tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-85645328204446290202024-02-19T07:25:32.496-08:00Luke: hoti to kratistos Luke Ueda-Sarson's wargaming blog.
Luke Ueda-Sarsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02004840067785236764noreply@blogger.comBlogger47125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8564532820444629020.post-80004032421073895452017-09-10T22:42:00.003-07:002017-09-10T22:42:42.483-07:00More Modern SpearheadWe played 3 more games of Modern Spearhead, all based in the mid-70s, meaning ATGWs were much less prevalent than RCLs. First up was half a Polish Division attacking a British Brigade. The Poles were an Infantry Regiment in OT-64s, organised as three battalions (the regimental tank battalion's 3 companies having been attached out to the infantry battalions), plus a tank regiment. The Polish tank regiment organisation at this period was highly unusual, since it consisted of 5 largish tank companies, plus various supporting elements, with no battalion-level structures. In MSH it counts as a single very large "Battalion": in this case, it was some 30 elements strong once attached assets had been factored in.<br />
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The Poles hastily attacked with 800 points against 600 of British, who were organised in 3 battalions IIRC: I not only forgot to take photos (although Rhys has some <a href="http://badlyleadmen.blogspot.co.nz/2017/09/wrapping-up.html" target="_blank">here</a>) but also notes as well. I do remember the Wombats performing credibly, and the Chieftains being, as usual, incredibly hard to shift. But the game was something of a draw, with Polish numbers making their presence felt in several close assaults.<br />
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The second game was another where we forgot to take photos... For change, I took command of some of Rhys' American figures, while he ran Czechoslovakians at me. I defended, and not being used to such a tiny force, added an "A" option to bring myself up to 650 points. This still left me with only 2 battalions; neither of which was full-strength. One was however reinforced with an ACAV troop in Sheridans. These performed quite well, as they were placed behind M60A1s that drew enemy fire, meaning their weak armour was seldom tested. Rhys had the standard 2 regiments that MSH "WarPac2" nations can field on attack under Keith's scenario system: an infantry regiment organised as 3 battalions (with attached out tanks), plus a 3-battalion tank regiment. All 6 moved on-table in the first bound, as Rhys didn't like the odds of flank marching (a 6 being required). How did the battle go? Let's suffice to say that Rhys scored 1 point (a single contested objective), while I scored 15 (even after subtracting the 1-point penalty for the A option), which was commuted to 10...<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Set-up for the last game. The 5 objectives are the red dots. Germans defending. Dotted paths represent reserve commitments.</td></tr>
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For the 3rd, I finally managed to take a few pictures. I took Czechoslovakians, while Rhys took a West German force with Leopard1A3s and Marders. This amounted to 3 small battalions totalling a paltry 29 elements (28 plus an observer). Accordingly Rhys chose to sit back, covering only the 3 objectives nearest his baseline: two summit points, plus a bridge. He had no effective way to contest the summit point in front of my centre (being on a forested road), but the one to my near left (a town sector spanning a stream) was at least covered by his tanks, being in a relatively terrain-free valley.<br />
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Of my 3 tank battalions, I flank-marched one (path B on the map), while I initially kept the other two in reserve. As it turned out, they both got fired upon quite early, and had to commit themselves a bit sooner than I had planned. My infantry regiment was tasked with the initial advance; as usual, its tank battalion was attached out to the three infantry battalions. Being a 1970s game, this attached-out tank battalion was smaller than the equivalent 1980s formation; each company being 2 MSH stands, and not 3. The central battalion had to make its way through dense forest, and thus was slowed down considerably (path "1" in the deployment map). This did mean, however, that it almost no casualties in getting into a position where it could start to assault the German centre.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHQpk76YMxgGa4VLl9d_0wYoJ84LPl2RmTuMxCHZ_Pib_kbxnnrqb0B-EDERPxIAWeR7u8Ubd9RUBb2KdILGPQNNQQ9nDUK3fQMSWcMUbBUe3P619xSjhrL7r6xw78f1cc1lq2QEnaL1Zm/s1600/CZ-WG1977d.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1200" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHQpk76YMxgGa4VLl9d_0wYoJ84LPl2RmTuMxCHZ_Pib_kbxnnrqb0B-EDERPxIAWeR7u8Ubd9RUBb2KdILGPQNNQQ9nDUK3fQMSWcMUbBUe3P619xSjhrL7r6xw78f1cc1lq2QEnaL1Zm/s320/CZ-WG1977d.png" width="320" /></a>The photo to the left shows one stand of mine that I had brought out with me from Japan (the OT-810D), with the others being Rhys' own. Rhys cuts the corners off his HQ stands to make them more easily recognisable. I think I'll do this with mine too, because HQs don't shoot, and thus don't really need full-length straight edges for all base sides. I might keep the front corners, as this makes it easier to see if an armoured element is being flanked or not. The OT-810D is a conversion from an H&R Sd.Kfz.251. It's not a very useful vehicle in an attack game, alas, since it can't do a half-move and fire like a tank can.<br />
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The battalion on my right (path "3" in the deployment map) advanced steadily, and some awkward fire angles from Rhys' perspective kept my casualties down. In contrast, the battalion on my left (path "2" in the deployment map), faced with the most open terrain, got hammered. I was hoping to catch Rhys in a pincer with my flank-marching tank battalion, but it never turned up. The "A" tank battalion was able to support it on its right, but it took too many casualties on the left, and broke. Tank battalion "A" was itself eventually broken as Rhys' battalion in the area, not seeing any flank marchers turn up, was able to move towards the centre.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxK9P3NPXg0N6fwr21biUoV22R-k1mln7EiALs1PTBoGlE3X5-irkQc3U_945fXU-V2A1xaVZTpuAVjkCHlDklLASwO2n46PzmjAIs6nRkN3O7fJm0Ztj7qcKmrEhEtGp3PyYwZqbTl4IV/s1600/CZ-WG1977b.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1200" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxK9P3NPXg0N6fwr21biUoV22R-k1mln7EiALs1PTBoGlE3X5-irkQc3U_945fXU-V2A1xaVZTpuAVjkCHlDklLASwO2n46PzmjAIs6nRkN3O7fJm0Ztj7qcKmrEhEtGp3PyYwZqbTl4IV/s320/CZ-WG1977b.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The climax of the game.</td></tr>
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Unfortunately for Rhys, elsewhere on the field, he had not been able to whittle down my forces enough to stop them moving up into positions where he could be close assaulted (although some LARS rocket fire didn't mean it was all plain-sailing for the Czeschovakians...) In the centre, Battalion "1" was able to over-run the infantry defending the village just beyond their first objective, and a combination of artillery fire and supporting tank fire was enough keep the rearward German elements from interfering. And on the right, a dearth of German tank support meant opportunities to pick off my advancing elements couldn't be capitalised on: those Marders may be very tough for the period, but they do cost a lot of points...<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh75Bamz-WX8iwGx_nmS5YOFsRYzF6afi-oX6qTvI5pDZQPycLZ1_lTBX0BD0-bzHwtc6AAnC7uz-6JvREMh7qatDMwCkJazo6RjTHciqDc0p2HOHuQndlP2wQOEqyQsQehwGPtzIxS7Bzt/s1600/CZ-WG1977c.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1200" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh75Bamz-WX8iwGx_nmS5YOFsRYzF6afi-oX6qTvI5pDZQPycLZ1_lTBX0BD0-bzHwtc6AAnC7uz-6JvREMh7qatDMwCkJazo6RjTHciqDc0p2HOHuQndlP2wQOEqyQsQehwGPtzIxS7Bzt/s320/CZ-WG1977c.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Outnumbered Germans attempt to hold the line...</td></tr>
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On my centre-right, a wooded hill was stoutly defended by a combination of armour and Panzer Grenadiers. This was attacked head-on by my "C" tank battalion; you can spot attached some OT-62 infantry platoons in support in the photo to the right. The battle was relatively even, with my greater numbers about making up for their poorer equipment. Eventually this defending force was faced with encirclement as my "1" and "3" battalions started killing the defending elements in front of them, allowing them to manoeuvre more freely.<br />
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Although Rhys had broken two of my battalions ("2, and "A"), and left a 3rd in bad state ("C"), he was not in a good position. I had claimed more objectives than he had held, had two decent battalions left on-table compared to his one, and had another one off-table that - at some point - would eventually take his one decent from directly from behind. A clear - albeit far from bloodless - victory to the Czechoslovakians.Luke Ueda-Sarsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02004840067785236764noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8564532820444629020.post-90498753574975849852017-09-06T03:01:00.000-07:002017-09-06T03:01:06.542-07:00Some BBDBAFor a change of focus, we pulled out Rhys' 15th-century figures to give them an outing using DBA, version 2; I'm not sure if either of us own a copy of version 3. We played BBDBA to be more precise: vanilla DBA never satisfies my desire for "a battle", what with just 12 elements a side, but "Big Battle DBA", by trebling the element count on a double-width board, gives a more substantial game.<br />
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First up, Rhys took an early French Ordonnance army with a Swiss ally, while I commanded an Italian Condotta force. As befitting the plain of the Po, terrain was fairly minimal, but did feature a wood on my centre-right that I threw my 3 elements of light infantry into. Both sides had considerable artillery that partly traded shots on my centre left. My centre consisted of a mixture of pikes and crossbows, flanked by the aforesaid artillery on the left and light infantry on the right. My mounted elmeti were on the wings, with some supporting light horse in the case of those on the far left, as the elmeti were less numerous on that side. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Later I found a bombard element as well...</td></tr>
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A closer inspection revealed two of the light horse elements were
actually my own late 13th-century figures; they'd presumably been hiding
in Rhys' figure box for the last 17+ years! <br />
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Rhys' Swiss were massed on my right. He had a mix of crossbows, longbows, and mounted ordonnance men-at-arms in the centre, while his forces on my left were more crossbowmen and men-at-arms, plus artillery. Unfortunately, I forgot to take any photos of the battle, and we can't even remember who won! Presumably it was a closely-contested affair...<br />
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I remedied that for second battle, at least. This time I took the French (with no ally), while Rhys took Burgundians; a classic match up. I had a centre composed of archers and crossbowmen in the front line backed up by voulgiers and dismounted men-at-arms; my right was a mixture of artillery, archers, and mounted men-at-arms; while my left had some more mounted men-at-arms, and some light crossbowmen to seize the wood to their front.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc6J_vg8DkKh77-tPg7o_JC4uJRQoqfD2mIq7qVzvc770K7UM1OkKmdsKjS4MZ7oqP4s3v-51HPjsPyr3sUx_81F_j1L0ffTkNBeaKIkQs1zhSW3F1uNuZ-vi3rHnqTQ4w-0wg0SS0UW3H/s1600/BBDBA3.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1200" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc6J_vg8DkKh77-tPg7o_JC4uJRQoqfD2mIq7qVzvc770K7UM1OkKmdsKjS4MZ7oqP4s3v-51HPjsPyr3sUx_81F_j1L0ffTkNBeaKIkQs1zhSW3F1uNuZ-vi3rHnqTQ4w-0wg0SS0UW3H/s320/BBDBA3.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Burgundian left wing</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKgtulGyj5xBZHxc6cpp7W_nHKNVHdedw5tBOvRq649WVkyvBkN6hFAo1esX0soYdXQj61pBxCTEUlG3wLmVgpI0XwdXcXwpPYlhKSa7-TEnZaZs2XEPe4nRRCYKl-hlXdH4FyhBuRTx4e/s1600/BBDBA2.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKgtulGyj5xBZHxc6cpp7W_nHKNVHdedw5tBOvRq649WVkyvBkN6hFAo1esX0soYdXQj61pBxCTEUlG3wLmVgpI0XwdXcXwpPYlhKSa7-TEnZaZs2XEPe4nRRCYKl-hlXdH4FyhBuRTx4e/s320/BBDBA2.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rhys' mounted men-at-arms waiting prior to the advance</td></tr>
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The Burgundians massed mounted men-at-arms in their centre, along
with some archers and dismounted men-at-arms to their left; further to
their left were various artillery pieces, some crossbowmen, and also
some detached coustilliers (counting as Cv). Rhys' right was rather
odd, consisting of archers plus a small contingent of Low Countries pikemen (4 elements); I had no idea
what role Rhys envisaged for the Pk in that position...<br />
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I fancied my chances in the centre, since in DBA, archers are rather deadly against mounted knights; nonetheless, my centre received my lowest PiP die, since it required no manoeuvring at all; just a simple dadvance straight up the board. My right didn't have very favourable match-ups. I was the defender, and thus deployed first, and although I got to swap two pairs of elements, this merely made my right wing have a slightly less favourable poistion than before. This wing got my middle PiP die, as moving the artillery would be PiP intensive.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The two forces approach the end of the second turn</td></tr>
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On my right, my artillery came off second best against Rhys', but the archers immediately to their left were able to inflict some casualties on the Burgundians in reply. My left quickly advanced (benefited by getting the highest PiP die every
turn) and seized the wood as planned. Rhys troops opposite them didn't
really do much in response; he was more intent on boldly advancing his mass of men-at-arms towards my centre, clearly aiming to decide the affair in a manner befitting Charles le <span lang="fr">Téméraire. Naturally, some casualties were to be expected on the way in, but Rhys had massed them in depth in anticipation...</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVkvN56tGnttDkVefdg5FGvKXwdyyahpXWpWf_o08oSQRxKaFaaMEa2qh2MUvM_DGzcTmFWXOYcne8gx7rL_0Msp4OgPKNPjXtZMPPjuects2YIAqgaN2mgNZUBY-QwonVBO2GfGSragVp/s1600/BBDBA5.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1200" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVkvN56tGnttDkVefdg5FGvKXwdyyahpXWpWf_o08oSQRxKaFaaMEa2qh2MUvM_DGzcTmFWXOYcne8gx7rL_0Msp4OgPKNPjXtZMPPjuects2YIAqgaN2mgNZUBY-QwonVBO2GfGSragVp/s320/BBDBA5.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">After the initial charge...</td></tr>
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<span lang="fr">Alas, for the Burgundians, the French line was well-prepared, and the Burgundian charge was largely ineffectual. Just a single company of men-at-arms managed to break through the front line of archers, and it was immediately routed by the dismounted French men-at-arms to their rear... This essentially meant battle over, as it demoralized the Burgundian main command, but, just for completeness, when the Burgundian left wing commander lead his men into the French artillery, he was ridden down by the French Constable's own knights waiting in reserve, adding insult to injury.</span><br />
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Luke Ueda-Sarsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02004840067785236764noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8564532820444629020.post-4086730610713922202017-09-03T04:16:00.000-07:002017-09-03T04:16:20.555-07:00Cossacks ahoyNext up was a WW2 stoush. Rhys wanted to take his Soviet Guards Cavalry Division for an outing, it not yet having seen action of the tabletop. I opposed it with a late '44 Wehrmacht Infantry Division which amounted to 4 battalions, each of 13 or 14 stands, organized as two regiments. No armour of any sort was included. His force was 4 cavalry regiments (counting as large battalions, each over 20 stands strong) plus a tank battalion, 7 stands strong: the entire division. I was again in a Hasty Defence posture, and the boards were arranged this time so that there were some definite valleys to be seen, trending mostly up and and down. Three of the objectives were on his side; the central sector on my side was the only sector without an objective. <br />
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Given the superior nature of the German command & control abilities under the Spearhead rules, I deployed all 4 battalions on board: 2 up, and on the flanks; 2 back, one somewhat more centrally located, and the other on my right. Rhys massed his forces on my right, with nothing at all opposing my left: 1 regiment in the centre; one centre-right; one right; and the tank battalion on the extreme right (from my vantage point). One unit was held off table in reserve, and I had no idea if it was waiting to move on to my left once I had redeployed, or if it was waiting on my right as reinforcements for the assault there.<br />
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Cavalry essentially ignore terrain under the rules, which means they barrel through woods at 9" a turn - very scary. They were right in my face in no time at all. As in close-assaulting me on the second turn in some places... It's true that they are easier to hit than leg infantry (defence factor 4 instead of 5) but charging through a wood evens that penalty out, since woods count as cover. Further, since they are SMG-armed they can move while counting as firing "stationary". This means they can charge up to you from out of rifle range (6") and shoot at you without getting an unanswered shot off first on the way in. Very nasty indeed.<br />
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The battle turned out to be a blood bath. Rhys has <a href="http://badlyleadmen.blogspot.co.nz/2017/09/time-for-some-gaming.html" target="_blank">some photos here</a>. Rhys' tank battalion commander was clearly a hothead, as the unit charged straight up the flank, past one battalion, and right into the one behind it without pausing to do much on the way, other than uncover a PaK40 platoon in ambush, and a bunch of lurking infantry who used their panzerfausts to great effect. Scratch one T-34-76 unit. Meanwhile, my front right battalion was chewed up by endless waves of cavalry, although it also inflicted quite a few casualties in the process. It soon broke, and eventually so did my central one. However, this broke one of his regiments, and forced another to take a moral check and left it unable to resume offensive actions. This left me in possession of two objectives, and him two while we were both contesting the fifth. I had an undamaged battalion that was moving across from my left, and my while my rear right one was only moderately damaged, it wasn't in that good a position to do much offensively. Rhys also had 1 unit almost untouched (his reserve one had moved on in the centre right), and the rest too battered to do anything offensively. So essentially we were down to one decent unit each - facing off each other across a valley that nobody wanted to advance across! Clearly this battle had fought itself out to a bloody stalemate. Totally up the victory points, it was 9 to 8 that could easily move to 8 to 10 due to the contested nature of one objective, reinforcing the impression of a bloody draw.<br />
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Lessons learned? The cavalry are very scary, but will need some further testing: when to dismount is a critical issue, for example. At what point does minimizing casualties become more important than having an extra 3" movement factor? I think only experience will resolve that one. Another one is deployment. I reckon wide but shallow unit deployments, en echelon, might be the way to go, with one regiment sweeping through another as it halts. But it will need to be tested...Luke Ueda-Sarsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02004840067785236764noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8564532820444629020.post-30662137454494184022017-09-03T03:31:00.000-07:002017-09-03T03:31:03.733-07:00Back to gaming!Having arrived at Rhys', the first item on the agenda (after ascertaining the state of his latest batch of stout) was to flock and affix the final woods to a couple of his terrain boards for use in (M)SH while he was finishing up at work. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">6 terrain boards assembled for action</td></tr>
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We then made up some lists for the first game: Soviets against Americans, 1974. I suggested this date so as to have a game with minimal ATGWs for once. Soviets are more expensive than Czechoslovakians, and I also turned out to be in a Hasty Defence posture, meaning my force was quite a bit smaller than I am accustomed to. I had "just" a single Motorized Rifle Regiment, organized as just 3 battalions (the tank battalion was attached out to the rifle battalions). The terrain was reasonably well distributed across the board, with no particularly obvious concentrations nor open spaces.<br />
