Eritrean escapade: Keren (1941)

Alongside the 19th century, WWII is my other favourite period to wargame. This is because, for reasons to do with technology and geometry, they generate more (and more interesting) tabletop decisions than other periods. I was therefore perfectly happy when, as a change from our usual C19 games, Crispin brought out his game of the battle of Keren.

In 1941, Keren was the scene of the decisive action in the British campaign to conquer the Italian colonial province of Eritrea. Keren was a formidable position on a mountain ridge, barring the pass that led to the port of Massawa. There were really two battles. The first lasted from 3-12 February 1941 and saw two brigades of 4th Indian Division fail to break through in the face of tough Italian defence and vigorous counterattacks. After a pause, 5th Indian Division was brought up as well. The new assault lasted from 15-27 March. After further hard fighting, the Italian line cracked. The Italians retreated to Massawa but lost many taken prisoner. Massawa held out for another week or so before surrendering.

This scenario only covers the first battle. No doubt Crispin will give us the second in due course. The rules we used are Crispin's own adaptation of BBB for WWII. We had a previous go with these when we fought the prequel to Keren, Gallabat-Metemma (see brief report here). I'll save my thoughts on rules for the Reflections at the end of this post. Meanwhile, here's the story in 15 photos.

This shows most of the battlefield from behind the British left. Those daunting mountains were custom carved by Crispin. They extend a little further left and right of pic. Blue and white lines are the road and river running through the pass. Pinkish line is the first contour level of the mountains. That's right, they're four levels high.

Troops in the foreground are three battalions of 11th Brigade, 4th Indian Division. Each base is 100 men. Figures are Baccus 6mm from Crispin's collection.

Italians defend the mountains, top of pic. White counters mark Objectives. Figures are Irregular 6mm from Crispin's collection.

The Italian defences are a tough nut to crack. Luckily, the British brought lots of 25 lb hammers. This is just half of our eventual 8-model gun line.

Italian askaris in their red fezzes defend Fort Dologorodoc, commanding the pass.

Outside the dusty town of Keren, the Italian mobile reserve waits for Dave W to give it orders to move. The CV3/33 tankette evidently expects to retreat when the cavalry advance.

Matt took command of 11th Bde. I provided fire support while I waited for my command to arrive on table. Matt's troops struggled up the steep hills in the teeth of deadly fire from Crispin's Italians. Not much progress was made on the first 'day'. (The scenario represents this 10-day battle in 9 game turns, with two 'Night Intervals' after turns 4 and 7.) Here you can see Matt's initial three battalions clinging to the lower slopes of the mountain, with a fourth in the foreground that has arrived overnight.

Day 2: the Indian right wing, my 5th Brigade, deploys in the foreground to try and seize those two Objectives top centre and right. Dave T brings more Italians marching onto the mountaintops to oppose me. 

Having learned from Matt's painful experience on our left, our right wing starts to scale the mountainside, trying to avoid massed enemy fire.

Back on our left, one battalion from Matt's 11th Brigade has reached the summit on the enemy's right flank (left edge of pic). Two others are still pushing up the hillside to join it. The Italians wait in their green-chalked trenches. Note the small 3-base column with the blue counter at the base of the hill: that was Matt's lead battalion, 2nd Cameron Highlanders, that had 4 bases blown away when it crested the narrow ridge in front of the Italian position. But it will rally and do great things later.

Mirroring Matt's outlanking move on our left, here my 5th Bde is doing the same on our right. My men have taken one Objective (lower right) and are eyeing the next (centre of pic). The 25-pounders have started to take their toll on the Askaris (yellow and blue counters show one unit Disrupted and Spent).

The Italians respond to Matt's left-flanking move by pulling back to refuse their flank. Their fire is pinning down the Rajputs.

Things are getting harder on our right as well. Italian reinforcements are being rushed up, including a couple of battalions of Savoia Grenadiers (the larger 5-base units in upper half of pic). My Indians are taking casualties and bogging down.

Desperate fighting on Matt's side. He has taken the Objective top left, but his Rajputs are now Disrupted, Spent, Low on Ammo, and heavily outnumbered (more Italians rushed up here too.) On the plus side, his Camerons have recovered some of their strength overnight and are getting ready to return to the fray (lower right).

Back to my end of the table. All Italian attention here has been drawn off towards the intense firefight at the righthand end, where we have taken a second Objective (the peak upper centre). Our final reinforcement therefore arrives at the perfect time: 5th Mahratta LI (lower left) sneaks up on Fort Dolgorodoc.

With fire support from the 25-lbers (now massing 80 guns), the Mahrattas' advance causes the Askaris to desert the Fort. The Italians have no reserves close enough to reoccupy it. The only question is whether the Mahrattas can get a good enough movement roll to capture it on the last turn ...

