We Salute You!

Over the past week or so, various bloggers around the place have been recounting their Salute experiences. With a new(ish) baby in the house, I am forced to life vicariously through them. (Heading over to London for the weekend is more than my life is worth...) Enjoy!

General Roundups

Neil and Henry recount the entire affair on Meeples & Miniatures

The Gallipoli game grabbed BigRedBat's attention (and to be honest this was one which had hit my radar well before the show)

Steve counts down his top 10 over on his Random Musings English Civil War appears to have grabbed his attention this year and who'd blame him! His Top 5

Giles gives us a nice selection of photos on Tarleton's Quarter, including a great all-singing all-dancing rendering of Operation Barras (Sierra Leone hostage rescue)

Mike gives it a quick once-over on MiniStories. He's painted up the freebie miniature already!

Ashley gives us a nice blow by blow of her day over on Paint it Pink.

While I don't think he made it over (from Australia!) The Man Cave highlights a few nice photos of the Battle of Maldon

Ray notices a lot of the games which caught my eye over on Don't Throw a One, plus some nice ones from a World War One trenches game. More

Some great photos from Sidney of Roundwood's World

Surprise attack by the Japanese on the Americans on the Solomon's in this brilliant Aeronef game. Steve of Yours in a White Wine Sauce gives us a nice gallery, including this coastal facility

Fran, aka Angry Lurker gives us a nice tour of the show

A brief summary, but some lovely closeups of a couple of games from Dinium's Loft

Tomsche of Societa di Archeologia e Cimeli took a great selection of photos including this American Civil War blockade running affair

6 Mil Phil has a huge selection of eye candy for our perusal including a nice Abyssinia (I think) game

Iron Mitten is a big English Civil War fan too! More

A late entry (I only discovered the blog today) from Paul at Sho3box. He's spotted some nice games, including this table from Antenociti's Workshop

The Demonstrators

Gruntz demo their 15mm sci-fi game, and also takes a quick look at some new releases from GZG and CMG. The entire thing, figures, vehicles and table looks fantastic, and it's very nice to see some good high-rise buildings in play.



The Rather Large Towton Project finally got its day, This is a fantastic display of what is possible using 6mm. Hats off to Ruaridh et al. Glad to see their effort was rewarded with 'The Most Impressive Troops'.

An Evil Giraffe conspired to produce a gruesome Cthulhu-esque (or is it Doctor Who-ish) Cluedo game

Another English Civil war game, this time from Saxon Dog

I've been following the Verneuil project over on Harness and Array for months now and I'm happy that it got 'Best Demo' for this pain-stakingly well-researched collaborative effort.

A great urban firefight from Akula's Battlefield

Brandlin's highly anticipated game shows off his gorgeous terrain work. Some photoshopped skullduggery on the background - but it's all good

Not a blog entry, but some photos posted over on The Guild from The Escape Committee's Cold War Gone Hot game (featuring the French against the Soviets for a change). Apparently, this is them throwing together something at the last minute!

It's not up on their site yet, but the Loughton Strike Force ran this amazing-looking Budapest 1945 game. Winner of 'Best in Show' I believe.

Steve of Bleaseworld has a great eye for a photo, and has compiled a rockin' video too!



Hats off to all those who ran games. Maybe next year...

Force on Force - Review

I pre-ordered this back when it was first listed at the start of the year, and it finally got here on Friday (ahead of schedule). No surprise given Osprey Publishing’s involvement, but this is probably the single best-looking and professionally produced wargaming book I’ve ever had in my hands. I’ve been reading it straight through, as well as dipping in and out of it when I’ve had a few minutes over the weekend, and I must admit I am as impressed with the substance as I am with the style.

Style

A few early typos aside, there’s really nothing I can complain about on the production side of things, and there’s plenty I am pleased with:

• Proper cloth binding (that’s hardback to you) which means this book will last and it will stay open on the table
• Well laid out, with plenty of whitespace (the margins and such which make a book like this readable) but not so much that makes you feel like you’ve been cheated. Also, the headings, sub-headings and text boxes make it easy to quickly scan a page
• A decent contents section and a good index are hugely important and often neglected – how often do wargamers spend five minutes looking for some rule they’re not sure about?
• The art is just fantastic. A healthy mix of drawn artwork (from other Osprey books), photographs (from the frontline) and gaming miniatures in action.  

