We have lift off

 After several false starts and postponements, for the first time since Lord knows when a group of us actually managed to meet up and play a game yesterday.

An overview of the battlefield.

There were 5 of us (3 NATO, 2 Soviet) playing on a 12' x 6' table. Mark J had written an excellent scenario consisting of a NATO hasty counterattack/breakthrough assault, for variety. It also included hidden deployment rules, something that we do not use very often. The NATO players had the option for hidden movement as well as the Soviet defenders, something which the NATO players cheerfully dispensed with in favour of just getting stuck in.

My Leopard 2s advance through a built up area.

During lockdown I decided to treat myself to a set of Bundeswehr dice from Dice of War. In this, their first game out, they promptly rolled two command blunders in my first turn. The effects of one of the blunders is shown here as some of my Panzergrenadier brigade support elements are caught in a blue on blue crossfire. Hopefully the dice have got this sort of thing out of their system now...

My West Germans formed the central thrust of this multinational assault. On my left flank were Mark J's Canadians...

While Andy C's French took the right flank.

Part of my plan was to set a couple of Panzergrenadier companies on one of the wooded hills, so that they could cover my tank advance with opportunity fire from their Milans. Unfortunately, the troops in front of them remained hidden so the Marders had nothing to shoot at.

The West German brigade commander, General Von Klinkerhoffen, reviews his battle plan.

Late in the game the infantry companies decided to come down from the hills, advance and get into the war.

My recce units performed sterling work revealing the hidden minefields, through the time honoured tactic of blundering into them.

Finally my hidden foe reveals himself.

The game fizzled out around 4pm after only 4 turns. We had made a slow start, having enjoyed meeting up with friends for the first time in a long time. It became apparent that we would not have a result by the end of the day, so I suppose it was a minor Soviet victory. The outcome of the game was irrelevant though. It was just so nice to actually see some friends again, get the toys out and roll some dice that by the end we were happy to sit and chat. Especially after we had packed up and relocated to The Wheelwright for a pint of Old Peculier.

The view from the other side as my panzers advance.

Massive thanks to the guys for traveling up to God's Own county of Cheshire for the game and especially to Mark J for the scenario and map and to Andy C for hosting the game. Elton Community Centre is a great venue so hopefully this will be the first of many games there.