Radio silence ?

Sorry for the recent silence on the blog. A combination of yet another really bad cold which has knocked me back a bit, it stopped me from attending Battleground although on the day the snow would have stopped us attending anyway. I’ve also been busy on a number of projects not related to wargaming, my wife’s birthday and now we are down in London again for a few days. Anyway hopefully some more gaming in a week or so, in the meantime I have managed to paint up a few bits…

A landing craft for my Tallarn, this was painted up for the show game but sadly as I didn’t attend it didn’t get used, perhaps next year ?

Picton for the peninsular , I needed a few more commands

A British Artillery officer

The Italian infantry have been slow going so I allowed myself to be distracted with a command car, this a 3D print

and some heavy support for Sicily Semovente 47/32 from warlord

Even more distracted I have been painting up some Penal Legion to go with my Tallarn force, these are Atlantic figures with some GW modification, these were the first three test figures I have another 27 to paint in various colour schemes ! But I’m well on with them.

I  picked this up off eBay but only noticed the two right hand tracks when it arrived, but the nice people at Warlord have sent me a replacement so hats off to them for customer service.

A couple of weeks ago we played our next instalment of Konigsberg campaign. The Germans started well got into a good position but frustratingly their morale let them down again, giving the Russians a win

Well there is a ditch so we’re jolly well going to use it for cover !

That’s it for now hopefully I’ll get a chance to catch up on a few other blogs soon

Matt

Battle of Port Republic : Shenandoah Campaign 1862

Full of enthusiasm we played the final of our Shenandoah campaign battles at the weekend, Port Republic. As always with Jackson Valley campaign lots of info on the web. Those that Ed or staged this battle will know the challenge is either creating balance or objectives which give balance. As the Union forces are pretty much overwhelmed quite quickly if you are not careful

For our battle the confederates would only have Three brigades available, Winder, Taylor and Ewell. The second two would arrive on a reducing D6. The Rebels would be seeking to break through the Union line and would get extra VP’s for capturing the Coaling. To avoid the Union General just sitting back for the whole battle I added a couple of twists. Firstly they would have no overall commander so the two brigades would not get a free activation, V&F allows you to use a card is desperate situations. On a failed activation ie a 1 each unit would be tested for and had a chance they would choose to advance towards the enemy 😂

It is a lovely battle to setup with fairly easy to identify and characteristic features. We would be using V&F again so dropped the units to 16 man .

Union artillery on the Coaling with Carroll’s brigade

Winder with the stonewall brigade set off across the fields they are under time pressure so can’t simply sit and wait for the reserves.

First turn the Tyler fails to activate and the centre units advance towards the Rebels LOL 😂😂😂

All hell breaks out …..

After about 4 turns Taylor arrives along the road, with his Louisiana Rebels and the Tigers 

The battle unfolds on both sides of the road

Breaking with history Carroll decides to push troops forward into the ravine to protect the Coaling

Taylor’s brigades forms up for the attack

Tough fighting and the rebels eventually win the fight

But the Ravine of course slows progress and they can’t get much momentum to move forward

The guns on the coaling blast away

….and again !

Finally Ewell arrives with the final confederate reserves

The Stonewall brigade has been at the front fighting since the start and have been shaken and rallied several times, they finally find themselves fighting in the orchard, loose the fight I fail the valour test but am able to play the Like a stonewall card to keep them in the battle so appropriate 👍

Finally the rebels are getting up the coaling

But are again sent back down

Only to be replaced by more troops coming up the hill

On the left things are eventually going with the numbers and with the stonewall brigade now supported by Ewell the Union forces are driven off the field

The rebels have captured the field and ultimately a minor win, we classed it as a minor win as they are clearly holding the ground but have taken a lot of casualties with two brigades having wavered.

Just don’t ask how the scoring system works as basically I allocated points for each battle on how I felt the two armies had performed. The final score of course a Union victory but this wasn’t the point we have had a lot of fun playing these battles and will definitely be coming back to a couple in the future. My thoughts are now turning to the Seven days battles and how we might play them as a series next ?

That’s it for now thanks for checking by, I’m off to see George tomorrow for the next installment of our Konigsberg campaign and then taking a game to Battleground at the weekend, hopefully,some fun with xeno rampant, if you happen to be there come and say hello.

Matt ♥️

The Battle of Stonne : 1940

One of the really interesting Battlefields we visited on our recent Ardennes holiday was the Battle of Stonne, we knew very little about it until the trip but it is quite significant as the French fought hard against the advancing Germans the area and village saw one of the largest Tank battles between French and Germans in 1940.

There is a single preserved tank to mark the centre of the village and an excellent small museum

The village saw significant fighting during the battle and famously (suggest checking out Utube if you are interested) a single French tank knocked out about 8 German Panzers right in the centre of the village. Anyway both sides also employed infantry in the battle and the village changed hands several times. It had been some time since Martin had fought with his early French so an opportunity to play a battle loosely based on the battle for the village.

The village of Stonne, the Germans will be advancing up the road, with two phases of reserves. The French hold the village, the objective is to hold the two ‘squares’ in the village.

The German first wave arrives and initially target a french anti tank gun on the edge of the village

German infantry work their way through the woods

German armour spreads out and target the french armour in the village but fail to damage anything

Whilst the infantry move down the right to flank the village the tanks engage each other. The pattern for much of the battle was for the tanks to hit but then fail to damage each other and this went on for some time neither side getting a decisive hit

After a while the second wave of Panzers arrive with motorbike machine gun outriders

The bulk of the German armour heads into the village

The French bring on their reserves ! Much of the French infantry in the village has now been knocked out

Still the tanks struggle to knock each other out

Final Germans reserves arrive in trucks

Dismounting they too head for the village

The leading French tanks have been immob.ised but are still holding up the advance

Finally the 38T gets around the flank of the Char and gets a killing shot in

Suddenly all the previously rolled 1’s turn into 6’s and a number of tanks / armoured vehicles on both sides are blown up

But by now the German armour is pushing through the village preventing the french infantry from retaking it

A final shot of the village, a German win as they are clearly holding the village. A fun battle bringing back some nice memories of our recent trip. Unusually both sides were plagued by poor rolling for the tanks which meant it evened out, perhaps in 1940 the tankers just weren’t very practised.

Some painting completed this week……

Ages since I painted a SYW unit these are Regiment No 30 Austrians, painted in the same style as the rest.

Some tents picked up at the Edinburgh show

Trucks which were gifted to me from Martin, these are the ‘ green’ versions to match the previously painted Desert colour

Here is one compared to a Rubicon Opal truck with some passengers on board . I’m on the look out for some American passengers but can locate any if anybody knows of a company making them ?

They are useful for a range of things here as a transport convoy which might make a nice idea for a skirmish ?

Well that’s it for now, we have already played our Port Republic battle so will share that soon, and plenty more gaming coming soon. I’m planning a rare visit to the Club in Carlisle as they are moving to a new venue and it is Battleground next weekend

Thanks as always for checking by ♥️

Matt