Conwy Wargames Club September WW2 Coastal Naval game

Mel hosted a WW2 naval game using his ships and using some rules from the US called Flaklighter 2.

We hadn't played the rules before so we were all interested to see how they would work. I hadn't played this kind of naval at all, and the our experienced players hadn't gamed WW2 coastal for 3 years.

The scenario was simple the German schnellbootes were to attack the British convoy and the mixed Royal Naval and US Navy force were to stop them.

I played the Kriegsmarine, Dave the Allied interception force and Tony controlled the convoy.

My German S boats

The convoy is on the left and the interceptors on the right. 

My force bottom right 

Tony's armed trawler

And we're off. The template is for turn circles

I hurtle towards the convoy at top speed (13") and fire torpedoes (the tiny green dice) in the turn previous to this picture. The boat veering left has had a hammering and I thought I'd fire my remaining torpedoes to disrupt the interceptors. I then learnt that I would normally fire both to ensure their was an affect. Mel kindly gave the option to choose and I decided to take the advice of the experienced players and go with all torpedoes having been fired. This left me with a 3 boats charging ahead and 1 conducting a lone charge without weapons to sink the opposition. We all realised that as a scenario I would have fired my torpedoes and turned away - making for a very short game. We played on as we're learning how the game played.

My torpedoes sunk a freighter - mainly because Tony underestimated their speed relative to him. Tony also hadn't see the damage modifier diagram which would have shown clearly that turning away from the torpedoes were his best option. The rules weren't that explicit how torpedoes were managed or at least didn'y grasp it quickly. We settled on step by step simultaneous movement to see if the torpedoes hit - working out a ratio of 1": 5" with the torpedoes travelling at 5" bands up to 15". This worked ok.

Having learnt the previous turn I couldn't sink the ships I was facing  with my 20mm and 37mm guns  I turned away to head for home. This brought me broadside on  the the armed trawler which I shot up merrily took all it's guns out and set it on fire.

My loner charger also turned away but too little too late. Reduced to half speed  it couldn't get away  fast enough and was shot to pieces and sunk. It's sacrifice letting the others escape.

The end of the action 

I enjoyed the game. I haven't played naval games for decades, the closest I've come to it is playing Full Thrust space combat and that was a few years ago. To do the rules justice we'd need to play them a lot more. Personally I'd need to translate all the measurements in knots/yards to the playable value in inches. I wrote these down as we went along - using the true values gave atmosphere but as it was all new we were constantly converting them to fit what we were measuring on the table. In the heat of action some players did get confused with 10 knots = 10" when they should have been moving 3.33".

The experienced players were not won over by these rules. It was decided that the next game we'd use a more familiar rule set and compare them with these.

Conwy Wargames Club August 15mm ACW Black Powder game

Dave hosted a 2 board game set in 1863. Both boards were side by side with each game having the option to enter troops on to the other board. Once this was done those troops came under the command of the players on that board and appeared during their turn. This avoided issues such the games moving at different speeds.

The scenario saw the Confederates tasked with taking a Union fort. We used the Black Powder rules with the Glory Hallelujah amendments.

Board 1 saw Mel, and Ian command the Union relieving/counter attack forces attacking the Confederate forces moving up to assault the fort led by Pete, Tony and later Dave.

Dave supplied the figures and terrain for board 1.

Board 2 saw Gaz's Confederate brigades assaulting the Fort 69 commanded by me. Terrain by Dave with my figures.

Gaz's 2 brigades

The fort. Defended by a Union brigade

Board 2

Board 1

Dave used a random dice to determine where the forces came on and typically they all came on together. This allowed the Confederates to get a gun on the hill and get some flank shots in as the Union troops maneuvered.

Confederates on board 2 racing towards the fort

The Union reaches the town first and fortifies it. Access to the fort is only allowed by using the road and it's 1 battalion in march column wide. No firing was allowed over the boundary between board 1 or 2.

Confederates still racing forward

The Union consolidate in the town

A Union brigade reaches the road to cross on to board 2

Gaz's reinforcements arrive just in time to cover the road

The Confederate assault goes in!

The Union march on to Board 2 and discover a cannon aimed right at them!

The Confederates continue to march up the board 

The Union move to block them

Ian's Union brigade attempting to force their way on to board 2

This does not end well for the Union

Gaz's first brigade to attack gets mauled but pushes the Union defenders back

The remains of Gaz's 1st brigade on the left and a fresh brigade reaches the northern ramparts.

Things get a bit disordered for both sides. Black and white cotton wall denotes broken units by firing. In normal Black Powder these would be removed but Glory Hallelujah treats them like a unit in a broken brigade.

The Union under pressure, but the artillery doing it's job. I'd positioned the terrain so that the outer defence was in short range betting that attackers wouldn't have enough moves to cross.

The Union march column left to be destroyed by it's fellows after they realise they can't force their way down the road. Instead they wheel to join the left of the Union line facing the Confederate attack. Board 1's Confederates didn't have the strength to shift them. Gaz's brigades were on their own.

The fort is still in Union hands as dusk falls. Of the 2 attacking brigades, 1 is broken and 1 is very unhappy.  If Gaz could have used both his attacking brigades at once he would have had a chance as the Union would not have been able to concentrate their fire. Unfortunately the scenario didn't let him.

The destroyed valiant 1st brigade

Fun game. We had to tweak the scenario as we played as ways were found to get round the scenario constraints. One tweak was a late additional brigade for Gaz as he had to turn one around to face the Union relief force that had won the race quite early on in the game.

I thought the Glory Hallelujah rule additions added period flavour and played well. I need to check the forums on some of the rules affecting charging as I'm not sure I played them right. It was great to play with my ACW figures, their last outing under my generalship was in the early 1990s!

Royal Welch Fusiliers (23rd Foot) Museum - Pre WW1 and Pre WW2

Pre 1939 photos

1900 photos

Black Powder Clash of Empires

Received my copy yesterday. Gosh it's a large book. Loads packed in. I've skimmed it and I like the scenarios that are included, and I am very interested in the new optional rules. A good sign for a new supplement is when I go rummaging through the collection to check how many battalions of Russians I have. I'm looking forward to reading it all the way through.

My only fault I've spotted so far is the map of Borodino as some errors on it.

Royal Welch Fusiliers (23rd Foot) Museum - American War of Independence

This section was larger that my photos suggest. This character caught my eye.

Royal Welch Fusiliers (23rd Foot) Museum - Volunteers and Militia

I found this section very interesting. I love the names of the different volunteers raised e.g. Snowdon Rangers. My photos are not great as the area was poorly lit but I suspect this was to preserve the uniforms and the flag.