Khe San

 Decision Games have published a number of solo games, and one particular series are the 'Cold War Blitz' games which share a common rules framework but have scenario specific rules and unit ratings bolted on. Tim brought the game covering Khe San along to one of our Zoom sessions to play as a 'collective' solo game.

It is an area movement map, with various types of terrain box - clear, Firebase, mountain, jungle, entrenched and VC staging areas in the DMZ and Laos. The routes linking the boxes represent various trails and roads including Highway 9.

The VC units are all inverted, only being revealed when they are in combat (and then they are inverted again) and the flow of the acton is driven by event cards which are very similar to those found in Quartermaster General, being based in historical events, but thy are used to determine each sides allowable actions and the run the 'AI' for the VC as well.

The player gets VPs for killing VC units and occupying key terrain (firebases, VC entrenchments and hills). An interesting wrinkle is you have no idea how long the game will last, as the 'end game' marker moves back and forth depending on the card draws, although losing Khe San itself is an immediate loss.

The US player starts with six units, one SF unit is placed in the Firebase near Laos, and the rest can deploy pretty well anywhere not occupied by VC, but obviously defending Khe San is important! The initial forces are a bit of a mix, an airfield garrison unit and an ARVN Regiment, niether of which are much good, an SF battalion and Marine Tank Company, and a Marine Regiment. The garrison unit is immobile so we put that on Khe San along with the Marines. The tanks and SF went in the Rock Quarry (another Firebase) and the poor old ARVN went up into the hills near that big stack of VC. The tanks can move 2 areas, everyone else only 1, which makes them a useful reinforcement, but being only a company, they aren't that powerful. 

On our first turn we drew a reinforcement card and opted for an Aircav Regiment, another Marine Regiment and some more transport helicopters (we had one already). We used the choppers to fly the Marines into Khe San, the Aircav onto ARVN Hill, so we could use the ARVN to occupy another hilltop.

We decided to find out what was in the trenches around Khe San with airpower, we had a Wing of B52s, four Wings of Sky Raiders and a Wing of C47 Spooks available. The B52s plastered the trenches next to Khe San and revealed two VC infantry units. While the Skyraiders uncovered VC elite Sappers and 37mm AA! The AA downed some of our planes and although we didn't inflict any losses, at least we knew what was there.

The VC response was fairly passive (I can't recall what cards they drew).

This isn't Dien Bien Phu, the US can't win by hiding in their Firebases, they have to attack to take terrain and destroy VC. The Marines sallied forth to assault the VC trenches next to Khe San, supported by Skyraiders.

We overcame the VC fairly easily, which was a real morale booster. I think some of my colleagues had been a bit nervous about attacking. One Marine unit was forced back but we stormed the trenches and eliminated the VC.

The VC responded with a big attack from Laos. Three units, including sappers, against a lone SF battalion! If the C47s hadn't been used for offensive air, they can be used as defensive support, so we threw them in.

We just managed to throw the VC back thanks to the air support, although the SF lost a step (our units could take 2 hits). The surviving VC were forced to retreat and we bombed them with the B52s.

After the success of our last attack, we took on the VC in the trenches next to the Quarry, throwing in the marine tank company to support the 1st Marine Regt and supported by Skyraiders. If you use B52s on a hex, you can't assault it as well.

That was another successful attack. Ooorah! Clearing out the areas next to our main objectives seemed to be a good idea, and then we could start looking at choke points on the communications network.

The VC had other ideas however, and a great mass of enemy units piled towards our base, making contact in the two hill 'triangles'.

We managed to hang on to one hill, but the ARVN were driven back to the Rock Quarry.

Time to counterattack. We did a mass ground/air cav assault on the captured hill, and bombed the heck out of the VC on the major road junction just north of Khe San (the map is upside down). The ARVN were parked out of harms way.

Our counter attack just kept rolling, and we launched a mass assault on the trenches near the DMZ.

It was all looking pretty peachy by now, piles of dead VC and everything secure.

Well, all peachy apart from this huge stack of VC who rolled down from the DMZ, while our guys were busy running around miles away. The airforce was sent to bomb them while we hastily redeployed our ground troops to meet the threat.

We massed all our Marines and Air Cav to take them on, and succeeded in destroying half of them and driving the rest back into the jungle. The ARVN and REMFs were left holding Khe San.

Which proved to be a mistake as VC units popped up in the trenches again. The ARVN were overrun and once more we had to charge back and try and restore the situation, this time the only units which could reach were the Air Cav in helicopters and the Marine tankers. Combined with air attacks, we managed to restore the situation.