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With so few manoeuvre elements, I decided I had to deploy all 3 on board; arranged 2 up, and 1 back in the centre. Of the six boards, that on my left flank was missing an objective. I suspected Rhys might flank march, and the question was would he march on my right, to aim for the extra terrain objective there, or go on my left, because that would be sneaky? I figured him moving to my left wouldn't be so serious, as I would have more time to react to it, while to the right would be a bigger problem. So I put my 3 towed T-12 anti-tank guns in ambush positions on my right to cover the most logical entry points. As it turned out, he did flank march, but on my left..<br />
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To cut a long story short, despite me failing to get any artillery into action for ages (first four roles were 1s....) Rhys managed to immolate himself on my defensive positions while his flank march stubbornly refused to turn up. And when it finally did arrive, it had nobody to fight, and no objective to take. He threw in the towel, and was rather surprised to learn he had managed to kill just 4 (count 'em!) of my stands, while having lost two battalions in the process, and having secured just 2 objectives (and one of those none too securely...). Lessons learned? Hmm, Soviets are much harder to confuse with electronic warfare missions than Czechs are? Nah, that one's obvious. Rhys' boards are working out well? Yes! Just the right amount of terrain density to get that 1000-metre West German average sight line...<br />
<br />Luke Ueda-Sarsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02004840067785236764noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8564532820444629020.post-21435702841649322402017-03-24T08:37:00.001-07:002017-03-24T09:02:33.117-07:00Ingress for wargamers: an introductionI've not been doing much gaming recently. Or to be exact, I've not been doing much <i>war</i>gaming. But I haven't been bereft of my share of strategy and tactics, because I've been doing a lot of "gaming" by way of Ingress. <a href="https://www.ingress.com/" target="_blank">Ingress</a> is an "augmented-reality location-based game". In other words, it's a video game that is played through a smart phone, and to play it you have to travel around various locations. Not virtual locations, but real-life ones. As such, it is the only thing I have encountered that will entice me to get some physical exercise, something normally so mind-numbing I forgo it entirely. As such, I've lost 10 kg in the year I've been playing...<br />
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So, what's it all about, and why would a (war)gamer be interested?<br />
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First off, it has two sides, like every standard war, that are battling for territory. Or to be more exact, they are battling for "mind units" (MUs) that map to the real-world population densities of the areas concerned. The basic objective is to capture as many MUs for your team as possible, and hold onto them as long as possible. It is fair to say that many players, probably even the vast majority, don't actually care much about the MU-capturing objectives that form the official basis of scoring in the game, but I'm assuming any other wargamer coming to Ingress is likely to care somewhat, because that's just the sort of objective they can relate to easily (for <i>why</i> they might not want to care, see below...).<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #0000ee;"><u><span style="color: #0000ee;"><span style="color: #0000ee;"><u>I</u></span></span>n-game view from my current apartment.</u></span></td></tr>
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You capture MUs by connecting three "portals" together to make a triangle; your score in MUs is, roughly speaking, 2/3 of whatever the number of people there are living under the triangle. To make a connection, you have to physically stand within 40 m of a portal (a virtual reality construct mapped on to, typically, a real-world cultural landmark such as a religious edifice, a sculpture, or a park entrance) and expend a token (called a "key" in-game) to connect to another portal; the key to which you can only get by having previously visited that other portal. You have to repeat this to make all three sides of the triangle. On the right you can see a heavy concentration of triangles connecting portals made by the green team in the vicinity of my apartment (the opposition team is coloured blue). The orange circle is the 40 m portal interaction radius centered on my position. I currently live by Osaka University's Suita campus - a very portal-rich environment.<br />
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You can't just link to just any old portal however, even if you do have its key in your possession; it has to be one your team properly controls. Which means sometimes you have to fight to seize (and/or maintain) control of the portal. So there are such things in-game as items to help establish control of a portal, items to attack portals, and items to aid in their defence (you don't actually attack players of the other team in game - only the portals that they are attempting to control themselves).<br />
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Like most other video games, Ingress takes a leaf from RPGs such as Dungeons and Dragons, and awards experience points to players for carrying out in-game activities. More "experienced" players are consequently granted access to higher "level" equipment: they can attack portals with weapons that are significantly more powerful than low-level players, for example. Some tactical decisions involve what you do with a portal once its yours. Do you put shields on it, to make it more resistant to enemy attacks? Do you install weapons on it that will instead actively counter-attack an enemy attacker rather than rely on the more passive, but more consistent, defence of shields? Or do you instead install non-combat modifications on it that will enable you, and your teammates, to resupply your always diminishing in-game resources more quickly? Or do you not put any modifications on it at all, because you've run out of gear, and hope (or plan for!) your team-mates to reinforce it before the next enemy player comes along?<br />
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What about strategy? At the simplest level, this concerns making - and planning - portal connections (called "links" in-game). Because a link isn't allowed to cross another link, it is often the case you have to destroy one or more other links to make your own. The bigger your planned triangle ("control field", in-game), the more links you will likely need to destroy, and the harder it gets. Further, the more links you destroy, the more likely it is the other side will cotton on to what you are up to, and try to actively stop you by either making their own links to block yours, or simply destroying one or more of the portals you are trying to link...<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A control field I made earlier this week, about 6 km long.</td></tr>
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I think it's the link-planning part that I like best about the game. To make a decent-sized control field, especially a multiply-nested control field for optimal MU-scoring, like the one shown on the left, takes a lot of planning. You have to plan around not only what the current situation "on the ground" is, but also anticipate what the enemy might do between now and whenever you carry out your plan. And because friendly links are <i>much</i> harder to destroy than enemy ones, you may have to worry even more about what your team "mates" might be up to! One operation I planned, involving a dozen people working together to cut blocking links and establish our own, failed spectacularly when another bunch of players from our side, unbeknownst to us, happened to decide to use the same area we were to make some fields of their own at the very same time. Neither group scored any MUs that night...<br />
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Earlier I mentioned that many players aren't interested in the MU-scoring aspect of the game. One reason is geography. There is a global score, but a single player typically has almost no effect on that: there are so many people playing all over the world that any one player's actions are almost inconsequential. There are also regional sub-scores, however, and these are what most people who play the MU game seek to influence. However, since each region ("cell") is approximately 150 km across, to make a serious impact on the cell's score, you will probably have to make a fairly large control field to do so. <i>Probably</i>, because a lot will depend on the geography of your cell. If you live in a rural cell, with a single modestly-sized town in it, you might be able to capture the great majority of the MUs available in the cell with just a single appropriately-sized field over the town; something that could be erected by a single person on a bike in an hour or two. But if you live in the centre of a major metropolis, erecting a field with sides just 1 km in size is a mammoth task because of the huge number of links that are likely in the way.<br />
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My cell, which is is centered on Osaka, has well over 20 million people in it, encompassing as it does the major cities of Osaka, Kyoto, Kobe, etc., and is thus one of the densest in the world. And at any one point, there are typically 10 to 12 million MU under the control of one side or the other. To seriously influence the score, I am going to have to make fields that capture not thousands of MUs, but hundreds of thousands. Fortunately, I live out in the suburbs, and this is possible, with good planing, that is. To be sure, doing it with a bike is very hard work, and a car certainly makes it
easier, but that also deprives me of the exercise that is one of the prime
benefits of playing!<br />
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If I lived in the centre of Osaka, I could never make fields big enough (and often enough) to score enough points. And if I lived out in the styx, I just couldn't capture areas with enough population density to score many MU, even if I made quite large fields. Being at the edge of town, I can get a decent enough population density while not having to worry about having to cut too many blocking links, and yet still having enough portals around to implement the advanced strategy of making multiply-nested control field for optimal MU-scoring. My biggest (car-assisted) fields can score over 80,000 MUs per layer, and nesting them properly can take the total MUs earned up to a million. On a bike, my biggest layers tend to max out at 40,000 each, but these are only possible because two of the corners are out in the countryside, cutting down on the number of blocking links to worry about. Of course, a lot of pre-planning is required too!Luke Ueda-Sarsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02004840067785236764noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8564532820444629020.post-77522309081390856752017-01-07T06:13:00.004-08:002017-02-13T23:46:17.625-08:00Mi-8s<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #0000ee;">H&R 1:300th scale Mi-8 "Hip"<u><br /></u></span></td></tr>
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It's been over a year since I painted anything, but something has finally been done: a pair of Heroics & Ros 1:300th scale Mi-8s for my Czechoslovakian ground forces.<br />
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These had been sitting in one my "undercoated but awaiting further painting" trays for several years, because finishing looked a bit of a challange - camoflage would have to be applied, and they would have to be numbered, etc. As it turned out, the job wasn't too dificult. Of course I realise that two models isn't exactly a huge dent in the proverbial lead mountain, but from small beginnings do great things grow...<br />
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The Mi-8, or "Hip" in NATO parlance, was the standard WarPac utility helicopter throughout the 1970s; an upgraded version, designated the Mi-17, was introduced into Czechoslovakia in the mid-1980s; it can be distinguished by having the tail rotor on the other side of the vehicle. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Unit 0812 of the 51 vlrp, modelled ca. 1980.</td></tr>
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No. 0812 belonged to the 51st Helicopter Regiment, which was part of the 4th Army, and is thus suitable for use with my usual ground formation: the 3rd Motor Rifle Division. Although a utility transport helcipter, the Mi-8 can be found armed as a makeshift gunship, usually sporting large amounts of rockets, which in MSH amounts to a very poor anti-tank attack factor, but a good anti-infantry one (factor 7).<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The missiles should be extra rockets...</td></tr>
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The Mi-8, while a "medium" transport helicopter, is nonetheless a very large vehicle, and is noticeably larger than e.g. an Mi-24 "Hind". The base size here is 90 mm square - in contrast, the H&R Hind-D, if turned somewhat askew, will just fit on to a 60 mm square base. I base my helicopters on the ground, mostly because I've never found a way of representing moving rotors that I've been entirely happy with (the plastic disks some people use don't do much to me... ) This way, I don't have to wrestle with the problem: the unit is parked, awaiting orders, and the engine isn't even fired up! <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Deploying (half) a paratroop battalion.</td></tr>
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In MSH a standard Hip model can transport up to 3 stands of infantry at once. This is why my bases are 90 mm square, rather than the 80 mm that the model could fit on to: it coincides with the deployment width of 3 bases of my infantry. I only have two models, and thus can't transport an entire paratrooper battalion at once, which is probably entirely realistic, because the Czechoslovakians would have really struggled to do so in any real life conflict. In game terms, either I will have to transport a weakened battalion, with just 6 fighting stands (aided by my lone Mi-4 model taking the HQ stand), or be forced to take two trips to insert a full-strength unit. Which, all said and done, doesn't sound any more doable on tabletop than it does on a real-life battlefield swarming with AA systems. Unfortunately, under Keith McNelly's scenario system, a half-strength battalion isn't sufficient to claim an "objective", only prevent an enemy from claiming it...<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Scratch-built BzK vz. 59 in centre fore.</td></tr>
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The Mi-8 was just large enough to take a GAZ-69 jeep equivalent through its rear doors, which is important, because this was the standard tow for the primary Czechoslovakian infantry battalion-level AT weapon system: the BzK vz. 59 RR. This was a heavy 82 mm recoiless rifle, with capabilities almost comparable to an 85 mm AT gun, but weighing considerably less (but at nearly 400 kg, still clearly far from being man-portable like the SPG-9 found in other WarPac forces). Thus, an infantry battalion's entire weapons inventory could, in theory, be helicoptered into a conflict zone. <br />
<br />
<br />Luke Ueda-Sarsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02004840067785236764noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8564532820444629020.post-60260597281077572702016-12-31T03:44:00.003-08:002017-02-20T06:47:58.035-08:00 Seleukid-Ptolemaic mini-campaign, part 2Following on from our <a href="http://lukeuedasarson.blogspot.jp/2016/12/seleukid-ptolemaic-mini-campaign-part-1.html" target="_blank">first clash</a>, the Sarlukids looked to extend their territorial ambitions. The second battle of the day used the 1st Chaironea battlefield from the rule book. This feature not one but two streams meandering across the battlefield, as well as a pocket of marsh and three hills to congest the field of play.<br />
<br />
Both the forces in play were very similar to those used before. The Aronaic horse was definitely improved in quality (1 x ALC replaced by 2 x VHC), while the infantry was somewhat less numerous, with 1 x APH and1 x LLI missing from the previous line up. Overall, the forces consisted of:<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
Aroniacs: Sarlukids:</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
2 x AEL 2 x IEL</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
9 x APH 8 x APH</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
1 x VPH + AL 2 x AHI</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
1 x VPH 1 x ALI </div>
2 x LLI 2 x LLI<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
1 x AHI 2 x AHC</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
1 x ALC 1 x ALC</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
1 x AHC 1 x VHC + AL</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
2 x VHC 1 x VHC </div>
FV: 68 FV: 68<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpG8kIETxtbM-4rHJXZlOdM6dODH8sBPcG_Q34cmTlOp5NRJdZvbe9jIWR1TgezC8JZWOJPYKlTPZZM1_bIih_G6c-JE-81fu1aPN8kQgODJKKmFPK8e19S5NS6kEkLYR7KLN48ToHvNcO/s1600/SarlukidRivers1800by600.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpG8kIETxtbM-4rHJXZlOdM6dODH8sBPcG_Q34cmTlOp5NRJdZvbe9jIWR1TgezC8JZWOJPYKlTPZZM1_bIih_G6c-JE-81fu1aPN8kQgODJKKmFPK8e19S5NS6kEkLYR7KLN48ToHvNcO/s640/SarlukidRivers1800by600.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The field viewed from my side of the table. Terrain by Aaron (some work still to be done).</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
My generalship in this contest was not the best. I failed to tailor the forces in each of my zones to properly account for the attack limits imposed by the terrain. As a result, my left, while numerous, couldn't bring its weight to fully bear on the opposition properly, due to the watercourse, while Aaron's opposite force, consisting of smaller units, was able to strike more tellingly. Thus, despite the presence of my king in this sector, I was soon in trouble, and the spent markers quickly added up.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicgksKNBlAOF_gDh7IFQjXLV3ddfQFuFHwjn8Anr0giT5GiQCNsUQ0SluQYHfMlrZq-GbwDhCGzi9QFOB8Ymp1ur7dW8aXKdhkd-K7pBXzFV6HP7nJwloOx_B67dehpwdG0-NO6cYtgtqT/s1600/SarlukidDeath1200by1200.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicgksKNBlAOF_gDh7IFQjXLV3ddfQFuFHwjn8Anr0giT5GiQCNsUQ0SluQYHfMlrZq-GbwDhCGzi9QFOB8Ymp1ur7dW8aXKdhkd-K7pBXzFV6HP7nJwloOx_B67dehpwdG0-NO6cYtgtqT/s200/SarlukidDeath1200by1200.png" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Checkmate!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
As a result, I was forced into attempting "rallies", always a dicey
proposition, especially if you are a mere "average" leader... Too many rallies, and the inevitable happened: I lost my leader. Now the army technically survived this loss, but not for long. Morale plummeted, and command and control was crippled, so I was unable to salvage victory from other zones were I had been faring better. It was just left for Aaron to mop of the paralysed remnants of my army (a unit of light infantry in the marsh on my right was doing good work holding off his horse there, but was then overwhelmed, for example). <br />
<br />
We were thus on equal honours after two games. The final showdown took place on a battlefield taken from Gabiene. A plain, devoid of significant terrain, but with the wrinkle that "dry and dusty" conditions were in effect. This meant that every turn, there was a 50-50 chance of a turn reversal occurring, meaning the player who previoulsy went second would now go first - which could be good or bad, depending on the situation. Extra fog-of-war randomness!<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNEZGbjGyaH_9BzOnTzWt_JsSvQ4Of-Gq8QDASbTM_SSe7irBhPF2QBW3FXf0N5KQr0fK7fO8zGNRNuQgXpNOi5kJg879_5FHaRZnbePt1kv7QEpktaV2xEVP2Ol78SORMggJRLflmQwcz/s1600/SarlukidJumbo1200by900.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNEZGbjGyaH_9BzOnTzWt_JsSvQ4Of-Gq8QDASbTM_SSe7irBhPF2QBW3FXf0N5KQr0fK7fO8zGNRNuQgXpNOi5kJg879_5FHaRZnbePt1kv7QEpktaV2xEVP2Ol78SORMggJRLflmQwcz/s320/SarlukidJumbo1200by900.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sarlukid elephant, with new-fangled tower on top.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Army compositions changed somewhat again. Aaron's forces had only one unit of elephants this time around, and an extra unit of average light cavalry in compensation. Mine had more extensive changes. There were now three contingents of elephants instead of two, and sporting towers as the campaign date had marched on. However, the two units of mercenary heavy infantry had been reduced a single large unit of native levies, and one of the average light infantry units had disappeared. One of the veteran horse units was now only average, but it had an "uninspired leader" accompanying it. Further, my side had an unfortified camp to protect.<br />
<br />
This battle was even more closely fought than the other two, and both sides suffered heavily. My sub-general, on my right, should have given me the edge in the cavalry fight there, but Aaron's forces were better man-for-man (VHC against AHC), and prevailed much to my disappointment. They were then able to sweep around the field and threaten my camp. Aaron pulled an excellent move by squeezing a unit of LI between the battered lines to encircle some of my infantry units, making them very nervous. If his victorious cavalry sacked my camp, my by-then precarious morale situation would have shifted over to "sunk", so I pulled back my C-in-C in an attempt to defend it, but this meant leaving my damaged phalanx leaderless, and it was then destroyed. Game lost! So that made for three great games, and showcasing Lost Battles' first-class combination of nail-biting decision points with historical verisimilitude.<br />
