Monthly Archives: January 2016

Renaissance Wargame – The Battlefield

Took RedActions! off the table yesterday.  Cleared off the old and dug out some new terrain and buildings in preparation for a battle between Russians and Poles circa 1625.

I’ll use Phil Barker’s De Bellis Renationis (DBR) rules.  The scenario is based on the Battle of Roundway Down as diagrammed and described in C.F. Wesencraft’s “With Musket and Pike”.  Why?  Because the book was at-hand and it’s a interesting little challenge.

The Russians are besieging a town, with Polish mounted units advancing  to lift the siege.  The Russian command decides to meet and destroy the Poles in the field, and then finish the siege.  In the historical battle, the besieged brushed aside forces masking the town, and attacked their enemy’s flank.

I’ve tweaked the layout of the battlefield by substituting a village for Blagdon Hill.  Wanted to get the buildings out of their box!

While the published scenario calls for the flank attack forces to come on-table during the fourth turn, I’m going to come up with the mechanics for a variable arrival sometime after Turn 2.

Here’s a few photos

The Battlefield Looking South
The Battlefield Looking South
Initial Dispositions.
Initial Dispositions.
Close up of The Village.  A mix of purchased and scratch built buildings.
Close up of The Village. A mix of purchased and scratch built buildings.

Convoy Ambush – Red Actions! Pt 2

Turn 1:  German machine gun engaged the lead Machine Gun (MG) Truck.  The MG Truck failed the ambush morale check, causing it to rout.  Machine gun fire resulted in a terror result.  The Partisans moved out of the woods, one group to attack the convoy, the other to act as security to engage the escort and/or any reaction force.  The second vehicle in line failed the ambush morale check.  It routed and took a terror hit from the German Infantry’s rifle fire.   The Warlord Escort carried in the trail vehicle dismounted.  The MG truck Rallied.  However, the routed cargo truck did not.

View From German Machine Gun Position As Convoy Approaches
View From German Machine Gun Position As Convoy Approaches
Partisans In The Woods. Ambush Group to Left (one stand behind tree), Security Group to Right
Partisans In The Woods. Ambush Group to Left (one stand behind tree), Security Group to Right

Turn 2:  Germans again engaged the MG Truck, but failed to inflict any damage.  Likewise with the advancing Ambush Group’s fire on the stalled cargo truck.  The Security Group reached the crest of its objective.  The Warlord Escort advanced down both sides of the road towards the front of the column.  The stalled cargo truck again failed its morale check, but the MG Truck maneuvered to engage the advancing Partisans.  The MG Truck’s fire was ineffective.

Partisans Emerge From Woods After Machine Gun Truck and Lead Cargo Truck Retire Due To German Fire
Partisans Engage Convoy and Move to Security Position.  Warlord Escort has Dismounted.

Turn 3:  The Partisans advanced,  masking  the Germans’ field of fire.   Once again, Partisan fire at the stalled cargo truck was ineffective.  The security group attacked the nearest Warlord Escort, inflicting a terror hit.  The MG Truck could not hit the Partisan ambush group.  The Warlord escort maneuvered towards and ineffectively engaged the security group.  The other Warlord Escort continued to advance to the head of the column.

Partisans Engage Convoy Escort
Partisans Engage Convoy Escort

Turn 4:  Poor die rolling continued, as the Partisans once again could not damage any of their targets.  However,  both the Partisan Security Group and Warlord Escort recoiled in the fight for the hill.

Partisan Security Team Pushed Off Hill. Assault Group Continues to Engage Convoy Escort
Partisan Security Team Pushed Off Hill. Assault Group Continues to Engage Convoy Escort

Turn 5:  The Partisans again attacked both the stalled convoy and the escort.  Again, their fire was ineffective.  While the MG Truck and Escort both inflicted terror hits on the ambush and security group.

Turn 6:  According to plan, the Partisans disengaged, falling back to the woods, and prepared to move to the rally point.  The Chinese did not pursue.

Partisans Withdraw Into Woods
Partisans Withdraw Into Woods

Comments:  Fun little scenario, horrific die rolling for both sides.  I thought the Partisans would make short work of the convoy, but their low firepower (4 factors for each stand) was consistently ineffective.  The Germans should have been able to do more damage to the convoy, but again, the marksmanship (die rolling) was bad.  The Warlord unit engaging the Security Group did its job, and the resilient MG Truck forced the Partisan Ambush Group to retire.  A decisive victory for the Warlord’s forces.

