Northland Tactical Society

D-Day x 3

2011-10-14T08:24:00.000-07:00

Yep. We are starting over again. Tom (the Allies) was just too far ahead for me (the Axis) to make a come back of any sort. So on June 8th, the battle for Normandy was won by the Allies. Guess I'm buying pizza.

What's that mean to you? It means that on Monday, October 17th at 4pm we are fighting our last and final D-Day (probably). If you'd like to play this game now is your chance to get in on the ground floor.

Sunday I'll be setting up the German side. If you'd like a tutorial make a comment or send me an email.

The Battle for Normandy

2011-09-28T16:02:00.000-07:00

You might have noticed - yeah, that's 2500 chits. Yes, a chit is a little piece of cardboard. No the game isn't that complicated. Yeah, this game will take some time to complete - but are you in a hurry to get somewhere?

Designer Dan Holte setting up his 3D board.

Ok here's what's happening on Tuesdays and Mondays and possibly Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday too. In the dark corner of the game shop - I'll be setting up the board game The Battle for Normandy. This will be three tables, and a ton of chits on maps covered by plexi-glass. Then the entire corner will be wrapped in Caution tape.

Tom and I have set ourselves to the task of playing out the entire battle for Normandy from D-Day to August 10. That's fighting from the airborne and beach landings to capturing Cherbourg, to operations Cobra, Epsom and Goodwood to the Falaise pocket. This game uses a map that details the country side in exacting detail and the time scale is set in in 1/2 day turns.

The amount of chits is daunting - but with that comes the opportunity for multiple players to take control of a division and try their hand at fighting in the decisive battle on the Western Front.

So in the next few days the tables will be prepared, the maps laid out and the chits placed in anticipation of the invasion. I encourage everyone to try their hand at playing this game - you don't have to commit to it entirely, you can play a little or as much as you want but one thing is for sure if you do participate you'll share in part of an epic gaming experience!

If you have more questions about this crazy gaming adventure comment here or email me.

Market Garden Total War 3

2011-07-26T13:02:00.000-07:00

Here is the layout for the battle today:

three missions, No Retreat, Ambush and Breakout all played next to each other, platoons will have to deploy on their assigned table but able to take any objectives. If an objective is taken, then that table's forces can redeploy to any other active area of the battle. Forces still in reserve will be directed to an active reserve spot.

The Allies are the attackers, the Germans are defending. Good luck!

Total War 1, Market Garden

2011-06-26T13:11:00.000-07:00

Click on the picture to read the rules for the upcoming Total War battle.

Axis Players make a list using 1300 points.
Axis Players make a list uning 1950 points.

Prepare well - the success of the entire battle weighs on the intial outcome.

Operation Market Garden.

2011-06-23T12:09:00.000-07:00

Next week, in five days, it starts. Monty's big gamble. Patton's army is being starved of fuel for Monty's gamble. Let's see if it really is A Bridge Too Far.

Here are some ground rules:

Lists – build a 1500 point for from either Fortress Europe, Hell's Highway or A Bridge Too Far. You can change this list as often as you like. However, some of the battles will be limited. If are playing Allies and fighting a battle that is in a location because of an Airborne landing you will be required to take a US or UK airborne list from Hell's Highway or A Bridge to Far if that area cannot draw supply to an Allied reserve point. If it can draw supply to an Allied reserve point then this restriction doesn't apply.

Sides – For the Fatherland: Donny, Carley, Patrick and for the Free People of the World: Tom, Brian and Dave.

The schedule is slightly changed We'll now do a Total War game to start each turn rather than to end each turn. Here is the new schedule:

6/28/11 1^st Turn - Total War

7/5/11 Turn 1 Battles

7/12/11 2^nd Turn – Total War

7/19/11 Turn 2 Battles

7/26/11 3^rd Turn – Total War

8/2/11 Turn 3 Battles

8/9/88 4^th Turn – Total War

8/16/11 Turn 4 Battles

8/23/11 5^th Turn Total War

8/30/11 Turn 5 Battles

9/6/11 Final Total War Battle

Next up Total War Goodness!

Operation Market Garden Schedule

2011-06-02T10:51:00.000-07:00

Here's the schedule for the upcoming Market Garden Campaign

6/21/11 - Overview, looking at the board, playing the board game, selecting generals and building terrain.

6/28/11 - 1st turn.
7/5/11 Turn 1 Total War battle

7/12/11 - 2nd turn
7/19/11 Turn 2 Total War battle

7/26/11 - 3rd turn
8/2/11 Turn 3 Total War battle

8/9/11 - 4th turn
8/16/11 Turn 4 Total War battle

8/23/11 - 5th turn
8/30/11 Turn 5 Total War battle

Now do your homework! Watch the movie A Bridge to Far!

Cassino! Part II

2011-06-02T10:03:00.000-07:00

If you havn't seen the new Flames of War weekly update you need to take a look at it becasue Battlefront is finally doing a book on the battle around Monte Cassino.

Why? Because when we finish in Holland we are going back to Italy. Battlefront has also added an interesting new campaign system called infantry aces. You can read all about it here.

Along with a new book come a bunch of cool new models - and I'm fairly certain that the shop will have them in stock...right Donny?

So this is your heads up - save your pennies or spend them and get to work on your forces. This is going to be an epic campaign and it will start in the fall.

Total war Tuesday

2011-05-09T12:19:00.000-07:00

The last installment of our Total War Tuesday series is tomorrow. Here's the map again we'll use random placemnt of the objectives.

Show up ready for a fight!

Total War - prepare yourself

2011-04-28T08:45:00.000-07:00

Next week - Tuesday May 3rd we will be continuing our Total War series but with an added twist. The objectives are going to be places at random. See the picture in this post. The red and blue areas will have two objectives and the black center area will have two objectives. Each square in these areas equals one square foot, once we know which square to use we'll roll randomly again to determine where in that square the objective will be placed.

This is going to be a big battle so prepare yourself ahead of time - contact your team mates for any strategy sessions and plan on going home late. The Axis have been on the losing end of all the Total War battles - can they turn it around next week?

Total War AAR

2011-04-14T14:22:00.000-07:00

The battle field was simple it had a right flank, a left flank and a town in the center. Hold your objectives, capture your opponents objectives and you win the game. The Allies placed one of their objectives on a strategic hill overlooking the the town. The Luftwaffe placed two Reluctant Trained 88's, one on the side and the other dug in on the hill top. The American's were determined to take that hill and secure the right flank (er, left flank, wait, errrr, whatever). The captions tell the rest of the story:

88 Crew sights the oncoming Shermans

The hilltoppers see them too.

But the Sherman saw the 88 first.

And they drew first blood!

But the Shermans couldn't dislodge the hilltoppers and they repelled the armor.

The American's needed that hill! They advanced on the hiltop but only one take made it to the top. The other two slipping tracks at the base. When the lone Sherman made it to the hilltop he was met with a withering barrage of shells. The shock was too much for the Americans. They pulled the tanks off the hill and sent in the infantry. Eventually the hill was captured the last 88 begrudingly giving way.

In the end the Germans were reduced in numbers and weary of British airpower and armor. The battle ended with neither side the victor.

Breaking News

2011-03-07T09:42:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow, Tuesday March 8, 2011, we will be taking a short break from the Escalation league, sort of.

Here's what's in store. A Massive Multiplayer game. Axis vs. Allies.

Here's the teams.

Allies - Tom, Patrick, Donny and Dan
Axis - Dave, Carley, Brian and John

Here's what you need to do: build a list from one of the three you've used so far and use the current point value, 800, plus all your Victory Points. The list must be legal. Take all the required platoons!

This is Total War! The Axis will be allowed to field either Walter Model or Erwin Rommel and the Allies can choose between Montgomery, Patton or Bradley.

We'll play seven rounds or until Brian has to leave! Please be prepared to fight by 5:30pm.

Now march toward the sound of the guns!

Escalation League Rules Update

2011-02-12T10:40:00.000-08:00

Attention!

Next Tuesday we start our quest for greatness!
(Sorry - I've been watching a lot of movies/TV based on Rome and playing Roman strategy games. Now back to WWII).

Here's what you need to know:

Make a legal list from Fortress Europe, any Normandy Campaign book or the new Normandy compilation books.
We are starting with 600 points.
Prepare your list in advance. You'll play this list for the remained of the week. Battles start at 5:30pm - if you are present but don't have a list prepared but have an opponent your penalty is that your opponent gets to pick the mission.
If you arrive after 5:30pm, no worries, you will be given the next available opponent - arrive when you can and play as much as you can - It's all about getting in the games.
Your opponent will be chosen at random (precedent is given to playing an opponent you haven't played/played against the least.)
Each player rolls a d20 on the Mission Selection chart, the player with the least VPs picks one of the two rolled missions to play. In a tie, roll a d6 and the player with the lower roll decides.
Until a player reaches 800 points or more, they are required to take a HQ and one combat platoon rather than two combat platoons.
You can gain an extra VP if you build the force list of the week. Each player has have a different track. Some have already rolled. They are: Tom - Infantry, Donny - Mechanized, Dan - Infantry, Dave B. - Armor, Zack - Armor, Dave D. - Mechanized. If you wish to get your force track before Tuesday. Roll a d6 and leave a comment as to the number rolled and I'll tell you your starting force.

(Approaching beach) Cpt. Miller: "Port side stick, starboard side stick, move fast and clear those murder holes." Sergant Horvath: "I wanna see plenty of beach between men. Five men is a juicy opportunity, one man's a waste of ammo." Cpt. Miller: "Keep sand out of your weapons, keep those actions clear. I'll see you on the beach!"

The Normandy Escalation League

2011-02-06T14:14:00.000-08:00

Alright troopers mount up – it's time to compete for the title of Duluth's best Flames of War General.

Starting February 15th and running for the next 10 weeks we are going to do an escalation league.

Here's how it'll work.

Each week players will build any army list of their choice from either Fortress Europe, D Minus 1, D-Day, Bloody Omaha, Villers-Bocage, Monty's Meat-Grinder, Cobra or the new compilation books Turning Tide and Earth & Steel. These lists will be used for any and every battle you play during the week and each week will have a staggered amount of starting points.

The first week we'll start at 600 points and progress by 100 points each week until the last week of the league where the base value will be 1600 points. But each player will keep track of their Victory Points and each point earned during the campaign will gain you an extra 10 points. For example – it's week 4 giving me a base of 1000 points and over the last four weeks I've earned 9 points (9x10=90) giving me a total 1090 point to build for the fourth week.

There are a few additional tweaks that can give you extra points or earn you special abilities in your battles. First to points. Keeping in mind that it's fun to try out new ideas and new army lists, each player will be assigned a force track. The force track is suggestive, you aren't required to use it. Here's how it works. If your force track is AIM. Then for week one you need to make list of using an Armored Company, week two an Infantry Company and week three a Mechanized Company. After week three you'd repeat the track. We'll do this three times from weeks 1-9. Every week you use a list as prescribed by the force track you earn 1 additional VP during your battle up to a maximum of 6. Thus you could lose a battle 4-3 but earn a point for using the force track bringing you lost from a 3 to a 4.

The only other way to earn an additional VP is to win a battle against an superior foe. If your opponent has more points than you and you win a battle you gain an additional VP up to a max of 7. Used in conjunction the force track; winning a battle against a superior foe can significantly add to you winning total.

The last tweak is that there will be a check list of things that you may try to attempt during a battle. Achieve any of these during a week and you get to roll on the Achievement Chart. This allows you to use your new achievement in the following week's battles.

This should be a fun league – it won't necessarily be Axis vs. Allies, it's army vs. army and at the end of the league I will be awarding prizes.

Now fall out and give me 20!

Tournaments!

2011-01-27T07:29:00.000-08:00

It's January and that means......tournaments! We have a brand new year to try to improve on our lackluster performance from last year! Ok - maybe I'm speaking for just myself.

Anyway here is the scoop on upcoming local and national tournaments that I'm considering attending.

First up next weekend, Saturday February 5^th 2011 at Tower Games in Minneapolis there is a 1500 Mid-War tournaments. Starts at 10:00am three rounds. Scenarios are: #1 Free for All, #2 No Retreat, #3 Breakthrough. I'm planning on attending and Jerry has called shotgun. I've got two more spots in the car. Also this could (depending on participation) act as a qualifier for Nationals.

Adepticon! Chicago is an easy days drive (not easy - but not hard, 8 hours). They are having the National Mid-War tournament. Dates are April 1-3 2011. The Mid-War tournament is two days, April 1-2, encompassing 6 rounds. The confusing part here is if you need to be qualified in a regional tournament to play in this one.... you might have to be – more on that later.

GenCon! Indianapolis is not an easy drive away by any means it's 11 hours of freeway hell but the rewards are the biggest gaming convention on the planet! If you can't find something to do at GenCon that interests you then you are not interesting in gaming. Here's the skinny – August 4-7 2011. The flames of war at GenCon this year are pending approval but – here's what the planners have submitted: From the Flames of War website:

"Three Single Day 24 players Tournaments on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. All three plan to be Regional Qualifiers. The Thursday tournament will likely be a four-round 500pt (yes, 500pts) MW infantry battle. One Combat Platoon and HQ required. Combat and Weapons platoons only and no vehicles - basically infantry, mortars, machine guns and maybe a few light guns. We are doing a test tournament here in February which is posted in this Forum if anyone is interested in playing and helping us out wth the playtesting. Friday will likely be a Early War three round tournament but we aren't sure of the points as yet. Saturday will likely be a Late War three round 1750 pt tournament. It might have a theme but we are not sure as yet. Registration must be done through GenCon when their ticketing goes online. In addition we will be bringing back our 8 player Stalingrad game from GenCon 2010 and adding another 8 player North Africa game for those of you who want something other than a tournament. These are more learning games and run about 4 hours. Each game will run about 7 times over the weekend. Last year the Stalingrad game and Baker Kompanie's Remagen Bridge game sold out all 96 slots prior to the Con so sign up early if you are interested."

Ok mount up! Take the field and kick somebody out of that foxhole!

The invasion plan!

2010-10-05T08:12:00.000-07:00

A few days before D-Day, after all the troops were safely locked inside their assembly areas and after all passes had been revoked or expired, the planners brought out detailed sand tables and maps and told the men where they were going and what they had to do. Jump behind the lines, take that beach exit, climb that cliff and destroy those guns, land in a glider, take a bridge and “hold until relieved”, were just some of the orders being told at sand tables all across England.

For you – you get to see the complete campaign map.

Boot Camp

2010-09-24T10:23:00.000-07:00

Alright Boys smarten up!

Mark your calendars. Boot camp is in 11 days – October 5th. If you think you can take on Jerry and win with just your wits then ignore boot camp otherwise get you arse into formation and listen to the Sargent Major.

Boot Camp encompasses four operations and a quiz. Your performance during boot camp will determine your starting Victory Point Value. VPs in the Normandy campaign are going to be more valuable then ever before. Every VP you have will equal 10 points you can add to your list. For example; if you have 5 VPs you can add 50 points to you list. Obviously attending boot camp to get a starting value is crucial!

Each boot camp graduate will receive their Military Identification Pass Book and a customized combat dossier which will include a terrain master guide, assault summary and the ever popular know your enemy handbook. The top performing graduate will also receive a special tool in their fight for table top supremacy.

I'll see you at boot camp!

Now, to set the mood enjoy this short film about a true D-Day hero Piper Bill Millins:

WWII Guns

2010-09-09T06:34:00.000-07:00

I was looking for some video of a Sten gun (used by British paratroopers) and I found this video that nicely detail a bunch of comon WWII infantry weapons. This video includes the BAR (Browning Automatic Rifle - usd by US infantry), the dreaded German MG42 (Americans called it the German buzz saw and in this video you can see why), a grease gun (used by American airborne as well as support troops), an M1917A1 HMG and a M1919M4 LMG (obviously the differance between HMG and LMG isn't firepower but weight), and finally the British Sten gun.

