Memoir 44 - Battle of Carpiquet in 54mm part 2

As part of Operation Windsor of 4th July 1944 the 8th Canadian Infantry Brigade advanced from the Normandy bridgehead to capture the airfield outside the village of Carpiquet and this is the scenario that Anthony and I chose to play using 54mm toy soldiers and the Memoir 44 game system devised by Richard Borg.

The Canadian armour advances, this game system is very much about the tanks, they have great mobility and firepower but their full potential can only be exercised in open country, their effectiveness is much diminished against troops in cover.

On the German left wing, infantry of both sides move cautiously forward, probing and making maximum use of terrain for cover.

The two panzer units on the German right wing have elite status, which gives them a marginal edge in tank on tank combat, they launched an all out attack and made short work of the opposing Shermans

Infantry have great resilience when in cover, several times the defenders were forced out of their positions but quickly regrouped and returned to the fray.

The Allied armour eventually broke out of the bocage but by then the panzers had command of the open ground and there was nothing for it but to fall back.

The game was fast paced and the outcome played out very similar to the original action in 1944, from that point of view we judged it to have worked well.  Visually it was nice to see the Britains Deetail figures on the table and six figure units looked about right but I think we need to work on the representation of built up areas (which I feel is an issue with grid based games) and perhaps some explosive blast markers.  It lasted about an hour and a half.

Elsewhere, the latest issue of Plastic Warrior magazine arrived in the post this morning (see PW link in column on the left), the Woking Games Day is being held this Saturday (for details see the Little Wars Revisited link in the column on the left) and we also have the London Toy Soldier Show coming up on the 30th March, so a busy few weeks ahead.

Memoir 44 in 54mm - Battle for Carpiquet

For those that don't know (which included me until a couple of weeks ago), Memoir 44 is the WW2 version of the boardgame Battle Cry, more specifically it's about the campaign in Europe after the D Day landings in Normandy.  The scenario we chose to play was the drive on Carpiquet by the Canadians of 8th Brigade facing 12th SS Panzer Division, Anthony and I have adapted Battle Cry quite successfully to 54mm for the ACW and Zulu wars but how would it fare with WW2?

The initial set up, the Canadians have five armoured and eight infantry units, The Germans have three armoured (two of which are elite) and seven infantry units all in well prepared defensive positions.  The Canadians objective, the village of Carpiquet, is on the right hand baseline, half way up the table nestling behind the hills and woods.

Canadian infantry advance, probing the way for their armour.

On the Allied right, the Sherman tanks of the Sherbrooke Fusiliers rumble through the winding Normandy bocage......

......while the Panzer Grenadiers are dug in waiting for them.

On the Allied left the Canadians begin clearing the small villages of their defenders.

The seemingly endless grind through the bocage.

In the centre the Canadians make better going as the land opens to rolling fields.

The mat and toys were all Anthony's, infantry units are represented by six figures and armour by a single tank.

The mortar units look impressive, for the purpose of this game they count the same as any other infantry unit.

More tomorrow, or the day after, perhaps.

Battle Cry Isandlwana with 54mm toy soldiers

The new year has seen a long awaited return to playing games with toy soldiers, give or take a day it was the 140th anniversary of the Battle of Isandlawna so it seemed only fitting to recreate it on the table.  Anthony has been diligently building up a superb Zulu War collection made by Little Legion Toy Soldiers and found a scenario for Isandlwana on the internet using the Battle Cry game system devised by Richard Borg.  We were joined by John, a long standing enthusiast of H G Wells "Little Wars" who acted as umpire.  Here's how it went:

The Zulus deployed in traditional "Buffalo Head" formation, the main body (chest) formed up across the donga while the horns work their way around the flanks. The British infantry form up in line behind the donga, with Durnford's Natal Native Horse on the left flank and a gun in the centre covering the right flank.

The Zulu line makes an impressive sight, they have no firepower but if they can close to contact their units have greater resilience in hand to hand combat.  The Zulu also have a slight advantage in command control to reflect their mobility and tactical use of terrain.

The British depend on being able to bring their superior firepower to bear.

A few of my Zulus, produced by "A Call to Arms" made up the numbers, painting the laces on Zulu shields is a most laborious chore. 

The British line waits steadily for the onslaught.

The Zulu right horn falls on the British left flank and steadily wears it down.

Durnford's troopers attack the Zulu left horn and stall the advance on that flank but are wiped out in the process.

With the main action taking place on both flanks the Zulu centre waits to see the outcome.

