WWIII: The bridgehead at Dinnersdorf (1)

A hypothetical Soviet invasion of the West set in a late 1980's or 1990's context. The Russian tide is sweeping west but is threatened in a sector by a bold NATO counter stroke. Soviet XXX HQ have informed XX HQ of a dangerous flank development. West German paratroops have seized a bridgehead over the Anna river. The Anna river line had previously been the right defensive flank of the advance. This is now compromised.

The West German bridgehead must be crushed before a NATO armoured column relieves it. Two Soviet Motor Rifle Regiments are detailed to perform a hasty attack. WG paratroops hold the above half of the board.

The Russian half of the board with the two MR III advancing in parallel, both regiments choosing supported (two) battalion attacks in the centre and a flanker battalion to the left and right. Poor reconnaissance rolls did not reveal any NATO troop dispositions.

The Soviets race forward finding deserted NATO picket posts but no line of resistance. Pre-planned 122mm regimental artillery hammers the above built up areas.

The Naval Past and Climate Research

God bless the RN and their log books say the climatologists (if this indeed is the correct title for the set of learned people endeavouring to an understanding of when/how much/why the earth's climate has changed or is changing).

The pedantic way the RN records in minute detail the weather on watch (under pain of punishment for falsification) can give a wealth of previously hidden data to past periods in places (namely at sea) untapped but equally as important to the study of climate (we are on an aquatic planet after all). Circa WWI.

Trouble is, it's one thing to electronically scan past documents en masse, but it is quite another to have the AI to understand them

Enter:
http://www.oldweather.org/
BBC News article on the Project:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-11532534

Akin to various astronomy projects, Joe Public has been asked to step into the breach and record (i.e. data entry) it for them, all in the name of a good cause. Actually seeing where WWI ships travelled to has a certain appeal to me. Their wanderings are quite interesting, rather than just popping up in the pages of a naval history tome to fight a battle it is just as interesting to see where they travelled to.

I hope it succeeds and it is an interesting source of information in itself.

End of Ancients Campaign

Started way back at the beginning of the year the DBMM Ancients Campaign has been officially wound up. The Spanish Ulcer proudly taking its place for regular weekly entertainment. Announcement of the end was forestalled as we were planning or rather thinking about one big last battle (in a winner take all sense) to decide the top civilisation.

After the last post/battle-report of Greek v Roman intrigue the campaign settled sown to more board game style than table top wargaming action, as fighting a battle purely for the sake of one would have been very counter productive for most (if not all) players. The economic negatives of losing your seat of power crippled Rome and she was barely left with enough men under arms to defend herself against Carthaginian probes.The former would-be masters of the known world were hunted to near extinction in the backwoods of Gaul and Germany.

Greece too suffered from economic pressure of the eastern Hellenes (aka the Seleucid) losing cities more by influence and cultural invasion that direct military action. So the ancient world started to crumble from centre, becoming a hollow vacuum exploited by two superpowers (the Seleucid and Carthaginian) with "safe" borders. In hindsight the mutual mistrust and opportunism of Rome and Greece was their own undoing, hubris being a rank cake to eat cold, but it did have a splendid intensity to it. The game in a sense continues with two players down and one to go but would take an age to conclude in a "last one standing fashion" and mediocre fun just doing a points count exercise.

As it has long since stopped being the battle generator it has to make way for the Spanish Ulcer. Perhaps we shall return to a big Carthage v Seleucid DBMM battle to put a name on the trophy as peaceful cohabitation seemed unlikely.   

Small Spanish Game (3): The Spanish Ulcer (again)

Ignoring the frittering exchanges of fire on the Spanish left which although sometime vicious was just in reality a pinning action, all eyes could not help but be centred on the the "Hill". Time after time the Spanish were tested reformed into a contiguous line until all their reserves were finally committed.

The swirling mass of melee that lasted for several turns:

Until the situation finally breaks decisively one way, as the Spanish "dubious horse" (seen yellow above and missing below) is broken:

This leaves the Spanish infantry on the "Hill" isolated and outflanked and hit by a nasty combined arms attack.

With one inevitable outcome of a disintergrated Spanish right wing, but full honours to the Spanish who fought damned well (fine praise indeed coming from a Frenchman).

The army morale cracks and end of game (spot the difference in the above, the surrounded Spanish infantry can now be canistered as well).

Lessons learned

• The game still played too long taking four club nights
• An average unit size of twelve is now too big for AoE
• We will try it next with eight/nine as the average size!

