One Hour Wargames: WW2 Scenario

I had the notion to play a miniatures game so I decided to setup one based on my standard WW2 US and German forces and put them in a scenario that was just created free form. I got out some terrain pieces and all my hedgerows and randomly placed them on the table in a manner that appealed to me visually. I then placed the units where I thought they would have been deployed.

I wanted a river and a couple of bridges with a village to be defended by the Germans. This was to be a pretty low level tactical game so we are dealing here with platoon formations under a company commander.

The US forces had a daunting task to attack a prepared German defence so I decided to give them an edge in experience and made them all elite while the Germans remained regular. This did have a subtle and ultimately decisive effect on the outcome with superior activation and combat results. 

Here is the position towards the end of the game - probably around turn 7 or 8. After a costly advance in terms of an eliminated platoon and tank the Americans managed to take out some of the key German units and establish a numerical advantage. With their superior experience this assured victory.

This was a lot of fun. What looked like a certain US repulse actually transformed into a decisive win. 

The cat showed it's excitement too. 

My Collection: PanzerArmee Afrika (1973)

PanzerArmee Afrika: Rommel in the Desert, April 1941 - November 1942, is a simulation of the North African Campaign between April 1941 and November 1942. Battalion, Regiment and Brigade-sized units represent the actual forces which took part in the fighting. Included in the game is a Variable Orders-of-Battle Chart that offers variations in forces to demonstrate how history might have been different.

The game spans the entire 20-month campaign, allowing players to recreate the famous battles of the period between the British-led Commonwealth forces and the Axis forces of Germany and Italy, to include Rommel's Panzer Army Africa. Set at an operational level, players must manage their military forces and precious supplies better than their opponent to achieve victory. The Axis aims at capturing Alexandria, the key to the Suez Canal. The British player has to prevent all this.

And so goes the description on Board Game Geek. I picked my copy up quite cheaply on e-Bay. There were only four counters missing and I've created substitutes to fill in which look OK.

The components and gameboard are quite attractive and it looks very playable solo - I've just not got round to doing anything with it yet. Too many other projects on the go just now.

Desert Cat only showed a little interest!

My Collection: Lord of the Rings (Hasbro 2001 Edition)

This has been in my collection for some time now. I got this version back around the release date of the Jackson Films in order to play a LOTR simulation with the kids. 

This is a co-operative game where the object is to destroy the Ring while surviving the corrupting influence of Sauron. Each player plays one of the Hobbits in the fellowship, each of which has a unique power. The game is played on a number of boards: the Master board indicates both the physical progress of the fellowship across Middle Earth and the corrupting influence of Sauron on the hobbits and a number of scenario boards which detail the events and adventures of particular locations. Progression across the boards is determined by playing cards (many of which represent the characters and items of Middle Earth) and the effects of corruption are represented by a special die. The game is lost if the ring-bearer is overcome by Sauron or won if the ring is destroyed by throwing it into the volcanic fires of Mount Doom.

We had a couple of enjoyable games but we never really played it extensively. 

Component quality was good and the rules and were backed up with a useful summary.

The artwork was tremendous and captured the other world feel of Tolkein's Middle Earth. These are the various scenario boards:

The kids loved the corruption scale mechanism which had the Sauron piece move towards the hobbits. Here is the One Ring that came with this edition.

The artwork on the cards and counters provided a pleasant dimension to gameplay.

Here is the Gandalf card.

And here is another little goblin!

Command & Colours Napoleonics: Rolica (French First Position) - 17 August 1808

I played a game of Napoleonics over the course of last weekend taking an overnight break to complete the scenario.This is the first game in the scenarios book with a simple setup and not too many units. It still offers a challenge to the Anglo-Portuguese commander.

It proved to be a fun contest in which the British didn't get their way in outflanking the French and the defenders managed to pull off a convincing 5:2 victory repulsing units on either flanks while holding the hill line.

This series of slides shows how the game played out.

Vive le chat!

Lord of the Rings Scenery and Figures

I was given a collection of figures and scenery from the Games Workshop LOTR franchise by a family friend a few months ago. I managed to save them from the skip as he was going to throw them away!

The figures comprised a number of boxed sets still with their original packaging.

The scenery comprised the walls of Minas Tirith which was a boxed set produced by Games Workshop. 

Looking on e-bay all are worth a tidy sum. I've a quantity of figures and the rules for the strategy game that I never really played so I will keep them in my collection until I decide what to do with them.

Maisie the Grey!

Frederick's War: Kolin 1757

Here is the setup for a Frederick's War scenario using my Risk figures and spare Command & Colours blocks to denote infantry and cavalry types. It represents the Battle of Kolin where Frederick was defeated by the Austrian General Daun.

I only had time to set this up to see what this would look like before I needed to get ready for work the next day and the cat ended up sitting on the board so no play through as a result.

The cat helped Frederick out in the end!