Mud & Blood - Stout Hearts & Iron Troopers

The Great War was a period of tremendous change, and in writing this scenario supplement I hope that we
have been able to show that it is not all the mud and blood of popular stereotypes, and that for gamers
there is a huge amount of variety in the scenarios that can be gamed. Even in the darkest most
superficially stagnant years there was actually a huge amount of fighting on the Western Front that took
place in relatively open terrain and what is probably more striking is that fighting in trenches is by no
means an exercise in senseless slaughter.
I must say now that I am deeply indebted to three gamers who have assisted me in the compilation of this
supplement. In no particular order (but alphabetical) these are Tom Hoff, Max Maxwell and Sidney
“Lifter” Roundwood. All three have produced scenarios that I think really add much to the overall blend;
more on them later.
The scenarios presented here cover the entire war, from August 1914 right up to October 1918, with
scenarios from every year. There are also many nations represented, Canadians, Australians and New
Zealanders are prominent along side their British, French German and American counterparts. There is, of
course, a limit to just what we can cram into a supplement of this nature, but suffice to say that we have
attempted to be as even handed as possible. For those Newfoundlanders, Italians, Austrians, Portuguese,
Belgians and South Africans out there I can but apologise and assure you that any omission should not be
considered a slight to your homeland. All who fought in the Great War deserve our respect.
The supplement is split into two distinct areas. Firstly there is the initial section covering what is
essentially a period of training. The first six scenarios have been taken directly from British, French.
German and US training manuals and, we hope, will allow the gamer to gain a basic appreciation of the
tactics of the period and the weapons being used. I have been very much at pains here to make these
scenarios “real”; what I do not want to do is produce a dry exercise. Indeed these games are just as
playable and fun as the historical scenarios, they just have the added benefit of using text book
formations so that you can learn how it should be done, before facing the rigours of the real battlefield.
Hopefully the maps we have used in this supplement are clear for the user. We have used the extensive
collection of old military maps in the Lard Island library as the prime source here. Where the fighting is in
the muddy trenches; where a brown trench looks much like a brown shell hole or a brown field, we have
indicated the trench network by using duckboards extensively so that they are clear to see. Feel free to
print the maps and scenarios out as many times as required for personal use, but please don’t give the
whole thing to your friends or we’ll be out of business very quickly!
Naturally the second section follows on with those real battles. Where possible we have looked at the
actions of real men. In many cases the stories from the archives are one-sided in their telling, so it is
quite normal to have details of one set of combatants whilst knowing little about their opponents. Where
possible we have consulted unit histories to discover which units were in the area and taken an educated
guess as to the identity of the nameless opponents. In other cases we have used typical names and unit
structures to represent “the other side”, whoever they may be. What is clear to us is that whatever
accounts of battles one reads it is always the actions of real life “Big Men” that leap from the pages;
throughout all periods of history it is the deeds of a few that shape the larger battle. This is no less the
case in the Great War. Hopefully this supplement will allow the gamer to have fun with these scenarios
and recreate the actions of the men who fought with their miniature counterparts.
Richard Clarke
Lard Island
May 2009
www.toofatlardies.co.uk Page 2 Stout Hearts & Iron Troopers

Page 4 Basic Training – Background and Basic Tactics
Page 11 Training the Entente
Page 12 Scenario One – Attack on a Strongpoint

Page 16 Scenario Two – The Platoon in the Attack Between the Lines
Page 19 Scenario Three – The Platoon Clearing a Village
Page 23 Scenario Four – An infantry Attack with Tank Support
Page 27 Training the Imperial German Army
Page 27 Scenario Five – Attack on a Strongpoint

Page 30 Scenario Six – Attack on an Entrenched Position
Page33 Moving Up the Line – Historical Scenarios
Page 34 Scenario Seven – A Baptism at Bleid, August 1914

Page 37 Scenario Eight – Race to the Sea, September 1914
Page 41 Scenario Nine – Gentlemen in Loos, October 1915
Page 44 Scenario Ten – Bringing up the “New Mortars”, June 1916
Page 47 Scenario Eleven – The Wilhelm Raid, July 1916
Page 52 Scenario Twelve – Rottenest Place on the Somme, Sept. 1916
Page 57 Scenario Thirteen – Action at Rommel’s Knob, October 1916
Page 59 Scenario Fourteen – The Canadians Bag a Brace, October 1917
Page 64 Scenario Fifteen – Holding Back the Tide, November 1917
Page 67 Scenario Sixteen – Storm of Steel, March 1918
Page 71 Scenario Seventeen – Then the Man with the Flak Said “Everyone Attack”,
March 1918
Page 74 Scenario Eighteen – Through the Wheatfield, June 1918
Page 78 Scenario Nineteen – Nemesis of the Stormtroopers, August 1918
Page 84 Scenario Twenty – Lost in France, October 1918

One of the real issues when looking at gaming the Great War is that historically much has been said about
the ineffectiveness of the tactics used, whilst little actually written about what those tactics were. There
was a tendency (especially during the 1980s for some reason) to wax lyrical about the prowess of the
German Army in reinventing itself tactically, whilst at the same time criticising the Allies, and the British
in particular, for adhering dogmatically to failed and inflexible methods.
One West Point based historian identified the process by which tactical doctrine was successfully changed
during the Great War as follows:
• Perception of a need for change

• Solicitation of ideas, especially from the battlefield units
• Definition of the change
• Dissemination of the change
• Enforcement throughout the army
• Modification of organisation and equipment to accommodate the change
• Thorough training
• Evaluation of effectiveness
• Subsequent refinement
I would not disagree with him. Where I would beg to differ is that he suggests this list is exclusively
relevant to the German Army. In fact all of the participants recognised the need for change once faced
with the realities of modern warfare. The British were undoubtedly slower to adapt than the French and
Germans, chiefly because from the end of 1914 until the 1st of July 1916 they were largely focussed on
expanding their Army in order to make a meaningful contribution in a war fought by massed European
conscript armies. Their experiences on the first day of the Somme certainly persuaded them that change
was required, and they responded accordingly.
Using the criteria outlined above even a cursory glance at British practice will show that troops of all
ranks were constantly interviewed and surveyed regarding what could have been done better. A stream of
pamphlets were issued to the troops defining new tactical ideas, and extensive training was undertaken by
all troops to the extent that an average Tommy would spend more time training behind the lines than he
would in the front line trenches.
The adoption of the rifle grenade, the Lewis gun, the Mills bomb, the tank, the creation of the Machine
Gun Corps and the phenomenal development of artillery tactics is clear for anyone who bothers to look to
see. Indeed in almost all of these areas the British compare favourably with the Germans. The Imperial
German Army failed to develop an effective rifle grenade until 1918, they were two years behind the
British when it came to introducing a light machine gun, the one weapon that truly changed the tactical
capability of an infantry platoon, and when they did put their own MG08/15 into production it was an
unwieldy weapon that could barely qualify for the name “light” in any respect. The introduction of the
Lewis gun also allowed the British to develop the use of the Vickers HMG, by then withdrawn from
frontline units and held as a higher level asset, to the point which left the German use of the Maxim
looking very two dimensional. The tank, first used by the British in 1916 and then deployed in literally
thousands, stands as a testament to the ability and desire to change when compared with the Germans
who built a total of twenty tanks in all. This leaves only the artillery, where Bruchmuller’s much lauded
Feurwaltz of March 1918 was of no greater sophistication than anything the British were using at a similar
time or, indeed, in late 1917.
However this is not to say that the British or any other Allied forces were better than the Germans when it
came to tactics, training, assessment and refining. Indeed throughout the conflict the various nations all
played a part in the development of tactics generally. At no point were there any utterly revolutionary
changes put forward by one single participant nation that changed the face of warfare at one fell swoop.
What was seen was a steady evolution, with a cross-pollination of ideas between all parties. Indeed much
of what was new came about as a logical development due to the adoption of trench warfare, rather than
through any great doctrinal revolution.

In the first part of this supplement I intend to at least partially fill the void that exists regarding
contemporary tactics and their development, with some scenarios that come straight from the training
manuals used by the British, German and US forces fighting on the western front which Illustrate just how
tactics changed. Unlike the other scenarios included, these will be presented with the solution to the
tactical problem, explaining how those that fought the historical battles were taught to fight. In the first
instance it may help to have an overview of how and why tactics evolved.
The Development of Infantry Tactics in the Great War

When the war began all the forces present found themselves using tactics that were rudimentary. For the
British and Germans the emphasis was on overcoming the enemy through firepower before moving in to
assault with the bayonet. The French system was more naïve, focussing on the attack with the bayonet
with limited firing allowable during the approach so long as it did not slow the advance. Massive early
casualty levels served to persuade all the participants that new tactics were required, along with new
weapons to prosecute the war in the trenches.
Historically the Germans had favoured linear tactics with an emphasis on envelopment. In the wars of the
nineteenth century the elder von Moltke had brought this to almost an art form, with his emphasis on the
Kesselschlacht, the cauldron battle where the opponent was at least partially surrounded, and assailed
from all sides. In 1914, with the emergence of a static line of trenches from the Swiss border to the sea,
such a concept had little validity until the stalemate could be broken and open warfare resumed. Indeed
this was no different for any of the participants. What was now needed was an approach that could deal
with warfare that was, in essence, being conducted under siege conditions.
Of course much of the stimulus for change came from grass-roots level, where the infantryman, encamped
only a short distance from his foe, sought out ways to prosecute the war under these new circumstances.
Trench raids, ad hoc grenade launchers, impromptu weapons and trench armour, scoped hunting rifles
now being turned on human targets; all of this was born of a desire to strike the enemy, and it was from
here that many of the developments in small unit tactics, and the subsequent alterations to unit
structures, came.
Theoretically the Germans, who spent the bulk of the war on the defensive, should have been at a
disadvantage in terms of developing the tactics of the offensive, but due to the emphasis on the counter-
attack discussed above this was not actually the case. In 1914 the German basic element of manoeuvre
was the Company which, as part of its parent battalion, would attack in skirmish lines supported by
formed bodies of men. The period after the Franco-Prussian war was one of intense debate on the issue
of future infantry tactics, with a strong argument coming from veterans that the open order firing lines of
1866 and 1870 had, in many cases, led to the impetus of the attack being lost and over-reliance on the
firing line to overcome an opponent. By dispersing the men into a skirmish line, the argument ran, their
officers lost control of them and were unable to initiate forward movement, even when the fire-fight had
clearly been won. Closer formations would, it was reasoned, increase the volume of firepower on the
narrower frontage, and therefore aid the infantry in winning the battle of musketry whilst allowing the
officers to retain control. The counter argument, for operating on a looser frontage was an obvious one,
and it gained much credence after the Boer War, however by August of 1914 the argument still raged and
the choice of how to go into battle was left to the individual Divisional commanders.
It must be said that the argument over close or loose order did not continue post 1914, as the casualties
suffered then made it clear to all that to advance in tightly packed units on the modern battlefield was
nothing other than suicide. Whether in open or close formations the German tactical doctrine called for
attacks to be carried out in waves; generally each Company would advance in three waves, each of two
lines. Rapidly the foremost line would assume a very open formation, with five or six yards between men.
This front rank would advance in rushes; each platoon advancing under the cover of fire from its
neighbours. To their rear, some fifty yards behind, the second line would be in a closer order line,
thereby allowing its officers to retain control. Naturally the whole attack would normally be covered by
fire from machine guns and artillery. The following diagram illustrates a German Regimental size attack
at Verdun in 1916 and shows just how little the shape of the attack had changed at that time from those
of 1914.

1 3
2 4
French 1st Battalion 2nd Btn 3rd Btn

Lines
What had altered was the composition of the units. In 1914 the German infantryman had been exclusively
rifle armed; by 1916 a greater emphasis was placed on the grenade. Up until the start of 1916 there had
been a constant shortage of grenades, but by Verdun this had been overcome. An eight man grenade
team emerged as part of most, if not all platoons, and this would be present in all of the attacking waves
shown above. Additionally Pioneers, trained in the use of grenades, could be attached to join the first
wave and demolish any obstacles that could impede the advance.
The second wave in the attack was expected, once the first had been driven to ground by enemy
firepower, to maintain the advance. The third wave was equipped with sandbags, picks and shovels as
well as carrying forward some Heavy Machine Guns, and was expected to secure any ground gained in the
attack. The following Companies of the lead battalion would be tasked with clearing out the trench
network once it was broken into and consolidating there. After that the second battalion, which had been
advancing behind the first in platoon columns, would then push through with the objective of capturing
the enemy’s second line, and the third battalion would then take up the attack.
As stated, in many respect this looks very similar to an attack of 1914, however the difference was in the
detail. On all sides participants sought out weapons of indirect fire in order to strike at an opponent
behind his defences. This could range from the shift in emphasis from the direct firing Field Gun to the
Howitzer for the artillery, to the trench mortar, rifle grenade and hand grenade for the infantry. For all
participants this was an unexpected development. Certainly the Germans, who had anticipated the
requirement for siege weapons when attacking Belgian and French cities, were one step ahead at the
hardware end of the scale, but when it came to infantry weapons, such as the hand grenade, everyone
was in the same boat. They had very few, and their non-specialist troops were barely trained in their use.
For the Germans the hand grenade had been a specialist weapon used by the pioneers, men rightly seen as
trained in the mysteries of siege warfare. Indeed it was to be from those specialist troops that much of
the early tactical development came on the German side. How much of this is unique is highly
questionable, the British and French were just as quick to adopt the grenade, however their approach was
more generalist rather than attempting to develop specialist assault formations.
There can be little doubt that the Germans in 1915 were advancing more rapidly in this area than the
British. The latter were undoubtedly grateful that the front line had stagnated as the early fighting of
1914 had shown all too clearly the need for manpower, something that the original B.E.F. simply did not
have. The small British offensives of 1915, such as at Neuve Chappelle, Festubert and Loos, whilst of
significant import to those taking part, cannot be rated on the scale of the operations that were being
undertaken or planned by the French and Germans. However they did serve the purpose of allowing the
British to fundamentally expand and develop their artillery tactics, and to take their first stumbling steps
with infantry from the New Army in combat. What was clear, especially at Loos, was the limitations of
these new units, and this was to influence their use on the Somme the following year.

For the Germans the drive to develop tactics came initially from the Pioneers, when in 1915 men such as
Hauptmann Rohr and Major Caslow were encouraged to develop assault forces based around battalions of
these specialist troops. There is not room here to trace the detail of tactical developments, however
suffice to say they set a precedent by supplementing manpower with firepower. Rohr’s battalion was a
case in point, being allocated a platoon of Maxim guns, a trench mortar platoon, a platoon of
flamethrowers and then, most significant, some infantry guns. The concept of a light artillery piece,
capable of providing direct fire support for infantry assault units really began around this time. Rohr used
captured Russian 76.2mm Field Guns were cut down to make them lighter and easier to move on the
battlefield, whereas the French were developing a 37mm light gun to be attached to all their battalions in
1916.
What stands out with the German model is the emphasis on specialist, and ultimately elite, units that
were developed from the initial model. Yet this did not necessarily sit well with the independence
allowed commanders in the Imperial German Army. Certainly the idea of a specially trained unit to
spearhead attacks seems to have been largely accepted, however what form that took was left to the
individual commanders at Divisional, Regimental and even Battalion level. Even the term “Stormtrooper”
that has become accepted as a cover-all phrase was by no means universally applied at the time.
Sturmabteilung, Jagdkommando, Sturmeskadron, Kampfzüge, Patrouillentrupp, Sturmtrupp,
Sturmschule, Lehrabteilung, were all applied at the whim of their commanders, with the last two actually
giving an indication of what was planned for them in the medium term. Sturmschule, the Storm School,
and Lehrabteilung instruction detachment, betray the fact that as well as being used in the forefront of
an attack, these bodies were largely seen as being the drivers of tactical change, and used to train other
units in the parent body in the most up to date tactics.
Within the Allied armies the French were certainly keeping abreast of the Germans when it came to
developing new tactics. By 1915 they had introduced both the automatic rifle and the VB grenade
launcher to their platoons. The new tactics that the British developed in late 1916 are clearly a variation
on the French theme, and the uptake of these new ideas was accelerated by the shared experiences on
the Somme in 1916 when the French undoubtedly displayed a tactical maturity that the British lacked.
This was no shock to any of the Allied commanders; Haig was well aware of the deficiencies of his New
Army troops, and attempted to compensate for that by using artillery in an unprecedented fashion. That
this failed to work on the 1st of July is well documented; what is less well known is how the British then
embarked on an intensive period of tactical development to bring themselves up to speed.
British training instructions within six months of the opening of the Somme battle show an entirely new
approach to tactics. The platoon had replaced the company as the prime tactical unit and the structure
of the platoon had been altered by the new weapons that were now universally issued. Naturally this did
not happen overnight at the start of 1917, rather the entire British Army had been restructured, re-
equipped and retrained whilst the Somme battle was being fought. Rather than advancing as a company
in extended order lines the platoon now made its own way across the battlefield in a variety of formations
that were designed to maximise their effectiveness and flexibility whilst minimising casualties.
For the Germans the reality of change was somewhat different to the homogenous approach taken by the
Entente powers, and based upon their own strategic drivers. Whilst the battle of the Somme had scarred
the British, it had been equally disastrous for the Germans. Up until that point the emphasis, under the
leadership of Erich von Falkenhayn, had been on defending every square yard of soil that had been
captured at the cost of fallen comrades. In August of 1916 the appointment of Hindenburg and Ludendorff
to command in the West was to change that.
Whatever Ludendorff’s subsequent failings, he was quick to grasp the reality that, were the German Army
to doggedly attempt to hold on to all of its gains, it was in danger of bleeding to death under the fire of
the Allied artillery. Falkenhayn’s emphasis on a rigid, strongly defended front line had been a disaster on
the Somme, where attrition levels among men packing the front line trenches under the British
bombardment had sapped the strength of the German Army to unacceptably dangerous levels. Within a
month of taking charge Ludendorff proposed a flexible system of defence in depth, well described by
some as “elastic”. He was too late to reduce German losses on the Somme which continued until
November, however by early 1917 he had developed and implemented his theories; no less impressive
than the British learning curve of late 1916.

The new German command proved itself to be more pragmatic than its predecessor, accepting that
ownership of ground in a war where the prime objective is the destruction of the enemy is largely
irrelevant. Far better to surrender some ground if that then gave a tactical advantage. This was a prime
factor in the flexible defensive system now introduced, and can be best summed us in diagrammatic form,
as follows:
Outpost Zone Main Line of Battle Zone Supporting Rearward Zone

500-1000m Resistance 2000m + Line
Front Battalion: Outposts, strong-points Second Battalion Reserve Battalion

and small counter-attacking units
As can be seen the defence comprises of three zones through which an attacker will have to pass. It is as
important to view these from the cross-sectional perspective (bottom of diagram) as from the overhead
view, as this shows that where possible the main line of resistance was on a reverse slope, with only the
outpost line in view to any attacking enemy.
A German Division deployed in the front line would tend to be three Regiments strong. Each of these
would hold its own section of the line, and would deploy its three battalions in depth across this zone. In
the outpost zone a series of loosely connected positions served to break up and disrupt an enemy attack
before it reached the main line of resistance; three lines of continuous trenches supplemented by
bunkers. These two areas were occupied by one battalion from the Regiment which presented only its
foremost units to the enemy artillery spotters. This was key in a conflict where primitive communications
meant that the only time co-ordination between infantry and artillery was truly possible whilst the
spotters at the end of a fixed telephone line had visual contact with the advancing infantry.
To the rear of the front line positions was the battle zone, which was covered by a second trench system
and a stronger area of bunkers and defensive positions. Here the second battalion would be deployed. To
their rear the third battalion was held back as part of the Divisional reserve, out of the range of enemy
artillery. Behind that would be further troops from the Army Reserve. A tough nut to crack; yet this
defence in depth was not only designed to make it tough going for any enemy attack. At the heart of the
concept was the importance of retaining the initiative by the appropriate use of counter-attack forces.
Here the new German tactics of defence tied in perfectly with the already developing idea of the
specialised assault unit.
Central to the concept of the “elastic” defence, was the idea that the defenders would be obliged to give
way before an enemy attack. Certainly the outpost line would be over-run, but the attacker’s barrage
could not be expected to neutralise all of the defenders. By the time they got to the main line of
resistance some casualties and loss of cohesion would have resulted. Once on the reverse slope the

attacking infantry’s co-ordination with its artillery would likely come to an end, especially as German
Forward Observers could now call down their fire on a visible enemy. It is certainly possible that the
attack would run out of steam here, but even if it progressed through three lines of trenches the effect on
the cohesion of the attacker would be huge. It was now the responsibility of the German commander on
the ground, whatever his rank, to determine the right time for the counter-attack. The objective of this
attack was for the enemy to be expelled from any ground gained, and for the elastic defence to snap back
into place.
Two issues come to the fore here; firstly the organisation of counter-attack forces, and secondly the way
they were commanded. With the former, every element in the Imperial German Army would have a
portion of its strength designated as counter-attack troops; the Eingreifstruppen mentioned in the
National Guidelines section of the main rules. So, within a company this could be a platoon, within a
Battalion a Company, and so on. At the lowest level these troops were held back from the immediate
front line to be available for a counter attack.
So, taking the example above, had the Allied attack come to a halt before the German main Line of
Resistance then the battalion commander would be responsible for counter-attacking with his
Eingreifstruppen, probably a company sized force. Were the Allied attack to roll on further,
overwhelming the front line battalion, then the Regimental commander would assume responsibility for
counter attacking with his second battalion in the battle zone. This responsibility then continued up the
chain of command until the successive lines, tenaciously defended, had taken the impetus from the Allied
attack and the counter-attack could be launched. What was more, and this is the second issue where
German practice different diametrically from that of the Allies, was that the command of the counter
attacking force would be given to the battalion commander at the front, irrespective of rank, to maximise
continuity of command in the battle. A Regimental commander sent forward to counter attack would
focus on co-ordinating his assets to assist the battalion commander who was controlling the actual fight.
As we have seen, the German system of command generally lacked the rigidity that one would see in the
Allied armies, with rank often being secondary to the intimate knowledge of the section of front line and
the troops deployed there, and the commander on the spot being allowed to make decisions based on
that. Indeed this freedom very rapidly extended into the way that German units were structured,
especially as a wider range of weapons were adopted to enhance the fighting capability of the unit.
It did not take long before it was recognised that the cumbersome structure of the Company was too large
to command on the modern battlefield, however the importance of maintaining firepower kept it officially
at that strength until the winter of 1916-17. By then the increase in numbers of machine guns within a
battalion allowed numbers of men to fall whilst firepower was increased. Each battalion now had a
Company of six Maxim HMGs and the introduction of the MG08/15 increased firepower even further, albeit
the arrival of the new LMG was somewhat slower than had been hoped for.
The new Einheitsgruppe, or “standard squad”, was theoretically made up of eleven men under an NCO.
This was split into two sections, the seven man rifle section and the four man LMG section, and two such
squads made up a platoon. In fact the very concept of anything standard in the German Army is
something of a misnomer. In many Divisions platoons were made up of three rifle squads of eight men
with a further LMG squad also of eight men. The latter model was based on the gunner, his number 2 and
six ammunition carriers. Some better supplied units deployed two LMG squads of eight men, and two rifle
squads.
A classic example can be seen in the following example taken from the same Regiment in 1918. One
company was comprised of five platoons, three Kampfzuge, Battle platoons, one Erganzungzug, or
Expansion platoon, and a Reserve platoon. The Battle platoons each had two Einheitsgruppen, the
standard two section squads described above, but also had a Stossgruppe, an assault squad armed chiefly
with grenades. The Expansion platoon contained four NCOs and 16 Other Ranks, all of whom were spare
and ready to make up for losses in the battle platoons. The Reserve platoon had a small reconnaissance
squad and a granatenwerfer squad.
In the second example the Company was comprised of four platoons; three line platoons and one HQ
platoon. All three line platoons had at their core two eight man rifle squads and two eight man LMG
squads. However the first platoon had an additional granatenwerfer squad, whilst the third platoon had
an assault squad with grenades. The HQ platoon had a small four man grenade armed assault squad and a
recce squad.

