Thoughts on Lake Trasimene and D3 OHW

photo courtesy Gridbased wargaming

As reported in the battle account on Peter's blog (see Battle of Lake Trasimene), last week, Peter hosted a remote game to refight the Battle of Lake Trasimene.  If you have not already read Peter's account, I recommend doing so especially since scenario and background details are contained therein.  No need to retell the battle either.  Hannibal's Carthaginians drove many of the Romans into the lake and Flaminius' army perished on the banks of Trasimene.

Instead, today's post examines modelling of this battle on the wargames table with a closer look at Peter's variant of Neil Thomas' One-Hour Wargames (OHW) rules.  For simplicity, I refer to Peter's work as D3 OHW.  These rules can be found on his blog. 

First, how does one model the debacle that was the ambush at Lake Trasimene?  Having fought Trasimene several times using Commands & Colors Ancients (CCA), I have seen victory go to both Hannibal and Flaminius.  While the Roman Army is initially hamstrung by only having one command card to play, the outcome is not necessarily a foregone conclusion.  With careful play (and the right card), the Romans can hold on long enough to see the situation stabilize and fight back.  There are hazards to seeing the Romans triumph at Trasimene, however.  In one game, the Romans roared back to defeat Hannibal in spectacle fashion.  The ersatz Hannibal threw up his arms exclaiming that "this is not Lake Trasimene!"  Unfortunately, he never played CCA again...but I digress. 

CCA battlefield deployment.

How does CCA handle Trasimene?  With no facing, units cannot be struck in the flank.  Yes, a retreat will push Romans back into the lake but being supported and with Flaminius nearby, up to two RETREAT results may be ignored.  CCA game results show that Carthage wins about two-thirds of the contests.  In repeated playings and given a one out of three chance to overcome Hannibal, does this scenario model the battle satisfactorily?

What about Thomas' OHW?  Could this model Trasimene with more historicity?  While units in OHW have facings and flanks, and flank attacks are possible, a unit can turn to face after the first round of combat.  Being susceptible to a flanking attack improves the chance of launching a crippling ambush.  With no retreats, though, every clash is a fight to the death.  Having an advantage in heavy infantry, the Romans can prevail the longer each engagement lasts.

Peter's initial deployments
photo courtesy Gridbased wargaming

Now let's examine Peter's amendments to OHW.

Since a D3 is used for combat resolution rather than a D6 in the original, these rules are denoted as D3 OHW.  Unit elimination drops from 15 to 9 hits.

What are the other changes introduced?

• Morale Checks.  A unit suffering hit(s) must now take a morale check.  Pass, and the unit remains in place.  Fail, and the unit retreats.
• Retreats.  A unit failing a morale check moves to the rear six inches.  Friendly units in the retreat path are pushed back.  Encountering impassable terrain or enemy units forces unit elimination.
• Veteran Heavy Infantry.  Immune from taking morale checks.
• Army Resolve.  Each army has an Army Resolve computed before the beginning of battle.  This Resolve is decreased for each friendly unit destroyed and for each failed morale check. 

Do these changes to the base rules alter the nature of play and the Battle of Lake Trasimene specifically?

To recap the game, as the Carthaginians rush down toward the Romans marching along the banks of Lake Trasimene, Flaminius has great difficulty deploying his army.  With restricted maneuver space, only about one in three units turn to face the enemy.  At the tail end of the Roman march column, matters are even worse.  Carthaginian cavalry hit the enemy before there is time to deploy.  

Carthaginians charge down from the heights...

while the defile is blocked.

Romans struggle to deploy to face the enemy.

Hannibal's horsemen catch the enemy in flank!

Having been struck in column, the back end of the Roman column panics.  Two failed morale checks see two retreats.  Those retreating units crash into their supports.  Both supporting units are driven into the lake to perish.  Still reeling from the retreat, the wavering Roman is hit again and destroyed outright.  Carthaginian cavalry turn in to roll up the enemy flank.  In the Roman center, a third unit is compelled to retreat.  This retreat takes it to the banks of the lake.  With Roman infantry packed together near the defile, Carthaginian light infantry hit the enemy in flank.  Casualties are high until support comes up to drive off the enemy light infantry.