<br />
Aaron's account <a href="http://prufrockian-gleanings.blogspot.jp/2017/01/lost-battles-campaign-day-with-luke.html" target="_blank">here</a>. Luke Ueda-Sarsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02004840067785236764noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8564532820444629020.post-76932410900772190352016-12-31T02:15:00.003-08:002017-01-03T17:17:35.332-08:00Seleukid-Ptolemaic mini-campaign, part 1Well, it's been a poor year in terms of gaming, but yesterday I managed to get down to Aaron's for three games of Lost Battles. Aaron had stiched together a mini-campaign with him taking control of forces based on 3rd-century BC Ptolemaics, and me with their Selucid equivalents. Each side would consist of 66-68 FV ("fighting value") of forces, with battlefields taken from the rules book, and simple campaign rules to determine who would deploy first, etc.<br />
<br />
The first game used the Paraitacene battlefield, featuring a line of hills along one flank, and open ground elsewhere. The "Aronaic" forces featured a strong Macedonian settler phalanx, with no less than 10 units of average phalangites (APH), plus two of veterans representing the royal <i>agema</i>, etc (VPH). These were supplemented by a unit of mercenary infantry (AHI, average heavy infantry), and numerous levy Engyptian light infantry (3 x LLI). Theer was also two groups of African elephants (with their integral infantry escorts; AEL); a unit of light horse (ALC), as well as two of settler <i>xystophohori </i>(lancers, AHC). The king (AL, an "average leader") chose to fight on foot at the head of his agema, rather than mounted.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjss-X_MbuVj8Zd9-vLLtMxHVs3ft4Vvs0K75ioTYkHqoFRWBW22wOzY9EFtGpSNVleIMtMvW-dYv-p-2bhaWM-otsVXs0GpVJWZFRrEhh09k54MxNw4vkPA75ba1Ua8hb3wMwW_aKD3Wjn/s1600/AaronaicSkirmishing1200by600.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="160" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjss-X_MbuVj8Zd9-vLLtMxHVs3ft4Vvs0K75ioTYkHqoFRWBW22wOzY9EFtGpSNVleIMtMvW-dYv-p-2bhaWM-otsVXs0GpVJWZFRrEhh09k54MxNw4vkPA75ba1Ua8hb3wMwW_aKD3Wjn/s320/AaronaicSkirmishing1200by600.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Initial skirmishing; the guys on the big square base are mine.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
The "Sarlukids" had a somewhat inferior Macedonian settler phalanx: 8 APH,
supplemented by two contingents of mercenary foot (AHI). The Sarlukid infantry <i>argyraspides</i> had eveidently been left at home to guard against potential usurpers... The two herds
of elephants were of course Asiatic rather than African (IEL), and in
addition to their escorts, further reasonable light infantry was
available from the various subject peoples of the empire (2 x ALI). The Sarlukid horse was
however definitely stronger than their Aroniac counterparts: two units
of settler xystophoroi (AHC), one of Tarantines (ALC), plus the<i> </i>mounted agema and the royal companions (2 x VHC). The Sarlukid king (AL) rode at the head of his companions.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNuBcQEq-9QYO3KuYSnIupnYmxuU5Nr278vUeMMl_YsZf1Giiw7zzZS83SGZ2uHsusE6Ye0_0gEM958zQSWBtakpb14_PewWJyUKSPi-h9FeyWlsuJ3cm69b1JfUI0zNu0Re6UqjcQ5Y8c/s1600/AaronaicRedeployment1200by1200.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNuBcQEq-9QYO3KuYSnIupnYmxuU5Nr278vUeMMl_YsZf1Giiw7zzZS83SGZ2uHsusE6Ye0_0gEM958zQSWBtakpb14_PewWJyUKSPi-h9FeyWlsuJ3cm69b1JfUI0zNu0Re6UqjcQ5Y8c/s320/AaronaicRedeployment1200by1200.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sarlukid left (foreground) and Aronaic right (distance)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Aaron deployed first, with his veteran phalangites pushing quickly
forward on his right wing. The majority of his horse was also on his
right, while his left was refused. Since the great majority of my horse
was massed on my left, this would lead to a big cavalry fight on my left
wing.<br />
<br />
Seeing his cavalry inferiority, Aaron skillfuly redeployed his right-most elephant corps even further out to his right (see photo left, out of focus in the distance). This would stymie my cavalry assault for quite a while, giving Aaron time to assault my weaker phalanx with his stronger one, further aided by his commander-in-chief being presnt in person.<br />
<br />
However, eventually, my left cavalry wing overwhelmed his right despite his elephants in this zone. However, in Lost Battles, a victorious cavalry wing cannot automatically cease pursuit of broken foes, and the extra turn spent turning my horse inwards to assail his phalanx meant my centre was in dire straits.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJZfezwYg6OXFtjDEXbl5A7_xWhS4Y7gh3mZ0tf-h26GrT_GyFPRsfLcEFiE7svrJ0xaWZAGZYm1qdJq9shyphenhyphenOBZufRXzul7dTCG5bTwhS_BsUcHOdSM1N1DkibB_KCRJlbPy3-l3XSWmPG/s1600/SarlukidEnvelopment1200by900.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJZfezwYg6OXFtjDEXbl5A7_xWhS4Y7gh3mZ0tf-h26GrT_GyFPRsfLcEFiE7svrJ0xaWZAGZYm1qdJq9shyphenhyphenOBZufRXzul7dTCG5bTwhS_BsUcHOdSM1N1DkibB_KCRJlbPy3-l3XSWmPG/s320/SarlukidEnvelopment1200by900.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Crisis point! </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
So, it was a race - would I roll his pahalnx up before he could punch through my centre? To the right you can see my cavalry have just cleared my left wing (the unit furthest from the camera is my light horse, advancing into the now-vacant Aronaic zone), but my central zone is in trouble - every unit there is spent (indicated by the "casualty" markers in use - the little round bases with one or two javelins impalled head-first in the earth). Aaron would repeatedly shatter units in this zone in the next couple of turns, but some excellent morale dice rolling rolling saved my bacon here, and I squeezed out a victory, albeit at the cost of my centre taking heavy casualties. A close-run affair!<br />
<br />
<br />Luke Ueda-Sarsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02004840067785236764noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8564532820444629020.post-57861044563098014072015-12-30T18:25:00.002-08:002017-01-07T06:15:16.892-08:00Instant battlefield!Following on from <a href="http://prufrockian-gleanings.blogspot.jp/2015/11/fluffy-boa-puzzle-mat-where-have-you.html" target="_blank">Aaron's purchase</a>, I got together 25 of these "fluffy boa" mats. Mine were a beige colour, rather than the somewhat lime green of Aaron's, so I planned on doing a quick spray to give them some hint of foliage.<br />
<br />
The things actually turned out to be 30 cm square overall, and thus 29 cm from centre to centre. I stripped the covering off some of them with a knife to make up some river sections, and them took them outside to spray them with a little green. Since the mats cost just 108 yen each, that meant the cost of the spray increased the price of the endeavour by something like 35%! Still, very cheap I think.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9TBRewwnetBTADSxCq126dNiE1mo5j4XxV6ThBGcaHjzXU98gpGP99cAdA6xlr21noTs1J5ytPyIQ4TU3-RmcydKPrCGqHFX91MCOJmJp29RVUGC8yb-eCt_uhKOip4-uWC2NScmbn88S/s320/MatsNonRiver600by450.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="320" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A 4 foot by 3 foot setup on my tiny Japanese kitchen table...</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
I then took them inside, and got a brush to paint the river sections brown. I've gone off blue rivers, since a) battles were not always fought on a sunny day, and b) a river small enough to be fordable will have been forded both before and during the conflict, muddying it up, and a river big enough to be unfordable is likey to be carrying a heavy sediment load in any case! I had to use a razor to completely remove the last of the fluff once I had peeled the stuff off, since a little adheres to the foam through the webbing.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjH42knJXIOe76cuiUgt2-KxnK6oO4WxDvCU0HAdCa0kE16on9NNEwad1acNN4YU2U4O40xPIdXNM9HwFg4XkRU_XbgcueBglWFr0u4rc9Wz8ECnKXRqYMTNhwiT7jFxnv3w3F-39cN_C5X/s320/MatsTop600by450.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="320" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I'd use a 5 by 4 table for "Lost Battles" - but not on this table!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
All up, this took me about 4 hours work, but at least half of that is because I have very unsuitable facilities here for spraying. If I was back in NZ (subjunctive? what's one of them, then?), the business would have taken closer to 2 hours, I reckon.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfQx7G4mX61sHwdOransWVCQAyTcIlgfv39MZ8lc7StR3NVkcYbaTKdwHVNIMHVNuDnsq45a23pdcC7fPlfBy0Ye8dwNHFxU0fCt8Agervrs3ymsLoW-82u6rn_AEitob3HPARMJPdk8qL/s1600/MatsRiver600by450.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfQx7G4mX61sHwdOransWVCQAyTcIlgfv39MZ8lc7StR3NVkcYbaTKdwHVNIMHVNuDnsq45a23pdcC7fPlfBy0Ye8dwNHFxU0fCt8Agervrs3ymsLoW-82u6rn_AEitob3HPARMJPdk8qL/s320/MatsRiver600by450.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This would do fine for a "To the Strongest!" game; with 3x3 boxes per mat.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Anyway, I'm pretty chuffed with the results, given the price (say 40 bucks all told) and the time taken. I'll be looking out for more!<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Luke Ueda-Sarsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02004840067785236764noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8564532820444629020.post-41143226047380030012015-12-19T19:18:00.000-08:002015-12-28T07:12:10.340-08:00Legionary: Gods & EmperorsI don't read much fiction, on the whole. This is partly because I no longer have the large chunks of time necessary to devote to reading something relatively long in one go, which is they way I prefer to read a story, especially a novel. And it's partly because I no longer have much "free" time full-stop, and it has to be rationed fairly carefuly against other competing interests, like research.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOgXRXb3mfd2IphpOkw-97WbSKaUw0hEDv11uBaixv-lgxocK8D87aw-7pu-8RTO_Ed7QGbbuCRpNw91kGKKMmpeCAipBL95GYvzmbm70V7oBNCRzaLoj04oGlhTq4fdhOtIRac3PZHn6r/s1600/Legionary.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOgXRXb3mfd2IphpOkw-97WbSKaUw0hEDv11uBaixv-lgxocK8D87aw-7pu-8RTO_Ed7QGbbuCRpNw91kGKKMmpeCAipBL95GYvzmbm70V7oBNCRzaLoj04oGlhTq4fdhOtIRac3PZHn6r/s320/Legionary.jpg" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Image nicked from <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Legionary-Gods-Emperors-5-ebook/dp/B0173EOJJ8">Amazon.co.uk</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
But that doesn't mean I'm closed off to the genre even now. I've just finished "Legionary: Gods & Emperors" by <a href="http://www.gordondoherty.co.uk/" target="_blank">Gordon Doherty</a>, which is an historical novel set in 378 AD. The battle of Adrianople in other words. The novel is actually 5th in a series, but works fine as a stand-alone tale. And I only knew of the existance of this one because the author sent me a copy... Why? Because a) he's obviously a nice guy, and b) because he's an amateur historian like myself, and has found some of my work useful in his research: I get a thank you mention in the book's forward :-)<br />
<br />
Now, as a genre, historical fiction (not to be confused with fictional history) has some unique constraints - the most obvious being that the reader is quite likely to know in what ways many of the major plot components are going to work out even before they have made it a couple of pages into the book. And in particular, if you are someone like me, you just know that near the end of the book that some dude called Valens is not going make it out of a particular burning farm house alive...<br />
<br />
(Of course I'm aware of the other report of his death, but that's nowhere as interesting, so it's unlikely to make it into a fictional account!)<br />
<br />
So part of the excitement of reading the thing isn't figuring out these plot elements, as such, but seeing how the author will weave his tale around them. And in this case, I came away pretty satisfied. Without giving too much away, Valens is depicted in a reasonably positive light, and this contrasts very much with Gratian's characterization, which would fit right in with a Nero or Commodus.<br />
<br />
And judging by the reviews on Amazon, I'm not the only who came away satisfied after reading this book - the reviews there are so positive, I feel no need to add my own. So I will here go a little into the more historical than literary aspects. The author keeps, for the most part, titles such as ranks in the original latin, so <i>tribunus</i> instead of tribune, but centurion is retained. I guess <i>centenarius</i> (not <i>centurio</i>, note, this being the 4th century!) would just confuse the reader. I don't mind this - it is fairly standard to see this sort of thing in strictly historical analyses too. More grating, at least initially, was seeing all the palatine infantry legions referred to as <i>auxilia</i>. Now there is every excuse to call <i>auxilia palatina </i>units "legions", because they were frequently so-called by the Romans, not just by poets like Claudius, but by staff officers such as Ammianus. But the reverse is a bit jarring - and would have certainly struck a Roman legionary as simply wrong - there were clear legal differences in being an auxiliaryman and a legionary, even if they were "legacy" features that made no real sense in a 4th-century context. But ultimately that's a detail that the (somewhat mythical) "average reader" is unlikely to care about, even if it was pointed out to them, and I can certainly see why it's there - it's of no import to the story at all, and drawing attention to the distinction would only confuse things. So I came round to accepting it, no problem. But I would have done it the other way around, simply not mentioned <i>auxilia</i> at all, and just have the lot as <i>legiones</i>. But here I'm straying into the reviewer's cardinal sin - talking about the book <i>they </i>would have written, and not the one actually under review...<br />
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I noticed a few typos: a couple of places where "to" was confused with "do", and the odd missing quote mark - a legacy of my being a professional proof-reader for nearly 4 years in my thirties is that it's hard for me to miss these...<br />
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But anyone reading this blog is going to be glad to have read this book, I reckon. It's 2 quid on Kindle; 11 if you are going for the paperback. It's 407 pages (not counting blurb, appendices, etc), and the font size and spacing is reasonably generous; but now that I'm getting older, I need my reading glasses on to read it in anything other than outdoor sunlight...<br />
<br />Luke Ueda-Sarsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02004840067785236764noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8564532820444629020.post-76309409750898462912015-12-09T08:18:00.000-08:002015-12-09T15:47:17.535-08:00Some moderns painted!I've finally got around to doing something constructive over the last two weeks in terms of converting lead (and plastic) into fieldable forces. The catafracts <i>still</i> lying on my sidebench <i>still</i> looked too daunting a task for just a few evenings, so I went to my moderns trays to see what could be fruitfully pushed forward.<br />
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First up is another MSH battalion's worth of DANA vz.77 152 mm
gun-howitzers to add to the one I already have. These are the Heroics
& Ros 1:300 th scale model that was released in late 2012. For this second
battalion, I've put the gun into travelling position (the barrels can
also be positioned elevated). The previous battalion is intended tp represent a battalion from the 4th Army's 332nd Artillery Brigade; they received their DANA's only in 1985. This second battalion represents one of the divisional artillery battalions from either the 1st Tank Division or the 20th Motor Rifle Division; these being the best equipped of the Czechoslovakian divisions; they received their DANAs in 1980.<br />
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Next comes a PM-55 bridgelayer. This is a model by Karl Heinz Ranitzsch, aka <a href="http://www.shapeways.com/shops/dragoman" target="_blank">Dragoman</a>, done, like all my Shapeways purchases, in the cheapest plastic available - nylon-12 (aka Shapeways' "white strong & flexible"). The <a href="http://forum.valka.cz/topic/view/13328/" target="_blank">PM-55</a> is essentially a truck-borne version of the MT-55 bridgelayer, and thus suitable for MBTs to cross. WarPac MBTs at any rate; with a rating of 50 t, some western MBTs would be straining things... A model like this is only required for the single game turn it takes to set the bridge up - but it's such a beautiful model, I couldn't resist. The truck concerned is the Tatra-813 ("Kolos") 8x8 vehicle in production from 1967 to 1982, and with exceptional off-road capabilities due to its tubular frame split axle configuration. Karl Heinz sells not only the unfolding version shown above, but also a
version in travelling configuration (plus a deployed bridge section).<br />
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And here is the travelling version... The PM-55 routinely sports a earth moving blade at the front to prepare the approaches to the bridging position, and Karl Heinz' model comes equipped with this. Like many Czechoslovakian pieces of equipment, the PM-55 saw some degree of export success, and this is why Karl Heinz models it - it served with the NVA (East German army).<br />
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And this is Karl Heinz' model of the<a href="http://forum.valka.cz/topic/view/13314/" target="_blank"> AM-50</a>, a lighter VLB that is also based on the T-813, and more suitable for infantry units being carried around in APCs. Like the PM-55, he sells an unfolding version; I've already paointed one of those up - you can see it in action <a href="http://lukeuedasarson.blogspot.jp/2014/01/action-at-oberickelsheim-part-vi-action.html" target="_blank">here</a>. The AM-50 was first trialed in 1972, with more substantial numbers coming in1974.<br />
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This is an attempt at making a <a href="http://forum.valka.cz/topic/view/1117/" target="_blank">vz.53/59</a> self-propelled AA gun. I've taken an H&R (?) BTR-152 model, and sawed off the back. Then I've stuck a ZPU-23/2 on top, and stuck on plasticard box on top of that to represent the distinctive ammo bin, and added some crew members from the artillery crew pack, The guns are noticeably too small (to me, anyway), since the vz. 53/59 sports twin 30 mm cannons, as opposed to 23 mm, and the curving superstructure on the left of the mount is missing in my model (not that you would see it from this angle, even if it was there...). IIRC, I've now made up sixteen of these conversions; this is the last, and will form part of my 183rd Battery of the 82nd AA Brigade - this unit was primarily equipped with SA-4s, but also had some SPAAGs for close-in air defence. The Czechoslovakians used this instead of the ZSU-57-2, which offered them no advantages. However, they never replaced it with anything more modern (such as the ZSU-23-4), and its lack of radar would have meant it would have had severe problems keeping enemy aircraft at bay in any conflict in the 70s, let alone the 80s. The Czechoslovakians trialed the SA-4 from 1974, and the 82nd AA Brigade went operational in 1976 (the 2K11M, i.e. "SA-4b Ganef").<br />
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The two vehicles are my own creations, printed out by Shapeways. They are <a href="http://forum.valka.cz/topic/view/13207/" target="_blank">Tatra 815 VT</a> 8x8 prime movers, distinguished from the T-815 VVN truck mostly by having a shorter deck but a longer cab, so it can accommodate an entire howitzer crew. The T-815 series (also available in 6x6 and 4x4 versions) suceeded the T-813 starting from 1981, and going into full production in 1983. In addition to hauling artillery pieces, it could also be used to tow tank-transporter trailers, etc.<br />
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I think this is what Skytrex called a "BTS-M"; it's a PTS-10 light ferry as far as I am concerned. It's a fairly large model, hence the double-depth base. My bases are usually 30 mm square by the way; no way am I using Imperial measurements! The model has an odd lean forwards, as if it's braking extremely hard. Two of these models get used as part of the Pontoon Company of my Czechoslovakian 3rd Division's Engineering Battalion (along with a whole bunch of truck-borne pontoon elements).<br />
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And this is, IIRC, a Skytrex GSP-55 heavy ferry set. These are found in the (river) Assault Company that was added to Czechoslovakian divisional Engineering Battalions from 1979, along with extra PTS-10 light ferries.<br />
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Another artillery battalion... you can never have too many as a WarPac player! The tractors here are another of my own products printed out by Shapeways: the ATS-59G. The ATS-59G was the first 3-d printing effort I tried, and it still holds up reasonably well compared to my later creations. You can see a close-up of the vehicle's rear below.<br />
