O Group at Ulster Wargames Society

Played O Group at UWS meeting that had been set up by Jeremy and David S using their 15mm kit and the initial Normandy scenario 'Assault on St Manvieu'.

I was British along with David S and faced Germans under command of David P and Cameron.

I kept 1 of our 3 Companies off board as a reserve to consolidate on stream line if reached.

Putting Davis S and I on same team was daring to say the least as our dice rolling is usually and was indeed predictably awful...................

This proved the case on several occasions with some 'highlights' being our having a Company go hesitant on 2 turns, and managing no effect of any sort from opening artillery bombardment and then later had a Regimental stonk undershoot and hit a friendly Platoon! Think we also managed to win at most 3 initiatives out of 9 turns played and at one point only rolled 4 orders from 9 dice !

Entertaining in its own fashion of course especially for the Germans :-) 

Gaining early initiative Germans were able to be aggressive with their combat patrols and had us pinned back early on.

We did just about manage to reach the stream but on turn after Brits decided to deploy their Reserve Company guess which Company ended up Hesitant !?

We did get our Churchill troop (2 vehicles) on table which ended up dueling with a PzIV which was ko'd but for exchange loss of a Churchill. 

However the other Churchill was continually targeted by a most annoying Sniper that put it under continual Shock even Suppressing it at one point (indeed another Shock would have caused 'Damage' !?). 

Assuming we played Sniper correctly (first I have really seen one used) this seemed a rather powerful unit as enemy can do nothing too it as such being dependent on it 'self destructing' ie 3 misses in a turn - suspect if Brits had one it would have been more underwhelming :-)

British suffered a couple of Fubars and were well on way to their 3rd when time was called.

Otherwise the game flowed pretty well and I do like the Combat Patrol/Order system which give rise to lots of key decision points, combined with quick playing combat systems and certainly works as designed.

However I do find the overall system a bit limited in scope/variety of engagement type as its always 1 Battalion vs 1 Battalion with only minor variation (changes to kit/supports) so games sort of seem a bit samey thus far but that may be down partly to only having played a couple of games and both in Normandy setting.

Only two early game pics as got engrossed in action thereafter but it can be seen that Germans able to push forward patrols beyond defensive line and the Brit Platoon and Company CO on right were the subjects of later attention from Royal Artillery.

 

Minden with Field of Battle 3 at Ulster Wargames Society

UWS meeting today and I was umpiring a game portraying Battle of Minden (using another Might and Reason scenario as basis). 

Troops were provided by Dave Smylie and I done terrain and rules stuff.

We ended up with 3 French and 2 Allied players and it turned out to be an excellent game with lots of incident and action and much elation or frustration being vented by players.

French have numbers but a lesser deck and lesser troop and commander quality overall, although they have several crack units and lots of cavalry to counter some guard level Allied units and more numerous artillery.

At set up Allies looked rather thin on ground but once things got going their superior deck and C in C quality started to show.

Billy on Allied left suffered a bit of a set back initially when a Hanoverian unit was destroyed defending a line of entrenchments and it looked as if Allied left could be turned, however whilst tying to Rally some units the French commander (ie D.Smylie) was rendered hors de combat after attempting a daring deed (aids Rally roll at increased risk to leader) and this stalled the French.

This same leader having been bandaged up and re-horsed proceeded to fall of his horse once again as did his supporting cavalry commander so the French completely thwarted on their right.

However Billy managed to 'un-horse' his own leader on this wing also !

Allied cavalry performed generally poorly on the Allied left with several units bouncing off their French counterparts and another command failing to move twice even when on flank of enemy.

However on French left their own massed cavalry (under D.Brown) also under-performed failing to obey orders and then being hit hard by Allied firepower whilst their foot fought manfully against some guard Allied foot (under D. Taylor).

On Allied right the British command under Sackville was slow to deploy as we simulated his 'truculence/hissy fit' on day by making him roll 2 command dice and use lowest roll.

In centre of field French (under J.Dowd) defended Minden and this saw a fairly even battle with Allies.

A couple of large initiative swings saw Allies gain a large advantage putting a lot of hurt of French units across the battlefield with several being routed or destroyed in place.

This saw French morale plummet and they were soon 'gifting' morale to Allies

They did survive first Army Morale test and this saw them hurl their cavalry into several desperate charges but only managed to destroy a single Allied gun battery.

A lull won French turned up another Army Morale card which they failed this time and quit the field.

Great stuff and hopefully the players enjoyed the game as much as I did watching it unfold.

Slightly fuzzy view of field of Minden from Allied left wing

Initial clash on Allied left

French defending Minden as their cavalry mass on their left

Allied lines advance

French just about to turn Allied left wing as commander falls (black marker) disordering whole command.

Overview about mid point of game with Allied cavalry having being repulsed in foreground

Also at club were two other games.

Mike and Simon had a 15mm WW2 game using Combat HQ rules, late war Germans versus Russians (?) but I only had time to briefly look in so no idea as to how this turned out.

I took several pics but only these turned out (barely) viewable,

I do covet Mikes battle mat and that Normandy church. 

Another WW2 game this time in 20mm run by Phil with Jeremy, Leslie and George playing out action at Son bridge during Market Garden.

This was another excellent looking game by Phil with some impressive allied Dakotas and Horsa Gliders and nice terrain.

Again I had little time to see how this progressed but think it ended as a draw. 