Romans are driven into the lake.
photo courtesy Gridbased wargaming

Two more Roman units bite the dust.
photo courtesy Gridbased wargaming

The battle is over.
photo courtesy Gridbased wargaming

But it is all too late.  Carthaginian cavalry break one more Roman infantry and all is lost.  Flaminius loses his army.

Did Peter's amendments allow the nature of the battle to be replicated on the table?  Yes, they did.  I thought tension from the Roman desperation was present on the gaming table throughout.  Flaminius struggled to deploy his army from march column into battle while being pressed by the enemy.  With little space to deploy, only a portion of the Roman Army turned before the enemy struck.  Overwhelmed, some Romans broke and fled as they were attacked in flank.  Their panic spread as supporting units were pushed back into the lake.  In minutes, it was all over.  Could the battle have played out differently?  Certainly.  That is why we play the game. 

Good fun especially as commander of the Carthaginian Army!  If you play and enjoy OHW but are searching for more depth and "realism" while maintaining the base game engine, I recommend giving Peter's D3 OHW rules a look. 

Thanks to Peter for hosting such an entertaining game.

Painting, Hexing, and Gaming

Today's post is a bit of a mish-mash in a seemingly futile attempt to catch-up.

First, off the painting desk today is the first of the Hanoverian horse for the SYW/WAS project in 18mm.  Figures are from Eureka Miniatures and are part of the large tranche of figures purchased back in August.  Many more Hanoverian cavalry are in the pipeline.  These troopers trot out as the Breidenbach Dragoons.

Next up, a little work on terrain.  Having seen Ancients armies out on the table in a series of battles over flat ground, I figured it time to create a few hill hexes to break up the battlefield.  With that, 16 hill hexes and another 20 open hexes make it into the Terrain Pile.  Hexes are five inches on the flat; perfect for 120mm frontage units.

Finally, Peter and I fought the Battle of Lake Trasimene on Thursday, remotely, from his table (on Friday) in Melbourne.  Game utilized his adaptations to One Hour Wargames (OHW) and Peter's large collection of 1/72 figures.  In my mind, his amendments to OHW improve the game immensely.  I commanded the Carthaginians as Hannibal springs a trap on the Roman Army as it marches along the banks of Lake Trasimene.

Lake Trasimene
photo courtesy Gridbased wargaming

Which army was victorious?  I guess we wait until the battle report!

Freitag of Arabia

Peter (Grid Based Wargaming) returned to his WWI in Palestine campaign for another episode.  His battle account is available from the link above.  This time, Palestine is consumed in the Arab Revolt.  J.R. Freitag leads Arab forces in an attempt to thwart Turkish troop transports from reaching the front. 

Having mustered an armored car, two cavalry units, and three infantry units, Freitag must stop the train.  On the train are four units of Turkish infantry and an artillery piece.  The train is armed with a single machine gun.

Can Freitag and his Arab allies overpower the train and its cargo before 15 turns elapse?

Let's see...

As the train approaches, the Arabs barricade the track.
Poised in hiding on both sides of the track, the Arabs wait.
Arab AC emerges from the village to harass the enemy.

Arabs burst from their cover and move toward the train.
Arab machine gun provides cover from the hilltop.

Two Turkish infantry detrain as the train comes under fire.

The Arabs close in as their fire concentrates
onto the Turk in the open.

One Turk infantry destroyed!

Nearly surrounded,
 a second Turkish infantry unit is scattered.
The train lurches forward but is stopped at the barricade. 

Two more Turk infantry detrain along with an artillery piece.
The Arabs remain beyond the field of fire of the train's MG.

