World War III What If

 During 2024 I worked quite a bit on my armies for the Cold War Commander (CWC) rules system. In these rules each vehicle/infantry stand is a platoon. I was a cavalry officer in 1st Squadron, 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment in the FRG 1983-1986. Part of our mission was to patrol along the FRG/DDR/CSR border.

Because of that US Army experience and my interest in just about everything French Militare, I have focused my WWIII interests to the southern area of operations. Hence my first units have included French and Czech armor and infantry units. Here are some pictures of the French units first:

Gazelle with HOT ATGM’s

AMX-30B2 Company HQ tank

A Company of AMX-30B2’s on line

AMX-10RC heavy recon company. 

VBL light recon vehicle. 

VAB light APC. 

French infantry platoon stand. 

Battalion command stand. 

VBL light recon vehicle with Milan ATGM. 

I really like the French paint scheme and I found an excellent set of decals from Peddinghaus 1/100 scale decal range for these vehicles. There are tanks, APC’s, Artillery, and soft skins on the sheet. The really tiny door decals on each of the wheeled vehicles are a pain, but they add a lot to the end product!  I am using a mix of Team Yankee plastics and resin vehicles as well as 3d printed vehicles. 

To face off with my French forces, I have Czech tanks, APC’s, SP Artillery, and command stands. Here are a few examples: 

OT-64C APC and BRDM command vehicle

An OT-64C Battalion ready for action!

A divisional reconnaissance battalion with BRDM-2 command and recon versions and BMP-1R’s including one with ‘Small Fred’ radar. Note the BMP-1R’s do not carry the Sagger ATGM. 

T-55AM Tank Battalion. 

Czech Battlegroup ready to invade the FRG!

I plan to expand my collection of 15mm moderns with Germans and Americans over the next few months. Just need to get another project done and I can get back into these. 

Huzzah! Game a Success

My game at Huzzah! on Friday night went pretty well.  I had six players and all seemed really engaged and interested in the scenario.  At the end of the game the Freedom Fighters (FF) had outgunned the French/Moan government troops and secured the crashed aircraft.  The dice gods were definitely against the French and government troops during the game as the Freedom Fighters had activation dice drawn consecutively on several occasions.  The FF players took advantage of the fortunes of war and took pretty aggressive actions which resulted in the destruction of government vehicles and several infantry squads.

Here are some photos of the action:

The Moan armored cars seize the crossroads on Turn 1.  They would not move again in the six move game!  

The Moan troops, from the 22nd Airborne Commando Battalion and the 63rd Mechanized Regiment move up to support the armored cars.  

Kitty Hawk down!  The aircraft crashed right near the crossroads.The armored cars had already been destroyed.  The Freedom Fighters have a squad along the wall of the building at the top right, a motorcycle rider at the bottom right and a squad in the building at the tail of the aircraft.  They also have the government troops in the building a the bottom of the photo under fire from several different units.  The French would try to close in from the top of the photo, but they would not be able to extricate the Moan troops from the kill zones.

The French troops coming to the rescue!  Well, at least they are trying.

The Freedom Fighters mass for the attack!

A close-up of some infantry of the Democratic Republic of Moa.

By the end of the battle, the Freedom Fighters had not only secured Kitty Hawk, they had destroyed eight of the allied units and killed or wounded several French soldiers.  The political fallout for the French government may be so severe as to cause the withdrawal of French regulars from the DRM.  What will happen as the Freedom Fighters continue their push south further into Moa?  Stay tuned to find out!

Getting Ready for Huzzah! Game

Well,  the bags and game supplies are packed and I am ready to head out tomorrow afternoon for Portland and some time at Huzzah!  I am putting on a scenario using my modern 20mm Bolt Action figures at the convention.

My scenario is from the 2016 additional scenario pack and is called "Kitty Hawk Down!"  I have put on the scenario a couple of times, but using Bolt Action version 1.  I have made all of the appropriate changes for version 2 and we will have to see if the Modern rules play as well as they did in the earlier games.  This is the same scenario that I hosted at the club game night back in January.  During that game, the victory conditions were not met until the last couple of dice of the last turn.  To me that is a sign of a pretty balanced scenario!

If everything goes well I am going to use the results of this game as the start of a mini campaign set in the fictional African country - The Democratic Republic of Moa (DRM).

Watch this site for an update by the end of the weekend!  The player slots are full and I hope that all of the players have a really good time.

