Poland 1939 - The FoW 'Bypass' Scenario

Keith invited Paul and I over to his place to give the latest version of his 'Startline' rules a run out, using the 'Bypass' sceanrio from the Flames of War Missions Pack. Hard to say know to such a game with good friends and good company. So after the usual catch up chat and some VERY nice cakes brought by Paul, we adjourned to the games room to cross swords. After a dice roll to see who would get which side, Paul ended up with the Germans and myself the Poles.

The Scenario

Broadly speaking the Poles have a force defending an objective (a village in this case), but there is another objective towards the far end of the table, away from the German starting edge, on a bridge over a stream. The Poles have some reinforcements available, but you don't know exactly when they will arrive or where on the table, so a nice bit of uncertainty there for both sides.

The Game

We both set up with a screen hiding our deployments, which worked a treat, as you really had to consider all option as the defender as to how and where the Germans might attack. I opted for two lines of dug-in troops, one Platoon up and one behind and to the right, to cover the objective and any flank attack.

Paul chose to attack the village with his Infantry and Light Tank Platoon, sending his Heavy Tank Platoon and Kradschutzen Platoon away on his left flank to try and race to seize the objective on the bridge.

If the Germans were in control of any objective at the end of Turn 6, then they would win the game.

No notes were taken during the game, as we were simply concentrating on the game, but hopefully the following photos will give you an idea of how the action unfolded.

Keith on the left consulting the rules, Paul on the right pondering his next move. The Poles are dug-in around the village, which can be seen middle left of the table. The Heavy Tank Platoon and Kradschutzen Platoon can be seen top right.

The Polish defence in depth.

The other objective.

Kradschutzen and Armoured Cars tasked with seizing the bridge.

The Panzer IV's move to the flank screened by the hill.

The Germans begin to attack the first Polish defensive line in front of the village.

A fine view as the Germans begin to advance.

The Germans begin to over run the Polish defences.

But luckily for the Poles there FAO calls in some devastating fire on the truck mounted Infantry, effectively knocking them out of the game.

The Panzer IV's are forced to divert their effort to attack the Polish flank.

The armoured cars continue their advance. The 6 wheeled armoured car is so evocative of the early campaigns.

The Kradschutzen are advancing rather lethargically. Paul was incredibly unlucky with his die rolls, rolling a '1' three times in five Turns, meaning they only moved at half-speed.

The Polish strategic reserve arrives in the form of Renault R-35 tanks, veritable 'Tiger II's' when viewed from a Panzer I.

More Polish reserves arrive, with perfect positioning, allowing them to effectively seize the objective. I think this was on Turn 3.

The Germans still hope to be able to seize the bridge, but is it a bridge too far?

The Heavy Tank Platoon in line astern formation.

The Germans have broken into the Polish defences, but they still haven't cleared the first lines yet.

With the bridge no longer an option as the Polish Infantry are in complete control, the Germans divert this planned attack to the Polish flank.

The tanks exchange fire with each other down the street.

The Polish first line has been completely over run.

Polish Artillery arrive to secure the approaches to the bridge.

The Kradschutzen are still unable to enter the fray. They do look good though.

The Polish Artillery deploys.

With the bridge secured, the Poles take up defensive position on both sides of the stream.

The Germans try to break into the Polish postion on their right flank.

The Renault R-35 tanks hold position, exchanging fire with the German tanks.

As smoke screens the Germans, some Polish Tankettes suddenly burst through the smoke and into the German rear.

The Germans have only been able to breach the first line of defence.

The still are a long way off getting into the Polish flank.

Post Game Thoughts

A great days gaming and in the end a pretty comprehensive win for the Poles. As always a few thoughts post-match etc:

• If I was going to play the Germans, I would have gone with the same plan as Paul did. Keith on the other hand thought the best option would be to just steam roller the Polish defences with a full on head on attack. These divergent views might be down to Paul and I playing a lot of BKCII, with screening the village and a laft flank drive making the most sense, with Keith of course being much more au fait with the rules and what might work better with them. 
• Paul not being able to get his Kradschutzen going from the off meant that quite early on and certainly by the end of Turn 3, we agreed that the bridge objective was simply too far away, especially given the Polish Infantry had arrived, which meant it would be contested and take a long time to seize.
• The Polish FAO really hampered the frontal assault when he managed to call in his Artillery and KO a whole German Platoon, which really helped slow down the German attack before it got going.
• The rules worked well and Keith's tweaks since I last played certainly made for a much smoother and fluid game. It helped of course that Paul and I just had to concentrate on what we wanted our troops to do, whilst Keith double-checked things in the rules. most of the dice rolls we got the hang off, so play was much quicker than before.
• Neither side managed to call in any off table Air Support, which was a shame.
• As Keith pointed out, for the first time neither side managed to KO a tank, despite lots of hits, but failing those all important penetration rolls.
• The Poles certainly got lucky with the early arrival of their reinforcement and espcially when the Infantry arrived at the bridge, which pretty much sealed the win for them.
• As always it's great to play with early War kit as Infantry really do have an important role to play compared to Late War games, when they can seem to be bit players in the action.
• The scenario was a good one and one that I can see working well for BKCII and even for some BPII games. I will certainly be perusing the scenarios at my leisure and probably printing them off too for future use.

What Next?

I doubt much in the next week or so as it's busy on the home front then I'll be travelling for Father's Day, but you never know.

As always thanks for reading and any comments greatly appreciated!

TTFN.

