Savage Worlds Finale in the Levant

On Monday evening, down at CLWC we had the finale of our Savage Worlds Pulp Weirdoes game based in 1920s Post-Mandate Syria. 

My one eyed, one armed French adventurer faced off a gang of marauders & an armoured car, with a swash buckling all or nothing charge. With help from other characters Capitaine mal Maison  just about survived the shoot out being wounded several times.

Savage Worlds is a slick RPG system which translates very well on to the tabletop. It was a joy to play games with some amazing handmade terrain that really brought the campaign to life.

French Motorcycle Reconnaissance Fusilier Platoon: Chain of Command

In preparation for learning Chain of Command 2 I am going to play the “Many Rivers to Cross” Pint-Size Campaign, from the 2018 edition of Lard Magazine. This is always a good opportunity to put a campaign force list together.

Senior and Junior Leaders. 

For the longest time I have been taken with the look and the uniforms of the French Reconnaissance Motorcycle Platoon. It has always struck me has one of the most practicable uniforms of the Early War period.  Most of the miniatures come from Early War Minaitures & TQD Castings. With the release of Chain of Command 2 it a great opportunity to get them back on the table as a defending platoon in a Pint-Size Campaign.

1re Groupe de Fusiliers

2eme Groupe de Fusiliers 

According to the Blitzkrieg Handbook this platoon is potent in terms of firepower with two LMGs per Groupe eight Fusiliers. However they only have two Groupede Fusiliers and the V-B Team. Which  makes them smaller than the standard three Groupe French Platoon.

V-B Team with two Senior Leaders

Since this is one of the few French formations which benefit with two Senior Leaders the  The Support points difference  may give the opportunity to add an additional Groupe the Combat with a Junior Leader From List 5 to beef it up and act as a  mobile reserve. 

Some of the Support Options for the French Early War force:  

Support Option: Groupe de Combat

Support Option: 60mm Brandt Mortar Team with Junior Leader.  

Support Option: Hotchkiss M1914 MMG Team with five crew.

Support Option: Sniper Team.

Support Option: Engineer Team.

 The Beginings of a 'Groupe Franc' Sizaine.

Support Option: A Hotchkiss H35 & Somua S35.

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Chain of Command , Assualt on Fortiforcations May 1940

 That was a some introduction to Chain of Command  2. A German Pioneer assault on French fortifications in May 1940. The game was loosely based on Scenario 3: Point 247 from the Forgotten Battles : Battle for France, 1940 by Peter Heath. The Germans had just crossed the River Meuse and were to assault a series of fortifications.

Sadly in the set up I made bit of a pig’s ear of it. Not thinking I placed one of the objective markers in the town rather than on the hill. This resulted in a major advantage for the Germans. Due to a poor patrol phase the Germans advanced up the flank in to the village in the first round. Putting pressure on these poorly placed objectives markers from  the get go. Nevertheless, this provided me with an opportunity to salvage something for a bad situation, a position enjoy from a game perspective.

With an off table bunker buster smashing one of the fortifications in the second round. German Pioneers pouring into the town and swamping the French rifles posted as pickets at the edge of the village. Desperately, attempting to hold the line. As two further Sections deployed to protect this compromised flank as the final started in the third phase of counted down from eight. 

As the Germans brought their weight to bear the French Force Morale stated to tumble  When it reached t two the tattered remanence of the French Reserve platoon withdrew. leaving the field to the German. 

 

On reflection , it seems a plausible scenario for May 1940, an aggressive German Pioneers find a weak spot and flank a defensive position while the French scramble to plug the hole. I was struggling to focus on what was new, what was existing and  how it all goes together. There is a lot there once it gets on to the tabletop. 

I am very much looking forward to getting more games under my belt and becoming more confident with the raft of changes. 

Bite Size Solo Game of Carnevale

Over the weekend I managed a quick solo game of Carnevale, a palette cleanser, if you will, to reminded myself of the rules in advance of inviting a friend for a game. The game introduced my recently painted House of Virtue starter gang to the Strigoi.

In the opening exchanges both the Madame & the Dancer proved their credentials as pistol packing, stiletto welding assassins respectively. They made short work of a Reaper & a Newborn Strigoi, in a couple of rounds. They were successful in their initiative and rolled exceptionally well during combat.

Just before the Noble Strigoi could get involved time ran out and I was called away.

Nevertheless, it set up a great scenario for a follow up game where the Madame & the Dancer have to negotiate their way back to their home as a gang of Strigoi hunt them down. 

 

Getting to Grips with Baron's War

The second introductory game of Baron’s War down at Central London Wargames Club started cautiously as both sides sized each other up across a contested village. It was a doubles game we were getting to grips with the ‘you go I go’ mechanics and the various reactions that are available to units.

The key moment in the game came when the beautifully lined up planned charge by the our Noble Lord and his Retinue of Knights. Unfortunately they were roundly defeated and routed back putting us on to the back foot.

Following this set back it became very difficult to hold the objectives on the left flank despite a valiant effort from the mounted serjeants who defended it as best they could but were eventually pushed of the objective by repeated charges and attacks from three units. While the levy shepishly stood off from the  enemy serjaents holding the chuch. Next time I'll just pile in with everybody. 

 

Indian Army Platoon 1941/42 for Chain of Command.

When I approach a new project platoons then to be painted section by section and are interspersed with other projects to keep them interesting and not making projects become tedious slog of painting large numbers of similarly outfitted miniatures. Although painting projects to tend to drag on a bit with this approach of swapping between projects. It does allow a flexibility to work on what appeals to me at any one time. 

This weekend the Indian Army Platoon is reaching completion the three section are made up from AB Miniatures supplemented with Stonewall ANZACS. This combination gave a great mix of head gear and poses along with uniform options. 

The main reference for painting them was Army Uniforms of World War 2 by Andrew Mollo with Malcolm McGregor’s fabulous illustrations. My Grandfather gave me this book for my 11th Birthday in 1980 and I still refer to it regularly today. 

The other helpful source of reference was  from Steven’s Balagan Blog: Spanish and Portuguese Military History, Wargaming and Other Stuff.  Where there is a most useful painting guide for the 14th Army, British and Commonwealth Troops in Burma.  

As is often the case with these projects, support options will be added and alternative figures may be painted to represent leaders or differently configured sections for later periods. In the meantime BEF figures clad in Khaki Drill Battledress will make up the numbers in extra support. 

The Lard Zone : Salute 52

In recent years the Lard Zone has been a regular feature at Salute, showcasing the best of Lardy games and giving attendees the opportunity to participate and try out games. Salute 52 was no different.

With the release of Chain of Command 2 and the future Arnhem Campaign Handbook in the offing Nick and Rich took the opportunity to put on a Market Garden game with with British paratroops taking on the various hodge-podge of kampf gruppen that assembled to oppose the landing. One of the striking things about this game was the topography of the table, (which I failed to captured with my photographs). Nevertheless, having a railway embankment and a station  the table sloped  down to a resdental area,  beautifully representing the terrain in there area where the battle took place.

One of the outstanding games on display was Joe Bilton’s What a Tanker, in Caen 1944, which saw a mass ranks of tanks Clash in the ruins of the Norman city. I impressed myself by taking quite a few pictures of this game which hardly feature a tank! But there is so much to enjoy in Joe's absolutely sublime terrain which captures Caen in the days following  the D-Day invasion.

Additionally, the Lard Zone featured games of General the Armee, and Strength And Honour , sadly the photos I snapped where too shaky to use here.