Today's list....

of interesting stuff!

Pressing on with the Tannenberg game idea is great but there but I have had to make a list of other stuff that I will return to at a later date (on the glorious day that victory is achieved at Tannenberg).

Websites:

A couple of new developments:

• Norm Smith has a new website constructed without the aid of a laptop with promises of interesting stuff to come.
• Worthington Games is now Worthington Publishing with not only a new website but new lines of games. My favourite is a new block game on the Great Patriotic War: Holdfast Russia 1941-42.

Section of map from rule book example

Games:

• Heroes of Normandie: Not yet published but, I believe, due March this year. By French firm Devil Pig, this looks very cartoonish but I think may be a winner with my kids. One for Father's Day!

• Pocket Battles Confederacy vs Union: Z-Man Games latest pocket battles game coming this spring. I have Celts vs Romans almost permanently out so very much looking forward to this ($14.99).
• Struggle for New France: By Bill Molyneaux. Now available from Wargame Downloads as a print n play for $6.50. Great little card assisted game. Something for Easter if I crack.

• 1812 Battle Pack: Two Buck Games have this on the way from Bill Molyneaux. 12 small games from the war of 1812. $5.00 print n play also from Wargames Downloads shortly.

Miniatures rules:

• So far I have resisted Bolt Action but may now give into Chain of Command, especially now there is a campaign system to support the rules. £6.00, nice.

Paper figures:

• I'm a sucker for paper figures from Junior General. These 18th century numbers by Daniel Harper (The Boyne) and C J Fiorito (Marlborough) are just great.

C J's Bavarians, just brilliant

Fortresses and Zeppelins

History or Dystopian Wars?

I have had a chance today to pursue some further research into the Tannenberg project. What I hadn't appreciated fully before is the extensive use of fortifications by the Germans in the wide open spaces of the east. I was aware of Konigsburg and Danzig but was not conscious of the plethora of fortifications, armed camps and forts that existed in August 1914.

Fortress Boyen

My understanding is that German fortifications were grouped into districts under a District Commander. The relevant districts in the east are:

• Konigsburg District: Including Konigsburg itself (a first class fortress/fortified camp), Pillau (a star fort, part of the Konigsburg defences on the Vistula Lagoon), Memel (coastal fort), Lotzen (Fort Boyen, a brigade sized armed camp in the Masurian Lakes).

• Thorn District: Thorn (a major fortified camp), Marienburg (minor fort), Graudenz (minor fort), Dirschau (minor fort); all of these being on the Vistula south of Danzig, except Marienburg on the R. Nogat. These forts represented the final line of defence for Prussia from any incursion from the east.

• Danzig: A major coastal fortification at the mouth of the Vistula.

• Posen District:  Posen (fortified camp), Glatz (minor fort), Neisse (fortified camp), Glogau (railroad obstruction fort). 

These were not static defences. While having thick walls, heavy guns and supplies to outlast a siege, each fort had a main infantry and artillery reserve. The purpose of these reserves was to prevent the fort itself becoming invested. In wartime, fortresses in the war zone would come under the control of the appropriate Army commander. The fortresses would give up their main reserves to support that army.

For example, Thorn was a major fortified camp providing a home for the equivalent of a whole Division (35th Reserve Infantry Division). There are some 15 individual forts encircling Thorn and covering both sides of the Vistula. The garrison included:

• 35 Reserve Division (two Landwehr Brigades plus artillery and cavalry)

• The equivalent of 14+ heavy artillery batteries (estimated), mainly Landsturm and Reserve;

• A Landwehr Infantry Regiment plus six Ersatz Battalions;

• More than one Fortress Machine Gun Battalion;

• Two armoured trains.

Further details of the garrison can be found in this summary. The 35th Reserve Division was deployed with the field army on the outbreak of hostilities.

What has really spiked my interest is the presence of aviation detachments (aircraft) and Zeppelins as part of these garrisons. Posen, for example, had:

• 16th Feld Fleiger (Field Aviation) Battalion

• 4th (Posen) Fortress Aviation Battalion

• Z-5 (Zeppelin) in Posen (Army Airship: Haupt. Gruener)

A further Zeppelin, Z-4 (Army Airship: Haupt. von Quast), was operated from Konigsburg.

Nice German with aerial toys

Right from the off German air units, including airships, mounted reconnaissance operations as well as bombing enemy targets with improvised weapons. The two Zeppelins conducted the following raids into enemy territory.

