Enfilade 2016 Recap Part 2 - My Games

We ran two game for Enfilade 2016, both based on the Channel Dash (AKA Operation Cerberus) where the German battleships Scharnhorst, Gneisenau, and heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen sailed from Brest to German ports through the English Channel in February 1942. The first game covered the air attack by British aircraft and the second covered the Royal Navy’s daylight MTB/MGB attack.

Note, you can see more pictures from the other events at this blog post.

Channel Dash - Air Attack 
Our first game was run on Saturday morning. The game was full, but we added a couple other players to help with all the British planes.

Initial set up for the German capital ships with the aircraft and escorts standing by

Both sides had some minor choices for the game (Germans had to pick their escort ships and set Flak orders, while the British had to try to coordinate their aircraft entry). The British had Swordfish torpedo planes, Beaufort bombers (two armed with torpedoes), some Whirlwinds armed with light bombs, and some Spitfire Vs as escort. The Germans had a mix of Me-109s and FW-190s. Things started out a little slowly as everyone picked up the rules and tried to get moving.

British planes approaching with the Germans intercepting and flak starting to appear

Due to navigation issues, the British force ended up split into 3 different groups. The northern group had a pair of Swordfish and the Whirlwinds.The center group had two Swordfish, four Beauforts, and six Spitfires (although all the planes did not enter at the same time). The southern group had a pair of Swordfish and a pair of Beauforts. The Germans initially concentrated on the northern two groups (the ones closest to the battleships). But German reinforcements were able to join the battle after the start and go after the southern group.

German fighters and flak took their toll, while the Whirlwinds tried to use their light bombs to suppressed the Flak. Two Swordfish and a Beaufort were able to get into position to launch the torpedoes and a couple other Beauforts were able to drop their bombs.

Swordfish making their way through the flak (these planes ended having to jettison their torpedoes before getting into position to attack)

Beauforts making their way through the flak

A Swordfish launches a torpedo at Scharnhorst

German fighters trying to catch the southern attack group

Beauforts dropping their bombs

Torpedoes launched and a hit on Prinz Eugen

As the battle ended, we added up the hits to the German capital ships. Gneisenau was hit by heavy bombs from the Beaufort bombers, which would keep her in the yards for a few months but didn't slow her down. The torpedo launched at Scharnhorst missed, but the battleship took some minor damage from light bombs from the Whirlwinds. However, the trailing Prinz Eugen was hit by a torpedo from a Swordfish. It was not enough damage to sink the cruiser, but it would keep her out of action for a long time.

Overall I was pretty happy with how this game turned out.Things did start a little slow, but they picked up and I think just about everyone had a good time with the game. It looked pretty nice with all the planes and ships on the board.

Channel Dash - Surface Attack
Next up was the daylight attack by the British MTBs and MGBs. In this game both sides had several options for their forces. The Germans could select their escorts (with the option of taking some fighter) and the British had choices about which ships to take, with the option of getting an old destroyer. This was going to be a tough game for the British and I tried to impress on them that it would be an uphill battle for them, however I didn't expect it to be quite as bad as it turned out to be.

Both sides took a couple fighters for air cover. The Germans took a destroyer, torpedo boat, and pair of S-boats. The British took five MTBs as their main force. The German battleships were planned to enter the board after a few turns, so the German players (who had to set up first) formed a line all along the board to try to cover all the British approaches. The British decided to enter as close to the entry point for the battleships as possible (after the game I realized I should have emphasized that the battleships moved faster than most of the MTBs).

British MTBs moving toward the battleship entry point

The entry point selected by the British put them into contact with the German S-boats, while the destroyer and torpedo boat turned back to help support from a distance.

S-boats (right) turn to bring their guns to bear while the German destroyer takes long-range shots

Without any MTB guns that could reach the German S-boats, the British sent their fighters to strafe the Germans. But the Germans countered with their own fighters.

One Spitfire dives in on the S-boats while the other tries to keep the German fighters away

As soon as the shooting started, I knew things were not going to turn out well for the British. The German destroyer got multiple hits with its 5 inch guns, easily sinking one MTB. The S-boats used their 20mm and 40mm guns to cause heavy damage to two more. The British Spitfires couldn't get any hits, while the Me-109s damaged both Spitfires and forced one to abort.

