Trench Hammer: Platoon Attack between Trenches 1917

 I got in a quick solo game of Trench Hammer last week, and it holds up nicely.  I played the second training Scenario from Stout Hearts and Iron Troopers from Too Fat Lardies, involving a British attack on a German machine-gun bunker located in a trench system (provided by my 3D printed trenches)

The British mission is to eliminate a Hun machine gun bunker enfilading part of the line and pick up some prisoners if possible.  This will be a daytime attack supported by a box barrage that will isolate the bunker and prevent the Germans from sending in reinforcements or a counter-attack.   Lanes have already been cut in the German wire over the previous few nights by patrols.

For this mission Lt. Barnaby will lead his own platoon, consisting of:

• Rifle Section
• Bombing Section
• Lewis Gun Section
• Rifle Bombing Section
• And extra Section of bombers to act a "mopper uppers"

The German mission is to keep the machine gun bunker in action.  Besides the Maxim Gun, the defenders available to Feldwebel Shutlz consist of 2 rifle squads.

The game opens with the British through the wire and picking their way through craters to the forward German trench when they are spotted.  Click photos to enlarge.

Here is the first turn of British movement.  I tried to follow the "book" tactical solution, using the Lewis and Rifle Bombing sections to cover the movement of the rest of the platoon as they break in to the trench and maneuver to take the bunker in the rear. 

Here is the situation after a couple of turns. The British have managed to get into the trenches, but the rifle squad has been driven back by the Hun defenders in the front trench.  The mopper uppers are stuck in a crater just short of the trench as well.

A turn or so later, the British have bombed their way along the trench, driving the defenders back.  Meanwhile the Maxim gun brings the Lewis and Rifle Bombers under effective fire.  Felwebel Shutlz knows that time is not on his side and personally leads his reserve squad over the the top from the communication trench in a desperate close assault... and it pays off!  See the die rolls below, the British lead squad doesn't like Teutonic cold steel and is rendered combat ineffective, the survivors stumbling back.

The other British squad in the front trench is still regrouping from the damage it sustained previously and the Feldwebel knows the best defense is a good offense and launches another bayonet charge, this time against the crater sheltering the mopping up section right over the top.  Once again, the Hun's audacity pays off, here are the die rolls...

While this is going on, a the Maxim gun cuts down several members of the British Rifle Bombing section off camera to the right, including the corporal.  The rest of the section have had enough and start crawling back to the gaps in the wire.

At this point Lt. Barnaby decides the mission is compromised and blows his whistle signaling the platoon to fall back.  He has lost 3 sections as combat ineffective and does not have enough strength to take out the bunker.

As usual Trench Hammer gave a nice, fast, cinematic game with a believable narrative.  I hope to get it back on the table soon.

Meanwhile to all of my wargaming comrades the world over, Merry Christmas and with good fortune we will all be rolling dice face to face again in 2021.

Hercule Poirot and the search for Perilous Island Game 1

 Hercule Poirot gravely read the telegram Miss Lemon had just set before him.  "This is from the solicitor of the Lord Darrow.  He has been missing for 3 months and he begs us to locate Lord Darrow's daughter, Lady Elaine, and see if she can assist in finding him.  She was last seen excavating mysterious ruins in the Central African region of Zamunda.  Hastings, pack your bags!  You too Miss Lemon, I will have need of you as well.  Let us see if the little grey cells are up to the task, mes amies!"

And thus began the curious adventure of Hercule Poirot and the search for Perilous Island. Click photos to enlarge

I have introduced my wife to Puly Alley and must say it was quite the hit.  She really liked the cards and is planning on doing a little write up for my fellow gamers on how to lure your spouse into playing with you.

Lady Elaine is deep in the jungles of Zamunda, excavating a set of ruins that have no known connection to any other civilizations.  Poirot must travel ("oh the accursed sea"), find Lady Elaine and convince her to help find her father.  Unbeknownst to Poirot, The German Institute of Theosophical Studies (G.I.T.S.) has also sent its most ruthless officer, Major Klink, to find Lady Elaine and locat Lord Darrow my any means necessary for their own nefarious ends.

Here is an overview of the dig site:

Lady Elaine, the major plot point, at her dig site:

The radio set, minor plot point.  Will the logs give a clue as to Lord Darrow's whereabouts?

