The Hunters U-Boat Warfare

I only seldom play maritime wargames. This one though made me curious as there are quite a few play through videos on the internet. The game concept seems to offer a narrative experience with few tactical decisions to take. Anyway, the U-Boat warfare was an important element of German strategy in both world wars. Everybody probabely knows the film DAS BOOT, several U-Boot captains are legends. So why not give it a go?

^{U-Boot 28 in pre war painting}

For my first game I chose U28, a Type VIIA U-Boot, and membetr of the 2^nd U-Bootflotille. Its wartime Kommandant was Kapitänleutnant Günther Kuhnke, so he is going to be our hero in this naval campaign.

Stalingrad ’42 Fall Blau 2

^{Bundesarchiv, Bild 101I-217-0494-34 / Geller / CC-BY-SA 3.0, CC BY-SA 3.0}

In my second play of the Fall Blau scenario I played both opposing sides more aggressive. I reasoned the German Army Groop Command would want to repeat the stunning successes of 1941 encirceling and destroying large numbers of Sovjet units. Therefore I let the attack with little regard to own losses. The Sovjet basically fight a delaying battle, but do get ample units to stage some counter attacks.

Stalingrad ’42 Case Blue

One of my newest aquisitons in wargames is Stalingrad ’42. I played the Case Blue scenario to get to know the game mechanics. All in all they are quite familiar to me, similar to Ukraine ’43 and Holland ’44 with minor differences and game specific rules. I like the medium complexity of the rules as they allow for a fluid fast paced game. I think this particular scenario could be played in an eveneing when you are somewhat familiar with the rules. The campaign game probabely takes an entire weekend to complete.

Next War Korea Strategic Surprise GT3

For GT3 the DPRK ground forces are to break through all along the DMZ and to finally initiate the encirclement of Seoul. The main effort will be in the KPA II and V Corps area. DPRK will introduce KPA 108^th and 425^th Mechanized Corps of the second strategic echelon with the mission to gain the line Pyeongtaek to Wonju.

The 100 Year Link – WW I

Since I read Herfried Münkler’s book The Great War three summers ago I got more and more interested in understanding the root cause of this world encompassing conflict. I wanted to better understand the strategic and operational thinking of the political and military leadership of the countries involved. Also I was and am fascinated about the effects that the war’s outcome and its unresolved problems still have on world politics today. Only since the end of the Iron Curtain have we become aware of the underlaying dynamics when we have seen several of these unresolved problems turning into regional conflicts.

To me wargaming is a multi-dimensional approach towards learning about such subjects. It involves reading, gaming, visiting museums, travelling to battle fields, viewing films and listening to lectures. All this is quite possible, if you live in Western Europe as I do. The green fields of Flanders and eastern France are only a 200 km drive away.

Next War Korea Strategic Surprise GT2

For GT2 the scenario states an DPRK Initiative Turn. This is important as an initiative turn provides three movement and combat opportunities to the attacker. Right now the northern offensive has broken into the ROK line of fortifications in all secors of the front. This turn the KPA needs to break through the DMZ. The DPRK Supreme Command decides to reinforce success and shift the main point of effort to the central sector. The object in this sector is to break through the DMZ and take the city of Uijeongbo.

Next War Korea Strategic Surprise

In this scenario I assume the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) leadership sees a favorable opportunity for reuniting Korea under communist rule. Everybody is taken by surprise including their Chinese allies who now face a dilemma. On the on hand they are unwilling to risk major hostilities with the US, but at the same time a downfall of the north korean regime with the possibility of US allied forces knocking at china’s dorstep  is a national no-go. The People’s Republic of China (PRC) therefore decides to keep their intervention to  logistics, intel, some air and naval assets, and special operation forces, in game terms: Intervention Level 2: +9 VP to Allied [UN+1].

Truck EVAC

The Truck EVAC Mission is quite unique among DVG’s Warfighter mission cards. The main point is to survive the first encounter on the Objective card and then to reserve enough Action Points to safely drive the truck home to the mission card.

SITREP: Chechnya, North Caucasus, April 2010 – Our team has experienced a break down with its military police truck during a supply run to an outpost in the mountain region. After investing some precious time it was able to restore the truck’s roadworthiness. Meanwhile a local hostile tribe has got word of this mishap and approach hoping to recover vital information and equipment to trade with other terrorists in the region. The spetznaz team simple mission is to make it back to base.

Making Your Own Game Counters I

When I looked around for WW 1 CoSims I came around several downloadable wargames titles. As I have access to a high quality laser colour printer this is an interesting option to try some games at low budget. My  first try was In The Trenches: Devil Dogs that I obtained from Wargames Vault.

Maps and counter sheets I printed on 100 gramms paper. First I had a go witth cut out counters only, next I glued them on thin cardboard and cut out the counters. below you see my first result.

Taking out the Bomb Shop

This is a solo game of DVG’s WARFIGHTER. All cards from the Action, Hostiles, Location, and Mission Decks are written in bold letters.

SITREP: Chechnya, North Caucasus, January 2010: After a series of torrorist bombings in and near the city of Nazran, Ingushetia, HQ has identified a Bomb Shop in a small village in the mountain range some 50 kilometers southwest. A team from 45th Guards Spetznaz Brigade has infiltraded for a Short and Sweet mission to destroy the objective.