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Showing posts with label WWI. Show all posts
Showing posts with label WWI. Show all posts

Sunday, January 1, 2017

Tanks for 15mm Great War- British

Yes, I'm building WWI in 25mm and 15mm! Just finished some Mk V's and Whippets. The two tanks with some white dusting are from Battlefront. The others are from a 3-d printer.



Monday, December 26, 2016

Tanks for my 28mm WWI French project

The WWI French project moves on again slowly but surely. This time some 3d printed tanks that I got on TMP.
Almost time to look for rules.


Wednesday, September 28, 2016

28mm WWI French finally based

These guys have been a work in progress for the last 2-3 years. Only 30 more to finish.
And then the Germans and finally I'll be able to try out Trench Wars.




Sunday, February 22, 2015

H-Hiour 10mm 1914 Campaign Game

H-Hour is the working title of Kurt's WWI rules, which have been in the works for at least 5 years. Recently Kurt retired and suddenly found time to step up his 1914 campaign in the Ardennes.
Yesterdays battle pitted  Eli and John's German Divisions  against Jim's French Division. I was happy not to be in that sector when the barrage began. Surprising enough the French held the bridges in that sector but that Division was pretty much wrecked.




Here is Kurt's write up.

I'm the game designer. (Thanks for posting Mike).
It's hex based, which allows the easy calculation of area effect against targets in the hex. We apply all the firepower against each hex to every stand of troops in it. One can spread out to save on losses, but winning close combat requires mass. So as an attacker masses to charge an enemy strong point, they begin to draw more effective fire.
The rules are still being play tested so I'm not ready to send them out yet.
Anyways, in our campaign, we are playing an alternate Lorraine 1914 Campaign. Von Moltke has denied the Ersatz Divisions to the German 6th Army, so the sides are close in strength.
In the game shown, the French 30th Division (XV Corps) had approached the rail junction at Bensdorf, southeast of Metz. Crown Prince Rupprecht (German 6th Army Commander) had railed in three battalions of 21cm and two battalions of 15cm guns to the XXI Corps, and had them counterattack. General Espinasse, commander of the French XVI Corps had suspected such a move and dug in, in response to orders to attack Bensdorf "if practicable."
The opening barrage was very effective, the French being baited into giving their partial-defilade gun positions away by a weak opening before unleashing the full weight of fire. Half the French artillery was destroyed and the other half silenced. The whole front line of French positions were suppressed.
The Germans surged forward and over ran the front line positions easily, taking many prisoners and capturing the 30th Divisions HQ. A brave surrounded French battalion at the village of Guebling was the only real resistance keeping the Germans from sweeping down to the town of Dieuze and cutting off large numbers of French. They were wiped out after 2 hours resistance, but the time they bought allowed the French to rally many survivors.
The attack bogged down shortly thereafter at a low ridge. The German guns were at their range limit and at this distance couldn't distinguish friend from foe. Couriers failed to reach the guns in a timely manner, and sometimes German artillery fire held up their infantry advance.
So the Germans held all artillery fire, and tried to cross the low ridge that separated them from the surviving French with rifle battalions and a few MG. The surviving French artillery had recovered and were firing at 1000m from behind the ridge, in a reverse slope position which was safe from counter battery. This fire ended the advance.
A final German infantry attack, again with no artillery support, through the Forests of Koecking and de Bride that attempted to outflank the French ran into large numbers of dug in French armed with MG. That failed too.
So German infantry losses which were initially negligible rose rapidly, until they had taken about 25% losses and called it a day.
The French 30th Division was wrecked, as well as their Corps artillery. They had taken over 50% losses (many of these were POW). The surviving should have routed but their die rolls were exceptionally good.
So that's what you are looking at.


View from German Artillery

Sunday, January 5, 2014

The Great War 1914 in 10mm.

Only five days into 2014 and we've already had our first 1914 game. Courtesy of Kurt Braunsroth, who has been working on this period for well over 10 years now. We used his homegrown rules H-Hour and his wonderful 10mm terrain. Kurt uses hexes for movement and fire but does a great job not having them stand out. The game was fast and furious with some 6 divisions on the table, though somehow by mistake the French lost! For those going to Siege of August  this month Kurt will be running his game Sat.


Fierce town fighting
French HQ
This German Battery held out against repeated art fire
Germans