... and they do! The hapless tankettes can do nothing about it. Our right wing has therefore taken 3 Objectives.

Punjabis bolster the Rajputs. This Objective remains contested at nightfall. Out of shot to the right, the Camerons managed to seize another vacant ridge Objective (the one on the opposite side of the pass to Fort Dolgorodoc). That made a total of 4 Objectives, enough for the Indians to claim victory, somewhat to my surprise given how hard it was for us initially.

Reflections

A Different Vibe. As soon as I saw the arid, dusty-brown table with its towering mountains (by 6mm standards), I was already transported elsewhere. Eritrea? Askaris? Rajputs and Mahrattas? All very exotic and unusual (to me, anyway). Add in Crispin's rule tweaks to accommodate WWII weaponry and tactics, and I was definitely in a different place from my usual Monday night. Great stuff.

Eternal Verities. For all its exotic and esoteric and different features, the underlying principles remained: use cover, seek flanks, concentrate firepower, maintain a reserve ... and so too did the underlying BBB rule mechanisms that help to embody those principles on the tabletop.

Speaking of Rules. I admit I was a little sceptical about adapting BBB for WWII. I've seen several different approaches (including one of my own) and I'm not 100% sold on any of them. But I think for this scenario at least, Crispin's subtle tweaks produced the right effect: while it was hard for our Indians to attack up a mountain against automatic weapons, it was not impossible once we brought artillery and the right tactics to bear; and by the end the Indian troops' superior quality was starting to tell, as the fragile Italian numbers crumbled away. Well done, ref!

Crispin's scenario is available from the files of the BBB io group here (you have to join the group to get access).

Second go at 2nd Bull Run

Almost exactly a year ago, we fought the American Civil War battle of Second Bull Run. Since then, Matt has tweaked the scenario repeatedly and done a few dry runs until he was ready to run it for us again. This week was the week.

No time for an in-depth report (nor for labelled pics like last week), but the game deserves to be recorded, so here are some captioned photos and then brief Reflections.

I commanded the Union left, Porter's V Corps, seen here on parade before the game. Figures are Adler 6mm, I think (now produced by Heroics & Ros), from Matt's collection. Beautiful custom terrain also handcrafted by Matt. (Still not quite finished but looking great already.)

Likewise a lot of Rebels form up on Stony Ridge before being deployed for the game.

A scan of most of the battlefield. Union will deploy in roughly the bottom two thirds, Rebels in the top third. Flags mark the objectives: Henry Hill bottom centre; Chinn Ridge centre of pic; Groveton to its upper right; Stuart's Hill top centre; Stony Ridge top right; and two stretches of the unfinished railroad in front of Stony Ridge. Three more are out of shot: Sudley Springs Ford (off right centre edge); Mount Pone (just  off lower left edge); and Dawkins Branch Ford (just about visible upper left edge). The Union needs to own 3 or 4 of these at game end for a draw or 5+ for a win. The Dawkins Branch Ford only counts if the Union takes it on Day 1. (This is a 2-day game, 5 turns per day).

Initial deployment. The Union is required to deploy at least one division in Groveton; another two can be there or on the nearby hills. The Confederates have six units they can deploy either in the unfinished railroad, on Stony Ridge, or at Brawner's Farm (top left). Note the three Confederate artillery units on the lefthand end of Stony Ridge. That's 72 guns (24 per base). Infantry and cavalry are 1,000 men per base.

My force arrived on Turn 2. Morell and Buford advance up the left table edge and espy JEB Stuart leading Robertson's cavalry to scout the Dawkins Branch Ford. (Dave W was my Confederate opponent on this flank.)

My other division, Sykes, fans out cautiously in front of Mount Pone. (Bad movement roll.) The gaudy zouave uniforms alert players to the fact that this unit is that rare thing, Aggressive Veterans. Unfortunately all of V Corps is Passive so does not advance as swiftly as I'd have liked.

In our centre, commanded by Nick O, the execution starts early, as the Confederate artillery knocks the first base off the Pennsylvania Reserves. This was an unfortunate choice of deployment, as their muskets were too short-ranged to reply to the enemy, whereas all Nick's other divisions had rifles and could have responded, had they been chosen to garrison Groveton instead.

Dave T commanded our right wing, a mix of III and IX Corps units, facing Will on the Confederate left. Our plan, such as it was, was to get stuck in here early. Here we see three of Dave's divisions advancing to assault the unfinished railroad. Unfortunately (I seem to be saying "unfortunately" a lot) Dave had overlooked the fact that Confederate artillery and cavalry was scheduled to arrive where it could enfilade his assaulting line (bottom right of pic).

