Return to the Isonzo - battle

 

From Divisional HQ, Hotel Supremo (5*), Venice

Commander, there have been logistical issues…

Would you prefer the mules to bring forward:

The mountain artillery

or

The HMG company ...

 

 

Bombardment phase

 The Italian shells spread Gas around the bunker beneath HILL 103 and south of the Table.

The Austrian HE fell in front of COPSE A

The attack followed with the Alpini scaling the left flank and the Arditi assaulting the Table.  Excellent Italian artillery fire silenced the defenders on the ridge line.

Both sides  used gas, and the assault was pressed home in very limited visibility.

The table was captured, but the ridge reamined in Austrian hands.  Time for Christmas cake and wine.

The battlefield was a source of great interest to the Kat - scale 1:1

Return to the Isonzo: Orders and recce

 Before playing the floor game, the campaign was played online, with taskings and orders and aero recce;

Italian Briefing

Situation -

You are commanding a Brigade of Mountain troops - the Arditi and Alpini are rated excellent, the Infantry average.

OOB 

HQ

1 x Arditi Battalion – 2 x Independent Coys

1 x Alpini Battalion – can scale the flanks

1 x Infantry Battalion

1 x Battery light artillery – 2 x light gun with mules

3 x turns of heavy artillery pre - bombardment including gas – 4 tubes in total

1 x turn of bombardment after Zero Hour

 OBJECTIVE

 To capture 'The Table' and hold it.  If possible - capture HILL 103.

 Intelligence assessment

 The SOFA is held by a Battalion of the KUK.  There is a possible local reserve and artillery support.  The enemy is entrenched, and holds ‘The Table’.  He also has depth positions which are entrenched and which cover the flanks.  The flank below HILL 103 is scalable for the Alpini.  

 The attached photo is taken from Copse B - your current forward HQ and viewpoint.

 TASKINGS

 1.   Please nominate three photographs to be taken by aviation tomorrow.  

 when received, please nominate 

 2.  Preliminary bombardment targets

 3.  Please provide orders for the Brigade, and your own initial position and future intent.

 

Austrian Briefing

Situation

You are commanding a Battalion of Mountain troops, supported by a Platoon of Assault troops - all are rated excellent.

Italian start line

OOB 

HQ – currently at HILL 103

1 x Battalion – currently 1 x Coy at the TABLE, and 1 x Coy on the ridge line HILL 103 – HILL 130

1 x Assault Platoon – in Reserve

1 x MG Coy – 2 x mg – in bunkers below at HILL 103 and HILL 130  - connecting with the first and second Company.

OP – at HILL 130 with comms to the Artillery and all positions

 2 x Heavy Artillery – behind the lines + OP

 2 x turns of disruptive fire including gas – 2 tubes in total

1 x turn of bombardment after Zero Hour

 OBJECTIVE

 To defeat the Italian advance and hold 'The Table'.

 Intelligence assessment

 The Italians have built up their forces along the wood line A – B - C. An offensive is imminent.  Intelligence assesses the enemy to contain elite Alpini and Arditi units.

 The attached photos are taken from HILL 130 and HILL 103 - your personal current HQ and viewpoint.

 TASKINGS

 1.   Please nominate three photographs to be taken by aviation tomorrow.  

 when received, please nominate 

 2.  Preliminary bombardment targets

3.  Please provide orders for the Battalion, and your own initial position and future intent.

 

 

Return to the Isonzo

 Winter Quarters in FLW land is filled with the Campaign books and other editing questions, but there is room for a winter game or two.  In 2020 we played a game set in the 'immobile' front; the Alps in 1916/1917.  And the hope is to return again, in the coming weeks.

The original game was a mini campaign, and TG and JW faced off (virtually) as the Italian and Austro Hungarian armies.  Like many of our 'Big War' (HG's description of the Great War) it was palyed in three phases;

• Aviation recce
• Bombardment
• Attack

The sceanrio.  

Winter, 1917, and the stalemate continues on the immobile front.  The Italian army is expected to launch an offensive to capture the SOFA mountain - peaks 130, 103 and 113, a fortified mountain peak that would allow the Italian army to have an undisputed field of fire towards the Austrian road network beyond the mountain below. 

The Italians have the men, the Austro-Hungarians the summits.

The Austrian front line

The Front runs from HILL 130 – across the valley to the feature called ‘the Table/La Tavola/Der Tisch’ and runs up to HILL 113 at the south of the perimeter.  HILL 103 is on the opposite side of the valley to HILL 13O, and is the central high point of the mountain.

 

Please note HILL 130 &c are 130cm above floor level.  SOFA montain is a sofa.  The Table is so called because it is a table. The tree line stops here.

 

View from 130

View from 103

The Italian Front Line

 The Italian front line runs along the tree line A – B – C.

View from 'B'

The briefing will follow ...

 

 

 

 

The Railway Strike

I was delighetd to find this piece about the 1911 Railway strike:

https://www.world-of-railways.co.uk/news/modelling-the-first-rail-strike-of-1911/

Railway strikes - the great labour unrest 1911 - 1913

 The new edition of FLW situates the original Little Wars in the context of 1913, and the background of strikes, the Home Rule crisis and the shadow of the Great War.

