Hostile Realms Gondor Army

Here are some pictures of the Gondorian (or Gonforian army) I'm painting for Hostile Realms, Piquet's fantasy rules.  One unit of Gondorian archers and a unit of Gondorian infantry.  The miniatures are from Games Workshop's LOTR range.

Kursk: Drive on Prokhorovka Playtest 2 Optional Ending

Okay, if you're the German player and you've reached 0 morale points (out of 50) without capturing Prokhorovka , the gentleman with the eye patch in the photo is not happy with you.  That is Paul Hausser, the commander of II SS Panzer Corps.

In the original version of this scenario, the German player starts making Morale checks on the Morale card once the Germans reach 0 morale points.  Once the Germans fail a morale check, the game ends and the Soviets win.  Somehow, this left me a little underwhelmed.  It seemed like a real disappointment for the German players to battle through the entire operational campaign and then have the game end on a single die roll.

So, here is an alternate ending process that gives the German players a chance to still attempt to win the game while higher headquarters slowly pulls away resources and diverts them to the efforts to assist Army Detachment Kempf and Das Reich southeast of the battlefield.

First, the German players always have the opportunity to just end the game if the division fails its Morale check.  If they decide to continue because victory is just within their grasp, the following game end rules take effect:

• They immediately lose all 3 Air Support cards from the German deck.
• The two battalions from Das Reich Division are immediately removed from the table.
• On each of the subsequent Morale cards, the German player must select and remove from the table one of the following major formations in any order he chooses:  1st SS Recon Bn, 1st SS AT Bn, 1st SS PG Regiment, 2nd SS PG Regiment, and 1st SS Panzer Regiment.

I'll finish up the playtest with this optional ending and let you know how it goes!!

Kursk: Drive on Prokhorovka Playtest 2.3

This will be an ongoing record of my second play test of my Kursk: Drive on Prokhorovka  scenario using the Field of Battle: WW2 (FOBWW2) rules from Piquet.  The units are companies, the commands are battalions and brigades, and 3 turns (AM, PM, and Night) make up a complete day of fighting.

In FOBWW2, each side activates based on the cards in its deck.  To start a turn, each player rolls an initiative die (Germans D12, Soviets D10).  The difference is the number of face down cards each player draws from their deck for the upcoming phase.  The winner of the die roll decides who goes first.  The active player then flips his first card and acts on it.

This battle report is for Turns 7, 8 and 9: the PM turn of July 12, 1943, Night turn of July 12, 1943, and the AM turn of July 13, 1943.  If you want to get more information on this battle and the scenario, search this blog for other articles with the same tags.

Ignore the unit deployments.
  The purpose of this map is to just show the terrain.

PM Turn July 12, 1943

This turn ended immediately when I rolled a "10" for each side's initiative on the first die roll.  Tied initiative rolls immediately end a turn.  Presumably, poor weather or the general exhaustion of the troops in this sector meant that very little significant action occurred in the afternoon.

Night Turn July 12, 1943

A few Soviet cards allowed them to move formations around and rally a few units, but then the Germans ended the Night turn with a Morale card and we moved into the morning as the sun began to dawn over the battlefield.

AM Turn July 13, 1943

AM 13 July.  A view of the battlefield south of the railroad embankment.

AM 13 July.  A view of the central portion of the battlefield near the embankment.

German defenders hold on to Iamki in spite of the suppressions.

The Soviets pulled a Move card and I finally was able to bring in the 32nd Tank Brigade on the long south side of the table.  The Germans had prepared a nasty welcoming committee for the tanks on their side of the AT ditch, so I decided to have the reinforcements enter the battle on the Soviet side of the ditch. 

32nd Tank Brigade exploded onto the battlefield from the southern flank
and engaged the Germans in a hail of fire and flame.  German engineers are
working on filling in the AT ditch.

Wide view of the southern part of the battle after the Soviet
reinforcements charged into battle.  There was so much fighting that
I ran out of Soviet casualty markers and had to use red beads instead!

