The company command tank, behind the far house, burns. Along with it, in the same turn, his 2ICs tank burns. The previous turn saw two other Panzer IIIs killed. 

Getting close to the end here. Three out of five StuGs are burning, all the Panzer IIIs are burning. 

PanzerGrenadier platoon takes some hits. Two KfZ 70 Krupps trucks are burning, one section of first squad survived. At this point, only a "Hail Mary" will win the game for the PanzerKompanie. 

The last surviving StuGs are bailed. In a moment they will be fired on, fail their leadership, and the game is over.  

Tin Soldiers: Julius Caesar

This is yet another article on a computer game, but, like "Tin Soldiers: Alexander the Great" (see my previous article from July 2005), this one is unique in that it tries to present the look and feel of a table top miniatures game. I ordered this game from http://www.strategypage.com(it is a bit cheaper there) even though I had only just started the first game in the series which is based on the career of Alexander. I had heard that the Julius Caesar game ushered in some improvements to the game system so I wanted to try it right away. Now that I have started playing the Julius Caesar game I am "hooked" on it and I need to play it all the way through before going back to Alexander. So, what is different about it? The biggest change is that you can select between three different difficulty levels. The main criticism of the Alexander game is that it is just too hard. Another change is that you can now select and play any of the battle scenarios as "one of" battles instead of playing through the whole campaign in sequence. In my opinion it is better to play the game as a campaign. It gives you the challenge of managing your forces over an extended period of time. Best of all, the campaign system is not strictly linear. In the first phase you can pick which battles against the barbarians you want to fight. The idea is to build up sufficient prestige points to force the Siege of Alesia scenario to come up. Getting past the Alesia scenario will take you into the second phase of the campaign which is the Roman Civil War. This idea of picking which battles you want to fight during the campaign is a real plus. That means that when I start a new campaign I won't necessarily be playing the same scenarios all over again! Another improvement that I really like is that the "figures" appear to be sharper and more detailed. I like the fact that they collected and painted armies of 25mm Wargames Foundry figures as an inspiration for the computer code writers. Now, about the difficulty level. While it is true that it is not too hard to be successful playing on the "Easy" setting, you will discover that you still have to employ good, and clever, tactics in order to succeed. Let me give you an example. One of the battles I selected was "Ariovistus," which is where you get to try to push the Germans back across the Rhine River. In my first attempt I spread my cohorts out across the width of the "table" and advanced. I quickly found out that I was vastly outnumbered everywhere, and even on the "Easy" setting I was in a hopeless situation. At any point in a battle you can hit a "Restart" button and start over, which is what I had to do here. This time I massed as many units as I could, and also my best units, on the left flank. When the battle started I attacked aggresively on the left while refusing the right. This worked perfectly, by the time the warbands on the German left had finished marching across the "table" to engage my right flank, my left flank had crushed the German right. This brought the numerical parity down to about one-to-one, which meant that the remaining German units where doomed. It was very gratifying to say the least! Right now I have made it to the Siege of Alesia, which is a real rollercoaster ride. It seems hopeless, but so far I am holding out. Let me close by saying that I highly recommend this game for any computer gamer or tabletop gamer; both will enjoy it. If you are trying to choose between this one, or the Alexander game, get this one first. I'm having a great time with it and I will probably write more on it later. In the meantime, if you want to see more "eye candy" go here.
Good Hunting!
"Bwana Bill"

A Tribute to Larry Brom

For a while now you have heard me speak of the rule set called “The Sword and the Flame (TSATF).” If you go to any gaming convention and walk around the tables where people are running scenarios from the Victorian Era colonial period, you will invariably see the TSATF rules in use, especially if the scale is 25/28mm. In other words, it is the standard, and has been for quite a long time. Therefore I thought it was about time that I wrote about Larry (The Brommer) Brom, the legendary author of those rules. Like a lot of other gamers from the old days Larry “cut his teeth” on Napoleonics. He first got into it back around 1953 after serving as a Marine rifle squad leader in Korea.

In the mid-70’s he got interested in Zulu War gaming and tried out a couple different sets of rules from the UK. Larry thought that they were all lacking in play balance even though they might be accurate in their portrayal of British firepower. As Larry says “it might be good history, but if it is not good game-play then what is the point in playing?” Larry’s philosophy is that “fun comes first.” He therefore wrote the first version of TSATF in 1979 and it has been the standard ever since. Larry came up with a simple system that feels realistic and gives the natives a fair chance. He was the first to use playing cards as a system for regulating movement turns and, breaking with tradition, he has you roll dice to see how far each unit moves. These ideas really add a lot of drama to every game! If you would like to read more about Larry’s rule design philosophy, go here.

