7 Years War, Voronoi style

 Ian brought us another of his area movement game designs, this time covering the Seven Years War, 1756-1763. In fact I'd missed this originally as I was away, but it returned by popular demand, and I was glad to get a chance to play it.

The starting positions with Prussia and Austria preparing to fight over Silesia and Saxony. The map is area movement, but the density of areas and the way they intersect models political and  geographical boundaries (rivers and mountains typically) to reflect the difficulty of movement. Evidently it conforms to some sort of mathematical thing called a Voronoi diagram, but tbh, it just looks like a standard area movement map to me, I did much the same thing for my old 'Arnhem in an Afternoon' game. 

Anyway, the game covers all seven years, with three seasons in each - the spring, summer and autumn campaign seasons I guess. Movement and combat is pretty simple, armies move 1 space with a stacking limit of three and fight other armies in the same area, hitting on a 5+. Frederick gets a combat bonus, naturally. The side which inflicts the most hits wins or the attacker wins any draws, and the loser retreats towards their LOC.

I rather like the 'attacker wins draws' thing for this period. 

And here are all the various other armies, French, British and Russian. The French and British are mainly contesting Hanover (the red bit in the top left) while Russia is at first fighting Prussia but interesting in grabbing bits of the Baltic States/East Prussia. Plus ca change.

Crucially, if/when Empress Elisabeth dies, Russia changes sides and starts to support Prussia instead. There is a simple dice roll to see when this happens, becoming progressively more likely as time proceeds.

The various armies roll for reinforcements at the start of each campaign year, which arrive in their LOC area.

I took over as Britain, which had engaged in a very bloody battle for Hanover, even losing it to the French for a time but by 1760 had ejected the French albeit at the loss of all their forces apart form one Corps!

Prussia was in firm control of Saxony with the Austrians grouped east of Prague. The Russians had changed sides and had a number of Corps on the northeast border of Bohemia in Silesia.

I just occupied Hanover to defend it, but the Russians and Prussians launched an offensive into Bohemia. The Austrians concentrated on the Russians.

Things swung against Austria although they inflicted heavy losses on the Russians. Frederick managed to take Prague.

Things took a wild turn in 1762 though. Large British reinforcements landed in Hanover just as a new French army appeared on the border. The existing British forces marched to meet them. In a shock development Frederick was defeated and ejected from Prague, however new forces were being raised in Prussia. 

The Prussians and Austrians massed to retake Prague while the impudent French defeated the first British army, and it fell apart in a catastrophic rout. Fortunately the British had another army...

As 1762 came to a close, the Prussians failed to retake Prague, but the British managed to chase the French away from Hanover. Despite the failure at Prague, it was a pretty convincing Prussian victory.

Despite the very simple nature of the rules, the game worked really, really well. It was a nail biting experience, and having multiple players added to the atmosphere. This system would work well for a range of conflicts and Ian has more games planned for the future.

Resin Tiger Trio Pt 3 - Tiger 131

 Next up in the Resin Tiger Trio, Tiger 131, the most famous Tiger in the world! Or so the Tank Museum at Bovingdon would have you believe. Well, it is a star of film and screen and gets to motor around outside, sometimes.

Anyway, here it is in all its Tunisia camo glory. This one has an early pattern chassis, air filters and turret, but a mid production turret bin, just like the Bovingdon one. Originally it was knocked out and captured in fairly good condition before being ferried back to the UK for examination. In recent decades it has been restored to working condition at the Tank Museum.

The original was painted in a very unusal colour scheme, a brownish sand and an olive grey/green (I can't recall the RAL numbers, but 1/35th scale modelling sites will give all the gory details). The green here is mixed up from Humbrol Army Green and VJ Middlestone and is a decent match for the Tank Museum colour. I haven't got the base colour quite right, it should be a bit browner but it is OK. It is essentially VJ Desert Sand with a bit of Khaki mixed in but at a scale distance it isn't bad.  

Like the Grey Tiger this also got a pinwash around all the raised parts. I did the fire extinguisher grey on this one for contrast. The turret numbers on the real one are plain red, so I hand painted those. I did the basic outline with a Posca Paint Pen, then went over them with red paint and a fine brush. 

The tracks and running gear got a lighter colour mud coating than the other one, and again I picked out the tyres on the wheels. I did the same trick as the other one with the left hand  hull balkan cross and stuck it on over the the tow cable, then painted the cable on top of the decal.

This finally got a very  light drybrush of VJ Pale Sand, which was enough to dirty it up a bit and pick out the highlights. That will do nicely for Tunisia, and will no doubt see action in Sicily, Italy and Russia too.

