Operation Jupiter 26 – Point 112, a 20mm WW2 battle report

Introduction

This is game 26 in replaying the scenarios from the Briton Publishers Operation Jupiter skirmish scenario book.  Links to previous games are on this blog page.

Rules used

I am using my ww2 rules that I had for a 3x4 grid that I then made a gridless version for 2’x2’ games.  These games are larger forces on a bigger table (half a table tennis table or 4x5’x5’) so I have modified them a little so now added a few things from my older rules - unit card activation and now each figures is not suppressed but a section can be if fired on by enough dice.  They are very similar to rule I used 10 years ago.  Going back to what I know!

Scenario

The British win if they gain a foothold at the north end of the orchard and hold on for two turns. The Germans win if they prevent this.  There is no turn limit.  The British need to cross open ground to get to the orchard.

Troops

British

1xCompany HQ (4 figures)

2xPlatoons (10 figures each)

1x6pdr+tow (this is supposed to be a 40mm Bofors but I don’t have one)

4xChruchill VII

2 25pdr missions (average availability)

Note: the image has the 6pdr with a carrier but changed the carrier for a Morris during the game.

Germans

1xKompanie HQ (4 figures)

1xZug (10 figures each)

1xMG42

1xStug IIIG

1xPanzerIV

Deployment

The german tanks and MG far away to get British as they cross the open ground.

Zug in the hedgeline to move to the new hedgeline to repel the British. Kompanie HQ is reserve!

German Deployment, British enter bottom right

Game

Churchills come on first and then the German armour fires first and and damages one of the Churchills

Damaged Churchill

The German Zug moves into the Orchard.

One British platoon enters using the Churchills as cover.  Accurate firing by the German MMG sees a section reduced from 3 to 1 figures, and suppressed.

British platoon enters, and already two figures lost to a German MMG

The Churchills continue to advance sheltering the infantry.  The German tanks damage another Churchill and with MG fire the suppressed section is routed.

Another Churchill damaged

Another British section enters, as does the 6pdr, I mean Bofors.

The 2^nd British section enters

The “Bofors” enters

Just realised I have forgotten the British have 25pdrs in support.  The British company HQ enters so can call that artillery.  The Panzers keep firing and another Churchill damaged..  The Churchills fire back and damage both! (so lucky)

Damaged Panzers

The British 1^st platoon is down to 50% but passes a morale check. A British section makes it to the hedgerow and spots a Gruppe.  The section fires but does nothing.

British have reached the hedgerow!

The British CHQ calls in the 25pdrs into the orchard and 2 German figures are routed.

The Churchills fire again on the Panzers and the Panzer IV is destroyed.

PanzerIV KO

The British get one up on the Germans and the Brits on the hedgerow fire again and destroy 2 German figures and suppress a Gruppe.  The remaining Gruppe figure fails to rally and routs.  However, the other Germans all fire back and the British section is destroyed.  The British 1^st platoon is down to 2 figures that retreat suppressed.

Firing at the Germans again

OMG.  British CHQ calls in the 25pdr again and three German figures gone in the orchard (average is 1).  And the Germans pull back.  The MMG continues to fire and another 2 British figures are lost.

The Churchills fire again and the Stug is destroyed.  The Germans have been a) unlucky in die rolling and b) just not getting the cards until later in the turn.

Stug KO

The British cannot afford to lose too much more to be able to meet victory conditions.  They need to get almost all the remaining infantry to the hedge.  I don’t think they will.

British side

The infantry and the remaining mobile Churchill move to the hedgerow.

British at the hedgerow again

The German 1^st section routs due to poor rallying. 

The British 1^st section (2 figs left) tries to rally but one figure routs.  The British do have not enough infantry left to meet the victory condition.  So close!

Verdict

Such a great game.  It was good to get out the 20mm on a decent sized table.  Not a lot of terrain but the Operation Jupiter scenarios have never failed to deliver an interesting game.

WW2 20mm East Front 1942 game using Take Cover!!

