Worst Case Scenario #11: 'Last Stand For The Last Train' - A Chain of Command AAR

Soviet partisans interdict a German troop train.

Hello readers of Analogue Hobbies, Greg here again!  Those of you who regularly check this space will have noted over the past month or so that Curt and I have been working on 15mm winter WWII Germans and Russians in order to do some "proper" Eastern Front gaming. The winter campaigns were of course pivotal to the outcome of the Eastern Front, so I'm glad to have finally finished some winter stuff.  In all of my years of gaming, I had never played a winter game set on the Eastern Front - until this weekend!

Curt and Sarah kindly hosted us in Regina over the weekend, and gaming centrepiece of the visit was a 'Chain of Command' game designed by Curt set in the early winter of 1944 on the Eastern Front. The Red Army is relentlessly hammering at the German lines.  The German offer stiff resistance at select strong points, followed by a scrambled withdrawal to avoid being caught in a Soviet "cauldron".

Curt's scenario was based around one of those withdrawals...with the unique addition of a train!  What we have is a hard-bitten, veteran German battalion commander, who has held out as long as he sensibly could, having packed the remnants of his Kampfgruppe, essentially a reinforced platoon, on to a small troop train to pull back toward the next defensive position.  The Russian forward elements are almost literally on top of them...and then partisans strike! The railway is blocked, the Russian spearhead spots the smoke of the stalled locomotive and approaches to pounce! Grimly the Germans dismount to cover the train while the train's crew furiously tries to repair the rails in the hope of making it out in time...

While Curt administered the game, I commanded the Germans whereas Regina Conscripts Stacy and Jeremy commanded the Partisans and Red Army.  The Germans had three squads of veteran infantry, a group of panzerknackers, a sniper and a pair of panzerschrek teams.  They also had the services of an old Panzer IIIN, an obsolete tank kept with the train for just these situations (apparently a common tactic with troop trains).  They also had the support of a nearby Marder III, which had rolled toward the stalled train to try and help cover it. Finally, we had hope of support from off-table in the form of a StuG IIIG accompanied by a squad of hard-bitten infantry.

The "starting" forces for the Russians included a platoon of infantry (three nine-man squads) and a three T-34/76s.  I say "starting", because for this scenario the forces for the Russians would be endless - Stacy and Jeremy would have the option of simply lifting a shot-up vehicle or squad off the table and having them start over (although this would wear away at their morale level - which was near euphoric at the onset). 

Table layout with scenario starting positions marked.

The game was very, very fun - very engaging, with ups and downs for both sides.  I will take a break from the "usual" AAR approach and tell you very early that the game concluded as the train pulled away with a smattering of German survivors - more than I had hoped - on board. To fill you in on what happened, I thought it might be more interesting (and more cheesy) to imagine it as recalled by one of these surviving foot-sloggers, being debriefed - maybe even interrogated - by some rear-area administrative wanker after the train makes it to the German lines...

*****

Rear Echelon Wanker: "The radio indicated the train had been caught by partisans, that Russians were attacking, tanks and infantry. Yet here you are."

Survivor: "Ja."

"How is this possible?"

"The Oberst."

"The Oberst? Why the Oberst? Maybe you are here because you shirked your duty, instead of fighting? Maybe you were never on this train?"

"I am still here because of the Oberst."

"Alright, you must give me your report."

"The train stopped suddenly. There had been an explosion ahead, on the rails. We knew what that meant - partisans. The Oberst ordered us off the train, to prepare for action. As we dismounted we heard the sound of the Russian tanks. We were nervous, but-"

"Nervous? Of what? Partisans? Ridiculous."

"Of the tanks. The Russians had caught up to the train."

"How were the Russians working with these partisans?"

"I do not know. The Oberst deployed our platoon.  One squad engaged the partisan band. The rest of us were sent to different positions in different blocks of woods near the train as the Russians approached. An old Panzer III came off the rear of the train.  Before we took cover, I saw a Marder off on the far flank.  We were told to hold off the Russians until the engineers repaired the track."

