Game 1951, Hill 235

Gloster Hill. A game I played over the New Year weekend. I've had the research for this one for a while, but never had the right hill(s) to play it on. The map below uses the drop-cloth method to achieve the necessary ridge lines and other contours - difficult to see in the pictures.

The British could only use the orders 'Rally' and 'Call Fire' but would automatically 'Disengage' when the unit reached 50% casualties. The first three turns turns represented the night phase attacks 03.00-06.00, using one-hour-turns

Chinese rifle companies crossing the Imjim River

The night fighting rules made it very difficult for the defenders to spot the Chinese infantry until they were very close

The darkness also made it easier for broken Chinese units to be rallied and reformed 

A Coy positions

D Coy

Turn 4, start of the day phase

All of the British fire assistance came from the battalions mortars 

Communist figures are by Imex

Repeated Chinese attacks were beaten back with great losses but each one pushed all of the British companies closer to the 50% disengage mark

And so, one by one they fell back, with the least damaged platoons covering the withdrawal 

A Coy surrounded on three sides but still holding on

Battalion HQ area

The attacker/defender ratio in this scenario worked out at about 6 to 1

Chinese units sheltered by a ridge line regrouping 

By about the mid way point all of the British rifle companies were reduced to 50% fighting strength or less and had made a least one forced withdrawal towards the battalion HQ area. British figures here are Caesar 

Chinese infantry sweeping through abandoned British positions

The fringe of the Gloster's HQ positions, mortar platoon by HaT

The HQ perimeter was greatly reduced and platoons disengaging from this position were removed from the board

Interesting game made all the better by the genuine contours created by the drop-cloth - some companies could support each other, some couldn't, despite their positions being roughly 600yds apart (10"). It did not really play out anything like historical but was fun to play nonetheless. 

Pictures of my new digs soon.