ConnectionsUK 2022

 

Spent a great day in Bristol yesterday attending ConnectionsUK 2022. This year, I expect due to COVID planning constraints, it was run as a one-day event alongside the DSET Defence Training and Simulation Conference, rather than the 2 day event at Kings back in 2019 (the last physical one). Also it was purely a games fair, there was no plenary game, lectures or workshops - but great fun all the same. Attendance was complete military, professional and academic wargames as far as I could make out.

There were around 20 games set up to play at various times. The bigger games were more talk throughs than play throughs, but some games were short enough that you could play to completion. There was no structure and you were just free to dip in and out of games as you chose.

So here are the games I played, and the ones I just looked at/talked to designers about.

Games Played

RCAT - Falklands

I've been wanting to play RCAT for a while - hoped we might get it as GFX on a project but failed. It seems to be the Armies "go to" operational level manual wargame. Bn level manoeuvre units, Bde-Div force. Although its using a detailed map the map is divided into zones, reflecting ~ a days movement. The combat system uses attack/defence type factors which are then summed, plus modifiers, and then ratios compared to the a force risk table (simplified copy in Successful Professional Wargames by Graham Longley-Brown - who happened to be running the game) with a CRT then giving for each ratio a spread of results based on a D10 roll. The CRT is sufficiently hidden that it doesn't become too much a game of min/maxing the counter ratios, and it was interesting that very few of the games on show used a ratio style CRT (good news as far as the hobby me is concerned). The game only used D10 and D100 on the basis it's a lot easier to present risks/outcomes as simple percentage chance to military people (agree again), even if they may not find the D10s as familiar as D6s.

We only played the initial air attack on San Carlos Water (only lost the Fearless), and then the attack on Goose Green (lost the whole para bn!), but enough to get a sense of the game. I must admit it was a lot better than I feared and I can see why its been so widely used. The system has been well validated in the Army, and the Falklands scenario has even been played by the commanders of the real battle.

I'd hope I can get my "operational" level rules to a similar level of playability and validity as the PhD evolves.

The Long Village

This was an "influence" game by Stone Paper Scissors, set in an English village not a million miles from Ambridge, which is a flashpoint between left and right wing extremists in some Uncivil War type Britain. Players play the different factions, each with their own aims, and with the UN trying to keep the piece. Each round an "issue" card is drawn and players work out whether to back or counter the issue, whilst also trying to meet their own goals. So its mostly discussion between the players with some basic voting and other actions. As factions become stronger their allowed actions increase, rising up through demos to sabotage, terrorism and insurrection. Nice system, very generic and you can see how you could use the engine for a whole host of different (and more serious) games. Some lovely 6mm UN models too!

Decisions and Disruptions

A very nice "Lego" game by Dr Ben Shreeve set around the issues of protecting a company from cyber attack. Each turn you have a budget to spend on kit, training and software, and then each turn you get told what happened and how much money it cost the company. The game plays over 4 rounds - I think we suffered about £120k of loss, about average I think. The game is very simple, but enough to get the basic idea across. The responses are fixed, so play the game twice with the same  choices and you get the same outcome. Version 2 is under development with far more options and far more interlinkages and random, so should be more "realistic" but probably not quite as accessible. The use of Lego just to show the network layout, and then the stuff you deploy, is insprired.

Shooting Daedelus 

Shooting Daedelus was an MA project from Kings by Ares Compagnoni and Evan d'Alessandro. It was a very different take on a CQB game as it represented BOTH the vertical and horizontal layout in one grid of cards. It was a bit like being in Inception at first but you soon got the hang of it. There were some nice touches in the combat model (damage meant losing cards, so restricting options, and then save rolls based on cards left once under 6). Really nice game. Interesting to compare it to Tango Down which has a slightly more developed combat system, but no vertical dimension. I wouldn't want to over complicate Shooting Daedelus (and I know Evan had to throw loads of ideas away), but a couple of steals from Tango Down (eg range and DM for shooting through doors etc) might round the game out nicely. Interesting both games seem to come down to a grenade slug-fest. Once you're up close you realise that grenades are the best way to go, but if you don't kill the other person they just throw some back, and so on. Something tells me real-world CQB isn't like that. I'm guessing grenade lethality in both games needs to be wound right up - but then it comes down to who's quickest on the draw. Will hopefully get another game in soon on our Discord group.

