Franco Prussian game

 

At club game night I played in a most excellent Franco Prussian war game.  Kevin put on a great game with his beautifully painted 25mm figures and terrain.  The French Corp was dug in by a cross road and had a naval detachment with a couple large guns to anchor their right flank.  The Prussian had to advance and capture the cross roads.  Rules used were "Noch Paris " and figures were 25mm.

The French dug in along the cross roads, taking advantage of every inch of cover.

The Prussian army had A tough nut to crack.  First, they massed their artillery on the left (5 batteries), in the center (3 batteries) and on the right (3 batteries).  These guns concentrated on the French guns in counter battery fire.  By the fourth game turn they had silenced all but two guns.

At thus point the Prussian started to advance.

Good cover did not protect the infantry from the massed batteries.  Slowly in the French center and left flank battalions were forced back.

After artillery forced the defenders to abandon this building the Prussian infantry moved into it.  There was little the French could do to retake it as each time a battalion moved up it was forced back by artillery fire.

One bright spot for the French was a massed charge by their cavalry!  they managed to hit A Prussian battalion before it could deploy, and forced the batteries on the Prussian left to retire.  But it was a fleeting moment and the decimated cavalry was soon fleeing the field.  Followed by this the  Prussian left flank moved his infantry forward into the open.  But before they reached the enemy they were cut down by rifle and artillery fire.

By the end of the game the Prussian left flank was recovering.  But in the center and French left the Prussian infantry was slowly pushing back the French and taking key positions.  

It was a very good game that certainly captured the feeling of the war.  The Prussian artillery was deadly and certainly the key to the battle.  It think,in future games it is perhaps not as numerous as in this one.  That said its a fascinating period and very colorful and I hope this is the first of many games.

Club Game Night 25 September

 

Kevin Kane – Franco-Prussian War
Rules: Modified Nach Paris, 24mm, 4-6 Players
A French Corp has been ordered to turn and face the Prussians once again. They are fortunate to have a heavy gun emplacement protecting one of their flanks. Will it be enough? Already dark blue masses are surging towards the French line with more marching fast behind. Krupp guns move into position. A mitrailleuse battery rattles into action…

I will be doing a separate write up for this battle which I played in.  More to follow!

John Macone – Saving General Paulus
Rules: Modified/simplified Battlefront (basically Fire & Fury for WW2) , 15mm, 4-6 Players
It’s mid December in 1942, and the battle of Stalingrad has taken a dramatic turn. The Soviets have encircled Paulus’ 6th Army and are steadily strangling it. 6th Army’s only hope is Operation Winter Storm, a German counteroffensive intended to break through the Soviet bearhug. The German armored advance moves quickly through the surprised Soviet defense, until it hits a little crossroads village called Verkhny-Kumsky. The fate of Paulus and his men will be decided by a head-on armored engagement at this town, pitting Mark IIIs and IVs vs. T-70s, T-34s and KV1s. And some infantry, Stukas and Katyuskas just to round things out.

AJ Wright – Kampfgruppe Counter Attack
Rules: AJ’s Iron Cross multi-player variant, “Iron Cross Action”, 28mm, 4-7 Players
Date: 28 June 1944, 1330 hours
Location: Just South of Granville at Le Valtru, Normandy
History: Nearly simultaneously with the attack along the Villers-Bocage-Caen road, Kampfgrouppe Weidinger attacked to the south of Granville to secure the structures and orchards of Le Valtru. Just prior to the German attack, elements of D-Company Seaforth Highlanders had occupied this important and defensible terrain. The British were just consolidating their position when the German attack began.

Club game Night: Friday 13 August

  Once again time marches on and its time for yet another club game night.  As always three games are hosted and club members and guests can join whichever one they like.   

Here are tonight's games and a write up about them from their host.

Dr. Dick – Petticoat Junction
Rules: Fire and Fury Regimental, 15 mm, 5-7 Players
It is spring of 1865 and Sherman has turned north to close in on Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia. On the North Carolina-Virginia border there is a rail line vital to sending supplies to the beleaguered Lee. One last train is trying to get through, and, with the bone-dry weather, it’s last supply of water to get up steam is a water tower in Petticoat Junction.
The Union scouts have found no good area to make any Sherman’s bowties, so reported back that the water tower is ripe for destruction.
The local beauties, Billy-Jo, Betty-Jo and Bobby-Jo (who use the tower as a swimmin’-hole) entertained the scouts for the night. They then sent word to the Confederate troops (apparently they go both ways…). As has happened before, what could have been a small affair has blossomed into a multi-division fracas to destroy or save the water tower.