Cool video:

The upcoming D-Day Campaign schedule.

2010-08-25T09:12:00.000-07:00

Listen Up! Here's the projected Schedule of events for leading up to
D-Day.

August 31st Axis & Allies Europe 1940 – this is the newest edition to the venerable Axis & Allies family of games. I had a chance to demo this game at GenCon and it proved to be a good one. Next week we'll put it through it's paces.
September 7th Axis & Allies Europe 1940, Axis & Allies Pacific 1940. Depending on player participation some of us will play Europe and some will play Pacific in anticipation of playing the combined game.
September 14th Axis & Allies 1940 Combo. This is the whole enchilada! Pick a side and fight to the end! Both Europe 1940 and Pacific 1940 will be combined for this massive game.
September 21st Axis & Allies 1940 Combo. Did you learn anything from last week? If so can you prevent/improve on your performance?
September 28th Demo Day.
October 5th D-Day Boot Camp. You're hitting the beach soldier! Here's what you need to know to make past the shingle.
October 12th D-Day.

Some Normandy Campaign thoughts:

Terrain: the Campaign can't and won't start until we've got a beach assault board done. There has been some talk but as far as I know no action yet. If you are chomping at the bit to get to Normandy you need to contact me and pony up some time or money to make/design/work on a beach board. Jake, Donny, Dave and I have thrown some ideas out there but nothing concrete yet. I've made some hedgerows, and painted up buildings and we've got terrain on the way – but we can always use more.

Game timescale: The Normandy Campaign is designed to go from D minus 1 to D+8. That gives us 10 turns. I'd like to do a turn a week. If we start on time (October 12th) the campaign would end on December 21st.

Some thoughts about sides: I'm open to ideas about players armies, force lists and sides. Some people have mentioned playing for both the Axis and the Allies. Some have been worrying about permissible list options. Here are my current thoughts – players would have two or maybe three game pieces on the map. These pieces would represent your specific force lists (whatever you wanted but once you choose, that piece has to use that list for the entire campaign). Players would move there pieces around the map and then fight battles based on where and what. The remaining game pieces would be generic and could represent any non-elite list from Fortress Europe. Comments welcome.

I've posted a poll to gauge interest in sides. Note you can vote for more than one, if you do comment on what you prefer and why.

Allies Win in North Africa!

2010-08-23T09:28:00.000-07:00

It's done. The Allies have squeaked out a victory in North Africa and last weak we awarded prizes in the final round/competition. Here's how everything shook out.

For 1st place earning a total of 24 points was Tom and Donny they both agreed to split the $50 prize – Tom also won a painted Flames of War objective and Donny won a custom designed North Africa themed Line of Sight Viewer.

2nd place, which included the Quiz and participation points was won by me. I used the average score of all the quiz takers to determine my base points, which ended up being 10. (Was the quiz that hard? 21 points were available.) Jerry and Dan had the top test scores at 13 points each lost ground in the bonus points section, Jerry coming closest with 26 points to my 30.

3rd place was won by Jerry. Third was the best average from your first and second place scores. Jerry won $12.50 and a new tape measure. Nice!

The fourth and final round was the much anticipated Sherman free-for-all. We had 10 players for the first round. We eventually played 2 Sherman free-for-all games with Carley/Donny winning the first. (With three tanks remaining Carley went MIA – so Donny filled in and won the game with her tank.) Jake came in second for that match.

A final round was played - and having learned a few things from the first round we elected to play with two Sherman tanks each and the winner of the round will be the overall free-for-all winning earning either a Normandy campaign book or $12.50. Tom won in the 27th round just beating out Dan and selected a Normandy book – Jake was awarded the $12.50 for the first round.

I hope everyone had a good time playing North Africa – it was fun for me. Next up Normandy.

(The pics on this post were made by a Flames of war player. Amazing! Here's a link to the Forum post where you can see more pictures.)

The End is Nigh!

2010-08-03T09:51:00.000-07:00

There is only one turn left in the campaign. The Allies are snapping at the dirty boots of the Axis defenders as they fall back trying to keep their tentative foothold on Africa. Monty's Army is slowly rolling up the coast toward Tripoli and Patton has been given command of the Americas where the prevailing sentiment is “Even if we lose we advance!”

Next week (Tuesday August 10th we'll find out if the Allies can push the Axis out of Africa.) The week after (August 17th) we'll be awarding campaign prizes!

Battlefront has graciously given Dragon Port $100.00 in prize support for the Campaign – which will be awarded as store credit for any Battlefront product. There will be 4 prizes. Here's how you win them.

First Place winning $50.00 – To win this you must have the best overall score from your games played in last six turns of the Campaign. Plus the following extra points that commanders must prove using there identification papers (these are for played games not roll offs):

3 points for the commander with the most 6-1 victories,

2 points for the commander with the most 5-2 victories,

1 point for the commander with the most 4-3 victories,

2 points for the most victorious commander,

1 points for the most ties,

1 point for the most special abilities purchased,

-1 point for the most losses.

Second Place winning $25.00 – Best score on the Quiz (20 points possible) plus

3 points for participating at the beginning

2 points for participating at the end

3 points for being able to field an entirely painted army

4 points if you contributed to the collection of playable terrain

5 points if you helped game test the Campaign before it began

3 points if you have your original identification papers.

Third Place winning $12.50 – will be the person who has the best average score from first and second place.

Fourth Place winning $12.50 – will be the winner of the Sherman Free-for-All. Everyone will be given a Confident Trained Mid-War American Sherman. There will be two objectives in the center and equal distance from each other on a randomly created North Africa style terrain table. Each player will randomly place their tank on the table no more than 4” from the a table edge. Each turn highest to lowest die roll will determine movement and shooting. With each player moving in order and then shooting in order before moving onto the next turn. The winner is the player with the most points at the end of the game. The game will end as normal; all enemies destroyed or before the start of turn 9 we'll roll to see if the game ends.

1 point for each turn you hold an uncontested objective.

1 point for destroying an opponents tank

5 points for being the last tank standing.

The first three places can not be won by the same person but the fourth place prize is open to anyone!

Here are the current standings for the first place prize:

1.Donny 18 pts.

2.Tom, Jerry, Dave 17 pts.

3.Jake 15 pts.

4.Dan 12 pts.
5.Tasha 5 pts.

Good luck! Soon we'll be fighting over the beaches and hedgerows of Normandy!

Campaign Update

2010-06-28T13:17:00.000-07:00

Operation Torch a success – Allies move on to Tunisia – Rommel beaten back from Tobruk – Afrika Corps in disarray.

The last chapter in our North African saga is being written. The Allies have just 6 turns to push the Axis off the continent. Tobruk has been decisively defended and the Axis armies are struggling to shore-up their meager possessions in Libya and Tunisia. Tunisia is the key to the entire campaign. Can the Germans stem the bleeding or will the Allies deliver a knock out blow that ends the war early? Only you can decide.

Following North Africa we'll be taking the war to Normandy. As a preview of the campaign to come here is an picture of the campaign map. I'm working on movement, reinforcement, campaign length and victory conditions. But one thing is for sure here's out map. It's a fairly detailed section of the Normandy beach head – so this isn't going to be a long drawn out campaign like North Africa but it should be a lot of fun.

Half way!

2010-04-15T09:03:00.000-07:00

North Africa is a long slog – no doubt about it. Some of the original divisions are just a shadow of their former glory and some regiments have been reduced to below combat effective or eliminated completely. But fresh troops are arriving for both sides. The Germans have received a Panzer division, a Mechanized infantry division and support from a Fallschimjager regiment, while the British have finally brought heavy tanks into the battle with the Grant replacing the Matilda and Valentine.

To celebrate getting this far I’ve decided to hold a contest. The winner will be awarded a very nice prize at the end of game play next Tuesday – the prize will remain secret but I will tell you that it is a new, never played game and retail price is $79.99.

To win the contest you must score the most points, if you have the most points by the end of game play on Tuesday you win. Here’s how you score points:

+1 point for each victory point you win in your game.

+1 point for the early bird special – arrive at the game shop before 4:30pm to earn this point.

+1 point if you participated in the campaign at least once in the last 4 weeks.

+1 point for the first player to destroy their opponents CO.

+2 preparedness points (the criteria for earning these two points are a mystery, but the word prepared is a clue).

Good Luck!

D-Day

2010-03-13T07:40:00.000-08:00

The voting is over. 19 votes! I wonder if we will ever have that many people playing at once? Anyway, Normandy squeaked out a victory over Stalingrad and therefore is our next Campaign.

We’ll start at D minus 1 with the airdrops at Pegasus Bridge and then hit the beaches of Normandy at Utah, Omaha, Gold and Sword. The campaign will push into the hedgerows and into the cities of Caen, St. Lo and Cherbourg.

But don’t get too excited about cracking Hitler’s Atlantic Wall just yet. Rommel is still in the desert – you’ll get to face him again in Normandy but the campaign for North Africa is far from over, we aren’t even half way through yet.

Normandy will require work. That’s right you voted for it so you’ve got to work to make it happen. We need a beach board. Ideally I’d like to have two 4’x 6’ boards with the ocean/beach on the short end that we can put together to form an 8” x 6” beach landing. We would use these boards for each amphibious landing; that would be four battles. Plus they could be used in the future for all other amphibious landings such as those in Sicily and Anzio. So they shouldn’t be overly specific but not too generic either. Since I’ve never made terrain before I need the help of the expert and non-expert terrain builders – you know who you are. Let’s get started!

For all of you who voted for Stalingrad, never fear we will do the battle for Stalingrad – it’s just too important, we’ve got to visit it, it’s an epic battle, maybe the most epic infantry battle of the entire war. Stalingrad maybe by next winter….

Ok troopers I want volunteers to build terrain! You voted for it now it’s time to get to work. Post a comment or send me an email – we’ve got beaches to build!

Political confusion!

2010-03-03T14:14:00.000-08:00

You’ll notice the poll is over, and in hindsight I probably shouldn’t have allowed people to choose multiple options – 10 voters made for 12 votes.

But here we are - the two losers are Sicily and the option for more options. To those two voters that said they want more options please place any option you’d like in the comments section of this post. As for Sicily – well I think it probably got a bad rap, after all Stalingrad and Normandy are much better publicized but Sicily does have a lot to offer. There were British Commandos raiding key bridges, the 82nd Airborne was dropped behind enemy lines and the Germans had the crack Herman Goring Division and a Fallschrimjager Division contesting the Island. A classic mid-war battle with all the best stuff and some of the worst too.

However – the poll set us on a course between Stalingrad and Normandy. I have to admit – both are fantastic. But before you vote here’s some ground work:

Stalingrad would be an all multi-player battle campaign. The map and objectives would be similar to an axis of attack campaign. This would be a mid-war Eastern Front battle and it would be a bloody affair. Gone are the specific Divisions like we have now, each week you’d build your best 1000 point army and your commander would place you and allocate support as they see fit.

Normandy would take us back to late-war. We’d do beach landings, parachute and glider assaults and fight in the hedgerows. I think I’d make three or four axis of attack lines on the maps and the Allies would have to take all their objectives before time ran out. Again I don’t think we’d use specific divisions but you would be limited to using historic divisions in certain places.

Ok here’s your opportunity to vote one more time. This time you can only vote for one!

For fun look and see what the Russians can pull out of their bogs!

Movies

2010-03-01T06:05:00.000-08:00

I'm always on the lookout for good WWII movies - I've seen almost all of them, so when I get news of a new movie I immediately put it on my list to add to my Netflix queue. Some of the best movies I go out and buy. For instance I own the HBO series, Band of Brothers and if you've never seen it then I highly suggest getting it and blocking out about 10 hours as it is possibly the best WWII movie/series of all time.

So when I found out about a new HBO series, done by the producers of Band of Brothers, I went straight to the site and watched the trailer. I've included it here:

Trailer #5

Here is a link to the HBO series page where you can watch more trailers.

The battle for Tobruk

2010-02-24T12:38:00.000-08:00

The Australians are still holding Tobruk but the battle in and around the city rages on as the Germans and Italians try desperately to pressure the British into surrendering the city.

Last night the campaign made a total of eight battles and three were completed – this leaves five battles to play out the rest of the week or to be rolled out next Tuesday. We only had two Axis players last night and four Allied players, so Donny turned Benedict Arnold and played for the Axis. Despite never having played a German force he did very well, almost winning but eventually losing in hail of sticky bombs for a 4-3 battle outcome.

A few weeks ago I mentioned a set schedule for Tuesdays in regards to the campaign turn. Since players are never sure which forces they are going to fight with and which forces they are going to assault and what the conditions will be such as crossing fortification or defending behind them, it is impractical to imagine players to have an army list premade.

So with that in mind here’s the Tuesday gaming schedule:

4:00pm Terrain table set-up and force maintenance – I’ll be setting the tables at 4 and anyone is welcome to come make up a table, also players can adjust their regiments force points and roll for regiment special abilities.

5:00pm Campaign turn. We will roll out any battles that haven’t been played, advance the turn marker, roll for Corps support and move the pieces on the battle field. Then players will pick sides, make up a force and fight a battle

It’s never to late to join the campaign – participants can play as little or as much as they desire, but the battle for North Africa is heating up but we’ve still got a long way to go. Where are all the Axis players?

Ever mindful of providing a fun setting for your gaming experience I’ve posted a poll at the top if this blog. I want you to vote on what should come after North Africa – should we continue with the African/Italian campaign and fight in Sicily or would you prefer a divergence to the Eastern Front and fight the battle of Stalingrad?

Both will require me to make maps and research troop strength but both will be smaller in scope than our current campaign. A third option is to move back to late war with the invasion of France and a D-Day based campaign.

I’ll be down at the shop on Saturday for a 2pm showdown with Tasha’s infantry – keep in mind that if you want to play any other day of the week contact an opponent play a battle – if you need pieces or terrain contact me and I’ll set you up, most of the Axis and Allies pieces live at the shop and my locker is accessible through a “hidden” key.

Now do your duty, fight for your country and vote!

Axis & Allies Pacific 1940

2010-02-09T11:39:00.000-08:00

As some of you know Tom and I used to do freelance game design / game moderation for Wizards of the Coast's Axis & Allies website. We combined the Axis & Allies board game with the Axis & Allies miniatures game and ran two different online campaigns for Wizards. These were pretty good jobs, essentially we were paid to play a game.

If you have ever played the Axis & Allies board game you probably know that Larry Harris designed the original game in 1981 and since that time there have been many different versions of the game - Europe, Pacific, Revised, Battle of the Bulge, Guadalcanal and AA50 Anniversary. Over the last few GenCon’s I’ve meet Larry Harris in person and had the opportunity to talk to him about his games. Last year we talked about the newest games coming out Axis & Allies Pacific 1940 and Axis and Allies Europe 1940.

Pacific is out now and some of the die hard fans are unhappy – you see WoTC has a very hard time editing their Axis & Allies products, they often have typos in the rules, omit rules, draw the maps incorrectly, use the wrong figure sculptures, etc. etc. Honestly, it’s shameful for a company to consistently make such mistakes. Once, ok – but every product has something wrong.

This time the Pacific 1940 has the wrong battle strip and only 6 of a required 10 Japanese tactical bombers. Here are two very funny videos talking about the issue:

Apparently Wizards is going to send players more tactical bombers and a correct battle strip. The problem is they have not communicated how to do this to anyone. Watch this:

These clips use the now much spoofed bunker scene from the 2004 movie Downfall. These make me laugh!

