Monthly Archives: November 2020

Terminally Serious

Boardgames, Sessions,

Our Fall of France game ended during  the recent posting hiatus.  Here’s a screen shot of situation when I conceded.  Ugly.

Tim did a great job of applying unrelenting pressure on a broad front.  He might argue this pressure was too dispersed, but, in the end, his operational approach worked.  Yes, I held out longer than my historical counterpart(s), but the end result was still the same; a French defeat.

This broad, sustained pressure precluded any  concentration for a decisive counterattack, given the Allies’  slender armor and tactical air resources.  Every unit was needed to plug the recurring holes in a shallow defensive line.  The combination of tactical air, armor and strong infantry divisions capable of absorbing punishment was just too great.

A strategic withdrawal in the south would have been an option.  But, a passive surrender of French territory would be politically unthinkable, even though not a real game consideration in terms of victory points lost.

On second thought, maybe the end result wasn’t “the same”.  The British Army is still on the Continent.  No Dunkirk, no evacuation to fight another day.  With this outcome, the entire course of the war changes.  Negotiated settlement?   An interesting “what if” that has started a soft and gentle Siren’s Call to start up a session of A World At War or Blitz.

Now is a good time to replace those entryway lights…………

 

Underway

Ancients, Miniatures, Sessions

Finally have the WRG 6th edition armies discussed some time ago on the table. As usual, the process was not smooth.

I’ m older than when I first started playing this system, but not wiser when it comes to matching up figures and economically compiling an army list. Always was problem. Neat listings very quickly rendered illegible with cross outs and scribbled notes.  Thought I had these things worked out when I ordered the new figures. But, once based and consolidated into an army list using the finished painted figures, the results were less than optimal. Workable, not not approaching optimal.

 Of course, I had the immediate wargamer reaction that the solution was  buying more figures, expanding what I had. But, that was madness given cost and shipment time. Also, the thought of another larger scale painting project just makes me cringe. So, instead of that, it was back to rebasing and finagling the unit mix.

Fortunately, I came up with a very satisfactory mix for each army, minimal figure wastage (only 4 painted figures not used) and a workable 1,200 or so point total for each side. Just right for a game with each side commanded by a single general.

In between sessions of rebasing figures – which for me always includes the nerve wracking prospect of an Xacto knife blade snapping and flying into my eye – gluing and re-flocking, I found time to really dig into the rules.

When you Google up “WRG 6th Edition Rules” the narratives are not positive. There is some feeble recognition that this rule set was once state of the art but the emphasis is on complexity and the availability of newer rules.  However, I find the procedural nature and author Phil Barker’s mannered and arcane presentation (with critical elements of information sometimes taking the form of a single buried sentence) oddly soothing. These rules whisper “Take your time, there’s no hurry, this action doesn’t have to be ‘fast and furious’”.

My first walk through lasted 3 turns on a terrain-less surface. Lessons were learned, some figures rebased (again), lists reorganized and I re-set, again without terrain. I ginned up  army rosters to keep track of orders, casualties, and other miscellany.

Now, three turns into my second game, I’m impressed on how smoothly the system plays.  Especially when there are no Rules Lawyers to deal with – and in my distant memory this system was notorious for attracting/creating them.

Sure, the checklists of reasons to test Reaction, and those for Shooting and Combat modifiers are lengthy, but not so onerous that a quick glance through takes care of any adjustments that need to be made.

All in all, I’m glad to playing WRG 6th again. No need to find a “better hole”. For Now.

 

Return To Kernstown

Boardgames, Sessions

The post’s title evokes images of a Hallmark special movie.

Not really.  This return was a slasher movie bloodbath, attributable for the most part to my ham fisted re-entry into the Great Battles of the American Civil War (GBACW) system.

This is/was my first home board game after the re-organization and re-direction of collection.  The upshot of all that summertime thrashing was to establish a focus on several series of games, rather than any number of one-offs.  The emphasis now is on play, not reading a new set of rules, stumbling through a couple of plays, and then moving on to something else.  Sure, there are several magazine and specific games that I want to and will play, but this new emphasis increases time spent moving counters.

These GBACW games are part of the first series as published by SPI and others, before the revamping rolled out  by GMT. The new rules  seemed far more involved, without a commensurate increase in enjoyment.

So, the decision was made to fill out my collection, and start in on the cycle, using the last iteration of the SPI rules but ignoring, for now,  options and artillery overshoot (ugh).  I relied not only on that set of rules, but also the wonderful GBACW resources developed and published by Russell Gifford over at Boardgamegeek.

Just like Hollywood, my sequel unfolded much like its predecessor.  The Confederates used their cavalry to pin the Union 2nd Brigade, while their three infantry brigades with attached artillery attempted to skirt the Union positions either to flank them and attack, or exit the map.  If successful, either of these approaches would result in a decisive Confederate victory.

This flanking maneuver soon became a fire fight that degenerated into a nobody is moving an inch brawl.

I enjoy the chaos of this game system.  Probably the real Loki of the system is the Ammunition Depletion rule.  If a firing unit roles a “1”, it must check for ammunition depletion.  If that subsequent roll is a “1” or “2”, the unit cannot fire during either the defensive or offensive fire phase until resupplied.  In Kernstown, the Confederates cannot be resupplied.

Here’s an example of the fun.

With four turns left, the Union has five units ready to vaporized Brigadier Fulkerson and the remnants of his brigade,  and then fall on the exposed Confederate flank.  What happened?  Three of the five offensive fire rolls were “1”, with each of the succeeding rolls being either a “1” or “2”.  No “Blammo!!!”***

Despite the general mutual slaughter, the Confederates were able to grab critical Victory Points (VIPs) through Federal sloppiness in dealing with exiting cavalry units, and the Union garnered VIPs by maintaining morale and holding their initial positions.  The result was a draw.

I’m looking forward to playing Volume II, Pea Ridge!

*** The Word Tim B (Friend and Wargaming Opponent Extraordinaire) blurts out when an an enemy stack or unit is eliminated.  Adorable.

Expansion

General

I now have one of the most expensive wargame areas in Central Oregon, if not the state, region, nation or world.  We decided to devote one bay of the garage to our hobbies.  This involved upgrading the lighting (sorely needed regardless) renting storage some 30 minutes away, and building a storage shed (target completion date (10/21) for those chattels, as well as Coach (our Airstream RV), The Baby (2004 Audi TT Roadster), and our other  First World seldom-used-but-can’t-part-with chattels.

I now have a 4×8 surface for board games, enough for two standard size maps, with room underneath to store my various miniatures storage boxes.  I also purchased a heavy-duty metal bookcase for game storage/display.  Not even thinking about the cost per square foot.  Why ruin the fun?

Here it is…..all brand new and ready to go.

And, an In Action shot, with Kernstown on the left and Serbia/Romania on the right.,