Iron Tigers - Computer Moderated WWII Rules

Gents,

 

Clinton the Computer Strategies rules bloke came around on Saturday and I put on a fairly simple 15mm Western Desert game. First time I’ve used the WWII stuff for a while.

Basing not quite finished but all good enough for a game. Did my bit for wargames by rescuing 70% of the Flames of War figures from eBay. A few touch ups* and some rebasing and they can forget their previous shameful use. Used my very special (read: cheap n’easy) felt mat from Spotlight…

 

The photos more or less show that the game is a very neat one. Perhaps the tidiest WWII game I’ve ever played. Next time I will use smoke  markers and dead figures to show that units are getting hit, gotta have some fun for the 12 year old in me.

1mm=1 metre so you can work out how many stands per unit you want. Each infantry unit was a company and each armoured unit was a squadron. Each infantry stand was a half platoon.

You could get away with 1 stand/model per unit if you wanted.

Basic scenario was that during the lull after the first phase of El Alamein the 8^th Army started stripping the front line of units to create a reserve for the next push. The local DAK commander saw an opportunity to counter-attack with a strong little force. The British commander had learned through patrolling and prisoners that an attack was imminent. So the British commander put alerts for both divisional artillery and local armoured units to offer support if requested. They entered the table in staggered turns over the game.

 

The DAK commander never got a chance to use their good stuff and the game never really got going. Saying that, the rules themselves were excellent. Very suited for WWII and makes a potentially complicated period quite straight forward. I will definitely use them again.

 

I sent him a small list of suggestions that I think would be improvements to the functionality of the rules but haven’t heard back. He might have filed them in the round filing cabinet.

 

*Tip of the week – I use something called MIG Washes. Paint the tank or figure, put on the decals, then slap on the wash. After 10-15 mins wipe it off the raised surfaces with paper towel and cotton buds and then estapol/dullcoat when dry. Quick and easy for WW2.

Mick

Turn 1 movement. DAK attack begins.

Dug in 8^th army infantry and AT guns in position. More special felt as soft sand.

Recon group enters the escarpment road.

Will they be seen again?

A couple of nice little Marder models. Perhaps crucial in that they were left off the Army list and had to be removed…!

Motorised infantry transports lead the way with the armour close behind.

What the shooting screen looks like. Select the firing unit and the target, range in metres, add any factors and number of elements firing. The order of the firing unit is decided by the programme by Order of Initiative. The initiative takes into account all sort of things like morale, training and casualties.

Infantry dismounting just before the soft sand

2pdr portee unit starts popping off a few rounds

Panzers move into a column and go for the centre. Infantry slog ahead on foot taking hits from off-table artillery and HMGs

Mobile reserve carrier-borne infantry scoot around in support

Brits looking comfortable in their defensive position (annoyed this pic is blurry)

Armoured reserve squadrons arrive and race into positions – causing some serious hits on the panzers

Lined up for some nasty flank shots

Carriers bristling with brens and ATRs shore up the British left flank

Stuka strike on the British armour – caused damage but not enough to change momentum

Engineers never got a chance to get in and blow stuff up

Confident Brits on the right…

…And the left

DAK infantry taking hits over open ground and about to fall back – along with the 2^nd panzer column

Victorious British hold the line in generally good shape



Warlord Game's Sdkfz 161

GARFORD-PUTILOV ARMORED CAR - FREIKORPS

Here is the latest addition to the Freikorps motor pool. It is a Garford-Putilov armored car. These were originally made in Russia during WW1 but captured ones were pressed into service by the Freikorps after the war. The armament is interesting with a turret mounted 75mm mounted on the rear and three MMG elsewhere. The vehicle was notoriously underpowered and had a top speed of 10mph. The model is by Copplestone Miniatures and is made for use with 28mm minis.

SUNDAY'S WARGAMES

 

Last Sunday our group met for its monthly meeting. We had 23 at the venue and quite a few diverse types of games were played.

 

 A well set up 15mm Napoleonic game - British against French.

 A Very nice looking 28mm Carlist Wars game.

This was a very interesting game. It was a practice run for a game using 1/72 scale models and simulating the dam busters raid. The object was to get your Lancaster down the table to the point where you released your bouncing bomb. The trick was that when you got to that point you had to be at exactly the right speed and height. The rules were simple but you really had to be thoughtful and manage your aircraft so as to not ruin your bomb run, as well as trying to avoid the pesky German flak that was trying to knock you out of the sky at the same time. I played in this one myself a couple of times and it was great fun. We used a 1/144 scale Lancaster for the game and an improvised dam wall, but for the real thing the models will all be 1/72 scale and it should look magnificent. 

The 1/144 scale Lancaster on its run to the dam - a Photoshopped image just to give you the right effect.

Here is the Lancaster without the dressing up.

 

A great 28mm Roman vs Roman battle. A superb table packed with beautifully painted figures.

A 28mm WW2 game using Chain of Command rules. The game was set in the jungle with Aussies fighting Japanese.

 

 The Ww2 game in full swing.

 

 The Carlist Wars battle. A great looking affair.

 Carlist Wars infantry from each side face off.

  The 15mm Napoleonic game in progress.

 

 French cavalry attempt to molest the redcoats!

 More of the 15mm Nap battle.

A 28mm dark ages game was also played. This was a battle which is part of an ongoing campaign. In this battle an army half the size of the other managed to fight the larger army so effectively that in the end the outcome of the game rested on which army would fail its army morale test first. In the end the dice Gods decided that the smaller army would break first. It was a great game with a really tense conclusion.

Here are some scenes for the battle. The tokens mark where a warrior has fallen. you can see that there are certain parts of the field that are strewn with dead.

 

 The final outcome clearly shows where the fighting occurred.