Flashing Blades at Winter Wonder Lard

Earlier this month I had the pleasure of attending Winter Wonder Lard. This was my third visit to the popular Bristol Lardy day held at Britistol Independent Gaming, a games venue in South Bristol. 

The  established structure of the day is participants select a morning and afternoon game. In the morning game I had the opportunity to play Flashing Blades for the first time. Which I was excited about having never played it before. 

The scenario was a diplomatic escort mission, where my  gang of English swashbucklers were attempting to escort a Milanese diplomat to the safety of a the tavern in the centre of the table. 

With a dashing start the English rushed forward trying to get the diplomat safe by hiding in the shadows. The Spanish party appeared to intercept the diplomat, quickly the game descends into a series of duels where characters battled back and forth. 

Things reached a crescendo as a nar-do-well slips out of the shadows  as the battles in the continue around  he pounced and pushed the diplomat to the ground allowing another of his companions the lunge forward, battling through the escort  and unceremoniously run the prostrate diplomat through. At this point we decided the logical thing would be to be the was to withdraw. 

 

Despite the ‘loosing’ the scenario because of the way the leader conducted himself in the duels the was able to accrue honour which in long term will benefit him in a campaign setting. 

This is really a splendid game and well worth trying out if the opportunity arises. 

'Take What is Theirs' a Carnevale Scenerio

The Strigoi and the Guild met in a “Take What is Theirs “ encounter. The Guild made a very strong start with their Capodecina bounding across the canals and rooftops to capture his objective while his gang held back defending the Strigoi objective which were a barrel of fish and a barrel of bodies respectively.  From the outset the Strigoi managed to tie themselves in knots with some poor roles early on allowing the Guild Capodecina to swoop in and grab the objective and then race off. 

Just has he was about to achieve the objective the Noble Strigoi activated and leaped over a citizen on guard with a desperate attack, finishing the poor Capodecina off only moments before he achieved his objective. The noble vampire raced back with the recaptured objective with his Strigoi moving to guard his escape. Shortly after in the that the penultimate round, a Common Strigoi audaciously slipped through the screen of Guild enforcers to snatch their objective marker. She raced back in an attempt to get the prize back only to be pursued by a knife welding citizen doing all in her power to stop the vampire. 

These are some shots of the action.

Scenario 19 from the Winter Storm Campaign: Chain of Command

A “one off” go at scenario 19 of the Winter Storm Chain of Command campaign.  The objective is for the German Panzer Grenadiers  to race and capture the bridge over Mushkova River before the Soviets can blowit up. The only amendment we made was to give the German a ‘Red Dice’ rather than the extra  Command dice, suggested by the scenario. After a successful patrol phase they deployed flanking the bridge. 

Despite the a sense of urgency and a rush for the bridge the Soviets put up a stiff defence, driving two Zugs off the bridge and destroying a tank whic got itself isolated without infantry support as the Germans tried and tried again to force their way over and create a bridgehead.

With growing desperation the Germans attempted a final push, but a lack of coordination between units bought enough time for the Soviets to spend a Chain of Command dice to blow the bridge. What a fun afternoon of toy soldiers where the result went down to the wire. 

 

Game One : ‘Unser Ziel ist Bayeux’ Chain of Command Campaign

The table for ‘Unser ziel ist Bayeux’ game of Chain of Command. Had a viaduct running across it which made it an interesting table set up working on two levels. The Germans made a strong start with a double phase and pushed up toward the viaduct. Enabling them to put instant pressure on a British JoP which I deployed to far forward resulting on a British Section having deploy early to defend it.

This ment the British had to squander their first Chain of Command Dice to withdraw the JoP to a less exposed position. Despite having good cover behind the railway embankment, the Section One took casualties and were forced to withdraw, only to be wiped out with Corporal Vickers being killed in action as he tried to withdraw his shattered section. The German reserve Zug followed up taking the right flank of the viaduct. 

The Germans continued to pressure the British line in the centre, but they where pushed back in the centre despite their success on the left. In an effort to force a passage through the centre the Germans brought up a Puma without suitable infantry support and it was promptly destroyed by a British 6 Pounder. 

In the following exchanges, both German Senior Leaders got wounded, reducing their effectiveness and the attack bogged down. Despite some heavy losses the Durham Light Infantry claimed a Pyrrhic victory, forcing the Panzer Lehr to attack once again.

Panzer Lehr : 

Leutnant  Norbert Drexler wounded. -1 

Obergrefreiter Kurt Fischer wounded. -1 

 

 Zug One : Gefreter Heinrich Koch 

 3 casualties.

