Charles Grant rides to the rescue yet again!

It is time to ring the changes and, with next year's demo games at the back of my mind, I have decided to do some Seven Years War gaming to inspire me to get more painting done. And I do need to get inspired because I have over 500 more SYW figures to paint by the end of next spring if the Zorndorf demo-game is to become a reality. In need of a quick scenario to get the juices going I turned to my book shelves and took out an old favourite.

This scenario is largely based on Reserve Demolition by Charles Grant in his book Scenarios for Wargames (published, WRG 1981). This is a book of 52 scenarios, one for every week of the year, covering all periods of historical war gaming and including tactical teasers for everything from basic attack defence set ups, through ambushes and coastal raiding, to games involving helicopters and trains. It is one of my all-time favourite war game books and definitely worth picking up if you don’t already have a copy – although many of the scenarios are oft run and commonplace wargames fare (in one guise or another), having them all in one place as an aide memoire is always comforting when you are stuck for a scenario to do. Reserve Demolition is scenario number 20; it features in Part 2 of his book dealing with river scenarios.

What follows here is my adaption of the scenario for a game, with a fictional Seven Years War backdrop, to be played using Classic Piquet rules. Because of the armies and the rules, changes have been made to the detail of the scenario, but the general underlying ‘plot’, terrain and overall force sizes are mostly unchanged. 

GENERAL OUTLINE

“A “reserve demolition” is the modern parlance for a bridge prepared for demolition but which must not be destroyed until the time is right.”

The year is 1759 and Frederick the Great has been rebuffed at Kunnersdorf. His army has ceased to exist as a fighting force capable of strategic action. Nothing but small forces now remain between the Russians and Berlin. Frederick has given orders that all bridges that might be used by the enemy are to be prepared for demolition. They are not to be blown without direct orders from the King as he might yet use them, if he is given time to concentrate a new army, for a counter-stroke.

GROUND

The object of the scenario is a single stone bridge that crosses a deep and swiftly flowing river.  At either end of the bridge three ‘town sections’ make up a small village. Due east of the village, commanding a crossroads, is a walled farm (single ‘town section’). North of the farm is an open wood (type II terrain), south of it a small gently sloping hill (type I terrain). To the south east a large, steeply sloping, flat topped hill dominates the whole area (slopes are type II terrain). All other terrain is ‘virtual’. In the photo above, the 'chain-line' marks the limit of Prussian deployment east of the river.

RUSSIAN FORCE

Forces: 

• Commander in chief, three field officers. 
• 2 units of elite grenadiers – Fire D12, Melee D8, Morale D8. 
• 6 units of line infantry - Fire D10, Melee D8, Morale D6. 
• 2 units of elite cuirassier – Fire D4, Melee D12, Morale D8. 
• 1 unit of elite horse grenadiers – Fire D6, Melee D10, Morale D8. 
• 2 units of hussars – Fire D8, Melee D6, Morale D6. 
• 1 medium artillery battery – Fire D8, Melee D4, Morale D6. 
• 1 medium howitzer battery – Fire D8, Melee D4, Morale D6. 
• Note: Officer Quality deduct - 2; Unit Quality - no change; Opportunity Chips - 3; Army Characterisation Deck cards (divisor 4) - 3; Sapper Task - D6.

Mission: 

Capture the bridge intact.

Briefing: 

You command an advance guard tasked with seizing a vital bridge over which the main army will cross to reach Berlin and end the war. You can advance on the bridge from any of three directions east of the river – using the east road, the north road, or the south road. You can divide your force into two columns, sending one by a circuitous route and approach from two directions, or keep your force concentrated and approach from just one.

In game terms: You must choose one or two roads on which to enter the battlefield. If you choose two you must choose the mix of each force and choose which will include the commander-in-chief before the battle begins. The force with the commander in chief will arrive as soon as the game starts with the first units being allowed to make an on table march of one move at full rate before the first throw for initiative. Units entering the table need not be in column of route but must start their move in contact with the road. The second force, if there is one, arrives immediately following the second appearance of the player’s Stratagem card, as per the main force (the delay is caused by the circuitous route the second column must take).

