Oil Cheaper than Water....

and other news!

Somewhere in 1973

I have been very interested in recent battle reports by Steve and Duc using the rules being developed by Alex from the Up the Blue blog. So interested that I made enquiries and Alex very kindly sent me copies of both his draft WW2 and modern rules. I have now had a chance to give them a good read and report on what makes them very interesting.The two sets of rules (Oil Cheaper than Water for modern actions and Up the Blue for WW2) are variants of Neil Thomas’ OHW rules. So, although the guys have been playing games much larger than OHW, the rules work just as well with the OHW scenarios as in Alex's latest run through.

Key things of interest for me are:

• Units are platoons with a frontage of 4" (around 350-400 yards) so a great fit with my hex grid.
• Non-tank units can dig in giving protection but also allowing friendlies to shoot over them.
• Units are destroyed on the seventh hit. Hits can be rallied off but....the great thing here is the introduction of permanent hits. Getting three hits in one combat creates a permanent hit which not only can't be rallied off but which creates a negative combat modifier. 
• First player is determined by die roll but there is a negative modifier for lost units, good to represent force attrition.
• Units activate individually, if carrying four or more hits the unit must roll to activate, failure results in the unit rallying.
• Unit actions are move, fire, dig-in, rally and ready, a version of overwatch.
• I'm still working through the combat rules which also look good, more complex because of ATGWs etc. There are fire priority and proximity rules which remind me a bit of Spearhead. Nice!

All in all, a deep game in only five pages of rules. Oil Cheaper than Water is aimed at the Cold War era and will provide a really way to expand OHW into the modern world. 

In other news...

• Tigers at Minsk, west front expansion. Norm has started work to expand his TaM small hex grid rules for the war in the west 1944 as Tigers at Caen. I've been looking forward to these for a good long while so it is nice to know that Norm has them under development. Catch Norm's update here and the original TaM here.
• There is a really nice demo of Trench Hammer on Jozi's blog. Its shows what a neat little system it is. WW2 versions are on the way, Winter Hammer (Winter War 1940) is up first. I'm looking forward to having a go at October Hammer when I get a moment.
• Also, on Bob's blog the welcome return of the Sands of New Stanhall game, a very interesting divisional level grid game featuring companies represented by one figure and with a simple combat system. A Russian front version features in the next edition of The Nugget.

Midwinter update....

Weather hot but the news is cool!

I haven't posted for a while due to pressures of the day job. However, I have not stopped thinking about stuff which will now have to go on the list for next year. So, a nice opportunity before Christmas to get my thoughts in order. 

1. Battlefield Hobbies: This is a new wargames store and gaming facility(?). I came across their Facebook page by accident via PBIcandy. A new wargames store is always pretty rare. What's even more rare is that this one is situated only a short walk from my house in Daventry. Simply unbelievable. Judging by the clientele in the photo I'll fit right in. I'll check it out tomorrow and will do a short write up. I'll even take some photos.

2. Airfix Battles: This project is continuing to surprise me. I see that Benthamfish is now engaged in the game design process. You can check his blog here! This looks like it might be very good indeed. 

3. Aurelian: A new game from Sam Mustafa. This looks like Blucher with ancients. The BGG entry reads like this:

Aurelian is a tabletop game about the Crisis of the Third Century, the period during which the Roman empire nearly disintegrated in constant civil war and foreign invasions.Players take one of four roles: a Roman, Germanic, Sarmatian, or Persian commander. Any number of players can conduct a campaign, in which each type of army has a different set of victory conditions. While holding off Rome's many enemies, the Roman players are also trying to defeat each other and ultimately become (and remain!) emperor.Aurelian can be played with miniatures, or with "unit tiles" on any flat surface, much in the same manner as Blücher's unit cards. The centerpiece of the game is the campaign, in which each player manages the fortunes of his character and faction, much in the manner of the campaigns in Maurice and Longstreet. 

Sounds good. I have this vague idea that PSC have been mentioned in connection with this project but can't seem to find the reference.

4. Neil Thomas' Modern Rules: Well, not quite. Brian Cowan has just published his interpretation of Neil Thomas' second world war rules on the AMW Yahoo Group. Brian has done a great job. The rules include army lists for Vietnam, Yom Kippur, Falklands, Cold War Europe, Modern wars in Afghanistan etc. Well worth a look.

