I love the Spearhead rules set. And I love 20mm wargaming kit. So, when the chance comes around to combine the two, who am I to say no, even though SH is much better suited to smaller scale kit?
Andy has been thinking about how to use a small but growing WW2 Italian force that he originally started painting for Crossfire. Well, yep we could play Crossfire, which we both love. However Spearhead seems like a great alternative too.
When we play SH in 20mm, we use a 1.5x scale multiplier to movement and ranges to try to keep the vehicles a little more in scale.
And so here we were last night, with my two 20mm 1940 armies set for an encounter. I looked at Scenario Generation System points, but also wanted to keep the forces smaller, as the objective was to acquaint Andy with the WW2 Spearhead variant, to see if I could whet his appetite. So while two forces without artillery of any kind is much like the colosseum without the lions, it would suffice to get Andy used to manoeuvring on the table with three manoeuvre units. I did have a pleasant wee surprise for him, of which more later.
The British force was drawn from an infantry division (two battalions), with elements of an Independent Armoured Brigade in support. The German force was drawn from a German Panzer Division, two infantry battalions and a tank battalion.
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| The initial table set up, British deploying from the left in defence, and Germans attacking from the right. |
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| The British deployed on the high ground and the woods trying to establish a defensive line, the Germans deploying into the attack. |
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| A13 Cruisers deployed in support |
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| German forces on the German left take the first town in their path. The British commander had chosen not to occupy the town. |
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| A tank heavy battalion the result of cross attachment attacks on the German right |
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| The British left waits |
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| Elements of the British Division's cavalry squadron deployed on the far left of the British position - two MkVI troops and a carrier platoon. |
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| The German right pushes forward |
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| Action begins with fire exchanged on the British right |
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| First German casualties |
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| And the forward recce elements of the German right take fire and are destroyed |
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| The British right flank battalion, with armoured support, deployed on the high ground, its own flank secured in the town. |
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| The German right pushes forward against the British left |
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| Initial armoured action is heavy, with both sides taking casualties |
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| The last armoured support on the German left is destroyed |
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| However the Independent Tank Brigade support on the British left is destroyed in a fierce exchange |
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| Add caption |
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| The German right pushes it's infantry forward |
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| The German plan is now revealed when a flank march arrives on the German left, giving overwhelming odds to the main German attack |
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| The German right is still trying to push forward but casualties are mounting |
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| The battle on the British right intensifies as the German forces push to take the town securing the British flank |
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| The German right flank battalion fails morale and retires. Three platoons of the British left flank infantry battalion can be seen (lower centre) pushing across to support their right wing battalion |
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| The retiring German right flank in the back left of the photo |
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| The British divcav start to push forward |
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| The fight around the British right flank intensifies |
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| The German central battalion receives a change of order, and now advances in support of its far left flank in attacking the British right flank |
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| The German right flank armoured battalion, having retired to defensive positions, responds to a new order and returns to apply more pressure to the British defence |
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| This is getting very intense |
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| A heavy firefight develops between the British right flank battalion and the German centre |
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| The surprise Andy received - air sorties from a flight of Stuka dive bombers. Sorry it is a late model Ju87 .. it's all I have in 20mm. My aim was to show Andy the effect of airpower, IF it arrives. |
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| The Ju87 attacks British forces on the defending ridge ... |
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| ... and eliminates the last remaining A13 tank troop, and another platoon of infantry |
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| The German flanking troops close assault the town sector, but ... |
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| The British battalion fails morale and starts to withdraw |
The position is lost for the British and a general withdrawal is the only option.
As an introductory game, this was a cracking exercise. The absence of artillery was noticeable for me as a more experienced player. In our next game we'll make sure that artillery, for both support and counter battery, is present. Even without the supporting artillery, the game was another great example of the need to plan, to allocate assets, and then to tactically manoeuvre forces on the table top. That said, one of the things I love about SH is the 'layering' of weapons systems. That will be even more apparent for Andy in our next game.
I failed to use the capacity of the British armour to count as supporting stands (the main reason for taking the Independent Tank Brigade). However the initial armoured action developed well in advance of the infantry action.
For all that though, it was great to see the 20mm forces out and in action on the table top.
