Category: Periods

Operation McLain

OPERATION MCLAIN – June 1968

This was our third, and final, game in a trilogy of scenarios based on actions conducted by the 173rd Airborne in Vietnam.
This game was based around Operation McLain, where the US and ARVN sought to regain control over rural communities they lost during the Tet Offensive. The company was supported by their mortar teams and a firebase of 105mm howitzers dedicated to their operations, plus the possibility of air support from the US Navy. The mission was to locate and engage suspected NVA and VC units in the area.
The NVA comprised a reinforced company atop Hill 435 – three rifle platoons, plus company mortars, and a command bunker with the Company HQ consisting of the CinC, a mortar spotter with radio, plus a HMG. The US forces had advanced too closely on the hill and I could tell that if they requested artillery it would be refused due to proximity of friendly troops. This would cause them a lot of problems. But Cpt Smith wisely called artillery in on the reverse slope so he could walk the artillery in to position.
The VC were in position around the northern village and were an understrength local force company of three platoons. Lt Francis had the job of sweeping through the villages, something he’d also done in the previous game.
The area was not a Free Fire Zone, so authorisation was required for any support from artillery or air. The southern village was neutral, trying to keep its head clean. Whilst the northern village was firmly in the grip of the local VC who were using it to store war materials.

Airborne assault underway

Company Commander’s report of military Operation McLain in the vicinity of Da Lat June 1968.

Our company of 173rd Airborne was ordered to conduct a recce and aggressive sweep to the north of our designated LZ , clearing the two villages in the SE and the NE, taking Hill 435 and to locate and destroy any enemy we engaged. A US press team joined our company and for security reasons I decided they should be attached to the Company HQ.
The company HQ, the weapons platoon and press team made the first Heli drop in middle of the LZ and prepared to give fire to any enemy that may attack platoons 1, 2 and 3 as they came in to land in quick succession.
All platoons came in and landed without any interruption from the enemy. Platoon 1 (Lt. Francis) to the right of Weapons platoon and HQ’s position. Platoon 2 (Lt. King) to the left and Platoon 3 (Lt. Claridge) to the left, just behind and between HQ & weapons platoon and Platoon 2. Lts King & Claridge were ordered to advance their platoons with caution – hunkering down in cover at intervals – towards Hill 435.
Lt Francis’ platoon advanced cautiously towards the village to the SE. HQ and Weapons platoon advanced also.

Weapons platoon gives supporting fire

Hill 435 was likely to be heavily defended, probably by regular NVA. Enemy positions were soon located on the Hill and consequently our weapons platoon commenced to lay down heavy fire with
M60 machine guns and 75mm recoilless rifles with devastating effect. Our company mortars were called in to fall on the north sector of the hill. This was potentially dangerously close to Pltn’s 2 & 3, but with careful direction from our Forward Observer and myself the mortar rounds landed accurately on target. Lts King & Claridge were ordered to temporally halt and hunker down whilst our mortars hit the top of Hill 435.
Meanwhile, enemy mortar rounds started to fall in the vicinity of our HQ and Pltn’s 2 & 3. This seemed to be an enemy observed bombardment as the barrage was steadily moved to the north for several minutes which put more of our platoons in danger.
It was under this bombardment that Lts Claridge and King took casualties including one fatality. Lt King himself had to be medevaced out by Heli along with three other casualties. It could have been worse, but Lts King and Claridge had kept their men hunkered down which undoubtedly protected them from further casualties.

Weapons platoon about to take mortar fire

Casualties were also taken by the weapons platoon’s machine gun squad and unfortunately one of the Press team had to be medevaced out by Heli also. Our mortar bombardment of Hill 435 caused regular NVA to move down the hill into the fire from weapons platoon which caused heavy enemy casualties. The enemy mortar bombardment stopped abruptly and we at HQ realised that the enemy mortars and FO were probably on top of Hill 435 and were destroyed by our mortar barrage. I ordered our barrage to cease to allow Pltns 2 & 3 to advance up the hill. A squad from Pltn 2 skirted around the hill to the west to discover an enemy unit of VC irregulars.
Lt Claridge discovered an enemy bunker on the upper slopes of Hill 435. After 2 light assault weapons were fired at the bunker without success it was an M79 blooper round that went straight into the bunker through the slit and despatched it with a devastating explosion.

Weapons platoon about to take mortar fire

Navy Air support was requested to engage suspected enemy positions to the north of the hill but was not available at that time.
By this time, the weapons platoon was also engaging enemy units, which looked like VC irregulars, to their front and right front, again pouring withering fire into them from the M60s and the recoilless rifles. Lt King’s platoon, under command of an NCO as Lt King was seriously wounded and evacuated, engaged irregular VC on the slopes of the hill and around the north of the hill.
Lt Francis’ platoon searched and cleared the village successfully in the SE sector and advanced through the dense jungle terrain towards the second village. Despite comms problems, they engaged and routed more irregular VC to the North of the dense terrain area and eventually entered the village. Several enemy bodies were recovered along with a concealed arms cache.
All across our company’s front, the enemy completely dispersed, abandoning several bodies and equipment. The enemy bunker turned out be the NVA’s Company HQ and also contained a heavy machine gun crew which would have been lethal for Pltns 2 & 3 had they managed to open fire before the bunker was destroyed.
The company took relatively very light casualties and all the objectives were taken. Apart from the wounded Press journalist no further civilian casualties were observed or reported.
All in all, I’d say a very successful mission. Very well done gentlemen.
173rd Airborne and the USA are very proud of you all.

AAR – 1st Platoon (Lt A Francis)

As per company orders, 1st Platoon dropped in the SE corner of the LZ behind CoHQ. 1st Squad immediately moved to search the nearby village of Bien Na while 2nd and 3rd took up position along the road, covering the nearby jungle boundary.

1st platoon enters the village of Bien Na

Following the all clear from the village, considerable mortar and small arms fire began to be heard from the western side of the LZ where CoHQ and the other two platoons were engaging the enemy on the hill. 2nd and 3rd squads crossed the road and entered the jungle to flush out any enemy towards the village situated NE of the LZ.
At this point, a communications glitch hit the platoon. Radio comms within the squad went down and we also dropped off the company net for a period. I personally was with 2nd squad and managed to establish voice contact with 3rd, but contact was lost completely with 1st who, lacking further orders, held position in the SE village. I continued to lead 2nd and 3rd squads towards the northern treeline although progress was hampered by dense undergrowth and lack of working radios (game note – the umpire accidentally dropped 1st platoon’s activation card on the floor and it was missing from the deck for several turns – hence little activity from the platoon until it was discovered !).
Eventually the radio net was restored; I ordered 1st squad to catch up with the rest of the platoon at the double (since we’d already swept the jungle ahead of them they were able to move swiftly). The jungle was less dense on its northern edge and I took 2nd and 3rd to the treeline, and we spotted a VC platoon in the paddy fields between the trees and the other village. We immediately engaged them with all available firepower, reinforced shortly after by the arrival of 1st squad. Multiple enemy casualties were observed before the survivors fell back; a subsequent follow-up sweep confirmed at least 10 enemy KIA, all VC. The platoon suffered no casualties in return, as enemy return fire was sporadic at most.

VC troops engage 1st platoon in the jungle

Following the cessation of enemy fire, all three squads advanced to the NE village. 3rd squad on our left flank briefly engaged another VC unit along with the weapons platoon who were positioned to our west as we emerged from the jungle. The enemy rapidly withdrew under heavy fire, casualties unknown.
As all enemy activity had ceased at this point, the platoon conducted a post-action sweep of the second village, uncovering a VC weapons cache.

The last few VC about to break

AAR – 2nd Platoon (submitted by Platoon Sergeant R. Turpin 2ic 2nd Platoon, vice 2LT A. King WIA)

2nd Platoon was deployed by helicopter several hundred yards to the south of Hill 435, arriving between 1st and 3rd Platoons. Sgt Turpin with 2nd and 3rd Squads were in the lead, with 1st Squad, armed with an M72 LAW in reserve with the 2LT.
Initial orders from Co HQ were to advance cautiously on hill 435 in conjunction with 3rd Platoon.
On arrival LT King noted the lack of cover in the immediate area of the LZ and ordered the platoon to move toward the cover of some elephant grass between the LZ and hill 435.
During the advance 3rd Squad spotted hostile forces on the hill, estimated at platoon strength, and I passed this intelligence back to the LT. 1st Squad acted on this information laying down fire on the enemy position while the LT contacted the company mortar platoon to request support.

