Deus Vult!

I suppose my first exposure to the Crusades was a toy crusader knight from a cereal box given to me by my grandparents in the late 1960's. As a child of about 6 years old, this seemed wonderfully exotic and was a treasured gift for many a year. Growing up we all seemed to admire the tales of Richard the Lionheart, not knowing the reality behind the myth.

Many years ago after the visually superb 'Kingdom of Heaven' film came out, I did ponder long and hard as to whether to try and game this period using the Warmaster Ancients rules, but frankly was put off by the sheer number of bases and miniatures required. A common theme I fear looking back over many a project contemplated and then discarded by the wayside!

My next venture was somewhat off the beaten track, this time with the Baltic Crusades using Lion Rampant and/or Hail Caeser rules, inspired by Michael Leck's post on this period. He put me onto the 'Arn: Knight Templar' trilogy of books as well as the Swedish tv Series of the same name. As is sadly often the case, lists were drawn up, figures bought, plans made and then: nothing. the butterfly had flapped its wings and my mind had wandered onto yet another project.

Quite by chance Richard on his excellent Blog showcased a couple of excellent books that I'd not heard about nor considered reading. But always on the lookout for a good book I bought the following for a bargain price:

Then a few weeks later the chaps from Little Wars TV were back with a Battle for Acre game to kick off things in there new enlarged games room. I always like what these guys put on but my interest was really grabbed by the fact that they were using Lion Rampant II with a few tweaks for the game. Having playtested the original rules way back when, and others since in the same stable, I thought that this would be a good way to maybe scratch that itch from the 'Kingdom of Heaven' film initial idea. The game certainly looked fun and so I started to have a think about how I might go about this.

Looking at my bookpile I dug out the following which I bought as reference for the Baltic Crusades some 10 years ago or more:

Luckily for me it also has plenty of stuff on the 'traditional' Crusades that most people seem to play. Alongside this I remembered that a few years ago some books were released as almost 'army books' for Lion Rampant; one of the Vikings in the Mediterranean and the other on the Crusades. I'd considered the former but never the latter. However as my interest had been piqued, I managed to track down the Crusades book which duly arrived today.

From a quick flick through it really is a nice book and alongside the above, it will really give me plenty of ideas and options for forces to make for some small games and/or battles. Luckily I think I have enough figures for the Western Crusaders, only needing to make some purchases for the 'Muslim' forces. 

So not having planned this project at all just a few weeks ago, it seems I have something else to keep the old grey cells ticking over! Not that I'm one to complain but let's hope I can get enough units based and painted to get these onto the table. Then of course I'll need some buildings and terrain...

Thanks for reading and for leaving a comment too.

TTFN.

Somewhere In Germany, Spring 1945 - Part Two

So with the scene all set, I managed to grab a few hours this afternoon to get the game going. Annotated photos will hopefully give you an idea of how things played out.

The end of Turn 1. Night, visibility 10cm. The Germans could hear movement to their front, but could not see anything nor make out exactly where it was coming from, due to British counter-measures. Two infantry companies advanced forward, led by their assault pioneers and supported by Churchill tanks.

The assault pioneers in position to blow a path through the dragon's teeth.

The Churchills move forward towards the gap created by the RAF during the night.

At the start of Turn 2, a scheduled artillery stonk hit the BUA, KO'ing the Stug III.

The end of Turn 2. Monty's Moonlight, visibility 25cm. The assault pioneers blow the gap in the dragon's teeth and the infantry move forward, supported by the Churchill tanks, both coming under fire as they do so. On the right an infantry company moves into the damaged building, losing a platoon on the way. The Sherman crab arrives ready to begin its work.

 

The Crab in position.

The infantry move forward and come under fire. The Pz IV by the wall engages in a firefight with the Churchills.

The Churchills struggle forward through the cratered road and field.

The end of Turn 3. Dawn, visibility 50cm. The British struggle to maintain momentum, coming under fire from all quarters. The Crab has cleared a path through the minefiled but the Churchills struggle to get through to exploit the opportunity.

The Churchills engage the dug-in MG unit by the barn, but fail to do much damage.

The infantry cannot really move forward at present.

A traffic jam ensues as Hobart's Funnies arrive, as stout German resistance holds up the advance.

The dug-in Volkssturm in the orchard cause problems for the British infantry.

The Panther duels with the Churchills, only managing to suppress one.

The end of Turn 4. Daylight and full visibility. The British FAO fails to get through and so even without the support of the artillery, they manage to KO the Pz IV and MG unit by the barn as well as assaulting the Volkssturm in the orchard, KO'ing them in the process. The German response is limited and they fail to inflict much damage upon the British.

As the Pz IV burns, the infantry take the orchard after assaulting the Volkssturm, ably supported by the tanks.

It's still a bit of a jam in the centre, but things are beginning to move forward a bit.

The stubborn MG nest is finally overcome.

The Churchills with some excellent shooting manage to suppress the Panther at the end of the road.

At the start of Turn 5 the RAF arrive and easily KO the Panther, much to the relief of the Churchill tank crews.

The end of Turn 5. Progress is steady as the tanks and infantry edge forward, with the infantry losing a platoon in the orchard, but the Churchill Crocodile makes short work of the Volkssturm in the BUA to its front.

The infantry push forward but come under fire, losing a platoon.