In theory each battalion at that time would have had three granatenwerfers per company, but clearly the
decision had been made to allocate these one to each platoon. As for the rest of the structure, it was
obviously very much down to the Company commander to use what was to hand in whatever way he saw
fit. What also stands out that the despite these changes appearing somewhat ad hoc, there is always the
balance between the MG armed fire elements and the rifle and grenade armed manoeuvre sections.
However unlikely these formations appear they are all capable of operating independently at platoon level
or, increasingly with the Einheitsgruppen, as independent squads.
This again was very much part of the German tactical doctrine. The Stormtroop units established in 1915
and that fought at Verdun are clearly only the nucleus of an idea. Their role was very specifically to take
on identified enemy strong-points, to use the enhanced offensive capability provided by the wide range of
weapons that they had available, to remove obstacles to a general advance. To do this they carefully
studied the ground, practiced their attack on the training ground, and then put it into practice as the
spearhead of a major infantry attack. This is very different, if not diametrically opposite, to the task of
the Stormtrooper of 1918, and for the gamer it is important not to confuse them.
Der Angriff im Stellungskrieg, The Attack in Position Warfare, produced by Hermann Geyer of the General
Staff as the Bible of the German Army in attack allocated quite different roles to the Stormtroopers that
headed the German attack Divisions in the Spring offensives of 1918. Their role was not to destroy tough
positions, but rather to avoid them, taking the path of least resistance through weak spots in the Allied
lines. Their emphasis was on by-passing and isolating such positions, obliging their withdrawal or ultimate
capture by follow-on troops. Indeed the German plan was for the spearhead of an offensive to advance an
average of 8000 metres during the first day of an attack. This would take them through the enemy
defences and into their rear areas where they could cause maximum disruption by striking at artillery
positions, thereby robbing the defenders of their support, and command posts.
The theory of the attack was simple. The first wave would be made up of line troops whose responsibility
was to identify weak and strong positions in the enemy’s line. The second wave, made up of the
stormtroops, would penetrate the weak areas. If possible they would envelop any points of resistance,
but if these appeared tough they would simply neutralise them with firepower and press on into the
enemy second line.
The third wave was comprised of the stormtroops’ support weapons, their role being to keep pace with
the forward units, and to be able to deploy to protect their advance when necessary. The fourth wave,
made up of line troops, would then attack the isolated defenders and reduce their positions. The attack
is made in depth, with each Division assuming a frontage of only 2000m, with supporting Regiments able
to push through and support the attack. The message here was very clear – reinforce success. Do not
apply more troops where the enemy are strong, but push them forward through gaps in the line, keeping
the momentum of the main attack going. By doing so open flanks, the historical weak point of attacking
forces, could be ignored as the initiative was maintained by the attacker, and the defender never allowed
the luxury of the time required to plan and deliver his counter-stroke.
Conclusion
As we can see there was a huge change in tactics used between 1914 and 1918. The British and French
systems were more formalised than the Germans, their formations were less ad hoc in their make up,
however they were equally successful in shifting the emphasis down to smaller self-supporting units that
were capable of independent action. The German junior leader was often called on to make tactical
decisions that his Allied equivalent would not have to consider, with command being retained further up
the line than in the German army. This, however, did ultimately mean that in their attacks of 1918 the
British were equipped with a coherent strategy, unlike the Germans earlier in the year for whom tactics
had subordinated strategy to the back seat, with disastrous consequences.
In the following section we will look at a number of scenarios based on Allied and German training
manuals to allow the gamer to familiarise himself with the tactics of the period before moving on to a
selection of historical scenarios. The briefings for the two sides present are simple in the extreme as
there is no actual historical information with which to colour them, however as basic exercises these
games will allow the gamer new to the period to learn the basics of the tactics that made the Great War
unique and saw the birth of modern fire and movement tactics.

Training the Entente
The following four scenarios are taken largely from the British training manual SS143 and Tank Corps
documents of the period. SS143 was published in February 1917 it is widely seen as representing the leap
forward from the rigid tactics of the Victorian era to the modern, flexible, small unit tactics of today. It
was re-printed in the same year, almost verbatim, by the US Government Printing Office and issued to her
forces as Instructions for the “Training of Platoons for Offensive Actions”, and whilst the US platoons were
larger in terms of manpower, the influence of this document in the platoon structure adopted is clear to
all.
Yet this document was not as unique as some would have us believe. The French manual, “Instructions on
the Offensive Conduct of Small Units”, published in January 1916, was already calling for independent
action by units below Company size, and the “Supplemental Instructions” of September 1916, whilst less
well presented than SS 143 clearly laid the foundation stone for that ground breaking publication.
All of the following scenarios may be played using a French or US platoon, with exactly the same tactical
solutions being relevant. Here we have chosen to use a British platoon upon which to base the training
scenarios. The reasons for this are simple. Firstly a British platoon of 1917 is very easy to understand.
You get four distinct sections that all have their own job. This isn’t quite the case with the French as,
with typical gallic charm, they are rather less “tidy” in delineating the roles of the escoudes within their
platoons. This is great (and potentially more dynamic and interesting) when you have a grasp of the
basics, but at the outset the British “plain vanilla” approach is easier to comprehend. Of course the
Americans followed the British lead, but there are a lot of men in a platoon of Doughboys, so the second
reason four using the British is that you can paint less than forty figures and have a full platoon, thereby
getting your first game on the table quicker.
As mentioned in the introduction, these scenarios are exactly that. They are designed to make for
playable games, not just dry text-book exercises. It is quite natural to want to leap in and refight
historical actions, but try to resist that and get to grips with the realities of the tactics of the period here
before moving on. If you ARE only going to try one training scenario then use the first one. It has limited
terrain, limited numbers of figures and consequently is the easiest to run and the most tactically
illuminating. I have played this more than half a dozen times when introducing new players to the rules
and it is still an enjoyable challenge, whichever side you end up with.

An Attack on a Strongpoint
By the end of 1916 the British experiences on the Somme had led them to shift the emphasis from the
company as the chief tactical unit to the platoon. The smaller unit was easier to command on the
battlefield and also was now armed in such a manner that it could function as a self-sufficient body.
Within the platoon there were now four distinct sections; riflemen, bombers, rifle grenadiers and the
Lewis section. A maximum of 44 and a minimum of 28 Other Ranks was specified, with 36 being
considered a working norm, each section being made up of eight men under a Corporal. In the attack the
Platoon was to be deployed as show below. It will be noted that the manoeuvre elements, the riflemen
and the bombers, are in the front rank, with the firepower elements, the Lewis section and the rifle
grenadiers, in the rear. The relative positions of these sections could be altered, with the bombers and
the Lewis section always on the flank most likely to be challenged by the enemy.
What can also be seen is Likely enemy threat

that to the rear of the
platoon is a third line of
troops designated 100 yards
“Mopper Uppers”. These
were the men tasked Bombers
Riflemen
with mopping up enemy
resistance in any ground
captured by the platoon, 15 to
allowing its advance to 25 yds Rifle Bombers Lewis Section
continue unimpeded. If
the numbers required for
this are relatively small 10 to
then the men required 15 yds
should be drawn from the
platoon itself, but if this Mopper Uppers
would reduce the fighting
strength of the platoon
below what was considered practical then they would be drawn from other platoons, or even other
Battalions, to undertake that specific and limited task.
In a larger attack the platoons would be deployed according to the following diagram. As can be seen the
company in the attack does so on a two platoon frontage with the platoon always operating as the tactical
unit.
200 yards
2nd Platoon 1st Platoon
Company
50 to 100 yards Commander
and HQ
4th Platoon 3rd Platoon

In the following scenario the British player is commanding a platoon of infantry very much as we have
described above. Actually at the one man to one figure scale used in Mud & Blood we can include even
more detail, as can be seen below.
British Force
Platoon Headquarters
Commander Lieutenant Reginald Carshalton, Status III
Sergeant Alf Mitcham, Status II
Two runners/scouts
Section One - the Bombers

Corporal Frank Romney, Status I, with eight men; two bayonet men (to protect the bombers at close
quarters), six bombers.
Section Two – the Riflemen

Corporal Bill Hythe, Status I, with eight riflemen, two of whom are trained as scouts, one trained as a
sniper.
Section Three – the Lewis section

Corporal Nosher Dymchurch, Status I, eight men; Number one and two on the Lewis gun plus six
ammunition carriers/riflemen. The riflemen may add their fire when the Lewis is deployed and firing.
Section Four – the rifle grenadiers

Corporal Burmarsh Rhodes, Status I, eight men; four with rifle grenade launchers, four with ammunition to
act as loaders.
British Briefing
You are aware that the enemy is holding the ground around the crossroads ahead and you have been
tasked with taking the position to allow our artillery to advance along the road to support the main push
on Cambrai.

German Force
The structure of German forces in the Great War deserves an article in its own right, however space
precludes that. What follows is representative of a small outpost that is hanging on to its strategically
important position.
Commander
Feldwebel Artur Spengler, Status III
Machine Gun Section

Gefreiter Hans Beyer, Status I, one Maxim HMG, five men.
Rifle Section One

Gefreiter Rudi Schmidt, Status I, eight riflemen, two men of whom are trained as bombers.
Rifle Section Two

Gefreiter Lothar Brandt, Status I, six riflemen, two of whom are trained as bombers.
German Briefing
You have been ordered to hold the position at the cross-roads in order to deny its use by the enemy who
will, undoubtedly, want to capture such a strategically important place in order to gain use of the road
network. You must stop this.
UMPIRE’S Notes
The Germans must deploy in the trenches around the road junction, the British enter the table on the
southern (left hand) edge and will need to cross the intervening ground which, fortunately for them, is
reasonably undulating and scarred by a few shell holes. We played this on a 6’ by 4’ table with 28mm
figures. For ease, keep both lots of troops as average quality, Regular experience and Reasonable morale.
In this scenario the HMG is not allocated its own card, but will rely on the German Big Men, or the Snifter
card, to activate it.
Cards
British German Common
Big Men Big Men Time for a Snifter
British Blinds German Blinds
Command Initiative I x 1 Command Initiative I x 1
Command Initiative II x 1 Command Initiative II x 1
Command Initiative III x 1
Up and at ‘em!
Tactical Solution
On the accompanying image you can see that the Lewis gun section (light blue) has moved to the right
flank. By taking up a flanking position it allows it to use its firepower in support of the attack until the
manoeuvre troops are in close and able to deploy their bombs. The rifle section (orange) has moved to
the other flank; they want to get into the best position from which to deliver the coup de grace, and that
will be from the side. They are aided in this by their scouts who are pushing even further round into the
enemy’s rear, as indeed are two more scouts on the far right. The bombers (red) are in the middle with
the rifle bombers (dark blue) behind them. The latter are able to fire over the heads of the intervening
troops, keeping the enemy’s head down while the bombers work forward into close range to deliver their
devastating barrage or Mills bombs. Once that has been launched the man at the back, Lieutenant
Carshalton in our case, signals for the riflemen to pile in with the bayonet.
From the perspective of the rules the player should consider how he allocates his Big Men. Already one
on-line review of the rules (after playing one game, no less) has highlighted the difficulty in co-ordinating
the actions of sections. This, frankly, is down to the incorrect application of Big Men. One of the
problems with relying on the Status I Corporals to get the job done is that as soon as their sections start
taking Shock they will be faced with the choice of removing this or getting the men to move. What’s more
the Corporals, with just one Initiative, are likely to only ever activate their own sections, which does
indeed make co-ordination with others around them problematic.

With the firepower elements of the force this is not so much of a problem; the Corporals can concentrate
on removing Shock and then allow their sections to fire under their own steam on the Snifter card. This is
not the case with the manoeuvre elements. Here it is worth sending forward either the Lieutenant or
Platoon Sergeant. With more inherent initiative these Big Men can activate more than one section at a
time, getting them to work together, and leaving the Corporals with the simple task of removing Shock.
In real life terms this is the difference between the dynamic commander who leads his men into action
and the “less dynamic” (surely I mean cowardly…) leader who just orders his men forward and then sits
back to wait for the result. Yes, command assets are likely to be limited in a game, but never to the
point that you cannot co-ordinate your units’ actions by getting the right men to do the job.

The Platoon in the Attack between Trenches
British Briefing
You are aware that the enemy is holding the trenches ahead and you have been tasked with taking the
position and destroying the machine gun position around the second line trench. Once that is achieved
you will be provided with further instructions.
In this exercise the Platoon is to attack and clear a section of German held trenches. The platoon
commander should be aware that his attack is being made with no friendly forces on either flank. The
artillery are putting down a barrage on the German support trenches for the next twelve turns, so no
enemy reinforcements are likely while that continues. His force is made up as follows:
Commander Lieutenant Reginald Carshalton, Status III, Sergeant Alf Mitcham, Status II, two runners/scouts


sniper.


act as loaders.
Moppers Up
Corporal Dan Jenness, Status I, eight men, four trench cleaners, four bombers.

German Briefing
You are deployed in the front line trenches with your forces and have just come under bombardment from
enemy guns. You can expect an attack imminently. The British have put a barrage across the German
support trenches, so no assistance is likely from there for the moment. You must defend you position and
attempt to drive off the British attack.
Commander
Feldwebel Artur Spengler, Status III.
Machine Gun Section

Gefreiter Hans Beyer, Status I, one Maxim HMG, five men.
Rifle Section One

Gefreiter Rudi Schmidt, Status I, eight riflemen, two men of whom are trained as bombers.
Rifle Section Two

Gefreiter Lothar Brandt, Status I, six riflemen, two of whom are trained as bombers.
Scenario Notes
The Germans may deploy their forces on Blinds anywhere in the trenches; the only specified location is
the German HMG team, actually a Sharpshooter MG, which must deploy in the bunker at the top of the
rear communication trench. All German units will suffer two turns of barrage, rolling for the effect of this
as normal. The British begin the game on Blinds having just passed through the defender’s wire, as
marked. The table is relatively flat, albeit scarred with shell hole which offer light cover. This game is
easily played on a 4’ by 5’ table with 28mm figures. Both lots of troops count as average quality, Regular
experience and Reasonable morale.
Cards
Up and at ‘em!
Tactical Solution
The initial attack on the German trenches will be undertaken using the skills learnt in Scenario One to
overcome any resistance in the front line trench. Once this is achieved then the sections will all move
into the trench network and focus on overcoming the centre of resistance; the HMG position.
On the accompanying image you can see that the Lewis gun section (light blue) has moved down the
trench to face the German HMG position. From here he can put down suppressive fire on the resistance
point whilst not interfering with the actions of the other sections in the platoon. The rifle bombers (dark
blue) are off to their left and able to add their firepower against the HMG position. The rifle section
(orange) has moved down the communication trench to protect the flank from any enemy reinforcements
who may come from that direction, whilst also sending out their scouts around the rear to seek out any
enemy who may be approaching down the rear communication trench.
The bombers (red) are now the key assault unit. With the HMG tied up trading fire with the Lewis section
the bombers have rushed across the ground between the two front line trenches and are now working
down the support trench to attack the centre of resistance from the rear. The Moppers Up (Yellow) can
be seen protecting the flank and covering the entrance to any dug-outs in the front trench. The platoon
commander has advanced forward with the bombers and is in a central position between them and the
riflemen in order to be best informed about what is happening at the sharp end of the fight. His two
scouts are operating on the flank of the Lewis section, keeping an eye out for any enemy reinforcements
from that direction.

As with the first scenario the gamer should consider his assets, namely what Big Men are available and
what their capabilities are. This is absolutely key when using these rules (or any other set from
TooFatLardies) as the chief emphasis of the game is on battlefield friction, as defined by Clausewitz, and
more importantly the abilities of the Big Men to overcome this. This is not an artificial game mechanism
added to annoy the gamer and ruin his plans, it is a realistic aspect of warfare that is often missing from
wargames rules. In Mud & Blood, as in life, the gamer will be rewarded for simplicity of planning and
assigning his best men to the toughest tasks.

The Platoon clearing a Village
British Briefing
You suspect that the village ahead may contain enemy forces, however as it blocks your line of advance it
must be cleared. You have no support available but a good view across the surrounding countryside which
suggests that there are no other enemy infantry units nearby, however enemy artillery has been firing into
this sector. On the approach to the village your force should advance in artillery formation in case this
fire resumes.
Artillery formation was assumed when under artillery fire or when it was anticipated. In normal
circumstances the lead platoon in an attack would be in line, with subsequent ones in artillery formation.
Here the threat from artillery fire is perceived to be greater than any fire from the village, so it is being
assumed in the advance. A platoon in Artillery Formation is shown below. The frontage of the platoon is
100 yards, which equates to 30” on the wargames table with an overall depth of between 30 and 50 yards,
9” to 14” on the table. The rifle section advance at the front with their scouts thrown forwards. To the
rear of this section the Platoon Sergeant will be on hand should the enemy be contacted. The Lewis
section is deployed at the rear, allowing it to deploy quickly and easily to either flank in order to bring its
fire to bear. As with the linear attack formation the location of the bomber section will depend on where
a perceived threat may come. In this case the bombers are deployed to the right. It may be that another
platoon is advancing on the left of this one, thereby covering that other flank. The rifle bombers take the
more secure flank, whilst the platoon HQ, minus the Sergeant, are located immediately at the head of the
Lewis section, allowing the Platoon commander to command his force from a central position.
Likely enemy threat
100 yards
15 to
25 yds
15 to
25 yds
In this exercise the Platoon is to clear a small hamlet of any German troops who may be in there. The
platoon commander is aware that time is of the essence, and must do this as quickly as possible, with
minimal losses. His force is as follows:

British Force
Commander Lieutenant Reginald Carshalton, Status III, Sergeant Alf Mitcham, Status II, two runners/scouts


sniper.


act as loaders.

German Briefing
The speed of the enemy’s advance has surprised you, and you are currently in your old Battalion
headquarters destroying sensitive material before the Tommies’ can get here. You reckon another hour
before they arrive, which should just about give you time to follow the rest of the battalion back to the
Hindenburg line. Anyhow, you have a couple of sentries posted on the edge of the village.
Here the Germans are largely tied up with burning piles of sensitive documents rather than actively
defending the hamlet. They will remain doing just that until the sentries alert them to the British
advance. Once that occurs the German player may deploy his men as he likes, but MUST keep two men
feeding documents into the fire.
Commander
Feldwebel Artur Spengler, Damned Fine Chap, Status III
Two battalion clerks of no military worth, but capable of burning paper.
Rifle Gruppe One

Gefreiter Rudi Schmidt, eight riflemen, two of whom are trained as bombers.
Rifle Gruppe Two

Gefreiter Lothar Brandt, eight riflemen, two of whom are trained as bombers.
Rifle Gruppe Three

Gefreiter Hans Beyer, eight riflemen, two of whom are designated trench cleaners.
On Watch: Two men as sentries, one sniper.
Scenario Notes
The Germans must deploy in the command post, however their sentries and sniper may deploy wherever
the player wishes. The British begin the game on the western table edge on Blinds. The table is relatively
flat, some small undulations and the road side drainage ditch the only real terrain outside the village.
The village is made up of largely intact houses, albeit with some light damage from artillery fire. This
game is easily played on a 4’ by 5’ table or smaller with 28mm figures. As with all of these training
scenarios both lots of troops are rated as Regular experience and Reasonable morale.
Cards
Command Initiative III x 1 Sniper
Up and at ‘em!
Tactical solution
The advance against the village should be rapid, with the Lewis section (light blue) deploying to fire down
the street. The bombers and riflemen (orange and red respectively) will advance down the right hand side
of the street (this was specified so as to avoid friendly fire incidents) moving through the rear gardens and
yards and clearing the houses from the rear. The rifle bombers (dark blue) will in this instance operate as
riflemen, following up and occupying the captured buildings.
The net result of this tactic will be to ensure that half of the village is captured with the Germans unable
to reinforce any troops in those buildings due to the Lewis gun section covering the street. Once half the
village is captured the Lewis gun can then support any attack on the other half by the bombers and trench
cleaners of the rifle section.
Once again the Lewis gun section will not need much management; Corporal Dymchurch can keep them in
action quite happily with just his one inherent command initiative, allowing Sergeant Mitcham and
Lieutenant Carshalton to advance with the business end of the platoon. Note here that they do not have

to charge in at the head of their men. Positioned near the lead elements, just behind them, they can
exert their influence over the battle without taking unnecessary gung-ho risks.
In this scenario the player has the luxury of a “spare” section. The rifle grenadiers will be better off
replacing their grenade launches with bayonets in this case, so if the rifle section or the bombers become
over encumbered with Shock they can be replaced in the front of the attack by the rifle grenadiers while
the other section is rallied by the Lieutenant and Sergeant, getting them back into action quickly and
efficiently.

