A Decision Has Been Reached

After many hours lost reading various opinions and suggestions about campaign settings, I have decided to start with the compromise method despite Tony Bath's misgivings. That method, again, is historical factions over fictional geography.

However, taking a cue from his suggestion to look to fiction for lands to fight over,  I will use as a basis the previously shared maps from Tales of My Father's Dragon.  The idea for the campaign is based ever so loosely on the alternate history concept of "what if Russia really did invade New Zealand?"

Instead of New Zealand,  we have Blueland - by my estimates (I'm assuming 10-20 miles per hex) it's just a few thousand square miles and only a very small portion is inhabited. Tangerina, while not part of this campaign as ground to fight over,  may still have a role to pay in the action, if only via the narrative.

That decided, I needed to convert the map into something I can use for a game.

Enter Google Drawing:

Blueland with hex overlay

All I've done here is to upload the picture I took the other day into Google Draw, and then using the hexagon shape tool, added a rough overlay. 

To speed the process up, I laid down two or three rows by 8 wide, grouped them, and then copy and pasted. I quickly lined the groups up, and while I could have done a better job, it's good enough that I can use it to convert the map into Worldographer / Hexographer.

Converting does require decisions to be made, such as, is the hex with part of a mountain and part flat land mountainous or flat? 

This is the same kind of decision those of us who enjoy grid based games make all of the time. There is no wrong answer - I tend to choose what I think is more appealing visually when looking at the resulting map. If you're new to this idea, I highly recommend Bob Cordery's The Portable Wargame to see how he converts the well-known Hook's Farm to a grid.

I also decided to draw the entirety of Blueland, which requires filling in with my imagination what the rest of the map looks like. In this way, I can limit the scope to an island invasion campaign, rather than a continental war. Conveniently, this is a campaign-type addressed by C.S. Grant in his book on campaigns.

Because I want the desert portion to serve as the backdrop for handful-of-figures skirmish / RPG-lite exploration games - I am walling it off behind imposing mountains on all sides. Assuming a way to access the interior easily is eventually discovered, it could also open up ground for future battles.

Campaigns and Starting with Earth

Packing continues for my move - but I have kept my khaki Brits out as I hope to finish them before I move.

Cutting-in complete. Remaining: touching up the boots, finishing the bayonets, and painting the bases. Then I can seal and varnish. And yes, that's Gary the Snail.

Thought and internal debate on a Victorian-era campaign continues apace, with nothing to show for it but reams of illegible hand-written notes and sketchy maps as I explore the various options. 

Seeking inspiration and perhaps a voice from the heavens saying "Do it like this!", here is RPG, setting designer, and one of my favorite podcasters, Kenneth Hite, discussing  his "Start with Earth" game design mantra:

This goes a good deal bit further and far afield than I care to go for a solo campaign primarily intended to generate tabletop battles with at least historical looking figures, none the less, lot's of things to think about.

If you're even a remote fan of roleplaying games and oddball history, and you are not a listener of Ken & Robin Talk About Stuff, I highly recommend it.

 

Early Thoughts on a Late 19th C. Campaign

I have been re-reading Tony Bath's magnum opus on setting up a campaign, and perusing Donald Featherstone's and C.S Grant's works on the subject. I've also been reading Henry Hyde's Wars of Faltean Succession and William Silvester's The Solo Wargaming Guide which has extensive chapters dedicated to the subject. [The latter two are available on Wargame Vault. The former are available from John Curry's History of Wargaming Project in reprint form.]

Spoiler alert: they all make maps sound really appealing. 

However, I have only ever used a map for a campaign once, where the map was serving any other purpose than to show where battles took place (the others were linked or point to point campaigns, the maps were window dressing). I have used maps dozens of times for RPGs however, and rather enjoy making and populating them. 

The issue arises however, whether to campaign on historic geography or fictional geography, with historical factions in a historic campaign, historic factions in a fictional campaign, or fictional factions in a fictional campaign. You probably recognize this as a mildly expanded view of Tony Bath's campaign taxonomy.

I think I can throw historic factions fighting a historic campaign over historical geography right out the window. Russia and England didn't come to blows in the late 19th C., despite "The Great Game". However, as an alternate (read: fictional campaign) that has merit, I think, despite Bath's assessment of that combination as being a compromise bearing all of the negative hallmarks of all compromises.

