Angus  Konstam's Edinburgh Wargames

Edinburgh Wargames Journal             

                Issue 44  -  March 2010  

 

Periods featured so far in this issue:   American War of Independence (28mm),  Second World War (20mm)

 Sorry, but there will probably be a gap of a few weeks until the next posting. My octogenarian mother had a stroke, and I've had to drop everything to be there.

I'll arrange an Edinburgh guest blogger, and we'll keep the site running in my absence.

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The Battle of Camden, 1780 - American War of Independence  (Black Powder) 28mm

This week's game was a refight of the Battle of Camden, one of the shortest stand-up fights of the American War of Independence. In the real battle, all Cornwallis  had to do was to advance his army towards the Americans. That was enough, and half of the rebel army ran away. As they outnumbered the British by almost two to one, this was a pretty poor showing on their part, even my the standards of militiamen! The flight of the Virginia and North Carolina militia left the Continentals over on the American right completely exposed, and despite some doughty rearguard fighting they were soon forced from the field. Well, few wargame rules can reflect this sort of mass panic, but the organiser (Bill Gilchrist) rated the American militia as poorly as he could, and we set about refighting the battle using Black Powder.

The British began the battle by advancing all along their front - pretty much as they did in the real thing. Webster on the right of the road was fired on by Armand's Legion skirmishers, who halted one of his three battalions. On the left Rawdon came on pluckily, pausing only to redress his ranks before charging into the American line. The trouble was, under Black Powder you get a bonus in hand-to-hand combat for supporting units, and given American numbers, they'd always have more supports than the British. That meant that unless luck was on their side, the British would have a tough time of it against in a head-on fight.

The real question was  - what would the American militia do? They had to take a "break test" every time they suffered a casualty, but thanks to some nifty dice throwing they held their ground. The battle soon degenerated into a mile long melee, with the Americans having more troops in the fight. Over on the British right the 33rd Foot was finally driven from the field by Armand's Legion, which allowed the Virginians to lap round the flank of Webster's remaining troops. Things were starting to look dicey for the British. Still, they had a battle-winning reserve - the cavalry of Tarleton's British Legion. Could they break the Americans and turn the tide?

They charged down the road, but surprisingly the North Carolinian militia stood, and with some help from the American artillery they managed to cause enough casualties to halt Tarleton's charge. Disordered and shaken, the cavalry were soon driven from the field by a combination of musketry and unlucky die-rolling. By that time the remaining British infantry were outnumbered, outgunned, and cut off from support. Both British brigades had now lost a couple of units, while the Americans were starting to mass around their flanks. Clearly history wasn't going to repeat itself, so the British commanders wisely ordered a general withdrawal.

The way it worked, it was a pretty easy defensive victory for the Americans. The British lacked the numbers to strike a decisive blow, and with the exception of the left flank they attacked the American line in penny packets, and not in a co-ordinated assault. Sure, if we refought the game and wanted a more historic result we could slant the odds even further, by giving the British a "terrifying charge" bonus, and depriving American militia units the ability to support their companions. However, that wouldn't make it much fun for the American players, whose victory here was as much a matter of good luck than anything else. The best thing was, we fought the battle to its logical conclusion in a few hours, and everyone enjoyed both the experience and the spectacle. That's what wargaming is all about!

American War of Independence page

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The Road to Troina, Sicily, 1943 (Battlegroup Panzer Grenadier) 20mm

We hadn't played a 20mm Second World War game for a while (not since Journal 38 last September), so we decided it was time to give our lead and plastic another outing. Besides, as a club debate about membership rates was scheduled, we thought a small fast-playing game was the way to go. The scenario was slightly dictated by the terrain, as we had the use of some of Colin Jack's superb mountains. After scouring the history books we decided to base the game rather loosely on the events surrounding the US 1st  Infantry Division's advance on the Sicilian town of Troina, high in the Nebrodi Mountains, to the west of Mount Etna. This small action took place after the breakout from the American bridgehead, and was fought between a German blocking force and an American spearhead.

The battle centred around a bridge, which the retreating Germans wanted to blow up to delay the American advance. The trouble was, a Pz. IV had broken down on the far side, and a team of engineers were trying to get it running again. Meanwhile the German rearguard had to keep the Americans at bay. Some of these German defenders holed up in a small village, while the rest deployed in a riverside olive grove between the buildings and the bridge. They had two platoons available, supported by a Marder III, and a reserve platoon on the far side of the river.

The Americans began by driving straight into the village, where the defenders blew up a building to block the road. This forced the infantry to disembark from their trucks. They came under fire from German infantry, but the Americans winkled out the defenders by  using an M7 Priest, operating in a direct fire role. Two M3 GMC's (halftracks with 75mm guns on them) tried to cover the infantry by skirting round the village, but they were spotted by the Marder, which quickly knocked both of them out. The Americans had cleared the Germans from the village, but they'd paid a price for it. They also needed to do something about that Marder.

The solution was to call in an airstrike, and after one failed attempt a P-40 Kittyhawk arrived. It missed the Marder completely, but it returned for a second strike, and this time it dropped its bomb squarely on top of the stranded Pz. IV. Not only was the tank destroyed, but the blast also killed several stands of German infantry, lurking in a nearby olive grove. The American infantry pressed on into the trees, heading for the bridge.

While the infantry picked their way forward, an American reconnaissance force arrived on the hill overlooking the bridge. Reaching the hill was easy - coming down from it was a bit more tricky, and while one jeep raced down the track, the second one and the M8 armoured car kept bogging down. It was probably just as well - the speeding jeep was promptly overrun by  German infantry, as its machine gun ran out of ammunition at the crucial moment. The M8 was knocked out too, easy prey for that pesky Marder.

By that time the American infantry was approaching the bridge, and this time the remaining Germans decided to withdraw, racing over it to safety. The last to cross was the German battalion commander, who fell as the survivors of his rearguard reached the far side. Sensing their big chance the Americans ran for the bridge, catching the German engineers unawares, who failed to blow it at the critical moment. Seconds later the Americans were amongst them, and the bridge was secured at the point of the bayonet. At that point the remaining Germans withdrew off the table, leaving the battered but victorious Americans tin charge of the bridge.

All in all it was a fast-moving and well-balanced game, and it flowed nicely - just what you'd expect from Battlegroup Panzer Grenadier, published by Caliver Books.  I've said it  before - great rules - shame about the title! Brian from Mutineer Miniatures commanded the Americans, and for his first game he did pretty darned well.

Second World War page 

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