Barmaid and the Blacksmith

Sounds like a title for a Saga scenario.  Anyway, just to show it is not all games, I finally finished these two Reaper Bones figures.  They have been used to provide an imaginary morale boost to my Saga Vikings and I also hope to use them with Songs of Blades and Heroes one day, but for now, enjoy.

The camera has not always focused on what I wanted and the matt varnish went gloss, but the pictures aren't too bad at showing the colours I used (predominantly Jo Sonja range).  I really enjoyed painting these and I'm glad I've now got them finished.  I have a few more fantasy figures in this scale in the pipeline including some I've been working on decades.

Cloud Nine magnetic base has been used, built up with plaster and a bit of sand for texture and a little bit of flock to represent a well trod, but outdoor work area.

I tried to go for a straw strewn floor type of base.

 

And just to warn you what happens if you consume the six pints in one session.

Kiev to Rostov via Vassal - GT49

The weather is still holding out for the Axis, but they now have to start withdrawing troops, and just when things were starting to look promising.

The Axis have completed converting the rail line as far as Sumy and so should be able to get their supply situation under control.  The remaining panzer divisions made a push to the north of Kharkov (big red line), but are now wary of massed Soviet forces on their flanks (circled in black).  To the south Axis infantry made a few successful probes.  The Soviet lines look extensive, but they are only weakly held.

In the centre the Axis made an initial attack on the Dnepropetrovsk pocket and the Soviets were very unlucky to have two of their key positions surrender (which I've marked with an X).  The Axis need to liquidate this pocket quickly as the troops are much needed elsewhere.

Down south things got a bit more interesting.  The Axis captured Zaporozhe and then started to try and get round the northern flank of the Soviet forces.  The Soviets realising how weak the Axis will be as they withdraw troops to the Crimea, reversed their retreat.  The Axis supply situation down south is not good

Kiev to Rostov via Vassal - GT48

Another dry turn, Axis get to move up and Soviets start to pull back.

The Axis are advancing in the North as fast as they can in the face of ongoing supply problems.  The Soviets are still a good distance away, but worse, a whole lot of units are about to be withdrawn to Army Group Centre.

In the South the Soviet pocket around Dnepropetrovsk is holding firm.  The Soviets have started to pull back and it will be interesting to see if the Axis have the strength to attack - unlikely as they are losing troops to the Crimea shortly.

A French, British and Russian fly into a FW190, ME110 and JU87

This game was a bit of a mishmash, except Stephen N was giving his ME110 a second chance (I was piloting it).  He'd purchased a Spitfire to try out this week.  Matthew was given command of a French plane, I also has a Stuka newly purchased.  Also not shown is a Yak flown (and detailed) by Paul.  The Focke Wulf (Mark B) is flying protection for my two planes which are going after an escaping warship (of origins unknown).

Target in sight.  I have to say the Wings of Glory planes (or Wings of War planes in the case of the Stuka) are beautiful straight out of the box.

Looks like I'm getting a clear run.

The ME110 starts a strafing run (we ignored altitude)

The ME110 overshoots on its return as the Stuka lines up.  The FW is doing a good job of keeping the enemy away.

Bombs away!

Missed!

Unlike the FW which shot down the Yak (that will teach it for looking so smart).

Brand new Spitfire catches fire...

Stuka's return pass scores a direct hit, but...

The Stuka goes on to collide with the ME110 and comes off the worse, the very worst, for it.

The FW downs the Spitfire and the ME110 shoots up the French plane.

That's all folks!

Kiev to Rostov via Vassal - GT47

Game Turn 47, 22-23 September 1941, was dry weather which obviously significantly favours the Axis at this stage.

While beset with supply problems, the Axis were still able to bring overwhelming force to bear and captured Sumy.  This is an important road and rail junction that the Axis need to be able to extend their supply net.  The trick now is to get those Panzers moving to secure Belgorod and the northern pincer to surround Kharkov.  The Soviets have brought on some Guards reinforcements to try and stop that from happening.