"The partisans attacked the locomotive?"

Soviet partisans await to ambush the train's crew but are foiled...

"They tried, but did not last against us.  They were destroyed."

"And the Russians, then? What happened against their troops?"

"My squad was in the lead position. The Russians came in waves, at least a company. We cut them to pieces with our MGs, at least twenty of them, but the tanks arrived and we were pinned down. The fire was heavy. The unteroffizer was killed outright when a shell hit a tree. The Russian infantry charged again, overrunning one of our panzerschrek teams - I saw them take five men with them before they disappeared under Russian bayonets.  We were next."

"Yet you here you are. What happened?"

"It was all very fast. The Oberst.  He was suddenly in the woods with us. The bullets, the shells from the tanks - nothing seemed to affect him. As the Russians charged our position he loaded his assault rifle and ordered us up, and we repelled the assault - another ten Russians killed. The whole time he was telling us he had seen worse at Stalingrad, that this was nothing to really worry about, even though half our squad was wounded and the unteroffizer was dead, and we were facing two T-34s and at least another company of Russian troops."

"What happened to the Marder?"

"I heard a couple of shots from the gun, but we also heard a large explosion and I saw a large smoke column on the right.  I'm pretty sure a T-34 got it. I saw a T-34 charging hard on the right of our position, toward our other squad, but a sudden attack from a Panzershcrek knocked it out.  I also saw a StuG come across the tracks and provide some covering fire."

Ill-fated Marder hit by an advancing T34.

A hidden Panzerschrek team avenges the Marder.

StuG and its infantry riders arriving as much-needed reinforcements.

"What did the Russians do?"

"They kept coming, in waves, and the tanks drove straight at us. We heard a whistle from the locomotive - the signal the tracks had been repaired, and the train would move on.  The fire on us was so heavy we could not move, and I thought we would be abandoned."

A German marksman trying to lend long-range support to his companions 

A small portion of the Soviet assault.

"But here you are."

"It was the Oberst.  He just kept reloading his assault rifle and shrugging everything off.  Somehow he got the Panzer III to come forward and mask our position.  It was soon knocked out - but we were able to withdraw.  The Oberst led us back to the train, just ahead of two Russian tanks and another pack of Russian troops."

PzIII taken out while attempting to cover the infantry from the T34s.

German troops, ushered by der Oberst, sprinting back to the train which is beginning to move off...

"You were able to board a moving train in front of these Russians?"

"The men on our right, together with the StuG, provided covering fire.  A Panzershreck team damaged one of the Russian tanks, and stood right the face of another before falling to Russian gunfire. The Oberst shoved us on to the train - there were two squads, our marksman, and the panzerknackers. The others had no way to make it to the train as it pulled away."

The German force covering the withdrawal of he train.

"So where is the Oberst then? Why did he not board the train?"

"Last I saw, he was reloading his assault rifle and heading over towards the StuG and the other men. He waved as the train pulled away.  I don't know what happened after that..."

The German survivors begin their own breakout march...

*****

So it was a very, very close game! And very 'Eastern Front', in that nobody really "wins".  The Soviets paid a high price, and the surviving Germans would simply be plugged into another hopeless spot on the front line in order to face another Red Army avalanche...

Stacy and Jeremy played the Russians very well, charging ahead heedless of their casualties.  Their morale level was down to about three (after starting at eleven) when mine finally went to zero. The insane, iron-cross wearing, fire-eating German senior officer was still on the table, together with a StuG (which had been damaged) and two relatively OK squads of infantry as the train pulled away.  The Marder and Panzer III were both wrecks, while one T-34 burned and another had it's main gun knocked out.  I would estimate Russian infantry casualties at about 30 to 40, but then I was playing the German side and am probably over-estimating.  I just know they paid very dearly to drive us from that one wooded area.

