Retro

 I had a grand game with my ASL stuff, it was very loosely based on the battle for Oosterbeek in 1944.

This home made scenario featured British Paras with a full company with MG support and a hidden 17pdr AT gun defending five key buildings from the SS with 15 squads, 6 mounted in halftracks and a pair of Panther tanks, whoever held the majority of the buildings after nine turns would be the winner.

For rules I used Retro, I loved ASL rules but they can be hard work so nowadays it has to be Retro with a few house rules. I find them easier, quicker and just as exciting. 

After three turns I took a few photos...

 At the end of my first session the Germans had lost both of their Panther tanks and a Hanomag from a hidden 17pdr before the crew were defeated in close combat. The Brits were largely holding firm but the SS had made some progress on the eastern side of the town.

The second session saw the  British slowly withdraw towards the objective buildings under steady pressure from the SS who had now taken heavy losses. I never have much luck with Satchel Charges under either rules, it is much easier to place one in Retro but a roll of eleven won't do any damage!.

The SS took an objective but were struggling to make much headway, their attack in the east failed very badly and the Brits were sitting pretty.

Then with my British hat on I blundered, I got carried away and squandered my squads mopping up defeated units who didn't pose a threat. I left a key building unguarded on one side and against the odds a bold German move paid off for them.

Then the Brits were dashing back in an attempt to hold off three SS squads one of which had just rallied. The Germans broke cover braving MG fire and managed to capture two more key buildings on their last turn!.

The Paras had one last turn but only managed to retake one of the buildings in a very risky assault, the Germans had won the game 3-2.

What a thriller!.

The situation at the end of the game...

Retro

Another very entertaing game.

Old School Tactical

 Old School Tactical is a fine addition to my tactical wargames collection. I am lucky enough to own the first two volumes and the Airborne expansion.

Here are a few shots of tonight's Eastern Front game.

The maps are beautiful, here are a few close ups.  

There are info cards for the units and they are very useful.

The game plays very well solo and the back and forth impulse point system gives you some tough decisions.

Smashing!.

"Into the Breach", battle for the Barrikady Factory

 Last night I played another CC: Stalingrad scenario set in the Barrikady weapons factory. This is a big scenario with many units, a complex set up and special rules to cope with.

Although I was a little intimidated by it I soon got stuck in and had another cracking game.

I took these photos at the end of the game and they show the Germans achieving a victory condition by outnumbering the Soviet units within the factory.

Casualties were very high for the Russians and most of the fighting was desperate close combat.

Here is a shot of one of my homemade Molotov Cocktail counters as I don't own Combat Commander: Mediterranean but needed them for this scenario. The one that was used did no damage in this game though.

Another smashing game, I have had hours and hours of entertainment from this game, I even dream about it.

 Sad lad?, nah, happy lad.

I had a go again tonight and had pretty much the same result with the Germans taking the factory with numbers. The game played differently though and the factory was well ablaze, that's what you get hoying Molotov Cocktails around.

Here are a couple of pics.

The Russians were massing to finish off these two squads but it was too late, the Barrikady was lost!.

Another good evenings entertainment, what could be better?.

"Fortresses of Blood and Iron" more CC: Stalingrad

 I played this scenario twice today and found it great fun. The Germans won the first time and the Russians won the second time. This was the first Russian victory since I started playing this expansion, maybe the tide is turning!.

I took a few photos at the end of the second battle.

Much of the fighting was up close and personal.

Sgt. Biermann's platoon braved the Soviet machine gun and were about to pounce when the game ended. 

Those Russian SMG squads are deadly in close combat, this group caused the German surrender.

The Germans went well past their surrender point, the last Russian Attack Total was 25!.

The Soviet reinforcements hadn't even arrived!.

Great stuff, I love this game.

Not One Step Back!.

 Working my way through the Combat Commander: Stalingrad expansion scenarios has been a lot of fun. Yesterday I played "Not One Step Back" set at Dolgyi Gully 1st October 1942.

It is a very tough scenario for the Russians who are both outgunned and outranged as both sides battle for a bridge.

The second play was a game of freewheeling mayhem during which the bridge changed hands three times. Then the climax of the game came as Dietel the German hero arrived, he grabbed the heavy machine gun and skipped down to the bridge from where he gunned down enough Soviets to force their surrender.

Breathtaking stuff!, what a great game!.

Here is a shot of Dietel at the bridge doing his thing.

And the dashboard showing the casualty count leading to a surrender. 

I had to rewrite this post as I had some difficulty with the text because I was foolish enough to copy and paste one line of text. Blogger can be weird sometimes, oh well, at least it was only a short post, worse things happen at sea.

 

Combat Commander Stalingrad

 The Stalingrad expansion for Combat Commander arrived and has hit the table. Today I played the first two scenarios, both were tense and exciting with lots of drama.

Here are some pictures of the end of the second scenario which involved a fierce battle for the Grain Elevator.

There weren't many units left on the board at the end.

They were mostly on the casualty track.

The game went very well for the Germans until they got into the Grain Elevator where the Soviets quickly got the upper hand. The Russians were well ahead on victory points until a brave German squad rushed in and forced a surrender.

Lt. Schrader is poised to take the objective.

Another cracking game, I am very impressed with Combat Commander.

Here's a little bedtime reading.

Take care.

Still pushing cardboard counters.

 I am still thoroughly enjoying Combat Commander: Europe and have just finished playing scenario 12 for the second time. In fact I have played all twelve scenarios in the playbook at least twice in the last fortnight.

There is a random scenario generator to be tried next so there is plenty of replay value in this game.

The cardplay and freedom of deployment means the published scenarios are never going to play out the same twice anyway.

Scenario 12 has the Brazilians fighting the Germans in the fog in Italy, what more could you want?.

I have enjoyed this game so much that I have just bought the Stalingrad expansion as a treat, you've got to have a treat now and again!.

A great game!.

 I have been lucky to play Combat Commander: Europe every day this week and I think I have the rules down now. Tonight's game was the best yet with a very close ending that left me with quite an afterglow.

I wish I hadn't prevaricated over buying CC:E because it is a cracking game in my opinion, I'm even contemplating playing it with miniatures sometime in the future.

Here are a few shots taken at the end of tonight's game.

The scenario has the Germans seeking to capture a Russian HQ before the NKVD burn their plans and documents.

The Germans were struggling through wire and were becoming pinned down as the clock was ticking down.

When Sgt. Ganz dashed out of the trees to take the HQ in a fierce melee.

The Russian surrender came just before time ran out.

A great game indeed!.

Combat Commander: Europe

 Well I could not shake off the urge to indulge in some hex and counter WW2 squad level gaming and after a month of prevaricating settled on Combat Commander: Europe.

I can play it two handed solo with ease and it is not as complicated as it looks at first. The card play is the heart of the game and gives a great narrative which is a bonus for solo play.

I got a good price on a second hand copy which was in excellent condition, the counters were punched but the cards were still shrink wrapped which meant it had never been played.

I sat for some time and clipped all the counters just like a real board wargamer and felt some satisfaction when I finished all 632 of the little beggars.

The only snag was that the sealed German card deck was missing the first two cards and the small pack of cheat cards with the Initiative card was missing.

I managed to copy the latter from BoardGameGeek (see below) and have asked GMT about the two missing German cards.

It still plays fine without the two cards though and I have had some really good games already.

With twelve maps and twelve scenarios plus a random scenario generator I can see hours of good games ahead.

Here's Lt. Wray and his men coming under 150mm artillery fire.

Here's Sgt. Esser and his men in a defensive firing line.

Happy days!.