Commonwealth 2, Italians 0
So in a weird bit of good fortune, Blindfury and I have managed to fit in several games of Flames of War lately. We played a 1250 point game of Germans vs Commonwealth Indians, which I'll revisit in a separate post, and then followed up with a pair of 1750 point games of his Commonwealth Indians against my Italians.
The Protagonists - Italian Poizone di Fucilleri
HQ
Two Fortified Platoons; 6 Teams with trenches, barbed wire and minefields
One Platoon of 81/14 mortars
One Platoon of 3 M13/40 tanks
One Platoon of 4 M11/39 tanks
One battery of 4 75/27 guns
One battery of 4 100/17 howitzers
One platoon of 2 20/65 anti-aircraft portees
Sporadic Falco support
The Belligerents - Commonwealth Indian Rifle Company
HQ
Three Rifle Platoons; 6 Teams with antitank rifle and mortar
One Platoon of 3 Valentines
One Platoon of 3x3 Universal Carrier Squads
One Platoon of 4 two pounder anti-tank portees
One Platoon of 4 Bofors anti-aircraft guns
Sporadic Hurricane support
The table was 4'x6', with a village on one of the short sides, a pair of oases in the middle of the table, several rock formations in the corners of a long side, and patches of rough terrain scattered throughout.
The first mission was 'Hold the Line', which would see my Italians defending a short half of the table. I set up in the village, with my fortified platoons up front, my two artillery batteries in the back, and the rest of my forces off the table in Delayed Reserves. Blindfury's entire army bunched up on my right flank, to make a push through my fortified platoon to the closest objective. He also took advantage of the Night Attack rule, which reduced effective ranges, and grounded my aircraft.
Blindfury had the first turn, and wasted no time in rushing my lead fortified platoon. His Valentines led the push, followed by his Universal Carriers loaded down with troops. My platoon unloaded every ounce of firepower it had and my 100/17 howitzers rained shells from above, trying to slow down the oncoming forces. I was able to take out several of the Carriers, and inflicted major casualties against one of the infantry platoons, but my guns were ineffective against the heavy armor of the Valentines. My minefields managed to stop two of them, but I couldn't prevent the last Valentine from rolling through my barbed wire, and pushing my infantry back off of the objective. Win one for the Commonwealth.
The second mission was 'Free For All', which saw my Italians spread along a long side, with a fortified platoon and artillery battery on each flank, my mortars positioned in the middle, and my tanks in the center in an attempt to provide a flexible reaction force. Blindfury's infantry were stretched along the table edge, with his Valentines and Universal Carriers bunched on my left flank to make a push through the village for the objective, and his Bofors and portees anchoring his infantry on my right side.
Again Blindfury had the first turn, and his Valentines and Universal Carriers made a push up my left flank. His Carriers started by trying to oust my 100/17 Howitzer battery, looking to remove my heaviest guns and neutralize the biggest threat to his Valentines. The howitzer battery, supported by the heavy machine guns and anti tank guns from the adjacent fortified platoon, were able to counter the Universal Carriers, but I still couldn't stop the Valentines. I dropped every shell and mortar round available on them, and my M13/40s moved around to try and slow them down while my M11/39s advanced left of center through the village to make my own push for one of his objectives. But in the end, I just couldn't slow the Valentines, and my own advance was too little and too late. Win two for the Commonwealth.
It's tempting to blame these two losses on the mission, or on the Italians as an army, but on further reflection a big part of these losses lie on my shoulders. I went into both battles thinking "how do I kill his Valentines", and with those blinders on I lost sight of what I needed to do to actually win. Both of these battles went the same way that our previous German vs Commonwealth battle did - infantry set to hold objective, tanks rush infantry, tanks take objective. And really, the fact that I expected it to go any differently falls into that whole "definition of insanity" trope. I know that infantry aren't effective at holding off tanks, and adding in some barbed wire and minefields and bunkers doesn't fundamentally change that. Bunkers can't contest objectives. Minefields can't contest objectives. And while infantry can contest objectives, they are easy to push back with a tank assault.
So I have some ideas on things I should have done differently. Taking both fortified platoons as full platoons was probably a mistake. They are basically static, which means that Blindfury could ignore one and effectively take it out of the battle. I also think that I overspent on barbed wire - even though it's cheap, I could have easily found another 40-50 points that would have been better spent elsewhere.
I also need to stop thinking of artillery as my anti-Valentines. Certainly, they are the beefiest anti-tank that I've brought to the table (although I do have an option of a platoon of 65/17s which are AT 8 - why haven't I taken those?), but they are still not that effective against the heavy Valentine armor - a bombardment only has a 1 in 6 chance of actually taking out a tank for the 100/17s, only 1 in 36 for the 75/27s; even my chances to bail out a tank just aren't that great. Direct fire is no better - AT 7 against front armor of 6 means that I only have a 1 in 6 chance of matching the armor value, so at best I might bail one out. And all this is based on the premise that I actually hit them in the first place. So really, artillery against tanks is mostly just an exercise in rolling dice, the end result is that I end up devoting a chunk of my points to beating my head against a wall.
