Wednesday 27 September 2017

NEXT THURSDAY NIGHT

I am hoping we can all make it down next week. Mark and I are back form our holidays and Jon is finished with his shifts.

Just to put some ideas on the table now.....


I was thinking if no one else had plans



1. War of the Roses - Rules - Basic Impetus.










Reason - Fast play not too complicated and quick to learn. 2000 times better written than DBA and not too many figures on table

Mark - we could use 90 mm frontage units as DBA I have all army lists here for you for York and Lancaster





2. Modern Spearhead ( I must be a mug!) I'll gladly challenge any NATO scum V my Shit Soviets!








Just need some help with points as it seems we did things very wrong in the First "Russ Bash" game when Ian marmalised me.

3. Great War Spearhead - Points based game in preparation for our Somme game TBC







Well there's a few suggestions. Happy to play anything really but if any of the above are of interest let me know in good time!

Thursday 21 September 2017

Operational Game

Image result for north africa ww2
This is a great pictorial representation of the terrain fought over during the North Africa Campaign.  To give an idea of scale the principle supply bases, of Alexandria for the British and Tripoli for the Axis, are about a 1000 miles apart.

I am trying to put on another operational game in October/November, again, set during the North African Campaign in 1941.

This time it will be an encounter battle between equal points armies.  The tables will be laid out differently in a 2-3-3-2 order.  Each side will take turns at positioning each table wherever they prefer.  Each table will hold the same points as it currently has.  However, each side then places nine markers on the objective points; this is done sequentially and if one side controls all the objective points on a particular table it can begin the game with forces dug in.

This should provide a very different game but with the same terrain.  Hopefully, it should be good for Eastern Front battles like Smolensk or Kursk and future Cold War battles.

Please let me know who is interested with potential dates and I will get it organised.

Thursday 14 September 2017

C in C table for operational games.

North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un looks on during the test-fire of inter-continental ballistic missile Hwasong-14 in this undated photo released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency
Mark surveys his forces from the C in C table in a future operational game!

I wanted to put some ideas together for developing the C in C's table.  The aim is to improve the flow of communication and ensure that the difficult role of C in C is enjoyable.

The table will be hidden by a screen image of a commander (e.g. I would use Monty and Rommel).  In addition there would be a magnetic white board with the laminated maps to record units in action with magnetic counters to represent each unit.  This will be the Situation Map.

On the table will be a further set of laminated maps to draw orders on and pass onto subordinate players - these will be the Situation Reports (Sitrep) - these orders need copying onto the Situation Map.  Also, written orders of battle detailing specific units, their attachments and their break points will be on the table - these units will tally with the magnetic markers on the Situation Map.

Casualties must be left at the table so that morale rolls can be checked for.

I was also thinking it may make the game run faster and easier if we standardised the orders on the Sitrep.  Any Sitrep's from subordinate commanders should indicate ahead, on or behind plan.  Orders are attack, hold, retire as normal but the C in C can make the method more specific by adding "regardless of casualties", "with casualties but without incurring a morale check" or "break off if losses incurred".  I think this will make the order approach faster and clearer.

Let me know what you think.


Friday 8 September 2017

Nato training exersize

Thursday nights game and a first outing for the Germans,
the British provided the opposition in this training exercise
German leopards

Mixed battalion

British defensive line




German panzer grenadier battalion outflanks the British defensive position

Lynx on a Tank busting mission

Leopards redeploy, head on into dug in chieftains was proving too tough 

helicopters break the left hand thrust

British pull back as their flank is turned


Right flank battalion redeploys to meet the threat on the left whilst the left battalion retires to form up as reserve
 
Another enjoyable game
thanks Jon
 
Modern spearhead is alike WW2 spearhead is alike great war spearhead.
There is definitely a learning curve to using the modern units
More gems from the rulebook:- most platoon that fire from cover are then spotted out to 12", ATGW when fired from cover are spotted out to 18"
AA platoons may fire at any aircraft, but units with AA stats may only fire if they are the target of an air attack.
 
