Updates to In the Name of Roma

I just finished my conversion of In the Name of Roma to Kindle format. In doing so, I have found a number of small formatting issues and small spelling errors in the book that have frustrated me. I am going back through and fixing these and will be updating the PDF version to match the changes that have gone into the Kindle version.

If you are curious about the kindle version of In the Name of Roma, please check it out on Amazon.

Floating a Test

I have been tinkering with selling my book In the Name of Roma on Amazon. Converting the existing book to Kindle format has been a pain. The tables just don't work. But I think I have a solution. Anyway, I hope to have it ready for Amazon by the end of the day. Keep your fingers crossed.

WWII Vehicle Identification Help Needed

I was going through the cabinet and attempting to sort out what I have in the way of late war Germans for a game of Chain of Command. I have managed to identify most things successfully. However, I found three vehicles in the mix that I have no clue as to what they are.

The picture is not the greatest. They all seem to bear the same turret. I can't find a match on my usual sites. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Fun with Google Ad-sense

Feeling some curiosity, I was looking at the blog stats, I was surprised and grateful at the growth in the Ad-sense values. Don't get me wrong, I am no where near getting a payout from them but it was still interesting.

For some reason, they do not show any values prior to October 2013. They just have a cumulative total for the previous months/years. Last time I checked, I could see those older dates. No big thing.

The totals are interesting.

Month	Value
October 2013	$1.11
November 2013	$0.38
December 2013	$1.61
January 2014	$2.22

Wow! Thank you. Please keep up the great work. I have broken the $20 mark.

Welcome

I just saw that the counter has edged up over 141 followers. The latest is Juan Mancheño. For those who don't know it yet, Juan is the author of Waziristan on a Fancy. It is an excellent blog coving actions in the interwar period in Afghanistan. He has some very interesting posts that I have definitely learned something from. He is also the author of Jugando con "Muñequitos". I just discovered this one and he has some excellent painting there as well as a recent report on the Western Game Dead Man's Hand. Swing on by and check his work out.

Saturday Painting Table... kinda

The painting table was woefully neglected this week. No pictures of it at all. I have started on the longship. I have an initial coat of paint on it but the details are remaining.

What I am excited about is the first of my Zulus.

On a small FOW base I have 3 10mm Zulus. I will vary the bases to have between 2 to 4 figures per base depending on the regiment. Rifle armed Zulus will be 2 to a base. The bulk infantry will be 3 or 4. It should be interesting. I have 3 bases of unmarried troops to finish off. I have some more married troops to finish painting too.

The leaders will all be based on individual round bases. The chief will be on a larger base than the lower level leaders.

Update: Just forgot, I also put together a plastic Zveda Ba-10 armored car.

The Scenario Clean Out

I have so many projects that I loose track of some of them from time to time. I was sorting through my laptop and came across several completed scenarios that were parts of projects that I just either did not finish or I decided that I have no intention of finishing. So that they are not just a waste of space, I decided to do something with them.

The scenarios are from several rule systems and cover a number of periods.

First up is a scenario on the Egyptian assault on the Kibbutz Kfar Darom in 1948. This is an IABSM scenario for use with the Unholy Mess supplement published in one of the TooFatLardies supplements.

Second is a sample scenario from my East Front Supplement for Through the Mud and Blood that Rich promises to publish this Summer. The scenario is a historical battle from 1915 where Russian Jadgkommandos attack a divisional headquarters in the German rear and capture some German generals. It is an interesting adventure in which some accounts have the Russians escaping in captured beer trucks.

Next is a fictional scenario called Action at Sonolenta Aldeia. This is a scenario set in Portugal during the Napoleonic Wars. There are detailed mission briefings and enough details to make a campaign out of the forces provided. Includes not only British Light infantry (sorry, no rifles) but also a Royal Navy landing party that are fighting some French troops. The scenario is designed for Sharp Practice.

Lastly, there is my Greenhill, Tennessee scenario for Terrible Sharp Sword. This is a historical scenario dealing with a Union attack on some Confederate Militia that were protecting some liquor stores.

I have bundled these together and am throwing them out there by themselves for $2. The button will take you to a zip file with the scenarios on my Google Drive account.

