Joy Of Six 2023 Game

 A big slice of real life has kept me from gaming for a long time so when my friend and fellow Cold War Commander Richard Crawley invited me to help run a game at Joy Of Six this year I jumped at the chance. Lots of background information is available at Rich's blog on thelandofcounterpane.blogspot.com. The scenario was a fictional Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia in the summer of 1948 after the failure of the spring coup d'etat. We had 2 games running side by side, with Richard taking the helm of a TACWW2 battle while m'colleague Neil and I looked after a CWC game. Our battle featured advance elements of the Soviet 11th Tank Division crossing the Polish- Czech border and looking to push past the town of Ceska Skalice and on to Prague.

Our set up. Soviet forces would enter from the North East corner.

The town of Ceska Skalice.

As usual I got far too engrossed in the game and took very few photos. The Soviet forces comprised a Motor Rifle battalion in lorries, a tank battalion of T-54s and an attached heavy tank company of JS3s. N.B. we wanted to give the game a post-war feel so we stretched the in service dates for some of the Soviet equipment. Thus the Soviet forces had AK-47 rifles, T54 tanks and a limited amount of air support from a MiG-15. The Czech defenders used 2 companies of WW2 Soviet infantry, a battalion of T34-85s and an anti-tank company of 2 x 88mm guns. They also had an armoured train carriage with a surplus Panzer IV turret with short 75mm gun. The Czech air support featured a Me-262!

Being outnumbered and outgunned, I decided to deploy the Czech tanks into a fighting line and let Neil's Soviets come to me. In the right of the photo is a wood that concealed my 88s. This turned out to be a smart move as the 88s could get flank shots on the Soviet armour. They were my most effective unit and accounted for one of the JS3s.

The Soviet forces advance, T-54s in the centre, JS3s along the road.

As the forces closed in on each other the hits ran up on the Czech T34-85s.

We played from around 10am until 3.10pm and got through at least 10 turns. We called the game a minor victory for the Soviets. Most of the T-54s had been KO'd but the Czechs had lost over half their T-34s and the armoured train. The JS3s had got in range and were about to tackle my 88s before finishing off the remaining Czech tanks.

The game was most enjoyable and certainly kept Neil and I busy for the day. As a display/participation game it was well received, with a constant stream of visitors chatting, asking questions and rolling some dice. Everyone we spoke to was very complimentary about the scenery and the scenario. We were so busy that I barely had a chance to look around the rest of the festival and have no idea what the outcome of the TACWW2 game was. Richard C, Ian and Andy C looked equally busy though and seemed to be occupied for the whole day.

As ever it was a pleasure to meet up with the chaps and get some gaming in. My thanks to Neil for co-hosting the game and to Richard C for inviting us to help. Rich came up trumps again with another brilliant and unusual scenario. Let's see what his fertile imagination comes up with for next year!

The Most Sophisticated Helicopter In The World

 This weekend sees the annual Cold War Commanders big weekend game at Grimsby Wargames Club. A massive intervention from real life however meant that I could not attend this year. I did still want to get a game in though so looked about for a suitable solo game.

This scenario is from issue 470 of Miniature Wargames magazine, June 2022. I didn't pay too much attention to the article at first as it was a sci-fi game featuring Rabbit People; not really my thing. On closer inspection though I noticed that it borrowed significant elements from Black Ops and could be easily adapted to a Cold War environment.

"During the Soviet invasion of West Germany of 1985, reports began to emerge of several Soviet units coming under attack by some sort of advanced stealth helicopter. Military intelligence managed to locate the forward operating base of this advanced prototype. Although they would have preferred to capture the helicopter and learn its secrets, there was not enough time to find a suitably experienced pilot. A hurriedly assembled Spetsnaz team was therefore infiltrated into the area with orders to disable the mysterious aircraft." The game was played using the Black Ops rules in 6mm, with inches substituted by cm for all distances.

 

The NATO compound.

The mysterious advanced stealth helicopter.

The defenders started with two 2-man patrols on guard duty, with their starting positions randomly determined. The first patrol started at the South East corner of the compound.

The second patrol began at the western edge of the compound, right by the Spetsnaz deployment area.