An Infantry attack with Tank support
British Briefing
By the end of 1917 the British had come to the conclusion that a lengthy bombardment prior to a major
assault was, in some respects, counter-productive; it undoubtedly gave the Germans a clear indication
where their reserves were required, often days before the attack was pressed home. Nevertheless the
fact remained that in order for any attack to have a chance of success the enemy wire had to be cut, and
up to that time this had been the job of the artillery.
At Cambrai the solution was to use tanks to simply crush the wire, relying on a short but intense barrage
to shock the Germans during the vital early stages of the attack. This proved to be tremendously
successful, the depth of penetration achieved over the first 48 hours of this battle showed just what could
be achieved before the enemy were able to stabilise the line with reinforcements. Indeed the attack at
Cambrai provided a blueprint for future combined arms attacks.
The drill for infantry and tank co-operation was established my Major J.F.C. Fuller of the Tank Corps in
order to maximise the efficiency of the two arms working together. One tank Company of 12 tanks was
assigned to each infantry battalion, with one troop of three tanks per infantry company, as shown in the
following diagram.
One Platoon
100 yards 50
yards
E
N
E
M
Y
Advanced Guard Main Body Lead Platoons to Follow up platoon to

Tank Tank clean up trenches form stops in trenches
In this exercise the tanks and infantry are tasked with advancing against a German held section of trench
whilst the preliminary barrage goes in on the enemy position. The gamer has two options here, depending
how many figures he wants to use. An abridged game would represent two platoons attacking with three

tanks and working their way forward clearing the trenches. A larger and more involved game would
include two more platoons from the second wave moving in to block the trenches against any counter
attack.
Whatever the size chosen, this game gives us an opportunity not just to see tanks in action, but also to
work with a creeping barrage and its fixed schedule. I have assumed that only two platoons will be used
here, but the gamer may choose to add a further two if desired.
Tank Troop
Lieutenant Percy Pointer, Status III
Second Lieutenant Toby Juggs, Status II
Sergeant Dick Puller, Status I
Three Mark V tanks
Infantry Company Headquarters

Major Jack Wimbledon Chase, Status IV
Captain Charles Sutton-Penge, Status III
First Platoon
Headquarters
Commander Lieutenant Reginald Carshalton, Status III
Sergeant Alf Mitcham, Status II
Two runners/scouts


sniper.


act as loaders.
Second Platoon
Headquarters
Commander Lieutenant Bertie Bellingham, Status III
Sergeant Syd Hill, Status II
Two runners/scouts

Corporal Alf Streatham, Status I, with eight men; two bayonet men (to protect the bombers at close

Corporal Bert Shortlands, Status I, with eight riflemen, two of whom are trained as scouts, one trained as
a sniper.

Corporal Billy Banstead, Status I, eight men; Number one and two on the Lewis gun plus six ammunition
carriers/riflemen. The riflemen may add their fire when the Lewis is deployed and firing.

Corporal Preston Park, Status I, eight men; four with rifle grenade launchers, four with ammunition to act
as loaders.

German Briefing
This is likely to be an unpleasant exercise for the Germans, as it proved to be in real life, nevertheless we
have found it to be one that people have enjoyed playing for the historical experience as much as
anything else. It may be advisable to let the German player know that he is VERY likely to come off worst
and then let him try to do better than his historical counterparts. What will affect his performance is how
shaken up he is by the barrage and how quickly he gets his men up onto the parapet.
Command Elements
Feldwebel Kurt Thälmann, Status III
Gefreiter Lothar Schmidt, Status II
Gefreiter Jankke Lott, Status I
Gefreiter Harald Koch, Status I
Rifle Platoon
Thirty riflemen
One HMG team of five men
One Sharpshooter HMG team of five men
One Lewis gun section of six men
One sniper
Umpire’s Notes
The Germans must deploy in the two trench lines. He may put the Sharpshooter HMG team in a
strengthened wooden bunker anywhere within his positions. The German front line trench begins the
game under the British barrage and may not attempt to activate any units under that until the barrage
moves on. The British begin the game on Blinds on the western table edge. Their barrage has already
been firing on the Germans for two turns. It will move from the front line trench after four turns, lifting
straight to the second line trench where it will fire for four turns after which it will move forward to

another target off-table. Both lots of troops are average quality, Regular experience and Reasonable
morale.
The table is relatively flat and undamaged by shell fire due to the limited duration of the barrage and the
new instantaneous fuses in the HE Shells. This game is best played on a 6’ by 6’ table with 28mm figures.
Should the players wish to go for the larger game option then simply add two more platoons of infantry
who will enter the table on turn six on Blinds.
Cards
Command Initiative III x 2 HMG
Command Initiative IV x 1 Sniper
Up and at ‘em! X 2
Tactical Solution
In the following diagram we can see the infantry company operating with the tank platoon in an attack on
a section of German trenches.
Trench blocks put in place by

the support platoon.
In either case the British objective would be to clear a readily defendable section of the German trenches,
clearing that out rapidly with their lead platoon and then securing it with the second platoon forming
trench blocks (as indicated on the diagram above). The British tanks are crossing the trench line at the
same point, allowing the use of a single fascine, if such is required, and the operating independently in
order to provide maximum support for the infantry. In effect the tanks are escorting the infantry as they
clear the German first and then second line trench, using their firepower to overcome any points of
resistance.

Training the Imperial German Army
Much of what we have seen above in the Entente section can and should be equally applied for the
Germans, but in some areas it is worth looking separately at German practice. This is never more the case
than in the area of the hand grenade, a weapon that the Germans embraced as their main weapon of war.
Indeed this was the case to the point that Ludendorff complained that by 1917 the standard of German
musketry was abysmal due to the primacy of the grenade.
There was, to be fair to the Allies, nothing unique in German bombing tactics, the British and French
deployed them in exactly the same way, but there are subtle differences in a German platoon attack and
the carefully formulated, and universally applied, combined arms approach of their opponents. By
comparison German methods can sometimes appear as a blunt instrument, but they were no less effective
as a result. Indeed it could be said that the German methods were systematic in that where they held the
initiative they would attempt to structure a force specifically for the immediate tactical objective.
An attack on a Strongpoint
From the earliest days of trench warfare the Germans placed much emphasis on the grenade as a means of
attack, indeed it rapidly replaced the rifle as the standard weapon of assault. By 1915 the eight man
bombing squad under an NCO had been established as the norm, with this operating as two mutually
supporting groups of four men each. The lead group would be made up of two throwers and two other
men who normally acted as grenade carriers. When tough resistance was encountered all four men would
throw grenades, creating a formidable “barrage”.
The second four man team would act principally as grenade carriers, each man equipped with sandbags
full of grenades which they were able to send forward to the lead group. This team would also carry
ample supplies of empty sandbags which could be used to consolidate ground won. If the lead group
found themselves up against an enemy counter-attack the cry of “Sandsach Vor!”, sandbags forward,
would go up and the rear group would begin constructing a trench block whilst the front group send a hail
of grenades to hold off the enemy before retreating behind the barricade. The following diagram taken
from a German training manual shows how the Grenadiers would operate in front line and communication
trenches, and in a cratered battlefield.
Front line
Communication
Crater

As can be seen the squad leader has placed himself at the front of the group in the trenches, ready with
his bayonet to keep any enemy at bay, or finish off any wounded men encountered as the squad advances
down the trench. In the more open battlefield the squad leader fulfils a similar role, covering any
potential line of enemy attack, whilst one man from the second group does the same on the other flank.
Let us look now at one scenario that concentrates specifically on two such bombing squads advancing
against two enemy strongpoints in a contested trench network. This scenario can be set any time from
1915 onwards.
German Briefing
The French have fallen back before us and blocked many of the trenches in order to cover their escape.
They have left behind two machine guns, one in a concrete blockhouse, the other in what appears to be a
strongpoint built in a shell hole which are causing some annoyance as the battalion forms up to continue
its advance. The Hauptmann has selected you to clear them out, and he means fast! Your force is as
follows
Squad One
Sergeant Max Lehrmann, Status II, eight Grenadiers, one of whom is trained as a sniper.
Squad Two
Gefreiter Lothar Brandt, Status I, eight Grenadiers, one of whom is trained as a sniper.
Machine Gun Section

Gefreiter Hans Beyer, Status I, one MG, five men. Prior to 1916 this should be a Maxim HMG, in 1916 a
captured Lewis gun, and in 1917 onwards an MG08/15

French Briefing
The enemy is attacking, our first line trenches have fallen, but the Regiment is reforming to the rear to
beat off any subsequent attack. You have been left with just two machine guns to hold off the Boche for
as long as possible. It is your plan to make the enemy pay heavily for each yard of French soil, before
slipping away to rejoin your units. Your force is as follows:
Machine Gun Section One

Caporal Alphonse Legume, Status II, one Hotchkiss HMG, five men.
Machine Gun Section Two

Caporal Victoir Aubergine, Status I, one Hotchkiss HMG, five men.
Umpire’s Notes
The French have a very small force here, and they must deploy in the blockhouse with one section and the
shell hole marked A with the other. The Germans enter the table on the southern edge at points B and C.
They may choose to use one or both entry points. The chief approach trenches to the French positions are
blocked with cheveaux de frise and wire, and for gaming purposes are to be considered completely
blocked. The Germans do not have much of a force here, so it should be stressed to them the importance
of minimising casualties and using terrain to their advantage. The blockhouse should be considered heavy
cover, the shell holes as light, the trenches (including the French second MG position) as medium. Both
lots of troops are rated as Regular experience and Reasonable morale.
Cards
French German Common
French Blinds German Blinds
Sturmabteilung Vor!
Sniper
Tactical Solution
On the accompanying image you can see that the bomber squads (red) have chosen two separate routes,
this is wise as it avoids any potential “traffic jam” if one unit were to stall and the other be trapped
behind it unable to respond. The MG section (light blue) has moved into a central position from where it
can provide supporting fire for both of the Grenadier squads.
Both squads have

detached men to
operate as snipers who
are firing methodically
and accurately at the
enemy, attempting to
suppress them through
Shock. Whilst they do
their work the bombers
are working forward
using the terrain for
cover and seeking to
outflank the enemy
positions.
By taking two separate

routes the Grenadiers
are ensuring that even
if one squad is lost to
enemy fire, the other
can complete its
mission and then
continue onto the flank
of the other objective.

Attack on an entrenched position
As the war progressed the Germans, like the Allies, placed a greater emphasis on firepower than
manpower, with the machine gun becoming relied upon to provide the weight of fire required to pin an
opponent and allow the assault element of a force to get in close. Once an entry was made into the
enemy positions the task of rolling up the defences would begin and the machine guns would prepare to
meet the expected counter attack.
Here we look at an attack on a British defensive position in spring 1918. The Stormtroops have done their
job, infiltrating the enemy positions and leaving outposts isolated and ready to be mopped up by the
follow on forces.
German Briefing
The Stormtroops have pushed on in their attack and now it is your job to mop up resistance in the isolated
British positions. Your force is to advance and break into the British strongpoint and capture the concrete
bunker. You must then hold your position until reinforcements can be fed in to complete the job and
clear out the whole position.
Feldwebel Kurt Thälmann, Status III.
One reconnaissance squad of four men to be employed as scouts if required.
Gruppe One
Obergefreiter Lothar Schmidt, Status II, eight riflemen, two of whom are trained bombers

Gruppe Two
Gefreiter Jankke Lott, Status I, eight riflemen, two of whom are trained bombers
Gruppe Three
Gefreiter Harald Koch, Status I, eight riflemen with one MG08/15
Gruppe Four
Gefreiter Lothar Brandt, Status I, eight riflemen with one MG08/15
Assault Gruppe
Gefreiter Hans Beyer, Status I, eight Grenadiers, one of whom is a trained sniper.
British Briefing
The enemy bombardment has been terrible and is still continuing. You must expect an attack, so be ready
to man the trenches as soon as the bombardment stops. The following forces are on-table at present:

sniper.

ammunition carriers/riflemen.

act as loaders.
The following forces are currently off-table:
Commander Lieutenant Reginald Carshalton, Damned Fine Chap, Status III
Sergeant Alf Mitcham, Good Sort, Status II
Two runners/scouts

Corporal Frank Romney with eight men; two bayonet men, six bombers.
Sustained Fire Machine Gun

This is, and will remain, off-table throughout. It may begin firing as soon as the first Germans are
spotted, with its sustained fire markers being placed anywhere in the two sections of table edge marked
in yellow.
Umpire’s Notes
The game begins as soon as the German bombardment ends, with the German troops entering the table on
the edge marked X-Y on Blinds. The British second and fourth sections will be sheltering in the two
bunkers marked E, with the Lewis section in the concrete bunker at D. They should all roll on the
preliminary bombardment table, Section 10.2, to see what effects they have suffered.
Once they have spotted any Germans a runner must be sent to exit the table at point B to summon
reinforcements. Once he leaves the table Lieutenant Carshalton’s card will be added to the deck and he
will roll each turn it emerges to see if he arrives with help. On the first turn he needs to roll 6, on the
second turn, 5 or 6, the third 4, 5 or 6, and so on. When he arrives roll a D6, with the platoon HQ and the
bomber section arriving at A on 1 or 2, B on 3 or 4, or C on 5 or 6. He must then attempt to clear the
Germans from the position. Both lots of troops are rated as Regular experience and Reasonable morale.

Cards
Sniper Command Initiative III x 1
Sturmabteilung Vor!
Sniper
Tactical Solution
The German objective here is to get their bombers into the trench as quickly as possible and then to
neutralise any British troops and prepare for the counter attack. Their primary objective must be to
destroy the Lewis gun in the bunker, as this is the enemy’s primary defensive weapon.
The rifle (orange) and machine gun squads (light blue) advance into a central position and use their
machine guns to suppress the Lewis gun with Shock. The Assault squad (red) advances rapidly using the
dead ground to avoid any fire from the machine gun on the flanks. Speed is of the essence here as the
Germans should be aware that flanking fire is a huge potential danger that can be expected very soon
after the bombardment ceases.
This squad will advance by the fastest route to the bunker, in this case across the top rather than in the
trenches, and destroy their target with grenades. The rifle squads should be following up rapidly,
allowing the LMG squads to cover them with their firepower.
As soon as the bunker is neutralised the LMG teams move to assume positions that give them the best
coverage or anticipated lines of enemy counter attack, while the riflemen form barricades and the
bombers clear the dugouts, firstly at the key position where the communications trench meets the front
line and then on the flank. Speed is of the essence here, so the bombers have split into two smaller
groups and are supported by men taken from the rifle squads.

Now that you have completed your basic training you will, hopefully, have a good appreciation of Great
War infantry tactics and weapons. What’s more you will understand the importance of command on the
battlefield and its part in making the difference between success and failure. If so you are probably
better trained than many of the men who found themselves going “up the line” for real!
What follows is a collection of historical or historically inspired scenarios that have been chosen to cover
all four years of fighting on the Western Front and with all four major participants. I am very grateful to
Max Maxwell, Thomas Hoff and Sidney “Lifter” Roundwood for contributing to this section and putting
their own thoughts into how to get the most from Through the Mud and the Blood.
Max Maxwell is well known to any regular readers of the TooFatLardies Specials, and has researched the
Great War extensively while putting together the I Ain’t Been Shot Mum variant, Sturmabteilung Vor, and
the Troops Weapons & Tactics supplement, “Oh What a Lovely TW&T” and putting together the basic
ideas for Corps Blimey.
Tom Hoff is a recognised expert on the Great War, and lectures on history at the Northeastern Illinois
University. He has published the widely acclaimed Osprey Warrior series title, U.S. Doughboy (Warrior
79) which was subsequently republished, along with several other Osprey titles, as War on the Western
Front. Tom penned the foreword for Return to Charlevuax, and has worked on a TV documentary of the
same name which is about the Lost Battalion incident as seen in scenario sixteen of this supplement, Lost in
France. An active re-enactor of the period, serving in many nations’ uniforms, Tom’s wife can rightly claim
that she is the last widow of the Great War.
Sidney “Lfiter” Roundwood is originally from Hull, but denies vehemently the rumours that he is John
Prescott’s love-child. In addition he tells us there is no factual basis for the stories about underwear
disappearing from washing lines in his locality, despite the fact I still have the newspaper cuttings.
Whatever the unpleasant truth about his lifestyle choices, Sid is famed for his creative skills in putting
together the terrain for many of the TooFatLardies display games around the shows, in particular the
Great War scenery that features in Through the Mud and the Blood main rule set. His success in these
labours is based on extensive period research, the results of which are clearly shown in the three
scenarios he presents here.
My thanks to them all.

On the 22nd of August 1914 twenty-two year old Leutnant Erwin Johannes Eugen Rommel was advancing at
the head of his platoon, part of the 124th Infantry Regiment of the Imperial German Army. As his
Regiment advanced towards the village of Bleid in Belgium’s southern Luxembourg province the young
Leutnant was sent forward with his platoon to reconnoitre the area.
In the early morning fog Rommel left his platoon and, with Sergeant Ostertag and two other men, he
advanced forwards into some farm buildings that over looked the main road. There below him were
around fifteen Frenchmen with rifles stacked, drinking coffee on the edge of the village. It was here that
Erwin Rommel’s military career truly began.
German Briefing
You have moved forward ahead of your platoon in order to see if the village is clear. It’s a foggy morning
so visibility is poor and the Hauptmann does not want the Battalion to blunder into a trap. You have
advanced down the slopes of Hill 325 through a potato field and across small vegetable gardens and then a
small farm came into view. Leaving your platoon behind a hedge you and three other men have crept into
the farmyard. Looking down to the main road to Mussy-la-ville below you can see a group of French
soldiers drinking coffee and chatting on the road! The clearly have no idea that you are here.
You have the jump on your opponent. It would be a tremendous advantage if you can break into the
outskirts of Bleid, and you are determined to seize the opportunity to prove yourself to your superiors.
What do you do now? Your force is as follows:
Recce Party
Leutnant Erwin Rommel, Status IV
Sergeant Ostertag, Status II
Two riflemen
Platoon Main Body

Obergefreiter Träger, Status II, one Gruppe of eight riflemen
Gefreiters Stetter, Status I, one Gruppe of eight riflemen
Gefreiter Pfeifer, Status I, one Gruppe of eight riflemen
Gefreiter Schaffert, Status I, one Gruppe of eight riflemen
Gefreiter Knell and, all Status I, one Gruppe of eight riflemen

French Briefing
And so we continue to march into Belgium to stop the advance of the Germans. We are taking a break
here in this small village so make the most of your time to enjoy the coffee made by the farmer’s wife, no
doubt we’ll be on the march again in a moment.
Your force is as follows:
Elements of the 5th Company, 101st Infantry Regiment.

Sergeant Haricot, Status II
Caporal Radis, Status I, with eight riflemen
Caporal Oignon, Status I, with eight riflemen
Caporal Épinards, Status I, with ten riflemen
Caporal Concombre, Status I, with ten riflemen
Caporal Aubergine, Status I, with ten riflemen
Sous Lieutenant Artichaut, Status II, with two groups of ten riflemen
Umpire’s Notes
This is a very early war scenario and both forces should be considered Green but with Good Morale. The
table size here is 6’ by 4’ with high ground on the top edge sloping down to the edge of the village.
Rommel begins the game on a Blind at point X. He should be hard to spot as at this point he represents
just four men with one of their number peering around the edge of a building. His platoon is at point Z
behind the hedge on a Blind. Once the firing starts they must be activated by rolling a D6 each time the
German Blinds card is dealt. On the first attempt they require a 6, on the second a 5 or 6, on the third 4,
5 or 6 and so on. The platoon will be automatically activated if Rommel, Ostertag or a runner reaches
them. They may begin the game as a formation under Obergefreiter Träger.

