Auerstadt 6x4 Redux

This was a repeat of the January game, but with the revised Prussian OOB.  This time James from the ANF joined us as the French commander while Stephen took command of the Prussians.  My aim was to umpire, but I ended up taking responsibility for the Prussian Second Division, so I was a playing umpire and as the action intensified the photos sadly ceased,

Luckily James has provided a fabulous AAR in this post on the ANF blog.  Thanks James!

 Set up.  Unfortunately I forgot to put on the Prussian Second Division.

I had put too much effort into getting Blucher to fit in his allotted space

 that I clear forgot there were yet more Prussians to put on.

 Blucher is starting to try and out flank, rushing his fusiliers forward.

The Prussian Third Division is moving across the brook on the Prussian right.

Meanwhile Davout has brought up his cavalry and Friant's Division.

 Around this time I realised the Prussian Second Division was missing.

A few calculations and I decided to try them out with a flank march on the left.

Units in march column take up a lot of space (as it should be).

The benefit is they stay in command.

 There is Wartensleben directing his troops to use the sneaky sideways move to cross the brook.

(The brooks are just strips of rough ground, fordable, and so the sensible thing to do is march parallel, and then move sideways across.  It still takes time, but is much more efficient.  The thing to remember is that these are brigade formations and so for individual components to face right, cross and then reform would be no big deal, within a turn representing 30 minutes).

 Even having successfully crossed, it is still taking time for the Prussians to deploy on their left.

Blucher has been busy but without success.

On their right, top middle of the image, the Prussian third division is slowly advancing.

The Prussian first division has now arrived and their Reserve Corps has also entered.

 Another exciting, but inconclusive cavalry charge.

This was the situation as we broke for lunch.

The French have successfully deployed.

The Prussians are just about in position to launch simultaneous attacks.

And that is what happened.  However all the Prussian attacks met with disaster.  In part this was because the Prussians failed to produce any combined arms attacks, attacked in column rather than line and their artillery fire had failed to achieve any ascendency over the French defenders of Hassenhausen.

At about the halfway point in the game, the Prussians were halfway to their break point, but the lost units were still all able to be rallied.  Unfortunately we had run out of time.

I'm tempted to look at the deployment options and stage the game at my place as the battle certainly does provide an exciting scenario.

The First to Fly the Coop

I'm an only child and my parents thought it would be a good idea to give away my toys if I didn't use them regularly.  Either that or them having grown up in the Great Depression and then lived through WW2 and the rationing aftermath made them quite frugal which has rubbed off on me.  As a consequence I now horde everything and give nothing away.  So when I do it is special.

 Thunderbolt, probably made this in the last thirty years, possibly a bit older.

I remember Atlantic City was a trigger having seen the movie (which has nothing to do with US warplanes I might add, I just liked it and Susan Sarandon)

 Pretty sure this dates from my teens back in the 1970s.

Both of these planes have been despatched to Julian of the ANF.

These poor chaps have been languishing since October 2014.

They have now found a good home with James of the ANF.

This image is dreadfully blurry, 

but better ones exist in posts under the Waterloo 1815 label

Holland'44 via Vassal - Part 3

Night September 19th

 It might be a distraction, but 11th Armoured are making progress.

Helmond is a victory city and there are two victory locations further to the east.

 The yellow line high lights the Guards Division's race for Nijmegen.

The red line is the alternative supply route for the 82nd.

The 82nd have a good hold on the Betuwe.

Morning September 20th

The morning starts off overcast, but is expected to improve to just cloudy by the afternoon.  This means the desperately needed paratrooper reinforcements will only trickle in late in the day.

The German counterattack against the 11th Armoured has been beaten off.

On the otherside of the corridor the 50th Division are having a quiet time.

The Guards Division are closing in on the Germans now blocking the way to Nijmegen.

The Allied forces north of the Waal are out of supply,

but they have been able to link up with the troops over the Rhine.

Afternoon September 20th

The 43rd Division is racing north.

The 11th Armoured pressing east.

The overcast weather allowed four paratrooper units to drop and reinforce the 82nd Airborne.

These helped the Allies recover Grave and reopen the road to Nijmegen.  Phew!

But in Arnhem the Germans have tightened the noose,

recapturing part of the city and driving back the British paras to the west.

Night September 20th

Down at Eindhoven the way is clear for further reinforcements to rush north.

