641 grams of Soviets

That's over half a kilo.

This is about a quarter of the infantry I have to base.

While I plan to use them for Rommel, 

they have also been set up for Crossfire (above represents a company).

Some unintended battle damage on these chaps that I wasn't inclined to try and repair.

And now for something different.

Submachine gunners on urban bases.

Perfect for Stalingrad.

The bases have been enhanced with sand to blend in figure bases.

I've tried to make a puddle in a shell hole where there was a slot for a second figure.

"Not one step back!"

Ancient Britons for Basic Impetus

 So a friend has just reclaimed his teenage 25mm Ancients army and asked if I had anything to match it.  Simple answer was no, but then I thought, could my Airfix DBA army rise up to the occasion?

Well, not if it required full size bases.

But if I was to use single bases, I already had prepared for painting the two bases I was short.

DONE!

All I need to do is make up some movement sticks where 1H is 3cm.

Even better, I now see I can cover all options for Ancient Britons list.

But what about the Romans?

Holland'44 Q3 2020 - Turns 14 to 16

Another day completed.

A nighttime attack on Nijmegen.

It failed, but the Allies had more to do as will be seen.

Germans counterattack on the left flank.

Germans counterattack on the right flank.

Germans continue their attack near Arnhem.

But the Allies are across the Waal and have captured Tiel.

The big picture, dawn 22nd September

and the weather is clear!.

A true sideshow, removing the last unknown unit.

Breakout from Tiel,

a lucky 6 put paid to the extensive German efforts to seal this flank.

Another attack on Nijmegen, losses are inflicted, but the Germans can reinforce.

But perhaps of more significance, the Allies have made another crossing of the Waal.

The Germans continue their counterattack on the left flank.

And against the right flank.

That was a 7 to 1 attack and they captured a lot of swamp.

It is going to be hard work to make anything of it.

The poor British paras outside Arnhem are on their last legs.

Midday.

(Aside: I just love how Blogger decides to randomly orientate my images.

It's a bugger to correct as it requires going into the HTML code.)

Allied breakout to the south west of Nijmegen (if I've got my bearings correct).

Plus yet another attack on Nijmegen which had recently been reinforced by Tiger tanks.

The result was an exchange.  

Bye bye Tigers.

The Germans maintain the pressure on the left flank.

And also on the right flank.

This could get embarrassing...

The Allies are getting close to Arnhem,

but it might be too late to save the paras outside that city.

The situation at nightfall.

One more day remains and one more session should see us complete the last four turns.

Great Battles with Basic Impetus

After the success of the 6mm game a few weeks back, I wanted to see what I could do with my armies to put on a multiplayer game using Basic Impetus.  

Doubling the armies turned out to be easily achieved with the Byzantine and Carthaginian figures I have.

Geoff and I took control of the Byzantines against Dave, Richard and Russell who had command of the Carthaginians.

Deployment was to our favour and we massed our superior (or so we thought) cavalry on our right,

ready to monster the enemy and turn their flank.

Note: there was a lot of clutter on the table which I have attempted to edit out.

Things started well.  On the left we pulled back our infantry behind the crest

while our cavalry went racing forward, showering the enemy in arrows.

Turn 2 and things are looking good.

It will take a long time for the Carthaginian foot to get to grips,

by then our cavalry will have destroyed their right flank and be sweeping round behind them!

Turn 3 sees a turn for the worse.

One of our cavalry units is routed and while the rest is heavily engaged.

Turn 4 saw some progress, but at significant cost.

The delay has also meant the Carthaginian foot has started to close.

Turn 5.

That must be a tear on the lens, as it was indeed crying time.

The penultimate image before the collapse of the Byzantine left flank.

The infantry had done an amazing job of passing their cohesion tests.

They were also able to rout the Carthaginian light cavalry that had launched a flank attack.

The Byzantine right saw the rout of the Carthaginians,

but by this stage accumulated losses had pushed the Byzantine army to breaking point.

A great game!

Some Basic Impetus 2.0 Q and As

In recent games of Basic Impetus I had been puzzled by a few things.  In part I think this is because I am reading too much into a rule set that is meant to be basic.

I used the Facebook group https://www.facebook.com/groups/1806551406275109/ to raise my questions.

Questions about combat activations.

In this example, does the charge of the warband reinitiate the cavalry combat?

If not, do the Romans facing the cavalry act as support for the Romans fighting the warband?

If the warband wins, and pursues, does that initiate a combat with the Romans fighting the cavalry? (which would see the warband as support).

The answer:

Lorenzo Sartori

The warbands are the Main Unit in the new melee, so they cannot be the support unit in the other melee. With only the Romans on the left (vs cavalry) present, then the warbands would have restarted the melee (as support)

A question about retreats.

In the image the Romans have positioned some skirmishers behind the warband.

If the warband has to retreat, will it be destroyed?

If not, what happens if the Romans pursue and it has to retreat a second time?

The answer:

Lorenzo Sartori

They will be destroyed only when not able to start the retreat. So the first time they can do that an possibly stopped with contact with S

World in Flames via FB - 6

The Germans have taken the Ardennes and Brussels. They still have plenty of momentum to finish the conquest of Belgium and take the war to France. The Soviets are moving cautiously in their war against Iran (who have been bolstered by the Japanese).

