tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6933470253715910366.post8755436350298319668..comments2024-03-28T19:58:17.811+00:00Comments on Wargaming Miscellany: The Battle of Pook's HillRobert (Bob) Corderyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13109130990434792266noreply@blogger.comBlogger16125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6933470253715910366.post-24018450010395372102013-01-10T17:50:37.334+00:002013-01-10T17:50:37.334+00:00CoastConFan,
Very interesting! I knew about the m...CoastConFan,<br /><br />Very interesting! I knew about the mixing of Western and Soviet equipment within armed forces as a result of regime change, but had forgotten about the role of 'guest' pilots during the Cold War.<br /><br />I seem to recall that the good old F-4 needed to be given a gun when it was realised that once its missiles were gone it had no means to protect itself and that guns were better in close-in dogfights than the current missiles.<br /><br />Going down on the deck should confuse most radar systems. The background clutter must have been quite difficult to sift or filter out.<br /><br />All the best,<br /><br />BobRobert (Bob) Corderyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13109130990434792266noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6933470253715910366.post-72001767566171661562013-01-10T16:03:30.370+00:002013-01-10T16:03:30.370+00:00During the Cold War era, client states switched si...During the Cold War era, client states switched sides and ended up with mismatched equipment and tactics. Add "guest pilots" from the major powers and mercenaries, you get an interesting melange. Mind you MiG 21s couldn't easily stand up one on one with an F-4, but the MiGs cost one third of the F-4 and could stand up to brutal maintenance and conditions, typical of Warsaw Pact and client states of the Cold War era. The F-4 had a slightly larger turn radius but had an excellent sustained turn rate versus the MiG's nice snap roll and quick entrance into a turn. The great liability with Soviet aircraft was that they lagged behind NATO in missile technology, especially once you get into all aspect missiles and "lookdown, shootdown" missiles. Generally I used to hit the dirt and fly very low on the deck, to fool radar missiles. We never got as mix and match as to put NATO missiles on Warsaw Pact aircraft as it never occurred historically to my knowledge.CoastConFanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07250561260148656254noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6933470253715910366.post-10260003671534308092013-01-09T09:08:16.954+00:002013-01-09T09:08:16.954+00:00CoastConFan,
I have taken part in similar wargame...CoastConFan,<br /><br />I have taken part in similar wargames (and wargame campaigns) and the use of generic armies give you the opportunity to ‘mix and match’ all sorts of different kit and doctrines together. Mind you, some armed forces in the 1960s and 1970s were doing that for real. I can remember seeing photographs of Sherman tanks (some re-turreted with AMX-13 turrets) being fielded next to T-34/85s and SU-100s in the Sinai whilst a mixture of Russian and Western jets flew overhead.<br /><br />(By the way I like the idea to crew MiG-21s and MiG-17s with ‘hotshot’ pilots using Israeli doctrine. It would seem to prove the adage that it is not the weapon that wins, but the man behind the weapon.)<br /><br />One of the reasons why I like the idea behind Aggressor (the US precursor to OPFOR) was the depth on non-US background the generic enemy had. The kit may have be American … but the thinking was definitely not, hence its longevity as a training concept. I know that the British military has its own generic enemy countries … so why shouldn’t wargamers?<br /><br />All the best,<br /><br />BobRobert (Bob) Corderyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13109130990434792266noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6933470253715910366.post-67134658886005122702013-01-09T08:57:29.602+00:002013-01-09T08:57:29.602+00:00Kaptain Kobold,
How right you are ... and I do li...Kaptain Kobold,<br /><br />How right you are ... and I do like the army lists that you wrote for the battle.<br /><br />All the best,<br /><br />BobRobert (Bob) Corderyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13109130990434792266noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6933470253715910366.post-18800383136082759942013-01-09T08:42:39.167+00:002013-01-09T08:42:39.167+00:00SAROE,
Interesting! I am learning something new a...SAROE,<br /><br />Interesting! I am learning something new all the time … thanks to my regular blog readers!<br /><br />All the best,<br /><br />BobRobert (Bob) Corderyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13109130990434792266noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6933470253715910366.post-70209673908661621842013-01-09T08:41:09.933+00:002013-01-09T08:41:09.933+00:00Jim Duncan,
Thanks for the generous score! If mem...Jim Duncan,<br /><br />Thanks for the generous score! If memory serves me correctly I have only taken part in two Ancient battles in the thirty years before yesterday’s little outing.<br /><br />I am sure that there is plenty of things that can be done to expand the rules to suit the needs of most wargamers who are likely to use wargames from the PORTABLE WARGAME stable … and I expect developments to be quite rapid over the next month or two.<br /><br />All the best,<br /><br />BobRobert (Bob) Corderyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13109130990434792266noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6933470253715910366.post-12248274360636173162013-01-09T08:36:40.603+00:002013-01-09T08:36:40.603+00:00Kaptain Kobold,
The mistake was made because I wa...Kaptain Kobold,<br /><br />The mistake was made because I was sat writing the draft late at night. I knew what I wanted to type … and typed the exact opposite. Nothing clever, I am afraid to say!<br /><br />I was unaware that Redia and Yellovia were the precursors of Riskovia and Sans Couleur … but having seen the antagonism between the two yesterday, it does not surprise me!<br /><br />All the best,<br /><br />BobRobert (Bob) Corderyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13109130990434792266noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6933470253715910366.post-60704507626801756962013-01-09T08:32:25.651+00:002013-01-09T08:32:25.651+00:00David Crook,
