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.

"Going Up The Blue" Reading

After my last game, giving the Western Desert theatre a sort of trial run out, it became rather obvious to myself of how little I actually know about how the battles were fought. This is in complete contrast to North West Europe, Italy and the Eastern Front, where I feel I'm pretty comfortable wargaming these periods, given the reading I've done over many a year. Even the Far East and the Pacific War come ahead of the Western Desert.

Having seen the 'Tank Battles in Miniature' books at the recent CWD, I thought they might be a good place to start. Normally a lot of sellers, especially at shows, have them for sale at rather eye watering prices. For once I managed to find a couple of them for very reasonable prices and so, with my birthday coming up, I decided to treat myself.

This really is a gem of a book and a perfect introduction to the period, covering aspects such as tactics, terrain, navigation, visibility and communication, plus the usual vehicle stats and some rules suggestions. All perfect information to build on some ideas I've had on how to tweak BKCII to make the battles more interesting. I'm looking forward to giving it a good read, make some notes and give the ideas a run out.

I've enjoyed previous books by Robert Forczyk, but I had not heard of this one, probably because I wasn't actively looking at gaming the Western Desert. So thanks to Neil Patterson for the 'heads up' on this:).

Quite a tome of a book, but at a first glance, it's got plenty of information in an easily accessible format, especially with regards to the infantry's part in the battles, which is rather neglected in Featherstone's book. Whilst having plenty of tanks on the table is fun, I would want to include the 'all arms' aspects of the battles, as that is much more interesting.

This was bought as a treat for that pure nostalgia hit! I'm pretty sure we used to use these rules at one point, as the infantry movement section rank many bells, or maybe it was the same in the Airfix WWII rules, given that it's by the same author.

Reading the book made me realise how useful and important these were, as they are a great 'one stop shop' for the gamer, when books back then were rather expensive in real terms and there weren't that many good books on WWII compared to today. The rules however are way too detailed and complex for today's tastes I would venture, but interesting to look back at how games were played back then. Thankfully things have moved on leaps and bounds, but each to their own.

What Next?

Aside from some more trial Western Desert games, I've dug out my notes on the Canadians in Normandy campaign to try and get the next battle in, as it's been far too long. I had planned on painting up a load of kit for both sides, but that is looking unlikely for a while. Ditto on the terrain front. So needs must and my Fallschirmjager will have to stand in as and when required. Oh the shame of it;)!

In a week of so's time, a bunch of us are meeting up for a trial game of Keith Flint's 'Startline' rules, based upon some old WRG rules covering 1925-1950. I believe the setting will be the Ruhr pocket in 1945, so this will be somewhat different to my normal games for sure. Photos and a sort of AAR to follow in due course.

It would be nice to get some painting in, but I'm not going to sweat over it if it doesn't happen, especially as the next few weeks are rather busy on many fronts. I might get lucky, you never know...

Thanks for reading and as always, any comments greatly appreciated!

TTFN.

The Western Desert 1940

As is often the case, my mind went a wandering after the recent CWD show, this time in the direction of the Western Desert, a period we used to enjoy and game as kids. This was partly down to the Airfix models available and the sparse nature of the terrain, which meant we could play on pretty much any surface and say it was like the desert. Happy days and simpler gaming!

So to scratch that itch I dug out some books for some reading to see what I might be able to achieve and more particulary, want to game. These can be seen below.

Classic Airfix magazine guides coupled with a mix of Osprey books. The Paddy Griffith 'WWII Desert Tactics' was really useful to bring my sort of up to speed.

Two excellent memoires-cum-histories, both picked up at a local 2nd hand book shop. Keith Douglas' book is a bit late for my period, but his observations are still relevant. The LRDG book is a game and signed May '45. Having flown over the Sahara a few times, the mix of terrain that can be seen and the stark and raw beauty of the place appeals to me no end. 

Try Before You Buy

Far too often have I jumped in head first to a period, only to find it doesn't grab me as I thought it would, or the rules were rubbish etc. So for once trying to be sensible (yeh, right I know!) I set up a simple game using the appropriate figures and vehicles, but in completely the wrong camo schemes and setting. This was just to see how I found gaming in the wide open space that some of the Western Desert affords the gamer.

The British force, a complete pot pourri of AFVs.

Ditto the Italians.

The Scenario

Nothing fancy at all, just a line 'em up and at 'em one, and a bit of terrain to break up lines-of-sight.

The End of Turn 1. The British on the right, the Italians on the left. Both sides had a real mix of moves, rather nicely replicating the poor C&C at this point of the campaign.

British Infantry and Infantry tanks in the centre, with AC's and Cruiser tanks on the flanks.

A similar set up for the Italians.

The end of Turn 2. The British begin to hit the Italians, forcing them to deploy their Infantry and ATG's in their centre.

The Italians forced to deploy.

The end of Turn 3. The Italian left flank has lost its L60 Light Tanks, as both sides trade long range shots.

Like ships in the night.

The end of Turn 4. The British fail ALL their command rolls, allowing the Italians some breathing space.

The Italian L3/35 tankettes make the most of the British indecision and close in on their gun line. The Infantry are no where to be seen to provide close in support!

The end of Turn 5. The British very much have the upper hand now.

Cruisers and Infantry Tanks converge against the Italian right flank.

The end of Turn 6. The Italian's have lost too much kit and can no longer contest the British advance.

The Rolls Royce Armoured Cars have arrived to roll up the Italian left flank.

Post Game Thoughts

A very quick and simple game that gave me plenty of food for thought, which was exactly what I wanted. I didn't make any notes, but here are a few observations in no particular order:

• Having wide open space seemed really strange, as I'm so used to a NWE type setting for all of my games, with hedges, fences etc to help break up LoS across the table.
• Early War tanks are great, but their limited shooting ability and armour saves took a bit of getting used to. Certainly different tactics are required here, which is to be expected. Having flicked through Griffith's book, the British certainly took time to appreciate this, the Germans much less so.
• The Italian's kit is pretty poor, even compared to the shocking British tanks, but both have a unique appeal to me, which more than makes up for this.
• Normally I up the CV's of both sides to give a speedier game when playing in NWE or Italy, but here I left them 'as is' from the rulebook, and it just felt right, nicely reflecting the huge C&C issues face by all sides, apart from the Germans who were much better prepared with their radios etc.
• I feel you certainly need a few low hills to break up the table visually but also for Los etc. Ditto maybe some Wadis, small villages etc.
• Like many periods, this would certainly work much better as a campaign, with the side in control of the battlefield able to recover more tank losses than the other side, as happened quite often with the Germans. 
• I'd like to run another game like this, but with a bit more thought and against the Germans, just to see how much of a contrast this would make. 
• I'm very much leaning towards 1940-'41, maybe early 1942, as this period of the campaign currently appeals to me more.
• Luckily if I do venture down this route, I have pretty much everything I need for the Germans and British in terms of Infantry in bags, and AFV's for the Germans. The Italians I would start from scratch, ditto with the British AFV's.

What Next?

Luckily we are away for a mid-week break from tomorrow, so this will give me a physical and mental break from my thoughts on this, although I will undoubtedly take some reading material with me. Probably some writing material too, to jot down thoughts etc.

Thanks for reading and as always, any comments greatly appreciated!

TTFN.