Operational Game - Umpire's thoughts.

Russian counter attack against the Paras.

That was a great game, with fighting right across the tables, armoured trains, flank marching panzers, para drops, cavalry counter attacks, the lot!  52 turns played on one side and 42 on the other, we played six and half hours and got a 9 - 8 points result by 5pm.  Both sides probably saw opportunities for playing it differently and it was in the balance for the whole game.

Whilst it is fresh I thought it would be a good idea to not my observations on the some of the new things we encountered in this particular game.

The C in C's

Another text in from Ozy!

Frank and Ozy did a superb job, freeing up the front line commanders to concentrate on the tactical play whilst they worried about the bigger picture.  Both of them were worried about the right time to commit reserves making crucial decisions that changed the game.  Ozy's commitment of Mark's last reserve probably saved the entire German right flank, whilst Frank's armoured counter attack saved the airfield and nearly won the game - an especially risky gamble relying on Russ doing just enough to hold 2C and 2D.

I think we need to tidy up our maps and system of changing orders; we are working on this with Russ' pictures.  We could do with a major discussion on this as this requires no painting or major resources but would make the game run so much quicker.  However, we played a record number of turns and I think we are already onto a winner with C in Cs, I'm looking forward to how this idea develops with our future games.

Aircraft

Stukas looking for the train.

The aircraft of both sides were very effective.  Although Frank and Ozy have never played the game before, they brought a perspective that has improved the use of this asset.  Initial control of the on table airfield allowed a Russian strike against the German off table airfields that nearly destroyed German air superiority - Ozy ensured the Russians never used this asset again.  Frank carefully husbanded his resources throughout the game, and the Russian medium bomber was devastating despite its vulnerability.  Ozy's use of the recon was a crucial part of Jon's drive onto 2D and was probably decisive in securing the two points on that table.  The lurking recon on 3A was also a major influence in preventing Russian reinforcements for a proposed counter attack on 2A via a Russian engineered bridge!

Indirect artillery

150's waiting to hit dug in Russians.

The Karl Mortar made some impact on Jon's attack against the train but overall I think the German's missed an opportunity to better use this supporting arm.  Battalion support from 150's was effective on individual attacks but a coordinated use of divisional 105's and 150's could have been devastating.  The Russians don't really get an opportunity with their poor command and control but the Germans should give some thought about supporting their ground assaults against dug in and static Russian infantry.  Use recon to find the Russians and then hit them with concentrated artillery rather than sending in the poor infantry on their own.

These are just my observations but I'm sure you have your own - share them and the game can only get better.

PS; Jon can you send a link to Frank for the blog so that he can add his comments.  His email is fands58@talktalk.net