Convoy Ambush – Red Actions! Pt 1

After much procrastination, started playing this scenario.  I posted up some preliminary thoughts and photos of a couple of turns  back in December.

The scenario involves a Chinese Warlord convoy carrying all classes of supply.  The mission of the ambush force is to destroy the convoy and, if possible, remove weapons, ammunition and medical supplies.

Since the best ambush point was near a Warlord controlled town, there is the chance that a reaction force will appear.

The first step was to construct a simple situation generator, which hinged on the awareness level of the convoy.  The levels were clueless, cautious, and, know something will happen.  This status was settled by a die roll.

If clueless, the convoy had little discipline, moving at maximum speed and bumper-to-bumper.  If cautious, distance was greater, speed lower, with armed vehicles at head and front.  If an ambush was suspected, there was a reaction team attached, in addition to an escort.

In each case, there was the chance of a reaction force coming to the aid of the convoy, but again, a die roll settled that with modifiers to decrease the size of the force the less “aware” the convoy was.  The number of turns it took the reaction force to arrive on table was again a function of the Warlord force’s awareness level and die roll.

The required wristage created the following:

A clueless convoy, moving at maximum speed, with little dispersion and an escort of only two stands of troops.  Feeling sorry for these poor bastards, I threw in a light truck armed with a machine gun.

The ambush force consists of two stands of Germans, one machine gun, along with five stands of White Russian partisans.

It is a classic “L” shaped ambush.  The Germans are to engage the convoy, bringing it to a halt, and if possible, continue to support the Partisan attack.  The Partisans are to attack the convoy from the wooded flank alongside the road.  Two partisan stands will move to the rear of the convoy occupying a small hill taking up a position to engage either the convoy escort, or a reaction force.  The remaining Partisans will, using fire and maneuver, destroy the convoy and, if possible, retrieve needed supplies.

The Partisans are low on ammunition and cannot engage in a lengthy firefight with the convoy.  If this occurs, they are to withdraw back into the woods, covered by the Germans.  All units will then proceed to a rally point.

I’ll post up the results tomorrow.

Demolition Derby

A couple of months ago, I posted up about using Matchbox vehicles for RedActions!

Need to fabricate destroyed vehicles, so I decided to experiment on a Matchbox truck that was too large for 25-28mm.  Here’s a picture.

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Here’s what it looks like now, in the process of, shall we say, “modification”?

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DSC01342

After I experiment with painting the destroyed vehicle, I’ll scour E-Bay for a couple of low cost trucks for similar treatment.  Now I just have to work out the explosion/flame/smoke effects.

Drive On Washington – Finale – GBACW

Long overdue wrap up on the game.

Since the fighting at the Railroad Bridge and northern fords had devolved into ineffective firefights, I played the Truex-Gordon fight for the last three turns.

Gordon was able to flank Truex and force a retreat to cover the Washington Road Turnpike.  The Confederates enveloped individual Federal units and, while taking fire casualties to units in one hex, were able to bring overwhelming odds to bear for close-combats.

Truex’s regiments took a terrible beating.  If I had kept track of Brigade Effectiveness, I’m sure they would have been rendered incapable of offering any resistance.  As it was, without the book keeping, they were rendered incapable of offering any resistance.  Note the similar outcome.  Note I did not have to act like a bloody accountant (Sorry Tim).

On the other hand, the Federals had prevented any Rebel units from exiting the map.

I’d call it a draw.  Good game.

Start Turn 13. Gordon enveloping Truex. Railroad Bridge fight a stalemate.
Start Turn 13. Gordon enveloping Truex. Railroad Bridge fight a stalemate.
Turn 13. Confederates close, flank and melee with hard-pressed Union regiments.
Turn 13. Confederates close, flank and melee with hard-pressed Union regiments.
Turn 13. Truex disengages and falls back to Turnpike Road
Turn 13. Truex disengages and falls back to Turnpike Road
Turn 14. Gordon pursues. Sets up for fire combat to be followed by close combat.
Turn 14. Gordon pursues. Sets up for fire combat to be followed by close combat.
Turn 14. Truex's forces attritted.
Turn 14. Truex’s forces attritted.
Turn 15. Positions at Game's End.
Turn 15. Positions at Game’s End.

Air Support

DSC01336

DSC01337

Found this little guy while looking for balsa wood at Hobby Lobby. The cost was a whopping $7.99. It looked like the right scale for RedActions, although the headrest is a tip-off that this piece of decor is really based on a Boeing F4-B fighter of the 1930’s.

