When it comes to VSF gaming you can never
have enough unreliable steam vehicles in any action, well at least that's what
I say...here's an AAR of my latest scenario from the First Great Steam War. Those
pesky Ruskies are taking on the Red Coats from good old Queen Vic’s finest. It
had two trial run throughs before this play and will definitely get another
outing if only to see the FUBAR VSF Breakdown table in in action over and over
again!
A period photograph showing the valiant Britishers of the Little Tinkle Volunteer Rifles facing the Russian Hordes at the fence line...
The Bridge on the River Wee
Situation
Essex England
April 1878 and the Imperial Russian
Expeditionary Force were advancing steadily inland from their beach head on the
Thames Estuary based around Corringham. The Russian units were being slowly
reinforced and their commander General-Lieutenant Lazarev never seemed to have
enough men and equipment to carry out all the orders he was continually
receiving from the Imperial Headquarters based in St Petersburg. Their latest
communication directed Lazarev to cross the River Wee and swing north of London
to block any British troops from assisting the English capitols defenders as
the Germans approached from the south and south east. Lazarev and his staff
assessed these instructions and found the River Wee was indeed of great
strategic importance and to secure a crossing point would be of the utmost
importance for any future offensive action in Essex. They determined the best
place to cross the Wee was at an impressive bridge located near the small
village of Little Tinkle. The bridge was of vital importance as it was capable
of bearing the weight of the latest Russian Landships. The Little Tinkle bridge
was a masterful piece of construction designed by leading British engineer
Brunel, Fred Brunel. It was decided it must be captured and Colonel Badinoff
and his elite 4th Armoured Steam Assault Brigade were assigned the task, they
were to move off at dawn on April 7th.
April 5th Lord Kitchener-Bun while enjoying
an evening at the theatre in the East End was handed a note by an SOE field
agent which revealed to him the Russians intensions of commencing an offensive
along the River Wee. He questioned his Aides asking them why “the Russians
taking a Little Tinkle on the Wee” was of such importance he continued “when
you have to go you know well you just have to go”. They explained the actual
situation to him and he was astonished the difference an ‘a’ could make to a
sentence! During the intermission before Port and fine cheeses he dispatched urgent
orders to the commander of all forces in the Little Tinkle area, Colonel Dungworth.
Dungworth was to gather all the units at his disposal and ensure the Bridge on
the River Wee did not fall into the evil Russians clutches!
In a new and particularly nasty turn of
events for the First Great Steam War General-Lieutenant Lazarev planned an air
attack on Little Tinkle to demolish the buildings so they could not be used as
cover by the local British defenders just before he began his offensive. Three
Wong Flyers were employed and during the morning and afternoon of April 6 rained
bombs down on the small village. Three times the Wong Flyers delivered their
deadly payloads on the villagers leaving what one onlooker described as a
perfect carpet of smoke in the place where the village had stood. A London
journalist reporting on this atrocity and who had overheard the onlooker coined
the phrase 'carpet bombing' and used it as the by-line for his article on this
event. The expression stuck and was used to describe all such future aerial
attacks during the First Great Steam War!
In the meantime despite the aerial
bombardment Colonel Dungworth gathered all the men and machines he could muster
and at dawn on the 7th of April they advanced to defend the Little Tinkle Bridge.
At the very same moment from the south Colonel Badinoff's Russian command moved
north to carry out exactly the same task...
The stage is set let the battle to begin...
British Force (Pillars of Virtue)
Colonel Dungworth’s Headquarters
1st Section 4th Naval Armoured Company
2nd Section 4th Naval Armoured Company
Detachment from the 27th Armoured Rifles
The Little Tinkle Volunteer Rifles with Guide
attached
Elements of the below Regiments
1st Essex Light Steam Wagon Rgt
2nd Queens Mechanical Dragoon Rgt
Russian Force (Not So Nice Guys…)
Lt Colonel Badinoff Headquarters
2 Infantry Sections 36th Kiev Grenadier Rgt
Element of the Minsk Armoured Jaeger Rgt
Company II 4th Steam Wagon Rgt
64th Heavy Mechanised Mortar Detatchment
Scenario Rules
British starting units
* Command unit
* 6 Armoured Steam Wagons
* 2 Sections Armoured Infantry
* 1 Section Infantry with Guide
Russian starting units
* Command unit
* 5 Armoured Steam Wagons
* 1 Section Armoured Jaeger
* 2 'large' Sections Grenadiers
The side with the most points at the end of
eight turns wins points as follows:
For every foot figure within 12 inches of the
centre of the bridge 1 point
For every vehicle within 12 inches of the
centre of the bridge 2 points
Gun - decorative only
Ruined building - access not allowed the
Little Tinkle Council ruled it a hazardous structure
Use Guide Special Rules
Use Armoured Steam Wagon Mk XII Special Rules
Off board units do not get automatic
Axtivation on any turn
Woods don't affect movement rates of vehicles
(breakdown roll required) or infantry and can be seen six inches into or within
six inches of when inside and give light cover bonus
Fences are ‘a hindrance’ and infantry can be
seen up to six inches through them and vehicles are seen at any range through
them but both get light cover bonus for the hindrance
Rocky and plant areas don't effect movement
rates of vehicles (breakdown roll required) or infantry and for infantry only
are light cover
Game AAR
Turn 1 and the horde from the east won the
initiative and successfully got all their units onto the play area. All their
armour in the centre one infantry section with the command unit on the right
and their other two infantry sections on the left all getting cover from the
available terrain. Unfortunately for them due to a breakdown one ASW got no
further than onto the board edge where out of range of the enemy it parked for
the duration of the action. The British had even worse misfortune with two
infantry units and two of their ASWs failing to get onto the play area on the
first turn! Their other forces made good headway with the armour in the centre
and infantry on their right.
