Macedonia 1914/18, a short campaign game - The Mill #12

[Anatoli]

Hi 

We started this Square Bashing campaign today (cf. "the Mill" #12 - page 61).

A serbian army and a bulgarian one clashed in order to take control of this sector of the country...



Serbian army :

It is a division composed of regular troops of the 1st Ban and reservists of the 2nd Ban. The men have already been tested by more than three years of almost uninterrupted conflict, but this gives them solid experience, and they fight for the survival of their nation, no more and no less...







Bulgarian army :

It is a mixed division, with a brigade of the Guard, a brigade of regulars, and a brigade of "opolchenie" (militiamen) in reserve. To ensure artillery superiority in this sector, Austrian batteries were added as reinforcements. The morale of the men is at its highest !





Here are some pictures taken during the game we played today.

Serbian forces are at the bottom of the map and Bulgarian ones, at the top.

Serbian army was defending.

It was very tight throughout the game... 

Serbian forces had a lot of trouble at the start of the game and recovered from a few attacks. The game remained uncertain until the end... The objectives, numbered from 1 to 4, were taken and lost several times (for at least two of them)...




































































































































It resulted a minor victory for the serbian forces. This give them a bonus for the second battle to come...


To be continued... 



Miniatures are mainly Peter Pig, with some few Eureka and Essex. Miniatures and scenery painted by Pierre.



Cheers,

Xavier

[Colonel Kilgore]

Lovely stuff as usual from Xavier and Pierre  - you must have had a lot of fun.

Might it be possible for you to write a piece for The Mill on how you photograph your wonderful games, Xavier?

Simon

[martin goddard]

That is gorgeous.
Scatter such as the lichen and rocks really add to the game.


In the MILL

yes please.

martin

[Anatoli]

Thank you... 

@ Simon : I will do it...

@ Martin : of course... 

[Leman (Andy)]

Great news. I really appreciate articles on improving the look of wargames tables as this is one of the reasons I figure game rather than boardgame.

[Anatoli]

Hi...

Here is a report of mission n°2 we played yesterday...



Mission 2 : Ochrid sector


At least 2 terrain templates were impassable to any troop type (lakes). They were definitly set near objective n°1, which led to a difficult situation for the turkish player as reinforcement would be nearly impossible in that sector.

The "Entente" player (attackers) chose a "late Serbian" army list (see The 15 Mill magazine n° 6) as he won the previous scenario.

The "Triplice" player chose army list 9 (Ottoman).

Each side musters a 420 points army.


Serbian forces : It is a mixed division, with a brigade of the 1st ban with 5 battalions, and a brigade of the 2nd ban with 5 battalions also. This force received the long-awaited reinforcement of British artillery elements, which joined and integrated the front lines.







Turkish forces : an "early" Turkish-style army, of poor quality, but reinforced, however, by a brigade of experienced German Gebirgsjägers.







Serbian army launched several attack along the line. Turkish army tried to slow down the ennemy : it needed its reinforcements to enter the battlefield, as depletions were severe.















































Serbian and Turkish armies rushed to capture objectives 3 and 4. Serbian army arrived first, but the triplice player sent regiments between the 2 objectives (n°3 and 4). He also placed machineguns and canons in front of objective n°4.






















Turkish player tried to weaken the serbian regiments by placing troops in squares just in front of objectives n°1 and 2, which were, at that time, hold by him.







Serbian player initiated a point effect barrage on the ennemy troops near objectives n° 3 and 4. It was very successfull, as turkish troops fell back with losses.






















Objective n°2 : serbian player finaly arrived in front of objective square.







Capture of objective n°1 by serbian forces, as turkish troops could not retreat because of the lake sectors.







First assault on objective n°2 was not successfull for serbian troops.







Turkish cavalry tried to charge in the weakest part of serbian army. It nearly succeeded ...







There was a huge battle for objective n°4. Turkish army launched its last troops for an assault and captured it. But a immediate counter attack succeeded in recapturing it






















Objective n°2 is also captured by serbian regiments.







Final situation : all 4 objectives were in hands of serbian players. The result of this battle in Ochrid sector was a minor victory for Serbia.







What a fun we had ! Now, we have to move to scenario 3 of the campaign...


