Battleground 2024 - Pendrakon, Middlesbrough

Hats off to Pendrakon for organising Battleground 2024 in Middlesbrough on Saturday (see link below): 

https://www.battlegroundshow.co.uk/

I had the pleasure of hosting the Wargames Development (WD) Arnhem participation game: "A Bridge Too Far", that went down really well with the 'participation game punters' (see below, the classic well-trodden WD [courtesy of the designers, John Armatys and Jerry Elsmore] game in the foreground and I helped with a second game inspired by Phil Sabin's "Take That Bridge" in the background - where US Paratroopers try to rush a bridge on the outskirts of Eindoven, against randomly generated enemies [which could be fake or real, you don't know unless they start shooting]):

I think this is the furthest north (convention wise) "A Bridge Too Far" has travelled with WD (certainly this year). Everyone who played it remarked on how good it was and brought the story to life in 'ten minutes'. Copies of the WD circular, "The Nugget" was distributed to participants as a taste of what Wargames Developments do. One game was particularly poignant when a player remarked at a point on the map, "This is where we lost my uncle, his body was never recovered, but his Dakota reportedly made it to the jump-off point but didn't return, so we don't exactly know what happened." That made you stop and think, he would have been just be a young lad (see below, in memory, with respect to all that fought): 

One of the pains or requirements of presenting a game is that you never get the time you want to take in all the other beautiful games. Luckily there was this lovely Renaissance game was next to our table so I could periodically enjoy its gameplay (see below, Durham Wargames Group - Display Game C - The Sesia-Italian Wars, lovely 28mm Figures and Scenery, using Pike and Shot rules I think): 

In the afternoon I did achieve a "bucket list" conference tick, as I managed to get across to see (and play) Renko's Blood Red Skies (BRS) tournament set-up [beautiful planes and playing map], where my late war Spitfire IX Polish Pilots managed to take down a Spanish Blue Squadron ME 109G Hun, but sadly I was bested by a far better player (Leslie) who is a pleasure to play against (we have a history, flying Gloster Gladiators he managed to shoot down my Me 109E Ace of mine - it is the curse of the BRS dice and my poor rookie tactics). All said and done a brilliant game, BRS is something I must play more of (see below, my moment of glory captured for all to see, winning me a tournament prize of a Warlord Games Heinkel 111 squadron pack, perfect for my Battle of Britain Project): 

The bring and buy had many temptations, but sadly a few of the sprues (I always seem to go for the unmade stuff) were a but vague on the sizes [10mm, 12mm, 15mm so I could not in my heart commit], so I probably passed up on a couple of bargains. Though I did spy a curious one, for a £5 I picked up a copy of Avalon Hill's Flight Leader. Now most flight, particularly jet, simulations are a tad complex unless you love flight (which I see myself more of a BRS abstract passenger, rather than 2joystick jock") but I am hoping to at least get to the basic game level with this (see below, if for nothing else it has a beautiful game board that can be reused, so I have a "Plan B"):

Finally my sin, with a 10% show Warlord discount voucher in hand (another joy of the BRS competition) I saw my Achilles Heel and succumbed gladfully [no "convention day after" regrets here]- 2000AD ABC Warriors (see below, one word describes this set to me "Hammerstein", never heard of "Increase the Peace" so there may be a graphic novel too to buy in the future): 

 

I now know I have to get the complete ABC Warrior set (I do have a chunky Foundry [?] Hammerstein) but the Warlord offerings look impressive resin kits. The fact that ABC Rules are compatible with Judge Dredd seals the deal for me. I tool the opportunity to pick up Mongol too, as the figure looked brilliant. Happy days!  Other "normal" purchases were 20mm Vietnam casualties and 10mm MkVI British Light Tanks for my early war Western Desert Project (Command Decision - Benghazi Handicap). 

Arnhem 1944 (15mm) - Remote Game

I was lucky enough to participate in a remote wargame with a group of friends from Sheffield, recreating the German response to the Arnhem landing of the 1st British Paratroop Division (with some Polish friends). Hosted over two days, it was very instructive and fun. A hex based game board, but I seem to have been too wrapped up in the games (which to my mind is a sign of a very good game) to take screen-shots. All that I could find was the "operational map" I was using as a crib to keep track of proceedings (see below, I was part of the ad-hoc German forces that attacked from the North East and drove down the right hand side of the board): 

Another German Kampf group (though notably lacking in armour) attacked from the West (left hand side of the map).. The result was a rather bloody draw, ahistorical in the positioning of the "Para Pocket" but historical in the sense that they were not going to be able to punch through to Arnhem and link up with Frost.   

