Friday Night GNW Game - II

We gave the GNW rules another try out - this time the Russians definitely had superior numbers - 3 cavalry to 1, 2 guns in a redoubt to 1 Swedish battery and 10 battalions against 5 of the Swedes. It didn't seem to help - the game was over in 90 minutes tops! So, we had dinner!

Russians on the left - I think the disparity in numbers is pretty obvious!

I used the contents of a different box of Swedes this time!

The Russians opposite

Swedish cavalry pile into the Russians, driving them back. A rule adjustment we have made is that rather than passing through a unit a retire force comes into contact with, it pushes them back. They both take a "hit" marker too

Swedes on the rampage as they move rapidly towards the Russian lines

The Swedes had the bulk of their force on teh right, heading for Julians command

One plucky unit heads straight at the guns in the redoubt - gå på!

The Livgadet til Fods drive back the Russians single handed!

Despite a flank attack (which they shrugged off, repelling teh enemy with loss!)

The Russian commanders had decided attack was the most effective form of defence, and came at the Swedes for all they were worth

Both Russian guns had suffered a hit from the lone supporting Swedish battery, as the infantry charged up hill

A view of the table from the Swedish left - most of the Russian force has been driven from the field!

Note in the centre, the redoubt is now occupied by the Swedish infantry!

On the Swedish right flank, the Russians were still putting up some resistance.....

"HURRA" (that's the Swedish way to spell it, I checked!)

Swedish cavalry (nearest the camera) and infantry versus one Russian dragoon unit

The other Russians on a sneaky flank march that ended up with the destruction of the isolated Swedish gun crew.

On the Swedish right, repeated violent charges have driven the Russians into an ever-shrinking pocket.

The situation on the right, with the Russian dragoons about to wipe out the gunners - the only loss the Swedes suffered

And on the right flank, the end is nigh for Russian hopes!

As it was 7pm, we had a break, ate dinner and then reset the game for a second try!

We decided to drop the bonus for Swedes Attacking to +1 because the +2 seemed to have been too much in game 1

Another adjustment was to give each Russian commander a guard unit that added 1 to all roles including combat

Forces were exactly the same as game 1 - or, maybe I reduced the Swedes to 4 infantry units, I can't remember

Again, the Russian commanders advanced to confront the smaller Swedish force, The Swedes only get a close combat bonus if they are attacking, so the Russians can even things out if they go in first...

The Swedish cavalry charged again...

... and drove the Russians back again!

On the other flank, Russian dragoons charge an infantry unit

They pushed the infantry back with loss

The Swedes moving forwards rapidly (as a reminder, Swedish infantry role 3 D6 for movement, Russians only 2 D6)

Fighting erupts all along the line

This time, the Russians had more success in blunting the initial Swedish attack - probably due to the +1 rather than +2!

This skirmish between the dragoons and Swedes lasted the entire game, with one side pushing the other back, then the roles reversing in teh next combat!

A bit of pressure on the Swedes - they lost an entire infantry unit in this game!

But they managed to hold their own in the critical close combats

Combined cavalry and infantry assault on the Swedish left flank

A view from the Russian redoubt

And for some reason, I did not take any more photos - but despite it being a somewhat harder slog, the Swedes once again prevailed and drove all of Julians infantry from the field - I think the last action involved the Swedes smashing into the flank of Chris's grenadiers, they had to retire, Chris rolled high, and two or even three of Julians units behind the grenadiers were pushed off the edge of the world!

Now, I had a try creating an AI video - this is one of my Warlord T34/85's in Berlin - I am not sure why the AI added huge red stars and the white stripes on the lower body - I tried to edit it, but nothing had happened after 10 minutes so I cancelled it.

I tried to do exactly the same with the Tiger - and it came up with a message saying "something in your request contravenes our safety policy" - and I am pretty sure all I changed from the first instruction was the nationality of the tank! So - its ok for a 28mm Russian tank to drive around the ruins of Berlin circa April 1945 - but not a German one - LOL!