Phew, we got away with it. We needed to avoid overextended ourselves again, so pulled back to a tighter perimeter. VC units started to build up menacingly again around the DMZ.

We had to call it a night at that point, and I've got no idea how close we are to the siege actually ending as the game end track is quite variable, going both up and down with different events. The US score points for areas currently occupied (not last controlled) and the current heap of dead VC units (from which new ones are generated) so both these totals go up and down. The only constant are the deductions for destroyed US units, although some events allow step losses to be restored.

The others played on the follwing evening, and eventually the game ended with a score of 25, a 'tactical victory', which is pretty much a draw. One more (26+) and it would have been an actual victory. Tims previous solo efforts had netted 15 VP, just enough to get in the 'Tactical Victory' band.

I was really impressed, what a clever game system, particularly the amount of fog of war it produced and critical decision making every turn. The ability of the system run VC to generate 'surprise' was very impressive, and it worked well as a team game too. Highly recommended. 

Dorchester ACV (3D Printing Valley)

 I wanted an armoured command vehicle for my Desert British, and finally tracked down a reasonably priced supplier for a Dorchester and ordered one. However some weeks later it still hadn't arrived, and as I am somewhat impatient at times, I ordered another one from 3D Printing Valley instead. It was quite pricy as it is a solid resin piece, but still under a tenner. 

It is a very nice model though, with the North African awnings and stowage rails. I think it came as a single piece print, I can't recall sticking the wheels on anyway.

Nicely raised detail, and deep panel lines too. Less cartoony than the 3DPV CMP Quads at any rate.

Lovely detail on the back, including tools and looped cable.

Here it is in its undercoated state. I got the order of the photos  slightly wrong there. 

I looked at a few different colour schemes, but in the end settled on Caunter with mid green over blue/grey. The whole thing got a pinwash into the panel lines and a light drybrush to emphasise all the rivets are hard edges.

Lovely model, very pleased with that, it looks just like the one Gerald Scarborough converted from an Airfix Matador. 

Birthday Book Haul

 It was my birthday recently, and a good gift option for the family are gaming publications. I'd have probably have bought these anyway, but I'd much rather have these than more pairs of running socks!

A fair heap of stuff, with an emphasis on scenario books. I do like a good scenario book. 

First up, Napoleonic Bloody Big battles scenarios. I mainly got this as I've been scratching my head over Eylau for ages now as the sources are so contradictory, and this one has an Eylau scenario in it I can plagiarise. It has some other decent battles in it too, including an interesting take on Dresden and Borodino. All grist for my One Hour Napoleonic rules, but I'll prioritise setting up a decent Eylau scenario to go with my Friedland one.

I didn't buy this at the time, but as I'm on a Napleonic kick at the moment, and this has tons of Napoleonic stuff in it, as well as Nick Hubands 3x3 WW1 rules which I want to have a look at. I contributed a fair bit to the first one, so got a free copy of that, but I didn't write anything for this one.

TYW is a period I'm desperate to like, I've read tons of books on it, studied it at University, even watched re-enactors recreating Wallensteins amphibious assault in Stralsund etc but I have yet to play many decent games of the period. This book has a good range of scenarios which will hopefully get me going, and although I find the later iterations of the TsK rules themselves ludicrously complicated, the original Twilight of the Sun King were beautifully simple and accessible.

Ditto for the English Civil War. Although tbh the ECW battles are well documented in Cassells 'Battlefields of Britain', I've only really dabbled with this stuff.

While Alexander was critically panned, I thought it was a decent effort and this version (there are many, many versions) is supposed to be the best and includes scenes covering Alexanders upbringing. The recent Netflix series on Alexander was also excellent and I'd recommend it if you haven't seen it.

Finally, I was going to ask for the published version of NQM as a present, but Chris had a knockdown sale at the recent big Megablitz game and it was too tempting to turn down. This is one of the very rare unsigned copies!

The Road to Tamarovka

 This scenario follows on straight from the Streletshoya game, and covers 1st Tank Army exploiting south after penetrating the defences of LII Infantry Corps west of Belgorod in the afternoon of 3rd August 1943.

Tamarovka was the main rear rail link for 4th Panzer Army, and also provided an east-west road/rail link to Belgorod and Armee Abteilung Kempf. As such, it was a vital objective for 1st Tank Army in the encirclement of Belgorod. It was also a key point for the Germans, who had stationed 19th Panzer Division in the area as a tactical reserve..

