Great War - Square Bashing - Stormtroopers

Square Bashings (and GWSH) permit the use of Stormtroops for several nationalies.  SB allows for complete battalions which reflects the attached comanies in the overall performance.  GWSH on the other hand allows the direct modelling of the Companies as independant units.  Either way the latest addtions to the Western Front are two Battalions, with complimentary Half Bases and Casualty figures

The Half Bases are the Casualty step removal element for SB

The battalions as they will be fielded

SB also allows the 1918 German list to field two Flamenwerfer bases.

Great War - GWSH - Jaeger Bns

I have finally found time to finish off the two Pendraken Jaeger Battalions needed for my 1 Kavallerie Divisionen for the 1914 Eastern Front.

They now need a Cyclist Company added.  The Bn MGs were completed at the beginning of the project so just need to be mated up and they are ready to be used

Great War - German A7V

I fancied doing an A7V for my later war German Army.

This is the 10mm one from Pendraken comprising a RTV resin chassis with white metal weapons.  I drilled out the gun mounts and reversed the weapons and then snipped them down to length as I wasn't too sure what the blob on the end of the sprue was.  IMHO these have come out okay

Great War - 1914 Russians (update)

With the impetus to get some SB units finished, I have returned to the Eastern Front.  This is the area that my interest in WW1 started with rather than the Western Front.

My Russian forces are based on a "standard" Infantry Division.  They were based around a Pendraken Starter set with some small additions to get me up and running for the SB playtesting.

Since the play test games I have added more units to provide:

• Two Brigades of 2 Regiments Each of 4 Battalions of Infantry.
• Regimental MG Companies
• Divisional Cavalry Regiment
• Two field regiments of 76.2mm Guns
• One Heavy Regiment of 122mm Guns

GWSH and others seem to suggest the Russians were poorly provided with Artillery compared to the Imperial German Army.  The Batteries were deemed to be inefficient by still retaing 8 gun strucutres rather than 6 pieces.  Stone (The Eastern Front 1914 - 1917) makes a statement on Page 38 that "...their regular Divisions (German) had eighteen such weapons (field-mortars) to fifty-four field cannon, whereas the Russian army, in 1914, had only six per division (and forty-eight field-cannon).  This give me a benchmark for the Germans of:

3 Batteries of 6 Howitzers
9 Batteries of 6 Field Guns

Which translates the Russians to:
1 Battery of 6 Howitzers increasing to two batteries following the reforms
6 Batteries of 8 Field Guns

Great War - SB - Trench Assault Play Test

Latest playtest was a 1916 Western Front game between my British (Attacking) Vs Germans.

Pretty standard forces. I opted for 11 Battalions of Infantry supported by a MkIV tank upagainst a German force with full artillery and MG allocation. Not a blood bath BUT I didn't win. Game was over at the end of turn 4 with some nifty end of game rolls from the Defender. Things not helped out by my poor dice rolling. Out of 30 D6 rolled I managed one 6 which left my attack unsupported. Pretty close in terms of game play with the British finally breaking into the Trench line and taking a forward redoubt but not enough to score a victory and in fact the VPs game an overwhelming victory to the Germans.

Close up view from the Germans looking towards the British start line at the end of the British 3rd Turn, Casualties have started to mount (Top Right corner), however the Germans are very weak. A Damaged gun and a damaged MG are all that oppose two attacking battalions in the objective square (the one with the flag).

Overview at the end of Turn 3. The first attack on the British left flank (Attacking R to L) has been repulsed while the MKIV (unpainted sorry) and infantry have succeeded in taking the forward bunker.

German Turn 3 however was a different picture as a point barrage hits the newly captured position before the two weakened battalions (2 Bases and 3 bases) can be assaulted. End result is the withdrawal of the British to their start lines.

As this was a playtest we spent a few moments checking the mechanism for main and supporting attacks from two flank attacks being launched.in a pincer movement.

8 to 9 on the left hand attack and 8 to 8 on the right hand attack. Not great odds however the German defenders are a single base and I am hoping to win by virtue of destroying the enemy.

