Sunday 21 September 2014

The Second Battle of the Corunna Road. January 1937 A SCW Batrep



7 Rejects got together for our very first game of the Spanish Civil War. Newest Reject Clint put on his first game in the Shed'O'War, using 10mm SCW figures using his own set of rules that he just knocked up the day before!!!


Clint decided that Postie would be the Fascist CnC, after a few chats with the other Rejects we thought the decision was pretty apt! He was joined by the two S's Smiffy and Surj.
Due to my left wing leaning's Clint put me in charge of the Communist force, I decided to take the centre (being the commander and  all) was assisted by
BigLee on my left and John on my right



Our right, John's troops can be seen lining the wall on the right, while my troops are
lining the hedge.


Our left and centre


Each player was given their own personal orders and objectives. 
On a whole we had to hold the road at all coats. But my own orders were to take and hold the
farm, in the above pic. Also I'd lose objective points if I called in some re-inforcements
None of us knew any of each others orders, so it really made for a Fog of War situation, were
you never really trusted the chaps on your own side????


My Scouts started the game galloping back towards our lines, having just spotted the enemy. This unit also contained me, our CnC figure.


The first turn I had an important decision to make, Like I previously said I had to take the farm buildings in the centre, but clearly I didn't have the troops to do so, (the unit on the left of the farm, being one of Lee's units)


So much to Clint's disgust, I dismounted my Scouts and took the farm building. Clint advised me not to do so, as I was risking our CnC. but I needed to plug that very large gap???


I crossed the hedgerow and took cover behind the wall.


Lee, moved forward to take up a defensive position in and around the small village. 


While his other unit moved back, these were specialist troops, who would use a sling to throw sticks of dynamite at the Facsists !!!!! Oh yes!!!!


Here they come!!! 


Clint struggling to read the tiny writing on his ingenious playsheet, that also doubled up as a Tapemeasure AND a Range finder!!!! 
WTF!!!!


Our two piddly artillery pieces proved they wasn't as piddley as we thought, as I narrowly missed
Posties Armoured Car


Lee called in reinforcement to back up his defence of the left wing.


As did John, to call the extra forces, 1 stand of troops had to exit the table edge
which would then bring on the reinforcement, BUT that exiting stand would not return!!!


John moved up to plug the gap, while Surj can be seen skulking behind the hill. We couldn't work out what Surj was up to, we thought he was under orders to hold his ground and keep John pinned, which was fine with us!


Surj did make a forward move, but kept all his troops away from the edge of the walls, so they couldn't be seen or fired upon.


The left was looking dodgy for bothe sides, Smiffy and BigLee were both taking heavy casualties.


That's a very nice defensive line there Mr Hadley!


We fired again on the Armoured Car, and actually hit it this time, inflicting 1 wound on it
another wound would destroy the vehicle and what was in it.


At this point the Fascist scum was given their artillery, which was better than ours.
In its first shot Postie destroyed 2 stands of infantry with one shot!!!!


Then turned his attention to Lee, blowing up a truck and another two stands of infantry!!!


Next turn I was extremly lucky and somehow knocked both of Posties artillery out of the game. For some reason he didn't seem too miffed?????


Things were looking a little dodgy for both sides, then all of a sudden more Fascist troops appeared....damn!


I spread my troops out to cover more ground, but there seemed an awful lot of troops
 heading my way??


Surj finally poked his head around the corner of the hill, as John moved up to take a
 position at the hedge.


I'm not likin' the look of this!


The troops stopped by for a little Tapas at the local Taverna...



Surj massing his men.


We'll fight on to the bitter end!!!


Me, our CnC, in my Sombrero! 


I spread my troops out in extended line.


While John moved up to the hedge line.


We both took casualties, especially John's troops, who were decimated at the hedge.


Lee continued to hold his line, while Smiffy hid behind the hill.


I made the mistake of asking Clint if there was a planned end to the game, which there wasn't.
But Clint then decided to check our army morale.


We were in trouble!!! Only needing another 2 casualties to retire from the field


Which happened the very next turn.........dammit!
So that was the end of the game, the Fascist's forced us to retire, giving them the road, there and our main objective. 


At the end of the game, Clint made me feel ill, as he jammed all the figures we'd just played with
into 3 little boxes, bending the flags  in the process!!!!

The Heathen!!

58 comments:

  1. What the hell way is that to transport and store minis?!?

    Nice report and game.

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  2. Great looking game and report. Hmm, the figures jumbled into the tray does look a bit disconcerting, I agree. Best, Dean

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    Replies
    1. Clint insisted that 10mm figures are quite robust, as he tried to ram the draw shut....."scrap!"

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  3. That's sacrilegious!
    Sorry the farming didn't work in your favor.
    However, the Sombrero was a nice touch!