Brietenfeld and Lutzen with Dominion of Pike and Shot

 Two decisive battles of the Thirty Years War, and featuring King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden and his exciting new model Swedish Army. The revolution in military affairs and all that.

 First up Brietenfeld, which was fought in Saxony in September 1631. The Swedes and the Elector of Saxony took on Tilly and the Imperial-Catholic League. In all the games below, I used Alan Saunders suggested modifications for mixed pike and shot units.

Battlefield from the north (Swedes/Saxons closest to the camera). The village of Podelwitz and the marshy wooded Loberbach stream are nearest the camera. Gobschelwitz is to the left and the actual village of Brietenfeld to the right in the left rear of Tillys army.

The Swedish front line is Saxons (musketeers and pikes), elite Swedish infantry (musketeers, pikes and organised into battalions with light artillery etc) then Swedish horse who are apparently just average. The reserves are another elite Swedish infantry and another Swedish horse. I've marked the Swedish infantry by using attached light artillery pieces, as Gustavus liked to do. 

Tilly's Army is quite formidable, armoured cuirassiers on each flank, and two units of armoured musketeers (and pikes), one in the centre and one in reserve. They are described as being in big blocks, so I've used four bases for these units, while the Swedes and Saxons are more linear. Gustavus outnumbered Tilly irl, and does have a larger army.

Tilly is the attacker so picks his bombardment target first. Historically he put his guns in the centre on a low rise so I did too although it is a bit pointless as even if he forces a unit to retreat, it will juts be replaced by another Swedish infantry. In the event neither sides artillery hits anything.

tbh the Swedes are really up against it in this scenario, they don't have any favourable matchups at all as all the Imperials are armoured, the best they can do is 50:50 using the Swedish infantry, but the do have superior numbers. The weakest unit is the Saxons which Tilly duly routs (they can only hit the cuirassiers on a 6 with their muskets and unsurprisingly miss). They are replaced with a Swedish infantry which at least had a 50:50 chance against the cuirassiers.

The Swedes also have a 50:50 chance against the Imperial infantry (their +1 elite cancels out the Imperial -1 armour). They get lucky and rout the Imperial centre, which is replaced by a reserve musketeer unit.

The Imperial cuirassiers attack the Swedish left but are unlucky and are shot down. The Swedes then outflank the Imperial centre and rout the last Imperial infantry. They fail to rally so it is a win for Gustavus.

I tried that again, and again the artillery barrage was both a bit pointless and missed in any case. It is only worth prompting an enemy cavalry to charge if you have an advantage over them, and similarly no point in retreating an infantry unless the reserves are worse. This didn't apply to either army, but the  smoke looks nice I guess!

The Imperials charge the Saxons but bounce this time (no losses on either side), and the Swedes rout the Imperial centre.

The Saxons are made of stern stuff and rout the cuirassiers (they rolled a 6!). The Imperials don't have any reserves now so the writing is on the wall.

Rapidly followed by the rest of the Imperial army, although they did rout one of the Swedish horse on the way (who are at a considerable disadvantage against the Imperial cuirassiers). Another win for the Swedes, although they were pretty lucky to pull that off. What was it Napoleon said about lucky generals?

One last try, the Imperials try to tempt the Swedish horse into charging and fail.

And although the Swedes lose the Saxons and one of their horse, the Swedish infantry blow the Imperials off the field. Three convincing Swedish wins, so it looks like I misjudged my initial assessment. I think this scenario (marginally) favours the Imperials, but the Swedes certainly rolled some hot dice which always helps. tbh I'd be inclined to make the Swedes both Elite and Armoured, their new military system was so superior to what had gone before that it revolutionised infantry tactics and made the musket the dominant weapon. 

Next up is Lutzen which was fought in November 1632. This time between Gustavus Adolphus and Wallenstein. Gustavus was very keen to bring the Imperials to battle, and Wallenstein reluctantly accepted, fortifying his position against the Swedish attack.

Compared to Brietenfield this battlefield is fairly bare, there is a river off to the left and the village of Lutzen on the right. This is the view from Wallensteins position, the front line is musketeers (and pikes) flanked by cuirassiers, and in reserve are more musketeers, cuirassiers and a unit of Croat carbineers, essentially light cavalry armed with muskets (missile cavalry). None of these troops have any special attributes.

The Swedes are attacking with an identical army to the previous one, two units of horse, two of (elite) Swedish musketeers and another unit of average musketeers. Their front line is horse, Swedish infantry, horse with the others in reserve. As before the Swedish infantry have attached light artillery. 

