OP14 wargame rules

As a result of my recent battle report about the re-fight of the Battle of Ivangorod, I have received several requests for further information about Richard Brooks' OP14 wargame rules.

I have been through the back issues of THE NUGGET and found a copy of the rules in N236. If a blog reader wishes to read and/or print a copy of this particular issue, they will need the relevant password ... which in this case is:
yague

The Battle of Ivangorod 1914

Yesterday I took part in a re-fight of the 1914 Battle of Ivangorod. The original battle took place in the aftermath of the Battle of Tannenberg and was fought by the Russians against a mainly Austro-Hungarian force that had taken over part of the front-line previously occupied by the Germans. There were some German troops involved in the battle, but the majority of the fighting was done by the Austro-Hungarian Army.

The wargame used Richard Brooks' OP14 tactical rules and Ian Drury's 'pin-board and map' strategic movement system, and was organised by Ian Drury. A number of members of the 'Jockey's Field Irregulars' took part, and I took the role of General Evert, the commander of the Russian 4th Army.

When I arrived I was briefed by Ian and given a pin-board and map that showed the positions of the three Corps that were under my command (XVI, III (Caucasian), and XVII Corps).

I knew that two of my Corps (XVI and III (Caucasian)) were facing a line of trenches occupied by Austro-Hungarian troops, and that my third Corps (XVII Corps) was poised to cross the River Vistula within the next 24 hours.

The battle started at 7.00am on 22nd October 1914, and my first orders to the commanders of XVII and III (Caucasian) Corps was to attack the trenches immediately in front of them. This was to be done without an opening artillery barrage as I hoped that this would surprise the Austrians. These orders were passed to the umpire, who then took them to the tabletop battlefield that had been set up in another room. (Normally the orders would have been passed to a player or players who were taking on the roles of Corps commanders, but a shortage of players meant that on this occasion my orders were enacted by one of the umpires.)

At 3.00pm on 22nd I requested an update from each of my Corps commanders as their current positions and the level of casualties their Corps had suffered. I also communicated with the commander of 9th Army (which was located on my left-wing) and informed him that I understood that the Guard Corps was moving in the direction of the position I had allocated for occupation by the advancing XVII Corps. I followed this with a suggestion that we set a boundary between our two armies to ensure that our troops would not interfere with each other, and this was agreed by the commander of 9th Army.

By the evening of 22nd October I began to receive reports that the attacks mounted by XVI and III (Caucasian) Corps had failed to break through the enemy trench line, and I ordered them to withdraw to their trenches and await the inevitable counter-attack. It transpired that a brigade from each Corps had actually managed to advance their positions into the no-mans-land between the two trench systems, and I revised my orders to take this into account. Whilst this was happening XVII Corps had crossed the River Vistula and had taken up a position from where they could reinforce any success achieved by the Guard Corps or move up to support XVI and III (Caucasian) Corps.

During the morning of 23rd October I received news that III (Caucasian) Corps was on the verge of collapse, and at 1.00pm I ordered XVII Corps to move forward and relieve them. I informed the commander of 9th Army of this move, but as I received no reply I assumed that he was also having difficulties.

At this point the umpires decided that I could take direct command of the 4th Army, and I moved into the room where the tabletop battlefield was located. The situation I found looked like this:

The trenches occupied by XVI (top left of the photograph) and III (Caucasian) Corps (centre of the photograph). Facing them were two Austro-Hungarian Corps. III (Caucasian) Corps was almost at the point where they will collapse and run.

On the left flank of 4th Army 9th Army was having difficulties, and Guard Corps (seen in the centre of the photograph) was almost a spent force.

The Guard Corps.

I moved my reserve Corps (XVII Corps) forward to relieve III (Caucasian) Corps ...

... but this was almost too late as a German Corps began to flank the trench line occupied by III (Caucasian) Corps.

The advancing German Corps. The Zeppelin acted as an artillery spotter for the German Corps' artillery.

Night fell before the Germans could mount an attack ... which is just as well as III (Caucasian) Corps had given way. I was able to move XVII Corps forward to cover this collapse and to form a defensive line with which to counter a German attack.

The German attack was mounted early on the morning of 24th October ...

... but it was initially repelled, although both sides suffered casualties during the fighting.

