The East Bay Armchair Generals

	East Bay Armchair Generals
	Photos of 12/2/06 Meeting


Quatre Bras, June 16, 1815, in 28mm This was a playtest of the great "what if Ney had gotten to Quatre Bras earlier in the day and was able to force Wellington to come to him" game to be offered at The Shield Conference in February. Allan Fan was game master and provider of the figures. A minimum amount of terrain was brought up since his wife forced him to drive the Jag instead of the family van. ;-) The battle was played with the Age of Eagles rules set written by Colonel (Ret) Bill Grey, (Bill used to game actively in the SF Bay Area in the early 1980s with Eddie Birsan, Fred Avener, Charlie Tarbox, as well countless gamers and AF.) Since this was an intro game to familiarize players with the basic mechanics of the rules set, each player was given a division to run with consisted of at least two brigades and one battery. This provided for a much faster paced game and offered players the opportunity to concentrate on using the system more often. In the end, the great question was finally answered. The British were able to force the French out of Quatre Bras and again present a threat to Napoleon's left flank.		Raid on Barce--A WWII Rapid Fire game in 20mm This scenario is based on the scenario of the same name in the original Rapid Fire rulebook--but with a few nasty twists provided by hosts Steve Marsh and Richard Pullin. The Long Range Desert Group (LRDG) attack an Italian airfield and town behind the front lines. The Barce raid was historically the only successful one (of four) planned for the night of September 13-14, 1942. What follows is a blow-by-blow report of the game by Richard Pullin. During the wee-dark hours, Major Jake Easonsmith, followed by Lt. Nick Wilder of NZ patrol LRDG and Sgt. Dennis of the Guards Patrol, drove boldly into downtown (as such - Barce). Their mission was to hit the Regia Aeronautica for a 'six,' and by God they did it in style! With engines at full throttle they madly dashed down the Via Balbia, passing the empty gunpit at the railway station to the T-junction. Turning right up the main Barce road, the convoy headed for the airfield. Because they were driving fast without lights, some breakdows were expected: 2 jeeps were put out of action, one temporarily, the other permanently. The crew of the jeep that broke-down at the railway station jumped out with their machine-guns and reconnoitered the station. Not much there at that time of night. More about this later. But to the main group. The sentries at the barracks were obviously not sleeping, as a really good die roll allowed then to detect the raiders rushing up the main street. But what to do? Some ineffective rifle fire spat out, but without effect. The officer of the watch was a bright fellow; he rushed to the guard house and telephoned the town commander to warn him. This took a while, as the Kommandant was a sound sleeper. The second jeep that got stuck got help from the following vehicle and was soon on it's way. But a lucky shot from the barracks killed a front gunner on one of the Chevy trucks. In the meantime, the truck with satchel charges let one crew off, and he headed off at full tilt towards the Italian headquarters. He then placed the charges, pulled the firing pins, and scampered to safety. Rejoining his truck, the lot of them set off towards the airfield. By now the convoy had slowed down & some snoring Italian blackshirts didn't even hear them pass. (Much muttering was heard from Steve Marsh, the Italian player, as to his rotten die rolling powers.) The LRDG approached the main gate to the airfield, and, wonder of wonders--the gate was completely unguarded. So they drove straight in and started a rain of destruction with their machine-guns. Stopping at each aircraft in turn, the raiders subjected each to heavy automatic fire. After a few attempts all the aircraft (5 in this game) were well and truly ablaze! To add to the party, the Satchel charges at the HQ building went off spectacularly (read a very good die roll by Manny) and the building disintegrated into a dust-covered ruin. The Italian trucks behind the HQ were by this time being moved to form a roadblock should the raiders return back the same way. Now to the raiders' escape. The remaining jeeps proceeded to the 'crash gates' and got them open for a speedy withdrawl. As this was happening, another company of Blackshirt infantry opened up from a hill that the LRDG had to pass. But true to Italian form, they couldn't hit a thing. So they came swarming down the hill out of their trenches, and got promptly chewed up by multiple machine-gun fire. (At this point, one had to feel very sorry for the Italians.) The men of the LRDG drove off into the night, their mission accomplished with very few casualties! As a footnote, the jeep crew that checked out the railway station shot up some of the railway carriages, but didn't damage them significantly. They scampered away as 2 light tankettes (L3's) made their late appearance. But the irony was that without lights, the men on foot were able to evade even these mechanical beasts. They set off back down the road to the rendezvous point to await the others. Aftermath: the Barce Kommandant chose to end his life via his own Beretta pistol rather than face a court martial. The verdict would have been damning anyway! Cele Vie! The LRDG had scored a major victory and the Regia Aeronautica would no longer be the scourge of the African skies!