5. Nordic Weasel: Well I'm a dedicated Weasel fan. I'm not sure that sounds good, but it is. The Fivecore series rolls on with this really tempting collection of additional and optional rules. Available for very little ($3.99) from the Wargames Vault. Also on my Weasel list are Laserstorm (sci-fi) and War Story (a narrative based game). This is great stuff, mainly because it is very simple (just like me) and completely interchangeable. My Somewhere in Africa game will use all three levels of Fivecore (skirmish, company and brigade). Looking forward to it next year.

Also, the Polemos GNW rules are now re-released by Baccus and also on the Vault for not much. Something else for Santa to sort out (actually that means I have to pay for it and my wife says, "Happy Christmas").

6. Horse and Musket: This is the Hold the Line adaptation in development by Sean Chick. The rules are now available on BGG as well as a Vassal module so you can get to it now. No news about a publisher yet but its definitely on my list when it comes out.

7. Ideas: Yep, still having some. Thankfully, other people come up with them and I play with them. Two important things so far this month:

• Kaptain Kobold has done some more work on his OHW ECW rules. These are very interesting and I may re-visit my ECW hex based interpretation as a result. Dashing cavalry anyone?
• Combat model for Tannenberg: I have really been struggling with this. I've got a map and OBs and a good idea about time and space. However, the combat model is just missing and I have not been able to get excited about it. Never fear, someone else has had a good idea and I'll just nick it. This idea comes from my chum Norm and his published game Anzio. More on this next year but its a real relief that I have finally got to grips with it.

Unfortunately, its back to work now with a lot to do before Christmas. Hopefully I'll post again before the big day. Cheers.

More free stuff....

Not only free but really good!

Another wet day, I've had my usual weekend morning stroll and have had to dry off and warm up!

Having a day in doors is not a bad thing when you have some new stuff to play with. Here are a couple of free games to interest you.

Tigers at Minsk: A game by Norm Smith. This is a kit that allows you to play a scenario (KG Sivers) from his hex based miniatures game using a map and counters. This originated as a square based map game called Into Battle (2013). Here is a picture of me playing the original KG Sivers scenario following quite a severe injury to the thumb during the preparation of the counters. 

The new map is hex based...

You can find the rules, map, counters and an AAR at Norm's blog. It is well worthwhile exploring this little game.

Phalanx: Phil Sabin has recently used a simplified version of his hex based game Phalanx at this years International Ancient Warfare Conference in Wales. Here is a review of the event from the editor of Ancient Warfare Magazine.

The original game was published by the SoA but a version was also published in Wargames Illustrated. I love this game as it allows you to play 36 ancient battles with some very small generic armies. In this version there are two hoplite armies which use very simple rules to allow you to fight some basic battles. Once you have mastered this you can move on to the full version of Phalanx (then Legion, then Strategos II and then Lost Battles!). You can pick up the kit from the Lost Battles Yahoo Group.

Russia is quite popular......

at least with wargamers!

Well, I hadn't quite realised the amount of current Russian Front activity when I outlined my Plan B campaign approach. I understand that Flames of War's next release is Barbarossa and that PSC released Battlegroup Barbarossa earlier on this year. I'm not sure if this means I'm on trend or slightly behind the times. Never mind. 

Today's Russian front news is that Norm Smith is releasing a campaign system for his Tigers at Minsk rules and, not only that, he has prepared a brilliant trailer for it.....

I must admit this made me smile, lots!

My current progress with Plan B is that I now have some painted German troops, not yet completely finished but well on the way. It will shortly be time to order the infantry.

My campaign will be a solo ladder, so far consisting of four areas to be contested:

Frontier battles	Soviet Mechanised counter attack	Closing the pockets	Exploitation
3. River crossing 5. Bridgehead 15. Fortified defence	6. Flank attack 10. Late arrivals 18. Counter attack	14. Static defence 19. Blow from the rear 30. Last stand	4. Take the high ground 27. Disordered defence 26. Triple line

The references are to the One Hour Wargames Scenarios. In each one the red army is, surprisingly, the Red Army! The idea is that one scenario is selected (at random) in the frontier battles box. If the Germans win they move onto the Soviet Mechanised Counterattack box. If they lose, they have another go at another scenario. This way, the Germans get three goes at moving out of the first box, if they fail all three they lose.

