Escape from Bir Hacheim

 Time to head back the western desert for the concluding trilogy of my 'Battle of Gazala' series. This scenario is the first of the new trilogy and covers 1st Free French Brigade at Bir Hacheim. As we've already done a couple attack vs prepared defence scenarios in this mini campaign, I thought I'd go for something more mobile and do the French breakout.

Briefly, after destroying 150 Brigade and defeating Operation Aberdeen, Rommel determined to fully clear his supply lines by destroying the French box at Bir Hacheim on the very southern end of the Gazala position. Throughout early June, more and  more Axis troops attacked the French and on 10th June an attack supported by 200 aircraft and elements of 15th panzer division threatened to overrun the position.

The French were ordered to break out that night and link up with 3rd motorised brigade which had pushed as far south as it dared. So, we have the outnumbered French attacking (!) and the dispersed axis units trying to stop them. As usual, I'll run this with my One Hour WW2 adaptation of Neil Thomas's rules.

Battlefield from the east. Bir Hacheim is off to the southwest. The main features are the large rise centre left, the big area of bad going in the top right. The 'road' is just a desert track but the French need to get at least half their force off the track exit in the north east corner. They come on in the southwest. Afficionados of Neil Thomas will no doubt recognise this as One Hour scenario 25, 'infiltration', but as with so many OHW scenarios, it fits the shape of the battle very well.

The mighty Axis forces encircling Bir Hacheim! One lonely battalion from Trieste (I/65 Motorised Regiment), dug in on Point 103. There are also a couple of patrols out, as it is night, and visibility is only one hex. The sun comes up after six turns. The sun comes up pretty fast in the western desert, so there aren't any weird pre-dawn half light turns.

The Italians on Point 103. They are leg infantry as they are dug in they have sent their transport away. Mark commands these, along with being the Italian CO.

Riding to the rescue from the north are some mobile reserves, Motorised Regiment 66 from Trieste. One motorised battalion supported by a company of tanks, and another motorised battalion with attached 47mm AT guns. Tim commands these. Simon will take over on Wednesday.

And motoring up from the south, Triestes reconnaisance battalion, 8th Bersaglieri with AB41s and various Autocanone. Tim also commands these. Supporting then is a kampfgruppe from 15th Panzer Division with I/8th Panzer Regiment (Panzer IIIs) and I/155 Schutzen Regimenet - motorised infantry with infantry guns in support. Both the German units are veteran and commanded by Mark on Tuesday with Ian taking over on Wednesday. They arrive on turn 6.

Finally all the Axis support stuff. A battalion each of German 105s and Italian 75s, they can only support their respective armies. There is also a virtual air fleet, Bf 109s, Stukas, Ju 88 and SM79s. The aircraft are grounded until the sun comes up. Last but perhaps most important, two supply columns (both large resin Peter Pig Lancia lorries).  

And here are plucky heroes of 1st Brigade Francais Libre, commanded by General Koenig. They left a rearguard and used all the available transport to carry the wounded and what equipment they could save.

1st BFL. In the lead are 2nd and 3rd battalions of the 13th Foreign Legion demo-brigade. (13 DBLE). They are  both veteran assault infantry, so get a bonus at close range, and are commanded by Jerry.

Behind them is 2nd Senegalese demi-brigade (2 DBS). They have 2nd Battalion de Marche and Battalion du Pacifique. The 2nd are heavy infantry supported by the 22nd North African mortar company, while the BF are leg infantry supported by (captured Italian) 47mm AT guns. John commands these and is also overall Frenhc CO.

In support are two supply columns and an artillery battalion. The latter should be French 75mm guns with cut down shields, but I dont have those as models and I couldn't quite bring myself to use either olive green 75s with spoked wheels or light grey WW1 75s (which is what I actually have). So a 25pdr will stand in for the French artillery.

Like the Axis, the desert airforce will be grounded until daylight, but has Hurricanes and P40s for CAP and Blenheims for interdiction. I thought I'd use my Middle East scheme Blenheim for this (earth brown/green upper sides but sky blue undersides) rather than my desert one for a change.

Right, to battle!

