"The Battle of Biazza Ridge II" Topic

All,

Following last week's runout of One Hour Skirmish Wargames, the boys lined it up to give the Battle of Biazza Ridge another go, and it was a helluva fight! It's July 11, 1943, on the island of Sicily, where American paratroopers are facing off against tanks and troops of the Hermann Goering Panzergrenadier Division. The paratroopers have landed inland to screen the beaches as infantry come ashore, and they're being put to the test at a place called Biazza Ridge as the Germans mount a counterattack, advancing towards Gela in order to push the Yanks back into the sea.

Last week we played and had a good time, but the scenario (a great scenario, from Steve over at "Sound Officer's Call!" blog) starts with a very small amount of forces on the table and feeds in quite a bit of reinforcements, but the rules don't handle reinforcements very well (in my humble opinion, or at least we didn't handle how the rules handle reinforcements very well). Ultimately there was a fierce firefight and a daring close assault, but the Americans broke when their reinforcements arrived en masse and were caught bunched up by German mortars, which pounded them unmercifully.

So we had a lot of fun, but were convinced the scenario and rules together could give us even more fun if we tweaked a few things, so that's what we did, and it worked like a champ.

The US paratroopers push towards the South Spur, with their FO managing to get up top (top left).

The FO takes a good look around…

And holy guacamole, look what he (bottom center) sees! He immediately gets on the radio and calls in a fire mission!

Both 75mm pack howitzers go to work!

The Tigers are untouched, but all three squads of the German 2nd Platoon are suppressed!

And that's just the tip of the iceberg! To see how the fight turned out, please check the blog at:
link

Wow, what a fight, I'm exhausted. I can't complain about the action at all. The rules worked much better without having to deal with reinforcements, but the fight still took two and a half hours, which is a bit of a challenge still for the youngsters (I did have to threaten the little one's life a couple times). I haven't discussed it with the boys yet, but I'm actually thinking about playing it again, with a different set of rules (something homegrown, super simple), in the hopes of getting the game time down to 60-90 minutes. I don't really like playing the same fight over and over again, but it has been fun, it's already set up, and it has proven to be a good test bed, I think. But it is playing the same fight three times…

So, if anyone has a cool, similarly-sized scenario we should try out, let me know and I might just give it a shot, rather than do a 'Biazza Ridge III.' But it needs to be mid- to late-war, I don't have early war stuff in 15mm (yet), hopefully something on the Eastern Front.

More to follow as we look to keep the gaming ball rolling.

V/R,
Jack

Quite the game write up, looks like fun, congrats!

jack,
As usual, an outstanding AAR,great scenario and fantastic
table! The table was perfect to represent the hilly
Sicilian countryside and ground color. Your bases were
just the right complement to blend right in. Still amazes
me your use of towels to do such a grand job of representing
hills. Had to be a great game, even if you did have to do
some cajoling to get one of the boys to stay and finish.
Wondering how sibling rivalry is working bringing them
into the gaming fold. Thanks for the great aar and all the
pics.

Also sounds like you got a budding baseball star on your
hands. Glad to hear from you and hope you all are well.

Semper Fi,

Sam

Great post Jack! Regarding a new scenario it doesn't have to be historical, just put a company plus a couple of tanks on the table; should work. Meeting engagements are great fun. If you need to roll up the terrain per PF.

Joe

Thanks, GamesPoet, I appreciate it!

Sam – There you are, Old Man, I was wondering where you've been! They're really good boys, just the seven-year old is, well, seven ;) And I'm super happy with how my troops and table have turned out, been a lot of work over the past couple years, but it's paying off and we're happy to be back playing.

The older boy is already a pretty salty AAA catcher with some power, and his little brother is following in his tracks!

Semper Fidelis!

Joe – Thanks buddy! Yeah, you're right, and look at your shameless plug of Platoon Forward!!! ;) Yeah, I said it everyone, but only because it truly is a great piece of gear. But I'm just being lazy, seeing if anyone has already done the work for me, plus I've had good success when I ask the wargaming world for guidance, they've always come through.

And please forgive me, I saw your email but I haven't had time yet to give it some serious thought. I shall, this I swear ;)

Thanks again everyone, I'm glad you liked it.

V/R,
Jack

Jack,
It was not a shameless plug. It was actually meant to help you. If I meant it as a shameless plug I would not have abbreviated it. Over half the people reading wouldn't have known what pf was. But of course now they do so thanks 😊

Joe

Yes Joe, it was just a joke man, which is why I spelled it out. And they say you Air Force guys are smart ;)

V/R,
Jack