Larry’s TSATF system is so successful that it has been adapted into may different forms both by Larry and many others. I have seen variations covering the French Foreign Legion, Caesar in Gaul, the Boxer Rebellion, the American Civil War, to name but a few. I have even heard that Larry is now working on a fantasy battles version of TSATF, the Warhammer guys should be nervous! Larry is a prolific game designer who recently published a squad level skirmish set of rules that covers WWII in the Pacific. I have not tried it yet, but from what I understand it is not a TSATF variant, it is a whole new system. If you would like to peruse Larry’s line of products follow this link and click on the "Amazon Z-shops" link at the bottom, after that click on the link that says: "See all And That's The Way It Was listings." And “no,” this is not an advertisement, just a recommendation!

The gaming community knows and appreciates Larry’s contributions to the hobby. When I attended Cold Wars this year, I had the unexpected honor of playing alongside Larry in a Sudan scenario. We were defeated, but it was glorious nevertheless! All of us old timers appreciated the fact that they were playing with a gaming legend and we made sure that the young “whippersnappers” in the game appreciated it too! I have also learned that HMGS South is planning to honor Larry as their Guest of Honor at their upcoming "Hurricon" convention. Also, when I was at Historicon a large group of gamers gathered together to call Larry at his new home in New Orleans to wish him a happy 75th birthday. Here’s to many more Larry!
Good Gaming!
"Bwana Bill"

"Bwana Bill (center) and Larry Brom (right)leading the British to glory in the Sudan" 

"Larry in the guise of a British general (photocredit to HMGS South)" 

Kursk Denied

The first Panzer Kompanie, 21st Panzergrenadier Regiment failed to appear at the Line of Departure (LOD) in time for the battle. Mechanical issues* denied them the ability to appear for the battle.


*Real world, this means my truck had some serious issues and it was unsafe for me to drive 20 miles north in D.C. traffic to play. :-(

WarnOrd - Flames of War: Kursk

Tonight, I've been invited to a Mega Game of Flames of War where we will be revisiting Kursk. The battle we are playing is set on the outskirts of the city, in the rolling hills and open plains. Not much cover there, methinks!

I'll be sure to get some pictures and provide a good battle report.

To prepare for this battle, I've had to paint up 18 tanks and 6 stands of Panzer Grenadiers, as well as their Krupps trucks (6) and command vehicle, plus command and mortar stands. I have finished the Panzer grenadiers, their vehicles, and the command stands. I have to do a bit of touch up on the 18 tanks for them to be complete.

Nine of the tanks are for my forces - the other nine are for Louis - he is playing Soviets and needed an SU-76i platoon(5) and an SU-122 platoon(4).

I've got them pretty close to being finished and will pop some photos up once they are done.

Here is my 2000 point force list or roster. I used Army Builder 2.0 to build it. I highly recommend Army Builder as a tool - just remember the data files are built by fellow gamers, and may not always be accurate or up-to-date.

2000 Pts - 2nd Panzerkompanie, 21st Panzergrenadier Regiment (Kursk)

Unit Name ## Range RO AT FP ro id To Cost

Company HQ 1 245
Confident Veteran
Panzer III N 1 24''/60c 2 9 3+ 5 3 1 [115]
SdKfz 9 1 [5]
Half-tracked;; Recovery
vehicle
Panzer III L or M 1 24''/60c 3 9 4+ 6 3 1 [125]

Panzer Platoon 1 440
Confident Veteran
Panzer III L or M 1 24''/60c 3 9 4+ 6 3 1 [130]
With Schürzen 1 [5]
Panzer III L or M 1 24''/60c 3 9 4+ 6 3 1 [130]
With Schürzen 1 [5]
Panzer IV G (late) or H 1 32''/80c 2 11 3+ 6 3 1 [180]
With Schürzen 1 [5]

Panzer Platoon 1 895
Confident Veteran
StuG III G 5 32''/80c 2 11 3+ 7 3 1 [895]
Fully tracked;;7.5cm tank
gun; Hull MG; (Schürzen)

Armoured Car Patrol 1 170
Confident Veteran
Panzer II L Luchs 3 16''/40c 3 5 5+ 3 1 1 [170]
Fully-tracked;; 2cm tank gun;
Co-ax MG; Light tank; Recce

Panzergrenadier Platoon 1 245
Confident Veteran
HQ Section 1 4''/10cm 3 1 6 [45]
Command MG team
Kfz 15 1 [5]
Wheeled;; 2 passengers
Mortar Squad 1 16''/40c 1 1 5+ [20]
Light Mortar team
Kfz 70 1 [5]
Wheeled;; 1 passenger
Panzergrenadier Squad 3 16''/40c 3 2 6 [180]
2 x MG team
Kfz 70 6 [30]
Wheeled;; 1 passenger


Total Force Cost: 1995

A Return to the “Valley of Death”

This past Sunday we assembled yet another attempt to get a British force through the Valley of Death to destroy the main Zulu kraal (homestead) in the area. At least three attempts had been made in the past, all ending in British disasters. This time the British commander used the slow and cautious approach of forming a large square and moving it through the valley. This technique worked pretty well except for the fact that it turned out to be impossible for such a large close-order formation to cross the donga (dry river bed) that crosses the valley before running out of time. We’ll let the pictures tell the story.


