What a Tanker in Sicily : back in the North

After a week or so travelling I’m back in the North, and back to some hobby activity. Having been to Salute and seen some impressive ‘What a Tanker’ games it got me thinking about my Sicily collection. This coincided with me purchasing some extra American armour.

The table setup plenty of cover and blocking terrain, the Americans would advance from the this end the Germans from the far end.

The Americans arrive, 2 Sherman’s, an M10 (new) and a M5 Stuart 

The Germans have a PzIII a STug F8 and of course Tiger, 

Both sides jockey into position, the damaged buildings count as heavy cover but don’t block line of sight

The Stug starts firing at long range against the American M10 which finds itself slightly out of position by the far bridge

The M10 takes some damage reducing its speed slightly

Forced to turn to try and get out of the firing line the M10 takes another direct hit and is the first casualty

The Tiger advances but is struggling with poor command dice. It takes a couple of hits which bounce off its front armour…….

Until rolling 6 dice the Sherman gets a crazy 5 strike hits ! The Tiger fails to save a single strike causing it to immediate explode 😥

It was lunchtime and we allowed both sides to bring on some reserves. Both sides slug it out 

Eventually the Americans get the upper hand as they drive the PzIII back causing considerable damage. A fun game which we return to again in the future.

Some recent purchases saw their first action in this game.

I had been looking at getting an M10 for the Americans, but I found a hard to resist deal on eBay and ended up purchasing 3 these were painted quickly so they could take to the field immediately

I’ve also painted up some more 10mm Austrian Dragoons for the SYW

Also completed a couple of rather fancy heavy cannons for the ECW although I see these perhaps getting used in a future Thirty Years War battle ?

As mentioned I have been away for a few days. First in London……

British museum to see the Samurai exhibition

A lot of interesting history, plenty of armour so worth a visit

I visited the Household Cavalry Museum, quite small but really interesting with just a few lovely artefacts,  the stuff in this case from the Napoleonic era, the eagle is a replica, but the small bugle was one that sounded the charge of the heavy cavalry brigade at Waterloo !

A trip to the portrait gallery mainly looking at the historical portraits !

A trip to the Wallace museum, after a suggestion from Iain a fine collection of Armour 

I did like this one, my only criticism is the labelling is generally poor

After London I was out in the Home Counties. Belvoir Castle, spectacular but too heavily rebuilt for my liking

Berkhamstead Castle closer to London, the other extreme, although a fine fine example of a Motte and Bailey design

We had a trip to Bletchley Park which was pleasant but I gave up at the display which actually tried to explain how the codes were broken, way above my brain level

They do have a lot of enigma type machine and lots of interesting stories

Our final trip was a real surprise in a good way ! the Shuttleworth collection. An absolutely fantastic collection of early aircraft, all in working order, although we weren’t there on one of the special flying days the planes were still really impressive.

I am guessing but this may be the largest such collection in the World ?

As well as bi planes several working WW2 planes as well.

So many planes, they also do flying days which I might consider in the future ?

So some hobby time and a few busy days, somewhere in here I also visited Salute, a fun day, catching up with a few people, but I bought very little and took very few photos.

That’s it for now I have been painting some more stuff and more games planned for this week.

Thanks for checking in

Matt ❤️

Capture the ‘flag’ scenario : RCW : Bolt Action

As a change of pace from our Chain of Command campaign George came to the dungeon  for some ‘jolly’ gaming ? Well it had been a while since the RCW collection had been out on the table so I set up a capture the ‘flag’ scenario. Both sides would be seeking to defend their objective and capture the enemy objective represented by command figures and their transport vehicles.

The terrain includes a small village, a stream only crossable on foot some light woods. A sopwith carries out recon for the Reds, the two objectives would be at either ends of the battlefield forcing both sides to make lots of decisions on deployment and how to attack the enemy ?

The Whites (literally) advance on their right towards the lower bridge, their home objective is to the left of the village in the distance. 

Babooshka the Reds commissar (the Reds home objective) impatiently waves a unit of conscripts forward

In the village a the whites have a Tachanka by the white building the Reds are able to eliminate it quite quickly with fire from a maxim in the woods and their Lanchester armoured car.

A second armoured car is brought up while infantry try and force a way through the village

Whites are massing a big push across the bridge, there is an infantry unit in the truck as well ! But they have to get across the bridge

Both sides have air support which flies about attempting to machine gun the troops on the ground

Whilst the Reds waste time hunting one of the buildings for vodka ! Yes a very unfortunate special event, the white charge across the bridge , the small Cossack unit is deadly in close combat.

The attack gets pinned down, but some kind activation test rolling for the whites allows them to push up to the objective. The Reds fight back but are now struggling….to keep them back

Almost no Reds remain on the left flank, but the objective is only lightly held

Attention turns to the village where the Reds are desperately trying to force a way through, some incredibly stubborn village folk aligned with the whites are helping to hold the flank.