The British line moves up to shorten the range and fires off a volley forcing some of the Zulu units to fall back.

With the flanks being steadily overwhelmed by the horns, the chest surges forward in an all out attack.

The British line fragments, and suddenly it's all over.

The game played out surprisingly similar to the historical narrative, which is the mark of a well designed scenario and what we always aim for.  It took about three hours to play (including a break for beer and bacon butties).   

LITTLE WARS REVISITED GAMES DAY 2019

The above event will be held on 16th March 2019 in Woking and you can find all the details on the Group Forum here: LWR Forum 2019 Games Day  Anthony plans to put on another game using his Little Legions Zulu War collection at the event and will be using the Portable Wargame rules devised by Bob Cordery.  So if you want to watch or take part in some great wargames played using 54mm toy soldiers why not come along for the day.

Lost and Found

I recently recovered the hard drive from a laptop long since out of use, among numerous pictures of cats and holidays there were a few of toy soldiers, including these:

Clearly the early moves of a wargame but I don't remember when, who was playing or what the rules were.  No matter, it's always nice to see old toys out on the table.  I think I originally posted these pics up on one of the old Yahoo Groups so there may be more of the same wafting around in the ether.

A close up of the Allied Command.  Most of the mounted figures came from the collection of John Ruddle and have seen action in his legendary garden wargames, a few of the foot conversions are my own humble efforts.

Wishing a peaceful, happy Christmas to one and all, hopefully there will be more toy soldiers in the New Year.

Battle Cry in 54mm

For those unfamiliar with it, Battle Cry is a boardgame set in the American Civil War, it's played on a hexed board using 20mm toy soldiers which are activated by drawing order cards.  Separate terrain hexes can be laid on the board to create an infinite variety of battlefields.   In need of some diversion from One Hour Wargames, and as Anthony had acquired a mat with 6" hexes, we opted to run a game of Battle Cry using 54mm toy soldiers (also I realised my ACW toy soldiers hadn't had an airing since the Gettysburg game in 2013).

The game also includes a number of scenarios based on actual battles showing you where to lay out the terrain features and the starting positions for all units.  We decided to refight the First Battle of Kernstown   This sees the Confederates under Stonewall Jackson inadvertently attack a much stronger Union force due to faulty intelligence.  Here's how the game went:

View of the left and centre of the field from the Rebel side.  The Union artillery dominates the Rebel left from the commanding hills in the background.

The Rebel right and centre, the picket fence running through the middle of the field provides scant cover but creates a clear psychological barrier and rallying point between the two forces.

All movement and weapon ranges are measured in hexes rather than feet and inches, combat is between units rather than individual figures and is decided by simple dice rules. This makes for a fairly fast moving game once you've gotten used to the terrain effects, which are central to the system.

The Rebels hold a naturally strong defensive position, the treeline on their left protects that flank from the Union artillery and helps to even out the disparity in numbers between the two sides.

The Union force commands all the high ground and comprises 9 units of infantry, 2 cavalry, 2 guns and 2 Generals, while the confederates have 6 units of infantry, 1 cavalry, 2 guns and 3 Generals.

Aggressive Confederate cavalry action on the left keeps the Union right wing in check.

6" hexes are the ideal size for 54mm figures and give the game something of an old school Morschauser look.  If you don't want to stretch to buying a custom made mat it's easy enough to make one by cutting out a cardboard hex template and using it to draw around on a plain green sheet (if I can do it any idiot can!).

Most of the action was in the center and it could have gone either way as the relentless Union pressure took it's toll on the Confederates, finally a last desperate counterattack with a Rebel yell sent the Yankees running from the field.

On the Union right a massed attack broke against the stoutly held fence line and suddenly the battle was over. It could have gone either way and the Union force was slightly ahead for most of the game but that changed after the attack in the centre broke.In 1862 the battle was a tactical defeat for Jackson and the Confederates but happily in 2018 they just about managed to hold their own!  The whole game took abut two and a half hours to play.

This system is ideal for use with 54mm figures and we feel this size of toy soldier adds much to the visual aspect of the game.  It can be used without alteration for any of the modern wars in the second half of the 19th century and I have a fancy to try it for a Crimean game sometime (a chance to get out those Britains hollowcast guardsmen in bearskins).  Another bonus with this system is the the order cards provided are ideal for randomising movement if you are playing a solo game (as we all have to sometimes).

