The Battle for Lyminge : Operation Sealion

It has been far too long since we played a Sealion game, although the campaign is always at the back of my mind. Anyway the Germans are starting to break out S-day plus one, they plan a drive in multiple directions to prevent the British developing a fixed line of defence. Several routes lead North towards Canterbury an obvious political if not strategic objective. The drive north will also potentially allow the Germans to cut off the whole of Kent enabling a better and more secure build up of forces before the assault on London.

The beautiful Elham valley is a key route of advance an late on S-day a small group of paratroopers were sent to Lyminge to secure the village as a first step. They have now been isolated and the British after a bruising first day have mobilised what limited armour they have to counter the expected advance. Having been informed by the Local Home Guard that German Paratroopers are hold up in the village they prepare to assault.

Lyminge village the black line denotes the area currently occupied to the south by the Germans on day one. The village was much smaller back in 1940 than the sprawl of today.

Lyminge from the East, the B2065 to Elham running away up hill in the distance. Lyminge railway station, still in service then in the foreground. The Parattroopers are dug in in the small white house on the far side of the village.

The Home guard have been watching overnight and are keen to get stuck into the Germans. Several of them outraged by the Germans occupying the village

A view up the railway north, no trains running today

The Germans have set up an antitank gun close to the church.

Advancing down the road the German officer orders a Panzer III to probe into the village

This is supported by infantry

British infantry and the H9me guard come under fire from a machine gun in one of the red buildings 

The centre of the German advance

The British armour finally arrives a Mark II Cruiser tank and a Bren gun carrier 

It blasts away but then hits a mine in the road immobilising it in a vulnerable position on the road

Fierce fighting by the station

The Pak 40 has been taking a lot of fire but is unable to hit the British tank

The Germans have also advanced a T38 tank and this takes on the Mark II

Which eventually takes a hit and bursts into flames.

On the right the Germans are making slow progress, the British defenders are occupying both the Pub and the Post office.

And now a British unit has outflanked the. Along the railway !

But ominously more german infantry is advancing on the centre of the village

The paratroopers who have been hammered from every direction are finally forced to run out of the building (this was caused by a special event allowing the British to miss communicate a German order !)

The British also have an armadillo effective at pinning down infantry but having less luck knocking out the Pak 40

An overview of the battle at this stage

The Pak 40 finally scores a direct hit on the armadillo which also bursts into flames

All the Germans in this area are pretty pinned down

With time now short the Germans push to capture the objective (centre of the village) a second unit charges into the pub and after a fierce hand to hand combat the British occupiers are wiped out

Out of sight behind the pub the British have an oerlikon anti tank gun it can seem to destroy the Panzer III but it does manage to immobilise it knocking off a track

The British at the station are forced to pull back by a blunder

The battle is now drawing to a close the Germans are in a strong position

They are holding the centre of the village

Both British tanks and the armadillo are either burning or immobilised, time for the British to pull back

A splendid return to our Sealion games. The British deployed their antitank gun poorly which hardly managed to get of a shot the British infantry and home guard were brave but out numbered by the Germans. Eventually when time permits I plan some maps to show the current positions etc. I will also post a better picture of the two new British tanks.

Thanks as always for looking.

Matt

Crescent and Cross a game of Saga

It has been ages since we saw a game of Saga in the dungeon. But with my work mate keen to try anything I thought I would try and hook him into Saga. I have had Crescent and Cross for ages but we haven’t really played it enough focussing in the past mainly on the traditional Saxon/Viking version. One issue of course is Crescent and Cross is based on the first version of the saga rules. This doesn’t matter to me as I actually prefer this version.

Anyway I  now have plenty of figures suitable for most of the factions in my Al Andalus collection. With this in mind and after a short introduction to the rules we jumped into a six point battle with Crusaders vs Saracens. I didn’t take many photos as we were spending plenty of time discussing the rules. But here are a few of the battle

The two forces line up fairly close as we wanted to get straight into the action

Some cavalry action on both wings and the crusaders get the better of the combats

Strange to be playing Saga with smaller units, but the rules some came back

Two units of a try crash into each other

After some fierce fighting in The centre the Crusader warlord finds himself isolated he only just survives by sacrificing three of his hearthguard

But then determine to be aggressive he charges in against the Saracen Warlord and finally gets the better of the combat.

A fun game with the crusaders getting the better of it. Nice to play these rules after a long period, they are very different from others but provide a fun and challenging alternative. We will be playing some more saga again soon.

Norwegians, Austrians, Normans and Persians !

 Well a quick update of painting and purchasing progress in the dungeon 😀

I have been focussed on Dark ages for a while in the painting queue so for a change of pace I cracked on with the Norwegians I had purchased from America. These were from Gorgon Studios a trifle expensive on the postage but as far as I am aware the only company that makes Norwegians ? I purchased a collection of all the figures they make. Above two bolt action squads, half of them have rusk sacks. Two command figures with pistols.

And the Madsen Machine gun set which will play either in or out of the squads above. When combined with my other Norwegians I think I have enough for a small independent force, but of course can be combined with British for a slightly larger engagement. From my Osprey book the uniforms are kind of their dress uniforms whilst the other units I have are more rough and ready I may combine them as required to create a homogenous force ?

Next up I whizzed through another battalion of Austrian Grenadiers, not much to say about these they are small pink and from Pendraken 

Purchases, in the end after some internal debate I decided the drive to Partizan was just too long, next year I will be more organised  ahead. But to make myself feel better (I know I really didn’t deserve it) I had a look through eBay and surprisingly found a couple of reasonable bargains which is a bit rare these days. Above having played Hastings and Stamford Bridge obviously I need more cavalry, so these Crusader Norman cavalry are perfect, these will find their way into the queue soon I hope.

