Battle of Lodz, Galkow, 21st November 1914. Virtually.

Avid readers my recall last weeks post covering the continuing Lodz campaign here. We had to terminate the game halfway through the second day, which was a bit unfortunate. In the current Covid19 lockdown, there aren't any opportunities for f2f play, so after the success of Tims Stalingrad matrix game (reported here), I thought it would be an interesting experiment to try and run the last few turns of the game over Skype.

Just to refresh everyones memory, the engagement had ended with German XX Corps well dug in against the Russian IInd Corps barring the rail line to Lodz (off table to the left).

But sadly the Russians' Lowicz Group had pushed rapidly westward across and was now threatening the German rear, delayed only by the heroic German 6th Cavalry Div having wiped out the brigade from 1st Reserve Corps standing in their way.

This left the poor old Germans in a bit of a vice, as the leading Russian brigade was actually adjacent to the German Corps HQ!

I set the game up on the dining table, and then spent some time experimenting with the camera on my Samsung tablet to find the best viewing angles. In the end, putting it on an old shoe box about six inches from the end of the terrain gave the best view. 

Then I realised that with the camera running in full screen mode, it was going to be very hard to run the game while communicating with the players, so as a backup I also enlisted the help of my laptop and phone. I set up a Skype group for the game with all the players in, then kicked off a group call. It became apparent very quickly that the comms wasn't going to work,  I ran the camera session from the tablet as one Skype call, and dialled in from my phone.

That was when the feedback started, so I had to mute the Skype session on my tablet, and I used earphones with my phone to damp out any background noise which would also cause feedback.

We were finally up and running! I basically just asked the players to tell me what they were doing, and I moved the toys and rolled the dice. Simon and Tim C reprised their roles as Russians, while Tim G filled in for John and the German side with Jerry. Johns microphone hadn't arrived when we ran the game. 

The action opened with lots of cavalry combat. The German 6th Cavalry Div dismounted and got their rifles out, to defend the German HQ. The Russian cavalry charged on the right flank, trying to overrun the German 150mm howitzers in Strykow.

I had chosen an OP14 game as each formation activates in card order, which made it easier to adjudicate what each player was doing. I've done a lot of big group video sessions at work and you need to be more disciplined about who speaks and when.

The Russian infantry managed to push back the German cavalry, but in turn they were shelled by the German field guns and driven back with some losses. This Russian brigade was now reduced to 50% strength and incapable of offensive action until reinforced. The German cavalry, artillery, HQ and LOG train were now all stacked up together however.

One issue which was become apparent quickly was map orientation and unit location. It was very hard for the players to know where stuff was and where it needed to go as there was not grid marked on the table. I ended up moving the tablet around a lot to focus on bits of the battlefield, which was a bit tricky while also holding a phone and trying to throw dice! 

I think I'd imagined the players giving me their general intentions and I'd interpret it, but instead we moved each unit hex by hex as if we were at the club. I should have made a compass rose or similar. 

The Germans responded by moving a brigade across to secure the northern flank of Strykow. Their eastern line was now looking more secure, with an infantry brigade, the entire Corps artillery and a cavalry division facing the Russians. The Russian cavalry have their first exhaustion card as they are at 75% strength, as does the 6th Cavalry Division. Cavalry are quite fragile.

Disaster strikes in the German centre. The Russian IInd Corps artillery fires counter battery on the German field guns, also catching the German cavalry and German Corps HQ in the barrage. The German guns are hit, the cavalry loses a stand and the Corps HQ is dispersed for the rest of the day. That is probably the most effective OP14 barrage I've ever seen. Oh dear.

Things are suddenly not looking too good.

Down in the south, the German detached brigade is busily marching northwards to regain contact, pursued by a brigade from Russian IInd Corps. The loss of the HQ puts all the German units out of command and this brigade dithers, allowing the Russians to catch up. By massive good fortune (the Russians didn't score any hits at all!) the marching German column survived unscathed.

