tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-60905920569276012182024-03-14T06:17:24.447+00:00Converj - David's BlogA collection of posts on topics that interest me, principally wargaming, but also space, SF, AI, hiking, space and wild places.David Burdenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13336165481689169802noreply@blogger.comBlogger1155125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6090592056927601218.post-38689822976008552252024-02-11T16:41:00.068+00:002024-02-23T16:59:22.234+00:00Fuentes de Onoro<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu7gwHQmocspuD9DaImJ_SFyXAlt1lr5aBJkIs-6pgarPxSF7Pke80J1HiKh6xxA_IhRO7h2EY_0Hgg1I5L7tfSQ6X4ho57qr6KuF4SYNg4XgCSJa-vOg2AghMLoqS0KIwKRPrcrwspiy5x1cLhjbvIEGvq2dZUrLgTYbQAYOYliB6mMLFuQbxSJw6heM/s4032/IMG_7732.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu7gwHQmocspuD9DaImJ_SFyXAlt1lr5aBJkIs-6pgarPxSF7Pke80J1HiKh6xxA_IhRO7h2EY_0Hgg1I5L7tfSQ6X4ho57qr6KuF4SYNg4XgCSJa-vOg2AghMLoqS0KIwKRPrcrwspiy5x1cLhjbvIEGvq2dZUrLgTYbQAYOYliB6mMLFuQbxSJw6heM/w400-h300/IMG_7732.HEIC" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>This weekend it was time for the 4th Rose Hill Wargaming Group annual wargame, and our 2nd in the Peninsular. We had over 2000 20mm figures and a playing surface of around 20' x 14', split into 3 tables. The rules were our in-house Steady Lads Steady, played on a 10cm grid, and whilst there are always tweaks to make everyone seemed to be getting along with them nicely.</p><p>Following the superhuman performance of the Spanish at Talavera we decided to start implementing some decent Command and Control rules, beyond our use of ADC cards. Two main changes were made:</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Instead of rolling dice each turn for initiative each side now had a set of playing cards and bid for the choice of initiative each turn - so they could have some attempt at control of the tempo of the game. After a few turns we made the bids completely secret, all they knew was whether they had won or lost, not how much the other side had bid. All worked really well.</li><li>Each Brigade now had an orders block. One the face-up side it gave the type of order (eg stay, advance, move) so that the opposition could police its general behaviour, the face-down side showed essentially the level of aggression/commitment to the order (e.g. assault, defend at all costs etc). Order cards were needed to change orders, and there was a dice throw based on the Bde Comdr command rating, and the CinC could keep cards between turns so as to build up orders ready for a big change. Worked better than we could have hoped for.</li></ul><div><br /></div><div>Along with the use of blinds at the start for almost all troops there was far more of a sense of the CinC playing a CinC level game, whilst the rest of the players fought their Corps as instructed. </div><div><br /></div><div>In terms of how it played the British pulled out of Fuentes de Onoro before the French even got there! The French pushed for the gap between Poco Velho and Nave de Haver, but didn't want to get caught in a confused mess as they passed through the defile, but did get caught in a confused mess as the British extended a very thin red line all the way down the ridge to level with Nave de Haver. There was then essentially fighting along the whole length of the 20' table - a grand sight - and eventually the line provided a little too thin and the French not only turned the S flank but also split the line in two - which would effectively have caused 1st and 9th Divisions to surrender!</div><div><br /></div><div>One of the really nice things was just there shear amount of space to manoeuvre in. We have about the same table area as Talavera but only about 2/3 rds the troops.</div><div><br /></div><div>A great game, played in a great spirit by everyone. A few more tweaks for the rules and we'll hopefully be back for Albuera in 2025.</div><div><br /></div><div>Photos in reverse order, so end of the game at the top!</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRo241HLMGmB45xd8lZ6U_F1LBkP-hztirVnraQQHduowBsE8Z-_zL_quN7PhZizICMx6Q51f8sAeLFAJsbH5TTNgsCz6NeS8WgWIZ56_ijvdAS3VYEtCLj5StT8pMQsMWBhrLzka2bv5vLRe9bfj6ZJZjn0UwZw4P0VtjUF8NItEeAjWzTmKoaBgjXAY/s4032/IMG_7779.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRo241HLMGmB45xd8lZ6U_F1LBkP-hztirVnraQQHduowBsE8Z-_zL_quN7PhZizICMx6Q51f8sAeLFAJsbH5TTNgsCz6NeS8WgWIZ56_ijvdAS3VYEtCLj5StT8pMQsMWBhrLzka2bv5vLRe9bfj6ZJZjn0UwZw4P0VtjUF8NItEeAjWzTmKoaBgjXAY/w400-h300/IMG_7779.HEIC" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; 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margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6jY8nsjoNJOj_iLphFJgMSozB0XZ-ftsgGeQziYMtA6MrUDdpPYUMCwqD2nlXjYjhxdUonk51pRST47pOeyjE1shz2ZfeLzc-rG7psuetIZrrIN3aHYSjGzMLzO06SvMUX0ai00_124kFHdREtGgfGdT6xTWJp7Q2IoYkSvmGJ85pwVMGcnM4eNnF6eU/w300-h400/IMG_7702.HEIC" width="300" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1V7LYbKOgvWiqWrhtr4ylziq5rYZ_81nBOTuXat53qIFuISc71-7NLfN15b7C8BQCLrFM3lsXtcevNN3MnJ0Z_iQYZIikEZh6L23-0NrA_d1hJQwsvVPcG-NPJ8XyDV_uS45eb3noCkQcpDw3RldlG5YpA9gSknLO9rDYiRShz4F-nI00bkILZRC3bY0/s4032/IMG_7701.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1V7LYbKOgvWiqWrhtr4ylziq5rYZ_81nBOTuXat53qIFuISc71-7NLfN15b7C8BQCLrFM3lsXtcevNN3MnJ0Z_iQYZIikEZh6L23-0NrA_d1hJQwsvVPcG-NPJ8XyDV_uS45eb3noCkQcpDw3RldlG5YpA9gSknLO9rDYiRShz4F-nI00bkILZRC3bY0/w400-h300/IMG_7701.HEIC" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKRFlcgqE_zDcac937kcA6LiJvyInIu8fqaQSguokNK_0rMmSkFlOEdQ51Zx6lrFkmtBei8by-GHezOFp_fav7tNgL0HOJNuDwbzg1B3HVr-BdUBtyymBV8v0oDjK44RFhzY9oCLB5fKzSXhV0vbQscgxD4QUSKMTRPicjBf6kc2tZV-fUPQsvgxvNSZI/s4032/IMG_7698.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKRFlcgqE_zDcac937kcA6LiJvyInIu8fqaQSguokNK_0rMmSkFlOEdQ51Zx6lrFkmtBei8by-GHezOFp_fav7tNgL0HOJNuDwbzg1B3HVr-BdUBtyymBV8v0oDjK44RFhzY9oCLB5fKzSXhV0vbQscgxD4QUSKMTRPicjBf6kc2tZV-fUPQsvgxvNSZI/w400-h300/IMG_7698.HEIC" width="400" /></a></div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAYGsSj6aLdXqi13xgM1Cc13NOE_Y-QjpupF3-0h9DL5RqDTh5PQIiyPfF2WTXjG-Y4ZCWmu4WJEQ7XMxAYPpaWMQbfhTLJ-AikOQ79Vct7SSRZ1pzHowfW8sjxWXrFMqIsenN8EkyQwfxXGRef_bVo1Q10yW1BlB_zJ4iaOWiubOU9_mtCTlDMfVHet0/s4032/IMG_7694.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAYGsSj6aLdXqi13xgM1Cc13NOE_Y-QjpupF3-0h9DL5RqDTh5PQIiyPfF2WTXjG-Y4ZCWmu4WJEQ7XMxAYPpaWMQbfhTLJ-AikOQ79Vct7SSRZ1pzHowfW8sjxWXrFMqIsenN8EkyQwfxXGRef_bVo1Q10yW1BlB_zJ4iaOWiubOU9_mtCTlDMfVHet0/w400-h300/IMG_7694.HEIC" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">STARTEX - Almost all the troops on blinds - some are dummies!</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><br /></li></ul><p></p>David Burdenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13336165481689169802noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6090592056927601218.post-90284133123404307902024-01-07T16:33:00.021+00:002024-02-23T16:41:32.974+00:00Cityfight2024<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAywaKj8Hz2NJ3b23xXdjvEWcADgZ2-Lp61pAfz1igf_9Jo3PlZ41nUj7vTCJduK5V-piZMp1gmmHKv9OD_JHuthyphenhyphenrfCgeZ-gYr-J2P7V-3MG_4yeI0uFHgVk4Di40rFWS0hbH_-qZGtkljFsnbRjXZTSnA9Curm1USDpxr6tkP9CshlOP8eTE9mNc2W0/s1034/Cityfight%202024%20Box%20Cover%20v240202sm.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1034" data-original-width="800" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAywaKj8Hz2NJ3b23xXdjvEWcADgZ2-Lp61pAfz1igf_9Jo3PlZ41nUj7vTCJduK5V-piZMp1gmmHKv9OD_JHuthyphenhyphenrfCgeZ-gYr-J2P7V-3MG_4yeI0uFHgVk4Di40rFWS0hbH_-qZGtkljFsnbRjXZTSnA9Curm1USDpxr6tkP9CshlOP8eTE9mNc2W0/s320/Cityfight%202024%20Box%20Cover%20v240202sm.png" width="248" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>At <a href="https://wargamedevelopments.org/conferences/vcows/" target="_blank">VCOW</a> this year I ran Cityfight2024, a massively simplified (and updated) version of the 1979 SPI classic Cityfight. It's a platoon level hex-and-counter game but designed to be played double-blind, so ideal for remote play. I set up each board on its own Google Slides document, and the players all had voice comms via Zoom. It's a bit like Battleships, except the "ships" can move every turn!<p></p><p>You can find out more about the game on my <a href="https://taunoyen.com/wiki/doku.php?id=cityfight2024:cityfight2024" target="_blank">PhD Wiki</a>.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJx6zUamkTwdGRSZRs-mCTxvwlU4NWeFRNR7vUzZEPGqiePoNQ-ibmKiHpoenw4q3Dw0754tBF2BQQAYVVtx2YSw4-G7-P4o_CU7cskagFKtZR70cYx0-gWltnlPu7VpmJd2_oi1Uxa-YEtwXmtBWJ_SMWQFfZpdrewrtK3VRl5pT1hvuOBowupxppbuM/s4032/IMG_7680.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJx6zUamkTwdGRSZRs-mCTxvwlU4NWeFRNR7vUzZEPGqiePoNQ-ibmKiHpoenw4q3Dw0754tBF2BQQAYVVtx2YSw4-G7-P4o_CU7cskagFKtZR70cYx0-gWltnlPu7VpmJd2_oi1Uxa-YEtwXmtBWJ_SMWQFfZpdrewrtK3VRl5pT1hvuOBowupxppbuM/w400-h300/IMG_7680.HEIC" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My control set-up, one screen per side</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQLMTNeEPb47Bl5T6rRvwx2ddxFvVmzzY6Cotg-TVH6vCkVgSL0io8s6mFhJV3vvOaQwHw__OhAZMbli6IrYVQCUNYDJd4t36H8bRvpJ8f0mzJtgbYW733YcmpDsR4-q5qoHK5d4egZ6H-QTxxKE9esLpurycvL0uQfI9dt4yyHzvKIAggg8_0TsBSA-g/s4032/IMG_7685.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQLMTNeEPb47Bl5T6rRvwx2ddxFvVmzzY6Cotg-TVH6vCkVgSL0io8s6mFhJV3vvOaQwHw__OhAZMbli6IrYVQCUNYDJd4t36H8bRvpJ8f0mzJtgbYW733YcmpDsR4-q5qoHK5d4egZ6H-QTxxKE9esLpurycvL0uQfI9dt4yyHzvKIAggg8_0TsBSA-g/w400-h300/IMG_7685.HEIC" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Red's view of the battle</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi634Jf-jSfyJK7QDrLP0xYnc61d7zXvegkC8BMK2JGRSR6ztJGxvVxVTVJdWX9o0zcWglLCN201bibokrpiuUgmMTck8IgePknihjq1W6k1os74yKzjwBFKk_eHTlyiAmKA08h2IxXP9QYXezErcE6uxiLaSs4dRDECaP3xWYIMpciNI3UGpI2tgXF5kc/s4032/IMG_7684.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi634Jf-jSfyJK7QDrLP0xYnc61d7zXvegkC8BMK2JGRSR6ztJGxvVxVTVJdWX9o0zcWglLCN201bibokrpiuUgmMTck8IgePknihjq1W6k1os74yKzjwBFKk_eHTlyiAmKA08h2IxXP9QYXezErcE6uxiLaSs4dRDECaP3xWYIMpciNI3UGpI2tgXF5kc/w400-h300/IMG_7684.HEIC" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Blue's view of the battle</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>David Burdenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13336165481689169802noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6090592056927601218.post-63416667527286056402023-11-23T15:46:00.086+00:002024-02-23T16:19:30.339+00:00Battalion Level Rules Megatest - WW2<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpNs0Mcd6kdA1kDapTyPQM7U2H43GZBI4n_E87hMR4Cbk8UyjnD0w-TwlyGruvNDPNefTr0V_av6UUd2B80DwIWhn6fW1I-IlPYSo_Q4BFjYMtHTdCtG4G6C-BAm4tf718SKiDw5PP1hnA2SeNqowgA5BnipB1nbnlG9dU523Qri1-M1VeMyQQ-e8BxJg/s4032/IMG_7386.HEIC" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpNs0Mcd6kdA1kDapTyPQM7U2H43GZBI4n_E87hMR4Cbk8UyjnD0w-TwlyGruvNDPNefTr0V_av6UUd2B80DwIWhn6fW1I-IlPYSo_Q4BFjYMtHTdCtG4G6C-BAm4tf718SKiDw5PP1hnA2SeNqowgA5BnipB1nbnlG9dU523Qri1-M1VeMyQQ-e8BxJg/w400-h300/IMG_7386.HEIC" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>In October/November I've started on my Battalion-level mega rules test for mechanised rules. I started with those rules aimed primarily at WW2. I set up the Cristot scenario from O Group and played it through with 3 different rules sets, plus my own. As previously noted many of the Coy level rules - see <a href="https://newconverj.blogspot.com/p/rules-reviews.html">https://newconverj.blogspot.com/p/rules-reviews.html</a> - would also work at Bn, as will some of the Bde level ones in due course.</p><p>Since most of my time is being sucked up by the PhD I've just done this one omnibus, note form, post for the playthroughs. The Modern Battalion rules should be tested 1H24.</p><p><br /></p><p>TLDR: O Group is the set to go for!</p><p><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">O Group</h3><p>108pp soft-back, 4pp QRS</p><h4 style="text-align: left;">How It Played</h4><p>- Germans deployed well fwd, with A/T gun trained on road and PzrSchrk team in wood by road.</p><p>- British went for a broad advance, but A Coy (W) hesitant at start.</p><p>- On E flank B Coy came under fire fm farm, laid smoke, moved across neighbouring field and into MG ambush. Never really recovered initiative as battle focussed on W</p><p>- Once A coy got act together advanced to wood line, but 3 Pl sent home by en fire. 2 Pl stormed the farm house, took flanking fire but go through, and after couple of rounds melee took farmhouse. </p><p>- German I. Coy tried to counter but pl defeated by fire and pulled back to wood. Germans deploy res pl and MG team into wood. Firefight with farm whilst British move 1 Pl up and Carrier Pl to enfilade the wood</p><p>- Meantime Sherman/Cromwell tps move up, but hit by the A/T ambush. The 2nd troop lasts longer, Panther Pl deployed, fires and misses, and PzrShrck firing on flank gets the final kill</p><p>- German II Coy pushes fwd W of the road against minimal opposition, risking flanks of both British thrusts</p><p>- Germans bring down mortar fire on farm, but twice get OOA. British take several turns to get Fires, but finally bring down couple of turns fire on the woods, which combined with the MG fire finally starts to get KIAs and I Coy effectively wiped out. </p><p>- Called time. ~Turn 10/16. Probably still in balance but unlikely that Brits would get 50% of Cristot in another 6 turns, esp with II Coy fwd</p><h4 style="text-align: left;">Pros</h4><p>- really emphasises bn level</p><p>- simple die rolls (everything is 4+), rolls+DMs easily memorable</p><h4 style="text-align: left;">Cons</h4><p>- shock->suppression->KIA takes time to build up - realistic (in some cases)?</p><p>- quite abstract rolls (but Bn)</p><p>- confusing terms (orders, unit etc)</p><p>- Index, but page numbers hidden in spine</p><p>- not 100% logical layout</p><p><br /></p><h4 style="text-align: left;">Possible Improvements</h4><p>- Smoke on any arty/mortar impact squares and no other firing into before or after</p><p>- 4+ for opportunity so 50:50?</p><p>- Coy morale?</p><p>- Use a Suppress markers once get to 3 shock for less clutter and to emphasise</p><p>- Redeploy of sp wpns?</p><p>- Use tanks as individuals not sections? Else put on larger bases to emphasise.</p><h4 style="text-align: left;"><br /></h4><h4 style="text-align: left;">Overall</h4><div>Really nice set of rules. Certainly preferred them to Chain of Command and think the way that the patrol bases works is really good and well worth stealing. The set to beat at this level? 9/10.</div><p><br /></p><p><span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p><p><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">War On The Ground</h3><p>64pp, 2pp QRS, rules sort of OK but poor headings and data everywhere. 5 scenarios. 4pp FAQ/corrigenda </p><h4 style="text-align: left;">Pros</h4><p>- 2 blinds for every defending unit</p><p>- Nice morale/effectiveness test, and for coy </p><p><span style="white-space: normal;"><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>- But Pl with 1 sect lost, 1 unfughtable and 1 dispersed stays on all but a 1!</span></p><h4 style="text-align: left;">Cons</h4><p>- Recce phase, but not clearly explained</p><p>- No command friction at all</p><p>- Lots of big 2D CRTs</p><p>- D20, D10, D6 (D10 to spot, D20 to hit and pen)</p><p>- Doesn’t actually state what the tgt for the die roll is and whether N- or N+. Most/all are N+ and modifiers are TN not DM</p><p>- 2 x big 2D matrix just for spotting, and per unit and doesn’t persist.</p><p>- 4pp of clarifications/FAQs/errors</p><p>- No opp fire</p><p>- Need to know L num of wpns</p><p>- No UC</p><p>- Movt not on QRS</p><p>- Continuous need to flip through to find eqpt stats - 3 diff styles</p><p>- 100m range bars</p><p>- Attackers gets 2nd fire in before defender!</p><p>- Scattered vs Shattered</p><p>- Colours don’t match</p><p>- Downgrade in rules at start of turn, in QRS at end, and for Defender Fire 2 is immediate, so reduces effect (only on Morale)</p><p>- Can’t hasten recovery</p><p>- Shattered DM same as Scatteed</p><p>- Attacker takes 2 rounds of fire each turn trying to get in for 1 movt</p><p>- No real melee rules, just fire at 50m despite moving > 1/2</p><p>- Aircraft:</p><p><span style="white-space: normal;"><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>- No request rules</span></p><p><span style="white-space: normal;"><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>- Release point often off table</span></p><p><span style="white-space: normal;"><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>- No rules for rockets despite release point</span></p><p><span style="white-space: normal;"><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>- Doesn’t say which table for bombs</span></p><p>- Arty:</p><p><span style="white-space: normal;"><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>- Doesn’t explicitly state delay</span></p><p><span style="white-space: normal;"><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>- Need to plot ahead - realistic but not v practical </span></p><p><span style="white-space: normal;"><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>- Impacts on people who passed thru previous turn!</span></p><p><span style="white-space: normal;"><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>- otherwise simple and OK, incl deviation, beaten zone etc</span></p><p><span style="white-space: normal;"><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>- Can fire every turn, no ammo or avail check</span></p><h4 style="text-align: left;">Overall</h4><p>Really couldn't get on with them, just to many issues. 4/10.</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgllRb0tgTYP9XXeyhE2UTbnwWALT0c-IkJcTBacpGnJJps7Jv-pGcR4zWUaezbAsng6YVlx9CL4kBTD2eW5OKlYrn570dY5ygPKrAc5YkOD94UV_DzSPjQsBgOLJ4NsdTQiUaUUWee6nQBO6xR1aU3irMzCayZv71t03_FMs5gsGL5M58r4szJtb8-jPY/s4032/IMG_7384.HEIC" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgllRb0tgTYP9XXeyhE2UTbnwWALT0c-IkJcTBacpGnJJps7Jv-pGcR4zWUaezbAsng6YVlx9CL4kBTD2eW5OKlYrn570dY5ygPKrAc5YkOD94UV_DzSPjQsBgOLJ4NsdTQiUaUUWee6nQBO6xR1aU3irMzCayZv71t03_FMs5gsGL5M58r4szJtb8-jPY/w400-h300/IMG_7384.HEIC" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><span><!--more--></span><h3 style="text-align: left;">Mission Command: Normandy</h3><p>They are meant to scale from Coy to Div. Was going to run it as part of this test, but the main scenario is for 2xBn per side, and the rule book is huge, so left it for the Bde test!</p><p><br /></p><span><!--more--></span><h3 style="text-align: left;">Blitzkrieg Commander</h3><p>Altough I've played Cold War Commander I've never played BKC so thought I'd include it here.</p><h4 style="text-align: left;">How It Played</h4><p>- British allowed to get real close due to multiple activation and missing opp fire rule! (and if allowed from blinds)</p><p>- Lots of hits taken by Br E flank where facing two Coys (randomised)</p><h4 style="text-align: left;">Pros</h4><p>- simple</p><p>- OK hidden deployment and ambushes</p><p>- nice initiative phase</p><p>- nice cmd activation method vs CV and keep going til fail + opportunity fire</p><p>- OK opportunity fire model</p><p><br /></p><h4 style="text-align: left;">Cons</h4><p>- need to house-rule the disappearing hits issue</p><p>- Then need to house rule a DM for hits</p><p>- bit BODish</p><p>- arty missions fm points buy</p><p>- spotting opportunities a bit limited</p><p>- Auto instant recovery fm suppressed</p><p>- Tank sections as single models (as others)</p><p>- No ability to rally (as automatic as written)</p><p><br /></p><h4 style="text-align: left;">Overall</h4><div>A lot more gamey than O Group and not quite the same sense of a Bn comdr, as is very generic by formation level (is actually Bde by default). Not a bad set of general purpose rules though. 7/10.</div><div><br /></div><span><!--more--></span><div><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: left;">Contact:Wait Out</h3><div>My own rules. Having added bits in from 7DTTR and Battlegroup:NORTHAG in the previous tests I now added in the O Group patrol base idea as I really liked it. I also started playing around with using some old .22 casings to track logistics. The idea is that at the start of the game you have your log load, but the more you make a unit do the more it uses up the ammo. If you're lucky you might get resupply during the game, but otherwise what you start with is what you've got and you need to manage the tempo of the engagement accordingly. All worked out pretty well. Will do a fuller write-up once I play it in the Modern/CWGH test and given it more testing and refinement.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>David Burdenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13336165481689169802noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6090592056927601218.post-89539873642093543442023-11-19T16:19:00.001+00:002024-02-23T16:33:49.500+00:00Jaws of the Dragon<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwn4Og5ROINbycCQb4k2MN6QHq-4h0liZuVd1dIQt7Ked0CkXy0ATwTllhbExgUTTG8CHGURJXyfWrClZBNOL95DIYXunhsbKptItskrgRZc7B_Ipj35W1P8bUyIQZO5RM7XShg6E29pLfkJhtLFP47iEA2q8HcIq3k-xwlujS5wwgejrrXuUpWniH7Gs/s4032/IMG_7423.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwn4Og5ROINbycCQb4k2MN6QHq-4h0liZuVd1dIQt7Ked0CkXy0ATwTllhbExgUTTG8CHGURJXyfWrClZBNOL95DIYXunhsbKptItskrgRZc7B_Ipj35W1P8bUyIQZO5RM7XShg6E29pLfkJhtLFP47iEA2q8HcIq3k-xwlujS5wwgejrrXuUpWniH7Gs/w400-h300/IMG_7423.HEIC" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>Jaws of the Dragon was a megagame held in London by an academic colleague looking at a potential Chinese of Taiwan. The game postulated that the initial landings had gone well, but now a week or so later the Chinese are starting to get bogged down and the US and other nations are mobilising to come to Taiwan's aid.</p><p>Being a megagame the main part was the hall of teams playing each nation and having political discussions and issuing orders to their armed forces. I was in the LOCON team, playing the Chinese Army on Taiwan, and other tables were managing the air and sea battles. A high level set of hex-and-counter type rules were meant to control the combat but in the end we freestyled quite a bit, guided by the rules.</p><p>In terms of how the game went, we almost managed to break-through the main Taiwanese defence but the US Marines arrived just in time in order to hold the line. Our biggest issue though was that the US subs had effectively blockaded Taiwan from China, so there was no way we were going to get resupplied or reinforcements. Apparently there was not a surface ship form either side left on the high seas. The US did a strategic air strike against Chinese industrial centres - particularly chip fabs, and the Chinese responded with small nukes against a US base in Japan. The US thought about it, sacked their President, and decided not to respond (or the other way around!). The real winner was probably the Philippines which had now become the dominant Naval power in the region and was wielding a high degree of influence!</p><p>My first experience of this type of game and great fun!</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9GQAc3CNdonuQ8D7bqN9fzTKHezdy-Zr6rlIDFWWUJdH82YUeHdF9DiPjVipK_DZPBkH1XKQF0HdwGrOB2JBcqwto1oCMgJ9H6XgF6UZNAN0nDtf15MDcXMMzs1mKWogvcp958L854maMYkplLHCvL1Ef3w0Mj-NlXRXHHiGuml421k8VHprs_qeNS9I/s4032/IMG_7414.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9GQAc3CNdonuQ8D7bqN9fzTKHezdy-Zr6rlIDFWWUJdH82YUeHdF9DiPjVipK_DZPBkH1XKQF0HdwGrOB2JBcqwto1oCMgJ9H6XgF6UZNAN0nDtf15MDcXMMzs1mKWogvcp958L854maMYkplLHCvL1Ef3w0Mj-NlXRXHHiGuml421k8VHprs_qeNS9I/w400-h300/IMG_7414.HEIC" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Hall of Nations!</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJUU99z5jd6qOZH4thrYXdD_kAo1jGm1_mFPZ49vUySKcQk0c8bfI79krWy6vdeqkkAdHR_nUm3x2lL4p9hanPjz3c2GVZTDZvpNlMp30qkodbBNOb0CJ8tj0j3ius9nOnqCCl6wW1mDfPbzaNJ1WNiaajnPd5STJytCwcrpmWkb4jOUyqpA2NzHgrUfY/s4032/IMG_7415.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJUU99z5jd6qOZH4thrYXdD_kAo1jGm1_mFPZ49vUySKcQk0c8bfI79krWy6vdeqkkAdHR_nUm3x2lL4p9hanPjz3c2GVZTDZvpNlMp30qkodbBNOb0CJ8tj0j3ius9nOnqCCl6wW1mDfPbzaNJ1WNiaajnPd5STJytCwcrpmWkb4jOUyqpA2NzHgrUfY/w300-h400/IMG_7415.HEIC" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chinese High Command</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLWV2rr3K2Y08Neg5V3m1Jp8vUkaOLEWA2-qbAmXEnzovoIUciByUETAMm2r3KGP4O2SSeZ7FiNUl1_u7qfeHhkgCIj0pFzZnWa-OuHP8DY6g9dK-AVUxMl6-v7oUNFcZV3Eq3tqIl1obx6faiFHKJ2YOvocasuKzAdDlngj3oy5lvneRWmP2ZOKOKJS0/s4032/IMG_7412.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLWV2rr3K2Y08Neg5V3m1Jp8vUkaOLEWA2-qbAmXEnzovoIUciByUETAMm2r3KGP4O2SSeZ7FiNUl1_u7qfeHhkgCIj0pFzZnWa-OuHP8DY6g9dK-AVUxMl6-v7oUNFcZV3Eq3tqIl1obx6faiFHKJ2YOvocasuKzAdDlngj3oy5lvneRWmP2ZOKOKJS0/w400-h300/IMG_7412.HEIC" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Sea/Subsea table</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKE9Vt76_M0YfubtspSPunigDOKi-tF_J7FexdbmUor7-A26biBCCwtpz4w83t4NTax50sqFT0UJzSqEztKLG1SriRXMZI9-3hKOQKYlXKMSin1I1PeRqMDH2S3hXOkGkjtal_GoXqTi3JphiG6LYFQiQZbX1hxitP-KU1fNovZ5UHDIcvmXBKyR5W3-k/s4032/IMG_7408.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKE9Vt76_M0YfubtspSPunigDOKi-tF_J7FexdbmUor7-A26biBCCwtpz4w83t4NTax50sqFT0UJzSqEztKLG1SriRXMZI9-3hKOQKYlXKMSin1I1PeRqMDH2S3hXOkGkjtal_GoXqTi3JphiG6LYFQiQZbX1hxitP-KU1fNovZ5UHDIcvmXBKyR5W3-k/w400-h300/IMG_7408.HEIC" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our Land table</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3DV9zT24Mff-UybVJ6IhT9H-ZIkdgXvaY5FFh37MwrqzZbge4vusNyKcUdK8qyXs8U702ix-iAu2l8E4IQy1sgZK41EjIdmY1yj1fxAhitjXTGL39o8Hz6WXO1VH3qZoNxmo5Ek4OEJZNkL_fZ52BljWi-jdI6Z19UeL7eWRRjnXIVbqCKBmVnqrOMEc/s4032/IMG_7417.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3DV9zT24Mff-UybVJ6IhT9H-ZIkdgXvaY5FFh37MwrqzZbge4vusNyKcUdK8qyXs8U702ix-iAu2l8E4IQy1sgZK41EjIdmY1yj1fxAhitjXTGL39o8Hz6WXO1VH3qZoNxmo5Ek4OEJZNkL_fZ52BljWi-jdI6Z19UeL7eWRRjnXIVbqCKBmVnqrOMEc/w300-h400/IMG_7417.HEIC" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Air Table</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfJ71L3Ggg2sd4NHOymMUMI3_WxAqfRwunkyNGnrfKnA0_f0y0JaKr6QPVb6vJBCyUhKv8tn7fjgf508nmJ1eGijme8iWV5ZRDvsm-0v5xOQ1FFTqRdEWM3POGUhIC0CjBLeJ255Y8p6FCV4wjz6Vqtb9ID1nM2oI-bBmJs05mFONYmQ-qFl7TRznIAWk/s4032/IMG_7422.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfJ71L3Ggg2sd4NHOymMUMI3_WxAqfRwunkyNGnrfKnA0_f0y0JaKr6QPVb6vJBCyUhKv8tn7fjgf508nmJ1eGijme8iWV5ZRDvsm-0v5xOQ1FFTqRdEWM3POGUhIC0CjBLeJ255Y8p6FCV4wjz6Vqtb9ID1nM2oI-bBmJs05mFONYmQ-qFl7TRznIAWk/w400-h300/IMG_7422.HEIC" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Close-up of the fighting</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8Jb1UxSoy9bIW7nJzVcjs3siw4cJFujmDOJxTydpNlaAcIQU-tcFavABTmDzyeOeVAQcxBzwD5gF6NTDVxfanBJr2ZmaSRtU9ODb5Hv73BfW8oWGyIf6o3pMi7CzH1vasvWEtp2HAvbESVrpVLEpO1zUVZDmn7oNsjL7ynQNoEo83e7iCrjN3fWB9r_w/s4032/IMG_7426.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8Jb1UxSoy9bIW7nJzVcjs3siw4cJFujmDOJxTydpNlaAcIQU-tcFavABTmDzyeOeVAQcxBzwD5gF6NTDVxfanBJr2ZmaSRtU9ODb5Hv73BfW8oWGyIf6o3pMi7CzH1vasvWEtp2HAvbESVrpVLEpO1zUVZDmn7oNsjL7ynQNoEo83e7iCrjN3fWB9r_w/w300-h400/IMG_7426.HEIC" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The sentiment meter was a key part of the game</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p><br /></p>David Burdenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13336165481689169802noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6090592056927601218.post-72656378695174284742023-11-13T13:43:00.001+00:002023-11-13T13:46:01.893+00:00Mixed Reality for Wargaming - Very Initial Experiments<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7Fc2NuwafO5DW2gzIXX2hIE7vrEWV0WBRAwlrwXuuKiS2HqSSOpmxYSb1OCBArRh7YrW427zEUEWfd3-aFj7QXq7WzhpMDmtsj2WmtS9TXnTxCaNPLEDpRZTfUWcJzG4nOA5fkqQPCiBK6scyQkQSlP6uGW-n2QG8Mm6dhrDn7HFIv9zIpjVI8fg6rG0/s1440/com.meta.curio.toybox-20231010-225558.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1440" data-original-width="1440" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7Fc2NuwafO5DW2gzIXX2hIE7vrEWV0WBRAwlrwXuuKiS2HqSSOpmxYSb1OCBArRh7YrW427zEUEWfd3-aFj7QXq7WzhpMDmtsj2WmtS9TXnTxCaNPLEDpRZTfUWcJzG4nOA5fkqQPCiBK6scyQkQSlP6uGW-n2QG8Mm6dhrDn7HFIv9zIpjVI8fg6rG0/s320/com.meta.curio.toybox-20231010-225558.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><p>In October I upgraded from my trusty Oculus/Meta Quest 1 to a Quest 3. Whilst the VR support of the Quest3 is only a marginal improvement (on the already very good) Quest1, the big step forward with the Quest3 is its Mixed Reality (MR) capability. By Mixed Reality we mean the ability to overlay virtual objects and information onto the physical world - but in such a way that the virtual objects are aware of, and respond to, the physical world layout. So for instance if you threw virtual dice onto a physical table they would bounce and roll across the table, and then probably fall off the table edge and onto the floor! </p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Mixed Reality</h3><p>The Quest uses a process called video pass-through. Existing Mixed Reality headsets such as the Microsoft Hololens and Magic Leap deliver Mixed Reality through projecting digital information onto a visor which the users looks through to see the physical world with the virtual overlay. By contrast, with the Quest the user is looking at a stereoscopic video screen which uses camera on the front of the headset to show the physical world, and then then displays the digital information on thew same screen. The Hololens and Magic Leap suffered from two big problems - they had a very narrow field of view and they either needed a relatively dark room or had to darken the physical world view in order to get enough contrast to see the digital information. The Quest3 solves both of these, the FOV is the same as in VR, so about 120 degrees, and it actually prefers more brightly lit rooms.