Cold War gone hot - Europe 1947

Attlee and Truman were agreed. Stalinist moves to bring the remainder of free Europe under the banner of communism would be resisted. Berlin had been a warning. Millions had not died battling one tyrant only to fall beneath the feet of another. Orders were given, and the forces of the free world were ordered forward into southern Germany.

This was out first 'cold war gone hot' game, set in Europe in the late 1940s, on the supposition that politicians had not been able to hold back the warmongers. So Nick and I set out our forces for a new sort of battle using the WW2 Spearhead rules with a little of the equipment that might have been seen on such a battlefield. The game was fought with our 20mm armies, using the WW2 Spearhead rules.

The Russians were T34/85 heavy, with a JS2 brought out of retirement to support the breakthrough. Flights of new jets (MiG 15s) were on standby.

For the British, a troop of the newer Centurion IIs was added to a regiment still fielding mostly M4 Shermans and Fireflies. A flight of Vampire jets was on call.

The Russians pushed in the centre, with an infantry battalion with armour cross attached, and a JS2 platoon in support. Their right saw an infantry battalion push forward. The plan was for an armour heavy battalion to flank march and hit the advancing British in the flank.

The battlefield from the Russian left/British right. 

The British plan saw a strong attack on the right with an infantry battalion supported by the armoured regiment. Their centre and left were held by infantry battalions. An infantry battalion advanced on the British extreme right covering the flank of the armour.

The British armour

The British right flank battalion.

Russian centre T34s supported by a JS2

The British centre/left - a battalion deployed in advance of the rest of the British force

The Russian right flank battalion came under early mortar fire, the firers remained unlocated

The Russian Forward Air Controller located the British armour early and called in an airstrike. The road of MiG jets was unmistakeable and a troop M4s lay smoking.

The T34s caught the M4s moving, and brought them under fire - a second troop was also eliminated

The MiGs had had a devastating effect supporting the outnumbered Russian armour.

The Russian right continued to suffer form the harassing  mortar fire

The armoured engagement continued, the British having the advantage of a hull down position. The Centurion troop is at the rear of the position in this view.

The fire of the Fireflies and Centurions takes effect, and two platoons of T34/85s are eliminated.

A troop of M4s falls victim to the devastating fire of the T34s in this first stage of the armoured engagement

The Firefly troop, and the Centurion troop, with their flanking infantry support

The British Forward Air Controller now calls for air support, and the whoosh of a flight of Vampires is heard above the din of the battlefield. The Russian AA support manages to distract the pilots sufficiently to prevent damage to the remaining JS2 platoon.

The British commander now pushes his right flank battalion forward to claim the right flank objective, but simultaneously the Russian commander commits his reserve battalion to the same objective. A hot engagement begins, and casualties mount.

The JS2 platoon continues to come under fire, and is suppressed

as is another M4 platoon

The action on the Russian left/British right is hotting up....

Oddly the centre British battalion is issued orders that take it directly in front of the British armour, blocking their fire.

Their own fire blocked, the Firefly and Centurion troops are impotent as fire from the JS2 platoon destroys another M4 troop

Casualties mount on the Russian left

And the harassing fire on the Russian right has inflicted some casualties

The British heavy armour comes forward from its hull down positions

Simultaneously the Russian left flank march arrives with an armour heavy battalion.

 The British armoured regiment closes the action 

The view from the Russian centre

The remaining British Firefly troop is destroyed, and the British armour is forced to test morale. It fails and must retire for two turns.

The flanking Russian armour, with infantry support

Another view of the flank attack

At the time we had to call it a day, the British commanded 2 VPs to the Russian 1. However the British position was now untenable, with their armour withdrawing and fresh Russian forces attacking from their flank.

The arrival of the flank march was pure luck. I had forgotten how hard it is to get Russians to arrive, managing the required '6' on the very last turn of the game.

This was the first SH game Nick and I had played for over  a year. To simplify things we removed artillery from the game, focussing on the other mechanisms. We were also after a little bit of  a visual spectacle with some of our cold war equipment. The absence of artillery was of course totally unrealistic, and will be reintroduced now that Nick has the other mechanisms firmly under his belt again.

We had to make some approximations to bring the Centurion back to 1947, as it doesn't appear in the WW2 data cards. We may not have made it powerful enough.

