Back Playing - Flash Point Campaign - Red Storm

I do like this game. I had to reinstall after a computer crash (see below, hello old friend, how I missed you):

The best computer games to my mind inspire you to go to the table top with miniatures and this one does that (in 1/300 scale) for me! (see below, the frightening Red Hordes have been tamed - I even got the HQ and artillery park, although I still have a healthy respect for the SU-25 Frogfoot tactical bomber): 

Admittedly this is the introductory scenario and I have played it a few times, but it was well worth it to shake some of the "computing gaming rust" off ;)  

What next ... 2022 fun things explored to date and those currently being explored

Well for a start .. in the spirit of mindfulness .. getting back into the habit of blogging a snippet ever day or so of wargame progress (not using the term "projects" anymore) and thoughts, I find really cathartic. AS a matter of fact I have already blogged more in Jan 2022 than in any month in 2021, so I think that is a good sign (see below, my friend from the 1990's past, I remember that box cover art, the classic menace of the Panther tank, all Sherman crew beware):

I am continuing to play Steel Panthers on my computer and I am finding the scenarios very interesting. My approach is to do them one by in numerical order, previously I jumped from small scenario to small scenario, but it looks like in doing so I missed out on some real gems.  To date sixteen done so far out of a catalogue of three hundred and forty four, [note the sixteen was including the eight training tutorials - which also exposed my "superficial click mouse button bait" style of play. Dumb game play at times but it seemed to be working, sort of. That was my naivety and just surface knowledge of some elements of the rule system. When you slow yourself down (less haste gleans more speed), rather than rushing through stuff as quick as you can, you find Steel Panthers is a very feature rich game (though heavy on the mouse clicks). 

Board game to miniature wise ...

I really want to play the Beda Fomm board game through to completion, but a slight Covid complication is delaying that at the moment (nothing too serious, touch wood). Then after we are all "board gamed-out" doing that - transfer to the table-top some small battalion-sized vignettes to be played under [Frank Chadwick's] Command Decision rules and compare the battles results - then perhaps replay them with some different rule (and compare them too)? That means a bit of a rush on some British early war tanks to be painted up for me (A9s, A10s,and A13s) plus some Morris ACs. (I also have to say that the more I learn of the battle the more unhistorical the Steel Panthers version of the scenario looks). There is an incoming Pendrakon order of 10mm tanks expected oh so soon!

Pep Talk to Self: Now be a good boy and crack on with the "Western Desert" stiff .. never you mid about any sort of calling of the "Warlord Epic Scale" of the ACW in your mind, or the immanent arrival of the Napoleonic range. 

Note to Self: Naval War Simulator

 http://www.navalwarfare.net/drbz.html

PC Game - Flash Point Red Storm - WWIII "The War That Never Came"

This is my latest PC obsession, which has already caused the wife to pass caustic comments on my hobby and her hubby's strange sense of priorities. It hankers back to my teenage youth (the late 1980's) and the threat of the Cold War going "Hot" was in the back of everybody's minds (see below, never mind "Nina and her 99 Red Balloons" .. what about those T-72 Tanks? There are thousands of them!): 

What I love about this game is the WEGO system (something that would mentally kill you if you tried to umpire something like it on a tabletop, as the computer must slice a turn into so many little segments and hold tract of who goes first etc on a huge list of actions) and the "hands off AI" for a lot of the minutia (stuff the troops would be doing without you having to tell them to do it .. for example, indirect weapons repositioning themselves after a shoot is a case in point). The double bonus is the classic FOW (Fog of War play .. which leaves you [peeing] on "the seat of your pants") during play. The triple play bonus whammy for me is that it is breathing a bit of life back into my modern 1/300 scale collection (which seemed stopped at Modern Spearhead about a decade ago) as a few little extra models would not go amiss. I may look to expand it is the direction of some Americans and British (BOAR) - already having some Russians/Warsaw Pact and West Germans. 