As with all ladder campaigns the idea is for the Germans to get to the fourth box and defeat the Red Army. Similarly, the Red Army works to push the Germans back to the frontier. 

One idea I'm playing with is the use of specific rules for each part of the ladder. For example, the frontier battles box could have an option for one or more Red Army units to be NKVD. Later, there could be an option for Red Army militia units or German exhaustion.

Given the random selection of scenarios in each box plus random army selections in the scenarios and, potentially, some further special rules this will give a real challenge and a unique sense of the campaign. To get in the mood I'm re-reading Robert Kershaw's War Without Garlands: Operation Barbarossa 1941-42.

Its got to be Plan B......

For Barbarossa that is!

I was so very pleased with myself for getting the Wurttemberg cavalry last week that I failed to realise the consequences of my Zvezda purchases (BA10, T26 and Sdkfz 251B). As I said in my last post, these would be used for an early war variant of Norm Smith's Russian front rules.

I have in fact sat down with Norm's rules, which are great, and pondered how I might use them. The main problem from my perspective is the scenarios are very much 1943 orientated. My toys are very much 1941. What I really need is a set of simple scenarios that I can use to play very short games. "Aha!" I said, how about this nice set of 30 scenarios in Neil Thomas' One-hour Wargames book. Ideal, job done then?

Well not quite. The scenarios are really good, for example, Scenario 5 Bridgehead. Blue forces have discovered a river crossing in Red territory and are seeking to take it before Red can get their defences in place. Sounds like the drive on Leningrad to me, even the Blue/Red forces might be a clue. The scenarios can be stuck together in an order, or randomly to represent the campaign. Easy to play solitaire and perhaps could be played as three separate advances by Army Groups North, Centre and South and could even be interlinked.

Great but what is the problem then? Its the rules. I have decided that I want hexes and also that Neil's rules will not do what I want from a WW2 perspective. I love the small forces, army lists and variable composition but what I really want is to be able to have some shooting and killing, not just grinding down the opponent.

The solution therefore is this:

• I use my new hex mat, six by six with each hex representing 6" square to fit Neil's scenarios.
• One unit per hex, which ties in closely with Neil's unit sizes.
• I want a wider force composition so instead of mortars lets have mortars or artillery, lets have AT Guns or heavy infantry (HMGs) and for tanks, lets have tanks or cavalry.
• The units' composition can be determined randomly as per the C19 rules, so tanks could be light, medium or heavy (KV2 anyone!) or even a reconnaissance troop.
• For order of play lets use a unit draw (six red and six black cards), perhaps with a random events card (Stukas spring to mind).
• Then some purpose built rules, taking some lesson's from Norm's rules.

Soviet light, medium and heavy companies, on the kitchen table with optional cake tin

I have to say that I find this prospect very exciting. My current forces include:

German: 1 Pz II, 2 Pz III, 1 Pz IV, 1 Pz 38t, 1 Sdkfz 231, 2 Sdkfz 222, 1 sIG 33, 1 88, 1 Sdkfz 251, 1 beute Panhard 178, 2 Stuka, 1 Hs 126. 

Soviet: 3 T34, 1 BT5, 2 T26, 1 BA10, 1 T35, 2 Sturmovik.

Zvezda T26s and BT5, a light tank company in my book

I have mixed in suitable Axis and Allies miniatures (mainly from the second version) which look pretty good with the Zvezdas.

What about infantry? I only need four units per side. My first thought was to use some 1/72 plastics, similar to the Art of Tactic approach. Having reflected, I have now decided I want some 15mm chaps. This for me is a major departure. They would be my first ever 15mms and in metal as well. I have enjoyed having a quick look at Essex, P Pig, PSC and Battlefront. My preference is actually for Command Decision 15mm from Skytrex which are well priced and give me exactly what I need. I like the fact that the Soviet riflemen have all got fixed bayonets as was mandatory at the time. I'll stick with Zvezda for the vehicles, just on grounds of price.

So, another little diversion but one which will run alongside my Waterloo and Tanneberg projects, probably until Xmas. Once I have finished painting up my tanks, I'll be getting on with the Waterloo play test.

