TGAA - ‘Battle of Hyde Park’ Scenario & AAR

This post we return to The Great Antipodean Adventure and more Australian Civil War action! We are using Trench Hammer rules this time in our continual quest for a rules set that can accommodate our Monday Evening gaming format, we don't want to be playing until 2am in the morning!

The Peasants are Revolting...Angry Unionists prowling Hyde Park, Sydney NSW!

The 'Historical' Background...

Action: Battle of Hyde Park

Date: Monday June 6 1932

Location: Hyde Park, Sydney NSW

Factions: NSW State Government vs Unionists

As New South Wales’ Constitutional Crisis entered into its Second week the situation within the inner Sydney was becoming more heated on a daily basis. After the May 28 riots Hyde Park and its environs drew every manner of revolutionary group to it. Brawls and fire fights were common occurrences as these factions crossed into each other’s patch of the Park. The area around the proposed ANZAC Memorial was a sort of neutral zone as many of the revolutionaries had served in the Great War so it remained relatively quiet, well it was until June 2nd when Unionist made their camp just north of Emden Memorial.

The Unionists under the direction of their elected leaders, Benjamin Hill and Richard Emery barricaded their selected area and their entrenchments were nicknamed the Eureka Stockade. The location of the Unionists fortifications alarmed the nearby residents and rumours spread quickly that they were going to take control of the old Emden Gun and start shelling the city with it! Panic amongst the locals spread quickly even though Government Officials issued notices trying to calm them explaining that the old gun was deactivated and that there was actually to fear from it. Despite the State Government’s statements growing trepidation took hold and the powers to be were under increased pressure to dislodge the Unionists from their encampment.

On Monday June 6 Police and Fire Department Detachments under the command of Detective Super Intendant Morecambe Wise were ordered to the area and to clear out the Unionists. Wise collected his forces at the corner of College and Liverpool Streets and planned to strike at the Unionists from there. Wise cunningly organised a diversion, members of Sydney’s Chinese community supported by a Lewis Gun Team under the command Inspector David Allen were to assail the Stockade area from the North and distract the defenders!

As twilight grew on June 6 the Government forces moved out, unbeknownst to them the Unionist were on the move too and they heading toward the Emden Memorial themselves…

The Forces...

NSW

Detective Super Intendant Wise

Inspector David Allen

6 x Sections Rifle Armed Police/Fire Department

1 x Lewis Gun Tean

3 x Sections of Chinese Militia AKA the Tong! Armed with side arms and big pointy things!

The Unionists

Comrade Hill

Comrade Emery

6 x Sections Rifle Armed Unionists

3 x Sections of Side Arms armed Unionists

1 x BAR Gun Team

Special Rules...

- 7 Turns, optional Turn 8 on a 3,4,5 or 6 on a D6 optional Turn 9 on a 5 or 6 on a D6

- All Units activate Turn 1 for entry to the Table

- No firing for Turns 1 and 2 due to the Light Conditions

- All non assault Attacks have a -1 to hit dice roll modifier due to the the Light Conditions

- Units listed as being armed with side arms have a selection of revolvers. pistols, shotguns, antique firearms etc these can only fire a maximum of 12" and inflict D3 damage, they still  Assault with D4 Damage

Victory Conditions...

At the end of every turn any Unit that has at least 1 figure within 12" of the fence of the Emden Memorial earns that side 6 VPs less any damage the Unit has. Highest VP total at the end of the Game wins unless one side loses 6 of its Units in which case that side automatically loses!

The Game...

Both sides entered the fray as night approached. The Government force advanced in a wide firing line anchored on their right by a Lewis Gun Team and on the right by Riflemen. The Unionists advance was confused and all of their riflemen moved down a path toward the Memorial creating a bottleneck while their BAR Team was masked by its own men and unable to fire early on.

Once the two forces came within effective firing range the Unionist's left with many riflemen was able to hold its own against the Lewis Gunners and Tong facing them but it was in their centre and right that the battle was decided. It was in these two areas the Government troops in an extended firing line inflicted many casualties and set up a win for their side.