While I was at it, I decided to set up a complete bundle of everything that I am selling on the website. This includes both Bag the Hun/CY6 campaign books (Falcon and the Gladiator and Western Desert Campaign), The Coming Thunder and In the Name of Roma in addition to the scenarios above. This bundle is available for $30. Again it will redirect you to my google drive account and a zip file containing everything.

Anyway, hopefully you will find these interesting. Tell your neighbors and friends. Let me know what you think.

Advancing the Campaign

A Quick Pause for Welcomes
Our latest and 140th follower is The Lord of Excess. Our resident member of the nobility is not just an author on one blog but five. I have recently signed up on The Excessive Gamer. Swing by and check it out.

East Front Campaign
With the resolution of the first game of my Operation Barbarossa Campaign over the weekend, I had to check on the status of things. My recollections of exactly the losses and what happened was slightly blurred since I was very busy. So with some assumptions, I ran through the Sharp End supplement to see what would happen. Here is the summary for each side.

German Platoon 1 Situation
The Germans were rather roughly handled in their initial action with the Soviets. Having lost half of their supports (a PzIII) and nearly two squads destroyed, they have some rough times ahead. In terms of losses, the platoon lost its officer, a squad leader and eight men killed. They have four men wounded who are in the hospital. Of the initial casualties, four men were able to make it back to their platoon and are ready for service. The Battalion was eager to press the attack as quickly as possible so they are being forced forward again the same evening. The officer is not yet replaced and the Feldwebel will be commanding the platoon.

Having to reorganize quickly to push again, they have reorganized as follows:
Squad 1 is unscathed and at full strength.
Squad 2 is reduced to a replacement squad leader and a two man LMG team.
Squad 3 is also at full strength.
Squad 4 no longer exists.

The CO is not too concerned about the handling of the platoon as the Feldwebel did well in the previous action. The men are fine with the Feldwebel and are giving him a chance. The men are ordered forward. They are taking the same Sdkzf 222 with them under the command of Feldwebel Maximilian Schnell who was recommended for the Iron Cross Second Class in the last action. The award has been submitted but not yet approved. Keeping an eye on the platoon, the adjutant has been assigned to keep an eye on them.

Soviet Platoon 1 Situation
The Soviets scored a win in the last scenario. They controlled the table and managed to take a prisoner or two while they were at it. They suffered relatively light losses but mostly to key leaders. First was the loss of the Starshina. The fourth squad suffered in the hand to hand fighting prior to the Germans breaking and running. The battalion has yet to see to replace the man. The rest of the squads have been arranged as follows:

Squad 1 is a Serzhant and DP‐28 LMG w/Two crew and eleven rifleman.
Squad 2 is a Serzhant and DP‐28 LMG w/Two crew and twelve rifleman.
Squad 3 is a Serzhant and DP‐28 LMG w/Two crew and twelve rifleman.
Squad 4 is a Serzhant and DP‐28 LMG w/Two crew and six rifleman.

The CO is pleased with their progress given the losses that they are occurring across the front. Your men are assigned to remain in the area and protect the Ba-10. A wrecker team should be arriving soon to withdraw it. The crew has been pulled back. It is immobilized. You are able to get your men to prepare enough positions for a single squad. The armored car crew is nearby if needed. Given the needs to the front, you have no other supports available.

Campaign Summary Page
You can see the summary of the campaign at this page here: Campaign Summary Page.

Saturday's alright for fighting ... Part II

In the previous post, I covered the IABSM game. Once that was finished, we took a quick break and I set up a game of Chain of Command. I umpired the game. The scenario was the first of my larger Chain of Command campaign that I am trying to figure out for June 1941 in the Ukraine. The scenario was a Patrol scenario. For supports, the Germans had a Panzer III and an Sdkfz 222 as support while the Soviets had a Ba-10. I did not actually own a Ba-10 armored car but i substituted with what I had. I am now the proud owner of one of the Zveda Ba-10 armored cars that I just picked up in the shop where we had the game.

The players were Barclay and Adam for the Germans and Natan and Rob for the Soviets.

I am going to make this part of the greater campaign and position this as German and Soviet platoon 1. I posted a campaign map a few days back and this is the drive up the left hand side corridor.