At this point the umpires called a halt to the battle, and each of us was given the opportunity to tell our version of events. My German opponent was quite confident that he had my Army on the run – which on the face of it was not an unreasonable assessment of the situation – but he was unaware that a further Corps – the Grenadier Corps – was about to cross the River Vistula behind him and would be in a position to attack on 25th October.

This was a very enjoyable wargame to take part in, and provided even more proof – were it needed – that Richard Brooks' OP14 tactical rules and Ian Drury's 'pin-board and map' strategic movement system do reproduce the 'feel' of how a World War I battle was fought. On this occasion the result of this battle was not the same as the one fought in 1914, but that was due to the failings of the Russian players and not to the rules!

Cheap storage boxes

During my recent shopping trip to Dartford I visited a branch of 'Poundland', where I saw some very cheap storage boxes. They are ideal for keeping all sorts of wargaming bits and pieces in, and at a cost of only £1.00 each, they were a bargain.

I bought four ... and may well go back and buy some more!

A free model ship plan!

My wife and I went shopping in Dartford this afternoon, and whilst we were there I happened to walk into the local branch of WHSmith … and saw the latest issue of MODEL BOATS magazine was on sale.

What particularly caught my attention was the free plan that was included. This is a 1:144th-scale plan of a World War II-era Royal Navy monitor, HMS Vulcan. (There was no real monitor called Vulcan but as the model is not intended to be an exact replica of a real ship, this name is certainly in keeping with the sort on name the Royal Navy would have used.)

The Royal Navy used monitors during the First World War as a means of bombarding enemy coastal defences. They were generally heavily armed for their size – often with second-hand armament from old pre-deadnought battleships and obsolete armoured cruisers – and were built quite quickly. They were not expected to have a long service life, but not all of them were scrapped after the War ended.

Two of the largest monitors, HMS Erebus ...

... and HMS Terror ...

... were retained in service and several others were used as training ships or converted into minelayers. One of the latter – HMS M33 (which was renamed HMS Minerva whilst she was a minelayer) – is still extant, and has recently been restored to her original condition at Portsmouth.

During the Second World War HMS Erebus and HMS Terror were very active. HMS Terror performed sterling service in the Mediterranean until she was sunk as a result of being bombed by German Junkers Ju88 bombers on 22nd February 1941 soon after leaving Benghazi, and HMS Erebus provided naval gunfire support for the invasion of Sicily, the Normandy landings, and the amphibious assault on Walcheren. They were so successful that two new monitors were built, HMS Roberts ...

... and HMS Abercrombie.

Preparing for Ivangorod 1914

All things being equal – and assuming that some unforeseen crisis does not occur between now and then – I shall be taking part in the January session of the ‘Jockey's Field Irregulars’ tomorrow.

We are fighting 'Ivangorod 1914' (the battle between the Russians and the Austro-German Armies that took place after Tannenberg) using Richard Brook's OP14 rules. These were designed for just this sort of re-fight, and use 15mm-scale figures and a squared gridded tabletop. We have used them several times before to re-fight the opening battles of World War I, and they have proven to be very effective (i.e. the results are usually very close to what really happened).

(The following images show a previous Russo-German battle – Gumbinnen – that was fought at COW2013 (the 2013 Conference of Wargamers).)

My preparations are:

• To find my pickelhaube! (I have a plastic ‘prop’ one, which I will take with me even though I don’t know which side I will be on.)
• To make sure that my camera has some functioning batteries … and some spares.
• To buy some supplies for lunch. (We all bring a contribution towards the snack lunch that we eat during the day.)
• To make sure that I have a small duplicate notepad with numbered pages. (These are very useful when writing orders – or replies to orders – as you have copies that you can use afterwards to explain why you were successful/beaten.)

One thing that I won’t be doing is to read about the real battle. That way I come to the strategic/tactical situation without any pre-conceived ideas and/or hindsight. I have found that this generally leads to a more enjoyable – and realistic – experience.

Nugget 267

I collected the latest edition of THE NUGGET (N267) from the printer this morning and I intend to post it out to members of Wargame Developments either later today or tomorrow morning.

I have already uploaded the PDF versions of THE NUGGET and THE NUGGET COLOUR SUPPLEMENT to the Wargame Developments website, and they are now available for members of Wargame Developments to read online or to download and print.

---

IMPORTANT: Please note that this is the third issue of THE NUGGET to be published for the 2013-2014 subscription year. Resubscription forms have been sent to all members who have not already resubscribed. Please note that the subscription costs rose with effect from the beginning of the current subscription year.

