mission critical, (FOW) ; Break out at Spree forest

Break out at Spree forest  28th of April 1945

Overview;

The situation is hopeless. The Russian army has surrounded Berlin and in closing in for the kill.  To the south the 9th army has been encircled in the Spree fores.  Its only hope is to break the encirclement and flee to the west to surrounded to the western allies.

Design note; This mission was adapted to FOW from Andy Turlington's breakout at Baruth mission in his the WWII Eastern front skirmish scenarios book.

Terrain;

The battle field is set-up as per the map shown.

The woods are impassable to vehicles and count as difficult terrain for other teams. They are also on fire (see special rules).

Deployment;

The Russian force deploy first and can deploy anywhere west of Baruth. The IS2 start the game in tank pits.

The German roll on from the eastern road.

The forces

The Russain defenders – 2180 pts

1 Motostrelkovy Battalion HQ  -30pts

2 companies of Motostrelkovy (each with two platoons and one attached anti-tank rifle platoon) – 490 pts

2 Tank platoons (IS2 tanks, each with 5 tanks). - 1660pts

The German attackers -2145 pts

1 Gepanzerte panzergrenadier Company HQ (with attached anti-tank section) - 115pts

2  Gepanzerte panzergrenadier platoons (each with panzerfaust/SMG command and two squads) - 420pts

1 Heavy tank platoon (with four king tigers) - 1360

1 Gepanzerte panzergrenadier pioner platoon ( with panzerfaust/SMG command and two squads) -250 pts

Special rules

Woods on fire;

After three days of bitter fighting the Spree forest has been set on fire.  This has the following effects.

-There is heavy smoke, Night fighting rules apply.

-In addition any teams in the forest must take a skill test if they fail they take an automatic hit which can be saved as normal.

Victory conditions;

The game last until one side concedes, or the game reaches turn 12 and there is no German platoon above half strength west of Baruth.

The Germans win if they get one platoon or more above half strength to exit the western table edge and other result is a Russian win.

 IS2 on the prowl

 

Russian SMG company move through a deserted village 

Company of T34s on the way to the front

 

 Panthers on the prowl

 German garrison prepares to stand its ground

Russian assualt company makes ready

Dig In (FOW); gun emplacements

Been a while since I did a modelling piece. the following is how I made some of the gun emplacement bases for my FOW artillery and guns.

Materials;

• 1-2mm thick Plastic card
• FOW artillery base
• FOW gun
• Scissors
• pencils
• Balsa wood
• insulating foam
• polyfilla
• Catty litter
• PVA glue

Method;

• A FOW artillery base and the pencil were used to trace out the artillery base shapes on the plastic card
• A scissors was used to cut out the bases.
• Insulating foam was cut into small sections 1x1x3(cms)
• The gun was placed on the base and the insulating foam was arranged around it in a interesting shape.
• Once happy with the shape the foam was bevelled (sloped) on the side opposite the gun.
• PVA glue was used to secure the foam to the base.
• The gun was removed and Balsa wood strips were glued to the gun side on the embankment*.
• Once the foam and the woods was secure filla was coated on to the foam taking care not to cover the wood.
• To break up the filla effect small catty scatter was stuck into the filla as it dried.
• Once dried the model can be painted as normal.

* one option to do is before gluing the balsa woods section to the base to score them with a knife to create the effect of wooden planking for this method the  wood plank effect was to be done during the painting of the model with a fine brush.

 

Bases with foam and woods glued in place

 

front view of emplacement when completed

Rear view of emplacement when completed

 

Top rear view of emplacement when completed

 

Top front view of emplacement when completed

Top side view of emplacement when completed

Below are some painted examples from my Germans 

With the anti tankgun  the polyfilla was painted green then covered with leaf scatter to make it look like a bush.

PiP (Fow) russian guns and German grenadiers

Still chipping away at the Russian guns below are some of the latest recruits

The only new painting method tried was using Testors Dullcoate to varnish the models instead of army painter matt coat.  It was bit of disaster with the initial coat turning everything white. I tried multiple coats heating the can, cooling the can, shaking the can and below is the result. White varnish is still present on some of the models but it is not as bad as the frist coat.