In desperation as losses mounted the Unionist Leaders threw their right wing forward in a wild charge in the hope of changing their fortunes! The charge failed to break the Police line it faced and drew intense fire that caused heavy casualties amongst the groups that charged and ended up dispersing them.

At this point with darkness gathering with their morale in tatters the Unionists withdrew to their encampment where they prepared to receive further attacks from Government forces and sourced reinforcements!

A resounding Victory for the NSW State Government Forces!

Some Pictures...

The Unionists advance banners waving!

Detective Super Intendant Morecambe Wise leads his Police and Firemen forward in an extended firing line, their shooting was uncannily accurate and they inflicted multiple hits on the distant Unionists...

Inspector David Allen leads the Lewis Gun Team into action!

The 'Tong' as they were known under instructions from Inspector Allen enter Hyde Park from College Street...

Unionist armed only with side arms seek cover in one of Hyde Parks garden beds!

The Unionists BAR Team under the direct leadership of Comrade Hill who took control once their Leader was hit by a sniper!

One of Wise's Rifle Teams was left behind, curse those poor activation roles!

The Government Lewis gunners duke it out with Unionists, they took multiple hits but Inspector Allen was on hand to Rally them!

The height of the action! The Unionists with side arms try to close range with the Government 'troops'!

Unionists taunt the Government forces from behind the safety of a fence, note the fences in Hyde Park at the time were hooped wire so the picket fences are just a stand in!

Despite being taunted the Coppers and Firemen advanced continuing to keep up effective fire as they did so!

Unionists take hits from the Lewis Gunners, the Park was steamy with hot lead filling the air!

Both sides face off as Unionists surge forward around the 'big gun'...

The Unionists BAR Team took ages to locate to a position where they had a Line of Sight during which time a Sniper killed their Leader, their fire even though accurate caused little damage!

The Unionist approach the Emden Memorial...

Police and Unionist get into Assault range and some close combat biffo ensues, the Police were successful!

Battered the Unionist retire from the Emden Memorial!

Positions at the end of Turn 8 and the game, the Government Forces are to the right and have lost no units, the Unionists are to the left and have lost half of their ten Units three others were teetering on breaking with four Damage hits on each of them!

Detective Super Intendant Morecambe Wise lead his men to success!

FYI a look at our version of the Emden Memorial...

...and the real thing.

Summary...

NSW Government 125VPs & Unionists Broken Due to Casualties

Unionists 83 VPs

Well we have used the Trench Hammer rule set before with WW I related games and it translated to The Great Antipodean Adventure situation well, now to try another game with some vehicles! This evening the Unionists made the mistake of deploying their side armed units in their vanguard, having a range of only 12" their were (trench) hammered by the Government troops and unable to reply at longer range, meanwhile their more effective rifle armed forces were bottlenecked advancing down the road! The extended Government firing line was important to their win. everyone thought the rules worked well!

Now to try and catch up on a lot of games not posted on the Blog yet that we've played!

 Action at Nery

A bit of Unpleasantness

As the German guns roared into action over the ravine Briggs thoughts turned to finding either somewhere to hide or bigger guns.

The German movements in the opening round 

The German guns opened up in turn one and instantly found both the range and the target through the visually inhibiting fog.

L battery received the full destructive effect of 18 77mm field guns and ceased to exist. 

Despite desperate attempts to interrupt the German regiment pivoted and unleashed a similar curtain of doom at the adjacent 11th Hussars. The survivors reeled back through the street. The 2nd Dragoon Guards took damage from long range sniping and fell back from the exposed edge. 

On the Sugar refinery road the Germans galloped straight forward and past the well concealed 5th dragoon guards. Whether the intention was to throw a force forward to enfilade  nery or to block reinforcements was unclear. Regardless of their intent the entire regiment was blown away by accurate fire at point blank range.  When the firing stopped the sunken road was filled end to end with death. It was a taste of things to come on the refinery road.