Two obvious what-if events of the alternate history variety that stick out at me: 

1. What if the Panjdeh Incident turned the Great Game into a Great War (not the Great War, but maybe, a prequel set 20 plus years earlier)?
2. What if Russia did actually invade New Zealand? 

These would be fictional campaigns over historical geography.

 But what if they were, say battling on Mars?

 

I had the Heliograph reprint of Space: 1889 in print. Gave it away. Bought the PDF. Which might actually be more useful.

Space: 1889 gives you pretty much everything you need, if not in the core book, in the course of some of the supplements (Conklin's Atlas comes to mind) to run a campaign set on Mars. I would probably do away with some things from the setting - particularly the Martians. I prefer my Mars to be in a period post-Martian civilization where nature has reclaimed the planet and terrifying eldritch horrors lurk in long abandoned cities.

The factions would be historical, the campaign and the geography fictional (that is, the Victorian view of Mars, not the reality). In any case, I may use some of the RPG bits for the interludes to the main action regardless of which campaign option I settle on.

Similarly, there is using literary fiction (as opposed to RPG fiction) as a basis. 

Three Tales of My Father's Dragon by Ruth Stiles Gannet contains maps that I find visually appealing (so much so that I saved this from being tossed in our donation pile as we cleaned out my son's bookshelves. The stories are quite enjoyable, too.):

Inside the Front Cover

Inside the Back Cover

I could of course have England and Russia fighting over one of these maps - or even one of my own creation - but I could also go all in, having disposed of the historical campaign and historical geography, and go with fictional factions as well - the method preferred by Tony Bath, William Silvester, and Henry Hyde. 

So, while the toy soldiers may be clad like British or Russian forces, they could be Ginland and Vodkalandia (I was using Vodkia, but I just don't like it). Using the locations on the maps, what if the Tangerinans invaded Wild Island or the Bluelandians battled the Popsicornians? Or the city state of Nevergreen fought the city state of Seaweed Bay for control of Blueland and the mineral riches of the Awful Desert?

And finally of course, the ultimate variation on this theme: it could be Ginland and Vodkalandia fighting over a land I have yet to create or name, but for the sake of my wargaming history, I'll call, for now Jimland.

That's a whole lot of words to end up with me saying, I have no idea which one I want to pursue.There are too many appealing options. And yes, sure, I could do them all. However, knowing there's never enough time to do everything, forces me to consider, "which one should I start with?".

More Ebay Acquisitions

As mentioned, I've been turning attention to the colonial forces and I have been contemplating the use of smaller missions of adventure and daring in between more typical battles (inspired by G.A.S.L.I.G.H.T.'s lightheartedness and Space: 1889, as well as the fiction of the period). Certainly some of the military figures will be useful, but civilians are also needed (I posed a question about this over at Little Wars Revisited and got several good suggestions.)

One thing I came upon in my research was the Britain's Petticoats series of figures covering 19th century women's fashion. 

The one that most met my conception of a female adventuring sort is "Sarah" (the figures in this series are named as a means of identification).  She is a bit dainty in proportion to the AiP figures. Her stature is a bit under average as well, but placing her on a base relieves the visual disparity.

Here she is pictured with a fine bloke from the khaki unit that is currently mustering:

Don't be fooled by her choice of weapons. The umbrella is more than you think it is.

She may not look of even average height here, but that's an optical illusion. Swapping the figure positions she's clearly much closer in height:

Defending Queen and Country with a spoon full of sugar.

I think she fits rather well. Now whether I keep her given name of "Sarah" or not, remains to be seen. She may be a "Lady" something or other or perhaps she bears the last name of Poppins and all that implies.

In addition, I picked up to what amounts to a job lot of Britain's Big Red 1 figures. I have these three already (I think I have the entire series - although at least one needs significant weapon repair). These are in solid condition, and just need some touch ups here and there.

  

I really didn't *need* them, but at $4 USD-ish per figure I wasn't passing them up. I have moved the existing collection to be used for 1:1 games against my Britain/Conte SS figures, but I have enough that I could use them for G Company with maybe one painted TSSD figure in support.