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Now when your artillery is as ancient as these pieces, you need a lot of them to have any hope of doing anything! This is the H&R M-30 122mm howitzer (I think they call it something like mk. 31/37), or the vz.38 to the Czechoslovakians. These pieces were found in the artillery battalion of the motor rifle regiments: 3 batteries of 6 pieces, which translates to 4 models in MSH. The vz. 38 designation tells you they are a 1938 production piece, so they have, by 1970s and 80s standards, a truly horrible range. These pieces soldiered on until the demise of the Czechoslovakian state (there were grand plans to replace them with 2S1s in the late 70s/early 80s, but few of these were actually purchased). My close-in eyesight has detriorated markedly over the last two years, so I now need separate glasses to paint with. Even so, I found I couldn't be bothered painting the faces on the crewmen here - I just couldn't see them! And I certainly can't see them at a gaming arm' length away...<br />
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This would appear to be a T54 or T55-based ARV vehicle, but I can't remember which manufacturer it is... probably Scotia.<br />
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While this would appear to be a T-34-based ARV. Again, not sure who makes (or made) it. A platoon's worth of vehicles like this is part of each tank or motor rifle regiment's enegineering company; more are found in the divisional Engineering Battalion's maintenance company.<br />
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The towed tank here is I think a Scotia POL trailer, while the tractor is another of my Shapeways creations: an AT-S. These are usually found hauling artillery pieces in my forces. The AT-S was a design from the early 50s, and superceeded by the ATS-59G. To my-brought-up-in-New Zealand mind, it's got a definite "Hillary crossing the Antarctic" feel to it.<br />
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Travelling in a fried-out combi! On a hippy trail; head full of zombie... Well, near enough, anyway. This is the Scotia UAZ-452 minivan; I will probably add some ambulance markings in the weekend to it to give it some sort of utility.<br />
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This is the van version of Scotia's UAZ-452. I will probably add some sort of diorama scene here, given the large expanse of available base, but I will have to buy some more crew figures and the like first, as I appear to have run out...<br />
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<a href="http://forum.valka.cz/topic/view/21644/" target="_blank">Tatra-111</a> trucks; one of which was already painted. Another of my Shapeways efforts - these ones have suffered from very noticeable "stepping" during the print process. These trucks can be used not only for Cold war Czechoslovakians, but also for WW2 Germans, being produced from 1942 to 1962 (by which date the cab had been given a more modern look).<br />
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H&R assault rafts. WW2 German, I believe, but who can tell the difference? Me, of course! <a href="http://forum.valka.cz/topic/view/84879/" target="_blank">Czechoslovakian</a> <a href="http://forum.valka.cz/topic/view/84880/" target="_blank">ones</a> were not even inflateable!<br />
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No idea why I have this - it's a Scotia decontamination vehicle. And why do I not need it? Because I've already made the Czechoslovakian equivalent of this Soviet vehicle, and printed it out via Shapeways! A stationary pair of these vehicles, each mounting a jet engine on the back, were supposed to decontaminant chemical warfare agents from a column of exposed vehicles driving between them. As a professional chemist, I have doubts about the efficacy of this... These vehicles were found as part of the divisional NBC battalion. WarPac forces took a lot of effort regarding counteemeasures for the C part of the NBC equation, even though it appears they naver had any serious intention of using themselves (unlike the N part, for which they had serious plans for...). For example, FROGs were in service for over a decade before a chemical warfare warhead was even considered for them.<br />
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Another Scotia Soviet duplication, for which I have the Czechoslovakian equivalentalready printed out... It's quite a nice piece of kit, though.<br />
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A battery of BM-24 MRLs; another of my Shapeways creations. These weren't used by the Czechoslovakians. They were instead found in Soviet Tank Regiments in the 1960s, prior to being replaced by the BM-21 Grad: 12 per regiment. I made up the model since it's just an AT-S with a launcher on the back deck instead or a tarpaulin, so a relatively easy conversion..<br />
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And finally, this would appear to be a Scotia BAT, but it's missing what i consider to be the most important part of the protoype - the enormous dozer blade, which is a real shame, because the thing isn't easy to scratch build...<br />
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So, a bunch of rear-zone elements for the most part, but that's fine, logistics can be fun too!<br />
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<br />Luke Ueda-Sarsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02004840067785236764noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8564532820444629020.post-34263959408372449722015-11-22T08:27:00.003-08:002015-11-22T08:27:52.260-08:00Brigade CommanderOur second game was something rather different from <a href="http://lukeuedasarson.blogspot.jp/2015/11/populares.html" target="_blank">the first</a>, what with using 1:300th moderns instead of 15 mm ancients, and with a new rules set to boot in place of my usual Modern Spearhead. The rules are called "<a href="http://www.wargamevault.com/product/145835/FiveCore-Brigade-Commander" target="_blank">Brigade Commander</a>", and cover both WW2 as well as moderns; Aaron suggested I take a look at them, because he had heard they were fast play. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisznXJJ4P6Kv1wRH5Am1ORrF8O2sBuDjt1xrzfm36PGd5AemuY5qfXAmY7OiiN9arOjLYGHZC6bihHdh1JtrO3uGZvjdKzE89v_-shgkqoKDt_4LsewntMsh5-5KNsVS-lv0AlLVOVUdwg/s1600/BrigComm1.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisznXJJ4P6Kv1wRH5Am1ORrF8O2sBuDjt1xrzfm36PGd5AemuY5qfXAmY7OiiN9arOjLYGHZC6bihHdh1JtrO3uGZvjdKzE89v_-shgkqoKDt_4LsewntMsh5-5KNsVS-lv0AlLVOVUdwg/s320/BrigComm1.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Initial set up, from behind my right flank.</td></tr>
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We have a great problem when we pay Modern Spearhead in that we seem to take over an hour a bound on average, so getting a game actually fininished is a real task. I'm not one for trying new rules out willy-nilly, but something clearly had to be done, so I took a stab - they are a ten buck downloadable pdf, so I wasn't going to exactly break the bank taking a look. A quick once-over gave me the impression that would indeed be fast, and they also had a couple of mechanisms that were rather similar to a homebrew set I made back in 1989/90, so that was another plus: one was having attachments one lower down the command chain represented as smaller bases tagging along with the big base (only my rules were a "Division commander" equivalent, so one level higher up the command chain). Another was having effectiveness of fire vary with relative technology as opposed to have fixed effects - this is exactly the way forward IMNSHO, so I don't understand why more rules writers don't adopt it. I am doing the same in my may-they-ever-see-the-day ancients set too.<br />
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On the other hand, some bits were really confusing - especially the unit displacement rule - when you first spot a defender, it gets moved randomly to a slightly different position. We just couldn't get our head around that one - why should a <i>defending</i> unit hiding in cover be teleported outside of it when it is first seen? So we just ignored that one. (Maybe we simply didn't understand it properly - our brains aren't what they were when we were younger...)<br />
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Being a plonker, I left my printed-out copy at work, naturally, but we
could still access the electronic version to play - internet to the
rescue! We rolled up our forces pretty well much randomly, going "by the
book". I had Aaron's Americans as "stretched", so his force would be
smaller (but naturally, the tanks are way better - their 105s are vastly
superior to my 100 mm guns); my Czechoslovakians infantry/MICVs had a miniscule
advantage over his infantry in M113 APCs in that I could let off
anti-tank fire at a greater distance - needless to say, I never got to use it...<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWRi24M61qtt77lUlnbVrgiYkPmaJX3dazDZqFpJ9Q5z1euY54bcxrcu5XkjAilyQlE1CuV0ib95sxrRhVcmIYwZsix32eU3fFHNs2m3wAGeiB6LYX5-AM-3rzJoXoXyeMGz2l3oTWqBgT/s1600/BrigComm3.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWRi24M61qtt77lUlnbVrgiYkPmaJX3dazDZqFpJ9Q5z1euY54bcxrcu5XkjAilyQlE1CuV0ib95sxrRhVcmIYwZsix32eU3fFHNs2m3wAGeiB6LYX5-AM-3rzJoXoXyeMGz2l3oTWqBgT/s320/BrigComm3.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Yankee mechanised company in front of a T-55 company.</td></tr>
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I planked down some terrain - which was four of my terrain mats, giving a 1.2 by 1.2 m board (i.e. 4 foot a side) with forests made of carpet tiles thrown over the top; these last I snagged <a href="http://badlyleadmen.blogspot.jp/2013/09/woods.html" target="_blank">from Rhys</a> when I was last back in NZ, since they were now surplus to his requirements. We ignored any hedgerows, given the basic unit was a company, rather than a platoon as in MSH. We also ignored difficult fields, but that was more because we entirely forgot about the possibility of having them being difficult! It was one of a number of things we forgot during the course of the day (e.g. I couldn't find any of my bridge models, so no rivers could be used).<br />
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Aaron's game objective turned out to be "hold area against enemy" - he chose a hill just on his side of the centre line that had a good view of a lot of the board to be the key location. Mine objective to exit at least 1/4 of my companies off his baseline. I got two extra companies in compensation for him being able to take a defensive stance, further inflating the numbers discrepancy (he had 6 companies on table at the start, plus one as reinforcements; while I had 8 plus 3, respectively). The recommended 'base size' of company is <i>extremely</i> hazy in the rules. They talk about 1", 2", and 3" bases sizes in a single passage... Since there is at least a defined ground scale (1" = 100 yards), I took that into consideration when decreeing we would use three MSH bases to represent a standard company, with ranges being taken to and from the middle one; the flanking ones would be to make sure they occupied a realistic amount of space.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyKhH9qwS_f6ftbV1qMAUttGg4ljK2s474Sxe08xdfVXdoxYaZE5oeX0CNlJlVLqq3U_4IT6MaWtLKeAHDYNO7-HWdNZCEH7v09M0p3N5DXbuAAyuD9C1d6pNufh5ue8aWqDN_N0KZEtpQ/s1600/BrigComm2.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyKhH9qwS_f6ftbV1qMAUttGg4ljK2s474Sxe08xdfVXdoxYaZE5oeX0CNlJlVLqq3U_4IT6MaWtLKeAHDYNO7-HWdNZCEH7v09M0p3N5DXbuAAyuD9C1d6pNufh5ue8aWqDN_N0KZEtpQ/s320/BrigComm2.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Turn 6. Aaron (top) has been forced to retreat numerous times.</td></tr>
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I had some good initial luck with me being able to get a good march onto the table through a timely "scurry" where everybody got to move: this would appear to be, relatively speaking, generally better for the more numerous side if it happens on the first time - normally you get only three company activations a turn, so usually a smaller force gets a smaller proportion of its units to move. The first few turns saw most of our more lethal artillery assets (of which I had more) exhausted; whether it was wise to do so initially or later I didn't know, give it was our first game. And since this was a first game, there were no doubt many things we stuffed up rulewise too... <br />
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Once we really started coming to grips with each other, I kept scoring 1s or 6s on my "shock" dice, forcing Aaron's units to fall back constatantly. In fact, it looked like he was running out of room to retreat at some points, with some of companies falling back even beyond his HQ. On the other hand, my poor tankguns meant I was never in a position to land any "kill" dice on him, and my few assaults didn't work out. On the few occasions Aaron was able to actually get some shots of with his M60A1s, he was able to rip up my guys handily. I forgot to bring my smoke markers, so that part of the visual spectacle was AWOL; in the above picture we are using little 5 mm-a side coloured cubes to represent unit status. This should be done with appropriate dust, smoke, and fire markers...<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNU7-UnZLweXU-kZDtaX8KhOE1LMin6wiRWNhIk564mmggb0zZzr9qrTAvOke0adwjFcbliQ0VryJ5duCMv5JETM0PVrRUbSduqVxz7w9V5IDpmWnDT6QljcYDnmQDmqD1xE4QqGirkNxw/s1600/BrigComm4.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNU7-UnZLweXU-kZDtaX8KhOE1LMin6wiRWNhIk564mmggb0zZzr9qrTAvOke0adwjFcbliQ0VryJ5duCMv5JETM0PVrRUbSduqVxz7w9V5IDpmWnDT6QljcYDnmQDmqD1xE4QqGirkNxw/s320/BrigComm4.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Goddam Yankees! The American's are Aaron's own figures.</td></tr>
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Anyway, I was making quite a lot of ground, but was taking quite a lot of casualties in the process. Eventually however, I not only started taking too many casualties, but got some "firefight" activations that prevented me from actually doing anything useful just when Aaron seized the initiative with a freshly rallied tank company that went on a rampage down my right flank, smoking up two companies in front of them, then sweeping round my flank (see left) and taking out two more. Ouch!<br />
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Things were really really really not looking good for the Czechoslovakians at this juncture... <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjg-32YFJj8tcGIeI5FR-ylPM9v630c4EOFTiaE3NPkuspm6REPRDpmHJscprg0xUVrVadcf59sH1uRjGwpfTh-BILbCh_jWQRn4haJRH-UjeptINAJgUYlQn9Vo4JK39u0rwnJ783XnjCv/s1600/BrigComm5.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjg-32YFJj8tcGIeI5FR-ylPM9v630c4EOFTiaE3NPkuspm6REPRDpmHJscprg0xUVrVadcf59sH1uRjGwpfTh-BILbCh_jWQRn4haJRH-UjeptINAJgUYlQn9Vo4JK39u0rwnJ783XnjCv/s320/BrigComm5.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The casualties (Aaron's sole company lost at top). Not pretty...</td></tr>
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Now technically, I did complete my objective - I did get 3 companies of Aaron's baseline. But since he not only held his hill, but had but a single company rendered <i>hors de combat</i> while doing so, while I had lost seven (!) in getting my three off table, it was clear who the real winner was!<br />
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So what did I make of the rules? Well, they were indeed fast play. Very fast. You get maybe 6 to 12 companies total, and they are digital: they are either alive, or dead. So no fiddling about with 'casualities' or the like as platoons get whittled down. No 'morale' as such to speak of, either - combat results can force you to halt, or retreat, but only on a company by company basis. And this is all fine. I'm not sure I like the way artillery was handled - will have to investigate more. Likely we mishandled it...<br />
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There are lots of things I would tweak in terms of 'army list' design - I think not having lots of attachments is likely to be more of a wasted opportunity than a useful simplification, but further play-testing will be required. Even if I don't end up liking everything, there is a solid core here that is very much worth investigating. The fact that we could slap a game together, starting with generating an OOB on paper, to packing it away after the game, in something like 4 hours maximum, was quite the revalation. It would probably take me 2 days to do that with MSH...<br />
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<br />Luke Ueda-Sarsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02004840067785236764noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8564532820444629020.post-81343725079594871812015-11-22T05:58:00.000-08:002015-11-22T08:42:25.338-08:00Populares!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Finally, some gaming! A welcome opportunity to get down to<a href="http://prufrockian-gleanings.blogspot.jp/" target="_blank"> Aaron's</a> came about today, so I packed the car with some 1981 Czechs and my terrain mats, while Aaron got some ancients stuff organised. The moderns game I will comment on in my next post, for first up was a game of "<a href="http://bigredbatshop.co.uk/collections/all" target="_blank">To the Stongest</a>", which I have played <a href="http://lukeuedasarson.blogspot.jp/2015/04/an-introduction-to-to-strongest-part-2.html" target="_blank">just twice before</a>, but thoroughly enjoyed it.</div>
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Aaron has by now built up a very respectable collection of late Republican Romans indeed, plus a bunch of western European enemies and allies. So I thought a game featuring the noble and glorious Sertorius on one side (that would be me, you understand), versus the villainous and unnamed <i>optimates</i> (Aaron, naturally...) would go down well. Aaron proposed a points budget of just 130 points each to keep things simple, so we had to cut down a bit on the troops present - Sertorius wasn't rated as "brilliant" for example. My army, having large numbers of Lusitanian <i>caetrati</i> (light infantry) was a bit bigger than his, due to his larger numbers of more expensive legionaries.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGLDNRT01s-UhJfz-u0Dqk9qDnthpqTf5mZ22DgNGXTQGASzy8NfUM5tbmDO6009Dm5Sazfb8W3QCTLrAbAfPWErVJ3olAutQ6TxaAFvJs7h9VvdnbEmUaaYW5lBiKBBAm2drVO2xyr75i/s1600/Setorius1-600by450.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGLDNRT01s-UhJfz-u0Dqk9qDnthpqTf5mZ22DgNGXTQGASzy8NfUM5tbmDO6009Dm5Sazfb8W3QCTLrAbAfPWErVJ3olAutQ6TxaAFvJs7h9VvdnbEmUaaYW5lBiKBBAm2drVO2xyr75i/s320/Setorius1-600by450.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Deployment, viewed from the rear of my left flank.</td></tr>
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We rolled terrain as per the rules, and I was pretty satisfied with what I got; the flanks were dominated by rocky hills and the like, just right for my light troops to lurk in. Note the mats making up the playing field - see Aaron's <a href="http://prufrockian-gleanings.blogspot.jp/2015/11/fluffy-boa-puzzle-mat-where-have-you.html" target="_blank">post on these</a> for details.</div>
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My centre was anchored between theses hills, as I thought it would be weaker than his, and I wanted to work the flanks. I had a unit of heavy horse and a unit of light horse on each flank, plus a bunch of light troops. Sertorius took my right, while the left and the centre had a sub-general each.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzUPETUr96hI2_li-nBzbCmcvvqamV1dGKEh3G5k5h2yBDYK4IWxjCm_nqpcvPTLouBrKUCXahSydUNqPqMXlWtauzG7oEKcKn6FyOX7FiRuZTofR5aBGsElRR2Mj7hC6yH1iRg33M1zwV/s1600/Setorius2-600by450.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzUPETUr96hI2_li-nBzbCmcvvqamV1dGKEh3G5k5h2yBDYK4IWxjCm_nqpcvPTLouBrKUCXahSydUNqPqMXlWtauzG7oEKcKn6FyOX7FiRuZTofR5aBGsElRR2Mj7hC6yH1iRg33M1zwV/s320/Setorius2-600by450.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My light horse on the extreme right, working the flank.</td></tr>
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As it turned out, Aaron's horse was slightly meatier than mine, with three heavies and one light unit as opposed to my two of each. Still, I had a lot of light troops to support them, and I figured the terrain was with me, so I pressed forward on both flanks, while keeping my centre back.</div>
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On my right, I moved up quickly, aided by Sertorius being there in person, keeping the activation points coming. Combat didn't go quite so well, however, with no rapid breakthroughs. I attempted some outflanking manoeuvres here, but not mcuh came of it, as my heavy cavalry were struggling, and Aaron was able to manoeuvre his own heavy cavalry to advantge. Soon my heavy cavalry here had been removed from play, and Sertorius had to transfer to the light horse, leaving my grand plans for attack in this sector in tatters.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMoIYKrGoum1341qWmg3Ud62QtwfVHm5feNURap780opSCrFtAUJ7a1NmQNStsV9ARzA0LCNiDtUsj6Y7KqasG10unMl55sRiVIec2PvEyaTtQpLvRLj-NiG3JtfbdXHpUxk2YNFPROjE4/s1600/Setorius3-600by450.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMoIYKrGoum1341qWmg3Ud62QtwfVHm5feNURap780opSCrFtAUJ7a1NmQNStsV9ARzA0LCNiDtUsj6Y7KqasG10unMl55sRiVIec2PvEyaTtQpLvRLj-NiG3JtfbdXHpUxk2YNFPROjE4/s320/Setorius3-600by450.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The flanks are fully engaged, but the centres have yet to meet.</td></tr>
