Fox & The Rat: Day 8, Advance Party

Lt. Gruber grimaced as he laid back in medical rooms bed, his ankle aflame with pain and badly swollen. It had all seemed so simple at the briefing only 24 hours earlier. With the offensive going so well he'd been ordered up to the outskirts of Benghazi to scout out the defensives on the outskirts of the town and if possible destroy them. So when they'd crept up to the picket posts and spied the  anti-tank gun he know what needed to happen.

The initial advance had been flawless, by now the team was used to operating together and with himself on one flank and the ever dependable Klinkerhoffen on the other he felt sure that at least one of them would be able to place a charge on the gun.

Schafer with his sniper rifle and Geerhart with his MG34 had both reached their assigned positions to cover the advance and the Tommy patrols had not noticed anything but one of their officers was on the prowl and had started to advance outsides their lines straight towards the Sargent. 

Closer and closer he walked, never deviating, Klinkerhoffen had crouched down into the night and Gruber could almost see him willing the officer to turn back, but he did not. 

At the last second Klinkerhoffen opened fire and as he did Schafer and Geerhart took their queue to open a general fusillade of fire upon the unsuspecting Tommies.

Bullets flew and struck home and many of the defenders fell without realising what was happening but enough survived to raise the alarm. At this point the mission started to fall apart as the tangled roots which where the cause of Gruber's pain claimed him as he tried to advance and make the most of the confused moments after the firing started. 

He remembered limping on through the pain even as the reinforcements started to pour into the area like hornets pouring from a agitated hive and the continuous fire from Geerhart's MG34 as he attempted to cut a path through the enemy to the gun.

But one Tommy had taken cover so Gruber was forced to take him on, sneaking up behind with knife drawn his ankle almost fully gave out at the last moment and a desperate struggle took place. Gruber could recall subduing the enemy and before he could seek cover coming under a hail of bullets from behind. One of these bullets clipped his side and sent him tumbling, strange that would hurt far less than the ankle. 

As he lay their he could see Klinkerhoffen also engaged in a hand-to-hand combat which seemed to last forever. Again it was the German who emerged victorious only to be gunned down. Gruber recalled crying out which alerted the nearby Tommie's to his position and led to his unfortunate incarceration. 

Well perhaps a couple of days in a comfy bed being looked after by the enemy wouldn't be the worst thing in the world, in fact it would he thought be just the break he needed. 

Fox & The Rat: Day 7 - Great Escape....or Not

 0200 hours 16/10/1942

Location - Western Desert; Undisclosed location west of Benghazi, Libya

Roster: Captain Mayne

Sergeant Stirling

Troopers Fairfax; Walker; Carstairs; Flashman; Crabtree

Jerry had quite the collection of L Detachment from earlier raids - some wag said they’d got enough to launch their own SAS raids: Lt. Tonkin; Sgts. Wilson, Almonds; & Pte. Fraser.  Now was the time to get the lads back.  Rumours had been circulating that the Bosch, with orders direct from Hitler, were shooting any commandos captured no matter they were in uniform and ID tags.  

It was really very simple - there were three huts inside a fortified perimeter.  The intel boys weren’t sure which of these housed the chaps so it was going to be a simple process of elimination.

Capt. Mayne decided the approach from the south-south east offered the best chances of success.  There was a guard tower anchoring the perimeter here but inexplicably it didn’t appear to be manned.  Mayne placed himself on the far eastern flank of the perimeter; next was Crabtree who approached on a south/south east axis; while Carstairs and Flashman; Fairfax and Walker; and Sgt. Stirling were arranged in a front stretching from east to west respectively covering around half of the front of the perimeter stopping just short of the road/track.  Two of the huts were set to the east of this track, while one of these was set further further north , and the third hut was just across the track from the other two.

Mayne wasted no time breaching the eastern perimeter - he was possessed with a zeal to get his men back.  Sgt. Stirling made ground on the far side while the troopers were more cautious - they were back-up and to provide covering fire if it came to it.

