go to page 8 |
Germans Defend a Town, Campaign Plans, and a Secret Weapon! (1/8) |
go to page 2 |
This wargame was part of World Crossfire Day. More details of the event and of other games are discussed below. This battle was game 13 and the table represented a town towards which the Allies were pushing and the Germans were trying to reach in order to hold. |
|
Table Views Go back to top
There are two photos of the table below, one for view from the east (actually northeast), the second from the west (northwest). The whole 9 foot by 5 foot ping pong table was used. Both pictures are marked with points of interest that are explained in the scenario. The east view better illustrates some of the rail line features and the rail switch. The lichen on the sides of the east-west road that goes into the town represents LOS blocking garden type hedges that are not bocage type hedgerow with respect to moving through them. Table View From East
 Table View From West Note that the feature in the northwest corner of the table (bottom centre of photo) is missing trees! They grew very quickly after this photo was taken in time for the game! 
 |
|
About World Crossfire Day Go back to top
For more information on World Crossfire Day and links to other game reports, see the following two links: Lloydian Aspects - All about the event as written by the event organizer.
(note: Unfortunately this otherwise excellent site frequently changes host or format, so this link is subject to change). |
World Crossfire day was an idea discussed on the Crossfire yahoo group and organized by |
Scenario as Sent by the WCFD Event Organizer Go back to top
Overall situation:
GAME #13 Tim Marshall, Canada. Scheduled start time: c.15.30 local time, 1900 BST [British Standard Time], 1630 Game Time. 1/72nd scale, with umpire. Table set up: (see table views above) Rectangular table. In the town is a church used as an HQ (west side of table). Associated with this are railway buildings/shed/stores etc. (east side of table). A line of the rails leads off-table to the south, and the line forks at least once, one fork heading east, and the other north (these parts are relevant – you can go wild with other lengths of track elsewhere if you want, perhaps creating red herrings this way) [Tim's note: the size of the HO scale model rail cars and engines and tenders meant this set up brought the rails too close to the Canadian side of the table. Thus the rail layout as per the table pictures above. I set the table up a few hours before the game was due to start - if I'd had time, I might have made the north direction shorter so that the rail repair crews (see below) so that the repair work was more in the middle of the town instead of close to the western flank - I think this may have had an effect on how quickly the Allied forces were able to fire on the workers trying to repair the rail damage]. On the line at the station in town, sits an engine with some carriages [Tim's note: again, the size of the HO scale rail cars and engines and tenders meant only one carriage/train car could be used]. The line between this engine and the southern edge is damaged (see bricks piled on southern rail exit). Another engine lies on the same line. The whole line is screened by sight-blocking terrain from view from the west. The rest of the table is covered with the usual mix of terrain for CF countryside: hills, woods, fields, rough ground, walls, fences, hedges, depressions, crests etc. There is enough cover along the northern edge of the board for entering troops to get onto the table without being mown down in droves [Tim's note: I set things up so that the Canadians could place themselves anywhere up to behind the second "band" of woods features to the north and armoured vehicles, including carriers, could be placed similarly, except in view of German infantry]. An 88mm AA gun is dug in on-table amongst the buildings south of the rail lines. It’s towing vehicle is in good sight-blocking cover. Luftwaffe crew. Germans Oberst Franklin was born Stefan Straczynski, but adopted his mother’s maiden name in the 1930s, and so far has got away with this. He now finds himself in command of an army on the run. It may soon be time to change sides, but for the moment he has his eye on grabbing for himself a big bargaining chip. In the town behind him, a project codenamed Crusade has been developing some sort of high-tech weapon for the Fatherland. Leaving his HQ in the town’s Foundationist Church, he sets about organising the loading onto a train of the unfinished weapon, its designers, and paperwork and associated paraphernalia. He has just managed this when allied planes flew overhead and dropped bombs. Luckily they missed the engine, but hit the line heading south, and now a section of this has to be repaired, and damaged the carriage with the cargo, but this can be repaired. There is roughly a 50/50 chance, depending on how an earlier scenario goes, that the French resistance have put a hole in the boiler of the train waiting to depart with the Überwappen and smashed a wheel on the carriage with the precious cargo. Fortunately the cargo is still in good enough condition. If this has happened, then this will mean further delay. Oberst Franklin will have to unload this train, get the other train, and use this to shunt the damaged one away, then reload the new one and leave, AS WELL as repair the track. Meanwhile, the allies are fast approaching. Your orders are to defend the town and hold the front. If you can, you will, but this isn’t going to stop you moving the goodies away by train. Disobeying an order to hold the town will only draw attention to yourself. Canadians Objectives: Continue with Operation Babylon: kill as many Germans as you can, destroy vehicles, capture the railhead, and preferably any German HQ in the town. The Germans have been setting fire to HQs as they retreat to destroy their files. Try to get those files intact. You enter from the north edge of the table. |
It is 1944 and the Germans are on the retreat. Allied forces are
pressing forwards and hoping to encircle pockets of the enemy and
force surrenders on a large scale. The Germans, though being forced
back, are still resisting well, and have not collapsed. The nineteen
games of the campaign are all part of this same operation. Every game
of the campaign will have some knock-on consequence for later games.