What follows below is a highly biased report on the game that occurred.

---

June 23, 1941 Near Annowka Ukraine.
Mien Herr,
Yesterday I was ordered to assist a platoon of infantry in their advance towards the town of Annowka. They were supported not only by my Sdkfz 222 but also a Panzer III.

As we moved through a small village on the Way to Annowka, the Panzer III lead the way. The Soviets had placed an armored car, possibly a Ba-10, on the oposite end of the road from where we were entering. The Panzer III engaged the armored car. The two exchanged a number of shots and the armored car moved behind the cover of a small building. With a lucky shot, the Panzer III was hit and destroyed. The Germans were able to rush several squads on the table as well. They then brought our armored car up and we took cover behind the burning wreck of the Panzer III. We exchanged fire with the armored car and eventually immobilized the vehicle but we did not damage its main weapon.

The Soviets managed to move a squad forward and took cover behind a fence line. These troops proved to be very stubborn. We assisted the infantry and opened fire on them and managed to first wound then kill their squad leader. Later, the Soviet Platoon Sergeant took command of this unit. We managed to locate and kill this man as well.

The infantry advanced to the right of us and moved a squad into a farm yard on the right hand side of the road. A second squad moved to guard the gap between the the hill and the wheat field on that side.

The Soviets began to move two squads forward on our left and were coming close to flanking our positions. We maneuvered the 222 in front of a small copse of trees and opened fire on these new threats killing another squad leader. The Soviets deployed behind the fence line were proving to be a strong nut to crack and began to mount some casualties on our troops in the farm yard.

>BR>

The squad in the farm yard had their squad leader wounded. The Feldwebel moved forward to help and was himself wounded.

Spotting a squad of Soviet infantry attempting to flank our right, the blocking squad moved forward to stop them. Next to my position another German squad moved through the woods to halt the advance of the Soviets on the left. The Soviets laid down a withering fire on the men in the trees. They took horrible casualties, including the leutnant, and were forced back.

The squad of infantry that moved to block the Soviet advance foolishly charged into the face of Russian bayonets. The squad was nearly destroyed to a man in the ensuing melee. We then attempted to cover the retreat of the remainder of the German forces. From my discussions with the survivors, the platoon lost nearly two full squads of men. I am not sure how the rest of the advance is going but things are definitely not easy in our sector of the front, regardless of what Signal is reporting.

---

It was a great game. I unfortunately did not document the game as well as I should have as I was running the game and attempting to teach the rules at the same time. The Soviets definitely won the game. The players wanted to try out the fisticuffs rule which is why the Germans charged the Soviets by the wheat field instead of using their firepower advantage on them. This is what ultimately broke the Germans. The Soviets managed to use a Chain of Command Die to keep from taking a morale test after loosing a Senior leader. The Germans, once they started taking casualties, kept loosing morale at an alarming rate until they just broke.

Given that this is a half ladder campaign, I guess this means that the patrol scenario needs to be run again. The Soviets did not lose that many men down. They did suffer lots of big men casualties though. What the Soviets did correctly was they went tactical and used the additional cover to rally the shock that they suffered until the units were nearly whole again. The Germans did not go on tactical as they were trying to press the attack. I think this was a mistake. The squad that charged the infantry aside, the other squad that was cut up badly, was the Germans in the woods. They were fired upon by two squads and the dice were with the Soviets.

I will update the campaign page shortly with what I remember of the results. I enjoyed the game. I just hope the players did too.

Saturday is alright for fighting...

This past Saturday I managed to get not just one game in but two. Mark was gracious enough to not only pick me up to get there but take me back home late in the evening. Thank you sir. One thing that struck me when setting up for Terry's Memorial Game day was the utter lack of pictures of my gaming opponents. I could not find a single picture of Terry anywhere but tons of pictures of terrain and his miniatures. I have resolved not to do that again. Apologies as war gamers are not the most photogenic lot to begin with and I was taking pictures with a cell phone and an unsteady hand.

Airfield Attack - IABSM in 6mm

The first was an excellent game of IABSM that Mark put on in 6mm. The game was the defense of a German airfield against a Soviet attack. The Germans were to hold off the attack and allow their aircraft to maneuver to take off from where they are parked at the start of the game.

