Wednesday 21 December 2011

One Brick At A Time

A run through of the Warhammer Historical Kampfgruppe Normandy WW2 game. Allied troops advancing upon a village being defended by German Paratroopers.

Strange to play a 'Warhammer' game without the classic stat-lines. Like a lot of recent 'modern era' games it makes use of the idea of suppression of troops being just as important as killing them.

From Furness Wargamers in Tanks

The Germans are initially hidden on the board, with only paper chits marking possible locations. The Allies come on on one edge in the traditional 'one long line'. The acompanying Churchill Tank and Anti-Tank Gun were initially kept off-board for their own safety, the scenario being designed by 'Panzer Matt'.

Deadliness of fire was soon shown as a allied squad was wiped out just by successive mortar rounds followed by fire from troops concealed in a building. The Allies advance also got slowed down by a squad who managed to get lost in a small grove of trees.



The Allies plan basically turned into one house at a time, as MG's, Squad fire and Mortars were all concentrated on an individual buildings. The mortars were particularly effective on the times that they hit as multiple squads had been piled into the buildings. One holding an Infantry platoon, MG and Forward Observer, the F.O. being the primary target due to the fire he was bringing down on the Allies.



Despite the initial losses the Allies started clearing out the village, suppressed defending troops being no match in assaults, and the Germans morale started to reach their breakpoint. The Chit based morale system is a bit gamemy in the way you can deffer recoving your troops.

A few quirks in the rules, such as an suppressive fire that kills does not then have a chance to suppress ('we're taking casulties, stay stood up!'). And the rules for vehicles and direct artillery never really got a work out, with the sole Churchill creeping on, and the support troop of Shermans turning up late. We also never got the chance to see how effective the P.I.A.T. was, probably much to the relief of the P.I.A.T. Crew.

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