Intelligence suggests that the Prussians are preparing all of the bridges in the immediate area for demolition. For the operation to succeed speed is of the essence. Once on the bridge any demolition charges must be neutralised and a bridgehead on the western side of the river established.

In game terms: If the bridge has been prepared for demolition, and you have infantry on the bridge, you can clear the charges by making a successful check on your sapper task card. Because your infantry are not sappers they carry out this sapper task with a down 1 modifier. A bridgehead can be established by occupying the two buildings on the western side of the river, which incidentally also prevents the bridge being blown.

PRUSSIAN FORCE

Forces: 

• Commander in chief, two field officers, one officer of engineers. 
• 1 unit of elite grenadiers – Fire D12, Melee D8, Morale D8. 
• 4 units of line infantry - Fire D10, Melee D8, Morale D6. 
• 1 unit of sappers - Fire D10, Melee D8, Morale D6. 
• 2 units of elite dragoons – Fire D4, Melee D12, Morale D8. 
• 3 medium artillery sections – Fire D8, Melee D4, Morale D6. 
• Note: Officer Quality add 2; Unit Quality add 2; Opportunity Chips 4; Army Characterisation Deck cards (divisor 3) 3. Sapper Task D6.

Deployment: 

Sappers can be deployed at the bridge (they must be there to effect preparation but not material acquisition or destruction). One unit, or up to two artillery sections, can be deployed west of the river. All other units must deploy east of the river within the marked deployment area. Prussian forces deploy after the Russian player has organised his attack but before the Russian player deploys his first forces on table.

Mission: 

To hold the bridge, with minimal losses, until ordered to destroy it.

Briefing:  

You are responsible for holding and, ultimately, destroying the bridge if the orders arrive to do so. Unfortunately, although the enemy are within a day’s march of the bridge, the officer of engineers and his sappers have not received sufficient explosive and other equipment to blow it up – though the arrival of the powder train is imminent.  The officer of engineers has told you, in detail, what is required to blow the bridge.

In game terms: A series of sapper task checks (detailed below) must be made on the appearance of your Sapper Task card. One test is allowed each time the card appears. Failure at any stage will require the check to be retaken on the card’s next appearance until the check is successfully passed. The bridge is old and in a state of some disrepair so all sapper task checks will be made with an Up 2 modifier. 

• First you must pass a sapper task check to acquire materials (the powder train), which will arrive by the northern road on the western side of the river (wagons count as medium artillery for movement). 
• Second, and after the powder train has arrived at the village, you must pass a sapper task check to prepare the bridge for demolition. 
• Third, you must pass a sapper task check to blow the bridge.

This morning you sent a dispatch rider to the King to inform him of the presence of the enemy and requesting further instructions. The rider returned with frustratingly awkward orders: The bridge must be held at all cost and is not to be blown without express orders to do so. You must maintain your force as intact as possible as the King will require it later.

In game terms: Under no circumstances must you let the bridge fall into the hands of the enemy. You can only destroy it if the King orders it directly – orders may arrive to blow the bridge on a successful check on the appearance of the player’s Stratagem card; the player will roll D4 vs D8 on first appearance, D6 vs D8 on the second, D8 on the third, and so on. Whilst fulfilling your orders concerning the bridge you must maintain at least forty percent of your force (14 stands). They must be west of the river if the bridge is blown.

My next post will, with a bit of luck, be a battle report of this river action. Until then I'll leave you with the only worthwhile shot I took (before I smudged the lens) of the last game the Lads played: Sidi Rezegh 1941, at The Venue Formally Known As Saville's - our Fiasco 2013 demo game last month.

Sidi Rezegh 1941 for Fiasco 2013

This scenario is for a battle based upon the events of 22nd November 1941 at Sidi Rezegh. The notes for this scenario were inspired by the scenario  "Broken Spearhead" in Benghazi Handicap by Frank Chadwick. They have been fleshed out with information from Sidi Rezeg Battles 1941 by Agar-Hamilton and Turner, and the members of various web forums. 