The two fresh brigades in Lowicz Group pushed westwards, up against the German cavalry and fields guns.

While the German planes chase the Russian ones. Yes, I know it isn't 1917, but these the only planes I had...

The Russians try to envelop the German flank in the north and pin the Germans down there. The battered German cavalry retire into the village with the howitzers. The weak Russian units in the north are all at half strength, so unable to attack. However they can exert a zone of control with their MGs and rifles into the adjacent hexes.

In the south, the lower German brigade deploys, but the Russians have pushed up behind them, covering their retreat route with MG fire. Russian IInd Corps chooses to dig in rather than push up in turn, leaving something of a tenuous corridor...

By now the Lowicz Group has amassed a pile of exhaustion cards (one for each loss over 25%) but is still going strong. Their artillery has now caught up. They have advanced 20km in two days, which for 1914, in winter, isn't bad at all. 

As night falls, IInd Corps is still holding the outskirts of Lodz, but hasn't pushed up quite enough to close the gap in the north, so the Germans will be able to pull back.

With that,we ended things. It was surprisingly close to the historical result as in the real battle the Rusians captured Galkow (the southern village) but the German XX Corps ended up a hedgehog around Strykow in the north. Both Russian corps are close to exhaustion but the overnight phase will allow some losses to be recovered, while the German XX Corps is almost unscathed apart from its field artillery and HQ. In any case, a creditable effort by all the players, I really thought XX Corps was going into the bag, but the Germans managed to pull together and effective defence at the last moment, despite Tim Cs excellent command of the Lowicz Group.

In real life, this battle left the XXV Reserve Corps, 3rd Guards Division and Von Richtofens cavalry corps cut off further south, so we shall see what happens to them in future instalments.

I certainly learned a lot about running online games. For the next one, I'll have a think about a better organisation of the map and comms. Yes, we could use a virtual tabletop, but I'd rather play with toys.  Many thanks to the players for tolerating the moderate chaos at times.

I've also learned a lot more about Skype. Just how many new collaborations tools will I have to learn in the current crisis? At least at work we seem to be standardising on just a few now.

Bodged M16 halftrack

A few years ago I picked up a great bargain at Triples, a PSC US 1944 Tank Company army pack. The RRP on these is usually over 80 quid and iirc this went for about 25 so a great saving. It includes a dozen Shermans, three M5s and five M3 halftracks as well as a full companies worth of US Infantry.

I already have some M3 halftracks so I didn't need to assemble the ones in the box, but I had it in mind to do a few conversions as my US troops seem to be a bit short of AA weapons. Let the bodging commence!

The PSC halftrack is a quite a simple model, reminiscent of the old Airfix offering. It offers M3 and M3A1 variants with both .30 cal and .50 cal MGs.

There aren't too many fiddly parts, but to get things straight I put the body together in one go as there aren't any obvious locating pins on the parts.

That came out OK. Unlike earlier PSC offerings, the tracks are single piece mouldings and beautifully detailed. I'm glad they have stopped doing the multi-part tracks.

The halftracks also come with some passengers, and as my existing collection is a bit bare, I thought I'd paint a few up. I just did them in plain khaki (maybe they'd just got their woollen shirts on today) so at a glance they'd pass for US, Russian and maybe even British troops... I did think about doing some sort clever insert thing with different US, British and Russian figures on but in the end I couldn't be bothered.

I did three or four seconds of  extensive research on the internet and found a few grainy pictures of M16 AA halftracks. Good enough for a bodge. I first built a box out of plastic card in roughly the right size. The curved rails defeated me so I just cut curves with a pair of scissors.

Among other things, I have around seventeen PSC Shermans which yielded a plethora of spare .50 cal MGs. I've also got a load of spare metal PP and Battlefront ones, but the plastic is easier to work with. The guns are heaped up next to the mount. Only one barrel broke getting them off the sprue.

The mount sits OK in the back. I should have probably taken the seats out, but hey ho. The tops of the armoured sides were often folded down  on the real thing, but there are plenty of pics with them up too.