Despite all these problems I did just buy Axis & Allies Pacific 1940. Anyone up for a game?

Axis armies take a wild swing at Tobruk and come away with a bloody nose.

2010-02-03T10:53:00.000-08:00

Last night the Axis moved onto the Tobruk battlefield in force. Reports are sketchy but the Italians are said to have at least two divisions advancing on the city and the Germans have at least two divisions in or across the first line of defenses.

In the opening salvo, for the battle of Tobruk, the Australian 9th Division commander made a dash toward the city to support its two Tobruk based regiments that had been left behind. The Australian Division commander was able to position themselves in a way to give all their regiments’ full support. Then in a bold move, one of the fresh Australian regiments made a strong move, coming up out of their trench lines, and advanced toward the German 21st Panzer Division. The Germans eagerly took on the Aussies. After the smoke cleared it was the Germans giving ground and the Aussies taking it. The 21st Panzer Division lost 6-1 and now there is muttering at High Command as to the combat effectiveness of that Division. Germany’s finest met up with Australia’s and the Aussies scored a knockdown.

In action just out side of the Tobruk battlefield, the much battered British 2nd Armored Division took up positions around the town of Mekili and braced for the attack from the Italian 101st Trieste Division. The 2nd Armored has been chewed up from constant combat over the last 4 months and could only field just over 1000 points. The Italians feeling confident in their superior numbers charged into blistering fields of fire from the defending 25 pounders and Vickers machine guns. Despite some early heroics by the Italians there attack soon lost momentum around mid-field. The British played a masterful game of defense, using just enough offence when required, to fight the Italians to a draw. Since the 2nd armored held its position they are blocking the main east-west road to Tobruk, despite their continued losses, they are holding the line.

The Italians also moved a small blocking regiment into Halfaya pass and despite some early bravado the weight of the oncoming British forces were simply to much for the Italians and they gave way easily.

Initial Axis promises of victories turned into waves of Axis losses. Has the momentum shifted to the Allied side? Only time will tell but one thing is for sure; the battle for Tobruk has just begun.

Night time / Ending the Battle

2010-01-20T13:57:00.000-08:00

Last night we had an interesting rule interaction. Here is the house rule we were using, “At the end of turn 8 roll a die, on a 5,6 the battle ends and results in a tie, otherwise play another turn. At the end of turn 9 roll two die and so on.” (I tried to find where I wrote this out but haven’t, obviously I should have…)

To summarize the rule confusion here’s what happened:

Tom was the Defender and I, Dave, was the attacker. At the end of Tom’s 9th turn he destroyed enough of my platoon to make my company check – since my CO was also destroyed the result was that at the beginning of my turn I’d fail my company moral check. The argument/discussion centered around when the roll for another turn would take place. My position was that if there wasn’t another turn then I couldn’t check Company moral and thus we’d end in a tie. Tom’s position was that Company moral is always checked first in the Starting Step thus resulting a loss for me before we ever saw if there would be another turn.

We ended up rolling and the game conclude in a tie playing as if the 10th turn never happened therefore I never had to check moral. Was this right?

Our house rule is a derivative of the UK special rule for Night Attacks. In a night attack the defender rolls to end the night at the start of their turn 3. Last night, I was the attacker and I was rolling. Therefore in future the defender should always roll (that would have been Tom’s roll last night) so we were doing that wrong bit wrong.

The Night Attack rule doesn’t say when it happens so I dug little deeper. In a 133 page FAQ (click the link and then click on MALFTF-Jan for a full PDF of the FAQ) of player submitted questions and the game designer’s answers I found the rule.

Now if you recall, our question is when to roll for night to end, or in our case to fall, resulting in a tie. Is it after checking Company Moral or before? Page 66 and 67 in the FAQ provide my answer. The question posed to Phil is centering around Air support but gives us our answer too. In regards to Night Attacks:

Question 2 is: Is the start of the defenders turn the same as the Starting Step?. That is the first thing in the Defender's turn, so the start of the defender’s turn would presumably be the start of the Starting Step.(Phil)

Question 3 is: Is the sequence of the Starting Step tied to being resolved in that numerical order? Yes. (Phil)

Question 4 is: At what point in this step do you insert the "Roll for Morning on a 5+"? At the start as stated in the rule.(Phil)

It’s not crystal clear but Phil does say that rolling happens at the Start of the Starting step. Therefore it isn’t at the end of the attacker turn but the first thing the defender does in their starting step. Therefore we did do our house rule correctly except it should have been Tom’s roll.

To clarify here is our ending the battle house rule: “At the start of the Attackers 9th turn the defender rolls a die. On sore of a 5+ the battle ends and results in a tie. If the result is unsuccessful at the start of the Attackers 10th turn the defender rolls two dice with the battle ending on any roll of a 5+. If the game is still being played at the start of the Attacker 11th turn the defender rolls three dice and so on until the game ends in a victory for either side or a tie.”

Comments?

Also a big welcome to our newest player Al who will join the Axis in their struggle to free the Egyptians from the yoke of the Imperialist British…. Al you are now officially a member of the Northland Tactical Society.

Currency

2010-01-09T08:04:00.000-08:00

Ok we are getting a good discussion going about Victory Points and Special Abilities. I thought I should clarify a few things before we move forward.

One of the concepts that I want to promote in this game is a continuation of self/regiment. I want players to feel like they are personally invested in the wellbeing of their regiments, divisions and command. One way to do this is to create a tracking system; one where players can say “yeah I’m the leader.” Another way is to create rewards so that you can customize your regiments – which when tailored to your likes creates an emotional attachment. This concept is what makes RPG games so attractive to players. While I’m not going to the length of an RGP game I am trying to add that element.

So Tasha is correct in noting that the Victory Points are like a currency. But they can also be likened to experience earned in a RPG game. You fight a battle and depending on the outcome you earn experience that awards you certain things.

Ideally I’d like to have a bunch of things you can do with your experience (Victory Points). One thing is to purchase Special Abilities; another is to say hey I’m the most accomplished Commander or most decorated Regiment. Can you think of anything else to do with them? If we are printing currency (awarding VPs) we might as well make some kind of goods in which to spend them.

Here is your opportunity: We need a point structure for buying Special Abilities and we need some ideas for other commodities to either buy or to be awarded to those Commanders/Regiments that earn a certain amount of experience.

This is completely open – we can do anything, I’m open to any idea. The only thing that is a constant is the way you earn VPs and that is through fighting a battle.

Thoughts?

Specials

2010-01-08T09:15:00.000-08:00

Caution! Long post!

Below is the entire list of special abilities that a Regiment can add to itself during the campaign. This list has been complied from FOW warriors. Adding a warrior to your company usually gives you three or four of these.

I'd like some input as to how we should award these. One thought is that for every battle you participate in you earn VP for yourself and for the regiment that fought. For example if Tom fights a battle with one of his regiments and wins 4 VPs. He would add 4 VP to his army Pass book and 4 VP to the regiment card. Then he could "cash in" his VPs for a special ablity. If this was a multiplayer game and Tasha was his allie she would earn 4 VP for her passbook. Here is a quick idea: Cost – Your regiment must submit 5 VPs and the Commander must submit 10 VP for your first Ability. To add a second ability your regiment must submit 10 VPs and your commander 5 VPs. For a third ability you must submit 15 VPs from the regiment and the commander.

Thoughts?

Now if you want to read all the abilities here they are:
Well Led: One platoon in LOS of the CO may make a normal move within its deployment area after both sides have deployed but before Recon deployment moves.
At the Point: Any platoon in LOS of the CO may re-roll any failed motivation test.
Hero: If the CO is destroyed your opponent gains a VP and you lose one. (Roll again or play 5 more VPs and pick a special ability.)
Panzer March!: Re-roll one die to receive reserves for the company.
Ace Gunner (Tank Company): The CO or 2iC’s (choose before deployment) tank re-rolls any failed to hit. (Doesn’t apply to artillery bombardment or semi-indirect fire.)
Fight On!: The CO or 2iC’s (choose before deployment) platoon always pass motivation checks on a 2+.
Bandage that man.(Infantry or Mechanized Company): If an infantry or gun team within 6” of the CO or 2iC’s (choose before deployment) is destroyed roll a die: on a 5+ the wounded are rallied and continue to fight unharmed, otherwise they are destroyed as normal.
Iron Heart: The CO or 2iC’s (choose before deployment) platoon always pass motivation on a 3+.
Never Surrender: If the CO fails a company moral check, it doesn’t count as failing this turn, but automatically fails next turn. However every platoon must take an immediate moral check. If they pass they continue to fight otherwise they are removed and count a destroyed.
Cornfields stop bullets: Any platoon the CO or 2iC’s (choose before deployment) is leading can be Gone to Ground when shooting as long as they didn’t move and are in concealing terrain.
Unharmed: When rolling to destroy the CO or 2iC the opposing player needs a 5+.
I’ll get the bugger: The CO or 2iC’s (choose before deployment) can launch assaults from 6” away and can move 6” into contact, however his platoon may still only move 4”, often meaning they don’t get into the fight until the platoon counterattacks.
Well in Hand: The CO may re-roll failed company motivation checks.
Get moving! (non Germans only, if German roll again): Each turn one platoon within 6” of the CO may roll a die. A 4+ allows them to make an additional 4” at the end of the movement step. The platoon may still shoot and assault.
Press on Regardless (non Germans only if German roll again): Any platoon within 8” of the CO can attempt to move an additional 4” at the end of the movement step by rolling a 5+. The platoon may still shoot and assault. Platoons cannot make this move if they moved at the double, are bogged down or bailed out.
Forward! (Germans only if not German roll again): This CO or 2iC’s (choose before deployment) platoon stormtroopers on a 2+.
I see them!: All company mortars count as veteran when rolling to hit teams under the template.
No Braver Man: Choose a platoon before deployment; for that platoon the command team ignores the effects of pinning and if the platoon fails a moral check roll a die, on a 4+ the command team fights alone and becomes and independent team. The platoon counts as destroyed.
Sniper teams only (Infantry Company):
1=Hand picked rifleman: The range is now 24”.
2=Crack Shot: Re-roll any failed to hit.
3=One well aimed Shot: Any team hit must re-roll successful saves.
4=Sniper-Killer: Enemy snipers that fired in their turn do not count as Gone to Ground when shot at by this sniper.
5= Choose one ability from above.
6= Choose two abilities from above.
No Quarter: Platoons lead by the CO or 2iC’s (choose before deployment) roll a 2+ during assault combat.
Expert Driver (tanks only): The CO or 2iC’s (choose before deployment) tank can move and still fire its full ROF.
Counterattack Platoon: At anytime, before or during the game, the 2iC may take up to 2 teams from any platoon within 6” (but not if it reduces the platoon to less than 5 teams) and form a new platoon. The 2iC ceases to be an independent team and now becomes the platoon commander. The platoon counts as a platoon of all purposes except Company Moral checks.
Master Tactician: Any platoon commanded by CO or 2iC’s (choose before deployment) doubles the number of die they have in defensive fire.
Mine expert: This CO or 2iC’s (choose before deployment) platoon may gap minefields and barbwire as if they were pioneers.
Next-in-Command Doctrine: The 2iC becomes the CO if the CO is killed in action.
Fortifications: In any game that does not use the Fortifications special rules (page 217 of the rulebook); this company may purchase fortifications as part of their force using their normal point’s total. All fortifications must be deployed in your deployment area immediately before your opponent places an objective.
Panzer Ace (Tank Company): Before the game begins, roll a die for the Co or 2iC’s (choose before deployment) tank. Look up the Tiger Ace Skills table on page 168 of the rulebook to find the skill possessed by this veteran. If the roll is a 6, simply choose the skill for the commander rather than rolling further. Where the skill refers to Tiger tanks or 8.8cm tank guns, treat it as referring to the commander’s own tank and its main gun.
Instant Readiness: If any infantry platoon becomes Pinned Down during the Assault Step, they can take a Motivation Test.
• If the test is passed, remove the Pinned Down Marker.
• Otherwise, the platoon remains Pinned Down.
If the platoon is Pinned Down by Defensive Fire, they still fall back and the assault is over.
Pakfront!: You may choose one Anti-tank gun platoon to form a Pakfront. Do not deploy the platoon when you would normally. Instead, it is deployed at the same time as Independent Teams.
Victory at any Cost: During an assault, any Combat platoon may Destroy one Infantry or Tank team from that platoon that is currently participating in that assault and either re-roll a Motivation Test or re-roll a Roll to Hit. The Destroyed team must be In Command when removed and may not be an Independent team. You may do this multiple times in an assault as long as there are teams available to Destroy.
Ambush!: Your CO or 2iC (choose before deployment) may be deployed using the Ambush special rule on page 196 of the rulebook in addition to any other platoons that would normally be deployed in Ambush. Your CO or 2iC (choose before deployment) may deploy in Ambush even in missions that do not normally use the Ambush special rule.
Repair shop: At the same time as Independent teams are deployed; place a Workshop in your deployment area (use a large base). The Workshop must be in your control for a tank to be repaired. If the enemy take the Workshop (in the same manner they would take an Objective, see page 195 of the rulebook), they capture it, the Workshop is removed from the game and they score a VP. If any one tank is Destroyed place (players discretion) the tank adjacent to the Workshop instead of remaining where it was destroyed then in each Starting Step when you would roll for Reserves to arrive, if there are no enemy teams within 4”/10cm of the tank or the Workshop, roll a die.
• On a roll of 5+, the vehicle is repaired and is ready for battle. It is no longer Destroyed. Remove the Workshop when the tank is repaired.
• Otherwise, the repairs are still progressing.
Reckless: Before deployment assign the 2iC to any platoon. He replaces the Command team for the platoon and is no longer an independent team. The platoon is now rated as Fearless Veterans. If the 2iC is destroyed the platoon becomes Confident Trained.
Panzer Kanone: You may replace any or all platoon command teams with a Panzer Kanone warrior team for +65 points per platoon. At the start of the game roll a die for each Panzer Kanone. That Panzer Kanone possesses the skills shown for that roll:
1, 2 = Tank teams in his platoon re-roll failed Skill Tests.
3, 4 = Tank teams in his platoon re-roll failed Skill Tests and he may move and Shoot with full ROF.
5 = Tank teams in his platoon re-roll failed Skill Tests, he may move and Shoot with full ROF and may re-roll any failed roll To Hit when they shoot with their main gun.
6 = Tank teams in his platoon re-roll failed Skill Tests, he may move and Shoot with full ROF, may re-roll any failed roll To Hit when they shoot with their main gun and the Warrior may only be destroyed on an enemy roll of 5+ rather than a roll of 4+ when using the Warrior Tank Team Casualties rule on page 78 of the Flames Of War rulebook.
The Gambler: When attacking in a mission your force may make a dash for the objective.
Immediately before Reconnaissance Deployment movement, roll a Skill Test for the CO, 2iC and each of your Combat and Weapons platoons on the table. If successful, the platoon may move up to its normal movement in any direction provided that the move takes the whole platoon out of its deployment area. The CO and any platoon he has joined, automatically passes this Skill Test.
Dead Men Walking: Company Command may re-roll the first and second Company Morale Check that they are required to take if they fail their first and second attempt.
Cautious not stupid: If a Pinned Down or Bailed Out platoon was not hit in the previous enemy Shooting Step, it may re-roll any failed attempts to Rally or Remount Bailed Out vehicles.
For Your Freedom and Ours: Platoons fight to the last and may re-roll failed Platoon Morale Checks and your Company Command team may re-roll Company Morale Checks.
Croix de Guerre: Your 2iC may take Company Morale Checks as if he were the Company Command team if the Company Command team is Destroyed.
Man The Guns!: When one of your Gun teams is Destroyed as a result of enemy shooting, roll a die. On a 5+ you may instead Destroy another friendly Infantry team within 6”/15cm of that Gun team.
Naval Gunfire Support: If the square on the map that your company is engaged in combat is a costal square then you have Naval Gunfire Support, your force will field a NGFS Observer rifle team. It is an Observer team for an artillery battery of four Confident Trained 8” naval guns sitting off table using the Across the Volga Rules (see page 225 in the rulebook). Weapon= 8” naval gun, Range=112”/200cm, Anti-tank=6, Firepower= 1+
I Shall Never Fail My Comrades: For the purposes of Company Moral Checks only, your CO is rated as Fearless.
Lead The Way: Your CO or 2iC (choose before deployment) and any platoon they are attached to may move At the Double through Difficult Going.
Hard Charger (Tank Company): If Your CO or 2iC (choose before deployment) tank moved at least 6”/15cm towards any enemy team or objective in its previous Movement Step, and is hit in the enemy Shooting Step, roll a die for each hit he is allocated.
• On a roll of 5+, their headlong charge puts the enemy off their aim and the hit is ignored.
• On any other roll the hit is resolved as normal.

