Wargaming Scenario - Breakout 1915

For the upcoming Guns of August convention, I am going to be running two miniature wargames events.  The first one will be a 15mm battle representing a Russian infantry division attempting to breakout from a German encirclement.  In order to make it interesting, I am only using a portion of the circle. 

The Russian units (four infantry regiments) are in good shape (rare for Russian units in WW1), and are pretty strong compared to their German counterparts.  They are being reinforced, as the battle opens up, by two mounted Cossack battalions.  The Russian infantry regiments have some attached MGs, but no artillery.

The German regiments (four, again) are tired and have dampened morale.  What the Germans do have, is two field gun battalions mixed in with their infantry units, as well as MGs attached to the regiments.

The objectives of the Russian division are to secure safe passage out of the area surrounding the town, and escape the encirclement, preferably by the north or east road.

The German objectives are to either render the Russian division ineffective, or to contain it within the area.

The time of the year is February, and while there is (surprisingly) not a lot of snow on the ground, a warm week has rendered the farm fields to the east of the town (between the cross roads and the forest line) to be soft and extremely muddy.

I have written some home brew rules (modified from my Russian Civil War rules), that I call "End of Empires".  They are a basic "I go/you go" type rule system, rolling dice per stand to inflict casualties, and 2d6 vs a target number for morale.  The tactical decision in the game is when a unit takes casualties from fire, it can ignore a certain number per firefight, and choose to give up ground instead.  That is a costly decision for both sides, so I hope this is a good fight.  I have tried out the rules using blocks and dice at home, but you never know what Wargamers will try.  I will try to take lots of photos while refereeing, and post them here as a follow up article.

World War One miniatures - 1914/2014

So, it is (as mentioned in the preceding post about Siege of Augusta) the year of Our Lord 2014.  That means one hundred years since the dreadful (but fascinating) conflict known as The Great War began in Western Europe with the machinations of the German Schlieffen Plan, and the response by Belgium, France, and Britain.

This, of course, warrants a great deal of interest for wargaming, as well as general history reading.

Historical Miniatures

On the miniatures front, I have recently acquired a pair of early war armies, consisting of 180 French figures, one tank, and a number of machine guns for one side.  For the other, I have 190 German figures, some machine guns, and seven field guns.  Both of these forces are painted.  Which opens up the question of Rules. The first obvious choice is a variation of my Russian Civil War rules. Other possible choices are Square Bashing from Peter Pig; Volley and Bayonet; Over the Top; or a new set of rules written here at GwC HQ.

The French and ~half (110 figures) of the Germans came from my friend Bob, who was going to sell them at a convention.  The other 80 German infantry, and the seven field guns, came from eBay.

Early war German Infantry, via eBay

Field Guns - will be used for a variety of nationalities...also from eBay

As far as manufacture, the Germans certainly, and probably the French, are from Minifigs.  Minifigs early war Germans, with the Pickelhaub, are the best I have ever seen.  Funny, because I don't like their early war British figures at all.  I don't know who to deal with in the U.S. any longer for Minifigs, but the shipping terms from Spirit Games in the UK are always nice, and they carry the WW1 line.

Balkanian Imaginations

In a totally different scale, and focus, it turns out that the ImagiNations group that I am in, with the fictional states of Balkania at nearly constant war with each other, is also interested in 1914 wargaming. In this case, it is done in 54mm, using chiefly plastic figures.

In the case of Balkania, it appears saber rattling has given way to Furstenburg arming and mobilizing under General Plan Number 14.2.  The various Balkanian ethnic groups (Urbiks, Suburbiks, Bosniaks, TransTurkylvanians) saw this as reason to take up arms themselves, in response to the earlier punitive conflict known generally as the Frontier Adjustment Wars. The target of Furstenburg Aggression? None other than The Kingdom of 2.5 Sicilys.

Here is the original dispatch, from one of the Balkanian Gentleman in the group, describing the opening of the conflict.

...and the winds of war are stirring in Balkainia, according to the Gazette and Daily Post. The GADP reports that in an unusually energetic move, the Kingdom of 2.5 Sicilies is reorganizing and updating their mobilization plan. Rumored as Plan 14 1/4, it is designed to mobilize the military quickly and strike hard to recover the Lost Province brutally ripped from Balkainian Sicily by the Furstenberg led Third Coalition during the War of Frontier Adjustments, Part II. To that end all the painted figures (which look remarkably like 54mm plastic 1900 AIP French) have been rebased and terraformed, included appropriate command and artillery bases, into 3 Corps (if each base = 1 infantry or artillery regiment) or alternatively 1 division (if each base = 1 infantry or artillery battalion). Only two guns and 4 gunners remain to be converted to 1914, primed and painted for the mobilization of these Corps to be complete.

An order for these two guns has been placed with the Schnidely Cannon and Ordnance Works Ltd (SCOWL). Along with 4 additional guns for export to other Minor Powers (e.g., the Bosniaks, Suburbiks, and the Turklyvanians have all expressed an interest), 6  field guns are in the process of being completed by the SCOWL. Once the gun shields and a few other details have been added,  they will be ready for priming...