I think our next game could focus around the German survivors.  Seeing the train pull away, they begin to despair, but suddenly the Oberst strides towards them, through the snow drifts, calmly loading his Stg 44 while saying "alright fellows, time for a little walk..."

Chain of Command's game mechanics really allow for interesting story-type situations like this crazy German officer (who had to step in because nearly all the other officers on my side were killed and wounded - I had terrible luck with the casualty checks).  Overall a very memorable and fun game, and Curt's figures and table-top looked amazing. Stacy and Jeremy were great, and I can't wait to try Chain of Command again!

Thanks again to Curt and Sarah for their tremendous hospitality this past weekend!

Worst Case Scenario #10 - 'Five Monks in the Bush are Worth One Against the Wall' - 'Chain of Command' set in the Spanish Civil War

A year or so ago I wrote a piece on historical wargaming and playing 'the bad guys'. In it I raised the question that if we take the time to painstakingly model the technical, tactical and aesthetic detail of our miniature battles, could we (or should we) try to replicate the moral ambiguity within our tabletop conflicts as well. So, with this in mind I put together a small Spanish Civil War scenario that, while fictional, contains historical elements which, I think, reflects the brutal nature of that conflict and also casts the accepted heroes in a different light. As is often stated: in war, there is no black and white.

The setting of the scenario is somewhere in southern Spain, near the Republican zone, during the Red Terror of the summer of 1936. In a nutshell, the Red Terror was a violent reaction by extremist elements of the Republican population against the supporters of the Nationalist cause, namely monarchists, a large portion of the officer class and the Catholic Church. As a result, the Terror saw an almost orgiastic killing of approximately 50,000 people linked to these groups, including around 7,000 members of the Catholic clergy. 

As counterpoint, the Red Terror was more than matched by Franco's Nationalists with their widespread purge of suspected 'reds and atheists'. While the Republican pogrom lasted a few months before it was brought under control, the Nationalist purge went on for years, even  long past the war, impacting hundreds of thousands of people. 

All wars are nasty, but civil wars are typically very, very bitter affairs.

Anticlerical Sentiment: A well known photo depicting Spanish Republicans shooting at a statue of Christ.

The scenario begins at a country church which has just been demolished by a Republican force (in platoon strength approximately). The reason for this is that the captain of the Republicans, a crippled veteran of the 1934 right-wing purge, is seeking a particular priest who denounced him and his family, causing his torture and their death. Now that the tables have turned, he searches for the priest throughout the countryside in order to exact his revenge. 

The Republican Captain's armoured command truck parked next to the smoking ruins of the church.

The trail of the priest has lead the Republicans to this small country church which is part of a monastic order. It is believed that the priest is hiding among the local monks, awaiting the time where he can escape to the Nationalist lines. 

Upon the Republicans' arrival the Captain finds his quarry still eluding him. Accordingly, he has those inside the church questioned and shot and the church itself lit on fire. Sitting in his armoured truck, the Captain has been informed by one of the unfortunate parishioners that five monks were last seen working in the surrounding fields and that one of the monks matches the description of the priest. The Captain orders his men to find the five monks and bring them back so he can identify which one amongst them is the priest. The other option is that they can simply hunt down and execute each of the monks in turn, but this will take time and they will have to kill all of the monks to be sure that the priest is dead. 

Anarchists taking a monk under custody...

Meanwhile, a Nationalist detachment stationed at a nearby village has heard the ringing of the church bells before they were silenced by the Republican assault.  The Nationalists are well aware of the Republican Captain's activities and wish him stopped. Accordingly they have dispatched a reinforced platoon to bring him to ground.

This is where the game begins.

The victory conditions are different for each side. For the Republicans it is to bring the priest to justice, through whatever means. For the Nationalists it is to capture or kill the Republican captain to end his anti-clerical pogrom. 

The Republican captain, due to his disability, cannot leave his armoured truck. The truck itself is a makeshift design which is carrying far too much armoured plate for its meagre engine and frame. Therefore each time it moves it has to roll to see if it breaks down (a 1 on a D6). If it breaks down the captain will have to be carried by his men, reducing their overall movement. 

