Category: Wargaming

About two years ago I bought into the Baker Company Winter War Kickstarter.  The figures are now on their Web page for purchase:  http://bakercompany.co.uk/13-ww2-finnish-army.  I committed to running a Winter War scenario with Combat Patrol(TM): World War II at Cold Wars.  There is nothing like committing to run a convention game to provide motivation to get some figures painted.  Before the holidays, all I had done was to file, base, and prime the figures.  Over the holidays I tried to knock them out in groups of 15 or so, almost 100 Finns.  I finished the last sixteen this weekend, six cavalry figures and 10 bicyclists.

The figures seem well sculpted, but the casting is pretty poor.  The mold lines are very pronounced, and the metal is very hard, so cleaning the figures caused my fingers to be sore for days.  On most the faces were very mushy and ill defined.  As I said, though, the sculpting seems good.  I heard there was an issue with Baker Company fulfilling the orders for a while after the Kickstarter and that he had to use a third party to do the casting.  Perhaps more recently molded figures are better.  I can’t say.

There are a huge variety of poses.  In addition to standard riflemen, leaders, and submachine gunners, there are a host of crewmen, supply types, skiers, bicyclists, cavalry, gunners, crewmen, etc.  Very few are in the same pose, so they variety is good, and the figures are excellently suited for skirmish gaming.

There were enough riflemen and submachine gunners to make a reinforced platoon.  In the picture above, you can see a squad (section) of infantry.

I tried something new with the basing.  After I completed the figures, I textured the bases with Citadel Armageddon Dunes textured paint.  I completely covered all the bases with this paint.  By the time I finished the 100th or so figure, the first base was dry.  I used the burnt-looking grass tufts (pictured above), placing one on most of the bases and several on the larger bases for the guns.  After the tufts I spread some of the Valhallan Blizzard textured paint on the bases, but only partially covering them.  I am pretty happy with the results, which you can see in the pictures.  I like the look of mud showing through the clumpy snow.

Lesson learned:  I made a mistake of gluing the skis to the bases when I was basing and priming the figures.  This made it very difficult to apply the snow texture after the figures were painted.

We are announcing the release of a FREE supplement for using Combat Patrols(TM): World War II for Napoleonic skirmishes.

Combat Patrol is a unique set of rules featuring card-based combat resolution that streamlines play without being simplistic. More information about the base rules is available here: http://www.bucksurdu.com/Buck_Surdu/Combat_Patrol.html.This page includes how-to videos to show players how to play the game. This supplement enables players to represent small skirmishes involving foraging or scouting parties.

This is a supplement. The base rules are required to play the game. Combat Patrol can be purchased from DriveThruCards (Set A or Set B), Sally 4th, and On Military Matters.

This supplement is a free download from the rules’ Web page and Sally 4th.

Since 2009, I have been hosting an evening of gaming on New Years Eve for the guys in my gaming club.  This year we began around 1500 and ran until about 0200 New Year’s Day.  The first game was a GASLIGHT game run by Chris Palmer, called the Twelve Doctors of Christmas, in which various incarnations of Dr. Who fight against goblins, Daleks, Cyber Men, and other baddies to free Santa from confinement.  The third game was a largish X-wing game.  I ran the middle game, a Combat Patrol(TM) skirmish in which US glider-borne troops assault a German-held bridge.

In the scenario, the Americans had a reinforced platoon of glider-borne troops.  Two gliders landed on the table, but the others, including gliders containing armored airborne jeeps, landed off the table at the bottom right of the picture (above) and entered the table in the first turn of the game.

The Germans had one squad on the “American” side of the bridge, and another squad deployed in the buildings on the far side of the stream.  There was also a bunker on the “German” side of the river that was initially unoccupied.  The stream was crossable (as rough movement) by infantry, but it was impassible to vehicles.  There Germans had another squad, a halftrack, and a headquarters section that entered the table on the first turn.

In the picture (above), one German team occupied what was thought of as a strong position behind a wall.  Unfortunately for them, the Americans opened fire first from “medium” range.  The Germans immediately sustained casualties and then struggled with soldiers seeking cover, being stunned, etc. for most of the game.

The Americans in the second glider encountered little resistance and moved to a position on the hill in the foreground to cover the target (bridge) with fire.

German reinforcements arrived in the form of a squad mounted in a halftrack.  The unexpected arrival of a fourth US squad that had landed on the “German” side of the stream caused the Germans to re-think their plan.  In addition to holding the bridge, the German’s main objective was to get to the American gliders and search them for plans and important documents for intelligence purposes.  When the Americans showed up on their flank, they had to focus on holding the bridge.