The cake tin contains a chocolate orange swirl cake which I'm planning to eat very soon!

Spoils of War

Derby Worlds 2014

A short dash up the M1 followed by a lengthy wait in the rain to get in. The Castle Donnington site is nothing like as good as the Derby University Atrium (I have said that before). This time round, with plenty of rain and low clouds, it was darker inside than usual. It may well be my eyesight, which is not good, but I found it very difficult to see what was going on. Being wet didn't help. Needless to say, I didn't stay long. 

I had a few things on my shopping list but perhaps the weather made me less inclined to purchase. I saw but did not buy Chain of Command and Crossfire. Nothing much else took my fancy until I got to the Parabellum stall where I found......

Joy of joys! A bit pricey but given that it is out of production I'm not complaining. Also, I found some useful chaps for a future Waterloo Dutch-Belgian contingent as well as doubling up for an 1812 US army...

Last but not least, some extra troops for my emerging Russian Front armies to play an early war variant of Norm Smith's Tigers at Minsk game.

I have had a poor year for the shows. I usually get to WMMS at Wolverhampton but this year was busy working. I also usually get to Claymore in Edinburgh but by good fortune I was there a week early at the Commonwealth Games. I think Derby will be my last outing this year, there is Birmingham Wargamer in late November but this is over by Stourbridge which is a bit of a hike. Never mind, I have some lovely Wurttemberg cavalry to play with!

Personally I blame Norm!

Well, not entirely....

The publication of Norm's Tigers at Minsk rules the other weekend has forced me to take stock. Here is where I am at the moment:

• Tannenberg game: This has stalled for a few months because I have made great progress with the map but am struggling to represent railways on it. I have played around with various packages and am now getting the hang of using curves. Once I have completed the map the rest should be easy!

• Venture Fair: A blockage on this game has been creating images of the counters so that the scenario maps can show the actual deployments, rather than just deployment areas. I think I can now do this but am still having trouble because the font changes when I create a picture of the counter. I think I just need to play around with the font I'm using so I reckon a solution is very close.

It is interesting that I'm having trouble with graphics and not with rules. That is simply because I haven't got that far yet. Luckily, I'm as keen to get the games looking right (the "realisation") as to get them to work so I am maintaining my interest. To help with this I have looked at Cyberboard and Vassal. Neither of them are easy so I am preferring to stay with the real basics (i.e. Paint!).

Why Norm has disturbed me is that his game uses a hex grid of 8 by 6. 

This is Kallistra Hexon four inch hexes. I don't have any of this nor do I have any 10mm troops which is what Norm is using. I do have, however, a very nice T35 that I bought the other week in 15mm and I wondered whether I could use this plus some 20mm plastics. 

The short answer is yes but I need to to use 125mm (5") hexes.

15mm T35 on a trial 5" hex, there is even room for some soldiers!

If I use these can I fit them on my kitchen table (which is the only one the children haven't covered in junk)? The answer is again yes, and I don't have to move the fridge.

Loads of room

So, if I get some 125mm hexes from East Riding Miniatures (48 for £15) I can knock up a nice board for Tigers. This means that I can not only have a crack at Tigers but also Norm's next effort which is ACW.

My other thought, and this is what worries me, is that i think I can fit Neil Thomas's Napoleonic rules (which use a standard eight unit army) to fit on the same hex grid. Mmmmmmh, how much will power will it take to finish the Tannenberg and Venture Fair games when an opportunity like this arises. Stay tuned..... 

Don't forget I also have some Wurttemberger's to use.

Reasons to be cheerful

More stuff on the horizon!

I mentioned recently the publication of FoW's Great War rules at the end of July, and given away free with WI 322. This will accompany me on the summer holidays which I await with great excitement.

However, there really is more stuff....

1. Norm Smith

Norm has been working on a hex and toys version of his Into Battle boardgame.  Norm is publishing rules and scenarios shortly and is packing his blog site with support materials and videos. 

Scenario map from Into Battle

2. Stalingrad Solitaire

A little further off but this game, to be published by White Dog, is due out later this year. Now, Dave Kershaw has designed a lot of solitaire games (Solitaire ACW, Caesar, Vietnam, Barbarossa, Irish Independence). Stalingrad is being designed by Steve Kling but it comes from the Dave Kershaw stable. Looking good....