Note: I will add additional photos if they turn up ;) 

Read All About It: The CoW 2019 - After Action Report (at last)

Blogging Notice to the Bloggers I Read: To all the regular bloggers I read (you know who you are) thanks to the nimble keyboard work of my daughter I have temporarily lost the ability to comment on your blog postings (don't ask but it is something about two or more Google accounts on the same PC). Fear not Bob, David, Tim, Trebian, Martin, et al. I am enthusiastically still reading you all, loving the Versailles stuff Bob and really envious of the Conquistador adventures you are having David. Best Wishes and keep posting!

Long time since my last posting ... blame it on the heatwave ..

I have been happily relaxing in the afterglow from the Conference of Wargamers 2019, in particular I am enjoying reading the impressions and escapades from other bloggers (see this link) and reminiscing with a fellow wargamer I introduced to CoW this year. We took the road trip together and the experience simply blew his mind. It was only my own second CoW so I was hoping that CoW 2018 was not a one-off lucky strike but a repeating treasure. I was not disappointed, in fact I found it a much deeper and richer experience (partly because I put a game on and partly because I did different things this year). It recharged and refuelled the wargaming batteries. In addition it fixed me with a bucket list of new "must-do" activities (particularly with getting together with the Wargames Development (WD) North - Sheffield contingent on a road trip or two). Reading through everybody else's accounts, it is apparent that everybody managed to create their own unique experience for themselves! Mine was as follows:

Friday Night:

The Plenary Game: This was my first plenary as for some unspecified reason CoW 2018 was just a welcome and into some games. Anyhow I found myself in the middle of a 1973 Middle East Crisis, where I was acting as an Egyptian General, given some tanks and infantry (including allegedly including the Palestinian Infantry Brigade which never turned up as a counter - lost down the back of sofa methinks) which was good player result, as it was all action no talking (other people had plenty of talking to do). The game itself was an ambitious multi-level game Pol-Mil affair involving some 40 players, epic in scope and tremendous fun and I think it worked. Together with the Egyptian Air-Force Commander and two other (much more capable) Egyptian Army Generals we were tasked with capturing the Suez Canal. So ... we went "one hex" over the canal, hunkered down behind a phalanx of Soviet made Sagger AT and SAM assets with the intention of bleeding any Israeli counterattacks dry. Luckily the other Generals persuaded me "not to go pointlessly rampaging across the Sinai pointlessly" (it looked so tempting, but good call gents). Our contribution to the strategic 'end of game' situation was "international control" of the Suez Canal in the post-war settlement (see below, we took 90% of the canal, our complete success was barred by a heroic last turn counter-attack by the Israeli Army [doing brilliantly with limited resources, as in no air support on the last turn ... the face of the Israeli commander was precious when he was told "that's your lot" as evrything was over the Golan as priority] who took one hex end of the canal despite enduring horrendous losses - Note: PS still no sign of Palestinian Infantry Brigade at game end, was Arafat sat on it?):

I then retired to the bar to engage in frivolous conversation with fellow wargamers over a pint (or two) until I was plucked from obscurity and thrown into the maelstrom of the "CAN: Card Driven Dungeon Crawl" game as they were one player short by an unruly gent, no sorry it was Trebian doing me a great favour, much obliged. No pictures ... but here's Trebian's (the masterful CAN DM) report. All I can add is that my female fighter's (a half-orc looking toughie) abilities were called into a question as the party endured continuously watching her getting beaten up in fight - the blooming party thief had a better kill ratio than me. Anyway the game was a success with many moments of hilarity as the players got into character. One beaten up (down to the last hit point) Cleric emerged victorious from the quest cltching an ancient artefact to his chest; a 75% character kill rate but quest success, this was a far better than average in my old teenage RPG days.

