Don't fence me in

A lucky find at my excellent local wargaming supply shop, Tactics, 1.5m of fencing for 15mm scale.

 The various finished components fit together very flexibly as can be seen in the above image. 

I was in the process of planning to make such terrain pieces and had done a few some years back, but it is a slow fiddly processing in this scale.  This product from 4Ground is just fantastic.  Came away from the sprue with ease and went together perfectly.  I probably did go overboard with bassing (mainly filing down the edges - super easy with a sharp knife, then a bit of texture paint, more paint and then flock).  They have come up a treat!

These are the four components.

Perhaps the finished wood is too dark, but then I am used to Australian conditions, where wooden fences would quickly go to a light grey with the sun's bleaching. Wet wood would be dark and if it has been treated with anything like creosote it would also go dark.  I did consider going over with a light grey/brown dry brush to lighten them, but I felt I'd put enough effort into them already.

And I saw they also do snake rail fencing!  I've ordered two packets.  A must for my ACW army.

Ardennes'44 Take 2 via Vassal - Starting again

It looks like I can't stay away from this game.  Having finished the game with Richard, I was left wondering how different it would be with 3rd Edition using the optional rule that allows using up to 18 attack factors (rather than just 15).  There are a few other tweaks in 3rd Edition as well.

The 7th Army muster two attacks.

This time I am going to resist over investing in this flank.

(Note: the arrows just help me remember which artillery units are being used)

 5th Panzer Army in the centre are much better placed.  

They also have three Panzer divisions, two of which are able to get into action straight away.

My aim here is to head initially for St Vith.

6th Panzer Army only makes one attack.

Again I don't want to over invest on this flank,

the 1st SS Panzer Corps I intend sending to attack up the boundary with the 5th Panzer Army.

The attacks were very successful, but the US line holds where it matters most, 

in the centre where the Panzer divisions want to break out.

German progress will be hampered by traffic congestion.

Afternoon, December 16th

German artillery resupply goes to the 5th Pz Army for the push against St Vith.  I checked and found for Turn 2 the Germans can flip 6 artillery units, so all 5th and 6th Pz Armíes' artillery is ready for action.

When the 116th Pz try to cross the Ouren bridge it collapses.

The 7th Army launches some follow up attacks.

The ones at the bottom of the map fizzed (resulted in engaged outcomes),

but the other attack resulted in capture of Diekirch 

and investment of Ettlebruck (both victory locations)

The 5th Pz Army is powering on.

2nd Pz Division has broken through at Clervaux

and 116th Pz have crossed at Berg Reuland.
The focus is more west than towards St Vith as I originally intended.

However 6th Pz Army's attacks failed to produce spectacular results 

and General Pieper has flown into an apocalyptic rage.

Maybe their night moves will produce results?

 The US 106th Division (under the engaged markers) will attempt to disengage 

and using night infiltration tactic and close the gap in the 9th Armoured's line.

Other elements of the 106th try and breakout.

It is a failure, but they at least resist the urge to surrender.

KG Pieper's night attacks

Situation at the start of the morning of 17 December 1944.

Morning, December 17th 

The 6th Panzer Army takes the limited artillery resupply. The von der Heydte parachute drop is a complete success.

Although not a priority, 7th Army manages to keep up the attacks.

5th Pz Army attacks along its whole front.

It is very successful, even capturing St Vith in a breakthrough combat.

(It got a fire fight result, but with elite tanks in the lead it was in a very strong position to win)

With significant resources, it is essential that 6th Pz Army gets a move on.

The big picture at midday December 17th.

The US 7th Armoured has been rushed forward to establish a northern defensive line,

but the centre seems broken and the southern flank in peril.

Afternoon, December 17th

Artillery supply goes mainly to the 5th Pz Army.

The 7th Army mount some modest attacks, 

but they all fail.

The 5th Pz Army attacks everywhere, 

but meets with only modest success.

However 6th Pz Army clears a way forward,

straight into the US reinforcements.

The US 10th Armoured Division makes the first counter attack.

The situation after the night of 17 December.

