L'Art De La Guerre - two games with Maurikian Byzantines

Played LADG at Stephens today having brought along my Maurikian Byzantine which have not been used in a long while.

Managed two games with Stephen firstly fielding an Arab Conquest horde (a whopping 27 elements) and then a later Sassanid army.

Against the Arabs the compact Byzantines (22 elements of which 8 are light types) struggled as tough to deal with a wall of heavy infantry and needing to inflict 27 victory points is a big ask.

They did manage to inflict 17 but had succumbed to own losses at that stage.

Second game against Sassanids with Stephen using pseudo figures (but is contemplating painting up a army which is very doable in LADG).

This was a much more even affair as Persians also 22 elements and Byzantines able to manouvre a tad better as not wall to wall enemy.

Byzantine mounted do not shoot as well (counting as mediocre) as Persian types but do have impact so fairly even match up overall.

The shooting hits from Persian bows did tell in the end however as enough to tip Byzantines over their tipping point before suffering same, but another close game.

Mouen - Rapid Fire Reloaded game

As temperature down to a balmy 18C here in NI (short thunderstorm and minor flooding) I set up the small Mouen scenario included with RFR to play with son Steven.

He selected to be British leaving me the Germans in defence.

Very quick game which is easy to explain and play.

Steven got lucky early on taking out German PzIVh and Panther in one turn for loss of a lowly Stuart and a damaged Sherman. 

This led to infantry slog around Mouen with remaining British armour in direct support. 

Both sides subjected to force morale tests with Germans forced to retire and abandon village.

Great to get figure game in with lad who returns home tomorrow.

Heatwave board wargames

Managed to get a couple of board wargames in with my son Steven who is 'home' from England for 10 days (not seen him since late 2019 due to travel restrictions) and who brought a incredibly hot heatwave with him (several record temperatures recorded for N.I.).

Had planned a couple of figure games but room just too hot and sticky.

First up was the excellent COIN game 'Colonial Twilight' with Steven as Insurgent FLN and I as Government (French) playing the Full length scenario.

This proved to be a very close game, in fact a draw with us both scoring zero !

Then later a Combat Commander scenario with Steven choosing Russians (do not recall scenario title) defending in 1941 against Germans.

Another close game, but a run of Time Checks saw the game slip from Germans as time ran out before they could invest the last objective (which has large VP count)

Great to get some quality time with son after so long and with two fine games played.

Lasalle 2 - French vs Russian 1812

Another game of Lasalle with Stephen today, using the second scenario with Russians (Stephen) in defence against my attacking French.

Scenario pits (in small version) 250pts of attackers vs 200pts of defenders with 2 objectives and no auto breaking of armies. 

Interesting set up and deployment areas makes for a varied scenario despite basic terrain.

Another enjoyable game that we managed to play to completion (8 turns) with 1 objective held each but Russians won by inflicting greater ‘Carnage’ on French.

Again we found game slick and quick but with overall decent period feel when Infantry forced into squares by mounted then shot to bits by enemy and run over by Cavalry.

Russian foot have Resilient trait which allows them to Rally better (French rallying was woeful) but French superiority (at least until squares and losses dwindle total) in Skirmishers means they will win Initiative and get some Voltigeur stands to place (4 was max) which are a real annoyance for units effected.

Stephen used Artillerist option for Generals Intervention which was pretty powerful as it allows re-rolls of all bombardment misses. I chose Charismatic which aids rallies but only used once as needed General to form squares or to boost Momentum.

System is very much Napoleonic-lite with lots of abstraction and really does pare unit interactions down to basic Column, Line and Square, but it most certainly works for a game you can play to completion in a few hours with reasonably balanced forces.

Only a couple of pics from early stages (before Cavalry reserves arrived) as phone died.

Panzer Grenadier Deluxe - Operation Greenline multiplayer game

Game of PzGr today at Mr Ps with his excellent 20mm kit (loads of newly painted British Inf being blooded) and first outing for the gang, Mr P, John, Le Duc, Stephen and I in of course ages.

Stephen had set up a scenario based on Operation Greenline around Hill 112 Normandy on 15th July 1944, with Mr P and John as defending SS and Le Duc and I as British with Stephen taking command of our reserves.