Update: The scenario was based on Soviet Operationd during the Little Saturn Offensive in December 1942 and January 1943. This is similar to the attack at Tatsinskaya Air Field.

We were pleased to be joined by some folks who drove up to Gigabytes from Savannah. In Mark's game, Doug, John and I played the Germans.

Doug is to the left and enjoying one of Gigabytes excellent breakfasts. John is to the right.

The Soviet players included a contingent from the Savannah area.

Sorry for the terrible picture. Mark was so blurry in the original, I cropped him out. Here Barclay, Dean and Adam study the board while Dave looks at a different game. Dave is one of the locals while the others were of the Savannah contingent. The missing member of the Savannah group is Nathan who was hiding from the camera for this picture.

John was in command of some of the German infantry while Doug had the remainder. John's forces were on the opposite side of the table (side with the ruined town). Doug's troops were spread out on the bottom half defending the buildings and wooded area. I ran the base defense flak guns with two big men. My force had 4 2cm Flak guns and 3 88mm Flak guns. There was a theoretical air support and the potential of 2 Marders that never arrived.

You can see the table layout above. The hands at the top of the table were Doug and John trying to figure out their deployment options. I have annotated our deployments. X is the location of some big men who were apart from their men. The two in houses were that flak commanders. The letter A, denotes the 20mm Flak batteries and the B denotes the 88mm Flak batteries. The letter 'I' is infantry deployments. In the fortified position in the bottom right of the picture had two platoons. One platoon was held in reserve in a dugout below ground.

Here is a shot of the ruined town in the top left corner of the map. Mark's excellent 6mm terrain is very well carried out. The large infantry positions were from Leva. It is from here that one of the attacking forces (Barclay's) would arrive.

Here is a shot of the main aerodrome itself. The four aircraft were supposed to taxi and take off during the course of the game. That was part of the German Victory conditions.

Here you can see the layout of the German blinds. We use the cards for the given forces as their blinds. When spotted, these go straight to the discard stack to try to reduce "loosing" cards from the deck. It really does work well. Fake blinds are present but some you can just tell when something is there as you have a stack of cards on a spot.

Next is the spot where most of the action of the day would occur. The Snowy woods look picturesque now but wait till the T-34s come rumbling through. You can see the tacks that Mark used to hold the terrain sheet to the Styrofoam elevations beneath. He went to the added step to color them so they would not stand out like sore thumbs. The terrain was just a joy to play on.

The Soviets had a huge attacking force. There was two big groups of 6 T34s and another group of 6 T-70s. Some of the T-34s and all of the T-70s were carrying infantry. The only thing that helped was the weather. Visibility was limited due to intense fog. As the game went on, the fog lifted and visibility increased.

The Soviets were largely handled by the Savannah contingent. Dean sat back and learned the rules by watching. Barclay operated a group of T-34s entering from the top left of the table. Adam comanded both the remaining armored units. Dave(not from Savannah) commanded the tank riders. The remaining member of the Savannah contingent, Nathan, watched as well. One of the limiters for the Soviets was that each of their commands had to dice for when they would arrive (1d4) which served to delay their entry. Only one of Adam's tank groups (the T-34s of course) entered from the bottom right. However, they also had to die to see how close they arrived to their desired jump off point. All of this was to simulate the units being confused and lost in the fog.

The first Soviet element to arrive we six T-34s. They arrived near the wooded area at the bottom left. The only German assets to engage were a single 20mm Flak gun, an MMG team and a German platoon. The platoon could do little to hurt the tanks. The 20mm gun was a fierce wasp attempting to sting one of the beasts. We managed to keep these beasts at the bottom of the hill for most of the game. When the 20mm opened up on the closest tank, it forced the tank riders to dismount. For several turns, this was just a fire fight between dug in infantry and the tanks. The tank riders were forced to dismount and one platoon was badly mauled over the course of things. What was amazing was how long that fight lasted.

I had a 88mm gun that was still on blinds but had no angle on the T-34s. The 20mm gun had concentrated all of its fire on one vehicle. The net result was a couple of points of shock that were removed almost as quickly as they were applied. The 4 strike dice were just no match for the 6 armor dice of the T-34.