After dropping half a squad to delay the arrival of the American flanking force, the halftrack pulled back, eventually occupying a blocking position right on the single-lane bridge.  This left the German defenders with limited fires support, and the Americans’ accuracy was uncannily good, mauling the Germans.  by that time, the Germans from the closest glider to the bridge were close assaulting the halftrack, and one of the American squads that started off the table had waded across the river and prepared to assault a German-held bunker.

The game was a convincing US victory.  The German initial deployment could have been better, but in general the Americans just fired better than the Germans.  They also made good use of the ability of troops with Garands to conducting moving fire, keeping the Germans in a reactive mode most of the game.  Despite the lopsided outcome, I think this is a pretty good scenario, and I intend to run it again at a club night.

 

This meme hit my Inbox this morning.  It is a soldier in Iraq growing grass in front of his tent.  I cannot verify the accuracy of the rest of the Email that accompanied this image, but scenes like this were not uncommon.  When I left for Iraq in 2010, the folks who worked for me gave me a cookie sheet, a pair of scissors, a bag of US topsoil, and a bag of grass seed to take with me.  I was living in a shipping container that had been converted to quarters.  It was not uncommon for soldiers to grow a cookie sheet of American grass under their hooch to remind themselves of home.  It takes a tremendous amount of water for grass to survive through sand storms and blistering heat.  I don’t have any personal pictures of this, but the picture above struck a chord for me.  Pause a moment between glasses of egg nog to think of our Soldiers, Marines, Sailors, Airmen, and Coast Guardsmen far away from home this holiday season for whom a bag of American dirt is a special gift.

US Military personnel are deployed in over 120 countries.  Regardless of your feelings about the politics or wisdom of a particular war, action, or mission, Soldiers, Marines, Sailors, Airmen, and Coast Guardsmen server their nation’s call all over the world.  We might complain about traffic or crowds at the mall.  These Americans face much worse every day until they return to their families and friends.

Twas the night before Christmas, he lived all alone,
In a one bedroom house made of plaster & stone.

I had come down the chimney, with presents to give
and to see just who in this home did live

As I looked all about, a strange sight I did see,
no tinsel, no presents, not even a tree.
No stocking by the fire, just boots filled with sand.
On the wall hung pictures of a far distant land.

With medals and badges, awards of all kind,
a sobering thought soon came to my mind.
For this house was different, unlike any I’d seen.
This was the home of a U.S. Marine.

I’d heard stories about them, I had to see more,
so I walked down the hall and pushed open the door.
And there he lay sleeping, silent, alone,
Curled up on the floor in his one-bedroom home.

He seemed so gentle, his face so serene,
Not how I pictured a U.S. Marine.
Was this the hero, of whom I’d just read?
Curled up in his poncho, a floor for his bed?

His head was clean-shaven, his weathered face tan.
I soon understood, this was more than a man.
For I realized the families that I saw that night,
owed their lives to these men, who were willing to fight.

Soon around the Nation, the children would play,
And grown-ups would celebrate on a bright Christmas day.
They all enjoyed freedom, each month and all year,
because of Marines like this one lying here.

I couldn’t help wonder how many lay alone,
on a cold Christmas Eve, in a land far from home.
Just the very thought brought a tear to my eye.
I dropped to my knees and I started to cry.

He must have awoken, for I heard a rough voice,
“Santa, don’t cry, this life is my choice
I fight for freedom, I don’t ask for more.
My life is my God, my country, my Corps.”

With that he rolled over, drifted off into sleep,
I couldn’t control it, I continued to weep.

I watched him for hours, so silent and still.
I noticed he shivered from the cold night’s chill.
So I took off my jacket, the one made of red,
and covered this Marine from his toes to his head.

Then I put on his T-shirt of scarlet and gold,
with an eagle, globe and anchor emblazoned so bold.
And although it barely fit me, I began to swell with pride,
and for one shining moment, I was Marine Corps deep inside.

I didn’t want to leave him so quiet in the night,
this guardian of honor so willing to fight.
But half asleep he rolled over, and in a voice clean and pure,
said “Carry on, Santa, it’s Christmas Day, all secure.”
One look at my watch and I knew he was right,
Merry Christmas my friend, Semper Fi and goodnight.

Lance Corporal James M. Schmidt, 1986

Most of us are braving traffic and crowds to do that last-minute shopping.  Many of us think fondly of white Christmases and snow, of logs on the fire and roasting chestnuts.  These Soldiers braved bullets and bombs.  They spent Christmas in steamy climates.  Pause a moment to think of the Soldiers serving overseas and away from home this Christmas.