The game will be fought out at Fiasco later this year.

GENERAL BRIEFING FOR BOTH PLAYERS

Dawn has brought the fifth day of Operation Crusader: The major British offensive to relieve Tobruk and throw the Axis out of Cyrenaica. Yesterday saw the hardest and most chaotic fighting of the operation so far. Between Tobruk and Gabr Saleh, British and German formations became jumbled like the layers of a cake.

From west to east: British 70^th Division was trying to sally out of Tobruk; 7^th Armoured Brigade and Support Group, both of 7^th Armoured Division, was trying to break through to them from Sidi Rezegh to link up with them at Ed Duda; sandwiched between these forces, and fighting both simultaneously,  were Italian ‘Bologna’ and German 90^th Light; 7^th Armoured Brigade and 7^th Support Group were facing both ways in an attempt to fend off a concerted attack by 15^th and 21^st Panzer Divisions travelling west out of the desert from the direction of Gabr Saleh; 15^th and 21^st Panzer divisions were, in turn, being harassed from flank and rear by 22^nd and 4^th Armoured Brigades (7^th Armoured Division) which were chasing them westward.  All were west of yet another battle, at the frontier, being fought by Axis forces defending the frontier and British XIII Corps.

The fighting was intense, especially around the aerodrome between the second and third escarpments at Sidi Rezegh. Here DAK had come out on top and the British, in terms of material, had taken a pasting. However, the British had shown a good deal of tenacity and had, despite heavy losses, maintained the very important strategic position at Sidi Rezegh.

Note: As can been seen from the map below, the position commonly referred to as Sidi Rezegh, between the second and third escarpment, is strategically vital to any operation in the Tobruk area (the Tobruk perimeter is approximately 3.5 miles north west of Ed Duda). Looking north from the third escarpment (at Point 178), it appears as a flat bottomed valley with ground that rises only slightly on the far side to the ridge of the second escarpment; it is ten miles long by four miles wide; it slopes imperceptibly down from east to west; it allows the passage of large armoured battle groups, moving in formation, to freely traverse from the top of the third to the bottom of the second escarpments. The area maked L.G. is the desert aerodrome.  

The Battle Area. From a map in Sidi Rezeg Battles 1941 by Agar-Hamilton and Turner.

The Wargame Battle Area. It represents the second escarpment from, roughly Abiar el Amar to Point 163. This war game table is 12' x 6' and ground scale is 1": 50m approx.

BRITISH BRIEFING FOR:

Brigadier Campbell (7^th Support Group), officer commanding at Sidi Rezegh, 22^nd November 1941.

Your Support Group and 7^th Armoured Brigade have spent the morning reorganizing and consolidating their position at Sidi Rezegh. 1^st Battalion, King’s Royal Rifle Corps (less one company) with a company of 2^nd Battalion, The Rifle Brigade attached, have dug themselves in on a two mile long stretch of the second escarpment with commanding views over the Trig Capuzzo. The guns of Support Group, alongside 7^th Armoured Brigade, have taken up positions, in a northward facing arc, around the aerodrome. To the south of the aerodrome 22^nd Armoured Brigade stands ready to support you.

Both 7^th Armoured Brigade and Support Group are not in the best of shape. Jerry has caused a good deal of damage and yesterday’s losses cannot be made good. Brigadier Davy’s tanks (7th Armoured Brigade) have faired the worse: This morning he has reported that he has 28 runners, all that remain out of the 168 tanks with which he started the operation five days ago, and several of these have been hit more than once during the previous fighting. 22^nd Armoured Brigade has suffered too: It is at two thirds strength following its foolhardy action at Bir el gubi against the Italians on the 19^th of November and running battles with Rommel’s panzers ever since. It is a comforting thought that the Germans withdrew their armour, northward, down the wadis of the second escarpment, out of the immediate battle area this morning.  Only shelling by German heavy artillery shooting from Belhamed is currently, and sporadically, disturbing the peace.