Again, there isn't much point in the artillery firing at the centre as there are units in reserve, so they pick on each others cavalry to prompt a charge and both miss.

The Swedes attack the centre where they have an advantage and are promptly blown away! Historically this was a very bloody battle and even victorious units took heavy losses.

The Swedes plug the gap with their reserve infantry and the Imperial cuirassiers charge on the left.

Routing their opposite numbers. The Swedes launch another catastrophic attack in the centre, being routed and are forced to commit their last infantry reserve to plug the gap. The Imperials are now outflanking them on the left.

Surprisingly they Imperial centre is now routed and the Croats move up to fill the gap, but the Cuirassiers on the open flank ride down the Protestant infantry and the Swedish army is routed.

Ouch, that was a pretty convincing win for Wallenstein. Historically the Swedes scraped a win, at the cost of heavy losses on both sides and the death of Gustavus Adolphus himself.

OK, lets give it another go. Once again the cannonade is on either flank, but this time the Imperials manage to  hit the Swedish horse!

The Swedes are spurred to charge and are duly routed by the Imperial cuirassiers.

Maybe not so great for Wallenstein as their place is taken by those scary firepower led Swedish infantry.

The Cuirassiers give it a shot anyway, the Swedes miss and the heavy cavalry ride them down.

They are replaced by regular infantry who this time defeat the cuirassiers, who in turn are once more replaced by the Croats. I rather like the idea of mounted musketeers - perhaps if they were armoured and had tracks...

The Croats sadly don't last long and are replaced by more cuirassiers. Wallenstein engages the Swedish centre...

Which after a bitter struggle duly collapses, but not before one of the Imperial infantry has been routed.

The following turn the Swedes are utterly routed, although at heavy cost to the Imperials. That was a real slog for the Swedes and I can't help feel that fortune favoured the Imperials in this one. In all five games both sides rolled appallingly to rally their routed units (every single attempt failed).

I enjoyed both those scenarios, although I'd like to revisit both of them and see if I can recreate the historical outcome for Lutzen and also to see if there is some mysterious Swedish superpower at work in Brietenfeld! Both these battles make useful test beds to compare traditional and modern pike and shot tactics in terms of fiddling with troop modifiers. 

The Swedish cavalry should probably be superior in some way too, as everyone busily copied their tactics as well over the next 30 years. I slightly wish I'd used some river sections to add to the terrain although they don't affect the gameplay, they do make the battlefield look more interesting. 

Airborne Assault on Crete with NQM

 In a precursor to his Front Scale NQM game planned for Partisan, Chris had arranged to run a Corps Scale game of the invasion of Crete at Patriot Games in Sheffield. The event was organised by Tom, an occasional attendee at our evening remote games and Friday f2f sessions at Tapton.

I first went to Patriot Games when it opened in a small shop in the town centre, but now it has much grander premises nearer the ring road in Sheffield in an old factory building with a large shop, cafe and huge games area with dozens of tables. 

Chris getting ready to run the game and had just happened' to bring down a box full of NQM rules for sale! Patriot Games do a game mat printing service, and they'd printed three custom mats for this game, gridded out in 10cm hexes.

Initially we had three British players (I was cast as Freyberg and overall CO) and just two German. They were joined by two more Germans in the course of the morning.

Chris gave an initial briefing on how the rules work as I was the only one who had played them before. This is the view looking north from Crete, you can see the coastline on the custom game mat. The Aegean is in the mid ground and 'Greece' is way over there stacked with boxes of Germans. As this is a high level operational game, the hexes represent 6km of ground.

The game at Partisan will mainly focus on the German efforts to capture the airfield, so our job as the British was to provide an active defence. As historically, the defence was divided in two, West and East, a mixture of New Zealand, Australian and Greek troops in the main.

While the Germans looked in boxes we set out guys up. The various brigades had pre-designated starting areas with some flexibility - our guys were clustered around Heraklion (nearest the camera), Retimo (centre near the long river) and Maleme in the north. I put my Corps HQ in Suda (at the north end of the shorter river). The critical terrain features are obviously the towns and nearby airfields, and the single coast road crossing several bridges. There is also one road across the island to a small port on the southern coast. 

As CO I was responsible for the general scheme of defence, but also running the airforce and navy. With Admiral Cunninghams hat on, I had HMS Warspite and four cruisers to play with. There was also a notional destroyer flotilla near to Crete.