A Bridge Too Far (WD North Demonstration Game): I have no higher praise for this game than to say that in my eyes, this was the best game of CoW 2019. Pure and simple it ticked all the wargaming boxes, played in 10 minutes but simply fantastic as it gave the player (British 30 XXX) enough dilemmas to make it highly entertaining (see below, my 30 XXX tanks crossing Arnhem bridge to link up with the British Paratroop First Airborne Division, after a celebratory victory pint I retired to my tent as it was now in the very early hours of Saturday): 

Saturday:

Fortified by the legendary Knuston "full English breakfast" I circulated between three large miniature games (this was my dead spot of the weekend failing to have signed up in time, but knew by experience that you can often gain as much fun by coming along and watching - therefore I flitted as a butterfly between these three games):

Over The Hills and Far Away (15mm Napoleonic Peninsular Game, nicely painted metals - good old fashioned wargaming stuff): It showed off a new rule set that emphasised the role of skirmishers and a command and control system - commands to individual the formations seems to have a certain inertia (see below, Wayne Thomas explaining his rules):

Movement involved a grid, therefore no measuring and commanders had specific roles to play "when ordered in the appropriate manner" (see below, the French advancing with those pesky skirmishers, damn their meritocracy):

Looking down the French lines as they advance to occupy a significant piece of terrain "La Casa" that overlooked an important bridge leading off table - the right as it were of the British battle line (see below, the Portuguese fight off the French hoping to be reinforced [soon] by the British):

Later in the game the French contest the strategic ridge with the British Infantry. For purposes of rules simplification and in keeping with the trait in many a Peninsular battle there was no cavalry to be seen  (can anybody spot a command figure that looks like Wellington?):

I am looking forward to reading these rules when they come out in the Nugget for closer inspection and a trial or teo myself with my local wargamers.

Vat'en Ecosse (20mm Culloden): For Trebian's epic Scottish battle see his battle report. Warning: Anybody with a "wargaming wig allergy" be warned the British C-in-C was wearing a stunning in-period headpiece. I had slipped Trebian a few Airfix old school plastic miniatures the night before when he was setting up, to help him expand armies of this period (tri-corned AWI Washington's Men and Redcoats) to appear in future distant battles that are at present mere twinkle in his mischievous eye. It looked stunning and engaging! I also got minor brownie points from the wife for discarding a pebble from my wargaminng mountain of unpainted stuff ;)

Mission Command: Normandy (1/300 WWII specifically Normandy, British advancing). I was drawn again to these set of rules, wishing to myself I had an opportunity to play I hung around seeing what the players were doing. The scenario set a passive German defence to an aggressive British probe. The game was shown at CoW 2018 in 15mm, shrunk down to 1/300 seemed to suit it much better, less of a "tank park". I "hummed and hared" and on Sunday I finally caved in and bought them from his stall as I think there is some good stuff in them and I could not justifying hanging on the fence anymore. The British pushed through a thin German infantry defence but were halted by coming across a couple of Stug III's that messed up the "British Tank Park".

Hands-on Games:
I managed to play in two intriguing twinned games that followed lunch: Brexit The Wargame (using Confrontation Analysis) and Confrontation Analysis the Card Game which make reference to (surprise, surprise) Confrontation Analysis (and for the theory behind this approach please see reference, the academic research and pedigree behind this is very good, available from the History of Wargaming Project Confrontational Analysis book by Michael Young). Both of the games featured a lot of dialogue and discussion, the former game in the political context of Brexit (and boy did emotions run high, surprise - surprise) and the latter game was situated in the disputed waters of South East Asia, where China is running into American supported regional powers such as the Philippines. IMHO the immortal quote of CoW 2019 that I will always remember came about, a Philippines player explaining to the Chinese and American teams why he was open to consider the biggest offer from both sides "Because I am a whore." to the stunned expressions of the seasoned diplomats and more conventional negotiators. Confrontational Analysis is more formalised approach to that of Matrix Games, but in many respects shares the common feature of dialogue and story-telling. What I like about the Confrontation Analysis it that it tries to build a probabilistic or symbolic framework around a problem without falling into "the talking over each other" aspect of some Matrix Games. You have to remember quite closely what has been previously said up to that point. The Card Game variant wandered around the topics, being a research tool for thinking about issue as opposed to a pure game. Michael on the other hand managed to honourably complete his game (no mean feat given the contentious topic at hand) as the clock of time ticked on to what was viewed as "a horrible ending" to some and "an unhappy state of affairs" to others. No further spoilers here, more details in the Nugget write-up.

