Polar Coast

   External playtesting for Release the Hounds is "Dead in the Water" as all my playtesters have abandoned me.  No worries, I still have the rules and am continuing to work on Flotilla Forward! Am now working on bombardment rules. With my Soviet Destroyers painted up we enter the Polar Coast!

Kaptain Doydz was excited that he was being given an exciting mission for his ships!   A bombardment of the Fascist artillary positions.  With any luck the Kriegsmarine would react.  The old navy men were like women and wouldn't let his destroyers take on the Nazis usually.  All he could do was lay mines.   Tomorrow would be different!

Silny      Project 7U DD                        Crew     green
Kaptain III Ranga    Doydz       Mecurical/ position                  party member

Storozevoy      Project 7U DD                 green
Kaptain  III  Ranga   Junlov          Sensible/ skirt chaser


Visibility    4 miles     Seas slight chop       wind light breeze  to the southeast       Time 1300 L

The plan was to arrive off the coast 3 miles away, slow to 10 knots and use map fire for 15 minutes and then retire.

As the russians started to fire to the left of the lighthouse...

  Light artillery fire coming back from the

Polar Coast

 

 

The Storozevoy continues to pound the artillery while Doydz's gunner officer finds a battery of 88s near the lighthouse and a duel commenses.  The Nazis are given a good pasting (actually just temporarily neutralized) while a lucky hit knocks A turret off balance and it can not rotate properly. 

 

While this is occuring...

 

A look out sees shapes on the horizon!

 

 

In Flotilla Forward these are probablly DDs but can be torpedo boats or even a Light cruiser!  They turn out to be 2 Maas class DDs and the battle is on!!

 

 

For Workers Everywhere!

 

 

Unfortunatly early in the battle...

 

 

Silny with minimal damage but a large fire!

 

 

With his ship on fire Doydz moves upwind while his guns (minus A turret) continue to fire.   The Soviets manage to pound the lead german DD and it sinks!   The remaining German DD retreats.  (Sorry I forgot to take pictures of the battle!)   The Storozevoy is lightly damaged.    Unfortunatly as the Silny makes its way back to port at 15 knots the fire continues to spread  (Soviets stink at damage control) and Doydz must eventually give the order to abandon ship.  

 

Fortunatly this is seen as a victory by his superiors as the Germans lose a DD and the bombardment was a success!    The Storozevoy is quickly repaired and Kaptain Doydz meets Mrs Rennivon the Commisar's wife and falls in love!   Not a good thing even for a party member.

 

Great game and challanging taking the Soviet side.   I ordered some Minesweepers and MTBs from Morningsides which I will have to paint up soon. 

 

Meanwhile the lighthouse still stands guard along the Polar coast...

 

Enjoy

Joe

 

Prospero Año

Hope everyone had a great holiday!  Mine was fantastic hence no posts.   Time for family and a trip to Spain. 


We also got to Gibraltar where I visited the great tunnel.  Not too much left there from WW II though.

Main gun room of the great tunnel

 Played some SAGA, Bag the Hun and Release the Hounds.    Actually got some ships I plan to use as my Russian navy.  Next time a RTH battle report.  Today I wanted to talk about a game I bought my son. 
I bought my son the X-wing game from Fantasy Flight.

 I am not a huge Star Wars guy but it was a lot of fun.  It reminded me of P-40s vrs Oscars or Nates. :)   The system is simple yet subtle.  I really like the combat resolution routine.   It uses special dice but the dice take into consideration extra factors (concentration) and critical hits all in one go; elegant.   Battles are not in the vertical (except you can do an immelman) but it seems to work well.   Movement is simultaneous as plotted on a wheel which is a bummer for the solitaire gamer and combat is sequental based on pilot skill.  My son actually came up with a way to play solitaire which should work.  Roll a D6 for each pilot to determine who goes first with highest score going last.  An average pilot has a +2, Veteran +4 and Luke and Darth +6 to the die roll. 
Most importantly we had a blast playing!  They don't call the Immelman turns "Immelman" turns in the game but something else.  So I was able to poke my son by referring to them as such!
We played everyday we weren't in Spain and got to spend some quality time together. Any game that can do that is OK in my book!   