The second regiment had wisely ridden to the far side of the  refinery and escaped the carnage. Bent on revenge they formed up and charged the rear of the 5th DG across the short field of standing stooks of corn. Failing to dislodge the enemy in the first charge the melee became a swirling mess of men and horses chasing each other amidst the small field. 

Due to a complete absence of targets Garnier ordered the artillery and machine guns to limber up and move up in support of the 18th Brigade near the refinery.

He also ordered the 3rd Brigade to cross the extremely difficult terrain in the ravine and assault nery from the front. This was achieved without even coming under fire.

Recognising the lethality of the on target artillery and the overwhelming odds, Briggs ordered whatever survivors remained to rally on his position and sent an urgent message to Corps HQ for reinforcements. The 2nd DG pulled back to the far side of the street and prepared to face an entire dismounted German cavalry brigade. 

After much manoeuvring and some delay in the fog, the supporting regiments of 18th Brigade reached the refinery and immediately threw themselves at the rear of the desperately fighting 5th DG. Under pressure from both front and rear the Dragoon Guards succumbed but not until inflicting some severe punishment on the Germans. 

Realising the need to capture nery before British reinforcements could arrive, Garnier ordered the 3rd Brigade to immediately pass through the buildings on the edge of the town and directly engage Briggs. They received a devastating volley from the concealed 2nd DG and the assault ground to a halt. 

With increasing desperation Garnier pushed a mounted regiment to the cross roads  near the refinery whilst ordering the second regiment to ride toward the other side of the town. This unit would both reinforce the 3rd Brigade attack and also cut off the access point on the far side to reinforcements. 

The artillery was hurrying forward but had been held up trying to cross a small hedge and ditch to get back onto the road. The Guards Machine guns had likewise been severely held up trying to get through some difficult terrain. 

With a flurry of trumpets and lots of tally ho shouts the reinforcements arrived ; the Household Cavalry charged down the refinery road catching the German blocking regiment at a standstill. Immediately behind the Germans was the entire artillery regiment still limbered and trying to get into position. If the Household Cavalry could breakthrough the day would be won. I battery set up on the slight rise to the right and opened up on the destroyers of the Dragoon Guards.

Garnier realised that the battle had reached a pivotal point. The Germans were on top but the cost was enormous and he was unsure as to whether his force could  prevail against the fresh British. He had to hold off the reinforcements whilst winkling the remnants of Briggs command out of the town. 

The 2nd DG meanwhile had come off the worse against the brigade coming out of the ravine.  Some good shooting had reduced them to a collection of horse holders and support troops. Briggs found that his entire defence force consisted solely of his headquarters troops.

The 1st Middlesex regiment however made all speed toward nery and emerged from the woods to see an entire German hussar regiment hurtling down the back road. Calmly forming up they destroyed two squadrons with close range musketry and halted the movement. A runner from Briggs found them with orders to meet him in the small chateau on the left of the main road. They moved off but encountered the 3rd Brigade troops trying to cross the Main Street. After a brisk firefight they reached the chateau and the remaining Germans pulled back across the road. 

The Guard machine guns had finally made their way forward and unlimbered a mere couple of hundred metres from I battery who were desperately trying to realign the guns after destroying the last of the German cavalry in the cornfield of doom. For whatever reason the machine guns did not fire : they may have lost sight in the mist, experienced equipment failure or something else entirely. 

With time rapidly running out Garnier despatched the remaining regiment from the refinery fight to attack Briggs position down the Main Street.

In column they attacked. Briggs head quarters staff fought bravely and the attack once more stalled. Briggs pulled his men back to rendezvous with the Middlesex in the chateau.

The Household cavalry were not making any headway at the cross roads. The Germans were being whittled down but there was no sign of them breaking. 

At that moment the machine guns managed to take out the reinforcement commander and the remaining German squadron at the cross roads pulled back rapidly to a position by the refinery.

