Bridegrooms of Death - October 1941

 After our trip to Sicily with the 82nd Airborne and Tigers at Minsk, off to somewhere distinctly chillier, the Volkhov front near Leningrad in October 1941. This particular scenario features the 250 'Blue' Division, a formation which, like SS Handschar, apparently fascinates certain types of wargamers. In 1941, General Franco hit on a brilliant wheeze to both appease Hitler and deal with the fanatical Falangists demanding that Spain join in the 'Crusade against Bolshevism'. Franco packed them all off into the 250 Infantry Division, and sent them to the Eastern Front, conveniently removing an internal threat to his regime at the same time.

And here we are on the Volkhov River in October 1941, scene of numerous Soviet offensives during the Battle for Leningrad. The river is pretty obvious, running north-south there is a ridge on the left, a small building in the south, another in the centre and a wood to the north with a track through it.

The Russians have 98 minutes to take three of the four major features (the two buildings, the track junction and the ridge). The Spanish win if they still hold two of these objectives AND inflict enough losses for the Russians to reach their break point. The big complication being that there is a river in the way, and it is night....

To get over the river, the Russians have twelve rafts - here modelled as motley collection of my 6mm boats, rafts and 1/600th Higgins boats! I'm going to treat these as soft vehicles, with the travel across the river counting as one hex movement. So a loaded unit can move across the river and unload on the far bank in one turn. You really don't want to be caught by fire loaded up in one though.

Here are the defenders from the Blue Division (so called because of the colour of the fascist berets). Here they are wearing more practical steel helmets. This is a  weak company with three reduced strength platoons with two sections each, along with three SFMG sections and a light (50mm) mortar section. The rifle sections are all rated as 'heavy' (3D6 firepower) as although they may not have many men, they still have all their MG34s. They are all rated as veterans based on the original scenario, and their breakpoint is six.

Firefall Forward specifies that night visibility is 12", which becomes 2 hexes in TaM. The 50mm mortar also has one round of illumination in the original scenario, so for TaM I made that two rounds. These land at the vertex of three hexes and illuminate all three, lasting for two turns.

Eagle eyed readers will notice that I'm only using one base per section instead of the more usual two (so more like Crossfire). The reason being this....

An entire Rifle Battalion from 267 Rifle Division! In the original scenario these are organised into two companies each of three platoons of four squads, half regular, half green. I'd much rather fight with an actual battalion so I reorganised them into three companies.

The first had three small platoons of two sections each (regular).

The second and third were both the same, one platoon of three regular sections and two platoons each of three raw sections. There is also a battalion support company with two Maxim MMG sections.

The breakpoint for this lot is thirteen.

The Spanish have to set up on the ridge, but I've deployed them ready to occupy the forward objectives (historically it was a Spanish patrol which discovered the crossings). One section and an MG will head for the southern building. Two more sections, an MG and the mortar will head for the central building and at the top, two more sections and an MG will occupy the wood. I've kept one section in reserve.

For the Russians their main problem is managing the great mass of units on an eight hex front. I gave 1 Co (the regulars) a front of two hexes, four boats and a Maxim in support. Their initial objective was the southern building.

2 Co was allocated three hexes in the centre. They also have four boats and a maxim in support as they have the most exposed approach Their initial objective is the building in the centre.

3 Co was allocated the top three hexes of front, but their crossing was concentrated on a two hex front due the marsh, which provides no cover and is an impediment to movement. Their objective is the wood, and it is tantalisingly close.

Once they have taken their initial objectives, all three companies will push for the hill. Simple! It really is quite a horde lined up to cross the river, and will stretch the TaM C3 system to the limit, which for a night river crossing seems quite appropriate.

I put the Russian CO in the south to help the 'veteran' company across. Naturally everybody else rolled a ton of command failures (the green counters) so the crossing began to descend into chaos from turn one, particularly in the centre.

The Germans were more fortunate. I put the CO in the centre to ensure the critical central position was occupied, particularly the wood which got a squad, MG and the mortar. This position is ideal to drop illum rounds along the whole front.

The southern force occupied the building and the northern column made good progress in the wood.

Having got the first wave of 1 Co over the river, to CO moved north to help 3 Co across. The centre was left to itself and naturally rolled up loads of out of command units. So far they only have one section over the river! Good job it is a 98 minute game...

Things go quite well in the north and two Russian sections make it to the edge of the wood. The 50mm mortar drops an illum round on the crowded river crossing however (little stack of yellow counters). This lets units fire at the adjacent hexes as it was daylight.

The German fire is a bit subdued however, one Russian section attempting to cross the river is destroyed. The northern Spanish platoon moves up to occupy the woods, despite the lurking Russians outside.