Games Seen

USMC Operational Wargaming System

A HUGE map of the Ukraine with about a 15km grid and Bn manoeuvre units. This is the USMC's new general purpose manual wargame and was used by them to examine the Russian invasion before it happened - see https://warontherocks.com/2022/03/the-wargame-before-the-war-russia-attacks-ukraine/.

The counters are VERY dense with information:

Units are rated D4-D10 (as in Ambush Alley games etc) and again its a Dice+modifiers game rather than ratio CRTs. Looks way complex though with "a day" to train a player, "days" to train umpires.

Would be fun to actually play it some time, but I think that RCAT is closer to what I'm after.

Air Strike

Maj Tom Moaut (aka all sorts of things) ran Air Strike. One team decided on aircraft and load outs, whilst another decided on air defence systems. The air players then had a quick visual recce to decide which target to go for, the defender could then move mobile systems and arrange the detail of their defense layout. Then the airplanes came in, tried to suppress air defence, beat off  the CAPs and finally release some ordnance and get it on target. Looked fun.

Strike! - Kestrel's Hover

A company force with Section/Squad manoeuvre units of a British assault on a remote airfield somewhere in Africa. Looked pretty conventional, no sign of a ratio CRT again and extensive use of decoy blinds (about 3 decoys per real blind!). Surprised that snipers weren't model as "not at that level" since my reading is that snipers have an effect out of all proportion to their numbers, and even if abstracted ought to be included at this scale in some way.

Space Control

A game based about space situation awareness and offensive action presented by Jim Wallman of Stone Paper Scissors. Two teams, red and blue, with charts representing the layers of ground HQs, ground segment, LEO, MEO/HEO and GEO. You spend your budget to launch stuff and to buy offensive/defensive/ISR kit, and then see what you can do to the other side and what they can do with you. Pity I just missed the start of a session as in principle (if not topic) was not dissimilar to a game I've been working on.

Integrity

A game developed by Outreach Group, 77 Bde as a training aid for anti-corruption and stability operations. You assign staff to G1-G9 desks and then draw incident cards to be dealt with. "Time" and "Resources" are your resources, and you can choose cautious and risky approaches to deal with them, and have to balance resource use with availability and progressing your various stabilisation projects. Again something that could easily be re-skinned.

Don't Fear The Reaper Drone

A really thoughtful game by Edward McEvoy from Kings. One player is Carrie Mathison a CIA analyst and the other a remote Drone pilot. The CIA player has targets to meet and kill and hang the consequences. The pilot has a family and morals. Who's going to crack first! An almost black game touch is that when a strike ends up hitting civilians the pilot has to draw a card from a thispersondoesnotexist.com deck to see who they just killed. Very thought provoking and in considering how to represent and play the civilian population and moral choices in urban conflict some useful food for thought.

Conclusion

A great day with a wonderful breadth of games considering that they were all serious military games. Great to meet up with my supervisor, one of my fellow PhD students and various professional  wargaming friends and colleagues. Hopefully by 2023 Bath Spa will hav as many games running at Connections 2023 as Kings students did this year!

Postccript: Official photos and report up at https://www.professionalwargaming.co.uk/2022.html

Platoon Mega Playtest: Part 8 - Iron Cross

Presentation

32 page glossy softback, of which the core rules are only 13 pages. Decent pics, diagrams and layout. 1 page QRS on back cover and as download PDF.