The Austin armoured car is rushed across the battlefield to try and save Babooshka, but it is too late and another unit is crossing the river to support the attack

With the villages finally eliminated the Reds make one final bid to the Whites objective, they throw everything forward but the Officer Corps Unit has been kept in the village for just such a purpose and the  Reds are easily held back in the last turn.

A fun game giving lots of tactical challenges for both sides.

Not a lot of painting this week but I have completed the first Highland unit for the ECW

These are Peter Pig figures and a mix of packs to add variety.

10 or 11 per base giving just enough sense of mass. I have no idea if they would have had a flag but I gave them one anyway.

The merest hint of some tartan on the cloaks which can be seen here from the rear of the unit, I kept this unit predominantly ‘green’ although some variations, I have a second unit to paint where I will swop to brown/reddish tartan cloaks. The base colour for both units is olive/hodden grey. Very happy with how they have come out.

That’s it for now, some more painting this holiday weekend and a remote game planned for next week before a holiday hiatus for a few days, a trip to Salute and a trip away.

Thanks as always

Matt ❤️

The Battle of Newbury 1643

For my next game a return to the ECW in 12.5-15mm ? (Whatever scale Warlord Epic are) This time the Battle of Newbury and introducing Erik to my ECW collection and our Kings of War based rules.

An excellent map from the web, I think these being the ones produced by the Battlefield Trust.

Historically the Parliamentarians under Essex were heading south towards London, the Royalist army encamped in and around Newbury sought to cut them off. In the early morning Rupert headed out to capture the high ground to the South West of the town. But Essex had beaten him to it. The Royalists then attacked in difficult terrain and after a lot of fighting claimed a victory, they had driven the Parliamentarians away but it was really only a fighting draw as Essex was able to get away with much of his army. They did however prevent Essex from getting to London.

The setup on the table. Despite reading the battle through several times and looking at various scenarios I managed to get the balance of troops wrong. Specifically I didn’t give the 

Parliamentarians enough infantry as historically they outnumbered the Royalists. Anyway it gives me the chance to correct this in a future re run of the battle. As mentioned above it was as much as anything an introduction for Erik to my collection and rules for which it worked admirably.

With the Royalists having the initiative they advance along the whole front, looking where possible to use the fields and hedges to prevent any counterattack.

Prince Rupert taking his position on the Royalist right and with the advantage of numbers leads a dynamic charge across the open ground of Wash Common

Some above average dice and the advantage of numbers and the Parliamentary cavalry is hammered, the shock so great they are staggered

And forced to retreat but this decisive win on the right set the scene for the battle as Essex is now forced to try and defend a worryingly open left flank, you can see the London trained bands advancing from behind the hill to try and block the flank but the royalist cavalry now has pretty much free movement across the common !

On the other side of the battlefield where the ground is more broken neither side quite has the advantage. You can see beyond them the Royalists have chosen not to attack the hill direct and instead have pulled back to await the outcome of the cavalry battles.

parliamentary dragoons and cavalry exchange shots, but neither side is really making a significant break through here

But at Wash Farm, the London Trained bands, here represented by my Scot’s but with a thinner pike block, try to hold the flank but the Royalist cavalry is just dominating the open ground

Forced to try and salvage something Essex sends two pike blocks off the hill to try and cut the Royalists off from Newbury, their cavalry is able to draw back in good order

Whilst Essex still holds the hill with artillery he doesn’t have the number to take the fight to the Royalist, in the distance the Royalist infantry rather than assault the hill is also heading around the flank across the common

Here they are form the other direction

They do take a few casualties from the artillery on the hill but not enough to slow them down, the battle is pretty much over now for Parliament, in a final throw of the ‘dice’ a pike block charges forward to try and clear the common, but they become very isolated and are quickly surrounded by the Royalist cavalry. They surrender rather than be wiped out !

Returning to the Newbury end of the battlefield it has ended in a stalemate the King has the numbers and Parliament can’t make any progress. With their right flank broken and the Royalists making a general advance the battle is over Essex must flee and attempt to save his army, hopefully the Parliamentary baggage will prove too enticing for the Royalist cavalry and the army can be saved.

A fun battle and a good introduction I hope for Erik. Essex was up against it when his cavalry was crushed and it didn’t help that I reduced his infantry by mistake. A very nice battle with lots of options we will certainly see this one again before too long to see if the infantry imbalance makes a difference to the result. Having played several battles now with this adapted KoW rules it is the first time a significant cavalry dominance was achieved in a single round of combat, the parliamentary cavalry performed very poorly indeed !

That’s it for now, my Saturday game was postponed, so I have spent some time painting the first Highland unit for the Covenanters and I hoping to complete them this evening ? We’ll see……

A game planned for mid week then Easter and the following weekend a trip down to London where I’m planning to visit SALUTE again this year if anybody is going.

Thanks as always Matt ❤️