NVA 1st Platoon on the hill

2nd Squad hunkered down and fired on the hill, while 3rd Squad attempted to get into the elephant grass, but were slowed down by the dense grass, making little progress, however they did manage to lay down some fire on the hill. The LT and 1st Squad closed up at the double, the LT’s request for mortar support was denied as the platoon was considered to be too close to the point of aim.
The LT was now close enough to direct 3rd Squad to open fire, while he checked paddy fields to the east of Hill 435 for possible enemy activity, finding none. At this point the LT and 1st Squad came under enemy mortar fire, with PFC Houston KIA.
Shortly afterwards LT King was grievously wounded by the sustained mortar fire and needed to be CASEVAC’d.

Lt King injured by NVA mortars

As platoon 2ic I took command, and ordered a team from 1st Squad to evacuate the LT and PFC Houston’s body to the dust-off RV point. I ordered the remainder of 1st Squad to move to the west to try to escape the mortar’s beaten zone. 2nd and 3rd Squads managed to advance into the elephant grass and take cover.
2nd and 3rd Squads both engaged the enemy on the hill with effective fire, at least two casualties were seen to fall. The team from 1st Squad saw the LT and PFC Houston loaded onto the dust-off chopper and then re-joined the rest of 1st Squad.

US forces start to take casualties

With the LT out of action 2nd Platoon would be vulnerable to accumulated shock hampering movement and reducing the effect of their weapons.
Someone in the chain of command must have persuaded the Mortar Platoon to risk danger close fire as our mortars began to fall on the rear of the hill.
Elements of 3rd platoon to our east advanced upon the hill to discover a well concealed bunker with an HMG. I ordered 1st Squad to deploy their LAW in an attempt to destroy the bunker but the shot missed. 2nd and 3rd Squads were more effective, continuing to fire at the enemy on the hill outside the bunker inflicting more casualties which caused the enemy to withdraw rapidly.
3rd Platoon tried to take out the bunker with their LAW but also failed. One of their Squads had better luck as they appeared to get a grenade into the bunker, destroying it.
With the bunker destroyed by 3rd Platoon, 2nd Platoon’s 2nd and 3rd Squads advanced to search the vacated enemy positions flanking the bunker, finding 8 NVA KIA who had been abandoned by their comrades. We left evaluation of the bunker’s ruins to 3rd Platoon.
There was then a lull in the action (2nd Platoon’s card wasn’t drawn before the end of the turn) as the VC mortar’s fell silent.

NVA 2nd platoon comes off the hill to avoid US mortars

2nd and 3rd Squads advanced to the western side and crest of hill 435, but 1st Squad’s follow up was severely hampered by the elephant grass. 2nd and 3rd Squads could see some activity in the jungle to the north of Hill 435 and attempted to identify if there were any enemy forces present, but the results were inconclusive. 1st Squad made slow progress through the elephant grass.
After another lull in the action, 3rd Squad confirmed no enemy presence immediately to the north of the hill, so 1st and 2nd Squads continued their cautious advance. 2nd and 3rd Squads continued their advance across the hill, with 1st Squad still battling their way through elephant grass.
As they advanced 2nd Squad spotted a reduced strength VC platoon in the jungle to the north east of hill 435, 3rd Squad didn’t spot them and 1st Squad FINALLY got out of the elephant grass, only to encounter the jungle on hill 435!

US troops sweep across the hill mopping up stragglers

Following another lull in the action 2nd and 3rd Squads laid down withering fire on the VC platoon they had spotted earlier, causing 4 casualties and forcing the VC to withdraw. 1st Squad cleared the jungle and advanced in the clear area to the west of hill 435.

VC take cover in the rice paddies

At this point Co HQ confirmed all enemy forces had withdrawn, leaving the Company in control of hill 435 and the surrounding villages.
Post battle analysis confirmed an overwhelming military and political victory for free world forces.
Update: 2LT King was evacuated to Tuy Hoa field hospital where he was stabilised, awarded a Purple Heart, and subsequently flown to Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Bethesda, Maryland for further treatment. The NCOs and other ranks of 2nd Platoon wish the LT a speedy recovery.

It ain’t easy being a dust off pilot – you might lose your tail rotor

AAR – 3rd Platoon (Lt J Claridge)

As part of Operation McLain the company was sent to Da Lat for a reconnaissance-in-force, once again 3rd Platoon were going to arrive last to the LZ. This time the boss said everyone was to be at the LZ before we started moving out so we could bring our full weight against the enemy, this was a welcome plan given last time we went in hot, taking fire on the way down.
Embarking on the UH-1 transports we were en route when the CO confirmed his teams were in place and the other platoons were already deployed on the ground. Then everything changed, radio chatter confirmed 1st Platoon was checking out a local village, 2nd Platoon was advancing into the elephant grass at the foot of Hill 435, while M60’s of the platoon HQ were already engaging targets on the hill. So much for the plan, then the birds took a sharp swing towards the LZ to avoid the ranging shots coming in from enemy mortars, it was going to be another hot landing.
As 3rd platoon arrived at the LZ we were still under orders to hold until the full force was gathered. But mortar shells were already falling to our rear and there was intense fire being poured onto the hill. After a few failed attempts to get clear orders from the CO we decided to head towards the hill and get as much distance from the mortars as possible.
It wasn’t enough, 2nd and 3rd squads got caught in the barrage and were lucky to avoid any casualties. 2nd Platoon was making cautious progress towards the hill while 1st platoon was nowhere to be seen. The CO was in a fierce firefight with the enemy on the hill, but it seemed like they had the upper hand. We finally got conformation to ditch the hold orders and advance on the hill.
Despite getting out of the barrage 2nd squad came under fire from the hill causing a casualty that needed immediate evac. Still trying to avoid the mortar fire and seeing 2nd platoon hunkering down again rather than make progress towards the hill we decided it was time to move. 1st squad ran through 2nd platoons’ positions in the elephant grass and advanced to the base of the hill.
3rd squad rushed past the platoon HQ to the road junction near the hill, taking a shocking amount of fire but managing to avoid any casualties. There was still no sign of 1st platoon.
At last, we saw the first enemy units retreating off the hill and so 3rd squad rushed up the hill to flush more of the enemy out only to run straight into an enemy bunker. 3rd squad quickly hunkered down and radioed in the bunker’s location. Immediately two rockets flew over but to no effect, later 1st squad reported one was theirs, I guess the other must have come from 2nd platoon. With the failure of the rockets 3rd squad engaged at point blank range and the bunker erupted in flames.

3rd platoon takes out the bunker

With the bunker out and the mortar threat neutralised by our own supporting mortar fire we advanced off the hill to support the platoon HQ. VC could be seen retreating from the jungle opposite the hill, I guess that’s where 1st platoon got to, and from the fields next to the far village. Taking up position, we continued pouring fire onto the remnants of the NVA from the hill and the VC units. 2nd squad regrouped after their casualty was evac’d and joined in to support platoon HQ. The fight had clearly been taken out of the enemy, and we were ordered to halt as they dispersed. Looking forward for some R&R and buying 3rd squad some well-earned beers.

A Corsairs eye view

Final Word

I’ve really enjoyed playing these games and learning the rules as we go. But the thanks for that must go to Pete, Andy, Jeremey, and Tony, who all entered the spirit to create a great story and narrative to the games. I think Charlie Don’t Surf (CDS) offers a splendid take on the Vietnam War – we are used to seeing those 28mm games where a platoon approaches a village and takes some fire, but games at the level of CDS give more context to those encounters and more accurately reflect the experience of the Vietnam War where it was all about company and battalion actions rather than the platoon (a certain film from the 80s left us with that impression). A great set of rules that provide a very good game.

