Saturday, March 14, 2015

Crossing the Werra River: 15mm Battlegroup Modern and the Battle of Laubach PART II

I got to play a few rounds of the Werra River scenario and things are really heating up!  Gerry has proven himself mightily resilient even for TA and the ATGMs claimed some kills already.  Through the battle, the Soviet advance column commander switched tactics and tried a new approach towards Laubach...

T-72s approach Laubach
 The Soviets roll a "3" and put 3 T-72s on the road.  The lead elements approached the wooded area next the road and open fire on the TA infantry hunkered down in the ruins next to the bridge.  Following the shots,  a T-72 explodes into a fireball as a HOT missile slices through its frontal armor.  The track has fallen victim to a Jaguar on "Ambush" orders.  The second shot at the trail T-72 is a miss.

The T-72 platoon deploys on the road
 The German FO in the church tower calls the mortar section and relays the coordinates.  The 81mm mortar opens up but fails to stop any of Ivan's thick-skinned tanks.
"Back up!  Back up!  I can't see them but I know they're out there!"  Last words of Senior Serzhant Simonov

"Scratch One Ivan - those HOT missiles are worth every pfennig!"

The next turn, the infantry arrives.  The TC in another T-72 calls to the driver "There's infantry up ahead with missiles.  GET OFF THE ROAD"
 The BTR80s tuck into a culvert along the roadway as German Jaguar gunners scan for more targets.

A T-72 enters the cornfield and another BTR moves in behind the leader.
 The Soviet commander on scene decides it's suicide to move all the tracks and vehicles in so he orders the infantry to dismount along their left in the trees and approach the ruins on foot.  The plan is to assault the ruins with foot troops and then provide fire support to them while they cross the bridge.  Simple enough?

The flanking column arrives.  2 BTRs from another company show up and head down the Waldmeister's trail.
 The lead infantry elements reach the tree-line and open fire on the TA infantry which they spot no problem.

 A firefight breaks out with the Soviet RPD gunner and his number 2 gunner pouring rounds into the rubble pile.  The Landsers are pinned!



Soviet dismounts enter the woods


There they are Sergei!  Open fire!!

The Soviets pin the Germans down in the rubble

Meanwhile on the German left, 2 BTRs cautiously approach from the trail.  They will have an unpleasant surprise waiting for them.

The T-72 in the cornfield spots a Jaguar and opens fire!  It's curtains for this ATGM section
 No side has a decided advantage as of yet and the action is still heating up.  Casualties are mounting but we're still far from our mutual breakpoints of 28.

 A German turn sees an "open fire" order with the dug-in infantry squad.  Their MG-3, G-3 rifles, and the Carl Gustav do wonders, pinning and eventually routing the Soviet infantry squad.  There's still another one out there but if they can rout the next squad, this battle could go alot easier.

The Soviets still have 122mm on stand-by however and the FO just arrived this turn...

We beat them!  Hold tight boys - this fight is just starting.

17 comments:

  1. The t72s and Soviet motor rifle troops look excellent (and you have epaulette detail on 15mm wow). Love the viewpoint of the pics and the paint jobs really work.

    I'd love a copy of your WWIII rules that you mentioned - would love to try them. Appreciate you used Battlegroup 'Reforger' here though.

    Re. our other chat re. Muskets and Mayhem. I noticed that there are some command mechanisms similar to what we discussed in the new 'Land of the Free' rules for AWI. So maybe the ideas of the command radius and disintegration issues aren't so crazy after all.

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    1. Thank you Darren! I love Battlegroup for Moderns as it has a great "back and forth" feel to it and is very fast-paced.
      I will look at my various rules and send you some copies when I am back home today. May be a little late your time.

      As for M&M, I still want to play-test all of our ideas on the board and see which ones are the most sound!

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  2. Nice! I like what your doing here with the BG rules. Just where can I get the amendments/ rules your using with the main BG rules? Like to have a go myself actually.

    Well done! Keep it up.

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    1. Thanks Kurtus! I will send you my supplement for BG and vehicle cards. All the data comes from the board game Team Yankee. Send me your email.
      Steve

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  3. Awesome. My main email: forgenbrush@yahoo.com

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  4. Cor blimey! Its all action in West Germany. Excellent work all around Steven.

    Go back a year ago and compare your scenery and photography. Total leap in quality. Keep up the good work.

    I was wondering when the Soviet arty would lay their hand.

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    1. Thanks, Paul - I am pretty happy with my setup now and my wife's camera works great!

      Now that the FO is on the table, expect a few 122mm strikes coming soon!! Thanks for commenting sir!

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  5. Brilliant work! Plus Jaguars, one almost never sees these on the table (at least not in 15mm). Probably because many gamers don't find them as flashy as a Leopard. Btw. the Jaguars where most of the time deployed with side skirts similar to those of the Marder/Leopard. It might pay of to model these with some plastic or cardboard. The wavy pattern can easily be copied from 1/100 Roskopf Marder skirts, which you already have.

    Furthermore, would you be willing to share your notes / BG rules mod with me too? I'd really like to try them out!

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    1. Portblackjack,
      I think they're extremely valuable as units on the table, especially since they carry those nasty ATGMs on them!
      Thank you for commenting. Send me your email and I'll send you my modern supplemental information for BG, along with my current vehicle cards.

      If you look back in my blog, you can find my modified penetration table for BG Modern. I use Team Yankee (the GDW Board Game) vehicle statistics for armor and penetration and also have some snazzy vehicle cards for BG Modern (which I call Battlegroup REFORGER)

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    2. Steven,

      thank you!

      My mail address is rabies19 at yahoo dot com . (I'd write it in plain, but sadly spam is always a problem.)

      I've seen the modified tables. Good work on those! The vehicle cards also look good. If I'm lucky, I can get a game or two under my belt over the easter break and try everything out.

      You sure are right in regard to the Jaguars value! Low silhouette, plus HOT missiles with an under armor auto loader was a nasty package. I'm working on few of them too at the moment. Btw. if you need information about their unit TOEs etc. drop me a line I can send you good one.

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    3. Portblackjack,
      Will - do. I am working this evening but will send you some tomorrow (Monday). If you have any ideas for improvement after playing, let me know. This game system has much potential. As I said before, I used the "Team Yankee" armor and penetration values as well as the CRT and turned it into a product for BG. It has worked very well for me so far.

      I will send you both products soon. Thank you for commenting! I will take you up on the offer for the unit TOE's. Bundeswehr TOEs are mysterious and hard to come by. (especially the Brigades and Panzer Battalions - I'm having a hard time pinning all those units down in III (West German) Corps.

      Steven.

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  6. Hello love the use of the battlegroup rules to play modern battles . Any chance I can see a copy ?

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    1. If you need a email please let me know

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    2. Greetings write in your email as best you can and ill send you everything ive got.

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  7. Thank you very much walkaboutgamez@gmail.com

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