All told an enjoyable game again. I need to review my terrain but Western Front isn't my main focus in the Great War so will have to see what happens.

Great War - Square Bashing - 1916 Western Front

Quick AAR unfortunately no pictures.  I had arranged to stay over at my best mate's house the other night unfortunately in my rush to leave i managed to leave my SB books at home.  Luckily we had access to an earlier SB playtest copy and playsheet so we could at least get a 90% solution in.

Pete chose Western Front Germans and I took British with both of us picking a 1916 options.

After taking the minimums I was faced with choosing an extra 107 points which ended up being an extra Regular Battalion, 2 MG Companies and 2 18 Pounders, Pete had a force with two Cavalry Regiments which I rubbed my hand in glee at, 4 77mm Batteries and the rest being split between MG and Regular Infantry.  I was sorely hoping to be the attacker.

Unfortunately that didn't happen.  Pete had elected for an offensive posture and soundly beat me in the pre-game set up.
My Artillery was low and ammo and could only fire 4 Square width barrages.  My Suppression Barrage was reduced to 4 Points.  He had an option to use his artillery against my armour (which luckily I hadn't taken for a change) and worse he ended up with a Stormtrooper unit to spearhead his attack and reducing my Point Barrage.  In addition he could move some of his MGs (remember this is a playtest list so isn't the same as the final print version)

I ended up being 21 points behind and was facing a 7D6 depletion roll once the units were all set up.

Terrain was duly set up and I had placed three objectives in Row 3 (9 Points) and one in Row 4 (4 Points) so that was fine.  I was hoping do keep him confined in the terrain and hope for some good end turn rolls.  That wasn't such a good idea facing Cavalry and his terrain roll moved my rough terrain that I was relying on to hold up his attack in front on the objectives.

The depletion rolls were horrid as well and I ended up with the three objectives in Row 3 being held with Profession Infantry and MGs and one Regular Battalion.  In terms of support I had 3 Field batteries the rest of the force were reinforcements.

Pete's first turn saw a suppression barrage on my defensive line which meant I couldn't fire out or over which left his force unscathed and on top of my positions.  In my turn despite an asset general I ended up with no support and unlikely to sortie out from the objectives into the open  I managed to get one reinforcement unit on (Reservist Infantry Grrrr).  An End Game roll of 1 set the tone that this really was going to be a bad day for the British.

I can't remember Pete's next asset roll but I managed to repulse two assualts he launched with no casualties.  The thrird assault however pushed me off of the centre objective. In my turn 2 I managed to land a small suppression barrage which effectively pinned his centre and right flank infantry.  A counter attack managed to recapture the lost objective and an end game roll of 6 meant that I was facing at least 3 more turns.

Next turn saw more assaults coming in which I shrugged off and thought that I might have a chance. The dice gods were not on my side and a point barrage intended to hit the attackers in the open dropped short on the Left hand objective causing casualties on the Professional Infantry which i could weather but both MGs took a loss meaning I had just lost 4D6 of Defensive firepower. 

With a barrage on my own position Pete rubbed his hands in glee for his own assets and promptly failed to add anything.  That said the damage was already done and his free roaming cavalry on the flank and rear coupled with losing 7D6 of defensive power (Damaged MGs and the 3 Barrage markers) meant that the assault was going one way in the favour of the Germans. I conceded at this point.

Lessons Identified -

• Terrain can only do so much and it is better to sit in it than in the open! 
• Asset Generals are fine but once you have rolled all your dice then they are gone.  Possibly better if defending to use a morale General.  Only really helpful if you have been shot up as has no effect in an assault. 
• You can never have enough barrage markers (only applies to me as I supply both forces and therefore need all the markers for boths sides)

Thoroughly good evening and the nice postman has delivered Pendraken order 6544 which contains some more late war Western Front additions to the British and Germans (I am daunted by the A7V though!)

Great War - Eastern Front Cavalry

As the Eastern Front Cavalry operations were the spark that set this particular fire off running I thought it was about time they had some more attention.

