March 2015 – General Whiskers' semi-historical wanderings

Poland – 2nd September 1939

Day two of my refight of the Second World War. German First Tank Army attacks the Polish First Tank Army.

Forces and battlefield were randomised for Memoir 44 using the game’s dice and a pack of ordinary playing cards. The units were modelled using GHQ miniatures in 1/285 scale and the map board transferred to a table-top using Kallistra hexagon terrain (some of which was remodelled for streams, marshes and roads), buildings from Total Battle Miniatures, and trees and other scenery from a variety of sources.

The battlefield, viewed from the West, is seen here:

German forces for Memoir 44, created by the dice rolls:
1 Heavy tank unit of 1 x PzIII.
3 Half-track units of 3 x SdKfz 251 each.
2 Motorised artillery units of 2 x 105mm gun and 2 half-track tractors each.
1 Infantry unit of 4 x 4 riflemen.
1 Supply truck unit of 3 lorries.

Polish forces are:
1 Tank unit of 2 x 7TP (37mm gun turret)
1 Tank unit of 2 x 7TP (two MG turrets)
1 Tankette unit of 3 x TK-3 (MG)
2 Motorised Artillery units of 2 x 105mm gun and 2 half-track tractors each.
1 Horse-drawn artillery unit of 2 x 75mm guns.
1 Infantry unit of 4 x 4 riflemen.
1 Supply truck unit of 3 lorries.

As an aside, I started to play this battle using Rapid Fire rules using centimetres in place of inches, but gave up because I had not modelled observers or HQ units needed for the artillery, so back to my original plan of playing with Memoir 44 rules.

To determine the number of command cards for each side I rolled one die per unit and added the number of stars rolled to a base of 3. This gave the Germans 5 cards and the Poles 4.
I applied the “Blitz” rules, which give a speed penalty to Polish tanks.
Other “house” modifications to the standard rules for this campaign are:
– PzIII behaves like a Tiger tank in 1944 scenarios (harder to kill).
– Polish tankettes behave like armoured half-tracks without the supply ability.
– Polish 7TP tanks with two MG turrets fight as two attacks with infantry MGs.
– Polish command cards referring to more than one sector are restricted to one sector, representing the lack of radios.
Victory would be achieved by the first player to win 5 medals. Each village occupied counted as one medal, as did the bridge. These were temporary medals, only held while the hexagon was occupied. Thus the Germans started with 1 medal.

Turn 1.

The German infantry moved out of the village to the railway station (1). From there they opened fire on the Polish tankette unit and destroyed one of them (2). The PzIII moved onto the road (3), supported by a unit of armoured half-tracks (4). The tank fired at the 7TP unit on the Polish right flank and knocked out one tank (5).
The Poles responded by advancing the two 7TP(MG) tanks onto the bridge (6) and shooting at the PzIII, to no effect. One of the 105mm artillery units also fired at the tank (7). It scored a hit, but no damage. One medal was taken for holding the bridge.

Turn 2.
(No picture)
On the German right flank one unit of half-tracks moved forwards and machine-gunned the infantry defending the line of the stream. One hit was scored.
A battery of 105mm guns fired at the 7TP tanks on the bridge. No damage was inflicted but the tanks withdrew from the bridge. The PzIII was also ordered to attack these tanks, and fired as they retreated, driving them further back beyond the village. The Poles lost their medal for holding the bridge, but it was not yet taken by the Germans.
On the Polish side the remaining 7TP (37mm) fired at the PzIII but missed.

Turn 3.

The German infantry moved forwards into the woods (1). The PzIII moved onto the bridge (2) and fired at the remaining 7TP to his left (3).
The Polish called in an artillery barrage (4) and successfully brewed up the PzIII, blocking the only crossing point for vehicles (5)

Turn 4.

The German artillery started a bombardment. The first battery (1) attacked the Polish light artillery (2) with no effect, but the second battery (3) forced the Polish infantry (4) to fall back.
The Polish 75mm guns replied and drove one of the German batteries (5) from the battlefield. One medal to the Poles.

Turn 5.

In the north – the German left flank – the half-tracks attacked the Polish tankettes (1) but failed to cause any damage. The Polish tank counterattacked and the half-tracks fled back to the village (3), ironically claiming a medal for occupation. The tankettes opened fire on the German infantry in the woods (4) causing casualties.

In the centre a unit of half-tracks (1) advanced on the Polish 75mm guns (2), firing their machine guns. The gunners limbered up and retreated, but were caught by artillery fire from the remaining 105mm battery (3) and one team was destroyed.

Turn 6.