The red rings around my eyes tells you all you need to know for now ;) 

Freeblade - Level 55 - Game Completed

It is done (see below, my final "look" - nasty weaponry with sizzling sound effects):  

Game Statistics: 

Final Level: 55

Knight Points: 3,615

Strength: 660

Toughness: 555

Critical Hit Chance: 43.3%

Critical Hit Damage: 186.3%

Missions Completed: 173 out of 173 (100%)

Campaign Medals: 519 out of 519 (100%)

Patrols Completed: 415 Patrol Medals

Total Score: 15,734,782

Orks Slain: 75,478

Chaos Slain: 57,506

Events Entered: 20

Game Completed: 26th November 2020 

Freeblade: Astoria Level 55

Astoria the mega human/cyborg - "Mega Robot of Death" (see below, courtesy of hours of fun over several months on the iPhone; Orcs and Chaos quake at the sight of this looming bulk coming towards them):

Nearly finished the game. When I have a figure of sorts may beckon at Xmas ;) 

Happily clicking away .. Freeblade

Happily blasting Orcs (or should that be Orks?) and Chaos Space Marine things to multiple bits, reaching an impressive level 45 (whatever that means) without spending a penny (you can hear the developers and marketers weep). It is fun and gives a basic amusement (see below, I have gone back to a menacing light "off green" look):  

Note: The GW marketers may have the last laugh yet though, as I have discovered a not-so-silly bur still silly miniature in the GW range (still big and impractical to have on a sensible table top) that might go on the Xmas shopping list [if I finish the game - setting that as a discrete challenge to myself].

Progressing in Freeblade: Astoria

One of the things I have recently enjoyed doing in the Covid Pandemic is progressing through the levels of Freeblade (a Games Workshop based computer game - FREE on the iPhone) that is a great stress reliever to me at the moment as it allows the mowing down of countless hoards of Orcs and Chaos Space Marines at the touch of the button. My progress to date: 

Level 15

Level 23

Level 32

Level 32 Modified

Level 33 

Level 33 Modified

And so the adventure continues ... as does the changing patterns and fashion fads of my Freeblade Astoria .. what next "flares"?

Interesting Naval Computer Wargames

 http://johntillersoftware.com/NavalCampaigns.html

Has anybody played any of them?

Wolf-Pack:

US Pacific:

Jutland:

Tsushima:

Any information gratefully received as my model 1/3000 fleets are getting rather interested in potentially using them!

Quick Side Project: US Infantry Light Mech - Factory Style Processing

I made an impulse purchase (well rather, I downloaded a Demo version - but the family unsympathetically call it a "purchase" as it resides on the computer) alongside getting a new family laptop, the Combat Mission Shock Factor 2 computer game. This is a new direction for me, as although I know of and have played previous versions of Combat Mission, they were all based in East or West front WWII. Not since a brief foray with a modern version of Steel Panthers (nearly twenty years ago now) have I played "moderns" [as in post world war two] on a PC (see below, a screen shot from the initial "Training Mission"): 

Now as it happens I have, don't ask me "how" [as it is totally unplanned] the US forces and terrorist defenders courtesy of various random purchases over the years for the "training" scenario. So yes I have the four Stryker vehicles required and a Humvee (he says, quietly removing a 105mm recoil less rifle from the roof) in the "already" assembled "Forces of Valour" pre-made kit forms (so no gluing required here  - although I ahem, I do have a box of "modern things to make" too). The US infantry force is perfectly matched to the contents of an old packet of Esci (yes that old) US Modern Infantry "modern as in Desert Storm" methinks - but that is close enough for me. The challenge is .. can I do them fast. They were already "based" on washers, and defensively coated in PVA to harden them up .. but the projects had stalled there for over a decade. I decided to quickly undercoat "spray" and then once dry literally dip them in my 'dipping tub'  of Vallejo Sepia Brown Wash (see below - I was go quick I forgot to take a picture of them primed grey):  

I want to "Keep it Simple" and just get this force on tabletop. So I am looking at wargame standard, not the three layer stuff I usually do - so grabbing paints to hand I started dabbling (see below, all lined up for painting inspection): 

