City & CEMA at COW

Not sure if I'm going to get as far as a review post on COW (and I've put a load of photos up anyway and written the WD page on it at https://wargamedevelopments.org/conferences/cows/cow-2023/), but here some of the pics from my big game at COW - City and CEMA, which was also billed as The Battle of Redditch 2027.

The game is a reasonably serious attempt at a modern Brigade-level urban wargame, with all the UAV, Cyber, EW and other whistles. You can read more about it on my PhD wiki at: http://taunoyen.com/wiki/doku.php?id=cityandcema:cityandcema

And here's one shot from my smaller solo card-based game, Rubble Town, being played head-to-head with two decks. Again more info on the wiki at http://taunoyen.com/wiki/doku.php?id=rubbletown:rubbletown.

Christmas in Hell AAR

 

Another PhD game. I came across the Battle for Ortona in several urban warfare sources. It was an "epic" Canadian battle of WW2 in Italy (1943) but little known in the UK. I hunted for a game about it and came across this one from High Flying Dice Games, in Canada of course. Paul Rohrbaugh (HFD MD) and I looked at various options at short notice for me to pick it up during my trip to Canada in April, but in the end it was easier just to get him to ship it over.

It's a solitaire game with an AI/blinds mechanic similar to Hue/Ramadi, but which I think works much better - it felt far less of a slog. I loved that it uses areas not hexes for movement and combat - but unfortunately is then let down by a dreadful map (lots of that green above was about a 60 degree slope and not fought over!). The real star though is the way that is manages rubble. I had a whole load of questions about the rules (which as other reviewers have noted are not as clear as they could be) but Paul was very patient in answering them all - although I'm still left with a few niggles about the combat and reinforcement systems. Again reflecting other reviews I think there's a great little game there that's struggling to get out.

I decided a few weeks ago to run Christmas in Hell as my first COW game in July, so I'm busy working  up a 1.1 version to take there with a better map and some streamlined rules - we'll see how it plays.

My full academic review for the game is at http://taunoyen.com/wiki/lib/exe/fetch.php?media=wargaming:phd:aar:aarchristmasinhell.pdf.

Just search on YouTube for Battle of Ortona and you'll find lots of videos about the battle, including a UK MOD training/documentary film and original war reporter footage from CBC reporters at the battle.

Battle of Ramadi AAR

 

Don't really want to have to double post my PhD game reviews so here's the link to the review on my PhD wiki, and a near end game screenshot.

http://taunoyen.com/wiki/lib/exe/fetch.php?media=wargaming:phd:aar:wargame_first_review_-_battle_for_ramadi_-_tinybattle.pdf

Bottom line - pretty good solo game and great value for about £7 print-and-play.

Donestk: Battle for the Airport

 

Donestk: Battle for the Airport is a small folio game by Tiny Battle Publishing (also published in Flying Pig Games's Yaah! magasine, so annoyingly I bought it twice!). It represents the multiple fights over Donestk Airport by the Ukrainian Army and Dontesk Separatists in 2014/2015. Not my usual fare but the reasoning will hopefully become clear in a few weeks!

Presentation

PDF for $17 ($28 printed). 14 pages, including 4 scenarios, game notes and a 1 page QRS. All nicely laid out. One counter sheet (double sided) and an A3 size colour map. Didn't take long to get it all printed out. Didn't bother to mount on card stock or anything.

Set-Up

I played the first, introductory scenario, where about a company of Separatists had sized the terminal buildings, and a company (-) of Ukrainians, with close air support was sent to oust them. Separatists set up anywhere (but in the terminal is the sensible place), and Ukrainians start on the board edge.

How It Played

I decided to hold the Coy Comd back on the board edge to bring down the close air support and then put a platoon in on each flank. The air support wasn't devastating given the solidity of the buildings and only 50% effective on lower floors but was enough to soften the Separatists to the point where one platoon could (at the second attempt) storm the building. As they started to clear rooms the second platoon which was attacking over more open ground in the East got repeatedly pinned by the Separatist team atop the Old Terminal and survived several airstrikes. The Pl Comd got hit and pulled back into the Metro while his BTR's gradually weakened the Separatists in the Multi-Storey. On Turn 6 the Separatist hit their hesitation level, and so on Turn 7 the Ukrainian just had to choose their positions to surround the Separatists and it was all over. 

Game Impression

Pretty good game. Interesting that the rules were a differential CRT rather than the more "traditional" ratio CRT I'm used too. A few gaps/unclear points but otherwise the core mechanics worked well and certainly gave you some sense of the battle. I'll try and play one of the more complex scenarios next week.