 Throughout the morning, the battle raged as the Soviets increased their pressure on the German defenders.  Both sides were suffering heavy casualties, but the Soviet leadership continued to force the issue and push its battered tank units into combat.

Midway through the AM 13 July turn, an 11 point initiative difference
promises a lot of action in the phase!

Soviet infantry from the 32nd Tank Brigade attempt to recapture Iamki.

Soviet airpower attacks a Marder AT company.
  The two strength points lost in this attack reduced the Germans
to zero morale points.

The Germans finally reached zero Army Morale Points. Basically, this means the operation has reached the point where heavy losses and resistance have forced the 1st SS PG Division and its higher HQ, 2nd SS Panzer Corps, to consider calling off the attack.  Each time the Morale card appears from the German deck, the Germans must now pass a Morale check (D12 vs. D8 (first time), D10 (second time) or a D12 (all other times)).  If the Germans ever fail a morale check, the attack is cancelled and the Soviets win.

Viewed from north of the embankment, the Soviet 18th Tank Corps
presses the attack versus the battered 2nd PG Regiment.
  South of them (above), the 1st SS Panzer Regiment attempts
to break through along the embankment.

The Soviets had great success on the northern side of the embankment.  Despite heavy casualties, the 18th Tank Corps managed to destroy the German armor and reduce the opposing 2nd PG regiment to a few infantry companies defending the Psel River villages.  Desperate to prevent a Soviet breakthrough that would endanger the German successes in the center,  the Germans rushed panzer grenadiers from the Das Reich Division behind their lines to plug the gap.

The Soviet 5th Guards Tank Army commander surveyed the battlefield with satisfaction.  He had stymied the Germans in the south half of the battlefield and his troops were poised for a breakthough on the north side.   Suddenly, he pulled a Morale card from his deck.  One tank brigade routed, but the others stayed firm.  His next card was another Morale card!  A motorized rifle brigade and an airborne infantry brigade failed their Morale checks and fled the table, but the fearless Soviet armor formations fought on with grim resolve.  Ready to exploit the promising position in the north, the Soviet commander pulled his next card and stared as he was faced with a 3rd Morale card!

The Soviet brigades finally folded under the relentless pace and losses of the battle.  Four Soviet tank brigades, including the entire 18th Tank Corps, broke and the survivors came streaming back, desperate to escape the death and destruction of the battlefield.

Only two formations remained as Soviet reinforcements.  The 53rd Motorized Rifle Brigade was ordered to advance through Prokhorovka and defend the western approaches to the city against the advancing German panzers.  That left one rifle regiment in the Soviet reserve pool and they were earmarked for a desperate attempt to hold on to the city itself.

Battle view after devastating casualties caused the attacking Soviet
armor to withdraw.  The AT ditch has been filled in by engineers
and failed Morale checks have badly thinned the Soviet ranks.

Three Morale cards in a row!  By the 3rd set of Morale tests, all
of the 18th Tank Corps's brigades and all but one of the
29th Tank Corps' brigades collapsed and fled from the battlefield.
  The Soviet counterattack had failed.

53rd Motorized Rifle Brigade moves west through Prokhorovka
to try and stop the Germans short of the city.

The last reserves remaining to the Soviets.  One lone Guards Rifle regiment.

After the collapse of the Soviet counterattack, a single
Guards Airborne regiment defends the north side of Prokhorovka.
View from behind their positions.

The Germans began to press the attack as both sides struggled like punch-drunk boxers.  The Germans pulled a Morale card and passed their first Morale check to keep the game going.  The German tanks attempted to advance along the embankment road, but were thrown back by heavy fire from a Soviet SU-152 company.  The Germans geared up for an all-out effort to seize Prokhorovka from the north and the center.  The fanatical Germans fought without concern for their losses and threw themselves at the weary Soviet defenders.  (Once the Germans reach 0 morale points, it is time for them to make a desperate assault.  Their overall casualties are no longer important to them.)   

