Guest Blogger - Flames of War, game two!

This was our 2nd game, and I know for a fact we got some rules/special rules wrong that would have altered the game. Matt probably should have won (we forgot about his british bulldog roll), then again I should have hurt his tanks more (we treated them as veteran, but they are only trained). Either way, it was a super fun game, and was hinged on a single die roll at more than one point.

My List: US Armored Rifle Company

2 Platoons at full strength and 5 bazookas
1 platoon of 2 shermans
1 platoon of 3 shermans

Matt's List: British Motor Company
2 Lorried Motor Platoons w/ light mortar, 1 with PIAT, 1 with AT rifle
1 platoon of 2 Grants
1 platoon of 3 Grants
Limited Air Support


Firstly Matt and I split our tanks into 2 platoons 1 of 2, and 1 of 3. (just to give us more flexibility even though there's no such thing as a 2 tank platoon legally). So the terrain was laid out, and the major feature was a big hill on my left. This battle we decided I would be attacking and Matt would defend. So, even though I knew it would be tough, I wanted to devote a platoon to the attack on that hill. So 1st platoon was put on my left flank with orders to take the hill, but the rest of my force was on the right side to push for that objective. I also left the halftracks at the rear because I had to deploy behind the riverbed, and figured my men could run over it faster than having to navigate it.

TURN ONE

US- So turn one started off well, Matt couldn't move up to take the hill so no one was up there, and I decided I would doubletime 1st platoon towards the hill, staying in cover behind some jutting rocks.







On the right flank everything moved forward, and my shermans fired on his grants, getting lucky and knocking one out.







British- The British tanks return fire but don't do anything, while his troops on the right secure the objective. His troops on the left move forward towards the hill.

TURN TWO
US- one platoon of Shermans keeps up the fire on the grants, the other moves around the right flank, but can't draw line of sight to anything. Meanwhile 1st platoon advances on the hill, and 2nd platoon lays low in some shrubs, waiting to attack until the defending platoon is pinned down.







British- British troops move up the hill, and get ready to repel the US attack. The grants fire on the smaller sherman platoon and knock one out.







TURN THREE
US- 1st Platoon charges headlong up the hill, putting some fire into the brits, and causing light casualties. Meanwhile the shermans on the right flank move around and fire on the grants and manage to knock one out, finishing off the smaller grant platoon.







British- The british platoon on the hill fires on 1st platoon and causes some casualties, pinning them down. The grants fire on the smaller sherman platoon and knock the other one out, finishing off the platoon.







TURN FOUR
US- the turns get a little fuzzy here, things were going quickly. I tried to dig in 1st platoon just to keep busy, but they failed so are just sitting ducks. There is now no hope of taking the hill. The shermans on the other side, however, are having great success. They fire and knock out 2 more grants, and the 3rd fails a morale check to stay on the tabkle (his platoon was below half strength) and falls back. The tank battle has been won!







BRITISH- the defenders on the hill fire on 1st platoon who is totally exposed and having the CO screaming at them to dig. They take massive casualties, and despite the CO urging them to stand their ground they fall back. My left flank has now crumbled. Also, Matt gets 2 planes to come on this turn (he took 100 points of air support to even up the battle, but had been very unlucky.. in fact in 2 games this was the only time the RAF (rare as faeries) showed up. they targeted 2nd platoon and my shermans. My shermans used their anti aircraft machine guns, and were able to make the pilot thing twice, and he flew off without dropping his payload. The infantry just took cover, and took some hits, but held firm.







TURN FIVE
US- my shermans swung around behind his infantry and shot them up some, but didn't do a whole lot to the dug in troops. 2nd platoon launched mortars at the dug in infantry in an attempt to pin them, but couldn't manage.



British- the defending platoon stayed low, but the platoon defending the hill moved down to flank my 2nd platoon.



TURN SIX
US- My shermans decided something had to be done, so fired on the defending platoon, then assaulted. The Assault didn't go as planned. I lost 2 tanks, and had only one remaining. He passed his morale check to stay on the board.







BRITISH-
Matt's platoon that swung around off the hill fired on my 2nd platoon, pinning them down.



TURN SEVEN
US- The objective on my left, behind the hill, was now totally open, so I sent my one remaining sherman double timing through the desert to hold the objective. If i could survive this turn we'd win! I moved my 2nd platoon back, if I lost that platoon I would ahve to make a company morale check, but since my CO was attached to the platoon that fled the battle, I would auto-fail a company morale check since he was gone.



BRITISH- Matt's platoon who was dug in on the right charged out of their foxholes, and double timed it over to close to assault range of my sherman, and were now contesting the objective. This battle was getting down to the wire. His other platoon fired on my platoon, and just barely caused enough damage to force a morale check. If i failed the check I would've lost the battle. But I passed! They stayed on to fight it out.



TURN EIGHT
US- This was it. My 2nd platoon double timed it to behind some cover. My Sherman fired on Matt's infantry that double timed it, but troops who moved at the double are easier to hit, so I caused massive damage forcing a morale check. Matt passed thanks to a british special rule called "british bulldogs", so I decided this had to be it. I assaulted with my sherman, and managed to force his platoon to fail morale, and flee the table against impossible odds. 2nd platoon just had to survive.



BRITISH- Matt only had one option: to destroy 2nd platoon and make my company fail morale. He moved forward to fire, and got a few hits. The game was no down to a 50/50 die roll morale check for 2nd platoon. I passed, and his turn ended, and mine began with the control of an objective. I managed a 4 to 3 narrow victory.

