Major Garibaldi's battle report

Major Andrea "Andy" Garibaldi writes:

I had stationed my small elite force of Italians at El Minchinhampton, just south of Cheltenham, it’s a very cold morning but already the sun is very bright with a light breeze coming from the south west. My forces are a little light on the ground with:

Italian Forces

· 4 infantry regiments. all conscripts

· 3 Medium Machine guns.

· 1 Mortar.

· 2 ATG 47mm

· 4 Lorries

· 1 Semovente 47/32

· 2 Semovente 75/18

· 2 M11/39 Medium Tanks

Attached 1 x 88mm Flak. This has been only added as we were commanded by our beloved allies to train this battery as they have only just arrived from Holland, they are very raw.

Anyway already we can see the glint of those silly English trundling towards my brave boys, I can hear their noisy Morris engines rattling along, I have already realized that most of my command staff are now away on a 12 day furlong, I don’t need them, I will handle this myself.

On the right. The English have already moved with in 1000meters of my position, I have already asked Oberleutnant Fritz Frankfurter to open fire and he has refused twice as he wasn’t quite ready yet, he promises that he will fire when I really need him. Now the English are 800 metres away and eventually the 88 opens up on the lead Tank, this just slows the Tank a little but still keeps coming. To my left I can make out some infantry but they just seem to be on a picnic.

Now on my right the English are at about 600 meters away so I open up with my medium tanks, I have just 3 the English will be no match for these. The lead tank again slows as the shells start to rain down on the English, it’s a fantastico sight, with a little help from my German cousins with the 88, the lead English tank is bludgeoned into retreating, they are no match for me.

The foolish English are not daunted by this, they are crazy fools. Again they push on and now apart from the tank that had been pushed back there are 3 English tanks starting to fire on my poor light tank, Corporal Vitorial he is amazing this little tank has already been hit twice by these English but we decide to just use the 88 as they need the practice, again they hit the 2^nd tank as the English lead tank has just caught up with the others. The English have by now destroyed Corporal Vitorial's Tank and they have started to open up on my next tank, with this I have all my forces open up. These English are no match for my boys and soon there are only 2 English tanks still operational. I only have 2 operational tanks left on my left as I have one tank knocked out and one being repaired, they are still holding of the puny English. The English are now attacking my left with mortar fire, some of my troops have taken casualties so I have sent 2 tanks to my left to Recce and possibly engage these forces.

Now these foolish English have stood in front of my position to trade fire and again they have opened up with their last 2 tanks, they are useless. We return fire and finally destroy the English, these English are no match for my brave boys, this war will not last long. I look forward to smashing the puny English.

Blitzkrieg Commander: first rules test

Andy and I put a small (1000 points each) eight-turn Encounter scenario together to have an initial test of the Blitzkreig Commander rules.  1000 points doesn't go far: CO, 2xHQ, 4 tanks, 6 infantry, plus one each of MMG, mortar, field gun and artillery piece for the British; for Andy's Italians this was CO, 5 tanks, handful of infantry, an MMG and mortar, with a special guest star of a German 88.

As this was an Encounter, we followed the mobile deployment rules: the HQs are lined up on the table edge and the player makes a Command Roll (CR) to see whether they move on, or are delayed.  As with every CR a double-six is a Command Blunder - and that was what James managed to throw on the very first roll of the first play of BKC!  The worst case with a Command Blunder is losing units but fortunately James' armour was just delayed a turn.  His infantry also failed to enter, and his CO with the guns slowly entered the table.  Here's how the game turned out over the 8 turns:

