Combat HQ rules first try

Game at Mikes with Tuesday night chaps (Mr B also attended) using Combat HQ rules.
I have had these since publication but never had opportunity to try.
Mike had set up a simple encounter game with US versus Germans in 1944, using his excellent 15mm kit and terrain, which equated to roughly a reinforced Battalion per side (unit stands are Platoons)
As game was catering for 6 players (Billy, Bryn and Simon also) we did not use spotting or blinds rules to make things easier.
An interesting set that plays nice and smoothly.
Bit like CoC in that you use dice to generate Orders with Staff Dice (assets essentially), whilst the combat systems are reminiscent of BKC/IABSM, although I am not a huge fan of buckets of dice armour vs firepower for tanks but it works at scale of game.
For instance the M10 fired with 7 (8?) hit dice needing a 4+ (varies of course) vs a Stug IIIG armour of 8 dice 'saving' on 4+ (5+ if suppressed), if firer scores more 6s than defender then this causes a suppression even if all hits 'saved'.
I had control on our left of 2 PzGr Coys (one in Sd251s) a Puma Plt, a Stug Plt and 2 PzV Plts of which the Panthers and foot Grenadiers started off table in reserve (a function of Staff dice is to bring on reserves).
I faced Bryn who had 2 M5, 3 Shermans and 2 Infantry Coys (I think).
Billy was on right with Simon in center in overall Command (ie controlled Staff orders).
They were faced by Mr B and Mike respectively.
Dice rolls decide how many Orders you get with 1s being dud and 6s being 'Wild Dice' (ie can substitute for other dice) and can be grouped into like numbered 'chains' that allow multiple actions.
A Command Group is up to 4 stands one of which is designated temporary leader.
Groups can only be activate once per turn (but can Opp Fire in enemy turn if not fired) but if chain used can perform multiple orders.
Activation is alternated between sides with assets such as Artillery being used at start of 1st friendly activation.
Movement is a fixed amount with a variable D6 added/halved/doubled (depending on unit type) and can be fairly large if chain used.
My Puma has a 6" fixed move with D6x2 variable for being fast (and maybe a 3" bonus on a road) so with a double chain used and high variable rolls it was able to zip along 27" on road on opening move.
Puma and Stug took up covering positions near farmhouse (an objective) to cover river crossing whilst Armoured PzGr advanced on left.
Bryn had a large hill a wood and some high hedges on his side so was able to approach out of sight.
I then got Simon to issue a Staff Order to bring on my Panther Coy which put the 'willys' up Bryn !
US artillery however gave my Inf a pounding and so Panther forged ahead on my left to intimidate the Yanks.
Stug and an M10 duelled all game failing to do more than Suppress each other.
My Panther killed one Sherman and forced an M5 to fall back but I then lost one to Bazooka fire as my infantry support was stripped away.
In center Simon slugged it out at distance and multiple artillery stonks with Mike.
Billy and Mr B had a ding dong Infantry battle in a town area.
Good game in good company once again and an intriguing rule set that I must delve into more, one of nice aspects to playing with new chaps is using untried/different rules.




View from table center (Simons PzIVs push forward)

Bryns force approaches

Billys Infantry occupy town

Gepanzert Coy moves (Panthers and other PzGr are off-table with their activation dice)

Stug advances along road (green marker for having activated/moved)

Simon occupies a field (red marker is suppression and yellow is point of aim for US artillery

Panzers vorwart !

Bryns tanks cowering (yes cowering like girls !!!)

Mike take central town

Mr B advances against Billys positions

Tank Duel another session

Tank Duel with my Dad last night.
More fun on Eastern Front.
First up we had 2 x PZIIIJ vs 2 x T34 M43.
The Panzers up against it with tough T34 armour meaning they needed flanks shots or APCR rounds in the main to dent the T34s.
This one ended in narrow points win for Soviets with us both losing a couple of tanks.
Then we played one of the historical scenarios set in winter 1945 in a snow blizzard.
This had 2 x Tiger 1 (showing their age) against 2 x JSII.
We also introduced the Infantry rules (very abstracted but nice addition especially the Germans with Panzer Shreck/Faust).
The one had varied LOS with the snow being thick or light on a card turn for each vehicle action with a max of 600m and Spotting being a lottery.
So a bit more cat and mouse although again the Panzers second best in armour stakes needing flanks (hard to achieve in snow) bur graced with 4 APCR per vehicle (ie double normal), the JSIIs have no APCR but dont need it.
Dad had foul luck in addition to the weather and had me dump Mud terrain on him a few times.
I brewed several Tigers for only a single loss.
Good solid game play with light rules overhead.