The Spetsnaz raiding party was split into an assault team with 2 demolition specialists, a security team tasked with dealing with local security and a support team led by the CO with a LMG team and RPG team. Here the Soviet force deploys and begins to move towards their objective.

The security team moved quietly up to the guard force patrol before engaging them in close quarters combat:

One of the guards was outnumbered and quickly despatched. The other one though fought back and managed to kill his attacker. The remaining 2 Spetsnaz troopers then attacked the guard, who amazingly fought them off.

The raiders didn't have time for a long drawn out melee though so the security team's NCO joined the fight and slipped a bayonet between the guard's ribs.

With the first patrol out of the way, the assault team climbed the perimeter wall and the demolition team moved in on their target.

Meanwhile, Starsky and Hutch of the 2nd patrol continued to bimble slowly along the perimeter road in blissful ignorance of the drama happening around them. By now the security team had occupied one of the bunkers and, backed up by the LMG of the support team, lay in wait to ambush the remaining patrol. As they got within range, the 2nd patrol had to make a roll on the guard reaction table. Their response at their big moment...

... was to turn 180° and proceed back the way they had just come. And so the 2 worst security guards in the world continued with their evening stroll.

The assault team had now infiltrated into the compound and lain their satchel charges on the stealth helicopter. The defending quick reaction force and off duty team had still not been alerted that anything was wrong. The defending CO finally became suspicious but wandered ineffectually in and out of his barracks, still not raising the alarm.

Having set the satchel charges to detonate in 3 turns, the raiding party began to exfiltrate the area.

All too late, the defending CO belatedly began to suspect that something was afoot and moved towards the source of all the noise. Unfortunately, that brought him within the blast radius of the satchel charges when they successfully detonated. Surprisingly, he survived the blast but the advanced stealth helicopter was no more.

An almost perfect stealth mission then, with just the one Spetsnaz casualty. The prototype helicopter is gone, Starsky and Hutch have been demoted to spud patrol and the guard commander is being bawled out by an Agency man who looks just like Gary Busey. I'm not sure that I read the guard reaction rules correctly but it was an enjoyable game nonetheless. I really ought to play some more Black Ops and definitely want to play this scenario again, after I've read the rules some more. Perhaps next time the target will be the stealth helicopter Mk II, the "Wolf in Sheep's Clothing" project.

Down on the farm

 Yesterday the Cold War Commanders convened in the village of Stone in Staffordshire. Our esteemed colleague Richard Phillips has set up a splendid gaming venue in a unit set in a converted barn, imaginatively named The Unit!

As can be seen, there's plenty of space! I'm not sure of the actual dimensions of the table, perhaps 20 foot x 6 foot. More than enough elbow room for 10 of us to fight out in comfort.

In contrast to the usual massed tank battle, the scenario saw a thin NATO forward screen of 5 roughly battalion sized commands fighting a delaying action against the advancing Soviet hordes. 5 Motor Rifle Regiments of them in fact! Our task was to stop them advancing past the Elbe Lateral Kanal, represented by the NATO table edge (apart from a section of canal on our left flank). My force consisted of the West German 3 Recce Battalion, backed up by a company of Leopard 2s, a battery of 155mm artillery and 2 BO105 attack helicopters.

Here my 2 companies of Leopard 1s move forward to take up position in the woods.

I don't have too many action shots of the game. My opponent, Ian, deployed a tank battalion on to the table as the vanguard of his main force. The rest of his troops arrived behind a shallow river. That plus Ian's ability to repeatedly roll 10s and 11s with every attempted command roll pretty much did my job for me.

In the top right of this photo, in the open valley, Ian's T72 battalion came off second best in a firefight against my Leopard 2s and BO105s.

By 4.30pm Ian had started to untangle the omnishambles of his deployment zone and advance forward. On my left flank Andy C's BAOR seemed to be holding their own against Mark J's East Germans. Further off to the left flank however Mark F's Dutch had succumbed to the increasing pressure from Richard C's red tide and the general retreat was signalled.

We managed 4 or 5 turns before pulling back so probably not enough to call it a NATO win. Still, it was a grand day of gaming and it's always a good day when I meet up with the chaps again. It was particularly nice to see Alan and Roger as this was the first time we've met up since Grimsby 2018.