The scale might be a 1/48, and therefore a little large for 25-28mm. Using a figure as a type of measuring stick, I was able to estimate the little guy’s dimensions and check it against some info on planes of the late 1920s and 1930s. It’s definately in the ballpark. So, there’s a little era problem.

I do need to cut off the spats and replace the front tires as they are way too big. The rear skid needs to be cut down, and the cockpit is too big, but I’m not going to sweat that.  On second thought, maybe remove the headrest and make room for an observer/gunner.  This might mitigate the size problem.

It will have to be painted. My table isn’t ready for a Yellow Peril.

What Happened?

Been TAD the last week.  Deployment was scheduled, but moved up 48 hours with only 45 minutes to get packed and moved.  Lots and lots of backstory.  Planned to use some of the lost time to post up here about GBACW and RedActions.  Didn’t get the chance.

Also had plans for gaming, but didn’t have the time or presence of mind to grab the right stuff.  Stuck with Ram Speed (don’t ask), and my trusty IPad with 4 years of Miniature Wargames back issues.   Also had some GoodReader PDF DTP game files.

Played two games of Ram Speed.  This is an old micro game.  The review is a little harsh, but you can get the picture.

Also played Eindekker from Minden Games.  This is a solo game of early WW1 aerial combat.  Lots of wristage, but not a bad way to pass the time.  Maybe it was the low grade virus I contracted, but it was difficult to get into the narrative.

And, despite the eye-candy in Miniature Wargames, was not seduced into buying lead to start something crazy like 6mm Napoleonics or 54 mm Wild West Skirmish.

Will be catching up on old/delayed blog business over the next few days.

New Project – Progress

Have spent a lot of time over the past week working on the Middle/Near East/Central Asia Village project.  Lots of blood, sweat and spackle.

Finally have them primed and spot painted, ready for brush and dry brush work.  I “spot painted” most of the buildings with random swatches of desert sand, medium green, and light brown spray to break up the under shading once I start dry brushing.  Dunno, worth a try.

There is a mosque, two large houses, two small houses, and a market building.  I think the scale is about right, and am anxious to get them on the table.  The minaret is problematic right now.  Have to figure out where/how to attach it.  So, it looks a little wonky in the photos.

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Even More Drive on Washington – GBACW

Completed Turns 9 and 10 for Drive on Washington.

The Confederates have finally crossed the “Discovered” ford in strength. One of Gordon’s Regiments attempts to pin Truex’s Union division, while the remainder attempt to flank Truex to the south, opening the way to Washington DC. Maruading Rebel cavalry charges a limbered Union artillery battery but, implausibly, fails and is locked in melee. The belagured artillerymen are saved by a timely charge by one of Truex’s brigades and the Southern cavalry retreats. Truex’s division begins a fighting withdrawl to the southeast in an attempt to thwart Gordon’s envelopment.

At the Railroad Bridge, Ramseur’s division begins a prolonged firefight with Rickett’s Union division. Further north, Rodes attack against Tyler’s Federals fails and Clendon’s outnumbered Union cavalry shatters Grimes’ brigade’s charge across the southernmost ford.

The Southern attacks aimed at the two northern fords and the Railroad Bridge have stalled, and their is little prospect for success.

While Gordon’s division has pushed Truex’s division back towards Washington, they running out of time.

In Drive on Washington, victory points are assigned not only for units destroyed or captured, but also for the number of Confederate units that can exit the map on the two roads leading to Washington DC. The number of factors that exit the map are multiplied by a factor based on how early in the game this occurs. The best chance for a decisive Confederate victory is to exit the map prior to the beginning of Turn 12, so the next two turns are critical.

Turn 9: Gordon Pins Truex and Begins Flanking March
Turn 9: Gordon Pins Truex and Begins Flanking March
Turn 9: Rodes' Attacks At The Northern Fords Stall
Turn 9: Rodes’ Attacks At The Northern Fords Stall
Turn 10: Truex Begins A Fighting Withdrawl Towards The Washington Pike. Firefight at The Railroad Bridge Continues
Turn 10: Truex Begins A Fighting Withdrawl Towards The Washington Pike. Firefight at The Railroad Bridge Continues
Turn 10: Rodes Cannot Make Against Tyler or Clendon
Turn 10: Rodes Cannot Make Headway Against Tyler or Clendon