Most of 1 Co are across the river in the south now, but 2 Co only have a platoon or so across. One section manages to occupy the isolated wood. In the north, a couple of sections move into the marsh, but the rest are still mucking about in boats. 

To keep the Spanish occupied, one section charges the MG position. I would have attacked with two sections but naturally one was out of command.

Although the Russians were destroyed, they managed to pin both the MG and Spanish section.

The 50mm mortar dropped illum on the southern front now, but the Spanish in the building went out of command so couldn't exploit it. The central building fired on the 2 Co units in the wood as well as shooting up the (still illuminated) crossings.

In the south, 1 Co is pretty much all across the river but was hit with two out of command markers. 2 Co is still largely stuck on the wrong bank.

In the north, things remained bloody. The other Russian section in the open was shot down, but the Russians in the marsh managed to destroy the northern Spanish section. The MG rallied but the supporting section didn't (anything but a 1!).

The Spanish committed their reserve section to the north as things were looking quite dodgy there. In the south and centre 1 Co and 2 Co were still forming up (largely) out of range of the defenders. A whole platoon of 2 Co and the Maxim are still stuck on the wrong side of the river.

In the north, 3Co tried to get as much strength as possible over the river to rush the woods. The last of the illum rounds burned out.

36 minutes on the clock and the Russians still aren't all over the river.

In the north, the Russians rush the woods, trying to break in before the reserves arrive. The Spanish MG is on fire and guns down two sections while pinning a third and managed to make its ROF roll for all three, so isn't even marked with an opportunity fire marker!

1 Co in the south has more luck, pushing up to within range of the southern building and just losing one section.

2 Co in the centre has a disastrous turn though, as both sections in the woods are gunned down, and it still has troops on the wrong side of the river. That was a big turn and a bad one for the Russians.

In the north the massacre continues as another Russians section is gunned down and another is pinned. The German reserves are now in position.

But in the south, most of 1 Co is now in range of the building, covered by the Maxim, with one section pinned and another shot down as they move up. In an exciting development, the Spanish MG ran out of ammunition shooting up the Russians!

2 Co has finally got everyone over the river and is forming up before moving forward into range.

Sadly, in the north the massacre continues as the Russians in the marsh are shot down. That is no less than twelve Russian units destroyed now.

Taking advantage of the loss of the MG, and covered by the Maxim, the Russians rush the southern building. The dice are the last Spanish sections opp fire roll, 1,6,6.... down goes another Russian section and that is their breakpoint reached.

1 Co holds firm in the south.

2 Co falls back to the river bank in the centre.

And in the north 3 Co lies dead, scattered in front of the Spanish positions.

So, as the Spanish have achieved their victory conditions (and the Russians have clearly failed) the game ends at 60 minutes. The Russians have lost 13 units and the Spanish just one, which is pretty much in line with the historical outcome.

That was very entertaining, and I thought the rules worked OK with the much larger unit count. The amount of dithering on the Russian side was epic, and seemed entirely appropriate for an attempted river crossing at night by a 1941 Russian force. The chaos was such that I wonder if the Russians would have failed to achieve their objectives against no opposition at all! For a better led force, I might double up the number of command stands, but tbh I prefer smaller games to this one. The battalion level games in Crossfire are also a bit silly I think, and end up being like the monster scenarios in Squad Leader.

Although I enjoyed that, I didn't feel any great inclination to play it again. There was a lot of stuff to push around and a lot of decisions to make, and I generally prefer smaller games to that one for solo play.

Once more unto the breach.... Maldon (again)

 Only a few of us turned up for our pre Christmas meet up as everyone else had other things on. John produced the 'Battle of Maldon', which we've done several times before but works well as it is pretty simple but thought provoking and can take a fair number of players as teams.

A brief reminder. Saxons on the left, Danes on the right, Maldon up in the top left and a stream running  down the middle. The stream is fordable at a combat penalty. Either side wins if they wipe out the enemy, but sudden death victory happens if the Danes take Maldon or the Danish King is killed. 

Both sides have a core of infantry (move 1, cv 1) but the Danes have a pair of Berserkers (cv 2)  while the Saxons have a pair of cavalry (move 2, cv 1). Both sides have a Leader (can stack, +1 cv). So the Danes have an advantage in combat power, but the Saxons an advantage in mobility. 

I was the Saxons and Tim and Jim the Danes. You can only activate two units a turn so the Danes did the obvious thing of sending their berserkers forwards with the king as individually they have a 3:1 combat advantage over a standard Saxon.