Springtime in the Sudan

(To all, this is a guest article from my son Andrew. Hope you enjoy it. I think he did an especially good job with the photos. Happy Hunting, "Bwana Bill")


Last time at Historicon I had the opportunity to take part in this excellent scenario for The Sword and the Flame, called "Springtime in the Sudan." This had a real good plot to it with lots of little tricks and surprises to keep the game interesting. This is just a brief summary from my point of view because a full battle report will appear in an upcoming issue of the Historical Miniature Gamer magazine (along with some of these pictures I have taken here).

I played the commander of an Egyptian outpost on the Nile (since I was wearing a blue shirt like the Egyptian commander model and my ally was wearing khaki like the British commander) who was an infamous slaver before those pesky Brits came in and made slavery illegal. The Dervishes were about to attack the outpost and my job was to get my boys out of town. There was one problem in that I could only escape by going on the roads which where in the middle of the table and the Dervishes could show up anywhere. Luckily for me, I had a little secret in that the headmaster's building and the outpost's mosque were connected by a secret tunnel (where else are you going to keep your "merchandise"?).

The game began with the British showing up, apparently to help protect the outpost from the Dervishes. A group of Fuzzie Wuzzies appeared early in some brush and attacked the Brits, which held them up a bit. Meanwhile I got one group of my boys ready to bring some hell upon any Dervishes that came down the road while the other group made there way into the headmaster's building (I would have sent my commander in but he was on a horse).

Much to my dismay some Dervishes appeared down on my side of the table and began to charge across the river bank and into the settlement while another group began to take our goats and the Egyptians in the outpost square was facing a charge from the front and the rear. So I had my rear rank turn around so the unit can fire at both enemies. I managed to kill a few of them in the shooting phase, but there were still a whole buttload of them coming at me. Soon the village was swarming with Dervishes and the guys in the square were surrounded on both sides while some Fuzzies charged into the building.

At this point it looked like my original plan was going down the tubes, so I had to develop a new one (where were the British at this time? They were just standing around shooting at the Dervishes in their area; thanks for the help guys). I figured my commander and the guys in the square were done for, but I could still save the soldiers in the headmaster's building using the tunnel.

After one round of close combat the Egyptians in the square (including the commander) were routed. With nowhere to run they were slaughtered. The next turn, the Dervishes charged into the headmaster's building to finish my boys off. That was when I played the tunnels rule and the Egyptians disappeared off the table (I think the shocked and confused look on the Dervish player's face showed how the Dervishes themselves felt). So for now, the Egyptians were safe.

What I didn't account for was that one of the Dervish players was out to destroy the mosque (I guess because it was "defiled") and had moved a group of Fuzzy-Wuzzies into the building cutting off my only escape route. Trapped between the two groups, the Egyptians fought against the normal Dervishes first and after a very lucky round of combat killed about seven of them and chased the others out of the tunnels. But the subsequent combat with the Fuzzies did not turn out so lucky. The Egyptians were locked in combat for a while with the Fuzzies, both sides taking casualties. Then more Dervishes entered the tunnel through the headmaster's building and the Egyptians were trapped between two enemy units once again.

The Egyptians tried to fight their way through the Fuzzy-Wuzzies but the Fuzzies killed many of them and routed them. Without anywhere to run, the Egyptians were slaughtered.

So the battle went on without me. One of the Dervish leaders went to take the head of the Egyptian commander to take revenge for the enslavement of his family, another one proceeded with his mission to kidnap all the goats, and another proceeded in his attempt to destroy the mosque. Then the Dervish player out for the commander's head tried to stop the destruction of the mosque and the two players continually struggled to start and put out the fire. The British finally made their way to the village just as the mosque was blown apart. The British decided to call it quits, but their mission objective was completed already (destroy the garrison).

So in the end everyone won except for the Egyptians (me), but it was probably one of the best games I have ever played. Thanks to Michael Koznarsky and Chuck Turnista for a great game!

Good Gaming!

Andrew

The Egyptians are attacked in the rear by Fuzzy-Wuzzys (Indian Army figures are "proxying" as Egyptian.)

The Dervish Army Storms the Village

The Highlanders finally arrive!

The Egyptians flee into the mosque!

Flames of War: 1st PanzerKompanie Blooded and Bloodied

Their first outing wasn't an complete disaster, though it was a definite loss. After a hard-fought battle, the 1st PanzerKompanie, 21st PanzerGrenadiers "advanced to the rear" to regroup, lick their wounds, and fight another day.

The early (turn 2) loss of the fearless (but foolishly brave) company commander in his Panzer III left the Germans primed for defeat. After losing over 50% of their platoons, the Germans fled.

1st PanzerKompanie, 21st PanzerGrenadier regiment prepares to jump off at the Line of Departure (LOD). 

The Soviet HMG platoon 

Soviet initial setup on the right flank.  

First turn firing from combined StuG IIIs and Panzer IIIs kill three Shermans and bail a fourth. 

Four 7.5cm infantry guns won't do a lot of damage to the German armor, but they will move forward to threaten the right flank, covered by the Soviet HMG platoon. 

Facing the PanzerKompanie Commander - four 57mm anti-tank guns and nearly 10 Shermans... 

The PanzerGrenadiers line up behind the command tank.  

The PanzerGrenadiers take fire and decide to move at the double away from the massed firepower of the Sovs, towards the left flank 

The two surviving Panzer II 'L' "Luchs" (Lynx) fire on the naval infantry guarding the left flank objective. 

After two turns, the StuGs and Panzer IV manage to knock out all the Soviet Lend Lease armor. The Shermans were no match for the StuGs. 

As the command tank burns, the PanzerGrenadier platoon races for the far objective. 

The lone survivor, a Panzer IV stands it's ground on the Soviet objective on the right flank. 

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.