Ralph Gero – Pacific 1942 Dogfight
Rules: Axis 

 

Angels 20/Bandits High WW2 aircraft rules appeal to me very much.  They are fun; rich enough to include climbing, diving, evading and tailing but, not burdened with mind-numbing chart after chart.  Each pilot has to recognize his airplane’s advantages and play to those advantages.  Friday’s scenario will pit the USN Wildcat fighter vs. the IJN Zero fighter.  While the airplanes are very different, they are equally capable.  USN pilots can be almost assured of victory in an old west style gunfight but, they better not let a Zero get position on their tail.

Mark Nichipor – The Battle of Hobkirk’s Hill April 1781 25mm American Revolution
Rules: “Whites of Their Eyes” by Stephen Haller
After the Battle of Guildford Courthouse (March 1781) American General Nathaniel Greene moves his army south to South Carolina to drive out the British occupation forces. While Cornwallis marched to Virginia, Lord Rawdon is left with a mainly loyalist force to defend the colony. In April Greene takes position outside the British post at Camden with his main army of Continental regiments while his light troops raid smaller outposts. Rawdon, although outnumbered decides to attack Greene before he can call in militia support.

A full report on the Battle of Hobkirk Hill will be in the next post.  Please stay tuned!

Club Game Night July 16

  Times flies by and its once again club game for the Northern Conspiracy.  As usual three games are offered and you can join in for the fun.  Tonight's battles included World War 2 skirmish, World War 2 naval and a crowd favorite Napoleonic.  Here are the games as written by the individuals putting them on.  Pictures will be of games in progress.

Its great after the break to get together again!

Charlie Galemmo: Napoleon’s Rules of War, 28mm. 

The first day of the Battle of Jakubowo 30 July 1812.

 

Marshal Oudinot was tasked with covering the left flank of Napoleons advance into Russia and ultimately threaten St. Petersburg. In his march he had secured a bridge across the Nitschstcha at Kliatitzy. Russian Marshal Wittgentstein moved to retake the bridge and hold the French advance. The Russians moved towards Kliatitzy but ran into French troops in the town of Jakubowo just a few kilometers from the bridge. What ensued was a set piece battle. The French needed to push forward n their march as well as eliminate the threat Wittgenstein forces had on Napoleon’s main thrust. The Russians wanted to prevent French advance and move forward themselves for the reasons the French wanted to stop them.

The rules will be Napoleon’s Rules of War 2^nd Edition. There will be a wide variety of infantry; grenadiers, standard line and provisional troops. Plenty of cavalry too! Cuirassier on both sides, hussars and of course Cossacks. 

  Phil Hammond and Michael Bailey – Axis & Allies Naval Rules: War at Sea, 1:1200 Ships, 4-6 Players Italy versus England in the Mediterranean 1941.

 We shall bring to you the smack down that those willey British laid on the Italiens in February 1941 when the Admiral sent Force H (consisting of two battleships, one cruiser, and the carrier Ark Royal) to bombard to port of Genoa and bomb two other smaller ports on Ligurian Sea.

    And while the Italian Navy (Regia Marina) tried not to take this all sitting down; coordination, weather and timing was not with them that day.

The force out to intercept Force H missed them by mere hours. The air force? The one spotter plane that found the Ark Royal was shot down by a Skua dive bomber (not even a proper fighter!). And the Luftwaffe? Well, it's an ITALIAN problem, eh?

   But this time... Things may be very different. Come find out how well an modern Italien BB fares against retreaded British battlewagons.

   Could be interesting! 

 Mark Decoteau – 

Red Devils in Normandy, June 7, 1944.  20mm World War II Skirmish using Crossfire Rules. 

After securing the left flank of the Allied invasion on D-Day, the British 6^th Airborne Division continued the fight to secure the areas around Breville, Rainville and Le Mesnil.  

This scenario sets out a meeting engagement between a British Parachute Platoon moving and German defenders from the 711^th Division and attached units.  Units will be trying to secure buildings and prepare their areas as a jump off point for future offensive operations.