Battlefield from the south. Tamarovka is the church in the bottom left. The Vorshla valley is off to the left and the terrain in this part of Ukraine is a raised plateau with Balkas leading off to east and west. The plateau has the main N-S highway, and nowadays, also a rail line, but the line wasn't there in 1943. It is mainly open farmland with a few rises and depressions. The major feature is Hill 116 in the top left corner.

The main blocking force is IR 677 from 322 Infantry Division. Here they are dug in behind the stream, supported by anti-tank and infantry guns and a battalion of towed 105mm guns. There is a roadblock across the road on the south side of the stream.

Their aim is too prevent more than two Russian units exiting the south road hex. 

John A commanded the Germans. 

Riding to the rescue is the bulk of 19th Panzer Division! They will enter on turn 1 from the west. 19th Panzer was also a converted infantry division, but emerged from Kursk with 60 operational tanks in one large battalion of four companies. As Grossdeutschland was gallivanting around on the Mius, the division was also assigned 52nd Panzer Battalion, with an authorised strength of 96 Panthers...

52nd Panzer Battalion claimed nearly 300 tank kills by the end of August 1943, and the Russians persistently misidentified the Panthers as Tigers. Hardly surprising as the Panther was brand new in Summer 43. 

KG Koenig has I/27th Panzer Regiment and II/73rd PGR. 52nd Panzer battalion only had around 15 operational Panthers at this time, so I've just done them as a reinforcing company. The battalion had 46 Panthers under repair, which was partly why they were still in Ukraine and not on the Mius.

KG Johann has II/27th Panzer Regt and I/73rd PGR, the armoured panzergrenadier battalion.

And finally, divisional services. HQ, medical and repair units. a battalion of Wespes and a flight of Me110 fighter bombers. The rest of the division is fending off 6th Guards Army to the northwest.

Rolling towards them is the whole of 3rd Mechanised Corps. It was supposed to be the whole of 1st Tank Army, but the crossing of the Vorshla proved to be very difficult for 1TA, so 3 Mech ended up leading the advance on its own.

3rd Mech was the pride of 1st Tank Army, with three Mechanised Brigades, three Tank Regiments and two Tank Brigades. We've already met one of their Tank Brigades doing Forward Detachment stuff.

In the lead are 1st and 3rd Mechanised Brigades, commanded by Jerry and Simon respectively. Each has three motorised rifle battalions, a Tank Regiment and their own artillery battalion. I've modelled each them as two units, one with tank support. 1 MB also has the Corps engineer battalion and FAC, while 3 MB has the Corps towed AT Regiment and the FOO for the Corps artillery. 

Next up is 1st Guards Tank Brigade, then 10th Mech Brigade and the Corps services: HQ, supply columns, Guards Mortar Regiments and a flight of Sturmoviks.

These are just line units, so I rated them as 'poor' (5 hits each) apart from 1 GTB which was one of the best units in the Russian Army. The other Tank Brigade and motorcycle battalion are off doing deep recce and Forward Detachment stuff, as including them would make the Corps overwhelmingly powerful.

The Russians have to get three or more units off the southern road edge. Eagle eyed readers will notice that this one of the 'Flank Attack' Neil Thomas scenarios, and we've actually done it before as 'Escape from Tula'. The OBs are historical, and the terrain is lifted straight from Google Earth, apart from Hill 116, which I added in as scenario terrain. This actual battle took place slightly further south, but it captures the flavour of it. As with the previous engagement, my main source for this is Glantz's 'From the Don to the Dneipr', an excellent if somewhat obscure book. 

The action opened with a very aggressive drive south by 1st and 3rd Mech Brigades, fanning out as they hit the German line along the stream. 19th Panzer contented itself with occupying Hill 116, bringing the road under long range fire. The rest of 3rd Mech piled on down the road, ignoring the threat to their flank for now.

The German armour was up on the ridge with the panzergrenadiers in support. Long range fire from these positions inflicted a few hits on the Russian column.

The Russians had decided early on to go hell-for-leather across the river and try to overwhelm the defenders. 1st Guards Tank Brigade moved up to support 1st MB, as the engineers crossed the bridge to try and clear the wire and roadblocks on the other side covered by Katyusha fire. 3rd MB bypassed the defenders and crossed the steam further west, and 10th Mech Brigade ignored the German tanks completely and just continued down the road.

I think I must be missing a photo here as at least one Russian unit had already been destroyed by massed German artillery and defensive fire along the river barrier. 1st GTB is actually occupying the space previously held by 14th Tank Regiment.

