OHW Scenario 11 - Surprise Attack

With Xmas and New Year out of the way, it was high time to try and get a game of something or the other in. After some thought I returned to Neil Thomas' scenarios from his excellent One Hour wargames book, which I hadn't played for quite some time. As many will know, they are perfect for relatively quick games when time is not always available for something larger of more involved.

The next scenario in the list was number 11: Surprise Attack, loosely inspired by the Battle of Quatre Bras. As before rather than use the random OOB from the OHW book, I used those contained in his Wargaming 19thC Europe, which work better for me, but more on that later. So the D6 die roll produced the following:

Red OOB (Defender)

5 x Infantry

1 x Light Infantry

2 x Cavalry

2 x Artillery

Blue OOB (Attacker)

4 x Infantry

2 x Light Infantry

2 x Cavalry

2 x Artillery

The Game

The set up was as per the book, but the scenario length was changed to 8 Turns as I would be using BPII rules. The distribution of the Red force and their arrival Turn was based upon those from the book, but again tweaked to fit into the 8 Turn format. 

An overview of the table with the Red defenders in place, with their flanks covered by the wood and the pond.

2 x Line Infantry and an Artillery unit formed the blocking force.

1 x Light Infantry, 1 x Line Infantry and an Artillery unit formed the Western force that would arrive on Turn 4.

2 x Cavalry and 2 x Line Infantry formed the Northern force that would arrive on Turn 2.

The Blue right wing consisted of 2 x Line Infantry supported by an Artillery unit and 2 x Cavalry.

The left wing consisted of 2 x Light Infantry, 2 x Line Infantry and a supporting Artillery unit.

The Blue Cavalry pushed towards the pond, whilst the Infantry moved towards the blocking position on the road. Fire from them caused some disruption on the Red Infantry. The Blue Light Infantry failed to arrive. In response the Red force caused some hits and disruption on the Blue Line Infantry and Artillery.

Firing quickly erupts along both lines.

On Turn 2 a fight breaks out as the Red Cavalry charge their Blue counterparts, breaking one Blue Cavalry unit.

The end of Turn 2 (apologies for the bad shot). The Blue Light Infantry arrived and moved through the wood to threaten the Red right flank. Firing caused a Red Line Infantry unit to make a Disorderly Retreat. Both sides took hits and some disorder, with the Blue Artillery going shaken. The Red Cavalry got the better of the first engagement and followed up the retreating Blue unit, but could not catch it to make a sweeping advance.

The Blue right wing failed to make passage of lines and so stalled in the ploughed field.

The Blue left wing and Light Infantry have caused the Red blocking position to break up.

The Blue Light Infantry in the woods.

The Red Northern force arrives and takes up position astride the crossroads, which are the objective.

The victorious Red Cavalry are just out of range to make a sweeping advance into contact.

The end of Turn 3. The Blue Light Infantry fail to move in the woods, but the Line Infantry in the centre make short work of the Red blocking postion, breaking the remaining Line Infantry and Artillery there. The Blue Cavalry retires and a Line Infantry unit moves to the edge of the pond to cover them. The Red Cavalry likewise retires and there is no action from their Infantry, other than to rally off a hit.

The Blue troops break open the blocking position.

The Red Line Infantry rally off a hit to try and prolong their staying power faced by strong forces to their front.

Early on Turn 4 the Red Cavalry makes a desperate charge at the Blue Artillery, which fails to hit them as they close in, which leads to their demise. The Red cavalry then carries on into the Blue Infantry formed in column and makes short work of them too. Satisfied, they retreat to reform.

The end of Turn 4. The Blue forces advance where they can and combined fire sees a Red Line Infantry unit forced to retreat disordered, just as the Red Western Force arrives. Fortunately the Red Cavalry's do-ro-die charge helps stabilise things as they break up the Blue attack in the centre.

The Blue Line Infantry help support the Blue Cavalry, who could only look on helplessly as the enemy rode down their Artillery and Line Infantry.

The Blue centre is looking vulnerable and the Artillery is wary of the Red Cavalry reforming by the burnt oak tree.

The Blue Light Infantry try their best to disrupt the Red Western Force as it arrives.

The view from the Red Western Force postion as they deploy.

The Red Cavalry look on, happy with their work so far.

The end of Turn 5. Things hang in the balance for both sides. The Blue Cavalry makes a desperate charge to tie down the Red Cavalry, which they do, but are forced back to reform and are disordered. As the Blue Line Infantry and Artillery advance, both sides causes hits and disorder on each other.

