Sicily 1943 : the Italians get a run out

The relentless pressure of Holidays is getting to me now but I did squeeze in a game at the weekend, a chance to give the Italians a run out in Sicily. As my opponent is an infrequent gamer I set a simple scenario the Americans needed to break through. The challenge is giving the Italians a chance with out simply making them useless, plying bolt action on this occasion I gave them 1 point lower leadership but kept the rest of their stats as regular.

Half the Italians are on the table already, the Americans get a preliminary bombardment and assault from the left seeking to break through the Italians lines.

A closer shot of the Italian defenders, spread out but a greater concentration in the centre

The Americans advance along the two forks of the road

But also move onto the rocky hill to the south, American paratroopers lead the way towards the church but get badly mauled in cross fire

Both sides have some reserves the Italians have managed to find a Semovente assault gun which faces down the American Sherman

The American advance grinds forward, with the Italians taking the greater casualties

But they are still holding for now

The American concentrate at the fork in the road, but those attempting to cross the open field at cut down, and finally the Sherman is knocked out and burning seen to the right of this picture

As time and turns are running out the Americans make a dart for the finish line

The Italians through everything into the defence, even trying to block the road past the fork !

Leading from the front the American Commander is nearly killed but just survives, in a twist of fate both American infantry units within reach of the ‘end zone’ fail to activate 😀 but in an underhand and suitably  sneaky way the Americans run the antitank gun over the line. A great game and fun to play, the Italians held their own, with the leadership giving some challenges especially when reserves failed to arrive when ordered. Technically it was an American victory as too many Italians had given their lives defending a fairly worthless piece of Sicilian countryside, but only a minor win could be claimed.

We are back from our family holiday in Pembroke, Wales. Beautiful beaches nice beer and food and some history to boot

Tenby where we were staying has some impressive medieval walls around the old town centre

Tenby itself has a small castle on the hill

We also visited the much bigger Pembroke Castle , birthplace of HenryVII

We had a trip to Manorbier where a lovely castle overlooks a stunning beach

We also walked across to the 1870’s gun fort overlooking Tenby harbour and coastline, now fairly derelict inside but still an impressive location, not sure why we were building forts like this in 1870 ? But I believe it replaced an earlier Napoleonic structure which might have made a bit more sense.

For those that love them I have also been out in the lakes, a shot here of Sca Fell from the west

The van parked in Wasdale, for those unfamiliar with the Lake District this is one of the most famous views you will see

and finally to prove that the sun doesn’t always shine….in Cumbria, be prepared for the weather !

Thats it for now two more games in the diary over the next few days and hopefully some painting although I haven’t had much of a chance recently.

Thanks as always for checking in

Matt ❤️

Painting update…… and more

A quick update for the end of the week, first up some painting completed…

A small Peninsular vignette, direct from the Perry stable

A different view, the officer and the pioneer are added in from somewhere else

A dark age command figure, can’t remember where from but he is carrying a crow on his left arm ?

A priest not sure what I can use him for ?

I had some 15mm Germans left over in a bag so thought I would paint them up as basic Wehrmacht infantry as the majority of the rest are elite grenadiers. This gives me a few options for gaming in the future. They are a mix of figures left over, but work reasonably well as a group.

Another sunny day here in Cumbria so back out into the hills

If people get bored of the mountains let me know

I also travelled over to Martins this week where we played a battle loosely based on the battle of Ctesiphon 1915. Looking for something different we had a trench assault by the British. Hard to get this balanced but it worked out really well. With the British having a 2:1 advantage in numbers.

The Turks in their trenches

The British launch their advance across the worryingly open ground, not surprisingly the British take some heavy casualties

Eventually the residue of the attack make it to the trench where fierce hand to hand fighting breaks out

Both side have some artillery which targets the trench

By the end of the battle almost everybody is dead 🙁

The final fight sees the British capture the Turkish commanders.

A fun battle which worked out really well despite the obvious challenge of a trench assault across open ground.

That’s it for now and we are off to wales in a couple of days as the British weather hits up !

Thanks all

Matt ♥️

Saxon invasion

It has been a while since we saw my dark age collection in a big battle and at the end of last week the weather was god enough for a battle in the outdoor shed.

The scenario saw my Romano-British suppoted by Welsh allies take on the Saxon invaders with mercenary Picts. (Really all just an excuse to get as many figures on the table as possible) 

The set up, the objectives for both sides to attempt to take the enemy camp and capture and hold the Iron Age fort in the centre. Both armies have four elements, arriving from random positions. The stream is crossable along its length. There is a Druid figure protecting the hill fort who will move around random,y and target the closest unit each turn

The Saxon camp

First turn and all units get a double move to get things going

The second wave of cavalry for both sides arrives, plenty of space for them to manoeuvre at this stage

The Romano-british move away from the village and spread out, but leave a small force to hold the village as they are not sure where the Saxon reserves may arrive from.

The Saxons cross the stream heading for the hill fort

But the British are entering from the far end, as well as moving down the stream

Then the third wave of British arrive, welsh mercenaries who move immediately towards the Saxon camp !

The Saxons also have mercenaries Picts, so these are directed to defend the Saxon camp against the welsh

Some of the Picts are sent along the stream with their war dogs

The Saxon camp with the Picts running down towards the stream

A lone Saxon unit holding the stream crossing

The Saxons are now forming a defensive line, and although they are currently holding the hill fort, the British are bringing superior numbers of troops to recapture the fort

The Picts reach the stream by the camp and start to see off the welsh reserves

Picts stand shoulder to shoulder with the Saxons but Romano heavy cavalry is approaching them

The final welsh are chased down and are eventually wiped out

The British are finally bringing up all their reserve force

With their camp now safe more troops are sent forward

A desperate struggle on the fort, but the Saxons are exhausted

Unit by unit the Saxons are being beaten back with large gaps now appearing in their line

The final conflict takes place in the fort, where the Saxons are outnumbered. Both camps have been secured, but the British have managed to take control of the hill fort for the win. A splendid game full of twists and turns the scenario forced both side to be a little cagey which isn’t my normal style but was and interesting change. Nice of course to get lots of figures on a big table.

I have managed a little painting this last week although not much

I completed some 15mm heavy German armour which had been waiting its turn, 2 Panthers

A massive jagdtiger

2 jadgpanzer IV’s

The weather mid week was fantastic before the thunderstorms so a trip out into the central lakes 

This is Great Gable a very famous mountain in the central fells

One of the many stunning views looking south towards the sea

At the start of last week I had a trip down to George’s for a run through with Johnny Reb 2 using his extensive ACW collection. A good learning test out of the rules, which were fairly easy to pick up.

The Rebels hold the line in the trees

But then to get the most of the learning I decided to surge forward and in the process drove the Union back for a win, before the Union troops could settle down, aggression sometimes works ?

Plenty going on with another game in the North East on Tuesday this week and then we are away on a family holiday to ‘sunny’ South Wales all being well some castle will make the agenda.

Thanks as always for checking by

Matt ♥️