As part of learning to play Startline and playtesting at the same time, I set up a simple game located in Russia during the opening stages of Operation Barbarossa. After the previous game's mix of bocage and open fields, this time I wanted a pretty open board to see how both infantry and tank faired in the wide open terrain.
Using the BKCII scenarios as a guide, I have the Attackers about 50% more points than the Defenders. The Latter did have the advantage of one platoon dug-in as well as some houses. To keep things simple, I left out artillery and air support, to focus on the core mechanics.
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| An overview of the board with the Germans nearest the camera. |
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| Russian infantry defend the farmhouse and orchard. |
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| Dug-in infantry supported by a T-35 defend in front of the village. |
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| T-28's extend protection out towards the right flank. |
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| Two German platoons supported by light tanks. |
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| Pz I' & II's. |
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| A mortar and IG deployed on the hill to support the attack. |
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| Pz III's and a single Pz IV with infantry and Pak35/36 ATG support. |
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| The end of Turn 1. The Germans made a steady advance but came under immediate fire from the Russian tanks. |
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| The T-35 makes its first kill. |
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| A T-28 brews up a Pz III. |
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| The end of Turn 2. The German right flank advances towards the village whilst both sides tanks inflict losses upon one another. |
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| German light tanks close in on the farm, supported by infantry. |
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| Another Pz II succumbs to the T-35. |
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| The Pak 35/36 deploys ready to shoot at the T-35 as the infantry advance into the wood. |
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| The Pz III's knock out a T-28 but the Pz IV is knocked out too as it advances forward. |
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| The T-28's are making light work of the Panzers. |
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| The end of Turn 3. The Germans knock out the remaining Russian tanks and clear the farm of its infantry. |
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| Deadly MG and cannon fire make light work of defeating the Russian infantry in the farmhouse. |
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| The remnants of the Russian platoon pass their morale test but are down to one squad now. |
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| Burning tanks litter the battlefield. |
End of the Game
The Russians having lost all of their AT capability, I called the game at this point. As this was a test game, it had achieved its aims, so I was happy with that.
Post Game Thoughts
Well that was quick, brutal and bloody, compared to the BKCII games I'm used too! But still a great learning game and I know I made mistakes (don't play when your tired!), but this helps when reading the rules again post match to help clarify those queries you have during the game. I've made a few notes that I will pass onto Keith for his thoughts and feedback.
I've left the board set up and might give it a replay in light of this game or have a bit of a compare and contrast by playing it using BKCII. I will see how I feel as I have another busy week ahead on the parent/carer front.
In Other News
My painting mojo has been severely lacking, in large part due to the week being busy on the parent/carer front, leaving me emotionally and mental exhausted. Also I have not heard back from my gaming chum re: the CWD, so am not sure if he can make it. At least I have some back up plans I can put in place, so not all bad.
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the mini-battle report and as always it would be lovely to have a comment or two.
TTFN.
Love the red flags! My Soviets have banners waving too. Gamewise: "Quick, brutal and bloody" is good - make decisions, execute them, get results, new turn, new situation, new decisions ... that's how it should be, with minimum time and minimum brain pain to resolve stuff.
ReplyDeleteThanks Chris! Banner wielding troops with a Commissar and megaphone scream 1941 to me. Having a QB&B game was just right to trial the rules and then reset and repeat as it were.
DeleteEnjoyed, read it twice 🙂 and of course it has my fave t-35!
ReplyDeleteThanks Norm! The T-35 is a beast, even in 10mm, especially when you put an early mark Pz I or L3/35 next to it. I have a Char 2C in the lead mountain somewhere that could probably give it a run for its money on the size front...
DeleteLooked fun, and quite realistic, Steve. In 1941, the Soviets had few successes, even though they already had plenty of T34's, which were far superior to any current German tank...like the British and French before them, they squandered technical and numerical superiority with crap tactics!
ReplyDeleteCertainly very realistic Keith and as the Pz's brewed up, it reminded me of photos from the Polish campaign with them knocked out close together by the odd ATG. The few times the Russians did put up a good show and even counter-attacked, the Germans really struggled.
