Fallujah, 2004

At our club Open Day back in June I got a chance to play our next Show game, Pete's 20mm scenario in Iraq using Force on Force with a few minor amendments.

As you can see from the photos below the game looks fantastic and is the result of a huge amount of work during lockdown by Pete to scratch build pretty much everything other than the figures and vehicles (both of which he painted too).

It was a fun game with the players playing the US forces against the Umpire.

Here are a few photos:

Thunderball?

 A friend has been working on a scuba game based around the Bond movie, Thunderball.  We had a couple of playtest games of it up at the club.  The basic activation is as per the Fistful of Lead family of games but with a bespoke knife fighting card game added on along with a few other tweaks.  Lots of fun, here are a couple of photos of the game in progress and his excellent figures and terrain:

Napoleonic in 20mm

I managed to get along to the last club meeting and was given a command in a 20mm Napoleonics game using Bob's homebrew rules.  Here are a few photos of the game:

Technically the game ended as a draw but it was very close to a French marginal victory.

Door to Door

Last Saturday I made it down to the club and put on a 20mm World War II game using Nuts! by Two Hour Wargames.

1000 6 June 1944 - South East of Chef-du-Pont, France

Men from all units of the 507th and some from the 508th PIR reached the railroad station in the center of Chef-du-Pont with little opposition. A small but important bridge is to the southeast. Whilst the remainder of the force clears the town, you have been sent to clear the the road to the southeast of the station.

The players had two squads supplemented later by a third and their objective was to clear the buildings and secure the road so the main force could advance.

The first two squad decided to concentrate and advance on the right flank.  They successfully crossed the crop field and hunkered down behind the hedgerow.  As a few were pushing their way through to observe they were spotted by a lone German rifleman who opened fire.  He missed and quickly ducked back into cover when the paras returned fire.  One group then rushed across the road to the churchyard wall.

One man was sent to recon the church and found nothing but when another group popped up to take a look at the adjacent houses they came under fire again from the rooftop sniper; however, this time a BAR was in place and swept the German's window silencing the threat.  They then advanced into the church.

With Germans obviously occupying some of the buildings on this side of the road, one squad decided to rush across the main road to try to outflank them.  Unfortunately this took them straight across the front of an MG42 team emplaced on the cafe balcony at the far end of the village.

The charge was led by the man carrying the .30 cal and he was hit.  The man carrying the tripod thought better of the advance and darted back to the cover of the field but a couple of the others made it across safely.  With their only machine gun now stranded in the middle of a road swept by enemy fire things were not looking good.

The other groups continued their advance, one squad through the woods to the rear of the buildings and the other to try to clear the first building, the one occupied by the sniper.  One man rushed forward, primed his grenade and tried to throw it through the nearest window.  Unfortunately it ricocheted back and landed nearby!  He clumsily threw himself to one side but, fortunately, was only stunned by the blast.  The remainder of his team tried a more direct approach and assaulted the building neutralising the  occupants.

The squad advancing through the woods moved into position to cover both the buildings and engage the MG team in the cafe.  Unfortunately they were spotted and came under heavy fire, taking several casualties; however, whilst the MG42 was reloading they managed to neutralise its crew.  Two Germans, reluctant to surrender their primary weapon, crept out of the cafe under cover and took over the MG.  Meanwhile the other buildings were slowly being cleared.

The MG42 came back into action but despite cutting down several of the paras the new crew came under heavy fire and suffered the same fate as the first.  The Germans were clearly coming off worst in the firefights, largely due to their poorer quality troops and several casualties were captured as the next building was cleared.

Having heard the exchanges of a fire a third squad had been sent to support the first two and they were slowly advancing down the left flank.  Advancing through an orchard they came under fire and took a casualty but their response silenced the opposition.  An aggressive assault on the building secured it, despite the grenade blasts causing some structural damage.  Moving forward to observe the road, this group spotted and engaged a lone German rushing from one of the buildings about to be assaulted on the other side across to the cafe.  Despite several bursts he managed to throw himself through the open cafe door and out of sight.

This firing gave the assaulting paras pause and luckily they spotted the fact the building they were about to enter had been booby trapped.  A luck escape.

A small group of Germans now engaged the squad on the left flank but, after several exchanges of fire, they were badly mauled and withdrew.

With the upper hand now moving to the Americans, things were looking up when a disturbing noise was heard from the road into the village - the round of tracks!

A Panzer IV and a section of Germans had been sent to support the section holding the village.

The German tank advanced slowly with the infantry split to both the right and the left of it.

The group on the left had a nasty shock as they were outflanked by some paras who soon put paid to them.

The squad on the left flank prepared themselves for the assault but when the tank swung into view the first man's nerve broke and he ran.  He fell in hail of bullets from the tank's machine guns.  The NCO, however, was made of sterner stuff and he threw his Gammon grenade at the tank.  It was a desperate move but his aim was spectacular and the explosion brought the tank to a grinding halt as it burst into flames.

