19C - War in Europe - Assault on German Town by British Super Heavy Tank

This is a quick solo battle using my 19C rules to test my new rule section for Super Heavy Tanks.

This is a British Super Heavy leading the assault on a river crossing at German town. The Prussians have put together a holding force consisting of a few old guns in an ancient fort supported by the local militia regiments.

The Prussians forces are six companies of troops, four light artillery pieces and two large heavy fortress guns.

The British have one Super Heavy Tank with two heavy guns and three Gatling guns, two light scout vehicles with twin Gatling guns, five infantry companies, two cavalry companies and four mobile Gatling guns.

Opening deployment

The British attack

Main Prussian defence line

End of the first turn - the British move up and suffer casualties.

End of second turn

Both sides have taken casualties but mostly the British

End of the third turn, the British assault the Prussian defenders.

Casualties mount on both sides.

The Prussian forces on the near side of the river have been reduced to one infantry stand. A British scout car ventured over the bridge and was destroyed by Prussian canon fire.

Casualties start to even out.

Turn 5 - The Super heavy tank approaches the bridge and receives some hits, in return fire it disables a Prussian gun.

Turn 6 - the Super Heavy Tank destroys two Prussian guns and receives some hits but is still mobile and deadly.  The Prussian commander decides discretion is the better part of valour and orders the retreat before the British cavalry can break through.

The rules for the super heavy did not really work very well and I will have to rethink them.  I also need to be clear on definitions of vehicles and what they can be armed with.  I think I will go with light vehicles can have one light weapon (Gatlings or light artillery), medium - two weapons with the heaviest a medium artillery, and heavy vehicles three weapons with the heaviest heavy artillery.  My super heavy will need further thought.

Still a bit of fun to get the figures on the table and brought to light my lack of VSF vehicles for the British and Prussians plus the complete lack of a French army.

Rats and Mice

In the middle of 2019 I saw that you could get a plastic model kit of a 1/144th scale German Ratte Tank. I was immediately interested as it is my favourite scale and I like silly tanks.

So I searched around for kit - Amazon Australia had one for $110 - not that interested, and then found BNA Models who had one for about $60 - too much but I couldn't resist.

So soon it arrived and I built it - together with the two Maus tanks that come with it.

The Ratte comes with four multiple Anti-aircraft guns which attach to the back.

So with no further nonsense here it is.

Here it is in its awesomeness. Together with some M48 Pattons. 

The two Mauses - or should that be Mise

The complete 512th Super duper heavy panzer battalion.

It is stupidly big, I don't know how anyone thought it would be a good idea.

I already had a few boxes of Revell Bundeswehr models, M48s, HS30 APCs and trucks. Together they make a potent force to stop the Soviet hordes in the mid-1950s.

I can just imagine the conversation with the American liaison officer.
Chuck   "Hans, what the hell is this, where did you get it!!!"
Hans     "Well, it is a Ratte - a super heavy panzer. We lost it at the end of the war, you know there was a lot of confusion then"
Chuck   "Lost it, how can you lose something like that. How did you find it! And how is it operating"
Hans    "The local hitler youth group, no I mean scout group, was on a field trip and they found it. They alerted the nearest village, and just by coincidence the 512th Super Heavy Panzer Battalion was having its annual reunion and were able to get it started. How lucky was that!"
Chuck "I don't believe a word but if it can stop the Soviet Guards Armoured Corp I don't care!"


To help justify its purchase, I made a VSF version for my 19C wars. Here the AA guns are taken off, replaced with the two Maus turrets and an engine deck of mysterious valves.

The escorting infantry will keep it out of trouble.

The engine deck and supporting gun turrets