Scenario 1 Surprise Party

Background - The landings at Anzio caught the German and Italian forces by surprise. As the U.S. 3rd Infantry Division moved inland, pockets of enemy troops would have to be dealt with.

In this scenario, a group of Italian Coastal Defence troops and some local Germans clash with advancing American soldiers.

Map 1 - this is the scenario area. There are two building hexes that are under Italian control. The Americans will win if they can capture both hexes and that there are no good order enemy troops remaining on the board.

The American plan is to advance up the right side of the map to concentrate force against the Italian left flank and unhinge the defence, in the knowledge that reinforcements will join them higher up for the final push amongst the ruins to reach the objective hexes.

Before play the Italians drew the ‘Withering Fire’ Luck Card, which will allow one of their fire attacks to attack twice. The Americans drew the ‘Smokescreen’ card which will allow then to fill 5 consecutive hexes with smoke - which lasts for two turns.

In the opening impulses of the game, the Italians spent their Actions on trying to increase their cover (represents finding better positions within the hex), while the Americans pushed up the flank. The Italian squad covering this avenue of approach perhaps should have pulled back in the face of overwhelming numbers, but their eagerness to stand a bit longer and play the Withering Fire card was too compelling.

Lady Luck was not with them. They took casualties, then laid down ineffectual withering fire and were removed from play after taking another round of casualties.

With their flank protection lost, there was nothing to stop the American advance, now joined by reinforcements, from quickly working their way amongst the buildings.

Catastrophe! Lt. Cantatore perhaps should have moved into the adjacent vacant 1st objective hex to defend it, but instead, he order his Italian squad to fire. Their half hearted fire only served to attract a hail of bullets in return and they too were removed from the game,  the Italians were now obliged to spend their last few precious impulse points in getting other units into more forward positions to protect Objective #1.

They looked like they had just managed to do that when an American squad worked their way through nearby ruins and took the Italian squad out with a satchel charge!

The Italian situation was grave, a nearby German (half squad) unit took their LMG and set themselves up in the 2nd objective hex, their sergeant, a man called Holzer, set about looking for the best firing positions (his first roll for additional cover succeeded). The situation had developed into a ‘Last Stand’.

The Americans had become too confident and a squad moving in the open was taken down by Holzer’s machine gun nest.

The Americans played their Smokescreen card, while they manoeuvred into positions to surround Holzer.

The smoke dispersed and heavy American fire peppered the German position. A double six (nothing is going to survive that!) on the fire dice saw Hotzer’s group off and the Americans, with just one turn to spare, took control of the second objective.

I’m not sure that the Italian player has much hope in this scenario, though once the Americans were clearly going for the right flank, I should have been quicker in shifting the Italian defence to meet it.

The scenario benefits from being a short, infantry only situation and I can see plenty of players coming to this for learning or re-familiarisation of the basic system.

The next scenario in this booklet is ‘Too Little, Too Late’. It deals with increasing German resistance behind Anzio and the Americans must now deal with panzer grenadiers and supporting armour.

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This SPQR (GMT) scenario is recommended as a ‘beginners’ scenario ….. it will certainly need some skill on the part of the Roman player to pull a win from the situation.

Xanthippus vs Roman Consul M. Atilius Regulus - North Africa, Winter 255 BC,

Background - The Romans have been fairly successful fighting the Carthaginians on land and the Roman Consul, Regulus, is pretty keen to have one big engagement that will knock Carthage out of the war.

However, the Carthaginians have secured the service of Spartan’s Xanthipuss and he re-organises the Carthaginian army to a more acceptable level of training.

The set-up immediately invites concern for any Roman player …. they are desperately short of cavalry to protect the wings. Their Alae cavalry are elsewhere, so the few remaining Roman cavalry are outnumbered 8:1.

In addition, the Roman line is initially facing 100 elephants and behind them is a wall of African infantry Phalanx. Historically, the Carthaginian cavalry swept the Roman cavalry away, exposing Roman flanks, while the elephants and phalanx frontal assault shattered the Roman legions.

In my last play, I was finding it difficult, once the lines became mixed, to determine which of the Alae cohorts belonged to the Hastati group and which belonged to the Principes.

While scrolling through posts at Consimworld, I found a most helpful entry. The poster suggested that the Principes should set up on their flip side. The flip side carries a white bar, instantly signifying which units are Hastati and which are Principes.