Several exchanges of grenades and automatic fire between the infantry caused casualties on both sides but with their armour support destroyed the Germans decided to withdraw and the engagement went to the Americans.

Tiger Hunt

Our final game of the weekend was some more World War 2 action.  This time we were in France searching through the bocage for a Tiger!  Each of us had a Sherman and a few infantry and our job was to find, corner and destroy one of the most dangerous predators of the period, a Panzerkampfwagen VI.  Fortunately we had a couple of spare tanks (we were going to need them) and a Sherman Firefly.

As you might expect the terrain was pretty congested, with plenty of fields and hedges, all surrounding a town probably held by the enemy.  Things started reasonably well with us breaking through the first couple of hedges and no encountering anything more dangerous than some chickens and a local farmer.  Then the Firefly, which we had positioned to cover the road, spotted the Tiger - it was lucky it was the Firefly as we knew none of our Shermans would penetrate its armour from the front.  First shot was a direct hit and the "Tiger" brewed up - of course it was at this point we spotted it wasn't the Tiger but actually a Panzer IV with zimmerit and skirts.

Disappointed we carried on - then the tank in front of me pushed through the hedgeline into the next field right in front of an anti-tank team - it exploded and I ordered the driver to get the hell out of there.  In a panic he reversed to the left and we burst out of the field straight into the road.  To make matters worse the Tiger had already been there, burst a culvert and flooded the road.  Fortunately we didn't bog down but were forced to back across into the field on the other side!

I decided to turn my tank around and breakthrough into an orchard; however, this one didn't just contain some trees!  Not only was it mined but a group of German infantry complete with a panzerfaust was in there too!  I tried backing out but was hit and had to bail out.  One of my colleagues seeing my predicament decided to turn left into a field with a German armoured car in it.  Of course that wasn't much of a problem.

I switched over to another Sherman and started all over again.  Meanwhile the other two were slowly clearing the countryside field by field.  Unfortunately the blooming Tiger wasn't staying still for us to find it!  After coming under an artillery barrage and losing all my infantry I gave up the search but on my way back I turned into the road and found the Tiger hiding behind the wrecked Panzer IV - I had had exposed my flank armour to him!

He wasn't going to miss an opportunity like that I lost tank number two.

In the end the Tiger got away and now we know why it seemed to take 5 Shermans to get a single one.

WW2: Eviction Notice

Lieutenants Summers and Turnbull along with Sgt. Bunkum were faced with a problem.  Having only a few men they had to hold up a German attack supported by some armour!

Lt. Summers took a few men and took up a position in a cottage on the road.  He carefully concealed the bazooka team behind the bocage in a field to the rear.

Lt. Turnbull took the .30 cal and few men and occupied the house on the right but pushed a small group forward to cover the field adjacent to the road.

Whilst Sgt. Bunkum and the remaining men formed the reserve.

The German assault group entered the field, split into two teams and began to advance down the side of the crops.  They move cautiously until the reached the edge of the planting and peered around it.

They suddenly came under a hail of automatic fire from a US sub-machine gun, the lead man was hit and the others ducked back.  Meanwhile their other team was making good progress down the far side of the field.

On the other side of the road the other squad and their MG42 team advanced, reaching a hedge overlooking Lt. Summers' position.  They were spotted when they tried to push the LMG through the hedge and two of the men went down.  They were luckier with their next attempt and raked the garden wall with the MG42, hitting the Lieutenant.

With the wall being hammered with machine gun fire the other paratroopers weren't waiting around to be out flanked.  They dragged Summers behind the house and, picking him up rushed across a lane to the safety of a bocage rimmed field.  Predictable as ever the Germans flanked the US position and after throwing a couple of grenades in rushed it - only to find that the birds had flown.

On the other flank the Germans were pushing their way through the standing crops and then threw grenades towards the US position.  The US paratroopers were stunned but the Germans then rushed them and only one escaped back to Lt. Turnbull's position.

Germans couldn't advance against against the extra men and firepower.  And, on the other side of the field the other German team had been spotted from the house and came under heavy fire and were forced to withdraw after taking a couple of casualties.

At this point the German armour arrived.  The panzer clanked its way down the road right into sight of the US bazooka team.  Unfortunately the guy with the bazooka was a little jumpy and their first shot went wide (but wide enough for the tank crew not to have notice it).  They reloaded and had another go - a palpable hit but on the front armour - not enough to penetrate.  The tank's turret began to traverse their way so they threw themselves down behind the bocage bank just in time as the shot was short.

With both armour and infantry advancing on their position the team took the incapacitated Lt. Summers and withdrew to join up with Sgt. Bunkum.  The Germans took their position.

