The Defence of Futabad

Ever the stout hearted friend Phil one more embarked on the great trek to GHQ for our weekly game as I'm still inconvenienced by my foot injury. We were joined by William, my second oldest grandson, for his first real wargame. Phil has recruited William to the Imperial forces, mainly for his exceptional record with the dice when he's playing against Grandad! The scenario sees the Japanese defending a munitions depot against a probing attack. Onomoro must preserve his samurai heritage and reputation by defending the depot and seeing off the attackers. As usual now an annotated photomontage to carry you down hopefully into the action ~

Onomoro issues instructions to his second in command from the relative safety of the former governor's residence!

His men however have rather less substantial cover from the expected attack...

The general appearance of the battlefield from the Japanese perspective...

...and from the Imperial forces' view of the same. Now on to the action ~

The Forward Observer team is placed anywhere on the Imperial half of the table. It can neither be moved nor targeted afterwards.

The Imperial side has 12 elements, but only 10 Bolt Action dice. This is intended to partly simulate the difficulty of coordination in a jungle environment.

The eccentric aristocrat Lord Rawnsley and his 2nd in command 'Mad Bill' Watkins oversee the dispositions of their forces 

British troops in the foreground, Gurkhas in the middle distance. The 'off  table' artillery is represented in the far distance by the 105mm Light Howitzer.

Onomoro's defence is necessarily spread thinly. On the far right infantry are dug in behind log defences.

His main defence line stretches out from Futabad towards the muddy waters of the minor river.

The high ground is a prime location for his main anti tank artillery.

Lord Rawnsley instructs 'Mad Bill's in his mission on the left flank. Putting William in charge of the Bolt Action dice turned out not to my advantage!

Onomoro sends one group of infantry forward to occupy an advanced defensive position in the ruined gardens to the front of Futabad.

The Imperial forces storm forward all along the front stretching Onomoro's defensive options from the outset.

The Gurkhas reach the outskirts of the ruined farm ready to assault Futabad, their flank covered by the advancing British infantry.

Despite reaching their objective in Turn 2 the Japanese infantry find themselves under mortar fire directed by the Forward Observer. To their right a small unit of Tank Hunters advance hoping to engage the Matilda as it advances!

On the Imperial left 'Mad Bill's' infantry make for the relative safety of the high ground despite the ragged fire from Onomoro's defenders lining the river bank log defences.

The Gurkhas have consolidated their position around the farm ruins ready to assault Futabad. The British infantry are heading directly for the Japanese defensive lines. 

The Gurkhas are in position ready for the signal for the assault to begin in Turn 3.

The Japanese Forward Observer has struggled to direct fire on the advancing enemy, failing to establish radio contact with his various options.

"What do I need for a hit, Phil?"

"Six!"

"OK!" 

This is why you need William on your team. 

On the Imperial left, having gained the high ground, the British infantry pour down fire on the Japanese below.

It's all too much for these remnants as their morale collapsed and they fled for their lives!

The Gurkhas begin their assault on Futabad, moving cautiously through the cover afforded by the farm ruins.

The dug in infantry gun trades fire with the distant Matilda with little success. The accumulation of Pin markers hampers it's effectiveness.

The British advance through a minefield, fortunately finding it's a dummy! Machine guns are now deployed to support the developing assaults along the front.

On their left, having eliminated the enemy to their front, the British infantry prepare to probe the rear of the Japanese defense line 

Turn 4 sees the Japanese infantry defending the ruined gardens destroyed and the Gurkhas moving in to take advantage of the cover.

The Japanese Forward Observer directs successful mortar fire on their new position. Will it be enough to deter their planned assault?

The centre of Onomoro's defensive line is coming under repeated artillery, mortar, tank and machine gun fire which sees Pin markers mounting alarmingly. Attempts to Rally the troops are only partially successful.

On the Imperial right the Gurkhas press forward for the final assault on Futabad in Turn 4.

Banzai! The Japanese infantry throw themselves on the enemy now occupying the reverse of the log defences along the riverbank. Despite their best intentions they are roundly defeated in close combat and flee!

The Forward Observer calls down smoke from the 3" mortar to cover the Gurkhas' assault! By this stage Futabad is very thinly defended, need he have bothered?

The assault goes in under the cover of the smoke shells! Only the mortar crew and two snipers remain in position to offer any resistance.

Turn 5 ends with the Imperial forces in the ascendancy all along the Futabad front.

It's all up for Onomoro's failed defence of Futabad as Turn 6 leads to more Japanese losses as Onomoro's force disintegrates in the face of overwhelming odds.