Germans being hidden meant Brits had to advance knowing they would be ambushed and take hits but we did have weight of numbers.

Germans had two Pak40s in Ambush Camouflage positions (which means they remain unseen even after firing) and these proved to be major nuisances.

I eventually managed to charge the one facing me on right with Infantry but took ages and a lot of effort to identify its likely position and deal with it ! 

Whilst the PAKs firing at long range killed very little they did inflict several Suppression and Disengages (fall backs) and once the Tigers appeared the British Tanks suffered knock outs.

The highwater mark on my flank was taking of Bon Repos objective with support of some reserve Infantry but I lost 2 of my 3 AFVs with a Churchill Crocodile a lonely damaged survivor.

On left flank Le Duc had same problem with an unseen Pak 40 and then was faced with four PzIVHs, but Stephens Shermans (including 2 Fireflies) gave him good support. 

At games end British Infantry were pressing on Esquay the second objective but with some fresh and still hidden Hun Inf units hard to say if assault would have been successful ?

So we called it a draw as one objective held each.

With bulk of 6 Infantry Companies plus support Platoons, 5 Anti -Tank units, around 20 Tanks and several Artillery/Smoke Missions this was a fairly big game but thankfully Stephen and I have decent grasp of them between us so able to keep game flowing reasonably well.

Great game with a set of rules I always enjoy for WW2 tactical games which flowed pretty well considering not having used them for ages and so much kit onboard, 

Overview of table from Brit right with objectives of Bon Repos in foreground and Esquay in distance. 

British have deployed starting forces. Huns all out of sight 

My initial advance on right (Le Duc took extreme left and reserves under Stephen would appear in centre on turn 3+)

Le Duc's Churchills supporting Infantry

Nasty Pak43 appears in central dug-in position

Brits taking Suppression hits 

Reserve Sherman Troops arrive in center (and 1 brewed by 88) 

More reserve Shermans arrive in support of Le Ducs Churchills (and a 17pdr) as Infantry advance through cornfields

Tiger appears in center

My Infantry approach Bon Repos

Bon Repos has now fallen to British but slopes of 112 beyond still well defended

Stephen advances in strength in center

Close Support Churchill (95mm) and an M10 have been brewed by a second Tiger

Shermans taking losses

Bon Repos now in British possession

Brit Artillery caused several hits on concentration of Grenadiers 

Tigers dominate center (although ended up Damaged both to lucky double 6 rolls)

L'Art De La Guerre- Sassanid vs Late Roman

Game at Stephens today with LADG as he wanted to try his Late Romans, against which I fielded my Sassanid Persian of same period with Cataphracts, some Heavy Cavalry Bowmen and a Hunnic Ally.

I got to attack on plains and decided to try a flank march with the Huns as being entirely Light Cavalry the arrive with a +1 to their roll (so 5-6 on turn 1 and 4-6 thereafter), added risk being that as an Ally they can go unreliable.

Romans had usual mix of Cavalry and supported (good in LADG) Legionaries and supported Auxilia with a couple of Bowmen and a cart mounted Artillery piece.

The game was an absolute bloodbath !

My Allies arrived fairly sharpish on turn 3 and had Romans redeploying several elements before discovering which flank they would appear (my right).

A ding dong shooting and melee match was occurring right across the table.

Must say my shooting dice were were awesome inflicting several hits on enemy, however my charge with a group of 5 Cataphracts (including a General) was just the opposite being pretty awful.

On this left flank my supporting Light Cavalry were swept away in a single turn (so many 1s in melee) and the Cats were then flanked and decimated.

I did have success against the Auxilia and Bowmen (being medium infantry) with my heavy mounted supported by 2 more Cataphracts and Huns were by now in action.

But losses on left just too quick to accumulate and I reached my army break first.

At finish I had lost the requisite 22 loss points but Romans had reached 19 (23 required to break army) so a pretty close run thing.

We had planned to play two games but too much waffling about other rules and periods and Euro football competition put paid to that.

Only a couple of picks from early stages as too caught up in action (always a good sign)