The uniforms of the British army in this period are fascinating - a fusion of service dress and ceremonial headdress.  I have done some research at Kew to see if any specific orders were issued, and to date have not uncovered any information in the 'Aid to Civil Powers' papers.

I found this splendid photo of a Fusilier battalion on duty;

In FLW the Guards are pictured on duty at a station:

 https://www.lulu.com/en/us/shop/paul-holcroft-wright/funny-little-wars/paperback/product-5m6ng6.html?page=1&pageSize=4

Little Campaigns - Volume 2 of FLW - or Garden Kriegspiel ...

 The Spring has arrived, and  Garden Kriegspiel is nearing completion.  This will be the updated version of Little Campaigns, and will bring HG's Kriegspiel annotations to life.  It is time for more photographs in the garden.

As this is a Wellsian Kriegspiel (using HG's spelling, lest the purists and linguists complain) it will feature Army Black as the main illustrations. But there will be a return to the Army Red of 1900 - 1913 - on campaign on the Veldt.

Elastolin Castles will feature, and the book will open with a night at the Opera - Wagner. of course ...

                                    

Holding the line - rules

 The rule paly test has involved one Battalion with supporting arms, facing a Company across 'no mans land.'

Terrain

We have played a numebr of trench games outdoors - usually based on Brigade ++ attackes.  One of the difficult things to simulate outdoors is the narrowness and claustraphobia of trench warfare.  A walk around the preserved trenches in Ypres gives a real feeling for this.  Lord Reith described trench warfare as standing in a narrow, deep, ditch in a field.

The terrain in this game is designed to replicate the narrowness of trench warfare, and the general lack of visibility.

Night fighting

Most of the action took place at night, and the rules used the HG type screen - and party popper for flares.

This seemed to work well.

Summary

This was an interesting play test for a small scale campaign, at battalion and company level.  Thansk to the two Pals commanders, TG and JW.  On the German side, it was fairly busy, but on balance, much better than being down south, in Verdun ...

'It will all be over by Christmas'

Hull Commercials - patrol in No man's land

 Hul Commercials - Orders

A COY Frontline Trench

B COY Reserve Trench 

Orders: 

Sentry A3: A. JONES

Sentry B3: A. ANTHONY

Sentry C3: B. WARD

Recce Party: 

D. ALLOT-RAWSON

B. NORFIELD 

B. THOMPSETT 

Listening Post: J. MIMMACK

Recce Route start from A3 then make observations from the crater line at B6, then head back to WELLS STREET at B3

The Padre will remind them of the 11th Commandment  Though shalt not get caught.

Observations to focus on intersection of A7 and B8

 As darkness falls, Corporal Allot-Rawson leads the patrol over the bags!

The patrol creeps forward on turns 2 and 3, going prone as a star shell lands.  On turn 4 they appraoch the large shell crater, and bump straight into a German patrol ...

 

The Hull Commercials 

The Hull Commercials go left, the Germans go left - in the darkness - but the outer men clash.  Norfield is wounded - and a general melee ensues.

 Allott Rawson injuries the German patrol leader, but both he and Thompsett are killed.

Both open up with machine gun and trench mortar fire.  Norfield makes it back and is recovered by the Stretcher Bearers - but a stray mortar round wounds the Company Commander, Major Moore - who is taken to the RAP.

All quiet for the rest of the evening...

Hull Comercials - into the line

 The Knuston Pals say cheerio, for now, as they head off for Gwalia farm, near Poperinge.  

They are relived by the 15th (Service) Battalion of the East Yorkshire Regiment (5th Hull Pals, Commercials) who will now 'hold the line' for the coming weeks ...

Holding the line - the raid - follow up

The stretcher party and the Padre went out to find the CSM.  This had to be completed in five game turns; with an alert defeneder firing star shells.  

The stretcher bearers were pinned down on turn 3, and had to retreat  -with one wounded.  CSM King is officialy posted as missing.

Intelligence from from the prisoner - the opposition sector is manned by the 2nd Battalion of the Princess Hohenzollern-Simaringen- Anspach Regiment.  Morale is high!

The Knuston Pals rotation is complete and they will now hand over to the Hull Commercials.  From the original 20, four are dead, one wounded and one missing.  Attached arms have two wounded.

Holding the line - the raid - and recovery

 The raiders went in and captured the sentry - no noise - and so CSM King led the party into the German trench ... so far the raiders have complete surprise.

Turning from the sap, into the trench the German sentry was surprised, and an alert sounded - leading to a short and sharp melee...

Two defeneders killed in round 1, and Pte Thomas.  In round 2 more German defenders were appearing, and the raiders were losing their impeteus.  they fell back, loosing Pte Bradbury.   

Collecting the prisoner, there was a dash through 'no man's land' dodging start shells and Mg fire - with CSM King wounded, and left in a shell hole.

There was an exchange of mortar fire, and then all quiet.  A stretcher party will now have to head out and find the CSM.