The Russians approaching the Little Tinkle Bridge from the south...
The British approaching the Little Tinkle Bridge from the north...
Turn 2 again with the initiative went to the Russians
and the mighty Mk XII ASW fired its giant 13” mortar at the lead British Steam
Wagon. When the smoke cleared from the huge blast all were amazed to see the
British vehicle unscathed continue to roll forward...an ominous start for the
Ruskies super weapon! Eight dice five hits and in the end no effect! All the
other Russian vehicles that could fire did so also with no affect! Their foot
troops moved slowly forward. Activation rolls still left one British vehicle
and an armoured infantry section off board and another Steam Wagon on fire! All
the infantry that activated advanced rapidly and they secured a fence line on
their right flank while the vehicles fired ineffectually at their Russian
opposites.
Russians in the foreground at the beginning of turn
2! Vehicles without smoke in their stack/funnel and not tilted or with turrets removed are immobilised.
Turn 3, the two British infantry sections were
falling behind on the left while their men at the fence line engaged the
Russian infantry. The Armoured Steam Wagon that was aflame was put out of
action when the crew were consumed in the blaze. For the Russians their
infantry continued to advance but one vehicle was destroyed by the British and a
second became immobilised on the road. This breakdown and the fact the mighty
Mk XII even though needing to remain stationary to reload accidentally surged
forward out of control cut off any deployment opportunity for the last Russian
vehicle!
Sergeant Sergi the driver of the Mk XII Russian Armoured Steam Wagon accidently engaged the forward gear instead of the handbrake requested by the Commander so instead staying put to allow the mortar to be reloaded it surged forward just missing the vehicle to its left and the immobilised one on the road, in this position it became a road block as it requires 3 stationary turns to reload!
Turn 4 and the British finally gained the
turn initiative and the last of their units finally entered the fray but it was
of little use to them as the Russians were getting closer to the bridge faster
than them and with fewer casualties. This turn saw concentrated Russian fire
all but wipe out the Little Tinkle Volunteer Rifles!
The brave men of the Little Tinkle Volunteer Rifles pay the ultimate price for Queen and Country!
Turn 5 and again the Russians gained the
initiative for the turn, their immobilised Mk X continued to fire with success
on the British while the Mk XII sat stationary reloading its 13” mortar blocking
any vehicle movement in the Russian centre. The British foot on the left moved
forward cautiously using all the terrain they could find while the units on
their right continued to be hammered the men from Little Tinkle breaking and
running! Yet more breakdowns saw one British vehicle surge forward out of
control into the river to be abandoned and two others miss a turn by stalling.
The British left advancing maximising the cover of the terrain...
Last last mobile Russian Armoured Steam Wagon sets itself up in an over watch position covering the Little Tinkle Bridge as it daren't risk a breakdown in the trees or fields and the rest of the Russian centre is blocked!
Turn 6 and with the initiative the Russian
infantry crept within dashing distance of the bridge while the armour continued
ineffectual fire and of course the Mk XII crew struggled to reload their
mortar. The British also manoeuvred for position and their few operational guns
now targeted the Russian infantry.
The Mk VI Armoured Steam Wagon from the 2nd Queens Mechanical Dragoon Rgt ditched in the River Wee after the driver lost control of it on turn 6!
Turn 7 and with the initiative again in the
hands of the invading horde things looked bad for the boys in red! Both sides
jockeyed their vulnerable surviving infantry closer to the bridge while the
armour duked it out. One Russian infantry section finally broke when caught in
the open approaching the bridge. The Russian 13” mortar roared again and this
time with some success wiping out over half a section of British Naval Armoured
infantry. And to top the action off the men from Little Tinkle surprisingly
rallied and turned back into the action running flat out for the bridge!
A British Mk IV Armoured Steam Wagon in action against the Russian infantry of the 36th Kiev Grenadier Rgt of the opposite side on the Wee!
Turn 8 and the British finally gained the
initiative. This was the last turn and the race for the bridge was on! Foot
troops sprinted toward it from every direction while the surviving armour
lumbered forward. But it was now the early poor British activation rolls and
their infantry casualties caught up with them and the Russians won the day 18 VPs
to 6VPs.
The Little Tinkle Bridge on the River Wee was
in the invaders hands! A dark day for the Empire indeed!
Overall view at the end of the game from the southern (Russian aspect)...
This was a fun action with lots occurring. During
my test games went one to the Brits and one to the Ruskies. Both sides rolled a
disproportional number of 1s during their activation attempts during the game.
The British were worse off and received many more breakdowns than one would
have expected especially with a only a one in six chance and some other bad
activation rolls for their two left flank units left them struggling. On the other
hand the Russians only lost one ASW on the first turn immobilised out of gun
range of anyone and a power surge created a bottleneck for them in the centre
due to a breakdown roll also their foot figures hardly failed to activate at
all so on the day the dice gods were favouring them.
Well back to the
gaming table...
