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)

"Somme Enchanted Evening", Trench Hammer 1916

 I am working with Ivan on version 2 of Trench Hammer to bring it more in line with the current evolution of the Hammer system.  I am doing this VERY slowly, but I am plugging away.

Here is a game I played using the scenario "Somme Enchanted Evening" from Too Fat Lardies Play the Game Great War Compendium.  I cannot over-praise this tome, it is an invaluable resource, go but it now!

See the details of the historical action in Play the Game, but the basic scenario is this.  Ferocious French-Canadian troops attacking a village and a German support trench.  The terrain is no too badly cut up by artillery.  Germans start in dugouts in the trench except for a unit in the village.  French-Canadians need to clear the village and the trench.

The French-Canadians had:

• 3 x Assault Squads (based on the description of the historical events the scenario is based on)
• 1 x Lewis Gun Squad
• 1 x extra Assault Squad as mopper-uppers
• Plus 1 leader

Then Huns had:

• 1 x Rifle Squad in the Village
• 2 x Bombing squads and a Maxim gun in the trench in dugouts
• Plus 1 leader in a dugout

As there had been some bombardment, I decided each german unit would have to roll a 4+ to exit its dugout after it had been issued an order point.

Here we see the German defenses, the French Canadians are jumping off from the wood in the lower right-hand corner. 

The end of turn 1 sees the Canadians caught in the open, every dies roll seemed to go against them.  They tried to Move Out with the assault squads to make it to the cover of the village, but only 1 squad made it. The Lewis Gun squad was left in the woodline to provide covering fire. On the German turn, every single unit exited the dugouts and took up firing positions... it was an uncomfortable turn for the Canadians.

The next turn was evenly split, the Canadians drove the rifle squad in the village back to the trench line to lick its wounds, and one of the squads that had been caught in the open successfully forced its way into the trench.  But was so badly battered by crossing the open in front of the Maxim gun and the assault, that the hun sat back and threw grenades over the traverse, knocking them out

The following turn, another squad gets ready to try to force itself into the trench.

And is driven back

Here is the final Canadian push, with the platoon leader leading the charge. Only to be met by a flurry of grenades from 2 sides, knocking them out.  By this time the Canadians did not have enough combat power to win so I called the game.

After Action Review

My biggest mistake with playing the Canadians was not coordinating attacks and sending the assault squads in one at a time to be eaten piecemeal.  That would have mitigated the ability of Bombing squads to attack enemies down a trench with no immediate risk to themselves.  The game lasted 4 turns and gave I think a realistic result.

I am still tinkering some expect more of these battle reports!

Reflecting on 2020 and Trench Hammer German Assault, 1917

First I want to thank my wife for giving me a wonderful 2020.  The current pandemic has really forced us to slow down and enjoy the important things in life.  We took up gardening, traveled on one of the last non-quarantined cruises in March, and visited 2 new favorite places, St. Simon's Island in Georgia and Key West.  If pressed by any supernatural (or Q-like) entity, I also have an answer, if pressed, for my favorite day ever. Answer: The day we went to the Dry Tortugas / Ft. Jefferson National Park.

Globally it has been a rough year, but personally, it was very fulfilling.  We also started exercising and eating a LOT better and I have managed to shave off 40 pounds or 2.85 stone for my UK friends.

Christmas was great, we had the kids and grandkids over and I even 3d printed some of the presents.  I will dig up some pictures, but for our oldest, I printed and pained a model of Hogwarts, I made snowglobes for the grandkids, and I 3d printed a Spirograph art set for the 3-year-old.

My wife gave me an amazing gift, helping (and guiding me) in rearranging and straightening up the Library / Gaming Room.  I had let the clutter start to build up and covered the gaming table with projects that were in progress. Here are the results, and I can start 2021 with space to push troops around.

It is a rather oddly shaped narrow room, but perfect for me.