A coordinated attack by three Arab arms
destroys a third Turk infantry.
Jubilation is short-lived.
Taking fire from artillery,
the armored car is consumed in smoke as it stops, dead.

Freitag and his Arabs move in for the kill.

Turkish artillery scatters Arab infantry to its front.  

Overpowered, the Turk artillery is destroyed.

With the Game Clock tolling the 15th turn,
 the train's MG is taken out.
Freitag is Victorious! 

A fun and tense game that came down to a decision on the final turn. 

Early on, it appeared the Arabs would make easy work of the Turks.  Turks fell in rapid succession until casualties began to creep up for the Arabs.  Suddenly, Freitag's Arabs failed activation after activation only mustering enough strength to successfully attack the train's MG on the final turn.

I wonder if Freitag will be Knighted?   

Turks Fight for the Draw!

Airstrike!
photo courtesy of Grid based wargaming

Peter and I returned to his WWI Palestine campaign this week to see if the EEF could break through the Turk lines and get back on the march to Damascus.  Peter's account of the action is at A Remote WWI Palestine Campaign Game Report.  We switch from playing on a non-gridded to table to a gridded table in this contest.  Please visit Peter's report to understand the background to both campaign and this battle.  I love Peter's comic style battle sketches as seen in the header graphic!

I would be commanding the Turks once again.  Since Peter said that "a draw is as good as win in this battle", I may have to play for a draw.  Once I saw the scenario and studied the force allocation, I figured the Turks might be lucky to pull out a draw.  To make the challenge even more difficult, the EEF added a unit of mounted camel infantry at the last minute.  The Turks, in this engagement will face armor, artillery, and even airstrikes.  The Turks will have their hands full.

Let's take a look at the battle from the Turkish perspective.

The Turks begin the game with only one unit on table.  I selected the heavy artillery to setup on the road adjacent to the bridge.  All of the EEF forces would arrive on Turn 1.  No Turk reinforcements until Turn 3.  It might be a long three turns. 

EEF advances

By Turn 3, EEF mounted infantry arrive near the bridge and come under fire from the Turkish gun.  The mounted infantry remains mounted and begins taking casualties.  Heavy casualties.  EEF forces are bearing down upon the vital bridge as Turkish reinforcements begin to arrive.

First shots of the battle.  Incoming!

Fighting escalates as the EEF continues to close.  Both Turk guns are now sending shells into the enemy and the machine gun infantry take up position along the wadi.  They prepare for a vigorous defense.  With the enemy pinned at the bridge, the Turks mount a flanking attack using the ford that only they know.  The enemy brings forward its tank screened by the mounted infantry and supported by artillery.  The mounted infantry is being cut to pieces!

Fighting intensifies at the bridge
 as the Turks attempt a flank attack.

Casualties rise in the hot fight at the bridge.

Having suffered heavily from artillery fire, the Egyptian mounted infantry peels off to the left to open a direct line of sight for the armor moving up the road.  The Turks continue exploiting the ford to bring one unit over to the opposite side.

Turks cross the wadi
as the enemy tank makes its way to the bridge.

The Turks keep up a steady barrage supported by machine gun fire at the bridge.  The tank suffers minor damage but presses on.  The EEF, to the front of the machine-gunning Turks, evaporates.  Now, two Turkish infantry units make it across the ford with a third signaling that it may be planning the same. 

As the Turkish flanking force presses on,
the enemy's attack at the bridge stalls.
  Casualties are high.

Seemingly out of nowhere, an enemy airplane is seen overhead.  The plane drops its bombs on the Turks protecting the bridge.  Casualties are frightful.  The air attack silences the machine guns.  They are unable to respond.   

Air attack!

Attacked from the air!
photo courtesy of Grid based wargaming

Still, the fight for the bridge continues with the tank and artillery trading shots.  Realizing the threat to its flank, the EEF begins to redeploy to address this new threat.  The flanking Turks swing about to prepare for action.

Turk flanking force swings into action.

