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.