Old School Tactical - First Play

For a variety of reasons, even though I received my copy of Old School Tactical while at Origins, I haven't been able to get it on the table until today.

Playing the "Brandenburgers" scenario in my new gaming room

Smoke Stains the Sky

Chris and I have been playing a fair bit of John Tiller's Campaign Series PBEM the last week or so, and it has been a lot of fun!

The battlefield for the scenario Tanker's Holiday. My tank battalion moves up from the south toward the objectives and Gotha.

Arrived: Ghost Panzer

Thanks to the efforts of the good folks over at Grogheads, I'm returning to my long abandoned board gaming roots! It's been over 20 years since I bought a board game, and I honestly thought I never would again. Playing Lock n Load: Heroes of Stalingrad and Conflict of Heroes computer versions reawakened an interest in shuffling cardboard chits around paper maps.

Carefully removing Circle of Fire counters from the sprue and clipping them

I dipped my toe in first with Circle of Fire, a magazine game from Against the Odds magazine focused on the siege of Cholm in 1942.

John Tiller's Campaign Series

John Tiller's Campaign Series is one of those games, another old Talonsoft creation, that even today has a large and faithful following. I've heard about it for years, but was always slightly put off by the look of it. Given that John Tiller designed this game I should have known better.

My Soviet Ski Infantry battalion prepares to assault a German held village during the winter offensive of 1942

Hill 228.6 - Bunkers and Mines at Kursk

Kursk is famous for the tank battle at Prokhorovka, but I think the real story of most of Operation Zitadelle boils down to Soviet strong points and bunkers. That certainly seems to be the case in every scenario I've played in John Tiller's Battles of Kursk - Southern Front.

Scenario description

I've not played this game as much as it deserves. Probably because it does depict Kursk, and I find Kursk such a slog that it just isn't engaging. I really like the game system, I just wish it was a different operation.

Anyway, in this scenario I'm again indulging my interest in small unit-scale actions. The scenario represents a battalion action to clear Hill 228.6 of the artillery observation positions overlooking the assembly areas of II SS Panzer Korps on July 4th, 1943. The action begins at 0100 and visibility is very limited due to darkness.

Panzer Marsch!

I've substantially reworked my Combat Mission: Red Thunder mission "Village Z" into a smaller, reinforced company sized engagement. This scenario and map are fictional, but based on a real event that happened along the Kielce-Opatow Road on August 16, 1944. The actual encounter is described in DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY PAMPHLET NO. 20-269. The narrative can be found online at http://www.allworldwars.com/Small-Unit-Actions-During-German-Campaign-in-Russia.html#2212.

EFCO Platoons: Crossing the Dnieper 1943

Chris from The Sharp End Gaming has been hard at work again on Command Ops scenarios. Lately, he's really been pushing the engine to the limit by developing platoon and company level scenarios, something CO wasn't designed to do. Since these fit in with my current fixation on small unit actions (and because Chris' scenarios always rock) I gave his latest, Crossing the Dnieper 1943 a try.

Scenario description. I believe that Chris and I are determined to simulate every East Front river crossing engagement that ever happened between the two of us.

Lock 'n Load: Heroes of Stalingrad

A confession: I bought this game when it was released, played the tutorials and the first scenario of the German campaign and decided I didn't like it. I haven't touched it since. I keep hearing good things about it, though. I also didn't want the money to go to waste. So last night I fired it up to give it another try.

Briefing for the second mission of the German campaign

One Last Trench - Intelligence Prep

I took a break today from working on revising my CMRT scenario to finally give JC's scenario "One Last Trench" a try. This scenario is a fictionalized version of the Soviet assault against a portion of the 78th Sturm Division's final line in the vicinity of Orsha toward the beginning of Operation Bagration.

Scout units trying to firm up the picture of enemy deployments

Reading to Go With Combat Mission: Red Thunder

As I often do with new games, I went searching for books that were pertinent to Combat Mission: Red Thunder. I was, first, interested in a good overview of the operation. The first book I found is relatively short and probably mostly of interest if you're very into an analysis of late-period WWII Soviet offensive doctrine.

Combat Mission Red Thunder: Interesting Screenshots

Just a couple of interesting screenshots from today's gaming:

Tank riders! I'm feeling the combined arms love more in this game than any other since CMSF. Better not take these guys into an exposed position like this, though...

Check out that radio set! This poor FO team observer is hauling the equivalent of a living room cabinet radio set around on his back. The red line in a new (?) feature showing active command links. 

I found the visible portrayal of command links very useful in Graviteam Tactics and am delighted to see it implemented in Combat Mission.

Combat Mission Red Thunder: First Impressions

I spent some time last night and a lot of time today on multiplayer stuff with Steel Beasts Pro PE. So I'm just getting a chance to play with the shiny new release of Combat Mission: Red Thunder, Battlefront's new CMx2 engine release concerning late WW2 East Front warfare. I decided to start with the tutorial campaign to get acquainted with the new features of this release. Also, I haven't played much with Soviet formations at this level and wanted to get some experience with their very different doctrine.

