Baltic Independence Wars: German Offensive at Cēsis 1919 AAR

So I was finally able to meet up with my friend Art at one of the local hobby shops, where we put my Baltic Independence Wars miniatures through their first battle.  This was a fictional encounter set during the 1919 Battle of Cēsis using the Contemptible Little Armies rules. Estonian and Latvian forces (me) scrambled to prevent German Freikorps and Landwehr (Art) from seizing a critical rail station. The Baltic nationals were ordered to hold on until the last man.

The civilians had already fled ahead of the advancing armies, so the area was quiet other than a few hastily abandoned sheep.

The Estonians and Latvians launched a three prong attack. Two veteran units rushed to the station with an armored car in support. A unit of quickly raised recruits headed for the woods, while heavy machine gun and artillery teams pushed their equipment into place.

The center prong consisted of two regular infantry units who would work their way through the village and try to slow the German advance before pivoting into the far end of the station.

At the other end of the village, Cossacks galloped at top speed around the pending clash in order to flank the advancing Germans.

The Germans went with a two prong attack. As their Freikorps artillery and heavy machine guns teams maneuvered into place, Landwehr infantry and cavalry advanced through the cemetery and around the woods. A Freikorps stormtrooper squad ran towards the station, with a flamethrower equipped pioneer team in support. 

The second prong consisted of two Freikorps infantry squads who worked their way through the pasture towards the village.

The German stormtroopers managed to reach the station first, and moved into the freight depot area.

The Baltic veterans continued their advance, while the Latvian armored car opened fire on the advancing Landwehr cavalry. Unfortunately, they failed to cause any injuries. 

The other Baltic infantry continued their push through the village, highly aware of the German heavy machinegun being set up at the other end of the station.

The two squads of Freikorps infantry spotted the Cossack cavalry racing towards them and managed to kill two of the riders.

However, the Cossacks quickly closed the distance and slashed one of the infantry squads to ribbons as their Kameraden rushed to help. 

At the station, Baltic infantry exchanged fire with the stormtroopers inside the building. They failed to injury any of the Germans and sadly lost a few of their men.

Landwehr rushed to join the stormtroopers and pioneers in the station, but two members were killed by the Estonian heavy machinegun.

Baltic forces entered the passenger end of the station and contested control of the building.

Fearful of the armored car's twin machineguns, the Landwehr cavalry veered into the woods, where the raw Latvian recruits scrambled to set up a firing line.

The second Friekorps squad joined the melee with the Cossacks, but they also were no match for the slashing sabers and wild horses.

Back in the woods, luck was with the green recruits and they caught the Landwehr cavalry by surprise, killing half the unit. The survivors ran off in a panic.

The Estonian machinegun team also managed to pick off another of the Landwehr infantry before they made it to the safety of cover.

With the German machinegun now assembled and looking for targets, the Estonian infantry took shelter along the station while the Latvians hid behind a cottage.

The Estonian artillery took a shot at the Freikorps troops in the freight depot, but failed to dislodge them.

Just as the German field artillery crew were preparing to launch their attack on the station, the Latvian armored car drove up and gunned them down to the last man.

On the other side of the station, the Freikorps stormtroopers charged out of the station and brutally attacked the Estonians. The Latvians decided to risk machine gunfire and rushed to assist their allies.

At the other end of the village, the bloody battle between the Cossacks and Freikorps raged on.

Meanwhile, Germans and Latvians charged at one another along the station platform. 

The armored car moved up, hoping to support the infantry, but was disabled by the German machinegun.

Though the Latvians managed to join the melee on the other side of the station, neither Baltic unit was a match for the ferocity of the Freikorps stormtroopers.

As the German machinegun team started attacking the Latvian recruits, they were unaware the surviving Cossacks were rushing up behind them.

Back at the station, the German units defeated the Latvian veterans. All that remained were the Estonian veterans holed up in the passenger hall.

The Cossacks reached the machinegun crew and cut them down. The surviving Latvian recruits in the woods were now free to take potshots as the Germans swarming the station.

The stormtroopers began their assault on the passenger hall...

...While the pioneer squad on the other side began stealthily maneuvering their flamethrower into place.

Luckily the Estonians managed to drive off the stormtroopers and launched a successful counter-assault against the pioneers before the flamethrower could be used.

At the same time the remaining Cossacks arrived and finished off the last of the stormtroopers.

With that, there were only a few ragtag German Landwehr and their officers left on the table, and they were forced to flee.  The Estonians and Latvians had succeeded in their mission to hold the station, but at a terrible cost. It was a really close battle that could have gone either way at multiple points, and Art and I were on the edge of seats until the last round. Overall, a really fun and exciting game. 

Bolt Action: Battle of Mutanchiang 1945 AAR

For our latest game of Bolt Action, Art and I decided to fight the Battle of Mutanchiang from 1945. The Soviet Union had declared war against Imperial Japan and launched an overpowering night assault against the city of Mutanchiang, which was being used by the  Kwantung Army as a base of operations. The Japanese army decided to fight a rearguard action, leaving a skeleton force to slow the Soviet advance while the majority of the army evacuated to Tunghua.

