der Kampf von verdrehtem Fluss

Frederick the Great and Charles of Austria squared off recently in a battle using our regular Final Argument of Kings by Dean West and five players.  The Prussians had twenty-one battalions, composed of four grenadier, eight musketeer, four fusilier and five Freikorps.  Cavalry featured two cuirassier regiments, four dragoon, two hussar and a Freikorps unit.  Six batteries (five medium and one heavy) rounded out the army.  The opposition was largely Russian though the overall command was deferred to Austria.  Sixteen Russian battalions were present.  Four grenadier, three Pandour and nine musketeer.  Five batteries (one heavy, three medium, one light) were arrayed in support.  Two cuirassier regiments, two horse grenadiers and two hussar regiments were present.  The Austrians fielded three grenadier, three musketeer, one jæger and one Croat battalion.  Two fine cuirassier regiments, one of dragoons and one of hussars along with two medium batteries completed the allied army.  So numbers were on the Austro-Russian side, with quality on the Prussian.

We tried the optional grand tactical rule, whereby 2d6 are rolled and the initiative rating of the commander is added (or subtracted).  High score gets to make a double move unless they come within 18" of the enemy.  If that criteria isn't met, you roll again.  A substitute for a move could be a formation change, etc.  Fire and charges are never allowed.  Once one side comes within 18" of the opponent, a single reaction move is allowed.  So guns may unlimber, formations changed, facings altered and so forth.  This is to allow for the possibility of the flank march at Leuthen on the game table.  But enough talk, on to the game.

Looking towards the Russian left

Russian right and center

Frederick huddles up with Seydlitz and von Kleist

After grand tactical as the battle begins

As the battle developed, the Prussians from left to right had the cuirassiers and dragoons behind the fusilier brigade, the Freikorps brigade, two musketeer brigades, the grenadier brigade and on the far right the light cavalry.  The allied army had from left to right, an infantry brigade with two of the Pandour battalions, a line brigade, the heavy cavalry, two more brigades, the Austrian infantry and Austrian cavalry.

Prussians closing with enemy on their left

The centers clash

Freikorps vs. Austrians

Losses taken, units shaken, stroke and counter stroke

In the center the Russian cavalry found life difficult as three Prussian batteries were able to fire upon them.  Given the choice of being slowly shot to pieces or charging, they gallantly charged but failed to close.  This gave the Prussian infantry a free hand.

Control of a two level hill see-sawed back and forth

The Austrians drive away the Freikorps, unmasking the cavalry

Breakthrough in the center!

Russian left advances as the Prussian lights relocate

After defeating their opposite numbers, the Prussian cavalry on the Austro-Russian right charged disordered across the shallow river with predictable results.  The Austrian musketeers, already weakened were swept away though the grenadiers stalled the advance.  Until the relocating Prussian lights slammed into their flank.   Everything began to collapse as the Russian left became the rear-guard for the retreating army.  The Prussians were so battered that only a modest pursuit was probable.

Seeing off the Austrian cuirassiers

Prussian dragoons stalled by grenadiers

Left wing, now rear guard moves to cover

We have had many interesting and hard-fought battles with Final Argument of Kings but this has to be once of the closest and fiercest.  Both sides maneuvered effectively tactically to attack and counter attack.  Each side had their charges and tactical coups so it ended with everyone satisfied and handshakes all around. 

We played eight turns in the afternoon game with a decisive result and time to chat afterwards.  Most satisfactory.

Massacre at Tobruk book review

So while I convalesce from having my gall bladder removed in what was anything but a routine operation, I've had time to read and wanted to share my views on what was for me a new and unique raid during WWII.

Like many of us 50-somethings, we grew up watching movies like Tobruk with Rock Hudson and George Peppard.  At the time, even I thought it was just fantasy, too outrageous to be taken seriously.  Then I came across Peter C. Smith's book, "Massacre at Tobruk." 