The position of the five monks are secretly marked on a paper map of the tabletop. Once any unit comes within 6" of a monk he is placed on tabletop in that position. They are resigned to their fate and so will not run or fight. They need to be contacted to be brought into custody.

When we played the scenario Jeremy took on the role of the Republican captain and Stacy and John commanded the Nationalists. 

As the scenario progressed, Jeremy's Republican squads managed to round up 3 of the 5 monks on the right flank while under constant fire. Nonetheless the Nationalists, ignoring the plight of the monks, drove the majority of their forces in an assault straight up the center, through the cornfield, towards the Captain's command truck.

Once the Republican position was softened up by rifle fire the Carlists launched their assault. This resulted in a pitched close combat between the Carlists and a squad of Republicans in the graveyard. The Carlists were mauled but they managed to wipe out the Republicans in vicious hand-to-hand combat and gained a position within striking distance of the Captain's command vehicle.

Feeling the heat, Jeremy managed to maneuver the armoured truck away from danger without bogging it. He even coaxed it to come up to a Republican soldier who was holding the fourth monk near a treeline. The monk was questioned but it was not the priest. Nevertheless, he was detained and brought along with the Captain's unit.

Over on the other flank a squad of Anarchists had managed to capture another three monks but were pinned down by a light tank and rifle fire from a Morrocan unit. Fearing that they may be overrun and lose their opportunity to take the monks back to their Captain they chose instead to execute all three of them on the spot. When this happened there was a bit of tension at the table which I found interesting, but with the way the scenario was unfolding it somehow seemed frightfully 'in-character'.

The Nationalists now began to move their entire force to intercept or cut off the Captain in his armoured truck. As if on cue, the truck broke down while trying to reverse out of a field and the Captain had to be retrieved and carried by a nearby squad.

Finally those Republicans carrying the Captain found the 5th and final monk in a nearby field. This monk would either be the priest or, if not, then he had already been anonymously executed on the right flak by the Anarchists. Jeremy rolled to see if he was the priest and discovered he was not. At this point the Captain realized that the object of hatred had been slain without him. His vengeance seemed hollow and bittersweet as he had not been there to witness the act. Feeling empty he released the two surviving monks and ordered his men back to their own lines. 

We ended the game there as I reasoned that the Captain would ultimately be overrun by the faster moving Nationalists. Very shortly, he and his men would find their end, much like the monks and many others that summer, against a nondescript wall in the Spanish sun.

Yes, a nasty little scenario but somehow fitting for the period. All of the guys seemed to appreciate the tone and thought it was good to have a realistic setting for these period pieces. Personally, I don't know if I'll make a habit of this, but I think it's good to attempt from time to time.

So I'll end this post with a historical footnote in order to provide some real-world perspective. Below is a remarkable photograph taken by Hans Gutmann (aka Juan Guzman) of Martin Martinez Pascual, a Spanish priest, aged 25, near Teruel in 1936. 

What makes this photo particularly poignant is that it was taken just a few minutes before Pascual was executed by Republican forces. It is a hauntingly beautiful image, with Pascual in full possession of himself, confident, even showing a faint, whimsical smile. 

It is reported that the young priest held no animosity towards his executioners and even blessed them. He asked to stand facing the firing squad and, just before he was shot, he called out 'Viva Cristo Rey' (Long live Christ the King). I'm not a religious person but I can't help but admire this man's conviction of spirit. Remarkable.

Leaked! Canada's New Secret Weapon: Rocket Dogs

Two Rocket Dogs and their handler. Note the grim determination of this trio...

Forget hunter/killer drones, satellite lasers and Sarah Palin with a coherent thought, these weapons of mass destruction will strike fear into the hearts of Canada's mortal foes (well, at least those we're slightly piqued with - we're much too mild-mannered to have real enemies). 

I unveil to you: Rocket Dogs. 