Rather than go digging through my Vallejo paints for "specific" colours I was using the Vallejo Game to get a close fit brown and experimenting with some Citadel paints that were lying around (due to a Covid-19 spare time house tidy-up by the wife finding my stuff is quite hard). Initially I was hoping I could dry brush my way through things but alas no. In the end I base coated a tester figure with Citadel Foundation Caltan Brown .. but did not like the results, so I used Valeejo Game Colour to give it a two tome highlight (shame I was hoping for something in one coat). Tallarn Flesh, another Citadel Foundation paint, was good for the flesh parts. Vallejo Game Colour Khaki was a quick fix for the bags (and I could live with that), but I hummed and ahh'ed as the diagram showed green and brown fleck camo. I gave in and used streaks of Vallejo Colour Cano Green and reused tiny dabs of the Calthan Brown Foundation (see below, remember .. I am trying to keep it simple to be done in one big batch): 

The M16 weapon (?) gets a basic (Vallejo Game Colour) black (see below, my tester figure, I think I will call him "Frank"):  

The question is can I spin out another fifty of these as quick or quicker?

Labyrinth - Interview

Behold a mighty game (see below, Labyrinth):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9jCUoxAW9o&utm_source=GMT+Games&utm_campaign=b412aab6a8-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2020_01_15_07_28&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_a53b26436f-b412aab6a8-16020641

This game is on my "wish list" but I also have to play "A Distant Plain"

An "Electronic" version no less:
https://www.playdekgames.com/?utm_source=GMT+Games&utm_campaign=b412aab6a8-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2020_01_15_07_28&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_a53b26436f-b412aab6a8-16020641

Rebel Inc - Brilliant Counterinsurgency App game

Many thanks to  Rex Brynen of PaxSims at Connections UK 2019 for reminding me of this classic little App game (from the producers of Plague Inc). The perfect running in for A Distant Plain which I will play this autumn (see below):

I had already downloaded it for my iPhone last year (see blog post):
https://exiledfog.blogspot.com/search/label/Rebel%20Inc

At "casual" level I managed to achieve stability (at some cost to my reputation and a Coalition surge or two - plus lots of local National Army recruitment) however things will undoubtedly get harder as I progress in difficulty ;)

World of Warships: Legends .. has been distracting me as of late

I have been rather distracted of late playing World of Warships Legends on the 'family' PS4 (after wrenching the controls from my teenage son). I was interested in World of Tanks but frankly got bored but there seems to be more mystic appeal to watching the excellent 3-D real-time imagery (see below, to get a feel of the concept art - I won't bore everybody with screen-shots):

It has caught the 'modeller' appeal in me, although apart from Guadalcanal destroyer battles of 1942 I am stretched to think of island battle with destroyers, cruisers and battleships. Open sea battle squadrons it is not but fun it is, although I growl when I see battleships reversing for tactical advantage! Pity there is not a scenario editor.

Normal service .. may .. be resumed shortly!

Addictive Mobile Games: Rebel Inc and Plague Inc [Fixed bad link]

Blame Rex Brynen at PaxSims for putting me onto this (see PaxSims post): https://paxsims.wordpress.com/2018/12/07/review-rebel-inc/

Rebel Inc:
https://www.ndemiccreations.com/en/51-rebel-inc

Plague Inc:
https://www.ndemiccreations.com/en/22-plague-inc

He (Rex) focused on the Rebel Inc game ["no greater testimony can be said than an inspired and dedicated long-term internationally renown educator sees so much value in it, he wants to integrate it into his future course delivery" - say no more!] but equally (if not more addictive at least to me) is the Plague Inc game. Both are reassuringly "cheap" but quite sobering when Rex proclaimed it superior in many ways to some "paid for by the government  work" he had also seen.

A pre-Christmas treat ;)

Atlantic Fleet Computer Game: Part of the Battle of the Denmark Straits Project

Well given the heightened interest I have in all things naval and in particular I decided to plunge into my Steam game account and purchase Atlantic Fleet. It is placed in the simulation rather than online game-play (World of Ships), but the graphics are sufficiently detailed for my interest and to see things "come to life" gives me a buzz (see below):

Naturally, even though a novice at the controls, I jumped straight into The Battle of the Denmark Strait (and in the urgent sense of shiny freshness I played it four times, twice as British and twice as German). It was really nice to see all the ships moving in the battle.

