"Gentlemen, We Will Stand and Fight" - AshLAM '19

[DintheDin]

Great write up 

Not only great write-up, but also your pictures are of unbelievable beauty!
Eagerly waiting for the next part Cheers!

[Marine0846]

Well worth the wait.
Wonderful start of the battle report.
Love the figures and the terrain.
On with part 2, can't wait.

[Mad Lord Snapcase]

Romark, DintheDin and Marine0846, many thanks for your very kind comments.

but also your pictures are of unbelievable beauty!

I do have to say in fairness, the three players have pooled their photos on a shared drive and I have used photos from each player.

On with part 2, can't wait.

In order not to keep Marine0846 waiting too long, I am about to post the next part. A little bit of a digression from the main game but it added a lot to the overall game.

[DintheDin]

Romark, DintheDin and Marine0846, many thanks for your very kind comments.

I do have to say in fairness, the three players have pooled their photos on a shared drive and I have used photos from each player.

In order not to keep Marine0846 waiting too long, I am about to post the next part. A little bit of a digression from the main game but it added a lot to the overall game.

So, congrats for the photographic skills of all three!   

[Mad Lord Snapcase]

So, congrats for the photographic skills of all three!

Thanks.   

There were some special events planned and the arrival of the Maxim teams in Turn 2 was featured in the last post. At the start of turn 3 there was another event planned.

At GHQ there were great concerns over the location of I Corps under the command of Sir Douglas Haig. Staff officers at GHQ were assuming that Haig would support Smith-Dorrien and his II Corps in the coming stand at Le Cateau. Instead, the only sketchy information which GHQ had received, indicated that Haig was drawing further away from II Corps instead of coming to assist.

Major Robert Brooke-Popham, commander of No. 3 Squadron, Royal Flying Corps was tasked with finding Haig’s location.
No. 3 Squadron were equipped with single-seater Sopwith Tabloids which were being used as scout planes. Major Brooke-Popham immediately sought out his most daring pilot, the Lord Flashheart and tasked him with locating the missing I Corps.



Sopwith Tabloid



The Lord Flashheart

Flashheart’s mechanic, one James McCudden had the Tabloid ready and Flashy took to the skies. His search began in the skies over Le Cateau and Flashy intended to widen his circle of search until he located the missing Corps. Unfortunately, it was not to be. A stray rifle bullet (probably fired by the 26th Magdeburg down below) ruptured the fuel line of the Tabloid which rapidly began to run out of ‘juice’.

The game required the plane to crash in the centre of a tile determined on a roll of a D6. I was fervently hoping that it would crash directly onto some German infantry. However, my dice rolling being what it was, Flashy came down fairly well and pranged his kite in the fields outside Le Cateau.



The Lord Flashheart scrambled out of the Tabloid cockpit and saw how close the approaching German column was. He readied his revolver and prepared to sell himself dearly.





The German commanders would score more victory points at game end by taking the pilot prisoner rather than killing him and this is what they did.



Lord Flashheart was surrounded by German soldiers and was forced to surrender.







Flashy was escorted to the rear to take no further part in the battle.



As this was taking place, the decimated section which had advanced up the cobbled road was reaching the British barricades. The next post will feature the vicious hand-to-hand fighting over the barricades and will show how the valiant ‘Die Hards’ fought a rearguard action worthy of their regiment’s name.

(It is true that a scout plane was sent by GHQ to look for Haig on the morning of the battle of Le Cateau. James McCudden was a mechanic and later observer in No. 3 Squadron until he trained as a pilot in 1916. He went on to achieve 57 aerial victories).

To be continued…

[DintheDin]

Nice write up and some great pics, especially where Lord Flashheart is taken prisoner.
A pity that he had a not so glorious landing...

[Romark]

Nice write up 

[Doug ex-em4]

Nice write up 

And there’s more, equally as good to yet come.....!

Doug

[Marine0846]

More fun, cool side story.
Poor Flashy, the war just started
and he is put out of action, captured.
He will probably in up seducing the General's wife.
Or a "Great Escape?"

PS, who makes that great looking figure you used for Flashy?

[SABOT]

Outstanding! Great fun and lovely kit.

[Vagabond]

I'm not sure if this report is conveying the panache and daring do spirit of the German commanders, one leading from the rear and the other from the centre of a huge column of infantry, but no matter, I'm sure you will come to it.