Operation Citadel : Soviet Counterattack (Final campaign game)

On July 10, 1943, the Allies invaded Sicily. In response, Hitler called off Operation:Citadel despite what amounted to a successful, if slower than expected, operation, in order to return forces to Italy.  For this final battle in my campaign, I opted for a  hypothetical Soviet counter-attack on the withdrawing Grossdeutschland division.

The scenario is a slightly stretched out version of scenario 20, Fighting Retreat from One Hour Wargames.

GD Pioneers, a Panzer unit, and GD PanzerJagers prepare to cross the ford on the German left. GD PzGrenadier Regiment and Division HQ would cross on the right.

The Germans crossed uneventfully with the Soviets on their heels - six battalions of infantry, a mortar battery, regimental HQ,  and an AT battery.

The view on GD's right. I and II/PzG hold up the Soviets  at the ford.

The GD panzer battalion was the first to fall. The Pioneers fell back to join elements of GD already on the hill.

HQ ordered the PzGrens to fall back and allow the Soviets to cross in order to draw them into range of more of the unit.

I/PzGren held off the Soviets.

On the G right (they're now facing the opposite table edge so their direction reversed), the pioneers would hold off several attacks by the Soviets.

The Soviet steamroller sets its sights on taking out the pioneers an then advancing on the hill.

The pioneers force them back, and III/PzGen sweeps down to flank the Soviets.

GD HQ orders a counter-attack and I and II/PzGren descend on the Soviet forces causing them losses and pushing them back across the river.

Soviet infantry takes to the woods in an effort to mass for a concentrated attack against the pioneers.

The pioneers finally fell after gallantly holding out. The Soviets attempted to roll up the PanzerJagers only to find out that they were outmatched. 

Forced to fall back to the woods to lick their wounds, it would be the last effort of the Soviets.

With the elimination of the mortar battery, the Soviet HQ was forced to call off the attack and withdraw.

*********************

The big lesson learned here is that I should have given the Soviets some motorized infantry, and that veteran troops (like the GD pioneers and Panzergrenadier regiment) are very hard to eliminate even if you're scoring hits on them (which is fine, that's how I want my rules to play).

Grossdeutschland lost pioneers and their Panzers but wore out the Soviet attack and held the hill uncontested.

The Soviets took heavy losses (5 units).

GD earned 2 points for units eliminated and 2 points for the win. The Soviets earned 1 point for the units they eliminated.

Grossdeutschland 17, Soviets 11. A German campaign victory. 

It was quite enjoyable to pretend I was fielding a division or close to it in each scenario - and while my units don't look anything like a battalion, 2 infantry stands or 1 vehicle = 1 battalion worked for me once  was playing (i see them as counters in hex-and-chit game). I'm not sure I did anything that fell into that level of gaming though or if I was focused to low in the action. No matter, I had fun.

I plan to play this campaign again, but less like a tournament, and more like a campaign, with Grossdeutschland's losses carrying from battle to battle, weather, and of course air support. I also think artillery should have played more of a role in some of the scenarios.

However, that will wait a bit. I am turning my focus to my late 19th century forces and any gaming in between now and then will probably be just one-off WWII games to tie me over - I want to play some lower level games with Battalion Squares, G Company,  maybe try Crossfire, and some 1:1 with One Hour Skirmish or Fistful of Lead.

eBay Score

Apparently, I have had an eBay account for 21 years (my account is old enough to buy liquor in the US, but not rent a car). As a reward for my signing up and taking a chance on the plucky fledgling internet auction site (when deals were plentiful but also more scams), I was given a $25 gift coupon.

To my surprise, there was no catch, other than figuring out which of the 200 items in my watch list I should apply it to!

As it turns out, I messed up the first order and the coupon wasn't applied. Oops guess I better find something else to order too! (I swear it was an honest mistake.)

For a great price, I found Henry Hyde's The Wargaming Compendium..

I already had the e-version - having picked it up when it was on sale for Kindle for around $3 USD. I enjoy Mr. Hyde's writing style - it reminds me of the classic wargaming books that I find so appealing. However, it is *far*too massive to read on a phone for my tastes.

