OHW Scenario 18: Counter-Attack

Life and the recent heatwaves in the UK has meant that my gaming activity has been non-existant for nearly a month now. I have tried to get onto part 2 of my Canadians in Normandy campaign, but the heat in the main has meant that this has not happened. Not only has it been too hot to game, but I would like to get a few more German units finished in an ideal World. With another heat wave predicted towards the end of this week, that might take some time.

So instead I decided on the spur of the moment to look at the next OHW Scenario, using my Commission Figurines forces, and the ever excellent 'Honours of War' rules, given that they are now 10 years old! With another Cotswold Wargames Day coming up in October, it seemed a good opportunity too to give these a whirl and come up with something for the day.

Scenario

The scenario itself is based upon The Battle of Langensalza, 1866, and in true OHW Scenarios tradition, has been heavily simplified, but the essence remains the same. 

The Blue Force has been ordered to seize a bridge, that is lightly defended by the Red Force. However a lack of reconnaissance by Blue has not revealed fords either side of the bridge, nor that a substantial Red Force is nearby. This Red Force is preparing to mount a counter-attack to seize both the bridge and the town.

OOB Austrian (Red)

1 x Light Infantry Brigade (2 x Light Infantry)

1 x Infantry Brigade (4 x Line Infantry, 1 x Medium Artillery)

1 x Artillery Brigade (2 x Medium Artillery)

1 x Cavalry Brigade (2 x Cavalry Regiments)

OOB Prussian (Blue)

1 x Infantry Brigade (3 x Line Infantry, 1 x Medium Artillery)

1 x Infantry Brigade (3 x Line Infantry, 1 x Medium Artillery)

1 x Cavalry Brigade (2 x Cavalry Regiments)

Set Up

With both sides set up, dice were rolled to see what quality the Commanders were, with Blue having a Dithering Cavalry and Infantry Commander, whilst Red had a Dashing Infantry Commander. Not an ideal start for Blue!

An overview of the battlefield. Blue start on the left hand table edge, with Red only having the light screening force by the bridge.

The Red Light Infantry Battalion.

The Red counter-attack force, which would arrive from Turn 3 on a successful command roll.

The Blue right flank, with the C-in-C having to stay with the Dithering Commander to try and guarantee they get moving.

The Blue centre.

The Blue left flank, with the Cavalry Brigade and its Dithering commander. Not expecting to see action until the bridge is taken, this should not be a problem...

The Game

As always, the annotated photos should give a flavour of how the game played out, so without further ado.

The Blue right flank and centre got off to a flyer, with Admirable moves by both Brigades. However the Cavalry Brigade rolled Poor and so carried on grazing. The Red Light Infantry Brigade moved back slightly, trading space for time.

The Blue centre advances, hoping soon to shake out into Line to bring their numbers to bear.

A gratuitous shot!

The end of Turn 2. Unconcerned as firing breaks out by the bridge, the Cavalry Brigade carry on grazing quite happily! Both sides open fire, inflicting some hits, but not causing any problems just yet.

The Blue Line Infantry begin to deploy, to try and force the Red Light Infantry back from the bridge. A bit of a traffic jam begins to develop.

An acoustic shadow is possibly causing this sang froid from the Blue Cavalry Brigade?

The action suddenly changes character as the Red counter-attack force suddenly appears, causing the Blue Force a bit of a shock, with only the Centre able to react (Feeble and Poor for the other Brigades!).

The Red Cavalry Brigade begins to cross the ford.

The Blue right flank refuses its flank just in case.

The Red Light Infantry Brigade by the bridge has pulled back out of range of everything other than the artillery.

The main Red counter-attack  force appears on their right flank, ready to try and cross the ford before Blue can react.

The end of Turn 4. Finally the Blue Cavalry Brigade mount up and being the long traverse across their rear to try and counter the threat from the Red Cavalry Brigade. Blue can only react to Reds moves, with both sides causing units to break; Light Infantry for Red and Line Infantry for Blue.

The Red Cavalry Brigade are nearly across the ford.

The action is all centred on the bridge at present.

The first Red loss.

And the first Blue.

The Blue Cavalry Brigade begin to trot off as the Blue Line Infantry in the centre try to move to their left to seal off any chance of Red crossing at the ford.