Caporals Radis and Oignon begin the game on the table in the road at point Y. They are enjoying coffee
and buns provided by a farmer’s wife. They may do nothing but spot until they see the Germans or firing
begins, after which they act as normal. Caporal Épinards and Concombre are on Blinds in the farmyard
marked W on the map. They are getting water from the well to fill their canteens. They are taken by
surprise when the firing begins and will need to be activated to reflect the initial moments of chaotic
uncertainty. When the Caporal’s cards are dealt they roll a D6. On the first attempt they require a 6, on
the second a 5 or 6, on the third 4, 5 or 6 and so on. Once activated they may act as desired.
A blank card is included in the deck. On the eighth time this is turned Sous Lieutenant Artichaut arrives
on the table at point V with his twenty men on one Blind.
It is a foggy morning and visibility is reduced to 24”. No spotting or firing can take place at over that
distance. Spotting within 24” is done with a -1 on the dice. Both players may start the game with two
extra “dummy” blinds. Additionally both players may nominate one of their men as the platoon
strongman, giving him the status of a trench cleaner in close combat.
Rommel wins the game if he can occupy the farmhouse at Y and hold his position against the French
forces. The table should be scattered with bric-a-brac, such as wood piles, dung heaps, small carts, bails
of hay and the likes. In the real action Rommel’s men used a tree trunk from a wood pile to smash the
door of the farm down. If they do this in the game it will take a minimum of four men to use the tree
trunk in this way, with 2D6 being rolled each turn. A task roll total of 10 is needed to break down the
door.
Rommel also used burning hay to set fire to the farm to smoke out his enemies. There should be hay in
the outbuilding which is dry and may be used for this task. Each time a bundle of burning hay is thrown
into a building a D6 is rolled. On a 6 the building catches fire. The men in the building will take one point
of Shock if this happens. On their activation the men in the building may attempt to put the fire out,
rolling a D6 for each four men attempting this. They succeed on a roll of 5 and 6 on a D6. If they fail to
put the fire out they will surrender if the amount of Shock on the Group is equal or more than their
strength.
Cards
French Blinds German Blinds Blank card
Friction Command Initiative III x 1
Heroic Leader (Artichaut only) Sturmabteilung Vor!
Dynamic Commander
Heroic Leader
Historical Outcome
According to Rommel’s own (admittedly self-promoting) account, he acted audaciously in this, his first
fight. He and his three companions stepped out from cover and opened fire on the French soldiers in the
road, killing some and sending the rest running for cover. Rommel then charged them, hoping to make
the most of their surprise, but was obliged to withdraw due to the fire coming from a farmhouse.
Bringing his platoon forward Rommel then attacked the farmhouse, breaking to door down with an
impromptu battering ram, and then smoking out the defenders with burning hay. With a foothold on the
edge of the village the rest of the battalion arrived and stormed into the village proper, overwhelming the
disordered French defenders.

by Max Maxwell
As the initial thrust of the Schlieffen Plan was blunted by the combined efforts of the Entente forces both
sides began to head for the Channel coast in an attempt to outflank their enemy. Some light engagements
were fought; exploratory punches made, but all attempts were blocked and inexorably the forces headed
for the coast. Indeed this stage of the war became known as "the race to the sea" and was characterised
by fluid fighting, the use of armoured cars and cavalry.
In the event all came to nothing as the Belgians retreated behind the Yser and flooded the ground to their
front. The result was the trench warfare that so characterises the Great War which, with minor
exceptions, would remain in place for the next four years.
This is a small game but still challenging for both players who must try to secure their armies flanks. As
they say, "at the front of every army is a small group of men on whom the fate of all others depends!"
German briefing
You are Leutnant Von Schumplepicker of the 15th Bavarian Jäger Regiment. You and your men are tired
from the seemingly constant manoeuvring of this war. After already covering 10 kilometres today along
another stinking canal you need to reach the village and bridge before the verdamdt Englanders!
You are to co-operate with a squadron of dragoons and between you secure the Bridge and crossing at
Dampf. You have been skirmishing with advanced elements of the British on and off for days, but always
at a distance.
Your force is strung out along the canal but the town is close by. The question is, do you gather your
forces together or rush to your objective, hoping that reinforcements to arrive quickly? Your force,
elements of the 15th Bavarian Jäger Regiment, is as follows:
Turn 1
Leutnant Von Schumplepicker, Status II
1 Gruppe of 8 plus 1D6 Jäger (riflemen)
Turn 2
Feldwebell Hamberg, Status I
1 Gruppe of 8 plus 1D6 Jäger (riflemen)
Turn 3
Elements of the 2nd Hanoverian Dragoons
Officer Cadet Albrecht, Status II
1 Gruppe 10 Dragoons
(Mounted or dismounted, dependent on your figure availability, if dismounted they can act as if horsed
until drawn off blind when they are assumed to have dismounted).
Turn 4
Lance Feldwebel Snickler , Status I
1 Gruppe of 8 plus 1D6 Jäger
The troops listed above will arrive on the drawing of the “German Turn” card.
Additional Reinforcements may arrive on a roll of 6 on a D6 any time the "Reinforcements" card is drawn.
They represent the straggling elements of the Regiment. Roll a D6 on the table below to see what turns
up.

Dice Reinforcements
1 Runner from division – "Get a move on" any blind or unit that has not already moved this turn may take
an extra move, (move only, no firing).
2 1D6 Jäger arrive on a Blind, they may be incorporated into any Gruppe, or Gruppes, by a Big Man
3 HMG Team arrives – 5 crew, manhandled, arrives on a blind, roll 1d6 again, "1-4" no Big Man, "5-6" "Big
Man" Lance Corporal attached, Able Fellow (Note: this can only happen once, after that it will be
replaced by 1D6 Jäger arriving).
4 Random artillery – four 77mm shells land on the table. The German player chooses the aiming point and
then applies a 4D6" deviation.
5 Two Cavalry Scouts arrive (they may operate on their own, without a Big Man, or may be incorporated
into one of the Gruppe) – this unit my only be called up once, afterwards I'm afraid your hopes are
raised, then dashed and no one arrives!
6 Pioneer Gruppe – A group of 4 Pioneers, with dynamite, to mine the bridge, or for other nefarious
purposes, under the command on Lance Feldbwell Tundt, Status I – this unit may only be called up once,
afterwards I'm afraid your hopes are raised, then dashed as no one arrives!
British Briefing
It has been quite a dramatic few days! Hardly had you arrived in Belgium than the Boche had pushed
through the main lines and all seemed in headlong retreat. This has stabilised after heavy fighting and the
plan now is to sneak around the beggars’ flank, securing the ports and helping out the plucky Belgians.
Today has been something of a race with you rushing along the canal line towards some pokey hole 'name
of "Dampf". It seems that the bridge there could act as a pivot for our advance. In any case, the men are
strung out along the road after helping out the car from a muddy field, the question is: do we rush to the
village to form up, or do it here and then go in?

Your force is made up of elements of the Nelson Battalion, Royal Marines, as follows:
Turn One
Lieutenant Harry Hardy, Status II
Section of 8 plus 1D4 men (Riflemen)
Turn 2
Sergeant Hamble, Status I
1 Section of 8 plus 1D4 Marines (riflemen)
Turn 3
Elements of Armoured Car Section
Petty Officer Albert, Status II
1 Rolls Royce armoured car
Turn 4
Lance Sergeant Stickler, Status I
1 Section of 8 plus 1D4 Marines (riflemen)
Troops will arrive on the drawing of a "British Turn" card. Additional Reinforcements may arrive on a roll
of 6 on a D6 any time the "Reinforcements" card is drawn. They represent the straggling elements of the
Battalion.
Dice Reinforcements
1 Runner from division – "Get a move on" any blind or unit that has not already moved this turn
may take an extra move, (move only, no firing).
2 1D6 Marines arrive on a Blind, they may be incorporated into any Section, or Sections, by a Big
Man
3 Marine section of 10 men with a supply of grenades (Bombers) arrive on a blind, roll 1d6 again,
"1-4" no Big Man, "5-6" "Big Man" Lance Corporal attached, Able Fellow (Note: this can only
happen once, after that it will be replaced by 1D6 Marines (Rifles) arriving)
4 Random artillery – four 18 pounder shells land on the table. The British player chooses the
aiming point and then applies a 4D6" deviation.
5 Scout car arrives with two scouts (Rifles). It is an un-armoured vehicle, operating with the Roll
Armoured Cars. It may operate without a Big Man on its own card. The car can carry up to 8
people in total.
6 Matelots! – A group of 4 Sailors, with dynamite, to mine the bridge, or for other nefarious
purposes, under the command on Leading Seaman "Dina" Myte, Status I – this unit my only be
called up once, afterwards I'm afraid your hopes are raised, then dashed as no one arrives!
Umpires Notes
The table size here should be approximately 6’ by 4’. Both sides arrive on the roads that converge into
the aptly named village of Dampf. The early stages of the Belgian inundations have led to much of the
ground being boggy, movement off road will be at -1" per movement die. Vehicles moving off road must
test for "Bogging".
There is a lot of scrub and trees around the canal line, making spotting between the roads difficult and
offering light cover. The fields offer some cover to prone troops, the buildings are all substantial, brick
built, with mature gardens. The buildings offer medium cover. The Bridge is a small stone affair, well
placed explosive will certainly destroy it.
Both sides are, effectively, in a race to capture the town. The Umpire should stress the urgency of the
affair, giving the forces a similar priority for action as their real life counterparts. The game will be
deemed a draw if the bridge is destroyed, by either side!

Cards
British Blinds German Blinds Blank card
British Turn German Turn
British reinforcements German reinforcements
Rally Rally
Vehicle Bonus Scout
Vehicle Breakdown Sturmabteilung Vor Card*
Scout *Only for cavalry whilst on Blinds

It is very easy to find wargamers with the opinion that trench warfare is ungameable, or at least a tedious
experience, and this scenario has been included specifically to show how diverting a small game can be
set amid exactly those conditions. Being small, in this case only using a 3’ by 2’ table, it allows the gamer
to invest a small amount of time (and polystyrene no doubt) in making a modest trench system of their
own to give this interesting and challenging scenario a go.
Historical Background
The battle of Loos in 1915 was something of a ground breaking exercise for Britain in her development to
attaining the role of an equal player in the war. It was the first time the British used poison gas, the first
time that elements of Kitchener’s New Army had been committed to the offensive, but primarily it was
their first stumbling step towards comprehending the dynamics of the new war and the tactics that would
be needed to win it.
At this stage the British Army was still largely rifle armed, with a single bombing party of ten men per
company using the rudimentary No.1 Mk I Grenade. This was in stark contrast to the Germans who had
already learnt much about the use of the hand grenade and developed tactics to exploit it to the
maximum. Indeed Loos, more than any other battle, was to be a fight between the grenadiers of the two
sides through the warren of trenches that criss-crossed the battlefield, with the riflemen largely relegated
to the role of observers.
To the north of Lens, Loos was a mining area, the skyline dominated by pit heads and slag heaps. At the
northern end of the battle fighting had gone on for weeks around the Hohenzollern Redoubt and the
associated trenches “Big Willie” and “Little Willie”. Gains and losses saw trench lines changing hands
continuously, and it is in that context that our scenario is set.
By the night of the 4th of October the gentlemen of the Guards Division had moved forward to ready itself
for a fresh attack to take the Hohezollern redoubt. Gas was to be brought up to aid the attack as artillery
shells were still in very short supply. Some heavy labouring was needed to provide saps from which to
release the gas, and the canisters had to be carried forward into position.
For the Germans facing them it was clear that an attack was imminent and on the afternoon of the 8th of
October they launched a spoiling attack of their own. Combat teams had been assembled, headed by a
party of bombers, followed by pioneers ready to barricade the trench where gains were made. Behind
them were the riflemen to clear out any dug-outs, and to the rear a group of reserve bombers to replace
any losses. These German columns attacked down the trenches rather than moving across the top, and
their most notable success was to drive elements of the 3rd Grenadier Guards down Big Willie trench. It
was only a counter attack by Lance-Sergeant Oliver Brooks and six bombers of the 3rd Coldstream Guards
that restored the situation, retaking over 200 yards of trench.
The German spoiler attack put back General Haig’s planned attack on the Hohenzollern Redoubt by four
days. For his part in the action Lance-Sergeant Brooks was awarded the Victoria Cross.
British Briefing
You have been labouring all day to get these bloody saps dug to house the gas equipment. It’s not a warm
October day, but you have certainly worked up a sweat. Hopefully it’ll be time to knock off in half an
hour and get some tea.
Your force is made up of three sections of eight men each under Corporals “Ginger” Baker, Bruce Jacks,
and Cedric Clacton, all Status I. Your objective is to finish this damned digging! It’s work for navvies, not
His Majesty’s Guardsmen!

German Briefing
The British are clearly planning an attack against the Hohenzollern Redoubt. We must hold our ground
here, and to do this a raid will assist us disrupt the English plans. You have mastered the use of the hand
grenade, the English cannot stand before such an attack, so use this advantage to advance down Big Willie
trench and destroy the British gas saps. If you can hold on to captured ground then all the better. You
know what the Kaiser desires: Seize and hold Big Willie! Your force is as follows:
Column Commander
Leutnant Oscar Strudel, Status III
Bomber Gruppe
Vizefeldwebel Michael Bischoff, Status II, ten bombers
Pioneer Gruppe
Gefreiter Rolf Baum, Status II, ten pioneers with sandbags and rifles
Rifle Gruppe
Gefreiter Hans Obermarr, Status I, ten riflemen, four of whom are trench cleaners
Reserve Gruppe
Gefreiter Richard Schiff, Status I, six bombers.
Umpires Notes
The British are not expecting the German attack, and in all fairness will probably only manage to put up
minimal resistance with their initial force. They are worn out and surprised, and as such count as just
Regular troops with Poor morale. They will also be deployed on the table rather than on Blinds. One
section should be working in each of the saps, with the third taking a break in the trench between the
two.

The Germans begin the game with their lead Blind in Big Willie at Point A. The British will react to this,
but they will spend one whole turn when activated dropping their spades and recovering their rifles.
A blank card should be included in the deck. On the third and subsequent time this is drawn the British
roll a D6. On the first roll a 6 is required to herald the arrival of reinforcements, on the next turn a 5 or 6
will suffice, and on the third turn 4,5 or 6, and so on, with the chance increasing for subsequent turns.
On the first arrival of reinforcements Lance-Sergeant Brooks, Status IV, will arrive with six bombers at
point B on a Blind. On the next turn twelve trench cleaners from the 3rd Grenadier Guards will arrive at
point C under their officer, Lieutenant “Shotgun Charlie” Cranwell, Status III. Cranwell, unsurprisingly,
carries a sawn-off shotgun and counts as a trench broom. All of the reinforcements are Veteran troops
with Good morale.
The terrain outside the trenches is not particularly relevant, however it is grassy with a few shell holes
present. The saps are narrow, with men unable to pass each other in them, whereas Big Willie, the main
trench, is broad enough for troops to pass, especially as it has a firing step on both sides due to multiple
occupancy.
The Germans win of they get their pioneers in the saps and fill them in, or at least damage them. A
maximum of six men may work on destroying a sap and will need a total task roll of 70 to achieve the
task. The Germans win a major victory if they can capture and hold on to both saps.
The British must clear the Germans out of Big Willie; they win if they achieve this. Whether Lance-
Sergeant Brooks gets the Victoria Cross is down to you!
Cards
British Blinds German Blinds Blank card
British reinforcements Command Initiative I x 1
Command Initiative I Command Initiative II x 1
Command Initiative II Sturmabteilung Vor!
Rally (reinforcements only)
Up and at ‘em!
Heroic Leader

At Verdun in 1916 a new type of war was being fought, with the Germans intent on grinding down the
French armies to a point where they could no longer continue the fight, and concentrations of artillery so
dense that landscapes were lost to its devastating power. Some villages were quite literally wiped off the
map, never to be rebuilt, and some geographical features were so scarred by shelling than no semblance
of a trench network could be discerned.
In this maelstrom of violence the French were unable to maintain continuous lines of trenches, rather they
were obliged to defend in depth, holding on to shell holes and shattered buildings where they could in a
desperate hope of halting the German attacks in this devastated landscape.
The Germans too found the fighting incredibly tough and brought forward a new weapon of terror in an
attempt to break through; the flamethrower. As with most new weapons, secrecy was considered critical,
and German commanders were encouraged to refer to these hateful weapons by code names, one of
which was “the new mortars”, so as not to alert the French to their presence.
In this scenario an attack with flamethrowers is launched by Stormtroops against a French strongpoint
near Cumières-le-Mort-Homme. To this day Cumières has never been rebuilt, but still officially exists with
a population of zero, one of the villages that died for France. This game is based on a typical attack by a
small stormtroop force spearheading an attack by a larger force. At Verdun the Stormtroops tended to be
lent out in small numbers as required to deal with specific “problems”, rather than serving as a single
discrete force.
German Briefing
Our attacks are still being launched along the French flanks, at Hill 304, the Mort Homme heights and
around Cumiers, yet still the French cling obstinately to this ground. It seems as though the defence of
Verdun has become an embodiment of the battle for France. Now you are being committed to the front
with your force of stormtroopers, tasked with overcoming a French strongpoint in the ruins of a destroyed
woodcutter’s cottage along what was once the road from Cumieres to Bethincourt, a road that now only
exists on maps. Your force is made up as follows:
Command Element
Leutnant Max “Eisern” Lehrmann, Status IV
Fahnrich Adolf Rabinowicz, Status III
Feldwebel Kurt Thälmann, Status III
Obergefreiter Rudi Reckschönne, Status II
Gefreiter Lothar Schmidt, Status II
Gefreiter Jankke Lott, Status I
Gefreiter Harald Koch, Status I
Troops
Forty men
Two Maxim HMGs with five crew each
Three light trench mortars with two crew each
Four light flamethrower teams with a crew of two
The German player may choose what he wants his men to be in terms of specialisation, choosing from
bomber, trench cleaner or riflemen. No LMGs are available at this stage of the war. He may also have a
barrage with four points of fire to support the attack.

French Briefing
Ils ne Passeront pas! They shall not pass! Verdun will be the tomb of the German Army, the soldiers of
France will never give way. At least you will ensure that those under your command do not. You are
holding a strongpoint near the village of Cumieres with what remains of your company – a mere handful of
men now. You will continue to resist and to defend every square foot of the sacred soil of France. Your
force is as follows:
Company Heaquarters
Capitaine Rene Lisbonne, Status III
Sous Lieutenant Cassoulet, Status II
Sergeant Chef Bourgignon, Status III
Two Hotchkiss HMGs with five crew each
Escouade One
Caporal Huitres, Status I, six riflemen, two bombers, two men with one VB rifle grenade discharger.
Escouade Two
Caporal Grenouille, Status I, six riflemen, four bombers
Escouade Three
Caporal Escargot, Status I, ten men, three Chauchat automatic riflemen
Escouade Four
Caporal Moutarde, Status I, six riflemen, four men with two VB grenade dischargers
Escouade Five
Caporal Dijon, Status I, eight riflemen, two bombers

You may choose to shift men and weapons between sections before the game begins if desired. You also
have an SOS rocket in the main strongpoint if you need artillery support. Two aiming points must be
chosen before the game commences.
Umpire’s Notes
The Germans begin the game on Blinds anywhere on the line A-B. At this stage their flamethrower teams
may be represented by normal riflemen until they come into action. The gamer should find some way of
noting which figures these are so as to track their movements. A typical German flamethrower Gruppe
was eight men with two light flamethrowers, with the rest of the squad being made up of riflemen.
Should the German player wish, the light mortars may be kept off-table, but will still fire as if in effective
range. All German troops count as Veterans for experience and Reasonable morale.
The French start the game on Blinds, or hidden in the terrain. They may deploy anywhere on the top half
of the table. This is Verdun; filled with patriotic fervour, these troops are Veterans and in Good morale.
They also have a Rally card to reflect their grit, determination and liberal supplies of vin rouge.
We used a 6’ by 5’ table for this game with 28mm figures, but 5’ by 4’ would be just as suitable. The
terrain here should be almost covered in shell holes. The French have a small amount of trenches but
their position is largely made up of shell holes and the cellar of the cottage. The HMGs may be in bunkers
constructed with sandbags, giving heavy cover from small arms fire.
Cards
SOS Fire Command Initiative I x 1
Command Initiative I x 2 Command Initiative II x 1
Command Initiative II x 1 Command Initiative III x 1
Command Initiative III x 1 Dynamic Commander
Heroic Leader Sturmabteilung Vor!
Rally HMG x 2
Mortars
Creating a Defensive Rifle Grenade Barrage

On the defensive the French believed in using their VB launchers to create a barrage that would block the
path of the German attacker. To do this the French player may fire at an area that contains no enemy
troops, but may well be where he thinks the attacker intends to go. This initial round of fire will be done
with half the normal dice, as is usual for a first turn of firing from a rifle grenade group, meaning that
subsequent turns fire with full effect at any target in that area.