Set-Up

Operation Martlet Scenario 4 - Striking at St Nicholas. Germans with IG37 infantry support gun as before. The rules have no explicit scale, all long-arm weapons have unlimited range. IAWs have a range of 8"/20cm - so assuming ~100m gives 10cm = 50m, but that then seems too long for the rest of the long-arms. Close (or is that effective) range is 12"/30cm, which if assumed as 300m, gives 10cm = 30m.

How it Played

View from German lines

Same British game plan as before. No.1 and No.2 Section headed off through the wood on the L flank, while No. 3 Section took the open ground on the R flank, with No. 4 Section in reserve. No. 3 Section soon came under concentrated fire from 2. Gruppen (centre) and 3. Gruppen (British R) which wiped it out. No. 1 Section made it to the edge of the wood and was immediately engaged by the IG which wiped out their LMG team. The Cromwell came forward to try and suppress 2. Gruppen to clear the way for No. 4 Section. It was out of Panzerfaust range but the Panzer IV came forward, and it got hit by both the Cromwell and the 6pdr, the 6pdr delivering the final blow which knocked it out. The Cromwell cleared the hedgeline of 2. Gruppen MG34, and 1.Gruppen MG34 in the farm roof, clearing the way for No. 4 Section.

No. 4 Section moving forwards. Note new dead 10mm models!

Unfortunately No. 4 Section still caught fire from the rest of 2. Gruppen and lost their rifle team. The LMG team made it to the hedgeline though.

At the farm No. 2 Section finally made it through the wood unmolested and assaulted 1. Gruppen in the farm. After several rounds of melee 1. Gruppen won and No.2 Section lost is rifle group.

1. Gruppen redeployed to the N of the farm. No. 1 Section in distance.

The Brits were now perilously close to their breakpoint. 3. Gruppen and the IG turned S to engage the UC and Bren team which had snuck up on the far side of the hedge S of the road, and in a brief exchange of fire the Bren team was gone, British breakpoint reached and it was game over - a German victory!

Rules Impression

I'd heard good things about Iron Cross, particularly the activation system. I'm afraid to say it didn't work for me at all, and even seems the most broken of all the ones I've tried so far - mainly because you start min/maxing the game mechanic rather than "playing the period".

Each side gets a bunch of activation tokens, effectively 1 per unit plus 2 for HQ. But those tokens can be allocated to any unit. After allocating the unit actually activates on a 1+/2+/3+ incrementing D6 roll, based on both previous activations and morale/damage hits. So far fine. But 3 things to me then wreck it:

• There is no penalty for failing the activation (other than loss of token) so you can keep going it if important. Other rules with this system tend to have you lose initiative.
• Units need 3 (small) or 5 (standard) morale/damage hits to be eliminated. Recovering hits is relatively easy (and not subject the same incremental challenge). So in reality you aim to get all 3/5 IN A SINGLE ACTIVATION.
• So once you start a unit firing and inflicting damage you keep going. Any infantry unit probably averages 1-2 hits an activation, so in 3 you're probably done. 

As a result I found each turn tended to resolve around the destruction of one particular unit. The defender does get the chance for reactive fire each time - but they are on a 3+/4+ model, and with each hit that becomes harder. Also with almost every firefight becoming two way it seems to break the activating players flow (deliberately?).

Smoke rules are very simple (the 2" landed smoke just right turn after turn, blinding the IG), and there are no indirect fire or spotting rules. No building rules (just cover) and melee is just another firefight - hence it dragging on.

Overall

Not for me, although other people say they've got good games out of it. I've got Seven Days to the Rhine to play later, so I might watch a few video playthroughs before that to see if I get anything seriously wrong. But on this experience overall 4/10.

Platoon Mega Playtest: Part 7 - No End In Sight

Presentation

92 page PDF by Nordic Weasel - available on Wargames Vault for $12.99, minimal images but fairly sensible layout. About 1/3rd is campaign rules. No QRS.

