drawn with a marker pen will have to do.

Tabletop waiting for the next game

The action has a British reconnaissance company and tank troop thrust into supporting their defensive line. They also have an off-table artillery section. They are defending against a Panzer Grenadier force probing into this area hoping to find a gap.

Campaign map - blue circle highlights the action being fought.

Panzer Grenadier force: 1 x assault gun unit, 1 x AA unit, 1 x armoured infantry unit, and 1 x mortar section.

British Guards force: 1 x tank troop, 1 x armoured car troop, 1 x armoured infantry platoon.

The British off-tabletop artillery section. I put the models next to or on the edge of the tabletop so I don't forget they are there and part of the game.

Both sides deployed. The Guards being the defenders get to deploy on their half of the 4x4 foot tabletop. While Panzer Grenadier units are placed within 12" of their base edge.

Units are deployed

Turn 1 - Units from both sides converge

Turn 2 - British tanks soon make their presence felt.

Turn 3 - The Panzer Grenadier assault is beginning to stall as casualties mount

Turn 4 - The assault fails

Turn 5 - The remaining attackers retire

Well, that was another very quick game. The off-table artillery proved useful, but the lack of any effective AT guns allowed the tanks to easily pick off the attacking units.

WW2 mini-campaign action report

After the last campaign turn there are three games to be played. The first one to be played, determined by the dice, is the flank attack involving a Panzer Grenadier reconnaissance unit supported by mortars and a tank troop.

Tabletop layout

Campaign Map - the action being fought is circled in blue

The Panzer Grenadier force consisted of:

• Armoured car troop
• Armoured Infantry platoon
• Mortar section
• Tank troop

Deployed Panzer Grenadiers

The Guards had a stronger force:

• Infantry company (3 platoons)
• Engineer unit
• AA section
• Tank troop
• AT section

Deployed Guards

Because this was a flank attack the forces deployed in opposite tabletop corners. This presented the Panzer Grenadiers an opportunity to quickly advance upon the bridge.

Turn 1 - German armoured cars race across the bridge while the British engineer unit prepares to cross the river with their amphibious vehicles

Turn 2 - German armoured cars are taking fire while their tanks move across to face the flanking engineers

Turn 3 - Under the face of multiple treats the armoured cards are destroyed. The Guards lose their AT unit, bit not before it  caused damage to the German tanks.

Turn 4 - British tanks advance and Panzer Grenadier decide to retire after the loss of their tank troop.

While this action was quite a resounding victory for the Guards, the main Panzer Grenadier force has not yet made its appearance.

Scratch-built Mitrailleuse

Last weekend and during this week I was able find time in-between my WW2 campaign to scratch-build a couple of Mitrailleuse units for my Imagi-Nations 19th Century armies. I don't have a specific project I am working on so it was a good opportunity to add these units. Something I always wanted to add.

The finished result using Spencer-Smith ACW miniatures

The Mitrailleuse is made from: balsa wood, card, plastic tubing, and some spare wheels which hadn't succumb to brittle plastic. The figures are Spencer-Smith plastic miniatures from a long time ago and had some green-stuff added to their kepis which looked a bit deformed. There is nothing fancy about these figures, which is why I like them, and they paint up very quickly and nicely with a glossy finish.

The scratch built Mitrailleuse and crews

The inspiration for the models

I now need to have a look at my rules and decide how to add rules for these Mitrailleuse units.

WW2 solo campaign map moves

With the completion of the tabletop actions of Herbillion Bridge and Rouge Farm, it is time to revisit the campaign map for the next moves in the WW2 solo campaign. As a quick reminder the campaign sequence of play which is:

1. Guards player writes orders
2. The Panzer Grenadier make their moves determined by dice
3. Where opposing forces are in the same map square the campaign moves to the tabletop and an action, or actions, are fought out.
4. Guards move using their orders
5. Where opposing forces are in the same map square the campaign moves to the tabletop and an action, or actions, are fought out.
6. Back to step 1

The map below shows the Guards moves (red arrows) using orders previously written and Panzer Grenadier moves (blue arrows) driven by dice. The move by "B" company is a forced retirement from a previous action.

The Guards are consolidating their units into two groups in the hope of countering any advance in force. While "B" company retires. The Panzer Grenadiers are close to a breakthrough having found a gap in the Guards front between their left flank and "C" company.

With no actions to be fought on the tabletop the campaign moves continued and the Guards are able to set their defensive line.

Guards move to shore up their defensive line and move their artillery back and support the reconnaisance unit.