Having its sights set on overrunning the Turkish gun, the tank lurches into action and then suddenly stops.  Boom!  There is an explosion inside the tank and it stops, dead. 

The tank is consumed in a ball of flame and smoke!

Artist's rendering of the moment.
photo courtesy of Grid based wargaming

With the tank dead on the road, the attack against the bridge stalls until units can be shifted over to renew the attack.  While fighting dies down at the bridge, the flanking force engages the enemy.  One Turk pins the enemy to its front as two units move up.  Are these Turks planning to launch a counterattack on the bridge from the enemy's side of the wadi?  EEF artillery shifts from targeting defenders at the bridge to the Turkish flanking force.

Activity switches to the flank attack.

Seeing the Turk mountain gun fall silent to small arms fire, the EEF mounted infantry turns about.  Looks like it is heading back to the village to prevent its capture.  Flanking firefight intensifies as a second Turk joins into the combat.  The enemy has had enough and retires back toward the road.  With the enemy infantry approaching the bridge, the badly mauled Turk infantry falls back. 

Heavy fighting on the flank.

Enemy is forced to retire from the firefight.

With the enemy pressing on toward the bridge, a second aircraft is seen overhead.  Again, the target is the unlucky Turk MG unit near the bridge.  Again, the Turks take a pounding.  This time, however, the defiant Turks crumble.

The enemy moves up another unit of infantry in preparation for storming across the bridge.  After taking so many casualties, the defending artillery fails to fire.  The flanking Turks continue suffering from artillery shelling.  Reaching the village looks impossible.

Turks in the flanking force continue to take fire.

Still, hope remains, and the Turks press on.  An EEF infantry unit is shattered as the Turk MG unit swings around to help interdict attacks across the bridge.  That move pays off and the enemy is cut down from behind.  Only one more enemy unit is within striking distance of the bridge.  That enemy unit moves into position but the clock has expired.

One EEF unit destroyed!

And another!

The Turks press on.

When the smoke clears from the heavy fighting, the EEF still holds the village and the bridge is contested.  A draw for the Turks!  There will be celebrations in Damascus but not by the EEF.  For them, their campaigning appears over.

The Turks hold out and turn back the invaders!

Victory Draw for the Turks!

Another fine game and scenario by Peter.  Good fun with a fight to the last turn and the last die roll.  Many thanks for hosting!  For the Palestinian campaign, this defeat may signal the end to the EEF's offensive.  They will never see Damascus.

What is next?

Flank Attack: The Rematch

graphic courtesy gridbasedwargaming

After seeing success in screening the right and bludgeoning my way forward to victory in the first playing of Neil Thomas' Flank Attack! scenario in OHW (see: Flank Attack!), Peter and I agreed that a rematch would be fun.  We would swap sides and replay the scenario. Rules in use are Peter's D3 OHW variant. 

With Peter in command of the Blue Army (notice in the following battle report that Blue Army is actually blue in this version!), he announced that Blue Army would stick to the strategy that brought success in the first outing.  That meant I needed to come up with a plan to counter this steamroller.

Blue's plan of attack
(same as first game).

Was I successful in stopping Peter's juggernaut?  Please read on to find out. 

Since the Red Army places three units into a blocking position at board edge, I placed two Red Ashigaru astride the exit road and a unit of Samurai foot into the village.  Blue Army packed itself into a square in its deployment zone with Samurai leading the way.  The remainder of my Red Army deployed into the flank position on the right.  

Initial deployments

Blue Army (Peter) leads off by playing an Initiative card and rushes forward with his Samurai cavalry.  The remainder of Blue advances up the road toward the objective with skirmishers filing off to the right to screen the main advance.  In its second activation for the turn, Blue Samurai cavalry charges into the Ashigaru astride the road.  The Ashigaru takes four hits but having not destroyed the enemy, the Samurai horse is compelled to retreat.

Initiative brings Blue cavalry within
 striking distance of Red defenders.

