A brace of WWII Eastern Front games were played out on Monday night.
The first was a late war Flames of War game, set in Winter ‘44. The second was an early war encounter using Rapid Fire rules.
A brace of WWII Eastern Front games were played out on Monday night.
The first was a late war Flames of War game, set in Winter ‘44. The second was an early war encounter using Rapid Fire rules.
In this NATO vs NATO / Blue on Blue 120pt Team Yankee clash, the Hollanders managed to overcome an air-heavy US force to notch up their first victory. They were helped by the American player plumping for a rather imbalanced force consisting of small mechanised infantry platoons, zero AA cover and, the very expensive, M1A1HC Abrams option.
A combination of Leopard 1s and 2s assaulted a small pinned down infantry platoon to take an objective and secure a win in the ‘Contact’ mission. It should be pointed out that the Netherlands had to be aided by the arrival of West German allied BO-105 helicopters that managed to neuter the Abrams ‘Heavy Commons’, to help out their Dutch friends (and rivals).
Team Yankee Dutch |
In this scenario, based on fighting during the Free State Offensive of 1922, the Free Staters were able to bring their superior weapons and training to bear to defeat the Anti-Treaty, hardcore 'Irregulars'. Republican bombers attempted to knock out the Pro-Treaty Rolls Royce several times, without any luck. Their own Peerless armoured car eventually succumbed to a well placed HE round.
The Irish Civil War was characterised by lots of relatively small, though bitterly fought, engagements. Hardware is limited to a few armoured cars, maybe an 18pdr and some machine guns.
Irish Civil War Wargame |
The players used the Osprey Rules, 'Lion Rampant' in this medieval scenario. Swedish knights bore down on the Russians, but they seemed to get bogged down in a marsh and the Novgorodian Rus stoically held out.
The rules seemed to work OK, although some commented that the mechanism that means you have to settle each combat unit-by-unit, doesn't enable you to swamp your opponent, even when you have larger numbers.