WWII Rapid Fire Reloaded - Perrier Ridge

On the afternoon of the 6th June 1944 a Kamptgruppen from 21st Panzer Division attempted to break through to the invasion beaches but ran into the Kings Shropshire Light Infantry and armoured support near Perrier Ridge. 

View from Perrier Ridge

The Germans had three objectives to complete - two villages to capture and get 6 AFVs within 6" of the British edge. Achieve any two and its a win.   

The British deployed their infantry into the villages with their tanks hill down on Perrier Ridge. a lot rested on the few Firefly's as they had the range and hitting power to really hurt the Germans. 

21st Panzer arrived in two eaves so the Germans massed in cover until their full force was available. Their Grenadiers opened-up on the first village, exchanging fire with the dug-in British. Losses were initially in the favour of the British as they had the better cover.            

Eventually the Germans resumed their advance towards the western end of Perrier Ridge, prompting the British tanks to begin firing into the Panzers. Results were fairly disappointing with one Panzer IV killed and one damaged. Although the damage was light the Germans halted then pulled back to cover tpo exchange long-range fire with the British.    

The Panzers also turned their guns on the first village forcing the British out of the southern edge to seek shelter in the northern half. The game ended with the Germans about half way across the table but not looking to advance.  

In interesting encounter with lots of armour on both sides. The Germans perhaps over estimated the effectiveness of the British shooting  and maybe could have been bolder?

WWII Rapid Fire Reloaded - final practise game

With the last of the regular players now having had a chance to try to rules I tried something to help me with the campaign writing. We did three attack vs defence games of varying sizes. On the main tables we did 200 points vs 300 points with the attackers taking a tank company and artillery battery. On the smaller table we did 150 points vs 200 points with the attackers taking a additional artillery battery.

The scenario was identical for all three with the  attacker needing to capture two objectives. In the case of a tie the person killing the most would be the winner. The Germans defended on two tables and attacked on the third. I played the US attacking on one of the tables. 

On my table I executed a swift flanking attack against of the objectives and we able to capture it. I made good use of the plentiful US machine guns and artillery to destroy a good amount of German infantry to win on points.    

All three games seemed pretty balanced and we got a result on all of them within the nights play. yo balance things a bit of the defender we'll allow some "blinds" next time for a bit of hidden deployment. 

  

WWII Rapid Fire Reloaded - practice game 3.

We managed three games this week, all armoured infantry or infantry battle groups. One game was an encounter and in the other two each side had an objective to hold while  trying to capture the enemy's.  We also played smoke for the first time, which seems pretty balanced. Most of the shots I have this week are from the US vs German game. 

US vs Germans

On my table the US moved first and the layout of the road meant they were able to grab the village early, They dug in and proved difficult to shift.  

US grab the village

Germans build up pressure on the village

The US also grabbed the hill but were blasted from it by the German armour. The Germans left it too late though and were unable to grab the hill back before the end of the game. So a 1-0 win to the US.

The other table I have shots of saw the British attack the Germans. The Brits used the Churchill's for the first time, which proved robust in the face on enemy fire. Smoke was used to good effect the mask the British attack.    

Brits go in with the bayonet

 

No one expects the War of Spanish Succession

This weekend Roy celebrated his birthday with a game of WSS using some home-brew rules based on Armati Renaissance.  

The rules feature lots of opposed rolls, with melee and shooting using the same basic mechanics.

There was a large number of units on display with British / Dutch taking on the French and Bavarians. I command the Bavarian continent on the left of the line French line.      

  

The British opposite the Bavarians

French centre advancing

French Horse

British centre

Heavily out numbered on Horse I was able to hold off the British cavalry whilst a series of infantry attacks, with variable success but taking quite a bit of ground.  

 

Bavarian and British Horse clash

Plucky Bavarians push the British back

French centre attacking in depth

All good fun and plenty of cake!

WWII - Rapid Fire Reloaded, practice game 2

As we're still learning the rules this week we tried some mostly armoured forces to test that aspect of the rules. Both sides had a tank battalion plus some infantry support. The aim was to capture the village and a ridge. 

Game table

The Germans won the imitative and quickly advanced to take the village and move on the ridge. The British were more cautious and moved into firing positions in the centre whilst attacking around the side of the ridge. 

British Sherman squadrons

The British ran into some well positioned German tanks behind the ridge but some weak dice form the Panzers meant they came off the worst and lost on that side. 

Some long-range 17pdr fire caused more damage to the Panzers, forcing them to retreat and leave the Grenadiers holding the village. Formally a draw as both sides held one objective but the British tanks certainly had the better of it. The game worked fine but felt less fun than the combined arms games where there are mope options for both sides.

 

On table 2 we tried out some homebrew rules with smaller forces - plenty learnt about the deadliness of Panthers and German MMG fire. 

  

WWII - Rapid Fire Reloaded

Having done quite a few 18th and 19th century games recently we decided to try some WWII. We have lots of Flames of War figures but felt playing that may not work as only a couple of us have the rules. so we've been looking for something simple and cheap so that everyone could buy a set. Adam came across Rapid Fire Reloaded (£5 plus £5 for advanced rules) so this week we gave them a try. 

The rules are based on the venerable Rapid Fire but highly streamlined and simplified. They run to about 10 A5 pages and cover combined arms games at roughly Battalion / Regiment level. Most combat is resolved using by throwing variable numbers of dice to hit or damage with no saving throws. 

Armoured combat is quick as both weapons and armour have a numeric value and the difference is using in calculating hits. Armour dies fairly quickly once the shooting starts but infantry sticks about longer if its in cover. 

Overall they play rapidly and are short enough for anyone to learn. Observation is not that well explained  but we managed to figure it out quite quickly, It also provides quite a lot of the tactical depth as shooting units are easily spotted so how long do you hold fire? The rules also have overwatch, so adding some additional choices.   

The First Game

For our practice game we used a D-Day scenario that comes in the main rules. A British infantry battalion, with armoured support, have surprised some German infantry defending a village. The Brits must get within 6" to claim a win. Both sides had 200 points.     

The British attacked down the main road and also through some cornfields, with the Germans choosing not to hold the stream bank but instead hold back around the village and some woods. 

The British were able to take out the German tanks but their infantry suffered quite a few hits advancing across some open ground.  

Hard to say who would have won but the scenario was a good test of the rules as infantry, armour and artillery all got into action.