Gung Ho-Radio Station (4)

This Wednesday, we played our fourth game in our Gung Ho campaign on Table 2 again. We had 5 players for this game, 4 from Finland and one from Seattle. We did straddle quite a few time zones.

 

USMC (FM 8)

2nd Marine Raider Battalion (missing 12 men)

Platoon #1

2 SL's

3 Raider Squads with Superior JL's and 9 men

Supports (9)

Raider squad (4)

extra BAR's (2)

Native Assistance (2)

Satchel Charge (1)

Japanese (FM 9)

62nd Garrison Force (missing 8 men)

1 SL

1 Inferior SL

3 LMG Buntai's with JL's

Knee Mortar Buntai with JL and 3x50mm Mortars

Supports (4)

MMG Team (3)

Barbed Wire (1)

THE GAME

Patrol Phase

We started off using P-Y's patrol ap, smaller dots represent the JOP's. I felt this went better for both sides then the last game. The raiders got a JOP on the north side of the road in this game, but interestingly enough the IJA's JOP on the northern edge was on the east side of the barbed wire, it was positioned so the IJA could deploy on either side.

The Action

The IJA had the first roll, but did not deploy. The raiders aggressively placed all 3 squads on the table in their first couple of phases. Their green squad with the extra BAR's went on the southern edge with the blue squad just north of them. They then placed their reserve squad (pink) on the northern edge of the table. They were carrying the Satchel charge with Sgt Eero in charge, the blue and green squads were under control by Lt Mikko.

The IJA countered by placing their blue squad with Sgt Petri (SL) with the MMG team on the western side of the barbed wire. 

This is what happens when you deploy a little too close to a MMG team and a IJA infantry squad. 

Sgt Eero has to deploy himself to start removing shock but as you can see the reserve squad took a pretty severe beating but a turn end allowed them to move out of LOS but it was clear that the Radio Tower was not going to be blown by this unit.

The IJA blue squad with Sgt Petri now moves north to join the main action leaving the MMG team to protect the IJA left flank.

All the action was on the the IJA right flank with 2 squads of raiders  rapidly advancing to the entrenched IJA. Here we had Lt Mikko controlling both squads with Corporal Will (a new player who just joined our campaign), he was given the IJA green and yellow squads with Lt Kaapo keeping control of the knee mortar squad. 

Here come the raiders......

....and as you can see the dice gods favoured the attackers, the IJA green squad was soon suffering significant loses, while the raiders held on and despite the support of the knee mortar squad using their rifles and sharing hits, the IJA FM dropped to 5. They decided to withdraw. An marine victory!

Butcher's Bill

USMC (platoon 1)

8 figures killed (adjusted FM)

Final FM 8

13 dead and 2 missing for next game

CO +4 (+1 support)

MO -2

Platoon Leaders Outlook Sociable (+1 FM)

IJA

14 figures, as well as a JL killed

Final FM 5

13 dead and 4 missing for next game, with a 1CI JL

CO killed, no further tracking.

MO -1

Platoon Leaders Outlook Merry

Troops for "O" Group-Finally

 

After several months delay, mostly because I hate painting 6mm infantry figures, I have completed pretty solid Early War German and Soviet forces to play Eastern Front games using Dave Brown's "O" Group rules for battalion wargaming in WWII.

We played a couple of test games virtually using plastic bases in March and April of this year when the rules first came out. I was not sure about going with 6mm troops but I really felt my 20mm WWII were out of scale for this game. I have a lot of AFV's in 6mm which were left over from my Rommel project so I thought why not. I am also having a lot of storage and transport issues and I really needed to decrease my wargaming footprint in our house (interestingly enough, all my 6mm stuff as well as some 28mm skirmish gaming figures and terrain for the FIW, Napoleonic's and SAGA will be taking a trip to Montreal to establish permanent residence in my apartment there). 