Faced with the headlong Russian advance, the German armour didn't have any choice but to set off in pursuit, scattering rear echelon elements as they came. The figure standing in the road is the Russian Corps Commander (Tim) with his megaphone, shouting imprecations at the German tanks.

Personally I would have been inclined to leave a rearguard behind to slow the Germans up, but the Russian units aren't very resilient with only five hits each. It might not sound like much, but 5 hits vs 6 makes a big difference in game terms.

The 1st MB engineers reorganise while 3 MB assaults the bridge defenders supported by air and Katyushas. This reduces hem to two hits and leaves them disorganised. 1st GTB plinks away at the other German infantry but just one unit engaging dug in defenders is never going to be decisive.

10th Mech decides to stand and fight, and manages to inflict enough losses to actually disorganise one of the Panzer battalions. By now though, the German armour is perilously close to the rear of the Russian forces. The cornfields break up the LOS for many units however.

The German response is quite muted. The damaged Panzer unit is reorganised, but otherwise the Germans content themselves with fairly ineffective shooting. Artillery ammunition is running low now but the 1st MB engineers are disorganised again.

Frustrated by a lack of targets, 19th Panzer pushes on through the fields en masse, running up against the rear of 10th Mech Brigade.

Time for another big Russian effort at the bridge. 3rd Mech closes up with the bridge defenders, while they are pummelled with the last of the Katyusha and Sturmovik ammo and 10th Mech Brigade slips some units across the river too.

The Germans mange to resupply the bridge defenders, back from the brink as they were carrying five hits but still disorganised. The 1st Mech Brigade engineers finally succumb to German defensive fire and the Panzers push right up to the Russians crushed against the river. If the Russians can just shift that one German infantry battalion, they can still get three units off the southern road. 

3rd Mechanised Brigade manages to overrun II/677 and the road is open! However I/677 still exerts a ZOC and the Russians are faced with retaliation from 19th Panzer, who are all now nicely lined up in firing positions.

Kabloom! The German fire is devastating and two more Russian units vanish from the table. There are only three Russian units left, but that might still be just enough...

The Russians cook up a bold plan, all their remaining indirect fire assets pound I/677, and 1st Guards Tank Brigade attempts to overrun it, crossing the stream in the process!

Sadly the overrun just fails, as the battered German infantry hang on with 1 hit remaining. 1GTB falls back. The remains of 3rd and 10th Mechanised Brigades slip off the table to south however.

The German units in range fire on 1 GTB, but only inflict one hit. However the Panthers of 52nd Pz Abt are in position to simply drive down the road and block the exit route, and I don't think even 1st Guards Tank Brigade can take on half a Panzer Division on its own. We called it a day at that point, 1 GTB could slip away to the east but wasn't going to be heading south today.

That was sooo close, but actually a fairly historical result. IRL 3rd Mech Corps was surprised by 19th Panzer and took quite a battering, falling away to the east to reorganise and wait for the rest of 1st Tank Army to come up. The Germans had won for now, but the Battle for Tamarovka would resume the next day.

That worked OK, although the big battle around the bridge was quite hectic to run and left me exhausted afterwards. That happens sometimes with remote games. I think the Russian plan was sound, they either need to focus on a rapid breakout OR focus on defeating the flank force first, and they came close to pulling it off. Being outflanked is always hard. It was great fun putting an entire Mechanised Corps on the table, interesting formations which are a bit under represented in wargames I feel. I also greatly enjoyed getting my Zvezda Panther Ds out, they don't come out to play very often, and this is a battle they took part in historically. As always, the historical research on the various units involved and the terrain is also fascinating. We shall be meeting 19th Panzer and 1st Tank Army again.

CMP Quads

 To go with my new BPM 25 pounders, I also needed some more quads to tow them. I added a couple to my order with 3D Printing Valley.

Like most of their range, they are obviously more aimed at 1/56th scale Bolt Action, but they are nice enough models in 1/100th if a bit cartoony. These are CMP Quads, so have the characteristic snub nose, and also a different arrangement for the spare wheel on a sort of platform.

The bodies are printed as single pieces, but they come with separate wheels and axles, so a fair amount of assembly was involved. I couldn't quite get the front wheels lined up right, but it is good enough for wargaming.

There is a nice amount of raised detail, slightly exaggerated. The parts all fitted perfectly with no flash. These vehicles make a nice change from my fleet of QRF Quads.

You can see what I mean about the front wheels not being quite right. I did these in mid brown with black disruptive to match the latest batch of 25pdrs, so now I have eight Quads, each in pairs with different colour schemes! Hopefully that will be enough.