Rangers Lead the Way: The Push on Ponte Dirillo in Chain of Command v2

Not too long ago, after my Rangers had scouted the Italians' forward positions near Ponte Dirillo and tested their strength (Rangers Lead the Way: US Forces push out of Gela at Ponte Dirillo), the time had come to launch a breakthrough into the defenders' lines with armored support (playing the "Attack and Defend" mission).

A fresh platoon of Darby's Rangers advanced to the attack, supported by an M5 Light Tank and an M8 "Scott" HMC and their patrols soon encountered the Italian outposts, which were identified as belonging to the 4e divisione "Livorno".

The battlefield from the perspective of the advancing Rangers; in the upper left, within the northern sector, the first houses of Ponte Dirillo can be seen.

The "Livorno" patrols try to prevent the Rangers from getting too close to Ponte Dirillo and also aim to deny them the farmstead in the foreground as a secure starting point for their attacks. Consequently, the Ranger patrols work their way forward along the flanks within the plantations.

Both Ranger squads have deployed and immediately take heavy casualties—primarily from the Livorno squad stationed north of the farmstead. Meanwhile, a second Italian squad advances through the date plantation and manages to capture the Rangers' Jump Off Point (JoP) there. However, they are forced to retreat back into the cover of the palms shortly afterward to escape the "Scott's" HE shells. Simultaneously, the M5 succeeds in capturing the Livorno JoP located south of the farmstead.

The "Scott" advances to the edge of the date plantation and covers the Italians with high-explosive fire, yet the following Ranger squad still has to take further losses.

Another Livorno squad advances toward the date plantation to support their already heavily depleted comrades and trying to get the attention of the Rangers.

But it is too late. The Rangers seize the initiative (rolling a double phase), unleash a volley from their Garands followed by a hail of hand grenades, and storm the Italian position, backed by the fire of the "Scott." The Sergente is unluckily clipped on the helmet by a shell fragment and loses consciousness, while the Italian soldiers press themselves deep into every available fold in the ground to escape the firestorm (Pinned). The charging Rangers prove to be too much, and the survivors raise their hands and surrender—for them, the war is over.

Another overview of the situation.

The victorious Rangers dig into the position of the defeated Livorno squad to prepare for a potential counterattack by the fresh squad. However, the Livorno platoon's Tenente—now wounded himself—orders a retreat and is forced to abandon Ponte Dirillo.

Conclusion

As so often, the Patrol Phase tells a story of its own that no other rule system can replicate. You almost never just march onto the table edges and advance toward each other; instead, as seen in this game once again, you suddenly find yourself playing across the narrow flanks. This ensures that no two games are ever alike, even if you were to set up the terrain identically every single time.

The subsequent fight was extremely costly for both sides. Thanks to the Chain of Command points system, it was characterized by a high degree of movement and never degenerated into a static war of attrition, despite the dense terrain that might suggest otherwise.

Ultimately, fortune favored me because Max became laser-focused on capturing my JoP in the date plantation—at that point, I wouldn't have been able to achieve the mission objective of capturing one of the two object markers myself and if he had played a waiting game I would had to go over to the attack and this would have failed I´m very sure.
His impetous attack gave me the chance to defeat him piecemeal and grind down his Force Moral. I was further aided by some terrible dice luck on Max's part, as his leaders were wounded one after another, including one of his two Senior Leaders. Combined with the loss of one of his JoPs, it simply became too much to handle after a while.

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Knights, Danzig, and an Emperor’s Pet Elephant: A Crash Course in Impetus

Not too long ago, Max and I received an exclusive introduction to Impetus at the clubhouse of "Zamgwürfelt" in Munich, hosted by Bernhard and Bernhard, who also provided the miniatures. We played a 400-point game fielding Imperial Germans against the Teutonic Order, the latter reinforced by a contingent of allied troops from Danzig.

