Friday, August 23, 2019

Road Block

On the 24th of August, 1919, the Dominion of Faraway declared war against Oerberg claiming that Oerberg had violated the peace treaty in February when their troops ambushed a Dominion convoy in the disputed zone.  Within hours a column of Faraway  troops crossed the border from the Kapelle into Oerberg.

The column consisted of a light tank, a squadron of cavalry, 7 companies of infantry including 2 machine guns and three batteries including one light mountain gun. No enemy were in sight but the Oerbergers were well known for their ability to hide their entrenchments and make good use of dead ground.

The advance guard was hit hard by fire from artillery and an advanced post of Frontier Mounted Police with a Pompom gun.

As soon as the squadron of Larsen's Lancers came within rifle range of the farmhouse a furious fusillade followed by artillery fire tore into them causing heavy losses. They pulled back as Ross's Rifles deployed to attack the farm supported by the light tank. As the Rifles extended their front they came under a heavy fire from a wooded knoll to their right but the casualties did not stop the advance and the Mounted Police fell back before they could be flanked.
An ambush of Oerberg mounted rifles waits until the time is right, 
As the Dominion troops pressed forward they were surprised again by a concealed PomPom gun which opened up from a rocky knoll on the other side of the farm. The advance threatened to stall but the Royals were at hand and the artillery opened up as they deployed.


The advanced guard takes the farm as the artillery arrives.
(The smokeless powder makes it harder to follow the action)

Quickly the advance resumed and the advanced Oerberg troops were either wiped out or forced to retreat. As the Dominion infantry pushed forward the artillery fire became more deadly and was joined by a hail of bullets from the two companies of the Railway Volunteers.  The battle stalled into an intense firefight. The defenders took serious losses but not quite enough to force them to reterat while the Dominion forces did not have enough effective infantry companies available to risk an assault. To avoid useless bloodshed, General Spice order his men to fall back to regroup.
Evening approaches. The Oerberg forces have taken heavy losses but are still holding. The attack has to be called off for today. 

And that was that, just the sort  of brisk action with the advantage shifting back and forth that I had been picturing. I did pick up a few minor ommissions, errors and bad choices in the rules but they were quickly fixed up. The game itself took about an hour to play through which was about perfect for what I wanted. If I hadn't pulled noy 1 but 2!! aces, the Dominion just might have gotten the extra couple of hits needed to break the enemy's morale, maybe.

I'm going to need more hills for the native army! Luckily the large bases allow me to go back to building hills under the cloth.

19 comments:

  1. Looks great Ross, how large is the table in squares?

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    1. Thanks, the cloth is 14x10 5" squares. The underlying table is marked as 12x9 6" squares.

      The table itself is also centered marked to allow each 6" square to be quartered giving the option of 24x18 3" squares should the need arise. These figures are on 3" bases so could take advantage of the later but it would be a rather tight fit for 3" bases. One day I might re-mark it to 18x13 4" squares again for 1/72 ACW battles or a bigger early 20thC battlefield with the same handful of 40's as this game.

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  2. Great report Ross and the table looks fantastic - the Oerberg forces look like they are well dug in; is there going to be another attack or are the Dominion looking to break through elsewhere?

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    1. That question is being debated at HQ. The general consensus appears to be that reinforcements would be needed but we will see.

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  3. Really enjoyed your game and l wonder what will happen next..
    There is a really effective mix of troop types and it is visually please.

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    1. Thanks I enjoyed it and have missed seeing these fellows in action.

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  4. Odds on it being over by Christmas?

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  5. The folly of taking on The Dominion is laid bare!

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    1. Yeah, they could be in for a long war if they keep winning.

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  6. Now that was a interesting quick little battle , looks like it was a lot of fun .

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  7. The smokeless powder bit was a nice touch ;)

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    1. I miss my smoke puffs! May have to record notes when taking pictures to remind me what was happening.

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  8. Lovelly AAR. The pictures definitely added context to the verbal description. Sounds like a lot of fun.

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  9. The under-cloth hill looks very effective especially with the sky backdrop.

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    1. Thanks, an old technique but a good one as long as you aren't using singles on small bases.

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