By Sidney “lifter” roundwood
The Wilhelm Raid, mounted on the evening of 19th July 1916, is a fine example of a trench raid conducted
by German forces in the early stages of their development of stosstruppen tactics. Ideally German players
should only read the German briefing and New Zealand players the New Zealand Briefing. Any umpire
should read all briefings and then set up the terrain as shown in the Terrain briefing.
GERMAN BRIEFING
You are Leutnant Karl von Wernher, the officer commanding the assault detachment of the 229th Reserve
Infantry Regiment, forming part of the 50th Reserve Division. You are stationed to the southwest of Lille,
far away from the maelstrom of battle currently engulfing the Somme and Verdun. You have started
wondering whether the war is going to pass you by without the opportunity of distinguishing yourself in
battle. However, your chance soon arrives....
You were summoned by your Regimental commander, Oberst Joachim von Bek, to his dugout on 14th July
to be informed of the Divisional plans for a raid on the neighbouring enemy trenches. The target for the
raid is to be a strongpoint in the British line, known as the “Bastion”, which juts out from the British lines
into no-man’s-land. Oberst von Bek has chosen this point, he explains, because the strongpoint can be
easily cut off from the rest of the British line by a box barrage and is not well covered by interlocking
British machine gun fire. Furthermore, if the Bastion is captured, the whole of the Bastion might be
annexed to the German trench line.
Von Bek then passed you some aerial reconnaissance photographs of the Bastion and the surrounding
British trench lines. You can see through the patchy cloud on the photographs the trench lines leading
clearly to a heavily entrenched strongpoint. You noted with care the strength of the wire entanglements,
the support trenches behind the strongpoint and the low ground in front of the sandbagged strongpoint.
You briefly dismissed a sense of foreboding at the size of the challenge awaiting you and listened carefully
as you enjoyed some strong ersatz coffee Von Bek had poured for you. Your force, Von Bek announced,
was to be as follows:
Assault Detachment of the 229th Reserve Infantry Regiment (morale good, experience veteran,
Aggressive troops)
One officer - Leutnant Karl Von Wernher (Status IV)
Seven NCOs : Vizefeldwebel Engelmann (Status III), Unteroffizier Heschendorf (Status III), Sergeant Kleist
(Status II), Unteroffizier Vogel(Status II), Sergeant Winterstein (Status II), Gefreiter Regelberg (Status I),
Gerfreiter Meinhard (Status I)
Twenty Stosstruppen with rifles and 20 Stosstruppen with rifles and hand grenades
Two MG08 teams of two men each
(Oberst Von Bek recommends that you divide your Assault Detachment into two groups, at least)
Field Pioneer Battalion of 50th Reserve Division (morale good, experience regular *)
One Officer – Leutnant Von Breitner (Status III)
1 NCO – Unteroffizier Lars Adenauer (Status II)
16 Pioneers with satchel charges, concentration charge grenades, 2 Bangalore torpedoes, all also carrying
wire cutters. For the Bangalore torpedoes, see the “Through Mud & Blood” rules section 14.2.
(* Note that the Field Pioneers are not aggressive troops in this scenario)
Field Artillery Regiment of the 50th Reserve Division

1 Forward Observation Officer (Unteroffizier Koch) and assistant with field telephone and flare pistols.
You also have 17 points of fire support on the Attacker’s 1914-1916 Table, including ability to fire Box
Barrage
As you cast your eye over this list of personnel, and artillery assets, Von Bek informs you that the 231st
Reserve Infantry Regiment, the neighbouring regiment to the north of the 229th, will be carrying out a
distraction raid and placing suppressive fire to the trenches to the north and rear of the Bastion. Von Bek
also tells you that an SOS fire signal, three red flares, can be fired in the event that the raid is repulsed.
He suggests that the SOS fire is targeted on the Bastion if all your troops are repulsed from it. In addition
to an SOS signal, a success flare can also be fired, being two blue flares signifying the bastion is in German
hands and alerting a company of the 229th Reserve Infantry Regiment to advance in support of your troops.
For the following few days you worked with your Assault Detachment on final tactics and training,
ensuring that each trooper was familiar with the earlier reports of raids on the Bastion and the aerial
photographs. On the afternoon of the 19th you had a further meeting with Von Bek at which he asked you
if you had considered arrangements for the route your trench raiders will use to leave the German lines,
quantity of ammunition carried, what weapons are to be carried by your stosstruppen and a dozen similar
questions. Von Bek listens attentively, a thin smile signifying his satisfaction at the thoroughness of your
preparation. At this meeting, Von Bek informs you that zero hour is set for 11.25pm on the 19th July. He
also informs you that the box barrage will commence at 11.25pm; the moment your men leave the
German lines. You will have only 20 minutes to engage the enemy forces in the Bastion. At the end of the
20 minutes, you will be expected to fire the success flares for reinforcements, or to withdraw and fire
your SOS flares.
Victory Conditions: Oberst Von Bek also outlines the mission objectives:
¾ Take the Bastion and fire the two green success flares – this will be a Major Success (in game
terms 15 points)
¾ Enter at least 30 troops into the Bastion (8 points)
¾ Enter at least 10 troops into the Bastion (4 points)
¾ Capture at least two enemy prisoners (one point for each capture, 3 if an officer, 2 if an NCO)
Von Bek announces that the codename for the raid is to be “Wilhelm” and wishes you the best of luck.
With a mixture of excitement and trepidation, you return to your troops and during the early evening
bring them forward from their concrete MEBU bunkers to the forward trench line. You are ready.

NEW ZEALAND BRIEFING
You are First Lieutenant Hector Fitzpatrick, the officer commanding a strongpoint on the British lines
close to the German held city of Lille. You are a junior officer in C Company of the 1st battalion of the
Canterbury Regiment, part of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force recently arrived in France. While
many of your comrades in arms are now fighting on the Somme, or in other parts of the Empire, you seem
to have been abandoned to a damp and dismal trench in Artois, gloomily watching the Germans pound the
British trenches with apparent impunity for the past few months since your arrival.
Your company commander, Major Thomas, has tasked you with defending a stretch of line which includes
a concentration of trenches and machine gun posts which forms a promontory from the British lines. The
strongpoint is heavily reinforced by sandbags and timber revetments and has quickly earned the nickname
among your troops of “the Bastion”. To the rear for the strongpoint lines a series of communication
trenches, a reserve trench line and several ammunition stores. Major Thomas and you have discussed the
vulnerability of the Bastion to a potential German raid and over the past fortnight you have supplemented
the defences with a number of saps from the front line trench to Lewis gun positions and listening posts in
no-man’s-land. You have systematically pushed out wiring parties on every evening since your arrival, and
a small forest of wire now covers much of the front of the Bastion. Artillery support, in the shape of the
several 18 pounder field gun batteries, is ranged in on several SOS points in no-man’s-land where it seems
most likely the Germans would advance through if they were so bold as to attempt a raid.
The date is now 19th July 1916 and you have the following forces at your disposal to position around the
Bastion or within the supporting trenches:
2nd Platoon, “C” Company, 1st battalion of Canterbury Regiment (NZEF) – experience regular, morale
good
Two officers - First Lieutenant Hector Fitzpatrick (Status III), Warrant Officer Bill Norwood (Status III)
Four NCOs – Sergeant Mackenzie (Status II), Corporal Selwyn(Status II), Lance Corporal Ashburton (Status
I), Lance Corporal Fairlie (Status I)
24 privates, comprising 12 riflemen, 8 “bombers”, 4 rifle grenadiers and an 8 man Lewis Gun section
Four man Vickers MG section positioned in a sap in no-man’s land
Two runners
Major Thomas has also mentioned that in the event of a raid on the Bastion, he may be able to supply
reinforcements although this would depend on events elsewhere along the line. Normally, he assures you,
this would be a platoon, perhaps even led by him. However, this evening he is planning a trench raid to
the North and could only send a reduced force of a weakened platoon. He’s happy to provide these men,
under Captain Leeston (a veteran of the Boer War, no less) on receipt by Company HQ of a runner or a
field telephone message.
3rd Platoon, “C” Company, 1st battalion of Canterbury Regiment (NZEF) as reinforcements –
experience regular, morale good.
One officer (Captain Leeston) (Status IV),
Three NCOs (Sergeant Rolleston (Status II), Corporal Methven (Status I), Lance Corporal Oxford (Status I))
and 24 privates (comprising 16 riflemen and 8 “bombers”)
One Lewis gun team of two men
Major Thomas also discusses with you the off table artillery support you can expect on any evening in the
event of a raid. He informs you that the current SOS signal is four green parachute flares, after which you
have 13 points of fire support on the Defender’s 1914-1916 Table.
You are told that anything less than a successful defence of the Bastion will be viewed as unacceptable.
In the event that the Germans undertake a raid in any force, you must kick them back into no-man’s-land.
Defending the Bastion without needing to call on Captain Leeston will also be looked on favourably by
Major Thomas and the battalion commander.
Victory Conditions:
¾ Defend the Bastion by the end of the game, with no surviving German troops being within – this
will be a Major Success (in game terms 15 points)
¾ prevent more than 10 German troops entering the Bastion (8 points)
¾ Avoiding calling on Captain Leeston for support (4 points)

UMPIRE’S NOTES
The Wilhelm Raid is documented in Appendix A of Bruce Gudmundsson’s book “Stormtroop Tactics:
Innovation in the German Army 1914-1918”. In the book, while numerous details are given of the German
forces comprising the raiding force, very few details are present regarding the gallant New Zealand
defenders of the Bastion. Accordingly, and with regret, the details of the New Zealand force set out in
the Briefing are fictitious.
Although Leutnant von Wernher’s raid was apparently well planned, it almost ended before commencing.
A New Zealand raid to the north of the Bastion was planned and executed only an hour before Von
Werner’s (being the raid referred to as being led by Major Thomas in the New Zealand player’s briefing),
causing some consternation among the waiting stosstruppen of Von Wernher’s Assault Detachment. It is
the New Zealand raid’s potential interaction with the German raid which offers the possibility that
retreating New Zealand troops could fall back on the Bastion after their own raid ends, leading potentially
to sharp exchanges in no-man’s land itself. On the Sixth turn of the Snifter card, add a Blank card into
deck. On the third turn of the blank card, Second Lieutenant Chertsey’s detachment of trench raiders
falling back to the Bastion after becoming lost in no man’s land can be deployed at any point on the
northern table edge.
Remnants of the 1st Platoon, “B” Company, 1st battalion of Canterbury Regiment (NZEF)- (morale
reasonable, experience regular)
One Officer (Second Lieutenant Chertsey – lightly wounded – Status I)
Two NCOs (Corporal Westerfield (Status II), Lance Corporal Lismore (Status I))
A random number of privates equipped with rifles (2D10 privates will be present, and roll 2D6 – the first
D6 dice indicates the number of troops which will be “Bombers”, and a roll of 6 on the second dice
indicates that an extra two privates are present carrying a Lewis gun)
Special Rules and Conditions

1. The scenario commences at 11.25pm. There seems to have been a large amount of smoke
obscuring the battlefield for most of the engagement. Accordingly, in the “Night Fighting rules”
in the “Through Mud & Blood” rules (section 13) treat the night as being “pitch black”.
2. Leutnant Wernher has five parachute flares for illumination and Leutnant Breitner has 1DAv
parachute flares. Unteroffizier Koch has sufficient artillery flares with which to summon the SOS
fire or call in reinforcements.
3. Both First Lieutenant Fitzpatrick and Warrant Officer Norwood have 1DAv of illumination flares.
4. The New Zealand player may lay wire to the front of the Bastion. Two sections of wire can be
trip-wired (see the “Through Mud & Blood” rules section 14.3).
5. The New Zealand player can deploy a sentry or listening post outside the wire – for each sentry
crossing back over the wire to the New Zealand positions, roll 1D6 as in section 14.1 of the
“Through Mud & Blood” rules, applying a -2 to the roll.
New Zealanders German Common

New Zealand Blinds German Blinds Blank Card
Command Initiative III x 1 Command Initiative III x 1
Sentries and Outposts (if used) Command Initiative IV x 1
Heroic Officer Stosstruppen Rally
Friction Sturmabteilung Vor!
HMG Friction
Historical Outcome
The German raid was successful in reaching and entering the bastion, but Professor Gudmundsson notes
that the attackers encountered stiff resistance. By 11.47pm, Leutnant von Werner was already falling
back from the Bastion, albeit after inflicting a significant number of casualties in the New Zealand ranks
and capturing two prisoners. A counter-raiding force of New Zealanders appear to have pursued von
Wernher’s men, but a supporting platoon of the 229th Reserve Infantry seem to have stopped them
entering the German lines. The raid was costly for the Germans, loosing two officers and two men killed,
two men missing and 14 men wounded. The New Zealanders lost one man killed, three wounded and
three missing (two of which were captured). The raid was, however, only a partial success and did not

succeed in its aim of potentially capturing the Bastion. Smoke seems to have shrouded the battlefield,
drifting from the New Zealanders’ own raid further north, and obscuring the German artillery observer’s
calling in of artillery support against one of the New Zealand machine guns on the south side of the
Bastion. Another cause of the higher casualties on the German side appears to have been the stiff
defence mounted by the New Zealanders, notwithstanding the high motivation and training of their
stosstruppen adversaries.

by Sidney “Lifter” roundwood
One of the key objectives in the major British offensive planned by Field Marshal Haig for mid-September
1916 along the Somme front was High Wood. A small, leafy copse on a contour between Martinpuich and
Flers, High Wood had become one of the cornerstones of the German defences on the Somme. Despite
numerous attacks, the British had failed to penetrate through the wood as they had done at Trones Wood
and Delville Wood, the Germans still retaining occupation of the Switch Line trench which ran along
through the wood’s northern section. Possession of High Wood was a tactical imperative to prevent
enfilading fire from machine gun nests and bunkers within it disrupting any British attack. By September,
the lush leafy woodland of early summer had been transformed into a hellish, unearthly place. “Imagine
Hampstead Heath made of cocoa-powder, and the natural surface folds further complicated by countless
shell holes, each deep enough to hold a man, and everywhere meandering crevices where men live below
the surface of the ground, and you will get some idea of the terrain of the attack”.
One Corporal from the 1st Northamptonshire Regiment perhaps summed it up best when he described High
Wood as “ghastly by day, ghostly by night, the rottenest place on the Somme”.
BRITISH BRIEFING
You are Captain Edward Westferry, commanding “A” Company of the 17th (County of London) Battalion of
the London Regiment (Poplar & Stepney Rifles), part of the 47th Division in action on the Somme. It is
early morning, about 6am on 15 September 1916 and you are crouching in a shallow trench staring through
a periscope at the collection of tree stumps on higher ground known as High Wood. A massive artillery
bombardment is under way along the front line, as it has done for three days, although a narrow corridor
of about 100 yards from your trench and through the wood is untouched by the British barrage.
The reason for the “lane” up to and through the wood would have astonished you just a week ago. But
over the last seven days you have grown familiar with the massive iron monster, or “tank”, which has
lumbered up to your front line in preparation for the assault. You have seen these monsters knock down
trees and perform other circus tricks at the base of the Heavy Section of the Machine Gun Corps behind
the British front line. Now is their chance to prove their worth in battle.
You remember the words of your battalion commander as he unveiled the plan of attack the previous day
– “Best not dally around the edges of place like High Wood. Run right through – the tanks will flatten the
Bosch while you dash up behind to take the Switch Line”. You are sceptical, and you have heard rumours
that even your Divisional commander is doubtful that the tanks massing behind the front line can travel
through the wilderness of tree stumps, shell holes and collapsed trenches which have become the
signature of the wood’s terrain. It had seemed so simple when your battalion commander had dismissed
your objections; but looking at the chaos of the ground, hearing the drumfire of the barrage and smelling
the reek of cordite, it now seems very far from simple….
You have been told in your orders that the “lane” through the Wood is intended to enable the tank to
move easily through the undergrowth, collapsed German trenches and shattered tree stumps. While the
lack of thick smoke from any exploding shells enables you to see the route advance clearly ahead, you can
also anticipate that the German defenders in their machine gun positions will also be untouched by the
guns of the Royal Artillery. Casting all doubt aside, you look down at your watch and prepare to blow your
whistle. 6.18am…only two minutes to go.
Your command is as follows:
“A” Company 17th (County of London) Battalion of the London Regiment (Poplar & Stepney Rifles) –
morale good, experience regular
Three Officers – captain Edward Westferry (Status IV), Lieutenant Charles Barking (Status III), 2nd
Lieutenant Charles Millwall (Status III)

Six NCOs – Company Sergeant Major Nobby Burdett (Status III), Sergeant Charlie Blackwall (Status II),
Corporal Frank Langdon (Status II), Lance Corporal Peter Whitechapel (Status I), Lance Corporal Bert
“Bromley” Byboe (Status I)
Three platoons of 36 men each (each consisting of a Lewis gun team of nine men, a bombing section of 9
men, 9 rifle grenadiers and 9 riflemen)
A company headquarters consisting of a Lewis gun team of three privates, a signals section of three men
(1 signaller – carrier pigeons, 1 signaller – flags and one runner)
One Mark 1 “Female” tank, D13 “Delilah” under the command of Second Lieutenant William Henry
Sampson (Status III), and with a crew of seven other members of the Heavy Section of the Machine Gun
Corps – morale good, experience green
You have an allocation of 1D10 of Support points, but only up to two points of Bombardment (reflecting
the minimal fire put down on the “lane” through High Wood)
Your best plan, you consider, lies in advancing the tank through the Wood as well as the appalling terrain
can accommodate. You know that the tank’s slow speed and the difficulties of the ground may well mean
that your troops will soon outpace the tank on normal ground. Of course, High Wood is nothing like
normal ground and in the inferno of machine gun fire, German snipers and rifle fire it is possible that the
only thing which can survive is encased in steel armour. You have been reassured that if your advance is
halted by the enemy, an additional platoon is available to reinforce your attack. You must successfully
signal back to battalion HQ for this reinforcement to be available.
Your battalion commander has also outlined your victory conditions and penalties as follows:
¾ Tank D13 reaching the Switch Line (5 points)
¾ At least 20 figures and any one officer reaching the Switch Line (10 points)
¾ German Company HQ destroyed (8 points)
¾ Requiring reinforcements from the remaining platoon in “A” Company (minus five points)
GERMAN BRIEFING

You are Hauptmann Lothar von Carnstein of the 4th Company, 18th Bavarian Regiment. You have spent
most of the summer in or around the Hell known only to your men as Foureaux Wood, or to the Englanders
as High Wood. In any language, it would still be a place of utter misery and the graves of so many of the
brave sons of Bavaria. Ever since the Englander attacks of July you have defended the wood and in
particular the trench known as Switch Line running broadly West to East across the top of the Wood. To
call Switch Line a fortification is rather too grand for what was a hastily constructed second line of
defence, since bolstered by innumerable sandbags and timber revetments. The defensive section you
command once boasted a concrete machine gun post, but this was destroyed in heavy bombardment in
late August along with a redoubt on the east of the wood. You have therefore attempted to position your
defences in depth, building interlocking fields of fire between your machine guns and snipers. Your men
are of good quality but desperately tired and short of food, water and ammunition. A number of then are
lightly wounded and the incessant British bombardments of the past two days to the north of the wood
have prevented meaningful reinforcements from joining your lines.
You are puzzled as to why the wood has not been subjected to a withering barrage from the Englanders’
super-heavy calibre artillery. There seems to be a gap of about 100 metres running through the wood in
which the British guns have rarely fired. You are wary that this might presage a gas attack or even a
cavalry advance. You have used the brief respite to try and deploy several snipers in the undergrowth in
advance of your frontline, waiting the Tommies’ advance. By the light of an old oil lamp in a half
collapsed dugout in the wood, you write a letter home: “We are in the hottest place of the present
battle, in Foureaux Wood. All my previous experiences in this war, the slaughter at Ypres and the battle
in the gravel pit at Hulluch, are the purest child’s play compared with this massacre.”
You realise that such honest talk will never pass the censor’s pen and your mind turns to your forces for
the coming battle:
4th Company, 23rd Bavarian Regiment – morale reasonable, experience veteran
Two Officers – Hauptmann Lothar von Carnstein (Status IV), Leutenant Willi van Aalst (Status III)
Seven NCOs – Farnrich Harthaus (Status III), VizeFeldwebel Freihamm (Status II), Sergeant Siegfried
Germering (Status II), Unteroffizier Hadern (Status II), Unteroffizier Gauting (Status II), Gefreiter
Stockdorf (Status I), Gefreiter Kasten (Status I)
Two under-strength platoons each of 28 in the front line, each platoon with one MG08 HMG – all platoon
sections start with one point of shock on the first turn.
One under-strength platoon of 22 men - all platoon sections start with two points of shock on the first
turn.
4th Company Headquarters unit, comprising of one field telephone operator, one signaller (flags or
pigeons), two medical orderlies.
One off table MG08 firing on sustained fire role

One Granatenwerfer 16 with crew of two men
3 snipers
You also have 14 points of Defensive Fire Points from the 1st Battery, Field Artillery Regiment 77.
With a thin smile, you read your mission objectives passed to you by the commanding officer of your
regiment:
¾ No British troops or vehicles cross the Switch Line (10 points)
¾ At least 20 figures and any one officer survive at the end of the game along the Switch Line with less
than four points of Shock (10 points)

