For those who want to download the flyer we handed out during our Arnhem game at Crisis 2005, it is available here.
Simply print it out double-sided, fold it together, and presto!
Phil
Friday, 11 November 2005
Sunday, 6 November 2005
Crisis Photos
Crisis 2005 - Arnhem
Originally uploaded by ahuyton.
Frost advances towards Oosterbeek
Crisis 2005 - Arnhem
Originally uploaded by ahuyton.
Kussin shot up again, if only he had been more careful
Crisis 2005 - Arnhem
Originally uploaded by ahuyton.
The second landing, now everything will be fine!
Crisis 2005 - Arnhem
Originally uploaded by ahuyton.
Massive German attack on Oosterbeek, destined for failure
Crisis 2005 - Arnhem
Originally uploaded by ahuyton.
Hurrah, it's 16.30 and here comes XXX Corps across the railway bridge, valiantly recaptured by Maarten
Crisis 2005 - First thoughts
This site has been quiet for a couple of weeks as your much missed authors have been slaving away to get our big game finished for Belgium's big wargames convention, 'Crisis'. That was yesterday, and we came away with the prize for 'Best Participation Game', a migraine for poor Bart but a very satisfying day's gaming.
We set up a long table, representing the road from the Ist Airborne's drop zone to the famous road bridge in Arnhem itself. Bart built the terrain, to his usual high standards and the overall efffect was quite stunning. We populated the terrain with hand made trees and, largely cardboard buildings bought from paper terrain and Fiddlers Green. I painted the figures, at a scale of one base of 7 figures euquivalent to a platoon. I think we had some 2500 figures on table, with assorted transport, guns and German armour.
The innovation of the day came from the game system we used. This came about from a conversation at last year's Crisis, where we had put on a nice game using 'Rapid Fire' rules. We realised that, despite our best intentions, we were falling into the common trap of Crisis games, that clubs set out pretty terrains and then played a rather unsatisfactory game, with players torn between participating and going off to do some shopping. And given that every year the quality of the traders at Crisis is improving, this temptation is pretty heavy. So, we concluded that we needed a new approach. The game had to be fun, had to involve passers-by, but only ask for a small contribution to the game. The answer lay in a freeform game, with no set rules. Each visitor to the table would be welcomed, the game explained and then the newly promoted General would be asked to make a decision to keep the game rolling. Then maybe a die would be rolled, with a simple 1= failure 6= success type system.
So we put this into action, we added some nice touches such as medals (stickers showing a VC imposed on the Schild en Vriend club symbol) for each participant. And I must say it worked very well. I thought we had a really positive response. Many old friends passed by and enjoyed making a few decisions, often with amusing results that nicely simulated the fog of war (for instance the Airborne anti-tank guns sent off on the northern road by one player because 'it looks like the easiest way to the town and then sent back by another player who knew the stiry of Arnhem better - this created anguish and amusement to Dave, who faithfully played the role of Frost through the morning).
The game itself was fun, and at the end rather exciting with a massive melee in Oosterbeek fought out by old Schild en Vriend faithfuls, Maarten and Bart D. This for me was a new experience for Crisis quite frankly, and so it actually meant that not only did we fly the wargaming flag but we had a good gaming day. I will write up a story of the battle separately, but for those who are interested, and maybe participated in the game but didn't see the end of the game, here are the events in bullet (ha ha) form fashion:
Meanwhile, Urquhart and the laggardly 3rd Para held off the vast forces of Von Tettau, now under the capable control of Bart D, and at 16.30 we decided that the British had done enough and XXX Corps would arrive on time.
That was fun. I think the system is excellent, and vastly preferable to long complicated rules. As Dave said yesterday, we should just write up a one page summary of how it can work in practice. Perhaos we can do that here on these pages? Personally, I found it particularly interesting to deal with an enthusiastic teenager, who was with us for about three hours and a very serious Colonel from the Belgian army, dressed up in Para gear, who made some very interesting decisions leading to the Battle for Oosterbeek.