So we'll see. I have a couple plans brewing in my head on how to minimize the Valentines and take the win, and I'm printing out some models to fill in holes in my army list. It remains to be seen how my ideas will work out, but I think that the next time the Italians take the field, I may not lose as badly.
The Protagonists - Italian Poizone di Fucilleri
HQ
Two Fortified Platoons; 6 Teams with trenches, barbed wire and minefields
One Platoon of 81/14 mortars
One Platoon of 3 M13/40 tanks
One Platoon of 4 M11/39 tanks
One battery of 4 75/27 guns
One battery of 4 100/17 howitzers
One platoon of 2 20/65 anti-aircraft portees
Sporadic Falco support
The Belligerents - Commonwealth Indian Rifle Company
HQ
Three Rifle Platoons; 6 Teams with antitank rifle and mortar
One Platoon of 3 Valentines
One Platoon of 3x3 Universal Carrier Squads
One Platoon of 4 two pounder anti-tank portees
One Platoon of 4 Bofors anti-aircraft guns
Sporadic Hurricane support
The table was 4'x6', with a village on one of the short sides, a pair of oases in the middle of the table, several rock formations in the corners of a long side, and patches of rough terrain scattered throughout.
The first mission was 'Hold the Line', which would see my Italians defending a short half of the table. I set up in the village, with my fortified platoons up front, my two artillery batteries in the back, and the rest of my forces off the table in Delayed Reserves. Blindfury's entire army bunched up on my right flank, to make a push through my fortified platoon to the closest objective. He also took advantage of the Night Attack rule, which reduced effective ranges, and grounded my aircraft.
Blindfury had the first turn, and wasted no time in rushing my lead fortified platoon. His Valentines led the push, followed by his Universal Carriers loaded down with troops. My platoon unloaded every ounce of firepower it had and my 100/17 howitzers rained shells from above, trying to slow down the oncoming forces. I was able to take out several of the Carriers, and inflicted major casualties against one of the infantry platoons, but my guns were ineffective against the heavy armor of the Valentines. My minefields managed to stop two of them, but I couldn't prevent the last Valentine from rolling through my barbed wire, and pushing my infantry back off of the objective. Win one for the Commonwealth.
The second mission was 'Free For All', which saw my Italians spread along a long side, with a fortified platoon and artillery battery on each flank, my mortars positioned in the middle, and my tanks in the center in an attempt to provide a flexible reaction force. Blindfury's infantry were stretched along the table edge, with his Valentines and Universal Carriers bunched on my left flank to make a push through the village for the objective, and his Bofors and portees anchoring his infantry on my right side.
Again Blindfury had the first turn, and his Valentines and Universal Carriers made a push up my left flank. His Carriers started by trying to oust my 100/17 Howitzer battery, looking to remove my heaviest guns and neutralize the biggest threat to his Valentines. The howitzer battery, supported by the heavy machine guns and anti tank guns from the adjacent fortified platoon, were able to counter the Universal Carriers, but I still couldn't stop the Valentines. I dropped every shell and mortar round available on them, and my M13/40s moved around to try and slow them down while my M11/39s advanced left of center through the village to make my own push for one of his objectives. But in the end, I just couldn't slow the Valentines, and my own advance was too little and too late. Win two for the Commonwealth.
It's tempting to blame these two losses on the mission, or on the Italians as an army, but on further reflection a big part of these losses lie on my shoulders. I went into both battles thinking "how do I kill his Valentines", and with those blinders on I lost sight of what I needed to do to actually win. Both of these battles went the same way that our previous German vs Commonwealth battle did - infantry set to hold objective, tanks rush infantry, tanks take objective. And really, the fact that I expected it to go any differently falls into that whole "definition of insanity" trope. I know that infantry aren't effective at holding off tanks, and adding in some barbed wire and minefields and bunkers doesn't fundamentally change that. Bunkers can't contest objectives. Minefields can't contest objectives. And while infantry can contest objectives, they are easy to push back with a tank assault.
So I have some ideas on things I should have done differently. Taking both fortified platoons as full platoons was probably a mistake. They are basically static, which means that Blindfury could ignore one and effectively take it out of the battle. I also think that I overspent on barbed wire - even though it's cheap, I could have easily found another 40-50 points that would have been better spent elsewhere.
I also need to stop thinking of artillery as my anti-Valentines. Certainly, they are the beefiest anti-tank that I've brought to the table (although I do have an option of a platoon of 65/17s which are AT 8 - why haven't I taken those?), but they are still not that effective against the heavy Valentine armor - a bombardment only has a 1 in 6 chance of actually taking out a tank for the 100/17s, only 1 in 36 for the 75/27s; even my chances to bail out a tank just aren't that great. Direct fire is no better - AT 7 against front armor of 6 means that I only have a 1 in 6 chance of matching the armor value, so at best I might bail one out. And all this is based on the premise that I actually hit them in the first place. So really, artillery against tanks is mostly just an exercise in rolling dice, the end result is that I end up devoting a chunk of my points to beating my head against a wall.
So we'll see. I have a couple plans brewing in my head on how to minimize the Valentines and take the win, and I'm printing out some models to fill in holes in my army list. It remains to be seen how my ideas will work out, but I think that the next time the Italians take the field, I may not lose as badly.