Nevertheless, the Confederate line is breached! Three Confederate units are sent reeling back. A few Rebs cling on at each end, though, denying us outright possession of either railroad sector.

This is Turn 4, looking at the Union left. My advance has been so tardy that Morell (lower left) has not moved again. Sykes (centre of pic, astride the railroad) has at least arrived in a position in the woods from which he can enfilade the Confederates who now hold the Ford in force. Unfortunately (that word again) we only have one more turn to take the Ford and claim the objective there. Meanwhile: send more troops! The long columns of McDowell's Army of Virginia snake up the roads (right centre) to reinforce our centre.

And our centre does need reinforcing, as Crispin's Confederate grand battery continues to pound us. Dave T's men hunker down in the left railroad sector and await the inevitable counterattack.

Likewise in the right railroad sector. At least Dave has managed to refuse his flank and stop being enfiladed, but not before his righthand division became Spent.

Back to our left, and time has run out. We won't be taking Dawkins Branch Ford today.

More Union guns rumble up to join the line around Groveton. More reserves wait behind the village. Black hats and white spats - yes, it's the Iron Brigade.

The view from Stony Ridge, behind that increasingly grand battery - now up to 120 guns - as it paves the way for those two big 6-base Confederate units (upper right) assault Groveton.

Looking north from the south table edge across Dawkins Branch Ford. Night has fallen and left a big empty space where my V Corps troops were. That's right, reflecting Union command confusion during the battle, V Corps has to withdraw overnight and reenter on Turn 6.

Now looking east from behind the Rebel centre. Day 2 has commenced. The departure of V Corps means McDowell's men find themselves a little embarrassed in front of these large powerful rebel units in the foreground.

At the other end of the pitch, now looking south. The Rebels in the foreground have driven Dave T out of the railroad cuttings and are trying to roll up our right flank.

Sykes's red-fezzed zouaves return to the fray to shore up McDowell. Miraculously we hang on here.

Similar guts and determination on display in Groveton, where the Iron Brigade shrugs off the grand battery's attentions and repulses the Confederate assault.

Looking right from our centre, the rolling-up of our right flank continues but we haven't collapsed yet.

Unusually, we couldn't fight this to conclusion but had to stop with two turns to go. Fair to say the Union wasn't going to win this win, but also a decent chance that we weren't going to lose either. Regardless of the result, a good game with lots of hard pounding and plenty of whoops of delight or cries of dismay as applicable.

Reflections

Multiplayer Mayhem. We had three players a side in this one. One consequence was that at my end of the table I had little clue what was going on at the other end. Another consequence, perhaps, was that our Union effort wasn't as clearly planned and executed as it might have been. Not that it matters, or not in a bad way, anyway - if anything, it probably accurately recreated the actual Union confusion and lack of coordination.

Simplicity is a Virtue. As mentioned, this scenario has gone through a few iterations of tweaking. In particular, Matt and I discussed the victory conditions at some length, trying to find appropriate ways to encourage the historical Union Day 1 aggression. Some of our ideas were quite intricate. What Matt has settled on now is simple and elegant and produced a pretty historical result without any "straitjacketing".

AAA - absolutely awesome Albuera

Our final playtest of Mark's scenario for Albuera was an absolute cracker.

This famous Peninsular War battle will be one of those in the forthcoming BBB scenario book. I reported on a previous playtest last year, so I won't repeat the background here. Let's launch straight into the photo-AAR. It's a lavish one this time - 13 photos, all lovingly marked up with unit names, troop movements, etc.

Overview of the battlefield before the French deploy, looking east. The allied position is centred on the village of Albuera. Hamilton and Stewart on the allied left may not move until Turn 4 (so long as French are within 6" of the northern bridge) to reflect the French pinning attack. That leaves only the Spanish on the right, plus reinforcements arriving from the left rear, to react initially to the French flank attack.

The dark strips are not tarmac roads but represent the slopes of long ridges between the streams ('Level 1 contour' in BBB terms). The polystyrene hills are Level 2. This '2.5D' approach is a useful method to represent complex hilly terrain.

Stars mark the five objective locations: Albuera village; the southern bridge in front of it; the eastern and western hilltops on the allied right flank; and the road that is the allied line of communications and retreat. Each of these is worth 1 Victory Point. The French also earn 1 VP if any British infantry unit is spent or destroyed (i.e., if the allied players repeat Beresford's embarrassment). French need 3 VP to draw or 4+ to win. It's an 8-turn game.

All figures are Baccus 6mm from Mark's collection. Terrain is Mark's as well. Troop scale in this game is 600 men or 12 guns per base.

I commanded the British and Portuguese, facing Crispin on the French right. Dave W was my Spanish ally vs Dave T on the French left.

The French right advances to pin the allies on Turn 1.