The improved mission briefing screen that we first saw in CMFI makes a welcome return

Gertsovka - Or How I learned to Hate Bunkers

In between working on my daughter's broken computer, plumbing issues, and a snow storm that turned out not to be much of a storm, I've been giving the new John Tiller Panzer Battles game, Battles of Kursk: Southern Flank a spin this weekend. The Panzer Battles games are at a grand tactical scale, larger than Squad Battles but smaller than Panzer Campaigns. Aside from this being a great scale for gaming specific battles and engagements, Panzer Battles has revamped the map, UI, and counter graphics of the Tiller engine. The result is a fast, fun-to-play game packed with scenarios and great supporting material.

Taken together, the game is an impression collection of material for the price. There's a lot of gaming hours in here, in one of the most interesting and challenging WWII settings.

Sector of the I.394 and the village of Gertsovka

Across the Tartar Ditch - German AAR

Tim at RangerX3X beat me to the punch with his great AAR of Chris' soon to be released latest Command Ops scenario, Across the Tartar Ditch. In this scenario the German LIV Corps is tasked with making the breakthrough into Crimea. Opposing them are the Soviet 51st Army. The Soviets in particular hold a substantial (and ancient) fortification known as the Tartar Ditch that the Germans will need to penetrate to accomplish the breakthrough.

Scenario Briefing

New Command Ops Scenarios

Chris from Sharp End Gaming has released the second in his trilogy of Stalingrad scenarios, Race for the Volga. Like Operation Hubertus I was fortunate to help play test this scenario and I can tell you, it's a great one. A definite change of pace from the attrition-heavy fighting of Hubertus, Race really is a race from both side to build up sufficient combat power in the right places to take/hold the high value objectives before the enemy does.

Meanwhile, Tim Williams has released a set of four scenarios called the Tactical Battles Series. These scenarios have a common map and set of objectives and are illustrative of different types of operations, e.g. Airborne, Armor, Line and Combined Ops. I haven't had a chance to play these yet but the idea looks great. I'll be downloading them tonight.

Just in case anyone was wondering, I got smoked again in the "Platoon Recon" mission in SBPro PE 3.0 again tonight. Twice!

Conflict of Heroes

I'm finding that years of computer wargaming have left me with a bit of a bias. I tend to think that for a wargame to be "serious" it has to look like something from 20 years ago and have the user interface of a hand-dug well. Anything that looks good and is easy to understand and play must be "light" and I tend not to buy the game.

Like Unity of Command, Conflict of Heroes: Awakening the Bear proves how wrong that assumption is.

Three Views of Fall Blau: Decisive Campaigns: Case Blue - 2nd Kharkov Beginning

It was a long, bitterly cold Monday, and I need to get testing on Chris' Race to the Volga scenario for Command Ops, but I wanted to take a few minutes and get things introduced for the next entry in the "Three Views of Fall Blau" series.  In our second go around with 2nd Kharkov, I'll be playing Decisive Campaigns: Case Blue from VR Designs, published by Matrix.

DC:CB is a very different game than Unity of Command.  It is almost board game like in it's presentation, and definitely an old school wargame in most of it's approach.  There are some really unique things about it though that make it a real joy to play, assuming you're okay with moving lots and lots of counters.

Three Views of Fall Blau: Unity of Command - 2nd Kharkov

All of this playtesting Stalingrad scenarios for Command Ops has me interested in the entire campaign leading up to the massive battle itself.  Beyond reading Moscow to Stalingrad - Decision in the East I wanted to game the campaign to get an overall sense of events.  It seems I've been collecting games that allow me to do just that.  I have three different games that either have Case Blue as a scenario or are specifically focused on the German offensive of 1942.  Specifically, I have Unity of Command, Decisive Campaigns: Case Blue, and War in the East.

Each of these games is at a different scale and different level of abstraction.  Unity of Command is scaled at 20km per hex with four day turns; units are German divisions and Soviet Corps.  DC: Case Blue uses 10km hexes with two day turns, units are regiments and divisions.  War in the East has 10 mile hexes with weekly turns.  Units are divisions and corps.  Unity of Command is the most highly abstracted of the three, War in the East the most detailed and complex, and DC: Case Blue is also generally complex, though in ways different from WitE.

I then thought that it might be interesting, over the coming weeks and months, to play through the various scenarios and campaigns of these games covering the German offensive of 1942 and the Battle of Stalingrad/Operation Uranus itself and compare them.  All are great games with an eye toward historical accuracy.  I hope that playing through these campaigns will hone my skills with all three game engines the same way playing a lot of Command Ops has over the past few weeks.

While not part of the actual offensive itself, the prelude to Fall Blau is the Battle of 2nd Kharkov.  Let's start our series with this battle as depicted in Unity of Command's "Stalingrad Campaign."

Operation Hubertus - German AAR

For the past several days I've been mercilessly playtesting Chris' Command Ops East Front scenario Operation Hubertus from the German side.  I'm pleased to say that this is one of the most interesting and challenging Command Ops scenarios I've played.  This is not an easy scenario for the Germans; indeed I've yet to do better than a draw.  The complexity of the attacks, the need for excellent timing to allow the divisions to be mutually supportive, and the challenge of having to rotate units in and out of reserve to rest them while always feeling that you don't have enough troops to take that critical objective - well, I've learned more about both Command Ops and commanding multiple divisions in an attack than in just about anything else I've played.

