Two Rounds of Hellespont

by on July 19, 2019 at 12:00 pm
Posted In: CC:Ancients

After finishing up “Far From Home“, Patch and I did our usual scenario from Commands & Colors: Ancients at the beginning of June. Up this time was the Battle of the Hellespont, the first of the Successor battles from Expansion #1. Both sides have roughly equivalent armies, though deployment is different, and the big unusual part is that each leader eliminated reduces that side’s Command by one, and if either side loses both of its leaders it automatically loses the battle at that point.

I had Craterus first, and we both led off with Order Two Right, and moved up our flanks. I followed by moving up the center, and Patch used Order Lights to get into range, and did a block to a Heavy with archery. I Ordered Mediums to engage with my MC and did two blocks each to a MC and LC, but unfortunately took two blocks back on one, which retired back to where he started. Patch Out Flanked to chase the weak MC, and surround the other one. My weak MC finished off his counterpart, but was then eliminated by a second MC, and Neoptolemus evaded off the board to keep from being eliminated on a Momentum advance (since the special rule states that you loose a card/Command for each leader eliminated, we figured that did not count, but clarification would be nice). Instead they traded blocks with an Auxilia. On the other flank, Craterus lost his unit, but only after wiping out a MC, and then evaded back to his own lines.

I Ordered Light for no damage, but did force his right MC to evade away. Patch Coordinated Attack to bring back his damaged units, while I Ordered Three Right to solidify my line, and drove off a MC with a banner. Patch Ordered Four Center to bring up the heavier infantry, and I brought up my Heavies with Order Three Center. Patch Ordered Lights to get his LB out of the way, and did two more damage to the wounded Heavy with a lucky shot. Leadership Any Section brought up my right, and reduced two Auxilia and drove off his LC in exchange for one block. Patch Ordered Two Center to bring up a Heavy and finish off my unfortunate Heavy at range. Darken the Sky damaged a depleted Auxilia, and two one-block Auxes ended up retreating two hexes each from various banners.

Patch Double Timed his center into my main line, knocking out a Heavy, doing a block to another, and to a LB, and two to an Aux, and forced two of those to retreat, in exchange for one block. I Counterattacked to bring in my unengaged Mediums, and knocked out a Medium and forced an Aux to retreat at a cost of three blocks on two units. Patch had Leadership Any Section bring his center forward, and knocked out an Aux (sending Craterus fleeing to the baseline), and did a hit each on a Med and Heavy, in return for taking three hits on a Heavy. I used Clash of Shields to activate three units (I get to use it so rarely!) to finish off a Heavy and send other units fleeing with multiple banners. Patch announced I Am Spartacus to order a Medium and an Aux, who drove off a Light and a Heavy with one loss. I Ordered Three Center to get Craterus to a new unit, and did a block to an Aux at a cost of… three blocks to a Medium. Patch Ordered Three Center to finish off a Heavy. 4-6

Patch led off the second game with Order Two Left to get his Auxilia in motion, and I Ordered Lights to bring up my Auxes and do a hit to a MC with my LC. Patch Ordered Mediums to bring up his center Mediums, and force my LC back with his MC. Order Three Left did another block to his MC, and forced it back. Patch used Order Two Right to shift Craterus from the depleted MC to a Heavy, and I used Order Two Left in an attempt to finish off the MC, but couldn’t get any hits on six dice, and my MC retreated on banners. Order Four Right moved up his line a little, and he did a ranged hit on an Aux.

I moved my Heavies up in the center, and Patch reworked his left flank (including detaching Neoptolemus to shift to a Medium), and I brought my right flank up. Patch Ordered Two Left to force a MC back to the baseline, and I Out Flanked to bring it up again and knock out his MC, and do three blocks to an Aux, who did one in return, and I brought up a left MC that had retreated to the baseline there. Coordinated Attack let him move a Medium up, while his Aux struck back, and did another block to my MC, who then forced a two-hex retreat on the Aux. I shifted my center forward, and Patch did the same on his right. I Ordered Lights, and did a block each to two units with ranged combat.