On the downside, we were over-optimistic about the system. We had thought it would be possible to run the game with one umpire, while the others could go off and shop or meet people. In fact the opposite was the case, we actually needed four umpires and reserves to allow for the socialising and spending. A lesson for next time.
A further problem was that we had not thought out properly the scale of the game, so we had absurd amounts of troops on the table, which proved difficult to organise and move. Another useful lesson.
Overall I thought it was fair that we won the participation prize, and that Durham won the Best Game, with their lovely terrain and 42mm superb figures. Our terrain boards were magnificent, but our reconstructions of the buildings were only adequate really. I guess the scale of the figures was also a factor.
The trophy went home with Phil, the brains behind our operation, who came up with most of the good ideas for the game system. And particular thanks to Dave Black for helping us play the game for several hours, even if his successors caused his Colonel Frost character to end up in a Stalag somewhere in the East.
On that note, I leave it to others to comment. Photos to follow.
We set up a long table, representing the road from the Ist Airborne's drop zone to the famous road bridge in Arnhem itself. Bart built the terrain, to his usual high standards and the overall efffect was quite stunning. We populated the terrain with hand made trees and, largely cardboard buildings bought from paper terrain and Fiddlers Green. I painted the figures, at a scale of one base of 7 figures euquivalent to a platoon. I think we had some 2500 figures on table, with assorted transport, guns and German armour.
The innovation of the day came from the game system we used. This came about from a conversation at last year's Crisis, where we had put on a nice game using 'Rapid Fire' rules. We realised that, despite our best intentions, we were falling into the common trap of Crisis games, that clubs set out pretty terrains and then played a rather unsatisfactory game, with players torn between participating and going off to do some shopping. And given that every year the quality of the traders at Crisis is improving, this temptation is pretty heavy. So, we concluded that we needed a new approach. The game had to be fun, had to involve passers-by, but only ask for a small contribution to the game. The answer lay in a freeform game, with no set rules. Each visitor to the table would be welcomed, the game explained and then the newly promoted General would be asked to make a decision to keep the game rolling. Then maybe a die would be rolled, with a simple 1= failure 6= success type system.
So we put this into action, we added some nice touches such as medals (stickers showing a VC imposed on the Schild en Vriend club symbol) for each participant. And I must say it worked very well. I thought we had a really positive response. Many old friends passed by and enjoyed making a few decisions, often with amusing results that nicely simulated the fog of war (for instance the Airborne anti-tank guns sent off on the northern road by one player because 'it looks like the easiest way to the town and then sent back by another player who knew the stiry of Arnhem better - this created anguish and amusement to Dave, who faithfully played the role of Frost through the morning).
The game itself was fun, and at the end rather exciting with a massive melee in Oosterbeek fought out by old Schild en Vriend faithfuls, Maarten and Bart D. This for me was a new experience for Crisis quite frankly, and so it actually meant that not only did we fly the wargaming flag but we had a good gaming day. I will write up a story of the battle separately, but for those who are interested, and maybe participated in the game but didn't see the end of the game, here are the events in bullet (ha ha) form fashion:
- John 'Dave Black' Frost led his troops into Arnhem and occupired the area around the bridge, other battalions followed more slowly and occupied the area around Oosterbeek and the railway bridge
- Massive German pressure led to Frost deciding to quit the bridge
- At the subsequent battle in North Arnhem suburbs, Frost was captured
- German attacks on Oosterbeek put the British under pressure, big casualties sustained by both sides.
- Germans launched an attack against the railway bridge,infantry supported by AA guns and a Tiger 2 detachment 'Mad Dog Koen' and his girlfriend launched Para platoons in hand to hand combat aginst the Tigers, but they were heroically massacred. Koen won the VC for this action!
