Normandy Hellcat!

This week's theme at the Wollongong Wargamers was WW2 Skirmish games. So Caesar joined me in a game of Achtung Panzer! We played the first mission, which is essentially a battle of attrition.

For the Germans, I had Von Ribbentrop's elite Panther:

And a JagdPanther. 

Caesar had the Northants Yeomanry elite Akilla Sherman V, a Firefly Sherman Vc...

And, perhaps improbably, a lost US M18 Hellcat:

Caesar advanced cautiously on his left, spending a great deal of time an effort fruitlessly brassing up the constricting Ambush Terrain:

To the extent I abandoned my initial plan of hanging back and taking long shots and advanced my JagdPanther forward into the village...

Noticing too late that Caesar had sent the Hellcat racing down his right flank in the shelter of the large bocage field...

The resulting close range confrontation would be decided by who was fastest on the draw - both commanders were unbuttoned so it would be a question of passing crew skill tests for a free conversion of a spot into an aim.

I was first initially, but the Hellcat declined to hang around and be shot at, reversing nimbly back into the shadow of the bocage. Then, it shot back out...

And got the drop on the Panther!

By this stage the Shermans had finally cleared the ambush terrain and were jockeying for position to have a go at the JagdPanther...

The Firefly hit and penetrated sufficiently to cause hull damage...

Then the Hellcat, insufficiently sated, also joined in the fun...

Creeping forwards to get a hull down shot at the giant assault gun:

Once again working hard for a side shot paid off for the US Tank Destroyer crew!

An enjoyable game, even if my impatience led to disaster!

The Battle of Elchingen 1805

 

With the recent release of Valour & Fortitude Version 4, the next Horse and Musket theme night at the Wollongong Wargamers was eagerly anticipated. Above, the Austrian team: Darren, Peter and David II.

Peter adapted the excellent Little Wars TV Lasalle II Ulm scenario to V&F. With six experienced players, he hoped we could complete this Corps level battle in an evening. V&F is simple, fast and elegant, but could we really get a result that quickly?

The game did not get off to a good start for the French (Caesar, David I and yours truly) when someone (no need for details, it could have happened to anybody) blundered on their Brigade Activation and blocked the bridge, leaving Caesar's lone brigade out forward on a limb, and David's brigades fuming impatiently on the wrong side of the bridgehead:

Somewhat ahistorically, David II took full advantage of the French embarrassment to advance boldly to nip the bridgehead in the bud:

Whilst an Austrian crossfire targeted Caesar's lone brigade:

The next turn the bottlenecked brigade was given the automatic activation and surged forward:

But by this time David II had begun to deploy and Caesar was no longer alone in taking all the Austrian enfilade fire:

Yet Caesar's brigade advanced steadily out towards Ober-Elchingen:

Forming up to stage a text book assault on the village:

Ober-Elchingen falls to the French:

And with Marshal Ney personally leading,  a follow up assault clears out the Austrians linking the village to the Abbey, scoring victory points both for the village and the defeated Kaiserlik brigades:

However, on the opposite flank, David IIs musketry and artillery was impeding French deployment:

And for the time being the battlefield appeared to be swarming with Kaiserliks, many of them elite Grenadiers!

Fortunately for the French, David I leads on the French Heavy Cavalry:

Who soon put a stop to the Austrian push on the bridgehead!

With French reinforcements now flowing freely across the Danube:

The Austrians are pushed back well away from the river, losing several defeat points:

Despite Marshal Ney's valour, the Austrian commitment of their reserve Kuirassiers restores the situation in the centre somewhat:

But it is too little, too late for the unfortunate General Mack, as the only line of retreat back to Austrian is firmly closed!

Using Peter's wonderful collection of 15/18mm AB miniatures, we used a ground scale of 2/3rds inches. So yes, Version 4 of Valour & Fortitude delivered a fast paced game with an authentic outcome - a corps level battle fought out in a couple of hours!