All that said, this was an awesome first game in so long, and a first game in this new sub period. With the addition of a few new pieces of kit it's a great way to generate some more games with all that late war equipment that sits in our cupboards.

There will be more.

August 1914 - Russian advance makes early gains

Time to test another of the scenarios from the upcoming GWSH Scenario Book which focusses on East Prussia and the battles of Gumbinnen and Tannenberg. I chose the scenario that represents the fighting around Potschlauken on 17 August 1914.

Two regiments of the German 1st Infantry Division are defending against the Russian 29th Infantry Division.

Keith took command of the German 1st Division, and deployed fairly centrally to defend the villages of Potschlauken and Doponen, refusing his left flank.

I commanded the Russian 29th Infantry Division. Assessing the ground, I  felt that Keith would expect me to attack across the heights on my left/his right, and so opted to attack on my right where the ground was more open, hoping to challenge the deployment I expected him to make. You can be forgiven for thinking this:

As it turned out this was Keith's refused flank, and things didn't end as badly as perhaps you might have expected.

Historically the Russian brigades arrived on the battlefield at different times, and so it was with this game. My plan was to advance directly on Potschlauken with the first regiment. Second Regiment was to advance on the left, threatening the German right, but actually sitting in reserve. The third and fourth regiments were to advance on a heavily weighted right flank, pushing past Potschlauken to take Duponen.

Keith deployed his two regiments with a refused flank on his left facing the open ground. High right flank was reinforced with two squadrons of divisional cavalry. Each regiment was supported with a regiment of 77mm field guns deployed brigaded on table.

The battlefield with the Germans deployed on the right and the first Russian regiment advancing. from the left of the photograph

1st Russian Brigade advances past Potschlauken

The German right, with the flank held back here too, in anticipation of a flank march

By turn three all of the Russian brigades had started their advances. The weighted Russian right flank attack nearest the camera is immediately apparent

First contact is made in the centre. German artillery falls on the Russian 1st Brigade, and the infantry fire fight has begun

The Russian advance in the open on the right has taken considerable casualties from the opening rounds of the fire fight. The troops go to ground and begin to return fire.

The German field artillery is causing suppressions and casualties amongst the Russian infantry. The larger flame markers indicate artillery fire

The intense fire fight continues. Keith makes excellent use of the field artillery in support of his infantry in the firefight

The weight of the Russian right wing attack is very apparent from this image. The German defenders are losing numbers.

At a critical juncture in the fight, the 1st Russian Brigade in the centre takes sufficient casualties to force a morale check, and fails so it must retire for two turns and go into Defend orders. This leaves a large gap in the Russian centre, but simultaneously the Russian left flank reserve brigade has been ordered forward to apply continuing pressure on the German defenders.

The Russian centre retires

The Russian reserve brigade moves forward

The Russian right pushes forward to get in to contact with the defence. Russian guns have now come into play, firing directly at the German infantry

Action is joined between the German right/centre, and the advancing  Russian reserve brigade

Hot work for the Russian left flank, but critically they have occupied an important piece of terrain that provides cover

Russian guns firing over open sights at the German firing line

The centre of the German defence, with two companies occupying a small wood.

The Russian right flank sees the fire fight reach crescendo proportions, and the weight of Russian numbers is telling.

Similarly on the Russian left the fire fight has become very intense

The German defenders have taken such heavy casualties that they are forced to fall back (the regiment failed its morale check) leaving the way open for the Russian right flank to take Doponen.

The Russian left flank (2nd Brigade) is still engaged in an intense fire fight, but the German position has become untenable as their own left has collapsed

Wow! This is indicative of the sorts of smaller but really interesting and intense actions that we can expect from the next scenario book.

At first glance the scenario appears to be heavily weighted against the German defenders. However the German troops are all regular, while the Russians are green. While the Green morale breakpoint is lower and so the troops are more brittle, the lower likelihood of lifting suppressions is also very significant. The Russians struggle to match the Germans as the firefight develops.

In addition Keith did a fantastic job of maximising the impact of his artillery, focussing it's fire on the Russians, and coordinating it well with the rifle company fire in the following phases of each turn. At the end of the game, one Russian brigade had failed a morale check, but another two brigades were within one casualty of having to check morale, with every likelihood that at least one of them would fail.

So, overall this is a great wee scenario which is far more balanced than it might appear at first reading.