The rumble of big guns

2010-01-06T10:50:00.000-08:00

For those of you that completed it; Boot Camp is over but the battle has yet to begin.

Next week we will make our first moves on the strategic map and fight our first battles. I forgot to mention a couple things last night: for the first turn the Axis have the initiative and your regiments in your divisions are not required to move together on the strategic map – therefore you could break regiments out of their division and send them careening around the map. However those regiments would not benefit from any Division support points should they be engaged in combat. We will go over all the main rule points again next Tuesday.

I need your help. I’d like to setout a formal start time – what time can everyone comfortably commit to arriving at the store to start? Here is a sample of what I’m talking about – 4 to 4:30 table setup and regiment building, 4:30 to 5:30 map/piece movement and turn completion, 5:30 to whenever start Flames of War battles. Now obviously if you work until 5pm then the above schedule won’t work for you – so please email me or place a comment below with a start time that you think is reasonable for you and then we can all make appropriate adjustments.

Why is this important? Victory Points of course. And because this is going to be a long campaign and the sooner we figure out how to orchestrate it the better it will be for everyone. Every week I plan on having 2 to 3 terrain table already built and set to go, players regiments should be pre-built/modified before the end of the map movement, players that don’t have their forces in order will incur a 1 VP loss and their opponent a 1 VP gain. (It’s always good to be prepared before battle). Regiments engaged in battle will earn VPs and these VPs combined with a Commanders VPs can be “cashed in” for special abilities unique to that regiment.

So you see there will be a little bit of homework and a little bit of book keeping – but I think I’ve streamlined the process as much as possible.

Later this week I’ll post all the special abilities and some options for how many points it should cost you to purchase an ability.

Thanks to everyone who participated in the Boot Camp – I had a good time making it up and I know I learned/reinforced a whole bunch of rules. I hope you did too.

So what time is good for you?

The upcoming Campaign Schedule

2009-12-17T12:28:00.000-08:00

Some of you have been asking so here is the upcoming schedule for the North Africa Campaign.

Dec. 22nd (next week) we are going to continue with one more week of WWII inspired board games.

Dec. 29th - I’ll be out of town for the Holidays. So Big T. (aka Tom) is in charge of supplying the fun and excitement on that Tuesday.

Here’s where it really starts:

Monday January 4th I’ll be running a Flames of War demo – this is for anyone who might be interested in learning about Flames of War or getting a head start on using Mid-War armies.

Tuesday January 5th. Flames of War, Mid-War boot camp. This is where High Command prepares you for the long campaign ahead. The boot camp will include:

Three training missions: Assault, Recon, Smoke and a written test.

Depending on how well you do in the mini missions, and on the test your score will determine how many victory points in which you will start the game. The players with the highest victory points will get first choice of Division.

Then we will go over the rules of the strategic map – covering movement, reactions, Zone of Control, Division and regiment organization, casualties, reinforcements, support points, reconnaissance and turn order.

Time permitting – players will play a pick-up battle using some of the new Mission types that will be added to the North Africa Campaign, they will be: Envelopment, Scout Mission, Hasty Attack, Cordon & Search, Delaying Action, Dawn Attack, Counter, Armored Encounter and No Retreat. Read about these missions here.

January 12th we will play our first turn of the North Africa Campaign.

This campaign is 28 turns long. We will be doing a turn every week. Therefore if we can keep to that schedule the fate of North Africa will be decided by July 20th.

The campaign victory conditions are easy, all the Allies have to do is live up to history and achieve what the Allied forces did in the real war – kick Germany and Italy out of Africa. All the Axis has to do is prevent that.

Questions? Comments?

North Africa Map

2009-12-12T07:17:00.000-08:00

I know some of you have seen this map in person but for those of you that havn't here is:

Click the map for a larger view.

North Africa

2009-12-10T11:27:00.000-08:00

In a few weeks we will start the North Africa Campaign and I thought I’d show you a few images of what I’ve been working on.

I spent most of last week designing all the regiment, and division cards for the campaign. These will be represented on the map by an Axis and Allies game piece that has been glued to a stick pin – under the stick pin will be a division marker, and up to four regiment markers.

The division marker represents the division in the field. Each division will be commanded by a player. The player will keep track of the regiments in the division by placing the regiments in the plastic sleeve that is attached to the division card. Each division maintains its own “support” points and can allocate that number of points to each regiment. Each regiment will maintain its own points and the strength of the regiment will be determined by how well it does in battle.

Let’s take a look at a regiment card:

At the top is the regiments name, and national affiliation. Below that is its beginning strength, which is also its full strength, and next to that are its current strength and its combat minimum. If a regiment ever falls below its combat minimum then it can’t fight a battle and will be forced to retreat. Below the strength values it the regiments Flames of War company type. Each regiment is represented b a company list from the New North Africa book. In my example the 5th Panzer regiment is a Panzerkompanie and the list is found on page 24. Below that is the motivation and skill of the regiment followed by an open box for noting campaign achievements. Then finally at the end is the military map symbol of the regiment and its deployment date.

Here are a few things know about the general game concept:

Division can contain up to four regiments.
All regiments have a starting value of 1000 points and have a dictated company type.
Players can mix and match regiments between different division and regiments can “give” points to other regiments in a division.

The campaign is going to be very costly – meaning replacement points won’t be readily available instead new regiments and even new divisions will be fielded. Not all divisions will be the same – I’ve used the historical timeline to define when and what type of regiments and divisions will be made available to the Axis and Allied armies.

Here is an example of how combat will be played out:

Each week a new turn will be played. A number of North Africa themed table will be preset in the game room. We will move our pieces on the strategic map and at any place where two or more opposing forces engage in a square on the strategic map we will fight a battle.

For a Flames of War battle the controlling players will decided which regiment to field. And both sides will attempt to field up to 1500 points. The out come of the battle determines where the strategic piece on the map is placed – with the losing division giving way to the winner.

This campaign will include some homework. Division commanders are strongly encouraged to have their regiment lists pre-made before game day. By doing this we will greatly increase the speed at which we can play out the battles. Therefore I encourage everyone to have a copy of the New North Africa book.

In the next few weeks I’ll be adding more information and we will be doing a North Africa boot camp to get you familiarized with your troops and the harsh desert.

Are you ready for a warm up? We are going to the desert!

Let’s talk about some rules.

2009-11-19T07:32:00.000-08:00

Recently on the Flames of War forum I’ve been engaged in a thread about combat attachments and ½ strength platoon morale checks. Everyone knows what happens when you lose more than ½ your platoon – you check for morale. What about if you add combat attachments?

Here's the problem. I have a Sturm platoon of 7 teams and I attach 3 Panzerschreck teams. If I lose 4 teams in combat do I take a morale check?

The rules say:

page 184, speaking about combat attachments - "They do not count towards the number of teams in the platoon that are capable of fighting for Platoon Morale Checks, however if Destroyed they do count towards the number of Destroyed teams in their adopted platoon."
page 116, under Below Half Strength, "A platoon is below half strength when it has had more teams Destroyed than it has on the table and capable of fighting."

Answer under the picture.

This is a trick question because it depends on which teams are lost. Here’s how it works. From the Forums:

“Platoons test for morale when they have more destroyed teams than active teams. Only non-transport, organic to the platoon teams count as active teams.

So in your example we have 7 organic, non-transport teams and 3 attached teams. At the start of the game we have 7 active teams and 0 destroyed teams.

If an attached team is destroyed, we have 7 active teams and 1 destroyed team.

If all 3 attached teams and an organic team are destroyed we have 6 active teams and 4 destroyed teams and we do not test.

If all 3 attached and 2 organic teams are destroyed we have 5 active teams and 5 destroyed teams and we do not test. (Additionally, this is the most possible teams that can be destroyed without forcing a test.)

On the other hand, if 4 organic teams are destroyed and no attached teams are we have 3 active teams and 4 destroyed teams forcing a test.

It all depends on what teams are destroyed and what teams are active. In your scenario 4 destroyed teams might cause a test or might not cause a test depending on which teams they were.

And again:

“DO NOT think about the situation as Half strength of your starting platoon size. It is quite simple when you get the hang of it.

1. Look at the number of teams still fighting.
2. While ignoring transports and attachments, count those teams.
3. Now count ALL of the destroyed teams (transports and attachments too)
4. If you have lost more destroyed teams than you have "applicable for morale" teams still fighting you test, if not you don't.

It REALLY helps if you actually put some models out and do it visually. Just make sure you use attachments to better understand it. The one concept you must get rid of is "STARTING platoon strength". It doesn't matter and it will make this so much easier to understand when you do.”

I know I’ve been doing this wrong – however I hardly ever make combat attachments because I thought they were a liability to morale not a combat asset – also this applies to transports. Transports don’t count as “active” or “organic” therefore they should never count toward a platoon’s strength but also if they are destroyed they aren’t necessarily a liability either. So don’t count those ½ tracks and jeeps as “active/organic” teams to determine strength for morale purposes - it’s more important to keep the team inside them alive than it is the transport….

Do you answer correctly?

The Final Week and the Battle for Minsk!

2009-11-12T11:19:00.000-08:00

Next week we will be playing a multi-player battle for the city of Minsk. If the Russians can capture Minsk they have a decent shot of winning the campaign. Conversely if the Germans can prevent this they win the campaign. After 12 weeks it all comes down to one big big battle.

Here’s is how it’s going to work.

I’ll set up the table/tables. The Center Line of the table will be marked. The Russians will be the attacker. They get to choose which side of the table they wish to set up on and they will get the first turn.

Then both sides place an objective 12” from the attacker’s edge of the table, both sides place an objective 6” from the center line and both sides place an objective 12” from the defenders table edge. There will be 6 objectives on the board.

We will play a 6 turn game. At the start of 7 we will roll a die, on a 5 or 6 it ends otherwise we’ll play the 7th turn. At the start of turn 8 we’ll roll two dice, on a 5 or 6 it end otherwise we’ll play another turn, etc. etc.

For each objective that each side possesses each turn they score a point, the side with the higher score at the end of the game wins.

The game uses Prepared Positions (for both sides) and Total War Reserves (for the attacker) and Battle Group Moral (for both sides). Total War Reserves are the same as regular reserves except that any Recon, Fallschimjager, Parachute, Airlanding, Glider, Commando, Ranger or Horse Cavalry platoon can arrive from any table edge as long as they arrive more than 8” from any enemy unit.

Battle Group Moral means that you only check company moral checks when you are reduced to only one combat or weapons platoon. All support platoons fight on regardless. Unlike a regular game where it ends if one company fails a moral check the total war battle will continue until one side has no combat companies on the table or no support platoons and only one combat company.

A note about Time:

The number of points per side will be determined by the number of players that are present at 5:00. If we have two Axis and two Allied we will play a 3000 point per side battle. If we have 6 players a 4500 point battle. This will take a long time to fight out. Therefore the battle will begin at 5:45. Russian set up will start at 5:00 and they have 20 minutes to setup. The attacker can choose to have any number of platoons in Reserve any platoon not placed by 5:20 will automatically be placed in Reserve. The Defender will then place his platoons again with a 20 minute set up restriction. Any platoon not placed by 5:40 will be disregarded for the battle. Don’t be late! Don’t let your side down. If you want to use your forces you’d better show up before 5pm.

Turn 4 Stats

2009-11-02T11:06:00.000-08:00

Ok so I can't possibly follow the map action any more... but the stats are correct for VP purposes etc.

Here's the map:

The North Africa map is printed and I had it down at the shop on Friday doing a "practice" game with Patrick. And so far it seems like the system will work just fine - it should be an interesting campaign.

More on that later - we've got three more weeks in Russia to finish first!

Turn 3 stats

2009-10-26T11:00:00.001-07:00

Here's the Map and the stats for the end of turn 3. Yes I know we done with turn 4 and starting turn 5 this week but....I've been busy working on North Africa.

The map is - inaccurate. I just can't follow the back and forth action. So this is my best guess. The stats are correct and tomorrow I hope to have turn 4 stats added to this.

Only two more turns for Bagration.

North Africa Pics

2009-10-09T13:02:00.000-07:00

High all - I know I've been talking about North Africa a bunch but I working on it what can I say....

Here are two pictures for you of the map with some units in it. This is an example of what you'll be seeing as a division commander.

Picture 1:
This is the section of North Africa that is currently being fought over, this is May 1941 and the Axis are trying to break into and take Tobruk. Notice all the units in the Tobruk box? Those are divisions that are located at the Tobruk battlefield. The other units are divisions fighting outside of a battlefield.
Click the picture to expand.

Picture 2:
This is the Tobruk battlefield. All the Divisions that are at this square are broken into their regiments and the regiments are trying to take the city. Notice each one has a name on the top and the bottom of the unit. I know it's hard to see, but the German tank near the bottom has 15th Pz on top and 8th Pz on the bottom. This means he belongs to the 15th Panzer Division and he is the 8th Panzer Regiment.

Remember this is just preliminary. Nothing is final I'm trying to work out supply and movement, point and die roll modifier for non FOW battles.

Anyone up for a tedious test game testing session?

North Africa - Moving Along:

2009-10-09T07:17:00.000-07:00

There seems to be some confusion about the North Africa Campaign, and there should be; I’m still trying to figure it out myself. But here is a quick overview of the essential concepts:

map

The map will push players into the same strategic puzzles that perplexed the Axis and Allies.

Each player will be an overall commander for at least one Division, most likely more. Overall means that that player would move their piece on the game board, and fight battles with their division’s regiments. The players would have complete strategic control of the division and complete tactical control of the regiment when played as a FOW game.

North Africa book

The number of Divisions and Regiments that each side have will be determined by a historical time line.

Winning the game: The Allies win if they can push the Axis out of North Africa (at this time I’m not sure exactly what that means). The Axis win if the Allies can’t do that in time. Make no mistake, this is a historical campaign. Therefore the outcome will most likely be that the Axis lose. The fun in that, is trying to prevent the Allies from winning.
Why North Africa? North Africa is interesting because: The Germans get to fight along with the Italians. The Italians aren’t that bad but they aren’t that good either. The British fight the Axis with crappy tanks then they get better tanks from the Americans, but not until a little later, almost not until it’s too late, - that’s neat. Also the British fight with allot of colonial troops. They all have special rules and that’s neat too. The Germans figure out they need better tanks and equipment. They get to fight with Tigers and Pak40’s but it’s almost too late and they never have enough, they have to rely on the Italians and that creates some interesting situations. The Americans have great middle of the road stuff and allot of it but they don’t know how to fight and they have to cross most of Morocco to get to Tunisia - they need to hurry up. But they can’t get too strung out either, can they get there in time?

