SWoM Flank Attack 29 February 1938 - A Very British Civil War, Chain of Command

Again, always write your battle reports while the events of the day are fresh in your mind. Otherwise you'll forget all the good details and have to write these extremely brief, shorthand accounts.

The Mersey Corridor Offensive, Day 1

Battle 3 of my Very British Civil War Chain of Command campaign took place on the morning of the first day of the offensive by the United Communes against the Royalist/Legitimist Front-held Mersey Corridor. The Sheffield Workers Militia (SWoM) attempted to outflank the Legitimist Front positions in Botany Bay Wood held by 13 Platoon of the Blackshorts Northern Legion (led by myself).

As it was the first day of the actual offensive, both sides would have heavier support options including mortars, plenty of automatic weapons and tanks. SWoM forces brought along an FT-17 with a 37mm gun, a Rolls Royce armoured car and a truck for one of their sections, while the defending Blackshorts were able to call upon the Vickers 6-ton tank 'Ceolwulf' from the BUF's C Heavy Column.

Deployment

The game was a good one, and allowed us to try out tank vs tank actions and a different sort of scenario. My Blackshorts held the village and woods near the intersection in the Patrol Phase while the SWoM advanced from the north with a rifle section in an old WWI-era Thornycroft J truck followed up by an equally-old FT-17, while from the west came another rifle section supported by a Rolls Royce armoured car.

This time the table wasn't laid out strictly per the period map, but rather resembled the general area in a vague sort of way.

A Blackshorts section guards the western side of the intersection with a Bren gun team in ambush in a warehouse.

Early misfortune for the Sheffield Workers Militia

The Blackshorts scored an early success when Bren and rifle fire from their 1 Section caused the driver of the SWoM truck to panic, duck and floor it, crashing the truck into the woods where the second Blackshorts section, emerging from cover, riddled the vehicle with bullets, killing most of the SWoM riflemen and driving off a handful of survivors.

A second BUF section deployed to the woods on the eastern side of the intersection and was able to ambush a SWoM truck, eliminating the rifle team being transported.

Flanking attack from the west

The SWoM western advance was able to avoid most of the Blackshorts' defensive fire, and they were into the village with few losses, a Rolls Royce armoured car providing them with cover as they advanced down the street.

The SWoM armoured car leads the advance into the village from the west, the Blackshorts having been outflanked to the north and west. (Armoured car from QRF miniatures).

Blackshorts pull back

A further SWoM rifle section advanced across the open fields to the north and was able to get into the village, while a fourth section provided some fire support. By this stage too the Commune's FT-17 had advanced down the road and began firing into the position held by Blackshorts 1 Section. This section was now in real danger of being surrounded and cut off, so under the cover of some very effective smoke dropped by 13 Platoon's mortar team, and wise use of a Chain of Command die to interrupt enemy fire, they ran across the street and into a safer building to hold out in.

SWoM militia in civilian clothes and armbands advance across a field to the north of the village. (Peter Pig miniatures Spanish Civil War range).

The Blackshorts' 2" mortar team was able to put down some very useful smoke to cover their rifle sections as they retreated through the village. (Peter Pig 8th Army figures).

At the height of the action, as the SWoM close in and the Blackshorts attempt to avoid being cut off and surrounded. Armoured support for both sides has arrived at this point. (The buildings are paper terrain sourced through Wargames Vault from makers including Dave Graffam/Wargame Print and Microtactix).

Final phases

The Blackshorts had taken some casualties by this point, and were facing superior numbers, but were in a fairly solid defensive position and were generally able to dominate the firefight, despite the enemy armoured vehicles' machine guns and cannon. The BUF's Vickers 6-ton tank finally emerged and engaged the SWoM FT-17 in a tank duel (that was unexpectedly a bit too evenly matched for my liking, as it turned out, although I didn't introduce the complexity of the FT-17 one-man-turret rule as I hadn't included it in the Arsenal list and couldn't just spring that on my opponent!). The Vickers 6-ton managed to hit the FT-17 several times but was unable to cause significant damage, whereas good shooting from the FT-17 managed to penetrate the Vickers 6-ton several times, causing damage, shock and killing the vehicle's driver.

