A bit of an update.....

and another interesting list?

Well, I have more work than I can shake a stick at just now so progress on projects has been very limited. I have, however, been keeping my hand in and maintaining a keen interest in new stuff.

Albuera: I have been lucky enough to have the chance to do a bit of play testing on Dave Kershaw's new game (which will be out shortly through White Dog). A great area game with some really unique features and fantastic artwork. This will be available as a PnP so you can get it pretty easily. Highly recommended. His designer diary is hidden on BGG so I'll include a link when I can find it.

Donetsk: I have recently obtained a copy of Yaah! Magazine issue 9 with a really interesting modern tactical game. Well worth having a look at and a really challenging battle.

Rifles in the Ardennes (RITA): Tiny Battles have come up with a surprise game by Gottardo Zancani the guy that did Space Infantry. This game, otherwise known as RITA, is a solitaire infantry game with tanks etc. It looks really intriguing and is on my list for Xmas. It is on Wargames Vault for a very reasonable $12.   

Modern warfare: My current interest in modern warfare continues unabated. I recently bought an interesting book, The Defence of Jisr al-Doreaa, in the style of Duffers Drift concerned with US counter-insurgency tactics in Iraq. It is not quite written with the aplomb of Duffers but is nevertheless very enlightening. The book includes Duffers Drift and is well worth while getting for that. However, I have now found the text on the interweb and you can read it here. This link also includes additional training material including videos.  

Also, the US has just revisited it's guidance on war fighting in the light of changes in the modern world. The latest versions of FM-03 and ADP-03 Operations are on the internet. 

HE effectiveness against tanks: Norm has written an interesting blog post about how rules reflect the effectiveness of artillery against tanks. I think this discussion shows how good Norm's Tigers at Minsk are in representing WW2 tactical battles. Nice!

Small games on hex grids: A couple of other blog posts have caught my eye. First, Man of Tin has been using Don Featherstone's Close Little Wars rules on a hex grid. Very atmospheric. Also, on the Projects and Procrastination there is another adaptation of Close Wars for colonial skirmish on a grid. The games look very much like the pictures of Joseph Morschausers gridded games.    

It's never too early for an Xmas book list! Following some discussions with Duc de Gobin, I have become interested in the possibility of using GZ for Vietnam. So, my book list begins with Flashing Saber: Three Years in Vietnam by Matthew Brennan a veteran of the 1st Air Cav which I hope will have plenty of scenario material. I have also been reading some blog posts by Daniel A. Sjursen on The Nation and others. An erudite individual with extensive experience in Iraq. His book, Ghost Riders of Baghdad: Soldiers, Civilians, and the Myth of the Surge, is also on my list. Funnily enough, the Ghost Riders were another cavalry reconnaissance outfit. 

Well, that's it for now, back to work!

GZ: Update

I have uploaded the next working version of GZ. This includes rules for sniper units. As you might guess from the picture above, the next section is breaching.

GZ: Snipers...

filling in the gaps!

I'm starting to make progress with filling in some of the gaps in the current version of the rules. Next up is the sniper section. I'll update the rules page shortly.

As an aside, I'm pleased that the game I have been working on as developer for Tiny Battles (Operation Icarus) has now been released. A really nice game that produces great narrative. Well worth a look! As my first developer gig this was pretty tough and a real learning curve. No wonder my 6 x 6 challenge is behind schedule!

GZ Vietnam.......

search and destroy!

Just to draw your attention to Duc de Gobin's brilliant use of the draft GZ rules for a Vietnam scenario. I'm always really happy when people try the rules I produce especially when it looks fantastic as well!

GZ: Coalition forces....

half way there!

One of the nice things about GZ is that you need very few forces to have a good game. I'm looking at around 8 units per side plus a leader. Each unit is one fire team, one specialist team (HMG, ATGW, JTAC etc) or one vehicle. Above is one leader, one HMG team (ok its cheating, there are two M60 gunners which will do in my book), and one vehicle.

Here are two fire teams (working from the bottom up), HMG team, Leader, vehicle, and, lastly, an ATGW team. 

The troops are Esci US troops (a bit Cold War but they will do for me), the HMMWV is Matchbox and the rest is paper and Fab Foam.