Comments Welcome.

North Africa Time Line

2009-10-07T13:43:00.000-07:00

Hello fellow combatants. I'm working through the North Africa Campaign and I need some input

First some facts - the campaign will run from February 1941 to May 1943 with each month being a game campaign turn. It ends in May '43 because the Axis historically surrendered at that time. It starts in February '41 because that is when the German 5th Light Division and Rommel were first deployed to North Africa. This would give us 28 turns. If we played a turn a week it would take us seven months. If we played a turn every two weeks it would take us 14 months, or 1/2 the amount of time it took historically!

What I want to know is:

Is 7 months, 28 turns, too long for a campaign game? (You will be playing different forces, quite possibly every list in the New North Africa book will be used. That doesn't mean you'll play everyone, but hopefully it'll keep the game interesting.)

Is 7 months, or 1 week for each turn, too short for each turn to fully develop? (This campaign will have much, much more operational control for all players. The campaign itself could turn out to be one heck of a boardgame.)

Now there is no guarantee that each campaign turn will produce battles. Players are not compelled to fight. But we might want some turns to take longer depending on the situation.

I ask because I'm at a turning point. I can design a game that just encompasses a battle like the Battle for El Alamein, or Tobruk or Kasserine Pass and we could play those. (Together it may take just as long.) Or I can design a grand campaign that encompasses almost all the fighting in North Africa during WWII.)

What the difference between them you ask? In a smaller battle specific campaigns any "mistakes" players made are not nearly as damaging as in the overall campaign. But in a grand campaign players can rewrite history rather than just try to repeat it.

So are you up for 7 months of North Africa midwar madness, or should I design something less time consuming?

Post your comments here.

For Fun here is the enitre time line of all "actions" in North Africa during WWII

1940
September, Italian invade Egypt
December, UK offensive, Tobruk captured.
1941
January, Italians abandon Wadi Derna line.
February, UK 7th Armor set up road block at Beda Fomm, Italian X Army surrenders. Rommel Arrives in Tripoli
March, Germans take Mersa Brega
April, 3rd Indian makes stand at Mechili, Tobruk surrounded and cut off from Egypt. Rommel assaults Tobruk
May, Rommel second assault on Tobruk, Operation “Brevity” launched
June, Operation “Battleaxe” launched and finished
August, Operation “Treacle”
September, Operation “Supercharge”
October, Operation “Cultivate”
November, Operation “Crusader”
December, UK relieves Tobruk
1942
January, Rommel chased back to El Agheila then take the offensive and chase the British back toward Gazala
May, Rommel attacks Gazala line.
June, French are attacked and overrun at Bir Hacheim. Tobruk is resurrounded and taken. British retreat to Mersa Matruh line, then to El Alamein.
July, Rommel attack Alamein line and is repulsed.
August, Montgomery arrives in Egypt & Rommel launches final attack on El Alamein.
September, Rommel can’t take Alamein and NZ Division tries to flank DAK.
October, Both sides reinforce, late October Montgomery attacks DAK
November, British force Rommel to retreat to Mareth Line, Allies land in Tunisa
December, Germans reinforce with forces from Sicily and Italy
1943
January, Rommel retreats into Tunisia and 5th Panzer takes Faid Pass from French Garrison.
February, Operation “Fruhlingswind” attack 1st Armored Division at Sidi bou Zib and force a retreat to Sbeitla. Germans attack at Kasserine.
March, Operation “Wop” started by 1st infantry division, flank of Mareth Line attacked.
April, Americans attack toward Bizerte.
May, Americans take Bizerte Germans surrender.

North Africa

2009-10-03T07:12:00.000-07:00

Last year – possibly before that, maybe late in 2007, I started to design a large scale campaign game based in North Africa. Here is the map. This is a composite map that I hand drew based entirely maps from the History department of US War College at West Point.

I think this map is great – instead of irregular shapes the territories are broken up into squares. I think squares best represent the nothingness of space in the desert. The only important things in the desert are roads, towns and natural choke points. Therefore squares work nicely. Along with the squares you’ll notice six large boxes underneath the overall map above. These boxes are historically accurate maps of important battlefields in North Africa. From right to left they are El Alamein, Tobruk, Mareth Line, Hill 609, Longstop Hill and Kasserine Pass. Each one of these battlefields is represented on the overall map by a white outlined shape. The battlefields exist because they are around towns, roads or natural choke points. Thus these battles will need to be fought in order to complete the objective of the campaign – which for the Allies is to drive Italy and Germany from North Africa and for the Axis it is to capture Alexandria and drive the British out of Egypt.

Ok so how do we do this? I’ve compiled a list of all the units that fought in North Africa from 1940 to the final Axis surrender in 1943. I’ve paired down this list to start the campaign on February 1941. This is when the first German division arrived and it relieves us of having to create the catastrophe that was the Italian Armies collapse to the British in operation Compass.

Looking at the division lists over the period of 2/41 to 4/43 the Axis have 18 divisions to the Allied 19. Remarkably even! However when you apply the calendar of when those divisions were put into the field it becomes much more clear as to who has the strategic upper hand.

So here is my initial working idea. Each player will be assigned a division or a number of divisions. These divisions will be made up of regiments. Each division can contain up to four regiments. Each regiment will be worth a certain amount of points. The division will also have a certain amount of divisional reserve points. On the overall map the division will be represented by a single piece. Once it enters a battlefield the division will “break” into its regiments.

Each division will have its own division card that the commander of that division will be responsible for maintaining the divisions regiment count (remember that a division can have 1-4 regiments), supply and divisional reserve points. When two opposing division meet on the overall map the players decide which regiment they are going to fight with – and then apply extra points. A regiment will be a Flames of War army list with points that can only be spent on HQ, Combat and Weapons platoons. Any support points are made up from the division reserve points or are taken from a different regiment from the division that isn’t participating in the battle.

Confused? Here’s an example: Jerry the German fighting Tom the Tommie British. Jerry’s 21st Panzer division attacks Tom’s 9th Australian Division at a square on the overall map. Jerry’s division is made up of 2 panzer regiments with 1000 points each and he has 500 points in divisional reserve. He attacks with 1000 points from one of his panzer regiments and uses an additional 450 points from the division reserve to purchase support platoons making a 1450 point force.

Tom the Tommie has 4 infantry regiments in his division and 200 points in divisional reserve. But Tom’s regiments are worn down by battle he has 1 at 800 points, 2 at 500 and 1 at 300. He puts up his strongest regiment against Jerry, the one at 800, plus the 200 points from division reserve, bringing his force total to 1000. Then he takes 250 from each of the regiments that have 500, giving him a force total of 1500 and leaving his remaining divisional regiments with, 250, 250, and 300.

Tom and Jerry fight the battle – platoon losses in the battle are deducted from either the regiment points or divisional reserve points. For example: Jerry lost a PzIV platoon worth 450 points – the regiment that used to have 1000 points now has 550.

After all the battles are done for the turn there is a supply phase where new divisions, regiments and points will enter the campaign and depending on the supply situation commanders will allocate points to regiments or divisional reserve.

I’ve still got a ton of work to do on the Calendar – figuring out when regiments and divisions will arrive, creating a good balance, figuring out the amount of movement and supply but using the very well designed and organized new Flames of War Africa book I don’t have to figure out the very time consuming and labor intensive concept of force complexion.

I’m excited about North Africa it’s going to be a very cool campaign. I don’t know when it will be read to play, certainly months away. I’m striving to design a campaign that is fun, relatively quick moving, creates an emotional attachment to your forces and is historical in setting but the outcome is determined by the player.

That’s it for now. You input is welcome.

Russian Consolidate gains – Germans fully aware and ready to counter attack

2009-09-29T11:14:00.001-07:00

Reports from the field are a bit confused but here is the most up to date map available – as far as High Command can discern.

Now that we are starting Turn 3 the Germans no longer suffer an initiative die roll modifier. But the Russian still win all ties. In early action last Thursday the Germans successfully counter attacked Russian positions in front of Minsk and for the time being relieved the threat to the City.

Minsk is, dear reader, the key to the entire campaign. If the Russians can capture Minsk then the entire German front is in question.

See you on the battlefield!

Then and now.

2009-09-19T05:49:00.000-07:00

I found this link this morning and though you guys might find it as interesting as I did. These are photos of the Normandy battle field in 1944 and now. Shot in the same place! Pretty cool.

Russians Take City!

2009-09-18T05:55:00.000-07:00

Reports from the field indicate Bobruisk in Russian hands.

Here it is the middle of week two and after some furious action it seems the Russians are gaining momentum. This is the map as best as I can remember it.

In other news; while at GenCon a guy gave a presentation about a convention in Chicago that for the first time will be featuring Flames for War. His details were a little light but he said Battlefront was supporting it – and we all know how well they supported GenCon. This is a regional convention, certainly not as large as GenCon, but it is being supported by quite a few large name companies in the gaming industry. Maybe some of you Warhammer Guys have heard of it before: AdeptiCon.

Anyway looks like it could be fun. I’m considering going and wondering who else would be interested. Chicago is a moderate day’s drive from Duluth.

Bagration - Russian Surprise!

2009-09-12T07:33:00.000-07:00

Animation! That’s what I wanted! Ani-stinking-mation. I was close too. I was going to post a map that showed all the battles and their effect in order and have it play in a loop. In fact I made one. It was an animated GIF. But it was a bit lackluster so I made another with text and battle arrows and such – but…. it was too big and couldn’t be converted into an animation, at least not as a GIF. Plus it seems that you can’t place animated GIFs into Blogger. So you’ll have to suffice with a simple map and some stats.

Ok the first turn is finished and here are the numbers:

14 battles

6 Allied wins

4 German wins

4 ties (which is kind of like a German win)

Wano sits atop the leader board and I’m pulling up the rear. Brian and I were both awarded 2 extra points for playing with a fully painted Flames of War army. Remember these point do count for something; prizes!

Two of the battles scenarios that we are playing are No Retreat and River crossing. Click the links to read up on them.

Next week Tom and I will do the strategic turn and issue new orders. Field commanders will now roll for initiative to place an arrow, however the Russians will win ties and add a +1 to their die rolls.

Bagration 1944

2009-08-28T09:43:00.000-07:00

On June 22, 1944 three years to the day after Germany’s 1941 invasion of the Soviet Union, the Red Army launched a massive offensive in Byelorussia. Operation Bagration was the Red Army’s Barbarossa in reverse and resulted in the Soviets utterly destroying 17 German divisions and shattering 50 more. Within a five week period the Russians were at the gates of Warsaw and had handed the German army their worst defeat costing the Wehrmacht more men an material than even the cataclysmic defeat at Stalingrad.

Now you get the chance to repeat or to change history. Starting Tuesday September 1st we will be playing the 6 turn Firestorm campaign – Operation Bagration.

Here’s what you need to know:

General of the Army Trofim Maertzski will be in command of all Soviet forces. His ability to motivate troops is matched only by his tactical skills. Primer Stalin has every confidence in his ability to lead the Russian army to a great victory over the fascist pigs.

Generalfledmarschall David Von deVere will command Army Group Center for the German Army. Von deVere’s success in operational command is only hampered by the lack of support from OWK. Yet this doesn’t discourage the Field Marshal, he his committed to his troops and to their survival of the war.

These two are your respective commanders. They will issue directives which you and your fellow field commanders will, hopefully, execute with military efficiency.

You will need to make an Allied or German force consisting of 1500 points from any official Flames of War late war list.

The campaign will last 6 weeks, although we might extend it a week or two if we have a large important multiplayer battle that would be fun to play.

As we progress through the campaign you will earn victory points. You earn victory points for:

Winning without loss, earns the victor 6 to defeated players 1.

Winning with losing only 1 platoon, earns the victor 5 to defeated players 2.

Winning with losing 2 or more platoons, earns the victor 4 to defeated players 3.

If the game ends without a winner, 3 points each.

Every game played earns you 1 point.

Playing at least one game with a fully painted, Flames of War force, that isn’t on loan from a friend, earns you 2 points.

The commander with the highest score at the end of the campaign will win a fully painted and mounted German Sturm Platoon (Commander and 6 teams, pictured above). There will be prizes for second and third place also.

So you see there is more to fight for than just glory. If you win you can win glory and loot!

Gen Con

2009-08-20T08:56:00.000-07:00

We came, we saw, we were conquered!

Jerry and I played in all the Gen Con tournament and neither of us had a score worthy of a prize. Here’s a list of finishers: Note my place at #12 and #29 – at least I did place ahead of the Cossack Cavalry (that guy had a tough time, after all I once faced off against 43 T-34s; he had to fight that from horse back! His miniatures did look great though.)

IRONMAN RESULTS
Place Player Force Type Points
1 Bill Wilcox German Infantry 21
2 Jonathan Pond German Infantry 20
3 Andrew Weigler German Infantry 16
4 Jeremey Harder German Pioneers 14
5 Andrew Pundy German Infantry 13
6 Jim McKinney Finnish Infantr 13
7 William Hill US Armor 11
8 Rob Chen German Mechaniz 10
9 Nick Novak Soviet Tankovy 10
10 Chris Novak German Panzer 10
11 Jerry Roalstad German Infantry 9
12 David Devere German Infantry 9
13 John Bennett US Infantry 8
14 Dan Dagenais German Infantry 8
15 James Russell US Tank 7
16 Mark Riney German Infantry 5
17 Paul Pundy Russian Tank 5
18 Brian Wright Soviet Tank 4
19 Glen Greeson US Infantry 3
20 Chris Fretts US Armored Rifl 2
21 Joseph Bahm Russian Tank 1

GRAND TOURNEY
Place Player Force Type Points
1 Jon Cleaves Finnish Armor 32
2 Charles Clay Soviet Armor 28
3 Bill Wilcox German Tank 28
4 Jeremey Harder German Mech 27
5 Andrew Pundy German Armor 26
6 Paul Pundy German - Infantry 25
7 David Vigor German Sperrverband 24
8 Steve Schortgen British Infantry (Rifle) 24
9 Mark Riney Axis Infantry 23
10 Paul Dvolpi Russian Armor 23
11 Alex Pundy Russian Tankovy 22
12 Dan Vigor Soviet Armor 22
13 Tom Meier British Infantry 22
14 Chris Kitchen Axis Armor 21
15 Clint Cottone Russian Infantry 21
16 Chris Novak Schwere 20
17 Jerry Roalstad Axis Infantry 20
18 Jim McKinney Finnish Infantry 20
19 Brian Wright Soviet Armor 19
20 Mike Mansfield US Paratrooper 82nd Company A 19
21 Rob Chen Germans/Panzer 19
22 Andrew Weigler German Infantry 18
23 Doug Olds German Armored 18
24 John Smith American Rifle Co 18
25 Josh Glasscock Allied Armor 17
26 Kyle Martin Soviet Armor 17
27 Chris Fretts Parachute Infantry 16
28 John Bennett US Rifle 15
29 David Devere Germany 14
30 Eric Leet Russian Cossack Guard 12
31 Nick Novak Soviet 12
32 James Gains Wolure Infantry Co 3
33 Glen W Greeson US Infantry 2
34 Jason Stubbs Allied Armored 2

I did win the best History competition and won the 78th Sturm Division army box – fully mounted and painted. The question now is what should I do with it? Here’s your chance to vote for the fate of my new FoW miniatures. Should I keep them or sell them on Ebay and use the money to buy something different? Please vote – their fate is in your hands…

For those of you that didn’t get to go to Gen Con visit these links to see some awesome pictures of the terrain tables and armies.

It’s AA50 next week – let’s get everyone to play. The game can support 6, last time I had to play all the Allies….that is just too much brain power for me – Patrick, I know you and maybe your misses want to play AA50!

