In order to slow down the Prussian advance on London, the British generals conceived Operation Haymaker - an armoured column driving deep into the Prussian left flank. If the attack worked it would force the Prussians to remove troops from the London front to defend their flank.
In response to the British column's rapid advance, the Prussians put together a scratch force from what units were available to try to halt the column. The two forces met at Dorking.
Initial deplotment of the Prussian and British forces:
Cavalry and luftreiter on the Prussian left flank:
The Prussians advance:
To the right of the picture you can see two of the British secret weapons - the Ferdinand heavy tank and Crauford assault tank.
British armour (at top pf picture) breaks out from behind the woods to counter the rapid Prussian advance:
Having killed the entire crew of the British artillery piece in the village with gatling fire from the their steam cars, the Prussian cavalry attempt to turn the British flank:
In the village in the centre the british assault tank attacks a killerkan.
After destroying the Prussian steam tank with a lucky shot, the British advance on the Prussians occupying the buildings in the centre:
Despite Hauptmann von Hammerstein boarding the British assault tank to attack its crew with his steam-powered fist, the tank's driver manages to destroy the Prussian killerkan:
The Life Guards charge the Prussian infantry in the centre. Although they took heavy casualties the Life Guards held their ground. In the following turn they break the Prussian infantry:
A lucky hit from a British tank's gun temporarily disabled the Prussian spider, enabling the assault tank to attack the spider's legs with its saw (with Hauptmann von Hammerstein still fighting the tank's gun crew on its upper deck):
As the light fades the British assault tank continues its attempt to disable the Prussian spider. Meanwhile on the Prussian left flank their infantry and luftreiter engage in fierce street fighting with the british in the village.
Notes on the game:
The game was played between Bullshott (Prussians) and Nickinsomerset. Terrain is Nick's, troops and vehicles are from both of our collections. The rules were GASLIGHT with the Battles by GASLIGHT supplement. Each side fielded 20 elements (units, guns or vehicles). The rules worked very well, alowing us to control a large number of units and maintain the pace of the game.
We only stopped the game when I had to leave to return home. If we had continued it would have got very bloody, especially with troops engaged in house to house fighting in the central village. The armoured clash in the centre would have been a very close run thing, the result depending on whether the assault tank could disable the spider before von Hammerstein killed its crew.
As it was, the two sides withdrew with oncoming night. Both sides had successes and failures and came away with a number of lessons learnt regarding choice of forces and weapons for this kind of 'modern' warfare.
Welcome, Guest. Please 
April 30, 2024, 08:32:15 PM
October 21, 2008, 01:05:21 PM