Introduction

So I am itching to use my 20mm WW2 collection and I have also acquired some rivers and road terrain features that I want to put on the table.  I thought about using Platoon Forward to generate a scenario, then considered using a scenario from a collection I have built up.  Finally I remembered I got Charles Grant's Scenarios for Wargamers earlier this year.  Looking through it, the first scenario with a river is number 4 Holding Action (2).  I will go with that.
 

I have not got enough of the Eastern Front yet and will choose late 1942 and infantry divisions.  Russians can be the defender.
 

Troops

Most of the scenarios give forces in terms of "Horse and Musket" infantry, cavalry and guns. At least one scenario also gives equivalents in 20th century terms.  Therefore the Blue (Russian defender) should have about a company plus support and the German's 2 companies.  I will increase the forces just to make it a bit more interesting.
 

Russians

Not much - two reduced companies, 2 AT guns, 2 T70s and 2 Mortars

 Battalion HQ

    2 Rifle bases

Company 1 (reduced)

    6 Rifle bases

    1 MMG (attached)

Company 2 (reduced)

    6 Rifle bases

    1 MMG (attached)

Support company

    2 82mm Mortars (one battery)

    2 45mm AT guns

ATR Platoon

    3 ATR bases

Armoured support

    2 T-70

 

I will count the Russians as Regular.
 

Germans

2 full companies with a support company and Marders

Battalion HQ

    3 Rifle bases

Company 1

    10 Rifle bases
    1 MMG + truck (attached)

Company 2

    10 Rifle bases
    1 MMG + truck (attached)

Support Company

    1 MMG + 1 trucks

    3 81mm mortars + 3 trucks

    1 50mm AT gun + truck

Armoured support

    3 Marder III

Recon

    2 Motorcycles

Artillery

    1 105mm battery of 4 guns for pre-bombardment
 

Germans will be Veterans.
 

Rules

I am going to use my streamlined Take Cover!! rules (similar in scope and play to Rapid Fire).  Here is the page with the rules (second set; the 20mm Take Cover based rules).   I have been working on these on and off for the last 5 years.   I wrote a 2 pager version in early 2013 that was very terse so have expanded it to 4 pages that is much more understandable and includes aircraft and engineering rules.  There is also a 5th page of vehicle stats.  This will be the first outing of the 4-page version.
 

Deployment

This is the table setup based on the scenario.  Russians are setup between the rivers guarding the crossings.  Germans need to cross the river.
 

The setup based on the scenario map and initial deployment zones.  Hidden ford in the top right

Objectives

There is a ford unknown to both sides ("FORD" in the picture).  The Germans recon (motorcycles) discover the ford early on and then the Germans may use it. The scenario recommends the third turn when the German commander is told.  The Russians will only known of the ford's existence when the Germans start using it.  Sounds interesting.

Game
Russian deployment, all unspotted and assumed to be in softcover.  They are defending the two first river crossing, with the tanks in the village as a mobile reserve.

A fairly standard defensive position

The interesting first bit was setting orders for the Germans assuming they had to go via the village.  German 1st infantry company will go up the left hand road, 2nd company up the right, support company deploy in the centre and Marders are an offboard reserve.

Germans enter - Company 1 on the left, Company 2 of the right and Mortars in the centre.

The Germans advance and at the end of turn 3 the motorcycles report the hidden ford.  This actually caught me by surprise and I had to think long and hard on actually what new orders I had to give.  I definitely had not considered the chance of the ford when I gave my initial orders.  Solo playing is interesting that way - I always thought I was OK at focusing on playing one side without consideration of the other side or future hidden information, and this proves it to an extent. Forming the new orders was an interesting exercise. Another big tick for playing scenarios. There are 51 more in this book, and another 52 in another Grant/Asquith book.  I am set for life!

The orders saw the Germans start to move both companies across the fields towards the ford, deploying the MMGs from the trucks to provide any covering fire required. 

Company 1 from the Russian viewpoint.  This company was eventually routed after losing 60% casualties over the game.