10 August: Mlawa Z-4
11 August: Lodz Z-5
22 August: Lager by Gumbinnen Z-4
22 August: Modlin (Novo-Georgievsk) Z-5
25 August: Sierpe-Rypin Z-5
26 August: Lager by Nordenburg Z-4
27 August: Mlawa Z-5
28 August: Lager by Muldszen Z-4
9 September: Lager by Insterburg Z-4
24 September: Bailystok & Lomsha Z-4
25 September: Warsaw Z-4

Note that Z-5 ended its career when it was forced down by the Russians during its last attack on Mlawa.

Another thing that has got me interested is the Baltic Fortress Route. Effectively a tourist trail around the Baltic forts. Great stuff, not sure the wife will let me book it as a holiday!

Pillau, very pretty

Why Dystopian Wars? Well, Germans in pointy hats, airships, aircraft, armoured trains, cossacks? You can't get much more steam punk than that, even without dreadnought type ships and armoured river gunboats. Sometimes real life is richer than even the best created worlds. 

Does Googling while drinking beer count as serious research?

Well really, how else are you going to do it!

My adventures with Tannenberg continue and the research is going well.

I have prepared a test map based on the general East Prussia map in Barbara Tuchman's Guns of August. I'm doing this because I believe that all wargames should have direct links to the material that people actually read. If they encounter a game that has a map that is instantly recognisable to them it will enable them relate game play to history.

I generated a 13 by 9 hex map using an online programme that generated an svg file (whatever that might be). Being technically brilliant I printed it out, took it to the copy shop and got an A3 version made of the grid. I then used pencils and pens to make a map Simple!

Having said that, I will try to make a wholly electronic version but this will take me a while as I will actually have to learn how to create this on the computer. 

Unusually, I made this map very quickly and am pretty happy with how it looks. I spent some time trying to eliminate questionable areas. My only concern is with the Masurian Lakes section where the inter-lake defences need some verification. One of the issues is with Fortress Boyen and in deciding what the fortifications on the map actually represent. More in this in a later post.

In terms of research I haven't just been Googling, tempting as that may be. I have used:

• The World War 1 Data Book: James Ellis
• Guns of August: Barbara Tuchman
• The Eastern Front: Norman Stone

No beer here despite misty outlook!

I think that if you are a casual reader of military history you will have come across the latter two books. The Databook is quite good on OBs but can be a bit limited. I have, of course, cast my net on the internet and found two brilliant references:

• With the Russian Army 1914-17: Maj-Gen Alfred Knox. British Military Attache and front liaison officer. He was with Second Army at the time of Tannenberg. Great stuff from his diaries and it really captures the atmosphere of the times.
• The Russian Campaign of 1914: N N Golovine. A professor at the Imperial General Staff College before the war and holding a variety of staff and command roles during the war this is truly brilliant. Part analysis and part polemic, this was written while the author was in the West following the Communist revolution. Careful Googling that name though, he has a long lost relative called Tatiana!

Both of these references are free on the web through the Internet Archive and US Command and General Staff College respectively.

On the OB front I've used the Nafziger collection. Getting the OB straight, designing the counter manifest and starting on the shape of the game is next on the list. There will as usual be a slight detour, this is around the nature of the fortresses in the east and the tactics of their use. Fortresses with Zeppelins?

I have settled on a  name for the game: "Under an August Sun: Battles in East Prussia 1914"

I shall now do some pointless Googling while drinking some Brains SA Gold, highly recommended.

Action stations!

Anything can happen in the next 30 ...er weeks 

Having pondered my priorities for the year I have made a decision. The target is to design two games. Last year I had considered entering a game to the BGG solo game design contest. My chosen subject was Kursk. In fact I started out on this really well but got severely bogged down in the sizable data about the battle. I missed the deadline but, never mind, it is still on the list, perhaps number 3. 

I have carefully thought through my strategy for this year (on the back of an envelope). My two subjects will be Tannenberg 1914 and Neuve Chapelle 1915. The reason for these selections is:

• They are both relatively small actions. Although Tannenberg is bigger in both geographic scope and numbers of troops, the numbers of formations is limited as is the geography.
• Although games have been published on both subjects, neither are big name battles and there is plenty of scope to take another look (Kursk is, of course, the subject of huge numbers of games and therefore it is difficult to do something really new).
• They are both WW1 battles and therefore there will be a ready current interest which will keep me going. 