We had a problem with the points system before we started as the chieftains were cheaper than the leopards and had a better stat line, so we recalculated the forces using the stat line for the total
DEF+CED+AT+AI+AA( hs not added)+ATGW
This gave us a fairer result as some units seem to have good stat lines for very few points
This system will need to be tested but I think with the Nation multiple will give us a more balanced game.
e.g. T72A :-24.3 points, Chieftain IX :-37.4 points


Tuesday 5 September 2017

Modern Spearhead rules review No1


Modern Spearhead rules review No1

 Image result for chieftain tank

Just had a read through of the rules after last week’s game and these are some points we may have missed

 

1 When a battalion commander is destroyed and an alternative platoon stand is nominated as Batt HQ the battalion may continue with its last order or halt and go on defensive orders.

If a higher HQ was attached to the Battalion then he would step down and take command (allowing order changes)

2 Platoons may only pivot/move against spotted enemy.

3 battalions cannot change orders if all they spot are enemy recon.

4 Recon have a 36” radius on attack orders but standard radius on defend orders.

5 Initiative Nato +2, warpack +1

6 towed weapons require 1 full turn to unlimber

7 Combat teams are spotted as vehicles in the open and infantry in cover.

8 combat teams may only be targeted as infantry when within cover and stationary.

9 All platoons are spotted as in cover when stationary on hills.

10 Hull down is achieved the turn after the vehicle moves into position.

11 Turretless vehicles have a 45 degree ark of fire.

12 Indirect fire uses AT value against combat teams.

13 Indirect fire is not simultaneous, it is I go u go starting with initiative holder who may pass first round.

14 Foo only controls artillery from the battery/regiment it belongs to. (Cannot have 1 Foo controlling fire from 2+No divisional batteries/Regiments)

15 If a foo is killed the artillery may still be used by on table elements with the minus modifiers.

16 A foo attached to a battalion may be dropped off to support battalion, a foo in general support must be within the command radius of a battalion to offer supporting fire.

17 ground attack aircraft may do 2 no sorties, but one of them must be with cannon.

18 Attack templates for aircraft is 2.5x6 inch and for ground attack 2.5x12 inch.

19 AA, HS on the army lists means a 11+12 suppression.

20 close combat, each platoon must individually spot an enemy before attacking, if not must stop at 1”.

 

This is just a quick read through the rules and I may not have interoperated it correctly so feel free to check and contradict anything if have said (I may be wrong sometimes!!!)

 

Army lists are just a base point for army building they will require further investigation to get a correct vehicle designation.

Whereas we took the WW2 army list for gospel the modern lists change too much to be accurate at any given time.

 

The point’s value system helps in some respects as it is easy to say that all UK combat teams were Trojan 2 equipped when picking a battalion to fight but at almost 50% cost increase I tend to use the Trojan 1 teams.

Checking with further reading indicates that only elite formations had Trojan 2.

The nationality point’s modifier is a way to balance perceived super tanks against other tanks; you will always have less super tanks. It’s finding a way to counteract the individually better unit with different tactics.

Quantity has a quality all of its own-Stalin

 

Monday 4 September 2017

1st modern spearhead

Thursday nights game and a try out of modern spearhead.
Meeting engagement with the British against the Russians
Russian advance


Chieftains at the wood edge
as a lynx makes its run

Russian reserves

Chieftains and combat teams waiting

BTR combat teams head for the objective hill

 
We used the combat teams as just the armoured vehicle for simplicity
( Found out that combat teams are spotted as vehicles in the open but infantry in cover!!!)
target priority is key, a few tanks can protect the combat teams and visa versa
Russians do have the numbers compared to most NATO forces
Using combat teams is another skill that needs to be mastered
 

battlegroup WW2

Another battle using the Battlegroup WW2 rules
with lots more tanks this time
Germans advancing
American units are hidden until they fire

M10 struggled with the Panthers

Infantry section and bazooka squad hold up the Germans

Big cats still hunting
US infantry in the building try molatoff cocktails but get shot up as they approached

bazooka squad made them pay for that wheat field and slowed down the left advance

US reinforcements
those 75mm tanks struggle against German armour

 
game end
Only the Panther platoon had made any headway
the German support infantry were slow to get moving
and let the panzer 4 's get ambushed by the US infantry


Friday 1 September 2017

Indo-Pakistan War Aircraft (For Jon)

Image result for indo pakistan war



The aircraft required for the scenario I outlined in the last post are;

India


Canberra
Mystere IV
Gnat
Hunter

Pakistan


F-104A
Canberra
F-86F

That is one interesting mix of aircraft, and probably all rather modern for the time.  Let me know what you think Jon.