COMBAT COMMANDER EUROPE.

Combat Commander Europe.

With the wife and kids away this weekend I had the opportunity to partake in some gaming. I had traded Conflict of Heroes for Combat Commander a number of months ago and decided it would be the best candidate for a solo learning game. Combat Command Europe is a card-driven board game covering tactical infantry combat in the European Theatre of World War II. One player takes the role of the Axis (Germany) while another player commands the Allies (America or Russia). These two players then take turns playing one or more “Fate” cards from their hands in order to activate his units on the map board for various military functions. 

The rulebook for CC:E is colourful and clearly presented. One of the best I have read. It contains an extended example of play with sections on all actions and events that may come up on the cards. The components are a mix bag for me. The six double-sided maps are made of paper. I use a piece of plexiglass to cover the map while playing the game. The unit chits are small and a tad fiddly. The cards are sturdy, clear and simple to understand. 

It took me a little while to get my head around the firing procedures, fire power and weapons rules.  I don't normally play solo but this introductory game has left me wanting to delve deeper into the depths. A lot of the reviewers have highlight the games strongest point as its ability to deliver a wonderful narrative with the down side being that it is quite random and chaotic. It is also likely that to get the most out of this game will require multiple plays and a commitment to spending some time getting to know the game. If I am to make this time commitment as with all games it will depend on how it goes down with my regular gaming crew. If like "Strike of the Eagle" (a game I very much like) it fails to get traction and take, then it may be hard to justify keeping a game that will sit on the shelf and not get played. 

I plan to take CCE along to the next club night and see if I can hook a fellow grognard or two.

ROMMEL IN THE DESERT.

I finally managed to get another, new to me, wargame to the table. The game was "Rommel in the Desert" Columbia Games, 1982 classic, block wargame. It is a fast-moving, challenging, tense, and playable game based on the North Africa desert campaign of World War II.  It has sat on my shelf for almost a year, unloved. Tonight I broke it out and Dave S joined me in a run through of the first scenario "1940". I had printed out a couple of player aids from "Board Game Geek", see below. These are a must for anyone thinking of playing the game. They help to speed up play and reduce the rules learning curve. This game really captures the feel of the Western Desert campaign. Having only played it once there is much to be explored in terms of bluffing and how best to use supply lines and how to maximise build points . Game play is a fine balance between tactics, strategy and logistics. I am really looking forward to giving the rules another once over and getting down to some more block on block action.

1940 scenario setup.

Battle board.

 Player aid.

LOADED DICE CLUB DECEMBER 2014

Mortar crew in action.

The last club night for 2014 has been and gone. "Bolt Action" a WW2 miniature game has taken root at the club with a game been played at the last three meet ups. This time last year I remember that "Star Wars- X Wing" was proving to be very popular.

Above, American commanders, soon to be captured American commanders, discuss how best to deal with all the casualties. Arthur, Dave S and myself played Memoir 44 - The D Day landings expansion. Omaha and Utah beaches proved to be very bloody indeed for the American commanders. Following a heavy naval bombardment, initial early success for the Yanks with the capture of  "Point de Hoc" by the Rangers was short lived. German tank units released early to the front by Hitler made an instant impact. These units were able to counter attack any American break thoughts and limit or retake the ground lost. As we didn't have enough figures for the units needed we simply marked the strength of each unit with a dice. 

It is likely that we shall play the British\Canadian beaches Juno and Sword in the future.

Artimus

.

It was nice to have the Artimus, spaceship bridge simulator, crew along again, It has been a year since their last visit.

A big thanks to Ross who took many of the photos included in this post.

NOVEMBER 2014 CLUB NIGHT.

The "Loaded Dice" gaming clubs November meet up took place yesterday. Games played included Netrunner, Sekigahara, Pandemic and two WWII "Bolt Action" tabletop games. A big welcome to Paul who joined us from Donegal.

Normandy countryside sets the scene for a "Bolt Action" game.

The next monthly meet up will take place on Saturday 6th December.

HOLD FAST RUSSIA.

Hold Fast.

For a while now I have been on the look out for an east front World War Two game. I had been looking at "No Retreat- the Russian Front", "EastFront II" and "A Victory Lost". Then I heard Judd Vance from "HAMTAG" fame recommend "Hold Fast Russia" an a week later I had purchased the game.

"Hold Fast Russia" is a strategic World War II game on the Russian Campaign by Worthington games. It is the first in the companies "Campaigns of World War II" series, next up is the Battle of the Bulge. It uses wooden blocks for fog of war and hex movement. Clean mechanics and a manageable number of units allow the entire 41-42 campaign to be played in a evening. Objectives are clear, hold two of the three victory location cities at the end of the game. With mud and supplies a constant factor, German armour and Luftwaffe always a threat and the winter bringing a boost to Russian, their is enough in this game to provide an interesting challenge.

Face off.

