Brits vs Germans, Somewhere in Italy, Late '43, Game 3

[Just Jack]

All,

The Brits carried out a hasty attack in Game1, and won the battle, but then lost ground to a German counterattack in Game2. In Game3 the Germans are trying to encircle the Brits. They have a large force, but it’s split into three groups in three separate areas, while the Brits have a smaller force, but it is concentrated in the center of the field. The Brits must evacuate their forces off one of the map edges (I don’t know which one yet, I’ll be rolling for it after set up).

The Brit force of CO, a 3″ mortar, M10 tank destroyer, and five rifle squads.

The German force, with 9 rifle squads, a Sdkfz 234 armored car, a PaK-38 (with a prime mover, as I don’t know which table edge the Brits will be evacuating off of and I wouldn’t want them to get caught immobile on the wrong side of the table), and an MG-42. I will say that the Krauts got kinda screwed with the support rolls; if they’d gotten something bigger than an armored car (to take on the M10), they could have taken another MG or a mortar. But sometimes life bees like that…

Starting positions: the Germans have 3 rifle squads and the PaK-38 in the northeast (top right) corner, 3 rifle squads and the MG42 in the southeast (bottom right) corner, and the Sdkfz 234 and 3 rifle squads in the southwest (bottom left) corner.

I roll the dice, and, as luck would have it, the Brits must evacuate off the table via the road the German armored car is sitting on.

The M10 makes quick work of the Sdkfz 234 armored car.

And the Germans throw infantry at the armored beast, trying to get lucky and overrun it in close combat, or at least buy time for their AT gun to be moved up.

On a side note, I didn’t do up a campaign roster for this series of fights, but I did make up a quick sheet of names, and when units get eliminated during the game I change the name and drop him a rank for the next game, kind of showing attrition. So, for the Brit 3rd Squad, in the first game they were led by Sgt Carter, and eliminated. In the second game they were led by Cpl Cooper, and eliminated. In the third game (this one) they were led by LCpl Crews, and they survived. The ranks, from top to bottom, are Sergeant, Corporal, Lance Corporal, and Private, so by the last game I suspect some squads will be led by Privates. Notice that the original Brit CO, Captain Penny, was cornered and surrendered in game 2, so the Brits are now led by Lieutenant (Leftenant?) Page.

To see how it turned out, please check the blog at:
http://blackhawkhet.blogspot.com/2014/12/brits-vs-germans-somewhere-in-italy_2.html

V/R,
Jack

[kyoteblue]

5 Men In Normandy 5MIN  Nordic Weasel Games . And another great AAR Just Jack.

[Just Jack]

Tim,

I apologize for getting so many games in, but I must confess I don’t plan on stopping.  Not that I can keep up this pace, mind you, I’m pretty sure the wife is ready to kill me.  In any cause, your complaint was kind of the point 😉  I took Ivan’s “Five Men in Normandy” rules and basically swapped out individual figures for stands, and I’ve been playing decent-sized battles very quickly (probably averaged about an hour per game over 5 games).

While I certainly can enjoy a large game, using lots of units on my full 8′ x 6′ table and taking five or six hours, it’s much more practical to play with a few units on a 3′ x 3′ in an hour.  As a matter of fact, I’ve really found that my sweetspot in wargaming is narrative campaigns, following a group of guys/units through a series of fights, and to do that I absolutely need to keep the games moving.  So, stay tuned, I’ve got big things planned!

I’m perfectly happy with the way these rules are working for teams, and so I’m looking to get back to my Legionaires, and finish up their mission to eliminate the Sirellists in Estonia, before sending them to some other hotspot/hellhole.  I’ve also got a batch of 90’s USMC finished up that I want to get rolling with as well.  Then I have the massive 6mm project I’m still working on, and this messing around with 5MIN has got me thinking about two things:

1) following a US or Brit squad through WWII, and

2) following a German Kampgruppe all the way through WWII, from Poland to France to North Africa to Stalingrad to Kharkov to Kursk to Italy to Korsun to Normandy to Holland to the Ardennes to Hungary to Silesia.  How about that stuff!?  I have everything I need to do that (minus the Poles, but I’ll just use Soviets as proxies), I just need to finish painting some stuff up.  Who’s interested in seeing this, using the rules demo’ed here in these “Somewhere in Italy” reports?  I’m pretty excited about it, though I’m worried as I’m such a wargaming butterfly…

Thanks Kyote!

V/R,
Jack

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