Plans for further advances to link up with 70^th Division at Ed Duda have been suspended until the infantry of 5^th South African Brigade reinforce your position from the south. Major General Gott (7^th Armoured Division) has personally given you orders to hold the Sidi Rezegh area at all cost. It will be the jump off point for units battering their way to relieve Tobruk. Following the arrival of the reinforcements, a northward advance on Ed Duda can be resumed. God willing, Jerry will leave you alone long enough to get things organised.

BRITISH OOB, GAME NOTES & VICTORY CONDITIONS

All field artillery (25pdrs) units are veterans with elite morale status. The tanks of 22^nd Armoured Brigade are green troops with high morale. The tanks of 7th Armoured Brigade are trained with high morale. All infantry are veterans with high morale. 

Note: The artillery present fought with a tenacity and discipline that was remarked upon by all . Consequently, I must give it elite morale status.
Note:The tanks of 22nd Armoured Brigade have been classed as green with high morale because of their enthusiastic, over confident ineptitude during the early phases of Operation Crusader. They were, to coin a phrase, fresh off the boat.

Brigadier Campbell is a heroic, average commander. All other commanders are average. 

The infantry of 1^st Battalion King’s Royal Rifle Corps, less carrier platoons, start the battle in sangars. One battery of 3^rd Royal Horse Artillery (2pdrs), may be attached to  1^st Battalion, KRRC and be in sangars. FOOs can deploy anywhere above the second escarpment. All other troops must deploy in their designated deployment areas.

Batteries of 3^rd Royal Horse Artillery (2pdrs) that are not attached to 1^st Battalion, KRRC start the battle on their portees with guns facing east.

The guns (25pdrs) of 60^th Field Regiment, RA are a brigade level asset. One battery of is prioritised to the battalion command stand of 1^st Battalion, King’s Royal Rifle Corps. They start the battle deployed for action.

The guns (A and B Batteries, 25pdrs) of 4^th Field Regiment, RHA are a brigade level asset. They start the battle deployed for action.

C Battery, 4^th Field Regiment, RHA (25pdrs) is attached to 22^nd Armoured Brigade. This battery was assigned to the brigade from the outset of Operation Crusader (it is a brigade asset). The battery is prioritised to Brigadier Scott-Cockburn. It can start the battle on table and limbered, or it can be kept as off table support deployed for action. 

22^nd Armoured Brigade starts the game inactive; it cannot be moved; it cannot shoot; it cannot direct a barrage. This ruling represents the Brigade actually being somewhat south of its on table deployment area. 22^nd Armoured Brigade is activated on any one of four events; activation represents the brigade's arrival in the battle area.

1. The formation is activated on the appearance of a Desert Rats (Event) card.
2. The formation is activated on the appearance of an Afrika Korps (Event) card.
3. An enemy unit (other than aircraft) comes within 20”.
4. The formation is fired upon by any ground troops.

VICTORY CONDITIONS

To achieve a decisive victory, at last light (end of turn 6) you must: 

• Hold the two points of high ground currently held by 1^st Battalion, KRRC. 
• Hold the aerodrome buildings.

To achieve a crushing victory, at last light (end of turn 6), you must: 

• Achieve the requirements of a decisive victory.
• Get four companies (any strength) of tanks or infantry across the northern (German) base line west of the aerodrome track – they move onto Ed Duda. 

GERMAN BRIEFING FOR:

Major General von Ravenstein, officer commanding 21^st Panzer Division, 22^nd November 1941.

Yesterday was a successful day for 21^st Panzer Division. At the end of the day there was no doubt that you had come out on top. However, the Tommies have shown a good deal of tenacity and, despite heavy losses, somehow maintain their position at Sidi Rezegh.

This morning, following receipt of orders from DAK, 15^th and 21^st Panzer Divisions moved north, down the wadis of the second escarpment, to take up defensive positions. 21^st Panzer Division was ordered to concentrate at Belhamed and be ready to counter-attack any resumption of the British advance on Ed Duda from Sidi Rezegh. You have disposed your formation accordingly and it has refuelled and replenished without hindrance from an enemy who seem content to stick to their ridge.