Zug Two: Gefreter Bobbi Klein 

 2 causuaties. 

Zug Three: Gefreter Ernest Schafer  

Five Casualties:  Two Never Return , two miss the next game,  one returns to duty 

Durham Light Infantry :

 Lieutenant Norman Collier.

The Platoon Sergeant Ernest Lincoln 

Junior Leaders: 

Section One:  Corporal David Vickers . KIA. 

10 causalities. 

Section Two: Corporal Fredrick Williams.

2 causalities. 

Section Three: Corporal George Taylor.

Tweleve Casualities:  Six Never Return, six miss the next game.

Unser Ziel ist Bayeux - Chain of Command Campaign.

With the release of the schooner sized campaign, "Unser Ziel ist Bayeux", from the Too Fat Lardies, I now have the opportunity to get my Panzer Lehr and as small collection Late war British on the table. Having not played much in the late war period I am excited to get more familiar with the second edition of Chain of Command and reinforce the new rule developments in my mind. 

In preparation I have generated some leaders for both sides using the original At the Sharp End supplement. 

So here's a quick note to introduce you to the leaders in the campaign. 

Here are the “Dramatis personae”  I rolled up:

Lehr Abteilung 130:

Senior Leaders: 

Lehr Abteilung 130 will be lead by Leutnant Norbert Drexer a 29 year old form a rural farm boy from Bavaria. He has been commissioned from the ranks following showing his worth on the battlefield. He is a model National Socialist, a true believer.

The Obergrefreiter for the platoon is Kurt Fischer a charming and well spoken but on nonsense former waiter from high quality restaurant near the Berlin Opera House. He is 30 years of age and has the presence of a lumbering giant. 

Junior Leaders: 

Zug One and commanded by the strapping six-foot Gefreter Heinrich Koch, a 25 year old from Frankfurt who rebelled against his communist father by joining a Sturmbteilung  he is a true believer in the  ideological clash with international communism & capitalism. 

Zug Two is lead by a former factory work form Spandau, (and possibility a former trade unionist) the 42 year old Bobbi Klein who is only slightly shorter than the lumbering giant Fischer. 

Zug Three is led by rural farm boy and model citizen from Pomerania, the 24 year old Ernest Schafer  whose unremarkable average stature is only exaggerated by the size of his fellow NCOs. 

6th Battalion Durham Light Infantry :

Senior Leaders: 

The Senior Leaders of the 6th Platoon are Lieutenant Norman Collier a native of Durham and ex-Grammar School Student and then Master (Classics & Latin), Aged 27, he is an average sort,  unremarkable.

The Platoon Sergeant, 31 year old Ernest Lincoln appears an average sort. However his background as a circus entertainer proves him to be useful in a tight spot. But don’t get drawn into a game of find the lady with him. 

Junior Leaders: 

Section One is lead by the whilly 42 year old farm hand David Vickers from Stoke-on-Trent. He is tall and thin.

Section Two is commanded by the former Harland and Woolf engineer at 31, Fredrick Williams is an average sort of NCO expected.

A factory worker from. Bristol has recently been ported to corporal and given responsibility for Section Three. George Taylor is under nourished pale and thin.

While the campaign ladder notes suggest the German’s can deploy a fresh platoon for every location and the British can on Location One, Two & Four I will keep the same officers to proved a little bit of a narrative in the  proceedings  and attempt to ensure  do not make  rash and wasteful decisions while commanding both sides. 

All being well I’ll play the first games over the next couple of weeks. 

Chain of Command: Canal Line Battles Flank Attack at Gorre

Following the success in the assault on Essars, in the next game the Germans, were keen to press home their advantage, This time they pushing forward on both flanks at Gorre to force the Royal Irish Fusiliers to deploy early. As they rushed forward supported by a Panzer III they were quickly met by fire from British sections rocked them back on their heals.

Despite coming under fire from two sides and effective Bren fire which succeeded in d driving the Panzer III back at close range. The British failed to inflict enough damage on the German units to affect their Force Morale in what was a spirted defence. The German’s responded with their sustained fire MG34 and mortar which weakened the British defensive line with teams being wiped out their Force Morale began to fall.

With HE fire from the Panzer and mortar, along with a sustained fire MG34 pouring more misery on the Royal Irish Fusilier positions. At this point a renewed flank attack on the left crashed home making the situation became untenable, for the British and their Force Morale began collapsed giving victory to the Germans.