UMPIRE’S NOTES
This scenario creates a very difficult challenge for the British player. Although he is in charge of a large
number of fresh and confident troops, and is supplemented by a tank, he is undertaking one of the major
challenges of the Somme campaign.
The terrain for the battle is remarkable. Shattered tree stumps, collapsed trenches, tree roots, shell
craters and wrecked woodland are the descriptions most often encountered in the various memoirs and
commentaries on the battle. The Switch Line is a hastily dug trenches which passes through the wood,
but this would have been very different in scale from the initial defensive lines on the Somme front.
There appear to have been few, if any, deep bunkers within the Wood itself. The Wood is bisected by a
number of “rides”, which represent the leafy bridleways and cart tracks used by farmers to pass through
the leafy copse in times of peace. These can be represented as slightly more clear to the shattered trees,
although they do not run directly north-south. It is considered unlikely that these would, by mid-
September 1916, allow materially easier passage for a tank, but the Umpire should feel free to consider
this and, if he wishes, remove the penalty for D13 “Delilah” moving along a “ride” accordingly.
Finally, the front deployments of the British and German forces are close together, another reason why a
British artillery barrage was impractical. One account mentions the front British machine gun post being a
mere 40 yards from the German front trench in the wood.
The passage of D13 through the wood should be painstakingly slow (see special rule 1 below) as appears to
have been the case. This is likely to lead to the British platoons seeking shelter in the numerous shell
holes and craters thrown up by previous bombardments. The original “rides” in the wood may help the
passage of the tank, but they do not lead north-south but rather northwest-southeast. However, on the
positive side, the German defenders have no dedicated weapon with which to attack the tank. The
Umpire should allow the German defenders to create “concentration charges” of bundles of stick grenades
only on the German player asking, and then only on a D6 roll of 5 or 6 for each section (only three
concentration charges allowed for each platoon). In the actual battle, German defenders actually
hammered on the sides of the tank in an attempt to stop it, without avail.
The British player can expect depressingly high losses as the Londoners advance into the Wood. There is
little artillery support at this stage of the attack owing to the decision to leave the High Wood attack
without the benefit of a creeping barrage. The restriction on calling for reinforcements is an attempt to
replicate the critical appraisal after the battle of the commanding officer supervising the attack (see
below in Historical Notes).
The German player also faces challenges of simply clinging on to the wood with his meagre and exhausted
forces. Although he has a number of machine guns, he will be short of troops throughout the action. No
part of the hastily dug Switch Line counts as a “bunker” (see section 10.3 of the “Through the Mud & the
Blood” rulebook) and the machine gun pits and sniper posts outside the Switch Line are simply shell
craters. Reports vary as to the preparedness of the defenders within the wood, but it seems reasonable to
conclude that at this stage in the battle there was no German wire protecting any of the hasty
fortifications in the wood.
SPECIAL RULES
1. D13 – “Delilah” can only move slowly through the shattered terrain of High Wood. In an
amendment to the rule in section 15.1 of the “Through the Mud & the Blood” rulebook, “Delilah”
moves at 1D6**, with the British player rolling 2D6, discarding the lower dice and then deducting
“1” from the result. So, a roll of “5” and “3” would result in the “3” being discarded and the “5”
becoming a “4”, with the tank moving 4 inches through the morass. D13 “Delilah” does, however,
start shortly ahead of the British jump-off line, a distance we have suggested should be 6 inches.
2. German snipers and MG08/15 machine guns can be deployed anywhere in the German Deployment
Zone (see Terrain Map for detail of the German deployment zone).
3. The German 4th Company headquarters unit must be placed at some point along the Switch Line.
4. The game should end after a suitable period of time to allow the Stepney & Poplar Rifles chance
to assault the Switch Line. In the very unlikely event that the British player lingers around the

British jump-off/start line, the Umpire should remind him that the attack needs to be pressed
home with vigour. Barrages of “pigeons” from German Grantenwerfer 16s may also assist with
prompting any British attack.
CARDS
British Blinds German Blinds Blank Card
Command Initiative IV x 1 Sniper
British Rally Granatenwerfer
Friction HMG 1
Heroic Leader HMG 2
Dynamic Commander
HISTORICAL OUTCOME
The details of the 47th Division’s assault at high Wood on 15th September are well documented.
Particularly inspiring is the excellent account in “The Hell They Called High Wood” by Terry Norman,
which covers the role of High Wood in the Somme campaign in detail and from which all the quotations in
this scenario (from veterans serving in the battle) are taken. Four tanks were assigned to the attack on
High Wood. Despite the protests of tank officers and the commander of the 47th Division that High Wood
was barely traversable on foot, let alone by tanks, the order was given for tanks to lead the assault. This
led to the fateful decision not to operate a creeping barrage in front of the British infantry as they
advanced, resulting in heavy casualties from German defenders.
In the battle, only tank D13 “Delilah” out of the four tanks assigned to the Wood made a material
contribution, fighting through the Wood before stopping at the Switch Line and machine gunning the
German defenders, of which 15 eventually surrendered. Second Lieutenant Sampson, originally from
Whytheville, Virginia but by then a naturalised Canadian, was awarded the Military Cross for his gallantry
in leading his tank in this action.
Less successful was the attack by the brave members of the Poplar and Stepney Rifles. Without the
protection of a creeping barrage many soldier became casualties and only a small number seem to have
reached the Switch Line, and even then without the overwhelming force to displace the defenders from
the 18th Bavarian Regiment. Only a massed mortar bombardment in the early afternoon of 15th September
finally resulting in the tenacious German resistance being shattered and the “ghastly” Wood being taken
by the British.

In October of 1915 Erwin Rommel, by then an Oberleutnant with both first and second classes of the Iron
Cross, was transferred to the Württemburg Mountain battalion where he commanded the 2nd Company. In
October of 1916 his unit was in the mountainous Vosges region facing the French who held the high ground
of Pinetree Knob. After several reconnaissance missions into no-mans-land Rommel felt that a raid on the
enemy’s line would be practical in order to seize a prisoner for intelligence purposes.
Rommel chose a hand-picked group of men knowing that for the mission to be successful it would be
critical to strike hard and fast and then get out quick.
German Briefing
You have been instructed to undertake a raid on the French positions at Pinetree Knob for the purpose of
seizing a prisoner for the intelligence boys to chat with. Your have hand picked a small team to undertake
this mission and you will lead them. The enemy trenches are relatively weakly held, but you do know that
they have two strong machine gun positions which, if you are to escape with your prisoner and your lives,
you must silence.

Oberleutnant Erwin Rommel, Status IV
Leutnant Schafferdt, Status III
Feldwebel Schropp, Status III
Sergeant Büttler, Status II
Twenty men
Ten pioneers
You may choose what specialisation the twenty men have, be that bombers, trench cleaners, riflemen or
anything else you’d like, and then decide exactly how you organise the force to undertake the raid. The
attack will take place at night.
French Briefing

“My dearest Claudette, here I am in the Vosges mountains. It is cold, it smells of pine trees, and nothing
ever happens here. I am about to go on sentry duty. I dislike doing this in the dark as the forest seems to
come alive with shadows…”
French force
Position X
Caporal Poireau, Status I, Two Hotchkiss HMGs, each with five crewmen
Position Y
Caporal Citroule, Status II, Two Hotchkiss HMGs, each with five crewmen
In between Positions X and Y

One sentry
Umpire’s Notes
The table should be roughly 6’ by 4’. French begin the game on Blinds as noted above, with the sentry
actually on the table, placed anywhere that the player wishes in the trench between the two positions.
The French in the positions must remain there through the game to defend them. The HMGs must be
positioned to fire forwards ahead of the line at the start of the game. They may be moved once the
game in underway.
The Germans begin the game anywhere on the table between the two belts of wire, having passed through
the outer wire which the Pioneers have cut for them. The player should be advised that the Pioneers are
specifically wire cutting teams and have no rifles with them. Prisoners are taken as per the main rules
and when captured will always comply with their captors’ instructions unless the number of prisoners
equals the number of captors remaining, at which point they will attempt to run back to their own lines.
One the shooting begins a blank card is added to the deck. Each time it is drawn a dice should be rolled.
On a 1-4 group of six French riflemen under a Caporal will arrive at point A, B or C (dice for which), on 5
or 6 the group will be bombers.
The Germans are Veteran troops with Good morale and Aggressive fighters. The French are Regular troops
with Reasonable morale. The terrain is rocky and wooded and should be scarred with small ravines and
boulders. This would make a superb demonstration game if you have a spare thousand model trees. For
the rest of us mortals it may be necessary just to mark the edge of the tree-line!
Fought at night, the basic night fighting rules in Through the Mud and the Blood are used. The French
positions and the sentry have four flares each. The Germans have five “dummy” blinds as well as any
number of real blinds that they need dependant on how they structure their attacking force.
Cards
Sentry Command Initiative I
Command Initiative I x 1 Command Initiative II
Heroic Leader
Dynamic Commander
Sturmabteilung Vor!
Historical Outcome
Rommel organised his men into two assault teams of ten men each, one under Schropp, the other under
Schafferdt; he accompanied Schropp. They cut the wire between the two positions and entered the
trench unseen. The two parties then went in opposite directions and attacked the French HMG positions
with grenades. A total of nine prisoners were taken, seven in one position, two in the other. Rommel had
ordered his wire cutting parties to stay in the forest, cutting the wire directly in front of both French
positions as soon as the firing began. The Germans were then able to withdraw their assault groups
directly from the French positions and get away before the French had time to react.

The battle for Passchendaele, or more properly the Third Battle of Ypres, stands as an iconic engagement
of the Great War. Even more than the Somme, Passchendaele summons up images of mud, blood and
suffering on an industrial scale. War memorials around the Commonwealth stand as testimony to the men
of fifty-one British and Dominion Divisions who served there in the second half of 1917, the common
sacrifice of Briton, Australian, New Zealander and Canadian still casts a long shadow over the thoughts of
military historians around the world.
With the failure of Nivelle’s offensive the French Army fell into disarray, putting more burden on the
forces of the British Empire to maintain the pressure on the Germans. By this stage of the war Haig was
convinced that massive attacks, such as that on the Somme in 1916 could simply not achieve the desired
breakthrough. In Third Ypres the emphasis would be on a succession of small “bite and hold” operations,
successively advancing the British lines towards the heights of Passchendaele, the ultimate objective.
What was to blight even these operations of limited objectives was the weather.
In this scenario we are considering the attack of the 26th of October, where the Canadians were attacking
from the wet lands around the Ravebeek stream and heading up towards the Bellevue heights which were
strongly held by German pill boxes. By now the Germans had largely abandoned rigid defensive lines, and
were focussed on developing a defence in depth based about strongpoints and backed up with flexible
reserves that could mount counter attacks where required.
British artillery tactics had to respond to this arrangement, especially when coupled with the swamp-like
terrain. Field guns, heavy artillery and machine guns were all given their specific targets which looked at
saturating the German defences in depth. The barrage was to creep forward at the remarkably slow pace
of fifty yards every four minutes for the initial attack. Aeroplanes equipped with wireless were now able
to keep in contact with the gunners from the air, thereby assisting co-ordination with the infantry,
however some objectives were simply beyond the capabilities of the artillery. German pill-boxes were
now so well built that anything but a direct his was unlikely to have much effect, so the infantry,
operating in small units, were now charged with mopping up these positions using fire and movement
tactics.
At 05.40 on the 26th of October the Canadian 9th Brigade attacked in the early morning mist. Rapidly they
seized the German position around Bellvue which at least took them out of the valley. However the force
of a German counter attack and artillery bombardment saw the Canadians largely unable to hold on to
their gains especially as officer casualties mounted.
The exception here was Lieutenant Robert Shankland who had led his platoon into the German positions at
Bellvue and was refusing to budge. He had persuaded some Vickers gunners to set up their weapons with
his small force, and here they held on, despite terrible casualties. Shankland himself briefly left the
beleaguered position during the morning in order to report back to headquarters that the position was still
held. The result of this up to the minute intelligence was that fresh troops were committed to secure the
ground gained.
The 52nd Battalion was sent forward to advance on the right of Shankland’s small force but it ran into fire
from the enemy machine gun posts on the heights and bogged down. For a while the position looked
untenable, but all was not lost. ‘A’ Company under Captain Christopher O’Kelly managed to advance
under fire up the hill and then, one by one, take out the pill-boxes that were there before organising the
defence of the position against subsequent German counter attacks. Through determination and effective
leadership both Shankland and O’Kelly played their part in ensuring that the operations that day were a
success. This is the battle that our scenario looks at.

Canadian Briefing
Your platoon has become isolated from the rest of the battalion which, it would seem, is falling back
under the weight of Boche fire. Fortunately for you the trenches at Bellvue provide you with good cover,
and you have been able to get three Vickers teams in place. Two even have bunkers to operate from.
You must hold your ground against any counter attack. However what you are also concerned about is
getting a report back to HQ to let them know that you are holding your ground. If they can send up
reinforcements then maybe we can push on and take the ridge. However choosing your moment to slip
away, albeit briefly might present some difficulties.
On the ridge you can see German infantry seemingly milling about. You suspect a counter attack before
long
Platoon HQ
Lieutenant Robert Shankland, Status IV
Sergeant Donnal McIntyre, Status III
Platoon Body
Corporal Ray Holmes, Status I, ten riflemen with two rifle grenade launchers
Corporal Andy Wysowski, Status I, eight bombers
Corporal Mitch Walker, Status II, eight men with one Lewis gun and six rifles.
Sergeant Bert Flange, Status II, three Vickers HMGs, each with a five man crew.

German Briefing
The enemy have broken into our defences in the early morning mist. This is not good, the position at
Bellvue Farm protected our main pill-box line on the ridge. We must retake it, and to that end Battalion
have sent a counter attack force that is now under your command. You are the man on the ground, it is
clearly up to you to restore the line.
Leutnant Walter Becker, Status III

Feldwebel Karl Müller, Status II
Local Defence Garrison

These are the men that man the bunkers.
Gefreiter Heinrich Schneider, Status I
Gefreiter Willi Fischer, Status I
Five Maxim HMG teams, each with five crew.
Twenty riflemen organised as desired.
Eingreiftruppen
These men have been sent forward by Battalion to undertake the counter attack on the British positions.
Offizierstellvertreter Hans Meier, Status III
Vizefeldwebel Otto Wagner, Status II
Gefreiter Paul Becker, Status II
Gefreiter Freidrich Schultz, Status I
Gefreiter Hermann Hoffmann, Status I
Fifty men. These may be organised as desired, with any specialities that the player likes. The only
restriction is that a maximum of two MG08/15 or Lewis gun may be present.
Umpire’s briefing
This is a large, multi part scenario that may be played as two games if the players demand or time
dictates. It would be an ideal game for play over a day, whereas as an evening game it may be best split
into two halves; the German counter attack, and then the Canadian main attack which will be described
below. The table is large, about 7’6” by 6” (maybe a bit bigger, not much smaller though) with the
ground rising from the valley floor to the heights.
What is very important about the terrain is that the spur that runs from right to left on the map has a
ridgeline that runs along the line of the road, and this restricts fire. So any bunkers to the left of the road
as one advances up it cannot fire across at any targets on the right hand side, and vice versa. The only
exception here is the German bunker on the crossroads that has a clear field of fire right across its front.
The Germans should be aware of this, but the Canadians should have to find this out as the battle
progresses.
Movement on the higher ground is as normal, but on the lowest ground in the valley it is reduced by -1 pip
per dice. The wire that litters the table is not under fire during the game, indeed there is no artillery in
this scenario, however all of the wire should be considered to have been under bombardment for three
turns and diced for as normal when spotted or contacted.
Pill-boxes offer heavy cover, trenches medium cover, shell holes should litter the table and provide light
cover.
Leutnant Becker is the local German commander, so the German counter-attack force has been
subordinated to him for this operation. He may join them, or he may stay with his local garrison. Either
way the counter attack force will start the game on Blinds anywhere on the North-Eastern table edge.
The Canadian troops and the German local garrison have been in a fire-fight for some time so will be
deployed on the table from the start.
At some point Shankland should retire from the table to inform HQ of his situation. When he does this is
up to him, however once he has done this a blank card should be added to the deck. On its fourth turn
Shankland will return. On the sixth turn the following force will arrive on Blinds between points B and C.

Company Command
Captain Christopher O’Kelly, Status IV
CSM Walt Spinnola, Status III
Platoon One
Lieutenant Mike MacCleod, Status III
Sergeant Randy Cave, Status II
Section One
Corporal Ken Tucker, Status I, eight riflemen
Section Two
Corporal Jack Blashford, Status I, six bombers, two trench cleaners
Section Three
Corporal Dougal Cameron, Status I, eight riflemen with one Lewis gun.
Section Four
Corporal ‘Jock’ Strapp, Status I, eight riflemen with four grenade launchers
Platoon Two
Lieutenant Pete Chivers, Status III
Sergeant Martin Bonetti, Status II
Section One
Corporal Bobby Gemmil, Status I, eight riflemen
Section Two
Corporal Archie Charlton, Status I, six bombers, two trench cleaners
Section Three
Corporal Norman George, Status I, eight riflemen with one Lewis gun.
Section Four
Corporal Charlie Hunter, Status I, eight riflemen with four grenade launchers
This force represents the lead part of the company. If you want a longer and more realistic game Captain
O’Kelly can call forward two more identical platoons if these lead ones get bogged down. It is perfectly
feasible to remove the lead platoons in order to provide figures for these, as it can be assumed that
O’Kelly will push the two lead units until they can do no more. If this happens then remove the lead
platoons and place the two fresh ones 24” to their rear.
The Canadians here are really first class troops, and should be considered Veterans with Good morale.
The Germans were in a worse state than the Empire forces around Ypres at this time. Over 80 German
Divisions were rotated through this battle and for them, under constant shelling from British guns with
seemingly inexhaustible supplies of shells, life was reduced to a living, morale sapping, Hell. As such the
garrison troops should be represented as Regular with Reasonable morale. The Eingreif units would be
better quality, so increase their morale to Good.
For the British the objective if for Shankland to hold his position in the face of the German counter
attack. The Germans need to clear the British out of their toe hold on the lower slopes. If the British can
repel the German Eingreiftruppen then they need to push on and take the heights. The umpire or game
organiser should take a few moments to consider fields of fire from the pill-boxes before the game begins.
This will play an important part in the game, with dead ground created by the spur being of great
importance if the Canadians are not to be shot to bits in their main advance.

Cards
Canadians German Common
Canadians Rally German Blinds Blank Card
Dynamic Commander Command Initiative IV x 1
Heroic Officer Sturmabteilung Vor!
Add With O’Kelly’s Arrival HMG x 5
Command Initiative I x 2
Command Initiative II x 2
Command Initiative IV x 1
Up and at ‘em! X 2
Canadian Blinds
Heroic Officer
Historical note
For their actions that day both Lieutenant Shankland and Captain O’Kelly were both awarded the Victoria
Cross. Both men survived the war, O’Kelly being killed in a boating accident in 1922, whilst Shankland
lived on until 1968. Shankland’s tale is all the more unusual as he lived on Pine Street in Winnipeg,
Manitoba; a street that was to produce three VCs during the Great War, the others being Company
Sergeant Major Frederick Hall and Corporal Leo Clarke. Pine Street was renamed Valour Road in 1925 in
recognition of these three men.

The Battle of Cambrai in 1917 had been heralded as a huge success for British arms, prompting the ringing
of church bells throughout Britain for the first time in the war. But this battle also saw the success of the
German stormtrooper who, with the massive counter attack at the end of November, reclaimed much of
the land that the British had won.
In many respects the Germans saw the unleashing of these assault troops en masse as a precursor of what
could be achieved in the Spring of 1918, and their tactics were more fluid and free-ranging that the
Western Front had seen previously. Bold sweeping thrusts, attempts to cut off an isolate pockets of
British resistance, were aided by the presence of the waterways that with the limited number of intact
bridges served as natural objectives which, if taken, could cut off whole British formations and oblige
their surrender.
On the morning of the 30th of November Captain Robert Gee, 86th Brigade’s Staff Captain, was busy
supervising the grenade and ammunition store in the village of Les Rues Vertes when a commotion drew
him from his duties. Supposedly safely in the rear, Captain Gees saw a body of Germans moving through
the southern edge of the village. Were they to take the footbridge that crossed the canal the whole of his
Brigade would be trapped on the northern side without supplies. Disaster loomed.
Yet Captain Gee was not your average Staff officer. At 43 years old he was a veteran of 21 years service,
having joined the Army as a private soldier and only been commissioned due to the necessities of war. It
is indicative that Gee’s personal weapon of choice was a heavy wooden stave topped with a cavalry lance
head. This was a man of action, and action he took.
With only a dozen signallers and orderlies to hand, Gee sent a runner to give warning and then began
building an impromptu barricade in the street from household furniture. Setting up a Lewis gun he made
ready to stand his ground and hold back the tide of the stormtroopers.
Confident of their success the Germans advanced straight up the main street, to be met with a hail of fire
from Gee and the Lewis gun which sent them scattering. Two Germans worked their way around behind
Gee, but he despatched one with his lance head before the other was shot by one of the signallers.
Now a party of forty men from the Guernsey Light Infantry arrived from across the footbridge and Gee,
thus strengthened, set about improving his defences before launching an attack at the head of a party of
bombers, driving back the shocked Germans and then building a second barricade to consolidate his gains.
It must have been with some relief that Gee now saw two companies of British infantry arrive to truly
ensure that the bridge was safe.
At this point the Germans gave up their attempt to seize the bridge as a bad job, by-passing the strong
position in search of an easier target, but they did leave a machine gun to keep the British locked in the
village. Naturally Gee was not having this and, with one other man, assaulted the HMG, a pistol in both
hands, killing the crew. Unsurprisingly Gee was awarded the Victoria Cross for his heroism. His actions
went a long way to saving an entire Brigade that day.
British Briefing
Damn me! Boche in the rear! We must do something to keep the swine away from the bridge. If they
seize the canal crossing the entire Brigade will be trapped with no supply and no food. They’ll be obliged
to surrender. Right lads, get that sideboard onto the road…
Captain Robert Gee, Status IV

Ten men with one Lewis gun and rifles.

German Briefing
Ahahahaha (evil laugh optional). These English fools have been caught with their trousers being down! All
we must do now is seize the canal bridge in Les Rues Vertes and we have a whole Division trapped across
on the northern side. This will be a huge victory for the Kaiser. Your force is as follows:
Gruppe One
Offizierstellvertreter Otto Liebermann, Status III
Eight bombers
Gruppe Two
Gefreiter Wilhelm Rausch, Status II
Eight riflemen
Gruppe Three
Gefreiter Ernst Höhlbrich, Status I
Eight bombers
Umpire’s Notes
The British may deploy on Blinds anywhere on the table within 12” of the bridge and may have one
barricade erected just in time before the Germans arrive. This will provide them with medium cover.
The initial party count as Regular troops with Good morale.
The Germans begin the game at point A deployed on the table. Until the British open fire they MUST
move at full speed up the main street towards the bridge. They are supremely confident of victory and
may not mess about taking cover or spotting or anything other then moving at full speed (hopefully that is
clear!). Once the British open fire they may act as the player wishes. The Germans are Regular troops
with Good morale.