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  4. Visually pleasing game and well-told, my friend! Throwing figures willy-nilly into a bin? Blasphemy!

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  5. Bent the flags?????

    What snacks did you guys eat?

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    Replies
    1. It made me shudder, watching him throw his figures into two little boxes, then squash them into the drawer unit!!! We had the usual Spam and pickle sandwiches for lunch washed down with Pringles, chocolate and coke!

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    2. Keep the Spam, but lose the pickles.

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    3. You didn't give him a good smack to the head for that? I would have.

      I've never had Spam before, but I hear that people really dig it. I must give it a go sometime. I'll watch for coupons.

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    4. Spam's ok, its just ham really??? And it wasn't pickles, it was Branstan sandwich pickle.

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    5. Oh, I didn't know that. I wasn't sure what it was. Good to know.

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  6. Great looking game and blow by blow account. Nice to see you guys playing a proper period. ;-)

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    Replies
    1. Cheers Jim, I've always wanted to play SCW, and I look forward to playing it again!

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  7. I like how you threw caution to the wind and grabbed the farm. Who could know that the rest of the fellows would cost you the game?

    Great troops and table. My heart sank with the last shot!

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    Replies
    1. The farm was part of my personal objective, so I had to take it, I just wish I had a few more troops to help me keep it!

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  8. Wow, great looking table! The batrepvis a joy to read as usual.

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  9. That is looking really cool! Seems like a good game. You did not loose, just a regrouping action!

    As always it really adds to the game with great terrain and well painted miniatures! Buy Clint a foam insert for the troops!!!

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  10. https://www.feldherr.net/

    Here you go

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  11. A very nice report mate.
    Postie lost Victory points each time he fired his artillery which you not would and did not know. So while they were powerful by destroying them it did stop him loosing Victory points. So he was always in a DILEMA with his guns. Your guns being 65mm Italian Mountain Guns (Captured from the Fascists in an earlier engagement) did not have this victory point restriction.

    And Boy do I look old in that picture of me.. You GIT!

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    Replies
    1. I'm not as old as Postie or John. You young whippersnapper you. And I'll be hornswoggled if I look THAT old!

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  12. It was a great game and I think awarding the Nationalists victory after the mauling we gave them was a bit harsh. A Minor victory maybe, for achieving their objective but with unacceptable casualties.

    Clint's rules were brilliant and worked very well. We were all very impressed... we were less impressed with his figure storage though.

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  13. Entertaining report (as always). Interesting that you didn't know your own allies orders, certainly adds another element to the game.

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    Replies
    1. Yeh, that was quite different, but it did make it very interesting.

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  14. Great photos and report Ray! Real wargamers don't do that to their troops! Deliberately bending flags! Unbloodybelievable!!

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  15. Lovely photo's and a great batrep dude!

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  16. Great looking game and entertaining report as always!

    Christopher

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  17. That table looks fantastic, Ray, and it sounds like you had a good day!

    FMB

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    Replies
    1. Even though I lost, I enjoyed the game, that's what makes a great wargame.

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  18. I like this wonderful and huge table, I like this report, these beautiful minis and flags...but I dislike this way to transport armies! Btw, a great looking taverna too...

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    Replies
    1. They sell free cider in there so I'm led to believe???

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  19. Great AAR but that storage, the man needs corrective therapy

    Ian

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    Replies
    1. Indeed he does, or a swift kick or two in the jewels???

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  20. Nice report Ray. Great to see a SCW game mate.

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    Replies
    1. Its always been a period of interest for me and I'm pleased I finally had a game.

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  21. Good report Ray, very entertaining and for some reason I read the "Surj Massing" as the "Surj Massive".
    Were Clint's rules in scale too ?

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    Replies
    1. They did seem to be to scale, the only thing massive about Surj is his wallet!!!!

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  22. Great battle report and pictures! Didn't like the last picture! Clint, you need to learn how to store painted figures!

    Thanks for sharing Ray!

    Greetings
    Peter

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    Replies
    1. Cheers Peter, I shall pass on everyone's displeasure in Clint storage skills!!!!

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  23. Excellent batrep Ray and gorgeous pics. So glad you boys had a good time.

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  24. Fabulous battle report Ray! The figures and terrain looked brilliant. We'll have to have a chat with Clint about his figure storage - that last pic is a bit shocking!

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  25. Great AAR and that setup if just wonderful – very impressive.

    I'm less impressed by the storage solution though ... ;)

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  26. Damned Fascists! Brilliant report, looks like it was a great game. Some excellent miniatures there and nice terrain to boot. Always like the idea of personal orders and objectives in games too.

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  27. Glad you liked it, we've not really played a game with personal orders before, but one things for sure we will again!

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