I also decided to play the game in centimetres rather than inches so I have put together quite a bit of terrain for this project. In retrospect, I might of gone with 10mm or 12 mm figures but now I am done, I believe I probably made the correct choice. But I have to say I got no pleasure out of painting these 6mm infantry. Now have to think whether I am going to add a Early War Western European force due to the release of the new source book for this theatre. 

Does not look like much but it took quite a bit of work and organization. I am playing on a 100x60cm mat, which I suspect will be fine. The Soviet vehicles are all resin 3D printed as are some of the German vehicles but most are metal from various manufacturers. The infantry and the guns are all from Heroics and Ros, the guns are OK but the figures themselves were not that great with a lot of flash, MicroArmor are much better. The bases are all metal and variably sized, but the infantry bases are 20x14mm. I had planned to go with a 1:1 scale but the infantry base had to fit with my plan to game in centimetres, so each squad (base) is around 1:2 scale with 4-5 figures per base.

Soviet OB

HQ Base

FO Base

4 Artillery Supports

3 Company Commanders-A,B,C

Company A-9 bases

Company B-9 bases

Company C-9 bases

3x Maxim sections

2x 45mm ATG section

2x 76mm IG sections

2x 57mm ATG sections

14x Gaz trucks

3x M3A1 Scout cars

2x T34 platoons

2x T26 platoons

2x T60 platoons

T70 platoon

2x BA10 platoons

SU76 platoon

German OB

HQ Base

FO Base

4 Artillery Supports

3 Company Commanders-A,B,C

Company A-9 bases

Company B-9 bases

Company C-9 bases

3x MMG sections

2x Panzerschrek sections

60mm Mortar section

2x Pak36 ATG section

2x IG18 sections

2x Pak38 ATG sections

12x Opel trucks

PzIV B platoon

PzIV F platoon

2x PzIII platoons

2x  PzII platoons

Pz38 platoon

Sdkfz 222 platoon

Sdkfz 232 platoon

Sdkfz 234 platoon

I appreciate some of the weapons listed above were not available in the EW Eastern Front.

For transport, I use a Chessex troop box which can easily carry 2 complete battalions with all the extras with lots of space to spare. Each army his adhered to a magnetic sheet. I suspect that I might be actually able to fit a 3rd layer in the box.......will it be French or Dutch!

It is funny to think that this blog started off documenting my progress painting 28mm Napoleonic figures and now it is almost completely devoted to Action Reports but I do have several nearly finished painting projects on the painting table which I hope to photograph before the end of the year.

Saipan-Radio Saipan (4)

This Monday, we had our 5th turn in the Saipan campaign, but only the 4th turn on the campaign clock. This was the "Attack on an Objective" scenario from the main rulebook. Essentially same set up as game 3 but there are a lot of entrenchments on the table left over from the 2 previous games on this table. The game was going to have been won or lost depending on morale failure or withdrawal.

I felt I did OK on the Patrol Phase, and was happy to get a JOP in the Jungle on the northern edge. Probably did not place the the 4th JOP in the Radio Station building as well as I could but I was worried about the Marine JOP in the house in the south.

USMC (FM 11) (+4 on FM roll)

6th Marine Regiment

Type F USMC Platoon #1 (3 men missing)

2SL

3 Infantry Squads with Sup JL and 12 men

Supports (9)

M4A2 Sherman (7)

Pregame Barrage (2)

Japanese (FM 9) (+2 on FM roll)

136th Infantry Regiment

Type B Infantry Platoon #1 (8 men missing)

2 SL

3 Infantry Sections with Jl and 12 men

Grenadier Section with JL and 12 men and 3 50mm Mortars

Bunker

Entrenchment 

Supports (6)

Entrenchemt  (1)

Tank Hunter Team (2)

Type 94 ATG (3)

So on to the game:

I felt I had a good plan for this game. I had a JOP in the jungle on the northern edge of the board to counter the Marines, suspecting that they would launch their attack from their JOP in the jungle. I suspected that P-Y would take a tank so I took an ATG and a Tank Hunter team, as I found in the last couple of games that it can be hard to get a shot off with the ATG especially as it was in the bunker.