The French had decided that 'table edge hugging' was the way to go in the absence of firm intel on the location of the Italian positions. The FFL led the way with the Senegalese behind. Obviously the problem with advancing in a long column is that it will take two turns for the rearmost element to pass the current head of the column. Well, we will see how that works out.

There was a brush with an Italian patrol on the right flank.

Aware that something was up but well out of location range, I/65 shuffled north along the ridge.

The French column swung right along a ridge paralleling the broken ground. The Italians set off into gap between the rocks and the hill. Everyone getting closer but all still out of sight.

I obviously forgot to take a crucial photo! The leading FFL unit made contact with the Italians, who called in artillery fire to slow the French up and promptly fell back to the northeast. They linked up with 66 Motorised Regiment who had just appeared from the north. The FFL had started to deploy onto a slightly wider front and the Senegalese caught up with them.

Personally I'd have only fallen back one hex as it was still dark and done the artillery+retreat move again, but the Italians wanted to assemble their forces in front of the exit hex.

Tim had originally intended to put the 66th on the ridge, but I/65 occupied one end of it so the 66th ended up split. I'd have put a unit on the exit hex, but the Italians had obviously decided on a  more forward defence.

The French column continued on its way with 2/FFL slowed by the artillery barrage. That actually worked out well as it allowed 3/FFL to draw adjacent. The Senegalese were still trailing behind in a column. They were all still out of sight of the Italians.

Up on the ridge the two Italian battalions started digging while II/66 moved forward a hex to straighten the line. Putting them in the wadi was an option, but with such restricted visibility the Italians wanted to keep their units closed up.

In the absence of anything better to do the Italian LOG replenished the artillery.

The French conducted a frontal advance on the Italians. The FFL are in the lead with the Senegalese now deploying but lagging behind. They might have been better off sidestepping the FFL to get one of the Senegalese into contact as well in order to even the odds.

In turn the Italians opened fire on 2/FFL with their northern two units while I/66 (with the M13s) finished digging in.  2/FFL took three hits but being veteran, remained in good order.

The sun finally came up....

And so did the Desert Airforce who attempted to bomb the Italian supply columns but was seen off by the Luftwaffe.

With the sun up the French went for broke, 2/FFL laid down covering fire along with the artillery while 3/FFL close assaulted I/65. The Senegalese moved into contact further south (I haven't moved them yet).

The French rolled astonishing numbers of 5s and 6s and rolled over the unfortunate Italians. I've still not moved the Senegalese yet, and in all the excitement I realise I'd made a mistake - I should have resolved the assault AFTER the Senegalese moved. There is a strict turn sequence for a reason, but I forgot. Apologies to the players.

The Reggia Aeronautica rolled up and bombed the French supplies, shrugging off attacks from Hurricanes.

I think this is what is meant by 'confused fighting'. The Axis concentrated all their fire on the breakthrough including artillery and Stukas. The veteran legionaries survived but became disorganised.

In great excitement, the mobile reserves from the south arrived. 8th Bersaglieri in the lead and 15th Panzer chugging along behind. The gap between the depression and that little patch of rocky ground is a real bottleneck for motorised movement, a problem for the Axis, less so for the French.

A big air battle over the Axis supply lines. Despite fighter support, the Blenheims are driven off.

The French supply 3/FFL while everyone else focusses on I/66 Motorised. Artillery and fire from the Senegalese disorganise them. 2/FFL moves around the rear, still a bit battered. I'd have put an infantry unit into the rocky ground to stop the German reinforcements coming up the track, but the French are very focussed on fighting their way forward. 

The Axis resupply I/66 while hammering 3/FFL who become disorganised despite their veteran status. 8 Bersaglieri nip off to the ridge in the east and shoot up 2/FFL, inflicting just enough damage to disorganise them again. 8 Bersaglieri is lightly armed and unarmoured, but is very mobile and can move and fire.

Unsurprisingly 15th Panzer rolls down the track and makes it through the defile but under the guns/ZOC of the Battalion Pacifique. Shame the French hadn't blocked the road further south.

Breakthrough! 3/FFL pushes on through the Axis barrage while the Battalion du Pacifique overruns I/66, supported by the Battalion du Marche. 2/FFL is resupplied. There is a huge gap in the Axis line now, and crunch time for the Axis command. Shoot or manouvre?