All's well that ends well though thanks to Sue! Lunch on the patio makes a perfect end to a morning's wargaming. Next week in GHQ it's back to the Punic Wars as Haztrubel Bicca takes on Coronus Cunctator.

Carrying on Up the Jungle...

 ...for our weekly game here in GHQ, a return to Burma 1943. Pitting elements of the Japanese Imperial Army, lead by Colonel Onomoro against the British & Empire Army commanded by that well known military incompetent, Major 'Tubby' Bykleigh. We had originally planned on using Bolt Action, but discussion over a pregame coffee lead to a decision to try Rapid Fire Reloaded instead. As ever, a photomontage to try and convey some idea of how the game played out ~

A view across the tabletop battlefield from the Japanese side. Pretty much all the appropriate terrain I have for jungle games.

Some Japanese Type 94 tankettes lead a reconnaissance towards the heavily defended ford across the river. Here it can be crossed by vehicles and infantry without penalty.

Encountering no opposition they press forward, supported now by an elephant drawn anti-tank gun and the first of the Japanese infantry!

Fighting breaks out in the centre first as the Gurkhas dug in along the river banks come under mortar and infantry fire from across the river.

Both the Gurkhas and the Japanese take early casualties, the larger Japanese infantry groups somehow disguise the scale of their losses more than the smaller Gurkha groups 

With the Gurkhas defending the ford now coming under machine gun fire from the Japanese Type 94 tankettes the British Grant rumbles forward, its opening shot destroying one tankette!

Emboldened by his success, the tank commander orders,  "Driver, advance!" The second shot damages the remaining tankette but fails to drive it off!

Gurkha resistance is crumbling under sustained fire, enabling the first Japanese to cross the river and occupy the deserted positions (callously bayoneting the wounded of course!)

The British infantry occupying higher ground in support come under intense mortar fire! Casualties are mounting alarmingly and the response is desultory at best.

The advancing Ha-Go gets the first shot in and brews up the Grant! Things are looking more than a bit rum for our boys right now.

More Japanese infantry are across the river, effectively splitting the Empire troops' position. Casualties reach a critical points and morale collapses! The decision of the Dice Gods brings 'Surrender or Rout', neither being a welcome option here! A hard fought win for Onomoro, but a win never the less! Tremendous fun of course for both players, but very bloody from the off. I still find myself pining for the second edition Rapid Fire! rules. '10 pts on Table 4!' is etched on my memory it seems!

On the road to nowhere...

It was Phil's birthday on Monday, so he chose what game we would play in GHQ on our regular slot as a treat! He chose to play a WWII Bolt Action game set in 1943 in Burma. Phil took command of the British and Empire troops while I commanded the Imperial Japanese Army forces. The lull before the storm ~

As usual our games are scheduled for six turns, plus a possible seventh decided by a dice throw. In this game the British and Imperial force is defending from a Japanese attack supported by tanks. The British have seven areas of dug in defences they can utilise. The Japanese enter from either end of the road crossing the table east to west: the small recon force entered from the west, the main attacking force from the east. The British deploy south of the road not knowing this.In the end Phil managed his defence better than I coordinated my attacks, as I hope the few pictures will show ~

The main Japanese force enters from the East to find the Gurkhas dug in on
the hill to their front.

The smaller Japanese Recce force enters from the west and makes a
diversionary attack on that flank of the British position.

British troops are redeployed towards the threatened eastern flank of their
position as the Japanese attack has been blunted on the western flank

The mountain howitzer deploys and begins to shell the Gurkhas holding off
the attack on the British eastern flank .

British armour moves forward to engage the Japanese tanks supporting the
infantry attacks.

The Japanese call in off table artillery fire on the Gurkha position as they
mass for the attack. The mortar fire has proved ineffective, the men cannot
find the range it seems!

A suicide attack on the old Matilda proves to be
unsuccessful sadly!

"Banzai!" The hardened jungle fighters charge the Gurkhas dug in on the
eastern flank, despite their supporting tank being pinned by friendly artillery
fire! In the fierce hand to hand fighting no quarter is given or asked for! The
Japanese are beaten off despite heavy losses and the attack is called off.

With the repulse of the hardened jungle fighters by the Gurkhas the Japanese called off the attack. The loss of one medium tank and the pinning of the second robbed them of much needed fire support, while the Japanese bombardment of the Gurkha position did little to soften them up, and pinned their own tank support! On the western flank the demonstration by the Recce force of two light tanks and an infantry squad was ineffective due to very poor firing dice initially, allowing Phil to transfer support to the threatened eastern flank.
All in all a fine game, proving once again how versatile Bolt Action is as a game system. Next up in GHQ? Well, you will need to drop by again and see what we decide on...