In September of 1942, at the urging of Churchill a series of daring raids were planned on Axis supply ports and centers, utilizing the LRDG, commandos, marines and other Commonwealth troops.  Much like in the movie maligned by me earlier, a group of anti-Nazi Germans were recruited to try to enter Tobruk as a column of POWs.  Once in they were to assist with the destruction of supply dumps.  Who knew?  The movie glosses over the main raid of course, interjecting extra characters and a "healthy" dose of antisemitism.  Still, the movie accurately reflects that overall the raid (and most of the related ones) was a failure with a huge loss of life and little or nothing to show for it.

The book goes into great detail about the background of the raid.  How is was discussed back in 1940 and rejected as impractical even with greater forces available, and how poor was the security.  While it is a myth that the Axis forces were waiting for the raid, it seems at times as if the planners were doing everything possible to tip off the defenders. 

In the end the Royal Navy lost an AA light cruiser and two good destroyers, along with numerous MTBs and light craft.  Essentially all the forces that landed were killed or rounded up.  Again, little was accomplished by the raiders, unlike in the movie where Rommel losses all his fuel reserves.  Interestingly, all the comments from the survivors spoke very highly of the treatment from the Germans, while the Italians were often brutal, having endured insults for years.

The book is well illustrated with a wealth of previously unknown pictures, maps and illustrations.  It also has a nice bibliography.  On the downside, the proof-reading is weak.  The farther into the book I went, the more simple errors there were.  Typically the simple things spell-checker won't catch but it got annoying at times.  Perhaps the proof-reader lost their interest as the book progressed. 

This book filled in a gap in the history of the fighting in North Africa for me.  Even restored a bit of my faith in Hollywood since they managed to get many things right.  Unfortunately it did little to improve my opinion of long-range planning and ability to learn from their mistakes for the British.  The fiasco at Dieppe had already occurred, but the same mistakes were repeated.   While it is a tragic fact that in war men will be placed in danger and losses will occur, in this case the brave men who executed the raid had the deck massively stacked against them.

Worth the read and it offers many ideas for wargame scenarios.

The First, First Alamein

January, 1941.  In the far distance, the lure of Alexandria.  Standing in the way of the invader is the battered remnants of 7th Armoured, 4th Indian Division and the scrapings of an army.  Seeking passage is the typically victorious Italian Army.  "What's that?" you say?  As part of a loosely structured campaign the Italians have not only NOT been run back to Tunisia, but are contemplating final victory in Egypt.  When I say loosely structured I mean by that the results of a tabletop battle are considered and each side given options.  They make their decisions and in this case, the Commonwealth troops decided to make a stand along the ridge at el Alamein.  The Italians could opt to assault the hastily prepared position at slightly better than 1:1 odds or wait for the first division of the Afrika Korps to come up in a month.  During that time the 6th Australian division would be coming onto line for the Allies.  It seemed like too good an opportunity to pass, so with 8000 points vs. 5900 points for the Allies, the Italians attacked.

Rules used are Blitzkrieg Commander II (BKCII), with 15mm figures and centimeter distances increased by 50%, plus some other house rules.  O.B.s were generated using the online "Battlegroup" resource.  Players were nine in number and the game was played to a conclusion in spite of the large numbers in five hours which included a lunch break.  BKCII is an "IGO-UGO" game where your activity is determined by successfully rolling your command rating or less.  Multiple attempts lower your chance each turn.  Unlike Black Powder where you only roll once, in BKCII you roll for each activity w/o knowing whether there will be a second.  Under certain conditions if you fail your activation roll you have some options.

I'll let the pictures speak for themselves with only minimal comments till the end.  The table is 12x6' with back tables for both sides that ARE in play.  Click the pictures to enlarge.



Italian left



Italian right



Italian center.  Where is the enemy?



Air strike!  And successful too.



The right advances, seeking the enemy.



The left rushes forward, with only observers in front of them.



Recon probes the center.

The right continues... enemy sighted!



The sees mostly dust from light tanks driving back and forth.



A large engagement begins on the right.



Results.  Dice represent hits, reversed models are suppressed.



The center finally starts moving.  What is waiting for us?



Closing on the thinly manned trenches.  What does the dust cover?



