Battle in the Mountains (Part 1)

Well, I've written the amended rules for fighting in the mountains and it would be a shame not to try them out.

I wanted to create a small representative battlefield in which I can try out armies from different theatres and periods.  I can see this being used in the Northwest Frontier, Afghan Wars (19th & 20th Century), Arab Israeli Wars and the Iran-Iraq War.  For this first outing I wanted to use my WW2 North African forces so I imagined an operation on the left flank of Monty's advance into Tunisia in which 8th Army is attempting to open up communications with Patton's American units.

The Wehrmacht crosses indicate objective points.  Mountain peaks are impassable, the wadi is rough ground and there are movement bonuses for using the road. 

Mark agreed to give the rules a try before I roll them out on a club night.  He would play the British and have 2 x Indian infantry battalions, regular but mountain trained.  In reserve, he would have a motorised infantry battalion and a tank battalion.  In support there is an entire divisional artillery complement of 3 x 25 pounder regiments with four fire missions.  Mark also had a flight of medium  bombers and 2 x fighter bombers which he could preplan or attach to one of the units.

I would play the axis defenders.  This would consist of a battalion of green but dug-in Italian infantry with a supporting battery 75mm field artillery and 90mm AT/AA portees.  I placed a company with MG support around the mountain village defending the approached to the wadi.  The remaining mg with a platoon of infantry was entrenched on the first mountain overlooking the cross roads and an 81mm mortar with 3x platoons of infantry was dug-in on the first level of the furthest mountain overlooking the crossroads and the approaches from the bridge.  The portee was dug-in behind the cross roads and the remaining infantry and 75mm field gun were ensconced in the fort.

In addition, I had a FOO on the upper level of the back mountain controlling a battalion of German 105's off table with four fire missions.  The crossroads were mined and the bridge was set to explode if tapproached by the British (a 6 on a D6 would be required).  A battalion of motorised infantry with Sig33 and Marder supports were in reserve ready to be committed once the the hill top village was taken - a roll of 1-3 they would arrive from the West, on a 4-6 they would arrive from the North.

The Italian MG and infantry support revealed by the patrol.

Before the game began Mark was allowed two fighting patrols and an aerial reconnaissance flight.  He sent the two patrols either side of the first mountain on his left.  The first patrol discovered no enemy and no garrison at the western road exit.  The second patrol briefly engaged the detachment above the crossroads before returning with the information.

The aerial recon was ordered to inspect the hilltop village and immediate area.  The Italian garrison and HQ was spotted and the pilot went in closer for a better look.  However, the 20mm AA guarding the bridge opened up and drove the Lysander away.

That was all the information Mark was able to glean and based on that he made his plans.  In the next post I will write up what happened.

Amended spearhead rules for Mountain fighting.

As a child I had these excellent figures in 1/72nd scale and always think of them when contemplating mountain warfare.  Classic 1970's figures despite the box blurb!

I've been very busy completing  mountain terrain this summer.  I am aiming to expand the scope of my existing desert terrain and give further options for operational games in East Africa, Tunisia, Sicily, Southern Italy and Iran.

With this in mind I thought it would be a good idea to post some outline ideas on rules for mountain warfare.  I want to keep them simple and obvious but cover all the peculiarities that will make fighting in the mountains different from other games - so here goes;

Amended Spearhead Rules for Mountain Warfare

1. Supporting units cannot fire through friends on mountains.
2. Units on mountains are always in -1 cover.
3. All units firing from one mountain at a target on another mountain suffer a -1 penalty (apparently it was notoriously difficult to judge the range)
4. Mountain trained troops get a +1 in close combat.
5. Only support units of 76mm and below in calibre can be manhandled up mountains and move at 1/3 normal movement.
6. Infantry units move at a max 1/2 normal movement when on a mountain (see later for ascending/descending) and cannot fire when moving.
7. Mountain trained infantry move at a max 1/2 normal movement when on a mountain but can fire in the moving infantry phase.
8. Only howitzers and mortars can fire onto or over mountains.  Calibers of 105mm or less can fire up to two levels.  106mm to 149mm can fire up to 3 levels.  150mm and above up to 4 levels. This is in addition to and not instead of their usual range from other tables.

It's probably simpler if I illustrate how mountains are ascended (and descended).

The units movement ends immediately once in contact with the mountain.  At this stage if it has moved up to half its normal movement rate it can fire in the moving infantry phase.

On the second turn the unit can begin its ascent.  The rear of the base is placed on the level and the rest is lent against the mountain (the first mountain base is equal to two levels).  This is a full move.

On the third move the unit is placed on the initial level area.  This is a full move.  Movement around this level is according to the rules above at 1/2 rate.

The unit is required to continue its ascent. Again the rear of the base is placed on the level straight away without stopping at the base and the rest is lent against the second tier of the mountain (the second mountain base is equal to one level).  This is a full move.

On the second move the unit is placed on the top of the second tier.  This is a full move.  Movement around this level is according to the rules above at 1/2 rate.  The mountain top is impassable and counts as a fourth level for calculating arc of fire for howitzers and mortars.

All I need to do now is put on a game and see how they work.

Mountains!

It's taken me a while to upgrade my desert terrain with mountains.  Last summer I cut and coated the bases and painted the peaks in the reorganised workshop.  With warmer weather I have used evenings to finish the texturing - I think I could do more but I've got the look I was wanting to achieve. 