For this scenario, The Soviets had to get at least half their units across the table and through the three available exit routes before time ran out. The Japanese were dug into the ruins, with additional fortifications of barbed wire, minefields, anti-tank ditches, and a roadblock. We also used the "Flare!" night fighting rules, so visibility varied from round to round.

Round 1: 

Flare were sent up by the Soviets, illuminating the city ruins. However, the Japanese chose to remain hidden.

The Soviets launched a preparatory bombardment of the city prior to advancing. Many of the Japanese units were stunned and received pin markers, but all survived. However, the roadblock and a section of barbed wire were destroyed.

Round 2:

As the flares faded, the Soviets began advancing in earnest. 

The darkness prevented any accurate exchange of gunfire, with the exception of the Soviets' Katyusha rocket launcher, which attacked the large ruins seen the previous round. A flamethrower team was killed by the explosions, but the rest of the entrenched Japanese survived the attack.

The Japanese used the rest of the round to rally troops and shed pin markers.

Round 3:

Another round began in darkness. The Katyusha launched a second rocket barrage against the ruins, this time killing the Japanese Major in charge of this sector.

A Soviet Sherman tank and the entrenched Japanese Chi-Ha tank exchanged fire in the dark. The fortifications deflected the Soviet shell, and the Chi-Ha's round was too weak to penetrate the Sherman's armor.

A second Soviet Sherman approached the Japanese defenses, wary of a patch of freshly dug earth in front of the barbed wire. It opened fire on the shadows moving behind the barricades, but was ineffective.

A Japanese machine gun team spotted arriving Soviet transports, opening fire on one.  They managed to hit a fuel tank, destroying the truck and killing some of the infantrymen.  The survivors scurried into the underbrush, their morale shaken.  

Round 4:

More flares went up from the Soviets, A Japanese sniper team worked to pick off the survivors of the burning truck.

A third Soviet Sherman arrived and quickly decimated a squad of Japanese infantrymen.  The lone survivor quickly fled into the dark. To patch the gap in the defenses, another infantry squad arrived, along with a suicide anti-tank hunter.

Soviet infantry arrived at another Japanese barricade and were quickly run across the disturbed earth by their commanders.  The lack of explosions showed there were no anti-personal mines, but likely anti-vehicle mines. With the support of  the Sherman's machine gun, a firefight broken out with the Japanese infantry.

Another unit of Japanese in the adjacent building prevented a second Soviet squad from completing a flanking attack. 

Round 5:

Under the continued light of the flares, intense fighting raged on in the roadway, while a Soviet tank destroyer also arrived on the scene. 

Hand to hand combat broke out between the second Soviet and Japanese squads, with the Soviets eventually taking the upper hand and entering the building.

With the clock ticking, the first Soviet Sherman chose to bypass the ineffective Chi-Ha and brave the anti-tank ditch.  In their haste, the Japanese had not dug deep enough, and the Sherman successfully crossed it.  The tank also spotted the suicide anti-tank hunter hiding on the other side, and gunned him down before he could run in for the kill.

Defeating the Japanese on the street, the Soviet infantrymen made a run for their exit point while dodging shots from the ruins.

The second Soviet squad eliminated another suicide anti-tank hunter lurking behind a truck.

As the Soviet tanks prepared to exit through the breached Japanese defenses, another Japanese infantry squad and suicide anti-tank hunter exited the ruins to launch a flank attack.

Round 6:

Before the Soviets could react to the new threat, the tank hunter launched himself against the rear of the third Sherman, blowing the tank and himself to pieces. 

The surviving Sherman quickly dashed down the road before the other Japanese infantry could catch it. 

The Japanese infantry pivoted in their target, and instead went after the Soviet tank destroyer. Despite their banzai passion, the attack was ineffective against the tank destroyer's armor.  However, the tank destroyer chose to beat a hasty retreat.

With time almost out, the Katyusha tried to find an exit that would keep it away from the main battle.

The surviving Soviet infantry units quickly ran past the last of the Japanese defenses to their exit point.

At this stage, not enough Soviets had made it past the Japanese defenses for a victory, so Art's only hope was for the dice to give him an extension and get one more unit off the table. Would there be a ...

Round 7:

Yes.

The last of the Soviet Shermans was unwilling to risk crossing the minefield, so opened fire on the Japanese machine gun team.

With the tank destroyer too far away for a second attack, the Japanese launched an unsuccessful attack on the Sherman. The Soviet survivors of the burning truck managed to launch a counter attack on the Japanese infantry. 

Additional Japanese reinforcements arrived, but could nothing more than man the barricades again.

The tank destroyer and Katyusha were unsuccessful in exiting the battlefield.

And with that, the battle was over. Despite inflicting heavy casualties on the Japanese and moving several units past their defenses, the Soviets were still one unit short to declare victory.  The Japanese rearguard had held on long enough to get the bulk of their forces out of the city, and the war would continue.