Game Night Modern Bolt Action

Had a chance to host a modern BA game last night at the NC Club January Game Night.  The battle was the Kitty Hawk Down! scenario from the 2016 extra scenarios from the BA Forum.

The battle went really well and came down to the last turn when the French and African forces (under the command of AJ, Dave and Phil) finally overpowered the Rebels/Freedom Fighters (under the fanatical command of Warren and Paul).  While the Allied forces definitely killed more Rebels and destroyed more equipment, the victory came at a pretty steep cost with one European soldier killed and another one wounded, a Cobra helicopter shutdown, an African vehicle destroyed and several African troopers killed and others wounded.

Here are some photos that I took during the game with commentary:

Pre-Game Player Posing

The Cross Roads at the Center of the Table - Hey, is that motorcycle a combatant?

Yes, as a matter of fact - BOOM!  Of course, with the next French/Government Troop  Command Die the Motorcycle Died a not glorious death!

The remains of a Rebel HMG Team in a small copse of trees.

The last phase of the last turn.  The French are in a good position and the Rebels are making one last attempt.  Can they do it?

No - The French/African Government forces hold the objective at the end of the game!  The UN envoy is saved and given the differences in casualties it is a major victory for the Allies!  Unfortunately, there will be a military funeral in Paris as the French Sniper team was taken out by his Rebel counterpart. C'est la vie! C'est la guerre!

Modern Bolt Action Game

Got to play a game of Modern Bolt Action, which I refer to as "Special Operations Forces", on Friday evening.  The game is a scenario I want to host at the Huzzah! convention in Maine in May.

My friends Ralph, AJ and Bob came over to the house to help me with the playtest.  All in all it went pretty well.  The scenario is 'Kittyhawk Down' from the 2016 Bolt Action additional scenarios. In this scenario there is plane carrying sensitive documents coming down slowly due to engine trouble.  Your force has to get to the plane and have at least one unit within 3" of the plane where it crashes by the end of the game.

We did not use all of the forces available due to there only being four of us to play.

We split up the forces by drawing cards randomly.  Most of the African forces (Bob and Ralp) were vehicles.  They only had one infantry squad.  They also had an FO controlling off-board medium mortar and to top it off they had a Huey Cobra Attack Helicopter.

AJ and I had primarily infantry for the insurgents, but we did have three heavy weapons and more importantly, we had a medium truck with ZU-23-2.

It was a very close game throughout with both sides rolling very hot or very cold - as always happens in a wargame!  The help came on when we botched up and brought the truck on too soon.  Then Bob whiffed on the shot and the truck survived.  Then we traded shots until the plane crashed right into the middle of the board between our forces.

There were two turns of fierce fighting and right at the end, the command group (LT an done other soldier) of the African forces managed to get within the required 3" of the crash site.  AJ and I failed to get our forces within 3" and we were not able to kill the command squad so the African government troops were able to eek out a victory.

Here are some photos of the game in action and before I cleaned up the terrain.

The table.  Government troops came in from the left, insurgents from the right.

The crash site after the battle.  Red markers show where figures were killed during the fight.  The markers around the aircraft on the right was where one of my squads was wiped out trying to hold the objective.

The last turn of the game and I couldn't get the fresh squad in the cover area to pass their cohesion test and go out towards the aircraft.

My 14.5mm AA gun which did some real damage during the game including wiping out one of Bob's infantry units and destroying an Armored Car.

The heroic Lieutenant and his radio operator fighting to within 3" of the crashed plane and securing it for the win!  We just couldn't root them out of that cover!

African government troops and even a French Special Forces sniper team upper right of the photo.

The truck with ZU-23-2 AA gun.  The smoke/fire marker just below it was where the helicopter crashed.  My daughter's cat loves to try to destroy the helicopter so I had to move it to a safe location before I had a chance to take a photo.

Overall I am very happy with the scenario and I think it will go over very well at the convention.  I have to get the forces split up into "commands" which I can give to each player and that will also allow me to balance the game depending on how many players show up at the table.

Bolt Action Moderns

I had an opportunity to host a game of Modern Bolt Action last night at our Gaming Club.

The scenario was set 'somewhere in the former Yugoslavia' in 1999.  Bosnian Serbs have started to move towards a key road intersection in order to secure transportation networks and supply areas. French, Canadian and Belgian troops are moving to block the Serb attacks.