Continuing effective fire from the Blackshorts infantry inflicted enough casualties on the advancing Sheffield riflemen that their Force Morale dropped to zero and they had to retreat. The Blackshorts were able to hold Botany Bay Wood on the first day of the Socialists' attack, although the BUF Heavy Column received a bloody nose in the process.

The Blackshorts' final positions.

The BUF Vickers 6-ton 'Ceolwulf' duels with the SWoM FT-17, which is off-screen. (The tank is a QRF miniature, the infantry are Peter Pig).

What's next?

What's next? Day 2 of the VBCW campaign of course.

Well, first we have a game of A World Aflame set in a 1930s alt-history civil war Australia (the 'A Right Bloody Mess' setting, more info found here: https://www.karwansaraypublishers.com/en-au/blogs/wss-news/a-right-bloody-mess). This will be using other guys' miniatures, terrain and rulesets.

After that, Day 2 of the VBCW campaign. I can hopefully obtain some Soviet-made tanks to give the Sheffield Workers Militia suitable equipment for their armoured assault, other than the WW1 relics.

The Rail Bridges - Battle of France 1940 Chain of Command

You should complete the writeup soon after, preferably the day of, the game. Unfortunately weeks have passed and a lot has happened since we played this penultimate battle of our Chain of Command Montmedy campaign, so I've forgotten exactly what happened. However, I do remember it was a great game, a great challenge and a learning experience.

The Mission

In the immediate aftermath of A Company's retreat from Verneuil-Grand in the face of 90. Aufklarungs' rapid advance, 11 Platoon, B Company of the 12th Derwents was tasked with holding the railway overpass and the bridge over the River Chiers while engineers from 5 Platoon could arrange their demolition. The railway line enters Montmedy, and the Derwents have been ordered to defend the town. However, considering the speed of the German advance, the higher-ups expect the town to fall, so demolishing the rail line at these points is considered important to slow any German rail movements into Montmedy.

We played the 'Going Out With A Bang' scenario from the Blitzkrieg 1940 handbook, with slight modifications to fit the map positions of the 'culverts' to be blown.

The mission map (Google Maps plus edits in MS Paint).

11 Platoon, I decided, would be a bit more representative of a hastily-raised and -trained Territorial Army formation, which the 12th Derwents (kind of) are. Therefore 11 Platoon, under the leadership of Sergeant-Major Silvester Victor, are a green-level LOC Platoon, but hey, at least they have a (single) Bren gun. In support I brought two Engineer Demolition Teams (required to blow the rail bridges), a Vickers MMG and an extra couple of guys with an AT Rifle.

The Battle

The Germans had the first turn, so coming down the road were a section of a motorcycle recon platoon and a full platoon of armoured cars.

First turn. The bypassed Maginot casemate is on-table but was not part of the battle.

The first Brits on the table were an Engineer Demolition team at the river bridge, who got to work immediately under the direction of Sgt-Maj Victor (no photos unfortunately), and a section to the north of the road to warn the Germans off too rapid an advance.

British rifle sections, with 2 Section in foreground, deploy to hold the rail overpass. (Peter Pig miniatures).

3 Section, in kilts, took a real battering but held the bend in the road (until they were whittled down and broken near the end of the game).

The Vickers MMG deployed to the hill and initially laid down some effective fire on advancing German motorcycle infantry. However, the Germans rapidly concentrated on, and broke them with fire from the motorcycle infantry and armoured cars.

A German armoured car leads the advance.

The British concentrated fire on an understrength motorcycle recon section on the road and wiped it out before it had a chance to deploy, inflicting some damage to the Germans' Force Morale. 2 Section contributed the most to this success, as Corporal Jerrold 'Napoleon' Hunnicut (no idea why, but the random name generator gave him that nickname) effectively used 'Five Rounds Rapid' to boost the section's firepower.

An understrength motorcycle recon section is destroyed on the road, as the German commander drives onward.