War of 1812

A deputation from the Funny Little Wars group visited recently in the form of Paul and Jack, looking to try out some ideas for smoke, confusion and subterfuge in the age of Napoleon. Keen to get a recently acquired collection from the War of 1812 on the table, I thought this would be an ideal scenario to try out the new ideas.

Setting the scene, a company of British infantry picquetted in the outlying town, across the river from their stockade, are surprised by a raiding party of American regulars, militia and native scouts. A firefight breaks out but the company are quickly overwhelmed and forced to flee for the safety of the fort as the Americans overrun the village.

Troops in the fort stand to and give supporting fire to the hard pressed company. Guns fire every other move and puffs of smoke indicate they are reloading. Similarly blankets of smoke are laid down for each infantry volley, with each successive volley more smoke is laid and begins to role away but has the effect of obscuring aim, it also gives irregular troops the opportunity to slip away unseen, only to reappear elsewhere.

At this point the forlorn Company find their way to the fort blocked, pinned on three sides they decide to try crossing the river.  At this juncture a band of natives, allied to the British emerged from the woods to the right of the stockade, their musketry forces the American Militia across the footbridge to fall back but it is too little too late to save the beleaguered company across the river.

A salvo from the American guns dispersed the native allies, while our gallant Company, caught in a crossfire, were unable to cross the river and surrendered to the Yankee Regulars.

The action concluded with the American Militia snipping on the stockade from the safety of the woods while their Regulars formed up for a frontal assault which they carried despite fearful casualties.

The new rules were easy to administer and worked very well, the scenario itself made for an interesting game which could have gone either way.  A very pleasant way to spend a midweek afternoon with old friends and it's great to be getting more gaming in.

Double Delay!

Double Delay is the name of scenario no. 9 in One Hour Wargames, written by Neil Thomas, and it's the game that Anthony and I chose to play this weekend. In light of our previous experience using OHW we decided to use the full 6'x10' table, nine units per side instead of six and five troop types instead of four. We diced as normal for units to get a mix of infantry, cavalry, artillery and skirmishers then switched one unit of infantry for Guards (who use the Zouave profile from the ACW section of the book)

The British have occupied the town of San Antonio somewhere in the Peninsula, they are preparing to leave and rejoin the main army when the French appear on the horizon.  They must delay the enemy and, if possible, deny them the town.

My poor old mother, God rest her soul, would have had forty fits if she'd seen what I've done to her finest Irish linen sheets.  After several days of sponging and stippling they started to look like barren scrubland.

I was still painting the rocks at eight o'clock on the morning of the game, and they were still a bit wet when we were setting up!  There's nothing like a deadline to get your productivity racing.

In true Wellsian fashion the toy soldiers all huddle behind hard cover to shelter from the enemy guns.  They needn't have bothered, although the guns have a range covering virtually the whole table, their limited casualty effect means that troops in the open can take a hard pounding for some time before their capability becomes too seriously depleted.  This is a good thing, it stops the guns dominating the game and reflects the effect of roundshot.

To add a bit of spice the British contingent included a band of Spanish Guerrillas (using the skirmisher unit profile) who act independently and can appear from any piece of cover or enter from any edge of the table at any time subject to the British player achieving an activation score of 6+ on a throw of 2xD6.  Thus there's a good probability they'll appear on cue but it can't be taken for granted, here they emerge from the rocks to give the French artillery a nasty shock!

I take any opportunity to get this old Spanish town out for a game, I bought it for £10 at the very first Plastic Warrior Show, (read about it here) I didn't really want it but it was destined to go in a skip if I hadn't taken it, also it had featured in Donald Featherstone's book "Skirmish Wargaming" (page 50) so I felt I had to save it.

French skirmishers scale the heights on the left of the field supported by the Guards and Chasseurs a Cheval, forcing the British artillery to retire.

The larger table size and additional units made for a lively game with lots of manoeuvre and three actions playing out: forcing the bridge on the left, the main assault against the town on the right and a fight to suppress the guerrillas in the rear centre.  The poor marksmanship of the Guerrillas caused few problems for the French gunners but to contain them tied down an inordinate number of French infantry that could have been put to better use elsewhere, such is the purpose of these irregulars.

The river is a sectional model that clips together, made by Pegasus, it arrived in the nick of time the day before the game and went straight from box to table.

The French eventually took the town and pursued the British off the table, as the scenario required, we played the full 15 moves in about two and a half hours.  I think we have found a formula that makes the OHW system work well for 54mm toy soldiers.