Hey guys! I figured I would start a thread to document my games for the War: 1914 solo campaign that Shawn Taylor (author of Great War Spearhead) is running. We have roughly 12 players from around the world participating using various different rulesets. I will be using my own ruleset, 'Through the Mud and Blood of Flanders' for all divisional scale engagements.
This thread will document my games and also my terrain building progress over the coming weeks. When Shawn suggested this, I was eager to participate but had one issue.... All my terrain is locked up at my LGS and unfortunately, I have no access to it! Over the coming weeks, terrain building will be a big focus of mine. I apologize in advance for the sparse boards initally but it will get better!!
Each player has been given various units to command, I have selected the Belgian army and I will be commanding the 1st,2nd, 3rd and Cavalry Division for the duration of the campaign.
I hope you guys enjoyed! I'm hoping to have a terrain update this weekend!
The first game will be 'The Storming of Liege' on August 5th,1914 which pits my Belgian 3rd Division and the Liege garrison against the German IV Corps (7th and 8th Division). I have chosen to scale this action down from a Corps level to a roughly divisional scale engagement due to the availability of models and terrain. The German objective is to secure more then half of the Belgian forts, any other result is a Belgian victory.
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Andrew D, on Flickr
Initial table layout
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Andrew D, on Flickr
Deployment
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Andrew D, on Flickr
Preliminary bombardment. The Germans launched an effective preliminary bombardment prior to the beginning of the game. This resulted in -1 to activation tests for all Belgian units for the first turn, 3 Belgian units becoming pinned and one barbed wire entanglement infront of Fort Barchon was destroyed.
20200430_223602 by
Andrew D, on Flickr
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Andrew D, on Flickr
Turn One: Germans advanced towards the Belgians, they came under effective fire from fortress troops and lose 5 companies of infantry. The Belgians lost 2 Garrison Companies and 1 regular infantry company.
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Andrew D, on Flickr
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Andrew D, on Flickr
Turn Two: Germans continue advancing towards the Belgian Fortress line. The defensive line between Fort Evegnee and Fort Fleron takes a pounding by German heavy guns and 2 Belgian Infantry companies are destroyed. The Belgian Battalion starts to waver but Lieutenant-General Leman keeps them in the fight. The fire from Fort Fleron and the defensive line between Fort Fleron and Chaudfontaine do a number on the attackers, destroying 3 German Companies. The German Divisional commander held 2 battalions in reserve, the first enters on the road towards Blegny. The German cavalry advances towards Fort Barchon, they are poised to charge the Belgian Battalion stationed behind Fort Barchon. Turn 2 losses: 2 Belgian Infantry Companies, 3 German Infantry Companies
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Andrew D, on Flickr
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Andrew D, on Flickr
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Andrew D, on Flickr
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Andrew D, on Flickr
Turn Three: The Germans get initiative and are able to get a cavalry charge off! Due to the Fort and the river, they could only get in base contact with two companies of Belgian Infantry. The Cavalry quickly rode down the first company but somehow the second company was able to defeat a squadron in hand to hand combat. Fire from the Belgian Infantry Companies and Fort Barchon was able to destroy the remainder of the German Cavalry Regiment. The Germans pounded the defensive line between Fort Barchon and Fort Evegnee, after the fire from 2 German Field Artillery Abteilungs, 1 Heavy Artillery battalion and 2 under-strength German Battalions, the last of the Belgian Garrison Battalion finally went down. Belgian Cavalry start moving towards the Barchon-Evegnee line but theres not much they can do to stop the German advance. The German Divisional commander brings on his second reserve battalion in column along side of the road to Blegny as well. The Germans were able to secure the town of Fleron but without support, theres no hope of them pushing any further. Turn 3 losses: 1 Belgian Fortress Company, 1 Belgian Fortress HMG Company, 1 Belgian Infantry Company, 3 German Cavalry Squadrons and 3 German Infantry Companies.
20200430_234700 by
Andrew D, on Flickr
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Andrew D, on Flickr
Turn Four: The Germans continue applying pressure to the Barchon-Evegnee line with the German artillery trying to pin down the Belgian Battalion behind Barchon (Destroying a company in the process) and the first German assault on Fort Evegnee results in the Belgian Defenders destroying the assaulting German Company. The German Artillery also cleared out the Evegnee-Fleron line but at this point it was too little too late. The German left and center was so badly mauled, there was little hope of Fleron or Chaudfontaine falling. The German right was much stronger and it looked like Evegnee might fall within a turn or two and Barchon might have fallen but at what cost? There was a weakened Belgian Infantry Battalion and the Belgian Lancers ready to counter any push on Barchon. The German commander decided to pull back and conserve his strength, hopefully bringing up some big guns to pound the forts. Turn Four losses: 2 Belgian Infantry Companies, A Belgian HMG company and 4 German Infantry Companies.
Unfortunately poor command rolls really hampered the Germans. Some better rolls and the lead assault units might have been in place a turn earlier but unfortunately with the delays and the surprisingly accurate Belgian fire, the Germans were pushed back.
EDIT: Not sure what happened to the pictures, I will try to fix them tonight
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April 25, 2024, 10:49:25 PM
