The Battle of Wolverhampton Airfield, April 1936

Earlier in the week Phil and I met up in GHQ for our regular game, in this instance a VBCW scenario I'd been toying with for a good while set around Wolverhampton airfield. I guess you didn't know Wolverhampton once had such a feature, I know I didn't until I came to live on it in 1980! From our upstairs windows you could still see the control tower and hangers of the post war airport and just up the hill were the myriad of nissan huts from WWII when it was a dispersal airfield for Boulton Paul, makers of the Defiant and the gun turrets for bombers! The tabletop battlefield laid out ~

Some table dressing to suggest the airfield was all I had available, along with two Corgi diecasts ~

Flying Officer Bicclesworth and his ride of choice.

A Hawker Fury being prepared to taxi out onto the runway to join 'Biccles' ready for take off.

The Government forces enter from along the base line, the right side 2' being impassable. 

While the heroic Socialist Alliance enters on the road and must make one full turn on the road. The Socialists have sneakily emplaced some heavy weapons groups overnight to support their attack.

A Vickers MMG & crew, with a 3" Mortar just out of view 

A Heath-Robinson Trench Mortar!

While the BUF spearhead the Militia attack on the Government right, the Regulars of the South Staffordshire regiment advance on the left in their lorries.

The mounted Manders' Horse take post on the left of the Hilton Main Miners' Collective, who have bought their Silver Band along for support! 

The BUF and supporting Militia units are rapidly advancing to size the airfield. Mander counters with all he has available, the Horse and the Miners. A brisk firefight erupts between the opposing forces!

The Socialist's Vickers Medium tank advances to engage the Government's Mk VI. A protracted exchange of fire proves largely indecisive, although the Mk VI's turret jams as the result of a glancing hit!

While the tanks slog it out the South Staffords debus partly screened by the corn field. ( A nod to the acres of corn grown on SSWW farmland opposite our house for several years after we first moved in.)

The BUF have stalled, engaging in a firefight with the distant Manders Guards, while the Tettenhall Militia press forward having driven Manders' Horse back with heavy losses.

The Chillington Rifle Volunteers are trying to size control of the workshops in support of the main advances on both Government flanks.

The South Staffords' HQ Company takes up position where it can control both the Company advancing through the cornfield with the MMG in support...

And the second Company advancing on the road from the Red Lion pub! 

The Trench Mortar team are lobbing their tin can bombs (Light Mortar effect) on to the advancing enemy troops.

Their fire proves though to be largely ineffective in halting the enemy advance!

Emerging from the cover afforded by the cornfield - it's as high as an elephant's eye you know - the South Staffords' fire knocks out the Trench Mortar and crew!

Losses mount for the Socialists, their 3" Mortar and crew are neutralised. The miners are also hors de combat and with their Bolt Action dice down to 4 there is no choice but a dignified withdrawal leaving Rawnsley's Government forces in possession of the airfield.

We played 10 Turns using Bolt Action 3 supplemented by our own random event cards - see Phil's blog for details. Both sides started with 9 Bolt Action dice, but the Socialists had 11 units to the Government's 9, meaning any losses disproportionately affected the choices I could make. In the end I lost so many that further action was pointless, the South Staffords being over my right flank with no effective opposition to halt the advance! Nevertheless, a grand tussle played out either side of a Hogroast lunch courtesy of the local Co-op!