Here we see the action as it is unfolding. The shocked platoon has taken kills and was forced backwards. They would prove to be very resilient and stay on the table and continue to fight.

The next Soviet group to arrive was on the opposite end of the board. Barclay's Soviet tanks arrived and began to bear down on that end of the table.

This attack proved interesting. They bumped into a blind that was flung rather far forward. It seems that there was a mistake in the deployment as suddenly the blind revealed two big men. Being the only target available, the tanks opened fire on the house and one of the big men was killed and the other fled. In the immediate area, there were two MMGs. One of the MMGs happened to be pretty good. It was able to immobilize two of the six T-34s. The T-34s ignored the machineguns and pressed forward toward the rest of the defensive lines.

To the bottom right, more trouble arrived in the form of six T-70s. The T-70s made a run down the runway. In addition, the original T-34s finally broke away from their firefight. They had destroyed the platoon in the trenches. That platoon was replaced with a fresh platoon. The T-34s made a charge down the long side of the table. One tank overran the lone 20mm gun that it had been exchanging fire with. The other 20mm gun on that side of the table opened fire and immobilized one of the T-34s.

The game was all but over. The T-70s ran past the 88mm Flak gun. The 88 killed two of the T-70s but the rest proved too quick. The infantry on the backs of the T-70s began to dismount and overran the crew of the 88, killing them to a man including the Big Man in charge of the Heavy Flak guns. The T-70s began to fire upon the aircraft that had only begun to move. Two of the aircraft were destroyed.

The opposite corner, things were not going any better. The 20mm Flak gun on the top side fired on the on rushing T-34s. Nothing penetrated and the T-34s overran the position. Two separate 88mm guns fired on the T-34s but the fight must have been gone from the German gunners who were looking for a way out of this mess. At this point, the game was called as there was no way that the Germans could get any of their aircraft away. The Machine gunners on the top left corner board were to be put up for the Iron Cross for engaging the tanks. The commander of the light flak managed to escape with one of his gun crews and a platoon of infantry. They had a long walk ahead of them.

I ended up loosing one of the 88mm guns and two of the 4 20mm guns. Lastly, I also lost the Big Man in charge of the heavy flak. A painful loss but a fun game with good company. Doug lost two of the three infantry platoons and one of his MMG teams. John's forces lost a big man early on but the rest of his troops were still mostly in tact.

The game was very tough for the Germans. The Germans ended up stuck in trenches and fixed positions and had great difficulty in attempting to move support elements around. The game was a large one. With so many cards in the deck, the game started to slow and most of the action took place on the tea break since the defensive lines were so close to the edge of the table. Lots of firefights that slowly built up shock on the Germans till they broke.

I will start another post for game 2. This one is getting too long as it is. In short, it was a great game and very fun.

Sofie's Saturday Painting Table (2/15/2014)

The table should look a bit cleaner today. I have moved off most of the Desert stuff. What remains is 8 British and 8 Italian casualty figures. In addition, I have added some Zulus. These little guys are my first experience in painting 10mm minis. Honestly, I am really liking these guys. They have been fun to paint up so far. I am figuring out how I will base them. The longship? Well it has been primed and left in the garage for the time being.

Till next time.

Happy 85th Aniversary of a Mob Hit!

Once again we have reached that odd Hallmark Holiday. I hope everyone enjoys the hearts and cupids. Surely Al Capone was a marketing genius to have turned it around. :)

Welcomes
Welcome to two new followers: Jonathan Freitag and Josh McNutt. I can't find a link to a blog for Josh McNutt. either of you but I thought Jonathan had one. Anyway, let me know and I will update the post with a link. Jonathan has a great blog Palouse Wargaming Journal. (I knew you had one, I just could not remember)

Zulus
Well I have begun painting these little guys in earnest. I have 11 of them painted so far. Of these, 8 are unmarried with spears and three are married or ringheads. I am experimenting with basing. So far I am trying 3 or 4 figures on a small Flames of War biscuit base. I think it looks OK. I will base the leaders on a small round washers. Once I try this with a few more groups, I will take some pictures. I want to see what it looks like in a large group.