</p><p>So what does it look like. This photo at the top of the page is the introductory game in Quest3 where a spaceship falls through a hole in your room's ceiling, lands on the table below it, and then starts spewing little furry aliens which start bouncing around the room and which you need to shoot - and each time you miss and hit your rooms (physical) walls the (virtual) walls begin to disappear and reveal an alien landscape behind!</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Mixed Reality Wargaming</h3><p>But what about wargaming? If you've played Tabletop Simulator you'll know that that already delivers a 3D wargames table - complete with models, terrain, cards and dice - but you only "see" your opponents as icons - there is a limited sense of being in the same room as them. With MR, you should be able to have that same virtual tabletop experience, but you can put the table top on your own (empty) physical table in your gaming room, and your opponents can be a mix of people physically in the same room as you (but wearing their own MR headsets) and people in remote locations coming in via the Internet (and wearing their own MR headsets and seeing the virtual table set up on their physical tables).</p><p>The nice things about MR wargaming, just as with Tabletop Simulator, is that you don't have to code any rules, you just need the various 3D assets - models, terrain, dice, cards etc - and then let players manipulate them just as they would in the physical world, and consulting physical rules (or digital copies) as and when needed.</p><p>My initial experimentations in this area are all about proving the concept, so I'm not trying to bring in a full game, just proving that the technology can do what is needed. There are likely to be 4 stages:</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Proving it for solo play - i.e. only I am playing - but I get a fully configurable virtual wargames table (ideal for urban wargaming experiments)</li><li>Proving it for remote play - I'm at home and my opponent is in their home</li><li>Proving it for local play - I'm at home and my opponent is in the same room as me</li><li>Proving it for hybrid play - ideally with 3 locations and 4-6 people spread between them (if I can find enough Quest3 owning wargamers!)</li></ul><div><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: left;">First Experiments</h3><div>Seeing as no-one has yet built (to my knowledge) a wargaming MR app, and I didn't want to have to write the code myself, I first needed to find an app that would let me import, place and move objects in MR. I drew up a long list of potential games/apps that I might be able to co-opt to my needs, but luckily the second one I tried - <a href="https://www.arkio.is/" target="_blank">Arkio</a> - did exactly what I needed. Arkio is designed for architects and lets them import 3D models and share and explore them in MR, and crucially also has simple in-world build and annotation/measurement tools. So using Arkio and one of their demo cityscapes I brought in a T72 model (bought for $7 on <a href="https://www.turbosquid.com/?gclid=b8d0762d88331d0802a5137f9008036a&gclsrc=3p.ds&&utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=BING-UK-en-TS-Brand&utm_content=Brand-TurboSquid&utm_term=turbosquid&mt=e&dev=c&itemid=&targid=kwd-74286011134511:loc-188&loc=40860&ntwk=o&dmod=&adp=&msclkid=b8d0762d88331d0802a5137f9008036a" target="_blank">Turbosquid</a>) and moved it around the table, both using the controllers and just with my hands. For good measure I could move the model yacht in the model too.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dw0GE9FsKaTsxEUAV-nZjnPLD2j0tECY0NXDxhHINmEOuZUTCoGPOqLKHl5N5zyyrSwUbYAn6QQa9B_DvT9dw' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><br /><div>And here's moving the objects by hands:</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dwDKxNKg6zxwJZfCXPPN8B2dt_uvmMFXjj7eNfFp0h77d_qJQCO7xHvspUhY4dx_kIEynGn-xV0vjq0wQvrpw' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>A very basic demo, but enough to prove that the concept of solo wargaming in MR is completely viable.</div><div><br /></div><div>One issue I did have though was that when I first brough the T72 into MR I was expecting it to be something like a 1:35 scale model, whereas it came in as a 1:1 model and completely filled my (relatively large) wargames room!</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dzMep8FWoRUp2hmqxOpjRbA4RiETL2gOFhnzx-tI10CXerrPUjpfdAIOt604roaoZHjX34a1UKVX4ZF3yOnfg' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><br /><div>If you're going to play a game in MR then its good to be able to use the physical rules as it saves you having to work out how to import them. The video quality on the Quest was not only good enough to do that, but also good enough to use your smartphone or tablet - so PDF rules would be OK. </div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dx3j9DgtbFJd2aUDTDPNgxIiqPBDqGGA-uI9GxHLKssfurXAZxwQxe064MIln-Z20n3v6kxs-aGwu6pZHH7Aw' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div>Of course its useful to have things like QRS sheets in world - so I converted a PDF document into an image and brought that in-world. Since this is MR you can of course put things anywhere, even hanging in space, and resize them as you need them.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dyduLengceEtf1J2VpYqjVen9qxSkTtQKK_O3UNsekvHFyOx2cpwtwcsKb-sjjYGQakfp7RF3-JQ2sTHRcnTw' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><br /><div>A key capability is to be able to improvise within the game/application so you aren't limited to what's been already imported - this is vital to provide a flexible environment for game prototyping. Luckily Arkio has the tools to support this - the simple buildings in the video below were built using the in-world tools.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dz48Oza7WfIMmffHTxHvZImENrArKbGBei9Mfqb3PcSBcut2bQYrds_HprO3l8lP60zqhTzC1i_xt_xOK0TpQ' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><br /><div><br /></div><div>Another really neat feature of Arkio is that you point your controller at a point in the model and then be teleported into that place at "human" scale so you can view the whole model in VR. Ideal for sorting line-of-sight issues!</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dyTnFeqsZvTxlVMhBgAFYg0oMPXgQRrFch30rQHxumW2xgLDZZuA8fYNb5fLWahvJ0NDea-xzsW3FRG4SlQsQ' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>And finally, this need not just be for miniatures gaming but can also be used for boardgames - in this case Littoral Commander. If the cards were moved form the physical to the MR space you'd then be able to place them anywhere around you - no more running out of physical table space!</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dyybiTLKXVzYkEmIs4K2cQ00pnvKGyo2BDJQ5vy-6Gp6dJDnO4Hc_HCMiW3t7VF42vc1wgai4Ei5_XREsIfPg' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">So that's it for the initial look-see. Next task is to try and get the stage 2 test sorted, and maybe bring some more assets in start working up a playable game.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><br /><div><br /></div><p></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>David Burdenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13336165481689169802noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6090592056927601218.post-60985882029928893622023-08-14T20:53:00.003+01:002023-08-14T20:53:16.275+01:00City & CEMA at COW<p>Not sure if I'm going to get as far as a review post on COW (and I've put a load of photos up anyway and written the WD page on it at <a href="https://wargamedevelopments.org/conferences/cows/cow-2023/">https://wargamedevelopments.org/conferences/cows/cow-2023/</a>), but here some of the pics from my big game at COW - City and CEMA, which was also billed as The Battle of Redditch 2027.</p><p>The game is a reasonably serious attempt at a modern Brigade-level urban wargame, with all the UAV, Cyber, EW and other whistles. You can read more about it on my PhD wiki at: <a href="http://taunoyen.com/wiki/doku.php?id=cityandcema:cityandcema">http://taunoyen.com/wiki/doku.php?id=cityandcema:cityandcema</a></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfdYV9xkKvl_PiT0Kh8hlqHeP-hyHChPNJGVzTh8ORTNNa_nLLRBVQLG7t-PxA8DYx2Iu_ecVk02sK7hvgEm6xz4YBzQSBUhn7mzV6hpA3qwc6JqV20kgpYH3aSlUgNGNIQcDuGp37YluudS8TS8pTVUbB96ZufMBZD_NF8w6Enwbln2qj8Kyvl0Xr5bk/s800/IMG_6117_sm.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfdYV9xkKvl_PiT0Kh8hlqHeP-hyHChPNJGVzTh8ORTNNa_nLLRBVQLG7t-PxA8DYx2Iu_ecVk02sK7hvgEm6xz4YBzQSBUhn7mzV6hpA3qwc6JqV20kgpYH3aSlUgNGNIQcDuGp37YluudS8TS8pTVUbB96ZufMBZD_NF8w6Enwbln2qj8Kyvl0Xr5bk/s320/IMG_6117_sm.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW9iSlFAjeKhH6_uoott5qHhcke7Jw3JYJzVfaLl-cbyY5IEGE_mGdXBsIt2wlzE7mXuIx2RsM9T_m7H9MMcB4sBF9Z6jF-KobdD3fEGUVtq_HO5nbQvW1NmZjwDy3Pwu-lZ3qZPPEt-M2MRlZTmY6vJEndO2kt63L7wtRXods4OxPV3wktZUsb4qNBwY/s800/IMG_6118_sm.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW9iSlFAjeKhH6_uoott5qHhcke7Jw3JYJzVfaLl-cbyY5IEGE_mGdXBsIt2wlzE7mXuIx2RsM9T_m7H9MMcB4sBF9Z6jF-KobdD3fEGUVtq_HO5nbQvW1NmZjwDy3Pwu-lZ3qZPPEt-M2MRlZTmY6vJEndO2kt63L7wtRXods4OxPV3wktZUsb4qNBwY/s320/IMG_6118_sm.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0gsPI83ArCiY6W3H_R14VbhS7Y7SObMHphNa28h4O6zpwf8WSRVohCBWVBY2bYmlNcTVwhsAoAI5NyrF-DXrjhBe9EKrRp7-iSGgse-7F_QnxOPTczZeCnKLw86PG6pTQ133y5HmgG4GHitIMbE6n2TwduW2XnjH1bSHXHVV6xj8cjZoj4pFlmUpgH6o/s800/IMG_6121_sm.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0gsPI83ArCiY6W3H_R14VbhS7Y7SObMHphNa28h4O6zpwf8WSRVohCBWVBY2bYmlNcTVwhsAoAI5NyrF-DXrjhBe9EKrRp7-iSGgse-7F_QnxOPTczZeCnKLw86PG6pTQ133y5HmgG4GHitIMbE6n2TwduW2XnjH1bSHXHVV6xj8cjZoj4pFlmUpgH6o/s320/IMG_6121_sm.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8msZIwvhr1rNGKDpk4d2opT03DnURBVP35fm_bc_UZpEkQEnzPSK1UPAb7sNgYkAgkCSq3NWuzEVqJ69FGU92o-mjPtYu-EKP7FGmiJfDj7np-n4ysBYQc2ypq-BqSu07sXFP5ejQBq5PbXRKxfIV-4fR6-Qk4TPnYhndps6HtnCLmRhXG2vTnSMWpgo/s800/IMG_6127_sm.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8msZIwvhr1rNGKDpk4d2opT03DnURBVP35fm_bc_UZpEkQEnzPSK1UPAb7sNgYkAgkCSq3NWuzEVqJ69FGU92o-mjPtYu-EKP7FGmiJfDj7np-n4ysBYQc2ypq-BqSu07sXFP5ejQBq5PbXRKxfIV-4fR6-Qk4TPnYhndps6HtnCLmRhXG2vTnSMWpgo/s320/IMG_6127_sm.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2GtlyAAeA3tezDLdxGBIZu0saA4EBHDlC74GWN0E5Nd-zhCdSql0L1NV1VG34xBHixNJ6nP0iqe8T9V_dFY7jiWfxgx3PSfk38q9WjTnt5kOmWKraZPWItt_ZNc7bnN9iy_-JNe5tPcgL06dwmxKBz4BqlWq1xPahmMedJV1h9cGYR7kbPiahM9dSskY/s800/Redditch_Blue%20HQ_sm.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2GtlyAAeA3tezDLdxGBIZu0saA4EBHDlC74GWN0E5Nd-zhCdSql0L1NV1VG34xBHixNJ6nP0iqe8T9V_dFY7jiWfxgx3PSfk38q9WjTnt5kOmWKraZPWItt_ZNc7bnN9iy_-JNe5tPcgL06dwmxKBz4BqlWq1xPahmMedJV1h9cGYR7kbPiahM9dSskY/s320/Redditch_Blue%20HQ_sm.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKXrdRSxEX88FuC2hu6_XBCdGHnTKuCNKEOmeLAi-oGJ_Oydx8VguZwtVH5Uyl5-epKCFHJycOpaflSD_0Qg8d22PUwU4uvA6d7phKPbvZB47-xI01MEOzDA_yLMpGR7nRHTbepYIVp54wshmFsHxdI_o2eEVH6QX4zJ1UBMPJMSuuSDsXOEF5B0wGhOA/s800/Redditch_Red%20HQ_sm.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKXrdRSxEX88FuC2hu6_XBCdGHnTKuCNKEOmeLAi-oGJ_Oydx8VguZwtVH5Uyl5-epKCFHJycOpaflSD_0Qg8d22PUwU4uvA6d7phKPbvZB47-xI01MEOzDA_yLMpGR7nRHTbepYIVp54wshmFsHxdI_o2eEVH6QX4zJ1UBMPJMSuuSDsXOEF5B0wGhOA/s320/Redditch_Red%20HQ_sm.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDYiBboABZMpculHSDIFTUmNbdr3UY3WHdHeJFhJ0VaUcwnSKz18GuDx2sD0EwYCdHXxMPSMrcXwRjm_wGxxhxgq7PW6_dbzsR33NWLuG-ocHIGyeG7gcxwu9slNJ8bUldZ_Oxn50GfDIQIQi-dMWIquyduHG6CtDmcK_omW0uYPpDHgUMwYB55SflCdU/s800/Redditch_serious%20pointing_sm.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDYiBboABZMpculHSDIFTUmNbdr3UY3WHdHeJFhJ0VaUcwnSKz18GuDx2sD0EwYCdHXxMPSMrcXwRjm_wGxxhxgq7PW6_dbzsR33NWLuG-ocHIGyeG7gcxwu9slNJ8bUldZ_Oxn50GfDIQIQi-dMWIquyduHG6CtDmcK_omW0uYPpDHgUMwYB55SflCdU/s320/Redditch_serious%20pointing_sm.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p>And here's one shot from my smaller solo card-based game, Rubble Town, being played head-to-head with two decks. Again more info on the wiki at <a href="http://taunoyen.com/wiki/doku.php?id=rubbletown:rubbletown">http://taunoyen.com/wiki/doku.php?id=rubbletown:rubbletown</a>.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDkEcCh7fx5ukxVKrmDecY-lwzaxsTjRHx2C-IJjMW4hu9cb7t5z_R5PuONm9nw_hjOeqnoXmgdTxjLc1w1ktwQ-mRjmgzSWAgtdyIzBB8jRvy1o9xEjcFCBq3hj-JE3wGUkon1iDLlAy9xjp8DfCgFzZkt50ZapmcG9XG0zVapzn7PGypQ6DQN6Ozi3k/s800/Rubble%20Town_sm.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDkEcCh7fx5ukxVKrmDecY-lwzaxsTjRHx2C-IJjMW4hu9cb7t5z_R5PuONm9nw_hjOeqnoXmgdTxjLc1w1ktwQ-mRjmgzSWAgtdyIzBB8jRvy1o9xEjcFCBq3hj-JE3wGUkon1iDLlAy9xjp8DfCgFzZkt50ZapmcG9XG0zVapzn7PGypQ6DQN6Ozi3k/s320/Rubble%20Town_sm.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>David Burdenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13336165481689169802noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6090592056927601218.post-25556989589956081332023-06-21T13:35:00.001+01:002023-06-21T13:35:53.886+01:00Real-Time Waterloo at Valkryx <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi66hK5FC-XCkzmH-C5oPjW4JKySc1RJXQULjbCXviQ0izZbbVxBQBQ--rcEccn4VIExeRd4iMO-04BL_cSwzo8NQ9aL8qA6B48DKWfwZnxxbGBweGd7863a16DhnsgUA1wI2h58xl1Ro-nuTXLkxCJn8kbVR7mfYNdcuaiEUMoWKJjY1yM5oIm1bFtlLw/s4032/IMG_5971.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi66hK5FC-XCkzmH-C5oPjW4JKySc1RJXQULjbCXviQ0izZbbVxBQBQ--rcEccn4VIExeRd4iMO-04BL_cSwzo8NQ9aL8qA6B48DKWfwZnxxbGBweGd7863a16DhnsgUA1wI2h58xl1Ro-nuTXLkxCJn8kbVR7mfYNdcuaiEUMoWKJjY1yM5oIm1bFtlLw/w400-h300/IMG_5971.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div>On Sunday I was honoured to be amongst the first group of players to play <a href="https://www.valkyrx.com/" target="_blank">Valkyrx</a>’s Real-Time Waterloo, played on 8 of their Intelligent Wargames Tables (IWT)</div><div><br /></div><div>You can read my description of their IWT system in a <a href="https://newconverj.blogspot.com/2022/08/valkyrx-intelligent-wargames-tables.html">previous blog post</a>. Essentially each ~2m hex tables is composed of 150+ 15cm hexes, and each hex has an NFC reader and a multi-colour light. Units (typically representing Brigades for Napoleonics) are a goodly number of 10mm miniatures on a 10cm square base. </div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhG6x9OQILSj_91dTUMDNzOZqP3lY7bgt_3zvmqb9umn0fZaLrGzr4Au3oeFB-D--Zlde_pyo9VvOiNq9v4pMzvF6Lh8H8dSIY4gEygVsoIL6x7Rm7z1jDyMiiS5jRYxhBdJJyghqy8OajDUzUWIK_lZUSLbL7EmcehdfGLZBqlkQxU1V2A8sG3xuGUSHE/s4032/IMG_5975.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhG6x9OQILSj_91dTUMDNzOZqP3lY7bgt_3zvmqb9umn0fZaLrGzr4Au3oeFB-D--Zlde_pyo9VvOiNq9v4pMzvF6Lh8H8dSIY4gEygVsoIL6x7Rm7z1jDyMiiS5jRYxhBdJJyghqy8OajDUzUWIK_lZUSLbL7EmcehdfGLZBqlkQxU1V2A8sG3xuGUSHE/w400-h300/IMG_5975.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The table in "add unit" mode, clearly showing the hex arrangement</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><br /></div><div>To play a wargame you just move the bases on the table, the hexes light to show illegal moves of when you’ve gone too far, and then once moves are complete the computer automatically works out all the firing and melee and then flashes lights to tell you who’s been involved and what their strength is at the end of the round. Each table also has a small touch-screen which allows you to interrogate units in more detail and to change formation and to limber/unlimbers guns.</div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVfxgQGa2rimIxueOWoJy53RIggNFt3SCS04CpWCtLkbD31lBBGl2eN1KMJMI-GGxyrJTWjr0_rMjCrD2kF9e8eXOF9KS3oCKsnr5ep7c-PnYhe0Y7Bmy6iv4piksgQV_lI9lB6pS09x2RnVjKZfm9WOd6NCw-QdKCBLqI3cxYacnjyRzUzFleD6yHVUU/s4032/IMG_5974.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVfxgQGa2rimIxueOWoJy53RIggNFt3SCS04CpWCtLkbD31lBBGl2eN1KMJMI-GGxyrJTWjr0_rMjCrD2kF9e8eXOF9KS3oCKsnr5ep7c-PnYhe0Y7Bmy6iv4piksgQV_lI9lB6pS09x2RnVjKZfm9WOd6NCw-QdKCBLqI3cxYacnjyRzUzFleD6yHVUU/s320/IMG_5974.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One of the touch-screen controllers showing unit data</td></tr></tbody></table><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>I’ve played with both the fantasy system (GW style skirmishes) and the Napoleonic system before, but this was the first time that Valkyrx had tried to run such a large scale set-up and to run a whole historic battle in real-time. The real-time bit is something that Jon and Valkyrx has always been after, and in play each turn represents only 5 minutes of real battle, and players have 2 minutes per side to make their moves (IGOUGO) and then 1 minute for the computer to workout and display the results - so 5 minutes of real play should equal 5 minutes of historic “battle” time.</div><div><br /></div><div>For this game we had about 4-5 players a side (essentially one per table/Corps), plus about half-a-dozen Valkyrx staff to help out and keep the tech running. There had been a test game about a month ago, that I’d missed, but Saturday was an “open house” session for everyone to practice with the tables and rules and to get a handle on how best to spend their 2 minutes effectively, and how to move the units so as to ensure that the NFC readers didn’t miss things or get confused. The scenario used a standard Waterloo Orbat, but we had free deployment as long as we didn’t go over our front line. The terrain was a reasonable representation of the battlefield, with all the main ridges marked by low hills (getting the NFC reader to work through them had been a real challenge), and all the main building complexes featured. No sign of streams or hedges and pretty billiard table like between the hills, but a good enough representation to have a sense of it being Waterloo. The table had though been laid out so that the Allied ridge was within about 3 hexes of the back of the table - so there was very little space for British manoeuvre, and no real option for a flanking attack by the French. The Prussians were assumed to be lurking the other side of the Bois de Paris at the far end of the table, and there were even rumours (that proved unfounded) that Grouchy might be around somewhere.</div><div><br /></div><div>Come the day Juan (who I know from our Rose Hill games and Francis’ games) was Napoleon, I was Reille and given the left flank with orders to pin the British right, Martin was Lobau, keeping an eye out for the Prussians whilst also trying to sneak round the British left, whilst Theo had d’Erlon and Kellerman with the intention of smashing though the Allied line just at the E (ie French right) end of the ridge.</div><div><br /></div><div>We just about started at the historic 11am, but a few glitches on the computer meant that it was probably half an hour or so before we really got into our stride. I sent a division or two under Ney to skirt around Hougoumont to threaten the Allied right, but although the whole of the end table was devoid of troops there were no VPs in the game so nothing to be gained by exiting off towards Brussels, so the Brits basically just sat on the end of the ridge, and the two of us faced off against each other for most of the game. Meanwhile the main fireworks were between Theo/d'Erlon and the left of the Allied line, with Martin/Lobau's cavalry sweeping round to join the fray. It took a lot of turns but eventually they managed to get a unit or two on the Allied table-edge - but the lack of depth meant that there was no real space to exploit and wrap the flank up.</div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhG2hGF370PNEupAIsfVqQiard7F5OECET7h-VkWI1fzq-bs4XtxzyeLA0E7P7-WQg1NQKotPEJziXqz0XqEFh7SaLlD1z-WsGKXh4XU5pJnMSSYwR6NqsOmLqtItOKmuauxd3pKPpUYrT6la9Zmr7IOZ2fUJRWdtx6vhLQA2qsDiYBvyQjvtpVybQfeJs/s4032/IMG_5977.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhG2hGF370PNEupAIsfVqQiard7F5OECET7h-VkWI1fzq-bs4XtxzyeLA0E7P7-WQg1NQKotPEJziXqz0XqEFh7SaLlD1z-WsGKXh4XU5pJnMSSYwR6NqsOmLqtItOKmuauxd3pKPpUYrT6la9Zmr7IOZ2fUJRWdtx6vhLQA2qsDiYBvyQjvtpVybQfeJs/w400-h300/IMG_5977.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The fighting on the Allied left</td></tr></tbody></table><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>In the centre Juan led the Imperial Guard cavalry and the Old Guard into an assault straight up the Brussel's road and into the Allied centre. With ENDEX looming the Allied right finally pushed forward and my Corps with only 2 cavalry units to support it was at the mercy of 7+ Allied cavalry units - guns don't seem to do a lot to charging infantry or cavalry in the these rules! The Prussians did finally arrive, so Lobau's troops mounted a hasty defence and the Chasseurs of the Guard were dispatched to rescue from a precarious position in La Belle Alliance!</div><div><br /></div><div>A late computer glitch brought a slightly premature end to the game, but it's early days and this was a real test for the software (not least the somewhat chaotic movement of bases in the middle of the table) and we'd had many cracking hours gaming. </div><div><br /></div><div>Being able to play a big Napoleonic wargame so quickly and without recourse to any rule set was quite something. Several people commented on how easy the grid system made things - no arguments or gaming over distances - but I'm used to that anyway with my rules. Not having to look up rules or do calculations was the real time-saver. Whether I felt more like a Corps commander is perhaps debatable, playing with more players so as to get a proper 3-tier model would be wonderful, and I know that Jon wanted to enforce message passing etc to get more of that role-play element in - something for the future perhaps. It also made me wonder if I could do an SLS-FastPlay set of my rules to try and get somewhere close to a similar result. I think Jon said we did 35 turns in a day - and we could perhaps have managed 50-60+ if we (and the computer) all knew what we were doing! (60 turns = 300 minutes = 5 hrs elapsed and game time). That compares to c.10-12 turns a day both for SLS and Francis' games!!</div><div><br /></div><div>We were all up for a rematch to give the ever improving software another test in a few weeks if Jon lays a game on, and I can't wait to see where Jon and his team take this over the coming months and years.</div><div><br /></div><div>Here are a couple of videos showing what happens during the 1 minute "results" phase, initially the lights flash red/green to show who is in combat/firing, then hold steady green then red to show who has one or lost that round, and then steady orange for weakened, flashing orange for badly damaged, and red for removed. Although the tablets show per man level casualties you never really look at that but just learn to read the colours on the table.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='406' height='338' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dw3IUDoeFOC2TEhtMVJ-P3jALOogxbQ88t_OOF2auh8iMWGE2bn3H-WyLNkmMDBfVSR2zl-Yylu5xcTaGTB0g' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><div style="text-align: center;">The fighting on the Allied left flank</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='404' height='336' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dy1d4cVyQfSUTxujgii6mYJbFnx8cwILofHoi3F-6BmZ-sB-J6-PdYLgWiqJsd3ledtBudRH2DD_QV_-STX9g' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><div style="text-align: center;">The fighting in the Centre by La Haie Sainte</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>David Burdenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13336165481689169802noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6090592056927601218.post-86661223724000865702023-06-10T10:33:00.001+01:002023-06-10T16:40:01.418+01:00Academic, Hobby and Professional Wargaming - all in one week! <div><br></div><div>In the last week I’ve spoken at an academic wargaming event, spent the weekend playing a big hobby wargame, and then run a couple of my wargames at a professional wargaming event! I guess this is the life I’ve chosen for myself now. I bet my ten year-old self playing his first wargame would never have believed it - or thought it even possible!</div><div><br></div><div><img id="id_7306_7de7_2417_8a37" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/drive-viewer/AFGJ81r_RUi7K95VpelbxV9EbRwdKp10olwCL2rUeotLV1lHsGcCZKk7fpeo1RmSlRKXwZaW1mcl0iTN0AfCsbdTuY7ZxcSbWw" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 565px; height: auto;"><br><br>Starting the week, on Tuesday I was on a panel at KCL for their Wargaming Week, talking about urban needless to say. I was back there again on Thursday for practitioners workshop on academic and professional wargaming. I’ve never thought about Positivist and Post-Positivist perspectives on wargaming (or anything else) before.</div><div><br></div><div><img id="id_da3f_224d_6683_6ae3" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/drive-viewer/AFGJ81r-mUDafjtAUwDlmhd6NikUn9Q50dnUgnXUMhTX2YhwKaJSnoyKK7tPqWaB4INyVB1SyvftiSbP_f-XqmALdSZxc1IpDA" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 563px; height: auto;"><br><br>On Tuesday it was time to get the toy soldiers out for a wonderful 20mm Battle of Borodino in Francis’ barn. I started of defending the Flèches but was moved to. Crumbing left wing on Sunday. I understand the final result was a marginal Russian victory as we managed to retake the Redoubt.</div><div><br></div><div><img id="id_b64e_9dbf_8eca_9371" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/drive-viewer/AFGJ81pqhWEXKDVGI-TGeHE5NHlwCiRPpe-66VZ5ctebV99Zo-wBmanQlFl-8ILtW2KOD6MPRFO40JONk_SZ4ojoe2c8SUvLhw" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 563px; height: auto;"><br><br>Then on Sunday night it was straight over to Bristol ready for DSET - the Defence Simulation, Education and Training conference and exhibition. On the Monday they had a Wargames Fair at which I ran my Festung:Orotona game (above), and then on Tuesday I ran Rubble Town - a 20-30 minute beer-and-pretzels game using the same core mechanics as Festung, Both seemed to go down well.</div><div><br></div><div>Now I’m back home the focus is on getting City and CEMA ready for COW, and making some progress with the Metaverse book. I might even find some time for a wargame for some relaxation!</div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div>David Burdenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13336165481689169802noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6090592056927601218.post-37159571399479349482023-04-25T14:44:00.004+01:002023-04-25T14:45:43.389+01:00Salute 2023<p>I managed to get down to Salute with Adrian and Nick (G), then met up with Nick (R) and Evan whilst there, and even bumped into Bob Cordery within a minute of walking in!</p><p>Overall it seemed to be a pretty good event. Traders I spoke to seemed happy, and numbers seemed good, although some of my favourite traders weren't there, and there was certainly space for more games, but it meant that show wasn't as overcrowded as in pre-COVID days.</p><p>The PMS (pale, male and stale) of the hobby also seems to be a myth, lots of younger (20s/30s) people, reasonable number of women, some kids. This was no doubt due to the ongoing shift/rebalance from historic games to SF&F - both in traders and demo games. One result though was that it seemed to me that there was no stand-out game or games that made you juts go "wow" - but there were some pretty nice tables, both big and small.</p><p>My purchases were limited to things like 8mm cubes, 50mm discs, some retro-SF consoles, 3 old boardgames magasines and some 10mm cows, but that was mainly due to the fact that Nick bought me the 100m WW2 buildings I wanted for my impending Birthday, Adrian did likewise for 10mm modern buildings, and my Mum have me some crisp new notes to pay for some rules (Tree of Battles - medieval, and O Group) and some books (Henry Hyde's Wargaming Campaigns and a nice original copy of Charles Grant's Battle!).</p><p>I didn't take many photos, but here are most of what I took of the games and table I liked.</p><p><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6uBfZcoMYqMtkm10Cnc31kKc-uhAJt5h7CUbhoyiCulxTP6SxP8pik-2bGddL-pK8ncuTRnLzzX67OpSXZyZxA9FFrVml93oErwOVfCL2Uasw56ukvjuFz4dirsHPJxOmI-DNMUuGYLyDjT9k2uvO1VVfmbGFBJtPtT7zJ4oQsO-CKNoa9rbYrS4X/s4032/IMG_5683.HEIC" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6uBfZcoMYqMtkm10Cnc31kKc-uhAJt5h7CUbhoyiCulxTP6SxP8pik-2bGddL-pK8ncuTRnLzzX67OpSXZyZxA9FFrVml93oErwOVfCL2Uasw56ukvjuFz4dirsHPJxOmI-DNMUuGYLyDjT9k2uvO1VVfmbGFBJtPtT7zJ4oQsO-CKNoa9rbYrS4X/w400-h300/IMG_5683.HEIC" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Star of the show possibly for me in terms of inspiration - <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/229713/war-room" target="_blank">War Room</a> by Nightingale Games put on by Adrian's mates from Southbourne Tabletop and Boardgamers - might have to make a trip down to Poole to play it - $290 is just a bit beyond budget!