{ Sorry there are no pictures for this post.   I can't seem to load pictures from my hard drive anymore.  Does anyone know how to do that now?   It use to be an option under insert picture.}

Cheers

Joe

For Brother Cearl

Hope everyone is gearing up for the holidays. I would also like to thank WI for publishing my essay on all of us wargamers getting along.

  As most of you know I am always working on several projects in parallel.  Today I would like to report on my SAGA variant which hopefully will be appearing in WI soon and my campaign rules " Warlord Forward" ( not linked to SAGA but can be used with them obviously).  The variant is done and plays well.  WF is in playtest.  I have the basic scenarios but am trying to get the force levels right and am testing the events. 

Thrydwulf knew what he must do.  A Welsh raid had stripped Br Cearl's church of all it's gold.  Br Cearl had learned of it's whereabouts and had pleaded with Thrydwulf to get it back "In the Name of God."   He gathered his forces and planned a dawn raid.

His movements through Welsh terratory were detected however and when he arrived the Welsh were waiting...
Forces
Thrydwulf    generous/wealth
(Lt) second in command    Janurl the scarred      optomistic/position
Champion  gr III     Raldulf     haughty/wealth 
Br Cearl   liberal/wealth
10 Huscarls
20 Ceorls
4 Geburs ( bows)

Unplesantries were exchanged including questions about parent's marital status.  Then Raldulf challenged any Welshman to beat him in a duel. 

The duel begins!!!

This also shows the starting positions of the forces.

Welsh on the left, Saxons on the right

Each figure represents 2 men

 

Raldulf fought with skill but so did his opponent and at the end both men were down with no clear victor.

 

The horn sounded and the saxon line advanced under a hail of arrows and javalins that took their evil toil.  The left advanced faster than the right (where Janurl was) and crashed into the welsh line. 

A melee ensues

 

 

Heavy fighting errupts along the line with both sides morale holding.  The Welsh hold their few Teulu out of the fight while Thyrdwulf commits his huscarls to break the welsh. 

 

Thrydwulf himself comes up to break the Welsh center!

But wait, the Welsh warlord forms a shieldwall with his Teulu

as a last line of defense. 

 

 

(Teulu are the only Welsh that can form shield walls in my variant)

Thrydwulf laughs out loud, "These welsh are so stupid." He crashes into the welsh right avoiding the shield wall. 

But down the road is that hoofbeats on the wind?

Fresh mounted warriors assault the saxons as they move around the sheild wall.

Thyrydwulf (next to his banner) and his men

slay all the riders without loss!

 

 

The Teulu break sheildwall and charge

with a yell to avenge their comerades

 

 

Men fall on both sides with neither side yielding the field as morale and bloodlust remains high but the saxons are outnumbered!

 

Janurl shows up (center) to add his welcome axe

to the fray and Br Crearl adds prayers to the Almighty

(note the welsh archers in the background)

 

As the last Teulu falls their cowardly warlord retreats towards some (7) Priodaur.   Thrydwulf looks around.  He has 2 huscarls and Janurl left, Lord be Praised!  

But then, as the Lord giveth He taketh away.   A cloud of arrows appear from behind and his two faithful huscarls are struck down! He does not know what he has done to anger the Lord but he must admit defeat.  He can not defeat 7 Priodaur, the oposing warlord and walk the arrow gaunlet today with just his Lt. 

 

Great game and I thought I was going to have an epic ending until the saxons got boxed by the bowmen.  The variant rules are designed to add a little more on board strategy to a great game system without adding a lot of rules or time.  It also adds some "rugby scrum" type of melee to the game. WF is shaping up well but I think the system gave the welsh too much stuff this time.

