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.
Another great game of Team Yankee which pitted some expertly painted Iranians, equipped with mainly British and American kit, against their arch-rivals, Iraq, equipped with French and Soviet hardware.
Playing to the Dust Up mission, the Iranians attempted a
flanking manoeuvre with Scorpions and Chieftains. This was brutally stopped by
Iraqi T72s and Saggar missiles, fired from well positioned BMP1s. The Iranians
then suffered a series of crucial, unlucky die rolls for both their morale and delayed reserves, enabling a flight of roaming Iraqi Mi-24 Crocodiles/Hinds, equipped
with Spiral missiles, to pick off the remaining Chieftains.
Other games this evening included an 18th Century
‘Rebels and Patriots’ game and a FoW game, utilising another combination from
the German Bulge book.
Three games were hosted on Monday evening – Team Yankee, Flames of War and an 18th Century battle set in North America.
In the WWIII clash, the Soviet T62 formation overwhelmed the
Dutch defenders with relative ease. The T62 packs a pretty mean 115mm gun, which
enables it to knock out most things, even Leopard 2s from the front. The Mi-24s
delivered to coup de grace by coming on, after most of the Dutch AA had been
stripped away, and KO-ing 2 Leopards. The third one promptly failed morale and
ran away, leaving the brave Dutch infantry to their gruesome fate.
On Monday night the Flames of War players brought out their toys, and we saw two German armies from the new Bulge book being fielded.
In one game, a German army consisting mostly of SS Panzer
IVs, was defeated by a Soviet tank army with T34/85s, IS2s and a Sturmovik
ground attack flight. In the other, a German army with 10 Panthers was defeated
by a late war American force.
All in all, a poor night for the Germans.