Inevitably with current events in Ukraine there was some discussions of same.

Personally I am not that surprised that it has come to this tragic outcome and the fact is that this is not really a 'new' war more a massive escalation of an ongoing conflict which seems such a shock to many. 

The 'West' appears weak/soft at present time and frankly Ukraine has kind of been left hanging since 2014 invasion so Mr Putin has decided to play his military card.

One can but hope that this is a short-lived conflagration but signs are not good.

Ulster Wargames Society first meeting of 2022.

Attended UWS club today for first meeting of the year (hopefully first of uninterrupted schedule this year) where a couple of games were put on and some mighty waffling with various chaps.

Did not book a table myself this time as unsure if able to attend until last minute but Field of Battle game covering Minden planned for next meeting.

A 20mm Burma game was put on by Phil with some very nice figures and great to see a couple of venerable Airfix 'bamboo huts' in action. 

Rules were I believe a home brew set set at 1:1 skirmish level

Other game by 'Two Davids' and John was a FOGR game of the Siege of Vienna (think was 1200pts apiece on 8' x 4' table), 

Again some really nice 15mm figures that my snap shots fail to do justice too especially the winged Hussars.

The forces (2 reduced Companies plus supports)

Turks at the gates of Vienna

Ulster Wargames Club - Field Of Battle - Zorndorf

Put on another Field Of Battle 3 game today at UWS Club using my trusty old Zorndorf scenario (simply as I had scenario stuff easily to hand).

I umpired and had 5 players participating as Prussians (David T and Phil) against Russians (Jeremy N, David S and Leslie) on a 6' x 4' table with my smaller 3 base units, but we used standard 25mm measurements which fairly made the game crack along (I would usually use 1/2 or 2/3rds on a 6x4).

Zorndorf is essentially a straight forward slugging match (as it was historically) and so it transpired in this outing.

Prussians held back on their right with Schorlemers Cuirassier Brigade as it faced the inferior more numerous cavalry wing under Demiku and managed to engage this wing effectively throughout game despite Schorlemer being shot from saddle at one point 

On Prussian left their cavalry under Seydlitz and Bieberstein faced their counterparts under Gaugraben and this was a bit of and to and fro with Prussians gaining upper hand but just too slowly.

But the story of the game was with the Prussian infantry of Manteuffel, Kanitz and Dohna in the centre advancing against the Russian foot under Saltykov, Gallitzen and Browne.

The Prussians suffered horrendously from the Russian guns (so many 1s rolled vs high Russian rolls) early on and failed to rally on most opportunities.

Some Prussian Grenadiers did manage to assault and almost breakthrough the Russian center but were then repelled and finally destroyed and their supporting formations of Musketeers also suffered high losses and Dohna was also shot down.

This failure by Prussian foot saw their Army Morale dwindle to nothing and Frederick failed to muster their resolve (failed roll on Army Morale card) and they quit the field.

Another excellent game with FOB and it was very interesting to watch the battle develop from afar. FOB is easy to umpire as mechanics are basically simple and the card sequencing makes it easy to explain what players can do each time. The multiple dice types can be a bit confusing for new players but they certainly generate decisive results and aid fast play. The opposed rolls also keeps players engaged in game which is a real benefit in multiplayer games.

Winner and losers both expressed their enjoyment of the game and ultimately that is what its all about no matter the dice results. 

David B and John were engaged in a couple of FOGR games but I only managed to take pics of their second game which was an interesting match up of Monrose Scots against an Later Northern Parliamentarian force. Some lovely flags on display again.

Lasalle 2 at the Ulster Wargames Society

First meeting of Ulster Wargames Club in Belfast today since Februrary 2020.

Stephen and I brought along his French and my Prussian forces for another game of Lasalle 2 using Scenario 5 'Hold Your Ground' with French in defence.

Good old slog along a river line with my Prussian Grenadiers managing to take one of the two town objectives but my Line units failing to take the other despite 6 separate assaults !! got nowhere near the third objective in French rear area.

My Skirmishing dice were very poor all day even when I had 28 vs initial French 18 and I only won one phase outright, with 2 drawn (I did get Initiative on those 2) and lost other 5 phases.

Pretty much a toe to toe scenario this one as French can line river with initial forces and tough nut to crack (the extra MO needed to move/charge across river is a real drain) even before French reserves arrive.

Another fun and slick game with these rather enjoyable rules despite (or maybe because of) its abstractions and broad brush style.

Was great to get back to further normality and see people in the flesh as it were instead of via Zoom. I hope to get to Elimination club as well in due course (just have not had a free Friday evening this month)

Besides our game there was a Field Of Glory Renaissance game (Ottomans Turk vs Venetians) and a Chain Of Command game (British vs German).

Prussian right wing attacks  

As Grenadiers and Russian support attack on left

A solid line of French defenders (several Elite Battalions to the fore)

Disorders start to accumulate

Prussian cavalry are across river

First assaults on town are repulsed

Russian suffering on my left as Grenadiers threaten an unoccupied town

French cavalry have appeared to counter my mounted units (we both lost a unit each)

Grenadiers about to take the town (Prussian high water mark)

The 'two Davids' and Paul with the FOGR clash, I tried to take a pic of the rather excellent flags on display but photo does not do them justice.

The 'two Jeremys' and yet another 'two Davids' and Phil (a newcomer to the fold) battle it out on western front with CoC i