After the evening meal the day was finished off in fine style with Carry On Up The Nile, a Matrix game set as a 'follow-on' from last years successful mission to rescue Gordon courtesy of Bob Cordery- or should I say partially successful mission as the land based element of the relief force was now trapped inside Khartoum awaiting the armed paddle steamers to force passage. As you can see by following the above link Bob had pulled out all the stops with terrain and armoured paddle steamers and a spectacular tactical terrain set-up! This year I was in charge of Khartoum's defences although Gordon thought he was (the obligatory internal Colonial bickering, as to be expected), which didn't help with the defensive troop placement. A sorry saga unfolded of Imperial poor paddle steamer navigation, poor Imperial shooting and an over enthusiastic urge to tiff-in whenever and wherever possible. The seeds of destruction were therefore sown by the cultural habitual excesses British Empire troops long before the first Mahdist shot was even fired (see below, the brave defenders of Khartoum; Note: The rules Bob was using were Politics by Other Means by Chris Engle, which is a more tactical flavour of the Matrix Games genre - for better or worse we descended into a more traditional narrative plat [understandable because Bob offered +1 DRM for "good quotes from Carry In films" - apart from "Ohhh Matron" which suffered a -1 DRM] - I suffered badly on this count failing to recall any from my childhood memories [lame excuse I know]):

Early doors and already the British Army Paddle Steamer ("The Pug") gets embroiled in a cunningly placed ambush (see below, maybe the narrow channel was too narrow a channel to use, as elite Mahdist Burphas board the cannon wielding "Pug" and put the crew to flight apart from an officer caught engaging in a bit of afternoon tiff-in!):

Worse was to follow as Mahdist artillery gunners opened fire and holed the "Pug" below the waterline and she started to settle (see below, where did they get the cannon, answer from the British off the previous game's relief column!):

Not to fear the Royal Egyptian Artillery Corp opened fire with a devastating salvo, slightly tongue in cheek and we expected little or nought (see below, the lads are perfectly positioned for an enfilade shot):

Even more surprising to the British and their Egyptian Allies it worked and the enemy gunners fled from the sound of the cannons and splashes of near misses in the water):

The paddle steamer looks to be foundering badly, afternoon tiff-in interrupted and the call to abandon ship and every man for himself goes out - a standard bit of British Colonial troop routing followed (see below, Sir Henry is about to find out how cold the water of the Nile is):

Meanwhile in Khartoum there is trouble at the gates (see below, a thin Khaki line awaits any who dare enter, backed up with an artillery piece commanded by an imperious looking officer and a nasty looking Gatling Gun manned by trigger happy Egyptians [which seemed a bit of a theme for me at this years CoW]):

It is a more than a little bit 'Carry On' as the Burpas climb aboard a sinking paddle steamer and the British in their Red Coats de-bus from a perfectly good one onto a sandbar in the middle of nowhere looking for the said Burpas (see below, again I am lead to believe by minds much greater than mine that this is the standard practice in the official British Colonial tactical guide to dealing with 'men armed with guns', that you are to "be in the wrong place at the wrong time in an unhelpful way"):

Meanwhile the thin Khaki line is sorely tested with several hundred screaming Mahdist warriors hell bend on death and destruction or martyrdom (see below, a very ugly sight followed as they were slaughtered to a man, 18 on three d6 beat my lowly 7, something I would rather not dwell on too much as it causes flash-backs of a disturbing kind):

Two of the gates of Khartoum were blown open and now  there was no stopping the inflamed mob. The streets of Khartoum were awash with blood. We've all seen the scene from the movie as Gordon stoically meets his end and we managed to skilfully and authentically reenact it faithfully (see below, the absence of my troops in his defence would cause questions to be asked in Parliament if the press ever got their hands on them - not for distribution):

The same fate sordid seemed to await for my leader too. He had pensively watched all game the Royal Artillery cannon belch forth fire only to miss every time - my call for "10 rounds rapid" was met with astonished glance from the gunners manning this antiquated Napoleonic era piece, "How about we try for two sir?" cane the sergeant's reply. I called upon my stoic heroism (as per my character card) and stayed while the gunners ran away. Taking aim with my faithful pistol I downed the local mob leader and to my amusement without his fanatical chanting the mob ran away - perhaps distracted by another bigger angry mob departing with Gordon's body. I then heard the last forlorn steam-pipe whistle sounding the retreat from the river force and knew all was lost (see below, safe for today but what are my long-term prospects .. are grim):

And so my glorious Egyptian career meets an inglorious end. The disillusioned Egyptians morning the loss of their beloved Gordon and the mutinous looks form the surviving British troopers urge me to resurrect the "Nile crocodile costume disguise" (please see CoW 2018, much disparaged by me at the time) and quietly float away downstream at night, to further enjoy Kipling style adventures yet untold. A really enjoyable game, if only my knowledge of lines from "Carry On" films was greater! Perhaps I should consider exploring the "Dark Heart of Africa" where many a man's fortune is made or his life lost! Another great game Bob many thanks for putting it on.

