Chain of Command: Verteidigung des Obstgartens

Having a look through the hundreds of photos of games played in 2025 I came across this 15mm Chain of Command Normandy '44 game played last February...

With Phil and Jenny providing th figures and terrain it looked as wonderful as usual.

The British were tasked with evicting the Germans from the Norman farmhouse, basing one section in the farmhouse, one in the neighbouring building and the third in the orchard to prevent any outflanking.

The problem that now created from a game point of view was that the British player was aware that there were Germans in position to prevent a flank attack, despite the fact the battlefield was covered in hedges and trees (I appreciate I could have held off deploying them, but the game mechanisms may well have resulted in my not being able to subsequently activate and deploy them leaving the flank undefended). I find the inability to deploy hidden units, as you can in I Ain't Been Shot Mum with blinds, is frustrating.

This was evidenced by the British player advancing a section up to but just outside visibility range of the supposed hidden Germans that in real life he would not have know were there (or not) without scouting.

To reinforce the ludicrousness the British deployed their mortars...

...and dropped smoke in front of the Germans they didn't know were there!

The British then brought up a Sherman, which they kept well back from any potential panzerfaust ambush points...

Having a big bag of cotton wool, they then dropped even more smoke on the battlefield! :-)

The British then pushed a section up on the German left...

Suppressing the defenders in the house...

But coming a cropper against a dynamic German counter-attack by the section who had been twiddling their thumbs on the right (again not sure whether real troops would leave an occupied position to run blindly down a road towards the sound of gunfire but...)

Meanwhile in the centre the second German section opened up on the British creeping through the orchard...

A brief firefight occurring with minimal casualties on both sides.

At this point we called it a day, the British were unlikely to be able to dislodge the Germans and no one fancied not moving and just rolling dice for the next hour when the pub beckoned...

As you might have gathered as lovely as the game looked, it wasn't a particularly inspiring game in itself and somewhat reflected my experience with Chain of Command in 2025. Everyone tells me it is a great set of rules but most of the games were not a lot of fun to play.

A Cunning Plan (or two...) for 2026!

Well that was 2025... hobby wise a good year with a lot of games played, so many it became impossible to keep up with on the blog (though I will try to do better in 2026). Was happy to get a lot more Indian Mutiny gaming in (including the Sharp Practice weekend at BIG in September), a few 6mm Western Desert games of Armoured Storm (Dan Mersey's quick play tanks in the desert game), but the highlight has to be crossing the bridge into Darkest Wales to play a couple of hugely impressive 28mm Modern games in Gareth Lane's wargames shed...

I will try and catch up with some of the 2025 reports this month...

So, how did the Cunning Plan (or two...) for 2025! go?

Well it started well! :-) January 2025 saw me paint over 100 28mm Mutineers for Winter Wonder Lard V which was great, but there was no movement on the Quar and the "earlier medieval" hankering currently remains unhankered! (but see below)...

So what Cunning Plans do I have for 2026?

Well although I have now decided I don't quite have enough time to get it ready for Winter Wonder Lard VI, I have started work on some troops for the War of Spanish Succession - but focusing on the Peninsular fighting rather than Germany and the Low Countries. Five 24 man 28mm units are currently in various stages of being painted, the idea being to play some Sharp Practice and/or Donnybrook with them, but also Beneath The Lilly Banners, the new edition having just arrived before Christmas.

The "earlier medieval" hankering hopefully will be hankered as I backed the Kickstarter for Écorcheurs  and have bought a pile of Wargames Atlantic plastics to make up the forces needed for  Écorcheurs and a couple of 24 point Lion Rampant armies for the 1217 kerfuffle.

And finally 6mm - I have cracked on with some US armour in MERDC which made its debut in the NORTHAG game just before Xmas (just waiting for some tufts to add to the bases to call them finished for photographing), and I finished some WW2 Italians for Armoured Storm today. Having various boxes of 6mm that could reinforce existing projects or lead to new ones, something 'sixy' will happen, just not sure what...

Wherever the hobby leads me in 2026 I will endeavour to update the blog more often and I hope your dice roll high in '26! Happy New Year everyone!

Battlegroup NORTHAG: Crossing the E40

Just before Christmas Rob, Andy and I played a Cold War battalion sized game in 6mm using the Battlegroup NORTHAG rules (and its CENTAG supplement). The scenario was based on a Soviet attempt to seize an autobahn auction outside a West German town (which looking at a map of the Fulda Gap could well be the E40 and Bad Hersfeld!)

The Soviet Forward Screen pushed rapidly forward, looking to identify any US ambush positions...

...which they did, pretty much by getting blown up!

The US Forward Screen largely comprised of M60A3's...

,,,and M910 ITV's in the urban suburbs.

Despite the loss of the BMP's in the Soviet Forward Screen, two T-64's pushed forward...

,,,and one took out an American M60 hiding beside a wood!

Turn three saw the arrival of the American Vanguard which included a platoon of M1's...

...a couple more M901's...

...and another platoon of M60's.

The US armour took up position in the BUA...

...the M1's spotting the T-64's of the Soviet Vanguard...