The French flank marching columns approach. The fragile Spanish cavalry tried to charge that column on the hill, bottom right, but evaporated at the first rattle of musketry.

On Turn 2, Godinot seizes the bridge objective and dares the Spanish to attack him ...

... while the flank marchers deploy to attack. Zayas (the only allied general represented in this scenario) rushes his two brigades to defend the hilltop objectives and protect the allied right flank. My heart was in my mouth as Zayas's advance seemed to leave his mean dangerously isolated and exposed.

They were duly subjected to massed French assaults on Turn 3.

Miraculously they not only both survived but, thanks to some outrageous dice, held onto the west hill and inflicted serious losses on Girard's division. 

Then it was our turn to attack. Dave committed Ballesteros's brigade to try to retake the east hill, while I attacked Godinot at the bridge. Cole's Portuguese (mislabelled here as Hamilton's), backed up by the dangerous British cavalry (green cube = Aggressive), kicked Godinot back behind the Rio de la Albuera. However, to retake the bridge objective we would need to hold the other end of it as well; and to do that, we would need help from Hamilton and Stewart on the allied left wing, still pinned until Turn 4.

Another bout of heroic dice saw Ballesteros wipe out a regiment of French shock cavalry, then hurtle on to smash Werle's infantry of the east hill as well. Glorious!

Dave T was not to be gainsaid. He rallied his men and flung them back into twin attacks on the two hills. Both his attacks succeeded this time.

Cole's small British brigade has arrived to stiffen the Spanish. The orange counter denotes 'Devastating Volleys'. Thus reinforced, Dave W may have a chance of retaking the west hill. However, we can't afford to get Cole's unit wiped out and give the French a VP.

Our left has been slow to wake up. Ideally, it should roll up the French right flank and retake the bridge objective, but this is Turn 5 already (maybe even T6? not sure) and not one brigade has crossed the river. Also, French pressure on our right means we need to send some troops in that direction too. But Godinot has lost half his division and can only pray that the allies run out of time before he runs out of men.

In the next couple of turns there was major action on the allied right that I didn't get any pics of, so my caption to the next photo will have to explain.

Change of angle for the final position: this is the view from behind the French left, where there has been hot fighting around the west hill. First, D'España and Cole combined to counterattack and retake it. Then a third French assault booted them off. Cole failed to recover from his disorder but the British cavalry moved up to support him. Just as well, as on the next turn Cole was attacked again, this time also by French cavalry that had worked around his right flank. He survived, but only because we sacrificed our cavalry to save him. The French then rode down a couple of our batteries as well.

Stewart turned up in time to restore the situation. Cole sheltered behind him. Zayas actually stormed the hill again! But was pincered from both flanks and wiped out, so the hill changed hands for a fifth and last time. Girard was left in possession.

On this flank, then, The French earned 2 VP for the hills but we had protected the LOC.

Over on the French right, I had four units that could potentially hit Godinot's beleaguered and diminished remaining brigade. Unfortunately, only the smallest two of them obliged me by moving to attack. Although we still had a significant numerical advantage, having to cross the river and the bridge made it an even fight, which we lost.

Godinot was left in possession of the third VP, making the end result a draw.

This was a really gripping game, tense throughout and in the balance right to the end. Had we taken the bridge, it would have been an allied win; had Cole's brigade been destroyed (as so nearly happened), victory would have gone to the French. All four of us players felt we had a tough challenge, which is as it should be. An excellent evening and a great game.

Reflections

Annotation - too much work! I hope the annotated photos help to explain the situation and tell the story in a clear and colourful way. It's taken me hours to do, though, so I doubt I'll do it again. Its main virtue is of course that it has enabled me to spend a whole evening avoiding doing more important things.

Dislocated and overwhelmed. The first few turns were very stressful for us allies. As most of my troops were pinned, all I could do was watch as the French flank attack dislocated our line and put pressure on Dave's few Spanish. Mark's scenario captures the shape of the battle really nicely, while still giving both sides enough options that we were not straitjacketed into following a script.

Ebb and flow. This game was nothing if not dramatic. The repeated assaults and counterassaults on our right flank saw some epic moments. When one objective changes hands five times and another one falls three times, you know you've been in a fight.

Awesome is good enough. The purpose of these playtests is to refine and polish scenarios to the point where we are happy to publish them for other players' enjoyment. That refining and polishing could go on for ever, there's always another tweak we could try - should we adjust the pinning conditions? Should we add another objective location? Change the French deployment a bit? - but it has produced some excellent games and there comes a point where you have to say "By God, sir, that will do".

Still hoping to get the BBB Peninsular War scenario book published by mid-year. Follow this blog or watch the SkirmishCampaigns website to be alerted when it arrives!