The Adventures of Kampfgruppe Klink

Started by bigjackmac, 31 December 2014, 05:05:18 AM

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bigjackmac

Thanks everyone!

Just a flesh wound...

V/R,
Jack

bigjackmac

All,

Time to get KG Klink back into action! Following their blitzkriegs through Poland and France, they've been up to a whole lot of nothing. They're lost combat action was May of 1940, stemming an Allied counterattack near Abbeville; after that they pulled back to refit, then sat on the perimeter of Dunkirk as the British pulled off one of the most successful (if not the most successful) retrograde actions in the history of warfare. They held fast on the coast for awhile, then moved south for the parade through Paris. After that they prepared for Operation Sealion, but it never came, so mostly they've been sitting on their butts, chasing dames, drinking too much, and getting soft.

But the Kampfgruppe is once again gearing up for war; in October 1940, their Italian Fascist allies invaded Greece and, being Italian, were quickly stymied, and a Greek counterattack in March 1941 was causing some real embarrassment for Il Duce, and thus, the German dictator. So Operation Marita was dreamt up, a German invasion of Greece to bail their Italian cousins out of trouble. KG Klink was tabbed to be a part of that, and so they're on the move, leaving sunny France for frigid Bulgaria, where they will soon be pushing south into Greece, to face British, Australian, and New Zealand troops hoping to stem the tide.

So, I'm doing things a bit different this time: rather than play out my 'normal' string of somewhat linked games in a linear-timeline fashion, this time I'm going to play out a mini-campaign inspired by Peter over at his blog, here:
https://gridbasedwargaming.blogspot.com/2019/08/ww2-mini-campaign-begins.html

So, copying Peter's style, I went and made myself up a handy-dandy mini-campaign map:



Here are my German (blue) and Commonwealth (red) 'counters.'

I'm playing solo using Too Fat Lardies' Chain of Command, modified a bit.  I've bumped it up a level (using multi-based stands, not individual troops), I simplified fire and melee combat, and morale (5Core concepts, as always), as well as movement (I like dicing for movement, but it significantly slows things down for me).  I changed the CoC Dice so that it represents indirect supporting fires from Higher HQ, and I did away with the Patrol Phase.  I love the Patrol Phase, but it doesn't work for me playing solo, so what I do is designate an attacker and a defender; both sides start completely off table, using their Command Dice to deploy on table (as normal), but where it differs is that I basically give the defender a deployment area of half the table, and he can deploy anywhere in that area, even dug in, so long as it's at least 6" from any attacker.

If you're now wondering, then, why do I still call these rules "Chain of Command," it's because the entire game revolves around the use of Chain of Command's brilliant activation system (command roll/Command Dice), the use of leaders' command initiative, and the 'Force Morale' concept of declining Command Dice and morale to breaking.  To me, that's the heart of the system, and it makes for a fun game.

There's a bunch more data on the forces and the campaign rules I'm using here:
https://blackhawkhet.blogspot.com/2020/03/kg-klink-campaign-plan-for-greece-april.html

And here are the first two campaign moves/turns, leading us up to the first fight of the campaign:
https://blackhawkhet.blogspot.com/2020/03/kg-klink-mini-campaign-in-greece-map_26.html

So stand by, fight number 1 of 10 will be posted Monday.

V/R,
Jack

paulr

I'll be watching this with interest

The father of one of our regular group was involved in the campaign

We have fought a similar campaign at a higher level using the Spearhead rules

As I live in Wellington I'll be keeping a close eye on the progress of the "Wellington Company" 19th New Zealand Infantry Battalion
Lord Lensman of Wellington
2018 Painting Competition - Runner-Up!
2022 Painting Competition - Runner-Up!
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Techno

Looking good, Jack !  :)

Cheers - Phil

Duke Speedy of Leighton

Love the idea, await results with interest
You may refer to me as: Your Grace, Duke Speedy of Leighton.
2016 Pendraken Painting Competion Participation Prize  (Lucky Dip Catagory) Winner

bigjackmac

27 March 2020, 01:39:06 PM #230 Last Edit: 27 March 2020, 03:19:01 PM by bigjackmac
Thanks fellas, glad you like the concept!

Paul - No kidding!?  That's pretty cool!  But I have some bad news: in this campaign the concept is that they've already seen some heavy action and suffered quite a lot of casualties, so at this point they are a scratch force rear echelon types thrown together as a last resort.  I'm sorry man, that's just what I got out of scenario book; if I'd have known there was a personal connection I'd have made them the most powerful unit in the campaign!  And I can't change it at this point, I've already played all ten games.

If I recall correctly, they're only in one tabletop fight, probably the last one, and they give a decent account of themselves, for what they're up against.  A bit of foreshadowing for the campaign: the Germans win ;)

V/R,
Jack

Ace of Spades

Good to see they're moving again.
Looking forward to follow their exploits again!

Cheers,
Rob
2014 Painting Competition - Runner-Up!

paulr

No problem Jack, the ANZACs are pretty used to getting the sh*tty end of the stick
Lord Lensman of Wellington
2018 Painting Competition - Runner-Up!
2022 Painting Competition - Runner-Up!
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bigjackmac

Rob -Coming up, right away!

Paul - Indeed! ;)

V/R,
Jack

bigjackmac

All,

Afternoon, 10 April 1941

Here we are, the inaugural battle of Kampfgruppe Klink's campaign in Greece.  A little background, first: the German invasion of Greece was known as "Operation Marita," and commenced on 6 April 1941, finishing up on 30 April 1941.  Following the Fall of France, KG Klink got to lounge around a bit in the French countryside.  Then, as the seaborne invasion of the United Kingdom (the proposed "Operation Sealion") was contemplated, they got to do some amphibious training and lounge about the French coastline.  As that died down they were given a brief home leave, then set about conducting an intense training program to prepare them for 'something big out east.'  As this was occurring, the Italians decided to up and invade Greece in 1940, and they were roughly handled, suffering greatly during the winter and into the new year, at which point the German High Command decided (was told) they needed to formulate plans to go pull Il Duce's chestnuts out of the fire, hastened by the UK's decision to reinforce Greece with Commonwealth infantry and armor in March 1941.