 

Platoons 3 and 4 from the front

  

Platoons 3 and 4 from the rear

platoon 3 again

platoon 4

Not to be out done the Germans got some reinforcements in the from of a early/mid war grenadier platoon from forged in battle.

(I like their vehicles but the infantry are only average, nice but average)

PIP (40K); Dark Eldar

The Kabal of the House of Pain now stands at 1 Archon, 10 warriors and 10 wycthes.  The Archon is called lord Malwrath based of the dark eldar lord in a short story called mistress babeah gift about a dark lord out to impress a lady friend.

The method;
(AP=army painter GW =games workshop V =vallejo)

The models were under coated AP bestial brown.
The armour was painted V Oily steel.
The tunics and leggings were painted V german grey
The flesh was painted GW space wolf grey
The guns were painted GW brazen brass with the tubing painted GW snot green.
The hair and plumes were painted V flat white.
Lord Malwriath armour was painted GW burnished gold (because he is the boss and needs to stick out).
His cloak and the other warriors sashes were painted GW liche purple ( going forward each squad's sash will be painted a different color for squad markings).
The blades were painted GW shiney silver with the handles painted GW bleached bone.
The bases were done the same as the chaos deamons test bases
A few test washes were done on a couple of models and in the end the armour was left without a washes while everything else was given a black wash.
Only lord Malwrath was varnished (since he was a metal figure).

Lord Malwrath

Wash test V black wash (right), no wash (centre), V smoke wash (left)

Wycthes (got to admired the movement in the models)

mission critical (FOW); Dyhernfurth Raid

Dyhernfurth, Eastern front, 5 Feb 1945

Mission Overview;
Kampfgruppe O’Donnell is in the thick of it again.  This time they have been ordered to secure the village of Dyhernfurth so that scientists and technicians can destroy a secret chemical weapon  supply housed in a factory in the village.

Design note; The scenario is adapted for FOW from Faron Bell’s battlefront mission. Worth a read if you want the full back ground on the mission.

Set-up;
The set-up is as per map.  The main features are the chemical works, the village of Dyhernfurth, the bridge.

Russians get the frist turn.

Forces;
German forces;
@ Dyhernfurth
1 Grenadier platoon with attached HMG team (all teams, bar the HMG, have panzerfausts)
@ the chemical works
1 Grenadier platoon with attached HMG team (all teams, bar the HMG, have panzerfausts)
@ hill 109, south of the bridge (see hidden special rules)
1 Panzer grenadier anti aircraft platoon (2 sdkfz 10/5)
1 88 gun

Arriving from reserve from either the south or west roads (player decides before the game begins)
1 Panzer platoon (4 Panther tanks)

Can be deployed with any of the above forces;
Company HQ (panzerfaust/SMG with sd kfz151/1 halftracks)
Attached anti tank section with sd kfz151/1 halftrack
1 Gepanzerte cannon platoon (2 sdkfz 251/9)
1 Grenaider anti tank platoon (2 7.5cm Pak40’s)

Russian
@ The castle (see drunk special rule)
1 Strelkovy company (3 platoons with attached HMG)
1 Strelkovy machince gun company (1 HMG platoon)
1 Strelkovy mortar company (1 mortar platoon)

@ Kranz (see not ready special rule)
1 Guards heavy tank company (5 IS-2)
1 motostrelkovy (HQ with HGM platoon and 2 motor rifle platoon)

@ The railway station (see not ready special rule)
1 Tankovy company (7 T34-85s)
1 motostrelkovy (HQ with HGM platoon and 2 motor rifle platoon)

In delayed reserve (entering from North road, one roll for both units)
1 Tankovy company (4 T34-85s)
1 motostrelkovy (HQ with 1 motor rifle platoon)

Special rules;
Hidden:
The 88 and the AA platoon start the game in ambush but must be deployed on the hill when they arrive.
Drunk:
The Russian at the castle have found a cache of wine and have helped themselves as a result they are pretty drunk.  The garrison passes any motivation test of 2+ but always counts as conscripts for any skill tests.

Not ready;
The units at Kranz and the railway station are currently waiting resupply and are not ready for combat each team must pass a skill test before it can move.

