Blast From the Past: Firestorm Greece 2013

2013 Ren maneuvering his Greek infantry
company against the German offensive. 

Years back, Battlefront produced a campaign system called Firestorm for running competitive operational campaigns around its company/battalion level tactical miniatures wargame, Flames of War 3rd edition. I've always enjoyed playing miniature wargames more in an operational context, I thought the campaign system was excellent. 

Map Key

I've always been fascinated by the less well known campaigns of World War II - Greece, North Africa, Norway. I prefer those obscure and early campaigns to the heavy metal Eastern Front contest like Bagration. So when they came out with the Firestorm Greece mini-campaign I snatched it up and started painting a Greek infantry company to play the campaign. 

I managed to convince several members of the the SAG club to play in 2013 and so the Firestorm Greece:2013 campaign was born. Here are the maps and some photos from the campaign, as well as the basic breakdown of what happened as I wrote them in 2013, slightly edited for clarity. 

Turn 1 Map

Turn 1 Results: 6 to 11 April 1940

In the first turn of the Firestorm: Greece campaign, the Axis forces had a rough time of it. German armor (played by Allen) attacked from Yugoslavia into the region near Thessaloniki (B4) but an Aussie company (played by Ken) defeated them with great loss of tanks.  Fallshirmjaegers (played by Jim) launched an assault against the Aliakmon River line (B3) defended by Greek and British troops (played by Chris) but after a close fight, the German airborne troops were defeated as well. Mussolini’s legions launched an assault in Albania (played by James) against the entrenched Greeks (played by Paul & Ren) in Tirana (B2).  It was a long, hard fight, reminiscent of a the mountain fighting in the Great War, with an artillery duel preceding an infantry assault, but the Greeks held firm. 

The only bright spot for the Axis powers came on the Metaxas Line, where German mountain troops supported by armor (played by Chuck) broke through Greeks and Brits fighting in tandem (played by Mike). Insufficient Greek and British anti-tank weapons were central to the Allied defeat.

Turn 2 Map

Turn 2: 12 to 17 April 1940

In the second turn the Axis forces did a bit better, keeping their hopes of a successful campaign alive. They launched strong attacks from Yugoslavia against the Aliakmon River line in the Greek mountains (B3 on the map) and from the conquered Metaxas line into Thessalonika. 

In region B3, Greek infantry strongly supported by artillery and reinforced with British infantry (played by Ren) managed to hold off an attack by a German infantry company supported by panzers (played by Paul). However, a Panzerschützenkompanie strongly reinforced with panzers and SS-Kradschützen (played by Allen) defeated an Aussie rifle company (played by Ken) and managed to turn the allied flank. It was a tough fight but the Allies were forced to abandon the Aliakmon River defense line (B3).

Near Thessalonika (B4), the German Gebirgsjaegers (played by Chuck) were frustrated in their advance by a Greek rifle company (played by Wayne). But advances by an SS-Infantriekompanie supported by panzers (played by Matt) managed to force the Allies from the region regardless. 

The Allied forces ended the turn with 80 victory points, versus 40 for the Axis. The Allies had a solid tactical victory at the moment, winning by 40 points. Historically, the Axis won the campaign by 100 points.

Nonetheless, Turn 3 looked grim for the Allied forces. The Germans and Italians have more reinforcing  troops pouring through Yugoslavia and Albania, and the meager air coverage of RAF Hurricanes has been driven from their airfields in Southern Greece, or destroyed. And so the Luftwaffe flies unopposed over Greece now. The Axis forces have the time to turn the campaign around in the final two turns.

Chris and Matt look over a Greek battlefield.

Allen observes his German motorcycle riders 
overwhelming Ken's Australians. 

Turn 3 Map

Turn 3: 18 to 24 April 1940

In the third turn the German forces finally broke through and rampaged down the Aegean coast of Greece. Launching strong armored thrusts past Mount Olympus through Larisa and Volos (C4), the Panzers and SS infantry (Matt) defeated defending Australians (Ken) and destroyed the last of the British armor. The Kiwis (John) and Greeks did little better against Gebirgsjaegers supported by Panzers (Chuck) and the Hun’s forces blitzed through Thermopylae and the Marathon Plain. The surviving British and Greek defenders were forced away from the coast, into the hills near Kalabaka (C3).

Meanwhile the Fallshirmjaegers (Allen) executed a daring parachute assault on Attica (F2).  The Greek defenders inflicted heavy casualties in the opening moments of the assault, decimating the Fallshimrjaeger, but the foolish Greek commanders (Paul & Ren) became over confident and ordered rash assaults on the paratroopers. The paratroopers in turn slaughtered the Greek infantry while their supporting Stukas plastered the Greek artillery. The Greeks committed their meager mechanized forces but the Fallshirmjaegers managed to hold out until their second wave swept through Attica and seized Athens. 

