Battleground WWII at Historicon - Buchholz Station

So this year saw the return of Stan, who moved to Colorado a few years back.  It was good to see him and catch up on news.  Several regulars were absent this year.  Hopefully we'll see them around the table again soon.

For Historicon 2015, I revived my adaption of an old ASL scenario - Buchholz Station:

"The opening moves of the Battle of the Bulge centered around seizing key road junctions.  One such place was near the village of Buchholz.  A unit of the German 27th Fusilier Regiment moving quickly through the morning fog stumbles into an American unit eating chow.  Being the Division reserve, the Americans were unaware that the Germans had penetrated so deeply."

The American's had to send half of their troops toward the chow line.  They had to continue rotating through the line until all the troops had "eaten" or until the enemy was spotted.  The heavy fog made spotting twice as difficult as normal (measure the range, then double it before checking the spotting chart).

The set-up from the point of view of the Germans

The unit XO set-up the chow line across the field and waited for the troops to arrive for their meal of slightly green colored eggs and SOS.

The chow line is open for business

Here comes the first of the morning's guests as the squads start sending troops to chow

The American's hadn't even reached the chow line before the Germans started their attack.  If only they had waited another turn or so......

The Germans have taken the old train station and advance along the railroad

The Germans attacked with 2/3'd of their forces along the abandoned railroad and 1/3 along the road.  The railroad forces moved methodically (i.e. slowly) and eventually overcame the American resistance and captured the railroad underpass.

The American's defending the road approach whittled the Germans down to just a couple troops by the end of the game.

As usual, once the game got going, I forgot to take more pictures.  I'll have to work on that in the future.

Tanker's Challenge Returns to Historicon

After having a few people ask last year, I decided to bring Tanker's Challenge back to Historicon 16-19 July 2015.  And plan to do so each year.

On Thursday night, 10 tankers climbed into their tanks and prepared to battle it out for the title of "Top Tanker".  Points are scored for killing a tank; points are lost for losing a tank.  The points were calculated using hull front armor value + turret front armor + gun armor penetration value.  The initial starting line-up included the following:  M3A1, M5A1, Semovente 75/32, M14/41, 2 Cruiser I, 2 StuG IIIB, and 2 Pz38T.

The starting locations were set to prevent "spawn" camping as much as possible.

The table set-up at the start

When a tanker lost a tank, they rolled on a chart to get something better.  There were a total of 66 tanks available.  By the end of the game, 43 tanks were on the board - mostly burning.  The number of tanks lost per player ranged from two to a total of seven with most players losing three.

A Char-B1 lumbers out looking for a victim.  It didn't last long.

The field of burning tanks continues to grow

As was too busy running the game to take many notes or get a lot of pictures.  My usual assistant GM couldn't make the trip this year.

Finally upgraded to something with a bit of armor - a Churchill IV enters the fray

As usual, alliances were made and then immediately broken when the backend of tank was shown to a supposed ally.  And several friendly rivalries popped up between opposing tankers.

When all the dust settled, the top tanker had +163 points and the bottom tanker had -379.  All in all, everyone had a great time.

Crescent Root Buildings

After seeing Buck's post on the Crescent Root building he purchased, I finally took the plunge and placed an order.

I ordered two buildings out of their 28MM Series 3 buildings:  28E3 and 28F3.  The building are well constructed and have ample detail.  And as a bonus, come pre-painted.  Assembly is quick and easy with the corner pins to hold things together.  The doors are mounted with a tape hinge that allows them to swing open.

Below you will find several shots of the two buildings with some 28mm figures and a 1/50th scale German tank for size comparisons.

The inside view of building 26F3

Exterior view of 28F3 without the outer courtyard wall

Exterior view of 28F3 with the outer courtyard wall highlighting the hinged doors

Top view of 28F3

Building 28E3 unassembled

Assembling 28E3 showing the pins

An interior shot of 28E3

Exterior view of 28E3

Backside view of 28E3

Both building will make their debut during Historicon next month.  If you are attending, drop by the HAWKs room and check them out in person - pictures don't do them justice.

Battleground WWII - Saturday Cold Wars 2015

Saturday evening at Cold Wars 2015, I ran a Battleground scenario called "The Fight on Wilkes - 23 December 1941". 

The basic scenario description:  On the morning of 23 Dec 1941, under cover of darkness, Japanese forces landed on Wilkes Island. Although the US Marines defending the island were spread thin and outnumbered, they were still able to mount a counterattack. "At this time," states a Japanese report, "Wilkes Island was the scene of a fierce and desperate battle."  The Marines completely eliminated the Japanese landing force.  Unfortunately, the Marines on Wilkes Island were forced to surrender when the rest of the Wake Island defenders capitulated later that same morning. (Adapted from a Jim Keats scenario from the Iron Ivan Games website)

A view of the gun position looking south towards the landing beach

A view of the gun position looking from the west

The Japanese set their three squads in defensive positions around the guns; not knowing the direction of  the Marine

 The Marine attack consisted of four elements:  CPT Platt, two MMG teams, and a reinforced squad from the west; Battery L crewmen from the north; and Lieutenant McAlister and a squad
from the east.