</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6TUhcuFdLz7H02XRlcI1c-qPniKECzTkwqaivUnT6tRx9hqIBSwnLG56y-Nk3lPs2RydBqCCZxFjrm2lSrqRxAsr35gQD9DPBInWhHJBqKXItdSKJl5x-l0Sxa6EaKo1PCmxQC0ABJFq1MAXoWPoqo3FA5O4wCSenjqCScy0ZK2vSmG8e6e_R7Sr4/s4032/IMG_5682.HEIC" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6TUhcuFdLz7H02XRlcI1c-qPniKECzTkwqaivUnT6tRx9hqIBSwnLG56y-Nk3lPs2RydBqCCZxFjrm2lSrqRxAsr35gQD9DPBInWhHJBqKXItdSKJl5x-l0Sxa6EaKo1PCmxQC0ABJFq1MAXoWPoqo3FA5O4wCSenjqCScy0ZK2vSmG8e6e_R7Sr4/w400-h300/IMG_5682.HEIC" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rapid Fire Reloaded game from Retired Wargamers Reloaded in 15mm, lots of natural cover - Carentan, June 1944</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPVExzmZ7yVkBB_gMTORAA496Jdvt-3nYDq2bicVrdFz4b9l7s1hqe19ftawa0kLrS_f-i89fXlOQ-BOwzxWEZsckaI-1AFCU7JJXQjM_F3R_LDfgXC459ap10E4ygScICLnG2rGTXx3BhiLCEjprvcsmu2zwQp2IHs27XZP_FJhsvKR7DOWtG-WHK/s4032/IMG_5681.HEIC" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPVExzmZ7yVkBB_gMTORAA496Jdvt-3nYDq2bicVrdFz4b9l7s1hqe19ftawa0kLrS_f-i89fXlOQ-BOwzxWEZsckaI-1AFCU7JJXQjM_F3R_LDfgXC459ap10E4ygScICLnG2rGTXx3BhiLCEjprvcsmu2zwQp2IHs27XZP_FJhsvKR7DOWtG-WHK/w400-h300/IMG_5681.HEIC" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A lovely "empty table" game, not absolutely sure who from, may have been 2FL/IABSM?</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGIQ-YniuXeccy0mJ695TFFdVDn1anbtV-8vNnh5z4ucqA5X7jZbv6MExZo43S-JYiMT5ss4-yn0BbVS963Uuf9LOQs44k6H6Flb1gjkPU-YznYSmDqK6HZjMteK5_nYVgSSK_BjpZDFFUa4AKkdmMh_-BTZ7KjdwFB7-kPACTn7i_BfoqvMAer2Sg/s4032/IMG_5677.HEIC" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGIQ-YniuXeccy0mJ695TFFdVDn1anbtV-8vNnh5z4ucqA5X7jZbv6MExZo43S-JYiMT5ss4-yn0BbVS963Uuf9LOQs44k6H6Flb1gjkPU-YznYSmDqK6HZjMteK5_nYVgSSK_BjpZDFFUa4AKkdmMh_-BTZ7KjdwFB7-kPACTn7i_BfoqvMAer2Sg/w400-h300/IMG_5677.HEIC" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Friends of General Haig with a Desert Shield game in 15mm, lovely table but not as much clutter as the FoF game below.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYRp_YeGNKsEV29k6GYUmxX-VvnElhnsRqLBUJ_guFC-i05aJSeK-xyFddyD2Zx1oZq7sYuhZmmFXbxOl2_kluyls-UpG9UZF9JdypFJ5-2tpIAmLfe4kPTulfcG-50uJ5PPKImpGugBZUkeH1Df2uRm5YbpCYGTeDGYJW2kG61ejrQ7DBWDVXOyMJ/s4032/IMG_5675.HEIC" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYRp_YeGNKsEV29k6GYUmxX-VvnElhnsRqLBUJ_guFC-i05aJSeK-xyFddyD2Zx1oZq7sYuhZmmFXbxOl2_kluyls-UpG9UZF9JdypFJ5-2tpIAmLfe4kPTulfcG-50uJ5PPKImpGugBZUkeH1Df2uRm5YbpCYGTeDGYJW2kG61ejrQ7DBWDVXOyMJ/w400-h300/IMG_5675.HEIC" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A very detailed table from All Hell Let Loose on the Gloucester's last stand at Imjin - although one did wonder what the 2mm figures added - symbols on pins may have been better?</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcpz95sAn1_UP-CdW78-yX3V4zUshDooSUMyD6ca3Yo4yPjvUyaO0XWlPn0n4o3ncG-TizqpZAk9sj4MEEZyzARlXA3ES2EicvneDnIEg13i_pePWjBAk9eysq8Loeqawh4y2yGRxW3hrLtoILdynWsTjkVHPxDSJZGBfwpMoIEKFlbNyvvxLoAOD-/s4032/IMG_5674.HEIC" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcpz95sAn1_UP-CdW78-yX3V4zUshDooSUMyD6ca3Yo4yPjvUyaO0XWlPn0n4o3ncG-TizqpZAk9sj4MEEZyzARlXA3ES2EicvneDnIEg13i_pePWjBAk9eysq8Loeqawh4y2yGRxW3hrLtoILdynWsTjkVHPxDSJZGBfwpMoIEKFlbNyvvxLoAOD-/w400-h300/IMG_5674.HEIC" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">South London Warlords with a great 3D skirmish game set on all sides of a bunch of rotating asteroids - lots of kids enjoying this!</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyDGlKVDOClIdLPB3m952eyvExLjIaJjfCJiNx2cOkidyZ_feQ4cbgQRD8uMM2CS4wPovIemGqk_nKHi0Hj__q5NFzqDl7a7HxSJaFtrHcyvHXjo4CX2jCD0N007wiITHYn2IKR2a_UuxztftXyFu4HUGiPJ1lwGOMpscSHrjtyOsDYmBPjFYG_XKL/s4032/IMG_5672.HEIC" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyDGlKVDOClIdLPB3m952eyvExLjIaJjfCJiNx2cOkidyZ_feQ4cbgQRD8uMM2CS4wPovIemGqk_nKHi0Hj__q5NFzqDl7a7HxSJaFtrHcyvHXjo4CX2jCD0N007wiITHYn2IKR2a_UuxztftXyFu4HUGiPJ1lwGOMpscSHrjtyOsDYmBPjFYG_XKL/w400-h300/IMG_5672.HEIC" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cornwall Wargames Association with a beautifully stylised inter-war imagin-nations game based on Mark Copplestone's "Little Soldiers"</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmOGU6BpQD3P8qVkh24MnLNowkB4lFXqflhIJPJpc9AH0K59VF1ceX5QI28a3Kd2sudk44ohPQRs2DKKBHTHZQyYHTP8ng5tzBmrcPSk_V7MyECelp-r2st9vJ3NYMCxF7UU0fK1GVq4AuOdIenvzUINjb2rt7njRMOs2noAG7qjJ6DuqjTWo9YmHH/s4032/IMG_5671.HEIC" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmOGU6BpQD3P8qVkh24MnLNowkB4lFXqflhIJPJpc9AH0K59VF1ceX5QI28a3Kd2sudk44ohPQRs2DKKBHTHZQyYHTP8ng5tzBmrcPSk_V7MyECelp-r2st9vJ3NYMCxF7UU0fK1GVq4AuOdIenvzUINjb2rt7njRMOs2noAG7qjJ6DuqjTWo9YmHH/w400-h300/IMG_5671.HEIC" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The slightly different coloured squares produced the ~10cm playing grid - very neat, and loved the boxy curved hills</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFIgrsTdxYafM5yBmdRhEizjYz-XCODvE2dKvj_Utg9vbJppVf1nN6BhDq5dJYJA1knUap1oyeXj_RyYlkPCUiMfn-MR5Y4RCX6qu8jf8g40DPX10QQKhGPHoWH2tuc-zYOWQ6PXROIfw9GupCr6gzWx0r0pqTMGQ6PINxbCwA_9dIySrLGAVa3zoS/s4032/IMG_5669.HEIC" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFIgrsTdxYafM5yBmdRhEizjYz-XCODvE2dKvj_Utg9vbJppVf1nN6BhDq5dJYJA1knUap1oyeXj_RyYlkPCUiMfn-MR5Y4RCX6qu8jf8g40DPX10QQKhGPHoWH2tuc-zYOWQ6PXROIfw9GupCr6gzWx0r0pqTMGQ6PINxbCwA_9dIySrLGAVa3zoS/w400-h300/IMG_5669.HEIC" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Another Iraq game, a small but hugely detailed table from Maidstone Wargames Society on Fallujah in 20mm using a stripped down version of Force on Force</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV8mv9Z0JMPizu2zHA_ZDQ-7aHCCJXme4efqgzacQWcfmoPhX5EZ32dsqR5RWE3GmvXQRnHsl0r11Hjwtwk4QZEfSbIJUNnjJYRnD6ACvaiLOYK7XtMwFbpxT68dcKRE_idxXQBU_RwE92oq0Q1Usuc3d9jGkS2hLZ_CyCuRYBcRok6nJLEf0vkazk/s4032/IMG_5667.HEIC" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV8mv9Z0JMPizu2zHA_ZDQ-7aHCCJXme4efqgzacQWcfmoPhX5EZ32dsqR5RWE3GmvXQRnHsl0r11Hjwtwk4QZEfSbIJUNnjJYRnD6ACvaiLOYK7XtMwFbpxT68dcKRE_idxXQBU_RwE92oq0Q1Usuc3d9jGkS2hLZ_CyCuRYBcRok6nJLEf0vkazk/w400-h300/IMG_5667.HEIC" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTO0NAnymUyKB6UNQ69nCMEU8fmRq4-hTPQYtCXqu0JX_jTGqLqjWIYiYkAXo63zuSDoT5mNomm6qqtNieo9ZBSBzR283hRzZjWApPdLOTsQYfpQwXAVLc_1RkmuC9-_UAU6M8LgvYKVBwy1YpPQ2uxYUnAoqjw0uBc1iGU2Gz63fvGTdYmiZvtARv/s4032/IMG_5662.HEIC" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTO0NAnymUyKB6UNQ69nCMEU8fmRq4-hTPQYtCXqu0JX_jTGqLqjWIYiYkAXo63zuSDoT5mNomm6qqtNieo9ZBSBzR283hRzZjWApPdLOTsQYfpQwXAVLc_1RkmuC9-_UAU6M8LgvYKVBwy1YpPQ2uxYUnAoqjw0uBc1iGU2Gz63fvGTdYmiZvtARv/w400-h300/IMG_5662.HEIC" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgw49oGBkCcvFcceygTpwa5J_uyQztSmC1KZ2o1UFHSdjTYeKTgQKAtL8PWfup-PpR6BGRSF45AHnoAYIEhjGEAcUzfAg4shpvwOGaQbIL6gg0yEWmbzxgc4AfQPKKoLYMXmd_yO8-vnrH_DzF-s6mNiaBIooKxQv8wtt8G7Pt2BagvRxDswa31CSp5/s4032/IMG_5665.HEIC" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgw49oGBkCcvFcceygTpwa5J_uyQztSmC1KZ2o1UFHSdjTYeKTgQKAtL8PWfup-PpR6BGRSF45AHnoAYIEhjGEAcUzfAg4shpvwOGaQbIL6gg0yEWmbzxgc4AfQPKKoLYMXmd_yO8-vnrH_DzF-s6mNiaBIooKxQv8wtt8G7Pt2BagvRxDswa31CSp5/w400-h300/IMG_5665.HEIC" width="400" /></a></div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkRFP5soPQ0KvTFY_ODzI6rgQBPd5YGCtNUATLFt04noHYnzUf5p6H7r_eqa6QoET2K04xdyUW7J0MBMhoOywVDC-ot2axUgO-_1EUfDeSsehp9MvWFPgKfdAtnWSSZnyOIT5xM6ij-1UdgOEQ1JPr4dr-asIKnDhRUSvMrJ0bsGQG4qroXhp5wnuc/s4032/IMG_5661.HEIC" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkRFP5soPQ0KvTFY_ODzI6rgQBPd5YGCtNUATLFt04noHYnzUf5p6H7r_eqa6QoET2K04xdyUW7J0MBMhoOywVDC-ot2axUgO-_1EUfDeSsehp9MvWFPgKfdAtnWSSZnyOIT5xM6ij-1UdgOEQ1JPr4dr-asIKnDhRUSvMrJ0bsGQG4qroXhp5wnuc/w400-h300/IMG_5661.HEIC" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ardhammer Group with some lovely 30mm flats for a 7YW game</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>David Burdenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13336165481689169802noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6090592056927601218.post-27275025217312732012023-03-29T23:53:00.001+01:002023-03-29T23:53:43.548+01:00NATO Division Commander - AAR<p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9ldspCN9bI7NOpK6E3Z5Ergo_hm4NNADwk2NzHwaYeCljZ8dBHQ8oBcJqVWDEy92JfOLKFFE2N4o_YNLGxzHwxasnpPza7q8RowzNyIBep3xYPvkmIsW9GjObzrgbumtMMyh2usaENdblM4PbfH47CIvuGGPRKbdmt1NxPWVVsc_kTDkX4D05DDYy/s4032/IMG_5563.HEIC" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9ldspCN9bI7NOpK6E3Z5Ergo_hm4NNADwk2NzHwaYeCljZ8dBHQ8oBcJqVWDEy92JfOLKFFE2N4o_YNLGxzHwxasnpPza7q8RowzNyIBep3xYPvkmIsW9GjObzrgbumtMMyh2usaENdblM4PbfH47CIvuGGPRKbdmt1NxPWVVsc_kTDkX4D05DDYy/w400-h300/IMG_5563.HEIC" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p>Last March I bought a copy (well <a href="https://newconverj.blogspot.com/2022/03/nato-division-commander.html">two copies</a>) of <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/7112/nato-division-commander" target="_blank">NATO Division Commander</a>, which I'd lusted over back in the early 1980s. I managed to play the introductory scenario (focussed on Fire and Movement) relatively soon after, but it wasn't until July/August that I made a start on the first proper scenario - having reduced the rulebook to an 8 page QRS! Those first two turns didn't go too well, just so much to think of and so much clutter on the map that I struggled to get back to it, but dutifully left it out on my table, and even preserved the set-up when the tables went down for the Talavera game. </p><p>With a backlog of "hobby" boardgames building up (Storming the Gap, Operation Dauntless), and a gap in figure wargaming whilst I painted up some ECW I decided to finish the 9 turn scenario. I started again last week, at about an hour a turn, and finally finished last night. By the end I was at about 30-40 min a turn (and remember the US only have ~ 9 fighting unit counters and the Soviets ~18!), partly because a may have been skipping less interesting activity but hopefully more because I'd got the QRS down to 2 pages.</p><p>The Soviets just managed a substantial victory (11VP vs a threshold of 10!), mainly by flowing round the US flanks and legging it for the exits hexes. A mad dash by 25TR and 28MR on Turn 8 from mid-board saw the whole of 7GTD exit the board. The US did lose 3 combat units (so ~ 33%) and most of their recce, and their HQs were looking very precarious by the end.</p><p><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpey13wWZ_Y5kuQSzeShukoorgEG7dZqJhVVXL0t7ErMi21hUrrGaXFZ6bTMRjjlxg4Lm2hxvsXEYKtUsP6WNqnGTcduEFX81qrZrmcIqkSApsKy3Y3af02EDMZxCshfLkBjVGzlZcjapB2HjatV3MMVuW66FFXJUnyVqW1kdDfh_R7JHQOvyeghdV/s4032/IMG_5569.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpey13wWZ_Y5kuQSzeShukoorgEG7dZqJhVVXL0t7ErMi21hUrrGaXFZ6bTMRjjlxg4Lm2hxvsXEYKtUsP6WNqnGTcduEFX81qrZrmcIqkSApsKy3Y3af02EDMZxCshfLkBjVGzlZcjapB2HjatV3MMVuW66FFXJUnyVqW1kdDfh_R7JHQOvyeghdV/w400-h300/IMG_5569.HEIC" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My play set-up, with the Mk2 PACs, one per side</td></tr></tbody></table><p>So what were the good and bad points of the game (and bear in mind this is based on only 1 proper play):</p><h4 style="text-align: left;">The Good</h4><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Fatigue - the accumulation of fatigue in a non-deterministic way is nice, and emphasises the need to units to take breaks rather than fighting 24hrs per day</li><li>Intel- the need to get intel on a target before engaging with fires works really well, and how you allocate to sectors, and the slight bonus it gives you in combat (yet another table). Of course it would come into its own in blind play.</li><li>CSPs - the general application of Arty, Engrs, EW and CAS works pretty well - particularly the way each point is available for each phase in most cases. But see below.</li><li>The Night turn every 3rd turn again works well, restricting movement but making attacks marginally easier</li><li>The idea of Modes is cracking, and how they change movt/cbt/ISR vulnerability. But see below.</li><li>The combat sequence is actually pretty straight forward, but just a bit to complex, and see below.</li></ul><p></p><h4 style="text-align: left;"><br /></h4><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbmKQlFklQ24ZrXc6r6XsumACoJraIxD49Un7NQSTaMocbjjKg1xJ1xKR64ITLMc7uwb5NDI82p0GCVVFzYkvMpzz5ikIlVEaNzmq5fg_kvKSTXmxhFdYd0zq3AaAL9rcovzIJP8teGj4STNpDX2tuUA2HJ1Ozvu5CnSir5lAMyy4pXjW9Kdw9p_f0/s4032/IMG_5566.HEIC" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbmKQlFklQ24ZrXc6r6XsumACoJraIxD49Un7NQSTaMocbjjKg1xJ1xKR64ITLMc7uwb5NDI82p0GCVVFzYkvMpzz5ikIlVEaNzmq5fg_kvKSTXmxhFdYd0zq3AaAL9rcovzIJP8teGj4STNpDX2tuUA2HJ1Ozvu5CnSir5lAMyy4pXjW9Kdw9p_f0/w400-h300/IMG_5566.HEIC" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A 6 counter stack (just one unit plus modifiers!)</td></tr></tbody></table><h4 style="text-align: left;"><br /></h4><h4 style="text-align: left;">The Bad</h4><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>It takes a lot of CSP points (mainly EW/Air) to grow permanent OpInt to the point where OpInt gives good results. The US have a LOT of air so get there quite quickly, for the Soviets it's almost mid-game. Was Soviet ISR really that bad?</li><li>Calling Fires "Counter-Battery" is just very confusing!</li><li>Fires are very ineffective, especially with low INT (which would be OK if not for the point above). A whole Div Arty Group can fire on a single target and not do any real damage!</li><li>The Mode change system with CPs is horrendous. The numbers asked for are deliberately high (ie beyond what you will have in a turn) so forces you onto the next table - why not just restructure that 2nd table. I replaced it with a move penalty, but may go for a simpler SP option if I play again as it forces you to use HQs properly.</li><li>The need for 4 CRT tables, of which you consult 2 or 3 for each attack is several too many.</li><li>Its not clear what the difference is between the 5MP Hasty Attack and bein gin Hasty Attack mode. </li><li>HQ's seem relatively immune from attack, which is odd given the emphasis on C2. That said I didn't play the active EW rules which can disable HQs, inhibiting their SP/CSPs and placing units OOC.</li><li>Like any hex game it suffers from hex play - getting your attacking units just so around the target. That said at least its a differential CRT.</li><li>Counter stacks can be tall - 6 counters! See photo. I think I'll push most onto a PAC/rosta next time.</li><li>Overruns should be more vicious, -3 or -4 rather than -2. As it is even small 1 or 2 str units have 6 T/O but lose max of 2 per cbt even in an overrun so can hold up a huge force </li></ul><p></p><h4 style="text-align: left;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG_airWwwRXaBt9Aq0J-nr7JTTK658FkirfATVeuwxKosnPxGAtgDZV_IEIMJ2XRxaO5qOMSlHbPtd39QSZvKGUkl6n__yMxED1-XRFk3kHZbcgVrItM9eAZ2-9je3b0QpvvXE-mO832oNR6BuGiokWAC_tq8X-Ev6Ai0JeID0Fztuh2nFTHZLEo-F/s4032/IMG_4333.HEIC" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG_airWwwRXaBt9Aq0J-nr7JTTK658FkirfATVeuwxKosnPxGAtgDZV_IEIMJ2XRxaO5qOMSlHbPtd39QSZvKGUkl6n__yMxED1-XRFk3kHZbcgVrItM9eAZ2-9je3b0QpvvXE-mO832oNR6BuGiokWAC_tq8X-Ev6Ai0JeID0Fztuh2nFTHZLEo-F/w300-h400/IMG_4333.HEIC" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My Mark 1 PAC<br /><br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table>Conclusion</h4><p>Do I like the game enough to play another scenario as-is? Probably not. The issue to me is that it has all these great C2 innovations, then gives you a relatively complicated combat process, so you get two complex games for the price of one. And the board clutter really doesn't help.</p><h4 style="text-align: left;">What's next</h4><p>So to "improve" the game, or at least the game experience there are a number of things I have in mind, some minor, some major. Roughly in order of size:</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Use PACs/rostas to track most unit values - just leave Mode on the table.</li><li>Upgrade Fires</li><li>Upgrade overruns</li><li>Make HQs more vulnerable - keep them on the move (we used to move at least every 24 hrs at Bde).</li><li>Simplify the combat tables</li><li>Introduce a streamlined SP/mode change system</li></ul><p></p><p>And then I need to start playing the EW and Ammo rules, and then the Commander rules!</p><p>It will be interesting to see how more modern games like Dauntless and Storming the Gap compare.</p><p>And that second copy? I might now finally find the time to put it on eBay (it's all sorted and ready) to recoup some of that initial outlay!</p><p>Finally, here's the turn-by-turn photos.</p><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-YFY1awzToW782DiD5mp-8stWj_jk_3n7EQWT1AF-AWABIjkcqHO8xMTCsIpVjSzAZobGXWOmL2WU6JQr3iI49AUxfAr68qjkDk9ENsuXk_0TM_I6X_SyBJxadQEm-HeqG15xYpPgzGGKmq-zblCiZPlxzYHyhZWmjwwT7ubKcTFgg2a66amW1MUN/s4032/IMG_4322.HEIC" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-YFY1awzToW782DiD5mp-8stWj_jk_3n7EQWT1AF-AWABIjkcqHO8xMTCsIpVjSzAZobGXWOmL2WU6JQr3iI49AUxfAr68qjkDk9ENsuXk_0TM_I6X_SyBJxadQEm-HeqG15xYpPgzGGKmq-zblCiZPlxzYHyhZWmjwwT7ubKcTFgg2a66amW1MUN/w400-h300/IMG_4322.HEIC" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Initial setup</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWgn8iSVBMRp8rmsaJLnDVMQN8NAvZMsiBIFmE_XDg8nZ_SO1VrozWeVtd1JTz4Eq4S6ST1buzCRRomQbbIinqk4JJIGiHypsmVe7p4XlknYqQ_YWsig7eLLbNqSKgry3HPriqWcS3DHyVkida7j-IRxg3s-snd9AjAvqq6dXDtwGwrXawd4q2dik5/s4032/IMG_4332.HEIC" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWgn8iSVBMRp8rmsaJLnDVMQN8NAvZMsiBIFmE_XDg8nZ_SO1VrozWeVtd1JTz4Eq4S6ST1buzCRRomQbbIinqk4JJIGiHypsmVe7p4XlknYqQ_YWsig7eLLbNqSKgry3HPriqWcS3DHyVkida7j-IRxg3s-snd9AjAvqq6dXDtwGwrXawd4q2dik5/w400-h300/IMG_4332.HEIC" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">End Turn 1</td></tr></tbody></table><p><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY-Cm8WYaGk3ZmOyEYOY3uzc8y0kL1MzyAugp2DOlejebToD8yfc9GitIu_GRAaOaR6tDE4JwVfOazwVjayOE4KLQaltyiFeZBONvAbic_YfNx9_4ZqHm_clOYQ5UcVYMNaHv8mnULC-muFxy_yRwfNLvuyg1ILDjUHuly_gRWKtf_9JRuPFeU3gpP/s4032/IMG_5562.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY-Cm8WYaGk3ZmOyEYOY3uzc8y0kL1MzyAugp2DOlejebToD8yfc9GitIu_GRAaOaR6tDE4JwVfOazwVjayOE4KLQaltyiFeZBONvAbic_YfNx9_4ZqHm_clOYQ5UcVYMNaHv8mnULC-muFxy_yRwfNLvuyg1ILDjUHuly_gRWKtf_9JRuPFeU3gpP/w400-h300/IMG_5562.HEIC" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">End Turn 3</td></tr></tbody></table><p><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWiO40nTe41k87C7P63IawIl5nTK6SX5_tOR6yNeOynMwIMjUf5nYrhBnyO385fDT1aUFhtoFdd-VwWUhuBIydoOpBNRmYO6FLkb0_L47WhmpYzxuFdE3KbhO5p4-lBnUC-fhRJJFfCYFlokFW_-gmx9rmYKB82Tc4XtIYDvpWiOP7WUbtjKSjdRV8/s4032/IMG_5583.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWiO40nTe41k87C7P63IawIl5nTK6SX5_tOR6yNeOynMwIMjUf5nYrhBnyO385fDT1aUFhtoFdd-VwWUhuBIydoOpBNRmYO6FLkb0_L47WhmpYzxuFdE3KbhO5p4-lBnUC-fhRJJFfCYFlokFW_-gmx9rmYKB82Tc4XtIYDvpWiOP7WUbtjKSjdRV8/w400-h300/IMG_5583.HEIC" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">End Turn 4</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoH1yoMuRUiu1Uw6pVp3lJHqAAMVw65p3J6erYcW6zEMJWgB1UQE1mWwccLNr_vRusTaRCOgaJi-Psll44mAyUFV2NNQwxEeXckKyw9XcdEhxuD3n2GgRes1hGTSRozc0pVn1siu6AgUX9w0leuGR22CJ5HEYv593TofEBdonw4g8vAeM5xIySTxOe/s4032/IMG_5596.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoH1yoMuRUiu1Uw6pVp3lJHqAAMVw65p3J6erYcW6zEMJWgB1UQE1mWwccLNr_vRusTaRCOgaJi-Psll44mAyUFV2NNQwxEeXckKyw9XcdEhxuD3n2GgRes1hGTSRozc0pVn1siu6AgUX9w0leuGR22CJ5HEYv593TofEBdonw4g8vAeM5xIySTxOe/w400-h300/IMG_5596.HEIC" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">End Turn 5</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsuYramFLDN3gyAWReh0676B2HeMfZTU1YEMwa2Ku9tP1tjZkj4M2pH_ha99yA-qA7V2JusNw2xfTnoqz38WKZck8sDfwtnHz5CTErotb9-Vie2Vgi9yKsvM0nqMaz6_JFKcV319-TB224wmcZrxDMO2DME89SVRp1jng0YCpwscHrBnJJvVLGfPG9/s4032/IMG_5603.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsuYramFLDN3gyAWReh0676B2HeMfZTU1YEMwa2Ku9tP1tjZkj4M2pH_ha99yA-qA7V2JusNw2xfTnoqz38WKZck8sDfwtnHz5CTErotb9-Vie2Vgi9yKsvM0nqMaz6_JFKcV319-TB224wmcZrxDMO2DME89SVRp1jng0YCpwscHrBnJJvVLGfPG9/w300-h400/IMG_5603.HEIC" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">End Turn 6</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0fkKYPdat7ez1GKXHxk02CzenVXrYKbmf_kBA48FN24jUwgmiUiHZPk5TDXrEw_KRL9166mN3AkGIivLXp0dUXAbeK0gTOjrGpvXDfZugMELiPLcukLV6RwloB9-RERM2dMiJRlxZzafKTqVcaiPMb6BkK54El5EZSoLOcuhBH74c7SNM5OID2Jrl/s4032/IMG_5604.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0fkKYPdat7ez1GKXHxk02CzenVXrYKbmf_kBA48FN24jUwgmiUiHZPk5TDXrEw_KRL9166mN3AkGIivLXp0dUXAbeK0gTOjrGpvXDfZugMELiPLcukLV6RwloB9-RERM2dMiJRlxZzafKTqVcaiPMb6BkK54El5EZSoLOcuhBH74c7SNM5OID2Jrl/w300-h400/IMG_5604.HEIC" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">End Turn 7 - first Soviets off<br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIZWRrEwQ9O4g5xF2ROrlPvn5lAnwT2HTeX-07guk2NYAs5aU1EdCIwvC8HXKRJCbwvERfkxiBrE0sVfNnA_B00ALOmafC4iMfYOTnebVDIlfd_vIo9CT0Lm-ULnD0rv8aozL1ooBjSrcJ7kIC_b8nIKgyi0AdA9Od0m8U6sbuIFDJY4UoG7VRDwhC/s4032/IMG_5613.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIZWRrEwQ9O4g5xF2ROrlPvn5lAnwT2HTeX-07guk2NYAs5aU1EdCIwvC8HXKRJCbwvERfkxiBrE0sVfNnA_B00ALOmafC4iMfYOTnebVDIlfd_vIo9CT0Lm-ULnD0rv8aozL1ooBjSrcJ7kIC_b8nIKgyi0AdA9Od0m8U6sbuIFDJY4UoG7VRDwhC/w300-h400/IMG_5613.HEIC" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">End Turn 8 - Soviets off the board building</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8wiUmzspBxK9CvX8P1thPL4SrnRv6r-IYhwPLCFcWSUYiaYiKRxc2A54q0iTzXGCl1VJOXot_XNOZarIg-RRovRJGY5pil2_Vz3oAysBjkf7gfMAuBbLBE1uhF5MfbJLBdAVlhA333UaOdmXNX4LTpCmlaH5HoQEBSOh_K06JTRAIu_0FtNRhRpGH/s4032/IMG_5614.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8wiUmzspBxK9CvX8P1thPL4SrnRv6r-IYhwPLCFcWSUYiaYiKRxc2A54q0iTzXGCl1VJOXot_XNOZarIg-RRovRJGY5pil2_Vz3oAysBjkf7gfMAuBbLBE1uhF5MfbJLBdAVlhA333UaOdmXNX4LTpCmlaH5HoQEBSOh_K06JTRAIu_0FtNRhRpGH/w400-h300/IMG_5614.HEIC" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">End Turn 9 - Endex</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><br /></div>David Burdenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13336165481689169802noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6090592056927601218.post-89102981013791726132023-02-24T14:40:00.006+00:002023-02-24T22:24:27.521+00:00The Battle of Talavera, July 1809<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEmTl3Py0lvaFhuXkcCQCawoUEZxcy9se0RttRMmTE10GYVjAMdm6snSGhq980BSXRcg8vJOIefX6IAsHn-6Rp1PzznkB-muCkLKYXzdTfjX0ttYM86J5E5QEnUO4DjgzWJjZRMmBuAx_G39TF4vdaGSITSm-wtoXrUU81LzjEtpcTr3XDg_duv4tz/s4032/IMG_5415.HEIC" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEmTl3Py0lvaFhuXkcCQCawoUEZxcy9se0RttRMmTE10GYVjAMdm6snSGhq980BSXRcg8vJOIefX6IAsHn-6Rp1PzznkB-muCkLKYXzdTfjX0ttYM86J5E5QEnUO4DjgzWJjZRMmBuAx_G39TF4vdaGSITSm-wtoXrUU81LzjEtpcTr3XDg_duv4tz/w400-h300/IMG_5415.HEIC" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>This weekend Adrian, Nick and I hosted a 2-day Battle of Talavera wargame down in Brockham, Surrey, at the same school hall we used for Waterloo in 2022 and 2021. We had 9 players and I umpired.</p><p>The original Battle of Talavera took place on 28-29 July 1809 when Wellesley's British and Cuesta's Spanish marched on Madrid. Wellesley was wary of supply lines and being cut off by Soult, and Cuesta waivered between being over-cautious and over-enthusiastic. Having met up just before Talavera, Cuesta raced on ahead and bumped into King Joseph Bonaparte's two Corps army. Cuesta pulled back, and was eventually persuaded by Wellesley to join him in a stand at Talavera. The Allies mustered around 56,000 troops, and the French around 56,000 (with more cavalry and artillery).</p><p><br /></p><h4 style="text-align: left;">Terrain and Tables</h4><p>The Halford rubber 2' x 2' mats had worked well for Waterloo so I bought 18 more boxes of the (6 tiles per box) and spent December and January painting, cutting and flocking them. We were keen that this looked like a Peninsular battle and Adrian had spent a lot of time in his parched lawn back in the summer getting the correct flock mix for dry grass! Half the table is dead flat, and the other half is dominated by the Cerro de Medellin/Cascajal ridge line, and then at the very top (North) the heights of the Sierra de Segurilla (8 tiles deep!). I used the excellent Spanish Ordnance Survey equivalent to get the basic terrain shape (not helped by the Spanish building a motorway and flooding the upper valley!), and then adjusted according to accounts. A lot easier terrain to build than Waterloo, and no need to use felt for a "level 0". The only other real terrain features were 8 tiles worth (so about 6' x 6') of olive groves and vines. Nick roped his wife in to help build the vines from twisted strings, whilst I stuck foilage clumps onto suitably mossy sticks. We were pretty happy with the result, and even happier when I scattered sage and oregano from Marie's stock cupboard to give the ground a nice natural fallen-leaves look.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiw5TN5D8LIN1iFJuBrjsOZm5seZhioG0Wc1U_LZTfms6mKG0Mma4lGrKXsUE40TwZSe58IwMFoajPPhD6oJD4oumXY8Fy4_rfRC1Y4yR6Uy9nwvDg3S2YnMgMHISLRn6ajjeZ40grqJxMR5872MaN1PYJ55UTP_hveOLF2keMEf_5WmxWxzFE9agpW/s4032/IMG_5453.HEIC" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiw5TN5D8LIN1iFJuBrjsOZm5seZhioG0Wc1U_LZTfms6mKG0Mma4lGrKXsUE40TwZSe58IwMFoajPPhD6oJD4oumXY8Fy4_rfRC1Y4yR6Uy9nwvDg3S2YnMgMHISLRn6ajjeZ40grqJxMR5872MaN1PYJ55UTP_hveOLF2keMEf_5WmxWxzFE9agpW/w400-h300/IMG_5453.HEIC" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Spanish advancing through the vines/groves - the Medellin in the distance</td></tr></tbody></table><br />The playing area was the same 20' x 12' as Waterloo (at 1mm = 1 yd). The problem with big battles is always how to do then arrange the tables so you can a) reach and b) don't fight every engagement between two table edges. We did think about having the Portina (the dry brook that runs N-S and served as the main point of contact) on its own table, 2 tiles wide ('6) and 20' long, and then having thinner tables behind each side (and in retrospect that may have been better) but in the end we went for four 12' tables orientated EW, the southern 4' x 12' table having Talavera, the second 6' x 12' table with the Pajar de Vergara hillock, the third 6' x 12' table with the Cerro de Medellin, and the fourth 4' x 12' table having the Sierra de Segurilla. That layout worked fine, it didn't seem too broken up, there were few cross-table engagements, and at the end we could push all the tables together for the photos.<div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxY2kZ7JMGd_q-I05cmltiI2ymrzNYX-WTSHZcP7ib7xFLXe0VeC9aZ5F0yequuoSboWs7-Q03dbk4aoaZpqTlzbjgQC2zArW35Q7pu7JYesL7wdzNvEJ51f8D0wyTlwthsFWVI9ZZvvTKuRy0bLyn3I0czKHFADMQ7JhRN4OhK2-zUlDooQgarySH/s2714/Talavera%20Table%20overview.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2714" data-original-width="1650" height="603" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxY2kZ7JMGd_q-I05cmltiI2ymrzNYX-WTSHZcP7ib7xFLXe0VeC9aZ5F0yequuoSboWs7-Q03dbk4aoaZpqTlzbjgQC2zArW35Q7pu7JYesL7wdzNvEJ51f8D0wyTlwthsFWVI9ZZvvTKuRy0bLyn3I0czKHFADMQ7JhRN4OhK2-zUlDooQgarySH/w390-h603/Talavera%20Table%20overview.png" width="390" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pink lines show table boundaries.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><br /></div><h4 style="text-align: left;">The Rules</h4><div>We used Steady Lads Steady, my "house" rules, designed to work on grids. We used these for both Waterloos (as well as lots of our own games) and most players had used them at the last Waterloo, so by the end of the 1st day I wasn't being called upon too much for basic calculations. They are probably a bit more complex than Shako/GdB. Rules reflections at the end. The whole terrain is marked with dots every 10cm/100yds to delineate the square grid. Damage is in Strength points at the battalion level (no figure removal) with 18-20 figure battalions (20mm figures, mix of plastic and metal - Newline). Figures are on 2-4 figure bases, but held in Bn sabots to make movement easier. Each Bn has a (removable) small ID strip with unit name, movement, strength and quality values, first fire indicator, and tally boxes for damage - you can just see them as a pale strip at the back of the base in the pictures above. The sabots were all custom made for us by Jim Moore at Products for Wargamers and have a double depth back strip to make mounting of the ID strip easier - he does a cracking service! </div><div><br /></div><div>BTW Adrian painted up the whole of the Cuesta's Spanish Army between us deciding to go ahead with the game in September and the game itself! In comparison I only managed Leval's German Division and the Polish troops - the Westphalian Chevaux-Legere being completed the day before the laydown!</div><h4 style="text-align: left;">Scenario</h4><div>At the actual battle there was a night attack by Victor to try and seize the Medellin. We gave the French the option of that but they declined (mainly I expect as it didn't really help the game VPs as we didn't want it to upset all our careful terrain and deployment planning!) We might run it as a separate game later - our plan was to do it double-blind with some randomisation of movement to reflect the problems of a night assault on very rough ground.</div><div><br /></div><div>The Allies were allowed 600m of movement on historic deployments, the French 1200m but both had to keep within their historic limits. Brigades from both sides started on blinds unless within 600m. There were also a number of false blinds they could deploy for deception. This was very much a battle were each side wanted to get the better of the other, but not losing too many of their own troops in the process, for VPs were purely around the delta in Brigade kills. Turn 1 was 0500 (there was the option to start later in the day but both sides wanted to get cracking) and turns were very roughly 45 min (and about 45 min in real life!)</div><div><br /></div><div>On the map above the Allies were arrayed the W (left) edge of the Portina, with the Spanish to the S and in Talavera, whilst the French were arrayed long the E edge of the Portina. Neither side was allowed N of the Medellin/Cascajal.