Ready ... NOW!

Meanwhile, the priority was always demolishing the rail bridges/overpasses. The engineers had rigged the rail bridge over the Chiers to blow and pulled back to the other side, just as a dismounted German motorcycle recon section arrived. I needed a full Chain of Command die to push the plunger, which I luckily already had - it was all in place - time to blow the bridge (and hopefully take out some Germans with it...)

... click

Nothing happened. There was no explosion.

I rolled to detonate the charges on the bridge and rolled a malfunction, meaning the charges had to be rigged again. Since the Germans were already on the bridge in strength and had started to remove the explosives, and with no second Chain of Command die in sight, I realised I had no choice but to concentrate on trying to get the second objective - the overpass - rigged to blow.

With two Engineer teams on the job it did not take long to get the explosives (almost) ready. However, getting a second Chain of Command die was just not happening (the downside of taking a Green LOC Platoon with only four Command Dice).

The explosives are 95% complete on the second demolition objective, but where is the plunger!?

The Second Objective

Also, German firepower was starting to tell, and 11 Platoon's Force Morale began to plummet as 1 and 3 Section (newly arrived on the hill) were driven off, and 2 Section was hit hard, even CPL Napoleon (I mean, CPL Hunnicut), was wounded. I was down to just two Command Dice at this point and barely a 5 was seen. With no way to blow the rail overpass, 11 Platoon had to retreat, leaving a few men behind as POWs and quite a few more dead.

11 Platoon is beaten. Check out all the shock!

After taking about 65-75% casualties, 11 Platoon is pretty well lost, though a few characters might be brought back for the next battle. Several of the 5 Platoon engineers were killed or wounded too, and of course the objectives were not met.

The next battle, Battle 6 of the campaign, is coming up in the near future. It is expected to be a big one, as the Germans assault the town of Montmedy directly, and the 12th Derwents will throw whatever they can into the fight!

Mitsubishi A6M2 Zero flight - 6mm

A recently completed side project: a flight of three 6mm (1/285 scale) Mitsubishi A6M2 Zero fighters from Raiden/I94 miniatures which had been sitting, basecoated and magnetised, in my to-do box for literally years at this point. These were among the first planes I got intended for 'The Swede' introductory scenario in the Check Your 6! rulebook. One day they might fulfil this purpose if I find an opponent or get motivated to go solo. Until I get to play CY6! again, they'll be sitting in the display case: both the actual one and this online one.

The Raiden/I94 miniatures Zero seems to be the nicest and most accurate of the 6mm Zero miniatures out there (although I've never tried any GHQ aircraft). Raiden are a little larger than most of my other planes (Heroics & Ros and Scotia Grendel), though it's not usually obvious to me at tabletop distances.

These Zeroes were a very easy, quick and enjoyable item completed in between the more challenging 15 and 28mm projects. They represent a Chutai-Cho and two wingmen from the fighter Hikokitai (aircraft group) aboard the carrier Hiryu through 1941-42 (at Pearl Harbour, several island operationss, the bombing of Darwin and eventually Midway where the carrier was destroyed). The colour I used, Vallejo Silvergrey, is consistent with that shown in most colour plates I've seen of early Zeros in history books and modelling materials. Specifically, I used as references a painting in an old Take Off magazine and another depiction of the very same aircraft in Wheeler, B.C. The Hamlyn Guide to Military Aircraft Markings.

Colour realism and possible lack thereof

Historically, according to authoritative authorities, most (maybe all?) Japanese carrier planes at this stage of the war were actually a pale green-grey or blue-grey colour. However, there were probably variations, a lack of standardisation and the effects of fading which might account for the almost white appearance of Imperial Japanese Navy aircraft. Also I didn't want to mix paints for the perfect colour while wasting paint only to forget the 'recipe' in future if I paint more IJN carrier planes.

Hand-eye-co-ord failed me on the squadron and aircraft numbers: they're the red scrawling on the tail. The leader is supposed to be BII-144, if you can see it (you can't). A short-hair brush would probably have worked, but mine perished recently from overwork (a phenomenon called 'Karoshi' in Japanese).

