November 3, 1914, 0830 hours - The northern-central slope of Mt. Longido
This would be a great moment in Swiss history! Lt. Colonel Dykstra had previously send two minor attacks to distract the Germans. Now it was time to assault the main fortifications on the mountain and begin the conquest of the German colony!
Apparently, Lt. Colonel Dykstra was stark raving mad. Despite a weakened German deployment, the units he brough were undertrained, tired, and wandering around lost in the brush for the last two and a half hours. Dykstra's moment of truth was late. The Germans noticed their movement in the brush, just below them and began the engagement.
Swiss Order of Battle: Nichols and Phil Carson
Objective: Seize as many German fortifications as possible.
1 unit of Red HatSwiss
1 unit of Swiss Engineers
1 unit of Swiss Rangers
1 unit of Sikhs (poorly trained)
Swiss Variable Attachments (d20)
1-7: Irish Unit
8-11: 5 figures from one unit may deploy two feet ahed of the main group.
12-14: Extra Leader and St. Bernard Medic
15-18: Sikh Light Machine Gun (using figures from existing unit)
19-20: Field Artillery - 3 shots called in at beginning of the games. Fire (with 5" diameter blast) arrives in d6+3 turns. Roll to hit as per indirect fire.
German Order of Battle: Jessica Carson, Scott Birkner, and myself for comic relief
Objective: Prevent the Swiss objective
1 unit of Green Germans
1 unit of Grey Germans
1 unit of Purple Germans
1 Light Machine Gun Team
German Variable Attachments (d20)
1-3 Light Machine Gun
4-9 Heroic Teddy Bear Askaris
10-17 Light Mortar Crew
18-20 6 additional inches of trench
SPECIAL RULE: The rock walls on various levels were impassable areas of terrain. They did NOT block line of sight for any unit. Troops could occupy the area below them represented by the loose stones and be considered in heavy cover. However, the units firing out of that area did so at a -2 penalty.
Deployment: This was Jessica's first wargame ever, so I gave the her two instructions and full deployment responsibility: Don't mix the different color figures and don't install the machine gun in the tower on the board. For the Swiss, perhaps the machine gun firing on the Swiss right flank made all the units start on their left side. Unfortunately, the Green German unit that defended that side was rifle-heavy and ready to take on anything.
Turns 1-3: The Swiss bumbled out of the brush and tried to shoot and fire up the hill. The five Rangers who were deployed ahead of their unit were Limburger Grenadiers, tossing chees into the trenches and disrupting the firing line of the Greens. The Engineers decided on taking the tower. The tower was manned by two rifles, a grenadier, and a bier nurse all grateful for the German machine gun tenderizing the advancing Swiss.
The Swiss begin their assault. The machine gun is on the far left
The Sikhs began a slow approach, using every inch of the terrain to avoid the German machine gun. This was slowed even more with a wild group of Teddy Bear Askaris charging down the mountain to meet them.
The Engineers charge the tower
Swiss Cheese Throwers scatter the trench line.
Turns 4-6: The Swiss Rangers ranks began to be whittled away by the Green German rifles. The ranger leaders dove into the rocky area for cover. The Red Hat Swiss were just too slow. The Engineers wiped out what little resistance was around the tower, and began to scale the tower. The constant fire of the machine gun, and the sheer will of the tower guards made things difficult. The turning point of the tower assault was the machine gun rolling a "1" on its ammo check, forcing a team member to run back for another crate. Those three rounds with a silent gun would be all the difference.
The Teddy Bear Askaris swung down the side of battlefield, fired one ineffectual volley and were cut down to the man by the Sikhs. Unfortunately, the Sikhs were on ground level of the battlefield, with no chance of making it up the hill.
The Green Germans are scattered, but not yet broken
Turns 7-10: With everything looking lost for the Swiss, and with much prodding by a certain game referee, the Ranger leader jumped out of cover and into the trenches. The Rangers were killed to the man, but their heroic charge knocked the Germans out of the trenches, and the Red Hats swung in to pick off a number of the retreating troops.
The Swiss NCOs seize the tower
The Engineers suffered tremedous casulaties Their officer fell off the tower TWICE in melee, got up, but finally stayed down the third time. The dual NCOs of the Engineers (flagmen, so to speak), showed no mercy in dispatching the Grenadier and the Nurse, then hit the deck to avoid the machine gun.
The Sikhs? Just got up to the first level of elevation when we called the game.
The Swiss were at a tremendous disadvantage from the get-go. First, our gracious hosts, the Carsons could only furnish a 5x6 table, rather than the 5x8 in the book. That is a lot less space for the Germans to defend. Second, I did sort of throw Phil at the wolves the first two turns. He's one of my old LOS buddies, so I figured he would scan the battlefield and either find cover or get to that trenchline ASAP. We had a great tactic with piles of cheese littering the battlefield. Finally, they did get the worst roll on the variable troop table. The only other option I could think of was a bicycle tank, but that would completely overpower the Swiss. Perhaps a wizard will finally make an appearance. An African Prince perhaps?
This isn't to say the Germans had it easy. I had forgotten an entire box of figures, so the Grey and Purple Germans were close to 60% strength. Good (or lucky) deployment, followed by excellent crossfires kept the the German center from falling. A bier nurse who doesn't failing healing rolls helps too.
For the scenario, I gave more points for the objective. The first two fortifications in a side's control at the end of the game were worth 5 points each, the third and fourth were worth 10 apiece. With two trenches still in German control, the Swiss controlling the tower, and one trench hotly contested, the final score was Germans 39, Swiss 30. The Swiss did get considerable bonus points for the slaughter of those Teddy Bear natives...Historically, British fire fell two of the German commanders. The askaris held their ground until another officer could mount a counter attack to push the British back. With the British falling back, Major Kraut consolidated his reserves and order a full counter attack.
But there's one more scenario before that big final battle on Longido Mountain. Hopefully we'll get to that just after Historicon.
Current score of the campaign: Germans 99, Swiss 84, but the Swiss still have some tricks up their sleeve.
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