France 1940 - Christmas game #2

 My second game of the break saw me in familiar territory (Chez Boss) but a period I've not done for a long time - WWII Flames of War. This was a fairly simple scenario as both Germans and French rushed to capture a couple of strategic villages controlling road junctions. The French has a large force of infatry tanks with armoured car support. I played the Germans with a cavalry regiment, some armour and a air support. 

The French deployed most of their infantry attacking the eastern village with their armour mainly held centrally apart from some armoured cars near the western village.  

I went for a simple plan focused on the objectives. The panzers with grenadier support would grab the western village while the cavalry moved up through the heavily fielded area around the eastern village. My sole "88" would sit centrally with the artillery looking for targets. 

Turn 1 was a good one for me - I recon moved my armoured cars right up behind Panhard's on the western end and took out a couple, effectively stopping the French attack in its tracks. The lack of reserve fire in FOW really makes a big difference. 

My armoured quickly followed up and by turn 2 I was in possession of the village with panzer IVs covering the main French counter attack routes.   

Over on the west I was able to infiltrate 3 units of cavalry through the fields / woods and by turn 2 I was contesting the second village. 

Centrally there was a disturbing occurrence as three French portee AT guns trundled up and wiped out the  "88", before in turn being bombed off the table by a Stuka attack.

Fairly late in the day the French decided to make a play for the western village as I was ahead 1-0 at that point. The Char B's deployed there shot-up my Panzer IVs but were unable to shift the infantry I'd got defending the village. 

A fun game even if the loss of the "88" was a surprise and the lack of effectiveness of my Stuka's against the heavily armoured French tanks was a disappointment. The French really do have rather better gear than the Germans at this time but have lower morale and on this occasion their lethargy cost them the game. 

   

Saga in the Age of Hannibal - the challengers

As this was to be the last game of Saga for a while we picked an unusual scenario. In this one two heroes are seeking to kill each other to win. Cunningly the game ends after 4 - 6 turns and any challenger within a foot of the edge is struck down by the gods. So no running and hiding in the corners.

The Celts fielded The Princess who has low armour (3/4), high attacks (8), and can use anyone as Bodyguards e.g. sacrificing them to avoid death. The Romans had The Soldier  who has high armour (5/6) but only hero level attacks (4) and suffers Pride so must attack other heroes if he charges. 

The Celts deployed across the board looking for flanking options on both sides of the table. The Princess was hidden behind the levy bows. The Romans were more compact with one force on the hill to the east side and the other in the centre opposite the fields, with the Solider guarded by Triarii.   

The central Roman force made the first big move, pushing up into the fields and seeking to use the farm house to protect the flank. Their aim was to hold there for the whole game and use one maniple to assist in threatening the Princess.   

The Celts made a foray up the eastern side with their cavalry, all but wiping out the Balearic slingers posted there, but at the cost of a couple of figs and quite a bit of fatigue.  

Centrally the Romans pushed towards Princess whilst at the same time building a defensive position in the fields. The Celts launched several powerful attacks against the fields but each time the Romans held on and pushed them back with minimal loses.

The Romans then attacked themselves launching 4 separate attempts to kill the Princess. Each time though she was bale to use the Bodyguard rules to push the casualties to another unit. She survived but only by sacrificing the levy archers and 2 units of warriors. At a rough count I think she must have scarified about 20 figs of Gauls. 

Crucially though the Princess was pinned against her table edge and almost inevitably the game ended on turn 4 and she was stuck down, handing the win to the Romans.

As with previous games the Celts did lots of damage to the Romans but neglected the scenario play and so lost mostly by failing to watch the turn counters and secure the objectives. Although the Romans are a little dull they are good for scenario play being hardy and able to manoeuvre rapidly when needed.     

 

Quatra Bras - Christmas game #1

Just before Christmas I popped over to local Vloger JPs house for a game of General d'Armee using his huge collection of 28mm Napoleonic's - mostly Perry. The battle selected was the middle part of Quatra Bras. The game also featured Charlie - JP's demon-dicing son, who seemed to have memorised the whole rule set 😀

You can see his account on his YouTube channel here. The Assault on Quatre Bras - Christmas Special - YouTube

The scenario started at about 1530 and required the Allies to hold both the road and the village to claim a victory.  I was playing the British and with my ally, decided we'd focus my brigades on the road whilst the Dutch-Belgiums, Nassau and Bruswickers tried to hold the town.  