Hopefully the soft furnishings aren't included.

3. Alfred the Great

Out now and published by Red King Games. Available as a full board game or as a set of 1/72 miniatures rules (using two boxes of plastic soldiers). This first game looks at the battles with the Vikings in AD871. I haven't examined in detail but for $7.50 it looks a bargain.

There we go, reasons to be cheerful 1, 2 and 3!

Serious wargame planning

that looks like playing with toys....

At least that's what my wife says. Anyway, work being very tough at the moment I have had little time to think, let alone progress any of my projects. So I took a little time out yesterday to ponder the battle board.

This is not yet complete but I have managed to do some more painting and its coming along nicely. Another couple of goes and all of the basic colours will be complete. I then need to think about whether I outline the hexes and whether I spay with varnish. Both could quite easily send me back to the drawing board.

First, I used some of my A&A miniatures (the older style 12-15mm size). They fit quite nicely into the hexes and overall I think look quite good. The board with two Panthers about to hold off a couple of Shermans and an M24 but with an airstrike coming in.

Here comes the Tempest, I believe the term is dakka dakka dakka...woosh bang might be a bit childish!

Close-up of a surprisingly nice Panther.

I'm seriously considering whether I can use Norm Smith's Into Battle rules using the minis and this hex grid.

Next up is to deploy the 6mm ACW armies. With a river/sea board edge this might be Shiloh. Rebs converging on the Yankees.

 

I quite like the visuals, it looks rather neat but a couple of things occur to me. First, the base colours are darker than the board (i.e. the darker green which will be the colour for all full land hexes). Second, its hard to tell the sides apart from a normal distance from the board. I may need to colour code the bases. I'm still planning to use Neil Thomas' 19th century rules for this in a heavily modified format.

I thoroughly enjoyed playing around, sorry, seriously planning. I was therefore delighted to see Mr P Aspic has also been blogging about his battle board. I was interested to learn that his hexes are 7" across. Mine are just short of 54mm side to side. Whilst I would love to have a bigger battle board this size has been scientifically selected. It will allow me to play any of the Command and Colours games, the hex grid sizes for which vary slightly. I therefore have a gully between each hex to allow for size differences. I also have a very SECRET plan for the board which will make use of the gaps between the hexes, although this is on the back of an envelope for now.

Achtung Spitfire!

Well, two out of three ain't bad...

I set out two weeks ago to ruthlessly pursue some summer wargaming activities. I immediately managed to go into displacement mode when I found a completed Revell Spitfire Ia lurking in the study awaiting a paint job. I then, ahem, painted it.

In fact I have just finished it and I'm quite pleased with the result. I painted my last Spitfire 43 years ago and time has improved my eye even if my hands shake quite a lot and my fingers are the size of bananas!

I didn't put on all of the tiddly decals and I think I made an error painting the prop boss white, at least in photographic terms. For the record, the top surfaces were painted in English Uniform (Vallejo 921) and Catachan Green (GW and now called something completely different) with Pale Blue (Vallejo 906) under surfaces.

So, having completed arsing about, I have applied my mind to some actual wargaming. In fact I have been playing Into Battle by Saxon Games. I haven't had time to play through a full scenario but I have started to play through one of the four that comes with the game (Scenario 3: KG Sivers). This is a Russian front WWII tactical game with squads, individual heavy weapons and individual tanks. This is the package, compete with random event cards, play sheets and turn track.

 

 

 

What I really like about this is that it uses squares (great), has a feel like Squad Leader to play but without the endless complexity and shows a really good understanding of the technicalities of some of the weapons (the ratings of the Panther tank for example chime very well with some of my recent reading about Normandy).

This is a Print and Play game (PnP to the aficionado) and was really nicely designed for easy assembly. Feeling very cocky after nailing the Spit I proceeded to try to chop my thumb off with a sharp knife and a straight edge. Never mind. It has stopped hurting and I'm ready for a full game over the weekend.

Check out the Saxon Games website, Norman Smith has another three games available one of which (Anzio) I have already purchased:  http://mistersmith.magix.net/public/

So, why only two out of three? Well it has been too hot for "numbers" type thinking, so this may well be the objective for my Autumn offensive.