British Desert Troops
With the last push, I managed to finish off the final Bren Carrier and 8 casualty figures. The casualty figures need a tiny bit of basing work. Not much needs to be done but it should add a little something to the finish them out.

Dark Age Ssaxons
Well I managed to get the longship primed. I still want to get 2 more ships. I want the rowed one from Peter Pig and the knarr from Old Glory. I think it would make for an interesting little fleet. I am not sure when I will get back to Dux Britansiarum but it is definitely on the to do list.

Anyway, happy Friday everyone.

Painting Accomplished

Last night I managed to finish off some more Desert Brits. I have an ATR team, a light mortar team, 2 weapon crew men, and a MMG team. I am also just a coat of matt varnish away from finishing a Bren Carrier as well.

The ATR team has a Peter Pig figure holding the Boys while the rifleman next to him is a QRF figure. The QRF figure is quite bland but blends well.

My impromptu survey yesterday gave mixed results so I went ahead and got some Zulus painted. I finished painting about 5 of them and have a good start on another 10. They painted up quite quickly. I really enjoyed painting them. I will post some pictures probably tomorrow when I have a chance to finish a few more. I will think about basing them later. I need to come to some decisions about that.

Wednesday Welcomes arriving early to avoid the weather

Yep, it is repeat of Snowmagedon here in Atlanta. Today the rain and sleet while tomorrow everything is supposed to freeze. Ah well. The city is panicking again but this time everyone preemptively stayed home. Schools were shut down and it looks like no one will be stuck overnight in their vehicles.

Anyway, I just noticed that the follower counter went up to 137. I was looking through and it looks like Jcralls is the newest contestant herre. Welcome. I think you have a blog but Google is not telling me. Let me know if you do and I will post an update here. Thanks for joining in the fun.

So, I need an opinion. While the weather is miserable, do I paint casualty figures tonight or skip ahead and paint up some Zulus? Top 3 respondents will win a doughnut. But you have to come to Atlanta to claim your prize.

Chain of Command Musings

I have been idly thinking which is usually a dangerous thing to do. Way back in the recesses of my memory I remember that the TooFatLardies did a Stalingrad Games day. (Just looked it up Summer 2005!?! Surely not that long ago. Crap I am getting old). They did a game based on an 'M' shaped table. The game was played where there were multiple games played on each of the branches of the table. Support elements were shared between games but if used up, they were gone. Troops could move to support one another as well. That makes me wonder if the same could not be done for Chain of Command.

With the table layout above you can see it involves 4 6x4' tables. Three are the advancement corridors for the attacker and the joined end is the defenders base line. To make this work, there are actually 3 separate games going on with individual command dice. What is different is that the support elements would be shared between games. That way, if the attackers have a platoon of tanks in support and table 1 uses them first, tables 2 & 3 would not have access to them unless they move off the table toward the other table.

Patrol Phase
The patrol phase should be conducted on each table as normal. This would give unique starting points in each of the games.

Inter Table Movement Movement between tables would need normal activation to bring in the element that moved off table on one table would arrive at a jump off point that is closest to where the element left the other table. In addition, the player would have to dice to see if the element has made it when they try to activate it as if there was not a Senior leader present to attempt to bring them on.

Support Elements
Supports, since at this point it becomes a company level action fought across three games, each side gets a company command element to serve as an "adjutant" role in moving troops forward. So if we look at a sample British Company circa 1940 (BEF), we can see that the company HQ has a Company Commander and his second in command. That gives the possibility of 2 adjutant type figures to assist in feeding troops in. That means that one of the platoons will not be able to use an 'adjutant' as a support element. in the support "pool" that three platoons will draw from, they immediately gain free elements from the organic support from their parent company. For the BEF, the rifle company would have as support elements a truck and 10 guys who ordinarily would serve as cooks and clerks. That is not too great for them. But say a German company of the same period would not only have a baggage train but a machine gun section as support. Or likewise with a Soviet Rifle company circa 1941. Additional supports may be drawn by pooling the points from each of the three platoons and then selecting the possible elements. For example, say our ubergame takes place in 1940 and is a German attack on British positions in France. The overall scenario is an attack and defend scenario from the main rulebook. The Germans as the attackers would ordinarily have say 10 points to use for support. Instead there would be a central pool of 30 points to use for the scenario. This would make some of the potential options that would be expensive otherwise slightly more attractive as you still have plenty of points for other items. These forces would be called upon by each table. Once deployed to a table, they will stay there unless they leave the table by a table edge and then must be activated by the next table. Elements that attempt to move from table 1 to table 3 must first cross table 2. So it is important to be careful on how you deploy your support elements.