I put my bunker just south of the Radio Station but this time I had taken an ATG with a shield to increase my options on placement. The game started, P-Y rolled a double phase! This made it possible that he could overrun my northern JOP before the game started. He placed a squad in the jungle, but on his 2nd roll did not have the ability to take the JOP. With some relief, I rolled my dice, a 2 and two 3's. perfect. Then I found out that P-Y had taken a pregame barrage. 

What started then was a series of some of the worst die rolling in the history of tabletop wargaming. On my 3rd attempt, after wasting the 1st two rolls, I was able to place an infantry squad on OW in an entrenchment to protect the JOP. P-Y then placed his Sherman on the table and advanced through the northern jungle, it looked like my entrenched team was going to get some fire from both the Marine squad in the jungle as well as the advancing Sherman. P-Y also placed his 2nd squad in the pre-existing entrenchment in the field on the western edge of the board. I foolishly placed my ATG on top of the building, it gave me excellent vantage but no ability to withdraw when it started to suffer attrition. I also placed my Knee Mortar squad on the 2nd floor of the Radio Station.

Things were not going too badly but both my hit dice and save dice were failing me and I was not getting any double phases. The Sherman advanced east, and the highlight of the game for me was my ambush on the Sherman with my Tank Hunter team, they scored 3 hits with the Sherman just having 1 save---2 net hits, P-Y rolled a 5, the tank was immobilised, but maybe not the best result as it could still fire HE and it's 2 MG's. My 1st squad in the entrenchment was driven back and I was unable to get a 2nd squad to replace it quickly because of the PGB.

My FM was falling, and despite sending out smoke to protect my units in the radio station, they were suffering significant attrition. My dicing remained terrible, every time P-Y got a kill, I would roll a 1 on the leader hit, I would then roll a 6 on the BTH table. Before I knew it, my FM was down to 3, I gamed on to no avail. FM 0, game over...on to Table 4.

Butcher's Bill

The post game calculations were a little odd, as unlike the game I had great dicing and P-Y had poor dicing so the actual benefit was to the IJA.

USMC

Final FM 8

7 figures killed

Resolved per FM difference (2 down for next game)

CO +3 (+1 support)

MO +5 (+1 on FM roll)

Platoon Leaders Outlook Happy

IJA

Final FM 0

10 figures killed

 

5 killed + 3 missing (10 down next game)

CO -1

MO 0

Platoon Leaders Outlook Secure

On to some terrific photos from the camera of P-Y....

Was not a good idea

The Sherman

For the Emperor

Tank Hunters

Kill those tank hunters

Yes...it was a bad idea

safe in an entrenchment 

Immobilised but still firing

Keep Fighting!

Not a whole lot of value

Gung Ho-The Radio Station (3)

We connected yesterday for our third game in our Gung Ho campaign, We have played 2 games so far with each side having a victory. This was a replay on table 2 where the Martine Raiders attempt again to advance. This is "Attack and Defend" scenario from the main rulebook. Unlike the first game on this table, the Raiders do not have the option of winning by destroying the Radio Tower. 

USMC (FM 9)

2nd Marine Raider Battalion (missing 11 men, 2x sJL w/2 CI, SL w/2 CI)

Platoon #1

2 SL's

3 Raider Squads with Superior JL's and 9 men

Supports (8)

1 Native Assistance (2)

1 extra BAR's (green squad) (2)

Support squad (4)

Wild Card-This is the Nautilis, Standing by (Off Table Mortar)

Japanese (FM 11/+1 on FM throw)

62nd Garrison Force (missing 3 men, JL w/1 CI)

1 SL

1 Inferior SL

3 LMG Buntai's with JL's

Knee Mortar Buntai with JL and 3x50mm Mortars

Supports (4)

Entrenchment (2)

Marksman (2)

THE GAME

Patrol Phase

We started off using P-Y's patrol ap, smaller dots represent the JOP's. As you can see the marines put all their JOP's south of the road planning an attack through the jungle. This may have been as the barbed wire placed in the last game was still blocking off the most northerly approach. The IJA placed their middle JOP near the pre-existing bunker.