The Blue Line Infantry have moved across to cover the Artillery from any possible charge by the Red cavalry.

Casualties are building up on both sides.

The Blue Light Infantry cannot quite cause enough problems for the Red force.

At the start of Turn 6, disaster befalls the Blue Line Infantry unit that is covering the Artillery unit, as it is broken by firing and flees the table.

The end of Turn 6. Once again the Cavalry charge each other, with the Red Cavalry coming off worst, having to retreat back disordered. The Blue cavalry has taken a beating too and is in no fit state to pursue. The Blue Infantry have the better of the firefight, breaking a Red Line Infantry unit that retreats off the table.

A Blue Line Infantry unit makes a disorderly retreat to make way for a fresh unit and to preserve itself for later on.

The end of Turn 7. Both sides take and inflict significant casualties on each other, with units shaken and disordered across the front. One Blue Line Infantry unit is once again thrown back shaken and disordered. With things looking desperate, the Red Cavalry once again charges its opponent, but despite a numerical advantage, one Red Cavalry unit is broken, but at least they break the Blue Cavalry too.

The Blue Line Infantry unit forced back by a failed break test.

Mutually Assured Destruction.

Things are getting tight with the Blue units having the slight edge.

On Turn 8, the Red force is in a desperate situation, with most of its Line Infantry close to breaking. Once again the Red Cavalry makes a do-or-die charge into the Blue Artillery's flank, breaking it and then forcing the Blue Line Infantry to retreat disordered.

The end of Turn 8. Red snatches Victory from the jaws of Defeat by a last ditch cavalry charge! Blue had inflicted shaken and disorder more or less across the whole Red frontage, leaving the Red units in a parlous state. Victory for Blue was so close yet so far...

The Blue Line Infantry forced back when they were so close to the objective.

The Cavalry hold position as the Red troops try to reform.

The view from the Red positions. A close run thing for sure!

End of Game

Well what a game! It swung too and from for several Turns and Victory was gained on the last Red command roll, for the Cavalry to make the game winning charge. It was a Victory but a bloody one fir sure, with both sides having take quite heavy losses. Not quite Pyrrhic but too close for comfort.

Post Game Thoughts

It was good to be gaming again and it certainly proved to be entertaining start to the New Year. As always some thoughts on what worked, what didn't etc and in no particular order:

• These OHW scenarios with relatively small forces make for a great mid-week type game, certainly for when time is at a premium. I reckon this game took about an hour or just over to actually play, but around two when adding in taking notes and photos. Set up is also really quick as there is minimal terrain, which can of course be added to depending upon the period played.
• 10 units aside for this game is OK, but it felt a little tight on the 2' x 2' board. Maybe this scenario would have been better on a 2' x 3' one, to give a bit more room for manouevre on the flanks. Certainly with the generous BPII movement and shooting, you are right into the action straight away. It would be interesting to replay this at some point, but using Honours of War instead.
• I took on board Norm Smith's idea for these 2' x 2' games of using 3 bases per unit rather than the normal 4 I use for most games. It certainly works well for games on my 2' x 2' baord and I will continue down this route for future game I'm sure. Thanks Norm!
• I have to hold my hand up to some schoolboy errors with the rules, namely removing the Shaken status of units at the end of their Turn. Of course this only applies to Disordered, which I completely forgot about! However it did have the unforeseen benefit of making the game carry on until the final Turn for the dramatic ending! If I had plyed it correctly it might have all been over bar the shouting by around Turn4, but we will never know...
• The Red Cavalry were certainly the stars of the show and kept the Red forces in the game with their two charges into the Blue guns. Upon reflection if the Blue Cavalry had got the upper hand early on, then it might have led to an easy Blue victory. Going forward I think I need to make my own random lists table, reducing the Cavalry and Artillery, as the latter can have a devastating effect in a small game too. Something to think about and work up some ideas in the future.
• Going first in these small BPII games does confer a slight advantage IMHO, as you tend to get your shots in first, which if you're lucky, can lead to some Disorder or maybe even Shaken status, which impedes the otherside when it's their Turn. The alternating actions by Brigades as per Honours of War might provide a better solution. Again something to ponder once I've got a few more games under my belt.

That's it for now but I hope to get another similar type game in soon. I had planned on starting painting stuff for my planned France 1940 Campaign (more of which in another post) but I put my back out on New Year's Day, so haven't been able to sit comfortable enough to actually paint anything. I'm nearly there so fingers crossed I'll get something done this week.

So until next time, stay safe and keep healthy and hope you avoid the horrible cold that's doing the rounds this neck of the woods.