1. British initial deployment delayed; Italians fail CR so no actions
2. British proceed but infantry still delayed (see photo above); Italians fail CR again
3. British tanks stall, infantry enter, first mortar attack misses enemy tank; Italians finally make a CR and fire off the German 88 suppressing one of the Crusaders
4. British tanks press on, all other CRs failed; Italian tanks fire on approaching British tanks but all shells fall short (we agreed not to measure distances before issuing orders)
5. British tanks mostly fall short, one hits but Italians save; Italian 88 gives 3 hits to a Crusader and counter-mortar fire inflicts one hit (see fifth bullet below) 
6. British Armoured HQ fails CR but CO exerts control and orders them to fire on Italian tanks; Italians destroy first Crusader
7. British armour takes out their first Italian tank and damages a second, but loses one of their own to a barrage of Opportunity fire (see sixth bullet below); Italian 88 destroys one more British tank
8. British fail all CRs; Italian 88 takes out the last British tank, and fires on British mortar and anti-tank positions

The British had lost 4 tanks and destroyed just one.  This was more than 25% of the British forces so the Italians achieved their minor objective as set under the scenario.  This gave them 2 Victory Points plus a further 2 VPs for inflicting more than double the casualties received.  4 VPs is more than double the British zero VPs, so Andy and his Italians achieved a Major Victory.  As the Hurricanes flew over the battle field, this is how it looked: British armour pushed up the left but all destroyed.  British infanty very slowly moving up the centre.  British guns moving up the right against advancing Italian tanks.  The rest of the Italian force in defensive positions at top of photo - after two CR failures at the beginning of the game, the British tanks were already in range so Andy felt no need to move when he could just fire away.

Here are the lessons we identified from our first battle:

• you need multiple commanders in order to maximise your flexibility (just like DBM)
• slow moving units are at a disadvantage when entering the table (-1 on CR) so having a better commander with the infantry might be useful
• in an Encounter scenario, the infantry needs to be in trucks or carriers to start with or it will never get anywhere near the battle
• although destroyed Commanders come back to life (once, and with -1 on Command Value) firing on them to suppress them is valuable because it means they can't issue commands the next turn
• if units are not destroyed in a turn, the "hits" they take are removed at the end of the turn; an Optional Rule (which we started using in turn 5) allows those hits to be retained and so accumulate making it easier to destroy things (need to research a bit more to see whether this is really a Good Thing or not)
• Opportunity Fire is very useful (and we overlooked it until most of the way through the game); it allows you to shoot in your opponent's turn at the expense of a -1 CR modifier in your own next turn
• measuring distances from vehicle to vehicle is simplest; the rules (which say basing is irrelevant and not necessary) also say distances are from base to base, but this makes no sense where vehicles are not based, or on large bases
• lastly, the "guest" 88 was devastating - it pretty much won the battle on its own; so it needs to be taken out early on

The game was very enjoyable.  The rules are clear with not too much cross-referencing.  There are some great mechanisms which make the game so good: the CR concept is really clever - it allows you to keep ordering the same unit again and again but with the die roll getting harder to meet each time - if you fail, that's the end of that commanders turn, but you can turn to another unit and start again at the original Command Value but you can't switch back to a unit you've already ordered - this makes for some interesting decisions and risk-taking.  The other good mechanism is the combat - everything is on D6 and although there are modifiers applied, it all seems quite straightforward and without lots of exceptions to worry about.  We played pretty slowly since it was our first game, around 3 hours in total, but that will be significantly quicker next time.  Certainly this has scope for larger games to be played in an evening.

Show and Tell 12 February: Zulu War British Naval Brigade

For the Black Powder Zulu Wars scenario I need three units of Redcoats plus a unit of sailors - the ubiquitous British Naval Brigade. The figures are Copplestone Castings. For the game I've made up a number of unit bases - painted steel paper covered plasticard. This means that the units for the game have movement bases but the figures can be based individually. For the British it means 3 stands for each unit of 12 infantry. For the Zulus (in warband formation) one big base for each Impi each holding 24 warriors.

I need around 160 Zulus for the scenario. I've now painted up 81, so halfway there...

Show and Tell: 8th Army commanders

Now finished the Commanding Officer and 2 HQ bases.  Left HQ with jeep has new orders arriving over the radio.  Right HQ has new orders arriving by BSA motorcycle combination.

