THE GREAT SWAN 2021: A Rapid Fire Scenario and test play report

 

 

Well I've had a marvelous weekend playing a wargame at my good mate Grant's place which is the third game this year - something of a record for me. It was time for another bash at WW2 20mm Rapid Fire wargaming and this time it was my turn to develop the scenario. I went to a game which represented the challenges faced by the Allied tip of the spear in 1944 following the defeat of the Germans in Normandy. This was an invented scenario for an imaginary contact during the Great Swan of 1944 - the break-out and skirmish run toward Antwerp.

I had taken some time to develop the scenario and Grant and I have been developing some mechanisms to enhance our Rapid Fire wargaming. This time Grant (the German commander) had to scratch together an ad-hoc battle-group to hold off the British armoured thrust long enough to allow retreating units to escape to his rear across an imagined river crossing. His mission was one of delay and he got victory points for how long he could hold on and how many of my units he could 'knock'.

My task (British armoured commander) was to push as fast and as hard as I could to secure the crossing to his rear. The board was long and I had some distance to cover. I also had severe fuel issues which was to plague me throughout the game.

We started with 3 turns of night movement, 12 turns of daylight following by a couple of turns of failing light. If the Germans could hold me off to night-fall the game would run into a second full day with a minor resupply occurring overnight.

The table-top by game's end

This fully detailed scenario is downloadable from my Google Docs account via the link below. Some features worth mentioning are the German creation of the ground to fight over and the Allied player's d6 number of features which may be added, subtracted or moved. The Germans had sever shortages of ammo and fuel (diced for) as well as a 1in6 chance of each element not even making it to the battleground - being lost or destroyed on the way. The effects of adverse weather conditions diced for twice daily had the potential to affect the battle - particularly air cover.

OUR TABLE-TOP

Grant did a bang-up job setting the table up - 6' by over 12' (2 meters by nearly 5 meters). The ground was covered with three Cigar Box game mats draped over a series of XPS foam hills of two heights. Dressed with home made hedges, some raised and walled fields and a scattering of trees, it had only a small hamlet of four buildings and a single dwelling at a bridge crossing.

KICK-OFF

From the very start the dice-Gods abandoned Grant. He failed to get three elements into the game (probably due to the perfidious French Resistance). I later learnt it included both of his MG groups and his only Recce unit - so No Man's Land was up for grabs. He also rolled poorly for some of his ammunition allocations including his Infantry Gun which rolled one shot only - ouch.

First kill of the day, the German A/C got brewed up before it could fire a shot.

I had some unfortunately low fuel rolls for several key vehicles and before too long I had tanks and infantry groups grinding to a halt on the sides of the only road into the action. Night turns only permitted half movement so I had to decide weather I wanted to waste what turns of fuel I had on mere half-moves. This made for a crawling start for me. What was worse, my observer team rolled badly and got delayed, becoming the very last unit to enter play. By the end of the game, they never managed to get into position to call any fire down from my battery of Sextons.

We used poker chips to represent our elements until they are observed and the scenario allowed half as many false or dummy markers. I also used red poker chips to represent running out of fuel. I did have a fuel resupply truck in my force which proved vital and effective but in the end over a game this size, it couldn't be everywhere it was needed - alas. At least when the M3 Half Tracks conked out the infantry could take to their feet and keep pressing forward.

The brewed-up White Scout Car was in the end my only vehicle loss - by some miracle. Grant continued to roll like the Mary Rose and whilst he managed to hit three of my tanks several times throughout the game he was hopeless when it came to rolling for damage. It really was extra-ordinary. What made it worse for him was that I failed to live up to the Unlucky General name and I rolled all day like a legend.

Tally Ho! Johnny Rocket-Pants to the rescue

My dice luck had the biggest effect through the skies. Grant rolled twice for clear weather and I had invested in two sorties for a Typhoon with a total of six rockets. Grant had no air cover and no flak so my aircraft buzzed here and there with total impunity. It picked off targets with alarming regularity and accuracy. I hit everything I pretty much aimed at and my Typhoon took out two of the three Marders in play and stripped off two gun crews. That pilot deserved a VC!

The Germans would have been justified in turning to despair but they valiantly fought and perished by the inch. A couple of times accurate smoke rounds foiled both sides attempts at inflicting too much damage at key moments in the game. I think the final insult to the Germans skill at arms was when Grant laid down a withering fire on an advancing company of infantry inflicting three casualties only to see them all pass their saving throws thanks to an attached medic - the only one in the game.

By turn 15 it was all over. The Germans had suffered catastrophic casualties compared to the British force. The Germans routed from the field having gained a Victory Point for each turn after turn 12 (3) but none for enemy units broken. They went into severe negatives due to their own losses and of course they lost control of the crossing leaving the way open for the British. The Allied player gained no Victory Points for swiftly securing the crossroads as the game passed turn 12. They did gain possession of the Crossroad in the end; however, with no units lost and inflicted multiple unit losses on the enemy. It proved in the end to be a decisive Allied victory.

 

In summary, the Germans failed when they did due to awful luck and my own conspicuous good fortune. In just one more turn the game would have moved into low light conditions. The Germans only just missed out on the cover of darkness, a resupply and a second day of fighting. I struggled constantly with fuel issues and we both felt the scenario really added the right flavour to the situation we were trying to recreate. If we had the time we definitely would have liked to have played it through a second time and believe it's an effective scenario where either side is capable of stealing victory.

The Great Swan Scenario