Glad to have this in my collection (even as I'm thinning out my stuff before I move, I'm adding things that I know I will use for a long time) and looking forward to pouring over it on and off this weekend.

Downsizing (Free Stuff) Part 2!

Even if you've claimed something from my previous post, please feel free to let me know if anything here interests you (there’s  still a few things left there).

Nothing left here, folks! Thanks for looking!

Downsizing

I am going to be downsizing in October to an apartment (or a flat, depending where you're from). As such, I've been reviewing my figure collection in terms of both the kinds of games each collection gives, inspired by Ross MacFarlane's approach, and what I need to field for a given force to play my favorite scenarios, an idea put forth by Stuart Asquith.

One of the great things about moving is that it makes some of the decisions I had thought about before much easier to finally  make. 

Here then is what will be called round 1 (possibly of only 1 round) of unloading things. Now, before you get excited please note that I will only ship to the North America . Not because I don't want to ship everywhere but because it’s cost prohibitive.

Anyway, here they are:

Lot 4: Like new. Sealed.

Lot 6: Chinese Airfix knock-off German paratroopers. A little smaller than they should be I think.

If there's something you want (or all of it), leave a comment, or email me at: john DOT yorio AT gmail DOT com. Please note, I will mail these as soon as I can but it might be awhile. So if you need these right away, you've been warned. I've got a bunch of stuff to mail out, but I'm saving it all for one big post office trip.

I don't want any money for the figures. I'd rather they go to someone else's plastic pile. If you want to kick money my way for shipping, you can, but only after you've received the items. That way I don't feel bad when two weeks go by before I get to the post office.

Cheers!

Operation Citadel : Berezovka Heights

 On 10 July 1943, Grossdeutschland recon battalion, along with the mechanized panzergrenadiers and assault guns attacked Hill 247 astride one of the main Soviet supply roads. Opposite Hill 243 was Hill 247. Both were covered in armor and anti-tank batteries.

Not based on an actual map but this one: http://saskatoonminiwargamer.blogspot.com/2018/04/panzergrenadier-aar-berezovka-july-1043_16.html

Battalions of the 200th Tank Brigade, supported by ATG batteries.

Grossdeutschland's recon battalion, assault guns, and I/PzGren advance towards hill 247.

The battle begins in earnest, but the German commander has foolishly split their attacks between the battalions.

After 3.5 hours of fighting for Hill 247, with only I/[PzGren remaining, GD Panzers and II and III/PzGren began their assault of Hill 243 under heavy fire.

II/PzGren in coordination with II/Pz eliminate the Soviet defense on the right of the hill. The Soviets sent up a motorized rifle battalion retake the hill.

III/PzGren moves up the road between the hills to provide support for either flank as needed.

The Soviet commander watches as Grossdeutschland completely wrests away control of 243.

On the Soviet right on 247 however, things were going a little better. But barely. I/PzGren would eventually be driven off.

After 7 hours of fighting, the Germans have a numerical advantage (two units off camera, an they had a good supply of artillery) but the hills are equally divided.

*********

I set a turn limit of 12 turns + additional turns determined by die roll. In total, 14 were played. Arguably, had the game continued, the Germans likely would have captured both hills - their infantry could easily hold off the Soviet infantry to their right, and the three tank units could deal with the Soviet armor on 247.

In testing this scenario, I made good use of a spearhead attack with the initial assault on 247 - piling up on one of the Soviet tank battalions. Instead, in the event, I opted to split my attacks between them. I believe that cost Grossdeutschland that hill. On their right, they fared better with the combination of panzers and pansergrenadiers assaulting the Soviet positions. 

 The Soviet rifle battalions could not gain sufficient advantage to assault the panzergrenadiers without risking their own elimination - this is due to the fact that the PzGrens are veterans (they save on 2/4/6), while they were standard (save on 4 or 6). 

In the end, both sides got 1 point for destroying around 1/3 of the enemy's forces, and 1 point for the draw. The campaign totals are now Grossdeutschland 13, the Soviets 10.

The fifth and final battle will be a hypothetical Soviet counter-attack as within a few days of the historical version of the events described here, the Allies would invade Italy and Hitler would order a cessation of Citadel.