Rather than fighting a losing defensive battle, I tried an indirect approach and attacked with the cavalry (and King) in the north. This caused a degree of confusion in the Danish ranks and a couple of infantry units lumbered north to stop me. 

My cavalry rode around riding down the second line Danes. 

And eventually they all ended up huddled around the bridge! I'd killed half the Danish army and lost only one unit so far. I'd still not managed to kill a berserker yet though. 

The concentration around the bridge didn't look very inviting but I went for it anyway. 

And was rewarded with another kill! The Danish King barely escaped with his life. 

Sadly that was the Saxons high point, I didn't have a tactical answer to the berserkers and the Saxons king went down in one charge too many. 

And after that, the few remaining Danes just marched around in a clump wiping out each Saxons unit in turn. The last Saxons tried a desparate charge against the Danish King, but it was defeated and Maldon fell. 

What a great little game, it is different every time. Although my initial strategy worked OK, it all went a bit pear shaped later on. There must be some way of manouvering to force the Danes to attack across the river as it is the only way to negate their combat advantage. Picking off their weaker units only gets you so far, and fighting at poor odds in the hope of good fortune isn't really an optimum strategy! 

Many thanks to John for putting that on. 

Roco WW2 personalities - Tail end Charlies

 The last three figures from the Roco WW2 Personalities set are a  bit of an odd bunch.

We have Rommel, Herman Goering and then Herman Goering. Two Goerings? really? I'd much rather have some more actual Generals, Patton or Bradley would have  been great. Anyway, this is what we have.

Rommel is fair enough. I already have a Rommel from QRF who is painted in temperate uniform, so I did this figure in Rommels Panzer Armee Afrika guise (the figure has very obvious sand goggles moulded on his hat).

At some point he acquired a tan jacket in the desert and was photographed extensively in it, which certainly isn't a regulation German issue one. It  might be Italian or privately purchased I guess.

Anyway I did him in a sandy jacket, olive green trousers with a red Generals stripe and jackboots. I did his cap grey as in photos it looks darker and also had a go at doing the sand goggles but they don't stand out very well. He is moulded with a huge pair binoculars hanging down at his waist, which actually proved quite hard to paint as they are virtually moulded into his body, but I got there in the end.

I realised later that I'd forgotten to paint his hands too! They are clasped in a very Rommellian stance behind his back. I added various Field Marshals distinctions in red and gold as well. 

He is a very useful figure and will be turning up a lot.

The first of the Goering figures is clearly modelled in the white Reichsmarshals uniform he favoured (and let stood trial at Nuremberg in). It isn't actually white but a very light grey with white piping.

A fascinating modellers rabbit hole is the unforms of very senior members of the Third Reich military and political establishment, which I had to delve into to a degree. So this is a genuine attempt at a Luftwaffe Reichsmarshals uniform - white/light grey jacket and trousers, black Sam Browne belt, and white dress cap with a black peak and gey band.

There are various bits of gold dabbed on for shoulder boards, collar tabs etc. 

This one really is the most useless figure of the lot, but it was in the box so I've painted it. I really can't imagine ever using it.

If I don't need one Goering figure, I certainly don't need two. However this figure is in a slightly more practical Field Marshal uniform and might do very well as 'Smiling' Albert Kesselring. He wasn't quite as portly as Goering but he was a bit stout.

This second figure I did as a Luftwaffe Field Marshal, which is mainly a dark blue uniform. The Dragon 1/6th scale model of Kesselring has him in a white/grey dress cap (like the previous Goering figure) but in photos he more commonly wore his Luftwaffe blues. I did think about mixing up some Luftwaffe feldblau, a sort of blue/grey shade, but the senior Generals uniform was distinctly blue.

So, 'Kesselring' got a dark blue hat jacket and trousers, white shirt and black tie plus white stripes down the trousers which was apparently a Luftwaffe thing. Standard Luftwaffe brown belt with a gold buckle and then varius collar tabs, shoulder flashes, chest eagle etc in gold.

The figure is brandishing a Field Marshals baton, which irl was blue, red and gold. I haven't quite got the colour balance right so I need to go over that one again.

This figure might be useful in some circumstances? Perhaps he could be Kurt Student at Arnhem. Who knows.

Anyway, they are all done now so that is another batch of stuff painted. As I said in earlier post, I much prefer painting batches of identical or similar uniforms to a random collection, I keep missing bits when they are all different.