The mysterious artifact, minor plot point.  What can it tell us about Perilous Island?

The traitorous expedition member, minor plot point.  What information does he have?

And Lady Elaine's luggage, minor plot point (not pictured) Will the letters contained therein from Lord Darrow shed some light on the mystery?

The action was fast and furious, as Miss Lemon showed her worth outside of her filing cabinets, dispatching 2 Nazis over the course fo the game.

One made it to the radio set, only to be shot down by the redoubtable Miss Lemon

Hastings failed to break into Lady Elaine's luggage but Poirot was.  Hastings pent the rest of the game taking potshots with his large-bore hunting rifle.  Did he ever tell you about that time in the Amazon?....

Despite Major Klink's efforts to wrangle Lady Elaine, he was foiled by Poirot (and riddled with bullets by Captain Hastings and Miss Lemon, but only after he unchivalrously shot Miss Lemon in the shoulder. 

Here we see the GITS high command in Berlin reacting to the news of what happened.

While Poirot and company are pleased with their performance.

Poirot reaped a nice stack of rewards, having gotten the major and 2 minor plot points.  Let's see what happens in the next exciting episode... THE LAST PLANE OUT!!!!

I have been to... Key West and the Dry Tourtugas

 Just back from vacation and a quick report with a wargaming slant...

This was my first time visiting Key West, and we went for my wife and my birthday (they are only 4 days apart.)  If you are considering visiting we were a little put off at first, as we are beach people and the ones in Key West are not very large.  It was described to us multiple times while we were there as a "party" town, which is not our thing.  But, once we scratched the surface, we had a great time and there are many things that might be of interest to my fellow wargamers.

Don't forget to click photos to enlarge

There is a plethora of boating, fishing, and diving in the area, but I can only comment on the snorkeling we did. 

• The beaches are ok, but small.  We went to Fort Zachary Taylor State Park.  We liked it, it is a natural coral beach, so wear your water shoes if you have sensitive feet.  It started to get crowded around mid-day, so get there early.
• Fort Zachary Taylor: An excellent example of pre-civil war coastal fortifications that were later upgraded during the Spanish American War.  It is a small fort guarding the harbor at Key West and never fired a shot in anger.  Like many other forts of the period, the top 2 tiers were knocked down during the Spanish American War for a modern, black concrete set of batteries.  Similar to what you can see at Ft. Moultrie or Ft. Sumter.  It was a lot of fun to crawl around and worth the visit.
• The Hemingway House: While I don't emulate the writer's heavy drinking nor approve of how much of a terrible husband he was, it is worth the visit to see where he wrote For Whom the Bell Tolls (my favorite novel that he wrote.) It is well preserved and descendants of Hemingway's 6 toed cat roam the grounds.  The swimming pool his wife built is impressive and she kept the house after the divorce and raised her sons there.

• Fort Jefferson and Dry Tortugas National Park

Just stunning it was one of the highlights of the trip for us.  The fort is well preserved and was NOT upgrade during the Spanish American War like most installations from the civil war era, so you can see the full 3 tiers where the guns were housed. It is very impressive and helps, at least for me, to put places I am more familiar with such as Ft Sumter into the context of how they actually appeared.

It was the largest of the masonry forts constructed in the period and covers 7 acres on Garden Key guarding the straits of Florida.  Most famously it held the Lincoln conspirators, including the infamous Dr. Mudd, until they were pardoned by Johnson in 1869. It also held Confederate POW's and Union military deserters and other prisoners, all living in the casemates.  For a flavor of the place and a cracking good story, read Flashback by Nevada Barr.  I won't get into the Mudd innocence debate, I don't know enough about it beyond a documentary I saw 35 years ago.

There is an abundance of sea life, and while the water was a little murky on the day we went, the snorkeling was amazing.  It is worth the 2-hour ferry ride and next year we intend to go back and camp for 3 or 4 days.

Here are some snaps:

Additionally, go see the CGC Ingham.  It was closed for annual maintenance while we were there, but I saw it years ago when it was berthed in Charleston and it is worth it. I also saw LCS 11, USS Sioux City docked in the harbor but alas did not get a picture.  It oddly had an Army dark green UH-60 on the flight deck (not a grey Navy Seahawk) but maybe not so odd considering the US Army Special Forces dive school is one of the tenant units at NAS Key West.