I keep the 3D Printer there as well

And of course, a small "I Love Me" wall

I hope 2021 brings you peace and happiness. I heard someone say recently that what you do in your home is vastly more important to your success and happiness than what is happening in politics or the news. Plus you have full control over it.  

Now on to gaming...

Last week I was able to get in another solo game of Trench Hammer.  I used almost exactly the same scenario as in my last post (take a look at it for details) except I switch the sides about.  This tome it was a German assault to remove a pesky British machine-gun bunker.

I don't have a blow by blow, but some highlights include:

• The first three turns I gave the British poor command and control (roll 2d6, pick lowest for activations), this was to simulate the short preparatory bombardment. Starting turn 4 they went to Standard
• The British had a TOE 1917 platoon with the Rifle and Lewis Sections in the front trench and the Rifle Bombers and Bombers in the second line with the Platoon leader.
• The Germans had two identical platoons, each with 1 leader, 2 Bombing squads, and an MG 08/15 squad.
• I gave the Germans superior command and control (roll 2d6, pick highest +1) to reflect motivation and prep for the raid.

The German plan was simple, rapidly break into the British Trenches, have one platoon stay in the front trench to support by fire or act as a reserve, and the other platoon bomb it's way down the communication trench and assault the bunker form the rear.  The plan did not play out like that though.

I did use the Hammer of Democracy assault and damage rules, here are some fo the new unit cards I have printed up.  I will get them posted soon to share.

The initial German rush to the trenches was not as rapid as it should have been, although they managed to bomb their way into the forward sap that held a small sentry unit

On the left flank, the hun managed to assault his way in to the trench, forcing the rifle squad back with a flurry of grenades. 

Trying to do the same on the right flank resulted in a Grenadier Gruppe being wiped out by the Lewis Gun squad before it could get in to the trenches. 

A change of plan was called for and the Huns launched a direct assault on the bunker, hoping to use craters as cover and getting around it to the rear.  They suffered heavy casualties on the way in, as the British had managed to keep most of their force intact by falling back and regrouping as needed.

The finale.  The Germans managed to get around and knock out the Vickers Machine gun but left the bunker itself undamaged.  The British were able to pepper the surviving Germans with Rifle Grenades and Mills Bombs.  In the end, the Germans took 50% casualties while only eliminating the Machine gun (until another could be brought forward.)  The British took far fewer casualties, losing only the Rifle section as combat ineffective, as they judiciously fell back when pressed and regrouped.

Not a good showing or the Germans, a high casualty raid that maybe netted 2 or 3 prisoners and did not really eliminate the bunker as a threat.

Next up, I am going to play a scenario from Too Fat Lardie's Play the Game supplement, so stay tuned.  Until then, goo gaming!

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.

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!

Trench Hammer How To Video posted

I have posted a brief demo video of Trench Hammer to my site here:

Wargaming the Great War

I hope this is helpful, it is not all the rules but should give you an idea of how the mechanics work.  If you have any questions, the best place to ask is The Wargames Website, Ivan or I are usually lurking there.

Good Gaming!

Battle Report: British Assault on German held village, 1918

First, I want to promote my friend Ivan Sorensen's Indigogo campaign for Hammer of Democracy, a WW2 set of rules adapted from his squad hammer set.  Just for the record, even though I am the co-author of Trench Hammer, I am not benefiting from this and have thrown my hat (and cash) into the ring.  Please give it a look, I have never supported a crowdfunding campaign, but I know this one will be a good one!

Another go with Trench Hammer this weekend, this time with the wife!  She is long-suffering and the best spouse/opponent a guy could ask for.  She is usually convinced I am cheating, but was willing to dive in and give Trench Hammer a try.

We played a simple British attack on a German-held village, circa mid-1918.

The Germans had 2 grenadier section with bombs, an MG08/15 LMG section, and an MG-08 Maxim HMG.  The British had a standard platoon with a Rifle Section, Bombing Section, Lewis Gun Section, and Rifle Grenade Section.