Yes, yes, Rocket Dogs are the latest in short range K9 munitions. Once launched, these little babies will home-in on their target, lick faces, pee on carpets and dig up gardens. Nonetheless, be forewarned, the deployment and use of Rocket Dogs may violate many articles within the Geneva Convention BUT if you want the job done, these are the tools to do it.

'Rocket Dogs: When you really need somebody licked.'

I hope everyone had a fun and safe Halloween!

Felix checking Oscar's payload before launch.

Fuses lit, two Rocket Dogs begin to lock onto their target (i.e. the neighbourhood cat).

Nancy Wake and Three Femme Fatales of the Free French - 28mm WWII Female Partisans

Nancy Wake is perhaps one of the most famous partisans who served in occupied France during the Second World War. Not French herself, Wake was in fact a New Zealander, raised in Australia, who became an agent of Britain's Special Operations Executive (SOE) after running her own operations in Marseilles earlier in the war. 

Nancy Wake - the 'White Mouse' of Auvergne

By 1943 the Gestapo considered Wake (whom they called the 'White Mouse') to be their most wanted person and had a 5-million franc bounty on her head. She ran a Maquis unit in the Auvergne, which she helped raise to an amazing 7,500 under arms. From April 1944 to the final liberation of France her force tied down approximately 22,000 SS personnel, inflicting over 1,400 casualties while only taking around 100 themselves. For her service Wake was awarded: the Croix de Guerre, Officer de la Legion d'Honneur, the Medal of Freedom (USA), the George Medal (UK), the RSA Badge in Gold (NZ) and the Companion of the Order of Australia. She died in the UK in 2011, aged 98. At her request, her ashes were spread in the same area of France where she had fought with the resistance.

Ms. Wake later in life.

Inspired by Wake's story I decided to paint a series of female partizans for my 28mm collection. Two of the castings, the gal with the shotgun and the other sporting the Browning automatic, are from Copplestone's 'Gangsters' range. While technically designed for Prohibition era America I found their clothing close enough to 1940s fashion to fit the bill. The other two women, armed with the Sten SMGs, are from Artizan miniatures' fine WWII range. 

Of the group, I quite like the pose of the girl with the Browning automatic - a lot of pent-up rage there. 

A counterpoint to her is the lass with the pump shotgun - she's a bit more restrained and matter-of-fact, I think. 

For the blonde waitress I wanted her base to look as if she were in a French cafe so I made a rug with a bit of milliput and painted-in a black-and-white chequer tile floor.

The final figure seems to capture the proud, war-weary Nancy Wake. She is slightly stooped and weatherbeaten, but holds her Sten with a certain grim confidence. 

I had a lot of fun working on this group. Not sure what I'll do with them yet. Perhaps use them in some kind of 'Top Secret RPG' scenario set in Vichy France.

Next for this project will be some corresponding beret-wearing lads, with smouldering gauloises, striped t-shirts and vicious looking accordions. 

Kidding!

It's Cold Out Comrade - 15mm WW2 Russians in Winter by Greg

For the motherland!!

Greetings once again to the good folks at Analogue Hobbies, Greg here.  In his recent post, Curt unveiled his Germans for our latest little project - late WW2 in winter on the eastern front in 15mm.  He asked me to share some progress photos on the Russian side of the project, so here is a Russian rifle platoon and tank platoon decked out in winter gear and basing.

You will see in these photos that a) I do not have a light box (one of these days maybe, but anyway) so sorry about the photos and b) that I have not yet cottoned on to Curt's very sensible basing scheme using different shapes to denote different functions in skirmish gaming (hex for officers etc).

Part of my hobby nuttiness is an undue rigidity in my preferences on basing i.e. if the infantry are round then they are all round dammit! This works well enough for skirmishing with 15mm sci-fi figures, where the function/role of an individual figure can stand out against the ambient table background a little better because of crazy painting, large weapons among other factors.