Figures and scenery painted by Pierre.



Cheers,

Xavier

[Camulogene]

Wow,

gorgeous report and pictures as usual, thank you Xavier 

Pierre

[Colonel Kilgore]

Wonderful stuff as usual. I look forward to the promised article in The Mill on how these gorgeous photos are taken!

Simon

[Anatoli]

Mission 3 : Monastir sector



The third scenario concerns the western sector of the Balkans, where the Franco-Russian expeditionary force commanded by General Sarroule finds itself struggling with the Austro-German forces of Count Graf von Garcin-Lazar, the challenge for both sides being the control of the city of Monastir (currently Bitola).

Each side musters a 500 points army.



The Centrals (attackers), composed of a heterogeneous amalgam of Austrian, Hungarian and German troops :








The troops of the Entente (Defendors), made up of elements of the « Armée d'Orient », reinforced by a brigade of Russian soldiers more concerned with the revolution that takes place in their country than with this front, considered as secondary :








At the start of the battle, French forces had objectives n°1 and 4. They had to leave objective n°2 after a terrible depletion...

The battle was fierce and turned to be a major victory for the Austro-German player (Pierre). The french forces, defensor, had 2 objectives at the start of the game. He lost the objective n°4 and could not take it back, even after 3 unsuccessful assaults againt this position.

The use of gaz was troublesome, as the clouds moved a lot during the game... The left sector was nearly blocked during the first half of the battle.

Pierre's cavalry made a breakthrough, capturing the french command base...

French reinforcements arrived too slowly to be efficiently thrown in the battle.

At the end of the battle, Austro-German army had taken 3 objectives (n°2, 3 and 4).























































































































































































Bravo, Pierre ! Now, the Centrals retook advantage in the campaign... The next battle will be decisive !


Miniatures (mainly PP) and scenery painted by Pierre.



Cheers,

Xavier

[Sean Clark]

Superb!

Apologies if this has been explained before (I'm thinking in the Mill!), but your units are 3 bases rather than 4. What is your thinking behind this?

[Camulogene]

Apologies if this has been explained before (I'm thinking in the Mill!), but your units are 3 bases rather than 4. What is your thinking behind this?

You're right Sean, this has been explained in detail in the last issue of the 15 Mill.
The main reason is because most of my WW1 armies were already based this way for an other rule set before we began playing Square Bashing.
I managed to conform to SB standards for my late war German, French and British armies by adding a 4th base, generally an LMG base (Lewis, Chauchat) to each unit ; this allows to use those units for tactical games as well.

Thanks Xavier for the superb photos...

Pierre

[Sean Clark]

Je comprend, merci mon amis!

Yes, once again the photos are simply stunning. But I say this everytime you guys post up your reports 

[martin goddard]

That is marvellous.
Better than an ABBA concert (high praise indeed).


martin

[Anatoli]

Mission 4 : Struma sector


Hi,

Here are a few pictures of mission n°4 we played yesterday. Battle was fierce, and victory went for forces of "the Entente". There were some heroic actions during this game... 



Context :

Struma River Valley, Winter 1916. The opposing forces have now been entrenched face to face for many months, in an inextricable situation which seems to be copied from that of the western front. But the two sides are preparing an offensive which must prove decisive. Who will take the initiative first ?


The Entente :

Apart from the Italian troops - including the Arditi - the Allied forces under the command of General Granvezuvio gathered a British division with its artillery in this area, as well as a French division, weakened by the hard climate and diseases...






The Triplice :

These are Kaiser troops, including the Stosstruppen, under the command of the famous General Bestagen-Keschtatt, known for his inflexibility...







Now, let's go into the action ! 


Arditi assaulted objectif n°1 at the start of the 1st turn, capturing this position. This objective was then assaulted many times, but without any success... German forces were weakend by terrible dices during the game setup phase. But they resist and even captured one objective (n°4) which was recaptured later.

Italian forces captured objectives n°2 and 4 and hold their position. Then they pushed forward.

What a game ! Full of suspense !





































































































































Next mission will be decisive ! 

[Colonel Kilgore]

Lovely stuff again, chaps. It just keeps getting better!

Simon