The game went very well and came down to the last order dice before we could declare the winner. The NATO troops ended up winning by securing the crossroads (2 VP's) and one of the supply areas (1VP). The Serbs meanwhile secured the two other supply areas (1 VP each). The Serbs lost six of 15 units and NATO lost five of 15 units.  A pretty balanced game overall.  I hope everyone had a good time playing.

Here are a couple of photos from the game:

NATO forces enter from the left with the Serbs fighting their way in from the right.  The 2VP crossroads is at the center of the photo surrounded by the four houses.

The front M113 from the NATO force conducts a textbook Sagger Drill by turning into the launch and suppressing/killing the Sagger team.  I really enjoy it when a set of rules actually works with real tactics!

Mayhem at the Crossroads!  The FFL loses a gun jeep on the left while the AMX-10RC destroys the Serbs BRDM-2 on the right.  The Serbs never got the attack going after losing a series of close combats in the trees on the left.

HUZZAH! Shopping Results

My shopping at Huzzah! this year was not spectacular.  I got a book on modern uniforms, a book on French Foreign uniforms from the 1880's up to the present day and the Bolt Action game book - Battleground Europe.  I needed the latter as I wanted the official rules on minefields so I can incorporate them into my modern games.

Here are the books that I purchased:

I also got a bridge for my War of 1812 games from Wargamers' Terrain and some Vallejo paints.  The bridge is pretty cool as it is built up on either end with small abutment pieces.  Should be a nice addition to the terrain collection.

Here is a photo of the bridge:

I will get photos up as soon as I can get the camera operational.  Not as much as usual, but there just didn't seem to be anything that really caught my fancy - no "I have to buy that" moments.  Really pretty scary for the Sammy Sanguine in me!

Pictures of 2014 Projects - The French in Modern Africa

Here are some photos of figures and vehicles I completed in 2014.  I hope that I will be able to add to them in 2015.  First are the French from my modern Africa range.

French troops escort an M-1 Panther mine clearing vehicle on loan from the United States

French forces survey the rocky surface of the "Democratic Republic of Moa" or "DRM" which is a fictional nation I have invented to be the setting for my modern campaign.

French troops provide covering fire with a Light Machine Gun and FAMAS assault rifle.

An up-armored French Light Truck.  This is a Matchbox model based on the British Spartan LAV from what I can find out.

Heavy firepower for the French.  An AMX-10RC armored car sporting a 105mm main gun!

New Rules Still Not Right

Well here are a couple of photos from one of the recent games I have hosted using my Special Operations Forces Rules set.

Here are those photos!

French troops secure a victory marker in a Special Operations Forces game.

DRM Government troops secure a victory marker in a Special Operations Forces game.

 I really like how the games look and I like the basing convention and organization of the units.  The biggest problem has been spotting targets and the integration and game play decisions between moving and shooting/other actions.  I have moved away from an action by action system and gone to a more conventional total move and affects on how units spot others and affects how they fire on targets.  Spotting has been simplified and will allow players to better visualize how their troops are seeing other units on the board.  I think that these changes will solve the problems that we were having with the playtests.  We will have to wait and see at the Huzzah! game convention.

Inaugural Game in the Hobby Room!

Had a chance to host a game in my new Hobby Room last night.  We played a new scenario for Special Operations Forces set in my fictitious African country - the Democratic Republic of Moa.

My friends Ralph, Charlie, Ed and AJ were able to travel up and play in this initial game.  We had a really good time and the new rule set is really coming along!

Here is a picture of the guys after the game:

And here is a couple of photos of the game in action:

The White Sheiks and Black Terror on the Attack

French and African Allies make use of cover and concealment

2014 Gaming Start

Yesterday I had an opportunity to spend the day with my good friend Andrew.  He was bringing a bunch of his hobby stuff to the house to store it here while he continues his period of exile from New England in Indiana.  He has amazing terrain stuff and some really nice WWII 20mm vehicles for CROSSFIRE.  I now have a complete small hobby store in my basement with an entire range of Woodland Scenics terrain material.

We also had an opportunity to work on some terrain stuff for my Modern Africa scenario for an upcoming Northern Conspiracy game night.  We had to finish the hills shown in these photos and now I am working on some small fillers for here and there.  Here are some photos of what we worked on:

The figures are ready and the terrain is pretty much set.  Now, all we need to do is play a game and see if the rules are any good!  I certainly hope the rule changes give the desired effect.  It would really stink to have all this money, time and effort into figures, vehicles and terrain and then not have a set of rules that work!  We will have to wait and see.  Battle report hopefully on January 10th or 11th!