Other than that we enjoyed walking every night 8 - 10 miles, some good food, and an escape room!  

Ok, now I am back to work and in the real world.  Visit Key West of you have the chance, driving the keys is fun.  Until next time, good gaming!

Pulp Alley League: Dr. Nefario

 (Also see my revamped Pulp page on my website)

Dr. Nefario's background is shrouded in mystery but is believed he studied chemistry, biology, and zoology at a major European university before The Great War.  His services were rejected outright by all of the major Entente and Central Powers during the war due to the abominable nature of his experiments.  As a result, Dr. Nefario now serves no man but himself.

Since the war he has been performing his hideous experiments at an unknown secret location, producing creatures that are an affront to nature itself. He is primarily motivated to leave his laboratory in order to obtain financial and other resources to further his work. He has been know to temporarily ally himself with other sinister forces around the globe to further his own ends.

Approach Dr. Nefario with extreme caution, his expertise in biochemistry is lethal and he never travels without his entourage of monstrosities.

Dr. Nefario is a brilliant scientist and biochemist, but lacks all morals and scruples.  If spotted, do NOT approach, but report all sightings to the League of Nations.

Kurpanga is a male lowland gorilla that Dr. Nefario kidnapped from the London Zoo.  He has heavily modified the beast with the human brain from a former lab assistant and a steel-reinforced skeleton.  Do not approach, Kurpanga has incredible strength and possesses human intelligence.

One of Dr. Nefario's attempts to engineer a super-soldier that was rejected by all of the major powers (even the dastardly Hun!)  He is always on the lookout for fresh "volunteer" subjects to undergo one of his diabolical procedures.

A new experiment by Dr. Nefario to create the perfect underwater saboteur.  Identifiable by its distinct dead fish odor.

3D Printed WW1 trenches are painted and table ready!

 I have finally finished painting up my 3d Printed trenches for my 10mm WW1 troops.  They have shown up a few times on the blog but are finally table ready!

If you are going to play WW1 Western Front at any scale, trenches are vital pieces of terrain to have in your collection. Ideally, trenches would be carved into a terrain board so that troops are truly under the level of the ground (like Sidney Roundwood's amazing terrain boards)  

But, trenches that sit on top of the ground cloth are more flexible and meet my other needs better as well. My requirements were:

1. Flexible layouts
2. The right size for my 10mm troops and handle the 40mm x 20mm bases they are on.
3. Don't stick up too high above the table.
4. Be rugged and able to stand up to abuse

Number 2 was difficult, I had previously tried Flames of War sized trenches for 15mm, but I felt my 10mm guys looked like they were in the Los Angeles River and not a trench. 

This was the perfect problem to solve with (drum roll) my 3d printer! For an inexpensive FDM printer like my Crealty Ender 3, making terrain is an ideal project.  All I did was take another guy's 28mm trenches he had designed and posted to Thingieverse and (with his permission) I remixed them and shrunk them down to the exact size I wanted and created the exact sections I wanted as well.

You can download the STL files here: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4150347  

I printed a stack of these up a few months ago and have finally finished painting them, including gluing sand for texture (I do not know how to do textures in 3d design programs yet)

(Click pictures to enlarge)

Here is the VERY messy process in progress

Here is a layout to show you what types of setups I can do.

A Vickers HMG in a sap.

A British section occupying a firing bay waiting for the Hun.  All of my troops are Pendraken 10mm mounted on 3mm thick bases, to give you an idea of size. 

Here are the unique pieces.  If you click and enlarge the photo, you can see I have the ability to add dugout openings as well.

I am very pleased with how they turned out.  The next stop is to refight every Western Front scenario in the Too Fat Lardies scenario book and in their WW1 compendium, Play The Game.

Until next time, good gaming!

 

Dusting off Trench Hammer

I did a few quick solo games of Trench Hammer this past week, with some house modifications to use ideas from Hammer of Democracy, particularly the damage rules.  I was looking for fewer swings in damage inflicted.  

This was also the debut of my 3d printed 10mm Trenches.  Not painted up, but some of them undercoated, you can get an idea of how they match up to my Pendraken 10mm figures, mounted on 3mm thick bases.  (Click to Enlarge)

You can download the trenches from Thingieverse here.