In the simple version of Great Battles of History, the flip side of the counter is not used in the same way as the original full rules use them. Rather they use the flip side to show which units are not in command when their formation is activated.

This of course is an equally useful administrative function, so now I just use a game marker to show which units are out of command. The single effect of being out of command is that a unit cannot enter or leave an enemy Zone of Control.

The Carthaginian cavalry superiority and the resulting threat to the Roman flanks is certainly a problem for the Romans in this scenario. My solution was to pull the Principes out towards the flanks to meet the cavalry threat, while leaving the Velites and Hastati to deal with the elephant assault.

It turned out that the Romans had done enough to protect their flanks from the cavalry threat, but their front line was ravaged by the elephants.

Though taking heavy casualties, the Romans have withstood the initial Carthaginian assault.

The elephants break off the attack and retire. The main line of Phalanx and Celts have to open up to allow the beasts to pass through.

The Romans used this lull to re-organise their army. The battered Hastati fall back and the fresh Principes move up into the front line position. They refuse their flanks as a defence against the threat of Carthaginian cavalry. I very much like the way that this system is allowing proper tactics and army management.

In the Photograph, you can see that the Carthaginian main line has moved forward, ready to engage the Romans. In their rear are the remnants of the elephant corps (for want of a better expression!). The cavalry on the Carthaginian left are well ordered and positioned, ready to support the attack, but on their right, the cavalry wing and light infantry under Hasdrubal have become a little awkwardly placed - they need to sort themselves out!

The dark blue double hex long counters in the Carthaginian line are the North African Phalanx units, the single hex green units are the Celt warriors. The Phalanx blocks are hard hitters, getting a combat bonus for size and generally their Troop Quality factor equals or betters those of the Roman line - though they can be a little awkward to manoeuvre.

And so here we are, at what is essentially Phase II of the battle. The Romans are more than halfway to their breaking point, but I feel that the fresh Principes, now in the front line will not be an easy walkover for the Carthaginians - I am in the middle of this and the outcome is not certain, or at least the Roman side still feel like there is a fight to be had - good!

But, as the Carthaginian attack resumes, the Roman player gets an immediate sense of doom! The African Phalanx units carve into the Roman line, I am shocked at the effectiveness of the attack, though the Phalanx were repeatedly rolling good dice scores ….. but, it was not all going the way of the Carthaginians. On their right, the Celt infantry were taking significant losses and a gap opened in the centre, which the Romans took full advantage of, pouring through and enveloping the phalanx line.

It is a moment of crisis for both sides. The Romans teeter on their breaking point, can they push the Carthaginians over the edge before their own army falls apart?

The Carthaginians attack the Roman right with their cavalry, hoping to quickly bring the Romans to their knees, but their Phalanx units are starting to lose cohesion. The first unit is lost. Loss of these two hex Phalanx counters give double break points, each adding 14 points to the Carthaginian break score.

A second Phalanx is marked with 6 hits, 7 will destroy it, which would take the Carthaginians within 2 break points of losing the game, but the Romans just don’t have the time left to make this happen. It is tight, but they lose two more of their own units, pushing them beyond their own break point (125).

It is all over. Carthage wins, but it is so close.

If just looking at the map, it would be hard to pick a winner, but the break points tell their own tale. The high losses that the Romans suffered on their initial engagement with the elephants, made a comeback difficult, but there was enough hope to make the struggle worthwhile.

The Triarii (final Roman line of defence) have restrictions as to when they can be released and as it happens, those conditions were met in the last turn, so who knows what might of happened if these fresh troops had had a couple of turns to try and turn the tide.

There were three key moments in the game. (1) The initial elephant charge caused carnage in the Roman front rank, though the ‘nellies’ themselves suffered heavy losses (2) the Celts dissolved with surprising speed, leaving a large gap in the Carthaginian centre (3) the final tussle between the Phalanx units and the Roman Principes JUST tipped in favour of the Carthaginians ….. but on another day - who knows! 

I must say, this was a brilliant game, the best that I have played in a while, it really drew me in. It went over the four hour mark for play and you definitely need a pair of tweezers to manage the loss markers that all of the units start to carry around in this tightly packed battlefield.

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I am looking to get back into the Great Battles of History series (GMT), with a particular aim of doing the Trebbia.  The SPQR module offers a small scenario, intended to give an introductory type engagement.

The lines set up at least 5 hexes apart. I have gone for a traditional type set up. For example, the Carthaginians have a couple of African Phalanx units to their centre, flanked by Light Infantry, with cavalry on the wings. Out front, they have placed their elephants and slingers.