First up are a couple of new German bases.  The one on the left is a standard Uhlan base which will just be added to the pile of cavalry being painted up to give me the 1st Cavalry Division for some early 1914 games.  In the middle is my Cavalry Brigade command stand for GWSH and on the right is a WIP for the dismounted cavalry that both SB and GWSH can use.  These will go on to fill up 1st Kavallerie Divisionen which is now in the painting queue.

From a slightly different angle

 And the other side

The Russian Brigade HQ being worked up

Great War - 1916+ British Current Progress

Problem with so many projects is that you keep finding things you hadn't gotten around to.  In this case my 1916+ British Artillery, HQs and Tanks had sat unloved for a while.

Now completed this lot with another load on order from those very nice people at Pendraken

HQ Set with Motorcylist and Carrier Pidgeons and Telephones

MkIV Male

Lions

The Divisional Artillery 

 Supports waiting for the next batch of metal (MGs and another Regiment of 18 Pdrs)

3 Brigades of British Empire Infantry

Square Bashing - First Steps

For those new to SB who find the rule book daunting, fear not.  Fear my poor use of the english language and grammar instead as I try to get you over the top as painlessly as possible.  We are going to use the concept of a quick game which is included in the book to enable new players to get started quickly.

But before you start looking for that, first do a little reading of the following rule sections .  Most RFCM games have the idea of pre-battle activity.  This ensures that when you actually start the first turn you have absorbed some of the flavour of your period.  So setting the game up correctly is pretty important.

Start off by skimming through the following rule sections:
12 on Page 22
13 on Page 25
14 on Page 26
15 on Page 27
16 on Page 27
17 on Page 28
18 on Page 30

I did say flick as the idea is that now you have a rough idea of where things are and how they go together the next piece of narrative makes sense.

Now go to Page 15 where the game set up is described and references all the relevant sections in case you get lost. Ignore notes 1, 3, 4, 5 and 6.

Normally you would follow the steps in Order 1 - 18 but to get you started quickly we are only going to use:

Step 1 (and even that we are going to shorten that)
Step 2
Skip past 3 - 6
Steps  7 - 18

Step 1.
Most Players haven't got a clue about force composition or what works and what doesn't; so don't bother.  Use the sample forces below until you are happy with the mechanics and only then start working out your own forces from the Army Lists:

Side A - The attacker
2 Reservist Units
6 Regular Units
3 Professional Units
6 Standard Guns
4 Machine Guns

Side B - The Defender
6 Machine Guns
3 Reservist Units
5 Regular Units
4 Standard Guns

Step 2.
Both players select some scenery items as described in Section 12

Step 7 - 12
To get started you are only going to have 8 terrain pieces and you only need to be able to count to 13 for your objectives.  Place the terrain as directed and if you get stuck read Section 13, 15 & 16 again

Roads First

Then Objectives

Then the rest of the terrain 

Then terrain moves

Step 13 - 14
Set up both armies as per Section 17

Step 15
As this is the quick game you have skipped a large chunk of fluff which sets a normal game.  The quick game assumes that has already happened and that the defender has been on the receiving end of the attackers preparatory barrages.  As the quick game states this is "attack in force" if you look on the table on Page 32 you can see where the 6D6 comes from don't forget to use the modifiers on this table.  As this is the quick game make sure you read the notes on Page 9 before rolling for depletions.

Step 16
For new players I would recommend the attacker being a Fighting General and the Defender being a Morale rating for your first couple of games.  Give each general a 3 Command rating.

Step 17 and 18
You are now ready to start the game with the attacker going first.

Now read Sections 23 - 28 and 30 (Skip 29 for the quick game)

WOTR - Battle Report (Part 1)

"It had been a miserable week.  The raising of a force to oppose Edward across the heartland had taken its time and the incessant rain had made travelling a miserable task.  Gloucester and Hastings were reported moving up to join Edward addressing the numerical advantage held by the Lancastrians.  Gloucester was close with Hastings still a day away.

Somerset, Wenlock and Courtenay had agreed to strike as early as possible before Edward had time to integrate his forces.  Scouts and Agents in the area had forewarned them as to the approach of the elements of the Yorkist host; Edward and Gloucester had already joined forces and Hastings moving south to join them.  Hoping to gain an advantage Somerset’s plan was to set out once their forces had assembled and strike the Yorkist forces before they could be joined by Hastings.