5th Pz Army is well placed to reach Bastogne, 

but the 6th Panzer Army is now facing some tougher units if it wants to advance further.

Morning, December 18th

The 6th Pz Army grabs the artillery resupply, not that it will help much as they still need to bring their batteries up, but of the three armies, they are in the best position to use the ammunition.

The 7th Army attacks again.

They will bust a hole in the US lines,

but US reinforcements will arrive to plus the gap.

The 5th Pz Army, while suffering some losses,

will break through and enter Bastogne.

The 6th Pz Army makes no progress with its attacks.

The big picture at midday.

Note the columns of German troops, pouring into Bastogne,

Pz Lehr, 2nd Pz and 26th VG divisions.

Afternoon, December 18th

Artillery supply again goes predominantly to 6th Pz Army, but also, with a note of concern, to the 7th Army as a defensive measure.

7th Army and the left flank or southern sector.

Defensive posture.

6th Pz Army and the centre.

Not many attacks as not many enemy units to fight.

The breakout is underway.

The attacks to the north are just potentially to secure the flank.

Elements of the 1st SS Pz Corps are racing up now.

7th Pz Army and the right flank or Northern Sector.

Limited attacks to obtain victory locations, 

as the 1st SS Pz Corps is being pulled out to be sent west.

 The US 10th Armoured Division counterattacks
in an attempt to free CCA of the 9th Armoured.
It is of limited success.

The situation at the end of the sixth day.

The Germans hold 12 Victory locations (hexes outlined in red) and so win the short Six Turn scenario (they needed 10).

They got close to the fuel dump, but it would be a challenge to capture it.

The little pocket at the eastern end of the bulge has been resisting all surrender attempts.

While I am sure I made a few mistakes (with the rules and optimum attacks), the Germans certainly got off to a good start with their initial attacks, but it is still hard work.  Using the 18 factor attack option helps a bit, but also remembering to use the KG Pieper night move on the first night turn.

It would be interesting to see if they can capture two more Victory locations in two more turns for a total of 14 necessary to win the Eight Turn scenario. They will be facing fuel shortages, but do receive significant reinforcements in the form of the 2nd SS Pz Corps although it will take time to get them into action.

Can I resist playing on?

Nikephorian Byzantine versus Imperial Romans

Bit of a time warp, but Dave and I were giving Impetus Second Edition another go and trying out different armies.  His are old Minifigs and mine Tin Soldier.

I can just make 400 points with my Byzantines, 

but I'm yet to purchase figures for the command stands.

I normally run duplicate commands, but this time I went for one foot and one mounted.

Luckily I won the deployment rolls and deployed second.

We were in action with the very first turn.

We have now learnt how to do reaction fire 

and our game became a whole lot more interesting.

 Whoop!  Subgeneral's expertise locked in.

Turn three and I'm struggling a bit, well a lot,

one of my cavalry units disintegrated, 

however I am working around the Roman's left flank.

 What's not to like about a set of rules that upgrades me to Genius?

I don't need my foot to win, just to hold up,

while my cavalry do their magic.

But it was not to be,

close, but...

On turn five both sides lost a command (as marked by the stars - these units break),

sadly my slightly smaller army and the aforementioned lost cavalry unit, 

tipped my side over its breaking point.

An excellent, tense game.  And I must get some command figures!  The ones I have are all embedded in the units which is fine for Basic Impetus.

And here's an action replay to finish off with:

Moving the Mountain

Previously I have posted on my ACW Plastic Mountain and on the few Airfix Confederates I had painted.  In the past two years not one bit of plastic has shifted and I don't see that changing.  However I do know of a good home for them and that is where they will go, along with these figures from Atlantic which I thought I might get around to doing for Pony Wars.

This represents an excellent rationalisation as I have a major investment in 15mm ACW (and a bit of stuff for Pony Wars too).

I can now report that this mission was accomplished last Saturday and this particular mountain, well, shoe box really, is now with the ANF.

The Airfix ACW sets and Wagon Train are quite beautiful, but much better they get some love rather than collect dust.

Battle of Cape Finisterre - 1805

The pressures on.

