Category: Wargaming

Brian Ivers sent me another battle report from one of his Combat Patrol games.  He agreed to let me post it here.  Brian does a great job of taking pictures during his games.  I never remember to do that.  (And I love the name of the platoon leader in this game.)

---

Imagine if you will, paratroopers from many different units scattered throughout the Normandy countryside. The full moon overhead is darkened by the shadows of the bocage.  The sound of anti-aircraft batteries populates the night air. The constant drone of hundreds of aircraft overhead provides a comforting hum. The sleepy village of St Mere Eglise is fighting a fire near the town square.

Its dark:  maximum visibility is 6 inches in the bocage and 9 inches along main roads and in the middle of the fields. The Paratroopers can’t see the anti-aircraft batteries, only the flash and sound of their guns.

Lt. John “Buck” Surdu has 25 Paratroopers, a machine gun team from the 101^stAirborne with three men, and a .30 Cal Machine Gun with 400 rounds, a team from his own platoon, 4 men of the 82^nd All American, and apparently all lost in Normandy Divison.  Buck has his Platoon Sergeant “Mad Mike” Monagan. There are two other rifle sections of 6 men each from various units of the 82^nd Airborne plus a bazooka team.  The dice seen in the pictures represent the units’ activation numbers.  If a figure is a leader it gets a command die that indicates the unit activates when that card is drawn from the Activation deck.

They advance towards the village. They hear anti aircraft batteries peppering their buddies above. The flashes represent  the area the fire is coming from.  “No animals, real or plastic, were injured during the playing of this battle.”  One of the teams lose a Browning Automatic rifleman as they move forward and have to stop to look for him. These random events happen in war, I made a random event table for it.  Mad Mike is choking private Jones’ team leader, when Buck interupts his councelling session to deploy the teams for battle.

One of the teams finds a parachute in the bocage, a random event, and with it a weapons and ammo pod containing grenades, .30 cal linked ammo, and bandoliers of M1 ammo.  “God must love paratroopers,” Sergeant Masters says to no one in particular.  The platoon distributes ammo and moves on.  [Editor’s note:  Why is the sky blue?  Because God loves the infantry.  And he loves paratroopers too!”]

The Americans resume their marching to the sound of the guns and their objective past the cross roads in the city.  The anti-aircraft position is up ahead.  The plastic orange fire markers indicate general direction the flashes and sound are coming from.

The platoon splits once the recon elements discover the Anti-Aircraft positions. One half attacks the Germans on their left of their advance, the other the right.

A base of fire with the .30 Cal, Screaming Eagles team covers Buck’s advance towards the preoccupied German AA team.  The AA team is rated Green for Guts (morale in Combat Patrol), while the paratroopers are rated Elite.

Buck sets up a base of fire, leaving Mad Mike and the 101^stguys with a rifle section.  Buck pushes forward with the assault element, fixed bayonets, and a bad attitude. “Mr. hand grenade is your friend.”  Training came in handy as the paratroopers rain grenades on the unsuspecting Germans.

The plastic overlay indicates the grenade blast radius.  Cards are flipped, and casualties assessed.  One German dies as he is thrown on the grenade by his courageous buddy.  Another is wounded, and all are concussed except two outside the cone.  The different elastic bands indicate wounds and morale condition.  Tipped over figures indicate dead/incapacitated Germans.  Buck cleans up the bad guys in the AA pit and pulls his support element forward.

Buck secures the first AA position and displaces the base of fire, who under Mad Mike, push towards Buck’s position. Corporal Josh Cromer handles the rest of the platoon across the road and into an awaiting sand-bagged position. “Geronimo!” and hand grenades take the position.  [It’s a good thing they found the weapons pod with all those grenades!]

The paratroopers set up another assault and push into the second AA battery.  Cromer’s team lays down suppressive fire as Sgt Andy Krieg’s team rushes to the second AA position.  With fixed bayonets and no serious adult supervision, the teenage paratroopers close with the enemy who have been killing their buddies in the air.

Corporal Sanders gets a bullet in the throat going into the bunker and dies with his bayonet embedded in the chest of the man who shot him.  The German AA garrison is alerted, and men begin to come out of their quarters to assist their comrades.