However, as the early morning mist cleared the alarm was raised by the picquets.  It was now apparent that Hastings forces had marched through the night and joined with the main Yorkist Army.  With the banners of Gloucester, Hastings and Edward advancing to the fore, the order to stand-to was rapidly issued through the Lancastrian force.

Wenlock, in the centre, took a deep breath as he observed Edward’s Royal standard; fighting for ones affinity against a rival was one thing but to take arms against the King.....Looking rearward he could see the units at the far side of the encampment would take some time to reach the battleline  His plan, observing the difficulty of the heavily armoured York household crossing the minor stream in front of the Lancastrian position, was that he could engage and defeat the discomfited Mainward before they had reorganised. 

Somerset on the Left flank looked across at Wenlock’s standard on the hill.  "I hope he knows his duty", he muttered under his breath. He knew of the reservations expressed at the Council they held at the Inn last night but hoped that the oath they had undertaken would steel the minds against the task they faced.  Defeat Edward, march to London and retrieve Henry from the tower.

Courtenay looked on as his forces arrayed themselves for battle.  He had been fortunate to lead the vanward battle, the early reveille to start them on their  advance had meant that they were more prepared that the Main and Rearward battles when Edward's troops appeared. Now, his troops were trading ribald comments with the levy that had come up to support them.  That spoke volumes, they were in a good position with the attackers having to come up the hill to them and his men could shoot as well as any in England."

The narrative above was generated using the Bloody Barons "Events" system. This generates unique engagements and a large element of unknown in any engagement in this period.  My opponent had pressed for the attack committing 21 dice out of 25 to attack.  I had opted for an even handed 14.  Poor rolling on his part meant I was the attacker but with a poor advantage.  Only two Lancastrian units were going to be late, one opposing my right flank, and one in the Centre.  My left flank would be evenly matched.

The rest of the events produced a range of results.
His Bribery and Subterfuge meant that his spies were very effective and my right flank general (3) was swapped with the left (1) to offset the advantage of only facing one unit to start with.

Scouting and Supplies were both inconclusive

Loyalty went my way with one general receiving -1 on his motivation rolls until motivated by another general.  Looking for a bit of "Somerset persuasion" with a battle axe.

Order of March went the lancastrian way and my opponent nominated my Household unit in the centre to be pushed back two widths.  Again hoping to offset his late arriving retinue unit.

Royalty went my way with a re-roll of one generals rating, so as I couldn't do worse than a 3 anyway I rolled for the new right flank general coming up with a 1 so the advantage on the right swinging back my way.

In summary I am the attacker with 7 units facing 5 on table with 2 defender reinforcements.  My left flank is evenly matched with the opposition,  The centre is slightly out of line with the Household being behind the rest.  Hopefully I can get the alignment sorted out before his Household can do too much damage.  My main hope is the right flank where I outnumber him 2:1 to start with.  His reinforcements match my attacking disposition so this will be an evenly matched engagement.

More to follow....

WOTR - The Collection

My 20% discounted order from the nice people at Peter Pig has now arrived.  This takes my WOTR collection to 641 Foot and 44 Mounted figures.Over 400 of these are painted to a standard that I am not embarrassed to put on the table and game with.

Painted, Based and ready for gaming (286 Figures)
12 Captains (30 Figures)
36 Bases of Foot troops (108 Figures)
48 Bases of Archers (144 Figures)

Painted, Based and to be added to the core units above (164 Foot Figures, 34 Mounted)
9 Bases of Bodyguard (27 Figures)
2 Bases of Archers (6 Figures)
4 Bases of Foot troops (12 Figures)
5 Bases of Crossbowmen (15 Figures)
16 Bases of Household (48 Figures)
6 Bases of Household Captains (18 Figures)
10 Generals (30 Figures)
6 Bases of Retinue Cavalry (12 Mounted Figures)
8 Bases of Household Cavalry (16 Mounted Figures)
3 Bases of Mounted Captains (6 Mounted Figures)
2 Bases of Light Guns (8 Figures)