Set-Up

Operation Martlet Scenario 4 - Striking at St Nicholas. The Germans have now added an IG37 infantry support gun. The rules have no explicit scale, but all long-arm weapons have unlimited range, so probably more like 10/20m per square than 30m. No close/effective range either. Although designed for the Modern period the rules include bolt-action rifles and Brens, so no conversion needed.

How It Played

No. 3 Section started off, patrolling along the S flank til they got hit by 3. Gruppen on the hedge line. One man down, adverse morale test and scurried back to where they came. Cromwell came forward to support, put some MG and 76mm HE into the hedge-lines, but really only suppressed. The Panzer IV seized its chance, did a quick and long drive into a shooting position and disabled the Cromwell tracks. The 6pdr returned fire and took the Panzer out. A Panzerfaust team in the hedges tried to take the Cromwell but it was front on and the round bounced off.

Meanwhile No. 1 Section was heading across the N flank through the wood, but as they approached the farm came under sustained fire from the MG42 in the attic rooms. Before long the whole Section was suppressed - with the IG pouring fire in from the flank not helping.

The Pl Comd finally called down smoke in the S and No. 4 Section went to help No 3 Section which had still been pinned. No. 4 was slow off the mark though and No. 3 was still not at the enemy by the time the smoke cleared. The static Cromwell hoped shoot them in though and a handful of No. 3 Section finally made contact with a handful of defenders. The Brits won and the Germans pulled back.

Meanwhile No.2 Section had also been advancing through the woods, and with all the fire being directed at No. 1 Section was able to get up to the farm walls without casualty (a short range German shoot missed totally). Grenades were lobbed in, Germans stunned, and No. 2 Section stormed through the openings. The melee wasn't as quick as planned but finally the Germans gave way, and the MG42 team and Zug OK fled the farm.

End game time, No. 2 Section turned its fire S on 2. Gruppen in the central field, with No.4 and No.3 Section also putting in fire from the flank. 2. Gruppen struggled to get people out of pinned, especially those caught in the open, and finally No. 4 Section stormed into melee with them and it was game over.

Rules Impression

No End In Sight has a really cracking command and control system - probably the best yet for giving you a section commander's feel for a Platoon battle. Sides alternate activations, and can activate one commander, who gets D6-Stress action points, each of which can activate upto 3 men (if close) or remove 1 pinned, and a few other things. But each activation gives the NCO one more Stress, and if they role modified 0 or less they are "exhausted" and have to wait the next turn. The next turn only happens when everyone (voluntarily or mandated) is exhausted, and 3 Stress are instantly recovered by NCO.

The next effect is that you tend to focus the battle on one bit of the field at a time, with opposing NCOs fighting it out, and spending an increasingly meagre AP as best they can, removing a pin here, pushing a couple of guys forward there - all within the context of the larger game. Excellent.

The under-fire Morale test was nice - forcing No. 3 Section back with the first shots, and as the rules warn whilst units are often pin soldiers are more rarely killed than in other rules. I did find pinning easy to recover from though - although I suppose since the NCO is using activations up to do that they still can't then do much (can't recover pin and fight in same activation).

There were rules for most situations in there, including lots of building and vehicle ones. However some had less depth so you might be forced to improvise. Nice grenade rules (luckily none of No.3  Section's bounced off the door frame?). The tank combat rules have an annoying "silent" result on a roll of 4 which is meant to keep people guessing and require a reroll next turn, and I just kept rolling 4s!

The core combat system is dice heavy, shock dice per man, +2 for LMG, then half that many dice for Kill (a Nordic Weasel trope), so that's 15 dice for an 8/9 man section, then need to reroll Kills if in cover. Not my ideal, esp with 2 different types.

Overall

Whilst the combat mechanic isn't my favourite the activation model made this a really nice game. Very keen to try it as an option for my Bolt Action Reality Check. Overall 8/10, edging a 9.