1940 M/J – FINALLY SOME GERMAN SUCCESS

M/J and a new turn commences as rebase, production and reinforcement from the M/A turn is completed, US Entry enacted option 12 The Selective Service Act (No Tension) and option 18 with the US demanding the Azores, which created tension in the GERM Pool. In a peculiar state of affairs in the US there are no more Japanese options to be taken until their pool reaches 23 + when the US can take options 23, 24, 26 until then it will be quiet and the US has to just wait until they get extra chits in the Jap pool to attempt to create tension in the Jap pool to gear up – it is a challenge for the US Senate and Roosevelt, desperate to prepare for WAR! The US has however deemed to assist their Allies as their Huston oil fields come ‘on line’ and with the cancellation of the US-Italian LL agreement, they have an overabundance of oil with the US agreeing to lend 5 oil to France and 3 to the CMWTH.

The Axis roll a definitive 9 to win the initiative and take control of this turn and then rolls a nice 6 for clear weather in Europe except rain in N Monsoon (China is pleased) and then as predicted GERM declares a land offensive led by Von Rundstedt (13 O Points). They double two front-line arty Divs and supported by Stukas they GS the French and British frontline. Finally, a bit of luck for the GERM player as all the British Garrison in Brussels gets inverted and the point French hex in the Ardennes is mostly inverted. However, a GERM JU88 Bomber pays the price for flying without an escort and is shot down whilst the French lose another valuable FTR and its pilot. With the doubling effects of their largest units the GERM assault Brussels on a +14 rolling a 15 for an impressive 29 destroying two Corps (1 Brit and 1 Belg) – Brussels falls, in their second attack at a marginal +8 they roll even better with a 17 for a 25, again destroying two French Corps, and importantly taking the Ardennes hex. This impulse, it would seem that the dice gods were with the GERM as they advance without any loss or inversion. Italy takes a Combined and sails its fleet and two Tpts into the E Med and embark and then land two Corps and invade Cyprus capturing its resource. As predicted Italy has chosen an Egypt first policy which the CMWLTH suspected was going to be their theatre of choice – he has made some preparations. Japan also takes a combined and reinforces China, but with rain in the N Monsoon they elect to only attack the lone rear-guard Nationalist INF DIv at some outrageous odds that don’t even require a dice roll. There are no other Jap attacks as their bombers fail their GS – not unexpected as they are rolling on 1’s and 2’s. A long GERM turn as there was a lot to do coordinating their land offensive and exploiting their success.

Allied first impulse saw a Combined by the CMWLTH as they pull HQ Gort back from Norway to France and Wavell sets its headquarters back up in Lille. Germany’s venerable BS Schleswig Holstein patrolling in the North Sea attempts to intercept the British Tpt, but fails and is subsequently found by the CV Courageous air group and sunk with all hands. The British bombers GS the GERM front line units and ALL fail, not a single inversion – the French Arty in Metz is more successful inverting both GERM lead ARM units in the Ardennes – nice rolling Frenchie. The British and French shuffle their front lines to await the next assault and pray for bad weather. Russia takes a no cost Combined as it moves ARM toward Tehran and in China, a few units move forward as the now Elite and veteran Chinese air-force flies North to where the clear weather and the action is likely to be. The Chinese partisan unit outside Shanghai – goes berserk and launches an assault against the Jap Mech Div (2.5) at 1:2, the Japanese panic, and fearing a high roll and a possible exchange fly two bombers in support to shift the odds to a 1:4 – the partisans smash themselves against the tiny tanks/armd cars and are eliminated, although the Chinese player is elated as that means two Jap bombers won’t be GS the Chinese next impulse.

Second Impulse and the Allies prayers are answered by the weather Gods with a rainy 2 rolled for weather and storm in the N Monsoon – the Chinese are pleased. However, the +2 on the next weather roll will mean that it will be clear in France and temperate China for the Axis 3rd impulse. In rain, the GERM takes a no cost land to shuffle units forward in the mud and reinverts the two flipped lead ARM Units in the Ardennes. The only good news here is that the initiative will advance by two meaning the EOT rolls will commence a little earlier – the AXIS can end the turn on their next impulse if they roll a 1! The other bonus is that 3 of the 4 GERM HQs are currently flipped which is always reassuring although the GERM still has O-Points if needed. Italy takes a no cost land and advances towards Alexandria – only stopped by an Egyptian 4 factor TER on the coast, the 2nd ITAL Nav rebases to Egypt to threaten the British supply in the Red sea. Japan takes a combined and lands more units in China and with rain and storm takes no further action.

Allied Impulse next week – the CMWLTH will almost certainly take a naval to challenge the Italian dominance in the W Med as all their NAV air has flown and the British CVs and the RN are keen to teach Mussolini a lesson or two. Russia may ‘have another go’ at Tehran although they are in no hurry any more, although it would be nice to grab that Persian oil rather than gift it to the Japanese each turn.