The end of Turn 5. Blue continue to react to the threat to their flanks from Red, but Red begin to gain the upper hand, crossing the ford on the right flank and KO'ing another Blue Line Infantry unit.

The Red Cavalry Brigade now have the opportunity to get into the rear area of the Blue Force. Screened by the hill Blue is not truly aware of where they are.

The Red Light Infantry Brigade has pulled back from the bridge, leaving the Blue right flank with no targets, except for their Artillery.

More haste would not go amiss for the Blue Cavalry Brigade!

As Red cross the ford in numbers, Blue suffers the loss of a crucial Line Infantry unit, leaving them very short on numbers.

Both sides Artillery tries to gain the upper hand, with the Red Grand Battery very much in the ascendence at the moment.

The end of Turn 6. With Blue's flanks under pressure, they have no choice but to begin to try an retire towards the town. In the process they lose an Artillery unit and have a Line Infantry unit forced back into the town to reform. It's looking grim for Blue...

The Red Cavalry Brigade ready to make their presence felt.

The Blue right flank begins to try and fall back whilst under fire, with their Cavalry Brigade trying to cover the withdrawal. 

Blue's left flank has completely gone.

Blue Line Infantry forced to retreat to the town to try and Reform.

The loss of an Artillery unit is a bitter blow to Blue.

The end of Turn 7. The Blue Cavalry Brigade fails to move, thereby blocking the retreat for the Blue Line Infantry! Red excerts maximum pressure, KO'ing another Blue Line Infantry unit, as well as forcing an Artillery unit to retreat to Reform. The Blue Line Infantry in the town have to retreat again as they cannot reform due to the Red Line Infantry being too close. 

A Mexican stand off, as the Red Cavalry Brigade awaits the right moment to charge.

The Blue defensive pocket begins to collapse as organised resistance is all but over.

Massed Red Artillery sees the demise of a Blue Line Infantry units as well as the remiaing Artillery forced back into town to try and Reform.

A view from the Red right flank.

And a view from the centre.

End of Game

At this point the Blue Force had reached their breakpoint and all chance of organised resistance was over, so they asked for the 'Honours of War', which Red graciously granted.

Post Game Thoughts

Well not only was it great to get a game in after nearly a month, but the scenario proved to be a bit of a cracker, and as always, the 'Honours of War' rules more than delivered. Happy Days! So as always, a few post game thoughts:

• Normally I use the Austrian list for my games, giving nice generic forces and not too powerful either. Using the post-1760 Prussian list worked well and gave just enough difference, but without making one side too strong or weak. This is something I will likely do for future games.
• Sometimes the OHW scenarios don't translate to other rulesets very well, but this one did. Force wise I simply used those from the 'The Clash at Kutzdorf' scenario in the rulebook, as they just looked fun to play and felt a good fit for the scenario.
• The Red Grand Battery proved to be very effective, especially with the Austrian Artillery rated as Superior in the rules. This was just enough to get that extra hit to KO a couple of units, combined with some supporting fire.
• The Blue Force didn't get any luck with their Brigade Commanders abilities, with having two rated as Dithering, which did limit their options at several crucial points in the game. This also meant the the C-in-C was stuck with the right flank, when he could have done with being able to move to those areas most in need. Some players might not like this variance in their games, but for the solo player, I find it really useful and also great fun.
• Being able to set up a game and play it on a 3' x 2' table is so good, as not only is it quick to do, but it naturally takes up less room, is kinder on the back as well! Yet to my eyes, it still had the look and feel of a 'big game'.

What Next?

As mentioned earlier, the weather is looking like it might be too hot once gain for any painting, as I hope to finish some ATG's in advance of the next scenario for the Normandy campaign. So in its place the next OHW scenario looks quite fun, so that will most likely get an airing this week.

As always, thanks for getting this far and any comments are always greatly appreciated:)!

TTFN.

D-Day 6th June - Juno Beach - The Landings

So having set the scene as it were last post, time to crack on with the action. First some photos of the table, to give a sense of it's place in relation to the other beaches etc.

Love Beach. Mike Green Beach is at the top of the table, with Vaux off table top right. La Riviere and Gold Beach are off the bottom of the table.

Le Buisson is the hamlet top centre and the objective for the Canadians, as just past it is the 'Yew' first objective line.