One Jerry sentry ventured too far out of the perimeter and Stirling delivered a swift and silent end to this poor wretch hiding his body in the process.  Meanwhile Mayne had slipped past a couple of sentries - he was heading for the northernmost hut and therefore closest to any reinforcements which might make a cameo.

Mayne had got to the door of this hut and was fumbling to pick the lock but must have knocked something and the Jerry officer who had been wandering around between the three huts was suddenly aware someone or something was there.  Damn it.  Stirling moved up to the smaller hut on the east of the road but it was too late - the general alarm had gone up and the shooting started.

Stirling was in the cross hairs of a couple of sentries by the road cowering behind a road barrier and a dog handler just across the road behind some crates.  He was hit and went down.  That was a huge blow.

Fairfax and Walker opened up on the sentries by the road and took them out.  Crabtree now moved inside the perimeter and blasted the dog handler with his shotgun sending this aryan to Valhalla or wherever it was the Master Race thought they were destined for.

Meanwhile Mayne and Herr Kapitan were now exchanging fire at close quarters by the other two huts, eventually Mayne prevailed but it was too late.  The DAK reinforcements were streaming now down the road and Mayne was struck, just a flesh wound but enough to stop this Dashing Blade from liberating his comrades and perhaps more importantly getting away.

Crabtree picked up Stirling and they slipped back into the blackness ruing their poor luck and the loss of their talismanic leader.

Now that DAK SAS squad was looking less improbable…..

Sengoku Japanese: Naginata Sohei

Having completed the Ashigaru last week this week I've moved onto the Sohei warrior monks. With these I've gone a different route to the first batch I painted up and leaned into the black & white side of their normal costume. This allowed me to paint up the leader as a potential Ninja stand-in which could be useful in the future.

Rather than have them all as one unit I've mixed them into the previous unit to add some extra variety. I expect to use them in Test of Honour so the two different schemes could be used for different experience levels of monk.

Sengoku Japanese: Ashigaru Milestone

Today I reached a milestone with the Japanese Sengoku project with the completion of the last unit of Ashigaru.

This gives each clan 30 melee (mostly Yari) and 30 Yumi armed warriors along with 6 Teppo armed fighters to skirmish ahead.

This also means I really on the home stretch now for the main army forces with all the foot Samurai complete and the Sohei (warrior monks) half done. I just have 15 cavalry and a few foot command for the Shimazu to stick together and then paint.

Fox & The Rat: Day 7, Crossroads

Capt. Rohrstock rubbed some of the ever present grit from his eyes and peered through his binoculars at the crossroads in the distance. The Stukas had already flown overhead and attacked a target behind the crossroads but he couldn't see any enemy in that area.

What he could see however was a Tommy tank and what looked to be a jeep on the road heading towards his force. As his infantry rushed forwards on either flank Rohrstock motioned his armoured support forwards towards the tempting targets. Unteroffizier Baade signalled his understanding and the Panzer III rumbled forwards into a firing position. It unleashed it's first shot whilst still on the move which sadly went wide.  

This aggressive action did not go unanswered however as Baade's tank was struck by fire from an unknown source, somewhere out in the desert scrub a gun had been setup that could not be see by any of the DAK forces. Fortunately it must have been one of the piddly Tommy 2pdrs as the rounds bounced harmlessly off the armour of the Panzer.

Unteroffizier Baade then showed extreme cool as he stopped the tank which was still coming under fire from unseen gun to take a better aim. This time one, then two shots rang out from the Panzer and first the Tommy tank and then it's accompanying jeep where hit and burst into flames.

Whilst the Panzer was bending to it's task Rohrstock's infantry had not been idle and had brought their foe under heavy fire on both flanks. Those on the left had halted the enemy advance at a lone building whilst those on the right had manged to knock out an enemy truck at long range, forcing it's occupants to spill out into the desert.

Taking advantage of the many set backs of the enemy Rohrstock sent his mobile reserve onto the offensive and they raced up the battlefield to take a position overlooking the enemy who where in total disarray. 

