This topic contains 120 replies, has 15 voices, and was last updated by 
torros 6 years, 1 month ago.
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So the battle begins … (Courtrai, Belgium – 12th Bn, Royal Irish Rifles, 108th Brigade, 36th Ulster Division, II Corps, Second Army – vs – 12th Bavarian Division, X Reserve Corps, Fourth Army)
We’ll see how our Ulster heroes of the BoW / OTT studio crew and friends do! 😀 😀 😀
Germans set up first, anywhere in the south six rows of the map. The Irish set up second, allowed to set up anywhere in the top four rows of the map as long as they are not in direct LOS of any German unit. Once they Irish set up, any Irish leader is allowed to call in a fire mission (special 1918 Edition “Preparatory Artillery Barrage” rules) with the four light mortar barrages included in their OOB.
*These OBA fire missions can only come in on Turn 1. Since Irish units cannot set up with LOS on German units, none of these will be “on target” per normal OBA rules. Therefore, the must drift to have any chance at any effect. On a d6: 1 = lands on designated hex. On a 2-5 drift one hes. On a 6 drift 2 hexes.
Also, they can set up a normal rules fire mission with their own integral 76mm Stokes section (1918 Edition “radio-less:” indirect fire rules – the spotter has to have LOS on the target, and the mortar battery has to have LOS on the spotter for visual signals for fire adjustment).
Irish use their Stokes mortar to set down smoke shells to cover the advance of McCabe’s & Flynn’s platoon.
Irish mortar fire is a complete wash. Only one barrage hits anything, and rolls a 2d6 10 +3 for building = 13, a very bad roll (low rolls are better in this game), so no effect at all. Smoke screen goes down and the assault goes in.
McCabe’s assault goe sin through the smoke screen. Unfortunately, the line of sight was such that the smoke rounds couldn’t be put quite far enough down the street to cover his final deadly 30 yards, and he takes opportunity fire from three angles. First, the MG 08 nest immediately in front (the one he’s assaulting) misses. Chalk it up to to panic fire.
Next, the flanking MG 08 nest rolls box cars, the worst possible roll. This results in a random Irish sniper appearing somewhere in the ruins, anywhere within line of sight of the unit that rolled the doubles sixes. The sniper is placed in a spot where he can make the immediate allowed attack on the MG 08 next (but he misses), but also pin down Steiner’s platoon somewhat should he try to move in the wing of the building behind the MG 08 nests.
Hauptmann Setesch’s fire, from the southwest, ironically, scores well enough to do some damage. Lt. McCabe must take two casualty points, he can either pin down two units (both his sections) or take half a section of casualties and press home his assault. Not wanting to be pinned down in front of a German MG pit in an open street and in a a three-way crossfire , he takes the casualties and carries the assault in.
McCabe’s platoon and Flynn’s platoons make the assault. They can use up to three grenades counters (Irish have 12 in all), but the Germans (with only one unit in each target hex – the MG 08 crew / half squad) can only use one. So both Irish assaults use two grenades (giving them a surplus of +1), in addition to the +1 from each platoon’s leadership bonus (the -1 for the leaders).
Both assaults are successful but bloody, each Irish platoon must pay one casualty point for the one German unit in its target hex (half squad MG 08 crew) and three points for the building terrain bonus = four total. Both sides decide to pay -3 casualty points by knocking down a full squad to half (6 casualty points for a full squad down to 3), then pinning that half squad for the fourth required casualty point.
It’s a risky move, with Steiner’s platoon in that same building ready to immediately counter-assault. But these Irish have an “E” elite rating, plus both platoons have a -1 leader (Flynn and McCabe). So their odds of rallying before the German counter-assault hits them are good. In this game, it’s all about the quality of your men and your leaders.
Johnston moves company command section up behind McCabe and Flynn. On the other flank, Lyons and McAuley move up, using buildings for cover. Mortar section edges out into street so Johnston can see them and pass signals, but noyt take took much fire now that McCabe and Flynn have taken out two forward MG positions. German MGs can see Lyons and McAuley, will fire during their turn, McAuley and Lyons were careful to stey in and behind buildings. Vickers sections and reserve sections try to move up as well, but with out officers, and slowed by heavy weapons, they don’t get far.
Germans, meanwhile, move up reserve squad, and put McAuley;s platoon under fire from four directions. Setesch’s platoon uses Assault Move to low-crawl back into the town hall building. Not moving on the right wing for now, they can ignore the British sniper. Werner puts mortar fire on McAuley’s platoon as well. McAuley takes some casualty point, but with elite troops in a fortified position, and with no Germans immediately ready to assault, he takes the pins, and so takes no actual killed or wounded.
Hauptmann Bothi, however, with a half squad armed with MG 08 15s, however, scores more damage on McCabe’s platoon. But again, Irish are able to take the pin and not sustain any more killed or wounded.
ROUND ONE complete.
If you like the Battle Report, consider checking out the project in the Project feature:
Coleraine Goes to War! – 36th Ulster Division – Battle Report – Closing Days of World War I
I hope to finish the game later tonight.
Thanks for the support guys.
@rayzryr My first though was “Gooble gobble…” once you mentioned “One of us” from the 1930s film Freaks. You let your brushes drive? Is this the same kind of thinking as in “Groundhog Day”?