Patch used Mounted Charge… on his one one-block MC to do two blocks to a Aux in return for being wiped out. I Counter Attacked and did a block to an Aux before forcing it back to the baseline on three banners, two blocks to another, who did two in return and forced the MC back, two blocks to a LB, killed a depleted Aux, and did a block to a Light that was forced to evade twice all the way to the baseline. Patch had Inspired Leadership to bring his Heavies forward, and did a block to a MC. I called out I Am Spartacus to order a Heavy, two MC, and a LC. The MC finished off the Light, and the LC took a block for no hits. Patch used Line Command to get two Auxes, a Med, and a Heavy into contact with the rest of the Mediums and Heavies getting uncomfortably close. Neoptolemus’ Mediums one-shotted a full Aux and then did two to an Aux, who then went under to his Aux. The Heavies did two hits to an Aux, who retreated on a banner rather than take a follow up attack, which instead forced a MC to evade. Coordinated Attack allowed me to throw in a Medium and Heavy, and back off a LC to get room to fire, and did three hits to Craterus’ Heavies, and one to another, taking two in return. Order Four Center got all his good units involved to finish off a Heavy, and wipe out a Medium. Order Mediums got my cavalry in motion to work on his flanks, and brought up my remaining Medium. My attempt to get Craterus backfired, with no hits, and losing a MC, while two attacks got rid of Neoptolemus’ Medium at a cost of three blocks, and Momentum went after the Aux he evaded to, getting two blocks on it in exchange for one, and another attack did one more… but my MC was lost on battle back. 5-6

Afterword

You definitely have to be careful with this one, since each side only has two leaders, and losing one is especially bad here. And they start out on the flank MCs, which are a bit fragile. Craterus has the infantry to be effective, but Eumenes’ cavalry can easily decide things early. In fact, the second game was looking like a possible shutout until Patch suddenly turned things around. Some of that was die luck, but I was doing quite well with four MC, and that one-block Mounted Charge was just a gift to me.

I pretty much threw away the first game early by getting my MCs into trouble, and nearly losing both leaders at the start. I did well after that, but couldn’t make up for momentum I’d handed Patch.

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Medieval Maritime Warfare

by on July 16, 2019 at 12:00 pm
Posted In: Books

It is hard, at first glance, to see just what a book dedicated to naval (actually, the ‘maritime’ of the title is a better fit than ‘naval’…) warfare in the Middle Ages would have to say. However, Stanton has done a good job of rounding out the subject, and presents it well.

He starts with an excellent introduction, which lays out a few things: First he talks of the Olympias, the modern recreation of the classical trireme, and things that will carry over to later galleys, such as the need for great amounts of fresh water for a crew operating for hours in an extremely enervating environment, namely about one metric ton of water for the crew of a trireme per day. Available cargo space says that about four days of water would be on board at best. This says much the need for any sort of galley fleet to have access to the shore for replenishing water.

There is then a discussion of how the classic trireme had become outmoded in this period, as ships became more robust (in the Mediterranean; they were always more solid in northern Europe to have a chance of surviving outside the relatively placid waters of an inland sea), and ramming was no longer sufficient to break hulls. I’m a little surprised that classical rams weren’t retained to break oars and the like, but it looks like warfare shifted to boarding actions and archery.

Overall, the book is broken into two major sections, one on the Mediterranean, and one on the North Sea, Baltic, and English Channel. Both are relatively chronological, but not exclusively so. And the subjects are indeed ‘maritime’ in nature; much of the book is really about various land-based wars, but they still have an important sea-based component. Some parts, like the conflicts between Genoa and Pisa are actually naval in character. And the War of the Sicilian Vespers is about land (control of Sicily), but much of the war was decided by naval actions in the best Mahanian tradition.

I found the book very informative, and while it informed me well on a few subjects I don’t have any real background in, I do recommend having a basic knowledge of European history in this period before going to something more specialized like this. I was also a bit annoyed by his constant giving of basic stats (generally length and beam) of various types of ships known to be used at various times and places, but only because that info is hard to place by itself. I would have appreciated a few diagrams showing some relative sizes and general layouts (for the ones we know…). That’s more the province of a naval encyclopedia, but it was hard to keep that generally useful info straight in a pure reading.

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100 Regalbuto Ridge

by on July 12, 2019 at 12:00 pm
Posted In: ASL

After finishing up “In Sight of the Volga“, Martin and I arranged a second game. This time we went to the For King and Country set, and picked scenario 100, “Regalbuto Ridge”, which originally appeared in ASL Annual ’89 as a Squad Leader scenario, and was turned into an ASL scenario in Annual ’90. The original seems to have been very pro-German, and the reprint shortens the scenario by a full turn. The limited stats on it suggest the balance is much better now.

