Worlds at War, 15/09/2013
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On a rainy Sunday up here in bonny Scotland, we once again find ourselves travelling out East to 'Worlds at War' in Livingston for another late-war tournament. With the weather being a little foul, call-offs were to be expected. And so it was that five hardy souls braved the sideways rain to participate, with Frank joining in to make up numbers.
This time round I loaded up my old favourites, the Tank Squadron (6th Tank Army) from Overlord. I have used this list before when it was in it's earlier days; Turning Tide book. But with a few revamps I changed the list slightly.
A Rarity: Blue on Red Split
For once we got a perfect split of three German and three Allied players.This meant we could quite happily play Blue on Red all day. With this in mind and with the slightly reduced numbers, Frank decided that the winners would be; Best Allied Player and Best Axis Player.
The players and their lists were as follows:
Axis:
Axis:
- Bill Patterson- 12th Volksgrenadier (Nuts Book)
- Frank Keast- 17. SS Panzergrenadier (Nuts Book)
- David Burns- Kampfgruppe Hummel (Bridge by Bridge)
Allies:
- Norman McLean- 4th Armoured Division, Tank Company (Blood, Guts & Glory)
- Andy Thompson- Peredovoye Otryad/ Forward Detachment (Red Bear)
- Myself- 6th Tank Army, Tank Squadron (Overlord Book)
The insignia of 17. Panzergrenadier Division (Götz von Berlichingen)
The most effective Typhoon I've ever had... for one turn
Game one put me up against Bill's 12th Volksgrenadiers. The mission rolled was 'Breakthrough', and with me running as a tank company and Bill using infantry, it was time for the slow trundle to begin. One of the new tactics I tried out was using Stuarts for reconnaissance which in all three games ended badly since I used them as mobile MG boxes rather than proper Recce troops.
First turn my Typhoon showed up and was the most effective I'd ever seen it. Bill had hidden three Marders behind a building on a hill with the plan to pop them out and snap off a few shots before retreating again using Storm-trooper. The Typhoon though had other plans, managing to range in, then laying waste to two of them. Even though there was only one plane, it still managed to hit two and wipe them from the board.
A strange occurrence this time round; I was the only one with aircraft, meaning my Crusader AA's were re-assigned into heavy-machine gun toting mobile pillboxes. They harassed a dug-in Grenadier platoon near the centre of the table as the rest of the army skirted round my long table edge. Delayed reserves meant we had to do with what we had for the time being, and with very little in the way of action for the first few turns the game only got tense as things began to show up.
The surviving Marder from the first turn managed to harass the Stuarts by picking a couple off, forcing the survivor to break. This led to Bill dubbing it; 'The Little Marder Who Could'. I agree with the sentiment, but would like to add; '...Frustrate Me By Not Retreating'.
The first platoon to show up for Bill was his Panthers, a threat I wasn't very happy with, but couldn't do much about. I received some Churchills which rumbled towards the furthest objective thanks to the Reserves deployment rule for the mission.
And now comes the intriguing and slightly frustrating bit for me: Flammenwerfer-armed half-tracks. Bill rolled these onto the table behind a platoon of Churchills and gave them both barrels. A mighty twelve dice, nine hits, but thankfully only two successful firepower tests meant the platoon was fine for now. The frustrating part? The half-tracks zooming off the battlefield as quickly as they had arrived, denying me a potential platoon. This proved to be no problem as I hammered out a 4-3 eventually.
Wrapping this one up quickly, the Crusader AA's took a pair of Quad-armed half-tracks in their stride until a bad dice roll meant the end for one of them, but he bit back, wrecking the aggressors. Only to be taught a lesson the following turn by some annoyed Panthers.
The M10C's I brought along were caught between a rock and a hard place, their only target was the Sturmtigers, but then again at over 16'' away, their front armour of 12 against AT 14 meant that doing anything to the beasts was extremely doubtful. They advanced in cover towards the cluster of buildings in the middle of the table, if needed they could become mobile pillboxes using their .50cal MGs.
