Attack on Ponyri Begins!

The attack on Ponyri scenario was as difficult as I imagined it would be. German losses were high, with a corresponding high loss rate of NCO's. We only got to play until the capture of the first trench line. The addition of an engineer squad (with a flamethrower) was a welcome help. The attack stalled, however but when the Ferdinands entered a penetration was made. They made it half way across the board (only 60 yards) before one was KO'd by a brave Russian soldier with a mine. Barbed wire and hand grenades all made for a difficult attack on a fortified position. The Ferdinands entered on the German left flank, where most of these photos were taken.

Assault near Ponyri

After much delay, here are the pics of the Kursk game. I want to include all the pics I took, so I am putting them on two entries. The first pic shows the Russian right flank in raw styrofoam form. A lot of trenches can be made with just a little effort. The pre-game peeks include shots from the Russian left and right flanks.

Big Battle DBA

Sorry I have been too busy to post lately, with the father and brother-in-laws helping with home repair the last couple of weeks. Man, has their help been valuable. Anyway, Stephen has had some friends wanting to play a game so we tried a game of BBDBA. It was a Carthaginian army versus a Republican Roman. The rolling hills of Italy provided the scene for a battle. Sam was a Roman on my left and Jake was on my right, while Colleen was on the Carthage right and Stephen took the Carthage left. Bad pip rolls really slowed the Carthaginian attack, so the Romans took the offensive. Jake did well against the four elephants and large cavalry wing. and Sam held his own against the light horse wing opposite him. The Roman center was threatened by some fierce warbands, but held after seeing the success on the wings. Thanx guys for a great game!

Great Zulu Army site

I found a great article on the Zulu army today. We played a great little Zulu game at David's house last nite. Unfortunate, because now I'm all fired up for a Zulu regiment. You can never have enough Zulus. Here it is http://www.wargamesfactory.com/AnnouncementRetrieve.aspx?ID=23911
I hope this works, Peter's help was great.

Seminole Indian Ambush!

David GM'ed a great game at Bob's "Man Hut" on the 27th. The game featured an American column of militia, marines and army troops escorting a cannon to a nearby fort. The only problem was hostile Seminoles along the way. The militia brushed off the first fusilade (from the left) and the Marines charged into the next gaggle of Indians (on the right). The Americans formed a line and fired into the group to their left. The column continued on and took one more assault (from head-on) which gave them the most losses of the night. The terrain was the focal point in this scenario, it really looked like the scrub of "real" Florida.

Hunters in the Sky

I forgot to tell about a game Stephen GM'ed a couple of weeks ago (7/18). We had seven players at the Dragon's Lair flying with the Red Air Force and the Luftwaffe during the first week of Barbarossa. The game featured 3 Yak-1's and 4 LaGG-3's against 4 Me109E's and 3 Ju87's in the first wave and 4 Me109F's and 4 He111's. The Stukas were able to get through the attack and bombed their on board target, while bagging 2 LaGG-3's. The Russians claimed victory when they shot down a Heinkel. All in all a wild evening with some good flying action!

Wings of War AAR

Last Thursday (25th) we began the 1918 German Offensive campaign. Kevin had a great scenario idea with three (?) troop concentrations and a bridge. All were protected by a barrage balloon and two AA guns. Needless to say a target rich environment! Now if only we can get through the fighter cover to hit them.
I flew a Gotha bomber to hit the bridge and a Ufag for escort. Kevin managed to get his ace between the Gotha and the escort and shot it down with little effort. His third Gotha kill, Kevin claims. Many hits on the balloon, but I can't remember if we shot it down or not. On the other side of the table, Darryl disrupted all of the infantry targets, hit the balloon and took out one of the AA guns. For his heroic actions, he was awarded an Iron Cross, First Class.