For the first time ever I tried out a gloss varnish, which worked pretty well (make sure to keep the coats thin and prevent pooling in recesses). Historically the carrier planes were glossy.

Mitsubishi A6M2 Zero (Raiden/I94 miniatures, Vallejo paints, Dom's Decals).

The Maginot Fort, France 1940 (Chain of Command)

Battle 4 of our France 1940 campaign featured Maginot Casemate Saint Antoine holding the line against the German recon troops. Also featured was 9 Platoon, trying to survive as the rearguard covering the retreat from Verneuil-Grand.

Maginot Casemate Saint Antoine (at sunset I guess).

The German advance continuing west...

Battlefield and Deployment

90. Auflkarungsregiment has driven A Company from Verneuil-Grand and is now pursuing them into open country. Only it's not entirely open country ... there, covering a bend in the road, is Casemate Saint Antoine - a fortification making up the relatively lightly-defended northern part of the Maginot Line. Could the fort and it's platoon-sized garrison from the 155th RIF (Fortified Infantry Regiment) hold off the Germans and allow the British 9 Platoon to reorganise sufficiently to cover the retreat of their battalion?

The Germans were advancing from the damaged Verneuil-Grand (top of the board), 9 Platoon's JOPs are behind hedges on the roads and of course the Maginot casemate overwatches from the hill.

The Germans led the way with a full platoon of four armoured cars along the main road, and brought up their 60mm mortar to block the lines of sight from the Maginot casemate, while their lead section, (Faulk Baptiste's men as usual!), deployed to take up position in the tree-filled garden near the estate house (the building near the stream).

The smoke from the mortar had varying success, missing many shots due to their not being able to observe their fall of shot. However, any smoke around the fort was useful in blocking LOS from the fort's upper cloches (turrets) and ground-level firing ports. As the fort defenders had not yet got organised, they had little response at this stage.

The fort looks a it rough in a close-up, but anyway...

Meanwhile, 9 Platoon's leader, the Australian Sergeant Major (WOIII) Aiden Bannister, his Boys AT Rifle team and 2 Section under Corporal Zane Roderick deployed to the hedge near the main road - it was too late to pull back, and the road to Montmedy had to be defended, if possible. SGT Bannister put the group onto overwatch, with gritted teeth.

2 Section and 9 Platoon HQ keep their heads behind the hedge. (Peter Pig miniatures).

The Germans quickly gain the upper hand

The German armoured cars traded shots with the Maginot casemate with little effect on both sides and a Panzer IV made its way over along the high ground to the north (the German right flank) to join in. The German overall commander also showed up in his staff car to better direct the 60mm mortar's smoke bombardment.

"Adjust your fire left!"

The Germans block the LOS from the casemate.

9 Platoon's other two sections appeared to guard the JOP on the road to Fresnois. 1 Section under the reckless Corporal Stuart Harland, deployed to the strongly-built estate house and immediately opened fire with their Lewis gun and a few rifles at Faulk Baptiste's right flank. However, they achieved little with their shots. After receiving a round from the Panzer IV and the massed close-range return fire from Faulk Baptiste's section, 1 Section was almost completely wiped out. CPL Harlan and another survivor broke and ran but were then cut down by further German fire.

Faulk Baptiste's section then occupied the estate house and, together with some of the armoured cars and Panzer IV, began giving hell to 3 Section, pinned down in the gutter of the Fresnois road.

Faulk Baptiste occupies the estate house, now riddled with bullets and tank shells.

The pain for 9 Platoon did not end there. The Boys AT rifle, seeing the column of armoured cars heading its way, took it's shot, which missed (why do I always miss? I need a kill with the AT rifle dammit!) Fire from several of the armoured cars started laying into 2 Section and SGT Bannister ordered them all down [going 'Tactical' in Chain of Command]. Despite these precautions, the heavy firepower of 20mm cannon took out about half the men, one of the Boys AT crew and wounded CPL Roderick.

