We put on the Battle for Swinton Bridge at Triples this weekend, two games with the BUF attacking on the first and the Reds attacking on day two.
As you would expect attacking down a single road against a heavily defended bridge is no easy matter.
The Battle Of Swinton Bridge
VERY BRITISH CIVIL WAR, South Yorkshire Smoulders
We could at this point present a highly detailed description of this alternate history of a 1930’s Britain at war with itself and give you dear reader something of interest to read.
However we have simply decided to quote a number of great chaps from around the country.
“VBCW a great blend of utter chaos, copious amounts of double entendre with a slight pinch of history mixed in . It is just utter silliness” direct quote from the chaps
In our version of a VBCW the various forces fight in and around the Southern areas of the great county of Yorkshire.
The battle
It was risky but potentially a war winning move. A well-armed column would advance along the single track road from Oldcoates to cut the main A630 between Rotherham and Doncaster then take the bridge over the River Don near Swinton then take the canal bridge at Swinton itself. Right wing militiamen would bolster the force and neutralise any leftist patrols and outposts.
This done the road to Penistone was then open and the link up with the 4th Legion at Penistone would throw a steel wall across the country. The major left leaning cities of southern Yorkshire would be effectively cut off from both the coast and the rest of West Yorkshire and could be allowed to wither on the vine.
The only worry was the forces committed would be too small and the supply line tenuous. Some of the junior officers worried that it could be a bridge too far but no one listened to their concerns.
Petrov offered Cain a mug of tea laced with a little turnip vodka “Comrade Commissar”
Cain stared at Petrov and sighed “I've got lunatics laughing at me from the allotments. My original plan has been scuppered now that the transport girls haven't arrived. My boy scout runners are completely lost and no one can find the armoured cars keys. Do you really believe any of that can be helped by a cup of tea?
Petrov looked at him with his simple peasant eyes “Couldn't hurt”
After setting up on Friday night many of the gang decided to hit the town and only a stop at McDonalds could even begin to get them started on the Saturday
Game 1
The table as seen from the defenders side
and from the ruins of Mexborough looking down the road
The mighty BUF force, with suspiciously modern tanks, these were the forces set to make the attack
Cain and his thin red line set to defend their territory
the butchers set to defend their scrap yard
first random event card of the game saw a farmers daughter hold up the ladies from the prep college and everyone within 12"
Cains men hold out in the post office after sending back warning messages, runners also set off to dolly morgans yard to warn of the large BUF force advancing towards the bridge
some hidden ATR teams did their best not to attract attention, camo worked pretty well until a nosey passer by commented on how well they were blending in thus pointing out their locations to the BUF command
the towpath and allotments were also heavily defended
BUF artillery started to hit the post office, no respect for local businesses those dastardly swine
Strangely some of the Anglican league had set up to assist the defenders
whilst others were helping the BUF, methinks Simon was waiting to see which way the wind was blowing
thanks to the supply detail we could use either dice or buns as activation chits, later in the game only dice remained. Passers by were offered BUF buns or Red buns those taking the black ones had their names noted by the political officers
BUF start to advance past the IED in the road, a massive red IED, that failed to detonate
the action started to get so fast the camera crew struggled to keep things in focus
the AC hidden just behind the advertising board hit the thin skinned opposition in the side with a light ATG, only a two or better required to damage it, you got it a one was rolled
another random event and the air force arrived, it is unsure who's air force as it strafed both sides
BP looked as fuzzy as the inside of his head
the BUF started to clear the barricades on the approach to the bridge
meanwhile the secret bridging vehicle made it to the canal
after passing the roll to check if it sank it deployed its bridge, who would have thought such a well constructed bridge could be contained inside such a small vehicle
forces start to cross, all looked lost for our plucky defenders as Boycie pushed forward
stoic defence on the road bridge but surely the troops couldn't hold on much longer
even the cavalry were now on the move, these could have made a real mess of the infantry if only they had got out of bed earlier
anglicans storm the tempoary bridge
the tank takes out the last of the infantry on the road bridge but then takes an AT round to the face and is promptly pushed into the canal by the following forces, nothing should hold up the advance
the troops crossing the temporary bridge are assaulted by waiting forces before they can set foot on the opposite bank then to really put a stop to the attack the defenders start to send forces the other way
Cain had heroicly stood all day in plain sight, but out of range, of the enemy on the commanding heights at the very rear of the board, his brave dog adolf and anastasia at his side
with that game one ended with a victory for the Reds who went off to celebrate
Day two and the roles were reversed
Cain brought all his transports
as did the butcher
an impressive artillery battery took up position to overlook the approaches to Swinton
whilst the BUF cavalry massed ready to ride down any who got across
the attackers set off to reclaim their town, most did but some stopped for a brew along the way. Cain was conspicuous in his absence, perhaps he was planning something
twenty activation dice each side again went into the hat, now the bag as the hat was left behind on day two, along with two yellow dice of doom that ended that turn. Any friendly forces could act on their dice and no dice were ever removed for casualties which made the game play really well over a 6-8 hour period to match the day as it was a demo game. For three turns the yellow dice was pulled out first, this young man was warned he would be sent off for re education if he didn't start picking some red dice
the warning worked and the advance began again
the butchers AC gave itself to protect the bridging van behind
and Cains forces started to remove the road blocks, the task was made easier as only a few forces were defending this side of the canal with most sitting ont he far bank
some poor rolling when defending a building saw more BUF fall, all our troops are inexperienced so only three's or better were needed but non were rolled, the crazy glint in his eyes perhaps showed he had red sympathy's. Order of the red banner on its way sir
the traffic jam starts to back up
remnants of one unit that had cleared buildings and barricades makes it to the bridge, these were the real hero's of the day. Cain had no idea where they had learned to fight so well
the bridge had deployed correctly again and the butchers lads were on their way
the reds forced their way to the last of the barricades under very heavy fire but the dead pile of hero's grew
forces actually made it across and went into the assault under cover from artillery that had moved into the cleared lower end of town to ensure they had the range
Petrov at the very last obstacle on the road bridge, in the background forces are rushed across the other bridge which was now under fire form the guns next to the church
Prep schools artillery had already ranged in and only needed a two to hit again, but boycie had obviously touched the dice as a one came up
more of Cain's forces prepared to advance once the roadblock was gone
oops there goes the bridge
Cain who had slept off the nights celebrations had woke up in the church and kept quiet for the whole game, no doubt signaling vital positions back to his men
as the day drew to a close and traders packed up our game also ended, Red forces had made it across under a spirited defence. with one bridge down and the second not yet taken but with several units advancing on it to help Petrov what would have happened next.
Key moment was perhaps the longest turn of the game all day where everyone apart from Cains boys were held up by the kings speach, in character the only forces who easily passed their tests to activate were the butchers who care little for the royalty
All I know for sure it that it was a brilliant weekend spent playing games with chums.
Thanks to all who assisted the Janco's boys first time at a show and basically allowed us to run wild, Sheffield and Rotherham Wargames is going as strong as ever and long may it continue.