The German artillery despatched a battery to assist the hard pressed cavalry against the Middlesex threat and hurriedly unlimbered behind the cross roads. As the German cavalry were withdrawing the artillery unleashed a two battery volley at I battery and disabled them completely. 

Through the clearing mist at less than 100 metres the German artillery dropped their sites and totally destroyed the Household Cavalry.   The cross road joined the sunken lane and the cornfield as another scene of mass destruction. 

Briggs in the town had seen off a further assault from the dismounted cavalry. However with the destruction of the Household cavalry and I battery he was now reduced to a company of Middlesex and their machine  gun section. Facing the inevitable he withdrew his weary survivors  out through the increasingly narrowing path back to British lines.  At the very least there would be someone left to report back to HQ. 

The bloody crossroads, sunken lane, and the corn field. In this small space the Germans lost three cavalry regiments and the British two.

The enormous German artillery train was the key. It was fortunate in being able to identify its targets in the first move and cause enough damage to wipe out a third of the defenders in the same move. It was also manoeuvred into exactly the right spot to decide the cross roads fight. The arrival of the British reinforcements almost turned the tide. 

A desperately fought game where the result remained in doubt till the last move. Small things like being able to see through the mist at the right time became critical. The Germans however had lost a full brigade of cavalry, one reduced to a squadron, and one other reduced to  the headquarters troop.  They had started with a full cavalry division and ended with something not much bigger than a reinforced brigade. 

A scenario which, despite looking like a fore gone conclusion, turned into anything but….one player commented that when we tested the scenario out he wondered how the Germans could win…when we played it, he wondered how they could lose. 

And next we will turn to something completely different.

ACTION AT NÉRY

        Western Front 1 September, 1914

Setting up

Amidst the splendour of an average Adelaide winter the table is constructed, terrain modified, rules rewritten, 10mm WW1 figures touched up, and sides decided.

Nery in lower Flanders slumbers in the mist and fog of early September 1914. The British 1st Cavalry Brigade under Brigadier Briggs has spread out through the village and is preparing to move off in the ongoing retreat after Mons. A patrol from the 11th Hussars reports Uhlans in the forest as the German artillery opens up.

Briggs orders the 5th Dragoon Guards to throw out two squadrons to guard the. Left flank. The mist hides everything and the Guards peer into the ravine.

The 11th Hussars race forward to man the leading edge of the houses bordering the ravine. They have nowhere near enough troops to man the necessary frontage.

L battery Royal Horse Artillery should never have been here; they straggled behind the Corps assets and came into Nery late. The 6 guns of the battery were lined up between the Main Street and the ravine with the limbers in pole down condition awaiting the renewed retreat. Hurriedly the gun sergeants attempt to get the guns into action. The Battery Major is killed in the first barrage. Targets appear out of the mist and disappear just as quickly. It is impossible to range the guns accurately. 

On the far right near the sugar beet refinery the 2nd Dragoon Guards take cover behind a sunken road. Runner have been sent to Corps HQ urgently seeking reinforcements. However given the army is meant to continue the retreat, it is unknown whether any assistance can be provided. 

1st Brigade peers into the mist.

2nd DG catch a glimpse  of what appears to be a Brigade sized mounted force approaching on the Refinery road. These are full strength German cavalry units and the 2nd DG feel very outnumbered. 

On the left 5th DG see another cavalry Brigade emerge from the woods and form a firing line along the edge of the ravine.

Not to be outdone, the 11th think they can identify an entire machine gun company and a full regiment of 77mm artillery. 

Briggs receives the various reports stoically atop his lookout in the Main Street. If the reports are accurate he is up against a full cavalry division with an attached field artillery regiment and brigaded machine guns. He estimates that the Brigade is outnumbered and outgunned by about 3:1. He can only pray that the reinforcements arrive in time. The only advantages he has are good old British pluck and the SME Lee Enfield rifle in expert hands.

Next time : Tsog gets down to the desperate biffo.