First it was on the ANF, principally Julian, to come up with a set of rules that would work for grand fleet actions and he has done just that, with the eponymously named Grand Fleet Actions in the Age of Sail set of rules by A and A Game Engineering.

Second and more harrowing, is on me to do justice to the grand game we played on Saturday with this blog post, which I fear is already late.  James got in first with his post here.

The only real challenge we faced, in what is a very large naval game, was ship identification.  There is not a lot of differentiation in the SoG models, but Julian had numbered his ships.  However this numbering was on the shiny black bottoms of the vessels in a shiny dark blue.  To read them required picking up and a lot of peering.  Some discussion was held about adding tiny, numbered pennants. I know for my SoG models that it can get fiddly, but adding flags certainly lifts the beauty of the models.

I still reckon the SoG ships are a sorry tale of missed opportunities.  Having seen how well Zvedza can manufacture things (and Kinder Surprise for that matter), it should have been possible to have removable masts with different sail settings and displaying damage etc.  Also the boxing with all the SoG paraphernalia is a mistake.  However I am sure there were some good business reasons for why things turned out as they did.  End of grumble.

Sadly I do not have the OOB and so I will be naming squadrons after the players, not the historical counterparts.

Each side had four squadrons.  

Julian had the lead French squadron followed by myself, 

then Mark B and finally James in command of the Spanish.

The British were lead by Olivier,

followed by Stephen and Mark W

with their fourth squadron hidden by the fog.

The battle was fought in fog and to reflect this command radius had been halved, which resulted in ships sailing in line astern (I think that is the proper naval term) to keep in command.

Also note, the paper next to each squadron was all that was required to keep records of damage etc. 

Just the British fleet, aiming to intercept and destroy their rivals.

The French fleet seeking to exit the the sea zone.

The French had the wind,

it is possible that this hampered the British,

but we'll see...

As Julian's squadron nears the enemy,

the forward two British squadrons start to open up like a set of jaws.

Julian's squadron gets first shot, against Olivier's ships.

But then it was time for Stephen's ships to come up,

and blast away at Julian's ships.

Olivier's ships get to return fire.

Julian's squadron is now heading down the throat of the British.

Mark W's squadron is coming up to close the trap.

Julian is doomed!

Stephen gets another set of broadsides in against Julian.

But now my squadron has come round to engage Olivier's ships,

which are trying to bear down on Julian's now somewhat fragmented squadron.

Julian is pulling away to port into the path of Mark W's four ships of the line.

However Olivier's ships are trapped between mine and Julian's tail.

Olivier's ships take a pounding.

Worse, his flag is lost in a failed boarding action.

Can it get any worse?

Yes.

Damned fine dice rolling by me causes one of Olivier's ships to explode!

Julian's ships are taking a battering from both Stephen and Mark W's squadrons.

But Mark B has now come up and will give Olivier some more heat.

Julian's two lead ships have been dispersed by Mark W's squadron

 which is now attempting to engage my squadron.

My ships return fire, carefully trying not to hit one of Julian's damaged ships.

Stephen has failed to seriously damage Julian's squadron

and is possible going to Olivier's rescue, or not...

Hopefully the labels make things a little clearer in the above image.

My squadron is the thin blue line, Julian's the slightly thicker line.

Mark B's squadron is now engaging both Olivier's and Stephen's squadron.

However Oliviers squadron is so wrecked and demoralised that it is no longer a real threat.

Olivier's ships struggle down the line, now coming under fire from the Spanish ships.

Mark W's ships have turned to come down on the rear of my squadron, 

but will not cause any serious damage.

Mark B's lead ships are engaged with Stephen's...

My squadron and Julian's have now broken free and 

even some of Julian's previously lost ships have regained their colours.

The British reserve squadron has now come up against Mark B's squadron 

which has broken through Stephen's ships.

(There is actually a bit of intermingling, but it would spoil the image to label it all up)

Olivier has sailed harmlessly past the Spanish who will now engage Mark W's squadron.

And there it came to an end, with Julian declaring he would fight on alone, if necessary.