Hobbit in Tunisia – NQM Squared

The Hobbit came round for a game of NQM some time ago in mid May, but I’ve only just got round to posting the game report. It was a small game with a simple objective … kick the Germans out of a village with a set-piece divisional attack. José, the Hobbit’s dad came along to provide support, and for high tea afterwards.

26th and 24th Australian Infantry Brigade start lines, looking from the south.

A lot of the game was spent explaining what tanks and infantry are, and how they interact. Also, when WW2 was. When I started gaming in 1967, WW2 had ended only 22 years ago – ancient history to a thirteen year old, but we had grown up immersed in war movies and comics.

26th Australian Infantry Brigade moves off with 24th Brigade to follow, and the divisional artillery in support.

Nowadays, WW2 seems contemporary with medieval knights and the American Civil War, with a puzzling lack of light sabres and robots, to youngsters that have grown up immersed in fantasy and Sci-fi!

Other things that needed to be expained:

1. Infantry are most successful in set piece attacks if you pound the position with artillery first.
2. Your plan doesn’t always work the way it does in comics, so …
3. It is good to have a backup plan, and a reserve.
4. It is easier to beat the enemy if your recce has first found out where he is.
5. What battalions, regiments and brigades are.
6. Where Tunisia is, and why we were fighting the Germans.

26th and 24th Brigades Close assault WADI YAWAT.

The game rattled along at a brisk pace, with the village of WADI YAWANT being taken, retaken by a counterattack, and taken again. There was initial puzzlement that “these four men have to be next to the house to shoot at it”. This led onto a discussion about scale and three-kilometer squares.

2/7th, 2/8th and 2/12th Field Regiments RAA move forward to support the attack (looking from the north).

“So why aren’t there more houses then?”

WADI YAWAT falls to a well-coordinated attack by two brigades and artillery.

However, the Hobbit is a bright little spark, and soon picked up the concept of moving elements in concert with each other to concentrate fire. Meanwhile, the division’s recce continued to probe beyond the village to locate ambushes and roadblocks.

Supporting Shermans from 24th Armoured Brigade press forward around the north of WADI YAWAT, looking from the north.

The Hobbit’s ariel recce successfully discovered the enemy’s divisional HQ and logistic echelon. He pounced on it with Hurricanes, and all the glee that only an eight year-old can muster. There goes the Gulaschkannone!

Desert Airforce recce finds 15 Pz HQ, looking from the south.

15 Pz conducted a counterattack that was beaten off by the Australians’ 24th Armoured Brigade reserve. With this, the game ended as the Germans withdrew across the board. Mission accomplished.

15 Panzer Division 8th Panzer Regiment counterattack fails as it meets 24th Armoured Brigade in a head-on battle.

Tea followed after the Hobbit posed for a victory photo!

The consensus was that the game was ok, but needed more giant Stompy robots and OP characters in it¹ I certainly need to add context more gradually. Perhaps DBA next?

Footnotes

1. Over Powered. It’s an online gamer’s thing. Children like being OP superheroes and huge dinosaurs, precisely because they are usually the smallest one around. It makes a nice change for them.