</div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjInDkjYCXEzgApd7vZaDz3IQtx9eAzDo4CHxJsHPYFrSHRMBfqM1xyHoU4ITFPtiAo72Q1_hDDWGK-2YDrlEoziJZCdvJnLU1Eip65O2WZah6ggrdWt67xZl-HyMoPIR50F0VSrmKmYkrbHzunRAGYYw13tPFq-j61P01v4DTq6buSAtkj19k0P4nJ/s4032/IMG_5386.HEIC" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjInDkjYCXEzgApd7vZaDz3IQtx9eAzDo4CHxJsHPYFrSHRMBfqM1xyHoU4ITFPtiAo72Q1_hDDWGK-2YDrlEoziJZCdvJnLU1Eip65O2WZah6ggrdWt67xZl-HyMoPIR50F0VSrmKmYkrbHzunRAGYYw13tPFq-j61P01v4DTq6buSAtkj19k0P4nJ/w400-h300/IMG_5386.HEIC" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">End Turn 2 - almost everyone still on blinds (White for Spanish)</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><h4 style="text-align: left;">How It Played</h4><div>The French went straight into the attack, pinning Wellesley to his front whilst sending much of Victor's corps into the valley on Wellesley's flank. This was meant to be just a diversion, whilst the French Reserve pushed through a hopefully weakened Allied centre, right on the Spanish/British boundary N of the Pajar. The French being first across the northern valley meant that it was they that got the disorders as they crossed the gullies hidden in the long grass (and on a hidden map). The French managed to take the Valdefuentes farm, but the British pulled slightly back and established a solid line. Sebastiani tried a frontal assault in column across the Portina ravine but was suitably historically seen off by volleys from the solid British and KGL line. </div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw5lYK_thrvzWomd1v7tgHfXGcbrCoq_Z3YYlEsx3sWFbv1p1S5t3Na-u6uiJY9DHYW5WAopD4OeasFZq0eh5ZhQBQjvUyTVKKXlgqHCx5SKrRz-Y-OtJ1qxaxMrmWO1QH4yonC3nsxHwqZH4D-FHWvZdxQLspHrseRBg84awuOzJ35HLHhgopev1J/s4032/IMG_5384.HEIC" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw5lYK_thrvzWomd1v7tgHfXGcbrCoq_Z3YYlEsx3sWFbv1p1S5t3Na-u6uiJY9DHYW5WAopD4OeasFZq0eh5ZhQBQjvUyTVKKXlgqHCx5SKrRz-Y-OtJ1qxaxMrmWO1QH4yonC3nsxHwqZH4D-FHWvZdxQLspHrseRBg84awuOzJ35HLHhgopev1J/w400-h300/IMG_5384.HEIC" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">British and KGL line the W side of the Portina ravine</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><br /></div><div>However on the southern flank there was a big and early melee between Milhaud's dragoons and the Spanish heavy cavalry in the vineyards and olive groves, which the Spanish won! (Nick's dice rolling and coming down with COVID possibly not helping!). This set the tone for an above average by the Spanish - discussed more below. With the vineyards clear of French troops the Spanish army started advancing through them to the N with the aim of rolling up the French flank. </div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7YG4pFMMc5cpeXtZofflryYvrQaU_IaUHS8WqDEgwaeh7k4RKsC7cy3Ak4U5t-LRqkeponHXMnNe8Fu1BiYHb85DeIfYwKIbkLUVKAGQazFGZ_X5lZNzPtGgWDhOnEWMKtRL-33FTMUOusorglgp8bnY8A6wFyw_UsMEqNdwGi0DlgNf7cuxTKLCA/s4032/IMG_5435.HEIC" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7YG4pFMMc5cpeXtZofflryYvrQaU_IaUHS8WqDEgwaeh7k4RKsC7cy3Ak4U5t-LRqkeponHXMnNe8Fu1BiYHb85DeIfYwKIbkLUVKAGQazFGZ_X5lZNzPtGgWDhOnEWMKtRL-33FTMUOusorglgp8bnY8A6wFyw_UsMEqNdwGi0DlgNf7cuxTKLCA/w400-h300/IMG_5435.HEIC" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Spanish cavalry pushes N through the vines</td></tr></tbody></table><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>At around this point the French started calling for a truce - as allowed in the scenario rules and has happened for about 7 hours in the real battle! The British opposed it, so it took 2 turns for the French to get the right dice roll, and then could only hold onto it for 2 turns, allowing recovery of order and some recovery of strength.</div><div><br /></div><div>As the truce faded a steady battle got underway around the Pajar, and Leval's German, Dutch and Polish troops fought a valiant delay action whilst the French reserves came in to stablise the situation - but now no longer able to commit to a counter-stroke. Victor was pullling back from the N flank but too late to make a difference. In the dying turns of the day and game the dry grass started to catch fire and lots of little plumes of smoke was soon making squares off limit to troops and blocking visibility (as happened in the real battle).</div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJS5w3lEIM9rz_L9gkKC_zimT6Mlyrrf_NUub2nWx9ey_B2LPDsUyLVcarPxkuycK4w9x1uFbHGz5vsViEISfaeYxr1S1EC80VEhKMqJzwufK53SM0AfWX3Mpocugi5pA_GRE9J5jJaZ4Q1aBNTD4wxTpCIsI9FjtX5Giml9diAcQF0zDzxmjJrjpA/s4032/IMG_5459.HEIC" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJS5w3lEIM9rz_L9gkKC_zimT6Mlyrrf_NUub2nWx9ey_B2LPDsUyLVcarPxkuycK4w9x1uFbHGz5vsViEISfaeYxr1S1EC80VEhKMqJzwufK53SM0AfWX3Mpocugi5pA_GRE9J5jJaZ4Q1aBNTD4wxTpCIsI9FjtX5Giml9diAcQF0zDzxmjJrjpA/w400-h300/IMG_5459.HEIC" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Poles and the French reserve block the Spanish exit from the vineyards - Talavera in the distance.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><br /></div><div>At turn 18 is was decided to draw stumps and call ENDEX, as no brigades (the currency for victory points) where at immediate risk and both lines were reasonable firm. Totting up the losses showed a marginal Allied victory (so probably close to reality), although the French were adamant that there reserves would make micemeat of the ubermensch Spanish!</div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmSrf3sdDUmBu7s26wDCtad6ksLPEh5wj42o6H1REbkro94xkq7p9cpUQxwxCQJin_1YccLNuSrLtl890loiiN1_luS4QD0bM2GdTyIZJKEJphPOn5C1FTqddAmnecLj9FsM0hPd3hkJ8FNoAj01NwpgreO4a5DPQQ3dxh3yFmXSumoutgvOShMfHj/s4032/IMG_5462.HEIC" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmSrf3sdDUmBu7s26wDCtad6ksLPEh5wj42o6H1REbkro94xkq7p9cpUQxwxCQJin_1YccLNuSrLtl890loiiN1_luS4QD0bM2GdTyIZJKEJphPOn5C1FTqddAmnecLj9FsM0hPd3hkJ8FNoAj01NwpgreO4a5DPQQ3dxh3yFmXSumoutgvOShMfHj/w400-h300/IMG_5462.HEIC" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">ENDEX - the top 3 tables pushed together</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><h4 style="text-align: left;">Reflections</h4><div><br /></div><div>In terms of admin and the overall run of the weekend eveyrthing went to plan and I think a good time was had by all. Having Andrew Field (the author of <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Talavera-Wellingtons-First-Victory-Spain/dp/1844152685/ref=sr_1_1?crid=29UVJEPGEYZIW&keywords=talavera&qid=1677248262&rnid=1642204031&s=books&sprefix=talavera%2Caps%2C169&sr=1-1" target="_blank">THE book on Talavera</a>) as King Joseph meant that we got lots of insight into the battle, and lots of discussion about military history vs wargaming - particularly where the Spanish and C2 were concerned! </div><div><br /></div><div>As a result whilst the rules worked well overall there are a few changes I'll look at before the next battle:</div><div><br /></div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Splitting Troop Quality and Unit Size back out into two values. I'd conflated the two to reduce a step in calculation, but the large Spanish units over-balanced the reduce Spanish TQ too much - so will re-separate them</li><li>Adding in some form of Brigade Orders and a throw to change orders based on Commander Quality <i>and</i> Commander Boldness. This seems to be working fine in my medieval games - but the trick with lots of players will be balancing player agency with historical friction. I can't see the Spanish players having such a good game!</li><li>Slowing down Foot Artillery - despite not being able to move and fire in a turn it was still used a bit like a tank. Just ordered Webber's Peninsular Journal to see if it gives any more insight. Tempted to go for a full move to unlimber. The new artillery ammo rules (low on double blank, out on 2nd double blank, resupply by ADC card) worked reasonably well.</li><li>Increasing cannister effect, the +2 just isn't enough, might make +3 or even +4!</li></ul><div><br /></div></div><div>The next big Napoleonic game won't be for 12 months (and likely to be Fuentes d'Onoro in Spring 2024 - let me know if you'd like an invite) so lots of time to try out some other rules for comparison (particularly General d'Armee 2 when it comes out) and to do some test games of our own rules revisions.</div><div><br /></div><div>Thanks to all who played and attended and made it a great weekend. It was lovely to play a Peninsular game on something that looked like dried grass rather than a lush European field!</div><div><br /></div><div>You can follow us on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/rosehillwargaming" target="_blank">Facebook</a> if you want to find out more about our future games.</div><h4 style="text-align: left;">Photos</h4><div>Finally, some of my other favourite photos from the game.</div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigGOqOB3GWdZPGA9VElRvsmROMIJudIhTxtxj8JQyQuPQIPTPy-KeN1813Xy0sKoOvz9nX4KAQ8qgUcu1pdOqj3byXDM8xnK55b2YCGN6HCLHqhh6czbg1TQPOG7-DjIsjgqW8nHd-hiX6IPzFk2-HDNfrn5ZqT50k_556qg_HcL1lMbBOlgiRM3pM/s4032/IMG_5460.HEIC" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigGOqOB3GWdZPGA9VElRvsmROMIJudIhTxtxj8JQyQuPQIPTPy-KeN1813Xy0sKoOvz9nX4KAQ8qgUcu1pdOqj3byXDM8xnK55b2YCGN6HCLHqhh6czbg1TQPOG7-DjIsjgqW8nHd-hiX6IPzFk2-HDNfrn5ZqT50k_556qg_HcL1lMbBOlgiRM3pM/w400-h300/IMG_5460.HEIC" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Battle for the Vineyard</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPcSvgupxap2v224v0GEvYDqlbipJiZkY1cw9izWffKlXU5dABdBFLBjfo_gfXwmWTRC-p7zAca4xoWGnvEFlQaxUHSvE9xO40I3FTGOhTjNslFxx-SGz7dHvrIht868b_p_I7cD0WGtQhl5f0O3CnoX_Sy9FuipZehY7QVJDg1lEXT5BM2NSirMJw/s4032/IMG_5456.HEIC" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPcSvgupxap2v224v0GEvYDqlbipJiZkY1cw9izWffKlXU5dABdBFLBjfo_gfXwmWTRC-p7zAca4xoWGnvEFlQaxUHSvE9xO40I3FTGOhTjNslFxx-SGz7dHvrIht868b_p_I7cD0WGtQhl5f0O3CnoX_Sy9FuipZehY7QVJDg1lEXT5BM2NSirMJw/w400-h300/IMG_5456.HEIC" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Just N of the Pajar - note the smouldering grass fires</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLQFWc1JRJCrkWhGker6HzLlC-rQTUW4bqiPoiIc22WArCrQewg-Vw94L23RVx4WvLu3qCoDjF0gRCU5HbKJ3HF2qWcW9v7sRmtEEx3TgqsRgz87cNH-xu39WeNIp0QcaBrA6vcSkRPvAaAv6_NC-reicf7TQTSdMvx5QDx7HCVnzQkx2JOmKwt2MX/s4032/IMG_5440.HEIC" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLQFWc1JRJCrkWhGker6HzLlC-rQTUW4bqiPoiIc22WArCrQewg-Vw94L23RVx4WvLu3qCoDjF0gRCU5HbKJ3HF2qWcW9v7sRmtEEx3TgqsRgz87cNH-xu39WeNIp0QcaBrA6vcSkRPvAaAv6_NC-reicf7TQTSdMvx5QDx7HCVnzQkx2JOmKwt2MX/w400-h300/IMG_5440.HEIC" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking NE from the Medellin to the Cascajal</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZColFOca6ux1OHnU61uleKaVljCZNl4ddWkd1k0vVl81md-YCHEQbV10LTQkw8ZWbIKIxb_gB2aiygMpMnLfof4fVa5h4sTwWOUVlThpvee6Qqt14P9CiOEyFQFYvcuKAKLypyAEBuPYJ3hR1pgcmV6fb3bgZArjAWIzL-2xhR4jpxn1zAKnvPWZ2/s4032/IMG_5441.HEIC" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZColFOca6ux1OHnU61uleKaVljCZNl4ddWkd1k0vVl81md-YCHEQbV10LTQkw8ZWbIKIxb_gB2aiygMpMnLfof4fVa5h4sTwWOUVlThpvee6Qqt14P9CiOEyFQFYvcuKAKLypyAEBuPYJ3hR1pgcmV6fb3bgZArjAWIzL-2xhR4jpxn1zAKnvPWZ2/w400-h300/IMG_5441.HEIC" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking SW from the Medellin to Talavera and the vineyards</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbPt13YZOlubqk33sewoEYohh8wHM1xCrp6_WlUJq0OtZv48tgRPajn3Fu693HXOEg_lokq86ZSGYmcZUGHb8Y4woPAWfHBTdlGLYvabfGGT_mD2-X0AfUCdGQmHvqiHSvDrjEcuUcn9F6VuL7gVzm8e5ZnwmyTWGxX7tOg8H8Lj85ahd8BABiJyHP/s4032/IMG_5442.HEIC" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbPt13YZOlubqk33sewoEYohh8wHM1xCrp6_WlUJq0OtZv48tgRPajn3Fu693HXOEg_lokq86ZSGYmcZUGHb8Y4woPAWfHBTdlGLYvabfGGT_mD2-X0AfUCdGQmHvqiHSvDrjEcuUcn9F6VuL7gVzm8e5ZnwmyTWGxX7tOg8H8Lj85ahd8BABiJyHP/w400-h300/IMG_5442.HEIC" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The fight around the Pajar - note all the empty space here and elsewhere!</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFzWkU6RC8kiogSVkQ8f6haejQc-7l0IaoK3SbovTQ50qUpgVHpFm3sQ0jybRo3ZUGn0wpP6KdIIW2DTc5N0F17teJHQ-4A4WFLVTYfVHauUA26kXA77nlrsdecnmp4txXvzKB3ew6XKTBucQ-qO2sShHGeRYJ14GC_N7FxISHI7mhEE55ltme7Pyl/s4032/IMG_5436.HEIC" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFzWkU6RC8kiogSVkQ8f6haejQc-7l0IaoK3SbovTQ50qUpgVHpFm3sQ0jybRo3ZUGn0wpP6KdIIW2DTc5N0F17teJHQ-4A4WFLVTYfVHauUA26kXA77nlrsdecnmp4txXvzKB3ew6XKTBucQ-qO2sShHGeRYJ14GC_N7FxISHI7mhEE55ltme7Pyl/w400-h300/IMG_5436.HEIC" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Spanish cavalry charging French infantry - the cavalry typically came off worse</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRaWuca_lNhBb2qhjRb8CoxwAbDw2c7daW79P_C3Czj91eRTNUPLje9AHxGFwCRfmFmzq6FPXVkDHg7GjGCvcQ1wmDiXqL7d9qMGqCE-4EbqxJJ8jkZmTmtprdxYaw2WxTu-aoMpknsN6ItEkNKu-r7qmqgvkrGlkj1rB4XZXmljnS1jp4qoBSrfjb/s4032/IMG_5438.HEIC" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRaWuca_lNhBb2qhjRb8CoxwAbDw2c7daW79P_C3Czj91eRTNUPLje9AHxGFwCRfmFmzq6FPXVkDHg7GjGCvcQ1wmDiXqL7d9qMGqCE-4EbqxJJ8jkZmTmtprdxYaw2WxTu-aoMpknsN6ItEkNKu-r7qmqgvkrGlkj1rB4XZXmljnS1jp4qoBSrfjb/w400-h300/IMG_5438.HEIC" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The fight around the Pajar again, looking N</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9DCAR3IqmmW1J_ruKMeu1Byn_YfP_O4pJrt9Vud8wMvImsRzXASQptiJAECUVgZPabnZiJdPHn1cCmVYgY2SPZ6FJSUiAXIjQQx14aoGIJJLSb1zj4QRB2p-tF96DF4Di0YCQDKSzs4GAHx_iQBDLil3hHIrny6ipmvPK8TMzOcMA1iK_DG71X68T/s4032/IMG_5432.HEIC" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9DCAR3IqmmW1J_ruKMeu1Byn_YfP_O4pJrt9Vud8wMvImsRzXASQptiJAECUVgZPabnZiJdPHn1cCmVYgY2SPZ6FJSUiAXIjQQx14aoGIJJLSb1zj4QRB2p-tF96DF4Di0YCQDKSzs4GAHx_iQBDLil3hHIrny6ipmvPK8TMzOcMA1iK_DG71X68T/w400-h300/IMG_5432.HEIC" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Players in full flow</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDz2pLbkRhFGMjhn1xPRK4F_5hsw4kVPieVXf0PMmn-Hyg3srV52-agrBHTRnLNiExSQ6r7wbCKufuPo4bx39RJrfikHBA4bsSishFHZFOQOA9dhagKX-7AJUDT7KmsJADHAQFCObnLDIAD6oe0_Ww44bt7_tSSoFePBEesVAEo-0RqmorueGN6Sl1/s4032/IMG_5423.HEIC" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDz2pLbkRhFGMjhn1xPRK4F_5hsw4kVPieVXf0PMmn-Hyg3srV52-agrBHTRnLNiExSQ6r7wbCKufuPo4bx39RJrfikHBA4bsSishFHZFOQOA9dhagKX-7AJUDT7KmsJADHAQFCObnLDIAD6oe0_Ww44bt7_tSSoFePBEesVAEo-0RqmorueGN6Sl1/w400-h300/IMG_5423.HEIC" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Spanish caught in early morning sun</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbPNIloKWnZXYn0yPJQhuFpD9Mp7Xld8DQ6xT9zyQtm4Juu2lcCzmFO94P0nuoYfQVz0RV4z5t_3RVQp25TVPy2HuDEIRmv9J89hIaQ5SaSXI3PuX6z_07wS6Kuoy2odNrC9bVXiDSP31bAIXCTSFdwr5LMW5Rd8bqpjUlMIYwRYPmW26zV0w_SuWw/s4032/IMG_5416.HEIC" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbPNIloKWnZXYn0yPJQhuFpD9Mp7Xld8DQ6xT9zyQtm4Juu2lcCzmFO94P0nuoYfQVz0RV4z5t_3RVQp25TVPy2HuDEIRmv9J89hIaQ5SaSXI3PuX6z_07wS6Kuoy2odNrC9bVXiDSP31bAIXCTSFdwr5LMW5Rd8bqpjUlMIYwRYPmW26zV0w_SuWw/w400-h300/IMG_5416.HEIC" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The British line awaits</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkocy9K5qq99wiKI9X2ha4-5mJvIavFRFI7gmb1KQFrzIloNbPJP_ZBApCCuC9EcqiAptwU0rwHp3be0-5X0lIPJQhUYiMFCAf5L-2VQnUdd5iIKWKPEF_Qtq2HNKgVDiYudYaeDVuGFaU6aeyoLh-Pw1vK_JDs87o-exzgjQan3MCY39nZmqXjcCF/s4032/IMG_5411.HEIC" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkocy9K5qq99wiKI9X2ha4-5mJvIavFRFI7gmb1KQFrzIloNbPJP_ZBApCCuC9EcqiAptwU0rwHp3be0-5X0lIPJQhUYiMFCAf5L-2VQnUdd5iIKWKPEF_Qtq2HNKgVDiYudYaeDVuGFaU6aeyoLh-Pw1vK_JDs87o-exzgjQan3MCY39nZmqXjcCF/w400-h300/IMG_5411.HEIC" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The 4th Baden Regiment attacks, supported by Nassaus</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzvzH19w3pzrBIrjqd4tKclY5QCMbmduqAx3Ko7VowpqxDPl9VMlMVl_25kPEpuomjNrbF6D1XojUbfbFbeJq8IJ3aIHK74ylz8cTWWIHM3ahsAXjK0m65NHesyUUIRC8br9Kok-nuqACWumgF9pJ39bKEF9gpnvhp7cGh3pUsfAKhettTooAcsZ8d/s4032/IMG_5413.HEIC" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzvzH19w3pzrBIrjqd4tKclY5QCMbmduqAx3Ko7VowpqxDPl9VMlMVl_25kPEpuomjNrbF6D1XojUbfbFbeJq8IJ3aIHK74ylz8cTWWIHM3ahsAXjK0m65NHesyUUIRC8br9Kok-nuqACWumgF9pJ39bKEF9gpnvhp7cGh3pUsfAKhettTooAcsZ8d/w400-h300/IMG_5413.HEIC" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Westphalian Chevaus-Legere reforms after a successful charge</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw6qIZPoTU8cmRCUMfzMf0nvFEfQ0qmAEyDRLFiRkjialJnaCeezXmYm_1zanu2YM0L46g4nYVCV9pnucalTkMMpB413MmpasEzwjbiK7ke74Y1Tk0H6MRV9ep1LAil5UYht8-3oM546FhYidKmMSta76veLToEUQGAy551pm5YXwCXY8ntQukR3mA/s4032/IMG_5408.HEIC" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw6qIZPoTU8cmRCUMfzMf0nvFEfQ0qmAEyDRLFiRkjialJnaCeezXmYm_1zanu2YM0L46g4nYVCV9pnucalTkMMpB413MmpasEzwjbiK7ke74Y1Tk0H6MRV9ep1LAil5UYht8-3oM546FhYidKmMSta76veLToEUQGAy551pm5YXwCXY8ntQukR3mA/w400-h300/IMG_5408.HEIC" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Spanish Infantry emerging from an olive grove</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd4AYp6Xc9NpObve-O9TKHFTwqchflvaVh2nM6_t_nozr4MckOpXa6-m9oGz_WkHk5Vwz8s8G8SlkkApz0zjZbtHItjHiYqZEBEwUX5Oi50N1WrYtkPFPJTPWQDNxZyS5aloLH1t-OhTIuhQQHrS2ZFD81noNAgSXuuq7YH2sNjuwR-23gWyhqqiD3/s4032/IMG_5397.HEIC" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd4AYp6Xc9NpObve-O9TKHFTwqchflvaVh2nM6_t_nozr4MckOpXa6-m9oGz_WkHk5Vwz8s8G8SlkkApz0zjZbtHItjHiYqZEBEwUX5Oi50N1WrYtkPFPJTPWQDNxZyS5aloLH1t-OhTIuhQQHrS2ZFD81noNAgSXuuq7YH2sNjuwR-23gWyhqqiD3/w400-h300/IMG_5397.HEIC" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Hesse-Darmstadt Gross und Erbprinz Regiment supported by the Frankfurt Battalion</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglYyuDkqNUdY7XdCUvsThozB8i6PYOy7Bd4d3BmJIsvN1FhXgYaC6EFnhpPUT8A3vsWmXU-7xq6tsX5y566vf2cFUL6TDjpD5YOeuHQdU-G1-IcSkaxa_qnCagNSfpJi7KJZ9FNzZIoY5kwlloF2LdAMdWBO97RiDxwVQOkQvxRHGLPVveZipxHuGM/s4032/IMG_5385.HEIC" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglYyuDkqNUdY7XdCUvsThozB8i6PYOy7Bd4d3BmJIsvN1FhXgYaC6EFnhpPUT8A3vsWmXU-7xq6tsX5y566vf2cFUL6TDjpD5YOeuHQdU-G1-IcSkaxa_qnCagNSfpJi7KJZ9FNzZIoY5kwlloF2LdAMdWBO97RiDxwVQOkQvxRHGLPVveZipxHuGM/w400-h300/IMG_5385.HEIC" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">British and French face off across the Portina Gully</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_k3CHZ93wpuE5i_HP3Qez3aPLzus2N9hlM02azK-BtVpp-AlzWdinqKtJYgQ_Z2O-Y9rM7YptJ4QZ6LFbU0r3nAYLqNMOoNIRXL3s5u7aC-eKhcop0c8kOZZBzTTJgEHC_cxQTytOfki7DRMXoOgSH9JO3tUR8xrWUyuJyfs1qr-yZSTeWP4v3SXm/s4032/IMG_5383.HEIC" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_k3CHZ93wpuE5i_HP3Qez3aPLzus2N9hlM02azK-BtVpp-AlzWdinqKtJYgQ_Z2O-Y9rM7YptJ4QZ6LFbU0r3nAYLqNMOoNIRXL3s5u7aC-eKhcop0c8kOZZBzTTJgEHC_cxQTytOfki7DRMXoOgSH9JO3tUR8xrWUyuJyfs1qr-yZSTeWP4v3SXm/w400-h300/IMG_5383.HEIC" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Where the dry Portina river becomes a wet gully, full of black snakes!</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><br /><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p></div>David Burdenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13336165481689169802noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6090592056927601218.post-79382150971489992792023-02-05T12:05:00.001+00:002023-02-05T12:05:47.340+00:00Vertical Urban Wargame - Summary Report<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQuSJ5RPO6uPdrMu6OiQAC4nnB4updFaf_taTfUkHN3TiNvzX75L0JltRaBcWjg_PJmTGS_jc48IQxojk0dBVer6_oSp2dl40fI0ilPjDEcDW0N8Ai_n_ZnjAvUByQP9EyQsnv2X83zrvs1K5prLt9jFlxFgRuv6HZoq0ENl_DHnq4i-IMMg5vRf-P/s4032/VUW-VCOW2023%20Overview.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQuSJ5RPO6uPdrMu6OiQAC4nnB4updFaf_taTfUkHN3TiNvzX75L0JltRaBcWjg_PJmTGS_jc48IQxojk0dBVer6_oSp2dl40fI0ilPjDEcDW0N8Ai_n_ZnjAvUByQP9EyQsnv2X83zrvs1K5prLt9jFlxFgRuv6HZoq0ENl_DHnq4i-IMMg5vRf-P/w400-h300/VUW-VCOW2023%20Overview.png" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p>Vertical Urban Wargame was my game for <a href="https://wargamedevelopments.org/" target="_blank">Wargame Development</a>'s VCOW 2023 virtual conference held 3-5 Feb 2023. This post provides a summary and overview of the game, and I may do a second post to go into more detail on its genesis and design - and both will then be condensed down for my Onside for the Nugget (WD's journal). The game was set as a notional 1985 engagement in Berlin between Blue and Red, with a Company Group Blue force, and a slightly smaller Red Force.</p><h4>Aim</h4><p>The aims of the game were:</p><p></p><ul><li>to explore if/how a "vertical" (i.e. point-of-view table level) viewpoint changes the experience of a wargame - particularly an urban one;</li><li>to see whether consumer grade systems (phones, bandwidth, video conferencing software) are up to the task;</li><li>to have some fun on a Friday evening!</li></ul><h4>Game Set Up</h4><div>I chose to use Dropzone Commander as the rules, with stats modified for 1980s. I chose these as they are pretty simple and had been used by Dstl in some of their own work. The players weren't given the rules, just a rough sense of engagement distances on the model for the various weapons. I rolled all dice and didn't bother to measure movement (although I had guidelines) and typically moved units in tactical bounds.</div><div><br /></div><div>The terrain was built from two sets of Dropzone buidings (Cityscape and Ruinscape) which at c.£30 each are a wonderfully cheap way of building city urban terrain. The buildings are all fold-flat, and the pack also includes the 1ft street tiles. Each pack is designed to provide 6' x 4' of playable space with reasonably open urban terrain, I found that two packs wasn't quite enough to do a dense 6' x 4' table! Models were 10mm Timecast, with 10mm Pendragon civilians.</div><div><br /></div><h4>Tech Set Up</h4><div>I looked at various options for the cameras and stream but decided in the end that the best bet was mobile phones for the cameras, with each feeding its own video conferencing room in <a href="https://meet.jit.si/" target="_blank">Jitsi</a> (a free open-source Zoom clone). The nice thing with Jitsi is you just name a room (e.g. VerticalWargame1Pl) and give players the URL to that room, and then they can go straight into it with their browser - no download, no sign-up, just straight in. One issue was initially I'd hoped to have the phones vertical so as to make them easy to use and get the cameras really close to the ground, but all the conferencing software I tried kept trying to re-invert the image - so it was always upside down. So the phones had to be on their side, which kept a lowish camera but meant they didn't fit down the streets so I had to keep moving the buildings out of the way! Something to improve on.</div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEid6M4dBj-WeMa6trXIJsxCNZhyg-_0VzwuQeXLGxBXrURtjgyHshSO_HL3y0Csi7p_bW1n4VaGerrNF0u3p_5othhuoaAtv_Ckn3zp85tGXJr0ThztddvMWxeW5bl-KCoRpavBMWR6DGno4zhwPJDoiJo984YiZh0nvO2eclQMjN3j2mZReIX79b8i/s4032/VUW-VCOW2023%20ENDEX.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEid6M4dBj-WeMa6trXIJsxCNZhyg-_0VzwuQeXLGxBXrURtjgyHshSO_HL3y0Csi7p_bW1n4VaGerrNF0u3p_5othhuoaAtv_Ckn3zp85tGXJr0ThztddvMWxeW5bl-KCoRpavBMWR6DGno4zhwPJDoiJo984YiZh0nvO2eclQMjN3j2mZReIX79b8i/w400-h300/VUW-VCOW2023%20ENDEX.png" title="Camera visible in the middle of the image" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Camera set-up, with a simple balsa holder to keep vertical</td></tr></tbody></table><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>We used Zoom to start the session with video on whilst I gave the briefing. Once that was over we switched video off and used it effectively as the Coy radio net, and the players (two teams of two) called up the Jitsi feed from their AFV. The Coy Comd had no video (as he wouldn't in real life in 1985) and had to rely on audio reports. </div><div><br /></div><div>This screen capture from a test game shows the two JITSI feeds running on one screen, plus an overview via Zoom.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1I_AHPNXlr1tz1MdF70E49ZQZrGPO93ClctNubztaseCG-7Eqhrq6eEeO9hszyYUM642EdMnPVLkSa37c3JsDfw0TplkCQLxrF90LH9RbVDGFKFUxoKsBj-OkAtQSJg5S6nhbH-gfmMy4anHWpsQOIoFZb4CaT3Qp3N_g_ti-2LIRBGRELqQug_RS/s1462/VDZC%20-%203%20way%20testing%20-%20same%20loc%20&%20network.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="843" data-original-width="1462" height="231" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1I_AHPNXlr1tz1MdF70E49ZQZrGPO93ClctNubztaseCG-7Eqhrq6eEeO9hszyYUM642EdMnPVLkSa37c3JsDfw0TplkCQLxrF90LH9RbVDGFKFUxoKsBj-OkAtQSJg5S6nhbH-gfmMy4anHWpsQOIoFZb4CaT3Qp3N_g_ti-2LIRBGRELqQug_RS/w400-h231/VDZC%20-%203%20way%20testing%20-%20same%20loc%20&%20network.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><h4 style="text-align: left;">Scenario</h4><div>The game had 2 1/2 phases:</div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Phase 1: Each team had a single Scimitar recce tank to try and find a route through the city to the 3 objectives, and then report this route back to the main force. The real aim of this was to get players used to the tech and mechanics;</li><li>Phase 2.1: Each team now controlled a Platoon Group, each of 1 Pl and 1 Chieftain (one player controlling each but sharing a single camera in each team). The aim was to secure and hold 2 of the 3 objectives.</li><li>Phase 2.2: At some point during Phase 2.1 I allowed the Coy Comd to start tasking a choice of UAVs, and the option of calling forward a reserve Pl Gp.</li></ul><div><br /></div></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinMHhkFTCcP2x-x702d8q1TNxQE_QCZtw6wq-OuvOW4uAdjgCjw8Q3uLa7FOukwZDdykQvAQeMEFavKISvvzmj39mb4dRPLRcWP6-UI7UAWUsnTmGFr4Rs683KyKkmUAhTFSlvrLIX_di0a89XAkUzlAz5wchb2KX1akgz81ZTm8SejBwvRZ5nKYZn/s4032/IMG_5354.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinMHhkFTCcP2x-x702d8q1TNxQE_QCZtw6wq-OuvOW4uAdjgCjw8Q3uLa7FOukwZDdykQvAQeMEFavKISvvzmj39mb4dRPLRcWP6-UI7UAWUsnTmGFr4Rs683KyKkmUAhTFSlvrLIX_di0a89XAkUzlAz5wchb2KX1akgz81ZTm8SejBwvRZ5nKYZn/w300-h400/IMG_5354.HEIC" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The company moves off in line astern!</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><br /></div><h4 style="text-align: left;">How it Played</h4><div>The Coy Comd immediately took charge and had the two Scimitars work out where they were in relation to each other (I put them in on different axis 90 degrees apart!) and to team up before pushing forward in a mutually supporting way (something that the solo playtesters hadn't bothered with, but far more sound tactically). </div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgw1YMM_ka3SXBsuIx1eOFWBk5gihru8Uf1IT1ax4vzHZ5Q0DEKyIY07j0wT76JN0PmYi267aRYD2PiFB-Un_vO5J6HyDxB0YTOiJKRqa9b5BjY6WvDu96Q4Ticlg2gO9WuMqQdF5PPPelWyJrwHkqidBUCW0F0P_1mMNsZXsBJpdNfCGOasooBSIJM/s606/Scimitar%20starts%20its%20patrol.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="422" data-original-width="606" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgw1YMM_ka3SXBsuIx1eOFWBk5gihru8Uf1IT1ax4vzHZ5Q0DEKyIY07j0wT76JN0PmYi267aRYD2PiFB-Un_vO5J6HyDxB0YTOiJKRqa9b5BjY6WvDu96Q4Ticlg2gO9WuMqQdF5PPPelWyJrwHkqidBUCW0F0P_1mMNsZXsBJpdNfCGOasooBSIJM/s320/Scimitar%20starts%20its%20patrol.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Scimitar starts its patrol.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><i>Note: All the images in this section are in-game screen grabs from Jitsi by Ian Robinson.</i><br /><div><br /></div><div>A hunt of the streets finally found the objectives - which relied on getting close enough to actually read the signs! A Red recce BRDM and BMP were soon dispatched, but then the T72 appeared! Time to fire the smoke and scoot back home.</div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhxr1j0rkBPMDo6gHUak62cRac1MaW4gzGD4iOp7hx4-AYHHd-FP9PRz8eMp4ffy08geFdtJWjxUDc_KATXskl6pWGOM_kpaCePyJe_-X45SCgB3D9ekvY72_ugIJUHfqQBJaZ_S1MAt-y94Tc_3DYjsRkwzTgmmBpFFEHrGxdRg1L6PWW6Vt2u_4N/s591/Friends%20or%20foes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="352" data-original-width="591" height="191" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhxr1j0rkBPMDo6gHUak62cRac1MaW4gzGD4iOp7hx4-AYHHd-FP9PRz8eMp4ffy08geFdtJWjxUDc_KATXskl6pWGOM_kpaCePyJe_-X45SCgB3D9ekvY72_ugIJUHfqQBJaZ_S1MAt-y94Tc_3DYjsRkwzTgmmBpFFEHrGxdRg1L6PWW6Vt2u_4N/s320/Friends%20or%20foes.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Friends or foes? One of the few long avenues in the city.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><br /></div><div>For Phase 2 the Coy Comd decided to send both Pl in on the same axis. At the first junction they them split, one going L down the earlier route, and the other going R across the main square (with a fine 28mm statue in the centre) so as to effectively pincer the closest two objectives. Just to add some more fun there were civilian groups scattered around acting under a simple paper AI, and although painted in bright colours, at a distance, through a smartphone, they were often misidentified at Red soldiers, and narrowly avoided being gunned down. Between Phases 1 and 2 I'd also blocked off a couple of routes with improvised barricades made of ISO containers.</div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcWSxaaSFkKQORSdOtRcdErsfDw7jVkwK5oKxgOtSWwT5ozHoVQUgU4c-zaJAaf_VkS3OUP0K-xlANH3qYiEw1_gqn3je2rLsYNmwsWb_6W5mmg8dhrev-_0HJrVPSOfd5Ng-5zfs6sgSEsXNgQxsAgoF6x8T0PtT6gCKOE-kxjO8iEYce6at7JHlB/s871/Chieftain%20engaging%20T72s%20in%20the%20murk.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="596" data-original-width="871" height="219" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcWSxaaSFkKQORSdOtRcdErsfDw7jVkwK5oKxgOtSWwT5ozHoVQUgU4c-zaJAaf_VkS3OUP0K-xlANH3qYiEw1_gqn3je2rLsYNmwsWb_6W5mmg8dhrev-_0HJrVPSOfd5Ng-5zfs6sgSEsXNgQxsAgoF6x8T0PtT6gCKOE-kxjO8iEYce6at7JHlB/s320/Chieftain%20engaging%20T72s%20in%20the%20murk.