Substance

But who am I kidding; most of us do not buy wargaming rules just to look at the pretty pictures (even if that’s all we do with many of them!). One thing immediately stands out about the book:

• Not only do we get a general ‘big picture’ introduction from Shawn & Robbie Carpenter at the beginning; but littered throughout the book are individual designers’ notes relating to single aspects of the rules. I really appreciate the insight into a designer’s head, both at the high level and drilling down to an individual decision.

For those who are not familiar with anything out of the Ambush Alley Games stable, a few pertinent points need to be made about the rules and the book in general:

• The rules are clearly written, and we are in no doubt that a level of abstraction is intended. There is no discussion of the thickness of armour on a particular tank, nor the relative benefits of 5.56mm vs. 7.62mm ammunition.
• Linking to that aspect, the fact is that these rules are outcome-driven and not process-driven. The quality of the troops is crucial and the tactics utilised vital. The player doesn’t make decisions which his alter ego on the battlefield (typically the platoon commander) wouldn’t.
• The quality of troops is modelled by the use of different die-types. From D12 for very rare über-soldiers, to D6 for badly trained militia and such. Troops have a score on a similar scale for morale. Depending on the circumstances more dice may be thrown but typically the outcome is determined through opposing die rolls.
• Battlefield friction occurs primarily through Fog of War cards, which may be viewed as a random events deck. When things heat up, unexpected things happen.
• The rules are built up from the most basic principles into more complex facets (like vehicles, or asymmetric engagements) and each time an extra aspect is added there is a small scenario to demonstrate
• In an asymmetric engagement scenario balance comes from a different set of victory objectives, even though the forces involved may be wildly different in behaviour and quality

For those who have encountered the system before, is there any reason you should buy this book?

• Since first published in 2006, Ambush Alley has undergone some big changes. Extra rules have been added, the scale of the game has increased and the prospect of regular forces clashing has come into it. This edition represents the definitive clean-up of the sprawling game engine.
• As well as that, a lot of things have been tightened up. A lot of games have been run over the last five years, and a lot of questions have been asked on the forum and it’s obvious that things that were clear in the small group are less so when a rule set is published and set free!
• The vehicle rules are now more streamlined and easier to use. While tables aren’t for everyone, I can definitely say the new system works better.
• There’s a very nice unit-driven campaign system in the book (which you may recognise if you bought the Vietnam supplement ‘Ambush Valley’. In deciding to just follow the platoon involved (or in tracking an insurgency develop) it’s avoided most of the bugbears of campaign wargaming.

In short for £25 (currently available on Amazon for just £15.19) this book is well worth it on all levels.

Cold War Gone Hot - Preview

While I'm waiting for the new rulebook and Road to Baghdad supplement to arrive I've noticed that Ambush Alley Games & Osprey will be releasing a Cold War Gone Hot companion book at the end of the year.

Piers has posted a few teaser pictures over on the AAG forum and the lead author Jim Roots has given a brief glimpse into what it's going to cover.

The book will have three main divisions:

1) The Cold War We Thought...this is a collection of essays, scenarios and stats for what we thought was going to happen. E.g., Fulda Gap, Soviet breakthroughs, etc.

2) The Cold War That Was...this is the same, only for what we know now. The declassification of documents on both side showed that the Soviet Union was a lot tougher on paper than in reality. Think, The Bear Went Over the Mountain applied to all theaters.

3) The Cold War of Hollywood. We all have our favorite movies and books...we're taking it one step further and writing scenarios in that vein.

The book will also have scenarios for all budgets. There will indeed be a few Piers "armor parks" scenarios, but there will be special ops, infantry slugfests and whatever other coolness we choose to throw in the book.

The Guild's Big Game this year will be another Cold War bash so there'll be plenty of more eye candy to tempt you before the release of the book, but I can't wait for this.

The book is available for pre-order over on Amazon...

