Dave had to postpone this game from Sunday to last night,but it was well worth the wait!!
WW2 is not my "thing" but last night Paul and I commanded an American force,tasked with capturing a German high command Chateau,defended by Graham and Brian-and I quite enjoyed it!!!
This set the tone for the night! a raucous rendition of "Brian has only got one ....,the other is in the Albert Hall" was followed by a torrent of abusive bad language from the man himself!!!
A grand shot from Brian,and two even grander shots from Graham,knocked out three of our column's vehicles,rendering the road impassable!!-what a good start! Paul and I had to take to the fields to avoid the burning tanks and half-tracks.
A half-track,don't they burn nicely??At the front of the column you can just see a Stewart tank burning nicely too!! But then things took a turn for the worse for Graham's contingent of tanks-he missed some sitting "ducks" with some horrendous dice throwing-hurrah!! allowing us to get into some good positions-this,mixed with some very lucky dice throws from me,caused the Germans to re-think their positions,and Graham started to retire,in text book fashion,however Brian was causing Paul all kinds of grief,from concealed positions!!
As Paul deploys an infantry platoon,I moved one of my Shermans up to support him against Brian's hidden/dug-in troops-lovely looking stuff!
Graham is looking worried,as well he might-more and more American troops and armour are "pouring " onto the board,and his positions on the hill are looking decidedly "dodgey"
Following Paul's advice,I started to move onto Graham's flank,forcing him to retire(it's good being retired!) however Brian was still giving Paul a hard time!!this was very tight indeed!
Brian is looking pleased with himself,he has effectively stopped Paul in his tracks(or is that half-tracks?-ha,ha, what a wit!!) Time for an infantry assault,I think.
Top (two????) photo's show my attempt at out-flanking Graham's position,but bottom photo shows my other deployed infantry being pinned by heavy machine gun fire(that's not fair!!)
The game still hung in the balance,until Brian and Paul had a duel of tanks,both knocking each other out,and Brian now had nothing left to defend the Chateau with,and Paul had tanks galore coming into play against his positions!!
One final shot of the American infantry sweeping across the central hill,and onwards to victory!
This was a very enjoyable(if confusing,to me) game which was endorsed by us all-well done to Dave!
Both Paul and Brian are unavailable next week(bloody holidays!!) so it will be up to Graham,Dave and I to play a Dacian vs Romann game.-roll on next Sunday.
After a bitter dis-appointment at Border Reiver show on Saturday,we needed a good game to lift our spirits,and last night was just the tonic.
We revisited last week's game,but the British were in possession of the village(with less forces than the previous game)and the Germans had an awful lot more armour to attack it with!!!
This shot is taken about move number 3,the Germans are advancing on the village,and the British are not revealing any of their hidden troops-the Germans were in for a bit of a surprise!
The houses look good though!!!
This is about move number 6(!) and "first blood" goes to the British,who have revealed a hidden tank(behind the beautifully made house) which knocked out a German tank-this sparked a flurry of activity,which saw 5 other tanks being hit and destroyed in the next move!!!
This is Brian's flank c/w a fearsome Tiger Tank. Colonel "Pussyfoot",as we now call Brian,took his time getting his lead tank into position,only to get it knocked out by a PIAT,hidden in the small(but beautifully made) house on the side of the road!!
Colonel "Pussyfoot",or Brian as we now call him(!) sent a platoon of infantry and a tank straight down the road,but was met with a hidden anti-tank gun,and small arms fire from the houses(beautifully made!) either side of the road,plus a mortar-and sent packing back up the road!!!
Don't German tanks burn nicely?-a grand example of Brian's painting ability.
A general view of the village around move 9-the Germans are making headway,and on the left flank Brian is making his Tiger count,by knocking seven shades of s..t out of the British reinforcements,in the shape of Shermans,which have now entered the fray!!-all looks doom and gloom for the brave defenders.
One final shot of the table(Paul is missing-having gone to pick up his daughter from the railway station!!) and Graham has just admitted defeat(but not dishonour!)
The game raised a few queries and questions,which were discussed and any amendments will be made before the next WW2 game-well done lads,another good performance by all.
Roll on next Sunday-very likely a "Crusades" type game.
If knowledge is power,then our small club must have the most powerful members in the wargames world!!-It is well known that I am not a fan of WW2,but the rest of the "boys" are,and last night we had a most interesting game and rules test,and it always amazes me the amount of knowledge the "boys" have-I look at a tank model,and see a tank!-they can tell what the model is,where it was made,what theatre of war it was used in and what year!!!!
The top photo is the scenario(which Dave came up with) and the bottom photo is the table before any movement-all figures and tanks/vehicles were provided by Brian.
Dave and Brian were the Germans whilst Paul and Graham were the British-I was designated as the "war correspondent" and observer!!
The game "kicks off" with a lively discussion on tactics,objectives etc. but no action!
Now there's some action!-a beautifully photographed Stuka(decked out in Romanian colours??!!) makes an appearance,and is attempting to bomb the British column-it failed,but looked tremendous!!
"Anything you can do..."-a beautifully photographed Spitfire makes a "straffing" and bomb run,causing the first casualties,as the British move into position-great stuff!
Brian is deep in thought,and contemplating his next move,as Graham keeps an eye on him!!
The village is occupied by the Para's who are awaiting the Column,and the Germans are beginning to deploy-in the foreground you can see Brian's tank about to knock out Paul's Sherman,on the bend in the road!
This is Paul's Sherman just before being sent to tank heaven!!-the British are all over the village now and "digging in" as well as occupying the various buildings.
As the game develops,another discussion-this is fascinating to me-armour thickness,size of guns,movement,ranges etc. etc. these "boys" know it all,but still listen to what each other have to offer-and that's the way to develop rules-wonderful!!
Paul,with the leading British column,has seen most of the action so far,but now it is Graham's turn-he is moving through the gap in the Bocage,and into position to protect the flank, Brian might have something to say about that!!
Brian is sending a couple of platoons of infantry,unseen,behind the Bocage,ready to "rush" the defenders in the village,meanwhile he has deployed a couple of tanks to protect their flank,but Graham has an anti-tank gun deployed too!!
BOOM!!-GOTCHA!!- Brian's leading tank gets knocked out,and that's when the German luck seems to have run out,and a spate of "knock-outs" followed in quick succession.
A flurry of activity! The German advance has been stalled,and Graham's column is now pressing forward-looks like the end for the Germans.
Where has everyone gone?
It's no good asking him,he can't see over the Bocage!!!
One final shot of Graham's tanks advancing on the retreating Germans-the village is held and the British were declared the winners-but a re-match is planned for next Sunday(after Border Reiver,on Saturday!)
This was a very enjoyable game to watch,the rules will probably need a bit of "tweaking" before next week,but well done to Graham,Paul,Brian and Dave .