They will always remember the day the soldiers came…

Assassins & Templars – rules review

Stephen takes us through a recent free set of medieval rules that appeared in the Wargames Illustrated magazine.

‘Assassins & Templars’ (A&T) was a free set of rules that came with issue 455 of Wargames Illustrated. If you missed it then you can purchase a copy from WI, along with all the paraphernalia required. Or you can download it all free from the WI website (not the rules though – if you missed the free copy you now have to buy it).

Having downloaded the card decks from WI and printed and cut them out, I thought I would have a test game because it was absolutely chucking it down with rain outside.

It has a lot in common with its predecessor: Here’s The Ruckus. Ruckus is focussed on the War of the Roses. Both use the exact same mechanics and if you know one then you know the other. Warbands comprise 12 models. They are led by three ‘Hero’ figures – a single commander (a knight) and two sub commanders (squires, or lesser knights). The remaining 9 models are made up of spearmen, crossbowmen, archers, etc. In A&T they have introduced horse archers. The Hero models each control 1 or more of the retinue troops so on a simple level a warband will comprise three 4-man ‘Spears’.

Hero figures also have specific traits or special skills. The list of traits in A&T is much smaller than Ruckus but I see no reason at all why the expanded trait list can’t be imported into A&T.

Turns are completed by turning cards in the Hero deck. This will tell you which Hero (and Spear) to activate, or it could be a Cunning Plan card. The Cunning Plan deck contains cards that allow extra bonuses – things like a re-roll, etc. But there’s also a Divers Alarums card – these are better thought of as special events.

Both Ruckus and A&T are aimed at ‘narrative games’ where the game is more about the story and the cinematic elements of the game than a simple win or lose. To that end there are rules in there for things such as climbing, falling, swimming, balancing, etc. An important part of this, and an important part throughout the rules, is the concept of the ‘Mishap’.

If you roll a 1 when shooting, for example, you have a Mishap (e.g. bow string snaps) or if you have a Mishap whilst climbing you may fall. This whole section on Mishaps felt ‘tacked-on’ to me. I love the concept, and it’s what gives narrative games their…well, narrative. But there was quite a bit of this in A&T – sub-rules just tacked on (‘If X or Y happens then check table C for the effect). Arguably no big deal, but at the same time it didn’t feel like some things were baked in to the rules. You get the feeling that during the play test something happened and someone suggested, ‘well, if that happens just get them to roll on a Mishap table’. And they just shrugged their shoulders and said, ‘yeah, alright’. And there’s a different Mishap table for each different action.

It’s a free set of rules, so no big deal. Good concept, average execution.

Right then, Heroes have a command radius. If a member of their ‘Spear’ is outside they are considered ‘Feckless’ and, you guessed it, they have to roll on a table to see what they do.

Things are kept nice and simple though. You need a 6+ to hit at long range, and a 5+ at short range (different ranges for different weapons). Melee is a bit more involved, as you would expect with a low-model count. What will happen is that when two (or more) models move into contact they will fight up to three consecutive melee phases. In the first phase, all combatants fight at their full potential. If both are still standing you conduct a second phase of melee immediately, where chances to hit are reduced. If they are both still standing after that then a third, and final, phase of melee is fought immediately – still with a reduced chance to hit and now unable to bring to bear any special skills. All this is to reflect fatigue during combat. This means that there’s a chance to pull something back in melee, but also means that combat is likely to produce a resolution that round rather than drag over multiple rounds. If both are still standing at the end of the third melee phase then both participants back off so they are 1” apart.

Heroes have three wounds with other models having just the one. All models also get a Save roll, in both missile and melee. In missile fire an extra roll (again!) is made for any intervening obstacles for the shot (why that couldn’t be added into the shooting mechanism I have no idea – probably because the game uses D6s and just one modifier can have a big effect. Which begs the question, why not design the game with D10s?)

So how did it play in the end?

Actually, it gave a very enjoyable game.

I used the scenario that came in the rules – there’s a central watering hole and the winner is the first who has sole control of the watering hole or kills the opposing leader. To have control you have to be the only one with models within 1” of the watering hole. Realistically, that’s only going to happen if you completely wipe out the opposition so in actuality killing the opposing leader is going to be the way to win the scenario.

It’s a short game (about an hour), so would be great for a one-day campaign. In the scenario I played there was no need for climbing and jumping etc, so that aspect was missing. I did forget about the shooting Mishaps though. On a couple of occasions 1s were rolled but I forgot to apply the Mishap rules. Just put that down to first-time play where rules do get missed. To be honest, it doesn’t take long to master the game so next time around I am sure I will remember to use the Mishaps. That’s no reflection of the rules.

In the game the assassins moved up. The templars (I didn’t use templar models and just used my Normans as early crusaders, there was nothing really that exclusive to why they couldn’t just be Frankish crusaders), moved up with one of the Spears taking up position by a wall and letting rip with a crossbow. The Assassins and the Templars reached the waterhole at about the same time. Two of the Assassins ganged up on the Templar leader, who took two wounds but was still standing at the end of the melee so all participants were separated. But the Assassins went in again with wounds being taken by both sides – the Templar leader was killed but he also killed his assailants. The Templars had lost their leader, though, so the game went to the Assassins.

Yeah, it’s a good game.

Will we be playing it at the club? I don’t know. Keep in mind that we have a whole Saturday, and I’m not sure the game has legs for a whole day. If you meet in the evening for a couple of hours, then it’d make a great game because you can fit in two or three linked games, which is precisely what A&T is all about.

It’s great as a freebie but, having played it, I’m glad I didn’t spend money on it, although at £5.99 it probably is worth taking a punt on. I think Osprey’s ‘Outremer’ does the job better though, so if I was looking at a medieval game with a dozen figures a side I would probably play that instead.

Society Meeting 24/01/2026

Andy rounds up last weekend’s society meeting.

Another good turn out for the second meeting of the year, around 20 members were present with 5 games in progress.

First up we have John L running another naval game, this time in the South China Sea with Emperor Ming taking on Li Chee (the Pirate Queen) using Galleys and Galleons rules.

We then move on to David P running a small Chain of Command 2 game, in 20mm, to introduce the rules to a couple of players.

Former Chairman John ran a 6mm Ancient FOG game with multiple players

Current chairman Mark, together with Dave and Chris put on a Legions Imperialis game using masses of tanks etc.

 

And finally Stephen ran the third of his trilogy of 173rd Airborne in Vietnam games, Operation McLain, in 15mm. A write up of this game will be appearing soon.

MWS meet on the 2nd and 4th Saturdays of the month (except the 4th Saturday in December) from 10:00 to 17:00 at Linton Village Hall, south of Maidstone on the A299.

Information about the Society, including directions, can be found here.

The diary of planned games can be found here, this is updated throughout the year so please have a look from time to time.

 

 

A new beginning…

Maidstone Wargames Society held their first meeting of the year on Saturday. This meeting includes our AGM so often has a good turnout.

Around 24 members were in attendance for the meeting. The AGM was, as usual, short, only around 30 minutes. Also, as usual, the existing committee was re-elected without opposition. Despite the chairman’s pleas to be released!

There was also a very good turnout of games, covering a variety of scales, periods of genres, here’s a short photo round up.

John L brought out his 1:1200 Baltic Galleys for some Naval action.

Another naval game, but a few centuries later and under the water rather than on it, Peter M staged a 1:100th Stingray game, “Anything can happen in the next half hour“.

Paul and Colin brought out some 3mm Ancients for some FoG games.

Tony G and Stephen both fielded Anglo-Saxon warbands for some 28mm SAGA games.

Some more recent conflict now, some late WW2 Chain of Command action staged by chairman Mark J with 28mm vehicles and figures.

And last, but by no means least, Tony F and Phil staged a battle from the Lord of the Rings, again in 28mm.

That’s it for the round up of the first meeting of the year.

MWS meet on the 2nd and 4th Saturdays of the month (except the 4th Saturday in December) from 10:00 to 17:00 at Linton Village Hall, south of Maidstone on the A299.

Information about the Society, including directions, can be found here.

The diary of planned games can be found here, this is updated throughout the year so please have a look from time to time.