The 11th Armoured continues to push east.

At Grave the situation has been recovered and the 43rd Division is about to cross the Maas.

It has been held up by traffic jams along the way.

Nijmegen itself came under threat, but enough troops and supplies have got through to at least stabilize the situation. 

But in Arnhem things are dire.

The weather for the next day will be critical.  Clear weather would see the Polish paratroopers arriving, which would be a major boost for the defenders of the bridgehead across the Rhine.

Nikephorian Byzantine versus Western Roman

At the club my Byzantines snatched victory from defeat facing Stan's Late Western Romans.

End of the first turn and I'm advancing.

Come the second turn and we are already engaged.

But on turn three it all goes pear shaped.

And then downhill from there when my attempted use of Betrayal fails.

End of turn 3 and it is looking grim.

Turn 4 and it looks like I'm about to be seriously outflanked.

By the fifth turn the progress in the centre has dramatically improved.

Turn seven and the flank attack takes out one of my legions.

But by turn eight we have snatched victory from defeat, 

the flank attacks failed to cause further losses and have themselves been outflanked.

Ripper of a game!

Ardennes'44 - Day 3

I am totally lost in this game, not the system, that is excellent, but the deployment I need to follow to stop the German advance.  There seems to be roads everywhere that they can use.

 I'm also finding it tricky to take decent photos.

The counter colours are well camouflaged.

The Germans didn't get to the fuel dump, so that is one good thing.

The US paratroopers have also arrived, although yet to get out of their trucks.

With the end of Turn 6 (18 December) the Germans will start to experience fuel shortages, I hope.

Holland'44 via Vassal - Part 2

Crucial Game Turn 6 is upon us.  The airborne supply has been exhausted.  The weather has started out overcast, but will improve to just cloudy in the afternoon.

Morning September 19th

The action south of the Wilhelmina Canal.

The main fighting is against the 1st Parachute Army to the east.

Unfortunately it is tying up units that are needed for the drive to Arnhem.

The action below the River Maas (the central section).

The focus here is on securing the area.

Arnhem and Nijmegen.

The British paratroopers are suffering sustained losses.

Help is on its way, but it sure is a race against time.

Afternoon September 19th

Eindhoven.
The Germans are hanging on in this sector,
which is delaying the advance north.
Only a mild concern at this time...

The centre,
but the way is clear,
 just need to find some troops to send off to rescue the British paratroopers.

Reinforcing British paratroopers land just in time to reestablish the perimeter.

Whoops!

Holland'44 via Vassal

Will this be a game too far?

These images are from after the Allied combat phase, before the German turn.

Afternoon September the 17th

The 30th Corps has made good progress on the afternoon of the 17th of September.

They will be in Arnhem in no time at all.

The 101st had a good landing and have captured the bridges at Veghel.

Unfortunately the bridge at Son was blown before they good get it.

 The 82nd also made a good landing and were able to capture the bridge at Grave.

They have even started to probe into Nijmegen.

The British 1st Airborne landed well, 

but have been held up by a German battalion that successful conducted a determined defence.

Night September 17th

 30th Corps has made excellent progress,

but there have been a few losses

and the road is getting congested.

The 101st have created a good cordon and are busy securing the bridges.

Objective secured.

 The 82nd have made significant gains towards Nijmegen.

The road is also open back to the 101st.

But the real success story has been the British 1st Airborne

 who have been able to make it into Arnhem.

Morning September 18th

The Allied hopes fade as the day starts off overcast.

 30th Corps has reached Eindhoven.

They will soon have it cleared.

 The 101st bridge at Veghel came under counterattack,

but the enemy were driven off.

The noose is tightening on Nijmegen.

While round Arnhem, neither side is strong enough to attack.

Afternoon September 18th

 30th Corps have linked up with 101st Airborne.

50th Division have secured the left flank,

while 11th Armoured have broken out on the right flank.

82nd Airborne have taken Nijmegen.

However the road to the 101st is no longer clear.

Night September 18th

The 11th Armoured Division are driving the Germans back.

Although as can be seen in the following image,

the Germans are still threatening the main highway near Eindhoven.

The Guards Armoured Division has now teamed up with the 101st

and the way to Nijmegen is almost clear.

The 82nd is across the Waal, 

however they are coming under increasing pressure on their right flank.

That same pressure is also taking a toll on the British paratroopers.