...which had moved swiftly towards the important autobahn junction.

The crack of an 105mm M68 gun spilt the air, a glancing blow pinning one T-64's.

The Soviet's had a pre-planned artillery mission which was timed to hit the forward American positions just as the Soviet Main Column arrived. (the SPG's were technically off table, but as I had the models...)

Whereas the American attempts at artillery missions had been largely ineffective, the Soviet artillery crashed down on target, pinning three AFV's and wiping out the US FOO.

With the T-64 company of the Soviet Vanguard pushing across the autobahn, the M60A3's opened fire...

Knocking out a Soviet tank.

Behind them the Soviet Main Column pushed on, one T-64 company going pedal to the metal down the road towards the fighting.

Whilst second company followed more accepted Soviet doctrine by advancing in line across country...

...towards the guns of a second M60 platoon.

The reckless Soviet tactics then looked like they were to prove disastrous as the US commander managed to call up an airstrike which targeted the T-64 column on the road (not having an A-10 model to hand we used a Harrier).

Fortunately for the Soviets the RAF pilot was pretty useless and only managed to take out one tank in the 'target rich environment' before veering off!

Meanwhile more US forces arrived, a third platoon of M60's moving into the industrial area of the town.

But the Soviet advance was relentless...

...with the T-64's crossing the autobahn and engaging the M60's on the American left flank...

...unerringly accurate fire saw the T-64's take out one M60...

...the another!

Whilst on the US right, Soviet tanks moved into the town...

...and into the centre.

With three companies of Soviet armour now pushing across the autobahn, it was clear to the US commander that he had lost the vital junction and would be unable to recapture it, so decided to withdraw his remaining forces to fight another day.

This was the second game of Battlegroup NORTHAG played in the last few weeks, but for the first time in 6mm and it must be said it looked and played a lot better than it did in 15mm. Whilst I need to finish off the infantry for the forces used (and pick up some air support and other odds and sods), I think for this size of game we'll probably be sticking with NORTHAG, though we will be using historical TO&E's and largely ignoring the point system in the rulebook.

On Bloody Ground: Fram, Fram, Konungsmenn!

As 2025 comes to an end, and despite being very behind on the blog's battle reports this year, here is one from today when Phil and Jenny invited myself, Andy and Jim down to play a 3000 point aside game of On Bloody Ground, Vikings versus Normans...

Adopting a nuanced tactical approach, Jen and I pushed the Norse straight forward, en masse...

With lots of shouting and clashing of shields!

Andy and Jim tried using tactics, employing a unit of light Breton horse to hold their right flank.

Whilst the rest of the army moved forward to engage the rampaging Norse!

Bark at the moon! The Ulfhednar, frothing at the mouth, moved up behind some bowmen skirmishers.

Whilst the Normans advanced their two main heavy cavalry units towards the Viking centre...

Colourful insults and chicken noises came from the Norse ranks.

Goading one of the Norman cavalry units into a charge!

On the Norman left, Breton infantry moved through the wood supported by crossbowmen and supporting cavalry.

The cavalry charging into a unit of Bondi...

...who after three rounds of vicious combat they routed!

In the centre the Norman knights with their army commander, crashed into another unit of Bondi with less spectacular results and a bloody attritional scarp ensued.

The second unit of Norman knight led by the Duke of Daisee (or something like that) charged into the Norse Hirð who had formed a shield wall...

The resulting melee saw the Normans suffer many casualties...

Before falling back with just two survivors accompanying the impetuous Duke.

The Hirð then charged the survivors, wiping the knights out and capturing the Norman Duke (blood eagle ceremony tonight chaps, BYOB...)

In the centre the Ulfhednar charged the Breton infantry who had helped the army commander's Knights wipe out the unit of Bondi they had been in combat with.

The Ulfhednar, having despatched the Bretons tried to catch a unit of dismounted Norman knights.

Whilst the Hirð moved up to try and get in position to charge into the remaining unit of Norman knights...

The Bondi on the Norse right flank tried to catch some pesky Norman crossbow. 

This resulted in them being open to a charge in the rear by the Breton horse, who somehow managed to get wiped out when they executed the manoeuvre (I was in such a state of shock and amusement I missed taking a photo of this catastrophic attack!)

The dismounted Norman knights decided that taking on the Ulfhednar was potentially disastrous so they retired out of charge arc,

Meanwhile back on the Norman left, the Breton infantry decided to try their luck against a unit of Bondi,,,

They were not lucky,,,

And whilst the Norman cavalry managed to capture the Norse camp...

The Hirð had moved into the centre of the battlefield with the Normans falling back to avoid contact.

This was to prove crucial as it was one of the Viking objectives granting them 100 victory points. When Jen totalled up the various casualties, dead and captured leaders etc and added on the objective points the Norse had won by 1568 points to 1493...

A hugely enjoyable end to the gaming year, thanks to Phil and Jen for their hospitality and letting us play with their toy soldier collection, On Bloody Ground is a lot  of fun and if you have large Ancients armies gathering dust and miss playing Warhammer Ancient Battles, I'd recommend checking On Bloody Ground out...