True to tradition and ancient custom, the German princes have always preferred to beat each other over the helm with great enthusiasm. Exactly what the dispute was about could no longer be recalled by anyone involved afterwards—only that it crashed and banged thoroughly, leaving more than one rather dented helmet behind on the field of battle.

We were far too busy grappling with the new rules to produce a proper, detailed AAR, so today we are making an exception with just a few photos and commentary.

I promise to do better in the future!

The deployment—Imperial Germans at the bottom, whose left flank I am commanding, and the Teutonic Order at the top, whose left flank Max is leading (in this case, the Danzig contingent).

My command, consisting of light cavalry with crossbows, a unit of crossbowmen, infantry, and two heavy cavalry units.

That lot rolling straight toward me, including heavily armored knight-brethren on horse and on foot... this is going to be so much fun ... 👀

The men of Danzig march up with flying banners and standards.

Center and right flank of the Imperial Germans—perhaps a bit dry to look at, but solid blocks of infantry and cavalry. The elephant is the Emperor's pet and did not participate in the fight 😂

I try to maneuver into favorable positions to prevent the knight-brethren from deploying their full force and to weaken them with ranged fire beforehand; otherwise, things promised to turn quite ugly for my troops.

Meanwhile, the units in our center and right flank are deploying as well.

My cavalry secures the hollow way through which enemy cavalry can only approach single-file. My crossbowmen are supposed to drive the skirmishers out of the wheat field so they can target the dismounted knights, while the heavy infantry provides cover.

The Danzig forces charge headlong and recklessly straight into our infantry...

... and pull off a breakthrough!

The cavalry on our right wing immediately finds itself in trouble as the Danzig troops ruthlessly exploit their success.

The knight-brethren charge; I counterattack and manage to push them back, but that’s about it. One of my cavalry units is now in a rather awkward position, currently wondering how on earth they managed to get themselves into such a spot.

Somehow our cavalry manages to stabilize the situation, and the Danzig troops run out of steam.

The overall situation—we are holding firm on the left, while the center and right flank, though thinned out, managed to turn the tide and are now advancing victoriously against the rest of the Danzig forces.

The skirmishers are chased off the battlefield, the Order's light cavalry doesn't dare advance, and I succeeded in pushing back both the dismounted and mounted knight-brethren! At the same time, the Order's center and left flank completely collapse, and the remaining Danzig troops flee the field. Consequently, the Teutonic Knights are left with no choice but to retreat as well to avoid total annihilation.

Conclusion

The game and the rules were an absolute blast! A big thank you once again to Bernhard and Bernhard for providing the brilliantly painted miniatures and introducing us to the Impetus rules.

Unfortunately, we’ve really caught the bug now. Especially since another interested player joined us during the match—we’ve all agreed to launch an escalation campaign: the Peloponnesian War. More details on that will follow here on the blog very soon 😉

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The Road to Warsaw: Testing the "Scourge of Princes" Rules for Large-Scale 17th-Century Battles

After Max and I expanded our respective armies for By Fire and Sword well beyond the task force level—Max taking the Imperialists and myself the Swedes—we are now looking for a suitable rule set for larger battles.

The background is that we have chosen a joint project: the "Battle of Warsaw 1656." This three-day battle between Sweden and Brandenburg on one side, and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and Crimean Tatars on the other, ended not only in a Swede-Brandenburg victory, but ultimately paved the way for Brandenburg's transition from an electorate to the Kingdom of Prussia, while also signaling the decline of Poland as a great power.

Max and me have shortlisted a few rule systems, which we will play at least 3–4 times each to gauge them properly before making a final choice.

We are kicking things off with Scourge of Princes by Sam Mustafa; the basic rules with an army size of 100 Ducats each seemed like a sensible starting point.

Engagement at Geroldshausen

The Thirty Years' War is in its death throes when advancing Imperialists encounter a roughly equal force of Swedes near Geroldshausen.

