Unfortunately I have not been able to fight any wargames since my return from COW (the annual Conference of Wargamers that is run by Wargame Developments) in early July, but that does not stop me from reading and enjoying other people's battle reports.
Yesterday Archduke Piccolo – who is one of my regular blog readers – wrote a battle report about his re-fight of the World War II scenario that is featured in my PORTABLE WARGAMES book. He obviously enjoyed the battle, and his narrative can be read here.
Yesterday Archduke Piccolo – who is one of my regular blog readers – wrote a battle report about his re-fight of the World War II scenario that is featured in my PORTABLE WARGAMES book. He obviously enjoyed the battle, and his narrative can be read here.
What interested me in particular about this battle report was the fact that the result was different from that in the book. In my battle the Soviet forces made some headway, but eventually became too exhausted to continue their attacks, whereas in Archduke Piccolo's battle the Germans were pushed out of their defensive positions by the somewhat depleted Soviet attackers.The Soviets are pressing forward and attacking the German defences. © Archduke Piccolo.
This was an excellent battle report, and I thoroughly recommend anyone who has or might be interested in using my rules to read it. I don't think that you will be disappointed.The Soviet attacks were not as successful when I fought this battle.
I know your personal preferences Bob, but I was fascinated by the conversion of hexes to squares for some reason. I wonder if the different set up accounts for different battle results? I wonder by that train wreck of thought if professional wargame designers have given it a thought too. For example, if one is using a hex map to model things, one would like to account for inherent prejudices in the 'game'. Has anyone else considered this, do you know?
ReplyDeleteStephen Briddon,
DeleteI suspect that the fall of activation cards used in the solo re-fight has more to do with the different result than the change from hexes to squares.
I doubt if the majority professional wargame designers have ever considered anything other than hexes when using a gridded tabletop. Certainly the trainee designers I come across at King's College all seem to use hexes rather than squares ... perhaps because that appears to be Phil Sabin's preference. (It isn't ... and he has designed plenty of games that used squares rather than hexes.)
The inherent advantages and disadvantages of hexes and squares is certainly an area of wargame design that potential designers need to be aware of, and one that I briefly covered in my first PORTABLE WARGAME book.
All the best,
Bob
The set up map was slightly distorted for reasons I'll outline in my 'debrief'. I don't believe the type of grid affected the result.
DeleteThe long string of red cards early in the action made life easier for the Soviets, 4th MG being contacted before ever the Germans could respond effectively. Had the Germans been able to lay down some early defensive fire the attackers would have found the going tougher.
But all rday the combat dice rolling was bally appalling - for both sides! You'd almost swear that 4 of the 6 faces on the dice were ones and twos.
It appears that I was mistaken about a couple of rules: the effect of the loss of a commander, and multiple close assault attacks on a single defender. Again, they'll be topics for my 'debrief'.
Archduke Piccolo,
DeleteI look forward with considerable interest to reading your debrief.
All the bet,
Bob
Thanks for posting this, Bob. I appreciate the plug!
ReplyDeleteArchduke Piccolo,
DeleteI felt sure that a lot of my regular blog readers would appreciate your battle report as much as I did, and that it was well worth sharing with a wider audience.
All the best,
Bob