I then retired to the bar to discuss matters of great import and David Crook found out why I named myself "Geordie the Exiled FoG". Obviously not in any way influenced by the consumption of said alcohol I ended up somehow wearing a large Medieval helmet - thankfully I could not remember any of my school Shakespeare so all were saved from that cruelty (see below, I don't think I'll get one no matter how many times I ask at birthdays, Xmas or Father's Day - despite it being a perfect dust catcher on a large mantelpiece [which my wife informs me we don't have]):

Note: I did remember to take it off and put it back in its rightful place before I went to sleep!

Sunday:

Not Just Pike and Elephants (Discussion and wargame workshop): This was an absolute gem of a find as John Bassett described three Hellenistic examples of urban combat that map to present day operations in those same parts of the world. His knowledge was fascinating but then to break us up into small groups to devise a wargame inspired by these operations was an act of genius and fun too. In the real spirit of WD "innovation and novelty to the fore" and CoW "unexpected can do attitude even if we are laughed at" the results were ingenuously varied; from a Card Board Elephant Simulator (the elephant in ancient history got stuck in a gateway and caused great mischief to all), to a poetic verse construction algorithm based on the outcomes of tabletop melee combat, to Trebian's rather sophisticated effort below which was a simulation of rousing enough support to overthrow a Greek City State - based on a failed attempt by a Spartan king (see below, Trebian's ideas refused to boxed in his head and with pen and paper sprung to life - I will be sorely disappointed if this is not a game at CoW 2020):

For my own part I had the afterthought of using one of my favourite children's games called Labyrinth that could be used to simulate "storming a city at night" as the terrain can mysteriously move as well as the troops - the intention is to develop something and bring it along to CoW 2020! The output from this session was phenomenal.

AK Minus 47 (a 15mm Polar version of the popular AK-47 game): The first ting to say is that the 15mm figures were brilliant, parker-clad snow camouflage with great scenery and vehicles. It looked great. I was tasked along with other fellow NATO players to investigate a failed "film pick-up" from a spy satellite (ring any bells anyone?). We ran into an ambush pretty much from the start losing the lead "technical" [AK-47 term] lead snow car (see below, the Arctic Ice Station "Zee" as we called it):

Ever wondered what to do with those left over bathroom tiles .. think no more "go snow" (see below, the NATO relief column can be seen top middle - what we didn't realise was that there were lots of pesky Soviets kicking about ready to shoot at us):

A close up of the NATO column (see below, the two sets of specialised snow tracks behind the car are lovely 1970/80 British Army style kit purchased on line from a 3D printer on-line, beautiful - tempting me to do something silly and "go for another genre" - but I haven't [yet]):

One final panoramic view of the NATO column before the action start (see below, a perfectly peaceful deserted base, just find the spy with film and get out of here before anybody notices, easy):

Oopps - there goes the lead Scout Car! Bang! (see below, the good news (?) is we now know we are in a shooting match, so we can start shooting back - if we can see the enemy, look they are by the tents with an artillery piece):

The NATO troopers de-bus with military precision - it's as if they had been practising this for a long time. In fact they have been really waiting for a chance to try out that sexy looking automatic mortar thing they were towing around and find out what it actually does):

NATO also go for the dramatic "deploy straight onto the Victory Hex position" from a helicopter and effectively dislocate the Soviet defence and win the game in one fell swoop (see below, beautiful use of improvisation with the wine glass for "a hovering helicopter holder"):

A fierce fire-fight develops around the Ice Station "Zee" base pulling in some quite expected vehicles from random quarters of the board (this is classic AK-47) ensuring death and destruction all round (see below, elite US Special Forces go int hand-to-hand melee, coming out convincing winners - or so NATO thought): 

But who would have expected a "Russian missile carrying sub" (going slightly off-script to book and film) to have the nerve to show up; again have they not read the book? (see below, a nice mixture of scales, it worked really well, at this point NATO decided to bug out and maybe, just maybe also called in a Harpoon strike on that cheeky sub blaming everything on a unfortunate accident with a lost WWII mine locked in the ice):

A nice little game, with beautiful toys that almost gave me the urge to so something similar so very well done!