On Tuesday we conquer the world!

Allies Enter Ancient Monastery - German defenders exhausted beyond care – Allied casualties heavy.

2009-08-05T08:28:00.000-07:00

It’s over. In a game that went over 16 rounds and lasted 6 ½ hours with the hand writing on the wall, with two of the three German Companies broken and almost all the support platoons destroyed the dedicated Fallschimjager in the monastery succumbed to exhaustion and surrendered the building. The Allies win a marginal victory for the campaign and the top winning General is Patrick.

If this campaign was anything close to the historic realities then the battle for Monte Cassino was indeed hell on earth – I have a new respect for the men that fought in the Italian Peninsular campaign. Having completed Anzio and now Monte Cassino I look forward to something, anything, other than mud, rain, snow and bogging.

So where to next you ask? To Russia, June 1944 and operation Bagration. We are kicking the campaign concept up a notch and playing a Firestorm Campaign which will give field commanders much more operational control.

Here’s the schedule:
1. Next week Aug 12th is the day before travel to GenCon neither I nor Tom will be playing; Jerry is….Jerry.
2. August 19th we will play a Firestorm Generals Campaign game (this is the board game version of the Campaign to try to understand strategic implications).
3. August 26th we will either play another Firestorm Campaign game or Axis & Allies 50 edition.
4. September 1st we will kick off our first turn in Russia. Depending on how aggressive the field commanders are each campaign turn will last 1 to 2 weeks, Bagration is a 6 turn campaign so we are looking at 6 to 12 weeks in Russia.

Now on a different topic – last nights game was long and we’ve been bleeding into long nights, to save our sanity and maybe Brian’s marriage I think we should institute either a turn limit or a time limit on every game played. Please vote for your preference in the poll above or if you have a different idea post it here in the comments.

Assault on Monte Cassino eminent. Americans stock piling stretchers and plasma, Germans awarding Iron Crosses.

2009-08-03T12:33:00.000-07:00

“Find seat gentlemen. Tomorrow the assault on Cassino will commence – here’s the situation.”

Terrain – as you know we will be putting together the two large hill boards to make one massive board with the Monte Cassino terrain building place on top.

Objective – the only objective on the board will be the monastery of Monte Cassino. This is a large building so to claim the win the Allies must have more than 2 to 1 team superiority. The Germans can win if on or after turn 6 there are no Allied teams 4” or less from any edge of the monastery. For example: Germans have 6 teams in the building, the Allies have 14 teams in the building – thus giving them more than 2 to 1 ratio and the win. If the Germans manage to get another team into the building then they would be 7 to 14, making for a 2 to 1 ratio and this would successfully contest the objective.

Battle – we will be playing Breakthrough. We will be following the scenario rules except that the Germans will be allowed to start the game with one platoon, and any number of independent teams in the Monastery.

Special rules:

Corps Artillery: Monte Cassino was recognized to be the key to the German defenses. Allied corps artillery is available to support any attack on it. The Attacker adds a battery of artillery. This means every Allied player will be allocated an artillery battery.

Fortress Cellars: The ancient fortress walls provided excellent cover. Any team Gone to Ground in the Monastery has successful Artillery or Air Support Firepower tests against it re-rolled.

Total War rules: In Total war a Combat Company consists of on Combat and Weapons platoons. Support platoons are supporting the entire battle. A Company takes Company Morale Checks when it is reduced to one Combat platoon (rather than when reduced to half-strength). If it fails the motivation roll then it is removed but it's support platoons remain. Unlike normal Flames Of War games with a single company, a Total War game does not end when a Combat Company fails a Company Morale Check. The game continues until one side starts their turn with either:
No Combat Companies with platoons still on the table, or No Support Platoons left on the table and only one Combat Company with platoons still on the table.

Air Support: Air support is allocated to a mission, not to a particular unit fighting to fulfill that mission. This allows this highly mobile resource to be used in the most effective place on the battlefield. As a result, only one of the Combat Companies in your Total War force may take Air Support.

I’m fairly sure we will have 6 players. That’s 4500 points per side for a 9000 point battle! This one is for the whole enchilada, the entire kit and caboodle. "Man your guns – ready your men, tomorrow you are going to the front!"

Movie Time

2009-07-31T10:17:00.000-07:00

Here's the audio visual part for my Unit Hisotry for the upcoming GenCon Tournament.

Comments welcome.

Here's the link to the youtube version

Confusion! German breakthrough! WAIT! Are those our boys? Darn it! Can’t see through the smoke! Get me a runner!

2009-07-30T07:42:00.000-07:00

It seems we’ve got a bit of confusion. Looks like the Allies have succumb to German propaganda and are panicking all along the Rapido front – somehow, someone told the front line troops that the Germans have broken through and cut their lines. An American Major was sent to the front to assess the situation and found that the Germans had not broken through, they had not gained the ground and that they were still on the far side of the river.

Here’s how the panic and rumor of a German breakthrough got started:

Cassino town track was allowed 6 battles, just like all the other tracks. So far they were battles numbers 2, 4, 8, 10 and 13. Then on Saturday Brian and Donny played #16. This was the first battle of week 6 and thus the last battle for the town track.

High_Command received the report that the battle was for the end of week 5 and that on Tuesday another town battle was played for week 6. However this was an incorrect calculation. The battle for Rapido River should have never taken place. It was in fact the 7th battle for that track and therefore can’t be counted as a valid campaign battle.

So in effect – it didn’t count. The Germans didn’t win; they didn’t achieve their objective in time. So the Allies do have a chance to win outright – to win it all – if they win next week at Cassino.

On Tuesday we will be using the Total War rules. If you are interested you can read how they work here: Total War Rules

British Troops – advance on ancient monastery - casualties are heavy.

2009-07-22T09:32:00.000-07:00

Last night 5 games were played. I’ll go over them quickly.

Here’s the action:

Battle #11 Tom vs. Dave D on Snakeshead ridge, to give the Allies any hope of winning the campaign and getting to Monte Cassino all Germans fighting on the ridge were ordered to defend, which played nicely into Tom’s hand. UK wins at Snakeshead ridge 6 to 1 - moving the UK icon to Point 593.

Battle #12, Patrick vs. Jerry also on Snakeshead – not wanting to be out done by the British, US wins 6 to 1 – moving the German icon to Point 593.

Down in the town, Dave B and Brian fought out Battle #13 with Brian’s Brumbars doing damage to Dave’s infantry – Germany wins 4 to 3, the German icon remains in Town.

Back up on the hill Tom’s Brits were ambushed in Battle #14 and almost got stopped but rallied late with an all or nothing assault that was too much for the Germans. UK wins 4 to 3 and moves the UK icon to Monte Cassino.

Battle #15 the last for week 5 – going until 2am, Patrick and Jerry at Point 593 a long slog I’m told –Jerry wins 4 to 3 and the German icon remains at Point 593.

So we are down to the last week; three battles to be played and only one that will determine the winner of the campaign.

I won’t be able to play next week, Tuesday the 28th so I ask that the Monte Cassino battle not be played. On the following week, August 4th, we will play the Battle for Monte Cassino in a massive multiplayer using the Total War rules from the Firestorm system.

Also I came home with an extra rule book last night – who is missing theirs? Patrick? Eric maybe? Let me know and I’ll work on getting it back to you before next Tuesday.

Stalemate!

2009-07-15T07:06:00.000-07:00

“High Priority TOP SECRET from: OKW West, Field Marshall Albert Kesselring commanding – To all German forces fighting in Monte Cassino sector: Major Barber and his Fallschimjager are to continue their assault on the main Allied line at Cassino town – with the objective of severing the Allied offensive by crossing the Rapido River. All other German units are immediately ordered to only defend - with priority of containing the Allied attack. No units with the exception of Major Barber in Cassino Town are permitted to attack!”

Week 3 was completed last night with Battle #9 – Tom fighting Jerry on Snakeshead ridge in Cauldron. On a map with crazy terrain and even crazier assaults and counter assaults. While your correspondent didn’t watch the entire battle I was party to some of it and I know portions of the rules/game were played wrong but can you blame them? It was to use a term from WWII – Fubar. If you don’t know what that stands for email me. Jerry won – although I’m not sure how, winning 4 points to Tom’s 3. The UK icon remains on Snakeshead ridge.

Week 4 kicked off with Patrick in the driver’s seat, the top winning Allied commander he had his choice of opponents and tracks. Fully aware of the situation he chose to fight Brian in Cassino town in Battle #10. As most games go it came down to a die roll to determine the attacker and the future of the American track up to Monte Cassino. Patrick lost the roll, Brian chose to be the attacker and now there is no chance that the US icon can make it to Monte Cassino in time. Now the Allies are on the defensive in this sector. In another long struggle, somehow using grit and guts, the Americans under Patrick’s command managed to break the German paratroopers. Patrick wins earning 5 points to Brian’s 2.

Americans penetrate Gustav Line in Bold flanking maneuver.

2009-07-13T06:28:00.000-07:00

On Saturday two battles were fought and the stalemate continues. Here are some of the highlights.

Battle #7, Snakeshead Ridge. Donny’s American Mechanized infantry assaulted Dave D. German infantry in a Breakthrough scenario. American Mechanized infantry platoons are very large, however their size and cost make fielding more than two at any time difficult. In Breakthrough half of the attacking platoons can be held in flanking reserve to show up later in the game right behind the objective. So while the Shermans and M10’s were given the unenviable job of running right up the gut the infantry flanked around to seize the objective. Exactly on queue, while the Germans were vainly trying to take out the Shermans, the American infantry appeared on the hill top adjacent to the objective. “Kill a few guys and make them break”, – that was the American orders. The Germans died in droves but they didn’t break. Three German platoons were reduced to over half and one to only two teams but they wouldn’t break. Once the Germans stabilized their position they poured fire onto the hill top. Pak 40’s finished off the Shermans, and HMG fire from bunkers and men in the field slowly reduced the American’s fighting effectiveness. One of the American Mechanized platoons broke and ran taking with them the CO and any chance of victory. Germans win 5 to 2. The icon stays in the same place.

Battle #8, Cassino Town. Again the Americans attacked playing Hold the Line. The Americans were concerned that they wouldn’t have enough time to negotiate the rough rubble strewn terrain of the destroyed town and therefore double timed every platoon they could through the open terrain and along the rail tracks. Seeing the Americans rushing head long toward their lines the Germans waited patiently then opened up with a withering fire. Two turns later the American right flank had collapsed. The assault was being prosecuted only on the left flank which was protected by a German minefield, tank obstacle and a bunker. Despite the early setbacks the Americans were still pressing hard on the Germans who couldn’t get any more combat reserves to the battlefield, not until turn 8 did the Germans get any additional platoons into the fight. By then the American attack had lost momentum and ground to a halt. Germany wins again, 5 to 2.

This leaves the UK Icon on Snakeshaed Ridge the last icon for week 3.

Campaign Overview:

This campaign is only 18 games in length, 6 games per icon. After the next battle the campaign will be ½ completed. The Allies have yet to move any icon despite attacking 5 out of 8 times. What does this mean? It means the margin of error is very slim. Two of the icons have to win all their remaining games and only the UK icon can afford to lose a match.

This is a critical situation of the Allies. They simply have to win to move the track and to put the Germans on the defensive. I would encourage Allied commander to formulate a plan of attack and to choose your German adversaries carefully, because if the Germans attack, on almost any track, they can end that icons attack on Monte Cassino.

Germans attack all long the line. Allied airpower proves to much – German assault halted.

2009-07-08T10:12:00.000-07:00

The Germans pressed their advantage last night with each track making an effort to take the offensive.

Battle #4, Cassino Town, Brian attacking Tom. This battle went 14 rounds and in the end the German paratroopers never gave ground, never broke they simply died in place. To a man, Brian’s troops were killed. There will be no report to the Furher as there is no one left to write it. Tom (UK) wins earning 4 points to Brian’s (Germany) 3.

Battle #5, Snakeshead Ridge, Jerry’s Mechanized infantry vs. Patrick’s American infantry company. On a difficult map Jerry was fighting to cross two bridges move up a ridge and then dislodge American infantry from prepared positions – this would have been a big enough challenge but once Patrick unleashed an awesome Aerial bombardment the out come of the game was never in doubt. It effectively reducing almost all of Jerry’s offensive power to nothing. On turn six the Americans claimed victory.

Battle #6, Snakeshead Ridge, Dave D’s German infantry vs. Patrick’s American infantry – this setup was easier for the Germans playing Fighting Withdrawal the Americans were looking at a long difficult struggle holding a line where most of the infantry was stung out at maximum command range. Seeing this Patrick got on the phone to bomber command and ordered up another Aerial Bombardment – this one, while not as devastating as the one suffered earlier by Jerry was still very damaging – and put the German offensive in doubt. In the end the causualty rate was too high and Patrick stopped the German attack. Earning himself another victory, 5 more points and to current top place on the leader board.

All the icons remained in place and all the tracks have used the Aerial Bombardment. The Allied need to step up their offensive they only have 12 more games to try and take Monte Cassino.

Monte Cassino Battlefield and Terrain info

2009-07-02T13:00:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday there was a bit of confusion about how to set-up the terrain and how to use the pre-game bombardments. Therefore, I have created a terrain chart that is now posted at the game shop on the cork board for future reference and I’ve also added another chart to the campaign map.

The chart is "Available Allied Bombardments". You will notice a country icon on the left along with the words Aerial and Corps Support. If the icon for the battle which you are playing has a red X under the Aerial or Corps Support that means that bombardment type is no longer available for that track. So far only one Aerial bombardment has been used out of the possible three while all the Corps support remains available.

Here is some general information about the battle field conditions:

For the Castle Hill, Snakeshead Ridge, Point 593 and Monte Cassino battlefields it is critical that there is a large hill that is higher than any other feature on the battlefield. These should have a dominating field of vision, with troops able to be seen from them unless in ravines or immediately behind large buildings. Use the Anzio Terrain Chart (p236) for the Rapid River game, and the Mediterranean Terrain Chart (p246) for all other battlefields.

Weather: January - March Winter is cold in Italy, with snow possible in the mountains. If Mud is rolled in the Snakeshead Ridge, Point 593 or Monte Cassino battlefields, treat it as Snow (p244 .)

Rubble: Any time a battle is played on the same battlefield again, the pounding of Allied aircraft and artillery means that the buildings on the table have been damaged or reduced to rubble. Use the urban warfare rules and all buildings count as damaged after one battle; rubble after two.

Air Support: The Allies had overwhelming Air Superiority at Cassino, although bad weather made it difficult to use. The maximum level of air support that may be chosen is as follows: Attacker: Priority Air Support, Defender: Sporadic Air Support. There is no Air Support in games with Mud or Snow.

Aerial Bombardment:The Allied player may opt for a pre-game Aerial Bombardment once per icon in the campaign (see rulebook p218) regardless of the mission being played in that game.

Corps Artillery Support:The Allied player may opt for Corps Artillery Support once per icon the campaign. This may take one of two forms. Either the Allied player may conduct a pre-game bombardment (see rulebook page 218) of the defender regardless of the mission being played or the Allied player gains the use of one additional four gun artillery battery of their force’s nation. This is located off the board using the Across the Volga rule from the Not One Step Back mission. An observer is also provided for the battery.

Each battle field also has an in depth terrain description along with some special rule such as free defenses for the Germans or free engineers and/or artillery batteries for the Allies. Read the full descriptions here or consult the print out posted at Dragon Port Games and Comics.

If any games are played this weekend please post the results here in the comments section. Have a happy 4th or July and see you Tuesday!

BREAKING NEWS - Allies attack Gustav Line - initial wave repulsed, Germans maintain defensive positions.