2 Section and 9 Platoon HQ under heavy fire.

As soon as he saw a moment, SGT Bannister and the other guys got up and got out of there - running along the side of the road to hide behind the casemate - and disappearing into the smoke conveniently dropped by the German mortar.

SGT Bannister leading his survivors to safety (he and some of the men are still in their sports gear (I had to sub in some of my Blackshorts figures). Peter Pig miniatures, with headswaps.

(Peter Pig WW1 British miniature).

The Germans close in

3 Section on the Fresnois Road attempted to fight back, and managed to inflict a casualty or two on Faulk Baptiste's men. However, the German NCO and his section moved forward and, in combination with the armoured cars, 60mm mortar and an additional motorcycle infantry section, saw off 3 Section, with most men shot and the remaining men legging it before the approaching close assault.

3 Section is seen off (apologies the photo didn't come out but you get the idea).

With the British infantry almost all gone, the more German motorcycle riflemen deployed to the estate garden, and the whole platoon, with supporting armoured cars and tank began closing in on the French Maginot casemate.

The armoured cars' 20mm cannon and the Panzer IV were able to destroy one of the armoured cloches mounting a Hotchkiss 25mm AT gun. Fire from the other 25mm AT gun hit one of the armoured cars but caused no serious harm. [The Germans, rolling so many Command Dice at this point, managed to retain several phases in a row and used this to great effect against the fort].

An Sdkfz 222 and Sdkfz 221 advance on the fort.

The fort's garrison, now fully prepared [and rolling all their Command Dice] got its machine guns and 37mm mle 1916 light guns into action against the German infantry closing in. By use of a Chain of Command die and a double-phase, they managed to inflict serious casualties on two of the three German infantry sections closing in on them. The remaining men of 9 Platoon (2 Section's Corporal and Lewis gunner and SGT Bannister) popped up and got some revenge on Faulk Baptiste's men also.

Fire from the fort pins down the German infantry while the 25mm AT gun cloche burns in the foreground.

Faulk Baptiste's section takes losses.

Another stroke of luck for the Allies was an amazing round of Overwatch shooting from one of the fort's Hotchkiss machine guns, which killed all but one of the crew of the German 7.5cm Infantry Gun at the moment they deployed, as you see below.

The 6s turn against the Germans: The Hit Effect roll on the 7.5cm Infantry Gun: 6s are bad in Hit Effect, very bad.

Crew pretty much wiped out while wheeling their gun up

However, at this point the Germans realised their objectives - the road exit points on the Allied table edge - were wide open, and with 9 Platoon gone and the fort unable to stop them, the Germans accepted victory.

The battlefield toward the end of the day.

Results

The Germans took substantial losses in advancing on the fort, but won the day and savaged the previously fresh 12th Derwents' 9 Platoon. The fort took some damage and lost about four men, but being outflanked, it is possible they will have to surrender soon.

9 Platoon lost 18 casualties including some taken PoW. Two were seriously wounded and were able to be evacuated to hospital (PTEs Hoekstra and Zeelen - they won't be back), two from 1 Section were seriously wounded and fell into German hands (PTEs Haines and Dykstra). Four men from the platoon were KIA (PTEs Horne, Batts, Douglas and Herman, all from 1 Section), and one from Company HQ attached to the platoon manning the AT Rifle (PTE Allison 'Monday' McIntyre). Almost everyone else in the platoon was wounded, including the section leaders.

A Company, 12th DLI still has two-thirds of it's strength left, but they are on the back foot. 8 Platoon is back to the strongest unit, with several men returning from the RAP and now reorganised.

The next battle will actually be fought not by A Company but by the battalion's engineers, and it won't involve a fort. Speaking of the fort, here are some work-in-progress pics. I carved it out of thick insulation styrofoam, glued it to a strong MDF base, added bisected polystyrene balls for the cloches and matchsticks for the grenade gullies, covered the cut edges and base with Selleys and painted it with house paint. It came out literally rough around the edges because I used a knife rather than a hot wire cutter.