Before they could make much progress, the Germans pulled a second Morale card (D12 vs. D10) and rolled a "1" to end the game.  1st SS PG Division headquarters received a message from its corps commander, SS-Gruppenführer Paul Hausser, that instructed the division to halt immediately and consolidate in their current positions.  The axis of advance would be changed and the division's movement would be re-oriented to the South in an attempt to surround and pocket the Rifle Corps defending against the Das Reich Division.

Soviet Victory!!  Prokhorovka is saved.

Failed Morale check that ended the game.  German commanders talk it over.

It was a great battle and it was close at the end.  If the Germans could have had better luck on their morale results, it might have been a much closer affair.  

Tactical Notes

I should point out here a minor tactical mistake I think I made here with how I managed the Soviet tank brigades.

The typical Soviet tank corps has 3 tank brigades and 1 motorized infantry brigade.  If an infantry attack is required to seize a town or some other strong infantry-held position, the infantry brigade has the muscle and numbers to capture and seize rough terrain.

A 1943 Kursk Soviet tank brigade has 2 tank battalions and a motorized infantry battalion.  In this game, a Soviet tank brigade consists of two commands.  One is an armored command of approx 3-5 tank companies.  The other is an infantry command of 3 infantry companies which represents the motor rifle battalion.
 
In the Soviet tank brigade, the main striking power is the armor.  The infantry is intended to occupy captured objectives, support the armor in close assaults vs. infantry, clear lightly defended rough terrain, and sometimes screen and protect the flank of the armor.  The infantry is NOT intended to conduct attacks on its own without its armored support. 

Unfortunately, there were times when I was desperate to bring up infantry to attack German-held objectives that were virtually impregnable to armor.  I sometimes used the infantry from the tank brigades to do this and they took casualties during these attacks.  On one occasion, the motor infantry battalion of the 181st TB took such heavy losses that it drove its parent tank brigade into shattered status (0 morale points).  Then the 181st TB failed its morale check and routed off the table without its tank companies ever having fired a shot in anger!

A complete waste, but the lesson I've learned is to bring the brigade into the line of fire as a brigade and make sure that if any casualties are being suffered, the T-34 companies are dishing out damage at the same time.

On the German side,  it is important to keep the Marder AT units in cover or at long range.  Too often in the game, the Marder units were pushed forward to provide AT support and they ended up taking heavy damage from attacking Soviet armor.  As lightly armored, open top vehicles, the Marder companies are far more vulnerable than the other companies in the German OOB.  German players should be careful to keep the AT resources at long range and in the rear and avoid the temptation to use their "independent" command ability to push them forward with attacks.  The Marders are at their absolute best when used during phases where the German has 6+ cards and might be able to pull them back out of LOS after they fire.

Kursk: Drive on Prokhorovka Playtest 2.2

 This will be an ongoing record of my second play test of my Kursk: Drive on Prokhorovka  scenario using the Field of Battle: WW2 (FOBWW2) rules from Piquet.  The units are companies, the commands are battalions and brigades, and 3 turns (AM, PM, and Night) make up a complete day of fighting.

In FOBWW2, each side activates based on the cards in its deck.  To start a turn, each player rolls an initiative die (Germans D12, Soviets D10).  The difference is the number of face down cards each player draws from their deck for the upcoming phase.  The winner of the die roll decides who goes first.  The active player then flips his first card and acts on it.

Cards in this scenario are Move, Move 1 Command, Airpower, Command and Control, Indirect Fire, Close Assault, Morale, Firepower, Lull (other side gets a card), and Superior Firepower (German only).  The decks are set according to the quality of the armies.  The Germans have a good deck.  The Soviets have a poor deck.  The German deck allows them to move a bit more often, gives them better rallying and recovery, and allows them to seize the initiative more often from the Soviets.

For example, Move cards allow every command to move.  Each command rolls its command die vs an opposed D6.  For every multiple of 3 the command stands wins by, their subordinate units get an extra movement segment (max 3).  A "1" result means no movement. 

The rules are really great.  There is so much built into the game.