First turn my Typhoon showed up and was the most effective I'd ever seen it. Bill had hidden three Marders behind a building on a hill with the plan to pop them out and snap off a few shots before retreating again using Storm-trooper. The Typhoon though had other plans, managing to range in, then laying waste to two of them. Even though there was only one plane, it still managed to hit two and wipe them from the board.
A single Typhoon lays waste to two Marders behind the Church on the hill
The surviving Marder from the first turn managed to harass the Stuarts by picking a couple off, forcing the survivor to break. This led to Bill dubbing it; 'The Little Marder Who Could'. I agree with the sentiment, but would like to add; '...Frustrate Me By Not Retreating'.
The first platoon to show up for Bill was his Panthers, a threat I wasn't very happy with, but couldn't do much about. I received some Churchills which rumbled towards the furthest objective thanks to the Reserves deployment rule for the mission.
And now comes the intriguing and slightly frustrating bit for me: Flammenwerfer-armed half-tracks. Bill rolled these onto the table behind a platoon of Churchills and gave them both barrels. A mighty twelve dice, nine hits, but thankfully only two successful firepower tests meant the platoon was fine for now. The frustrating part? The half-tracks zooming off the battlefield as quickly as they had arrived, denying me a potential platoon. This proved to be no problem as I hammered out a 4-3 eventually.
Wrapping this one up quickly, the Crusader AA's took a pair of Quad-armed half-tracks in their stride until a bad dice roll meant the end for one of them, but he bit back, wrecking the aggressors. Only to be taught a lesson the following turn by some annoyed Panthers.
The remains of the AA battle in the middle of the table as my CiC tries to push the Grenadiers from the objective
Though my reserve Churchills enjoyed initial success pushing some dug in Grenadiers off the northern most objective, they couldn't withstand the subsequent backlash. (Despite, much to Bill's annoyance, their ability to survive Panzerfaust assaults).
With time getting on and it being unlikely that I could take an objective, I submitted to a hard-fought loss. Those dastardly Flammenwerfers denying me a much desired platoon.
With time getting on and it being unlikely that I could take an objective, I submitted to a hard-fought loss. Those dastardly Flammenwerfers denying me a much desired platoon.
The Churchills finally succumb, but only after infuriating Bill against his Fausts
Sturmtigers and a Slog
Next up, I had the good pleasure to play against our host for the day; Frank and his 17. SS Panzergrenadiers. Interestingly enough, he was supported by some Sturmtigers. My experience with them in the past have been the Reluctant Conscript ones from Grey Wolf, but these were different, being Confident Trained they were probably going to be able to hit something for a start, and if bailed, actually stick around a little longer to keep fighting.
With the mission being Hold the Line, having those in Ambush could very easily spell the end for a hapless platoon of Churchills. Again, being Tanks against a mechanised company I would be driving at the jaws of the beast in this battle.
The Stuarts once again were used to scout, and sent zipping down the table, hoping to flank the battery of 105's dug in behind the buildings. This only led to the Sturmtigers being revealed on that flank, which thankfully the Stuarts managed to skip past as the Howitzer-armed monstrosities focused on the advancing Churchills instead.
The M10C's I brought along were caught between a rock and a hard place, their only target was the Sturmtigers, but then again at over 16'' away, their front armour of 12 against AT 14 meant that doing anything to the beasts was extremely doubtful. They advanced in cover towards the cluster of buildings in the middle of the table, if needed they could become mobile pillboxes using their .50cal MGs.
The Churchills advance while the M10's sit behind the building and ponder the meaning of life
In the centre of the table, the battle had devolved into tit-for-tat exhanges between the Churchills and the PaK 40's. The Churchills unwilling to drive closer to give the guns a more favourable target, while at the same time Frank's dice rolling for saves keeping the guns alive and the same for the defending infantry in the buildings.