 

Post game Thrydwulf's reputation goes down by 2 and his Ceorls have lost some confidence in his abilities. ( -1 morale)  Interestingly Br Cearl is not mad but appreciated all the Thrydwulf did.  In Br Cearl's telling of Thrydwulf's heroic fight 6 more Huscarls have actually joined the cause! 

For those of you that want to recreate this fight using your system here is what WF generated for the Welsh.   The gold is in the house.  Get it and leave the board.

1 warlord

6 Teulu

24 Priiodaur   ( 8 come in as reinforcements mounted on a roll of 5,6)

8 Bonnedig

 

 

Enjoy

 

 

Joe

 

 

 



Motivation by The Croc

Hope everyone in the US is preparing to give thanks for the past year.  Had about 20 UK surgeons over with their families to introduce them to an american thanksgiving.  It was a blast.  Sweat potatoes seemed to be the most popular!
Used my Australian platoon from New Guinea this week.  Lt Pinky Seibert is recovering from wounds.  The Sgt Major took them out on their last patrol and was seriously wounded.  Today they have to clear a section of road along the trail.  Their company CO is legandary and known only as " The Croc".

The Croc mused as he looked over the map.  1st platoon was in the best shape.  They were good lads and McDonnel was a fine NCO.  They would do as the spearhead for the attack.  With Pinky still out he would be there with them in case they needed a push.
Characters
The Croc        Company CO                 Gr III        Brilliant Leader
Cpl Tommy Higgins       1st section    cheap/position          Gr I
Cpl  Stokes                      2nd section   cocky/wealth           Gr I
Sgt Ken McDonnel          3rd section   foolish/ religion       Gr II
2in mtr          1 Honey tank    3rd section has increased morale
2 stonks of 3in mtr pre game and 1 mission during the game.

Aussies enter from the top

Primary goal is large building near the road

 

 

Native scouts revieled a MMG on the hill to Croc's right. [cool pregame event]  So that got a pre game stonk and the green hill on the left got the other one.  The plan was to have the honey enter the via the road and pin down the MMG while two section went through the jungle to attack the hill on the left.  Cpl Higgins' section would be held back in reserve with Croc. 

 

The artillery was ineffective and the tank was driven back by the MMG!.  2nd section laid down fire on a Japanese squad near the hill while Sgt McDonnel attempted to close.

 

Sgt McDonnel moves up the flank!

 

Sgt McDonnel closes with the enemy

and wins the position in a close run thing

 

 

Croc moved up Cpl Stokes but he was slow on the draw due to the MMG that was firering across the valley. (The Stuart was useless) He sent Cpl Higgins around the left to take care of an ATG that was postioned near the house. 

 

Sgt McDonnel had his 6 survivors fire on some more infantry in the jungle in front of him.  Suddenly a cry of Banzai! was heard...

 



 



 

Banzai!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Cool random event caused the Japanese commander to act on his own, ordering a charge. :) ]  Turned out to be a brilliant move as 3 section lost 2 more men and were swept from the position. 

 

The Croc had had enough.   He went out to where 2 section was milling about the Stuart.

 

The Croc motivating his NCO and

the second section!  @#%&@

[the dug in marker is for Jap pre registered fire

per the rules.]

 

After sufficient motivation,

The Croc leads the men into the Japanese

position himself

 

 Needless to say the Aussies carried the position and the day.  Great game with the Japanese very tenacious. 

Post game a lot happens.   The Croc relieves Cpl Stokes of his NCO stripes.  He is transfered to another company to save him a little humiliation.   Pvt Collins, a hero in first section from an earilier game, is promoted to Cpl and will take second section.  Sgt McDonnel misses his roll to become a Gr III leader unfortunatley.  :(   Pinky is recovered from his wounds and will be back with the platoon next battle.    Also, while the battalion commander, LtCol Devers, is touring the unit, Cpl Higgins lets him know what he thinks of conditions for the fighitng man.  Devers is pissed. (-1 towards the platoon) The section is thrilled with their leader's bravery. (section morale +1).  