Krasnodar June 1918 and Kazan August 1918

 Another couple of adventures in the Russian Civil War with Dominion of the Red and White. First up we have the second Kuban campaign, which centred on Ekaterinodar (Krasnodar) as Denikins Cossacks headed south again after their defeat in April, while the Don Cossacks headed north to Tsaritsyn (Stalingrad)

Battlefield from the south. Pretty open rolling steppe terrain, Krasnodar is at the bottom on a big river whose name escapes me and there is another river off to the northwest whose watershed is the high steppe. Otherwise there are scattered balkas lined with crops, villages etc which I've done as lines of trees.

Perhaps foolishly I set this up on a 3' x 3' cloth, which certainly gave an impression of rolling expanses, but was a bit big for a Dominion game! The photos look better with more stuff crammed together in a small area. Anyway, it is done now.

The Bolsheviks are defending Krasnodar and Denikin is attacking from the north.

The Whites have got two cavalry units (one on each flank), and two elite infantry units (the Volunteer Army)who have one unit in reserve and one in the centre. They also have a regular artillery unit in reserve and I added an HQ and supply column for the looks.

The Reds have got three infantry units in the front line. In reserve they have an unreliable artillery unit, and also two disciplined but unreliable infantry units. The Red Army had quite a few decent units in the Kuban, but they were dispersed putting down minor revolts. I guess the 'unreliable' rating reflects that they night be tied up elsewhere.

It does look quite nice on the bigger table.

The action opened on the left. As I've found in previous games, artillery support is vital for infantry heavy armies as it gives a +1 in combat. Denikins army suffers a bit from having good artillery but only two units which benefit from it. The cavalry do get a +1 for being n the flanks though.

When the smoke clears the Cossacks on the left have headed for home, but in the centre the Volunteer Army has routed the Bolsheviks, supported by their fearsome artillery.

The White reserve infantry plug the gap on the left, and the Reds are forced to call up some of their unreliable reserves. I'm marking unreliable units with a casualty marker (as they can become unreliable as a combat result), elite units have an MG and a leader indicates 'disciplined'. You can just see the mounted leader with the the centre Red unit.

Naturally the dice decree that the Whites attack on the right, and the cavalry duly ride into a hail of artillery and MG fire.

That goes as well a might be expected and more Cossacks stream to the rear. In the centre though, the Whites rout the Reds. The Reds did actually pass their reliability roll, but then lost the combat despite their better quality.

The last Red infantry marches up to fill the centre. Denikin is in trouble now though, as he has no option but to put his guns into the front line on the right. Out of reserve, they cant provide fire support to other units, whereas the Reds still have their guns available. That is one of the problems with having such a small army.

Fighting opens in the centre, and once more the Reds pass their reliability test. These guys are obviously Chekists. This time the fighting is inconclusive.

But over on the left, the Volunteers are routed by the Red infantry.

Things are looking bad for the Whites now, with their right hanging in the air.

Fate decrees a flank attack and the Red left routs the White centre.

Shortly followed by the artillery as the Red centre overruns the guns. Denikin has been crushed! That was the opposite of  the historical result, and it felt quite one sided, mainly as both the unreliable Red units stood and fought. Historically Denikin took the city and established a serious White presence in the Kuban which caused a lot of headaches for the Bolsheviks.

That was fun though and worth fighting again. I'll keep it shorter this time.

In something of a reversal of the previous game, the Whites smashed the Red centre and right in the first round! The Cossack cavalry had one of those interesting 'mutual annihilation' results, but in this Dominion set, the highest roller survives although cavalry become unreliable. So the Cossacks won, but got an unreliable marker. I really like that, a 'culminating victory' and all that.

Time for the Reds to call in their reinforcements, the columns rush up to fill the centre and right.

Enthused by their success, the Cossacks attack on the left and are duly routed by the Red infantry. However in the centre, the Red infantry run away in the face of the White artillery bombardment (they passed their reliability test, but were defeated by the elite White infantry despite being disciplined).

The White reserve infantry move into line on the left, but the poor old Red gunners suddenly find themselves in the front line. As they are unreliable they are very vulnerable, and of course it ends the artillery support for the other Red infantry, something I've found to be critical in these games.

The White infantry attack on the left with artillery support but are repulsed (no effect on either side), but on the right the disordered Cossacks attack and the Reds just run away (they failed their reliability test).

It was pretty much all over at that point. The Red gunners proved quite resilient and stood, fending off one flanking attack by the Cossacks (a miserable 1!), but were then overrun by the White infantry and Denikin captured Krasnodar, which is as it should be. That was a really interesting scenario and a good contrast to the previous Cossack battles.

In a change of pace, we have an incident from the RCW which has always fascinated me - the march of the Czech Legion from Ukraine to Vladivostock, capturing the Russian gold reserves on the way. The sort of crazy thing that could only happen in a civil war. 