The Luftwaffe bombs the French supply line and there is a lengthy debate among the Axis commanders (fine, as if they get this wrong they are going to lose). In the end they opt for a high risk strategy of firing with II/66 instead of pulling back to cover the exit hex, while 15th Panzer simply manouvres around the desert flank and occupies the track east of the ridge. The Germans do call in some artillery to cover the move however. 8th Bersaglieri runs around to the west to link up with II/66.

The gamble pays off and II/66 along with  the last of the Italian artillery ammunition (the Stukas are being bombed up this turn), manages to take out the battered 3/FFL. Three shots needing 3+ to inflict two hits, so a reasonable chance based on 'wargamers odds'. 

And there we left it for the night. The French have the central position and outnumber the enemy on either flank, but the French artillery has just run out of the shells (as has the Italian). The Germans have lots of ammo though. There is also something left for Ian and Simon to command tomorrow, which is always a bonus.

Lets see if the French can pull this off.

In a do-or-die move both battalions of the Senegalese DB push northwards, while the remaining FFL occupy the hill. The French are hoping the Germans will forget to park a unit on the exit hex in all the excitement.

The Axis respond with an Italian air raid on the French supplies.

And then fire everything in range at the leading French unit, including the freshly bombed up Stukas. 

The Senegalese become disorganised and the Italians press in from the west to hem the French in more closely. In a cunning move, while the panzers fired, 155 Rifle Regiment mounts up and motors around behind the tanks to end up on the exit hex.

The Desert Airforce fights its way through to bomb the Italian supply line.

And once again massed Axis firepower hammers the leading French battalion.  This time it disintegrates under the weight of fire. 8th Bersaglieri manouvres around to the south to pin the FFL in place. 

In a heroic manouvre, the Battalion de Marche overruns II/66! It was shot in by the FFL and last French artillery ammunition. Obviously this both takes out an Axis unit and gets it closer to freedom. Sadly that was the end of Simons command.  

 

The Axis response is pretty brutal, the Bersaglieri motor back north and massed fire wipes the victorious French infantry out. The break up into small groups and head north. With just one formed unit left, the French can't achieve their victory conditions now. Left isolated on the ridge, the last FFL battalion also breaks up into small groups and heads out through the big gap in the Axis lines.

So, a pretty thumping Axis win, although they lost half their force doing it. I think it was actually quite a bit closer than the final result indicated. As I mentioned in the narrative, I think there were a couple of critical moves which diminished the French chances with misplaced units. Perhaps the biggest mistake was allowing the Axis reinforcements a free run up the track, as the three French units actually attacking did a fine job of smashing up poor old Trieste.  The Axis might have been better off defending around the exit hex rather than in front of it, but of course hindsight is a wonderful thing.

Many thanks to all the players for taking part in such good spirit and contributing such impressive hats. irl the French did manage to break out and escaped across the desert in a celebrated feat of arms, which did much to raise spirits in the 8th Army as a whole after a series of drubbings. Of course celebrating what in any other army would be a disastrous defeat is very British. More adventures in the desert to come, but we may have some diversions elsewhere in the meantime.

The road to Gettysberg

 After our recent Chancellorsville game there was a suggestion I might want to have a go at Gettysberg, which is an equally huge multi day engagement. To be honest it is something I'd thought about in the past but shied away from as it is such a a complex and iconic battle I was worried about making a hash of it. I was fortunate enough to play the Bloody Big Battles version of Gettysburg with Chris Pringle himself at Joy of Six a few years ago, so it is certainly manageable on a tabletop, at sufficient level of abstraction.  

John B made a helpful suggestion about perhaps just doing the second and third days, and after some thought, I reckoned that was possible with the Neil Thomas rules. As this was a battle to approach with some care, I thought I'd outline some of the steps I go through when designing historical scenarios, mainly the terrain layout for grid terrain.

My bible for ACW scenarios is generally the old Volley and Bayonet ACW scenario book, which very helpfully includes scenarios for all three days of Gettysburg, comprehensive OOBs, reinforcement schedules etc.