A blank card is added to the deck as soon as the British open fire. When it is subsequently turned a dice is
rolled. On 1-4 the Germans get reinforcements, on 5 or 6 the British reinforcements arrive. These are
decided as follows:
If German reinforcements arrive roll a D6. The following list represents the TOTAL reinforcements that
may arrive in the game. In other words they may not be duplicated.
1-3 One Gefreiter, Status I, with ten riflemen
4-5 One Gefreiter, Status II, with eight bombers
6 One Maxim 08 HMG with five crew.
If a group has already arrived and its roll is duplicated on a subsequent turn then no reinforcements arrive
in that turn.
If British reinforcements arrive roll a D6.

1-3 Twenty Guernsey Light Infantry, 10 bombers, 10 riflemen, two Corporals, Status I.
4-6 Twenty Guernsey Light Infantry, 8 men with one Lewis gun, 10 riflemen, two Corporals, Status I.
As with the Germans these may not be duplicated.
The German reinforcements are rated the same as the original Groups, the Guernseymen are Green with
Reasonable morale. They arrive at the footbridge on the northern side of the canal.
The table used here is a small one, 3’ by 4’ or maybe even 3’ by 2’ if you are pressed for space or short of
buildings. The important thing is that this battle takes place in the tight environment of the village
street. The main bridge (as an aside) collapsed under the weight of a British tank in the recent advance,
indeed that tank is still present wallowing in the canal on the wrecked bridge superstructure. A wooden
footbridge has been erected next to it.
The buildings may be moved through, using one dice to enter or leave a building. None of the doors are
locked or barred. Garden walls are generally around 4’ high, and it takes one dice of movement to cross
them. They offer medium cover.
The Germans win if they seize the bridge, the British win if they stop them. They win a major victory if
they clear the village completely.
Cards
Command Initiative I x I Command Initiative I x 2
Heroic Leader Sturmabteilung Vor!
Dynamic Commander

One of the most evocative books on the Stormtroops must be Ernst Junger’s Storm of Steel, recounting his
time as an officer of the StossTrupp of the 73rd Hanoverian Fusilier Regiment. Junger was wounded
fourteen times during his service from December 1914 to the end of the war, and rose from Private to
Leutnant during that period; he was also the youngest ever recipient of the Pour le Merite.
Whilst Junger’s service covered four years of war, it would seem wrong to give him anything other than
pride of place when it comes to the fighting of 1918. The following scenario is based on his account of the
first day of the Kaiserschlacht, the 21st of March, when his Company spearheaded the attack against the
British 59th Division that was holding the line to the South East of Arras around Bullecourt. The 59th (North
Midland) Division was part of General Gough’s ill-starred 5th Army which was in the process of rebuilding
its defences on the German flexible defence model when the German attack began.
Junger’s Company hit the British lines immediately to the south of Bullecourt. The British forward
defences had been quite literally wiped out by the German barrage, although the remnants of the forces
from this line were still holding out in knots in the shell holes before the main line of resistance. The
main defensive position here was the railway embankment that swung east from Ecoust-St-Mein, where
the British machine gun positions dominated the ground below; ground that Junger had to cross.
German Briefing
This is it, the attack at last. This is the start of the battle that will end the war, which will end
Germany’s suffering and bring victory and peace. Ahead of us lies the railway embankment that is our
first objective. We must smash through the defences there, clear out the machine gun nests and then
press on. The men behind will mop up the survivors. Speed is of the essence. Do not hold back; do not
get involved in a protracted fire-fight. Use the terrain to your advantage. Your force is as follows:
Company Headquarters
Leutnant Ernst Junger, Status IV
Feldwebel Dujesiefken, Status III
Zug One Command

Unteroffizier Schapz, Status III
Gruppe One
Gefreiter Kraus, Status II
Five bombers, two trench cleaners
One MG08/15 with four crew
Gruppe Two
Gefreiter Spengle, Status II
Zug Two Command

Obergefreiter Wolozowski, Status III
Gruppe One
Gefreiter Brandt, Status II

Gruppe Two
Gefreiter Abrahams, Status II
Eight riflemen
Five Pioneers
Zug Three Command

Feldwebel Strasse, Status III
Gruppe One
Gefreiter Kraus, Status II
Eight bombers, two trench cleaners
Gruppe Two
Gefreiter Herman, Status II
In addition Junger’s force will be preceded by a rolling barrage that is currently firing at the railway
embankment. This will shoot your attack right into the enemy main line.

British Briefing
The long awaited German attack has begun, and the force of their barrage has been devastating. Our
forward positions have been utterly destroyed, only small groups of men were able to fall back from the
outpost line, and pockets of them can be seen trying to get back to the safety of the main line of
resistance or fighting with the advancing Germans below.
This will be a very hard fight, but it is imperative that we hold out on the railway line. You are certain
that reserves will be sent up if possible, but in the interim there is nothing to do but fight and die. Your
force, elements of the 7th Sherwood Foresters, is as follows:
Company Headquarters
Captain R. Hood, Status IV
Sergeant-Major John, Status III
Machine Gun Section One

One Vickers HMG with five crew
Machine Gun Section Two

One Vickers HMG with five crew
Platoon One
Lieutenant Scarlet, Status III
Section One
Corporal Bland, Status I
Eight riflemen
Section Two
Corporal Stutely, Status I
Six bombers, two trench cleaners
Section Three
Corporal Friar, Status I
Eight riflemen with one Lewis gun
Section Four
Corporal Miller, Status I
Eight rifle grenadiers
Platoon Two
Lieutenant Sheriff, Status III
Section One
Corporal Gisborne, Status I
Eight riflemen
Section Two
Corporal Loxley, Status I
Six bombers, two trench cleaners
Section Three
Corporal Barnsdale, Status I
Eight riflemen with one Lewis gun
Section Four
Corporal John, Status I
Eight rifle grenadiers
You have just called for SOS fire, so hopefully that will be arriving immediately; you need to select three
aiming points on the table for this. If desired your Vickers may fire in a sustained fire role.

Umpire’s Briefing.
The British player should choose how he wishes to deploy his force at the start of the game. His main
positions are still under artillery fire at this point however, unfortunately for the Germans, their
advancing infantry are not keeping pace with the barrage and this will disappear on the second Snifter
card. After that the British have may attempt to activate their units, however they will roll for five turns
of barrage fire on them. To reflect the intensity of the barrage units will be activated on a 6 on the first
attempt, a 5 and 6 on the second, and then so on as per the rules. The British artillery has been silenced,
and will remain so throughout the game, however the players should not know this.
Once the British player has chosen his deployment he should roll 6D6. This will be used to represent the
stragglers from the outpost line retiring back towards the railway line. The resulting pips on each dice
will give the number of men in six groups. So rolls of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 will generate six groups with that
numbers of men. Any Groups of one man are in fact an isolated Big Man, Status II, who may be used to
pick up stragglers if he can reach them, or at least get within his influence range. Each of these Groups
will be placed at 12” intervals along the German table edge and 4D6 then rolled and the pips totalled.
This is how many inches onto the table these Groups will start the game.
The table here is 6’ by 5’, with the Germans attacking from the wider edge. The terrain is very simple,
being dominated by the railway embankment. The British garrisoned this with MG bunkers and had their
main defences on the reverse slope. The entire table is covered in shell holes which allow light cover from
fire, the trenches, including the communication trenches, give medium cover. The Vickers HMGs are in
covered bunkers and get heavy cover. The two communication trenches that lead back to the
embankment have been blocked with rudimentary Chevaux de fries at three points of the British player’s
choosing, which may be cleared with an impromptu charge, however that information should not be
volunteered to the German player.
The game starts off with the residue of the fog that made the day so successful for the initial German
attacks, with visibility reduced to 36” for the first four turn, after which it clears. The Germans win if
Junger can break through the position and exit the table on the far edge with half of his force still with
him. His job is not to completely destroy the British; that will be done by the follow-up units. The British
win if they kill enough Germans. More than 50% is a victory.
Cards
Command Initiative IV x 1 Command Initiative IV x 1
HMG x 2 Dynamic Commander
Sturmabteilung Vor! X 2
Heroic Leader
Rally
Historical Background
Junger’s account of the battle is both frantic and frenetic, giving the reader the feel of the pace of the
attack. Interestingly his force hits the British defences at a natural weak point, between the villages of
Ecoust-St-Mein and Noreuil, both of which were relatively strongly garrisoned by the 2/6 North Staffords
and the 2/5 Sherwood Foresters and which held out for some hours. The railway line was relatively
weakly held along its length by two companies of the 2/6 North Staffords who put up a desperate and
determined resistance. Junger relates the fact that the embankment actually was a double edged sword
for the British, and that once the Stormtroops got up close they were protected from the fire from the
top. Pausing in its lee to reform, Junger then led his men across the embankment into the British main
trenches, and from there the position was rolled up.
Fighting around Ecoust-St-Mein and Noreuil continued until early afternoon, but by the Junger was several
miles away, having pressed on to take part in the attack on Vaulx-Vraucourt. Interestingly he relates that
here the German attack was thrown back three times by artillery fire – German guns firing blindly at their
maximum range.

By Max maxwell
Fritz Nagel's accounts of his experiences in 1918 came to me from Lyn MacDonald's book "To the last man,
Spring 1918". This is a nice collection of personal memoirs and a narrative covering the Kaiserschlact in
1918. Part of Anti-Aircraft Battery. K Flak 82, he commanded a motorised Flak Gun, a truck mounted gun,
operating in support of the forward units of the offensive.
This scenario is based on actions around Albert on the 27th March, as the offensive was reaching its
furthest limits. Nagel's men had just downed a low flying Bristol double-decker, part of a flight that had
bombed them as they moved up to the front. It was a close action and they were saved from a second pass
by the appearance of Fokker Tri-planes from Richtofen's Flying Circus.
In the smouldering town Nagel was called over by a Captain of the German 3rd Marine Light Infantry. The
Marines were ordered to attack a factory complex some few hundred yards in front of the line. A machine
gun nest had been placed in the main buildings and had repulsed the Marines once already, with heavy
losses. The Captain saw the opportunity to use Nagel's gun as mobile artillery to knock out the position
and further the attack.
German Briefing
You are Leutnant Fritz Nagel, commanding a mobile flak gun. Moving up to the line near Albert you have
already been in close action, you are sure that you shot down a British plane as you moved up. Now a
Marine officer has involved you in yet more madness! Despite explaining to him that you have no gun
shield, he is insistent that he needs your help to knock out a machine gun nest that could decimate his
force in the forthcoming attack.
The Marine officer has taken you forward so that you can see the house, just off the main road; the
machine gunners have sandbagged the windows and have the main route covered. He’s right. Without
your help there will be no hope for the Marines. To get a clear shot you’ll need to move to a nearby
crossroads. You've told your men not to fire before you and the driver have got out of the front seats; you
were very clear about the consequences of them blowing your head off!
"The artillery is firing now to seal off the area from reinforcements, the Marines are rising to attack, now,
and we must drive!"
German Force
Leutnant Fritz Nagel, Status III
Driver Rupp, Status I
Mobile Flak Gun, Wheeled (Fast)
75mm Quick Fire AA Gun
4 other crew members
Elements of the 3rd Marine Light Infantry

Marine Captain Grolsch (Big Man) Damned Fine Chap
Feldwebell Ernst Heineken (Big Man) Good Sort
Elements of the 4th Zug, 3rd Marine Light Infantry

Four Gruppe of 8 men

One Gruppe 6 men, Maxim 1915/08 LMG
Each Gruppe should be commanded by a Status I Big Man.
Elts 5th Zug, 3rd Marine Light Infantry

Leutnant Karl Berg, Status I
Three Gruppe 5 plus 1D3 men (following the first attack that morning)
One Gruppe 5 men, Sharpshooter MMG, Maxim 1908
One Sniper
Each Gruppe should be commanded by a Status I Big Man.
As Light Infantry the Marines may elect to act as Bombers or Riflemen, but the player should make that
decision at outset.
British Briefing
You are Sergeant McCloud of the Royal Scots. Your men are operating on the outskirts of the town of
Albert. The army has been pushed back for miles by the Hun who appear to have had inexhaustible
reserves. You were able to emplace a number of machine-guns in a house on a factory complex and this
shot up an attack earlier this morning. Your men have been reinforcing the position and you have a thin
line holding the front.
Now there is heavy artillery fire around your position. It looks like the Hun might be preparing another
attack, cutting you off from the rest of the Regiment. "Hold fast, lads, we'll keep the bastards back!"
Gatekeepers House
Sergeant McCloud, Status II
One Vickers MMG (5 crew)
Two Lewis LMG teams (2 men each)
Eight men in support (These troops may all operate the Lewis Guns, only the Vickers team may operate
the HMG)
Royal Scots Front Line

Corporal MacKay, Status I
Two Rifle Sections, 5 plus 1D3 men each

One Rifle Grenade team, 4 men, 2 launchers
On the 5th turn of the Blank Card, the Royal Scots reinforcements may arrive:
2nd Lieutenant Douglas, Status III

Sergeant Willie Whyte, Status II
Six man Bomber Section
Eight man Rifle section, including two scouts (these may be replaced by a Sniper)
Eight man rifle bomber section with four launchers.
Corporal Grouse, Status I

Eight man Lewis Section, two Lewis Gun teams, each of four men
Umpires Notes
The table should be roughly 6’ by 5’. The British must deploy to the right of the blue dotted line on the
map, except for the Machine Gun nest which is in the gatehouse. The dotted white arrows show the fields
of fire from the five windows. These are heavily sandbagged and offer heavy cover against small arms
fire. The Vickers MMG may operate on fixed lines if desired. British reinforcements can enter from
either, or both, points A & B. All the British troops count as regulars with reasonable morale.
The Germans must deploy to the left of the red dotted line. The Marines are in scratch cover along the
edge of the village and are on Blinds. They have 1 Blind per section, plus 1 for each heavy weapon, an
additional dummy Blind may be used. Nagel's vehicle can only operate on the road, miring if he goes into
the local fields. The road is narrow, and It takes a full move for Rupp to turn it around. Nagel’s men are
veterans with reasonable morale. The German Marines are Regulars with reasonable morale.
Objectives:
• The Germans get a Minor Victory if they destroy or capture the house and neutralise the MMG Nest
• The Germans get a Major Victory if the destroy or capture the house and neutralise the MMG nest
and have active Gruppe's in at least two houses above the British start line.
Cards
British Rally Command Initiative III x 1
Skirl of the Pipes Sturmabteilung Vor!
HMG Flak Bonus
Vehicle Bonus
Germans Rally
HMG
Sniper
Special Effect Cards

Max has added three non-standard cards to the deck. This is an excellent way to add more “chrome” to a
scenario, especially when representing something out of the ordinary that happened in an historical
action. These cards work as follows:
Skirl of the Pipes: The Tommies in this scenario are in fact “Jocks”, and as such they may use the Skirl of
the Pipes card in the same way as an “Up and at ‘em” card, but it also has the added bonus of striking
fear into the heart of their opponents. When using this card to move into close combat the Jocks’
opponents will not gain any dice for the movement undertaken by the Scots troops.
Vehicle Bonus: The vehicle bonus can be used to give any vehicle (or in other scenarios it could be a
group of vehicles acting together) a bonus move. They cannot fire, spot or undertake any other action on
this card other than moving. However if they come within 6” of any enemy hidden troops these are
replaced with a Blind. This is particularly relevant here in view of Rupp’s driving credentials (see below).

Flak Bonus: Very scenario specific this one, it allows the Flak gun to have a bonus round of firing and/or
reloading when it comes up.
Historical Note
Nagel's men raced to the crossroad, avoiding the British fire, and were able through rapid fire to knock out
the machine gun nest. After a brief bombardment, the British ran from the crumbling building. In the tight
confines of the road, Rupp, an ex-racing driver, fully exposed in his cab, deftly turned the vehicle around
to get back to the safety of the German lines. He commented: "the motors in fine shape and I'm not going
to let those sons-of-bitches shoot it up"! He won the Iron Cross, First Class, for the action. The Marines
were less successful as their attack was rebuffed by a counter attack from the Royal Scots.

by Tom Hoff
By early June 1918 the German spring offensives had brought them to within striking distance of Paris.
The French, with defeat a real possibility, have been making desperate attempts to shore up their line
with any forces available. The commander in Chief of the American Expeditionary Force, General John
Pershing has agreed, despite his belief that the American army should only go into action as a unified
force, to make a couple of Divisions available to help blunt the German thrusts. Five days earlier, the
Germans seized Belleau Wood and the town of Bouresches. Today, June the 6th, is the day that the
Americans will try to take them back.
American Briefing
You are Captain Randolph Zane, 79th Company, USMC. Your mission is to push through a wheat field and
into Belleau Wood, driving the Germans out of the area. To accomplish this you have two platoons of
Uncle Sam’s Misguided Children. While the 6th Marines have been engaged against the Krauts these last
couple of days at Triangle Farm, your company is still reasonably close to full strength.
While the mission may look suicidal you shouldn’t worry too much. Regiment has promised you that the
Hun’s trenches will be so battered by artillery that resistance will be minimal. So, off you go!
Company Command
Capt. Zane, Status IV
First Sgt. Bernhard Fritz, Status III
First Platoon
Lieutenant Erskine Graves, Status IV
Sergeant Paradis, Status III
Corporal Finn, Status I
Corporal Knapp, Status I
One squad of Riflemen, 14 figures
One squad of Grenadiers, 9 figures
One squad of Rifle Grenadiers, 7 figures
One squad of Auto-Rifles, 12 figures including four Chauchats.
Second Platoon:
2nd Lieutenant John West, Status III
Sergeant Mazereeuw, Status II
Corporal Dorrell, Status I
Corporal Larsen, Status I
One squad of Riflemen, 13 figures
One squad of Grenadiers, 8 figures
One squad of Rifle Grenadiers, 7 figures
One squad of Auto-Rifles, 10 figures including three Chauchats.

German Briefing
Your force is made up of elements of the 461st Infantry Regiment, commanded by Leutnant Sepp Kurtzner.
Your recent attacks have been successful, but now you are anticipating an attack by the Americans. Dug
in hastily, you have not had a chance to string wire in front of their position, but your trench is in good
shape and you can call on artillery support if required. Your force is as follow:
Leutnant Kurtzner, Status III

Feldwebel Huinker, Status II
Gefreiter Buckner, Status I
Gefreiter Lowe, Status I
Gefreiter Schaeffer, Status I
Two rifle armed Gruppe, each of six figures
Two Gruppe with an 08/15 Light Maxim and five figures
A Gruppe of five rifle grenadiers
One 08 Maxim HMG with a crew of five

Umpire’s Notes
Both sides begin the game on Blinds, the US player having two additional “dummy” blinds to represent
small scouting parties.
The best table for this would be a 6’ x 6’ surface, with one edge being a German trench running along the
edge of a wood. The balance of the table is a wheat field, with a couple of shell holes that can be used
for cover. Not too complicated. Treat fire at any units that go to ground in the wheat as being one range
band further than it actually is due to the lack of a visible target, but dice for any hits as normal.
Unknown to the US player the American pre-game bombardment is ineffective. Roll 1 d6, on a 1-3 it is of
one turn duration, on a 4-6 it will be two turns of fire. The odds are that the Huns will be coming up to
the fire step on this one.
The Germans may call for SOS fire, having two pre-registered aiming points that the player should select
before the US Blinds are deployed.
The Americans are rated as Regulars with Reasonable morale. Despite what the propaganda says, the
USMC was not a veteran force at this point in time. They do, however, count as Aggressive and have a
“Come on you bastards!” card which sums up the true grit of the USMC, acting as the Storm Card. The
Germans are regulars with reasonable morale.
If this seems like a suicidal scenario for the Americans, it is. In reality the 79th Company was butchered
making their attack, shredded by machinegun fire and then pounded German artillery. Don’t let the
Americans know this though, as to compensate for this they have a nice selection of high value big men,
so as to remove shock and hopefully keep people moving forward through the fire put down by the
Germans. They win if they break into the German trench and hold their position. The American Officers’
and Sergeants’ names are correct for the 79th Company, the Corporals are all guesses, but they were all
NCOs in the 2/6th Marines at that time.
Cards
American German Common
US Blinds German Blinds
Command Initiative III x 1 SOS Barrage
Command Initiative IV x 1
US Dynamic Leader
US Heroic Leader
US Rally
“Come on you bastards!”