A great disappointment of my 30+ years in the military is that I never had the opportunity to see Bob Hope in concert.  Bob Hope is a real hero.  He never concerned himself with the politics of the war.  Wherever Soldiers served, Hope was there (pun intended).  Bob Hope spent many, many years having Christmas dinner with the troops and bringing a little joy to break up the monotony of the war.

Soldiers often find themselves in faraway places rather than at home with their family and friends.  Pause a moment this Christmas to think of those serving 120+ nations around the world this Christmas.

As we get ready to celebrate Christmas with our families and friends, let’s not forget how Soldiers have celebrated Christmas in years past in lands far away from their families and friends.  Freedom is not free.

This selection of photos is from World War II.  The images were gathered from various Internet sites and are not attributed.

This year, get the gamer in your life something that will make him (or her) very happy:  a copy of Combat Patrol(TM): WWII.

Information about the rules, including where to get them, a bunch of free downloads, and how-to videos are located here:  http://www.bucksurdu.com/Buck_Surdu/Combat_Patrol.html

The rules are available with professionally printed cards on War-games Vault:  http://www.drivethrucards.com/product/158116/Combat-Patrol-Set-A or http://www.drivethrucards.com/product/158122/Combat-Patrol-Set-B

They are also available in the UK and Europe from Sally 4th:  http://wargamesbuildings.co.uk/Combat-Patrol

Finally, get them from On Military Matters in the US:  http://onmilitarymatters.com/pages/dfindex.php

On Sunday my buddy JJ was in town for business, and so I took the opportunity to schedule a Combat Patrol(TM) game with some of the HAWKs.  The Mexican American War is largely overlooked by gamers, but it provides excellent gaming opportunities.  We used the soon-to-be-released Napoleonic supplement for Combat Patrol(TM), written by Duncan Adams.  While written for WWII, with a few adaptations, the rules work well for black powder era games.

The scenario was inspired by some readings of naval “cutting out” parties sent to capture and sail away with Mexican ships.  In this scenario there was a ground assault by the Army along with a naval cutting out party in small boats.

The ships were moored at docks in a small Mexican village upstream from the Gulf of Mexico.  The Mexicans thought that their mission was to protect the supplies in the town against US attempts to steal or burn them.  They were allowed to place themselves anywhere on the map, but no two units could be within 18 inches of each other.

The American plan was to launch a feint from one edge of the table on land.  This was designed to pull the Mexican from the town.  Then they would launch the rest of the land forces and the naval landing party from the other end of the table.  The American objective was less about the supplies and more about seizing a Mexican ship.

During the war, the Mexicans had very poor quality control in the manufacture of gun powder and used inferior bullets.  As a result, their fire accuracy was very poor.  To represent this, I gave most of the Mexican units an Accuracy rating of Green (possible ratings are elite, regular, or green).  Also, as these forces were not main line Mexican soldiers, most of them had a Guts rating of Green as well (possible ratings are elite, regular, or green).  Most of the Americans had an Accuracy of Regular and a Guts of Regular; although, there were a few that were rated as Elite.

The American plan was partially successful.  Many of the Mexican units redeployed toward the advancing American feint.  The Mexicans, however, were suspicious that there were more Americans coming from somewhere, so the left a couple of units on the ships and a couple more facing the other table edges.

Some of the Mexican cavalry had been deployed facing the board edge where the American feint entered.  Duncan quickly found himself outnumbered three to one and tried to disengage.  He forgot that cavalry gets to draw two movement cards, not one, and so spent a long time trying to get his lancers out of the woods.  Eventually, the three US infantry units were able to gun them down with surprisingly accurate musket fire.

With the Mexican cavalry destroyed, the US infantry faced little opposition advancing toward the town.  It was about at this time that the naval cutting out party arrived.  Sadly I didn’t get any pictures of the sailors climbing aboard the first Mexican ship and engaging in hand-to-hand combat.  In typical fashion for our club, the folks with the best odds failed and the folks with the worst odds succeeded.  (Many of us are notorious in several states for bad dice — or in the case of Combat Patrol(TM), cards).  The sailors climbed aboard the ship and did well clearing the decks.

Additional US infantry advanced into the town and managed to set fire to one pile of supplies.   At this point, JJ had to head to the airport, so we called the game a draw.  The Mexicans had retained the majority of their supplies, but it was likely the Americans were going to get away with one boat.

The Napoleonic supplement worked quite well for this game, and I am anxious to put the Mexican American figures on the table again soon.  Watch for the FREE supplement to be released in late December or early January.  We are just doing the final edits and formatting.