The Stuarts managed to pick off an undefended 105mm before being ripped asunder by return fire; Once again the scouts being a little effective, but not much. Meanwhile the Sturmtigers were causing a little bit of a problem for the Churchills stuck in the field in front of them. Advance and the tanks could very well meet their end... Until Frank reminded me that they have a minimum range, and at that point engines were engaged and the tanks rolled out.
A sad end for the Stuarts as the guns beat one down and the other flees for it's life
The Grenadiers defending the objective finally began failing saves as the 75mm guns and 95mm Howitzers took their toll. The Riflemen advanced to take advantage of this, but were stopped short by a bombardment that pinned them, and with a failed save the Reluctant Veterans were unlikely to advance next turn.
The infantry get support in the form of StuGs, but they are soon the be removed
The game had stagnated a little, with the most movement on the table coming from the Sturmtigers as they reversed to try to escape from the advancing Churchills. The M10's decided now was the time and let rip with a volley from their 17pdrs, taking one out. The Churchills on the street tried to take advantage of the flank of one being revealed, but my inability to roll a 4+ when using a 6pdr proved to be their saving grace.
The game soon turned as my Churchills were blind-sided by some Panzerfaust armed infantry storming through the buildings. With them out and platoons falling left and right the game was over bar the shouting as I approached a company morale check, which I subsequently failed and notched another 5-2 loss. This one though felt more like the crushing loss the scoreline reflected.
The infantry advance on the objective, but are beaten back shortly after
Oh God, not this again!
Last up was Dust Up against David and the joy that is Kampfgruppe Hummel. Say what you want about it having Tigers with unreliable, Confident Trained and no Ace Skills... They are still Tigers! This was going to be very evident as the battle went on.
Somehow I managed to roll to attack; something I really didn't want to do, but that was the way the dice rolled. And so once again I faced down the Tigers, the oddly Reluctant Trained '88' and the Tiger II which was lurking somewhere off the table.
One thing I could guarantee though, and this was perhaps the reason for the draw; There was no way David was taking either of my Objectives, as I dug in my Infantry on one and sat a platoon of Churchills on the other. These were covered by the M10's. It was only later on that I realised that the M10's would have been really bloody effective when coming on the table side and hammering some nice juicy 17pdr shells into Tiger flesh.
An effectively defended Objective
The Stuarts decided to run for a quick victory, something I was quite confident of getting with the Delayed Reserves. But, again, I messed up. They rolled up to the Grenadier platoon hidden within the forest and peppered them with MG rounds. A good idea, but then I got cocky and rolled them in to assault.
No! What are you doing?! I hear the cries now. What can I say? I thought I'd roll in, trample some and then sit on the objective for a turn before winning. But no, as it turns out, the Grenadiers were actually Pioneers armed with little can-openers. The Stuarts were left in pieces, with only one escaping with it's tracks intact.
What I should have done was sat them back, continued to spray and pray, and perhaps let rip with the 37mm guns. But, I admit, over-confidence got the better of me and it bit me hard.
The Stuart leaves a pretty corpse as the Pioneers do their work
With that plan out of the window, and my unwillingness to move much else, the game slowed until things started showing up on turn three. Why do I not mention my air support? Because it spent most of the game getting filled with holes. It did have a moment later on, but that is yet to come.
I received no reinforcements on turn three, while David rolled on some Tigers. They took some shots at the Churchills defending Objective #2, but the concealed, gone to ground tanks saw the shots harmlessly whizz overhead.
Turn four and finally some Churchills show up to pester the FlaK guns. They have little effect though. David receives his Konigstiger and sits it on the hill. it manages to take out the supporting Churchill VI from the HQ, which makes me reconsider their positioning. The King's life is short-lived though as the Typhoon arrives to actually do something. With one plane in the flight, it was always going to be tense. I positioned it so that the FlaK 36's were out of range, while the '88' was able to draw sight to it. The one shot hit, but the firepower test failed to chase the plane off. A succession of good dice rolls from me and poor ones from David left the mighty battle-tank a smoking ruin and put paid to one of the more threatening tanks on the field.