The Defence of Cerisy
By Sidney “lifter” roundwood
The scenario replicates the aggressive defence of the small village of Cerisy by elements of the German
97th Infantry Regiment and 202nd Reserve Infantry Regiment against an apparently irresistible tide of
Australian infantry and armour on the morning of 8 August 1918; the “Black Day of the German Army”.
The engagement illustrates German defensive tactics against overwhelming numbers of Allied tanks in
open warfare and of the respective strengths and weaknesses of each adversary’s forces in the last six
months of the Great War.
As with other scenarios, the German Player should read the German Briefing, the Australian Player should
read the Australian Briefing and the Umpire should read the scenario in full and disseminate the details of
terrain and special rules as appropriate.
GERMAN BRIEFING
You are Major Kuhlwein von Rathenow, the commanding officer of the 202nd Reserve Infantry Division. It
is just before 6am on 8 August 1918. Although you do not know it at this point, this is going to be the
“Black Day of the German Army” as 21 divisions of the British, Commonwealth and French armies, 500
tanks and 1,000 aircraft breach the German lines. You are garrisoning a village called Cerisy, on the south
bank of the River Somme. The sound of a very heavy bombardment about three miles west of your
position woke you at 4.30 this morning and you fear that this could be the anticipated Allied assault on
the German lines; their revenge after the sweeping German gains in Ludendorff’s spring offensive.
Your forces are listed below and you spend the time from 4.30am to 5.30am rousing your forces and trying
to obtain information about what is happening on the front line. About 5.30am, stragglers from a dozen
German units begin streaming into Cerisy from the west, most coming down the road from Hamel. You
can hear the barrage of the Allied guns moving nearer, and observe that firing is also taking place on the
north bank of the Somme. No German aircraft are in the sky, and the field telephone messages you
receive are garbled and almost inaudible.
3rd Company of the 97th Infantry Regiment – morale good, experience veteran
One Officer: Major Kuhlwein von Rathenow (Status IV)
Three NCOs: VizeFeldwebel Max Heilbron (Status III), Sergeant Ulrich Alesheim (Status II), Gefreiter Hans
Roth (Status I)
One platoon, comprising 36 men – 2 MG08/15s with SmK. ammunition, one anti-tank rifle with team of two
men, 16 bombers each with “concentration” charges, 10 riflemen, four SMG Bergmanns
1st Company of the 202nd Reserve Infantry Regiment – morale reasonable, experience regular
One officer – Leutnant Franz Spengler (Status III)
Six NCOs – Feldwebel Freystadt (Status III), VizeFeldwebel Rohr (Status II), Sergeant Lichternau (Status II),
Gefreiter Windlebach (Status I), Gefreiter Trauberg (Status I), Gefreiter Ansbach (Status I)
Two platoons, each consisting of 32 men (24 rifle armed, 1 MG08/15 team of two men, 6 bombers)
Company HQ unit of six men, comprising 2 signals, 2 messengers, 1 Officer and 1 NCO
One sniper (deploy within German deployment zone)

Two 77mm Feldkanone 16s off-table on north bank of the Somme River
One light mortar from the 4th Light Trench Mortar Battery (low on ammunition)
At 5.45am you receive the following message from a despatch rider from your divisional commander.
+ + + Message to Major von Rathenow. Allied offensive commencing. Our front line battalions badly
mauled. Imperative you gain time for our support units to advance into battle. You are now in our front
line of defence. Ensure you prevent enemy forces from crossing Cerisy Ridge. Advise you that enemy

appears to have massed tank forces. Use anti-tank tactics we have discussed. Prevent your HQ being
captured. I shall send reinforcements when I can. General Von Bek ++++
You realise the seriousness of your position. As a veteran of the winter battle at Cambrai in 1917, you
have been training your troops in tactics which you hope will defeat the ever increasing number of Allied
tanks taking the field. You have trained the well motivated and veteran stosstruppen of the 3rd Company
of the 97th Infantry Regiment to concentrate on attacking enemy tanks while leaving enemy infantry for
the more numerous but less effective troops of your own 202nd Reserve Infantry Regiment to deal with.
You strongly believe that if the Allied tanks can be separated from their infantry escort, they are
vulnerable to an aggressive infantry attack by determined stosstruppen and their supporting arms. Now is
your chance to find out if your tactics can work.
You gather your subordinates in your field camp and give them your orders. The weather is bad and mist
shrouds both Cerisy and the surrounding terrain. You can see perhaps 100 metres in the murk. The smell
of smoke in the air tells you that not all of the fog may be natural. Several of your subordinates seem
jumpy and have donned their gas-masks.
As you inform your commanders of their orders for the morning, you are told that many of the troops of
the 202nd Reserve Infantry Regiment are delayed in Cerisy. Your first decision will be whether to try and
sort out the mess in Cerisy and drag the detachments of the 202nd Reserve Infantry Regiment into the
battle, or whether to leave this to subordinates and confront the enemy yourself. Whatever you decide,
you must decide quickly!

AUSTRALIAN BRIEFING
You are Major Norman Deplume, a senior officer in the 15th (Queensland and Tasmania) Battalion of the 4th
Australian Brigade, fighting on the Somme river on what will become know to history as the “Black Day of
the German Army”. You have been awake since 1am, preparing your troops for a massive offensive which
you hope will shorten the war. You have fought your way through Gallipoli, the Somme, Passchendaele
and Cambrai and have survived the worst the Bosch can throw at you during the Kaiserschlact. Now it’s
time for revenge, which is “fair dinkum” considering what you have been through.
Your regiment in pushing westward along the road from Hamel having broken through the German lines
during the early hours of this morning. The thick morning fog and the smoke from the Allied barrage and
burning German supplies are making it difficult to see for more than 100 metres, but if your map reading
is any good, you will shortly be nearing the village of Cerisy on the south bank of the Somme.
You know that the British Third Corps is advancing along the northern bank of the Somme (at least that is
the plan). Your right flank is supported by your fellow Diggers from the 13th (New South Wales) Battalion.
Accordingly, all you have to concentrate is advancing hard and driving the Germans before you. There are
already an impressive number of German stragglers streaming down the road from Hamel, and your
advance platoons have started sending prisoners back.
The spearhead of your advance is a large force of eighteen Mk IV tanks from “A” Company of the 8th Tank
Battalion. These are commanded by another experienced officer, Captain Charles Kimpton, a veteran of
the first tank battles on the Somme. Your orders are very explicit. You well remember the despatch from
your Divisional Commander….
+++++press on without delay. It is imperative to advance as fast as possible down the Hamel Road. By-
pass the village of Cerisy by traversing the Cerisy Ridge and then head past Chipilly on the south Bank of
the Somme towards the Amiens Defence Line. Remember, that it is essential not to get distracted in
killing the Bosche – the task is to destroy their HQ centres, destroy their supplies and dislocate their
defences+++++
This all seems simple, and with overwhelming forces at your disposal, you are not expecting that anything
will be able to stop you. Your plan is to follow your orders fairly much to the letter, bypass Cerisy,
destroy what’s left of any formations which the German stragglers are attempting to form into and reform
before attacking the Amiens Line with artillery support. You have command of some excellent forces, as
follows:
“B” Company of 15th (Queensland and Tasmania) Battalion – morale good, experience veteran
Three Officers Major Norman Deplume (Status IV), Captain Jack Normanby (Status III), 2nd Lieutenant Bill
Bowen (Status II)
Five NCOs CSM “Koala” Herston (status III), Corporal Torwood (Status II), Corporal Auchenflower (Status
II), Lance-Corporal Highgate (Status I), Lance-Corporal Ballymore (Status I)
Three platoons of 36 men, each comparing 9 bombers, a 9 man Lewis gun section, 9 rifle grenadiers and 9
riflemen.
1 Vickers machine gun in support
8th Tank Battalion 10 Mark IV tanks, 5 female, 5 male - morale good, experience normal
Each contains a Status II Big Man or NCO. The first three tanks emerging onto the table are all females,
with the following Big Men arriving in this order – Captain Charles Kimpton (Status III), Second Lieutenant
Roger Gustard-Woode (Status II) and Second Lieutenant Alfie Blackmore (Status III).
Two Stokes Mortars and a section of 10 men will arrive on the eighth turn of the Blank Card
“B” Company HQ section of three signallers, two with field telephones
The time is now 6am and you are approaching Cerisy form the West. The village is shrouded in mist,
which is hardly clearing. Ahead of you is a long ridge of rising ground which your map shows cannot be

outflanked. The Hamel road lies directly over the ridge. The leading tanks of the 8th Battalion commence
lumbering up the hill. You can hear overhead the barrage from your Divisional and Corps artillery
attacking enemy targets ahead. You shout encouragement to the lead tank and urge the commander,
Captain Kimpton to make haste. Onward to Victory!
SPECIAL RULES
1. Major von Rathenow can move into Cerisy Village to attempt to rally a number of German troops
in the village and draw them into the engagement. Roll 2D6 on the following table for the troops
which may be available. Rallying the troops takes place on Major von Rathenow’s Card. He must
be within Cerisy village for a full turn in which he attempts to rally troops.
Dice Rallying Troops in Cerisy Village

roll
2,3 Major von Rathenow is delayed in rallying troops. Try again on next turn of his
Card. Major von Rathenow cannot leave Cerisy unless he has rallied at least
some troops.
4,5,6 2 D6 men from 4th Company, 97th Infantry Regiment (all rifle armed)
7 2 D6 men from 4th Company, 97th Infantry Regiment (50% rifle armed, 50%
bombers)
8,9,10 3D6 men from 4th Company, 97th Infantry Regiment (50% rifle armed, 50%
bombers)
11,12 1 x MG08/15 team of two men, 1 x Status I Gefreiter, 2D6 men from 4th
Company, 97th Infantry Regiment (all bombers)
2. On the second draw of the Blank Card, insert card for German Artillery Support card, being a
battery of two 77mm Feldkanone 16s. The Blank Card remains in the Card deck. Both guns may
fire on the turn of the German Artillery Support until three further turns of the Blank Card have
occurred. The insertion of this Card simulates the German supporting artillery fire over open
sights from the north bank of the River Somme against the Australian tanks on Cerisy Ridge until
neutralised by the Australian 38th Battery of the 10th Field Artillery Brigade.
UMPIRE’S BRIEFING
The German side
The scenario presents a significant challenge for the German player. In a battlefield with little cover and
no fortified positions, success lies in combining the disparate German forces to delay the Australian
armoured forces advancing on Cerisy and thereby gaining vital time to achieve an effective withdrawal of
German formations to the rear of his position. To do this, the German player must occupy the Australian
infantry with soldiers from the 202nd Reserve Infantry Regiment while using the better quality
stosstruppen of the 3rd Company of the 97th Infantry as assault troops against the tanks. Fast and skilful
movement by the German stosstruppen through the early morning mist and smoke may well assist the
Germans in being able to concentrate fire on the Australian armour, although this is a venture fraught
with risk - if the mist clears and the stosstruppen are caught in the open, they will stand little chance
against the tanks bearing down on them.
A number of circumstances in the actual engagement lend themselves to variables affecting the game.
Special Rule 1 enables the German Player to gamble that Major von Rathenow may be more help in
rallying shaken German troops in Cerisy than in opposing the Australian onslaught along the ridge line.
The possibility that the Major is delayed in rallying German forces in Cerisy makes this gamble particularly
uncertain. Special Rule 2, providing the German Player with the German Artillery Support card,
representing German Field Batteries firing over open sights from the north bank of the River Somme and
from the nearby village of Chipilly against the Australian tanks crossing the ridge line to the south of
Cerisy. There is only a limited time during which this supporting fire will continue, signifying that any
German artillery support will inevitably be suppressed by Australian counter battery fire from the 38th
Battery supporting the Queenslanders.
The determination of victory for the German player focuses on several components: inflicting damage on
the Australian armoured forces, preventing Australian forces from crossing the ridge line to the south of
Cerisy and preserving the integrity of German forces in the Cerisy area (symbolised by ensuring Major von
Rathenow’s HQ remains intact). In this regard, the German player is fighting a battle which looks far

more like an engagement from the later part of the twentieth century than 1918, as befits the last
hundred days of the Great War.
The Australian Side

The Australian player’s task is at first sight easier in that he has almost unlimited troops to achieve his
mission. The Australian 15th (Queensland & Tasmanian) Battalion were closely supported by the 13th (New
South Wales) Battalion and with 8th Battalion armour. While a resolute defence of Cerisy prevented the
Australian advance, it was inevitable that, during the course of the morning, Major von Rathenow’s
position would either be overrun or be outflanked, forcing his withdrawal. The scenario focuses on the
attempts by the Australian forces to punch through the German defences, rather than taking the longer
outflanking route which was eventually used in the actual battle. Although he can be fairly certain that,
eventually, his forces will cross the Cerisy ridge line, he must do so before his losses mount to such a scale
that will impact on his progress along the Somme valley during the remainder of the day.
The Australian victory conditions reflect this. The Australian player has ample troops for the job in hand,
and certainly enough to defeat the German infantry. However, if his attack is at a heavy cost in tanks, or
if the German Company HQ remains intact, it is quite likely that the victory can be claimed by the German
player.
Game Duration
As the aim of the Germans is to delay the Australians, and the Australians’ objective is to punch through
the German lines, the Game should have a set duration. We recommend that a strict time limit of three
hours, or 20 turns, should concentrate the minds of both players.
VICTORY CONDITIONS
Victory Condition Points
Each tank destroyed or immobilised at the end of the game -5
Company HQ of the 3rd Company, 97th Infantry Regiment remains intact in German -4
hands at the end of the game
Each unit rallied from Cerisy Village (unit counting as group of me rallied on rolls of -1
4 to 12 on 2D6: see Special Rule 1)
For each Australian tank exiting from German eastern table edge +3
Company HQ of the 3rd Company, 97th Infantry Regiment is overrun or destroyed at +6
the end of the game
More than 40 Australian infantry crossing Cerisy Ridge by the end of the game +2
Australian Major Victory – +7 or greater

Australian Minor Victory – +2 to +6
Draw - -2 to +2
Australian Minor Defeat – -6 to -2
Australian Major Defeat – less than -6
CARDS
Australian German Common
Command Initiative IV x 1 Command Initiative IV x 1
Heroic Leader Heroic Leader
“Up and at ‘em!” Sturmabteilung Vor! (97th only)
Stokes Mortars Friction
Vickers HMG Sniper
Rally Artillery
Friction Dynamic Commander
Mortar

Historical Outcome
The engagement between the German defenders of Cerisy and the advancing Australians was one of the
few bright moments in the morning of 8th August 1918 for the German Army on the Somme. Major von
Rathenow rallied his collection of troops and stragglers from a camp at the base of Cerisy Ridge,
represented in the scenario by the HQ for the 3rd Company, 97th Infantry Regiment. His tactics, developed
after Cambrai, of attacking the advancing tanks of the 8th Battalion was successful, with several tanks
being destroyed or disabled by a combination of armour piercing SmK. rounds fired by German machine
gunners or by concentration and satchel charges deployed by assault grenadiers swarming round the tanks
once immobilised or separated from their infantry. Further losses on the tanks were inflicted for a short
time by the field batteries on the north bank of the Somme, although British and Australian counter-
battery fire soon suppressed this influence on the battle. Although short of ammunition, a brief
bombardment by a small number of light mortars of the 4th Light Trench Mortar Battery also appears to
have damaged some of the attacking tanks when crossing Cerisy Ridge.
Rathenow held the Australian attackers for a while on Cerisy Ridge until eventually, weight of Australian
numbers began to tell. Shortly after 8am, the German fire on the north bank of the Somme had been
suppressed. Further Australian tanks were threatening to enfilade the German positions by turning the
southern edge of Cerisy Ridge. Around 8.30am, Captain A.O. Smith of the 39th Battery of the 10th Field
Artillery Brigade galloped his field guns across the exposed ground by Cerisy Ridge and engaged the
German machine gunners over open sights at around 1,300 yards, breaking the remaining deadlock. “At
9.20am, I ordered the withdrawal” wrote Rathenow after the battle. His force then achieved a fighting
withdrawal, moving east along the Somme River towards the Amiens Defence Line as the Australians
consolidated in Cerisy and prepared to move on.

by Tom Hoff
On the 2nd of October 1918, near Charlevaux, France, elements of the 77th Division advanced into the
Argonne forest in joint attack with the French. With poor, little or no means of communicating with
neighboring units in the heavy terrain the American force continued to advance into the German lines
whilst the French attack stalled. As a result the Doughboys were exposed and isolated deep in the
German positions. Cut off, they were soon encircled by Germans of the 254th Regiment, 76th Division and
a siege of the battalion sized force ensued.
The American force was comprised of companies from the 307th and 308th Infantry regiments, with
elements of the 306th MG battalion. Heroically they held the Germans off from the 2nd through to the 7th
of October. Major Whittlesey, their commander, led a stoic defense and created an American legend,
being awarded the Medal of Honor for his valor. The following scenario represents part of the final
German attack on the “pocket” on the 7th of October.
Just prior to the assault a blindfolded American POW messenger arrived with a note from the German
commander. It read as follows:
“The suffering of your wounded men can be heard over here in the German lines, and we are appealing to
your humane sentiments to stop. A white flag shown by one of your men will tell us that you agree with
these conditions. Please treat Private Lowell R. Hollingshead (the bearer) as an honorable man. He is
quite a soldier. We envy you. The German commanding officer.”
Whittlesey’s response was to order the removal of white sheets that had been laid out to signal their
presence to Allied aircraft, in case any misunderstanding should occur. There would be no surrender.
US Briefing
“This is it boys. The Hun are massing for the final attack. Here we stand and here we die. We’re short of
ammunition, our supply of grenades is almost exhausted, but we have courage. While we have breath in
our bodies we will hold true to Old Glory. If the Germans expect us to surrender they may go to Hell!”.
US Force
Remnants, Co. K, 307th Infantry:
Captain Nelson Holderman, Status IV
Sergeant J Heuer, Status II
Corporal Gilley, Status I
Corporal Bradford, Status I
Corporal Hatch, Status I
There are 35 American riflemen present, three of whom have Chauchat LMGs. These may be organized
into groups as the American player sees fit. All Americans, unless otherwise noted, are considered simply
riflemen due to the exhaustion of issued grenades and rifle grenades.
Additionally there should be one Hotchkiss HMG and crew. This weapon is suffering a severe ammunition
shortage, and when a stoppage is rolled the gun is considered out of ammunition. The crew can then fight
as riflemen.

German Briefing
The Americans are clearly drunk or insane! To continue when they are so obviously defeated is sheer
madness. You have offered them the opportunity of surrender, but nothing has been heard. So it shall
be. You will end this matter here and now. Prepare to attack! Your force is as follows:
German Force
Assault Gruppe, JR 254:
Leutnant Trausch, Status III
Feldwebel Kurtzner, Status II
Feldwebel Haas, Status II
Gefreiter Lowe, Status I
Gefreiter Huinker, Status I
Gefreiter Schreiner, Status I
Gefreiter Stadler, Status I.
In addition to the Big Men there should be 75 German riflemen, divided into two platoons. Each platoon
should be divided into smaller gruppe, these should be of six to eight figures. Each platoon may have one
of its gruppe centered around an 08/15 MG, and another gruppe classed as bombers. As a special treat,
Trausch’s force can have two light flamethrower teams attached.
UMPire’s notes
The German troops are rated regular with good morale, the Americans are the same. For melee purposes
the Americans are treated as aggressive, representing a fanatical determination to hold out that set in by
the end of the siege. The game starts off with the Germans getting a “three turn” preliminary barrage.
The battlefield is the tricky bit. The entire field should be a slope running downwards to the American
baseline and representing the Charlevaux ravine. For obvious reasons, the game is easier to set up as a
flat surface. On a 4’x 8’ or 5’ x 9’ table have the Americans setting up their blinds two feet in, from their
base line and from their left flank. This is indicated by the red dotted line on the lower part of the map.
As for terrain, the entire table should be covered with shattered woods and shell holes. These shell holes
can be “improved” as fox holes to give medium cover, in which the Americans start the game. The
American player should feel free to shift these around a bit to give him a respectable position.
The object for the Germans is to clear the Americans from the board for a major victory, or to push one of
their platoons, adjudged to be still combat effective, off the board. This would represent the Germans
smashing the perimeter and getting down amongst the wounded and Whittlesey’s HQ.

When playtesting we used the flamethrower rules as written, but in retrospect after reading an interesting
post on the TooFatLardies Yahoo Group I am no longer rolling for flamethrower explosions if the figures
become casualties.
Cards
American German Common
US Blinds German Blinds
US Dynamic Leader Command Initiative III x 1
US Heroic Leader German Rally
US Rally Sturmabteilung Vor!
Historical Outcome
The American forces did in fact hold out until the night of the 7th and 8th of October when relief arrived.
Of over 500 soldiers that began the advance less than 200 were able to walk out from the ravine. For
those who want to know more about this engagement I suggest Robert Laplander’s “Finding the Lost
Battalion” which was published by LuLu in 2006 [http://stores.lulu.com/lostbattalion]. This is the best
book about a single battalion action I have come across. There is an additional work by the same author
and publisher entitled “Return to Charlevaux” that has a great amount of supplementary information. As
for the names of the Big Men, the Germans are made up, but the Americans were all from Company K,
307th Infantry.

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Mud &amp; Blood - Stout Hearts &amp; Iron Troopers

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The Great War was a period of tremendous change, and in writing this scenario supplement I hope that we

www.toofatlardies.co.uk Page 2 Stout Hearts & Iron Troopers

Page 11 Training the Entente

Page 12 Scenario One – Attack on a Strongpoint

Page 27 Training the Imperial German Army

Page 27 Scenario Five – Attack on a Strongpoint

Page33 Moving Up the Line – Historical Scenarios

Page 34 Scenario Seven – A Baptism at Bleid, August 1914

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• Perception of a need for change

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The Development of Infantry Tactics in the Great War

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French 1st Battalion 2nd Btn 3rd Btn

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Outpost Zone Main Line of Battle Zone Supporting Rearward Zone

Front Battalion: Outposts, strong-points Second Battalion Reserve Battalion

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What can also be seen is Likely enemy threat

2nd Platoon 1st Platoon

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Section One - the Bombers

Section Two – the Riflemen

Section Three – the Lewis section

Section Four – the rifle grenadiers

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Machine Gun Section

Rifle Section One

Rifle Section Two

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Section One - the Bombers

Section Two – the Riflemen

Section Three – the Lewis section

Section Four – the rifle grenadiers

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Machine Gun Section

Rifle Section One

Rifle Section Two

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Likely enemy threat

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Section One - the Bombers

Section Two – the Riflemen

Section Three – the Lewis section

Section Four – the rifle grenadiers

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Rifle Gruppe One

Rifle Gruppe Two

Rifle Gruppe Three

On Watch: Two men as sentries, one sniper.

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Advanced Guard Main Body Lead Platoons to Follow up platoon to

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Infantry Company Headquarters

Section One - the Bombers

Section Two – the Riflemen

Section Three – the Lewis section

Mud & Blood - Stout Hearts & Iron Troopers

Mud & Blood - Stout Hearts & Iron Troopers