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On my left, I similarly moved forwards, but failed to make any headway with my shooting. Our cavalry clashed, and it was a more bloody affair than of the other flank.</div>
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I was able to take out Aaron's sole light horse unit, but unfortunately lost not only my own in the process, but also my general in the aftermath, thus starving my forces here of leadership. Over the subsequent turns Aaron was able to take out my heavy horse as well, but his remaining horse unit was unwilling to try and force the issue with my lght infantry holding the heights, stimmying his advance.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFJ2HevLDLWX23kyWWV6NyPbQLhPn9AeLRcPDgITtjOcrgid5X6IrJ675oYKS6FMwSyqdo_2iSsaipbMMpxfnkSS9ySNBfK6utLOW77BVmSEvO7wTiE-hcuBwC0yLaU6cXht-myZlJ2T81/s1600/Setorius4-600by450.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFJ2HevLDLWX23kyWWV6NyPbQLhPn9AeLRcPDgITtjOcrgid5X6IrJ675oYKS6FMwSyqdo_2iSsaipbMMpxfnkSS9ySNBfK6utLOW77BVmSEvO7wTiE-hcuBwC0yLaU6cXht-myZlJ2T81/s320/Setorius4-600by450.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The view from behind Aaron's centre. All figures are his.</td></tr>
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Having been bested on the flanks, my remaining hope lay with the centre. As it happened, I was not as weak here as I had feared I would be. We both had solid line of legionaries. Aaron had a second reserve line of veteran legionaries, but they were few in number. My second line was of Spanish <i>scutarii</i>, and thus not as strong, individually, but they were much more numerous, and thus could potentially take more of a beating before folding. So I moved forwards my centre to meet his, and the main lines clashed. The initial voleys of thrwoing weapons were resisted stoutly by both sides, and thus our front lines settled down to sword play.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4aQKcLUbBQd1m8K7_wZI73KaabVaTILQBpCTeHbMvIvpUEnJMUtQsD_nQ2oAZDvK1YPV526anYpCtfi8x964w0KHz1NwhA295bkVakLHWTqKyVQbAPSCTbUXpHh8A7JnzQ03PwqM2PJks/s1600/Setorius5-600by450.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4aQKcLUbBQd1m8K7_wZI73KaabVaTILQBpCTeHbMvIvpUEnJMUtQsD_nQ2oAZDvK1YPV526anYpCtfi8x964w0KHz1NwhA295bkVakLHWTqKyVQbAPSCTbUXpHh8A7JnzQ03PwqM2PJks/s320/Setorius5-600by450.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The breakthrough! That's my sub-general rolling up his line...</td></tr>
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And here luck went my way. Aaron's units could hit me well enough, but I saved an awful lot of hits, while my return strikes often went unsaved by him. Further, his activations went AWOL at critical points, leaving him unable to rally units, and leaving them very vulnerable to subsequent attacks. On my right flank, the crappy terrain frustrated him in being able to move his cavalry across to influence the centre, and likewsie on my left, the crappy terrain frustrated him there too. Terrain in hindsight that had been very well-positioned by myself! My superior numbers in the centre eventually wore his down, and a line swap did little to stem the tide, for his veterans were too few in numbers to resist my weightier centre. Eventually the legion led by my sub-general routed their oppoistes, cracking his line open, and the proverbial fat lady started winding for her aria...</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Technically not yet "game over", but irretrievable...</td></tr>
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With his centre split and being rolled up, soon four more of his six original legions routed, with just his own center general's legion holding on - barely. And with the equivalent of five legions in front of it, the writing was not merely on the wall, but spelled out a hundred times all over the forum...</div>
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A corker of a game, with lots of interesting decision points; a bunch of realistic outcomes, (with no senior general on the Roman side, Sertorius won, as he was wont to do...), and nothing happend on the table that jarred my sense of historical accuracy. I'm liking this system more and more! I guess the next step is to see how well it plays outside the classical Mediterranean...</div>
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Aaron's take <a href="http://prufrockian-gleanings.blogspot.jp/2015/11/sertorian-wars-with-to-strongest.html" target="_blank">here</a>.</div>
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<br />Luke Ueda-Sarsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02004840067785236764noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8564532820444629020.post-87694149036286322682015-08-24T03:42:00.003-07:002015-08-24T21:28:30.837-07:00Trapped in the bocage...My final Spearhead game with Rhys was a meeting engagement using Keith's scenario generator system; 650 points a side. In keeping with our Normandy theme this week, we set up a table with plenty of terrain, including lots of <i>bocage</i>-type heavy hedgerows. <br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFOg4yKh5taPCyYxhs7dNtsguM2sN4ESRB-YkdnzkltcMx9CtGTarsx9mLSez7zfJHmUTTZwrOieDiFJ7hyphenhyphenD55ZAjjIlImhJJ9JWyEE9I1KEKYerEfUPml9oeKN8fFv8tw4xSSTxH2WCgj/s1600/Game2Table.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFOg4yKh5taPCyYxhs7dNtsguM2sN4ESRB-YkdnzkltcMx9CtGTarsx9mLSez7zfJHmUTTZwrOieDiFJ7hyphenhyphenD55ZAjjIlImhJJ9JWyEE9I1KEKYerEfUPml9oeKN8fFv8tw4xSSTxH2WCgj/s400/Game2Table.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The table from what would become Rhys' left corner. The water course counted as just a stream, so was fordable by all.</td></tr>
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Rhys's force was taken from a German Panzer Division (1st SS) list - 4 rather small battalions (10 to 12 stands apiece), graded Regular. Two were of leg infantry, each of which had an 88 stand in support, along with a stand of 120 mm Mortars, and two were armoured, with Panzer IV Hs and their accompanying half-tracks cross-attached. Rhys had two small batteries of off-table artillery; 2 stands of 105 mm howitzers, and 2 of 150 mm.<br />
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Rhys had been telling me about a game he had recently where he had maxed-out on British field artillery. 25-pdrs might have crap attack factors, but the British ability to mass their fire over and above what any other nationality can do in Keith's scenario system proved cost-effective in his game, and he recommended I give it a go. Sure, I said, I'm game!<br />
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So my on-table force was also 4 battalions-strong, each slightly understrength, but not greatly so, and larger than Rhys'; they were taken from a British infantry division list (15th Scottish), except for the tanks which were an independent Armoured Regiment, of Churchill VIIs (from 6th Guards Brigade), and whose three companies were parcelled out to the three infantry battalions. In support, I had a full 18 stands of 25-pdrs, along with their corresponding 9 forward observer elements: one for each battalion per infantry battalion. Thus nearly 1/6 of my points allocation was spent on FOs, and another 1/6 on the artillery itself.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitui_nowyi7OeKD6VuVaxegLWuY7uSYKEHGROqAqK8UBUEEQmfUxsdna-E86lntGFFk8NHZHbMJaLaT4Va2lvi3NyYqQ-VaSic_uUIDSFmiaqo5FRYa2b8YNF7JgvGlH7T7PGi-AVl8cQN/s1600/Game2Deployment.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="449" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitui_nowyi7OeKD6VuVaxegLWuY7uSYKEHGROqAqK8UBUEEQmfUxsdna-E86lntGFFk8NHZHbMJaLaT4Va2lvi3NyYqQ-VaSic_uUIDSFmiaqo5FRYa2b8YNF7JgvGlH7T7PGi-AVl8cQN/s640/Game2Deployment.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">German advance orders in red; British in blue; positional objectives are in yellow. I don't think the central one on Rhys' side is actually a valid one, but we nothing else in the centre that looked even this noteworthy... Excuse the cropped off table - I didn't aim the camera properly!</td></tr>
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Rhys opted to group his two infantry battalions together, on my left; they were tasked with taking the hillocks there; his 88s would be deployed in overwatch positions to cover the infantry's advance. One Panzer battalion would be a central holding force, while the other would advance down the road on my right.<br />
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My three battalions were almost identical, each 21 elements strong including the FOs. I determined to defend on my right, anchoring myself on the village by the stream; while I would concentrate my attack on my left, and then sweep around toward the centre after the 10th move with timed orders.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEKEDuZjhTSAohWRQd_Z7RL6odqAW3M1NYc7e2bCpAiO-BtubFuQ6LFPsGdPXLTUY1YP1CAjBWZTDcEiVPuOlBn41QJ2jNQYgQ_kL1h6V8YdYhSI-V6_yWtrDo8bwaOEQfuCBlQJvT6DCA/s1600/Game2Town1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEKEDuZjhTSAohWRQd_Z7RL6odqAW3M1NYc7e2bCpAiO-BtubFuQ6LFPsGdPXLTUY1YP1CAjBWZTDcEiVPuOlBn41QJ2jNQYgQ_kL1h6V8YdYhSI-V6_yWtrDo8bwaOEQfuCBlQJvT6DCA/s400/Game2Town1.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rhys' Panzer IVs move down the lane toward the village on my right while my 6-pdr element gets off some telling shots.</td></tr>
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On my right, I secured the near village and adopted defensive positions as Rhys' tanks moved down the road. The tall hedgerows here really limited manoeuvre and visibility. My 6-pdr element, that had unlimbered just in time as the lead tank of his column moved into view, got off a lucky shot, suppressing it (factor 5 vs 6 isn't the best...), halting his advance temporarily, and allowing me time to consolidate my position and start calling in artillery fire.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW69t3BGLpFWCcEYUilPCLNc7I4kIktMEADaCs7V6L9Bf5VRrkHcs7KenxWsYh7VIUbT9MgisekzkdUuJ_FdubEj93jxKH8LYklmL-kSZSa6rF_0zP3itpyxWZ_5n3iyq8xuGmklEjxk5t/s1600/Game2Town2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW69t3BGLpFWCcEYUilPCLNc7I4kIktMEADaCs7V6L9Bf5VRrkHcs7KenxWsYh7VIUbT9MgisekzkdUuJ_FdubEj93jxKH8LYklmL-kSZSa6rF_0zP3itpyxWZ_5n3iyq8xuGmklEjxk5t/s400/Game2Town2.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Here's the same confrontation viewed from Rhys' side of the board. The forests are cut up brown-fibre doormats with flock on top - easy to make and rather effective, visually.</td></tr>
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On my left, I advanced boldly, and since Rhys did much the same, we were soon in close contact. My artillery fire over here wasn't initially very effective (although that would soon change), but the constant casualties it inflicted gave me the upper hand. And my Churchills weren't suffering too much from his 88 batteries either, as they swept up my flank, past a developing fire fight between two woods, and onwards...<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCoxOE-7nrdJcNprOSERPWSnXpWi0y39v0ddllM05XV_pVQ-5n2BZkoHUT4IWHY8kUgeqP_LAvG3HwXEHX5YZWFQT5F4CBOyibAYdv8Sqtt74fWpZGJfmMotLTrT-xUCpRxwvEmXy7xlAH/s1600/Game2Centre.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCoxOE-7nrdJcNprOSERPWSnXpWi0y39v0ddllM05XV_pVQ-5n2BZkoHUT4IWHY8kUgeqP_LAvG3HwXEHX5YZWFQT5F4CBOyibAYdv8Sqtt74fWpZGJfmMotLTrT-xUCpRxwvEmXy7xlAH/s400/Game2Centre.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The view from Rhys's centre toward my left flank; his troops are bottom- to mid-right. I had the advantage both in numbers and in fire support here...</td></tr>
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In the centre, there was some exchange of fire between our tanks where visibility allowed, which went to my advantage, aided by the Churchill VII's formidable 8 Defence factor, and this tied up his central force, preventing it from aiding both his left and right flanks. On my left, my artillery dice suddenly started to roll hot (oooh look at that - 4 sixes !), and Rhys' casualties mounted alarmingly. By turn 6, I had forced his first battalion there to check morale, which it failed, and the survivors started legging it toward their rear; they didn't survive the next turn however.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY_z9qUhm7xhcIpWdAK7tWWiSrfPCb9DmmR8LWgW_CAsMDrQ8NgpiOIMC5AV0Hop_I5i0unUHpk0HxRvROc8p8DUfFcKFrF0a-l0B58bYoJ0UTWL91mJvo0-B7-q0qJRLxJILpvfugx5LF/s1600/Game2Town3.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY_z9qUhm7xhcIpWdAK7tWWiSrfPCb9DmmR8LWgW_CAsMDrQ8NgpiOIMC5AV0Hop_I5i0unUHpk0HxRvROc8p8DUfFcKFrF0a-l0B58bYoJ0UTWL91mJvo0-B7-q0qJRLxJILpvfugx5LF/s400/Game2Town3.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A bit of smoke won't help Rhys' batallion here - the lane to the left is littered with dead Panzer IVs (which we keep forgetting to provide wrecks for...)</td></tr>
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On my right, Rhys' tanks were taking too many losses from a combination of artillery fire, PIATs from behind hedgerows, and AP shells; by turn 8 this battalion had also been forced to turn tail. Since Rhys had only bagged a single victory objective - which he was about to lose, whereas I had not only already broken two battalions, taken 2 objectives, and was about to seize 2 more, the proverbial operatic fat lady was clearly in fill aria mode by this stage! I'd only lost 8 elements in the process, and Rhys was just 1 stand off losing his 3rd battalion...<br />
<br />
So what were the lessons learnt? Well apart the the obvious ones we all know about 6s beatings 1s, the British fire concentration, although appearing a non-starter to the casual eye, proved its worth. Individually, each gun isn't up to much, but the ability to keep a sustained massed barrage going at the crucial point of contact - assuming you don't dilute your attack too much - can be very much worth it. I'm wondering if the ability to do this with heavier pieces than 25-pdrs would be too overwhelming. Test-driving required!<br />
<br />
The other thing I learned were some further inanities of the points system. Apparently the WW2 points were developed by the Auckland club and thus pre-date Keith's involvement; and they really need reviewing. For example, a Pz IV H has a +1 attack factor on a Sherman, and a longer range. For this it pays a 20% premium in points (4 points), which seems a bit steep, but is perhaps arguable. But a Churchill VII pays just 10% extra to get 2 extra defence factors over a Sherman (and 3 on the side armour!), albeit while losing some speed in the process, making it very good value in comparison: there is no way 11 Shermans are as good as 10 Churchill VIIs, and even more obviously, there is now way 11 Panzer IV Hs are as good as 12 Churchill VIIs - indeed, 13 of them aren't! Likewise, a T-34/76 costs the same as a Sherman, despite moving faster, and having all other factors the same. Even worse, a Panther costs more than an IS-2, despite the IS-2 apparently being better, or at worst, equal, in every respect, factor-wise! <br />
<br />
<a href="http://badlyleadmen.blogspot.jp/2015/08/things-ive-learnt-today.html" target="_blank">Rhys' game account here</a>.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Luke Ueda-Sarsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02004840067785236764noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8564532820444629020.post-38981697247985675212015-08-22T17:15:00.002-07:002015-08-28T00:45:40.658-07:00Falaise Gap - Part VFor those interested in the specific details of the forces we used, they were as follows:<br />
<br />
<h4>
Player 1 (Allied):</h4>
A. South Alberta Regt. + Arygyll & Southern Highlanders (Canada); Morale: Regular <br />
1 x BHQ (Rifle; Uncommanded; in and around St. Lambert: Maj. David Currie) <br />
4 x Rifles <br />
3 x Sherman<br />
1 x Firefly <br />
<br />
B. 10th Polish Dragoons; Morale: Regular <br />
1 x BHQ (1/2 t; in and around Chambois: Maj. R. Dowbór)<br />
1 x Brigade HQ (Sherman; may roll for 1/6 chance of air support per turn: Lt.Col. Władysław Zgorzelski) <br />
2 x Achilles <br />
4 x Rifles (1/2 t)<br />
2 x Rifles (Carrier)<br />
2 x HMG (Carrier)<br />
1 x 3" Mortar (Carrier)<br />
1 x 6-pdr (Carrier)<br />
2 x Sherman<br />
1 x Firefly<br />
<br />
C. 24th Polish Lancers; Morale: Regular<br />
1 x BHQ (Sherman; near Chambois: Lt.Col. J. Kański)<br />
1 x Stuart <br />
2 x Achilles<br />
6 x Sherman<br />
3 x Firefly<br />
2 x Rifles (1/2 t)<br />
1 x Rifles (Carrier)<br />
<br />
D. 2nd Battalion, 359th Infantry Regiment (US Army; Morale: Regular <br />
1 x BHQ (Rifle; Uncommanded; in and around Chambois: Major Leonard C. Dull) <br />
2 x FO<br />
9 x Rifles<br />
2 x HMG<br />
1 x 81 mm Mortar<br />
1 x 57 mm AT (t)<br />
1 x M10<br />
3 x 105 mm (off-table, with FO)<br />
3 x 105 mm (off-table, with FO)<br />
3 x 105 mm (off-table, no FO) <br />
3 x 155 mm (off-table, no FO)<br />
<br />
<h4>
Player 2 (Allied):</h4>
A. 1st Polish Armour; Morale: Regular <br />
1 x BHQ (Sherman; Hill 262: Lt. Col. Alexander Stefanowicz)<br />
1 x Brigade HQ (Rifles; may roll for 1/6 chance of air support per turn: Lt. Col. Z. Szydłowski) <br />
1 x Stuart <br />
2 x Achilles<br />
6 x Sherman<br />
3 x Firefly<br />
4 x Rifles<br />
<br />
B. 9th Polish Rifles; Morale: Regular <br />
1 x BHQ (Rifles; North slopes of Hill 262: Maj. M. Kochanowski)<br />
1 x FO<br />
2 x 5.5" (off-table) <br />
8 x Rifles <br />
1 x HMG (Carrier)<br />
1 x 3" Mortar (Carrier)<br />
1 x 6-pdr (Carrier)<br />
1 x Engineer (1/2 track)<br />
<br />
C. Podhale Rifles; Morale: Regular <br />
1 x BHQ (Rifles; around Mont Ormel: Lt.Col. K. Complak)<br />
1 x Carrier<br />
3 x 17-pdr (t)<br />
4 x Rifles <br />
1 x HMG (Carrier)<br />
1 x 3" Mortar (Carrier)<br />
1 x 6-pdr (Carrier)<br />
1 x Engineer (1/2 track)<br />
<br />
D. 8th Polish Rifles; Morale: Regular <br />
1 x BHQ (Rifles; North slopes of Hill 262: Lt.Col. Aleksander Nowaczyński)<br />
1 x Carrier <br />
1 x FO<br />
2 x 5.5" (off-table)<br />
3 x 17-pdr <br />
6 x Rifles <br />
1 x HMG (Carrier)<br />
1 x 3" Mortar (Carrier)<br />
1 x 6-pdr (Carrier)<br />
1 x Engineer (1/2 track)<br />
<br />
E. 2nd Polish Armour; Morale: Regular <br />
1 x BHQ (Sherman; southern slopes of Hill 262, south of Chaudehard: Lt.Col. S. Koszustki)<br />
1 x Stuart <br />
2 x Rifles<br />
3 x HMG <br />
6 x Sherman<br />
3 x Firefly <br />
<br />
<h4>
Player 3 (Axis):</h4>
A. 2nd SS Panzer Div.; Morale: Veteran <br />
1 x BHQ (Panther; enters turn 1 east of Hill 262: SS-Obersturmbannführer Otto Weidinger)<br />
1 x Brigade HQ (1/2 t: SS-Oberführer Otto Baum) <br />
2 x Panther<br />
2 x Pz IV H<br />
1 x Engineer (truck)<br />
4 x Rifles (1/2 t)<br />
2 x Rifles<br />
<br />
B. 362nd Inf. Div. (?); Morale: Regular <br />
1 x BHQ (1/2 t; enters turn 2 east of Hill 262)<br />
1 x StuG IIIG<br />
1 x 20 mm SP AA<br />
1 x FO<br />
2 x 105 mm (off-table) <br />
6 x Rifles<br />
<br />
C. 9th SS Panzer Div. (in part); Morale: Regular <br />
1 x BHQ (Panther; enters turn 8 north of Chaudehard: SS-Obersturmbannführer Wilhelm Bittrich)<br />
1 x Brigade HQ (1/2 t: SS-Oberführer Friedrich-Wilhelm Bock) <br />
1 x Panther<br />
2 x Tiger <br />
1 x Pz IV H<br />
2 x Rifles<br />
<br />
D. 9th SS Panzer Div. (in part); Morale: Regular <br />
1 x BHQ (Panther; enters turn 8 north of Chaudehard: SS-Obersturmbannführer Walter Harzer)<br />
1 x FO<br />
2 x 105 mm (off-table) <br />
1 x Panther<br />
1 x Pz IV H<br />
2 x Rifles (1/2 t) <br />
2 x Rifles<br />
1 x 120 mm Mortar (t)<br />
<br />
<h4>
Player 4 (Axis):</h4>
A. 5th Regiment, 3rd Fjr. Div.; Morale: Veteran <br />
1 x BHQ (Rifle; near Mimbeville: Oberstleutnant Karl-Heinz Becker) <br />
1 x Brigade HQ (Rifle: <span lang="de">Generalmajor Eugen Meindl</span>)<br />
5 x Rifles<br />
1 x 120 mm Mortar (t)<br />
1 x 20 mm AA (t)<br />
1 x StuG IIIG<br />
<br />
B. 8th Regiment, 3rd Fjr. Div.; Morale: Veteran <br />
1 x BHQ (Rifle; south of Mimbeville: Oberstleutnant Ernst Liebach) <br />
6 x Rifles<br />
1 x 81 mm Morta <br />
1 x Engineer <br />
1 x StuG IIIG<br />
<br />
C. 9th Regiment, 3rd Fjr. Div.; Morale: Veteran <br />
1 x BHQ (Rifle; Sourdevais: Major Kurt Stephani)<br />
1 x FO<br />
2 x 105 mm (t) <br />
6 x Rifles<br />
1 x Engineer<br />
<br />
D. 353rd Infantry Division; Morale: Regular<br />
1 x BHQ (Rifle; north of Mimbeville: <span lang="de">Generalleutnant Paul Mahlmann</span>) <br />
1 x SMG<br />
6 x Rifles<br />
1 x Engineer<br />
1 x PaK 40 (t)<br />
1 x StuG IIIG<br />
1 x 20 mm AA (t)<br />
<br />
<h4>
Player 5 (Axis):</h4>
A. 2nd Panzer Div. + 10th SS Panzer Div.; Morale: Regular <br />
1 x BHQ (Panther; enters turn 1 west of St. Lambert: SS-Brigadeführer Heinz Harmel)<br />
1 x Brigade HQ (Rifles: Generalleutnant Heinrich Freiherr von Lüttwitz)<br />
1 x 234/1 AC<br />
1 x Tiger<br />
1 x Panther<br />
2 x Pz IV H<br />
2 x Rifles (1/2 t) <br />
4 x Rifles<br />
1 x 251/2 SP 81 mm Mortar<br />
1 x Engineer<br />
1 x SP 20 mm AA<br />
1 x 88 mm AA (t)<br />
<br />
B. 116th Panzer Div. + 12th SS Panzer Div.; Morale: Regular <br />
1 x BHQ (Panther; enters turn 1 west of Chambois: <span class="" id="result_box" lang="en"><span title="W okolicy południowego wzgórza 262 wymknął się natomiast sztab 7 Armii z rannym gen. Hausserem, a także dowódca 12 Dywizji Pancernej SS "Hitlerjugend", SS-Oberführer Kurt Meyer[43][52].">SS-Oberf</span></span><span class="" id="result_box" lang="en"><span title="W okolicy południowego wzgórza 262 wymknął się natomiast sztab 7 Armii z rannym gen. Hausserem, a także dowódca 12 Dywizji Pancernej SS "Hitlerjugend", SS-Oberführer Kurt Meyer[43][52].">ührer Kurt Meyer</span></span><span class="" id="result_box" lang="en"><span title="W okolicy południowego wzgórza 262 wymknął się natomiast sztab 7 Armii z rannym gen. Hausserem, a także dowódca 12 Dywizji Pancernej SS "Hitlerjugend", SS-Oberführer Kurt Meyer[43][52]."></span></span>)<br />