Battlefield from the south. The Trans-Siberian railway runs across the map and on the right we have Kazan, on the upper Volga. This is about 450km east of Moscow, and I've added some hills on the right (foothills of thr Urals perhaps?) and various clumps of pine trees, the great Eurasian Forest.

So here we have the Czechs and Slovaks, Austro-Hungarian prisoners who who fought for Russia in WW1 to gain independance.  They fought way out of Ukraine once Russia surrendered and negotiated passage with across Russia to the Allied enclave in Vladivostock, but the Bolsheviks tried to disarm them which caused a large rebellion and the Czechs were joined by White Russian troops.

So here we have them, two elite infantry (Czech), two normal infantry (Whites) and regular artillery. Ive also put on one of my trains, as they rarely come out. I had this idea that the Czechs wore Adrian helmets, I've no idea why, so I've done them using some SCW figures in Adrians. Each Czech unit has an MG to indicate it is elite. So we've got two Czech and one White unit in the front line (the southern one).

The Red army is hilarious. In reserve there are a bunch of Red Guards holed up in Kazan (disciplined but unreliable), some unreliable artillery and a unit of Austro-Hungarian prisoners fighting for the Reds against the Czechs who the regard as traitors. In the front line are two units of Latvians, who proved to be surprisingly enthusiastic so are rated as elite (north and centre), while in the south we have Serbians, who are rather less enthusiastic about fighting for the Reds are rather like the idea of independence from Austria Hungary (they are rated unreliable).

This is a straight on infantry fight, with masses of infantry on both sides with artillery support. The Czech centre is routed by the Latvians, but the Serbs decide to fight and there is an inconclusive action in the south.

All the Czechs can do is put their reserve infantry into the line.

The Czechs attack in the centre but despite all the shells flying around, the result is inconclusive. In the south, both sides are routed - a very unusual result as it requires both sides to roll exactly the same, which they did. I imagine the White infantry being exhausted by the Red artillery, but the Serbs all busily deserting to join the Czechs, given the opportunity. 

The Austrians move up from reserve to take up the Serbs position (and no doubt dealing harshly with any stragglers), while the Czech gunners suddenly find themselves firing over open sights. As in the previous games, this is pretty bad news for the Whites and once again the peril of having a small army.

Although in fact the Austrians decline to attack the Czech guns. Instead both Latvian units launch a ferocious attack and break the Czech centre and  north. With just the artillery left intact, game over for the Czechs. Oh dear!

That felt like a really serious battle, so I just had to do it again.

The opening rounds went a bit differently this time. The Serbs decided to desert en-mass and collapsed without a fight, while the Latvians defeated the Czechs in the north.

The other Whites took up position in the north, while the Austrians took over the Serb position in the south. I've started moving the lines to indicate successes and failures as eagle eyed readers have no doubt spotted in early images.

The Czech centre earns its pay, attacking twice. Firstly routing the Latvians directly opposite and then hitting the Northern Latvians in the flank and routing them too. Medals all around!

The Red Guards sally forth to prop up the north, while the Red gunners starting firing over open sights at the Czechs. Neither choice is great as both units are unreliable, but if they stand, the guns fire before the (elite) Czechs, and the Red Guards are superior to the Whites as they are disciplined. But they need to pass their reliability tests.

Well, that is interesting. The Czechs attack in the centre, the guns stand and both sides bounce.  In the south, despite being under heavy artillery fire, the Austrians manage to rout the White infantry. Suddenly things aren't looking too good for the Czechs.

Once again the White gunners find themselves in the front line, and have an inconclusive exchange of fire with the Austrians. The centre falls quiet, and the Whites engage the the Red Guards. The latter fail their reliability test and promptly have an urgent appointment elsewhere! 

On the final round, the Red Army just collapses. The Whites in the north outflank and overrun the Red artillery, while the Czechs in the centre outflank and overrun the Austrians in the south - a proper grudge match.

And with that the Czechs storm into Kazan and load up all the Red gold! Very Kellys Heroes.

Brilliant, I really enjoyed both those games, particularly getting out the 15mm WW1 Russians again. What a fabulous set of rules, particularly for solo play. I really felt like an army commander, and combination of the activation system and interplay of unit types produced an excellent period feel and a really engaging narrative. Great stuff, and I'm glad Steven is going to revisit the Ancient set and incorporate some of the more nuanced mechanisms from the more modern sets.

That is probably enough Dominion of Red and White for now, I'm keen to try out some of the other sets I recently purchased and next time I'll revert to a smaller table so it is a bit easier to see what is going one. Apologies if a lot of the photos are basically just tiny brown figures on brown bases on a brown cloth.