CPT Platt and others move through the jungle towards the Japanese position

 The Japanese Naval Landing Force didn't have any heavy weapons but as it turned out, they didn't need them.  On the west side, CPT Platt, his MMGs, and the other Marine squad poured a lot of ineffective fire into the Japanese.  The Japanese return fire was a little better.  The Marines decided if fire wasn't working, then a taste of clod steel might help.  So out of the jungle they charged.

Despite their superior marksmanship, the Marines take more casualties than the Japanese

As the Marines charged toward one of the Japanese positions, the Japanese managed to blow up a 5" gun ammo bunker.  The resulting explosion took out 3 Marines.  Most of the remaining Marines were then cut down by a LMG - ending the Marine's heroic charge.

One Marine survived the charge against the Japanese LMG position

CPT Platt engages the Japanese Commander

The Japanese Commander defeats CPT Platt

It was at this point, with the loss of CPT Platt and 50% casualties, the Marine decided they didn't have enough combat effectives to continue the attack.  They fell back, leaving the Japanese in possession of the gun position.

Although the game ended early, all involved had a good time.  And with the time change that night, getting to bed early was a bonus.

Cold Wars Saga Game

Jim GM'd his first convention Friday night at Cold Wars 2015.  Judging from how much fun the players had, it was a great success.

The village of Lower Uncton - peaceful looking

 Two of the players were West Point Cadets; part of a group down for the weekend.  The others were a mixture of experienced and novice Saga players.

Jim briefing the players

The basic scenario involved a Saxon Lord and allies (Normans and Irish) visiting a village to collect his yearly tribute.  Coincidently, a group of Viking and Danes were visiting the same village to collect plunder.  Each war lord had their own side missions to complete - they did not always compliment the overall goal of each side.

The Anglo-Danes move towards the village

The lead Viking and the Danes moved into the village.  The Vikings looting and the Danes pillaging (burning everything in sight).  The Saxons and Irish moved to engage.

The Irish move to intercept the Danes

On the other side of the village, the Normans engaged one of the Viking war bands in an extended series of battles, preventing the Viking from looting any of the building.


Norman cavalry engaged Viking raiders

The Saxons countered the other Viking war band in a series of pitched engagements.  While his troops were engaged with the Vikings, the Saxon Lord rescued several chests of tribute.

The Danes thrashed the Irish for a while until the two warlords got close enough to talk.  They then negotiated a truce - the Danes would kill and burn and the Irish could steal the loot.  The Dane also took an opportunity to kill the Viking leader when he was found separated from his men.

The Danes have gone crazy burning and pillaging through the village.  In the upper left corner you can see a lone Viking running away with some loot.

In the end the Saxon side triumphed by scoring more victory points then the Vikings.  A couple war bands were completely decimated.

Jim and his players celebrating a great game

Jim is already looking forward to running another scenario at Historicon 2015.

Battleground WWII - Friday Cold Wars 2015

Friday afternoon at Cold Wars 2015, I ran a Battleground scenario called "Defending the Pont".  The scenario was a recreation of K Company's defense of "The Point" on Peleliu.  It was a hard fought battle for the Marines as Japanese machine guns and direct fire guns steadily whittled them down, man by man.  Random artillery rounds fell on the Marine positions through the fight with little real effect. 

The Marines gave as good as they received and Japanese casualties littered the sand.  In the rear, the Japanese Commander stayed in his bunker the entire battle - not very inspirational but he did survive the battle.

A view of The Point from the Marine side

 On the first turn of the battle, the Marines lost their radio to Japanese howitzer fire.  And with it their chance of obtaining artillery support from the landing beach.

On the left flank of The Point, the leader of one Japanese unit told his men to prepare to banzai charge. 

Japanese unit prepares to banzai charge....or maybe not

 As they got ready, the leader, Naga-Jeff-asaki, changed his mind and ran off the board (Rolled a 20 on a morale check); leaving his troops very confused.

 

On the other side of The Point, another Japanese leader yelled for his men to follow him.  Yelling "Banzai....Banzai", he charged toward the Marine position.  After 20 yards, he noticed that none of his men had followed - he died alone but with honor.

 



A view of The Point from the Japanese side

 

Marine casualties start to add up



On the left flank, the Marines wait for the inevitable Japanese assault

As things got tough for the Marine defenders, 4 or 5 Japanese managed to gain a foothold on The Point, killing several Marines.  Captain Hunt moved to intercept them.....

Captain Hunt engages  4 Japanese

Captain Hunt earns his Navy Cross

 In the end, the Japanese came close to gaining a foothold on The Point....but close wasn't good enough.  The Marines held on until reinforcement arrived.

Final Prep for Cold Wars Complete

This weekend I finished working on Saga figures and terrain for Jim's Cold Wars game.  The figures are from several different manufacturers.  The fenced in enclosure is made from wattle fences by Renedra.

A warlord and some warriors



Another Warlord and some villagers,

Some more Renedra Wattle fences mounted on 3/4" wide bass board and some haystacks

I also managed to finish some Old Glory FIW figures for use with Muskets and Tomahawks.  Hopefully they will see some game action soon.

American FIW militia

American FIW settlers