An arial shot shows the two AA positions and relative advances of the two teams.

It’s all over.  The AA crew lies motionless, their weapon silenced.  A fierce hand-to-hand took place, but trained elite infantry will usually defeat untrained artillerymen.  The paratroopers must press on.  There is a hidden team inside the town who had dropped with F Company where most had been killed or captured.  They make their presence known to Sgt Krieg as he occupies the wall across from the road. The team has almost no ammo but a nice .30 cal.

Buck has a determined counter attack heading towards him.

The counter attack is broken up by concentrated fire.  Enfilade fire from Cpl Cromer’s team in the sand bagged position and Buck’s forward element firing from behind the cover of a hedgerow. The Germans await the paratroopers in the town.

The German garrison has no idea how many or what kind of support the Americans have, which is good news for Buck, Mad Mike, and Sgt Krieg’s’ teams.

Two groups of paratroopers occupy the road before the town. The Americans have 5 wounded, two dead, and another guy who went missing.

Someone is yelling at them from the bakery in front of them. “Sounds French,” Pvt. King yells. (Another random event.)

Corporal Dubois from Church Point, Louisiana, said, “They are saying ‘don’t shoot.’”  It’s a family, and they say the house is empty, but the boche are in the houses across from them.  The bazooka team, led by “Lumberjack” Hansen, begins to shoot holes in the house to support Buck’s advance.  Buck and his troopers move towards the house.  The Germans are stunned and begin to withdraw from the town.

The Germans take casualties and are ready to scram as their morale is low and casualties high.

The team that pushed across the road took 2 dead and 1 wounded.  The lower floor opened up on them just after the bazooka round impacted.

The objective is taken, but can they hold?  Buck organizes the defense of the town. He places teams in the church tower and places teams in the buildings near the cross roads.  It’s getting light.

A team of 101^st come running down the road.  Mad Mike yells at them to get in a building. “Damn right, Mac.  There’s a tank chasing us.”

The 101^st team runs into the destroyed house while their brothers attached to the 82^nd begin to feed their MG and mow down the supporting grenadiers of the Puma armored car.

The Germans advance slowly.

The machine gun “processes” the advancing Germans.

Mad Mike empties his Thompson into the crowd as his team lays on the lead. “ Where’s that bazooka?”

The Puma can’t see the fire from the church tower, so hoses down the buildings in front of him, wounding a Screaming Eagle and killing an All American.  The German  grenadiers are caught in a cross fire and are cut to pieces. The Puma begins to pull back.  The battle will continue.

Waiting for the Sherman’s to give us a “very nice edge.”  To be continued….

The game system is Combat Patrol(TM): World War II.  The action is generated by cards drawn for each side. This produces movement morale, casualties, etc.  The models are Flames of War. The buildings are a mix of 4Ground. E-plastic, and Flames of War prebuilt.  The trees and hedges are from kits and scratch-built railway hobby parts.  We have 4 people playing, and I am the Game Master.  This plays quickly and has a lot of role play elements to it.  The mat on the table is for ease of movement and is GMT product from Command Colors.

Hope you liked it.

Brian.

Chris Palmer and I ran a GASLIGHT game on my 7-foot long zeppelin.  The scenario involved Professor Serafini Nannini transporting his rocket sled in Duke Morrison’s zeppelin.  (Duke Morrison is the hero of my pulp games using GASLIGHT.)  Nannini and his daughter Gianna had hidden six components of one of his fabulous inventions around the zeppelin for security reasons. As Nazi rocket troopers and hired gangsters attack the zeppelin to seize Nannini, the rocket sled, and the six components, Duke Morrison (and his soldiers), “Boats” Morgan (and his sailors), “Wrench” Webb (and his soldiers), the Nanninis and their lab workers, MacDuff (and his police), and “Crash” Corrigan (and his rocket troops) work to gather together the components and move them to the rocket sled.  The game was to end at exactly 1130 (wall clock time).  If the good guys had gathered the components and had them in the rocket sled at 1130, the sled would launch, and the good guys would win.  The sled could not be launched until 1130.  Oh, and only five people could drive the sled, so one of them needed to last that long.  The five people who could pilot the sled were Duke, Boats, Wrench, Prof. Nannini, and Gianna Nannini.