1 x Brigade HQ (Rifles: General der Panzertruppe Gerhard Graf von Schwerin) <br />
1 x 234/1 AC<br />
1 x Brigade HQ (Rifles) <br />
1 x Tiger<br />
2 x Panther<br />
2 x Pz IV H<br />
2 x Rifles (1/2 t) <br />
4 x Rifles<br />
1 x GW1 SP 150 mm<br />
1 x Engineer<br />
1 x SP 20 mm AA<br />
<br />
C. 84th Infantry Division; Morale: Regular <br />
1 x BHQ (Rifles; enters turn 2 southwest of St. Lambert)<br />
1 x Brigade HQ (Rifles) <br />
6 x Rifles<br />
1 x 120 mm Motar (t)<br />
<br />
D. 276th Infantry Division; Morale: Regular <br />
1 x BHQ (Rifles; enters turn 4 west of Chambois)<br />
1 x FO<br />
2 x 105 mm (off-table) <br />
6 x Rifles<br />
1 x 81 mm Motar<br />
<br />
E. 277th Infantry Division; Morale: Regular <br />
1 x BHQ (Rifles; enters turn 6 west of St. Lambert)<br />
6 x Rifles<br />
1 x 81 mm Motar<br />
1 x StuG IIIG<br />
1 x PaK 40 (t)<br />
<br />
F. 326th Infantry Division; Morale: Regular <br />
1 x BHQ (Rifles; enters turn 8 west of Chambois)<br />
6 x Rifles<br />
1 x Engineer<br />
1 x 20 mm AA (t)<br />
<br />
G. 363rd Infantry Division; Morale: Regular <br />
1 x BHQ (Rifles; enters turn 10 west of St. Lambert)<br />
1 x FO<br />
2 x 105 mm (off-table) <br />
6 x Rifles<br />
1 x PaK 40 (t)<br />
1 x 75 mm IG (t) <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
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<br />Luke Ueda-Sarsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02004840067785236764noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8564532820444629020.post-16089445574349977842015-08-22T05:31:00.000-07:002015-08-22T05:31:19.264-07:00Falaise Gap - Part IVTo the west, things sounded like they were even more bloody, but I naturally had little idea what was going on, it being all of two meters away... From what I could see, Peter had driven westwards hard with his first wave, and been mauled in the process, losing both the 2nd SS Panzers and the 362nd Infantry in the process, before his southbound force had even arrived on the table! He almost broke Rhys' Podhale Rifles in the process, but there's a big difference between "almost" doing something and actually doing it... <br />
<br />
The veteran paratroopers assaulting from the other direction proved to be a big headache for Rhys - and he new this would be case, since they are his regular WW2 gaming force! And once the 9th SS Panzers arrived just in time to replace the exhausted 353rd Infantry on their northern flank, they started pushing up the hill in real earnest.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgslm4lt3l8aK6Fql22fpwnqIctFOM-wJuYjIrjTa6XP2X-xtt3jc26HeWLEx_JbW25_Hc6rHErcGqGLJOINVt8d6I5TQVh6gdwoLlt9kr2u2YfKrXunW0xGv8v5fb8D_wsBgqQHuTqsdg7/s1600/OrmelVignette.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="209" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgslm4lt3l8aK6Fql22fpwnqIctFOM-wJuYjIrjTa6XP2X-xtt3jc26HeWLEx_JbW25_Hc6rHErcGqGLJOINVt8d6I5TQVh6gdwoLlt9kr2u2YfKrXunW0xGv8v5fb8D_wsBgqQHuTqsdg7/s320/OrmelVignette.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<small>Detail of elements of 9 SS Panzer Division supporting 3. Fjr-Division assaulting Mont Ormel. The brownish pipe cleaners are being used to represent light entrenchments (the Poles having dug in during the night). The number of vacant positions attest to the intensity of the fighting in this sector of the table.</small><br />
<br />
As it happened, the Germans just couldn't shift the Poles off the northern Hill 262, just as happened in real-life (in our game the 9th SS Panzers were essentially destroyed in the attempt), but the Poles couldn't hang on to the southern portion of Mont Ormel either; again, mirroring the real life situation, and thus opening the way east for those elements that could make it.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNLH_SPABaLod4YFRlNN3n8uyhkqdCyyBv6dn5Ot_9ibIICFSzjs1iGij6ufGEj6qKUldnpcz94UDkuSuVxXdMBm3epbqGmSeoWrPpGJ7tiwySbEFcdAan0BGk25ei5Q0u6ghAEwoz2fBH/s1600/OrmelTurn12.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="236" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNLH_SPABaLod4YFRlNN3n8uyhkqdCyyBv6dn5Ot_9ibIICFSzjs1iGij6ufGEj6qKUldnpcz94UDkuSuVxXdMBm3epbqGmSeoWrPpGJ7tiwySbEFcdAan0BGk25ei5Q0u6ghAEwoz2fBH/s400/OrmelTurn12.png" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<small>The rest of the view of Mont Ormel shown above, at the end of turn 12. No German forces remain to the left (northeast), while the 3rd Paratroopers have cleared a path straight up the centre of the shot, demonstrating yet again that when it comes to assaulting close terrain, "veteran"-rated infantry just can't be beat...</small><br />
<br />
So after 5 1/2 hours of play, and 12 turns completed, we essentially had our result, and it was very close to what happened historically. The Poles had fended off all assaults on Hill 262, but could not prevent a corridor being opened up for part of the 7th Army to slip through, south of Mont Ormel. But while men may have gotten through, hardly any heavy equipment made it. A satisfying result to a good day's gaming!<br />
<br />
In hindsight, the eastern end of the battlefield should have been rotated northwards, gaining an extra km there at the expense of a kilometre of unused terrain to the south. And with more research, unit positions and strengths, etc., could have been tweaked, but it all went pretty well I thought. Here's <a href="http://badlyleadmen.blogspot.co.nz/2015/08/behind-scenes-of-creating-scenario.html" target="_blank">Rhys thoughts</a> on making up the scenario.<br />
<br />Luke Ueda-Sarsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02004840067785236764noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8564532820444629020.post-61365911037351230642015-08-22T04:34:00.002-07:002015-08-22T05:18:31.810-07:00Falaise Gap - Part IIIThe "Attack" orders I issued to the units under my command were simple, and effectively amounted to "Move east", through St. Lambert for the units in the north, and over the middle bridge for those in the south; I was determined to avoid the hornets nest of Chambois as much as I could. In t<a href="http://badlyleadmen.blogspot.co.nz/2015/08/behind-scenes-of-creating-scenario.html" target="_blank">he previous day's play test</a>, the Canadians in St. Lambert had given a very good account of themselves, and prevented any German armour from passing their, while the Poles in Chambois overextended themselves in trying to close off the open plain to their north; we also hadn't figured out the correct way to represent the powerful American artillery support. Knowing this last point would be rectified on the actual day, I was determined to assault St. Lambert with as great as force as possible.<br />
<br />
My advance in the north got off to a rocky start, as I hadn't even got within sight of the enemy when Paul successfully rolled for a P-47 flight, which proceeded to take out my SP 20 mm AA platoon, plus a platoon of mounted Panzer Grenadiers. However, Paul had deployed the Canadians ultra-defensively, with essentially everybody deployed within the village, rather than around it, which meant he essentially gave up the chance of inflicting any casualties as I approached the village, even when my infantry waded across the shoulder-deep river. As a result, I was able to assault the village pretty well much at leisure: the first assault went in on turn 6, and I had completely cleared both sectors by turn 8.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi61-gh9jJHjXUSJ68vcGA_L2g09cE9Sxek7Dtqyz9O7AcZHHndz6GAHeD3CxHGJAU01CUdRUPeOp1PIfmGychqalZLVQ03WYySAnfnufeI5lWjgV0Tux0JjLQAOhRORheK6hHcldMCmMJa/s1600/Major_david_currie_vc.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi61-gh9jJHjXUSJ68vcGA_L2g09cE9Sxek7Dtqyz9O7AcZHHndz6GAHeD3CxHGJAU01CUdRUPeOp1PIfmGychqalZLVQ03WYySAnfnufeI5lWjgV0Tux0JjLQAOhRORheK6hHcldMCmMJa/s320/Major_david_currie_vc.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<small>German troops surrendering to the Canadian South Alberta Regiment in St. Lambert, 19 August 1944. These roles would be reversed the next day in our re-fight.</small><br />
<br />
My southern advance was both more cautious, and less successful. I attempted to utilise what cover there was as much as I could, but I was in a bit of Scylla and Charybdis situation - the cover was arranged in such a way that the more I minimised my exposure to the artillery spotters in Chambois, the more I exposed myself to the rather numerous 17-pdr-equipped Fireflies and Achilles platoons in its environs (the Poles had more 17-pdr equipped tanks and tank destroyers than I had tanks in total...). Slowly, but surely, my casualties mounted, and I had almost nothing to show for it in exchange. The only tank platoons to make it successfully across the bridge were two stands of Panthers, and these were promptly knocked out, one by artillery fire of all things (needing two rolls of 11 or more on two dice; not great odds to be sure, but when you have four full battalions of artillery at your disposal, why not?).<br />
<br />
Thus by the end of 6th turn my combined 116th Panzer Division - 12th SS Panzer Division battle group, which together comprised just a single SH "battalion" of 17 stands, had lost 9 stands, including all their armour and mechanised assets, and were forced to retreat with a morale check result of 4. Bereft of armour, my following up infantry units looked like they were going to have a hard time of it traversing the same route. As a result, Paul decided it was time to block off the southern half of the table completely, by moving his two Polish battalions north. The 10th Dragoons, a mechanised battalion, drove out of Chambois, on the left (west), while to their east was the 24th Lancers; each had a company of Achilles tank destroyers from the 1st Polish Antitank Battalion in support.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3-fHdA8gj7XVNb6DUPWFPKPNTyRQTikUz-937RH7ffOt18EmFdjWJZhPpcjGqZQ5gnSoSG5-m-lgDzPoWkYiETbLj6u8S5GZWO7L8Dt_U_QWITXz_IwxNXxw3BaCv2_KvP1mUwWudUq3S/s1600/24thLancers.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="270" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3-fHdA8gj7XVNb6DUPWFPKPNTyRQTikUz-937RH7ffOt18EmFdjWJZhPpcjGqZQ5gnSoSG5-m-lgDzPoWkYiETbLj6u8S5GZWO7L8Dt_U_QWITXz_IwxNXxw3BaCv2_KvP1mUwWudUq3S/s320/24thLancers.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<small>The 24th Lancers move out into the open plain. Excuse the crappy photo - I discovered my camera was broken, and will have to be replaced; this is one of the few pictures I took that was even semi-useful.; most of the rest were just blurs...</small><br />
<br />
In our test game Rhys has similarly decided the Poles should move out into the open, and, spurred by the knowledge he had just two turns' worth of fuel, moved as far out as possible. This left his more western unit rather exposed to attacks from the following up German infantry, which, although without tanks, did have the AT gun and StuG platoons to assist them, so were not entirely helpless at long range. And so it was great interest that I watched Paul carry out exactly the same manoeuvre...<br />
<br />
On the upside (from the Allied point of view), Paul's movement meant my northern Panzer unit, severely weakened from the assault of St Lambert, and which had just begun to move eastwards, would find itself confronted with a mass of armour whose guns covered most of the northern section of the plain, with precious few opportunities to hide. Sure enough, by turn 11, they had taken enough casualties to force a morale check, with however, they passed...<br />
<br />
The downside, as Paul soon discovered, was that by moving not only his 24th Lancers as far north as possible, but also his 10th Dragoons, the Dragoons were no longer being effectively supported by the Americans still in Chambois. My infantry, plus their limited, but effective support units (including one stand of 88s that did sterling service once it had unlimbered by St. Lambert) eventually (on turn 12) eliminated enough units to force a moral check on the Dragoons, which they promptly failed in the most horrible manner, and disintegrated, leaving the 24th Lancers essentially without infantry support, and suddenly very anxious to retreat back from where they came, opening up the route east. If the Dragoons had undertaken a more limited advance, I doubt I could have picked them off in the manner I did.<br />
<br />Luke Ueda-Sarsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02004840067785236764noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8564532820444629020.post-82947974668754794582015-08-22T03:04:00.001-07:002015-08-22T03:04:57.954-07:00Falaise Gap - Part IIRhys provided all the forces, as he had just enough to pretty well much do the whole lot by himself. Getting information on the Allies was easy enough, but not so for the Germans, since these were for the most part a rag-tag collection of "units" in retreat, with even their commanders having little idea at the time how many men or pieces of equipment they had, and in case, many of them didn't live to fill out any sort of post-battle report...<br />
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The Allies on the east half of the table, who would be commanded on the day by Paul Reynolds, amounted to 688 points under <a href="https://ww2spearhead.wordpress.com/scenario-generation-system/" target="_blank">Keith McNelly's scenario system</a>, not counting the 1/6 chance each turn of receiving air support. We omitted one of the Polish battalions that in real-life was defending Chambois, the <small>(Polish) </small>10th Mounted Rifles, partly because we figured that something must have been guarding the area to the south, which we were not portraying, but mostly because we couldn't figure out how we could possibly fit four battalions into such a small area on the table!<br />
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<small>Above: Cromwell IVs of the 10th Mounted rifles in action near Falaise (photo taken from <a href="http://ww2today.com/20-august-1944-polish-armour-holds-ss-counter-attack-at-mont-ormel" target="_blank">here</a>). Note how open the ground is here in comparison with what the were fighting over a month before in the campaign. It must be said that Cromwell IVs are not exactly the most capable of weapons systems in Spearhead, so their absence from the table was not sorely missed...</small><br />
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The Poles around Coudehard and on Mont Ormel amounted to 778 points; again, not counting the 1/6 chance each turn of that they would receive air support (so it was potentially possible to have more than one air model on table at a time). We let them deploy just a little bit further south than they were in real life, because we didn't have quite enough of the northern end of the hill modelled on our table as it turned out. These would be commanded by Rhys on the day.<br />
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<small>Above: the view as it is now from the <a href="http://www.memorial-montormel.org/" target="_blank">war memorial and museum</a> on Mont Ormel, looking west toward the Dives. Public domain image by Jacques Wiacek.</small><br />
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The Germans attacking Mont Ormel from the east and north totalled 750 points, but were split into two waves, with the northern force (9th SS Panzer) only starting to arrive from the 8th turn, and thus would have a harder job of it than their points count would initially suggest. These would be commanded by Peter Page on the day. Also taking on the Poles here, attacking from the west, were 396 points of veteran paratroopers and regular infantry; these were commanded by Jon Palmer, whom I had never met before; he turned up with a box of his gear for us to have a look at, and when he opened it it, I saw the largest collection of Russian WW2 lead I have ever seen - an entire 1:300th Tank Brigade, modelled at 1:1 scale! That would equate to a complete Tank Army at Spearhead scale...<br />
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Above are shown the on-table positions of the various "battalion" HQs, or, for off-table ones, their entry points: yellow for Axis and red for Allied, along with their turn of entry for those starting off-table. I say "battalion" in quotes, because for the Germans, in many cases these represented the remnants of entire divisions, or in some cases, two divisions...<br />
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Play started at 10 am "real life", since Peter and Paul had to drive up from Wellington, representing daybreak, 20 August 1944. After about half an hour going through the scenario and any little rules (e.g. air support, lack of counter battery assets, and low fuel stocks) we started the first turn, with Peter's 2nd SS getting immediately up and personal with the <span class="st">Strzelcy podhalańscy</span> (Podhale Rifles) on the southeastern slopes of Mont Ormel. Peter was no doubt hoping to avoid this:<br />
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<small>Above: the aftermath of the German assaults on Mont Ormel (public domain image from the Polish Ministry of Information).</small>Luke Ueda-Sarsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02004840067785236764noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8564532820444629020.post-6763811415952181352015-08-22T01:20:00.000-07:002015-08-22T01:26:16.318-07:00Falaise Gap - Part IIt's been a long time since I had a game of anything; too busy at work. But this year I'm at least having some sort of summer holiday - or to be more exact, a winter holiday, since I'm spending it in New Zealand. I've taken a week off from staying at my parents' place in Christchurch to move north up to Palmerston North to spend some time gaming with my oft-time partner in testing gaming systems beyond their design limitations, <a href="http://badlyleadmen.blogspot.jp/2012/06/welcome.html" target="_blank">Rhys Batchelor</a>.<br />
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And since it's August, Rhys's suggestion of replaying something set in Normandy was particularly apt, suggesting the main action at the Falaise Gap, 20 August 1944. Now this is a somewhat larger action than Spearhead is normally played, but not greatly so, and in any case, we were roping in three other gamers to help move the lead around. It took the two us two complete days to put the scenario together, including setting up the table, preparing some extra scenery, and play-testing one half of the field to see how it all looked. The last part was far more organised than we are wont to be, but as it turned out, was time usefully spent.<br />
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Here's the scenario description I sent out to our other players last night:<br />
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<i>Background: the Falaise gap, 20th August 1944.</i></h4>
<i>Reeling from defeat in the west, the remnants of the German 7th army are trying to escape east, as powerful Allied forces threaten them from both north and south Fortunately however, Allied command friction has meant that their path eastwards has not been cut completely. Only a small force of Poles stands between them and the Seine: the Polish 1st Armoured division. Are they up to the task of blocking the 7th Army’s desperate retreat?</i><br />
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<i>Scenario description:</i></h4>
<i>The table is 2400 x 1200 mm, representing the most important 9.6 x 4.8 km of the action, encompassing St. Lambert and Chambois to the east, and an all-important crossing of the river Dives between them, along with Mont Ormel in the east, also prosaically known as "Hill 262".<br /><br />The bulk of the 1st Polish Armoured Division is on table. One battle group, consisting of two battalions, the 10th Polish Dragoons and the 24th Polish Lancers, is deployed around Chambois. Unfortunately, each battalion has only have enough fuel left for two turns’s of Advance orders (movement under Defend orders is not restricted). With this battle group is the 2nd Battalion of the American 359th Infantry. This unit may not undertake any Attack orders whatsoever, but has powerful artillery support to aid the defence of Chambois. To the north, a small force of Canadians hangs on to their beleaguered position in St. Lambert. They too many not undertake any Attack orders, having exhausted themselves during the night trying to prevent Axis units crossing the bridge leading west over the river Dives from the southern half of the village.<br /><br />The majority of the Polish force has moved out from Chambois overnight and is now deployed around Mont Ormel, 5 km northeast of Chambois. Facing east are the 2nd Podhalian Rifles. Facing north are the 9th Polish Rifles, and between them is the 1st Polish Armoured Regiment. Facing west, and deployed around the village of Coudehard, are the 8th Polish Rifles, and south of them, also facing west, is the 2nd Polish Armoured Regiment. Enough supplies have been paradropped over the night to allow the Armoured Regiments to undertake two turns of Advance orders each; while the three Rifle Battalions have unrestricted numbers of Advance moves.<br /><br />Certain German units have made it across the river Dives in the night, and are now positioned between Chamois and Mont Ormel. The bulk of these detachments come from the veteran 3rd Fallschirmjäger Division, organised into three small commands, plus remnants remnants of the 353 Infantry Division as a fourth manoeuvre unit. Still on the west side of the Dives, approaching St. Lambert, are the remnants of the 2nd Panzer Division and 10th SS Panzer Division, amounting to little more than a battalion’s worth of effectives, while further south are the remnants of the 116th Panzer Division and 12th SS Panzer Division, also amounting to little more than a battalion’s worth of effectives. To their rear are the remnants of 5 infantry divisions, the 84th, 276th, 277th, 326th, and 363rd, which will make on to the field of battle over the course of the day.<br /><br />To assist the 7th Army in breaking out to the west, Feldmarshal Walter Model has ordered two combat formations outside the gap back into the fray. The 2nd SS Panzer Division, down to barely 20 tanks, and assisted by the badly-depleted 362 Infantry Division, is in position to assault Mont Ormel from the east, while to the north, what is left of the 9th SS Panzer Division, is awaiting fuel before starting off southwards towards Hill 262.</i><br />