The Imperialists form a strong cavalry wing on their right flank, supporting their numerous horsemen with a unit of commanded shot and enjoying the advantage of fielding light cavalry there as well. Their two infantry regiments, together with two batteries, form the center, which is also assigned a cavalry unit in reserve. A unit of dragoons is tasked with securing the forest on their left flank.

The Swedes likewise form a strong left cavalry wing, assigned an infantry unit to serve as an anchor point onto which the horsemen can retreat if necessary. Two infantry regiments and two batteries also make up the center for the Swedes, but on the right flank, three dragoon regiments are ordered to advance decisively and use their numerical superiority to take control of the forest as quickly as possible, throw back the enemy dragoons, and threaten the Imperialists' flank and camp—forcing them to potentially pull units from their left flank or center. At least, that was my plan...

The initial deployment—Swedes advancing at the bottom, Imperialists at the top.

The extreme right flank of the Imperialists—light cavalry and commanded shot try to force the Swedes to wheel inward.

The center and left flank of the Imperialists, alongside the Swedish dragoon regiments advancing into the forest.

Well-aimed fire from the imperial artillery immediately takes its toll on my infantry.

The Imperialists wheel one of their infantry regiments inward and advance into the forest.

The left wing of the Swedes; the cavalry lines are closing in on one another.

The Imperial light cavalry attempts to outmaneuver the Swedes.

Inside the forest, progress has ground to a halt; the three Swedish dragoon units are bogged down, and orders are in short supply to effect any change here.

The Swedes are forced to deal with the light horsemen and launch an attack to clear some breathing room.

The Imperial cavalry seizes the moment: after one of their batteries punishes the Swedish infantry, they charge...

... while simultaneously, the resistance of one of my Swedish infantry regiments collapses in the center—the combined fire of artillery and imperial infantry eventually became too much.

The battery posted to the left of it seemed like easy prey for the cuirassiers, but they were stopped just in time by our own heavy cavalry...

... and instead of capturing the battery, they took to their heels themselves.

The last of my infantry regiments in the center desperately tries to hold firm and buy time, even though it is on the verge of breaking.

Made it, but just barely—the victorious horsemen from the left wing come storming up.

My infantry collapses indeed, but the imperial troops follow suit shortly after, as they have no answer left for the attack hitting their flank.

And on the left flank as well, after fierce melee combat, everything turns out well in the end for my Swedes, leaving the Imperialists forced to clear the field.

Conclusion:

Max and I liked the rules extraordinarily well—they are quickly learned, produce a fluid and coherent game, and the momentum points used to maneuver units are a scarce commodity that must be deployed thoughtfully. As in real life, a battle becomes very difficult to control once it has begun; keeping to as simple a plan and setting a clear main effort (Schwerpunkt) are, just like in history, the keys to success.

Fortunately for me, neither Max nor I had quite realized this, so we ended up getting bogged down, and only with more luck than sense was I able to turn the tide and win the engagement.

My dragoons on the right flank were completely wasted given how things played out—I should have either made this my main effort and committed my commander there to push forward forcefully while the infantry center held back and the cavalry wing waited; or acted as it happened, but held the forest with only one, maximum two dragoon regiments and positioned the remaining dragoons on the left flank to attack there.

You wouldn't believe how quickly you run out of momentum.

In any case, we are already looking forward to our next game, this time including the advanced rules.

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Rangers Lead the Way: US Forces push out of Gela at Ponte Dirillo

Due to vacation and a subsequent wave of work-related stress caused by holiday understaffing, it’s been quite quiet here on the blog for a while—but that is changing right now.
Despite everything, we still found time for a few games, and the battle reports will follow gradually as I find the time to sort and edit the photos, not to mention writing the reports themselves.

Today, we kick things off with our primary system, naturally Chain of Command:

The landed US troops attempt to break out of the Gela beachhead against the stubborn resistance of Italian Bersaglieri.

The vanguard of the attack was formed by a Ranger platoon, supported by a squad of Goumiers.