- The Germans kicked the British off the railway bridge, but Maarten with now only 1 effective battalion left in Oosterbeek took the risk of a counter attack on the bridge. At this point very subtle rules came into play, we each rolled a die, the highest would win the bridge! Maarten's bold attack won the day, the Germans taking big casualties (guess what? we each rolled a die to see how many stands were lost) and they retreated, dispirited.
Meanwhile, Urquhart and the laggardly 3rd Para held off the vast forces of Von Tettau, now under the capable control of Bart D, and at 16.30 we decided that the British had done enough and XXX Corps would arrive on time.
That was fun. I think the system is excellent, and vastly preferable to long complicated rules. As Dave said yesterday, we should just write up a one page summary of how it can work in practice. Perhaos we can do that here on these pages? Personally, I found it particularly interesting to deal with an enthusiastic teenager, who was with us for about three hours and a very serious Colonel from the Belgian army, dressed up in Para gear, who made some very interesting decisions leading to the Battle for Oosterbeek.
On the downside, we were over-optimistic about the system. We had thought it would be possible to run the game with one umpire, while the others could go off and shop or meet people. In fact the opposite was the case, we actually needed four umpires and reserves to allow for the socialising and spending. A lesson for next time.
A further problem was that we had not thought out properly the scale of the game, so we had absurd amounts of troops on the table, which proved difficult to organise and move. Another useful lesson.
Overall I thought it was fair that we won the participation prize, and that Durham won the Best Game, with their lovely terrain and 42mm superb figures. Our terrain boards were magnificent, but our reconstructions of the buildings were only adequate really. I guess the scale of the figures was also a factor.
The trophy went home with Phil, the brains behind our operation, who came up with most of the good ideas for the game system. And particular thanks to Dave Black for helping us play the game for several hours, even if his successors caused his Colonel Frost character to end up in a Stalag somewhere in the East.
On that note, I leave it to others to comment. Photos to follow.
Monday, 17 October 2005
Essen 2005 Report
I visited Spiel 2005 in Essen last weekend. Spiel is probably the largest convention focusing on boardgames. I never went before, and because Alan got the wagon rolling, I decided to join this year. So on saturday at 7am, 5 of us got into our cars and departed for Essen.
The fair is pretty large, and the halls are filled with publishers and shops. One can play a lot of games at the various publishers booths, try out new games, etc. I have to say I didn't play games -- after so many years of attending conventions I don't have the patience anymore, so I spend my time walking around the booths and picking up as much merchandise as I can.
So what did I buy?
The fair is pretty large, and the halls are filled with publishers and shops. One can play a lot of games at the various publishers booths, try out new games, etc. I have to say I didn't play games -- after so many years of attending conventions I don't have the patience anymore, so I spend my time walking around the booths and picking up as much merchandise as I can.
So what did I buy?
- Conquest of the Empire: a huge boardgame from Eagle Games, focusing on the Roman Empire. Although I have been dissapointed with games from Eagle Games in the past, I decided to give this one a try. It looks very stunning and has a lot of components!
- Descent (Fantasy Flight Games): a new dungeon-crawling boardgame. It has been eagerly awaited, and this was the first opportnuity to buy it in Europe. Our group got 3 copies total. Yes. we're crazy ;-)
- Burning Drachens, the new expansion for the excellent WW1 dogfighting game Wings of War.
- Some Axis and Allies miniatures boosters. I also saw another WW2 game, Panzer Squadron (www.panzersquadron.com), which looked pretty promising.
- I also wanted to get the expansions for Memoir 44, but they were sold out.
Friday, 7 October 2005
When push comes to pike
Last week, Alan and myself played another game of Armati II. The initial intent was to continue with the [Bartholomeus Sinister Grassus campaign](http://www.nirya.be/snv/ttm/archives/000108.html), but in a spur of the moment decision, we (well, I) decided to break out two Macedonian armies and do a Successor battle. Alan opted to play 'that one eyed guy' (Antigonos) while I took 'that paranoid fellow' Lysimachos. The intent was to see what Armati would do with a pike shoving match.