The next few turns the British did a little better. They shot down one Me-109 and got closer to where the battleships would enter. But the hot German dice continued; three more MTBs were sunk and the remaining boat was damaged.

The S-boats run interference while the German fighters keep the Spitfire busy as the Scharnhorst passes by.

At this point I decided to give the British the optional destroyer that could have been selected at the start of the game (I probably should have allowed them to have it at the start of the game). The last MTB couldn't get into a good position to fire its torpedoes and ended up being sunk by combined fire from the S-boats and fighter.

The British MTB surrounded and in trouble

The British destroyer was able to damage the German destroyer and tried to get into position to fire torpedoes at the oncoming battleship. But a rudder special hit spoiled the torpedo run, forcing the British destroyer to take a desperation launch at the battleship.

British torpedoes moving toward the German ships

One torpedo spread caught the German destroyer (which was trying to run interference for the torpedoes) in the stern causing heavy damage. But the battleships were able to escape without any damage.

At this point we ended the game, but it didn't feel like the British players had much fun with it. I went with historic forces, but knowing how weak the British boats are, I probably should have beefed up the British forces by letting them keep their MGBs (instead of swapping them for the fighters) and giving them the destroyer from the start.

I think the air attack game turned out pretty close to as expected and the players had a good time. The MTB attack did not go very well and I will have to re-evaluate the forces if I pull it out again in the future.

Enfilade 2015 Recap: Part 2 - My Games

At Enfilade 2015 I ran two games - Channel Clash, on Saturday afternoon, and The Raid on St Nazaire, on Sunday morning. Both games had a full roster of players and it seemed like everyone enjoyed the games.
Note, you can see more pictures from the other events at this blog post. 

Channel Clash
This game was a later WWII coastal forces action. The Germans had a pair of S-boats that were returning from a convoy attack and a pair of M40 minesweepers that were on a mine-laying mission. The British had a group of stragglers (a merchant, tug, and HDML) from the convoy that had passed through the area and two groups of Motor Gun Boats - two Fairmile Ds (no torpedoes) and two BPB MGBs. This was my first time using the Action Stations 4.0 rules (I've been using Action Stations for coastal actions since version 1) and I wanted to use the hidden movement and spotting rules as much as possible for this game.

All the ships started out hidden and even the players on the same side weren't sure which markers were friend and which were foe.

Contact markers with a couple rain squalls

All the players moved their contact markers until the felt like they needed to spot (in the 4.0 rules, only ships that are placed on the board can spot and shoot). So slowly the markers came off and the ships appeared and started spotting each other. There was one interesting result where a British MGB sighted the convoy stragglers, revealing them to everyone.

The Fairmile D MGBs reveal themselves to spot the nearby markers

Once the ships started spotting each other, the guns came to life. The game turned into two separate battles, with the Fairmile D MGBs trying to take on the German M40 minesweepers while the other MGBs and convoy stragglers took on the two S-boats.

Illuminated 'Dog' Boats and Minesweepers blasting away

The MGBs attack the S-boats while the convoy stragglers try to get away

The die rolls for the Fairmile D MGBs started out good and they were able to do some damage to one minesweeper. But then their dice went cold and things went from bad too worse. One 'Dog' boat took a large number of hull hits, then lost steering control, and was rammed by a minesweeper (neither ship could avoid it), which sank the MGB.

A 'Dog' boat becomes a ram boat and then a sinking boat

The other Fairmile D also had bad luck as a fire started onboard and both minesweepers concentrated fire on it. The 'Dog' boat eventually succumbed to the fire losing all its hull boxes and sinking. One German minesweeper was able to continue on with its mission, while the other turned for home after losing 1/3 of its total hull boxes.

Fire bad for 'Dog' boats

In the other engagement, the S-boats were able to line up their torpedoes for a shot on the straggling merchant and score a hit that sent it to the bottom.

Torpedoes loose!

The MGBs pursued the S-boats, but could never strike a decisive blow. Both S-boats were battered, but were able to escape.