 

Stout Hearts, The British and Canadians in Normandy 1944 – Book Review

Stout Hearts, The British and Canadians in Normandy 1944 by Ben Kite.

Review by Mark J

I have been a lover of books for as long as I can remember and very much love the fact that books really help me play better games on the tabletop. The research part of our hobby is one of my favourite parts. Learning about a battle, campaign and the men and women that fought brings the historical game narrative to the tabletop.

I’m always on the lookout for a good book that helps me create and run better games. Ben Kite’s Stout Hearts fits the bill perfectly. Easy to read, covering British and Canadian armed forces that fought to liberate France in 44. I’ve used this book to create an Op Bluecoat game at the club next year. Here’s my take on the book.

Stout Hearts is an impressive, deeply researched analysis of British and Canadian operations in Normandy, offering a refreshing counterbalance to long-standing myths about Allied performance. Ben Kite blends operational history with tactical detail, drawing heavily on primary sources to show how units fought on the ground. His writing is clear, measured, and avoids the polemics that so frustratingly often colour Normandy historiography.

Kite’s great strength is his ability to contextualise British and Canadian actions—explaining doctrine, logistics, training, and the battlefield environment—to illustrate why commanders made the choices they did. The book challenges the idea that the British and Canadians were slow or lacking aggression, showing instead a professional and adaptive army grappling with a formidable German defence and extremely difficult terrain.

While occasionally dense due to its technical depth, Stout Hearts is accessible and is packed with valuable insight for wargamers, military historians, and anyone interested in the Normandy campaign. One of the most balanced and authoritative studies of Allied performance in 1944 I’ve read in a long time.

If you want to view the book on Amazon you can find it here. The club earns a small referral if you purchase it which we put towards our website fees.

Engagement At Tuy Hoa

Engagement at Tuy Hoa – March 1968

After the casualties taken fighting in and around Dak To in the final months of 1967, 2nd Battalion of the 173rd Airborne returned to barracks in Tuy Hoa to rest, refit, and train replacements.

Throughout February 1968 key towns and cities in Vietnam have been rocked by the Tet Offensive. For the most part, the 173rd Airborne have not been involved in the offensive. However, intelligence has come in that units of NVA with VC sappers are planning an assault on Tuy Hoa Air Base. To prevent this your company has been deployed north of Tuy Hoa to block the enemy advance. You will take up position in the area of Nha Long village. As such, this is NOT a free fire zone – all support fire (that includes company mortars) will require authorisation. Additionally, you may not fire small arms at targets within 6” of any village building without authorisation.

The enemy are expected to be arriving from the North West.

Report from Cpt P Smith CO of Alpha Company 173rd Airborne
The Battle Rages

Intelligence had confirmed that Communist forces were advancing towards the US Airbase at Tuy Hoa. The 173rd Airborne Division were tasked with blocking and destroying the enemy in the vicinity to the north and west of the village of Nha Long.

The 1st Platoon, led by Lieutenant Francis, and the Weapons Platoon were deployed to the east of the village and advanced immediately to the west. The squads of the 1st Platoon took up positions to the north, south, and within the village, while the Weapons Platoon advanced westwards, north of Nha Long. We soon made contact with enemy forces to the west in light cover and to the northwest in light cover on higher ground.

I promptly requested authorisation to activate our company mortars to lay down a barrage on the enemy troops to the northwest.

Lieutenant Francis’ 1st Platoon engaged VC sappers to the east of the village. The Weapons Platoon’s M60 machine gun teams provided long-range fire against an NVA platoon to the west. As the engagement intensified, the villagers in the adjacent paddy fields quickly sought cover within the village. Meanwhile, the company’s Dog Team was dispatched to the village at a rapid pace to search for hidden caches of food and ordnance. Thanks to their diligent efforts, a substantial quantity of rice and several satchel charges were discovered.

Lieutenant King’s 2nd Platoon and Lieutenant Claridge’s 3rd Platoon received orders to deploy via Huey transport helicopters in succession. The 2nd Platoon disembarked in open terrain to the north of Nha Long, despite encountering some ineffective small arms fire from the ground. The gunship escorting the transport Hueys provided covering fire to ensure a successful landing and inflicted heavy casualties on the enemy to the front of 1st Platoon before taking evasive action to evade more intensive ground fire from adjacent enemy units.

As the 2nd Platoon commenced their advance from the landing position, the mortar barrage was promptly authorised and initiated on the enemy positions to the west. This stalled the enemy’s advance by pinning them down. The barrage was halted to allow Lt. Claridge’s 3rd Platoon to deploy in a Hot LZ in open ground closest to the enemy.

As 3rd Platoon rapidly disembarked from the Huey transports, they took one fatal casualty as they came under enemy small arms fire, RPGs and sniper fire. Again, the Huey Gunship delivered sustained heavy fire on the enemy positions on the ground. As a consequence, the VC sapper platoon was broken and dispersed from the field.

Shortly after an NVA platoon withdrew from the field as it took heavy casualties from the Gunship and all three of our company’s platoons. An air strike was requested and authorised to attack enemy positions on the high ground to the northwest, but the enemy withdrew before the aircraft arrived.

Along with the food and ordnance caches, a high number of enemy bodies were recovered after the engagement which indicates how the enemy dispersed from the field in disarray.
Although, regrettably, our company took 3 fatal casualties, overall this was an outstandingly successful mission.

Report from Lt T Francis 1st Platoon
1st Platoon Walks Down The Road

Acting on orders from my company commander, I deployed first platoon either side of the main highway, with two squads up and one in reserve. The weapons platoon and company HQ were to our left flank in the open ground. The platoon advanced steadily, keeping an eye out for enemy troops both in the village and on the ridge line beyond the huts, although no definitive sightings were made.

When the weapons platoon were engaged by enemy forces, I ordered first squad to lay down fire in support of them and third squad to advance to take their place and enter the village. Local Vietnamese non-combatants generally kept their distance, although one pointed third squad to a place where he told them that VC forces had stored supplies – this turned out to be a red herring and nothing was found.

First squad continued to engage enemy forces on the edge of the jungle to the north west of the village in support of the weapons platoon, with several hits claimed. Meanwhile, second squad had spotted what turned out to be NVA troops to the east of the village beyond the paddy fields. Judging that they were outside of the restricted zone around the settlement, I ordered them to open fire. Third squad moved through the village and engaged further NVA forces directly north of their position with immediate effect.

The platoon consolidated its position, all squads continuing to engage the enemy, until the aerial insertion of third platoon swiftly alleviated any pressure from NVA forces to our front. I advanced first and second squads in line with the north of the village, at which point it became clear that the enemy had broken.

First platoon’s advance to, and defence of, the village ensured that enemy forces were unable to emplace themselves within it and create a stronghold from which it would have been difficult to eject them. That the operation was carried out without casualties is testament to the skill and professionalism of the American soldier.

Report from Lt A King 2nd Platoon
2nd Platoon Advances Down The Ridgeline

2nd Plt under 2LT King was inserted by UH-1 helicopters on the left flank of the company’s advance, near the edge of a lightly wooded area and close to a patch of elephant grass to the west and northwest of Nha Long village.

On approach to the LZ hostile forces were spotted on a hill within the woods and in the elephant grass. The platoon’s gunship escort engaged the enemy in the Elephant Grass with machine gun fire, causing a number of casualties. The pilot requested approval to use rockets on the hostiles in the woods, due to the mission Rules of Engagement, but this was not received.
1st and 2nd squads, the latter with the platoon LT, disembarked from their slicks and hunkered down, engaging the enemy to their front, pinning them down. 3rd squad disembarked and moved rapidly into the woods, with the intention of advancing on the enemy flank.

1st and 2nd squads came under fire from approximately platoon strength forces, causing some shock and one casualty KIA in 1st squad, Pfc Simms.

3rd squad advanced through the woods and, on reaching a slight rise in the terrain, hunkered down to engage the enemy forces on the wooded hill to their north.

As the slicks lifted off to collect 3rd Platoon, the Huey Gunship repositioned to engage the enemy, but was driven off by some lucky shooting by the enemy.