As unis accumulate ‘hits’, the unit has a counter placed underneath it, with the number of hits marked. Once the number of hits equals the cohesion of the unit, it routs.

The Roman right wing cavalry pushed out to engage the enemy cavalry, which promptly withdrew. They did the same on the left flank, expecting the same sort of thing ….. but none of it! The Celtic horsemen were up for a fight.

The Roman cavalry were rebuffed, but part of their force was left isolated and this quickly fell to the Celtic warriors, with the Roman wing commander dying.

The Roman centre left came under increasing pressure. Hannibal’s elephants attacked, doing quite a bit of damage, before their own losses routed them and they rampaged in all directions, as they panicked in the packed close combat.

The Carthaginian Phalanx and light infantry followed up. The Roman line buckled, but held.

In the hack and slash, casualties began to mount on both sides, with each commander trying to get the local advantage on the field.

The lead Carthaginian phalanx had taken a huge amount of punishment, but were close to breaking the line, when their second phalanx moved down to join the fray.

It was the Romans who hit their Break Point and lost the game.

The Roman losses were 34 compared to the Carthaginian 10. 

Note - the two phalanx units, which are double width, have their hit markers placed on top of the unit for ease.

I decided to play on for another turn, just out of interest as several of the units had accumulated enough hits be be quite fragile. While the Romans lost another cohort, one of the African Phalanx collapsed and this was enough to tip the Carthaginians over their Break Point level.

A unit is worth a number of break points equal to its cohesion rating. For the Phalanx this was nominally 7 …. But phalanx break points are doubled, so the loss added 14 points of hurt and with a light infantry unit also lost, this took them to their break point.

It was of course still a Roman loss, but playing the extra turn shows just how close things were.

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You might be forgiven for thinking that this is a Gettysburg-esque scenario, but nothing so grand I’m afraid!

Confederate and Union force are each desperate for their (unpainted) troops to get resupplied with some clothes and shoes. Both have the same idea of marching towards Dunker Church, which had been recently serving as a provisions depot.

This results in a simple meeting engagement. The game is played until one side has absolute control of the building. The unit that is holding the building has the best pick of the uniform and so…. will be painted next!

Each side has just 4 infantry regiments and 1 artillery battery, making this the size of a typical Neil Thomas style scenario as described in his One Hour Wargames book. I will be using my own rules. The table is close to 4x4 and the figures are Epic ACW from Warlord Games.

A Random Event resulted in no ammunition for the Confederate battery during the first two turns.

We will never know if more active Confederate artillery could have prevented it, but it was the Union who were first to reach and occupy the church - hmmn, new Union boots!

The Union were mighty pleased with their find, until a sentry noticed a wave of grey uniform moving towards their position from the far side of the church.

Union artillery had entered the rough field to give themselves a better field of fire over the open ground beyond.

It was to prove an excellent position as the Confederates had gathered most of their brigade within the gun’s field of fire, but the artillery had become quite disordered (the maroon discs) moving across the very stoney rough ground and they were tardy to unlimber and deploy.

In fact one Confederate regiment had managed to get so close that the artillery commander gave some thought to simply pulling out instead of deploying.

A confederate regiment, supported to its rear by a second regiment, assaulted the building and ejected the stunned Union - hmmn, new Confederate boots!

The Union by this time were having the worst of the losses. They pretty much just had one more attack left in them, which they aimed at the church …. but they were repulsed, the Confederates would hold onto their newly acquired possession.

An ongoing action on the Confederate left, had a regiment moving down onto the exposed Union guns in the rough field, but as brave as their assault was in the face of such fire and indeed having reached within yards of the guns, they were repulsed in the final moments of the attack.

As a brief lull fell across the battlefield, the Union took the opportunity to withdraw. Three of their four regiments were marked with 5 hits, which is very bad, as it removes all chance of offensive capability and typically results in an increase of involuntary retreats and the inevitable routing.

In the final count, the Union had lost 20 casualty points, the Confederates 11 and remember, that was across identical forces.

Hmmn, new boots for the Confederates - it will be a ‘grey’ unit that moves across the painting table next!

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This is a fictional scenario that accompanies my own rules. A Confederate division of 3 brigades must capture Union positions held by 2 brigades, with a 3rd brigade randomly arriving as a reinforcement.

To win, the Confederates must have two units on the high ground and at the same time occupy both ends of the bridge.