The square is formed and prepared to move out.
 

The Zulu defenders swarm out of the kraal.
 

The square braces for the Zulu assault.
 

As the square gets bogged down in the donga the Zulus close in and throw themselves on the square. 

Attack after attack is successfully repulsed, but the square is still struggling to cross the donga.
 

The British commander makes a huge tactical error by releasing the 17th Lancers from inside the square too early. They are attacked on both the left and right flanks and are wiped out; but only after inflicting heavy casualties on the Zulus.
 


In the end, there were only three effective Zulu iviyo (units) remaining out of the original ten, while the British square was still intact and strong. We figured that the remaining Zulus would have had little or no chance to stop the British square so we called it a British victory.


Let me close with some Zulu trivia. The word “kraal” means “corral” in the Afrikaans language which is what the Boer (Dutch) settlers speak. Afrikaans is derived from the original Dutch language of the first settlers. When I was in South Africa I learned that Zulus do not like to hear their “homesteads” referred to as “corrals”, even though the old Zulu kraals did serve the dual function of both living space and corral. Anyway, just keep this in mind in case you ever meet a real life Zulu!

Happy Gaming!

“Bwana Bill”
(photo credits to my son Andy)

Wargaming "War of the Worlds"?

Now that there is a new movie out on WotW, there appears to be a lot more interest in H. G. Wells' original story which is set in 1898 England. When I was at Historicon I saw a group of people playing a Victorian Era War of the World's scenario. They used a set of rules called "G.A.S.L.I.G.H.T" that deals with SF battles in the Victorian Era. I suppose that the next time I go to an HMGS convention, I will have to pick up a copy and check it out.

Anyway, these guys were using Martian tripods that have been commercialy available for quite some time; long before the movie appeared. They can be found at www.tin-soldier.com for $30. So my question is this; if someone were to have a bunch of WWI Brits and one of these tripods, what would stop him from having little bit of WotW fun that would be a bit more faithful to the original story than our current Hollywood production? Just "food for thought."

"Bwana Bill"

Useful Modifications to “The Sword and the Flame” Rules

For those of you that are collecting figures for Sword and the Flame (TSATF), I came across a modification that you should be aware of. This modification could be very important to you since it could save you quite a lot of money, or allow you to get started before you have finished collecting everything you need to play. The modification is basically this: 8 figures per unit instead of 20. A gent named Mark Fastoso came up with this. Mark is writing a scenario book on the 1879 Zulu War and I participated in a play testing of one of these scenarios, the Battle of Intombe, at Cold Wars. It works quite well and it allows you to field more units without increasing the number of figures. Best of all, it could allow you to get started, or branch out into a different aspect of TSATF, without having to acquire an extensive collection of figures. For example; I now have an extensive collection of British and Zulu figures and I can stage large scenarios using 20 figure units. However, I recently got an urge to branch out into French Foreign Legion (FFL) scenarios for TSATF. Using Mark’s modification I can now do this without having to collect and paint a huge number of FFL figures. I have talked to other gamers who use these modifications with 10 figures per unit.

Before you try playing this way you have to change a few other procedures in the TSATF rules, this is what Mark suggests:

1. Unit Sizes: These scenarios use smaller units than traditional Sword and the Flame. Infantry units have 7 soldiers and 1 leader figure. Cavalry have 5 soldiers and 1 leader figure. Artillery has 2 figures, each figure counting for 2 firing dice.

2. Stragglers: Since units are smaller the “straggle die” is reduced. When an infantry unit charges roll one d6. 1-2 = One Straggler, 3-4 = Two Stragglers, 5 = Three Stragglers, 6 = No Stragglers.

3. Officer Pistol Rule: Do not use the officer pistol rule. Count the officer as having a rifle. If your group really likes the officer pistol rule feel free to use it, but we have found that a game with 8 figure units works a little better without it.

4. Movement: Cavalry move 5d6 and charge 6d6. Artillery move 3d6 and not firing or 1d6 and fire.

BTW, when I was at Historicon I learned that Mark’s Zulu War scenario book should be available for purchase in time for Cold Wars which will run November 11-13, 2005.

Happy Gaming!
Bwana Bill

A Starship Troopers Pictorial Battle Report

The mission was simple. Get from one corner of the table to the far opposite corner. Far too many bugs made this simple mission a suicide run.


It's a bug planet... 

Turn two, the bugs are on the move - the green markers are bugs travling underground.