(Gnome Wars) Wishing Well Campaign - Battle of the Thirds

(Table set-up, pic taking during a later turn, the white card box is the barn, and unfortunately, no, the beer is not in play. Adam has not been rolling well.)

The Swiss retreated from the Holy Shrine of Chucaquatre and the National Park surrounding it to a small farm to regroup. The Swiss 3rd Infantry arrived by truck to relieve the 14th TC and set up headquarters. The 3rd Engineers set up defenses around the barn.

The farm seemed like a decent place to defend against further German advances: plenty of walls for cover and a deep river to the west. The 3rd Germans were advancing through the woods, however the Swiss were not prepared to see more Germans forming across the river. The 15th German Infantry (The Badenboens) had snuck through the National Park and was attempting to strike the rear of the Swiss, after they forded the river
 

(The 15th German Infantry "The Badenboens" crossing the river along the wheat field. If I only had more time to paint this would look awesome!)

Swiss turns 1-3: The 3rd Swiss’ fortunes turned disastrous from the 1st turn. The 3rd German had massed their forces in the Northeast corner near the barn, so the 3rd Swiss Officer order a portion of troops to tunnel from the farmhouse. The first tunnel check rolled failed horribly and the those troops were trapped/killed for the remainder of the battle. Colonel Mosher of the 3rd Engineers took command of the remaining infantry and had them man the stone walls near the river.

German turns 1-3: The 3rd German stayed within the treeline and began firing into to the barn, yielding a slow, but growing number of casualties. The 15th Infantry had slow going, as they could only cross the river in groups of twos. Germans crossing the river were easily gunned down the Swiss Arquebus, but the Bier Nurse was able to revive most of them.

Turns 4-6: On the eastern front, the 3rd German continued their firing from the woodline, eventually sending a few a peasants out to attack the stone walls with surprising success. On the western front the 15th German began taking heavy casualties, but with numbers on their side, were winning a war of attrition against the remains of the 3rd Swiss.

Support units were now making an appearance on the board. First, German air support made their roll and was allowed to make on bombing run, softening up the Engineers defending the bar. Secondly, a “Canada Post” truck appeared across the river, towing a cannon! As the truck crossed the river, Swiss air support made there lone appearance and managed to destroy it. Finally, as the remains of the 3rd Swiss fell back to the farmhouse, everyone’s favorite Allied Gnome, The Wizard made his appearance (via outhouse).

(Does anyone have any hand sanitizer?)

Turns 7 -11+: On the Eastern front, the 3rd German advanced en masse out of the woods pushing the Engineers puck through and around the barn. Those falling back were met by the front the 15th Germans who disregarded the remaining 3rd Swiss and moved towards the barn. The Wizard took a few pot shots at the 15th Germans, but suicide being the better part of the valor in this battle, Took the truck parked at the farmhouse, and with the Alphorn, St. Bernard, a pickaxe, and the 3rd Swiss Officer, floored it towards the 15th. The Germans were crafty and succeeded in jumping on the floorboards of the truck and in brutal hand to hand took out the alphorn and the officer. The 3rd Swiss was officially routed and the Wizard pulled a bootlegger reverse and floored it towards the undefended woods.

(A Wizard and His Dog, in a Stolen Toffee Truck)

 As the wizard left, both sides pulled their trump cards: The Irish had been alerted that the Germans had raided the shrine of some Irish gold being stored there and sent a unit to “collect” it. They arrived from the south near the farmhouse, jumped the stone fence and laid a beating on the 15th Germans. The Engineers were still out of luck, as the Germans had hired some mercenary Aussie Cav, who proceeded to charge over the fence and assault the remains of the Swiss.

At this point, we decided to wrap up the battle. The Irish, who managed to bloody their shillelaghs on Germans and Australians prevented the Germans from achieving a complete victory. Both the Swiss 3rd and 3rd Engineers survived to able to fight in future scenarios. The German advance would continue…