Brenda From Bristol! - An AVBCW AAR

With Blogger really, really playing Silly Buggers at present, this post which had appeared, seems to have disappeared into the depths of the Internet, or wherever none 28mm Warlord Games, Bolt Action, Chain of Command et al posts go to wither on the vine. I know mine is not the only Blog to be affected, but it is a tad annoying (massive British understatement) to say the least. So nothing has changed in terms of content, but this 'update' might allow it to see the light of day once again...

With the distinctly Autumnal weather still prevalent here, it was yet another day when going outside to do stuff wasn't very appealing to say the least. Instead I decided to set up a simple BKCII game, as it's been ages since I played anything with these, one of my favourite rulesets. I've been mulling over an AVBCW campaign since last year at least, so took the opportunity to get some of these neglected forces onto the table.

The 'Fluff'

Local gossip has reported a broken down lorry at the hamlet of Bramley End, which is carrying the well known siege gun, 'Brenda'. Not sure on its exact location, the BUF and the Auxiliary Police Force have sent out some scouting forces to try and locate 'Brenda'.

So nothing fancy, but nice and simple background story for a quick game to get back into the swing of BKCII. Likewise, the forces chosen and the table set up was really just what I fancied having a play with and going for a visual look that I enjoyed.

The Table

You can see the set up below, all laid out on my 2' x 2' table, which gave me loads of room to move around whilst playing the game.

An overview of the table, with the BUF coming on from the left, the Police from the right.

'Brenda' on the broken down truck. I do have something more meaty in terms of engine and carriage to move her about the table during games, but not painted yet.

Bramley End and Frank the Farmer about to get a bit of a surprise.

The bridge leading to the hamlet.

The local stream that counts as fordable for infantry only.

The telephone box for those emergencies which might occur...

A view from another road into Bramley End.

The geese about to raise the alarm on the local allotment.

The Forces

Both sides had mirror forces, purely for ease of set up for me.

The Auxiliary Police Force.

The British Union of Fascists.

The Game

Captioned photos should give an idea of how the game played out.

The end of Turn 1. The BUF got the jump on the Police, but moved carefully towards Bramley End, not knowing what they might face. The Police did likewise but as they spotted the BUF, they failed to get any shots off.

The BUF armoured car takes post on the bridge.

The 'Beast of Bodmin' trundles forward towards the churchyard.

The Police's Char St-Chamond tank takes up position covering the junction at Bramley End.

More Police units moved into the outskirts of Bramley End.

The end of Turn 2. Both sides engage each other, with the Char St-Chamond and the BUF Armoured Car as both suppressed, as are some Infantry units, but the BUF lose an Infantry and MG unit to combined fire.

The BUF move up to the stream edge.

The Police come under sustained and effective fire from the BUF.

The BUF armoured car tried to retreat but was suppressed leaving it rather exposed on the bridge.

The BUF Infantry move towards the churchyard to support the 'Beast of Bodmin'.

The end of Turn 3. The BUF get an early advantage, KO'ing a Police Infantry and MG unit, but the tables soon turn, with the BUF losing the 'Beat of Bodmin' and their Armoured Car.

Having made it safely off the bridge, the BUF armoured car is soon brewed up by the Char St-Chamond.

The BUF advance into the churchyard...

... but see the 'Beast of Bodmin' brew up next to them.

The Char St-Chamond is not in too healthy a state though.

The end of Turn 4. The BUF are somewhat on the back foot, as they are unable to KO the Char St-Chamond with their ATR fire, but they do force the Police Armoured Car back, but are taking more losses in their Infantry, which they can ill afford.

All that remains of one BUF Infantry Company.

The BUF ATR armed Platoon are close to being KO'd, but are still a threat to the Police AFV's.

Both sides are in the environs of Bramley End.

The Police try to flank the BUF.

End of the Game

At the start of Turn 5, a Blunder leads to the BUF ATR armed Platoon in the churchyard taking hits that lead to it being KO'd. This takes the BUF over the breakpoint, and they pass the test, but discretion is the better part of valour and decide to sede the field of Mars to the Police.

The Police consolidate the positions as the BUF withdraw.

The Police standard bearers indulge in some Rythmic Gymnastics flag routines;)!

BT 'phone home. The Police report their success to their HQ.

Frank the Farmer heads off to find his traction engine so that he can shift 'Brenda' to a place of safety.

The Butcher's Bill

In the end it looked more one-sided than it was, as several of the Police units were close to being KO'd.

The Police on the right, the BUF on the left.

Post Game Thoughts

Well that was fun and great to get the AVBCW toys out for a game and to be playing BKCII again after so long. Some random musings:

• Yet again the 2' x 2' table produced a great game that still gave plenty of action and decisions to be made. It certainly didn't feel like I was playing on such a 'small' board.
• The KISS approach to force selection made things easy for me, having not played the rules for many a month. Again not over complicating things still made for a nice and challenging game.
• The 12-15 units per side showed that no matter the period, this somehow hits a sweet spot for a game, especially a solo one.
• I reckon the actual game itself took just over an hour to play, but with the note taking and photos, more like just over two hours.
• I do need to make a generic ABVCW roster, so I'm not constantly chopping and changing during a game. Afterall most of the stats are the same for each side, with just the AFV's and Aircraft being different.
• This has moved up the desire to play a narrative AVBCW campaign, but more on that in another post. Some painting needs to be completed first...

What Next?

Well tomorrow I'm off to my good friend Keith Flint's place for another game using his Startline rules, so expect a sort of AAR or photo dump in due course. After that I'm not sure as I've got a busy week and then it's Father's Day weekend in just over a week. As always plenty of ideas but will wait and see how the days pan out, so nothing planned.

As always many thanks for reading and any comments greatly appreciated!

TTFN.