MGB and S-boat dueling

All the players seemed to have a good time and the game was rated a German victory. The hidden markers rules worked out pretty well and I'm sure I will use them in future games. The Action Stations 4.0 rules played well and I expect to put my 3.0 version into the old rules box. I think I even talked a couple of the players into buying the newer rules off Wargame Vault.

The Raid on St. Nazaire
This was the game that Kevin and I have been working on for some time. We had the idea to do it years ago, and considering the convention theme of "Raids," it seemed like the right time to do it. If you were following my blog, you saw photos of the work in progress and playtest to get the game to this point. Now it was show time.

In our game, the players were all part of the British forces and the game system ran the Germans. A lot of the game system rules were borrowed from the old Avalon Hill Raid on St Nazaire game, so if you've played that some things will seem familiar. I also used Action Stations 4.0 for the ship movement and most of the gunfire.

Once the terrain was set up, we briefed the players on their boats and targets, along with how to land troops and set demolition charges. With the briefing done, we let the players assign ships, confer on the plan, and make any changes as needed.

A view of the Normandie dry dock and the rest of St Nazaire

A different angle on the set up

With plans made or adjusted, the players were ready to start the game. the first step was the run into the landing zones. 

The British Commando force with some MGBs and HMS Campbeltown leading the way

The players held fire as long as they felt the could safely do so, but the Germans weren't fooled for long, as searchlights came on and the 75mm guns on the other side of the river opened fire. The players sped up to avoid the shells and to get to their targets, but the Germans drew first blood early as an escorting Motor Launch (ML) took a direct hit from a 75mm gun (note: I made the players roll for all the attacks on their ships and troops, so they could only blame themselves for the bad luck).

Ml 160 falls out of line, on fire and sinking

Campbeltown and MGB 314 increased speed and headed for the dry dock. MTB 74 was trailing behind, just in case something happened to Campbeltown before it reached the dry dock. The only MLs were trying to make their way to the landing points and battling it out with the German shore guns.

Campbeltown and MGB 314 pass the Old Mole and head for the dry dock

MLs head for the landing zone near the Old Entrance while others line up near the Old Mole

The British had some luck in knocking out a couple German guns near the Old Mole landing zone, but they were still paying a heavy price.

Meanwhile, Campbeltown successfully rammed the south caisson. The troops on board started the delayed action fuses that would blow up the ship, then jumped off and headed for the land targets. Since Campbeltown had made it to the caisson, MTB 74 decided to fire its delayed action fused torpedoes at the Old Entrance locks (you can see the torpedoes running in the photo below).

Campbeltown rams the caisson

Demo and Assault Teams from Campbeltown head for other targets.

At the Old Mole landing zone, the British were able to land troops, but the remaining German gun emplacement was inflicting heavy casualties on the Commandos as they ran up the mole.

Battle at the Old Mole

The remaining MLs continued to fire their 20mm guns at the gun emplacement. It proved to be a tough target, but would eventually be knocked out.

Heavy fighting at the Old Mole

German infantry reinforcements started showing up shortly after the Commandos began landing. The Assault Teams were able to drive off several German groups, but the numbers were starting to turn against the British.

Over the the Old Port Entrance, the teams were just starting to land. As they hit the shore they took heavy casualties from the gun emplacements on the tops of the pumphouse.

Commandos landing at the Old Port Entrance

The Demo Teams from Campbeltown were able to blow up the dry dock pump house and one of the caisson winding stations before the German infantry could set up the defenses that would hold back the Commandos.

Over at the Old Mole, the Commandos were able to advance into the Old Town and make their way to the Power Station to rig it for demolition. As more and more German infantry appeared, it was becoming clear that going any further would be difficult at best.

Time for the game period was running short, so we checked with the British players to see if they were ready to call it a game. We counted up the damage they had done, estimated what more damage they would do and how many troops they could possibly get out. The amount of damage done was pretty historical. However, the British lost a bunch of ships and Commandos and after adding up the victory points, we rated this as an overall loss, which was essentially the historical results.

The players all seemed to enjoy themselves (even ad they were getting shot up) and they had lots of suggestions for making the game easier for the Commandos. I did take notes on several of the suggestions and will probably add them in as options when we pull the game out again.