The French attacked strongly aided by some very effective long range artillery fire which forced the Brunswicker's to flee the table, before rapidly returning to shore-up the centre of our lines.   

With the French on the move across the line the Allies found themselves under pressure, but held-up surprisingly well with the Dutch-Belgium's thwarting a major French attack in the woods. 

Less surprisingly the British volleyed away a number of French assaults against the road. Their blood-up the Highlanders even managed to withstand a French Lancer charge without forming sqaure and send them reeling back to their lines. 

It being a "school night" I had to leave about 2/3 of the way through the game, but at that point the Allied lines were pretty stable. If you watch the video you will see that the British held on easily but that Quatra Bras fell - so I'm calling it a draw.

Saga in the Age of Hannibal - river crossing

Having won their previous encounter the Romans determined to move back to their camp and rest from their recent exertions.  There route took them over a stream where they found the Gauls blocking their path. In this game points are scored for units that survive, with units on the enemy aside of the river worth 3 times more than units on your own side. 

Both sides split their forces evenly and the dice rolls showed the stream was fairly low, so counted as Uneven ground only.

In the early turns the Gaul's decided to sit back and try some shooting while they blocked the bridge with Ligurian mercenaries. As the Gaul's shooting proved more deadly the Romans decided to ford the river and take the fight the celts.  

Seeking to disrupt this Roman advance the Gaul's quickly threw their noble cavalry across the bridge, but out numbered they were roughly handled and immediately fell back across the river to lick their wounds.

The Romans then continued their push - quickly catching the Celtic skirmishers and putting them to the swords. In desperation the Gauls threw several units at the Romans as they emerged from the stream, but the Romans absorbed the attack and pushed back strongly.  

At the end of 6 turns both sides had suffered losses but the Romans were firmly established on the far bank and so won the game on points. In hindsight the unsupported cavalry attack and letting the skirmishers get caught compromised the Gallic plan.    

 

Saga in the Age of Hannibal - sacred ground

Affronted by the attempt on his life Phonious Balonious decide to strike back at the Gaul's by occupying a sacred site near their camp. In this scenario points are awarded for occupying the stone circle and two nearby sacred groves. 

Both sides lined up with a grove in easy reach and the stones in the centre of the table. The Romans / Spanish focused on holding their grove and trying to capture the stones. The Gaul's by contrast went full out for the stones largely ignoring the groves.    

Both the Spanish and Romans were able to use their movement abilities to quickly grab the objectives and begin racking-up victory points.  

The Spanish went largely unmolested while wave after wave threw themselves at the Romans on the hill top. Although heavily embattled they managed to hang on for a little over half the game while the Spanish accrued VPs.    

The Roman's were finally exhausted just over two-thirds of the way through the game, but by them the Spanish had built-up a sizable lead. A quick count-up convinced us that the Gaul's could not catch-up so it was a Roman/Spanish win.

This was a good scenario for the Spanish as they had to option of lurking in cover and then launching spoiling attacks against the Celts.

  

Saga in the Age of Hannibal - forest ambush

Having successfully recovered some loot in the last battle the Romans and Spanish set off for their camp somewhat laden down with gold. In this battle the Celts were waiting in ambush as the column moved through a wooded area. The Roman / Spanish warlords needed to escape off either end to win but moved at 1/4 their usual speed due to the gold.

The Romans were leading the column, with the Spanish guarding the rear. Both generals decided it was best to split up and divide the Gauls forces.   

The Gauls sent their cavalry to the front and rear of the column in an attempt to trap them while the warriors poured from the woods and tried to overrun the defenders.  

The Spanish and Romans adopted slightly different plans. The Iberians went on the offensive and looked to smash through the Guals in a bloody melee. The Romans formed a protective ring around their leaders and tried to shepherd him safely from the table. 

The Romans plan worked pretty smoothly with the leader never really at under much threat. The Spanish plan was risker and nearly led to the warlord being captured but he was able to make his escape after some sneaky use of the Iberians Guerrilla ability which gives some out-of-turn actions. 

So 2-0 to the Romans / Iberians.