Apologies for the poor quality pictures, but I was drinking a nice lager at the time and the lighting was poor.  I need some more lamps.  I am not going to do a blow by blow, just an overview, as I was too busy playng to document everything. Anyway, on with the show...

 Here we have the initial setup, with the German defenses arrayed and the British skipping down the road.

 The lead British element took heavy fire from the Maxim, while the Lewis section returned fire.  Meanwhile, the bombers assault the woods

 The Bombers chase the Germans out of the wood, while the Rifle section decides enough is enough and is out fo action.

 The Germans counter-attack the woods but are thrown back.  Meanwhile, the Lewis gun trades fire with the Maxim and the Rifle Grenadiers move behind the other wood to take up a firing position

 The Bombers have completely secured the wood at the top of the picture, after knocking out the German MG08/15 squad.  The Rifle Grenadiers are thrown back when the German bombers sally out of the village to assault them.

 The Bombers get in close and force the Maxim team on top of the hill to fall back.

Here is the German commander, sad at her defeat.. the Bombers manage to infiltrate the village from the flank.  This is a narrow British victory, but the butcher's bill is high.  The Britsh lost their platoon leader, rifle section, and Lewis section and are incapable of further offensive action at this time.

The Germans lost their platoon leader, a Grenade squad, and an LMG squad.  After the British infiltrated into the village and the Maxim pulled back, the remaining combat effective German squad was forced to fall back or face being cut off.

A great game we played in 45 minutes!  She likes it and we will be playing more.  I hope you enjoyed it and contribute to Ivan's new rules if you can.  Until next time, good gaming!

Battle Report: German Raid on a sap

I played out my scenario, full details of the scenario, map, briefings, and setup can be found here, now on with the show...

Here the raiding party works its way down the trench towards the target

 Lt Klink leads with the Stossgruppe against the Lewis Gun section.  They knock out the section but are disorganized (5 hits) and the rest of the platoon passes through them while they sort themselves out.  Lt. Klink is seriously wounded in the action and his senior NCO takes charge and leads the Grenadier squads through.

A British suffer from several turns of terrible activation rolls, so are only able to bring on the reinforcing bombing squad after the hun is well into their position.  The lead German squad manages to bomb the British rifle grenade section in the sap out of action.

 The reinforcements from the adjoining unit are met by one of the German Bombing squads.  The melee is intense and the Germans wind up with 4 hits and barely drive off the enemy.

 Back at the T junction of the trench, the trailing German Grenadier squad gets into a grenade fight with the British Bombing section for a couple of turns.  Once again, the combat is bloody (the Germans take 5 hits) but they manage to rout the British.

Meanwhile, the lead German Grenadier squad clears out the rest of the sap. Given that there are no combat effective British units on the table, the Germans has enough time to blow the sap and withdraw back across no man's land as planned.  So a major success with fairly moderate casualties.

Lt. Klink is carried back by his men and will spend several weeks in a field hospital in the rear having his wounds attended to.

I hope you enjoyed it.  The game took exactly 31 minutes to play, I know because I listen to a podcast while playing it, but I also played it solo, which speeds things up quit a bit.

Until next time, good gaming!

Scenario: German Raid on a sap

This scenario is inspired by “Gentlemen at Loos” from Too Fat Lardies Stout Hearts and Iron Troopers Great War scenario book.  I cannot exactly recreate it given my terrain and troops, but I can get pretty close, consider this scenario “inspired by actual events.”

When playing scenarios involving trenches, the gamer will find one of their biggest limiting factor is how he represent trenches on their table.  I use rather large rubber trenches, really designed for 15mm FOW bases.  As a result the trenches don’t have what I consider enough bends and kinks as an actual trench would to prevent enfilading fire and protect from shell blasts, so some abstraction is in order.