Good work going on. For me stripping the entire figure is not going to happen.
“Face.. Off…”to keep with the movie theme (minus the Nick Cage delirium voice). Masking tape, Goof Off and a toothbrush provides results.
@mage well, she has fever but is fine otherwise… like kids are 😉
I finished my Boba Fett. Here he is testfitted on the stand and the only thing left to do is varnish him up with the rest of the Scout Troopers.
For what it is worth …
Battle Report Part 02 – 36th Ulster Division at Courtrai (October 19 1918)
(for best results, “open image” in new tab)
Okay, with the first big MG positions cracked on the German right wing, and with Lyons’ and McAuley’s platoons closed up with the Germans on the left wing, Captain W. Johnston “blows the whistle” and makes a general assault.
This … will get messy.
Working our way from left to right, first we have Lyons’ platoon making a rush down the street toward Neumann’s platoon holed up in those ruins to the west. The company mortar section drops in some smoke to help cover this, but Lyons will be taking plenty of opportunity fire from the front, plus Ritter’s platoon to the southeast, plus a back-up MG 08 nest. I’m not sure how much cover that smoke is really going to give …
Meanwhile, McAuley’s platoon makes a shove straight at the MG o8 position facing him. He has no smoke or cover, and his squads will have to dash across an open street, but that MG 08 is more or less alone, so he should be all right.
McCabe’s platoon is laying down fire from one wing of that eastern building to the next, trying to pin down Steiner’s platoon to help facilitate Johnston’s charge blitzing across the street, then through the ruins, and then finally straight into the teeth of Steiner’s position.
Flynn, meanwhile, will be flanking around the far Irish left, getting at the German mortars hopefully and unhinging their right wing.
Dice show the results of the German opportunity fire and McCabe’s attempt at covering fire.
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German opportunity fire has been deadly. Despite poor die rolls from Neumann and the MG 08 nest, Ritter has rolled very well against Lyons and mauled his platoon badly despite smoke cover. The assault is now underpowered, and despite committing three grenades (after Lyons carefully applies casualty points to allow the maximum use of grenade counters), the assault fails! The survivors of Lyon’s platoon are now pinned down in the street!
McAuley’s assault, as predicted, succeeds (it’s just hitting a <i>much </i>weaker target) – but he must still take casualties for breaching a building holding one German unit (half-squad, MG crew).
McCabe’s support fire didn’t do very much (just a bad die roll against heavy defensive modifiers), and Johnston’s assault barely succeeds against Steiner’s platoon. Steiner’s position is wiped out, but Johnston’s platoon has paid a steep price. Johnston softens the butcher’s bill by taking additional pinned (his men are being more cautious and less reckless, thus more immobilized and but taking fewer actual losses) – he’s relying on his -2 leadership bonus and his men’s “E” elite rating to rally before his pinned sections are counter-assaulted by Germans next turn.
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Irish rallies don’t go quite as well as hoped. Although Johnston’s sections rally, the bloodied remnants of Lyons’ platoon does not (Lyons himself does, however). It doesn’t look good on the Irish right wing …
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The German Turn 02 sees some wild reverses of fortune. Starting from left to right …
Lyon’s men should be meat on the table – they are pinned down in a street, the smoke cover dissipating (note the +1 instead of +2) point blank German platoon in front, and MG 08 on their flank. But they somehow survive!
McAuley, who was doing so well last turn, is not so lucky. Ritter’s platoon counterattacks (after McAuley fluffs defensive fire) and McAuley’s whole platoon is wiped out! He does take a nasty slash out of Ritter’s platoon, though.
The German Kompanie KP, meanwhile, holed up in the large, central objective building to the south, starts pouring fire down into McCabe’s position. But Bothi’s platoon rolls boxcars – summoning another Irish sniper attack! This time the sniper also rolls a six (best roll), inflicting automatic 6 casualty points minus any terrain bonus (-2 for ruined buildings) = 4 casualty points … Bothi’s section is wiped out! Technically by its own attack roll! 😮
The rest of the fire (German attack fire, Irish defensive fire) is pretty ineffective. Even after house-ruling all these buildings as -2 “ruined buildings” instead of the -3 “normal” buildings, these city battles just aren’t going to be decided by exchanging fire. This is going to be about pinning, assault, trench knives and shovels (because both sides are now out of grenades).
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A quick close up on Lyon’s miraculous survival, McAuley’s last stand, and Bothi’s hapless encounter with an Irish sniper …
I plan to finish this game tonight. Lets see how our brave Coleraine studio crew winds up in one of the closing battles of the Great War, 100 years ago this month!
![20181023_183925[1]](https://images.beastsofwar.com/forumuploads/1291412/2018/10/24/Taaxb6cjx4nakozxsirsnttqwc1z9msnn.jpg)
I think the face came out a hell of a lot better this time around. I need to find some way of dropping the lighting as it seems a bit washed out. I’m still playing with the high def setting on my phone. I need to wipe away some of the crap on the base but I can now move on to the next project and not worry about this any more. Well… I’ll worry a little as its now on a Halloween competition ending Thursday.
I’ll just hum “In the Hall of the Mountain King” happily as I work on this current project.
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