Unpainted sat in the box (191 Foot Figures, 10 Mounted)
1 Mounted Royal (2 Mounted Figures)
2 General Casualties (4 Figures)
5 "Amusing" Figures
4 Mounted Standard Bearers
4 Mounted Captains
26 Retinue Foot
41 Archers
14 Standard Bearers
3 Household troops
42 Command Figures (Captains)
3 Trumpeters
4 Drummers
9 Crossbowmen
24 Levy foot troops
16 Handgunners

WOTR - More Generals (Part 8)

Without doing every single general from the scenario book it will be hard to pick on a staple set for my BB forces.  I can either use generics such as Gillan, Gilmore and Osborne (my first couple) or pick a couple of more common real ones.

I have updated Beaufort to use a smaller heraldic standard plus Richard Plantagenet (Duke of York and Duke of Gloucester) and William Hastings.  This gives me three Yorkist Generals and will work up the Lancastrians once I decide on the new standards

I have also changed the font and layout of the base labels to add some more detail.

WOTR - New Generals (Part 7)

Following some useful advice over on TMP this is the first of the "new" generals using Historical Heraldic and Livery colours.  This one should be from the Beaufort Family in his guise as "Somerset" supporting the House of Lancaster

Not decided yet on the orientation of the flags and unfortunately my brushwork isn't good enough to paint the heraldic detail on the tabard of the figure.  I had a go but not happy with the result.

Also not completely happy on the size of the Heraldic flags that I downloaded from Vexillia.  As they are a PDF file you can resize them but not too sure whether my old ones are too small and these are right or the these are too big and the old ones are correct.  I have a set on order from Freezywater so will reserve judgement until then.

WOTR - Progess (Part 6)

Part 6 of my WOTR update.  The second army's core elements have been completed as a result of an overnight hotel stay.  The last 30 Figures finished and then the whole army based.

School boy error on my part, as I didn't know any better when I started this 4 years ago is that the livery colours are the wrong way round for a historical force based on the major leaders from the House of York.  Working on the premise of "lower left" for interpreting Standards I could just cheat and say these were Lord Hastings forces.

Livery Flags or Heraldic Flags not yet decided upon.  The two flags on these are from my orginal forces and are "generic" flags.  The new captains haven't been decided on. I have a choice for adding either the main Livery flags which means that It would be easier to then add units to either side by the simple mechanism of swapping the correct flag or adding the captains Heraldic flag to the unit.  I could go a step both ways and actually have both flags on a captain base.  Something to consider in the future but these are good enough to game with.

Detailing still needed, Scabbards need colour and the flights on the arrows need to be done as well, but from the 2 foot playing distance good enough to get the toys out and on the table and not be ashamed.

In terms of points/composition each army weighs in at 650 pts.  2 Units of Levy, 4 Retinue, 1 Household unit of H2H troops, Light Gun, 3 Generals.

Unallocated box/spares will be worked on after I take a break from paining these and put some WW2 tanks together.

WOTR - Forces for Historical Scenarios (Part 5)

The Bloody Barons rule book also includes the details necessary to refight the historical engagements of the War of the Roses.

My quick count up means that if I wanted to be able to provide enough forces for each side the maximum I would need would be somewhere between 11 and 23 units (8 bases on average) and upto 7 units of Cavalry.

Now that is a lot of troops and I am not going down that route, just yet.  It does mean however that my modest forces can only be used for everything except Towton and Tewkesbury or where there is a large contingent of Cavalry.

What it does mean however is that I have decided on at least one of the Generals (or his family at least).  The Beaufort family will be one of my staple generals and two units will bear his livery which is simple Blue and White.

A spare Archer and Retinue Foot base from the spares pile have been added and it means that I can now look at a lesser lord for the Captain.  More to follow as usual

WOTR - Best Laid Plans (Part 4)

So...I picked up my order from the nice people at PP and went looking around the rest of Warfare at Reading.  Discussion with the nice people at the Lance and Longbow Society and another 14 packs of figures have just been added to the unpainted pile adding somewhere between 52 and 112 figures making 130+ figures to do.  Luckily, however, most these are for new commanders and Captains and can gradually be added over time and wont stop us actually getting some games in.