With eight players worth of figures, the game came down to three figures at 1128.  There were two gangster minions left and Boats Morgan, who was in the rocket sled.  Everyone else had gotten killed during the three hours of zany shoot-em-up.

The two gangster minions shot at Boats with just two minutes left to play.  One of them scored a hit, and Boats failed his Save.  The bad guys had all the components (five of which the good guys had conveniently carried to the rocket sled) and the sled itself.  And they also possessed Duke’s zeppelin, as none of Duke’s men survived.

Below are some pictures of the action at various points of the game.  I think the players all had a really good time.  The fact that the game came down to the last three figures two minutes prior to the game’s end contributed.  All the players got into the light-hearted spirit of GASLIGHT.

I used the same table for my second Philippines 1941 Combat Patrol(TM) game at Cold Wars 2018.  The scenario was the same as the first game.  The Japanese were attacking, and the Americans were trying to stop their advance.  The Japanese victory conditions were based on the number of figures they could get across the road.

This game featured the most successful Banzai charge I have seen in Combat Patrol(TM).  There have been bigger ones, longer ones, and more costly ones, but this was probably the most effective.  The way Banzai charges work in Combat Patrol is that before the turn begins, the Japanese player must declare the charge and choose the units that will participate.  Then when the first unit’s card is drawn, the command dice of all the units in the charge are changed to that number, and the charge begins.  All charging units move with two cards, not one.  They get a +1 in melee.  They also get no cover benefit.  A “game master” card is shuffled into the Activation Deck on the next turn.  When this card is drawn, which may take several turns if the “reshuffle card keeps appearing first,” the attack is over, and all participating Japanese are stunned.  All accrued morale checks are immediately resolved.

In this case, there were just two Japanese teams in the charge.  One ended the charge in the road in front of the two American water-cooled machine-guns.  During the morale check, the Japanese team first recovered all stun markers and then conducted another Banzai charge, which overran both American machine-guns.  The American line was broken; however, the game was an American victory.  When time ran out, the Japanese were ready to cross the road on both flanks, but at the end of the game, there were only two Japanese figures across the road.

The game was quite fun, and I think that all the players had a good time.

At Cold Wars 2018 I ran two Combat Patrol(TM): WWII games set in the Philippines in 1941.  The Japanese were advancing toward Bataan, and an understrength platoon of Americans had to try to stop them.  As you can see from the map, the Japanese had to advance across a stream and the Americans were scattered around a small village.  The stream could be crossed by infantry, but vehicles could only cross at the ford.  The map is all jungle except the clearing around the town (marked by lichen) and the peaches of felt.  Visibility in the jungle is only four inches, and movement is halved.  This made it slow going for the Japanese and hard to concentrate any firepower for the Americans.  To defend the town, the Americans had an M-3 stuart and an anti-tank gun.

It is very difficult to find early war American infantry.  I used the Americans with tin helmets from Pulp Figures.

A forward deployed team of Americans advanced to engage two Japanese tanks and a squad of Japanese infantry.  The Americans didn’t fare well, but they slowed the Japanese advance for a couple of turns.

The Japanese advanced steadily on their left flan.  After destroying the American team in the center, the Japanese advanced into the village to engage the Americans.  The huts provided very little cover, but as the Japanese advanced into the clearing the Americans finally had enemy in their fields of fire.

This rock was a deceptive piece of terrain.  It seemed like a good defensive position, but the jungle limited the field of fire, and it could be easily bypassed.

In Combat Patrol(TM): WWII when figures are wounded or incapacitated, the unit’s leader acquires a morale marker.  When a unit next activates, it must first make a morale check for each marker it had accrued.  A funny moment came during one of these morale checks.  The platoon headquarters had to make a morale check.  The four Army nurses were attached to the platoon headquarters.  One of the morale results had the platoon leader and two nurses charge into melee with the Japanese.  The Japanese had a better morale number, so this didn’t work well.  The Japanese killed both nurses and the platoon leader.  As a result of losing the platoon leader, all of the American units became pinned.

Chris Palmer took over control of the Stuart tank midway through the game.  Chris got several shots at the Japanese tank, but he missed every shot.  Between the Americans being pinned and both Japanese tanks closing on the road, we called the game a Japanese victory.