I set up a fairly simple scenario just to get back into the rules, a German daylight raid on a British strongpoint jutting into no man's land, garrisoned by:

• 1 Vickers Machine gun
• 1 Infantry platoon with 1 leader and
• 1 x Rifle section
• 1 x Bombing Section
• 1 x Rifle Bombing section (rifle grenades)
• 1 x Lewis Gun Section

The German raiders consisted of a picked force with a junior officer assited by an NCO and:

• 2 x MG 08/25 sections
• 4 x Bombing Sections

I played through it twice, and it was a nailbiter both times, with the first game seeing the Germans roll up the position with their bombers, but taking heavy casualties and the second time the Germans got into the position, but judicious counter-attacks by the British ejected the Huns.

Here is the initial British Defense, the Vickers is emplaced in the sap, while the officer and the bombing section are in the dugout. 

The whole setup, the Germans split their force in 2 with the intention of laying down covering fire with the MG 08/15's and enveloping the MG position in the sap and raining grenades down on it.  Follow that up with entering the trenches and bombing their way through

That worked fairly well, here is one game, the Vickers was eliminated, but the rest of the plan stalls outside of the trenches.  The British officer and bombing section left the trenches to counter-attack and are near the buildings.

The Germans managed to get a couple of footholds in the trench with close assaults.

But judicious counter attacks by the British kicked them out.  I rather like the mechanism where you take 1 point of damage even if you win, it forces attackers to stop and regroup or face continued disruption if they keep advancing.

Both games went rather well, I am off to paint up the trench sections now and write up all of my amendments.  Meanwhile, good gaming!

So what now?

 Now that I am rolling off of my Master's program, I will have more free time to devote to my love of gaming.  

So now what?

Over the last year, I have been pecking away and finished my 3mm WW2 East Front project, I need to take pictures of the whole lot and get them posted.  The whole effort has been for a double-blind convention game I intend to run.  Well, conventions may be thin on the ground for a bit longer, but I still want to get it wrapped up, including rules.  

Now I need to decide what to focus on.  I am starting to worry that I have dug myself into a hole again with too many projects, maybe itemizing them will help.  

1. 3mm WW2 East Front Project
1. Needs rule playtesting
2. Schedule some games, I was thinking about renting the back room at a nearby coffee shop.
2. Pulp Alley
1. I got a few games in with my nephew and I think I have a good grip on the rules now.
2. I have TONS of figures, so could focus on playing OR
3. Work on the bags of figures I have available to paint. Or both
3. 6mm AWI Skirmish
1. I have 6mm Armies for the Southern Campaign, but I also have a half-complete project in 6mm for playing small skirmishes with lots of militia and partisans using Rebels and Patriots or Sharp Practice 2
2. Just need to finish up the painting, maybe 48 more militia and about the same number of Loyalists
4. WW1
1. I have a half complete trench system I 3d printed specifically sized for my 10mm troops, I could finish it up and then start playing Trench Hammer again.
5. Travel Battle 1000 AD (with Orcs too) with Portable Wargame
1. I painted up my travel battle boards (I have 2 sets) and I decided the best use would be to lure my wife in with some Tolkien-esque flavor.  So, I have been rebasing my 6mm Orcs and Normans again on 20mm squares.
2. I figured I could also use them for half scale Lion Rampant / Dragon Rampant, with 4 x 20mm square bases per unit.  Each base would be worth 3 hit points or whatever they call them, so should work fine. 
3. On top of Normans (aka Rohan) and Orcs, I have bags of Baccus troops for 10th-11th Century Italy (Arabs, Lombards, Byzantines) and Britain in the same period (Vikings and Anglo-Danes).  Ditto I can use them on the Travel Battle board or Lion Rampant
4. AND... I am fiddling with DIY Portable wargame modular terrain in Tinkercad for 3d printing.
6. Korean War
1. I really really want to do his project.  I have all the stuff I need, Bags of troops from Pendraken in 10mm, and all the tanks I could every need 3d printed over the last year.
2. I could get a quick win with this one, painting a 1:1 platoon per side and playing Squad Hammer and then beefing up for bigger battles. AND I have the stuff to put together a What a Tanker! game with the tanks.  