The enemy in the elephant grass was hit by mortar fire called in by other elements of the company, this, together with the steady fire from 1st squad caused them to lose their nerve and withdraw.

1st Squad had not come through this firefight unscathed, in addition to the KIA they suffered they also had suffered some shock. 2LT King moved up to 1st Squad to provide encouragement, they then advanced onto the vacated enemy position and through diligent searches uncovered a punji pit the enemy had left behind, with no further casualties suffered.
2nd and 3rd Squads, having suffered no casualties, advanced through the woods towards the enemy on the hill, but these troops fell back, perhaps due to casualties inflicted on other elements of the enemy forces by the rest of the Company.

1st Squad was about to police the remains of the enemy they had been fighting when elements of 3rd and Weapons platoon took the position.

2nd platoon’s deployment between the 1st & Weapon’s Platoons and the woods helped tie down around 2 platoons of enemy troops and helped prevent enemy forces, later discovered to be a mixture of NVA and VC Sappers, from reaching Nha Long village.

Report from Lt J Claridge 3rd Platoon
Apocalypse Now

The engagement at Tuy Hoa had been in full swing for a while. 3rd Platoon were on standby having just watched 2nd Platoon take off and head for the landing zone. As the radio traffic became more frantic the order finally came to go.

Embarking on the UH-1 transports and accompanied by a Gunship it was clear this was going to be a rough ride. More radio traffic told of a NVA sniper causing trouble and several hits from a concealed RPG team.

As 3rd Platoon flew over the LZ orders came through from the CO of the 173rd to land in a forward position almost on top of the encroaching VC forces near the village. 3rd Squad disembarked into a hail of enemy fire suffering a casualty in the process and becoming pinned. The squad had no choice but to hunker down and return fire.

Meanwhile the supporting gunship peeled of and laid down a devastating fire against the VC.

Receiving further orders from the CO to step up the rate of fire the VC were routed bringing a much-needed reprieve.

The supporting gunship searched for other targets and managed to destroy the RPG team. This was the last straw for the NVA and VC, they began to withdraw from the field leaving our forces to lick their wounds.

A Mars A Day

The last meeting of July saw another outing of my ‘Space:1889 – Cloudships of Mars’ game.

For those who don’t know it, it’s a game based on a 1988 Frank Chadwick design for GDW, set in an alternative ‘Steampunk’ late Victorian timeline on which Earther scientists have discovered a war to get to the planets using the ‘ether waves’ of space (this was actually a theory for a long time!). When the explorers arrive, they discover that the inner planets already have their own civilisations, at different stages of development.

In the case of Mars, the ancient society has stagnated (or deteriorated) back to the level of our own late Renaissance of Italy or India, with rival City-States using gunpowder weapons – along with the odd ‘ancient device’ like a La-serr…. By the 1889 of the title, several Earther nations have established both colonies, trading and mining facilities on Mars, sometimes with a City State as an ally, sometimes as enemies, exactly mirroring the colonial experience on Earth of 1850-1900.

And whilst ground-based forces certainly play their part, as on Earth it is the naval dimension with projects power across the vast, hostile wastes – using flying ‘Cloudships’ which rely on a rare anti-gravity liftwood to allow them to float. The Martians tend to rely on larger, wooden galleys, propelled by sail or giant flywheels; but the Earthers have been quick to develop their own strange craft, powered – of course – by steam engines, producing some very different designs rather akin to the ACW. In 3D… Anyways, there is a large body of RPG, tabletop and boardgame reference material (see links at the end), plus some ‘reimaginings’ of the various planetary sourcebooks.

The Set-Up

For this outing, I decided to have all the actual players as a combined ‘Earth Fleet’, with the Martians run by yours truly as umpire using the ‘fast play’ system developed for when we ran this at several Open Days a couple of years ago. This is always a fun way to arrange things, as I can vary the enemy ‘teeth’ according to how players are doing (as well as how many turn up on the day), and they can have a lot of fun simply trying to co-ordinate the actions of these sub-units via another human, not a dice or card system.

With one player per ship and a, ah, wide choice available, the fleet consisted of:

  • Jon – Royal Navy, HMS Tempest (1890 Improved Typhoon Class destroyer, with quick-firing main guns [2x shots instead of one per turn])
  • Tony – Imperial Russian Navy, HIRMS Volga (River Class strike bomber)
  • Eric – Imperial Austrian Navy, SMS Prinz Eugen (Hero Class light cruiser; only one built…)
  • Stephen – Imperial Japanese Navy, IJN Akagi (unclassified multi-role cruiser, refuses to discuss how many being built, where, when…)
  • Alan – French Navy, FS Massena (new Maréchal’s Class destroyer; like the RN Tempest – but more panache…)
Game 1 – The Bridge At Rik-I-To

The scenario here was that war was brewing with two of the Martian City States who had put aside their normal differences and were about to combine forces to sweep the accursed Earthers from the face of Holy Mars. Or something. Anyways, as their plan hinged on having one force cross the giant canal network, the combined Earther response was to pool their Cloudship forces to strike at the key bridge at Rik-I-To. If that could be destroyed, it would take weeks or months to effect a temporary repair. Of course, as it was an important spot, the Martians would be guarding it, not just with part of their fleet on standing patrol, but also with large deadly ground-based rockets…

[And yes, the plot was another semi-historical ‘steal’ of the main action in the Korean War film ‘The Bridges At Toko-Ri’. Great film of F9 Panthers, if you’re into that sort of thing…]

Now, being a simple soul, I rather expected the smaller ships to zoom in and take-out the rocket batteries before helping to distract the slower Martian ships? Yeah…. Anyways, plan B seemed to be that Jon, Eric and Alan engage in a general melee with all the Martians they could possibly reach, while Stephen and Tony ploughed in low and slow to maximize their bombing accuracy, with occasional pot-shots at any Martian who happened to get in the way!

So, with rockets and gunfire going in all directions and at different heights, the fight split into two sectors:

  • The ‘top cover’ proceeded to knock large chunks out of the three Martian ships, Jon using his bigger guns to deliver deadly jabs from a series of fast, slashing runs whilst Alan deftly manoeuvered to rake one guard ship which effectively dis-masted it! Eric meanwhile was in the thick of it trading broadsides between two enemy ships but seemingly unable to hit with any big guns! He was revenged however when finally ramming one of the larger galleys which Jon’s close rake with a rocket broadside had brought to a halt!
  • The ‘bomber’ boys meanwhile braved both rocket flak and the attentions of a, ah, ‘spare’(?) Martian ship to bore-in, line ahead along the canal. Stephen on Akagi led the charge, shrugging off a number of critical hits to boiler, crew and gun position hits to deliver his two sticks bang on target, with no deductions for speed:height differences. His score with eight d6 was a very respectable 24 points – but the bridge still stood teetering! However, close behind was the majestic Volga with even more majestic (=sloshed) Kapitan Tony, who proceeded, slowly, to ignore all the incoming hits and demolish the remaining structure, closely followed by the tailing even more irate Martian which the others now noticed! So that’s what those signals from Akagi meant…….

In all the dust, explosions and rocket trails, there was some confusion on the Allied side about who should get the most credit in the Official History for destroying the bridge (you know, the objective thingy…). So, I thought the easiest – not to say funniest – method of adjudication would be to ask the so-called ‘neutral’ captains. To a man, they had no hesitation in awarding the lion’s share of the credit to Tony and the Russians, with no national bias at all (except that Alan did waver in thinking the French should vote the other way to whatever the British did!). I thought Stephen as the Japanese took it very well, considering. All the talk of sabotage and revenge was just banter……

Game 2 – Get Marshal Mo-To-Ya

The second thinly-disguised scenario was based on the amazing operation in 1943, when the Americans sent very long range P38s (a fab a/c) to intercept Japanese strategic genius Admiral Yamamoto, who had planned and executed the Pearl Harbour attack (which only really failed because they delegated command to an old school ‘battleship’ admiral; but I digress…).