I don't have long to wait until the next meet up as a group of us will be putting on a participation game at Joy of Six in Sheffield next week.

If anyone is attending then come and say hi!

Cold War at the Club

 Work commitments have been keeping me busy of late but a window of opportunity opened up tonight for a game so I headed over to the Beacon Wargames Club in Elton for a game of CWC2 with fellow Cold War Commander Andy Canham.

The battlefield before we deployed troops. We had decided on a reinforced West German battalion taking on a Soviet brigade. I totted up a Panzergrenadier battalion with 2 companies of Leopard 2  plus 3 M109s and a pair of Phantoms in support and it came to just over 4,000 points. Andy C's force on the other hand was a bit over 9,000 points. Hey ho...

The Soviet horde advanced, with BMP mounted infantry supported by T64s (I think) and on table 2S1 122mm artillery. My Jaguar dedicated ATGM unit managed one shot before the rapidly approaching Soviet tanks blew it away.

Undaunted, my stalwart Panzergrenadiers dismounted and headed for the BUA while their Marders backed up and tried to get out of range of the Soviet tanks.

The hits built up on my Leopard 2s but they gave as good as they got, although several of Andy C's tanks survived what looked like certain death as he rolled a series of astonishingly high saving throws. They make their steel tough in the Urals!

Late in the game an unfortunate command blunder resulted in my flank company charging off their hill and towards the oncoming red tide. Andy took the opportunity this offered and wiped out the infantry and M113s. This blunder had dire consequences for me as it took me to within 1 unit of my breakpoint.

With my battalion morale looking shaky and fresh Soviet forces arriving on-table, I decided that that was enough and left the field in Andy's possession.

A Soviet win and defeat for me then but an enjoyable game nonetheless and a good workout of the new rules. There are a few significant changes that we noticed: Leopard 2s have had an armour upgrade and are now very difficult to kill. I didn't lose a single one over the course of the fight. The change to aircraft attacks, so that AFVs are now hit on a 6 rather than a 4+ has made them much weaker and is not something that either of us agree with. On-table artillery rules seem strange too.

We are heading to Richard Phillips' new unit for a big game next weekend so General Von Klinkerhoffen's Panzergrenadiers will not have to wait long for their chance for revenge.

The Battle Of Hooke's Farm

 The last attempt to fight a battle against m'colleague Neil was thwarted by Storm Arwen. This week we had Storms Dudley and Eunice in quick succession (with Franklin blowing through as I write) but the routes through the Pennines were sort of clear. So, after a somewhat alarming slalom along the Snake Pass, the Army of The Hesse Kassel Reinforcement arrived in Sheffield ready to fight.

After our last game we decided to reduce the amount of terrain so the battlefield had a more stripped down look.

My infantry, in column, waiting to advance.

On the right flank the cavalry engaged in a ferocious melee. The 2nd Lieb-Regiment cavalry were broken but that just cleared the way for the elite 1st Prinz Wilhelm regiment to charge forward, routing 2 French cavalry regiments. Later on the 3rd Miltitz regiment, seen here on the left and already disrupted by melee with the enemy, were broken by massed artillery fire.

On my left flank my light brigade advanced through the woods and over the hill to Hooke's Farm. The mounted Buckeberg Carabiniers did not advance any further but their presence alone deterred a French line battalion from moving. Unwilling to turn their backs on cavalry, the French line battalion stayed put and took no part in the unfolding drama in the centre of the field. My Jaegers and dismounted Buckeberg Carabiniers fired into the flanks of the French central infantry, mostly causing nothing more than a nuisance. That is, until the end of the battle when the dismounted Carabiniers unexpectedly produced a devastating round of carbine fire and broke a French line battalion in one volley.

As ever though, these flank engagements were mere side shows. The battle would be decided by the infantry clash in the centre. Unlike previous battles I managed to keep my artillery in line with my infantry so they could support the infantry volleys and help offset the French numerical advantage. With my firing line set I waited for Neil's French to advance towards me. After the first few volleys and a French bayonet charge we had both sustained losses so Neil's infantry pulled back slightly to allow his second wave of infantry to come into the line.