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">2Pl Chieftain engaging T72s in the murk</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><br /></div><div>Red and Blue arrived at the objectives at about the same time. A tank duel between two T72 and a Chieftain by the main square was eventually won by the Chieftain (despite a T72 getting first shot as it wasn't spotted through the camera). By the Mayor's Office 1Pl dismounted and occupied a neighbouring building as Red rushed the Office. 1 Pl Carl Gustav took out one BMP, and it's Chieftain the second (I think). I then gave the Coy Comd the choice of a mini-UAV overflight of the whole city or a micro-UAV flight along 8ft (8 tiles) of street at building height. This was the first view he had of the city and situation and significantly lifted his situational awareness. 2 Pl realised that it could get in the back of another neighbouring building to the Mayor's Office, and narrowly avoided hitting 1Pl as both fired on the same BMP from opposite directions. 2Pl stormed the Mayor's office and took, it, 1Pl then rush across the street and to their surprise found themselves in the back of the Police Station just as Red moved in from the front. A quick firefight and the Red section was dispatched and it was game over.</div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwA1Ecqqh3Ou8uXYaQge1odBnE6pg4wJg0m5vBSwmnsYMXhiBrLmp_XWSaJAqm9nHIPIN2WSNxxAb0iW6LDWIFpyv8y_oWQkIGIGs9m1jfOLiZ7cqdC51JvN34vM_fHsqkjayQ7k7UIsgdX5F3xQ6BAphyd0He7WKMvzlNiEpdgMonJOGv7CPEuWVQ/s1253/2Pl%20spies%20a%20BMP.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="713" data-original-width="1253" height="182" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwA1Ecqqh3Ou8uXYaQge1odBnE6pg4wJg0m5vBSwmnsYMXhiBrLmp_XWSaJAqm9nHIPIN2WSNxxAb0iW6LDWIFpyv8y_oWQkIGIGs9m1jfOLiZ7cqdC51JvN34vM_fHsqkjayQ7k7UIsgdX5F3xQ6BAphyd0He7WKMvzlNiEpdgMonJOGv7CPEuWVQ/s320/2Pl%20spies%20a%20BMP.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">2Pl spies the BMP, engages with CG - just missing 1Pl in the building beyond!</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><br /></div><div>For a fuller sense of the terrain, engagement sites and final deployment there's a short fly-through video on YouTube.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/IvWfmcPmR80" width="320" youtube-src-id="IvWfmcPmR80"></iframe></div><br /><div><br /></div><h4 style="text-align: left;">Conclusion</h4><div>I'll do a fuller set of conclusions and lessons learnt in the second post, but everyone reported having a really fun game and a far more visceral experience than if we'd played the same game over an open table. There was a real sense of trepidation each time a unit poked its front around a corner to see what was there, and spotting targets and identifying friend from foe from civilian was also a real (and realistic) challenge. Several players have now remarked how much the whole experience resembles a tank-based dungeon crawl, with high engagement and emotion. </div><div><br /></div><div>So given the initial question "if/how a "vertical" (i.e. point-of-view table level) viewpoint changes the experience of a wargame - particularly an urban one;" the ad-hoc, single experiment answer would seem to be that a) it does and b) for the better by making the whole experience more visceral and more "realistic". I might have to switch into PhD mode to more critically examine that and perhaps start running some versions of the game under proper experimental conditions!</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><p></p><p><br /></p>David Burdenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13336165481689169802noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6090592056927601218.post-53622086367398096522023-01-20T16:46:00.000+00:002023-01-20T16:46:00.378+00:00ChatGPT meets Wargaming and the PhD<p>Had to be done, here's ChatGPT's evaluation of urban warfare.</p><p><br /></p><p><b>What are the main challenges for an army fight in an urban environment?</b></p><p>There are several main challenges for an army fighting in an urban environment, including:</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Limited visibility and cover: Buildings and other structures in urban areas can block soldiers' line of sight, making it difficult to spot and engage the enemy.</li><li>Close-quarters combat: Urban areas are often densely populated, which means that fighting will take place at close range, making it difficult to use heavy weapons such as tanks and artillery.</li><li>Collateral damage: Urban areas are often densely populated, which means that there is a risk of causing significant civilian casualties and damage to infrastructure if heavy weapons are used.</li><li>Guerrilla tactics: Insurgents or enemy forces may use guerrilla tactics, such as hit-and-run attacks and booby traps, making it difficult for an army to maintain control of an area.</li><li>Lack of intelligence: It can be harder to gather accurate intelligence in an urban environment, as the enemy may be able to blend in with the civilian population, making it difficult to identify and locate them.</li><li>Logistics: Urban areas are often densely packed and have limited road networks, making it difficult to move supplies and reinforcements in and out of the area.</li></ul><p></p><p><br /></p><p>And here's its thoughts on my PhD topic.</p><p><b>What are the main challenges in developing a wargame of urban conflict?</b></p><p><i>(thought a lot longer, but may just be load)</i></p><p>There are several main challenges in developing a wargame of urban conflict, including:</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Modeling the complexity of urban terrain: Urban areas are complex and dynamic environments, with a wide variety of structures, buildings, and infrastructure that can affect the movement and visibility of troops.</li><li>Representing the impact of collateral damage: Urban areas are densely populated, which means that the use of heavy weapons can cause significant civilian casualties and damage to infrastructure. This needs to be accurately represented in the wargame to reflect the real-world consequences of military actions.</li><li>Incorporating the human dimension: Urban areas are often home to diverse and complex human populations, which can affect the conduct of operations. This includes understanding the population dynamics, cultural, and political factors that affect the behavior of the civilian population, and the military-population relationship.</li><li>Balancing realism and playability: Urban warfare is a complex and challenging environment, and accurately representing all the elements of urban combat in a wargame can make it less accessible and less engaging for players. Finding a balance between realism and playability is crucial to creating an engaging and meaningful wargame experience.</li><li>Incorporating the new technology: Urban warfare often involve the use of a variety of technology, such as UAVs, Robotics, AI, and cyber warfare, which can be tricky to simulate in a wargame.</li><li>Representing the legal and ethical considerations: Urban warfare often raises legal and ethical issues, such as the protection of civilians, the use of weapons in populated areas, and the occupation of territory. These considerations need to be incorporated into the wargame to provide players with a realistic and nuanced understanding of the complexities of urban warfare.</li></ul><p></p><p><br /></p><span><a name='more'></a></span><p><br /></p><p>And here's ChatGPT on the Battle of Talavera which we're running next month (and is described in the book on the battle as "Wellington's First Victory in Spain")</p><p><b>Q: Why did the French win the Battle of Talavera (OK a deliberately misleading question, although an argument could be made)</b></p><p>A: The French won the Battle of Talavera in 1809 because they were able to successfully defend against the British and Spanish forces, who were attempting to lift the French siege of the city of Talavera de la Reina. The French army, led by General Jean-Baptiste Jourdan and Marshal Claude Perrin Victor, was able to repel the British and Spanish attacks and maintain control of the city. Additionally, the French were able to hold their ground against the British and Spanish, who were unable to make significant gains during the battle.</p><div><br /></div><div>I've a feeling that ChatGPT tries to meet your expectations of an answer (hence the response above to the way the question was phrased), although asking if the Americans won the Battle of Hastings it tells me that America hadn't been discovered yet and so they couldn't be involved in a battle (sic) and that Hastings was in the UK. It refused to have it that the French won Waterloo though!</div><p><br /></p><span><!--more--></span><p><br /></p><p>I've also been using it to generate some social media injects which I'll be using in a demo in a few weeks.</p><p><b>Write 10 tweets by someone who's house has just been bombed</b></p><p>"My house just got bombed, I can't believe this is happening. I hope my family is safe #bombed #traumatized"</p><p>"The explosion was so loud, I can't stop shaking. I hope my loved ones are ok #bombshell #prayforus"</p><p>"My house is destroyed, I don't know what to do. I hope my family is safe #bombed #emergency"</p><p>"I can't stop crying, my house is gone. I hope everyone is safe #bombed #heartbroken"</p><p>"I just lost everything, my house and all my possessions. I hope my family is safe #bombed #devastated"</p><p>"I just heard a loud explosion, I thought it was an earthquake. When I went outside, I saw my house was bombed. #bombed #traumatized"</p><p>"I don't know what to do, my house has just been bombed. I hope my family is safe #bombed #emergency"</p><p>"I'm in shock, my house is destroyed. I hope my loved ones are ok. #bombed #heartbroken"</p><p>"I never thought this would happen to me, my house has just been bombed. I hope my family is safe #bombed #traumatized"</p><p>"I can see smoke rising from my neighborhood, my house has just been bombed. I hope my family is safe #bombed #emergency"</p><p><br /></p><p><b>Write 10 tweets which might be sent by someone who's city was under attack</b></p><p>"My city is under attack, sirens are blaring and explosions can be heard. Please send help #cityunderattack #emergency"</p><p>"I can see smoke rising from buildings in the distance, the streets are chaos. Praying for the safety of my loved ones #cityinruins"</p><p>"Just saw a helicopter flying low overhead, not sure if it's friendly or not. Please let us know what's happening #cityunderseige"</p><p>"I can hear gunfire in the streets, please stay safe and stay indoors. Help is on the way #cityinlockdown"</p><p>"I just saw a missile hit a building a few blocks away, the destruction is devastating. #cityinruins #prayforus"</p><p>"I'm trapped in my building, not sure what to do. Please send help, the situation is dire #cityunderattack #emergency"</p><p>"I can see tanks rolling down the streets, not sure what their intentions are. Please let us know what's happening #cityinlockdown"</p><p>"I can see people running and screaming, please send help to my city. #cityunderattack #prayforus"</p><p>"I can see buildings on fire, the smell of smoke is everywhere. Please send help to my city #cityinruins"</p><p>"We need help, the situation is dire. Please send aid to my city, the people need it #cityunderattack #emergency"</p><p><br /></p><p><b>Write 10 tweets by someone who's just seen a group of angry soldiers patrolling down their street</b></p><p>"I just saw a group of soldiers patrolling down my street, they looked angry and ready for something #army #concerned"</p><p>"The soldiers looked like they were on a mission, I hope everything is ok #army #nervous"</p><p>"I saw a group of heavily armed soldiers on my street, not sure what's happening #army #concerned"</p><p>"I saw soldiers with weapons, patrolling down my street. I hope it's just a drill #army #concerned"</p><p>"I saw soldiers on my street, they looked tense and ready for action. I hope everything is ok #army #nervous"</p><p>"I saw a group of soldiers with weapons, they looked like they were searching for something. I hope my family is safe #army #concerned"</p><p>"I saw soldiers patrolling down my street, they looked like they were on high alert. I hope everything is ok #army #nervous"</p><p>"I saw a group of soldiers on my street, they looked ready for something. I hope it's just a drill #army #concerned"</p><p>"I saw a group of soldiers with weapons, they looked like they were on a mission. I hope my family is safe #army #nervous"</p><p>"I saw soldiers patrolling down my street, they looked like they were ready for something. I hope everything is ok #army #concerned"</p><p><br /></p><p>It's interesting how much repetition in structure and words there are in these - suggests they may need to be used sparingly, and/or you need to mix lots of different prompts. The question then is what multiple do you get from writing lots or prompts and then using a few GPT output for each as against just writing some flexible templates?</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>David Burdenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13336165481689169802noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6090592056927601218.post-3864263622488132942023-01-20T16:34:00.003+00:002023-01-20T16:34:25.085+00:00Prepping Vertical Dropzone Commander<p> For <a href="https://wargamedevelopments.org/" target="_blank">Wargame Development</a>'s VCOW virtual conference at the start of February I'm planning to do a "vertical" wargame, where players (Pl Comds) get a table-level web-cam view of what is going on as they try and fight through the city. Played through DZC a few times and done some 1985 stats for it. And here's a couple of images from the technical testing. Will test with some remote players next week.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-BKc6of68eAd1HrVSA7hp9f45Fo3dMkcSNPSy3zFZjV5XXiWL1vAzu6aeqWPSjBK5oABC1P1r9WlPOwstA5U_b45_HESKUYshv2RCCl0zTkKpBkksAEufsBFp6S8q2ZJzQ89dFHttdarCWUSQIeTh-zoMboFiGdPhjJ1HAI-VOgYE1pZIWWe41ZgP/s4032/Chieftain%20in%20Urban.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-BKc6of68eAd1HrVSA7hp9f45Fo3dMkcSNPSy3zFZjV5XXiWL1vAzu6aeqWPSjBK5oABC1P1r9WlPOwstA5U_b45_HESKUYshv2RCCl0zTkKpBkksAEufsBFp6S8q2ZJzQ89dFHttdarCWUSQIeTh-zoMboFiGdPhjJ1HAI-VOgYE1pZIWWe41ZgP/w400-h300/Chieftain%20in%20Urban.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chieftain on the prowl - pity I haven't got the Berlin Brigade urban cam</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEie4bpAzrLU2Yzwxjh1KLaKP33yl8ABR4BSQqYC4KRnrE2BFWjmOVnHB1lm081s4uJFCanMbxtnFoB4tep8HQPde17UivGRi1vFtwu6U97WJpLXR1eh4ZlXdR9OXkyKXnVyCQXDRBDpBp2YW22GAVsSbkbrI22QbNWOGbeWVQx838QSEGxuJJjC1Fnz/s1462/VDZC%20-%203%20way%20testing%20-%20same%20loc%20&%20network.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="843" data-original-width="1462" height="231" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEie4bpAzrLU2Yzwxjh1KLaKP33yl8ABR4BSQqYC4KRnrE2BFWjmOVnHB1lm081s4uJFCanMbxtnFoB4tep8HQPde17UivGRi1vFtwu6U97WJpLXR1eh4ZlXdR9OXkyKXnVyCQXDRBDpBp2YW22GAVsSbkbrI22QbNWOGbeWVQx838QSEGxuJJjC1Fnz/w400-h231/VDZC%20-%203%20way%20testing%20-%20same%20loc%20&%20network.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The two platoon cams, plus an overview cam</td></tr></tbody></table><br />Onside report after the event.<div><br /><div><br /><p><br /></p></div></div>David Burdenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13336165481689169802noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6090592056927601218.post-4887722817910790002022-10-27T13:40:00.003+01:002022-10-27T14:25:20.643+01:00Company Megatest - Fireball Forward!<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgizTSeq36O7_UpEgJZJdezal432s0tt3PvD9RpDxHhHpXvBW012KyMlOpt_JRq8V8HBCSRdzt1U7JYa_jCtF87tLWLj-kWWEPpciHF8d3sAt9pbdMh1flG_xgeVY-c0T3JloPxFlhggZ88qTIwdtYZwilPNjeXMe-tXpDThd2iP6hgLdAu5dmcVyGf/s4032/IMG_4907.HEIC" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgizTSeq36O7_UpEgJZJdezal432s0tt3PvD9RpDxHhHpXvBW012KyMlOpt_JRq8V8HBCSRdzt1U7JYa_jCtF87tLWLj-kWWEPpciHF8d3sAt9pbdMh1flG_xgeVY-c0T3JloPxFlhggZ88qTIwdtYZwilPNjeXMe-tXpDThd2iP6hgLdAu5dmcVyGf/w400-h300/IMG_4907.HEIC" width="400" /></a></div><br /> <p></p><p>Seen the ads for this set for ages in MW&BG so had to give it a try. It also has a Stalingrad scenarion pack which might be interesting for the PhD. Oh and Little Wars TV has just done a head to head between Fireball Forward and Crossfire - see <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3tvgM3_-UE">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3tvgM3_-UE</a></p><h4 style="text-align: left;">Presentation</h4><div>I got the 110pp PDF, which has about 56 pages of rules, optional rules and design notes (!), 26pp of scenarios (13 scenarios), an index (!), 8pp QRS and 11pp of stats - so a pretty full package for $25. Rules are pretty well laid out, line drawing not photos, lots of short examples. My only niggle is that there is a short of quick intro to the whole rules at the start and actions at each phase, but further rules for the actions are later on, so I was always diving backwards and forwards. The RQS also seems to miss some key elements (even if simple) like Morale.</div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhU4qpfW6_ZhXQwvyAfr4_K4oQqvJAr6ucTvNIZbQwAmwpHP0RUu6EWFNCvvSO8AWpwE5oheYKXgdJlXMsx91uwyWiSaas5Ub10hbDL7en_gcQifHnht4U2lc02uBsAA_ECQrQQSVV2rpCCLBbYEE_nAXfFmRMTlXCCxRxFyAskdyKNyY7lBKiUvK-M/s4032/IMG_4904.HEIC" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhU4qpfW6_ZhXQwvyAfr4_K4oQqvJAr6ucTvNIZbQwAmwpHP0RUu6EWFNCvvSO8AWpwE5oheYKXgdJlXMsx91uwyWiSaas5Ub10hbDL7en_gcQifHnht4U2lc02uBsAA_ECQrQQSVV2rpCCLBbYEE_nAXfFmRMTlXCCxRxFyAskdyKNyY7lBKiUvK-M/w400-h300/IMG_4904.HEIC" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Artillery Stonks from both sides causing a lot of issues!</td></tr></tbody></table><div><br /></div><h4 style="text-align: left;">Set-Up</h4><div>I used the Choctaw Warrior scenario as the base for my game, beefing the allies up to a Coy+, and giving the Germans some extra MGs and tanks. Germans attacking from the top of the table.</div><div><br /></div><h4 style="text-align: left;">How It Played</h4><div><br /></div><div>The lead P.IV got taken out by the Cromwell as it reached the wood, but the second P.IV managed to take out both of the Cromwells and settled down to providing fire support. A to-and-fro battle for the wood on the L lasted almost the whole 7 turns, with close assaults by both sides but the British ended up in possession. A German attempt to flank L of it was caught by an arty stonk and never progressed. On the R flank platoons traded shots for most of the game, the Germans only belatedly trying to push across the gaps between the hedgelines once their IG started providing support. Unfortunately their Pl Cmd bought it, one section faltered, and one was already Broken so the remaining section to make contact couldn't really achieve much. </div><div><br /></div><div>The centre was far more touch and go. An early British stonk caught the Germans forming up, but then a couple of German stonks, and the fire support from the P.IV started to weaken the British line enough (crucially breaking the UC Bren teams that had been brought up to support) and in the final moves the Germans tried to push across the open ground. They'd did their best to suppress any fire, but in the end only the Zug Cmdr reached the hedgeline - to be faced by only the British Pl Cmdr left defending it! And that was the end of Turn 7 so we'll never know which of them won!</div><div><br /></div><div>In terms of losses the British only had 2 elements KO'd, compared to the German's 5. Both sides lost one Pl Comd. In terms of holding the line the British succeeded, holding both flanks quite securely, and with enough Broken troops to put into the fray if the German commander won his melee!</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaq5PX-5EYAGBypPGrn3CuecTf8YbhaOYlsvIq7cUFWGjEt-N8jZCuI1yQXnRW5HtVQVHgb4_jITqDTjkuDDGV4v10R2Xyl_Rba_-Hr0-v10QOw-6UzZXVsfLvcZUM7r9Qv2ocIhb4VLqHz67jC3FyM-R7uo71Y5_fp11CoKxDWpVJKnYRvaqj0Y0k/s4032/IMG_4903.HEIC" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaq5PX-5EYAGBypPGrn3CuecTf8YbhaOYlsvIq7cUFWGjEt-N8jZCuI1yQXnRW5HtVQVHgb4_jITqDTjkuDDGV4v10R2Xyl_Rba_-Hr0-v10QOw-6UzZXVsfLvcZUM7r9Qv2ocIhb4VLqHz67jC3FyM-R7uo71Y5_fp11CoKxDWpVJKnYRvaqj0Y0k/w300-h400/IMG_4903.HEIC" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The fight for the wood<br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table></div><h4 style="text-align: left;">Rules Impression</h4><div><br /></div><div>Unlike some of the rules I've tried recently which have been pretty vanilla Fireball Forward has a lot of novel mechanics and ideas, all of which work, but which possibly aren't as elegant as they could be. So I'll actually step through the key mechanics.</div><div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b>Activation</b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div>FF uses a standard deck of cards, shuffled, with Germans activating on black cards and British on red. You draw cards until the colour changes, and the person who's colour it is must then decide order of activation for that many units, so you can't change if things go wrong on the first activation. At first I found drawing then replacing the colour change card a bit odd, but in the end I found it gave a nice Bolt Action type mix of long and shorts spurts of action but without special dice or drawing chits. I used to be really keen on the 1 card = 1 specific unit model to get the extra friction, but certainly for mech games I think its reasonable to let the commander choose the order so as to try and bring off integrated attacks. Having thought more about the card deck approach the more I think I might use it on my next CWO game, with a few further tweaks to introduce some morale orientated friction.</div><div><b><br /></b></div><div>There are also "initiative chips" (1 or 2 per game, but some multiple use) which give you extra activations. Nice.</div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b>C2</b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div>Good units can take actions automatically, basically one or all of Spot (leaders), Rally, Fire, Move, in any order. Broken units have to take a Rally test first (3+ if by a 3+ leader, otherwise 6+). Any suppression is removed automatically - which really limited the effects of suppression, see below. When the platoons lost their leaders then the 6+ really meant that Broken units were out of the action and the Platoon ceased to work as a cohesive unit, which seemed reasonable (although FF does use extreme terms, Broken is really just "Shocked" and Rout - when a freshly Broken units falls back - is really just Pull Back).</div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b>Spotting</b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div>You need a basic spotting check (5+) to spot hidden units (default state at start) before you can fire on them. Auto within 3". No DMs.</div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b>Movement</b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div>Movement distances are as-the-crow-flies. As long as your route doesn't move beyond this radius you can take any route to your destination (although subject to Opportunity Fire). Terrain is dealt with by allowing a maximum of 2 "zone" crossings in a move, such as two hedges, or a part of a wood divided into 3 or 4 zones. This does bring a nice fluidity to the movement and gets away from the false precision of a 8" or 12" move. Might be tempted to use it, plus maybe some variable element to still increase uncertainty.</div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b>Firing</b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div>This is where FF fails I think. When you fire you roll at least 3 dice (4 for MGs/Guns) these being your normal damage dice (typically needing 4+/5+ to hit), one or more "hit dice" (needing an invariable 6 to hit) and a range dice (which can be a single D20, or D4+D8 or other weird combinations). MGs and guns roll another D6 for ammo/stoppages. With bigger guns and HMG you could be rolling 7 dice or so, a mix of D6 and other types, the D6 in three different colours! Just looking that up each time and then finding where the dice are on the table just really gets in the way of the flow (although if its just basic rifle fire then you tend to just hold the 3 dice needed in your hand the whole time). The range dice is there both to give variability in range (your range is range dice+ a basic range for the weapon), and to give a short range effect (+1 if range < just the range dice). There are some very basic DMs.</div><div><br /></div><div>For each hit you take a morale check, typically 4+ for separated unit, 3+ for leader or unit adjacent to leader. Lose 1 check and you are "broken" and pull back to cover and out of LOS of enemy, upto 12", two losses and you're dead. I found the pull-back very unnatural - from what I've read the pullback is more likely to be a Pl level thing, sections just going to ground if they are being hit and pinned. With an element now 12" behind you the Pl Comd then has to decide whether to spend a turn moving back to help them rally on a 3+, or leave them trying for a 6+, again in contrast to what I usually read of the Pl Comd and Sgt running along the line to motivate people.</div><div><br /></div><div>Any hit means you are suppressed, so no opportunity fire, but you automatically lose suppression when activated - so if you try to suppress with one Platoon from the front and then charge with another Platoon on their activation the target is only suppressed if the opposition hasn't had an activation between them to recover suppression.</div><div><br /></div><div>Opportunity fire works in the same way, but doesn't cause suppression which seems odd - surely its normal effect is to get a moving unit to dive for cover. It also wasn't clear to me if a unit could do Opportunity Fire and normal activation, or even multiple opportunity fires.</div></div><div><br /></div><div>Anti-tank fire is a bit simple. D6 plus a range dice, hitting again on around 4+/5+. The tables give the "penetration" points and the defender rolls D6 per armour point - but saves are then a complicated none for 1s, 1 for 2s-5s and 2 for 6s. Anything not saved means KO, and a morale test if equalled.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><b>Close Assaults</b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div>Close assaults are relatively simple, Morale check to commit, then pair off, D6 each and a couple of DMs. In practice I found that if a Platoon charged forward you'd be lucky to get 50% of the Platoon actually committing (looking for 3+ for 3 units, 4+ for the winger), which again doesn't quite seem right, more likely all or nothing as otherwise you get one section stranded - but guess that happened, just not as often as in the game? Loser takes morale checks equal to the delta in modified die rolls.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><b>Indirect Fire</b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div>Each side gets a number of missions, no discrimination between mortars and guns. FO needs a Morale Check to call in, if successful then roll on a 2D6 table for the result, 6-10 on target, lower is bad news (delays, deviation), higher is good news (double impact etc). Very basic.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>There are extra rules for things like Grazing Fire/Beaten Zones, Snipers, Mines, Air Support, fanatical Soviets, jungle and even small boats and horses but I didn't play any of them.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij43w_ptXjDGCjb6MjvkaolZJ4y-sO66_tXdY-jt3CpjjM8AvOJxFvePZkRXLrBP7da0dyrXrWvs_Ty6e4_8fkd2p4ZYRQTKn96-ze2QLW4DN-F4wP7y4Pt3eKOMDPC9FLTRH8cYc3Wm7RN2D-sLOCbvkc86x2jtDlVX6R_Aa4WsYcOn1idVdhSzmk/s4032/IMG_4908.HEIC" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij43w_ptXjDGCjb6MjvkaolZJ4y-sO66_tXdY-jt3CpjjM8AvOJxFvePZkRXLrBP7da0dyrXrWvs_Ty6e4_8fkd2p4ZYRQTKn96-ze2QLW4DN-F4wP7y4Pt3eKOMDPC9FLTRH8cYc3Wm7RN2D-sLOCbvkc86x2jtDlVX6R_Aa4WsYcOn1idVdhSzmk/w400-h300/IMG_4908.HEIC" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">ENDEX</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><h4 style="text-align: left;">Conclusion</h4><div><br /></div><div>So some different ideas which is good, but some work, some don't. Trying to "house rule" it to fix is probably too big an ask as the direct fire system is just too clumsy for my liking. No issue with the multiple morale check principal though. In reality I think I'll just steal the bits I think I can work with. Overall I guess 7/10.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>David Burdenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13336165481689169802noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6090592056927601218.post-39300704739631070702022-09-27T23:40:00.001+01:002022-09-27T23:40:28.534+01:00Company Megatest -- FiveCore Company Command<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-jp21h4LhP3f0qrqtLA1qmE-pWwraSMqXQeeR5mRpX3siDMRA4SzrvsMpI_D6VD6LRPNAA6RRFKdrT_AwpbTm8IV-FpDaNjY1PDKROfr9QW5mUnQBbeG1sq0FFgAms4r6EtwlVelaNUopEz1VG-RMfopsBdG0onTUKKjXdrxFoRfto7vibzOh0CT3/s4032/IMG_4767.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-jp21h4LhP3f0qrqtLA1qmE-pWwraSMqXQeeR5mRpX3siDMRA4SzrvsMpI_D6VD6LRPNAA6RRFKdrT_AwpbTm8IV-FpDaNjY1PDKROfr9QW5mUnQBbeG1sq0FFgAms4r6EtwlVelaNUopEz1VG-RMfopsBdG0onTUKKjXdrxFoRfto7vibzOh0CT3/w400-h300/IMG_4767.HEIC" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>Had a so-so relationship with the Skirmish version of FiveCore so let's see if I get on any better with the Company version, although I'm a bit wary of a system that uses almost identical mechanics for Skirmish, Company and Brigade level combats.