Small Spanish Game (2): The Spanish Ulcer (again)

Let battle commence, the French try to pin the Spanish Left, attack the Spanish Centre to draw their reserves in and sweep away the Spanish Right by taking the hill and rolling up the Spanish Army. Sounds a good plan but what saw the fates and the dice? 

The French Artillery tickles (rather ineffectively all day, as per their Spanish counterparts):

The Spanish Left starts to get a little disordered:

The Centre/Middle/Hill starts to get very busy:

The Spanish cavalry commander could not resits a flank charge into the French infantry as it attacked the "Hill". Although he bounced the French infabtry had to go square and suffered at the hands of the Spanish artillery (for once). This opportunism on the Spanish Right leads in turn to a flanked "Wing of Horse" which left bruised but not totally beaten.

The dice were evenly split with the French being initially rebuffed in their first attacks but because of the larger unit sizes (as per AoE change made from the last game) they were not spent and could "go again". Likewise it could be said that the Spanish infantry had more staying power but incremently were feeling the power of the French musketry over successive rounds.

The deciding factor seemed to be the optimism of the French infantry commander who seemed confident of "throwing tens" despite statistics to the country. Was this to be a case of French folly or fame?

Small Spanish Game (1): The Spanish Ulcer (again)

Exhausted by the size of the Salamanca (campaign) battle a relatively small Spanish versus French campaign encounter was chosen for a rules-test for "Age of Eagles".

The major change being a transition from average unit sizes of six (this being found to be too small for a AoE unit) to doubling the factors so that an average sized unit became twelve to see how this played out.

Of note: The defending Spanish force was slightly larger than the attacking French force, but given the superior French combat factors the game seemed interesting as it was balanced on a knife edge, perhaps depending on a few choice combat rolls.

Early manoeuvring saw the Spanish ejected out of good defensive wooded terrain by vigorous French bayonets, but this only meant that they formed up in a formidable continuous line making good use of a "hill". This line would have to be breached. 

The Spanish defensive position (Left Flank holding "The Church", with seemingly with ample reserves in the background):

The Spanish Centre and the crux of the Spanish defensive position "The Hill" (once the woods had been lost, as per the French infantry streaming out of them):

Right Flank (seen top above) holds a "body" of Spanish horse of doubtful quality that served to attract doubtful (as in poor) dice rolling.

Next: The crux of the battle

Another Salamanca: The Spanish Ulcer Continued

Another Salamanca Battle Report:

News has filtered through to the French Command in Madrid that the Spanish Ulcer is continuing to be a painful sore to the Emperor who is currently nursing his piles somewhere in Russia.

A strong French army was beaten, nay routed by a stronger Anglo-Portuguese-Spanish force under the command of a certain Arthur Wellesley near the Spanish city of Salamanca (note: NOT the historical scenario but a campaign generated one).

Pictorial evidence may be forthcoming, but despite it taking an epic six club nights to resolve (using "Age of Eagles" with the armies too far apart and too many small units made it an exercise of rolling of the Reserve and Tactical tables). Incredible as it may seem, I forgot to take a camera on each occasion.

The French it has to be said were unenthusiastic and listless in regarding fighting the battle and were hoping to gain a campaign consolation "sneak-away" but Wellesley it must be said had other ideas. Bringing the goods home on the penultimate round before blessed night, Wellesley saw to it that the French army morale was broken and at that point it became less fraternity more every man for himself.

Wellesley held back the Spanish on his left and the British/Portuguese forces in the centre sending the bulk of his elite fighting forces round to his right which smashed the French left. The British/Portuguese centre had a few hairy moments (and two British units even routed past Wellesley himself on his charger) but the almost wavering centre was rallied by the sight of hairy highlanders legs emerging from woods, driving all French before them. The Devil's Handmaidens were on good form. 

Seeing all was lost the French Commanders discreetly left the field each blaming the other in true egalitarian committee style management.

(Campaign note: Wellesley pursued the remnants of this army to destruction in the following campaign turn to make it a rather comprehensive Anglo-Portuguese-Spanish victory)  

Comments:

Of note in the game was the infamous "Wing of British Horse" with the galloping eight battery (three deadly actions starting from the limbered state: move, unlimber and fire combination at canister range). This Horse Artillery STUG formation slew remorselessly as it progressed across the board, claiming French unit after French unit that could not get out of its way because of poor manoeuvring. (OK it killed my French units)

Lessons learned:

• Use historical topography rather than a randomly generated battlefield. 
• Start the armies closer to gether.
• An average size of six elements is too small a unit for "Age of Eagles", one hit renders the unit a liability (and most of the units in the game were size six).    

Hopefully I can source some photographs of the battle at a later date and retrofit them in.