July 2024 Report

Summer is here at last and as a homage to the weather we kicked off with another rules adventure in the El Cid project, this time using ‘On Bloody Ground’

Frankly this wasn’t a good experience. Full marks to the writers for bringing out something ‘period specific’ but the rules were not enjoyable and after 3 turns we gave up in frustration. Back to the drawing board ☹

Next up was our tried and tested Cold War Commander rules, a set we do understand (nearly) and enjoy. This time an encounter battle amid the arid landscape of the Iran Iraq border.

This was a fast and furious brutal game with the Iraqi T62’s & T72’s taking a battering from the small number of Iranian Chieftains. The question of how to stop the Chieftains still eludes us.

Even the air support couldn’t save the the Iraqi’s but they do look good on the table 😁

With too many tanks burning bright the Iraqi’s failed their Breakpoint test and retired from the field. An excellent day’s gaming.

Our next foray was our tried and trusted eastern renaissance collection from which we pitched Swedes against Poles.

The Swedes deployed with a strong infantry centre of the Scots brigade plus support and cavalry on the wings, the Poles deployed with the hussars to the front and just went “yeahah!”

We had some fine cavalry actions where the Swedes did fairly well against the Pancerni and the Finns beat up the opposing German horse quite nicely while the entrenched guns and massed musket fire took some hussars out of their saddles.

We even had the hussars mixing it with the Scots who gave ground but didn’t give up!

The mad hussars even attacked the entrenched guns – the gobsmacked gunners couldn’t believe it and promptly fled 😅

Ultimately the Swedes held on and a very battered Polish army withdrew. Great game, but I did have a headache by the end from umpiring and playing.

The next effort was an away day game of gangster skirmish using a 30 year old set of rules a former gaming colleague wrote. One gang launches a sneak attack on the out of town home of another gang boss.

We rolled some dice and we had some fun.

Next up was a refight of Sedgemoor 1685 which one of the guys has been extensively researching and felt confident enough to game. I love a refight and wished we did more but this is one of those battles where there is only one outcome and that is the historical one 😀

So yes Monmouth’s cavalry did miss the bridge and rode all the way up the river taking fire as they went and yes the royal infantry made a mess of the rebels once they had stood to and lined the river bank. But it was a really enjoyable game and the rules (another club’s home grown set) played well.

Next we took to the Pacific in another game of Victory at Sea.

This time players got to choose their fleets from a preconstructed list up to a certain points value and we diced for a scenario from the rules book. The Japanese opted for a smaller fleet centred around the mighty Yamato, the Americans a more numerous fleet which they split into two task forces. Both sides opted for an off table aircraft carrier.

The fire from the mighty Yamato and the superior Japanese torpedoes tilted the game strongly in favour of them and at one point the US player despaired of achieving any kind of victory but, just like the real war, it was the aircraft that decided the day. Wave after wave of US dive bombers and torpedo bombers attacked the Yamato and eventually crippled it forcing it to limp away.

When the specified turn total was up for the scenario the Americans found they had achieved a major victory, but it went right to the final turn. Great game.

Next we were in the sweat and heat of the Indian sub continent as we gave the Sikh Wars collection an airing. A simple scenario based on one of the actual battles, British attacking an entrenched Sikh force – this was going to be bloody.

The initial British advance was screened by jungle so they emerged disordered but not very far from the Sikh position – could they endure the shot and shell?

Tribal irregulars stiffened by French trained regulars.

The British closed on the entrenchments in two lines taking serious losses as they came, but still they came!

The British forced the entrenchments and carried the day but the losses amongst their first line were horrendous. Hard fought by all.

Our final game was another Iran Iraq encounter, this time the assault scenario from the rules with the Iranians defending a dominant hill and the Iraqi’s choosing their forces from a points list (by battalion) up to 50% more than the defenders.

The Iraqi’s had an early success when their flank march arrived at the first roll catching the Iranians on the hop. At the incredibly short range they ended up at the usual disadvantage of being outranged was nullified and the Iraqi’s blasted away!

In a couple of turns the Iranian M60 battalion was utterly destroyed – we all agreed we had never seen anything quite like it! Not only was it great fun for this particular Iraqi player but it also unhinged one flank of the Iranian position which would have consequences later.

In the centre the Iranian player had a battalion of Pasdaran hidden behind the hill but when the Iraqi scheduled artillery started dropping around them the only answer was to swarm forward and try and get close enough to use RPG’s on the opposition tanks and then assault – sadly (and historically) this went very badly wrong and the battalion was destroyed.

Iraqi T72’s advance on the hill.

The Iranian M48’s on the left flank did have a little success in holding off the Iraqi mechanised infantry and even managed to filter some of their own infantry onto the important hill.

But frankly they became like fish in a barrel and died bravely.

Despite their battering the Iranians were still clinging to the hill up until the last turn of the scenario but as that turn commenced they had no one on the hill and had to take a Breakpoint test which they failed, giving a minor victory to the Iraqi’s. Another great game which went right up to the wire.

A good months gaming which we can all feel good about. Not much done on the painting front due to tennis elbow, ouch! and I don’t even play tennis!! 😂🤣