The only bright side for the Allies was in the continual bloodbath of Albania, where the Italians launched another bloody infantry assault along the coast and the defending Greek infantry and artillery held without giving up any ground..

The Germans are now on track to win as completely as they did historically, possibly even exceeding the historical outcome if they can prevent the escape of the British forces. Their major handicap is with no Firestorm troops in Athens, they cannot launch an assault through Corinthia directly into the Peloponnesus. The only option is another airborne assault, but that limits their options in central Greece to seize Ioannina (C1) or to cut off the British retreat by taking Mount Atlas (D1). 

Greek artillery on a hilltop position around a church.

   

Germans prepare to assault the artillery position. 

Turn 4 Map

Turn 4: 25 to 30 April 1940

In the end, the campaign mirrored the historical events. The Germans swept into the Peloponnesus, defeating the combined British and Greek defenders. British forces remaining in Greece were cut off and forced to surrender. The Italians failed to make any headway against the Greek defenses in Albania, but the German blitz made this irrelevant. The omnipresent Stukas easily neutralized the Greek and British artillery, and skilled, motivated German troops out-maneuvered defenders as they probed for weak points in the defenses. 

I was hoping for an outcome that was less on point with historical events, perhaps an Italian blitzkrieg or a rousing Greek/Brit defense that shattered the Germans. But I guess this means the campaign was a reasonable model of the actual events. Anyway, I had fun and I hope guys did also. 

Etaireia Pezikoy, my reinforced Greek infantry company. 2 Pezikoy (infantry) platoons, a machine gun platoon, a mortar platoon. Then, in support from the division a motor cycle platoon, a pioneer platoon, an artillery battery (75mm Skoda M1915 guns), a heavy artillery battery (155mm Schneider M1917 guns), an anti-aircraft platoon (40mm Bofors) and an anti-tank platoon (47mm AT guns). The Greeks had very few forces this well equipped. The guns were all towed by horses. 

I painted these guys up when I was just getting back into miniatures.
If I play with them again I will definitely give them a wash, that would improve their looks dramatically. 

Castle Fier: The Graveyard

 A couple weeks ago, some members of our club started the Iron Keep campaign from The Silver Bayonet: The Carpathians: Castle Fier. I'm going to try to document the campaign here on the blog.

We currently have five players in the campaign. I am playing my French list, led by Brigadier Gerard. A relatively experienced list, led by the Brigadier. Of him, according to his creator, Arthur C. Doyle, "Napoléon on Gerard, “if he has the thickest head he also has the stoutest heart in my army.” The list has a junior officer, a sapper, an occultist, and the balance of the members are Dragoons (infantrymen). This list is the most experienced of the groups, having played through seven or eight of the missions in the main book already. 

Ren is playing Prussians, using the Northstar set (TSB006 - The Prussian Unit). Ken is playing an Austrian list, including a Dhampier and some Guards. Ken's list is comprised of spare figures, some kit-bashed, that I painted up to entice him to try the game. 😁 Rob is playing a British list, with some hussars. Eric is running a "deserter" list, utilizing figures from multiple nationalities and led, of course, by Sharpe's Sergeant Obadiah Hakeswill.

We played the first scenario, The Graveyard. With five players, we ended up playing the scenario three times. In the future, I would prefer that we play once, with all five players at once, I like the idea of that chaos... but if it fails maybe not. 

In all three games, the Tomb Wraith really intimidated the players, who generally found they had few weapons that could impact it. Also, an Undead Werewolf showed up in each game and did quite a bit of damage. The ghouls and revenants were mostly just obstacles, but the players were somewhat deadly to each other. 

Brigadier Gerard's group had the worst of it, the only leader to suffer a permanent wound - a leg wound. He has always been most effective on horseback, but since that isn't possible in future scenarios in this campaign it will be interesting to see how he does. 

Obadiah's deserters advance through the graveyard. For the first few games, we used a grass game mat which doesn't quite capture what the graveyard should look like. I wish I had put some castle walls around it.

The Tomb Wraith lurks near the central tomb, behind it you can see a clue marker, a discarded medieval helm.

A ghoul and an Undead Werewolf fight Rob's British force. 

The Tomb Wraith goes after the Prussian officer as he tries to escape the graveyard.

An Undead Werewolf circles Obadiah's beleaguered deserters.

Brigadier Gerard leads his dragoons in a dash from tombstone to tombstone as an 
undead werewolf attacks his occultist.

The French turn on the undead werewolf, saving the occultists even as the tomb wraith
and zombies come at them from all sides. 

The Prussians advance to sieze the spear, while Gerard an his men fight for their lives against
the undead werewolf, ghouls, and the Tomb Wraith. In this fight Gerard receives a permanent leg injury.

The scenario looks better on a stone courtyard, but still wish we had used some castle walls. Mounted this time (due to his leg), Brigadier Gerard and his dragoons face Ken's Austrians. 