This is the map for the 2nd day, I've rotated it as I'll set the table up with this orientation. While it is pretty good for ridges, roads and streams, the layout of 'woods' is pretty hopeless for a grid based layout. Helpfully it also shows the locations of the various Corps, although it includes units which don't arrive until later on the 2nd July and misses out Bufords cavalry altogether.

The map is gridded into 1200 yard squares and is about 7200 x 10,000 but I'll just model the central/southeast portion of the battlefield (6000 x 6000) so I can better model the complex arrangement of ridges and valleys and much of the outlying area is irrelevant once the Union is hemmed in on two sides.

I usually use this 9x9 grid (strictly 9x 8/9) for ACW battles, so in this case each hex will represent around 800m/900 yards as usual. The layout of the ridges and alignment of the Union units fits better with the hex columns running horizontally so we will go with that, although I may flip it 90 degrees to actually run the game as this orientation is a bit wide for my table.

I played around with an initial layout and then revised it. Here is a the second attempt, Seminary Ridge is up on the top right with a bit of MacPhersons Ridge behind it. Cemetery Hill is the three hex cluster bottom centre with Culps Hill just below and Cemetery Ridge running off to the west. Round Top and Little Round Top might need a  bit of work - ideally a I need to separate the two rather than being a single three hex cluster but I'm not sure I have enough hills of the right configuration for that.

Some of the gaps between the ridges and hills are exaggerated but it should allow the units to deploy in roughly their historical positions and frontages with a gap between them.

Gettysburg itself is a  bit of a compromise, really should run east-west but this is one of the compromises of a hex grid. I'll do my best to make the layout of the buildings look correct at least. I've put trees on top of some of the hills to indicate bad going (Round Top, Little Round Top, Wolf Hill etc), and the ones down in valleys are open woods which just block line of site to represent the odd tree lines the original scenario map has scattered around.

Now the watercourses. Pitzer Run (far west) and Plum Run (just west of Round Top) are pretty straightforward. Rock Creek stretches my creativity a bit as it has to run around the base of Culps Hill and then between Wolf Hill and the ridges on the west of the creek. 

You can start to appreciate why Lee was dubious about a frontal attack on Cemetery Hill from the north.

Finally the road network. I wasn't going to model every single road but ended up putting most of them on. The critical ones for reinforcements are the one running off the northwest (top right) as Picketts Division will come down there, the one running off the south behind Cemetery Ridge as that is the route for Union 2nd Corps and finally the Baltimore Pike which leads off east from just south of Wolf Hill across Rock Creek.

That looks pretty good to me, and you can immediately see why it is such a strong position for the Union as they have excellent interior lines while the Confederates are scattered in a wide arc.

Time to put it into MappingBoard. I usually do my maps straight onto the computer, but like the Tunisia game I ran a few years ago, the hill coonfiguration is complicated and I wanted to check I had enough terrain pieces first.

And finally the deployment areas for the various Corps. As this scenario will be 2nd July, I figure both sides have a reasonable idea where the enemy front lines are. Jamming three Union Corps into three hexes will be entertaining. but at one base = 2000 infantry that will work. I'll have a bit more of a think about the Little Round Top, I might use some of my desert hills for those, but generally I think that will be OK with six turns and day for two days and one overnight turn.

Later on when we were chatting, Tim threw a spanner in the works when he mentioned that there was a railway line terminating in Gettysberg itself. It wasn't marked on the VnB map, but it would be easy enough to add and would also be another outing for the 'Cannonball Express'. 

SOAC 2026

 As I missed COW this year, I was very glad to get along to the Society of Ancients Conference and sample the delights of the new venue at Cranfield. I do like a conference, I can pretend I still work at a University. The conference officially starts on Saturday morning, but many people pitch up on Friday to get settled.

One of the society banners in the main hall.

It really is a great venue. A huge hall with excellent acoustics, a number of large rooms off to the sides, each with four smaller breakout rooms and a large lecture theatre at one end. Unlike many games venues, you can actually hear other people speak, even when the room is crammed with other people doing the same thing.

The SOA stall, with various games and back issues of Slingshot. There was also a moderately well stocked Bring and Buy and I picked up a few cheap books.

Various WD stalwarts were in attendance and before dinner on Saturday, Graham Evans introduced us to the delights of 'Kastles', a card laying siege wargame game. More of the game than a simulation but good fun anyway.