The Action

Death of Kanemitsu, Lt Peatross operating behind Japanese lines has managed to take out the Japanese military commander on the island. Because of loss of leadership, the IJA come under a Pregame Barrage to reflect this.

So much for best laid plans! This was quite a good game. The IJA had the higher FM, they lead off by placing their green squad in the previously placed entrenchment. I should also note that we have a new SL for the IJA ( I believe he spent the first 2 turns in a Geisha House, but only drinking tea I have been told). Welcome to Jōtōheisō Kaapo. The Raiders deployed their green squad (extra BAR's) on their southerly JOP in an offensive posture (commanded by Plt Sgt Eero). Kaapo countered by placing his blue squad under command of Nitōheisō Petri in an entrenchment directly facing the Raider green squad. Lt Mikko counters with his blue squad. I should note that the PGB had little effect on the initial IJA deployment.

The IJA are on overwatch, they kill 3 raiders in the green squad, Lt Mikko retaliates by calling up the Nautilus, they aim perfectly without an aiming shot and land with a 10" circular mortar strike (we use the TT modifications) covering half of both the green and blue IJA squads. Lucky they are in entrenchments and there is little effect.

At this point, the game becomes very aggressive with Lt Mikko launching his pink reserve squad in combat with the IJA blue squad who now have significant shock. They look weak, but they are entrenched. Has he mis-calculated?

The Raiders take the bunker and break the blue IJA squad, FM is falling on both sides. The IJA are down to 6 while the the Raiders are still at 8. There have been very few double phases and I believe only a single pip on a CoC dice. 

Kaapo, the IJA commander has to make a big decision now. The IJA have only 1 platoon for this campaign while the raiders have 2. IJA blue squad is down to 4 men and breaking. Should he withdraw? The IJA SL's confer in a private chat channel, they are still under a PGB, should they attack or withdraw. A decision is made to counterattack. The attacking Raiders are in the entrenchment but on the wrong side, they are in the open and have suffered significant attrition. 

The IJA throws a 6, 5, 4, 3, 1. They have no SL's on the table and their yellow squad is in reserve, the Marksman has yet to be deployed. Will they get through the barrage. Kaapo rolls for the marksman, he fails to deploy. Should he go with the SL or the squad first. He rolls for the SL, he is successful. The SL orders green squad who are 5" away from the pink Raider squad to attack. They engage, again it is close but they break the Raiders who stop just short of the table edge.

Kaapo still has a 3 in his hand, will the 3rd IJA squad arrive, he rolls a success. The pink Raider Squad are wiped out, the Marine FM drops to 2. Game over.

Victorious yellow and green IJA squads

Withdrawing Raider blue and green squads

Breaking IJA blue squad

Butcher's Bill

USMC (platoon 1)

4 figures, as well as a SL killed

Final FM 2

9 dead and 3 missing for next game, with a new 2CI SL and one 2CI sJL

CO +3

MO -2

Platoon Leaders Outlook Secure

IJA

12 figures, as well as a JL killed

Final FM 6

6 dead and 2 missing for next game, with a two 1CI JL's

CO killed, no further tracking.

MO +2

Platoon Leaders Outlook Merry

Saipan-Night Attack

Last Thursday, we had our 4th turn in the Saipan campaign. We were back to remote gaming and this game was a Wild Card for the Japanese. Two completely fresh platoons were placed on the table in a IJA counterattack on table 3. This game did not advance the campaign clock but could force the marines to re-take Table 3. This was a night attack so night spotting rules came into effect. To counter this the marines could fire Star Shells to illuminate the terrain. It was an interesting game.

This was the "Flank Attack" scenario from the main rulebook, so the IJA get to start on both the eastern and northern edge of the table. The game was going to have been won or lost depending on morale failure or withdrawal.

P-Y completely shocked me when he placed all his PM's in the centre of the table. at point 3. Thus it was a very short patrol phase. This prevented me from getting any JOP's in the centre of the table from which to launch an attack. The only positive thing about this was that I took a tank to aid mobility.

