British Churchills

 Three varieties of Chruchill Tanks;   Mk VII (75mm armed), Mk VIII (95mm armed), and Mk VII Crocodile (flame-armed).  15mm Battle Honors/Quality Castings figures.

ACW: 33rd New Jersey Zouaves

 One of the few zouave units that fought in western campaigns.  The figs are from Raven Banner, 28mm size.  The uniforms were blue with red trim including trefoils (french knots?) on the trousers and tunics.

Command Decision WWII Game Tirgu-Frumos (Romania) May 2-4 1944

 The Tirgu-Frumos Battle was the second of three Soviet offensives launched by the 2nd Ukrainian Front.

The first offensive in April failed as the Front's forces were spent following their winter offensive and they failed to punch through hardening German defenses.  In the May offensive, rejuvenated Soviet troops ran into reinforced German defenses including an up-to-strength Gross Deutschland Division and again failed to make strategic headway.  The Germans even managing a stiff counterattack as the Soviets regrouped and went over to a defensive posture.  The third and successful offensive occurred in August 1944.

This particular scenario covers the three opening days of the May offensive.  Several events are scripted into the scenario such as the Soviet planned fire strikes, Soviets completing objectives to open othter offensive sectors, further completing objectives for the Soviet 2nd echelon (tank corps) to enter, German armor withdrawing from the battlefield to deal with other situations and possible German airstrikes including a possibility of Hans Rudel and his tank busters.

That's a lot going on but we're playing this on a 12' table.  And it will take multiple sessions to resolve.  Command Decision is not the best set of rules for resolving multi-day battles as the terrain scale is too small but what the heck it should still make for a game with challenges, success and failures for both sides.

In our first session we got through half of Day 1.  here is a photographic chronology of how things went.

Pic 1.  Western Sector-Soviet Rifle Regiment with tank brigade and SU-152 Regiment supporting.  Their objective is to secure hills and strongpoints (the fortified BUAs) to open up the Eastern Sector and allow arrival of their second echelon (tank corps with heavy tank reinforcement).  This shot shows where the Soviet rifle regiment will arrive.

A Romanian armored battlegroup and a Gross Deutschland PzGr battalion hold the line along with the Panzer IV and Panzer V armored battalions in the rear.

Pic 2.  From the German side, the Soviet fire strikes pummel strongpoints and hill entrenchments.

Pic 3 and 4. Turns later, Pz IV battalion is moving to the front.  To their right, Pz V battalion is crossing stream to take up positions on the hill.

Pic 5.  The Romanians on the Axis left flank are pushed out of their forward strongpoints and mortar fire begins landing on the hill.

Pic 6.  Panthers have made it to the hill and are delivering a brutal fire into the tank brigade supporting the Soviet infantry.

Pic 7.  Mike contemplates how to deal with the superior Panthers on the hill with his limited resources.  His commander is yelling over the radio he has to take that hill!  And a timely wave of Pe-2's arrive and bomb the Panthers on the hill (black explosion markers).

Pic 8.  The airstrikes have affected the morale of the Panthers but they are holding on.  Mortar fire covers the Panthers and a supporting panzergrenadier company.  Most of a Soviet infantry battalion is lost assaulting the hill but a company grimly holds one end of the entrenchments.

Pic 9.  The SU-152's turn to lob shells at the Panthers on the hill but are themselves covered by a German barrage.

Pic 10.  Advancing Mk IVs take advantage of the suppressed SU-152 and manage to knock out two of them.  But fortunately for the Soviets, half the German armor on the table is called to withdraw to support another threatened sector.  You can see the withdrawing German armor in the top left of the photo.

 In the end the Germans abandoned the hill; the Panthers withdrew to meet the withdrawal conditions.  They weren't accomplishing alot as they were suppressed by the mortar fire and they were pulling back as morale failures piled up.

But the Soviet infantry had taken the Romanian held hill and satisfied the conditions for bringing on Soviet reinforcements.

So the next game will pick up from here.  Soviet Tank Corps will come storming across the tabletop and it will be the turn of the Gross Deutschland Grenadier Regiment to stop the Soviets.  Manstein is rushing the Gross Deutschland Tiger Battalion to the scene but they have not arrived yet.

The Eastern Sector will be in play next time also.  A Soviet rifle regiment backed up with tank brigade and SU-122's will be facing Gross Deutschland Fusilier Regiment supported by a StuG Battalion.

Battle of Shevardino, Sort of

 Using all my Russian troops and a somewhat historical order of battle, a group of use played a game of General d'Armee loosely based on the fight for the Shevardino redoubt.   Shevardino was preliminary battle before the big fight at Borodino.  

Bascially the Russain 27th Division backed up by cavalry and grenadier brigade try to hold or at least inflict casualties as Compans 5th Divisision advances with support from the 1st Cavalry Division.

A few scenes from the battle.

The battle lines.  French infantry battalions advancing from the left against a heavy Russian skirmish line screening the Shevardino Redoubt and the deployment of the Russian 27th Division behind (right side of photo) the redoubt.

A ccouple close up of the battery in position at the redoubt.

French infantry advancing with skirmish screen out front.

French infantry pushing back Russian Jaegers (deployed in skirmish order)

Russian infantry advancing to support the redoubt

Uh oh!  Here comes the Russian Cuirassier

The opposing French cavalry hesitate at a critical moment!  Infantry form squares.

First French square is hit by heavy cavalry and lose formation and are dispersed by the heavy cavalry.

Another square holds of the Russian heavy cavalry

Russisn and French light cavalry meet and ultimately the French are driven back.  Though the French later charge with another light cavalry to stabilize the situation.

The Russian Cuirassier line up on another French square while the light cavalry (on right of photo) continue the fight.  Note the fresh, elite French lancers waiting to delivery their blow.

French move artillery and their own heavy cavalry to face the onrushing Russian heavy cav on the right.

And that's where we left it.  To be continued.

Chernigov Dragoon Regiment

 The Chernigov Dragoon Regiment is ready to go.

Minis are Battle Honors.

New Napoleonic Units Ready to Fight

 So as I get the new painting station set up I have been working on a backlog of minis I had from before the big move.  Here are there close up shots.  Still working on ideal phot setup and now using iphone 13 camera vs Canon Rebel w/ macro lens. Minis in the units are either Battle Honor or Old Glory 15, I lost track.

A unit of French Grenadiers

The Irish Legion (3rd Foreign Regiment) fighting for Napoleon

Lithuanian Uhlans fighting for the Czar

Polish Uhlans (9th Regiment) fighting for Napoleon

Russian Grenadiers

Change of Residence and New Painting Area

 Recently made a new home purchase and got a really spacious basement for wargaming.

Still in the process of getting things set up but here a few pics of the work in progress . . .

Painting area with reclaimed cabinets to the left . . . 

Painting area with reclaimed cabinets to the right . . . 

Storage shelves . . . . 

what will eventually be the gaming area.  Can easily setup 5x12 tables. But need to add some ceiling panel LED lighting.

Terrain storage cases along back wall.  Also needs more lighting.

Not pictured is the room for miniature storage.  That needs shelves and cabinets to be presentable.

I am fortunate to have this amount of space and can't wait to get the gaming area "lit up" so we can start gaming!