USN Inter-War Naval Wargame Rules (John Curry, History of Wargame project): It always happens at CoW is that sessions you are interested in conflict with others, but when a session ends earlier than expected you can nip around and see the tail end of another game. So I got to see the ending position of a WWI era combined British[Red]/German[Black] dreadnought squadron attacking an American dreadnought battle line. The Americans always seem to devise interesting what-if PolMil scenarios to test out. The "to hit and damage process" was very deterministic and away from the Fletcher Pratt I was half expecting to see. I had picked them up at John's 'History of Wargaming Project" stall and was tempted (see Bob Cordery's fuller description) as I gave them a "thumb browse" - but my feeling was that they would not replace my beloved GQI/II rules but could provide a more scholarly insight to how the American fleet was built leading up to WWII, and how they expected to use it (though what they actually did have to do was really quite different post Pearl Harbour). Something not for this year but maybe next.

Sweeping Satellites (my Board Game - in Development): Now this is the game I took with my friend to CoW to stress test a few components to see if the general idea hung together and see where any areas of improvement lay. The idea was a game of "hide and seek" [think of the traditional game of battleships - find the enemy's before he finds yours] , the assets were on a global scale using space satellites to guide detection and glean information. The novelty was the satellite ground-tracking choices you have to make, the notion of disinformation and anti-satellite options you can use against the other side and could be used against you - then trying to figure out what is going on. The brilliant thing about CoW is that you are surrounded by very bright people who will make stunning contributions, sometimes of the blindingly obvious you had missed and sometimes bringing in fresh ideas on how to do stuff better.

The players were split into a Red Team and a Blue Team and they chose to deploy in secret set of national assets around a world map. Next they undertook to devise a searching strategy to find the oppositions "assets" - the list of which they were "not given" but had to figure out as they were going along. Search results [plus noise from random world events] were reported back and assessed so eventually the teams had to come up with an intelligence assessment of what the other side were doing (see below for a sample shot of the Blue game board - Blue has deployed a decoy operation in Australia and another decoy operation in North America but placed a huge secret project in Europe):

Whereas Blue kept to its "home country regions", Red was exporting its influence around the world and projecting a much more aggressive stance (see below, a dummy in Indonesia and a dummy in South America, but a significant naval new asset in the South Pacific and another new significant land project in Central Africa):

The American search pattern is more based on a sine was about the equator (see below, I had lots of fun working this out with pieces of string, poker chits are representing world regions):

The Soviets had a different ground track for their satellites operating in a polar orbit (see below, it is more "U-shaped" that a sine wave - though similar coverage can be achieved that have different chances of spotting things):

The first pass of a satellite can detect something, a second determine if it is a decoy, third and fourth passes can pass on potentially even more information. However in its essence it is a resource management game so if you spend too much focus in one area other places get left relatively untouched which seemed to show up as an issue in the Blue teams final assessment.

Sweeping Satellite - Results: 

Red detected the Blue decoy in Australia but thought it was something more [over estimating], they also detected the Blue decoy in North America and again thought it was something more [over estimating, again] and then when it picked up the strategic stack in Europe thought it was only an operational asset [under estimating], so as a result Red compromised their European intelligence position. Red thought Blue had three operational stacks when in fact it had two decoys and a huge strategic development.

Blue detected the Indonesian decoy and recognised it as such [correct assessment], Blue picked up the Red operational stack in the South Pacific and recognised it as such [correct assessment] but failed (resource management) to look at the South American and African areas and spot the Red assets located there. They then somehow extrapolated that the Russians must be doing something big in Greenland as an abductive "hunch". This left Blue blind to the Red African operation and chasing shadows in Greenland.

If we could have played more rounds it would have been interesting to see if these assessments changed but as it stood Blue had clearly won in Europe (Red was in for a big surprise) but scored a awkward own goal in Greenland, while at the same time and were oblivious to a growing Red African threat. I don't see a winner as such but I see two different sets of problems in the intelligence reports. A question I want to ask next time is - "Where do you feel you are compromised?" With that we adjourned for the final tea and coffee break before the AGM.