We used, among others, the Macedonian figures I had bought from JP some years ago. These are very nicely painted figures, but they come with a definite _handle with care_ cautionary statement. To avoid the spaghetti pike syndrome, JP likes to replace the cast on pikes (and any other weapons, for that matter) with wire versions. _In se_, that is not a problem. The problem is that the wire has actual razor sharp points. Taking these figures from their storage boxes is best done the way hedgehogs scratch their backs -- _very carefully_. I swear I could hear JP chuckling in the background as I was unpacking the figures :).
We decided to use 30 bonus point armies (Armati armies consist of a certain number of core units, which you have to take, and a variable amount of individually costed bonus units). My Lysimachid army was the usual pike phalanx, supported by three cavalry units and some light stuff (skirmishers and Thracian peltasts):
In Armati, only _key units_ count towards the defeat of your army -- non key troops can be killed to ones heart's content, but to win the game, you have to destroy a certain number of key units. In general key units are the heavy units of an army, and these armies are no exception: for both Alan and myself, phalanxes and heavy cavalry are the key units. This virtually ensures that the game will be decided by a good old fashioned shoving of pike.
And that is more or less what happened. Alan set up with, from his left to right, a bunch of light troops (peltasts and skirmishers), a line of pike, an elephant, some more pikes and two heavy cavalry units. Behind the line was Antigonos himself with a unit of Companion heavy cavalry. My own setup mirrored his, except that I had no elephants, I had light troops on both flanks and my three cavalry units were together on the far right flank. I kept no reserves were kept behind the line (a mistake, in hindsight).
The game turned out to be a pike slug fest (with a side dish of elephant and general), while on the respective right flanks the cavalry broke through. I initiated contact in the center when I charged a pike unit with Lysimachos himself attached into the elephant who got some help from Antigonos himself. Over the next few moves, while the generals were hitting each other over the head with pike and tusk, the rest of the phalanxes got into contact with each other as well.
On my right flank, my cavalry swept through some light troops (ably helped by the rightmost of the pike units), subsequently disdainfully ignored some skirmishing light horse (a bit of a stretch, that, as said light horse managed to kill one of my cavalry by way of a sneaky flank attack), only to run up against Alan's reserve cavalry. Drat.
The Antigonid cavalry, on the other hand, also broke through on the other flank and I had no reserves to stop them (bad general!). My flight forward with the pike was partly to increase the distance Alan's cavalry had to travel to reach their rear, but the Antigonid cavalry did reach the rear of my pike line in the end.
Luckily, while I did lose one pike unit to the marauding Antigonid cavalry, I managed to kill four of Alan's key units before he did so to me (but only just, as the last die roll of the last turn decided which of us would win), so it was a Lysimachid victory after all!
Again, Armati proved itself to be a very good game that gives historical results (not that I would recognise a historical result in this period, of course) and was very tense and exciting till the end in this case.
Technorati tags: miniatures wargaming Armati
We used, among others, the Macedonian figures I had bought from JP some years ago. These are very nicely painted figures, but they come with a definite _handle with care_ cautionary statement. To avoid the spaghetti pike syndrome, JP likes to replace the cast on pikes (and any other weapons, for that matter) with wire versions. _In se_, that is not a problem. The problem is that the wire has actual razor sharp points. Taking these figures from their storage boxes is best done the way hedgehogs scratch their backs -- _very carefully_. I swear I could hear JP chuckling in the background as I was unpacking the figures :).
