Dear Diary - a rolling 4 months of comment
Third Volume arrives
Arriving at the door today is the third volume in Decision Games’ East Front Battles series. I have had this in pre-order for a couple of months and it seems to have been out in the states for a while, so it is nice to see it hit UK shores.
The obvious draw to me is that this is a series game, but the bonus is that it comes with V19 rules, which are of course backwards compatible to also work with the first two games.
I am becoming a bit weary of newly released boardgames seemingly to quickly need to be on version 1.1, 1.5, 2 or whatever i.e. a bit more than simply a few errata points. It raises the question of development and it seems pointless to get a beautifully presented rulebook if you end up downloading a replacement file for printing out that just kills the enjoyment of getting the nicely presented rulebook on nice paper.
It is almost like being an early adopter, just means that you are part of the extended play test group. Anyway, rant aside, the game looks lovely. The boards are mounted with the surface having a sort of linen texture. Anyone who has volumes I or II will know exatly what to expect.
The system plugs into the nostalgia spot a bit with it being a relative of the old SPI Panzergroup Guderian, Cobra and Army Group South systems.
The two battles (always two battles per box) cover Drive to the Sea (West Prussia, January 1945) and Battle for Pomerania (Pomerania February 1945).
I have high expectations of the system and have promised myself to get this system to the table this year and play it enough to become familiar and proficient, so that it can make repeat returns to the table. Volume IV has just gone onto pre-order.
A painting crossroads!
When starting the ACW campaign, I realised that I was one unit short for the Confederate side, so the unit went onto the painting sticks and has since gone through the basing department and on to barracks!
With that done, I now have enough ACW figures now both for the Graysville campaign and for completion of Stage II of the ACW project (see menu) which needed an order of battle for the McPherson’s Ridge scenario. So this seems a good time to halt the ACW unit production line for now and have a painting refresh by switching to another project - but which one?
There are four contenders that I want to start work on, but I know that unless I choose one specifically and jump in with full fervour, I will just vacillate and nothing will get done.
The nominations are;
Epic Hannibal - The project for this is already established in principle. It relies on an order of battle for the Trebbia battle as outlined in the Epic Hail Caesar rulebook. The strips are cut and temporarily mounted unpainted on bases, so I can game with unpainted stock while getting them painted. This will be played alomgside the SPQR boardgame by GMT and its Trebbia scenario.
Epic Napoleonic - I have a small number of French infantry figures currently with a commission painter, so this project will soon have a useful leg-up in getting two small armies underway. For opponents, it will be the Prussians that will get first attention and the project theme will be the fight for St. Amand 1815. I can see each starter army needing something like 7 infantry battalions, 2 cavalry regiments and 1 or 2 gun batteries, plus commanders. As a project, this will be mated with the St. Amand scenario from the Hexasim Ligny boardgame from tgheir Eagles of France series.
Epic Pike and Shotte - It will be the English Civil War that will specifically interest me. I like that this offers the opportunity for a lot of small battles that are in reality little more than skirmishes, but this is a great level to play at when setting out to build two starter armies. In Wargames Illustrated magazine (Nov 2024) there was a free set of rules called ‘Never Mind the Matchlocks’ and in the January 2025 issue there is an accompanying scenario for those rules, set at around 160 points per side with quite do-able orders of battle. They were using 28mm on a 6x4, so it will certainly be a fit for me, perhaps even getting it down to a 4’x4’. Certainly there is enough going on in that scenario to base an ECW starter project around it.
WWII Tactical - having sold off all of the 20mm and 1/72 stuff last year, I now have a goodly amount of 10mm / 12mm stuff waiting patiently for a lick of paint. I could build a small pair of forces up to do one of the scenarios from my own rules and this could be done relatively quickly. I also have the ‘O’ Group rules, which I like and another new set is winging its way to me (Wargame Rules for Armoured Warfare at Company and Battalion level by Bill Farquhar). It might be interesting to lift a scenario from the Old School Tactical boardgame system and base the order of battle on that. Of all the projects that I have ever undertaken, it has always been the WWII tactical ones that have been the easiest and quickest to get to the table.
Captain Sensible says do the napoleonics, because the commission stuff will give the project a head start.
