Art of Tactic: Barbarossa 1941: Inside the box ...

Having resisted opening the box until after I had returned from a visit to Herne Bay to see my father-in-law, my main hope was that would not be disappointed once I began to look inside. I was not!

The box art: Top

This depicts heroic Soviet troops defending their anti-tank gun position from a German armoured attack.

The box art: Bottom

The bottom of the box shows examples of the box's contents as well a listing everything that should be inside.

The open box!

Once open, it is obvious that the box is full ... no padding here to make it appear there is more than in the box than it actually contains.

The very first item I found in my box was the double-sided assembly instructions for the models/playing pieces.

The models/playing pieces

The bulk of what was in the box were the twenty unassembled models/playing pieces. These appear to be made of hard plastic and include all the models shown on the assembly instructions. In most cases there are only one of each model/playing pieces, the exceptions being the Soviet Infantry and German Infantry, of which there are two.

Game equipment

This includes ten dice, a complete set of unit cards (one for each of the models/playing pieces), two water-based marker pens (for writing on the unit and group cards), and plastic hill hexes.

The terrain

The six double-sided terrain boards are marked with 6cm hexes (measured from face to face).

These are supplemented by thirty double-sided single hexes.

The paperwork: the rule book and scenario book

On first glance, I am more than impressed by what the game includes. In my opinion, the models alone are worth the money I paid for the game, and everything else is a bonus. The terrain boards could easily be used with other games (BATTLE CRY! for example), and the raised hill hexes would certainly be an advance over the use of a thick cardboard hex to represent a hill.

This is a starter set, and I look forward to seeing the follow-up expansions sets as and when they become available.

The postman cometh ...

I was just writing the last blog entry when the doorbell rang ... it was the postman ... with a parcel that looks suspiciously like the copy of Zvezda's ART OF TACTIC: BARBAROSSA 1941 that I have on order.

I am presently resisting the temptation to rip the parcel open and to start rooting about in the box. I want to write a blog entry about the game, and therefore need to take my time (and some photographs) as I go ... but the temptation to forget that and just open the box and rummage is almost overwhelming!

Nugget 243

The latest issue of THE NUGGET (N243) was emailed to me by the editor earlier this week, and I collected it from the printer yesterday afternoon. It is now in envelopes waiting for me to take to the Post Office this morning, and it should be with members of Wargame Developments early next week.

I will make the PDF versions of THE NUGGET and THE NUGGET COLOUR SUPPLEMENT available for full and e-members to download from the Wargame Developments website as soon as I can after THE NUGGET has been put into the post.

Is the end in sight?

Over recent months I have written several blog entries about my work. I have mentioned the impact Ofsted and the run-up to it's recent inspection have had on both the school where I work and the people who work there ... but in the background there was a serious problem that remained unmentioned and unsolved ... a massive budget deficit.

Matters came to a head as the end of the financial year loomed. All the staff were summoned to a meeting last week where the options were laid before us. Basically, for reasons that were none of our making, the existing staffing levels were going to have to be 'down-sized'. It was hoped that natural wastage might make the need for redundancies remote, but although it was not stated, it was apparent that staff like me were vulnerable.

This evening, just as I was leaving work, I was called into the Principal's office for an 'interview'. The upshot of our conversation was that my current contract, which lasts until the end of July, will not be renewed. Basically, they can no longer afford to employ me, and by my going, the job of one of my full-time colleagues will be more secure.

The news was not as much of a shock as I expected ... and it means that I might actually be able to retire a year earlier than I had planned ... so it is not all bad news! My wife and I are going to do some serious thinking about the future over the next few weeks, but at least we have nearly four months to get things sorted out.

The portable wargame: The effect of pinning

Ross Mac has made a very interesting comment in response to my recent blog entry about the current draft of THE PORTABLE WARGAME. He has pointed out that a pinned Unit that is in the open would probably go to ground or seek whatever cover is available in order to minimise further losses.

This is a very sensible suggestion, and one that reflects European practice during the latter part of the nineteenth century. Nic101 has, however, pointed out that this might not be applicable for Native armies, and to a certain extent he may be correct. I am, therefore, going to give the suggestions some more 'think time' before making any further changes to the current draft of the rules.