I have played one game and taught another to a few of the crew. We all have enjoyed it and look forward to playing another game, trying out new tactic's and different plans of attack. The game allows for break through and pocketing, the surrounding of units and their elimination as they run out of supply. This is a tactic we have under utilised to date.

Plastic figure acts as turn marker.

Pro's

• Rules light.The rules document is eight pages in length, only five of which contain actual rules.
• Fog of war.
• Simple yet effective movement and combat rules with the move-fight or fight-move options.
• Simple, clean air support rules.
• Weather impact which reduces resource points.
• No stacking problem: one unit per hex.

Con's

• Components could be better, map board is only light card, you will need more dice. You will also need to add your own German city control markers as well as cubes or other markers to highlight activated units which have moved or attacked.  As Worthington are a small publisher I give them the benefit of the doubt on component quality but imagine what GMT would have done.

Risk tokens identify moved and attacking units.

It would be great if an early war or western front version was created which could be added to the Russia front to create one over arching campaign. In conclusion this is an elegant and simple game with a great balance between realism and playability. I look forward to more gem's from the series.

THE HUMILIATION!

Some time ago on E bay I acquired some spare plastic tanks from 1970's Tank Commander game by 'Ideal'. My brother and I had some serious fun with this little gem back in the day. The game consisted of a large plastic 'battlefield' . Each player had four tanks and the objective of the game was to force the opposing player to retreat into a minefield. Movement was decided by the use of numbered shells of varying firepower from one to ten. Once your enemy's tank was over the shell hole you pulled the cord and "kaboom".

Next I purchased some American and German World War 2 infantry from Valiant miniatures. These I am still painting, almost a year later.

                    http://www.valiantminiatures.com/

I then purchased a deck of Memoir 44 cards from Days of Wonder and created a battle board for the game.

                    http://www.daysofwonder.com/memoir44/en/

     

Tonight my opponent after numerous battles managed to beat me in a game of Memoir 44. Around and around the table he marched, shouting "I am the champion, I am the champion". Later he was overheard, boasting to my wife about how he had destroyed two Tiger's and halted the Jerry advance. This was not good. Oh the humiliation.

My four year old son was victorious, where now for his old man!

MEMOIR 44

Mr Bray prepares for the battle ahead.

Last Saturday night Arthur came a calling for some wargame fun. We had a go at Memoir 44 with his Valiant figures and 1/72 scale armour. In all we played four games. This was Arthur's first time playing Memoir and my third. 

The Allies advance.



Smile if you are having fun.

Unfortunately for me Arthur's smile just got wider and wider as the night advanced. He won the first three games  before I finally picked up a win in the forth game by placing my infantry in any available towns and forests.

All in all we both agreed that Memoir left us a bit cold. It didn't quite do it for us. Very abstract and light. I think we both prefer a bit more meat to our wargames and Memoir is our least favourite Borg game. Commands and Colors Ancients as well as Napoleonic's will continue to be the go to games for this system.

Overview of the battlefield.

OFF TO THE FRONT

Evening, don't you just love it when you get inspired by another project. Well I do and I have. This time its 25mm plastic Valiant WWII German and American plastic infantry.  The plan is to paint enough of these little gentlemen to play Memoir 44 with my nephew, who visits from Germany at Christmas. The war will not be over by Christmas, but just beginning in fact.

I have prepped a few of the Germans and painted a test figure to seen what they looked like. What a joy they are to dress, I have painted a lot of 10mm figure's recently and going up the scale has been a real treat.

Figure's are based on 2 pence coin's, sprayed black then painted and a coat of matt varnish applied. 

6mm HERE WE COME

Oh dear here we go again, another project. This time 6mm WW2. At least these little bugger's will be quick to paint, I hope. Above is an example of a number of box's of 6mm figure's I acquired on eBay last week. Below are a few pic's of my first paint job, a German Pz.Kpfw IV Ausf J with side skirts.

When will this addiction end, oh when will this accursed sickness leave me.

France 44

American GI's in the thick of it.

NORMANDY

Pic's from a recent club game set in Normandy. All figures are painted by Paul Mc Connell and are from Valiant Miniature's plastic 25mm range.

FREE FRENCH

Some Free French figures from Cyril, a member of the Green Machine Gamers in Kildare.

IVAN & FRIENDS

Some more photographs from last months Russian front game.

TANK KILLER

A tank killer lies in wait. These photographs were taken during a WWII eastern front game held at the clubs monthly meeting. Figures and vehicle are from Paul McConnell's collection. Paul has written a set of rules "No Prisoners!" which he is currently fine turning and play testing. The rules will cover the period from the Spanish Civil war to WWII.

The Self propelled gun in the picture is the Nashorn. The Nashorn (German for rhinoceros) was one of the most effective anti-tank guns deployed during World War II. Its tungsten round was capable of penetrating 190 mm of rolled armour at a distance of 1,000 m. The gun's tremendous performance enabled the Nashorn to engage enemy tanks while staying out of range themselves. Though only lightly armoured and with a high profile, it stayed in service until the end of the war.