We decided to use 30 bonus point armies (Armati armies consist of a certain number of core units, which you have to take, and a variable amount of individually costed bonus units). My Lysimachid army was the usual pike phalanx, supported by three cavalry units and some light stuff (skirmishers and Thracian peltasts):
| Unit | Number | Combat values | Division |
|---|---|---|---|
| Phalanx | 4 | 7[0]0 | H1 |
| White shield phalanx | 1 | 8[0]0 | H2 |
| Asiatic phalanx | 1 | 6[1]1 | H2 |
| Heavy cavalry | 2 | 4[0]0 | H3 |
| Companion cavalry | 2 | 4[0]0 | H3 |
| Thracian Peltasts | 2 | 4[1]2 | L1 |
| Thracian Peltasts | 2 | 4[1]2 | L2 |
| Bow armed skirmishers | 2 | 2[1]1 | L3 |
| Sling armed skirmishers | 1 | 3[1]2 | L3 |
| Javelin armed skirmishers | 2 | 2[1]1 | L4 |
In Armati, only _key units_ count towards the defeat of your army -- non key troops can be killed to ones heart's content, but to win the game, you have to destroy a certain number of key units. In general key units are the heavy units of an army, and these armies are no exception: for both Alan and myself, phalanxes and heavy cavalry are the key units. This virtually ensures that the game will be decided by a good old fashioned shoving of pike.
And that is more or less what happened. Alan set up with, from his left to right, a bunch of light troops (peltasts and skirmishers), a line of pike, an elephant, some more pikes and two heavy cavalry units. Behind the line was Antigonos himself with a unit of Companion heavy cavalry. My own setup mirrored his, except that I had no elephants, I had light troops on both flanks and my three cavalry units were together on the far right flank. I kept no reserves were kept behind the line (a mistake, in hindsight).
The game turned out to be a pike slug fest (with a side dish of elephant and general), while on the respective right flanks the cavalry broke through. I initiated contact in the center when I charged a pike unit with Lysimachos himself attached into the elephant who got some help from Antigonos himself. Over the next few moves, while the generals were hitting each other over the head with pike and tusk, the rest of the phalanxes got into contact with each other as well.
On my right flank, my cavalry swept through some light troops (ably helped by the rightmost of the pike units), subsequently disdainfully ignored some skirmishing light horse (a bit of a stretch, that, as said light horse managed to kill one of my cavalry by way of a sneaky flank attack), only to run up against Alan's reserve cavalry. Drat.
The Antigonid cavalry, on the other hand, also broke through on the other flank and I had no reserves to stop them (bad general!). My flight forward with the pike was partly to increase the distance Alan's cavalry had to travel to reach their rear, but the Antigonid cavalry did reach the rear of my pike line in the end.
Luckily, while I did lose one pike unit to the marauding Antigonid cavalry, I managed to kill four of Alan's key units before he did so to me (but only just, as the last die roll of the last turn decided which of us would win), so it was a Lysimachid victory after all!
Again, Armati proved itself to be a very good game that gives historical results (not that I would recognise a historical result in this period, of course) and was very tense and exciting till the end in this case.
Technorati tags: miniatures wargaming Armati
Monday, 26 September 2005
Looking for Carolingian Frankish figures
Not one to be deterred by the fact that our current participation game is still in the construction phase ([6 weeks to go](http://www.tsoa.be/html/crisis05_titelblad.htm) ), I've come up with a vague plan to do the Battle of [Leuven](http://www.leuven.be) as a demo / participation game next year. This was a little affair back in [891](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/891), the tail end of the Carolingian period, where the Frankish (then) king [Arnulf of Carinthia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arnulf_of_Carinthia) came all the way over to [Leuven](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leuven) to beat up a part of the Viking Great Army that had decided to winter there. The resulting battle was a resounding Frankish victory and is said to have coloured the banks of the Dijle red with the blood of the Vikings. Good stuff, in other words.