And I have other stuff too:

1. 1/600 scale WW3 Central Front painted and table ready
2. 1/600 scale Sci Fi Hammer's slammers Esque ready for the table
3. 6mm Sci Fi Skirmish to be painted
4. Misc 28mm Pulp / Colonials that need painting

One conclusion after typing this up... I WILL NOT BUY ANY MORE FIGURES OR START ANY NEW PROJECTS.  I have liquidated my collection a few times before as it became an albatross around my neck, and I can feel it creeping back up again. 

Decisions decision.  Going to noodle this one out.

I am (almost) the Supreme Lord of Science

Well actually, I just submitted my final paper for my Master's of Science in Information Technology Management.  It has kept me from doing anything focused with gaming for the past year, but hopefully, that will change soon.

I wrote a total of 174 APA formatted pages over the last 12 months and earned my Certified Associate in Project Management designation.

It would have been impossible without my beautiful and supportive wife. 

You guys should start hearing from me on gaming topics in the next week or so. Now, I have to decide which project to work on!

Short Solo playtest of Guards Tank Brigade

Still keeping busy, my wife and I are trying to read some fo the classics and are currently halfway through The Picture of Dorian Gray.  Not exactly what I was expecting, the writing is superb.  Quite a bit of ennui sloshing around, though, but there are some deeper themes if you can get past that.  It helps that my wife was an English teacher. 

I am now down to ONE more class before I am done with my Master's degree, and it is my capstone project. I am taking a breather this weekend before diving in again, but I plan on buckling down and getting this thing done.

I did get a very quick playtest of my Guards Tank Brigade rules. They are designed to be a fast play set for conventions (if we ever get to have those again) to be used double-blind, with two identical tables separated by a divider with the players only able to see what their units can see / report.

I won't go into mechanics because they are still so fluid I changed some of the rules while in the middle of the game!  In a nutshell, each hex is ~500 meters across and each unit is company strength or an artillery battalion.  Units can be fresh, spent, or worn (0 ,1, or 2 hits respectively) before becoming combat ineffective aka knocked out.  It is very abstract, focused on being fast for multi-player games with me running between the tables. 

Click photos to enlarge

Here is the table, with some unpainted experimental 3d printed roads and buildings from Forward March Studios.  Lead elements of a Soviet Tank Corps are attacking town at a road junction circa 1944.  Two Tank Brigades are deployed with the general scheme of maneuver being each will attack the flanks in a pincer movement.

Each Tank Brigade has 4 x T-34/76 companies and 2 x SMG companies with 2 field artillery battalions in direct support.  They also have 2 x armored car platoons, for reconnaissance

The defending Kampgruppe from a Panzer division has 2 x companies of Panthers, 2 x Armored Panzer Grenadier companies, 2 x motorized Panzer Grenadier Companies, 1 x PaK-40 AT Company, and 1 battalion of field artillery along with 2 x heavy armored car platoons.

Panthers in hull-down positions await the onslaught

On the Soviet left Recon elements clash.  I am tweaking the recon rules, but in essence, the German armored cars were screening the main defensive positions and prevented them from being sussed out by Ivan.  I am still working on the exact mechanics.

On the Soviet right, the leading tank companies take damage from the Panthers at long range.  Units that are unspotted may not be targeted until they fire or are spotted, otherwise, all combat is considered simultaneous.  So, previous unspotted units firing basically get a free shot and are considered to have a tactical advantage, a catch-all I use to give attackers bonuses.  So, it is very important to use to your recon units to prevent this.

Later on the right, the Panthers are knocking out T-34's but taking damage in return by the weight fo fire coming from the Soviets.

The Panthers on the hill pack it in (combat ineffective), but the field is littered with burning T-34's.  An SMG company of tank riders tries to clear the wood of Germans but it taking damage.  

On the left the Soviets run into the Pak-40's dug in on their flank, and start taking damage on their way to do an end-run and cut off the town.  The rest of the Brigade gets bogged down by more Panzer Grenadiers.

Here is the end game.  The Soviets almost push into the town and the Germans are up against the wall, with effective use of artillery by the Soviets.  But they just don't quite have enough combat power left to finish the job.

I learned quite a lot, and am following the maxim (from Bob Cordery I think) to eliminate any rules you forget to use.  There were a few...  I am going to simplify recon, add simple close assault rules, tweak Infantry overall, and next game try my ideas for some simple logistics rules that allow units to halt an advance or pull back and regroup, 

Until next time, stay safe and good gaming!