French ad hoc Brigade

A small force of French to bolster the West Germans against the Warsaw Pact hordes

A French reinforced regiment of heavy armour and mechanised infantry



A tank squadron



Artillery Battery alongside CO



HQ with Air Defence and FAO



Mortar Carriers behind FAC



Mechanised infantry company



Air Defence with Support coming through



Flight of Mirages



Well-balanced, I shall have to come up with some scenario to get them into action - as the typical Cold war gone Hot setup doesn't include the French.

The Battle of Sahagun

As designed by Mr. Kinch over on Joy and Forgetfulness

As the climax of the Campaign of 1808 approached, the army of General Sir John Moore, 33,000 men strong, was advancing from Salamanca in the general direction of Burgos, intent upon surprising and all being well defeating in detail the dispersed forces of Marshal Soult, and thereafter creating a threat to the vital French lines of communication running from Bayonne through Burgos to Madrid, which Napoleon had recently occupied at the head of his Corps d'Armee.

Ahead of Moore's main body moved his screening light cavalry under command of the 40 year-old Henry Paget, Lt. General of Cavalry, who was described at about this time by his younger brother as "always at the head, and in the thick of everything that has been going on. He is, in this respect, quite a boy, and a cornet instead of a Lt General of Cavalry, but in every other he is the right hand of the army."
Some very nice background and accounts of the battle

With the element of surprise fast dissappearing and time running short Lord Paget made a characteristically bold decision and ordered a charge straight into the teeth of the enemy.

Initial skirmishing goes against the British, though they have forced some of the heavy cavalry back into the town



Fierce countercharge lead by Colonel Tascher continues their good fortune



Lancers lead by Debelle drive the hussars from the field



British sweep towards the ford, and a last ditch attempt by the French to turn the tide fails



We played this again, and despite a 'Cavalry Charge' drawn by the British, the French counterattack sweeps the tightly packed British squadrons from the field - the game lasts but a single turn!



A nicely balanced scenario, even though the initial handsize of the French has the potential to be disastrous.

The Battle of Blasthof Bridge

First of the games played at the weekend was an adaptation of the classic Battle of Blasthof Bridge for C&C Napoleonics.

Both sides move onto the board using the usual command cards, which can give a player enough rope to hang himself! I found my right flank dangerously weak and unable to use several cards there.

French cross the river upstream from Blasthof



British guns set up at a frightening pace, but their cannonade lacks accuracy and their position, though threatening is dangerously vulnerable



The general leads the way, holding the bridge for quite some time before being forced back



French batteries lay into advancing British



French glory as they wipe out the charging British!



British overlook the bridge



British dragooons cross river



Mass charge wipes out British guns



British cavalry repulsed, but they have done their job and prevented a timely destruction of the bridge.



I'm not sure how this plays with Charge! but it may be that the bridge is too far away from the starting point, especially given that you're not guaranteed a move with units in C&C. The timeline might just be too tight in that regard.

We played the game again, but with a looser ruling on what consituted control of the bridge. If the retreating force had more units adjancent or on the bridge than the attackers, then they controlled the bridge. Unfortunately I forgot that we also shortened the turns required for this from 6 to 4 and neglected to contest when I thought it was pointless. I also had a dry run in the centre (a typical excuse from a defeated C&C player!)

The performance of the French lancers was again outstanding, managing to pin three British units in square, and doing severe damage to two of them over the duration



I may take a look at Sittangbad myself as this was a challenging scenario with definite re-play value.

Now that's what I call Service!

I was looking for an Mi-8/17 to do a bit of heavy lifting for the Soviets in Afghanistan and couldn't really find anything which was both reasonable and had decent postage costs attached.

I sent Brian of Hobbyden a PM the other day. While there wasn't any on the site I thought he might have one knocking about somewhere in the depths of his shed.
He got back to me yesterday to let me know he did have one, quoted me a very reasonable figure and off to PayPal I strode.

Got back from work today to find this waiting for me

So, obviously fantastic service (and I'm not just saying that because he's behind me with a razor!).

Brian's also been doing some fine sculpting work recently - doing some modern US vehicles (though I gather there's some more in the works)

So wander over to thehobbyden if you do have any requirements for random hobby stuff!