Elzey’s (Confederate) plan was to pin the bridge with Kershaw’s weaker brigade, while moving the two stronger brigades of Seibels and Holmes directly to the high ground. Once the high ground was taken, Seibels would swing towards the bridge and assist Kershaw in taking it.

An unlikely random event on turn 1 advanced the turn 1 position to turn 2, this would speed up Union reinforcements, an unfortunate start for the Confederates, who were moving towards the creek and high ground in skirmish order.

The centre brigade (Seibels) was the first to assault with one regiment in skirmish order attacking the gun position and two regiments assaulting the infantry on the hill.

There was some disorder as the men crossed the creek and then climbed the slope and the defenders were able to lay down a lot of close range fire, resulting in shocking casualties, especially to the 13th Virginia taking fire from the Union guns on the hill and the whole brigade was repulsed so effectively that they took no further part in the attack.

Holmes on the right also got his troops across the creek and up the slope, only to be forced back. They launched their attack a second time, but at a critical moment, Holmes was shot and his brigade lost momentum. There followed a too and fro over several turns as things on the right hung in the balance.

Shenk’s (Union) third brigade under Keyes arrived and went straight into action to support the struggling Union left, taking losses as they crossed in front of the Confederate guns to make that movement. As these troops climbed the rear of the hill, Elzey saw his last chance to win the battle, with two of his regiments now on the high ground, he ordered Kershaw to storm the bridge and capture the far side. 

That attack initially faltered, but Kershaw rallied his men and pressed the attack once again, managing this time to take the far end of the bridge.

The Confederates now held all of the scenario objectives, but to win, they had to keep control until the end of the Union player turn.

The Union obviously threw what they could at the Confederates, trying to dislodge them, but Elzey’s men withstood the Union counter attacks at both hill and bridge and so were able to claim victory.

It had been a very close thing (it usually is in this scenario) and with Confederate losses running at a ⅓, it was a victory gained at great cost. 

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D-Day to the Rhine by Worthington Publishing goes back onto the table for the 80th anniversary of D-Day. 

The game plays in monthly turns. The opening invasion sub routine gets us quite a historical result. Both Commonwealth and U.S. set of beaches are captured, but the U.S. take heavy casualties (2 hits) on their landing.

As the game starts proper (June), the Germans manage to seal off the peninsular, in what in this game seems to be the ‘best opening German move’. The U.S. can only build up from losses 1 step at a time while in an enemy Zone of Control, so Hodges only recovers one loss - he then goes on to attack Cherbourg, takes it, but again suffers heavy loss.

The Commonwealth attack Caen, but get a bloody nose. By the end of June, the allies hold the peninsular, including the important port of Cherbourg, but the Germans have been able to contain them.

At the end of July, despite several battles, the allies are no nearer breaking out from the peninsular!

In August, the allies are becoming desperate to break out. They controversially carpet bomb Caen and attack XLVII Panzer, but are not only repulsed but Dempsey’s force takes a dreadful 4 hits (removing that formation from play). However, persistent allied attacks eventually see Caen liberated that month. The Germans have fought so hard to enforce containment that their combined casualties see their formations shattered and gaps appear, their position is close to collapse.

September sees the allies break out from Normandy and there is nothing before them. At the same time, the allied landings that have already taken place in the south of France (Operation Dragoon - off board), have been successful and lead divisions from the direction of Marseille are starting to approach the German held fortified cities of Belfort, Epinal and Nancy, which are fairly close to the German border. With this threat to the German rear, Normandy is no longer a relevant focus and the Germans will need to rapidly fall back and prepare a new defensive line further east.

Interestingly, historically, Paris fell to the allies on 25th August and here we are, at the start of October and it is still in German hands. At this stage it is difficult to see how the Allies can make up for the time lost if they are to get across the Rhine before the end of the game. 

What might be considered a real breakout, did not happen until the end of September! with Paris held until the end of the year by Manteuffel. In view of this, the carefully husbanded German forces that historically were used at the Ardennes (Battle of the Bulge) Offensive, were instead used in the south near Strasbourg to stall the allies that had been advancing from  Marseille.

The combination of this together with the very slow breakout at Normandy, meant that by the end of the game the allies were just starting to engage parts of the Siegfried Line and this gave the gave the Germans a major victory when (when set against the historical timetable).

I have played this title twice now and each time it has been tough for the allies, though admittedly, in this recent game, the dice early in the game did not do the allies any favours, in fact they bordered on being quite mean.

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