2009-07-01T08:25:00.000-07:00

“This is special BBC news combat correspondent Herbert Wakefield reporting from Italy; Under the cover of darkness British infantry and tanks advanced up Snakehead ridge toward the Gustav Line in a cautious probing maneuver trying to find a weak spot. On their right flank an American rifle company pushed off toward their objective, also trying to take out defensive positions on Snakehead Ridge, while down in the town of Cassino the American 442nd infantry regiment crept into the village ruins.”

Battle #1 “Reports from the field note that our boys came strong toward the German lines, advancing into contact with their objective before intense German machinegun fire repulsed the infantry, supporting tanks were left wondering where the infantry had gone while some Shermans continued to catch themselves on the protruding boulders in the rough terrain. The attack stalled and New Zealand Lt. Gen. Bernard Freyberg called off the attack.” Dave D wins earning 5 points to Tom’s 2. The UK icon remains on Snakehead ridge.

Battle #2 “American bombers preceded the attack with an awesome display of firepower effectively reducing the town of Cassino in a pile of rubble. The American 442nd regiment made up of Japanese Americans, renown for their fearlessness in combat advanced cautiously into the town only to be met by a similarily fearless foe - German Fallschirmjagers. The town was hotly contested – with both sides taking multiple casualties – it was only a question of whose will would break first. In the end the Americans begrudgingly withdrew their forces.” Brian wins earning 4 points to Patrick’s 3. The US icon remains in Cassino Town.

Battle #3 “American forces advancing on the flank of British infantry were unaware that their allies had started their attack under the cover of darkness. Starting at first light the Americans found an alerted and prepared German mechanized company manning the heights above their position. Despite heroic action by many troopers the Americans pulled back once it was known that the attack was failing all across the line.” Jerry wins earning 4 points to John’s 3. The German icon remains on Snakeshead ridge.

“This had been special correspondent Herbert Wakefield reporting from Italy for the BBC world service.”

Monte Cassino

2009-06-26T11:15:00.000-07:00

“Listen UP! The Germans are up on that dammed hill and battalion wants then out of there. That means your sorry asses have to climb up their and take it. Hey, Hey! No grumbling! Look, we can’t get through the highway to Rome with Jerry sitting up their taking pot shots at us, if we don’t take Cassino we're are going to be stuck down here in the mud in this God forsaken valley getting shelled until we do something about it! Now, we’ve got bomber command on the hot line, they’ll give us support, we’ve got arty up the ying yang, but it always comes down to the infantry to take the ground. Let’s knock Jerry of that hill! Inform your company CO’s, get your men a hot meal, we’re pushing off on Tuesday.”

“Achtung! Commanders. Monte Cassino is the cornerstone of the entire Gustav Line. We must hold the British and Americans here! The Furher has sent us fresh reinforcements – elite Fallschimjagers, they will take point. We will have limited armor support but our heavy mortars, and our artillery will be in place for immediate response to any Allied penetration. The Americans and British are sure to pound us from the air and with heavy artillery. Field Marshall Kesselring has confidence in each of you that you will do your duty to the fatherland. Dig your holes deep and hold the line!”

Fellow Tacticians – Next week we start the Monte Cassino Axis of Attack Campaign.
This campaign differs in that there are two axis of attack, one through the mountains and one straight toward the monastery. They both end at the allied objective - Monte Cassino. We will have three axis of attacks and play a maximum of 18 games. To win the Allies must take Monte Cassino in 18 games (6 rounds) or the Germans win. The Germans can however win early by pushing the axis of attack to the Rapido River.

On Tuesday we will pair off and roll 2d6. High roll determines the location of the icon on either the Town axis or the Massif axis.

There are a few twists in this Campaign:

Germany: The Germans can always select to be the defender. They cannot field, Tiger, Panther, PzIII tanks, or SS units.

Allies: Once per campaign and per axis the Allied player can order both an Aerial Bombardment and a Corp Artillery Support: Aerial Bombardment: If the Allied player opts for a pre-game Aerial Bombardment in any game (see rulebook p218) all buildings are then treated as rubble, in addition to other effects. Corps Artillery Support: This may take one of two forms. Either the Allied player may conduct a pre-game bombardment (see rulebook page 218) of the defender regardless of the mission being played or the Allied player gains the use of one additional four gun artillery battery of their force’s nation. This is located off the board using the Across the Volga rule from the Not One Step Back mission. An observer is also provided for the battery. *Note this means the Allies could have 6 games with a pre-game bombardment, use them wisely.

Here is the situation report for the Town axis start: Cassino Town (Start position for Town Axis, the first mission is Not One Step Back with Germans defending) lies at the foot of Monte Cassino, with Castle Hill and then the mountain and its monastery rising successively behind it. The town itself is flat with stone buildings and narrow roads.

Terrain: Route Six passes through the town from the Attacker’s table edge to the Defender’s table edge. The rest of Cassino Town is an urban battlefield with just a few walled gardens. The three- story Hotel Continental dominates the German half of the table. Cassino is a typical southern Italian town with stone one or two story buildings with cellars that provide excellent bullet-proof cover. Use the Mediterranean Terrain table for the rest of the board (FOW Rulebook Page 246).

Gustav Line: Regardless of the mission being played, the German player receives 2 bunkers, an anti-tank obstacle and a section of minefield to place anywhere in their deployment zone.

Here is the situation report for the Massif Axis: Snakeshead Ridge (Start position for Massif Axis, the first mission is Hold the Line with Germans defending) Monte Cassino was actually at the end of a huge ridge, called the Cassino Massif, that stretched away to the east and the even higher Mount Cairo. The Massif was a maze of ridges and gullies leading down from the crest to the Rapido River. The most accessible routes up was via a side spur ridge called Snakeshead Ridge. The area was part of the Gustav Line.Terrain: Snakeshead Ridge is a large, multi-level hill running down the centre of the table. The highest level should be in the German’s deployment zone. Use the Mediterranean Terrain table for the rest of the board (FOW Rulebook Page 246).

Gustav Line: Regardless of the mission being played, the German player receives 2 bunkers, an anti-tank obstacle and a section of minefield to place anywhere in their deployment zone.

There it is men - your tasks by Tuesday is to create your force of 1500 points, using the Fortress Europe book, report back here as to what side you wish to play for, German, USA, UK. Sorry Jerry no Italians this time. Late reporters will be assigned to Allied or Axis sides depending on which side needs balancing.

Dismissed!

Vote for Change!

2009-06-18T15:14:00.000-07:00

What’ll you have?

I’ve ordered a few pieces of cool looking terrain from JR Miniatures. One of which is the ruined monastery of Monte Cassino. Now I have no idea when this is supposed to be in for us to add to our table top fun but rest assured that it has been ordered. Maybe Donny could fill us in as to when it will arrive?

Anyway I though we should probably play another Axis of Attack campaign before we get fully involved in Bagration. Plus I know Tom wants to keep beating the Axis about the head and neck with his Brits. (When are you going to get real looking 25 pounders?) So Monte Cassino will be our next campaign.

It features two lines of attack, with different objectives, no swampy boggy terrain and it’ll be limited to a certain number of weeks. Here’s the link to the article if you want to check it out:

Ok all this is leading me slowly to the poll located at the top of the blog. I want you to vote for next week’s activity. You can vote to:

1. Start playing Monte Cassino next week. (We don’t need no Monte Cassino model!)

2. Play game of AA50. (Possibly you’d like a wider glance at the world for a change, then Monte Cassino the week after.)

3.Play an AA50 modified uber game using the 8 foot by 4 foot Axis & Allies map. This would use all the AA50 rules with the big map. (This game ussally take two weeks to complete.)

4.Vote for more choices – hopefully some of which you will provide in the comments section.

So what’ll it be? Also think about what side you’d like to play on for the Cassino Campaign, no need to keep the same sides or company configuration.

Don’t forget to vote!

British Forces Enter Rome! Rome is Liberated!

2009-06-17T08:17:00.000-07:00

Week 7 was played all in one night. Here is the action:

Battle #19, Dave B (UK) and Jerry (IT) fought for Campolone Station – possibly the most contested spot on the planet! The British were defending and they repelled the Italians. Dave wins 4 to Jerry’s 3. Poor Italian Fascists – I suppose they will have to finally give up….

Battle #20, Dave D (GR) vs. Patrick (US) again fighting for Campolone Station. Despite a horde of American soldiers they were slowly ground down by German Panzer fire. In an extended 11 turn game the Germans took the victory. Dave wins 6 to Patrick’s 1.

But I doesn’t matter what the results are if one Axis of Attack breaks through and takes the objective!

All eyes were on Battle #21, the last battle of week 7 and the Campaign in Anzio. Again Tom’s imperturbable British infantry vs. Brian’s hodgepodge, cobbled together German Panzer, Pioneer, winter Ost Front veterans who still wearing their winter camo. Again reports from the field are sketchy except what is know is that the action came down to a furious assault by veteran British Commandos that reduced two Tiger tanks to wrecks and killed the German CO. That was the decisive blow. The Germans took to their vehicles and fled from the battle field. The campaign is over. Rome is liberated! Tom wins again earning 6 points to Brian’s 1.

With the final victory in hand Tom is the big winner only losing one game the entire campaign. Also Patrick earns one bonus point for correctly answering the trivia question. “Nuts!”

Stay tuned dear reader as we are going back to Italy. Another offensive needs clearing up. It’s onto Monte Cassino.

End of 6

2009-06-17T07:36:00.000-07:00

Battle #18 pitted Tom vs. Brian. Reports from the field are sketchy but it is know that the British won partly because the Germans had a difficult time getting their platoon onto the battlefield. In the end it was a full sweep. Tom wins 6 points to Brian’s 1 and the UK icon moves to Albano

North Africa

2009-06-13T07:55:00.000-07:00

Here's a picture of the North Africa Campaign Map that made - much more work to be done but the discussion has been started...

German Commander Implicated in Plot to Kill Hitler!

2009-06-12T06:47:00.001-07:00

Another loss for Germany.

Here’s the action from last night. Battle #17. Once again the German Panzers tried to uproot the British infantry from their foxholes in an attempt to push the front lines back toward The Factory.

The turning point came when, despite being pinned down and reduced to 3 teams, British Piat Gunners destroyed two assaulting Panthers in close combat. Much to the woe of the German High Command, the Panzers were pushed back and supporting Panzergrenadiers were completely cut down by artillery and MG fire. The German lines wavered – then broke.

Tom wins as defender taking 5 points to Dave D. 2. The icon stays in the same place. Just one battle to be fought to complete Week 6, anybody going to take on Major Krosch?

P.S. The German Panzer Commander has been recalled to Berlin. He has been implicated in a plot to kill the Furher. Reports say he has been shot. A new commander has been appointed to Panzer Command Anzio and Allied intelligence has learned that he is said to be making structural changes to the Panzer Company.

Anzio - End of 5 Start of 6

2009-06-10T13:44:00.000-07:00

Exhausted from continuous battle Major Krosch’s Mechanized Infantry are pulled of the line for R&R and refit. While not willing to be out done the British crash into the German lines racing the Americans in an attempt to be the first to liberate the eternal city.

Here the how the action progressed:

Battle #15, between Tom and Dave D. Tom was the attacker and the battle was Fighting Withdrawal. This was the first time Tom’s Brits got to face Panzers on the offensive and they make a good showing of themselves. The main action focused around the Campleone train station with two Brit infantry platoons assaulting a German Recon and Panzergrenadier platoon.

The pace of the battle was furious. The British used their combined arms masterfully, first pinning the German infantry then assaulting them. British Commandos completely destroyed a German Recon platoon but then came under fire from supporting Panzers and were eventually pushed back. But in the center a determined British infantry platoon pushed into the rubble of the train station and forced the Panzergrenadiers into a defensive corner. At critical moment the German infantry were able to call upon Panzer support for defensive fire and they held off the Brits just long enough to retreat from the ruined station across a road and into a destroyed café.

The German company commander was killed in early action and the Panzer Company was taking too many casualties. Almost broken, down to just a few ragged veterans from the Eastern Front they clung to their rifles and grenades and braced for the final British assault. If the Brits could destroy just one team they could break the entire company and win the battle. The final assault went like this. British artillery bombardment – 3 hits on 3 German infantry teams, Germans roll for saves = 1,2,1 all fail. UK firepower test, all fail. Germans pinned. UK infantry assault, German defensive fire ineffective. UK skill test to hit, two rolls = 1,2 no hits. Germans counter attack, two rolls = 1,2 no hits. British counter attack, two rolls =1,2 no hits. Germans counter attack, two rolls =1,5, one hit. British counter attack one roll = 2, no hits. Germans counter attack two rolls, two hits. Germans win assault and the battle!

Dave D. earns 4 points and Tom earns 3. The icon remains at Campoleone Station.

Battle #16. The first battle for week 6 was between a fresh US infantry company and fanatic Italian fascists. Patrick playing American infantry moved his forces into the line replacing the tired and warn mechanized troops of Major Krosch. As the American tankers filed off the line they assured the green troops that their sector was quite. That, “nobody was opposing them, just Italians.” But Obercommander Juspei Roldofolio was leading fanatics fuel with the hatred of National Socialism. The battle ended with the American troopers making a desperate last assault on haggard Italian infantry. A report from the field said “On a rainy, sodden battle field, from their trenches they raised, rifles with fixed bayonets. Fresh faced boys from Iowa, Brooklyn, Alabama and Ohio. They hit the Italians with such force that the enemy line staggered, wavered and then like the purse string, quickly drawn; the enemy line was snapped taunt. The American platoon saw their commander then their sergeant fall, the Italians wreaked their revenge.” The Americans wavered and then broke. Their battle was lost.

Jerry wins 4 points and Patrick takes 3. The icon moves from Albano back to Campoleone Station.

Next week we should have 6 players on Tuesday. Will the Allies push the Axis back and finally take Rome or are we witnessing the apex of Allied power and ushering in a new phase of the campaign, one where the Axis push the Allies back to the beach?

If anyone plays any battles over the weekend please report them in the comments section below.

American Army Closes in on Rome!

2009-06-07T09:00:00.000-07:00

Maybe it was the picture of Patton at the helm of a Jeep in the last post that inspired the American troops or possibly it was that the American commander, Donny, had a strong desire to play as many Flames of War games as possible. Either way, it worked. The Americans pushed the line toward the Last Line of Defense and brought the campaign close to the end of week 5. It also seems he’s been given a promotion. Usually a combat company is commanded by a Captain, here is Major Eldon Krosch Jr. in his own words:

Battle #11 First off on the other track at the station Hauptmann Brain Barber successfully defended against an attacking Donny. Barber winning the game 5-2 and kept the objective marker at the Station a successful Axis Defense.

Battle #12 Second Game Donny was again attacking Hauptmann Brian Barber and in the fastest Flames of war game to date that we have witnesses the Americans Steamrolled to a victory moving the last objective marker from the Factory into the Station. Americans win 6-1 pushing the last marker at the Factory into the Station Area.

Battle #13 Third Game pitted the American against Jerry's (aka. Heer Obercommander Juspei Roldofolio of the Italian Devil Company) Italian Forces for the start of Week 5, the Americans were ambushed by the Italians however the road was quickly reopened and the American victory was sealed almost as quickly as the previous game (4 turns). The Attacking American have now pushed the axis of Attack onto the final Axis Defensive Line!!! Americans win 6-1 and move the marker to the final Defensive line.

Battle #14 The Fourth game saw a much closer match but ultimately the Italians accepted the surrender of a sparse few Americans left alive and successfully defended and held the line at the Station. Italians defend and win 4-3.