As to figures for this battle, the Vikings are easy -- after Romans and Celts they must be the most popular subject for miniature manufacturers to tackle, so pretty much everyone and his dog does them. Carolingian Franks (let alone later Carolingian Franks) are a different matter, however. So far, I have found (in the One True Scale of 25-28mm of course):
* [Old Glory](http://www.oldgloryminiatures.com) - [PLC range](http://www.oldgloryminiatures.com/search_results.asp?txtsearchParamTxt=&txtsearchParamCat=100&txtsearchParamType=ALL&txtsearchParamMan=ALL&txtsearchParamVen=ALL&txtFromSearch=fromSearch&iLevel=1)
* [Essex Miniatures](http://www.essexminiatures.co.uk) - Ancients range
* [Chiltern Miniatures](http://www.chilternminiatures.co.uk/) - [Frankish range](http://www.chilternminiatures.co.uk/html/carolingian_frank__8th_-_10th_.html) - ex-Whitecross, apparently
For the Old Glory and Essex, I have a fairly good idea of what to expect (filler and static poses, respectively), but I have not seen the Chiltern figures up close. On the pictures (well, picture) on the site, they look a tad goofily posed, so an in the flesh inspection is called for. Luckily, Chiltern is coming to [Crisis](http://www.tsoa.be/html/crisis05_titelblad.htm), so I'll have a chance to look at them there.
Are there any readers out there who have experience with any of these ranges, or that know of other manufacturers that do suitable figures? And while I'm at it, are the silly helmets (the inverted boat shape thingies) based on solid evidence or is that just one of those memes that is based on a single source and has been propagated throughout miniature wargamehood?
Technorati tags: miniatures Carolingian
As to figures for this battle, the Vikings are easy -- after Romans and Celts they must be the most popular subject for miniature manufacturers to tackle, so pretty much everyone and his dog does them. Carolingian Franks (let alone later Carolingian Franks) are a different matter, however. So far, I have found (in the One True Scale of 25-28mm of course):
* [Old Glory](http://www.oldgloryminiatures.com) - [PLC range](http://www.oldgloryminiatures.com/search_results.asp?txtsearchParamTxt=&txtsearchParamCat=100&txtsearchParamType=ALL&txtsearchParamMan=ALL&txtsearchParamVen=ALL&txtFromSearch=fromSearch&iLevel=1)
* [Essex Miniatures](http://www.essexminiatures.co.uk) - Ancients range
* [Chiltern Miniatures](http://www.chilternminiatures.co.uk/) - [Frankish range](http://www.chilternminiatures.co.uk/html/carolingian_frank__8th_-_10th_.html) - ex-Whitecross, apparently
For the Old Glory and Essex, I have a fairly good idea of what to expect (filler and static poses, respectively), but I have not seen the Chiltern figures up close. On the pictures (well, picture) on the site, they look a tad goofily posed, so an in the flesh inspection is called for. Luckily, Chiltern is coming to [Crisis](http://www.tsoa.be/html/crisis05_titelblad.htm), so I'll have a chance to look at them there.
Are there any readers out there who have experience with any of these ranges, or that know of other manufacturers that do suitable figures? And while I'm at it, are the silly helmets (the inverted boat shape thingies) based on solid evidence or is that just one of those memes that is based on a single source and has been propagated throughout miniature wargamehood?
Technorati tags: miniatures Carolingian
Kallistra hex-based terrain
Last week I received my hex-terrain from Kallistra. This terrain system consists of hexes (along the lines of the old Geohex), but smaller, and sturdier. The different hextiles come in groups of 6 connected hexes, they are stackable, and take up a small volume so they can be very easily transported. Also, I ordered some scenic element (hills, mountains) to go with the terrain.
Last weekend we used it for the first time. I transported the terrain to a friend's place, thereby testing the portability of the whole thing, which went pretty smoothly.
The terrain is very well suited for hex-based games such as Memoir44 or Battlecry. Since I'm a big fan of hex-based games these days (they play more quickly, and it doesn't really reduce the resolution of movement and firing ranges), this was one of the reasons I bought the terrain in the first place.
The scale of the hills and mountains might make it a bit unfeasible for 25/28 mm though. It is better suited for 20mm and smaller in my opinion, although your taste in what's visually pleasing might of course be different from mine.
Just to give you a feel of what it looks like, here are some pictures. The first two pictures are from a 6mm SciFi game (a home-made variant based om Memoir44), and the next two are from a 1/300 WW2 game, also played with Memoir44 rules.