So, our 1889 version had the Japanese player (Stephen) brief the others that they had broken the Martian codes, and that the brilliant leader Grand Marshal Mo-To-Ya would be reviewing the various fleet detachments before hurling their combined strength blah, blah, blah. The key thing is, they knew where and when he would be at a certain city. Normally, this would be beyond effective range of Earther Cloudships, but the Royal Navy (Jon) then revealed that, apart from building the enormous HMS Thunderbird, they had also been quietly developing long-range re-coaling systems, a series of liftwood barges which could be towed then ‘parked’ at high altitude for later collection – like WW2 drop-tanks! I also took the opportunity to allow each ship 1x ‘elite’ gun crew – only a +1 to hit, but it soon became apparent how even a small adjustment to probabilities affected tactics!

The Allied flotilla thus set-off and arrived just as the Martian fleet hove into view through the clouds. The rather larger than expected fleet…. Ah. Yes, what confronted our intrepid floating heroes was not one Martian ‘Skylord’, one of the biggest Cloudship classes ever built, but two. As even one Skylord was estimated to carry the firepower of more half the Allied Flotilla, this was seen by the more tactically astute players as “…bloody serious…”!

Not only that, but the Grand Marshal also had three of the newer Martian ‘hybrid’ cruisers as escort, Martian built but incorporating Earther technology supplied by less scrupulous nations: big breech-loading guns and steam-power rams (although the latter were in fact clapped-out US train engines, refurbished and resold). Nevertheless, such an opportunity to cripple the enemy war effort before it got fully started was too good to miss, so as the Martians headed for the exit (off the far end of the table), the Allies resolved to sell their lives dearly (or lease them dearly, in the case of the French. Well, you get more return that way, and….).

  • As the giant Skylords were primarily sail-powered, Jon and Tony were among the first to point out that – at some point – these lumbering giants would have to tack (zig-zag), which meant there was more time to get them.
  • Learning from the first scenario, the players all kept saying to each other that the Grand Marshal was the objective, nothing else – so slip past the escorts if possible and pound the two Skylords with everything to hand!

Overall, the plan went quite well – Alan ‘stalked’ one of the escorts using cloud cover to get close before taking any return fire, while Tony and Stephen seemed to be competing for how much explosives they could throw at one ship! Meanwhile, as Eric took on the other Skylord with his now elite Skoda howitzer, Jon was perfecting his ‘left jab’, using his speed and longer, harder reach to knock seven bells out of an escort which was blocking his view (and in the process eliminating much of the bridge crew, thus making control much harder – not that they knew this immediately).

Stephen at one point sailed straight through the middle of the Martian Fleet, partly as his ship had good firepower in the armoured forward arc, but little else – except….. Yes, although he exchanged some withering fire with one Skylord and an escort, his master plan was revealed when he launched the rear-facing torpedo straight into the escort which was turning onto his tail! At that range – just outside the safety zone – the hit was inevitable, and the Martian visibly shuddered and began to lose height (that’s not all it lost, but again full damage was secret).

One great aspect for me with such games is how players learn to ‘read’ a battle, deducing both strengths and weaknesses from observable data. Such was now the case as the battle entered its critical phase, when first Alan then Eric mentioned that one of the Skylords, although damaged for sure, was not firing anywhere near as much as the other – which might mean that it was a transport, not the ‘battleship’ version?

Quickly deciding that the Grand Marshal would use the most powerful ship, the Allies now concentrated their fire. Jon now took quite serious personnel casualties from cannister rakes when closing to deliver a point-blank rocket barrage into the side of the enormous ship, while Eric also pounded it from the other side, starting numerous fires – bad news for a wooden ship! As Tony narrowly avoided a deadly ramming attack from the only functioning escort (sadly, the one with almost no directional control!), Alan and and badly-damaged Stephen sent the transport and the other escort into uncontrolled descents (the escort could probably crash-land ok, but the transport was not so lucky). As the Allies regrouped, they could see that only the smaller escort still had enough height (and control) to escape, but their initial fears about the other Skylord joining it were finally settled as the giant vessel, wracked with multiple fires and with key commanders dead on the bridge, made a long, lumbering dive just outside the city, in the manner of the Hindenburg………

So that was that. Another excellent outing for a genre which deserves a helluva lot more exposure, whether it be the RPG system, pseudo-colonial ground games, or this fabulous ‘Cloudships’ offshoot. It’s not the ‘flying WW1’ of Iron Skies, nor the Aeronef and Dystopian Wars – although the latter two did provide a lot of scratch-building materials! But if you like the idea of ‘3D ACW’, with the ability to construct your own range of peculiar vessels, then this is for you.

My thanks as ever to my long-suffering friends at Maidstone Wargame Society for playing, and The Werelords for resurrecting a brilliant game.

Click on the thumbnails below to see a few shots of the action.

Tactical aside – the Wrong Side of Technology?

There was a lot of discussion afterwards about the merits of the different ship designs – were the fast, sleek British and French (with only a handful of big guns, smaller hulls and crews), better than the rugged, somewhat slower Russian and Austro-Hungarians, with a lot more but smaller weapons? And what of Akagi, with an armoured nose housing all of its big ship-smashers in fixed forward firing casemates, akin to an Me110, but little else?

This all reminded me very much of similar historical arguments along similar lines both in the Victorian period (when turrets first came along), and then later about battlecruisers. In the latter case, they were great when used in their original role, chasing-down and destroying enemy cruisers, but were a disaster when used to bulk-out the main battleship lines “…because they look like them…”?!

In the end, both historically and with Cloudships, there was no ‘correct’ answer. The beauty of the system is that you can let your imaginations rip and, within the spirit of the game (the main rules have a sub-section devoted to ship design, with weight and armour affecting speed – and cost), create your own range of ships and models.

References & Links:
  • Background to ‘Space:1889’ on Wikipedia
  • More about the various games and RPG systems via Boardgamegeek
  • Several of the Cloudships books are on eBay, and some are now old enough to appear on some cheap download sites as PDFs!
  • The first outing of this – in 25mm no less – is still viewable here on the Werelords site.
  • Superb 1/1000th scale scenery (and lobbying to print some 3D Cloudships?) via Tony at Brigade Models. Go on, you know you want to….
Scratch-building 6mm Cloudships

A lunatics’ guide to building your own fleets…

HULLS & MAIN BODIES

1. Brigade Models – their rightly-famous ‘Imperial Skies’ range has some useful hulls and other pieces. And even though they are technically 1/1200th, you just have to look beyond that to possible uses… Recently, I have also used several of their vast range of very nice spaceships to provide the basis for things like ‘assault ships’, carriers, even resupply barges and landing-craft!
2. Peter Pig 1/600th ACW Naval range – A great source of whole or partial hull elements. By using ‘N’ gauge wooden planking as a main deck, you can use various waterline models as the upper and lower hulls. Also, some of the Union monitors come with metal decks, and these make for great ‘advanced’ Earther ships like the medium/heavy British ‘Macefield’.
3. DeAgostini ‘Star Wars’ die-cast models – given the wacky nature of several Martian ships, with a small degree of effort several of these models can be used to great effect. And as die-cast, they’re (a) good to take glue, and (b) damn-near indestructible!
a. I started with the various ‘bikes’, just used upside-down to help disguise their origin! The ‘prongs’ on the front of many of them look great as rams!
b. I also cannot recommend highly enough the ‘Jabba Barge’ (makes a great heavy Martian ‘Hullcutter’ type) and the equally fab ‘Desert Skiff’ (again, makes for a wonderful range of medium vessels)
c. But do check out the MTT transport and some of the other AT* tanks. The ‘Turbo Tank’ makes for a great ironclad (minus the wheels, naturally!). And the ‘chicken walker’ main body is a perfect Martian ‘leading chin’ design.
4. Eaglemoss ‘Star Trek’ die-cast models – not quite so many useful hulls here but still worth checking. For example, the early USS Antares, used inverted, makes for a fabulous small Earther French ironclad, in the same class as the RN workhorse ‘Aphid’. And some of the alien shuttles or freighters can make a good basis for more Martians.
5. Mechwarrior – the various tanks from the miniatures game (minus their tracks) have provided several very handy hull extensions.
6. Star Wars Starship Miniatures – no, not ‘X-Wing’ (unless you have a private income); I mean from the original game. These have provided a lot of the ‘tail controls’ for various ships, the Boda Slave 1 and Sith Infiltrator being particular favourites.
7. Galoob Micro-Machines have a very good Star Wars Jabba Sail Barge, which has provided, umm, ‘quite a few’ Martian landing craft, torpedo boats and even – cut in half – useful prows or flying bridges for larger ships.
8. Heroics & Ros 1/300th – Their WW2 armoured trains are a great source of cabins, armoured hull-extensions and side sponsons. Likewise, their Crusades range of siege equipment and superb armoured Hussite wagons provide great ready-made wing/sponsons for the Martians.
9. Irregular Miniatures – do a great couple of ACW ships actually in this scale, especially ‘Monitor’, which formed the primary hull for the RN ships.
10. ‘Dystopian Wars’ – again, nominally a different scale they have several ships which I have used for hulls or engine pods.