Preparing for BAOR 1988

When I started to resurrect my 1/300th Cold War Gone War wargaming a few years ago I was keen to have some sort of campaign game to give context to any battles. I then discovered that SPI did a BAOR game (I have their Next War, but that has Div/Bde units and ~10-20km hexes, and I wanted Bn's and ~2-3 km hexes (ie a table) - which is what BAOR has.

I set up a eBay search on BAOR and kept my eye out at shows but to no avail. I managed to find hi-rez scans of the map and counters, and a copy of the rules. I was on the verge of getting the map printed at A1 when I found a copy of the game (less the magasine and the glorious cover above :-( ) on eBay, so now have the proper map.

Of course being me I wasnt happy with the rest of the game. The counters were more like 1983/84, whereas I wanted 87/88 - when I was in BAOR. Also the rules, whilst they used Fatigue for partial damage,  use the standard ratio based CRT of almost all SPIs types games. I can't say I get along with this model, as every game SPI I've ever played comes down to getting enough points together to just make a ratio threshold, and you lose all sense of what the units are.

I'd been looking for a set of "operational" level wargame rules for a while. I thought that Rommel might fit the equation but it just wasn't what I wanted. I found FreeHexBlitz on the web, and thought it a pretty good start, so I started working up my own rules, the key elements being that each unit has:

• A size rating, effectively companies/squadrons, which gives how many D10 you roll
• An attack rating, based on the type and quality of kit
• A defence rating, based on the type and quality of kit

A key decision was that ratings are relative to the norm of the day, rather than trying to work out any details of armour, penetration etc.

Of course all this meant that I needed to create over 200 counters. Luckily I found this YouTube video by RK who had two great ideas which worked really well:

• Use the Panorama feature in IfranView to join images exported from PPT into strips, and then join the strips into sheet. Very simple process
• Use Self Adhesive foam sheets to give the counters more depth than card and make then easier to manage

So SPI map out, my rules play tested over the last couple of weeks, counters made, and all ready to go in time for Election Night!

Kingmaker

I've been meaning to buy a copy of Kingmaker on eBay for a couple of years but the price always seems to be too much (£35+). I remember playing this once, maybe twice back in the late 70s/80s and thought it was a nice game with a good period feel, and also gave a good sense of how English geography (particularly the rivers) affected military strategy. Last week I finally managed to pick up a copy for just over £30. The box is a bit battered, and there was no guarantee of every piece being there (although the count looked about right) - but I want to play this rather than keep it as a collectors item. It's also the later Gibson version rather than the original Ariel version, which also keeps the price down - even though it comes with more rule options and at least has the look of the original unlike the US Avalon Hill version. The board is a thing of beauty and very similar to the one I've cribbed for my ECW/Medieval campaigning.

Playtest to follow in the next few months.

Seelowe - The SPI Game of the Invasion of England

During a wonderful week's holiday up in the Forest of Bowland ( walking in the day, gaming in the evening - mostly Britannia) I managed to fit in a solo play of the old SPI Seelowe game of the planned invasion of the UK by Germany in 1940. Since I grew up around Dorking in Surrey, right by the Mole Valley gap my childhood walks were always full of pill boxes, and ever since the Battle of Dorking pamphlet of the late 1800s the area has always been seen as a strategic focus for any invasion.

I decided to play the September Navy scenario as this was the most realistic in the game. The invasion is focussed on the ports of Kent and Sussex initially, and comsists of a small early assault phase followed about a week or so later by a moderate main landing force. This is not on the scale of D-Day.  It is assumed that the RAF was eliminated in the Battle of Britain, and that the Royal Navy has been locked out of the Channel. The Luftwaffe is flying regular interdiction strikes from France - but its range is limited, and with daily rolls for weather the ability to actually use the Luftwaffe and land troops can be a pretty hit or miss affair.

The write up was done pretty much turn by turn, and I haven't made any attempt to tidy it up - but hopefully it gives you a flavour of the game. Total playing time was about 4 hours.

Turn 1

German landings at Brighton, Eastbourne, Hastings, Folkestone and Dover

Coastal opposition eliminated. 2nd Div deploys towards Chatham

Turn 2

British slow to mobilise. 29 Gren Regt keeps 19 Div holed up in Dover. 51 Gren Regt protects L flank at Worthing. 28th Amphib Tank Regt siezes ports along the coast. Main thrust towards Dorking, secondaries on flanks to Maidstone and Guildford. British 1st Div under air attack at Redhill, and 2nd Div destroyed NW of Maidstone. One RAF fighter group lost in air attacks. Rough, landings only at ports.

Turn 3 Rough seas still limit landings, slow expansion of bridgehead. leading forces pushing in to Surrey

Turn 4 Bad weather delays reinforcements and grounds air attacks. GE attack on 1st Div delayed.

