So I finally re-sized some pictures of the epic battle..
The scenario is part of our Martian campaign and was the second of our Mars encounters (not including the 1/1200 aeronef battles). The Prussians are carrying out lightning swift strikes all along the western edges of the British Martian Protectorate and have sent Queen Victoria's forces reeling back towards the capital, New Brighton. The Grand Martian Canal stands as a line of defence in the way of the Prussian advance but also threatens to cut off a great many refugees and retreating men as they desperately try and make their way back to new defensive positions. One ferry crossing point is at the hamlet of Horst's Ferry, a modest collection of buildings serving the ferry passengers and acting as a trading post, plus of course the two dozen or so floatwood plantation workers.
We chose to play on a 12 ft by 6ft table to allow the aerial component of the game a bit more freedom of movement...plus it was great fun to get so much terrain on one table!
The British side (me assisted by my able co-general Luke) consisted of:
20 of 1st Battalion Berkshires
20 of 35th Bombay infantry
1 unit of 10 Bengal lancers
12 settlers led by the famous 'Horst' himself
3 signallers manning the semaphore
22 non-combatant refugees
1 gatling gun manned by 3 naval brigade crew
1 small steam artillery piece
1 large walker 'HMMS Elgar' with crew of 6 Navy
8 crew aboard the paddle steamer 'Donegal Lady'
The Prussian side with Rabbitz ably assisted by General Von Lewis
3 light to medium aerial navy attack craft, each containing Clanks with grenade launchers
1 medium bomber aeronef
12 Prussian attack marines
60 ish (?) infantry including regulars and seebattalion
2 attack spider walkers with heavy gatling guns
The Prussian objective was primarily to destroy the ferry to cut off the escape route and secondly to try to destroy the semaphore tower to cut communications. Their third objective was to create terror and panic by bombing the refugees. For the British the objective was to hold the crossing until all refugees and troops could be evacuated.
The game began with the refugees coming onto the table and fleeing along the plantation road with all three aerial navy craft in hot pursuit. On the other table edge the first spider tank appeared with two formations of infantry.
The defenders were pretty well dug in behind barricades and sandbag defences, with several platoons broken down into smaller formations atop roofs, on terraces etc (I remember the devastating effect of artillery fire last game). The settlers and indian infantry held the right flank, the british regulars the centre and crossing point and the lancers had the left. The town was also partly defended from ground attack by a dry gully that ran down to the canal.
The aerial navy came on at a good rate of knots and the bengal lancers rode out to meet them, perhaps hoping to do some damage by prodding their armoured hulls with their lances.... As they swept under the first craft they were met with grenades from above which instantly killed the leader! But leaderless they still rode on to where a unit of Seebattalion were threatening to overtake the civilians, who had also taken casualties that turn from the bombing.
The next turn saw most of our ground forces biding their time as they closed to within range. The Lancers began to close with the Seebattalion but alas took another pasting from above..this time losing three more horsemen. However, they passed their morale and continued. Hurrah! Even better, one of the air navy failed it's sustain role and began to lose altitude alarmingly.
The refugees roled well on their charges but took another four casualties to bombs before reaching the sandbag barricades which they started to leap over, disrupting the troops behind. HMMS Elgar finally managed to get a shot off at the first spider tank but missed..the first of four times. The gatling guns finally opened up however and if doing little damage at least made the spider tank captain consider pausing just outside of short range until his supporting infantry caught up...a move that allowed me precious time to try to get those refugees on that boat! The lancers at last clashed with e seebattalion..a mutually destructive move that saw three casualties a side and both units break. The last two lancers didn't stop running until they were on the ferry!
A second failed sustain saw the first air navy ship plummet to the ground, decapitating a row of float trees whose tops strangely floated off into the ether. However, the grenade launching clank and 'wind up' man survived and continues their pursuit of the refugees.