Captain Sensible says do the WWII tactical, because it will be done and combat ready even quicker than the napoleonics and will offer something very different to the horse and musket period for a change.
Captain Emotional says do Punic Wars (Hannibal), it has interesting classical armies and lovely elephant models, plus the Trebbia action is just one of those battles that grabs my interest. I have some basing alternatives for the Epic that I think will give a good visuals, influencing the look and feel of ‘the battle in a small space’.
Captain Emotional says English Civil War. Good opportunities for campaigns and local battles with a good narrative. Even the furthest battlefields from me are close enough to be visited over time. I have some basing ideas that are outside the epic guidelines that I think will be both functional and eye-catching.
I’m really stuck which way to jump, though in some respects, it almost doesn’t matter which is chosen, what’s important is that the painting regime in not allowed to slip, stumble, rest, pause or anything else that sounds bad. I need very little encouragement to become totally inactive on the painting front!
Choice is meant to be good ……. isn’t it? :-)
Munford's Cavalry
An enjoyable afternoon was had yesterday with a figures action (photo above) taken from the Graysville Campaign (Late Evening, Thursday 18th June 1863) as Kimball (union) tries to clear the rest of Peavine Ridge.
The ridge is covered with difficult terrain, ideally suited to Munford’s dismounted cavalrymen (Confederate). I wasn’t sure which way it was going to go and in truth other outcomes were possible than actually happened, so it was all to play for.
The Graysville Campaign page (left menu) has been updated with that action, together with some discussions on strategy at the respective headquarters overnight (Night Thursday 18th into Friday 19th).
Smash and Burn
Last nights face to face game came from the ever giving Red Blitz module from the Old School Tactical series. I have been playing loads of this lately, thanks to my Krosnogrod campaign - so it was good to play a game with the rulebook staying in the box :-)
Essentially this is all about the control of three multi hex buildings set amongst some quite busy terrain. The Germans initially hold the buildings and the Soviets must attempt to take control of them. The winner will be side with full control of two out of three buildings.
The Germans need to hunker down and hold on. The Soviets will as a matter of course try to ensure that the Germans from each building are isolated from supporting either of the two other buildings and they get a couple of SU 76 assault guns and a flamethrowing T-34 to help ensure that any crossing by the Germans between buildings is a perilous venture.
In our game, both sides managed to solidly control one building each and it was the fight for the third that then saw all of the desperate action. The Soviets had the freedom of movement to throw reinforcing troops at the building, but the defenders were tenacious and on two occasions flipped German single units in melee with good ordered Soviet shock troops rolled 11 in combat and nothing is going to survive that and so the fight intensified as the clock ticked down.
Unfortunately, we ran out of playing time to complete the scenario, but we sort of fast forwarded a couple of key moves and combats. We both concluded that on balance, it would be a game that if played to conclusion, would go down close to the wire, but that it would be the Soviets that would get the win.
More games and solo play helping the narrative.
Another Krosnogrod action was fought today, appropriately called ‘rearguard action’. I also have a small battle to fight over the next couple of days from the Graysville Campaign, as the Union attempt to seize the rest of Peavine ridge.
Running the two campaigns is a little stretching, more from the point that if I leave one for a few days while I concentrate on the other, the interruption feels like it disjoints my concentration and I worry about losing the thread and the plans that I have in my head, especially the Graysville Campaign, which has several orders and messengers now in various stages of moving across the map.
However, what has become clear is that the campaign is allowing me to get more games to the table, especially the smaller skirmish level games that can be set up, played and taken down in a very convenient time frame, allowing a lot of wargaming dabbling, without getting bogged down in half a days gaming, while at the same time, the ‘big picture’ campaign is pressing those buttons that I get from the bigger immersive games.
I have been playing both campaigns solo and I can increasingly see the advantages to that, as without a third party umpire, I think competitive play would spoil the fog of war narrative. For example in the ACW campaign, in the opening turn, frontline Confederate units wrongly identified the main Union thrust coming from the left. They sent messages back to Ewell at Graysville to that effect.