Russian MMGs open up on each company and cause some casualties.  The Germans fail to spot them (between 8"-36" a concealed firing MMG requires a 5+ to be spotted).  Russian AT gun in the villages opens fire on the Truck with the MMG that is getting a bit to close but misses.

A shot up the road into the village with the only thing spotted by the Germans being the AT gun.

The Germans successfully spot it but next tun the AT gun toasts the truck and the MMG bails out minus half the crew.

Truck from Company 1 is destroyed.

 The mortars try and speculatively fire at one of the MMGs in the woods but the shells go wide.

The turn sequence is from many other games and is based on the initiative winner choosing the move order.  It gives a good thought on what to do.  Due to the difference in command ability, the Germans can usually choose either for the Russian to move followed by Germans fire, then German move and lastly Russian firing; or vice versa.  In this case, the Germans want to fire as morale is checked before moving and they may not pass morale.  The German 1st company suppress the AT gun in the village but other fire sees the Germans pinned after receiving 2 more casualties.  The German 2nd company manages to destroy the pesky Russian MMG in the woods.

The remains of Company 2 advancing across the road.  They make it to the ford eventually.

The Marder IIIs come on now the AT gun is suppressed (and the AT gun is later taken out by other infantry).  The other AT gun suffers the same fate.  The second (and last) Russian MMG follows the turn after.  The Russian AT guns and MMGs are gone, the only infantry support weapons left are the mortars that keep failing the registration roll - occasionally they managed to score some casualties in the entire game.  Same for the Germans.  Poor rolling all round for indirect fire!

Russian losses.

It is interesting to be in the mindset of the Russians - what the hell are the Germans doing?.  At first it looked like they were going to focus on the centre road, but now I am not so sure.

The Germans advancing across the table towards the ford at the top right.

Germans make it to the ford and start crossing.  The mortars are mounted back into the trucks to get them going too.
 

The mortars are loaded into the trucks and advance towards the ford (top right).

Russians open up on the forces they can see; although there orders do not change for a while so they do not move (5+ is required for the Russians to change orders).  One Marder III is blown up and another few casualties on the first company that causes it to be pinned and then rout - casualties are now 60% of the original company.

Destroyed Marder III

The game is called when all Germans have crossed the ford.

Germans crossing the ford.  They actually did this over several turns but I could not be bothered moving off the first units that crossed, so it looks like a traffic jam only due to my laziness.

The Russians losses were minor.

Only losses were the AT guns and the MMGs.  The only other units that fired were a AT rifle and some infantry in the last turn or two but they were not spotted.

The Germans lost one company, a Marder and a few odds and ends.

The German losses - about 40% of their starting force.

I will declare a minor victory for the Germans - they managed to cross the ford with about 60% of their starting forces, so it is a costly victory.

The game did not quite go as expected.  Once the Germans had crossed the ford, it was only a few turns and most of the rest of their forces made it across.  This did not give the Russians much time to react.  I was expecting a bit of a contest at this stage.  The game was also a longer one than I thought as the Germans start to attack the village crossing on one side of the board, and then have to move across the board and also to the other table edge as well!  That is a lot of movement. Still fun.

Verdict
The new rules worked well and I did not have to make any changes to the rules, always a good sign.  I have made changes to speed up the original Take Cover!! rules and when some things seemed a little strange (probabilities to hit) I went back and did some calculations with the original rules to find the result was similar. So a big tick there.

I really liked playing the scenario form the book.  I will be trying more of them.  And will try and resist buying the Grant/Asquith Scenario book. 

I  will try and get in a few more 20mm games on the 1/2 a table tennis table over the Christmas break.  Of course, due to other commitments, I may get none in.

WW2 battle report - East Front 1941 Floznia (Take Cover) 6mm

Introduction
This is the third game (game 1 link and game 2 link) in the mini-campaign taken form the IABSM Vzyama or Bust scenario book (available at the Too Fat Lardies site). I am using the rules Take Cover!! (see here for a review) that are similar in play and scale to Rapid Fire.  I am using 6mm with one base = 1 squad and the board size in 2'x2', so converting all measurements from inches to centimetres.