It’s July 1943 and the Brits have taken a dominating ridge in southern Italy. Naturally, the Germans are counterattacking to retake it. The Brits have fourteen elite squads with good leadership, a MMG, six LMGs, a 51mm and a 76mm MTR to hold the board 2 hills. The Germans have fourteen elite squads, plus six 838 Assault Engineers, a MMG, five LMGs, an 81mm MTR and an off-board 75mm INF (one leader starts HIP with a Radio and uses Spotted Fire for the INF, which can’t malfunction by SSR). The Germans start anywhere on board 3 (which adjoins on a short end), but the real reason for all of board 3 to be there is that the INF is off the far end of that board, and counts it’s length as part of the range.

The real twist on this ‘assault the hill’ scenario is SSR 2: All woods are brush. There’s almost no cover out there. There’s a few buildings scattered around at level 0, but the Germans have to advance in full view of the hill, and the British have nothing to work with either, unless they can dig in. The Germans need to have more squad-equivalents on board 2 hill hexes than the British at the end of the game to win, with units at level 3 counting double. I saw a partial AAR on Grumble Jones’ blog (only talking about the middle of the game), which comments that elite troops were dying left and right. Having taken the attacking Germans, this did nothing for my confidence….

Martin had what looked to be a fairly solid set up, with the large MTR and MMG on the back peak of the hill, and all of level 3 occupied. There was a cluster on the mid ‘arm’ of the hill, and the lighter MTR and most of the LMGs on the forward slope. I mostly lined up in one area, where I could crawl through some brush towards a cluster of houses that I could use as a jump-off/rally area. A secondary group (five squads, including one Assault Engineer and a 8-0) would work the other side of the ridge with level 2 hex 2F7 as the initial goal. The MTR was in 3DD2, which as a level 2 hex had decent LOS to much of the hill, while the MMG was in CC5 with the 9-2 leader. As soon as things were supressed at all, it would move forward, and the -2 with light cover would make even long-distance fire scary. The radio was in DD8, where it could see much of the hill, especially level 3, and stray shots shouldn’t be a problem.

I tried putting smoke down on 2I5 to provide cover for the advance, but it seems no one thought to pack smoke rounds for the MTR. It did manage to hit H3 with normal HE for no effect. The INF turned out to be firing at range 41, and so needed a 5 +2 shot (after getting radio contact) with ROF 1; it never actually got a hit the entire game, though I maintained contact the entire time with the exception of one player turn. The MMG did better, with a 1MC, but his LMG squad passed it without trouble.

As a sign of what to expect, my initial probing HS along the south flank was fired on three times, with each shot getting a result. And they passed both MCs and the PTC. It wasn’t until my fourth move, and his fifth shot that he pinned an 838. It wasn’t until my ninth unit moved that he finally broke a squad. In fact, it wasn’t until fairly late when disaster struck at all, when an NMC broke my 8-0 on the south side (my only leader down there), and pinned one of two squads moving with him. This did set off his sniper, who then broke an already-moved HS. Overall, the total carnage from a large number of shots, and moving through lots of residual with -1 and -2 DRMs was a broken 8-0, a broken 468 and broken HS, and three pinned squads.

Martin’s dice weren’t that bad, but mine were better. He averaged ~7.85, which isn’t horrible, and he never rolled over a 10. The problem is there was one roll under a 6 (5). That still should have been enough to cause more problems than it did, but I averaged under 7, though I never rolled a 2, and rolled 4 (his SAN) once. There was also a good number of doubles in there, which would have hurt anyone other than the Brits a lot. My one problem was trying for Infantry Smoke three times, and only getting it once; the first squad pinned before getting in position, the second one rolled a 6, and the third finally gave part of my line some cover. There were only two Final Fire shots, which were about the same. Advancing Fire was a little limited, but I had two blob attacks that pinned units.


Situation, German Turn 1. Note that all of boards 2 and 3 are in play, but the rest isn’t generally important here.
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The Final Reflection

by on July 8, 2019 at 12:00 pm
Posted In: Books

I’ve long known of The Final Reflection as one of the better Star Trek novels, but I’ve only recently gotten a chance to find out for myself.

It lives up to the reputation.

These days, it needs to be remembered that this came out in 1984, when the known universe was all original series-related, plus 15 years of fan development. At that point the Klingons were still under-developed, and this novel does a great job with one of the first looks at them from the inside. Ideas like the “Black Fleet” still show up in number of places.

The book itself is multi-layered, with a frame showing that The Final Reflection is a novel that exists at the time of TOS, an in-universe “Researcher’s Note” explaining that while fiction, it’s based on as much info as the author could get about events (an amazing number of people were just not available for interviews…) of around forty years previous. And then there’s the novel itself.

