The Cast
Steven from the Colchester Wargames Club sent me a report of a mini-campaign that they devised using my One Hour Skirmish Wargame Rules.
Movie fast action was what these rules were designed to recreate so the Colchester club were using my book exactly as intended. I think this group approach wargaming in exactly the right way - to whit having fun with your friends.
I reproduce The Colchester campaign report below pretty much as Steven sent it to me.
Simon played Steiner, Steve played Kruger and Neal had the rest. Steven himself commanded the peace loving Soviet forces.
The Colchester Wargames Club is an informal group that meet at: Stanway Village Hall, Villa Road, Stanway, Colchester CO3 0RH on every Friday evening 7-11pm.
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Game 1 Opening Moves
Game 1 “Good
Kill”
Recon platoon to destroy a mortar pit with 3x 82mm mortars
and a maxim MMG and their crews and a command bunker. To take out sentries, play as in close combat
but the attacker adds an extra card (so 3 vs 1) due to surprise. If the attack
succeeds, then it is a silent kill. If
unsuccessful, then sentry raises the alarm.
Germans, Motivation 4
Cpl Rolf Steiner,
MP40 SMG, Pistol, 2 x Grenades, Binos, Leader
3, Inspiring, Lucky
Kruger, Pistol
knife, 2x grenades, Fast, Scout, Bruiser
Cpl Schnobart, MP40 SMG, 2 x Grenades, Scout
Köne (bent ear) KAR 98 Rifle, Bayonet 2 x Grenades, Garotte, Bruiser
Axel/Kaiser (Blonde bloke), KAR98 Rifle, Bayonet, Radio, Scout
Schmidt, KAR 98 Rifle, Scope, 2 x Grenades. Dead Shot, Bruiser
Russians, Motivation
2
Sentry 1 - PPSh SMG
Sentry 2 - PPSh SMG
Sentry 3 – Rifle, Bayonet
Large Mortar Emplacement
3x 82 mm Mortars
Crew, 1 Pistol
Crew 2, Pistol
Crew 3, PPSh SMG
Crew 4, PPSh SMG
Command Emplacement
Officer, Pistol, Leader
1
Radio Operator, Pistol, Radio
Youngster, unarmed but blonde
Maxim Emplacement
Crew Served Weapon, Wheeled Maxim MMG, 2 x crew, 3 Shots
(facing away so has to move by pivoting before it can fire)
The Russians are all facing away from the German approach
through woods. They cannot make any actions until the alarm is raised by a
sentry winning a combat or by a German shooting or by a grenade explosion. The
mortars are firing, making enough noise to mask the German approach. The Germans may capture instead of killing a
young blonde Russian boy in the Command emplacement by beating him in close
combat.
Something Wrong With Our Grenades Today
Game 1 - Result
The Germans killed all 3 sentries silently but Kruger and
Steiner missed with their first grenades into the mortar emplacement - rather
embarrassing. The Command bunker copped
it from grenades but the young lad managed to survive. Rather worryingly, the Maxim MMG turned
around and was just lining up its three shots but Schmidt slotted one with his
telescopic sighted rifle and Cpl Schnobart got the other crewman before it
could fire. A second set of grenades
wiped out all 3 mortars and that was game over.
A German win with no casualties ("Good Kill") but
they were a bit miffed not to have the Russian boy as a captive - he legged it
off the board.
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Urrah
Game 2 “The Death
of Leutnant Meyer”. A defensive action against a large Russian assault. Action centred
on a tripod mounted MG34, with the Recon platoon and Lt Meyer at the centre of
the action. Capt Stranski runs around at the back, controlled by the Russian
player. Russians work as horde, so just
keep coming until a time limit is reached, when reinforcements arrive on 30
points as in the Zulu scenario in the One Hour Skirmish rulebook.
Germans, Motivation 4
Survivors of Game 1, any of which can substitute an MP 40 or
PPSh SMG for rifle, (Steiner gets a PPSh from game 1) plus:
Lt Meyer, MP 40 SMG, Pistol, Leader 2
Pte Dietz, KAR 98 Rifle, Bayonet 2 x Grenades (“They are
sending us babies now”)
Tripod MG 34 Crew – Crew served weapon, 3 shots
Cpl Schnobart counts as Dead Shot on MG34 if he joins the
crew after either are downed or killed.
Captain Stranski (“Heroic Horses Ass”), MP 40 SMG, Pistol, Leader -2, controlled by Russian player
using their action points, has a -2 morale effect when within 6 inches of the
Recon platoon (so he negates 2 of Steiner or Meyer’s leadership)
Trenches count as hard cover so +2 cards.
After checking Army Morale at the end of each turn, the
German player draws a card and notes the value.
Once this total has reached 30 the game is over as reinforcements arrive
from Battalion and Steiner is wounded by an explosion.
Russians, Motivation
3
Officer, Pistol, Binos, Leader
2
8 x Ivans PPSh SMG, 2 Grenades
8 x Ivans Rifle, Bayonet, 1 Grenade
1 DP LMG Crew Served Weapon, 2 Shots, can move but costs 2
actions
Any Russians killed reappear at the tree line in the
following Russian turn
Random Events, large artillery shells, AP 5, 3” radius 3 cards
attack, 3-5” radius 1 card attack.
Centre of table, draw 3 cards, 1st card = clock face, next
two cards = distance from centre of table.
Lt Meyer's Charmed Life
Result
The Russians suffered from consistently low action point
cards so never really got their attack going.
The Recon platoon deployed swiftly and started taking out lots of
Russians. There were a couple of close shaves from the random artillery and the
Russians shot up the tripod MG42 but, with Cpl Schnobart working it, the
Germans wasted Russians fast - just as in the film. Lt Meyer was never really threatened though,
other than by an artillery shell which he survived. Then the Russians turned an
ace on their morale check - with lots of casualties it was game over.
Again, no German casualties, Capt Stranski never really got
going due to the shortage of Russian action points.
.
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Escape
Game 3 “Tank in
the Factory” Another Russian assault but focused on the T34/85 in the factory
part of the action.
Germans, Motivation 3
due to stress, casualties and Stranski’s influence in the absence of Steiner.
Survivors of Game 2 (excluding Capt Stranski and Lt Meyer if
they survived)
Option 1, add 3 x Teller mines to any Germans, close combat contact
placed, AP5
Option 2, add a Pak40 75mm gun, AP7, 3” radius or an IG18
75mm Infantry Gun, AP4, 3” radius.
Russians, Motivation
3 as they are now seriously on the attack
T34/85 Medium Tank,
Armour 4/2/1, 85mm Heavy Tank Gun AP7, 3” radius, coax and hull MG, arrives on
Russian turn 3
Commissar, Pistol, 2 x Grenades, Leader 2
4 x Ivans PPSh SMG, 2 x Grenades
4 x Ivans Rifle, Bayonet, 1 x Grenade
Result
Game
3 was quite a laugh as we used my 1/72 scale motorised T34/85, which actually
managed to climb into the factory on its second move under its battery power.
The Russian infantry were again too short of action points to get going fast
but on Turn 3 the tank rolled forward and started slaughteringthe tail end of
the Recon platoon. The Germans just managed to get the key people out of
the tunnel but Köne and Axel got wasted by the T34, both red card deaths at
the end of the turn.
The Victor
Overall Conclusion
Great fun, quite close to the film in Games 1 and 3 but in
Game 2 the Russians just kept turning over low action point cards: stuff like
this happens in real war and in some films though, so very enjoyable
evening. We used a mixture of 1/72
figures, by Pegasus, Italeri and Revell and lots of Amera and Bellona vac
formed terrain for an old school vintage feel.