</p><h4 style="text-align: left;">Presentation</h4><p>Single 62 page PDF from Wargames Vault - $7.99. No hunting through multiple supplements like the Skirmish version, all in one place and pretty well laid out. Very simple 1pp QRS.</p><h4 style="text-align: left;">Set-Up</h4><p>Like a lot of the Nordic Weasel products there's a complete scenario and even campaign generator in the back of the rules so I used that to generate the 3' x 3' terrain and force objectives. Company Group on either side, Germans defending the village against a simple attack.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaniqrgHR6hBgGv1ajIlRe-aE8IATF68nzISvnXfWBdbO_6Svw5ZzomkwDJbv_6Ycq_W1fx3DhfuRS_DK3Z6WL6P2V-HY-nm8H9xD5ZOs2Bar2WmQw0kDwK5xGo9EJLIh-Kjo5zuNCHptAKFHpactv_T15bvgbzn6hCM4kJboJFhBLBhGN52cr-lPR/s4032/IMG_4759.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaniqrgHR6hBgGv1ajIlRe-aE8IATF68nzISvnXfWBdbO_6Svw5ZzomkwDJbv_6Ycq_W1fx3DhfuRS_DK3Z6WL6P2V-HY-nm8H9xD5ZOs2Bar2WmQw0kDwK5xGo9EJLIh-Kjo5zuNCHptAKFHpactv_T15bvgbzn6hCM4kJboJFhBLBhGN52cr-lPR/w400-h300/IMG_4759.HEIC" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><h4 style="text-align: left;">How It Played</h4><div>The Cromwell advancing down the road got ambushed by the German AT gun and by a Panzerfaust in the woods and had to pull back, shaken but not out. The German MG in the house on the S of the table effectively pinned the southern British platoon at the wood line. The Cromwell put a few rounds into the house to take him out, but an artillery stonk on the German hedgeline missed, and the Cromwell was finally taken by the AT gun. In the centre the British pushed through the woods, whilst the Germans swung down from the fields N into the woods. A couple of firefights and assaults saw the Brits as victors, although a lone German squad managed to keep the reserve platoon pinned back. The Germans tried to push forward again in the S, a Panzer coming up the road getting hit by the last Cromwell. The German infantry were luck with the Brits rolling a Scurry round as they legged in across the field. They made it to the hedgeline and into close assault for no loss, forcing one section to withdraw. The British on the N side were making their own flanking action rather than taking the village head on, but both sides were at 7 squads, 1 above the morale threshold and we were on turn 10 (no idea how you're meant to do it in 5!). Then the Brits rolled an order change and higher command obviously felt they were too spent to take the village and ordered them to go firm around the village and woods. All over and even honours.</div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif8TcpTRbscYPbDuCaKtP0RZLkPuJ2WNW9xV5UZVwKjNOfqKU_ir9UxkFCGGqDZRrsj7ah3i56FuClNlTPGe0f_9IGCA6sYq5_mCoR-Ta2Ar2z706HjoZ_nNG672_AR6wRIF2DcQqxaSYLoIF6ggIblujxGVYDLu1jETIBjaR0T77wm8LJluZgOyC8/s4032/IMG_4764.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif8TcpTRbscYPbDuCaKtP0RZLkPuJ2WNW9xV5UZVwKjNOfqKU_ir9UxkFCGGqDZRrsj7ah3i56FuClNlTPGe0f_9IGCA6sYq5_mCoR-Ta2Ar2z706HjoZ_nNG672_AR6wRIF2DcQqxaSYLoIF6ggIblujxGVYDLu1jETIBjaR0T77wm8LJluZgOyC8/w400-h300/IMG_4764.HEIC" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">ENDEX</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><br /></div><h4 style="text-align: left;">Rules Impression/Overall</h4><div>Way better than last time. Yes it's very abstracted but it moves along quickly, is internally consistent and works and all the extra bits generate a good narrative. Perhaps not the ruleset I'd play for a more analytical game (been reading too much Jim Storr) but for a fun game it's probably hard to beat.</div><div><br /></div><div>Perhaps the mechanic is less suited to Skirmish where you (well I) really do want something a bit more gritty, and having abstracted it may well be that it works OK at Bde level as long as the terms for results are changed - will have to see in a couple of years when I get round to the Bde test. I could see it as an interesting alternative to the Megablitz/Division Commander type portable wargame rules.</div><div><br /></div><div>Probably 8/10, even 9/10 on its own terms (somewhat better than the 5-6/10 last time!).</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWZjBIjJmA3V2ypuX_xfpCb4QonHemkK8Fgu8dkrV8Dw9i_09rQcim1SmIXcJWyQU5wtzkjHV2hIVEJUkC8Abf89yCWOw6lMvKdx7JlCYDzm_S7zMmInvw47hcZ29NWObtAJ4mYIYQumFSrp6uMUoi3vT9-fNEEHNwtxRK1rubqLqJHE_-Nj-Xdsyr/s4032/IMG_4765.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWZjBIjJmA3V2ypuX_xfpCb4QonHemkK8Fgu8dkrV8Dw9i_09rQcim1SmIXcJWyQU5wtzkjHV2hIVEJUkC8Abf89yCWOw6lMvKdx7JlCYDzm_S7zMmInvw47hcZ29NWObtAJ4mYIYQumFSrp6uMUoi3vT9-fNEEHNwtxRK1rubqLqJHE_-Nj-Xdsyr/w400-h300/IMG_4765.HEIC" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>David Burdenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13336165481689169802noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6090592056927601218.post-20266518660936259732022-08-31T14:09:00.004+01:002022-08-31T14:09:34.367+01:00Company Megatest - Panzer Grenadier Deluxe<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsWJkQBU5_3Y4WI3ZcLI3UrfH-U8y12RkpBUkmDV2jM-__OjdMCn04zCiOD7MV9Opmw4w3yd8mRT00OFfHd44NcYCLYTTZo6yVwzFvCt7bkIWSOW3LUG-fOw1djgFmQ_ncnf0SN42G2uCdhqFlU4Knsxtw9n6k8pJQsnwdxoNhX3FDtZ7iu3aBX2bp/s4032/IMG_4386.HEIC" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsWJkQBU5_3Y4WI3ZcLI3UrfH-U8y12RkpBUkmDV2jM-__OjdMCn04zCiOD7MV9Opmw4w3yd8mRT00OFfHd44NcYCLYTTZo6yVwzFvCt7bkIWSOW3LUG-fOw1djgFmQ_ncnf0SN42G2uCdhqFlU4Knsxtw9n6k8pJQsnwdxoNhX3FDtZ7iu3aBX2bp/w400-h300/IMG_4386.HEIC" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>Time to get David Brown's Panzer Grenadier Deluxe on the table. I've always thought his General de Brigade a solid set of rules, and I'm keen to try O Group, so be interesting to see what this older set is like.</p><h4 style="text-align: left;">Presentation</h4><p>242pp hardback book with lots of model pictures and historic photos. 4pp QRS at the back, a 1pp play aid and 1pp or markers/templates. Pretty logical layout but pretty chatty and possibly broken up into too many chapters.</p><h4 style="text-align: left;">Set-Up</h4><p>Same as for the Crossfire test. Germans Coy+ deployed ahead of and behind the river and bridge (top of photo above), and British with 2 Coy+ advancing from the bottom.</p><p><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTalOaVqusHFWtg06_rw5kp2lSnF0dl8Q4ZJ0MCG2r_wMXZ6zS08aSO9nQRZ5q9oQK0UQt7YJXmFL35ktWUnshde1nyfxCpXFbFZYK4nk7-ty0w7Oo_hDxOWzNdt5h_lgE3fgUYhkyBHUWstbPI5fytO5ujNsWx0S3EC0GcEeaS4tFILVG7SGzkllC/s4032/IMG_4387.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTalOaVqusHFWtg06_rw5kp2lSnF0dl8Q4ZJ0MCG2r_wMXZ6zS08aSO9nQRZ5q9oQK0UQt7YJXmFL35ktWUnshde1nyfxCpXFbFZYK4nk7-ty0w7Oo_hDxOWzNdt5h_lgE3fgUYhkyBHUWstbPI5fytO5ujNsWx0S3EC0GcEeaS4tFILVG7SGzkllC/w400-h300/IMG_4387.HEIC" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Finally clearing the R field</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><h4 style="text-align: left;">How It Played</h4><p>The Cromwells did a bit better this time, not only taking out the PIV on the ridge line but also chasing the Pak back from the fiver, and then taking out the second PIV, all for one damaged but not KO'd Cromwell. With the ridge clear B Coy made better time down the L flank, but 1 Coy caught it badly both in trying to get to the field in front of the bridge, and to the one between the wood and the stream, but both positions were eventually taken by 1 Pl and 2 Pl of A Coy were fairly spent.. Both sides made repeated attempts to bring in fire support, the Germans nicely catching 1 Pl as they consolidated on the LH field. As the Brits went firm just before the river they finally managed to bring the fire support in, and winning the firefight on both flank. Finally the river was crossed with key German units suppressed or forced back and it was game over.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiE59Fqzk7bMSOZ3VRkdTVULW2UmNOQJqljdBa-zpWy1Qgp3mNIrtn7GNq36zDgszn16i60k-sNvA9zYG8PQo_BKgkyvWd3W1h6PyeuGVujmWZPVYi7b89WSKrTz4GNCJp3QCjz0BBtNdxZ4Ve71bk_7ouFRppGEc4gxuTUrMH3dA7MmuUXpAsii4SC/s4032/IMG_4432.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiE59Fqzk7bMSOZ3VRkdTVULW2UmNOQJqljdBa-zpWy1Qgp3mNIrtn7GNq36zDgszn16i60k-sNvA9zYG8PQo_BKgkyvWd3W1h6PyeuGVujmWZPVYi7b89WSKrTz4GNCJp3QCjz0BBtNdxZ4Ve71bk_7ouFRppGEc4gxuTUrMH3dA7MmuUXpAsii4SC/w400-h300/IMG_4432.HEIC" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The dismounted Carrier Platoon moves through the marsh</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><h4 style="text-align: left;">Rules Impression</h4><p>I really liked these. The C&C mechanic was just about right, variable CP but you only spend them on the "harder" stuff. The different levels of "morale" test rather than specific damage also worked nicely, and it gave a good "company" feel as you weren't too concerned about whether units had taken x% losses, but more just were they in the fight. Likewise fire was at the # of "section equivalents" level. Fire support worked well too, although all the gunners were shooting accurately - luck of the dice. The "Battlegroup" breakpoint test for ENDEX was also nice, and a 75% first threshold meant a relatively early finish on a bad dice roll. The whole thing just hung together well.</p><p><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS2LdDUNmACwpVjyTjvAQdz47meo2xvQl0uY2w-GzCqUI-16jvMpuptvfrYlzT9TvLYaq-KdNaY_4-cxqHKv4AMEw2hleGI6Lxrk3G-Qrom1zA0QivVm7A2QlWNhses_l0WPFHbudP5m-0aIfbhPV6TQ3WRvL7rnYeSDiK2Kc4xHwBLYdP3OlNwiK-/s4032/IMG_4429.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS2LdDUNmACwpVjyTjvAQdz47meo2xvQl0uY2w-GzCqUI-16jvMpuptvfrYlzT9TvLYaq-KdNaY_4-cxqHKv4AMEw2hleGI6Lxrk3G-Qrom1zA0QivVm7A2QlWNhses_l0WPFHbudP5m-0aIfbhPV6TQ3WRvL7rnYeSDiK2Kc4xHwBLYdP3OlNwiK-/w400-h300/IMG_4429.HEIC" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Crossing the river</td></tr></tbody></table><h4 style="text-align: left;">Conclusion</h4><p>A few minor things I might tweak but otherwise a nice set of rules and probably better than any of the Modern ones I played. If they are still scoring high by the end of the test then I'll certainly do a Modern version. Overall 8/10, maybe even 9/10.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHhC3hWwb8ultwmh_5giBKp0TFX9qp3hpn5Rc2ljUev_KOnyQYGLW-8_yQdFBUVyulo9fZ3T8weERHeT4-B5_igvASHNVE7eO_fR-ha4pQ3xmVCoOFRoFvCMJJ0tsJdz5HpZeMD6HxVtrgeYvLik9_Tn30bYypbEBilFNhVGLjqx43oCbozdqw_YcB/s4032/IMG_4430.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHhC3hWwb8ultwmh_5giBKp0TFX9qp3hpn5Rc2ljUev_KOnyQYGLW-8_yQdFBUVyulo9fZ3T8weERHeT4-B5_igvASHNVE7eO_fR-ha4pQ3xmVCoOFRoFvCMJJ0tsJdz5HpZeMD6HxVtrgeYvLik9_Tn30bYypbEBilFNhVGLjqx43oCbozdqw_YcB/w400-h300/IMG_4430.HEIC" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Final Assault</td></tr></tbody></table><h4 style="text-align: left;">Basing</h4><p>In playing Crossfire something just didn't seem right, and PG confirmed it - my basing was hideous. In an attempt to be "flexible" and save cost I'd sabot mounted my 1p soldiers into 3 or 4 figure sabots to represent each section - but they took up way too much space. So before I do the next game I'm rebasing them (but leaving enough on 1p pieces for Pl sized games) with 3-4 figures per 4cm x 3cm rounded oblong base. Looks way better.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>David Burdenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13336165481689169802noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6090592056927601218.post-79083739020836170852022-08-23T10:03:00.004+01:002022-08-23T10:03:41.872+01:00Valkyrx - Intelligent Wargames Tables<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9APY0tO9kFB5JhFYe3fay4c6Jn50hUsTObuqN1mgT-FtFoEhNxzO3caAiGY0MuoPIp0divR5cCk_9XDe7gBIrueWL9SBES4J9WZOXOe_zHBBR6oqqkD9C16zGc7n8mU_FIBWPyWCkUpVJnEBs9m2fFxUB0JWlupgLdQ_ENe43PBtW4CDa_lRKTtXH/s800/IMG_3363.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9APY0tO9kFB5JhFYe3fay4c6Jn50hUsTObuqN1mgT-FtFoEhNxzO3caAiGY0MuoPIp0divR5cCk_9XDe7gBIrueWL9SBES4J9WZOXOe_zHBBR6oqqkD9C16zGc7n8mU_FIBWPyWCkUpVJnEBs9m2fFxUB0JWlupgLdQ_ENe43PBtW4CDa_lRKTtXH/w400-h300/IMG_3363.png" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>I've had a couple of chances now to go down to <a href="http://www.valkyrx.com">www.valkyrx.com</a> in Birmingham to see their evolving Intelligent Wargames Table based wargames centre. They are busy beta-testing the Fantasy version at the moment (single models) but on the last visit I got the chance to play with the Alpha version of the Napoleonic Big Battles game (10mm, 1:15, ~ Bde per 15cm base)<p></p><p>I'm doing a full write-up for The Nugget which I'll post here later but in brief:</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Each base has an NFC chip</li><li>Each ~2m hex table is split into ~ 127 15cm hex tiles</li><li>Each hex tile has an NFC sensor to read the chip, and a set of LEDs</li><li>Players just move their units (IGO-UGO, 2 mins max per turn - the aim is to work in "real-time")(lights highlight illegal moves)</li><li>The computer then does everything else, using the lights to show who is attacking who, and what the combat results are</li><li>A tablet PC lets you drill down to individual units to see strength and losses (to the man) and ammo states (to the round!)</li></ul><div>Here's a video of the system in action.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dyyHN9J2jakaF8CYKmPtn5uSJpDuJ67qpoA9z6CRHBAWXJw2ewkNgiJ6SaUc_F40XKt1C6MOmUq-qTA94z6nQ' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><br /><div><br /></div><div>And a few more photos showing the guts of the system:</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7KBSmHl4zUcWzUdJWyQVMgSZO6tDGV0OmiaSuTovAbKnBxpMSE7YSM-9dRt_zW8fjedi3AneNM7NjTNMYn7uqjx5iVsacpBUCfXJLODPjaW6IpSzZKnAusILiOR2xEMhVTdKRcKZXhptyQjrP38gz9KbvYjZ44OPfHCpv97Pl-RhEn0Fw6GNGwr5n/s800/IMG_3360.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7KBSmHl4zUcWzUdJWyQVMgSZO6tDGV0OmiaSuTovAbKnBxpMSE7YSM-9dRt_zW8fjedi3AneNM7NjTNMYn7uqjx5iVsacpBUCfXJLODPjaW6IpSzZKnAusILiOR2xEMhVTdKRcKZXhptyQjrP38gz9KbvYjZ44OPfHCpv97Pl-RhEn0Fw6GNGwr5n/w400-h300/IMG_3360.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Legal move</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8S2ow_uJEskKPY4wfx0vZvZDQV34_FTdKTz7v5s5RKZ7q7ovrCPs7YQ2YzDBXi53QVOYSy2x1mWqmo_A4kitVQUY10GSnVO3os32W34oaovFW98H-E1wiGG6uugf1jc7fbyJXaD0K7VjJ-ezhMvK4Ps0_l115OffwK0I2JJfZR3CClKUgj1WnUid7/s800/IMG_3361.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8S2ow_uJEskKPY4wfx0vZvZDQV34_FTdKTz7v5s5RKZ7q7ovrCPs7YQ2YzDBXi53QVOYSy2x1mWqmo_A4kitVQUY10GSnVO3os32W34oaovFW98H-E1wiGG6uugf1jc7fbyJXaD0K7VjJ-ezhMvK4Ps0_l115OffwK0I2JJfZR3CClKUgj1WnUid7/w400-h300/IMG_3361.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Illegal move</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMGmxa7XEOzaPrDYNB_gO65xP0jOKi-mf0JmUnAVUUa3wTQVZmnOBeUGWB17L1daWOH5iFaQDcsd6dtdY_xONtS5uyWYTUQtosVZTYzjJfpD-JRDZvsQhT5YrmmuvTTgkq5Ii8q5BoqcAMfTizADqotDpKUapGTvZmBl8dC7Fp7UF-BTpYPftLy0-d/s800/IMG_3365.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="600" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMGmxa7XEOzaPrDYNB_gO65xP0jOKi-mf0JmUnAVUUa3wTQVZmnOBeUGWB17L1daWOH5iFaQDcsd6dtdY_xONtS5uyWYTUQtosVZTYzjJfpD-JRDZvsQhT5YrmmuvTTgkq5Ii8q5BoqcAMfTizADqotDpKUapGTvZmBl8dC7Fp7UF-BTpYPftLy0-d/w300-h400/IMG_3365.png" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The NFC Sensors under the table cloth</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqIgzach1xlI2qPBf84SmGJRsPfFagfgz9sx4AyVBHJ8OEXX0Qm0LdoDpMd1yxDSlK-fith7yBrMGGJ59uBFmu0Uv7GHefQPLJYsYgFJnNuIZS_5HzPNil5Bi7n23pRAa4rIonwhpY731mIPRcwMEkCR_7C3h0xf036MkYFzN35EVrHVCogw4Q3qg_/s800/IMG_3366.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqIgzach1xlI2qPBf84SmGJRsPfFagfgz9sx4AyVBHJ8OEXX0Qm0LdoDpMd1yxDSlK-fith7yBrMGGJ59uBFmu0Uv7GHefQPLJYsYgFJnNuIZS_5HzPNil5Bi7n23pRAa4rIonwhpY731mIPRcwMEkCR_7C3h0xf036MkYFzN35EVrHVCogw4Q3qg_/w400-h300/IMG_3366.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The hex tile/NFC sensor array</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjK9Nhma-d1baHq5qIHHGtrexbR-_yIf7uXlc2CKiCg_4iCUV_TI1OB4UoBisPFUQCjb1C2FDoHb89ip8xzIEZ0GU8QBkP-apqeYHZCv8TRCQD-XER81w1rmN5CYgl7q0PjapFIhc7kDlddOyTB2FUuLg6HByLaqh7oaKpMUggJM1eFukbIiLCKMGDs/s800/IMG_4370.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjK9Nhma-d1baHq5qIHHGtrexbR-_yIf7uXlc2CKiCg_4iCUV_TI1OB4UoBisPFUQCjb1C2FDoHb89ip8xzIEZ0GU8QBkP-apqeYHZCv8TRCQD-XER81w1rmN5CYgl7q0PjapFIhc7kDlddOyTB2FUuLg6HByLaqh7oaKpMUggJM1eFukbIiLCKMGDs/w400-h300/IMG_4370.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our Napoleonic test game, my double envelopment underway (note: terrain can be added)</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>More on all this later.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><p></p><p><br /></p>David Burdenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13336165481689169802noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6090592056927601218.post-13859146389087953812022-07-27T23:17:00.001+01:002022-07-28T09:55:01.897+01:00Prepping NATO Division Commander<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkHxBlpu_0cE7gRBGtoJ32YnzX3Dke3oSIcSiU6JnwlVsmm5yyx-WgcxdU6Vt_V4hJ48mg6LiuVloxf0eBoDjTeQixV6Ovmw4D6Xl-A56UNmvqurXP86tD8r4-nU-DQ3ubZ6vr8KB2bd8Dkoy3uAUSyid4VAJEvJoJ6PMNC0lPAnV061qJZDtlIhPv/s4032/IMG_4322.HEIC" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkHxBlpu_0cE7gRBGtoJ32YnzX3Dke3oSIcSiU6JnwlVsmm5yyx-WgcxdU6Vt_V4hJ48mg6LiuVloxf0eBoDjTeQixV6Ovmw4D6Xl-A56UNmvqurXP86tD8r4-nU-DQ3ubZ6vr8KB2bd8Dkoy3uAUSyid4VAJEvJoJ6PMNC0lPAnV061qJZDtlIhPv/w400-h300/IMG_4322.HEIC" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>When I bought NATO Division Commander in March I had a HUGE box of counters to sort through. There were effectively two copies of the game, but luckily most of one set was unpunched, but I needed to a) find all the punched counters from set 1 and get the counters from set 2 sorted so I could start playing. Well that job is finally done! Set 1 can now be prepped for sale on eBay (and hopefully recoup some of the price I paid), and Set 2 is already being laid out ready for the first proper scenario. </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3exgZtQOXZD6gN3uVIj_1P4XeELcN3SRiDTCGbZEAF9r6t6IwY3IaGpgygVWDTgbzO5l2_iPmObPbLSLGcsB8_heKdcLBak3kJH97tG37e6SW9sc6A4oqCi0YJOSlBWvMW-p-VQQYKHjLXnylEls87i8INf2_Bddc-eoJPcL6xBDBQrpIQTOIxt9r/s4032/IMG_3452.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3exgZtQOXZD6gN3uVIj_1P4XeELcN3SRiDTCGbZEAF9r6t6IwY3IaGpgygVWDTgbzO5l2_iPmObPbLSLGcsB8_heKdcLBak3kJH97tG37e6SW9sc6A4oqCi0YJOSlBWvMW-p-VQQYKHjLXnylEls87i8INf2_Bddc-eoJPcL6xBDBQrpIQTOIxt9r/w400-h300/IMG_3452.HEIC" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Note the large black box of counters I had to sort!</td></tr></tbody></table><p>I played the introductory Attack on Fitzlar scenario but that was a bit toy. I've also produced a ~6 page QRS that has all the tables and rules on it. I'm certainly not playing CBRN, Commanders or Ammo in my first game, I might even miss out the CPs (but will do the CSPs), so we'll see how it goes. I'm also doing modern "1 page orders" schematic sheets for each side so as to try and play the game/tactics "properly". </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgid8h06qqSmEfzMQlBUaJQQoW604y921v3ONPH6AhP0QVuM9FkQr--92DZXbEQUX8JAcfuN9WPykTRBYJgKxE-ZaSN_O2UfV-IYit6vVC6hlKT5cv-882-6t2S1Yyh2BymOZHf8xaUBt4QfP8HgL98fYoL2B5LiFyRUmGsd-xZwdZCIIWKAgw9eYeQ/s4032/IMG_4321.HEIC" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgid8h06qqSmEfzMQlBUaJQQoW604y921v3ONPH6AhP0QVuM9FkQr--92DZXbEQUX8JAcfuN9WPykTRBYJgKxE-ZaSN_O2UfV-IYit6vVC6hlKT5cv-882-6t2S1Yyh2BymOZHf8xaUBt4QfP8HgL98fYoL2B5LiFyRUmGsd-xZwdZCIIWKAgw9eYeQ/w300-h400/IMG_4321.HEIC" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Just look at how all the "status" counters (grey and orange) outnumber all the combat counters!</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p>A few things I really like about what I've seen far are:</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>HQs have a real purpose, and vulnerability. There's even Tac, Alt and Main (where I spent my 20s!)</li><li>CSPs nicely abstract Fires and Combat Support, and there are also specific EW rules</li><li>Units have modes which reflect their combat stance</li><li>Units have up to 6 levels of damage - a far cry from the old counter-flip</li><li>It's a differential CRT, not a ratio one</li><li>It actually has ISR - it can be played with two maps (hence two copies of EVERY counter!), but even with one map you are forced to gather intel in order to target units with fires.</li></ul><div><br /></div><div>If it works tolerably well I plan to update it to 2020+ and start to add in some of the more modern tech and see if I can change it into MDO Division Commander!</div><div> </div><div><br /></div><p></p>David Burdenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13336165481689169802noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6090592056927601218.post-51294338714968284122022-07-22T20:36:00.005+01:002022-07-27T22:45:34.643+01:00Philip Sabin's "Simulating War" Wargames<p> </p><p>As part of my PhD I've finally read Philip Sabin's <a href="https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/simulating-war-9781472533913/" target="_blank">Simulating War</a>, and more to the point played all the games in it. Sabin's book was one of the first professional wargame books I bought 5 or 10 years ago, and it opened my eyes a bit to this world of "professional" wargaming.</p><p>All the games are ones he uses on the courses he teaches (or taught), so they are designed to be played in 60-90 minutes, have a maximum of about 20 counters and no more than 3-4 pages of rules. All the assets are in the book and also available for download at <a href="https://groups.io/g/SimulatingWar/files" target="_blank">https://groups.io/g/SimulatingWar/files</a>. I set up most of them in Powerpoint as it was the quickest and easiest way to play them. Here's some pics and some quick thoughts on them.</p><h4 style="text-align: left;">2nd Punic War</h4><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUsLquqjpBOOW_SE3Dwp6xE3NYkDTDmysm55b2rA-J0GwupcappkGDaicbR_P0JfOgXl1rxtTXZecZZF7mYtVSbc-MB1ITkqPkskSq7q5CRxiO5iBvKBOIxtBugeykH7k0SAJxFxLCgh55TtgJ-zP-t1f6K_IWkZoYyKD2QjorkbAaFi7Aw9fAnN8t/s787/2nd%20Punic%20War.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="477" data-original-width="787" height="243" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUsLquqjpBOOW_SE3Dwp6xE3NYkDTDmysm55b2rA-J0GwupcappkGDaicbR_P0JfOgXl1rxtTXZecZZF7mYtVSbc-MB1ITkqPkskSq7q5CRxiO5iBvKBOIxtBugeykH7k0SAJxFxLCgh55TtgJ-zP-t1f6K_IWkZoYyKD2QjorkbAaFi7Aw9fAnN8t/w400-h243/2nd%20Punic%20War.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div>This is meant to be played multi-player and heavy on the diplomacy - and it does feel like a cut-down version of Diplomacy - and probably no bad thing at that! In solo play it was all over in 2 turns when the Carthaginians managed to get a toe-hold in Southern Italy.</div><div><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: left;">Rome Invicta</h3><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrbT7E1YjdRRGw65AbRYW3OCPl3Og4YYr_4HB0p3RswAjrR6hciHjaVbLp0GkrSrJYvBTWIj5FcLFCxOfeCvLPA9zQaQobMGStTKDYjKaB1yBPaQA-vmZtL6qkqce0-SiEFObgHLxUJ2lXV22cbOUvOwRy1uNZnJ_RMm4d-9fhv8K2uuHkAAaVzGUf/s678/Rome%20Invicta.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="678" data-original-width="647" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrbT7E1YjdRRGw65AbRYW3OCPl3Og4YYr_4HB0p3RswAjrR6hciHjaVbLp0GkrSrJYvBTWIj5FcLFCxOfeCvLPA9zQaQobMGStTKDYjKaB1yBPaQA-vmZtL6qkqce0-SiEFObgHLxUJ2lXV22cbOUvOwRy1uNZnJ_RMm4d-9fhv8K2uuHkAAaVzGUf/w381-h400/Rome%20Invicta.jpg" width="381" /></a></div><br /><div>A more operational level game of the Roman Civil War. Sabin has the concept of nested games, where he gets students to play a strategic, operational and tactical game on each theme so they can better understand how a war works at different levels. Think I only played a couple of turns of this as was OK but nothing special.</div><div><br /></div><h4 style="text-align: left;">Big Week</h4><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCwCmGPcfMKik45DQFumq-haUiCnQoI4uAL7VP4lYUdhvBFfj_HB_zgdXPnJxgmYBRGM6jctz3yI7YjjOKeNqqJ6d5WJGU82QCkLWf7DFUvoYwxIFMg3IlAska30fdzA8oVhEdeUzUs_W_6Tk83btocVbbCPL7mx9lFo7nExNafkB5FD3fB0ghY6Kz/s1006/Big%20Week%20-%20Turn%204.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="522" data-original-width="1006" height="208" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCwCmGPcfMKik45DQFumq-haUiCnQoI4uAL7VP4lYUdhvBFfj_HB_zgdXPnJxgmYBRGM6jctz3yI7YjjOKeNqqJ6d5WJGU82QCkLWf7DFUvoYwxIFMg3IlAska30fdzA8oVhEdeUzUs_W_6Tk83btocVbbCPL7mx9lFo7nExNafkB5FD3fB0ghY6Kz/w400-h208/Big%20Week%20-%20Turn%204.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div>A game of WW2 strategic bombing. The Allies have to get their bombers to the target and home again whilst protecting them from the German fighters. A really nice little game. A clever innovation were the "Pollard" markers, dots on the four sides of a two sided counter which gave 8 strength states (or in this case endurance/turns left).</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><h4 style="text-align: left;">Hell's Gate</h4><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1fDWEzWoJxOs8SL4JDLmtqRBDlq82d8A2exKtm6DkQvivS8xmXIxovOgmBF-W7AL_CfZYENzVZLmNGTNv0DxLzBfzQ6UemIJ8_bVDgD6g9jRRXJoxiv-SdCl2vyG5vxJ_4IGMy6QaJD2nBfOKT-ivH_2qAMZeKiOcDF7mVfvvhTUEapTjm3ZdxXz6/s703/Hells%20Gate%20-%20End%20Turn%205.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="703" data-original-width="680" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1fDWEzWoJxOs8SL4JDLmtqRBDlq82d8A2exKtm6DkQvivS8xmXIxovOgmBF-W7AL_CfZYENzVZLmNGTNv0DxLzBfzQ6UemIJ8_bVDgD6g9jRRXJoxiv-SdCl2vyG5vxJ_4IGMy6QaJD2nBfOKT-ivH_2qAMZeKiOcDF7mVfvvhTUEapTjm3ZdxXz6/w388-h400/Hells%20Gate%20-%20End%20Turn%205.jpg" width="388" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div>This is a nice operational simulation of the battle of the Korsun Pocket on the Eastern Front. The ration based CRT meant you were always looking for big points densities, although as the CRT was one sides you could attack at 3:2 as no loss, and hit on 6+. I tried to cut the German supply lines with a quick drive from the East, but as the German's shrink their perimeter it becomes almost impossible to keep their lines cut. A nice touch was the chioce to make a combat limited or all-out, the greater risking some own loss. The limit per hexside and the dense target rule did something to alleviate over-stacking. The ratio CRT and hex & counter model still means it feels like you could be fighting any period though. In the end the German's held on an got a reasonable victory. Certainly worth replaying a few times to try and find an optimal strategy - but a bit of an attrition-fest.</div><div><br /></div><h4 style="text-align: left;">Fire and Movement</h4><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-P9fLT-UY_giGgUxWmWJv9i8Nju-tQbnJ_mtIInleJ38BPmocEfgmTQnl6io2qm1-hrjmX-TUBTuNeOj61NyWp1jivZe71zHoIQ1k26ksVGRrBoK30Z8VYA9tFiEjAGxugx9W-ZvXNheDIimOo6K1Wi9k53myhkIORoMXBnzZhRAOsXAQEjvja3_S/s4032/IMG_4267.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-P9fLT-UY_giGgUxWmWJv9i8Nju-tQbnJ_mtIInleJ38BPmocEfgmTQnl6io2qm1-hrjmX-TUBTuNeOj61NyWp1jivZe71zHoIQ1k26ksVGRrBoK30Z8VYA9tFiEjAGxugx9W-ZvXNheDIimOo6K1Wi9k53myhkIORoMXBnzZhRAOsXAQEjvja3_S/w400-h300/IMG_4267.HEIC" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div>Ever since I had the honour of playing this on-line with Philip Sabin himself umpiring I thought I really ought to get it set up on Hexon with some 6mm figures, so this was my chance. It worked incredibly well, and like the other "small-grid" games I played at VCOW showed just what a good game you can get in a small space. All the rules are finely balanced, so there are continuous choices to be made, and fire hitting two hexes, as well as all units in a hex really dissuades you from bunching! The Brits only managed to geta couple of units to the baseline, so a German win I think. Definitely a permanent option for my portable wargame set-up, and I've done a 1pp QRS to help play it - but most rules are learnt pretty fast.</div><div><br /></div><h4 style="text-align: left;">Block Busting</h4><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq1CbJC138uwndA20jGyCpxIre6qj--k5cv8RQUpwYYZUs3m4gv0ZaR2uYvmnol3DiE0zvMOBmX0mrLR15bMUcW5UHxSAu9nY4Ut77pFiXy0Wep_ZRfPHZJ8-syYbnvHpU7sCtJ1hHsmZb2tU2m9zSYndbWasgOJXipjurYv2nIWQY7xvNCqhRdRAz/s4032/IMG_4297.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq1CbJC138uwndA20jGyCpxIre6qj--k5cv8RQUpwYYZUs3m4gv0ZaR2uYvmnol3DiE0zvMOBmX0mrLR15bMUcW5UHxSAu9nY4Ut77pFiXy0Wep_ZRfPHZJ8-syYbnvHpU7sCtJ1hHsmZb2tU2m9zSYndbWasgOJXipjurYv2nIWQY7xvNCqhRdRAz/w400-h300/IMG_4297.HEIC" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div>This is the "urban" version of Fire and Movement, same basic rules but with added LOS and cover for the buildings. Fire into open hexes is DEADLY though, which makes crossing the street a real problem. In the end I found that the Brits just had to wait for the German luck with the dice to run out one turn, leaving all the Brits unpinned, they could then pin all/most of the Germans and get a platoon across, and hopefully roll up a flank before the Brits lost the initiative with their own poor dice rolling. Don't think its as good a game as Fire and Movement.