A great example of this is the EVEN die roll effect.  Whenever you roll a natural EVEN die roll, something positive happens.  If you roll EVEN during movement, you can ignore some terrain penalties, make a hasty close assault, or even call up the engineers and lay or clear minefields/cross obstacles/entrench.  If you roll EVEN during direct fire, you suppress the enemy and force them to fall back.  If you roll EVEN during Close Assault, you can bring reinforcing units into the close combat.

This battle report is for Turns 5 and 6, the Night turn of July 11, 1943 and the AM turn of July 12, 1943.  If you want to get more information on this battle and the scenario, search this blog for other articles with the same tags.
 
After we ended the playtest of my Kursk: Drive for Prokhorovka game a week ago, I decided to finish the playtest by myself.  The guys left at the end of the July 11 PM turn.  The July 11 Night turn saw the arrival of 5 Soviet tank brigades, a Guards Rifle regiment, and some assault gun units.  The Germans had to make do with the units they had on the table. The Soviets held a tank brigade, a separate tank regiment, and two motorized rifle brigades in reserve.  The Guards Rifle regiment garrisoned Prokhorovka.

11 July Night

The July 11 Night turn ended after only one card was flipped by each side.  On the second phase, a tied initiative die roll led to an early turn finish.  It's so hard to accomplish anything during the night turns.  A player is fortunate to achieve much and you definitely count yourself lucky if you get a few good cards.  The Germans were hoping to dig in with their infantry during the night, but the exhausted infantry just laid down and slept.

12 July AM

The July 12 AM turn began with a Soviet artillery prep bombardment of the Germans south of the railroad embankment.  Six D12 artillery templates with no drift!  Front level artillery support, but the Soviet artillery dice were terrible and only a few German infantry companies were damaged.

This is the beginning of the Soviet counterattack by 5th Guards Tank Army that made this battle famous.

At the start of the turn, the Soviets won initiative and flipped a Move card.  Despite some dismal movement rolls, the Soviet counterattack got underway.  As typically happens with poor commands in FOBWW2, it was difficult for the different commands to  stay together and coordinate their attacks.  The Soviet brigades began to separate as they advanced.  And they advanced into a hail of fire.

The Soviets thought the Germans were tough before, but the heavy German AT firepower was even more devastating when the SS were on the defensive.  South of the railroad embankment, the Tiger company and assault guns hammered away at the advancing Soviet T-34 companies.

The German panzergrenadiers had pushed across the minefields the day before and seized the town of Iamki on the Soviet side of the tank defenses.  This German strongpoint was destined to become a serious pain in the ass for the attacking Soviets.  The veteran German infantry were  dug into the town and the Soviet armor companies had to expose their flanks to the German infantry as they attempted to close the range with the German tanks across the tank barriers.

Once the Soviet movement was done, the Germans flipped the Firepower card (reloads all Germans), the Superior Firepower card (reloads all dismounted panzer grenadiers), and 2 Airpower cards!  After the valley exploded in flame and dust and the Stukas finished their dive runs, the lead Soviet 25th Tank Brigade had lost 8 strength points, was shattered and teetering on a Morale failure.

(ABOVE)  The town of Iamki and its German infantry defenders are in the top center.  A thorn in the side of the Soviets.  The anti-tank ditch and minefields bisect the picture.

(ABOVE) A close-up of the damaged tank companies of the 25th Tank Brigade.

(ABOVE)  South of the railroad embankment mid-way through the AM turn.  The fighting was vicious, but the Soviet tanks were having trouble getting close enough to the German tank companies to damage them.

 

(ABOVE) North of the railroad embankment, the lead Soviet 170th Tank Brigade ran into the German defenders in the Psel River villages.  The 170th's motorized rifle battalion then deployed into the unoccupied Oktiabrskii State Farm (top left).  The other tank brigades of the 18th Tank Corps are attempting to catch up with them.

(ABOVE) Near Prokhorovka, German artillery caught the 25th Tank Brigade's motorized infantry out in the open.