Next up these came up as well, two boxes of these out of production Persian cavalry again at a very reasonable price, I already have two of these unit so this will make it up to a real Persian cavalry wing. The horses thankfully have different heads in the box. The cover art really doesn’t do them justice and they are really very nice, clean and easy to paint figures. Not too much detail.

Finally several trips out at the weekend one with my daughter to Brough Castle, including this rather nice Norman keep.

Finally a walk in the hills,  dark and moody.

I also managed a game of Saga at the weekend so will try and blog that up soon.

Hope you are all well KBO

Matt

The Battle of Hastings 1066

Having rested for a few days in York the news came through to Harold Godwinson that despite the time of year and the mixed autumnal weather Duke William of Normandy had landed on the south coast. He raced south with only those elements of his army fit to ride gathering more troops. Arriving in London the advice from everybody was wait and gather more forces before attacking the Norman invaders. After all what could they do. Harold an admirable man of action would have none of it and wanted to throw them back into the sea before they could cause more damage on the south coast. William had already been marauding local villages. Gathering as many troops as he could Harold headed to Sussex for the fateful encounter.

I had planned original to play this game outdoors on the 12 by 6 table but a sudden autumnal change in the weather made this a foolish idea so I reorganised the plan to bring it down into the dungeon. This meant Senlac Hill would be slightly more curved than originally planned. I had done quite a bit of reading about the battle, but it is surprising for such a well known event how much is disputed. As with Stamford bridge we tried to ensure the key elements as we know them were part of the battle.

Here are two of the many maps I referred to 

Translated into our set up.

Using Kings of War again we didn’t focus on any specific numerical balance but tried to ensure things looked right. A couple of things we included in the battle. No charge bonus obviously for going up hill. To represent the potential for the Saxons to come down the hill we implemented a rule whereby if they failed a morale check they could be dragged down the hill. The Saxon also had throwing weapons although no archers, and of course the potential for Harold to get shot in the eye,  any Saxon unit taking a hit from archery within 6” of Harold and he must test, on a roll of double 1 he is hit in the eye. We were quite flexible with morale tests allowing re-rolled failed break tests.

Anyway on to the battle, I took a fair few photos enjoy them or skip, of course these dark age battles have one thing in common blocks of bearded men pushing and shoving against each other till one breaks and runs. One final thing you might see a few Norsemen looking figures amongst the Saxons of course they are good Anglo Saxon lads who have picked up Viking armour at Stamford bridge and carried it down with them 👍

The Saxon right wing under Gyrth Godwinson

In the foreground the Saxon Hurscarls, tough and heavily armoured, King Harold behind them

A view from the south east

Saxon left flank under the control of Leofwine Godwinson

The Normas obvious know the Saxons aren’t going to come down to meet them so Duke William advances the whole army towards Senlac hill.

Norman archers and crossbowmen open fire. The Saxons front line moves to the edge of the hill and hurls spears, stick and stones down on the advancing units.

The first Norman knight s charge up the hill to test the metal of the Saxon shield wall

The Saxons know it is going to be a fight, Alan the Red the Breton commander orders his Breton cavalry to test the far left flank

In the first couple of turns the Norman archers take a battering so pull back slightly to allow the infantry to advance

The French on the right of the norman line are commanded by William FitzOsbern

The clash of the two lines, cavalry and infantry charge up the hill to break the Saxon line ?

The Normans in the centre must face the Hurscarls

Duke William watch’s form the centre to make sure his troops can see he is still alive !

The leading Norman units struggle to make much progress

But in places the Saxon line starts to break here on the Norman right some of the Saxons have been forced/encouraged to chase a French unit back down the hill

Assaulting the centre of the Saxon line

We are about half way through the battle here and both sides are gradually losing units and leading units are becoming worn down with fatigue

But still plenty of troops on both sides

Another shot of the Saxon right a really tough struggle

No quarter given……

Some  of the knights are forced to retreat heavily wounded

The Duke sends in his last infantry reserves

A couple of very poor dice rolls by the Saxon army means there combat results fall behind the Normas who start to get the advantage.

In several places the Norman knights are running amok , they prove very powerful even without their charge bonus

Duke William has now made it to the hill, seeking an opportunity to kill Harold and claim his crown

The Normans are gradually turning the pressure up as the Saxon line thins out then starts to break up

A gap appears and the duke charges in against Harold

But the fighting isn’t over

The Saxons on their left are holding the French back

The Breton cavalry is doing better and the Hurscarls and been pretty much wiped out in the centre

Eventually the inevitable happens, with no Hurscarls to defend him Harold is cut down by the Duke.

We had already called the battle at this stage, there were plenty of Saxons still fighting all along the ridge but it was clear they were doomed with the Normans now having the numerical superiority. The Saxons have the advantage on their left but the Normans have the right and the centre. With king Harold dead we reckon the army would break up to be chased and cut down by the remaining Norman Knights. It is strange to look back at the photos as they seem to show little action but that is not how it felt on the day, each combat was brutal and hard fought.

This was a really enjoyable battle giving a real feel for the events on the day. With some different rolling I think the Saxons could have held the ridge but that wasn’t to happen. So at both Stamford Bridge and Hastings we have historical outcomes, but both were in the balance.

Of course that just leaves us to fight the third major battle of 1066 ?

Hope you enjoyed Keep painting 👍