Players and Command/Control issues
Using the TFL Stalingrad Games Day as the model for this exercise, each side should have one overall commander. This player is in a unique position as they must move between games to monitor the flow of the action and should suggest (force) players to take a given support element or deny them access to one if it is needed elsewhere. They will be in a management position for the purpose of the game. They should be experienced players who know the rules and can assist the umpires for each game. Each table should have from one to three players at most per side to run that action. Each player should control anywhere from the whole platoon to a squad depending on the number of players per game. My personal opinion is that the game plays faster with just one player per side. Having an umpire for each game would also help speed play.

Anyway, this was bouncing around in my head. What dop ya'll think. Any suggestions?

Finished Desert Platoon

The last of my desert British Squads are now complete. Here we have the platoon sergeant and the 8 man squad.

I also did some work on a Vickers MMG team and a Boys ATR team for the platoon as support elements. I am nearly done with this force.

I have only a few items left:
1) 8 Dead Desert Brits
2) 2" Mortar Team
3) Medic
4) 4 additional crewmen (2 for the 2-pounder and 2 for the MMG team)
5) A Bren Carrier
6) 2x A10 Cruiser Tanks
7) 2x Matilda II Infantry Tanks

Beyond this, I have a few spare figures that I am contemplating painting up as fillers for a few things. I need to buy a pack of Peter Pig 8th Army Engineers and I will just about have everything that I want. That would give me enough to field a full engineer squad.

Paint Table Saturday 2/8

Here is a better picture of the paint table.  Everything is 15mm.  You can see some figures that I am in the process of basing.

More Painting - British Armor

Well I managed to finish some more armor to use with Chain of Command for my North African British force.

OK,I tried to improve the pictures that I took initially. This might be the best I could get out of it. All of these were painted for use in Europe rather than the desert so these are all repainted.

First up is a Mark VI tank. I have another two of these to convert. Somehow I seem to have a bunch of these small tanks. I have another platoon of them for use with the BEF as well.

Next is a Humber LRC III armored car. It is probably only useful for late 1941 on and won't feature in my campaign.

Then we have a second Bren Carrier (or is it a Universal Carrier? I can't tell them apart). I still need some crew figures for these. Oneday I will buy some.

. Last up is an A10 cruiser tank. I have two more of these to paint up. It should add some punch to my desert forces.

But wait, there is more. Yes I have managed to rebase a 2pounder anti-tank gun and my platoon leader.

The picture is bad again. I tried to add as much light as possible but I did not have success. The Platoon Leader has a nice pose with his webley extended in a one hand grip. The 2 pounder needed some rebasing but other than that was as I bought it.

Chain of Command - Sharp End Campaign Part 2 - The Soviets Background

Soviets
I have chosen a generic and fictitious regiment to base the platoon around. Since several of the newer regiments raised before the war were raised from drafts of troops all from the same region, I picked a Ukranian city to base the entire platoon out of.

Soviet Background

The men of the 1179th Rifle Regiment were raised from near the town of Kryvyi Rih. They were rounded up in a draft in late 1940 and quickly rushed to the border with Romania to man a line that the Commissars promised them was just in case as there was "no chance" that the Germans would try anything against Mother Russia.

The platoon is lead by Leytenant Yuriy Sergeyevich. Yuriy was a party man since graduating from Tekhnikum. His family were loyal socialists who managed to find their way through the changes that swept his country since 1917. He is a barrel of a man. The Starshina Pankiv Ilyich who was a worker on a collective farm outside of the city. He volunteered in a fit of patriotic ferver or was that Vodka induced? He is not sure now. The four squad leaders come from varied backgrounds. First squad is commanded by Serzhant Vitomir Stanislavovich, a mechanic by trade the man lives and breathes engines. He is a small wiry man but full of fight. He must have done something to offend the recruiter to have not been moved to an armored unit. Second squad is led by Serzhant Potap Konstantinovich who came from the same turnip farm as the Starshina. He differs from the Starshina by being a very tall thin man to the Starshina's very average frame. Third squad is led by Serzhant Ilya Timofeyevich. He was a factory worker along with the leader of third squad Serzhant Foma Grigorievich. Ilya is an average sort but Foma is a barrel of a man like his Leytenant.