WEAPONS

Mainly dear old Heroics & Ros. Not only are they immensely friendly and helpful, but they have a vast range of kit which is spot-on for what you need:

  • WW1 guns (German 77mm etc)
  • WW2 guns (British 25lbr, German 88mm, 17ldr – all suitably ‘trimmed’)
  • ‘Oddities’ like the WW2 German Nebelwerfer; makes a great ‘Martian mortar’
  • WW2 Armoured trains (AA guns etc)
  • ECW, SYW and Napoleonic (French) guns, with the double-trail
  • ACW and FPW Gatlings, Mitrailleuse MGs
  • Colonial Landing Party Nordenfelts
FIGURES

As for crews, I have used the following H&R packs:

  • Colonial types and Franco-Prussian for Earther regulars, Boers & Confederates for armed civvies and ‘security personnel’
  • Gun crew figures (from the ECW & medieval)
  • SYW ‘Iroquis’ Indians (the light clothing and ‘Mohican’ hair-do is just right for Martians)
  • Ancient Greeks (again, the helmet + crest is spot-on for Martians)

There are some wonderful little vignettes in these packs – I love the guy with a wheelbarrow loaded with cannon-balls! And even the colonial gun-teams have a pair of riders who remind me of a couple of gunners on their break…
I did see some other interesting ranges in the USA – some ‘post-apocalypse’ types make for great Martians. Likewise, if anyone knows of any LOTR ‘elves’, they too would be good.

DETAILING

If even a klutz like me can do this, please give it a try – just adding a few crew figures and the odd pile of coal sacks really brings even these small ships to life.
Model railways have (especially in ‘N’ gauge):

  • packs of coal sacks, bales (cargo) etc.
  • some great ‘signal gantries’ which provided not only some great wing/sponsons, but also (cut down to half height) the ‘brass railings’ for the posher Earther ships.
  • Packs of wooden fences, which make for cheap railings on Earther or Martian ships

Mechwarrior
Not only hulls but most of the rocket pods came from these (the tanks are VERY well-equiped!). I also used some of the smaller weapon turrets as rail-launchers for Martian fire bombs or anti-personnel spikes.
DeAgostini die-cast models
Things like the Ewok ‘hang-glider’ and various solar-sailors provide a variety of strong, ready-made plastic sails for Martian kites, some with rigging!

Work in Progress Wednesday

Jeremey is on holiday this week, so he’s left Tony the keys to the WIP Wednesday post…

We’ll start off with Chairman Mark’s fine collection of 28mm Shermans that he’s been working on for a while, building up towards a big Nijmegen game later this year. There’s been a bit of rivalry at the club over who has the biggest Sherman collection – we suspect Phil is still ahead, with Dave also a strong contender, but Mark’s catching up…

He’s also added a British half-track (likely an M5) and Daimler armoured car, a German bunker and some anti-tank guns (type unspecified, but some internet research points at them being 50mm Pak 38s).

Eric has been turning yet more Matchbox cars into wasteland warriors for a Gaslands game with all manner of add-ons and accessories. The one on the right with exposed wheels looks especially cool.

Stephen has made some 15mm objective markers for Vietnam games, which should also serve for WW2. I suspect a few of us will be hunting for those in an upcoming game of Charlie Don’t Surf.

And finally, I quickly turned out some individually based figures to act as Big Men (NCOs and officers) for a game of TFL’s Quadrant 13. They’re only 6mm, so really they should be Little Men. Or Little Big Men ?

Jeremey will be back next week, you’ll doubtless be pleased to hear !

Somewhere In The Hills Above Dak To

At a recent meeting Stephen ran a 15mm Vietnam game using the Charlie Don’t Surf rules. The scenario was based on the Battle for Hill 875.

Stephen umpired the game and ran the Communist forces. The US forces (A Company, 2nd Battalion, 173rd Airborne) were under the command of Captain Pete, who also ran the Weapons Platoon, with the three Rifle Platoons under the command of Lieutenants Tony F, Andy and Jeremey respectively.

We’ll start with Stephen’s summary of the game:

A Company of the 2nd Battalion, 173rd Airborne, scored an important military victory against the North Vietnamese Army today.
Led by Cpt Pete the company advanced up Hill 875, located the enemy and engaged them.
It was 3rd Platoon under the command of Lt Jeremey who first reached the top of 875.  Meanwhile, a grenadier of Lt Andy 2nd Platoon earned recognition for posting a M79 round through a bunker slit. Lt Tony’ 1st Platoon got bogged down in a vicious firefight and took several MIA.
Company mortars, and a Huey gunship that shredded some NVA recoilless rifles, helped the 173rd to victory.
News on stateside TV reported the battle and civil demonstrations ensued at the loss of American life. It may have been a military victory for the US but the NVA scored a political victory.

Here follows the US Platoon commander’s accounts of the battle.

1st Platoon

First Platoon (Tony) advances early in the game.

This is as far as I got, a vicious firefight with an NVA platoon (and some less than favourable activation draws) saw me pretty much stuck in place for the rest of the game.

The NVA platoon in question, about to receive some 60mm mortar vengeance courtesy of Pete.

The 1st Platoon under fire and pinned. 1st squad suffered badly (7 KIA out of 10), although remarkably 2nd and 3rd squads emerged from the action unscathed.