The convention game judges also seemed to like the game and awarded us with the Best of Period award for Sunday morning and the overall best theme game for the convention.

Best Theme Game Award for the Raid on St. Nazaire

Overall, it was a lot of work to put the game together. But I was really happy to see everyone have such a good time, even when they were getting shot up.

Enfilade 2015 Preparations

I’ve been getting ready for my Enfilade 2015 games. This year I’m only running a couple games, one Coastal Forces scenario and the raid on St Nazaire game. I got some new ships for use with both games and I did a lot of work on the St Nazaire terrain.

Starting off with the new ships, earlier this year I made a big order to The PT Dockyard. It was mainly for some German ships for both my Enfilade scenarios, but there were also a few British ships in the order, which I will assemble later.

Here is a group photo of the ships.

My new German ships

First up, I got a pair of M40 Minesweepers. There were over 100 of these ships built and they were used in a lot of different functions during the war, so they will be a generally useful model.

M40 class minesweepers

I also got a pair of Vorpostenboote Trawlers and a Vorpostenboote Whaler, which will be good for convoy escorts.

German VP boats

I painted all the ships up in disruptive camouflage patterns that I tried to match from photos and descriptions. I still need to mount them on a base and do a little weathering, but overall I’m pretty happy with how they turned out.


The work the St Nazaire terrain is pretty much done. In my last post I showed the bare-bones of the layout. Now things are more filled in and finished, including additional warehouses, bridges, and more. Here are a few shots of the updated terrain.

Overview of the terrain

An overhead view of old town and the old mole, it is more filled in that my last photo shoot

The warehouse area

A view of my scratchbuilt lift bridge

The drydock area, I need to finish the cranes for this section

Kevin and I also did a walkthrough of the game. Hopefully the real game goes as well as our walkthrough.

Campbeltown rams the caisson 

The commandos move to land at the old mole

An MGB covers the landing at the old mole

Recap NHMGS Game Day at the Flying Heritage Collection

Last Saturday (November 16), NHMGS held a game day at the Flying Heritage Collection at Paine Field in Everett, WA. It was a great chance to interact with the public, but it was also a little bit of a challenge to put this on since we just had the event at the Museum of Flight a couple weeks ago. NHMGS is hoping to have more of the events at the Flying Heritage Collection, but also hoping to shift the date so it isn’t quite so close to another event.

The Collection has some really nice aircraft, such as this P-40C done up in Flying Tiger colors (the description plaque said this plane was actually in Soviet service, but I can understand them going with the more well-known AVG markings). 

We were set up in the Flying Heritage Collection’s second hanger, the one with the tanks guns, and split into a couple areas.

A photo of the main game area with a Sherman tank overseeing the action

Setting up the Kursk game table with a Hetzer and Flak 88 in the background

And with the T-34 on the on the other side

It was interesting to see games being put on with some actual World War 2 vehicles looking on.

Kevin and I put together a couple small coastal force actions, one in the Pacific and one in the Mediterranean, for the event. So I was pretty busy throughout the day. But I did manage to grab a few photos of the games and items around the Flying Heritage collection.

A game of Fire and Maneuver getting ready to start

A Check Your 6 game getting set up

A photo of the dogfight

The afternoon Check Your 6 game featured Gladiators (shown above) against CR-42s

A Bolt Action Pacific battle featuring Marines against the Japanese

It seemed like it didn't go too well for the Japanese

The Kursk game had several walk-up players(including the young fellow in the blue-striped shirt)

The afternoon session also had another Flames of War game

Along with an Axis and Allies Air game

The morning Action Stations game was an attack on a Japanese barge convoy

The game started out well for the Americans as they were able to knock a bunch of weapons on the escorting subchaser, but the dice turned against them in the later part of the game 

 

In the afternoon we switched to the Mediterranean, with a Italian/German convoy being attacked by a mixed British/American force

Running the larger vessels turned out to be a little different than smaller Pacific barges, here an Italian sloop dodges some British torpedoes

The German barges were sluggish, but hard to hit with torpedoes

Overall, it was a fun day and I’m looking forward to the next one.