Such inviting targets, but the FlaK 36's deny the Typhoon an easy pair of Tigers
Objectives on both sides of the table were looking to be heavily defended and so I rolled some Churchills over some Nebelwerfers just to get a little chaos on the table before we decide that the game is a 3-3 draw. With neither side looking to get anywhere near the objectives.
The Stuarts managed to pick off an undefended 105mm before being ripped asunder by return fire; Once again the scouts being a little effective, but not much. Meanwhile the Sturmtigers were causing a little bit of a problem for the Churchills stuck in the field in front of them. Advance and the tanks could very well meet their end... Until Frank reminded me that they have a minimum range, and at that point engines were engaged and the tanks rolled out.
A sad end for the Stuarts as the guns beat one down and the other flees for it's life
The Grenadiers defending the objective finally began failing saves as the 75mm guns and 95mm Howitzers took their toll. The Riflemen advanced to take advantage of this, but were stopped short by a bombardment that pinned them, and with a failed save the Reluctant Veterans were unlikely to advance next turn.
The infantry get support in the form of StuGs, but they are soon the be removed
The game had stagnated a little, with the most movement on the table coming from the Sturmtigers as they reversed to try to escape from the advancing Churchills. The M10's decided now was the time and let rip with a volley from their 17pdrs, taking one out. The Churchills on the street tried to take advantage of the flank of one being revealed, but my inability to roll a 4+ when using a 6pdr proved to be their saving grace.
The game soon turned as my Churchills were blind-sided by some Panzerfaust armed infantry storming through the buildings. With them out and platoons falling left and right the game was over bar the shouting as I approached a company morale check, which I subsequently failed and notched another 5-2 loss. This one though felt more like the crushing loss the scoreline reflected.
The infantry advance on the objective, but are beaten back shortly after
Oh God, not this again!
Last up was Dust Up against David and the joy that is Kampfgruppe Hummel. Say what you want about it having Tigers with unreliable, Confident Trained and no Ace Skills... They are still Tigers! This was going to be very evident as the battle went on.
Somehow I managed to roll to attack; something I really didn't want to do, but that was the way the dice rolled. And so once again I faced down the Tigers, the oddly Reluctant Trained '88' and the Tiger II which was lurking somewhere off the table.
One thing I could guarantee though, and this was perhaps the reason for the draw; There was no way David was taking either of my Objectives, as I dug in my Infantry on one and sat a platoon of Churchills on the other. These were covered by the M10's. It was only later on that I realised that the M10's would have been really bloody effective when coming on the table side and hammering some nice juicy 17pdr shells into Tiger flesh.
No! What are you doing?! I hear the cries now. What can I say? I thought I'd roll in, trample some and then sit on the objective for a turn before winning. But no, as it turns out, the Grenadiers were actually Pioneers armed with little can-openers. The Stuarts were left in pieces, with only one escaping with it's tracks intact.
End of the day
And that was that. Unfortunately, again, because my games ran so long, I didn't get much time to watch other players slug it out. I did manage to see that Andy's T-34s tended to spend their time up in flames in a pretty little line.
Andy's tanks make such pretty lights
So, the scores on the board shows that the Axis enjoyed more and bigger victories than the allies. With the highest scoring Allied player only scoring as much as the runner-up Axis player, it was clear that Bill was a worthy winner in terms of the Axis side. Norman led the Allies with twelve points, easily scoring more than my measly eight.
Axis:
- Bill 15
- David 12
- Frank 9
Allies:
- Norman 12
- Myself 8
- Andy 6
That's all for now, stay tuned for the report of the 10-player Infantry Aces night we had at Glasgow Games Group.
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