Final positions of JOP's on the table.

USMC (FM 10) (+4 on FM roll)

6th Marine Regiment

Type F USMC Platoon- Fresh

2SL

3 Infantry Squads with Sup JL and 12 men

Star Shells

Supports (6)

M3 37mm ATG (3)

3 x Entrenchment (3)

Japanese (FM 9) (+2 on FM roll)

136th Infantry Regiment

Type B Infantry Platoon-Fresh

2 SL

3 Infantry Sections with Jl and 12 men

Grenadier Section with JL and 12 men and 3 50mm Mortars

Red Dice

Pregame Barrage

Supports (9)

Chi-Ha Tank (5)

MMG Team (3)

Entrenchment (1)

So on to the game:

I felt I had a good chance of winning this game, I had a pregame barrage as well as a red dice. I was finally appreciating that the way to defeat the marines was not by trading shots at each other across the table squad versus squad. With the re-rolls and 13 man squads I was never going to win. I either had to bring at least 3 squads to bear on each marine squad or engage them in combat as the Japanese are aggressive in this campaign thus adding significant dice to the combat.

Unfortunately, the night fight rules made firing quite difficult because of the spotting rule. I had to get close and get the marines to fire thus increasing my spotting distance by 12". With JOP's being were they were clearly I was going to have to launch from the north. The good news was that I had a road on this edge because so my Chi-Ha tank was fairly close to the USMC JOP's. I placed the tank on the road and immediately deployed an LMG squad and a knee mortar squad. I placed the knee mortar squad in an entrenchment so they could go with a sustained fire in heavy cover. A SL was placed to be able to command both units. The trick here was to spot the marines who had gone down in the field in an entrenchment as they were between 20 and 30" from my squads. I used my tank to this as well as advancing the MMG team into the wooden house.an 

P-Y deployed is ATG in an entrenchment, and started to fire at the Japanese tank, they were able to hit but I believe my defence throws were generally successful, but I lost my main cannon. I used my Knee Mortar squad to lob smoke at the gun, was quite unsuccessful until my 3rd shot. By now, I had deployed my 2nd LMG squad from the eastern edge, and they were able to advance up my left flank towards the US JOP in the house.

The game was now turning my way as I was able to wound the US SL in the entrenchment causing a morale loss of 2, I then captured the western US JOP with the tank. My 2nd squad captured the the US JOP in the house. P-Y threw a triple 6, turn end, more morale loss for the US, they were down to 4. My Chi-Ha was now 1" from the southern US JOP, I had a full CoC dice. P-Y withdrew as it was inevitable that in the next turn that I was going to force another morale test.

It was not the most exciting game but I did win, thus forcing the marines to retake table 3. The dice did favour me in shooting but I never got a double phase in the whole game and P-Y only got 2, at the end of the game. P-Y was quite clever in that he never deployed 2 squads thus his men lost were quite low, thus preserving his MO for the next game which will be tonight.

Butcher's Bill

USMC

5 figures killed

Final FM 4

CO +2

MO +6 (+2 on FM rolls, 12' Command Range)

Platoon Leaders Outlook Content

Japanese

2 figures killed

Final FM 9

CO 0

MO +2

Platoon Leaders Outlook Secure

On to some terrific photos from the camera of P-Y....

IJA LMG squad and Knee Mortar squads.

My 2nd LMG squad was launched from the east and was able to advance down my left flank.

Entrenched marines

Chi Ha

2nd IJA squad adavncing towards JOP in the house, they were able to get in taking minimal fire from the marines and were on a US JOP when the turn ended.

The Chi Ha took quite a few hits from the US ATG but was able to withstand the fire although the cannon was knocked out fairly early on.

This IJA squad never really got into action, I had planned to launch them as an assaulting force , but had to wait for the marines to be significantly weakened. The MMG team was in this house.

The knee mortar squad was relatively successful in their fire.

The MMG team got off very few shots.

Very succesful Chi-Ha, it took one JOP and shut down a 2nd.