But for skirmishing at 15mm WW2, it's tricky to see the different weapons sometimes (or maybe all the time for some players).  So I have ordered some new bases! But in the interim, labels will have to do for my fellows until I get them sorted on to new bases....anyway, on to the figures!

Russian infantry advance through the snow

A sniper waits in ambush - the snipers were pretty scary when we tried Chain of Command, so I thought it would be fun to include one

The infantry in this post are from Peter Pig (in my opinion the very best WW2 15mm figures out there, if you can figure out their bloody web site).  The only exception is the sniper - a spare from a Battlefront pack.  The infantry contingent includes three nine-man squads, two officers and a sniper.  Enough for a Bolt Action of Chain of Command-type skirmish game.

Another view of the charging Russian troops - beautiful sculpts from Peter Pig

After experimenting with different sorts of snow-flake type groundwork products, I opted instead for gel.  I used a mix of different gel mediums on the bases, painting the snow a light blue-grey, and then dry-brushing various shades of white, before tossing in some dirt and adding some grass.  The photos make the grass look really yellow but that is a reflection of the lighting issues on the photos - the grass looks much less lively in person.

The officers are front and centre in this shot

I have been wanting to do winter WW2 gaming for years, and talking about doing it for years, but I always hung up on the details before getting started.  I didn't really know how to do snowy terrain.  It seemed pointless to duplicate my existing 15mm stuff. I didn't want to get another set of table terrain.  Lots of reasons (read: excuses) which, oddly, never popped into my head when I thought of doing, say, desert terrain.  So I'm glad Curt finally kicked me into gear on this one.

There are so many compelling campaigns from winters on the Eastern Front - the counter-offensive at Moscow, the counter-offensive around Stalingrad, fighting around Kharkov, the liberation of the Ukraine, Korsun and Cherkassy pockets.  There is something about the winter of the Eastern Front that is extremely mournful...I can't wait to play some winter games.

The NCO is a blurry with the SMG, but you can see the LMG on the right

The tanks are all from the Plastic Soldier Company. Close inspection will reveal I likely put the wheel assemblies on backwards on one of the tanks.  I don't what it is about model tanks, but that is just something I'm prone to doing. Even the relatively straightforward PSC model tanks are a cluster f*ck in my modelling hands...oh well.  I will never turn heads at the IPMS.

T-34/76 from Plastic Soldier Company

A great thing about the PSC tanks is the spare turret - you can upgrade your drive on Kharkov to a drive to the Oder with the quick switch of a turret!

Quick turret switch and you upgrade to a late-war Guards tank regiment with T-34/85s in no time

Many winter vehicle models I have seen online have a very pristine white paint jobs on them. But that never makes sense to me.  I imagine the life of tankers on the Eastern Front. Who had time to take the tanks for a nice, proper paint job at the depot?  The tanks were needed at the front! The pressure was on to continue the advance! Particularly on the Eastern Front, where the Russian army typically launched shattering counter-offensives and offensives in the winter.  The tanks were driven through all manner of rough terrain, in incredibly tough elements, in combat conditions that to my mind would wear away a rapidly applied field paint job.

Ready to roll toward the Baltic and the Oder river

And winter is seldom pristine on vehicles of any colour.  Snow looks pretty and white in post cards (and at Christmas), but I know from growing up here in Winnipeg, snow gets dirty, mushy, and messy in no time at all.  So I tried to reflect that on these tanks - hard-living and hard-fighting T-34s of the Motherland!  Lots of paint chipping, weathering, soot and mud from the hard work of driving the fascist vipers from Mother Russia.

Soot. Exhaust. Mud. Fun!

I'm really glad to have made a start on the winter 15mm stuff.  I look froward to getting these on the table against Curt's fine late-war winter Germans next month.  I am also going to start on some winter 15mm Germans of my own so we can do some winter games here with the group in Winnipeg.  And the neat thing about winter is that once you have winter Germans, then maybe I can go to some winter Americans...and Battle of the Bulge?  One thing at a time...