WN33a surrounded by wire and mines. I didn't have enough wire, so used some tank traps in lieu of these. Oh the shame😉!

The view along the beach, covered by the Pak 40 in the bunker.

The MG Tobruk and Infantry in a trench.

The Panzerturm and HQ, with Infantry in Le Buisson.

MG, FAO and 81mm Mortar positions.

The view of the beach, which is eerily quiet...

The Canadians all ready to go.

The Action

As always, annotated photos will hopefully give you an idea of how things unfolded.

H-Hour -1. The pre-invasion barrage opened up, with the Landing Craft Rocket saturating the T-junction defences, causing immense damage. HMS Venus targeted WN33a, but failed to knock it out, as the concrete was too tough. 13th Field Regiment's Priest opened up from their Landing Craft, targeting the T-junction also. The weight of fire did not knock out any positions, but did cause them to be temporarily suppressed, which was the main aim for when the troops began to land.

The way off the beach looks open, as the wire and mines have been severely damaged, but are still a threat, albeit less than before.

The end of Turn 1: H-Hour. The first wave landed successfully, with the Trois-Rivieres Dragoons Shermans pushing forward, but the Voltigeurs de Quebec Infantry stalled on the beach and failed to move forward, possibly as a result of failing to get through to the St Hyacinthe Priests assigned to them. As the Germans recovered their senses, the Mortar opened up on the Infantry, but luckily the German FAO was off the mark with his Artillery, which fell amongst the Shermans, causing no damage. The Panzerturm opened up hitting a Sherman, but they returned fire, quickly knocking it out.

The Infantry stall and come under accurate Mortar fire.

The Trois-Rivieres Dragoons make light work of the Panzerturm.

The knocked out Panzerturm.

The end of Turn 2. The second wave arrives, but 'Hobart's Funnies' are late, but look set to land next Turn. As the Infantry land, they manage to suppress to Mortar as they call in support from the St Hyacinthe Priests. Likewise the Priests provide support, managing to suppress the MG Tobruk and cause the Infantry in the trench to break and run. The Trois-Rivieres Dragoons come under fire from WN33a, which manages to suppress the Sherman, who in return pour fire into the Bunker, managing to suppress it before it can cause more damage.

The Shermans of the Trois-Rivieres Dragoons engage WN33a.

The Infantry still fail to move forward.

The second wave infantry make slow progress up the beach.

The German Infantry breaks under the weight of fire.

The end of Turn 3. The thrid wave arrives and thankfully the Mortar is once again suppressed by fire from the St Hyacinthe Priests. 'Hobart's Funnies' arrive and push forward, closely followed by a Company of the Voltigeurs de Quebec, who assault WN33a and knock it out, a major blow for the Germans. The Trois-Rivieres Dragoons, seeing the threat from the Bunker neutralised, move carefully through the damaged minefield to began to try and break out from the beach head. The Germans fail to have access to their 105mm Artillery, but the MG Tobruk manages to suppress an Infantry platoon.

WN33a is knocked out in close assault by the Voltigeurs de Quebec.

'Hobart's Funnies' move forward, ready to try and clear the minefield.

The Trois-Rivieres Dragoons begin to push forward and off the beach.

The third wave Infantry ready to follow on.

On the left the Infantry are struggling to make headway.

The end of Turn 4. The minefield by WN33a is cleared and 'Hobart's Funnies' advance throught it, whilst the Trois-Rivieres Dragoons overrun the MG Tobruk and close in on Le Buisson. The German Mortar and MG continues to inflict damages on the Voltigeurs de Quebec, but the former is finally knocked out and the latter suppressed. The Germans manage to access their 105mm Artillery, which causes some casualties to the Infantry.

The way through the minefiled is clear.

The Infantry reform in the shelter of WN33a.

The demise of the MG Tobruk.

The Shermans close in on Le Buisson.

The dreaded Mortar is finally knocked out.

The Infantry stalled by accurate Mortar and Artillery fire.

The end of Turn 5. The Naval FAO manages to contact HMS Fury, which bombards Le Buisson and suppresses the Infantry unit in there. The St Hyacinthe Priests provide sterling support once again, supressing the remaining German MG. The Trois-Rivieres Dragoons overrun the German HQ, who flees off table, as well as closing in on Le Buisson, ably supported by 'Hobart's Funnies'. The Germans see that the writing is on the wall and surrender at once, as any further resistance is futile.