Orders
Your company has been ordered to the border town of Annowka. From here, the company has dispersed the three platoon towards the border down the three main roads leading to the town. You are being pushed forwrad to patrol the border daily to see if you can see what is going on. The men are puzzled as to what they will see since the commissars are so sure that nothing is going to happen. You have some support for your patrol in the form of a Ba20 armored car from the divisional reconnaissance battalion. In the past few days, you have learned from the drivers of the armored cars that you can warm your means by resting them on the engine of the armored car for a few minutes before your meal. You will see what today holds.

Next up - AAR

I am thinking of running this campaign with my gaming group. I will run one branch as a solo campaign. The briefing above is for my solo game. I will run the other two with my gaming group. If all can go well, I think I can make progress on this one more than my previous Dex campaign attempt.

Chain of Command - Sharp End on the East Front

Background
I have decided to attempt a Chain of Command Campaign. I want to base this at the start of Operation Barbarossa. I am basing this on an ordinary rifle platoons. I have created a German and a Soviet platoon for this but have set up the campaign so that it is based on a company moving forward on three parallel roads towards the Ukrainian town of Annowka just north of the Romanian border. The town is the objective of the campaign. I am using only a half ladder campaign as it is an invasion.

Update There is a name generator that I used to come up with the names for my platoon leaders: http://fantasynamegenerators.com/russian_names.php#.UvKF87S1sa4

German Background

June 22, 1941 - Romanian Border with the Ukraine
Your unit has been ordered to move from Rommanian territory into Ukraine/Moldova to liberate the German population there. You are to push up the road toward the town of Annowka. There are 400 Germans suffering under yoke of bolshevism that must be liberated. Your company will advance in parallel to you to sweep the Communists from our path and liberate the Germans of the Ukraine.

The platoon is lead by Leutnant Emil Hartz, who was raised in the ranks of the Hitler Jugend and is taking his place leading his platoon in combat for the first time. He is assisted rather ably by Feldwebel Gerwin Radder who before the war was a simple waiter in Danzig. He moved in 1938 in order to don the uniform.

Note: I am using the platoon structure from the 1940 list rather than the actual structure at the start of Barbarossa.

The four squad leaders come from across Germany. Guntar Boche is a former dockworker from Hamburg. He is a huge and strong man. Jurgen Skroch was a gamekeeper for the Duke von Anhalt in Dessau before the war. Now he is an experienced soldier. Jules Herzing was an office clerk in Berlin before waking up after a drinking binge to find himself in the army. He has proven competent enough. Last is the youngest of the leaders, Kain Jutte. He was just recently a schoolboy who joined the colors in a fit of patriotic fervor.

Campaign Map
The campaign is semi-historical in that is it based off of actual maps from the period and contains plausible troops. The map is an extract from map M-35-136-C that is hosted on www.wwii-photos-maps.com. This is a great site and worth a visit.

Scenario 1 Preparation
The Germans can choose up to list 4 in supports. They are opting for an Adjutant and a Sdkfz 221.

Yet to come
I will post on the Soviet forces tomorrow. If Brian or Mark decide on joining in this madness, I will add their notes here as well.

Contest

A great blog "Gaming with TooFatLardies" is having a give away to celebrate 200K hits. Head on over to check it out. He has some very nice items that he is giving away. At least one of the prizes is slightly familiar. :) Till next time, enjoy.

Saturday Painting Table and What is up with Blogger!

Saturday Painting Tabls
Another Saturday is here. I managed to get some work done this week. I finished off a British squad. Still have one left to go.

Blogger
What is going on with Blogger? First it was used car sales and now it is porn links that are showing up in my blog roll. I think I preferred the used cars. Anyone know how to stop this from happening?