Here is how I am tweaking the rules to handle my trenches and handle fighting along a trench (no changes from the main rules if one unit is outside a trench:

Special Rules for Fighting along a trench

·        Visibility along a trench is limited to 3”

·        All fire between two units fighting along a trench is limited to ASSAULT combat

o   With the exception of Bombers and Assault Troops, all fire is limited to 3”

o   Bombers and assault Troops may ASSAULT out to 6”

§  They may ASSAULT enemies they cannot see

§  They may ASSAULT enemies if there are intervening friendly troops

§  (It is assumed that bombers are trained to attack into adjacent traverses, etc. as was the practice, and will stop if intervening troops get into bayonet range.)

Your mileage may vary, these rules are for my peculiar circumstances.

Raid on a Gas Sap

German Briefing:

The perfidious British are digging a sap from their trench lines into no man’s land that intercepted phone traffic tells you will be used for gas cylinders to attack your regiment. The Colonel has ordered you to take a picked raiding party, infiltrate the British Trenches, and destroy the sap while it is under construction.  Your raiding party consists of:

·      

•   1 Officer Leader (yourself) and 1 other Leader (a senior NCO)
•      3 Bombing Squads
•      1 Assault (Regimental Stoss troop) Squad

Bags of grenades are distributed to your men and you carefully rehearse behind the lines for several days.  Your route across no man’s land will be covered by smoke and harassing artillery fire, and carefully camouflaged routes through the enemy wire have been cut over the last few nights.  Your will rush through these gaps during daylight hours, enter the enemy trench is a poor defended spot, and work your way down the trench using grenades.  Once in the enemy sap (S on the map), destroy it using concertation charges (each bombing squad carriers one, they must spend 1 turn and 2 activation points performing no other action, then must roll a 3+ to succeed.)

As soon as you have succeeded or are driven off, fire a green flare and more artillery fire will cover your withdrawal.  You troops enter at point A on the map.

British Briefing:

Your Platoon is being used as coolies to dig a sap for the Special Brigade to conduct one of their infernal gas attacks.  It will only encourage the Hun to plaster you with shells while the Special Brigade detachment heads back to the comfort of the rear, so you are not terribly happy with this.

You have your Rifle and Rifle Grenade section in the sap (S on the map) working under the supervision of their NCO’s, while your Lewis Section is preparing to relieve one of the other sections (B on the Map)

You and your Bombing Section are located off map at point C.  Reinforcements consisting of an assault section can be had from the neighboring company, and enter the table at point D.

·        Given the surprise the Germans achieve, the British roll for initiative as if they had poor training (2d6, select lowest)

·        Every turn you may choose to save activation points each turn instead of activating a unit.  They may be saved from one turn to the next.  At the beginning of each turn you may choose to spend the points, roll a d6 and if it is <= the number of points, you and your Bombing Section arrives at point C and may activate this turn.  The next turn the assault section will arrive at point D with 1 leader.

Don’t let the Hun ruin your labor!

The Map:

Player Aids:

I hate having my squads drag dice around with them to indicate hits, so I am using unit cards to track them.  There are only 4-8 units on the table in a typical game, so this should never be too much of an issue in Trench Hammer.

(As a side note, BUY YOURSELF A LAMINATING MACHINE if you make your own player aids. Mine was $10 at Wal-Mart and I buy the sleeves from Amazon so it costs me < $0.02 a page to laminate.  Do your self a favor and get one now!)

Here is the German force, it has a Leader card with the leader rules and a card for each unit that tracks hits with a red paperclip and includes any special rules for that unit.

Here is the British Force:

The QRS I use now can be found here, it can be pretty small as I have offloaded some of the rules to the unit cards.  After I get them painted, I intend to also use casualty markers, 1 for when a unit reaches 3 hits and a second one for 5 hits, so I remember to apply the negative damage modifiers.  This should leave a fairly uncluttered table.

Let me know what you think!

Next time I will actually play the game and we will see of Lt. Klink can deliver a blow to the British.

Note this is not the same Klink as Just Jack's, but his ditant cousin,  Just in case I get him killed off, we won't have any temporal paradoxes.