Closing The Ruhr Pocket, Beringhausen, 28th March, 1945

Sometimes the best laid plans of mice and men go somewhat awry, and this was the case on Tuesday. I was due to meet up with friends to play a game of Keith Flint's Startline rules, but the night before my wife luckily spotted a nail in our car's tyre, which was only a week old! I was able to get it to the garage to pick up on Tuesday morning, but would not be able to make it for the start of the game, which was a real shame. However I did arrive just before Midday as Turn 2 was nearing its conclusion. With the game in full swing, I chose to observe rather than take part, as I wasn't up to speed and didn't want to slow things down. This was fine as it was interesting see the game unfold and how the playtesting was helping Keith refine things.

So rather than an AAR, there are just photos of the game with some notes that might help give an idea of how the game progressed before I had to leave.

A Combat Command of the 3rd US Armoured Division is advacning from the left towards the village of Beringhausen, which is defended by a German Kampfgruppe.

Germand infantry dug-in and supported by Stug III's.

Loads of US tanks, with the infantry following on behind, some way back it must be said.

A mix of Shermans and Pershings.

I'm not sure what took out these Pz IV's as they were already brewing up when I arrived.

All the toys were from the collection of Roy Boss, with some bits from Keith I believe.

German reserves or reinforcements that would arrive from Turn 4 on a die roll of 4+, then 3+ etc.

German AA half-tracks, which did sterling work driving off most of the US air attacks!

They arrived and then flew off due to the heavy flak.

A mortar strike KO's a US tank destroyer.

US tanks begin to overun the German positions, but they stubbornly refused to die or surrender despite being heavily outnumbered.

Sod's Law and the King Tigers and Panthers arrived on Turn 4, just in time for the Germans but a real blow to the Americans.

The half-tracks arrived the next Turn too.

US tanks try to flank the German positions.

The Germans still hold on.

They didn't even fear the Pershings!

A view along the German defensive lines.

The Panzergrenadiers debus.

The Americans still struggle to get round the German flank and take hold of the important objective markers.

The Panthers move to meet the American threat to their right flank.

Despite being rather menacing, their shooting was shocking at this point!

Infantry move up to try and KO the German infantry and to seize the objective markers.

End Of The Game

Well by the time I had to leave, the game was still being played, with things nicely in the balance. In the end Keith declared it a minor German victory and the Americans could not gain control of enough objective markers for an outright victory.

A few thoughts in no particular order:

• It was great to meet up with the chaps and have a great time watching them play and exchange plenty of good natured banter. Let's hope next time I can make if for the start!
• I'd suggested we meet up at the Big Battles centre in Cirencester rather than Keith's house, so that we didn't impinge upon Jane, plus we would have plenty of space to play, which we had in spades. However it was the coldest day of the Autumn with frost on the cars and was rather cold inside. What was I thinking! Next time only play in late Spring to early Autumn;).
• I think the game proved useful for Keith to clarify some points, to consider others etc. Certainly playing very late War was of course a different kettle of fish to say Poland 1939, plus we all had slightly differnet views on some points or were in agreements on others. Having this variety of opinion is what a playtest is all about.
• It did highlight the importance of playing with rules you know and are comfortable with, as it soon became apparent that the German decision to dig-in in front of the BUA's was maybe not the best choice. I think it was a bit of a steep learning curve for all of us and with hindsight, the deployments would have been rather different.
• Getting the Germans out of the BUA was a real challenge and hadn't been completed by the time I'd left. This has always been a challenge for me whilst playing BKCII, as you want a balance between game play and historical accuracy and so far I've not found an easy answer. 
• It's been mentioned before, but the WRG rules that Startline are based upon, made infantry somewhat superfluous to the game, given their very slow movement rates compared to the tanks. I know even in BKCII, it can be hard to make the infantry keep up and be part of the game, but you need them to secure an objective, which armour can't. How you solve this for Startline/WRG I'm not sure. Maybe giving them increased movements rates, having the in half-track or as tank riders or making them the only units able to contest an objective might help?

Eye Candy

Next to our table the Big Battles chaps looked like they had a table set for a game, and very nice it was too. The buildings looked to be a mix of scratch built and shopt bought MDF ones. So here are some shots for your delectation!

I hope you enjoyed this post and as always, any comments greatly appreciated!

TTFN.