Had a very short discussion with Michael on Sunday and described my idea of following on from our Firestorm Market Garden Weekend, that I would like to host a Battel of the Bulge… or Bastogne weekend.
Now even though the Axis side won last game… this does still make it fit nicley into the next big event in Late war… of course a Hurtgen Forrest would be great… but lets not forget that was a very very bloody battle zone.
Any how… Thought I might put togehter a custom map.. get it printed and play the same set up as last time… with a few tweeks.
Now be yee oportunity… to have ye say in such said matters …
Speak now… please.
Intended time is late february next year. Can be earlier.
At this stage all required figures are availabel except for…
Armoured panzergrenadiers
German rafts
USA AA
German light IG’s
USA recon
USA Airborne Mortars
USA Tank hunters (complete)
All senarios played as snow even if terrain is distinctivly summer like out side. You see I am trying tom make the table weather the opposite of what is actually outside vis a vi last game day snow up to your elbows outside.)
Need.. anything german, anything USA. Esp US airborne and german motor or panzer grenadier. Can use BR m2/3 half tracks as captured vehicles for germans.
26. Volksgrenadier
28th Division USA
44th Engineer Battalion
110th Infantry
-
VIII Corps
10th Armored Division (United States)
3rd Tank Battalion,
20th Armored Infantry Battalion,
C Company 21st Tank Battalion,
B Company 54th Armored Infantry Battalion,
C Company 609th Tank Destroyer Battalion,
420th Armored Field Artillery Battalion,
and three companies of support troops
- SHAEF reserve
82nd Airborne
101st Airborne
501st Parachute Infantry Regiment (PIR)
506th PIR,
502nd PIR,
327th Glider Infantry
Kampfgruppe Peiper
Panzer-Lehr-Division
2. Panzerdivision
Air drops and suport still option… but may have a reserve/weather timing thing.
101st Airborne troops picking up air-dropped supplies during the siege.
Sorry Martin, I didn’t see this, despite it staring back at me a number of times.
I’ve converted it to a Post, which means it appears where I expect it to appear and doesn’t uglify up the navigation bar at the top. Hope you don’t mind.
First off…. The Axis side did not win! The Allies smashed through them like the black cap bowlers through the Australian middle order. They won a few close fought battles is all.
Sounds reasonable though to play Devils advocate as is my want.
1. Firestorm was a great game, and it was fun, however we devoted a lot of time to it at the expense of playing table top games. Not to say we didn’t spend a fair amount of time playing with the little fellows but because there is three of us it meant that one of us (you) didn’t get to do a great deal.
2. If the map/game is only being used as a means to playing table top games then it perhaps doesn’t matter so much. However I would caution against to many changes from the core rules (noting you’re already changing the map etc). Firestorm actually seemed quite balanced and was a close run thing in the end. It would be a little disappointing if it became one sided.
3. Following the weekend I think we had some good thoughts on how to improve what we had done last time. I think those should be considered.
Also not sure if February is a great time. I’ll get back to you on that.
Great responce … I’m glad I put my ideas down.. otherwise I would forget them…
Good points.. I’m wondering if I should ask what those suggestions were or just tell you what I think you should do…. ???
Naah.. tell me what those things were please?
If i remember right I had a hard time debating th merrits of a 600 point game over a 1500 point game…
Could play 3 players with the floating reserve…. some new rules about how you deserve your reserve.. being the third player. and probably the Firestorm unit./s
Ok February will be fine.
So February or … February. LOL
Well fortunately I keep copies of our emails.
So ignoring the discussion about whether Gaddaffi or Banimarama are legal rulers of their respective countries, the questions about what game system we should play since you’ve already selected FOW.
Also ignoring the hapless lies about how you would paint your lizardman army (in three months pfft!) or find your lotr rule book….
The content boils down largely to this.
[Michael]
Thinking about FOW though and Operation Market Garden and trying to think of a way to make the interaction between the board game and tabletop game a little nicer.
Maybe we were looking at it from the wrong way. We kept trying to assign lists to firestorm units.
Taking the third person out of it for a moment. If Potts had three Axis lists and I had three Allied lists everytime there was a battle (whether firestorm units were involved or not) we could choose whether or not too take it to the table top. Independently we would choose one of our three lists (this could be done openly or in secret) then add any firestorm platoons if applicable and play it on the table.
You could specify that in each turn each player can only call one battle to be taken to the table top which would limit it to 10 battles on the tabletop in total. There would be no situations in which you have two lists vs one the most you would have is a list each and maybe one person might have two firestorm units (though you’d probably not battle on that).
To add a third person you just get them to create three axis and three allied lists then add them to your three to give each commander six lists to choose from, it would just be that those lists belonging to the third person could be commanded by that person. That means in martin’s case he’d have got to fight with his own lists.
[Martin]
Yes that is pretty much the organic rules.
However would you continue to use a 600point army list and 4’ x 4’ table? 10 games is a lot of games.
Or maybe just and escalation game in three steps as in the normal campaigns you see in the back part of the books.
All are valid options…. I suggest the host make the decision…
[Michael]
600points seem fine. Besides which firestorm units would be additional to that so technically I guess you’d be a bit over 600points. Well ten games would be the maximum number you could play. However based on the weekends efforts I’m not sure you’d have to place limits since it was not difficult getting a consensus really. Maybe you’d only fight one battle a turn which would make five and roughly what we did the other day.
Bump
Another thing I thought of was to have a prepared map for each city and /or prepared positions for each mission.. which an bring the war togehter quicker. No starting on opposite sides of table BS. Deployment for a night incursion couldbe like a Death from above mission. Not to mention hte rules have now changed.. check your third edition out …