The last picture was not part of a game, but shows some 20mm Vietnam figures on the terrain.
SciFi game: View image
SciFi game: View image
WW2 game: View image
WW2 game: View image
Vietnam (20mm): View image
Last weekend we used it for the first time. I transported the terrain to a friend's place, thereby testing the portability of the whole thing, which went pretty smoothly.
The terrain is very well suited for hex-based games such as Memoir44 or Battlecry. Since I'm a big fan of hex-based games these days (they play more quickly, and it doesn't really reduce the resolution of movement and firing ranges), this was one of the reasons I bought the terrain in the first place.
The scale of the hills and mountains might make it a bit unfeasible for 25/28 mm though. It is better suited for 20mm and smaller in my opinion, although your taste in what's visually pleasing might of course be different from mine.
Just to give you a feel of what it looks like, here are some pictures. The first two pictures are from a 6mm SciFi game (a home-made variant based om Memoir44), and the next two are from a 1/300 WW2 game, also played with Memoir44 rules.
The last picture was not part of a game, but shows some 20mm Vietnam figures on the terrain.
SciFi game: View image
SciFi game: View image
WW2 game: View image
WW2 game: View image
Vietnam (20mm): View image
Thursday, 22 September 2005
I'm on TMP!
What's the use of having a blog if you can't shamelessly abuse it for purposes of self aggrandizement? In that spirit, allow me to humbly state the fact that my entry for the [Alpha Miniatures painting competition](http://theminiaturespage.com/workbench/347120/) over at [the Miniatures Page](http://theminiaturespage.com) is published:
[My German Leader at TMP](http://theminiaturespage.com/workbench/90356/)
The accompanying article lists some information on the painting techniques and paints used on this fellow, which was the first 54mm figure I ever painted.
I expect that you can vote for me, or one of the other competitors of course, somewhere next week when all the entries (five of them in this round) have been put up.
Technorati tags: miniatures gaming painting
[My German Leader at TMP](http://theminiaturespage.com/workbench/90356/)
The accompanying article lists some information on the painting techniques and paints used on this fellow, which was the first 54mm figure I ever painted.
I expect that you can vote for me, or one of the other competitors of course, somewhere next week when all the entries (five of them in this round) have been put up.
Technorati tags: miniatures gaming painting
Wednesday, 21 September 2005
Blitzkrieg Commander - German break-out at Bordelle-de-Roi
So, let's look at the latest in our Blitzkrieg Commander mini campaign.
After last week's game, I set-up the second scenario in the series with the beleaguered Germans trying to break-out of the pocket. A small American force deployed in the centre of the table, basically occupying a wood and fields near the village of Bordelle-de-Roi. On one side of the table was a small German force of armour and infantry (about half of the total German strength). On the other side was a German relief force, exclusively infantry, coming to help their comrades escape.
I reflected the minor victory for the Americans in the first game by giving them additional troops (the scenario in the rules recommends a ratio of 2:1 for the German player) and by causing the German player problems with fuel supply - on the grounds that they were caught in a pocket with little fuel available. To simulate this each of the 5 German armour pieces (a Panther, 2 Pz IV, a STuG 3 and a Puma) had to avoid rolling a 1 on a D6 each turn. Failure meant immobilisation for that vehicle.
I also gave the players four events each that they could play at any stage, and as it turned out these had a dramatic impact on the game.
How did the game go? Well, I won't give a blow-by-blow account but I think it was our most interesting BKC game yet. A huge scrap developed around a sunken road near the village with charge and counter-charge by both sides, with funny results. It resembled more a Roman-Barbarian slugging match than a WW2 firefight. In the end, the Americans drove off the Germans in the village, but I'm sure even Filip (our brave yankee hero), who played boldly and well, would acknowledge that Bart didn't have much luck with command rolls. For two turns the armour was stuck, the panther never got into action for example and the Pz IVs got blow-up by a Sherman. To cap it all, at a crucial moment Bart rolled three command blunders in two turns. Not good.