</div><div><br /></div><h4 style="text-align: left;">Angels One Five</h4><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFwABA4hDGO2-_ArwEGuPnxcB1elF4vMRvjkRALjA_BtqShu-57RkZaiOV6tnJseFk21q4dIKAfwaa4cMWOhU_5Dy5CNuZUgKccFlGByv11KIA90Zrvvpc2mHbTuiqpWfI0dcPVF19C62_oeeVls9NAEItUNi-rk63oRti8nE4wgBV5ImjaX1m5mxy/s657/Angels%20One%20Five%20-%20End%20Turn%203.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="657" data-original-width="583" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFwABA4hDGO2-_ArwEGuPnxcB1elF4vMRvjkRALjA_BtqShu-57RkZaiOV6tnJseFk21q4dIKAfwaa4cMWOhU_5Dy5CNuZUgKccFlGByv11KIA90Zrvvpc2mHbTuiqpWfI0dcPVF19C62_oeeVls9NAEItUNi-rk63oRti8nE4wgBV5ImjaX1m5mxy/w355-h400/Angels%20One%20Five%20-%20End%20Turn%203.jpg" width="355" /></a></div><br /><p>This is Philip's game of tactical fighter combat, with the British trying to intercept German bombers this time. Each counter is just a flight (I think). The rules are quite complex, with multiple flight levels, gaining and losing speed as you dive and climb, controls on turns etc. After 3 moves I decided it would be a lot more fun just to play Wings of War, and I think you'd learn as much.</p><p><br /></p><h4 style="text-align: left;">Kartenspiel</h4><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg6tGPI0RzRv9nH8sCAhH2PM2Xeof5CLwdC3n4BO_NlYh9QwZnD5GdohqdHJcNRwblg4ylw1LBQhepTRflcnvpi4nNhPJKNvskadLxYFebTqcXNIMpYtkzblBjBuD-U9N3_Ljt5PbzRaCKAsHVfX1ByvGWp7oUlcthpUERgGIMzSdVHBCejmoKejLw/s4032/IMG_4299.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg6tGPI0RzRv9nH8sCAhH2PM2Xeof5CLwdC3n4BO_NlYh9QwZnD5GdohqdHJcNRwblg4ylw1LBQhepTRflcnvpi4nNhPJKNvskadLxYFebTqcXNIMpYtkzblBjBuD-U9N3_Ljt5PbzRaCKAsHVfX1ByvGWp7oUlcthpUERgGIMzSdVHBCejmoKejLw/w400-h300/IMG_4299.HEIC" width="400" /></a></div><p><br /></p><p>Tucked at the back of Simulating War in an Appendix is this little card/dice game. Each stack is a Napoleonic Corps, and as the force commander you allocate your cards to each Corp as you wish each turn, but in secret. For the turn you face each Corps of against it's opposite number, picture cards counting as cavalry and then each roll a dice under you "hand" score (Cav=2, Inf=1 basically) to see if you inflict any damage. There are some extra rules around cavalry charges, and like Hells Gate you have the option of a defensive/low risk strategy or an aggressive/high risk one. A great little game and I've scanned the relevant pages into my phone so if I've a deck of cards on hand I can always play it with someone.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>David Burdenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13336165481689169802noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6090592056927601218.post-85754520392494418572022-07-21T22:46:00.058+01:002022-07-27T23:04:04.087+01:00Storm Over Arnhem AAR<p> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEix4X3cU5lHRlD25Tyj9IopvIfcnkDDalT-163WFFQ0Zw69wBQhBXI02b0XgxqJV32rhwPKgi70Ucu6L75LM0mdkFqNd3yP3cg84JbKMRUlklfrXINhiXzn2ixVV-7-IC5jmstnOY4euib4N19A5a4CET8eQY_zw2jSuC40QxelPs83ozjaA254Hb3N/s4032/IMG_4306.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEix4X3cU5lHRlD25Tyj9IopvIfcnkDDalT-163WFFQ0Zw69wBQhBXI02b0XgxqJV32rhwPKgi70Ucu6L75LM0mdkFqNd3yP3cg84JbKMRUlklfrXINhiXzn2ixVV-7-IC5jmstnOY4euib4N19A5a4CET8eQY_zw2jSuC40QxelPs83ozjaA254Hb3N/w400-h300/IMG_4306.HEIC" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">STARTEX</td></tr></tbody></table><br /></p><p>Storm Over Arnhem was one of the first games I bought when I started the PhD - its area based layout just seemed spot-on for urban to me. When I set Christmas in Hell up at COW someone immediately said it reminded them of Storm over Arnhem, and everyone seems to view the game fondly. Having played it I can see why - and the heritage is certainly clear in Christmas in Hell- several mechanics are the same, but CiH adds the rubble and solo mode - of which more later.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2zXOuiL6ufFfzBF2H5ucSttpTDZdU9i7HhmtwIiLWlEwHIf8eiDeTzyZ6khhj-jh_7YskII9cIoV1c8MWYvIn29qc_qx9oRTEd24WE6Rkzdd5ci8ag1YmiGeDA8YlVFqR09rnrX90rg0wjTOUZ9MpySXWxJoGCAZWB0E9ghoZvJ2Qq_LkEUoRxF0B/s4032/IMG_4313.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2zXOuiL6ufFfzBF2H5ucSttpTDZdU9i7HhmtwIiLWlEwHIf8eiDeTzyZ6khhj-jh_7YskII9cIoV1c8MWYvIn29qc_qx9oRTEd24WE6Rkzdd5ci8ag1YmiGeDA8YlVFqR09rnrX90rg0wjTOUZ9MpySXWxJoGCAZWB0E9ghoZvJ2Qq_LkEUoRxF0B/w400-h300/IMG_4313.HEIC" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mid-game</td></tr></tbody></table><p>The game played pretty well and quickly, about 3 hrs I think for a first run. mechanics were soon picked up, but as ever point density ruled, with a 10+3 unit limit per area there were some quite big numbers. Firing was based on attacker - defender scores and difference taken as retreats or losses. Best/worse AV/DV were used, plus +1 for supporting units. Close combat was D6+AV > 6, so both very similar to CiH. Arty was nice and simple.</p><p>In the end the Brits put up a stiff resistance and still held most of the VP areas at the end.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi52eqF7Q_XSYITlNoi0zeGD3DY7rZq0vX3P5-nIZRNBsFatg4_58fPwIBcZ2hTUDN4W536CaJ5nMHCvmQ86B4ltVhkcnYsCdkS7A3STnSPiIRV1Rr7RfEMlGCA0ZvIzUc2doy27p1WhG9HZVM-rLpJxxUeWOClT2DfWY_r0xJSnpKoZp0xCNxBMuLX/s4032/IMG_4316.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi52eqF7Q_XSYITlNoi0zeGD3DY7rZq0vX3P5-nIZRNBsFatg4_58fPwIBcZ2hTUDN4W536CaJ5nMHCvmQ86B4ltVhkcnYsCdkS7A3STnSPiIRV1Rr7RfEMlGCA0ZvIzUc2doy27p1WhG9HZVM-rLpJxxUeWOClT2DfWY_r0xJSnpKoZp0xCNxBMuLX/w400-h300/IMG_4316.HEIC" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">ENDEX9</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p>My big issue with the game was that apart from the map I had no feeling of being in Arnhem or even a town. If you'd replaced the map with a nice green field network it would have felt and worked exactly the same. I think there were two main reasons for this:</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>First, it drops you straight into the action late in the day - so there is no sense of the initial landings, the fight through the town to the bridge, and the fighting on the bridge - so most of the real signature events of Arnhem weren't there. When I first saw the board I thought that was where my para's would land and then I'd have some sort of break-in battle, but no, they are mainly for German reinforcements. I think to get a sense of "Arnhem" you probably need to play a larger scale game (must find one to test - suggestions?), or extend those outer zones to include those other parts of the battle.</li><li>Second the rules pay no attention to the urban what so ever - its doesn't matter if you're on a building square or a park square everything is the same. This is where I think CiH really shines - the rubble really gives you the sense of a town falling to bits as you fight through it, and where I think CiH v1.5 shines even further with different protective values for each area and tanks being limited as to where they can go.</li></ul><div>So nice to see the heritage and a few bits I might re-steal (arty for instance), but otherwise I think that my CiH v1.5 is a better evolution of the model for an urban game.</div><div><br /></div><div>My "academic" review is at <a href="http://taunoyen.com/wiki/lib/exe/fetch.php?media=wargaming:phd:aar:aarstormoverarnhemah.pdf">http://taunoyen.com/wiki/lib/exe/fetch.php?media=wargaming:phd:aar:aarstormoverarnhemah.pdf</a></div><div><br /></div><p></p>David Burdenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13336165481689169802noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6090592056927601218.post-57532237598275408442022-07-20T23:44:00.002+01:002022-07-20T23:44:47.602+01:00Company Megatest - Crossfire<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZGt9uuUGmnPNbGF8uA8CIJIsdIsBCVA7Wz9oeTa9iUqvBF2fkwUZ0TXEpVs8Hj2BP3ZDE0H7RsWSoJCSRxJQ9dD45s-uFDNtQqCgG-2ZzhFxyuBxhsUSv62_J9JsQBiSEWjsbgf4EE0B5luntt-U55uv-BnrGcHX5tN5MbkkHJxkTAY0XFU8cScWP/s4032/IMG_4293.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZGt9uuUGmnPNbGF8uA8CIJIsdIsBCVA7Wz9oeTa9iUqvBF2fkwUZ0TXEpVs8Hj2BP3ZDE0H7RsWSoJCSRxJQ9dD45s-uFDNtQqCgG-2ZzhFxyuBxhsUSv62_J9JsQBiSEWjsbgf4EE0B5luntt-U55uv-BnrGcHX5tN5MbkkHJxkTAY0XFU8cScWP/w400-h300/IMG_4293.HEIC" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>Finally back to the Company-level megatest, this time focussing on WW2 rules. First up, Arty Conliffe's "no ruler, no fixed turns" Crossfire rules.</p><h4 style="text-align: left;">Presentation</h4><div>44 page black and white ruleset, lots of diagrams no pictures, glossy paper, very similar to his Shako rules. Reasonable layout although section numbering and styles could be clearer. 4pp QRS.</div><div><br /></div><h4 style="text-align: left;">Set-Up</h4><div>I bought the Crossfire scenario book, Hit the Dirt, at the same time so as to give me some scenarios to use for these tests. This first one was a modified version of Roadblock on Highway 120, with Brits standing in for Americans and Germans standing in for Italians. The Germans start on the top half of the table protecting the bridge and the Brits advance N from the S table edge (closest to camera).</div><div><br /></div><h4 style="text-align: left;">How It Played</h4><div>The Brits moved rapidly to the wood edge on the left and were then dissuaded from advancing by a Tiger. The Tiger took out the first Cromwell and then got into a slanging match with the second. On the right flank the Brits lost a section as they reached the edge of the field. The rest of the Platoon went right flanking and got into a slanging match with the German MG and Gruppen. 3" mortars put down a salvo but that didn't change things so I forced an assault which ended up with a win for each side. In the centre smoke was put down to mask the advance against the next field. The Brits leapt over the hedge as the smoke cleared and suffered suppression, survived a second round, got the initiative, rallied, fired back and got into another slanging match. Gave up at that point I'm afraid to say.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNvcPx2RZHpo2XcwPqoKuRegP4Ed1sZ65z1dIh_mGdtaGY4-cNfuAAgEcK9SMLFaX45rjHwzdxL0JYtG6NE46ei4VumqL0LZt00qs4YL9B0VozCZh2QMTM8uU5FK97Hmt9t7YE4fSUruIckzPyoz6ZHsGvOmFIH7s3GUjQFiOpS4krJynsS1r-t0eM/s4032/IMG_4294.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNvcPx2RZHpo2XcwPqoKuRegP4Ed1sZ65z1dIh_mGdtaGY4-cNfuAAgEcK9SMLFaX45rjHwzdxL0JYtG6NE46ei4VumqL0LZt00qs4YL9B0VozCZh2QMTM8uU5FK97Hmt9t7YE4fSUruIckzPyoz6ZHsGvOmFIH7s3GUjQFiOpS4krJynsS1r-t0eM/w400-h300/IMG_4294.HEIC" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><h4 style="text-align: left;">Rules Impression</h4><div>I really wanted to like these rules as they are quite innovative and I think if I played them some more and in a different style I might like them more, but not at the moment. As the description above suggests I found they just kept dissolving into a slanging match. Side A would move, side B would get opportunity fire. They usually get a Suppression, so get the initiative, fire again, not get a suppression but something like a pin, fire again, miss, lose the initiative, then B would rally (or not) then would fire, again might get a suppression, then lose it before the kill, the B rallies etc etc. Whilst there is other stuff you can move in between the fact that safe moves can be as far as you like mean they're all done quite quickly and you're just down to the one or two contact points, and its simplest to just slog one out as you don't want to run the risk of missing your once chance to best the other side before they do it to you. </div><div><br /></div><h4 style="text-align: left;">Conclusion</h4><div>As I say I think if I approached them with less of a "let's try and break it" attitude they might be OK, or perhaps house-rule it to avoid these boring tit-for-tats (which I've seen in other games) then things might be better. There is also the issue that as ANYTHING can move/act at any time you do have that empty paper/too many options issues, which might in some ways be realistic, but in reality you've issued your orders at the start and now every unit should be making an equal effort to implement them. So I think it has to be 6/10 for now, but a better player might be able to get it up to 8/10.</div><div><br /></div>David Burdenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13336165481689169802noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6090592056927601218.post-67200412226391280442022-07-14T20:29:00.031+01:002022-07-27T20:35:59.144+01:00Christmas In Hell v1.5<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7zxBAgbea6SZ_vvKAZbSlX7acYR0_XsDqbFCVa4bNfwXC3JuHJAmAYwj7Z0zK3XSyuXJrwb7nznTWsvQ6VwQFsJp_XFKuHFHdLiIbjjENTzK9CRC1T8JhAd7vIsMn4SoY5CRn4rn2joz9pudi1AAsukFoeCalkCdODwLgstkrHOWcELIQCC71B1g-/s4032/IMG_4214.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7zxBAgbea6SZ_vvKAZbSlX7acYR0_XsDqbFCVa4bNfwXC3JuHJAmAYwj7Z0zK3XSyuXJrwb7nznTWsvQ6VwQFsJp_XFKuHFHdLiIbjjENTzK9CRC1T8JhAd7vIsMn4SoY5CRn4rn2joz9pudi1AAsukFoeCalkCdODwLgstkrHOWcELIQCC71B1g-/w400-h300/IMG_4214.HEIC" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>I first came across the Battle of Ortona in a brief discussion about mouseholeing in Anthony King’s recent Urban Warfare book. My interest was really piqued though by an episode of John Spencer’s Urban Warfare Podcast from the Modern Warfare Institute (MWI) at West Point where he interviewed Jayson Geroux (a Canadian and now also at MWI) about his Masters Thesis on Ortona. The battle occurred as the Canadians raced up the east coast of Italy late in 1943 trying to get to the Gustav line, which ran from Rome to the east coast. The Allies thought it terminated at the Arielli River, and so thought that Ortona would be a minor mopping up operation. But having taken 2 days to cover a few hundred yards they realised that Ortona itself was the eastern anchor of the line. It really did seem to be the archetypal WW2 urban battle with combined arms, narrow streets, mouseholeing, fires, flame, boobytraps and snipers; and all fought over 7 days in Christmas 1943. Not wishing to reinvent the wheel I did a quick Google search and found that High Flying Dice Games in Canada (run by Paul Rohrborough, a friend of Philip Sabin) did a game – Christmas in Hell (CiH). I duly ordered it and thought it might be a good game to take to COW as I only had a couple of months to get something ready.</p><p>My first play through was a bit of a disaster. A long exchange of emails for clarifications with Paul improved things on the next run through, but there were a number of elements that I thought were getting in the way of a good game. And needless to say the more I started modding it the more changes I wanted to make – hence the gradual shift from v1.1 to v1.5! By the end I think the only things remaining from the original game were the events chits drawn for the German AI (this is fundamentally a solo game), the close assault rules, and the rubble! The rubble was why I stuck with the game rather than chose something else. It has a really simple way of representing the way in which a town (and particularly historically Ortona) becomes choked with rubble when it’s the subject of a full-on fight, and how that rubble really impedes mobility. The other thing I really liked was that when I’d played other random chit based solo games (such as Battle for Ramadi and The Battle of Hue – both from Tiny Battle Publishing) there were different pots for each chit type – so it was very consistent (and boring) in what you’d be up against. CiH’s single pot meant that things were more random (odd sometimes but that’s fine), and the use of dummy chits and different number of chits dependent on when you where in the battle all added to the variety.</p><p>The main changes I made to Christmas in Hell were:</p><p>•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span><b>The map.</b> The CiH map is a fairly abstract collection of buildings that sort of give some sense of the shape and density changes in Ortona, but without actually looking like it. Using a contemporary aerial reconnaissance photo and Canadian sketch from Jayson’s MA (and some useful clarifications from Jayson himself) I hacked the Open Streetmap map of modern Ortona back to something like its 1943 version.</p><p>•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span><b>The grid.</b> CiH covered the town in about 35 areas in an irregular grid. Ever since I saw Storm Over Arnhem it struck me that irregular grids were the way to go with urban games. However the grid bore no relation to the underlying terrain, and even included big green areas that in real life are cliff-sides and were totally unusable in the battle! It also struck me that any urban grid should separate the main thoroughfares out into their own long areas, so you get the variety of fighting along those main routes (which in Ortona were the only places that tanks could go) and the more close-quarters fights in the side-streets. So I did a new map with about double the areas, and with tank symbols to show which areas tanks could move in, and fire into. I also gave each area a Protection Value (PV) to represent the density and solidity of the buildings in the area.</p><p>•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span><b>The unit scale</b>. CiH uses platoon manoeuvre units, each rolling typically 4 dice in combat. There are 8 companies involved in the main fight – 24 platoons. The CiH grid gives you a frontage of about 5 areas, so that’s about 5 platoons per areas (20 dice!) before you add tanks and machine guns! Quite apart from all the dice the board gets VERY crowded. The accounts of the battle are very much Company based, and so I decided that that made sense of the game, 25% less counters and dice at a stroke.</p><p>•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span><b>The fire combat system.</b> CiH had separate rolls for anti-tank and anti-personnel fire and then an extra roll when using tanks or anti-tank guns to see if more rubble had been created. I kept forgetting to use the anti-tank rules, and even in the Bath Spa play test I kept forgetting to use the rubble rules. So I came up with the idea of having a single roll but using white dice for HE/AT and green dice for small arms. The number of dice (starting with green) then get reduced for Protection Value and Rubble. When rolling the dice (5s for Infantry hits, 6 for tanks/guns) any double increases rubble by 1, and any triple or multiple doubles by 2. I’m pretty happy with the system as one throw takes care of something that needed 3 throws in CiH, and all seems pretty elegant. </p><p>•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span><b>Six Pounders</b>. The Canadians in CiH only have MG counters, not 6pdrs, even though the German’s get Pak counters. This seemed odd as the histories of the battle, and the quotes from participants are full of praise for the 6 pounders. They were man-handled everywhere, over rubble piles too bit for tanks and even up onto 2nd and 3rd storeys! They were described by one soldier as "anti-rubble, anti-sniper and anti-house" weapons. So in re-doing all the Canadian counters I added in the 6 pounders.</p><p>There were a lot of other smaller game changes, but I think those were the main ones. The two other things I added were more about the narrative of the battle. </p><p>Ortona is nicely contained both geographically and narratively, and the fact that Christmas happens mid-battle just adds to the story. So for each turn (morning, afternoon, night) I did a short piece of narrative, mostly drawn from memoirs, of the battle, and usually tied to some specific game mechanic or phase. </p><p>Christmas needed something special. A famous photo of the battle shows the soldiers of the Seaforths sitting down as a big square table in a ruined church for Christmas dinner. There are debates about the true provenance of the photo, but there is no doubt that the dinner did take place. But the Loyal Eddies were told by their CO to have a shorter and less sumptuous dinner just behind their positions, and some section leaders refused to let their men go anywhere lest they got killed (as some did coming back from the dinner). So I gave each player a set of 4 options for Christmas day – a big dinner, a small dinner, staying put, or attacking as normal. Once revealed those who went for dinners would have to suffer a one or two rounds of mortar fire, whilst those who go on the attack find that everything is at -1 as the soldiers’ hearts just weren’t in it. </p><p>Note: Having just played Storm Over Arnhem I realise how much Christmas in Hell owes to that game, not just the area map but also the close combat system and a few other mechanics. That said the AI and rubble are all CiH's home and the rubble in particular makes it feel "urban" in a way that Storm over Arnhem doesn't acheive.</p><p>So how did it go on the day. I had five players, a CO for each of the Loyal Eddies, Seaforths and the Three Rivers’ Shermans, and two assistants for the German AI.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQmZCnvxq-MJ_9aBOV0InV8yIgYBEoJ6tdoR2oYsbQQqTtpQUI2sCCmp9hsHlIekHjRw6BdUXvH8NjQ-nTs-w9RUseppzadFUZjf2yKmBjva8A5Acp1f8Fz_C77rCT1DCQuCAk1VuwYOZ2k4JTufZvlcKrxq_N1LbGD_m3JLGs_o2bbOILooqlAvhU/s4032/IMG_4216.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQmZCnvxq-MJ_9aBOV0InV8yIgYBEoJ6tdoR2oYsbQQqTtpQUI2sCCmp9hsHlIekHjRw6BdUXvH8NjQ-nTs-w9RUseppzadFUZjf2yKmBjva8A5Acp1f8Fz_C77rCT1DCQuCAk1VuwYOZ2k4JTufZvlcKrxq_N1LbGD_m3JLGs_o2bbOILooqlAvhU/w400-h300/IMG_4216.HEIC" width="400" /></a></div><p><br /></p><p>It was the first in-person COW game I’d run and whilst I knew it would be a push to get close to running all 15 turns in 2 hours I really should have guessed that a COW group would spend far longer discussing things and asking questions than we did in our play test. In the end I think we only just got to Christmas day – so at least we could have the session with the Christmas cards! The rules were a lot more complex than those of the other games I played at COW (a lesson for the future), and so learning them on the hoof took more time – but certainly people were picking them up by the end. I’d decided that it would be nice to have rule summaries and counter legends around the edge of the A1 map, but in practice the areas were already quite small, and that meant even less space for them, and the suggestion that next time I use the whole of the A1 for the map is one I’ll certainly follow. Alex had a useful keen eye for where the very compressed QRS lacked clarity and also identified some other rules improvements (such as it being successively easier to de-mine an area).</p><p>Overall though I think that everyone enjoyed it, and I think it certainly gives a good feel for how a town soon becomes choked with rubble as you fight through it with heavy weapons – reducing any ability to quickly move forces between axes or to respond to infiltrations as we had happen towards the end – and that I think was really the objective and focus of my game rather than any other particular aspect of urban combat.</p><p>As for the future I’m likely to develop the game in two ways. The first is to turn it into a more generic set of urban rules, particularly for WW2, so as to use with other smaller urban battles. I might also aim for a 6 turn limit, so Ortona would be played in day turns, shorter battles still at 4 hours, or even 2 hours. The second is to make it more abstract so it’s a fight for “anytown”, and use a card-based system to generate a random street to fight down, but with otherwise the same mechanics. That could give a nice introduction to urban combat that can be played quickly (and even competitively) in 30 minutes or so. Perhaps I’ll take that along to COW2023, because having run my first COW game I certainly want to run more. </p><p>My thanks to Graham, Alex, Alan, Ed and Ed for putting up with the fiddly counters, for all the constructive advice and for being patient with a novice GM!</p><p><br /></p><h4 style="text-align: left;">Bibliography:</h4><p>Chiavini, R. Christmas in Hell. [Game]. Canada: High Flying Dice Games. Available at: <a href="http://www.hfdgames.com/ortona.html">http://www.hfdgames.com/ortona.html</a></p><p>Geroux, J. (2021). Italian Stalingrad: The Battle of Ortona. [Podcast] Interview with J. Spencer. Urban Warfare Podcast. USA: Modern Warfare Institute. Available at: <a href="https://mwi.usma.edu/italian-stalingrad-the-battle-of-ortona/">https://mwi.usma.edu/italian-stalingrad-the-battle-of-ortona/</a></p><p>Geroux, J. (2021). The Urban Battle of Ortona. Masters Thesis. Canada: University of New Brunswick. Available at: <a href="https://unbscholar.lib.unb.ca/islandora/object/unbscholar%3A10433">https://unbscholar.lib.unb.ca/islandora/object/unbscholar%3A10433</a></p><p>Gooderson, I. (2008). Assimilating Urban Battle Experience – The Canadians at Ortona. Canadian Military Journal, Winter 2007-2008. Canada: National Defence and the Canadian Armed Forces. Available at: <a href="http://www.journal.forces.gc.ca/vo8/no4/doc/gooderso-eng.pdf">http://www.journal.forces.gc.ca/vo8/no4/doc/gooderso-eng.pdf</a></p><p>King, A. (2021). Urban Warfare. London: Polity.</p><div><br /></div>David Burdenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13336165481689169802noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6090592056927601218.post-24584110637280188842022-07-12T20:06:00.001+01:002022-07-27T20:28:22.900+01:00COW 2022<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvPECHUW0dtMvB3X93TyiovmFK8fRv-8K-AhqYjSNW5AMNDsT-5fhjIwIJvywbv9R2XfgrfMAulw-41SsA6UIi_eYk-2DbZInKWQY4RiO1-go_JB8u21vEUj_v2vdDbX-IbkimmLK7w5IX20cbAPsZD-xdlpp6lCIWfFXjp-aPeIpgzAy-kGX3ep8c/s4032/IMG_4206.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvPECHUW0dtMvB3X93TyiovmFK8fRv-8K-AhqYjSNW5AMNDsT-5fhjIwIJvywbv9R2XfgrfMAulw-41SsA6UIi_eYk-2DbZInKWQY4RiO1-go_JB8u21vEUj_v2vdDbX-IbkimmLK7w5IX20cbAPsZD-xdlpp6lCIWfFXjp-aPeIpgzAy-kGX3ep8c/w400-h300/IMG_4206.HEIC" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The COW Sign-Up board - the whole thing is run on pretty much unconference lines</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p>I finally made it to COW - the Wargame Developments Group's Conference of Wargamers. This year it was held at the Defence Academy, which meant that not only was there enough space for any members who wanted to to come, but we also had free run of the equipment halls between sessions. </p><p>I played in 5 games, and ran my own game - Christmas in Hell v1.5 on the Battle of Ortona which I'll cover in a separate post. I also watched a few others which I'll note briefly at the end - followed by some pics of the kit.</p><h4 style="text-align: left;">Raven 2 is Down</h4><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbj74T1NaaJkjPWV_9iXcDwK-45735QizZYBa5HD-Za0JD1BhiocUbuhDW3TfYgcAY2DxH7mKTEv5b4H6aA7EbTIgVrrvRLLsnhzFVfhrDj9JHYYquG8gn_64wYj2gV88DZhQ9VLkgrk4pQMcKcGrMzAQtHpxbEz6vX-iA0P_sKQ37aUarmpDG9gQx/s4032/IMG_4200.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbj74T1NaaJkjPWV_9iXcDwK-45735QizZYBa5HD-Za0JD1BhiocUbuhDW3TfYgcAY2DxH7mKTEv5b4H6aA7EbTIgVrrvRLLsnhzFVfhrDj9JHYYquG8gn_64wYj2gV88DZhQ9VLkgrk4pQMcKcGrMzAQtHpxbEz6vX-iA0P_sKQ37aUarmpDG9gQx/w400-h300/IMG_4200.HEIC" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><p>My first COW, my first COW lawn game – it had to be done! Ian Drury did not disappoint with a fun game played out on what passed for a lawn on the edge of the car park. One of our pilots was missing in Vietnam and we had a fine array of 1/72nd scale model aircraft to use to go hunting for him on the gridded lawn. Pesky North Vietnamese kept on popping up, sometimes with AA guns, and soon we forgot about the search and just had fun trying out all the different ways that Ian had found for us to try and hit targets with, including Nerf guns, ping pong balls, darts and chucking paper balls over the back of our shoulders. The NVA flak managed to take two of our aircraft down, and the bail-out was beautifully simulated by throwing a model pilot and parachute up into the air to float down somewhere in the jungle. Back on task we located the downed airmen, and gave covering fire as the Jolly Green Giant came in to pick them up and fly them back to safety. Great fun!</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJh0_6Hb0_Jy8IGEffaIfArYjzcrdGtr2wkxTtS5ZzandqoDKxbkLxqjABAKdUTeh_2581Puzclp1f_qtzOv5-KmzoKxSBG6Kg6HHa_kHcCCF-YtMJ25mJj6_3wQlf6VfijUyeTISWoRGw9hjloFxAjgH10OBVQBCMJDNQCEbXJNShRVfX6HJByVVk/s4032/IMG_4197.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJh0_6Hb0_Jy8IGEffaIfArYjzcrdGtr2wkxTtS5ZzandqoDKxbkLxqjABAKdUTeh_2581Puzclp1f_qtzOv5-KmzoKxSBG6Kg6HHa_kHcCCF-YtMJ25mJj6_3wQlf6VfijUyeTISWoRGw9hjloFxAjgH10OBVQBCMJDNQCEbXJNShRVfX6HJByVVk/w400-h300/IMG_4197.HEIC" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bailing out!</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p>The only thing missing perhaps was a bit more agency from the player side. Although we had a nice search grid to work with the discovery of the pilot was based purely on a card draw – our track was only important in working out who was firing at us. It would have been nice to have had more of a battleships approach and call out a target square on our track, fight off any AA and then see if it revealed anything – particularly as the NVA seemed to be converging on a location but we couldn’t do anything to improve our search as a result. All of that though didn’t detract from a fun way to kick off my first full day at a COW.</p><p><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhisj5LM-gVuwgIgEp8MwLeYllA9w4VoXsiaNpaRch0DwNGCJldVV9EI5riWTaa-Agt0iebuEw6eWsH1Oem4io1wRdANtz46T6gaGQ0QP0CB-GWg3QbYrwpec4CpuM43Zkt33J6svX9KlPwNH2msmHw-jNVp_0kZcrmVIcOQcXvTctJJYiH95FkrQsp/s4032/IMG_4199.