Gerard and his men again face many undead foes as they try to fight their way to safety with the spear.
An undead werewolf to the left, a ghoul to the right, and the Tomb Wraith from their front, distracted from the nearer Austrian by a monster dice. 

I will to get some closeups of each warband and introduce them better in future posts. 

Army Spotlight: Wellington at Waterloo

We have another Army Spotlight: Rob's British force, Wellington at Waterloo. This is a 28mm army used primarily for Black Powder games. Rob has both French and British Black Powder armies, but since his Brits are a frequent opponent of my own La Grande Division Fictive, I thought it best to spotlight his British force. I copied my unit stat cards from Rob's concept, his revised cards are included below as well. 

Rob has been kind enough to provide the text for the photos of his army below.

Rob:

My figures are a combination of Victrix, Perry, and Warlord. This whole 28mm Napoleonic thing started when I was at Historicon about 12 years ago and some vendor was selling Victrix infantry boxes for $20 a pop. I got 2 French and 2 British, which was basically half of each army.

Wellington and Uxbridge. I also have Picton from Waterloo, but he was a bastard and he doesn't have his proper uniform, so to hell with him. My other generals are named after fictional characters from the greatest wargaming website of the early 2000's: Major General Tremorden Rederring's Colonial-era Wargames Page

That's Lord Uxbridge in the blue. He's on the wrong horse, as I assembled my officers a little carelessly. I've always been fascinated by the story of his amputated leg.

Wellington and Colonel Bindon Mudd leading the 33rd Yorkshire. Wellington was accidentally glued to Uxbridge's horse, which is saddled with a Tiger Skin. I had assumed that Wellington would get the fancier saddle, but it turns out that Uxbridge was the saddle dandy.

Household Cavalry (Life Guards). When I started with the British, Perry wasn't making these in plastic, so I only bought the Hussars. It didn't take many battles before I realized that I needed them eventually. I originally intended to make them Horse Guards, but since my Hussars were already in blue I wanted the unit to stand out more and so chose the red-tunic'd Life Guards. 

Life Guards once more. I went ahead and decided to make them a unit of 12 mounted 3 per base on... 65mm I think? 70mm?... after I was unsatisfied with the previous cavalry mounted 2 per base on a 50mm. This configuration looks better on the table.

 

Perry Hussars. There's so much detail on these guys, which made them a pain to paint but they came out well. I have 3 units, 2 of 10 and 1 of 8. You need to look at the Shakos to differentiate them.

British foot artillery. British foot artillery from Victrix. Cheap plastic but sporting lots of detail. Love this kit. I prefer using 2 guns to represent a battery. If I had to do it again, I would probably mount these to smaller square bases, but I think they take up a more realistic amount of battlefield real estate this way. If I had my way, we would use three guns to represent the big Russian batteries.

Chosen men with a casualty marker. There were a couple of riflemen in each box of British infantry sprues from Perry, so of course I had to build the 95th. They are technically a little bit better than the standard rifle company in the rules, but I increased the points cost to bring them into line. I think there were a couple of casualty markers in each box of Perry Hussars. Very thoughtful of them! One of these days, I need to find an appropriate model for Sharpe.

69th South Lincolnshire, 1st (and only) battalion. Units on the British side are differentiated by the color of the collars and cuffs, and also the tunics of the drummers. Technically every battalion should have two flags (one regimental and one union jack). I was originally going to have 36-man units, but decided that was too many at 28mm scale, so the number of command figures got reallocated during painting.

This is the 33rd Yorkshire, 1st and 2nd Battalion. The flags are printed from an inkjet on thick resume paper, then put together with watered down PVA and worked into shape. I should technically paint the edges afterwards to hide the constructions, but that's too much work. The flags were printed from scans of the flags which came with the various kits from Victrix, Perry, & Warlord. Those were printed on glossy paper, however - that's why I did a scan and reprint on all of them.

Soldiers of the 4th King's Own, showing my desultory brushwork. I prime black, then undercoat the flesh brown, then build up a couple of layers of dry-brushed colors. The faces and hands get a flesh wash, then another highlight. It looks good from 3 ft away.

The 4th King's Own, 1st and 2nd Battalions.

Just enough detail on the paints. Bent and broken bayonets are a huge problem with all my Napoleonic figures. It's mostly the Victrix models, which are mostly in more dynamic poses designed for skirmished or single-base figures rather than ranked infantry. If I had to do it over, I would have stuck with the Perry figures.

A rifle skirmishing company from the 44th East Essex flank battalion is set up to screen 2 battalions of the Coldstream Guards. The 44th East Essex uniforms with their yellow collars and cuffs are featured heavily in the Sharpe's Rifles series.

1st and 2nd Battalions of the Coldstream Guards, being led by Major-General Tremorden Reddering. These are Warlord figures. Adding guard infantry to my Brits makes them much more competitive against the French.