Alas, intelligence reports that the Furstenbergers have been busy rebasing and terriforming their troops as well. Due to concerns of a two-front war looming with the Vulgarian Empire, the Furstenbergers rebased and terraformed enough painted soldiers (that bear a remarkable resemblance to 1914 Germans) to creat 4 Corps (!). The 3 Regular Corps have almost all their artillery, while the Reserve Corps is equipped with the older non-quick firing breech-loaded guns. All the Corps are missing their Corps HQs (the political rivalries among the Great Squash and Pumpkin Families are holding things up...). The remaining 3 field guns and 3 howitzers for the Regular Corps have be ordered from Ackerwerks Gmb (rumored to be controlled Behind the Scenes by none other than the Karltoe Armaments Ltd; a rumor denied by both organizations).

Both sides are recruiting the associated cavalry, jaegers/chasseurs (foot and cyclist), and other specialists need to complete the forces.

With all this warlike activity can another war of Frontier Adjustment, Part II be long delayed?

I should point out that Gaming with Chuck staff are considering ordering some Armies in Plastic figures, to be painted up as TransTurkylvanians and Vulgarian Imperial Infantry.  For the great TransTurko-Vulgar War, as well as for use in 1914.  The TransTurko-Vulgar war (fought in the 1870s) was a natural carry over from the Crymea River war, where the Imperial Vulgarian army was stopped from conquering Suburbik homelands within the TransTurkylvanian Empire.  The troops that took part in the great Suburbo-Vulgar war could easily be reused for 1914, in a pinch.  The figures are also available from Armies in Plastic.

Vulgarian Empire Infantry

TransTurkylvanian Infantry

Once painted up, the Vulgarian infantry will be in their typical White and Green uniform, as seen here in this picture of painted figures from the Toy Soldier Company.

And here is an alternate view, all in green (as some Vulgarian units were so equipped).

Finally, some pictures of TransTurkylvanians.  Again, this picture below is from The Toy Soldier Company.

Historical Reading

So, along with the gaming acquisitions and orders, there has also been some new reading, and some review of old favorites.  The old stuff first.  So, I really enjoy Martin Gilbert, and I enjoy his book on the First World War.  As far as old stand-bys are concerned, Guns of August (Barbara Tuchman) is always worth a re-read as well.

As a new acquisition for me, although not a new book, is Marne, 1914 by Holger Herwig.  Near the top of my history book stack... And, also new to me, is Retreat and Rearguard by Jerry Murland.  The second is about the British Army and the BEF in particular, from Mons to the Marne (opening stages). 

Flying Aces of World War I

When I was a youngster (9? 10?), I read Gene Gurney's fantastic book, "Flying Aces of WW I".  It established a life long fascination with those magnificent young men and their flying machines - the aerialists of the various military forces in the Great War.  I should point out that the book is just as old as I am - we were both first unleashed on an unsuspecting world, back in 1965.

While on a trip, this past week, back to my old hometown (Newport News, Virginia), I met up with a few wargamers who used to belong to the grand old wargaming club of Newport News, ODMS.  Alas, ODMS exists no longer, but we got together anyway and played at World's Best Comics.  The game that we played? Wings of War.  John Snelling who hosted the game, is a member of the Friday Night wargaming group Wings of War Nouvelles du Nouveau Port ("Wings of War Newport News").

Wings of War (now Wings of Glory, due to the game transferring from one publisher to another) is a fantastic game, and is the inspirational basis for the Star Wars: X Wing Miniatures game and the new Star Trek: Attack Wing game, both with some changes from the original.  The game has been very well supported, with multiple versions of the base game available.  It is playable out of the box with very nice, full color counters for each plane, and decks of cards for maneuver and shooting, and measuring sticks for combat range.  In addition, a very large, and continuing to be supported, line of miniature aircraft (1:144 scale) are available.  Each aircraft comes with a maneuver deck, and a clear plastic stand the illustrates things like the firing arc, and the deck type the aircraft uses for maneuver and shooting.

In Wings of War (the title I came to know the game under, and the version that I own), you pilot individual aircraft, each with their own behavior characteristics, although a single player may actually control more than one aircraft.  The individual characteristics are these: Different gunnery ability (signified by a letter, which determines which deck of cards to draw from when shooting), different maneuver ability (signified by different decks of maneuver cards, each deck making different maneuvers available for a player to select from, when moving his aircraft; more nimble planes are reflected by having maneuvers that reflect such; more powerful planes have maneuvers that reflect moving further in the same period of time), and each type of aircraft is different by having a different amount of damage it can take.

Additional sets of planes and rules have been released under each version of the game, allowing for other types of air combatants, other than the typical (and iconic) single engine fighter (biplane, triplane, or monoplane).  Those additional units include bombers, exotic fighters, and even balloons.