 

At Cold Wars 2018 in Lancaster, PA, last weekend, Chris Palmer and I ran a GASLIGHT game involving giant anthropomorphic frogs.  We haven’t had the frogs on the table in a couple of years.

The game was pretty fun.  The scenario is from The GASLIGHT Compendium.  The North American frogs are part of the advance guard for a frog column.  The South American frogs are trying to cut off their line of march.

The North American frogs quickly deployed from their march formation to engage the South Americans.

The South American frogs advanced on both flanks, enjoying success in both attacks.

The North American right flank held on and began to advance, but the dragon flies moved to a blocking position and determined to hold their portion of the road.

The South Americans were crushing the North American left flank, preparing to cut the road.  They also had the dragon flies across the road.  At that point, we called the game a South American victory.

Greg Priebe ran two Star Wars games using Combat Patrol(TM) at Cold Wars 2018 last weekend.  He ran this scenario twice.  On several occasions the shouting from the table was deafening.  One time was when the rebels killed Darth Vader.

The scenario involved a group of Rebels, including Kanan and Ezra, who had come to this planet to steal Imperial supplies.  Unfortunately for them, it was a trap set by the Empire.  Stormtroopers, including Darth Vader, attacked from the two narrow sides of the table, and the Rebels had to try to escape.

If the terrain looks familiar, it is because we used this table for five games during the weekend.  Don used it for a WWII game between the Japanese and Americans on an island in the Pacific.  I used it for two games set in 1941 with the Japanese attacking Americans.  Greg used it twice for his Star Wars games.  We varied the terrain slightly from game to game, but using the same basic table for several scenarios really helps ease the transition times between games and takes some stress off the GMs.

Last weekend was Cold Wars 2018 in Lancaster, PA.  Zeb Cook ran at Finland 1939 game using Combat Patrol(TM): WWII.  He was short a couple of players, so I was able to play in this game.  I had a terrific time.  It was a hard scenario for the Russians.  We had to advance across the table.

We (Russians) enjoyed some initial success on my (left) flank.  I was advancing toward the frozen river with my squad, and then I ran into a hidden squads of Finns who ambushed me.  I passed my morale checks, fired with some of my men, and then charged into hand-to-hand combat.  By the end of the game, this Finnish squad was down to two wounded figures who had gotten away and crossed the river at the bridge.

At this point, though I had crossed the stream and occupied the clump of trees, it was clear we were not going to get an intact squad off the far end of the table.   It was a very good game, and a tight scenario.  The special rules in the free Winter War supplement really added period flavor to the game.

Zeb Cook ran a zany and exciting cowboy game using the Combat Patrol(TM) Wild West supplement.  There was a lot of hottin’ and hollerin’ from that table.  I was busying running another game, so I didn’t get to participate.  It looked like a great game.  I have played some of his other Combat Patrol(TM) wild west games, and they were all very fun!

For the HMGS East conventions held in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, I have been staying across the street from the Lancaster Host at the Continental for the past several years.  The rooms at the Host had gotten progressively worse, and the Continental provides a really  nice breakfast.  The Continental has closed for renovations for Cold Wars and Historicon, so I booked a room at the Host this year.  As may know, the Host is under new ownership (Windham) and is undergoing massive renovations.  Despite the Host being overbooked, I had the good fortune of being assigned one of the newly renovated rooms.  I do a LOT of travel for work, staying at hotels of different brands and levels.  The newly renovated rooms at the Host are as nice as any I have stayed at in the past couple of years. Everything is clean and new.  The fixtures, heat, etc. all work.  The Internet is solid.  (Since I had to do three hours of work from my hotel room, this was important to me.)  The staff was friendly and helpful.  In summary, I think the somewhat elevated room rates promised after the renovations are reasonable given the new quality of the rooms.

F: 215: Hold as Long as Possible (1)

Friday, 9:00 AM, 4 hrs, Players: 6
GM: Buck Surdu & HAWKS
Sponsor: None, Prize: None
Period: World War II, Scale: 28mm, Rules: Combat Patrol(TM): WWII. ItisthePhilippinesinearly1942. The Americans are retreating slowly toward Bataan. A platoon of infantry, along with a handful of Stuart tanks, must delay the Japanese as long as possible, and they make a stand around a small Filipino village. The Japanese attack with a combination of infantry and light tanks. Mayhem ensures. The streamlined mechanics of Combat Patrol(TM) allow players to fight the game, no the rules. Rules will be taught, so come and see what the Combat Patrol(TM) excitement is all about.