So which one first? Well obviously Neuve Chapelle which is why, after making a good start I have suddenly reverted to Tannenberg as the first item. Why? Because I found this brilliant little game on BGG which deals with the whole battle in four "tiles" (i.e. one map and three counters!). This has given me some real inspiration and insight into how perhaps I might pull this one together.

Tannenberg 4 game

The way that I plan to design these games is inside out (top down might be a better way of describing it). The following are my key design parameters:

• The game should be playable on a small surface and fit a 13 by 9 hex (or area) board. This is because I have not yet decided how the game will be presented. It could, perhaps, be a type of Memoir 44 (M14?) game with toys or it could be a very tiny hex and counter game. I'd really like to use some toys on this but will test out the game concepts using counters.
• They should be real, playable games, not just wargames. They should be games that my children would enjoy playing for fun without having to understand early 20th century technology or obscure military terminology.
• One side should be playable by primitive AI (of some sort) making the game an enjoyable solo experience.
• The game should be playable quickly so that balance can be tested out over a large number of plays.
• The towns, terrain and general geography as well as the key units and formations should be instantly recognizable by anyone playing the game who has read one or more popular works on the subject. So if you pick up Barbara Tuchman's Guns of August you should be able to relate the game and the game play to the descriptions in the book.
• An historical outcome should be achievable in up to 50% of plays so the outcome is not pre-determined.

So far so good...and here is some evidence!

My first attempt at the map using the general map from Barbara Tuchman's book. At last, we have some action.....

One gives freely, yet grows all the richer

Annual BGG and Consim World support drives

At this time of year I sit down and figure out how much money I haven't got and then I divide it up and give it away. Oh yes, I have a low threshold for the annual exercises by my favored charities (Oxfam and British Red Cross amongst them). Given the Syria problem I may well be revisiting these charities soon. On a happier note I also fall for the annual supporter drives for my favourite websites: Board Game Geek and Consim World.  

The BGG supporter drive is very worthwhile and this year I believe secured some 10,000+ donations. Apart from a warm feeling for having supported such a worthwhile cause (at least in wargame terms) you get some Geekgold (I'm not sure what you can actually spend it on) and a supporter badge on your BGG avatar. As I use BGG almost on a daily basis, a small donation every year is a great investment.

I also use Consim News on a daily basis and this year have made a donation to keep it going. I'm very pleased to say that Consim World does reward its donors most substantially. This year donors received a number of free games with Gold supporters finding the following in their e-mail:

The Battle of AP Bac by High Flying Dice Games

Anzio by Saxon Games

Braddock's Defeat by White Dog Games

Fairfax's Revenge from TCS Games

To Hell with Spain, an Infantry Attacks module from Avalanche Press

These are all print and play games and they all look pretty good. I'm a sucker for the TCS series of ECW games so Fairfax is a great addition as is Ap Bac. Good all round for supporters and for the contributing games publishers. 

At the end of the day, you have to take a balanced approach to things. I support certain charities because I believe it helps others in times of crisis. I support my board game resources because I think that society, at least the wargaming bit, would be poorer without them. I don't equate one with the other and so far can manage to do both. If I couldn't the choice would be easy, I have too many games anyway.

Ask a stupid question....(1)

Artillery in France 1914 

I have a long standing interest in the First World War and recently read a new book by Ian Senior “Home Before the Leaves Fall” (Osprey 2012). I found this a very well written and informative book that describes in a good level of detail the military events of 1914. Of particular interest is how the author describes the actions of the BEF in the context of the joint operations with the French. Whilst the BEF was not unimportant, it was a pretty minor cog in a big French machine and one which was not perhaps as reliable or useful as we might like to think. 

"75"s at the Marne

The stupid question arising from this book is about the relative weight and effectiveness of French, German and British artillery support. What caught my eye was that a standard French infantry division had only three groups of artillery each of 3 batteries of four guns i.e. 36 guns in total. Even though these are the renowned “75”s, this looked a little thin compared to equivalent German and British organisations which are both twice as big. The question therefore is, did the German army have a significant artillery advantage in 1914 over their most important opponent on the western front? 

There isn’t a short answer and a long answer is actually difficult to find. However, in researching this question I have found some really interesting material. I have recorded this and my thoughts on the matter in the attached PDF.