Blue Army advances while cavalry charges in.

Red Ashigaru suffers heavy casualties
but repulses the cavalry.

The Red flanking force steps off in motion toward the enemy.  Although a long way off, the goal is to attempt to intercept the attackers before the defenders at the exit point are overwhelmed. 

Red flanking force in motion.

As Red Army's flanking force makes a determined advance toward the enemy, the three Red units protecting the road exit, step forward to bring the enemy into range.  Fire is very effective causing three hits to one and four hits to another.  Red used one Initiative tactical card to get in a second round of shooting. 

The shooting was too effective, really.  Both of these Red Ashigaru units run out of ammo and will need to reload before firing again.  Running out of ammo is a problem since playing a Battle Tactics card to resupply is typically way down on the priority list of tasks needing to accomplish with these cards.  

The Red foot Samurai moves out of the village and attacks the Blue foot unit to its front.  While repulsing the attack, the Blue Ashigaru suffers heavy casualties.  Blue's foot Samurai slips into the woods to threaten the defenders and poised to bolt off table if needed.

Red moves out.

Firefight along the road with Samurai foot melee
Blue Ashigaru on the end of the line. 

Seeing Red units moving up from behind, Blue cavalry breaks off its attack against the Ashigaru and swings around to confront its adversary.  Blue Skirmishers move up to the hill crest and pour fire into Red's flanking force.  For now, half of Red's flanking force is effectively pinned by these skirmishers.  Red's foot Samurai having been repulsed and showing eight hits, uses a Rally Battle Tactics card to rally off some hits.

Blue Cavalry swings about to counter an enemy threat. 

Two of Red's flanking Ashigaru return the favor and pour fire into the enemy skirmishers.  Their aim is not good.  In the plain below, Red skirmishers dispatch enemy cavalry.  Is a path clear to the exit road?

Destruction of Blue Samurai horse!

Having scattered the enemy cavalry, Red cavalry moves up to threaten Blue Army's flank.  Blue brings up its last reserve and places it into a blocking position between the woods.  If the horsemen are going to get through, these Ashigaru must be destroyed.  On both left and right, firefights take lumps out of opposing units. One of Red's Ashigaru along the road is scattered.  A heavily damaged Ashigaru foot falls back to the road to protect the exit point.

Firefight heats up!

This turn witnesses great destruction across the battlefield.

First, Blue Samurai charge out of the woods and into the already heavily damaged Ashigaru.  The defenders melt away.

Second, Red's flanking force unleashes deadly volleys into the skirmishers on the hill. They scatter.

Finally, having rallied off just enough hits to launch one more attack, in desperation, Red foot Samurai plays an Initiative Tactics card to charge into the badly damaged Ashigaru foot in front of the viillage.  The first Blue Ashigaru unit hit evaporates.  On its regular activation, the Samurai continues charging into the other badly mauled Ashigaru foot.  It, too, is scattered.  The Red Army destroys three Blue units to losing one this turn.

Mayhem and destruction across the battlefield.
Blue loses three units to Red's loss of one unit.

With the battlefield thinned by quite a bit, Blue retaliates and takes out three badly damaged Red units.  Seeing that the three Blue units are positioned between the victory exit point and Red Army's flanking force and no way to catch them before escape off table, Red Army concedes. 

Victory to Peter and his Blue Army!

Blue counterattack takes out three units.

Unable to catch the enemy, Red Army concedes defeat.

Another close game in which the attacking force was able to bludgeon its way forward to make good its escape.  As Red Army commander, I was not able to stop the steady march of the Blue Army juggernaut as it fought its way off table.

Great fun and a challenging situation and match.  In post-game debrief, we discussed the use of Battle Tactics cards and the situation offered up in Scenario #6 Flank Attack.

While Peter ponders thoughts on slight amendments to the Battle Tactics cards, I am left wondering how the defending army can pull out a victory.

For Peter’s battle account, please visit A Repeat Remote Game.