The Great War, Contemptible Little Armies, 28mm

The next week witnessed another biggie. We fought over our newly-built First World War terrain – my 28mm Germans to be pitted against Dougie Trail’s French in a Verdun game. the Germans were attacking, and launched their assault in two waves, preceded by a short artillery barrage. The game was set around the Meunier trench line, the French route forward to reach the German-held Fort Douamont.Capturing the trench line would improve the German hold on the nearby fort. which was a few hundred yards off the left side of the German start line at “The Devil’s Trench”. In mid April the Meunier trench was held by elements of the 36th Regiment, while the German attackers were all sturm-trained granadiers from the 12th Grenadier Regiment.  When the attack began the French machine guns began causing casualties from the start, but the fire really increased once we reached their side of the table.While most of the first wave managed to get itself pinned down or wiped out, the Sturmbattalione on the German left flank managed to reach the French redoubt there, and captured it in hand-to-hand fighting. The second wave exploited this success, and although the French were fighting back with vigour, the redoubt remained securely in German hands at the end of the game. So, the game was a fairly emphatic GErman victory. No doubt though, the poilus will soon launch a counter-attack…We used Chris Peers’ Contemptible Little Armies, which may be ridiculously simple, but they always produce an enjoyable game. When we counted up the casualties, it turned out the Germans took about 50% losses – some companies were even wiped out to a man. However, they did manage to capture and hold a few square feet of French mud, which, after all, was what it was all about

Tags: Contemptible Little Armies