The Dnepropetrovsk Pocket has been closed.  It should be able to hold out as the Axis don't have the strength to attack it, however the Soviets have already had some units surrender.  This sector is important to the Axis as it opens up additional supply paths.  While the capture of Sumy was ahead of the historical timetable, the capture of Dnepropetrovsk is well behind schedule.  This might delay actions against Stalino and Rostov due to the late start on getting rail bridges repaired.  We shall see.

The Southern Sector.  The Soviets need to make sure they are not trapped in Melitopol as the forces there will be needed to cover Stalino and Rostov should the Axis push in that direction.  The Soviets have started to evacuate Zaporozhe (in the centre on the Dnepr) as they can see the two panzer pincers being formed.

Tricky situation for the Soviets.  But will weather and Axis withdrawals mean they should be brave and hang on?

Not shown, but of some importance, the Axis finally finished repairing the rail bridge at Kremenchug.  The Axis now have three rail lines that present viable supply lines to support their advances.  Trouble is they have to be converted and there is a limit to the amount of conversion that can be done, particularly if the weather turns bad. 

Kiev to Rostov via Vassal to GT46

I've realised if I don't make some posts about this game, which by the way is consuming significant amounts of my wargaming hobby time, I will have nothing to show for it.  Blog on!

My last post, GT42, was about the Poltava Pocket and my aggression with the Soviets.  That was all over by GT45 and the Axis had a plan.

This is the central sector with a rather ordinary advance on Kharkov.  The interest is more down south where a stalemate has developed.

This is rather a grand move...

The offensive has got off to a good start, with fine but stormy weather.  These screen captures are from the end of GT46.

Missing from the initial plans was the thrust north to capture Sumy which has now been surrounded and indeed is where the bulk of the German Panzer Divisions are concentrated.  Unfortunately the supply situation is poor (actually non-existent).  The advance to Kharkov has been slow although the aim is not to go for a frontal assault, but the use the Panzers to create another encirclement.  

Just to the south of Kharkov we have the Dnepropetrovsk pocket.  The Soviets have been hanging on well and have blocked Axis attempts so far, but as can be seen there is no depth to their position. 

In the Southern sector the Axis were able to make a hole, but are yet to exploit it.  The Soviets are strongly reinforcing this sector.  It could become a deathtrap... 

The strategic situation will see forces diverted to the Crimea and to Army Group Centre, so the Axis position in terms of resources will start to decline significantly.

Waterloo Take Two - Part Six CLOSURE

Three turns left.  Could we finish the battle with our sixth session?

The end of the 20:30 turn as seen from the Prussian side.

And from the French side.  Note Napoleon camped out in the sandpit near La Haye Sainte...

Prussian Uhlans clash with French infantry who have formed square.  Marshal Ney and the Empress Dragoons have also joined this combat, turning it from a minor Prussian bounce to a rout (I think I did that right, I had to make a rule interpretation).

Ney couldn't keep the Dragoons under control and they went after some unlucky Prussian troops that failed to form square.

But then the Prussian I Corps cavalry had their revenge, well, almost.  Even disordered Guard heavy cavalry with Ney still pack a punch.

But on the other side things get interesting...

Blucher takes the II Corps cavalry and runs over a French battery before hitting some Young Guard who failed to form square (twice - the French used their last Free Roll).

And look who is in the distance?  

Blucher, doing a better job than Ney in keeping his cavalry under control goes after Napoleon.  The climax of the battle, if Napoleon is lost then that's it...  There is a thirty percent chance...  And the result was a 4.  Napoleon moves to the join the Guard Chasseurs (this seemed fair, my house rule is to remove disrupted commanders for one move).  I need to check that I correctly applied the multiple casualties that the Prussians received, mainly winners' losses which I adjudicated did not cause disorder.

Blucher finishes his ride to link up with the allies and finds them... Gone!  

He realizes he is in terrible trouble now.

End of the 21:00 turn.

Blucher surveys the Allied position and wonders where they have all gone and more importantly what is he going to do now?

Turn round and charge the Guard Chasseurs!  At this stage the French have command problems as Napoleon is focused on saving his hat and D'Erlon's Corps is fatigued (but then so is von Bulow's).  The Prussians have attacked the formation of Guard Napoleon is attached to.  The Chasserus attacked by Blucher failed to form square, a breakthrough could see them join the other combat and present a creditable risk.  But it's not going to happen, regardless of the outcome (the Chasseurs perished) the Prussian cavalry is one off dispersal and with the winners loss their wild ride comes to an end.

