2nd Battle of Broadwater

Last night we played a second game of Very British Civil War using the Warhammer Great War rules. In truth it was a very inconclusive affair as Tom - playing the local Basingstoke Defence Force - took a very cautious approach to the battle.

The objective for Tom was to destroy the bridge over the river before BUF reinforcements could destroy them. To do this, he had two infantry companies, with a HMG and a couple of light mortars. Also he had another company of infantry mounted in trucks and some improvised armoured cars - trucks with armour plate and MGs. Another company of infantry, an assault platoon and the engineers with the explosives were due to arrive later.

In defence, Nick had a couple of companies of fascist militia, a light mortar and HMG. He was waiting on the BUF Legion and an armoured car arriving later in the game.


Tom chose to delay his motorised company initially and moved his foot companies through and around the woods on the left flank. This was about as far as possible from the objective. He did so as he was worried about the casualties he'd suffer attacking the village directly, but in doing so, he fell into a carefully constructed defence Nick had formed. In this picture you can see Tom's militia in the wood caught in the crossfire from the large building at the bottom, the barn, and the hedged field at the top. The HMG was also in the barn at the top of the picture.

In the face of all this fire, there wasn't much Tom could do so he brought the motorised infantry and armed trucks along the extreme left flank to try and skirt around the defences. The extra infantry battalion was also used as a sacrificial attack to try and capture the large building and distract the defenders.

Then the vagaries of the chance cards struck. Drawing a random card, both commanders were found to be mortal enemies and all units - except support weapons - had to charge towards their enemies unless they threw a 5 or 6 on a d6...... At the same time, the BUF Legion arrived on the table in force and it was all looking grim for Tom and the Basingstoke militia!

To the left you can see Nick's troops storming forward into the face of Tom's forces - they managed to capture the wood and destroy two platoons in the process before being destroyed themselves. The other fascist platoon in the big building on the right flank which had been holding up well against the largely ineffective fire, then also charged out and destroyed another of Tom's platoons before it too was destroyed.

At this point, the Basingstoke Defence Force had lost 5 platoons and the BUF were firmly holding the village with the Legion troops now holding the bridge. Their losses were considerably lower - just 2 platoons and an HQ section - so at that point Tom decided to pull back and the Fascists celebrated another victory!

Pictured here you can see the BUF Legion troops arriving on the front line in their trucks. The Fascist militia are surging forward to get hold for their foe!