The Germans launched a mass charge of half-tracks across the whole field with machine guns blazing. It had a very limited effect.
On the left flank one unit (1) attacked the tankettes (2) once more with no effect except to lose the medal for holding the village. In the centre (3) the Polish artillery battery (4) was eliminated, gaining one medal, and on the right (5) the retreating infantry (6) were targeted with no effect.
The Poles replied with both 105mm batteries (7) which hit nothing. The Polish trucks (8) moved across the field towards the infantry to resupply them.

Turn 7.

The Germans renewed their attacks with the half-tracks. On the left flank (1) they finally eliminated the Polish tankettes (2), claiming another victory medal. On the right (3) the Polish infantry were driven back (out of shot). The Polish artillery batteries (4) shelled the third German half-track unit (5), causing a lot of smoke and flames but no damage.

Turn 8.

The German supply trucks (1) moved forward to occupy the village and reclaim the medal for holding the village. The infantry moved out of the woods onto the ground previously defended by the Polish tankettes (2) while the half-tracks attacked and eliminated the remaining 7TP tank (3) for another medal.
The Polish artillery (4) shelled the German half-tracks in the centre, destroying one (5) and sending the others (6) backwards.
The Polish trucks reached their infantry and resupplied them. (The mechanism is that one truck is removed to replace one lost base from the unit supplied.)

The Poles were now in a precarious position. All their units were at the back edge of the board. The Germans needed one more victory medal which they could achieve by destroying a Polish unit, taking the second village or forcing any one unit to retreat.

Turn 9.

The Germans hitched up their 105mm guns (1) and advanced to bring them into effective range of the Polish forces. As nothing on the left flank could cross the stream to reach the village, the remains of the half-track unit in the centre (2) moved across the field towards the target. The Polish artillery (3) shelled the half-tracks with no effect. (apparently firing duds as there are no visible explosions!)

Turn 10.

The Germans continued their movement started in turn 9. The Poles on the other hand had far more success, hitting and destroying the German half-tracks (1) and gaining a Victory Medal. They also moved the two MG armed 7TPs (2) into the village for another medal.

Turn 11.

The Germans unhitched the 105mm guns (1) and selected at extreme range the easiest target – the Polish supply trucks (2), but missed. The Polish infantry advanced towards the woods (3).

Turn 12.

The German infantry continued to move forward on the left flank, entering the woods (1). Their half-tracks (2) retired to a safe distance from the arriving Polish tanks. In the centre the remaining half-tracks (3) advanced between the two woods. The 105mm artillery (4) again missed the Polish trucks (5). The Polish infantry, replenished to full strength, moved into the woods (6) to threaten the half-tracks.

Turn 13.

All the action was on the German left flank. First the half-tracks (1) moved up to the woods and resupplied the infantry who then moved forwards at to speed towards the village (2). The Polish tanks (3) swung round to attack them, but with no effect.

Turn 14.

Following their move in turn 13 the German infantry (1) unleashed their firepower at short range against the tanks in the village, causing them to retreat from the battlefield (2). The Germans had won.

The remains of Polish First Tank Army retreated east. The strategic map at the end of 2nd September looked like this.

German invasion of Poland. End of day 2nd September

The next battle will be in the area 6329/6328 between two infantry armies.

Donald Featherstone memorial weekend 2

Last year saw the first Donald Featherstone memorial weekend. The idea came from Ron Miles, a contemporary of Don in the early days of wargaming. It was developed by Henry Hyde and Mark Freeth, and there is now an annual game at the Wargames Holiday Centre at Kingsclere, near Basingstoke, UK in memory of Don Featherstone.

But it is more than a gaming weekend. The event draws a number of gamers to play in the spirit of the early wargamers and a “jacket and tie” dinner is held on the Saturday evening – if only to prove that gamers do not always dress in black T-shirts! We have been fortunate to have Don’s friends Ron Miles, Charles Wesencraft and Chris Scott at both dinners.

This year we played operation Market Garden, September 1944, with the emphasis on the Arnhem/Oosterbeek area, but with an abstracted challenge for the British XXX Corps to “drive like hell” to relieve the airborne troops.

I was one of the XXX Corps players, and our challenge was to move our force across 28 feet of table on a 3 foot front, then a further 20 feet on a 6 foot front to reach the road bridge at Arnhem. This, without opposition, would take 25 game moves at road speed. Two opposed river crossings would – and did – hinder us. “Hell’s Highway” was abstracted, without any on-table support from the US Airborne, who were deemed to be holding the flanks.

Before XXX Corps managed to cross the second river we heard the cry “Oosterbeek has fallen”, which ruled out the plan for a crossing of the Rhine in support. By the time we began the final advance beyond Nijmegen with Irish and Grenadier Guards side by side, the Poles (landed south of the Rhine) had been eliminated and SS Panzer troops were rushing to join in the wholesale destruction of Sherman tanks.