The latter advanced toward the farmstead and dug in, tasked with drawing fire and pinning down the enemy suspected to be in the small village of Ponte Dirillo.

Meanwhile, the entire Ranger platoon was ordered to advance northward under the cover of the olive groves east of the village, preparing to envelop it from that flank.

However, the Bersaglieri had similar ideas, and two of their squads suddenly opened fire from the citrus plantation. But at least a third squad and the anti-tank gun squad were pinned down around the village, and this distance made it difficult for the single Tenente (Senior Leader) to keep track of everything and intervene if necessary, as he was leading from the front "like in the good old days."

The Ranger platoon also deployed out of the olive grove and took up firing positions along its edge and a heavy firefight ensued, in which the Rangers ultimately gained the upper hand.

On one hand, the Bersaglieri struggled with a lack of maneuvering space and couldn't bring their full potential to bear—unlike the Rangers, who also benefited from a Goumier team firing into the Bersaglieri's flank.

Complicating matters further, one Italian leader after another was wounded or killed, causing the Bersaglieri morale to collapse rapidly, forcing them into a retreat.

Not helping matters was the specific "Patrol" scenario rule we were playing: "The first player to lose a Command Dice loses the game and abandons the table."

The area around the village of Ponte Dirillo is defined by agriculture: wheat, olives, and citrus fruits.

The village awakens, cows are driven to pasture—just another normal day.

Morning breaks at the farmstead too, the rooster crows...

..but then all of a sudden the peaceful atmosphere ends as shots rip through the air. Darby’s Rangers have advanced to the attack, their vanguard reaching the edge of the olive grove.

Opposing them, Bersaglieri take up positions along the edge of the citrus plantations.

A squad with 20mm Solothurn rifles takes up position on the edge of Ponte Dirillo.

A Ranger squad is caught in the crossfire from the citrus plantation and Ponte Dirillo—pinned down by suppressing fire and taking heavy hits.

The two Bersaglieri squads lack room to maneuver and have to split their fire between the Ranger squads in the olive grove and the Goumiers—not exactly an advantageous position.

An overview of the situation: Even though part of the right-hand squad couldn't place their shots as precisely as expected of Rangers, the Bersaglieri couldn't withstand the combined firepower of three squads for long, lost their leaders, and finally had to execute an orderly retreat.

Conclusion:
In contrast to me, Max rolled multiple double phases, which theoretically could have left me watching from the sidelines. However, thanks to accumulated Chain of Command points, I was always able to intervene dynamically: on one hand, minimizing higher casualties through "Hit the Dirt," and on the other, using "React Fire" to halt a Bersaglieri push into my positions because they had to duck for cover themselves.

This mechanism of CoC points is truly brilliant. No player is ever genuinely inactive, unlike in other game systems with a rigid "I go, you go" structure; usually, you always have a way to actively influence the action.

And my Ranger list, including the special rule "Rangers Lead the Way," performed exceptionally well once again without upsetting the game balance in the slightest.

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Small Scale, Big Impact: Testing My Eyes with some Iron Warriors Marines for Legions Imperialis

And now for something completely different ...😎

I wanted to test whether I could paint in really small scales again following my eye surgery, and 6mm seemed like the perfect challenge. However, I didn't want to buy a whole new set of figures just for a test run.
As it happens, my gaming partner Max had plenty of figures waiting for paint—specifically for Epic 40k and Legions Imperialis. He kindly brought me a box of Space Marines, and in return, I painted a unit consisting of three infantry bases and one command base for his Iron Warriors Legion, for free of course.

I have to say, the assembly and painting went surprisingly well, and I’m quite pleased with the result, but judge for yourselves:

Unfortunately, just from doing the necessary research on appearances, color schemes, and background lore for Epic 40k / Legions Imperialis, I’ve caught the bug... the Imperial Fists are calling my name louder and louder! 😂

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