Hobart's Funnies easily KO the Volkssturm in the BUA.

The Churchills edge forward, wary of the Pak 40 to their front.

A view from the German positions.

The end of Turn 6. Even though the artillery and air support fail to arrive, the infantry and tanks push forward, with the Crocodile once again making short work of the Fallschirmjager platoon in the BUA.

The infantry occupy the BUA near the centre of the village.

The Crocodile clears out the FJ platoon.

There is little movement on the right flank, as they provide supporting fire to the other units.

End of the Game

By the point the Germans were well beyond their breakpoint, which they easily failed and so withdrew from the defensive positions. Even if they'd stayed put, the weight of numbers combined with the AVRE tanks would have quickly made their positions even more untenable.

Post Game Thoughts

Well I was a bit rusty on the rules front as it's been quite sometime since I played these rules, but most of it came back to me pretty easily. The game provided me with plenty to think about and I need to re-read a few bits just to get some things clear in my head. But as always a few musings on the game in no particular order:

• Scheduled artillery is an absolute must in a game like this, as you really need to keep the defenders under pressure whilst you advance. This can be a mix of HE and Smoke, using both in many of my games. A creeping barrage would be good, but really only suitable in a bigger game I think.
• Night, Monty's Moonlight and Dawn all worked well in terms of limiting visibility, helped the attackers but at the expense of some CV penalties.
• In advance of the game I was looking at attacking BUA's and how that works in BKCII. To be honest I've never really been happy with this, but there are some options out there in BKCIV as well as the original CWC rules. Something I need to have a good think about for sure.
• Hobart's Funnies/AVRE's really made a big difference for the British, especially the Crocodile which is just devastating as one would expect. 
• Even though it was fun playing on a 2' x 2' table, which helped speed up game play and allowed a lot of action in a small space, it did hamper both sides somewhat, forcing them into a frontal assault. Moving forward a bigger baord would help give space for the attackers to develop their attacks and for the defenders to have more depth as well as the ability to manouevre their reserves.
• The Germans never quite got going in the game and couldn't quite knock out any of the tanks early on, which might have changed things a bit. Losing the Stug III in the first artillery stonk did hit them hard.
• Churchill tanks are tough! I thinnk if I'd used Shermans then there would have been more smoking tanks on the British side quite early on.
• It was fun to get out my dragon's teeth and minefields, which I rarely do. Maybe some more games using them in the future would be good, certainly as part of a mini-campaign.
• It's been a long time since I used the Close Assault rules and I think I got it right, but again this is something I need to double check in my post game reading.
• Both sides dice rolling was pretty poor, especially for the British, often just getting a single '6' when rolling 12 dice!
• Whilst I enjoyed the game, these late War attritional battles aren't as much fun as ones where there is more room ot manouevre. I can see why 1945 is rarely gamed, or at least so in my experience. 

What's Next?

Well having scratched that itch so to speak, it is now full on focus for the CWD, both in terms of painting, scenario creation, QRS and OOB etc. I'm still not sure if my gaming chum can make it but, if not, I have enough for a smaller game, so not all bad.

Thanks for reading and hope you enjoyed it.

TTFN.

Somewhere in Germany, Spring 1945 - Part One

It's been quite some time since I last had a game of BKCII. As an antidote to my CWD prep and painting, I decided to put on a smallish game on a 2' x 2' table. Nothing was firm in my mind as to the scenario, other than I wanted to have some BUA's to fight over. 

Whilst reading Caddick-Adams superb 1945 book above and the accounts contained therein, it morphed into a sort of mini-Westwall/Siegfried Line attack, especially as I was getting the terrain out of their boxes and came across my dragon's teeth and barbed wire. Certainly something different to my normal games where I like a bit of space to manouevre my troops around.

Forces wise I did a bit of a points calculation, with the attackers having 50% more than the defenders, but soon realised I needed to up this a bit. Whether this proves to be too much, about right or not enough remains to be seen. The results of all of this can be seen below:

An overview of the table, with the British attacking from the edge nearest the camera. The Germans are dug-in in and around the village.

My home made dragon's teeth that haven't seen action for years.

The RAF have made already made a breach in the defences across the road.

A minefield backed up with barbed wire.

The view from the German positions.

Dug-in Volksturm troops have been pushed to the front to absorb the intial assault.

A lone Pz IV in support on the right flank.

A Fallschirmjager MG42 covers the minefield.

A FJ Pak 40 and supporting heavy weapons cover the left flank.

A Stug III covers the main approach, supported by FJ infantry.

Another FJ MG42 covers the approach into the village, with other units nearby.

The rest of the FJ.

The CO dug-in next to the Panther, with its central position allowing it to move to meet threats that develop as required.

The British force.

Hobart's Funnies which will hopefully make light work of the defences.

The main armoured force of Churchills with Typhoon air support.

Three reinforced Companies, with assault pioneers attached.

The British heavy weapons in support including a WASP carrier.

So there we have it. The game is all set-up and ready to go, to be played hopefully later on today. It's been a long time since I played an attack on such a fortified position, so I'm looking forward to seeing how it all plays out.

Alongside this the painting for the CWD is nearly complete. I need to finish a unit of cavalry, one of artillery and a couple of command stands and then that's it. If I have time a few civilians would be nice but I'll worry about that if and when time permits.

Thanks for reading and leaving a comment too.

TTFN.