Here my elite 6th Grenadier regiment are marching into the line to fill the gap left after the 7th Erbprinz infantry had broken. After that brief pause the volleys ensued before the Hessians fixed bayonets and charged in.

That final bayonet charge was enough to shatter the French front line so General Neil offered the honours of war. My remaining infantry were in bad shape and time was getting on so I accepted and took the minor victory.

Another narrow win for the Hessians but it was a close run thing and, once again, I think that the quality of my trained battalions won out over Neil's mostly conscript force. However, this is a campaign not a battle. Half my infantry and 2 out of 3 cavalry regiments have now been reduced to conscript status after the losses sustained today, severely reducing the qualitative advantage I have. Neil's French remain a mix of trained and conscript battalions and his numerical superiority may prove decisive in the next battle.

Like a general without a mission...

 The plan for yesterday was for me to cross the Pennines to meet up with m'colleague Neil for a game of Maurice, the next in our Succession War. The Wintersmith and Storm Arwen had other ideas however and Neil woke up to 4 inches of snow on his street. The Snake Pass and Woodhead Pass were both closed due to heavy snowfall so we had to abandon the fixture.

So here is Giovanni Di Tripponi, the latest Notable attracted to my cause who was set to be appointed as my Chief Of Staff. We shall have to resume our war on another weekend, when the passes have reopened.

I love the smell of pastries in the morning: The Battle For Denmark Day 2

 Having only taken 6 photos on the first day, I was determined to do better on the Sunday. By the end though I had only managed 11 and one of them was just of a tape measure that I had taken by mistake...

Day 2 in the West German sector saw my infantry finally mop up the remaining Warpac troops in the woods. Ian's reinforcements arrived in the shape of another infantry BTR60 battalion and T55 battalion. Having bravely advanced into a storm of Milan, Racketpanzer and Jagdpanzer Kanone fire, it was clear that they would not be able to breakthrough and this part of the battlefield seemed secure. On my left flank the situation was less favourable.

Mark W's Danes had been having a torrid time on the left, being assaulted by 2 Soviet naval battlegroups and waves of helicopter attacks. The 2 homeguard companies defending the docks had been swept aside so the Danish defence was centred around the town of Haderslaf. To the left of this shot, a company or so of tooled up Spetsnaz had landed and were occupying the other side of the bridge. In the top left a battalion of BTR mounted infantry are preparing to cross the river.

To the Danish front and right, naval infantry had taken cover, waiting for a recently landed T72 battalion just visible in the top right.

In a bid to relieve some of the pressure on our Danish allies I brought on another 2 companies of Leopard 1s that has been held back on day 1.

My other Leopard 1 companies, meanwhile, had taken cover in "Blockbuster Wood" and engaged the Soviet tanks & ATGMs on the heights. This certainly achieved the desired effect of catching their attention, as it brought down a hail of response fire upon me.

Meanwhile, over on the NATO centre, the Soviets had reinforced and continued their attack on Vojens airfield.

The British defenders of Vojens airfield resumed the Fury v Wilder-esque slugfest of the day before.

My recently arrived Leopard 1s took up a hull down position on this hill and engaged the T72 battalion.

Late in the game, the T72 battalion charged the remaining Leopards in Blockbuster Wood, including their Gepard who gamely blazed away at the oncoming Soviet tanks, almost managing to take one out. The T72s then started taking casualties from my Leopards on the hill.

We called the game after turn 11. At this point it was clear that the Danes and West Germans had done enough to to stop Haderslaf from falling, though they had been flanked by the battalion of infantry that had crossed the river. On the NATO right the USMC had successfully defended Ribe, but the British had finally succumbed to overwhelming pressure and the Soviets managed to break through at Vojens.

All in all, a thoroughly enjoyable weekend. My thanks to Richard P for organising the game and his amazing scenery and to Andy H and Steve G of Grimsby Wargames Society for hosting us and keeping us fed and watered. My thanks also to all the old friends and new who took part in the right spirit of competitive yet gentlemanly gaming, along with plenty of laughs and robust banter. Let's not leave it as long before the next game!