(ABOVE)  The Soviets eventually pulled a Morale card.  The shattered 58th Motor Rifle Brigade and 57th Guards Tank Regiment failed and routed off the table.  The 25th Tank Brigade passed its Morale check and continued to fight.  Concerned about the lack of progress south of the railroad embankment, the Soviets brought on the 53rd Guards Tank Regiment and declared that the 32nd Tank Brigade would conduct a flank attack on the south side of the table.  The 32nd TB would appear on the next Move card.

Bloggers note: This is one of those classic problems that epitomizes why I play Piquet-family rules.  My intent was: 

• to push the 31st Soviet Tank Brigade through the battered 25th TB and engage the unloaded Germans with fresh armor.  
• At the same time, my 32nd TB (5 tank companies and 3 infantry companies) would explode into their flank from off board and swamp the Germans with close assaults.  
• And then the 53rd GTR's 4 T-34 companies would move up and support the 31st Tank Brigade.  

The only thing I needed to do to make this cunning plan happen was to flip the Goddamned "Move" card (also known in my games as the GDM card) from the Soviet deck.

(ABOVE) Unfortunately, the next Soviet Move card never seemed to come.  Looking at the picture, the flanking Soviet tank brigade has to come in east (right) of the blue chip that marks the progress of the Das Reich Division south of the Germans.  Flanking with reinforcements can be a very effective tactic if the Soviets can get a quick second Move card to move them onto the flank and surprise the Germans.  This could really disrupt the German defenders while they were still dealing with the Soviet attackers to their front.  It would also catch the Germans between the flanking Soviet armor and the anti-tank ditch.

The Das Reich Division made unusually good progress moving its marker along the table edge ( it has a chance to advance one foot at the end of each turn.  Soviet reinforcements can't appear behind (west of) the marker).  The delay in pulling a Soviet Move card gave the German 1st SS Panzergrenadier Regiment a chance to flip their own Move card, pull back some infantry companies, and wait for the attackers.

Obviously German recon detected the flanking Soviet brigade as it moved into position.  Violet smoke was popped everywhere.  Achtung Panzer!  Anti-tank guns were wheeled to the right and camouflaged.

Once the Germans pulled back to defend the flank, the two sides tied on their initiative die rolls again.  A quick turn end midway through both decks and we're on to the July 12 PM turn!  The Germans are down to 12 morale points out of their starting 48.  Once they reach zero morale points, the 1st SS PG Division has to make Morale checks to avoid calling off the operation and losing the game.  This game will go down to the wire.

(ABOVE) Fighting around the Oktiabrskii State Farm at the end of the turn.

(ABOVE) View from behind the Soviet forces counterattacking north of the railroad embankment.

(ABOVE) View from behind the Soviet forces counterattacking south of the railroad embankment.  In the foreground is the 53rd Guards Tank Regiment.  They would be a real help to the counterattack in this sector if their command stand would stop rolling a "1" for movement!

Kursk: Drive on Prokhorovka Playtest 2.1

This was the first non-solo playtest of my Kursk: Drive for Prokhorovka scenario using Piquet's Field of Battle: WW2 (FOBWW2) and 10mm miniatures.  4 gamers arrived to play.  After some brief explanation, we were started at approximately 9:45 a.m.  We broke for lunch from 12:30 to 2:00 p.m. and halted the game around 6 p.m.  So, approximately 6 hours of gaming in total.

(ABOVE)  The scenario starts on the PM turn of July 10, 1943. Although the panzer grenadiers made excellent progress on the south side of the battlefield, the Soviet 99th Tank brigade launched itself out its village defenses and conducted a spoiling attack against the German 1st SS Panzer regiment in the north.  While the attack was eventually defeated, it did inflict heavy damage on the already battered German panzer companies.

(ABOVE) We stopped the game after the completion of the 11 July PM turn.   This photo is from the south side of the battlefield. The Germans made great progress on the south side of the railroad embankment.  They have captured Storozhevoe and the Storozhevoe Woods (upper left).  The German Tiger company  and some assault guns are stopped at the Soviet minefield belt and the anti-tank ditch.  The German pioneers are working to fill the ditch in.  Meanwhile, a panzer grenadier battalion charged across the AT minefields and captured the town on the upper right.  The defending Soviet Guards airborne brigade in this sector failed its morale check and routed.  The Soviet defenders rushed units into this sector to hold off the Germans.  Only nightfall slowed the German advance.