For Coalition forces you probably just need one box of modern US infantry (Caesar make several) and for the OPFOR, one box of militia (again Caesar make two types).  

I have nearly finished painting up my US infantry and have undercoated the bad guys. I have also stocked up on Matchbox style HMMWVs including UN and Police vehicles. In the wings I have 3 M113s (Airfix) and a Revell Abrams (which was on sale for £2.99). I'm also working on an Mi-24 (1/144) to be my generic close air support.

I'm using 3D card buildings from Junior General as well as their trees and elephant grass!

Next step will be to play test through a series of training scenarios which I will post about here. I'm really pleased, this is quite exciting!

Ground Zero...

playtest version now up!

Although the rules are not yet complete, and there is much to do, I'm happy to share this current version in the hope of eliciting some useful feedback from those that take an interest. You can find them here.

The interesting thing about the mechanisms in this game are that they are very fun and very fast. Even playing both sides solo, the rules contain such a remarkable amount of uncertainty that they are very challenging. Mastering the tactics though will be the real trick.

My thanks as always to Peter for the fundamental ideas from his Grid Based SciFi game which form the basis of these rules.

GZ: Training scenario...

it seems to work!

AO Barnet: Block B3 Building 6

Mission: This area has been infiltrated by OPFOR during the night. Surveillance indicates the enemy have occupied building B6 (red circle) with the intent of interdicting the main supply route (dual carriage road to north). The intent is to enter the building using fire and manouvre and destroy enemy forces in close combat.

Enemy: Estimated at 10, light weapons including automatic weapons. Likely course of action is to resist as exfiltration routes are limited.

Own forces: Three fire teams from ready response squad plus one HMG team as manoeuvre support. 

Terrain: The enemy occupies a walled area (low walls) surrounded with open ground. scrub and trees to the south provides a covered approach to the rear of B6.

Time: Building to be cleared by 0700. Units to secure Line of Departure at 0500.

Execution: HMG team to provide support by fire from covered position to left of start line (yellow) with fire team 3. Teams 1 and 2 to manoeuvre and gain access to walled area and then assault and clear the building.

Time schedule: Supporting fires to commence at 0515 and manoeuvre to commence at 0520.

My apologies to anyone that knows how to use METT-TC and OPORD procedures correctly. This is a quick trial run of the basic mechanisms in GZ to see whether they produce the game I have in my head.
  
Set up

So, not quite like the surveillance photo but not bad. OPFOR occupy the house and a small walled grove. Coalition in the tree line, teams 1,2 and 3 reading from the right with the HMG team on the far left.

    

By the way, Fab Foam hexes and Junior General paper house and trees. The low walls do not block LoS but do provide cover. Friendly teams do block LoS.

0515: HMG suppresses the OPFOR team on the roof but it rallies and goes into overwatch. Teams 1 and 2 manoeuvre. 

0525: The HMG team keeps OPFOR on the roof suppressed while Teams 1 and 2 start engaging the enemy in the grove to little effect.

0530: The HMG team fully suppresses the enemy on the roof who now disperse (destroyed, but in reality they couldn't take the heat and scarpered). Coalition pop smoke to obscure the enemy's LoS from the grove.

0535: The guys in the grove make a break for the house as Coalition teams move up to set up a new base of fire. That HMG is proving tricky to move up!

0540: Small arms fire pins the OPFOR team down in the open, they are disrupted and finding it hard to rally and move into cover. Unsportingly, Team 3 with a great LoS pours intense fire into the enemy who crumble and run. My plan had been to use Team 1 to try out the close assault rules.

AAR: Did the rules do the job?

Absolutely, I'm really happy with that little battle. It told a story and the tactical feel was spot on. Even though the rules are simple, they are a bit slippery and I made some errors. 

Tactically, although in this scenario this was the right start line (concealed approach and cover for the support teams), it was too far from the building to make a rapid assault.

Although I rated the Coalition troops as three activation dice (i.e. very good) and the OPFOR troops as 2 (which is not shabby), if the OPFOR had an HMG on the roof then there would have been problems as they would have raked the start line. As it was, two Coalition teams took casualties. 

Overall, a nice little battle. My fallback plan was to call in an airstrike which I might do next time just to see how it works.