I think that the figures were a bett...David Crook,<br /><br />I think that the figures were a better choice than cardboard bases, and although they were not all ‘spot on’ for what they were supposed to represent, they were close enough for me to be happy using them.<br /><br />That said, I don’t think that you will be seeing me go down the Fantasy route soon – if at all – although acquiring some proper Ancients figures is a slim possibility.<br /><br />I have tried to keep the rules simple – as I have with all the other PORTABLE WARGAME variants – so that players can adapt them to suit their own needs. They seem to work … and ideas for improvement are already coming in.<br /><br />All the best,<br /><br />BobRobert (Bob) Corderyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13109130990434792266noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6933470253715910366.post-23322220738844051582013-01-09T02:14:05.650+00:002013-01-09T02:14:05.650+00:00The generic armies allow you to concentrate less o...The generic armies allow you to concentrate less on national characteristics and history and more on the nuts and bolts of game play, good for you. Back in the 70s we were playtesting MiG Killers (published 1977), we played around with a non-historical series of semi-campaign games between two pseudo-mideast countries called Alpheria and Betastan. Each side had points to build parts of an airforce as well as defense systems and air bases (for ground attack scenarios). Generally we just had air encounters, though. Each side could choose to be Warsaw Pact or Western allied, which determined what kind of aircraft they would fly. In a few cases, they switched sides and so might have had a few old MiGs mixed in with new NATO aircraft. By having wholly fictitious countries with custom geography, you didn’t have to keep up a historical mindset of country origin. Myself, I generally flew Soviet stuff like lots and lots of MiG 21s and maybe a few MiG 17s tossed in. Although I didn’t fly to Soviet doctrine, it was well … more Israeli in mood and the mix served me well, with cheap aircraft mixed with hotshot pilots. Generic, non-historical wargaming can be fun!CoastConFanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07250561260148656254noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6933470253715910366.post-30322917039493489842013-01-09T01:09:31.019+00:002013-01-09T01:09:31.019+00:00Of course this would work perfectly fine in 'H...Of course this would work perfectly fine in 'Hordes of the Things' :)<br /><br /><a href="http://hordesofthethings.blogspot.com.au/2013/01/return-to-battle-of-pooks-hill.html" rel="nofollow">http://hordesofthethings.blogspot.com.au/2013/01/return-to-battle-of-pooks-hill.html</a>Kaptain Koboldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17082772546044655044noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6933470253715910366.post-88552733228060079102013-01-08T23:49:49.685+00:002013-01-08T23:49:49.685+00:00A good effort Bob, seven out of ten for an 'an...A good effort Bob, seven out of ten for an 'ancient' novice.<br /><br />As DC has mentioned there are some hidden depths to explore here and I'm sure that the attendant 'mob' will do so in due course.<br /><br />Well done!<br /><br />Jim<br />Jim Duncan Wargamerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14114076455087495681noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6933470253715910366.post-32571784754256807202013-01-08T22:00:29.523+00:002013-01-08T22:00:29.523+00:00It's not a 'little known fact' here-th...It's not a 'little known fact' here-they teach it in school.<br /><br />I think there was a whole chapter devoted to the highly improbable sequence of incredibly improbable events that led to the formation of Riskovia and Sans Couleur. I think the next chapter was on the Bicholim Conflict.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6933470253715910366.post-20328567920883569012013-01-08T20:00:19.633+00:002013-01-08T20:00:19.633+00:00" The Spear-armed Infantry should 'hit..." The Spear-armed Infantry should 'hit' on a 4 or more and the Missile-armed Infantry should 'hit' on 5 or more "<br /><br />I did wonder about that when I skim-read the drfat. I assumed there was a clever mechanism of some kind in play that I hadn't picked up on :)<br /><br />It's a little known fact that Redia and Yellovia are the precursors of the 18th century nations of Riskovia and Sans Couleur :)Kaptain Koboldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17082772546044655044noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6933470253715910366.post-9501695727219268122013-01-08T19:51:50.155+00:002013-01-08T19:51:50.155+00:00Hi Bob,
A neat little action and the LOTR figures...Hi Bob,<br /><br />A neat little action and the LOTR figures served well - I fully expect that this will be picked up across the PW spectrum in due course and I have to ask the question - could this be the beginning of the Cordery descent into the world of not only ancients but also fantasy?!<br /><br />Questions will be raised in the house for sure!<br /><br />Seriously though, these are a set of rules that at first glance look deceptively simple but personally I think they have surprisingly hidden depths....;-)<br /><br />All the best,<br /><br />DCDavid Crookhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02497436789811496047noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6933470253715910366.post-59139617261715108642013-01-08T17:28:37.324+00:002013-01-08T17:28:37.324+00:00SAROE,
He may well do so!
All the best,
BobSAROE,<br /><br />He may well do so!<br /><br />All the best,<br /><br />BobRobert (Bob) Corderyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13109130990434792266noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6933470253715910366.post-44300333895859806542013-01-08T17:24:15.050+00:002013-01-08T17:24:15.050+00:00I can only assume the Prince of Orange will be rid...I can only assume the Prince of Orange will be riding to the King's rescue at some point.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com