Whilst these troops had so far been untested in battle they were more than eager to get to grips with the enemy and unleashed a hail of fire onto the hapless infantry in front of them.

This along with the  destruction wreaked by Baade and his Panzer broke the enemies will to continue and they beat a hasty retreat from the crossroads giving Rohrstock another victory.

Fox & The Rat: Day 6 - ( British) Bulldog!

 Location - Front line Western Desert, west of Benghazi, Libya

Lieutenant Singh was beginning to feel some confidence in their push on Tripoli.  There was a seemingly light DAK force barring the Imperial forces in their quest to open up the road to the prize to the west.  The barren crossroads momentarily transported Lt. Singh back to multiple nameless desolate villages peppering his Punjabi homeland…..but not for long.

On the right was a Mk.II Humber (courtesy of Guards Armoured Division) with 1st section 1st Platoon next to them in some scrub; Platoon HQ next to them; and 3rd section 1st platoon drawn up around one of the low mean hovels next to the road.  In support of this section was a Bedford Truck.  Beyond these infantry on the left was a jeep carrying a MMG team.  At the rear hidden behind a sand dune was a Medium mortar.

The Royal Artillery obligingly got proceedings under way with a barrage on Jerry’s lines.  It did little more than force Jerry to keep his Square Heads down but one of their transport vehicles took a direct hit and was knocked out.

Both infantry sections advanced to cover while the Humber motored forward to put fire into some DAK infantry which had moved atop a sand dune in front of it.  In 3rd section the MMG team occupied the building it had been near to having ventured forward, taken fire, and tactically fell back.  Unfortunately the jeep transporting the MMG came under fire from an A/T gun and destroyed it - the MMG crew suffering an injury in the process.  ‘Damn’ muttered Lt. Singh, that put paid to his Hannibal-esque double envelopment.

The DAK half track had got onto the road now and shot up the 3rd section rifle team while other Jerry fire along the line was keeping Singh’s men ‘honest’.  The Indian troops were in danger of losing any momentum - tactically and strategically.  The Bedford made a dash along the line to draw up behind the 1st section - Lt. Singh had a plan.

This plan though was in danger of being dead in the water.  The half track manoeuvred at the cross roads to enfilade the LMG team of the 1st section.  They pulled back towards the safety of the waiting Bedford but some craven Nazis in a building opposite tore into them as they moved back and this was too much for the brave Punjabis who were taking unremitting punishment and their nerve just splintered.  

3rd section now coalesced in and around the hovel one of it’s teams had occupied.  Meanwhile the Humber had driven some of the DAK infantry off their vantage point on the sand dune and was putting real pressure on them.

In an audacious move Hannibal would have approved of 1st section rifle team - all 5 of them - embarked into the Bedford which sped off on the right flank, past the Humber and pulled up behind the smoking wreck of the Jerry truck and behind the relative safety of a sand dune.  The troops disembarked and took up positions out of sight of the DAK stuck on their own line.  The Humber then followed suite in the rear ranks of Jerry targeting the A/T gun and with precision gunnery the Guards Armoured are renowned for despatched the menacing threat which lurked over on the Indian left - small recompense for the boys in the jeep though.

Jerry knew the game was up and slinked away vulpine tail firmly between his legs. 

 

Old School Cool

We had our first look at the Never Mind the Billhooks rules this week when Stu brought over his venerable Dixon Samurai for an outing.

They required a quick dust as most of them hadn't seen action for many a year but the Dixon miniatures are full of character so even being over 30 years old didn't detract from the spectacle.

We managed to grope our way through a few turns and probably got some rules wrong, I especially want to go through the morale rules again, but overall I think we got the gist of the game. 

Armies are divided up into wards each of which is led by a commander who has a card put into the activation deck. As their card is drawn they can order the units under their command to act, either moving (sometimes into combat) shooting, or rallying.

By the time lunch came around the home team had the advantage due to some brittle morale on the visiting teams side.