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!
Nice to see a return to Trench Hammer. I hope to get in a game before the end of the year (he says optimistically). Looking forward to seeing the Crossfire WW1 variant in action and your thoughts on how good a job it does of feeling like WW1 combat.
ReplyDeleteThanks! I was an early adopter of Crossfire many moons ago and am excited to pull it out again. I will post how it goes. My gut is it will work well. Shell holes are going to be important (as they were historically) and charging an unsuppressed Maxim will be a bad idea. But, we shall see how it plays out.
ReplyDeleteGreat battle report. This is precisely the level of action that I like in early to mid-20th century games. The "subaltern's war."
ReplyDeleteGood to see Trench Hammer on the table again. Very much a game in need of a second edition though :)
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