A CWC battle with SteveJ - December 2009

Steve came to my house to pick up some additions to his lead pile & we used the opportunity to get in a CWC game; Steve said he fancied being the underdog & went for the Angolans...leaving me to field the SADF's finest. We fought this one on the dining room table as all the kids were on-the-park...so that gave us about 4' by 3'.

Straight-up Encounter with mobile deployment - both forces at 2000 points; vehicles are Scotia, infantry & aircraft from H&R.

Early game:

The SADF gained air superiority; the Angolans got first turn and brought on its right flank & central forces which advanced rapidly to take the hill in the centre while the SADF managed to blunder itself to destroying a couple of Ratel 20s (together with their on-board Special Forces infantry); the central formation made it on-table though:

Steve being distracted by Daisy watching vids on youtube off-screen

Mid-game:

Fortunately for the SADF they've got the big guns on-table,who proceed to give the Angolan T-62 crews a lesson in tank gunnery:

They press their advantage and move to challenge Angolan positions on the heights:

Meanwhile the surviving Special Forces debus into a gulley to try and threaten the foremost BMPs on the SADF left:

A fascinating armour battle leaves the Angolan CO looking pensive:

End-game:

There were a *lot* of blunders and failed commands throughout the game - for example, there was only one successful artillery strike all-game...and FACs only managed blunders...it took a looooooong time for remainder formations to arrive - and when my SADF right-flank force came on-table and immediately pressed to gain a firing line ready for the Angolan left flank to make an appearance, I was feeling pretty confident...Some decent deployment using cover wisely was then accompanied by an Angolan command blunder which worked to Steve's advantage as it forced him to move BMP units away from nearest visible enemy - thereby getting them out of LOS as they traversed the baseline:

A hard-fought close-range scrap in the gulley and some rattling armour action saw this one off - the ebb and flow of the battle over the high ground was fantastic - but with the SADF forced beyond breakpoint quickly by the loss of troops still in their Ratels it wasn't looking good...a CV test at -4 meant that the SADF commander needed a 5...which he failed. The Angolans claimed the heights and the SADF retreated into the Bush to lick its wounds...

Debrief:

Another top-notch CWC battle - and another great game with Steve who is always a fine opponent - not only happy to bung dice, but also to talk Balrogs...

There was a real ebb and flow to this battle and its fluidity made it hard to call...the SADF had 500 points tied-up in artillery & aircraft that didn't make a single appearance - yikes! Good stuff...