(ABOVE)  The north side of the battlefield at the end of the 11 July PM turn.  The German panzers and infantry have captured the Psel village in the lower left.  The Soviet rifle battalion defending the Oktiabrskii State Farm in the middle left fled under heavy fire and abandoned its defenses in the farm complex.  Two Soviet airborne brigades still man their trenches in this sector.

(ABOVE)  This Soviet Airborne brigade is dug in guarding the north side of Prokhorovka.

(ABOVE) The battered Soviet defenses south of Prokhorovka.  Two infantry battalions are deployed in the city itself.  Meanwhile, in the upper part of the photo, the 57th Guards Tank Regiment sacrifices its KV-1 tanks in an effort to slow the German advance.

(ABOVE) Here is a typical SS Panzer Grenadier Battalion.  The circle stand is the command stand.  The hex stand is its Heavy Weapon marker.  A Marder AT company and a Pz IV tank company are attached.  Two PG infantry companies are deployed in the village in front.  You can tell they're deployed in the village because they only have one stand.  Once they leave the village, the infantry companies will spread out with two stands each.

(ABOVE) Now that the 11 July Night turn has begun, the Soviets receive massive reinforcements from the 5th Guards Tank Army.  These are the troops whose attack on 12 July 1943 made this battle so famous.  I've laid these brigades out to prepare for their deployment on the north side of the battlefield.  Here are three Soviet tank brigades ready to enter the table once the Night turn begins.

 
(ABOVE)  Two more tank brigades will move out to stop the Tiger company and its friends south of the embankment.  I'm going to hold 2 tank brigades and 2 motorized rifle brigades off the table until I see how things go.  One tank brigade might come on behind the German flank.  The others I might save until the AM turn of 12 July.  Then I can feed them in to whichever sector they are needed.  I also don't want to end up with most of my tanks jammed behind my own anti-tank defenses.

It's a tough decision for the Soviets because while I have tons of tanks available (7 total brigades), once they're gone, that's it for me until the end of the game on 15 July.  I really have to make sure that these fresh tank formations do enough damage to cripple the 1st SS Panzer Grenadier Division.

Kursk: Prokhorovka Live Playtest

The game room is ready for tomorrow's first live play test of the Kursk scenario.  While I still have some terrain and buildings to paint, the majority of the miniature painting for this large project has been completed.

(ABOVE)  View of the table from the German end.

(ABOVE) 1st SS Recon Battalion ready to roll.

(ABOVE) Panzer grenadiers and panzer battalions.  They are merely lined up for my own administrative counting.  This is not their tactical deployment.

(ABOVE)  A view of the Soviet defenses behind their front lines.

(ABOVE) The view from behind the right flank of the Soviet 9th Guards Airborne Division.  Command stands are circles.  Heavy weapon markers are hex bases.  (Whooah!  I just noticed I forgot to tape the unit bases for these two battalions onto the bottom of their stands! That reduces the white backing you see from the labels when you stare at the units from the other side.  Good thing I photo these games)

Normally, the units on the table are two stands each.  When units dig in or deploy into a town, I represent them with only one stand to show that they are in a more defensive posture.  It's much more effective than the stupid pipe cleaner fortifications I was using to show that 27 infantry companies began the game "dug-in".  I also justify the smaller unit footprint by arguing that a mobile, more offensive unit would have its sub-elements more widely dispersed during the course of a turn than a unit committed to hunkering down in its trenches.

(ABOVE and BELOW) So, the table might look big, but tucked away in the cabinet are the many reinforcements that are destined to arrive and die on the battlefield. 

(BELOW)  And finally, before I go to sleep before the big game tomorrow, my trusty ally awaits me and reminds me, "You need to dullcote varnish the heavy weapon stands before you go to bed."  Good hell hound!