DeleteGreat looking report sir!
ReplyDeleteThanks Michal!
DeleteI enjoyed your short, sharp action, Steve. Beautiful table as always and being able to leave a game set up for a refight is another benefit to having a dedicated gaming space. I am interested in reading of your thoughts on Keith's rules vs your favorite BKCII.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you enjoyed the report Jon, ditto the look of the table:)! Being able to leave things set up is a real luxury, which I'm still getting used to. The two games certainly feel different, with Startline giving that 1-1 feel, with units or tanks being KO'd quickly, or certainly with the dice rolls I've been making of late they are. BKCII in contrast does have that bigger picture feel, with units generally slowing attriting. Still early days and lots of learn and feedback to Keith, but all good fun.
DeleteNice-looking game, interesting report. The exchange of tank fire seemed quite quick, bloody and decisive and the infantry were made short work of; were these the effects hoped for/expected?
ReplyDeleteThanks John! In previous games (Poland 1939) my dice rolls have been below average, so things took some time to KO etc. In this game they were above average (8+ on 2D6) so pretty much every hit caused a KO. I sort of expected this for the AFVs given their limited armour thickness, but not sure on the infantry front, as I've had little exposure to lots of infantry action. IIRC on 'criticism' of the original WRG rules were that the infantry had little to do and the tanks won the game, sort of along the lines of the FoW games I played years ago. Still early days but aim to try some more infantry heavy actions to give these chaps a good run out.
DeleteWith the original WRG rules, the key interlocking infantry issues were very slow movement and practical dismounted invisibility, so it pretty much all depended on the scenario set-up. Given any kind of anti-tank capability and relatively thin armour, they are pretty effective if they are already in position (I also think that the infantry should be able to re-shuffle their AT weapons around continguous elements of the platoon, so the attacking armour can't find the undefended infantry elements by telepathy; I believe others played it this way too).
DeleteI never played those rules (fortunately) but have been picking up snippets of info from keith and others on how they played, so your 'info' is very welcome:).
DeleteToys 👏👏 Terrain 👏👏. Nice game Steve ⚔️⚔️.
ReplyDeleteThat action was rather short, but by no means sweet. Both sides suffered casualties with the Germans being fortunate in that the enemy lost their big tanks while they retained some of their own, somewhat lighter, armoured force.
Of course, I suspect the Soviet infantry would almost certainly have fought on - Stalin was not forgiving of failure, let alone retreat. It certainly read as an enjoyable, exciting game (if we ignore the death and destruction aspect) and hopefully you’ve learned from it. I look forward to reading more.
Cheers,
Geoff
Thanks Geoff! The Russian tanks did some sterling work, but numbers told in the end. How many more victories like this might the Germans be able to afford? At this early stage the Russian response seems to have been varied, with some units fleeing early, others holding out to the end and some even going on the counter-attack. So you could roll dice to see how they might react once they have taken casualties, ie fight to the last or leg it!
DeleteWith many more victories like this.....Nice that you can leave it up and have a go again.
ReplyDeleteIndeed Chris and shades of 'victoring themselves to death' sprang to mind as the game progressed!
DeleteTile testing often results in short and brutal as the calibration process happens. 😀
ReplyDeleteBeign a short, sharp action certainly helped keep things fresh in my mind to feed back to Keith. Another game in the offing soon...
DeleteGreat looking game that motored along at a pace, always nice to see T35s and T28s!
ReplyDeleteBest Iain caveadsum1471
Thanks Iain and always get to get these big tanks out onto the table:).
DeleteLooked like an interesting little battle Steve and hopefully it gave you some distraction from your real world responsibilities. I find painting really is my distraction and relaxation even when things get too busy
ReplyDeleteIt was a fun game and certainly a nice break from parent carer duties. After running on fumes last week, back to normal now and enjoying painting and even a bike ride today, just managing to dodge the rain!
DeleteInteresting AAR Steve. Great to have the rules tested in another period. It was worth working out those T-35 stats!
ReplyDeleteThanks Keith and a very different game from the Normandy one. Definitely worth doing those T-35 stats!
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