The Panzer Grenadier forces press forward and into the Guards defensive line

There will now be 3 actions to take place on the tabletop.

Two actions from the WW2 solo campaign

The campaign moves saw the Panzer Grenadier forces continue their advance on their flanks and resulted in two actions to be fought out on the tabletop.

Action at Herbillion Bridge

The first action has the Guards "A" company defending the bridge on the outskirts of Herbillion against an advance force of tanks and armoured infantry.

"A" Company and supporting units (5 units in all)

Panzer Grenadier forces (5 units)

Section from campaign map

Tabletop layout using the campaign map as a guide.

Turn 1 - Guards defending the outskirts of Herbillion

Turn 2 - German forces move swiftly forward.

Turn 3 - Germans are taking casualties but still advance across the bridge

Turn 4 - Germans focus their attacks on the AT gun

Turn 5 - German casualties are mounting while the AT gun is eliminated

Turn 6 - In a last desperate bid German tanks force there way across the bridge, but quickly retired the next turn.

This action at Herbillion saw the Guards successfully hold the bridge and repulse the attack. It was a costly assault for the Panzer Grenadiers who lost three armoured infantry units.


Action at Rouge Farm

The action on the other flank saw a weakened "B" company with supporting mortars and M10/Achilles was tasked with defending Rouge Farm.

Panzer Grenadiers - 3 armoured infantry and engineer unit 

Guards - 2 infantry platoons, 1 mortar and 1 M10/Achilles unit

section of the map to guide the tabletop terrain setup

Tabletop setup

Turn 1 - The Geman attack moves forward targeting the fields

Turn 2 - Armoured infantry start taking hits from the M10/Achilles unit supported by mortars positioned behind the fields

Turn 3 - The Guards suffer the loss of a platoon who were holding the field. While the Germans lost their engineering unit in the assault.

Turn 4 - The German assault continues. Two of their 3 armoured infantry units are now operating as infantry, the M10/Achilles  shooting was particularly effective.

Turn 5 - The mortar unit made a quick exit as German units advance

Turn 6 - It was time to retire

Both these actions were played over 6 to 7 turns and took 30 minutes or thereabouts to play. From a campaign perspective the action at Herbillion bridge was a definite success for the Guards with just the loss of an AT gun unit, and may hamper the Panzer Grenadier advance or force it towards the centre and where the bulk of the Guards units are. On the other hand, Rouge Farm proved costly with the loss of their mobile AT unit and "C" company reduced to that of one platoon.

The next post will cover the next round of campaign map moves.

WW2 Solo Campaign Rule of Thumb approach

Having played the first two delaying actions of this WW2 solo campaign.  It is now time to return to the campaign map and:

1. Write the next orders to be issued to the Guards battalion and supporting units.
2. Make the Panzer Grenadier map moves

Looking at the campaign map as it currently stands there are six elements of the advancing Panzer Grenadier force marked "A" through to "F". Red arrows show the retiring Guards forces that fought the first couple of delaying actions.

Campaign map after playing through the two actions

The British Guards written orders will be actioned after the Panzer Grenadier forces are moved and the various actions have been played out on the tabletop.

Red arrows show the planned Guards moves to be applied after Panzer Grenadier moves and resulting actions are played.

With the Panzer Grenadier forces concentrating on both flanks the Guards centre units are getting ready to pull back and be ready to counter advances on either flank. While "A" and "B" companies are to hold their positions.

Panzer Grenadier moves

The Panzer Grenadier moves are determined using the rolling of the dice in this campaign and a "Rule of Thumb" approach. Or as Wikipedia calls it "a principle with broad application that is not intended to be strictly accurate or reliable for every situation.

As the Panzer Grenadiers are trying to beak through to the south (bottom of the map) these rules are trying to reflect this:

1. On a 1-4 advance, 5 move right and 6 move left. If moving left is not an option, then move right. Likewise if moving right not an option, then move left.
2. If unable to advance due to terrain, then 1-3 move right and 4-6 move left. If only one option then take that.
3. If falling back, then 1-2 hold and defend, 3-4 move right and 5-6 move left
4. If any of the above do not apply or seem like silly actions to take adjust the dice options.

Examples of the campaign dice moves

Looking at the campaign map:

• Force A rolls a 2 and advances
• Force B rolls a 4 and advances
• Force C rolls a 2 and advances
• Force D rolls a 3 and advances
• Force E rolls a 5 and moves to its right
• Force F rolls a 1 and advances

With the Panzer Grenadier moves complete there are two engagements to be fought and the dice have found a gap in the Guards line (clever dice!).