The game is lightweight, but is extremely satisfying to play.  It scales very large (so you can have large groups of pilots flying in the same game, the only limit is getting gamers all piled up together to control their fighters in tight dogfights.  It gives you the basics that you need to play a dogfighting game - a simple (intuitive) way to move/maneuver, and a simple (intuitive) way to handle combat.  What makes this so satisfying is that - (1) being able to maneuver, with limited field of fire weapons, leads to actual dogfighting, where players are trying to out think and out maneuver each other, and (2) the ability to shoot at each other gives an immediate feedback as to how well the contest is going, because you can get a feel for how much damage (in this game, in terms of how many damage cards, even if you don't know the value of each) each other is taking.

This is a very successful mix, and gives enough for a fun game.  The interactions between the players, and any scenarios that are used to give structure to the basic game (fly and shoot), mean that there is an easy way to ensure re-playability.  But, really, this lowest common denominator (move and shoot) is enough for this sort of game.  It has been used in a bunch of other similar games, all very successful.

Those include Blue Max (from GDW; now released as Canvas Eagles), although Blue Max adds some more complication to the Shooting mechanism, by introducing multiple hit locations on the aircraft, rather than a simple damage total.

Other WWI flying games where it has been done are Richthofen's War (Avalon Hill), Dogfight (Milton Bradley), Red Baron (Wargamer magazine) and Knights of the Air (TSR). An argument can also be made that the flip book game, Ace of Aces (Flying Buffalo) is of this family of games.

Each of these games adds some minor variations to the basic Shoot and Move mix.  Some use dice, some use cards, Ace of Aces uses a clever, integrated system of looking up page numbers in a book, based on what existed conditions prevail when the decision to move is made.  Some use hexes, some use free movement.  One thing that gets added to each of these games, which I really don't believe is necessary, is the aspect of Altitude.  This is not necessary, in my opinion, for the basic fun mix of Shooting and Moving.  It tends to lengthen the game, and doesn't really add too much to the basic move/shoot mix.  The same thing was true of the old Superior Models' game Starfleet Wars.  The effort to implement altitude changes, and the ability to maneuver in the third dimension, as well as the changes to shooting - just ain't worth the hassle.

Now, to all of this, I would suggest that another game that falls into this niche (and there are many, many) is the game Car Wars.  It is a dogfighting game, especially when played in an arena, involving the ability to Move an Shoot.  Of course, it is not as simple as the games listed here, but in its basic form, it ALMOST is.  Good news for fans of Car Wars - once Steve Jackson Games is done with the new version of OGRE (getting it all shipped out, which should be finished, finally, in the Autumn of 2013), they are going to do a monster box version of Car Wars.  Hooray!

Veteran's Day, Remembrance Day, WWI and Wargaming

Yes, the fact that Veteran's Day (known under other names, such as Remembrance Day) is on November 11 is for a very real reason. The Armistice that ended WWI was signed in a Railway Car on November 11, in 1918. It was signed by the Allied commander in chief, Foch, and also by the German representative Erzberger. Although the signing took place at 5am, the effective time of the ceasefire between Western Front belligerents took place at 11am. So 11th hour, 11th day, 11th month of 1918. Okay, enough history (I had to write this because I recently saw an article on Remembrance Day comparing it Memorial Day in the US, and mentioned that by coincidence it was also Veteran's Day, but never mentioning why the date is important - one wonders if the author of that article knew what was important about 11/11).

Now, on to WWI wargaming.  This article focuses on Board Games, but I may do a similar treatment for Miniatures Rules.  There have been a lot. From some Avalon Hill standards like Guns of August and 1914 to more modern fare like Clash of Giants and Paths of Glory.  The magazine Command had two that were very appealing to me - 1914: Glory's End and 1918: Storm in the West.

There have been some wonderful boardgames on the Naval aspect of the war, again going back to the venerable Jutland from Avalon Hill, Dreadnought from SPI and the more recent Avalanche Press tour de force series, The Great War at Sea.  Once again, Command Magazine also had a great treatment - Jutland, the Duel of Dreadnoughts.  In fact if we limit our examination to just games with the name Jutland in the title (which is not surprising, since it was far and away the single more important naval engagement of the conflict), we uncover the two player card game Jutland from the prolific Lloyd Krassner of Warpspawn Games.

Moving on to the dan of warfare between aircraft, we see a number of titles - from the excellent Avalon Hill title Richthofen's War through GDW's Blue Max, the very clever Ace of Aces published by Nova Games, and in modern times the immensely successful Wings of War.

Finally, there are some very interesting grand scale games that attempt to show the entire war, at a highly aggregated level of detail, but one which gives a great overview. Amongst these, of course, is the revolutionary game Diplomacy, which is about the origins of the war.  But also in this category is the new First World War published by Mayfair and Phalanx.

Lots to pick from, and to make things even MORE interesting, within ODMS we have a new design for the battle of Tannenberg (the 1914 version) based on the excellent Napoleonic 20 series of games from Victory Point games.  At our Nov 11 meeting of the club, John Dent and I got to play the game a couple of times, and it is really enjoyable.  Look here for some interesting additions to the game, and some cool reuse of the same idea for other battles.

Tags: world war one, wargames, board games