[ My two events were; Higgins meets battalion CO with a negative encounter and 1st section morale goes up.  I thought that was a good explenation!]

 

For those of you that want to recreate the battle.  When rolling the Japanese I did not use "C" blinds but gave them an addition "B" instead and make one of the real Bs an ATG. I gave them two potential pre plotted 76mm arts as per the company attack sceanario.  If you are not rolling up forces the forces I actually used were a little light:

2 squads           1 Gr III leader

1 37mm ATG    1 MMG 

For play balance I would add a section of knee mortars or a half squad plus a Gr I leader.

 

Happy Thanksgiving!

 

Joe

Middle of NoWhere--Yugoslavia 1942

Hope you all had a great Veteran's day or Rememberance day.  I had the honor of representing the base at a local ceremony and laying a wreath; very touching.  There are still people dying in the defense of freedom every day-- remember.
Been doing a lot of Release the Hounds lately and starting to work on a scenario generator for Flotilla Forward.  The game I would like to report on today is a Middle of NoWhere scneario using my Italian platoon on anti partisan duty in Yugoslavia.  This is only their second scenario.   They won the first and their CO promised them extra equipment for this one.  I rolled up a Patrol and the board turned out to be a village.  In Middle of NoWhere, unlike Platoon Forward, there is a chance that the enemy will be tipped off to your patrol and can set up a hasty ambush.  This is what happened here. As the partisans approached the village they were warned of the approaching column.

Lt Scapolini was still stuck in Yugoslavia. He had won the last battle but it wasn't enough yet.  He would bid his time.  At least it was better than Russia!  His CO wanted the platoon to conduct a patrol through a local village to show the populace who was boss.   Scapolini would take his second squad as they were weak and this would give them some practice.  The CO secured an old german AC for support.
Characters
Lt Scapolini   cunning/avarice                Gr II
Sgt Gunesto  2nd sq   unsupportive/religion    Gr I
Cpl Tarento  ASL     Cheap/ position          Gr I
2nd squad is -1 morale
I play the Italian squads are made of 18 men broken down in a 10 man assault team and a 8 man 2 MG team.  The platoon has 2 squads.  

Italians enter the north end on the road

Partisans entered 2 turns early bottom left

 

Italians enter with 5 men in the lead and Sgt Gunesto

 

Suddenly the column started taking fire from several buildings on their right.  Most of the squad fell to the ground and would not move.   The AC started to return fire while the Lt and Sgt Gunesto tried to rally the squad.  Lt Scapolini sent one LMG into a nearby building with Cpl Tarento. 

 

Then the Italian spear blunted!  The lead Italian group of 5 sustained 2 KIAs and the last 3 fled into the woods while the MG in the german AC broke.   The Lt took the remaining assault soldiers and LMG and led them around the building in an attempt to outflank the partisans.

 

Scapolini is met by partisans

 

 

Trying to keep momentum going!

 

 

Cpl Tarento retreats from the house and

the partisans move up

 

 

Partisans smell blood

 

 

With his LMGs retreated Lt Scapolini can not advance against the partisans and he pulls back out of the town.  The squad sustains 2 KIA and 2 WIA.   He doesn't know but the partisans sustain no casualties.  

 

Post battle  his report to the Captain stresses a well laid ambush against his forces by a large partisan force and the Captain buys it.   The squad is upset with Cpl Tarento and doesn't trust his leadership.  Their morale stays at -1.   He has a talk with Sgt Gunesto and says if both NCOs don't shape up next battle he will have them both removed.  He also meets Senior Mafusco, a man from the goverment ministry.  Lt Scapolini hope he will either be a ticket to wealth or a ticket to Rome.   We will see... 

 

Fun battle that played fast due to the small forces involved.   For those of you that want to try it the enemy forces generated were:

 

2 partasan squads and 1 LMG.

 

3 grII leaders.