Initial game set up. The French to the right, the Dutch/Allies to the left in rolling terrain. Once clear of the hills, Allied units are visible to the French. The hills were placed by measurements generated from die rolls.	Perponcher's 2nd Dutch-Belgium Division sets up protecting the Brussels road from any future French advance.	3rd Dutch Belgium Calvary Brigade deploys and prepares to force the French divisions to go into square.	Foy's 9th division awaits the Allies advance.	Perponcher advances on the French left flank to prevent it from falling back into or reinforcing Quatre Bras.
Jerome's 6th Division sets up at the crossroads. Only two stands out of his division are given a modifier of occupying a build up area. The rest of his units are considered to be in open terrain. The buildings do obstruct line-of-sight.	Kellerman's deploys L'Heritier's 11th Calvary Division in reserve. He positions Guiton's Heavy Cavalry on the east side of Quatre Bras as corps reserve. Picquet's heavy brigade is deployed on the French right flank to prevent any British breakthrough. Reille deploys Piere's 2nd Cavalry Division on the French left to screen the Hautain LeVal Road with a mission to force the Allies to slow down or go into square.	Anticipating a move to cut off Quatre Bras from Ligny, Bachelu deploys on the Ligny Road in the sunken road area (trees were used to indicate some sort of feature that would provide them with a terrain advantage). The remainder of Jerome's division fills in on his left flank to the crossroads.	Merlen's 3rd Dutch-Belgium Cavalry Brigade finally enters (it was delayed by terrible roads and failure to make its reserve roll).	Turn 3: Perponcher has split his Division with a brigade on both sides of Waterloo-Quatre Bras road to prepare for a passage of lines as the British start to arrive.
Ney has decided not to lead from the front but rather maintain command control of his far-flung Corps. (Another view of the $1.00 buildings)	L'Heritier receives orders to move to cover the French left flank since Guiton's brigade is advancing to slow down the Allies coming down the Hautain LeVal Road.	Perponcher sets up and prepares to soften up the French inside Quatre Bras.	Picton's 5th British division finally arrives (a series of missed reserve die rolls) and move quickly towards Quatre Bras.	Bylandt charges forward to pin the French left to prevent it from covering Quatre Bras. However, a determined stand by the French and two batteries spitting canister force the Dutch back.
The British right flank is forced back from the Hautain LeVal Road.	Hubert's Light Cavalry Brigade takes a breakthrough move and passes the fleeing Dutch-Belgium brigade.	Ney orders Picquet forward eliminate the threat of a possible Dutch cavalry/infantry charge into the gap between Jerome and Bacheleu's divisions.	Picton's division is forced to deploy further back from Quatre Bras then they had intended. The 2nd French Cavalry Division has done its job.	Piere moves his cavalry division forward to slow down the Allies and force units into square. He is reinforced with Guiton's heavy brigade.
The Allies successfully hold off the attack and the remnants of Guiton's brigade are forced back.	Hubert's Light Cavalry Brigade recovers and prepares to charge Picton's exposed batteries.	Wathier's Light Lancer Cavalry Brigade prepares to ride over the 4th Hanoverian Brigade.	Cooke's 1st Division charges into Quatre Bras but is forced back.	The victorious French cavalry prepare to charge Saxe-Weimar and Merlen's light cavalry brigade from the rear.
The Allies charge again into Quatre Bras this time with Wellington leading the attack.	The French light cavalry brigade is pushed back by the Pack's 9th Brigade.	Having brushed aside the charge of the French Light Brigade, Picton moves forward, and forces Foy to turn his left flank to face the Allies.	Maitland smashes into Bachelu's Division.	Brunswick finally arrives (darn die rolls) and prepares to assault the French Corp's rear area.
The KGL smash through Quatre Bras, finally driving out the French.	Picton's Division finally reaches Quatre Bras and forcing the French back as they are attacked from two flanks.	It is a sticky situation as Saxe-Weimar recovers morale and turns to face the French cavalry brigade. In the meantime, British artillery is able to score a beautiful flank shot.	The remainder of Foy's division is crushed between Picton's and Alten's division.	LRDG raid on Barce, 1942, in 20mm. The town of Barce sleeps, not aware of the impending LRDG raid.
A view of sleepy Barce from the Italian airfield.	Barce barracks. Its Italian defenders are still abed.	The Arab quarter of Barce.	Trenches on high ground overlooking the airfield.	Barce airfield, with Italian aircraft, quonset hut, and unguarded (!) main gate.
A view of Barce through the airfield's main gate.	Two Italian aircraft at rest.	Mighty Italian biplanes.	The action begins: LRDG raiders advance through Barce towards the airfield.	The raiders creep along...
The LRDG drive straight through the airfield's main gate. It was unguarded; the Italian commander later shot himself.	The Italian garrison begins to stir as gunshots fill the night air.	This Italian trimotor is a juicy target that just can't be ignored.	Some blasts from machine-guns end the career of this bomber.	LRDG forces fan out over the airport, sewing havoc.
Kaboom! Scratch another Italian biplane.	Raiders calmly pour fire into a stationary fighter until the flames burst forth.	The raiders have burnt the lot!	Finding a hasty exit point from the airfield.	Escape to the desert. A successful raid comes to a close.
The Italians react so slowly.	But the raiders have suffered some light casualties. Here's a disabled jeep.	But the worst calamity for the garrison is the loss of the local bordello. This is, as they say, a "low blow."