Italian infantry over-running the center.



More air support, and annoyingly effective too!



But we roll on.  There seems little to oppose us.



Combined arms take out an emplaced anti-tank gun



The right is a shambles, but their sacrifice will guarantee victory.

And then it all fell apart.  The right-hand battlegroup failed their break-point test and headed for the rear.  In the center suppression kept the infantry heads down.  On the left the opposing British had already passed one break-point test and we would push them even harder in this turn.  But nothing happened.  Ennui seized the Italians (multiple command failures) and the dust settled to reveal a line of cruiser tanks in gun emplacements.  One, two, three rounds of shooting later and the Italian tank force was no more.  Of our 2000 point loss for the day around 900 occurred in that one turn.  No photos were taken to record the horror and scope of the disaster.  Time to throw in the towel and wait for the DAK.  We made some important mistakes with the rules, but that is to be expected since no one regularly plays BKCII except for these campaign games.

I think most everyone felt the Italians, against all expectations, were going to carry the day.  It seemed like nothing could stop the armored juggernaut rolling towards Alexandria.  But.... that's why we use dice.  And for the second week in a row I am left to conclude that God really is an Englishman.


A notable Spanish victory

So after gaming the grand tactical we shift to the micro tactical.  20+ years ago I wrote "Tirailleurs en Grande Bandes" for skirmish level Napoleonics.  Something to use my original  and much beloved Airfix figures with.  Now it is still a work in progress, but makes it for a dramatic and bloody game.  Hope you enjoy our see-saw affair from yesterday.

French and their plunder, I mean baggage on the move.

Long view of the table.  Spanish guerrillas lurk in the distant woods.

Each side had four infantry units ranging from 18-30 figures and one medium gun apiece.  The French were burdened with three wagons or coaches to exit off the table.  All the British and Spanish had to do was wait.

Redcoats and Spanish lights block the road.

95th Rifles in line look to flank the French in time.

Each unit had two cards in the deck assigned to them with possible actions on a card being; fire, reload, stand up, charge, etc.  The deck contained two jokers as well.  The first jokers would allow a free action to be assigned by the commander in chief to any unit depending on whether the card was French or Allied.  The second joker went to the other side.  This often had a critical effect in the game.

The effects of rifle fire, even on skirmishers.

Guerrillas emerge from the woods to attack.

French push on as their gun deploys behind the skirmishers.

French grenadiers engaged the guerrillas and though outnumbered quickly had their way with the ill-armed if surprisingly motivated Spanish.  In the center the rifles continued to decimate the French and it was clearly going to take some serious action to get the wagons through.  Cannons employed a "bounce stick" as shown in Charles Grant's "The Wargame."  Although they had several chances during the day, they only took out one man.

The French goal is in the upper left corner.

A trophy perhaps?!  The gun is eliminated.

Impacting the British in close order.

It seemed that despite the horrendous casualties to the Rifles, that by leaving the road the wagons might escape.  The British gun was neutralized and although a rump of survivors rallied, the redcoats were gone too.  Then came the Spanish to the rescue.

Rifles advance, Harper survives a cannon shot.

Rightly judging the French were getting away, the Spanish charge!

After a melee.  Red pipe cleaners indicated wounded men.

The Spanish over-run the French skirmishers, even defending higher ground.  They drag the teamsters from two of the wagons and rejoice!  The third wagon escaping seemed to matter little.  Vive el Rey!

The Spanish strike the ill-prepared French.

Over-run!  Wiped out!  Captured!

The French grenadiers and some few surviving French attempt to retake the wagons as the Rifles slowly advance.  Although the grenadiers, most of them carrying wounds with them, manage to drive off the Spanish they in turn are forced to retire (run). 

Grenadiers hit the Spanish lights while others advance.

This left the virtually unscathed Rifles to hold the field (the French gun made off the way it came) and probably write that they won the day.  But it was a Spanish victory!  At least in this Frenchman's opinion.  A most dramatic action with the advantage see-sawing back and forth.  In the end it seems God is an Englishman because the cards came up exactly as the Allies needed.