F: 199: Assault on Kollaa

Friday, 7:00 PM, 4 hrs, Players: 8
GM: David Cook & HAWKS
Sponsor: None, Prize: None
Period: World War II, Scale: 28mm, Rules: Combat Patrol w/ Winter War supplement

Finland, 1939. The Soviet 56th Rifle Division north of Lake Lagoda is ordered to push west and outflank the Mannerheim Line. Reeling from the attacks the Finns fall back to make their stand on the Kollaa River. Regiment JR-54 is tasked with holding at all costs. In this skirmish game, can the greatly outnumbered Finns hold back an onslaught of Russian forces or will superior Russian numbers be able to break through?

F: 391: Battle at Duivelskloof

Friday, 7:00 PM, 4 hrs, Players: 6
GM: David Wood & HAWKS
Sponsor: None, Prize: None
Period: Colonial, Scale: 25mm, Rules: Combat Patrol
Captain Hunt was killed on the raid on the Viljoen farm, and this lead to Lt. Harry “The Breaker” Morant taking out revenge on the Boers, and which lead to his execution.Will the captain be successful this time?

 

F: 394: The Rebs Come to Schlegel’s Ferry

Friday,7:00PM,3 hrs,Players:6 GM: Eric Schlegel & HAWKS

Sponsor: None, Prize: None
Period: American Civil War, Scale: 25mm, Rules: Combat Patrol July1864. An off shoot of Early’s raid on Washington has reached Harford County and the Rebs are looking for supplies and attempting to burn Union facilities. Local militia and a few Federal units are moving in to the area to stop them. Thisisthe2ndof5 linked scenarios involving the citizens of Schlegel’s Ferry.

 

F: 402: Combat Patrol TM – Star Wars

Friday,7:00PM,3 hrs,Players:8
GM: Gregory Priebe & HAWKS
Sponsor: None, Prize: None
Period: SciFi, Scale: 28mm, Rules: Combat Patrol TM
Come learn the ways of the Force or embrace the power of the Dark Side as players battle for the fate of the galaxy with the new Combat Patrol Star Wars supplement. Rules will be taught. Padawans under 14 are welcome with the participation of a playing adult.

S: 403: Combat Patrol TM – Star Wars

Saturday,9:00AM,3 hrs,Players:8
GM: Gregory Priebe & HAWKS
Sponsor: None, Prize: None
Period: SciFi, Scale: 28mm, Rules: Combat Patrol TM
Come learn the ways of the Force or embrace the power of the Dark Side as players battle for the fate of the galaxy with the new Combat Patrol Star Wars supplement. Rules will be taught. Padawans under 14 are welcome with the participation of a playing adult.

 

S: 201: Pay Day! A Cowboy Caper

Saturday, 1:00 PM, 4 hrs, Players: 6
GM: David Cook & HAWKS
Sponsor: None, Prize: None
Period: Western, Scale: 28mm, Rules: Combat Patrol w/ Wild West Supplement The railroad’s coming to Washout! And that means workers — and strongboxes filled with the monthly payroll. The Sackler Gang has called in their friends and plans to collect for themselves. But the railroad has gotten wind of things and has laid on extra guards. Choose your side for a gun-blazing battle of gold and glory!

S: 214: Hold as Long as Possible (2)

Saturday, 2:00 PM, 4 hrs, Players: 6
GM: Buck Surdu & HAWKS
Sponsor: None, Prize: None
Period: World War II, Scale: 28mm, Rules: Combat Patrol(TM): WWII

ItisthePhilippinesinearly1942. The Americans are retreating slowly toward Bataan. A platoon of infantry, along with a handful of Stuart tanks, must delay the Japanese as long as possible, and they make a stand around a small Filipino village. The Japanese attack with a combination of infantry and light tanks. Mayhem ensures. The streamlined mechanics of Combat Patrol(TM) allow players to fight the game, no the rules.