A new conservatory roof required

The recent persistent bad weather has had a deleterious effect on the roof of our conservatory. The roof is larger than most normal conservatory roofs (it is approximately 20 foot wide by 12 foot deep), and is constructed from flat double-skin polycarbonate sheets. These are light and strong, but are now almost fifteen years old and are beginning to deteriorate. Furthermore, because the roof is flat and almost horizontal, they flex when the wind comes from the west and south-west, and this has caused the flashing that forms a watertight seal between the roof and the end walls of the conservatory to fail. As a result water is now penetrating into the conservatory and is beginning to damage the plasterwork.

My wife and I have therefore decided to have the existing roof replaced by a new heavier, double-hipped lean to-style, double-glazed glass roof, and this should be being done in March. We are also having the conservatory's window glass replaced with new double-glazed units. The glass will be far more thermally efficient than the existing polycarbonate sheeting, and hopefully will enable us to use the conservatory throughout the year rather than just during the warmer spring, summer, and autumn months. (We do have heating in the conservatory, but it only just keeps the chill off the room during the winter months.)

One thing we will have to do before the new roof is installed is to clear everything out of the conservatory ... and it is apparent that this is going to take us quite a bit of time and effort. I suspect that we will use the opportunity to have a big clear-out and to 'rationalise' what we will keep.

We will have to find somewhere to store everything we are going to keep, and it is likely that my toy/wargames room (which is already quite full) will have to be utilised. The upshot will be that I may well find my ability (and available time) to fight wargames will be restricted for several months to come.

Turkish Gambit: A review

I managed to watch the DVD of this film today and it not only lived up to my expectations ... it exceeded them!

It starts with a skirmish in a field of sunflowers, a daring escape from captivity, a dice game in a Turkish tavern, and a battle between Bashi-Bazouks and Cossacks ... and that is just the first fifteen minutes of the film!

This is an all-action film with lots a small details to delight and enthuse anyone interested in the Russo-Turkish War of 1877. For example the Russians are seen using an early steam-powered traction engine and a hydrogen balloon.

It is also a spy story that keeps the watcher guessing until the end as to which of the leading characters is the Turkish master spy who is enabling the Turks to continually stay one step ahead of the Russians.

But in my opinion the best parts of the film are the battle scenes, especially the Russian attacks on Plevna.

They alone were worth the purchase price of the DVD ... and I can see myself watching and re-watching them time and time again.

Ironclad Bingo: A big thanks to Andy Callan

I recently bought a lottery/bingo set and have been thinking about how to use it in my wargaming ... but I need look no longer for ideas, thanks to Andy Callan! (Andy Callan was one of the founder members of Wargame Developments, and although he is no longer a member we have kept in contact over the years. He is one of the best wargame designers I know, and has always been able to create that most difficult of beasts ... wargames that are easy to understand and fun to use whilst still producing realistic results.)

Yesterday's post brought a letter from Andy that contained a set of naval wargame rules that he wrote some time ago. They are called IRONCLAD BINGO and use bingo cards as a method of determining and recording the effects of hits on ironclad and pre-deadnought warships. The rules are designed for fleet actions and each ship in a fleet is allocated its own bingo/damage record card.

The three lines of numbers on the bingo card (starting from the top) represent:

• Propulsion
• Gunnery
• Control

As each number is 'called out' (i.e. comes out of the lottery/bingo ball) it is crossed off a ship's bingo/damage record card. If the number is on the 'Propulsion' line, a ship loses 3 knots of speed; if the number is on the 'Gunnery' line, the ship loses 20% of its firepower; and if the number is on the 'Control' line it affects the ship's ability to concentrate its gunfire on a target and can eventually lead to the ship being unable to steer.

These seem to be a very simple set of rules to use ... and will certainly give me the opportunity to use my lottery/bingo set in a wargame.

Wooden warships ... and fun wargames!

One of the blogs that I follow is Foss1066's Skull and Crown. This features all sorts of wargames that use laser-cut wooden figures ... and wooden warships.

The most recent blog entry describes a naval battle fought at the South Bay Game Club. The two sides fielded a range of warships, including an aircraft carrier (and aircraft) apiece.

Judging by the write-up this was a wargame that was enjoyed by young and old alike, and struck me as being akin to the sort of naval wargame that H G Wells might have developed, had he ever got around to doing so.