Turn 5 Still rough but skies clear. Luftwaffe interdicts 1st Div and 47 & 48 Armd Bdes at Newlands Corner. Combined assault by 4 Regts and Para Bns destroys 1st Div (and Dorking) for the loss of the paras and a Regt. A proposed simultaneous assault on the Armd Bdes failed to materialise. 64 and 65 Gren Regt close on 25 Bde E of Croydon ready to open the way to the city where defence Brigades are still not fully mobilised.

Turn 6

German assault takes out the 47 and 48 Armd Bdes. Supply issues prevent assault on 25Bde. Germans now have a clear route to the W of London, and in the east are only 3 hex away from Central London. The first wave of the major GE reinforcements are embarked, and the British are belatedly mobilising some of their more far flung troops in East Anglia, Wales, and the West Country.

Turn 7

Air attack on 42 Div S of Guildford fails and one Sqn lost, operating at extended range but despite 8 Sqns on task. Successful interdiction against 7 Div moving SW fm Chelmsford. 19 Div in Dover finally falls, but takes 49 Regt with it. The attack against 42 Div goes in despite the failure of air support, and destroys the Div but 42 and 51 Gren Regts lost. 64 and 65 Regt push 25 Div back, and it withdraws across the Thames. The Germans are only 3 hex away from Central London, and despite forces massing in the Chilterns the situation for London is looking grim.

Turn 8

The German strategy is to obliterate London before clearing the rest of the country. Weather is storms which delays landing of the main wave of reinforcements and renders the Luftwaffe useless. UK 5 and 16 Div destroyed defending Guildford, 55 and 61 Regt move in, whilst 17 Pz Regt protects the flank from 6 UK Div and 1, 15 and 16 Pz Div sweep on to West London. Other German forces advance on a broad front to the outskirts of London ready for the bloody street by street fighting. A second wave is moving up from the beaches.

Turn 9

The Germans attempt a first assault across the Thames but are repulsed. 23 Div in Chichester also holds out. British forces mass in the Chilterns  ready for a potential counter-attack to relieve the pressure on London. weather still grounding a/c.

Turn 10/11

A/c still grounded. Germans force way across Thames in central London but then held. Also across in Thames estuary. Supplies hampering exploitation in E. British Home Guard active and making fighting in London hard, several units unable to get in on W. British forces steadily building in Chilterns bipartisan not enough concentration to take on German screening force.

Turn 12

Luftwaffe is flying again but loses on a/c in attempt to disrupt units around Basingstoke. GE destroy 5 Div W of Basingstoke, and push further across Thames estuary to complete their encirclement of London.

Turn 13

7 and 27 Divs defending East London destroyed. 6 Div defending Basingstoke destroyed. Only 4 units left in London but defensive line along Chilterns steadily building and Partisan and other forces massing S of Oxford.

Turn 14

Penultimate units in London destroyed. Luftwaffe plus 50,56 and 61 Regts sp by 5 & 6 Pzr and 48 Gren Regts finally clear 60 & 63 Mot Bdes and 21 and 33 Div fm Basingstoke area, only light resistance now between them and Oxford. GE encirclement of London now complete and preparing for assault on 6 Div and 33 Bde around High Wycombe.

Turn 15

London finally falls as 12 Div and 17 Bde give way under increasing German pressure. The Pzr Regts are immediately dispatched to aid the assault on the Chilterns. In High Wycombe 6 Div and 33 Bde are destroyed, and NW of Basingstoke 56 and 57 Partisan are destroyed by 4 & 5 Pzr Regt. Apart from some militia units nothing stands between GE left flank and Oxford, and the remaining 6 British Divs in the Chilterns are surrounded.

This was the formal end of the game.

Victory Calculations

Ports 10

GB SP ~40

GE SP 106 

>2:1

Decisive German victory

Since the Germans were so close to total domination I decided to just play out their assault on the Chilterns.

Turn 16 (extra)

Successful assaults on both flanks clear 3 British divisions from Chilterns

Turn 17 (extra)

All British forces except a Mot Inf Bde (Str 1) at Didcot eliminated.

And that was it. The rules say that normally the Germans have a hard time winning, and it's always an issue with solo games as to whether you become naturally biased to one side or another. I made some random roles to decide to strategies - for instance giving the Germans the choice of isolating London ( which I'd have done) or assaulting it (which the dice decided). The weather also frustrated German landings and air support so I don't think they had a particularly easy ride. The British just lacked a decent number of high strength combat units, and perhaps played too passive a game, defending the North Downs/GHQ line rather than trying to push forward and engage - but again I don't think in the early stages they really had the forces to do it.

All in all a fun game thought, and a nice counterpart to SPI's Normandy which I must also replay some time.

***Imported from old blog***