Kiev to Rostov via Vassal

Having enjoyed GMT's Kiev to Rostov and with a head full of ideas I had a desire to try it again.  Sadly I don't have the room, but then I found Vassal.  Problem solved.

My first cautious attempt was abandoned when I found I'd made a few mistakes and the Soviet had formed an very strong defense line on the Dnepr.  With Vassal it was easy to just start again.

My second attempt got off to a slow start, especially when rain turned everything to mud on the third turn, but the weather dried up and I was finally able to get field to to some of the panzer divisions that had been sitting ideal.  Then the logistics pause took effect.  The following pictures show the games as of end Game Turn 34.

The Axis has made some lucky progress in breaking through the Kiev fortifications.  The Soviets are also not sending that many reinforcements to the city's defence.

The Axis have created a pocket around Kremenchug - a vital part of the southern pincer.  This is where the Soviets are hurriedly sending troops to cordon this off.

Down south the Axis have broken out north of the Crimea heading to Melitopol.  The Soviets are busy building their defence line.

Great game.

But the aim of this post is to sing the value of Vassal.  It has made playing this massive boardgame solitaire very easy.  In fact it has enabled me to play it, without Vassal I could not play this game at home.

I highly recommend Vassal.

Saga Practice

Third and fourth games of Saga for me.  The first game was over in turn two when my warlord went down, but the next game a more drawn out affair going for six rounds.  My opponent, Paul, is still building his army as can be seen in some of the pictures.  Made for rather a creepy game.

Take to the air - take two

This was my third game during yesterday's NWS games day.

Bigger game this time, six German planes versus four British.  Stephen and James had three planes each, myself and Simon had two.  This time I had a Camel and a Triplane.  Again we had ace abilities.

Stephen photographing the set up.

Cloud was really just for show.

The first pass.

Trying for an arty shot.

My planes are pouring in fire on the Germans.

Every which way.

Got one!

One of Simon's planes is on fire.

This corner was about to become a graveyard.

I got another...

More planes in flames.

I'm too far away from this combat unfortunately.

It is now four planes against four.

Although my two are out of it.

Down goes a third German plane.

And then a fourth.

The British two seater, after suffering a lot of fire damage. goes down.

But a fifth German is shot down.

Unofficial Leaderboard

DBA Agincourt

The anniversary of the battle is around now and I had intended to try something, but left it too late and was distracted by too many other things.  So just settled for a standard DBA 2.2 game of 100 Years War English versus Medieval French with an Agincourt battlefield layout and OOB (sourced from  http://www.fanaticus.org/DBA/battles/agincourt.html).

Stephen took the French.  All the figures are standins from my Burgundian and Dark Ages collections (Tin Soldier figures).

There was a party going on in the background.  We were playing on the terrace at the North Perth Bowls and Recreation Club

Historical outcome, especially when Stephen rolled a series of ones.

Take to the air

First off we had Stephen N with two planes assisted by James with one take on myself with two Sopwith Triplanes and Paul in a Camel.

A vanilla engagement.

We were using ace abilities and my triplanes were good shots.

But not as lucky as Paul's Camel which got an explosive result on James' Albatross.

A proper aerial dogfight.

One of my triplanes caught on fire, never a good result.

Paul puts paid to another Albatross.

My triplane burns to a crisp.

Kiev to Rostov - Turns 59, 60 and 61

Despite being the muddy season the weather cleared although this turned out to be a bit iof a mixed blessing for the Axis offensive.

End of Turn 59.  It ws mud and the Soviets had just launched to counterattacks that had failed.  The Axis had one minor advance south of Kharkov, but they are very short on troops.

Final pocket on the Dnepr.

End of Turn 60 and Axis have pulled back to the north of Kharkov. 

The bigger picture end Turn 60.  Axis supply lines are advancing, but little else.

End of Turn 61 and here we called a halt.

The Soviets had established a strong defensive line and were even making some advances north of Kharkov.  They are not strong enough to attack, but well able to defend.

Massive game and I was keen to give it a second go.  To enable that I have downloaded Vassal and happily playing the game hosted by my computer.  I will use Vassal solitaire, but Richard and I might try something later.  There are lots of great boardgames.  Just need the space and time (and a bit of grey matter).

Second Game of Saga

Brendan borrowed Dave B's Normans and took on my Vikings, which had been painted by David Williams, in a our second trial game.

Six points gave me three units of warriors, one of levies and two Hearthguard.  The Normans fielded less troops, but better quality, including two double units of Hearthguard.

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The Normans got stuck into my warriors and made a mess of them - they had double the dice.

My decimated warriors fell back, but my warlord and the Hearthguard counterattacked.

On the other flank Norman warriors got stuck into my levies.

After two and a half turns it was just about over.  Few of the enemy remained, but many of my Vikings had gone to Valhalla in the course of the fighting.

It is not all wargames

Last three nights I have played these games with my family:

Classic, much loved and played game. 

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skip-Bo

Fun game, but quiet competitive.  Complex interactions, but a fairly simple system.

https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/18580/skallywaggs

It was only our second playing of this game.  It is simple once you start playing, but hard to grasp how you can position yourself to win (but you can, cause I did).

https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/24473/megastar

Encirclement Scenario with Blitzkrieg Commander

On Monday Richard organised a game base on Scenario 8 in the Blitzkrieg Commander rules - encirclement.  He took his early war Poles and Mark W and I each took a pincer of the encircling Germans.

The right hand pincer force that I had command of - PzIIs and motorised infantry.

The Poles intent on breaking out.

The left pincer, PzIs and leg infantry.

After failing to enter on turn 1 I made a cautious entry on turn 2.  The other pincer had more success, aided by having the CO with them.

The Poles stall on the wood edge.

My force comes under fire.

We make it to the edge of the wood and start to deploy.

The Poles attack and beat us off.

My force comes under increased fire.

Aided by failed Polish command rolls we are able to regroup.

But the casualties keep mounting.

Then at the worse possible moment the Poles have a command blunder that sees them pull back.

While my force had taken the brunt of the fighting, the left pincer had done excellent work in closing the circle.  A further tardy command roll doomed the Poles to entrapment and after twelve turns that was it.  While BKC has a level of abstraction it seems to work and the early war forces were fun to use and the absence of artillery made it a much more interesting game.