In the centre with Dorchester Command Vehicle and support staff, is Monty himself.

Show and Tell: 8th Army aircraft

In the seemingly never-ending escalation between Andy's Afrika Korps and my 8th Army, we're now into aircraft.  Andy started it with some metal Stukas, so I started looking for some Hurricanes.  Although there are metal versions available, the blogs were talking about Sweet Aviation Models as the most detailed aircraft available.  This is a Japanese company and most of the boxes have traditional Airfix-like covers, but this is what the Hurricane looks like...

If I hadn't already read reviews of the model, this would definitely have put me off!  However, inside the box you get instructions, two plastic kits and lots of transfers.

On the flip side of the instructions are the camouflage markings for four different tropical Hurricane Mk1s, with a fifth on back of the box.

Resisting the temptation to use the Malta (!) markings, I painted up V7544 from No 73 Squadron, North Africa (left, below) and V2643 flown by Squadron Leader P H Dunne of No 274 Squadron, North Africa.

Note the difference in insignia - different size roundels and tailplane graphics.  I made 7 inch high stands for the aircraft which gives a good height above the table.

I hadn't made a plastic kit for a long time but I enjoyed doing these.  The kit was a bit dearer than buying cast metal but worth it for all the transfers and painting scheme information.  Just to have to paint my CO and HQ bases and then I'm finished.  Until I buy some more tanks to keep up with Andy...

Show and Tell: 8th Army

Andy helpfully pointed out that I'd based my infantry with my DBM/FOG head on, namely grouping like figures together, so in my original posting you can see all the riflemen together, all the Brens together etc.  In Blitzkreig Commander, infantry isn't by type, but by quality.  So I've rebased them so that (from the back going forward), Green troops have just rifles, Regulars also include one figure carrying a Bren or SMG, and Veterans have two figures with Brens or SMGs.  Half a dozen of the bases also have a prone figure with a Boyes anti-tank rifle.

The remaining infantry are (left to right) engineers (with flamethrowers and mine detectors), medium machine guns, and 3 inch mortars.

The guns include Bofors 40mm anti-aircraft guns, 2 pounder and 6 pounder anti-tank guns and a 25 pounder field artillery unit..

Tanks are Crusaders, Valentines and Grants.

And lastly, a collection of other vehicles: trucks, Dorchester command vehicle, Marmon-Harrington armoured cars, jeeps and Bren carriers.

Tribune - 2 February 2011

First outing for my Christmas present from David - Tribune: Primus Inter Pares.  This game is set in Ancient Rome but  unlike Republic of Rome, it is competitive and the players vie for control of factions to bring a range of benefits (e.g. legions, money, different type of accolades) which are required for victory.

The game is beautifully produced with a board representing different areas of Rome and lots of sturdy (and beer-proof ;-) counters.  The heart of the game is in the competition to collect cards to control the various factions.  There's a nice balance of making the most of the luck of the cards you get at the start and choosing which other factions' cards to collect, and balancing risk and cost in the way in which the cards are acquired e.g. for various costs, or through discards, or in bidding against a fellow player.  There is also a lovely 3D horse and chariot model which is bid for and used to protect your faction from takeover.

The rules took longer to go through than was really justified, as the game played more simply that the read-through had suggested.  There are a handful of victory condition cards to choose from, and the one we used required the victor to have achieved any three of the four conditions on the cards - a longer game could be had from going for more, or playing until someone had taken a certain number of factions over during the course of the game, and then using a points-scoring system.  So some variety to attract more replays.

In our game, David got a strong win in turn 4, meeting the required three victory conditions.  In points terms, he had 28, with Kieron and James both on 16, Adrian 12 and Andy, despite his early almost-unbreakable control of the Senators, with 6.  Good fun, and now we've cracked the rules a game we could play in half an evening next time.