Just spent the last hour or so going through the Heraldic Flags I found in the box. I have 85 flags for Peers and a set of 11 which are all annotated KG (assumed to be Knights Companion).

As I am new to this from a historical perpective I haven't sorted out factions or anything yet but the twin flags and new Command bases mean I have some scope for painting livery and heraldic schemes on a couple of figures to liven things up.

The ten (reduced the number by swopping out a spare base that needed touching up) new bases are prepared and undercoated. I will see what I can get upto on Sunday.

Which was a grand result of nothing all I managed was to get them all the remaining figures based and undercoated.

 So 130 figures in the airing cupboard drying out after having the bases base colour applied.  Unlikely to get any painting done tonight (apart from two bases which I found partially completed which "just" need livery and a wash and then they can join the extra pool.

WOTR - Re-Org (Part 3)

The impetus to finish off the odd units etc has continued and I have now completed all of the core units (that I had).  This has meant that I have continued to develop the themes from Part 1 and 2.  Come up with a standard, document it and then follow it.

From the list below

Current WOTR Collection

Model	Remarks
2 "Royal" Generals (one on foot, one mounted)	Mounted unpainted
3 Foot Generals
2 Mounted Generals	2 Unpainted
9 Bases of Bodyguards	5 Old Pattern
2 Mounted Retinue Captains	1 unpainted
6 Bases of Mounted Retinue	4 unpainted
2 Household Captains
6 Retinue Captains
6 Levy Captains
45 Bases of Longbowmen	3 unpainted
35 Bases of Foot Troops	4 unpainted
12 Bases of Household Troops	10 Old Pattern
5 Bases of Crossbowmen
2 Guns	2 Unpainted
17 Casualty Markers	4 Unpainted
8 Disordered Markers
7 Extra Arrow Markers

I have now organised the following completely painted and based units:

Army A - Core 6 Units
3 Bases of Retinue Captains
3 Bases of Levy Captains
24 Bases of Archers
18 Bases of Foot Troops

Army B - Core 6 Units
3 Bases of Retinue Captains
3 Bases of Levy Captains
18 Bases of Archers (6 more on order - 18 Figs)
13 Bases of Foot Troops (5 more on order - 15 Figs)

Which leaves as a central pool:
12 Bases of Household foot troops
3 Bases of Archers
4 Bases of Foot Troops
5 Bases of Crossbowmen
9 Bases of Bodyguards
6 Bases of Retinue Cavalry
2 Bases of Retinue Captains
7 Bases of Generals both mounted and on foot.

And on order to go into the pool
5 Bases of Household foot troops
2 Bases of Household Captains
4 Bases of Generals on Foot

Great War - German 1st Cavalry Division

ORDER OF BATTLE

· 1st Cavalry Brigade

o3rd (East Prussian) Cuirassiers "Count Wrangel"

o1st (Lithuanian) Dragoons "Prince Albrecht of Prussia"

· 2nd Cavalry Brigade (from I Corps District)

o12th (Lithuanian) Uhlans

o9th Jäger zu Pferde

· 41st Cavalry Brigade (from XX Corps District)

o5th (West Prussian) Cuirassiers "Duke Frederick Eugene of Württemberg"

o4th (1st Pomeranian) Uhlans "von Schmidt"

· 5th Machine Gun Detachment

· Horse Artillery Abteilung 1st (Prince August of Prussia) (1st Lithuanian) Field Artillery Regiment

· 1st Jager Battalion

· 2nd Jager Battalion

For gaming purposes this is quite a small formation of some 8 battalion equivalents, 6 mounted and 2 Infantry.

2 Cuirassier Regiments

2 Uhlan Regiments (Already completed)

1 Jager Zu Pferde Regiment

1 Dragoon Regiment

3 Cavalry MG Stands (representing 2 Guns each)

Jager Battalions each comprising

    4 Jager Stands

   1 MG Stands

   1 Cyclist Stands

· 24 Dismounted Cavalry Stands (needed for SB as well)