With further German reinforcements arriving the paratroopers withdrew but in the confusion two of the men were captured.

WW2: Sound of the Guns

After avoiding the unwelcome attention of the German flak unit, Lt. Summers and Sgt. Bunkum worked their way towards the sound of the guns.  On their way they met up with another two groups of paratroopers including a Lieutenant.  Their way ahead was blocked by an emplaced German machine gun and they needed organising to deal with it and quickly clear the nearby buildings in order to secure the area.

Summers and Bunkum quickly organised the men into two groups, one to advance down each flank.  Unbeknownst to the Americans, a second German MG team were just moving into position behind the first.

Lt. Summers led his team down the side of one of the fields using the bocage as cover.

Meanwhile Sgt. Bunkum (guiding the other Lt.) cleared the first building, advanced across the small field and then across the first lane.

Everything was going to plan until Summers led his men at the double across some open ground and was spotted by one of the German MG teams.  The MG42 opened up but fortunately Summers and his group were close enough to a stone wall to throw themselves behind it and out of the line of fire.  As a result the Germans redeployed their second MG team.

Both Summers and Bunkum organised their men into two groups, one to assault the buildings and the second to provide covering fire.  Clearing the first couple of buildings was a textbook exercise but they were unoccupied.

Bunkum managed to get his group into the building adjacent to the one occupied by the German MGs. They prepared their grenades and popped up to throw them.  Despite the hail of bullets the grenades were thrown but a couple of men went down including Bunkum - fortunately he was as Hard as Nails and it turned out only to be a flesh wound.  The grenades despatched the first MG team.

Meanwhile, another group of paratroopers advancing toward the MG fire, arrived on the flank (reinforcement roll).  They decided to move forward and assault the building with the MG teams in it.

Their first group was immediately spotted by the second MG team and came under heavy fire taking two casualties including their senior NCO.  Their second group had moved to the rear of the building and were able to rush across to it without being spotted.  Grenades at the ready they dropped them through the windows and rushed in following the explosions.  Unfortunately the MG teams were on the first floor and protected by the building so the paratroopers moved into close combat.  Despite their physical fitness and training the Germans were clearly combat veterans as they subdued all four of them.

With the MG team now resuming firing, Bunkum shouted across the street to Summers' team, who were now in position.  One of his team had been a Ball Player before joining up and he pitched the grenade right onto the German team killing them both.  Bunkum's group then advanced and secured the building.

WW2: Flash and Thunder

"They jumped much too low from planes that were flying much too fast.  They were carrying far too much equipment and using an untested technique that turned out to be a major mistake.  As they left the plane, the leg bags tore loose and hurtled to the ground, in nearly every case never to be seen again.  Simultaneously the prop blast tossed them this way and that."

Band of Brothers by Stephen E Ambrose 

So when Sgt. Don Bunkum hit the ground he found himself alone in the middle of a field surrounded by thick hedgerows.  He decided to move to the nearest edge of the field and after forcing his way through the undergrowth found himself looking into a small lane.  He spotted what looked to be an equipment bundle but to his dismay it was empty.

Meanwhile, the nearby German anti-aircraft unit were enjoying a well earned break after all the initial excitement.

Hearing noises to his left Sgt. Bunkum decided to follow the field edge to investigate.  He quickly identified that there was movement on the other side of the bocage and, once again, began to force his way through it.

On the other side was Lt. Summers and two other men he didn't recognise.  They had obviously attracted the attention of the flak unit as a small patrol was advancing across the field towards the hedgerow behind which they were concealed.

Lt. Summers ordered the men to open fire and soon a hail of bullets rained down on the advancing Germans.

Two of their men fell in the first burst but their NCO returned fire with his SMG and one of the paras fell with the other ducking back behind the earthen bank of the bocage; however, Lt. Summers clearly wasn't phased and returned first cutting the German NCO down and sending the remaining member of the patrol scurrying back to the flak unit.

Having now stirred up a hornets nest and seeing the four barrelled flak gun being rotated in their direction the paras decided it was high time to withdraw and slipped away across the field before all hell broke loose.

---

The combination of the anniversary of D-Day and the purchase of Blood Upon the Risers was irresistible and so I set up the first scenario for a solo game this morning.  I rolled up my character who turned out to be a Rep 5 NCO who was a Born Leader and as Hard as Nails.  He quickly became the no nonsense Sergeant Don Bunkum.

The first scenario has you starting with only your star who is trying to hook up with his unit.  You randomly determine where you land on the table which has plenty of bocage, a German anti-aircraft unit and two markers or PEFs (Possible Enemy Forces).  The first turned out to be an equipment bundle which was, unfortunately, empty.  The second split into two which ultimately turned out to be the German patrol and the other US paras.

I was pretty pleased with the way the game turned out.  I'm looking forward to the next game now...