Tag Archives: Boggit
The Battle for Brettevillette ~ An AAR
After Action Report for JTS’s Panzer Battles: Normandy ~
Boggit, 30 January 2016
John Tiller Software has released yet another Panzer Battles game – the first being Kursk: The Southern Front last year. From my perspective I find it a fascinating period, and the game not only looks extremely pretty, but has the usual wealth of historical research and elegant gameplay that players can expect as standard from John Tiller Software. The computer opponent is certainly much better than I’ve seen in some older John Tiller titles, and it is a very rewarding game for a single player. That said I suspect – as with other John Tiller titles – that the optimal opponent is another human. Play by email is fully supported, and from experience I will add that it’s an easy system to use multiplayer.
The Normandy campaign can in some ways get understated given the scale of what was happening at the time on the Eastern Front with Operation Bagration, but don’t lose sight of the fact that during this campaign more German troops became casualties, or surrendered than at the better known Battle of Stalingrad. The Normandy campaign led to the near total collapse of German forces on the Western front for nearly a month, during which France and much of Belgium were liberated. To give you a flavour of what is being offered, here are some screenshots and an AAR from the Brettevillette scenario, a historical action set during 28th June 1944 (mid-way through the Normandy campaign). Enjoy.
Panzer Battles: Normandy has 65 standalone scenarios. 59 are unique and 6 are AI ‘variants’ focused for the single player against the computer. The spread of scenarios cover the whole campaign starting with the initial airborne attacks on 6th June 1944, and end with the decisive Falaise battle on 20th August. Two campaigns and five variable scenarios provide a further 28 variants of scenarios.
GrogHeads Interviews Richard Bodley Scott of Pike & Shot
Richard Bodley Scott talks to Grogheads ~
Interview by Boggit, 12 December 2015
Click images to enlarge
Richard, thank you for talking to Grogheads about yourself and your work. Pike and Shot Campaigns is your latest release, but you are no newcomer to either computer or tabletop wargames.
- Tell us about yourself. How did you get into wargaming, and why are you passionate about it?
When I was a kid, my father took us to see all sorts of ancient and medieval monuments in Britain and on holiday abroad. When I discovered in 1971 that there was such a thing as ancient wargaming, I never looked back. I have been playing table-top ancient and medieval figure games for 44 years, and Pike and Shot on and off for 25.
The original Pike and Shot has seen massive expansion and improvement with Pike and Shot Campaigns.
Battle of the Bulge – An AAR
Developed by Shenandoah Studio and Published by Slitherine
Boggit, 7 November 2015
“To the German Commander.
NUTS!
The American Commander”
The response of General Anthony McAuliffe (acting commander of 101st Airborne Division) to General Heinrich Freiherr von Lüttwitz (commander of XLVII Panzer Corps), on being surrounded at Bastogne by far stronger German forces.
The Battle of the Bulge (hereinafter referred to as Bulge) is a popular setting for world war 2 games, and represents Germany’s last hope to forestall the Allies in the vain hope of bringing them to the negotiating table. Bulge is a divisional level game representing the German offensive in the Ardennes in late 1944/early 1945. The game itself is a port from an iOS game to the PC and Mac, and this short screenshot article is to give you a taste of what is being offered.
Bulge comes with 5 scenarios. There is a separate tutorial which deals with all the basics fairly quickly. The game is not difficult to learn, although as with many easy to learn games winning is not always easy. The game can be played either single or multiplayer.
First Impressions of NWS’s Rule the Waves
Developed and published by NWS
Reviewed by Boggit, 26 September 2015
“They [the Sea Lords] must cease to say ‘This is the ideal plan; How can we get enough money to carry it out?’ They must say instead ‘Here is a sovereign; How much can we squeeze out of it that will really count for victory in a naval war?’” Lord Selborne, First Lord of the Admiralty. (Selborne to the Admiralty Permanent Secretary (16th February 1903) in “Distribution of Business 1904”, Adm. 1/7737 P.R.O.). (The quote refers to Selborne’s concern of impending financial crisis arising from the continued construction of modern warships in the numbers and varieties required to protect all of Britain’s maritime interests.)
The British Grand Fleet in WW1 (Courtesy: British Library)
Rule the Waves is the latest game presentation from NWS covering the naval arms race period of 1900-1925. The campaign map covers the entire world, portrayed as areas representing the spheres of influence of the Great Powers of the time. The scale of the game is in monthly turns, and your units range from little minesweepers to massive dreadnoughts. Working with a limited budget you face Lord Selborne’s dilemma of creating and maintaining a navy that will win a naval war.
Screenshot Feature: Thirty Years War
Screenshots by Boggit, 12 September 2015
Developed by Headquarter and Published by AGEOD/Slitherine
Many a crown shines spotless now
That yet was deeply sullied in the winning.”
Friedrich Schiller (Act II, sc. ii. – Wallenstein)
The Thirty Years War was one of the defining periods of the Seventeenth Century, and has been of interest to me for years, so I was delighted when AGEOD/Slitherine published Thirty Years War. Here are a few screenshots from the first few turns of the Grand Campaign from the perspective of the Imperialists to give you a flavour of what is being offered.
Thirty Years War comes with 8 scenarios. Three are tutorials, four deal with key phases of the war and one is the Grand Campaign.
Turn one of the Grand Campaign starring General Bucquoy with a small force of some 6,500 men preparing to put down the Bohemian revolt. He needs more troops, but must act soon to squash the revolt before it gets out of hand.