Results from four "Play Tests"

HMS Hood leading HMS Prince of Wales into battle (see below, screen shots from the start of the game):

Three as the British (Human Player) and German (AI):

• All three times the KM Bismarck and KM Prince Eugen are sunk with HMS Hood heavily damaged (twice noted as being scuttled).

KM Bismarck with her consort KM Prince Eugen (see below, screen shot from the start of the  game): 

Two as British (AI) and German (Human Player):

• Once, KM Bismarck was sunk and took HMS Hood sunk with her, but KM Prince Eugen "disengaged" [although she had nowhere to go and would have been "hunted down"]. HMS Prince of Wales was untouched in all three. 
• Then in the other simulation the KM Prince Eugen was sunk (as a battleship broadside from HMS Prince of Wales took her out in one fell swoop) but she did manage to launch an annoying spread of torpedoes that worried the British battleships. However the RN (AI) should have been more worried about the KM Bismarck as she sunk both HMS Hood and HMS Prince of Wales (by crossing their collective "T" - Artificial Dumbness rather than intelligence methinks) albeit at the cost of heavy damage to the paintwork on her hull (OK and some flooding inside to slow her). Note: The Bismarck's heavy armament was firing 8 x 15" for most of the game, only dropping right at the end to 6 x 15". HMS Prince of Wales seemed to go down very quickly one the Bismarck got her range. I am not sure if it was a lucky hit or is she just easier to sink?

The KM Prince Eugen in (one of her many) her death throes (see below): 

I think I might get up to twenty replays before Xmas ;)

FireMove Terrain Generator

Here is my first attempt at a simple Terrain Generator for the Fire and Movement game from Phil Sabin's Simulating War book. I took a basic version of the software to Connections UK 2016 (see below, no more do you need to spend all that time rolling forty eight pairs of d6's to generate a random 2D battlefield):

Note: I have gone for a basic home-spun (retro) 'make-it-yourself" feel that does a basic job for the wargamer, hence the off-set squares instead of hexes. A cheap trick picked up from Naval Wargaming  without a plentiful supply of hex paper to hand (I should say before the era of desk-top publishing but that would accurately age me somewhat). It runs in a browser with a mixture of HTML5, CSS3 and JavaScript. Something that a second year (or someone just having completing their first year with good web-grades) Computer Science graduate could do.

PS: I hope to distribute the code on a MIT Open Source Licence via Phil Sabin's web-site in the near future,

Steel Panthers World at War: Slitherine/Matrix Games Free Download

A bit of a blast from the past but a game I really enjoyed:

http://www.matrixgames.com/forums/tm.asp?m=1713246

Works with Windows 10

Castle SiegeGame

Restarted an old favourite game in a new account (courtesy of the new family laptop) and it is nice having a slow build on a classic theme (see below):

It is a bit like starting off with a first level D&D character again ;)

The World of Tanks

Hmmm, now that I (or rather the family) am in the PS4 club I can indulge myself unrepentantly and unashamedly in the online gaming sensation that is ... "World of Tanks"!

I am just having TOO much fun :)

Rome Total War (The Original One)the DBA Way

Other things I have been doing:

Although computers are my trade I don't get the spare time amongst my other hobbies to sit down and immerse myself in a game for long periods of time. In fact most of my games will be circa 2005 or earlier. 

However a few of these titles have a long lasting appeal such as Rome Total War, a game which had great potential but did not fill the "wargaming hole" in me (see below):

The game has various features, excellent graphics being the most obvious but it's command and control verges on the "arcade twitchy" approach that could be tweaked rather than a time-delayed "simulation" of frustration. The army composition also allows non-historical mixtures as it is just based on a points based shopping cart which leads to cheesy choices IMHO but I may be wrong there.

However by combining the DBA army lists with its game play  (i.e. choosing twelve element armies based on DBA army lists rather than equal points)I managed to get what I consider "stable battles" I can sit back and watch. A good classic is Republican Rome v Cathage viz Cannae. I managed to win using what I consider viable "historical tactics" (from both sides, admittedly when I was the Romans I assumed my cavalry would be beaten in a straight up fight so my flank legions were angled to protect my flanks) against its 'logical Vulcan' AI, now "sadly" that is what I want from a computer wargame ;)

Fun was had and I could even bear to stand to watch the replay again!