Late this morning General Rommel arrived at Division Headquarters. He has personally given you new orders. You must advance and secure the second escarpment. This area is of vital importance to the enemy for their future operations to relieve Tobruk. He has ordered you to undertake a two pronged attack. Group Knabe will make a frontal attack from the north supported by the heavy artillery of Group Bőttcher (408^th Heavy Artillery) on Belhamed. Meanwhile, Group Stephan will take a circuitous route via the by-pass road to Ed Duda then attack the aerodrome from the west. He assures you that the British at Sidi Rezegh are a beaten force with nothing more to offer than a stiff upper lip. One more sharp shock will send them scurrying for The Delta.

GERMAN OOB, GAME NOTES AND VICTORY CONDITIONS

All German troops are veterans with high morale.

Major General von Ravenstein, Lieutenant Colonel Stephan, and the commander of 2nd Battalion, 104th Schuetzen Regiment are a skilled commanders. All other commanders are average.

FOOs can deploy anywhere north of Trig Capuzzo or with Group Stephan.  All other troops must deploy in their designated deployment areas.

Two 10.5cm batteries of 2^nd Battalion, 155^th Artillery Regiment are a division level asset. They are prioritised to Lieutenant Colonel-Knabe. They are shooting from Belhamed; from an elevation 25m higher than the Trig Capuzzo but lower than the escarpment.

One 10.5cm battery of 2^nd Battalion, 155^th Artillery Regiment is attached to Group Stephan for direct fire support. It is a brigade asset prioritised to Lieutenant-Colonel Stephan.

The three batteries of 408^th Heavy Artillery Battalion, Group Böetcher are Corps artillery prioritised to the general support of 21^st Panzer Division. They are shooting from Belhamed; from an elevation 25m higher than the Trig Capuzzo but lower than the escarpment. 

Group Stephan starts the game inactive; it cannot be moved; it cannot shoot; it cannot direct a barrage. This ruling represents the Brigade actually being somewhat north and east of its on table deployment area. Group Stephan is activated on any one of four events; activation represents the groups's arrival in the battle area. 

1. The formation is activated on the appearance of an Afrika Korps (Event) card.
2. The formation is activated on the appearance of a Desert Rats (Event) card.
3. An enemy unit (other than aircraft) comes within 20”.
4. The formation is fired upon by any ground troops.

Optional: Two Panzer III companies (one in each battalion) can be three stands (vehicles) strong. For aesthetic purposes, the extra tanks should be represented by Panzer II tanks.

VICTORY CONDITIONS

To achieve a decisive victory, at last light (end of turn 6) you must: 

• Secure the two points of high ground currently held by 1^st Battalion, KRRC. 
• Secure the aerodrome buildings.

To achieve a crushing victory, at last light (end of turn 6), you must: 

• Achieve the requirements of a decisive victory.
• Cause the destruction or retreat of all British armoured units.

TERRAIN NOTES

For movement the escarpment is type IV terrain. It provides a superior position when shooting to lower elevations. Reentrants (breaks in the escarpment) are treated as wadi (except if in column on the aerodrome track, which is type I terrain). Reentrants reach the height of the escarpment in line with the back edge of the representation of the ridge.

The high ground is treated as escarpment on its northern face and type I high ground elsewhere. It provides a superior position when shooting to lower elevations.

Wadis are type II terrain. They provide type II cover to infantry in depth, line or column formation if all stands are at least 50% in contact with the wadi bottom (a little common sense may be required here). They only provide type II cover to vehicles and guns traversing them in column.

Broken ground is type II terrain. It provides type II cover to infantry ending a move with a successful Other Difficulty check.

Aerodrome buildings provide type II cover; they do not block line of sight.

All other areas are type I terrain.

 Note: Infantry, as per usual, will treat all terrain as one type better for movement.