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The table was 1200 by 2400 mm, the biggest we could fit into his dining room space, which equates to a 9.6 by 4.8 km slice of the battlefield, and was just enough to cover all the important bits, once it had been rotated slightly off a strictly east-west axis.<br />
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The west side of the board is the high ground that the Germans have to surmount in order to escape; the north is much more strongly held than the south. The centre is flat open country, lacking the <i>bocage</i> seen in the Cotentin peninsula. The east is is also flat, but has the river Dives meandering northwards; small enough to be crossed by determined infantry, but deep enough to stop vehicles, save at three bridges. One, leading into Chambois, is strongly held by the Americans and Poles, and thus not likely to be of any use to the Germans. Another leads directly into St. Lambert, but can be taken with effort, as the Canadian defenders are weak. The middle bridge is not physically blocked, but is nonetheless overlooked by the American artillery observers stationed in Chambois, so crossing it will not be without its hazards...<br />
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<br />Luke Ueda-Sarsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02004840067785236764noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8564532820444629020.post-33246888349994507642015-04-03T21:27:00.001-07:002015-05-25T17:07:16.996-07:00<h2>
An introduction to "To the Strongest!" - Part 2</h2>
Following on from the <a href="http://lukeuedasarson.blogspot.jp/2015/04/an-introduction-to-to-strongest-part-1.html" target="_blank">previous battle</a>, next up was 1st-century Gauls versus Roamn, with me taking the Romans this time. If I remember correctly, I had a single standard-size (i.e. two hit) raw legionary unit, six average legionary units, and four veteran units that were only half-sized - i.e. single-hit units. There were a couple of allied cavalry units, some camp-guards (armed servants), and a single unit of archers. The Gauls had three units of cavalry, and 8 blocks of infantry warriors, who counted as "deep" and thus had 3 hits each; there was probably a unit of youths hanging at the rear who played no effective pat in the clash.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRfusugLCIJkJx1WFxIA7L-UpuQBHhM_Xtv35KnZQSWVVqpnMpQRDYtfr344Gy6mv0qWnUsCRw2eJQJVFd2Rq_1pUyxI7VRxgK_vYMrbjMKMIw5_Va_gxYZFQ8YvqLW9_jxy77rlu8mC4U/s1600/GallicSetUp600by450.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRfusugLCIJkJx1WFxIA7L-UpuQBHhM_Xtv35KnZQSWVVqpnMpQRDYtfr344Gy6mv0qWnUsCRw2eJQJVFd2Rq_1pUyxI7VRxgK_vYMrbjMKMIw5_Va_gxYZFQ8YvqLW9_jxy77rlu8mC4U/s1600/GallicSetUp600by450.png" width="320" /></a> The set-up is as on the right, with "my" lads on the left; Aaron supplied all the figures for this game, however. Single trees are just for show, but squares with two trees counted as woods and therefore rough going, as did the stream on my right. I figured my right was the strongest of my three commands, although when it came to the crunch it didn't quite perform as well as expected... Aaron had his two right horse units in a single small command, with the rest of the army evenly split between two large commands. All my generals were "detached" (like Lost Battles "commanders") while his were "attached" (like Lost Battles "leaders").<br />
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"To the Strongest!", in addition to generals, also has "heroes". I was very sceptical about these when I first looked at the rules, but they are actually a really good feature. A "hero" costs one point, and allows a single missed attack roll to be rerolled. That's it. A really good way of distinguishing two units from one-another, without the big difference implied by making one of them raw or vetreran, is to give the better unit a hero, as it should given them a slight edge in the attack. One of the biggest problems with Lost Battles is the massive difference in effectiveness between the <i>three</i> grades of troops, as opposed to the entirely accurate difference in effectiveness between <i>the</i> grades of troops: in Lost Battles you have three and only three levels, so the "army lists" are chock-full of dodges like grading two historically identical "units" differently in an attempt to "average out" their effectiveness away from what a single grading would amount too, which really undermines the whole "model". <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSG5WUmu5CFSFdukOfhAcd8qUfVrNe25n4r1eWR5qLrCqVOTK9cQLHJgIfSg1CneCrGoTiy0Kgrc-uroGSa91voGoRmzWk0PiczBb4m5_K8Fd_cxnvXwwvV6ZSfSlAPu5rPtMnSlVw0sd9/s1600/LineClash600by450.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSG5WUmu5CFSFdukOfhAcd8qUfVrNe25n4r1eWR5qLrCqVOTK9cQLHJgIfSg1CneCrGoTiy0Kgrc-uroGSa91voGoRmzWk0PiczBb4m5_K8Fd_cxnvXwwvV6ZSfSlAPu5rPtMnSlVw0sd9/s1600/LineClash600by450.png" width="320" /></a>The fight was pretty much a straight-up affair, with the main lines marching forward, and getting on with it. Romans get a definite advantage over other foot with their "heavy throwing weapons" but it's not like as if they are carrying grenades like the equivalent feature in <a href="http://www.dadiepiombo.it/images/stories/dp/basic2.html" target="_blank">Basic Impetus</a> (written by an Italian, note!), so it's a decent bit of chrome without being overbearing. It didn't help them much against the Macedonians in the previous game, note! Also not helping the Gallic cause in this game was Aaron's complete inability to ally any hits. I probably rallied half a dozen hits over the course of the two games, maybe more, and I don't recall Aaron managing to rally a single hit. Sometimes Fortune just isn't with you... Rallying itself is one of those inetresting "decision points" that makes a good game - do you try and rally a hit, or do you try and hit the enemy with your unit's first - and quite possibly only - activation? Sometimes it's an easy choice, but certainly not at other times.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZps4TqCe-nxVTfTQiI0IbUfs3jnSeexDhUQp4yhOdj91MZpCStLHLjlSKuRq-7F6dGr1QTdpGvC-GEsc4yaNj1j3cILdjvLdT9LeQ-4g3YchVRvg27qaj94pyfrqTOicX2o5PRuRrAguU/s1600/LineRelief600by450.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZps4TqCe-nxVTfTQiI0IbUfs3jnSeexDhUQp4yhOdj91MZpCStLHLjlSKuRq-7F6dGr1QTdpGvC-GEsc4yaNj1j3cILdjvLdT9LeQ-4g3YchVRvg27qaj94pyfrqTOicX2o5PRuRrAguU/s1600/LineRelief600by450.png" width="200" /></a> In this game, I deployed a front line of two-hit legionary units, with the one-hit veterans in reserve. When the front unit took a hit and became disordered, I had a choice between trying an rallying it, or executing a line replacement, and bringing up my fresh veterans, and this worked quite well; it was certainly a flexibility the Gauls didn't have. To the right you can see how a veteran unit has passed through the larger average unit, with general, to take up the lead position - presumably because it still had its pila in hand (which you get to use a single time). Talking of one-shot weapons, the only real book-keeping involves ammo. Missile troops do have an amunition supply, so they need to carry around some small chits representing this. On the other hand, it's handled quite well, so it didn't worry me too much.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzkU9zkjxrRVEd2RKkTlrXI8CW6h47U_ycSlfDISMEMNFkgleelCvu3EWp5OLJDg-GOxSEFS140JQHZ4ejoVJlBu0jE-EkaDnO4yG1zVlF4GeKYvnx9ir8Gtln4Lj63tGEnFHiuZMjjX0I/s1600/Flanked600by450.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzkU9zkjxrRVEd2RKkTlrXI8CW6h47U_ycSlfDISMEMNFkgleelCvu3EWp5OLJDg-GOxSEFS140JQHZ4ejoVJlBu0jE-EkaDnO4yG1zVlF4GeKYvnx9ir8Gtln4Lj63tGEnFHiuZMjjX0I/s1600/Flanked600by450.png" width="320" /></a>The game was quite bloody, and although the Romans definitely had the upper hand, Aaron was in with a chance even at the end. To the right is the remnants of Aaron's right wing, or the infantry component lestways; the horse having galloped off into the distance trying to take out my own cavalry, who put up some fantastically stubborn resistence. As you can see, this Gallic unit has not only a legionary unit to their front, urged on by a general, but the unit next in line had broken, and they are about to be rolled up by the victorious unit there taking them in the flank. As it happened, the Gallic force broke before this combat could be resolved.<br />
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I was really impressed by the rules - with the caveat that they are very much a work-in-practice. Simon Miller is by all accounts a "standard gamer" who, like many of us, are questing for their Holy Grail of games, and, again, like many of us, has decided to write his own set because nothing he finds is good enough. But unlike many of us, he has actually succeeded in putting them into a shape suitable for wider desemination. But boy, does he need an editor!<br />
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Some things are simply sloppy English. Here's typical example in an passage suppsoed to illustrate play: "the Roman player decides that he must attempt to rally". This is oxymoronic - either "must" or "decides" needs to be replaced with something else; in this case, presumably, "must" should be something like "would be wise to". But in other places, there are plain-and-simple rules contradictions, like how under the "Senior generals" section it says, quite explicitly, that a Senior general must have a "command" (and thus they are no different from other generals in this regard), but under the section "The order of battle", it equally explicitly says a Senior general need not have a command of their own!<br />
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Once the worst of these bugs are ironed out, I think "To the Strongest!" could become a very well-rounded system indeed.Luke Ueda-Sarsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02004840067785236764noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8564532820444629020.post-51719130716860789162015-04-03T20:17:00.002-07:002015-04-03T21:57:56.329-07:00<h2>
An introduction to "To the Strongest!" - Part 1</h2>
<a href="http://prufrockian-gleanings.blogspot.jp/" target="_blank">Aaron</a> had a day's break from the family last week, so I was able to head down to his place for a couple of games, since I was also owed a couple of off work en lieu. I usually let him decide what we are going to play, and rather fittingly given the title of my blog, he chose Simon Miller's "<a href="http://bigredbatshop.co.uk/collections/all" target="_blank">To the Strongest!</a>". This an ancients set that neither of us have played before, and is currently available as a pdf downlaod for ten quid; I understand it will be made available as a printed item when it is more fully developed.<br />
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Aaron's tried to get me interested in several "new" ancients rules over the past or so years, but none have really taken my fancy, so I was very pleasently surprised by "To the Strongest!" - there are a lot good things to be said about this rule set.<br />
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We played a couple of games, and since Aaron has already blogged about them individually, you should probably read his accounts too; I'll provide links as we go. <a href="http://prufrockian-gleanings.blogspot.jp/2015/04/romans-and-macedonians.html" target="_blank">First up</a> was a Macedonian-Polybian Roman stoush. We used my Macedonian pike blcoks, but all the other troops we Aaron's; the reasons for which will become clear soon. The rules have army lists, and given there is a points system that, unlike Lost Battles for example, is <i>not</i> tied into the game mechanics, I assume the eventual goal is to have the rules in a suitable shape for competition play. We each had 133 points to play with, which didn't allow for a lot of choice, since the army list minmums were very close to that - this is no bad thing, IMO, especially for an introductory battle.<br />
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My army turned out to have 5 pike blocks, of which one was veteran, so I was looking at a scale of something like 4000 men for a "deep" unit; the game has no fixed scale in terms of numbers of men represented per figure and/or base, so is similar to Lost Battles in this respect.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJm3PL2AJcF6XWdGkp7v0jiJJaer0OqcyJlv1MsLZWFtKUUOEtkubmJPRnwjBuIwvMSvZ7G_kSvHUxedkrZzhQiCjwfdxINmQual14QZ8cKIsN454CKu2VXsahucxoBr6F-NaWsOIHBIDl/s1600/MacedonianSetUp600by450.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJm3PL2AJcF6XWdGkp7v0jiJJaer0OqcyJlv1MsLZWFtKUUOEtkubmJPRnwjBuIwvMSvZ7G_kSvHUxedkrZzhQiCjwfdxINmQual14QZ8cKIsN454CKu2VXsahucxoBr6F-NaWsOIHBIDl/s1600/MacedonianSetUp600by450.png" height="240" width="320" /></a>I also had two units of normal "javelin"-armed cavalry (I'm a bit dubious about how efficacious these guys should be at shooting... but that's an army list issue as opposed to a rules issue), and one of light Tarantines; a single
unit of Thracian infantry, two units of light javelinmen, and one of
Cretan archers, who counted as veterans. There were also three camp
bases, the maximum allowed. I set up as shown right, with me on the left. Nothing fancy: the usual pike centre, with lights on the flanks, except that my javelinmen were consigned to baggage guard duty rather than as skirmishers - wisely as it turned out...<br />
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The system is grid-based, again, like Lost Battles, but finer grained - we had a 12 by 8 grid. I think this is a very decent level of granularity for the forces we had. You can deploy in the rear two rows of squares ("boxes"), but not in the most extreme flank column of squares, giving a 10 by 2 deplyment area. Each square, or box, can be occupied by only two unts, only one of which may be "deep" (e.g. pike blocks). One unit must be forward, and one back. Ostensibly, the rules don't care how your units are based, but in fact there is one important issue here. Because the squares are well, square, they are in fact implicitly designed for units that are based wider than they are deep, and ideally at least as twice as wide as they are deep. My pike blocks, like all my Hellenistic units, are on <a href="http://lukeuedasarson.blogspot.jp/2014/07/big-bases-when-i-left-new-zealand-for.html" target="_blank">square bases</a>, so you can only get one of them in a box (unless using truly giant boxes, 18 cm acoss, in which case two could be put together side-by-side as a single unit; Aaron's boxes were 12 cm across, I thnk, or posibly 10; my units are on 8 cm square bases).<br />
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Aaron's Romans were a typical "Consular" army with four legions deployed in the usual velites, hastati, principes, triarii formation. As was completely normal for a 2nd century Macedonian-Roman encounter, the Romans had the slight edge in cavalry numbers (there was no difference on quality). Deployment is by commands, with each side deploying one command, and then the other side, and back to teh first side, and repeat. The side with the lowest "scouting" strength has to deploy their first command first. All this was reasonably standard, and completely fine with me. <br />
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The system is a points activation system, which is used both for movement and combat; melee as opposed to missile attacks are resolved ssentially as if attempts to move into an enemy-held box, so if you win, and the result is no enemy in the attacked box, you must perforce advance into it. (I wonder if there is an axception if you are defending a terrain feature, or fortifications? Will have to look that up, sinvce ot didn't come up in our battles.) Unlike DBM, where the number of activation attempts is variable, but the chnace of sucess is not, in To the Strongest! there is an element of chance to the activation process in the sense of you are not sure whether an acitvation will suceed or not, closer to the WAB system I undertsand, but nowhere near as random, as there is only a base one in 10 chance of fluffing each units's initial activation, and even that can be re-rolled if you have a general with the unit.<br />
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The really interesting wrinkle is that units can be activated multiple times, but each activation score must be higher than the previous one for the unit that turn, and that a single failed attempt will mean no more actvation attempts are possible for any other units in the command that turn (units are organised into commands under generals, pretty well just like in DBM). This system works extremely well given how simple it is. One downside is you need to keep track of the command "rolls" (or card pulls if you are using cards, or chits pulls if you are using a container full of chits numberd 1 through 10, like we were), but this only needs to be done for a single comamnd at a time, so isn't that bad at all. The system introduces a very decent fog-of-war aspect, while simultaneously opening a lot of player-input decision points (and therefor chances for skill) that don't acyually need agonizing over too much, sok eeping things moving. While the game certainly doesn't play as fast as DBA, it is definitely much faster than DBM, and that's just on an inital game; I can imagine it going very quickly indeed with a bit more practice.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghjomuu2HRGK2H-2E7B2riZ0k6SPwSJ8R1uVP2P_N0IsFnf7mw8v-B4UZX0OvmE8DeWhd4y9TlyzuBlhSLlNIohipJoRjal2atmUbJDCISA_M0hNWsSeeM1ojFo-danzUoE6mWVXzUnnEJ/s1600/Diagonal600by450.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghjomuu2HRGK2H-2E7B2riZ0k6SPwSJ8R1uVP2P_N0IsFnf7mw8v-B4UZX0OvmE8DeWhd4y9TlyzuBlhSLlNIohipJoRjal2atmUbJDCISA_M0hNWsSeeM1ojFo-danzUoE6mWVXzUnnEJ/s1600/Diagonal600by450.png" height="240" width="320" /></a>The grid system obviously constrains movement, put perhaps not as much as might be anticipated; since diagonal moves are rather easy to pull off. Indeed, they might be too common, although I'd have to play more before judging this. For example we had the following situation in our first game as shown to the left. My veteran pike (on the right of my line) had been hanging back in case of enemy horse started engaging in some smart-arse stuff on my right. They duly moved wide, leavng nothing in front of them. So I moved up to get them into action with the enemy foot rather than have my best troops stare at empty ground all day. They then, with another activation attacked the left Roman legion, rolled over its hastatii, and then, with another activation, drove off the velites who had just retired behind them. This meant I had to enter the now-vacant square - moving diagonally to do so, putting them immediatly ahead of pikeblockk thay had just come up to support, as shown above right. I'm unsure if this is something that is "clearly wrong" or in fact something "perfectly acceptable", because we just don't really know enough about the dynamics of pike combat to judge. On the one hand we get commnets about unweildy pike formations, but on the other hand we get also comments about how e.g. Eumenes' Argyraspides somehow rolled up pretty well much an entire phalanx by themselves.<br />
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The system's handling of Polybian Romans - line relief and all that - was clearly central to how ths game panned out, and we were both not quite convinced here, especially in comparison to how our second game ("Marian" Romans versus Gauls) played. The problem was that in this game all the Roman infanty units were "single hit" units - a single successful enemy attack, and they were gone, so there was no time (or need) to swap lines at any point: the Roman hastatii and principes either were at full strength or dead, with no halfway house (DBM has the same problem, of course). In comparison, the Macedonian pike blocks took three hits each to break. So you could disorder them with one hit, which made them less able to inflict damage, but if you didn't inflict further hits, they would eventually "rally" their hits, and you would be back to square one. Only you would have probaby lost some Roman units completely in the process, so it was sort of the opposite of what we wanted to see, which was Romans more slowly soaking up hits. My own AoT rules are rather similar, except because the number of hits a unit can take is at least twice as many as in "To the Strongest", as a Roman you actually get a chance to survive any initial damage...<br />
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During the game the Roman left flank did good work, but couldn't capitalise on their success, while the pikes pretty-well much steam-rolled the legions in front of them. But it was a cracking game, so I very much looked forward to <a href="http://lukeuedasarson.blogspot.jp/2015/04/an-introduction-to-to-strongest-part-2.html" target="_blank">the second round</a>!<br />
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<br />Luke Ueda-Sarsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02004840067785236764noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8564532820444629020.post-49677980604132954292014-12-16T06:29:00.001-08:002015-04-04T08:51:11.130-07:00<h2>
