The Battle of Gelsenkirchen- a Maurice game

My usual opponent Andrew came over to Sheffield this morning and thanks to a north-facing room and a fan, we were able to play a reasonably comfortable game of Maurice. 
the field of battle. Today is the Feast of St. Hippolytus. There is a church dedicated to him near Gelsenkirchen in Westphalia, hence the name. Possession of the farm was decided as the objective. 
The French forces began in column and used their Cadence National Advantage to move swiftly and deploy into line. The Chasseur des Fischer on their left flank were observers for the entire game...
Two line regiments traded blows with Buckeburg Carabiniers in the woods. Their mounted comrades which had taken up station to the left of the woods had been despatched quite quickly by the French artillery firing with great accuracy. 
in the centre, the main battle lines drew closer and exchanged punishing volleys that seesawed with no great advantage for a while. On the top right of the picture one can see the Hessian artillery who fired several rounds of ineffective grape against the French Grenadiers before they saw them off at the point of the bayonet. 
On the hill on the French right, the Royal Comtois infantry oversaw the destruction of the French cavalry wing by the elite German cavalry. The 2 Notables attached to the cavalry were unharmed and retired to camp, in best Manchester United style, complaining that it wasn't their fault. 
The centre lines regrouped, several rally rolls were made by both sides and the scene was set for a final showdown. The 2 French regiments on the right (actually the 92nd Bulkeley Irish in red and Ogilvy's Émigré Scots) charged the Hesse forces, but were broken. 
the final view before the last few turns. The Hessian forces closed and risked a volley which broke the French and reduced their Army Morale to 0. I'd been planning on playing the Valeur et Discipline Event card, which could have reduced Andrew's Army Morale of 2 to 0 on the roll of a dice. C'est la guerre. 
Another great game of Maurice, it could have gone either way (and I feel that I let victory slip from my fingers) and so I marched from the field with my two remaining line regiments. Epic Points were totted up and we will hopefully play one more game in the campaign season in late October or early November. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Khemed campaign, Ride of the Abrams AAR

Image
This battle that took place in Area 15 on the campaign map.. Success here would allow the Marines to strike into the rear areas on the map, needed for success in the campaign. I decided that the Americans would need to cross the board with their whole force to score a victory. The table set up had a number of compounds and trees that provided a lot of cover for an ambush force. I chose 3 random locations and then assigned the 3 on table Khemed units to them using a d6. They would start hidden until theyoved or fired.  I also used this Solo AI that I found online. Khemed forces would base their actions on this.  Below is the board. The US forces would need to travel the length of the road, heading north and exit off the board.  The D6s show where the Khemed forces would be hidden. The FAO was on the hill to the left.  US forces CO HQ FAC 2 Abrams 2 Abrams 3 infantry, 1 81mm mortar, 1 AAVP7 1 infantry, 1 truck Air support- AC130 Spooky Khemed forces CO HQ FAO 3 in
Read more

Skirmish on the edge of Khemikhal

Image
 The first actual tabletop battle was a small affair fought last night.  US forces comprised 302/1, a Marine company of 4 Infantry,  an HMG support platoon and an 81mm support platoon along with an FAO for naval gunfire support.   Facing them was a mixed Khemed force of an armoured recce company of 2 BRDM2 & 2 BMP-2's,  an Infantry company of 4 Infantry,  mortar and HMG and an artillery battery of 3 on table 152mm guns (represented by some 100mm AT guns). Shown above is the outskirts of town,  looking south towards the coast. (I place Khemed as being next to Yemen on the southern coast of the Arabian peninsula). The Marines needed to seize the village and hold it until nightfall on turn 8. Khemed forces would enter from the road to the right in a random order. The very first dice roll of the Americans was a blunder,  which set the tone for much of the game on both sides. The Marines rushed to take up positions in the buildings along with the FAO who called in some accurate fire
Read more

Crisis Point- forces and Day One

Image
DAY 1  The Soviet aim was clear- advance across the board, reduce enemy forces but bypass strong resistance and continue the push to Prague. The Soviet forces available were:  224 Motor Rifle Regiment  Mech battalion 2 HQs 3 companies of 6 infantry + 3 M3 half tracks AA M14 half-track with quad .50cals Support company of 2 82mm mortars and 1 DsHK HMG Motor battalion  As above, but mounted in trucks 2 battalions of T44 tanks. 9 tanks + 1 HQ per battalion. The latest in Soviet armour technology and basically what you would expect a tank to look like if a T55 and a T34 had a baby.  Recce- elements of the regimental reconnaissance force- 3 M3 half tracks plus 4 Recce Support T34/85 tanks. In CWC2 these recce support forces are whatever that unit is, in this case, tanks, but with the Recce ability.  Artillery- 2 batteries of 3 152mm guns each, 1 battery of Katyusha rocket launchers Regimental Command element - CO, FAO, FAC. There was a pool of aircraft that would be called on, depending on
Read more