The Infantry finally begin to clear the beach.

The AFV's begin to envelope Le Buisson.

The German HQ is overrun.

The last Germans are suppressed and face the might of a Churchill Crocodile.

Infantry ove up towards Le Buisson, passing through the rocket damaged minefield.

On the left, the Infantry finally make it to the barbed wire.

A view from the German position in Le Buisson.

End of the Game

In the end a much quicker victory for the Canadians than I had expected. After a slow start and some stop start firing from the Germans, suddenly the Canadians were at Le Buisson and the game was all over bar the shouting. If I had played the normal Breakpoint rules for the Germans, then maybe by Turn 3 it would have required Break Tests, but that didn't feel right to me. In campaign terms the Canadians are off Love Beach more quickly than planned,  and have secured their 'Yew' objective line, so have a slight edge on the Germans in the next game, who will not have had as much time to respond to the landings.

Canadian Losses

So at the end of the action, looking at the hits spread across all 4 Companies, we have:

1 x Voltigeurs de Quebec Infantry Company

1 x Trois-Rivieres Dragoons Troop

Post Game Thoughts

This game/campaign has had a long gestation phase and, despite a whole toolbox of spanners in the work in the week, it was nice to finally get the first game played out. I did enjoy it and as always, a mix of post match thoughts in no particular order:

• I was happy with the visual look of the game. The Geek Villain beach mat worked a treat, even though the beach section is really too deep for 10mm games using BKCII. Something that would be easy to address for future games, but you don't know these things until you give them a try.
• Even though I'm very happy and comfortable with BKCII, trying to translate the historical pre-invasion bombardment into game terms was tricky, coupled with how tough or not to make the defences. In the end I think I got a good balance. I felt both sides had a decent chance to 'win', which would have meant inflicting more casualties for the Germans, which they could have done if they'd had another round or two of Mortar fire or if WN33a had another bunch of shots at the Trois-Rivieres Shermans. 
• I realised that as I was setting the game up that I really needed loads more barbed wire, but luckily had some tank obstacles to hand that could make a decent visual stand in, even though of course they were not used on Juno Beach. The sources I used all had slightly different takes on where and how much wire and minefields were used. In hindsight the Germans could have made use of slightly more depth for the defences, but that might have unduly unbalanced the game. Yet another tricky balancing act.
• Translating the Canadian OOB was very easy, as it is basically a standard Battalion, but with most of the organic support arriving later. For the Germans this part of Love Beach was just defended by a single Platoon, so I had to be a bit creative to give them a fighting chance and to make the game worth playing, so it wasn't just a parade off the beach. Hence including Le Buisson as part of the defence as well as on objective to fight for. In a sense this took on a similar role to that of Vaux that was attacked by 7th Canadian Infantry Brigade.
• As this is a small and narrative campaign game 'inspired' by the action of the aforementioned 7th Brigade, the whole action felt a lot more important and involved than if it were a standalone action. Taking the losses into account is part and parcel of this and really adds to the flavour and decision making moving forward.
• Reading the historical accounts and the casualties suffered seem about right, in the sense that they were inflicted by Mortar and MG fire. At the end I though the losses were higher than they were, so was rather relieved that the Voltigeurs de Quebec were still very much combat effective.
• This game worked well as a solo outing, as I could make reasonable calls and assumptions as the game progressed. If it had been face-to-face, then as the German players it wouldn't have been much fun and with few choices to make, other than roll some dice.
• I'm really enjoying playing this fictional French-Canadian Brigade, rather like I have with the South Gloucestershires. At some point it would be nice to add a bit more detail, ie commanders names etc, plus some unit labels to help with the narrative in the AARs. 

What Next?

Well aside from planning the next scenario, which will be and is always fun, I need to try and paint up some German ATGs, plus some British/Canadian ATGs and SPGs. Nice to have some focus and of course a sort of self-imposed deadline to work to. The next game won't be for another few weeks due to family commitments next weekend with Father's Day etc. Hopefully that will give me time to really crack on and get these new toys painted.

Well I hope you enjoyed that AAR and well done for getting this far! As always any comments greatly appreciated.

TTFN.