KG Klink was moved east, first to Romania, then on to Bulgaria, where they sat out the fighting in Yugoslavia.  They also sat out the initial invasion, the breech of the Greek defenses on the Metaxas Line, and then of the Commonwealth defenses at the Aliakmon Line, before being committed.  They fairly cruised along until reaching the area in and around Veroia, at which time they ran into strong, though hastily organized, Commonwealth infantry and armored elements which had re-formed there.  KG Klink's involvement in the Fall of Greece revolves entirely around the operations to break the Commonwealth defenses in and around Veroia, with the objective being the investment of Servia and its key mountain pass.

The first battle sees Captain Freitag's 1st Schutzen Battlegroup advancing on a key mountain crossroads manned by members of the British Royal Engineers supported by Armored Cavalry from New Zealand.


Overview, north is left.  The Germans will be entering from the north and attacking south, where the Commonwealth forces will be defending, able to emplace anywhere from their baseline up to the east-west running road.  The road is improved (at least in terms of 1941 Greece), there is a small hamlet consisting of three stone buildings at center, a few patches of trees scattered about, but the dominant terrain feature is the hilltops dotting the countryside (clockwise from left): Hill 189 (left), Hill 234 (top left), Hill 320 (top right), and Hill 415 (bottom right).

I'm playing with very simple terrain so that I can lay it down and scrape it up as quickly as possible, to get in a lot of games as quickly as possible.

I'm playing solo using Too Fat Lardies' Chain of Command, modified a bit.  I've bumped it up a level (using multi-based stands, not individual troops), I simplified fire and melee combat, and morale (5Core concepts, as always), as well as movement (I like dicing for movement, but it significantly slows things down for me).  I changed the CoC Dice so that it represents indirect supporting fires from Higher HQ, and I did away with the Patrol Phase.  I love the Patrol Phase, but it doesn't work for me playing solo, so what I do is designate an attacker and a defender; both sides start completely off table, using their Command Dice to deploy on table (as normal), but where it differs is that I basically give the defender a deployment area of half the table, and he can deploy anywhere in that area, even dug in, so long as it's at least 6" from any attacker.

If you're now wondering, then, why do I still call these rules "Chain of Command," it's because the entire game revolves around the use of Chain of Command's brilliant activation system (command roll/Command Dice), the use of leaders' command initiative, and the 'Force Morale' concept of declining Command Dice and morale to breaking.  To me, that's the heart of the system, and it makes for a fun game.


The opposing forces, with Germans on the left and Commonwealth on the right.

Battlegroup Freitag (AKA, 1st Schutzen): consists of the CO stand, two rifle platoons (a Platoon Commander and four rifle squads, each), a weapons platoon (Platoon Commander, two MG-34s, and two 80mm mortars), and a platoon of three Stug-IIIs.

The Commonwealth force: Royal Engineers and New Zealand Cavalry
Commanding Officer: Major Butler, R.E.
Armored Car Platoon from the New Zealand Cavalry (two w/Bren, one with 2-pdr gun)
British Royal Engineer Platoon (Platoon Commander and three Engineer Squads)
Weapons Platoon (Platoon Commander, two Vickers MGs, and two 3" mortars)

I'm playing these games in 10mm using figures from Pendraken and Minifigs UK, roads from Fat Frank, hills from Warzone, buildings from Crescent Root, rivers from Wargamers Terrain, and trees from Gunner at Signifer.


As German infantry move on Hill 415, a spotting round from one of their 8.0cm mortars fall a little short...


Commonwealth defensive positions in the village are under heavy fire from German heavy weapons and now the 2nd Germany infantry platoon is closing on them.


The Germans take the village!


While the Vickers MGs are engaging the Germans coming up Hill 415.


And one of the Stugs is knocked out!

To see how the fight went, please check the blog at:
https://blackhawkhet.blogspot.com/2020/03/kg-klink-in-greece-fight-1.html

Next up, Captain Freitag and his men are right back in the thick of it, taking on some Kiwis to take a bridge.

V/R,
Jack

paulr

Typical, those bloody poms have no bottle ;)

And where's the RAF when you need them

:-bd =D> :-bd
Lord Lensman of Wellington
2018 Painting Competition - Runner-Up!
2022 Painting Competition - Runner-Up!
2023 Painting Competition - Runner-Up!

pierre the shy

Fantastic stuff there Jack, as always  :-bd

Thought there was going to be a "Rourkes Drift" moment by those Royal Engineers in the central farm for a while, but they chose to head for the hills instead (mind you the Zulu's didn't have Stug III's in support..... ;))

I see from the completed map on your blog that you are saving the best for last.....the Wellington Company of 19th Battalion at Servia (square E8) are apparently going to be the rearguard?

Look forward to the next 9 games.....Kia Kaha (be strong).

All the best
Peter

 
Though much is taken, much abides; and though
we are not now that strength which in old days
moved earth and heaven, that which we are, we are.

Techno


Steve J

Lovely looking game Jack 8). I shall follow this campaign with interest.

Duke Speedy of Leighton

That's a great report, really well written.
I thought the hill was going to hold after the initial burst!  :'( ;D
You may refer to me as: Your Grace, Duke Speedy of Leighton.
2016 Pendraken Painting Competion Participation Prize  (Lucky Dip Catagory) Winner