Rule Changes
I am using card activation for each unit rather than the normal turn sequence (game 2 describes this) as it worked well last game.  I also discovered in game 2 that the scenarios have too many bases in the game for my liking and so seem crowded. So I am reducing to about half the number of bases in a company, compared to normal Take Cover org charts.  I've made one change to the morale rules to reflect reduced bases per infantry unit: Infantry always perform a morale test with a -1 die modifier, and each base lost over the threshold is a -2 modifier, rather than a -1.  This change was necessary as infantry morale tests usually occur once a unit loses a base over a threshold, which is 30% (rounded up) for regular troops. A company of 12 would test when it loses its 5th base, and tests each base lost thereafter.  A company will tend to pass, and not have much of a chance, if any, of a bad result for another 2-3 casualties.  This does not translate well to 6-7 bases to a company.  So I've done a bit of number crunching and my changed modifiers seem to produce a reasonably similar outcome to the original rules.

Scenario
Russians hold a large village on a river. Germans enter from the northwest to take the village.  As the Russian force it quite small, this is likely to occur.  However, Russian reinforcements being to trickle in from the north-east.  The winner is who holds the village bridge at the end of the game.

The battlefield

Troops
German
Battalion HQ
  2 Rifle Squads (one is the battalion commander)
  1 PzB39 ATR base

2 x Companies
  6 Rifle squads
  1 50mm mortar
  2 trucks

Support Company
  2 MMGs
  1 Truck

Engineer Company
  2 Pioneer squad
  1 Flamethrower
  1 Sdkfz 251/1

Artillery
  2 x 75mm Infantry Guns + Horse limbers

Tanks
  1 x Panzer 1
  4 x Panzer IIIF

Germans infantry is veteran.

The German troops

Russian
Battalion HQ
  1 squad

2 x Companies
  6 Rifle squads

Support Company
  1 MMG

1 x NKVD platoon (must stay south of river)
  3 Rifle squads

Armour
  1 KV2

Artillery
2 missions of 2 x 76mm (was 4x76mm but reduced the number as less infantry on the board)

Reinforcements
First
  2 x T-26
  2 x BT7

Second
  6 Cavalry squads (4 are at -1 to fire as they have no inherent LMG)

Third
  6 Rifle squads
  1 50mm mortar

All Russian infantry is Green (treat as Militia for Take Cover) except Cavalry and NKVD.

Russians, including offboard reinformcements.  Don't look too hard for the cavalry, I have no figures for them so they are represented by infantry stands.

An 2 picture aside - child play
My 4 year old loves moving the 6mm figures around.  So before actually playing I let him move the soldiers around.

4 year old starting to set out the troops.

You may not be able to see so well, but every stand and vehicle has been placed on the board.  He had fun.

Deployment
Russian NKVD must deploy and stay south of the bridge, other can deploy anywhere south of the road fork.  I opted for a combination of forward defense and defense of the bridge.

Russian deployment.  Stands are behind the building they occupy so I remember where they are.

The Germans enter on the road to the north-west and spend a few turns on trucks advancing to the crossroads in the centre and unloading.

German 1st Company one deploying into the field. 2nd Company has deployed in the woods behind them.

Parts of German 1st Company charge the outer part of the village hoping that there are no Russians in the houses.  There are and subsequently melee - Germans repulsed with all three chargers lost.  Close combat in Take Cover is easy - each roll 1d6 + number of figures and a few modifiers.  Winner loses one stand, loser loses 3. Fast.  Deadly.

The Germans on the right are eliminated in the melee.

The other part is moving to secure the farmhouse on their right.  After securing the farmhouse they go through the village to ensure no enemy. 