On the real thing, the .50 cals have a sort of semi-circular high capacity mag (possibly powered?) which sits above the breech. I didn't fancy scratch building those so I just chopped up the standard .50 cal mounts and put the ammo boxes on top of the guns. I'm sure that will be fine.

While the guns were drying I put a figure in the mount. For some unaccountable reason I used a US tank crewman, when I could have just used one of the passenger figures. Well, I don't suppose it matters. As he hasn't got any legs I had to build a little platform for him to sit on.

The really fiddly bit was sticking the guns on in a manner which approximates the original, and getting them all pointing in roughly the same direction. Not easy with big banana fingers, but thank goodness for plastic and the melting qualities of Revell Contacta glue. On the real thing the magazines overlap the guns above, but I couldn't work out how to do that in a study enough manner to survive handling. 

I was going to keep the AA mount free standing (like my Russian quad Maxims) but in the end I just stuck the whole thing in the back. It doesn't look too bad I think, and you can also see the exquisite detail on the PSC model.

After that it was just a matter of painting. Basic OD (VJ Russian Uniform with a wash of Bronze Green) then a good dollop of mud and dust. I did the crew the same as the passengers in plain khaki and didn't do any markings so it can pass for both US and Russian service.

I'm pleased with how that turned out, it sits like the real one. I do enjoy doing these little modelling projects, even if it is completely pointless, as I expect you can buy a model of one of these.

Here it is based up.

Funny how basing just makes things look better, even vehicles (although I know many people who don't base vehicles)

Battle of Lodz, Galkow, 20th November 1914

On we go with the battles of the Lodz campaign. Avid readers will recall the first battle at Kutno, as recorded for posterity  here.

So, the Germans have encircled Lodz and XX Corps is facing west maintaining the siege in contact with Russian IInd Corps. 1st Reserve Corps and 6th Cavalry Div are maintaining a screen to the east, all to cover the the lines of communication of the German infantry and cavalry corps operating further south. Only a single brigade of 1st Reserve Corps is present, the rest are in an arc off to the north.

The Russians have meanwhile assembled a counterattack force around Lowicz to reopen communications to Lodz and isolate the Germans further south. Off we go to Poland, one wet and cold day in late November 1914.

We ran this using OP14 on my Hexon terrain with 15mm toys.

XX Corps defend Strykow, facing due west. Jerry took XX Corps. The weather is poor, which has grounded both sides aircraft.

This brigade was detached further south covering the road through Galkow. Lorries can be seen in the distance.

6th Cavalry Division in a screen facing east. John took 6th Cav and the single lonely brigade from 1st Reserve Corps. Lowicz is dimly visible in the distance, 8km away.

The Russian IInd Corps appears from the west, with a lot of lurking in the woods. Simon was in command here. This Corp is quite weak, certainly not strong enough to take Strykow on its own.

The rather stronger Lowicz group rolls on, commanded by Tim C. They also have a cavalry division. These all came marching on in fine style.

6th Cav pushed forward its screen tl slow them up. The Russian cavalry deployed from march into a tactical formation.

And pushed back some of the German cavalry while the Russian infantry deployed into combat formation.

The German cavalry formed up into combat formation as a tide of Russian infantry (some 25,000 of them!) rolled forward on a 6km front.

Things weren't going so well for IInd Corps as they pobed the German defences, suffering losses from German artillery fire. The German HQ rapidly evacuated Strykow when it came under area fire the Russian artillery though.

The Russians shelled the German cavalry who fell back as the Russian infantry followed up. The Russian cavalry meanwhile dismounted and set about deploying their MGs. What were they up to? The Russians were now firmly in control of the ridge.

After this success the Russians pushed on relentlessly. It really was a Russian steamroller. The German cavalry shook out into a screen again, while the Russian cavalry remounted and rapidly changed flanks.

They came up behind the Russian HQ which had a nice view from the ridge. The weather cleared up in the afternoon but the airforces of each side added little to ongoing action.