Summary: 
And so Cow 2019 ended a whirlwind of emotion and a bucket full of lead to to take and paint from the "bring and buy". I have already sown my deposit for 2020 but feel I may need a new camping tent as the old one is showing signs of campaign wear and tear! My only regret was not having as much time to speak to a few old favourites like Bob Cordery more, but everybody was busy doing stuff and that if anything is a very good thing! A final note, in that it was a great privilege to finally meet up with David Crook (north finally meets south) and acquire some unpainted lead from the Eric Knowles collection. It is my intention to paint them up in the colours Eric originally intended, though that said, it may take me a while to do, but the Brexit winter is approaching!

Blogging Notice: To all the regular bloggers I read (you know who you are) thanks to the nimble keyboard work of my daughter I have temporarily lost the ability to comment on your blog postings (don't ask but it is something about two or more Google accounts on the same PC). Fear not Bob, David, Tim, Trebian, Martin, et al. I am enthusiastically still reading you all. Best Wishes!!

Netflix: Road to Victory - US Army in Europe 194-45

Despite the kids having a 99% control of Netflix (true it keeps them quiet) I do occasionally manage to get the odd "time-slice" in. I saw this little treasure trove and liked it, albeit concentrating on the US side of operations only (see below, I really enjoyed it or rather them):

D-Day:
The US invasion beaches (Omaha and Utah) and the American 101st and the 82nd Airborne dropping behind the beaches. The chaos the airborne troops found themselves in (small squads searching each other out) suggests some very interesting skirmish (Chain of Command) scenarios.

Hell's Highway:
Two thirds the way up it! 101st and 82nd perspectives. The incredible river crossing at Nijmegen but them the heartbreaking failure of command (not pushing on while the Germans were completely dislocated). Plenty of scenario (again skirmish) material here.

The Bulge:
Frank description of the battle, bringing out the best and the worst US experiences. Intriguingly it was the small squad sized battles that shaped the course of the battle with the Germans encountered resistance where they least expected it. The Winter seemed to be the worst enemy to both sides

Very interesting to see it from the American perspective (not a "we won the war" but a "this is how we fought it"). It also served as an inspiration to ... paint some US 20mm forces for Chain of Command! If I can do it for Star Gruntz (Yaeter) then I should be able to make an inroads into my WWII American 20mm collection.

Jumping with the Poles IV [Hypothetical] End-Game

The Right Flank: 
The new German threat needs to be quickly dealt with before they can get to and reinforce the town. The enemy battalion is just two moves away from effectively sealing off the Allied objective. The flanking Polish Paratrooper battalion swings round to meet this threat as the Germans have entered its Operational Zone. All part of the pre-battle planning, good Polish staff work or just luck, you decide. At the very least there is no danger of friendly fire here and the Poles get a crack at the leading elements in trucks! To assist them in their mayhem the Polish FOO is sitting on the top of the hill lining up the 75mm pack howitzers (see below).

The Center:
Meanwhile the effective German resistance outside the town crumbles. To the north of the table (see below, top of picture) the German Recon battalion is in full retreat, to the south (see below, middle right of picture) the Recon Battalion is organizing a last stand in a wood just outside the town. The Paratroopers and Air-Landing troops have the numbers. Inside the town itself the German Engineer battalion has lined the perimeter but cannot defend it all and somewhere it will be flanked.  

The Relief Effort:  
The German relief effort if thwarted in its rush to the town. The Polish paras get stuck in and wipe out the motorized elements with indirect fire and start a fierce fire-fight in the woods (see top right below). A second German motorized infantry battalion appears (on foot, this time with its supports to the rear of the formation) and is immediately engaged with direct fire. No effect (as per casualties) but an immediate order change to engage the enemy which puts paid to any "rush" to the town. Numbers will eventually tell here but the Polish paratrooper will be a tough nut to get through and will cost precious time for the Germans. That time will be spent attacking the isolated Germans in the town.  

The Final Assault:
As the fun starts on the right the the town is about to be assaulted. The wood manning the last point of resistance outside the town is evacuated and the recon elements stream back to the town, the defenders of which cannot engage the leading elements of the paratroopers for fear of friendly fire (see below, right middle) Explanation: The two elements just about to enter the town are German recon, the elements in the wood are Polish, but the defenders lining the town are from a different German battalion/formation from the recon unit, therefore would not know friend from foe. If they were going to shoot they would shoot the closest, so fire is checked.