Victory conditions;
The game last 12 turns.
Decisive Russian win if the chemical works, the village of Dyhernfurth, the bridge are captured.
Minor Russian win if the chemical works is captured.
German win if they hold the chemical works at the end of the game.
Any other result is a draw

Aerial view of the battlefield

 

 German grenadiers defend Dyhernfurth

 88 engages an IS2 company

 Russian assault on Dyhernfurth begins

 Panthers to the rescue

 IS2's V Panthers

 The Russian assault on the chemical factory gets hit in the flank

 Russian infantry makes its final assault on the chemical factory.

FOW Mission critical; Champs 1944

Champs 25^th December 1944

Design notes;

Adapted to FOW from the Rapid Fire Battle of the Bugle expansion.

Introduction;

Desperate to break the Bastogne salient before in can be relieved the 26^th Volksgrenadiers regiment has been reinforced by the depleted 115^th panzer grenadier 1^st battalion and kampfgruppe Maucke and ordered to attack Bastogne from the west. Opposing them is elements from the 101^st airborne paratroop and glider regiments.

Terrain; 

The battle is set-up as per the map.

The woods are impassable to vehicles but infantry treat them as open terrain.

Open ground and hills are difficult terrain to vehicles but infantry treat them as open terrain.

Roads are open terrain for all units.

Battle of champs map

Deployment;

The American forces deploy first. The parachute rifle company must deploy within unit coherence of Champs.  The glider rifle platoon must be deployed within unit coherence of Hemroulle.  The command section must be deployed within Unit coherence of Chateau Rolley. All remaining American platoons must deploy east of the Champ/Hemroulle road. All the platoons can opted to dig in before the start of the game.  The Sherman in delayed reserves arrives on the southern road.

The 26^th Volksgrenadier moves on from the western table edge on turn one.  The 115^th Panzer Grenadier battalion and Kampfgruppe Maucke enter from of the western road.

 

Glider platoon sets-up defending Hemroulle.

The forces

Defender; 101^st Airborne

Company HQ with one attached bazooka

Parachute rifle platoon with three squads

Glider rifle platoon with three squads

Parachute Machine-gun platoon with two sections

Parachute mortar platoon with two sections

Parachute field artillery battery with two sections

Glider field artillery (105s) with one section

Tank destroyer platoon with one section (two M18s)

 

The defenders of Hemrouille were hard pressed by marauding Hetzers 

 The Hetzers breached the defences but timely arrival of the Sherman platoon clears the village

Delayed reserves

Sherman platoon with four shermans

Attacker; 26^th Volksgrenadiers*

Company HQ with attached anti-tank section

Grenadier platoon with three sections and command SMG/panzerfaust

Grenadier platoon with three sections and command SMG/panzerfaust

Grenadier platoon with three sections and command SMG/panzerfaust

Grenadier infantry gun platoon with two sections

Grenadier mortar platoon with three sections

Grenadier mortar platoon (120mm) with two sections

Grenadier machine gun platoon with two sections

Veteran tank hunter platoon (Two hetzers)

Reserves

115^th Panzer Grenadier battalion/Kampfgruppe Maucke

Panzer platoon with two PiV

Panzer platoon with two Stug III

Grenadier platoon with three teams, command SMG/panzerfaust and attached panzershreik

Grenadier platoon with three teams, command SMG/panzerfaust and attached panzershreiks

Each grenadier platoon arrives riding on one of the tank platoons. Roll for each tank platoon as normal if they arrive then so does their attached grenadier platoon.

 

At Champs Volksgrenadiers infiltrated through the woods towards the village.

Special rules;

The platoons in the 26^th Volksgrenadiers company count as trained.

The battle starts before dawn; starting from turn two onwards roll for day break as if it was a unit in reserve.

The US artillery is very low on ammunition and can only make one attempt to range in. Mortars platoon can still re-roll their first attempt as normal.

The tank destroyers were lost going toe to toe against newly arrived PiVs

With Hemorulle secured, the glider platoon pushed on to hill 106 to clear it of artillery observers who were becoming a pain in the ass. 

Victory conditions;

The Germans win if they capture Champs and there are no American units contesting the Champs/Hemroulle road. Or if the the American company breaks before the end of the game.  The Americans win if hold Champs and there are no German units contesting the Champs/Hemroulle road by the end of the game or if the 26^th Volksgrenadiers break before the end of the game.  The game last for 18 turns.

The defenders of Champs were reduced to a single section before the Sherman's came to the rescue