We also played John Bs 'Roman' dice game, supposedly played by Roman sailors but looking suspiciously like poker dice where you got accumulated types of warship or other booty from different dice combos. A nice way to while away some time in the bar anyway.

Richard Lockwood, the society president, opens the Friday evening session.

Ian Piper had left a number of sets of One Hour Ancients games lying around for people to try in some of the breakout rooms. These were pretty much the vanilla game although this one was a blend of the Ancients and Dark Ages set. I ended up facilitating a game for a couple of people who hadn't played it before.

It was the 'Unfortunate Oversight' scenario and ended up inevitably with a huge battle over the objective hill. Ian was using the 15 hit version and tracking losses with tiny dice embedded on the unit bases, which I found a little fiddly. It works for him though I guess. I did mention to him that I used the six hit variant but he hadn't heard of it, so perhaps I should bring that along next year.

By now the main hall was humming with people playing games, and it showed how great the acoustics in the venue were as it wasn't deafening at all.

Next morning the conference proper opened and we kicked off with Adrian Naylor looking at carvings on various monuments in Tunisia and what they may (or may not) tell us about Numidian and Carthaginian armour and shields. It was very interesting and I always enjoy looking at images of original artefacts. It is hilarious how many end up appearing directly as wargames figures, but I suppose they are the only sources we have.

Main takeaway - I can paint some of my Numidianss with elephant hide shields!

For the morning session I attended Richard Lockwoods story game session. I have actually played some narrative wargames before, but this one had considerably more structure than most. It was a Romans vs Britons game and the job of the players was to construct a narrative of the battle, structured into four phases - deployment, initial manouvres, the battle and final result.

We were playing both sides at once and each of us had secret objectives worth varying amounts of points. I had some 1 point ones involving various manouvres, a 2 point one which required me to put a named British unit onto a named terrain feature and my 3 point one was to ensure the Romans lost! These were very entertaining although it took a while for some players to figure out they were playing to their objectives, not the figures in front of them.

The Romans got their cavalry over the river early on and despite heavy losses at time, the Britons never really recovered. Despite my best efforts, the Britons lost dismally although I did score points for both getting the Roman commander to lead a charge as well as getting the Trinovantes onto a big hill.

That was very entertaining and original. The only thing it suffered from a bit was the usual issue of a one player at a time activation systems coupled with eight players - it took a while for your go to come around and it reduced the amount of influence you had on the outcome. It was very enjoyable though and a good group experience.

Ian Piper had left a much bigger One Hour Ancients game set up, "Revolting Spaniards" which was also using his version of OHW and lovely 3D printed 10mm figures. This was a large game with six complete OHW armies facing off. Ian ran it a couple of times during the conference.

All the main session games were played in the side rooms off the main hall, which were excellent. Comfortable, roomy and with good acoustics. 

Meanwhile I ran around after lunch to get Hoplite set up before the afternoon session. 

After Saturday lunch we had Duncan Head talking about his latest research and forthcoming book on the Persians. It sounds very good and will be worth purchasing when published.

And we also had Ian Piper talking about One Hour Wargames! A man after my own heart.

The assembled multitudes for Hoplite.

Although I was a bit dubious about attempting to play a solo game with six actual players, it all rattled along quite well. Dominion of the Spear worked very well for the combat resolution, although the players realised fairly rapidly that their best strategy on hoplite warfare was just to shove all their hoplites in the front line!

In playtesting the campaign had run for many, many turns with mainly the Spartans winning (3:1 so far). At SOAC the first Peleponnesian War lasted eight years as Sparta was defeated by a combination of battlefield losses and a revolt in the Pelepponese. The second only last six years as the Athenian blitzkrieg rolled lover Sparta! Oh well, that is dice dependant games for you.

The players seemed to enjoy themselves, but I think some of then were hoping for a rather longer session.

With some free time I went to go and observe Ians 'Revolting Spaniards' game which seemed to be fairly riotous. I'm not convinced about the melee system in the OHW Ancients set, as once units enter melee they are stuck until they win or rout. It may be realistic but it makes the game rather dull once everyone is committed. It is a set I need to revisit really, perhaps with a more period specific focus.

