Well it was enviable really, after having such a blast running my Italian 21 tanks and a biplane list last year we just had to go along to the Sturm uber der Nationen early war tournament, as run by the Reluctant Conscripts gaming group. I decided to stick with my Italian tanks and Alasdair decided to run a list based around Humber II armoured cars. We'd be cruising around the battlefields in style the whole weekend! But first some context, queue flashback sequence!
Change was in the air though for my Italians, or rather on the ground, (as nothing will stop me taking my biplanes!) with a few additions and subtractions from last years list. Al had bought me a pair of the coastal artillery trucks for Christmas so they were in, as were a pair of AA 20mm guns (also truck mounted) and a two gun battery of 75mm guns. This meant that blue platoon would have to sit this one out.
Looking over what archival photos I could find two things were evident, that the trucks carrying around those coastal guns were if anything even more impressive in real life and that everything gets pretty dusty when driving around in North Africa! Another archive photo pushed me to model camouflaged sandbagged positions for both 75mm guns. The only downside was the netting i put on them obscured quite a nice paint job done on both guns and their crews.
A month or so later and i found myself at game one, day one! I'd be facing German panzers, attacking across an eastern front theme table. Now we'll have to play guess the mission here as i can't remember which one it was. With the table divided into quarters I deployed opposite him on the other side of the village with my whole force. Half of his force was in reserve to start arriving from turn one from what turn out to be my immediate left flank.
As it is traditional for me to make a serious mistake in my first game I thought I'd go with this corker, i'd mistakenly thought his reserves would arrive on the table quarter on his side of the table, not on mine! So merrily i sent my coastal gun trucks off to my left with the intention of them being able to take pot shots at his reserves as they arrived to support his defensive line. Nope. Instead my trucks merrily drove into the waiting arms of his reserves who took them down in short order. Opps!
Oh well, at least my biplanes were doing sterling work chasing off his stukas at every opportunity. I don't think my opponent got in an airstrike all game.
What also went well was my attack on the right which crashed through the village, through his lines, through his nebelwerfer battery and onto the objective by end of my turn three, leaving it uncontested, by not due to go hot until turn six...doh!
In the centre my tanks and his tanks settled down to a classic early war tank duel which mostly consisted of both sides bailing each other and the resultant race to bail back in. This is really where the higher quality of his forces started to outshine my Italians. However my guys gave him a decent fight for it.
Pictured right is my back field which was kept secure due to the threat of the cannon platoon firing over open sights. Imporantly this stopped his force from encircling my tanks in the middle of the board. Eventually though his reinforcements started to force my tanks back through the village, I hadn't been able to make the most of my early game numbers advantage and holding an objective that still hadn't gone hot was just no good given that when it finally did matter my opponent was able to drip feed the objective while finishing off my tanks fighting in the centre.
Eventually my opponent managed to pick off my company commander and shortly afterward forced me to make a company moral check which I automatically failed. Damn. My attack had managed to turn his flank and take his objective long before I needed it, however my mistake on the left had cost me a platoon that would have in retrospect done quite well supporting my right flank attack. A very enjoyable game though against a superb opponent!
Game two vs German infantry, attacking again in pincer, the new version apparently which allows the defender to bring on his reinforcements from only one board edge rather than both. It should have been a straight forward 6-1 for me, however assaulting into woods on the right I managed to bog more tanks than I'd managed in the previous 4 years of Flames of War gaming and didn't quite manage to take his objective before his reinforcements (more Panzer 38Ts) managed to save him. Dang.
Game three, last of a long day. A fair fight battle vs the one and only Nobby of Corrivalry fame. He was fielding half tracked mounted German infantry with 88s, PAK 36s and one of my favorite units of all time, Panzerjager Is!
So attack time again, though fatigue was starting to tell (finishing a challenging payroll at work the week before was taking it toll). I attacked on the right and then thought better of it due to the presence of the 88s.
I attacked in the middle and essentially lost the fight against panzerjagers that just wouldn't fail their stormtrooper rolls.
The attack on the left when well though, even the coastal artillery trucks managed to get themselves a few kills, however it wasn't enough to push his objective before Nobby managed to assault onto mine.
Well played Mr Nobby, well played. The only thing that would have really made the game for me would have been discovering that you were in fact the Nobby of Nobby's brewery in Northamptonshire! He isn't, boooo!
I guess on my part it was a case of an M14/40 who chases after two panzerjagers catches neither. I should have concentrated my force into one attack. Oh well, at least it was another fun game!
Sunday, game four in the snow on a board that made me shiver with the cold. I be facing a mainly artillery based British force across fairly open country with nothing but a village and a rather strategic looking hill in the centre between my and the full fury of the English guns! Well if i'd learnt nothing from yesterday it was to concentrate my attack and time it for when it mattered. I deployed my entire force, all three tank platoons in a line on the left hand side of the board with the rest deployed behind in support. The first few turns I advanced steadily using the hill to shield me from most of his guns and buildings to mask my advance where direct fire would be a danger from his battery facing me on the left. My advance halted once my tanks were in contesting range of the objective and proceeded to shoot it out with the elements of his force in range to protect it. His reinforcements arrived in time to start drip feeding the objective and his recon elements staged a somewhat successful attack down the right flank in an attempt to destroy my back field units. Some astonishing luck saw my unarmoured AA trucks able to take down some of it before succumbing and delayed his attack long enough for my company commander to move across to eliminate the rest with the help of the cannon platoon firing over open sights.
With the destruction of his recon units, an artillery battery and other light armoured units drip feeding the objective I force a company moral test on my opponent which he failed giving me my first win of the tournament! Excellent! Another very enjoyable game with a true gentleman of the hobby with plenty of time for a tea break at half time.
So on-wards to game five, the last of the weekend...
I'd be playing against another German panzer company with both sides having to put half of their force into reserve. His force including some expensive and deadly looking stuka support so I opted for my AA trucks and two tank platoons. He opted for some 88s, panzer IIIs and a light panzer platoon.
My tanks started a duel with the panzer IIIs and their stuka support. My biplanes managed to chase off one airstrike and the AA trucks managed to take out another however by turn three the quality German tanks was taking it toll with my M14/40s fighting a losing battle. The arrival of his reserves put more pressure on my forces, by the time my reinforcements arrived they were too far away from his objective to draw away his force and too far from my objective to help defend it.
A brave charge by the unknown hero kept me in the game for an extra turn and potentially my biplanes could have kept me in the game by making the panzer IIIs quite the field, however my beloved Falcos missed their target at the key moment, my opponent had taken his objective and won the game.
It had been another great weekend hosted by the Reluctant Conscripts gaming group, so good in fact that me and Al both decided to sign up to their mid-war tournament in July there and then. Despite only winning one game I had a great time and came close to winning more than one of my other games. Al had done slightly better with his British Humber armoured car list and finished ten places above me on the score board, although it must be noted that the score difference between us wasn't as great as I initial thought as looking at the table the middle to bottom players were separated by very few points. Still coming 30th out of 40 is still ok in my book. At least it gives me something to aim for in the mid-war tournament where my Italian Carri might just go on the death ride yet again! "Avanti Savoia!"
In the meantime enjoy a picture of Al's Humber armoured cars.