Russian Front, 1941 AAR

Well, Stephen and I finally got a chance to finish up the battle the other day, and it was every bit the free-wheeler I expected. The lead armoured cars (6xBA10's) split left and right. The right platoon over-watched the eventual destruction of the attacking T-26 company. The only firing chance they had was when a morale test forced a halt. The left hand BA-10 platoon returned in time to inform the next company of BT-7's the farm house to the left was un-occupied. Surely the attached T-34 platoon would force the Fascists back!
The BT-7's began crossing the field and took fire immediately, losing one to an AT rifle shot from the copse of trees to their right. As they turned to the right, two pesky Stug III's and two 37mm AT guns in the village were able to halt them. The really big surprise was when the T-34 platoon's advance was slowed by poor morale.
The German's were able to fight off this attack...will they be able to continue along the "Roads to Moscow"? Apologies to Al Stewart.

Russian Front Action,1941

I just had to share some of the intro shots of a game my son Stephen and I are playing. The game is set near Senno, NW of Orsha. The 1st Mot. Rifle Div. is attacking the 17 Pz Div. on its way to Smolensk. The Russians are attacking from the north as the Germans drive east. I hope to have a free-wheeling game here. UUURRRRAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!

Wargamer's Weekend!

WOW! Three games in three days! First game was with The Dragon's Lair group. I ran a German KG trying to escape encirclement in Lithuania in 10/44. Marty was able to make it, so it was good to see him again. The Germans didn't make it this time, because of a bold Soviet tank charge that caught them in the flank in the opening stages of the game. Next time I will be more clear about entry locations.
The next game was with David Glenn's group. We had a Seminole Indian Skirmish game. My Seminoles ambushed the American column pretty well, but was unable to prevent the escape of the escorted artillery piece. Nice terrain from Dave, as usual.
Last night the Dave Sharp group played a Normandy 'what-if" game. How appropriate for June 6. The 21 Panzer struck against the Americans instead of the British this time. All those nice French tanks made good targets. The Americans stopped the counter-attack, no thanks to the air support or the naval gunfire!
All were fun games and illustrate the variety to be had in this hobby.

Falklands Skirmish AAR

Well the game was actually on South Georgia and was pretty neat. Bob finished his helo in one day and it ferried in the rest of the Argie platoon splendidly. Unfortunately, those troops couldn't make it to the battle lines without getting hit all along the way. Dug-in elite troops are hard to hit, but it was a fun game. I think we captured the feel of the rocky, scrubby island. I will get pics up soon.

Last nite was the every other week Wings of War game. We tried a "sun" forthe first time, and it was pretty neat. The dead zone for planes coming out of the sun is: the distance from enemy plane from the sun to 1.5x that distance. Thus, a plane 12 inches from the sun is invisible to enemies 12"-18" up-sun from them. I was the first victim of the Hun in the Sun. Dave managed to get two planes to attack my recce plane. Unfortunately for him, they were so close they collided twice (with little damage). The German air force claimed the skies this nite, but my planes, at least this time didn't get shot down.

I suppose for my first post I should mention Recon '09, held April 23-26. This was HMGS-South's first con at Cocoa Beach and by all accounts was a success. The economy kept away about a third of the regulars, but all who attended certainly enjoyed the new venue. For my gaming, I again tried to use my Seljuk Turks in the DBA Tournament. The light horse army is a fragile lot, and you need just the right pips, at the right time, to keep them moving. I was able to keep them moving, but the dice failed me when they entered combat. In three games, I had no kills - a new low! Knights are a tough force to fight, if you can't turn their flanks. Many thanks to Marty Schmidt, who always does a great job answering all the questions and keeping the tourney rolling at a fast pace.
I also played in the Qarqar 853 B.C. Big Battle DBA game with the Hebrews and the Assyrians. The game featured three armies for each side, with the Assyrians able to assign the movement die rolls, while the Hebrews had to deal with each army as rolled. This gave a unique twist all gamers should try, if one side has better command control than the other. For a quick summary, the siege tower and the hordes maintained a steady advance on the Assyrian right. We tried a sweeping move with all of our lighter elements on the left, but the Hebrew chariots reached the choke points formed by dunes first. We just could not bring enough force to bear. The loss of the first army on the left flank was the beginning of the end. We called the game at that point, figuring the Hebrews would eventually roll up the flank.
Already looking forward to Hurricon '09. Florida area gamers, this is a don't miss because all genres are played at this con. Although no micro-armour games were present at Recon.....hmmm, maybe this is a hole I will fill this time.