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhisj5LM-gVuwgIgEp8MwLeYllA9w4VoXsiaNpaRch0DwNGCJldVV9EI5riWTaa-Agt0iebuEw6eWsH1Oem4io1wRdANtz46T6gaGQ0QP0CB-GWg3QbYrwpec4CpuM43Zkt33J6svX9KlPwNH2msmHw-jNVp_0kZcrmVIcOQcXvTctJJYiH95FkrQsp/w400-h300/IMG_4199.HEIC" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Raven 2 Secured!</td></tr></tbody></table><p><br /></p><h4 style="text-align: left;">OFFSIDE - Space Jack</h4><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu4azqJOmGvWdh7oMoR5yufY3jMKPs10ca9MO16sgSR_zcuN1kkf0PiQQhSUvfpeywGlSRS4-bbHvEp1rWPEMfRkoqLx6svG4OQmGD9dpDzq1TLloYtngxGhuda-S-hHmapgnyN9Vhf0hjcUGl7u7XsCjMsrOzJ81ZJWaa2-L8q3TXouzExlXY7OYy/s4032/IMG_4210.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu4azqJOmGvWdh7oMoR5yufY3jMKPs10ca9MO16sgSR_zcuN1kkf0PiQQhSUvfpeywGlSRS4-bbHvEp1rWPEMfRkoqLx6svG4OQmGD9dpDzq1TLloYtngxGhuda-S-hHmapgnyN9Vhf0hjcUGl7u7XsCjMsrOzJ81ZJWaa2-L8q3TXouzExlXY7OYy/w400-h300/IMG_4210.HEIC" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p>Space Jack was Mike Elliott’s straight forward SF RPG lite/skirmish game based around the hijack of a spaceship which bore an uncanny resemblance to the Serenity and even had a pilot dressed in a long brown coat! Our gang of hijackers decided to go a bit meta and start a game of Traveller in the lounge as a way of settling in and waiting for a moment to attack. After a few turns our leader called out “I’ve rolled a 20” (obviously never played Traveller!) and that was our signal to attack. Unfortunately, the Captain raced back to the bridge and managed to get the ship to perform somersault after somersault to keep us off balance. With the bridge and engineering beyond our reach we decided our best bet was to head down to the cargo bay, hunt for the contraband which we were after (and found first go) and then make our escape in one of the ship’s boats. </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrcP2Eb8z2dmQ8rhvZAuahjRDc8V-BJaCHJ8zkH12iQN1S3P0gyj2CkCmePXmpw98O9LU_McvtflUvMH6GvsubSSzdJbkxhw0n_u1dW3SZVCSrpGPhWvQq4_2BE2h_J-DpJ6VDlKG36uQu90SRvPj2RyCanxE0-Z28r9crnVcJ2t2484o4xfxnSQzt/s4032/IMG_4212.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrcP2Eb8z2dmQ8rhvZAuahjRDc8V-BJaCHJ8zkH12iQN1S3P0gyj2CkCmePXmpw98O9LU_McvtflUvMH6GvsubSSzdJbkxhw0n_u1dW3SZVCSrpGPhWvQq4_2BE2h_J-DpJ6VDlKG36uQu90SRvPj2RyCanxE0-Z28r9crnVcJ2t2484o4xfxnSQzt/w400-h300/IMG_4212.HEIC" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The brown-coated captain!</td></tr></tbody></table><p>With locked bulkhead doors and anti-hijack software running we never really stood a chance of taking the ship down. Like so much “classic” SF the scenario lacked a cyber component which would have let us counter the crew in a different domain and may have added to both the fun and the “realism” of the game. The weapons were also decidedly on the non-lethal side – shotguns missing at point blank range – but I’m sure players had no wish to die too quickly and be out of the game.</p><p><br /></p><h4 style="text-align: left;">OFFSIDE – Petrograd Nights</h4><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcs3GYNEPhbQZ45igZ5kqBdYzdDjLn3jqOt057153xI3jb7Koi-I6OiSeuqIdDR-E4Q1KiCA0agXsB30t8uqhrnIz0Vn6y2Zqplfa-dpmOYBrS3M4wZSYRBKND7on_S4HMUK3L0T8uSuvYrQ9HtEbFBxuVL9wkcWRcSd7zW3YKvhiJggjJmQYRJD7s/s4032/IMG_4219.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcs3GYNEPhbQZ45igZ5kqBdYzdDjLn3jqOt057153xI3jb7Koi-I6OiSeuqIdDR-E4Q1KiCA0agXsB30t8uqhrnIz0Vn6y2Zqplfa-dpmOYBrS3M4wZSYRBKND7on_S4HMUK3L0T8uSuvYrQ9HtEbFBxuVL9wkcWRcSd7zW3YKvhiJggjJmQYRJD7s/w400-h300/IMG_4219.HEIC" width="400" /></a></div><p>Petrograd Night’s was Russell King’s "entertainment" on the Russian Revolution. Just as with the lawn game I knew that for my first COW I needed to play some sort of “political” game and this fitted the bill very nicely. I’d initially thought about being a Liberal, but then decided it might be a bit more fun to play the Mensheviks, a good choice as it turned out. The game revolved around the leading faction trying to pass their (or a) policy agenda, with the rest of us voting for or against, and calling the mob out if we were unhappy with how things were going – cue Tim Gow with some nice 1/32nd scale (or thereabouts) rioters and a bit of Petrograd pavement. At the start it felt like things were going a bit off track. For a start the initial deal of the cards gave the “right” an overwhelming and almost unassailable majority, so the Constitutional Democrats led the agenda setting for all but the last turn. The other issue was that parties seemed to be free to vote for whatever motions they wanted – there was no need to be true to their faction’s beliefs – so most just started chasing the roubles they got for being on the winning side of the vote – although in the end the roubles proved next to worthless. However, it was all good fun and it was with the penultimate turn we found that we had the same number of votes as the Constitutional Democrats – but they kept power as the incumbent. So on the last turn we decided to take a gamble on burning our 7 card, only a slim chance of anything higher, but if we didn’t we stood no chance. The Constitutional Democrats did likewise – an even bolder move on their part – and in the end we drew the higher card and had the opportunity to actually form the Government. We’d inherited the Democrats agenda but there was little we could do about that. To secure the premiership all the parties of the left were on our side, but we needed to swing the Liberals to get the majority. Some quick shuttle diplomacy, some donations to the Dacha needs of the Liberal leaders (helped along with a generous donation from the Bolsheviks) and we got our majority and the Mensheviks duly formed the government! Overall a great after-dinner game, the enjoyment of which would have been only marginally improved by playing it somewhere that had ready access to some vodka!</p><p><br /></p><h4 style="text-align: left;">OFFSIDE – Nevermind</h4><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6DElAM-YWuBsSdAGmx48JcIsj-uzZHG5UGOEg8OCeIJQnmi4F-tAlOhmQptF1QYVSemPNKBLUiEyk5LewnUVTO3N3TaazpxqwWhLKsPdAYHnuLwBlvwl3Beo5nwSZWix3Ph8MeuIb9iVQxlhieTmfApV0IHS7EFVROBWOO62QDDul7pyPTKUhXAR0/s4032/IMG_4228.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6DElAM-YWuBsSdAGmx48JcIsj-uzZHG5UGOEg8OCeIJQnmi4F-tAlOhmQptF1QYVSemPNKBLUiEyk5LewnUVTO3N3TaazpxqwWhLKsPdAYHnuLwBlvwl3Beo5nwSZWix3Ph8MeuIb9iVQxlhieTmfApV0IHS7EFVROBWOO62QDDul7pyPTKUhXAR0/w400-h300/IMG_4228.HEIC" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div>Nevermind was a simple offset-square and counter game of a 1950s nuclear missile and bomber attack on NW Europe and the UK. The initial IRBM strike took out several forward airbases and Nike SAM sites with the aim of punching a hole in the defence for the bombers to storm through (SAM sites had 0 range). As the bombers came on I scrambled my aircraft to intercept, but given that they only re-armed on a 6 I needed to keep some back for the second and third wave. As it was the fighters did there job pretty well, almost too well, and by Turn 4 there wasn’t a bomber left in the sky. Mind you we’d meant to be playing the Night rules, but in the scramble to get counters on the table I forgot to check for the bold (?) for all-weather (or the italic for supersonic), so I probably didn’t give the Russians (commanded by Nick) a fair fight. Nick was also somewhat hampered by the fact that the older aircraft only had a duration of 3 turns, by when they’d hardly passed over the Iron Curtain and certainly weren’t about to cause East Anglia any problems before they disappeared in a puff of umpire’s smoke.</div><h4 style="text-align: left;">OFFSIDE – There’s Something Wrong with Our Wargames Today</h4><p>John Curry gave an excellent talk on what is wrong with our wargames today – for some strange reason all three of his PhD students were in attendance. As someone who’s been playing wargames with the Ukrainian Army for the last few years John’s in a pretty unique position to look at how wargames match up to reality, and it had been fascinating on Saturday afternoon to sit and watch his Ukraine 2022 wargame. My main takeaways from his talk were the problems (and dangers) of predictive validity, the use of over-optimistic heuristics compared to tried and tested real-world data and the perennial lack of consideration for logistics. Dr Curry’s prescription for trying to improve things included:</p><p>•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Thinking and considering the unthinkable (aided by a red cell that is brought in from an outside organisation so it owes nothing to the sponsor); </p><p>•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Rigorously checking any challenge that the next war will be different, basing design on historical practice, informed but not driven by the present;</p><p>•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Thinking more about people and morale, and of course logistics;</p><p>•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Being aware that whilst new technology can help it is often underwhelming when it actually hits the battlefield.</p><p>One of John’s parting shots was that if a wargamer and an analyst disagree then the wargamer is probably right as she or he has had to build a model and work with it.</p><p>One of the interesting comments made in discussion (by Steven Aguilar-Martin I think) was that wargames are about building the contours on a map of the future. They don’t tell us exactly what the future will be (i.e. they are not predictive) but they give us some idea of the landscape that the future will occupy. And to draw those contours and build that map you need lots of repetitions – and anything which means more wargaming is fine in my book!</p><h4 style="text-align: left;">Games Watched But Not Played</h4><p> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJHB-6tKwjpopXf65GiKBOV9PbCIiiUjegFl2LI92mRSTXsJzs-ILfmmKBWDxJPOeM-xcuBA-RUoJdLkAJa-uI4Txq_phT14AqlYsxVwokRsZdgqJpEHrQPvhbgB8Mu9Tz8JuqzkECDpy3ti68UwkYWTHVQQEzer17e8Cw2zgw6BUGKnu62OaIQFs2/s4032/IMG_4218.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJHB-6tKwjpopXf65GiKBOV9PbCIiiUjegFl2LI92mRSTXsJzs-ILfmmKBWDxJPOeM-xcuBA-RUoJdLkAJa-uI4Txq_phT14AqlYsxVwokRsZdgqJpEHrQPvhbgB8Mu9Tz8JuqzkECDpy3ti68UwkYWTHVQQEzer17e8Cw2zgw6BUGKnu62OaIQFs2/w400-h300/IMG_4218.HEIC" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">John Curry's Ukraine game - as played with Ukrainians prior to 2022</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrjr5tFfbrojUHQkBzCVaKvh4miMqAHCMxs-xxJVzKTNdntdIIEmmwV_ba_Q0G8uAHZNyJ-VKfnKDNkOtxH5aamCNt9ioolbhjeIiEjI553XOsqQ0NczknImio3ff2keVuLOdM7s1P-UbtYFqZPc_aiGR3buQ0nlUHfPY3DbAs5imaJ6WA2cGoOHaU/s4032/IMG_4222.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrjr5tFfbrojUHQkBzCVaKvh4miMqAHCMxs-xxJVzKTNdntdIIEmmwV_ba_Q0G8uAHZNyJ-VKfnKDNkOtxH5aamCNt9ioolbhjeIiEjI553XOsqQ0NczknImio3ff2keVuLOdM7s1P-UbtYFqZPc_aiGR3buQ0nlUHfPY3DbAs5imaJ6WA2cGoOHaU/w300-h400/IMG_4222.HEIC" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A rather lovely Pirate game</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGFLho6xPumSUJTWaIwEWOLEQb1w8Hh8kep37WER5weumXSPReqUq8Ce3IIeVEFSfWkaf1kK88LQMDtswc-E5sPWPorZEJigVB4yxtVLjRUGcDDSDRsuT60rNjYLi0DpZGL4F-0AxurrfvOYT9BlfogFiY12XMkYJpAU44WSRN7Uqv9aTqB_e3dE_U/s4032/IMG_4226.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGFLho6xPumSUJTWaIwEWOLEQb1w8Hh8kep37WER5weumXSPReqUq8Ce3IIeVEFSfWkaf1kK88LQMDtswc-E5sPWPorZEJigVB4yxtVLjRUGcDDSDRsuT60rNjYLi0DpZGL4F-0AxurrfvOYT9BlfogFiY12XMkYJpAU44WSRN7Uqv9aTqB_e3dE_U/w400-h300/IMG_4226.HEIC" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Warlord "Epic" scale Waterloo - really just so people could see it</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtoafU2m_zR1x21OFcpU5YgpLFFds59CyoLAsRUWzHg6eJAOziSj6oFJd-qNIL0x5fX6Ax5NhyiqHGFavJzwG2QAXMRc9Q1_oowip5Iw43Rkax6VjOXNcf5WbPncb9HGl_1z8E3oJ61_luIV1Py1Utcs-o-u0lfKKV0fhB-wKHI4RvOeU2sE1PqbSP/s4032/IMG_4231.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtoafU2m_zR1x21OFcpU5YgpLFFds59CyoLAsRUWzHg6eJAOziSj6oFJd-qNIL0x5fX6Ax5NhyiqHGFavJzwG2QAXMRc9Q1_oowip5Iw43Rkax6VjOXNcf5WbPncb9HGl_1z8E3oJ61_luIV1Py1Utcs-o-u0lfKKV0fhB-wKHI4RvOeU2sE1PqbSP/w400-h300/IMG_4231.HEIC" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tom Mouat's "Twilight2000" style RPG of Ukrainian Territorials in 2022. Nice use of Google Maps.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /></p><h4 style="text-align: left;">The Equipment Hall</h4><div>Just a few shots of the collection of modern armour and artillery at Shrivenham - with permission to climb all over them.</div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6oM2XyAyaQH6OLWxo2Mm18FSWOrQ48XAdgYjJuONz3ZRfIBdJYiMq12kul2Eck1ca24mKCHa8fy4Lmy7jXtsr4DdsTTIw5MHEf0RQeyPRHCw9Qvcxic7awHU8BuayPznh2Q0cKM8mie4i29Sp7XN1NjTVlp4r6_sicZPYXaxSWYIk9f0A_9wXo4vG/s4032/IMG_4241.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6oM2XyAyaQH6OLWxo2Mm18FSWOrQ48XAdgYjJuONz3ZRfIBdJYiMq12kul2Eck1ca24mKCHa8fy4Lmy7jXtsr4DdsTTIw5MHEf0RQeyPRHCw9Qvcxic7awHU8BuayPznh2Q0cKM8mie4i29Sp7XN1NjTVlp4r6_sicZPYXaxSWYIk9f0A_9wXo4vG/w400-h300/IMG_4241.HEIC" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A T72</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyE2fNdx26NalORL8J68yLldal6LeLwo4ApkXUPFC-lzt733-fTBBNIgRVe3MgoCkmZjynsHYv4eOwTyydY1VjyckYlc64tVuqCCFwByLt-mYU17g3vkWPGpFZ8wQDsFYiSiKl3C_qLZpe48fg7lsTPlD378eVF8lE1N1M8c5-P7PEoOJFM8JQD84E/s4032/IMG_4240.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyE2fNdx26NalORL8J68yLldal6LeLwo4ApkXUPFC-lzt733-fTBBNIgRVe3MgoCkmZjynsHYv4eOwTyydY1VjyckYlc64tVuqCCFwByLt-mYU17g3vkWPGpFZ8wQDsFYiSiKl3C_qLZpe48fg7lsTPlD378eVF8lE1N1M8c5-P7PEoOJFM8JQD84E/w400-h300/IMG_4240.HEIC" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The dismounts in a BMD are meant to fit in there!</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEJgA0PqzJ5SRZcl8G33oSxyjwJ1zOiQsHfaerNDoQlFiGXeyriI3MPFqVgwcOFD1oAqL_FMOHNqcN0VUD9e7Cw6TPdL-nFzrUOTPysoxvm8g_dqVTqXw2S5FOTe8NUNHBP53xqjDFIM-LDFBo1DFFsv82eRI4ePFjVKkpASCkKHs4Khczlg47XYgI/s4032/IMG_4239.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEJgA0PqzJ5SRZcl8G33oSxyjwJ1zOiQsHfaerNDoQlFiGXeyriI3MPFqVgwcOFD1oAqL_FMOHNqcN0VUD9e7Cw6TPdL-nFzrUOTPysoxvm8g_dqVTqXw2S5FOTe8NUNHBP53xqjDFIM-LDFBo1DFFsv82eRI4ePFjVKkpASCkKHs4Khczlg47XYgI/w400-h300/IMG_4239.HEIC" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Spartan next to a BMP1</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin2tfcpNV6ia-EJnK9cxJ-iKPYA1YKJ68QrZS9L6VM8dCeYCRTMEQ-q13VpPH-aAGSd0Q2nUKxW2dX5wRDMQ1Iqi1tgXXpYC6PuZ5rmayHz3E25AKfGfyFZyRr1EdMYFiUb6ioepMb2xkHiNwsBW0GTmHdb2cIpitsPP0XnWxryfYj5u0ds_T392Qt/s4032/IMG_4237.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin2tfcpNV6ia-EJnK9cxJ-iKPYA1YKJ68QrZS9L6VM8dCeYCRTMEQ-q13VpPH-aAGSd0Q2nUKxW2dX5wRDMQ1Iqi1tgXXpYC6PuZ5rmayHz3E25AKfGfyFZyRr1EdMYFiUb6ioepMb2xkHiNwsBW0GTmHdb2cIpitsPP0XnWxryfYj5u0ds_T392Qt/w400-h300/IMG_4237.HEIC" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rear of a BMP1, yep could get 8 people in there, just.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl5DHIP9omRZn0iYqrZaKl_IOWN7_KAmd4iqTeiZjHOMQ7PSoIiA0wu0gEA9zc7ul5xOh4D2l_MoxcbH6g6Xl1QiXtkvM2MCb4nEEL1utkZYD_26wW3jbl_C6e3YlGbvd3y5Q3GLBx8NhRNnRlQAwRFdl0MTxPEfx68vMACz3uRq2fhAIdxAVbGYSo/s4032/IMG_4236.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl5DHIP9omRZn0iYqrZaKl_IOWN7_KAmd4iqTeiZjHOMQ7PSoIiA0wu0gEA9zc7ul5xOh4D2l_MoxcbH6g6Xl1QiXtkvM2MCb4nEEL1utkZYD_26wW3jbl_C6e3YlGbvd3y5Q3GLBx8NhRNnRlQAwRFdl0MTxPEfx68vMACz3uRq2fhAIdxAVbGYSo/w400-h300/IMG_4236.HEIC" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rear of a BMP2, real tight fit for the 7 dismounts!</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMwPdhbwUvOYn0LCLANa1dlKIxY1ZeWqIEb6vcpGMKZM-JQEzBh0TT1o7IzMlI03jzTbfhBKaUepQOJIUkEI98iIUcEgRegV6oFteWLidPncqs1BlOLR9Yf24QZT7zd1ADF92dYX62wE2F7h4uptsznZC1yfB24N4heZU6u3ZIC9DuRtHqenz4Wlgp/s4032/IMG_4235.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMwPdhbwUvOYn0LCLANa1dlKIxY1ZeWqIEb6vcpGMKZM-JQEzBh0TT1o7IzMlI03jzTbfhBKaUepQOJIUkEI98iIUcEgRegV6oFteWLidPncqs1BlOLR9Yf24QZT7zd1ADF92dYX62wE2F7h4uptsznZC1yfB24N4heZU6u3ZIC9DuRtHqenz4Wlgp/w400-h300/IMG_4235.HEIC" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">BMP2 on left, BMP1 on right</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhawRgjSIJbnDvJ-QV9H7MjVjADPGzwa7HZF6v0ZdMr7eti7iuyzX2heHHKab982r0dGL8pAjb_3MNK4lTgAH8o7xSdbO4eI-h13jnV7jhKfCX52gYxQpIpAtqaXzR-rUTVO09e23syVbjY0g10PD-C8viqKlDZ0S-5h9Ps0o5xgX5rns4tG31EaEX/s4032/IMG_4234.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhawRgjSIJbnDvJ-QV9H7MjVjADPGzwa7HZF6v0ZdMr7eti7iuyzX2heHHKab982r0dGL8pAjb_3MNK4lTgAH8o7xSdbO4eI-h13jnV7jhKfCX52gYxQpIpAtqaXzR-rUTVO09e23syVbjY0g10PD-C8viqKlDZ0S-5h9Ps0o5xgX5rns4tG31EaEX/w400-h300/IMG_4234.HEIC" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Another view down that BMD hatch!</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLIBbKleXyCGMYMemjFnt0Aa08WQnWPcfdQH8AQz0JZdssswYOA0UDAJh9s9-64XBGYm3HH-uIePO3U5uKet7ghXu9WV6qK-mtXPBlachNE-fKO_eSzuUbNbUjcSDceJn22r4Fak0IAJvX0o6a5kWMOt5CEARqNNILgNvWsYszHluHwZdhieEm8F3j/s4032/IMG_4233.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLIBbKleXyCGMYMemjFnt0Aa08WQnWPcfdQH8AQz0JZdssswYOA0UDAJh9s9-64XBGYm3HH-uIePO3U5uKet7ghXu9WV6qK-mtXPBlachNE-fKO_eSzuUbNbUjcSDceJn22r4Fak0IAJvX0o6a5kWMOt5CEARqNNILgNvWsYszHluHwZdhieEm8F3j/w400-h300/IMG_4233.HEIC" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">BMP2 with BMP 1 and Spartan behind</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div><br /></div><p><br /></p>David Burdenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13336165481689169802noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6090592056927601218.post-86692227015029121302022-06-20T14:30:00.001+01:002022-06-20T14:30:23.727+01:00Dresden in the Barn<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjubSqzmJSId2hPgwnXOMOZBVU1LOJF82fa4NPQ_QGLvo9SG5yHqvynE54TncFSv8IZyP0bluA4QiMXp0SbLD3uYcaomjOiH9lx9JD2y3R8L4ug5IFfJG4NUiMAJzp4JzH0VRNfeOkTlhPCn45AJ-f8eymAzPgTZjBQ-9FL2bRiGc9huhlDGGFcZzsn/s4032/IMG_4086.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjubSqzmJSId2hPgwnXOMOZBVU1LOJF82fa4NPQ_QGLvo9SG5yHqvynE54TncFSv8IZyP0bluA4QiMXp0SbLD3uYcaomjOiH9lx9JD2y3R8L4ug5IFfJG4NUiMAJzp4JzH0VRNfeOkTlhPCn45AJ-f8eymAzPgTZjBQ-9FL2bRiGc9huhlDGGFcZzsn/w400-h300/IMG_4086.HEIC" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>Off to Francis' for the weekend for the more or less annual "wargame in a barn". This year's subject was the Battle of Dresden (1813), with about 8000 (!) 20mm figures and 20+ players. Francis hates two table battles, so we played on a horseshoe arrangement, with Dresden itself being in the missing middle.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY4Clz7pUwuvVR1O0EOO0LNrFQGzLn6qn4D3zWILiwmZfqvrYSboxMNM5JU1AYlu01U2QI1HEz7HNPpJ_O6Vd-5hhup5lG1P-3rhoCayVvQNrKrFgM_ZtoCJ63DuCmC4Ncb4Zm1xHO3zHFO66Ch9qo1TfgQYFI9JdV5TtvvqOfN3GrInT1X3CTYGzA/s4032/IMG_4052.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY4Clz7pUwuvVR1O0EOO0LNrFQGzLn6qn4D3zWILiwmZfqvrYSboxMNM5JU1AYlu01U2QI1HEz7HNPpJ_O6Vd-5hhup5lG1P-3rhoCayVvQNrKrFgM_ZtoCJ63DuCmC4Ncb4Zm1xHO3zHFO66Ch9qo1TfgQYFI9JdV5TtvvqOfN3GrInT1X3CTYGzA/w400-h300/IMG_4052.HEIC" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking from Allied lines to our Right Flank at STARTEX</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p>I was Marmont on the French right flank. In reality I only turned up on Day 2, but Francis had me turning up from about Turn 3, but for much of Saturday the left flank was so think with my Corps, St Cyr and Victor that we had little room to manoeuvre whilst the enemy (can't call them Allies!) swept in. By mid pm we were beginning to sort things out and starting to go on the offensive. Sunday morning saw St Cyr being pulled off us to go help in the battle for the Grosser Garten (image above, beautiful) which actually gave us even more space so we went all out. Helped that we had about a 4:1 advantage in cavalry. The battle on our flank ended up with three elements, right to left:</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>On the extreme right we pushed across the stream and a combined arms attack gradually pushed him back behind Drescherdorf so we were right on his table edge and gradually started to roll up the enemies flank.</li><li>In the centre there were a series of cavalry exchanges, involving both the Grenadiers a Cheval and Cossasks at various stages, all of which gave my infantry on their left free reign to manoeuvre</li><li>On the left I pushed my infantry aggressively forward. There were two gun batteries against me, as well as the infantry, so I adopted a do or die approach. On the left gun I was intercepted by infantry sallying forth from Lodba, but by the time I'd beaten them back the gun had to withdraw as its Brigade got a Retire result. For the other gun I valiantly advanced my infantry in line (to save at least one +1) and the gun luckily decided that the cavalry on my flank was a juicier target. By the time I was in charge range he had just one firing opportunity for each of the gun and protecting skirmishers - and both missed! I crashed into the gun and carried it, and then carried on through at least another battalion. Several other battalions, and even my Hussars did similar excellent service in melees around Lodba. </li></ul><div>By game end we had taken Drescherdorf and we had two Bn in Lodba to his one, and we had about 75% of the table spur - so we were happy with our weekends work. Just awating the overall result, but hoping for a Marginal French victory.</div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjHBOAQBMiRcm9u4saTqK8obU228A3ckaB9m_QRk3JziEquRS47VDvnXj8wMOMHQLxL_yoP3WJ57dRatNf68zivIRPArQNJSCPKgBtM_sFE7kSA9HVowlODkV4oPKNtF9EzKxHRc9071Ym9u3yb_ZnOD4FqF5zpmVF9H4DREUsuVezsB2F299m2Md7/s4032/IMG_4082.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjHBOAQBMiRcm9u4saTqK8obU228A3ckaB9m_QRk3JziEquRS47VDvnXj8wMOMHQLxL_yoP3WJ57dRatNf68zivIRPArQNJSCPKgBtM_sFE7kSA9HVowlODkV4oPKNtF9EzKxHRc9071Ym9u3yb_ZnOD4FqF5zpmVF9H4DREUsuVezsB2F299m2Md7/w400-h300/IMG_4082.HEIC" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Allies Advance</td></tr></tbody></table><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>As ever with Francis' games the terrain, the detailing and the figures (mostly A&M, but we spotted at least one Airfix battalion!) were superb, the company and location great, and the rules a joy to play.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQJHCrs4mVzYGnzX0m13US2EXKqAiAtbiIxrsmAH25Fjf14Kf4dVIRfnYXUKonq8IJO0kSfjJak1raeGO2ee6KEkbVP-yclgn9pbc4y7xiBAgVbUxDFMQZeJhnJN_hQ5jiRxpsXO-SextWHKu8mupfE9hkKVqgp21DUyVeUFivikcEbh2wLnqcyLea/s4032/IMG_4087.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQJHCrs4mVzYGnzX0m13US2EXKqAiAtbiIxrsmAH25Fjf14Kf4dVIRfnYXUKonq8IJO0kSfjJak1raeGO2ee6KEkbVP-yclgn9pbc4y7xiBAgVbUxDFMQZeJhnJN_hQ5jiRxpsXO-SextWHKu8mupfE9hkKVqgp21DUyVeUFivikcEbh2wLnqcyLea/w400-h300/IMG_4087.HEIC" width="400" /></a></div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwxfuoPRf0A0TvZiV3ZoZiyCvQ0mfES188Wl8JYNpIRIrKvKfN5JTQlxzX-PJhGxXTLWJK9tORwi3NoPWwduzrBrMI5ozlPLN2BDJFsNHbNFu80vwMXrpHmSzP_xgbiCrJHcb7W2i8-o9fQXe5bNuW7EIaIkTT1sw9JRegeVnGNxvkyevvBm8_Iemj/s4032/IMG_4073.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwxfuoPRf0A0TvZiV3ZoZiyCvQ0mfES188Wl8JYNpIRIrKvKfN5JTQlxzX-PJhGxXTLWJK9tORwi3NoPWwduzrBrMI5ozlPLN2BDJFsNHbNFu80vwMXrpHmSzP_xgbiCrJHcb7W2i8-o9fQXe5bNuW7EIaIkTT1sw9JRegeVnGNxvkyevvBm8_Iemj/w400-h300/IMG_4073.HEIC" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Two views of the fight for Lodba</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8JzoYnugl7aENgOps1oX26UikgNffAtSXmfC7dzbi2Ruum3hCiCcdtUK5tBYjYWj7p9HqgYUJCzgVvUxy6H8lVQYb5J1zPKf23biiq6KGlH2ZVD5xzp1A0m9-axKEAwo61xZ8x91COVV5qyvYkr571Bkq_A1oJCdAcJylW6rfXQ2RtUktF4yS3wV8/s4032/IMG_4079.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8JzoYnugl7aENgOps1oX26UikgNffAtSXmfC7dzbi2Ruum3hCiCcdtUK5tBYjYWj7p9HqgYUJCzgVvUxy6H8lVQYb5J1zPKf23biiq6KGlH2ZVD5xzp1A0m9-axKEAwo61xZ8x91COVV5qyvYkr571Bkq_A1oJCdAcJylW6rfXQ2RtUktF4yS3wV8/w400-h300/IMG_4079.HEIC" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Austrian guns in the evening light</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiK4-E_sYk1WEu4paw4GoB9x00-gwdRSdHk4oo-wtVWroHSLKCH82BmWxDR0Cf1Ks3_VUZFXHm5gOXHhewKaEQyGp6xtR2F1qpua6kUIrEMZcNnacW7cF2KKZrsQXV_-QdswmBNAzk5iHgC895RnH8mDIniSZU7XRQ8yIbDBrTS0sj1zyOE2ov-DcAz/s4032/IMG_4077.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiK4-E_sYk1WEu4paw4GoB9x00-gwdRSdHk4oo-wtVWroHSLKCH82BmWxDR0Cf1Ks3_VUZFXHm5gOXHhewKaEQyGp6xtR2F1qpua6kUIrEMZcNnacW7cF2KKZrsQXV_-QdswmBNAzk5iHgC895RnH8mDIniSZU7XRQ8yIbDBrTS0sj1zyOE2ov-DcAz/w400-h300/IMG_4077.HEIC" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Austrians stand ready</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1WrrglHWE1-uKTyv6IZ26HVc4gQSah4_s6cwKcBZF08_jA_KL1G8kAb_7cEgBh7Nsw3h7TDUjMb0XGUl5nkiRl5jgTaK-_heWOXtWv3jOow7Y3-F0e96WrIC96X7UbiBWS7BlKypv2cwIFhqimy7hF70PbEgkqMde1nQJWiD4oLdAt-3SsvOwAfMB/s4032/IMG_4066.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1WrrglHWE1-uKTyv6IZ26HVc4gQSah4_s6cwKcBZF08_jA_KL1G8kAb_7cEgBh7Nsw3h7TDUjMb0XGUl5nkiRl5jgTaK-_heWOXtWv3jOow7Y3-F0e96WrIC96X7UbiBWS7BlKypv2cwIFhqimy7hF70PbEgkqMde1nQJWiD4oLdAt-3SsvOwAfMB/w400-h300/IMG_4066.HEIC" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The woods on the left flank</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzB6MRSz2ML-gfI6THw-i1Sg_KJVaXOTe3oNVPEZchdgl1fLeCJBVPFXjy__gqUyY9vyF4SpJvUtnNCLvajmdBt-gpGb60TRXooqSlqJIO8VPC7Sjmeko-UW62eZPf76oJTqdGaQ7zTEFZeEgbbyvovXmID9-h5j4OsYxzKpEMJUZwa-ErWeFhTrFT/s4032/IMG_4065.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzB6MRSz2ML-gfI6THw-i1Sg_KJVaXOTe3oNVPEZchdgl1fLeCJBVPFXjy__gqUyY9vyF4SpJvUtnNCLvajmdBt-gpGb60TRXooqSlqJIO8VPC7Sjmeko-UW62eZPf76oJTqdGaQ7zTEFZeEgbbyvovXmID9-h5j4OsYxzKpEMJUZwa-ErWeFhTrFT/w400-h300/IMG_4065.HEIC" width="400" /></a></div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO6XEhTUtXAFo9kiburZFQb-YJ7uI0IK3Map2c-0Ts5V4cgqxGAB0VcRFrNonbkQh0vTpSWyp9pmLZv8JM8NEKXVIIAoOOfsTtpzIzf3jc5-XawDRhKW2e-5I1iEqY5zArlPOERfsK0vtdLXoqTtFOaU8BHAXLhG6974sCz9NAc31iDUM66eduJm2X/s4032/IMG_4064.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO6XEhTUtXAFo9kiburZFQb-YJ7uI0IK3Map2c-0Ts5V4cgqxGAB0VcRFrNonbkQh0vTpSWyp9pmLZv8JM8NEKXVIIAoOOfsTtpzIzf3jc5-XawDRhKW2e-5I1iEqY5zArlPOERfsK0vtdLXoqTtFOaU8BHAXLhG6974sCz9NAc31iDUM66eduJm2X/w400-h300/IMG_4064.HEIC" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Two more views of the lovely custom made Grosser Garten model</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgG0S_c0r6ckq193rojJq-FFpz73Z9kUrpKR1wXeHPtAEQqtbvlwfEl49vr7xW3MpR7YqJfOCrLJuO40Y1yy5sswIvWwUgGQAZHlD08BkJwoY5T1WVRJLfaOfvwWom9ZlVqdxax3pdUh9PHakPvDM6wuJuxJwvLqrt0ltB6akyUYFOaqa7b_B-yBCEe/s4032/IMG_4057.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgG0S_c0r6ckq193rojJq-FFpz73Z9kUrpKR1wXeHPtAEQqtbvlwfEl49vr7xW3MpR7YqJfOCrLJuO40Y1yy5sswIvWwUgGQAZHlD08BkJwoY5T1WVRJLfaOfvwWom9ZlVqdxax3pdUh9PHakPvDM6wuJuxJwvLqrt0ltB6akyUYFOaqa7b_B-yBCEe/w400-h300/IMG_4057.HEIC" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our lancers go into the attack!</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbUPc-t3Pkj3D0zUIK-kihn0xeNlALxm5pTBt0Y6yFoqxkSXQRqaYSHlzvI5D2JA86CHmdqH_jdZeJWk--JV_ObKd6aTjinZ2szv7Oexhz7kiYk6NnPm4i5jOLxxg6khQZ_arAvZs4JwBsgi4_LFmIAvnGDpS441Ey3dSIBdhEDSAeb5U-voSQrzFS/s4032/IMG_4058.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbUPc-t3Pkj3D0zUIK-kihn0xeNlALxm5pTBt0Y6yFoqxkSXQRqaYSHlzvI5D2JA86CHmdqH_jdZeJWk--JV_ObKd6aTjinZ2szv7Oexhz7kiYk6NnPm4i5jOLxxg6khQZ_arAvZs4JwBsgi4_LFmIAvnGDpS441Ey3dSIBdhEDSAeb5U-voSQrzFS/w400-h300/IMG_4058.HEIC" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Supported by our valiant guns</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigmSHdf6OKhpObLfZXbDNgYYCnHBdGOVFrrARciCoVW-rTkkpjC0zWqyD7EAi4ZfSis7uDSa4h8L10FJ5KNmp-XBF4m6Egx4fS4QlUntInOi4P0VwguD3yPh1AVNetpePDUTxubsUKroCe6lD_zLg1dw8ublbEhFg1AxnvnRmZv2ASxIckXGf8yyhd/s4032/IMG_4056.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigmSHdf6OKhpObLfZXbDNgYYCnHBdGOVFrrARciCoVW-rTkkpjC0zWqyD7EAi4ZfSis7uDSa4h8L10FJ5KNmp-XBF4m6Egx4fS4QlUntInOi4P0VwguD3yPh1AVNetpePDUTxubsUKroCe6lD_zLg1dw8ublbEhFg1AxnvnRmZv2ASxIckXGf8yyhd/w400-h300/IMG_4056.HEIC" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Allies swarm over Grosser Garten</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_LojQwrWI34I69WpBc9PxGvhzsdEVFpXDl9Rg9WRAEUwQoII372WyWsnvTJrDcmt8lsk1vo11FvSfMy_xTwQdvpSJdKW_5YJXx7ivMIoPpVE35ypvqWYShQNi-W6gaOBKNJOaiBDYXsga3Er5cfQUjft3u48mCFIrrgGmKhAxjOwIJ_kxaciqlXIs/s4032/IMG_4054.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_LojQwrWI34I69WpBc9PxGvhzsdEVFpXDl9Rg9WRAEUwQoII372WyWsnvTJrDcmt8lsk1vo11FvSfMy_xTwQdvpSJdKW_5YJXx7ivMIoPpVE35ypvqWYShQNi-W6gaOBKNJOaiBDYXsga3Er5cfQUjft3u48mCFIrrgGmKhAxjOwIJ_kxaciqlXIs/w400-h300/IMG_4054.HEIC" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Austrians on the advance</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3sr8QwFWB4G7CH9S_s11MvnImpZnq6e43w7J_zYPS5E0iVeFPcimNjR0Oej-1Bpo3GpG41OXK4EbGAASXM8DJavkoxyqSZVEb5dFugQZIGCgAi-jF9r0dHk2RgRuZ1sMxh9i1PglgeucNGKTesiLkGoXH_I-FRJoZSLr2g3zZmtb6rBvHRHrS0juw/s4032/IMG_4049.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3sr8QwFWB4G7CH9S_s11MvnImpZnq6e43w7J_zYPS5E0iVeFPcimNjR0Oej-1Bpo3GpG41OXK4EbGAASXM8DJavkoxyqSZVEb5dFugQZIGCgAi-jF9r0dHk2RgRuZ1sMxh9i1PglgeucNGKTesiLkGoXH_I-FRJoZSLr2g3zZmtb6rBvHRHrS0juw/w400-h300/IMG_4049.HEIC" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A final view of the Grosser Garten model!</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><br /></div><p></p><p><br /></p>David Burdenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13336165481689169802noreply@blogger.com1