A recent book purchase

A couple of weeks ago I was visiting my local bookshop and saw a copy of an Osprey publication I had not seen before. It was GERMAN SPECIAL FORCES OF WORLD WAR II by Gordon Williamson and Mike Chappell (Elite Series No.177 [ISBN 978 1 84603 920 1]).

This book was published in 2009, and I am surprised that I had not seen a copy before ... or perhaps I did, and just did not notice it.

The first part of the book has sections about the special forces raised and operated by the Heer and Waffen-SS, but I felt that they were rather dominated by the exploits of Otto Skorzeny. However, I particularly enjoyed the sections that dealt with the Kriegsmarine and Luftwaffe special forces, and would have enjoyed reading more about their exploits.

Art of Tactic: Barbarossa 1941: What units are available and planned

So far I have managed to find out that the following ART OF TACTIC figures and models are available or will be available in the near future:

German

BF109F
Ju87 Stuka
Ju52
Infantry
MG-34 and crew
Reconnaissance team
Sturmpioniers
Fallschirmjagers
PzKpfw IIIG
PzKpfw II
Opel Blitz
SdKfz 251/1
37mm PAK and crew
20mm FLAK and crew
88mm FLAK and crew
105mm LFH18 Howitzer and crew

Soviet

LAGG-3
IL-2
Li-2 (DC-3)
Infantry
Maxim MG and crew
Scouts
Cavalry
Engineers
T-34/76
T-26M
BT-5
GAZ-AA
45mm AT Gun and crew
37mm AA Gun and crew
122mm Howitzer and crew
Katyusha

I understand that further figures and models are planned, as are additional scenarios.

Art of Tactic: Barbarossa 1941: Inside the box

I understand that my copy of Zvezda's ART OF TACTIC: BARBAROSSA 1941 is in the post, and that it should be delivered in a couple of days. I am very interested in both the rules (I have downloaded a copy from the ART OF TACTIC website, but I have had problems printing it due to a particular unsupported font being used in it) and the playing pieces, and I was therefore pleasantly surprised to find a photograph that appears to show the contents of the game.

The box is supposed to contain:

• 15 German and Soviet units
• 1 set of engineering fortifications
• 6 double-sided terrain hexes
• 6 raised hill hexes
• 15 unit cards
• 4 group cards
• 4 mine cards
• Rule book
• Scenario booklet
• Play sheets
• 10 dice
• 2 water-based markers
• 1 set of decals

It is interesting to note that when this game was first sold in Russia, it was sold as a magazine part-work, with each issue containing a unit or terrain board. The photographs of ART OF TACTIC being played in Russia show units that are not included in the 'Starter Kit', and so one can assume that additional units and equipment will be coming on-stream in the fullness of time.

Something else to look forward to!

The portable wargame: Latest draft almost finished

I have almost finished the latest draft of the nineteenth century version of THE PORTABLE WARGAME rules.

I have revised the basic wording of the rules in the hope that they are unambiguous and relatively easy to understand, but by far the biggest change I have made is to introduce the possibility that Units can be 'pinned' by fire. For example, a Unit that is advancing across open country and is hit by artillery fire is either going to be destroyed (5 or 6 on a D6) or pinned (1, 2, 3, or 4 on a D6). If it is under cover when it is hit, it is going to be destroyed (6 on a D6), pinned (4 or 5 on a D6), or unaffected.

This addition has necessitated the amendment of other rules. For example, a Unit that is pinned cannot move until it unpinned (which requires a player to opt to use one of their activations to remove the pin) but it can fire.

I hope that these changes will make the battles less bloody, last longer, and require players to exhibit an even higher level of generalship. For example, should they use precious activations to unpin Units whose advance has stalled, or use those activations to continue an attack with those Units that are still unpinned.

How well these changes work will depend upon the results of forthcoming play-tests ... which will be whenever I get a long enough time slot in my somewhat crowded timetable!

The portable wargame: Still under development

Despite all the other things that have been going on over the past two weeks, I have not forgotten about or stopped work on THE PORTABLE WARGAME rules. If anything, the rediscovery of POLEMOS and my purchase of ART OF TACTIC: BARBAROSSA 1941 have been part of the development process.

Now that things are beginning to settle down, I hope to do so detailed work on the 19th century version of the rules, with a possible play-test in the very near future.