We suffered from lousy dice, but not as bad as some of the British Airborne players, one of whom rolled ten consecutive ones. The odds of that are 60,466,176:1!

Here are some pictures from the weekend:

Oosterbeek from the north. Far table = Eindhoven - Nijmegen, middle table = Nijmegen - Arnhem — Oosterbeek from the north. Far table = Eindhoven – Nijmegen, middle table = Nijmegen – Arnhem

Welsh Guards set off on the road to Nijmegen - There is an AT gun in the woods to the left that held us up for 9 turns. — Welsh Guards set off on the road to Nijmegen – There is an AT gun in the woods to the left that held us up for 9 turns.

The road from Nijmegen to Arnhem (top to bottom) that we failed to travel.

Arnhem in ruins with our objective in the foreground.

For more pictures, see here

Too much to do

It has occurred to me that I have not posted anything for some time. This is mainly because nothing has been completed. I have my finger in too many pies.

However, I have been making progress in various directions. On the reenactment front I have been trying to obtain buttons, buckles and bows for my role as a major in the British army at Waterloo in June. I have been appointed Assistant QMG to 2nd Brigade Allied Army, despite spending 25 years as a French soldier in this period. (Not so odd – at my first Waterloo in 1990 the current commander of the British army in the UK was my French sergeant). The 2nd brigade, one of four infantry brigades on the allied side, including the German brigade and the Royal Dutch Army, will have around 300 muskets on the field. While small by US (i.e. Gettysburg) standards, this will be one of the biggest European re-enactment events ever staged.

While thinking of Napoleonic re-enactment, I would like to pay tribute to Peter (Tiny) Castle, Sergeant and commander of the 32nd (Cornwall) Regiment, who died last Sunday. A large man with a huge personality and a commanding voice who will be sadly missed. A shame he could not make it to the finale.

On the wargaming front, in my World War Two campaign I have the troops prepared for another battle in Poland on 2nd September 1939, but needed some more marsh terrain. This is nearly ready…

Awaiting a spray of varnish to fix everything, then another gloss coat on the water.

In the bottom left of the picture are two strips (=1 base, 1/4 unit) of “Red” light cavalry being painted. I hope that by mid May I will have all the necessary models ready for a display of my “pre-Reisswitz” wargame depicting Waterloo at a Town Council sponsored event in Horsham, UK. Despite restricting the toy uniforms to red, blue, white and black, plus horse and gun colours, these seem to take a long time to get ready.

I have also been preparing for the second Donald Featherstone tribute weekend (21-23 March) at the Wargames Holiday Centre, where we will be playing Arnhem with Rapid Fire rules. I own the first edition rules, but have never completed a game with them or used them competitively. I have been toying with some reduced-scale scenarios, but I await the postman with the edition of the rules that we will be using, as if owning and reading the rules will grant me any greater success!

I have asked for command of 130 Brigade, 43 Division if it’s included in the game, as these are the lads from the counties where I grew up. Otherwise I will take what I am given, Allied or German. I’me not sure if we are playing just Arnhem or Market Garden, or somewhere between the two. Whatever, with something like 650 square feet of table to play on it will be a challenge.

I have a lot of literature about the Market Garden operation and last year ran a 3 day real-time PBEM game which was a wonderful but exhausting experience. However it’s played, this mini campaign reveals how easy it is for plans to fall apart on both sides, and the futility of war.

I hope to post some photos of the Arnhem game next week.

New units finished

Despite all the problems related in my earlier post I have managed to get six new 72-figure units finished for use in my demonstration battles at Napoleonic re-enactment events.

They are standard infantry units for red army and blue army, with four bases of three strips of Irregular Miniatures old-style French Napoleonic Infantry on a 2cm square steel base. The painting is deliberately “toy soldier” style to fit with their natural environment, as seen in the photographs.

A Blue column prepares to assault a village held by Red.

An advantage of this mounting in 3-rank blocks is that the painted strips can be sorted before basing. Those with the best cross-straps go in the front rank, those with the best pack and pouch detail go to the rear and the rubbish goes in the middle rank.

Two opposing units come to close contact.

New painting tools

I discovered these recently and tried them out with reasonable results.

I bought some exchange 1mm tips (the standard is 2mm). For 1/300 scale figures I think 0.5mm tip will be needed for crossbelts and other detail, but I had some success using the 1mm tips on 1/100 models. The advantage is that the tip is rigid. The pens work best on raised detail, and will not go well into recesses.

I will persevere.