Trench Hammer German Assault

 I have not pulled Trench Hammer out in a while, and I had a brilliant idea for an alternative activation sequence, that did not pan out in actual use.  So, I played it again out of the box, but I am thinking about adding motivation rolls with a d6, from one of the Squad Hammer books.  Issue an order, roll > hits (I started calling it shock a la TFL) to execute an Engage or Redeploy.  If failed you can spend another order on the unit and try again.

Thinking of adding support rolls from Hammer of Democracy or something similar, as infantry can seem to prance around in front of a Vickers gun fairly easily...

Anyway, here is the short fight.  Spring 1918, a depleted British platoon holding a strongpoint based on 2 fortified ruined buildings with:

• Lewis Gun Section
• Rifle Grenade Section
• Vickers HMG
• Platoon Commander

The German assaulted with:

• 2 x Bombing squads
• 2 x MG08/15 squads
• Minenwerfer in direct support
• Platoon commander

Here is a brief summary of the fight...

Initial setup, one LMG squad at top to put down some covering fire.  At bottom, Platoon commander planning to lead bombing squads forward supported by LMG squad and minenwerfer.

One of the bombing squads was chewed up by the combined fore of the Vickers and Lewis Guns while hunkered down in a crater.

The Platoon Commander led the other bombing squads in a successful assault on the Vickers gun. The Vickers team scarpered down the trench while the bombers took a foothold in the ruins.  They were counterattacked by the rifle bombers and actually driven out.  A counter-counter attack drove the rifle bombers back to the communication trench.

The Lewis team was knocked out by a combination of minenwerfer shells and a volley of grenades from the bombers. A counter attack by the rallied rifle bombers failed and the British platoon commander decided enough was enough and the British continued retreating west...

A good game, even though the rules are simple, they feel like they give a good result.  I especially like the back and forth in assaults.

Next up, I am leavig the same table up and will try some WW1 Crossfire.  Take it up a notch scale wise, and will see a couple of German platoons with support against a British platoon.  Stay tuned!

(Trying out these rules posted to the Crossfire IO Group, you will not need to join to see them)

Quick What a Tanker with the wife

 Actually did not get much What a Tanker in over the Thabnksgiving holiday, we wound up doing a couple of escape rooms with our guests and playing board / card games.

I did get a quick game in with my wife, who usually comments when we play wargames that "you only give me spears against guns, I want guns."  So I gave her a Panther against a T-34/76 and it ended pretty quickly in my T-34 a flaming wreak.

We will do more, but I tore the set up down to fiddle with Trench hammer some more.  More on that later.

My (mostly) 3D Printed "What a Tanker!" layout

I am preparing for the upcoming holiday and decided that What a Tanker! will be my game of choice.  To prepare, I have set up my table and wanted to show off a bit.  This project is entirely 3d printed for the tanks and dashboards and cost me almost nothing, just plastic for the 3D printer I already owned!

I got the tanks from m_bergman's famous set posted for free at Thingiverse HERE.  I wanted ~10mm tanks, as I have limited space, so I printed them at 133% for a scale of 1/150.

I also created a fairly simple to print dashboard that I have posted to Thingiverse along with the Unit cards, it is available HERE along with links to 3 or so other dashboards if you fancy a different design. 

Here is my table set up, not only are the tanks 3d printed, but the trees as well.  Buildings are from Pendraken.  The play area is 56" x 40" so a little smaller than the 6' x 4' recommended, but i decided to leave the ranges alone in the rules, just use the smaller tanks in the slightly smaller area. 

It works well with the smaller scale, the tanks are not to small to handle and the turrets are easy to shift without being too fiddley for me.

Here are examples of my dashboard with unit cards.  I printed the markers in different colored plastic and I am rather happy with the way they turned out.   I set everything up for the Eastern Front 1944

Here is my German motor pool, from left to right:

• Marder III
• STuG III G
• Panzer IVH
• Panther
• Tiger I

The Russians have:

• T-70
• SU-76
• T-34/76
• T-34/85
• SU-85
• SU-152

And here is yet another reason I went with 10mm 3d printed, teh storage is so flipping easy!  Plus I can leverage my existing 10mm buildings and terrain I have for WW1 and the Korean War.