Richard was also running another session of his story game, this time with just four players. That produced quite a different dynamic as each player get two or even three chances to go in each phase.

The scheduled speaker before dinner couldn't make it, so Graham stepped into the breach with a fascinating talk about the Hanseatic League. I am now considerably enlightened as I only had the vaguest idea what it was about. 

After the Society dinner at which our table drank the entire stock of Cranfield Malbec, cough, we retired to the atrium to play one of Matthew Hs huge pile of boardgames. This one was '1066 Tears to many mothers' by Hall or Nothing (?) games. Unsurprisingly it was about Hastings, and I was cast as William the Bastard. Must be my haircut.

A very interesting gamemodel where the buildup to Hastings and construction of the battle line was conducted by card plays onto  various tracks which take you through the Normans recruiting their army, Fulford Gate, Stamford bridge, crossing the channel and finally the battle itself. This lot then pushed and shoved at each other in the actual battle deployed as three wings as you threw in (or lost) more support units. The combat reminded me of Table Battles although units accumulated hits in this rather than losing SP. Much the same effect I guess.

Bizarrely I ended up with very few actual units, but loads of second sons and bastards with their retinues and it was enough to collapse both of Harolds flanks despite a very shaky start for the Normans. 

Sunday morning started with Matthew Bennetts talk about Bannockburn, also this years battle for the Society Battle Day.

He'd done a little layout of the possible deployment on the second day as the English were ambushed in the marsh at dawn, which was very helpful. There was a very interesting discussion about how to model key features of the battle, particularly the unknown state of the ground as the English had managed to pitch camp in a bog!

After that it was off to play one of John Bs big Ancients games. This time it was 'Alexander, heir of Achilles' covering the Granicus campaign. As usual played on a point to point map, this time Asia Minor on a tourist map of Turkey. Red is Persian control, Blue is Macedonian.

The game was rather enhanced by being issued red or blue colour sashes, while Prince Mithradites (Matthew H) appeared sporting a crown and magnificent false beard. Alexander (Richard) had to make do with a gold wreath.

The various Persian satraps had their forces deployed in their regional capitals while the Macedonians were in a big stack having just crossed the Hellespont. I was Kassandros, one of Alexanders cavalry commanders. My father was regent back in Greece.

We had to capture the three main supply bases in western Anatolia and clear the ports along the Aegean coast. My personal objectives were fairly straightforward and not too back stabby.

We stomped the first Persian army at Granicus while their fleet chased outs back to Greece. Each turn was a month and we had to take the objectives before winter (in November).

My wing. The units are rated for combat strength and resilience. The Macedonian Army was pretty good, but the Persians could opt to hide in their forts.

We captured a base in the centre and left Antigonus One Eye (John C) to guard it while the main army besieged Halikarnassos.  The Persians sailed most of their remaining forces into the city, so we spent July, August and September besieging it as it was far too strong to attack the defences otherwise. October was our last chance at an assault before the autumn rains started.

And we ended up fighting a gigantic battle as the city was stormed. The first round didn't go brilliantly, but despite lots of commanders choosing to lead from the front, everyone survived. Rather to our horror, we were informed we could only fight one more round of combat.

This went rather better. Prince Mithradites was killed in the street fighting and the Persian Army reduced to a tiny rump. They retreated to the citadel and the rest of the city fell to the Macedonians, just in time too.

End game as the armies go into winter quarters. Although that was more a military game than Johns other more polmil offerings, it was still very interesting and well structured. It was actually very challenging marching across Anatolia having lost command of the sea and constantly worrying about our supply lines while also gathering enough force to deal with the Persian host. John had done an excellent job of modelling the relevant march routes and distances to make the campaign work.

After lunch a lot of people started to make a move, but I went to observe Adrian Naylors 'Wooden Walls', after Graham recommended it. Grid based trireme warfare, a period about which I am singularly ignorant.

I was rather impressed as it incorporated equipment, command and crew quality differences in simple but effective ways. I got a copy of the play sheet but Ian kindly offered to send me a full copy of the rules, so something I can try out with my cardboard galleys. 

That was a great conference, very enjoyable, and I rather like the structured talks which involve all the attendees. It has quite a different vibe to COW, and different is good. I hope to be back next year.