Here then, is a complete AAR of the German side of Operation Hubertus.

Operation Hubertus: Day One

Chris from Sharp End Gaming has graciously invited me, along with Tim Williams from RangerX3X to playtest an early version of his majestic Operation Hubertus scenario.  Tim already has an AAR up of his initial turns, playing as the Soviets. I'm going to play the scenario as the Germans.

If you are a Command Ops player, you are definitely going to want to play this scenario.  The forces are finely balanced and the urban combat is unlike nearly any other Command Ops scenario I've played. Winning this will take some fine generalship - probably finer than I can muster! This is probably the most fun I've had playing Command Ops - and I generally find Command Ops scenarios a lot of fun to play.

Some scenes from Day 1 of the battle:

Day 1 objectives are the Red October and Barrikady factories. I'm moving a Pioneer battalion and KG Seydel into position to join the 212 and 226 Sturm Companies.  Once the assault is prepared, I'm going to attack the Red October factory with the Pioneers and Sturmtruppen with the KG in support.

While my formations move into place, I bombard the objective in preparation.

Dawn breaks as the assault forces maneuvers into position.

Meanwhile, in the south of the city, I prepare several shaping attacks.  I want to tie up Soviet reserves and keep them out of the fight for the factories.

Soviet resistance and artillery fire in the south of the city is tough.  The shaping attacks take casualties before they even really kick off.

By 0822 the Pioneers and Sturm Companies have secured a foothold in the Red October factory.  Strong Soviet forces are still in the area, however.

To the north, a Soviet flanking attack is developing.  I commit the entire 576 Grenadier Infantry Regiment to a spoiling attack to break up the Soviet maneuver before it becomes a problem. The battered 544 Infantry holds in place north of the tractor factory.

The Germans hold the Red October factory, but significant Soviet forces are gathered around the Commissar's House.  That looks a lot like a counter-attack shaping up, to me.

In the south, the 191 Regiment attacks the Pavlov's House objective.
\

Around noon, most of the Soviet troops in the vicinity of the tractor factory have moved west to threaten the 576 Grenadier Regiment HQ.  A recently arrived Croatian regiment is headed north to reinforce them.  I take this opportunity to move the 544 Infantry Regiment south and take the tractor factory objective.

The 576 Infantry took a bit of a drubbing, but managed to stop the Soviet flanking move.  I pull them back to their original positions to rest.

After heavy fighting, the 191 Infantry take the Pavlov's House objective around 1600. This prompts a counter-attack from Soviet forces in the area to the north that will require a further five hours of fighting to clear.

Two reinforcing Pioneer battle groups are now in place to begin the assault on the Barrikady Gun Factory. It is late in the afternoon, but these are fresh troops and I think sufficient to take the objective.

The 544 Infantry hold on at the tractor factory in the face of Soviet counter-attacks.  If they can hold, I'll move the 369 Croatian to their north and seize the Skudri Crossing.  I hadn't intended on grabbing any of the crossings on Day 1, but doing so should keep the Soviets in the north occupied and away from the main effort at the factories.

Things are going well, so I optimistically believe the Pioneer unit backed by KG Seydel can take the Commissar's House objective.  This is a mistake: those troops have been moving and fighting for 14 hours and should be rested before any further attacks.

Assault Group Linden's planned path to the Barrikady Gun Factory takes then straight into a pile of Soviet units. I'm going to adjust their orders to try and bypass the enemy and head straight for the factory.

The attack on the Commissar's House objective is a disaster.  By 1930 I pull my troops back to the Red October factory to take up defensive positions for the night.

Around the same time, 191 Infantry with help from some reinforcements KG Scheel has defeated all the Soviet counter attacks on the Pavlov's House objective and the Germans are pretty firmly in control of the south of the city.

The assault on the Barrikady Gun Factory gets underway while the 396 Croatian prepares to take the Skudri Crossing.  Artillery pounds Soviet units caught in No Man's Land.

The Croatians have taken the crossing, and the 544 Infantry still holds the tractor factory as night begins to fall.

Around midnight the 336 Pioneer Regiment secures the Barrikady Gun Factory, and with it, I've taken my planned for Day 1 objectives.  It's been no picnic, however, and I've taken some casualties.  If the Soviets can mount a significant counter-attack tomorrow, I may be in trouble.

Situation at the end of the first 24 hours. I'm working on an encirclement of the Lazur Chemical Factory and Commissar's House objectives, which are my primary objectives for Day 2. I don't have a ton of reinforcements expected, but I am getting a couple of battalions of assault guns.  Combined with still relatively strong Pioneer formations, I think I stand a decent chance of taking the Chemical Plant.

More to come!  I'll also be finishing up the Zumbelay Withdraw AAR in the next day or so.

Update: Chris has provided an updated scenario, that I'll be playing through this evening.  So, I won't finish this particular AAR, but I will do a full AAR of the entire scenario once we have a release version, probably this weekend based on Chris' latest post.