Christmas get together Black Powder - Battle of Lobositz

Usual Christmas time get together today with usual suspects at Johns with excellent hospitality as ever.
Mr B had set up Lobositz as scenario using Black Powder (with our own period house rules and a couple of scenario specific rules) and graciously acted as umpire.
John and Richard took the defending Austrians with Mr P, Le Duc (not a BP fan it must be said) and yours truly commanding the Prussians (3 Brigades each).
Cracking game with this fluid fast play set which shines in such big multi-player games.
Very tough proposition for attacking Prussians as virtually impregnable Austrian position (as per history) with Elbe on their right, Lobositz itself then a sunken road, a marsh, another built up area and a narrow end of line (basically 1 unit wide bounded by table edge).
Le Duc struggled against Croats on the volcanic berg on our left with a mass of cavalry he could not really use (sent 1 Brigade to assist wavering right).
Mr P manfully assaulted Lobositz and part of the sunken road but was unable to gain a foothold in either.
I had a to and fro battle with John around the marsh and village on our right.
I managed to restore several shaken units to stop a couple of early Brigade Breaks, partly as John did not push his advantage but also found I had no real place to attack.
Eventually the Prussians had several Brigades break and game was essentially over but we played on for couple more turns.
This saw John assume full dice-demon duties in 2 Cavalry combats wherein he twice rolled 9 hits from 9 dice whilst also saving 5 of my hits twice !!
Needless to say he won both combats handsomely and declared Black Powder to be the greatest rule set ever written :-)
In fact he ordered BP2 online during game !
That it took 65 dice for us to resolve these 2 simple combats is certainly different to FOB model with 4 dice albeit of possible varied types and taking into account odd or even rolls, but ultimately both generate a potentially dramatic and decisive result so you ‘pays your money and takes your choice’
Good discussion with Le Duc about BP compared to FOB2, I essentially agreed with him (though would never not let on !) and I personally prefer the FOB system more overall than BP but did try to show him some merits of BP and how it was not dissimilar in some ways and that it also works for the scale of game we were playing, not sure he is convinced although he did seem to enjoy the game itself overall.
Le Duc take in proceedings here -   https://warfareintheageofcynicsandamateurs.blogspot.com/2019/12/lobositz-christmas-game.html?showComment=1576368727291#c5037651803437716569

All in all a great days craic with toy soldiers.
Indian meal followed which was accompanied by extreme bull-shitting session in which we righted all that is wrong with the world in short order.

 

Another day another game - Bataille Empire British vs French 1812 in Spain

Friday and another outing for Bataille Empire with Stephen and I.
I fielded French 1812 in Spain (essentially from Massenas army) against British force with Portuguese and Spanish in tow.
We both like these rules (obvious I guess ?) as they give a good Napoleonic game with nice depth and ticking a lot of 'historical' boxes for us, but we are struggling to assimilate (if that is best word) the rules and keep forgetting some stuff (embarrassingly very often the Command PIP dice !!) and coming up against some problems of interpretation of rules.
Some of this I think is possibly down to translation from original French rather than nature of the system itself, although more in the complex/involved type of game despite turns going much quicker now.
We do seem to spend quite a lot of time discussing what we think is or should be going on but I feel that if we persevere and learn the rules the rules will reward the time investment.
What we learnt from game today is that Artillery is fairly vulnerable to Cavalry and indeed Squares not immune.
Seems that if Cavalry contact an Artillery unit the guns lose cannister bonus (firing better as a supporting unit than a target) and die if beaten.
Squares whilst having a large combat bonus can potentially be destroyed by heavy or good quality cavalry and are in dire straits if Disordered (as zero combat bonus) which if Artillery nearby is a distinct possibility.
In both cases losing Cavalry suffers only an attrition when it is forced back so quite potent.
Cavalry however bit brittle with only 3 Cohesion losses (of course I forgot to count my Elite Berg Lancers as 4 Cohesion today !).
Game was an Assault with my 12 French units assaulting the 16 Allied units.
However in assault scenario 66pts (ie 1/3rd minimum from 200pt army) of defenders are off-table in reserve for 4 turns.
But this still had 10 Allied units facing my 12 and Stephen was fortunate to get a sort of terrain fort with set up dice.
We failed to finish as Stephen had to go early but French up against it once British Cavalry arrived with Spanish still uncommitted.





French attacking defended vineyard

French Light Cavalry thwarted by fortuitously placed defended wall (+2 to defender and -2 to Cavalry attacking across).

British half of table visible ith rough hill on left a stream, vineyard and the wall

French unit shot back from vineyard

The wall stymieing approach

Battle for vineyard continues

British Dragoons (heavy cavalry) have arrived and chased of French light cavalry

My Dragoons (out of sight lower left) failed to dent British right

French square has forced back a Dragoon but Berg Lancers wiped out by second Dragoon unit which as pursued forward Impetuously

French units suffering Disorders

Still unable to take the vineyard

And tomorrow its of to Johns for Lobositz with Black Powder