The RAF had three wings of fighters (Hurricanes) and two of Bombers (Wellingtons) which I distributed among the airfields.

Although we had lots and lots of ground units, many were very weak with only one or two strength points. We also had little artillery, all the available AA was concentrated in the east, we had two decent artillery units split between east and west and one coastal battery with 1SP(!). We had some logistic units but they had an enormous front to cover.

I had quite a lot to do in the game as I was acting as a player-umpire and helping the newer players with the rules, so I didn't take as many pictures as usual.

The Germans had this rather lovely Dorner flying boat to rescue people floating in the sea.

One of my first jobs as CO ws to decide what to do with the RAF, and based on my experience in Greece, I decided to pull them back to Egypt. Good job too as the opening attack had waves of German bombers blasting the airfields, a pasting from which little would have survived and left the runways cratered. The planes could operate from Egypt, but it was at the far end of the fighters endurance, so would be somewhat random.

In the west the German put down a couple of regiments quite far inland by parachute and glider as they were anxious about landing on top of troop concentrations or dropping in the sea. They got down quite well and began marching northwards. The big explosion is them coming into range of the 25pdrs east of Maleme. The defenders here had plenty of time to reorient themselves to the threat and get dug in facing inland.

In the east the next wave of Germans landed south of Heraklion. They didnt do so well and strayed a bit close to the British AA which duly shot an entire battalion out of the sky. The Germans put down about a Regiment here. The force ratios are more favourable to the Allies here.

The Germans attacked Heraklion quite aggressively, which looks like a doomed effort in this photo, but of course it doesn't show the fleets of German bombers and strafing fighters which hammered the defenders. Even so, the British (well, Greek and Australian) forces managed to put in a brigade sized counterattack which pushed the German back. Supported by the nearby Corps heavy artillery, it also saw an FJ battalion overrun.

The Germans obviously fancied their chances more at Maleme as that is where their third wave landed, including FJ artillery, assault engineers and logistic units. Covered by the Luftwaffe (who have flown home in this photo), the formed up and massed south of Maleme. 

They were soon to be joined by what was left of the seaborne invasion fleet! In a 'battleships' style mini game, 5th Gebirgsjager Division was mounted on ships and sailed across the eastern Med at night, while I (as Cunningham) tried to stop them. HMS Dido found one convoy and blew it out of the water, Warspite found another and it fled in terror back to Greece while a third slipped past the cruiser screen and made it to Maleme. The RAF bombed it as the sun rose, but the Luftwaffe returned the favour and Dido was heavily damaged.

At Heraklion the surviving FJ were forced back well into the interior by the counterattack. They were reduced to their regimental and divisional HQ, but found this very convenient demolished monastery on the top of a hill to hide in. Must write that idea down for future reference...

At Maleme the Gebirgsjager stormed ashore, and with heavy Luftwaffe support just managed to take the airfield! The players were now discovering the value of fresh units when attacking battered ones (every hit  knocks 1 off the advance/retreat roll).

In the east the Germans had noticed that Retimo and Heraklion were only held by AA units, so their transports were ordered to crash land on the cratered runways. At Retimo this worked well and the a couple of battalions landed successfully under the guns of the nearby Bofors regiment.

At Heraklion it ended in disaster however as a combination of AA and RAF fighters operating from Egypt saw one battalion shot down and sent the other transports packing.

At Maleme however, the well organised FJ now pushed northwards to the coast. Despite being heavily outnumbered, their superior quality and massive (Luftwaffe) fire support swept all before them and Allied units now began to surrender as they were overrun. A battalion of brave New Zealanders managed to hold the road south, but the Germans cut the road west to Maleme. Once their engineers had cleared the runway, the Germans would be able to fly reinforcements in directly, and the battered Allied units weren't in a position to counterattack against the fresh FJ and Gebirgsjager units.

Freyburg ordered a general retreat and evacuation at that point, to save as many men and as much equipment as possible. That was pretty much where the retreat was ordered in the real campaign too, but the unfortunate Australians never got the order and were left to fight it out on the east end of the island.

That was an excellent game, very enjoyable, and hugely ambitious with the combined air, land and naval aspects. After a while the players got the hang of the movement and combat mechanisms although we were very much playing a somewhat cut down version of the rules as written. The big 'cockpit' around Maleme did slow down a bit at one point, but we were resolving four or five separate combats at a time, and in the main it all rattled along well.

The game at Partisan was planned  to use brigade stands instead of battalion ones, but even so aimed to cover the whole campaign over the course of the day, rather like the Longstop Hill game. I covered it briefly in my recent Partisan report.