So with one game left in Week 5 the Allies have a marker at Albano the last defensive line, one marker at the Station that has been played, and one marker at the Station that still needs to be fought over.

Well fought Major Krosch. Here are the updated maps reflecting last yesterday’s furious action.

Week 4

2009-06-05T16:55:00.000-07:00

Do the British have some kind of magic spell? It’s starting to seem that way, or maybe it’s just Tom. If you consult the map you’ll notice that Tom has overtaken Donny as the top victory point earner in the Campaign with 19 points, this despite having spent 5 in a battle on Tuesday.

Last nights battle, Battle #10 was between Dave D. as the attacker and Tom as the defender. The battle was Trench Fight, an unlucky roll for the attacker as the defender deployed two 17 pounders in concrete pill boxes, a mine field and trench lines. Here a synopsis of how the battle progressed.

The Germans moved steadily up the main road to Campoleone Station, with Recon infantry in the center, Panzer IVs and Panzergrenadiers on the right, Panthers and two command Panzer IVs on the left.

The British we dug in around the objective which was located at the intersection of the main road and the rail road. The UK platoon holding the objective attracted all the German attention and by turn 3 they were being assaulted by the Recon, Panzergrenadiers, and Panthers. The Panzergrenadiers took out the right side of the UK line leaving just a spotter, commander and two infantry squads in front of the Panthers. Smelling blood the big cats moved in for the kill. They numbered 4 tanks, 3 panthers and the command tank. Moving out of an olive grove they rolled for bog and the command tank and one panther got stuck, leaving the other two to carry on with the assault. The first round of assault took the spotter out. The British counter attacked and succeeded in bailing a Panther. The other cat failed its motivation roll and retreated. The German attack ground to a halt and the momentum swung toward the Brits.

25 pounders, Piat guns, 17 pounders, and Commandos all conspired against the German attackers. In the end their combined weight was too much for the Germans to hold. Their lines wavered and the broke.

Tom wins again, taking 5 points to Dave D. 2.

As a reminder – tomorrow at 6pm we will commemorate D-Day with a multi player battle for Pegasus Bridge.

If any of the other two tracks are played before Tuesday please report the results in the comment section of this post.

I’ll see you in the drop zone.

Week 3 AAR

2009-06-03T12:26:00.000-07:00

Week 3 is over but who could tell?

Three battles and only one movement – sounds like everyone is stuck in the mud. Last nights battle, Battle #9, pitted the undefeated Tom vs. Brian’s heavily reinforced Panzer-Pioneer Company. Deciding he needed more armor support, Brian changed his support to include 3 Panther tanks.

Here’s what happened – despite all his wins Tom lost the roll to decide what battle to play and was made the defender. This was a bit of a blessing for the Axis as it meant that they had a chance to push the lines back or at least, keep them where they were. The battle rolled for Cauldron. Tom decided to spend 5 of his victory points and change the battle to a more suitable defense. Here’s where my reporting gets a little fuzzy. I don’t know what battle it was or really any of the highlights except that it lasted 16 turns!

In the end Tom won by breaking Brian’s company moral – a hollow victory, but the British hold the line once again. Tom earns 4 points to Brian’s 3.

In other action the Germans and Italians participated in a “grudge match” fighting first Trench fight then Hold the Line. In both battles the Germans were the attackers and in both the Italians won; proving that yes Italian troops can fight and can win especially if they don’t have to face any artillery…

Here’s the updated map. Tom and I are fighting a battle this Thursday if anyone wants to participate. Also June 6th is the 65 year anniversary of D-Day and we will be playing a huge multiplayer D-Day scenario on Saturday starting at 6pm.

Now man your positions!

Week 3 update

2009-05-29T12:19:00.000-07:00

Last night the Anzio Campaign continued with the British facing off against the Germans in a crazy battle in which German Panzer came close to running the Brits back to the factory. Here are the details:

Battle #8 Campoleone Station pitted Dave D. as the attacker vs. Tom as the defender. The battle was Fighting Withdrawal, meaning the German Panzers needed to take one of three objectives before the Brits took them off the board and escaped. For the campaign it meant that the Germans had a chance to push the British icon back toward the starting point, The Factory.

But the boggy terrain, despite the multiple roads on the battlefield, conspired against the Germans. Concentrated artillery barrages and air strikes made the Panzer spread out and take to the fields, in hindsight a costly mistake. With the objective almost in hand Panzergrenadiers were counting on armor support to help them push the defending Brit platoon off the target. But bogged in the marshy terrain the German Panzers could only look on as the infantry attack sputtered to a halt. The British removed the threat by removing the objective and the defending platoon. The dreaded 25 pounders we punished unmercifully the entire battle. Before the battle began a successful counter battery bombardment reduced the 25 pounders by half, destroying 4 out of 8. Then the Panzergrendiers having victory snatched from them took their revenge on the Brit artillery, completely destroying the platoon. In the end it wasn’t enough. The German commander lost focus and didn’t use blitzkrieg tactics which could have won him the game.

Tom wins again scoring 4 points to Dave D. 3. The British defense keeps the icon at Campoleone Station. The American icon is the last one needed to be fought for week 3. If the last battle is fought this weekend please post your results in the comments section of this post.

Anzio Campaign Start of Week 3

2009-05-27T07:47:00.000-07:00

Week 3 officially started last night. The Allies have all of their axis of attack at the Campoleone Station. It is important for both sides to perform well here as the next stop for the Axis is the last line of defense!

Battle #7, Campoleone Station pitted Dave D. as the attacker vs. Dave B. as the defender. The battle was Cauldron. This was a challenging set up for the British. The battle featured flat terrain dominated by two roads and a rail track. British infantry started dug in around the objectives facing Panthers, Pz IVs and a Panzergrenadier infantry platoon. UK Sherman tanks ambushed the Panzer IVs on the first turn but had little effect. By turn 3 they were all smoking wrecks. However, also on turn 3 the Brits did manage to get an entire 8 gun battery of 25 pounders deployed behind the Panthers, successfully destroying one tank using direct fire. The turning point in the battle came when a UK infantry platoon attempted to assault the two remaining Panther tanks, one of which was bogged down. However the infantry failed their motivation checks twice and refused to get closer to the German armor. That cost them their lives and eventually the game. Once the German tanks overcame the 25 pounders the infantry were not match for the solid wall of steel that encroached on their positions. Dave D. wins scoring 5 points; Dave B. lost scoring 2 points. The German Panzer Company successfully pushes one of the Allies positions back to the Factory.

If anyone plays any of the next two battles please report your results in the comments section of this post. Company Dismissed!

Anzio Campaign Week 2 AAR

2009-05-27T07:42:00.000-07:00

The last battle for week two was fought last night and again it pitted Italian paratroopers against British artillery.

Battle #6, the Factory Tom as the attacker vs. Jerry as the defender. The Italians, feeling a strong sense of national Fascist pride block all access to the objective from the British. The battle was Breakthrough in which the Italians deployed in such a manner that the British artillery were almost forced off the battle field. A series of strong assaults from the Compagnia Paracadutisti brought the bravery soldiers right into contact with the 25 pounders. However assaulting takes it toll and the vicious combat couldn’t be sustained. The British reserved finally appeared next to the objective and there were too few Italian defenders to maintain control. In the end the Italian defense collapsed; possibly under its own weight. The British move this axis of attack into line with the other tow forward Allied positions. Tom wins again taking 5 points to Jerry’s 2 points.

Anzio Campaign Mid-week AAR 1.66

2009-05-22T09:09:00.000-07:00

Yesterday’s battles resulting in a poor showing from the German Army combined with good tactics and excellent implement of strategy by the Red Bull, 34th American Division’s Armored Mechanized Infantry under command of Major Eldon Krosch (aka Donny). The Americans halted a German Panzer attack to preserve the gains made earlier by the British and also took the offensive against a German Pioneer group and moved the American front into line with the forward British position.

Battle #4, Campoleone Station, Dave D. attacker vs. Donny defender. The rough terrain, deep ditches on either side of the road, dug-in American infantry and the heroic defense of their position by American bazooka teams all helped repel the Panzers. Donny wins again winning 5 victory points to my 2. UK icon stays in the same place.

Battle #5, the Factory, Donny attacker vs. Brian defender. American M10 tank destroyers took out a Tiger at the last moment while Sherman tankers pressed hard on their objective and repelled two German counterattacks from Brummbars and mounted Pioneer teams. The Sherman tanks were eventually all lost but the counterattack was too costly for the Germans and they were overcome. Donny wins again winning 5 more victory points to Brian 2. The USA icon moves up one position to the Campleone Station.

This leaves just one battle to be fought for week 2. If this is fought before Tuesday please report the results in the comments section on this post.

Anzio Campaign Week 1 AAR

2009-05-20T12:05:00.000-07:00

Week 1 is in the books! Here’s the current location of the next campaign battles and a list of player victory points. Ok – I know it’s confusing here’s an explanation.

To move one of the three axis of attack a player has to win a battle – but, and this is a big but, the winner must be the attacker in order to move the axis of attack to the next sector. If the defender wins then the battle stays put in the same sector (see pg. 238).

So here is what happened as far as I can recall (please correct me if I’m wrong and I’ll update the map and info).

Battle #1, Brian and Donny. Donny won winning 5 victory points but I believe he was the defender. Therefore the USA icon on the map stays in the same place.

Battle #2, Tom and Jerry. Tom won winning 6 victory points but again I believe he was the defender. Therefore the UK icon on the map stays in the same place. (Edit: Tom reports he won - map and stats updated to reflect change)

Battle #3, Dave D and Dave B. I won winning 4 victory points but this battle was Free-For-All and in that battle we rolled to see who the attacker was, Dave B. won the roll so he was the attacker and again the defender won the battle so the German icon stays in the same place.

Make sense?

Ok you say, so what the heck does that string of numbers and letters after my name mean? Let’s look at one in detail. First one says: Tom – 6 – Y,D – 6. Above this it says: Player – GP – Win? – VPT. What are all those? Player is self explanatory, GP=game points, Win? is a Yes or No for if he won the last battle he played and VPT is his Victory Point Total.

So Tom – 6 – Y,D – 6 means, that Tom scored 6 points in the last battle that he won and was the defender and he has a total of 6 points so far in the campaign.

Why is it important to remember all these things? Because to determine what the next battle is the players roll 1d6 then add their VPs from the last battle they played (for us that is the number in the GP column), add +1 if they have a higher VP total for all battles (for us that is the VPT number), -2 if they won the last game but were the defender and the mission didn’t use the Fair Fight rule (that’s why Tom and Donny have a D after their Win? column and I don’t because in my battle we were using the Fair Fight rules).

So let’s break it down. For example: Tom and I set up to play a game. We both roll 1d6. I get a 3 add my GP 4 so 3+4=7. Tom rolls a 4 adds his GP 6, adds another 1 for having a higher VPT, but subtracts -2 because he won the last game but was the defender. So his calculation is 4+6+1-2=9. His 9 is greater than my 7 therefore we are playing Fighting Withdrawal and he is the attacker regardless of the missions normal rules for determining the attacker. If this is still confusing see pg. 232 Linked Mission Campaign for more clarification.

*Below this post you will see a comments link. If you click on it you can make a comment on this. Feel free to comment on this or any other subsequent posts, your comments will be public, but this will allow us to talk back and forth on a specific topic.*

Also Donny and I are meeting at the shop tomorrow at 4:00pm – we’ll be fighting at least 1 of the next three battles to try and push the attack forward or back depending on which side you are on.

Slight change in lists

2009-05-16T09:12:00.000-07:00

It was brought to my attention that while the FoW rulebook suggest using the Afrika handbook for creating unit lists for the Anzio campaign that the Fortress Europe book might be more accurate.

Off to the history I went to check some facts. The Afrika book details unit lists from 1942-1943, while the Fortress Europe details unit lists from January to August 1944. Anzio took place from January 1944 to June 1944. Ok score 1 point for Fortress Europe.

At Anzio the Germans employed weapons previously unknown to the Western Allies (USA & UK). These were the Panther, Elefant and Brummbar. (1 of only 2 Elefants still in existence was captured by the Americans at Anzio. Its picture is above.) Afrika doesn’t detail these weapons but Fortress Europe does. Score another point for FE.

Italy surrendered in September 1943. But some Fascist units continued to fight with the Germans in Italy and participated in the battles around Anzio. Afrika has lists for Italians, FE doesn’t. Sore 1 point for Afrika.

So here’s what we are going to do. We will use the unit lists from Fortress Europe or you can use an official briefing for Late War from the FoW website for the Germans, USA & UK. The Italians will be limited to the Compagnia Paracadutisti as detailed in the Afrika book.

Here are the players sides so far.

Allied: Tom
Axis: Brian, Jerry

Axis or Allied

2009-05-15T09:04:00.000-07:00

Ok it’s time to choose. We will be fielding 1500 point companies and be using lists from the Afrika Intelligence handbook.

Here are your options: (links are to the FoW website for some possible alternate company formations)

UK – Rifle Company, Tank Company or Commando Troop
USA – Tank Company, Armored Rifle Company, Rifle Company, Ranger Company or Parachute Rifle Company.

Germany – Panzerkompanie, Panzergrenadierkompanie, Aufklarungsschwadron, Panzerpionierkompanie, Grenadierkompanie, Pionierkompanie or a ground operations Fallschirmjagerkompanie.
Italy – Italian Compagnia Paracadutisti.

Obviously there is a large range of forces to select from. As of now we have 6 players for the campaign, Dave B, Brian, Donny, Tom, Jerry and me Dave D. Therefore we need 3 Allied players and 3 Axis players.

Keep in mind that what ever company you select you will play that type of force throughout the campaign. You will be allowed to use victory points to add or remove combat or weapons platoons to your company. Each move will cost 5 victory points – so it isn’t free. However you can change any of your support platoons for free. Also it should be noted that at the end of the battle all of your casualties will be replaced.

So choose a side, then choose a company type. We will be spending some time on Tuesday building our companies so if you are unsure of which type to take then at least choose a side.

This is first come first serve. Those who respond soonest to me via email or as a comment at the end of this post will get to be on their choosen side. Otherwise you’ll be shunted into whatever army will have you!

2009-05-14T16:52:00.000-07:00

Over the last month or so the members of the Northland Tactical Society have been training for the upcoming Flames of War Anzio Campaign. If you don’t know what I’m talking about then you probably aren’t a member of the Northland TS (TS stands for Tactical Society). If you do know what I’m talking about then you are already a member even though you are just now finding out about it. It’s kind of like being drafted – you just have to. No running off the Canada! They fought in the war too you know.

Anyway I digress.

The upcoming Anzio campaign is described in the 2nd edition Flames of War rule book pages 232 to 240. I believe there is a copy in stock at the store if anyone needs one.

Here’s the frame work for what we are going to do:
Choose sides – this is easy; Axis or Allied.
Then choose the Axis of Attack.
Fight the battle.
Record the results.
The results get reported here on this blog.
Rinse and repeat.

What’s the Axis of Attack? See page 240 in the rulebook, it describes how to play a multiplayer campaign. It says “Before each game, each team agrees which player will play on each axis of attack.”

Ok why am I rambling on about this? Because Commander Eldon Krosch (aka Donny) will be out working in the field most weekdays and will miss Tuesdays. Therefore I figure that if there are any unresolved or new battles from Tuesdays engagements then they can be played on Saturday or Sunday and the results reported back to me. Where I’ll update the information to this blog and we’ll move along to the next battles.

This way anybody can play as much or as little as they like and their troops will still contribute to the war effort. We are going to have two axis of attack. Both with different victory points tallies and most likely they will have different locations on the campaign map.

Does this make sense? Do you like this blog idea? If so, please say so. If not you can keep quiet but your silence will betray your thoughts….