1914 BEF vs Germans

[Trev]

We played SB again this week.  Something a bit more orthodox this time, with my club mate Mick's nice 15mm early WWI armies.  We didn't have a 4' x 3' table or mat to hand, so we used a 6' x 4' board and just divided it up into squares (actually rectangles) as needed.



As the BEF commander, my troops seemed frighteningly thin on the ground.  I clung to a few isolated positions and awaited the onrushing Hunnic hordes.  Some impressive mad-minute defensive fire, and some dire German saves, helped in places but it was very desperate stuff.  The village by the crossroads changed hands three times. 



After the tally it was a definite slap in the face for the Kaiser, giving the Tommies a chance to fall back in good order.  It felt nicely 1914 with the beleaguered BEF batteries and battalions standing resolutely against massed German charges, but not always able to hold back the tide.   

More details and pictures here

[Sean Clark]

How interesting. Looking at the pictures, no one would know you'd played the game on a grid. And the larger open nature of the table really emphasises the look of the thing.

Very nicely done.

[martin goddard]

Another lovely report Trev.
I like it.
No wonder the Germans lost the war when faced by swagger stick armed British officers (??)

martin

[Colonel Kilgore]

Lovely game, again, Trevor.

I really like the "level" of Square Bashing, which feels very appropriate for the conflicts it covers.

Simon

[Leman (Andy)]

Great looking game and my favourite period of WWI. All my Germans who wear helmets have pointy ones and there isn't a single shrapnel helmet amongst my Brits.

[Trev]

Thanks for the comments all. 

I'm liking the way you build up for an attack and then it can be all over very quickly, without much/any chance to intervene.  You can imagine the despair of the senior command as they watch powerless when a carefully coordinated attack goes horribly wrong.  Big attacks seem to risk a lot but have the potential for big rewards.  After the failed attack on the Manor that whole German flank was badly mauled and General von Mick opted to not throw away his remaining units in desperate follow ups. Alternatively, the Tommies on the right seemed done for after falling back from the village by the Crossroads but managed to stop the pursuit.  This lost the the Germans a broken unit of reserves and their 'winning the fight' markers, drastically transforming the situation.  Here Mick did risk another attack and it was successful but another failure could have been costly.

The orders mechanic is also interesting.  My immediate reaction on reading it was to think it would be better to allow the order type to be different each turn.  I actually rolled this as an event in the RCW game. However, in this game not having that option had interesting results.  The German attackers had fight bonuses but suffered badly from morale after set backs.  I chose the more defensive Morale bonuses for the BEF, which ensured they didn't break but I missed those extra fight dice in the counter attacks.  I suppose the higher command orders are meant to represent a plan or attitude, rather than a general roaming the battlefield on a white horse.

How interesting. Looking at the pictures, no one would know you'd played the game on a grid. And the larger open nature of the table really emphasises the look of the thing.

I liked the look of the game.  It was relatively simple to project the grid in your mind by looking at the gaps between the terrain.  Although, I've just noticed the Crossroads objective is in the adjacent row to the Dead Wood.  So, maybe not as simple as I thought.    Not that it made much difference to the game.

No wonder the Germans lost the war when faced by swagger stick armed British officers (??)

As a card-carrying Bolshevik, my sympathies are with the boys from the Mersey and the Thames and the Tyne, rather than lieutenant George and the Trinity College Tiddlywinkers.  However, someone in the BEF had some stiff upper something on the day.  Spikey Germans certainly make the best targets.