There’s some interesting decisions made. The Klingons are generally more advanced than the Federation (they have transporters first, their ships are generally more powerful), and seemingly have been in space longer than Earth, though looking between the lines, the Federation is probably catching up.

The central plot of the book doesn’t get going until late, and just what is going on in a couple places is obscure, with the main character apparently having been several steps ahead of everyone else… and that was largely off-screen. But the real purpose is to present the Klingon world-view. And this is 250 pages of that, and all of it is excellent. John M. Ford could definitely write, and one of his strengths was to take someone else’s world and make it his own by fleshing out a part of it. This book is largely overwritten by later Trek lore, but is well worth a read on its own strengths.

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AP53 Far From Home

by on July 4, 2019 at 12:00 pm
Posted In: ASL

For my next ASL game with Patch, I ended up looking at the earliest scenario I had available, which is set in the Spanish Civil War (this is actually our second scenario set there, though this one is even earlier than “Italian Brothers“). Patch easily agreed to another SCW scenario, and I took the Nationalist side as it may be my only real chance to drive Pz Is.

“Far From Home” is from Action Pack #6, and is set in December 1936 during the Madrid campaign. The Republicans set up six first line (Russian) squads and three HS on the bulk of board 2a with Control of three of five victory buildings. The Nationalists set up in/near the town on board 2a with nine elite (Axis Minor) squads, a MMG, and an ATR. On turn 2, they get another 10 squads, better leadership, another MMG, a DC, and six mobile machine gun nests Pz IBs. The Republicans then get a pair of T-26s (with an AL) on turn three, and then twelve squads, a Commissar, MMG, two DCs (and two crews… for the DCs?) as well as another pair of T-26s. Each side also has one British 51mm MTR which doesn’t count as captured (representing a common Spanish design?).

Victory is by a custom schedule of points. You get one VP for each of five buildings there is a GO MMC in at the beginning of your first three turns, and then a point for each one you Control at the end of the game. There’s also a bridge in the Republican area and a crossroads in the Nationalist area that are worth 5VP each at the end of the game (only). Since everything but the crossroads is out of the Nationalists setup area, they can’t get any VPs on their turn 1, and it is physically impossible to take one of the Republican buildings on the first turn. Taking the two ‘unoccupied’ buildings isn’t hard, but with Patch’s setup, getting at the second one on the first turn would mean braving a 4 -2 shot. That implies a standard opening of 3 VP for the Nationalists and 9 for the Republicans. Staying like that would be a 10-17 loss, but taking the bridge would make it 15-12; or taking the buildings without the bridge is 13-14…. Not liking the idea of throwing everything into taking and holding the bridge (and I had real doubts about that), I went against every instinct I had from looking at Patch’s set up, and came up a plan to try and disrupt Patch’s control of his initial buildings before the beginning of his turn 3. The Nationalists win on ties, so just lowering the Republican VP total opens up possibilities.

And a word about those Pz IBs… They use the Axis Minor version of the counter, which is exactly the same as the normal German one, but the scenario makes them much less useful. First of all, they have no radios (and neither do the T-26s), and second, they have Inexperienced Crews. Normally, that’s bad enough with the 6 ML and all, but the CMGs are also the MA, so the +1 applies to every shot it makes. This is a +2 TH (since a 1MT must be buttoned up to fire), and CMG use is 6 +1, plus any TEM…. The good news is that they do still have the two TK rolls against tanks; the base TK# is low, but Patch wasn’t happy with taking the two rolls on each hit….

Oh, I should note that it is snowing at the start of the scenario, so the boards are in winter colors to remind us of that, even though Ground Snow is not in effect. Of course the snow stopped on the first roll of the game….

Having decided to go after Patch’s victory buildings from the start, the bulk of my troops lined up and headed for some woods that would be a good jumping-off point for the main assault. Despite the cover, there was a gap through all the trees where Patch could fire, and he promptly caused an ELR failure in my 8-1 leader, which also pinned a squad. In addition, my squads set off his Sniper while passing the same 1MC, and he pinned my ATR squad. In DFPh his MTR zeroed in on 2aQ17, which was a natural place to want to advance, and to emphasize the problem, his second hit was a CH (not that that meant anything, but…).


Situation, Nationalist Turn 1, showing the full board. North is to the left, and remember the winter colors are purely a reminder of falling snow (which has already stopped).
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