Friday 26 August 2016

Somme enchanted evening

A couple of weeks after the Somme game reported here earlier I ran a cut-down version at the Sheffield club.  Why cut-down?  Two reasons:
1. pressure of time - I wanted it to be playable in an evening
2. I had to provide almost 100% of the kit!
Among the new items I had prepared for this game was the German battery above.  An Emhar model and figures.  The dog came with a toy wagon.
With my own bodged tranches and bunkers and the help of Martin's trenches we constructed a German front line over 20 feet across!
John entered into the spirit of things with his (plastic) helmet.  Martin and new chap Tom also joined the Brits.  The Jerries were led by er, Jerry.

Fokkers balloon busting.  Or trying to.
Looking across the playing area - with the players trying to look as if they're not involved...

 British recce gets hit by 'party popper' flak.
The British artillery fire concentrated on a few targets.  And even hit some of them.
Martin (in a hessian covered repro helmet) and John looking like a pair of dodgy Airfix re-casts.
My Hannover got into action.  Well for photographs anyway.

 When the troops went 'over the top' the result was all too predictible.


The wicked Germans skulking in their fortifications.

Once again most of the harvest of death was gathered by the German machine guns.  These are plastic recasts of old Charbens Russians with Armies in Plastic heads.




Casualty rates were similar to the original game.  And indeed the original battle.

18 comments:

Pete. said...

A nice set up Tim, do you have to make many adaptations to the rules to bring then up to 1916?

Cheers,

Pete.

Don M said...

Casualty rates were similar to the original game. And indeed the original battle.

The moral of the story being, there is no non messy way to do on line attacks Vs emplaced machineguns......But I hear there working on these big mechanized metal boxed that just might work...

Conrad Kinch said...

The green fields of France looking a little square today :)

Al said...

A very original game, well done lads

Tim Gow said...

Pete
No really. We had a few 'scenario specific' bits, like the unreliability of British shells and the air action was a test of a possible add-on to FLW.

Tim Gow said...

Don M
I can't see that sort of thing catching on.

Tim Gow said...

Conrad Kinch
Maybe so, but while we occupied that 30x30 foot space we were well out of the way of the other four games going on!

Tim Gow said...

Al
Thanks Al. A difficult battle to game but it went rather well.

Steve8 said...

Where is the new club venue Tim? Someone told me it is now in Woodseats near to where I used to live. I did notice the tiled floor (gridded wargaming anyone?).

Tim Gow said...

Stephen Briddon
You missed it? https://megablitzandmore.blogspot.co.uk/2016/04/sheffield-wargames-society-new-venue.html
The floor tiles are 18inches actress - their possible uses are being pondered.....

Archduke Piccolo said...

Artillery preparation obviously inadequate. Got to give it an hours worth at least: possibly even two. Jerry the Hun couldn't possibly survive that sort of pounding...

Interesting exercise. I'm just wondering, to what extent we can take seriously the 'three to one' thing about assaulting prepared positions? Probably not very. I am also curious as to whether, if you had the numbers (figures) successive waves as strong as the one we were looking at here, might have effected a break-in.

I begin to perceive that a World War One project is no very simple matter...

Martin Rapier said...

Thinking about it afterwards, we might have been better attacking in two waves on a narrow front, but that would have left them more vulnerable to flanking fire.

Ken H said...

Loving the plastic tin hat, Somme mothers do 'ave 'em! Great to see the focus on getting the game in, rapid prep, not too much fuss. Good lesson there torvacfew of us members of the 1st Bn Queens Own Prevaricators !

Tim Gow said...

Archduke Piccolo
The Western Front is a difficult area from which to create a satisfactory 'game'.

Tim Gow said...

Martin Rapier
That was the same thought (and conclusion) I had in the earlier game.

Tim Gow said...

Ken H
Hey, one of those plastic tin hats was er, tin. It was (by some margin) the game's most expensive component....

Quantrilltoy said...

That Charbens machine gunner has given me some ideas for some conversions. I have already made some Turkish type ones.

Tim Gow said...

James James
Turks eh? I'd like to see them.