End of the last turn, 21:30, view from the East.  The Prussians could claim to have split the French line, but have nothing to back this penetration up with.

View from the South.  The French are battered, but still standing.  The Prussians never approached Plancenoit.  There are a lot of French divisional generals reduced to commanding batteries.  Maybe divisional guns, mainly horse artillery, should be removed along with the commander when all brigades in a division are dispersed?

View from the West.  Should the French have been forced to send troops in pursuit of the Allies?

The view from the North.

And finally, Blucher negotiating for Prussia to join the about to be reformed Confederation of the Rhine.  (At this stage Blucher's much battered army is trapped between Napoleon and Grouchy).

The final score.  

The numbers are bases lost, an A is an artillery battery eliminated, a D is a unit dispersed and an F is a Free Roll used.  Each side started with eight Free Rolls and ended with none so neither can claim a moral victory.  The French, with the loss of one of the Old Guard Units was down 25 units and only four off their morale breaking.  The Prussians had lost ten and were seven off their morale break point.  The Anglo-Allies...

Supplementary

From the camera phone of Stephen N we have:

The Prussians had great hope for this cavalry charge.

But they were checked by the Empress Dragoons.

Napoleon cowering with his Guard after a lucky escape.

Yours truly looking on, pleased to get a successful closure on this epic.

And in a final dispatch, Stephen N as the overall Allied commander sends this report:

"Royal Navy embark the British Army for England five days later.  Pipers play from the dunes of Dunkirk as the embarkation is completed successfully."

Rules

Basically this was a 2nd Edition Napoleon's Battles game with most of the new Built-Up Area rules from the new 4th Edition.  Also from the 4th Edition were the new optional unit rally (but without penalty)  and command rules.  The small units are also something that are now favoured by the 4th Edition for historical games, although there is no real rule changes required.

Specifically the 4th Edition's change to interpenetration was not used.  There was not a lot of interpenetration in the game, but enough of it to make a difference.  The Anglo-Allied cavalry (for react counter charges) and the Prussians (as they were attempting to deploy) were perhaps the biggest and most critical uses.  The French seemed to have plenty of space.  There were times when interpenetration was desired but could not be performed due to lack of space to place the unit.

Ascetics

The model casualty counters were a joy to use (especially after a modification to keep the two parts together better).  It would be better if they were smaller and perhaps integrated into the unit (possibly by replacing a standard base with an info base?).  It would improve the attractiveness of the game to have markers for units' status to replace all the counters.

The printed contour map worked well as did the buildings and woods.  I'd put some effort into toning down colours and adding texture from the map we used for the bicentennial game.

Units and basing, while not perfect, performed well enough.  With small units some further counters are needed to better depict formation.  This is really only the case with two stands and has always been an issue.  It is just something that is more prevalent now.

Apart from the markers the main player aids were artillery templates and rosters.  We had originally started with unit cards but I personally found the roster better as it could fit on one page (although the eyes were tested, but so were they with the cards).

The labels were a success, although a bit of colour to help identify parent organisations might be a help and relocation of the dispersal number away from the formation number as this caused a bit of confusion - 8D for example being taken as meaning 8th Division.

Acknowledgements

Waterloo Take Two just didn't happen by itself, not even with me helping.  Accordingly I would like to acknowledge and thank those who had a part in making it happen.

Figures: thanks to Martin S, Dave B and Myron S for trusting me with some of their figures.  They fought well and the game would not have been possible without them.  It was also good to get the Scots Greys that had been superbly painted by Mark Woods back out on the table.

Terrain: thanks to Mark B for getting the map/mat produced and to Simon C for the buildings.

Players: thanks to Stephen N, Stephen B, Mark B and Mark W (ANF) for putting up with my umpiring and interfering.

Accessories; thanks Stephen B for the inspiring casualty markers.

Venue: thanks to Mark B for providing space for us to play and installing air-conditioning on Friday ahead of yesterday's session. The temperature high was 35 degrees centigrade.