At this point the game is called (time gentlemen please): A tactical Allied and a very "probable" strategic victory. Four Allied battalions attacking (two of which are huge) attacking a battered recon battalion (approaching half strength) and a small German engineer battalion. The crux point being the Paratroopers/Air-Landing troops would be able to pin the defenders with direct fire and also flank and enter the town unopposed, setting up rear attacks on the defenders (the Allied troops are also elite).

A nice BGC scenario, despite the long Paratrooper "yomp" was well worth all the effort.

Final Comments: 
No doubt about it, the Airborne Polish Brigade are a very nice little unit, I may get round to forming this one up myself. Re: scenario it would have been nice to play another two turns to settle the matter. If the Allied players had "gone" earlier (grouping time) I think it would have back-fired as the numbers would not have been sufficient to make an immediate impact on the defenders. It was a tough one for the German player as he had to wait for a variable reinforcement and was "damned if he was too aggressive, but also damned if he wasn't aggressive enough".  

Jumping with the Poles III [Hypothetical]

Tea-break over and the the battle resumes.

The main force of Polish Paratroopers take on the two remaining German platoons in the wood. Note the attacking Polish formation is one battalion up front supported by the second battalion behind for big morale bonus in BCG rules (see top left below). The flanking Polish Paratrooper battalion uses the hill as cover to push on and threaten the main objective of the depot/town (see bottom right below). Also, note the three suppressed (top right below, units with yellow markers on them) recon platoons getting out of the way of the paratroopers after suffering accurate indirect fire. Good job they were in half-tracks to out-retreat the advancing Poles is all I can say. Footnote: See a Polish mortar platoon (bottom left below) lagging behind the main battalion body, a dangerous position to be in when an attack can come from any direction. 

On the northern half of the table the German Recon battalion is being hard pressed against the Air-Landing Regiment (see below). Another battalion attack on a company strength defense of a wood. Again note another suppressed German platoon lagging to the rear.

The Poles simply overwhelm the German defenders with their elite status and good dice. Scratch one German infantry company for no losses as yet to the Polish Paratroopers (see below, the overturned counters were the German infantry positions). The FOO on the hill (bottom right bekow) sees "a job well done".

Meanwhile a ray of hope appears for the German player as the first(?) of his reinforcements arrive, threatening the flank of the Polish attack. It is a motorized German infantry battalion, which "de-bussed" off-table and walked on (well at least the infantry did, as the leading elements are the PaK and Motar support platoons, see below). 

Can the Paratrooper/Air-Landing attack keep its momentum going before more German reinforcements stem the tide?

Jumping with the Poles II [Hypothetical]

First Contact: The German Recon Battalion is forming a protective bubble down the road from the Town/Depot. The Germans are up against it as they are being attacked from both sides by two units as strong as them or stronger. A yellow suppression marker on a German Armoured Car comes from the Polish Paratroopers indirect fire, easily spotting the German recon vehicles out in the open, while themselves being unspotted:

Just to prove the point (see below), the Germans are up against two battalions of the Air-Landing (Glider) Regiment, which translates to a lot of stands (see below). It could have been far worse as there was a third Air-Landing battalion that didn't turn up. Note: Of 'game' interest a different mechanic used for the Air-Landing Regiment, they rolled per battalion rather than per stand. I preferred the stand-by-stand way I had to do for the Polish Paratroopers, though I can see the "logic" in the second way (Gliders come down in clumps [Do they? Discuss]) but I still think all airborne forces would face attrition being spread all over the place.

Meanwhile the Polish paratroopers press the pace, scoring more indirect suppression (see the yellow markers in photograph below) and heading straight to an occupied wood, defended by a German Infantry Coy. The paratroopers brace themselves for the hidden stationary fire (never underestimate the killing potential of German Infantry) but intend to outflank and simultaneously swamp the position . A key Allied element in this plan is the Airborne FOO from the pack howitzers company, stationed bottom left of the hill (see photograph below). Their job is to "prep" the wood ahead of the infantry assault: 

On the other side of the table the leading Air-Landing boys have found another occupied wood to clear (see below). The same speedy attack principle applies for them as per the Poles, again with a Foo "in-situ" to assist suppressing the enemy: 

The Germans are being tested, but are stoically fighting a delaying action to buy time for their reinforcements to assemble to defend the town/depot.