Playing solo, I will ensure that Ewell is not tempted to unduly reinforce his right, but that until updated (which will take time), he will believe the front line reports that the threat is to the left and act accordingly - even though just a glance at the positional map tells a different story and face to face gaming would likely see unnatural responses. This ensures I get a better narrative going, making a more satisfactory campaign for both myself and the reader.
Likewise, in the Krosnogord action I played today, I did not allow the PaK 40 to change facing until the German gun crew themselves actually saw the threat, as the Soviet armoured car emerged from the woodland, which just made the whole thing of first contact and the scramble to respond, so much more enjoyable - even though disadvantaging the German player ….. who of course accepted that - ‘them’s the breaks’ :-)
More from the Krosnogord Campaign.
We pick up the action for the Krosnogord Campaign at the River Wislok. The Krosnogord page (tab on the left) has been updated.
Here, the Russians move against formidable defences behind the river, they need that bridge. The campaign is roughly at the midway point.
On the painting sticks, the needed confederate unit for the Graysville Campaign has been painted and based and just awaits flocking, which hopefully will get done today.
To keep the painting momentum going, I have have put a unit of confederate mounted cavalry on the painting sticks. I am not overly enthusiastic about doing them, but the painting discipline needs to see some movement - even if slowly!
Lots to do!
The early afternoon turn has just been played in the Graysville Campaign game and of course, that page has been updated.
Tonight I had intended to set up the next game in the Krosnogord WWII campaign, but instead I am 'urgently' painting up another confederate unit!
Perhaps tomorrow, Krosnograd MAY get a look in - the next battle does contain two of my favourite vehicles from the system, Pathers and JSII's.
The JSII has the interesting rule in the game that it can only fire once in a turn, due to its two part ammunition and limited ammo storage.
We have our first action
At last, the toys get to the table ..... as described over on the Graysville Campaign tab (left).
With an action underway, I went through all of the paperwork and with a sigh, I noted that I am one painted unit short for the confederate order of battle.
So the painting sticks are out and in a slight panic, some goodly hours are being directed their way!
My campaign admin system has largely stood up to the rigours of turn one, but a couple of things have needed tweaking, but overall, things look good.
And so it begins
It is Morning, 18th June 1863. Confederate Major General Ewell has been ordered to the town of Graysville, which sits on a strategically important part of the road net. There he holds 1st Brigade under Colonel Scott in reserve, while his 2nd Brigade (Brigadier General Elzey) is dispersed further forward and has been deployed beyond Mott’s Run to cover the two approach roads and associated bridges. 1st Cavalry Brigade is deployed to cover the small rise that overlooks Old Mine Road,
A Union division under Brigadier General Shields in approaching. His orders are to secure Graysville with all haste.
I have taken the inspiration for this campaign from Charles Grant’s book ‘Programmed Wargame Scenarios’. Accordingly I spent yesterday writing down orders for the two sides, but more importantly, similar to the mechanics proposed by Grant, for each confederate unit and currently held position on the map, I have recorded a dice driven response to any hostile action.
What this means is that, for example, as Dowdall Church is attacked, the 31st Virginia regiment located there will dice against a number of pre-determined response. So until that happens, we will not know how 31st will respond. Mostly the responses are weighted towards a certain decision, but who knows what the dice will give us.
Likewise, I have set up some variables for the Union attack. At the start of play, a D6 will determine how Shields will deploy and direct his division. So the first thing we must do is to determine that. Let’s work out Shield’s initial plan now!
Roll a D6 …… 2, that result says;
1st & 2nd Brigade, plus Battery H push down the Old Mine Road. 1st Brigade will clear Peavine Ridge and 2nd Brigade with the artillery will push on along the road to seize Duffy’s Mill.
3rd Brigade will advance directly down Piney Turnpike to capture Rock Spring, while Colonel Brodhead will take his two cavalry regiments to secure Dowdall Church.
These manoeuvres are a pre-cursor to the union taking the bridges across Mott’s Run and advancing onto Graysville.
Next, we shall see the Union advance onto the map and see how the forward confederate elements respond to the ‘sea of blue’! No doubt a relay of messages and orders will quickly follow.
The AAR will be taken up at the Graysville Campaign tab in the menu to the left.
