Posted on 05 August 2013 at 12:00:06 GMT So, carrying on with a few games whilst I have the opportunity I played a solo AVBCW game last night, following on my loosely interlinked "not-campaign" of the Birmingham Union Militia and Loyal Army of King George V (BUM & LACK-GOV) against the Sutton Coldfield Union of Fascists and their German & Italian backers (SCUF-KGL and the CRAP).
This particular game was a diversionary attack by BUM troops against SCUF units dug into an outpost line across the high ground of Sutton Park Common. This would have the effect of drawing off SCUF & Kings German Legion (Nazi expeditionary force a la the Condor Legion) from supporting the main Italian defenses to the east of Birmingham when the LAKGOV make their big push to isolate Sutton from Coventry by pushing up past Solihull towards the A5.
BUM artillery batteries of the Smethwick Works RTA (Republican Territorial Army) had established firing positions in and around the ruins of the Princess Anne Orphanage with good lines of site to the higher wooded ridges of Sutton Park where it was known the SCUF had dug their outpost line in. These (along with the mortars & Vickers MMGs of the infantry columns) would provide heavy supporting fire to the assault whilst also providing a screen in case the SCUF armoured car column that was so troublesome in the last engagement was drawn into the battle.
Two infantry columns (each four stands of militia, with a HMG and 3" mortar attached) would then push up - one aiming from the right flank from Erdington through Boldmere and the other more directly up the Chester Road and into the scrub of the Park, for the left centre of the suspected SCUF positions. The intent was to apply enough pressure to force the SCUF and KGL to commit troops needed elsewhere & bleed them whilst retaining sufficient combat power to attack in strength once LAK-GOV overrun or isolate the main defensive positions to the southeast.
Neither infantry column made much initial headway due to the usual command problems inherent in commanding militia volunteers, but eventually both shook out into attack formation and advanced. SCUF MMGs and a KGL 88mm arty battery opened up, causing local confusion and further bogging down the advance until concentrated fire from the BUM 18pdrs first suppressed, then silenced the Fascist guns.
The infantry had been dangerously bogged down however, and communication problems kept their supporting MMGs and mortars relatively ineffective except for engaging targets of of opportunity with quick bursts of fire that were mostly absorbed by the well built SCUF trenches.
As the left column struggled up the slopes it came under rifle and LMG fire from more SCUF Blackshirt militia, again dug into trenches on the scrubby ridge line. However, increasingly accurate support fire from the 18pdrs back around the Orphanage told and the KGL 88mm was brewed up, the infantry suppressed and the Aston Column was into the trenches.
The right flank motivated better under fire and whilst one squad tied up the Fascist MMG team and 37mm ATG that engaged with direct fire HE in a desperate attempt to stem the Red Tide, the other three stormed up and over the hill on the SCUF flank. They were immediately engaged by a further SCUF militia squad deployed in defense works echeloned behind the ridgeline for just such an event, but heroically ignored their casualties to storm forwards with a cry of "Up the Blues!" and "AVFC forever!".
Even the KGL artillery observer finally getting through to his batteries of supporting 75's failed to stem the tide, and seeing the moment was ripe the BUM commander unleashed his reserve - three armoured trucks festooned with LMGs and protected by the best boilerplate the Birmingham Coach and Railway works could produce.
Caught between these overloaded and groaning monstrosities and the Erdington Column the Fascist 37mm and supporting MMG team were overrun, as was the echeloned infantry squad to their rear. The BUM were over the ridge, and the SCUF commander was forced to call on his reserves - both sets. But was it too little, too late?
First to arrive were the SCUF armoured cars, a motley of WW1 vintage Rolls Royce and newer Ford based vehicles with armour & weapons shipped in as "tractor parts". The improvised BUM AFVs were no match for the Fascist armoured cavalry and the two over the ridge line were swiftly brewed up by the armoured cars light cannon, which were then turned on the Erdington Column, halting their attacks short of the SCUF command post and forcing them to seek cover.
The KGL infantry platoon with supporting MG34 team arrived on the other flank, swiftly ejecting the Aston Column from the trench line on the ridge, and then tried to work along the back of the ridgeline to put more pressure on the Erdington Column, but it was a case of too much, too late - they'd stabilised the defensive line but had been forced to strip the fronts reserve to do so.
A last ditch effort from the BUM saw the RTA desperately reposition their guns (they'd been too far back to target the back of the ridgeline, not having needed to move until the very end of the engagement!) and slam a deadly volley into one of the KGL infantry squads putting paid to any further attempts to evict the jeering Erdington Column from the captured defenses.
So, in the end a Major Victory for the BUM & socialism, putting the Blackshirts and their German paymasters firmly in their place. I tweaked the scenario set up a little, as the stock Diversionary Attack is grossly unfair to the defender - half the attackers points, and only half that ont able to start with has meant they get over run almost immediately, are forced to commit the reserves, which are then engaged at two to one odds again and get plastered.
Instead I ran both armies at 1000pts, starting the SCUF defenders with 500pts on board and bringing the other two in as on table forces reached break point as per the scenario - which worked really well.
Command issues & just the raw (lack of) ground speed of infantry on the BUM side meant they wombled around in sight of the Fascist guns & MMG teams, and in plain sight of the arty observer for several turns. However, as the 88 & MMG were the only really useful weapon system son the SCUF side at that range they only managed one casualty and a few suppressions. If the arty observer had actually put radio batteries in it might have been different!
Took six turns for the BUM forces to get into range, but they then made a series of initiative based close assaults where at least one squad could work to a flank, thus depriving the SCUF infantry and gunners of dice in the ensuring close combats. They got enough successes to break into the trenches and in the next round of combat it was all over for the SCUF. Looked tight till then, but it worked out well - it was too late for the reserves the Fascists were forced to commit to do more than stem the tide.
Overall casualties worked out about even - the Aston Column infantry having been overrun when the KGL retook the trenches, and the armoured trucks being decimated by the armoured cars but as the more costly SCUF guns and MMG team had been lost as well as a couple of infantry squads they were badly "out of pocket". The back to backs and tenements of The Peoples Republic of Birmingham would provide plenty of volunteers for the Socialist cause, whilst the Fascists would have to contend with the Regular Army forces of LAK-GOV cutting their lines of communications before they could plead for more war materiel from the Home Counties and Berlin.
Overall, a tight fought back and forth battle which either the arty coming in reliably or a much earlier committal of the Fascist reserves might have won on the ground (but then, if they'd pressed an attack into the 18pdr battery might have gone badly wrong... not to mention that forcing them to commit was the Socialist aim anyway!). Of course if the BUM had gotten better command rolls (five rolls in the first two turns, three of which were blunders! Next couple of turns were one success a formation jobs as well!) they could have been over the ridge and into bayonet point and then been deployed ready to face the SUC-KGL reserves in prepared positions with their supporting guns close enough to help...
The BUM would relinquish the trenches overnight, but keep pressure on with aggressive patrols and shelling meaning the Italian Corpes Rapido Actione Pronto would have to try to stop the LAK-GOV regulars on their own without the benefit of digging in...
(photo's to follow, now I think I've worked out Google's photo sharing!) |