In true French Napoleonic fashion we came on in the same old way, would we finish in the same old way?

Cracking job so far.

[marianas_gamer]

Excellent write up and game fellas! I am surprised that Flashy wasn't more slippery and went into the bag so quickly. Probably, drunk
Lon

[Mad Lord Snapcase]

Thanks all for your very kind comments.

In true French Napoleonic fashion we came on in the same old way, would we finish in the same old way?

You came on in the same old way but we were unable to beat you in the same old way, this time. Hard pounding, gentlemen.

Lon, I know Flashy had drained his second hip flask so you are probably right!   

He will probably in up seducing the General's wife.

I think this one is most likely Marine0846! Followed by an escape out of the window, sans trousers when the General arrives home unexpectedly!

[Mad Lord Snapcase]

The decimated section of 1 Zug reaches the barricade at the crossroads. These would have been a 19 man section at the beginning of the attack and it looks like about 8 have made it to the town. They had the hardest job as they were advancing directly in the line of fire of the Vickers team. By this time however, the Vickers was only being manned by two of the team and thus the rate of fire had been halved.



It was time for the cold steel. The British had the advantage of fighting from behind cover but the Germans in most places were able to put 2 men onto 1, which made it difficult for the British to survive as they had to win two fights. I am very sad to report that it was here that Colour Sergeant Neddy Snapcase and Lance Corporal Spankhurst went to glory, refusing to give an inch of ground as a ‘Die Hard’ should.



No. 1 Section of the ‘Die Hards’ was under the command of Corporal Bunter and had spent three turns in a row not firing at the advancing German column led by Oberleutnant von Vagabund.



The other section of 1 Zug on the German left flank had arrived at Le Cateau relatively unscathed. Flashheart had been hustled to the rear at point of bayonet and Oberleutnant von Emvier can be seen here brandishing the family sword and ordering his men into the attack.



Helmut von Vagabund’s double column now split into two sections, one attacking the centre and the other heading to the Boucherie on the German right flank to see why no fire was coming from there!





My dice throwing suddenly took a turn for the better and the British were able to do very well at the hand-to-hand fighting but the odds were just too great. If a ‘Die Hard’ won a fight, then two more Germans would move into position immediately.



One by one, the valiant defenders were picked off by the advancing Magdeburg infantry.





Now the jubilant survivors of 1 Zug were into the town. Here we see the remaining five survivors, three more having gone down in the bitter bayonet fighting at the barricades.



The German soldiers now concentrate on mopping up the last remaining resistance from the Middlesex rearguard.







Just when they thought it was all over, a Belgian Minerva armoured car, commanded by 1.eme Lieutenant Charles Henkart appears from the town. Once again, a special event at the commencement of turn 5 and its location determined at random by a D6.







The Belgians open up with Hotchkiss MG but it looks to their eyes as if it is too little, too late. As the Minerva begins to engage the German soldiers, they can see that the rearguard have died to a man, buying vital time for their comrades to retire from the town and take up their positions ready for the day’s epic events to unfold.



The Minerva bursts through the barricades and turns north on the disputed road, firing the Hotchkiss as they drive.



1.eme Lieutenant Henkart decides that discretion is the better part of valour and decides to make a hasty exit from the town. A section of von Vagabund’s men is blocking the road but with great Belgian verve, Chaffeur Hergé drives straight through them, running two of them down as they leave the town of Le Cateau.







There, unfortunately for the British, the game came to an end. The British needed to defend the town until turn 7 but by turn 5, most of the rearguard were dead and the Minerva was unable to turn back the triumphant advance of the 26th Magdeburg. The scoring looked like this at the end.



All 32 of the Middlesex Regiment were killed. The 26th Magdeburg took 26 casualties. Lord Flashheart became a PoW but I’m sure he will escape shortly!

So, all in all I thoroughly enjoyed this game. Silent Invader’s scenery, rules, figures, Sopwith and Minerva really made it a visually delightful game. My friends, Doug and John made the game a pleasure to play. A fantastic weekend hosted by John and I am looking forward to seeing their game reports. I have absolutely no shame in reposting the photo of the Three Musketeers at the end of my game. Thanks, gentlemen!

The End

[Silent Invader]

I am so pleased you’re enjoying the collection