Both sides must conserve forces and resources, and yet both are
pressed for time. The allies must advance quickly if they are to
catch large numbers of Germans before they can retreat and regroup.
The Germans must react to the changing situation rapidly to ensure
that they are not encircled. Achieving objectives quickly can never
hurt, and can make a great difference to your side’s chances of
success of later games. You will not be told in advance what the
knock-on consequences of your game(s) will be. You will find out what
good you did in after-action reports.
Forces as Sent by WCFD Coordinator Go back to top
A succession of emails (I note these in red, below) kept arriving before the game to finalize some of the forces, preparations, and special events. This made for a very exciting pre-game situation!
The picture to the right shows Tim's Daimler fleet, all of them begging to be included in World Crossfire Day! Sadly, for them, a Staghound took the role of the Daimler - see the comments in the Canadian forces, below (the Daimlers are painted for desert, anyway).
|
|
Scenario Rules as Sent by WCFD Coordinator Go back to top
Some of the following was a bit too complicated and I winged a couple of things, especially the "STR" thing for buildings which I've never heard of, but I am confident the game progressed in the spirit Lloyd intended! Repairing the line (and/or first freight carriage)
The carriage can be repaired at the same time as the line. The same system is used, and 8 rolls of 6 will do the job. If the resistance has not done its work, this is enough to enable the train to escape with the goods. IF the resistance has damaged the train... However, if the resistance fighters have mangled the carriage, there is no point in repairing it. Fortunately for Oberst Franklin, he has some ex-rail workers in his battalion, and he has talked this through with them. He had the foresight to raise the steam on more than one engine, and so two engines are ready to go. His first plan was to use one train to distract everyone from the important train, but now perhaps he will need one train to replace the other. The damaged engine can be towed forwards until it can free-wheel for a while if released. With the right timing of uncoupling it and throwing the points lever, the working engine can go to the right, and the damaged engine can free wheel ahead to the north until it is clear of the y-junction. Then the engine can come back, and with chains it can pull the damaged carriage off the line and let it roll over. Then the carriage on the working train can be loaded and the escape made. To move a train, each German initiative a single stand of German infantry can crew a train, and make one move (this move can curve with the line of course). So, that’s one move to move to the damaged train, then one move to fix towing chains to it, then one to tow it forwards (you’ll need one figure on the points!), at which point roll 1d6 and on 5+ the timing is good and the damaged train rolls free. On 1-4 the two trains follow each other down the same line to the east (not north!) and you need to back up and try again. Another move back to the damaged carriage, another to hook up to it, another to tow it off the rails, another to back up the new train for loading, one last move to get off the table. Loading/unloading the carriage. Unloading can be done in parallel with repairing the line. Same system – 5 rolls of 6 needed, but a maximum of 5 dice can be rolled (after a while, more men just get in the way). Loading can be done only when the new carriage is in place – again, max five dice (15 figures) and this time 8 rolls of six needed (loading proves harder than unloading). If the allies are perilously close, the train can of course set off without all the cargo – the men can just jump aboard and yell “Los los los!” That’s a lot of rules for an IF! Destroying trains An AP shell through a boiler can ruin a train’s performance. For the purpose of AP fire, a train has an armour value of 3. [Tim's NOte: Not sure what this translates to in my house rules - as it was it never came up] Destroying HQ If Oberst Franklin decides it’s time to abandon HQ, he can either simply abandon it and leave, or first take out the transportable valuables (esp. papers), and/or set fire to it. When he decides to rescue valuables, roll 1d6: on a 5+ he has everything out that initiative (one roll per German initiative). He may of course abandon this idea and set fire to it before getting his stuff out. To set fire: roll 1d6 as before, and on a 5+ the fire takes hold. Every German initiative thereafter 1d6 is rolled and on 5+ the fire grows and the umpire notes how many times it grows before someone arrives to put out the blaze. Fires can be put out. A house has either a strength 1, 2 or 3 fire in it (mark with cotton wool or something). Up to three stands of troops can try to fight a fire. A roll of 6 will douse a STR 1 fire (+1 per extra base of fire-fighters, a bit like close combat). A roll of 7 will douse a STR 2 fire. STR 3 fires cannot be put out. Once a fire reaches STR 3, neighbouring buildings are at risk. Fire will spread to a random nearby (within c. A street’s width – use judgement) building on a 5+ per German initiative. If left unchecked, the whole town may burn down. If a building is at STR 3, and a 1 is rolled when seeing if the fire spreads, the building collapses and the fire become a STR 2 fire again. [Tim's NOte: A bit fiddly, I ignored most of this except the ability to burn a building.] Please record and report: All losses for both sides. Be specific. A good tip is to remove killed soldiers not to their storage boxes, but to a “dead pool” which acts as a tally of all losses. Did the HQ burn? Was it captured by the allies? Were the papers captured too? Did the train get away? Was all the cargo aboard too? |
For every rifle stand engaged in the task, you roll 1d6. Similarly
for every three figures from other bases, you roll 1d6 (e.g single
officer plus HMG base with two men on it), and count rolls of 6. The
umpire does this once at the end of every German initiative counting
the number engaged at the END of the initiative. When the total
count reaches 45, the line has been repaired.
|
go to page 8 |
|
go to page 2 |