I am rather pleased with this project and it is a great set of rules.  I have roped my wife in a few times and it is a LOT of fun.  With the 3d printing option, I can knock out (thanks to m_berman's hard work) any tanks I want.  If I get the hankering I can easily add Early war, Desert, Western Front, all for minimal cost.

I'll get a battle report or two up over the next few weeks.  Good gaming!

Chasing the Ripper with Tom

Yet another delayed post from before vacation last month, I finally got to go down to Om's house and play in the excellent game he hosted at Southern Front this year.  He adapted it from a board game and printed out the giant map.  The original game had you chasing the Ripper all over the British Isles, which is absurd, so we reset everything in Whitechapel as it should be.

Lots of running around trying to get the clues for each murder and avoid getting killed by Jack the Ripper.  What better way to spend and afternoon? 

I have another live gaming opportunity, as it is Tom's birthday coming up and he is hosting a game at the Military History Center of the Carolinas.  Alas it is the same day as I have a bounce house in the backyard for the oldest granddaughter's 4th birthday, so I will miss it.

Working out another date to get down there and I can push lead with an actual, live opponent!

Here are some pics:

Stab, stab stab...

Darkest Africa mini-campaign Part 4: Attack the fort!

 The final installment, see Part 1 (details rules), Part 2, and Part 3

I am running behind in posting, finally catching up.  Here is the final installment from the solo campaign I did before I went on vacation last month.

We ended last episode with Lt. Barnaby receiving assistance from the eminent missionary Dr. Bravestone, leading the expedition to the gates of the slaver's fort.

Lt. Baraby's plan of attack is to split his force into 2 groups, one under himself and one under Sgt. Singh.  Using improvised ladders, the askaris will mount the walls and deal with the slavers.

Sgt Singh leads his men from the front, attacking from the river side.  His men manage to get to the wall and prop up the ladder in the dead zone between the firing slits (this is NOT a Vauban style fortress!)  But, two of the Askari are out of the fight in the process plus the redoubtable Sgt. Singh.

Lt. Barnaby's troops also manage to get their ladder set up and start firing directly into the firing slits at the Arabs.

Lt Barnaby and a coupel of Askari make it over the wall.

And they manage to clear out most of the slavers.  But... once again Lt Barnaby is knocked down by a bullet and is out of the fight!

The slaver leader is has been dispatched and both Lt. Barnaby and Sgt Singh are both hor de combat.  The redoubtable askari keep up the attack and in an exciting finale, both sides fail morale on the same draw of the card.  I have them redraw and the remaining slavers scamper off while the Askari hold firm.

The expedition was a success!

Lt. Barnaby is mentioned in dispatches for his sterling work and so is Sgt Singh for his bravery during the attack on the camp.  Lt Barnaby returns to his home in Midsomer county to recuperate from his many, many wounds and is ultimately invalided out of the army on half pay.  At loose ends, he and Sgt Singh partner to form a detective agency specializing in discretely handling cases for wealthy clients as well as HM government.  This leads to a tradition of detecting in the Barnaby family that last until this day (or at least the end of season 22)

Reflection

A very satisfying little solo campaign.  The Snakes and Ladders approach has proven to be a very nice mechanism that provides narrative with very low overhead.

One Hour Skirmish Wargames also worked very well.  I urge you to get a copy, it is very extendable and feels "Open Source" like One Hour Wargames.  The card mechanism adds a lot of tension.  It is very fast play but gives as good a result as more complicated systems and has some subtle mechanisms.  I plan eventually (once I paint the models) to fiddle with a version for the Dark Ages.  More Stabby than Shooty.  

Ok, off to work, I hope you enjoyed this.  Next up, my game with Tom and some newly painted figures.

Darkest Africa mini-campaign Part 3:Defend the Camp!

Back from our cruise and started new job on Monday.  Cruise was ok, service not as good as the ship we were on in July, had a weird vibe, but it happens some time.  Lots of sun, beach, and steam room so I have no room to complain.

See also Part 1 and Part 2

Meanwhile, here is the next battle in the campaign.  Return with me to Darkest Africa and DEFEND THE CAMP!

Here we see the camp, the attackers are Rugga Rugga mercenaries allied with the slavers

The attack on tone end of the camp was quickly driven off (Upper right corner in the picture above.  There was some sterling bayonet work by one Askari in particular.

The other side of camp saw a brisk firefight...

Lt. Barnaby was once again rendered hors de combat, but Sgt. Singh ran through a hail of fire to take out the Rugga Rugga leader.