It has taken me over a year to reach some conclusions, the main problem being the lack of a consistent set of data covering organisations, OOBs and weapons characteristics. So it has been a frustrating journey. Nevertheless I have reached a conclusion. The evidence may not be to criminal standard but, for me, it allows a decision on the basis of balance of probability. 

So, returning to the original question therefore, did the German army have a significant artillery advantage in 1914 over their most important opponent on the western front? The simple answer is no. 

Brilliant shot of US troops using a "75" at full pelt

French forces could generate significant firepower. Divisional commanders and corps commanders could take on their equivalent German foes without major disadvantage. The key area of French disadvantage was their over reliance on one weapon type allowing neither tactical flexibility in the use of howitzers or the ability to destroy hard targets using higher calibre weapons. These problems would become more pronounced as soon as the fighting became more static and entrenchments came into play along the front. 

British forces could also compete equally with the Germans in terms of artillery support. The Germans, however, did have the full range of weapons available giving them tactical flexibility and also the tools to deal with heavy fortifications. 

Note: Having encountered some technical problems with my original post I have revisited this and upgraded the main document to PDF status. This should work OK but takes time to load. Let me know if it doesn't work.

Not the battle of the magazines!

or perhaps the battle of the not magazines

Having re-entered normal life after Xmas I find myself easily diverted and not quite ready to get into planning mode for this year. In fact I have been arsing about. However, in doing so I have stumbled across a couple of publications which are entirely new to me. Both are PDF documents and both are part of a long running series of similar publications so in my mind they are pretty much magazines.

Christmas Special 2013, Two Fat Lardies, 167pp, £6.00

I don't have any Lardy rules but I am familiar with IABSM and have read about Chain of Command (ChoC). So why did I get this? Well, simply because it is absolutely packed with stuff. Yes, it is largely Lard related but it contains some great material on the Spanish Civil War (army lists, tanks and improvised tanks), 76mm Shermans plus 1914 infantry tactics. This is just the stuff I'm interested in. I'm particularly pleased with the interview in the mag with Richard Clarke. On the basis of this I will be strongly considering getting ChoC. I have havered over Bolt Action and decided eventually that I want to take tactical decisions not game decisions. Until now that really has only left PBI as a contender, not being happy with Rapid Fire or FoW. So, I'm catching up on reviews on ChoC and putting on my thinking sombrero.

I understand that Summer and Christmas specials have been produced by the Lardies for some years so that will be something else to catch up on.

Simulacrum 32, 75pp, £3.51 This is an occasional board game e-zine. There is no doubt a professor of history, who, if not too busy disputing nonsense with Michael Gove, might offer some advice on how to pronounce this. Coming from the eastern area of London my natural difficulty with vowels and the letter l probably mean that I am saying something rude in Swedish.

I happened across this through Consim World. What engaged me with it is the involvement of Brian Train, game designer of some repute, and the fact that is contains a game about N Africa, Panzergruppe Afrika to be precise. The magazine is the work of John Kula, a Canadian, and obvious expert in the world of board wargames. It can only be described as eclectic, off the wall and quite mad. It contains a chronicle of wargames from 3500bc to date, some nice disputation about C G Lewin's book on the history of wargames, a brilliant photo of two top Stalinists playing a board wargame in the 1930s ((looks like Napoleon's War: The 100 Days to me), the rules for Kurt Vonnegut's GHQ game and a board game dictionary. Wacky. I haven't evaluated the game (pnp of course) but it has a really novel combat system that looks interesting.

Find this edition at http://www3.telus.net/simulacrum/main.htm worth five bucks of anyone's money.

Talking of bucks, if you go to Wargame Downloads http://www.wargamedownloads.com/index,  which I do a lot, you will find:

1. A free game published as part of Draken Game's latest catalogue, Santa and the Goblin War, featuring evil snowmen, polar bears, elves and goblins. Nice.

2. A bargain basement ($4) copy of the original Vietnam Solitaire game, shortly to be re-issued for some money by White Dog games. This is not to knock White Dog who seem to be developing some really interesting solitaire games, (Dunkirk anyone?). Well worth watching.

3. A finally, Two Buck Games, yup, games for $2.

And another thing, if you go to Web Grognards you will find Trenches in the Tropics, a free game on the battle for Dien Bien Phu. Really nice.

Oh, by the way, who is the winner? Well, its me and you basically.  There is simply so much inventive, funny, free/cheap and interesting stuff going on that we are really lucky. 2014 is looking good so far. Hurrah.