2nd Platoon

2nd Platoon (Andy) A Company were deployed at the base of Hill 875 with the Weapons Platoon and Company HQ to our left, and 3rd Platoon to our right.
The platoon began its advance with 1st and 2nd squad leading, with 3rd Squad and the Platoon CO in reserve.
1st squad soon spotted insurgent troops further up the hill, the first of the Company to do so, and promptly engaged them. 2nd squad and part of 3rd squad joined in, the remainder of 3rd squad being out of line of sight of the enemy. The fire was effective, causing part of the enemy unit to suffer casualties and become pinned. 2LT Andy reported the sighting to CPT Pete, with a request for mortar support.
3rd squad deployed from reserve to the right of 2nd squad in order to bring its full firepower to bear.
The firefight with the enemy continued, with 3rd Platoon joining in, both 2nd and 3rd Platoons suffered some KIAs, but appeared to inflict more than they suffered.
Under the relentless fire of 2nd & 3rd Platoons the insurgents suffered further casualties and were seen running from their positions back over the crest of Hill 875 and presumably they continued down the reverse slope.
Slightly later a few ranging rounds began to land near 2nd Platoon’s position, expecting an NVA mortar barrage 2LT Andy ordered all squads to advance up the hill as fast as they could. 1st & 3rd squads succeeded, but 2nd squad got bogged down and didn’t move very far.
1st squad’s success in movement proved to be their undoing. They soon came under heavy automatic fire, believed to be either a DShK 1938 or KPV heavy machine gun, in a previously unseen bunker.
1st squad took a couple of casualties, but immediately hunkered down and returned fire, the squad’s M79 gunner achieving an excellent shot which put a 40mm HE round into the bunker, silencing the HMG.
2nd and 3rd squads advanced past the battered 1st squad, joining elements of 3rd Platoon in sweeping across the hill, engaging the remnants of the NVA defenders in the flank and driving them from the hill, at the cost of some more US KIA.
Eventually 2LT Andy’s prediction of a VC mortar barrage came true, but by the time it arrived on it’s original target all US forces had moved further up the hill and none were in the beaten zone.
As 1st squad looked after their dead they discovered a food and material cache buried on the hill side.
The mission proved to be something of a Pyrrhic victory for 2nd Platoon, we engaged and defeated the enemy, destroying a bunker and locating a cache, but at a cost of 5 KIA, 4 of them in 1st squad.
3rd Platoon
3rd Platoon (Jeremey) deployed on the far right of Hill 875. The mission was to assault the hill and so I decided to get moving and threw caution to the wind and advanced quickly up the hill.
Unfortunately after a few moves this left my three squads quite scattered. On top of that the first contact with the NVA turned out to be a real unit who immediately scored a casualty. My return fire was more effective and with support from Andy’s 2nd platoon the NVA were soon routed.
Despite the resistance I decided to continue my advance up the hill, I reached the top of the hill without further resistance but then the bunker was revealed along with more NVA troops. I took a few more casualties and would have taken more if not for Andy’s 2nd Platoon taking out the bunker on the first try.
Laying down some more fire on the remaining NVA, they routed and we claimed the hill.
Company Command
A company’s Forward Observer (Pete) performed well by adjusting the ranging mortar rounds and the subsequent Firing for Effect on the NVA positions on the hill which contributed to the general degrading of the enemy.
Also, significant contributions to the victory came from :-
      • Lt. Tony’s 1st Platoon made steady progress up the left flank but took heavy casualties due fire from a heavy weapons squad with recoilless rifles. These were suppressed by the fire of the Co HQ’s MG squad lower down the hill.
      • Lt. Andy’s 2nd platoon’s impressive accurate fire which neutralised the fortified position on the summit of the hill  soon after the position was observed. The HMG in that bunker would have caused devastating casualties if not dealt with swiftly.
      • Lt. Jeremey’s 3rd platoon made a rapid advance up the slopes of our right flank, although sustaining several casualties, routed the enemy troops before them.
Although Air Support was requested, a Huey gunship arrived after a delay due to the Priority 2 rating of our Area of Operations, but completely destroyed the NVA Heavy Weapons squad enabling all platoons to advance and secure the enemy position on the summit of the hill, seizing enemy weapons and rice caches on the way.
 I, Capt. Pete commanding officer of A Company,2nd Battalion,173rd Airborne, recommend citations for all the commanding officers of A Company platoons.
The view from the other side of the hill
The NVA side of things, as recounted by Stephen. Hill 875 was occupied by a reinforced NVA company – three rifle platoons with AK47s, a pair of recoilless rifle teams, plus the regimental HQ (historically, the rest of the regiment was situated in the hills adjacent and being engaged by the ARVN). Regimental HQ had a mortar spotter (the mortars were actually sited on a hill to the west), wireless team, and HMG in a bunker.
My general plan was to close with the enemy as soon as contact was made to mitigate against the inevitable artillery and airstrikes the US would call in, a tactic referred to as “belt-grabbing”.
The bunker being taken out promptly by US 2nd Platoon took the smile off my face. That HMG would have caused havoc and blunted the US advance and I was going to walk the mortars up to leave the US forces
sandwiched between the HMG and the mortars. But it never came to that.
It was a very historical outcome – the US captured the hill but suffered heavy casualties doing so, and there was considerable public outcry because of it.
And the final word also goes to Stephen:
Thanks to Andy, Tony, Pete, and Jeremey for making it an enjoyable game as I learn the rules. But a special thanks to Pete for his help and knowledge.
Just need to come up with a better name than the toe-curling ‘Big Men’ next…

It’s Getting a Bit Chile – A Slow Burn Project

Club member John reports on a game from a lesser known historical conflict.

Introduction

Our youngest daughter lives in Chile and she gave me a copy of ‘Andean Tragedy’ a history of the Pacific War 1879 – 1884. This detailed book covered the war between Chile and the allied forces of Peru and Bolivia, a war which started over mining claims in the Atacama Desert. The area was an important source of Nitrates for explosives and fertilisers and when the Bolivian government sought to tax Chilean mining companies mining on Bolivian soil, war was inevitable.

It was impractical to march a Chilean army by land through the Atacama Desert so the initial campaign was a Naval one (itself a good subject for wargaming) where Chile gained control of the sea and could then launch amphibious operations initially on the Bolivian coast and later the Peruvian coast. These were successful with Lima being captured and resulted in Bolivia being land locked (still contentious today). A later Guerrilla war took the fighting high into the Andes before Peru was finally defeated.

The Andean Tragedy, W.F. Sater University of Nebraska Press, Jan 2007

I started to paint up forces from Pendraken intending to use ‘Principles of War’ as the rule set but in 2020 a new rule set ‘It’s Getting a Bit Chile’ was launched and I decided to use this period specific set. This required more troops and a gridded cloth. The project stagnated then Stephen kindly donated me a cloth, the reverse side being ideal for a desert, it was the kick up the backside I needed and within a few weeks I was ready.

Pendraken 10mm  Range of 19th Century Pacific War Figures

Chilean infantry
Battalion Misti Peru
Bolivian Colorado Btn
Libres del Sur Bolivia
Artillery

Review of ‘It’s Getting a Bit Chile’

It’s Getting a Bit Chile, G. Evans, Wargaming for Grown Ups Publications 2020

I was attracted to this set of rules for its period specific nature which I felt was merited after reading ‘Andean Tragedy,’ I didn’t want to use any generic 19th Century rules. When I received my copy, I realised it was more than just a rule book. The book includes a history of the war, a uniform painting guide and a bibliography, it is well laid out and the rules are easy to follow with diagrams to help with explanation, there is a scenario included with the rules and a quick play sheet is included. I also discovered that the author had visited the same location in Peru which was his inspiration, the previous year to us.

The rules are army level where each army can be organised into divisions, though these are smaller than European armies. The rules are I go – you go. The lowest organisational unit is an Infantry battalion or Cavalry Regiment consisting of four bases, Artillery are a single base. Unit formation is determined by how the bases are aligned in a grid square.

Each formation has a different number of firing bases, support bases and melee bases and is a specific target type if fired at and a separate melee target type. For combat a dice is rolled for each eligible base and the sum of the dice rolls is compared on a “To hit multiple” table to determine how much damage is dished out. This avoids the 6 to hit method of casualty calculation and damage is instead noted as disorder. A fresh unit with no disorder fights using a d8 per eligible base, a unit with one disorder uses d6’s and a unit with two disorders uses d4’s. If the target formation has a support base, a disorder marker can be absorbed by the support base allowing the formation to fight unaffected if all disorder is absorbed. Changing formation can reduce the number of support bases and hence increased unabsorbed disorder, reducing fighting capability. Disorder can be rallied off by the unit itself or an adjacent Divisional or Army Commander and this is key to maintaining fighting capability.

The “to hit multiple” table and disorder mechanic are very neat and set these rules apart.

Play Test

The set up

As usually happens with a new project, there was lots of last minute stuff to do which meant I hadn’t spent much time on planning a scenario. I decided to have three objectives on table, two minor ones were to secure water supply either at a village or Nitrate mine.

Peruvians advance on the village
Chileans occupy the Oficina

The main objective being capturing the hill. The Allied forces had an extra infantry battalion and an extra Cavalry unit, this last tied down some Chilean artillery as it threatened to outflank.

The Battle for the hill

In the centre, the Chilean assault on the hill ran out of steam and in true style, the Chilean Cavalry followed the routed Bolivian cavalry off table.

The Cavalry Battle

Thanks to Tony Gibbs and Jon Roche for helping. The rules played very smoothly with hardly any queries. Afterwards, I read through the rules again and posted some queries with the Author. I received an e mail back within 24 hours so excellent support.

Next Steps

I have three Peruvian battalions ready for painting and artillery limbers have arrived this week. I’m considering the small dice holders and dice to keep track of disorder. Whilst the card buildings are OK from three feet away, I’m considering making some better alternatives. Finally, I’ll need to put some time aside to consider scenarios, perhaps working those into a campaign.