Finally, a day out - </h2>
It's been an awful long time since I did anything constructive, gaming-wise, so it was with much relief I went to <a href="http://prufrockian-gleanings.blogspot.jp/" target="_blank">Aaron's</a> yesterday for <a href="http://prufrockian-gleanings.blogspot.jp/2014/12/dux-bellorum-shipwreck-and-dba-30.html" target="_blank">some gaming</a>. I had to skip a day off work to do it, but after the weekend last month when I was still at work at 1 am a couple of nights looking after student experiments, I deserved a break.<br />
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First up was a new game to me (and Aaron for that matter) - Dux Bellorum, whose raison d'etre is "Dark Age" gaming. I've got a bunch of 15mm Dark Age stuff still based for WRG-style games, so took them along - I won the NZ Nationals once with a DBM Armorican force back in 1997 - that's the "Sub-Roman British" list with a Saxon ally, with the "British" part being French Britain - Bretagne - rather than "Great" Britain. The Saxons caused as much mayhem - and intrigue - in "Little Britain" as they did on the mainland, including establishing bases on some islands off the coast for a while from which to raid from.<br />
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We used the vanilla <a href="http://merseybooks.blogspot.co.uk/2011/12/dux-bellorum-arthurian-starter-armies.html" target="_blank">starter army lists</a>
from the author's website to represent an Armorican force versus a
Saxon force. The British one is very cavalry-heavy, although that isn't
actually too bad for an Armorican force, whose infantry seem to have
been almost non-existant, at least as far as source materials go. This gave 8 units each side. The Saxons are all foot warband - half standard quality, half high quality. The Armoricans are half "Noble Riders", one unit of (non skirmishing) archers, and 3 of standard shieldwall. Aaron took the Saxons while I took the Armoricans. I parked my shieldwall on a ridge on my baseline while I sent out my horse to do the actual fighting, not too different to how it usually played out in DBM for that matter.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7xcqL53hSwnbCLYZJvrDOCD7_oXLb1wzQgAoeBzL1_lir1P4uzXgazum2BC4zAmGvNBjcPt_ITxEzjv6LAB2PsBisc2OQDza_Q3kli1ZSs9c_PuzZuBV6REUrHF94FmZa36afLsQ_4ytg/s1600/DuxBellorum600by450.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7xcqL53hSwnbCLYZJvrDOCD7_oXLb1wzQgAoeBzL1_lir1P4uzXgazum2BC4zAmGvNBjcPt_ITxEzjv6LAB2PsBisc2OQDza_Q3kli1ZSs9c_PuzZuBV6REUrHF94FmZa36afLsQ_4ytg/s1600/DuxBellorum600by450.png" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">15mm TableTop Games figures; these are 25 years old now. </td></tr>
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Dux Bellorum in an activation-points style game, although the activation points are mostly used in practice to save your units from taking "hits" during combat. You can also use them to try and deal out more hits, and to increase the chance of successfully carrying out a move, but this is usually not as useful. It played out quite well, and gave quite an exciting game, as you can see from Aaron's account. The main design crux of the game is clearly the balance between number of units and number of activation points (and what can be done with them of course). It seems the authors has achieved quite a good balance here - there is a high enough number that you can have quite a big influence of the course of things, which adds to the "Heroic" feel of the period, with its focus on leaders' comitatus units to most of the heavy work - and of course, the mostly small scale of the actual battles in this period. As can be seen from the picture, units accumulate "hits" during combat (the markers are Aaron's, are a much better alternative than having an unsightly dice tagging behind each unit showing how many hits have been taken); however, a unit fights just as effectively whether it has taken no hits at all, or has taken 5, so it's very binary. All in all, it's definitely worth a look; I feel we will be giving it another go some time. Sorry about the lack of pictures - we didn't exactly go overboard in preparing any scenery for the day!<br />
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Next up was Shipwreck, another new system to us. Neither Aaron nor myself own any moderns naval models (yet! They are cheap enough...), so we just put down a couple of counters each on a blue cloth to represent the ships from the rulebook's play-along scenario. I've heard some good things about the system from a couple of blogs, but in practice, we simply couldn't understand it! The play test scenario was riddled with self-contradictory passages, some even in the very same paragraph, like when stating a certain ship had better radar when it actually had worse; the data cards had loads of mistakes, etc. All in all, very frustrating. In fact, we gave up after 90 minutes, and searched on-line for some clarifications. we found an amendment sheet, which didn't actually pick up all that many of the mistakes, let alone clarify things. If we want to pursue this one, it looks like we will need a walk-through from someone who is familiar with the system. It's relatively complex - you have to keep track of every SSM fired individually, for example - including who has spotted it, etc.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNqaGw3pF1JFThsKoSCZ68vKgovUMzC_nXjf0nQyBayNhJZ1si9j75eYOoVcjukt3caHwM4rJYjU-VLCVOEnXEuPs-6RktZgy3vygrlWeUbxA6FAgQGY0kKFsAJ1BzRC5AUFYh4xf61f4l/s1600/Comitatus600by450.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNqaGw3pF1JFThsKoSCZ68vKgovUMzC_nXjf0nQyBayNhJZ1si9j75eYOoVcjukt3caHwM4rJYjU-VLCVOEnXEuPs-6RktZgy3vygrlWeUbxA6FAgQGY0kKFsAJ1BzRC5AUFYh4xf61f4l/s1600/Comitatus600by450.png" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My Armorican general's comitatus. Scourge of Saxons!</td></tr>
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So then we moved onto the latest iteration of DBA - version 3.0, which <a href="https://ancientwargaming.wordpress.com/2014/11/20/back-to-the-dark-ages-with-dba-3-0/" target="_blank">has some tweaks</a> to make Dark Age gaming more interesting. We played Armoricans versus Saxons twice, with Aaron taken the Saxons twice more. The masochist - for warband have been really handicapped in this edition. They no longer get rear support versus mounted, so die horribly against cavalry; I can't imagine what you would do against knights with them, which not only have the same higher factor against warband as cavalry do, but quick-kill them to boot! They desperately need a rear support factor... Franks wouldn't try and form up deep aganst Narses' Byzantines in a DBA world! <br />
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One of the problems with vanilla DBA is the lack of "heft"- it doesn't feel like much of a battle with just 12 elements a side. One way around this is doing a "Big DBA" - tripling the number of elements a side and doubling the table width to make it more DBM-ish in scope. The other is simply doubling all the dimensions involved - including element width and depth so you just play with four times as many figures, with everything else , such as time to play, unchanged. For our fifth game of the day, we we went this root, using some of Aaron's freshly painted 15 mm Gauls and late Republican Romans. I took the Romans, and managed to drive my central legions deep into Aaron's warband block, only to see them all evaporate in a single bound of carnage. Fortuna was not with Rome this day... "Blades" (ahem: legionaries) in version 3.0 have been weakened since they now have to follow up when they win. That's probably not too wrong, but they still look a bit silly in DBA - Romans basically should deploy in a single wide line, with maybe one or two elements in reserve. Definitely NOT with an entire line in reserve, let alone two such lines! I'll need more playing under my belt before I feel I can evaluate this iteration of the rules.Luke Ueda-Sarsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02004840067785236764noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8564532820444629020.post-52070082013538790602014-07-17T07:22:00.003-07:002014-07-17T07:22:47.199-07:00<h2>
Big Bases -</h2>
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When I left New Zealand for a "short" stint of work in Japan - this is back in early 2000, you will understand, I started work on a homebrew set of ancients rules, which I call TEXNH TAKTIKH: The Art of Tactics, or AoT for short. I've been working on them on and off ever since... I <i>will</i> get them finished; I just have to quit my current job and its associated time demands first! </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">15 mm Naismith xystophoroi in wedge formation.</td></tr>
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The rules use a square 80 mm basing system, regardless of scale.
Actually, the size of the base isn't actually that important either, so
long as both sides use the same size - and it is square. But 80 mm
bases are good compromise between being big enough to get a decent
amount of "big unit" feel without being <i>too</i> big to be manageable in terms of physically making them. I use 2 mm thick cardboard - usually sourced as artists' mounting board or similar, which is sufficiently thick it won't warp. </div>
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One reason for using big bases like this is for the aesthetics - you can depict "formations" on a single base even with figures as large as 15 mm; of course, the opportunities are even greater with 6 mm figures. In terms of game mechanics, big bases are a reaction against DBM-style elements. They cut down on fiddly micromanoeuvring. When elements were introduced back in WRG 7th Edition they didn't serve much actual purpose in the game, but that all changed with DBA. DBA only used a few such unit-elements, which worked fine given the delightfully simple limitations of the game, but when DBM came about, the limitations of such small elements became more noticeable. Too many "units" for a general to command basically (my Modern Spearhead gaming suffers from the same problem).</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Eumenid battle line in 15 mm. </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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When I think of what the sources say about ancient pitched battles, the only one that readily comes to mind mentioning any sort of "small" unit is Diodoros, when detailing Eumenes' deployment of three small groups of young household cavalry trainees (often misunderstood as grooms or similar) in front of one of his cavalry wings, each said to be composed of 50 men. And since they are not mentioned again in the actual battle narrative, despite the importance of the cavalry action on the wing, these micro units can't have had a huge influence on the subsequent fighting... </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Some of my Naismith 15 mm Macedonian pikemen.</td></tr>
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Not that I was ever happy with the old 6th Edition-style units with their single figures, mind you. Phil Barker was absolutely right when he said figure casualty removal was a bizarre mechanism for non-skirmish ancients games when you thought about it - "units" (by which I mean any collection of combatants, not just those in formal regiments) don't physically shrink as they lose a few men here and their due to enemy action. In 7th Edition you still had units, but they no longer lost figures, bases, or elements as they suffered the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune - and this was definitely a good thing.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsE5oCIl00NGJE8fWw2-Eg-1P1Kjn-SCxfr2sBNBSCihRV8SlkyTr-Ww0vorlAt0OJVzAEWhlrk3FgD_Uqpkj5Ox_DgPd3NDqRXNE1OhKdoE3YyaS4qJcemfJGyvdp4a4kvAFKANTW74ge/s1600/Xystophoroi800by600.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsE5oCIl00NGJE8fWw2-Eg-1P1Kjn-SCxfr2sBNBSCihRV8SlkyTr-Ww0vorlAt0OJVzAEWhlrk3FgD_Uqpkj5Ox_DgPd3NDqRXNE1OhKdoE3YyaS4qJcemfJGyvdp4a4kvAFKANTW74ge/s1600/Xystophoroi800by600.png" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Another xystophoroi wedge, with some Tarantines behind them,</td></tr>
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However, the legacy of 7th Edition and its element-based successors has meant that "rebasing" is something every ancients rules designer has to seriously think about. My 80 mm square bases are also big enough so that new players can just plop down their troops based for example, DBM, onto an AoT base and have a go. Four 15 mm-sized WRG elements arranged 2 by 2 will fit onto an AoT base no problem to give the right sort of figure density to look right for most units. </div>
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Of course one great advantage of any set of rules that uses "bases" as opposed to "figures" as its basic building block is that you don't actually need to use figures at all: a base with a printed out picture of the troops in question stuck on top will do the job of providing a nice visual feel. There are after all, many superb illustrations of troops on the net that can be used. I've always thought that photos of figures would make a very cheap stand-in for the figures themselves for young gamers who can't possibly afford to actually buy their own lead mountains...</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbOF8rwnRzgGXWgJ6rYiO9uLvZaFBPRgXiykclTeWccr6e2sk08l2H-5Rzr0z49hsgtKVyB9afiUln787_EviZS9Tkmyt4sL5-KSdWuIVRPOtDE256ia3ztLcZ4A6z65-QVnSYteDTi562/s1600/SeleucidJumbo800by600.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbOF8rwnRzgGXWgJ6rYiO9uLvZaFBPRgXiykclTeWccr6e2sk08l2H-5Rzr0z49hsgtKVyB9afiUln787_EviZS9Tkmyt4sL5-KSdWuIVRPOtDE256ia3ztLcZ4A6z65-QVnSYteDTi562/s1600/SeleucidJumbo800by600.png" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Who can pass up a picture of a jumbo?!</td></tr>
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Of course, having rebased my Hellenistic troops on non-WRG bases, I've cut myself of from gaming with them using DBX rules (except DBA can still be done, with some simple work arounds), but that's not a huge issue. I've still got more than a few other armies on WRG-style bases, after all! Some are even still in New Zealand, where I've not touched them for over a decade... Although now I think about it, one has probably gone AWOL, given I lent it to my club as a sort of "lend-out" force for people to borrow. I suspect it has been mishandled severely in the meantime... Anybody seen my Nikephorians?</div>
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<br />Luke Ueda-Sarsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02004840067785236764noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8564532820444629020.post-55768206442581784422014-07-13T19:53:00.000-07:002016-12-31T03:46:37.130-08:00<h2>
A day out with Lost Battles -</h2>
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Work's finally starting to ease up, and yesterday I headed off down the road with my 15 mm Successor armies in the boot of the car to play a couple of battles of Phil Sabin's rules (Lost Battles). Since Aaron was keeping the record of what went on, he'll no doubt be posting a proper write up on <a href="http://prufrockian-gleanings.blogspot.jp/" target="_blank">his blog</a> soon, but here's my brief recollection. (edit: Here's the link to his first post, <a href="http://prufrockian-gleanings.blogspot.jp/2014/07/game-day-raphia.html" target="_blank">on Raphia</a>)<br />
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First up was Raphia. We followed the scenario booklet OOB, despite my misgiving about it in several key points; most notably in that Phil arbitrarily reduced the fighting abilities of the Seleucid phalanx to give the Ptolemaic side a better chance of winning the battle. I took the Ptolemaic side while Aaron played the part of Antiochos III. My left crumbled as in real life, forcing Ptolemy to seek shelter behind my phalanx; unlike real life, Aaron wasn't forced to pursue my defeated troops, and thus his cavalry were free to sweep around my rear.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbTbVDOV0P1g-ulX5hyphenhyphenaCWfeHDSRmJUV7aHLjBe1xUTbymUatoj-taQc7PxUNunivYIiqfAOjEeclmKTlg43ZqIJn4YRBWITnmjnJBhtuAKzXhybh1bfRJ8JjgeOQW3xQjpLIXH7SWzOUS/s1600/blog1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="220" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbTbVDOV0P1g-ulX5hyphenhyphenaCWfeHDSRmJUV7aHLjBe1xUTbymUatoj-taQc7PxUNunivYIiqfAOjEeclmKTlg43ZqIJn4YRBWITnmjnJBhtuAKzXhybh1bfRJ8JjgeOQW3xQjpLIXH7SWzOUS/s1600/blog1.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Young Ptolemy has managed to extricate himself from his stricken left, and is attempting to urge on his central phalanx, who are alas being sorely pressed by their Seleucid opposites. At the top, my victorious right is taking time to mop up the Seleucid left wing.</td></tr>
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On my right, I broke his left, although not as swiftly as was required, and the central clash of pike was resolved in favour of the Seleucids, as my army's morale was shot by being surrounded and having my camp ransacked (there is no possibility of defending a camp in Lost Battles with just "baggage guards", a very different handling of things to one of Phil's previous rule sets: Legio ; you need to leave out some of you normal troops to do the job in Lost battles - a point I had forgotten). As a result my entire army routed (i.e. real-life surrendered) with the exception of a single pike unit on my right, giving Aaron a comprehensive victory.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Here's the scene just before my army broke and ran. The unit on my left didn't make it off the board in time; that pesky elephant on the Selecucid left held up my victorious right. Not a great day out for my lads!</td></tr>
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Next up was Ipsos. This isn't one of the scenarios featured in Lost Battles, due to the lack of decent sources - numbers and troop compositions can be ascertained reasonably reliably, but deployment details are very murky, so we used the free deployment rules. I took the Antigonids while Aaron took the allies. Each side had two generals, and the Fighting Values were somewhat larger than for Raphia: 72 for the Antigonids and 79 for the allies.<br />
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Here things also went well for the underdog - which happened to me this time around... Demetrius' charge on my left was well supported by high dice rolls, and Seleukos was killed attempting to rally his cavalry. The Allied elephants were deployed across the battle field, but didn't achieve all that much, and my right also put in good work, so Lysimachos was well boxed-in in the allied centre.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1BT_g9KHYv9Xui1B7Xmv1jE1kiQGkW0vlisNys1XMqiI60YArNQJKbTXIFqeb8DU0gmbt8XhwF47O0ocC5EQe3MAkvNyV3Nl2djKR9-bCCuM1j2qe259xaSj6MFyBRnzoki13aHxD-1fX/s1600/blog3.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1BT_g9KHYv9Xui1B7Xmv1jE1kiQGkW0vlisNys1XMqiI60YArNQJKbTXIFqeb8DU0gmbt8XhwF47O0ocC5EQe3MAkvNyV3Nl2djKR9-bCCuM1j2qe259xaSj6MFyBRnzoki13aHxD-1fX/s1600/blog3.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hmm, this scene looks familiar! Obviously Antigonos being on a horse instead of a litter has lifted his army's spirit!</td></tr>
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Once Demetrius's horse swept around the allied rear, with the allied elephants in front of their phalanx rather than behind it, the allied morale collapsed, handing me as big a victory as Aaron had extracted from me in the previous game. A great couple of games.<br />
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<br />Luke Ueda-Sarsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02004840067785236764noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8564532820444629020.post-43230894168031481162014-06-04T23:55:00.002-07:002014-06-05T00:00:22.381-07:00ZombicideStill flat-out at work, what with it being the busiest week of the year in terms of teaching hours for me, but I did manage to take time out on Sunday to go to a beer festival, and while I was at it, get a couple of my non-gaming friends introduced to Zombicide. This is a very much tongue-in-cheek boardgame pitting the players ("survivors") against swarms of game-controlled zombies.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaMriQ1XlCtEfg43VAoovRy6iMr3G9EGsjMZBIjx74wK68HBGGDSKELcw9ezDeJ7CxkcgWBTlGOpWR6i_BzaNPkBh-7R1zSbPCF5VBRWYyZm1ZFz6dncyR1XbjPxu2tYu578ysuoE-S5HJ/s1600/Zombicide400.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaMriQ1XlCtEfg43VAoovRy6iMr3G9EGsjMZBIjx74wK68HBGGDSKELcw9ezDeJ7CxkcgWBTlGOpWR6i_BzaNPkBh-7R1zSbPCF5VBRWYyZm1ZFz6dncyR1XbjPxu2tYu578ysuoE-S5HJ/s1600/Zombicide400.png" /></a></div>
The game comes with 70-odd plastic minis, which is one of the reasons it also comes with a rather hefty price tag...<br />
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The photo is courtesy of one of my friends who is keen to have some more games - we couldn't play all that much given our kids running around, and other people muscling in on our precious table space under the shade (it was over 30 degrees, so being out in the sun would have been death).<br />
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The minis are begging to be painted up properly, but that of course means I now have the makings of a plastic pile to complement the lead mountain sitting in the bottom of my gaming cupboards. Such is the price of progress, I suppose!Luke Ueda-Sarsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02004840067785236764noreply@blogger.com5