The terrain for the next Club night try out for the Iran-Iraq War is ready.

I'm only half way through creating enough terrain to go fully operational but I should have it completed by the end of Summer - I might organise a half table operational game just to make sure the mountain rules work effectively.

Saddam's Mig 21s bomb suspected Kurdish positions in Northern Iraq.  Change the markings and it could be Afghanistan. Change the armies and it could be the Northwest Frontier, Tunisia, Italian East Africa......

Meanwhile I need to concentrate on JoS and then hopefully we might get some temperate terrain completed.

Just in case you wondered how it was done - I like to think it is therapeutic.

Operational Games - amphibious landings

Our group has been discussing amphibious options for future operational games.  We would need to construct more islands like in the above picture.  Ten tables of islands would look spectacular and with two teams coordinating land, sea and air operations it would make for a great game.  I expect the Pacific would be the most likely theatre for our first outing.  However, the Mediterranean would make for a great game with a what if between Axis and Allies in 1943 (as we gamed in the picture above) or a Cold War operation between Soviets and Nato or even Greeks v Turks!  I would really like to have a go at Venetians v Ottomans.

One Day Operational Games

Three years ago over the Christmas holiday of 2015/16, I was musing through old copies of Miniature Wargames.  One of the very earliest articles was written by regular contributor George Gush, probably more famous for his guide to Renaissance warfare.  He gave an overview to a one day battle fought at his local club in which many members contributed troops and terrain in a one day multi-player campaign game.  Below is his plan of that game.

So, I thought, maybe I should give this idea a go.  Our group had put on some big 2 or 3 day battles in the past, but they felt tired by the 2nd day, or worse, one side felt they had no chance of winning and heads were down before the end of the first day!

I asked if anyone was up for an experiment in which we pitted a reinforced British armoured division against a weakened Panzer Grenadier Division somewhere in the Low Countries in September 1944.  Ratios would be 2:1 in favour of the attacking British but the Germans would have the benefit of better movement between the tables as shown in George's map.

Basically, the British deploy their forces at the top of the map on either red A or B tables. These tables are screened from the German players so as to hide the main axis of attack.  The British can only move from one table to another following the large outlined arrows.  This simulates unit demarcation and command chains for a large push to secure as many of the tables as possible.

Tables in the first row have 1 objective point, tables in the second 2 points and 3 on the third row.  To win the British must secure more points than the Germans hold.

The Germans may have fewer units but can exploit their greater flexibility by moving along the dotted arrows, enabling them to launch local counter attacks.

In addition, both sides have an air table from which they can order attacks against on and off table targets.  These are activated on the hour regardless of turn number and the whoever occupied  3A with its airfield can launch additional attacks on the half hour.

Unoccupied tables allow double movement for units and artillery can fire indirectly from one table to another.

That was the bare bones of the plan and everyone was willing to give it a try as we had the troops and basic scenery.  Russ rather valiantly agreed to make the base tables and we went for an ambitious 2 week target date for the game.

Setting up the game.

                             
Well, we had a blast!  The game played relatively smoothly, averaging 25 turns of game play.  We had the game set up by 10.00am and finished by 4.00pm and we had fought on nearly every table.  The British just about won.

Germans take up position on table 3B

                                         
We haven't looked back.  The operational concept has given us a focus with all the periods we play.  We still game one-off battles but the operational games allow us to build up those specialist units and weapons; carpet bombing, rail guns, armoured trains, bridge building - which can feature as part of the game.

On 7th July we are planning to put on a demo/participation version of the operational game at Joy of Six in Sheffield - it'll be great to see what other players make of this concept.

                           

It's no Shangri La in Korramshahr!

Thursday night game; Iran-Iraq War

Iraqi armour storms an outlying village - before the Chieftain gun line and Cobra bring the Iraqi juggernaut to a halt.

First outing for the Iran-Iraq War last night and I was very pleased with how it played.  I modelled the scenario on what is called a TEWT (Tactical Exercise Without Troops), a pre-battle planning model used in the British Army since WW1.  I think we could play this again and get several different outcomes.

We got to use a good selection of equipment as used in the 1980's conflict in which a fully mechanised Iraqi brigade attempts to secure defended terrain from a pretty basically trained Iranian group of revolutionary troops supported by the highly sophisticated but logistically challenged Iranian regular army - there are not many armies in the world with Chieftains, Scorpions, M109A1s and Shilkas!

I managed to clear up on some new rules and I think I know where I am going with more terrain for an eventual operational game.

We need to firm up on the air attacks but I thought last nights split between ground attack and medium height and the effects of AA was a fair compromise - although next time we play this I may only allow one mission for the Cobra!

Battle of Hochst 1622

A rather untidy table - the Protestants on the left hold a fortified town , a redoubt to the rear , a stream to the front and a marsh on their right.  Using variable time the Catholic League and their Spanish allies attempt to push through and secure Hochst - which is just beyond where I have placed the book!

Just a quick post to get my new blog underway.  Mark, Russ and I fought the Battle of Hochst, June 1622, as Tilly attempts to snuff out the protestant rebellion in the Palatinate during the early part of the Thirty Years War.  Tercio's versus the new fangled Dutch deployments before the Swedes show everyone how it should be done.

A great bank holiday battle using principles of war rules.  As the protestant defenders I just about held out against the Imperial onslaught.

More detailed posts to follow.