We are thinking of giving our home brew horse and musket rules a try with AWI figures next time - I will have to make a few adjustments - definitely no pike armed infantry there - well, there might have been some early militia, perhaps??   Till then, thanks for your visit.

More 28mm WW2 Red Army Recruits

 Tonight I have (probably too many) images of the M30 field gun and the T70 tank with 45mm gun turret. These are once again the excellent RKX 3d resin prints from Pot Belly Miniatures in Wellington.

The 122mm M1938 (M30) Gun Howitzer

The 122 mm howitzer M1938 (M-30) (GRAU index: 52-G-463) is a Soviet 121.92 mm (4.8 inch) howitzer. The weapon was developed by the design bureau of Motovilikha Plants, headed by F. F. Petrov, in the late 1930s, and was in production from 1939 to 1955. The M-30 saw action in World War II, mainly as a divisional artillery piece of the Red Army (RKKA). Captured guns were also employed later in the conflict by the German Wehrmacht and the Finnish Army. Post World War II, the M-30 saw combat in numerous conflicts of the mid- to late twentieth century in service of other countries' armies, notably in the Middle East.

By 1 June 1941, 1,667 M-30s were in service, comprising only a fraction of the RKKA divisional howitzers. As the war progressed, their share grew rapidly due to mass production and because many older guns were lost in combat in 1941–42.

M-30 howitzers were primarily employed for indirect fire against enemy personnel. They were also used against field fortifications, for clearing minefields and for breaching barbed wire. Their HE-fragmentation shells presented a danger to armoured vehicles. Fragments created by the explosion could penetrate up to 20 mm of armour, – enough against thinly armoured vehicles. The shells could also damage chassis, sights or other elements of heavier armoured vehicles.

For self-defense against enemy tanks a HEAT shell was developed in 1943. Before 1943, crews were required to rely on the high-explosive action of their regular ammunition, with some degree of success. According to a German report from 1943, even a Tiger was once heavily damaged by SU-122 assault guns firing high-explosive shells

Some images of the five crewmen.

In 1944, the Artillery Regiment of a typical Russian Rifle Division was armed with 36 122mm Howitzers, along with 72 76.2mm ZiS-3 field guns

The T70 light tank

The T-70 is a light tank used by the Red Army during World War II, replacing both the T-60 scout tank for reconnaissance and the T-50 light infantry tank for infantry support. The T-80 light tank was a more advanced version of the T-70 with a two-man turret—it was produced only in very small numbers when light tank production was abandoned.

The T-70 was armed with a 45-mm L/46 gun Model 38 with forty-five rounds carried, and a coaxial 7.62-mm DT machine gun. The tank was operated by a driver and a commander who loaded and fired the gun. Armour thickness on the turret front was 50 mm, turret sides and rear: 35 mm, upper glacis : 35 mm,hull sides : 15 mm, roof and bottom: 10 mm.

The one-man turret of the Soviet light tanks made co-ordinating a tank platoon nearly impossible, because the commanders were kept busy acquiring targets, loading and firing the main gun and machine gun and commanding their drivers. The infantry tank role was already considered obsolete.[citation needed] The SU-76 self-propelled gun was better suited for infantry support, its 76.2 mm gun capable of firing a larger high explosive shell. Industrial resources could be redirected from light tanks to building SU-76s. To compensate, the T-80 light tank was designed, a more robust version of the T-70 with a two-man turret.

There was enough lend-lease equipment available to fulfil the reconnaissance role of the light tanks, and armoured cars were better suited for light scouting and liaison. All light tank production was cancelled in October 1943, after only about 120 T-80s were built. No further light tanks would be built during the war. In November 1943 Red Army tank units were reorganized: light tanks were replaced by the T-34 and the new T-34-85 variant, which started production the following month. Light tanks continued to be used in self-propelled artillery and some other unit

Lots of info on both weapons, courtesy of our old friend, Wikipedia! I am off to Julians after work tomorrow for another run through of our GNW rules, so an AAR will follow over the weekend I expect.