Germans approaching a farmhouse on their right flank.  There are no Russians but the Germans don't know that until they get there.  Troops in buildings not firing or moving are only spotted on a 5+ at 4cm

Russians call artillery onto  2nd Company in the woods.  2 stands lost and company is suppressed. Suppression is automatic for off-board artillery if a casualty is scored.  Suppression effects is 1/2 move and no fire for the company;s next turn, normal move and -1 to fire the turn after, then back to normal.

Flamethrower with the Pioneer platoon takes out 2 Russians stands and suppresses what is left of the company.  At the next activations,the Russian company routs (no real surprise).  The village to the right of the bridge (viewed from the German side) is now almost entirely clear; the Pioneer platoon enter and meet up with the remainder of 1st Company.

NKVD take out a section from the German 1st Company in the village, the 1st Company had just taken out the Russian Battalion HQ (-1 to all morale tests from now on).  The German 1st Company in the village manage to spot the pesky MMG across river and open fire. The NKVD is  also spotted - it had taken out a few German squads but the NKVD routs in the end from fire and losses.

Germans (at left) trading shots with the MMG to the right.  MMG ends up a casualty

And the Panzers are coming now the infantry have scouted out a lot of the enemy troops.

Panzers coming down the road to assist with the infantry assault in the village.

Pioneer platoon charge into left hand village which has element of the Russian 2nd Company in it.  Pioneer platoon wins and Russians are down to one element in the village.

The last Russian unit (lower left) in the village hangs on, but routs at the start of its next turn.

German 2nd Company finally gets to advance like it wants to towards the other farmhouse of the left, not knowing the KV2 and a platoon of Russians is there.

Germans (at the back) advancing towards the farm with the KV2.

KV2 opens fire on a Panzer IIIF, disables it and then later destroys it.  A Panzer IIIF can only disable the KV2 on a 6, and only if it hits.  Not fun for the Germans...The German 2nd Company advances on KV2 and the farm but is mostly wiped out by the KV2 and the Russian platoon in the farmhouse.

KV2 destroys a Panzer (at the rear of the photo).  Russian platoon in foreground is actually in the building.  The German infantry at the right is destroyed soon after this moment,

Panzers and KV2 trade shots but both don't manage to hit, or hit but with no damage.  The Russian tank reinforcements arrive.

Russians tank reinforcements arrive from the North.

BT7 on its first stationary shot kills a Panzer III.

BT7 (at right) first stationary shot destroy the German tank in the centre with a good flank shot

 KV1 finally gone by a flank shot, after a number of hits.  Tough customer.

KV2 eventually taken out with a flank shot.  4 panzers were required to take it out and two did not make it.

I will just mention at this point that the Germans just seem to suffer from an enormous run of 1s and 2s for firing, inflicting very little infantry casualties.  And as I write this and suddenly the dice became hot for the Germans for the end game!

Another Panzer II is gone by the BT7s and the last one runs away.

An AT rifle disables a T34 near the crossroads, but the tanks inflict infantry casualties on everything they can see. So an infantry gun goes...then the AT rifle...and another infantry gun...the flamethrower (that could have been useful against the tanks).

Not the best picture to dissect but this is the intersection with two destroyed panzers (right), destroyed Russian tank (left) and the antitank rifle team that took the tank out to the  bottom left

More Russian reinforcements (14 squads) arrive quickly after this carnage.  The Germans have passed a few battalion morale tests but now fail one and pull back for 2 turns.  With the arriving Russian reinforcements, it is unlikely they will still be able to recover from pulling back and take the town.  A victory to the Russians.

End game; there are still Germans in the village but they are pulling back and will not be able to retake the village with all the Russian reinforcements coming.

 
Verdict
This game was a bit long as the game felt over when the Germans took the village but then the reinforcements arrived.  I think I still have the board a little long still and so the reinforcements took a little while to get to the action, especially as i am using cards and also forgot I have the house rule where units can move at double time if unspotted and out of range of enemy units.  I still like the Take Cover rules as I only really need suppression markers, casualties are simply removed as the base unit is a company, and so figures/stands are removed to indicate damage to the company.