Under another hail of musket fire, he scurries back to organize the few Aksaris still in the fight.

The Rugga Rugga morale breaks and the survivors flee in to the jungle.  Lt Barnaby is bandaged up yet again and the column gets a boost from winning the battle. 

In a clearing, Lt Barnaby meets Dr. Bravestone who provides a shortcut through the jungle.

And some hard marching finally brings the column to the slaver's stronghold.

The fort is a small trading station with solid mid walls.  Will Lt. Barnaby complete his mission?

Stay tuned for the next installment!

Darkest Africa mini-campaign Part 2: Anzique Ambush! Twice!

 See previous post for Part 1...

Lt. Barnaby's column was now entering the territory of the fierce Anzique cannibals, allies of the slavers. They would love a chance to plunder (and maybe munch on) the column's bearers.

Left to right, the Anzique Chief, an elite White Shield warrior, and a normal tribesman.

The column moves along the trail, unaware that they are about to be ambushed.

This initial Anzique attack falters, as a warrior rushes the rear of the column, but his mates are not as eager. Game mechanic-wise, what happened is the Anzique's pulled a card for their activation points, and when engaging in melee drew a Joker, which immediately stops the turn. I think this makes for a great narrative, as the the unfortunate warrior will be mobbed and bayonetted while his mates hide in the undergrowth.

Later in the game, Lt. Barnaby and an Askari are charged by the chief and the white shields.

Another example of the game play, the chief gets 2 cards for being the charger and an additional one for being a Brute, yet Lt. Barnaby draws well and wins the melee.  Unloaded his revolver at close range?

Eventually, though, the column was cut up by the warriors who gleefully looted the supplies after the porters fled.  A wounded Lt. Barnaby orders the column to fall back.

More porters are recruited and the column treks on...

...until a flooded river crossing forces them to take another oute, still in Anzique territory.

The column is yet again attacked by the Anzique and yet again are forced to abandon supplies, barely getting away.

The column once again regroups and continues its journey. 

A new river crossing is found and the party makes it across.  Camp is pitched, but the undergrowth is alive with noise.  Suddenly it gets quiet... too quiet.

Ok, no more updates for a week plus as we cruise and I start my new job.  I have the rest of the mini-campaign in the can, so stay tuned!

Darkest Africa mini-campaign Part 1

So first for the good news... I got a new job!  More money and 100% remote.  Plus I picked up a side gig teaching programming at a local community college.  Then end result is I am taking a "gap week" between jobs this week, going on cruise with wife next week and start new job following week.  At my good lady-wife's insistence I have been getting some gaming in.  

I am running a Darkest Africa snakes and ladders campaign, see rules here.

This time I am using One Hour Skirmish, a set I am becoming very fond of. I will write up a review in tbe next few weeks, but I am keen on the card system.

The only tweaks I have made are muzzleloaders take 2AP to fire and allow groups of touching models to move for 3AP but may not fire, under some circumstances. I would normally post my QRS, but that would be most of the rules. Go buy them now and throw some ducats John Lambshead's way.

Here is the start of the expedition

And here is the collumn of Askari, led by Lt Barnaby of the Midsomer Light Infantry aka the "Millies."

The first battle was protecting a village from the slavers. Here are the villans...

Here is the village, slavers on left, expedition on right.

It was a a very fun, tense game. ended with a shootout on one flank and in the center of village before the slavers morale broke and they fled.

The expedition continued on, guided by a grateful villager. 

Until they encountered an Ambush!

Next time... the Anzique wardrums are beating!

Made some rocks!

 Whew!  Now that I have unloaded several projects that had no chance of completion in this decade, I am free to focus more.  So, I needed some rocky terrain for Korea to represent really rough terrain that would also provide cover in Crossfire. 

I 3d printed these rocks designed for 28mm available free on Thingieverse, but being the dolt I am, I cannot find them now...  They were sized for 28mm, so I scaled them down, but not evenly, I "squashed" the Z axis more to make them shorter for my 10mm figures.  Yes, it would probably have been easier to go get actual rocks, but where is the fun in that?  As nothed my 3d printer is my hammer and I turn every problem into a nail...

Here is what they look like finished. 

They will also work for rocky ground in 28mm, maybe perilous areas in Pulp Alley.  Nothing worse than a sprained ankle, but more likely to conceal a snake...