 

 

Enjoy

 

Joe





 



V Flottiglia 1942

Playtesting of Release the Hounds proceeds with outside playtesters now on board.  This has forced me to actually write down the rules which is a good thing.  It drives clarity.  I have also tweaked the sighting mechanism.   In night combat sighting is critical so I wanted a system that is tense and allows for ships close that don't see each other. 
I think the rules are 80% there.  Which means I can start to  put together Flotilla Forward as well.  One of the main missions, as you can imagine, is Patrol.  This mission is similar to Squadron Forward so far-- we will see where it goes.  My first flotilla is a MAS boat flottila; the fifth based in Tunisia.

SubLT Rizzo could only find one good thing about being in Tunisia; at least he was saving money!  Lt Bendinni  [ glum/ religious] had come back from daily Mass depressed as usual when he called Rizzo into HQ.  Rizzo,  you should have gone to Mass with me today, the higher ups want a patrol tonight.  Take 4 boats out into the Gulf and see what you can find.  Take Melli with you since he is in love with Il Duce!
Characters
SL Rizzo  Cheap/Money               Boat one int  1
Midshipman  Ciero   Cheery/ Alcohol   [mustang]    Boat 2  int 2
SL  Melli   Foolish/Govt    [mustang]     Boat 3 int 1
Midshipman Catona   careful/position  [military]    boat 4  int  2

Rizzo assigned the officers to the two boats with the junior crews.  He then attached a midshipman to each officer.  While SL Melli might be a Fascist to the end, he was a former petty officer [his political connections got his commision] and knew how to handle a MAS boat.  This would form 2 teams of boats.   They would sail just under a mile apart.   SOP would be if they came under flares they would accelerate forward.    Also if multiple targets were sighted and the order to attack was given by Rizzo, he would take the port targets and Melli would take the starboard targets.  These SOPs were important because signals had to be kept to a minimum in the heat of battle.

Initial positions of the ships

Each hex is 500 yards 

Max sighting 4K yards

 

A flare popped  a mile behind Rizzo.  Unfortunatly he was use to this now that many allied ships had radar.  He accelerated his boat as all eyes strained to see something in the darkness.

 

Next flare on target!

 

The light above him made Rizzo wish he had gone to Mass!  Now one of his men called out a ship off the port bow.  It was an enemy frigate.  [got to roll this up--cool :) ]    Signal the other section, quick turn and prepare torpedoes.   With only one puny cannon in the back the MAS is a true one shot platform.

 

Bearing down on a Captain class frigate as shells start to fall

 

 



Splinters hit the MAS boat and disable the torpedoes!

 

 

Despite no torpedoes, Rizzo leads Ciero in the charge and torpedoes are released at just over a mile.

 

 

Melli's team releasing torpedoes at 1 mile.

 

 

HMS Ekins had no time to turn and 1 of the 4 torpedoes hit aft severly damaging the engine room.   The MAS boats left the scene quickly.

 

HMS Balfour started a turn but it did not help.

 

She sank in 20 minutes.

A very fun and quick game.  It played in less than an hour.
Post game the Flotilla reputation goes up by 1.  The integreity of boat 3 improves to 2 and Lt Ruzzo meets Sophia Luccia, a very senior Air Force officer's daughter.   They have fallen in love.   This could get interesting since daddy doesn't know.

Hope you enjoyed the update of both products, the scenario if you want to try it and the story of the V Flottiglia

Enjoy

Joe



Great Book Alert!

Sorry for the gap between posts.   Have been in the US taking a course for "senior medical leaders".  
It did give me time to read a great book on the challenge of leadership. I led a Military Police platoon briefly and have been on "G" series orders for the last 8 years for those of you who know what that means.

 This book realy talks about the strain of command and the anguish of not always getting it right better than any I have ever read.   It's lessions apply not only to Vietnam but to small unit leadership throughout time.   It truely talks about "Platoon Forward".  For the gamer it also makes for some great Vietnam scenarios.  The Cross of Iron was the best war novel I had ever read but I think this one matches it and it is not a novel!  {Honorable mention goes to Delilah,  Soldier of the Great War and Bomber.}  


Cheers

Joe