Here we can see the different positions, with the Germans in the village and the Americans in the nearby wood:
BKC bordelle de roi 010
And here we can see Germans have advanced to the sunken road to counter the sneaky American advance.
BKC bordelle de roi 013
One of the events that I gave to Filip was 'torrential rain' leading to poor visibility and difficulty to get hits (all attempts more difficult though a '6' was still always a hit). The rain could stop at any time but in the event lasted three turns and the Germans found it impossible to score hits on the enemy.
By game end, poor Bart was very despondent and we called it a day after six turns - a fine victory for the American player.
Conclusions? A fine tactical game, with Filip rewarded for bold play ( a clever assault on the village by his outnumbered troops, luring the Germans into counter-attack and eventual defeat). We played with fewer points this time, 1500 for the attacker. This means more room on the table and a more interesting game. Somehow it was more interesting to have two or three tanks per side than eight or nine. I think for the future we will reserve bigger games for multi player contests.
After last week's game, I set-up the second scenario in the series with the beleaguered Germans trying to break-out of the pocket. A small American force deployed in the centre of the table, basically occupying a wood and fields near the village of Bordelle-de-Roi. On one side of the table was a small German force of armour and infantry (about half of the total German strength). On the other side was a German relief force, exclusively infantry, coming to help their comrades escape.
I reflected the minor victory for the Americans in the first game by giving them additional troops (the scenario in the rules recommends a ratio of 2:1 for the German player) and by causing the German player problems with fuel supply - on the grounds that they were caught in a pocket with little fuel available. To simulate this each of the 5 German armour pieces (a Panther, 2 Pz IV, a STuG 3 and a Puma) had to avoid rolling a 1 on a D6 each turn. Failure meant immobilisation for that vehicle.
I also gave the players four events each that they could play at any stage, and as it turned out these had a dramatic impact on the game.
How did the game go? Well, I won't give a blow-by-blow account but I think it was our most interesting BKC game yet. A huge scrap developed around a sunken road near the village with charge and counter-charge by both sides, with funny results. It resembled more a Roman-Barbarian slugging match than a WW2 firefight. In the end, the Americans drove off the Germans in the village, but I'm sure even Filip (our brave yankee hero), who played boldly and well, would acknowledge that Bart didn't have much luck with command rolls. For two turns the armour was stuck, the panther never got into action for example and the Pz IVs got blow-up by a Sherman. To cap it all, at a crucial moment Bart rolled three command blunders in two turns. Not good.
Here we can see the different positions, with the Germans in the village and the Americans in the nearby wood:
BKC bordelle de roi 010
And here we can see Germans have advanced to the sunken road to counter the sneaky American advance.
BKC bordelle de roi 013
One of the events that I gave to Filip was 'torrential rain' leading to poor visibility and difficulty to get hits (all attempts more difficult though a '6' was still always a hit). The rain could stop at any time but in the event lasted three turns and the Germans found it impossible to score hits on the enemy.
By game end, poor Bart was very despondent and we called it a day after six turns - a fine victory for the American player.
Conclusions? A fine tactical game, with Filip rewarded for bold play ( a clever assault on the village by his outnumbered troops, luring the Germans into counter-attack and eventual defeat). We played with fewer points this time, 1500 for the attacker. This means more room on the table and a more interesting game. Somehow it was more interesting to have two or three tanks per side than eight or nine. I think for the future we will reserve bigger games for multi player contests.
Tuesday, 20 September 2005
Bordelle-de-roi pictures
Just a quickie to note that [pictures of the Bordelle-de-roi game](http://www.nirya.be/snv/album/thumbnails.php?album=6) are up at the [Schild en Vriend photo gallery](http://www.nirya.be/snv/album).
Beware that this album features pictures of the players.
Technorati tags:
miniatures
gaming
Blitzkrieg Commander
Beware that this album features pictures of the players.
Technorati tags:
miniatures
gaming
Blitzkrieg Commander
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