Night fell shortly after (the days are short in Poland in November) and both sides reorganised. The cavalry fell back to water and feed the horses, and the infantry frantically reinforced their hasty trenches while some losses were recovered.

The day dawned bright and clear and German airforce was first to respond and a spotter plane called down fire on the deployed IInd Corps, braving a hail of Russian MG AA fire to do it. (Yes, I know it is an Albatross, but Tim G wasn't around to bring his early WW1 planes). The unsightly white trenches are temporary ones which weren't built up overnight. I didn't bring my other trench markers.

The Russians are suddenly getting very close to the XX Corps rear areas, despite the best efforts of 6th Cavalry Div. The leading Russian brigade is only 4km from both XX Corps logistics train as well as the critical supply route leading south.

1st Reserve Corps decides it is time for a heroic sacrifice to slow up the Russian juggernaut. Its lone German infantry brigade leaves its nice snug trenches and attacks the flank of the Russians. The Russians don't have any artillery or MGs deployed as they are busy marching forward. To everyones amazement, the Germans succeed in pushing back the Russian flank guard, although taking some losses in the process. Iron Crosses all around!

The Russian respond forcefully. Every gun in range unlimbers and plasters the Germans, and the Russian infantry counterattack, causing enough losses to break the surviving Germans who turn tail and run. The Russian brigade is reduced to 50% strength in the process.

The Russians continued to press forwards, they've actually got units next to the German supply train and they are only a couple of km from the German artillery positions, who are rapidly turning around to face the oncoming threat. At this rate XX Corp is going to go into the bag as only 6km seperate the leading elements of Lowicz Group and IInd Corps.

The Russian steamroller pressing up against 6th Cavalry Div. Sadly we had to call it a day at that point as the Manchester-Sheffield Wednesday football match promised gargantuan traffic jams and various people dived for the lifeboats. Jerry proposed that perhaps we could set up these positions and finish it off (hence the detailed photos of where everyone is) but we'll see.

XX Corps detached brigade are still dug in covering Galkow from the west, apparently oblivious to all those Russians behind them.

Historically the Russians captured Galkow, diring a corridor through to the encircled Russian troops in Lodz.  XX Corps fell back to the north but retained a hold on Strykow. All the German troops further south were cut off however, which posed something of a problem for von Mackenson

Peter Pig 1/100th scale 10.5cm LG 40

The 10.5cm Leichgeschutz 40 was developed by Krupp after the success of the 7.5cm LG 40 on Crete. The weapon entered service in 1942, and although intended as another paratrooper weapon, it ended up equipped two Heer artillery battalions.

I made this up from a Peter Pig model, acquired many years ago from an ex-member of the club. It has been languishing in my spares box ever since, but given my recent spate of artillery modelling, I though it was time to give it a go.

Here it is, a squat little weapon as befits its air portable heritage. Amazingly this fired the same shells as the 10.5cm LeFH 18, albeit with different propellant charges Which was why it ended up in regular artillery battalions.

Eagle eyed readers will note that the crew don't look much like Fallschirmjager, and that is because they aren't. The 10.5cm LG40 battalions were assigned to Gebirgsjager units which fought in the Arctic and with Army Group Centre. Very eagle eyed readers will note the little 'Eidelweiss badges' on these chaps caps and right sleeves. Well, little blobs of silver paint anyway.

The PP model came with three FJ crew, but I dug out some Afrika Korps gunners and filed their cap peaks down a bit so they looked more like GJ.

View from the back. There isn't much of a trail at all, I guess because there isn't any recoil. Judging by the size of the gas aperture at the back, you don't want to stand behind one of these.

It only had four parts and went together very easily. I should have held the wheels in place with a bit of blu tak, but instead I had to use my fingers while the glue dried. Once it was all done, I just gave it a rough coat of dark blue grey, a heavy drybrush of field grey (RAL 6006) and then a dust drybrush.

It can join my ever increased collection of mountain artillery. A 105mm mountain gun! No wonder the GJ grabbed them all.