Things were finally hotting up with the ground troops, with two waves of Prussians attacking the farmhouse complex, where they found the natives very stubborn.
One sole rifleman took down four of the Prussians in hand to hand before finally being bludgeoned. Twice units of settlers broke but rallied and returned to the fight, even with the first spider tank bearing down and squashing a few. One unit of Bombay infantry had moved up to assist them and just about managed to hold them off...until spider tank number 2 arrived!
Meanwhile back in the town the Berkshires atop the semaphore had a good clear shot at the second air navy ship as it came into range.
It was hit with small arms fire, gatling gun and a small cannon which caused it to lose stering control and crash into the ground, with most of the crew perishing in the ensuing fireball.
A great cheer went up from the defenders, only to be stifled as they saw the looming shape of the zeppelin bomber appear!
HMMS Elgar's crew had some luck with their gatling gun (they had fired the RA crew by this point) in damaging the front weapon of the lead spider but disaster struck as their engine conked out! Unable to use their main weapon, the crew valiantly swept the aproaching Prussian units with their machine guns as behind them units began to fall back.
Meanwhile the last of the attack ships swept by the semaphore tower with small arms fire bouncing off it. I should have loved to have tried to board men by jumping off the semaphore tower into the hold but our movement dice didn't allow it!
However, the ship then landed just adjacent to the ferry ramp ready to disgorge hordes (well, a dozen or so) crack troops and a secretive agent ! The refugees who by this time had almost reached the ramp milled around in horror as they saw their escape route blocked and got in the way of the Berkshires and Bombay infantry trying to get to the ship, led by the Corporal astride a horse he'd 'borrowed'.
Meanwhile the bomber approached nearer as the Prussian infantry began their breakthrough with the second spider tank, and met the second line of defence at the rear of the ferry buildings. The Prussian assault troops leapt from their landed craft across the ramp, sweeping the ferrry with flamethrowers that killed most of the crew, including Captain Shamrock. Luckily massed fire from a small unit of Indian infantry and the remaining crew killed enough of them to force their surrender. While they were taken prisoner and herded onto the boat (including the secret agent..) in front of an avalanche of refugees , soldiers and horses the remaining rearguard poured everything they had at the bomber. "Java' Thwaites put down his cup for only the second time that morning and pulled his signalling pistol slowly from a pouch.
The bomber came closer and obviously was about to ram as he fired into the ship, his phospor flare setting two crew alight but alas not saving Semaphore tower 21, which with the great noise of tearing steel girders and splintering wood fell sideways over into the canal. The falling wreckage killing a number of the remaining rearguard as they fled, firing over their shoulders.
The last of the refugees aboard and as many of the soldiers who could get to the ship in time, the ferry departed intact. None of the settlers had survived the assault and the Indians had been quite hard hit too. None of the Naval brigade managed to escape, as HMMS Elgar and the first Spider mutually destroyed each other.
However, climbing aboard the ferry having survived a tremendous dive into the canal was signaller Thwaites, still clutching his best china cup. He had however lost the matching saucer...so the gloves were really off now.
Outcome? Well a draw I suppose. The Prussians got to destroy the tower (which was a tad annoying as Rabbitz had only just made it that morning!) and caused a good deal of terror but the majority of the refugees and soldiers escaped, along with some very valuable prisoners. It was great fun to finally get some aerial ships going as well as cavalry as it really moved the game along quickly and presented many new angles of attack (and considerations for defence). It was really hard getting the balance of forces right for this one with the Prussian side having a lot of armour and air ability and the Brits having a lot of well dug in rifles. These certainly stopped the Prussian infantry pretty well but were fairly powerless with the big beasties...probably just how it should have been. Many thanks to our two new converts to VSF..Lewis and Luke who played like gentlemen!
And thanks Rabbitz for a great game and the huge amount of terrain you'd made. Cheers!
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April 28, 2024, 10:23:41 AM
September 16, 2008, 08:02:13 AM